After the Cure

by Deirdre Gould

Ann was calm and Johnson looked well-rested, even cheerful. "Good morning Doc," she said.

  "Good morning. Everything seems to be going well here. How is Ann?"

  "Like a new woman. She let me brush her hair, and she hasn't tried to bite her hands at all today, I even took the straitjacket off."

  "That's wonderful," said Nella.

  "Yeah, and Wells got this idea to line the exercise room with old mattresses from the empty cells. We're going to see if she'll be okay out there for a change of pace. That is, if it's okay with you of course."

  Nella smiled, "I think as long as she stays like this, that will be fine. I'm going to post a standing order for sedative if she becomes unmanageable or can't sleep. That means you and Wells and her night guard are in control, not Mr. Grant, got it?"

  "Do you think we can keep her this way if we do?"

  "I do. I think she was only as bad as she was because she didn't have medication for so long. I'm going to order some tests though, with the infirmary. I don't think anyone's done a serious evaluation of what kind of damage she is really suffering. I'll be able to tell you in a few weeks whether she'll be able to adjust to less constant supervision or not."

  Wells came in, half out of breath. "Hey Doc, how's your hand?"

  Nella smiled, "Much better, thanks."

  "It's almost ready," Wells said to Johnson, "but I'm going to need a hand with the last few so we'll have to wait."

  "Oh," interrupted Nella, "that's okay, I think I can handle Ann for a few minutes, if you both want to go."

  Johnson looked at her doubtfully. "Are you sure?"

  "I think so," said Nella, "I was going to ask for a few moments alone with her anyway, I need to ask some confidential questions for the trial."

  "Okay, but remember, if you need someone, press the green button and we'll all come running."

  The guards began walking reluctantly away. Nella didn't want to waste any time, so she didn't wait to see them out the door.

  Ann was sitting on the floor of the cell making echoes with her voice and looking pleased. Nella sat down next to her. "Good morning Ann."

  Ann looked over at her in surprise, but it quickly faded out, and Ann lost her focus.

  "How would you like to go out into the sunshine today?"

  Ann closed her eyes and smiled. "The sun is coming back today? There hasn't been any warm sun since before the teeth. Before the beast room."

  "Yes Ann, warm, quiet sun outside. We can go see it, but first I need to ask you a few questions. Is that okay?"

  Ann looked wary and her bandaged hands tapped nervously, but she still did not look toward Nella.

  "We won't talk about bad things today Ann. I just want to know where Dr. Schneider lives."

  Ann wrinkled her brow. She shook her head.

  "Did she ever have you send things from the lab? Or deliver things?"

  "She wanted monkeys. But Robert said she hated the monkeys. She hurt them. So I didn't bring them."

  Nella could see Ann becoming agitated. "Okay Ann, we don't have to talk about the monkeys. I just need to know where Dr. Schneider's house was."

  "She had a boyfriend. Robert didn't like him. He said Dr. Schneider's boyfriend would steal."

  "Who was her boyfriend Ann?"

  Ann looked at Nella as if she were an idiot not to know, meeting her eyes directly. "Dr. Carton was her boyfriend. Dr. Carton from Kingsfield. Robert says you shouldn't talk to him. He's a thief. But Robert didn't know-"

  Ann trailed off and started her echo game again.

  "What didn't Robert know Ann?"

  Ann ignored her. "What didn't Robert know about Dr. Carton?" Nella sighed in frustration. Ann looked at her and smiled.

  "I like you," she said, "You don't hurt the monkeys."

  Nella smiled despite her worry. "No Ann, I won't hurt any monkeys."

  Ann looked up at the ceiling. "Robert didn't know that Dr. Carton took the vial. In his pocket. It shouldn't be in his pocket. Dr. Schneider said. But he took it. And Robert didn't know. I couldn't tell." she clapped her hand over her mouth and shook her head at Nella.

  "What was in the vial Ann?"

  "I can't tell. Dr. Schneider will hurt the monkeys if I do. Burn us all up if I tell. She says Robert is slow, too slow. If he knows I smelled the vial he'll get mad. He'll get mad and maybe he'll hurt the monkeys too. Burn us all up to save the world. So I was quiet. Even when Dr. Carton stole the vial. But the monkeys died anyway. Maybe because the camera saw him take it. And Robert always saw what the camera sees. All the monkeys are gone." Ann started to cry.

  Nella hugged her, careful not to relax in case Ann became to agitated. "It's okay Ann, it's okay. Let's go see if the sun is out." She helped Ann to her feet. Ann sniffled but shuffled obediently alongside of Nella. They walked out of the cell and through the nearby door. Wells and Johnson were stuffing the last mattress against the concrete wall. The small yard was soaked in bright light. Even Nella squinted in the spring sun. Ann stopped moving and lifted her face, closing her eyes. Warmth pulsed around them and the soldiers looked relaxed as they lounged in the daylight.

