by Gayle Katz
“I swear.”
“That restaurant we went to. The one I told you about.”
“Yes?”
“I’m the one who didn’t want to go anywhere else. I’m the one who made us stay and take the table by the kitchen. If I would have just listened to them and gone to another restaurant, none of this would have happened and my family would still be alive. It’s all my fault,” she chokes out.
“No. That’s not right. It’s not your fault, Cate. None of this is.”
“Didn’t you hear me? I’m the one who made them stay.”
“I heard you.”
“I killed them.”
“Come on. You don’t believe that, do you?”
“How can I not? I picked the day. I picked the restaurant. I made us stay at the restaurant, even though they gave us the worst table in the place. If I would have just changed one thing – another day, another time, or another restaurant – maybe things would have turned out differently.”
“You can’t think about the what-ifs. You’ll drive yourself crazy.”
“But they’re all dead. And it’s because of me.”
“No. They’re dead because this zombie plague is driving us all toward extinction. It’s not right. Nothing about this is right, but it’s also not your fault. You have enough to worry about without torturing yourself.”
“Jane?”
“Yeah?”
“I miss them so much.”
“I know you do. You sound like a good person, Cate. Your family didn’t deserve what happen to them and you certainly don’t deserve to be trapped here.”
“Thanks for that.” I can hear from her voice that she’s probably got a smile on her face, most likely for the first time in a long while. “You think we can get outta here?”
“I don’t know, but I’m gonna try. And I’m gonna make sure we both make it out of here.”
“Me too?”
“Of course, you too!”
“Thanks, Jane. It’s good to feel like a part of something again.”
“Thank me when I get us out of this place.”
“If anyone can do it, I know you can.”
“I hope so.”
While it’s debatable if we’ll ever make it out of here alive, at least I’ve lifted her spirits and done some good for us both today.
Chapter 5
________________________________________
I hear a loud metallic clang and awake, startled. My body aches from the crouching position I fell asleep in after talking with Cate and my head is still pounding. With a click, the lights flip on again. At first, I have to cover my eyes because the light is so bright. As I squint through my fingers, I see the same blonde woman standing in front of me.
“Wow! You look like shit.” Brie says.
I stare at her, still hunched over on the floor.
“Have you made up your mind yet?”
I don’t know what to say. I glance over at Cate’s cage. She’s not there anymore. I look back at the woman standing over me. “What did you do with the woman who was over there?” I point down the row.
“Who are you talking about?”
“Cate.”
“Oh, Cate! She’s being treated for a zombie bite.”
“Being treated or being experimented on?”
“There’s no need to worry about her. She’s receiving the best care possible.”
“Forgive me if I don’t believe you until I see her again with my own two eyes.”
“OK, Jane. Stop stalling for time. Last chance. Maybe this will help you come to a decision,” she says as she touches the video monitor she rolled over last night. She pops in a DVD and presses the PLAY button. “We recorded this fun little video last night. We watched it live and ate some popcorn. Everyone loved it, so I think you’ll enjoy the replay. Let me move the screen closer so you can see. Since the video is recording through Jane’s eyes, it’s like you’re right there.”
“Please stop saying that. I’m Jane, OK? She’s not.”
“Sure. Sure. Can you see all right?”
I stare at her.
“Good. Good. Enjoy.”
We both watch Jack come close to the screen and kiss it. I instantly recognize the come-hither expression on his face and I’m not pleased with what I believe is going to happen next. A woman’s arms reach for him. “Let me unbutton that for you,” she croons.
Watching Jack with someone else is making my stomach turn. She’s pretending to be his wife, though, so what else did I expect would happen between them? Husbands and wives are intimate with each other. It’s completely normal, but she’s not his wife. That bothers the crap out of me, but what’s worse than knowing it’s happening is being forced to watch it happen. Helpless, I grapple with the growing jealousy and anger building up inside me.
Jack looks at her as a smile appears on his face. When his shirt opens and falls to the floor, a bare-chested Jack kisses the clone me again and whispers into her ear. “I’ve missed you so much, babe. I’m never going to leave your side again.”
The clone me responds, “I’m just glad that you’re all right.”
“I’m better than all right,” Jack says as he leads the clone me to our bedroom. “We’ve been apart for too long.”
“Please stop,” I plead.
“We’re just getting to the good part. Are you sure you don’t want to keep watching? Now I understand why you travelled halfway around the world to save him. He’s a catch. Sexy. Passionate. Very good in be—”
“Stop! Turn it off. I’ve seen enough,” I choke out at this still-unnamed woman screwing with my head. Tears run down my cheeks. Watching this filth crushes me. That’s one wall I don’t want to be a fly on. “Why would you show me that? Why?”
“Because I knew that would get you talking and we need your help.”
“I see you get your brilliant negotiation tactics from Lance.”
“There isn’t much time,” she replies. “So? Can we count on you?”
“Fine. I’ll help, but what you say better be true. You’d better be working on a real cure.”
“We are.”
“And will you keep up your end of the deal? Letting me go?”
