by Matt Ryan
Samantha turned and stared at the window. The world below was collapsing. She had to help those who were suffering. They had to get the cure out to the world by any means necessary. It wasn’t about her and Zach saving the world anymore. She just wanted to get back to normal. “I want to start mass distribution of the cure.”
“Doesn’t take you long to talk shop, does it?”
“I’m serious.”
He let go of her hand and leaned back in the seat. “I agree. I was just about to tell you that we are launching our first cure centers in France.” He smiled.
“France?”
“I thought that’s what you wanted? We’re rolling it out to most of Europe over the next week, parts of Asia and South America too.”
“What about the United States?”
“The government hasn’t been responsive.”
“We can’t wait for them, Zach. We need to do it ourselves.”
“You saw what happened in LA, I nearly lost you.” Zach glanced out the window and crossed his leg. “If I try, they will stop me and mess everything up. We want to work with them, but they have to be the ones to meet us halfway. You see that, right?”
“It wasn’t the government who took me, but you know that already,” Samantha said. “It sounds like you’ve pissed off the wrong people.”
He laughed. “Yes, the world is a fascinating place with so many layers. Most of those layers the average person never gets to see. Did you know there are six people who control most of the world?” He laughed again. “Kind of like the Preston Six.”
“They aren’t messing around. I think it’s going to get worse. I don’t think they are going to stop until they control ZRB.”
“You let me handle them.”
She nodded. She might have told Zach not to bother, but she wanted him to find those men. They needed to pay for what they did to her. “One of them helped me. He kept calling me Miss Samantha.”
“I only wished he could have helped more. He was a friend of mine.” He gently pushed back a strand of hair and tucked it behind her ear.
“Well, he saved my life.”
“I’ll make sure his family is well taken care of.”
Samantha gazed out the window. “Where are we going?”
“I’ve grown very fond of you.”
She opened her mouth and closed it, smiling sheepishly. “That doesn’t answer my question.”
“I have a special place I want to show you. I think you’ll like it.”
SAMANTHA CLASPED THE EDGE OF the marble countertop and leaned closer to the mirror. She inspected her face in the morning light. It couldn’t be possible, but there it was, staring back at her. The once large gash, shrunken to a thin red line. The garish bruising turned to just a hint of red over her cheek and eye. She touched it with her hand and felt a hint of pain, but nothing like the throbbing of the night before.
She looked through the bathroom door to see Zach stirring from his sleep. She pulled his bathrobe tighter around herself. Samantha had thought being with Zach would take her mind off of her friends, or the faces of Derek and Marge in the fire fight around the helicopter, but their faces still plagued her mind—maybe even more. She looked back at the mirror, thinking of what brought her there.
The place Zach had wanted to show her was his new cliffside house. She wondered why he built a house so far away from anything. It almost felt familiar to her, but she couldn’t place it. Almost like Déjà vu.
Thoughts of Joey and what might have been crept into her consciousness. Sighing, she pushed him from her thoughts. That was another life. Samantha had a man who wanted her, a man who didn’t hide from his feelings and was able to express his desires.
She watched in the mirror as Zach made his way across the bedroom floor. Both of his hands caressed her arms and he kissed the back of her neck. A chill shot down her back and she turned for more. Kissing him deep, she felt his hard chest pressing against her.
“I have to go for a while,” he said between kisses.
“No,” she whimpered.
“You got me thinking last night. I can do more to get the US on board. I have to at least try. Can you stay here and wait for me?”
“I think I better get back to corporate,” Samantha said.
“Look at your face.” He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand.
Turning around to look in the mirror, she had to search for the damage. “What did that nurse put on me?”
“I don’t know, but she’s getting a raise.” He smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist. “If you want to go back to the office, let me know and I can drop you off there first.”
“Where are you going?”
He let go of her and walked over to turn his shower on. It had three heads and looked like something out of the future. “I set up a big meeting.”
She turned to face him. “With who?”
“The President of the United States has granted me an audience.”
“That’s wonderful news.” She beamed.
“Well, it doesn’t mean we have an agreement, but it’s a step in the right direction.”
“You better play nice with the POTUS.”
“He might be trying to kill me.” Zach laughed.
She crunched her face in a question. She was beginning to know his quirks and that sounded like his I’m-joking-but-I’m-really-serious laugh. “If he hurts you, you tell him he’ll have me to deal with.”
“Hell hath no fury...”
ENTERING THE FRONT DOORS OF ZRB, security waved Samantha past the scanners. The elevator opened on her floor and the office went silent upon her arrival. She stopped and looked around. Faces stared at her as if they were seeing a ghost. She met those stares and they darted back to their screens. Soon, the sound of the office clatter restarted. She walked past the nonsense and opened the door to her office.
The glass door closed behind her and she plopped down on her chair. It wheeled back a few inches.
“Hello, Miss Samantha.”
Startled, she jumped out of her chair. “Derek!” She rushed to him and gave him an awkward hug, careful of his injuries. “I didn’t even see you there.”
