Identity Zero novel · Chapter 9 of 32
Chapter 9: The Box
The Box was a concrete room under the gym.
No window. One steel chair bolted to the floor. A drain in the middle.
A camera in each corner, red lights on.
They sat Jesse in the chair at 0600 in his shorts and a grey T-shirt and cuffed his hands behind it.
The door opened.
Gideon came in alone with a bucket.
He didn't look at Jesse.
He set the bucket down, took off his jacket and hung it on the hook by the door, and rolled his sleeves to the elbow.
Then he threw the water in Jesse's face.
It was ice cold.
Jesse gasped and choked and shook his head.
"Name," Gideon said.
"Seventeen."
"Your real name."
"You burned it."
Gideon grabbed the back of the chair and leaned over him.
His face was hard. His eyes were not.
"There's a speaker in that wall," he said, very loud. "The Colonel is listening. Major Sallow is listening. So when I ask you a question, you answer."
He was telling Jesse who was watching.
"Yes, Commander," Jesse said.
"Why did you come to Blackwood?"
"For my brother."
"Your brother is dead."
"Then why'd you keep his picture?"
Gideon hit the chair.
Not Jesse. The steel back of it, an inch from his shoulder, with his open hand.
It rang through the room like a bell, and on the camera it would have looked like he'd split Jesse's head.
Jesse jerked.
"You don't ask questions in here," Gideon said.
Then, in a lower voice, the voice you'd use to threaten someone, "Your brother told me you were a hotshot."
"Yeah."
"Tell me what you do when a fire jumps your line."
Jesse looked up at him.
Gideon was waiting.
"You light a backfire," Jesse said slowly. "You burn the ground in front of it. When the big one gets there, there's nothing left to eat."
Keep reading free with an account. Start Identity Zero from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 8 · All chapters · Chapter 10 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend