The World's Last Breaths: Final Winter, Animal Kingdom, and The Peeling

by Iain Rob Wright

  An automatic fence in the middle of nowhere…Very cloak and dagger.

  A short while later, the muddy road opened up into a wide clearing. The area between the thick woods was almost a perfect circle – unnatural in its perfect curves. In the centre was a single building no bigger than a garden shed.

  What the hell? This is the UK’s finest Medical Research facility?

  “Please exit the vehicle,” said the driver. “Then proceed to the building ahead.”

  Greg didn’t move.

  “Sir, please do as I’ve instructed.”

  Greg cleared his throat and then unclasped his seatbelt. He pushed open the door and scooted along his seat. Twigs and dry leaves crunched beneath his feet as he stepped out of the minibus. The sounds seemed immense in the silence of the clearing. He slid the door closed behind him and headed up to the front of the vehicle. He leant towards the driver’s window and tried to see through the tint.

  “Excuse me,” he said through the glass. “I think there must be some sort of mistake. This is-”

  The minibus took off in reverse. The brakes squealed and the vehicle spun around to face the way from which they had come. Then it sped off into the woods, leaving Greg alone in the clearing.

  Really not enjoying my first day so far.

  He took a few tentative steps towards the small hut ahead of him and then stopped. He looked around, expecting someone to jump out of the trees laughing and saying that this was all one big joke. When it was clear that that would not happen, he carried on walking.

  The building ahead had no windows. Just a single, metal door set into a concrete surround.

  Greg reached the structure and placed himself in front of the entrance. The door did not appear to have a handle, or even a lock, and when he tried to push it open it held tight.

  Great! What am I supposed to do?

  A thought occurred to Greg and he banged on the door with his fist.

  Anybody there?

  The door opened, moving aside gently as if in the hands of some unseen butler. Beyond was a steep staircase that headed straight down into darkness. Greg stared in disbelief. It felt like he was looking down into the bowels of hell.

  Despite his anxiety, Greg took the first step. Then the next. Then several more. He seemed to descend for ever.

  It wasn’t long before he was surrounded by shadows on all sides. The door at the top of the stairs had closed and with it, so too, the light from outside. The only thing preventing absolute darkness was a blinking green light lower down the staircase. Greg continued hoped it represented the end of his confusing journey.

  Go towards the light, Gregory.

  It turned out that that the green light was affixed to a security camera. Greg stared into its lens and imagined he could see someone at the other end watching him.

  There was a hiss in the darkness up ahead and then a vertical sliver of golden light appeared. Slowly the sliver widened into a gap and a brightly lit hallway appeared beyond. Greg found it hard to breathe, but he managed to keep going and passed through the newly opened entrance.

  He entered a featureless, white corridor. A voice from above startled him.

  “WELCOME DR PENN. PLEASE ENTER THE SECOND DOOR ON YOUR RIGHT WHERE YOU WILL BE MET BY AN ADMINSTRATOR.”

  Greg noticed that the corridor was lined by dozens of doors on each side. The one he had been directed to was no different to any of the others. He did as instructed and opened the second door on the right.

  Inside, a diminutive, bespectacled man sat behind a large, aluminium desk. He stood up immediately upon Greg’s arrival.

  “Dr Penn,” the man said, heading out from behind the desk and offering his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Dr Matthews and I am one of the administrators here. I am also the site’s physician, so I will be required to give you a health check tomorrow morning.”

  Greg shook the man’s small hand and smiled. “A Pleasure. I have to say, I’m a little put out by all of this.”

  The man nodded and laughed as if he understood exactly what he meant. “We apologise for the clandestine nature of your arrival. I’m sure you understand that this facility is an extremely sensitive Government secret. Only the Americans know about it. The entire structure is erected beneath the ground and the lack of buildings up top is to avoid detection by satellites. Google Maps is the enemy.”

  Greg frowned at the man.

