by Henson, Lynn
They hadn’t driven long before Blake started feeling unappreciated. Gao and Doris were both either thinking really hard or had fallen asleep. He let out a sigh and watched as the sun finished setting and the world slowly transitioned into night. Blake flipped on the forward lights and once again visibility became limited to whatever the one working headlight and the red tail lamps of Bree’s car illuminated. He tried to mentally steel himself for a night of tedium and trying not to sleep drive when Bree’s car braked suddenly, sliding sideways to a full stop. He paused for a second before slamming on the brakes himself much to the dismay of his formerly peacefully sleeping passengers. Seeing that he wasn’t going to stop in time to avoid the GT-S he aimed for the breakdown lane and applied even more pressure on the brakes despite the pedal already being as far down as it would go. The front of the minivan dipped down crazily as the vehicle struggled to stop and he felt the back slide a little before the momentum finally died and it rocked back, its weight distributed evenly across all the tires again.
“Damn. You are worse than Doris,” Gao told him from the back seat.
Before he could come up with an appropriately scathing response, he was blinded by bright lights from directly ahead. His hand went instinctively up to shield his eyes as he struggled to adjust to the bright light, trying to see the source.
“SHUT OFF YOUR VEHICLES IMMEDIATELY! FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL BE MET WITH LETHAL FORCE!”, a male voice blared into a bullhorn from somewhere ahead of them.
Blake immediately turned off his engine. I hope Bree does the same thing. She’s kind of abnormally attached to her car. His eyes had adjusted to the point where he could make out a military looking Humvee or something. There were three separate bright lights, two of which focused on the GT-S and one aimed directly into the front of the minivan.
“CAR DRIVER! EXIT THE VEHICLE SLOWLY WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!”
Bree’s door opened slowly and Bree awkwardly stepped out with her hands in the air.
“WALK TOWARDS US SLOWLY! KEEP YOUR HANDS UP!”
Bree did so, walking slowly forward and until he lost sight of her.
“FRONT SEAT PASSENGER! EXIT THE VEHICLE SLOWLY WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!”
The other door opened and Kim stepped out slowly and deliberately, facing the lights with her hands in the air.
“WALK TOWARDS ME SLOWLY! KEEP YOUR HANDS UP IN THE AIR!”
They repeated this process with Tiffany and Lisa as Blake tried to relax, waiting for his turn.
“Hey, man? What the fuck is going on?” Gao whispered nervously.
“I think it’s the Army or something,” he whispered back, “This might be the safety we’ve been looking for.”
One of the two lights trained on the GT-S now came over to join the one on him.
“MINIVAN DRIVER! EXIT THE VEHICLE SLOWLY WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!”
He pushed open his door carefully and stuck both his hands out as he turned his body to face out and with his left foot leading, stepped out. He exited while managing to keep his hands up and turned to face the light as the others had done.
“WALK TOWARDS ME SLOWLY! KEEP YOUR HANDS UP!”
He walked towards the light that was trained on him, squinting to try to see what was ahead of him. He looked at the military vehicle as he walked by it and saw a helmeted person watching his progress. Above the car towards the back was a gunner manning a powerful looking mounted weapon. This weapon was trained at the minivan.
“Stop!” commanded a voice from directly ahead of him.
He came to a halt, looking forward. He could make out another vehicle that looked like the one he just walked by. The gunner on this vehicle though was pointing that powerful looking mounted weapon directly at him.
“Turn around! Keep those hands up!”
He complied. The gunner was making him feel especially cooperative.
“Get down to your knees.”
He did as he was told, going down to one knee and then the other. He heard a quick series of steps run up behind him and a firm hand patted him down. The soldier came around in front of him with his flashlight and shined it into his face, looking him over quickly but thoroughly. The soldier was done in a matter of thirty seconds and then moved out of his sight.
“Alright, stand up please and come over here,” someone from behind him said, sounding a lot less hostile. “You can put your hands down now,” the person added.
He did so and walked towards the lights which were no longer being shined into his face but had been redirected to the minivan. He saw that Tiffany, Lisa, Bree, and Kim were all huddled together behind the second vehicle and there was someone in camo fatigues standing in front of them cradling his rifle in his arms but not pointing it at them. He walked casually over to join the girls as the soldier on the loudspeaker ordered one of the passengers in the minivan out in the same style that everyone else had come out. Soon, Gao came into view looking mostly afraid with a smattering of annoyed mixed in. Blake saw him muttering to himself but he wisely followed all the orders despite how this must’ve been inconveniencing him. One of the soldiers who had been watching the process behind the cover of the vehicle closest to their cars walked over to them. He stood before them relaxed, but alert. His manner of dress was identical to the others save the sergeant's stripes that adorned his sleeves.
“There’s two more of you that we’re getting out of the minivan and there’s a cat in the trunk of the car. We are going to search the vehicles. Is there anything dangerous we should know about?” he asked professionally.
Bree tensed up slightly at the mention of a vehicle search, but Blake thought that was more because she was a car nut. “No,” he answered for the group.
