Desolation ✔️

Chapter 20: Bits and Pieces

One week before it began...Day 8 of PSCC

"We're aware there have been some concerns regarding the safety of our lab equipment."

Carter and I stood side-by-side at the end of the line formed by one of the lead supervisors. The woman at the front of the room paced back and forth with her hands folded behind her. Her salt-and-pepper hair was knotted into a loose bun atop her head, her black-framed glasses slipping down her nose. She wore the same white lab coat the rest of us seniors wore, except her pockets overflowed with blue latex gloves.

"Several of you reported the slides to have either broken or been misplaced. We're looking into the issue...but come on, people! You were called to attend this convention because we believed you were highly capable. If you can't even handle a basic slide, how will you handle performing surgery or safely amputating limbs if you ever move into the medical field?" Her voice echoed through the large room, brightly lit by fluorescent lights.

I looked sideways at Carter, mentally communicating, "Well, she's upset..."

He nodded subtly and fixed his eyes on the lead supervisor. Always compliant to those in higher authority, even when they were wrong. I wondered what was going through his mind.

Apparently Carter and I weren't the only ones experiencing strange slides. The cells on ours literally disappeared, and so had everyone else's. But this woman was gonna sit here and blame all of us for it? Anyone who argued otherwise was threatened suspension from completing the internship.

"Now as a precaution, some of our highly-trained professionals here are gonna walk around and provide a brief examination to make sure none of you have been touched by the samples on the slides. We warned you all ahead of time you'd be dealing with toxic chemicals and products, but clearly the majority of you failed to take the written precautions. If there's been a contamination breach by any of you, you will be notified and required to take the shot provided. It's supposed to kill anything that might've snuck its way into your bloodstream."

The assistants—or as she'd called, "Highly Trained Professionals"—made their way up the stairs to the line of us seniors, each carrying trays with vials. I was thankful they wanted to protect us, but something still seemed off about how they were going about it.

I leaned closer to Carter but kept my eyes trained on the dark red liquid in the vials. "Carter, I don't feel so good about this."

He stared past me, eyes narrowing. He was still wearing his lab goggles, arms crossed as he chewed his bottom lip uncertainly. But he always carried reassurance with him, and that's what I searched for in that moment.

But instead, he lowered his voice to a whisper so low, I almost missed his unsteady, frightened words: "Honestly, I don't either."

***

I feel a strange peace for the first time since this whole apocalypse broke out, almost like I'm soaring and my mind is at rest. It doesn't last long enough though, because it's ripped out from under me as soon as Ellis says, "Time to get moving."

I sit up and rub the sleep from my eyes enough to take in my surroundings. The inside of the semi is littered with crumpled papers, empty cans, discarded ammo, and empty boxes. The back is wide open, inviting the blinding rays of the sun inside. Ash lies beside me with one arm tucked under his head, the other secured over my stomach. He slept in his proper SWAT uniform for the first time: black pants and the black jacket. His white t-shirt pokes out from beneath it, the tags sparkling under the sunlight. Brown hair sticks up from all angles and he blinks rapidly, squinting from the new light. So this is what it's like waking up next to Ash.