The Things We Bury - Part 1: In Anticipation of the End of the World [Completed]

Chapter 10: Rough Waters (Part 1 of 9)

Red was never so ugly. It was blinding. The vast and intricate patterns glistening under the bright lights confused thought. It seemed to jam synaptic pathways leaving the brain with only one concept scratched out in three ragged letters: red.

Gazing through the Observation Center window was like looking down a deep well—a fathomless pit, whose sheer depth created a vortex threatening to suck everything down into its abyss.

A fuzzy static filled R.J.'s head, like waking up to the TV blaring a dead station.  Too many people were talking at once.  The voices were impossible to pick apart and he didn't want to separate them.  He didn't want to hear them.  If he did, he would have to do something.

It was Barbara Gracie, who finally cut through the fog. Her words stood out clear over the rest, perhaps because she was speaking so reasonably. She almost sounded compassionate, which was as shocking as a splash of cold water against his face.

"You better get her out of there," she said. "You don't want her to wake up to that."

R.J. nodded. Pivoting his neck was exhausting.  It took the same effort as hiking in high altitudes.

"Okay, I'll get her out of there," Kelman said. The technician was actually volunteering to go in. It seemed outlandish, but it was a godsend that his nervous disposition created a need to do something. "Where should we put her? In one of the offices?"

Where could they put her? There was no infirmary in the bunker. No bedrooms. They needed to find a place to clean Amy up and somewhere to contain her afterward. Perhaps the lunchroom? R.J. wished Maxwell was there. He didn't like having to explain the decision to remove her after the fact. He could only imagine what Wiley would say about taking her out of the secure environment.

A memory of something Maxwell had said slammed into his head and snapped him completely out of his stupor. He turned away from the scene of carnage and addressed the staff.

"No." The word was so forceful that every conversation stopped and all eyes turned to him. "Put her in the wolf enclosure."

"Why there?" Horus spoke up from his seat in the back. A beige cloth bandage covered the right side of his forehead. Sometime, much later, R.J. would have to ask him about it. "I mean, that bedroom won't be in any shape for her to go back to for some time. And she hates being in the wolf room."

The point was valid. She was going to be traumatized enough without being imprisoned in the stark pen for days or weeks. But he couldn't tell Horus and the others about the security precaution that would incinerate everything in the portal if she was inside when it sealed.

Instead, he said, "She's not to leave the containment area. There's a full moon tonight? And after this..." He waved at the window but kept his eyes away from it. "We're not taking any chances."

The detail of the full moon filtered up just when he needed it. And that thought led to another one: how did she change when the moon was still so far from being full?

"Kelman, I want you and O'Bree to get suited up and move her. Aikman stay at the consol. If she stirs before they get her into the other room, I want you to gas the place. I don't want her conscious when anyone is with her. Dr. Gracie. I need you suited up too. She'll need to be examined after they clean the blood off her."

"Certainly."

"Kendrick and Paulson, look around. Try to find something for a bed. There are some new mats and clean linens in the storeroom perhaps you can get a desk or a table to put it on to make it more comfortable."

Paulson's sour gnome-like face twisted into a frown. "Damn it, Blass. I'm a doctor, not an errand boy."

"I said, go!"