Genetic Drift (16 page)

DAY 282

WILL OR QUILL EASTON?

CAMP PHOENIX

Will heard the General say that they were preparing for retaliation.  This was the cue that aliens, Grapplers, Trolls, or whatever were going to attack.  His heart started to beat fast and deep.  He felt the urge to swallow but couldn’t.  He wiped his brow as sweat started to form.  His head jerked to the side and then his body began to relax.  His shoulders were slumped over and his docile face turned into a frown. 

One of the soldiers that was standing behind the General approached Will.  “I’m Greg.  As your squad leader, I’m here to show you the ropes and get you outfitted.  That is, if you want to fight with us.” 

“I’m ready to do whatever it takes,” Quill’s raspy voice came out. 

“Alright then, let’s not waste time,” Greg said, and passed Maddie as they began their walk to the control building.  “This is where the orders come from and this is where we sleep,” Greg’s arm swept across Quill’s field of vision, introducing the building.  After Quill walked into the building, Greg directed him to an elevator.  “We’re going down to the second level,” he informed Quill, “that’s where we get all of our gear.”

They entered the elevator and the doors closed shortly after Greg pressed the “-2” button.  The elevator descended.

“I’ve waited a long time for this.  What do I get?” Quill asked. Greg was slightly worried by his voice, posture, and his overall view of what he was going to do.

“Are you okay?” he asked.  Quill blinked and his head quivered.  He couldn’t believe he had just been asked that question. 

“I have been hunted by those things since they landed.  Of course I am okay.  If you had been in my place, then you would understand what it’s like for them to come and go without being able to do anything about it,” Quill said, and asked his question again. “So, what do I get and will I look like a killer?  I’m tired of wearing these rags.”  Quill draped his arms over his clothes.  They were Will’s style, old and tattered, and had not been maintained.  His pants were worn and loose and the collar of his t-shirt looked as if it had been pulled to the point where it would never return to its original form.

“Yes, you’ll get a full tactical outfit to wear,” Greg let him know.

The elevator dinged as it stopped on the second level.  Quill looked around and was in heaven.  The first of the items that caught his eye were the survival knifes.  He picked one up and examined it, checking both sides of the blade.

“I want one of these,” he said, and kept the knife in his hand as he ran to another item, a tactical vest.  He picked it up with his forearm, “And one of these.” 

Greg watched as Quill went to every set of gear and his response was, “I want one of these.”  Quill had completed his round and walked up to Greg.  All of his selections were in his arms, in his hands, on his shoulders, and even tucked into his waistband.  “Can you help me carry these?” Quill asked, and extended one of his arms.  Greg took some of the items and directed Quill to a man, an inventory manager, in the back of the room.

“We have to inventory your stuff with that guy,” he said as they walked over to the man and he began to go through his checklist.  Each additional check caused the man’s eyebrow to rise until it couldn’t get any higher.

Quill had all of his gear and was ready to put it all on.  Greg took him to the elevator, “Next stop is the berthing area.”  They entered the elevator and “-4” was the selection.  When the doors opened, mechanical noises reached Quill’s ears and he looked inside to identify the source.  He saw huge generators with beds scattered between them.  At the foot of each bed was a large locker with plenty of space for the few items that Quill would not be wearing.  Greg approached a bed and said, “This is your bunk.  Go ahead and get dressed and I’ll be back in 10 minutes.  I’ll introduce you to your squad after that.”

New clothes, new weapons, new gear, Quill was excited to put it all on.  He stripped off his shoddy clothes and went immediately for the basic uniform items.  He wished that he had a mirror to admire himself as he stroked his shirt to straighten it out.  He put on his vest and then started to clip on all of the weaponry he had selected.  “I can’t believe they gave all this stuff to a crazy man,” he said to himself as he continued to admire all of the war-gear.  Finally, he was fully dressed out with time to spare.  He perched himself on his bunk and started to practice taking out his knives and opening the Velcro on his vest.

Greg came up to Quill, “You ready to meet your squad?”  Quill jumped up and walked to Greg. 

