It hadn’t taken Rose long to spill the beans on the Alphas in the basement. Rose had spent almost all of her waking hours in their hospital room and it was too juicy of a story not to tell to someone. Rose was excited to get back down there, but she wasn’t going to leave Jamie now that she was conscious, so they waited until she was well enough to tag along.
Jamie was just as curious as Rose, the idea of Alphas had been a hard pill for Jamie to swallow and a pregnant one was borderline unbelievable, but Jamie and Rose were cut from the same cloth, the idea of it was too appealing to deny. A few days after Jamie was all moved in to Rose’s room, they made a point of announcing to the guard at the entrance of the wing that they were going to take a stroll around the hospital as part of Jamie’s on-going recovery. The guard, not unexpectedly, could care less but they made sure the trip was after Dr Faraday had gone home for the night. Rose filled Jamie in on her conversation with the doctor and while Jamie had similar feelings on the subject to Dr Faraday, her desire for answers was a strong as Rose’s and easily won out in the end.
It was late in the evening and the sun had just about set so Rose’s flashlight was a necessity. The hallways were filled with the minimal gloom via the overhead lights, but once they turned off into the storage wing, the flashlight was their only source of light. Rose had moved the beds back in front of the janitorial door to hide it from view but it was still easily accessible. Once through the door, Rose found the room unchanged from her last trip through it. The sewer cover was still propped against the desk and the hole in the floor was still gaping and dark.
Taking the flashlight with her, Rose descended the tunnel followed closely by Jamie. Jamie was still weak and with the injury to her arm and leg, Rose wanted to be below her should Jamie fall. By the time they reached the bottom, Jamie was clearly winded, but eager to press on. Opening the door to the garage slightly, Rose was able to wiggle through, this trip ever so much harder due to Rose’s lack of exercise since Jamie’s recovery. Jamie, by comparison, had lost some weight and passed through the doorway with little issue, a fact not lost on her.
“Don’t worry Rose, a couple sit-ups and you’ll be right back to where you were,” deadpanned Jamie sarcastically in a low voice giving Rose a wink.
Rose replied with a faux-scowl and pressed her index finger to her lips before then pointing in the direction of cells beyond. The pregnant female was still there accompanied by three other males, all in their own cells. No guards or CDC scientists appeared to be around. Slowly, Rose and Jamie made their way over to the pregnant Alpha’s cell. She appeared further along than the last time Rose had seen her, which was as to be expected, and was asleep on the cot in her cell.
Jamie’s was focused on the female, a mixture of shock and disbelief on her face. Rose, however, was more interested in what was happening in the other cells. Of the three males, only one was awake and walking around, his focus on Jamie and Rose. The other two infected males were lying on cots, but unlike the female, the males had IV bags and monitors hooked up to them not unlike what Jamie had just so recently finished up with. Elbowing Jamie, Rose pointed at one of the infected males. “Are they trying to cure Alphas? Is that possible?”
Dragging her attention away from the female to the closest male, Jamie studied him, a confused look on her face. “I’d only been infected for a few hours when my treatment started, could these people be cured after months or years of infection?”
It was an interesting thought, but at the same token, was it a huge loss if it didn’t work? Jamie continued. “If these Alphas are essentially top-tier predators and are almost equal to us in brainpower, should we be experimenting on them? It seems like the CDC’s up to the same old tricks it was up to when the infection happened. Are they sacrificing these captives, perfecting their cure at any cost like they did with...say, immune people? Do we know what these cells were originally built for?”
“Jamie look, you’re standing here because of what they were able to do. They saved your life, what if they could save these infected too,” said Rose, again pointing at the man in the cell.
“I don’t know Rose, the ends were great, don’t get me wrong, but I still don’t like the means. Isn’t this what you fought to avoid way back at your house? These Alphas are essentially a new race of human, I don’t know if we should be letting the CDC experiment on them in some underground garage unchecked.”
