After Impact: After Impact Trilogy, Book 1 (14 page)

Ilium’s holding cell was a hollow cube of bullet and shatterproof glass which offered no privacy. One commode and steel sink were in the far left corner. The overhead fluorescent light flickered and buzzed, while the lone lumpy mattress in the right corner was pitifully undersized. Noticeably absent was a wallscreen. Except for the digital red clock hung in the middle of his cell, there would be no way for Ilium to tell day from night, night from day.

Ilium spent the first day pacing the floor of the holding cell and doing sit ups and pushups to keep busy. His mind kept thinking about Brody and if the medicine really worked.

That night, as Ilium lay on the lumpy mattress, he thought about how he became a member of the habitat. The odds were against him winning entry into HOPE, but he won, beating out over 1000 others who took the test for physician. After that, he underwent countless psychological and physical exams. He tried to think of this holding cell as being similar to the simulation where he was isolated for 72 hours to test for any cracks in his psyche.

By the second day, Ilium asked for a book to read. He received a nonfiction biography of the President.

Although it was the only company he had, it was hard to concentrate on the dry boring biography of the President. He pressed a button on the tablet and a 3-D holographic news clip appeared from the President’s last days outside before entering the habitat.

A pretty young blonde girl in a red dress was speaking outside of the habitat area as it was entering its last stage of construction. The sun kissed newscaster was reporting on the protestors, as well as the fact that the world was set to end in three weeks. Protestors marched behind her. The protestors mainly consisted of people who were not selected from the lottery and those who failed the selection and aptitude tests. They were allowed to peacefully protest about 500 feet from the site. Some of the protestors carried signs which talked about how the project was a waste of tax payer money, how everyone should die together, or how it was unfair to save a select few.

Barbed wire fence, electric fencing, a large stone wall, numerous lights and cameras, along with security guards watched over the habitat as it was being built. A large white sign was posted outside which read in large red letters, RESTRICTED AREA. NO TRESPASSING BEYOND THIS POINT. A second sign read WARNING MILITARY INSTALLATION. The words in fine print at the bottom of the sign were the scariest: Use of deadly force authorized. The sign creators did not even bother to bold or otherwise highlight the most important part of the sign. Construction crews were only allowed to work on one section of the habitat at a time before they were laid off.

After the newscaster finished speaking, Ilium turned off the newsclip.
What other rooms could be hidden here?

Just as Avalon headed down the corridor to see Ilium as most of the rest of the habitat slept, Raleigh grabbed her hand.

“Are you going to visit Ilium?” she asked.

“Yes,” Avalon said with a hint of irritation.

“He likes you more,” Raleigh said, lowering her gaze down at her nail bitten hands.

“Don’t say that,” Avalon said as she touched Raleigh on the shoulder. “Ilium continues to love you more each day. He is truly devoted to his duty and doing what it takes to survive.”

“That’s just it—it shouldn’t
be
a duty. That word smacks of a chore. A responsibility.”

“He
is
a responsible person.”

Avalon leaned closer. Raleigh’s neck had a red spot.

“Raleigh,” Avalon said as she pointed to the girl’s neck. Raleigh’s eyes grew wide and her cheeks reddened at Avalon’s remark.

“You haven’t. Ilium has only been in the holding cell three days. Plus, you know it’s against the law,” Raleigh said.

“I know! But did anyone think that maybe all of us were falling in love with other people before this whole Match Day mess? There is a reason some of us were impossible to match, even for the AI.”

Avalon contemplated what Raleigh spoke.

“Are you going to?”

“No. I won’t tell. But if you ever, and I mean
ever
, break Ilium’s heart in any way, I promise to do something far worse,” Avalon threatened.

Avalon walked away from Raleigh and towards the holding cell.

“Breaking out is a third strike,” Ilium said as Avalon spoke to him. Avalon visited him the third day after finding out that he was arrested. Ilium was so relieved to see that smile formed across his face for the first time in three days. His skin looked desiccated, and his eyes were bloodshot from lack of slumber.

“I really need you to focus on staying alive right now and to stop focusing on following the rules,” Avalon whispered.

“So are you admitting you like me?” Ilium asked, his voice pregnant with hope.

Avalon rolled her eyes and then cracked a smile.

“What took you so long to visit?”

Avalon ignored his first question, but answered the second. “If I came to visit you on the first two days of the week, the guards would have been more vigilant. By letting a few days pass, and thus some of their adrenaline drop, I anticipate they won’t be so vigilant. There’s only thirty minutes left for visitation and most everyone is asleep. Look behind me, the guards themselves are stretching and yawning right now.”

