Chapter Five: The Missing
"Come on, Denise. It's not worth it."
Denise's face turned to stone as she glared at her friend Toya.
"Don't look at me like that, girl," Toya said. Her voice turned just as hard and no-nonsense as it had been soft and reassuring a moment ago. "You know I didn't mean it like that. I'm just sayin', it's almost four-o-clock in the morning. They won't let you see Ron. Even if they let you in and wake him up, you'll only upset yourself. You don't want to see those poor women drugged up and strapped down like Guinea pigs."
"Save it, Toya. I'm going. But not to see Ron. He might call himself our leader, but I don't have any use for the man. He thinks our problems don't matter because we don't have super powers. All their bullshit about everything being for us is just that: bullshit. Well, who's he gonna lead when all of his precious humans vanish in the fucking night like Rico. Like all the others!"
"I know you're upset, honey," Toya said as gently as she could. "But you're not being fair. Ron has to make tough decisions for us. For all of us. Now, we're gonna find Rico, even if we have to do it ourselves. But someone needs to know what we're doing and where we're going, so we don't end up missing, too."
Denise shrugged with an exasperated sigh. "Nobody listens to me," she said to the air above her head. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. I'm going to see Diane. She's the only one of them who still gives a damn. She'll find Rico and bring him home safe." She knew she was being a bitch, but it was either that or hunch over on the floor and cry into her lap.
Toya would understand. They had been inseparable since the day the world turned to shit. Along with Rico, they helped each other cope with the loss of everything they loved. They comforted each other through hunger, fear, uncertainty, and the creeping despair of being the last humans on earth.
Hot tears blurred her vision and streamed down her pale, hollow cheeks. It was a miracle her body could keep making them, as hungry and dehydrated as she was. She clenched her jaw and pushed her rising black depression back into its pit.
"Alright, then. Let's go. Let's get it over with," Toya said, tugging at the waist of her formerly too-tight denim shorts.
Denise's best guess put Toya in her late thirties. Secretive about her age and her past, the most Denise had been able to learn was that she had no family or close friends before the plague, and was so obese that she couldn't hold a job.
In the new world, Toya's obsession was staying "in fighting form." Now smaller than she'd ever been as an adult, she wore scandalously tiny clothing all the time. Everyone wore as little as their personal sense of modesty would allow. With a scorching summer crawling to an end, the MPC continually bordered between uncomfortably warm and unbearably hot. Even so, Toya really seemed to enjoy it.
"If you think you're going somewhere with me dressed like that, you better think again," Denise said, wiping her face with the back of her hand. She stepped close and continued softly. "I can't leave him out there, Toya. He'd be here by now, even if he had to crawl back. He could be hurt, or trapped, or surrounded by God knows what. If the super-friends won't go get him, then they at least better not try to stop me."
Toya hugged her tight. "I know, baby. I'll get our stuff ready and meet you at the blue stairs. Don't even try to say no, either. I know Rico's the love of your life, and all that, but he's my friend, too. I'm not trying to lose both of your pale asses."
Denise returned the hug and left their dormitory pod. She hoped to meet Diane at the infirmary, but the woman's schedule was unpredictable at best. The only guarantee with Diane was that her first stop of the day, no matter what time her day began, was the infirmary to see her sister. With luck, she would already be awake and on her way there.
She couldn't see the various colored guide-stripes near the ceiling like some of the others could, but she didn't need to follow the orange band. Even in the dark, she could find her way with ease.
A long, double-wide hallway with a security station and reinforced double doors led to the isolated infirmary wing. They didn't use the guard station anymore, but Bob sat at an old, beat-up desk beside the closed doors, with playing cards arrayed before him.
"Hi Bob," she said, trying to sound cheerful.
He looked up from his candlelit desk and smiled. "Good morning, Denise. You look like a lady on a mission. Is it too much to hope that you're just coming to keep me company with a few games of poker?"
"How can you see enough in this light to play solitaire? I'd fall right to sleep." He looked down for a second and adjusted one of the cards, and she regretted her careless question. "I'm sorry Bob. I don't know where my head is." He probably didn't need any light or very much sleep.
He stood up and dismissed her apology with a casual wave. "That's nothing to be sorry about. Truth is I feel better than ever. I'm stronger. I'm thinner. I never even think about food. Hell, I haven't had more than cup of rice for three days. Two or three hours of sleep will buy me twenty or thirty hours awake. Sure, I'll never be able to have kids, but..." He finished his sentence with a shrug, as if the rest was obvious.
It was. None of them would ever have kids, unless the doctors could keep them from becoming monsters in the womb. Every single person in the MPC waited for Tina's daily progress report. To them, she was nothing less than the Virgin Mary, carrying the hope and salvation of mankind.
