The V to Z Trilogy (Book 1): Caged

by J. P. Robinson

  He was only 18. Not really a man yet. She saw him so often, when she closed her eyes. Sometimes, it was happy memories: Mark laughing; asleep on the couch, where she so often found him in the mornings; or running, after a ball or away from a tag. Right now, the image that she couldn’t shake was of the last moment she saw him – how terrified he looked. How his look pleaded with her to save him. How powerless she’d felt as the life drained from him.

  Cate pushed the thought of her brother’s death from her mind and forced herself to stop staring at the door. She needed to act, if only to keep from going insane. It felt like a million hours had passed, but it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds.

  Andrew was conscious but seemed to be putting all his energy into trying not to cry. He was taking long, gasping breaths. One guard was speaking into his walkie, while the other was just standing there, looking dumb. Another guard ran up from around the corner, and then stopped as he neared the group.

  “Ma’am.”

  One of them was talking to her. It was the one she’d smiled at, the one who had opened the door for her just a few minutes before. Cate struggled to force her mind to hear him.

  He said, “We’re calling for an ambulance.”

  James and Stan both arrived, seconds later, with supplies, and she realized that they must’ve seen what happened from the observation deck.

  Stan put his hand on her shoulder. “Let James handle this.”

  It was hard for her to process what he was saying. Slowly, his words sunk in and she understood that she needed to extricate herself from Andrew’s body so James could help him. She pulled herself out from under Andrew and got him laid flat on the ground as James moved in beside him.

  She hadn’t stopped yet to think about anything that had happened. James was helping Andrew. Stan was looking at her, a million questions on his lips. The three guards stood conferring.

  There was one phrase that kept repeating itself over and over in her head and it was all she could think to say.

  “There’s something wrong with the patients.”

  James, who’d already made progress cutting Andrew’s shirt away from the wound, continued to work while adding, helpfully, “Ya think?”

  The guard closest to her said, “The ambulance is on the way.”

  Stan said, “We don’t know that.” It took a second for her to understand that he was replying to her statement. “These are hardened criminals, death sentence criminals, maybe that guy missed getting out there and killing.”

  “But he didn’t kill. He ate.” As soon as she spoke out loud, she knew it was true. He hadn’t bit Andrew as an act of violence or domination, he bit him for food. “He was feeding.”

  Stan was in full clamp down mode now. “We don’t know that. And we are not discussing this here. Let’s get Andrew out of the building and go back to the office to discuss this like calm human beings.”

  Cate wouldn’t let him dismiss this. “We need a sample. We need to see what’s in that blood!” Focusing on the work was the only way she could calm herself. She needed to study the situation, to understand the problem, and then, maybe, she would feel less horrified.

  James finished taping up the bandage, stood up, and said, “She’s right. I’ll draw the sample.”

  Stan looked like he wanted to argue but instead he just said, “We’re waiting for more guards before anyone goes back in that room.”

  Cate looked down at Andrew, essentially passed out on the floor. His wound was bleeding slowly, which was a good sign. If the prisoner had bitten into his carotid artery, Andrew would be dead. The wound needed to be cleaned and stitched, and Andrew needed antibiotics, far beyond anything they could do for him onsite. Still, she couldn’t help but feel like letting him go to the hospital was a mistake. There was so much they didn’t know, so much they needed to study, including now, apparently, Andrew.

  And then another thought hit her. “We need to call Marisol.” Stan and James exchanged glances. “I’m sure she’s still here.”

  Stan jumped in. “I think we need to make sure that the situation is stable before going to deal with the bureaucrats.”

  Cate suddenly suspected Stan of covering something. The way he’d been acting all day, his response, or non-responsiveness, now, and his body language, all read guilty. Of what, she wasn’t sure.

  Before she could respond, Andrew started yelling.

  “Hey! Hey. Heyyyyyy!” Cate could hear the panic and fear drowning out reason, but yelling “hey” was also uniquely Andrew.

