by Katz, Gayle
I step backwards and put up my hands to keep her away. “I don’t know what’s in that bottle. It could be the cure. It could be poison. It could be anything. I don’t need to have another accident.”
“Jane, a zombie bit you. For the safety of everyone in the lab, either you take the shot or we put you back into a cell for observation,” Ben says.
“But you said you wouldn’t do that!”
“I know, but circumstances have changed. We want to make sure you don’t turn. It’s for your own good.”
Against my better judgement, I hold out my arm and stare Brie down. “If this isn’t the cure and I start to turn or worse, I’m going to find you and you won’t like what I do.”
She breaks my stare and carefully slips the needle into my arm, pushing down on the plunger. Stepping back, she puts the needle back into its package and drops it into an orange hazardous waste basket. As she turns around, my vision starts to get blurry. Soon, I see two of her and begin to get overheated. I look over at Ben and there are two of him as well.
“I don’t… I don’t feel so good,” I mumble.
I try to get to the wall in order to lean against it and stabilize my body, but I collapse face first onto the cold, lab floor. Seconds later, someone flips me over and I see the Professor’s face above me.
“It’ll beeeeee OOOOK,” he says to me. “Yoooooooou’re goooooooooing to be OOOOOK.”
The last thing I hear is someone whispering into my ear, “Jaaaane? Jaaaaane? Can yooooou hear meeee?”
When I open my eyes, I’m in a throng of Jane zombie clones walking through a city. Some of us are pushing our way into buildings, and others keep going down the main drag. I look down at my hands and arms and see gray skin. Trying to speak, no words come out of my mouth. When I do manage to say something, it sounds garbled, like gibberish. Wait. That’s my stomach. I’m starving. I look up and see people running from me. Seemingly out of instinct, I start running after them. If I run faster, maybe I can catch up with one of them.
Running as fast as my legs can carry me, I manage to catch up to an older man with some heft to him. Close enough, I jump onto his back and knock him down to the ground. I can feel him trying to escape from beneath me, but I don’t let him. I bite his neck while he screams in pain. Swallowing chunks of his flesh whole, I go back for seconds, and he continues to howl. I don’t want to share my food, so I bang his head against the ground until I see red. Soon, he stops yelling and his body goes limp.
Almost ready to get up and hunt for my second course, someone kicks me in the head and knocks me down. I turn around to pounce and I’m face to face with a double-barrel rifle. Moments later, I hear a loud bang and flinch awake, still on the floor of the lab.
“Ahhh!” I shout and sit up. “W-What happened? Why am I lying on the floor?”
“You passed out,” Brie says.
“Passed out?”
“Yes, probably from the injection. It has some side effects, but it seems to do the job. How do you feel? Dizzy? Nauseated?” asks Ben.
“Definitely dizzy, but I’m starting to feel better. Give me a minute, and help me up off of the floor.”
“Are you sure? If you’re still dizzy, the floor may be the best place for you until you’re one hundred percent.”
“Are you kidding me? With everything floating around in my body, I’ll never be one hundred percent. I may not even live through this nightmare. Help me up,” I reach up for another hand to grab.
“Well, you’re not unconscious anymore, so that’s certainly a step in the right direction,” Brie says.
“Are you well enough to continue on?” Ben asks, extending his hand to help me get back on my feet.
“Sure. Yeah. I think so.” I grab his hand. My whole body is sore.
“So, your experiments?” Ben asks Brie.
“Yes, she’s almost completed cured,” Brie answers his question.
“Let’s see how she’s doing in person. Shall we?” Ben says as he walks over to Malik, grabs him by the scruff of the neck, and drags him with us.
As we walk over to the Jane clone experiment, she stands up and walks over to us, feeling the bars that separate her from us.
“Where am I? What’s going on?” she asks.
“You were sick. We healed you,” Ben says.
“You?” she says, slinking away from the bars, recognizing the Professor.
“She seems healthy to me. Keep her for observation and make sure she doesn’t relapse.”
“If these clones are real people as you say, then have some more compassion for her. She’s afraid. Can’t anyone see that?” I ask, looking at the group. Walking up to the bars, I reach through them and hold out my hand. “Don’t be scared,” I say to my clone.
She inches closer, takes my hand, and smiles. We watch as the others argue.
“You called me a clone. Who am I a clone of?”
“Me.”
“You?”
“Yeah. We look like identical twins. Crazy, huh?”
“I guess it’s like having a sister.”
“Yeah, I guess you could look at it like that. I like that.”
“They said I was sick. What’s wrong with me?”
“You were… uhhh… turning… into a zombie.”
“A zombie? Never mind, I don’t want to know anymore. But, I’m better now?”
“According to those people yelling at each other over there, yeah.”
“This is just the beginning,” Ben smiles. “The cure will reunite families, bring loved ones together, keep the fabric of humanity intact, and heal the world. Can you see now how holding the cure is wrong? We’re not criminals and we shouldn’t be acting that way. Inject the first subject with the cure and see if she responds. If they’re both OK in the morning, we alert the authorities and release the cure immediately. Do you understand?”
