In the After (36 page)

I didn’t remember exactly how to get to my mother’s office, but I opened the door
nearest the elevator and ducked inside to gather my thoughts. It was a small, empty
office, and I spotted a lab coat thrown over a chair. I grabbed the coat and put it
on, figuring it would make me less conspicuous. I heard voices in the hall and I peeked
out the door. Lab assistants. I followed them at a safe distance.

Eventually they led me to the hall where one side was lined with doors, the other
with glass. The hall with the cells, each holding a Florae. The creatures shuffled
slowly, circling their confined spaces. I kept going down the hall. At the last black
door I turned the knob and entered my mother’s office.

She was at her desk and looked up, startled. “What . . .
Amy
?” Her hands froze above her keyboard. “How did you get down here?”

I pulled out the necklace. It was still covered in the black-green blood of a Florae.

She looked at the object and back at me, the shock and puzzlement clear on her face.
“What is this? Where did you get it?”

“I found it around the neck of a Florae.” I told her. “After I decapitated it to pass
my final Guardian test.”

“Amy! I knew you would. . . . Wait, you took the final test today? I thought—”

“That’s Vivian’s necklace,” I said, cutting her off. “Why would a Florae be wearing
Vivian’s necklace?”

My mother let out a long sigh and rubbed her face with her palms. She got up and walked
over to the office door, glancing outside before closing and locking it. Then she
returned to her desk and settled wearily into her chair. “Vivian didn’t die during
that awful incident. Not technically anyway.”

“The Floraes aren’t aliens, are they?”

She paused. “No.” My mother looked into my eyes. “Vivian was bitten by a creature
and became a creature herself.”

Minutes passed in silence or perhaps it was only seconds. I reached back toward the
wall, grasping for support, trying to process it all.

My mother looked at me and sighed again. “We were developing a strain of bacteria,”
she finally explained. “Something the military commissioned, Dr. Reynolds in fact.
They wanted a bug that would impair enemy soldiers without killing them.”

“Biological warfare,” I said.

“I wanted to save lives, Amy. The project was supposed to be an end to violence. The
soldier would be sick for a few days, then recover completely. Even a short amount
of time can give any military a huge advantage.” She was staring intently at me, willing
me to understand.

“What happened?”

“It wasn’t ready. There were side effects. First it turned our test subjects’ skin
green from the phytosterols. A few died before we realized they needed direct sunlight.
I modified the bacteria, but then the subjects became incredibly hungry. They craved
protein and could not be satiated. I was so close to developing a solution.

“I sent a sample to our New York office and a young lab assistant broke the slide.
He cut his finger. Once it was in his bloodstream, the bacteria took hold and it was
the beginning of the end. He turned into a bloodthirsty creature and infected everyone
in the lab. It takes only one bite. They infected the city, then the country, then
the world.”

“Why wasn’t there a quarantine?” I asked, my voice weak. “How did it spread so fast?”

“The bacteria mutated and became airborne. Some people began to show signs of the
infection right away, but in others it lay dormant. Do you know how many people you
can contaminate in an hour? Someone got through airport security. As soon as that
happened, it was over. That’s how it traveled so quickly, why there are so many of
them. The airborne strain soon died out, but the original strain remains. Now it can
be transmitted by bodily fluids, most usually by saliva.”

“The creatures, they’re people,” I whispered. I finally allowed myself to say it.

“No, Amy, not anymore. Once you’re infected, you change; you’re no longer a human.
I’ve studied them. Every ounce of humanity disappears.”

“So it’s all lies.” I regained my voice, raised it forcefully. “How many of those
creatures actually got into New Hope and how many were our own citizens? What really
happened that night?”

“It’s not
all
lies, Amy. Those thugs disabled all the sonic emitters. Using members of their gang
as bait, they lured a dozen Floraes into New Hope.”

“A dozen Floraes? But there were so many people killed.”

“Some were killed. Most turned, then killed others.”

I thought back to the first day, sitting alone on the couch, seeing the horror of
the Floraes for the first time. “But I saw the ship, the spaceship in Central Park.”