  Cate crouched down over him. “Hey.”

  He stopped yelling and looked at her. “Hey.” Calmer, but still scared.

  “How you doing? You all right?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. Am I?”

  “Oh yeah. You’re gonna be fine.” She could see the relief in his face. “As my momma used to say, you’ll live.”

  Stan crouched down beside her. “You know what happened?”

  “Not really. Well, some of it.” Cate saw Andrew’s whole body tense up as he started to remember. “Oh God.”

  She shot Stan a dirty look before turning back to Andrew, speaking slowly and calmly. “Okay, okay. Don’t think about it. We are going to get you out of here. An ambulance is on the way.”

  Andrew said, “It’s after dark.”

  Not yet, but soon. The thirty minute alarm had sounded. Thirty minutes to leave the building if you were going home.

  “We’ve still got time.” Cate said, soothingly. “You’re getting out of here while the rest of us will be stuck inside all night.”

  Cate smiled reassuringly at Andrew, but the end of day alarm complicated everything. The halls would be crowded with people leaving the building, making it harder for them to get through. The roads would be packed with cars from everyone heading home, making it difficult for the ambulance to get there. Andrew would be lucky to get into the ambulance before the sun set. There were thirty minutes until the doors were locked in the building, and everyone left inside would essentially be trapped there.

  Stan was of no use. He was generally better at giving orders and talking on the phone, and right now she could see him defaulting to manager mode. Cate was glad James had volunteered to take the samples. She didn’t feel ready to face what was on the other side of the door just yet. That left her or the guards, who seemed to think this emergency called for more whispering among themselves than anything else.

  “I’ll get a gurney.” She stood up to go.

  Andrew protested. “I can walk.”

  She, Stan, and James all said “no” at the same time. The synchronicity was enough to break the tension. They all started laughing. The laughing fit only lasted a second, but, for that second, she felt human again.

  She headed to the spare lab room to bring a hospital bed for Andrew. Only after she rounded the corner, and could no longer hear the others, did she realize she was scared to be alone. There was no valid reason to be afraid at this moment. The doors were locked. She was safe. But she knew, beyond a doubt, that there was something wrong with the prisoners, the vaccinated prisoners, and she knew that what had happened to Andrew, and what had happened in that room, was at least partly her fault.

  She found an unused hospital bed, and rolled it back towards Andrew, towards living, breathing people, as quickly as possible.

  The first thing she noticed as she rounded the corner was that Andrew was standing up. He was bare-chested, except for the bandages, and so stood out among the rest of the men. The next thing she noticed was that there were several more people crowding the hall than when she’d left a moment ago, a female guard and two men in suits. Recognition stopped her in her tracks.

  Mason was there, talking to the guards and Stan and James. She’d assumed he’d left. She was already shaky and didn’t feel up to their first meeting in five years. She couldn’t just stand in the middle of the hall like an idiot either. Eventually, someone would wonder what she was doing.

  She pu
shed the bed closer. Andrew noticed her first.

  “Thanks Cate.” He slowly walked over and sat on the bed.

  As she was getting Andrew situated, Mason turned his head, casting her a sideways glance, then turned back to his men as if she was of no importance. She was being silly, she knew, considering the craziness around her, but she was almost disappointed he hadn’t reacted the way she’d always feared he would. He hadn’t reacted at all.

  “All right.” Cate said. “Let’s get you downstairs.”

  She started to walk away, pushing Andrew in the direction of the elevators, and then she heard her name. She stopped. She couldn’t quite make herself turn around.

  “Cate?”

  And then Mason Farino was in front of her. The first man she’d ever loved, and the last. Walking away from him had been the hardest thing she’d ever done, and now he was here.

  “Mason. Funny seeing you here. Sorry. I don’t know what to say. Hi.” She was an idiot.

  “I never expected to see you at the NVIA.” It was hard to read the way he looked at her. Disappointed, maybe? Or dismissive? “Last place I thought I’d ever see you.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s been a long time.” She almost snapped at him. She was too defensive.

