Blood Harvest (26 page)

Everyone’s but Steve’s, who whispered angrily to Alpha, “We’ll settle that later.”

“There’s something else boy.” Alpha said hesitantly.

“What?”


“Look around for who is missing. They have Lei.”

*

Despite his appearance for having trekked through the desert, not to mention the copious amount of dried blood on his clothing, Steve had no problem passing undetected through the hospital. The fourth floor was quiet. Only the hum of computers and the soft tread of a nurse’s rubber soled shoes on the linoleum floor echoed gently through the halls. Steve made his way to the only nurse at the nurse’s station to ask where Chris might have set up a temporary office. The woman was busy on the computer and never even looked up to observe the state Steve was in.

When he asked about the M.E. from Los Angeles the nurse let out an exasperated sigh.

“Oh, him.” The sound of disgust in her voice was unmistakable.

“I see you’ve met him.”

“I can’t wait until my shift replacement arrives in the morning to release me. He keeps wandering the hospital. Last time we found him in the children’s wing, after visiting hours! If you ask me we should have him bound to his desk or sedated until morning. If he’s back where he’s supposed to be then you’ll find him in room 140 west.”

Steve had no good response for that tirade. Instead, he thanked her and began a search for his troublemaking friend.

Chris was actually in his makeshift office when Steve looked in. His body was hunched and he appeared on the verge of falling asleep on his laptop.

“Hey.” Steve said softly in an attempt not to startle his friend.

When Chris raised himself up and turned to Steve his eyes immediately shifted into a wide-eyed look of panic and concern. “Steve! Jesus, what happened?”

Steve raised his hands, “I’m fine Chris, but if you wouldn’t mind, I wonder if there is a place where I could clean up?”

“This is a private room with a shower. Chris stood and gestured. Help yourself…or do you need help?”

Steve reasoned he must look a whole lot worse than he realized if Chris was treating him with kid gloves. He was about to give Chris a run down about the entire evening when he caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror and was stunned into silence. The sight shocked him. He was more than dirty and disheveled, he looked absolutely ghoulish. Dark circles had formed around his eyes and his skin was very pale to the point he appeared deathly.

“Steve?” Chris asked gently. “Where’s your flask?”

“I…I don’t know.” Steve said in honesty.

Chris studied him, “Are you wounded?

Surprised by the interrogative tone, Steve answered directly, “I’m fine, but I was grazed.”

“You may not be wounded but you are far from fine. Have that shower then I’ll see to that cut on your head.”

As Steve turned to face Chris, his peripheral vision sensed, more than saw, movement in one corner of the well darkened room shadowed by the low lights.

“Steve don’t…” But Steve held up a hand to cut off Chris’ statement.

Chris read Steve’s face and realized something was awry. Alpha emerged, materialized out of the shadows of the room. It was an improbable sight to witness. How could someone so large suddenly take shape out of such a small space? The power and the sense of threat Alpha conveyed combined with his own grizzled appearance would cause the dead to shiver.

When Chris saw Alpha he stumbled backward in surprise. He tried too quickly to right himself, lost his footing and fell on the polished linoleum floor in a reverse ballet of coordination. Unable to find his footing, Chris pushed himself backward away from Alpha as fast as he could until he slammed himself into the far wall of the room.

The vaudevillian act was enough for Alpha and Steve to turn their concentration on Chris as he rubbed the back of his head.

A rasping cough emitted from Alpha. It was low and rhythmic but growing in intensity. Steve looked back at Alpha as did Chris, who kept rubbing the spot on his head.

The neutral expression on Alpha’s face was usual, but his body bounced and writhed with every cough. The speed of the cough increased until it became uncontrollably rapid. Steve watched Alpha as the sound changed to less like a cough and more like…

Laughter.

It wasn’t until Chris started chuckling that Steve began to relax. Within seconds he too was laughing along with Chris and Alpha, who was now smiling like an idiot and pointing at Chris in full frivolity.

