Buzzkill (A Lesbian Story)

33: I Love Offices

  Grace's office was the messiest doctor's office I have ever been in. The mahogany desk had papers and folders all on the desk, that I wasn't quite sure where they ended and the desk actually began. The other tables were cluttered with other office items along with doctor coats and scrubs. The trashcan was full of empty food and drink cartons. It was almost like she lived there. Steve and I sat in two brown leather chairs, waiting for Grace to come back from going out to the hallway to speak with a coworker. It felt like we were waiting in a doctor's office for news. Basically were. Would never have thought it would be in this kind of situation.

  The door closed lightly and I turned my head slightly to see Grace walk over to her chair behind her desk and fell into it with a huff. She looked between us, her eyes slightly sunken in like she was running on no sleep, "Did you guys sleep at all?"

  "Did you?" I asked back. There was this air of exhaustion over her. It seemed very common with doctors like her.

  That question only made her wave a hand, "I am fine. I've just been monitoring Max and Ron. It's almost like keeping them in the same room is calming the waves in their brain. Putting them in separate rooms disrupts the waves like they are under stress."

  "So they are both in the medically induced coma?" Steve asked. 

  Grace nodded, "However, Max hasn't been conscious since I injected her with a tranquilizer in the hotel room. I don't know how she will act once she's awake."

  Shaking my head, I put my hands on the armrests. "We're here to talk about the note."

  An eyebrow rose as Grace looked at me. She nodded, her eyes flickering up towards the door before addressing us, "This information cannot leave this room. I am not supposed to be speaking to anyone about this that is not under regulation. It will be against protocol."

  Against protocol. It sounds like she was a spy or something. I wouldn't exactly put it passed me if that was her big secret. "Okay," I nodded, "What is it?"

  "There is a an agency." Grace started off. She looked like she was thinking something over before shaking her head, "More like a cult, if you ask me. Anyways, there is an agency that is out there for this disease outbreak. I know you two have had multiple questions about this outbreak, Thor has told me. I might as well tell you what exactly happened to get the world to today."

  "But how do you know?" I asked suddenly, "We've known you for years and never have you been this secretive."

  Grace nodded her head, "Yes, I understand. That is what I've had to do, my dear. I've had to keep you out of this." Her eyes looked between us before her gaze went downwards, her voice low, "Especially Max."

  "Why?" Steve asked.

  She looked back up at us, "I work with the CDC. Have for years and so has Ron. However, I'm in the more secretive side of things. For years, I have worked with a team of scientists who have been focusing on a drug that will cure any kind of immune system interference. To make people invulnerable to any disease, basically. There was another team, testing brain waves and transmitters. One scientist was too eager with this research. Grimes. He wanted to control the brainwaves. Even had plans to create the perfect soldier. I didn't understand what he was playing at. When he came to me, wanting to combine our research, I turned him down and was able to get him arrested. I didn't know that he had followers. I didn't know they had all of his research notes. They created this disease. Not on purpose. It started in the lab, three hours south from here. That was where it all started. That's why we were hit as quickly as we were. They tried to contain it to the base, but it got out very quick. Thor was there. He saw it all. He knows everything. The scientists that started it got out. The government is trying to cover it up. The whole state is quarantined-"

  "Hold up." I had to stop her right there. My head was spinning from all of the information given that I had to get at least a pause. "You're telling us that the rest of the United States is perfectly fine? That we're the only ones effected. Then why don't our phones work? Why isn't the news on, telling people."

  Grace only shook her head, "Like I said, the government is trying to patch this up. Cover up the truth. Make it look like some kind of mad cow disease. Not a disease created in their own labs. I'm afraid they're going to use the information found in warfare. I'm trying to find a cure to this and they know about it now. That's what the note means."

  Steve and I just looked at her. All of this sounds like some sort of crazy movie. The government covering up a mess they made doesn't sound too extreme, but it's still a damn zombie apocalypse that is occurring in our state. People are turning ravenous. The science doesn't make sense to me and it was almost like Grace was leaving something out. She was still hiding something and I could tell. There was something behind her eyes.

  I sat forward in my chair slightly, "Grace, is there anything else there is to know. If so, please tell us. You might as well."

  Her eyes went from me to Steve to me to Steve then down at her desk. A look of grief came over her face. Grief, guilt, and regret. "Max and her father. They share something in their blood. I've known this for years and so has Ron. He has had me test his blood, as well as Max's. We gathered blood from her under secret, but it was for her protection. At least that's what I told myself." She sat back in her chair and rubbed her temples, "Grimes got a hold of their blood and used it in his experiments. I'm afraid that whatever genetic makeup that is in their blood is in this disease."

 "So wouldn't that mean we can also find the cure through them?" Steve asked.

  "That's what I'm hoping," Grace nodded, "but we can't be sure what parts of their blood will be used or not. The process isn't a quick one."

  "Then why are they both sick?" I said, shaking my head. "It doesn't make any sense. If their blood has a piece of the disease, then why aren't they immune to it?"

  Isn't that how it would work? Wouldn't they be immune to it with it already in their system? That's how it has worked with diseases in the past. 

  Grace opened her mouth to talk, but was interrupted by a loud siren. It was coming through the speakers in the building and I could hear it echo down the hall. The lights were out and only red emergency lights remained. All three of us shot up as we heard yelling coming from up and down the halls.

  "It's Max." Was all Grace said.