“Correct and correct my dear,” said a voice from behind them. Panic shot through Rose as she spun around, face to face with Dr Knight. He was smiling a weak smile on his pointed face, his squeaky voice ringing in Rose’s ears. He was accompanied by a man in black tactical gear, a handgun on his hip. The gun wasn’t drawn but the man’s hand was resting on the grip. A warning.
“You are very much correct to call these ‘Alphas,’ as everyone is so fond of calling them, as a new evolution of the human race. Or de-evolution. The alpha hunter, unburdened by most human emotions, is only concerned with hunting and survival. And you are also correct that we, the CDC, should not be allowed to experient in ‘some underground garage unchecked.’ We are, in fact, very checked. This facility is at the forefront of what humanity is doing to combat this disease on a permanent basis and is fully supported by the military here and the militaries in the four other US cities that still exist.”
“Well shit,” said Jamie. Never a fan of authority figures, Jamie was likely going to say something really stupid soon and Rose needed to take control of this situation if they wanted to make it out of this garage.
“Look, Dr Knight, we were just curious what was happening down here, we weren’t doing anything to jeopardize that, just exploring,” said Rose quickly.
“Well you know what they say about curiosity and that cat,” said Dr Knight wistfully. The guard with Dr Knight looked over to him and tightened his grip on his handgun.
Rose was about to protest, but Dr Knight cut in turning to the man next to him. “Now, now. No need for that. Soldier, why don’t you give us a second.”
The guard, apparently disappointed he wasn’t going to get to kill them, sagged slightly and backed away to a nearby table.
“I bet you don’t think I remember you, Ms Jordan Rose, do you? Ah, but I never forget a pretty face. I knew I recognized you the day you were brought in from that bridge. You looked familiar and, I must admit, I couldn’t place you. I’d dismissed it until you came and visited your wife here. That paperwork you filled out was quite handy.”
Rose was dumbfounded. This man knew her, knew everything about her, knew what she’d done. This was it. Their run was all over. Jamie, still not putting all the pieces together, simply looked over at Rose and mouthed “wife?” with a smirk on her face.
“Look Dr Knight, I can explain, I can…” started Rose.
Dr Knight waved a hand dismissively. “No need my dear, no need. You actually did me a favor if truth be told. I never liked Hastings, the doctor I sent to your home. But the past is the past, I’m impressed you survived. Canada huh? Smart move. Now I don’t know much about your companion here, if I seem to recall, you marked down her previous occupation as a nurse correct?”
Jamie gave Rose a sideways glance and Rose shrugged in response.
“I also seemed to recall your first wife was a nurse as well, correct?” pressed Dr Knight.
“Her name was Kate,” answered Rose, anger flashing in her eyes.
“Yes well, I’m sorry for your loss, but clearly you’ve moved on,” Dr Knight replied, winking at Jamie. Taken aback but the wink, Jamie quickly recovered and responded with a simulated puking sound.
Ignoring the faux-puking, Dr Knight turned back to Rose. “After we figured out who you were, I refreshed my memory by looking over your file from when we put out that pick-up order for you. Former police officer, yet you didn’t realize we have cameras almost everywhere? I know you were here when we brought in the pregnant Alpha.”
Rose blushed. “I guess I’m a little out of practice.”
<
br /> “Well, I won’t hold that against you,” said Dr Knight turning away from them and beginning to walk away. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing much more of each other. After all, it is such a small world nowadays.”
“Wait, you’re just letting us go?” asked Jamie, confused.
Dr Knight stopped and looked over his shoulder. “We’re all in this together, what few of us are left. It’s stupid to waste lives on petty mistakes. Please go back the way you came, don’t attempt to come down that access tunnel again, not that you’ll have a choice, it’ll be sealed immediately.”
Dr Knight turned away from them and continued walking, the guard falling in step next to him. “Have a good night ladies,” he called.
