Chapter Thirty

Daniela

“Um, Gary?” Daniela called. “I need your help.”

Gary, who was sitting at his computer, jumped up. 

“What’s going on?” 

His eyes went from Daniela to the man that was leaning on her. She saw them widen when he saw all the blood. 

“Bring him over here.”

 

Daniela did as she was told and placed him on the bed. 

“What happened?” He asked. 

“I went out to that garden place and they were fighting.” Daniela explained, leaning back and wiping the sweat off her face. “He’s not the one that I need help with though.”

The man gave a grunt of disapproval. “I need medical attention!” He said.

“Shut up.” Daniela snapped. “You’re fine.” She turned to Gary. “I couldn’t carry the other one. He’s still in there, unconscious.”

“Gemma!” Gary called. 

A woman poked her head through a curtain. “Yeah?”

“Can you clear this guy up please? I have to go and get a patient.”

Gemma cast a glance look at this other guy, one of his eyes was swollen shut.

“What the hell happened here?”

“The guy was crazy! He put his cigarette out on me.”

He lifted his arm to show a small deep circular burn. Daniela tried not to smile. This guy had been annoying the hell out of her ever since she started dragging him here. 

“Take me to the other one.” Gary said. 

Daniela led the way, practically running through the lobby to get back to Jason. They reached the garden to find him where she had left him, lying on the floor, his head propped up by a rock. Daniela winced again when she saw his face. It was barely recognisable, both eyes swollen shut and his whole face twice the normal size. There was blood everywhere. He wasn’t moving. 

“He passed out just as I got here.” Daniela explained as Gary started checking his vitals.

“What’s his name?” 

“Jason.” Daniela said. “He’s the head barman here.”

“Jason!” Gary called to him. “Can you hear me?”

Jason let out a small grunt and seemed to try and swat Gary away. Gary helped him into a sitting position and tried to lift his head, however as soon as he let go, it lolled back down.

“Jason! I need you to focus okay?” Gary said. “Can you answer me?”

Jason grunted again. 

“That’s good enough for me.” Gary said and wrapped Jason’s arm around his shoulder. “I’m going to need your help Daniela.”

Daniela rushed to Jason’s free side and grabbed his other arm, mirroring Gary’s actions. They both straightened up and Daniela almost fell again under the strain. How the hell was he this heavy? He was so skinny. Gary adjusted his footing so that the majority of Jason’s weight fell onto him and they started to walk. Going through the lobby, people stopped and stared but no one said anything and quickly went back to their own business. When they reached the clinic, they placed him on the bed next to his attacker and Gary immediately shut the curtains. 

“Is he going to be okay?” Daniela asked. 

“He’s in pretty bad shape, but I won’t know more until I’ve done a few tests. Do you want to stay?” 

Daniela shook her head, “I think I’m going to go to my lab. Can you call me when he wakes?”

Gary nodded and Daniela left him to it. She was so knackered but she was also too wired to sleep now. She made her way back to the lab and sat in her favourite chair. She flipped open her lap top and turned it on. It boosted to life straight away and Daniela opened her Stylo 1 software. She linked the lap top to the pod in the centre of the room. Next to it lay a small portion of Danel. Grabbing her hand held device she hooked herself up to the pod and set the machine onto auto-pilot. It worked perfectly, just as she programmed it to. She hit the activate button and everything fell into darkness. 

The darkness lasted for the briefest of seconds however, and soon she saw her lab through the crystallised eyes of Danel. She loved this view. All colours seemed to brighten and become more vibrant. She brushed her hand against the table in front of her. Although she couldn’t exactly feel in the normal convention of the term, she was able to sense that she was touching something. Small electric currents hit her fingertips. It was a weird feeling and definitely the one thing that took the most getting used to when a person first starts using the Danel. But it was easy to overcome once you knew what you were doing. It was all about training the brain to understand that the sensation wasn’t a part of the body but a part of the Danel. 

