I wasn’t sure of how long I’d been asleep but I remember I woke suddenly. It felt like I was falling in my dream. It was weird going to sleep in a morgue and then waking up. I felt like I'd cheated death. I heard another bump that came from the direction of the fridge and I tried to sit up but it was difficult since my arms and legs were still tied to the bed.
I heard more scratching which totally freaked me out. What the hell were they keeping down here? I tried to wake the others but they were sound asleep.
That’s when the Doctor returned.
Chapter 14
The door opened with a creak and everyone was immediately wide awake, eager to hear some good news about how this was all a precaution and we'd be allowed to go home as soon as possible.
Doctor Hunter returned with an older man and two other soldiers as escorts. They were all wearing space suits.
"Colonel," said Doctor Hunter. "These are the five suspected cases. One of them is yours."
When the Colonel saw Kenji he walked over to him. "Are you OK, soldier?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good to hear. Are they looking after you down here?"
"So far so good, sir."
"Excellent. We shouldn’t be too long."
So far so good? Was Kenji just saying that because he was afraid of his superiors?
"What do you recommend, Doctor?" The Colonel asked.
"From what we can gather it sounds like they all came in direct contact with the virus. It’s highly probable these people are also infected."
"Why aren’t they showing symptoms?"
"We’re not sure. Maybe the virus is slowing down? Maybe it’s mutating and adapting again. Or maybe their bodies are actually fighting it. Whatever the case may be, we have to be sure. We need to do a full battery of tests. We have to study them. They may hold the key to a cure."
The Colonel leant over Officer Dennis and inspected his wounded leg. "What do you suggest?"
"We need blood samples, tissue samples, bone marrow. We need everything."
Jack spoke up. "Bone marrow? Isn’t that like, really painful?"
"Are you sure it’s completely necessary, Doctor?" the colonel asked on Jack’s behalf, seemingly with genuine concern.
"Absolutely. We need all the data we can get. We need to study their organs, their muscle fibers, their brains, the frontal lobe in particular, we need everything."
The colonel nodded his head. "OK. Do it."
OK? Wait a minute. Just how did they expect to study our organs? Or our brains?
"Kenji?" I asked. "What’s going on?"
"Sir, is everything all right?" Kenji asked the Colonel.
"Private, we have reason to believe you have all been in close, direct contact with a carrier of the Oz virus."
"Well, yes, technically it is possible. But we were able to contain and neutralize any threat of infection."
"Of course. I would expect nothing less. You’re an excellent soldier. A fine marksman, according to your file. But we can’t take any chances."
"Sir, you must believe me." Kenji was getting worried. I could hear it in the strain of his voice. He was also starting to struggle against the restraints. He wanted to get the hell out. And if he wanted to get the hell out...
"Private, you’ve been briefed on the virus. You know exactly what it does. You’ve experienced it first hand in the field. You’ve seen the devastating effects. You understand better than anyone that this has to be done."
What has to be done? Were they still talking about blood and tissue samples? Judging by the look on Kenji’s face I sort of got the feeling they were talking about something much, much worse.
I looked over at the doctor, he was busy arranging a whole assortment of scalpels and knives and other sharp and shiny surgical instruments.
Suddenly there was another thump coming from the fridge. And another. It was much louder this time. Doctor Hunter stopped arranging his instruments.
One of the soldiers pointed his rifle in the direction of the fridge. "Is that what I think it is?"
"What is the temperature reading on the control panel of the fridge," Doctor Hunter asked the closest soldier.
The soldier inched his way closer to the fridge and the thumping noise. "Four degrees Celsius."
Doctor Hunter swore. "They’re supposed to be set to minus twenty. Freezing them is the only way to contain them."
"You’ve got some of them stored down here?" Kenji asked. "Are you insane?"
The colonel backed away, closer to the entrance. "Lower the temperature immediately," he ordered. "Check the locks. I don't want another containment failure. That’s the last thing we need in the middle of North Sydney."
There was another loud thump and both the soldiers raised their rifles.
The Colonel was standing next to the entry door now. "Why wasn’t it set at the right temperature?"
"I have no idea, sir" Doctor Hunter said.
The colonel pointed at one of the soldiers. "Fix it," he ordered. "Now."
The soldier reluctantly lowered his rifle. "Yes, sir."
"How long do you need to have everything ready?" The Colonel asked Doctor Hunter.
"I’ll need at least a few hours for removal of vital organs. Another hour or so to pack them securely."
"Very well. I want these specimens ready for extraction by 0800 hours."
"Yes. sir."
"We’re ordering the evacuation of Northern Sydney. If you’re not ready, we’re leaving without you."
The Colonel left in a hurry.
Chapter 15
I couldn’t believe it. They were talking about removing our vital organs, our brains and studying our bone marrow right in front of us, like we weren’t even there. We were cattle. Meat. We were a science experiment.
And what did he mean by evacuating North Sydney? How the hell did the military intend on evacuating so many people?
The thumping from the morgue fridge had stopped. One of the soldiers had moved over to a control panel next to the large sliding door. He was pressing buttons with a shaky hand, trying to lower the temperature of the fridge. The thumping then started up again, getting louder, stressing the soldier out even more. He was talking to himself, saying that it was OK, that he could do it, that there was no way they could break through the door.
I remember thinking, this can’t be happening. There’s no way that this whole crazy scene was real. I was in total disbelief. It’s like I was floating above my own body watching everything unfold. I kept asking Kenji if they were serious because I just couldn’t believe what they had just said was real.
But Kenji was ignoring me. He was yelling at the doctor. "Sir! I’m not infected. None of us are infected! I’ve seen the virus in action. We’d be dead by now. You have to believe me. Cutting us open, harvesting our organs, it’s all a waste of time. It’ll all be for nothing."