Chapter 11
Dr Knight hadn’t been lying. Rose went back and checked the access tunnel the next day and it was indeed sealed. The sewer grate had been welded shut and the janitorial office completely emptied as if something in there might have been able to break the seal. Rose and Jamie did not say a word to anyone. They both knew they’d just dodged a huge bullet. Rose knew what Dr Knight was capable of, if they’d just disappeared, she doubted anyone would ask many questions. Everyone seemed happy here, but now that Rose knew there was something else going on, she could now see that everyone had an edge to them; a conscious denial of the whole truth.
Jamie seemed more bothered by the testing in the garage than Rose. Sharing a room outside the CDC wing, Rose and Jamie felt they could freely talk without fear of being overheard and Jamie made it clear, the experimentation was where she drew the line. She’d been pre-med, she knew study was important, but trying to cure infected that’d been that way for months or years seemed inhumane to her, it was her line in the sand. Rose however did not feel the same. Having seen Jamie go from sitting on death’s doorstep to being healthy, Rose was all for experimentation now. Rose knew first-hand how much humanity someone would lose once they became infected and if there was a way to stop and reverse that process, the ends justified the means in this case. If there’d been immune people in those cells instead of infected, Rose acknowledged she may have thought something different, a fact Jamie had annoyingly made clear early on, but that was not the case...at least now. Rose pushed from her mind what those cells original purposes may have been and how the cure they were now using came to pass. That was before their time here and they were already on thin ice with the CDC, no use looking for cracks.
Dr Faraday was a frequent visitor to their room, at first to monitor Jamie, her wing’s newest patient, but as Jamie healed and their time at MGH grew shorter, the visits were clearly more social. She was a nice woman, but didn’t appear to have many friends or people she could talk to. Rose learned Dr Faraday lived alone but was dating the security guard with the southern drawl they’d seen outside the CDC wing when they first visited Jamie. Boston was pretty much empty compared to the population before the infection so pickings were slim.
Rose knew almost nothing of Boston having grown up in Maine, but Jamie had lived here a long time and was very interested in what had become of the city outside the hospital. According to Dr Faraday, once Boston had been designated a “holdfast”, a place that immune persons would be brought to and protected by the CDC and military, huge walls were erected around a portion of the city at great loss of life. Ten feet thick and fifteen stories high, these walls were metal and stone, reinforced and sturdy, designed to withstand anything the infected could throw at them. The reward had seemed to be greater than the risk and eventually a large portion of downtown Boston was walled off from the world. Pulling out a map for Rose’s benefit, Dr Faraday traced her finger around where the barrier was. South Boston, East Boston, Charlestown, Cambridge...they’d all been abandoned outside the walls. The wall started in the Back Bay at the Route 2A/Harvard Bridge and followed the Charles River northeast along the banks all the way around the peninsula of downtown Boston until meeting with Interstate 90. The wall continued following I90 back west and meeting with 2A before concluding the loop north to the Charles again. The wall was mostly straight lines, but bowed out around the Prudential Building complex. The building was used as a beacon to drawn in uninfected and as such had been included in the safe zone inside the walls. Bridges and boats were the only way in and out, all the tunnels had been sealed off and filled in, either by the survivors or by the seawater. Boston, with its high thick walls, was an island of humanity in a sea of devastation. Boston Common and the Public Gardens had been converted to farmland to provide food for the survivors. Heavily guarded fisherman made trips with boats salvaged from ports up and down the coast and the Cape, coming and going from the Coast Guard Station on Hanover Street. It was all well thought out and run with military precision.
Dr Faraday had also given them a preview of what they could expect after they were discharged. Everyone had a job in this new society. There were no rich people or poor people, everyone was given ample place to live and enough food to eat, but everyone had tasks that needed to be done. Everyone living in Boston counted on everyone else to accomplish a common goal: survival. Dr Faraday explained that when discharged, they would be interviewed by military staff and plugged into positions that best fit their skills and the needs of Boston. Some people, like Dr Faraday, who’d been in Boston since the beginning, were allowed to maintain their current positions. Others, whether new to Boston or in a position that was no longer needed, like a stockbroker, were reassigned to another job. According to Dr Faraday, these jobs were all classified as voluntary, no one was forcing people to work like a work camp, but if you were found to be not doing your assigned job, there was the possibility of punishments and even expulsion from Boston, which was tantamount to a death sentence. Despite this though, Dr Faraday assured them that everyone living in Boston was just grateful to be alive and knew they wouldn’t be if it weren’t for the military and CDC’s help.
