Impossible

by Jason Letts

  The door at the end didn’t have a window, so we’d have to hope it was safe on the other side. Nathan grasped the handle and twisted, but it wouldn’t budge.

  “Open the door!” I shouted.

  “I’m trying!”

  Using both hands, he shoved down on the lever and the door finally opened. We crashed through it, just avoiding the mutants chasing us, and slammed the door shut.

  It was dark in this new room, but I could tell by the feel that we were standing on wood, not tile. The only light faintly emanated from two large tanks to our right. One was red and the other was blue. Directly in front of us, a stand had a clock and a strange gun on it that looked like a fire hose. A tube ran from the gun down on the floor a little ways, its other end not connected to anything. To our left, the darkness cloaked the other half of the room.

  Everything was so quiet I could hear my heart pounding through my chest. If Nathan weren’t here, I know I would’ve been dead by now. As it was, I just didn’t want to disappoint him by being a wimp.

  We crept into the room, knowing we wouldn’t be left alone for long. After a few steps, we felt the floor shake and froze. It passed, and then we continued on to inspect the contents of the room. We drifted closer to the two tanks of glowing, colored liquid. The red one was labeled “Napalm,” and the blue one was labeled “Liquid Nitrogen.”

  “Fire and ice,” Nathan observed.

  The floor shook again, more violently this time. There were rumblings below us, and we had no idea what they meant. Then we saw that each tank had a nozzle and turned back to the gun and its dangling tube.

  Just as soon as we put together what we were supposed to do, the floor shook so violently that I fell over. A huge crash ripped through the floor on the other half of the room, and a massive mechanical mutant erupted into the empty space.

  “Ahh!” we yelled, but Nathan’s was more of a laugh. His eyes were wide, entranced. The creature filled the space from wall to wall, its arms waving around and its head bobbing. The mutant had blonde hair and looked vaguely like our tour guide Andrew. Its mouth dropped open and released a harsh, deafening roar.

  The round clock sitting on the stand next to the gun started to tick.

  “Sixty seconds! We have to hurry!” Nathan barked, helping me up. It was tough to remember this was just a machine in a game, but I managed to make it to the gun. Putting my hands around it, I jerked but couldn’t even lift it.

  “I’ll hook up the hose,” I offered. “Which one?” Nathan was staring at the colossal beast. He was loving this, and I’d much rather let him use the gun anyway.

  “Let’s go with napalm,” he called, and I dragged the end of the tube to the appropriate tank as quickly as I could. It wasn’t hard to fit the tube over the nozzle, but then there was a crank to get the juice flowing.

  “We’re running out of time!” he called, holding the large gun against his side.

  “I’m trying!” I screeched. Turning the crank to pump the fluid through the tube was hard work, but I put all my weight into it and forced the handle around. Red juice flowed through the tube and Nathan squeezed the trigger to spray it onto the colossal mutant.

  “This is what I think of your tour!” Nathan taunted as the creature wailed and writhed. Its green skin was coated in the red liquid. Nathan sprayed it onto his face and into his mouth. The seconds ticked away, but it looked like we would make it.

  Red lights turned on, meaning that the fire was spreading onto the walls. The temperature in the room rose dramatically. I’m not sure what would’ve happened if we’d chosen liquid nitrogen, but I have a feeling we’d be in a sticky situation either way.

  “We have to get out of here!” I called, leaving the crank behind and running for Nathan. He looked around but couldn’t find any way out. The clock had stopped, but how hot would it have to get before that killed us?

  The monster started to sink back into the floor, but on its way its left arm knocked against the far wall, creating an opening. We sprinted over, hoping that we were almost to the end, and found the hole in the wall lead us to suspended steel bridges hanging about ten feet over the pharmaceutical factory floor.

  We jumped on, our feet clacking against the metal. Below us, we saw the machines were still producing pills, but everything else had gone to chaos. Bloody streaks covered the floor and mutated scientists were terrorizing the pharmacists, some of whom were trying to fight back while others looked for ways to escape.

