by Anson Barber
A man with a blurred out picture said, “They need to be exterminated. Those Bugs can contact them mentally from another planet and turn them into remote controlled soldiers from space! An’ they can infect others too!”
The proverbial man-on-the-street was shown next with a counterpoint. “We should just leave them be. It was one thing when we were protecting ourselves from being fed on. But these things are locked away. They can’t do us any harm now. I don’t know why we can’t leave them alone on that island. Besides, we need to study their condition, right? If the Bugs come back, we need to know everything we can about them.”
“Others have their views on this disturbing information.” The female reporter now turned to another man who looked far too normal to belong to a radical hate group. He had a suit on.
“We are spending millions of dollars in taxpayer money to keep these things alive, and for what? It is just as inhumane to keep them alive as it would be to keep a puppy with rabies. You’re only delaying the inevitable. Most of these people would welcome a peaceful end. Every day there are hundreds found on the beach. They don’t want to live. We should give them what they want, so the money saved can be used to rebuild the future, not focus on the past.”
He was way too calm for my liking. The crazed hillbillies were easier for the public to brush off as psychotic, uneducated ranting. But this man seemed fairly intelligent, and he hit right where it hurt the main demographic. Money. People would listen to him.
“There aren’t hundreds of Haunts on the beach every day, asshole!” I protested to the television. One was a tragedy, hundreds were a statistic. This guy wanted the whole group to become a statistic.
A teary-eyed woman came on camera, as the report switched over to OBX’s weekly press conference.
“My sister is in there. Every time she calls me there is disruption on the line if she tries to answer my questions about her safety. There is something going on inside the OBX that they don’t want us to know about.”
The chief of security answered her question. “I assure you, no one is being hurt or treated badly. Everything they need is provided, and we’re trying to improve their security and safety each day. If anyone is in danger it’s from other Haunts, not from the guards or from the government.”
“So why aren’t we allowed to talk to them uncensored?” the woman asked.
“It’s not safe for the detainees to discuss their accommodations when a terrorist threat could be eminent. We take their safety seriously, and unfortunately that does at this time require the monitoring of communications.”
“We’re referring to them as detainees now?” I huffed. “This is ridiculous!” I threw my hands in the air.
Emery took a deep breath. I could sense her piling more and more responsibility on her own shoulders.
“It’s okay, Em. You have time,” I said, but she knew it wasn’t true.
“Do I? Don’t you remember the night you shot that guy’s foot? The man said he would get me at the Outer Banks. He must have known there was a plan in the works to attack the island.”
“Emery, I doubt that guy even knew the alphabet! Who would trust him with some big secret attack plan?”
“Someone even dumber than him?” she reasoned.
“I’m not sure there is such a thing. Maybe an amoeba or something.” I joked but Em still looked worried.
“I need to cure them before they all get killed. Sooner or later, something is going to give.”
“Shh.” I held her and rubbed her back. “You won’t do anyone any good if you stress yourself out so badly you can’t think. Come on, I have an idea.”
I took her hand and pulled her toward the stairs.
“I can’t. I have work to do.”
“I know. It won’t take long, I promise.”
“I thought you couldn’t do quick.” She raised one eyebrow.
“Come on.”
She reluctantly followed me into the bathroom. I lit some scented candles around the oversized tub and turned on the water and some classical music. Then I took off my clothes and jumped in as it filled with suds.
“Get in!” I ordered.
“What are you doing?”
“We’re taking a relaxing bath. Together.”
I tried not to stare as she disrobed and slid in under the bubbles.
I pulled her against me and began rubbing her back. She closed her eyes and let her head fall forward in relaxation.
I was happy to see her so mellow, and being naked didn’t hurt, either.
“God, that feels good.” My body responded to the words and lurched into action against her back. She jumped, splashing water out onto the floor.
“Sorry, just ignore that,” I said, hoping it wouldn’t turn into an issue.
“It’s kind of difficult to ignore.”
I could feel the smug grin take over my face. “What can I say? Bubbles turn me on.” Only when they covered her naked body. Another throb made her sit up. She shifted so she was facing me. Her legs sliding over mine didn’t help the situation.
“So the bubbles are responsible for your condition?” She looked down at said condition. “Not me?” Her tone changed from playful to something else. She moved closer and kissed the edge of my mouth.
“Oh, it’s you alright.”
She moved her hand down my chest, the water had made her skin feel warm. I tried to remind myself this was going nowhere as she deepened the kiss. I couldn’t let myself get carried away.
When her hand wrapped around me down below and began to stroke, I nearly lurched out of the tub in surprise.
“Em.” Her name came out as a groan. “You don’t need to—”
She cut me off with another kiss.
