The Life Beyond

by Susanne Winnacker

  Mr. Bender touched his son’s shoulder. “I can’t. It’ll be difficult enough to get you out of here unnoticed as it is. But getting the cure; that will be close to impossible. I won’t risk your safety like that.”

  “That’s not your call to make,” Joshua said. “I’ve been fighting Weepers for two years without you. I don’t need your protection now.”

  “I understand your anger,” Joshua’s dad said, removing his hand. “After everything you’ve gone through.”

  “After everything I’ve gone through, you owe me.”.

  “You’re my son, Joshua, and I love you but —”

  “We won’t leave without the cure.”

  Joshua pushed Tyler’s legs off the table. His eyes were open but his head still lolled to the side.

  “Joshua, if there was anything I could do to help you, to make you forgive me —”

  Joshua’s expression was like ice. “Maybe you should ask Mom what it would take to make her forgive you. Or maybe Zoe.”

  “Josh, please.” The man looked like he’d been punched

  Joshua stalked toward his father. They were exactly the same height. “Hell will freeze over before I’ll forgive you for what you’ve done. I wish you were dead and not Mom.”

  “So do I.”

  A hint of guilt flashed across Joshua’s face but it disappeared as fast as it had come. “Tell us where to find the cure. I’m sure they’ll miss these guys soon.” He nodded toward the bodies of the scientists.

  “We have to hide them before someone sees them,” Mr. Bender said.

  “Won’t they get suspicious if they see the blood on the floor and wall?”

  Mr. Bender scanned the floors and walls sprinkled with red blotches. “No. It’s not unusual for the labs to be full of blood.”

  I shuddered.

  Joshua and his father dragged the bodies into a storage room. I felt a twinge of remorse over their death. “But won’t they suspect you killed them?”

  His father hesitated, his eyes darting around their sockets. “I’ll tell them it was you. There’s no other way.”

  Joshua stared at his bare feet, tracing a line with his toes on the floor. “Will … will I see you again? After this?”

  Mr. Bender looked surprised but then his expression turned guilty. “I — I don’t know. Please understand that I thought I’d lost you forever. It’s been more than three years. I had to find a way to move on.”

  He looked like he didn’t know how to say the next words. “I married a year ago. We’re expecting a child.”

  Joshua’s face hardened.

  “I’m sorry.” Mr. Bender reached out for him, but he stepped back.

  A mask of ice seemed to slide over Joshua’s face. “Just get us to the cure,” he said, as he avoided looking at his dad.

  “They store it in the basement on floor - 4. There’s a retina check at the door to the storage room and you’ll need to enter a password.”

  “Aren’t you allowed to enter?”

  “I am, but there are cameras. If they see me with you, they’ll know I helped you.”

  “I see,” Joshua said, blades of steel cutting through his voice. “How can we get past it?”

  “The scientists on that floor are allowed to enter. Use one of their retinas to get past the check.”

  Use one of their retinas? The thought of what that might mean made me sick to my stomach.

  Mr. Bender grabbed a pen and paper. “This is the password,” he said, writing it down. “When you’re inside the lab, you have to make sure that no one triggers the alarm.” He paced around, frowning. “There’s only one exit that isn’t manned by security.” He nodded, lost in his own thoughts. “Destroy the security cameras. Then take the elevator and go down two floors. That’s where the E.M.’s are kept.”

  “E.M.’s?” I asked.

  “Enhanced Mutants.”

  Joshua shook his head in disbelief. “Weepers? We saw the collars. You use them.”

  His dad hesitated. “Yes. They are part of a Weeper army program we’ve been working on for years.”

  “Years?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  I felt like someone was squeezing all the air out of me. The government were behind everything.

  Mr. Bender went on. “The security guards won’t think you’re down there. They’ll assume you’ve used the air shafts to get out. They might summon the E.M.’s - Weepers - to help with the search. But you should be gone by then. Once you’re on floor – 6, you need to cross the floor to get into the goods lift. It’ll take you up and outside.”

