The Carriers

Chapter Six

The Councilman's Son

As I waited to hear something, I observed the other patients through my window. The older woman stared at the wall, she looked surprisingly content with whatever was on it. The older man paced, I always hated when people did this. It makes me so nervous. Matthew sat doing something in a journal. The younger girl chewed on her nails.
I was in the farthest room, then was Matthew. Then the older woman. Then the younger girl. Then the older man. There didn't seem to be any type of order in how we were placed. It was convenient that I was put at the end, strangely enough I loved to people watch. For some reason I interests me to try to imagine what they are thinking about. Where did they come from, and where are they going kind of stuff.
As I contemplated this, Matthew looked up from his journal and noticed my staring. I felt my face go red and looked away quickly.
    Way to be a creeper, Olivia.
He just smiled and waved. He kept his pencil in hand and held his journal in his lap.
I was confused, I actually looked behind me to see if he was waving to somebody else. Then I realized that there was nobody there. It was just me still. I looked back and he was looking at me with his eyebrows raised. Awkwardly I smiled and waved back. His expression relaxed and he smiled at me and then went back to his journal.
Um.. Okay?
Suddenly I heard a voice from above.. It was the intercom.
"Good afternoon, patients." An unfamiliar male voice said. "We would like to thank you for your willingness to help us build hope for the other patients here and even for the entirety of New Eden. Because of your bravery, families will be able to believe in a future for their infected loved ones. If we succeed here today, every infected person will have the hope of potentially seeking a new life on the old planet.
"Thankfully, nothing other than the previously known virus was found in any one of your systems. So nothing should interfere with the serum.
"You will be served lunch in five minutes. One hour after we will begin testing. Thank you once again for your sacrifice."
You're welcome I guess.
My stomach rumbled. I didn't think I was going to be able to eat, but now I'm beginning to doubt that idea. I decided that if this is going to be my last meal I might as well eat something.
    I was somewhat scared. I hadn't really considered it yet, but I knew that anything could happen here. I had to admit to myself that I didn't know what was going to happen, if I died my parents would never know the truth. If I lived they still wouldn't be able to see me again, but I would start a new life on Earth. Either way I was filled with uncertainty.
    Till then, I didn't really didn't think about what would happen if I survived. I would go to Earth with the others. I would find a new life, and build a new society. It would be hard, but right then, it didn't seem so bad. After all it beats the alternative.
    As I contemplated this, I looked up and noticed my reflection. I hadn't even seen myself since I was at home. It's strange how a week can change you. I looked different; I couldn't describe it exactly, but I seemed almost exhausted. I didn't feel tired, but I looked so worn out. I noticed that I had lost weight too, and not in a good way. Scarcely eating this last week had left me looking feeble. I promised that if I survived this I would eat better.
    My hair was somewhat messy, it didn't really matter when I thought about it though. They had given me a hairbrush sometime in the week, but it didn't exactly help. I combed my fingers though it to try and get it to calm down a little. It helped, somewhat.
    "Typical girls."
    What?
    I looked around, then through the window I noticed Matthew staring at me and grinning.
    "What the-"
    He tapped his ears. "Can't hear you."
    "How did you do that?"
    "You're probably asking how I did that." He said, still grinning.
    "Shut up."
    "Do you see that keypad over there?" I looked over at the keypad Doctor Kasters had typed on to leave my room. "Go over there, type in the code: '4142.' After that, the keypad will clear, then press '7.'"
    "Why would I do that?"
    "You know I still can't hear you right?"
    I rolled my eyes and turned around. "Whatever." I entered the passcode as he said.
    "Now say something."
    "I thought you couldn't hear me, genius."
    "Now I can, smart aleck."
    "What? How?"
    "A little trick I learned from spending my childhood days playing with dad's technology at home. He was always bringing home new stuff from work you know, silly little things he would either be testing or keeping for us."
    "Interesting."
    "Yep. So have you got a name, kid?
    "Im eighteen."
    "That's your name?"
    "That's obviously by my name."
    He laughed. "No nonsense, huh? I like that."
    "Why do you even want to know my name?"
    "Well. I thought if you're going to be the last person I ever have a normal conversation with I might as well know how to address you other than saying, 'the girl in the cell next to me.'" He said sitting back down on his cot. "But by all means, don't tell me. It's all up to you."
    I paused. "I'm sorry."
    "Hey." He laid down on his cot and put his hands behind his head as a pillow. "Don't be sorry, like I said it's up to you."
    I sat down on my cot. "My names Olivia. My sister calls me Liv."
    "Pretty name."
    "Thanks."
    "I'm Matthew." He waved his hand abruptly. "I don't have a sister, but my dad calls me Matt."
    "I know who you are."
    "Figures. Did Claire tell you?"
    "Who?"
    He looked at me with his eyebrows raised again. "Doctor Kasters."
    Oh yeah. "Yeah she told me."
    "Did she also tell you that I don't want to be here? I'd rather die with my name on a memorial than die a lab rat for some fantasy serum." He twirled his pen around in his fingers. "But daddy-o says it's for the best of course. I just don't see how this is going to work."
    "I think your dad is doing his best to help you. I'm sure he just wants to see you get the best possible chance at having a new life on Earth. Besides, if we die here, at least we're doing some good."
    "Hm." He continued with his pen. "As long as that helps make you feel better, Liv."
    "It does, Matt."
    Suddenly the glass walls rose up from the ground again and the area in between was sprayed. The door opened and somebody in a white outfit stepped in to place a plate down in the closed glass room. After he had left and the door had shut the glass walls retracted back into the floor.
    "Bon-appètit." Matthew said as he jumped up and walked to the door.
    "What is it?"
    "Don't know." He poked it with his finger. "A sandwich, as usual." He picked it up and looked inside. "Ohh there meat this time? We lab rats are getting special treatment, Liv!"
    I chuckled. "You're a dork."
    "You're a girl."
    I tilted my head. "What is that supposed to mean."
    "Girls are gross."
    I laughed. "Wow."
    "Go get yours, you gross girl." He said once he had sat down, still grinning from his ridiculous joke.
    I stood up and walked to the door to get mine. "Are those chips?"
    "Looks like."
    "Wow we really are getting special treatment." I said and laughed.
    I grabbed my plate and sat back on my cot.
    "So what's your life story?" He asked before biting into his sandwich.
    I looked up. "Mine?"
    He looked around. "You're the only one I'm talking to last time I checked."
    I rolled my eyes. "Fair enough."
    He paused. "I'm listening."
    "What is there to tell you about me?"
    "Well for starters, where are you from? How many siblings do you have? What school did you go to? Did you have a dog? What are you hobbies? Favorite color? Life goals? There's really a whole multitude of things about you."
    "Touché. Well.. I'm from the 52nd community."
    "Nice."
    "I only have one sibling, her name is Ella. I went to New Heights High School. I've never had a dog, my family does have fish though. My favorite fish was always Oscar. He was a miniature fish tank shark. He was harmless. For some reason when I was a kid my childish mind thought of him as a friend whom I could tell all of my problems to. All of the other fish were jealous of course of my affection for him."
    "I don't doubt it."
    I chuckled. "My favorite color is maroon. I wanted to work in government. As hard as I tried I could never could decide which part though."
    He made a gagging sound. "Why would you want that?"
    "I don't know." I said, smiling. "I guess I always wanted to make a difference somehow. I always thought I could do that if I could just be given influence and ability."
    "Makes sense." He said. "Truth is though, I believe it takes a very special person to be able to handle being handed power without letting it change them."
    "Hm. I never thought about it like that."
    "You know what though?" He asked with a full mouth.
    "What?"
    "I honestly think you're that special kind of person who could handle it. Trust me I know."
    "And how, might I ask, do you know?"
    "Trust me, I know you. We go way back to about five minutes ago."
    I chuckled. "And what's your life story?"
    "Trust me, it's not nearly as exciting as yours."
    "Oh come on! I told you mine."
    "No.. You told me random facts about yourself, that it not your life story."
    "That's what you told me to do."
    "Exactly."