“I sure am,” he told Greg with happiness exuding from his raspy voice.  They entered the elevator and went to the ground floor.  Greg led him outside and they started to walk towards the tanks.  Quill’s smile grew and grew.  He knew that he was going to be in a tank.  He knew those aliens were going to get what was coming to them.  They walked past Marcus and Tony and approached the tanks.  But right before they got to the tanks, Greg took a hard left and Quill followed.  Quill saw before him a group of soldiers digging a ditch.  His wide smile went back to a frown.  He knew he wasn’t going to be in a tank.  He wasn’t going to be as effective as he had hoped. 

Greg pointed to the guys in the ditch, “Meet your new squad.”  One of the soldiers noticed them standing above them.

“Hey, when you get a chance.  If you don’t mind.  Can you take off that vest and help us out?” the soldier asked.

“We all work our way up around here.  Don’t worry, you’ll get your chance.  But for now, we have to take care of Supreme Command before the aliens’ attack,” Greg told Quill.

Quill took off his prized tactical vest in a humph.  “When they do come, I’ll take my chance.  Just watch and you’ll see,” Quill told Greg as he jumped into the ditch.  Quill was going to show them.

DAY 282

MARCUS AND TONY

CAMP PHOENIX

Tony started talking as soon as the General left for the control building, “Marcus, you’re with me.”  Tony started to head for a shack midpoint between the entrance and the control building.  Marcus began a quick jog and caught up to Tony.

“So what is this all about?” Marcus asked. 

“Let there be no question about it, the General wants experience.  He doesn’t want a rabble fighting against the aliens,” Tony said. 

“So that means that…?” Marcus asked, digging for more information.  

“You have a reputation around here.  One of the few survivors of Charlottesville, your raid of the alien bunker, recovering an Inject, and I will emphasize, a survivor.  You have experience, leadership, and you know how to be in a squad,” Tony said. “The General wants you to lead a squad in the upcoming battle because you’re not part of the rabble.” 

Marcus listened to Tony’s words, amazed that they wanted him to lead.  He was confident in his ability but other than the few minutes in the bunker, he had never led a platoon or anything.  He said, “That’s all fine but I don’t know tanks and I don’t know artillery.  I’m a ground guy.”  Tony stopped in front of the shack and faced the control building.

“That’s not a problem, the General wants you to lead the defense of the building.  Everything from this point forward needs to die,” Tony said, “except for our people.  They don’t need to die, don’t kill them.”

Marcus looked down the path leading to the building.  A river was to his right, mountains to his left, and flat land leading to the building.  “I don’t have long to prep, so what do I have to work with?”  Marcus was still looking down angles and thinking of ways to defend the control building. 

“There are already provisions in place for the attack, long-range guns over there,” Tony said, pointing to a rampart between the building and the mountains, “mines over there,” pointing along the riverfront, “and we have our own frogmen in the water.”  Marcus followed everything Tony told him. 

“But what if they breach the building?” Marcus asked.  Tony pointed at Marcus’ chest.

“And that, my friend, is where you come in.  The defense team is already set.  All they need is you,” Tony said.  Marcus noticed Quill walking by but ignored him. 

“Show me the plan,” Marcus said, and they began to head toward the control building.

They reached the building and walked up to the second floor.  It was a wide open space with a room in the back.  Tony showed Marcus to the room, “This is the execution room.  You have all of the floor plans and surveillance feeds.  The most important thing that needs protection is the communications room.  Everyone within 500 miles is plugged into that room.  If the aliens make it there, we’re done.  Game over.”  After making this first point, Tony continued to his second, “Next, do not let the Injects come into contact with the aliens.  They can transfer information between each other and compromise the base and the person.” 

Marcus looked down at the floor plans while focusing on Tony’s words.  “So, what is your plan?”  Tony started to tell Marcus about the weak areas and the plans to defend the building.  Marcus looked at Tony with displeasure on his face.  He drew a deep breath and told Tony, “We’re going to get our butts kicked with this plan and it needs to change.  Tell the team to meet here in two hours.  Everyone will need to know their role in the new plan.” 

