Spore Series | Book 5 | Torch

by Soward, Kenny

  Kim pointed at Jake and Saylor where they stood around the virtual sports machine. “It’s past curfew, you guys. Get in your rooms.”

  “Aw, can we finish this one game, please?” Saylor pleaded.

  “Yes, but as soon as it’s over, I want you in your room.”

  “Okay!”

  Kim reversed into the cafeteria and shuffled to the vending area. Melissa sat at a nearby chair, waiting for two meals to finish baking in the stove.

  She nodded to the woman as she went by and then selected her two meals from the vending machine’s doors. She placed them on the counter and leaned against it.

  “Mine will be done in five minutes,” Melissa said. “You can sit with me while you wait.”

  Kim slid into the opposite chair looked at the two meals in the stove and the two she’d put out. She mock scowled. “Are we seriously cooking for our men?”

  The captain glanced from the stove to the counter and shook her head. “I guess this is what it’s like being a wife at the end of the world.”

  “I’m going to make Bishop get mine tomorrow.”

  “I wouldn’t mind it if it was actually cooking,” Melissa said, longingly. “I love to cook.”

  “Not my strong suit. Neither the hubby nor I can cook. We want to, but we never have time. I take that back. we can bake frozen pizzas.”

  “But nothing beats having it delivered.”

  “I wonder if they deliver here?”

  “Probably not. But it should be the first thing they do when they bring back civilization.”

  Kim sighed. “Now I’m dreaming of pepperoni and green peppers smothered in cheese and sauce.”

  They sat in silence, Melissa hunched over and looking a little chilly. “You know, those kids? If they’re in the middle of the playoffs, the game could last all night. They pulled that one on me yesterday when I tried to get them to shut down. They were still up when I went on guard duty the next morning.”

  Kim closed her eyes and shook her head. “Tricky kids.”

  “Yeah, just tell them they can only play the first game in the series next time.”

  “Thanks.” Kim lifted her eyes to the captain. “It’s so amazing seeing you and Scott together. Everything seemed so impossible for a while.”

  “Tell me about it. All I did for two or three weeks was fly constant missions. My poor chopper has been through hell and back. Luckily, we found a mechanic at one stop along the way.”

  “How many stops did you have to make?”

  “Seven, total. The last two airfields after we picked up Randy were hostile, so we had to reroute.”

  “Tulsa, right?”

  Melissa scrunched her eyes in thought. “Mm. I think so.”

  “Curious. I talked to a guy in Indianapolis who helped me avoid trouble in the city. His name was Randy, too.”

  “Tulsa is a long way from Indy, but you never know. You should go ask him where he’s from.”

  Kim shrugged. “I doubt there’s a connection. There’s lots of Randy’s in the world.”

  “There were lots of Randy’s in the world.”

  “Good point.”

  The oven dinged, and Melissa stood. “It was good talking to you. You can tell me all about those stories later. I especially want to hear the ones where you and Jessie saved my husband’s backside. I could use the ammunition.”

  Kim chuckled. “That sounds good.”

  “I’ll put your meals in for you.”

  “Thanks.”

  Melissa used oven mitts to switch the meals and then programmed Kim’s food into the appliance.

  The captain put her steaming tin pans on plates, retrieved silverware, and shuffled back to her room. They exchanged pleasant “good nights,” leaving Kim with her own thoughts as one of the boys hit a home run on the video game, and the crowd went wild.

  Chapter 34

  Randy, Redpine Facility, Little Rock, Arkansas

  Randy laid in bed a long time, his neck hurting if he spent too much time on his stomach, his ribs complaining when he turned on his side. And resting on his back was completely out of the question.

  He’d turned down heavy pain medication and only ingested NSAIDs to take the edge off. He was tired of being groggy. Tired of lying there. And he didn’t need an opioid addiction on top of it.

  Despite his aches and pains and his shot-up back, Randy felt a hundred percent better. Not just physically, but mentally. Two days ago, he’d faced the same slow death he feared at the Major. He’d simply traded the same fate for a different location.