  Something was scratching at the back part of Nella's brain. For a man who had spent his time meticulously documenting the lab procedures, Dr. Pazzo had certainly seemed to miss a lot. How could he not have known about the altered bacteria until Dr. Schneider told him? Nella was uneasy as she watched Ann bask in the golden day of early spring. Something crept up her neck and crawled behind her eyes with pricking insect legs. If she could only think of what exactly was bothering her . . . But a guard walked through the doorway. "Dr. Rider," he said abruptly, "You have a visitor. She's waiting for you at the entrance."

  "Thank you." Nella turned to Johnson. "Are you and Wells going to stay with Ann?"

  "Sure Doc," said Johnson, "I've never seen her so calm. We'll be fine."

  "I'll make sure I write that order for sedative use. You remember what I said. You're in charge, not Mr. Grant. And I'm going to order those tests for the next few days. She will have to be transported to a facility that has the correct equipment."

  "And that will tell us if she'll- if she'll stay like this?" asked Johnson.

  "I hope so," said Nella. She watched Ann turn in the sun one more time and then went to meet Sevita.

  Sevita was pacing at the entrance. "What's going on?" she asked as soon as Nella came in view. Nella sighed. She wanted to just tell Sevita, but Frank would be upset. "I can only tell you part of it," she said apologetically, "I need to get into Dr. Carton's house."

  Sevita snorted. "So do I, but that doesn't mean it's going to happen. How many hundreds of hours have we watched that housed? We've only ever seen one person go in or come out."

  "Yeah, and I need to know where that person went."

  "What? Why? I thought this was about Dr. Carton."

  "I can't tell you Sevita, not yet."

  "Well, what did you need me for?"

  "I don't know all the entrances and exits like you. I need to make sure that the woman we saw on the tape, if she is inside, that she doesn't get out until I've talked with her."

  Sevita sighed. "Can I at least come with you?"

  "It might be dangerous, Sevita. Not just for you, but for Christine too."

  "What are you talking about?"

  Frank touched Nella's shoulder. She jumped and then blushed when she saw him.

  "Sorry," he said, "didn't mean to startle you."

  "Frank, this is Sevita Das from HCN. She's going to help us get into Dr. Carton's house."

  Sevita gave Nella a strange look and then smiled as if she knew something that Nella did not. She shook Frank's hand. "Pleased to meet you," she said.

  "Likewise. I've watched all of your documentaries," Frank said.

  "Look," said Sevita, "I don't know what you're up to, but I'm coming along. I realize it's probably confidential because of the trial and I promis
e not to air anything until you tell me it's okay, but there is no way-" she held up her hand to stop interruptions, "Nella, there is no way I'm not going into that house with you after all this time. You want my help? Sure, of course I'll help you Nella, you're my friend. But I'm not going to pass up an opportunity either."

  Nella glanced at Frank. He seemed slightly troubled. Sevita saw it too. She folded her arms and looked at Nella expectantly.

  "Okay," Nella said, with an interior wince, "but I'm serious that this could be dangerous. If I tell you it's time to leave, then you leave and don't wait for me or for Frank. And Sevita, if I tell you we can't go home for a while, you have to trust me. For Christine's sake."

  Sevita still had her arms crossed but she was biting the corner of her bottom lip and Nella knew she was nervous. "Yeah, okay Nella, I won't ask questions but I can see you're worried. I'll be a good girl scout and follow directions."

  Nella glanced at Frank. He looked concerned but saw her look at him. He shrugged and smiled. "If you think this is best Nella, then we'll all go together. Why don't we go somewhere that isn't so public to discuss the details though, okay?"

  Sevita nodded. "Nella's apartment is closest. But I brought the bike. I don't have car privileges like you important folks." Nella laughed. Sevita squinted at Frank and looked particularly sly. It made Nella's skin prickle apprehensively.

  "Frank, can I catch a ride with you? I'll show you where Nella lives."

  Frank looked startled and shot a glance at Nella. "Sure," he said quickly, but Nella blushed, knowing Sevita was not fooled. But Sevita showed mercy and didn't say anything, just walked toward the door. Frank turned toward Nella. "Dr. Pazzo won't tell me anything," he said quietly, "and my contact hasn't been able to find any labs connected to Dr. Schneider, all he has is her home address."

  "I don't think it's actually Dr. Schneider's lab. I think it's Dr. Carton's. Ann said Dr. Carton lived in Kingsfield and that Dr. Schneider was in a relationship with him. That's all I could get from her."

  "Kingsfield? That's still in the Infected zone."

  "That's just where Carton used to live, maybe the bacteria is somewhere else. Wherever Dr. Schneider is. Maybe even in the mansion." She paused and looked at him. "I know you don't want to tell Sevita anything, but we can trust her. She's my friend and we've been through a lot together."