“Remember the dinner?” she said. Hell, I couldn’t remember my own name when she touched me like that, but I managed a nod. “It’s the same thing. Just because I can’t enjoy it myself doesn’t mean I don’t like to watch you enjoy it.” Her grip tightened a little, emphasizing her words.
My moan of surrender echoed in the large bathroom, and I let my head fall back against the wall as she continued. I was wound so tight, it wasn’t going to be long. A few more strokes had my hands clenched in anticipation.
It was too much. Too many sensations. The warm water, the slippery suds, the pace of her hand, her naked body. I put up a good showing, but when I felt her lips by my ear I knew I was close. Then she whispered, “Come on, cowboy,” and that was all it took to end me.
I shouted out something, I don’t even know what.
When I was able to open my eyes she was watching me, looking pretty proud of herself. I’d never seen her smile like that.
I kissed her. “Thank you.” I wanted to reciprocate, but there was nothing I could do to make her feel the way she’d made me feel. Instead I turned her so I could continue the massage.
I hadn’t made it the whole way down her back when she stiffened. For a second I thought I’d touched one of the scars. But she was smiling when she jumped out of the tub and grabbed a towel.
“I just thought of something,” she said as she ran out of the room, still dripping.
“Huh. That was productive,” I said to myself as leaned back to enjoy the rest of my bath.
My phone rang while I was relaxing in the bubbles. I was able to reach my pants without having to get out of the tub.
“Hello?” I hadn’t even bothered to see who was calling.
“Dill.”
“Hey, kid,” I smiled.
“What are you up to?” he asked.
“Uh…” I looked down at myself, feeling like it would be rude to rub it in. “I’m just cleaning up. How are you?”
We had a chance to catch up a bit. It had been a week since I’d heard from him last and I guess it wasn’t all doom and gloom in the world. Fed up by the rise i
n crime within the complex, many of the residents had organized into neighborhood watches, working in tandem with OBX security. Corey had volunteered.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. On the one hand I was proud as hell, seeing that he was helping out like that, but I didn’t want him to get hurt. He was still just a kid. But Corey assured me he was only doing observation and radioing in suspicious activity. That was good enough for me.
“Besides, my DS got busted so I’ve got shit to do around here.”
“Language, kid.”
“Sorry.”
“Keep your chin up. We’re working on it from this end.”
“I’ll be first in line, right?” He laughed.
I moved and the water slapped up against the tub. “You got it.”
“Are you taking a bath?” Corey asked.
“Oh, God.” I hung my head. I wasn’t going to live this down.
Corey laughed.
“Do you have like toy boats in there?”
“No! I have bath salts.” I laughed with him, it was ridiculous.
“Is there a girl at least?”
“There was!”
Corey laughed again. “You old dog you. Later, dude.” He hung up and I got out of the tub to dry off.
I went down to the lab to see Em hunched over the microscope.
“How was the rest of your bath?” she asked with a giggle.
“Lonely.” I smiled and kissed her. “Corey called.”
“How’s he doing?”
“Not as bad as before. Still, I wish I had brought him along when I broke you out.”
Emery hunched a little more. She seemed a little too focused on her work.
“What is it?”
“The formula. I’m having trouble getting it to liberate the red blood cells that fluid holds onto. It always ends up breaking down both. If I could break down the alien fluid but leave the human cells it already has intact, I’d be one step closer, I think. But I can’t…” She rubbed her temples. “It’s just not coming to me!”
“Calm down. Your heart can only take so much. You need to relax every once in a while. Those people on the island and around the world need you. Your dad needs you. I need you. No one would think badly of you for cutting yourself a little slack so you don’t have a heart attack. Okay?”
“Yes. Thank you.” She took a deep breath. “Let’s go for a walk,” she suggested.
“Sure.”
We walked together in silence around the gardens, holding hands.
“Have you noticed you wind down earlier when you get stressed?” I asked.
“Yeah.” She frowned. “And I usually work better under stress. That’s what they call a Catch-22.”
“Are you still thinking?” I asked. “About the project, I mean. Right now.”
“Yes. I can’t seem to stop.”
“You need a distraction,” I said. “Give your brain a chance to breathe. Tell me about your mother.”
“Not much to tell. She died when I was little,” she told me. “And what killed her nobody has been able to cure yet, either.”
I squeezed her hand. “You’re trying your best, Em. No one can ask for more than that.”
“If there was a doctor who might have been able to save my mom, I would have expected more than their best.”
I sighed. There was no use trying to convince her she was wrong.
“Let’s go back,” I said. This walk wasn’t going to help.
When we stepped inside the house she stopped still. So still, I looked around the house thinking she’d seen an intruder.
Her expression was so blank and far away. She was in the middle of something. I took her arm and guided her back to the thinking room.
I watched as she came alive again. She pulled out the book where she’d copied her notes from the walls at OBX. She opened another book and began scribbling fresh notes.
