Dying to Live (6 page)

“Is she sick?” Frank wondered aloud.

“I would be inclined to say no, but none the less it is a possibility,” Bao countered thoughtfully.

“What do we do?” The question was barely out of his mouth before a small, blue car appeared on the horizon. It was approaching quickly behind them. Not knowing what to do, they waited. The car slowed as it neared. Eventually, it pulled up beside them. Bao did not recognise the male who wound down the window of the car next to them, but he recognised the woman who peered around him.

“Xin,” He said with relief, after getting the vans window to creak slowly down. “I’m so glad to see you.”

“Yes, me too. I’m glad you made it here safely,” she smiled at him.

“I don’t want to interrupt the reunion, but who’s our friend?” Asked the guy that Bao could only presume, was Pete. Pete was pointing at the girl by the road.

“We were just wondering the same,” Frank said, leaning forward to nod greetings.

“Is she infected?” Pete asked.

“We don’t know,” said Bao. “It didn’t seem wise to ask.”

The slight barb in this comment did not escape Pete’s notice, but he wasn’t about to let it bother him. People had taken a disliking to him before, but that was their concern not his.

“Well, it doesn’t seem wise to stay parked up here all day waiting to find out either,” Pete responded with a friendly smile. “I’ll go and see shall I?” He asked rhetorically, but Xin put a hand on his shoulder as he reached for the door handle.

“Pete, are you mad? What if she is infected?” The concern in her voice caused an unreasonable sensation of envy to flush through Bao’s mind.

“It’s okay, I will check.” Bao pulled the gun from his pocket and opened the door to the van before Pete, Xin, or even Frank, could say or do anything else. Pete got out of the car also, and pulled an aluminium bat out from behind his seat. He followed Bao into the road.

“Hey, Miss?” Pete called. She did not stir at all and he glanced back at Xin. “S’cuse me?” He tried again. Bao had stopped a meter or so away from her.

“She’s breathing,” He stated calmly.

“Is she hurt?” Frank called.

“She doesn’t appear to be,” Bao retorted.

Slowly and deliberately, Pete approached her. He held the bat in a none-threatening way, but in front of him and ready to use, just in case. He crouched beside her and gently nudged her arm with the tip of the bat.

“C’mon. If you can hear me you need to wake up.”

She still didn’t respond. Pete leaned his head back and looked up into the clear, blue sky and sizzling desert sunshine.

“Please, God. Don’t let her be infected.” He sighed, before dropping the bat and placing his hands on her shoulders. He rolled her carefully over onto her back and asked her again to wake up. When she still didn’t respond, Pete turned and called to Xin.

“I don’t think she’s infected. There are no marks on her and she has a pulse,” he added, as his hands checked her wrist. “I think we need to risk it and bring her with us. We can’t leave her here and in all likelihood, she’s just unconscious from walking around all the way out here.”

Xin looked unsure. She wanted to bring the woman with them, but if they were wrong then the consequences were big.

“Alright,” She began reluctantly, “Put her in the back. But you’ll have to keep an eye on her.”

“Are you out of your minds?” Bao raged. “If she is sick then we are all going to pay the price!”

“So what do you suggest?” Pete asked earnestly. The honest compassion on his face made Bao feel like the bad guy, but he would not take unnecessary risks.

“I suggest that if she MUST come with us, then she goes in the back of the van. That way everyone is marginally safe in the case that she wakes up and starts going berserk.”

Pete nodded sagely. “Okay, but if she wakes up in the back of a strange van all alone, wont she go berserk anyway?”

“No worries,” Frank piped up, hopping out of the van. He was fed up of Bao’s attitude anyway, and had a growing respect for Pete’s calm, practical and reasonable approach. “I don’t mind sitting in the back with her. As long as I’ve got something to defend myself with, should the need arise.”

“Good man,” Pete said approvingly.

Bao shook his head disapprovingly and headed back to the driver side of the van. Pete slid an arm behind the woman’s neck and another beneath her knees and picked her up easily. Frank headed around to the back of the van and opened the doors. He jumped in and moved the boxes back to make some room, before helping Pete get her carefully into the van.

