The Sinister Shadows [Prequel to White Noise]

2. Hallucinations

I didn’t see William Harper again for two days.

When he finally reappeared, it was in the cafeteria. And, much to my dismay, he headed straight towards me. I slid my tray along the counter and picked up an apple, pondering whether I would actually eat it or not. Before I could make my mind up, the apple was snatched from my fingers.

“Eating would help, you know,” William Harper muttered around a mouthful of apple. “It would settle your stomach. Maybe, if you’re lucky, it would raise your blood sugar to a somewhat normal level. Get that into your system? Brilliant. Might even stop the hallucinations.”

“I didn’t come her to be doctored, William, I came to save the human race.” I glared daggers at him.

“Yeah, I got that. Told us in that massive speech you did the other day. As if we can actually be saved. We ruin everything we touch – we might as well just die.” He stopped, thinking about the words that just flew from his mouth. “Oh, and do me a favour. Call me Will. Not ever my mother calls me William.”

I paused. “You don’t think we should be saved?”

He shrugged. “Come on, I can’t be the first scientist to think so. We destroy everything.”

“I’m a geneticist, remember? Not an ecologist.” I muttered.

“It doesn’t matter what you specialise in.” He took another bite of my apple.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the food. I will save the human race. I thought to myself. I will.

“You really think that’s possible?” The voice was weak and gurgling.

I looked up in shock, and met the eyes of a soldier across the top of the counter filled with food. His American army uniform was shredded, burnt and bloody. One side of his face was burnt, a bizarre mix of sickening blacks and reds. The other side of the soldier’s body had hundreds of glass shards wedged into his skin, his clothes, his eye socket. Blood poured from these wounds; thick, back, and pooling on the floor at his charcoaled feet.

“Do you really think,” the soldier could barely speak, “that you can save your race, after doing this to its members?”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, shaking my head. “Don’t.”

Somewhere far away, I heard a confused, “Don’t, what?” from William Harper.

The soldier stepped forward, straight through the counter, and I fell to the ground – a failed attempt to back away from the soldier in fear.

“You… Destroy… Everything.” The soldier managed.

Will came over to me then, walking straight through the image of the soldier, dispersing him into a cloud of smoke.

“Codi,” he muttered, his eyes wide, “are you alright?”

A soldier I killed over a year ago just tried to attack me. I thought to myself. I’m doing damn  fabulous. Aloud, I said nothing, I just shook my head.

“Come on,” Will took my hand in his, trying to comfort me, yet not pulling me up to stand – being cautious, “we should get you to the infirmary. They might have something for the hallucinations.”

I managed a weak smile. “Maybe I wouldn’t be having them if you hadn’t stole my apple.”

One sentence. That was all it took for me to make a friend at the New York Compound.