The Infection

Chapter 6

Cassie followed Sean out to the darkness of Alcatraz. She had hesitantly left Ben behind with some man Sean told her to trust. He was taking her to his boss, Gary. She couldn't help but laugh to herself every time she thought of it. 

Gary the boss, she thought amusingly. I bet Gary used to work in accounting twelve hours a day while his wife cheated on him and his kids failed school. Sure as hell sounds like it to me! 

She continued to follow Sean until they were approaching the warden's office. "Of course he has the warden's office," she muttered. There were two large men standing at each side of the door with guns in their hands. 

"Tell him I've got survivors," Sean told the men. One of them went inside the office, then came out a few moments later, but left the door open. Just a few seconds later, a man that was just a few inches taller than her with full brown hair and glasses came out with a concerned look. 

Cassie already knew this was bad, but she wasn't sure why. "Was anybody hurt?" He asked, looking to Sean. Sean sighed and told him, "One. Her friend. The punks I took with me beat him to a pulp. I tried to tell you, Gary..."

Gary waved him off and said, "Yeah, yeah. Go check up on the friend and I'll talk to her in my office. I'm sorry, what's your name?" Cassie was trying to get a read on the man, but he was giving mixed signals. Mixed signals are always bad. 

"Cassie," she told him. "My friend your men almost killed is Ben." Gary nodded at her, then looked to Sean. "Make sure Ben is well taken care of," he told him. Sean saluted him, then walked off back the way they came. 

Cassie watched for a moment, then turned to Gary who stepped aside from the door and said, "Come on in, we'll talk." She was hesitant, very hesitant, but went inside the office with caution. Sean took their weapons away inside the cell, so she didn't have anything to defend herself with gun wise. She's still a deadly special forces agent. 

"Can I get you anything to drink?" He asked as he shut the door behind him. She didn't answer. "Something to eat, perhaps?" Again, she didn't answer, but turned to him and said, "Your men attacked us. We weren't even doing anything wrong, just escaping from the infected."

Gary put his hands up in mock surrender and told her, "I understand that and I am deeply sorry. I assure you, we will give your friend the best treatment we can. Now, sit and let's talk." Cassie carefully sat down while looking around the office. 

There didn't seem to be anything of his in here, just historical artifacts barely making it through this world without daily maintenance. "So," he said as he sat down at his desk across from her, "tell me about yourself. What were you?"

Cassie let out a sharp sigh. "I am a marine," she told him. Gary folded his hands on his desk. "What rank?" He asked. "Sergeant Major," she answered, "then medical examiner, and then special forces." He looked intrigued. 

"And your friend?" He asked. She told him, "Same. Sargent Major, then special forces, but no medical history. We've been together since basic training so I wouldn't do anything stupid when treating him if I were you." Gary started looking her over. 

"Do you have a camp? A base?" Cassie shook her head. "We've been on our own," she said. "With our training, it's not surprising we've made it this far." Gary stood up from his desk and started pacing. "Did you hear anything about a cure for all this?" He asked. 

Cassie furrowed her eyebrows. "No," she told him. "The day we found out was the day we were stationed here. Our platoon got overran by the infected and we ended up on our own, hiding in the woods near the outskirts."

"What was your mission?" He asked. This was getting way too suspicious, but what's the harm in giving him a classified order that's gone with the rest of the world? "We were to kill the infected," she explained, "but once we couldn't tell the living from the dead...we were ordered to kill everything that moved."

Gary hummed and kept pacing. "And did you?" She sighed and told him, "No. At least, I don't think so. I tried to just kill who I thought was infected, but it was difficult." The memories kept flooding back to her on how she didn't know if she was shooting anyone who could have survived this.

"Well," Gary said as he sat back down, "we should talk sleeping arrangements I suppose. Are you and your friend...?" Cassie gave him a double take. "Wait, wait, wait," she said. "You don't know us and you want us to stay? What?" 

No, something was definitely wrong. "Yes," he told her. "I believe all life is crucial to our survival and we need to take what we can get. Not to mention, you are both very qualified to be here."

"Qualified to be here," she repeated. "There are qualifications? For what? Teaching those kids out there how to shoot, polishing guns every night?" Gary leaned forward on the desk. "We have a community," he told her. "Each of the buildings you see has life in it, but they're all asleep now because we have a curfew here. We have everything here. Will you consider it?"

Cassie couldn't believe this. She just wanted to get Ben patched up and go home. Unfortunately, she could tell it wasn't going to be easy. "Thank you for your offer," she told him, "but I think we'll pass. We've been doing just fine on our own and we want to keep it that way."

Gary stared at her for a long moment and she just stared back. He looked like he knew something, but she couldn't guess what. "Alright," he said, "that's fine. Let us at least get Ben fixed up and well enough to travel again. It's the least we can do after it being our mistake."

Goddammit, she thought. Ben isn't in any state to travel. We'll die if we go out there and I sure as hell can't leave him here. Fuck. "Fine," she said, "but as soon as he's able, we're leaving." Gary nodded and said, "Absolutely. No one will stop you." 

Sighing, Cassie stood up as he did. "Ben and I are not anything more than long-time friends, but I would prefer to be bunking with him so I can watch over." Gary stuck his hand out to her while saying, "Done." 

She hesitantly shook it, but quickly retreated it. "I'd like to get back to him now," she said. He put his hands to his side and said, "Of course. I'll take you back." He walked her out of the office and through the yard, until they got back to the jail cells. 

She started walking quicker once she heard Ben's groans. She got to the cell and saw he was awake...barely. Sean was kneeling beside him with a shot in hand. "Ben," Cassie sighed in relief. He gave her a small smile, but then she saw his eyes widen. 

Curious, she started to turn around, but was then shoved into the cell. She hit the ground next to Ben, then felt a sharp sting in her arm. Sean was giving her the shot. As quickly as she could, she moved her arm around and whacked Sean's arm away, then kicked him out of the cell once she was on her back. 

She quickly took the shot from her arm and looked at it. It was empty. Whatever it was, it was too late now. Suddenly, she started to feel a bit hazy and loopy. She looked to Ben, who was starting to look loopy as well. 

She then looked over to Gary. He was standing above her and started to kneel down. "I know who you are," he said in a much different tone than he was just speaking to her with. "You're with that group in the city. We've been watching you, following you. You're name is Cassandra Hansen and he is Benedict Cumberbatch. You're both in serious trouble." 

Cassie was struggling to breathe by now. She didn't know what was going on! "As for his injuries...you're a doctor. You can fix him." He stood up and walked out of the cell. Sean, who was holding his stomach from being kicked there, harshly closed the cell door. 

"Wha...what do...wha..." Cassie started dozing off. "What do you want," she managed to say. Gary leaned up against the cell bars. She was seeing two of him now. "Information," he told her. "But don't worry about that right now. You and your boyfriend just go to sleep." 

Cassie looked over at Ben and saw him looking at her, nearly in the same state she was in. As much as her body would allow, she hauled herself over to him until her head was resting on his chest. She managed to get her arm on his stomach and the last thing she remembered before everything went black, was the feeling of his rough hand holding hers.