by SD Tanner
Ruler told everyone at the base and island his name was Scratch and with a vague wave of his hand, he replied gaily, ‘Things to do.’
‘But it’s four o’clock in the morning,’ she said plaintively.
‘Don’t whine,’ Ruler replied sternly. ‘You can come with me.’
Feeling mollified she immediately crawled from her bed and slipped a long white dress over her naked body. Although he had never had sex with her, Scratch liked her to be naked under a white dress and that’s all she wore now. The fabric felt silky against her skin and she had to admit, knowing she was naked underneath the flimsy dress, tweaked her sexual nerve endings. Slipping on a pair of sneakers, she followed him as he briskly walked out of the room.
At four o’clock in the morning the island was quiet. They slipped past the guest cabins and restaurant. It was pitch black and she held onto the tail of Scratch’s shirt, stumbling behind him. Very quickly they were at the beach and she could see the moonlight glinting off the white sand and water.
‘What are we doing here?’ She asked.
‘A moonlight walk,’ Ruler replied sagely. ‘It’s good for the constitution.’
They walked down the long stretch of beach towards the end of the island that held the bunker and they passed by the rows of containers used as sleeping quarters, kitchens, showers and generators. She followed silently behind him, not really wondering where they were going or why. She no longer cared. All she wanted was to be safe in this strange new world. When she joined this group five months earlier, she hoped she and Gears could get together. She even gotten as far as having sex with him, but immediately after, he’d gotten out of their bed and left to find that freakish woman he was now with. He left her feeling rejected and unimportant. Recalling how he made her feel that night still filled her with a deep rage.
At school she was always the girl who got second and even third best. A single child of a widowed mother, she was raised in a quiet household. Her mother wasted her life mourning a man she’d only known a few years before he died. With her deep religious beliefs, her mother and therefore Anna, belonged to a small separatist church that preached strict adherence to the bible. Her mother had sworn to be married to her father until death they do part and waited patiently for her own death to re-join her husband. It was a long and boring childhood with few friends, never anything new and a muted existence for a young girl. At school she had envied the popular girls with their pretty faces and bubbly personalities. In her mind, while pretending to study the bible, she imagined over and over a world where she was the one that everyone wanted to be with. To this day, she still believed it was merely a matter of time and circumstance before her childhood dreams of being someone everyone admired would be realized.
As they walked the length of the beach she knew better than to ask Ruler what he was doing. He never explained himself to her and most of what he did say made no sense. His comments seemed so random and disconnected she always felt like she hadn’t heard part of the conversation. What she did know was that he had a terrible temper. Without warning he could change mood from delighted to enraged and she never understood why. In an odd way she was proud he only behaved that way around her. It made her feel special. With others he was polite, charming and kind and it warmed her to think only she knew the real man.
By now they reached the far end of the island and if they turned the next bend, they would be at the entrance to the bunker. Scratch stopped close to the sandy dunes and she stopped with him. He stood waiting and with her dress fluttering lightly in the early morning sea breeze, she waited with him. They stood that way, in the utter silence, until she heard the door of the bunker open and the soft sound of footsteps as someone walked towards them on the beach. The woman appeared from the behind the bend and she didn’t see them in shadows of the sand dune. She couldn’t see the woman’s face, but she was short and slim and walked in an unhurried way. She figured the woman might be one of the kitchen staff who started early every morning to get breakfast ready for the two thousand people living on the island.
Once she had passed them, Ruler quietly uttered one word to her, ‘Stay’. Then he silently walked towards the woman who hearing him stopped, turned and said, ‘Good morning.’
‘Good morning to you!’ Ruler said politely and cheerfully.
Curious, but unconcerned, the woman asked, ‘Taking a morning walk?’
‘Oh,’ Ruler said, with a wave of his hand. ‘Couldn’t sleep.’
The woman nodded understandingly and said, ‘Rooms can get a bit stuffy at night.’
