“Nila, shut that off.”
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz,
“Fine.” I rolled to my right and a pain shot right through me. I wanted to curse him out for hurting me, but I was too tired. I reached out and shut off the alarm.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
It was my hand swinging at air that caused me to open my eyes.
The light in the room was dimmer. A strobe of red flashing lights blinked steadily in time with the warning buzz.
Reality crossed into my dream. It was an alarm alright, but not the kind that rested on my nightstand.
Something was happening. Was it a fire?
I tried to sit up in bed with a painful stiffness, but as soon as I did, the room spun and blurred out of focus.
Try, Nila, try to see, I told myself.
It was hard. My eyes didn’t want to stay open, even though I felt awake. I was conscious and aware, yet my body was too sluggish and felt like it weighed ten times more.
“Hello?” I called out for the nurse. “Hello.”
I squinted to see across the room. No one was there.
Immediately, I was hit with an overwhelming and brief sensation of panic. I hated it. It had been a long time since I had felt vulnerable and scared—I was still drugged and half naked.
I could think of a better state to be in.
It was an entire audio and visual experience.
The blaring alarm, the flashing red light.
Voices shouted out in the distance.
“Not here. Did you see?”
“No, check down there.”
Gunfire. One pop, two.
“Where? Tell me now!”
I jolted and brought my legs over the side of the bed. I was hooked to an IV and I knew that would hinder my movements. I looked down to my arm and couldn’t see enough. My fingers probed for the painful spot on my wrist just below my thumb. I could feel the shunt in my skin, taped there.
I cringed as I pulled it out.
I felt the blood roll down my hand, but I couldn’t worry about that, I had to get out. Something had happened. Had I been forgotten?
Sliding from the bed, my feet set on the floor and my legs wobbled. I took a step and the floor felt as if it tilted upward.
Everything spun, the walls, the furnishings.
I inched forward, the voices still in the distance, running footsteps, more gunfire. Cooler air hit my back.
It was like walking in a bad drugged or drunk state. I had to focus, find something solid with a line, like a door. I spotted the one at the far end of the room. It was open. I walked that way wanting to get to a wall to hold on for support. Just as I neared the door, I came close to losing my balance when my foot stepped in something thick and wet and I slid forward. It squished like jam under my toes and a sick feeling hit my gut.
I didn’t need to look to know what it was. But I did anyway.
I saw the legs, a woman’s, encircled by a huge pool of blood.
There was either a madman running around or an infected.
I don’t know how it didn’t get me. Maybe my sleeping and being motionless saved me.
Immediately I was hit with a surge of adrenaline. I wanted badly to be sober, to be normal, and yet my mind was the only thing that was clear. Physically, I couldn’t move fast or see well enough to charge forward and run for my life.
The hallway outside the door was in plain sight and I made my way there.
Mixing with the red flashing lights were bright strobes from the fire alarm system, giving the hall an eerie appearance.
The corridor looked so long. It titled to the right and rippled some. At the end of the hall I could see people running.
Get there, I thought. Make it there.
I staggered down the hall and made it only about ten feet when I saw the three figures at the end.
Hospital workers.
They stood there, arms slightly outward almost hesitant to come my way.
I waved to them. I wanted them to know I wasn’t one of the infected. “Hey!” I called out, my voice cracking. “Help. I can’t walk.”
My voice caught their attention and I realized they weren’t hospital workers.
“Oh, shit.” I backed up. I didn’t want to take my eyes from them, but I couldn’t move fast enough. Hell, it didn’t matter what way I moved backwards or forward, there was no way I was going to be able to outrun them.
A few more steps, I pivoted my body to turn and just as I did, an arm swung around my waist, latched on tight and lifted me.
For a split second I believed I was in the grip of another infected. As my fist pummeled and legs kicked, I saw through the corner of my eye his arm extended, and he fired a gun.
I knew instantly when two shots landed in the chest of the infected before narrowly hitting the head, it could only be one person that had me…Lev.
My body relaxed. He fired at the other two just before he dodged us back into my room and slammed the door. “You okay?” he asked, slightly out of breath as he felt the door. “Damn, there are no locks.” He placed his weight upon in. “I think we’ll be fine.”
The door banged and jolted.
“I think you missed,” I said.
“You think?” Lev looked at me and smiled, then tilted his head back to peek through the tiny window. An infected snarled and bit at the window. “Yeah, I missed.”
I looked at Lev having never felt so happy to see my friend. He generally looked in a good mood, despite the circumstance. Then it could also have been my medicated state. I felt loopy and dizzy.
“Thank you. You saved my life.” I spoke in a whisper.
“You’re welcome.”
His body bounced as the infected slammed into the door.
“Here I’ll help you.” I leaned against the door.
“Yes, that will do it. Thank you.”
“Wanna hear something funny?” I asked. “There’s a dead body in here.”
“That’s funny?”
“It is when you think about how I was in here too and it didn’t get me.”
“No, Nila, that’s not funny, that’s scary.”
I gasped.
“What?”