Tony straightened his body as he came to attention in a half-attempted military manner, “Yes sir, will do.”  Tony went to round up the teams and left Marcus to concentrate on the plan.

DAY 282

MADISON SHARROW

CAMP PHOENIX

Two individuals approached Maddie.  A pasty girl with black hair walked next to a tall rotund blonde-haired man.  The two were complete opposites in every way.  There was something going on between them.  The girl was rubbing against the man as they walked.  She had no problem being really close to him.  It was a closeness that made Maddie slightly uncomfortable.  Then the girl broke away from the man and walked straight up to Maddie.  She stood as tall as she could and slouched her shoulders forward.  Her eyes were droopy and she frowned.

“Welcome to the Underworld,” the short black-haired girl said. 

“She’s just kidding,” the big man walked up behind her. 

“I’m Jay,” he said, and pointed to himself, “and she’s Hope.”  Before he could put his hand on her head, she moved quickly to the side. 

“Don’t you do that,” she barked at him.  Hope stood a foot shorter than Maddie. She was small, thin, and looked very frail.  She must have salvaged a huge cache of makeup since her eye shadow, eye liner, and lipstick all matched the darkness of her hair. 

“Let’s get you inside,” Hope said, and grabbed Maddie’s arm with a smile.  She stopped when she noticed her gray left hand.  “That’s awesome! How did you do that?” Hope asked as she pointed at the metallic appendage. “And your eye is wicked too.”  Hope was admiring Maddie’s wounds.  Maddie brought up her hand to look at it.  She turned her hand while she drummed her fingers.

“It got shot off and grew back.  And my eye, I woke up like this,” Maddie said.

“Being an Inject is cool, right?” Hope asked.  Maddie looked at her strangely.

“Inject?” Maddie asked. 

“Yeah, that’s what they call you guys who have been taken by the aliens,” Jay answered Maddie.

“Trolls, right?” Maddie corrected him.

“Being here, we get all kinds of names for them.  It’s just easier to call them aliens,” Jay explained.

“So you are both… Injects?” Maddie asked them.  Hope fidgeted and was getting annoyed being outside. 

“Let’s go inside, it sucks out here.  And no, I am the Inject and Jay is my uninfected brother,” she said.  They started walking to the control building.  “We used to live in Greensboro.  The usually story.  They took me.  Experimented on me.  Somebody saved me.  I returned.  Jay found me.  You know, all the stuff they make in movies.  Flowers and rainbows and unicorns that fart cotton candy.  I hope I’m not going to get married next. BLECH!”  Hope arched her back like a cat, covered her mouth with her hands, and faked vomiting.  After she displayed her dramatic effects, she continued to tell Maddie about herself, “Then they sent us here. That’s so we can ‘help defeat the aliens’ by being poked, prodded and observed.”

Hope’s hand, covered by a black leather evening glove, went to open the door.  “Why are you wearing those gloves?” Maddie asked her.  Hope shook her head.

“All of the Injects wear gloves.  And by all, I mean me.  You haven’t touched another Inject have you?”  Maddie knew what Hope was talking about since she remembered Roanoke. 

“No, but I have touched the Trolls,” Maddie said, and Hope lit up. 

“You got to touch an alien?  What was it like?  Is it better than touching an Inject?”  Hope asked.  She couldn’t contain herself and ripped off one of her evening gloves.

“I don’t know what it’s like to touch an Inject.  When I—” Maddie answered. Before Maddie could get out another word, Hope had touched Maddie with her glove removed.

Body 1-0-0-0-0-0-0-7-7, Cell Count… 15.915 times 10
10
.  Remaining available… 3.9917 times 10
8
.  Body Function 100%.  Host: Human. Objective: Idle.  Status: Waiting.

I am Rho. Body 1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-4, Cell Count… 15.915 times 10
12
.  Remaining available… 7.8167 times 10
10
.  Body Function 100%.  Host: Human. Objective: Idle.  Status: Waiting.

