****
"Wait. Wait. So you think there is a cure and that these town people know it?" Brad said from his spot beside me. The doctor was eying me with suspicion.
"So they tried to insert something behind your ear?" The doctor questioned. He was sitting at his desk looking at the blood samples over again. His eyes examining them closely.
"I know how it sounds!" I yelled, flopping down onto the sofa beside the desk. It was old with worn out leather.
"It sounds crazy, Iris, those people were crazy!" Brad yelled, standing over me. The doctor was behind him, his eyes flipping from the blood samples to the both of us.
"There is no logical way that placing anything behind your ear could be a cure." Brad sighed, "well, all I know is that I just want to go home. We can leave, right?"
"No. Not yet." The doctor protested, standing up quickly.
"We are under consensual quarantine, and now that I know I am not sick, I want to leave! I don't want no tests done!" Brad yelled, "I've had enough, and I'm fucking leaving!" He moved his hands for effect, looking at me as if I would agree, as if I would back him up.
"Come on Brad, a few more tests wont kill you." I protested, standing up and walking after him. He looked hurt.
"I'm done. No more fucking needles for me!" He yelled, his feet moving forward towards the door. I walked after him, my hand out stretched, grabbing for his shoulder.
"You two are our only hope at finding a cure." The doctor said suddenly, walking infront of Brad and standing next to the door. "You are the only people that have this abnormality, if we could do more tests we could sympathizes the immunity and give it to the rest of the population."
Brad continued to walk forward, walking out the door and into the lab area , "Brad!" I said again, following him, "Brad!" I repeated louder than the last time, but he ignored me once again, "how can you be so selfish!" How could he be like this? Always putting himself before others. This was our job, we had moved this virus here, infected the population. It was our fault, all of this, the death, the chaos, the carnage. This was our job, we couldn't walk away. We had to fix this. I had to fix this.
"Excuse me?" Brad turned, somehow that had gotten his attention, "how am I being selfish? I went into quarantine, I was stuck with needles, my worst fear, and I did all of it. All of this. Everything, for you." He stopped, hesitating before continuing, "that isn't selfish." For me? I questioned, but couldn't bring myself to revise my thoughts.
"I can't force you." The doctor said, still standing in the door way of his office, "but truly, we need you. Both of you."
Brad just kept walking. Not turning around. The other people in lab coats had been ignoring our argument, but now they were looking at us. All of us, their conversations ceasing as Brad began to head towards the door. Their beady eyes glaring him down.
That was when I heard a small click, as if I button had been pushed and suddenly a siren started to go off, the sound growing louder and louder, penetrating my ears over and over, reminding me lustfully of Brad's heavy metal music. Home. "I'm sorry." The doctor said from his door frame, his hand on a big red button, "I really am."
****
The red light blinked brighter and brighter, the flashes blinding me as my hearing became muffled. The sounds seemed rounded, having no rough edges to them, as if they had been sanded down before entering the canals of my ears. Then it all changed, the rounded edges became rough, a ear piercing screech sounding around me as ten men clad in army attire filled the space around me, throwing hand cuffs on my wrists and dragging me by the arms back to the quarantine room that we had been in before. "No!" I screamed, seeing two men tackle Brad to the ground, "what are you doing?"
"What we have to." One of the men said, throwing me limply onto the ground, my arms flipped around my back, hand cuffs still on. Brad was thrown in a moment later, a bloody nose and a black and blue face that was already partly swollen.
"What the fuck is going on!?" Brad cursed, shimmying across the floor so he was leaning against the wall, "we are allowed to leave, that is our right as Americans!"
I stared out the glass, "I don't think they care about our rights. They are the army, they are the rights." My eyes started to make their way around the room, seeing that everyone that had been in quarantine with us was gone, all of them disappeared into thin air, the only thing left of them a messy, white sheeted bed.
"Why do we need to stay is we aren't sick?" Brad questioned, " if we are immune like he says, we can leave!" Brad smashed his back against the wall a few times in frustration.
"No Brad, don't do anything stupid. We should just stay, maybe we can help them find a cure with our blood." It was true, I was looking at the bigger picture, what was important. If we could save people, it was worth staying in quarantine for awhile longer.
"Iris, these people might hurt us. They aren't on our side." Brad said, arching his back and looking out the glass, seeing the army men crowding the area, their guns at their sides.
I sighed, feeling like a fool for siding with the CDC, "I know, but it's worth it. We won't be here that long, maybe a few more tests on our blood and then we can leave. It's the least we can do, we were the ones who shipped this virus over here." Brad gritted his teeth, looking at me. "I thought you said that this yellow chip was the cure." He said, quoting me.
"I know, but you heard him, it's impossible." I shrugged my shoulders, shuffling across the floor to the wall beside Brad, leaning my head against him. After a few minutes of us laying there silently, Brad spoke.
