The Longest Road (Book 3): The Other Side

by A. S. Thompson

  “I don't expect you to understand, but I do expect you to keep your mouth shut and not interrupt me.”

  Albert swiped each profile away until his eyebrow rose. “LIA, bring out number four, but keep subject seven here.”

  The artificial intelligence complied, and this time when the mechanics operated, Niko's room slid to the side, making room for subject number four's cell. Both rooms remained in view through the one-way mirror.

  “Subject: Julie McNally. Female, Caucasian, twenty-nine years of age. Height: five feet, five inches. Weight: one hundred, twenty-one pounds. Health scans indicate-”

  “Stop, I don't care, LIA,” Albert said, bothered. He stared at the woman for a long while before he spoke.

  Despite her rugged appearance, undoubtedly from life on the road, Subject Four was naturally attractive. Julie was dressed in tight cargo pants, accentuating her lower features. Wearing a dark long-sleeved shirt, she approached the window. “Hello? Who's there? What is going on?”

  Good bone structure, ample breasts and apparently all her walking and physical activity has kept her legs and ass in tight shape, he thought. I'll save her for a different set of tests.

  “LIA, I've changed my mind. For this test, bring out,” Albert paused, swiping through the midair portfolios, “Number Eight.”

  “What would you like done with numbers Seven and Four?”

  “Keep Seven, but rotate Number Four's room from view.”

  LIA swapped out Julie’s room for another woman's. During the switch, Beth noticed the mechanics at work. The rooms were on a system of tracks, enabling the cables and wheels to move in every direction, including vertically. She watched Number Four's room get pulled backward into the darkness as Number Eight's spun around like a top, before the glass wall settled against the one-way mirror.

  “LIA, there will be no need for a medical breakdown,” Albert said, anticipating the computer's assessment.

  “Very well, I will upload the medical history and patient portfolio on your holographic display.”

  “Jayda Brighton,” Albert declared, reading Subject Eight's name from the midair screen, “how are you feeling?”

  Roughly forty years of age, the short haired woman rolled out of bed, into a crouched position. She wore a black tank top, exposing large, defined muscle groups. “Who's there?” she asked, fists held high as she maintained the defensive posture.

  Albert repeated his question.

  Sensing no immediate threat, Jayda rose, lowered her hands and stepped toward the mirror. “I'm alright, not too sure why you guys lured us in here only to shoot us full of some pink shit and keep us prisoner. Mind filling me in?”

  Assertive, Albert noted.This should play out very well.

  “You were, in fact, given a vaccine to defend your body against the virus. You and your friends are being kept here for your own well-being. You will all be released soon. I need to ask you a few questions first.”

  “And if I choose to say fuck you and keep my mouth shut?”

  “That will only delay the process.”

  Jayda sat on the cot. “Then I guess I don't have much of a choice, now do I? Go on, get it over with.”

  “Describe your interactions with those who carry the infection?”

  “Those crazy zombie-things? Well, I try to keep my interactions with them to a minimum, considering they try to eat me and my friends.”

  “Go on.”

  “What do you want me to say? Some of them used to be my friends and family, and like everyone else who's survived this long, I've had to kill them.”

  “How many would you say you've killed?”

  “Geez, I don't know.”

  “Estimate.”

  “Seventy-five? A hundred? I stopped keeping track.”

  “During these encounters with the infected, has your mouth, eyes, or any open wound come into contact with their blood or bodily fluids?”

  “No. Well, sometimes an inevitable spray of blood gets us on the clothing or skin, but we disinfect immediately. None ever got in an open wound, mouth, or anything. That's how this thing spreads. We learned that early on.”

  “Good. Now, how many non-infected have you killed?”

  Jayda's eyes snapped to the mirror. Her hands clenched into fists and her nostrils flared. The question struck a very sensitive nerve, one that aroused terrible memories. A long minute passed before she answered, “Three,” and sensing some sort of judgment, she stood up and quickly added, “but they tried to kill me first. They would have raped and killed me and my nephew, Niko, had I not done what I did...”

  Interesting, the boy is her nephew. This will be very exciting.

