The Ultimate Choice

by Lisa C Hinsley

  Cassie banged on the door again.

  “Use the release switch.” The woman laughed. Was this all a game to her? “I won’t make you die with me. Besides, I don’t think I have long.”

  Cassie saw a small button near the handle. “This?”

  “Press it and pull on the door. I’ve seen them do it.”

  Cassie pushed on the button and pulled on the door. Relief flooded through her as the door swung open. “Thank God.” She put a hand to her chest and took a deep breath. She peered out into the hallway. No one was there. Dan really had gone.

  Chapter 18

  Freedom looked too good. Cassie stood by the doorway breathing in the scent of the cleaner used on the corridor floor, ignoring Jessica as she banged on the glass partition. Those vials she was supposed to smash had the power to kill her in hours. To die in horrible pain, like that woman. With red tears and lungs filling with fluid, choking her. She’d run. Now, before Dan could check on her. She glanced up and down the hall. Maybe he’d heard someone approaching. Would they experiment with her if they caught her in the laboratory?

  “Listen to me!” came a cry from the adjoining room.

  Cassie turned for a second. Screw all of them. Maybe the world would be better with a few less citizens. “What!”

  “Please, don’t go.” Jessica had a hand on the glass, leaving a bloody handprint. She smeared it as her hand fell to her side. “I’m so tired. I don’t know how much longer I’ll last.”

  “That has nothing to do with me. I’m not going to risk my life for that lot. He’s left me here, again! He’s left me to die.” A sudden cry filled her throat, and tears brimmed. The emotion surprised her.

  “You’ve got to destroy the virus,” Jessica said. “Please, do it for me.” The woman fixed her with blood rimmed eyes.

  “No, I don’t have to do anything.” Cassie opened the door wider. “Hope your death comes soon,” she said.

  “Do it for me!” Jessica shouted.

  Cassie stopped.

  “Do it for your son. If not him, do it for mine. Do it for all the babies being born right now, all the illegal ones that will be carted away. And for all the mothers who will make the choice we had to. Do it because the government shouldn’t be the ones to decide when citizens die.” Jessica covered her mouth with a hand and collapsed out of sight to the floor. Cassie heard the woman retch.

  Was she right? Maybe if she was quick – threw the vials across the room and got out before they hit the ground, ran straight out of the building, all before the virus got in the air. She could do it. She could stick two fingers up at the government which stole her son, and sentenced her to death.

  Cassie marched across the room. She grabbed the vials off the desk and returned to the door. She held the rack carefully and triggered the lock release with one hand, opened the door and stuck one foot in the way, so the self closer wouldn’t seal her back inside.

  “Good luck, Jessica,” Cassie yelled out. The other woman hadn’t got up after throwing up. For all Cassie knew she’d died down there. She took a deep breath, as if that might save her from the disease, and lobbed the vials into the air. Before they hit the wall, Cassie had ducked out. She pulled the door closed with a slam. From inside she heard a distinctive shattering sound. “Time to go,” she muttered and sprinted off in the direction Dan had brought her.

  Dan had taken her in circles. She was convinced of this – his deliberate attempt to disorient her, she guessed so she might never escape the facility. If she went in only one direction, eventually logic dictated she’d have to get to an outside wall. And with that, would eventually reach an exit. She ran as fast as she could. In her imagination, the liquid in the vials had vaporised. Air from the room was leaking under the door, being sucked up into the air vents. How long before molecules reached her? If it was as infectious as Dan and Jessica said, would that be all that was needed? Was she already sick?

  She’d come up a t-junction. A moment’s consideration and she took the left. End of that, she took a right. How long? A clock ticked in her head. A deadly countdown she had to beat.