  “That was a joke, Dr Penn. We may be secretive, but we still have a sense of humour.”

  “You keep saying we,” Greg commented.

  “We’re a community down here, Dr Penn. It has to be that way with the nature of things. You understand that you will remain in this facility for the next three years?”

  Greg nodded. He remembered signing the paperwork with a trembling. “I didn’t realise I would be staying in a hole in the ground, though.”

  Dr Matthews stepped up to the Greg and placed a hand on his back. He began leading him back out into the corridor. “I think you will find that things are more than to your liking. But the only way for you to believe it is to see it with your own eyes. Come on.”

  Greg allowed himself to be ushered back into the corridor. Dr Matthews led him opposite, to a door on the other side of the corridor. Without word, he opened it and pushed Greg through.

  Inside was a vast catacomb of wonders. A space the size of several football fields was laid out with numerous partitions, office cubicles, and blinking electronics. Hundreds of lab-coated personnel rushed about in a fever of hard work and commitment. Huge air conditioner units roared overhead.

  “We just call this area, The Floor,” Dr Matthews told him. “It’s where we conduct most of our theoretical research and low-level experiments – blood work and the like.”

  Greg scanned the area with wonderment. He was aware that his jaw was hanging open but did nothing about it. “It’s…It’s…”

  “Yep, it’s something, alright. You probably won’t spend too much time here, though. A scientist of your ability will no doubt be more at home in one of the private labs. Shall we?”

  Greg did not speak as Dr Matthews continued with the tour. The man introduced him to the luxurious staff lounge, crammed with televisions, videogames, pool tables, and many other forms of entertainment. There was even a modest library crammed with mass market paperbacks.

  Next was the canteen, which had a menu which would put most restaurants to shame. Dozens of people ate there, while some worked away on laptops and tablets.

  “It’s open twenty-four hours a day,” Dr Matthews explains. “Most of our more committed researchers often work odd hours, so the cafeteria never closes.”

  Greg’s stomach rumbled as he thought about eating. “Great. So what’s next?”

  “I suppose I should take you to your lab to meet your team. Then you can settle into your apartment.”

  Greg balked. “Apartment?”

  Dr Matthews smiled. “Why of course. We don’t expect you to spend three years in a bedsit. As a department supervisor, you will have one of the facility’s larger suites. I think you’ll like it.”

  “I…thank you. I would like to meet my team now.” Greg was beginning to find the ground beneath his feet. He was here to do a job, to lead a team of scientists. Now that he had fallen down the rabbit hole, he was ready to get to work.

  Dr Matthews led him back out into the main corridor and over to a steel door at the end marked RESEARCH LABORATORIES. B.S. lv 3, 4, 5.

  Greg frowned. “Level 5? Bio Safety levels only go up to 4.”

  “Not here they don’t.”

  “So…what is level 5?”

  Dr Matthews looked at him like he was dumb. “More dangerous than level 4.”

  Greg sighed. “But what on earth is more dangerous than a level 4 containment facility?”

  “Anything that can cause extinction.”

  Greg felt his jaw drop again.

  “You see,” said Dr Matthews. “There are other reasons
we built this facility under the ground in the middle of nowhere. Very good reasons. And you, Dr Penn, are about to be placed in charge of several of them.”

  Greg’s lab was deep underground. They had accessed it via an elevator ride that seemed to take forever. It turned out that all of the staff in the Level 5 labs had apartments nearby – Greg’s included. It would allow him to roll out of bed and be at work within two minutes. He had a feeling, however, that the adjacency of their living quarters may well play into potential quarantine scenarios.

  Keep us all bunched up together in case something gets inside us.

  Dr Matthews led him down a sterile hallway and directed him into a large office. The long, walnut desk in the centre of the room already had a name plate with Greg’s name and qualifications on it. He had worked at many of the UK’s finest hospitals, but he had never had a desk like this. He went over and picked up the name plate. DR GREGORY J. PENN, BMSc, DSc.

