The Cure

by Jeremy P Horgan

  ‘This can’t be the only option we have,’ he stated.

  ‘Sir, if there was any other option, we would have found it by now,’ said Goldsmith ‘These people are going to die anyway. They are going to die in the most horrible way possible. I’m not going to say that we’re doing them a favor, but we’re just elongating the inevitable whilst giving everyone else the strongest possible chance of coming out of this alive. At least giving them the chance to live to an age that they may have reached had The Cure never happened.’

  The Commander General stood poised to speak. Normally the most outspoken person at the table and always with an opinion but now he stood there almost unable to speak.

  ‘General, what is your take on this?’ said the President valuing some sense of reason.

  ‘Mr President Sir, it is not often that I say this, but I just don’t know. I mean, we’re supposed to protect the people of America, not sentence them to death, yet here I am stood here having just voted for that very scenario. The one thing I would say is that the facts don’t lie and that any other option has been taken out of our hands. If I were to vote again, I would vote the same way.’

  Goldsmith held his hands out as if to say he agreed.

  ‘Kill some to save the many,’ said the President.

  ‘We’ve built a community here Sir, but we will run out of food eventually. I get that you are officially still the President of the United States, but you are also the leader of this community and responsible for the people on this base. There’s going to be a day when the only option left to us is going above ground to scavenge for food like the rest of the people up there. If we do this now and it opens other available paths, we can look to expand what we already have and roll that out to others in time. We sit here on our hands and then that is taken away from us,’ said Goldsmith.

  ‘You’re right,’ said the President. ‘We need to take action. It just doesn’t sit right with me. We, along with the rest of the world, have suffered as a result of not acting and now we’re facing the end of humanity. But taking lives to save lives, can I live with that?’

  ‘You either live with it, or you die and humanity dies with it,’ said the General.

  ‘Okay. Put it into motion,’ said the President as he stood then left the room.

  The General turned to Goldsmith ‘I hope you know what you’re doing Goldsmith.’

  ‘All under control General. We need to protect the community, and this is the only way,’ he replied.

  Chapter Four

  After leaving the chamber The President went to his quarters. His room was no different to anyone else, although with the boys choosing to room in the dormitories he had more space, which only made it lonelier. He missed sitting down and eating meals at a dinner table with the boys, but more than anything he missed the conversations with his wife. Discussing what they had done in the day and leaning on her for her advice and support. One thing he knew was that she would have opposed any plan that meant the loss of human life. She was pro-life and initially when he pushed for office she had led his campaign based on a compassionate presidential election focusing on people rather than policy. He almost felt embarrassed about the decision he’d just made. Did everyone else vote that way because he made it clear that it was them or us, or did they genuinely agree that life had to be taken to preserve life. He ran to the bathroom and was sick.

  ‘What do I do?’ he asked himself out loud. But it was already done.

  Just at that point Danny walked through the door.

  ‘Dad’ he said putting a hand on his shoulder ‘Who you talking to?’

  ‘No-one son, just putting questions out there in the hope of a divine intervention.’

  ‘You miss her?’ said Danny, looking at the photograph the President had unknowingly picked off the mantlepiece.

  The President went over to his bureau and pulled out a handful of photos. He never got bored of looking through these memories and they brought smiles and tears as he regaled the stories with each one.

  ‘Ah, this one was at a congress in Washington. I had just been made Senator and Logan must have been born the following fall. There’s your mum. She was beautiful. Everyone was there to see me sworn in, but they weren’t looking at me, they were looking at her. She was like a shining beacon of hope for them. When I was at meetings to raise funds in gentlemen’s clubs, smoking $100 cigars, she was handing out food at the soup kitchens. Whilst I was travelling to countries to meet royalty on private jets she was stood protesting immigration laws. She really was my better half. She was a magnificent woman,’ he said.

  ‘I wish I had met her,’ said Danny.

  ‘I see her in you son. Both you and Logan. Not just your looks but she is inside your heart. I could not be prouder of both of you and the decisions you make. You’ll make mistakes but you know what right and what’s wrong. I wish I could take credit for that but it’s all you. I know I wasn’t there for you, but I need you to know that I love you both and I trust you.’

  ‘I know Dad and we love you too.’

  ‘Please speak with your brother. You used to be so close. Family and friendship are more important than anything and I won’t be here forever. You need each other,’ said the President.

  ‘It’s complicated Dad,’ he replied.

  ‘It’s only ever complicated when a girl is involved. Am I right?’

  ‘Dad!’ he blushed. ‘Let’s see those photos,’ he said changing the subject.

  ‘Oh, my goodness,’ he exclaimed ‘I didn’t even know that was still in here. Look Danny, this is in the Whitehouse. We never got to live there but the history in that place,’ he said.

  ‘So, who is in that picture?’ said Danny.

  ‘Let’s see,’ he laughed ‘Well, that’s Goldsmith,’ he said pointing to a young man with a moustache.

  ‘Is he still wearing the same suit?’ Danny said, both of them laughing.

