The doctor took a breath and said, “Ha.”
Burrows shook his head and crossed his arms. “So you gonna get rid of that body then, right?”
Manson rolled his eyes and set up the next slide with a tissue sample from Anderson’s body. “When I go public with my discovery, I’ll say you were my lab assistant or something.” The scientist froze when he looked through the microscope.
“What? That one the cure too?”
Before Manson could respond, the bathroom door opened. This time it was Julia who entered. “Manson… anything?” She asked, with her hands on her hips.
The scientist squinted her way and a fake smile played across his lips. “Yes, actually. Bates had the virus in his blood.”
Julia’s sigh was both relief and recognition. “The committee is meeting again.” She left and the door began to swing closed behind her.
Manson blinked slowly and squeezed his eyes shut tight. “I’m still working, however. So I won’t be able--”
“Bring your ass, Manson!” Julia called back before the door shut completely.
The scientist opened his eyes and took a breath, a blank expression on his face. He rolled his head around to Burrows and blinked. “Make yourself useful, stand outside the door and keep people from barging in here for at least another two minutes. You want credit, make yourself creditable.”
Burrows muttered to himself but still made his way out the restroom. Manson went back to his microscope and examined the new slide. Under the magnifying glass, the specimen from Anderson was having the same reaction as the previous slide. Except this time, the foreign agent was large and green and killing cells rapidly. It was a new mutation to the virus and Manson was curious about the possibilities of what it would do if it matured in a proper host. Manson pushed away from the counter and looked towards the door.
He pulled a syringe from his equipment bag on the floor, stuck the needle into the lump of flesh on the counter that came from Anderson and drew out whatever fluid the sample allowed. The scientist went to the stall with the syringe and opened the door to the corpse that was now turning rank as it decomposed in the small room. Manson stabbed the dead body with the needle and pumped half the fluid into the corpse. He wasn’t sure what this would do to the carcass but figured there was no harm in watching it waste away. The scientist went to grab a can of disinfectant spray and sprayed it in the air to mask the smell of the rotting corpse. It did little to hide the stench.
Outside the restroom, Burrows was looking back and forth down the nearby aisles as he waited for Manson to come out. “C’mon doc, what the hell are you doing?” The soldier whispered to himself.
“Burrows!” A voice called out and surprised the soldier, who turned to see his captain standing there as though he had appeared from nowhere.
“Captain Baker.” Burrows’ voice was shaky and nervous.
“What are you doing?” The captain asked with his head cocked to the side.
“Oh, I was…”
The door behind Burrows opened and Manson came walking out with a hand on his forehead. When he looked up and saw Baker, he paused for a moment. “Oh, Captain Baker. Don’t tell me Julia sent you to retrieve me.”
Baker blinked slowly. “No. I saw Burrows and wondered what he was doing.”
“Well, Julia sent him to hurry me along so I told him I would come as soon as my experiments were finished. I’m trying to develop a formula to help Lesly grow more of vegetables in the garden.”
Baker just blinked again and sighed. “Get back to your post, Burrows. C’mon doc.” The captain turned around and went along the side of the wall, towards the doorway to the security monitor room.
Before Burrows could step away from the door, Manson grabbed his arm and stabbed him as he said, “Stay here and watch this door! Make sure no one goes in!”
“Damn doc, what the hell was that!” Burrows pulled away and put a hand to his forearm where the scientist had grabbed him.
“Oh…” Manson showed Burrows a scalpel in his left hand. “Sorry. Did I get you?”
“Yeah, fuck. And what am I supposed to tell the captain if he comes back?”
“By then the meeting will be over and I would be coming back anyway.” Manson turned to leave. “Just stay hidden and make sure no one goes in there.”
The scientist continued walking. He looked down at the scalpel in his left hand and the syringe in his right. He was certain he had pricked the soldier with the syringe but wasn’t sure if he had injected him with anything. It was a mistake and Manson pulled the cap from his pocket to cover the needle to keep from stabbing anyone else. He also decided it was best not to say anything if it turned out Burrows was not infected. But if he was… The scientist licked his lips at the idea of what could happen next.
In the monitor room, Antonio and Miles were told to sit down at the table in the middle of the room, Brandon sitting across from them. The three exchanged a look and Julia dragged a chair over to sit in the middle. She sighed and folded her hands in front of her, letting the silence settle in the room before speaking. Nadine turned around from her display screens to catch a glimpse of the gathering around the table. She watched Manson enter the room after Captain Baker, then quickly turned away when she heard the major’s coughing from the doorway.
“Were you able to settle everyone?” Julia asked Carver when he came bulling his way into the room.
The major marched towards the table, coughing the whole time through gritted teeth. “Everyone’s headed back to their aisles.” He didn’t even look Julia’s way. He was too fixated on the boys. “Though it was difficult to get everyone to calm down, after all that’s happened.”
“And that was all incited by you, Major Carver.” Julia side-eyed the towering man, who finally took notice of her. “Manson.” She spoke over her shoulder to the scientist, not entirely turning his way.
It took Manson a full two seconds to realize Julia had called him. He even pointed a finger at himself like, “Are you talking about me?” He had been daydreaming as he usually did, his mind preoccupied by something else.
