‘Nothin’ in particular, no,’ Darla said. She glanced down to her hands and saw how much they were shaking, clenching them both into fists.
‘Worrying about the boy can’t be helping you a great deal right now. What is it? Crystal Meth?’ Osgood said.
Darla didn’t answer. She was too taken aback by his astute diagnosis.
‘I’m no psychic,’ he said. ‘In my younger days, I worked night shifts at an inner-city hospital. You spend enough time around addicts, you develop a keen eye for specific indicators.’
Osgood walked over to a nearby cabinet and retrieved a bottle of pills from it. He returned to her and placed the bottle in her hand.
‘Dexedrine. It’s normally used for treating ADHD and narcolepsy, but it might help you manage your cravings. I put the emphasis on might. I can’t promise anything.’
‘Right, thanks,’ she said, gazing down at the white plastic.
‘Start with one per day. It’s going to be difficult to know how you’re reacting to the dosage because the side effects are similar to the ones you’ll no doubt be experiencing already due to your detoxification. But if you feel any differently at all, come and see me.’
‘I will,’ Darla said. As she looked at him, she noticed the dark images of the lab reflecting in the lenses of his glasses. ‘I better be gettin’ back then.’ She turned and started to make for the door.
‘Oh, and next time you think you need anything, just ask. We’re dealing with some extremely sensitive testing. Doctor Grant won’t take kindly to strangers wandering around his lab at night.’
Osgood continued to stare long after Darla had left and gingerly made her way back to the rec area. He removed his glasses, blinking the tiredness from his eyes and massaging the bridge of his nose. He then placed his glasses back on and strolled through the dull lights of the laboratory.
6
By the time Darla had reached the living quarters and entered her room clutching her new medication for dear life, everyone else had already retired for the night.
Salty and Jason Schaffer were both fast asleep.
Ethan had breathed life back into his iPod via one of the charging ports and tried to blank everything else out with his music.
Father Edwards knelt by his bedside, his neck bent in prayer, rosery wrapped tightly around his clasped hands. Tears streaming down his craggy cheeks, he recited a Bible passage under his breath.
‘To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer.’
Edwards’ voice broke and he took a breath to compose himself. When he returned to his verse, the conviction in each word grew stronger.
‘I-I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.
‘Whoever has ears, let them hear what the spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death. To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword?
His words soon turned to anger, and his interlocked fingers pressed into the skin of his hands like he wanted to crush them under the pressure.
‘I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.
‘Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality.
‘Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.’
The priest didn’t realise it through his ranting, but he had gripped his rosery so tightly that the silver cross at its end had pierced the skin of his palm and the blood dripped from his hands and onto the carpet between his knees.
‘Whoever has ears, let them hear what the spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious. I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.’
In the next room to Edwards, Raine lay on her back. Her eyes were open wide, but she saw nothing—nothing but the darkness of her memories—her nightmares. Images were accompanied by sounds, ones that had echoed in her mind for as long as she could remember. The screaming and the rapid gunfire, souls pleading for their lives, grew in intensity.
She dared not close her eyes for fear of returning to that dreadful place, doomed to remain with the screams forever. She fought desperately against it, even though she knew she deserved to be there—for the nightmare was all of her own making.
Episode Three
Somnambulism
1
Raine stood between the white lines of the inner roadway and the walls of the facility. She ran her hand over the back of her shaved head, feeling the tough bristles of hair connect with her skin.
Salty took some unsteady steps into the large corridor and made his way over to her. His eyes were dull and half-closed, his skin milky. As he approached, Raine noticed his bandage had been removed, the circular bruise on his forehead now covered by a band aid that stuck out from under his cap.
‘Bandage get on your nerves?’ Raine said.
‘I looked like a God damn Q-Tip. I took a detour to the infirmary this morning. Foster gave me somethin’ a little more flattering,’ Salty replied. He winced after he spoke, reaching up to massage his right temple. ‘I kind of wish I’d left it on now. Might keep my brain from fallin’ out. I don’t know what those things were that Twilight was makin’, but I should probably stay away from naked flames today.’
‘It’s not like I didn’t warn you,’ Raine said.
‘Hey, maybe I had one or three too many, but we all deserved to tie one on after what happened out on the road.’
‘I know. That’s why I left you to it,’ she said.
‘You ain’t lookin’ too hot there yourself, Miller. Bad dreams?’
She tightened her jaw before replying.
‘Nightmares.’
Salty leaned against the wall and groaned.
‘Why’s he asked us to meet him at this hour anyway?’
‘Says he’s got something to show us. Something we might be able to help with,’ Raine said.
‘Wow. I can’t wait!’
‘What do you think about this place—first impressions?’
Salty shrugged.
‘Seems legit. The scientists are up their own ass, but then again, they always are. Sayin’ that, I’m aware that every time we’ve caught a break, the man upstairs has proceeded to take a giant celestial shit in our direction.’
