At Night's End

by Benham, Tara

  Henry must have went ahead of us and gave a brief update. When we got to the house, no one was around, which gave me the chance to take Ever to our room. I laid her down on the bed, and put a cover over her. I was almost out the door when she asked me to lay with her for a while. I switched the light off and went to climb up beside her.

  “My heart hurts.” She whispered.

  “I know Ev. I’m so sorry.” I wrapped my arms around her to help comfort her, though I know it wasn’t much comfort. Losing your mom made it hard for anything to give you comfort. Ever had begun to hum to help settle herself and before long she had fallen asleep. I laid beside her and thought about everything and nothing all at once. I was still lying in bed awake when I heard a knock on the door. Micah was leaning against the frame.

  “Can I come in?” He was whispering so as not to wake Ever.

  “Yeah”

  “How’s she doing?”

  “Well she’s asleep right now, which might be the best thing for her.”

  “I’m not asleep” She said groggily.

  Micah crossed the room quickly and came beside her. She rolled over and looked at me. For a moment like this I knew it was ok to break Dad’s rules and got up to leave her alone. She grabbed my arm and pulled me into a hug before I could get very far.

  “Thank you for staying with me McCaid.”

  “Of course Ever. You know I’d do anything for you. You’re my best friend.” She gave me a weak smile and let me go. I quietly closed the door behind me and headed down to the kitchen. It was dark now and we had missed dinner. I was hoping to find left overs or something quick that I could make. I couldn’t see anyone hanging around, which allowed me some quiet alone time as I got a plate together. I wondered if it would always be like this now; our loved ones coming to visit us in our bubble to say goodbye while we had to watch helplessly as they died.

  Chapter 20

  It was a Friday evening and as part of our routine, we were all gathered in our living room to watch the evening news. Henry and I had made a few wooden chairs, with the help of Sasha, to allow everyone to have a place to sit on nights like these. Wood working wasn’t necessarily the most important skills to have to survive, but it was a nice way to release some of the stress of the isolation. Johnnie and Milo had just passed out sodas to each of us when the beginning music came on. They quickly took their seats.

  “Good Evening America. We have new, late breaking news, to report from Washington DC. Anna is there to cover the meeting that is about to occur. Anna.”

  “Yes, thank you Bob. I’m here at the CDC where we are awaiting a new announcement. We have not been giving any details yet as to what this new information is about. There seems to be two people exiting the building. I will turn it over to them.

  “Hello America. My name is Dr. Victor Dobbins. I have just been promoted to the director of the CDC due to Mr. Shepherd falling ill to the virus. After speaking to General Sheroan we came to the conclusion that it was time to release the truth of this epidemic. Ten years ago each citizen was given a vaccination to help with eradicating the rabies virus. It was decided then that when the vaccination was mandated that a percentage of the shots would carry a dormant virus that could be activated at any point when given a second medicine. This dormant virus was to allow the government to control population at any given time when they felt that it had grown too much. The recent flu vaccination that was mandated less than a year ago had the second dose in it to activate the dormant virus with the knowledge that when presented with the second dose, citizens would become ill and die. It is with a heavy heart that I must now acknowledge that there is not a cure that will help those that have already contracted the virus. I have been working hard with my crew to come up with a way to protect those of you that have not contacted the virus to boost your immune systems to fight off any illness that those with weakened immunities may be carrying due to the virus. I will now allow my assistant, Miss Calea Andersen to explain how this new protection will work. Miss Andersen.”

  “Thank you Dr. Dobbins. As you know, Dr. Dobbins has created a working filtration system for the air that is being used in almost all buildings throughout the US. Using this system as guide, we have come up with a new water filtration system that will pump the steroid to the whole of the country. The steroid will boost the immune systems of those without the virus and will allow you to continue to avoid contracting the virus. As Dr. Dobbins has stated before, it will not heal anyone currently with the virus. We have calculated that with the current rate at which those infected are dying, the epidemic should be eradicated completely in 6 months to a year. At which time we as a country will have to unite and work on creating a new and better health care system as well as a better country for us to live in. Thank you for your time, and good night.”

  We all watched as Dad and Miss Andersen left the podium and entered back into the building. The news anchor was speaking but Johnnie just turned off the television. Anything that she could be saying would no longer be relevant to us. The good news, if you could call it that was that we no longer needed to worry that any of us were going to sick. The bad news was that lock down would last at least another 6 months to a year, without my Dad. I wondered if my Dad had been suspicious that something like this was happening the whole time. I stood abruptly remembering the initial videos from what seemed like ages ago. Everyone jumped and stared at me. Since Dad was no longer in the labs we could have entered at any time, but none of us had. It was now time for further investigation.

  “Ever, Baxlie we have work we need to do. Johnnie I am unsure of what exactly we are going to be looking for…” I hoped he believed my lies, though I doubt he did. “…but I am sure that we might be out of the rotations of the regular schedules for a while. Please make sure to adapt accordingly. If or when we find something of importance someone will let you all know immediately.” Ever and Baxlie looked confused but did not question me, neither did the rest of the group. As we walked down the hallway to the basement I shushed the both of them, letting them know I didn’t want to say anything until we were out of ear shot of the others.