Brie stares at him.
“I’m waiting. Are you with me?”
“Yes.”
“No. She isn't,” Malik says in rebuttal. “Come on, Brie. Don’t throw it away now. He’s just trying to bully you.”
“No one is talking to you. You work for us. Can’t you see? You don’t get a say, at least not in this.”
“I’m not not going to stand here while you decide the fate of the planet. The problem of overpopulation isn’t just a cliche, it’s real and it’s too widespread to ignore. Can’t *you* see? Overpopulation contributes to the depletion of natural resources, like fresh air and water, useable land and fossil fuels. And it doesn’t stop there. When we overuse these resources to provide for so many people, we pollute and contaminate the environment with more carbon dioxide, more greenhouse gases, and more climate change. One country can’t make a dent in this global epidemic, but if the world were to change, maybe, just maybe we can make things better for those who survive. This is our chance. Don’t blow it.”
“And you think you’re the one to make these decisions? Don’t make me laugh.”
“You can’t treat me like this. You’re going to be sorry.”
“Brie, get him in line… NOW!”
“She might agree with you now just so you don’t throw us in the brig, but she’s with me on this one, Professor.”
“Shhh,” Brie says to Malik. She then turns back to Ben. “I’ll talk to him. Don’t worry. He’ll see what we’re trying to do. I promise.”
The Professor looks deep into Brie’s eyes before walking out of the lab. I follow behind.
“That’s it? That’s your idea of fixing the problem?”
“Brie will get him to come around.”
“How do you know that? Neither of them seem very trustworthy.”
“She’s a very persuasive person when she wants to be.”
“Huh?”
The Professor stops midway down the hall, extends his left arm, and shows me a gold band encircling his ring finger. “See that?”
“Yeah? It looks like a wedding band.”
“It’s not just a w
edding band. It’s a symbol. A commitment of trust and love between two people.”
“Uhhh. Yeah, but I didn’t know you’re married. And who exactly are you married to?”
“Brie.”
“Brie? But how? And why?”
“Well, let’s get the details straight, OK? Technically, I’m a clone of the Professor, not the actual Professor. He was married to her. Apparently the ring came along with my remains. Even though it wasn’t my decision to marry her, I thought it would buoy her spirits if I wore it, give her incentive to work faster. Even though I have memories of being married to her, they’re not my memories. Honestly, it feels like it was a million years ago.”
“So being married to her, how does that inform you on what she’s going to do now? She’s been through a lot. We all have. She may not even be the same person she was back then. I know I’m not.”
“I know her. And I know she’ll do the right thing.”
”But…”
“But nothing. Don’t worry about her. You still want to get home to Jack, right?”
“Of course I do.”
“Worry about that instead. We still need to get you there,” Ben says, walking away.
As the conversation ends and Ben walks away, I stop in my tracks. I hope she’s going to do the right thing. If not, the world is in for a lot of hurt.
I watch him get smaller as he continues down the hallway. Standing there, I notice Brie coming down the same hallway. I step to the side and allow her to pass without saying a word. She glares at me briefly, and then picks up speed, rushing down the corridor away from me. Did she already set Malik straight? That was fast. Is she following Ben?
As she fades into the distance, my curiosity is piqued. I go down the same hallway, making sure to trail far enough behind so they don’t notice me. My journey takes me down to Ben’s quarters. I peek around the corner and spy Brie and Ben talking, quickly looking around, and then embracing for a moment.
“Did you talk with him?” Ben asks.
“Yeah,” Brie replies.
“You sure?”
“Yes.” She clears her throat.
“You don’t seem sure.”
“I am. Malik won’t be a problem. I promise.”
“I hope NOT. We already have so many hurdles to jump through. We don’t need another one.”
“You don’t think I know that?”
“I know you do.”
The conversation stops, but they’re still standing together in the corridor. Ben breaks the short silence. “So besides convincing me that Malik will do his job, is there another reason you’re here?”
“Yes. Right. Sorry. Here’s the current research from Malik. You know, on the subjects. See their cellular structures?” Brie whips out some documents and points to them. “If you compare the before and after images of subject Jane clone number three’s cells, you can see her white blood count has come back to relatively normal levels and she has more healthy-looking red blood cells now. That’s from all of the treatments we’ve been giving her.”
“That all looks good. When were these latest samples taken?”
“This morning.”
“Let’s do it again tomorrow morning and see if we’re still heading in the same direction, OK?”
“Sure. We can do that.”
“Does Malik know you’re sharing this information with me? The truth now. Think before you answer.”
“Of course he does.” She clears her throat again.
Ben gives her a disapproving look. “Come on. So now we’re spying on him? I don’t like that one bit.”
“I thought this would help show you he’s on our side. He’s the one using genetic editors inside of the cure delivery system to keep people from turning.”
“That may be so, but I still don’t trust him. People don’t abandon their radical views so easily, at least that’s been my experience. He may look and sound like he’s changed, but keep an eye on him. We can’t afford to fail when we need to focus on helping and healing people around the world.”
