Awake (10 page)

Kevin bit his lip, staring at the sleeping
bodies through the glass. He had always believed in hope. If he had
screwed up on a test, there was always another chance to make up
for it. If he had skipped out on a chore, he could always appease
his parents by doing more. But this was different. Everything
always had a solution—until now. This was life and death…and
everything about their hope now seemed so frail.

Kevin threw a look over his shoulder,
feeling pierced by someone’s gaze. He spun around and searched for
anything out of the ordinary. Shiro was rolling right up behind
them.

Tom asked, “Showing us the door? I didn’t
know robots had manners.”

Shiro said flatly, “I have come to alert you
about something. I’m not sure how, but one of our experiments has
escaped. Since it is our responsibility, I thought I should let you
know.”

“An experiment?” Kevin gulped. He didn’t
like the sound of that. “What kind of experiment are we talking
about?”

“A strain of rare and deadly bacteria
indigenous to a small island off the coast of Brazil. It was
brought back here for examination and…alteration.”

Partially in a state of disbelief, Kevin
chuckled. “Deadly bacteria? Just give us some masks…or maybe a can
of disinfectant. That should do the trick.”

“Disinfectant, I have none.” Shiro rolled
around. “I will, however, allow you access to the hazmat suits.
That should give you some protection.”

Tom raised a brow. “The haz-what?”

“Hazmat—or hazardous material.” Shiro went
over to the wall. “We have the suits for situations like these. But
I cannot guarantee its effectiveness against this particular
bacteria.”

There was a thin red line that started from
the ground and ran up the wall to about shoulder level. At the top
of the line was a bright red handprint carved into a panel, which
Kevin found to be a peculiar choice of design, and the words
Emergency Use Only
. Shiro began vibrating and was suddenly
attached to the wall, as though he was stuck on it. Kevin never
noticed it before, but Shiro’s outer shell was like a sponge: soft
and elastic, and full of tiny holes. Shiro was then able to roll up
the wall to the handprint through the power of suction. Once Shiro
touched the handprint, part of the wall retracted, opening up a
small closet full of hazmat suits on hangers. The different sizes
ranged from nearly seven feet tall to the size of a small baby.

“Cool,” said Tom. “I need one of these
closets at home.”

Tom browsed through the selection, checking
to see what would fit him. While Tom was busying examining the
suits, Kevin warily watched the hall. There was still the
possibility of an ambush. His eyes fell on a peculiar
purple-colored smoke forming down the hall.

Pointing, Kevin said, “I thought you said
bacteria…that looks like a chemical.”

Shiro looked in the direction Kevin was
pointing. “It’s here! Quick! Put on your suits.”

Kevin shrugged. “If we can see it and
there’s no draft, I don’t see a problem…” He spoke too soon. The
purple smoke started drifting to their location, faster and faster.
Kevin gawked, then yanked Tom out of the closet and ran for the
office area.

“What?” Tom wondered what was going on. He
looked around, and when he saw the purple mist, he also darted for
the exit. Shiro followed after him.

They slammed the door behind them and, since
they couldn’t find a way to lock it, pushed a heavy desk against
the double doors. Breathless, they stared at the door, fearfully
stepping backwards.
Boom
. The door shook, like something
banged against it.

“What was that?” Kevin exclaimed.

Tom gibbered some nonsense before saying,
“How should I know?” Tom felt a weird, gentle tickle going down his
shoulder. He whirled around and screamed. Kevin copied his
reaction, unsure of what was going on. Then Andrew jumped away from
them and screamed. They all screamed for a long time as they
exchanged confused glances with one another. Helios and Terminus
showed up in the loud chaos, both covering their ears.

When the screaming finally died down, Tom
said hoarsely, “Holy crap, Andrew. Don’t do that! I thought my
heart was going to burst.” He clutched at his chest, feeling for
his speeding heartbeat.

Andrew said, “I didn’t think a tap on the
shoulder would make you jump like that.”

“We just…I don’t know how to explain this,”
said Kevin, gesturing with his thumb, “but there’s something back
there and it’s trying to get out. We shouldn’t stay here.”

“Then I will lead you out,” said Shiro, who
was next to Tom’s feet.

