The Cleaner

The Sleep

"It is surprising what a person can accomplish when their back is against the wall", thought the man in the orange jumpsuit.

No sooner had the realisation to act come over him had he cleaned a lot of the evidence that he was ever there and found fresh clothing to wear. The silence of the cabin-like house was broken once again by the relentless beeping of the Casio watch. He looked at his wrist, the time read 00:55. He ventured over to the case and scanned over the letter once again. Picking up the reader he placed Oakley's dead finger on top of it. It came to life, flashing a bright blue twice before turning green on the third flash. As per the instructions, he went to item three in the case before him and cracked open the cylindrical container. A small metallic looking pill fell out, every inch of his body was telling him to turn away at this point, to not put it into his body, but something kicked in and the movement was almost automatic. He swallowed the pill by swilling the remainder of Oakley's Scotch bottle.

He waited for a minute or two just to see if he would feel any different, to see if any change in his body could be detected. After convincing himself that any panic was in his mind he returned to the task at hand. He picked up the letter from beside the casing again, it mentioned putting on the mask and resting. Rest was the furthest thing from his mind, the letter told him a guardian would be coming by tomorrow with a code word, which it suddenly dawned on him that he had no idea of. The body needed to go to, he massaged his temples with some force, he swore he could feel things getting blurry. Giving his head a rough shake, he set about the next task he could manage, the body. His mind cast to the chest freezer so handily placed in the utility room he had crept into, not more than 4 hours earlier.

"It'll have to do" he muttered to himself, heaving the body off the ground, and grimacing through the agony his ankle was causing, he set out for the utility room. No sooner had the lid slammed shut on the freezer had the world around him blurred into one mass of colour. The man had to steady himself, finding his feet difficult to control.

"Rest" he thought, "this is why rest."

He staggered through the house again, he could barely make out the gas mask he had placed on top of the briefcase but made a grab for it, nevertheless. Through stumbling and shaking fingers he managed to fit the mask around his face ensuring it was tight yet not uncomfortable.

He spun himself round on the spot but supported himself by keeping his hands on the tabletop, he stood facing the stairs for a few moments before deciding that he couldn't make it up the stairs. "The sofa would have to do" he thought as he sank himself down on the plump cushions. Before he knew it the world around him went black.