“Here, take this.” Pete handed Frank the bat. “I doubt you will need to use it, but if you do, don’t hesitate.” He waited for Frank to nod before he released his grip on the bat. With a last nod, he shut the doors to the van and re-joined Xin in the car.

5.

‘I’m Lucy. I guess everyone else has written their full names. I don’t think last names even matter anymore, but mine’s Jacobs. I’m from England like Frank. I remember that he was the first person I saw when I woke up from the nightmare. I was a wreck and he looked about ready to kill me at first, but I understand that. I’d had to kill too. There would’ve been no statement from Lucy Jacobs if I hadn’t...’

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” She screamed as she awoke. Her head jerked up. She was sure it had been rested in someone’s lap. That someone was now scurrying backwards rapidly, getting himself away from her. She panted out ragged, panicked breaths as she whipped her head around.

“Are you okay back there Frank?” A man’s voice called from the front of what she began to recognise as a van.

“Are you infected?” The man next to her asked, holding a shiny, metal club out in front of himself. She didn’t know what he meant. “Are you... one of them?” He asked, more urgently.

“You know about them? You mean the crazy people, right?” She whispered anxiously.

“We’re good,” Frank called back to the driver. He relaxed visibly and offered her a smile. “We were worried about you back there, Lucy.”

“How do you know my name?” she questioned nervously.

“It’s okay, you don’t need to worry. We won’t hurt you,” He assured her and then pointed to her chest. “It’s on your badge.”

Lucy chuckled in relief and lay back on the cool, hard floor of the van.

“Lord, it’s been a crazy day,” She said. “I turned up for work this morning, after my week off, and everything had gone to rack and ruin.”

“Do you work at the compound?” Frank asked.

She sat back up and her eyes darted at him.

“The compound? Who are you? What do you know?”

“My name’s Frank and I don’t know anything, except that we’re headed to that compound now.” This was evidently the wrong thing to say. Panic washed over her face.

“No! We can’t go there! I can’t go back there!”

“Why not?” Frank frowned. The van pulled to a halt before Lucy could utter another word. She burst into tears and put her head in her hands. Frank hated when girls cried. The last time it had happened was when he had left his girlfriend. When they cried they became unpredictable. His girlfriend had thrown herself into his arms in desperation, before flipping angrily only seconds later and throwing a vase at him. He didn’t know what to do, so he edged forward until he sat close enough to pat her back softly.

The van doors opened and Pete peered in at the two of them. Frank half shrugged at him under Lucy’s clutching embrace and rolled his eyes.

“We’re here now...” Pete began to talk but was drowned out by fresh sobs, as Lucy started up all over again.

“NO! we... have to... leave... NOW!” She heaved, in-between hysterical shudders. Frank helplessly patted her arm again.

“I think we need to listen to what Lucy can tell us before we do anything else,” Frank told Pete. “I think she worked here.”

“Okay,” Pete nodded. “Lucy, is it? Do you want me to help you out of the van or can you manage?” He asked, offering her his arm.

“I’m staying in here!” She said, shuffling backwards in the van. “I don’t want to go back in there, those things... I saw what they did.” Lucy was visibly shaking with fear and Pete sought to reassure her.

“Hey... Hey Lucy, it’s fine. We’re not going in there, at least not yet. It’s dark and stuffy in the van though and there are a couple more people out here who will need to hear what you have to say. So, will you please come out and talk with us?” Pete asked calmly.

Lucy looked up at Frank, who gave her a reassuring wink. Then she turned to Pete and nodded. He offered her a hand getting out of the van but she refused it, thinking that she could manage by herself. However, she was dehydrated and wobbly on her legs. Frank was just finding his own legs as she swayed backwards and toppled into him. Fortunately, he managed to prevent them both from falling over. But as they steadied themselves, he realised that his hand was cupped just under one of Lucy’s breasts.

