Chapter 4

After a long, hot shower to forget about my stupidity and the psycho in the park, I still had enough time for a relaxed breakfast. Though I of course ate what I was scheduled to eat, it was nice to have the time to leisurely read the news and not think about last night or my project for a minute. There were the usual stories about how homelessness was the lowest it’d been in a century. Both the president and local government took credit for that. But then I read the headlines.

President Lamp accused of sexual harassment, and Disturbing footage of the president demanding sexual favors for employment.

My jaw dropped. It was exactly what I dreamed. I had suspected it was true, I mean, so many politicians did it.

Then a smaller headline in the science section, Reporter mistakenly reports DESVID-2 virus case in New York. I read through that article and learned the diagnosis was incorrect, it was just a bad case of the flu. No cases were currently reported of the new virus in the US. I had to wonder if that was the truth, or just the president controlling the news again. But then I thought, if the president were truly controlling the news, how did the scandal surface? Maybe it was real. Regardless, it was a welcome headline. It, along with the scandal practically ensured the meeting would be postponed, and I’d have a few more days to do my research.

At work, John confirmed my suspicions, and I happily locked myself in the clean room and studied the bats and samples. Subject B appeared lethargic, its heartbeat erratic and slower. Subject A appeared fine, with no changes in heartbeat or signs of fatigue. After analyzing the increased antibodies in their blood samples, I deduced they were both infected with the virus. I compared the blood, DNA, and other characteristics between the two bats. I tried a serum comprised of different amounts of drugs that had been tested prior. The blood samples reacted poorly—it was too dangerous to try on the bats. I was documenting my findings when I heard a knock on the door.

I could see through the glass in the door that it was Amy. She mimed eating food, and I glanced down at my watch. Somehow six hours had passed, and it was already the afternoon. I nodded and joined her after changing out of the hazmat suit.

“You look deep in thought; you want me to just grab some takeout for you?” Amy offered. Her hair had a purple tinge on the ends. I admired her style—changing colors, lengths, her whole look. It wasn’t something I was brave enough to try.

“Thanks, that’s very considerate of you,” I said, and I meant it. Although I had brought a lunch, I found myself preferring her company to being alone. “But honestly, a break away from here is just what I need.”

We ended up at a cafe-style restaurant, at one of the tables on the outdoor patio. Fresh air felt amazing after being cooped up in that hazmat suit all morning, in the sterile environment of the clean room.

“So are you making any progress?” Amy asked.

“Slowly. Maybe.” She arched an eyebrow at me, as if she wanted a better answer. “Okay, not really. I mean, I’ve run some tests, but the serum I tested failed miserably.”

“You know, you should talk to the vampires,” she said casually. “I’m pretty sure they don’t get sick.”

She continued eating as if she hadn’t boarded crazy train and became the conductor.

“Um, what?” I thought I remembered her discussing horror movies with our coworker Brent one day. “Oh wait, you mean if they were real. Yeah, that would be nice.”

“Oh they’re real, I’ve seen them,” she said. “They keep to themselves, so most people don’t even realize they exist.”

“Uh huh,” was all I could manage. “So they got the fangs and everything, or are they just psychic vampires?”

“Joke all you want. Doesn’t make it any less true.”

“You’re serious?” I asked. “How is that scientifically possible?”

She shrugged. “Evolutionary leap? I mean, when it comes down to it, they’re just a different breed of humans.”

“I would think a diet of only blood would be a disadvantage,” I said, playing along. At least it was an interesting conversation. The two lunches I had with Frederick were listening to how he would eventually get John’s job and become my boss. Then looking creepily satisfied with himself, as if that undeserved confidence or the prospect of me taking orders from him was a turn on or something.

“Yes, but the heightened senses, strength, and ability to heal,” she paused to take a bite of her sandwich, “certainly outweigh the unusual dietary restrictions.”

“Well don’t forget vulnerability to garlic, holy water, and crosses,” I added.

She laughed. “You watch too many horror movies.”

I smiled. “And you don’t?”

“Okay, maybe I do, but I know the difference between fantasy and reality.”

Sure you do, I thought, but pressed my lips shut. Now that I was actually warming up to her, I didn’t want to alienate her. If she wanted to believe vampires were real, then she should be free to do so. It is America, after all.

