“He cannot hold you, sweetie. You have no active infection,” Sandra announced, her voice so loud it attracted the attention of people outside the tent.
People glanced in their direction, some pointed and whispered. Dr. Neff stepped aside, allowing Allison to pass, and waved his hand toward the guards. They took off in opposite directions and Catherine disappeared deeper into the tent, out of view. Sandra wrapped a blanket around Allison, pulling her close. That’s when Allison realized she was in a hospital gown with her whole rear end hanging out, putting on a show for the world. She blushed and pulled the blanket tightly around her, covering her exposed skin. Dave put his arm around her shoulders. It reminded her of her grandfather. He steered her away from the tent. The onlookers were dispersing, going about their business.
As they walked, Allison saw there were multiple large tents, military in appearance, all around. The area was crowded with people going in and out of the tents, forming lines in front of them, and walking between them. A large fence surrounded the camp, and Collectors armed with automatic rifles guarded it. Multiple parked cars were outside the perimeter along with vendors selling a variety of items. Food sizzled in skillets over fires and the smell of well-seasoned meat permeated the air. Dirty mannequins with missing limbs displayed an array of clothing items available for purchase, none of it fashionable. Tables covered in everything from survival gear to children’s toys lined the walkway. The voices of customers haggling with vendors created a garbled chatter that drowned out most other noise. A few live chickens in cages squawked with disapproval of their confined spaces. The longest line of all was at a table advertising barber services. Behind the table a woman had a man sitting in an old folding chair as she clipped his hair with a large pair of scissors.
They moved through the crowd at a brisk pace until they arrived at the couple’s car. Sandra opened the back door and Dave helped Allison climb into the back seat. Allison looked out the rear window, toward the medical tent as it shrank from view. Dr. Neff had not wavered from his spot. He glared at the car as it drove away, his eyes fixed, hostile, confirming her initial feeling when he touched her.
He was dangerous.
Chapter Five Dr. Neff
Dr. Neff stormed back into the tent after the car carrying Allison drove out of view. With a clenched fist he threw his arm at a table as he passed it, knocking the contents to the floor. The loud clang of medical instruments falling to the ground and the heavy footsteps of the doctor filled the tent.
“Catherine!” His voice boomed. Catherine came around the corner and stood, arms crossed in defiance, but her eyes showed a glimmer of fear lurking beneath. Good.
“Yes, sir?” Catherine maintained her distance. Staying far out of his reach. Smart girl.
“Seeing as how you could not secure my newest subject, I would like to know how our littlest guest has held up?” He strolled toward the back of the tent, to his office. Catherine followed behind, still keeping more than a yard between them.
“He’s stronger than expected,” she answered. “We have never had one so young showcase such strength.”
“The gene mutations the virus has made affect large segments of his chromosomes and are much more extensive than we have seen in previous subjects,” Dr. Neff said, rustling papers on his desk. “We haven’t even begun to understand the extent of his abilities. I have been comparing them to the limited samples we have from that girl, Allison. The similarities are intriguing.”
“Perhaps they were infected by the same strain of N87?” Catherine suggested.
“That is a possibility. The research is still inconclusive. We shouldn’t speculate; we need solid evidence. Finish telling me about the boy.”
“The electroshock experiment didn’t go as we had hoped. It did not elicit as intense of a response as anticipated. However, we stumbled across something.”
“Which is?” Dr. Neff sat in his chair and flipped through papers on his desk.
“Emotional stimuli produces a far superior result when compared to anything else we have tried,” she continued, standing across the desk from him but still near the exit.
“Explain.”
“A Collector taunted the child about his mother. He gave a very graphic description of the things he planned to do to the boy’s mother. The child broke free of his confines and shattered almost every bone in the Collector’s body. It took an elephant’s size dose of Versed to get the child under control again.” She smirked. Dr. Neff froze.
“Extraordinary. Just extraordinary.” He vaulted from his desk. “I want to see him now. Have a car brought around.”
Dr. Neff hurried from the car into the cool gray building. His footsteps reverberated down the halls, followed by the muffled whispers of warning among staff members. He felt a tinge of satisfaction.
He paused in front of a tall metal door with a tiny window and peered in. A sallow boy curled into the fetal position lay on the cot. His tiny spine protruded from his shirt. His toffee skin was spotted with bruises at varied stages of healing. He couldn’t be over seventy pounds. Weak.
The child rolled over and made eye contact with him. A chill crept up Dr. Neff’s spine at the realization the boy had known he was there without laying eyes on him. Defiance danced across the child’s eyes as he held Dr. Neff’s gaze. His skin tingled with excitement. Maybe not so weak after all. He broke eye contact with the boy and pointed to a nearby Collector.
“Bring me your commander. I need more specimens. Also get Dr. Samuel. We are making some tweaks to our program.”
“Yes sir.”
Allison
Allison bolted awake, drenched in perspiration, fists full of bedsheets. Her jaw clenched so hard her temples pounded with pain. Images of worn wooden walls splattered with blood flashed in her mind. The screams of a man rang in
