Toxic

Chapter 8: Redesign

Electrify
Blake

My eyes suddenly open as my lungs open up and my heart starts beating rapidly. I gasp for air and sit up in the bed I'm laying down in. How did I get here? The last thing I remember is slowly fading away in Anthony's arms as I was dying from coronavirus symptoms. I'm beyond confused. Is this heaven? Or something else? I look around the room and I notice Anthony is laying next to me on the bed I'm in.
"Anthony?", I say to him as I shake his body with my hand.
He doesn't respond. I lower my head to his chest. His heart isn't beating. He's not breathing either. But at the same time, he doesn't look dead. His whole body is really warm. No words can explain how confused I am right now. I was so overwhelmed by the fact that I suddenly woke up that I didn't even hear "Take me to Church" by Hozier playing on the speaker sitting on the bedside table. He definitely played that on purpose. He knows what's going on. He must've known something would happen to him. But what the fuck is even going on and where am I?
I get up from the bed to look around the house I'm in. It's a big house, but it's also very plain and ordinary. The only thing that makes it unique are these pictures on tables. I look closer at them to see Anthony with two kids, one boy and one girl who look like they're about preschool age. I'm even more confused. I walk into the kitchen to see a note on the table which reads as follows:

Blake,
You must be very confused reading this right now. I'm writing this to help you. I'm sure the last thing you remember is being with me in the crate on the boat to hawaii. You died in my arms. After that, I tried to kill myself by overdosing on my pills. I ended up surviving. I spent the next year tracking down Meredith and Rachel, who not only ditched us and betrayed us, but were also responsible for something even worse. They killed Scarlett at the lake house, blake. Scarlett is dead. Meredith also killed Rachel herself once she got to Hawaii and used Rachel's money to buy a dose of the coronavirus cure. Meredith is evil. You can't trust her no matter what. I was able to find her and I killed her.
There's one more thing with Meredith, though. She gave birth to twins. She used your sperm to get pregnant by going to that sperm bank you went to over spring break junior year. The kids in those pictures I put up are yours, Blake. I've been raising them for the past five years. The boy is named after you, and I call him Junior. The girl is named after Scarlett, and I call her Scar. You deserve to raise those kids, not Meredith. I'll get into this next, but the twins were taken from me before all of this. You need to get them back.
You're going to be living in a new society of 200 people. The rest of the world is silenced and essentially dead, including me. This is a project called "Mission Reset" which is led by Meredith's dad, Marcus. He leads what is known as a group called the "Descension". This group is a government faction that survived the collapse of the United States, along with another faction that I don't know anything about whatsoever. They are "resetting" society by creating a new society starting with 200 people with a strict social system. 100 people in the upper class, 100 people in the lower class. You, Meredith, Rachel, and the twins are all upper class. There's a number on your wrist, 84, that tracks you and tells you your position in the society. You also received an injection of what is called the "Reset Vaccine". This vaccine is responsive to an electronic transmission signal that was just sent out at 4:00PM, bringing you back to life, and killing everyone without the vaccine. The twins got a dose, so they are okay. I was not given a dose, despite being the main person working on this technology. I had no choice. Marcus Johnson is an evil man. He forced me to work for him and threatened the twins. I helped him with his mission because I thought I would get to see you. I know that isn't true now. But it's not over yet. If you can find a way to turn off the transmission, then I can come back to life. Although, there is a risk that you will fall unconscious in doing so since the electrical signal is what is keeping you alive. There is something else called the "Vitality Vaccine" which is also something you will be receiving soon that I was forced to produce. It will give you incredible health and immunity and keep you alive longer and stronger. Even though the reset transmission turning off could kill you again, if you have the vitality vaccine, you have a much better chance at surviving. I just don't know what would happen. All I know is that the electronic signal needs to be turned off for me to come back to life, Blake. It might take a while, but I have faith in you.
You may not be alone in this either. I saw Owen. He's alive. It looks like he's working alongside Marcus, but he is disguised under a completely different name, which tells me he's not actually trying to help the Descension. You need to find him and figure out what's going on with him. Meredith and Rachel were also given doses of the reset vaccine, as you may have assumed by me talking about them earlier. You'll have to be careful around them. I don't know what this society will be like. I don't think it will be a good one, Blake. You need to find a way out and get the twins back. I have faith in you, Blake Adams. You can do this. I'll be seeing you soon.
Love,
Anthony.
P.S. I love you.