The Secret Apocalypse (Book 1)

by James Harden

"So I joined the marines. And I don't know why, but I excelled. I became a sniper. I knew you were upset at your father for going back to the Middle East and I knew you’d be mad at me for leaving and then running off to join the marines. I know I should’ve told you. I know what I did was wrong. And I’m sorry. I really am sorry. I think about it every day. I should’ve told you."

  Kenji had opened up the flood gates and let everything pour out. It sounded like he had been keeping that speech bottled up for awhile now. I couldn’t see from where I was lying down but it sounded like he was crying.

  "During all the down time and the waiting," he continued. "All I could think about was telling you that I’m sorry."

  I had hated him for so long and had been hurting for so long, now I didn’t know what to feel. I’d gone from red hot rage to feeling completely sympathetic and understanding in a matter of minutes. Basically he had melted my insides and now I was just mad at myself for not being mad at him. I mean, he left and he was a jerk for leaving right?

  I was so caught up with how hurt and how angry I was that I never once even thought about what he was going through or why he left in the first place. I guess that was me being selfish.

  "I’m not mad." I finally said. "I was mad at first. And I was mad for a long time. But I’m not anymore. At least I don’t think I am. Well maybe I am. But when you left it was like you died. It was just so sudden. One minute you were there and we could hang out together and the next minute you weren’t there. You were completely gone. I couldn’t even call you or anything. It was horrible."

  It was a conversation that we needed to have. It had been brewing for the past two years, ever since he left. After we said what we needed to say we both laid there in silence, strapped to our hospital beds. Not really concerned about being tied up or what was going on around us. On the plus side, it was less awkward.

  It almost felt like back when we were together. I remember when we used to stay up all night watching b-grade action movies like Rocky Four and Top Gun. Every now and then he would let me watch a chick flick. The Bodyguard was my favorite. And he liked it because it was based on an old Akira Kurosawa movie. I remember the times we used to camp out in the backyard together. One time, over summer we camped out in his backyard for two weeks straight. The tent killed the patch of grass it was covering. His parents were so mad at us. But then again they never really liked me in the first place, especially his dad.

  "So what happened," I asked. "Where did you go? What are you even doing here?"

  He told me his story and I was completely shocked at what he had been doing for the past two years. He had served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a sniper and a scout. He wasn’t sure of his confirmed kills because in the Afghan Mountains it was nearly impossible to get close enough to the enemy to actually confirm it. But he thought it was maybe over a hundred. I asked him if that was a lot. And he said it was.

  He was only redeployed to Australia last week. He knew through a letter from his parents that I’d moved here.

  "I couldn't believe that I tracked you down and actually found you. And when you answered your door, I nearly died of a heart attack."

  Now I was the one who felt like I should apologize. I was about to tell him I was sorry, that I never should’ve slammed the door in his face the other day. I wanted to ask him how bad the virus was and if he really thought it was out of control. But then Doctor Hunter returned.

  "We need to move you to another room," he said.

  "What room? What for?" Kenji asked.

  "We need to isolate you immediately. We’re moving you to the morgue."

  Chapter 13

  "Why do you need to take us to the morgue?" Kenji asked. "What’s down there? What are you going to do?

  "That’s none of your concern, Private."

  Just because someone says one thing, doesn’t mean that one thing is true. For example, just because the doctor said that being taken to the morgue was none of our concern didn’t mean that it was none of our concern. Because the truth was, being taken down to the morgue was a big, huge, massive concern.

  I for one didn’t much feel like going to the morgue. It was a place for dead bodies to be stored. For dead bodies to be cut open, organs to be harvested, autopsies to be conducted.

  The killer robots in space suits wheeled us out of the room and down the hall. There were people running around everywhere. Doctors were shouting at nurses. Nurses were complaining they were understaffed. Patients had been left on beds wherever there was room.

