Torn Apart (19 page)

Was mercy a mistake?

“
No!” he shouted. “You can’t. I can
make this better. I can fix this. You need me. If I’m dead, then he
won’t care about Maria. He won’t. He is beyond reason. He is beyond
it. But I can convince him.”

“
If he’s beyond reason then how are
you going to reason with him?” I asked.

“
I can persuade him. He will listen.
Trust me.”

“
Drop your gun,” I said. “Throw it
overboard.”

He threw the gun into the water and raised his
hand.

“
You lost my trust a long time ago,”
I continued. “Back in the morgue of North Sydney
Hospital.”

“
Maria is all that matters,” he
said. “I mean, we had her. In the morgue. With Maria we could’ve
made a vaccine right then and there.”

“
And then you would’ve butchered us.
You were going to pack us on ice. Ship us out. North Sydney still
would’ve been firebombed. All those people on the freeway and on
the bridge and in the tunnel still would’ve been
massacred.”

“
I can fix this,” he repeated. “You
know I can. You know this is the right thing to do.”

I turned to Maria. “What do you
think?”

“
I think we don’t have a choice. I
hate to say it, but we need him.”

Unfortunately she was right. Doctor Hunter
needed to do his thing. He was the only one capable.

“
You take her blood,” I said.
“That’s it. I swear, if you put one scratch on her, I will execute
you.”

He nodded.

“
Unlock these cuffs,” I said. “And
don’t try anything. Or my finger will slip, if you catch my
meaning.”

Once we were untied, we then handcuffed Doctor
Hunter to the railing because I didn’t trust him. I even gave him
back his surgical saw. “Maybe you feel like cutting off the other
one,” I said.

We went below deck and untied Ben.

“
What about the other guy in there?”
Maria asked. “Do we bring him with us?”

“
He is too far gone,” Ben said.
“He’s lost too much blood. He’s lost both legs. Both arms. You know
what has to be done.”

I looked at the gun in my hand.

“
No,” Ben said. “It’s easier this
way.”

He retrieved a hypodermic needle from the
bedside table.

“
What is that?” I asked.

“
Sedative. I’ll give him an
overdose. He will die in his sleep. Peaceful.”

I wanted to say a few words. I wanted someone
to say a few words. But seeing that man. No legs. No arms. His
pale, lifeless skin. He had suffered so much. I had to leave the
room.

We made our way back upstairs.

According to Doctor Hunter, Ben had been given
a life saving blood transfusion. So that was a good thing. It was
the silver lining to this whole messed up situation. However, the
reason he had been given a life saving blood transfusion was not so
good. It wasn’t necessarily to save his life. It was so the meat on
his bones would be fresh.

Live meat doesn’t rot.

It made me feel sick just thinking about
it.

Ben was still weak but he eventually came good.
He had plenty of time to regain his strength while we were being
towed by the tugboat. It took a long time. Hours. The best part of
a day.

The waiting and the suspense was
unbearable.

Would the General help us?

Would we find our friends?

Could Doctor Hunter really make an
anti-virus?

The longer we waited the more nervous and
anxious I became. My mind began to wander. I couldn’t stop thinking
about how that day, I had made the explicit decision to take a
human life.

I had made that decision twice. I had failed
once. And I had been successful once.

I felt weird. Different. I hadn’t really killed
anyone thus far on our journey. Kenji had taken care of the dirty
work. And Daniel. And Ben.

I had killed that soldier in the morgue of
North Sydney Hospital. But he was infected. He had turned. And so
had Officer Dennis. I hadn’t killed a living, healthy human being
until now. And I could feel the weight of that person’s life on my
shoulders, like I was carrying their soul or something. Like I was
carrying an extra responsibility now. I know that doesn’t really
make sense, but it’s how I feel. I feel the weight. I feel the
burden.

The only thing letting me deal and cope with
this burden was repeatedly telling myself that the old man was a
cannibal. He had turned mad. And evil. Like the priest and his men.
They had slipped and fallen. They had changed into something
reprehensible, a person that had forfeited all human rights to
life, to the pursuit of freedom and happiness and all that stuff.
They were so far gone, they were so evil, that the only punishment
they deserved, the only punishment that could be exacted in this
new world, was death.

I tried to push these thoughts out of my head
as we made our way to the inner-sanctum of the Fortress.

It won't be long now, I thought.

The General had us.

He was dragging this boat, and us, into his
domain. We would meet him very soon.

And whatever I thought was going to happen,
every hope that I had for Maria’s life and for my life and for my
friend’s life, and for humanity, for a goddamn cure, every hope and
dream and wish, was about to be burnt to the ground.

My dreams were about to be
shattered.

And I was about to be broken.

We finally arrived at a long wooden pier. A strange mist hung in
the air. A small group of soldiers were waiting for us. All of them
were shirtless. Camouflage paint covered their upper bodies and
their faces. Then again, it could’ve been mud. They all had
overgrown beards, like they hadn’t shaved in years. They were
heavily armed.

The soldiers secured the boat. And we were
ordered onto the pier at gun point. Maria and I both had our hands
raised to let the soldiers know that we weren’t a threat. Doctor
Hunter had his head lowered. Ben on the other hand was just staring
at them.

The soldiers stared back. Silent and
fearless.

It was then I noticed the light posts that were
situated along the entire length of the pier. Strung from these
light posts were bodies.

Corpses.

Severed heads.

Some of them appeared to be people who had been
infected. Civilians. Some of them were soldiers.

