by Greene, Dane
Alexis stops and points to a door. “The lab is through these doors,” she whispers, “but there’s a Paleman in there.”
Making my way to the door, I look through the glass that’s at the top. Inside the classroom, I see several microscopes and books we could use. There’s also a Paleman standing by an open window. He seems to be static and almost calm. When I look at him, it’s almost as if he’s watching something outside in the field across from the classroom.
Since the Paleman appears still, I decide it’s worth the risk of going inside. Putting my finger to my mouth, I signal Alexis to be silent, and she nods. We open the door and sneak through. Weaving my way through the lab, I head to the nearest microscope. Before leaving the apartments, I told Alexis her priority would be finding anatomy, chemistry, and, if she could, pharmacology textbooks, so she heads toward a bookcase.
When I reach the microscope, I examine it. As I look over it, I see that it’s a manual microscope, not a digital one. This is what I need. I pick the tool off the table and place it into my bag. Realizing I’ll also need clean slides for the microscope, I look around some more and find a small box full of them under the table.
As I slide them into the bag, I’m startled by a loud and continuous scream. The noise is disturbing, and it raises the hairs on the back of my neck. Without thinking, I look around for the source of the noise, forcing myself to stay calm. I see the Paleman at the window. He’s leaning out of it and screaming in an unearthly wail. Alexis catches my eye, and I can see that it’s time for us to leave.
Before I can even start to turn around, the Paleman turns toward me. His face has a sickening smile on it, and blood drips from the corner of his mouth. As I watch in horror, the previously empty field across from the school starts to fill with Palemen.
In horror, I realize that the scream the Paleman in front of me issued was a call. There’s more to this disease than I understand, but I know we have to leave now. As I’m about to scream for Alexis to run, I see her darting toward the Paleman. I’m frozen with fear and unable to move.
Alexis grabs a stray beaker and throws it at the creature’s face, and it shatters in his eyes. The Paleman doesn’t even flinch. Unaffected, Alexis picks up a chair and swings it at the creature. The chair strikes the Paleman and knocks him back against the window.
I understand now what she’s trying to do, and my muscles unfreeze as I realize that I have to help her. Running forward, I grab a chair. Together, we beat back the Paleman and try to force him over the window’s edge. As I swing the chair, I see the creature’s face up close.
Because of my husband’s job as a pastor, I’ve seen dozens of dead people. Their faces always look empty, soulless. As I stare into the crazed eyes of the man in front of me, I recognize a look of death. Whatever this disease has done to its victim, there’s no longer a soul in charge. Only pure madness remains, and it terrifies me.
Tears fall from my eyes as I swing desperately to kill the creature in front of me. Finally, Alexis connects, and the creature stumbles back and loses its balance. Time slows as I watch it fall. Its eyes meet mine as it hits the ground. The beast’s head hits the ground last, and it cracks open.
All I can do is stand and look at the dead man. I should feel guilty for what I’ve done, but all I can feel is relief that it’s dead. Alexis pulls me from my shock when she shakes me and screams, “We need to go, now!”
My gaze shifts to outside of the school. The formerly empty field and schoolyard now have dozens of Palemen. Alexis looks at me, and I nod, pulling myself together.
We run from the room and through the school halls. We go to the window we came through and are lucky to find it free of any immediate danger. Even when we are outside, we run, desperate to get as far away from the school as possible.
Only when we are far away and out of breath do we stop.
“What the hell was that thing?!” Alexis says between gasps of air.
Taking a minute for my breath to catch up, I think of what to tell her. “It must be a variation of the disease. Of course, it’s hard to tell, but I think that it was able to call out to other infected and bring them to it. Finishing a study of these people is even more important now.”
Alexis agrees with me, and we make our way to the apartment. When we arrive, we find that Jason has successfully captured a Paleman. With his help, we tie it to a table in the basement. Since Jason managed to knock the creature unconscious, it doesn’t struggle.
Once we secure the creature to my makeshift examination table, I confirm what I already know.
“The patient is unresponsive to light and has an irregular eye and skin color.” Alexis stands behind me, taking notes. “Without better machinery, I can only guess that the skin and eyes are affected by a melanin deficiency. This alone suggests that the disease affects the brain stem. The medulla and other parts of the brain stem are likely the targets of the disease.”
Checking the creature’s pulse, I find it lower than expected. “Patient’s lowered heart rate also suggest a brain stem infection.” As I say this, the creature starts to wake up. Being cautious, I step back and decide to watch its response. As it wakes up, it starts to struggle. I inch forward and reexamine its vitals, finding the heart rate low. As I finish taking the vitals, I hear a loud snap, so I immediately stop what I’m doing and jump back. Looking to the source of the snap, I see that the Paleman has broken its own arm with the strain of trying to escape. The bone is exposed, and blood leaks out as he continues to struggle. If I don’t stop the bleeding, he’ll die in ten or twenty minutes. There’s no way for me to put this creature back to sleep or end its pain. Knowing there’s nothing I can do, I force the guilt and pain away and continue my examination.
“Patient shows elevated strength and loss of protective motor function, as well as a total disregard for pain. These symptoms would suggest a raised level of adrenals. They would also suggest the brain stem as the sight of infection.”