“It’s not scary.” My eyes focused on the body. “It’s Clare. Aw, I liked her.” I took a step forward and teetered.
Lev grabbed on to me and pulled me back. “Just stay put.”
“I’m having a hard time walking. I guess we aren’t making a run for it.”
“We’ll just wait. It won’t be long. The soldiers are out there.” Lev shook his head. “They’ll get them.” Again, he tilted back to look. When he did, the infected was still there at the window, and then with a blood splatter, he was gone. “See.”
It was a strange rotation of feelings I went through. Scared, worried, hyper then calm. I felt calm with Lev. Then again, it could have been the anesthesia.
Whatever the case with me physically, mentally I was in my right mind and I knew the night hadn’t just ended differently than we thought it would, the night and the events of it had undoubtedly changed everything.
TWENTY-THREE
TIME
June 14
In theory, Project Justin was an amazing concept. Be proactive the second an event occurs to secure five cities, reinforce the supplies and prepare for the long term, protect those at all cost, then lock it down.
In application, they had made mistakes. I don’t think they’d foreseen them. Actually, anyone on the outside could not have foreseen what needed to be done.
They had spread themselves thin, operating two, three, sometimes four safe zones per city. And in between were veins of existence that had allowed the infected to slip through.
They weren’t expecting breeches, but they should have. Nothing is impenetrable. Especially something as invisible as an airborne virus. One person, one sick person afraid to leave their home could trigger a deadly chain reaction.
If I were running things, I think the colonies would be different. Then
again, not once did any of us ask who was running things. Who was in charge of the big picture?
Eventually the Colonies would fall, all of them. Not because the invasion would be far too much to handle, but because they would give up far too easily. At least, that is what I got from Sean.
He and his team were first on hand at the medical center. The infected from the sick ward had broken free when they turned unexpectedly.
Lev happened to be walking in the building. His priority was to find me. Especially when he learned the infected were on my floor.
Not long after Lev brought us back to the room, the power was restored, alarms stopped, and all was clear.
He immediately took me back to the apartment. He didn’t wait for them to clean my bloody arm, or even get dressed. He reasoned that Ben was a doctor and he was all we needed. Lev draped a blanket over me, grabbed my clothes in the bag, and off we went.
He carried me until Sean offered to drive us. That was a good thing—not only was I still drugged, my legs didn’t want to work.
I slept well that night but woke up extremely dehydrated with a headache that eventually went away with water. I didn’t have the pain everyone said I would have. My hips ached a little, but it was more of an annoyance and nothing I couldn’t handle.
When I made my way into the living room after showering, they were already having an afternoon pow wow.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Lev turned to me. “I want us to go. After yesterday that is our best option.”
“They want me to stay for five days.”
“I’m a doctor, Nila,” Ben said. “I can watch you.”
“Okay.” My eyes shifted to Fleck. “This isn’t what you want, is it?”
“I don’t want to leave Chandy,” Fleck replied.
“Then don’t. See if she wants to come with us,” I suggested. “We’ll find a second vehicle. There are fueling stops on the way to Cobb, we’ll be fine.”
A knock at the door broke up the conversation and Ben walked over to answer it.
Sean stepped in immediately apologizing for the visit. The moment he asked where the kids were and seemed relieved they were in the other room, I knew something was up.
“When do you guys plan on leaving?” he asked.
“We were just discussing that,” said Lev. “Soon.”
“I think maybe you should go tomorrow.”
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Medical moved out,” Sean asked. “Not the entire hospital, just the research and everything they are working on. Airlifted to another Colony just twenty minutes ago.”
“Is it because of the breach yesterday?” Ben questioned.
Sean shook his head. “No, it’s more. Something like this is indictive of an evacuation. It will probably start in three days. Blue and green first, then the rest. You don’t want to be here for that. Eight thousand people, and a full evacuation has never been done. Not a planned evacuation. The only other evacuation was at the Colony that fell, and that didn’t go well. So, for your safety, I’d leave tomorrow. Ask for a transport to receiving. You’ll see a row of military vehicles, Humvees and stuff. They are fueled plus twenty gallons on the roof.”
“Jesus,” Ben said. “What about you?”
“I’m already on duty tonight in residential. They’re moving them into the main area until it’s deemed safe.”
“Infected?” I questioned. “We know they’re out there.”
“They’re massing. Plus, we have reason to believe there may be infected in the early stages in town. We can’t confirm because no one will give up their identity.”
“Well, yeah,” Lev commented. “You shoot them before you give them a chance. A man named Corbin who was with us was infected. He got sick but he got better.”
“I thought you scanned people,” Fleck said.
“We do. But when you catch the virus, it’s different than getting it through a bite. And yes, the scan picks up the infection in the veins before the infected has symptoms. There is also a day or two that they have it where the scan won’t know.”
“Slips right in,” I said.
“Exactly. Just…I’m just giving you the heads-up. You’re leaving anyhow, right?” Sean said. “It would be safer for you to leave before the evacuation. If there is one.”
