by Susan Lowry
What if she wasn’t?
He demanded the light was left on at all times. Travis was no longer himself. Even the brightest of days were darkened by his fear and emptiness. He did not have the energy to speak.
***
(December 3rd)
Rose pushed Travis into the crisp December sunshine with his leg extended in front of his new wheelchair.
“I’m taking you up the road Travis, to where you used to sketch. Maybe it will spark a few memories. I hope you will start doing your schoolwork again soon, but if you really can’t, perhaps you’ll begin to draw again, at least for now.”
Travis sensed there was something else on her agenda. She continued quickly past the boulder at the side of the road, on which he used to sit and draw and it was strange that she was in such a hurry. He had really wanted a minute to stop there – like she had mentioned – to see if that would help him remember.
Yet, she continued pushing him further up the road, towards the highway, faster and faster with his cast rattling against the chair. Then she stopped, abruptly, just as the wind brought a flurry of leaves flickering down from the branches, twinkling in the sun like enormous orange and yellow snowflakes.
He stared up the part of the road that was always a tunnel of shadows and watched them falling from high up at the tips of the trees. Rose was waiting for something, he was certain of it and his heart thumped slightly quicker though he had no inkling why.
She said nothing when they both saw a green spec moving through the trees at the highway and heard the sound of an engine louder and louder. She stood beside Travis with a glimmer in her eyes as the jeep drew nearer and stopped before them. With her hand on his shoulder squeezing firmly, she waited for the dark-haired man wearing a black leather jacket, jeans, and boots to jump out and walk toward them.
He spoke in a thick Spanish accent. “Is it really you?” he said, standing in front of Rose, hesitantly.
“Yes, it is me,” she said, and laughed. “I’m Rose.
“A name that suits you, beautiful as I had imagined,” he said. “Eduardo is my name.” His pleasant smile revealed a laidback disposition and his scars from the plague, like theirs now, were barely noticeable on his smooth olive complexion. A hint of something in his dark eyes suggested his age, perhaps ten years older than Rose.
“Welcome,” she said, taking his hands in hers. “I’m sorry your journey took so long, my dear. Are you well?”
“I am. And who is this?”
“Travis, our youngest,” she said.
“Ah yes, I know about this boy. So good to meet you son, so very happy to see you are okay.”
Chapter Twenty- Six
The Rash
(December 21st, Year Two, PA)
Kevin’s paranoia had not been unwarranted — given the trauma he had endured, the secrecy among them that kept him distanced and guessing, and the strangeness of their unlikely telepathic gifts. Yet, despite the uncertainties, a part of him had sensed that he was safe among them. And since he’d confronted Chris in the car that day with Lucy his insecurities had slowly begun to fade. The astronaut’s explanation, though incredible, was somehow convincing.
Now he was rather enjoying the relaxation of old-fashioned popcorn stringing. But observing Travis – balanced precariously on top of a stepladder trying to reach the tip of the tree – drew his attention for a while. Jack had erected the freshly cut spruce that morning in a corner of the recreation room by the stone wall, in the centre of which a sizzling fire crackled beneath a pine mantel.
“Lucy, hand me the star please,” directed Travis.
She gave Travis the ornament and stood close by while he wriggled it upright on the top branch. Kevin wondered if Lucy should be showing at almost three months, but Jack had assured him the baby was doing just fine.
He gazed at Kate, who was playing the piano, and Sarah, standing beside her, whose voice filled the room with round, sweet notes. Sarah had a small protruding belly, he observed. He’d had no idea the two of them were so musically gifted and began to hum along to the familiar carols as he crafted his popcorn string.
With Ben, now nine months old, playing contentedly on the rug beside him, the atmosphere was feeling quite nostalgic, Kevin thought, spotting the first flurries of the season whisking past the windows that faced the lake. He pulled a tissue from his pocket and blew his nose.
Sarah stopped singing and began to laugh when she saw Chris come into the room. “Where did you get that?” she howled.