  “Yeah. I’m well aware of that.” He smiled, as if to take the sting out. “I want to talk to you when you get back.”

  “You do?” Cate asked.

  “I need to ask you some questions for my report.” Of course! All those years of college and she’d forgotten how to talk to grown-ups. He’d be looking into the attack.

  Mason looked at Andrew. “We’ll catch up with you later. Don’t want to slow you down at this hour.”

  He smiled, blankly. For an awkward moment, Cate stood there, not knowing if she was dismissed. She was saved from having to figure out the etiquette of this situation when a guard ran up to Mason. He whispered in Mason’s ear, but Cate could hear him loud and clear.

  “The vee prisoners are not in the lab.” Cate was forgotten. Mason turned his back and walked away.

  Andrew hadn’t heard. Mason was conferring, furiously, with his gang of agents. Stan was essentially scratching his head in the middle of the crowd. James was getting ready to go back into the room with three guards, guns drawn.

  Cate took hold of the bed. “You ready?”

  Andrew nodded, “Yeah. Let’s get out of here.”

  Cate pushed Andrew towards the elevators. The bell rang. Fifteen minutes left.

  Chapter 9

  Daniel and Carl followed Lisa as she led them around a corner, down a hallway, past the reception area they had passed on the way in, and across the elevator lobby.

  There were a half dozen people waiting for the elevator and they passed a few more as they continued on to the labs on the other side of the floor. No one noticed them. Everyone was focused on getting home to safety.

  Daniel had been counting on the end of day rush to help mask their escape. The one possible wrinkle – well, one that Daniel had thought most possible - would’ve come if the researchers working with them had noticed them missing too quickly, but whatever had just happened in the room next to their prison lab had provided a bigger distraction than the one he’d worked out in advance. So far, everything was going better than imagined.

  “You making a beeline for the exit or what?” Jerome prodded.

  Well, not everything was going better. Why hadn’t they gotten on line for the elevators?

  “You don’t need to worry about where I’m going. The exits are clearly marked, so feel free to head for one.” Daniel not so subtly hinted.

  “Nuh uh. I go out there now, I’ll be caught in an hour.” Jerome said. “I’m sticking with you. Seems like you might have a better plan.”

  Daniel fixed him with a discouraging stare. “My advice is to leave while you still can. Things are going to get very complicated very soon and you’ll be better off on your own.”

  As the hallway emptied, the last of the lab workers on this floor vacated, Lisa badged them in to a traditional looking laboratory, with Bunsen burners and sinks and large refrigerators. She’d been instructed to find one that was on the same floor but not in use past sundown. As they filed into the room, Daniel considered locking Stephen and Jerome out in the hall. Jerome might cause a commotion, trying to stay by Daniel’s side for some misguided reason, and right now Daniel needed to not be noticed more than he needed to get rid of a couple of annoyances.

  Lisa opened a storage cabinet and pulled out a bag, handing it to Daniel. He hadn’t been sure if they were going to be forced to wear prison garb, so Lisa had been told to bring clothes. Even though they didn’t need them, Daniel was grateful for the change. He offered Carl his clean outfit, but Carl shook his head.

  Daniel insisted, “At least change your hoodie. A different color might help you be less conspicuous when they do start looking for us.”

  Carl begrudgingly took the offered pile of clothes.

  “You know, I can’t get you into the room.” Lisa said. She still smelled scared, but she was finally behaving like a grown up. “I can only show you to the door.”

  “Let me take care of that.” Daniel replied.

  He did have a plan for getting into the last room anyone would think he’d be headed for, but the plan would only work if everyone was as stupid as he always assumed they were.

  “What room are you trying to get into?” Stephen asked.

  Daniel didn’t have time to come up with a perfect answer – one that would get Jerome and Stephen to walk away. He thought about lying, but it didn’t seem worth the effort.

  “Security Central Control.”

