The general stood up and started walking towards the door, but turned back. “No need to be so dramatic, Colonel. If you can cooperate, there’ll be no need for any jail time.”
“Cooperate? Cooperate about what … with who? Surely you’re not talking about Matt and his damn physio sessions.”
The general walked back to the chair and spun it around to sit in it backwards. “Colonel, I’m talking about everything. I’m talking about cooperating with every damn thing we ask of you. Strike that … with every damn thing we order you to do. That’s what we want cooperation with. No more of your disobedience, and no more of your insubordination. You’re still an officer in this military, and I am your commanding officer.”
Chaz returned the general’s steely stare. “If you’ve got something to say, General, you have my attention. There’s no reason to hold back.”
The general rubbed his hand through his whiskers before continuing. “If this were up to me, I’d court-martial you and imprison your whole family. You’ve been nothing but a walking, talking embarrassment to this military, and your family risked infecting millions of others when they illegally left the country. You’re an entire family of criminal miscreants in my book.”
With a clenched jaw, Chaz replied, “This is about me; you can leave my family out of this. They bear no responsibility for my actions.”
“Much as I’d like to, Colonel, I can’t leave your family out of this. While you may find this strange to hear, I actually follow orders. And I’ve been ordered to give you this message.”
“Go on.”
“Your family is currently in detention awaiting sentencing for the crime of illegally leaving the country. It took a few years to catch up with them and bring them back here, then another year and a half for their trial to be processed. It was big publicity here. The trial of the family of a former war hero turned military deserter. A single mother with two young children, who are now old enough by the way to be tried as adults.” The general actually managed a smile. “I guess you could say they’re deserters as well. They did after all desert their country.”
“Is this really the message your bosses wanted me to hear? Or are you just posturing with a bunch of bad news?”
“No, that’s not the message. The message is this: the government needs your help with a special mission.”
Chaz’s expression changed from one of anger to surprise. “You’re kidding, right? I’m two days out of a coma and they have a mission for me?”
“Apparently it’s something you have experience with.”
“Exactly what sort of experience? What’s the mission?”
“I don’t know, and even if I did, I don’t think they’d want me disclosing it at this time.”
“Why exactly would I agree to some mission I know nothing about?”
“Because if you don’t your entire family will go to prison for the next twenty years and I’ll have the full support of this government to court-martial your ass. One more thing: I’ll need the answer by the end of the day.”
The general got up, slid the chair back to its place, and walked towards the door. Before he could reach for the handle, Chaz replied,
“I’ll do it. It’s the least I can do for my family after all the misery I’ve brought them. Tell them I’ll do it. Whatever it is.”
The general nodded his head and silently left the room.
Comatose Dreams
When you’ve been in a coma for six years, sleep loses much of its appeal. For that matter, many people express a distinct fear of going to sleep after awakening from a coma. Quite often they’re plagued with sleep disorders for the rest of their lives. These disorders are quite often misdiagnosed as other physical ailments that doctors blame on the original coma or the original coma-inducing trauma. Chaz was learning firsthand how uncomfortable the idea of going to sleep could be.
Damn, it’s three o’clock in the morning and I’m lying here wide awake. Sleep, they said. You need your sleep. It’s important to your recovery and gaining back your strength, they said. Or Matt said. That kid is really getting on my nerves. It’s his friggin’ smile. I really wish he’d quit that. No one is supposed to be that happy. I used to be able to sleep anywhere, anytime. It’s basic survival when you’re on a mission. Things are never on a schedule, and you have to be able to grab shut-eye whenever you can. Damn missions. Can’t believe the government wants me on another mission. Why me? It’s not like I’ve given people a lot of reason to trust me as of late. It’s gotta be freak related, that’s for sure. What else am I good at? Certainly not raising a family. Just one more mission, and that’s it. Then I’m really done. Maybe I sucked at being a husband and a father in the past, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be a good one in the future. For as long as I can. For as long as they’ll let me.
Chaz’s mind drifted back to when his kids were young. Back when things seemed more straightforward. It made sense back then. Things were easy. His job was to take care of and protect people. His kids, his family, his country. That was it. He protected them, and they loved him for it. Somewhere along the way it had gotten harder. He tried to remember when exactly, but couldn’t. Sleep finally took over.
He didn’t sleep long before the voices started. Dream voices? He wasn’t sure, but they sounded familiar. Not human voices. Strange disembodied voices that brought back uncomfortable feelings.
My dreams seem so vivid now, so real. I’m thinking about my dreams while dreaming. I never used to do that. They used to be events that just happened to me, but now I feel like I have a say about what happens in my dreams. I feel like I have control here. I can control who is here and what happens next. This is so weird.
A voice sounded in the distance. “Control isn’t real. It’s humorous. An illusion for the weak.”
Chaz looked around in his dream, but all he could see was fog and sidewalks. There were multiple sidewalks under his feet all heading off in multiple directions like the points of a compass. N E W S … NE NW SE SW. The voice sounded like it came from all around him. Chaz replied,
“Where are you?” No one answered, but he spoke again regardless. “Control is real if you believe it to be so. The trick is knowing when you’re in control, and when you’re not.”