The astronaut clunked into the room in wet boots and a Santa suit stuffed with a pillow, and headed for Ben who was given the proverbial ho-ho-ho. After a giggle, Ben went back to stacking his blocks and Chris sat down with Kevin for a while.
But when Kate and Sarah began their carols again, Chris and Eduardo joined them. The men’s pitch was so horrible that Jack — preferring to keep to his corner of the room with a book and glass of whiskey — peered over his glasses with raised brows for a second.
Kevin fumbled for another tissue. The changing weather had given him a rapidly worsening cold and with his head starting to throb, suddenly afraid he could be running a fever, he wished that the music would stop. He put down his popcorn string and leaned back with his eyes shut.
Not long after that, Rose hurried inside with two enormous platters of baked goodies which she placed on the ping-pong table and went to warm herself by the fire. Kevin had opened his eyes at the sudden rush of cold air. Shivering, he watched a small line-up form by the food, with Eduardo in the lead; the jovial guy filled his plate, helped himself to a glass of punch and then sat close to Rose on the hearth.
Travis continued wrapping a string of lights around the tree and Lucy, relieved to see him down from the ladder finally left him alone. She brought Kevin a plate of goodies and snuggled up beside him. But he did not feel the slightest bit hungry.
“What’s the matter? You love Rose’s cooking.”
Kevin groaned, stretched out on the couch, and shut his eyes. He felt Lucy’s cool fingers on his forehead. “Jesus Kevin, you’re burning up!”
“I am? I was feeling okay a minute ago.”
Suddenly another hand was on his brow. “I’ll get my bag,” said Jack, and a second later a blast of winter air made Kevin shiver again. Lucy covered him with a blanket but Sarah said that wasn’t a good idea with a fever and Lucy took it away.
The music had stopped. Kevin heard low whispers at the other side of the room. He crooked his arm over his light-sensitive eyes, grateful for the silence. His throat scratched and his glands were painful when he swallowed and by the time the next flash of freezing outdoor air hit him, his stomach was queasy.
Jack set his medical bag on a nearby table and stuck a thermometer in his mouth. Kevin was trying not to panic but it seemed highly unusual for symptoms to develop this quickly and when Jack mumbled that his temperature was 104 degrees, his blood pressure extremely low, Kevin gazed at all of them staring down at him. “Guess it’s a pretty bad case of the flu, eh Jack?”
“Most likely,” Jack replied, lifting Kevin’s sweater to take a closer look at something on his skin.
Kevin looked too. “What is that? Oh, jeez… I — I’ve got a rash man! Does this mean what I think it means?” he whispered.
“Certainly not!” Lucy shouted. “Please don’t talk like that Kevin.”
“We’ll recognize it soon enough – if that’s what it is,” Jack said calmly. “Sorry Kevin, but all we can do is wait. And if you want to pray… now is the time.”
Lucy was doing her best to hide her distress but it was quite obvious and there was little Kevin could do to comfort her. She brought him some water and a cool sponge for his head, telling him that he was going to be all right, stroking his hair, and refusing to leave his side even when he reminded her that he might be contagious.
Kevin cared deeply for Lucy – maybe he even loved her. He had begun to look forward to their child too, intending to be a kind and attentive fath
er. Over the last few months it had gradually dawned on him that life still had much to offer, and now, as he silently made a list of all the things he’d wanted to do, he found it increasingly difficult to breathe.
Lucy put some pillows beneath his head.
Far too much time had been wasted worrying about death, and now, strangely, Kevin had no fear of it. He just didn't want to die. He could deal with being the different one amongst them. And if his child turned out to be like him, without telepathy, it would need Kevin all the more. There were a lot of reasons to want to survive. But by the way he was feeling – if he was going to come clean – he knew it had better be now. These people, especially Lucy, deserved the truth.
