Family Reunion "J" (23 page)

Jay was shaking her head even before he finished his speech. “Sorry, I can’t, Ben. I will be leaving here shortly. Any information you can give me would be much appreciated, but there is no way I’ve come this far to give up now.”

“I was afraid that would be your stance. Can I at least talk you into letting us equip you to deal with the vaccinated, or crazies? I have some neat stuff that we have found to be very effective in defending against them. We should also go over the maps. I can show you the best route to avoid the gang camps that we know about.”

“I saw the exhibition of the lights last night and was going to ask you about them. Yes, any help you can offer would be happily accepted.”

“Good,” Ben said.

Tami stuck her head in the door. “Well?”

“Just like you said,” Ben answered, shaking his head with an exasperated look on his face.

“Told you. Hey Jay, throw me your keys and I’ll fill up your SUV for you.”

Without hesitation, Jay dug out her keys and sent them flying to Tami. “Thanks Tami.”

Tami caught them and winked at her. “No problem.”

Whether he did it out of concern or because he figured it was expected, Jon spoke up. “Do you want me to come with you, Jay?” This got him a scowl from Gwenn, which was not lost on Jay.

“No, you need to stay with Gwenn. I’ll be fine.”

“All right, but you come back here and we’ll travel home together, okay?”

Jay nodded, hoping it would be that simple.

A knock at the door brought Julian’s head up from the computer screen. “Yes, come in.”

Susan—she’d insisted that he call her by her first name and he told her the same—stuck her head in the door. “Julian, Simon is back from downstairs. Do you want me to watch him?”

Simon barged into the small office. “Hi daddy, I made a new friend.”

“It is okay Susan, he can stay with me. Thank you for offering though.”

Susan smiled at him. “Not a problem. You guys want to go to dinner with me? They start serving at five.”

Julian had felt the sexual spark flash between himself and Susan when they had first met in Puerto Rico, but he was happily married then and had poured ice water on that spark before it became a flame. “Sure. I have to finish this presentation tonight, so I will need to get a break in, as I am certain it will be an all-nighter.”

“If you want, I can get Lana to watch Simon. She said that he and Austin have become good buddies since this morning. I’m sure she won’t mind, and I can help you with getting your thoughts into that presentation.”

“That also sounds like a good idea. Can we meet them in the cafeteria at five?”

“I’ll check,” Susan answered, turning to leave, “but as I said, I don’t think it will be a problem. Oh, and I forgot to tell you—Dr. Pearson needs to see you.”

Julian sighed. It would take all night to get this done if the interruptions kept up, but if Brian needed to see him, it must be important. Brian knew Julian was putting together a brief for the entire staff, as he was the one who had asked for it.

He made his way down the corridor to Brian’s office. Most of the offices in the complex were completely ergonomic and work-specific. Brian’s was no different in that regard, but he did have a separate area set aside for meetings that most didn’t have.

“Come on in, Julian,” Brian said after Julian hovered at the door for a moment. “Let me finish this chat with Dr. Felix and I will be right with you.” Brian typed furiously for a minute or two, then rose from his desk. “Come on, let’s sit,” he said, motioning to the two couches and one chair at the opposite side of the room.

The one chair should have had a big sign over it—“Dr. Pearson’s Chair”—but in all reality it wasn’t necessary. Julian sat on the leather sofa, close to the chair.

Once seated, Brian’s fingers came together in a steeple in front of his face, his index fingers touching his lips as if trying to find the right words. “Julian, you know all of the staff here are part of the control group that didn’t receive the vaccination, correct?” He didn’t wait for any response from Julian and just continued talking. “We do have several people in isolation who were part of the group that received the vaccination, but none who appear to be immune from its effects.”

He looked at Julian seemingly to gauge his reaction to what he said next. “We’ve been examining them at extreme levels, levels that in normal times would seem unthinkable. Each and every one of us here at the CDC signed waivers when hired that basically say, ‘If we become infected during the course of our work, we give our permission to the CDC to do whatever is necessary to us to further the mission.’”

Julian stared at Dr. Pearson, not sure what he was getting at, but not liking the direction the conversation was going.

“What are you getting at, Brian? Why are you telling me this?”

“Look, we need to run a battery of tests on Simon. MRI, body scan, CT, the works.”

“Go fuck yourself Brian. You will not use my son as a guinea pig. I will kill you before that happens.” Julian said it so matter-of-factly that it took a minute for Dr. Pearson to react.

“Julian, be reasonable. The tests are completely noninvasive,” Brian implored him.