Unlike with the Troll in Roanoke, Maddie knew that she would hear the voice in her head. 

No objective change.

No objective change.

Good bye.

Good bye.

“See, it’s kinda boring,” Hope said as she withdrew her hand.  Maddie recalled her encounter with the Troll.

“When I touched the Troll, it was all in my head the same way as with you.  It said it was hunting humans and then it died,” Maddie said, and that made Hope even more excited.

“It died?  You killed one with your mind… how did you do it?” Hope asked. Maddie shook her head.

“No, no, that’s not the way it happened.  It was killed while I was touching it.  It told me it died,” she answered, and Hope’s shoulders slouched.

“Awww, killing one would be so cool.  We’re stuck here all day.  They won’t even give us a chance to see the aliens,” Hope said.

“They keep you here all the time.  What if you want to leave?  What if you want to fight?” Maddie asked as she was a little concerned.  They entered into a laboratory area.

“They don’t let us out because we are high valued assets and we are not trusted because we have been ‘injected,’” Hope gave Maddie the disappointed answer.  Maddie stopped walking.  That wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

“So, they keep us here?  We’re stuck here?” she asked. 

“Yeah, pretty much.  They say you can go but then they bring you right back here.  Don’t get me wrong, they are good to us but you are stuck,” Hope answered.

Maddie followed Jay and Hope out of the lab and into a hallway.  “Jay, what do you do here?” Maddie asked since he wasn’t talking much. 

“I don’t let my sister out of my sight.  I’m not going to lose her again,” Jay said, and he walked in front of the two girls. “I wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t have Hope.”  They walked through another hallway that looked the same as the last.  Maddie’s curiosity took control as she felt they were walking in circles.

“Where exactly are we going?” she asked.

“The dungeon of pleasure, of course,” Hope answered.  Hope had a smirk on her face as Jay corrected her.

“We’re going to intakes. The Eggheads want a sample of all new arrivals, especially Injects,” Jay said, not giving Maddie a chance to ask. “If you have to know, Eggheads are the doctors and researchers.”  Maddie’s lips curled.

“I know.  I wasn’t going to ask,” she said under her breath.

“Have they figured out what’s in us?” Maddie asked Hope.

“Yeah they have,” Hope said as she started to look around for something.  Maddie was irritated with the pause.

“Well, what is it?” she barked.  Hope was still looking for something as they kept walking down the hallway.

“Hold on.  Hey Jay, let me see your knife,” Hope said.  Jay’s cheek flapped as he shook his head.

“You know I’m not supposed to give you any weapons,” he said. 

“Just let me see the thing and stop treating me like an Inject and pretend I’m your sister for just a second,” Hope demanded.  Jay reached into his pocket and pulled out a folding knife.  He handed it to Hope.  She flipped out the blade and held it up to her face. 

“We have these things in our blood,” she explained, and turned the knife so she could see her reflection, then the sharp blade edge, and then back to her reflection, “You know that we can communicate through touch because these cells attach to our brain or something like that, and—”

With her teeth clenched, she plunged the blade into her forearm.  She continued, “also we can do the same thing as you did with your hand.”  Hope withdrew the blade from her forearm as blood started to pour out.  “Now watch this.”  They were staring down at Hope’s arm.  At first nothing seemed different but then the flow of blood began to lessen.  In a short moment, the blood stopped and then her wound was quickly covered with new skin.  “Cool right?  They are specialized engineered cells but everyone calls them ‘Specs.’”  She folded the knife and gave it back to Jay. 

“Don’t want to get caught with that,” she continued to answer Maddie. “This stuff in our blood lets us super-heal but also lets us communicate with each other.  All we need now are our super-capes, and super-strength, and we would be super-heroes.  That’s why I wanted to know how you did that to your hand.”  They had approached a stairwell and Hope was fully healed. 

“This is the only way to the lab and that’s where they’ll take you in,” Hope said and started walking down the steps. 

