by Jack Wallen
The doctor’s reaction shortened my spine an inch or two. Hearing a man of his status state that something could not be really only happened in fiction. Right? Shit.
“What can’t be?” I grabbed Godwin’s arm and shook him back to reality.
“This.” He held out his hand and caught a flake. “This means the effects of the device went well beyond my original calculations. Fascinating.”
My patience with the doctor was quickly wearing thin. “I don’t understand.”
“This…” Dr. Godwin gestured widely, “is global.”
The meaning of his words struck me like a grand piano thrown by the Hulk.
“I don’t understand how this could have happened. I ran the simulations over and over, and each time the results were contained within Munich.” The doctor began wandering around, mumbling under his breath.
I wasn’t quite sure I understood how the falling ash had the doctor convinced the effects of his genocide machine were global. When I asked him, the look on his face made me want to vomit, even before he spoke.
“This is not ash.” Godwin’s eyes were red and wet with tears.
“Do you know the primary content of common dust?” Before I could proffer an answer, the doctor continued, “Human skin. Dander. One of the secondary effects of this machine was that the outer layers of the skin on the human body are instantly seared off. Simultaneously, the blood vessels are cauterized, which is why the bodies you have seen appear so pale, and the skin seems so thin.” The doctor stared around with some kind of sickening pride at his accomplishment.
“But…skin…dust…” I was unable to piece two and two together because my brain was misfiring behind the idea of human skin falling from the sky. I began to seriously doubt my own sanity. And, my eye was still twitching. I needed the comfort of a warm, padded cell before I hurt myself.
“My friend…” The doctor was most likely sensing my ensuing insanity so he placed a caring hand on my shoulder. “If the effects were isolated to this one city, the dust would have stopped falling by now. It is global. What you are seeing is the result of the global population’s epidermis turned to dust.”
The doctor’s bedside manner sucked! His words had the complete opposite effect of his calming hand. So much for my avoiding a permanent stay in that cozy, padded room.
So the city was effectively covered in human skin. A silence lofted between us, while the doctor’s gentle hand remain on my shoulder. The silence spoke volumes I thought would never be voiced―of fear, of abandonment, of grief, of hopelessness.
“Who is behind the machine that did this?” Amid the horror of what I had just learned, I had forgotten the intent of the machine. And, of course, Godwin didn’t, or wouldn’t, answer. “I asked you a question…who―?”
“I heard you the first time. I was debating whether or not I should tell you.” Godwin wore a stern expression.
“Considering the circumstances―”
Without warning, I suffered another one of my blackouts.
When I came to, which must have been almost immediately, just like the previous time, I heard Susan and Godwin talking. I decided to play possum for a bit in hopes of finding out more information.
“Jacob, what’s wrong?”
“Susan, get my bag.”
“What?”
“Get my bag. I’m going to give him something that might help.”
“Doctor, what are you giving him? What’s in that needle?”
At that point, I almost gave myself away; I certainly didn’t want the mad doctor pumping me full of God-knows-what.
But then he said, “It is just a mild painkiller. I could tell before he passed out that he had a pretty bad headache. I imagine it got the best of him. This is just a small dose of Darvocet.”
I felt like yet another piano hit me, only this time the ivories had been dropped from a plane. I was thankful for the medicine. The pain of whatever was happening to me was unbearable. I wasn’t sure if I was suffering some mental breakdown brought on by the apocalypse or if I had some strange infection coursing through my blood. Chances were, it was the former. The human mind was only able to endure so much, after all. As the medicine kicked in, my ears perked up when Susan said, “Do you think what he’s going through is relevant to the device?”
“I cannot say for certain. I have no idea what his medical history is. But my instincts would say no.”
“He seems so peaceful now.”
“That would be the Darvocet.”
“How long will he be out?”
“I am not certain. The Darvocet will not prolong it, though. He will awaken when he overcomes whatever caused him to lose consciousness.”
“Are you going to tell him what happened? Are you going to tell him everything?”
“If I am to gain his trust, I will have to at least tell him about the sedation. I cannot tell him everything. Not yet. Here, help me get him back inside the building. It is not safe outside. We will carry him back to the stage.”
“Do you really think the effects of the device could have reached beyond this country?”
“Susan, we were dealing with forces we did not fully understand. I had only recently developed the means to initiate the reaction.”
“What do you mean?”
“The government was certain they had conclusive intelligence the Germans had been conducting nuclear tests with intent to target the United States. There was fear that time was not on our side.”
“What are you saying?”
“I had no choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
“Not this time.”
After a few minutes of silence, I decided to let the good doctor know I was awake and listening. I opened my eyes, but I didn’t attempt to sit up in case I began feeling dizzy again. “Hey, Doc, thanks for the Darvocet.”
Godwin’s eyes were round as saucers. “You heard…?”
“Yes, every word. So, you think you might want to tell me what’s going on?” My voice was harsh and hoarse. A tiny fragment of me wanted to ask for another, stronger hit of the Darvocet, but I couldn’t; I needed a clear head.
