by Stevie Kopas
She shivered as she pulled the robe tighter around her skinny frame and she entered the facility with the aid of the badge. The alarms still sounded, the red lights still flashed. She winced as she walked, her feet cut and bruised. She had no idea where she would find Dr. Kennedy, so she searched for any indication that she was heading in the right direction.
A sign to her right pointed her toward the elevators and when she boarded, she hit all the buttons at once, but the elevator didn’t move. She pressed the buttons again and realized she needed to use the badge.
Once the badge was scanned, it became evident that Graham was only allowed access to specific floors. Patience quickly selected the available floors and leaned back against the wall. The dull ache in her head grew worse with each blare and buzz of the alarm.
The doors opened and she stepped out. A large sign read Administration.
Each office she spied was dark, except one. As she approached the lone lit room at the other end of the corridor, the knot in her stomach tripled in size. She peeked through a crack in the door. Dr. Kennedy’s back was to her, he stood amidst a mess of destroyed electronics and crumpled paperwork. Before him, a small television displayed the events unfolding in downtown Denver.
Patience pushed the door open. “Doctor?”
He spun on his heels, startled by her presence. His face grew angry. “What have you done?”
She frowned, tears forming in her eyes. “No! What have you done?” She shouted at him, balling her fists up. “You told me I was the cure, not the fucking disease!”
Dr. Kennedy shook his head, chuckling. “My dear, why do you think I kept you locked away? Because I wanted to protect you?”
“How did this happen? You tell me, now!” Patience grabbed a pair of scissors from the desk and stepped forward, pointing them at the doctor.
Dr. Kennedy put his hands up in defense. “I couldn’t rid you entirely of infection, only your blood. I kept it a secret. Had anyone else found out about this, they would have shut the project down and exterminated all of you!” His eyes glazed over and he suddenly appeared crazed as he continued to rant. “I know that I can fully cure it! I just need more time!”
Patience shook her head, “So all the blood you’ve been taking from me? What has that been for?”
“So that when something like this happened again, we’d be safe!” He pointed at the black and white TV set.
“Who? Who would be safe?” The knot in her stomach began to turn to pure rage.
Dr. Kennedy chuckled, “The people that matter in this new world. Doctors and scientists, the high ranking members of the new government, the new president. Who do you think the applicants were? People like your foolish little janitor? The Removed and others like them are wastes of human life. Simple servants of The Reconstruction. And now look what the two of you have gone and done! You’ve turned back the clock on so much progress.”
“Progress? Classifying people and assigning them a life is progress? Dictating people’s fates and slapping a value on the worth of a life is progress? I don’t remember how the world was before The End but I’m pretty sure this is not progress!”
“You know nothing, Patient 63. And you’ve proven to be more trouble than your worth. I should have exterminated you when I had the chance.” He laughed again, “But at least you’ve served your purpose. The Reconstruction can continue, it will continue. Because those that matter can’t be turned. So I thank you for that.”
Patience screamed, her rage had reached its boiling point. She charged the doctor, scissors in hand. Dr. Kennedy pulled an unauthorized handgun from the rear of his waistband and aimed it at Patience. She pushed his arm up and away, forcing him to fire blindly into the ceiling as she plunged the scissors deep into his throat. She pulled them out, painting the wall beside her in arterial spray. She shoved him backward, his ass landed hard on the desk behind him and he dropped the gun to the floor. Choking on his own blood, he held his hands up to the wound.
“A vaccination doesn’t make you immune to death, Dr. Kennedy.”
She stabbed at him again, and again, blood spurting and spraying, staining her crimson with the doctor’s death. She looked down at herself, embarrassed by her state of disarray, and shed her blood covered robe. She grabbed one of the extra lab coats from the back of an overturned office chair. The bright white coat came to the tops of her thighs, barely covering the necessary parts.
She pulled Dr. Kennedy’s ID from his corpse and started back toward the elevator. The doors chimed and opened – she recoiled suddenly at the sight of Major Burton’s severed heard, eye level with her.