  On the other side of the factory there was a pair of double doors with an exit sign over them. It looked like the finish, but we’d have no idea if it was a trick until we got down to the floor and reached it.

  It didn’t help that each step on the bridge clacked and echoed throughout the room. It only took two steps to alert everyone around that we were there. Instantly, mutants and pharmacists were jumping on the conveyor belts and tables to try and climb up to us.

  “Quick! We can make it!” I said, urging Nathan on.

  We ran over the suspended bridges knowing at some point we would have to climb down. The interconnected pathways formed a grid but didn’t extend all the way to the exit. The bridge shook as others climbed onto the bridge around us, and we raced forward while we could still do so freely.

  An explosion rocked the room, and through the smoke came an army of pharmacists to battle the pillaging mutants. They threw fake grenades that lit up and created a puff of smoke and carried tasers in case their enemies got too close. But there were still more than enough mutants to put up a fight, and soon the screams and grunts were so thick we seemed to be walking on them.

  We had enough to worry about on our own though, as we were now attempting to circumvent mutants who had climbed onto the bridges. They ambled at us, snarling, grunting, and seemingly blocking every path leading toward the exit.

  “What are we supposed to do?” I asked Nathan, who was right by my side.

  “I don’t know!” he hollered. An explosion caused part of the bridge to collapse near the corner closest to the room with the hose gun. There didn’t seem to be anyone around that area, and the slanted bridge would make it easy to get to the ground floor.

  “Let’s go back,” Nathan urged, but we didn’t get very far before a nasty looking mutant blocked our path. One closed in from behind us, and all of a sudden we were trapped.

  “No!” Nathan moaned. The end was in sight, but there just didn’t seem like any way to get to it.

  “Wait, I’ve got an idea!” I said, and I scrambled over the railing of the bridge and tried to lower myself down to the steel beams supporting it. We could shimmy along underneath and we should be safe from both those on the bridge and those underneath.

  “Like this. Hurry!” I called to him, hoping he would make it over before the mutants closed in on us. He was about to scale the railing when my foot slipped on the beam and I started to fall.

  I screamed, and Nathan caught my outstretched hand, leaving me dangling over the edge. He was leaning against the railing, looking down at me as I flailed to regain my footing. But it was no use.

  “You can still win if you let me go!” I shouted.

  “I’ll never leave you!” he bellowed above the ringing alarms. I stared into his beautiful brown eyes as I floated above the floor. We had each other by the wrist, and he started to lift me, but I gasped when I realized he wouldn’t make it in time before he was killed.

  The mutants closed in on him from both sides, their ravenous hands clawing closer to Nathan’s body, then everything stopped and the lights came on.

  “That was a good run you guys had,” one of the mutants said, smiling.

  “Thanks,” Nathan said as he pulled me up. Once I had my feet on the bridge, I pursed my lips and looked to Nathan to gauge how he felt about losing.

  “I’m sorry we weren’t the first to win,” I whispered.

  “It’s alright. I still had an amazing time,” he grinned.

  “You thought this was amazing?” I asked, r
aising an eyebrow. “Just wait until you get your reward for saving me.”

  I wrapped my arms around him and planted a kiss on his neck.

  “So what’s the quickest way out of here?” Nathan asked one of the mutants, his voice suddenly hoarse.

  *

  As we descended the collapsed section of the bridge, the actors below were returning to their original starting points. We could hear screams and shaking throughout the building, so we quickly headed for the exit.

  So much had happened that I’d forgotten it was dark out…and cold. But we were still feeling so energized from the action that we laughed our way back toward Nathan’s truck.

  “Yeah, maybe we should’ve gone with liquid nitrogen, but then he wouldn’t have had as much of a reaction if he were just frozen,” Nathan considered.

  We passed the line and the ticket booth. The man popped out of the garbage can and scared me half to death again. We climbed into the truck, and I turned my eyes to Nathan when he didn’t immediately start the engine.

