Cate doubted there would be any external signs of changes to their system. The pigs had become first lethargic and then agitated, but other than that had seemed to continue with normal pig behavior. Stan’s plan to have two teams rotating between the observation deck and the lab was really a way to keep the two scientists who weren’t running tests occupied, if watching a bunch of men sit around in a locked room could be called an occupation.
The pigs that they’d injected with the vaccine had been put down shortly after having served their purpose. They hadn’t yet studied the long term effect of the drug, the effect on subsequent generations, or how the vaccinated blood changed, if at all, from subject to subject or with different modes of introduction. In a rare case of rapid speedy approval, their team was being allowed to use humans as guinea pigs well before they’d exhausted all forms of testing on actual pigs. Cate did not have enough empirical evidence to know just how things would develop over time, or tonight, for that matter.
The human subjects were to be observed for at least a month, assuming the vaccine had the desired initial effect. They needed to study the vaccinated patients for a period of time, before the vaccine could be introduced into the main population, to make sure the effects of the drug persisted.
Cate turned to look at the vees. Two of them were having what seemed to be an old argument while the other two, including that one with the know-it-all smile, sat quietly staring at the ceiling. Almost as if he could feel her watching him, he turned in his bed and looked right through her. The other, quiet one, followed suit. She broke out in goosebumps.
“That’s freaky.” Andrew said, almost in Cate’s ear. He’d somehow managed to walk right up behind her without her noticing. “It’s like they’re staring right at us.”
“They smelled you.” Cate sighed.
“You saying I smell?” Andrew grumbled, acting hurt. “That’s not nice.”
Cate laughed. He did smell, like patchouli, but that wasn’t what she’d meant. “Well, either that or they heard you. I’m pretty sure this glass is sound proof and they tend to have a stronger sense of smell than anything else. At least, some of them do. Just like humans, you know, some have better senses than others.”
Andrew said, “Yeah, just like humans - smelling through bullet proof glass.”
Cate grinned. Out of everyone on the team, she liked Andrew the best. Unlike Cate, he wasn’t afraid to be himself. And unlike Stan and James, he seemed to be here for the science, more than for the career.
Andrew spent the hour regaling Cate with stories of his dog, Rex, the golden retriever, and his cell phone, the smartest of smart phones. By the end of the hour, she wasn’t sure which one he cared about more. She was certain she didn’t want to ask to find out.
At the turn of their shift, she and Andrew drew a sample of blood from each of the six human prisoners. The guards stood in the room with them, looking threatening. None of the prisoners so much as made a nasty comment.
Cate was fairly certain there would be nothing special in the blood, yet. She agreed with Stan’s approach - checking the blood on an hourly basis was good research – it just meant a lot of dull work.
They ran the tests, took notes, and hardly talked at all, which was a relief. Andrew was nice. Unlike Stan and James, he treated her like an equal. But after just an hour trapped in that room together, Cate felt like she knew more than she ever wanted to know about him already.
When they had run every test and recorded the data - predictably, finding no change - they packed up the samples. As they stepped out into the hallway, Cate came face to face with Director LaTrese.
Marisol LaTrese had the unenviable job of managing all the scientific research at NVIA. She rarely showed herself at any of the labs. Cate wasn’t surprised she’d made an appearance today. Today was, potentially, an historic day.
Marisol didn’t look happy. “I’m here to see Stan.” She began to pass Cate and Andrew, heading towards his office. Andrew stopped her.
“He’s not here.”
Marisol turned on him. “He’s not here? Today?”
Cate interjected. “He’s on the observation deck. We’re heading there now.”
Marisol fell in next to them as they walked.
“You administered the vaccine then?” Marisol asked.
Cate replied, “Yes. We’re just waiting on the results.”
“I see.” Marisol’s lips couldn’t get any tighter.
Cate looked at Andrew for a clue. He just shrugged, so they walked the rest of the way in silence.
When Stan opened the door to the room, Marisol pushed her way in, gestured for James to leave, and then closed the door behind them.
“That was exciting.” James looked at the two of them. “Any idea what that was about?”
Before Cate could respond that, no, she had no idea, the door opened and Marisol walked away without saying another word. Stan stepped out.
“It’s all yours.” Stan gestured to the room as if nothing had just happened.
“Anything wrong?” Cate asked.
“We’ll talk about that later.” Stand answered, dismissively. “We have blood to test.”
After making sure nothing, in fact, was visibly happening with the prisoners, Andrew asked, “What the hell was that about?”
“I’m guessing Stan’s in trouble. I’m not sure why.” She had her suspicions. Better not to voice those things out loud at the NVIA.
“Maybe he didn’t let her know that we were proceeding with the injections.” Andrew offered.
“Yeah, I guess.” Cate agreed, despite thinking that it must’ve been something worse than that for Marisol to confront him face to face, without scheduling an official interview. Very unbureaucratic of her! “I guess we’ll find out, right? Stan’ll tell us?”