He squeezed Lucy’s hand. “You need to know a few things. I have a feeling it could be important to you,” he confessed, squinting up at her. It was difficult to focus, but he could tell that everyone gathered around him was looking deeply concerned.
“Here,” Jack insisted, handing him a puffer, “take another round of these first.” They didn’t help at all and Kevin needed to pause between phrases, the air hissing in and out of his lungs.
“I hate even thinking about this, but… it wouldn’t be fair not to tell you,” he said, coughing, taking another look at the rash on his stomach, and then putting his palm on his aching forehead while he forced himself to proceed.
He gazed up at Lucy holding her hand. “You know already that I was with Hannah. Well, I met her only weeks before the plague. Something very weird happened to us man, and I – just bear with me. Please, this isn’t easy.”
His heart had begun to pound and it wasn’t due to his illness; it was because of what he was revisiting. He needed to get his thoughts together.
“It’s okay Kevin,” Jack acknowledged, “take your time.”
“Take it easy Kevin, we’re here for you,” Chris said.
“I’m sorry,” he said, still looking at Lucy, “I intended to get around to this eventually. I wish I hadn’t waited until now.”
Sarah and Kate had brought some chairs close to the couch and Jack sat on a stool beside them. Travis was wrapped in Rose’s arms standing beside Eduardo. Then Chris disappeared for a moment, returning with something in his hand. He clicked a button and Kevin realized he was being recorded. They were all waiting apprehensively.
“We knew there was something you were keeping from us,” Lucy soothed, rubbing his arm gently. “But we didn’t want to push you.”
“I know,” he acknowledged weakly, trying to decide where to begin.
“I was in grad school, in Boston – like I told you, doing my master’s. But then I found out my parents had lost their jobs. They were bankrupt man, and my sister wasn’t able to work either, so they really needed me.”
Kevin took a glass of water from Lucy, sipped it and handed it back to her.
“I barely knew Hannah. She’d signed up for this research study and they were looking for another recruit. It paid really good money – enough to help my family for a while, and… I qualified.”
He was trying to remember the details. It seemed like such a long time ago. “It was run by…” He shut his eyes tighter and then the evil name came to him suddenly.
“Doctor Lena Inch. How could I forget her, and Henry? They came right to the university, needed young people in excellent health.
“Hannah and I were the only ones picked from Boston; the others were students too, around our age, but they were already there when we arrived.”
His airways had become so constricted it was making him cough more often as he tried to get enough oxygen. Lucy swabbed his forehead.
“We took the bus down to Florida the very next week. Bob; he was this muscular guy who picked us up in Miami and drove us to the facility, which turned out to be… like an old mansion, way out, miles from the main road, and off the grid too.
“It did seem strange. Creepy actually. But we were thinking of the money and that kept us motivated. Blind, I guess, at first. Both of us were pretty desperate. There were ten couples including Lena and Henry.”
Kevin felt tears coming to his eyes.
“Her looks were deceiving; she — she was beautiful and seemed so nice. We were doing the world a massive favour. She convinced us the work was incredibly important; having to do with extending life far beyond the average age. The little detail they offered didn’t make a lot of sense… but what did we know?
“She administered the vitamin shots herself – three times daily. Blood and urine samples went to the lab in the mornings. That was all they required, except… we weren’t allowed to leave. In fact, Hannah discovered all the doors were locked, like, it was impossible to get out.
“So, one night Hannah wasn’t feeling well – she couldn’t sleep. And after they’d all gone to bed she went to get something from the kitchen. Not wanting to disturb anyone she left the lights off and snuck down past Lena’s room. She thought she’d heard Henry mention her name through the door, so she stopped not far from it and waited.
“She heard him say: ‘The drugs worked on Hannah. She’s scheduled for impregnation at 2:00 am tomorrow.’
“Hannah would have probably convinced herself that she heard wrong, but she remembered something that had happened to her the night before. She’d woken up in the middle of the night to find Bob leaning close to her head… with a cloth, coming toward her face. And the next thing she knew it was morning.
