“A cryo case.” Dean climbed on the stool and reached in the bin, looking as he did. “Where is it? Where is it?”
“What are you looking for?’
“It’s got to be in here somewhere.”
“Why are you playing with that?”
“I’m not …. Yes. Here.” Dean lifted his blood covered hand and in it was an organ.
“What is it?”
“The heart.” Dean smiled.
“Dean, why do you want his heart?”
“I need …”
“Is it sentimental?”
“No, I …”
“I didn’t know you two were that close. Kind of fucking weird isn’t it?”
“Yeah, Frank it is, but I …”
“Then why’d you take it.”
“I didn’t take it for me. I took it for you.”
“I don’t want it,” Frank said.
“Not now. But you may.”
“I highly fucking doubt that.”
Dean carefully placed the heart in the cryo case. “Maybe ‘want’ is the wrong word. You may need it.”
“I already have a heart.”
“I know that.”
“I mean if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Frank … it’s not for now. It’s for later.”
“Am I losing mine?”
“No!” Dean snapped. “You may need a heart. He’s a perfect match. In case your heart goes bad.”
“That’s good thinking. I knew there was a reason for him.”
“Look how healthy all these organs are,’ Dean said, shuffling through them.
“And they should all be there,” Frank said. “Unless I dropped one or something, it was pretty dark up there. The Killer Babies usually don’t eat the organs. If they do, they spit them back out.”
“These organs are remarkably healthy. No fatty tissue. No damage. Whoa.” Dean lifted another. “I’ll freeze this one.”
“What’s that?”
“The liver. You never know with the way you drink.” Dean placed it on the tray.
“Anything else in there you think I may need?” Frank asked.
“I don’t know.” Dean peered in the box.
“What about a kidney?”
“That’s a good idea. I don’t see one … I do see the pancreas, I’ll take that.” Dean lifted it and placed it on the tray as well. “Oh, wow, look at this lung.” He raised his eyebrows to Frank. “Pink and perfect.”
“So he has a female lung. How is that possible?”
“Anything is. We’ll just save that.” He laid it down. “And…” He sorted through.
“You’re messing it up in there.”
Dean raised his eyes for a moment, then looked back down. “Okay. Here’s one. I don’t see the other kidney.”
“What about the eye? That looks good.”
“Yeah, it does. Good call.”” Dean added that and closed the lid.
“What are we gonna do with the rest.”
“I don’t know. Research, Find out better why he could beat any infection. For now I’ll take this in the back. Hook it up to the chamber. Then you and I have to figure out what we’re going to say before people start asking questions.” Dean headed toward the back.
“How about starting with me?” Hal asked as he stopped into the lab with Jimmy.
“Fuck.” Frank said, quickly putting on the lid to the bin.
“Fuck may be right.” Hal flashed a grin. “Gentleman, it’s nearly four in the morning. What’s in the box?”
ELEVEN
It irritated Hal. He wasn’t stupid. Dean only paused long enough to look over his shoulder, then he flew to the back, holding something, and yelling “I have to go to the bathroom. Be right back.”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
Frank had his hand on the bin’s lid, looking around suspiciously guilty about something. And when Dean returned, Hal guessed he didn’t look at himself in the bathroom mirror or else he would have noticed he was covered in blood like some butcher.
“So, Hal, what brings you here?” Frank asked.
“We heard you on the radio.”
“That’s nice.”
“Hmm.” Hal folded his arms, took a step forward causing Frank and Dean to get protective. “What’s in the box?”
“Excuse me?” Frank pulled his ear.
“What’s in the box?”
“Ah!” Frank snapped and turned to Dean. “Didn’t I tell you?”
“Tell him what?” Hal asked.
“Yeah,” Dean said. “You did.”
“Frank!” Hal yelled.
“What?”
“What did you tell Dean?”
“When?”
“Frank?” Jimmy said calmly. “Stop. No back and forth. What … is in that box?”
“See, Dean,” Frank nudged him. “He wants to play, too.”
“Play what?” Jimmy asked.
“What’s in the box? It’s a game.”
“I’m not playing a game,” Jimmy said. “We want to know. What’s in the box?”
“That’s part of the game,” Frank responded. “I don’t know, you tell me. What’s in the box?”
“Frank!” Hal yelled. “It’s four in the morning.”
“And you should be in bed instead of down here minding my fucking business.”
Hal bit his lip.
“Maybe if you were nicer,” Frank said.
“Fine. Fine.” Hal calmed down. “Frank? What’s in the box?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
Hal dove forward and Jimmy pulled him back.
“Frank, stop,” Jimmy said. “Why are you being like this?”
“Because honestly, this is a me and Dean thing. It’s none of your business. But … if you want to know. I’ll give you three questions so you can guess.”
Hal grumbled. “Okay. Seeing that there’s a lot of blood. Is it something dead?”
Frank lifted the lid and looked. “Yes.”
Hal grimaced. “Did you do this or did you find this?”
“That’s two questions?”
“No, it’s not, it’s a compound question,” Hal replied.
“He’s right,” Dean said.
“Fine. I found this.” Frank tapped the lid.