  Frank nodded. "For her own peace of mind, though, perhaps the less we tell her, the better." He followed Sevita out to his car. Nella glanced back down the hallway. If only she could place what was bothering her. Just a few minutes and she knew she could figure it out. The worry was palpable, tasting acrid, like burnt sugar in her mouth. She shook herself. She didn't have time for this. Nella sighed and pushed through the glass door into the bright, sunny afternoon.

  She worried what Sevita was telling Frank in the other car. The two women hadn't met until the Cure, but Nella, like most other Immunes, was not innocent of blood shed. She had felt a serious twist of guilt shoot through her when Dr. Pazzo had laid bare the fact that Immunes had killed people who were merely ill. People who were not in control of themselves. Nella knew that others had killed too, that people had defended themselves or even sought out people like Frank as if they were prey. But her feelings were of overwhelming personal guilt. As if she ought to have known better. And she didn't want Frank to know what she had done in the past. She worried that he would be disappointed somehow, that he would turn cold and unfriendly if he knew. It made her feel deeply alone.

  Sevita was already drawing a diagram of the mansion on Nella's table when she came in. Frank was rummaging in the kitchen for lunch. Sevita looked up with a wicked smile as Nella walked through the door. Nella should have been exasperated, but she was not. She was relieved and comforted to see them both there, in her home, relaxed.

  "So when did you want to do this?" Sevita asked.

  Frank looked up from the cutting board. "As soon as possible," he said. Nella laid her keys on the counter and walked over to the table.

  "Shouldn't we wait until dark if we are going to be sneaking in?"

  Sevita shook her head. "It won't matter, that place is lit up like a pre-plague Times Square at all hours. If there is any actual security, they'll be less likely to expect someone during the day anyway." She pointed to the diagram. "As far as I know, the only entrances are the front door and the side door here. But I've recorded hundreds of hours of video and never seen anyone go in. So I either have really bad luck, or there's another entrance somewhere."

  "Where?" asked Frank.

  "Maybe underground," suggested Nella, "If he has a lab in there it'd be easier to control the climate if it were built underground."

  "But that means the entrance could be anywhere. How are we going to monitor it if we don't know where it is?"

  "I don't like it either, Frank, but I think we're going to have to take some chances. If we can sneak in somehow, then maybe we can locate the lab when we are inside without being caught. What we are looking for will be there anyhow."

  Sevita gave Nella a sharp, worried look, but she didn't say anything.

  "We should probably go through the side door then," said Frank, "but how are we going to get through the gate without being spotted?"

  "That I can help with," Sevita said. "A while ago, I tried to get close enough to the house to peek in the windows." She blushed. "I just wanted to see if I could Nella, don't look at me like that. Anyway, in the back here, this is all hedge. He must not have a very industrious gardener because the deer ate a patch back there and left a gap. It was wide enough to slide through when I was there last time, but I don't know if it's grown in since then. The hedge is about neck high- er, maybe chest high to Frank. So we can come right up to it without being seen. It's only crossing the yard to the door that we might get caught. But like you said Nella, we're going to have to take a few chances to do this."

  Nella walked toward her bedroom. "Where are you going?" Sevita asked.

  "For supplies," she replied grimly. She could hear Frank and Sevita still talking quietly over the diagram as she moved the trunk that was sitting in her closet. Even Sevita didn't know that Nella had kept them. While not exactly illegal, Nella had a feeling that still having a gun in a Cured area would make her a person of intense interest to the military police. She also had a feeling that she wasn't the only one who had them. She looked at the long wooden case and felt guilt smashing down on her. How many people had she killed with these? At the time she hadn't thought of them as people. At the time she believed they were monsters. After the first few, there hadn't even been any hesitation. As if they were all just paper targets that could run. She hadn't hunted them, like some of the Immunes had. She only killed when she thought she had to. But Nella wasn't in denial any longer about what she'd done. She knew better now. She knew, and she felt the weight of each bullet that she'd shot. But she'd kept the guns. How could she have kept them? Why was she thinking about the need to use them again? This time, though, it wouldn't be to escape. And it wouldn't be against sick people. A doubt about whether she could handle using the guns again flitted through her mind for an instant and then was gone. She was sure. She pulled the box out of the closet. She walked out to the kitchen and set it silently on the table. Sevita looked at her and then opened the box.

  "I can't Nella," Frank said quietly. She looked at him and was startled to see how sad his face became.

  Sevita just looked at her. "It's okay," said Nella, "I can. If I have to. If you can't, then don't take one with you. It will just make things worse. I hope it's unnecessary. But we both know what's at stake. Sevita, you'll just have to trust me when I say it's better to be prepared."