Rose and Jamie weren’t sold, but they knew there was little option otherwise. What other choice did they have? Fending for themselves had almost gotten Jamie killed and why should they leave? Having a job in exchange for security, food, power and a cure for a deadly disease didn’t seem like such a raw deal. Rose could tell Jamie would need some convincing, she was much more free spirited, but Rose was more or less satisfied.
The remaining days in MGH seemed to drag for Rose and Jamie. Little to do but watch out the windows as the weather continued to improve, the rays from the sun warming their room to uncomfortable levels. After their run-in with Dr Knight, Rose was much less interested in any further exploring, but Jamie, having missed most of it, welcomed any distraction from the boredom. Rose humored Jamie as they searched the hospital for anything new but they hadn’t found anything, Rose’s steps being retraced. If nothing else, it was nice for Rose to spend time with Jamie after almost losing her and Rose accepted the time for what it was. She followed behind letting Jamie take the lead, but she could not be less interested.
After one particularly hot day in a stuffy and disused wing, Rose, desperate for a distraction from Jamie’s exploring, came across a secluded room with a wide brown leather couch, fluffy and inviting. Likely an old lounge or someone’s office, the room was mainly empty, the couch, a desk and a few chairs the only remaining furniture. Walking in, the room was dusty from disuse, but the couch was soft and threatened to envelop Rose as she flopped down on it, dust clouds filling the stale air. Resting her head on an armrest, Rose lounged on the couch waiting for Jamie to notice her absence. It didn’t take long and soon enough, Jamie popped her head into the office. “Don’t mind me, just make yourself comfortable,” said Jamie smirking and raising an eyebrow.
“Thank you. I was doing just that,” answered Rose, smiling. “Why don’t you come and join me?” said Rose, raising a suggestive eyebrow at Jamie.
“You’ve already checked this floor?” asked Jamie, moving into the doorway.
“This one and all the others, there’s nothing else to find,” said Rose sitting up. In one fluid motio
n, Rose pulled off the old grey t-shirt she was wearing before smoothly reaching behind her back and unsnapping her bra with a snap of her index finger and thumb leaving her bare-chested.
“I think I may have just found something interesting,” said Jamie, grinning and moving over to Rose.
Kneeling into the cushion of the couch, Jamie almost toppled Rose over as she wrapped her arms around her and pressed her mouth to Rose’s, her tongue pressing it’s way into Rose’s mouth. Reaching around Jamie’s waist, Rose grabbed the bottom of her t-shirt and pulled it up and over her head. Jamie, bra-less, pressed her body against Rose’s once her shirt cleared her head, her hands groping for the zipper-fly of Rose’s jeans. With the deftness of someone well practiced, Jamie popped the button of Rose’s jeans and unzipped her pants in a single effort. Jamie then plunged her hand down inside. Rose couldn’t help but let go of a loud moan as Jamie’s hand touched her, gentle but steady leaving Rose grasping and groping for Jamie’s button-fly jeans. After some effort, Rose was able to release enough buttons for her hand to find access to the inside of Jamie’s jeans as well. Jamie and Rose gasping and moaning in tandem, the movements synced, rocking back and forth bringing each other ever closer and closer to climax, their bodies trembling as they rubbed against each other. Faster, harder, until at once, they both came, each body trembling, screeching and arching, Rose buried her face into Jamie’s chest, Jamie dropping her head onto Rose’s shoulder and bit her gently, riding out the waves of pleasure-filled dopamine rocking their bodies.
Rose had needed that. Nuzzling into Jamie’s breasts as she lay on top of her, Rose realized their combined weight had pushed them deep into the cushions of the couch, but Rose never wanted to leave that couch, that moment. It was perfect.
Jordan Rose Duology (Book 2): Homecoming Page 14