  I suddenly thought of my mother. I hadn’t seen her in what felt like forever. She had been working so many night shifts and double shifts lately. I still didn’t know how I was going to tell her that I’d been arrested and about all the crazy stuff that was going on.

  The soldiers wheeled us passed all the mayhem and into the elevator. Doctor Hunter leant over and pressed the button that read ‘morgue’. The elevator descended and I felt my stomach drop. When we arrived on the bottom floor, the elevator doors opened and we were taken down a long corridor.

  Just then it hit me that we were completely helpless. They had sucked us in with the promise of medical help but were they really going to help us? Why did they need to take us to the morgue? Was it just another precaution? Luckily I was able to keep myself together. Normally I would’ve freaked out. I'd probably be screaming my head off like the scared little girl that I was. But since Kenji was there with me I was able to keep it together.

  We must have gone at least a hundred meters before we arrived at a large set of doors

  There were two soldiers wearing gas masks and space suits standing guard with their rifles at the ready. They opened the doors and we were wheeled into the morgue.

  Inside there were a couple of steel autopsy tables with low hanging fluorescent lights positioned directly over each one. At the far end of the room was large sliding door that must’ve been the fridge where they stored the bodies.

  Positioned next to the autopsy tables were four other hospital beds. It was Maria, Jack, Kim and Officer Dennis. I was initially relieved to see them. I was starting to wonder where they had been taken. It was comforting to know we were all back together. But then my relief turned to fear. Not only were they tied up as well but they were all wearing flu masks and Kim had been gagged. And it looked like nothing had been done about Dennis’s leg. The shard of glass had been removed but the wound hadn’t been stitched up or cleaned. It wasn’t even bandaged.

  "Is everything all right?" Kenji asked.

  The doctor was in the process of placing a flu mask over our faces. "The flu masks are just a precaution."

  Thank God he didn’t gag me. I think I would’ve screamed.

  After Doctor Hunter finished putting the flu masks over our faces he left without saying a word. The soldiers followed him and locked the door.

  Our beds were lined up in a row right next to the autopsy tables, in full view of all the surgical instruments they used for cutting open cadavers and the scales they use to weigh organs.

  We talked nervously.

  "So why has Kim been gagged?" I asked.

  "She was being just a tad aggressive," Jack answered.

  "That’s an understatement," Maria said.

  Kim started mumbling, trying to explain herself but she gave up after she realized no one could understand her.

  "Well this totally sucks. Whose idea was it to come to the hospital?" Maria asked.

  "Wasn’t my idea," Jack said. "I wanted to go home remember?"

  "Hey, that man was in serious danger of bleeding to death," Kenji said, defending his decision to come to the hospital. "You would’ve wanted us to do the exact same thing if it was you with the massive piece of glass in your thigh."

  "Not if I knew we were going to end up in the morgue," Maria fired back.

  "Speaking of Dennis," I asked. "Is he all right? His leg doesn't look too good. Why haven’t they stitched him up yet?"

  The wound was oozing dark blood. Of
ficer Dennis seemed to have passed out or maybe he was sedated.

  "Is he all right?"

  "I think they gave him some morphine," Jack said. "He's just asleep."

  "Surely this is just a precaution right?" Maria asked. "It looked pretty busy upstairs; maybe we’re just being isolated as a safety procedure?"

  "That makes sense," I said. "But why the morgue? This place gives me the creeps."

  I was just about to ask them if they had been interviewed by Doctor Hunter and if he had asked them all those weird questions about being a dog or cat person when we heard a bump followed by scratching noises. We all looked over at the large sliding door of the morgue fridge.

  "What was that?" Maria asked.

  There was another bump and we all strained our ears. I personally wanted to back away and get some distance between me and the fridge door but being tied down sort of made that impossible. I just then realized if we were attacked now, like we were at the police station we would be completely screwed.

  "OK, Kenji. These are your people. What's going on? Is this normal procedure?" I asked.