  We made it to the lab and I initiated the same lock down that Dad and Miss Andersen had used months ago while they were still working here. When I turned back around both Ever and Baxlie were staring at me, awaiting an explanation.

  “Remember months ago, before all this really started and we had to transfer those videos for Dad? We never finished finding and watching them all. I’m not sure how much Dad knew about this in the beginning, but I think we should watch them to see if they have any useful knowledge for us. Baxlie you can hack into the computers and retrieve that information, correct?”

  “Yes”. From the look on his face I think he had quickly came to the same conclusion as I had. Ever as well.

  “I will start researching conspiracy sites as well to see if we can find anything we might have previously overlooked.” I knew the only reason she hadn’t been more dominating before was out of respect for my place and authority. However, at times like these, I wish she would take the lead. Ever was always one step ahead of me.

  “That’s a great idea. I’m going to check the drawers and filing cabinets to see if I can find anything information that Dad or Miss Andersen might have forgotten.” We worked in comfortable but rushed silence for a while until Baxlie groaned.

  “I think I might have found something. It’s not good, and I really hate to share it until I confirm it. However, I think it might help with y’alls searches if you knew.”

  “What is it?” Ever spoke up first. My stomach flipped, whatever he was about to say, I think I already knew.

  “It appears your dad was aware of the possibility that this was what was happening during his initial evaluations. On the videos he speaks of being a part of a research team years ago that were hired to create a vaccine with a dormant virus. He doesn’t say if he helped with creating the virus, or the vaccine part.”

  “Dad would never cr
eate anything that would harm people.” Ever was steadfast in her belief in my dad. I may have been too, if it didn’t seem so coincidental that he had been hired by the CDC specifically to work on this viral outbreak. An outbreak that was related to a team he had participated in ten years ago.

  “I am hoping it’s not true too Ever. But Dad was in a bad place ten years ago. He was trying to find the cure to save Mom. He may have participated unknowingly in creating the vaccine, but as distracted as Dad get, he rarely does anything accidently when it comes to work related things. Let’s continuing searching. It’s in our best interest and Dad’s to clear his name if possible. I’m sure we are not the only ones researching right now. If it is found out that Dad was an active and willing participant, we may have a hostile situation presented here.” Neither of them spoke. Ever’s nose flared. She was mad that I could even suggest that Dad might be involved willingly. However, part of Dad’s training was never to trust anything without the proof. Her anger might also have been because she knew I could be right. I know Ever with all my heart. I knew that she was upset that she might end up losing Dad so soon after losing her mom. It hadn’t hit her yet that with this news, it meant that her mother’s death had been calculated. Or that If Dad did help, that meant he was a part of her mom’s death and I couldn’t really deal with that right now. My chest was tightening. Anxiety was getting the best of me, and the lab was quickly becoming smaller. I felt like the walls were closing in on me. I stood up and leaned my forehead against the cold concrete wall behind me. As I closed my eyes, taking in deep breaths to try to calm down I felt a movement of air. I peeked to the left where it was coming from and noticed a crack in the wall.

  “Ever, come here. Do you see this crack? Usually where there’s a crack, there’s a door. Let’s see if we can find a key pad or some way to open it.”

  “Let’s check behind the desk, and under it, maybe there’s a switch in one of those places.”

  Ever crawled under the desk and couldn’t find anything. We moved the desk I had been searching through, away from the wall. As soon as we got it far enough away we noticed a switch on the back of the desk. I flipped it and the wall were the crack was turned in like a door. The room it lead into was dark. We walked it and felt along the walls for a light switch. Finally Ever found one. With the lights we noticed it was a filing room.

  “Let’s start searching through these files. I would venture to say that if he took the time to hide them, there’s a reason.” Ever agreed.

  She yelled for Baxlie to come join us after he finished viewing the last of the videos. I heard a mumbled agreement. The first cabinet we went through had all of our financial papers it in, neatly arranged. I made note but decided that there might be more important things to look at. The next filing cabinet had folders marked with numbers. The first was 2009. I pulled it out to search the paper in the file. It was hiring contracts from a drug manufacturing company. I scanned through noting that this company had hired Dad to work on a live virus vaccine for some now-extinct disease called polio. I replaced that file and checked the next file that I now realized were marked by years. This one had mom’s first initial tests for cancer, and Dad’s resignation from the first company. There wasn’t much else in this file either so I moved on to the next which again didn’t have much information. I got to 2015. The year my mom died. I knew her death certificate would be in there, but I wondered if other stuff to include the rabies team would be as well. It was by far one of the largest files in the cabinet. I grabbed it and sat on the floor.

  “Do you need any help scanning those files?” Ever asked.

  “Maybe, what have you found?”