  Just as she thought she’d be lost in the maze of white corridors forever, she spied something different as she rounded a corner. There was a neon sign further down. She knew what that was. Excited, she picked up her pace and tore down the hall towards it. She got closer – it was exactly what she thought. A fire exit sign hung from the ceiling. It pointed to an inconspicuous door. Cassie rammed into it, turned the handle and burst out into the night. She fell onto the ground, all but kissing the tarmac as she tried to catch her breath. She wasn’t coughing yet. Perhaps, she’d managed to get away in time. She gave a silent prayer to the powers that be, and climbed back onto her feet and looked around to see where she was.

  This was not the entrance Dan had used to get them inside. There was no keypad entry to get back in and the door had already clicked closed once more. That suited Cassie just fine. She just needed to find the others. If Dan had been serious about finding her son, she’d stay. She’d proved her loyalty now. There could be no denying that. The exit had let out in an alley, probably to the side of the building. Which way? Left or right? If she wasn’t quick they’d be gone, if they hadn’t already. She chose left and bolted up the alley, her muscles aching from all the running.

  As she got to the top of the alley, something made her stop. Intuition, maybe she heard something. But nevertheless, she slowed, then stopped by the edge of the building and peeked out. One side of the street was dark and empty. She glanced in the other direction, and there they were. Dan and John were jogging across the street, looking both ways as they checked for policemen. The front entrance burst open and Liam and Dillon ran out of the building – they were only just leaving. They’d been inside longer than her. What if they’d caught the virus? She listened for the coughs that signalled the start, but none came. So far so good.

  Cassie was about to break cover when a thunderous thud-thud sound filled her ears. She pressed up against the wall. There was nothing else in the street, just the men. They hunched down. All of them were staring up at the sky. Cassie followed their line of sight. Something she’d never seen in real life was hovering between the buildings, flying down towards the men at an unbelievable speed. She covered her ears and stared, boggle eyed. There was a real helicopter about to land in the middle of the street. A mega-watt spotlight blinked on, covering the men in white light. She could see Dan hunkered down, pointing in one direction, then the other and shouting instructions at the group. Maybe the others didn’t understand, and he hurriedly used a basic sign language to make himself understood. The men suddenly split into pairs and bolted in opposite directions. Then Cassie heard a screeching sound. The helicopter flew straight up, the light flashing between the two groups of men. And from either end of the street, black vans screeched into view and accelerated towards them. Liam and John ran past the end of the alley Cassie hid in, but they weren’t going to get very far. Cassie slid right a step. No one had seen her yet. The van closest slammed on the breaks. Before it had even stopped, four men burst out of the back, each with a breathing apparatus strapped to their face. Two grabbed onto Liam, and the other two men rugby tackled John. They didn’t even have time to struggle or land a punch. The pair were already restrained and being pushed towards the back of the van. Cassie slid further away from the street.

  She’d never find the base by herself. They’d passed a different greenhouse on the way here. In her mind she thought she could picture the way back. Her original plan of living as a solitary illegal would have to be her fall back. Until she could work out where the warehouse was. She crossed her fingers that Dan had dropped the bag in the police raid. Maybe she’d get the map, and then find her way back.

  She slid further into the alley. She couldn’t see anything now, and even the din of the helicopter softened.

  Cassie almost screamed as something sharp was jammed into the small of her back.

  “That’s a tas
er you feel, miss,” a man behind her said. His voice was slightly muffled. No doubt he had one of those breathing head gears over his face. Was she infectious? Maybe Jessica had fallen ill very quickly – faster than most. What if her own symptoms were yet to come? “That way, miss.” And he pushed her out of the alley.

  There was a sensation of falling inside her. This was it. Virus or taser. Interrogation then execution. Whichever order it came, the outcome was all the same. She was about to die.

  Cassie was thrown in the back of one of the vans. All four of the men were already there, sat on thin benches against opposite sides of the vehicle. They all looked over as the doors slammed behind her, and before she had a chance to sit, the van screeched off down the street. Knocked off her feet, Cassie fell against the doors and crumpled to the floor. None of them reached out to help her. She grabbed the bench nearest and hauled herself onto it, while the van weaved and thudded over the road as if trying to buck her back onto the floor.

  A small cough escaped her.

