She got her legs underneath her and threw both of her arms in the air, sending both Collectors crashing into the wall behind her. A Collector in the doorway dove for her, tackling her at the waist, bringing her to the ground. She punched him in his mouth, dislocating his jaw and ejecting some of his teeth across the room. He howled in pain and cupped his jaw in his hands. Allison took the opportunity to shove him off of her, sending him sliding across the room as she scrambled to her feet.
A Collector wrapped his arms around her from behind, forcing her arms to her sides as he lifted her off the ground. Another Collector struck her in the face with a billy club over and over again until blood gushed out of her nose and her mouth, running down her front, forming a puddle on the floor.
“Enough!” yelled Dr. Neff as he stood in the doorway. The beating stopped and all the Collectors turned to face him. “Release her now.” Allison’s body slumped to the floor, landing in the puddle of her own blood. “I said not to harm her and I meant it.”
“Yes sir. But her sedative wore off and she fought us. We didn’t—” the Collector that had beat Allison was speaking. Dr. Neff smoothly raised a gun from a holster on his thigh and shot the Collector point-blank between the eyes. The back of the Collector’s head blew out as the bullet exited and struck the Collector who had been holding Allison. He screamed in pain as the bullet lodged in his shoulder. The dead Collector’s body fell next to Allison. Allison was now covered in dead Collector brain and blood. She scrunched her face, shutting her eyes and lips tight against the warm drops of blood that speckled her cheeks and forehead. Globs of the Collector’s brain slid down her face like hot scrambled eggs. The burn in her belly urged her to lick the blood from her lips, but she resisted.
Dr. Neff stepped over the body and scooped Allison up in his arms with almost no effort. He was stronger than he looked, abnormally so. He turned and walked out the door, shouting over his shoulder, “Clean it up!” He leaned over her crumpled body on the floor and she felt a sharp poke in her arm.
Allison’s head felt heavy and she went in and out of consciousness as Dr. Neff carried her down the halls. He took her into a room, lying her gently on an exam table before a woman in a white lab coat ran over and began strapping her down. Once Allison was securely strapped, the woman started an IV in her arm. At first the fluid running into her veins felt cool, but a burning sensation quickly took over and caused Allison to feel as if she were on fire. She screamed out in pain and struggled to free herself. The woman stood over her. Allison could read her name tag: Mary.
“It will be okay. I promise. This will make you feel better. I’m so sorry,” Mary said. Allison felt the prick of a needle in her thigh. She struggled against the restraints as she felt herself growing weaker.
“Please . . .” Allison pleaded.
“Shh . . .” Mary soothed.
The world around her faded, her eyes grew heavy, and soon she lost consciousness.
Sunlight beamed on Allison’s face as she awoke, still strapped to the exam table. Allison peered through the blinding light coming from a small window high on the wall in front of her. The sun was just rising to welcome the day. Allison wriggled her body around, expecting to feel an ache or a pain from lying strapped on a hard table for who knew how long. However, she felt great. She felt better than she had in as long as she could remember. Nothing hurt. Not an achy joint, stiff neck, or even a sore face from the beating she took a few hours prior.
“Oh, nice to see you awake. You came around quickly!” Mary appeared above Allison with a smile on her face. “Now I want to unstrap you and sit you up so you can eat. But you must behave yourself.” Mary nodded her head to the side, indicating they were not alone. Allison looked in the direction she had nodded and saw a Collector with an electric prod in his hand standing by a door. Allison shook her head in understanding, and Mary began unstrapping her.
Allison sat up on the edge of the bed and looked at the IV bag hanging next to her, running clear fluid into her arm. She caught a glimpse of her face in a small mirror across the room. She was perfect. There was not a bruise or swollen area on her entire face. Allison’s mouth fell open in awe. Her complexion was flawless, almost airbrushed. Mary saw Allison’s confused face as she stared at herself in the mirror.
“Very cool, isn’t it? The medication we gave you healed you. Too bad it only works on former Infected who have leftover abilities like yourself. But one day it will help everyone. Can you imagine? A world where we can heal anything?” Mary said excitedly.
“How is this possible?” Allison asked.
“Well it’s derived from a protein that former Infected carry. It plays a part in how you were able to survive when you were infected. Now that you have been exposed to it again, there is a good chance you will heal much quicker than you are used to. No telling how long the effects last, though.
