The Enthusiasts

28

"There's some stuff that you don't know about me." This was the first time Gabby had ever looked nervous to Emerson. Her eyes were locked on the floor and her palms wrung themselves together under the anticipation she felt. Slowly, she began to recount some more instances from her past which she'd sworn never to reveal to anyone. The attentive audience of two people plus one dog watched her closely now, hoping she'd unearth some new revelation that would make sense of the insensible for them.

Cheeco seemed to lose his patience quickly after seeing no real action out of anyone. He broke away from the group and appeared lost in the living room. He searched the area to find somewhere appropriate enough to call his bed; even if it was just a quick ten, those were often his most perfect naps over the course of a long day such as this. The spongy gray carpet in the corner felt great against his underside. With Sasha returned, he could properly relax without a care.

Gabby took another deep breath, and finally found her courage to continue. "Okay, so everything I told you about me is true. But I was involved with Spectra in different ways than just programming...

"When I was fourteen, my father volunteered me for a program Spectra was working on. It gave small, qualified groups of teenagers ENHANCERS as a trial, with the goal being to turn us into something similar to what The Institute's Super Solider program had." Gabby couldn't believe she was actually doing it. She was coming clean, and as scary as it felt, something deep inside was pushing her to keep it up and tell her story now, regardless of the risks.

"I lasted six months in combat training before my father pulled me out. They said I was rejecting the treatments and no longer qualified." Gabby suddenly paused and ran to the kitchen faucet for a cup of water. Emerson and Sasha remained seated with bated breath for her to get to it. After a while that felt like too long, Gabby continued. "I was having nightmares, and just bad daydreams too; they called it Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Apparently, it was common a long time ago with soldiers, but they said that with the new ENHANCER compound, it shouldn't happen. I continued to suffer from those images and dreams of combat during my time programming in Las Vegas." She looked at Emerson. "And after you left, I was totally committed to making a difference in the world, but I didn't think I needed to leave the organization to do it. I felt my place was to help improve Spectra from the inside, so I stayed on and got transferred to New West Florida shortly after you left."

Emerson interrupted with a quiet gasp, "Zelch! During the first-"

"Yeah, I was there. It started happening almost as soon as I arrived. Spectra had gone worldwide spreading stories about a disease that had spread across that area. They wanted everyone who had been put through the ENHANCER program to head in and try to help keep things running as they searched for a cure. People were dropping dead all around the place. Every clinic was out of control at overcapacity. Animals were dying too; everything was dying. It was so bad. I was losing my mind there. I tried ending it twice, but the ENHANCERS kept my vitals up even after major blood loss, and as you know, the tissue repair rate is insane. So, I realized then that I was so addicted to the steroids, I couldn't stop taking them — not even with my new hobby of trying to kill myself. And that was on top of the fact that I was learning more about what my role in the humanitarian effort was supposed to be. There was no natural disease hitting the area; it was a testing ground for exterminating closed-off groups of people. And the company also seemed to want to volley how well the rest of the population would swallow the company lies."

Emerson jumped in, "Yeah, that's what I always thought. Florida had a huge opposition to Spectra, and a major naval base with artillery. Not that anyone else on the outside knew that."

"Exactly. Spectra kept that to themselves. Everyone there just thought they were getting taken out by some natural disease. I refused to believe Spectra was behind any of it until I was able to see both sides for myself. They started broadcasting right where I was that the problem was worldwide, and even more dire in other areas. Total velp. But I was one of the very few who knew the truth. It was Spectra's first gas chamber..." Gabby took another nervous drink as she thought back to what she'd done or stood by for during that time. She took a quick mental inventory on how many more ENHANCER shots she had left, fighting the urge to plunge another needle tip into her thigh for relief as she retold and relived her story. Instead, she rushed to the kitchen sink again. Emerson and Sasha sat in a stunned, patient silence as they let her take her time, and also let the new revelations sink in. They felt no need to question Gabby as she poured two shots of something stiffer — Teddy's Moonshine — into her glass and down her throat with a welcomed wince over the kitchen sink before taking another deep breath and returning to the living room to reveal more.