Chapter 2

I yawned and opened my eyes. I was in a simple brick room with a small cot in one corner, a desk and chair against one wall, and a door on each of the remaining walls. The room was fairly small, only about fifteen feet wide by twenty feet.

On the desk by the cot was a plate of food. Steam was still wafting up from it so I knew that someone must have just recently brought it. Next to the plate was a glass of water and a note with a small pill on top of it. It said to take the pill after I had eaten.

I ate the pancakes quickly and my stomach seemed to thank me for feeding it. Slowly I reached over and grabbed the pill. It was a dull blue color and I wondered what it was for. Was it safe to take it? It's not like I'm gonna die if I do. I would die no matter what.

Once again memories from my past flashed through my head. My dad teaching me how to play soccer. My mom reminding me to practice my piano. Going to the fair, watching movies. I grew sad at the thought that I would never be able to see them again.

I guess that I always knew that I might get the virus but I never had put much thought into what would happen if I actually did get it. I realized that I had never had the opportunity to say goodbye. My heart ached and I started to inspect the room to keep my mind busy from thinking about it.

The door opposite my cot was locked and so I headed to the other door and slowly turned the handle. It was unlocked! I pulled the door open expecting to find something exiting. It wasn't very exiting unless you found bathrooms fun.

I closed the door and sat back down on my bed. My stomach was starting to feel funny and I wondered if it was from the pill. The door opened and a VD walked in.

"How are you feeling, Lance?"

I was a little surprised at his sudden entrance but I tried not to show it.

"I'm feeling okay, except for my stomach."

"Ah, yes, that's probably because of the pill. Now don't worry, it's completely harmless and is only a precautionary drug that will get rid of any other disease that you might have."

I rarely got sick so I wondered why they had given it to me but I guess I didn't exactly have much say in the matter.

"If you'll follow me then we'll get you all tested."

"Tested?"

The VD didn't say anything more and I followed him out of the room. I looked back and noticed that there was a plaque over my door that read 160. I wondered if that meant that I was in room 160 and if so then how many rooms were in the place.

We made a left at the end of the hallway and soon came to two doors. The VD I was with pulled a card from his coat pocket and slid it along a card reader. A little green light lit up and with a click the door opened up.

We went down hallway after hallway and I soon wondered if the VD knew where he was going. We passed through two more of the locked doors and after the VD had slid his card and opened them, we continued on our way.

Suddenly I could hear someone screaming. I stopped to try and locate the source of the sound.

"Follow me."

I regretted not having a chance to investigate but I didn't mind leaving the screams behind. They had sounded so haunting. The VD stopped short and turned to a door. Once again he slid his key and the door opened with a click but instead of stepping inside, he pushed me in and pulled the door closed.

I was left standing alone in a strange room. The room looked as though a computer store had exploded inside. There were wires everywhere and a lot of strange looking machines.

"It's quite the sight isn't it."

The sound of a soft woman's voice startled me and I turned to see who had spoken. The woman looked rather young with honey-colored hair that flowed to her shoulders and green eyes. That's when I noticed that she wasn't wearing a face mask. I stepped back from her and she chuckled.

"Don't worry, Lance, I had an operation done and I can't get the virus from you."

I found my voice.

"How come?"

"Well, it's a little complicated but in short they "installed" a filter inside of me."

Thinking about that made me wonder something.

"How come you can't just give everyone one of those?"

"Well, like I said, it's a bit complicated. First of all, we just thought of the idea ourselves a few weeks ago and second of all, it's very expensive and dangerous to do."

"Oh..."

"Now if you'll be so kind as to lie down," she pointed to a strange looking table with wires coming from it in all directions.

I looked at it wearily and she laughed again. Her laugh was somewhat distorted and I wondered if it was from the filter or whatever it was that she had installed inside of her.

"Don't worry, Lance. You'll be fine."

The table was actually a soft cushion and it felt somewhat comfortable to lie on. The woman approached and I realized that I didn't know her name.

"What's your name?"

"Oh, excuse me, I have a terrible time remembering to introduce myself. You see, we don't have a whole lot of people that come down here and those that are already here know each other. I'm Helen," she finished.

"Nice to meet you, Helen."

"Same to you, Lance," she said smiling.

She had me take my shirt off and began to wrap various things around my arms and to attach things to my chest. Each thing had a wire or two running from it. I looked at my pants.

"Don't worry, you won't have to take those off," she said noticing the uncomfortable look on my face.

She continued to attach wires to my arms, chest, and stomach and I was soon covered in them. If I could have seen myself, I would have probably resembled one of those hairy caterpillars. I sighed as I realized I would probably never see one again.

"Now, I'm going to switch the machine on and you'll feel a slight wave of some sort go through you. It's only a small bit of electricity but don't worry it will only hurt a little."

I nodded to show that I understood and waited while she walked around to make sure that everything was in place. Satisfied she reached over and flipped a switch. Suddenly more pain than I thought was possible hit me as I felt the wave of electricity pass through my body. I screamed as loud as I could but nothing could help as the pain grew. Soon it was too much and I blacked out.