"Put it in the birds, not fucking teenagers!" Shay said, no longer concerned with censorship. He'd been exposed to her sailor mouth once. The man had told her as much as he would, she could tell by his expression. Screw discretion- he'd just drafted them into germ genocide.
"Watch your mouth!" The doctor shouted back, voice laced with fury.
"Go fuck yourself."
"Shay!" Marena snarled, iron grip latching on her bicep and pulling her close. Her hot breath was right against her ear. "Shut the fuck up."
Shay pried Marena's hand off her arm, shuffling away before her best friend could snatch her again. Marena rolled her eyes and turned back to the screen.
"I apologize for that. Please explain why this isn't an airborne virus," she said, a hard edge to her voice. The doctor's lips pulled back into a slight sneer, if only for a few moments. Dammit, he's not going to tell us. Excellent move Shay, excellent move. She couldn't help but condemn herself.
"Oh, it would have been, but that is entirely the fault of you nine! Other labs are working on airborne strains, but they kill too swiftly to be effective. We would have had time to smooth out our errors if this strain hadn't found its way into your bodies! Forget your families and friends, for mostly everyone you know will die. Get out of Kansas City as quickly as possible. You only have one job now, and that's to spread the virus- and don't get killed while doing it."
Chapter 3
"And try not to get killed? What the hell do you possibly mean?" Shay cried. Her blood bubbled in her veins, rushing with some hot fury she simply could not hold back. It was there in every movement of her fingers, every part of her lips. He could not have stressed more about how they were the lifelines to his virus, yet he was picking and choosing what information they received. She wanted him to be direct about it, even if the whole truth would tear them apart. "Give us answers! If we're so important to your little virus you damn well better tell us everything!"
Anger flared again in the doctor's eyes, the crinkles in his skin becoming more defined. She'd no idea how many curse words it would take for him to snap, but she could tell they were pushing it then- one more f-bomb and he might flip a kill switch somewhere. After everything a virus with a built in kill switch didn't seem too impossible.
"You certainly have a mouth on you," he said through gritted teeth. She bit her tongue. Watch your mouth, smartass. Mouthing off to adults might be a strong suit of yours, but for the time being act like it's not. You want to find out more about this, don't you? One more snarky reply may kill any answers he has left to give.
"She'll keep her mouth shut, sir." Marena butted in, snapping the doctor's seething glare away from Shay. The look in his eyes softened slightly and his facial muscles relaxed. She exaled slowly, a ball of anxiety released from her chest. She hadn't blown it.
"Good to know. Now, however, I need no more interruptions. The more time we spend arguing the less time you'll have to escape before they show up," he told them, tone darkening. She swallowed hard, feeling her jaw tense.
"The Government has no idea about any of this. They would have put a stop to us. They never would have wanted such a thing as a population control virus coming from our country, a world superpower turning against human morale. We've had to fill in the blanks and lie to keep this a secret and I'm sure they'll spot the inconsistencies eventually, but today is not the day to worry about such things. We have, we have a um," the doctor hesitated, her eyes shifting to glance to something off screen. The image wavered for a moment, the sound and image being replaced by a brief jolt of static. Her heart leapt into her throat. No, don't cut out, not now. We need answers.
The image reappeared in full a few moments later, any signals of distress gone. She sighed with relief.
"Sorry about that," the doctor began, clearing his throat. "Technical difficulties." Or is the person beside you acting up again?
An awkward silence hung in the air for a few moments, the doctor observing the kids and the kids observing him. Shay pursed her lips in annoyance, anxious to get on with the conversation. She understood the urgency of their situation- silence was doing nothing but stalling them.
"But the government doesn't know the whole story. They don't know there were pockets of people all over the world participated in this. We all congregated together and agreed something had to be done to save the planet," he said, pausing occasionally, aware of the gravity of his words.
"But your way of saving the planet is sick! Its genocide!" cried Carson. He'd taken the words right out of her mouth- she had nothing left to say.