The soldier nodded at him and passed Gao who was walking towards them having completed his pat down. Gao glanced back at the sergeant and muttered some more. He joined the group and gave them a look demanding an explanation.
Blake ignored him and watched Doris go through the process. She seemed like a doe caught in the headlights and despite being the last one to go, every command had to be repeated once before she hurriedly rushed to comply. Once Doris had joined everyone else and immediately glommed onto an annoyed looking Gao, the sergeant signaled and two soldiers went over to the GT-S and conducted a brief search of the car. Blake didn’t know what they were looking for exactly, but suspected weapons were probably at the top of their list. They didn’t seem to find anything though and moved on to the minivan. The sergeant walked over to them again.
“Have any of you received injuries from infected persons?” he asked in the exact same tone as when he’d previously spoken to them.
Most people shook their heads. Gao, Blake, and Tiffany all verbally answered in the negative.
The sergeant nodded and then pressed a gloved hand to an earpiece, listening to something. He looked up again and addressed them, “At this time I’m going to ask you to return to your vehicles and to please follow the vehicle ahead of you. Deviate at all and we’ll use lethal force. Do you understand?”
Everyone nodded this time. He gestured slightly at the soldier who was watching over them and returned to a vehicle, getting inside it. The soldier waved at the vehicles. “Ladies? Gents? If you would return to your vehicles please?”
They walked ahead to their vehicles with the soldier maintaining a respectful distance from them but still making sure they knew he was watching them. Everyone got back into the cars slowly and deliberately. Blake got into the driver’s seat and watched Doris and Gao get into the front row of seats behind him, looking outside with rapt attention. He started the car and assumed a position behind the GT-S. The soldier that had escorted them back to their cars watched them with professional casualness. The military vehicle assumed a position in front of their cars and after a momentary pause, accelerated down the road. The GT-S followed after immediately and Blake prodded the minivan after them. A look back into the rear view mirror showed him that the second military vehicle wait
ed for the last soldier to get in before following after them.
“Are we going to jail?” Doris asked in a small voice.
“Yeah,” Gao responded immediately.
“Uh... no. I don’t think so. They aren’t treating us like criminals,” Blake disagreed.
“What do you call that just now?” Gao retorted, “They pointed guns at us, searched us. Now we are going to fuck knows where.”
“Let’s try to stay positive,” Blake suggested. “We were looking for a sanctuary and now we’ve run into the military. This is probably a good thing.”
“So what?” Gao asked, annoyed. “We are joining the army now? Fuck that shit.”
“I’m sure you won’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” Blake reassured. “It’s still a free country last I heard.”
“We will see,” Gao replied, unimpressed.
They drove along the highway at a more normal speed than what they’d previously been driving with Bree in the lead. She must be bored out of her mind having to drive this slowly. They had only driven about ten minutes when they slowed, turned off the highway, and came to a stop. Looking ahead, one of the soldiers and gotten out of the vehicle and rushed forward to open up some yellow metal barriers with red diamond shaped reflectors on them. He hustled back into his vehicle and it drove through. Bree and Blake followed after it with the rear vehicle stopping to deploy a soldier to close the barriers before bringing up the rear again.
They continued on with only the paved road and the lead vehicle to guide them through the night. Blake’s enthusiasm was genuine and he eagerly looked forward to arriving at their destination which he hoped represented safety and a source of information for what was going on. They drove for perhaps another ten minutes, his anticipation building the entire time, when they slowed to a stop again, headlights revealing a guard shack and a chain link fence that stretched out to the left and right. Behind the gates, he could see several buildings and lights at the top of poles that were evenly spaced out throughout the area. A soldier came out of the shack and walked over to the lead vehicle. After a moment the gate rolled open and the vehicle slowly passed inside. The soldier at the gate gestured inside the depot with one arm and started making circles with the other, directing their cars inside. The GT-S followed after with Blake maintaining his position behind her. They drove deeper into the depot passing by several plain utilitarian looking buildings, featureless save for numbers and letters that differentiated them from the others. They drove for another five minutes without seeing another soul until they stopped in front of yet another plain looking building. A door on the vehicle opened and a soldier came out and walked back to the GT-S. He walked over to the driver’s window and gestured towards the building. The Bree maneuvered her ride close to the building and stopped while the soldier moved towards the minivan. Blake lowered his window in anticipation and the soldier walked right up to him. “Sir? Please park next to the car and then have everyone go into this building.”
“Ok. What’s in this building?” Blake asked curiously.
“Base infirmary, sir. They’ll explain everything when you get inside.” The soldier gestured at where he wanted the minivan parked. Blake moved the minivan to the right of the GT-S and shut off the engine.
“Now what?” Gao said, irritated.
“Guess we’re getting a checkup,” Blake speculated as he exited the minivan.
He waited for Doris and Gao to come out and then they walked over to where the soldier was waiting by the door. They entered and found themselves in the reception area of a doctor’s office, complete with worn looking chairs, magazines from six months ago, plastic plants, and boring artwork. Bree and the other girls in the car were standing together looking a little tense when the window slid open and a matronly old woman smiled out at them.