“Before you do, can you explain that? I
thought you said something about a bacteria outbreak. How’s that
bacteria? Bacteria are small enough to be invisible.
That
is
quite visible and quite ridiculous…I mean, it’s banging on the
door! Bacteria don’t bang on doors!”

“Like I said,” Shiro explained, “it’s a rare
strain of bacteria…with alterations. I must admit that the final
results were unexpected. The bacteria are purple in color and have
been loosely clumping together. When there are enough of them
clumping closely, they do start to become visible…very similar to
the situation of certain fungi or algae. There are some signs of
basic intelligence as well…like when it’s seeking you out.”

“How does it fly like that? Isn’t it too
heavy to float?”

“It’s not flying, however it has that
appearance. The structure is bottom heavy, but you were focused on
its ‘head.’”

Panicking, Andrew shouted, “It’s coming
through the cracks!” Sure enough, a purple haze squeezed through
the slight gaps in the door.

“We’ve got to get out of here!” Kevin said,
waving his hands around excitedly. “There’s no stopping it!” He
said to Shiro, “Hurry and show us the way out!”

Shiro zipped away at maximum speed, rolling
across the rug with a powerful friction that caused a slight
burning smell. The boys chased after the spherical robot in hopes
to escape out of the maze of cubicles with relative ease. Shiro
moved quickly, analyzing each possible route and finally he found
his way to…a dead end.

Kevin curled his lip. “Shiro…why are we
staring at a dead end?”

Shiro said, “I’ve never set foot outside of
the Doctor’s office. All of this is new to me.”

Kevin stomped his foot. “Then why did tell
us you could lead us out?”

“I assumed it would be an easy task.”

Kevin groaned in frustration. “You assumed
wrong!”

The purple mist caught up with them, and
then stopped in front of them. It started to expand like a balloon
until it reached all the way up to the ceiling. Its cells were
stretched even thinner now. It was so thin that it almost turned
invisible.

“What is it doing?” wondered Andrew.

Tom shrugged. “Maybe it’s trying to form a
net…so we can’t escape.”

Andrew took Shiro and jolted the robot
furiously. “Do something you hunk of junk!” His arms outstretched,
he held Shiro forward in the direction of the mist. “Shoot it! Fire
lasers or a missile or something!”

Shiro replied, “I’m not a weapon. I can’t
shoot anything.”

“Not a weapon, huh?” Kevin grabbed Shiro
with one hand and waggled his index finger at him. “We’ll see about
that. You got us into this mess and you’re getting us out.” Then
Kevin placed Shiro on the ground, pulled back his leg and launched
a powerful kick that sent Shiro rocketing into the haze.

“AIEEEEEEEEEE!” Shiro yelped in his odd
monotone vocalization as he disappeared from view, bouncing around
the maze like a pinball.

The thin structure of the bacteria slowly
fell apart, collapsing into an airy mess.

Terminus took the initiative. Flying over
the high partitions, he saw the way to the exit.

“If we break down this wall, you can
escape.”

Kevin exclaimed, “Then on the count of
three, we knock down this wall!” The others nodded dubiously in
reply. The partition looked sturdy, but this wasn’t a good time to
argue. “One…two…three!” The boys charged at the gray divider,
slamming it full force—only to bounce off its surface without
making so much as a dent.

Massaging his bruised shoulder, Kevin
grunted, “That didn’t work.” He looked up. “Why don’t we climb
over?” He glanced at Tom and Andrew. “Tom will give us a
boost.”

“What? Why me?” Tom demanded.

“Because you’re tall and skinny. You’ll make
it easier to reach the top and easier to pull you over.”

Tom nodded. “Oh, all right. Andrew, get
on.”

Tom bent his knees slightly and interlocked
his hands, forming a foothold for the others. Andrew stepped up on
Tom’s hands, using Tom’s shoulder and the wall to keep his balance.
Tom yelled out a war cry as he hoisted Andrew upward. He felt like
he was going to get crushed under Andrew’s weight. Andrew climbed
over and made a loud grunt as he fell onto the other side. Kevin
followed after him without much trouble.

“All right, pull me up, pull me up,” Tom
said quickly, stretching as high as he could with his hands raised.
He looked over his shoulder to see the purple cloud stirring.
“Anytime now!”