  And then Kim had come with the serum like Moe said she would. After that, the coughing fits came more often, to the point his lungs felt like they were turning inside out. He spit and hacked gobs of junk into his cup.

  It’s just your body getting rid of the gunk.

  Kim.

  Something about her accent struck him. Did she remind him about someone from John’s camp? The Colony? His groggy mind kept him from remembering, so he let it go.

  The Kim here at Redpine had helped him. She’d given him something that might make him better. That’s all that mattered.

  Outside his room, doctors and nurses talked at all hours of the day. They discussed movies or their plans for later. They complained about life stuck inside Redpine, wondering if they’d ever see the light of day again. He’d caught whispers filled with worry and concern about the future.

  Randy scoffed inwardly. He wanted to yell that they should go outside for a day. Go look at their burning cities and lumps of fungus that used to be people. They wouldn’t complain then. No, they had it good inside Redpine.

  Sometimes, the staff talked about their patients. The handful of people who passed through had stomach aches, headaches, or backaches. Others stopped in for routine exams. Many had trouble sleeping.

  He’d gotten to know two of the doctor’s voices, and his own nurse, Rachel. She was nice, but cold. Whenever she stepped inside his plastic bubble, she never actually touched him or came too close unless she absolutely had to.

  He could understand it. As far as he knew, he was their only serious patient. The only one with a ravaging infection he could pass to them.

  Two pairs of feet entered his room. One pair he instantly registered as Rachel’s, but the other he didn’t know. Plastic rustled, and the nurse stuck her head inside.

  “Randy, hon. You have a visitor.”

  “Fine.” He put his right hand on the bed and pushed himself up as someone took a seat by his bedside. He’d gotten better at flipping on his side and not irritating his wounds too badly.

  “Does it hurt?”

  He raised his eyes to see a pretty Hispanic woman sitting in the chair. She wore the standard issue soft white pants and slippers, but her T-shirt had the faded emblem of a Miami gym on the front.

  “Does what hurt?”

  “You got shot in the back three times.” She tilted her head toward him. “What does it feel like?”

  He pulled a face. “How do you know I was shot? Isn’t that a rights violation? You shouldn’t know a person’s medical history.”

  She blinked at him, sitting perfectly still. Her glossy black hair settled over her shoulders, and her eyes were full of curious patience.

  Wilting beneath her gaze, he conceded. “Yeah, it hurts like hell.”

  “I’ve never been shot,” she stated, flatly. “Stabbed a few times. Punched a lot, but never shot.”

  He blinked at her. “I wouldn’t recommend it.”

  “You’re not sick.” She added in a matter-of-fact tone.

  “Actually, I’m pretty sick,” Randy corrected her, his throat still itching with the dying fungus.

  “That’s not sick.” She pointed at the spit cup resting on the table next to him. “That’s recovering. I’d bet Kim gave you a dose of the serum.”

  Randy shrugged off her suggestion as his own curiosity took over. “Do you know her? Where’s she from? Her voice sounds familiar to me.”

 
“She’s from Washington.” The woman shifted her body forward. “But I’ve never officially met her.”

  “Oh,” Randy said.

  He lifted his eyes, studying her more closely. Her face was round with full cheeks and a strong jawline. Her nose was short and slightly turned up at the end. Thin eyebrows accentuated her dark, intuitive eyes.

  She was stunning, and a little frightening.

  “Well, you’re not fooling anyone here.” She pointed to him. “They know you're getting better.”

  He rolled back another inch or two, pulling a pained face as his back spasmed. “Who the hell are you?”

  She rested back with a smile and a slight shake of her head. “You’re not a threat to me.”

  His brows furrowed when he realized she’d just insulted him. “Trust me, I’m a threat.”

  She laughed and stood. “Maybe at one time, but not anymore.”

  “Hey!” he called to her as she left his plastic bubble and exited the room.

  He was about to protest again when he heard the woman talking to Rachel.

  “Thanks for letting me see him.”

  “No problem,” the nurse replied. “He doesn’t get many visitors.”

