“Well if that’s what I’m going to get every time you want to apologise, I think I might have to figure out some more ways to make you say sorry,” he chuckles, and I push him playfully in the shoulder as I get to my feet. When I stand, the first thing I notice is that Adam is holding my hand, the second is that the bodies of my parents have been removed. Now I know what the whispers were about earlier. I look up to Adam, a silent thank you written across my face, and my resolve strengthens.
“I’m going to find out what caused this. I’m going to find out why it didn’t happen to us. And I know just where to start.”
“Where?” he peers at me curiously.
“With the birds.”
“The University Kels? That’s the best you could come up with?” Adam sighs.
“They have one of the best Medical Research Centres. And I know that’s where they took the birds.”
“What is it with the birds? You keep going on about it, but you haven’t explained.” He is getting annoyed with my vagueness, but I want to make sure I have my theories right first. Now that we’re here though, I decide I might as well share my notions with him.
“Remember a week before everyone started killing? The birds had gone insane. They killed hundreds, if not thousands of people. And then, they just died.”
“Yeah, of course. How could anyone forget that? What does that have to do with… Oh! Oh! You think the two things are connected?”
“Don’t you?” I turn to him, incredulity on my face.
“Maybe,” he raises his eyebrows.
I roll my eyes at him, and continue walking. I look up at the building in front of me. The Infectious Disease Research Centre is one of the finest in the state, and the only place I can think to start my search for answers. The glass doors at the entrance are stuck open, and leaves have blown inside, covering the floor. They crunch under my feet and the sound echoes through the empty halls of the lobby.
“Hello?” My voice rebounds off the walls, and finally rests again in my ears.
“The place is deserted,” Adam states the obvious as he spins in a circle, looking around him for any signs of life. “What now?”
“Well, I suppose we’ll have to figure it out ourselves.”
“Right because we know so much about infectious diseases.”
“We have to try.” My annoyance with his negative attitude is apparent in my tone.
I find the sign that says research lab, and follow the corridor where the arrow points. The building is full of glass walled rooms and equipment that I have never seen before in my life. Maybe Adam is right; maybe I am in over my head.
“Hey,” he whispers just as the thought enters my head. He has a finger to his mouth, signalling me to be quiet. Pointing down the hall we are in, I follow his finger, and see what he is pointing to. At the far end of the corridor is another identical glass room, but in this one a man sits behind a large white desk covered in vials of different coloured liquids and piles of paperwork.
The scientist behind the desk is studying something. He is so intent that he doesn’t even look up when we enter his room, though I know he must have heard us approach.
I clear my throat before speaking, my hand on the open door. “Hello?” I use a soft voice, trying not to startle the man. He looks up at me in surprise, obviously not expecting visitors.
“Ah…Hello there. Can I help you?” he asks, his voice distant. His round face reminds me of my uncle Joey. I wonder briefly whether Joey made it through the attack, but stop the thought short.
“Um… I’m Kelsey,” I then gesture to Adam, “and this is Adam. We’re here trying to figure out what happened out there. Do you know anything?” The man’s eyes widen before he takes his glasses off and rubs his eyes. I wonder how long he has been sitting at this table.
“I’m Nathan. I don’t know a lot. But I’m working on it.” He waves around at all the paperwork and files on his desk before placing his glasses gently back on his face.
“What do you know?” Irritation at Nathan’s vagueness colouring my tone with impatience.
“It started with the birds.” I look at Adam, my eyebrows raised, mocking him.
“Okay, okay. You win, you were right. I’m sorry,” he places a soft kiss on my cheek. I smile, and turn back to Nathan.
“So, what started with the birds?”
“A bacterial infection. It attacks the medial prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that is responsible for self-control. So far, that’s all I know.”
“I don’t understand. Just because the bacteria attacks that part of the brain, why were people killing each other?” I question. Nathan looks at me as if I asked the dumbest question possible, but answers me anyway.
“You take away the part of the brain that regulates what you do, and what you don’t do, and you have bedlam. Say someone accidentally spilled a cup of coffee on you as they were walking past,” he makes wild motions with his hands, “and you have the immediate thought to punch them. You don’t, because something in your brain tells you that it’s not a rational response. Now take away that part of the brain, and what happens?”
“People kill each other.” I shrug.
“Wait a minute.” Adam interrupts. Nathan and I turn his way in response. “If it’s bacterial, and half the population have contracted this disease, why haven’t the rest of us?”
Nathan shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head at the same time, obviously wondering the same thing. “Natural immunity maybe? I’m not sure. One thing I do know is that it originated from here.”
“Here, as in this building here?” I raise my eyebrows in surprise as I gesture around wildly with my hands.
“Yes. I’ve been going through all the paperwork I could find on the birds, and every single one says the same thing. The first instance of death by bird was right here, in this building. More specifically in the lab that tests infectious diseases for a cure. But it doesn’t make sense. This isn’t a known disease. How did an unknown disease spread to every bird in the world in less than twenty-four hours, and then half the human population within a week?”