Andrew just shrugged and then stood staring at the prisoners. He stayed silent, leaving Cate some time to think. Andrew never liked to say anything negative about anyone, one of his better qualities. Cate guessed his silence was answer enough. Stan didn’t have to tell them anything he didn’t want to, and, lately, there seemed to be a lot of things he wasn’t sharing with her, or Andrew.
The politics didn’t matter. They were about to make history, all of them, even if Stan’s name was the one that got recorded in the books. Cate was just happy she got to be a part of work that would make such a huge difference in the world.
As slow as the government was in every other way, they moved fast on vee research. The NVIA had been able to make human subjects available in record speed. If this worked, they could be mass producing within the year. And then everything would change, for the world, and for her.
There was no visible change over the next hour, however, so she and Andrew got ready to draw more blood. As they walked past the guards posted outside the vees’ room, Cate felt bad for them. These guards were going to be stuck here all night, staring at an ugly wall, with absolutely nothing to occupy them. At least the guards outside the human prisoner’s room got to unlock and lock the door every hour.
As they approached, Cate smiled at the guards who would be letting her and Andrew in to the room. One of them hardly glanced back, but the other one smiled and arched an eyebrow, as he took out his keys. “Ready for some excitement?”
Cate nodded. “Always.”
As soon as the door opened, the jovial mood disintegrated. Cate was suddenly glad there were two guards with her.
Seemingly nothing had changed. The prisoners were all alive. They weren’t acting out or yelling - just the opposite. The room was eerily quiet.
The two guards stood at the door as Andrew entered first. Cate followed, pushing the sample tray in. She could feel that something was wrong. In addition to the silence, there was a smell. It smelled like a nursing home, not like a group of young, healthy men.
Most of the prisoners were lying down. One was standing by his bed, staring at them. He looked like he was asleep on his feet, except that his gaze followed Andrew.<
br />
Andrew took a needle. “Guess I’ll start with him.”
As Andrew approached the prisoner, Cate was hit with a sinking feeling. For a split second, she thought to stop him, pull him back. She dismissed the feeling as irrational. There was no good reason to stop him, or so it seemed, for that one second.
And then Andrew was screaming. And blood was staining his lab coat.
The prisoner was holding Andrew tightly and ripping off chunks of his shoulder and neck with his teeth. Without thought, Cate ran up to them and pushed her way between them. She shoved the prisoner back. He seemed stunned, like he hadn’t realized what was happening.
Cate grabbed Andrew, practically picking him up, and carried him out into the hallway, dropping him to the floor. The guards, guns drawn now, retreated with them. Cate turned back towards the lab, putting herself defensively between Andrew and the door. The friendly guard started to pull the door closed. Cate saw the prisoner, the one with blood around his mouth, seem to come to his senses and start to charge. The guard pulled the door closed just as the prisoner crashed into it.
The mindless violence of what had just happened shook her, but what scared her more was what she saw just before the door closed. All the prisoners were sitting up in their beds, and every one of them was staring at her, or rather, it seemed, at the blood on her shirt.
Chapter 7
Daniel could smell the blood. They all could. At any other time, especially when he was starving, the aroma would be intoxicating. But there was a different odor that was overpowering, and it killed any appetite he might’ve had.
Carl had started pulling at his restraints and shouting. “When are they gonna let us out? You gotta let us out of here. Anyone hear me?!”
Jerome just kept repeating, “Shut up. Shut the fuck up.” Repeating it like a chant, like it would soothe him.
Then the alarm sounded. Most office buildings built in the last ten years or so came with a daylight alarm system. Daniel hadn’t worked in an office building for a very long time. Still, he knew they generally sounded an hour before sundown, and then again every fifteen minutes until what was usually lockdown time for most buildings. Daniel had been keeping track and knew this was the thirty minute warning. Half an hour until the sun went down. He could almost feel the night in his bones.
When the alarm died, Stephen broke his silence. “You aren’t as calm anymore.”
Stephen was talking to him, and Daniel knew he was right, but he didn’t like being the subject of his attention.
“I’m always calm.” Daniel retorted.
Carl stopped yelling. Subsequently, Jerome’s chanting ceased. They both turned their attention to him and Stephen, as if this conversation was a diversion from the fear that had begun to seep into the room.
“Cause you always have a plan?” Daniel heard the derision in Stephen’s voice. “How’s that working out for you now?”
Carl piped up. “That’s right. You have a plan. When we getting out?”
Daniel snapped back, “I don’t have a plan. I never claimed to have one. Go back to panicking and leave me alone.”
That should shut him up, at least, for a few seconds. Daniel needed time to think. This new situation with whatever was next door hadn’t been part of the plan. It really shouldn’t change anything, at least, not so far as his night was concerned. However, there might be a way to improve the situation, if the timing worked out how he hoped it would.
Depending on how long she took, things might be absolutely…
He heard the door being unlocked.
“Perfect.”
