by RJ Crayton
“You tried,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
She eyed his hand and smiled. “So, no more hostility toward me?”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t say that. There are more important things to think about. Like how to get out of here.”
“Not until I get a chance to get in the lab again. I’m supposed to go back tomorrow.”
He bit his lip and watched her. “And how long will you need to work on it?”
“It could be quicker than we thought. The information I got earlier, about Kingston’s fix was helpful. I could have something in a week. If everything goes perfectly.”
He nodded. That was a big if, but he’d try not to dwell on the uncertainty of the timeline. “And Dad? Have you been in contact with him again?”
She shook her head. “Not recently. I don’t want to risk rocking the boat yet. I’ll try a little later this week. I have to have faith your sister is alright.”
“I’m sure she is,” he said, trying to look confident, even though he didn’t feel it.
“Do you know how to get out of the facility?” he asked. “I mean without being detected?”
She frowned. “No idea,” she said. “We were blindfolded coming in, and he’s not shown me any plans. Part of the reason I think he wanted Josh gone was he knew he had a photographic memory and had seen the layout of this facility.”
“I wish he’d have shared it with me,” Lijah said, folding his arms.
“Natalie may be able to help us,” she said, eying him. “You two have been spending time together.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yes, but she knows I’m not interested.”
Her brow creased. “And she’s still friendly?” He nodded. “I guess I misread her intentions. Sorry.”
He wouldn’t dare admit to his mother that she’d been right. “Yeah, she’s nice, and I think she might be willing to help us, with the right prodding.”
His mother raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”
“I’ll explain,” Lijah said, taking his mother over to the sofa so he could offer up his theory.
Chapter 30 - Elaan
Getting used to life at the facility had been pretty easy. The people, though a little overzealous in their rules, seemed to be nice. If she weren’t there against her will, or if she knew she could come and go as she pleased, Elaan might actually like it here. The classes weren’t that different from school.
They had mandatory church attendance — apparently on Wednesday night and Sunday afternoon — though Elaan had only been to Sunday afternoon. Elaan was fine with going to service, though she wondered if everyone was. There was a girl named Fatima who seemed particularly unhappy when they headed back to the dorms, but who always smiled big during the service, as if she knew she were being watched.
It was another reason to suspect that even though the immunes here generally seemed happy, this wasn’t some wonderful refuge, as the handbook would have you believe.
Elaan’s roommate, Ki, had turned out to be pretty nice. She’d been a bit aloof at first, but in the past few days, Ki had warmed to Elaan. Based on the average day-to-day stuff, Elaan could see why the people here seemed to like it. It was so much more normal than anything she’d experienced since the virus hit. People walking around laughing, smiling, being happy. When she was enjoying the outside autumn leaves or chatting with one of her new dorm mates about something silly, she almost wondered why she wanted to leave.
That is, until she was summoned from her history class for a lab visit. Not just her. Elaan and two girls and three boys. Ki wasn’t among them. In today’s group were Layla, Janet, Mike, Rick, and Stephen. The six of them were led away by Captain Stedman. He took them back to the lab building she’d visited the other day, but this time, instead of going up, they went down one level. The room he left them in looked like a doctor’s waiting room. A reception window with a smiling woman behind it was directly across from the door. Several chairs lined the perimeter and occasionally were separated by little tables. Elaan was used to seeing magazines in doctor’s offices, but here they had comic books set on the tables. She guessed there weren’t any magazines still being printed with regularity, so they’d opted for something less time-sensitive.
The kids all fanned out into their own chairs, with Elaan sitting next to Janet, who she knew the best of the girls. Not that she knew any of them really well, but she’d heard Janet speak a few times in class and thought she said interesting things. As she looked around the room, she realized most of the kids with her weren’t technically kids. They were all older than her, she thought. Janet, for sure, had mentioned being a junior at the University of Vermont when the pandemics hit.
Janet picked up a comic book and started to flip through it. Elaan leaned in and said, “So, what do we do here?”
Janet shrugged, her strawberry blond locks waggling slightly as she did. “Usually, we give blood samples, and sometimes they give us vitamin injections. Other than that, not much happens.”
Elaan nodded and tried to look neutral, but she felt apprehensive, still. She didn’t trust the people here, so the idea that they were injecting them with something they claimed were vitamins didn’t sit right with her. “What do they do with our blood?”
Janet gave her a look of annoyance. “Umm, I don’t know,” she said. “I assume they analyze it. Look for a cure.” Janet, still clutching her comic in one hand, reached to the little table, found a second comic, and handed it to Elaan.
Not so subtle. Elaan took it, as it was clear the conversation was over. After a few minutes of reading, the receptionist called over two of the students in the waiting room, Janet and Mike. A back door opened, and a man in a lab coat invited them into the facility.
Elaan read some more, and then two more names were called, another pair. Finally, the receptionist called out Stephen. Elaan closed her comic, presuming she’d hear her name. Only she didn’t. Stephen stared a moment, first at the receptionist, then at Elaan. But no additional names were spoken. The lab-coated man sent to escort Stephen to the back urged him on.
