“Hello Zola, you are looking… unwell,” Dr. Mills sneered.
A tall soldier stepped forward with a briefcase and the doctor opened it. Gun’s raised in every direction.
“Fall back soldiers. No need to raise weapons.”
Dr. Mills pulled out a syringe filled with the greenish liquid I had seen before.
“If you will send Zola onto this side of the gate we will be glad to leave,” Dr. Mill requested.
“Sure thing,” Quinn said cheerfully then spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. His tone and demeanor changed to something I hadn’t seen or heard before. It was a direct and commanding tone. “I want to make sure everyone understands that we do not keep anyone against their will. If I remember correctly we still live in the United States of America. The land of the free and that means we will travel anywhere in this city, state or country as we see fit. Your group will not capture any of our people. We have enough trouble with the screamers. We don’t need to fight amongst ourselves. If we find out you are taking people against their will, you will leave us no choice but to intervene. Do you understand Dr. Mills?
“Are you threatening me and my people?” The doctor sneered.
“Let’s hope not,” Quinn dictated.
Dr. Mills narrowed his eyes and stared at Quinn and then glanced around taking in all the weapons aimed in his direction. He turned and glanced at his men, then turned and faced Quinn once more.
“I will agree not to take any humans from your group but what I do is frankly none of your concern,” the doctor stated.
Zola’s head fell forward and she started to fall out of the chair, I caught her and held her up.
“Zola!” I cried.
“I need to inject her now or she is going to die,” Dr. Mills stepped forward. His face against the fence.
“Open the gate,” Quinn yelled.
The gate squealed open and the doctor stepped forward and quickly took action with the syringe. He injected the needle into the side of Zola’s neck, right above her tattoo. Her body started to convulse at an alarming rate but as suddenly as it started it stopped. I watched in shock, her skin changed to a healthy white color and her body came back to life before me. She opened her eyes and stood up.
“Sir. Thank you. Sir,” Zola reported to Dr. Mills.
Her dire condition was gone and she was in tip top shape.
“What was in that syringe?” I asked.
“I’m afraid I cannot say,” the doctor smirked and walked back to his group.
“Wait,” I called.
Everyone turned in my direction. I didn’t want anyone to hear me so I walked up to Dr. Mills. Weapons raised in my direction by the soldiers.
“Do you know a man named Officer James Knight?” I asked quietly.
I knew by asking this mad man I would be revealing more than I should but I had to ask. He didn’t reply right away but when he did I knew recognition had clicked into place.
“Officer Knight? Yes, I know him, in fact he is back at my facility.”
I felt my heart quicken and excitement fill a missing piece I thought was lost forever.
“I want to see him,” I demanded.
“I’m afraid that isn’t possible. Your leader made it clear we cannot take his people,” Dr. Mills answered.
“We are not held here and I will come with you, freely. I need to speak with officer Knight,” I walked past the doctor and to the passenger side door of the army truck. I climbed into the truck and slammed the door.
“Layla,” Silas and Quinn called in unison.
I poked my head out the window and said, “I’m leaving. I’ll be back soon.”
Dr. Mills sneered at Quinn before entering the truck behind the one I was in. I decided it would be better if I didn’t look back as we drove away from the warehouse. I knew I was once again leaving my group behind for my own selfish reasons. I didn’t want to dwell on it so I glanced out my window. The city was becoming difficult to recognize. The screamers wreaked havoc on the buildings and destroyed everything in their path. The ride felt quick in the army truck and no one spoke. We pulled into the parking lot and exited the building. I followed the doctor and Zola into the laboratory. The room had been washed clean from the destruction and death it once held. Zola guided me to a door away from the lab.
“Are you sure you want to see officer Knight?” She asked. The concern in her tone should have been alarming to me but I needed to know why he hadn’t come back to me.
“I’m sure,” I replied dryly.
We walked down a long cold hallway. It was dimly lit and my eyes took a minute to adjust to the change. We entered through another door and were in a huge room lined with hospital beds. I swallowed hard and searched each occupied bed while we walked down the row. The room was filled with over twenty beds and in each bed was a sleeping person. A couple teens but mostly adults in their mid 30’s and 40’s. Zola stopped at a bed halfway down the row and peered at the a man. The man’s face was covered by a thick gruffy beard. It took me a long moment to recognize that the man was in fact my father. I wanted to call out to him and hug him but the expression on Zola’s face kept me from doing so. I followed her eyes to a camera in the corner of the room.
Keeping my composure I asked, “How long has he been here?”
“Since the beginning,” she replied.
“Don’t give the doctor leverage,” she whispered and then walked away.
“What is wrong with him?” I asked, running to catch up.
“He was put into a coma along with everyone else in this room. This was done one day before the world got sick,” she explained.
“Why doesn’t the doctor wake them up?” I questioned.
Zola stopped walking and checked the room before speaking.
“If the doctor wakes them up they will turn into screamers.They are test subjects now. I know you don’t like the doctor but he is working on finding a cure and every person in this room knew what was going to happen.They were all given a choice to be here and in exchange for their help they were given something.”
I gasped in surprise. Dr. Mills walked into the room and approached.
“I brought you here as you requested and I would like to know how you know Officer Knight?” Dr. Mills ordered.
“He was an old friend,” I lied.
Disappointment spread across the doctors face. He fidgeted with some papers he held tightly in hand. I watched him roll the papers and then sigh.
“I had hoped you were his daughter. I can’t seem to remember her name for the life of me. Do you know his daughter?” He hissed.
“No,” I spurted.
“Too bad. I would have liked to run some test on her. She maybe the key to everything,” he sounded disappointed.
“What do you mean the key to everything?” I inquired.
“Officer Knight and I had struck a deal. His daughter was ill and going to die. He was desperate and willing to do anything. At the time I was running a risky drug trial. I couldn’t get the approval I needed. I did what I had to and ran the trial on children. I believe we had discussed this already.”
I nodded in agreement.
“The trial was 100% successful on every child tested. What I hadn’t realized at the time was there would be unforeseen side effects,” he explained.
He rubbed his head and dazed off.
“What kind of side effects are you talking about?” I asked.
“The children came down with severe flu symptoms and I thought we would lose all of them but after a week or so they were better. All of the children are my soldiers now. All except Knight’s daughter that is. He gave her the injections but she had a different reaction. He told me she died but after some investigating I discovered she was alive and quite well,” His face turned into a sinister expression.
I backed away from him slowly only to bump into Zola. Her hands wrapped around my arms. I didn’t fight her.