  ‘That’s the previous President. He wasn’t the most liked President that’s for sure, but he got things done and he made hard decisions and I respected him for that. I can’t say that he left everything perfectly for me, as you can see’ pointing around the room. ‘But to blame him for everything that’s happened, well, no-one saw that coming.’

  ‘That’s the Commander General,’ said Danny pointing to a man stood at the back of the photo.

  ‘Yes, although he wasn’t the Commander General then. The last President promoted him just before he ‘stepped down’ so I kind of inherited him on my staff.’

  ‘Who are those other men?’ said Danny

  ‘Giants of industry. Mostly CEO’s of Pharmaceutical companies. That’s where most of the funding came from. I couldn’t even tell you their names.’

  ‘Anyway, enough about the past, let’s talk about the future,’ said the President. ‘Who is this girl?’

  ‘Just another girl dad,’ he replied.

  ‘Just another girl does not leave you like a lost puppy dog. I should know. Your mother made me wait five years for our first date,’ he laughed.

  ‘What? How come?’

  ‘We were at High School together and she was dating the captain of the football team. An absolute adonis. His name was Will Carlton. I’m not kidding, this kid looked as if he was twenty-one when he was fifteen. Your mom was smitten. She was in the cheerleading team and I was just a Chess nerd,’ he chuckled. ‘Will wasn’t the brightest, but your mom she was something else. Not just beautiful but stunning and clever. She had ambition and she knew that although Will was going places, they weren’t the same places she wanted to be. She wasn’t happy being the wife of a football star, she wanted to make her own imprint on the world.’

  ‘Wait, are we talking about Will Charlton of the Cleveland Browns?’ said Danny.

  ‘The very same,’ replied his dad.

  ‘So how did you do it Dad? How did you convince her to date you?’

  ‘I like to think it came after the school won a debating competition. We were discussing the
rights of immigrants crossing the border and the humane response to how we should accept anyone in and help them, rather than send them back. Man, I was good that day. Your mother was sat there in the front row looking up at me. I was last to go, and we were losing, badly. Seeing her face just stirred something in me. A passion. Not just for her but for what I was debating. She brought the good out in me and gave me the confidence to know what I was saying was right. Well, I bossed it right there and then. Had everyone on their feet clapping and whooping. But only one person’s opinion mattered to me in that moment and she was sat down smiling that smile at me, not clapping but just smiling. It was then that I knew she was mine forever.’

  ‘However,’ he added. ‘Until the day she passed, she always maintains that it wasn’t that speech that got her. It was that I was the first senior to get a Dodge Challenger.’

  Danny laughed and they both sat back on the sofa looking through the photos. The President felt something inside him that he hadn’t felt for a long time. Happiness.

  Chapter Five

  Logan sat alone on his bed with his head in his hands, a million things running through his mind following the decision made by his father in the war room.

  None of this seemed right to him. Playing God with other people’s lives just left a sickness in the pit of his stomach. The easy option was to walk away and just go along with his father’s plan, but that just wasn’t him. He only believed in good and bad and his loyalties fell on only one side of that fence.

  Although the board considered him an adult he still had his own room off the main kids’ dormitories. All the children had grown up living in close quarters and although they would eat and spend most evening with their parents, they all slept together in the four large rooms full of bunk beds, originally built for large scale army forces. Logan, now part of the military outfit, had made the decision to remain as head of the dormitory and oversaw a group of twenty teenage boys along with his daytime security detail for The President.

  They were all good lads who got on well, other than the occasional dispute, but they looked up to Logan and respected him. They were a tight unit and were supportive of each other and the other younger groups.

  Logan’s brother Daniel, or Danny as he was known to the other boys and girls, was part of Logan’s room, but would sleep anywhere else on the base that wouldn’t involve taking orders or spending time with his brother. He still loved Logan, but he didn’t always see eye to eye with his conformist ideas, choosing to hang with the other boys who would steal cigarettes and alcohol from storage containers on the base.

  Logan sat silently, for once in his life not knowing what he should do when Danny walked into the room and placed a hand on his shoulder. ‘Heavy is the head that wears the crown brother,’ he said.

  ‘You’ve no idea Danny,’ he replied.

  ‘Penny for your thoughts?’

  Logan sighed and looked up towards his brother, fear in his eyes, ’Danny, I know we’ve had our differences, but you know I love you right? You know I’m always here for you?’

  ‘What’s going on Logan? I love you too man, but I know when something serious is about to go down. When all is said and done, you’re my family and whatever has happened in the past blood is thicker than water.’

  ‘What if I told you that something is going to happen within the next fortnight that could potentially kill millions of people. Something that is taking away the choice of every human being above ground, to benefit us. Something that we are manufacturing to take away lives to save others.’

  ‘I’d tell you we need to stop it. What is happening is happening because of something we did as a planet of fools. We blindly accepted that The Cure was something good, when every person on this planet is guilty of something. I know its bad up there. How bad I don’t know, but it’s the worst kind of bad. But if it wasn’t meant to be, well it wouldn’t have happened. We think we have it good down here but you’re kidding yourself. Look around. It’s a prison. The Cure was meant to wipe us out Logan and deep down you know it. We have no right to make decisions for other people without their knowledge. That’s crazy. Why did you even tell me this?’