  “And how are we supposed to survive a floor full of Weepers? They’ll attack us,” Joshua said.

  “They’re held in cages and only released when they’re needed.”

  “Why don’t you use the cure to help people on our side of the fence? You could heal the people infected with the virus,” I said.

  Mr. Bender sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Shame and exasperation were written across his face. “It’s expensive to produce and our government isn’t really interested in investing in wasteland. Most of our resources go into army building and our wars. It’s just the way it is.” After a moment, he added. “I’m not sure if the cure would take effect on subjects that have been infected for a while anyway. We’ve tested it on subjects that had been infected hours or days ago, and it didn’t have the same impact on everyone. A few died and others turned anyway but with recently turned mutants our success quote is 80 percent.”

  “How recent?” I asked, my mind on Dad.

  “Six to eight days since signs of the first symptoms.” He paused. “Why … is Zoe …”

  “It’s too late for that,” Joshua said.

  His father hung his head, took a slow, deep breath. “This is your only choice if you want to get the cure. I wish I could get you into that lab but I can’t.”

  “Don’t lie. You could but you don’t want to. You choose your new family, I get that.” Joshua’s voice was bitter.

  Mr. Bender put a hand on his son’s shoulder. He didn’t shake it off. “I don’t —” he stopped himself. “I’ll try to distract them with false alarms. That’s all I can do.”

  On the other side of the room I could see that Tyler was starting to look better. His eyes were open and he could stand on his own.

  Mr. Bender went on. “You’ll have to steal one of the military cars. We are not allowed our own vehicles.” He unlocked a drawer in the lab and pulled out a key. This should work on any of the SUVs.”

  “They’ll know you helped us,” Joshua said.

  “They won’t suspect me. I’ve never given them reason to doubt my loyalty.”

  “I bet you haven’t.”

  Joshua turned away from his dad then and took my hand. His palms were clammy. “What do you think?”

  This plan was insane, suicidal even, but we had no choice. “We’ll do it. We have to.”

  “Maybe I should get the cure on my own,” Joshua said.

  “No. We go together,” I said.

  I looked over at Tyler, who gave me a silent but firm nod.

  Joshua gave us both a sad smile before he turned to his father. “How can you live with yourself? Have you never thought about doing something against this government and stop what’s happening?”

  “That isn’t as easy as you might think.” He walked up to the drawer he’d taken the gun from and pulled out more weapons. He handed them to Joshua, Tyler and me.

  “I want tranquilizer guns as well,” I said. I didn’t want to use real bullets on humans.

  He took three more guns from another drawer. “These are much stronger than the tranquilizer they used on you. They’re meant to be used on Weepers.”

  I put the tranquilizer gun and the other one into the holster Joshua’s dad handed to me.

  Joshua grabbed a sweatshirt that was draped over one of the desk chairs.

  His dad handed us our dirty and bloodied sneakers and the backpack with our camera.
We pulled our shoes on. Tyler had to steady himself on the wall but at least his face wasn’t ashen anymore. I could only hope that he was strong enough for our plan.

  Mr. Bender led us to the door and then indicated for us to stop. He unplugged the camera above us. Outside, the hall led straight to an elevator.

  He pressed the button and the metal doors slid open. I stepped inside. Mr. Bender touched Joshua’s shoulder. “I know you can’t forgive me. Just know that I love you.”

  Joshua gave a nod. He moved inside beside me and Tyler. His face was hard as he clasped my hand and pressed the button saying - 4.

  Mr. Bender turned to me. “Look after him.”

  Despite myself, I couldn’t help but feel a sliver of pity for him, and a strange kind of gratitude. Whatever else he had done in the past, he had helped us today.

  Every muscle in my body began to quiver with anxiety as the elevator doors closed. This plan was crazy. But maybe we could succeed.

  Yeah, right, I thought. You just have to get into a room with a retina check, past armed guards, security cameras and through a hall filled with Weepers.

