Outer Banks

by Anson Barber

  I could hear her quick intake of breath over the phone. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you had someone who’d been infected. Your file said you had no family. I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

  “It’s fine. I just don’t think we should abandon all hope of trying to save those people.”

  “You’re right. There’s always hope.” She didn’t believe that.

  “Anything else?” I very much wanted to get off the phone.

  “I think I have everything I need. If not, I’ll call you again. You have my number. Call me when you’re on the East Coast again.”

  “Uh, sure.” I hung up and went back to the lab where Emery was moving things around with a bit more force than necessary.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  I did not want to get trapped in that question. “That was the doctor who interviewed me after I had that run-in with the queen. I don’t think she believes Haunts can turn into Bugs either.”

  “It’s nice that you have so much in common.” What was that supposed to mean? I opened my mouth to ask, but the smarter part of my brain told me to shut it. Unfortunately she pressed the matter. “What’s the doctor’s name?”

  “Colonel Michaela Arder.” I hoped the addition of rank would make her sound less attractive.

  “Is she pretty?” She watched my face carefully.

  “I’m sorry?”

  “The doctor you were laughing with on the phone. Is she pretty?”

  “I guess so.” This was clearly not the right answer. If I had been better prepared I would have answered with the correct answer: Hell, no. She was disgusting.

  Emery nodded sadly and looked at the floor while I cursed myself for being such an idiot. I didn’t know if she was normally the jealous type or not, but she had to have bags of insecurity to deal with right now.

  “Did you sleep with her?” She didn’t give me a chance to answer. “It’s okay. I don’t blame you. I mean, I know what I look like. I can’t even have sex…”

  We were not going to do this. No more pity parties. I walked over to stand in front of her with a grin on my face.

  “I’m flattered that you think I have the ability to juggle two hot doctors, especially when my hands are so full with just you.” I put my hands on her waist and pulled her closer. “I don’t know how much dumber I could be made to feel unless I had a fling with a Nobel Prize winner.” She laughed and poked me.

  “Shut up. You’re not dumb. You take blood like a pro and performed an LP, you’re practically a doctor yourself.”

  “A doctor, you say? Wouldn’t my parents be proud?”

  “What happened to them?” She looked as if she had been waiting for the opportunity to come up for some time. “You never talk about them.”

  No getting around this now, I guess. “They died in an accident.”

  “Oh.” She had the look. She was about to say she was sorry.

  I shook my head. “And now you’re going to pity me, which is why I don’t like to talk about it.”

  “I thought you didn’t like to talk about it because it bothered you.”

  “The pity bothers me more, and there really isn’t anything to talk about. They were alive. They got in their car and drove off. Another car hit them. Now they’re dead.” I might have sounded unfeeling, but like I’d said, I really didn’t want to talk about it.

  “Okay! No pity from me, Mister!” She pointed her finger at me and scowled, which was the perfect thing to do in that situation.

  “I will say they would be happy to know I was able to land a smart,” I kissed her forehead, “beautiful,” I kissed her cheek, “funny,” I kissed her lips as the corners turned up into a smile, “doctor.” I made a cha-ching sound and picked her up to set her on the counter. She laughed as I jumped up next to her and pulled her back on a mess of papers.

  We kissed for a while and then I remembered I was keeping her from something important. Although, according to Dr. Arder it was just a waste of her time.

  “Em?” I sat up and pulled her up too. “What will happen if you can’t fix this?”

  The smile drained from her face. She bit her bottom lip.

  “I guess I’ll go back to the Outer Banks and sharpen my darts.” She shrugged and looked at the floor.

  I put my hand on her face and forced her to look at me.

  “You are not going back to that place. Ever. I won’t let you. Do you understand?” I said forcefully.

  “You and my father had an agreement.”

  “I told you, that arrangement is void now.”

  “Because of us?”

  “No. Before I thought leaving you out might put other people at risk. That’s why I asked for the time limit and to be here to supervise. But the fact is I believe in you. And if you need three months or three years or three decades I think you should have it. Your dad might think you work better under pressure, but I think you need a bit of that pressure taken off. I’m not taking you back.”

  “Okay.” She didn’t believe me.

  “Emery. Your freedom is not contingent on us.” I pointed back and forth between us as I studied her face. “Do you really think that? You…you aren’t just with me so I won’t take you back?” I swallowed. That couldn’t be true. “Em?”

  “No.” She finally said and I sighed in relief. “But I can’t help but wonder what is going to happen when you get bored with this situation. A year from now you’re not going to be content to date someone in the middle of the night who has to remain hidden from public, who can’t even…”

  I sighed. “Emery, sex is not the most important part of a healthy relationship,” I repeated something I’d heard on one of those torturous talk shows. “And a year from now I’m not going to be content to still be living here mooching off your father.”

  Emery seemed confused by that, given that I’d just offered her unlimited time for her to work. I took another deep breath before I continued.