"No. We are doing this for the good of mankind. Ten billion is too many. Earth can't support that many humans- we struggled at six billion," he responded sternly. Her jaw clenched as she bit back a number of things she could spit his way.
"So if we struggled at six billion, how many billions are going to die?" Shay asked, fearing the answer with such intensity the question was now a burning regret. She didn't want to do the math. The doctor grinned again, his sadistic, toothy grin chilling her through the marrow. I've wasted time arguing with a psychopath, and now I'm expecting straight answers out of him. Damn, I'm a genius sometimes.
"I can't tell you, my dear. There's lots I can't tell you. All you need to know is you are a Carrier and you must spread the virus. In time, you will know the rest."
"Stop playing games with us and give us some goddamn answers! We're kids for God's sake! Marena demanded, her voice straining with each word. With clenched fists and tense limbs, the tall girl appeared quite menacing.
"This better be your final interruption! When I warned you to try not to get killed, it's because the government is going to come after you and there's no way in hell eight unarmed teenagers could survive an entire force of government agents. They aren't going to quarantine you. They'll simply kill you. Collateral damage for the good of the people or something like that, no doubt. Not knowing things scares them. They've given local officers clearance to kill you. You have to run, and fast."
"How do you know?" Shay said, fright creeping on the edges of her voice.
"You weren't supposed to tell them, dammit!" A voice roared off-screen, bringing the doctor to a rigid state in his seat.
"Nonono, let me finish!" He pleaded. A terrified animal was born in his eyes.
"You have two minutes and thirty seconds before I'm cutting this damned wire. Go."
Behind her, murmurs of confusion rose in the room. She made a quick motion with her hand and it was instantly silenced, although she could feel many gazes burning into her back. She was just as confused as the rest of them, but it was incredibly crucial that they kept their mouths shut.
"In January we just broke eight billion," Marena stated. Shay wanted to turn and scream at her- they'd just been told they needed to escape while they could yet she was still carrying on a conversation with him. How foolish was she?
"I hope you aren't surprised that the government lies. It wasn't just our government, if that provides comfort. We had to pull a lot of strings and lie to very important people, but we've managed to keep the truth concealed since before any of you were born. The number you all were told was always about two billion off. Big goals make for big lies."
"Why would the entire world lie about the population?"
"We had to lie to keep the project secret, did we not?" Just then the screen began to spit out static again. The image was warped as well as the sound, only bits and pieces breaking through. "I wasn't done! They deserve to know!"
"They are not cleared for that information!"
"You're the one who called the fucking cops; they'll probably all be dead within the hour anyways!" To be the final sentence ever heard from the man, a rather ominous statement. The screen finally cut to black and did not flicker back to life. What an excellent way to goodbye.
The glass doors began to inch open. In a matter of seconds all nine of them had jetted out of the room, sprinting through the doors and down the hallway. The fight or flight
mode had kicked in, giving them no instinct but to flee, for they would not survive if the option to fight was chosen. Choosing to fight armed police officers would be a suicide mission.
Even if her mind hadn't been in such a basic, one-track mode she still would not have comprehended the information she'd just been told. It was all just so sickening. He was drafting nine fifteen year old kids into germ genocide, even delivering one a fatal ultimatum. She was smart enough to know pinching her skin to the point it bruised wouldn't work- this was no nightmare. No wailing alarm would rouse her. This was the bitter taste of reality.
"Wait, stop!" a voice shouted, gasping for breath. Shay screeched to a halt, her shoes squeaking across the tiles. She twisted around to find Kyleigh leaning against a wall, struggling to catch her breath, curls slipping to frame her soft jaw. She was skinny but horribly out of shape. The girl couldn't lift fifteen pounds if she tried. She rolled her eyes, instantly annoyed. They didn't have time for this. Should we leave her? She's holding us back. One foot forewords, don't stop- no. We're all in this together now.