"Ok. Fine. But if they hurt you, we do it my way." He said gruffly.
"That's all I ask." I bit my lip, my hand resting on his knee. For some reason it felt at home there, like it was made to fit in that exact spot.
"Iris?" Brad asked suddenly. I yawned, nodding. He paused, then pushed my hand off, moving a few inches away from me, "nothing."
I was slightly hurt, "what?" I asked angrily, "I was trying to comport you!"
Brad didn't answer, he just leaned onto the wall and closed his eyes, "I'm tired. Go away."
I was appalled, "go away?" I paused, "really? Are we reverting to this childish play? I just don't understand anything with you! I have no idea where we stand." He didn't answer, he just laid there, his eyes shut, ignoring my plea.
Did he want to be my brother still? My lover? My friend? Or my enemy? I didn't know, but it didn't matter, all that mattered was finding a cure, helping fix what we broke.
****
The night past like a blur, at first I was just watching Brad, thinking back to the past few weeks and how my opinion could flip flop so easily on him, but then I found myself falling into a deep sleep.
I mustn't have slept long however, because soon the doctor came in, grabbing me and Brad up off the floor and brining us out of the small room and into the hallway. My eyes darted around, the army men were gone and now it was just the familiar white coated doctors. Two of them walked forward, one with light brown hair and dark eyes and the other was a girl with thin blond hair and a thick, fatty built body. "What are you doing with us?" Brad questioned.
"I'm sorry." The lady said, taking me by the arm and pulling me away. But there was something about her voice that stuck with me. It was hoarse, and reminded me of something I couldn't quite put my finger on.
The man grabbed Brad and walked him the same way as the lady was taking me. Brad fought him, but the man grabbed him by his hurt arm and he stopped. I realized that we were going outside, through the front doors I could see moon light shinning.
"Where are we going?" I asked, but the lady just tightened her grip, not answering my question. That was when I noticed a small shinny object shinning at me from the thick ladies pocket. A gun, I saw glumly. These people didn't want to do tests on us, they wanted us gone. Dead. But why? Why would they kill their only chance at a cure?
Then it donned on me: they didn't want to find a cure, they wanted this virus to spread. That's why they hadn't let us leave. The towns people did have a cure, and when I had informed that doctor of it, he realized he couldn't let us leave because we would go to that town and cure the virus.
My eyes met Brad's and I gestured towards the ladies pocket, he swallowed hard, taking a deep breath and biting his lip. The lady pushed me to the ground on the grass before me, pulling out her gun and putting it to my head. "Do we have to?" She asked the man that had Brad.
He gave her a nervous look, "we have too." He said, pushing Brad forward and grabbing a gun from his pocket. It was small, maybe a 22 at most, he took the safety off and pushed it to Brad temple.
"Iris." Brad said strongly, grabbing my hand, "I have something to tell you, I would have told you sooner..." he bit his lip, swallowing hard, "but I thought we would have more time."
A tear slid down my face, my hand tightening around his. This was it, this was the end. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, feeling the life enter my body. I was so alive, and yet I was going to die. Just like that deer I was going to be gone, thrown into the ground, and after a few years, no one would remember me. Life was like a blink of an eye in a sea of forever. There were so many things I hadn't done, so many things I wanted to do, and couldn't.
Suddenly there was a bright light that was such a pure white it sent me flying backwards onto the soft grass. "What the..." I heard the woman's voice sound, but when I opened my eyes, she was gone and so was the man. Me and Brad lay there on our backs, the wind knocked out of us, our hand cuffs still around our wrists. Brad stood up, looking around wildly, "what was that?" I asked him, but he didn't answer.
"Who cares, let's go!" He yelled, pulling me to my feet. My wrists hurt from the presser on them, looking down they were so red and raw looking. Suddenly the shiny metal turned dull and broke apart, leaving me free. My eyes shifted to Brad who's hand cuffs had also shattered. He paused, confused, but then took my arm, pulling me away into the night. Where we would hide, I knew not, but in that moment I felt so strange, like a serge or energy went through me, causing me to run faster than I ever had before.
****
Brad and I had been running for two hours before we stopped. We had went into the forest in hopes of loosing anyone that came looking for us, "we have to go to that town." Brad said breathlessly. He was standing with his back to an old oak tree, the trunk almost as thick as three of me and as tall as ten.
"You believe me?" I asked, stunned, falling onto the ground beside him and getting my ass wet in a muddy puddle. My white dress was about as ruined as ruined got, I thought, but I found it hard to care even in the slightest.
"Well, I think almost getting a bullet in my brain made me re think things." He murmured, taking a deep breath. "We have to keep going, who knows if they have dogs or something."
