Because We Had Us

Chapter 21. And Then She Was Gone

Jo

     "Jocelyn can you hear me," a smooth male voice asked me. My eyes fluttered open, but everything around me was still out of focus. Once again the unfamiliar voice called my name, "Jocelyn?" When I came to my senses I found myself lying on an exam table of sorts. I was cold and everything looked so bright, but still I couldn't make out where I was.

     "Where am I?" I jolted up frantically searching for the face of the man's voice I had heard.

     "Rest now Jo and I will explain, but first let me take your vitals." The man looked no older than twenty seven. He had perfectly neat hair, so blonde that it was almost white, and a small line of matching stubble.

     "You're not taking another step closer to me until you explain where I am and where my sister is."

     "Excuse me if I have offended you dear I'm only concerned of your safety, but I can assure you that if you listen to me everything will be alright." I wanted to give this guy a few uppercuts but it would have been foolish, for he was my only source of information. He stepped closer and attached a blood pressure cuff to my arm. I always hated those things.

     "Am I in a hospital?" I asked him since he wasn't initiating conversation as he had promised.

     He held up a finger, "One more moment clamp this on your finger before we begin." I recognized it to be a heart rate monitor and not some kind of torture device, so I did as he asked.

     "Ok now can you talk?" He chuckled enhancing the condescending smile that hadn't left his face since I'd met him. How was that funny?

     "No you are not in a hospital you are in a laboratory," he said as if it was a normal place to be.

     "And why am I here?" I snapped. His smile turned to a slight frown for only a moment before he plastered up a fake grin with a hint of annoyance behind it.

     "You were the survivor."

     "What does that mean?" I thought back to the strange video we saw in the control room, but quickly waved that theory away, because acknowledging it would mean they were gone. I began to grind my teeth out of anger from his vague answers, and the lack of blood flow I had from this blood pressure cuff. I ripped it off and threw it at his feet. "I'm done playing lab rat get to the point."

     "You survived all four levels of the experiment Jocelyn," he began with excitement, "You're the only one who made it this far, consider yourself gifted." He cleared his throat as he noticed I wasn't following. "You see the Timor virus is just the common cold. We administered it to all united states citizens through each town's water supply as apart of our experiment." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "We told everyone that the virus was deadly and exaggerated its affects over the media to see how people would respond."

     "This can't be true people all over the country have been dying, and you're telling me they've died from a cold?" My voice was now a scream that got louder with every word.

     "No, the cold didn't kill them their own stress and paranoia did," he said nonchalantly.
"How could you say that so calmly?" I was beyond furious now. "Do you even care about all the lives you've taken with your manipulative ways?"

     "Oh of course we care that's why we started this experiment." He began to remove the medical equipment from me, which read that my heart rate was through the roof.

     "You see humans are like sheep they follow the flock, so if the flock says that normal is to panic then the flock panics; but we want to reconstruct the human mind. We want people to have a voice of their own, to realize there is no such thing as normal."