  "Yeah, of course. It's standard practice when dealing with any sort of virus. It's going to be all right," he said as though he was trying to convince himself more than us.

  "Really? Well explain to me why it doesn’t feel like it’s going to be all right." Maria said.

  "We're being isolated from the rest of the hospital as a precaution. As soon as they figure out we’re not infected they’ll let us go. Simple as that."

  I hoped he was right.

  After a few more minutes of arguing we all suddenly stopped. We were really just going around in circles, arguing about the same things over and over. It was pointless. A couple of hours must have passed and we all fell asleep. I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep, especially in a morgue but everyone was exhausted. Jack, Maria and I had spent the night in a holding cell, Kim had been on duty for a week straight and Kenji had been on the run, probably sleeping on the streets.

  I wasn’t sure of how long I’d been asleep but I remember I woke suddenly. It felt like I was falling in my dream. It was weird going to sleep in a morgue and then waking up. I felt like I'd cheated death. I heard another bump that came from the direction of the fridge and I tried to sit up but it was difficult since my arms and legs were still tied to the bed.

  I heard more scratching which totally freaked me out. What the hell were they keeping down here? I tried to wake the others but they were sound asleep.

  That’s when the Doctor returned.

  Chapter 14

  The door opened with a creak and everyone was immediately wide awake, eager to hear some good news about how this was all a precaution and we'd be allowed to go home as soon as possible.

  Doctor Hunter returned with an older man and two other soldiers as escorts. They were all wearing space suits.

  "Colonel," said Doctor Hunter. "These are the five suspected cases. One of them is yours."

  When the Colonel saw Kenji he walked over to him. "Are you OK, soldier?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Good to hear. Are they looking after you down here?"

  "So far so good, sir."

  "Excellent. We shouldn’t be too long."

  So far so good? Was Kenji just saying that because he was afraid of his superiors?

  "What do you recommend, Doctor?" The Colonel asked.

  "From what we can gather it sounds like they all came in direct contact with the virus. It’s highly probable these people are also infected."

  "Why aren’t they showing symptoms?"

  "We’re not sure. Maybe the virus is slowing down? Maybe it’s mutating and adapting again. Or maybe their bodies are actually fighting it. Whatever the case may be, we have to be sure. We need to do a full battery of tests. We have to study them. They may hold the key to a cure."

  The Colonel leant over Officer Dennis and inspected his wounded leg. "What do you suggest?"

  "We need blood samples, tissue samples, bone marrow. We need everything."

  Jack spoke up. "Bone marrow? Isn’t that like, really painful?"

  "Are you sure it’s completely necessary, Doctor?" the colonel asked on Jack’s behalf, seemingly with genuine concern.

  "Absolutely. We need all the data we can get. We need to study their organs, their muscle fibers, their brains, the frontal lobe in particular, we need everything."

  The colonel nodded his head. "OK. Do it."

  OK? Wait a minute. Just how did they expect to study our organs? Or our brains?

  "Kenji?" I asked. "What’s going on?"

  "Sir, is everything all right?" Kenji asked the Colonel.

  "Private, we have reason to believe you have all been in close, direct contact with a carrier of the Oz virus."

  "Well, yes, technically it is possible. But we were able to contain and neutralize any threat of infection."

  "Of course. I would expect nothing less. You’re an excellent soldier. A fine marksman, according to your file. But we can’t take any chances."

  "Sir, you must believe me." Kenji was getting worried. I could hear it in the strain of his voice. He was also starting to struggle against the restraints. He wanted to get the hell out. And if he wanted to get the hell out...

  "Private, you’ve been briefed on the virus. You know exactly what it does. You’ve experienced it first hand in the field. You’ve seen the devastating effects. You understand better than anyone that this has to be done."

  What has to be done? Were they still talking about blood and tissue samples? Judging by the look on Kenji’s face I sort of got the feeling they were talking about something much, much worse.

  I looked over at the doctor, he was busy arranging a whole assortment of scalpels and knives and other sharp and shiny surgical instruments.