“Wow. Oh jeez, I’m sorry,” Frank flustered, moving his hand as quickly as if he’d been burned and looking anywhere except Lucy’s face.

“You’d better be!” Lucy said, managing a small laugh and smiling at him. This time she took Pete’s offered hand. She hopped down from the back of the van, onto the dusty ground that she knew so well, and thanked Pete for his help. Frank followed her down, still red faced and mortified by his little mishap.

It seemed that the group was congregating outside a small and ominously empty guard barracks. They had parked right beside it and glad to discover that he door wasn’t locked. This place would offer them some very convenient shelter, even just temporarily. Lucy was reassured to see that there was another woman amongst them. She was loitering outside in the baked, dusty glare of the sun, whilst Pete, Frank and another man, readied weapons to check the small building out.

“Hello...” Xin squinted at Lucy’s badge. ‘Ah, Lucy. I’m Xin. It’s nice to meet you. How are you holding up?”

“I’m okay. A little thirsty though,” Lucy said. She was playing it down, though. She wasn’t just thirsty, she was parched and felt as though any second she may just pass out again. Xin wasn’t stupid; she gave Lucy a knowing look and asked her to wait a second whilst she dashed back to the car. A couple of minutes later, Xin was back and handed Lucy a bottle of mineral water.

“I’m sorry, it’s probably a bit warm,” Xin apologised. “Even with the windows down, it gets stuffy in there.”

Lucy had the cap off of the bottle in record time and greedily gulped down more than a third of the water before even taking a breath.

“Sorry. Where are my manners? Thank you!” Lucy flustered at the look of amusement she was receiving from everyone. “And I mean, not just for the water... It’s been a tough day and I figure you guys saved my life back there. Even if you did bring me back here,” She smiled apologetically.

Upon finding the coast to be clear, they five of them made their way inside. It was somewhat cramped in the restrictive quarters of the guard house. However, it offered the comfort of air conditioning, which despite the cabins abandonment was still whirring away. It looked as though the guards that had occupied this post had left in a hurry. It didn’t take a genius to guess that they had been called down to the main facility as soon as the breach had occurred. There were mugs of coffee that had long since gone cold, stood besides a checkers board with a half played game still set up. The cabin was all open-plan and at one end was a glass window, with a small panel that controlled access via the gates. Beside the panel was a mounted monitor. It was showing various security camera feeds, most of which displayed scenes of eerie stillness. Others played images of bloody carnage, and a very small number showed staggering, brutalised forms that by all rights should be dead. On the wall to the left of the security set, was a locked cabinet that presumably contained guns and ammunition. This was another source of comfort that their shelter provided. The place was actually fairly well equipped for a short stake out. It had a small bunk area, with enough beds for four people to sleep, and an adequate kitchen area with a kettle, a microwave and miniature fridge. There was also a small TV set, a comfortable sofa and two armchairs that made up a small kind of living area. The main wall of this area had a huge map of the site fixed to it and at a desk in the corner was an old computer.

“Okay, so we obviously need to figure out our next move. I think this is as good a place as any to do that,” Pete said, looking around. “It offers the necessities. We’re out of the way here and the cameras make it easily defensible. Not to mention the guns that I hope are locked in there,” He added, nodding towards the locker.

Frank perked up. “Hey, boss. I can get that open and find out if you like?”

Pete chuckled.

“Good call. It’s definitely worth a shot. I’m guessing that you can work on that and still listen while Lucy tells us what she knows?” He asked.

“Of course. Who said guys can’t multitask?” Frank snorted. Then with a mock salute, he hopped up from his chair and headed over to inspect the lock.

Everyone else’s eyes came to rest on Lucy.

“No pressure then, huh?” She laughed tensely.

“I don’t want to remind you that we could have happily left you out there...” Bao began sharply. He was cut off by one barely noticeable shake of the head from Pete. This sent Bao’s anger bubbling to a point that he could barely keep control of. He pressed his lips to a thin line and prayed that he could keep his calm with this man.

“No, none at all Lucy,” Pete said sincerely. “Go on.”