And then I realized some of them were still
alive. They had been strung up and tortured. They were moaning in
pain. Moaning and mumbling because they didn’t have the strength to
speak, to ask for help. Beg for help.

I wondered what they had done to deserve such a
fate.

Suddenly the soldiers parted as someone moved
through them, towards us.

I couldn’t believe who it was.

I was speechless.

It was Kim.

“
It’s OK,” she said to the soldiers.
“They’re with me. They’re on our side. It’s OK. This is Maria
Marsh. The one and only. She is going to save us all.”

“
Oh my god!” Maria said.
“Kim!”

We both rushed forward and threw our arms
around her. We hugged for a few minutes. Crying and
laughing.

And Kim was all smiles. She looked surprisingly
healthy. Her smile and her skin were glowing. She looked like she
was in great shape. Her arm, her shoulder where she had been shot,
was almost completely healed. You wouldn’t even know she had been
shot with a high powered assault rifle only a few months
ago.

We stood back. I was shaking my head. We had
been separated from Kim for so long. It was a huge relief to know
that she was all right.

Kim held her arms out, like she was welcoming
us, like she was expecting us and wondering what took us so long.
“I can’t believe it,” she said. “I can’t believe you guys are here.
This is incredible. It’s a miracle. He was right. This is divine
intervention. He is always right.”

We stood silent for a few more seconds. We were
still in shock. Completely dumbfounded.

“
Who is always right?” I
asked.

“
General Spears.”

Maria finally spoke. “Kim? What happened to
you? Where have you been?”

“
It’s a long story,” she
answered.

“
What happened in New Zealand?” I
asked. “What happened in the quarantine facility?”

I had so many questions. The last time I saw
her she was practically on her death bed. She had lost a lot of
blood and was no doubt dying from thirst. And the footage we saw of
her on Doctor Hunter’s computer. She had been drugged and sedated.
She was being interviewed or interrogated. She was being used as a
test subject for some sort of experiment.

But for what?

“
I was so lucky,” she said. “I was
given a second chance. I was saved. By this man.”

She pointed to Doctor Hunter.

Again, Maria and I were both
dumbfounded.

Doctor Hunter had been forced onto his knees by
the soldiers.

Kim moved over to him. “I’m glad you’re alive,”
she said. “But he is still mad at you.”

“
Not for long,” Doctor Hunter
replied. “We have Maria Marsh. He can’t afford to lose me now. I’m
too valuable.”

“
He’s blaming the containment
failure on you.”

“
What? Why? I wasn’t responsible for
that! You know I wasn’t!”

“
Shh. Save your
strength.”

The soldiers stepped forward, gagging the
doctor’s mouth and placing a black hood over his head.

“
Take him to the General,” Kim
ordered.

“
What’s going on here?” Maria asked.
“And where is Jack? Why did you sedate him? Why did you take him
prisoner?”

Kim tilted her head. “How do you know we found
Jack?”

“
We saw you,” I said. “We were
looking for Jack as well. He had run off. He was actually looking
for you. He said he couldn’t leave you behind. He didn’t even know
where you were and he still ran off, into the desert, looking for
you.”

“
Jack is safe,” she said. “For the
moment.”

“
For the moment?” Maria asked. “What
the hell does that mean?”

“
It’s going to be OK,” Kim
reassured. “Relax. You’re finally safe. I can’t believe you made it
here in one piece. The containment failure, it was bad. The goddamn
infected are everywhere. The residential area is totally overrun.
The majority of this facility is overrun.”

“
But Jack is safe?” Maria asked
again. “Is he… is he hurt?”

“
He’s fine. I’ll take you to meet
him very soon. As soon as the General approves it. But we should
get moving. We can’t stay out in the open for too long. We’ll
probably need to evacuate soon.”

“
No,” Maria said. “I’m not going
anywhere until you tell me where Jack is, until I see him, until I
know he is safe. Why did they take him? Why? What have they done to
you?”

Maria was fed up. At that moment, relief and
happiness gave way to confusion and anger.

“
They haven’t done anything to me,”
Kim answered. “Well, they have. But nothing bad. They saved my
life. I was dying. I didn’t even know I was dying. And they saved
me. Doctor Hunter. Doctor West. They saved me.”

“
What did you do to Jack?” Maria
repeated. “Tell me!”

“
Look, it wasn’t planned or
anything,” Kim said. “The General has surveillance drones all over
the desert. There were rumors, intelligence reports about you. At
first he didn’t believe you were immune. But I told him. I swore to
him. Eventually he believed. We sent out a rescue squad. But
instead of finding you, we found Jack. I couldn’t believe it. My
baby brother. In the middle of the desert. It was another miracle.
You see, this is why the General is a great man. This is why he
will be remembered as a hero. Everything he does is for the greater
good. He has this knack of following his gut. His instincts are
incredible. And once he has a hunch, he acts. He doesn’t hesitate.
He just gets in and does it. We wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for
the General.”

Kim was acting weird. It was liked she was a
different person. It’s like she had been brainwashed. She was
speaking extremely fast, like she had drunk a gallon of coffee. Her
eyes were wide, taking everything in.

“
And Jack is all right?” Maria asked
once again, desperate to be completely sure.

“
Trust me,” Kim said. “Jack is safe
for the moment. And we are safe for the moment. This inner-sanctum
is really the only safe area left. You guys should be breathing a
very big sigh of relief. It is a genuine miracle that you made it
here.”

She stepped forward and hugged us again. “I’m
so glad you’re here. Everything is going to be just
fine.”