Pulling myself to my feet I grabbed Brad's hand before he started to run again, "what was that light?"
He turned to me, "how do you expect me to know?" He grumbled, then ripped his body away from me, "but whatever it was, it was a good thing. Those CDC people are gone, and we are alive." He started to jog in the direction he had been going before.
"And your OK with just not knowing?" I asked, jogging after him, but my legs were sore and all the energy that I had acquired was long since extinguished.
"Yes." He said glumly, running farther ahead and I couldn't manage to keep up. I stopped, heaving against a tree and then ran forward again.
The forest was so dark and I found myself tripping over various small branches as I jumped forward, trying my hardest to keep my eyes locked on Brad so I knew where to step. He seemed so graceful, as if maybe in another life he had been a deer. His long legs moving from spot to spot over the rock and stick covered ground, his mind focused as he went. My eyes jumped down to my feet, feeling something wrap their way around them, holding them tight, not letting them move an inch. Suddenly I found myself falling to the ground, my face hitting first before my hands had a chance to present themselves. Brad didn't realize, however and continued running through the dark, dank forest. "Brad!" I called after him, but he didn't turn around. Maybe he just didn't care, I thought suddenly. Maybe I was holding him back.
Taking a deep breath I rolled over, sitting up and letting my hands feel over my foot. It seemed to be some sort of vine that had tangled up with my shoes, my hands looped around them, tugging away at them, but it didn't budge. Letting a sigh leave my lips I pulled harder and I heard a loud snap, the vines shattering and snapping back, hitting my hands like broken elastic bands.
Putting one hand on the ground beside me I started to lift myself to my feet, "need some help, sweet cheeks?" I heard Brad say from beside me. My eyes examined his face in the moon light, his chiseled jaw in a strange grin.
"You stopped." I said in disbelief, pulling my hand free of his grasp and wiping myself off the best that I could.
"How could I leave you?" He seemed appalled, like the thought had never crossed his mind, but I knew different. He was faster, stronger, and my weakness was pulling him down. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah." I said, my eyes examining my body before trying to take a step forward, but failing. A sharp pain shot through my leg and suddenly I was on the group again. "No."
Brad chuckled, kneeling down beside me and turning so he back was too me, "climb aboard the Brad-express."
I hesitated, looking over his back before moving forward, putting my hands on his shoulders and pulling myself onto him. "Thanks." I forced a smile, feeling the whoosh of air pass me as he lifted me up, his hands cupped around my legs as we ran forward. It was as if I was on a super-humans back, his muscles flexing under my body, the world passing me by in a blur. Suddenly I felt myself relax, my eyes closing. I was so tired, so worn out. I knew Brad would keep me safe, and that gave me the reassurance needed to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.
When my eyes opened next I saw Brad standing over me, facing a big blue pickup truck. His hands were inside the smashed window of the car and moving my hand I felt glass slice through me, causing me to wake up fully. "What are you doing?" I questioned, sitting up. I had a soft sweater under my head, my body laying on a soft spot in a clover patch.
"Catching us a ride." He grinned, his hand moving inside the car and suddenly the door was open, "hop in, sweet cheeks."
Pulling myself to my feet I walked beside him, "we can't just take a car, Brad!" I slammed shut the door, walking away from him with no destination in mind.
"Come on." he called after me, running to my side and pulling my arm back so we were face to face, "we're saving the world." He whispered, our lips an inch from one another's. My eyes stared into his, the air around us was so damp and cold but for a moment I felt as if I was home wrapped in a warm blanket, my hello kitty stuffed animals around me. Brad filled that hole that was missing in me, he was the piece that those hello kitties and pink room decor were filling before. Maybe I had always needed him, maybe he was meant to be with me.
"Fine." I said, "lets save the world." Brad smiled big as the words left my lips.
"Lets save the world together." He added, grabbing my hand and leading me to the car, opening the passenger side and helping me into the seat before closing the door and walking to the drivers side.
"We don't have the keys." I said suddenly, my eyes looking over the old, blue ford. The seats were worn, the leather so thin it had holes through it and the back seat had claw marks across them. There was a faint smell of wet dog in the air, and I guessed that the owner of the truck also had a dog.
"We don't need 'um." Brad replied, his hand reaching under the worn steering wheel and breaking it open, revealing a few red, blue and green wires.
"How do you know how to hot-wire a car?" I asked, watching his hands move under the wires, pulling them apart and reconnecting them in different ways.
Brad laughed, "I know a lot more than that, sweet cheeks." As the words left his mouth the cars engine roared to life and we backed out of the drive way, my eyes wondering to the old farm house on the hill.
The owner would wake in the morning and find his car gone, I apologized silently.
****
Driving down the skinny dark road was causing me to feel ill, the bumps making my stomach jump up and down. "Do you need me to pull over?" Brad asked, seeing my face turning a light green hue.
