by Anson Barber
“Yeah. I’m fine. I hid in the grocery store that they use for clothes now.”
“Good thinking. Has everything calmed down?”
“For the most part. There were a couple of fires. I wanted to help, but I wasn’t allowed anywhere near all that.”
“Good. I’m glad you’re okay. Just be careful, kid. If you get hurt it’ll be my fault.”
“No it won’t,” he scoffed.
“Well, it would feel like it to me.”
“So you don’t want me to get killed because you couldn’t live with the guilt?” he joked.
“Right.”
“It’s all about you isn’t it?” That made us both laugh.
“Apparently.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll lay low if things get worse. Thanks for checking up, cuz. Later.”
“Later.” I hung up and looked at Emery. “If things get worse I might have to get him out of there. Maybe your dad could stay with you if I left?”
“I’m sure we can work something out.” She rubbed my shoulders. “Don’t worry. He’s all right now. We’ll figure it out. He’s your family.”
Corey and I had always joked about our relationship. I mean, we were cousins, but it was a pretty distant link. I hadn’t really taken it too seriously until she said it. I was surprised by how true it felt. She hugged me for a bit before she went back to work.
I took my usual place on the stool in the corner. At some point, I dosed off. Probably with boredom.
She shook me awake. “Dillon. Dillon!”
“What? Is it time for bed?” I opened my eyes and looked at the clock on the wall.
“Not that. I think I did it.” She whispered like it was a secret and was worried someone else in the house might hear.
My brain wasn’t working quite yet. “You did what?”
“It. I think I found the cure.”
I blinked a few times and then stared at her in confusion.
“Already?” I said in shock.
Now she was the one looking confused. “I found the cure too fast for you?”
“No! It’s just that given the time and manpower the government already put into this…”
“Well, they didn’t count on some womanpower,” Emery said with a smirk. Then she started on some of the details.
“It all came down to the blood. Not in the system, but the marrow, where new blood is created. It wasn’t enough to separate out the alien factor, the body had to be stimulated to create more human blood cells first. It’s going to require a transfusion at this stage, maybe two, but in time we might get it so the body can do the whole process on its own. Then it’s just a matter of filtering out the inert alien fluid. I’m thinking maybe modifying a dialysis machine. The density differences should make that easy. Still, that’s phase three testing at least.”
She paced around the room like she was counting down the seconds until Christmas. “I haven’t been able to test it properly yet of course, but the whole thing looks pretty stable.”
I was so happy I nearly fell off my stool. “That’s great, Em!” If she had found the cure she would soon be healed and then she and I could…
I faltered on an ending for my perfect fairy tale.
She was a big wig doctor, and at the end of the day I was just a mechanic. How was it going to work out when she didn’t have to slum it with a normal Joe anymore?
I was instantly angry at myself for being so selfish. My anxieties were nothing in light of this news. We could figure out our future another day.
My excitement was renewed. “This is wonderful news, Em. What do you do now?”
“I have to test it. I’m going have you give it to me tomorrow night so we have a whole night to study the results.”
Three seconds. That’s how long it took to sink in that she planned to test it on herself.
“Absolutely not! I know in the past I’ve done everything you’ve asked. But you can’t ask me to do this. I won’t. There is no way in hell I’m going to let you try some unproven drug on yourself. What can I possibly do if something goes wrong? No way!” I ranted.
“I know it sounds risky, but sometimes it has to be done. Haven’t you ever heard of Barry Marshall?”
“No, and I don’t give a rat’s ass about him. This is insane.”
“You don’t have much faith in me.” She pouted. The pouting had worked before, but not this time. Not even being held at gunpoint was going to make me an accessory to this stupid idea.
“Look, Em, LP’s and blood samples are one thing, this is entirely different. You can’t ask me to do this.” I made my face as serious as I could and looked her straight in the eye.
“How am I supposed to know if it works?”
“And what if it doesn’t? Look, maybe I can get you someone. I mean, it’s what I do—”
“No! I’m not going to try this on some unsuspecting person you capture. That’s wrong!”
“Doing it on yourself is just as wrong!” I argued. “What if it backfires horribly?”
“Dillon, you’re blowing this way out of proportion.” She actually sniffed at me. “It’s safe, I know it.”
“Okay, so it’s safe, but what if there’s something wrong with the first round that could easily be fixed, but you’re not here to fix it because you messed yourself up?”
“I’ll have notes.” She held out her hands like that made perfect sense. “Another team can continue—”
“And how long will it take them to figure it out? Will they know where you went wrong? Will they have your intuition to know what to try next? It’s irresponsible.” I walked away from her, out of the lab, out of the house.
She walked out on the porch as I paced in the driveway.
“I can do it myself,” she threatened. “I don’t need you.”
I turned on her, glaring. At that moment I felt like I was about five feet taller than her as she shrank back from me. “Would you do that? Would you do this to yourself even when you see how strongly I’m against it? You don’t care how I feel?”