She looked to her left and saw her body, hooked up to the pod, her eyes glazed and vacant. She took the handheld from her body’s hand and checked to see that her vitals were fine. When she was happy, she went back to her chair. As she sat down this time, she closed her eyes and soaked in the slight high that came with being linked to Danel. It was harder to access emotions when in this state and Daniela welcomed the sudden peace she felt. It was her favourite place to be. She often came home and spent her evenings as a Walker. She found it gave her mind the clarity to be able to process her thoughts. And right now the clarity was beautiful. 

All of her fatigue had disappeared, that belonged her body, not her mind. She opened her eyes and took a walk around her lab, checking in more detail that everything was in it’s place. She was impressed, the only difference she found was that things were a little more organised than usual, but she could get used to that. As she reached her bookshelf again she heard a small beep and a part of the wall slid open to reveal a doorway. That was new. She took a step inside, careful to ensure that she had her hand held with her in case she needed to sever the connection. The door shut behind her and florescent lights flickered on to reveal a large warehouse full of glass prisons. Inside each of these prisons was a person, asleep on a bed. 

What the hell? She thought. She reached the closest prison and saw an entrance panel. It required a handprint to open it. She tentatively placed her silver hand over the panel, convinced that it wouldn’t work given that Danel didn’t have a fingerprint mark. The panel seemed to glow red and Daniela felt the slightest bit of warmth on her hand. That was definitely new. Danel couldn’t ordinarily feel heat, not unless you were out in the sun that Duncan had been. 

Daniela was so shocked by this new sensation, she almost missed the fact that a door had opened. It led to a small airlock within the first glass prison. Without thinking, she walked inside. The door behind her locked and a thin mist filled the airlock. Once it had dissipated another door opened and she walked into the main body of the prison. 

It wasn’t until the second door shut behind her that Daniela realised just how stupid she had just been. What had been the point of doing that? She had no idea who the person was in this prison or why they were locked in there in the first place but she was pretty sure that it was for a good reason. She swore under her breath, it was harder to access reason when she was a Walker, she had to concentrate a lot harder to even factor it in at all. This is something that she usually is very good at, why the hell did she choose right now to forget?

A small beeping noise from the bed brought Daniela’s attention back to the room. She eyed the body suspiciously. It belonged to a man, he must have been in his late 60’s. Keeping her hand held device firmly in her hand as her get out clause should anything get weird, she edged closer to the sleeping man. Once she reached his bed, she noticed that he seemed pale, his skin almost translucent. She saw that he was hooked up to a machine which was the source for the bleeping, indicating that he was still alive. Beside the machine was a table with a series of needles and a box containing several vials. She checked the label of one of them, it was a strong sedative, the type people used for inducing comas. She glanced back at the sleeping man and saw the wires he was hooked up to, keeping him asleep. 

She don’t know what made her do it, it could possibly have been the fact that she was in Danel form and so her inhibitions were not as strong, but before she knew it, she had pulled the drip out of his hand, letting it fall to the floor. She backed away immediately in case he suddenly jumped up at her. She needn’t have bothered however because it was a few minutes before he made any movement. When he did, it started with a twitch of the hand, then a stirring of the head. Finally his eyes opened and the man gingerly lifted his head. 

“Hello?” He croaked. 

Daniela wondered if she should stay where she was, but he didn’t appear to be very dangerous, and even if he was, he wouldn’t be stronger than she was right now. As such, she moved forward. 

“I’m here.” She said quietly.

She moved so that she was in his line of sight.

“Ms Davids?” He said, taking her by surprise. 

“Er...”

He nodded and tears were suddenly at his eyes. 

“So, it’s time then.” He said. “I’m ready.”

“Time?” Daniela asked. “For what?”

“You’ve come to kill me.” He said.

Daniela completely lost her nerve and hit the de-activate button. The room around her disappeared and she woke up back in her lab.

Chapter twenty nine

Jason

Jason fiddled with the pack of cigarettes in his pocket. What exactly was the right etiquette for smoking in here? It’s not like he could go outside. Did he just light up? He briefly considered just going for it when he came across a sign in the lobby area saying ‘garden.’ Hoping and praying that this wasn’t going to lead him to a dead end, he followed the direction to find himself looking out of a glass door. On the other side was a large open space, full of plants and benches. He slid the door to one side and went through. 

