“Just take it to my lab, quickly. Think about it, gentlemen. The possible cure is right in front of us. Don’t you want to be a part of that? Don’t you want the world to know that you had a hand in the revitalization of civilization?”
When Manson heard the others coming from the hallway to the security room, he peeked over his shoulder and pressed his glasses back up the ridge of his nose. “Thank you, kind sirs. Please dispose of that— striker— post haste.” He winked at the two army men as discreetly as he could, though it still looked awkward to them. It was a gesture he wasn’t familiar with.
Burrows and Castle shuffled aside, Burrows shaking his head as he did, and the two boys stopped at the doorway to the office with Baker standing behind them.
“Here you go. Your new living quarters,” Manson said with a half-smile.
“What’s up with you?” Antonio asked bluntly.
The doctor looked at him strangely. “What ever do you mean?”
Antonio eyed the scientist and felt a weird vibe from him. There was something about Manson that rubbed him the wrong way and the boy could tell there was something more to him that was sinister and dark. Baker ordered the boys into the room and they did as they were told. Miles went in first, looking around the almost empty space. There was a desk, a coffee table in front of the couch that doubled as a pull-out mattress, and a small rug on the floor. There was no window to the outside, though a window to the monitor room was behind the couch. The walls were vacant, with stains where posters might have been once. Miles could tell no one stayed in here. It was too clean and even smelled like someone had sprayed surface cleaner everywhere.
“Nobody stays in here?” Miles said through muted sniffles and looked back at Ben at the doorway.
“Uh, no it’s fine. We typically only use this room for meetings,” Ben replied, smiling.
“What a waste.” Miles turned and looked around the room again.
Antonio entered the office and plopped down on the couch. “Y’all watchin’ movies later, can we get a tv in here? Can we watch somethin’?”
“This isn’t a hotel.” Baker made his way to the boys and cut the zip ties around their wrists.
The army captain left the office and Ben stood at the doorway, trying to think of something to say to make the boys feel at home. To make them feel safe. He lingered for so long that the boys stopped inspecting the office and gave him their attention. But when Carver started closing the door, Ben gave up and simply exited with a smile and “goodnight.” The door closed, and Carver locked it.
Miles went to the window that faced the monitor room and watched the adults go back into the inner store. Baker ordered Anderson to stay behind to stand guard and Nadine was still sitting at the camera screens. Miles was really hoping to spot Ben’s daughter, Alana, again but she was nowhere to be found.
Antonio yawned big and covered his mouth. “This that bullshit right here. We shoulda just stayed at the hide-away.”
“We can still get some food from here.” Miles was so close to the glass, his breath was starting to fog it up.
“These people are all gonna die.” Antonio laid down on the couch.
“I wanna sleep on the bed. It’s a bed in the couch. I wanna sleep on the bed.” Miles turned away from the window and went to his brother.
“Naw man. I’m on the bed. I’m already layin’ here.”
“No! You can’t have the bed.”
The two brothers stared at each other before Antonio sat up. They both held out a balled fist, preparing to play rock, paper, scissors.
Outside the monitor room and at the doorway of the inner store, Carver stopped all the members of the committee. “We don’t mention any of this to anyone. No one needs to know how we’re handling the freaks outside or the boys in the back.”
“I think all this goes without saying.” Martyn was shaking his head with his eyes down, lost in thought.
“No. Everyone needs to hear it out loud. This decision may have put the whole compound at risk. What happens next, we’re all responsible. Even me.” Carver went into a fit of coughing and his whole body shook.
“You can’t blame us for not wanting to just kill them out right, like you major.” Doctor Chakrabarti said. “Julia’s solution satisfies everyone in this situation. We should wait before we make any rash decisions.” Martyn wiped his forehead, feeling sweat on his brow from the tension of the past twenty or so minutes. A lot was being thrown at him, when earlier this morning his biggest issue was dealing with skid knees.
Carver covered his mouth and tried holding the coughs in, then after a minute or so, he started to speak. “And I hope you’re all prepared for the fallout.”
Everyone looked at each other and began to disperse. Martyn walked slowly towards the aisles, looking preoccupied. Lesly made some comment about the movie night. Though she was noticeably shaking, she pulled out her pocket mirror, checked her makeup and smile, and went off to find those who were preparing the night’s festivities.
Julia put her hands on her hips and looked between Carver and Ben. “We’re responsible, but you two put us all here.”
Carver chuckled. “Well you’re right there.” The major peered at Ben.
Ben met his gaze with equal measurement. Then he turned to Julia. “Thanks for being reasonable and helping everyone see a better option than what the major was suggesting.”
“Don’t think I don’t understand where Eric is coming from Ben.” Julia crossed her arms. “Those kids are really fucking smart when it comes to the infected, but they’re feral. Those kids are dangerous, and we have to be cautious.”
Ben sighed, nodding his head as he turned to leave. Julia took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She stalled for a moment, looking at the major, almost about to speak.
“Whatever you’re about to say, don’t.” Carver glanced at her then glanced away.
Julia shook her head and decided to leave. Manson stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked at the door behind him anxiously. When he saw Burrows and Castle coming out, with Ryan Bates not far behind, he waited for recognition from the two men to tell him they had finished the task he gave them.