Doctor Hunter was preparing a shot of what could only be an anesthetic or something more deadly. "Soldier, it’s for the greater good," he said in his calm and hypnotic voice. "You’ll be serving the military, and your country. You’ll be a hero."
"Come on! We're not infected. Isn't it obvious?" Kenji pleaded.
My heart started to beat like a jackhammer. I was genuinely afraid now. Tied to a hospital bed in a morgue, I’ve never felt so helpless in all my life. I wanted to close my eyes and teleport out of there. But just like in the interrogation room nothing happened. God, it would be so awesome if I could teleport.
I looked over at Jack who was quiet. Maria was repeating Jack’s name over and over. "Jack they’re not going to kill us are they? Jack? What’s going on?" But Jack was silent. There were no reassuring words to Maria because there was nothing to reassure her about. The truth was it wasn’t going to be all right.
Doctor Hunter continued to prepare his instruments of death and Kenji continued to yell at him. The thumping from the fridge was also getting louder. I guess with so much going on everyone sort of forgot about poor old Officer Dennis. Just then he began to twitch. The wound in his leg was oozing freely and his skin was a mottled and lifeless grey.
He had been asleep or passed out since I was wheeled in so maybe that’s why everyone forgot about him. He coughed and then coughed again more violently. He started to convulse and spit up blood.
Maybe Kenji was wrong about us not being infected because just then it looked like Officer Dennis was about as infected as you could get.
Doctor Hunter stopped what he was doing and backed up against the wall. "Restrain that man!" he ordered one of the soldiers.
The soldier moved over to Dennis and tried to put weight on his heaving chest. Dennis snapped open his eyes. He leant forward and sank his teeth into the soldier’s arm. I’m not sure if his teeth punctured the space suit, but I heard a loud crack as something, bone or ligament was crushed in Officer Dennis’s jaw.
The soldier screamed in pain and fell forward, on top of Officer Dennis. Dennis bit him again, this time biting right through the protective suit. The soldier screamed again and pushed himself free. He stumbled back, taking a few steps before he tripped and collapsed on top of me. He was holding his shoulder where Officer Denis had taken a bite, grimacing in agony and something else; the realization that he was a dead man. The other soldier ran over to the door, closing it behind him.
"Come back here!" Doctor Hunter shouted. But the soldier was long gone.
Two seconds later an alarm started blaring.
The doctor slumped down in the corner and started rambling to himself. "Oh no. This can’t be happening. Not again. Not here. Not now. We were so close!"
The soldier, who had been bitten, regained his balance. He checked his wound and lowered his head.
"You’re infected," Kenji said. "We can help."
"How?" the soldier asked.
"I can stop you from becoming one of those things."
He slowly came to his senses.
I don’t know why but he untied me first. The expression on his face was blank, emotionless, like he was coming to grips with what was just about to happen. Or maybe the virus was already starting to take hold. He kept grimacing in pain. I asked him if he was all right but he didn’t answer me. I thanked him for untying me and told him to untie Kenji next, that he was the one who would be able to help him. But again he didn’t answer me; I don’t even think he was listening to me. Instead he dropped to his knees and handed me his rifle.
He made eye contact with me. "Do it," he said. "Quickly."
"What? No way! Kenji, you have to do this."
I went to untie Kenji but the solider grabbed my leg.
"Please," he begged.
"You have to do it," Kenji said. "It’s just like we practiced back home."
"But that was years ago! And we were shooting paper targets and tin cans!"
We were shouting over the alarm and the thumping noise coming from the fridge. It was hard to think straight with all the noise. In the corner of the room, Doctor Hunter was still rambling to himself as he buried his face in his hands.
"Why wasn’t this man quarantined?" he started crying and whimpering. "Why wasn’t he isolated? None of the other suspects were showing symptoms, why would he?" His voice was no longer soothing. It had gone from calming and hypnotic, to downright frantic and fearful.
The soldier started to dig his nails into my leg and he started to drool. He was starting to turn. So just like Kenji taught me all those years ago, I flicked the safety switch off and jammed the butt of the rifle into my shoulder. I raised the barrel and placed my right index finger on the trigger. I could hear Kenji's voice in my head, 'squeeze the trigger, don't pull’. I inhaled and breathed out slowly.
But I couldn’t do it. My finger was frozen. All I needed to do was squeeze the trigger and put this man out of his misery but I couldn’t.
The soldier was kneeling down with his head lowered. "Come on. Please. Just do it."
"Rebecca, you have to shoot him!" Kenji yelled.
"I can't!"
"You can. You have to. There's no telling how long it takes for infection to spread. He could turn any second now. You have to shoot him."
The soldier started to cough just like officer Dennis had done earlier. He was holding his shoulder where he was bitten.
"Kenji, I'll untie you," I said. "You can shoot him."
"No! There's no time. Do it now!"
The soldier ripped his dog tags off his neck and a necklace with a cross on it. He then took a hand gun out from his side holster and put the barrel up to his head. He made eye contact with me again and pulled the trigger.
The noise of the gun scared the hell out of me and I jumped backwards and fell over. As long as I live, I will never forget those eyes. I see them sometimes, in the dark, or in my dreams.
Kenji was still yelling at me but I couldn’t really hear him. Maria, Jack and Kim, had been shocked into silence. I was breathing hard. I felt light headed again. There were voices in my head telling me to calm down.
"Rebecca, shoot Dennis!" Kenji yelled. "Shoot him before he breaks free!"
I snapped out of it. Dennis was struggling against the restraints. Growling at me, baring his teeth, the restraints were cutting into his forearms.