“I do care. I just know it will be fine.” She glanced away. It was only for a fraction of a second, but I saw it—doubt.
“Look me in the eye with a one hundred percent guarantee you will be fine. Swear on your father’s life.”
I could tell she desperately wanted to convince me, but she wouldn’t lie.
She looked away. “I can’t.”
“Then I can’t let you do this to yourself. I’ll stop you.” I could make threats too.
“Dillon, be reasonable. This is my body. It’s my choice. Don’t you think I deserve the right to decide what happens to me at this point? I can do this.”
I couldn’t believe she’d made me consider it, but she had. She was right. If it were me, I would probably feel the exact same way.
“Let’s try to work out a compromise. Tell me what you need to do this right.”
“I won’t let you trap someone—” she started.
“I wasn’t planning on it. Strictly volunteers, right?”
“Yes. They would have to volunteer after being fully informed about the procedure. Full disclosure. But after all the other testing went bad, no one is going to trust a lone scientist out in a cabin, Dillon.”
“Then we take it to OBX’s research team, hand it over. Let them find volunteers.”
Emery shook her head. “Remember why they kicked me off the team in the first place? They were worried Haunts posed a security risk. And after the queen showed up in New York? You think they’ll trust me? Someone’s bound to assume I’m a puppet and it’s some kind of Bug trick. Something to turn Haunts to Bugs or some crazy thing. It’ll be held up for a year while they decide if it’s worth the risk.”
I continued pacing and then had an idea. It was perhaps the worst idea I’d ever had. But the more I tried to push t
he thought away, the more Corey’s words echoed in my mind.
“It’s not like I wouldn’t volunteer…”
“Would I be remembered as a hero?”
“I’ll be first in line.”
I realized I was acting out of fear of losing more people I loved. I needed to think about them and what they were willing to lose for what they wanted.
“So if I could find a person who would be willing to volunteer, would you consider it?”
“Who would risk it?”
I thought about Corey joining the neighborhood watch and wanting to help put out the fires after the riot. “A hero, that’s who.”
“What?”
“Corey told me he wanted to be first in line. Can you wait until I bring him here?”
“How long?”
“Eight days.” She frowned at my answer. “Eight days, maybe seven. You can take that time to run more tests and fine tune it. You need to do this right, Em. No shortcuts just because you want it so bad.”
“Fine. I agree to your terms.”
“Thank you.” I kissed her on her head and her cheek and then ended up at her lips. “Now, I need to get you to bed.”
I tucked her in, but wasn’t climbing in with her. “You’re not joining me?”
“I need to make a few calls. Start making arrangements. I’ll be here when you wake up. Then hopefully I’ll be heading out.”
“Okay. Stupid compromise,” she grumbled, but smiled.
I kissed her head once more before I closed the door. I paused before locking her in. It hadn’t seemed necessary lately, but maybe it was. Right now she was the world’s greatest hope. And that hope needed to be kept safe.
I pulled out my phone and called Mr. Mitchell.
“Is Emmie okay?”
“She’s fine. She needs me to bring her a test subject for her first trial.”
“Excellent.”
“She insists the person volunteer.”
“Oh, for crying out loud, Emery Estelle! How am I supposed to ask for volunteers when this work is top secret? They can’t know where she is until we’re sure it works!”
Estelle?
“I may have someone. He’s at the Outer Banks, I’ll need to ask him before I go in. Can you have Rick find Corey again and tell him to call me?”
“Yes. You think he’d be willing?”
“I think he might.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
I hung up.
I wasn’t going to pressure or guilt Corey into doing this. It had to be his decision. But he was young and wanted to be a hero. I was afraid I already knew what he was going to say, and I was taking advantage of it.
Sleep didn’t come easily as I lay there next to Emery, worrying.
Corey called me about twenty minutes after he would have woken up. Emery was still out cold.
“Hey, Corey! How’s it going?”
“I spotted some jokers trying to break into a house and called it in.” The phone started to get fuzzy and crack. “Son of bitch,” he muttered in irritation. The beacon pulses must have been interfering with the line, but given recent events I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the call being monitored.
“Watch your language,” I scolded. “I have a question for you and I want you to really think about it before you answer.”
“Okay. Shoot.”
“Do you remember when I was bringing you in how you talked about being a hero?”
“Yeah.” He said nothing else.
“Did you mean that? I mean, if there was a really good chance everything would turn out okay, even if there were no guarantees, would you risk it?” I couldn’t let there be any misunderstanding on the subject.
He was quiet for a moment. So long, I thought maybe the call had been disconnected.
“Dillon, at this point I would risk it even if it wasn’t a good chance.” I understood what he was saying. “There’s too much at stake.”
“Okay. Good to know. Do you still like the game room at the Willows?” I asked.
“Uh, yeah. I haven’t been there for a few nights, but I really like the foosball when someone wants to play.”
“That was always one of my favorites too. I suggest you quit the watch and stay close to home the next few nights. Maybe bone up on your game.”