“Where?” Hal asked.
“Aw, man, fuck. Come on.”
“Where?” Hal repeated.
“Okay, tell you what. You tell me where. Take a look.”
“Frank,” Dean warned.
“No, Dean, let him look. Maybe he can help… identify it.”
Jimmy asked. “You don’t know what it is?”
“Or who?”
“What!” Hal jumped forward and lifted the lid. As soon as he did, he shrieked, slammed the lid and jumped back. After a moment, Hal lifted his hands, cleared his throat and nodded. “I believe the ‘where’ would be the Killer Baby region.”
“Ding. Ding. Ding.” Frank said. “Now … what’s in the box?”
Excitedly, Jimmy answered, snapping his finger repeatedly before he did. “A body.”
Hal looked side eyed at him. “Really? That happy about that.”
“Dean is,” Frank said.
“Dean?” Hal asked.
“Oh, I am not. Your brother is starting trouble.”
“You’re the one picking through the box,” Frank said.
“Frank, you ass,” Dean retorted. “I’m just getting samples.”
“To determine identity,” Hal said. “Right?”
“Um, yeah. That’s it.”
“Who was supposed to be on duty …” Hal looked as Jimmy peeked in the box. “What are you doing?”
“Is that all one person?” Jimmy asked.
“I don’t think it’s two,” Frank replied.
“No, I mean. It does look like much.”
“The babies are growing so they eat more.”
“Ah.” Jimmy nodded.
“I think this should be in house,” Hal sai
d. “Let’s let someone come to us about a missing person. We don’t want to add any more to the plate with this bacteria.”
“It could be anyone. It was Bingo night last night,” Frank said. “You know how those Jordan people get drunk and wander.”
“The area is secure,” said Jimmy. “How would that be possible?”
“It’s not,” Hal replied. “This is someone that had permission to go beyond the gate. We’ll check with tracking on who went out.”
“Doesn’t have to be thirty-two,” Frank said. “They can go out any of the areas and all it would take is one Killer Baby to get loose, get them and drag them back.”
“Let’s keep this under wraps for now,” Hal said. “We have that meeting in a few hours. I’m going to head back to Bowman for an hour, get breakfast. Jimmy? Want to join me?”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
‘Frank, try to get some sleep,” Hal told him. “And check with tracking before the meeting.”
“Okay. On it.” Frank gave a thumbs up.
“Dean … you may want to clean up.” Hal smiled and after, Jimmy waved, they both walked out.
Dean bounced from heel to toe, held his hand up to Frank so as not to speak, then after a minute, Dean walked to the lab door and peeked out. “Clear.”
Frank exhaled. “Thank fucking God.”
“That was good thinking about not knowing who this is. It’s not like you killed Hank, but it’s better like this.”
“Yeah.” Frank paused. “Why?”
“I don’t know. Anyhow …” Dean grabbed a fresh pair of gloves and stood on his stool. “Let’s see where we were.” He lifted the lid.
<><><><>
There was a strange feel to the house when Ellen woke up.
It was quiet.
There were no kids to get ready for school or daycare, no hectic running about, nothing but silence. Too quiet was eerie and a bit scary. It was reminiscent of the days following the plague ten years earlier. It was made worse because neither Frank nor Dean were there.
She wondered what was going on. Frank called in the middle of the night and Dean just raced out. She guessed it wasn’t life or death because she never heard anything else.
That middle of the night phone wakening caused Ellen to fall back into a deep slumber and even woke up later than she wanted to.
Roy was on the night shift at the clinic, and she checked in with him.
Two more people came in with the bacteria.
Ellen packed a bag.
To her the only way to stop the infection was to quarantine everyone, including the healthcare workers. She notified Richie that he was on his own at Containment and to reach out to Henry, then she called Jenny to check on the kids.
“They’re fine,” Jenny told her. “They woke up a little homesick, but they’re doing well.”
“How was last night?” Ellen asked
“Like they were on vacation. They played with the kids here. Even though they don’t speak the same language, playing ball and dolls is universal enough for them.”
“I don’t mean to sound like a mother hen, are they eating.”
“Um … some are. Billy is not eating much. He’s stubborn, but Alex is eating what they give her. She had her rice and Billy’s.”
“Jenny, thank you for this. How are you feeling?’
“Tired. But you know it goes along with being pregnant.”
“I do.”
The two women conversed a little bit more then Ellen, finished her coffee gathered her things and left her home.
It seemed the weather had taken a turn, moving into colder night and morning weather. Ellen went back into the house and placed on a sweater because she was chilled, she supposed she’d look foolish wearing a sweater in July. But she felt chilled.
The walk to the clinic seemed longer as well, and when she got there, Ellen just wanted to sit down. Everything was weighing on her and taking its toll.
Because she was already late, her intention was to go directly to the quarantine wing. As she walked down the main hall, she passed the lab and saw Dean moving about at his usual quick pace.
“Hey,” she called into the lab, standing at the doorway.
“Hey.” He stopped pacing. “Are you just getting here?”
“Yeah, I slept in. Did you get to go back to sleep at all?”
“No, I was working on something.”