“He’ll do the job he was hired and paid to do. We won’t fail. I promise.”
“I hope so,” Ben says, looking more closely at her. “Are you OK? You don’t look so good.”
“I’m fine, just a little stressed out, as you can imagine.”
Chapter 10
________________________________________
Lying on the comfy couch in the Professor’s office again, I stare at the ceiling, hoping that tomorrow both of the remaining clones demonstrate that the cure works. I couldn’t believe it was so difficult for me to leave my frightened clone, but she needs more rest to recuperate. And I need to get some sleep, too, with the cure in me now. I’m anxious about what’s going to happen tomorrow. If there is a viable cure, that means I get to go home and see Jack, and I can’t wait another second.
“Jane?” I hear the Vulture in my ear. “Are you up? Are you alone?”
“Yes on both accounts.”
“What happened to you back there?
“Ugh. Malik ambushed me and I got bit by one of their zombies.”
“Malik? I don’t know why they continue to work with him. He can’t be trusted. Are you all right? Are you…”
“Turning into a zombie? No, not yet. I’m fine, I think. As a precaution, they decided to inject me with their newest concoction. One they think is the cure.”
“They think?”
“Yeah, it looks promising. It seems to be working on their test subjects.”
”If that’s the case, I think it might be time to bring this whole mess to a close.”
“A close? What are you talking about? We don’t even know if they have a viable cure yet. Listen to me, please don’t do anything until they confirm the cure works.”
“Fine. We’ll sit tight for now. How are you feeling? Do you have any side effects from the cure?”
“I had a minor reaction and passed out. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine now.”
“OK. Good. Glad to hear it. Listen, there’s something else you should see.”
“Something else? Wait. What did you show me before? My brain isn’t working so good right now. I can’t remember.”
“You can’t remember? What do you mean you can’t remember?”
“My mind is… is… uh… a little hazy.”
“That’s not good. What are they doing to you in there? I showed you footage of your clones turning into zombies and infecting people in the largest cities in the world.”
“Oh shit! That’s right! I don’t know why I couldn’t remember.”
“Maybe it’s something in the cure? Maybe there’s something in there designed to help people forget what happened to them, if they’re able to get to them in time.”
“I don’t know if that’s good or bad. I guess if I was a zombie, ate someone, and somehow changed back, I might not want to remember either. Now that you reminded me though, it’s coming back slowly. You have control over the facility. Can you stop them from sending out more clones? Shut them down? Turn off the power to their cloning lab?”
“I only have control over some mid-level security functions in here. Unfortunately, it seems like after those clones are programmed and activated, there’s no way to stop them.”
“None?”
“None, well except for killing them outright. Go over to the computer.”
I sit up and look at the computer on the desk. I walk over and sit down in front of it. “OK. I’m ready. What’s next?”
“Turn on the monitor, wait for the screen to come up, and click on the file folder titled JANE PRACTICE.”
“No password this time?”
“I was able to bypass it for you.”
When I click the file folder, it opens to reveal hundreds of video files named Jane0001, Jane0002, and so on.
“Wha-What is all this? Why are all of these files named after me?”
“Click the Jane0002 file.”
“Why not the first one?”<
br />
“You don’t want to watch that one.”
I click on the file and start to watch the video playback. It shows Brie’s lackeys throwing me into the zombie attack simulation, just as they had done not so long ago. Geez, when was that? I can’t remember. It couldn’t have been too long ago. I’m not sure of the exact timeline. Still thinking, I can’t quite figure how much time has passed. Being cooped up in this place, I’m losing track of the days.
I watch myself walk deeper into the experiment and go directly to the doors to try and escape. The doors open and zombies rush in, knocking me over. Biting my nails, I watch intently as the zombies pile on top of me, hold me down, and start gnawing at me. I hear screams. Wait. That’s not how I remember it happening. Then I hear a voiceover. It’s a man’s voice and it sounds familiar.
“Geez. This might be her clone, but she definitely isn’t as resilient as the original. I do very much enjoy her screams when they rip her apart though. Bring in the next one.”
“I-Is that Malik?”
“Yes. This is how they prepped the Jane clones for their missions, making them stronger so nothing can stop them.”
“I can’t watch this anymore. I can’t, I can’t take it. I feel so… so disconnected from the world, Jack and myself. How do I even know I’ll have a life to go back to when this is over? Maybe I’ll get lucky and wake up from this bad dream.”
“Let me help you reconnect, all right? No matter what you think or how you might feel now, Jack needs you.”
Without touching anything, another video immediately starts to play.
“I didn’t do that,” I say as I pull my hands away from the keyword.
“I know. I did.”
I see Jack from the chest up on the left side of the screen and, strange enough, our dentist on the other. They’re at the dentist? That’s odd. The dentist is hovering over the Jane clone, who I assume is lying back on the chair.
“I can’t stand dental appointments,” my Jane clone mumbles as the dentist’s instrument is in her mouth. “I can never get used to someone scraping my teeth. It’s unnerving.”