Dying to Live (43 page)

“And what about the swabs?” Lucy asked inquisitively.

“They will be used for cultures. This is the bit Andy’s going to help with,” She smiled at him. “The swabs will be wiped over the agar plates, where the growth medium will cultivate a better sample of the bacteria that is present. That should give us a bigger canvas to test on.”

“Will we actually be able to see it?” Andy asked.

“The bacteria? Sure. When it grows it will look a little like mould,” Xin told him.

Just then, the decontamination completed and Xin opened the hatch to retrieve the samples.

“Does it grow fast?” Frank asked, as they tailed her back over to one of the work tables.

“We should start to notice some growth in a few days, maybe a week.”

“What do you do when it’s grown?” Andy asked.

Xin was amused by all the of their questions and only too happy to answer. The only people who were silent and observing were Pete and Rebel.

“One common test is to introduce antibiotic plates. If we introduce say, five different antibiotic plates into the culture, then we can see which ones kill the bacteria and which ones it is resistant to.”

“And how do you know?” Frank asked. “Which will kill it and which don’t.”

“Oh, you’ll see a pretty clear ring around the ones that kill it. The growth around them dies. If it doesn’t, then your bacteria is resistant to that particular antibiotic,” Xin explained.

“And will this help cure them?” Lucy questioned.

“It would be a long process to do it this way but it certainly means that there is at least a possibility. The first thing to do is confront the sicknesses that aren’t a part of the initial alien matter. If we can identify what other things they are afflicted with, then we can potentially cure them of those things. Then we can tackle the alien infection, which is a whole other ball game because it is totally new. Nobody has ever had to treat it before.”

“And that’s why you need me,” Rebel spoke up hoarsely. She cleared her throat a little to loosen her dry vocal chords. “I can self-heal... I could make them do the same, right?”

“It is an interesting possibility,” Xin nodded uncertainly.

“If I gave you my blood, could you test that against your samples?” Rebel asked determinedly.

“I... Yes, I think we could,” Xin said slowly, wondering where this was going.

“Then I’ll do it. I’ll donate some,” She said. “But only if you’re the one to take it and I can do it as a volunteer and not a test subject.”

“Of course! That would be amazing,” Xin gushed, putting a hand on Rebel’s arm. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” She said, “Let me know when you want to do it. And if it works and you end up working on the alien infection, I want to be cured too.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Xin told her hesitantly. “I want to promise you, but I just can’t say for sure that it will be possible. We might be able to make them human again but...”

“But not normal,” Rebel finished for her, looking sullenly at the ground. “All I’m saying is, if it becomes an option, I want it too.”

“Okay,” Xin nodded confidently. “Well, let’s process these samples first and then I’ll take a couple of vials and refrigerate them.”

Under her supervision, the group helped process the swabs she and Dr Leisenberg had taken. He and Dr Elstad handled the biopsies and blood samples.

“Just brush it back and forth over the surface,” She encouraged Andy, demonstrating with her own sample. “That’s it.”

“Alright, I think I did it,” He said tilting the petri dish to look at it from another angle.

“Okay, well seal it up and put it in the incubator,” She told him. “Dr Leisenberg, when the other doctors are in here tomorrow, could you ask them to get spinal samples for fluid analysis? I wasn’t able to do that today.”

“Of course, Xin,” He replied. “I tell them to check some samples under scanning electron microscope also.”

“Thank you,” she responded to him. Then she turned to check on her friends. “Oh, Andy, there’s a spare swab in that tube near you. We don’t need it, so can you throw it into the waste receptacle for incineration whilst your over there?”

“Aw, can’t we grow it?” He asked.

“We don’t need to, but I suppose we could.” Xin looked confused. “Why?”

Andy picked out another petri dish and Xin watched as he traced a circle into the surface, then two dots for eyes and a little shocked mouth. She laughed and rolled her eyes.

“I just wanna see if it works,” He shrugged with a smirk.

“Alright, Rebel, are we still okay to take that blood?” Xin asked tentatively.

“Knock yourself out, but I want food afterwards,” Rebel said, finding a seat and rolling up her sleeve.

Xin washed her hands and then retrieved a needle and a small handful of vials, before taking the seat beside her. “Yes, we can definitely get food, though I’ll be impressed if you can all eat after staring at those two for so long.”

“I can always eat,” Rebel winced as the needle pierced her skin.

Xin filled the vials as quickly as she could and removed the needle. Without thinking, she gave Rebel a soft cotton ball to hold to her arm whilst she dropped the blood into the refrigerator. By the time she returned, the small wound was sealed shut, leaving no evidence that it had ever been there.

“Dr Leisenberg, do you need any more help?” Xin asked.

“No, my dear. You go, finish for day,” He told her with a shooing gesture.

“Dr Elstad, middag soon?” She smiled at the quiet, kindly doctor.

He looked up and laughed, enthusiastically nodding, “Soon... soon.”

6.