Patience stifled a scream, backing up against the far wall. It wasn’t until Burton’s head hit the floor with a sickening thud that she noticed Graham standing there.
“Graham!” She cried out, running to him.
He wrapped his arms around her and she wept into his chest. She pulled back from him and he grabbed her arms, turning them over frantically. He was concerned by the blood.
“It’s not my blood,” Patience said. “I’m fine. But the others… we have to set the others free, before they’re destroyed.”
Graham nodded and waved the Major’s badge in front of the sensor, illuminating full access on the control panel.
***
The infected pair approached the holding cells in the Forbidden Sector. In her mind, Patience replayed the terrifying last trip down these scream-filled corridors. She wiped a tear from her eye. They hadn’t been clawing and screaming viciously at her. She was one of them. She always had been. They were begging for her to help them, to not abandon them here. She would make it right. She would save the world.
The ferocious screaming ceased as Patience and Graham came into view and the Infected recognized two of their own. The thousands upon thousands of Infected filling the holding cells stood motionless, bloodshot eyes watching every move the two made.
***
All Infected were created equal.
They wouldn’t fight, kill, or harm one another. They wouldn’t worry about money, power, class, or creed.
They wouldn’t destroy the word. They would fix it.
Graham handed Patience the Major’s badge and nodded. She smiled at him. She would teach him to smile again, just as he had taught her.
She passed the badge in front of a sensor and two options appeared on the panel before her.
Purge or Discharge.
Patience looked back at Graham once more, her finger hovering over the Discharge button. She swore she saw a twitch in the corners of his mouth.
Rosie
I’m always really scared when there’s a thunderstorm. Usually Mommy or Daddy will sing to me until I fall asleep or until the rain stops, but Daddy tried to hurt me, so Mommy killed him.
I have Mr. Quigley, my stuffed cat. I can cuddle him until the storm goes away because he’s scared too. I sing him the song Mommy usually sings to me. The only song Mommy sings anymore is one that sounds like crying, but I don’t think Mommy cries anymore. She didn’t even notice when the storm made me cry. She was too hungry.
I know she won’t hurt me, but she still scares me. I don’t know what happened to all the grown-ups, but I know that everyone is different now. Including Mommy.
Last week Daddy started coming home later and later from work until one day he didn’t come home at all. Mommy was angry and scared and started packing a suitcase. I got upset. I didn’t want to leave Daddy, but Mommy said we needed to. Daddy was a scientist, so I reminded her that he was really important and that’s why he didn’t come home, but she just ignored me and made me put some clothes in a bag.
I didn’t want to. There were lots of sirens outside and that seemed more fun. I took Mr. Quigley with me and we sneaked onto the porch to see what was going on. I saw Miss Jill from school across the street. She was dancing with some man. I thought it was funny at first, but then they fell down, and Miss Jill started to yell like she did that one time someone backed into her
car at school. I hugged Mr. Quigley and started to go across the street, I like Miss Jill, she’s my favorite teacher. I just wanted to help her, she was screaming and the man was trying to kiss her on the neck and she didn’t like that.
Boy, did I get into trouble. Mommy picked me up and brought me back inside. She shut all the lights off and yelled at me for going outside. She was shaking me and I was scared. She kept peeking out the window and telling me to be quiet. Miss Jill stopped screaming and Mommy was trying not to let me see she was crying. She made me promise never to go outside ever again unless she was with me.
We stayed in the house for two more days and played the quiet game. I like that game because I always win and then get snacks from the shop down the road. I would always tickle Daddy and then he’d laugh and I’d win, but Mommy wasn’t ticklish and she said that I couldn’t have any snacks if either of us lost. Mommy didn’t know how to play the game right, so I played along because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. The quiet game is really boring when everybody outside is making as much noise as they want. Me and Mr. Quigley sat at the window on the second day and watched without Mommy knowing. Everybody was playing tag, but they didn’t look like they were enjoying it. I love tag. I’m the fastest in my class, so I always win that game too.