  “I can hear you,” Randy hissed quietly.

  “Hey, can you tell me what his treatment protocol will be once he gets on the serum?”

  “How did you know about that?” Rachel seemed shocked.

  “Oh, word got out.” The Hispanic woman laughed. “Everyone knows about it. It’s great, right? We’ll have a serum and a cure. I have to go out in the field lot with Captain Mueller. We’ll be carrying the medicine with us, and he asked me to look into the treatment protocol for it.”

  “Well, why didn’t you say so? I can give you what the doctors have put together so far. It’s just a rough--”

  “No, that’s perfect. Can you send it to my tablet? I’m Alexandria Octavia Rosales. I’m in the system as Lexi.”

  “Oh, I know who you are,” Rachel gave a sheepish reply. “Everyone says you're mean, but you seem nice to me.”

  “I get that a lot,” Lexi laughed. “Turn one soldier down for a date and the rumors fly.”

  “I know what you mean,” the nurse said in an exaggerated tone. “I’m really glad to have met you, Lexi. We should hang out sometime.”

  “I’d love that.”

  “Great. I’ll send you that treatment protocol right away.”

  Footsteps moved away from Randy’s door. He shifted his weight until he lay flat on his stomach, arms folded beneath his chin as he stared at his plastic wall.

  “Lexi,” he whispered, turning her name over in his mind.

  There was something extra about her. Something dangerous and raw, though Randy couldn’t put his finger on it. She wasn’t a stay-in-line soldier type, and she wasn’t like any of the other Redpine citizens he’d met so far.

  And he had no idea why Lexi would want a treatment protocol for Asphyxia or why worry nagged at the back of his mind.

  Chapter 35

  Kim, Redpine Facility, Little Rock, Arkansas

  Grin plastered to her face, stomach turning in nervous excitement, she rushed down the hall on a cloud. She gripped the sample case tightly, afraid she might drop it and crush the precious cargo inside.

  She scanned her hand at the elevators and waited impatiently for the doors to slide open. When they did, she practically leapt in, turned, and punched the button for Wing 3.

  “Come on, come on.”

  Kim fidgeted nervously as the numbers ticked down. They drifted past the public floors all the way to the apartment wings. A feeling of supreme triumph washed over her as the doors slid open to the low simmer of kid noise. Games, laughter, jostling, giggling girls.

  She kept herself from sprinting through the rec room, yelling her head off in sheer glee. Instead, she stepped quietly from the elevator and strode deliberately toward the apartment hall.

  After two-and-a-half days of continual model testing, and one day of production, she held the Asphyxia vaccine.

  Her eyes locked with Savannah where the woman sat at a table in the center of the room, still working on a book. She instantly read Kim’s expression. She looked at the case, face brightening in wild surprise.

  The nanny caught one of the giggling girls flying by her table. “Karen, can you keep an eye on things?”

  “Yes ma’am,” the little boss said.

  She joined Kim, and together they marched through the cafeteria, gesturing for Bryant, Melissa, and Moe to join them. Jessie was napping in her room, but her enthusiasm soared when she saw who it was.

  They all filed in while Kim turned and hit the touchscreen, calling up their room. “Bishop, I’m with Jessie and the others in her room. Can you come, please?”

  “On my way.”

  Kim placed her case on the desk and turned to face the assembled group. The Bryants sat on the edge of the bed while Moe stood off to the side and a little back. The man’s expression remained impossible to read, but Jessie looked hopeful where she rolled her office chair around and sat, waiting expectantly.

  “Is that what I think it is?”

  Kim grinned and shrugged, unwilling to launch into her spiel until her husband arrived. Bishop finally made his way in, and she pecked his cheek and gestured for him to sit by the soldier.

  “First order of business,” Kim said. “Bonnie just helped me load a second batch of serum onto my bus. That brings our total to four thousand vials.”

  “Yes!” Jessie exclaimed, while Bishop and Bryant slapped their hands together.