  Suddenly there was another thump coming from the fridge. And another. It was much louder this time. Doctor Hunter stopped arranging his instruments.

  One of the soldiers pointed his rifle in the direction of the fridge. "Is that what I think it is?"

  "What is the temperature reading on the control panel of the fridge," Doctor Hunter asked the closest soldier.

  The soldier inched his way closer to the fridge and the thumping noise. "Four degrees Celsius."

  Doctor Hunter swore. "They’re supposed to be set to minus twenty. Freezing them is the only way to contain them."

  "You’ve got some of them stored down here?" Kenji asked. "Are you insane?"

  The colonel backed away, closer to the entrance. "Lower the temperature immediately," he ordered. "Check the locks. I don't want another containment failure. That’s the last thing we need in the middle of North Sydney."

  There was another loud thump and both the soldiers raised their rifles.

  The Colonel was standing next to the entry door now. "Why wasn’t it set at the right temperature?"

  "I have no idea, sir" Doctor Hunter said.

  The colonel pointed at one of the soldiers. "Fix it," he ordered. "Now."

  The soldier reluctantly lowered his rifle. "Yes, sir."

  "How long do you need to have everything ready?" The Colonel asked Doctor Hunter.

  "I’ll need at least a few hours for removal of vital organs. Another hour or so to pack them securely."

  "Very well. I want these specimens ready for extraction by 0800 hours."

  "Yes. sir."

  "We’re ordering the evacuation of Northern Sydney. If you’re not ready, we’re leaving without you."

  The Colonel left in a hurry.

  Chapter 15

  I couldn’t believe it. They were talking about removing our vital organs, our brains and studying our bone marrow right in front of us, like we weren’t even there. We were cattle. Meat. We were a science experiment.

  And what did he mean by evacuating North Sydney? How the hell did the military intend on evacuating so many people?

  The thumping from the morgue fridge had stopped. One of the soldiers had moved ove
r to a control panel next to the large sliding door. He was pressing buttons with a shaky hand, trying to lower the temperature of the fridge. The thumping then started up again, getting louder, stressing the soldier out even more. He was talking to himself, saying that it was OK, that he could do it, that there was no way they could break through the door.

  I remember thinking, this can’t be happening. There’s no way that this whole crazy scene was real. I was in total disbelief. It’s like I was floating above my own body watching everything unfold. I kept asking Kenji if they were serious because I just couldn’t believe what they had just said was real.

  But Kenji was ignoring me. He was yelling at the doctor. "Sir! I’m not infected. None of us are infected! I’ve seen the virus in action. We’d be dead by now. You have to believe me. Cutting us open, harvesting our organs, it’s all a waste of time. It’ll all be for nothing."

  Doctor Hunter was preparing a shot of what could only be an anesthetic or something more deadly. "Soldier, it’s for the greater good," he said in his calm and hypnotic voice. "You’ll be serving the military, and your country. You’ll be a hero."

  "Come on! We're not infected. Isn't it obvious?" Kenji pleaded.

  My heart started to beat like a jackhammer. I was genuinely afraid now. Tied to a hospital bed in a morgue, I’ve never felt so helpless in all my life. I wanted to close my eyes and teleport out of there. But just like in the interrogation room nothing happened. God, it would be so awesome if I could teleport.

  I looked over at Jack who was quiet. Maria was repeating Jack’s name over and over. "Jack they’re not going to kill us are they? Jack? What’s going on?" But Jack was silent. There were no reassuring words to Maria because there was nothing to reassure her about. The truth was it wasn’t going to be all right.

  Doctor Hunter continued to prepare his instruments of death and Kenji continued to yell at him. The thumping from the fridge was also getting louder. I guess with so much going on everyone sort of forgot about poor old Officer Dennis. Just then he began to twitch. The wound in his leg was oozing freely and his skin was a mottled and lifeless grey.