Staying awake through the drive was a real challenge. You'd think that we would all be very excited to see the outside world again. But the drive so far had mostly consisted of hills and fields and hills and fields. Sadie had fallen asleep and was already happily snoring on my shoulder. Poor Sadie. The past couple of days had been really rough for her.
If only there was some way for me to make it clear to her that she wasn't evil. This wasn't her choice. She wasn't a monster. There was a monster living in her and that was completely different. Oh well, it wasn't my job to change her perspective. The best I could do was give her comfort and encouragement when she needed it. I could also give her a shoulder to sleep on when she needed that.
"We're almost there!" Dr. Green called out cheerfully from the front seat. She had said the drive would be short. But it felt as if we had all been sitting in the car for at least an hour. Then again, there was a chance that my sense of time wasn't the best. That was just how it felt to me. At long last, we reached the crest of a hill that dropped down into a deep valley. Instantly, I knew exactly where we were.
This was a place that I wouldn't forget as long as I lived even if I wanted to. So much had happened to us in these labs. There had been so much joy and so much suffering. Now, I was returning. But Dr. Green had promised us that things had changed. I nudged Sadie gently until her eyes opened, and she sat up.
At first, she didn't seem to remember where she was. Terror filled her eyes, and she began twisting violently against her restraints. I nudged her again. She paused and then seemed to relax. I glanced around at the others once again. Vera was staring off into the distance with her usual blank expression plastered all over her face. Blake's back was turned to me. She was probably looking down at the labs. We watched in silence as the white buildings emerged out of the fog. They still looked like prisons. In a way they were.
One of the first things that Dr. Green did once we had climbed out of the car was order the inspectors to remove our restraints. We stood in silence for a moment, rubbing our sore wrists. This was it. Somehow, I had expected it to feel momentous. But it didn't feel that way to me. Sadie took hold of my hand, and I pulled her close to me as we approached the towering white building.
"Hm, this is new," remarked Vera suddenly. I glanced in the direction that she was pointing.
"Wow, it sure is!" I breathed. Near the entrance there sat a cheerful little garden. Bright springtime flowers lined the path that led up to the door. There were also several flower beds. A whole bunch of irises had been planted all around this area.
"Doesn't it make the place look a little brighter?" asked Dr. Green. “Our patients. Several of our patients. They started this project together. Everyone works on it from time to time. They wanted to make the space feel a little more unique," she added. Hm, would we meet other infected here? In the past we had all been kept in separate little groups.
This was to prevent the infection from spreading. Maybe things had changed since then. Either way I wanted to stick close to my group. Talking to new people sounded as bad as a death sentence to someone who had spent the past several years only talking to three girls.
"I'll be happy to give you three a quick tour and then I'll show you to your rooms," said Dr. Green.
"Wait, we get our own rooms?" asked Sadie.
"Yes, they're all clean and spacious," Dr. Green said. Well, if that was true, that was new indeed. The hallways were lit with a bright light and Alma could faintly hear the sounds of voices talking nearby. It was quiet and still. But this silence was different from the silence that I remembered. This wasn't an all-consuming silence that devoted everything. Was it my imagination or did the halls feel roomier?
"Over here we have the living quarters for the patients. There's a library to your left and the dining hall is to your right," Dr. Green was saying. One of the doors she gestured to was slightly open. I peered in through the crack. To my surprise the dining hall was filled with people. There were so many of them. All of them were eating and talking and laughing together. I had never seen so many infected in one place. But nobody looked tense or uneasy. There was nothing but joy on those faces. I pulled back from the door. Wasn’t this a recipe for disaster? It was safer to keep the groups small and contained. They hadn’t even separated the infected by age.
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"The actual labs and offices are located further back in the building. But there is a lot of space here for leisure. All patients are also allowed to head outside whenever they want to. It seems like everyone is spending today inside. I can't blame them. After all, it has been a somewhat gloomy week here," Dr. Green went on.
"Do all the patients just wander around here?" I couldn't help but ask. "There are so many of them. Does nothing bad happen?"
"No. I mean we've had a couple of fights and squabbles, but it's been months since our last attack. People here have gained back most of their control. There is a special section for infected who are really struggling but they don't stay there for too long. You see, lifestyle is an important part of recovery. The cure is in the way they live. It is in the food they eat. Once you fall into a routine you will start to heal."