  “I needed this,” he said, and I could tell he meant it. I waited for him to go on, hoping he’d say something about how he really felt about the news of his health, or maybe something more about us, but he turned the key and backed out of the parking lot. I knew he’d talk when he was ready to, but it was still hard to accept he wasn’t ready to talk now.

  The streets were even more vacant as we cruised home in the middle of the night. A song played on the radio, but I wasn’t listening to it. Instead, I was thinking about how sexy and heroic Nathan was in the haunted house. I was confident I knew something else I could do to make this a good night for him once we got home.

  Everything was dark when we slipped in the kitchen door. Cammie and Gladys were definitely asleep, but we would still have to be quiet. After we slipped off our shoes, I faced Nathan and let my fingers crawl up his chest and over his broad shoulders to slip off his jacket. There was a little light filtering in from the porch, just enough to make out the rugged contours of his face.

  I pinched the front of his shirt to make him lean in. After glancing solemnly into his eyes, I closed mine to better feel the sensation of his soft lips against me. His arms cradled my back, and my fingers drifted into his messy hair.

  The kisses were long at first, but their intensity grew. I felt myself getting short of breath, but it would be more painful to stop. Nathan became bolder, holding me tight and then brushing over my butt. He untucked my shirt and I felt his warm hands press against the skin on my waist. I swooned. Every touch, every tingle was so pleasurable, and I wished we could just stay like this forever.

  But standing like this in the middle of the kitchen wouldn’t do, so we stumbled toward the other side of the house, keeping our lips locked the entire time. Nathan banged his knee against a stand, and I almost tripped on the TV remote, which happened to be on the floor, but we gravitated closer to our destination, the couch in the back room where we might not be heard.

  “Mmm,” I cooed, as he lifted the latch. I wanted to say something about how I bet he wasn’t thinking about his health now, but to bring it up would ruin it. Instead, we stepped into the dark back room and fumbled for the switch of a small lamp that cast a faint yellow glow around the room. The light flickered for a moment, reminding us of the haunted house.

  “Danger, danger. We have to seal off a leaky valve,” I murmured, and Nathan chuckled.

  “No, we don’t,” he replied.

  Everything felt so comfortable and inviting. Nathan couldn’t keep his hands and his lips off me, but I gave him a push that sent him back onto the old cushy couch. We had the fingers of both hands intertwined, and he pulled me closer to him. One leg at a time, I settled my knees onto the cushions and straddled him. Settling onto his lap, I could tell he was getting a little flushed. Pressing my lips against his cheek, his neck, and around his earlobes, I noticed how warm he felt.

  I was smiling, but there was a tinge of nerves bundling in my heart. Nathan’s hands had slipped under my shirt and were pressing into my back. His eyelids were a little low as though he’d just been dreaming, and he dropped them all the way before I softly kissed his eyes.

  “I love you,” he said, whispering it into my ear, and it felt like I was just swimming in those words.

  “I love you too,” I echoed back, though it was more of a moan.

  He wrapped his hand around the back of my head and brought my lips to his. It was a deep, open-mouthed kiss, and the feel of his tongue sent a tingle through my entire body. The passion between us grew, and our hands roamed more freely. Our lips parted just long enough for him to slip his t-shirt over his head.

  He was gorgeous, and I loved the feel of his smooth skin, but I could tell he wanted something I couldn’t give him. He started undoing the buttons of my shirt, exposing my bra, and all of a sudden everything felt scarier than anything we’d seen that night. I broke away, gasping for breath.

  “I’m sorry, Nathan. I just can’t. I’m not ready to use my body like that. I haven’t had it that long and I don’t think I can,” I mumbled sliding off of him and curling into the side of the couch. There were so many things about being human I still didn’t understand, and this was one of them. Then there was the fear that doing this would actually make things worse.

  “Let’s just take it slow and enjoy it. We’ve got all the time in the world,” I blurted, trying to make it better.

