by Max Lockwood
“I saw what you were trying to do to this girl,” she replied, scowling. “I’m calling the police.”
“Shame,” he said, aiming his gun at Elaina. “I thought you would’ve made a good wife when repopulation time came.”
Elaina backpedaled, her palms held at chest level. “Just let us go. You don’t need to do this.”
“Sorry, little girl. Either you come with me or you don’t. What’s your choice?”
Before Elaina could speak, the girl came flying toward the man, tackling him to the ground. The gun went off, the bullet just grazing Elaina’s arm.
The girl had surprised the shooter enough to knock him to the ground, but she couldn’t hold him for long. Elaina stomped her boots on his hand, freeing the gun from his grip. She kicked it as hard as she could, sending the weapon skidding on the floor, where it landed somewhere underneath a bookshelf.
Clearly fed up, the girl delivered a few swift kicks to the man’s plush abdomen, knocking the wind out of him. He wheezed, scrambling to his hands and knees, and crawled away from the girls.
Forgetting his gun and his friend, who was starting to stir just outside the library, the man booked it, abandoning the girl he’d fought so hard to call his own. Elaina listened as heavy footsteps landed on the tiles until they grew fainter and fainter. Finally, with a loud slam, the man left the school through the heavy doors.
“Are you okay?” Elaina asked the girl.
“I’m fine. You’re the one who’s bleeding.”
Elaina looked at her arm. The good news was that the bullet wasn’t lodged in her flesh. The bad news was that any serious wound left her susceptible to infection if she got too close to anyone with the virus.
“It’s not a big wound,” Elaina said, pressing the sleeve of her jacket to her arm. “I know this is going to sound a little weird, but do I know you from somewhere?”
The girl revealed a dazzling smile. “You’re Elaina Morgan,” she replied. “I don’t think you’ve seen me in a while, but you work with my dad. I’ve heard so much about you over the past few months.”
Elaina clapped a hand to her mouth. “Are you . . .” She trailed off.
“Natalia Vincent, at your service.”
Chapter Eight
“Come on,” Natalia urged, grabbing Elaina by her uninjured arm. “Let’s get that cleaned up,” she said, pointing to the red blossoming on her shirtsleeve.
Elaina remained frozen on the spot, stunned by the odd chain of events that had led her to rescuing the daughter of her colleague.
Not just any colleague though. In fact, she had a terrible thought that if she saw Bretton being attacked, instead of his teenage daughter, she would look the other way.
Elaina wasn’t a malicious person by any means, but she had been suspicious of Bretton Vincent for a while now. It seemed as though whenever anything went wrong for Elaina at work, Bretton was hiding in the shadows.
One time, after one of her interviews was published in a medical journal, Elaina received a warning from an environmental agency for using unsafe biohazard disposal measures. When she called the agency for an explanation, they said that they’d received an anonymous tip.
Embarrassed about potentially receiving a fine for something she didn’t do, she went through the proper channels to undergo a fair investigation. Luckily, once the environmental agency realized that the claim they received was, at best, misguided, they dropped any allegations against her. Still, the potential damage to her career made her wonder if there were something more to it than just a petty mistake.
After that incident, she took a closer look at how her colleagues acted around her. Whenever something good happened, whether it be an award or a new breakthrough on her research, she watched the people around her. Her observations showed a curious pattern—Bretton Vincent was never supportive of her success.
It wasn’t just that he wasn’t excited for her good news. He was much more sullen when things were going right for Elaina. Even more damning was the fact that when she shared failures with her team, he was almost gleeful. The others would at least give her a sympathetic nod. He was silent, but with a huge grin on his face.
It was no secret that Bretton Vincent was kind of an ass. No one in the lab really had any serious conflicts, but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t any eye rolling when Bretton made pompous comments about his accomplishments. It was never anything big enough to call him out on, but any scientist in the lab would giggle about Bretton’s latest antics after a few beers.
Then, the virus hit. Naturally, everyone looked to Elaina first. After all, it was her life’s work that was wreaking havoc in the community. Though she wasn’t prone to silly mistakes, her coworkers wondered if she had been careless and had accidentally taken the specimen outside the lab.
No one likened her as an evil genius set on releasing her dangerous viruses into the world, but it seemed suspicious that the quiet prodigy’s big creation was suddenly spreading through town like wildfire. When interviewed by detectives, her colleagues couldn’t defend her by saying that they knew Elaina would never do something so dangerous. The fact was that no one really knew Elaina that well. To say that releasing a virus would be out of character for her would be a lie. No one knew what would be in character for her. The “quiet girl who mostly kept to herself” persona didn’t bode well with police, hence, the warrant for her arrest.
So, when Elaina realized that Bretton’s daughter was helping her up from the floor, she was hesitant to go along with her. She couldn’t help but wonder if Bretton were somewhere nearby, the police using him to get to Elaina. However, since she was rapidly losing blood, she needed all the help she could get.
“Come on,” Natalia urged, now yanking her up. Elaina reluctantly followed her down the dark hall. “There should be a nurse’s office around here somewhere,” she said.