  “And I would do it again in a heartbeat. Whoever you people are, you apparently have no idea what is going on in the real world out there. Most people don't care about anything anymore. Laws, psh, no one gives a damn about laws out there. There is only one rule and that is you do what you have to, to survive.”

  Beth looked over at Albert. She was unable determine if his satisfied expression was for the completeness of the answer or the content within.

  “Can I see my friends now?”

  “Almost. One final question,” Albert said, placing his hand on the sphere. “Just to confirm your previous answer, you have neither been bitten by one of the infected nor had your mouth or open wound come in contact with their blood?”

  Beth could not remain silent anymore. “Dr. Stone, you heard her, she isn't infected. Besides, you have her medical report in front of you. There were no traces of the virus in her body!”

  “LIA, mute communications,” Albert said, stepping away from the sphere. He marched over to Dr. Arnold and grabbed her throat. He thrust her up against the one-way mirror and exclaimed, “I have had enough of your interruptions!”

  “Please…Dr. Stone,” she attempted to say, though the words came from her mouth and not her vocal cords. She clawed and grabbed at Albert's hand, gasping for air, but to no success.

  “I do not pay you to think, sympathize, empathize, or otherwise question me or my motives. If you interrupt me one more time, I will finally take pleasure in skinning your body while you are alive and feeding you to the infected outside these gates. Now, have I made myself crystal clear?”

  Jayda had been looking through the glass, but couldn't see the assault directly in front of her. “Hello? Hello? Yes. To your question, I am beyond certain. My friends and I check each other every single day. It was a rule we lived by for safety...hello?”

  Beth nodded her blue face.

  “Good, now stand there and watch,” Albert ordered, releasing his grip.

  Beth's body slid down the glass and collapsed to the floor. She coughed and filled her lungs with much needed air. At that moment, the elevator door opened, and Wilson stepped into the room.

  “Dr. Arnold, are you alright?” Wilson asked, assisting her upright. “What happened?”

  Beth looked at Albert who was strolling back to the briefcase as though nothing happened. She caught her breath enough to speak. “I-I, nothing happened. I was choking on some walnuts,” she lied, knowing full well what repercussions would come with the truth.

  Wilson looked at the red hand marks tattooed on her neck. “Beth?”

  “Really, I'm fine now.”

  “Dr. Crowley, why are you here?” Albert asked, irritated.

  “I wanted to personally give you the update that the energy problem is being worked on as we speak, and that we should be back to normal operating capacity in less than two hours.”

  “Well that is good news for you,” Albert replied, placing his hand on the sphere. “Now, if you decide to stay, stand next to Ms. Arnold and keep your mouth shut.”

  “Hello?” Jayda asked, repeatedly. “Is anyone there still? Can I go now? Can I see my nephew?”

  “LIA, join Subject Eight's room with Subject Seven's, and enable communication. Yes, Ms. Brighton, in fact you can see him right now. He's just through the door.”

&nb
sp; A section of the wall slid upward, creating a passageway from Jayda's room into her nephew's. “Niko!” she exclaimed, rushing toward him. She dropped to her knees and hugged his little body. “Are you okay? Have they hurt you?”

  “Aunt Jayda! No, they haven't hurt me.”

  “Oh, I'm so happy to see you, honey!”

  “You too. They said they are going to be bringing me some food,” Niko began, but stopped when he noticed Jayda’s body pulse blue. “Aunt Jayda, what's wrong with you?”

  “I don’t-” Jayda began, but clutched her chest and dropped to all fours, coughing and spitting up blood. In between breaths, she asked, “What's happening to me? My skin feels like it's on fire!”

  She left Niko and stepped unsteadily to the one-way mirror. Using the reflection, she stared at herself, particularly her eyes. Both were becoming increasingly red and veiny. Her breathing grew fast and shallow, and her teeth began to chatter uncontrollably. She could no longer expend the energy necessary for standing and collapsed to her knees. Her head sunk into her chest where she mumbled, “What-is-happening-to-me?”

  “Aunt Jayda, are you okay?”