“I will be the one you run the tests on, Brian, not Simon.” Julian held eye contact with him in what he hoped was a convincing
I will kill you
look.

“We need you for your knowledge and experience with this vaccine. We can’t accept even the minimal risk that something may go wrong that would cause us to lose you,” Brian said, his eyes downcast now.

“I will be unavailable to you in either case. Either you run your tests on me, or you will have to kill me to get at my son.”

Brian knew he must play this perfectly. If he pushed too hard, Julian would see this for what it was. He did not intend to run those tests on Simon. He only needed Julian to think he would. That would ensure Julian’s buy-in to the alternative plan that Brian would now put on the table.

“There is one other way.”

Brian let the statement just hang there. The first one to speak in this negotiation would lose.

Julian bit, and he bit hard. “What way is that, Brian?”

“We will have to find and capture another immune.”

Julian just stared at him again, only this time the look was one of resignation, defeat.

“Very well then, let us discuss how you plan on going about this capture.” The words did not convey the weight of his betrayal of some poor soul who was unlucky enough to be an immune, and who lived within a fifty-mile radius.

He was just finishing his reply when Lana walked in. “You were saying you’re on board with Brian’s plan?” There was no doubt it was a question as she phrased it, but she seemed nervous about it.

“Yes. I do not like it, but we have no other choice.”

Lana nodded, but looked very uncomfortable.

Brian said, “We’ll have to finish this discussion later. I have to head down to the lab for another meeting. Why don’t you wait here for Susan?”

Julian didn’t seem to hear him. He realized he had just been played. Brian didn’t intend to chase around looking for an immune, he just needed Julian to agree. Once they came up empty in the search, Julian would again volunteer for the tests to spare Simon. Now Julian sat there trying to decide if he should play out the hand he was dealt. Should he kill Brian now or wait for a more opportune time?

Brian stood and took two steps toward the door when Julian launched himself over the coffee table and tackled him. Julian raised up to land a haymaker punch on Brian when he felt the needle slide into his neck. The burn flooded his neck, then chest. It spread to his arms and legs as every muscle in his body started to spasm. As he fell, he saw Lana holding the syringe. “I’m sorry, it’s for the mission.”

Brian struggled to get out from underneath Julian. When he was free, he stood. “Lock him in his office and prep him for the tests.”

He turned and left the room.

Auddy had spent the night locked in the bathroom of her parent’s condo. She brought blankets into the room and tried to sleep in the tub, but it was so uncomfortable that she ended up on the floor.

She woke up staring at the toilet bowl. The sun shone through the small window.
Bringing hope? Not in this lifetime.
The moisture condensation on the underside of the toilet bowl gave life to a drip of water that landed square on her forehead. She scrambled onto her feet, wiping her forehead and making a noise that was very unladylike.

She remained wrapped in the blanket and looked at her reflection in the room-length mirror. She fought back another bout of tears and went into the living room. The sliding glass doors held firm, covered in greasy handprints, and evidence of other bodily fluids smeared around for good measure. She opened one door only to see screening lying around the destroyed patio furniture. The only good thing she could find in the entire situation was that there was no way that her dad could blame this mess on her.

Standing there, she thought she heard music. Then she heard the familiar voice accompanying the guitar:

Where it began, I can’t begin to knowing
But then I know it’s growing strong
Was in the spring
And spring became the summer
Who’d have believed you’d come along

Hands, touching hands
Reaching out, touching me, touching you…

“Sweet Caroline!” Auddy practically screamed out the words as she jumped off the porch and turned toward Jimmy’s. He jumped, crashing over in the chair; his guitar flew from his hands and banged loudly off the floor.

“What in the name of all things holy!” he shouted as he tried to regain his composure. He was hard-pressed to remain angry as Auddy ran up to him and gave him a hug. Larry, Curly, and Moe danced around them vying for attention. Auddy turned toward the dogs and gave them each a chance to greet her.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Jimmy said.

Auddy wiped the tears from her eyes and replied, “Glad to see you too, Jimmy.” They both started laughing and only quit when the dogs began howling at them.

Jimmy told her that he’d been staying in the second-floor condo to keep away from the night screamers. It must have been the reason she didn’t see him last night. He showed her the stuff he had scavenged since the outbreak began. The condo was full of cases of water, Spam, and beef stew. She was impressed until she asked him about weapons.

“What do I need a weapon for?”

“To protect you from the, um… night screamers,” she said.

“Oh, they pretty much leave me alone if I just stay upstairs and keep quiet at night.”

“Well, what about the gangs of looters?” she asked.