by Giacomi, A.
Vallincourt holds the red rock and says, “A need to rebuild the stone.”
My heart immediately begins to race. My theory was correct. The small red stones are pieces to a much bigger puzzle, and I fear where that will lead. As I continue to watch through the crack in the door, I see Agent Williams lift a large suitcase onto the table. When he opens it, a nearly completed larger red rock lay inside. There are only a few pieces missing. Vallincourt approaches the suitcase with the smaller stone in hand; he finds its place on the larger rock, and it connects instantly, sealing itself in place so that it can no longer be broken apart.
“We only have two more pieces to acquire, Agent Williams. I have heard news that they have finally retrieved the stone that you were unable to locate in the Grand Canyon. It is en route and should be here in a day or so. As for the other stone, I have a feeling that Eve possesses it or has hidden it from us. I need you to get that information from her. She already trusts you enough. You’ve done a great job with that.”
My blood boils as I realize that Eve has been manipulated this entire time. She has no idea that Agent Williams has been collecting these stones for nearly two years. He has been keeping this secret from her and God only knows why. I hate to be right, but it also seems that Agent Williams has been toying with her emotions. She will be heartbroken.
Agent Williams finally speaks. “So what happens when the entire rock is built? Does this tie into the next phase of our plan?”
Vallincourt nods. “Yes, Agent Williams, it ties in very nicely. Now that the rock is nearly complete, it has begun to send signals to the undead to retrieve the missing pieces. They will not rest until the final stone is found. It’s a shame that many will rise from the dead, but once the stone is in my…our power…then we will be able to create phase two.”
Unfortunately, they do not discuss “phase two,” and I am left to ponder the worst. If it is worse than a herd of zombies, then we have much to be afraid of.
Agent Williams closes the case, and they shake hands. This is my cue to leave my spying station. I find an empty room and hide inside of it, quietly closing the door behind me. I listen for the footsteps to clear out of the hallways before I deem it safe to head out again.
I run my fingers over my wrinkled face as I walk through the hallways. Trying to calm myself will not be easy. I have information I need to share with Eve, and she is not going to like it one bit. I pray she at least will believe me.
Back at the lab, Eve is waiting for her next round of blood work. I also promised to look at the patch of rotting skin on her arm that seems to be growing as the weeks go on.
“Good morning, Dr. August,” Eve says with a grin.
I try not to make eye contact with her, but I notice a bloody smear at the corner of her mouth. She must have just finished eating.
I throw a napkin towards her. “Eve, you have a little something…” I point to the corner of my mouth to show her where the stain is.
“Oh, so sorry. It was a quick meal today. I was excited to come here and get started.”
She wipes the blood away quickly and then returns to smiling. Telling her the truth is not going to be easy, not in the least. To shred that lovely smile from her face almost seems an act of malice, but it has to be done.
“Okay, Eve, let’s have a look at that arm first. Does it feel any different today?” I begin to unwrap the bandages around her arm.
“Still tingles a bit. Feels like it’s asleep.”
When I look at the arm, I notice that the rotting tissue is now starting at her shoulder and ending at her elbow. The skin looks infected, which it is, but not in the traditional sense. It is green in parts and purple in others, which makes it resemble a bruise. Some flesh is peeling away, leaving black oozing scabs. Nothing about this wound looks human.
“Eve, this was the same arm that was first bitten in Egypt, yeah?” I ask sympathetically.
She nods, shutting her eyes as the remembrance of that day enters her mind. “Yes, that’s the one, Doc. So what do you think?”
I clear my throat. I know honesty will be best, but too much of it today might not be the best medicine. “Look, Eve, I’m a scientist who’s worked mostly with animals and an archeologist who’s really only ever looked at human remains, but I’ve never seen anything that looks quite like that. I know it’s not something human that I can treat. I have a feeling that the reason why this arm is rotting first is because it was exposed to the Azrael Virus first…” There is no easy way to say the next part, so I blurt it out, “How do you feel about amputating it?”
Her face turns a shade of green that matches her arm. “Dr. August, I can’t, I just can’t. I need it. It still works. Unless you can tell me you can replace it with a robotic arm that functions just as well or better, then I can’t…”
I can’t promise her that. Robotics hasn’t yet reached the level of technology that they spoke of in the Terminator movies. It will be a slower, less convenient arm that will most likely be less useful than a stump.
“It may buy you some more time,” is the only positive that I can come up with. It doesn’t seem convincing enough, so I continue, “It would by no means make you less powerful or less you. You would still be Eve. You would still be here. We need you here to fight for humanity. I have a feeling that something awful is coming. You will need to last. Please consider this. You don’t need that arm to fight. You know your powers.”
I see tears welling up in her eyes, but she refuses to let them fall. “How long do I have if I don’t amputate?”
I keep telling myself to be honest, even though my heart rips with every word I utter. “Four months, perhaps. I really think you should consider…”
Eve cuts me off before I can continue. “My answer is no, Dr. August. I knew this was coming, and I want it all to end anyway. Even if I amputate, I will still rot away eventually. Look, I’ve been dead almost three years now. I think that’s enough for me. Time to let fate have its way with me. I mean, who gets to cheat death for that long, right?”