"No, I'm fine." I lied, my hand clasping my mouth, clenching my stomach muscles trying to keep my food down.
"Are you sure?" He asked, his eyes examining my body.
"Are you sure you know where you are going?"
Brad chuckled, but didn't answer. "Do you know where we are going?" I asked again.
"Yes." Brad said coldly.
"How do you know? We are driving down this tiny road and we don't even know the direction that the CDC quarantined us in!" I replied, suddenly worried. I hadn't thought about what it would take to get to the small town, or if the CDC would get there before we had a chance too. If they were trying to spread this virus, that was the place they would go.
Brad gave me a suspicious look, "I just know, Iris. I don't know how, I just do."
"You just do?" I crossed my arms over my chest, suddenly frustrated. Did he not trust me?
"Yeah, I did. Just how you 'just knew' about the cure. Ok?" I paused, finally understanding what he meant. He had a flash of the past, like I had.
"Did you see it?" I asked, un crossing my arms and letting them fall onto my lap, but then retracting them when I felt how wet and cold my white dress was.
Brad took a deep breath, "I didn't see it. I just feel it, you know? Like someone is telling me where to go."
My eyes widened, what was happening to us? Was it something to do with our DNA? What had saved us back at the quarantine? Something wanted us to find the cure, but what?
Brad and me switched spots after a few hours, but he didn't sleep, he just watched me, telling me when to turn and what to look for as if he had been on this drive before, as if he knew what was going to happen before it happened. To tell you the truth, it sort of freaked me out, but I didn't have time to be freaked out, I had to keep driving, making sure that we found the town before the CDC did.
"Do you feel it?" Brad asked out of no where, his voice sounding so loud after so many long minutes of complete silence. My body flinched causing the car to swerve, but I quickly caught my fault and continued, my eyes glued to the road.
"Feel what?"
"That presence. Like something is watching you, that tingling in the back of your neck, the feeling of hairs standing on end even though you aren't cold."
Squinting my eyes I looked around the dark road, but all I could see was my head lights in front of me, the light dancing all over my vision, the only thing I could see.
But there was something that I couldn't see that I hadn't picked up on before, something that I could only feel.
My head wiped around, looking behind the car. There was something there, I could feel its eyes on me, watching me, somehow through the car. I would have never noticed it, however, if Brad hadn't spoke up, and out of no where came the feeling that I was being violated by whatever it was, just by the way it was watching me.
"Yes, I feel it." I said, my eyes meeting his, "what do you think it is?" My shoulders retracted into my neck, suddenly feeling cold.
"I don't know." Was all Brad said before giving me a few more driving directions and leaning back into his sweat, his eyes focusing on the world behind the car, presumably trying to see the entity that was stocking us. Somehow I knew he wouldn't see anything, however, it was just a feeling, but feelings were everything now.
****
My body ached as my eyes fluttered open, watching the sky above me that was a beautiful light blue, white fluffy clouds dancing through the sky, the sun feeling incredibly warm and causing me to close my eyes again with the intent of falling back asleep. That was until I remembered what had happened the night before, I scratched my head, realizing that the last thing I remembered I was driving the pick up truck down that small whirly road.
Pulling myself to my feet I looked around, but I couldn't believe what I was seeing. We were in a meadow, mountains surrounding us. The grass was so green it looked like an oasis in the middle of a dry and cold desert. "Iris?" Brad asked, and I realized that he had been laying on the ground next to me. "Where are we?"
"I don't know." I replied, "did I fall asleep and you drove or something?"
"No." Brad looked puzzled, "you were driving last I remember." He paused, "but this isn't possible."
"What isn't possible?" I questioned, perplexed.
"We are almost at GoldTown, but last I remember we were a whole three days away from here."
"Maybe you were wrong?" I guessed, trying to make sense of the situation, but I didn't believe the explanation that I had fabricated myself.
"No, no. I know I was right." Brad said, his eyes looking around the area, examining the mountains and calculating where we had been and where we were now.
"We should head out." I said, my eyes gluing themselves to the old car that was sitting in the middle of the meadow. "We don't have time for this."
After some hesitation, Brad walked with me, climbing into the drivers seat and starting up the car, "we'll be there in a few minutes." He said, "it's just over this hill."
I didn't resound, my eyes were watching the beautiful sky, the sweet smell of clovers in the air, the genital breeze moving past me. I hadn't had peace like that in a long while, and after this was all over I would never take for granted my normal life again.
The ragged hanging sign looked the same as it had when we first entered the town oh so long ago, or so it seemed. The letters were old, falling off in chunks and the sigh creaked with the genital breeze, but there seemed to be a cloud over the town, the peace from the meadow not crossing the boundary.
"We're here."
****