The Few Things Made of Concrete [DISCONTINUED AND REWRITTEN]

Concrete Slab Three, Fragment Three: The Calm Before The Inevitable Storm

We step off of the large elevator into a large room. To the left there is a large stairwell, where I can see the sky. I realize that it must lead to the roof. To the right there is a large bar where I spot Morishige and Erica. They're smiling and talking. The room is filled with people, and the decorations are sparse but have an industrial elegance about them. Most people are in suits or nice shirts, but some are in completely casual wear.

On the wall opposite the elevator there is a large stage where a small band is playing. A large banner is hung above it, 'PROGENETIC' printed in large letters. The moment we enter the room a tall man approaches us. He wears a nice suit and when he speaks his voice rings out like a church bell.

"Ritsuko! It's so nice to see you, son! Some people thought you weren't going to show!"

Ritsuko chuckled quietly, "Well, I'm here."

"And this must be the lovely Ayako that we've heard so much about! It's nice to meet the young man that makes our best worker so happy!"

He holds out a hand to me and I oblige, taking his hand in mine. His grip is strong as he shakes my hand but it's bearable.

"It's nice to meet you too, sir." My voice is quiet in the noisy room, and Ritsuko smiles at me.

"Please, " He waves his hand around, "Call me Kaito."

I nod, forcing a smile onto my face. Ritsuko excused us, taking me by the hand and bringing me over to the bar.

"Ritsuko!" Morishige called my name and I smiled at him. He stood behind the bar in a black vest and white button up, a drink shaker clasped in his fingers.

"Hey, Shig. How goes the work?" I ask, shaking his free hand from across the high bar.

"It goes, it goes. How do you like finally being out of the hospital?"

His words hit me hard. The memories of me dying in a hospital bed swirl around in my mind, overlapping with memories of recovery and medicines and lab tests. My head is swimming and I sway on my feet.

"Ayako? Are you okay?" Ritsuko's hand is on my shoulder, and my eyes dart to it.

I nod my head.

"You zoned out there for a second. Had us worried..." Shig's face has worry written all over it, his eyes swimming with sympathy.

"I'm okay. The whole thing is kind of a blur, still."

Shig and Ritsuko nodded their heads, Shig being called to make a drink a short moment later and leaving Ritsuko to sit me down on a bar stool. His hand stays on the small of my back as well sit, and I shake my head at him.

"What?" He asks.

"I'm okay, Ritsuko. Really. You don't need to worry about me, you know that." I try to smile at him, but I know it's not working as well as I would like it to.

He sighs.

"I know I shouldn't but I do. After all of the tests and all of the medications I just... I don't know if I can do it again. It killed me to watch you go through that, Ayako. And I know that it was exponentially harder for you." His words are woven with sympathy, his eyes locking with mine. I lift a hand to touch his cheek, my fingertips grazing over his jaw as I lean over to him. My lips press against his for a short moment before there is a loud screech of a microphone.

"Excuse me everyone, but I'll have to ask for your attention for a few moments." The whole room is silent, all eyes drawn to the small stage and the even smaller man standing on it. " As much as we are all enjoying this party, " He jokes. Nobody laughs,. He clears his throat. "I've been instructed to ask you to please stay calm and please, calmly, exit the building and go home. We ask that you take a hot shower and do wipe down all surfaces you come into contact with afterwards."

The second the man stopped talking everyone else began. Some ran for the elevators, others began to shout.

"What's going on, Ritsuko?" Erica stands next to Morishige behind the bar, her hands twisting together.

"I don't know, but I have a really bad feeling about it. That was the head of our Genetics department."

My gut twisted as he spoke and we he and I stood. Shig wastes no time for professionality with the gate at the end of the bar and simply jumped over, helping Erica over soon after.

"Ritsuko!" Kaito came running to us, grabbing at Ritsuko's shoulder.

"Kaito. What's going on?"

"We've had an incident downstairs." His words are ominous, "A lab intern tripped and fell. This resulted in multiple vials of X-2724 shattering."

Shig, Erica, and I stood there, perplexed, while Ritsuko gasped quietly.

"Ritsuko? What does that mean?" Erica voice is laced with fear and I can feel it in my bones.

"X-2724 is an airborne virus that has the power to destroy the entire population of the state." Kaito says, " The floor has been quarantined but there is still a possibility for it to be spreading through the building as we speak so please go home. Be sure to shower." Kaito talks like father to his son, and Ritsuko nodded. Kaito turned, heading toward the stairs leading to the roof, leaving us in a large group of scrambling, anxious worker and their partners.

"C'mon," Ritsuko takes my hand and Shig takes Erica's, and we all follow Ritsuko to the stairs. We, as quickly as we could, made our way to the basement.

"I need you to listen carefully, Shig. You two need to come home with us. Follow as closely behind us as you can and if anybody tries to stop you show them this. If we get separated don't let anyone stop you and take the alley behind the strip of The West Guilde. I'll meet you there."

Ritsuko pulled his company ID badge out of his pocket, holding it out to Morishige. He takes it without hesitation, twirling it in his fingers for a moment before shoving it in the front pocket of his black jeans.

"I'll answer any questions you guys have when we get home but for now we need to get out of here before anybody from the CDC comes around asking questions."

Shig and Erica nod, walking an aisle over and quickly getting in their car. Ritsuko and I followed suit. By the time they had pulled around, we had backed up, their car behind ours..

"Hold on tight, Ayako."