by Giacomi, A.
It was a very rare sight to see Dr. August cry, let alone sob. He places his wrinkled hands over his face trying to push back the tears.
“I’m sorry; I don’t know what to do. I have no other leads, I have no other information, and I fear the prophecy will come true no matter what I attempt. I don’t wish to take away your hope, but I wanted to be candid with you both….I just thought you should know.”
Alex curls up into a little ball in the corner as I continue to stare at the floor. What could one say this? Did he expect me to raise my hand and say, “I’ll do it!” That wasn’t going to happen. I’m not sure either of us would willingly let some dead king rip our heart out and eat it.
“Dr. August do me a favour and find Eve. Time is running out for all of us.” And that was the truth. I had nothing more to say and thankfully Dr. August knew to leave us with our thoughts. That had been some heavy information; it would take some time to process.
***
I am sleeping soundly on the cell floor when light pours over my face startling me. Two guards appear in the doorway and grab me. Alex awakens and screams at the top of her lungs. She lunges at one of them and begins to punch with all her might, unfortunately, their gear keeps them well protected and instead of inflicting any pain Alex’s punches must have felt like that of a child’s. The guard pushes her to the ground violently, knocking the wind out of her.
I fight against their strong grip, pushing, shoving, and kicking when I can, but they are strong and able to bend me to their will and drag me out of the room with Alex screaming behind us until the door seals. Her screams are silenced behind the wall, but I can still hear her fists pounding against it.
They drag me through a number of hallways until they reach their destination. Another white room, what a surprise. The guards throw me into the room and take off. Sealing the door behind them.
The lights in the room are blinding, but I didn’t need to see to know that I wasn’t alone. I hear feet shuffling around me. Someone was circling and waiting. I keep my arms up and ready for an attack. I wasn’t going to give anyone my heart without at least a bit of a fight.
“Show yourself! You coward!” I yell into the blindingly white room.
A figure walks toward me slowly. They don’t show any signs of readying for attack, or holding any weapons. Instead, a hand is offered to me. I rise from my crouched position and our faces meet.
I rush to kiss her, but she holds me at a distance.
“Eve, I have been worried sick! Are you alright?”
She nods. “Better than alright actually. It was hard losing a child, but thankfully I’ve had someone to help me through it.”
A hand appears on Eve’s shoulder and Marcus is now in my sight. I want to charge at him, but my instincts tell me that this would be unwise unless of course, I wanted to be torn to pieces. As I look into Eve’s eyes I notice that something about her had changed, and it was clear that no one in this room was on my side.
“Why am I here?” I ask trying to sound brave.
Eve is the first to answer. “Well Marcus wanted to talk to you about something, but I thought this would be a good time to say goodbye.”
My heart jumps into my throat, was she ordering my execution here?
“Cam. I care about you, we’ve been friends for a long time, and I’m sorry I encouraged any sort of relationship with you. I spent so much time trying to remain as human as possible, that I didn’t even realize how much better it was not being human. I hate humans. I’m not one anymore, and that’s why we don’t make sense together. Marcus and I, we work, we belong…and so I just needed to clear that up.”
I’m shocked by her revelation. Did she hate humans? What about the monster that shared the room with us? How had she forgotten all that?
I lose my cool and begin to scream. “How have they brainwashed you so easily? He killed your father!” I say pointing a violently shaking finger at Agent Williams. “He had Janna killed…and he probably killed Vallincourt too! Did you stop and think about all this for a second, Eve? How can you trust a word out of his mouth? He’s trying to control you…and you’re letting him.”
My words sting her and she can no longer hold her eye contact with me.
“Cam stop! I spoke to Marcus about my father, he didn’t kill him. He had sent his men to retrieve us, but they did not obey orders, and he has assured me that those men suffered greatly. As for Janna, yes I heard, but it was an accident, if Janna hadn’t fought back, then the agents wouldn’t have felt a need to protect themselves.”
“And you truly believe all this?” I ask flabbergasted.
“Yes, I do Cameron,” she says without a trace of uncertainty.
Pulling at my hair I scream, “Oh god, I’m such an idiot! I’m in love with a lie…you can’t love a lie, no matter how hard you try. Ever heard that saying, Eve? Maybe you should put it into practice. Fight this, this isn’t you!”
She then kisses my forehead and disappears from view.
I can’t even breathe to call after her as she walks out of the room. That was quite the break-up. It would go down in history as one of the coldest shut-downs that ever was. Perhaps what hurt most was that Alex and I had been praying that Eve would come to our aid. Not only was she no longer in love with me. It appeared that she no longer cared about any human being at all. She had finally done it, her humanity had been extinguished. She would be this monster now, and I had lost her.
Being left in a room with Agent Williams seems like additional punishment. I didn’t really want to spend quality time with the new beau.
“Make it quick, Williams. I have a room with a view I need to get back to; I’ve grown rather fond of it,” I say sarcastically.
He chuckles, returning my sarcasm. “I’ll be sure to send you off shortly. Not to worry, Cam, but first, we have a little business to attend to.”