Elaan sat there, feeling awkward. After a moment, she stood and walked over to the receptionist. A badge dangling from a lanyard around her neck said her name was Mindy Franco. “Ms. Franco,” she said. “Why wasn’t I called?”
The woman smiled up at her and said, “You’re going to be next, dear.” She looked at the computer screen in front of her. Elaan couldn’t see what it said, but the woman looked back at her. “Looks like you’re new here, and you’ve got some issues that require a different protocol. But don’t worry, they’ll explain it all when they call you back.”
Despite the woman’s cheery tone and confidence, Elaan didn’t feel reassured. She sat and waited longer. After another fifteen minutes, the receptionist called her name. The door to the back opened, and out popped a young man in a lab coat. “Elaan,” he said. “Come with me.”
Elaan drew in a breath, bracing herself for what was to come. She followed him back through the halls of the building into a room that seemed like an ordinary doctor’s office. It had a table for patients to sit on, one of those cool rolly stools that the doctor sat on, and a sink and counter. The counter had a jar of tongue depressors, tissues, and other doctorly stuff.
“My name is Dr. Thomas Allen,” the man said. He seemed on the younger side, about average height, with chestnut brown hair, an average build, but a friendly smile. “I actually took a few classes from your mother at Georgetown. She was one of my favorite professors.”
Elaan nodded. That was interesting.
“I was sorry to hear from your father that she had died. She was a good woman.”
“Thanks,” Elaan murmured.
“Your father asked me to take extra special care of you today, so I intend to do that.”
Elaan perked up at that. “You saw my father?”
“Yep, we’ve worked together here, since he arrived.”
He seemed rather matter-of-fact, so she coul
dn’t tell exactly if this was meant to be a good thing. Though the fact that he was mentioning it was surely a sign he wanted her to know. He had turned his back to her to wash his hands and put on latex gloves. “So, I just have to draw a couple of vials of blood and then you’ll get a vitamin injection.”
“What’s in the vitamins?”
He smiled. “The usual. Just what you’d find in a daily multivitamin, but a bit more potent. A nice boost that keeps you healthy, especially as we approach the winter months.”
He found the supplies he needed, and within minutes, he’d drawn three vials of blood. “Not so bad, huh?”
She shrugged.
He grabbed her arm again and this time told her to turn just a bit so he could get a better angle. Then he took a syringe to her upper arm. “This may pinch just a bit,” he said. She watched as he put the needle just to the side of her arm and depressed the plunger. The liquid squirted out onto the thin white paper on the table. Her eyes widened a little bit, but she didn’t say anything.
“Well,” he said with a smile. “That’s about it. I think your father said he was going to try to stop by and see you tonight.”
She nodded and stood. She knew two things at least. One, whatever the hell was in that vitamin shot wasn’t just vitamins, and two, this doctor had positioned her awkwardly, so there had to be cameras in here.
“Just to make sure there are no adverse effects,” the doctor said, “I’ll walk you to the waiting room, and you can sit there for about half an hour.”
She frowned. She wanted out of this place, but she supposed she’d have to act like she’d been given the injection. She went into the waiting room, where one of the boys she’d come with was sitting. Stephen smiled at her and patted the seat next to him.
Umm. No. She sat across the room from him and picked up a comic. Archie. She was reading it when she noticed Stephen walk across the room and sit next to her. He was tall, with olive skin and black hair. He wore glasses and was average, in terms of looks. Not ugly, but nothing show-stopping, either.
“Hi,” he said. “I’m Stephen.”
“Elaan,” she said, and looked back at her comic.
“I don’t think we’ve talked before,” he said. “Where are you from?”
Elaan tried to keep the conversation short and after a couple more questions, told him she’d really prefer to read, instead. He seemed a little miffed but finally backed off. After about a half an hour, they were walked back to their dorms.
* * *
The day seemed to move quickly after her visit to the doctor. There was somewhat of a buzz about the girls’ dormitory as people looked forward to their mingle evening. While there were guys on campus and you could see them, their schedule kept them fairly separated. Elaan had seen Josh at a distance a couple of times and waved. But beyond her first encounter with him, the one Kingston had arranged, she’d not been alone with him. Not that they could have a real, honest conversation during that time, anyway. Everyplace seemed to be monitored around here.
After dinner, everyone was taken over to the mingle building, Thoreaux Hall. Elaan was about to file inside with the rest of the ladies when Ms. Pace pulled her aside. “You’re needed in the lab, dear, unfortunately,” she said.
Elaan wasn’t sure if she should feign surprise or not. The doctor had said her father would see her tonight. She supposed this was him doing that. She raised an eyebrow, figuring that was reaction enough, but stood aside as the rest of the people went into the hall. After a moment, a soldier came and escorted Elaan to the lab building.
She didn’t like the subtle message that they weren’t free to go on their own. What was the purpose of a fence if you had to be escorted everywhere?
At the lab, she was ushered into a small office, where her father sat behind a desk. “Thank you,” he said to the soldier, who nodded and left.