  Sevita picked up one of the guns without comment. She zipped it carefully into her camera bag and then added a small box of ammunition. Nella quietly did the same, putting both in the oversized pockets of her spring
jacket. Then she closed the box and placed it carefully back in the closet. Frank went back to making lunch without any further observations, but Nella could see the sweat spring out on his head like tiny glass beads.

  They finalized their plans as they ate, but Sevita tried her best to lighten the mood and Frank played along, though Nella could see they were both as nervous as she felt. In the end, it was almost dusk by the time they were ready to go. Sevita had decided she needed another camera and to see Christine. Frank said he would drive her so that he could grab some less conspicuous clothing. All Nella could do was wait. At first she tried to use the time to untangle whatever it was she had forgotten at the prison. She soon concluded that whatever it was, wasn't coming back just yet. She ended up trying to memorize Sevita's crude diagram of the house and pacing the apartment floor. Sevita and Christine startled her when they came in.

  "Chris, what are you doing here? And where is Frank?"

  Sevita and Christine shared a look. "Told you," Sevita said.

  "I came so you don't have to walk," said Christine, "Or were you going to park out front? Besides, there's no way I'm letting Sevita go somewhere that requires a gun, Nella, without knowing where she is and having medical supplies nearby. And your friend thought it was a good idea."

  Nella blushed. "You're right, I'm sorry. I'm glad someone else is thinking of these details."

  Christine hugged her. "Nella, I don't know what you've got yourself into, but maybe you should wait and call the police. You don't have to do this, whatever this is."

  The panic she'd been struggling with for the past two days threatened to burst out of her and infect the room in sharp, yellow shards. Nella fought it. "I wish that were true Chris, I really do. But I can't. The police will only make things worse."

  Sevita smiled as she set her camera bag on the floor. "And Frank is on the way. We just beat him here is all. He seems very nice by the way."

  Nella was confused. "Yes he's very pleasant," she replied at last.

  "And I won't even ask why he didn't ask for directions here in the car."

  "Oh! We just wanted a drink and I-"

  "I said I wouldn't ask," Sevita winked. Nella felt her throat dry up in embarrassment.

  Christine grabbed Nella's hand and scowled at Sevita. "What happened to your hand?"

  She was still busily disinfecting Nella's wound when Frank knocked on the door.

  Nella tried to calm down as they drove toward Dr. Carton's house. Sevita put a sympathetic hand on her arm as they sat together in the back seat. "I've never seen you this scared," she whispered, "It's going to be okay you know."

  Nella shut her eyes to keep herself from crying. "You don't understand, Sevita, I'm not worried about getting caught."

  "Obviously. I'm not naïve Nel. I've known you long enough to know you don't just commit felonies for the heck of it."

  "I don't think there's such a thing as felonies anymore."

  Sevita grinned. "You know what I mean. Look, you don't have to tell me or even confirm my suspicions, but I figure this has something to do with the trial, otherwise why would Frank Courtlen be involved? And if it has to do with the trial, it has to do with the Plague. And the only thing I can think that would make you this upset would be if you knew something very, very bad about it. Like maybe it's not over."

  Nella rubbed her eyes dry. Sevita hugged her awkwardly. "It's going to be okay Nella. The world's going to go on spinning, the trees will go on growing, and the rain will keep on falling."

  "What if we're not here to see it?" whispered Nella.

  Sevita sighed. "I'm not entirely sure that would be such a bad thing. Look how badly we screwed up. And we still treat each other like crap. Even with only a few of us left. Some days it feels like we'll never learn anything."

  The car rolled to a stop. The gun was so heavy that Nella's hip felt bruised. Her chest ached as if she'd been holding her breath for too long. She opened the door and slid out into the chilly evening air. They were on a side street a little way past the mansion. The streetlamps were still off and the sun was just setting, giving the sky an illusion of warmth that Nella could not feel. She rounded the front of the car with her hands in her pockets, her good hand touching the warm metal of the gun. She stood near Frank as Sevita kissed Christine goodbye and grabbed the camera bag.

  "What if she isn't in there?" Frank asked.

  "At least someone may know where she's gone. Remember, as far as we know, she escaped in order to destroy the bacteria. She may already have done so. We just have to find out for sure."

  He looked at her, his face serious. "Why bring the gun then?"

  Nella was grim, but she didn't apologize. "There is a reason no one has seen Dr. Carton, even though he's humanity's savior. There is also a reason no one has seen Dr. Schneider since her escape. Maybe Dr. Carton is just shy and retiring. And maybe Dr. Schneider just wants to have a little love nest with the guy. Or maybe she is desperate to avoid prosecution for her role in the Plague. Or maybe they are still delusional, thinking they can perfect their bacteria so that it doesn't have these terrible side effects. Maybe they are already infected. The gun is for the maybes."

  Sevita walked up to them. Christine was still wiping tears away and smiling encouragingly. "Ready?" Sevita asked in a low voice.

  The three of them slipped into the empty overgrown lot across the street.

  Meat