“We appreciate it.” Lev extended his hand and shook Sean’s. “If you’re ever in the area of Cobb Corner, you find us. We’d love to have you.”
“I may take you up on that. Good luck to you.” Sean then looked at me. “And Nila, you keep shooting. It’s no wonder your group is safe.”
Fleck followed him to the door and closed it. “I resent that.”
“We all do our part,” Ben said. “No need to feel slighted because he has a thing for Nila.”
“True,” Fleck said. “Speaking of which. I’m heading over to see Chandy. Take her for a walk.”
“Be careful,” Ben told him.
“I will.”
“So it’s settled?” I asked after Fleck left. “We leave in the morning?”
“First thing,” Ben replied. “You rest. It’s gonna be a long trip.”
I didn’t feel like resting or sleeping. Not yet. I’d take my mind off of things by playing a game with the kids. There were board games in the apartment.
I was relieved that we were leaving. While I wasn’t sold on Cobb Corner, it was a destination and it wasn’t The Colony.
<><><><>
I originally had no plans to go to sleep, a part of me was too anxious. We packed up everything we had, which wasn’t much, and placed it by the door. Sean didn’t really explain what ‘transport to receiving’ meant; I supposed we’d find out in the morning.
I ended up retreating to the bedroom early. After putting the board game away, I found a box of books and pulled out a murder mystery. I was terrible at reading those types of books, always wanting to jump to the end.
I felt like I was invading someone’s home in that apartment. I wondered who had lived there, what they were like. Because of the interior and the way the place was decorated, I thought maybe they were elderly. But the steps were steep and there wasn’t an elevator.
That cozy, murder mystery deflected my plans of staying awake. I started to yawn and felt tired. After placing down the book on the bed, I stood to take off my jeans.
Lev knocked once on the door. “You decent?”
“It’s a matter of opinion.”
Lev came in. “I brought you a nightcap, since Ben doesn’t want you medicated anymore.” He showed me the bottle. Looped between his fingers were too mugs.
“Oh, awesome, thanks. Join me.”
“Sure.”
I patted the end of the bed for him to sit.
He extended his hand for me to take one of the mugs. I did.
His eyes shifted. “Were you reading?”
“Yeah, it’s a mystery.”
“Nila, you’re terrible at those.”
“I know. It has taken everything I am not to skip to the end.”
“Good.”
“Speaking of which.” I reached and grabbed the book, flipping to the end. It took a few seconds of scanning, but I found it. “I knew it.”
“Nila.” Lev shook his head and poured me a small amount of whiskey. “So I interrupted your reading.”
“Actually, I was just getting ready to undress for bed. Try to sleep a couple hours.”
“That’s a good idea. We all should. Kids are camping on the living-room floor. I thought I’d sleep on the couch so they know I’m there.”
“Ben and Fleck?”
“Ben’s asleep. Fleck isn’t home.”
“I figured as much. You usually leave the door open, and when we talk, Fleck makes comments. Do you think he’s okay?”
“Fleck? Yeah, I think so. He’s with his girl.”
I snickered.
“What’s so funny?”
“His girl,” I mocked. “He’s known her f
or like five seconds.”
“You cannot make fun. Sometimes you just know. You know?”
“I don’t know. I guess.” I shrugged. “Are you alright? You seem off.”
“Just everything. Leaving and going to Cobb when we’re so much closer to the cabin. I just…I want to go home, Nila. Our home. But we made a deal, a promise. So we go to Cobb Corner.”
“I’d break that deal, Lev,” I told him, “if it wasn’t for Katie. The world sucks as it is. She needs more than just you and I.”
Lev nodded, then finished his drink. “You’re right. And I should let you get dressed for bed.”
“I could do that in the room now, you know. After the little rescue you pulled…” I poured him a splash more. “You’ve seen me naked.”
“Not really. Only from behind.”
“No full-frontal nudity.”
“Not yet.” Lev winked.
“Awfully presumptuous of you.”
“Well…”
“Oh my goodness, you’re joking.”
“I joke.”
“No you don’t.”
“Okay, I don’t. Not really. But in all seriousness,” Lev said. “Despite the jokes, it’s really you and me. It ends up you and me. And…I like that. I hope that one day, we will reach a point where you don’t worry about awkwardness or me lying there fretting performance issues.”
I blurted a laugh. “You joked again.”
“I did.” He finished his drink. “I have loved you my entire life. No matter who came or who went I have always loved you.”
“I have always loved you too, Lev.”
“Not the same way.”
“Yeah, I kind of think in the same way. If there is such a thing as a soul mate, you my big friend are it.” I downed the remainder of my beverage, and as I brought my mug down, Lev took it, setting it on the floor never taking his eyes from me. He brought his hand up to the side of my face, brushing his fingers down my cheek as he moved in…and stopped.
He just stopped.
“Are you…are you trying to kiss me?” I asked.
He closed his eyes tightly in a wince.
“Wait. Wait. You’re doing that Hitch movie rule thing. Ninety ten. You go in ninety percent and wait for…”
“You know what?” Lev stood. “Don’t worry about it.”
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