“All I can tell you is that my device was meant to stop a serious threat to the safety and security of the planet.” The doctor spoke nervously.
“Looks like it did a bang-up job,” I said without holding back on the sarcasm.
“We had no idea this would happen.”
“Who’s we?” I tried to stand to lend strength to my question, but my plan backfired when my legs gave out and dropped me back to the floor.
“Susan, get Jacob some water. Can you sit up again, Jacob? And do me a favor, sweet girl, retrieve my research. It’s in that bag over there.”
The doctor then explained that it was complicated, but his project had been funded by the United States government. Par for the course for a governing body that didn’t seem to remember that its sole purpose was to care for, and protect, its people.
God, this was a mess. I leaned back against a wall to rest my head and neck. My eyes were pounding. I felt dehydrated.
“I need more water.”
The doctor handed me a bottle that Susan had brought over.
“I have to say, I’m a bit reluctant to accept a drink from a man who may have single-handedly wiped out the world’s population. And, if I may add, caused it to snow human skin. That, sir, places you on a plane of reality I like to think reserved for the likes of Hitler.” I had meant to hold back the Hitler reference, but there it was.
“Ah yes, I was waiting for the comparison. But do you not think a better analogy to be Oppenheimer?” Godwin said simply.
“Why did you do it? Was it for money? Fame? Power?”
“When I lost my wife, I was left with only my darling child. From the moment she was born, she offered me a daily reminder of how much I adored and missed my wife. Susan is a bright, loving, beautiful girl, and I would never allow any harm to come to her.”
Something was
amiss here. It was very obvious the doctor was trying to tell me that someone had threatened Susan’s life if he hadn’t created the device. But according to Susan, there were two daughters. Why did he fail to mention the sister? I decided to keep that little nugget tucked safely in the back of my brain for later use.
Godwin continued, “I was close to solving one of the greatest medical mysteries in the history of man, and they knew it. I was months away from finally discovering the cause of and cure for cancer. But this project was far more critical, I was told. After enough threats had been made, I agreed. I was assured that when this project was completed, I would be brought back to the States, and my research would continue as if never interrupted.”
The cure for cancer. I wasn’t sure if I should believe that or not. The ironic twist of the situation was, had the disaster not occurred, I would have been begging this man for an interview. His story was the stuff of Pulitzers. But now, I had to ask if there was even a need for a cure for cancer, or any other disease that had plagued the people of this planet. Cancer, HIV, H1N1, none were a concern at the moment. There seemed to be a new plague in town, and it was all one man’s doing.
Before the doctor could continue, Susan returned.
“I couldn’t find it,” she said with a tone giving away the fear her father would be disappointed.
“Oh my, would you look at this. It seems I have done it again. In my haste I must have placed my research in my own pack. I am very sorry.” The doctor stood and wrapped his arms around Susan. The moment was touching, what with the father choking back tears of shame so his daughter might remain oblivious to his crimes. But from my perspective, there was another layer of shame that the man had zero concern for his other daughter, who was now deceased, but he didn’t know because he hadn’t even bothered to ask about her.
Interesting. Very interesting.
Even with the touching family moment, I still wanted to rip the man’s throat out from between his head and his shoulders for handing the world its untimely demise.
“So Doc, what do you suggest we do? There are three of us and who knows how many of them.” To give credence to them, I gestured to the many dead bodies lying around. “Any grand ideas? I’d love to hear them.” My sarcasm was less than subtle.
“Our phones!” Susan squealed with misplaced glee. “That’s how Jacob and I found one another. If there are other survivors, we could locate them as well.”
Susan wasted no time in pulling out her smartphone. She was right, of course. It seemed amid all the calamity, I kept forgetting the one item of modern culture that could save us. Even though destruction rained down upon the planet, the satellites were still humming in the sky. Susan was right on another level. Our current situation did lend itself perfectly to the old adage “Safety in numbers.”
Of course I, being the consummate spoilsport, had to remind everyone involved that the more we had in our party the more noise our party would make, which exponentially raised the chance the undead would hear us. We had to be as silent as possible, for as long as possible. When I brought that up, the doctor and Susan stared at me as if I had just denounced all of humanity as a worthless cause. It was the doctor who finally broke the spell my mutated face had on them.
“We cannot ignore the fact that there may very well be other survivors. It would be barbaric to turn a blind eye to those who are in need of help.”
I hoped the father-daughter team could see the look on my face change to disbelief. “Did I miss something here? Was there an epiphany that I wasn’t privy to? Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t you the man who wrought this chaos and death upon the planet in the first place? Now you want to atone by searching for survivors with a micro-blogging application on a smartphone? Really?”
The three of us stood in silence for a moment. “Did the words that just spilled from my lips sound as insane to you as they did to me?” I was obviously digging a hole for myself, and that hole just kept getting deeper and deeper. But that was my nature.
