“O.K.” Dean stepped back, weirded out by his reaction. Just as he was about to try to calm Frank he heard Frank say ‘when’ and Dean tossed his hands up. “You’re talking into that stupid headset. I hate when you do that without warning.”
“Get the doomsday team ready.” Frank flung off his headset and faced Dean. “Your sleepyheads are getting up early. The countdown has begun.”
“Shit. No. Now?” Dean looked at his watch. “It’s not supposed to happen yet. No one’s ready.”
“They better get ready.”
“Ellen is . . .”
“Probably still asleep. Time frame?” Frank asked.
“Twenty minutes until full awakening.”
“We’d better move. I’ll get El.”
“Drive me to town?” Dean asked as they stepped over Chester.
“You got it.” Frank moved behind Dean to the door.
Joe sidestepped out of the way of Dean who raced through the door. “Whoa. What’s going . . .”
“They’re awakening.” Dean said as he flew by. “Have to go.”
Joe turned in his questioning. “What about . . .”
“Dead.” Frank answered as he too walked through the door. “Handle it. Thanks.”
“O.K.” Holding the oxygen, Joe was alone in holding. With the exception of Chester’s corpse. Setting down the tank, he walked to the body and squatted down. He looked over the paling body--lifeless, peaceful, staring close to the green eyes that were still open. Joe shook his head slowly. “What was it that you didn’t want to tell us Chester?” He paused and took a deep breath, closing Chester’s eyes. “What did you know?”
^^^^
“Ellen.” Dean rushed over to her as she entered the lab. “What took you so long. One minute left. I know you don’t want to miss this.”
“I had to get a quick shower, Dean.” She hurried to position. Henry and Johnny sat before the glass gawking like they were getting ready to watch a peep show. “I don’t want them to wake up and see me messy.”
“Only you.” Dean smiled as he led her to the glass. “Look . . . It’s happening.”
They watched wide eyed, without moving, barely breathing, as the process began. A low level humming happened followed by a click, and the thin almost see through wires that suspended the fifty-three people began to lower, gently dropping them to the floor. The humming noise turned into a hissing and the area behind the glass wall began to fill with a white steam. The same type of white steam which emerged from the cryo-case with the embryos. No one knew for certain whether it was suppose to happen or if a malfunction had occurred. They had to wait, and they had to watch.
“Dean.” Frank’s voice came over the radio. “We’re in position.”
Dean merely picked up the radio and spoke softly. “Hold on.” His eyes never leaving the chamber.
With a loud vacuuming sound, the smoke began to clear from the room, with it brought this vision of people. They stirred about slowly, not realizing what had happened. As if it was rehearsed they began to remove the white hooded suits they wore, letting them drop off, stepping out of them and wearing only flesh colored body suits underneath.
Within seconds of their undressing, some of them began to tremble, their bodies shook, then two, five, eight, dropped to the ground.
Number forty-three pounded on the glass as he tried to call. His words were muffled. “What’s happening?” His face frantic.
Dean scurried to give everyone their syringes. “They can’t be experiencing the virus. They can’t. The chamber is . . .” He paused as he gave Ellen hers. “Shit, they weren’t in a cryo-chamber.” He ran to the door. “Henry hurry with the keys. It’s the suits. They’re wearing cryo-suits. And breathing our air.”
Henry fumbled between his box of syringes and keys to open the door.
Dean upon hearing the unlocking, flung open the door. “Now, everyone.”
Each of them had lost their bearings as they bolted in. They no longer had the people lined up like they expected, they now had a room filled with dropping bodies, shaking, convulsing.
Number forty-three seemed to be the only one in control. His mind raced with confusion. “What is happening?” He grabbed hold of Henry’s shoulders. “What’s going on?”
“The plague. We have to give them the anti-serum.” Henry dropped to the floor and injected a shaking woman.
Without hesitation, number forty-three grabbed a handful of syringes from the box to help the four people who desperately tried to inject the people who seemed to be fighting them.