  “Get the fuck away from us!” John shouted. He slid all the way along, until he was sat at the driver’s end of the vehicle. Liam and Dan also pushed back on the other side. Dillon didn’t move, just stared at her as if she was an alien or something.

  Cassie let out another small cough. Then she covered her mouth as a spasm took her. She hacked for a few seconds before she could stop. She looked up at the men. “I’m so sorry.”

  John banged against the side of the van. “Let us out!”

  Dan joined him, hammering his fist behind where the driver would be sat. Dillon just stared at her, frozen to the spot. Liam pressed up against the side of the vehicle, as if trying to disappear into the walls of the van.

  “Let us the fuck out. She’s infected!” John screamed.

  “Get us out!” Dan thumped on the metal.

  Dillon kept staring. He wasn’t even blinking.

  Cassie coughed again. “I’m not infected,” she said as she caught her breath. “It’s just a bit of a cold.” She put a hand to her stomach. “Oh God. I think I’m going to be sick.”

  Dillon snapped back to life and jumped up off the bench and leapt over to the opposite end of the van, Liam moments behind. John and Dan gave up shouting for help and slamming their fists on the partition. All four watched her, waiting for her to vomit, for her to do something.

  Cassie slid down the bench towards them. “I feel so cold. Will one of you sit next to me and help warm me up?” She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.

  The men gave her as big a berth as they could in the cramped van, and fled to the other end. John started hammering on the doors. Maybe he thought they’d spring open and they’d be free.

  “If I’m infected, then so are you now,” she said. “If you manage to open the doors, how many millions will you end up killing?” She slid back down to the rear of the van where the others gathered. “You’re all hypocrites. All your big talk about people’s right to life, and you’re poised, ready to spread this virus.” They backed away as she leaned towards them. “And I’m not even ill.”

  John sat down with a thump. Dillon collapsed onto the floor, his face white.

  “The door was closed before the vials hit the ground. I’ve been faking.”

  “You bitch.” Dan lashed out and slapped her hard. Cassie’s head snapped to the side, the side of her face suddenly burning.

  “Me?” Cassie screamed back. “How could you abandon me like that?”

  Dan turned and sat at the other end of the van.

  “You left me there to die!”

  Dan shrugged. “You’re not one of mine. Besides you’d be dead already if it wasn’t for me. I gave you extra hours. I gave you a bit of excitement for your life. A purpose. A way to go out benefiting your fellow citizens.”

  “Oh my God, I just figured out your plan!” Cassie jumped up and faced him. “I was to be a sacrifice, that’s the only reason you all let me stay, isn’t it!” She looked around the van. Liam and Dillon were staring at the floor, their expressions guilty. She tried to square up to Dan.

  “Survival of the fittest,” Dan said finally. “What else are we supposed to do?”

  “I don’t know,” she shouted. “But have you ever thought that maybe the government knew what they were up to breeding that virus of theirs? You lot don’t get rations, but I can tell you they’ve reduced significantly over the last year.” Cassie shook her head. “Maybe destroying the virus was the worst thing we could have done.”

  “Are you that naïve?” Dan said. “Don’t you walk around with your eyes open? Don’t you see what this government is up to?”

  “Go on then, Dan. Tell me what they’re up to. I’m curious.” Cassie crossed her arms and glared at him. All these theories, suppositions, always forced to do whatever Dan ordered. But her anger boiled down to one fact, just how little he cared for her life.

  But it was John that spoke first. “You’ve heard of rave?”

  “Of course I’ve bloody heard of rave. Everyone’s heard of rave.”

  “It’s a government led programme.”

  Liam nodded. A little colour had come back to Dillon’s cheeks. He nodded as well.

  “It’s a way of culling the masses. That’s what they do. Search out the weak and eliminate them.” John sighed. “Why do you think the secret police are supposedly so good at everything they do…” he bashed the side of the van, “but they never seem able to get rid of the rave dens? Everything except rave? It’s because they make it!”

  “Probably somewhere in that lab we were just in,” Liam said quietly.

