Torn Apart (22 page)

Maria and I moved back and away from the person
who had coughed.

Doctor Hunter stayed put. He didn’t react at
all.

“
Who’s there?” Maria
asked.

The man continued to cough. It was loud and
violent. He began throwing up. The retching noise was awful. It
immediately made me feel sick.

“
I don’t have a name,” he whispered.
“I lost my name.”

“
What?” I asked. “What does that
mean?”

No response.

“
Hello?”

“
He’s out cold,” Doctor Hunter said.
“He’s dying.”

“
How do you know that?”

“
I just do.”

The mystery man remained unconscious right
throughout the night.

The next day Kim returned to give us some
water.

“
Kim!” I shouted. “What’s happening?
What’s going on? Why are we still locked up?”

“
It’s fine,” she said. “Everything
is fine. He’s just being ultra careful.”

“
Look, the last time we were locked
up we were nearly killed,” I said. “I don’t like this. We finally
made it to a military stronghold and the guy who is supposedly in
charge, or was in charge, can’t even help us? This is not good. Not
good at all. And where the hell did he take Ben?”

“
He’s taken Ben to the prison. He
was too dangerous.”

“
Can you talk to him?” Maria asked.
“Can you let him know that we’re not infected and that we’re not a
threat?”

“
Yeah, of course. But you need to
understand you don’t just talk to the General. It’s more delicate
than that. It’s sensitive. He’s been through so much. He’s the last
one left. The last one standing. He’s survived and he’s kept it
together when the rest of the military left, when all the other
leaders doubted him. When they all told him he was wrong, wrong,
wrong. He stood defiant. Unmoving. He was a rock. He is the only
one who has not abandoned us. That’s why we need to be careful. He
holds the power. He can save us.”

Again, I couldn’t figure out what had happened
to Kim. She was speaking fast and her eyes were wide. It’s like she
was on drugs or something. And the way she talked about the
General, it just didn’t make sense. Once again, I got the feeling
she had been brainwashed.

“
But don’t worry,” she continued.
“He knows Maria is immune. He knows. And he knows that you’re the
only hope. Because if he doesn’t stop it, if he fails...” she
trailed off, shaking her head. “He can’t fail. He will win this
war. And then he will prove to all the others that he was right. He
was the only one who had the strength to stay and fight and win. He
ordered the deaths of innocent people when all the other military
leaders ran away in fear. He stood up to fear and darkness and
uncertainty. So don’t worry. He knows.”

Again, Kim sort of just trailed off. Then she
left and we were left wondering what the hell she was talking about
and why she was acting so weird.

“
What did they do to her?” Maria
asked.

“
It's a side effect of the
nano-virus,” the mystery man said from the corner.

“
What?” I asked. “What are you
talking about? Who are you?”

He was still curled up in the far corner of the
shipping container. I looked closely but I could barely see him. He
was like a ghost.

“
Early side-effects of the
nano-virus,” he repeated. “Hyper speech. Hyper-activity. It’s
almost like a manic episode. The nano-bots improve the neural
pathways of the brain. They change it. Make it better, more
efficient. More adaptable. When it first happens, it’s euphoric.
It's like this endless high.”

“
Hold up a second,” I said. “Are you
saying that she’s been injected with the nano-virus?”

“
I’m almost certain,” he answered.
“She’s displaying all the early symptoms.”

“
The same nano-virus the military
released into the atmosphere in an attempt to eradicate the Oz
virus?”

“
The very one.”

“
How do you know what the symptoms
are?” Maria asked.

“
I’m an Evo Agent,” he said. “I was
hired by the company. Trained by the company. We were all given the
injections.”

I turned to Doctor Hunter. “What the hell did
you do to her? She said you saved her. What did you do?”

He was sitting against the wall with his head
resting on his knees. He looked like a defeated man. “We did save
her. We cured her. She was sick.”

“
With the Oz virus?”

“
No. She had cancer. Skin cancer. It
was aggressive. The cancer had spread. It had moved into her
lymphatic system. It was advancing. It was killing her. We gave her
an injection of the nano-virus. It was purely an
experiment.”

“
You experimented on her?” I
asked.

“
There was nothing else we could do.
She was terminal. We ran tests. Within days the cancer went into
remission. Within days she had completely recovered.”

“
What? How?”

“
The nano-bots. When she started
improving we decided to give her concentrated doses. We injected
the nano-virus directly into the tumors and the affected areas. The
way the nano-bots acted, the way they targeted the tumors, attacked
the tumors,” he trailed off, shaking his head. “It was simply
amazing.”

“
So the nano-virus cured
her?”

Doctor Hunter nodded. “For lack of a better
word. Yes.”

“
But it’s changing her
brain?”

“
I don’t know,” Doctor Hunter
answered. “It’s a new technology. We are still learning how to
harness it.”

“
Yes, it will change her brain,” the
Evo Agent whispered, struggling to speak. “It’s
inevitable.”

“
Will it change her?” Maria asked.
“Will it change her personality?”

“
Only time will tell.”

“
But why?” I asked. “What does the
nano-virus do?”

“
It makes you stronger, fitter.
Smarter. It unleashes potential. It turns you into a super soldier.
That was the whole point. The next evolutionary stage of warfare.
The next evolutionary stage of the soldier.” The man tensed up and
coughed. “But there are side-effects. Withdrawal symptoms. If you
don’t get your monthly injection, your body starts to fail. The
nano-bots, the injections, it’s like a drug. Your body begins to
depend on it.”

“
Is that what’s happening to you
now?” I asked.