She would occasionally look up at the ceiling before she started writing again. Then she flipped back a few pages to her older notes. It was like one of those research montages you might see in a movie, only it was all happening at once right in front of me.
“You’re so cute when you’re concentrating,” I said after watching her little whirlwind for ten minutes. I leaned over and stole a kiss.
“Please. I know this face and the word cute is not synonymous with it, Dillon.”
“Well, I think it’s cute. And watching you work amazes me. Also makes me feel stupid at the same time.”
“Don’t you think I’d feel the same way if I watched you put a car together?” she countered.
“I don’t think it would be the same at all.” She laughed, but I wasn’t joking.
I decided it would be better to get out of her way so I wasn’t a distraction.
“By the way, I don’t think it’s possible for us to turn into Bugs.”
“Hold up! You’re letting me win an argument?”
She just laughed and went back to her book.
I hated to have to tell her it was time. She really looked like she was on the brink of a breakthrough.
“Come on. It’s time to get you into bed.”
She let out a sigh, like a kid being told it was bedtime.
“It will be here tomorrow.”
“Will I?”
It never occurred to me that the coma the Haunts dropped into was so complete and dreamless they might end up wondering if they would wake up each time. “Yes. You will.”
The next evening she was back at it as soon as she woke up. I had to bring her food to her in the lab. After that, I wandered back and forth through the house.
The television was on in the living room, but I wasn’t paying attention, reading a magazine instead. I was alerted by the intense lead-in music of yet another Special Report. Emery heard it too, and joined me in the living room to watch.
“We have breaking news of a disturbance at the Outer Banks Facility in North Carolina. A number of Haunts are being detained after trying to escape the island, claiming it’s no longer safe there. This after the third day of protests at OBX demanding better living conditions.”
They showed footage from the island, showing peaceful nighttime protests along with less than peaceful arrests. UV lights were used on some to subdue them until they could be restrained. I worried that Corey might have gotten mixed up in this, but I had no way to call him directly. I fished out the encrypted phone that gave me a direct line to Mr. Mitchell.
“Adam, it’s Dillon.”
“What is it? Is Emmie okay?”
“Yes, sir. She’s fine. I’m sorry. Have you seen the news?”
“Uh…no. I was occupied.” I heard the sloshing sound of a waterbed. “What’s happened?” he asked.
“There’s been a riot at the Outer Banks. Can you call your man at OBX and have him get Corey Ralston to contact me as soon as possible? I need to make sure he’s okay.”
“Sure, sure. I’ll do it right now.”
“Thanks.” I hung up and began pacing.
I turned to the TV again.
“We’re like goldfish in a bowl just waiting for the cat to come!” a Haunt explained. “They can’t make us stay here. We’re American citizens! We have rights!”
“Oh, shit!” I sat down and closed my eyes. “Why did I leave him there?”
“It’s not your fault,” Em tried to comfort me. I was not comforted.
“What if someone hurts him?”
“You really care about him, don’t you?” Emery noted with a tilt to her head.
“He’s just a kid and he doesn’t have anyone. I know what that’s like.”
“I need to stop fooling around and fix this.” She looked at the chaos on the television. “Before things get worse.” With that she walked down the hall to the lab.
I held out a cup of blood as I entered the lab. “Em, I didn’t mean to make things worse. You’ve got enough on your mind as it is.”
“Can you take a sample from me?” she asked after taking the cup. She seemed to be fighting the urge to bite into it.
“Again? You can’t do it?” I asked.
“I already used my left arm today, I need to get it from my right. I’m not left-handed. You would do a better job than if I did it myself.”
“Barely,” I muttered and took a deep breath. “You know I didn’t sign up for this. I said I would protect you and keep you from endangering other people. I consider the kissing and whatnot perks, but extracting fluids? Nope. Definitely didn’t sign up for that.”
“You do a good job though, and I thank you as always for stepping outside of your comfort zone.” She bowed graciously.
“My comfort zone is in another state, Em.”
“Come on, be a sport. And to thank you properly, I will close up shop early so we can spend some time together before I wind down. Besides, being with you is the only thing I’ve found to really relax me.” Maybe another bath? My jeans felt a little tight all of the sudden.
“Okay. Where’s the needle?” I asked with dread in my voice. I still didn’t like jabbing anyone with needles.
“Get a half dozen vials so I won’t need you to stick me again anytime soon.”
“How soon is soon?”
“A day or two.”
I cleaned off her arm with an alcohol swab. I grunted my irritation as I slid the needle in and swapped out the vacutainers. Once there were six filled, I pulled the needle out and applied a bandage and a kiss.
“Thanks.”
“No problem,” I said like it had been a huge burden. She rolled her eyes and took the samples back to her workstation.
My phone buzzed.
“Hello?”
“Dillon, it’s me.”
“Corey!” I was so relieved. “Are you okay?”