  “It’s not true!” Cassie shook her head.

  “Bloody hell, woman. Don’t you know anything?” Dillon looked almost a normal colour again.

  “But I still can’t accept why you left me there. I thought you all believed in the right to life – that’s what Elizabetta told me, one life for all, don’t I count with that? Or should I turn myself in for recycling?”

  Dan sat silently.

  “Well, do I have rights? Do I?”

  Liam snorted. “What about the rights of Georgie, and Hannah and Charlie?”

  Cassie sighed in frustration. “Enough!” she shouted. “Stop making me feel guilty for that. I didn’t know you were in there.” She intonated the next words carefully. “It was an accident. That’s different to what you’re suggesting, it’s completely different!”

  The helter-skelter speeds the van had been travelling at suddenly started to slow. Small heavily tinted windows in the sides of the van darkened further, it seemed as if they’d pulled inside somewhere.

  Dan got up off the bench and walked over to the doors. He went into a crouch. “Come on lads. Let’s teach them about training.”

  Cassie shrank back to the other end of the van as the men gathered by the doors.

  “Looks like we’ve stopped,” Dan said. “Time to boogie.”

  But the doors didn’t open. A clunk came from above as vents opened on the roof of the van, making them all jump. Almost immediately, Cassie heard hissing.

  “What the hell is that?” John yelled. He backed away from the vents nearest. Where did he think he was going to go?

  A strange scent filled the air, almost aromatic. Cassie’s head wobbled ever so slightly on her neck. Their situation didn’t seem so bad anymore. Maybe everything would be okay. She cracked a smile and reached out for Liam. “Come sit with me.” Wide-eye and grinning like a mad person he ogled her. She patted the bench beside her.

  Liam stood up and staggered over to her. He giggled. “My legs are all wobbly.” He plonked down on the seat and leaned against her.

  “Get up on the benches,” Dan ordered as he climbed up. “The gas is heavy, I can see it settling on the floor. The air up here will be cleaner.”

  John got up, as did Dillon. But Liam and Cassie stared up at them and tried not to laugh.

  “You’ve very tall now,” she said. “Not that you weren’t tall before.” She turned
to Liam. “Aren’t they tall?” She motioned with her hand. “All the way up there. Look!” She pointed. “John can’t even straighten his neck.” She let out a peal of laughter.

  “And Dillon’s about to come crashing down.” Liam nudged her. “Or will it be John. You want to make a bet on which one’s first?”

  Cassie looked over. Dillon was wobbling. He swayed one way and then the other.

  “Too late!” Liam said as Dillon tumbled down to the floor. “And there go the other two.”

  Cassie giggled as John and Dan lost control of their legs and fell off the bench. Death by laughing gas, she could die that way, a smile on her face. She clung onto Liam’s arm and stared at the doors. They’d probably be bursting in any minute now, she thought.

  As if on cue, the back doors swung open. She expected a full assault from security, dozens of them, all shouting, tasers up and ready to fire. But no one ran in. Cassie leaned forward and tried to focus on whatever was outside the van. They were somewhere very dark. Lights snapped on and blasted into her eyes.

  “Oh God. I’ve gone blind now.” Cassie shaded her face with one hand and squinted out of the van again. Her mind was doing loopedy-loops. She had to straighten her thoughts out. This was their doing. Her ideas were scattered, like she couldn’t make connections. What was two plus two? A giggle escaped her lips. Not the time, she chastised herself. She had to take control before worse happened. But then the man in the white balloon suit appeared. His breaths wheezed in and out of a respirator. It’s a monster, she thought, and giggled again. He stepped closer, the light shining all around him.

  “Oh my God. Look at that!” Liam said. “A white bogey man’s coming to get us.” He started laughing.

  The balloon man climbed into the van and grabbed John, who was still collapsed in a heap on the floor, and nearest the exit. John got on his feet with help, a dopey smile on his face. “Bogey man got me!” he shouted back, “Don’t wait up for me!” And then he was gone.