Sick

19

The moment Rachel said that Josie and Brandon were still alive, Ash’s vision went gray.

In his mind, he could hear Josie’s cry, and feel how cold she’d been as he tried to keep her warm. He could even sense Brandon’s fear as they were being led out of the house at Barker Flats.

But most of all, he could remember the numbness, the horror, the disbelief, and the total devastation he’d felt when the voice in the ceiling had told him his children were dead.

When he finally regained his senses, he was on the ground, one leg tucked under him, with no idea how he’d gotten there. Rachel was kneeling on one side, while Pax was doing the same on the other.

“Are you telling me the truth?” he whispered.

“Let’s get you back in your seat,” Rachel said.

She and Pax lifted him to his feet and helped him into the chair.

While they were doing this, Matt walked over to the cabinet and pulled out the tape-covered envelope. From inside, he removed a folded legal-size envelope and a thumb drive. He handed the envelope to Rachel, and took the drive over to the control panel.

“We’ve already watched these,” Matt said. “They might not be easy to look at, but you need to see them, too.”

He stuck the drive into a port and hit several buttons.

The television screen was black for a moment, then gray, then…

A room, not too dissimilar from Ash’s cell at Barker Flats. Only this room had a door that was open, and a window that Ash got the sense didn’t look to the outside. The shot was from up high and angled down.

Lying on the bed was Brandon.

Ash couldn’t help but lean forward. Here was his son. He hadn’t seen Brandon’s face since they had been separated. He remembered now what he told his son at that moment. “Go with them. It’ll be okay. You’ll see me in just a bit.”

He’d believed it then, because that’s what they had told him. But it wasn’t true, so the last thing he had told his son was a lie.

“I made some time notations on the back of the envelope,” Matt said to Rachel.

Ash could hear her flip the envelope over, but he didn’t look. He couldn’t tear his eyes from the screen.

“Oh-six twenty-seven,” Rachel said.

The image started scrolling quickly forward, then slowed back to real time.

“This is six-thirty in the morning, just a few hours after you were both brought in,” Matt explained.

Brandon looked like he was asleep. Suddenly the door pushed all the way open, and someone in a biosafe suit came in. The person knelt down next to the bed and put something on Brandon’s forehead.

A few moments later, a voice said, “Temp, ninety-eight point five.”

Ash thought back. Six-thirty meant he’d been in his cell for at least four hours. By that point, he’d already been told that Josie was dead. But Brandon? He didn’t know for sure, but he didn’t think so.

“Next,” Matt said.

Rachel read off another time code. “Ten twelve.”

That, Ash knew, was definitely after when he’d been told about his son. No way it was later than that.

Once more the picture raced forward before resuming normal speed. The time stamp in the lower left read 10:12. The boy in the bed was still Brandon. And he was very much alive.

“Stop,” Ash said.

Matt hit pause.

“Skip ahead.”

“How far?”

“Nowhere in particular. Just let it run.”

Ash just wanted to see Brandon move, Brandon alive, Brandon definitely there longer than the voice had led him to believe. One hour, two hours, three, four. It was all the same, all revealing the lie he’d been told.

“Stop,” he finally said. “Is there video of Josie?”

“There is.”

“Show it to me.”

Her footage was more painful to watch. She was still ill. But she wasn’t dead. Ash made Matt speed through the footage like he had with Brandon’s, this time not stopping until Josie sat up.

“Play it,” Ash said quickly.

The image snapped to normal time. Josie had a hand on the wall, steadying herself.

“Hello? Hello?” she said. “Where am I?”

Dear God, he never thought he’d hear her voice again.

He could feel the tears gathering in his eyes, and the breath quivering in his lungs. But he sucked in deeply and forced himself to remain under control.

Matt turned the video off.

“What are you doing?” Ash said.

“I’ll give you the drive and have a computer set up in your room. You can watch as much as you want there. But if I were you, I wouldn’t. There’s nothing else that will mean anything. The most important thing was for you to see that they’re still alive.”

Ash glanced at the envelope in front of Rachel. “You said you had different times marked. There must be something you thought I should see.”

“Moments, only. Things I thought might help convince you. But you don’t need convincing.”

Ash hesitated, then asked, “Were they told anything about me?”

Matt looked at him for a moment. “Yes. At first they were told you were sick, then later that you had died.” He paused. “I can show you that if you really want.”

A spike of pain shot through Ash’s heart. His children, how they must be suffering thinking both of their parents were dead.

He shook his head. He would have to watch at some point, but he wasn’t sure he could take it right now. It was enough to know they were alive, that they had survived the mysterious illness that had apparently taken everyone else around them. That he would be able to—

His head whipped around, his eyes finding Matt. “They survived the disease, but…but the explosion!”

“No,” Matt said quickly, shaking his head. “They weren’t there. They were moved as soon as your daughter could travel, two days after they took you in.”

“Moved where?”

“Some place where they…”

“Where they what?”

Matt glanced at Billy, so Ash did the same.

“What?” he asked. “What is it?”

Billy cleared his throat. “Captain, you have an immunity to this particular virus. They’ve been looking for someone like you. What happened at Barker Flats isn’t the first time some variant of this virus has been tested. But we’re pretty sure you and your children are the first to survive. It’s obvious you’ve passed your immunity on to them. We think they are…running tests on your kids. Using them to pinpoint this immunity.”

A mix of anger and horror flashed in Ash’s eyes. “Tests?”

“Mostly with their blood, would be my guess,” Billy said in his nonchalant way.

“The good news,” Rachel said, jumping in, “is that it means they’ll want to keep Josie and Brandon alive.”

“I need to find them,” Ash said, pushing himself up. “I need to go now. I have to get them back.”

Rachel touched his arm. “If you go now, you won’t get within a hundred miles of them. Your face is all over the television. You’ll be caught, then all three of you will be lost.”

Clenching his teeth, he said, “I can’t just stay here and do nothing.”

“We’re not asking you to do nothing.” Matt walked down the table until he was directly across from Ash. “We’re asking you to let us help you get them back.”

Ash was almost shaking now, his anger at those who had taken Josie and Brandon growing with each second. “How can you help me?”

Rachel smiled. “Let us show you.”