“I can’t let you break me out. It would mean a strike for you too, and I can’t risk that. I’m not worth getting a strike for,” Ilium said.

“Well, if you think I’m going to sit on the outside and act like life is just dandy without you in it, you are sadly mistaken. Leaving you here is not an option.”

Ilium’s eyes met Avalon’s for a moment.

“So what do you plan to do?” Ilium asked with a sigh, realizing he would lose an argument with Avalon.

“The less you know the better,” she answered. “Just follow my lead.”

A guardsman entered the room. “Your time is up,” he said.

Avalon nodded her head and waved to Ilium. In one swift move, she managed to spin around on her heels and quickly grab the guardsman’s electric baton from his belt and use it on him. A second, shorter guard entered the room. She hid in a recess in the wall and took care of him too with the baton as he stooped down to look at his partner. Noting a tranquilizer gun on the second guard, Avalon snapped it up.

“Krav maga training came in handy huh?” Ilium asked.

“Saved your butt,” she said as she grabbed the guardsman’s wrist and waved it in front of Ilium’s cell. As the door opened, Avalon said, “Take this tranquilizer gun and if you see someone chasing us, use it!”

Avalon and Ilium navigated the corridor. Most of the others were returning from the cafeteria, so Avalon blended in and Ilium kept close behind her. Avalon kept looking over her shoulder, checking to ensure no one followed them. Each time she looked, she didn’t see anyone. Avalon and Ilium quickly ducked into the storage room. Now that they were alone, Avalon allowed the wave of pure adrenaline to hit her, letting a smile creep on her face.

“We did it. You are out!” she said, throwing him some brown scrubs to put on instead of the orange scrubs he wore while in the holding cell. He turned his back as he changed into them.

“Yeah, but we aren’t home free. I am sure every guardsman is on the lookout for us,” Ilium said. The storage room was kept cooler than the rest of the habitat, so his breath came out as little puffs of clouds.

Avalon twisted her neck from side to side, to let off some of the kinks which had formed due to stress.

“Here, let me help you with that,” Ilium offered as he placed his hands on her shoulder. Her eyes closed as the gentle pressure of his hands melted her stress away.

“Goodness. Stressed much?” Ilium said.

“Yes,” her eyes dimmed as she thought of Brody. “Something didn’t work Ilium. With the cure.”

Ilium dropped his hands from her shoulder and turned around to face her.

“What do you mean, something didn’t work?”

Avalon exhaled. “He is gone.”

Ilium didn’t respond for a few moments, resting his head up against a wall as he closed his eyes.

“But the computer said—” he began.

“I know,” Avalon cut him off. “The only thing I can think of is that maybe he is in the minority.”

Ilium shook his head. “I don’t believe so. I just don’t believe those odds.”

Avalon nodded in agreement.

“You know that means…”

Tears formed in the corner of Avalon’s eyes. “I know.”

Ilium wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

“It’s going to be alright,” he whispered. “I will figure something out.”

“But it is too late. Too late for Brody,” Avalon stammered.

“Maybe. But we can still save the others,” he said.

Ilium’s perpetual state of hope inspired and perplexed Avalon. She supposed that was in part, what made him such a great physician.

After they sat together a spell, Ilium said, “As much as I would love nothing more than just to live here forever with you, there’s no food here. And my stomach is growling.”

That caused a small smile to form on Avalon’s face.

“You are right,” she said, rising to her legs.

She stuck her ear to the door and counted to five minutes. “I think the hall is pretty silent now. Let’s duck back out there,” Avalon said.

She swiped her hand over the door and immediately something hard hit her in the head before she collapsed to the hard cement floor.

Avalon opened her eyes briefly only to shut them again because it was so bright. Once she reopened them, she spotted microscopes and other lab equipment on countertops. Several wallscreens were monitoring some experiments and displaying real-time results in a continuous stream. Some rats, which somehow managed to survive the effects of the asteroid, were behind glass hooded cages. Various shapes and sized bottles and containers littered the room.
Viggo’s lab.
Avalon tried to sit up, but could not. Her hands and feet were tied to the chair. Ilium was also tied to a chair. He appeared unconscious, with a four inch long gash across his forehead.
That’s going to need stitches
. Her shirt had a few specks of red as well
. Is that from me or Ilium?
Panic welled up inside her. She tried to force it down and focus the adrenaline coursing through her veins on assessing her new situation. The President’s chief scientist, Viggo, closed the distance between them and stood two feet in front of her face.