“Is it a beating? Because I’m not at all interested. I was beaten by a few guards just recently, I guess it seemed like the only civil method to get me down here. And as for talking, I can’t tell you how disinterested I am in being beaten down verbally. So I’m kinda tired, can we hurry this up?”
He sneers at me. I guess if I wanted to stay alive a little longer I best lighten up on the sarcasm.
“Cam, this may sound a bit forward, but I need you.”
His grin is so large that it frightens me. Dr. August’s warning runs through my mind. I was undoubtedly the one to be sacrificed. Why else would Agent Williams keep me around? He hated my guts, and the feeling was mutual.
I blow him a kiss. “Anything for you, babe,” I say, clearly ignoring my common sense.
With a quick sweep of the leg I am on the floor, my head hits the floor so hard that it leaves everything even blurrier.
When Agent Williams appears next, he looks more like a demon rather than himself. He also seems to hiss his next words rather than speak them.
“Listen to me, you pile of shit. I’m not here to play your little games. I just want you to know that you are going to die very slowly and painfully. I’m not going to tell you how, but I will say it’s going to be very, very soon.”
He snaps his fingers and the two guards retrieve me by my arms. They drag me through the hallway until I am back where I started. Alex screams when she sees me, this time, they are screams of joy. She grabs me from the guard’s clutches and hugs me tightly.
“Oh thank god you’re ok. I thought I would never see you again,” she says as she sobs into my white scrubs.
“Alex, I hate to tell you this, but I’m not sure I’m going to be around here much longer.”
She hugs me tighter so that it’s almost painful, but I almost feel as though I prefer it to a gentler hug. This wasn’t the time for gentle hugs. It was the time for violent hugs and holding because before long our arms would be empty.
It was hard to imagin
e how we had gotten here, of how it had come to this. I had signed my death warrant the day I fell in love with Eve, and what was perhaps the most horrible part in all of this, is that I still would not change a single thing if I had to do it all over again.
My heart aches as I think of her, and I pray they take my heart soon so that I may never have to know this pain again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
EVE
I needed to cleanse myself after my meeting with Cam. Something about it left me feeling dirty. Perhaps it was just being around humans. I hadn’t wanted to be anywhere near them since losing the baby.
Aside from feeling deeply depressed, nothing felt right lately. It didn’t seem right that I could even experience depression. Shouldn’t the dead be at rest? I felt anything but rested.
In order to calm down, I decide to take a shower. The routine of a hot shower after a long day or a bath to de-stress still held its novelty. Human habits die hard. I grab my loofah and soap it up. The scent of lavender made me want to barf, but they didn’t have steak scented body wash, so I simply used my imagination as I scrubbed away. I imagined the running water as blood soaking me, running through my hair, and pouring into my mouth. I had to smile and giggle at the thought, it was oddly blissful, and rather disgusting. I hated feeling guilty about feeding, about my current desires and needs. Cam was a reminder of that; I needed to scrub myself free of him. He loved me, I knew that, but there was always this lingering feeling that I repulsed him, he wanted to cure me and he had never stopped to think that perhaps I liked the new me. I had grown used to my new form, and I was tired of apologizing for it.
The loofa traces the lines of my body and it feels delightful until the loofa seems to get caught on something. I glance down to find the flesh on my stomach peeling away in a stringy fashion. Had I scrubbed too hard? The torn away flesh dangles in the loofa and I toss it out of the shower in disgust. Blood pours from the gash and fills the tub. I place a hand over the exposed layer of flesh and wait for it to heal, but the healing doesn’t come. I turn off the water and try to pat the peeling skin back into place. In a panic, I hop out of the tub and wrap a towel around myself tightly. The towel begins to stain with blood. This is it, I think, it is all going to be over soon. I would be wandering the halls of the facility without a thought in my head, only my hunger would drive me forward and anyone and everyone would be a target.
I begin to shake when I notice that my other arm is also peeling flesh. I begin to scratch at it feverishly. The flesh seemed to burn and I felt uncomfortable in my own skin. One arm is clawed up and blood-soaked while the other remains decayed and shriveled. As I look at my arms I scream, not being able to accept my fate. It’s true I had known this would happen for a while, but nothing prepares you for the end.
Unable to control my rage and discomfort, I run out of my room and into the white hallways leaving a bloody path all the way to Dr. August’s lab. I knew I wasn’t supposed to go anywhere near him, but I thought if anyone could help me, he could.
As I continue to race, two guards stop me before reaching the lab. Marcus had been trying to keep Dr. August from coming to see me, but I hadn’t anticipated security stopping me from seeing him. The guards ask me to stand back and return to my quarters.
“Can’t you see I need some help?” I plead with them.
Of course, they notice the blood and the fear on my face, but they had their orders and they weren’t about to piss off their zombie superior just for me. Marcus could definitely be scary some days, and his temper had definitely worsened as of late.
When I refuse to back off, one of the guards takes out his gun in a panic and shoots me right in the shoulder. I stumble backward in shock.