“They’re pretty serious about removing us from contact,” Maddie said as she followed Hope.  Jay walked behind, looking over his shoulder to make sure the door had shut. 

“They take the Specs seriously, that’s why,” he told Maddie. “It makes some people crazier than Hope.”  Hope continued down the stairs but gave Jay a scowl.

“I haven’t and don’t plan on killing anyone.  I am completely, 100%, normal.  And before you say anything Jay, you’re my monitor and I’m normal for me,” she said.  Maddie watched the two argue as she descended with Hope.

“What do they do if you’re not normal?”  Maddie asked.  Hope showed no sign of emotion.

“They kill you and use your body parts for study,” she said.

“I’m Hope’s monitor, every Inject has one.  If they say you are dangerous or a threat to anyone then they lock you away or worse, make you not a threat,” Jay explained. 

“They better not even think about doing that to me,” Maddie warned them.

“Is that my monitor?” Maddie asked as they exited the stairwell.  She pointed to a woman walking down the hallway. 

“No,” Hope answered quickly, and she whispered under her breath, “she’s the one you don’t want to piss off.  That’s Dr. Snodgrass and she’ll make your life hell.”  Jay went in front of the two girls.

“Hello Dr. Snodgrass,” he greeted the doctor with a smile.

“How is the new intake and your sister?” the doctor asked.

“They’re doing well.  We are about to check in,” Jay answered her.  

“Great, I look forward to reading your daily report.  I’ll let you get along your way,” she said as she wrote a note on her clipboard.  Dr. Snodgrass looked at Maddie and Hope with a smile, but it was more devious than welcoming.  Hope caught her look and started to stare at her feet. 

“Maddie, let’s go and get you checked in,” Hope said.  They walked past the doctor and entered the lab.

“I’m Joel.  Welcome,” Joel said as he was preparing for the examination.  Hope and Maddie walked into the middle of the room and Jay followed close behind.  Hope pointed to the window that led to an adjacent office.

“That’s where your monitor is,” Hope said.  Maddie turned to see Barron.  She turned red as she saw him.  Barron was looking at her like she was a monkey in a zoo.  The thought of her life in the control of his hands made her burst.  She went to the window as he stood there.  She pounded on it and then pointed at him.

“If you think that you’re going to let them kill me then I’m going to take you with me,” she yelled.  Her finger left a smudge on the window as she walked back to Hope.

Joel performed a basic physical on Maddie.  He examined her eye, “Besides the red coloring, there is absolutely nothing wrong with your eyes.  No problems with vision?” 

“No,” Maddie answered with contempt.  He took a pen and held it to the side of her vision.

“No problems with periphery?” he asked. 

“No,” Maddie replied again.  Joel took her left hand and moved each finger up and down, left and right.

“Any pain?” 

“No,” Maddie gave another short reply.  Joel checked her pulse, reflexes, and looked for any other indication of harm.  He put his hands on his knees.

“You look perfectly healthy.  I can see you have had some things happen but I really don’t see any problems,” he said.  His eyes grew as he looked at her hand, “Now I’ve never seen that and would like to examine it further but that can wait until you’re settled in.”  Joel stood up and reached for a clipboard.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at 9 o’clock sharp, rest well.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Hope said as she walked to the door.  Maddie got up to follow her.  Before Maddie left the room, she looked toward the adjacent room and saw Barron still standing there.  She couldn’t believe that he was in control of her life and he didn’t know anything about her. 

They walked out of the intake room and ran into Dr. Snodgrass again.  Maddie was visibly upset, “Why is Barron my monitor?” she demanded from the Doctor.

“That’s what has been decided. He has been with you since Day One,” the doctor said.  Maddie didn’t think she quite understood what she was trying to say.

“Day one was the day I was born.  He has known me for five days.  A huge gap there, Doctor,” she snapped.  In the commotion, Joel peeked his head out of the lab.  Dr. Snodgrass became firm.  She wasn’t going to stand there and let Maddie yell at her.

“He’s your monitor and that’s the end of any debate that you think you are going to have,” Doctor Snodgrass said.