  Jerome looked at him like he was crazy, but Stephen just laughed. It wasn’t a good laugh, like a “you’re crazy, I’m outta here” laugh. In fact, it seemed to Daniel like Stephen just got a whole lot more interested in sticking around.

  Daniel handed the bag to Carl and started to change his clothes while Carl pulled out lab equipment and started setting up. Lisa stayed close to Daniel, apparently trusting him more than the others, despite the fact that he was half naked.

  Stephen turned to Carl. “And what’s your part in all this?”

  Carl smiled, like he’d been waiting for someone to ask him, and said, “I’m the brains!”

  “Enough.” Best to shut Carl up before he said too much. “Let’s get this done.”

  Daniel mixed together the ingredients he’d had Lisa bring – mostly household items like sugar and fertilizer – and poured them into a large beaker Carl had pulled out. It only took a couple minutes before everything was set.

  Daniel asked Lisa, “You know exactly how to get there from here? I don’t want to take any wrong turns.” Lisa was much easier to talk to now that she was mostly calm. She didn’t start to cry or whimper or anything.

  “I know where the room is. I walked there yesterday to be sure.” She looked at Stephen and Jerome, and then back to Daniel. “Kind of conspicuous, the four of you together, don’t you think?”

  Daniel hadn’t thought she had it in her. He was almost proud of her.

  “Quite right. Gentlemen, this is where we part ways. I can’t say our time together has been fun.”

  Stephen stepped in front of the door. “I think I’ll go along with you. Could be interesting.”

  Daniel thought about killing him, but time was of the essence. “Fine. Jerome, it’s been...”

  “I’m coming too. I don’t want to be left out.”

  Daniel couldn’t help but get angry at their stupidity. “You will both be safer, faster, if you leave now.”

  “Really. It’s gonna get scary in here.” Carl said, and then smiled like he was being helpful.

  Daniel could see the other two weren’t budging, and he was out of time.

  “If I can’t get rid of you then I will ask that you remain as inconspicuous as possible. If at any point someone stops you, you’re on your own.”

  “If you like that plan.” S
tephen wore a slight smirk. If Daniel didn’t know better, he might’ve thought Stephen was the one who had all the answers.

  “You think they know we’re gone by now?” Carl was looking impatient.

  Daniel answered. “Probably, but there are a lot of floors, and a lot of cameras to sort through, and we’re not headed where they think we’d be headed. Let’s get going.”

  Daniel opened the door and let Lisa take the lead. Jerome and Stephen followed. Once they were all out of the room, Carl set the beaker atop a lit Bunsen burner and followed Daniel into the hall.

  As they made their way down the well-lit, beige colored hallway, Daniel was sure there were still a few day shift stragglers in the building, but he saw no one. That didn’t mean no one saw him. He was aware of every camera, around every corner. There was nothing he could do about that – yet. Still, at times like this, the fact that vees looked human really came in handy. Even if they were scanning cameras for the missing vees, they’d have to confirm their identity. There was nothing, visibly, to distinguish them from any other humans in the building. And having a pregnant woman with them was a great coup.

  They moved quickly, but didn’t run. If they did happen to pass anyone, Daniel didn’t want to draw any attention. In his estimation, they had about six minutes to make it to the room. They took the stairs down towards the basement level. There was no way to duck the cameras in the elevators and Daniel knew that security could command the elevators from Central Control, so the stairs were safer.

  They made it to the basement without passing anyone. They had to be event more careful now. The maintenance and security personnel were centered here, and both groups tended to be well staffed at night. The basement, at least this part of it, looked almost exactly like the rest of the building, except that the beige walls were concrete. LED lights inset along the ceiling made everything the same tone of blah. Really, whoever designed the building was a sadist. Daniel almost felt bad for the employees. Not really.

  Daniel had worked in an office like this, when he was still human. Initially, when he’d been changed, he avoided human life as much as possible, other than for feeding. Eventually, he found he missed the daily interactions – since there hadn’t been a strong sense of vee community at the time - and he actually missed having a defined schedule.