“I see that you have decided to join the party, Miss Adams,” the bespectacled thirty-five year old said.

As her head still spun, making the walls appear to be melting in front of her, she paused to take a deep breath and clear her head. After a moment, she managed to ask, “What…… have…… you…… done?”

Viggo analyzed her a moment before answering, “O, just a little pistol whipping to the head. You will recover. From
that
at least,” Viggo said as he parceled out his words with great care.

As Avalon tugged at the ties around her hands and feet, she asked, “Why am I here?”

Viggo smiled slightly and said, “Playing the innocent I see. You see, I already know that you and your little friend, Ilium, have been snooping around my files.”

“You must be mistaken,” Avalon answered, her eyes never leaving his.

“Do not try me, Avalon. We both know that you all were snooping around.”

Avalon said nothing but stared at her captor with eyes that could bore a hole through steel.

“What are you planning to do with us? Torture is not allowed. It is against the convention—” Avalon stated before being cut off by Viggo.

“Who said anything about torture, my dear girl? We have progressed far from those barbaric times. Goodness no. You will tell me anything I want
willingly
in due time,” he said. Avalon shuddered, but tried not to let him see it.

“Viggo. You were my father’s friend. His confidant. You know me. This isn’t like you.”

“Oh, yes,” Viggo said. “Your father. Dr. Adams. World-renown scientist. Savior of humanity. But this conversation isn’t about him. It is about you.”

The jealousy present in his voice was not lost on Avalon. She thought Viggo was a friend of her father’s. But it was clear he was merely gunning for an opportunity to shine. To ride her father’s coat tails.

From his white lab coat pocket, Viggo produced a tablet and placed it in front of her. She immediately recognized her equation for a cure to the scourge on its 3-D holographic surface. He spun the equation around with his hands.

“I don’t want to harm you. Unless I have to. But this is why you are here,” he said, pointing to the equation.

His reassurances meant nothing to her. Every word he had said to her about being concerned for her safety was a lie.

“Where did you find that?” Avalon hissed, the terror she once had fading into anger.

“Where do you think I found it?” he smiled showing teeth. His smile turned Avalon’s stomach.

“The thing is I didn’t find it at all. I made it.”

Avalon tried to hide her shock.
It made since that if he made the virus, he would also have the cure.

Viggo continued. “The question you should be asking is, why did I let you have it?”

Avalon knew she wouldn’t like his answer. Avalon’s wrists rubbed raw as she attempted to escape from the restraints. She looked around the room for any way to escape.

“I let you have it because the “cure” you stole from Kael’s smartwatch was fabricated.”

“You are wrong. It is 99% effective. You are just trying to scare me,” Avalon spat.

“Yes, that is what the computer said isn’t it. But that’s what I told the computer to say.”

Avalon could not believe her ears. All this time, she and Ilium thought they were doing good and helping to save people. Viggo knew the whole time. Not only did he know, but he played along with them. All the while probably sitting back laughing.

“Why?” Avalon’s voice broke. She thought about Brody and how he had already contracted the illness. Surely, he would be dead by now. “Why are you doing any of this? Pretending to help people when you are actually killing them?”

“First, I owe you no explanation. But, since, I have a captive audience, I guess I will divulge.” He paused before continuing, “At first, I had no intentions of killing my subjects. I
wanted
them to live. That was the goal of my overall research. But…as always…anomalies crept up in the data. The people…I mean
subjects
…did not always react or behave as predicted. I figured I had to obtain subjects where they would be least noticed as missing.”

Avalon’s mind struggled to keep up with the information. Yet, she decided to keep peppering him with questions, desperately trying to delay the inevitable.

“So, that is why you chose the Compatios. They were the easiest targets?”

“Aren’t you the smart one,” he said rolling his eyes. She couldn’t help but notice how dark and rodent like they were behind his glasses. It was true what her father said. She could trust no one.

“Is the President in on this too?” Avalon asked.

At this, Viggo laughed.

“That idiot would
never
go along with my plans. He is too principled. He would rather we all die together than some of us survive and live.”

This bit of news blindsided Avalon. She always presumed that the President was the one ultimately behind everything. If the President wasn’t behind this, then someone close to him must have been.

“Well, if not the President, who?”

“Those smarter than the President. Those able to help him choose the best path.”

