Zenalda the part-timer

Someone was knocking on the gate. "Ms. Zenalda!" a stranger shouted. "Are you in?" she knocked once more.

Zenalda stood frozen, the voice was unfamiliar. But her dogs did the opposite, her door was wide open and they ran towards the gate as soon as they heard the unfamiliar voice--- they barked endlessly towards the strangers who were treated as threats to their territory.

Zenalda sprinted towards her window, making sure the black curtain hid her from the view. She squinted her eyes and saw that the two strangers were wearing a vest with a paw logo on the sleeve--- they were animal rights volunteers.

"Not again." she glared at the volunteers as they recorded the state of her home on their phone. "I already moved out of the apartment!"

Zenalda has once again been reported, after three months of her stay in her home, her new neighbors reported her to have been abusing her dogs.

Zenalda was fuming with anger, it was a false allegation, she would never abuse her dogs.

"We'll come back tomorrow!" the volunteer announced. "We'll help your dogs!" satisfied with their evidence, the volunteers left her home.

Seeing no threats, her dogs returned inside the house, with their tails waggling.

To calm herself down, she proceeded with her day. She went to the kitchen to feed her babies, she opened her cabinet and grabbed the dog food--- it was light as she placed it on the kitchen top. The dog food was only enough for three cups--- not even enough to fill one bowl up. She opened her rice cooker as steam engulfed her face. She transferred the cooked rice--- with a grunt--- in a big bowl. She added salt and water to the mixture and dumped the remaining dog food in as the main ingredient. 

This was how she had been feeding her dog for the past month, this month was the worst, her credit card had reached its limit, and she was not able to buy a bag of dog food in the process.

She needed more money if she does not want her dogs to be taken away by those strangers.

It was already a miracle that she was able to keep her job at her age, asking for a raise would be impossible in her situation. 

It was either to find a way for her to earn money on the side or ask around if someone would be willing to lend her some cash. Zenalda knew that the latter was more probable.

***

Zenalda happily reported at work on a weekend. It had its advantages, first, she did not have to deal with the volunteers that were pestering her for over a week now, and second, she would earn an overtime pay.

Some scientist had to work over the weekend too--- they were starting a new project after all.

While Zenalda was mopping the floor, she noticed a long line of people. Each, writing on a piece of paper. 

Brian's head poked out of the room, with a list on his hand. "Joshua Brown!" he announced to the crowd. "Mr. Brown."

A young man in his early thirties stood up towards Brian and entered the room.

If Zenalda did not know better, she would assume they were here for an audition.

Zenalda drew closer to the line as she mops the floor. Some looked at her weirdly as their feet collided with the mop. "Sorry, had to clean this area." she said as an excuse. "So many foot marks."

The crowd was a mix, there were males, females, some were better dressed than the others, some were on the older side than others. Zenalda could not find any similarities amongst them, this seemed like an unusual project.

There used to be females only, males only or that one time bald only--- but this crowd was just a random populace. 

She stood beside someone on the line and peeked at the piece of paper blatantly--- they were filling-up personal information and medical history. 

The man noticed her looking so he looked at her weirdly. Zenalda smiled in reply and left the scene as if nothing happened. 

From what Zenalda had gathered--- while cleaning the other rooms---they were gathering people who were willing partake on the upcoming project. 

The one vaccine project had gathered attention from the science industry, and many showed up to join the cause. 

"Plus," one of the scientists said. "They would pay the subject three times the usual." Zenalda overheard.

Upon hearing this, something clicked to Zenalda. This was what she exactly needed, an extra money. 

Seeing that there was no requirement to participate, she asked the reception for a form and filled one up, she also waited for the line to shorten as she joined herself.

Brian's head poked once more from the room as he scanned the list on his hand, seeing that he has already marked the last name, he assumed they were already done for the day.

"Brian," Zenalda waived hello. "I'm here for the screening."

"Uhhhh," Brian does not know what to say, so he decided to let Zenalda in and let the others deal with her. "Okay."

Zenalda entered the room and gave her best smile. 

Ana and Kathy were sitting at the white table. Brian sat on the empty seat beside Kathy.

"Zen!" Ana's eyes widened. "What are you doing in here?"

"I would like to participate too." Zenalda replied.

"Your form?" Kathy offered her hand.

"Here," Zenalda gave the form to Kathy.

The three of them huddled together as they scanned her form.

At age fifty-nine, Zenalda was healthy--- with only her aching back as her only concern.

Ana was shaking her head, not a good sign.

"You can join." Kathy said over the paper. "You're healthier than most in their forties."

"No, Kathy." Ana gritted her teeth turned to face Kathy. "We already talked about this." she said in a low voice. "We would only accept nineteen to fifty years old in our trial."

"I don't see anything wrong with her paper." Kathy waved the form in the air. "Besides, we need to see the effects on the older ones."

"No," Ana insisted. "We're on our first stage and this is too risky as it is!" her voice rising.

"You're too afraid, Ana." Kathy shook her head.

"Brian," Ana looked at him, asking for support. "What do you think."

The two women looked at him to decide.

"Well," he rubbed his eyebrows. "I'm sorry, Zen. There is just too much risk."

Kathy's face was blank while Ana smiled in triumph.

"It's okay," Zenalda shrugged. "I did not expect much anyway."

***

Zenalda was emptying the trash cans when someone called her.

"Kathy is looking for you." A a job-in-trainee said.

Zenalda took haste and made sure that she cleaned her hands as she knocked on the door.

"Come in." Kathy said.

Zenalda entered Kathy's office.

"I see that you're very interested to participate in my project." Kathy rested her chin on her hand.

 "Yes," Zendalda decided to be honest. "Money is a little bit tight these days."

Kathy observed Zenalda for a few minutes, reaching a decision, she grabbed her pen and scribbled something on a paper. "Come here tonight, at ten." She slid the paper to Zenalda.

Zenalda took it and read that it was an address.

"Let's just say," Kathy crossed her legs." I'm conducting a…. private experiment." she looked at Zenalda. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"You mean…"

"Nobody should know." Kathy warned. "Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Do we have a deal?" Kathy offered her hand.

"Yes," Zenalda shook Kathy's hand. "you can trust me."

***

Zenalda looked at the address on a piece of paper on her hand and back to the dilapidated building in front of her. The building looked old and hunted, it seems like no laboratory would exist inside.

With much hesitation, she knocked on the door. Surprisingly, someone opened it for her, welcoming her.

She was not asked for an ID, or what her name was, she was simply allowed inside.

The outside might look gloomy, but the inside looked like it was recently refurbished. 

She was guided on the third floor and saw that she was not the only one in here. There were many of them---around fifty. Some looked like her age, others looked even older than her, a few were too young---younger than nineteen. 

She sat randomly on an empty chair. Sitting next to her was a man who looked like the same age as her, he was beaming at her.

The old man was proud of his missing front teeth and the greases smeared on his face. His attire was of the darkest grey, it was not its normal color, but it darkened for it had not been cleaned for months--- even maybe for years.

There were a few that looked like him inside the room. 

An assistant gave them similar forms, the one she filled up earlier. The assistant gathered the paper and stood in the middle to announce something. "Congratulations everybody, you're now officially part of the project." The assistant smiled. "Our rule in here is only simple, whatever happens inside here, remains in here."

The assistant did not ask for them to sign any contract, nor did they ask for police clearance. 

This was what as Zenalda suspected, this was illegal, and she would earn a lot of money.