Chapter Three

         I watched the virus try to attack my cells and held my breath, waiting. And then something happed that I’d never seen before.  The virus died. As soon as it penetrated the cell wall it died.  I had no idea what that meant, but it couldn’t be good.  If anyone from FEAD ever found out I’d wish I was dead long before I was even locked in one of their ‘facilities’.

         FEAD researchers had reputations to rival Mengele, well deserved reputations. My body shuddered, skin tightening with goose bumps and the hairs on the back of my neck tried to dance away all on their own. Breath coming shallow and fast made me dizzy when I stood and started looking for the incinerator, but I couldn’t quite get it under control.

         The small red box containing a medical waste disposal had been kicked under a bed and knocked on its side.  It was heavy and awkward to pull out and sit upright, but worked fine when I slipped the slide with my blood into small tray.  That let me finally take me a deep breath again and I stood up, swaying a little when my vision grayed out. 

         When the blood pounding in my ears subsided and I was able to think again I gave the tent another look.  Not much was left.  Taking my time and searching every box was probably a good idea but I couldn’t stand the thought of spending a single minute more there than I had to. 

         The blanket I’d been wrapped in had fallen unnoticed to the floor at some point so I shook it out and laid it down.

         Dumping everything I could find of use took only a few minutes and it made an unwieldy package, but there was no choice.  There wasn’t much in the way of supplies, some basic tools, bandages, a few vials of meds that didn’t require refrigeration.   Only a single manual IV set up hadn’t been used so I grabbed that, the two saline bags and single ‘banana bag’ that I found.   It all got tied up in the blanket, but the weight and size of the bundle was still depressingly small.

         The last two things I grabbed were my chart at the foot of the bed I’d been in and the bolt-gun.

         My fingers trembled just a bit when I untied the door flaps on the tent, but I got it done and stepped outside.  I stopped before I’d even gotten a single foot out.  It was dark.  I’d never seen it so dark out, not since I was kid.  No lights anywhere.  Not even any fires.   Clouds covered the stars and there was no moon visible, so I couldn’t even guess what time it was.

         A silent parking lot stretched out in front of me, empty of cars, and continued all the way to a gated drive on one end and a small hospital on the other end.  Hills rose on every side of the lot and I could vaguely make out some sort of huge pine trees covering the landscape as far as I could see. 

         There was no question of even trying the hospital.  If the tent had been empty, the hospital would be too.  Empty of anything useful anyway. The thought that there might still be a few FEAD agents still inside somewhere had me ducking back through tents opening. 

         There was nothing to do but run, as fast and as quiet as I could.  So that’s what I did, straight for the gate across the narrow drive.  My bare feet slapped the pavement and were torn by gravel, shredded by who knows what, but I couldn’t really feel it.  The pain was a distant second to the fear gnawing at me and clawing its way up my throat.  The gate was closed, but not locked so I slid out of as small a gap as I could make and ran as fast as I possibly could down the road.   

         It wasn’t long before my sides started burning and my lungs ached, but I kept going, fleeing in sheer panic from the monsters that had been left behind.  I almost missed the tiny gravel driveway and it’s equally tiny wooden sign.  The night was too dark too read the sign, but whatever it was had to better than running down a deserted road barefoot and wearing a thin paper gown.

         Bending over to catch my breath I had an idea…if there were still FEAD agents there and they were actively looking for ME I was dead anyway and no amount of running would save me.  But if they were just looking for anyone I might have a chance.  So I started hobbling down the road again about twenty feet past the almost hidden drive I rubbed the blanket on a bush that grown almost out onto the blacktop until a few threads caught on it.  A few inches past that I grazed my shoulder against the bush until the gown tore and left a strip of paper behind.   And then I limped back to the little driveway.