The Enoch Plague (The Enoch Pill Book 2)

by Matthew William

  “Any other guy in my situation would have done the same thing as me,” Leo said, leaning forward and knocking his knuckles on the table.

  “And any other guy would still have to face the consequences,” Cole said. “We’ll put it to a vote. All in favor of Officer Cartwright’s execution?”

  “Woah, woah, woah!” Leo shouted. He hadn’t expected the conversation to get that serious that quick. “Just hold on a second. You can’t do this.”

  “Yes we can and we are,” Cole said. “All in favor?”

  Dr. Patel and the two new Committee members raised their hands. Three votes out of five. Leo wasn’t about to wait and see how many votes were needed to pass the motion.

  “Josephine’s worked out a cure,” Leo blurted out.

  Dr. Patel dropped his hand in shock. Officer McGrady and Steven kept theirs raised. Patel glared at them and they dropped theirs as well.

  “How close to a cure is she?” Patel asked.

  Leo let out a big sigh of relief and took the pill bottle from his pocket with a shaky hand and set it on the table. It sat there like a glorious beacon of freedom.

  “Are those them?” Patel asked.

  Leo nodded nervously.

  “You can’t be serious about this?” Cole asked.

  “How long before they can be mass produced?” Patel asked.

  “Once we know they won’t kill us,” Leo said. “And one month will tell us that. We just need more guinea pigs.”

  “This really has no bearing on the subject at hand...” Cole tried to interject.

  “You’ve taken them?” Patel asked Leo.

  “Yep,” said Leo, relieved he had gotten Patel back on his side. “Just one, but that’s all you need. Hey Tommy come in here!”

  Deputy Henderson opened the door.

  “Here Tommy try one of these out,” Leo said, as he emptied the bottle into his palm.

  “Don’t touch them Deputy Henderson,” Patel said. “One guinea pig is all we need.”

  “Isn’t anyone else going to take them?” Leo asked, showing the pills in his hand.

  “I’ve always had a healthy respect for medicine, Officer Cartwright,” said Patel. “That’s why I’m still alive. We’ll run a diagnostic on them at the hospital and we’ll wait and see what affects they have on you.”

  “But Josephine said she needed more guinea pigs.”

  “One’s enough for now.”

  “The supply of the old pill will run out if we don’t make the change.”

  “We found Morrigan’s stash,” Patel said. “That will last us years once the supply runs out.”

  “All this should have no bearing on the outcome of the vote,” Cole said.

  “You can’t execute a test subject,” Patel said. “I won’t allow it.”

  “What about after the testing period?” Cole asked.

  “The Committee hasn’t passed a vote,” Patel answered sternly.

  “So we’re voting again?” Cole asked clapping his hands together.

  Patel looked to the other members. They all nodded in agreement.

  “Alright then,” Cole said. “All those in favor of executing Officer Cartwright for his crimes against the state? After the 30 days of testing, of course.”

  “Make it 60 days,” Patel added.

  “Fine after 60 days,” Cole said.

  Steven the artist and Officer McGrady raised their hands.

  “I’d rather not vote,” Patel said sheepishly.

  “Fine,” Cole said, putting two marks down on a paper. “Those opposed?”

  Leo and Henry raised their hands.

  “Motion passed,” Cole said, marking his paper.

  “It was split!” Leo shouted.

  “A Committee member has already established fifty percent as a majority.”

  “Wait you can’t do this!” Leo objected.

  “Hold on,” Henry yelled at the same time.

  “Tommy, I believe you’re next in line to be police chief,” Andre Cole said, gathering up his papers. “Please take Officer Cartwright into custody.”

  Leo thought for a second. Technically he was right, Tommy was next in command. But Tommy just stood there with his eyes bulging from his head.

  “I’m sorry I can’t do that,” he finally said.

  That a boy Tommy, Leo thought.