As Carl started whining again, Daniel allowed himself to smile.
A guard walked in, looked around, stationed himself by the door. Daniel noticed that there was only one guard – he’d expected two – and that the guard was agitated.
Lisa entered the room, dressed in a lab coat that wouldn’t close over her enormous belly, and pushing a phlebotomy cart. She smiled at the guard while he closed the door behind her. She looked so calm and innocent, though Daniel could smell her fear.
Lisa said, “I’m so sorry about this.”
“Just make it quick.” The guard didn’t exactly point to what was going on down the hall, but his body language read, “I want to get in on the action.”
“I’ll just be a second.” She did a kind of guilt riddled smile and the guard smiled back. Human males never could doubt the word of a pregnant woman. For that matter, guards didn’t seem to know the difference between a receptionist and a scientist. Put a lab coat on anyone and they look smart all of a sudden.
Jerome spoke up. “What’s going on out there?” The guard ignored him.
Lisa walked up to Daniel, pulling a needle out of her pocket and popping the cap off. Daniel felt all warm and fuzzy inside. Well, maybe not warm exactly, but definitely happy. THIS was how a plan should go down.
She stood blocking the guard’s view while she unlocked his wrist - sticking a key in his freed hand - and then did a terrible job of drawing his blood. Daniel could handle a little pain though.
Lisa turned, holding up the needle awkwardly to show the guard. If the guard had half a brain he’d know that wasn’t standard procedure. Most of the building security guards were just high paid bodies, not PhDs. Daniel watched as Lisa approached Carl. She took another needle out, leaned into Carl, and then played her part perfectly.
Once Carl’s wrist was free, he grabbed Lisa by the throat and pulled her on top of him, choking her. Daniel hadn’t warned her about this part, making it so much more realistic when she started to scream.
The guard took a second to react. He hadn’t expected trouble. He ran over to Lisa to try to free her. While the guard was pre-occupied, fighting Carl’s grasp, Daniel freed himself from the rest of the restraints and crossed the room.
Daniel hadn’t intended to kill him. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was, and he was done eating before he knew it. The guard’s death was regrettable, but made no difference in the long run. Lisa continued to scream, pulling with all her might away from Carl, who still had hold of her. She looked frantically from Carl, to the dead guard, to Daniel. When her eyes met Daniel’s, he smiled with what he hoped was something reassuring. She stopped screaming, but then began hyperventilating. His blood mustache didn’t help.
With her mostly quiet, he turned to Carl. “You can let her go now.” Carl opened his fist, letting Lisa pull away to find the farthest wall to back up to. Daniel had to admit, he had thought the “character” idea stupid, and it still probably was. Carl, however, had made a convincing imbecile.
“And she’s off limits.” Daniel chastened Carl.
“Oh man!” Carl whined while freeing himself fully. “You know I’m starving and you took all the food for yourself.” Maybe it wasn’t all an act.
“We still need her.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Daniel realized he’d made a mistake. Too late though.
Lisa started sobbing and talking all at the same time and the ruckus was giving him a headache. “Still?” Choke. Sob. “You said you’d let me go. You said I’d be safe.”
After licking his lips clean, Daniel walked over to Lisa and put his hands on her shoulders in what seemed like a human gesture of comfort. She’d be of no use if she remained terrified, and he needed her calm.
“My dear, I was just trying to explain to my idiot friend why he shouldn’t touch you. Of course you’ll be free to go at the end of this.”
Lisa asked, “And my husband?”
“So far you have done everything perfectly. We need to move now. We can discuss your husband when this is over.”
As Daniel spoke, he directed Lisa to the door. Then he bent down to the dead guard, taking his badge and his gun. The badge would open most doors in the building – all the doors that didn’t require a code as well. The gun, well, it would be nice to not have to get close to everyone he was going to have to kill tonight.
Daniel and Carl lined up behind Lisa a
t the door. Jerome, finally seeming to take in all that had happened, shouted out. “Hey, you can’t just leave us here with that next door.”
That had been the plan. Daniel hadn’t thought to change it, but he had a point. Whatever was in the room next door was wrong.
Stephen interrupted his thoughts. “How long you gonna think about it?”
There was no time to think. So far, the guards hadn’t noticed anything amiss, other than the distraction from the other room. Daniel moved fast. He freed Jerome first, and then Stephen. He didn’t wait to see if they’d follow as he stepped out into the hall.
Chapter 8
Cate shook all over. She was on the floor, holding Andrew in her arms. Every inch of her vibrated with fear and tension. She didn’t remember sitting down or cradling Andrew. He had a hole in his shoulder, near his neck, and blood was spreading across his shirt like an oil leak.
Cate knew, somewhere in her brain, that she should be doing something - trying to get bandages, calling for help, something. She just kept staring at the door, though, imagining what was beyond it, and remembering the last time she’d seen a man bitten.
Caged (The V to Z Trilogy Book 1) Page 4