“She thought it was a dream except that she had a distinct hangover. She told me about it when I saw her that morning. Things weren’t right. We both felt it in our guts.
“So, immediately after she’d heard Henry talk about impregnating her, Hannah rushed to my room. She was scared to death man; she wanted to leave right then and there. Didn’t even want to waste time telling me what happened. But she didn’t have to. I wanted out of there too!
“Oh my God!” Kate gasped, “This is like my dream!”
“What?” Kevin asked.
“No, it’s nothing, just go on.”
“We didn’t even take a second to get dressed. We just tied some sheets together, slid out the window, and jumped. Hannah walked on a sprained ankle – miles, through the woods in the dark. At early dawn we started noticing dead animals… birds that had fallen onto the road and —”
Kevin’s heart had sped up again. He took as deep a breath as possible, blew it through his lips and continued.
“Hey Jack,” Kevin said, gazing up at the concerned doctor.
“What is it Kevin?”
“I feel like my heart’s going on me.”
Jack listened with his stethoscope. “You’re okay son, just keep talking. You’re doing fine.”
“We knew they’d be looking for us, so we stayed hidden for a few days and didn’t go out to the main road. It got weirder every minute, man. Dead animals everywhere. We were in shock. We followed the highway for days, not going out in the open though, just staying in the woods – but we were close enough to tell that there weren’t any cars, not a single one went by all that time. Dead animals all around us… and such silence. But we were dehydrated by then and we figured coming out in the open was worth the risk. We climbed up onto the highway and all the cars were stopped.
“Found the driver dead in the first one. The next one wasn’t much further and there was a family in that one… all of them covered in that rash. Hannah was acting crazy by then. I guess I probably was too. I don’t really remember too much.”
Kevin stopped to look at stomach arm again.
“Oh Kevin…” Lucy was sobbing and Travis had gone white.
“We’ll hear the rest later,” Rose said, and Travis didn’t object when Rose led him to the door giving Kevin a troubled glance. “I’m so sorry Travis,” he said and waited until the door had shut behind them.
“They all had that horrible rash. We thought for sure we were going to die, that it was just a matter of time before we got sick too, and we waited and waited for it to hit us… but it just never d
id. Went to her place to check on her folks, and then to mine… but we never got sick at all.
“I lied about that so you wouldn’t question me. I didn’t know what to make of Inch or the rest of them, but in the back of my mind, I wondered if it had something to do with the plague… but that seemed so crazy, I just didn’t know. We were afraid you people were involved with them somehow. It was all so confusing. I couldn’t explain what they were trying to pull off. Why secretly impregnate Hannah? Just before the plague breaks out man. What was I supposed to tell you?”
“It certainly does sound bizarre,” Chris empathized, “but for what it’s worth, I understand why you didn’t come forth with this.”
Kevin was so deep in the thick of the nightmare that he barely heard Chris. “In retrospect, I think they were a cult,” he muttered.
He caught Jack give Chris a knowing glance as he continued. “I’ve thought it over, a lot. They all seemed in on it; like, we were the only ones being fooled.”
His mouth was getting really dry. Lucy handed him more water, he had a few sips and then she took the glass back.
“Well, at first, Hannah and I just assumed the plague killed them too. But later — a long time after, when we were trying to understand why we didn’t die — it started to bother us. Like, if we survived, then it seemed reasonable that they did too. They may have been a cult… or, maybe you know of a better name for it. We thought they started the plague and whatever that vitamin was they were giving us, was the reason we didn’t get sick. Can you blame us?”
“I don’t. Not at all,” Kate asserted, and Sarah agreed.
“Then we discovered all of you and we thought you must have been connected to them somehow. Hannah begged me to stay away from you. Of course I wasn’t very surprised when she ran to you in the end. She was desperate!
“Now I know there’s no way you could be part of something like that.” Kevin gazed at each of them. “I can see that now.”