  “That’s what I thought would happen,” Cole said, he turned to the new recruit from the academy. “Officer McGrady you’ve been promoted to chief of police for Yanloo City. Take Mr. Cartwright into custody and assign Deputy Henderson to paperwork.”

  There was a single moment, where Leo realized that he was about to be incarcerated and he had to get Tommy’s attention and tell him to let Josephine know what had happened. But Tommy was quickly escorted from the room by two officers summoned in by McGrady.

  Leo shouted. “Tommy! Tell Josephine.”

  But Tommy didn’t hear and Leo was left without hope. He didn’t notice the crow that was sitting outside on a power line, watching the whole scene go down.

  Leo realized taking the pill he thought would kill him wound up being the only thing that saved him.

  Three days later Leo was in his jail cell doing pushups. He had taken up the habit of doing 300 every day to pass the time. They had given him food, but no Enoch Pills for the previous three days, and here he was on the dawn of the fourth day, still alive. He officially didn’t need to take the Enoch Pill anymore. The only question remaining was whether or not he would live forever and whether or not he could use his pickle without killing himself. He didn’t feel any different. He had had a terrible headache for the first three days, which was to be expected; his entire body chemistry was being transformed, after all. A mere headache seemed like a pretty easy tradeoff.

  He had 57 more days until his execution.

  One morning he noticed some crows gathered on a power cable outside his window. For a brief second he thought it was Father Morrigan spying on him. But now those crows were simply freaks without a master.

  On the dawn of the 60th day his prison guards let him pick whatever he wanted to have for breakfast. He chose pizza because it was his last day on earth. His usefulness to Patel and to science had run its course. He thought about Josephine and wondered what she was doing at that very moment. He wondered what she imagined he was up to. Whatever it was, it had to be better than having pizza for breakfast.

  It didn’t seem fair, to wait 18 years and only get to see her once for 5 minutes before being executed. 18 years. Had it all been a waste? No, he couldn’t call it a waste, not a complete one anyway. He would have waited regardless. And can you ever say that any length of life, no matter how brief, is a waste? He’d cease to exist by the end of the day anyway.

  Back before the pill, with death looming inevitably in every man’s future no matter what you did or tried, eventually death would come. And whatever a man managed to do with his life would eventually be undone. Seemed awfully like a waste from that point of view.

  At least Leo had something to live for over the past 18 years. His life had meant something. He was waiting for her.

  He had purpose with his science experiments, although nothing much had come out of them. He had mostly killed the crows, made them depressed, impotent, or albino. It was a mess.

  He thought back to the most memorable of them all. That white freak of nature that had escaped from his apartment. He wondered if it was still alive and well somewhere out there. He really hoped not. It would be pretty pathetic if that son of a bitch outlived him.

  The prison guards came to let him out of his cell to have one last smoke, but they forgot to bring the cigarettes with them. So Leo just walked around the prison courtyard kicking pebbles. Finally, he was taken to the concert hall in a police car to be executed in front of a crowd. That was Andre Cole’s idea. Since the public outrage was so intense over the Banshee case, this would hopefully appease the masses.

  Well, this sucks, Leo thought, driving through the stree
ts of the city he had gotten to know so well. The bars where he had stopped fights, the traffic he had directed and the street corners where he gave advice to the kids he watched grow up. Finally, the car pulled up behind the concert hall and he was brought backstage.

  There was a full house out on the other side of the curtain, a riled up crowd, Leo could tell. They were about to be shown a lesson. Don’t kill anyone or we’ll kill you. He wondered how much the tickets went for. Backstage, behind the curtain sat a wooden gallows. Patel and Tommy Henderson stood beside the platform. Andre Cole was nowhere to be seen. Patel made eye contact with Leo. There was a sad look in his eyes. Was he sad because Leo was about to die, or because he had put himself in this situation?

  “Where’s Cole?” Leo asked Patel as he was brought up the wooden stairs to the top of the gallows.

  “Home sick,” Patel said.