She looked around, doing a quick head count. She only counted eight. One was missing. She turned heel and went sprinting off back down the hallway, going as fast as she could. These delays could be sealing their fate.
One of the two doors was left ajar but closing fast, forcing her to increase her pace. Her legs were burning by the time she made it inside, just scarcely before the door moaned shut behind her. The gust disturbed ends of her blonde tresses.
Seeing the room again made Shay's legs wish to buckle from beneath her. The number on the back wall kept growing, matching a rate of growth with each time she would blink- seeing this made her head spin. I'm supposed to start something that's meant to kill that many people. There had never been a thought that swirled her brain more.
A loud crash rang out, echoing off the high ceilings and bouncing off the walls, straight back into her ears. Turning her head she saw Marena, long, skinny figure half-sprawled across a metal desk. Her arms were flying, hands balled into fists, making contact with any button her hands could find, including various ones on touchscreens. 'ACCESS DENIED' screamed back at her on many in the color of blood, evoking cries of rage from the girl. Her blonde hair was a static mess.
Without hesitation Shay darted to Marena's side, vainly trying to snatch her wrists. The virus now coursing through her being had been released by touching a screen- there was no way in hell she would let someone touch another. If it was even possible to release something more sinister than BPv-01, she wasn't staying to find out.
"Marena, we have to go!" she said sternly, pinning her wrists down onto the metal tabletop. Her knuckles were bloodied from profusely pounding against the metal, her skin torn away right over the shallow, ridged bones. Scarlet dusted the skin, yet Marena remained oblivious. Instead she continued to thrash and struggle within her confinements, hissing and spitting inaudible statements.
"No, no, no!" She repeated profusely, clawing at the skin on Shay's hands. A long, lime-painted fingernail caught a chunk of skin and pulled it free. She winced, teeth grinding against each other, and slammed Marena's arms down with power. The thud echoed. However, the twig-like girl packed muscle into her skinny limbs, thrashing from Shay's hold with swiftness. She immediately returned to her path of destruction. She's going crazy, I can't stop this! She thought with horror.
"We have to go, now!" she commanded. Marena did not acknowledge her. Frustrated and scared, she grabbed Marena by the waist and began to pull her backwards. Her skinny figure thrashed in her grasp as she was slowly pulled away, arms flailing. She had to readjust her grip around her waist several times, for Marena kept almost thrashing her way to freedom. Cursing, she fumbled around until she was able to secure her grip again, struggling to pull her back into the hallway.
"No, Shay, no! What the fuck are you doing? There's probably a cure there somewhere!" She screamed, desperately trying to get her best friend to release her. The state of derangement was not letting go.
"Marena, shut up! You heard him, there's no cure! We don't have time for this!" Shay shouted. Her words were strained, seeing her oldest friend in such a state driving intense fear into her core. What if we all end up like this, mad with denial? If I succumb too, I won't be able to pull anyone back out. We'll be dead before we know it.
Marena continued to fight her; seemingly unwilling to admit they had no chance to cure themselves. Instead of a response Marena just howled, hitching her fingers around the final desk before the doors. Her grip was like iron, stopping Shay from continuing to pull her away. She yanked backwards to no avail, unable to free Marena's grip. The girl wailed again, no longer trying to fight with words.
"Come on, do you want to die or not?" she snarled. "They're coming for us!"
Instantly, Marena let go, as if derangement's fog had finally cleared. Without hesitating Shay dragged her backwards, prying open one of the doors with her shoulder. She couldn't let Marena go just yet, the risk of her escaping was too great.
"There had to be something…" she whispered softly, all the emotions pouring out of her suddenly hushed, as if someone had flipped a switch inside her mind. Instantly numbed.
"Let's just get out of here," she replied, biting her lip. The scene was not something she wished to dwell upon- watching Marena, who was usually the level head, everything she did with a purpose, become an animal had shaken her. A wildfire of denial had been ablaze in her eyes, and Shay had seen it all. It terrified her. Denial was rampant in her mind was well, but currently being locked in an instinctive fight or flight mode, there was no time for real thought, real emotions to be produced. Her brain just kept screaming one word at her, over and over again- run.