“Yes. I promise.”
“Are you sure about that? You’ve been dangling that carrot in front of Cate for a while now. That you’d let her go, too.”
“Getting chummy with your neighbors. Are you friends now? How nice!” The woman chuckles. “Don’t worry about Cate. She’ll be leaving us soon. And I promise to hold up my end of our bargain.”
“And what about my clone?”
“What about her?”
“You need to deactivate her, or whatever it is you do with clones to turn them off.”
“She’s perfect, right? Your husband couldn’t even tell the difference. In the beginning, I thought she would do something out of step, not in line with your personality, but she proved me wrong. She might be a better you than you are. Just flawless. She’s a perfect copy! Our best work yet!”
“Enough.”
“It’s a shame you can’t appreciate the remarkable beauty behind the clone. It’s really quite fascinating.”
“Sorry if I don’t pat you on the back. All I see is some other woman with my husband.”
“Such a narrow view. You should really learn to open your mind.”
“Can we stop talking about this? You didn’t answer my question.”
“Ah! Yes! Getting rid of her, that might prove to be a little tough, but we’ll work something out. Keep in mind that while she’s not the original you, she’s still you. She’s a flesh and blood person, a human, if that makes sense. We’ll have to figure out what to do with her.”
“Fine. I guess. Whatever. Get her a clone boyfriend for all I care, just get her away from Jack.”
“Jealous she’ll be a better wife than you?”
“Not at all. I’m confident Jack will see her for who she really is – a copy, a fraud.”
&n
bsp; “We’ll see. Anyway, ready to get started? You help us with our experiments and we’ll help you get back to Jack. Deal?”
“I can’t tell whether or not you’re being honest, but I’ll be curious to see if you live up to your word. It’s a deal.”
“So you’ll help us?”
“Yes. One thing. You already know my name. What’s yours?”
“My name is Brie,” she says nonchalantly as she pulls out her keys and jangles them in her hand. Eventually, after finding the right key, she opens the door to my cage.
Once open, a couple of men in white lab coats rush into the room, grab me by my arms, and forcefully escort me out of the zombie room. “Get off of me,” I say as I try to shrug them off. Ignoring my wishes, they hold on tighter as I attempt to wiggle out of their grasp. I turn around and see Brie following us.
“What’s going on?” I ask. “I thought this was supposed to be voluntary, but you’re carting me off like a prisoner!”
“Just relax. We need some samples of your blood. We need to get a baseline,” she says as they drag me into the lab and strap me down onto a cold, silver exam table.
“A baseline? For what?” I struggle against my restraints.
“You were cured of the original zombie virus with I-481.”
“How do you know that?”
“As I mentioned earlier, we know your history.”
“What? How? How did you get ahold of my medical records?” I’m still pulling against the restraints.
“Don’t worry about it. Everything is going to be OK. And that’s of no concern right now.”
“It’s my life! Of course it’s my concern.”
“Meet Malik. You’re in good hands. He’s our lead scientist and is doing everything possible to find a cure that’ll work for everyone.”
He nods his head in my direction and doesn’t say a word. Instead, he walks over to his tray of instruments and unwraps a needle. He pulls out a tourniquet and wraps it tight around my arm. “Just calm down. It’s just like being at a blood drive,” he finally says.
“Stop fighting us, Jane. You agreed to help us. And you can’t escape, so I suggest you conserve your energy. You’re going to need it,” Brie pleads.
I watch as the extra large needle pierces my skin. The pain it inflicts is burning through my veins. I let out an anguished scream.
“Take a couple of extra vials,” I hear her say to Malik as I stare up at the ceiling. The feeling goes away momentarily, but then the stinging starts again.
As they drain the blood from my body, I stop fighting them. I feel weak, sleepy even. I see her look down at me.
“How are you feeling?”
“Tired.”
“That’s normal. We took a lot of blood.”
“Why so much?”
“We also need it as a comparison.”
“Comparison?”
“Yes, of course. Your blood composition will change after the experiments.”
“Tell me about these experiments.”
“It’s pretty simple. We’re going to have zombies infected with the newer, mutated virus bite you.”
“W-What? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t worry about that yet. We’re not monsters. We’re not just going to throw you to the zombies right now. We’re gonna get you some food. Allow you to rest. We want everything to be as realistic as possible, but we also want you to have a fighting chance. How’s your vision?” She waves her hand in front of my face.
“Blurry,” I whisper, feeling empty, fatigued, and slightly dizzy. The world seems to be spinning. I close my eyes. I hear what she’s saying, but I don’t have the energy to react.
“I’m delighted you’re helping us, but it concerns me that your husband can’t tell the difference between you and your clone when they’re intimate.”
A few tears fall from my eyes. I know she’s playing with me, but I can’t help but react.
“No matter, though. Buck up! We’ll get you back by his side as quickly as possible,” she says as she pats my shoulder. “She’s burnt out. Let her get some rest,” I hear her say to her team.
Still strapped to the table, I fall asleep.
