Mutation: Parables From The Apocalypse - Dystopian Fiction Read online

  "It seems a lot more open down here than on the level above," Chaz remarked, looking around.

  "Yes, we're very different people compared to the military. They have everything locked down and in the dark, whereas we tend to be more transparent. That's not to say we don't have our secrets." Judith managed a smile. "We don't let everyone know what goes on in our labs, but certainly amongst our colleagues we're much more open. Science is founded on a belief in our peers and sharing. We build on what those before us created, and we're guided by our current peers. We never work in isolation."

  Judith led Chaz down a smaller hallway. It was also painted white, with reinforced safety windows that looked into hospital rooms. They were all single-bed rooms, and all were empty till they got to the end of the hall. Through the last window, Chaz could see Alex lying in the bed. He was hooked up to a number of intravenous feeds and digital monitors. His face was bruised, and there was swelling around the eyes, but no open wounds.

  "His vital stats are pretty low at the moment. I don't think he would have lasted much longer out there than he did. It's a wonder he's still alive."

  Chaz rested a palm against the safety-glass window. "He's a pretty tough kid. He'll fight to stay alive, that's for sure."

  "We're keeping a pretty close eye on him, and doing the best we can. He did have some open wounds on his legs and arms, but we don't know yet if he was infected. His bloodwork didn't show anything unusual. We're still running a few tests. What we were most worried about was some serious blows he took to the back of the head. We had him sedated, but we hoped he would be awake by now."

  Chaz looked back at Judith. "Can't you run some brain scans or something? You must have equipment for analyzing test subjects here, don't you?"

  "Yes, we do, but most of the work we do here is research based. We're not a hospital. We're geared more towards learning and observing, not healing. He needs to get to a proper medical hospital at some point. They'd be better equipped to diagnose and fix any injuries he's sustained. Like I said, we're doing the best we can with what we have."

  Chaz crossed his arms. "This kid brought you a cure that could save the entire world. You owe him. We all owe him. Maybe you should try a little harder."

  "I understand what you're saying, but you have to understand we need to put our resources where they can do the most good for the most people. And right now, that means coming up with a solution for the next mutation. That's a much bigger priority than one person. No matter how heroic that person may be."

  "I suspect the general might have something to say about that. Alex is military, after all."

  "The general is well aware of the situation down here. He understands our abilities and our limitations. We may not always agree, but we both understand the cards we have to play."

  Chaz shook his head, and pulled on the door handle to Alex's room. It was locked.

  "I'm sorry, Colonel, I can't let you in. He's quarantined at the moment, just in case. We can't take any chances with our research being contaminated."

  "Is that why you've got him down here, isolated at the end of the hall? What if he wakes up; will there be someone here for him?"

  "We're all pretty busy right now. He's being monitored electronically; if he becomes conscious, one of our staff will be notified. You're welcome to stay here if you like. Outside in the hall, of course. There's a storage closet we passed with chairs."

  "Fine, let's do that, if that's the best you can do for now." Chaz stared at Judith, who looked away. "Before that though, I'd like to see Christa."

  Judith motioned back towards where they had come. She opened the door to the storage closet. "I can't take you to Christa. She's on the level below, and no one but science personnel are allowed on that level. It's our most sensitive work. Not even the general goes down there."

  "Hmm," Chaz grunted. "So much for transparency."

  "I never said everyone, Colonel. We do have some secrets, and sometimes secrets are important. You’re military, you should understand that."

  "Oh yeah, I definitely know about secrets. I also know how they're used to control people. Wouldn't want people to know everything you're up to. Who knows what kind of anarchy you'd have to deal with then?"

  "I assure you, Colonel, we're doing what's in the best interest of everyone."

  "It's been my experience that people only do what's in the best interest of everyone when it's also in their own best interest. When those two things don't line up, that's when I get involved. I know all about secrets and interests."

  Chaz grabbed a chair from the storage room, and headed back towards Alex's room.

  "I'll see if I can find you some reading material, to pass the time."

  "Great, thanks. Nothing too geeky for me. I am only a military thug after all."

  "We both know you're much more than that, Colonel." Judith forced a smile. "So, changing the subject, what's next for you after all this? You must have somewhere to go, or family to get back to."

  "You're kidding, right? I guess the general was the only one to read my file. It's just me. There's no family. Unless of course you count the military as family. Which I suppose they are these days. At least, what's left of them. But to answer your question, Doc, I haven't given much thought to what I'll be doing next. I still feel like there are a lot of loose ends to work through."

  "There's nothing for you to do here now, Colonel. You could, I suppose, join the general's group. They're understaffed these days. It sounded like they could use some help up in the old fort anyways."

  "The general hasn't exactly invited me up to join him yet, and I'm not sure he really wants me. You're pretty busy with your work, Doc; maybe you should just get back to it. I'll be fine here, keeping an eye on my friend."

  Waiting And Watching

  Chaz paced the hallway back and forth in front of Alex's room. Alex hadn't moved in the few hours that Chaz had been watching, and none of the medical staff had been around to check on him. Dr. Montgomery had dropped off some reading material. Nothing that really interested Chaz. She checked his wounds, and quickly left.