Once the doors had clicked shut behind the duo Marena grabbed the other blonde by the shoulders. She dropped her chin to stare right into her dark eyes, the height difference creating a slight barrier. The terrifying fire in her hazel eyes was gone. They were stone now, as was her visage.
"Never speak of this. Ever," she growled, pads of her fingers pressing into Shay's skin. However, the girl's low voice did not hide her fear.
"Got it," she responded, bobbing her head lightly. With that the two sprinted back down the hallway, leaving the scene they had just shared behind forever. It would not be spoken of again.
Further down the hallway the other seven were there waiting, their eyes wide and hands shaking. Carson ran his hands through his dusky hair, his eyes cast down to the floor. Katrina was clinging to Owen like a child to his father's leg, each looking like a puppy that had just been whacked.
"What are we gonna do?" Katrina said before she'd even made it back. Shay was mute. Inside her head her mind was commanding her to run, but run where? For all she knew, escaping the maze of hallways meant being met with a gun in her face. She had to lean herself against a wall to keep her head from spinning. Why are they looking to me? I'm none the wiser in this situation then they are. It's my fault this even happened!
"Why are you asking me?" She said harshly, eyeing Carson out of the corner of her eye, seeking an answer. The boy shrugged his shoulders. Thanks for the help, she muttered silently. I'm just as terrified as the rest of you. Throw me a damn bone.
"You're the le-" Katrina began, but Carson cut her off.
"I say we run," he butted in, visage devoid of expression. Everyone turned to stare at him, disgusted looks on every face.
"Of course you want to run! You'd outrun the rest of us by a mile," Laylia spat.
"Hey Laylia, if I put your opinion in one hand and spit in the other what do I get?" He shot back.
"Carson!" Shay snapped. "This is not the time for that!"
"So then what is it time for?" He replied, seemingly cautious of the answer.
"You heard the guy. Time to try and not die," Marena growled.
"Well how exactly will we do that?" Kyleigh said, seemingly more afraid of the requirement of physical activity than the thought of an impending demise.
<
br /> Despite how bad she wanted to answer, she didn't have one. She didn't know what would be waiting for them outside of those doors, if they ever even made it out, and the idea froze her bones. They were just kids. Already they were about to buckle under the pressure of the doctor's ultimatum, but how much greater would the pressure become if they actually did what he commanded of them? She couldn't fathom them doing it- none of them had the heart of a killer.
"Let's figure that out as we go," Marena told her, taking a wide step down the hallway. "But if those people really are coming after us, I'm not waiting here for them with open arms." Her words hit the home run. Murmurs rippled through the group and the bunch of frightened teenagers instantly began to move, steadily picking up into a sprint.
The opening back into the main hallway was coming into view within minutes. Over the steady drumbeat rhythm of shoes across tiles she could hear voices. They were mere murmurs, just barely audible over the footfalls, yet recognizable as the sounds of her classmates. They were getting closer. Her stomach lurched when she realized everyone was going to see them like this, about to shit their pants with fright. Will they notice our eyes? If they do, will it be our eyes, or Cassie's that are noticed first? Shay shuddered just thinking of the chaos that would ensue.
"Stop!"
Everyone skidded to a halt. Adrenaline accompanied the sudden burst of fear that racked her body, for she bracing to find a line of armed cops before her. No, it was too early for them to be here, she tried to assure herself, yet found it difficult to believe. It had to be someone else, someone benign. She wasn't ready to die just yet.
For normal students, the sight of a red-faced teacher would cause them to panic. For the Carriers and unfortunate Cassie? The fuming science teacher was almost comforting. It was better than being met with a gun and an inevitable end, even if a pissed off teacher meant detention. It wasn't looking like they'd be around to serve it anyways.
Carriers Page 3