She watched as Scratch reached for the woman, gently catching her arm and in a single fluid movement, he brought her arm up and his head down. She didn’t understand what he was doing and neither did the woman. His head seemed to make contact with the woman’s arm and she suddenly stiffened. Against the backdrop of the rising sun, the woman tilted her head back with her mouth arched wide open and she howled. He dropped the woman’s arm and she brought her head down to look at him, then she snarled, turned abruptly and ran down the beach towards the resort.
Ruler walked back towards her and with a smile that was laced with the woman’s blood, he said cheerfully, ‘Job done.’
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Do two wrongs make a right? (TL)
Lucie was barely more than a teenager, had beautiful glossy red hair, flawless skin and big round blue eyes. At barely five feet tall and slender as a reed, she looked like a fairy standing at the foot of Mackenzie’s bed. Mackenzie was lying on the bed, covered in a light blue blanket and had a drip attached to his arm. Lucie’s slight shoulders were shaking with the effort of crying and TL couldn’t imagine how Mackenzie was saying to no to whatever she was asking for. They were watching the drama unfold through the one-way observation mirror into one of the CDC test rooms.
Pax silently padded up behind him and crunching on chips, he asked in a loud stage whisper, ‘What’d I miss?’
‘It’s not a soap opera, Pax,’ he replied sternly. ‘This is real life. Not TV.’
Pax loudly sucked the salt from his fingers, then held the crinkling bag to his mouth and tipped the last of the chips in, batting the back of the bag to be sure he got every last crumb. Most of the contents of the bag spilled past his mouth and onto the floor and licking salt from his lips, he said, ‘I know that. There’s no TV no more.’
When he didn’t answer, Pax elbowed him sharply in the ribs and asked again, ‘So, what’d I miss?’
Saving him the trouble of answering, Captain Ted said, ‘I think she’s saying she’ll dump Benny and go back to him if he doesn’t go through with it.’
‘Ooh, interesting twist,’ Pax said, sounding intrigued. ‘What’d he say?’
‘Well she’s blubbing, so I guess he said no,’ Captain Ted replied sagely.
Walking up behind Pax, Gears asked, ‘What’d I miss?’
‘She said she’d go back to him if he didn’t do it,’ Pax replied. ‘But we think Mackenzie said no.’
‘I wouldn’t say no,’ Captain Ted declared confidently.
‘Me neither,’ Pax agreed. ‘She’s a bit skinny for me, but she’s still hot.’
‘She just needs a good feed,’ Captain Ted replied.
He shook his head at the three of them and said sternly, ‘You all need to get a life.’
‘We gotta life, TL,’ Pax replied happily. ‘It jus’ sucks.’
The first of the designer virus tests were being run and now they were all standing behind the one-way observation mirror. Mackenzie volunteered to be one of the first people to be tested. Pax had vehemently disagreed with him and told Mackenzie they needed experienced people like him. Mackenzie was convinced that his skills, plus immunity to the hunter virus would be invaluable. Two other people agreed to be infected and were still being prepared in other rooms in the lab. Lydia and Farrington had yet to infect Mackenzie and now they were waiting to see if Mackenzie might back out at the last minute.
At that moment Benny walked int
o the room where Mackenzie and Lucie were talking. Being unable to hear what was going on, all they could do was watch to see what would happen next. Benny waved his arms, his face animated and he spoke earnestly to Mackenzie. The door opened again and Max walked into the room and was clearly shouting at Benny. Lucie was now forgotten as all three were highly agitated and clearly shouting at one another. Mackenzie had sat up in his hospital bed and was waving his arms so aggressively he was almost pulling his drip out.
‘They have very poor conflict management skills,’ Captain Ted observed dourly. Giving Pax and Gears a meaningful look, he added, ‘Wonder where they learned that from?’
Ignoring Captain Ted, Pax declared, ‘That’s it. I’m gonna sort ‘em out.’
As Pax turned to leave, Gears grabbed him by the arm and said crankily, ‘No ya not! They gotta sort out their own shit.’
‘But I doan want Mackenzie doin’ this either,’ Pax complained. ‘I mean he could die, or worse, ya know.’
Pax mentored Mackenzie and he knew they were close. Pax wasn’t really relaxed about what Mackenzie was doing.