“I saw you.” His arm hung inside a sling and a bandage covered part of his forehead.
“I thought they killed you.”
“They shot me and I fell, hitting my head.” His eye’s got watery. “I’m sorry they took you. I won’t let that happen again.”
“What about Marge?” He shook his head and looked at the carpet. “You shouldn’t be here. You should be home or something. How can you even think of working in your condition?”
“I begged Zach to keep me on duty. I made a promise to him not to leave your side.”
Samantha appreciated his commitment. “Thank you.”
He nodded his head and backed up to the corner of the room. “Forget I’m even here.”
“I think I’m safe in my own office.” Samantha walked over to her desk and opened her purse to pull out an emery board. Her nails looked a mess.
“You need me more than I think you know,” Derek said.
“I was just freaking kidnapped, I think I know the importance of protection. And how did it go the last time you were helping?”
Derek looked at the floor. “I won’t let that happen again.”
She felt bad for her choice of words. “Some things are just out of our control.”
“You are right.” He moved closer to her. “And you should have some way to defend yourself if needed. Let me show you something.” He plucked the file from her hand and pulled out a knife from his side. He proceeded to cut the emery board until it had a sharp end and handed it back to her. “Now you have a weapon.”
“Thanks.” Samantha took her new weapon and thought it could still function nicely.
“I won’t leave unless you tell me to.”
She pondered the statement. It was better having his face around than her coworkers. “I don’t mind. Though, I may bug
you now and then.”
“You can’t bug me, Miss Samantha.”
She sighed at the name and thought about ordering him to call her Samantha or Sam, but she stopped herself and conceded. Had Zach really ordered everyone to call her that? He must have, but why? Some sort of respect thing?
Meandering back to her chair, she sat and opened her laptop. Typing in her password, Prestonsix19, ZRB’s primary access page flipped up on the screen. She typed Marge in the personnel search bar. She didn’t know her last name, but at least she could send her parents or husband a personal letter or something.
The search came up blank. Not a single Marge worked for ZRB?
She leaned closer and typed in Ashley. Nothing. She sighed and typed in Derek. His face popped up on screen and she read his history. Military turned into a private security specialist. She glanced at him, but he didn’t have a look of conversation about him. He looked as if he was trying to look in every direction at the same time. “We’re alone, you know?”
“Excuse me if I appear jumpy, but I will consider you in grave danger at all times now.”
“Am I, in grave danger?”
“Yes.”
Samantha breathed in deep. It wasn’t for fear of the comment, but for what it meant. He wasn’t going to let off. He was going to be an ever presence of nervous energy. She thought of Zach’s relaxed state and longed for it.
The company inbox on her screen displayed a large number on top of the blue square. Odd, that had never been there before. She slid her finger over the screen and tapped the box. It swirled and an email popped up. She leaned forward, staring at the title.
Five plus one makes six.
She tapped the email and a few lines appeared.
I know you don’t believe me, but I’ll find the evidence. I hope you’re ready.
We miss you.
JM
The words felt bold on the screen, as if they had weight. It shouldn’t surprise her that Julie was able to get into the ZRB system. She tapped the reply button and the window changed to a reply box. Thinking twice, she closed all the windows and shut the laptop. She wondered what they were up to. If they really thought Zach was Marcus, they’d be plotting against him. They would be doing everything they could to stop him.
Didn’t they realize they weren’t playing on other planets anymore? They were on Earth, and could undo everything her and Zach had been building. Julie had the technology beyond anything of this world and the rest had the skills to pull off stunts that could really do damage to the company.
She hated thinking of her old friends in that way, pitting herself against them, but what choice did she have? They pushed her out of their circle a long time ago. Now, she would push back a little, show them the life she was living. Prove to them how much she had become her own person.
A tap on her door.
Derek moved closer to the door with his good hand on his sidearm.
Samantha waved for the young woman to enter.
“Hello, Miss Samantha, I’m Lisa, your new assistant.” She seemed nervous and held onto her tablet with shifting hands.
Samantha leaned back in her chair and studied the woman, another early twenty-something woman, pretty and dressed in a sleek black suit. Samantha wanted to warn Lisa being near her would be a danger to her health. In one week, she’d gone through two assistants, one arrested and sent to who knows where and one killed by militants in a helicopter attack. She chuckled and shook her head. When thinking of it, it seemed so ridiculous. “Nice to meet you, Lisa. Derek, give her some room.”
Derek backed away but kept his hand on his firearm.
“Please, come in.”
Lisa timidly stepped toward her desk. “Here are the reports for France for you to go over.”
“Send it to my station.” Samantha pointed at her screen.
Lisa clutched her tablet against her chest. “We’ve been directed to deal in these tablets only, moving forward.” She handed her the device.
“Thank you, I’ll go over them and get back to you.”
“Thank you and, Samantha? We’re all very happy to have you back.” The corners of her mouth pushed to the sides of her face and almost looked genuine.