  We were as good as dead.

  Mom sat at the desk in her study, bent over her laptop. Her fingers flew over the keyboard. Tap. Tap. Tap tap.

  “What are you working on?” I asked, leaning against the doorframe. But it wasn’t the real question I came to ask.

  She glanced up from the screen, concentration written across her face. “Just an article about the waste of food in our society. The editor called me this morning to tell me that they want it to appear in tomorrow’s edition.”

  “Oh.” I took a step back. “So you’re busy.”

  Mom smiled and shut her laptop. “Spill.”

  I walked up to her and perched on the edge of the desk. “How did you know you were in love with Dad?”

  Her eyes widened, then a look of understanding took over. “Well, it took a while. He was a bit of a jerk when were young. But one day, we’d been dating for a few months, I realized I wanted to spend my life with him.”

  I nodded but that reply didn’t really help me with my feelings.

  “Who is it?” Mom asked. “You like someone, don’t you?”

  I blushed. “His name is Alex. Izzie says I’m in love with him. But I always act like an idiot when he’s around.”

  “I’m sure you don’t. And don’t worry about it just yet. You’ve got years to figure out what love is.”

  Somehow her words made me feel better, though I still didn’t know how to act around Alex.

  “Let’s have an Oreo milkshake.” She rose from her chair and pulled me from her desk. Smiling, I followed her into the kitchen.

  Chapter 11

  The little button blinked, announcing we’d arrived on the right floor. We were dozens of feet below the surface. Trapped. My hand with the tranquilizer gun was slippery with sweat.

  The metal doors slid open to reveal another long white corridor. At the end of the hall was a steel door and in front of it were two soldiers with machine guns. They looked up.

  For a moment we just stared at each other, then they raised their weapons.

  Joshua, Tyler and I fired. The tranquilizer darts whizzed through the air and hit one of the soldiers in the neck and the other in the chest. Shock registered on their faces but the emotion quickly disappeared and their bodies went slack. Mr. Bender hadn’t been kidding when he’d said those darts were strong.

  We rushed toward the motionless guards. Tyler and I bent down to check for their pulse while Joshua smashed the cameras.

  Then he punched the open button and the metal door slid apart. Five scientists were working in different areas, immersed in their work. They didn’t even look up as we entered. Cages lined the right side. Most of them were filled with Weepers. Some of them looked like they were children. They didn’t snarl or growl. They were apathetic, their milky eyes unfocused and empty.

  Joshua’s body was coiled to fight. “Ready?”

  I nodded and raised the tranquilizer gun at the same time as Joshua did. I fired quickly and the dart fizzled through the air. One of the scientists went down. The others realized what was going on and they scuttled through the room like scared chickens. I pushed another dart into the gun and aimed at the next scientist. My hands shook. I had to hit them. Tyler’s aim was off. He still hadn’t recovered from the tranquilizer.

  I shot and missed. I fumbled another dart into the gun. This time my dart plunged into the back of a man. He crashed to the ground.

  Joshua ran through the room, weaving through shelves and lab tables. The last scientist scrambled toward a desk with a red alarm button.

  My heart pounded in my chest. Joshua flung himself over a desk and grabbed the man’s arm. He lashed out but Joshua twisted his arm and threw him face-first onto the ground. The man groaned and went still.

  I stumbled toward them, Tyler behind me. “Is he okay?”

  Joshua looked up, not releasing his grip on the man. He knelt on the man’s back to keep him in place. Slowly he let up and the man turned his head to the side, revealing a bloody nose and panicked eyes. “Don’t kill me!”

  Joshua twisted his arm further. “Did your victims plead with you? Did you spare them? Look at them!” He lifted the man so he could see the cages with the Weepers. “Did they ask you to spare them?”

  The man hung limply in Joshua’s grip, too scared to move. “It — it’s my job. I’m serving my country.”

  Joshua thrust him forward. “Bullshit!”