  ‘For once in my life I disagree with a decision that dad is making, and I cannot carry that burden alone. I need you and I need you to help me do what’s right Danny.’

  Tallulah had been on her way to see Logan and was about five yards from his bedroom when she started to overhear the discussion between the brothers. At first, she thought it was a usual spat but soon realized that this was something much deeper. She waited by the door listening to the conversation.

  Tallulah was a rose on the base. Against the grey and green military colors, she was a light beyond light. Olive skin and beautiful features she was a young lady, but as fierce as her mother had been. She could easily pass as a pageant queen but get her in the combat ring and she’d be just as happy kicking seven bells out of the boys. Something the boys would gleefully do just to spend time with the five-foot one firecracker.

  She stood with her back to the wall listening to the conversation, the blood draining from her face with each word that came out of Logan’s mouth. She swung round into the opening of the door and the boys both jumped. She couldn’t even speak. First, she looked at Danny who just scowled and looked away and then Logan who stood, took her arm, and sat her down on the bed next to him. ‘Water?’ he said and poured her a glass. Her mouth was as dry as the desert. ‘How much did you hear Tals?’ he said. ‘Enough,’ she replied.

  ’So, what do we do?’ said Logan ‘We’re all in this now, whether we like it or not.’

  ‘Break it down for us Logan,’ said Danny ‘Explain in detail exactly what is going to happen, when and where. We need to know everything. We also need to bring more people on board that we can trust with this information. There is no way we can stop this alone.’

  ‘Wait,’ said Tallulah. ‘Whose idea was this?’ Logan froze just long enough for her to know the answer. ‘My dad?’

  ‘You have to understand Tals, they think what they are doing is right.’

  ‘By murdering millions? By taking away people’s choice? Their dignity?’ she replied.

  ‘How are they going to do it?’ Danny interrupted.

  ‘Tallulah’s father has created an undiluted toxin which when introduced to water will poison anyone who drinks it. There is a water reservoir in Nebraska that pumps water into forty three of the fifty states like a water highway that serves those states and maintains a constant and current flow to the larger cities in those states. It was set up years ago to ensure that should we have a natural disaster one thing we would always have is water. Much like the electricity system it is run by artificial intelligence and acts as a main hub. They have already manufactured forty gallons of the toxin which by my understanding would be enough to kill the entire planet ten times over. They plan to send a small army to the water reservoir sometime within the next fortnight and introduce it to the water system. If that happens then millions will be dead within a week.’

  ‘Goddamn,’ said Danny. ‘Goddamn them. It’s too late then. How can we stop them?’

  The three of them sat in silence looking at the floor, waiting for each other to speak. The same feelings that Logan had had were now filling the room and the thought that someone in a room hundreds of feet below the ground could make a decision that would kill millions of people left a nasty taste in their mouths. More so that their respective fathers were the ones responsible.

  ‘Wait a minute,’ said Tallulah. ‘My father used to speak about a man he used to work with. Brittle. Professor Clarence Brittle. He was a genius. The only man my father ever admitted was cleverer than him.’

  ‘How does that help us? He’s not on the base and if he was what could he even do?’ said Danny.

  ‘An antidote. What we need is something that can stop the effects of the toxin.’

  Logan pondered this ‘but say we could find this Professor Brittle. Say he is even alive.
We have no way of knowing whether he could create an antidote and no way of getting an antidote mass produced and to all the affected cities. My father is ready to put this into practice now. Today.’

  ‘It’s a long shot I know, but do you have any other ideas?’ Tallulah looked despondent.

  Danny shook his head and walked across the room ‘we don’t,’ he paused ‘this professor you heard your father speak of. If he is as clever as you say he is then he could make an antidote. At this time no-one knows we know what is happening, so we can work with that. But we must start now. Logan, you have access to satellite imaging, so first and foremost you need to establish the Professor is alive. If he is alive, is he even in the country. If he isn’t then we’re screwed. Tallulah, you need to try and distract your father and delay them putting this plan into practice at any cost. Whatever it takes, time is of the essence. We can’t do this alone and we can’t let any of the adults on the base know what we are planning in case they try to stop us. I am going to get together a team of kids I trust and lead them to find this Professor and bring back an antidote.’

  ‘Hold on Danny. You’ve no military training. If you can even get off this base without anyone knowing, you’ll get yourself killed,’ replied Logan ‘Besides which I have an idea and I think you’re going to like it.’

  The three of them sat planning all night, whether it be logistics of whether the Professor was alive, who would lead the team and most importantly who they could trust. Tallulah pondered the many ways she could delay the toxin being transported to the water reservoir. Bearing in mind it was time sensitive to start reducing the population the toxin would be well guarded.

  Danny would oversee Logan’s contingency plan, whilst Logan would take a team to the location of the Professor. But as they already discussed, there was only a small chance that the Professor was even alive, let alone whether he was still the genius he once was and not a rabid animal. It was a long shot, but it was the only option they had.