June 2025 Short Story of the Month

He sprinted away, not daring to look back, his footsteps echoing down the hallway like distant gunshots. He just had to get to the back stairway and up to his office on the second floor, where the rest of the vials were waiting. He was going to be rich.

So very rich…

Two days earlier

“Dr. Scheeler, look at these test results.” Abbey, his best intern was waving a paper at him.

He was busily reading emails. He had several from the dean who wasn’t pleased with their new budget projections and their lack of results. Each email was more heated than the next. He guessed the dean had been drinking while working last night.

“Dr. Scheeler?” Abbey asked.

“I’m sorry. What did you say?” he asked, barely looking away from his monitor.

She slid a sheet of paper on top of his keyboard.

“Abbey, I’ll be with you in a second. Can’t this wait?” He needed to send the dean a present or something to curry some favor. Maybe he could invite him out for drinks. The dean never said no to free drinks.

“Please doctor. Look at these results.” She pointed at the paper again.

He sighed, preparing to be disappointed once again. He scanned the numbers, not wanting to waste too much time. His mind must have registered what he was reading before it really hit him. He sat up straighter and re-read the numbers. This time, he looked over them carefully and meticulously, not believing what he was seeing.

This was going to change everything. He wouldn’t need to waste time finding a present for the dean.

He read the numbers again, and then he collected his thoughts.

“Abbey, I want the tests run one more time. We need this data to be verified beyond doubt before I present it to the dean.” He didn’t even look up from the paper. He was transfixed. If these numbers could be replicated, everything was about to change.

The next few hours were endless. He hovered in the lab, watching Abbey and the other interns. His intense stares were making them nervous, but they managed to get the tests completed. The results printed out and everyone held their breath.

The doctor reviewed them. He was smiling and nodding the whole time.

“This is it,” he said. He tapped the paper on the counter. “Break out the champagne. I’m going to call the dean.”

All of the interns stood there, not sure if the doctor was kidding.

As he walked away, he said over his shoulder, “I mean it. Celebrate. On me. This is it.” He waved the paper as he walked back to his office.

The next morning

He heard knocking. Without getting out of bed, Dr. Marcus Scheeler groaned and rolled back over. “Go away,” he yelled at whoever was banging on his condo door. He pulled a pillow back over his head, trying to drown out the sound.

The knocking wasn’t stopping.

He finally accepted that whoever was there, wasn’t going to leave.

He opened the door as he closed his robe.

“Can I help you?” He asked. It was Abbey.

“Get dressed,” she said.

“Excuse me, but Abbey, perhaps you’ve forgotten that you work for me.” He moved back into the condo. “Besides after yesterday, we don’t have to work as hard. Take a second, enjoy our success.”

Abbey was shaking her head. “You don’t understand. There are a bunch of government people crawling over the lab. Taking things and demanding information.”

The doctor froze in his tracks. “What?”

Back at the Lab

As Dr. Scheeler and Abbey arrived, they passed a group of men in suits carrying several cases out of their lab.

The dean was standing in the hallway wringing his hands.

“What is going on?” Asked Dr. Scheeler. “Why are they taking everything out of my lab?”

The dean shook his head. “I’m not sure what is going on, but ah look, here is the agent in charge. Ask her.”

A tall woman with her hair pulled back in a coiffed bun came towards them. Her black suit was perfectly tailored but lacked any distinctive characteristics. She handed an envelope to the dean.

“Are you Dr. Scheeler?” She asked.

The doctor nodded. “What is going on?”

“All of your work has been seized.” She produced another thick envelope and handed it to the doctor. “Inside is an NDA. Sign it.”

They weren’t given a choice and nothing was explained. In the span of a few moments, everything was gone. The doctor felt like he’d been knocked over. The dean didn’t try to stop the government goons. He just stood there until they were finished and then faded away as if nothing had happened.

Abbey wanted to talk about it, but the doctor sent her home. He didn’t have the capacity to deal with her right then.

The longer he paced around the now empty lab, the more angry he got. There was only one way to deal with this and that was to drown his anger. He slammed the door shut and went to the closest bar.

He downed several shots without much thought. His phone was buzzing in his pocket, and at first, he ignored it. Finally, he reached into his pocket with the intention of just powering it down, but it was Abbey. She’d been texting and calling him non-stop.

He called her back. She answered before the first ring was finished.

He didn’t let her speak. “I’m drinking. Don’t want to talk about it.”

Abbey asked, “where are you?”

He told her his location and then abruptly hung up. She arrived within fifteen minutes.

She sat down next to him and rolled her eyes at his condition. “We need to talk,” she hissed at him.

“Nothing to talk about.” He downed his liquor in one gulp. “Another,” he told the bartender.

“No. Don’t give him anymore.” Abbey glared at the bartender.

“I’ll let you talk it over,” the bartender said, backing away from whatever drama was unfolding.

“Seriously, Doctor. Come outside with me. Just for a minute. If you don’t like what I’m about to say, you can continue to kill brain cells.” She motioned with her head in the direction of the door.

He relented. He stumbled outside and leaned heavily on the bricks.

Abbey waited for him to seem somewhat focused. “Listen, you need to stop doing this.”

He just shook his head.

Abbey sighed. “You’re forgetting the samples in your office.” She said it barely above a whisper.

“They took everything.” He just shook his head again.

“I was watching them. They went through your computer files, but they never opened that stupid fridge that you have that looks like the cabinets around it.” She was talking through clinched teeth.

The doctor locked eyes with her studying her intently. He thought about what she’d just said, but it took a couple seconds longer than it should have to register. “They didn’t open the mini-fridge?”

She shook her head.

“But that means, there is still some of the formula left.”

She nodded.

“We should go get those vials,” he said.

Abbey nodded again. “I’ll drive.”

They were about half way to the lab when Abbey spoke. “I think we’re being followed,” she whispered.

The doctor turned around just as Abbey made an unnecessary turn and the black sedan behind them did the same.

“What should I do?” Abbey asked.

“Go to the lab, but park around the front. I’ll hop out at the corner before the parking lot and go in the side entrance.”

Abbey nodded.

Their plan was working. The doctor jumped out of the car, and Abbey continued to drive toward the parking lot. The sedan followed her.

The doctor made his way to the side entrance which was heavily shielded by most views by overgrown hedge bushes. He made his way inside and started towards the main hall. As he scanned his badge, he spotted two government goons pacing outside the glass front doors.

He sprinted away, not daring to look back, his footsteps echoing down the hallway like distant gunshots. He just had to get to the back stairway and up to his office on the second floor, where the rest of the vials were waiting. He was going to be rich.

So very rich…