A woman’s hand reached up clasping Ellen’s hair, pulling it, her other hand swung freely at her while her body thrashed. “Someone help.” Ellen tried to shield her stomach from the painful tantrum being thrown at her. She was at a loss, Dean, Henry, Johnny, and number forty-three, seemed to be experiencing the same chaos. Feeling the hard cold stinging of a palm across her face, nearly knocking the syringe from which she gripped between her teeth, Ellen in angry reaction, clenched her fist, and struck down at the woman, rendering her unconscious and enabling her to inject her. She scooted to the next person, grabbed a syringe, placed it in her mouth and uncapped it.
“El.” Dean reached out and grabbed it from her mouth. “What the hell are you doing? Precaution.” He immediately injected the man whom Ellen knelt over. “Don’t be stupid again.” He tossed the syringe in box.
The bodies still shook despite the anti-serum, as Dean knew would happen. They would have to experience some of the plague before they got well. The entire chamber room was in total disarray with the suffering, even though the numbers left to inject began to dwindle. Recognizing it was time, Dean grabbed his radio, and called out. “Frank we need your guys in here, these people aren’t walking to the tunnels.”
Ellen had used her last syringe, and it was at the same time as Johnny. Breathing deeply and feeling like she had just been in a wrestling match. She lifted her hand for him to help her to her feet. She stood, staggering, and walked from the cryo-wall. She found a chair and sat down.
Seeing it, Number forty-three ran out after her. “Are you all right?” He knelt down before her immediately grabbing her wrist. “You’re pulse is very rapid right now.” He placed his hand on her shoulder. “Breath slowly through your nose before you hyperventilate.”
“I’ll be all right.” Ellen’s breaths were short as she stared at the man that she’d only seen with his eyes closed. He looked different to her, she didn’t think his hair would be that gray for as young as he looked. “I’ll be all right, Juan.”
“Juan?” He smiled then placed his hand on her stomach. “You aren’t having any pains right? What are you five or six months along?”
“Almost nine.”
Dean stepped from the wall and rushed over to Ellen. “What’s wrong?” He saw the man’s hand on her and abruptly Dean removed it. “If you don’t mind.” He bodily moved number forty-three from her way. “El?” He placed his hands on her flush face. “What’s wrong?”
“Dean, I’m fine. I’m just hyperventilating.” She spoke with huffs. “The excitement.”
“Calm down.” He placed his face close to her. “Breath through your nose.”
Number forty-three stepped closer. “Sir, I am a doctor, if you’d like, I . . .”
“So am I!” Dean snapped still holding Ellen’s face. His eyes lifted when Frank stormed in. “Frank.”
Frank knew when he saw Ellen’s bouncing shoulders, that something was amiss. “El . . . Dean what happened to my wife?”
Ellen began to grow annoyed with the attention. She mustered up enough air to shout. “I’m fine! I . . . just . . . can’t . . . catch . . . my . . . breath.”
“Fuck.” Frank bent closer to Ellen. “I knew something was going to happen. “
Number forty-three tried to inject. “She’ll be all right. But sir, you’re wife should not have been in there in her condition.”
Frank nodded. “Who are you?”
“So
rry, I’m Doctor . . .”
“Juan.” Ellen lifted herself up to stand before Frank. “His name is . . .” With rolling eyes and a wobbly head, Ellen fell forward into Frank, and passed out.
^^^^
“All right Josh.” Joe tossed a box to him. “Help me pull his stuff out.” Joe began to unzip Chester’s duffel bag. “Not like you understand me, but we’re just gonna go through and pull out his viable stuff. You know, shit we can use in circulation in the community.” He turned his head to Josh who was opening the box. “Just take the stuff out.” Joe unloaded the duffel bag. “Good . . . good.” He tossed the underwear to the side and noticed that Josh had something. “What’s that you got?”
Josh held up the thick blue book.
“Let’s see.” Joe took it. “Fun with Bio-physics. By Chester Arnold Nelson.” He noticed Josh’s hand reach to it. “You want this?” He smiled and gave it to him. “All yours. Maybe you’ll get real smart and learn something. Be that Bio-physicist that the community desperately needs.”