  “You like?” Dr Matthews asked him.

  Greg placed the name plate back down and nodded. “I do. My team?”

  “I’ll send them right in. They can brief you from here.” Dr Matthews stepped forward and shook Greg’s hand. “A pleasure to meet you, Doctor. I’ll see you in the morning for your medical.”

  “Good to meet you, too. See you soon.”

  Dr Matthews left the office and Greg headed behind his desk. He sat down on the plush leather chair and slid his legs into the foot pass of his new desk. He felt at home already. A little over five minutes later, three young doctors entered his office: two gangly males and a dowdy looking female. All three of them were pale and sickly looking.

  Lack of sunlight? Or overworked? Will have to find out and see if I can do something to improve working conditions. That will make them loyal to me.

  “Good to meet you all,” he said to them. “While I intend to lead this team from the front, I will be relying on your for the next couple of days to help me get settled. I imagine you are three of the brightest minds this country has to offer. I look forward to working with you. In the meantime, would you please introduce yourselves briefly?”

  The female of the trio stepped forwards. She had short brown hair and looked like a mousy librarian. “My name is Elizabeth Wilson. My speciality is infectious diseases. I’ve been at the facility for just under two years after transferring from a private research company.”

  One of the two men stepped forward. He was the taller of the two and had the beginnings of a blond goatee. “My name is Thomas Fenton. My specialty is Allergy and Immunology. I have only been at the facility for eight months. It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

  Well, I know who the suck up is.

  The last of the young doctors stepped forward. He had much darker features than the other man and seemed a few years older. He was plump and short, but had an air of authority about him. “My name is Dr James Button. My speciality is in Endocrinology, Haematology, and Internal Medicine. I have been at the facility for six years and have been running things recently since Dr Doherty moved up into senior management.”

  Greg whistled. “Very impressive. I can see why you were left in charge.”

  Greg caught a glint of resentment in Dr Button’s eyes. Perhaps he felt that the supervisor role should have been his. He was certainly qualified for it.

  Letters after your name doesn’t always mean you’re fit to lead, though. I’ll have to make sure I stamp on any subordination the moment it happens.

  Greg patted his fingertips together and nodded his head as he appraised his team. They were an impressive trio and he was lucky to have their skills at his disposal. “Okay, well, as you can see from the name on my desk, I am Dr Gregory Penn. My specialities are in Infectious Diseases and Neurology. I’d say that between us we have quite a broad spectrum of knowledge. My previous experience is mostly in emergency medicine and diagnostics. This is my first research post, but I intend to succeed in any and all tasks that we undertake. Every puzzle has a solution and every disease can be understood and controlled.”

  The three doctors nodded.

  Greg stood up and clapped his hands together. “Okay, show me what you’ve been up to.”

  “This is the main lab,” said Dr Button as he showed Greg around the most high-tech facilities he had ever seen. The main testing areas were in a separate space, behind thick layers of safety glass and accessed via a series of airlocks and containment areas. Inside, Greg could see row upon rows of biosafety cabinets. On Greg’s side of the glass was a staging area with positive pressure suits and safety monitors.

  “We keep strains of the Lassa Virus inside,” Dr Button mentioned. “Along with all other known forms of Haemorrhagic Fever. We are also studying several yet-to-be classified pathogens and a new strain of Necrotizing Fasciitis that is unresponsive to all antibiotics in current use.”

  Greg raised an eyebrow. “Jesus! Where did it come from?”

  Button cleared his throat. “That’s…a complicated issue.”

  Greg folded his arms. “Okay, well, don’t be shy. I’d like to know where the disease was found. It could help understand it.”

  Button turned to his colleagues, Fenton and Wilson, and then shrugged. They seemed to defer to him. “I was going to give you a few days to settle in before showing you,” said Button. “But if you insist, follow me.”

  Greg followed his team to the back of the laboratory and through a door. Inside was another staging area, with a large steel door blocking entrance to the room beyond. Button tapped a code into a number pad on the wall and the door hissed and opened.