  Doctors Arnold and Crowley covered their mouth and held their breath. Their looks of horror switched between the family and Albert's cold exterior.

  Suddenly, Jayda's head snapped backward. Her eyes were completely dilated and veiny, foamy saliva poured from her mouth, and her teeth snapped like a rabid dog's. She began bashing the glass, breaking her bones as she clawed to get to Albert.

  Yet another interesting point. There is no blood or scents for her olfactory senses to pick up, but it can detect our presence.

  Backpedaling, Niko mumbled, “Aunt Jayda?”

  Immediately, Jayda stopped. Her ear twitched and her nose sniffed the chilly air. She spun around and targeted Niko. “Argh!” she gargled, rushing toward him.

  At the last second, Niko rolled away from the diving attack. Jayda's face slammed against the ground and corner of the wall, splitting her nose open. Blood gushed from the wound, mixing with saliva.

  Following the attack, Niko found a hiding spot underneath the cot in Jayda’s room and covered his mouth.

  Jayda, meanwhile, whipped her head around; red bubbles dripped to the white floor as she searched for Niko. She thrashed the mattress and flung the sheets around the room, aggravated by her nephew’s evasion.

  Then, she heard it; the quietest of yelps.

  Fingers curling into claws, Jayda stalked into the room, chest rising up and down from quick breaths. After a long moment of staring at the cot, it was all over.

  Jayda snarled and rushed over, diving down for a second time. She grabbed the boy by the arm and dragged him out to the center of the room.

  “Aunt Jayda, please, no! Stop it. Please!” Niko pleaded, but like his writhing body and kicks, the pleas stood no chance.

  Jayda sunk her canine teeth into the boy’s tender neck and ripped away a mouthful of flesh. Blood spurted from Niko’s exposed artery, spraying Jayda in her jubilant face, as she lunged for a second bite. Then, in what seemed like an act of mercy, Jayda snapped her nephew's neck, killing him before the blood loss could.

  “Excellent,” Albert whispered.

  Once again, Jayda turned her attention to the mirror, bashing her hands and snapping her teeth at the glass.

  Albert smiled, and in what seemed like a pointless question to both doctors, he said, “Ms. Brighton, how do you feel?”

  Save for unintelligible yelps and groans, Jayda offered no response.

  Beth continued to stare at the grotesque homicide, but Wilson looked to Albert with an expression that was beyond baffled. “Sh-she's infected, sir. I-I don't think she will be able to respond.”

  When Albert repeated his question to Jayda, Wilson turned his attention to Beth. He tugged on her coat, asking, “Subject Eight was infected? Everyone was cleared before being brought into the facility, correct?”

  Beth nodded, though, absent of conviction. She was unable pull her eyes away from Jayda as the infected woman went back to tearing up the small Vietnamese boy.

  “Dr. Stone, why are you asking her questions? No one has ever been able to communicate after full infection.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Albert asked, snickering.

  Both doctors stared at the back of Jayda’s head, observing and noting yet another deep blue pulse. They watched her shoulders raise and lower with heavy rhythm, then they slowed and slowed until the woman’s body rocked back and forth. A minute later, she stumbled around the room before finally dropping hard on her knees. They watched her dark eyes roll back inside her head as her face slammed into the floor.

  “I-is she dead?” Wilson asked timidly.

  Albert removed his hand from the orb and stepped away from the briefcase. “Why don’t you ask her,” he said, taking position in front of the holographic computer.

  Wilson arched an eyebrow. He looked to Beth, but she was unresponsive. So, at the risk of insubordination, Wilson took an uncertain stepped forward, licked his lips, then asked, “A-are you okay, Ms. Brighton?”

  He didn’t expect a response, but when one came, his legs nearly gave out.

  “I-I think so,” Jayda replied, raising her bloody face. Her voice was stuffy, nasal cavity blocked by bits of bone and cartilage. “Wha- what happened?”

  She rose to her feet and shrieked at the sight of smears of blood staining her skin. Stumbling backward, she tripped over Niko's body and kicked away from the scene, ending up in between the toilette and cot. When her eyes deciphered the identity of the deceased, every hair on her body stood up.