Nathan looks old now, every line showing on his face, and his eyes seem to have sunken with his words. I have to wonder myself how did this disease spread so quickly.
“If it’s bacterial though, shouldn’t we be able to find a cure? I mean, maybe that’s what they were working on? Finding a cure for this, whatever it is?”
“If they were, I haven’t found it.”
“How long have you been here for?” I question him.
“Since it started,” he answers, a hard line forming between his eyebrows.
“Well, we’re here to help. Where can we start?”
Two days. That’s how long we’ve been here reading…and reading…and reading some more. How on earth anyone does this for a living day in and day out is beyond me. I am bored to tears, and drowning in a sea of words that I don’t understand. Nathan tells me that I will know I have found something of importance when I see it. I don’t understand how I will know when I come across anything that means something, when I don’t understand what any of what I am reading means.
“This is useless. We’re never going to find anything and we’re wasting time just sitting here when we could be out there helping.” My frustration begins taking over.
“Helping with what? There’s nothing left for us out there except to…wait a minute.” Nathan’s face goes blank for a fraction of a second, and then lights up like a kid on Christmas day.
“What?” I leap out of my chair and stand behind him to read the text that he is so intently pouring his attention over.
Genocide – Project 15 – Widespread disease experiment. Confidential!
Day 65 – The pigeon is starting to show displays of aggression. Group trials to begin tomorrow.
Day 70 – The disease is spreading faster than first thought possible. Birds are now attacking at will. Human
trials to begin effective immediately.
Day 75 – Human trial successful. Aggressive behaviour imminent upon injection with the disease. Gas trials to be held effective immediately.
Day 80 – Gas trials failed. Disease is spreading outside the compound.
The document continued like this for several pages. Nathan skipped to the end.
Day 265 – Project 15 is out of control. Government assistance has been called for.
“Project 15.” Adam shuffles through his pile of papers, discarding them as he does. “I saw something about Project 15, but I just thought it was something boring they were working on, like the rest of all this crap.” He throws his hands in frustration when he is unable to find the paper he wants.
“Aha!” he shouts, waving a solitary piece of paper in the air. I rush to his side, wanting to read what is says for myself. I read aloud.
“Attention Mr Hammel,
The president has expressed his concerns over the growing numbers in our population. Project 15 is a go ahead. Please commence experimentation immediately. Start with the birds.”
That’s all it says.
“It was the government? They killed all these people on purpose?” I ask, a tear sliding down my face at the realisation of what our leaders have done.
“Looks that way,” Nathan’s face drops into the palm of his hands, “I know…knew Hammel. He was a good scientist.”
“But apparently not a very good man.” I add.
“Where is his office?” Adam inquires. I turn to him, trying to read what he is thinking.
“A few corridors over. Why?” Nathan answers.
“There may be more information in his office. Some way to find a cure maybe?” Adam explains. I smile at him, the smile reaching my eyes, and bend over to kiss him on the lips.
“You are brilliant,” I declare, my eyes wide, and my heart pumping.
“But why do we need a cure? Everyone who was infected is dead.” Nathan’s sad features betray the strength in his words. My face drops.
“Yes, but what if we aren’t immune? What if it just takes longer to infect us?” Adam has a valid point and Nathan must realise this, because the moment Adam says it, the scientist is on his feet and shuffling out of the small room we have been cooped up in for days.
I rush to follow him with Adam on my heels. Exactly three corridors later we were standing outside Hammel’s office. This one though, unlike the rest of the almost identical rooms, wasn’t made of glass. I let Nathan do the honours of opening the door, but I held him back as he began to turn the handle. I heard something from inside the room. I raise a finger to my lip, and with the other hand count down from three. Three. Two. One. Nathan burst through the door, and just as I enter the room, I see the tail end of a scientist’s coat exiting through a side door.
“There!” I yell, as we run after whoever is trying to elude us.
Adam gets to him first. He comes back into the office, the man’s hands bound behind his back. The name badge on his coat lets us know that this is Hammel. Anthony Hammel to be exact.
“Hammel? How?” Nathan seems to be at a loss for words. It’s clear that he thought he was the only one in the building to have survived the attack.
“Alright you caught me. Let me go. I’m not going anywhere,” he promises. I don’t believe him for a second but before I can say anything, Adam has released him. The moment his right hand was free, Hammel was running again, though I don’t know why he bothered. He was trying to outrun someone half his age, and twice as fit. Adam dragged him back in once again, rolling his eyes behind Hammel’s back.
“Alright. What do you want to know? He obviously realises that he isn’t going to get away.
“Are we going to be infected?” I ask, thinking that short and to the point was the best way to deal with this particular scientist.
“I don’t know,” Adam tightens his grip on Hammel’s arms, and I see the wince of pain cross his face. “I honestly don’t know!”
“Fine. Is there a cure?”
“Maybe. It’s not finished. I’ve been in here for weeks trying to make it work, but I’m missing something.” He’s telling the truth now, there is no doubt about that.