Daddy finally came home on the night before the third day. Thank goodness, because I already broke the rules of the quiet game when I talked to Mr. Quigley about the silly people outside. Daddy gave me a shot like at the doctor’s office. I cried, but he hugged me and promised I would never get sick. Then he gave Mr. Quigley a shot too. I know it wasn’t real but it made me feel better because Daddy knows Mr. Quigley is my best friend in the whole world. Mommy got a shot and then they put me back in my room. I snuck out and listened from the stairs and they were arguing and using bad words. Daddy said the whole world was sick, and that for the sick people, there was no chance for them to get better. He told Mommy she had to take me and go to someplace called the evacuation zone. His friend Dr. Miller would be waiting for us there. I don’t know what an evacuation zone is, but I think I like Dr. Miller. He’s funny looking and tells me silly jokes.
After that, Daddy tried to leave and Mommy cried so much. She kept telling him she was scared. I wanted to tell Mommy it was okay, that I was scared too, but I knew I’d get in trouble for leaving my room. Daddy said that he was sick, he couldn’t stay, and that me and Mommy would be okay because we had our medicine. We just needed to stay in the house for one more day and the shots would fix us, then we would never get sick like him. I crawled down the stairs and saw them hugging and crying. Daddy got really quiet and laid down on the floor. I thought it was funny because he’s silly and is always playing tricks on us. Mommy laid on the floor next to him and cried some more. I didn’t want her to cry anymore, it was making me and Mr. Quigley upset. I saw Daddy’s arm move and then I felt better.
“Mommy, Daddy is only playing,” I told her.
She stopped crying and looked at me, her eyes were big and scared. Daddy sat up and grabbed her, and it made me laugh, but Mommy got upset and pushed him. She yelled at me and told me to go back to my room and lock the door, but I wanted to play the game too. Daddy was making funny sounds and crawling around on the floor. Mommy picked up a lamp and hit him with it and I screamed. I didn’t know why she would want to hurt him like that.
“Rosie, get back to your room, now!” Mommy screamed at me.
I was so angry at her for hurting Daddy with the lamp, so I ran to him instead of my room. His arms were out like he wanted a hug, and he was making sad sounds.
Daddy hugged me really tight and it started to hurt, he was squeezing too hard and I didn’t like it. His sad sounds started to get louder and turn into angry sounds, and now Daddy was scaring me. His hands were slimy and he was pulling on my hair and my arms. Mommy hit him again and he let go. I almost dropped Mr. Quigley when I fell back onto the floor. When I looked up at Daddy I saw that his face was ugly now with black lines that looked like when I drew on the bathroom wall with the marker. He opened his mouth and scary noises came out. His breath was really stinky and I didn’t like it. He grabbed my leg and squeezed it really hard. It hurt so bad that it made me yell, but he didn’t let go. He started to drag me across the floor and all I could do was hug Mr. Quigley because Daddy was trying to hurt me and I didn’t know what else to do. Daddy opened his mouth really big like a fish and tried to stick my foot in his mouth, but Mommy kicked him so hard that some of his teeth came out.
“Get to your room and hide! Now!” Mommy yelled and this time I listened.
I didn’t like what was happening in the living room.
When I went into my room, I ran to the window and looked out. The people outside from before were gone, except for some man sleeping in the street. I guess he got tired from playing tag. There were lots of scary noises from downstairs, but I stayed in my room like Mommy said. When Mommy and Daddy stopped fighting, and there weren’t any more noises, I got nervous and hid in the closet with Mr. Quigley.
The house was so quiet that I heard when somebody started to come up the stairs. I hoped it wasn’t Daddy trying to hurt me again. My bedroom door opened and I heard Mommy whisper my name, so I knew it was okay to come out. Mommy had a lot of blood all over her clothes and she was holding her arm like it was hurt. She sat down on the floor and she hugged me and cried. Mommy told me she had to kill Daddy because he wasn’t Daddy anymore and he had tried to hurt me. She showed me her arm and said that was where Daddy bit her and now she was going to get sick. I cried a lot because I didn’t want Mommy to get sick like Daddy. Mommy cried too, but she told me it was going to be okay. She said even though I was only six, I was the bravest girl she ever knew. Mr. Quigley agreed.