  Nathan sighed, and I couldn’t tell if it was out of frustration or just pent up energy, but I had a feeling I’d disappointed him. I didn’t know if I’d be able to go through with having sex when we started, or if I was promising something I couldn’t give, but now it all felt like too much.

  I gazed at Nathan to get a sense of how he was feeling. He couldn’t have wanted to stop. It felt too good, but he was too good a guy to try and convince me. That’s what made it all the worse for me. In my heart I knew he deserved more.

  Nathan abruptly rose from his seat on the couch. It alarmed me just because I didn’t know the reason for it.

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “To get a drink of water,” he said, and his words stung even though there wasn’t even anything mean in them. It felt like he was leaving me.

  “Nathan, please,” I begged, getting up to follow him.

  He walked through the living room toward the kitchen, and I trailed a few paces behind. Stopping at the counter dividing the two rooms, I watched Nathan reach into the cupboard to grab a glass. He set it next to the sink and then turned on the water, running his hand under it to check the temperature. His hand grasped the glass and lifted it, but it slipped through his fingers, knocked against the edge of the sink, and fell to the floor.

  I flinched when the sound of shattering glass assaulted my ears. Tiny shards rippled across the kitchen tile like waves on a pond.

  “Damn it!” Nathan howled, clenching his jaw and kneeling down to pick up the larger pieces. I immediately rushed over to help, stealing quick glances to check on him. Nathan spent as much time looking at his hand as he did the glass shards, and I had a good idea what that meant.

  “I guess this is something I’ll have to get used to,” he groaned. “Shaky hands and broken dishware.”

  “It was just an accident.”

  “There are no accidents when you have Huntington’s!” he shouted, glaring at me angrily. “There are only symptoms.”

  Somehow I was under attack for defending his healthiness.

  “You just found out you had the disease today. You can’t seriously think you’d suddenly have an outbreak of symptoms just because you were tested and got the results,” I argued.

  He couldn’t argue with my logic, but that didn’t make him any less stressed about it. Instead, he was shutting me out, glowering as he flung a piece of broken glass into a garbage can.

  “You wouldn’t understand,” he sniped, shaking his head and rising.

  “Then help me!” I begged. “Please just give me some clue
what you’re feeling about all this. Because if you don’t say something, I’ll never be able to guess.”

  He snatched a broom from the closet and turned back to me.

  “How do you think I feel about it? I just got my life back only for it to be ripped away from me again. Only instead of dying, I have to suffer for decades as my body and mind slowly rot. Makes me think I would’ve been better off giving it up in the cement factory accident. At least then I’d have something to show for it. No one should have to live like this.”

  “Are you blaming me?” I gasped, pointing to the center of my chest. “I know it’s going to be hard, and it’s not what any of us wanted, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still have a productive life. And I want to be a part of it. You said nothing’s changed about you from yesterday to today, well nothing’s changed about how I feel about you either. I love you, and I’d do anything for you.”

  I was talking so fast I had to catch my breath. My mind was spinning from the hurt and the confusion and the pressure. Nathan scoffed at me, and I crossed my arms, steeling myself against him. I wouldn’t let him get to me for trying to defend him.

  “Then why don’t you save me from this disease,” he sneered, goading me to do the impossible.

  “Maybe I will,” I shot back. It wasn’t an idle threat, but he must’ve taken it as such because he started to chuckle.

  “You and Cammie,” he began, a little bit of condescension in his voice. “There are some things you can’t fix. They have to be endured. You’re better off not wasting your time on me because before you know it there won’t be any of me left to worry about.”

  This disease was bringing out an ugly side to Nathan, one I had no idea he possessed. He built up his self-defeating attitude so much that it allowed him to look down on anyone who tried to help him. Needless to say, I didn’t like it, and I could already see how Nathan would grow more despondent and surly over time.

  In a way, he was right. Finding out that he had Huntington’s was already starting to kill his beautiful spirit, ripping him away from me even though he was standing only a few feet apart, and that was something I could not tolerate. No, I would find a way to rescue him from this disease, no matter what it took.