His eyes burned twin holes past my eyes and into my brain. Godwin took two steps toward me. “I did what I did to save the only thing of meaning I had left on this earth. Begrudge me for what I did, but know that I would have done anything to stop it―anything but lose the last remaining family I had.” The doctor’s voice was a blistering whisper that seared the skin on my face.
I’ve had opinions change quickly before―turn on a dime, as it were―but never had I had one so powerful change so fast. Dr. Godwin’s words melted any remaining anger and doubt. I could finally see the truth in his eyes. The man was just as lost as I, the only difference being that he had created the cause. But now, looking into the innocent eyes of his daughter, I understood why someone would go to such lengths.
Instead of replying, I pulled out my trusty phone and fired up my Twitter client. Figuring we’d better start small, I set the radius for five miles. A list of those with the same idea quickly popped up on my phone. The posts were reminiscent of those I saw the first time I had the idea, only this time it took more than a minute to find our first destination.
“There’s someone in a bus depot only a few blocks away. They’re alive and in trouble.” My words came out more command than information.
“Sounds like a logical place to start,” the doctor agreed as he picked up his pack. “There is, however, a pit-stop I believe we should make.”
I started to protest, but the doctor silenced me with a raised hand and a calm tone. “We would serve our wards far better if we were armed, yes?”
“That would be grand, Doctor, but how do you propose we arm ourselves? Do you have a small stockpile of weapons you’re not telling us about?”
“My boy, think about where you are and what was happening before this… event. Do you think security would have been ramped up just a bit, given the nature of this little unveiling?” The doctor winked and smiled as he finished his last syllable.
When I finally took the time to actually look around me, I saw the bodies of numerous security and military types littered around the room. All of them were armed. Pistols, semi-automatics, machine guns―we could take our pick.
“Have you ever fired a weapon?” The gentleness of Godwin’s voice betrayed the subject matter.
“Once or twice.” There was no need to mention the earlier shooting, at least, no need that I could see. The weapon used in said shooting was hidden away and would remain so―my little personal security blanket. Even though I felt a lot more confident in Doctor Godwin’s motives, just how far could I really trust a man that had brought the entire world to its knees? Since there was no immediate answer to that question, I felt the need for a secreted weapon within reach.
“Take your pick.” The doctor went straight for an MP who had been holding what looked like a full-blown machine gun. The weapon looked far more dangerous up close and personal than it ever did in the movies. I had a pit developing in my stomach, begging me not to further arm myself. I denied it life as I reached for a weapon that was far less menacing than the army-issue death rattler. A pistol shot one bullet at a time, so there was far less chance of my making a fatal mistake.
I noticed Lindsay tucking a pistol into the back of his belt for good measure. Keeping up with the Joneses, I complied with the same action.
The doc marched over with an odd twinkle in his eye and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Now I feel we are ready to march into the heart of whatever darkness lies beyond the vale.”
I got the reference. I hated that I got the reference. The fear building in my gut attempted to glue my feet to the floor. The doctor, however, had something to say about that.
“Shall we, then?” His step was almost merry, as if he was heading off on a fox hunt or to see his own personal Wizard of Oz.
I glanced at Susan, who must have been staring at me for some time. The look in her eyes gave me the feeling there was something going unsaid. I made a mental note to pry at a more convenient time. Now, however, we’d been
given our marching orders. So…on we went.
Chapter 9: Search and rescue
The sky had turned an even grimmer shade of gray. I wasn’t sure if the cause was more ash or a setting sun, or both. It didn’t really matter which was the cause. What did matter was that the darkening sky made me realize just how dangerous the situation was. I debated bringing up the issue to my fellow survivors, but chose to remain silent. The last thing we needed was yet another layer of fear in this seven-layer terror dip.
We walked in silence, which was only compounded by the soundless blanket of night consuming the city. I had expected to be welcomed back to the streets by a chorus of riots. Instead, we were greeted with emptiness that whispered ‘You are alone.’ Of course, I knew that wasn’t the case. Somewhere, out in the gloom, awaited countless undead monsters just waiting to tear into us.
I felt alone.
I felt fear.
I felt empty.
And I felt cold. Not just the cold from a whipping German November; this was an absolute cold found only in the dread of horror. But it wasn’t the horror of Hollywood or the ‘in space, no one can hear you scream’ kind of horror. It was real horror, the kind that sapped your resolve and revoked your faith.
I wasn’t speaking in metaphors. I was shivering from a cold that sprang from deep within. And along with that core of cold, I was sweating as if I’d been running full steam through the heart of an African jungle. I blessed those rains. God, I blessed those rains.
My phone buzzed in my pocket causing my heart to do a pole vault out of my chest. Assuming impatience had gripped our target by the throat, I pulled out the phone.
BN> cant hold them off much longer. moans all around.
I assumed the typo referred to ‘moaners.’
“Fuck, I think they’re in trouble.” There was no containing the new fear-cum-empathy that had gripped my heart.
“What is happening?” Dr. Godwin asked.