Amy sighed. “I can tell you don’t believe me.”

“You know who would, though,” I paused for dramatic effect. “Our friendly neighborhood bat colony expert and emo extraordinaire, Ethan.”

She threw a balled-up napkin at me. “Very funny.”

I got the odd feeling that someone was observing us. I glanced around but didn’t see anyone around us. I scanned farther, looking across the street. I caught a blur in an alleyway; it seemed to be the shape of a human, but by the time my eyes focused, it was gone.

“You okay, Liz?”

“I’m fine,” I lied. Between the dog park, the park and today, I’d had enough of lurking weirdos. “Are you done? Want to get back to the lab.”

“Sure.” She took a final sip of her drink. “Thanks for coming out with me. Wasn’t sure if you would. I know you usually pack a lunch.”

“No it was fun, I appreciate the invite. Tuna salad didn’t sound all that appetizing.” As strange as it was, I kind of understood what my mother was trying to tell me. I wasn’t quite ready for the club scene or a boyfriend but having a friend to talk to was an unexpected and nice surprise.

After the satisfaction of a good meal, I was able to focus better. I came up with a new hypothesis, a drug that would boost generation of white cells, to replicate the higher white blood cell count of subject A. So I spent the rest of the afternoon and the following week working on the formula, taking into account bat physiology. Subject B showed more and more debilitating symptoms of the virus, but held on, largely due to subject A helping to feed him. I remembered Ethan saying they had a strong sense of family, and it was heartwarming to see. If only humans cared about each other like that…

The media was still focused on the president’s infidelity, so I was able to stay under the radar with my project. There were even talks of impeachment. I didn’t worry about it, though, as we’d impeached so many presidents in the past, and they always amounted to nothing more than a scandalous footnote in history. It was nearly impossible to force a president out of office, no matter how much he misbehaved.

I was finally ready to test the formula, after the trials with the blood samples looked promising. Getting the dosage right was tricky, but I was able to get an idea based on my testing and the weight of the creature. I took a deep breath and exhaled. This is it, I thought, as I injected the serum into subject B.

At first, its vitals stayed the same. But then all at once they spiked off the charts high, as he frantically flew around the cage, crashing into the walls. He fell to the cage floor, his body twitching. His vitals came crashing down to critical levels. My stomach turned at seeing subject B become perfectly still, his heart rate flatlining.

I rested my head in my hand. What went wrong? Was it the dosage, the strain on his body? Did the formula activate a chain reaction within him? The blood tests all showed a recovery.

A week’s worth of work, with nothing to show for it. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, but that would only give Frederick an excuse to smirk. I knew he was plotting to take over this project, and this was just the excuse he needed to step in.

I lifted my head back up and refocused. To know for sure what killed subject B would require an autopsy. I gently extracted the deceased bat from the cage and made a small incision near the head. Then I placed it upside down in a funnel atop a tall, slender beaker, to drain its blood. An analysis of the blood composition at death might provide some answers.

I cleaned up my stuff, vaguely aware that it was the end of the day and the week. Having the weekend to mull over that colossal failure filled me with a sense of dread. I know, I know, you learn more from failures than successes. But that little motivational nugget didn’t help me feel any better about it.

I dragged my feet to my normal desk, checking on my email before I left for the weekend. Though John’s desk was vacant, there was an email from a couple of hours ago with a single sentence: The president wants to meet on Monday.

Damn. As if today didn’t suck enough, now I had to justify keeping the project when it didn’t appear that I was making any major progress. I glanced over my screen at Frederick in the distance. He was whistling a happy little tune to himself, a great big smile on his face. He caught me staring and said, “I’ll be in the meeting on Monday. When the DESVID-2 project becomes mine.”

I groaned. More than anything, I just wanted to punch him in the face. But even if I’d had the raw desire to do it, I didn’t have the energy.

“I can’t wait to see what you’ve done on it. So I know what to avoid.”

“Have a nice weekend, Frederick,” I said. “Always nice to be graced with your infallible wisdom.”

He huffed on his way out.

Amy snickered from her desk. “What a piece of work…”

“Yeah. But he’s not wrong.”