She silently followed the girl down the hall, her mind on high alert. At the first sign of trouble, she would bolt. The science lab was just down the hall, so she could grab her things and exit out the emergency door. It would be tough, especially with a bleeding arm, but she could manage it.
“The nurse’s office is usually somewhere within the front office,” Natalia mused to no one in particular. “I spent enough time in them as a kid—I should know.”
“Were you sick a lot?” Elaina asked, trying to make polite small talk.
“I’m a child of divorce. When things were really bad at home, I used to get terrible stomachaches. Once I got older and realized that divorce is part of the average kid’s life, the symptoms disappeared. Funny how that works, isn’t it?”
Elaina nodded. She had no experience on the subject, but she didn’t want to have to discuss Bretton’s failed marriage.
“Yep,” Natalia said, “this is it. Sit on the cot and I’ll find something for that arm.”
“No,” Elaina protested. “I’m fine. I just need a bandage to wrap around it. You don’t have to do this.”
“Just let me.” Natalia huffed. “I want to go to nursing school one day. I like this kind of stuff.”
Elaina relented and plopped down on the cot, exposing her arm.
“Just to be safe, we should disinfect the wound,” Natalia hummed, clearly in her zone. She pulled bottles down from the cabinet, examining the labels. Then, before Elaina could ask her what she was doing, she was dabbing liquids into the stinging wound. Then, she applied gauze to her arm and wrapped it snugly in an elastic bandage.
“Thanks,” Elaina said awkwardly as Natalia leaned in close to wrap the bandage.
“I should be thanking you,” Natalia replied. “You’re the one who saved me from those creeps.”
“How did that happen, anyway?” Elaina interjected, her curiosity getting the better of her. “You don’t even go to this school.”
Natalia sighed as she pinned the bandage into place and sat down on the stool behind her. Her breath quivered in her throat as she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
Elaina pursed her lips, afraid of where this conversation was going. She nonchalantly looked toward the door, waiting for it to swing open.
“Honestly,” Elaina answered, “not that well. I tend to keep to myself at work. I know about the work he’s doing in the lab, for the most part, but that’s about it. I only know about you because I’ve seen pictures of you on his desk.”
She nodded. Elaina became uncomfortable with the silence between them. She felt like she needed to say something—anything.
“I didn’t know about your parents,” she blurted out. “I’m sorry. That must be really hard on you. I’m sure your parents are very proud of you, though.”
Without warning, Natalia suddenly started sobbing. Elaina clammed up. She wasn’t good with these situations.
“What’s wrong?” she gasped, digging her fingernails into her palms. She was already chastising herself for being so socially inept.
It took a while for Natalia to calm down enough to speak coherently, but when she did, she did not spare any details.
“I know my dad’s never been the most nurturing man. I get that,” Natalia said, wiping a tear with the sleeve of her shirt. “But I still thought that he cared about me, even if it was only a little.”
“I’m sure he cares about you,” Elaina said hesitantly. “What happened?”
Natalia shook her head. “We were on my way to my grandma’s house. He said it wasn’t safe in the city, so we had to leave. I didn’t want to go. I was supposed to go to my mom’s house in a week when she got home from her vacation. I didn’t want to be stuck at my grandma’s house with him. So, I was in the car with him when those creeps grabbed me from the seat.”
“What?”
“Our car was surrounded. Someone smashed the window and pulled me out. My dad did nothing but watch. Once I was out of the car, I managed to fight my way free, but he was already driving away. If he would have waited a minute, I could have gotten back into the car. If he had helped me, we would have been out of there in seconds. He didn’t even try.”
Elaina looked at the ground. This story confirmed her judgment of Bretton’s character.
“Were the people infected?” Elaina asked.
“I’m not entirely sure,” she said. “Some might have been, but then there are the others who are just taking advantage of the situation. I was trying to get back to my house when another group of people approached me. Some looked pretty scary with weird skin lesions. But those two guys who grabbed me and took me here weren’t infected at all. Not with your virus, anyway,” she said, raising an eyebrow at Elaina.
Your virus. A chill ran down Elaina’s spine. Once again, she was being blamed for something that wasn’t her fault. Also, she was still in disbelief that it was her virus that did all of this in the first place. Something wasn’t right, but she was in no position to figure out what it was when there were so many dangers to watch out for.
“What do you know about the virus?” Elaina asked, preparing to have her worst suspicions about Bretton Vincent confirmed.
Natalia bit her lip. “Can I ask you one thing?” she said softly.
Elaina nodded, knowing exactly what she wanted to know.
“Did you release the virus?”
“No.”
Natalia looked into Elaina’s eyes as if she were searching for some sort of tell, some indication that Elaina was lying.
“Okay,” she said finally.
Elaina was expecting more of a discussion, but if Natalia wasn’t looking for any more information, she didn’t want to push it. It seemed like she believed her. Even one ally at this stage would be big for Elaina, and she didn’t want to screw that up.