“Stephanie, does it need to be alive?” Alexis’s question startles me. I understand why she’s asking me. Seeing this creature moving around and trying to escape, uncaring of the wound to its arm, is unnerving.
“No, not at this point, but I’ll need to examine its brain, so we can’t shoot it. Also, I have no anesthetics or means to kill it.” Alexis nods, and without another word, she pulls out a hunting knife. I’m not sure where she got it from or what she intends to do with it. As I watch, Alexis walks up to the creature and puts the knife to its chest, right above the heart. Before I can say anything, she plunges the knife into its rib cage, and I watch as the creature bleeds out.
Alexis’s willingness to kill the creature shocks me, but I’m thankful for it. Without pausing, I grab some microscope slides and get six samples of blood: two of my own blood and four of the creature’s, two of which come from its arm while the other two come from its mouth.
“Alexis, while I’m examining these blood slides, please go get a slide of blood from the dog. Don’t worry: I’ll tell you what I find when you come back.” Alexis nods and goes to do the task I asked of her. Every minute the creature is dead is another minute of decay, so I work fast. It isn’t long before I make up the slides and mix some of the samples.
When I look at the first slide, I see unmixed blood from the Paleman’s arm. It’s then that I determine the disease is a bacterial infection. From what I can see on this slide, the bacteria in the blood is dead or inactive. To confirm this, I look at a slide that is a mix of my blood and the creature’s arm blood. Sure enough, the infection isn’t attacking my blood cells.
The second set of samples is the mixture of the blood from the creature’s gums and our blood. Aaron told me about the bite wounds and how they transfer infections. What I see confirms this. The blood sample from the creature’s mouth is rife with active bacteria. This shocks me; the infection takes over my blood in less than a minute. If you’re bitten, there’s nothing you could do except immediate amputation, and even that might not
work.
As I finish up with these slides, Alexis comes back into the room, and I immediately take the blood sample from the dog and mix it with the infectious blood. When I study it, I find that the bacterium doesn’t attack the dog’s blood. That, at least, is a relief. While looking at this, I catch Alexis up on what I found, and she listens. At the end, she asks me, “Can’t we cure it, then? All you need to get rid of bacteria is an antibiotic, right?”
She isn’t wrong; antibiotics can help the body fight off a bacterial infection. But I’m not sure the person would be cured after the bacterium subsides.
“Well it’s more complicated than that. You might be able to fight off the disease with a massive dose of antibiotics. If they do any brain damage before the infection is through, there’s no fixing that. So the people who are already infected have very little chance of recovery.”
Alexis looks at me, and I can tell she isn’t surprised. “So what do we do now?”
“Autopsy, but first, let’s allow the bacterium to die out. It shouldn’t take long,” I reply. As we wait, we go over the information we’ve learned and check over the Paleman’s body several times. After we triple-check the blood in the gums to make sure the bacterium is dead, I start my autopsy.
Without proper tools, the procedure is bloody. Despite this, I do manage to extract the brain and other organs undamaged. All the organs, aside from the adrenal gland, are the proper size. The adrenal gland is swollen to about three times its normal size, which suggests a slow, continuous release of adrenals into the creatures. This would explain some of their heightened senses and the strength.
The brain is where the damage is clearest. Most of the brain remains untouched and appears normal. Only when I look at the brain stem does the damage become clear. It’s black and decayed. Alexis looks at me when we see this, and I can tell that she thinks the same thing I do. There’s no cure; there’s no survival. If you’re infected, you’re dead.
Our only hope now is that these creatures die before we do.
Chapter 8: Aaron
July 5th
As I wake up and see the familiar sight of the ceiling, I find myself thinking about the last two months. At first, I thought I would grow tired of living in such a small space. With my father working on making our living area nicer, it has been very bearable.
Evelyn also keeps me occupied on most days. My parents have helped me care for her, but the bulk of the responsibility has been mine. Without the distractions of a job or other old-world worries, it’s much easier to raise her as my child. She even started calling me “Dad” about a month ago. Nostalgia hits me, and I realize again for the thousandth time how different things are. If we still had power, I would be working and going to college. As I’m thinking of my adopted daughter, a tear rolls down my face.
Today will be the last day I see her and my other family as well. It was a week ago today that I first noticed the shortage of food. My mother predicted that it would take three years for the infection to run its course. While the news that the Palemen had a short lifespan was good, the prospects of having to survive three years in this apartment was a hard idea to swallow.
Even if we managed to grow food on the roof, our current supplies wouldn’t stretch far enough. The only way to ensure the survival of our families is if some of our members leave the safety of our apartment. I know I’m the only member of my family that can afford to leave. As a medic, my mother is too important, and my father is too injured to stand a chance of survival. Melany could come along as well, but I would rather she didn’t. As for Sarah, she stands almost no chance if she left. She’s too gentle. She wouldn’t be able to kill a Paleman, even if her life depended on it.