"B-but you keep everyone here. All together and its fine?" I couldn't help but ask again. Honestly, I wasn't following what she was saying. It sounded more like she was describing a diet plan than a medical cure.
"Pretty much. Things are pretty peaceful here for the most part," she added. Now this did sound way too good to be true. None of the people in the dining hall had been wearing restraints of any kind. But no one was fighting. This was the opposite of how the labs used to be. "So, you four will all be right next to each other," she went on. We had entered a narrower hall now. "Your rooms are right here. Each of you will have a bed, a closet filled with clean clothes, and a bathroom with a shower."
"Did you say shower?" Sadie demanded. Her eyes were glowing now. She said shower as if it was some kind of mysterious magical thing. I couldn't remember the last time I had taken a shower.
"I did indeed," laughed Dr. Green.
"What next?" Sadie whispered to me. "A massage parlor and hot tub?" I couldn't help but giggle at her joke.
"So, feel free to do what you like. If you have any questions do not hesitate to tell me. My office is just down the hall. The dining hall will always be filled with food so you're welcome to visit it whenever you want. Do any of you have any questions that you would like me to answer right now?"
"You said that the cure is about lifestyle. Could you explain more please?" I said after a pause.
"Of course. The plague impacts our bodies in a variety of ways. There also seems to be an endless number of ways that it can spread. It changed the brain and the body slowly and trains us to crave strange things. It also slowly eats away at the parts of the brain that help us control our emotions and reflexes. But it is possible to retrain your body by getting it to crave the right kind of nutrition. I know it’s confusing. If you like I can send you some of the research papers I have written on it at some point. That will give you a more detailed breakdown of the science."
"I would like that," I whispered.
"Wonderful! I'll do that as soon as I get the chance. Now, I'm sorry to leave so suddenly, but I do have a lot on my plate," she laughed. "Oh, right, you should take these!" Dr. Green hastily handed us a small stack of papers and then turned to leave. The inspectors followed her. This was crazy. The four of us infected were standing alone, without restraints and without someone watching us. In the past, if we so much as talked, the inspectors would freak out and end up knocking us out. Things really had changed.
"She wasn't lying," Vera whispered. It was as if Vera had read my mind. "Maybe we can be happy here. Maybe we can heal," she breathed.
"Hey now, I wouldn’t place all of my trust in that lady just because she was honest once," Blake pointed out. That was a fair point. We glanced over the papers. These were our documents. But they had been updated to match our ages and number of attacks.
"Well, we all know who we are now," I couldn't help but remark.
"76, have I really experienced 76 attacks?" Sadie whispered. All the joy had left her voice.
"I don't know. Maybe not. Maybe we aren't what they think we are." I nudged her gently. "But one thing that I certainly am is in need of a shower. So, I think I'll see you guys later," I added.
"We could all use a hot shower," Vera agreed.
"I must be dreaming because that sounds like the kind of thing I dream about sometimes. There is nothing I miss more than hot showers! Well… almost nothing," Sadie agreed. The joy was back in her voice and that little sparkle was back in her eyes. That was a good sign. We were all smiling now. My room was small but cozy and the closet was indeed filled with clean clothes.
I had forgotten just how wonderful hot showers felt. To think that there was a time when I had been able to take these whenever I felt like it was crazy. I watched as layers of dirt and dried blood slowly washed away and vanished down the drain. It was like I was becoming a whole new person. My eyes closed and for the first time today I allowed myself to relax fully. I didn't want this to ever end. If only there was a way to make this warmth and this sense of peace last forever. I could have spent the rest of my life just enjoying the steam and the warmth. But the back of my mind reminded me that I had responsibilities and people to look after.
With a groan, I forced myself to stand up and dry off. How wonderful it was to have clean clothes again. The soft fabric was delightfully warm. So, this was normal life. I could certainly see why people enjoyed it so much. But noticing myself in the mirror was a bit of a jump scare. I just wasn't used to seeing myself when I wasn't coated with dust and grime. The Alma in the glass must be some kind of strange alien creature. So, this was me. Huh, this was going to take some getting used to. But it didn't really matter. I headed out into the hall to meet up with the others.