“What did you find out? Tell them what you told me.” Julia turned and eyed him fiercely. She wasn’t in the mood.
Manson cleared his throat and licked his lips. “The blood sample I got from Bates did contain trace amounts of the LRS-10 virus. He was, in fact, infected.”
“So, he was infected?” Ben perked up from where he stood near the monitors. After hearing this news his stoic mood started to fade. He found it hard to believe the boys would kill someone in cold blood, but he still felt responsible for Bates’ death. If he hadn’t let the boys in to begin with then maybe none of this would be happening.
“Told you!” Antonio started up and was shaking his head as he just kept saying, “Told you. We told you. Told you.”
“That’s enough, Antonio.” Julia snapped around and the teen quieted, though he kept shaking his head.
“It’s true.” Dr. Chakrabarti leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. “I checked the body. Although it’s dying, the skin is already turning black around the wound where the virus was spreading. It’s the same way with anyone who gets infected.”
“It can’t be said, however, how much the infection had spread and when Bates would’ve turned,” Manson jumped in with an almost indifferent tone. He tilted his head towards Chakrabarti and looked at the medical doctor over the rim of his glasses. Chakrabarti scoffed at him and looked away.
“He was gon turn! He was already turning in the parking lot!” Antonio belted out. “He woulda turned in here! Y’all trippin’, y’all woulda let him in here and he’da killed everybody! Y’all hella dumb!”
“Antonio!” Miles took his bound hands from the table and put them on his brother to calm him down.
“Look man, we didn’t have to go out there to take care of them strikers. But if we didn’t, y’all’d be dead.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Julia said with a sigh. “But if you d
idn’t come here in the first place, that hive would’ve never found us. They were chasing you two.”
“That don’t mean shit. If they’da found y’all anyway, y’all’d be fucked.”
“Wait a minute? You guys went out there to fight off those freaks?” Brandon’s face was surprised concern.
“We call them strikers… or lurkers when they move slow.” Miles explained. “And a siren brought ‘em here. Sirens just scream and call other infected to a area. Sirens are dangerous. Maybe more dangerous than the others. But not more dangerous than a hive. Hives are the most dangerous.”
“Alright, we don’t need another full breakdown,” Carver interrupted. “You took care of the freaks and then killed one of our soldiers, who may or may not have turned. And even before that…” The major crossed the room to a table that had all the boys’ equipment and picked up an automated rifle, bringing it back to the center table. “You probably killed our other people to get this gun! You’ve been lying to us this whole time and playing games, waiting until we drop our defenses and then whoever’s out there will come in and--” The major went into a fit of coughing and couldn’t stop himself.
“Calm down, Eric.” Julia was forceful but her voice didn’t rise. After rubbing her face from stress and cursing under her breath in Spanish, she turned to the boys. “What happened to our people and how did you get their guns?”
“They killed themselves,” Antonio replied, “They was fightin’ and they killed themselves.”
“We saw them. We saw them. We just took their stuff after they died.” Miles was rocking in his chair. “If we didn’t… somebody else would have. Somebody else would have.”
Carver finally stopped coughing, sucked at the back of his teeth, and scoffed at the boy’s remark. Julia’s eyes cut to him and he remained silent. “Who’s the old man?” Julia asked.
The boys visibly tightened up and Miles hung his head. Antonio started shaking his head again and looked at his younger brother.
“You mentioned an old man and something he said.” Ben stepped closer to the table. “Is he someone with you? Someone you’re protecting?”
“Someone you’re hiding?” Carver asked with a shady undertone.
“Johnathan?” Brandon blurted out the name and the room turned to him, especially the boys.
Antonio looked like he didn’t want Brandon to say anymore and Miles looked like he took a dagger to the heart.
“Johnathan… who’s that?” Carver leaned in. “Is he the one who’s out there? Is he the one waiting? Are their others? Brandon!” The major barked and gritted his teeth through a cough.
“I don’t… I don’t…” Brandon was confused and looked back and forth between the boys and the major. Then he rested on Antonio and leaned towards him. “What happened to John? Is he still with you? Is he ok?”
Miles was rocking harder in his chair and yanked his phone from his pocket. He flipped at the blank screen, searching for a song.
Julia watched Miles cover his ears with his hands, cradling his chin where his wrists were tied. He closed his eyes tight and started humming a song. Antonio just kept shaking his head and looking down at the table. “Antonio… can you tell me who Johnathan is?” Julia asked.
Antonio looked up from the table and sighed. “He was the old man.” He turned towards Brandon, then slowly looked away and whispered, “He died.”
Brandon sat back in his chair and hung his head. “Damn.” He stammered, licked his lips and swallowed back tears as his chest rose and fell. “Was it after the BART? How far did he make it with you guys? I never… I never saw you guys again after we got off the BART.”
“Naw… he was with us until the end two months ago.”
“Damn.” Brandon got choked up and pulled his shirt collar to his face and cried softly into it.
“Oh my god.” Lesly was standing next to the monitor tables, chewing at her thumbnail.