  I put my hand on his shoulder. Joshua’s eyes flashed up to mine and the anger left. “Come on. We have to hurry,” I said.

  He nodded and got up, pulling the man to his feet. He and Tyler dragged him toward the door marked “restricted access”. Beside it was a small keypad and square display with a blinking red light.

  The man laughed. “They’ll notice you and be here in a few minutes, then you’ll end up in one of the cages.”

  Joshua opened the keypad.

  “I won’t give you the password,” the man said.

  Joshua ignored him and handed me the paper with the code. I punched the numbers into the keypad, holding my breath. It blinked green and the display flashed to life. “Retina check” it announced. The man squirmed in Joshua’s grip.

  I could hear a commotion in the corridor leading into the lab.

  “No,” protested the man.

  “Then you leave me no choice,” said Joshua, ramming a dart into the man’s arm. He went slack.

  “Help me. Open his eyes.” He lifted the man until his face was right in front of the display. I pulled back the man’s eyelid. The red light pointed straight at his retina. Soldiers burst into the room just as the door opened. We dashed into the lab.

  The door closed behind us. Joshua stormed toward a freezer unit. He ripped it open and started stuffing vials into the backpack that Tyler was holding.

  “Don’t break them,” I warned, keeping my eyes on the door.

  “Done!” Joshua said. He grabbed my hand and we ran toward the elevator at the end of the room. I hit the button and we half fell into the small space.

  Relieved, I leaned against the cold wall while the elevator descended to -6. A glaring red plate with “danger” on it marked that floor. The alarm started blaring. I exchanged panicked glances with Tyler and Joshua.

  The elevator stopped. Everything went still.

  The doors gave way to a dimly lit hall. A wave of rot, excrement and wet dog smell hit us. I was catapulted back in time to the building in the harbour when we’d found my dad. But this was ten times worse.

  I pressed close to the wall and started shaking. I could not – would not enter that hall. The doors began to close again. Joshua’s foot shot out, stopping them.

  “Sherry, let’s go.”

  He tightened his hold on my hand and pulled me into the room. There were no windows. Rows over rows of long cages filled the room. Hundreds of Weepers stood around, filling almost ever
y inch of the area. The elevator shut behind us, taking the light with it.

  A red glow filled the room. It came from the collars around their necks. A single command from the military and the Weepers would attack us.

  My body felt paralyzed. Only a few feet from us stood Weepers. They didn’t move, just breathed in and out, their putrid breath filling the air and clogging my nose. They were behind bars but the aisles between the cages were narrow, maybe a metre wide. They were watching us. Every pair of eyes in the hall – hundreds of them – followed our movements. I could feel it. Tyler slung the backpack over his shoulder. “Slowly. No sudden movements.”

  I glanced at the cages - electronic locks kept them shut – before I nodded and clutched my gun, my knuckles hurting from the pressure. They’re behind bars, you’re safe, I repeated over and over to myself.

  Step by step we moved closer to the cages filled with Weepers. Every fibre in my body screamed at me to stop and the thud-thud of my pulse hammered in my ears.

  The Weepers stood so close to each other that they hadn’t any room to move in the cages. One at the front watched me hungrily and let out a whine. Joshua moved past me and walked into the alley between two of the long cages. I looked at the Weeper again. It stared right back. Milky liquid poured out of its tearducts, glowing red in the light of the collar, and trailed over its hairy cheeks. It didn’t blink, just looked and then it sniffed.

  And one after the other, the Weepers started sniffing the air, their breathing growing faster.

  Joshua took my hand. “Hurry.”

  Some leaned forward to take sniffs. Their faces were so close, their noses pressed between the bars. They salivated and when they snorted and whined and sniffed some of their drool got on my face and arms. I bumped against the bars twice and they yowled excitedly. I bit down on my lip to stop myself from crying.

  Their sniffing grew more frenzied the closer we got to the goods elevator. Their bodies heaved with every pant.

  A beeping sounded in the hall. Some of the collars on the Weepers began blinking.