  “After you,” said Button, somewhat patronisingly.

  Greg chewed at his bottom lip and then stepped through the open door. There was another identical door up ahead. Once the first door was closed, the second one opened. Greg’s stomach turned a little as he anticipated what he was about to see.

  But he never expected to find what he did.

  In front of him was a large glass cage. Sitting right in the middle, watching a television, was a middle-aged man. He waved when he spotted them.

  “You must be, Dr Penn,” said the man in the glass cage. “I’ve been expecting you.”

  Greg turned to his team. “What the hell is this? Who is this man?” Wilson pursed her lips and looked nervous. Greg realised it was probably due to the tone of his voice having been so aggressive.

  “This is Patient WC-00,” Dr Button said. “The first and, currently, only carrier of Welshchild Necrotising Fasciitis.”

  Greg spun to face the younger doctor and gave him a stern stare. “There is no such disease.”

  “Yes, there is. And you are looking at it.”

  Greg looked at the man in the cage with great interest. He was about Greg’s age, but seemed in better shape – like he exercised regularly. The television standing on the desk in front of the man flashed with images from a 24-hour news channel.

  “I like to stay abreast of current events,” said the man in the cage as he noticed Greg staring at the television. “Despite having never been a part of them.”

  Greg approached the glass. He saw an oxygen scrubber set against the ceiling and realised that the room was completely sterile.

  It’s a giant biohazard cabinet.

  “How long have you been in there?” Greg asked the man.

  “Since shortly after my birth.”

  Greg looked at his team and was astonished when they nodded to confirm it.

  “Since you were a baby? Why? Why would they keep you here?”

  The man stood up from his chair and shrugged. He came closer to the glass. “I have no ideas. Perhaps now that you’re in charge you can finally let me out.”

  “Step back from the glass,” Button said.

  Greg shook his head. “I’m fine. I want to know why this man has been locked up his entire life.”

  Suddenly, the man in the cage leapt the three feet between them and smashed his hands against the reinforced glass.

  Greg leapt ba
ck, startled.

  The man in the cage smiled widely. His teeth were missing, his gums black. “They lock me up,” he growled, “Because I am death itself. I am Plague.”

  Button put a hand on Greg’s shoulder. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go somewhere and I’ll fill you in.”

  Back in the office, Greg was too wound-up to sit in his chair, so he perched on the edge of his desk while his team stood before him. As usual, Button was the one to do their talking.

  “WC-00 was discovered on the 23rd January 1974 in the mountains of North Wales. An earthquake in the area, twinned with a nearby Army training exercise, led to the discovery. A small group of soldiers from the 1stBattalion Parachute Regiment were running fitness assessments for entry into the SAS. They found an abandoned child three-hundred feet above the ground on one of the foothills. The child was healthy, but crying.”

  Greg sniffed. “They found a baby just lying there?”

  Button shrugged his shoulders. “That’s what the files say. The child was totally abandoned. There was no one for miles around. The army could not explain it, but they took the child back to a base in Hereford. Within twelve hours, everyone that came into contact with the unidentified child was displaying flu-like symptoms. Twenty-four hours later and their bodies began to…peel.”

  Greg swallowed a lump in his throat, but then found himself laughing. “Peel? What on earth do you mean?”

  Wilson cleared her throat. “There’s a videotape in your desk drawer. You can play it on the console over there.”

  Greg looked left and saw a television and tape desk that he hadn’t even realised was there. There was also hardware for DVD, Blu Ray, and a memory card reader. Greg slid open one of the slim, horizontal drawers at the back of his desk and did indeed find a tape. He went over and slid the cassette into the playback machine.

  The television fizzed to life.

  “What is this? What am I looking at?”

  “This was recorded on the military base in Hereford,” Dr Fenton explained. “When people started getting sick, one of the medical staff had the foresight to make a recording.”