Today, I’ll have to convince four others to come with me. My hopes are that some adults will volunteer, but based on past experience, I’m certain this won’t happen. Jason’s family has proven to be resistant to any risk, and I know Jason is the only member of his family that might leave. Brian’s family is no different. Even if I count on Brian coming with me, we are still one person short of what we need for the others to survive.
Sitting up, I get dressed, making sure not to wake Evelyn, who is sleeping in her bed. Once I’m dressed, I tiptoe out of my room and am startled to see Brian sitting outside. From the looks of things, he has been there for a while.
“Hey, Aaron.” Not wanting to wake Evelyn, I make a sign telling him to be silent. He nods, and together we walk toward a window and climb onto the roof.
“Hey, Brian, what’s up? If you needed something, you could’ve woken me up.”
“Yeah, but you looked like you could use the sleep. Besides, I didn’t mind waiting.” Brian is pretty awkward, but I’m glad he decided to let me sleep. The last thing I need today is to be grumpy.
“So anyway, I wanted to talk to you about our food situation, Aaron.”
“Let me stop you there,” I say. “I already know what’s going on and was actually on my way to tell you about it. I’m planning on leaving, and I want you to come with me.”
Brian looks at me, confused for a second, and then smiles. “Well that was easy. I was actually coming to you for the same reason. My parents know that I’ll be leaving, not that they cared.”
Before I know what’s happening, I find myself laughing. With Brian on my side, the task of convincing others suddenly becomes much easier.
“Well that’s great. How about we gather the others? I’m sure we can get Jason to come with us, and then we’ll only need one other.”
Brian looks at me somberly, and I’m confused. Why the sudden change?
“What about Evelyn?” he asks. “I figured she would be coming along. With Jason, the four of us leaving should be enough. I get that you might be scared to bring her along, but think about how it would make her feel. She sees you as her dad. You would break her heart if you left her behind. The three of us should be more than enough to protect her, and it’s not like she can’t handle herself. She did take care of herself for months before the infection hit.”
Brain’s remarks remind me of my doubts. He isn’t wrong. Leaving her behind would devastate her, but I’m not sure taking her with us would be a better option. She may be tough, but if there’s a chance for her to grow up in safety, that might be the better option.
“You might be right,” I say, “but I’ll have to think about it. Either way, we should call a meeting to see if we can get others to join us.”
Brian agrees, and we go to wake the others and gather them for a meeting. Before I wake my family, I want to find Jason to have him gather his. Luckily, it doesn’t take me long to find him patrolling the perimeter of the apartments. When he sees me, he waves and says, “Hey, what’s up? I saw Brian walk by a second ago. He looked all serious.”
“Hey, man. We are going to hold a meeting. You mind getting your family together?” He looks at me and nods. Walking off, I’m not sure if he knows what’s going on, but I’m glad he didn’t ask questions. The sooner we hold this meeting, the better. After watching him for a second, I turn around and head to where my family stays. On the way through the apartments, I run across my father as he’s doing his usual patrols.
“Hey, Dad. I’m on my way to wake everyone up. I’ve already told Jason and Brian to gather their families.”
My dad nods, like he was expecting this. “I know why you’re calling a gathering. Come to me after you wake everyone. I’ll be by the entrance. There are some things I need to tell you before you talk to everyone.” Nodding, I part ways with my father.
Waking my family is quick work. Once I’ve explained what we’re doing, I leave them, heading for my father. I find him exactly where he said he would be. As I come up, he turns to me and says, “Hey, Aaron. I’m sorry to pull you away from your gathering, but I needed to talk to you. You must be gathering everyone to tell them about the food shortage.”
At first I’m surprised, but then I remember how Brian also knew what was going on. I realize I was being fool
ish by letting myself think I’d be the only one who knew about our problem.
“While on patrol one night,” my dad says, “I went over the supplies and I noticed the shortage. I already talked with all the adults here. I was hoping they would join me in leaving. Nothing I could do would convince a single one of them. They all had reasons, but it boiled down to lies and excuses.” My father pauses to rub his eyes.
“I’m guessing you’re planning on leaving,” he continues, “and I’m sure you can get several people to come with you. Aaron, people need to leave, and as much as I wish it could be me and the other adults, I know that’ll never happen. You have a shot at surviving all this, but I need you to promise me something. Be smart, don’t get into fights you don’t need to, and don’t risk anything unless you have to. You’ll be responsible for more lives than you know.”
“Of course I’ll be careful, Dad. I know I’ll have to account for other people. You forget how much has changed since the outbreak. I’m not the same person.”
“You’re the same, Aaron. You might act different, but your behaviors are the same now as they were when you were a child. Melany wanted to come with me, so I presume she’ll want to come with you.”
I’d assumed that Melany would want to come with me. She’s quiet, but I know that she feels the same as I do. She would want to go so that our family could have a better chance of surviving this. While I’m mulling over this, my father continues.
“Aaron, I’m sure you’ve thought about leaving Evelyn behind. You need to know that there’s no safe way to leave her. If you do, she’ll sneak out and try to find you. It’d be safer to take her with you. Besides, if you take her with you, your group will always be mindful of her. It might make the whole group be more careful. She might be one of the most important members of the group. Not because of what she brings to the table, but because of how she’ll force the rest of you to act.”