I nod and remain silent. I can see that I’m not going to win this battle. So I decide to take a few blood samples and do what I can in the meantime. If by some miracle I can find a cure, or even something to slow down the rot, I will be forever proud of that.
“Dr. August, can I ask a question? Completely off topic, but since I only have a few months left, I’m going to just say whatever comes to mind…was I a good student? Do you think I would have been an excellent archeologist like you?”
My emotions invade me as her compliment hits me like a train. Looking at this young woman with no future is absolutely devastating. “Eve, you would have been the best, better than me, better than all of them given the chance.”
I have to excuse myself and leave the lab for a moment. I use the excuse of needing more test tubes, but truly I need to breathe and be left alone with my pain for a moment. This girl is going to die because of me, and here she is praising me. I am no one to be placed on a pedestal, just a stupid old man who craved knowledge so much that it superseded everything else, even the safety of others. I was a different man back in Egypt, a cocky son of a bitch who wanted fame and fortune. It’s amazing how tragedy can change people in such a short time.
I re-enter the lab and see that Eve is toying with her scab. “It is pretty gross, isn’t it?” she states. We both chuckle a little, glad for a lighter moment. I decide that the truth about Agent Williams can wait until tomorrow. One more day of undisturbed happiness can’t hurt.
***
A few days go by, but I can’t seem to work up the courage to tell Eve the truth. I catch her a few times with Agent Williams. They are holding hands, laughing. She is happy. I haven’t seen her smile that way in such a long time, not since Cam and Alex were in her life.
I decide to go back to the lab and do further testing. My lab partner Dr. Matthews and his team h
ave the day off today, so it is very quiet indeed. I think I prefer it. As I begin to retrieve some samples from storage, I hear voices outside the lab doors. It’s Vallincourt and Agent Williams. I quickly hide under one of the lab benches. They rarely come to the labs, and perhaps I can gather more Intel and evidence if they decide to have another meeting.
Agent Williams charges in. “It’s in here, dammit! I can smell it.” He looks about the lab wildly, trying to sniff the air. His eyes are fiery; they have never returned to their light blue-green state.
He sniffs on top of the lab bench I’m hiding under. I try not to breathe as he inspects the samples I left out. I hear him pick one of the slides up. “This is it!” he says to Vallincourt. “That liar! He had the stone all along and was testing it! This is a small sliver from the stone. No wonder it wouldn’t work!”
My stomach turns. It seems as though I have unwittingly delayed their plans. The large stone needs all the pieces before it can work, and yes I chipped off a very small sliver for testing. I never thought it would be missed or noticed. Apparently, I was wrong.
“If we want the beacon to work, we need to attach this small piece as well, and when we do, it should find the last stone. We’ll finally have everything we need to go forward with phase two,” Agent Williams says excitedly.
Vallincourt paces the room. “What should we do with Dr. August then?” he says, sounding a bit like a venomous snake.
“Leave him to me,” Agent Williams says, and then Vallincourt leaves the room.
Agent Williams remains in the room and sniffs around. I hear him inhaling the air and begin to panic. He must be able to smell the living; Eve has that talent. I curl up under the lab bench and pray that he leaves as my heart beats against my shirt. He takes a few more sniffs and then makes his way out the door.
I sigh a long hard breath of relief. I will live another moment, but it does sound as though my days are numbered. I decide that experiments can wait; I need to get to Eve now. If I don’t tell her the truth immediately, she may never know it. If I am to be silenced forever, I will do so without regret.
As I flee the lab and head towards Eve’s room, I have a feeling that I am being followed, but each time I glance behind me, there is no one to be found. My hands begin to sweat as I continue to take rapid steps towards my destination. I try not to think about the consequences that will paralyze me.
I am merely doors away from Eve when a hand grabs at my lab coat and pulls me around a corner. I am slammed against the wall and pinned there by two hands gripping my lab coat by the throat.
Agent Williams glares at me with heated eyes. His smile is not friendly; it’s deadly. I fear moving or speaking, so I simply stare back.
“Hello, Doctor,” he says in a cool voice. “I knew you were there the whole time. I could smell your aging human flesh and your healthy blood, with your deliciously functional brain. You can’t hide from me when you’re food, my friend.”
“Don’t call me friend,” I spit out, praying that I don’t regret it.
His grin grows; he likes getting a rise out of me. “Look, Doctor, I want you to live. I’m not in the business of killing people who are useful to me. You’ve actually helped us a lot. More than you know. So don’t make me have to kill you. It would be a tragic waste.”
I try not to shake as he holds me in place. His face is so near my own that he can very well tear his teeth into it at any point.
“You betrayed Eve. She trusts you!” I say quietly.
“And I would like to keep it that way. I need her to trust me. We are going to change history. We are going to change everything. I need her. Perhaps you can’t understand that, but I do care for her, and I’m trying to help her in my own way.”
I feel my forehead furrow with confusion. “What is your meaning, agent? How?”
