Page 1 of Killer Clone

1

Patrick Marrion gripped the steering wheel of his Honda Ridgeline and lifted his foot from the gas. The rattle in the old engine slowed as he pressed the brake nearly to the floor. Grime blocked his view through the unwashed side window, so he wound it down. A chill wind whipped around the cab.

One dilapidated concrete structure followed another. Bent wire fences bordered expanses of broken concrete. A winter gust brought a hint of gasoline from the dirty waters of Nashville’s Cumberland River while I-24 rumbled and honked away to his right. But between the river and the road stood cracked tarmac, abandoned warehouses, and a railway line with freight wagons puttering along.

Maybe he was in the wrong place. Maybe he’d misremembered the directions.

This wasn’t the kind of neighborhood where he’d expected to find his online friend, Monty31.

Patrick took a hand from the wheel and rubbed his fingers over the scars on his neck. The old burn marks started at his cheek, ran down his neck, and wound around to his back. Yearsof surgery had evened out the worst of the disfigurement, but the tissue remained red and swollen.

He glared at the holder on the dashboard where his phone should’ve been. His roommate had taken to stealing his possessions and holding them hostage. Jake had taken his keys once and hadn’t given them back until Patrick bought him a coke from the vending machine in the common area. Clothes went missing until he did a load of Jake’s laundry too.

Patrick had no idea what he’d have to do to get his phone back. Something bigger for sure.

Jake was such an asshole.

Patrick had known Jake for less than three months and hated him already.

But he could deal without his phone for now. He’d checked the address on his laptop so many times, he knew the route by heart. This was the right place. He was sure it was.

Patrick pushed the gas. The rattle in the engine returned.

He was getting out at last. Meeting people. Making friends. His world was opening, getting bigger. His excitement rose.

It was about time.

He’d been so lonely since leaving home and moving across town to Central Tennessee State University. The change hadn’t gone the way he’d planned. He thought he’d make real friends at last, find people like him, with the same interests and the same outlooks. They’d hang out and play video games. They might even sneak into bars. Make real friends who confided in each other.

And he’d be happy.

But so far, college had been a nightmare. Just like high school.

And his roommate was the worst.

Studying was impossible. Even being in the room—with the music pounding and Jake’s friends treating Patrick’s bed like asofa—was just awful. Patrick had asked to move, but the housing officer told him he had to wait.

He couldn’t bear it. The less time he spent there, the better.

A one-story warehouse came into view on the right. Patrick remembered seeing the zigzag roof on Street View and the padlocked gate in front. The place he was looking for was a few hundred yards up. He eased into his seat.

School was little better than the dorm.

He thought people would speak to him in class. His fellow history majors shared the same appreciation for the past and everything history could tell them.

But even among his classmates, he’d struggled to make friends. Conversations in the cafeteria took place without him. His contributions, when he plucked up the courage to make them, went ignored.

Before college, he’d had his family. Now there was no escape. His mom kept telling him that he could just move back home, that he could commute to class. But that felt like a kind of failure.

The result was that he’d never felt so lonely.

Patrick fingered the scars on his neck again. It was a nervous tick he’d tried and failed to break. And his mom was right—messing with the scars only aggravated them.

People assumed he’d get used to the staring, but he never had. He’d just come to expect it.

Monty31 would be different. Surely, he’d be different.

They’d only chatted online. Patrick didn’t even know his real name, but he did know Monty31 recently moved to Nashville and was lonely too. They’d hit it off right away online. His new friend would ignore his scars. They’d sit in cafés and discuss ancient Roman military tactics and do all the things friends did together.

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