“Where’s Frank?”
“He was up all night. He was sneaking a nap before our meeting this morning.”
“That’s right. Good luck.”
“I have this.” Dean winked. “Come in, I want to show you something.”
“No, I need to get going. Roy is covering. I want to get situated. Can you stop up before your meeting?”
“I can do that.” Dean smiled. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m just tired. I’ll see you in a bit.”
“I won’t be long.”
Ellen lifted her hand in a wave, adjusted the bag on her shoulder, turned and headed toward the wing.
TWELVE
A few more things and Dean would leave the lab. He opened his journal, jotting down thoughts, in between looking at the computer screen that showed the slide he had under the microscope.
“Dean,” Danny Hoi called his name.
Dean turned. “Oh, what’s up Danny?”
Danny stepped in the lab. “Alright, against my better judgement …” he set a phone on the counter. “I issued you another with another number. This is temporary.”
“I appreciate it. Thank you.” Dean lifted it. It wasn’t anywhere as high tech as the new phone, in fact it wasn’t as high tech as his flip phone. It was thick and bulky, yet, narrow with only a tiny screen above the keypad. “Kind of an early model isn’t it?”
“You know, I can take that back.” Danny reached for it.
“No. No.” Dean pulled the phone away. “I’m grateful.”
“Try not to be so irresponsible this time,” Danny said. “See you at the meeting.”
“You do know I didn’t lose the phone, right?”
“Yes, you gave it to Alex. Frank told me. Which, by the way, is totally against the rules. I’m not saying anything because of the circumstances. But the moment she comes back, you get that phone.”
“I will.” Dean glanced at the phone’s display. “Oh, shit. Is this time right?’
“Yes, it is.”
“I didn’t realize it was that late.”
“We have that meeting.”
“I’m gonna close down and go. Thanks again, Danny.”
Danny nodded and back stepped to leave.
“Oh, hey, what’s …” Dean grumbled. Danny was gone. “… The number.”
He looked down to his phone, figuring he’d call El to get his number, but when he fumbled through to find his contacts, there were none. “Are you kidding me?”
“Something wrong with your phone?” Lars asked as he stepped into the lab.
“It’s new.” Dean showed it to him.
“Really? Because I believe I had that model when I got my first phone. Speaking of which … why when I call you does your daughter answer.”
“Fuckin Frank. That’s why I have this. He gave my phone to Alex. Danny gave me a new one and I don’t have any contacts in here.”
“Guess you’ll have to be social and ask people for their number, now won’t you?” Lars flashed a smile. “I thought you’d be at that meeting.”
“I’m headed there in a few. I was working on something.”
Lars stopped walking and looked at Dean’s computer. “Oh, immunocompetent B cells.” He pointed to the monitor.
“I was kind of thinking about ways to use the B cell to hit the infection before it settles into the cells and becomes the virus.”
“Hmm.” Lars nodded. “Could work as another temporary means. Add it to what we have here as anti-infection. Whose spleen did you extract these from?”
“Hank’s.”
; “How did you access Hank’s spleen?’
“Huh?” Dean looked up quickly. “What? I mean, not Hank’s. Obviously not Hank’s. I was thinking you asked ‘whose’ B cells I was going to use.”
“Clearly they would be those of our super antibody person,” Lars said. “Speaking of which. Have you seen him?”
“Who?”
“Hank.”
“Um, yeah, I saw him in the cryo lab a little bit ago.”
“Was he planning on stopping by today to give plasma?”
“I don’t know.” Dean took off his lab jacket. “Last I saw him he was looking a little … bad.”
“Yikes. Maybe we’re hitting him too much.”
“Maybe.”
“Well, we’ll let him rejuvenate today.”
“That’s a good idea. Plus, you know, we may not need him after tomorrow. Especially if we’re able to get those antibiotics.”
“Can we get them that fast?” Lars asked.
“My plan requires two trips. One to get the order placed, the other to pick it up. Tops three days.”
“Still in our safety frame. That would be fantastic. Have you given any thought as to how you are going to carry ten thousand pills through the quantum machine?”
“Yes.” Dean smiled. “I’ll explain it all after it gets approved. I have to get there and I want to stop and talk to El.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.” With a sweep of his hands, Dean grabbed folders from the counter and quickly left the lab. He didn’t have much time. He got caught up in the lab after he saw her. Dean picked up his pace and hurried up the stairs. Blasting through the doors, he turned to bend toward the wing that at one time was supposed to be a maternity ward. Somehow, Beginnings never needed more than they had on the first floor. The second floor was rarely used. He saw Roy at a nurse’s station. Dean thought it was odd that he’d be there. Considering there were no nurses or patients up there. Passing him, he waved.
“Dean,” Roy called to him.
Dean spun, walking backwards. “I want to see El. Can we talk later?”
“Actually...”
“Thanks.” Dean turned around again and headed to the sealed off section. He hadn’t been up there since they started rapid construction. In twenty four hours, they had taken the glass lab wall from the trailer lab and fitted it to block off the hallway. He nodded impressed at the new secure door and how fast Danny and Jimmy had installed it.
The Strain Page 8