Josh hugged the book and scooted off to a corner with it, forgetting about the chore Joe had given him to do. To him he had found a new toy.
Joe continued in his work less his helper. He made the mistake of giving the book to Josh. Now he was stuck finishing the minor detail on his own.
^^^^
She stood in the middle of the fields in her dream. Ellen’s hands spread outward, face feeling the warmth of the sun. It would have been the perfect dream had it of not had been for those pestering rain drops. Trickling on her face as she stared at the bright blue sky. Annoying would be the word. Ellen tried wiping them from her face and as she did she began to awaken. Her first vision standing above her in the well lit clinic was Frank. He held a glass of water in his hands. His huge hand dipping in the glass.
Frank noticed her eyes open before he splashed her again. “Hey Andrea! She’s awake now. El.” He set the water down.
Ellen lifted to a sitting position. “I can’t believe you were throwing water on me.” She ran her hand down her face.
“Andrea said to wake you up. And I figured since you fainted.” He leaned forward and kissed her. She didn’t respond. “What’s wrong?”
Ellen sat up. “How long was I out.”
“Andrea said to give you an hour then wake . . .”
“An hour!?” Ellen swung her legs off of the examining table. “I’m missing everything.”
“Hold it.” Frank stopped it. “You’re just gonna have to miss it. You passed out. You’re pregnant. You’ve been doing too much.”
“So what.” Ellen tried again to get off the table, but again Frank stopped her. “Frank.”
“No. El. Strict orders.” He laid his hands on her knees. “Andrea says no. Dean doesn’t need you there. He said so. You just go home and rest.”
Sideways went Ellen’s mouth in a pout before she let her head drop.
“El?”
She swayed her head slowly from side to side. “I worked so hard for this moment.”
“I know. But you can’t risk it. Home. O.K.?”
She nodded apprehensively, then sighed. “All right. It’s not like I’ll be doing anything. Just vital signs. I just . . . I just wanted to be there. I worked so hard. So . . . so hard.” She seeped forth a sniffle.
Frank whined quietly and tossed his head back. “Andrea will have a fit. All right. Let’s go. I’ll drive you.”
“Yes.” Ellen slid from the table and immediately hugged Frank. “You’re the best.”
“I’m also an asshole for letting you go up there with those people.” Frank laid his hands on her shoulders and brought her to the door. “But who can stop you?”
“You. You can. You can make me do anything.”
“El.” Frank halted in their walking. “I’m driving you. You could have stopped with the sniffle. Right now you’re laying it on too thick.”
“I mean every word, though.” Ellen started to walk again.
“Yeah, I bet.” Frank hooked his arm around her, tugged her to him, kissed her and led Ellen from the clinic.
^^^^
Ellen wasn’t expecting the make-shift hospital to look like it did when she entered. She had seen it empty, beds lined up and down the long building. But the beds were full, and it was eerie. It had been a long time since she saw that many patients at one time. Ellen knew she missed the excitement of bringing them in. The volunteers of the evening were on their way out when she walked in. She felt a little like she had failed, like she didn’t see it through. But she found comfort in the old saying ‘better late than never’. She wanted to walk through and see them all. The room was silent. Johnny and Dean were at bedsides doing blood work, Henry appeared to be trying to do vitals. Ellen supposed she could help there, that wouldn’t be too strenuous.
Three patients down, she made her way to Henry. “Hi.” She folded her hands behind her back looking over his shoulder. “Need help?”
“El.” He smiled. “How do you do this blood pressure thing? I’ve been making up the numbers on the charts, but now that you’re here.” He stepped back. “Hey, how do you feel?”
“I feel fine.” She took the blood pressure cuff and wrapped it around the sleeping patients arm. As she lifted the stethoscope, she noticed the bandages up and down the man’s forearm. “Henry what happened to him?”
“Oh.” Henry blushed. “I was trying to do an IV and every time I got the needle in there, Dean said it was wrong and I had to do it again.”