With him gone, Elaan walked over to her father’s desk and opened her mouth to speak. He shook his head. “How are you, dear?”
She took his hint and kept her chatter light. “I’m good. Just getting used to things, here.”
He nodded. “Well, I thought it might be nice to take a walk, get some night air. Ever since we left the SPU, I’ve taken every opportunity I could to enjoy the crisp real air.”
Elaan agreed and then followed him out of the building. It was chilly outside, and she was glad she hadn’t removed her jacket. Her father held out the crook of his arm for her and she took it. They walked away from the building, through the neatly cut grass and down a hill. After a few minutes her father spoke. “How are you really?”
“Fine,” she said. “Except I had a weird doctor’s appointment today. They took blood, and some guy who said he was a friend of Mom’s pretended to give me a vitamin shot.”
Her father didn’t break stride, but he pulled her closer. “He didn’t give it to you, right?”
“No,” she said, turning to see his face, which was a mask of worry. “What was in it?”
“Vitamins,” he said. “And pheromones. Ones to make you more receptive to others who’ve also been given them. People resist being mated with those they don’t like, but Thoreaux wants genetic diversity. So, what you do is you take the couples you want and then you drug them so they’re attracted to each other. It feels to them like they’ve come up with the coupling on their own.”
Elaan stopped walking, but her father tugged her on.
“It will look suspicious if we suddenly stop,” he said. “There’s a pond not far. We can stop there and it will look natural.”
“There’s no one here watching us. And it’s fairly dark,” she said. There were some lights at various points along the way, but they were pretty spaced out. It had been a fairly dark journey so far. If her father hadn’t known where he was going, she would’ve been lost.
“There are always people watching here. The key is whether they’re able to listen, too,” he said, his voice soft.
“So, I’m supposed to get the drugs and want to mate with Josh?” she asked.
Her father now paused and looked at her, but then remembered himself and started walking again. “Who told you that?”
“Josh. The first night I came. He said you arranged it.”
Her father laughed sardonically. “I tried, but Kingston has been working against me. He’s suggested different pairings. Right now, Josh is linked to a girl named Alice.”
Elaan pulled away, stopping. She didn’t care what he said about being watched. “What are you talking about? Who is Alice?”
Her father lightly took hold of her arm, smiled and said loudly, “The pond is just a little bit further. You’re so melodramatic, as if walking a bit more will kill you.”
The ruse seemed ridiculous, but she straightened up her face, which she was sure was a ball of anger, and walked with her father. “Josh is doing what?” she asked again.
“According to the data, you and Josh are a decent match, but so are you and Steve. Josh is also a good match with Alice. So, Kingston went in and overrode the recommendation that you be with Josh, and instead, you’re with Steve, since it was close. And, of course, Josh is with Alice. They were given complimentary pheromones today, and then they should’ve, after their injections, spent fifteen minutes in a post-procedure waiting room, where they presumably chatted and found themselves very attracted to each other.”
She thought about her time this afternoon. She’d thought it was weird that she had to sit in the room with that guy. They talked, but she’d done so out of politeness, not some pheromone-induced haze.
“So, you convinced your friend not to give me vitamins? Won’t they know because we didn’t connect?”
Her father shook his head. “If two people don’t budge even after the pheromones, they usually give it another try in a week or so. After that, they’ll look for a second match. Your roommate Ki is an example. She’s had three guys they’ve tried, but it’s not working. She isn’t interested. They think she might be gay, which i
s going to be a problem for her. Thoreaux is, um, of the mindset that homosexuality is a sin, and he’ll have no sinners here.”
She shook her head. That was insane. Yes, she knew some people were against homosexuality, but she kind of thought they’d just have to get over it. The world had moved past them. Only, the virus seemed to have changed that. It had left a man in power who hadn’t moved past it. “What’s going to happen to her?”
“Likely, she’ll be moved to the Basement.”
“What does that mean?”
They were cresting a small hill now, and as she looked down, she could see the small pond. It looked sad here in the dark of night, the only illumination a lamp, twenty yards away.
“You don’t want to know that means,” her father said.
Elaan stared at him. “Dad, yes I do. I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.”
He pursed his lips and said, “The things we were worried about, the experimentation. The Doctor Mengele stuff. That happens in the lab they refer to as simply the Basement.”
Her lips parted and she wasn’t sure what to say. The Basement sounded awful. “So, is that what’s going to happen with me if I don’t warm up to Stephen?”
He shook his head. “They’d try someone else first.”
“And then?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m going to fix it.”
“But if you weren’t here to fix it.”
“If I weren’t here, you’d have reason to worry, but I am here.”
Elaan gave him a hard stare. She’d relied on him before, back in the first SPU, and he’d utterly fallen apart.
“I’m going to fix it, dear,” he said, as if reading her mind. “I realize I let you down earlier, and that’s not going to happen again.”
She nodded. She wasn’t sure she entirely trusted that he could help, but she didn’t have a ton of options. She took in a breath and looked up at him. “Well, Ki doesn’t have you, so how can we help her. I don’t want her sent to the Basement. Can we warn her or something?”