  “And what I have right here,” Kim gestured to the case, “are the first twenty vials of the Asphyxia vaccine. It’s simply called A-Vax.” She opened the case to reveal the vials, all labeled and filled with clear liquid. “The treatment protocol is fairly simple. You must first be treated with three doses of the new serum, no more than twenty-four hours apart. Then you’re able to receive the vaccine.”

  Jessie raised her hand. “I’m ready.”

  Kim nodded, removing a smaller case from the first one. She unzipped it and spread it open on the desk to reveal six syringes full of A-Vax.

  “As you all know, six of us have been treated with the new serum for three straight days. The fungal toxicity in our blood is low. Once we receive the serum, it will trigger our bodies to make antibodies that will identify Asphyxia by certain markers and attack it before it has a chance to take hold. Soon, it will be as easy to beat as the common cold.”

  Kim uncapped one of the syringes as Jessie used her feet to roll closer. She turned and raised her short shirt sleeve to reveal her upper arm.

  Kim sighed to steady her shaking hands. Then she sterilized Jessie’s skin with an alcohol swab, stuck her gently, and injected the vaccine.

  She drew back, locking hands with her friend.

  “We did it,” Jessie said, eyes turning glassy with tears. “After all we’ve been through. Finding Fiona. Your work at the DC branch. Finding our way to Paul’s... He would have been so proud of us.”

  “I know,” Kim said. She let go and retrieved a second syringe which she handed to her friend. Then she rolled up her own sleeve and exposed her upper arm.

  Jessie injected Kim, capped the syringe, and placed it on the desk before sitting back in her chair. A feeling of unbidden freedom overwhelmed Kim, and her heart raced with joy. She’d never need another serum dose or fear breathing outside ever. She could be around the people she loved without infecting them.

  She could kiss her husband again.

  Her eyes ticked across them, and she fixed them with a hard look. “Now maybe we can fight back and undo some of the damage Burke caused.”

  They returned her look with nods and smiles.

  “You may be concerned about the extremely short testing phase for this vaccine,” Kim said, turning to retrieve another syringe. “But I assure you, it’s safe. Pharmaceutical companies were finding ways to speed up vaccination testing for years, anyway. With
pressure from human and animal rights groups, doing it faster and safer became a priority.” Kim raised her eyebrows. “After all, vaccines were big business.

  “Hence, the Redpine software,” she continued. “It runs the proposed vaccine formula against multiple blood types, races, genders, and even diets. There are a million cases in the database, and it takes three days to run. What you get is a safety score with a margin of error of only one percent. It actually provides more insight on a vaccine’s effectiveness than ten years of human studies.” Kim stared at them. “It’s more than we could have ever hoped for. Are you ready, Bryant?”

  “Yes ma’am.” The soldier turned and rolled up his own sleeve, waiting for his injection.

  “Still, we want to be careful.” Kim strode over and swabbed his skin. “We’ll give it to six of us and wait to see if there are any side effects. If there are none, we can think about dispensing it to the general population.” She injected him, and backed away with a sigh. “I never thought we’d ever arrive at the part where we were about to deploy a cure.” She spread hands. “But here we are.”

  Moe cleared his throat. “I first would like to say that I’m appreciative of everyone here,” he said in a gracious tone. “When will it be ready for me to take back to Chinle?”

  “The way they crank stuff out here,” Kim shrugged. “Four days, tops.”

  Melissa half-turned where she sat, looking up with a pointed expression. “We’ll take a day and a half of flying to return to Chinle and then start dispensing it.”

  “I’m coming, too,” Bryant tossed a glance over his shoulder. “I know you could use the extra gun. General Miller won’t be happy about it, but at least we’ll have the cure.”

  Moe nodded and clenched his fist in gratitude. “Thank you. Both of you. It’s far better than I could have hoped.”

  Kim smiled as she looked around. “Speaking of General Miller, we should start thinking about what we’re going to do with Burke. If we want the vaccine production to keep flowing--”

  “We’re not turning him over to them,” Jessie cut her off. “Because that will get production stopped faster than you can blink.”