‘Right,’ Raine said.
The whining noise coming from the roadway south was shortly followed by the electric transport, McCaffrey at the wheel. He waved and pulled up alongside them.
‘Hey. Thanks for coming. I know you guys probably need to rest after being out there for so long,’ he said. ‘I thought maybe we could get this done before everyone starts to gather for breakfast.’
‘Sounds like you’d rather no one else knew,’ Raine said.
McCaffrey nodded.
‘You’re pretty perceptive, which is exactly why I asked you to come.’
‘Why don’t you quit all this cloak and dagger shit and spill it, kid?’ Salty said.
‘I reckon it’s best if I show you. Please, get in.’
Raine and Salty bot
h looked at each other and then climbed onboard.
McCaffrey continued north, passing the west power plant and stopping when they reached the next corridor on the left.
‘It’s just along here,’ he said as he jumped from the vehicle. They followed him through the sparsely lit cave tunnel and descended a set of stairs to a lower floor.
McCaffrey gave the door at the bottom a shove to unstick it and entered.
The cave walls suddenly opened out into a large chamber.
‘What is this place?’ Salty said.
‘It’s our service reservoir. Supplies the facility’s distribution system with all the water it needs. The treatment plant still functions just fine, so we don’t have to worry about contamination.’
They proceeded to navigate the steel walkways built around the natural, uneven pattern of the cavern rock. Below them, the body of still, turquoise water was illuminated by the spotlight submerged beneath its surface. It felt colder than anywhere else they’d been, the air filled with moisture.
‘Is this what you wanted to show us?’ Raine said.
‘No, but it’s not far now,’ McCaffrey said. ‘Sounds crazy, I know, but fresh water is soon gonna become the type of rare commodity that people will start a war over.’
‘Just as well there won’t be enough folks left to fight in one,’ Salty said.
At the end of the chamber, McCaffrey climbed a ladder that led to another walkway. He helped the other two onto the open-air platform at the top, which was used as an observation tower.
From their vantage point, they could view the whole north side that surrounded the facility. A long road ran adjacent to it. Over at the northeast corner, a sizeable herd, numbering at least a hundred, swayed in a rotten huddle. They surrounded the road and the front walkers pressed up against the outer walls of the facility.
‘That used to be the main entrance and road access point. Right next to it is also the place where we would funnel the dead into a holding pen just inside,’ McCaffrey said. ‘We’d lure them in in twos and threes, giving the science team an endless supply of specimens.’
‘They get a little too much of a taste for your bait?’ Raine said.
‘Not exactly. About a month ago, we had a raiding party show up. Bunch of bikers—Hell’s Angel types. They tried to shoot up the place. Maybe they were hoping they could find a way in. All I know is they made a hell of a fucking mess. This group of rotters must have been nearby, heard the gunfire and just followed the road down here. Got rid of the bikers, for sure, but replaced them with a different problem. By that time, we didn’t have enough personnel left to deal with them.’
‘And they stayed here this whole time?’ Salty said.
‘Doctor Grant thinks they can sense their buddies in the holding pen.’
‘So why not just clear the holding area from the inside?’ Raine said.
‘That was my first thought too, but Grant won’t go for it. He’s using more and more live specimens every day. It would take weeks to capture the amount of dead we have stored already, and we have nowhere to restraint that many safely if we were to get them all out at once. There’s no way Grant would let us slaughter them. They are too valuable to him at the moment.’
Raine noticed the binoculars around McCaffrey’s neck and held out her hand for them. He lifted the strap over his head and obliged her curiosity.
She peered through the viewer and focussed in on the bulk of the herd. A few of them had been so crushed against the facility by the collective weight of the others, they were nothing more than an animated tangle of limbs and torsos on the ground. Judging by the faces of the ones left standing, they certainly seemed to be enticed by something inside the walls, as they reached and gnashed their teeth.
‘I understand now why you brought us to the facility via the scenic route, but I’m still not sure why we’re up here this morning looking at this,’ she said.
‘Amen. Get to the point,’ Salty said.
‘I guess I was hoping for a second opinion. Crawford says there’s no way we can deal with them, and I thought fresh faces, fresh pairs of eyes…’
‘Hey, kid. We’re grateful you took us in and all, but we ain’t about to become your pest control officers,’ Salty said.
‘I’m not asking you to do any of the heavy lifting. I just wanted you to take a look. See if you had any kind of strategy.’
Raine lowered the binoculars.
‘I’ve got a strategy for you. Tell this doctor of yours that he’s gonna have to put this precious research on hold for the time being, go into that pen and waste every last one of them.’ She then pushed the binoculars into McCaffrey’s chest until he caught hold of them. ‘Then pray his theory was right about what is keeping that herd around.’
‘Erm, thanks?’ McCaffrey said.
‘You’re welcome.’