  “Too bad,” Leo said. “Would have liked to punch the guy in the dick before I went.”

  A makeup artist came and powdered everyone’s nose. Leo was amused that they would bother making him look good before killing him.

  They were put into position on the platform and the curtain was raised. The lights nearly blinded Leo and the crowd cheered. It gave Leo a surge of euphoria. It was one of the proudest moments of his life, a fact that gave him an existential crisis right up there on the stage.

  Patel spoke into the mic, reading from a printed out piece of paper.

  “For crimes against the state including aiding a known fugitive, obstruction of justice, and illegal execution….”

  Leo rolled his eyes. It was all very formal, Patel had no sense of theatrics.

  “… Leo Cartwright is found guilty and to be hung from the neck until dead.”

  “Stop,” came the shout of a woman from the crowd.

  Leo’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull when he saw Josephine standing out there. It was the first time she had been above ground in over 18 years. It was the first time the men in the audience had heard a woman’s voice in just as long. Leo felt worried for her amongst all of those men. But they were just as scared for themselves. They scurried to stay away from her, afraid of smelling or seeing or thinking something that could set them off. The younger ones were afraid of the “mutant” among them.

  Josephine walked through the crowd, parting them like the red sea. Her arms were crossed. She was obviously uncomfortable and the men gave her room like she had the plague.

  “If Leo dies, then the cure dies with him,” she yelled.

  The men began to murmur. “Cure? What cure?” The word bounced around like it was an echo chamber.

  “What are you doing Josephine?” Patel asked through the microphone.

  “If you want a cure...” she looked to the men all around her. “If you all want a cure for your poisoned balls, you’re going to have to negotiate.”

  The men began to grumble, there was a tangible uneasiness in the crowd. Patel must have sensed this. He waved to the security guards and had them bring Josephine backstage.

  “Him too,” Josephine said, pointing up to Leo.

  “Bring him back too,” Patel sighed.

  Two police officers escorted Josephine and Leo into a nearby dressing room. Patel came in holding his clipboard in his crossed arms. Tommy came in behind him.

  “Let’s play ball then,” Patel said. “What’s your plan?”

  “I didn’t want to cause a commotion, but I think something might be wrong with the cure.”

  “He’s fine,” Patel said, pointing to Leo. “We’ve run tests on him.”

  “He’s not the only one who’s had the new cure,” Josephine said.

  “What?” Patel asked, a deathly seriousness in his voice. “Who else has taken the pill?”

  “Well, everyone,” Josephine answered.

  “That’s not good,” Leo said.

  “Shut up Leo,” Patel snapped. “What do you mean everyone?”

  “I mean, I made the change to the pill three days ago.”

  “You what?”

  “I had to. There weren’t enough resources to stretch out the production any further.”

  “We had Father Morrigan’s supply!”

  “Well how was I supposed to know that?” Josephine asked.

  “I can’t believe you made the change without any testing,” Patel said shaking his head. “That’s… just so stupid I’m amazed.”

  “I was able to observe Leo.”

  “How?” asked Patel incredulously.

  “Never mind that,” Josephine said. “What we have on our hands is a potential side-effect-fest of epic proportions. Every man in the city will be affected.”

  “Not me or my staff,” Patel said.

  “Why not?” Josephine asked.

  “We’ve been taking Father Morrigan’s supply,” he said.

  “How many of your staff are there?”

  “There’s three of them,” Patel said.

  “Okay,” Josephine said. “We can rule them out of the testing. Who were the first ones to take the pills released on October 1?”

  “It would have been the police officers guarding the distribution center,” Patel said.

  “Who was there?” Josephine asked Tommy who was checking his records.

  “McGrady was for sure. I don’t know who else.”

  “Then call someone who does,” Patel said. “Someone check on McGrady and see if he’s alright.”

  “What happened to them?” Leo asked Josephine.

  She shot him a look to say shut up.

  Tommy read off the sign-in sheet on his phone. “There were two officers at the center on October 1. So was Andre Cole and two technicians.”