Kevin reached over the wall, grabbing Tom by
the wrist. Then he pulled him up with all his might. Tom kicked his
feet against the partition, attempting to run up. He was almost
halfway up the wall when suddenly his leg was jerked down. A thick
purple hand was holding onto his foot and was tugging him down. Tom
yelled, “Keep pulling! Please! Get me out of here!”

“Urgh…I’m trying…” Kevin groaned, as he
pulled and pulled. The added weight of the bacteria was
surprisingly heavy.

Then Tom thought of something. He dug into
the left pocket of his pants and found his lighter. He started up
the small flame and waved it near the mist. The cloud shrunk away
from the fire. Since Tom was flailing around, Kevin couldn’t hold
on and let go of him, such that he fell to the floor. Tom got up
and chased the mass of bacteria with the tiny flame.

While still standing on Andrew’s shoulders,
Kevin searched for something that Tom could use. Helios helped
search the floor. The rat found a small fire extinguisher on the
ground by a desk and told Andrew to fetch it. Kevin’s legs dangled
over the divider as he waited for Andrew’s return. Andrew passed
the small fire extinguisher up to Kevin and Kevin dropped it beside
Tom.

Kevin said, “Tom, use the extinguisher to
slow him down!”

“Right.” Tom released the safety pin and
pulled the trigger. A splatter of powder came flying out of the
nozzle, covering the purple mist in messy gunk. After the
extinguisher was empty, Tom chucked it at the purple gob, rupturing
it apart. The clumps of microscopic cells had difficulty adhering
to one another because of the powder.

Tom then jumped up on the divider. Kevin
hauled him across. Andrew lost his footing and fell over. Everyone
tumbled to the ground. They jumped to their feet and raced through
the main hallway to the exit. Kevin breathlessly reached for the
steps of the ladder while looking back to see if the weird science
experiment was on their tail.

“Ow!” A sharp pain coursing through his
hand, Kevin pulled it back. His eyes wide, he stared at the small
snakes coiled around the rungs. He lowered his gaze. The floor was
full of snakes in one nasty pile. Squirming, slithering and hissing
all over each other, the snakes took notice of Kevin and glared at
him. Tom dragged Kevin out of the chamber and shut the door.

“Are you okay?” asked Andrew, gingerly
checking the bite.

Kevin stared at his wounded knuckles. “I
don’t know…all I know is that it hurts.”

“We’ll worry about that later,” said
Terminus. “We must get out of there.”

“But we can’t get out this way,” said Tom
dejectedly.

“There’s another way,” said Andrew. “I saw
one at the other end of the hall!”

“Then let’s go.” Kevin held his wrist,
wondering if the snake was venomous. As they hustled to the other
side, Kevin said, “I hope the others are all right. They were
supposed to guard the entrance.” Andrew and Tom didn’t say
anything, all of them too worried to reply.

- Blues -

“Hurry!” said Genesis. “How much longer will
this take?”

Katie muttered from behind a door, “Just a
little longer. This can’t be rushed.”

“You’re taking forever!”

“If you’d stop nagging me, it’d be a lot
easier to go!” The door swung open and Katie emerged from the
bathroom. “Fine, I’m done! You happy?” Flinging the excess water
from her hands, she said, “They ran out of paper towels. Be a good
dog and fetch me some napkins.”

Just a moment ago, while waiting inside the
car, she had to really
go
. Genesis and Luna had accompanied
her to a restaurant a short drive away. Calling it a restaurant
would be too kind, as it was more of a rundown fast-food joint.
Everything about it was crummy: the floors were sticky, the paint
on the walls was old and peeling, and even some of the front
windows were cracked. When Katie had first set foot inside, she
thought it was abandoned. But the fact that there was still freshly
cooked food—or something that resembled it—made her realize
otherwise.

The bathroom in particular looked like it
was in need of upkeep because it was stained in all sorts of
unpleasant, unbefitting colors. It was a patchwork of
disgustingness. Katie had taken extra time to disinfect the
bathroom before using it.

Genesis said, “The others might be waiting
for us! We’ve wasted nearly half an hour!”

“Just calm yourself,” said Katie coolly. “I
have a cell phone. If they want to find out where I am, they just
have to give me a call.”

“That’s assuming your technology will work,”
Genesis said. “Your technology may not be reliable during this
time. You have no way of telling when these things will stop
working.”