‘The dreams hadn’t stopped. Whilst we’d been on the move we’d been too busy to dwell on them. By the time we’d got to HMNB Devonport they were nothing new, just another thing in this crazy world that we had adjusted to. In fact, we hadn’t spent much time thinking about them at all. We hadn’t even mentioned them since around the time that Andy joined our party. Our attention was pulled back to them when he showed up to breakfast looking tired, with bruised looking circles under his eyes. He casually mentioned ‘weird’ dreams and went on to unwittingly describe a variation of the same thing we had each experienced ourselves. The realisation dawned on him halfway through his narrative.

“I finally had the dream didn’t I?” He asked, straight faced. “The same one you’ve all been having.”

“Oh wow, I’d forgotten about that until just now!” Frank spluttered through his coffee. “I had it too!”

Rebel looked on in confusion and then her mouth dropped open. When I asked her what was wrong we were all stunned.

“You’re the people from my dream!” She revealed.’

“I don’t think this is the place to discuss this,” was the first thing that Lucy said, breaking the silence and looking around at them. Quietly, she added, “These people already know enough about us and what we’ve experienced. I think this should stay between us for now.”

When they had been explaining their tale to The President and The Commander, nobody had mentioned the alien life form that had started them on their journey. Xin had made the hyperloop sound like something that she had discovered in some notes back at Area 51. Given the visions that Xin had encountered as a result of the interaction, it was a natural conclusion that the dreams were connected somehow to the same being.

“I agree,” Pete said in low tones. “But we do need to discuss this now. It obviously means something. Let’s meet discreetly at the chapel when we’re done here.”

“What about the chaplain?” Xin asked.

“Most days he holds cremation services for the dead and then goes out to sea with the mourners to scatter the ashes. It keeps him quite busy given the circumstances,” Pete explained.

“Okay, well I’m done now anyway,” Lucy said, “I’ll head down there first and wait for you all.”

“Can I come too?” Rebel asked, pushing her tray away.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Lucy smiled warmly.

“I’ll be right behind you,” Frank said, looking up from a fork laden with pancake.

“Of course you will,” Lucy rolled her eyes and laughed. “Just as soon as you’re done filling your face.”

Frank shrugged apologetically and the two girls rose from the table.

Rebel felt a little uncomfortable as a silence stretched between her and Lucy. Lucy didn’t seem to notice as she bussed her tray. She had an easy air about her that probably came from spending so much time with Frank. She paused at the cafeteria doors and held one open for Rebel.

Outside was another bitter and breezy day. The sea air stung their faces as they stepped out into it from the relative warmth. A few spots of rain smattered down upon them.

“I never did miss the good old British weather,” Lucy commented, tilting her head to look at the saturated grey clouds. “What with winter practically upon us, I’d bet that it will only get worse. It might even snow.”

“I’ve never seen real snow,” Rebel said with a trace of hopefulness in her voice.

“Really?” Lucy asked with fascination. “It’s so pretty. I always loved playing in it as a child. I guess you grow out of that as an adult and appreciate it less, but it’s always beautiful.”

“Well I’ve lived all my life in Cali and Nevada. You lived in Nevada too, right? So you know it’s mostly dry all year round,” Rebel explained.

“Yeah,” Lucy nodded conversationally. “Maybe you’ll get to see your first snowfall soon then.”

“That’d be cool,” Rebel said with a half-smile.

They made their way through the maze of pavement and across the base, engaged in small chit chat. Lucy mentioned that maybe she would check one of the shops at some point, and try to find them some scarves to protect them from the worsening weather.

When they came upon the modest chapel building, the main wooden doors were thrown open invitingly. They opened into a very small vestibule that offered shelter from the elements and housed a noticeboard. The doors into the chapel were closed to keep in the heat. Lucy pushed them open and Rebel followed her inside.

Inside, the chapel was simple and quiet. The few rows of pews were deserted but a scattering of candles flickered beside the altar at the front. A huge cross leaned away from the wall behind the altar and the floorboards creaked as the girls made their way towards it. The sweet smell of melting wax was comforting after the harsh onslaught of salty air.

“Churches always creeped me out a bit,” Rebel mentioned as they seated themselves uncomfortably in the front pew.

“I find them quite peaceful myself,” Lucy said.

“Maybe it’s the peace that bothers me,” she replied, looking around at the artwork that hung on the walls, depicting numerous biblical scenes. “I was always more comfortable with a torrent of noise in my ears and no pictures of dead men staring down at me.”

Their gentle discussion was ultimately interrupted by the arrival of Frank. He was followed closely by Andy and Pete. Xin showed up a little later, having nipped back to the dorm to pick up her notebook.

“I feel like I’m in a movie with this cloak and dagger stuff,” Frank said, taking a place on the pew behind the girls.

“It’s just a precaution,” Pete said, ruffling raindrops out of his hair by the doorway. “If anyone overheard us, there are still plenty of people who would consider us crazy. We can’t afford to have our credibility questioned with the work Xin is doing and also for Rebel’s safety.”