“You’ll figure it out,” she said. “You’re so much smarter than he is. Your brain is on a totally different level.”

I smiled politely, which took an effort. “That’s nice of you to say, but I failed.”

“Did you really think you were going to find a cure in a week?” Amy folded her arms. “I mean you’re good, but that’s just not enough time.”

“I know. I wasn’t looking for a cure as much as a way to abate the virus, stop it from killing people.” I looked down. “I needed a win, to keep this project. I was hoping to have something positive to report, after a week’s worth of work.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Amy said, as she logged out of her computer and packed up her laptop. “You’re coming with me.”

“I am?” My mind raced to come up with excuses not to go, but without knowing exactly where she intended to take me, they wouldn’t be plausible. “Where?”

“Out,” she said. “A club or a bar, take your mind off this…setback.”

I turned away from her and rolled my eyes. The last thing in the world I needed was to feel like a piece of meat amongst a sea of dudes just wanting to get laid. “I don’t think so.”

“Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“I have to type up my report on my findings.” A classic scientist excuse that never went out of style.

“You can do that tomorrow. Or Sunday,” she said, in a tone that dared me to counter. I had a feeling she wouldn’t let this go.

“Well I have to walk my dog,” I said. Lame but true.

“Fine. We’ll go walk your dog and grab a bite to eat.” She stared at me, her arms crossed.

Although I didn’t want to go, I didn’t have the strength to argue. Plus I figured I could agree and just call her later saying I was sick. Or dead. “Okay, where do you want to meet?”

She snickered. “Nope, don’t think that’s going to work. If I let you out of my sight, you’re going to totally bail.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. Damn, she was too smart for her own good.

“See, I knew you were going to try it,” she said and laughed. “I’ll follow you home. Maybe we can find something cuter to wear in your closet.”

“What’s wrong with this blouse?” I asked.

“The fact that you call it a blouse. Looks like something my great aunt Hilda would wear.” She eyed my whole outfit. “Do you know you’re twenty-something? Because you certainly don’t dress like it.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I returned to the lab to check on the blood extraction. Amy followed me in. Suddenly my out became so obvious.

“I have to gather these blood samples now and refrigerate them,” I explained. “If I leave now, the composition will change and be useless. I don’t know when it’ll be done, and I need every drop of blood from this guy I can get.”

This time she narrowed her eyes at me. Then she let out an audible sigh. “Fine, don’t go. But seriously, you’re missing out.”

I knew she was just trying to be nice, but a night out was like the worst possible thing I could think of. Inebriated strangers, overpriced drinks, and loud techno wasn’t exactly my idea of a good time. Though to be fair, my idea of fun was PJs, a comfy chair, and a freshly printed 200-page journal on genetic mutations of mammals in the northern hemisphere.

“I appreciate the invite,” I said, which I truly meant. She was the only one at the lab who even bothered to try to talk to me. Scientists, as a general rule, tend to keep to themselves.

She smiled. “Promise me you’ll do something fun this weekend?”

I smiled back, thinking sleep would likely be the most fun I would have. “Ok, I’ll try.”

She waved as she left, which I only caught out of the corner of my eye. I was back to my research, scouring through other studies done on bats. Their long history of mutation, in particular how it pertained to the genes associated with inflammation, could be a key to solving this riddle. I had to find something if I wanted to keep this project.

***

Hours had passed before I got enough blood from subject B, though I didn’t realize how late it was with the lab being underground. I yawned and glanced at the clock on my laptop. 11:00PM. My poor Thundarr dog. He had to be doing some kind of doggie pee dance.

I packed up my stuff and headed out, eager to get back to the apartment before my dog had an accident. The office and hallway leading out were too still for my comfort. Even as an introvert, I would’ve welcomed the activity, the normal sounds of other people. And the creep factor only got worse when I exited the building.

Outside, the crickets chirped and the sliver of a moon in the sky didn’t provide much light. The parking lot only had a couple of solar lights installed—it wasn’t meant to be used at night, especially on a Friday night. I wasn’t parked far; it was silly for me to be creeped out. I looked around and confirmed I was alone. I chuckled to myself, how ridiculous I was acting. But then I heard a rustling sound from a bush adorning the office building next to mine, no more than a couple hundred yards away. Was that an outline of a man?