He was immediately hit by the cold air that was now all around him. It wasn’t uncomfortable, just refreshing. He looked up to see a ceiling of light blue, probably to add the effect of a sky. The room smelt amazing and had obviously been designed to feel like it was outside. The designers of this place must have known what they were doing, this would save a lot of claustrophobia throughout the survivors. He briefly wondered if any of the designers were survivors as well. Did they know what they were designing the place for? He decided that he didn’t really want to know the answer to that and found himself a seat at a nearby picnic table. In the middle of the table was an ash tray which Jason took as his cue that smoking was allowed in this particular part of the building and lit up. 

“Who’s there?” 

The voice came from behind him. Jason moved in his seat to see who it was and found a big built man who, like so many others he had seen today, looked in his early to mid-twenties. He gave the man a brief wave as they made eye contact and turned back round, not really into entering any conversation at the moment. Unfortunately, the man didn’t have the same idea. 

“You know we are inside.”  He said. 

Jason thought that was a pretty redundant thing to say but let it go and pointed to the ash tray.

“These are out, so I guess this is the designated smoking spot, sorry.”

“Well, I was here first and I would like to mourn the death of everyone I love without gaining lung cancer myself.”

Wow, this guy sounded like a real joy. 

“This is the first one I’ve had since I got in this place,” Jason explained. “I just need a moment to de-stress. I won’t be long.”

“I’d like you to put it out now.” The man persisted. 

“I tell you what,” Jason said. “As you seem pretty attached to this particular spot, how about I move to another area of the room?”

“I’d still smell it.”

Jason was losing his patience. “It’s a pretty big room,” he said. “I’m sure you’ll be okay.”

Jason started to walk away, desperate to put as much space between him and the annoying man as possible. 

“I think it’s pretty inconsiderate and ungrateful of you to even be smoking that thing anyway.”

Jason felt his irritation start to rise. He just wanted one de-stress puff in peace for crying out loud. But the man had accused him of being ungrateful and he had no idea why. 

“What do mean, ungrateful?” He asked. 

“Your life was spared above everyone else in the world and you’re repaying the favour by poisoning your lungs.”

“I’m pretty sure that if they expected us to not smoke, they wouldn’t have put out ash trays.” Jason reasoned, his blood had run cold. 

“I’m just saying, what good could you possibly be doing right now?” 

Jason was starting to shake, this man was really starting to piss him off.

“Well I was hoping it would calm down my nerves, but I guess you’ve put a stop to that.”

“Makes no sense to me.” The man said. “Why did they even bother saving you if they knew you were  a smoker.”

That was it, he had been told he wasn’t worthy to be here too many times. Jason stormed over to where the man sat and grabbed him by the collar. 

“You don’t think I should smoke?” He said. “Fine.”

And with that he put the cigarette out on the man’s arm rubbing it in nice and deep as he did so. The man let out a loud yell and pounced on Jason, throwing him into a nearby tree. Jason’s head smacked again the bark and for a moment he saw stars. He shook them off, his injury just adding to the rage that was now building up inside him. He kicked the man off him and, struggling to his feet he half stumbled, half fell into the man, chucking him to the floor. He had him pinned underneath him and started to punch. His anger boiled over and poured out of his fists, over and over. He got several good punches in before the man got control of the situation and managed to push Jason off him, switching places and pinning him down. Once he started punching, Jason realised that he was done, there was no way he was going to be able to gain control again. He closed his eyes and took the punches, which doubled the amount he’d given when Jason started to lose sense of what was going on. The punches continued and grew in intensity as Jason’s consciousness started to fade. He was vaguely aware that they had stopped as he slipped away completely. He wasn’t sure but he was pretty sure someone was talking to him as well. A woman. He didn’t know who. And then she and everything else was gone.

Chapter twenty eight

Daniela

“Daniela, wait!”

Daniela groaned at the sound of Duncan’s voice, she had almost made it out without him noticing. She briefly considered ignoring him and making a run for it but decided against it and turned round to face him. 

“What is it Duncan?” 

“I just wanted to make sure you were alright after last night.” Duncan said, that ever present grin on his face. 