***
I feel movement. As the table bends and curves into a sitting position, I wake up after a rest that only seems like it lasted a few measly minutes. Still exhausted and bleary-eyed, I try to get my bearings.
“Are you hungry?” Brie asks.
“Yes,” I whisper.
With my body still strapped down, her lackeys free my hands so I can grab onto the food they brought me. I’m ravenous. I attack my food and devour it in only a few bites.
“Slow down. Enjoy it.”
I don’t hear her as I’m feverishly stuffing food into my face.
“Feeling better?”
I stop eating for a moment to let what I’ve consumed make it to my stomach. “No. Not really. My back is killing me because I’m strapped to a table. My head is pounding. And soon, you’re gonna feed me to zombies. How is any of that supposed to make me feel better?”
“It should. Your sacrifice will help further our cause of curing the plague for everyone. That should give you some satisfaction.”
“Well, forgive me if it doesn’t. I didn’t realize I agreed to be your lab rat. Who else have you used like this? Did you do this to Cate – make the same deal with her? Getting her hopes up until zombies eat her alive?”
“Whether you like it or not, progress forward requires scientific research, study, and testing, and that’s exactly what we’re doing here. Plus, you agreed to help us,” she says as she waves over the medtech twosome who manhandled me before. “You can’t back out now.”
“Please don’t do this. Please,” I plead. “There has to be another way.”
“It’s for the greater good, Jane. You’ll be helping to pave the way for a new cure, one that works for everyone. Most people die in vain, without a purpose. Your death – your sacrifice – will mean more.”
“My sacrifice? Greater good? So you lied to me. You said you’d let me go.”
“No. I promise you I’m not lying. If you make it through these experiments alive, we’ll see what we can do about getting you back together with Jack.”
As one of the men approaches, I use my free hand to make a fist and punch him in the face.
“Grab ahold of her!” Brie shouts.
The man I punched in the face grabs my wrists and holds them over my head while the other one unstraps my legs. Finally free from my shackles, I’m kicking and screaming, trying to break loose from their grip. They drag me out of the lab and, within minutes, I’m back in my cell. Still yelling and screaming, the zombie chorus joins in and the noise level rises to a deafening pitch.
“We can’t put you in the test scenario like this. You have to calm down a bit.” Brie raises her voice to be heard over the commotion.
“Calm down? You expect me to calm down?”
“Yes. I do.”
“You’re going to throw me in with the zombies. I’m probably gonna die, and you want me to calm down?”
“Maybe this will help you cooperate.” She pulls the monitor close to the bars of my cell. “I’ll leave the equipment here. All you have to do is click the enter button and you’ll connect to the live video feed. It might help you remember why you’re doing all of this.”
With Brie gone and the yelling over, the zombie screeching sounds die down. Dejected, I sit down on the bench and glance over to the empty cell. Still no Cate.
Chapter 6
________________________________________
Staring at the computer screen, I wonder what Jack is doing right now. For a moment, I daydream about the two of us waking up in bed together, facing the day as a team. And then I stop. What am I thinking? I can’t watch Jack with the fake me. I won’t torture myself like that. He can’t possibly believe that thing is me. He just can’t. I don’t care what happened before. I don’t believe it.
Aft
er a few short minutes, curiosity gets the best of me. I stand up and walk over to the computer keyboard. I eyeball the enter key, inhale deeply, exhale slowly, and click the button, not knowing what I’m going to see. Immediately, the screen pops on and I spot Jack. He’s looking right at me. I miss him so much. Just seeing his face makes me smile.
It’s still dark out at home and Jack is having breakfast. As he stabs his scrambled eggs with his fork and slowly brings them closer to his mouth, he’s intently looking at his phone. Jack is in the news business and, as a result, is addicted to the constant barrage of news that he gets via feeds from the news bureaus and social media.
“I almost forgot how much I miss reading and reporting the news,” he says.
“I’m just glad you aren’t the news anymore,” the Jane clone replies.
“Yeah, tell me about it. It changes everything, ya know?”
“What do you mean?”
“It means that I love my job, but I’m smart enough to realize now that I love you more.” Quickly finishing his eggs, he stands up and walks over to the Jane clone. He takes her hands and helps her stand up, wrapping his arms around her. “And I’ll never forget what happened to me and how much you did to bring me home. I’ll never be that careless with our lives ever again. That’s a promise.”
I drop my eyes from the video screen as they continue to embrace. I’m elated that Jack has finally had an epiphany, but it’s killing me that he’s talking to a goddamn clone. This copy of me who’s done absolutely nothing for him. That should be me with him right now. I hear him start talking again so I look back up.
“I have to get to work, but I won’t be late tonight, OK?” Jack says as he kisses the Jane clone.
“That’s music to my ears.”
“No more working late nights, either.”
“Jack,” I whisper to myself as I touch the screen. “Can’t you tell that isn’t me?”
“So early in the morning?” the Jane clone says. “Save some lovin’ for later.”
“Don’t you worry, gorgeous, there’ll be plenty more where that came from after I get home tonight.”