‘Yeah, I know,’ Gears said, not without sympathy. ‘But he could get lucky too. Ip was infected and she’s fine.’
‘Except for the not talking thing,’ Captain Ted observed.
‘Trust me she doan need to talk,’ Pax said dourly. Glaring at Gears, he added, ‘And now someone’s taught her how to slap us around.’
‘Don’t look at me,’ Gears said amiably. ‘It’s the effect ya have on women, Pax.’
He’d had enough of watching his brothers and Captain Ted behaving like children and he left to find Lydia. Walking out into the corridor, he saw her leaving one of the test rooms and catching her attention, he asked, ‘You ready for the tests yet?’
‘No,’ Lydia replied tersely. ‘I’m a medical practitioner and we aim to heal. I’m not sure what this is, but there’s a good chance three people will die or be badly damaged, so no.’
Confused by her anger, he asked, ‘Then why are you doing it?’
‘Because we can’t destroy tens of millions of hunters with guns alone,’ Lydia replied bluntly. ‘It’s this or extinction and just because the people are more than willing to be lab rats, doesn’t mean I have to like it.’
Listening to her now, he thought he saw the woman he remembered meeting over six months ago in the house where she and her group were hiding. That woman had cared about the people she was leading. She’d been hurting for them and taken a huge risk going with him to give her people what they needed.
‘I’ve missed you,’ he said plainly.
Looking confused, Lydia asked, ‘What do you mean?’
He shrugged and said, ‘I’ve missed the woman who cared about people. You’ve been more a scientist with us than a doctor.’
She looked more than a little hurt by his comment and said softly, ‘It’s the role you gave me. I believed you when you said the research was critical.’ She paused and added, ‘I still do, but I have to…repress a lot of feelings some days.’
Moving closer to her, he wrapped her in a hug, but she pushed him away and said, ‘Today is not a day to feel anything.’ Still standing close to him, she looked up and said, ‘But I might need that hug later today.’
‘I’m not going anywhere,’ he replied steadily.
Coming out of the other test room, Farrington said, fussily, ‘Right! Everyone is prepared. I have the medication ready. All we need to do is inject the virus.’
Gears came out of the viewing room and said to Farrington, ‘Hold up. I’m comin’ with ya.’
They all walked into the test room Lydia had just left. In the room, lying on the bed, covered in a lightweight blue blanket, was an older woman called Faye. Pulling up a chair, he sat with his face no more than two feet from her and said, ‘Hi Faye.’
Faye smiled wanly at him and said, ‘Hi Gears.’
With sincerity, Gears said, ‘I gotta be sure you’re happy to do this. That ya don’t feel coerced in any way ‘cos I’ll take ya back to the island right now if ya want. No questions asked. No explanation needed.’
Giving Gears another tired smile, Faye said, ‘I’m 55 years old, Gears. I’m tired and I’ve lost everyone. I don’t want to die, but I do want to be more than a tired old woman who is running out of things to give the world. You’re not the only one who needs a purpose.’
Gears smiled at her and said, ‘Good enough. Safe journey, Faye.’ Then Gears leaned forward, kissed her on the forehead and walked out.
Looking at him, Faye said, ‘He’s a good man.’ Looking back to Lydia, she said firmly, ‘Let’s get this done.’
Lydia walked up and taking a syringe from Farrington, she injected the contents into the drip. The effect was immediate. Faye’s eyes rolled up into her head and she started to convulse.
‘Get the straps on her now,’ Lydia ordered.
He stepped closer and held Faye’s flailing arms while Lydia and Farrington quickly buckled the straps. The drip in Faye’s arm ripped free and he could see blood leaking from the small wound. He held her legs and Lydia pulled the light blanket from Faye’s body then buckled shackles around her ankles. Faye was oblivious to what was being done to her and she continued to convulse, only now there was blood leaking from her mouth, ears and eyes.
‘What’s happening?’ He asked.
‘She’s dying, TL,’ Lydia said plainly. ‘The virus is consuming her cells. Unfortunately, her immune system has been overwhelmed.’
Farrington added, ‘This is how they die. We’ve seen it before.’
