The Things We Bury - Part 2: No Big Apocalypse [Completed]

Chapter 4: Into the Great Wide Open (Parts 1 & 2 of 7)

A vein on Nikki's temple beat against her pale skin, tapping out her displeasure in a Morse code of rage. R.J. had seen many shades of anger on her face before, but never this level of smoldering fury.

She pointed to the back seat of his parked car. "That is no chimpanzee."

Still deep in her semi-catatonic state, Amy stared out at nothing, her head lolled against the window. She hadn't moved on her own since she collapsed in the Aira parking lot.

"I never said I was rescuing a chimpanzee."

He knew his answer was a mistake the moment it hit the dry morning air. The look on Nikki's face turned darker, and the grave he was digging for himself descended a few feet deeper.

"Cute." She spit the word out like it was foul tasting food. "Would you mind telling me why you've drugged and kidnapped a teenage girl?"

"Whoa." R.J. hadn't realized what it must look like to her. This wasn't just a fight over his half-truths. This was about Nikki doing the math trying to figure out just how dangerous he might be. If he wasn't careful, she was going to turn him in herself. "I didn't kidnap her and I certainly didn't drug her. She's having an adverse effect to leaving the lab. She'll be fine in a little while."

R.J. hoped she would. He had no idea what had happened. It must have been something psychological about finding herself suddenly out in the open after being so used to the confined space of her room.

"That is not an explanation," Nikki said refusing to let him off the hook.

"Okay. I'll tell you what I can. But you have to believe me, if I'm vague it's only because the more you know, the more danger you'll be in." He scratched at the back of his neck trying to figure out what to say and what not to. He felt exposed in the deserted parking lot. The rising sun beat on his face and made him squint. "That girl is a medical abnormality. Genetically, she's not exactly human. She looks like a normal sixteen year-old girl, but according to her genes, she's another species from us."

"What is she then? An alien?"

"No. She's...different. The government brought me to Phoenix to study her and to understand why she's like this."

"Wait." Nikki raised her fists to her forehead and made a slow circle with her steps. "She's what you've been working on all this time?"

"Yes."

"Are there others like her? Do you have a lab full of them?"

"Yes. No. Maybe." R.J. took a breath to try and clear his head. It was all too complicated for an easy explanation. "I mean, I suspect there are more people with similar DNA, but she is the only one we know about."

Any second Nikki was going to ask what made her so different, so R.J. pushed on hoping to direct the conversation far away from lycanthropy. "But the government has canceled the study. They're afraid that if people found out they've been keeping her prisoner for years, it would create a scandal. They ordered the lab shut down and they want her dead to eliminate the evidence. So you see why I'm doing this?"

"Uh-uh. I don't buy it. The government doesn't just execute people without some kind of trial."

"But Nikki, to them she isn't people. And science agrees with them."

"Then why sneak her out? If the government is scared of the publicity, why not just go public with it? Once her picture is in the news they wouldn't be able to hurt her."

"Who's going to believe it? Look at her. Do you really think if I handed over a photo of her to the news and told them what I told you they'd believe me? Heck, you don't even believe me."