“We need to conduct an examination of everyone. If you haven’t been injured by anyone who’s been infected, you’re probably fine, but anyone who comes inside the depot has to be tested,” she informed them. “It’s standard procedure,” she reassured them.
The group looked at each other, suddenly uneasy.
“So? Who’s first?” the woman asked sounding upbeat.
Everyone looked at each other, and Blake saw Doris, who was clinging to Gao, dig her hands into his forearm. Finally, Bree shrugged and said, “I’ll go.”
The woman looked relieved and gestured at the door to the right of the window, moving away from the window. A moment later she opened the door and Bree stepped through, the door closing behind her. Blake stood there for a moment, then felt awkward and grabbed a seat. The others decided that was the way to go and occupied the remaining seats. Tiffany grabbed a magazine and started flipping through it with a blank look on her face. They waited several minutes and when the door opened, everyone looked up at it intently. Bree walked through it with a bandage near her elbow. Kim came to her feet, but Bree waved her back. “Blood test,” she explained. The old woman was in the doorway, “Next?” she asked.
Kim who was still standing raised her hand up and walked towards the door when Lisa came up and grabbed her arm. Kim stopped and looked at her, questions in her eyes. “I don’t want to go by myself,” Lisa told her.
“Is that alright?” Kim asked the woman. The woman nodded, a slight smile still affixed to her face.
Lisa and Kim walked through the doorway and it closed behind them.
Bree took a seat and the group focused on her.
“Well?” Gao asked on behalf of everyone.
“The doctor just looked for any wounds,” she answered with a shrug. “Then they asked for a blood sample.”
“Why do they need blood?” Gao grimaced.
“I guess whatever is making everyone sick is viral?” Blake guessed. “Maybe they already have an antidote!”
“That’d be nice,” Bree said, sounding unconvinced.
Several more minutes passed and the door opened again. Lisa and Kim came out sporting their own bandages and sat down. Gao got up with Doris still attached to his arm and walked towards the door. With the exception of Tiffany, everyone seemed much more relaxed. Blake had to guess that it was because they were done with their examination and to wait for whatever came next. Tiffany seemed out of it.
“The nurse tell you anything?” Blake asked.
“Not really,” Kim said. “Just more reassurances that the examination was normal and if everything was ok, we’d be allowed to stay in the base with the other civilians.”
“So there are other people like us here,” Blake observed, his excitement obvious.
“It would seem so. But I’m still a little freaked out about being stopped and forced to come here,” Kim said cautiously. “Until I see a little bit more of what’s going on here, I’m going to try to keep my options open.”
Blake nodded diplomatically. That’s smart I guess. But it seems like they’ve got everything under control here. I’m sure that we’re going to have a real shot at safety here until the world gets back to normal. He sat back into his chair, waiting for his turn feeling just a little bit self-satisfied. Somehow Doris and Gao’s examination took twice as long as Kim and Lisa’s. When they finally did come back, everyone looked at them anxiously.
“What?” Gao asked, seeing the questions on their faces.
“What do you mean what?” Kim asked back. “Is everything alright? What took so long?”
“Lousy doctor,” Gao replied is if it should’ve been completely obvious to everyone. He sat down with Doris and looked at people until they stopped looking at him.
“Next please,” the woman said patiently from the door.
Blake looked over to Tiffany, “You want to go? Or should I?”
Tiffany looked at him a little wide-eyed then she lowered her head embarrassed. “Actually, would you go with me? I- I don’t want to go by myself.”
“Um, ok. Sure. Let’s go,” Blake said gently. He walked over to the door and took over holding it open from the woman who s
tarted walking down the hall. Tiffany walked inside and Blake let the door close behind them. They followed after the woman and Blake whispered, “What’s wrong?” She shook her head and continued to plow forward looking like she was on her way to the electric chair. Blake gave her a few worried glances until they arrived at their destination. The woman stopped outside of a room that had an open door and waved them inside it. She pulled a clipboard from a small file holder that was screwed into the wall and wrote something down and then replaced it. “The doctor will be with you shortly,” she told them and walked further down the hallway. Blake went in first and looked around the room.
It was a small doctor’s examination room, complete with one of those small examination beds that was just high enough and covered with a semi-transparent paper, the combination of which made it slightly awkward to get on. There was an exam light with magnifying glass close by, some cabinets with glass sliding doors that contained certain uninteresting things such as cotton balls, syringes, bandages, and other useful things to practice medicine. Tiffany occupied a chair next to the bed and stared nervously at the door. “Why is it always so cold in these places?” she observed, putting her arms around herself. Blake saw the skin on her legs and arms were prickled with goosebumps, causing the tiny hairs on her body to stand up.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I guess it helps to keep things sterile?”
An older doctor walked into the room, wearing his trademark white coat unbuttoned loosely over a pinstriped dress shirt and gray slacks. His face was pleasantly weathered and gave the impression of being worldly and wise. His glasses had thin, minimal frames and went with a gray shock of hair that was cleanly cut but just on the verge of being mad scientist.