Chris shook his head and said, “Okay, I know a truce when I see one. Since both of you are apparently in need of stitching and I’m the only one in the room with any medical training, I’d suggest someone help me up before I have the two of you to take off your pants, bend over and sing
Moon River
.”

Chapter 33



Steve let Chris stitch him up and showered while Alpha underwent more rigorous treatment including a bullet removal from his side. He then dressed in a fresh pair of scrubs that had been provided while his clothes were being cleaned, the fresh smell and feel of the simple fabric on his skin was heavenly after having been grimy for so long.

As he left Chris’ room a nurse informed him that he should report to the lab where Chris had set up his makeshift workstation. Steve wandered through the halls of the University Medical Center and wondered why all hospitals had to have the same plain, boring and antiseptic look about them. Silently speculating why the floors, walls and ceiling always had a vanilla wash with a smattering of pastel color that was what passed for design within the healthcare industry. The banality of the atmosphere, Steve was sure, was detrimental to the healing process of the patients within the walls. Certainly it would dampen the spirit of anyone wafting through the establishment hoping to receive friendly care.

Taking a moment to consider whether physicians ever considered that an unpleasant, colorless setting could, in fact, cause a person’s health to deteriorate, Steve moved through the doors denoting the laboratory where Chris had been working since he had dropped Steve off in the desert some 36 hours ago.

Steve hated hospitals, although not for the same reasons as Alpha, and did everything he could to avoid them. The unease he felt stemmed from his desire for raw blood, the smell of which was still pronounced in the hospital despite the antiseptic cleaners used on a regular basis by the janitorial crew, mixed with his self-loathing over having the desire in the first place. Nevertheless, Steve stifled the sick combination of emotions and quickened his pace to Chris’ lab. When he arrived he found Chris hunched over a stack of medical files and reference books, most of which had the word “Neurology Department” embossed on the side of the jacket.

When Chris looked up, Steve froze. The apprehension on his friend’s face was evident and although Steve could tell he wasn’t the cause, he couldn’t imagine what would make such a carefree soul as Chris look so concerned.

Steve finally found his voice. “Jesus Chris, you look as though…well you’ve looked better. C’mon, I’m getting you out of here.” Steve motioned as if he might lift his friend out of the chair when Chris jumped back as if afraid of his friend’s touch.

“NO!” Chris was wide-eyed with intensity, then realized his reaction was out of place and physically calmed. “No. Not yet. Not yet. Let me show you what I found first.” Chris looked past Steve, “Where’s the brute squad?”

“Alpha? He’s still cleaning himself up.”

Chris hesitated before he spoke. “Don’t be mad but, I took some blood swatches from both of you and sent them out.”

Steve was more confused than upset. “Why’d you do that?”

“Just the M.E. in me, popping up with questions when I hadn’t intended to ask any.”

Steve sighed. “I don’t have any more secrets Chris, not from you in any case.”


“I believe you. Maybe there is something in your blood that will give us answers as to why Alex Daniels wants your people.”

“Is that all that’s bothering you at the moment?”

Chris looked to his computer screen and shook his head. “No. At the moment that is the least of my concerns.”

“Chris what’s…”

Chris held up his hand, cutting Steve off. “I know. I know. I am a little freaked out at the moment, but let’s just leave it alone for now. I think I have an idea of what kind of weapon is being used to put people into “stasis.”

It was Steve’s turn to offer a wide-eyed look, masking his excitement for the breakthrough and apprehension for whatever the findings might be. Steve couldn’t help but feel animated; he tempered his emotions however, based on whatever was bothering his friend. The look on Chris’ face told Steve that Chris was determined to be heard, so he compromised his need for answers regarding his friend’s condition and nodded for Chris to proceed.

“Just promise me that as soon as you’re done explaining you’ll tell me what’s up with you.”