“That wasn’t a spaceship; that was a new piece of installation art. Some idiot newscaster
decided it was a spaceship and that’s how the story spread. We decided it was better
to portray the Floraes as an outside threat, not a plague manufactured by the government.
The misinformation was a fortunate turn of events. Right now only a select few know
the truth, those who can help us in our quest to eradicate the infection.”

“You did it,” I said, still trying to comprehend what she had told me. “You’re the
reason all this happened. You’re the reason Dad died.” She watched me, her eyes full
of pain. I glared at her, no longer knowing who she really was, what she was capable
of.

She closed her eyes, exhaling through her teeth. “It was an accident, Amy. None of
this was supposed to happen. We’re working on something now that will stop the infection.
Don’t you see that’s why I’m here night and day?”

“A cure?” I asked, daring to hope.

“We can’t find a cure. We tried to develop an antidote at the beginning of our research,
one that we could use on our own soldiers so they wouldn’t become infected. It was
never effective, and now the original strain has mutated. If someone is bitten by
a Florae, they’re irrevocably changed.”

“Then what? Something to slay them all?” I couldn’t stop thinking of them as mindless
killers, but I’d also begun to think of them as people. They were all human, once.

“Unfortunately they are still too similar to humans. Anything I could develop to kill
them would kill us as well. What I’m working on is a vaccine,” my mother explained.

“How do you test something like that?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.

My mother crossed her arms, pinched her lips together. I wanted to cry then.

“You used those people the Guardians caught, didn’t you? Amber’s brother, his gang?”

“I did what was necessary. I will always do what is necessary.”

“Even if it means killing innocent people?”

“I would sacrifice the few to save the many, yes.”

I paused, afraid to ask the next question. “Does Rice know all this?” I whispered.

My mother looked down, then up at me. “He knows about the infection, what the Floraes
really are.”

I sucked in a breath. I felt betrayed. Sickened, I could no longer stand to be in
the same room with her. I made a break for the door.

“Amy, wait! Let me walk you out of here. If you’re caught . . .”

I ran out the door and down the hall. When I finally reached the elevator, I was shaking
so badly I could barely hold the key card.

At the first floor, the elevator doors opened and I was staring straight into the
face of Dr. Reynolds. His eyes widened when he recognized me, taking in the lab coat,
my trembling hands.

“Hello, Amy. What are you doing here without an escort?”

I couldn’t even look at him. “My mother walked me to the elevator and sent me up.
It’s my birthday.”

“I know. I also hear you passed your Guardian test. Congratulations.”

No thanks to you
. I pushed past him, desperate to reach the outside.

I heard him call after me: “Good-bye, Amy. I’ll see you later.” From his mouth it
sounded like a threat.

• • •

When my mother comes to visit me, I pretend to be drugged. I don’t look at her when
she sits next to me or puts her hand on my shoulder
.

“I’ve asked Dr. Reynolds to give you another psyche-eval. He’s going to, as a special
favor to me,” she tells me
.

I look at her sharply and I can see she is surprised. I try to dull my face, act uninterested.
“That’s nice, Mom.” I turn back to the television
.

“I just want you to know, Amy, that all the things I did . . . I have to make up for
them. I know what I’m responsible for, and I can never forget it.” There are tears
streaming down her face now
.

I stare straight ahead until she gets up to leave, kissing me on the top of my head
.

• • •

I wasn’t back in my mother’s apartment for more than a few minutes before there was
a knock at the door. When I didn’t answer, Rice came in anyway, looking jubilant.
He thought we were going to have the mother of all parties tonight, to celebrate my
birthday and my becoming a Guardian.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw my tearstained face. “What happened?”

“I found out my mother is responsible for the apocalypse,” I whispered.

“What . . .?” His jaw dropped.

“I know the secret . . . about the Floraes. I know what they are.” I reached into
my pocket and fished out his key card, holding it up. He took it back solemnly and
sat next to me on the couch.

“I killed Vivian,” I told him, unable to meet his gaze.