"I'm probably the most advanced case here," he continued as she struggled to speak without crying again, "but I don't feel like I'm dying. I feel like a perfectly normal guy; human, but better. I'm no exterminator, but I'm no skinny wildling, either; appearances to the contrary." He chuckled.
She wanted to open up and explain everything to him. He seemed perfectly normal, and was always friendly and helpful, but despite his reassurances, he was tainted. He was the most advanced plague case among them. If she cut him, he would probably bleed blue, if he bled at all. Human, but better? Maybe he felt better, but very little of him remained human.
"No, you're right, Bob. I didn't mean to imply..." she snapped her mouth shut and smiled her warmest smile. "I'm just going to rewind and start over, okay? Good morning, Bob. I know it's early, but I was hoping to catch Diane before she got too busy."
"I wish I could give you good news, Denise. She's already back there with Ron and Lee. I'm not supposed to say anything, but you'll find out soon enough. They have a new guy back there. Someone brought him in a little while ago. I think he's one of them."
"A new guy? Another human came here from outside? Was he alone? Where did he come from?" The news stunned her. She figured there might be other survivors out there, but she never expected any to walk up and knock on their door. "What did he say? Are there more of them?"
"Slow down. You can't say anything yet, or they'll know it came from me. He's tall and skinny, with blond hair and freckles. Lee called him Jamie. Now you know what I know. They'll ask him questions, and Ron will dig into his head to see if he's lying about anything. I imagine we'll all meet him before long. If you're planning on waiting for Diane, I'll get you a chair. They've only been back there a few minutes."
"No. I better not wait. I'll try to catch her later. I hope you win," she added with a nod at his card game.
"I'm playing against myself. I always win."
"Sure. But you always lose, too," Denise said, walking away. She was already heading back towards the pods. If she couldn't get Diane's help, Mitch and Leonard were always running off somewhere. Leonard made her skin crawl, but Mitch was nice enough on his own. He would help her find Rico.
#
Down the hall from their dorm entrance, a bobbing light chased the sound of jogging sneakers in the opposite direction. It was an early start, even for Leonard. Finally, a bit of luck. Mitch would be easier to convince without him around.
A few paces from their open door, another narrow beam of light cut through the darkness as Mitch stepped through and followed Leonard. The light came from a runner's LED lamp, strapped to his head and focused on the floor in front of him.
If he had looked her way, he would have seen her. She stopped only a few yards from his door. Something in his manner kept her from speaking. What was he doing up and about so early? He wasn't one of the infected; he still needed things like sleep, food, and light.
Leonard still needed these things, too, but he was different. He was a runner. Finding him jogging through the halls and stairwells at odd hours was no more than she expected of him. Not Mitch, though.
Like Toya, Mitch used to be fat. Of all the colonists, he was the least affected by the plague, so he hadn't turned super skinny. In fact, compared to everyone else, he still looked a bit chubby. He held on to his shy, socially inept personality, too. His odd friendship with Leonard and his creeping around while everyone else slept added up to something out of character for the nerdy, but otherwise nice guy.
She listened to her internal alarm bells and held back a safe distance. Timing her steps with his to mask the sound of her shoes, she followed the bobbing light. She had hoped to convince him to show her the places off the beaten path where Rico might have gone. It looked like she was getting her way without having to ask.
She lengthened her stride when he rounded the left corner out of site. That hall led to the Green Stairs and the cell blocks at the back of the building. She caught up in time to see his light vanish around a corner to the right, opposite the stairs. It didn't fade as he walked away, it winked out.
She knew this area well enough to walk it in the dark, but she faltered and questioned herself. Where had he led her? It was only two turns back to the dorms, but if these were the green stairs, and she was certain they were, then he just turned down a hallway that didn't exist.
The landmarks all made it seem like the green stairs, but she had to question whether she'd lost track. She continued at a slower pace, touching the wall on her right. The more she thought about the unseen mystery hallway ahead, the more confused she became. She must have imagined it. There was no hallway there. It had to be a trick of the light; a reflection.
Yes, it must have been a reflection on the glossy green paint. He must have taken the stairs. Wait, who took the stairs? Rico? What am I doing out here at this hour?
Her thoughts grew so befuddled that she stopped and switched on her own LED flashlight. It was the darkness and the stress throwing her off, that was all. She felt better as the green painted walls and stair rails came into view. Her confusion began to clear, and she shook off her embarrassment at getting lost in the dark.
Why did I come this way? Oh, yeah, I'm meeting Toya and Mitch at the blue stairs. No. Not Mitch, just Toya. I took a hell of a wrong turn to end up here.
In the silence, a sudden noise made her heart leap. It sounded like a fire extinguisher going off right behind her. She spun around, shining her light on the wall, and felt suddenly dizzy. Her eyes rolled up, and she fainted. Someone caught her and eased her to the cool concrete floor. Despite a herculean effort, she couldn't stay awake.