Samantha paused on her eyes. The blue hue looked familiar, maybe she thought of Joey at first, but that wasn’t it. This girl had an old feeling about her eyes, like she’d seen too much for a person of her age. Zach probably picked up another sorrow case, he seemed to have a soft spot for people without families and turbulent histories.
“Thanks, Lisa. If there is anything else, let me know.”
With Lisa gone and Samantha’s guard dog calmed down, she turned on the tablet. For the next few hours, she signed off on orders and directed air drops of the cure over designated spots across much of Europe and Asia. She wondered how much weight her signatures held and if she didn’t sign off on one, would the drop not happen? She didn’t want to test it.
With much of the formalities taken care of, she turned the TV on and changed to the news channel. The news reporter wore a red tie and his eyes looked puffy. He stared directly at the camera in silence. The silence brought her out of her chair and she stood in front of the TV. The man seemed to be frozen on screen. Finally he moved and looked to something off camera.
“You sure?” He faced the camera again with a smile spreading across his face. “We just got word from the White House that a deal has been made with the mysterious Zach Ryan Baker. Distribution of the cure shall commence immediately throughout the country.”
Cheers roared in the offices of ZRB. Samantha saw Derek do a fist pump. She took another step closer to the TV and listened to the excited reporter talking about the LA and Preston drops and how the positive results were confirmed and real. It was a cure.
Zach did it. He got the US to agree to let him distribute unobstructed. She figured there was more to the deal than what was reported, but it didn’t matter. Finally, she could save everyone in the country.
She sat back in her chair.
Lisa busted into the room, full of smiles. She skipped to the side of her desk.
What happened to knocking?
“Did you hear? We’re distributing in America.”
“Yeah, it’s incredible. I’m really not sure why it took so long.” She looked at the news reports discussing some of the statistics. Apparently, over ten million Americans had perished to the Cough and estimates were getting close to a billion worldwide as the poorer, crowded countries had been hit the worst.
With that many people sick, how could Zach make good on the promises he’d made? Samantha had already seen the documents showing much of their supply was heading to Europe and Asia. What was left for America?
“Oh, and Zach sent over the US details. Check your . . . tablet?” Lisa bit her lower lip.
Samantha skimmed the pages, seeing the towns and delivery estimates scroll by: Detroit, Chicago, New York, Miami, Barstow, Springfield, and many more. She saw her signature request on each delivery. She sighed and thought it was a waste of time to sign each page. Then she reached the bottom and a Sign All button appeared.
She pressed it and signed her name across the screen.
Done. The world could recover from this. Things could get back to normal and then she could have Zach all to herself. She thought about staying in his amazing cliffside house and resisted the urge to hug herself. Soon the world would know about their relationship and they’d be the power couple who’d saved them all. Maybe when things settled down they could go do an interview with Oprah. Did she still do interviews?
She felt the weight lifting off her shoulders. Everyone would have the cure in the next few days, there wasn’t a need to fight anymore. Tapping the thin red line over her eye, she searched for a hint of pain, but it didn’t come.
“Woo-hoo!” Lisa yelled.
Samantha jumped back in her seat and Derek stepped forward with his hand on his gun.
Lisa smiled and looked from her to Derek. �
��Sorry, but this is the best news ever. We should throw a floor party.” Her eyes went big with enthusiasm.
While Samantha did agree about it being great news, she didn’t share in her enthusiasm for a floor party, as that meant it would include the whole sixteenth floor—she didn’t have many fans out there. “I don’t—”
“No, Miss Samantha, we are doing this. After all you’ve been through, you need this. I’ll make all the arrangements.”
Samantha opened her mouth in protest but Lisa turned and left the office.
“Feisty one,” Derek said.
“Yeah, she means well. I think.”
“Good, you should always have some doubt about the people around you, especially new people.”
Samantha looked past her glass door. Lisa stood next to the receptionist desk with her arms flailing in excitement. She seemed harmless, but she couldn’t remember ever seeing her before. “I think there is room for trust in people.”
“Don’t let them fool you. If I dig, I can find out something dark on Lisa.”
“Like what, she cheats on crossword puzzles?”
“You might be surprised what people suppress in public. I’m the closest thing in this world to a mind reader and people’s minds are a terrifying place.”
“Really, you think Lisa is a possible threat?”
“I don’t know yet, but she faltered when saying tablet. It was strange.”
“So?” Samantha rolled her eyes but had thought it was weird as well.
“Something is behind those eyes, way beyond the floor party planning, and there is a depth to them. I find her very interesting.”
She opened her laptop and typed in Lisa. Her smiling face popped up but under employee information, it just said pending. She must have been a new hire and the HR department hadn’t updated her info; unusual but nothing to send up red flags about. Now she wanted to know more about this Lisa and why Derek had an interest in her.
“Fine, let’s make a bet then. You find your ‘something dark’ on Lisa and I won’t complain about you shadowing me. On the other hand, if it isn’t sufficiently dark, I win and you will call me Samantha and drop the Miss crap.”