  “Mostly just articles about cures and research.”

  “Okay well come review this with me then. Those might be helpful later, but now I think our best bets are with these files.”

  “What do you hope to find Caid with these files?”

  “Proof that Dad is who we want him to be. That he is not involved in any of this controversy. Research that will help us find a way to help. Anything Ever…… anything at all.” I swallowed back hot tears. I couldn’t imagine my fun loving Dad having willingly taken part in a mass killing for population control.

  “Ladies, there’s food.” Baxlie was standing in the doorway.

  “Thanks, we need a breather anyways. This is starting to get to me. Have you found anything more Bax?”

  “Bax? I like it. Can I call you Caid?” He winked. Knowing him he was just trying to help lighten mood that must be thick inside this small room.

  “Sure, if you give me food, you can call me anything.” Ever raised an eyebrow at me, but helped me stand from the floor.

  “Who brought down food?” Ever asked

  “Denver and Sasha. It’s nothing special a salad and some bread.”

  “Food is food man, you’ll learn.” I snickered at Ever mocking Micah’s saying.

  “You sound like Micah.” For as smart as Baxlie is, he wasn’t quick to catch onto things at all.

  Chapter 21

  We spent most of the next four days searching the filing cabinets. What we found was not good. Dad had been a part of the team that helped design the dormant virus. Not only was he on the team they used some of the research he found with his cancer cure and adapted it to help with allowing the virus to remain dormant unless provided an agitator. Continued research found that he has been working for the US government for the past ten years since Mom died. He has helped created vaccines that haven’t been FDA approved for multiple diseases, as well as cures for AIDS/HIV and several mental disease such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. Looking through his financial papers all of our money has come from the government. Everything that he has had that allowed his to train us and provide for us have come from the same agency that created this virus. I was heartbroken and disappointed. We brought Johnnie in on our findings, but decided it best not to let anyone else know what we had found. We did hold a meeting that no one was to go to the fence to visit anyone without Ever, Johnnie or myself.

  “I think our next step should be to check out the research from his videos archive that we found, and to check the research he saved in the files that Ever found.

  Johnnie interrupted. “What good would it do to check his research? It’s all over now isn’t it?”

  “Maybe. But Dad rarely made anything that couldn’t be fixed or changed. I heard him on the phone once talking about not understanding why they couldn’t use the built in control. I assumed it was about the fencing at the time, but now I’m not so sure. He could have been speaking about a way to deactivate the virus.”

  “You’re right, I know you are but I don’t know if we can do anything with the research.”

  Ever gave him an incredulous look that almost made me laugh, but I thought the better of it, knowing it wasn’t an appropriate time. “Seriously Johnnie? You know we’ve been training for years? Do you think we have hung around Dad this long and not know how to use some of this equipment? Besides we have Bax now too, and who knows what skills he might have that could be useful.”

  “Maybe we can put the classes and training on hold and bring the others in to help look for information without really telling them why.” Baxlie suggested. I hated not telling Darcy especially, but I didn’t think she needed to know that our Dad was a traitor. Not with Denver here. Denver had been behaving, and had even confessed and apologized to me about telling Dad about mine and Henry’s relationship, but I still didn’t know whether we could trust her with this information. If this got out, the house and all the information could get confiscated.

  “I don’t think we can have them look and not know why, and I’m not sure everyone would be quite as understanding.” Ever stated and Johnnie nodded in agreement.

  “Okay, so who is going to teach them while we search?” Baxlie asked.

  “We’ll continue to rotate our schedules. We won’t tell them anything more than what is necessary.” Johnnie spoke up this time.
“Besides Christmas break is coming up soon, I figured we could give them two weeks off of classes, like they would get if there were still attending school like regularly.”

  “Yes, that’s an excellent idea. What if you,” Ever looked at Johnnie specifically, “set them to decorating the house and preparing for the holiday. Tell them to create a name drawing activity for gifts that have to be handmade. That will allow us to have a way to be away more often, and maybe give them something to do to help pass the time.”

  If Christmas was two weeks away, that meant we’d forgotten about Thanksgiving completely. We’d been so busy training and dealing with this lately that we forgot to celebrate. Holidays were Darcy’s favorite. She hadn’t even spoke up about it either. Gosh I’d have to make her something really special. The few times we had watched television since Dad’s report showed that we were in a state of chaos. Martial Law didn’t seem to be helping much either. Control had been lost. People were becoming violent and angry. We tried not to watch too much, but decided that we needed to be vigilant that at so point someone might try to enter the property. We had hooked up all of our electric to the solar power panels so we could continue to enjoy our technology, also so we had power for our fences and the moat at all times.

  The rest of the group continued to talk and make a schedule. I started thinking about ways to use Dads research to create an inhibitor for the virus. Even if we could find a way, how would we be able to get the inhibitor distributed in mass supplies? I was thinking about Dad using the water system when I remember the air filtration system.

  “Baxlie how are you with chemistry?”