A wry smile crossed Chris’ lips but his eyes still conveyed his anxiety. He took a deep breath and composed himself before rolling his chair to his laptop computer. He positioned the laptop on the edge of the table and scooted the chair about two feet from the edge. He checked the area surrounding the desk and chair, then placed a small leather rod, about six inches long and half an inch in diameter on the table next to the computer. Steve looked dumbfounded at the leather rod with several small indentations about a third of the way down the shaft on either side. Before Steve could ask Chris spoke:

“Okay, stand on the other side of the desk.”

Steve looked and felt confused, but he complied with his friend’s request. Chris typed something on the keyboard then leaned back in the chair. The desk chair was high backed and had padded armrests Chris stroked his palms across. Taking in another deep breath he closed his eyes and let out a jittery exhale.

Steve frowned, his mind screaming to ask questions, but he recognized Chris’ intensity and attributed whatever was going on with Chris to be the result of the exhaustion he must be feeling.

“All right. Everything seems to be ready.” Chris looked up at Steve. “I could go into some long thesis about the whole theory I have, but I think it’s better to show you my theory and the basis for what I believe might be happening.”

Chris reached for the keyboard as Steve asked, “How can I see the computer if I am facing the back of the screen?”

Chris looked up at Steve as if to say something reassuring but the words caught in his throat and his hand shot away from the keyboard.

“WHOA!” Chris reached over to the desk and picked up a pair of dark goggles. “I’m sorry, I almost forgot these. I guess I’m more tired than I realized.”

Steve looked at the goggles as Chris held them out to him.

“What?”



“Put them on.”

The goggles were oversized, round and rather silly looking. Steve looked at Chris skeptically.

“Why?”



“For protection; you’re going to need them.”

Since Chris only had the one pair, Steve grew even more skeptical. Apparently Chris was not going to don a similar pair.

Chris bounced the goggles in his hand impatiently.

“C’mon! The sooner you put these on, the sooner I can get some rest,” Chris urged.

With obvious disapproval, Steve took the goggles from Chris and placed the lenses over his eyes, cinching the elastic strap that gave the eyewear a sealed fit on his head.

Steve turned to Chris who was looking at the goggles on Steve’s head.

“What?”

“I wish I had a camera,” Chris snickered. Thinking Chris had just pulled a prank on him, Steve raised a hand to remove the glasses.

“Don’t!” Chris commanded with all seriousness. “I’m sorry I ribbed you. You really do need those.”


Steve was losing his patience, “For what Chris?”

“For what I am about to show you.” All humor had drained away and Chris now had a pleading look on his face. Steve dropped his hand to his side.

“Thanks.” Chris sighed. “Okay, when I hit the enter button a program I designed will run and, if everything works as I suspect, you’ll have a real idea of what may be going on.”

Steve waited as Chris began to shiver.

“Steve,” Chris said, “don’t panic, everything will be fine.”

Without further warning Chris depressed the “enter” key and sat back in the chair. The lights in the room went out which left Steve in an unusual amount of darkness given the glasses he was wearing. A moment of amazement passed through Steve’s mind as he realized Chris had placed the lighting system of the laboratory under the remote control of his laptop.

“Chris what..?”

“Just wait. Trust me.” Chris’ voice came eerily out of the darkness.

Steve could hear the disc drive on the laptop began to hum as the program Chris had prepared sprang to life. The glow of whatever was on the computer screen cast the only illumination in the room and onto Chris’ face. Steve could see Chris watching the screen with unblinking concentration. A few seconds went by and Steve found himself holding his breath in anticipation, of what, he didn’t know. Then, without noise, a series of strobe like flashes lit the room as efficiently as any discothèque special effect. The flashes continued and Steve watched as Chris’ face was lit with every flash. Steve noticed a change on Chris’ face. Chris began to look sleepy and was having trouble looking at the screen. He wavered slightly in his chair and Steve thought he might fall asleep any moment.