  Josephine nodded. “I need to take all five men down to my lab to take...”

  “Not your lab,” Patel interrupted. “This needs to be carefully monitored. You’ll use the university lab, thank you very much. We’ll take Mr. Cartwright back into custody.”

  “Like hell you will,” Josephine said.

  “Excuse me?” Patel asked.

  “You’re not taking him back,” Josephine said.

  “What do you suggest then?”

  “You acquit him of all charges.”

  “And why exactly would I do that?” Patel asked, shaking his head in confusion.

  “Because I refuse to fix this otherwise.”

  “You’ll refuse to fix the mess you’ve created yourself?” Patel asked.

  “Yes,” Josephine stated.

  “And what if you can’t figure out what’s wrong? Then we’ll be right back where we started, with a killer living amongst us.”

  “If I can’t figure out what’s wrong, that will be the least of your problems.”

  “We release him from prison upon delivery of a working cure,” Patel said, crossing his arms.

  “I need him as my lab assistant.”

  “Seriously?” Patel asked.

  “Yeah, seriously?” Leo added.

  “Shut up Leo,” Josephine said. “He has a knowledge of the compounds.”

  “A crude knowledge at best,” Patel said.

  “But a knowledge none-the-less,” she said. “Bryson, I could easily go out there and tell everybody that you refused to make a deal and now they have an unstable compound in their veins that’s about to blow.”

  “Those men want Leo dead.”

  “If they have to choose between Leo’s life and their own they would gladly let him live.”

  Patel groaned and walked out of the room.

  “That’s his way of saying yes,” Josephine said to Leo.

  “What’s going to happen to everyone?” Leo asked.

  “I don’t know,” Josephine said. “But whatever has happened to those five men will happen to all of them out there.”

  Leo thought back to the maddened crowd just beyond the stage, eagerly awaiting his execution.

  5

  Josephine cradled her backpack in her lap as she rode in the backseat of a cop car to the Unive
rsity Hospital. With her were all her most valuable belongings: a laptop, a code book, a cross USB, some seriously worn out clothes and a two-way radio. She hoped she wouldn’t have to make the call to Kizzy. She wondered where the girl was now and whether or not she was okay.

  “This is your stop Ms. Yanloo,” Tommy Henderson said.

  Josephine stepped from the car and approached the university hospital.

  Two men were guarding the entrance. They saw her coming and purposely stared right past her. There was no need for her to show her credentials.

  In the east wing sat a large laboratory where the five men who had taken the new compound, two police officers, Andre Cole, and two pill-distribution technicians, sat waiting. Each had their own glass-encased room. All five of them had the same flu-like symptoms and all had called in sick earlier that day. They were bedridden, but not seriously ill. They had all unknowingly taken the new compound two weeks prior at the distribution center. The center had made it a habit to hold the new pills for a few days before releasing them to the public in order to curb any sort of shortage. Whatever happened to these men would happen to the rest of the city in three days – in less than 72 hours now - and they needed to find a way to stop it. Patel and his three assistants were preparing tests in the lab.

  This was Patel’s personal lab. He had been trying to work out a cure himself, but he was too rigid and too devoid of imagination to find anything of use. He and Josephine had worked together back in the days before the plague. They never became friends, although Josephine had missed him when she was forced to go underground.

  There was one on-duty police officer, assigned to watch the men 24/7. It was mostly so Leo wouldn’t try and escape.

  Josephine looked over at Leo, still in his orange, prison jumpsuit, taking inventory of the lab equipment. He waved to her happily. She hated to see him out of his uniform and in those prison get-ups, but at least he was free from that cell and working with her.

  She approached him.

  “Howdy lab partner,” he said.

  Josephine ignored this; she hated the word ‘howdy.’ “How are you feeling, Leo?”

  “Fine, kind of hungry, a little sad. I trained these two guys in the force and arrested the other two a number of times.”