“This is my family!” I yelled, pointing at my dad. “He is all I have!”
Everyone was looking at me – Khloe and my father, with tears in their eyes.
“It will be alright, son,” my dad said. “I’ll be fine.”
“How do you know that?” I asked, tears stinging my eyes. “You don’t.”
“You can stay with us,” Khloe whispered.
“That will do nicely,” Chan said, glad to have me out of the way.
“Dad, is this it? Will I ever see you again?”
He looked at me without a word. This time, he did not lie. His eyes told me everything.
I walked up, meaning to hug him.
“Stop!” Chan yelled. “You are close enough!”
I halted in my tracks.
“Chan,” my father said, “that is enough.”
“I will not risk any contraction of the disease. That I even allow this is a mercy. The children have both been in here long enough.”
I looked at my dad, tears beginning to sting my eyes.
“It’ll be alright, son,” he said. “You need to do as Officer Chan says. It may yet be alright. I feel fine now.”
“Dad…”
“Step away,” Chan said. “That is quite enough.”
I turned to him, my fists clenched.
“Alex,” my father said. “Do not waste words. This is not the end for you. I know you believe it is…but it isn’t.”
I stared at him through my tears.
“You must be strong, son. There are people depending on you. You are a man. Never forget that. What does a man do?”
I recalled the words he had told me what seems hundreds of times.
“A man does not do what he wants,” I said. “He does what he must.”
“Yes. Never forget it. I don’t want to stay here, Alex. None of us do. I must.”
“What will I do without you?”
He looked at me for a long moment, as if he didn’t know the answer to that. “It’s not over yet, Alex. You must not linger here any longer. You have a duty, to fill your role here. To help people. To protect people. To give them your strength.”
Chan nodded to Hutton. Hutton placed a hand on my shoulder. As he guided Khloe and me out of the room, I did not resist him.
“I love you, Alex. Never forget that.”
“I love you, too, Dad.”
“When you have escorted them out, Officer Hutton, return here,” Chan said. “I will brief you on what is to be done next.”
Hutton nodded. “Let’s go, kids.”
Grabbing each of us in his large, meaty hands, he pulled us out of my dad’s office and across the bay. I was trying to hold it together, but I knew it wouldn’t be long until I burst.
Khloe and I left the medical bay, and Hutton turned back inside, shutting the double doors behind him. Two burly officers in helmets stationed themselves by the door.
I walked across the corridor and sank against the wall.
Then, Khloe’s face filled my vision. She placed a hand on my right cheek, wiping my tears away.
“Come on,” she whispered. “Let’s get you home. He might be alright, Alex. He seemed fine when we were in there.”
“I hope so,” I said.
But even as I said it, I knew it was a long shot.
She sat down next to me. We sat like that, for a while. People walked by, asking what happened. I didn’t answer. Khloe didn’t answer. She just held me like I was a child. The guards would quietly explain that the medical bay was off limits, and gave no reason for why. They mentioned nothing about my father, Chan, or my father’s assistants.
“They don’t know…” I whispered.
Khloe did not answer. Soon, there was such a crowd that I couldn’t stand it. I needed to be alone.
I started to get up.
“Come with me,” she said, pulling me by the wrist. “You need to rest.”
“I need my dad.”
She did not argue. Gently, yet firmly, she pulled me with her. I felt a pulsating emptiness in my soul. The only thing connecting me to reality was Khloe.
We reached her family’s apartment. I lay down on her bed as she went to the main room to talk to her parents and explain what was going on. While there, I felt completely alone.
Her parents came in, but I don’t remember anything they told me. I just closed my eyes, tuning out everything.
When I opened my eyes again, the light was out. I had fallen asleep. I stared for what seemed hours at a picture on the nightstand of Khloe and her family. The picture was old – Khloe was smaller, and her little sister stood next to her, smiling. Abby had been dead now for two years.
Death. So much death. The Wasteland was not out there. It was in here.
Chapter 9
It was night, and the lights were out. Khloe was sleeping on the floor next to me.
I reached down and nudged her.
“What?” she asked, voice thick with sleep.
“I can’t let you sleep there.”
Khloe wiped her eyes. “Don’t be stupid. You need to sleep.”
“So do you. There’s room for you here.”
She stood up. Her face was tender as her eyes gazed into mine.
I was on the verge of tears as I recalled the events of the day. I put my hands to her beautiful face, letting them slide down her neck and rest on her shoulders. She lay down in front of me as I pulled her closer. We stared into each other’s eyes.
I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around her, drawing her close, enjoying her warmth, feeling her heartbeat.
“I feel like you’re all I have, now,” I said.
Khloe didn’t say anything for a while. “I was so sad when I lost my sister. We fought so much, and I lost her. I still feel guilty about it. I wish I didn’t have to. I think that’s part of being human, though. We wish we could control things, but we can’t. It’s always too late.”
I opened my eyes. Khloe was looking at me.
“Not always,” I said.
I leaned forward to kiss her, her lips soft and warm. She kissed me back tenderly, healingly.
She
We fell asleep in each other’s arms. For one moment, everything was almost okay.
I was on the edge of consciousness when the wailing of klaxons shocked me awake. Red light bathed the room. I shot up in bed, Khloe’s hand latching onto my arm like a vise.
The siren screamed, over and over, fading in and out.