“No you didn’t. Even if you killed a Florae that used to be Vivian . . . it wasn’t
her. Vivian is gone.” He reached out to me but I shrank away. “Have you told anyone?”
he asked.

“Not yet, but people deserve to know the truth.”

“Amy, come on. Let’s talk about this. . . . I think you just need to cool off. There
are a lot of things you think you may know, but really you have no idea.”

“Like what, Rice? What else could I possibly not know?” I was close to sobbing again.

He put his hand on my back. “I . . . ,” he began just as Baby burst through the door.

Happy birthday, Amy!
she signed, running over to us.
Did you pass your test today? Are we having a double party tonight?
She turned to Rice.
Hi, Rice. Do you want to hear about school today? It was fan. We were put into groups
and had to solve a puzzle. My group was the fastest
. . . .

“Hannah, not now. I have to talk to Amy—” Rice clapped his hand on his mouth, alarmed.

Baby took a step back, her eyes wide. She stared at Rice with an intensity I’d never
seen before. Then she opened her mouth and sounded out the syllables.

“Han-naaa.” Her voice was soft and hesitant. I couldn’t believe the sound came from
her.
That’s me
, she signed slowly,
Before
.

I leaped up and hugged her, the tears pouring down. Baby could talk. She had a name.
I turned to Rice, who was watching us with a look of dread. “How did you know her
name?” I demanded.

Rice was breathing heavily. “I think maybe you should sit back down, Amy.”

I went to the couch and pulled Baby onto my lap, unwilling to let her go.

“I . . . I don’t know where to start. . . .” He took off his glasses and cleaned them
on his lab coat before returning them to his face. “Baby—her name was Hannah then—was
in foster care, just like I was. Hutsen-Prime chose us. Some of us, the older kids,
they tested us and singled us out. We were given special treatment, an education beyond
anything we could ever hope for. Some of the children . . . the little ones . . .
they took care of them. They also used them for experimentation.”

Baby was an experimental subject?
Suddenly it was all clear and the truth hit me like a brick. “Is that why she has
that mark on her neck?” I asked.

“Yes. The research team your mother was working with was not only looking for a weapon;
they were looking for an antidote. Something ally soldiers could take to keep them
immune from the bacteria.”

“What does that have to do with . . . ?” I sucked in a breath. “They were testing
the bacteria
on
children
?”

Rice sighed. “Children who had no family, who were lost in the system. Children who
wouldn’t be missed if they had an adverse reaction. The mark is the injection site.”

I hugged Baby close. I couldn’t bear to think of her as Hannah, as some test subject
with no parents to protect her. “And you were a part of all that?”

“To a small degree, yes. I was still only a child myself.” He looked at Baby. “They
lost so many of their original research subjects. . . . When I saw Baby that day,
when I saw the mark, I remembered her. She was always so playful, so friendly with
the other children. She was one of my favorites. Amy, I knew her. I have been trying
to protect her.”

“Do you think she is immune?” I thought of the wound on her leg. Was it a Florae bite?

“I . . . don’t know. I’ve been secretly testing her blood but I haven’t found anything
that would help us.”

“You’ve been testing her? Rice, if my mother found out . . .”
If Dr. Reynolds found out
.

“I don’t know what they would do to her,” he admitted. “I’ve tried to keep her under
the radar.”

“You’ve been keeping her safe,” I said, seeing Rice with new eyes. “Please, you have
to keep helping her. I might not always be around.” I started to tell him about Baby’s
hearing.

“I know.” He smiled.
Baby told me
, he signed. “I’ll protect her.”

I was only allowed a moment of shock before the door opened loudly. I turned, expecting
my mother had come to check on me, but instead I was greeted by Marcus and two members
of the Elite Eight. I scrambled to my feet but immediately Marcus grabbed me and pulled
me away from Baby.

“Sorry, kid,” he said, “I have to follow orders.”

“Rice!” I looked to him, pleading.

“What is this about?” Rice asked, his voice surprisingly forceful. He moved closer
to me and took my hand.

“I don’t answer to you,” Marcus sneered.