“Where are they going?” I asked, pointing to the gate.
“The doctor requested medical supplies and other stuff. They planned on leaving earlier but the screamer we brought back caused some uprise this morning,” Silas explained, rubbing his fingers through his wet hair.
Gabe dried off with a towel and tossed a dry one to Silas.
“How did we bring one back?” I questioned.
“That is an excellent question Layla, we thought you might know seeing you can do all sorts of weird shit,” Gabe said in a snarky tone.
“Well, I don’t know why is it I always end up with more damn questions and never answers?” I shouted.
“Maybe because you are a damn freak and do shit without knowing you’re doing it. You think you are getting a grip on your gift but all I see you doing is making my life more of a living hell then it already is,” Gabe yelled back.
He was clearly angry with me and I hadn’t purposely done anything to hurt him.
“Silas will you please explain what happened? Possibly without biting my head off,” I begged.
“Sure first, I’d like to put on dry clothes then we can talk.”
He kissed my forehead and gave me a quick squeeze
“I’m glad you are ok, I thought the screamer was eating you when we appeared. I’ll meet you on the roof in a half hour.”
A half hour later I found Silas waiting for me on the roof. He was handsome as always, in dry clothes. He was wearing a Nike t-shirt and blue jeans. He smiled his amazing smile as I approached. He took my hand and lead me to the edge of the roof. We sat with our feet dangling over.
“I used to have a severe fear of heights. I would feel queasy looking out my second story bedroom window,” Silas said chuckling.
“I find that hard to believe, considering the last time we were up here you pulled me off. I believe it was this very spot if memory serves me correctly,” I replied.
We laughed at the strangeness our lives had become. I caught Silas up on everything I remembered from the previous night. He listened intently, not saying anything until I finished. I glanced out into the city the view wasn’t great from the roof. I could see a few birds flying around in the sky. I wondered like so many other times if any people were out there.
“Somehow you pulled Gabe and me into your dream or whatever it was. One minute I was sleeping in my bed and the next I am standing in the field. I saw the screamer on top of you. Gabe was next to me and much to my surprise we were holding hands. Can you believe that we, were holding hands?”
He glanced at his hand as if the thought still made him uncomfortable then he continued.
“Gabe and I jumped to action and ran towards you. It wasn’t until we had gotten her off from you that we realized we were surrounded by screamers. They were screaming and charging at us. Gabe grabbed you and me not noticing that screamer chick had grabbed onto your leg. She came back with us, thankfully she was out cold. She didn’t do well teleporting she has been out since we got back,” Silas explained.
A scream echoed throughout the warehouse making me start.
“I don’t think she is out anymore, sounds like she is pissed off to me,” I stated covering my ears.
“What exactly is Dr. Nickels planning to do to her?” I asked.
“I’m not sure I know he is trying to find a cure but other then that I don’t know,” Silas replied.
Manic screams echoed followed by more. The screamer sounded different then the other ones. Stress or maybe pain sounded in her screams. I kind of felt bad for her but that thought only lasted a minute. I wondered if Dr. Nickels could find a cure?
“Silas,” a voice called from the stairs.
We turned and faced the voice. It was a tall balding man. He looked familiar but I couldn’t place where I knew him from. Silas and I walked over to the man.
“The doctor would like some help with the screamer. She is in quite the up roar and people are getting upset,” the man said.
We hurried down flights of stairs and found the screamer fighting her restraints. There were several people in the room watching and waiting, weapons pointed at her. Everytime she screamed everyone in the room dropped to their knees and covered their ears. The none gifted struggled the most, they curled into a ball almost convulsing, some tried crawling towards the exit but were paralyzed with pain.
Wes came into the room evaluating the situation. He took a few steps into the room and stopped. He covered his ears and closed his eyes. I could feel the energy pulsing through him I wanted to take it. It was a desperate need but I fought against it. The screamer continued to scream like a banshee but the room had been muted. Wes kept his eyes closed for a few more seconds and then he opened them, he was grinning ear to ear. Everyone in the room got to their feet and moved around freely.
“Thank you Wes. If you could possible keep the screams blocked for a little while longer that would be greatly appreciated. Hannah will be back soon to knock her out again,” Dr. Nickels said.
“You have to kill it, now!” An older women stated, she was standing next to a man I guessed to be her husband.
“We can’t be this close to it. It is hurting us, it can’t be a good thing that blood comes out of our ears, eyes, nose and mouth every time that thing screams. The screams send terrible pain throughout my body and I don’t know that we can survive if it keeps doing that,” the women said, clearly panicking.
I can’t say I blamed her, I knew the pain it caused me and I was gifted. Not having a gift must have made it worse. I wanted the screamer dead too, I thought to myself.
The screamer continued to scream and fight her restraints. I watched Dr. Nickels take vials of blood from her. Her blood was almost a blackish color with a dark tint of red mixed in. She attempted to bite at him but was unsuccessful. I stood unmoving and watched not sure what to do, except end this and put a bullet in her head. She calmed for the briefest moment and glared directly at me. Our eyes locked and I felt an odd sensation come over me.