For a second everyone in the room had forgotten the store manager was even there. She was more an active listener when it came to serious meetings like this and tended to just go along with the majority at the end. So, to avoid adding her two cents and causing arguments, she chose to stay quiet.
Julia waited a few beats before she went on, “So you all knew each other before this?”
The boys didn’t answer. “Yeah.” Brandon wiped at his face, sniffling and snorting. “I was an aide in their classroom. I helped the teacher. Johnathan worked at the school as the maintenance man. He wasn’t that much older than me, but he was so much like an old guy. He was stuck in his ways, hard-headed and liked old-school music.”
Julia eyed Miles and now recognized the song he was humming was James Brown’s It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World.
“He used to love to play dominoes.” Brandon chuckled and Antonio laughed under his breath.
“And he was with you guys when everything fell apart?” Julia asked.
“Yeah.” Brandon looked at the unusually quiet Antonio and continued. “Yeah, he helped a lot of us at the school. He saved me and a lot of the others who were there that day.”
“And then… he stayed with you two and helped you… until he passed?” Julia’s question was aimed at the boys but neither of them responded.
“How did he die? When did he die?” Carver leaned in with his questions and hovered over the table with a cold glare.
“Eric, do you really think that’s a question we should be asking right now?” Ben tried urging the major to back off with a hand on his shoulder, but Carver shook him off.
“What the hell is wrong with you? What the hell is wrong with all of you?” Carver backed away from the table and addressed the room. “Why are we doing so much digging into their past and the events that have led us to this point if we’re not going to try and find out if they’re a threat to the compound? This is fucking ridiculous.” The major shook his head and almost laughed at the absurdity of it all.
“Hm. The major has a point. Even if it’s less tactful than we’d like to hear.” Manson was staring off, looking at the ceiling as he spoke. He obviously didn’t want to be there.
“Have you two forgotten that these boys just saved this entire compound?” Chakrabarti said, exchanging looks with Carver then Manson.
“And they were the cause for it in the first place. If we’re being technical,” Manson retorted, his eyes finding the doctor as though he’d come back from a fog.
“And what would we have done if the hive had come on its own? Huh? We weren’t exactly prepared to deal with something like that,” Chakrabarti said. “We sent out six trained military men and only four came back, while two kids came up with a plan and put it into action. You can be upset with them all you want but it doesn’t change the fact that they saved our lives.”
“At the sacrifice of two men. And they could be responsible for our search party going missing.” Major Carver coughed and folded his arms as he nodded to Julia. “Why don’t you ask them about that? Did their old man die killing our people?”
“Fuck you!” Antonio jumped from his seat. “I don’t give a fuck what you do with us now! Kill us, lock us up, or send us back out there! But you ain’t gon talk shit about the old man! Your people killed themselves and we didn’t have no part of that!”
Miles was humming louder now, squeezing his eyes closed as he rocked back and forth in his chair.
Julia made her way to Miles and clasped his hands over his ears. “Miles… calm down. It’s ok.” She was sweet. She smelled sweet and had kind eyes. Miles slowly stopped rocking and looked up at Julia like she was the only one in the room.
“The old man told me,” Miles whispered. “He told me, don’t take chances. I didn’t want to kill Bates. I didn’t want him to die. But people die. It’s better to die before you turn. The old man always said that. It’s better to die before you turn.” The boy’s eyes started to well up and now everyone was watching Miles and Julia. The small boy buried his face in her chest and she held him, strok
ing the back of his head.
“You can’t be--” Carver stopped when he started coughing. “You can’t be--” He stopped again but coughed harder, trying to get it all out. “You can’t be falling for this shit!” the major finally said. He looked around the room and felt reality slipping from him. He nearly fainted and Baker went to help him. The major shoved Baker away and started coughing again, covering his mouth. He staggered out of the room towards the docks and could be heard hacking and spitting as he made his way down the small hallway.
“Are y’all sure he ok?” Antonio asked.
“I better check on him.” Dr. Chakrabarti went after the major, though he knew there wasn’t much he could do.
“Cuz that man coughing every five minutes and shit…” Antonio continued.
“He has lung cancer,” Baker said sharply, his glance went from the hallway to Antonio now. “It’s a miracle he’s made it this long.”
Antonio was silent and looked away to avoid Baker’s intense stare.
“Alright. Pongamos nuestras cartas sobre la mesa… let’s put everything on the table.” Julia sat down with a heavy sigh and addressed the boys. “Before you two got here, we sent out a small group looking for some people we sent away.” Julia eyed Ben, expecting him to speak up, but he just cleared his throat and shifted his stance next to Lesly. Julia continued, “You say you ran into those people?”
“We did,” Miles said softly.
“Where? When?”
“A day or two before we came here,” Miles spoke again in a hushed tone. Antonio just shook his head at his brother.
“And you say there was infighting between our people?”
“Yeah. They was fighting. They was arguing and then they started shootin’ each other. They killed each other and we found them. They was all dead or dying.”
Julia paused for a moment. “If we went out there, could you take us to them? Their bodies, could you show us where they are?”
Miles looked at his brother and Antonio stared back at him with his eyes narrowed and his mouth a hard line. “We… could show you,” Miles said softly.
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