Lucy inhaled a deep breath as she pulled her thoughts together and wondered where to begin. Her eyes fell on the map occupying the stretch of wall across from where she sat. With a strike of inspiration, she got up and went to stand in front of it. Spotting a marker pen in a jar beside the computer, she picked that up too.

“Alright, this will make it easier for you to understand,” She said. “This square here...” As she spoke she drew a big red circle around a small box towards the bottom of the map. “...is this hut. So, that’s where we are now.”

The box was miniscule compared to the sheer scale of the map. It gave them some idea of how big the set up here really was.

“Of course,” Lucy continued. “This map doesn’t show any of the most secret labs and a huge portion of the underground base is missing. That’s because this one is for the security personnel and it’s all kept on a strictly ‘need to know’ basis. I myself don’t know the location of half of the zones within this compound.”

Lucy realised that she was drifting slightly off course. She knew what she was meant to be telling them, but this information was useful to them none the less.

“I came into work this morning after a week off visiting my sister...” Lucy gulped. “Oh, God. My sister, do you think she’s okay?”

“Lucy, with all due respect, we can’t really afford to think about things like that just yet. We need to establish what’s going on,”

Xin tried to gently set her back on track.

“You said that you came into work this morning? But the security failures had already happened, so it must have already progressed quite drastically by the time you got here?”

“Well, the gates were open,” Lucy said. “The gates are never open. I poked my head round into here and it was exactly like this.” She gestured around them. “My workspace is in this hangar here...” Lucy circled a larger rectangle, a fair way up the map from the circle signifying the cabin. “I’m an engineer. I don’t do anything secret or amazing here. I just work on any mechanical gear that needs fixing, like vehicles, generators and quite often the key card scanners.”

With this revelation, even Frank looked up from the padlock he was working on. The fragile, young woman with porcelain skin, such dainty features, a slender waist and delicate little hands, did a more masculine job than any of the men in the room.

“I know, I know, not what you expected. I’m full of surprises.” Lucy rolled her eyes.

“You’re not... uh... I mean are you... a lesbian?” Frank asked innocently. “I mean, not that it matters if you are... It’s just...”

“Frank!” Xin spluttered. “That is so... politically incorrect. You can’t just assume...”

“It’s fine. I get this a lot; even my parents had the talk with me when I first applied for an engineering course.” Lucy sighed with exasperation. “No, I’m not gay. I just don’t subscribe to gender stereotypes, and while I’m willing to accept that you didn’t intend to offend me, I’d appreciate if you could try a more open minded approach towards gender roles in future.”

Suitably chastised, Frank turned his attention back to the lock and tried to disguise a smirk. Internally he was fist pumping in victory, at the presence of such an intriguing and pretty, young, heterosexual female.

“Anyway, like I said. I got here and the gates were open. This place was empty but still, I headed for the hangar. It felt kind of strange but didn’t seem that scary. It was just empty and quiet.” Lucy shut her eyes and paused for a second. Then she turned and drew another circle around a square building, not far away from the building she had circled as the hangar she worked in. “I got to this building, here. It’s one of the food halls and I call in for breakfast some mornings. I didn’t go in today though. I could hear the screams from outside.”

“Wait,” Bao frowned, standing up and walking over to the map. He pointed at the food hall and trailed a finger down the map. There wasn’t much beyond the circled building, just the one long track down to the cabin. “This is right on the edge of the base, correct? How did it spread so far? Lucy, could you hazard a guess as to where they may carry out any work with extra-terrestrials or disease research?”

Lucy puzzled for a moment. “I don’t know of any extra-terrestrial work going on here. No doubt it was, but I couldn’t guess where. All the biological labs are up this way though.” Lucy drew a big circle around ten big buildings towards the top right hand side of the map. Far away from the circles she had already drawn.

“It makes no sense!” Bao pounded the wall in frustration as he spoke. “The military came. They found that some of the... infected, had already escaped when they got here and they supposedly took care of any remaining problem. How could they have missed anyone?”