Frowning, he asked, ‘How long does it take?’
‘Not long,’ Farrington replied calmly. ‘If the designer virus takes full control like this, then her cellular structure will be compromised within the hour.’
He was appalled at the speed of the destruction to a woman who, just a few minutes earlier, was healthy.
‘Now what?’ He asked.
‘Now nothing, TL,’ Lydia replied blankly and she walked to the intercom in the room. ‘Louise, can you come to Faye’s room. I need you sit with her.’
In less than ten seconds Louise walked into the room and said, ‘Everybody get out. Faye left me very specific instructions about what she wanted me to do if this happened.’
He, Farrington and Lydia walked out, but as he left he turned and saw Louise was dimming the lights and soft music began to play. While he continued to watch, Louise sat beside Faye and began to read from a book. Realizing he was invading a very private moment, he softly closed the door.
Gears was waiting in the corridor, leaning against the wall and he caught his eye. He shook his head and Gears looked down at the floor, his face grim as if set in stone. Lydia and Farrington didn’t hesitate and they walked to the next test room. In this room was Chris, the man who joined them from Captain Ted’s boats, the very man that Captain Ted assured them was an asshole. From everything he heard about Chris, he was surprised he volunteered to be a test subject. By all accounts the man was a lazy whiner who hated pretty much everything.
Gears had already spoken with Chris and left to talk to Mackenzie. He watched as Lydia administered the virus to Chris. Unlike Faye, Chris didn’t convulse, but seemed to drift as his eyes became glazed and unfocussed. Lydia and Farrington strapped Chris down as they had done Faye, but he didn’t move or react.
‘What does this reaction mean?’ He asked curiously.
‘We don’t know yet,’ Farrington replied in his fussy way. ‘We have to wait until he becomes aware of his environment again.’
Still curious, he asked, ‘How long does it take?’
‘It varies by person,’ Farrington replied. ‘Some people it never happens and they stay this way. Others come around quite quickly. Test subject seven, the one you call Ip, never lost awareness at all, but she had a very unique reaction which is why she remains so unique now.’
They were finally moving to Mackenzie. He didn’t really know the other two people, but he knew
Mackenzie well. He sat with him in many mission briefs, fought beside him and regularly shared meals with the young man. This felt far more personal and he wasn’t looking forward to watching a perfectly healthy and able young man put at risk this way, but it was Mackenzie’s choice. He had no argument to give Mackenzie that Pax hadn’t already put forward to persuade the young man from this path.
Walking in, he saw Gears was still in Mackenzie’s room. Gears nodded to Mackenzie, stood up and patted his shoulder, then stepped away from Mackenzie’s bed to let them do what they needed to do.
Seeing him, Mackenzie smiled and said, ‘Hey, TL.’
‘You sure you know what you’re doing?’ He asked for no doubt the millionth time.
‘Yeah. I’m good to go,’ Mackenzie assured him. ‘I think this is worth the risk.’
Lydia took a syringe and, smiling at Mackenzie, asked yet again, ‘Last chance, Mackenzie.’
Mackenzie rolled his eyes at her and said, firmly, ‘Do it.’
Lydia injected the drip as she’d done twice before and he waited to see how Mackenzie would react.
Mackenzie blinked and then he blinked again. Sounding slightly blurry, Mackenzie said, ‘Will you just do it?’
‘It’s done,’ Lydia replied. Then she pulled a small penlight from the top pocket of her lab coat and flicked it across his eyes. ‘Can you see, Mackenzie?’ Lydia asked.
‘No…not really,’ Mackenzie replied, sounding slightly vague. ‘What’s happening to me?’
‘I don’t know,’ Lydia answered honestly. ‘I think your body is fighting the designer virus.’
Sounding like he had a mouthful of cotton wool, Mackenzie mumbled, ‘Is that good?’
‘That’s very good,’ Lydia assured him. ‘The better it fights, the less damage the virus will do. Just keep fighting, Mackenzie.’
‘I will,’ Mackenzie replied, only now he was slurring his words and it was obvious his mind was drifting.