  “I wanted to discuss something with you, but I was afraid to bring it up. I want to know if you would be willing to move somewhere else so I could get a job. It could still be secluded, but maybe closer to a town. Any town.” I certainly wasn’t picky. “I just need to feel more useful, you know?”

  I couldn’t interpret her expression as she stared at me. Fear curled in my stomach. She wasn’t going to be content to leave this fancy house to come live in a dumpy place with me.

  “You’re serious?” she finally said. I opened my eyes, but looked down at my hands.

  I felt her cool hand on my cheek, pulling me up to look at her. I did as she wanted and met her eyes. She looked…happy. I didn’t understand.

  “Yes. I will move anywhere with you.”

  “You will?” I gasped in surprise.

  She smiled before hugging me so hard I could barely breathe.

  I kissed her hair and held her tightly.

  “It won’t matter though,” she said.

  I pulled back. “What won’t matter?”

  “Your little contingency plan. It’s unnecessary. I am going to fix this.” I only nodded and smiled. “Do you doubt me?”

  “Hell no. If there is a way it can be done, I have no doubt whatsoever that you’ll figure it out. What I’m worried about is if there is no way.”

  “Come with me.” She hopped down from the counter and held her hand out for me. I noticed how large mine looked wrapped around hers as I followed her over to stop in front of the microscope. She got two vials of blood from the little refrigerator under the table. One was bright red, and the other was black.

  “You’ve seen what happened when the foreign substance came in contact with your blood?” I nodded, remembering her black blood consuming mine. “Now watch.”

  With a long dropper she extracted a drop of my blood and dropped it
on the slide. Then she did the same with a sterile dropper and her blood. She peered in the scope for a moment, then smiled before backing away and pointing. “Take a look.”

  I stepped closer and looked through the lens. My blood was just sitting there in a circular blob, and her blood—while apparently zinging around inside the drop—remained in its circular form, overlapping mine, but not consuming it.

  I looked up at Emery who was still smiling, and then back at the sample. They were sitting next to each other in companionable boredom. Then the black fluid seemed to break down and separate, like oil hit with dish soap, only slower.

  “You did it!” I exclaimed.

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “But—” I pointed to the slide.

  “I’ve found a way to stabilize the alien fluid. Make it inert. Break it down. In short, I can kill it. But that’s only a small part of the battle.”

  “Really? That sounds like the entire battle to me.”

  “My blood sample was mixed with this compound I created. But you have to remember, there are only trace amounts of human blood left in my system, being used as a kind of recipe book that lets the alien blood know what it needs to do. It’s the alien blood that’s keeping me alive. If I were to put that in my body right now, it would kill me in like thirty seconds.”

  “Oh,” I said, shocked.

  “It’s a start. A jumping off point. Now I need to make it safe. Find a way for the body to replenish itself, flush the broken down foreign matter out.”

  “How long will that take?” I sounded like a kid asking if we were there yet.

  “You know in real world conditions it takes years to get a drug from inception to manufacturing, right?”

  “I think I did hear that before. Though this is not real world conditions, Em. There are millions around the world waiting to get their lives back. One of those people being you.” God, I sounded as bad as her father.

  “I know. But we don’t want a repeat of the first two trials.”

  That was true. Rushing would always be a mistake. “But we can hope now, right?” I asked while I looked at her in awe. In under a month she’d made a breakthrough. That was more than all the other researchers at OBX could claim to have done.

  “We’ll see. Hope is a pretty tall order.” She was silent for a moment. She wanted to say something else. “Did Miss Pretty Doctor say I couldn’t do it?” Emery asked quietly, looking back under the microscope.

  “What?” I wanted to buy myself some time.

  “You never doubted this could be done for a second. You had more faith than I did from the moment I met you. But you got off the phone with Colonel Doctor and suddenly you wanted to make a contingency plan.” Her eyes met mine and for a moment they looked like the piercing green eyes I remembered from her photo. They weren’t green but the piercing part was there.

  I nodded. “She told me it wasn’t possible. Seemed pretty convinced. I’d hoped she was wrong.”

  “She was,” Em said as if it shouldn’t even be questioned.

  “I’ve never wanted anyone to be more wrong.” I kissed her on the top of the head and went back to my spot in the corner to sit while she worked.

  I turned on the radio I’d brought in the lab, and before too long she was singing and mumbling and writing on the board. Hope.

  The security system sounded the next afternoon indicating someone was coming down the driveway.

  I went out to wait for Mr. Mitchell on the porch as he pulled up, this time in his roadster. He was a classic, over-compensating, mid-life crisis on wheels.

  He picked up a small cooler from the floor by the passenger’s seat and climbed out of the low car.

  “Good morning, Mr. Mitchell,” I greeted him.

  He raised his eyebrow. “For a smart fella, you don’t seem to be able to remember to call me Adam.”

  “Good morning, Adam.” I guessed calling him Mr. must make him feel old, but I’d been raised to respect my elders so this had always been an ongoing battle.

  “Good afternoon, Dillon.” He held up the cooler. “I brought extra. I don’t want her running out again. Were you able to get her something last night?”