“Your understanding is limited. Your insignificant control is fleeting and of no importance to me.”
“Where are you?”
“You’re in control. Where should I be?”
Chaz turned right and followed the sidewalk leading in that direction. The clouds parted, and Chaz found himself walking down a hallway. The walls were antiseptic white, and all the doors along the hallway were open. Inside he could see laboratories filled with people and machines and test tubes. None of them moved. None of them turned to look as he passed by. At the end of the hallway was a single closed red door. Chaz turned the knob and walked in.
He’d been here before. Shortly before he, Christa and Alex had escaped from Fort Knox. This was Patzy’s lab. Patient Zero nicknamed Patzy by the staff, in all her morbidity.
“Why am I dreaming about you?” Chaz asked.
“Dreams? Who said dreams? You don’t dream me. I found you. My control … not yours.”
“Of course I’m dreaming. I can’t even get out of my bed. My handlers don’t trust me anymore, they still keep me restrained when they’re not around. There’s no way I could get out of bed, let alone leave my room. Besides, I remember your room. There’s no red door. I was there before. That’s just weirdo dream dramatics. It’s my mind playing tricks on me.”
“Red. Blue. White. Yellow. Change happens. Things have changed. Been so long but just a heartbeat. Doesn’t matter. You’re here for now. That matters.”
“Alright, you’re talking nonsense. Of course, you talked nonsense even when I wasn’t dreaming.”
“Dreaming not. Can’t dream. Can’t sleep. Can you?”
“Yeah, I have a hard time sleeping, but I’m definitely dreaming now, so I must be asleep.”
“Not dreaming … listening … watching … me. Controller watching me. My thoughts. My messages. Listen now! Listen to me!”
Chaz took a step back and wondered, Am I dreaming? I have to be, right?
Patzy replied, “No. Not. Can’t.”
“You heard that? That was in my head; you couldn’t have heard that.”
“In your head, with you. I am. Machines took me to you. I remembered you. Your machines watching you. I watch machines.”
“The machines in my room monitoring me? You’re talking to me through the machines?”
“Yes. Gets it now. Finally it does.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Been watching for long time. Controlling too. Quiet … had to keep you quiet. Since the better one. The new one asked.”
“Christa? You’re talking about Christa.”
“Gets it. Yes. The Christa put you here. She made long sleep for you. Till it was time. Till you ready. Till we ready. Purpose for you now.”
“Hang on a second. You’re telling me Christa put me here in a coma?”
“Course. Of course. Yes. I watch. I help. The better one said so.”
“That makes no sense whatsoever. Why would Christa put me in a coma and leave me here all this time? Where is she? Where is Christa now?”
“Gone. She knew. Knew you couldn’t watch. Watch her. She knew. Had me wake you. When time is up. Now. Now she wants you wake. Wants you to go. Go with purpose.”
Chaz felt himself float backwards out the door and back down to the sidewalk. He could see the red door close as he floated backwards. He tried to move forward, down the sidewalk, but he couldn’t. Then everything went dark and Chaz really drifted off to sleep. A few hours later he woke with a start. Someone was in his room.
“Well, that was quite a dream you were having there, Mr. Sheperd,” Dr. Montgomery said. “I thought you were going to pop your restraints again. Matt was right, you have been improving. He’s quite good with the phyiso, isn’t he?”
Chaz relaxed and dropped his head to his pillow. “Judith. Where the hell have you been?”
“I’m a busy woman, Colonel. Can’t be babysitting you all the time. Not sleeping too well I see. Your dreams haunting you? Maybe a guilty conscience?”
“Can’t really remember the dream, but my conscience is just fine thank you.” Chaz paused a few seconds in thought. “Where’s Christa? What happened to her?”
“Oh, so you do remember her. We were wondering why you hadn’t asked about her yet. Guess you were a little distracted with the whole family thing. Although it’s understandable that maybe you wouldn’t want to talk about the kid. I mean, after all the warnings we gave you about her changing and how you just ignored us.”
“What do you mean … understandable?”
“Well, understandable considering what she did to you. We saw it all here. We thought for sure she’d killed you at first. Which wouldn’t have been all that surprising considering what she was. She’s the one that put you in the coma. You and Alex both. The three of you were just on the outskirts of the fort, past the mob of freaks, and she held on to each of your hands. You on the right, and Alex on the left. There was a bright flash, and you both dropped to the ground. She just kept walking. Never even looked back at the two of you lying in a heap.”
Chaz let out a deep sigh. “Alex too?”
“We told you, Colonel. She changed. She’s not just some little kid. She never really was.”
Zero to Hero
“Let’s go, Colonel, it’s time for you to take a walk,” Matt announced cheerfully as he burst into Chaz’s room.
“Well it’s about damn time,” Chaz replied. “I was beginning to think you were totally incapable of letting me out of this place. What kind of physio takes almost a week to get me moving around?”