“What do you mean?” Andy questioned, looking up from the hair he was wringing rainwater from. Rebel’s face was alight with concern.

“Well, Rebel is with us. The fact that they want our help is, in effect, protecting her from being taken off to the labs against her will. They want to be on our good side and avoid trouble.”

“So if they suddenly think we’re crazy, they aren’t going to care so much about that,” Andy comprehended.

“Exactly,” Pete confirmed. “Not to mention that, up till now, nobody has tried to take our weapons. That could change too.”

Xin removed her coat and joined the other girls on the front pew. “I think it would be best if we didn’t take too long here. It wouldn’t look good if anyone realised we were all here.”

“Cracking on then,” Frank clapped his hands together and leaned over the back of the girls’ pew. “Who’s up?”

“I think that Rebel should tell us about her dream,” Xin suggested. “We know that all of ours are almost the same, unless any of you have noted any differences in your own dreams?”

Nobody spoke up and so she turned sideways to look at Rebel, notebook and pen in hand.

“Oh...um,” Rebel shifted uneasily under the scrutiny.

“Don’t worry,” Xin told her. “We just want to try and figure it out. You heard Andy talk about his dream this morning, we’ve all been having it for a while. Is yours the same?”

“No,” Rebel shook her head. She noticed Andy stroll around the end of the pew. He casually lowered himself onto the carpeted floor, his legs stretched in front of him and his forearms rested on his knees. “I’ve been having it ever since they took me to the facility in Nevada. Even before the outbreak...”

Xin was scribbling away in the notebook already, but paused to look up at the last revelation. “Was there anything in particular that triggered it?”

“Not that I can think of...” Rebel mused. After a moment her face creased with concentration, “There was something, but... I don’t know if it’s related.”

“Go on,” Xin urged without looking up from the paper.

“There was a moment when I first got there; they wheeled me past a window. I was strapped to a gurney but I could turn my head and I looked into the room.” Rebel closed her eyes and touched her temples as she remembered. “It was weird because it looked like there was an empty bed in there. But I don’t think it was empty. The glass was kind of frosted but I could see that there was some kind of light radiating from the bed. Mainly, it was the feeling that something was looking back at me.”

Xin was still writing but Frank turned his head between the girls and looked at her. “That sounds like it could be the same thing you described seeing.”

“It could definitely be relevant,” Xin agreed. “So, what is the dream?”

“Well, you are all there. I never saw your faces, so I didn’t realise it when I first met you all, but now I’m positive that it is you guys. It just fits.” Rebel looked around at the faces as though matching them with the pieces of her memory. “We’re all running... I mean, not literally, we’re in some kind of van, but we’re running from something.”

“Okay,” Xin said, bobbing her head and tracing the pen rapidly across the page.

“We’re on a road and it’s not looking good, but then we just stop. There are other people too, the ones we were running from, and there are zombies. They all stop dead in their tracks, everything does.” Rebel paused for breath. “Then the dream changes and it’s almost like it’s not a dream anymore. It’s like a flick book of memories that I’d forgotten about, both happy and sad. Then I see things that haven’t ever happened, but I’m older in those ones and I think they’re the future. Those ones make me really sad because everything is so wrong. In the end, I always feel like I don’t want to have to live them out. Then I’m suddenly back in the road with you guys, but a really bright, white light is pouring down on us from the sky. It gets brighter, until I can’t even see anymore. Then I wake up,” She finished.

Xin didn’t speak. Her pen was racing to keep up. Instead, Pete asked, “How do you feel when you wake up? The rest of us seem to feel depressed and hopeless.”

“It used to feel like that,” Rebel said to him. “When I first started having the dream, I used to wake up in cold sweats, crying and I’d feel like screaming. The more times I had it, the clearer it seemed. Now it’s actually quite comforting and peaceful. I wake up feeling like maybe it won’t be so bad if the world does end, you know? Maybe it would even be for the best.” Rebel shrugged when she was done.

“There’s definitely some sort of comparison to be made between parts of Rebel’s dream and ours,” Andy stated with a frown.

“Yeah, I agree,” Frank said. “There’s definitely some sort of purpose or meaning to them.”

“But what?” Lucy wondered.

“There are a lot of cultures that place a great amount of significance in dreams,” Pete thought aloud. “Many believe that the sky denotes peace and hope, or freedom and possibilities. ‘The sky’s the limit’ as the saying goes.”

“So perhaps the dreams are somehow meant to comfort us? Keep us strong and give us hope?” Lucy asked, looking around to see what everyone else thought.

“There’s no overt threat in them. I think that, at least for now, we should try and be positive about them,” Pete said. “Let’s think on it and talk about it again if any of us come up with anything or notice something new.”

There were a few moments of thought-filled silence, and then Andy let out a breath as he rose from the ground. “Come on, we shouldn’t stay here if we’re done.”