‘Now, any chance of some breakfast?’ Salty said. ‘I’m so hungry, I could eat the ass out of a low-flying duck.’
2
By the time they got back to the rec room, breakfast had already begun.
Darla sat on the table closest to the door. She nodded to acknowledge them and went back to twirling the blunt end of her bread knife into the table.
Raine pulled up a seat next to her and Salty and McCaffrey sat opposite.
Crawford and the other female member of the team, Doctor Foster, were already tucking into bacon, eggs and fresh toast across from them.
Edwards was present too. He’d chosen to sit on his own again, staring down at his clasped hands, the curls of his white hair dangling over his face.
McCaffrey leaned back on his chair to see what his colleagues were finding so appetising.
‘Who the hell made that? It wasn’t you, was it, Foster?’
The well-groomed woman looked up from her plate with a sarcastic smirk.
‘I’m far too busy to play house mother to you lot?’ she said.
‘Well, I know it ain’t Crawford’s doing because folks are keeping it down,’ McCaffrey said.
‘You’re only jealous ‘cause it smells better than the shit you usually serve up. And in case you were wondering.’ Crawford picked up a rasher of crispy bacon and crunched into it. ‘It tastes better too.’
‘Where did you three sneak off to this morning anyhow?’ Darla said, changing the focus of the conversation to something less light-hearted.
‘McCaffrey showed us around some other parts of the facility. How’s Oswald this morning?’ Raine said.
‘Pretty good for someone who was shot yesterday.’ Darla threw a glare in Edwards’ direction as she spoke.
The elderly priest heard every word, but did not look up from his hands.
‘The doctors are taking good care of him.’
‘Around the clock,’ Foster chipped in.
Raine noticed how much Darla’s hand was shaking as she tried to grip her knife.
‘And what about you? How are you holding up?’ she said.
Darla realised what Raine was staring at and quickly moved one hand over the other to steady the tremors.
‘Been better. Been worse,’ she said.
‘I guess you can see why Miller’s concerned. We don’t really know these folks and the last thing we need right now is you freakin’ out,’ Salty said.
‘I’m good,’ Darla said. ‘Osgood fixed me up with some pills. They’re helpin’.’
‘OK then,’ Raine said. ‘We’ll say no more about it.’
‘I wish you wouldn’t,’ Darla said.
Ethan staggered in through the doors of the living quarters. His hair was such a mess, it looked like it was exploding, and his complexion was even more sickly than normal.
Crawford sat up and adjusted her cap so she could get a better view of him.
‘Woaw there, kid. No biters allowed in the mess hall.’
Everyone laughed except for Edwards and Ethan responded by flicking a lazy middle finger at her.
Salty found it more amusing then anyone, gazing at the dishevelled young man with a playful delight.
‘You are still lookin’ three shits to the wind there, Twilight! How’s that spiritual kick to the head feelin’?’
Ethan ran his hands through his hair and almost fell into the seat opposite Edwards.
‘I feel like I have the mental capacity of a… of a redneck.’
As he attempted to bury his head into his folded arms on the table, Jason Schaffer appeared from the kitchen carrying another tray of crispy bacon, slices of fresh toast and an elaborate-looking scrambled egg mixture.
‘Here he is—the man of the moment.’ Crawford beamed a smile and applauded his entrance into the rec room.
‘You?’ McCaffrey said, envious and curious in equal measure.
Jason shook his head, cringing with embarrassment.
‘It’s nothing really. I used to work as a part-time chef in my twenties, and I thought it was about time I made myself useful around here.’
‘Don’t mind him, Schaffer. Just keep it comin’,’ Crawford said.
‘It’s no trouble.’ Jason placed the tray down between Ethan and Edwards. ‘Enjoy,’ he said.
The moment the smell of the cured bacon hit his nostrils, Ethan sprang out of his seat and lurched towards the exit, heaving as he went.
It wiped the smile from Jason’s face and laughter erupted again, mainly from Salty.
Crawford just shrugged. ‘Doesn’t look like everyone’s a fan. Hey, Schaffer, don’t let that go to waste. Over here,’ she said.
Foster smirked at her, shovelling another fork full of eggs into her mouth.
‘He gonna be alright?’ McCaffrey said.
‘Jake will check up on him after he’s finished up here. Isn’t that right, Jake?’ Raine said.
‘Evidently—seeing as I’ve become the kid’s babysitter all of a sudden,’ Salty said.
It then dawned on Raine that someone other than Osgood, who she knew was monitoring O.B., was missing.
‘So, where’s Grant?’ she asked.
‘Oh, he wouldn’t lower himself to eat breakfast with us mere mortals. He likes to do most things alone, including work,’ McCaffrey said. ‘Don’t worry. Soon as you’ve had your fill, I’ll take you to him. I wouldn’t expect him to give up too much of his time though.’
Everything Dies [Season Two] Page 7