  “Niko!” she screamed, crawling back. “Niko! No, honey! Niko! Niiiiiiiiiiko! What did you bastards do to him? You killed him! You killed my Niko! Why would you do that?”

  “We didn't do anything to him,” replied Albert.

  He pressed play on the hologram, and inside Jayda's room, lasers produced a recorded video of the previous minute.

  Jayda watched in horror; head shaking in disbelief. “N-no, there's no way! I would never-”

  “But you did.”

  Crying, Jayda cradled and rocked what was left of the boy's body. She muttered the words, “No, no, no, honey, I'm so sorry, come back to me, Niko, I'm so sorry, please forgive me.”

  Albert pressed a sequence on the outside of the case, which prompted the device to power off and lower. Case in hand, Albert headed for the elevator, passing Doctors Arnold and Crowley who shared the same stunned expression.

  “Send Subject Four to my room in exactly four hours and eighteen minutes,” Albert said, waiting for the lift.

  Beth pivoted slowly. Agape with horror, she went to speak, but dry-heaved twice and dropped to one knee. Then, small traces of her late lunch mixed with saliva and stomach acid spewed from her mouth.

  So weak, even for a woman, Albert thought.

  Wilson put a hand on his colleague's shoulder. “Okay, Subject Four, four hours, eighteen minutes,” he responded, voice cracking. “What would you like done with the rest of the subjects?”

  “I don't care. I got what I needed.”

  ***

  When the elevator doors closed, Beth turned to her colleague. "Wilson," she began, voice trembling, "did we just...did we just see what I think we did?"

  "Yes."

  "This isn't right. This isn't what I signed up for," she said, vision drifting to the bloody holding cells. "I have to tell someone. I have to tell the police, the President, government, anyone!"

  Wilson pressed a finger to his lips. "Shh! Keep your voice down! You can't say anything to anyone! Look, I can't explain what we just saw-"

  "And I can't explain the things Dr. Stone did to the two other subjects! You weren't here. You didn't see what I saw!"

  "What happened?"

  Beth repeatedly pressed the elevator call button. "I-I'll tell you later, I have to go!"

  "Beth, whatever you are thinking about doing, don't,” he said, literally shaking sensibil
ity into her. "You haven't been with LIFE as long as I have. You don't know what these people are capable of doing. Blowing the whistle on them is a capital crime, and I literally do mean capital."

  "Come on, Wilson, it's a company, not a country. They can't just kill people-"

  "Yes, they can and they have! Did you ever hear about Dr. Presip? Or Doctors Calick or Juaren?

  "I think so. They were the ones on the news two or three years ago, right? They were supposed to have been building a court case for malpractice against Clyde Enterprises-”

  “Which is a chemical supply subsidiary of LIFE.”

  “B-but I heard the case was dropped?"

  "And that's all you heard. Nothing else ever came of it because Presip, Calick, and Juaren diedaccidentally. And I have heard dozens of other stories of other employees and contractors who turned against LIFE or tried to walk away...they have killed people, Beth, and not just killed, but held prisoner and tortured."

  "Did you know about this? The test subjects?”

  "Of course not! Well, I-I knew there might be something, but no, not this!"

  "I thought we were the good guys, making a vaccine to save the world," Beth mumbled, moving into the elevator.

  Wilson blocked the doors from closing. "Where are you going? What are you going to do?"

  "I-I don't know yet. I have to finish some paperwork, but, I-I don't know. I have to think. Come by my office later."

  "Be smart, Beth," Wilson said, looking back at the holding rooms. "You don't want to end up like them."

  1510 hours

  On the third floor, Albert pressed his hand against a black screen. "Welcome back, Dr. Stone," came the gender-neutral voice as the system granted him access.

  "Welcome back? I can't wait to leave," he muttered, stepping inside.

  The onsite living quarter was elegantly simple. Pieces of priceless artwork hung tightly on the creamy white walls. The black marble tiling with hand-drawn patterns was equally as expensive, while an electric fireplace heated the room.