“Did you take care of the bodies in the dock?” Carver asked them.
“Yeah.” Burrows shook his head and knew the scientist was looking for reassurance. Manson eyed him with a narrow look.
“Burrows, Castle, go check with your patrol teams before going to your aisles.” Baker gave out orders to the men. “Bates, head over to the food banks and help out there.”
Carver grunted and began walking away, Baker close on his heels. “When the opportunity arrives… we’ll deal with those kids and do it quietly.” The major spoke in a low voice so only Baker could hear him. The captain nodded, and they continued.
Manson waited until Carver was out of earshot and called out to Burrows before he left. “So, it’s done? You took the body to my lab?”
Burrows sighed and rolled his eyes at the eccentric doctor. “Yeah, quack, it’s in your lab.”
Manson slowly started nodding his head. “Good. Good. This is good.” The doctor wandered off, murmuring to himself about things becoming more interesting.
Chapter 3
2 years prior—
It was an average Friday morning. Johnathan was sitting in his truck, across the street from Ascend Academy in east Oakland. He took a long drag from his vape pen and blew the smoke out the small opening in his window. He had already clocked in at the school two hours ago and was already ready to go home. He scratched his head full of short twists and made his way down to scratching his thick beard. After another drag from his pen, he saw Principal Michelle Weathers pull up in front of the school and she quickly jumped out of her Nissan.
She was rushing to the front door of the school with her orange hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. Her rosy cheeks were turning redder from her struggle to get out of her car and Johnathan thought he better get out and help her. Not before spraying himself
with a bottle of Febreeze just to be certain the smoke smell didn’t carry with him.
Michelle was fumbling with all the school supplies she was carrying in her arms and ended up dropping her coffee on the pathway to the door. “Shit!” she exclaimed.
Johnathan crossed the street and caught a pack of number two pencils she dropped before they hit the ground. “I got coffee going in the breakroom if you need a refill.” Johnathan was a lot taller than the principal and a few shades darker too.
Michelle looked at his blue jeans and black polo and saw they were both dirty. “Good morning Johnathan. What’s wrong now?” She gathered the mess on his clothes must have been from maintenance in the basement.
“The basement is nearly flooded, and the roof is leaking worse than it did yesterday,” Johnathan responded. He held open the front door to the building and Michelle entered, putting down all the supplies she was carrying on the front office desk.
“Damn it.” She let out a deep breath and looked at the vacant chair behind the front desk. “Did she call in?”
Johnathan shrugged his shoulders and reached over the desk to push the answering machine’s button. After a loud beep, the machine said in an automated voice that there were no new messages.
“I’m here!” a voice called from down the hall to the right. The principal and Johnathan looked to see Justine waddling towards the timeclock to punch in. She was in her third trimester and looked about ready to pop. Her ironic shirt over her blue jeans read, “baby on board.”
“Justine, were you able to contact the roofing company before you left yesterday?” Michelle asked.
“I called and left a message.” Justine plopped down in the chair behind the front desk.
“We need to do something about the roof today. We may have to send the students home,” Johnathan said.
“Is it that bad?” Justine looked him up and down and noticed the mess on his clothes.
“We got leaks in almost all the classrooms. That company really fucked us.” Johnathan looked at his shirt and pulled it off. Luckily, he was wearing a tank top underneath, saving Justine from covering her eyes in embarrassment.
“Please put on a shirt.” Michelle turned to the white board behind her with the classroom schedules and aide assignments. “We don’t have to send the kids home. Most of them are going to the movies today anyway and classroom seven has work.”
“Sam hasn’t made all the corrections to that yet so you may not want to go by that schedule.” Johnathan said.
“Please go put on a shirt before the students start arriving.” Michelle started writing on the white board with one of the markers she had brought in.
Johnathan saluted her with his shirt in hand and turned to leave the front office, hearing Justine pick up the phone and say she was going to call the roofers again. Johnathan walked past the empty conference room on his right, then went past the new makeshift breakroom where he arranged all coffee makers on a table. He swung the corner to the left at the end of the hall and almost bumped into someone, a younger light skin woman, Francine. She was radiant as ever in her pencil skirt and matching blue blazer and Johnathan excused himself for almost knocking her over.
“That’s ok, I wasn’t paying attention anyway.” She was lean with a track athlete’s build but still wasn’t as quick as Johnathan when it came to running down students. “I’m always so clumsy.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m clumsier than you. I’ve already lost my shirt today.” Johnathan held out his shirt and she laughed. He was still a little surprised every time he was able to make such a well-educated PhD grad like Francine laugh at his simple jokes.
“Ooh Johnathan, what you doin’ wit yo shirt off?” A woman down the hall was calling out. She imitated throwing money at him like he was a stripper, pulling at her orange blouse and saying, “Take it off.”
Johnathan gave a few hip swings and a short pelvic thrust that had both the other woman and Francine laughing loudly. Johnathan turned and continued to his office then closed the door before going under his desk for a box of slightly used t-shirts he kept in case the students needed a change. He meant to buy another pack of new ones after one boy had thrown up on himself when he was eating his pizza too fast. He took Johnathan’s last clean shirt on Tuesday. Then another boy had an “accident” on Wednesday that was really just him throwing shit at the walls in the bathroom; which led to him needing a shirt.