Still, accepting an answer didn’t necessarily mean that Natalia believed her. All she was confirming was that she heard Elaina’s perception of the truth, nothing more and nothing less.
“I need to go back to the lab to work on some stuff,” she said vaguely. “That’s what I was doing when I heard you scream.”
“Oh,” Natalia said flatly. “Should I go?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s probably best if we stuck together. At least until we find a safer place to be,” she added. “If you want to come to the lab with me, I don’t mind.”
“Thanks, that would actually be pretty cool. I really don’t want to be alone right now. Is there anything that I can help with?”
“I don’t think so,” Elaina said hesitantly, still not sure what to make of Natalia Vincent. “Sorry.”
“That’s fine.” She sighed. “I have no problems sitting back and minding my own business if it means that I have a little protection from the crazy assholes of the world.”
With that, Elaina headed back to the high school chemistry lab with her new companion in tow. While she wasn’t always the best at keeping people entertained, she was relieved to have someone with her. There was something so eerie about being alone while the world around you was crumbling.
They had rounded the last corner when they heard a sound coming from in front of them. Natalia clutched Elaina’s forearm tightly.
“What do we do?” Natalia whispered.
“Maybe it’s nothing,” Elaina whispered back. “I need to get into the lab and grab my samples. Then we can leave if we’re in danger.”
However, there was no time for that. Standing directly in front of the science room were four women with their teeth bared. Elaina knew at once that they were infected and that they were ready to attack.
Natalia squeezed her arm tighter. “Are they . . .?”
“Yep.”
“Let’s go,” Natalia urged, pulling Elaina back to where they came from. Elaina froze in her tracks.
“My samples,” she breathed, feeling her pockets. She only had a little bit of the original virus and one vial of LILY.
“They’re going to infect us. We have to go.”
Elaina pulled toward the science lab. She wondered if she could outrun the infected women before they caught her.
There was no time to test her hypothesis. The second she took a step forward, the women lunged forward, taking off into a full sprint toward the two girls. Elaina and Natalia ran toward the front exit when two men blocked their path. They couldn’t tell if they were infected, but at that point, they didn’t trust anyone who was running at them. Elaina pulled Natalia down another empty corridor. Eventually, they made it outside through an emergency door and ran until they could no longer hear the door alarm.
Panting, Elaina turned back to look at the school, worried about the samples she’d left behind. She wondered if she still had a chance to work on the cure without them.
In the back of her mind, she also wondered if anyone would find her samples and understand what they were. At this rate, it hardly mattered if someone became infected from her work. She was more concerned that she was leaving a trail of evidence wherever she went. She would need to be much more careful at her next lab.
If she found a new lab. Part of the pain involved with leaving her work behind was not knowing if she’d be able to pick it up again anytime soon. If she couldn’t, more and more people would become infected. The more people who progressed to the rage symptoms, the more people who would potentially stand in her way.
“Where do we go?” Natalia asked, looking toward the slightly older girl for guidance. Even though she had earned her doctorate in Virology, in many respects, Elaina still felt like a child herself. She wasn’t ready to be fully responsible for herself or others.
“We keep walking,” Elaina said quietly, heading toward the soft glow of the early morning horizon.
Chapter Nine
The girls trekked down side streets and dirt roads, avoiding contact with anyone, infected or not. Elaina knew that it just took one good citizen spotting her for her to be arrested, and Natalia had a complete distrust of everyone save for Elaina. They were the perfect traveling companions.
“Can we s
top now?” Natalia whined after an hour of running and walking. “We haven’t seen anyone in over an hour. Can we go back to your car?”
“My car is in the school parking lot. There’s no way that it’s sat untouched all this time. Car thefts have been on the rise in the last few weeks.”
“I say it’s worth going back for. I hate running.”
“I’m surprised you want to get back in a car so soon, especially after what happened the last time you tried to drive away to safety,” Elaina said in a matter-of-fact tone. This point silenced Natalia for the next twenty minutes of their journey.
Elaina’s arm throbbed, but she didn’t want to show any signs of weakness, especially after prodding Natalia to continue moving forward. She had to set a good example for the girl if she wanted to keep her safe.
A few times, Elaina considered talking to Natalia about her father, just to search for some clues as to what he was up to. But she saw how distraught it made her to talk about him, so she kept her mouth shut. They carried on in silence.
As the birds began their morning song, exhaustion struck Elaina. She had pulled numerous all-nighters during her academic career, but never like this. Many times, if she found herself lost in a textbook, she hardly flinched when her wake-up alarm sounded. Now, the signs of morning filled her with dread. With no safe haven in sight, she would continue the routine of running and searching for a lab well into the next day, if need be.
In the hours since their evacuation from the high school, they’d had a couple of close calls, both with the infected and the seemingly normal crowd. As time went on, it became harder and harder to distinguish between the two.
“Do you ever just fantasize about giving up?” Natalia asked as they slid down from an oak tree where they had briefly taken refuge after a close call. “The odds are stacked against us. At some point, we’re going to come in contact with the virus. Why not just get it over with now and save ourselves a few days of misery running around as a healthy person?”