“Help me,” she trembled.
“How?” I replied.
I knew we were communicating without speaking.
“Remember,” she screamed.
I fell back into Silas. He caught me and steadied me. My body shook uncontrollably.
“Hey, are you alright?” Silas asked.
“Yeah,” I laughed, “I thought she spoke to me. I know it sounds crazy.”
Silas and Wes looked from me to the screamer, unsure how to respond.
“Quinn, the group is back,” a voice yelled from the hall.
“Great,” Quinn replied, “Send Hannah in.”
Hours later the action finally died down. Hannah put the screamer to sleep and amazingly enough Wes wasn’t completely drained. He was quite thirsty but didn’t need to go in the tank or pool.
“I think we are getting stronger with our gifts,” Greg stated; as Silas and I joined him in the cafeteria.
“Have you had any bad dreams since you got sick?” I asked Greg.
We sat at the same table we always did and consumed water for our dinner. Others sat at nearby tables and seemed to enjoy the chicken sandwiches, french fries and green beans placed before them. I watched a young man inhale his chocolate pudding cup. I remembered how I used to enjoy pudding. My dad and I would make the cook and serve kind. I stood in a chair by the stove whisking the milk and pudding until it became thick and bubbled. Now the thought of food turned my stomach upside down and back again.
“I haven’t had any bad dreams but I have had dreams, mostly the same dream. I am standing at the edge of a big open field. There are others there but I don’t have a clear picture of them. I think you are standing in the center of the field but I can’t make out a clear picture everything is blurry. I always wake up when I hear the screamers, scream,” Greg explained.
Silas glanced up at me but didn’t say anything. I wondered if I had seen Greg in my dreams too? We fell into pointless conversation after that. The rest of the day
was thankfully uneventful.
Day 80:
A week went by in the blink of an eye. Dr. Nickels kept us busy sending us on outings into the city to collect supplies for his never ending experiments on the screamer. Wes and Hannah had been alternating night shifts to keep the captured screamer at bay. There had been numerous screamers randomly appearing at the gate and attempting to get through. They seemed to sense the captured screamer within the walls. I’m not sure if they wanted to free her or eat her. The doctor injured the screamer with all his test and I wondered again if the screamers at the gate knew. I thought this over while I watched Addy shoot two screamers in the head. They fell backwards and hit the asphalt with tremendous force. Addy had become unbelievably fast with every weapon she used. Her gift of speed had developed remarkably well over the weeks. She could move so fast no one would see her until she was at her destination. I took her ability one night and tried it out. It was exhilarating to be able to move with such speed. It felt as though I was in slow motion but really the speed was lightning fast.
Since the captured screamer arrived there was a divide between the gifted and the none gifted. The none gifted had started to ban together and the gifted were forced to come together. Tension was thick in the air and could be cut with a knife. Quinn had attempted to talk with the none gifted but they had somehow convinced themselves we were a threat. I suppose they were right. We had very powerful abilities but not one of the thirteen of us wanted to hurt them. Quinn explained to us that they were scared and no one knew what to do anymore. People were scared of what they don’t understand and they didn’t understand us. They didn’t understand the screamers. Quinn had me speak at a meeting. I explained that we had to work together and we were trying to help keep everyone safe. I wished I had kept my mouth closed because Hannah’s father yelled out so everyone could hear, that I was the biggest threat to all because I could take the others gifts. That proved to be unwelcome news I found even the gifted had been standoffish with me. Silas, Quinn, Hannah and Gabe were the only ones that treated me the same.
I found it better to keep to myself. The gifted hadn’t been mean to me but I could sense their unease when I was around them. I guess I would have been uncomfortable too knowing someone had the ability to take away my gift.
“Hey, you hiding away outside again? I remember when you hated the night.”
Silas stepped out of the shadows and sat down on the roofs edge next to me.
“It’s funny how not so long ago the screams caused such pain and now they have become normal night sounds,” I stated wiping away a small drip of blood from my nose.
“I think we can thank Wes for that. He has learned how to keep a permanent shield around the warehouse. It blocks out the pain from the screams,” Silas stated.
“The screams do sound muffled now. They are out there owning the night but unable to bring us down,” I added.
Silas smiled and rested his hand on my leg. I put my hand on top of his. We sat and listened to the night screamers. I watched the gifted at the gate kill each screamer as it lunged. What had this world become?
Day 85:
The sky was an ugly grey and black when we exited the gate. We had crammed into three trucks. We headed into the now run down city. The ride was uncomfortable. Weeds and other growth had poked through cracks in the road. Mother nature had begun taking back what was once hers.The truck trudged along over potholes and debri. I watched grey clouds dance across the sky. Gabe, Wes, Addy and I rode in a red beat up GMC pickup. While Silas, Sally, Jacob and Nate rode in a black ford truck. Hannah’s dad, Mike and three beefy men I didn’t know rode in the last truck. Addy navigated the road while Wes drove. Dr. Nickels gave specific directions to a facility he needed us to go to. We drove many miles and ended up on the southern side of the city. The paved potholed road turned to dirt and a huge sign on the side of the road said, “No Trespassing.” Further down the road another sign stated, we were now entering a government facility and we should turn around. “Authorized Personnel Only.” Violators could face heavy fines or imprisonment. I swallowed hard as we passed the sign, wondering where the hell the doctor was sending us this time. We had been on numerous runs to hospitals, pharmacies and medical supply stores over the past couple of weeks.