Johnathan pulled on an Ascend Academy hoodie after not being able to find a shirt his size. When he exited his office, he was glad Arthur wasn’t there waiting to tell him about some new issue with his microwave in his classroom, or the windows, or Arthur’s computer that kept getting viruses. Arthur’s computer was almost as messed up as all those people in the news suffering from UGEN’s side effects. Johnathan had been hesitant to try the miracle drug when it first came out and now he was glad he hadn’t tried taking it.
The so called “cure-all medication” was meant to do away with insulin shots, chemotherapy and the common cold. It was too good to be true but people all over the world were buying it up, wholesale. For a while it seemed like the medicine industry had actually made something that was worth a damn. But not even a year after the drug hit the market, people started getting sick and behaving erratically. UGEN was pulled from the shelves and was replaced with another crock of shit “cure for the cure”. LRS-10 was supposed to help people dealing with any side effects from UGEN, but from what Johnathan saw on the news in Arthur’s classroom the other day, LRS-10 was just making things worse.
“Good morning old man!” A young man named Brandon went rushing past Johnathan, trying to keep his backpack on his shoulder. He was no doubt bounding for the time clock to punch in before he was late.
“Good morning, Brandon,” Johnathan called after the younger man, then jumped back when the bathroom door flew open in front of him. He hated that his office was so close to the bathroom.
“Oh! I’m sorry Johnathan!” A little old lady stepped out from behind the door. She outstretched her arms to reach up and hug the taller man.
“Good morning Ms. Dottie.” He bent down to hug the grandmotherly woman and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“Good morning sweetheart. How are you?” Ms. Dottie asked with a cherry red smile.
“I’m good. How are you?”
“I’m good. I’d be better if I could use the bathroom.” She giggled and pointed at the closed doors inside the restroom. She covered her hands when she saw him look down at the black veins on her fingers.
“You ok Ms. Dottie?”
“Oh, I’m fine sugar. I’m fine. I get all my good health from you young people.” She laughed again.
Johnathan laughed too. He heard Ms. Dottie had been taking UGEN for her Parkinson’s and hoped she hadn’t experienced any of its strange side effects. He walked into the bathroom and banged on one door to see if it was occupied. There was a bang back that told him someone was in there. Then when he banged on the next door there was a long pause. He banged again and listened closely.
“Someone’s in here,” a voice inside responded.
“Sorry Sam.” Johnathan recognized the voice.
“I’m coming out now.”
“Ok, no worries.” Johnathan wished Ms. Dottie a good day and left the bathroom, only to be greeted by an old white man in a sweater vest and khakis. Arthur had found him.
“Oh, Johnathan. I’m glad I caught you.” Arthur said, his face wrinkling from his smile.
“Good morning Arthur.” Johnathan rubbed at his eyes, hoping that this conversation wouldn’t take any more years off his life.
“I, uh…” Arthur took a breath to gather his thoughts. “I was going out with students in my class on the field trip. We just have to wait for the vans to come back from picking people up this morning. Then we’ll leave with Jasmine and she’s going to drop us off and pick us up.” He paused again to think.
Johnathan crossed his arms, waiting for Arthur to continue and g
et to the point.
Arthur went on, “So, I know you remember Miles got in a fight yesterday with Hector.”
“Yes, I remember, Arthur.” Johnathan started making his way to the breakroom, hoping the coffee was done and there was still some left.
Arthur followed. “Well, because Miles had a fight, his level was dropped, and he won’t be able to go to the movies with us. Abby said she was staying behind and, so he’ll be with her in the classroom, but I was wondering if you didn’t mind coming by and maybe having him help you with the stuff around the school like you normally do.”
Johnathan entered the breakroom, that was once a conference room, and grabbed a cup from the stack near the coffee maker. But when he placed the cup under the spout and pulled down the lever, nothing came out. His coworkers must have taken it all while he was stuck listening to Arthur. With a big sigh, Johnathan went to refilling the maker with fresh coffee grounds and starting the machine again. “Yeah. Arthur, if I find something to do, I’ll take Miles to come help me.”
Arthur was thrilled to hear that. Johnathan often took students from different classrooms to help him move boxes, fold up chairs, or break down old tables and throw them in the dumpster. It was a privilege to help him and students strived for the opportunity. Johnathan had been there when Miles and Hector started fighting. Although both parties were equally at fault, Miles wasn’t the aggressor. Johnathan didn’t see a problem having the small frail boy help him with boxes or something.
While the coffee brewed, Johnathan left the small breakroom, just as more staff members came in looking for java. Johnathan turned to go down the small hallway back to the front office. Justine was on the phone when he entered the office but when she saw him, she shook her head.
“Nothing from the roofers.” The pregnant woman mouthed.
Johnathan shook his head. He made his way around the front L shaped counter, passing Michelle on his left, talking with Sam about the scheduling on the white board. Johnathan looked out the front door to see the first of the yellow buses starting to pull up.
Two Alive Page 9