  Chaz stopped pacing, and stared through Alex's window. The monitors he was hooked up to hadn't changed much. The intravenous bags were starting to get low. Someone would have to come by and top those up at some point. Chaz looked down the hall, but no one was coming his way. "Well, buddy," he said, looking back in Alex's direction, "I'm not sure we've improved on things. Things don't look so good for you right now. We may not be fighting off freaks and crashing helicopters, but there's something about this that doesn't feel right. To be honest, I think it kinda stinks. They've told me quite a bit about their little facility down here, but I'm still damn suspicious. In my experience, these science geeks aren't usually so chatty. It's like they're a little too keen to tell me what they're up to."

  Alex remained silent and still. The monitors kept on beeping.

  "Although, they haven't been totally forthcoming; they still won't let me see Christa. I know you wouldn't stand for that. You were like her big brother there for the last little bit. I know she made me pretty uncomfortable for a while, but someone had to keep their guard up. Someone had to be suspicious. Someone had to ask the hard questions. I couldn't just treat her like some poor little kid in a tough spot. You did that, and that was good. It made it easier for me to be tough on her. That whole good cop, bad cop thing, you know. Now though, now that you're not here . . . well, I guess you're sort of here. Just not in the way you should be. I mean, now I feel like I have to be the one that treats her more like a big brother would. Maybe not all the time, but at least some of the time." Chaz resumed his pacing. He walked the halls for a few more minutes before returning to talk with Alex.

  "You'd be impressed with Christa now. Turns out she was more than just a little kid. Apparently, she's the salvation of the entire human race. At least, that's what they tell me. Not sure if I believe them or not. It sounds all good the way the doctor explained things, but I don't think they
're telling the whole story. But why? It's probably just my suspicious imagination. Just doesn't seem right to me though, to put that whole saving the world on a little kid. And who knows what they'll do to her in the process."

  Chaz leaned his forehead up against the glass, and slapped his hand on the window.

  "No, no, no! You know what, you're right, Alex, we can't let things go on this way. I need a plan to move things forward. Yeah, a plan. That's what we're going to do. I can’t stand sitting here and waiting. I need to do something. This place is falling apart anyways. That tank did a number on the place, and I have a feeling that no matter what they do, those things are coming. Those damn freaks are going to get past security and find a way down here, even if they have to tunnel through the damn dirt with their bare hands. They're dying to get in here now. I'm pretty damn sure it's Patient Zero they're after. Yep, they've got the original freak down here, buddy. And those damn monsters know she's here. I don't know why they want her, but they've been trying to get in here for months. And now they've got a hole in the outer wall. One big enough to fit them into, and they're coming." Chaz made a fist, and this time punched the glass. The glass never budged.

  ***

  The general watched the security monitor and shook his head. There was Chaz, still pounding his fist on the glass. If Chaz had been a little more focused, he might have seen the security camera hidden in the heating vent behind him. Not likely though; it was placed far enough back to be hard to see. It made no sound, and had no blinking telltale on/off light. Even the science personnel didn't realize they'd been installed. The ones on the second science level were newer still. It had been tougher getting them installed down there undetected, but the general was nothing if not persistent. Frank could hear everything that Chaz was saying. Chaz didn't have much of a plan at the moment, but the general recognized a problem brewing when he saw it. He hadn't gotten this far in his military career by being complacent. He turned to the sergeant.

  "Sergeant, you know how you avoid big problems?"

  The sergeant never answered, just shook his head. The general answered, "You avoid big problems by taking care of the little problems. Looks like we have an unhappy officer down there. That's a little problem."

  "Yes, sir," the sergeant agreed. "That is a little problem."

  "We should really deal with that. I think the colonel would like to make some new friends. Enemies of enemies, so to speak. I think we could use a little more help with that breach problem on the west wall. That sounds like something the colonel would be a prime candidate for. I'm thinking we let him stew a little longer down there. Let him pace around, and see what else he comes up with. Then, we'll recruit him to help out with things upstairs. The fresh air will do him some good. Once he gets a little reminder of what we're up against, he may feel better. Maybe that's all it'll take to fix the little problem. What do you think, Sergeant?"

  "I think that's a great idea. We could definitely use some help upstairs, and I'm sure the colonel would be superb in that capacity."

  Stealth Mission

  Chaz continued pacing around in front of Alex’s window. He’d look through the glass, squinting to see the monitors flashing numbers on Alex’s vitals. The numbers never changed. Alex continued unchanged. Chaz continued pacing back and forth down the hall, always stopping to check on Alex. Everytime he moved down the hall he went a little further. Eventually, he was wandering all the way back to where the researchers could be seen through their windows in their labs. Nothing much seemed to change in there. Sure, there was more motion going on inside, but it was just lab geeks going through the motions. The first few times wandering past, Chaz barely noticed them. He just needed to stretch his legs out a little. As long as Alex looked good on his return loop, Chaz kept pushing further down the hall.