  “We worked it out.”

  For a moment, I thought he might push for details, but he passed by me and went inside.

  “Did you see what happened in New York last night?” he went on.

  “Yeah. We had a bit of a meltdown here, but she’s back on track. Better, in fact.”

  “How’s she doing with the formula?”

  “She has one ready to review. Let’s peek,” I whispered as I tiptoed playfully back to the lab. Adam watched as I pulled the slide out and put it under the scope.

  Not being a doctor, I didn’t know the proper terms for what I was looking at, but I knew when the little black cells on the slide had broken open and leaked out into the clear liquid it meant a failure.

  I frowned and stood so Adam could take a look.

  “You know what this means?” He tilted his head.

  “I know it means she’s not done.” I nodded.

  “It means someone would have had black blood oozing out of their nose and eyes before they fell over dead, like Ebola on steroids. She’s definitely not done.” He sighed, and went to look out the window. “They’re saying it can’t be done.”

  “I’ve heard,” I said.

  “Do you believe that?” He turned and looked at me.

  “No.”

  “Do you think Emmie believes it?”

  “Definitely not. She’s as determined as she was from the beginning. She’s not even close to giving up.”

  “That’s good.” He nodded and walked out of the lab. “I can’t stay. I have to get back.” I didn’t argue. I thought it might be better if he wasn’t there when Emery woke. She didn’t need any more pressure.

  “Thanks for bringing the blood. I’ll tell her you were busy.”

  “She won’t be surprised by that. I’m afraid it’s not the first time I haven’t been there for her when she’s needed me.”

  “I’m sure she understands.”

  “I told her to get out of the city, you know.” He had taken a turn in the conversation I hadn’t seen coming.

  “Excuse me?”

  “The day when they arrived. She called me to tell me she was still at the hospital. She had gotten swamped with incoming injuries and was staying to help. She thought I was in LA, and I didn’t want to tell her the truth.

  “I told her to leave Manhattan. I called Trevor and told him to grab her and get out, but he wasn’t fast enough. If she hadn’t been raised by a workaholic overachiever, maybe she would have left when her shift was up. And maybe if I had told her I wasn’t in LA anymore she would have taken my request to leave Manhattan more seriously. Maybe she wouldn’t have been infected.”

  “Infected or not, I think Emery would still be trying to find a cure for this right now, either with a team or on her own. Don’t you?”

  Adam smiled at me, looking younger for a moment.

  “You’re right. Thank you for staying here. Not just protecting her, I mean. Keeping her company.”

  I felt a bit of guilt trickle through my veins. There was nothing worse than being praised for doing something selfless when you were actually being selfish.

  “Have a safe trip,” I said, avoiding the matter altogether.

  He gave me a little salute and left.

  I sat on the front porch and waved as he drove down the dusty lane.

  When Emery finally came out into the kitchen, I was still cleaning up from lunch. I had a fresh cup of blood waiting in a mug on the table.

  “Thanks,” she said calmly as she took a sip. I could see her fighting the urge to gulp it down. “I like drinking it out of a cup, but it’s not always easy.”

  Emery wi
ped her mouth and for no particular reason she got up and kissed me. Not one to say no to such an opportunity, I picked her up to set her on the counter so we could continue.

  Her kisses grew more passionate, or at the very least, intense. I could feel the tension grow in her shoulders, and the way she held onto me felt more possessive. I looked over and saw her mug was still half full. I was worried she was still hungry and was thinking about how great I smelled.

  I released her, and she had a hint of a wild look on her face, tempered with memories of lust. She managed to collect herself as she jumped down from the counter to go finish her meal.

  She took another big sip and frowned.

  “Yours was so much better.” I’m not sure why I felt like it was a compliment, but I did. “It’s like vegetables, I guess. Fresh is better than frozen. Where’s my dad?” She looked around, knowing the blood fairy hadn’t delivered her breakfast.

  “He was busy. He had to go.”

  “Ahh. You mean he is getting impatient and doesn’t want me to know.”

  “I did sense something like that, yes,” I agreed.

  “Or he has a new girlfriend.” She cocked her one brow up.

  I shrugged. Anything was possible. “He thanked me for keeping you company.”

  She laughed. “You most certainly are keeping me company,” she said as she finished the mug and rinsed it in the sink. “Do you want to keep me company while I check out the latest batch?”

  “Uh, no thanks,” I said, hoping she wouldn’t be disappointed. The fact was while the highlights of her research were fascinating, the bits in-between were as tedious as a tax audit. “I’m going to catch up on the news.”

  “Suit yourself, but I have a good feeling about this,” she said as she headed back the hall.

  “Call me if it turns out to be exciting.” I called after her. It wasn’t long before she joined me in the living room while I fumed at the continuing reports on CNN.

  “There have been rumors circulating of an organized attack being planned on the Outer Banks facility by hate groups. Sons of the Sun are claiming they have no such intentions, but some members of the group—who wish to remain anonymous—have confirmed there are plans to eradicate the Haunts on the island,” the reporter said.