Mommy told me we had to leave right away to get to Dr. Miller at the evacuation zone because she wouldn’t be able to help me for much longer before she got sick. I reminded her that Daddy said we weren’t supposed to leave for another day, but she said there was no time. She went to get a bag and that’s when I noticed my clothes were really dirty with her blood. Mommy was bleeding a lot from her arm.
I didn’t want to leave. Mommy scared me, Daddy scared me, and the man sleeping in the street wasn’t there anymore when I went to check again from the window. I didn’t know what was happening, but I knew it wasn’t good.
Mommy fell down the stairs that night trying to carry our bags and she didn’t get up. She said she was too weak. I sat with her and she was awake, looking at me. She told me to get away from her and hide. She told me she would hurt me, but I didn’t want to be all alone. Me and Mr. Quigley needed her.
She shut her eyes and I shook her and cried because she stopped answering me. She wasn’t playing a game and she wasn’t moving. She was going to come back like Daddy. I ran and hid in the kitchen, peeking out from the cabinets under the sink. Mommy started moving and looking around. She was a lot slower than Daddy was. She walked into a couple of walls and looked really confused. Her face wasn’t pretty anymore, but it wasn’t as ugly as Daddy’s. She stood in the same spot for a really long time, staring at the wall. My legs started to hurt from being squished in the cabinet so I thought I could sneak out, but when I opened the door Mommy turned and looked at me.
I didn’t move because I was too scared. She opened her mouth and screamed at me and I tried to shut the cabinet door again but it was too late. Mommy was on the floor and dragging me out of the cabinet, acting the same way as Daddy. I squeezed my eyes shut and hugged Mr. Quigley, but then nothing happened. When I opened my eyes again, Mommy was just looking down at me. She made a weird sound and her eyes looked sad. She crawled away and sat in the middle of the kitchen making grunting noises. She watched every move I made as I left the kitchen, but she didn’t touch me again.
I went upstairs and she followed me. She stood in the bathroom while I took a bath, she stood in the kitchen while I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Mommy just stood there and made sad sounds. I
didn’t like it at first, but it made me feel better that Mommy wasn’t sick the way Daddy was. Mommy wasn’t going to hurt me. When me and Mr. Quigley went to sleep, Mommy stayed in the room and watched us. I think the shot fixed her.
The next day Mommy left for a really long time and came back dirty with blood. I knew she wasn’t hurt, but I didn’t know where the blood came from. She smelled really bad, worse than she did before she left.
This morning it was raining when I woke up and I left Mr. Quigley to stand guard at the window. I went into the bathroom and Mommy stood in the doorway. I pointed to the tub and turned on the water.
“Take a bath, Mommy.”
She made a grunt and walked away. This made me mad because I was getting grossed out by her and she needed to get clean or else I didn’t want to be around her anymore.
I went downstairs and she was standing in the living room, so I went to the back door and opened it. The rain was coming down really hard and the air was sticky and hot when I let it into the house.
“Go outside and take a bath, Mommy.” I pointed to the yard. She cocked her head and didn’t move. “You smell bad and look yucky. Go outside in the rain.”
Mommy wasn’t listening so I stomped my feet and she made angry sounds. I didn’t want to make her angry, so I went outside and stood in the rain. I knew that was the only way to get her to come outside with me. I kneeled down on the ground and she sat next to me. I ran inside and got a sponge from the sink and used the green dish soap to clean all the yucky stuff off of Mommy. She kept making faces, and I could tell she didn’t like it, but I thought it was funny. I think Mommy liked to hear me laugh because of the way she looked at me.
I heard a noise in the corner of the yard and it made me stop laughing. There was a man crouched down looking at us. He smiled at me and waved. He didn’t look sick.
“Hello,” I said to him. “I’m giving Mommy a bath.”
That made him frown, and when he stood up, I saw that he had a long knife in his hand. He started to walk toward us and this made me nervous. He was being really quiet, Mommy still didn’t know he was there.