“I’m fine.” Daniela said. 

“Are you sure?” Duncan asked. “I mean it was a lot to take in.”

Daniela sighed. “Like I said, I’m fine.”

“Well if you ever need anyone to cry on again, my services are always available.” 

“Look Duncan,” Daniela said. “Just because I cried on you for one night, does not mean that I’m planning on making a habit of it. It was once, I’m over it.”

Duncan widened his grin. 

“Well, I’m not just around for crying.” He said. “I’m sure there are other things that we can think of to do with our time as well.”

Daniela raised her eyebrows at that. Was this guy for real?

 

“Great.” She said. “I’ll let you know.”

She started to walk away but he grabbed her arm, holding her in place.

“It’s just, you know, we are the last human beings alive in the world right now. We have certain responsibilities to take on, like repopulating the earth and everything.”

“You have a point.” Daniela said. “But unfortunately I’ve already slept with a bunch of guys today and I’m all shagged out, sorry.”

Duncan laughed. “Well, if none of them managed to impregnate you, you know where I am.”

“Thanks, but I’m feeling hopeful. I really think one of those little suckers stuck.” Daniela tapped her belly. 

“Damn, I knew I would regret not taking you up on your offer last night.”

Daniela opened her mouth to retort but was interrupted as Kelly walked up to them both. 

“Daniela,” she said. “I was hoping to find you here, I’ve got something I’d like to show you.”

Suddenly Daniela felt really tired, she really didn’t want to have to face any more fighting. The prospect of going back inside that room drained her.

“I was just going to go and take a nap,” she said. “I’m really tired.”

“Yeah,” Duncan said. “She didn’t get much sleep last night,” he threw her a wink. “Take it from me, I know.”

“Don’t you have somewhere to be Duncan?” Kelly asked. 

“Sorry ma’am,” Duncan said. And with a small salute and another grin to Daniela, Duncan left.

“This will only take a moment.” Kelly said, turning her attention back to Daniela. 

Daniela sighed heavily, she was really tired and couldn’t bring herself to do anything. Her brain felt like it was on meltdown. She was pretty sure that one more piece of information thrown at her and it would self combust. However, Kelly was looking at her expectantly and for some reason, she liked her. She didn’t know why, she was pretty sure that this woman was the person she should be blaming for the death of everyone she knows, but she couldn’t help but be drawn to her. 

“Fine.” Daniela said.

 

Kelly gave her a reassuring smile and led the way out of the restaurant. They passed the doors leading to the bedrooms and continued down the lobby until they reached a large set of double doors with a sign saying ‘Clinic’ in big neon letters hanging over the frame. 

Kelly led her into the clinic and Daniela was immediately faced with white walls, clean beds and sterilised equipment. There were a couple of medical staff floating around, tending to people with bloody noses and knuckles. Obviously some people’s reaction to the end of the world was even more violent that hers. 

“Gary,” Kelly said, stopping by a man in his 30s who was holding an alcohol swab. “I’d like you to meet Daniela.”

Gary gave Daniela a welcome smile and put the swab down to shake Daniela’s hand. 

“Nice to meet you.” He said. “You’ve been the one I’ve been most intrigued about. Love to meet a fellow genius.”

Daniela decided she liked Gary straight away. He was cute in a kind of ‘big brother’ type way and had a demeanour that made Daniela want to trust him. Judging by the fact that he had heard of her however suggested that he was also in on the whole selective survival plan so once again Daniela found herself confused as to whether she should be liking him as much as she was. Relax Daniela, she thought to herself. You’ve just met the guy, no need to go analysing every aspect of his personality.

“Gary, I was wondering if you could give Daniela her jab whilst she is here.” Kelly said. 

What?!

“Um, no.” Daniela said. “I’m really not a fan of needles. I don’t need any injections.”

“It’s fine,” Gary said, grabbing a kit from a nearby cabinet. “Hop up on the bed.”

“Seriously,” Daniela said. “I really am fine. No needles.”

“Trust me,” Gary said, “It will help in the long run. Although you missed the exposure that is now killing everyone, you have been exposed to diluted pockets of the stuff for months. This will just ensure you’re healthy and not affected by it.”