“How is none of your business, and I would appreciate you keeping your nose out of it!” he snarls back at me.
I finally start to gain courage through my anger and spit out, “Agent! Eve is my business. She’s like family to me. She deserves the truth!”
Agent Williams nods. “Fine! Then give her the truth. Tell her what you know. Tell her everything, but I don’t think she’ll believe a word of it. It’s your word against mine. Who do you think she’ll trust? Her professor who made her that way in the first place or me, the man who loves her unconditionally?”
He does make a valid point, except that it isn’t true. “But you don’t love her. She’ll discover that soon enough!”
This enrages Agent Williams, and he grips my lab coat firmer and slams me against the wall violently. “Listen here! Don’t you ever question my feelings for her! I love her more than you know. She is mine!” he hisses.
The intensity in his eyes brings to mind Charles Manson. Grinning on the outside, violent tendencies hidden within.
His grin grows wider with each word as he continues. “Want to know something else, Doctor? A little extra dose of truth? Do you remember how we asked you to make some pure samples of the Azrael Virus for us?”
I nod and feel my eyes grow wider. I have not thought about those samples for a very long time. I hoped they were forgotten.
His eyes narrow as he continues his explanation. “Well, those were part of the plan as well. We used them to test a few volunteers in the States. We set the infected free and then blamed bath salts on their behaviour, but in actuality, it was the Azrael Virus coursing through their veins, and no one was the wiser. We set them free to observe their behavior, and thanks to you, the experiment was a huge success! I’m sure you’re wondering why. Good question, but you’ll just have to wait for that answer. You’ll see in due time that this is all necessary. We’re going to save the world, Doctor. You just don’t know it yet.”
“You’re mad. You’ve gone completely mad!” I say in a terrified tone.
“Maybe, but madness breeds genius.” He gives me a smug smirk and then releases my lab coat and walks away.
I am left a bit shaken as I stumble back into the hallway leading to Eve’s room. I am still determined to tell her all I know. She needs to believe me.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
EVE
I decide to floss after my meal. There are bits of flesh caught between my teeth, leaving quite the “stank” in my mouth, as Jazz put it. That woman always makes light of my disgusting habit of eating people, as if it is nothing more than an obsession of eating deep fried butter: questionable but not entirely repulsive. I giggle as I think of her bringing me a bib the other day.
My flossing is soon interrupted by Dr. August bursting through the door. “Do you knock much?” I say, annoyed. But when I recognize the panic on his face, I walk towards him to seek information.
“What’s wrong, Dr. August? You look like you’ve just seen a giant spider or something!”
He combs his fingers through his hair and straightens his lab coat in order to adjust his disheveled appearance. “Eve, I have something that needs saying, and I hope you will listen carefully.”
He no doubt has my attention, but what could have shaken him so badly? If I didn’t know him better, I’d think he’s on drugs. His hands shake, which he tries to hide by rubbing them together. I ask him to have a seat, which he declines, stating that he’d rather stand for this but that I can sit down if I wish.
“Eve, there is no easy way to say this, but you’ve been lied to, my dear. They’ve been using you this entire time and feeding you lies.”
I’m not sure what Dr. August is implying, but I ask him to go on and explain.
“Vallincourt and Agent Williams have been working together to collect pieces of those red rocks from every location you’ve visited. They want to piece together a bigger rock that can create zombies. Do you understand? They’re going to raise the dead. A whole army of them!”
I shake my head involuntarily. “No, no, that�
��s not possible. We never found any red stones. I found one, but that was all. I would have known if Mar…Agent Williams had found any. He would have said something.”
“Clearly, he didn’t, Eve, because I saw them! I saw the rock that they have been putting together. That rock you got in Pompeii? Well, they took it from me and added it to that rock. They only need one more piece before…”
I cut Dr. August off. “Even if that’s all true, Dr. August, I hid the last stone very well. No one will ever find it.”
I rub my face, trying to understand why Dr. August is lying to me. I have been with Agent Williams the entire time. How could he have snuck around and retrieved the red stones without me noticing?
Dr. August paces the room as he continues. “Eve, I’m sorry, but there’s more. CSIS has been hiding something else. They began testing in the States not long ago. Innocent people, Eve, they injected them with the Virus and then set them free into the streets just to see what they’d do. You heard about it! That man in Florida who ate that homeless man’s face? Well, they blamed that on bath salts, but really the man had been infected with the Azrael Virus.”
Part of that story is true, but how did Dr. August discover the cover up? That is classified information. Perhaps he overheard it and it became misconstrued?
“Dr. August, they are not testing on people! Those occurrences in Florida were zombies. They’re rising from everywhere in the States right now. Why would CSIS set them free and then hunt them down? It makes no sense! Where did you hear this anyhow? And how did they even get their hands on a pure strain of the virus?”
Dr. August rubs his hands together nervously. “Agent Williams told me himself.”
As I hear the words “Agent Williams” cross his lips, I fully understand now. This is Dr. August playing the overprotective parent again. “You’re lying to me! I know you want to protect me, but why would Marcus lie to me, and why would he just flat out tell you about what happened? This does not add up, Doc!”
