The Last Plague

Chapter Twenty-One: Tested

I can't remember anything they did to me in my sleep. I went into a sleep, then woke up. It just felt completely normal. Nothing felt out of the ordinary; nothing felt strange. I woke up in the same hospital bed I laid down in. I didn't know how long I had been laying there, thirty minutes, an hour, maybe days? There weren't any tubes coming into or out of me, so it didn't feel like a hospital. The room I was in was empty, with just a few beeping monitors and tubes. I noticed a camera in the corner of the room, then I knew they could see me. I assumed someone would come into the room to greet me soon.

Henry walked into the room right on cue. "Were done!"

"We're already done?" I questioned, in slight disbelief.

"You've done what we needed you to do, so you're done."

"What exactly did you need me to do?" I asked him again, this time wanting real answers.

"Let me help you up and grab some breakfast, then we can talk."

Henry walked up to me and helped me up. I felt exhausted, and my back was sore. After hearing my stomach growl, I assumed I had been asleep for a while.

"I figured you'd never wake up. You've been asleep for almost two days," he joked, but it felt like a punch in the gut.

Had I been asleep for two days? It felt weird, but it was very possible. And the words "I'd figured you'd never wake up" felt horrifying. Never waking up after willingly falling asleep into someone else's hands felt strange.

Then I realized I had put my life in a stranger's hands. I tried comforting myself by saying he was Xavier's friend and he had been a doctor a while, but it didn't work. Henry didn't do the work, Doctor Rachel did, I reminded myself unwillingly. That was a more terrifying thought. Had I put my life into the enemy? I couldn't comfort myself with that, and I didn't bother trying. I sat up slowly without another word as Henry half-lifted me. I waited to gain my strength to ask my question.

When we got out of the hospital room I followed Henry back into the breakfast area. My stomach was begging for food, and the time I spent asleep felt more real. As we talked he told me everything that had happened. Basically, they removed some of my blood and were going to test it against the chemicals that were injected when a creature bit somebody. The results hadn't gotten back yet, but they were still working on some of the tests.

"How do you know Doctor Rachel won't betray you or something? Why would you put the 'special' person's life into the enemy." I knew I referred to myself in third person, and I tried making him question things, but his response seemed planned.

"The thirst for knowledge is a powerful thing," he noted. "Doctor Rachel worked with RADD for years, and do you know why she did?" Before I could answer, he continued, "Because she had the thirst for knowledge. She would never take an unnecessary risk to your life or health; her thirst for knowledge is too great. And I know she won't betray us because it would be depriving herself of knowledge. Believe me, Doctor Rachel won't do anything that will take away from her thirst for knowledge. Even if that means working with her enemy."

"How many times did you recite that?"

He sighed, then laughed a little. "More than you can imagine. But it makes sense, doesn't it?"

I nodded and finished my food. After finishing, we walked to the edges of the hill; the ones overlooking all of the creatures lying dead in the valley. "Doctor Rachel was bitten," Henry told me, way too casually. Not to mention random and unexpected.

"What do you mean? When was she bit? Has she been contained?" I blurted out.

After letting out a small chuckle, Henry continued, "She's fine. She was bitten over a month ago, on the finger. She wanted to know how the transformation took place, so she stuck her finger into a cage with a zombie. It bit her, obviously, but she cut off her own finger the moment after. She studied her finger for a while, and then—" he paused a moment, sighing. "She said the only way to describe it was that the finger boiled off."