“Why?”
“Why what?” he knows exactly what I’m asking about, but is toying with me.
“Why would you do this? To humans. To us?”
“I do as I’m told.” That’s the only answer we get, and I don’t think he is going to divulge any more secrets. Not even if we torture him.
“So you’re told to…” I hear a faint buzzing but I can’t place where it’s coming from. That is until Adam produces a cell phone from Hammel’s pocket.
“Put it on speakerphone,” I tell him. Hammel sighs, knowing that we are going to hear from whoever is on the other end of the phone. Adam slides his finger across the screen of the phone, and places it in front of Hammel’s face, signalling for him to answer the call.
“Hello?”
“Hello Mr. Hammel. I trust all is well?” I look at Hammel, conveying in a look not to say a word about us.
“Yes, Sir. All fine here.”
“Good. How is the experiment coming?” I thought he was working on a cure.
“Have you found a way to spread it to those who are immune yet?”
“Almost, Sir.”
“Good. Keep working on it. Keep me informed.” The phone goes dead.
“You mean to kill us all?” My voice was holding steadier than I thought possible in the face of certain doom.
“Only those who aren’t required to rebuild.” Hammel smirks.
“And I suppose you think you’re needed to rebuild?” It is Nathan who speaks now. I had almost forgotten he is with us.
“Of course I am. I am the only one with a cure. And don’t bother asking me for it. It is somewhere you will never find it.” His smirk is a full-blown grin now. I walk over to him and punch him in the mouth, satisfied when I see a trickle of blood fall from the corner of his lower lip.
“You are an idiot. You are just as disposable as the rest of us,” I growl, anger leaching into my voice. “Let him go Adam, he isn’t going to tell us anything.”
Adam lets him go but I don’t let the vile filth walk away. Instead, I launch myself at him, ready to put my years of training to defend myself to the test. That is, until I see that Hammel holds a needle in his hand; a needle marked ‘Project 15’. The disease. I put my hands up in surrender and back away.
“Oh, don’t worry dear. This isn’t for you.” He pops the cap on the syringe. “It’s for me. Now, you will all die.”
“But you said…”
“I lied. I perfected the serum, and released it days ago. It’s only a matter of time before you are all infected.”
“You vile, disgusting bastard.” Nathan runs across the room, his arms outstretched and reaching for Hammel’s neck. Before he can get there, Hammel has injected himself with the disease, and from the looks of it, it’s a lethal amount. He isn’t turning like the others did. He just looks…tired.
He hits the ground, his head making a thudding sound that echoes through the small room.
“Shit!” Adam screams, stomping his feet in anger. “What now?”
“Now…now we go to the White House.” I answer, a steely resolve coursing through my veins.
The fight is far from over. Our lives now revolve around the fight to live. The fight for freedom. I look down to my hand, the one that is wrapped around Adam’s and smile. I look up to see his eyes searching my face.
“Are you ready for this?” he gazes into my eyes.
“More than you know.” I reach up to kiss him before turning my attention to the big white building that stretches out in front of me. From this close, I can see the President’s face staring down at me, his eyes wide with fear at the sight of two strangers leaden with weapons approaching him.
“Let’s do this.”
Landers
Samant
ha Ketteman
The sun glared off of the sand, stretching for miles in all directions. The heat seared, evaporating the sweat from her brow before it had time to make a trail down her ruddy face. Her duster billowed behind her in the gusting wind, and sand peppered her legs, despite the leathers that covered every inch of her body. She lowered her goggles and peered into the distance. Just a bit farther. Damn Tex for this. Damn him to hell!
Nora hated the Outlands, the bare landscape and scorching heat, and Tex knew it. They had drawn straws, and she had a sneaking suspicion afterwards that he had rigged the outcome in his favor. She had been ordered by the colony leader to track down a lead related to the disappearance of their last shipment of goods. The colony was angry, and she was to deal the retribution.
Wiping sand from her face, she took a long pull of water from her deerskin. Her leathers stuck to her skin, but to go without them was to risk exposure. The sun shined hotter and brighter, the wind stronger and more ferocious, and the storms were downright deadly in the Outlands. She blew out a breath, hands on her knees as she allowed her head to hang, and looked to the horizon. The next town was another two days’ journey away without a veho. The automobiles, as the old ones used to call them, were once plentiful, but had been rendered mostly useless without the fuel they used to function. Her chances of happening across a running veho in the sandy region were nil. Sighing, she stood up straight, clasped her deerskin back to her belt, and trudged forward with her head down against the wind.
Nora’s black hair blew in the breeze, the strands whipping her face as she pushed onward, battling the hot wind as it seared her exposed skin worse than the sun. She reached for her rag and wiped her goggle lenses in an attempt to judge the distance she had traveled as she looked behind her. No footprints or other sign of life could be seen, even from five feet behind her. It was as if she had never been, and the irony was not lost on her.
After Tomorrow: A CHBB Anthology Page 6