“Okay.” The fact he didn’t argue told me he understood where I was going with this.
“Take care of yourself, kid.”
“Will do.”
I called Ray as soon as I got off the phone.
“Do my ears deceive me? Dillon McAllister! Are you ready to stop lazin’ around and get back to work?”
“Yeah. Who do you have?” If I was going to get someone out, I needed to take someone in first.
“Where are you now?”
“I’m in California visiting a friend, so I can pretty much pick someone up anywhere.”
“Perfect. I’ve got a gal running around in St. Louis. Last seen breaking into mortuaries. Ghoulish. You up for it?”
“Sounds fine.” I closed my eyes. Drinking from corpses. Ghoulish indeed. “Email me the file.”
I was packed and ready to leave in less than half an hour. I went back to Emery’s room to wait.
“Corey wants to do it.” I told her once she was up. “He’s fourteen. Is it a problem?”
She thought it over. “No. Puberty won’t have an effect.”
“I meant ethically.”
“You tell me. He’s willing?”
“Yes. I didn’t pressure him.”
“But he looks up to you. He wants to make you happy. And all teenagers think they’re immortal.”
There was a sting of truth to that. I could only imagine the perceived immortality of youth only got worse once you came back from the dead. “No. He really wants to do this. I want to get him out of that place anyway.”
She nodded in approval.
“I’m already packed. I spoke to your father. He can’t be here for a couple of days. You should have plenty of blood until he gets here. Will you be okay?”
“Yes. I’ll be fine.”
She walked me out to the van, looking up at the dark sky. The spring air smelled more alive than ever. Rebirth. I decided to think of it as an omen.
“Please be careful,” she said.
I looked down in her dark eyes. “I will.”
“I love you,” she whispered, still looking me in the eye. I couldn’t look away, but I couldn’t say it back. Not without it sounding like I was only saying what she wanted to hear.
“Em, It’s not that I—”
“It’s okay, Dillon. I didn’t tell you because I wanted you to say it back. I just wanted to tell you. No strings.” She waved it off, but I could see I had hurt her. “Just go get me someone to test this stuff on.” She gave me a light shove toward the van.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“Eight days isn’t soon in my book.”
“If your dad’ll pay for my speeding tickets, I can probably do seven.”
“Deal.” She smirked as I kissed her again and then left.
I was already hashing out how badly I’d messed up as I pulled down the driveway.
Emery didn’t understand why those words sounded so final to me, because of my parents. I should have explained.
I debated on whether or not to call her, but the moment had passed for now. I would be ready the next time. The fact that I was so upset over this was only proof that I loved her and felt terrible not saying it back.
I put that aside for the time being. I would focus on this job and then when it was over I would find the right time to tell her.
I pushed myself to drive as far as possible with every hour. I only stopped for five hours to sleep, and ate while I drove. Coffee and Red Bull were
my co-pilots.
I made it to St. Louis by the next nightfall. The city was still a being reconstructed, but I was happy to see The Arch was almost back to normal.
I pulled out the map when I got to the last reported sighting—a funeral home—and parked my van a block away. I wanted to get an idea of my surroundings in case I had to chase her.
According to the file, the funeral director didn’t want to involve the local police for undisclosed reasons. The woman had been dropping by once a week like clockwork. It was likely she didn’t realize anyone was on to her, and the director had never confronted her. Because of fear or compassion, I had no idea, but the file indicated he was concerned she was drawing others to the building.
I watched from my hiding place and waited for her to stick to her routine. As expected, she showed up, approaching the rear door of the mortuary cautiously. She scanned a card to gain access to the building.
“Huh,” I said in surprise, impressed by her resourcefulness. No wonder she thought nobody was on to her.
When she came out she was slower, burdened by a number of bottles hanging around her shoulders. She was taking the blood with her, probably so she wouldn’t have to come back so often and raise suspicions.
I followed her discreetly on foot to an abandoned junk yard. She seemed to be staying in an old bus with cardboard lining the windows. I scoped the area for possible exit strategies, then went back to my van and took a nap, waiting for her to fall asleep.
I pulled through the gate of the salvage yard, expecting someone to stop me. No one came out of the small shack by the gate, though. There wasn’t even a guard dog.
I drove up right next to the back of the bus. The less distance I had to carry her, the more comfortable things would be for everyone. I pulled out the UV protective bag and went into the bus to retrieve the Haunt, thinking of how everything was going according to plan.
I should have known better. Plans rarely worked out. When I stepped on the bus I realized there was more than one Haunt sleeping inside.
There were four.
I sighed and ran my hand down my face at the sight. The woman I had seen was with two small boys and an older teen, maybe eighteen or nineteen.
The boys, all blond, had similar facial features. The woman was in her forties, and had brown hair. She looked nothing like them. Had she stepped in to take care of them when they’d lost their parents? Whatever the situation, it was obvious now why she’d carried all that blood back.