  The first few times, the researchers in the lab noticed him, and motioned to each other pointing at Chaz. The second time past the labs, one of the researchers came out towards Chaz shaking both hands trying to explain to Chaz, that he wasn’t allowed in the area. Chaz just brushed past him them like insignificant peons and continued a little further down the hall. The next couple of times past, more researchers came out to dissuade Chaz from the area, but met with the same results. It was like they weren’t even there. Deep in his thoughts, Chaz never spoke or made eye contact with the researchers.

  Eventually, the researches gave up, and paid no heed to the pacing inattentive soldier wandering their halls. After an hour or so of this, Chaz just kept walking, and never returned to Alex’s room. The researchers now deep in their work, considered Chaz nothing but white noise, and none of them even noticed he had stopped walking by their labs.

  Chaz made his way down a different set of halls past the elevators that had brought both himself and Dr. Montgomery down to this level. Traffic around the elevator was light and steady. It was mostly a stream of researchers coming and going, with the occasional soldier coming down and heading off down a hallway marked administration. None of them seemed interested in the research labs.

  While Chaz casually wandered the halls, he listen to the conversations going on around him. Given some of the looks he got from the soldiers and researchers, it was obvious he stood out as someone new. New, but not enough of a worry to be concerned with. In spite of the ever present threat outside the walls of their facility, those on the inside seemed relaxed enough. No one on the inside was considered a threat. For Chaz, this created the perfect environment for a simple reconnaissance mission. While no one may be willing to tell the new guy much, a lot that can be learned from just observing and listening.

  Three researchers dressed in lab coats came towards the elevators from the same labs near Alex’s room. Chaz recognized the one in the middle as the first one that had tried to stop him from wandering the halls. He looked up briefly at Chaz, but then looked quickly away as Chaz made eye contact. The three of them were talking about lab results from a subject they were studying. Given the excited tone of their conversation and what they were saying, Chaz had to assume the subject was Christa.

  “I’ve never seen numbers like this before. I assumed there had to be some kind of mistake, and sent the specimens back to have the test repeated,” the one closest to Chaz commented.

  The one in the middle answered, “I’d wager the tests are correct. I came to the same conclusion earlier today, and requested additional test runs. They came back identical. She’s one in a million.”

  “I can’t believe she just walked through our front door like that.”

  “She didn’t exactly walk through from what I understand.” The middle one added. “They had quite a battle outside the walls, and apparently she took down a tank single handed.”

  “Really? Are you sure about that?”

  “Not precisely. I just overheard some of the soldiers talking. They wouldn’t answer any of my questions about the specifics.”

  “Typical jar heads!”

  Nothing too much Chaz didn’t already know. The chatter about test results made an argument for Christa being more than just another little kid. Chaz could have told them that. Whether or not she’s was the planets savior was yet to be determined. Chaz was still waiting for that jury to come in.

  The soldier returning from the administration wing didn’t look too happy. Chaz walked slowly towards him as the soldier spoke into the headset he was wearing. He was trying to explain to his commanding officer why he was unable to speak with Dr. Montgomery. As Chaz approached, the soldier stopped talking, and Chaz could hear the yelling in his ear piece.

  “I don’t give a damn what that fool said! We're not going to have another incident like the last time. That one we had to fight like crazy to get, and this one fell right into our lap. You tell Montgomery that she will give you the reports I asked for, or I’ll come down there with a damn commando team, and take them by force.”

  The soldier was already turning back to where he had come from by the time Chaz got to him. The soldier barely
noticed Chaz. He tried to speak into his headset, but that just prompted another tirade of yelling into his ear piece. By now the soldier was moving double time down the hall, and Chaz couldn’t make out the orders, but he could have guessed what they were.

  That didn’t sound good. I don’t suppose I should assume that everything that happens around here is centered on Christa. They had their hands full long before we showed up, but that conversation was too concerning to just ignore. I can’t just sit around here waiting for Alex to get better. He’ll do that whether I baby sit outside his window or not. Chaz watched the soldier disappear down the administration hallway. I haven’t been down there yet, he thought. I would bet there’s a few good reasons for me to do some research on my own.

  As Chaz made took the first right, he could see the soldier he had just eavesdropped on standing in the doorway to an office. As Chaz got closer, he clearly made out the raised voice of Dr. Montgomery. The soldier was giving it right back to her though this time. He had no intention of leaving until he got the reports he wanted. Apparently, he had a lot more to fear from his commander then Dr. Montgomery. Chaz walked quicker as he passed the back of the soldier in the doorway. They were both too involved in their verbal debate to notice him slipping by.

  Chaz passed a number of deserted offices, before he come to another elevator at the end of the darkened hallway. This must be the private one that led down to the government levels Chaz thought. Judging by the amount of dust on the panel, I don’t think it gets much use from this floor. Might be time to change that.

  There were equally dusty boxes and crates stacked up in front of the elevator, blocking his path. Chaz began pushing them aside to make a path through. Most were full of lab equipment and old computers, but a few particularly heavy ones were loaded with old paper files. One file box labeled “Alpha Trials” caught Chaz’s attention. Could this be referring to patient zero, he wondered. Looking around first to see if anyone had noticed him rummaging through the boxes, Chaz knelt and opened the box.