“You have a cure for the exposure?” Daniela asked, confused.

“Alas no, not for anyone who’s exposed to it like everyone out there is, but we did manage to work out a cure for mild cases.”

Daniela eyed the needle wearily. “I really do feel fine.”

“Fine enough to risk death?” Gary asked. “We’re giving them to everyone in the building, the last thing we want to do is to have saved a small population of people only to see them showing symptoms further down the line. It kind of makes everything we’ve been doing redundant don’t you think?”

Daniela sighed.

“Oh go on,” Gary said. “I’ll even throw in a lolly if you’re extra good.”

Daniela rolled her eyes and sat herself down on the bed, pushing her sleeve up past her shoulder. 

“Just don’t let me see it.” She said and immediately cast her gaze to the ceiling. 

One tiny prick and it was over. Next thing she knew there was a lolly in front of her face. 

“Like I promised.” Gary said, with another welcoming smile. 

Daniela smiled sheepishly and took the lolly, immediately unwrapping it and putting it in her mouth. 

“Thanks.” She said. She turned to Kelly. “Was that all you wanted from me?”

Kelly shook her head. “I just thought it was a good idea as we were passing through. Come on, I’ve got something to show you.”

Daniela jumped up from the bed and, with a wave to Gary as they left, followed Kelly through the remainder of the ward. Kelly entered a code into an entrance panel on the far end of the ward and took Daniela inside a dark room.

Once the door was closed, Kelly turned on the lights and it was like Daniela was transported back to her lab at home. The place was copied to the last minute detail, except the size of it was larger. Everything that she liked to have with her when she worked was now in this room, right down to her coffee mug. She didn’t know how they had managed to transport all of her stuff here in such short time, but right now she didn’t care because for the first time since she had found out that her whole world had disappeared, she actually felt a rush of hope. She had her stuff it was all hers. She walked around the room, checking the drawers and finding that everything was in the right place. She sat down on her favourite chair and spun it around, letting out a little burst of laughter.

And then suddenly the tears came. Out of nowhere her cheeks were damp and she was sobbing. 

“Er Daniela,” Kelly said, awkwardness evident in her tone. “Are you okay?”

“I never thought I’d see this place again.” She said. “It’s just so beautiful. Thank you.”

“No problem.” Kelly said. “We’ve kitted it out with everything you had before and we’ve added some more things as well. We want you to feel comfortable in here. We are hoping that you might be able to help along the way to making this new world a little bit easier to handle.”

Daniela nodded, not really taking any of it in, she was too busy looking through her pot of pencils, everything was there. Everything.

“How?” She asked. “How did you do it?”

Kelly shrugged. “I ordered Katie to take you out the night prior to the impact and then had my team work through the night.”

Daniela remembered Katie dragging her around London for hours. She had hated it. She had wanted to go home, but Katie then burst into tears and said that she had had an argument with Dave. Next thing she knew she was sitting on a bench in Green Park trying to sort out Katie’s love life, which she remembered as being ironic, seeing as she didn’t have a clue what she was doing with hers.  Wow. Katie deserved an Oscar.

“There are projects that we hope to be able to work with you over the coming months.” Kelly said, snapping her out of her reverie. “But nothing that needs to be discussed now. I just thought you would want to know that this place is here and it is 100% yours. I’ll give you the passcode on the way out which you can feel free to change to whatever you want.”

Daniela nodded and noted her bookshelf with all her research ordered alphabetically.

“Now that’s different.” Daniela said. “I would never be that organised.”

“As I said, feel free to disorganise all you want.”

“What kind of projects do you want my help on,” Daniela asked whilst inspecting her books.

“A lot of research, mainly to do with understanding the toxins out there. The more we know about it, the better.”

“Sure.” Daniela said. “Why not?”

“Did you want to start now?” Kelly asked. 

Another wave of exhaustion fell over Daniela, her body telling her the answer to that question.

“I’m going to sleep now.” She said. “That is providing Duncan has cleared out of my room.”

Kelly smiled a warm smile.

“I’ll look forward to working with you.” She said, and with that, led Daniela back out of her new/old lab.