“You mean to lie to him?”

“Yes. If you must use such terminology. It is the only way he would go through with what he is about to do.”

What he is about to do. What is he about to do?
Avalon thought, but decided to ask another question. “What about the Council?”

“You sure have a lot of questions,” Viggo said. “The Council are all part of my first successful attempt at radiation proof humans.”

“But they all look so similar,” Avalon said.

“Well, if by similar you mean they all have no body hair that was one of the side effects of the experiment.” Then his nose crinkled. “Unfortunately, I was unable to secure a female who could survive the process.”

Avalon wanted to call him all kinds of names, but at the same time, she wanted to extract the most information she possibly could from him. Although, if she died, she didn’t know how it would be of much help.

“What is Code BK Max? If you’re going to kill us, we at least need to know what we are dying for.” Avalon asked.

“Now we are headed in the right direction, asking the right questions,” Viggo said with a sickeningly arrogant smile. “Code BK Max refers to going outside. A few months ago, I asked a brave young man to venture outside on a recon mission.”

“What happened?”

“Something terrible happened to him. He was not supposed to be allowed to return to the habitat because he had been exposed to too much radiation. However, the AI somehow malfunctioned and allowed him to enter.”

Avalon continued to struggle in vain with the restraints. She wished someone knew where they were and would come to save them. But no one would think to look for them in Viggo’s lab. Why should they? Avalon decided to ask another question. “Well, where is he now? Is he Ok?”

“I appreciate how you are trying desperately to bide your time by asking all of these questions. It would work too, if my plans weren’t absolutely perfect.”

Avalon gritted her teeth.

Viggo continued. “I will indulge since all we have is time. We shut off all the rooms except one where we quarantined him. After just six hours, he was declared dead from radiation poisoning.”

Avalon knew it was a stupid question but she asked it anyway. “Are you certain he was dead?”

Viggo laughed. “Yes. He was dead. Why do you ask?”

Avalon remembered the muddy footprints in her room, and Michelle’s body.

Avalon ignored his question as she remembered what Dexter said to her in her ‘dream’ that night.

Viggo chuckled. “Go ahead and ask me. I see a question written all over your face and lips.”

Avalon didn’t want to placate Viggo anymore, but she did have one major question left. “What exactly do you plan to do with me?”

“As I said before, I do not
wish
to harm you.”

Confusion rose in Avalon as blood rushed and congealed in her veins, but she recognized her limitations while in restraints.

“You are very special,” Viggo said. “The funny thing is you don’t even know it. You believe that your pod was opened by accident. A result of an electrical error. But that is what I
wanted
you to believe.”

Avalon’s eyes widened.

“Yes, my dear. It was I. I opened your pod early because the AI assured me that a female in this habitat was already immune to high levels of radiation. That she was the missing piece.”

“Why would you do such a thing? I could have died!” Avalon spat.

“You could have died, but you didn’t, because I knew Ilium was there and would discover you in time. I also knew all about his little blood sampling project. Unfortunately, he did not sample your blood immediately upon waking.” Viggo said rolling his eyes. “I guess he was too struck by your beauty.”

“Then how do you know for certain that I am immune to radiation if you didn’t obtain a blood sample?” Avalon asked.

“Because I pumped your room with increasing levels of radioactive air at night. Shut off the other air vents to direct it to just your room. You showed absolutely no deleterious effects. It was absolutely remarkable.”

“It was absolutely crazy!” Avalon screamed. “And
you
have gone crazy!”

“No need to make all that fuss. Unless you want to wake your little boyfriend.” Viggo answered.

Avalon scrutinized the room behind Viggo’s face. On a long metallic table sat three plastic tubes full of blood. She didn’t fully notice the bandage on her upper arm until he mentioned sample. Her head still reeled from being hit over the head with a pistol.

“You have no right…None at all,” Avalon hissed as she began to feel woozy again.
You are supposed to eat something after donating that much blood.

“That may be true. But equally true is the fact that you are what I have been searching for ever since I entered this place. You will be the wellspring from which humanity will survive.”

Avalon’s eyes widened.

“What do you mean?” Avalon asked hesitantly, trying to conceal the nervousness racing through her body.

“You know what I mean my dear,” Viggo said as one half of his lips curled up. Avalon shuddered at the sight. Viggo laid one of his cold clammy hands on top of her upper arm.

Her gaze fixed on Ilium.
How on earth am I going to get us out of this mess?