We pulled up to a gate much like the one at the warehouse, only here there were unmanned guard towers scattered along the fenced perimeter. Gabe jumped out of the truck as we came to a stop. He jogged over to a keypad and typed in a code. The gate clanked open and we pulled through. We followed a paved road that twist and turned down a hill. We drove up to a brick building that looked like it was built in the early 70’s. We parked by the main entrance and exited the trucks.
“How did you know the code to get in here?” I asked Gabe.
“Dr. Nickel’s told me the passcode,” he replied dryly.
I nodded and followed the group to the entrance. The door was locked but Gabe pulled a card out of his pocket and swiped it through a card reader. A small light turned green and a buzzing sound filled the silence followed by the cling of the door unlocking. Gabe pulled the door open and we entered the building. A chill ran across my skin as we stood in the main entrance. I was thinking we should have brought Greg with us when a door to my left slid open and a gaunt looking man stepped into view. Mike and the other three beefy’s raised their guns to the man. The man raised his hands and spoke softly.
“It’s ok, I’m not sick but we need to get out of this part of the building now!” He said hurriedly directing us to follow him.
A loud bang sounded in the opposite direction. We turned to the sound and saw it was coming from a blocked door.
“Hurry!” The man called.
We followed the man as he led us down four flights of stairs and into a well lit laboratory. Everything was clean and white, white walls, white counters and even the floor was white tiled. One wall was made completely of glass. I approached and saw through the glass wall eight individual cells. My heart picked up a beat not because there were jail cells in the laboratory but because of what was inside the cells. Each of the eight cells contained a night screamer. The screamers weren't adults, they were children. The children varied in age. I grabbed a clipboard hanging on a hook next to cell number one. It read:
Patient One:
Female, age 10.
Turned 4 days into sickness.
Injections: C131 failed, C234 failed, C197 failed,
C228 failed, C199 failed, C482 failed, C451
failed, C229 failed.
I placed the clipboard back on the hook and moved to the next cell and then the next. Each clipboard the same, except the gender and age. They were all children under the age of ten. When I reached the last cell I froze at the sight before me. This cell contained eight clear bassinets and in each one was an infant. Each infant was wrapped in a pink or blue blanket. The infants weren’t crying like normal babies would, these infants had a horrid tiny scream.There was no clipboard for this cell and I found my hand automatically reaching for a button on the wall to open the door to cell eight. The gaunt man reached my hand in time to stop me from pushing it.
“You don’t want to do that. Those infants are infected and even though they can’t bite you they have a wicked nasty cry that attracts other unwelcome visitors,” he stated with fear in his quiet tone.
“What is this place?” I asked with pure distaste in my mouth.
“Welcome to T.4.7. we are, were, a secret government organization that specializes in finding cures for diseases and viruses,” he explained pridefully.
“Why are these children here?” I demanded.
“They were test subjects brought here by the government. Don’t worry those children,” he said pointing to the cells, “were unwanted or wards of the state. No one missed them,” his quiet tone cruel and uncaring.
I felt sick to my stomach at the thought of those poor children being test subjects. It sounded like something from a horror movie and I felt rage buil
ding inside me. This cold hearted monster spoke heartlessly about the children.
Silas spoke, “Are you still running test on these kids?”
“Yes but only on the infants. The ones that walk are too fast now and I can’t chance being infected. I am very close to finding a cure to this terrible illness that has changed the human population into monsters,” he replied.
“Are you the only one here?” Mike questioned.
One of the beefy guys in our group nodded in my direction then to a camera in the corner of the room. I glanced in the direction he was looking and saw a red flashing light on the camera. I watched Gabe, Wes and Addy casually spread out around the room. Each taking a fighting stance, I sensed the tension in the room building with each passing second. The man ignored Mike’s question and continued on.
“You see, I need uninfected humans and who should show up but all of you.Your timing is perfect and your help will be greatly appreciated.”
His face twisted into a sick smirk and a door next to him opened, the room filled with a dozen or so armed men. They were dressed in full military gear and were holding assault rifles. Their faces were covered by
full face masks and even their hands were hidden by black gloves. The men pointed guns at each of us. I glanced at Gabe and saw he was smiling, actually smiling. I felt terrified by our current situation yet he watched in amusement. I glanced to where Sally had been standing moments before and now she was gone. I remembered she could turn invisible. Then it hit me we were not helpless little humans anymore. These guys had no idea what they were really up against. Sally’s disappearance thankfully had gone unnoticed.
I took a step forward gathering my bearings. I had to be brave and I knew we could easily take these men.
“You are going to let us take what we need and leave,” I stated, angrily, with more confidence then I felt.
The Demise of Humanity Page 8