I glared at him. "Okay?"

"I'll tell you some random facts about myself, but trust me you don't want to know my life story."
    "Random facts will do."
    "Okay. So I'm from the Capital City. I have no siblings- or friends-."
    "Don't say that."
    "Don't interrupt me."
    "Hey!"
    "I went to New Eden High School. My family has had two dogs, Lucy and Flint. Lucy is an Australian Shepherd, Flint is a Great Dane. I think Flint was a bit jealous of my affection for Lucy."
    "You loved Lucy?" I grinned.
    "Oh yeah." He chuckled. "Lucy was bae."
    "What does that mean?"
    "Nothing. Anyways, so my favorite color is red."
    "Red is nice."
"Mm-hm. That's why it's my favorite."
"So, quick question, why do you call Doctor Kasters by her first name?"
He shrugged. "I've known her my whole life. She's kind of like a second mother to me." He paused. "My real mom died. So Claire took charge, she's always been there for me."
    "Oh. . I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It was a long time ago." He smiled and cleared his throat. "Dang it, Olivia. I was very intent on not telling you my life story. Changing the topic! My dream job is to one day be a security chief."
"Really?"
    "Yep." He smiled. "That's how I want to make a difference in the world."
    "That makes sense. I always admired the people who were brave enough to get into security service."
    "Thanks." He looked away. "Not like it really matters now."
    ". . Yeah."
He was right. All of our hopes and dreams didn't exactly matter anymore. If we did survive, which was a long shot, there was still no going back. All that mattered now was survival.