“Did you really just do that?” I say glaring at the guard as if my eyes could burn holes into him.
That was the final straw. They would both have to pay. “You know boys, this would have been so much easier if you would have just let me pass instead of getting all Gandalf with me.”
They tremble as they hold their guns up at me. Guns would not keep me at bay. I was an undead monster, and attacking is what I did best.
I run at the trigger happy guard knocking him to the floor. My teeth are already tearing into his cheek meat before the other guard can grab my legs and attempt to pull me off of him. Somewhere in all of this my towel had fallen away, but it no longer concerned me, blood was my new clothing and I wore it proudly as I rose to greet the next guard. He drops his gun and raises his arms submissively, but it was too late for white flags. You don’t anger a zombie and get away with it.
When I run at him, there is this desire to destroy him building inside me. I take my fist and plunge it deeply into his chest, leaving a gaping hole. I had no idea I could do that, but I felt pleasure in watching the light leave his eyes. I toss him to the floor only to discover Dr. August standing outside of his laboratory door staring at me with his mouth agape.
I hold my hands up. “Dr. August I didn’t mean to do this. I just wanted to see you and these two douche bags wouldn’t let me pass.”
That explanation doesn’t seem to put him at ease, but he does wave me over into the lab and locks the doors behind us by putting in the lock code. This would not hold them back for long, but hopefully, it would hold them off long enough to explain things to Dr. August.
Next, he retrieves a lab coat and throws it at me without making eye contact. I had already forgotten about all the nakedness. The surge of power, fear, anger, and desperation took hold of me and being bashful seemed to be the least of my worries.
“Eve, what’s going on? Why are you naked and covered in blood?”
His eyes are wide when he says this, he looked terrified. I suppose he thought that something worse had happened.
“Don’t worry, Doc, no one is trying to hurt me, no one is hurt…well except those two guys out there…it’s really just a teeny tiny skin problem.”
Dr. August furrows his brow as if to say, ‘why in god’s name would you bother me for something so minor?’, but it wasn’t exactly minor and rather than explain it I show him my stomach.
He covers his mouth as he inspects the area with his eyes. When I look down it definitely looks much worse. I think I see muscle tissue poking through.
Dr. August nearly vomits and has to back away for a moment.
“Eve, have you had something to eat recently,” he asks casually without looking at me.
“Yes, well a few snack bites just now and a full prisoner about half an hour ago.” I shrug.
“And you’re still not healing; well that is saying something…”
“What is it saying, Doc?” I ask fearfully of the answer.
He hangs his head before speaking. “Well, it means you truly are down to your final hours Eve. This life, whatever you want to call it…it’s over,” he says sympathetically.
I’m not sure I speak words just then, but I nod.
“Eve, listen to me. I can’t do anything further for you. I’ve tried everything, but not a single vaccine returned any lab rat to its former living state. A few of them mutated further, a few of them gathered some extended time, but I failed to find a cure. I would have asked Vincent…but he’s gone.”
I jump up at the sound of Vincent’s name. “You mean Dr. Engel? Your friend? But how? How do you know he’s gone?”
“Hasn’t Agent Williams told you? I thought that since you two had become so close perhaps he would tell you everything? No, wait…I forgot he’s a fabricator. Don’t you wonder what else he might be hiding, Eve?” Dr. August says in a father knows best sort of tone.
“This is hardly the time to talk about loyalty!” I scream. “You’re the reason I’m in this mess and all you can say is, sorry Eve, I tried? I’m dead because of you!”
The tears don’t come, only anger. A storm brews inside of me and I fear it may swallow both of us.
Dr. August loses his patience with me and raises his voice, “Eve, listen to yourself! Who are you? You’ve abandoned your friends, you’ve abandoned your mission, and you’ve abandoned your humanity…as far as I’m concerned…you’re already gone.”
Dr. August’s rage leaves me a bit dazed. He was never the type to raise his voice or be cruel. His words wounded me in a way that the Azrael Virus never could. He was supposed to be on my side, he was supposed to be my friend. For the first time, I realize that I have no friends. He was right about me, I had abandoned everything.
I fight against the virus, it taunts me, begs me to devour him, but I can’t. He had risked everything to try and help me and I was no better than a spoiled brat. I collapse onto my knees.
“You’re right, I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s come over me lately.”
Although anger still pulses through him, Dr. August walks over to me and embraces me. His kindness makes me weep, staining his lab coat red. I didn’t deserve any kindness. I had let Marcus control me, and Dr. August was right, Marcus was an excellent secret keeper. Why hadn’t I questioned his motives? What was he hiding?
“Listen, Eve, there isn’t much time, so let’s leave the apologies for a later date. I’m glad you came to find me now. We need to fix things before it’s too late. Agent Williams has plans in place that effect Cam. If you recall the prophecy I read you, it seems to point to Cam as the innocent soul that basks in the love of the damned, the damned being you of course. Agent Williams believes that sacrificing Cam’s heart will end all this, but as I’m sure you’ve already noted, he is killing two birds with one stone.”