“
Yes.”

“
How long since your last
injection?”

“
Thirty-eight days.”

Maria stood up and moved over to the Evo Agent.
She offered him the last of her water. “What’s your name?” she
asked.

“
Seven,” he answered.

“
Seven?”

“
That’s my number. We were all
assigned numbers. Told to forget our names. We belonged to the
company.”

“
Here,” Maria said. “Drink
this.”

He raised his head slightly. It was then he saw
Maria. “Wait. Who are you? What’s your name?”

“
Maria.”

He took out a photo from his pocket.

It was Maria's school photo.

“
Maria Marsh,” he whispered. “The
whole world is looking for you.”

The whole world was looking for Maria. But the world was too late.
We were sitting in a dark prison cell, waiting for the General to
make a decision. It was up to him now to set us free, to call for
help, to organize an extraction for Maria.

The world would have no say in the matter, and
if Maria stayed down here, the world would never find
her.

The next day, General Spears returned. He
opened the door to the shipping container slightly. He was
accompanied by two heavily armed soldiers.

“
Are any of you infected?” he
asked.

“
We already told you,” I said.
“We’re not infected. Please, we need food and water.”

“
Water you can have,” he said. “No
food. Not yet.”

He was making us weaker and weaker. He was
doing this on purpose. He was torturing us and trying to break our
spirits.

“
What’s going on?” I asked. “Why are
you keeping us prisoner? Why are you keeping Maria prisoner? She
can help. She is the only one who can make a
difference.”

“
Nobody wants to help,” he answered.
“Not anymore. They are afraid of the virus. They are afraid of this
weapon because they do not understand it. But I understand
it.
Don't you
see? They are brain dead. They are dead. They feed on the living to
spread the infection. The dead feed on the living. And we the
living, feed on the dead. Don't you see how perfect that is? It is
Simple. It is pure. It is genius. That is why they are
afraid.”

“
They
have a right to be afraid,” Maria said. “Of course they do. That is
why we need to help. We can stop this.”

“
There
was a meeting,” he continued. Right before the military
left
. Operation Homefront. The situation in
Australia had been assessed. They said it was beyond the point of
no return. Massive casualties had been suffered. Project Salvation
had failed. It was recommended that all military personnel fall
back to home soil in preparation for domestic defensive purposes.
The probability of an outbreak of the Oz virus on American soil was
considered highly likely. Therefore, all military resources would
be required in domestic defensive and containment roles. Australia
was a non-priority. The remaining population was expendable. The
remaining soldiers were expendable.”

He took a deep breath. “They left us here to
die. So who is the enemy? Who are we fighting? Who are we fighting
for?”

“
We can’t just give up,” Maria
said.

“
I agree. And I won’t give up. That
is why I am still here.”

He retrieved a small book from his back pocket.
“This book was a gift. It is the ‘Art of War’ by Sun Tzu.” The
General flicked through a few pages. He found the section he was
looking for. “Sun Tzu states that in order to become invincible.
Immortal. To become a God. You must know your enemy as you know
yourself. The first rule of war is know yourself. Know your
weaknesses. Know your strengths. Know your limitations. Once you
know this, then you must know your enemy.”

He put the book back in his pocket. “We do not
know our enemy. The virus changes and adapts. The cure, Project
Salvation, the nano-virus, for all its potential, was a false hope.
It became a weapon of unimaginable horror and consequence. It was
sophisticated, elegant and supremely advanced. And it morphed, it
changed into something evil. In the end, it became a weapon. And
that weapon was in the hands of children. But the real enemy, the
real enemy is within. Know yourself. Know your enemy. But what if
you do not know either? There would be no hope. No
hope.”

He left suddenly. Once again, we were alone in
the dark. Confused and angry and desperate.

The Evo Agent cleared his throat. “The rest of
my squad was killed by the General,” he whispered. “It’s like he
knew what we were going to do even before we knew. For all our
physical abilities, he out smarted us. And now I think he has been
taking the nano-virus injections as well. It’s the only possible
explanation. He’s old. He’s got to be pushing sixty. But he
possesses the strength of a prize-fighter. The rest of my squad was
in here with me. And the General killed them one by one. Every few
days. He comes back. He takes one of us. I am next. And then he
will kill you.”

“
Excuse me?” Maria asked. “Why? Why
would he do that?”

“
It’s warfare. Kill or be killed.
One by one. We are next. You are next.”

“
No. He wouldn’t just execute us,”
Maria said. “He wants to stop this plague. He wants what we
want.”

The Evo Agent was silent. His breathing was
labored.

“
We need to get out of here,” I
said. “We need to escape.”

“
There is no escaping,” he said. “We
are deep underground. We are locked in a cell. In a secure cave. We
are in a prison within a prison within a prison. There is no
escape.”

“
Doctor Hunter,” I said, “Surely you
can help. There has to be someone else down here. Your staff, other
doctors in the research facility. What about Doctor West? They
can’t all be dead? Ben said this place was bigger than Manhattan.
So where the hell is everyone!?”

“
Doctor West fled. He Disappeared.
When it got real bad. He deserted us.”

“
Well, what about the rest of your
staff?” I asked.

“
There is no one left. Not here.
They ran. Or they committed suicide.”

“
Suicide?”

“
They knew there was no escape from
Australia. The military had set up their blockade. The infected had
taken over. The virus had spread from coast to coast. Australia is
now hell on earth. No escape. That's why they did it. That's why.
The ones who stayed behind, were eventually murdered by the General
and his men.”