Ellen counted the sticks. “You poked him nine times?”
“I don’t know what I doing. I can fix almost anything. But this, this takes skill.”
Ellen tilted her head and smiled at him. “It doesn’t take skill Henry, it takes practice. And by the looks of this man’s arm, you’ve earned a degree.” She returned to doing the blood pressure. No sooner did she finish and stand up straight, Ellen felt the tap on her shoulder. She removed the stethoscope from her ears and turned around. “Dean?”
“Someone snuck in.” He laid his hand on her cheek. “You feel cool. How are you?”
“Fine. My feelings are hurt.” She blindly handed the equipment back to Henry. “I heard you didn’t need me.”
“Who me? I was worried about you. But never, never do I not need you.” Dean smiled.
Ellen smiled in return. “O.K., so, explain to me how we’re set up, since I slept through it all.”
“Allow me to give you the grand tour.” He placed his arm around her and walked slowly. “Fifty survived, as you know. Right now they are all zonked. I can’t say whether it’s my anti-serum, or a cryo-sleep. I’m betting it’s the after effects of cryo, because our number forty-three is out like a light. All of our patients as you knew, were in the moderate to severe stages of the plague. They are under control.” Dean stopped and faced her. “It was the first real test of our serum.” He smiled, giving a proud look. “And it worked.”
“So what now?”
“Now, immediately-now. A lot of blood work to do. Then I thought I would let Johnny and Henry leave and I was going to monitor these people for the next few hours before I turn the hospital over to our volunteers again.” He started to walk with her again, speaking softly as he did. “But, you showed up. Now you can hang around and monitor them with me. Henry brought a deck of cards. Wanna get a game of strip poker going while we monitor?”
Ellen paused and started to laugh. “Oh won’t I be the sight with this body if I lose?”
“I’ll tell you what. If you lose . . .” Dean nudged in to her. “You can owe me.”
^^^^
The streets in the living section in town were silent and empty as Dean walked with Ellen to her home. He clutched her bright green knapsack that Ellen used for books and notes, in his hands in front of him, and it bounced against his legs as he walked.
“Dean, you didn’t have to walk me home.”
“I needed to. I just want to unwind before I go to sleep, and walking helps.”
“It was long day.” She kept her pace slow with his. “We all did good didn’t we?”
“Yeah we did.” Dean chuckled. “For a bunch of people who were out of their league, we pulled this one off.”
“We drove you nuts though.”
“That you did. Almost as nuts as Frank does. And speaking of him . . .” Dean motioned his head forward.
Ellen glanced up and stopped walking. Frank was sitting on the step to the house. He stared down at the ground. “I guess this is goodnight.”
Dean handed her over her belongings. “You did good El, thanks for going out on the limb with us.”
“It’s what I had to do.” She clutched her bag. “It’s what I wanted to do.”
“Even though you made me want to pull out my hair during this all, I’m glad you were a part of it.” He stepped closer to her and lightly kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks.” He placed his hand on her face. “Have a good night. He-man awaits.”
“Goodnight Dean.” Ellen moved slowly to her house carrying he not-so-heavy bag. Frank didn’t look up at all, he kept his stare down. Ellen even wondered if perhaps he had fallen asleep like that. Just in case he did, she dropped her bag with a thump in front of him. “I’m home.” She sat down on the step next to him with a grunt. “Happy?” She ran her hand up and down his arched back.
“Extremely.” He turned his head to her smiling.
“So if we’re so happy, why are we moping on the step?”
“I was just giving a lot of thought to these new people . . . and no smart comment.” He felt her hand run down his arm to his hand, he gripped, he gripped it tight. “What’s going to happen, El? They wake up, what are they gonna want? What do they expect? These people, in a way I envy them for not having any memories of a dying world. But I also resent them for the same reason. Does that make any sense?”
“Wow.” Ellen shuddered. “Talk about deep thought. We have to wait and see, that’s all we can do. Actually I’m impressed with you, and I’m cold. Can we go in?”
The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series Page 98