“I’m not a miracle worker, Colonel, that’s all up to you. It wasn’t my idea to get you walking already. I’d much rather wait another week and make sure you’re strong enough for this. But, orders are orders.”
“I guess someone has big plans for me,” Chaz replied with a grin.
“I wouldn’t know anything about that, Colonel. I just know I was told to get you up and moving around on your own within seventy-two hours. No small feat. So, I’ve arranged a little incentive for you.”
“Let me guess. You’ve got a troop of hookers waiting down at the end of the hall to see if all my parts are still working.”
“Sorry, Colonel, that’s not quite what I had in mind. But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be motivated by what I’ve got. I’ve brought this walker assist to get you started.”
“Jesus boy, I’m not ready for the old folks’ home quite yet. I’m not using that friggin’ thing.”
“Look, Colonel, believe me when I say it’s in my best interest to get you moving just as quickly as I can. That doesn’t mean I want to have you falling on your ass and breaking bones that don’t have enough muscle to support them. I’ve got bosses to answer to that won’t be pleased if I break you.”
Chaz tilted his head and said, “I should know what I’m capable of by now, don’t you think?”
“What I think, sir, is you don’t know how to take things easy. I think if I let you you’d likely try and sprint for the door. I need you to promise me we’re going to do things my way. At least today, let’s take it slow. If you do OK, we’ll push it a bit more.”
“Fine, we’ll start it your way. For now.” Chaz smiled back.
Once Matt had Chaz standing securely with the walker beside his bed, he went and opened the door.
“Alright, Colonel, let’s go nice and slow and see if you can make it to the door on your own. There’s no rush. Make sure the walker is balanced and just a few inches in front of you before you move your feet.”
Chaz edged the walker forward, then shuffled his feet close to the walker.
“That’s great, Colonel. Now try it again. Just a few inches at a time. Don’t overtax yourself, and let your arms get used to supporting you.”
Chaz continued inching the walker forward, shuffling his feet to catch up. Within a few minutes, he was almost at the door. His arms were starting to shake, and sweat was forming on his forehead.
Matt started closing the door and said, “Nice job there, Colonel. I think that’s maybe enough for now; let’s head back to your bed. I’ll save the surprise for another day.”
“The hell it is, boy! You had that door open, and I damn well intend to take this rig outside. Open that door.” Matt stood there and started to speak, but Chaz interrupted. “You open that door or I’ll send myself and this walker crashing to the floor and break as many bones as I can. Try explaining that to your bosses.”
“Colonel, you’re shaking and already straining yourself. If we go too far you won’t be able to get back.”
“Boy, this isn’t sweat. I’m barely getting warmed up. Believe me, you have no idea what I’m capable of. I’ve been in worse shape than this and managed to evade a hundred freaks with nothing but a butter knife in my pocket.”
Matt smiled and said, “That’s a lie.”
“The hell it is. What you didn’t know is that it was one of those plastic butter knives. The ones that break when you try to butter a damn roll. I’ll tell you the whole story another day. Right now, what I want you to do is open that door before I do something really stupid.”
Matt reluctantly opened the door and waved the colonel through. Chaz continued shuffling along, and just to prove his point he picked up the pace and moved the walker almost a foot ahead of him each time.
“Easy there, Colonel.”
Chaz continued as quickly as he could, moving down the hall. There was no slowing his pace. The hall was long enough and there were plenty of chairs placed along the way where he could have stopped and rested, but Chaz insisted on moving along. Matt just kept shaking his head and hovering as close as Chaz would allow. Chaz didn’t stop till he got to the end of the hall, where a janit
or was sweeping. He was visibly out of breath, and both his arms and legs were shaking. When Matt motioned to the chair, Chaz shook his head and said, “No, I can make it back. Just get out of my way and let me go.”
“Actually, Colonel, I think you may just want to have a seat.” He motioned to the janitor coming towards them. Chaz looked a little closer.
“I know him. He’s different. He’s aged. What happened to him?”
“Have a seat, Colonel. You should let him tell his story.” Matt turned to the janitor. “Alex. Come over here. There’s someone you should say hi to.” Matt moved across the hall to give them some privacy.
Alex set down his broom, and moved quickly to take a seat next to the colonel. “Well, what do you know? The old bastard’s actually awake. I never thought I’d ever see you out of that bed. What the hell took you so long? Things really haven’t been the same around here without you. I mean of course you’ve been here, you just haven’t been very participative.”
Chaz wiped the sweat off his brow and managed a smile. “It hasn’t really been that long for me, kid. It only seems like yesterday. For all I know, it was yesterday, and these bastards,” Chaz motioned to Matt, “have been lying to me the last few days. I don’t really know what to think these days. Sometimes I think my mind is playing tricks on me. Been having strange dreams, and not sleeping very well. Guess I did enough of that over the last few years.”
“Yeah, things didn’t turn out so great for me either. After what happened with Christa, people around here weren’t that happy with me.”
Chaz shook his head. “They never liked us much here to start with. All they were really interested in was Christa.”
Awakening: Parables From The Apocalypse - Dystopian Fiction Page 2