I heard the sound of Sadie and Blake's laughter drifting down the hall. Well, it certainly sounded like they had had a nice time. It seemed as if everyone was enjoying themselves here. But I must admit that I was a little shocked to see how unimpressed Blake had been with the gardens. Maybe she needed to get her eyes fixed. She had called them nice. That was the only word that she could think of to describe that wonderful, otherworldly place. Blake was just one of those people who I would probably never understand.
Honestly, I was okay with that. I didn't need to understand her, and I didn't want to see the world through her eyes. Being Blake must be awfully dull. It made me feel a little sorry for her. I set aside my petty thoughts and stepped out into the hall to greet them.
"Heya," Sadie said cheerfully. "Where's Alma?"
"She's taking a nap too," I explained. "Oh, I forgot to tell you guys. A few minutes ago, some workers came by and gave us some card games and things like that. He said we could return them if we wanted," I told them.
"What games did he bring? Did you see Uno?" Sadie asked eagerly.
"I don't know. Sorry, I didn't really look over them carefully. But they are over there on the table if you want to look through them and see." I pointed. Sadie began digging through the box. Blake glanced over her shoulder.
"Yes! Uno! Who wants to play?" asked Sadie.
"I'll play." Blake sat down next to her on the floor and began shuffling the cards. "It's been forever since I've played this. But it's such a simple game that I don't think I could forget how to play it even if I tried."
"Maybe it'll bring back happier memories!" suggested Sadie. "Vera, would you like to play too?"
"No thank you. Once Alma wakes up, I think I'll visit the gardens again. We wanted to see if we could help out with the planting. But you guys have fun," I said. Had I ever played Uno? Honestly, I couldn't remember. There hadn't been any games in the quarantine zone or in the labs. Most of my time I had spent crying and having panic attacks. In fact, that was what most of us had spent our time doing. We had probably played a few games together at some point. But most of the time we spent together, we had spent talking. There hadn't been much to do in the labs other than talk and tell jokes. Surely, I must have played it before. I probably had and just couldn’t remember it.
That was funny to think about. Now it seemed like we couldn't talk to each other for two minutes without it turning into a fistfight. Well, at least that was how it always seemed to work when it came to Blake and Sadie. How strange it was to see the two of them sitting together and happily playing Uno like normal people. This place was definitely having an effect on us. There was no denying that. It was nice here. I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life here. But the others would want to leave once they were cured. A pang of pain shot through my heart.
Was I really that selfish? I should be happy that they had homes to return to. They probably missed their families more than anything in the world. A good friend would want them to head home as soon as they could. I shook myself. This was no way to think. None of us knew what was going to happen. I just needed to focus on what was right in front of me.
"UNO!" Sadie sang out happily. I realized that there was a smile on my face. Sadie's eyes were glowing with those little sparks that I had missed so much. She looked so much like the little Sadie I had met in the quarantine zone. Everything about her had been so filled with joy and bravery, despite all the strange things that were happening to her. She hadn't been frightened. She had so much hope within herself. She had spread that had spread to everyone else around her.
Sadie had talked happily with everyone. She had followed the scientists around asking little questions. Everything about her had been so carefree. It was so sad to think about how hard the plague had hit her. But things would get better now. She could heal and go home and be with her parents again. That was what she wanted, and it was what I wanted for her. Maybe we could still visit each other once this was all over.
Learning to live without these girls was going to be hard. Learning to live alone without any support was going to be hard. But I would find a way. I turned my thoughts away from these sad things and I turned to face Alma as she stepped into the room. She greeted us with a bright smile. Alma certainly looked refreshed and well rested now.
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"Good morning, Alma!" Sadie said cheerfully. "Do you want to play Uno with us? I'm tearing Blake apart right now," she said.
"I'll pass. I'm going to visit the garden one last time. Maybe we could play a round later?" Alma suggested.
"We should all play a game together later!" Sadie suggested. Everything about her was glowing. I hadn't known that Uno meant so much to her. Maybe it was bringing her some cheerful memories. She had often described her family as being very game and sport oriented.
"Maybe we could do that after dinner, Sadie. Are you ready, Vera? Sorry, I really didn’t mean to sleep for as long as I did," said Alma.
"That's fine," I laughed. "Sleep is one of the best pastimes to ever exist!"
"I couldn't agree more. I'm going to stop by Dr. Green's office before we head to the gardens. I want to see if she can give me the files," said Alma. We waved goodbye to Blake and Sadie and headed off down the hall. "I haven't seen her all day. Have you, Vera?" asked Alma.
"No. She must be really busy. Dr. Green; isn't that kind of a funny name? Honestly, I think that it really suits her very well. When I first met her, I had no idea how I felt about her. But I think that she's genuinely trying to make things better for us infected. She had very kind eyes," I whispered.
"Yeah. It is really nice to see that there are still people who actually care about us infected and don't just view us as parasites," said Alma. That word made me shudder. It sounded vile. But wasn't that what the infected were? We fed off of the humans around us after all. There was no denying that we were a threat. I just didn't understand why people acted so cruelly.
Cruelty served no purpose. It didn't protect the uninfected. It wasn't a necessary evil. It was an unnecessary pleasure for the people who used to work at these labs. Thank goodness I hadn't seen any faces here that I recognized from before. Maybe they had all left when Dr. Green took over. Hopefully I would never have to see them ever again. "Vera, are you alright?" Alma asked gently.
I shook myself and smiled at her. "Yeah. I'm doing fine. How are you by the way? Did the nap help you at all?"
"Yes, I'm feeling much better now. Sorry I was in such a crappy mood earlier," said Alma.
"Don't be, Alma. A bad night does horrible things to a person's mood."
"It wasn't just the bad night." Alma frowned. "I'm just a little frustrated. My mind is filled with questions that I can't find answers to anything. I really want to talk about them with Dr. Green. But I can't find her anywhere. She probably is very busy. She has a lot of people to manage. But all of this is so new and interesting to me. I just really want to understand it all," Alma admitted. Ah, that explained why she had been carrying that strange look in her eyes all morning.
"Maybe Dr. Green will be in her office now," I said brightly.
"Hopefully. It's a silly thing to get upset about, I know. Things are nice here and I should be grateful for that. This really is more than I ever could have dreamed about." A bright smile replaced Alma's frown.
"I'm starting to hope that we can actually heal and return home. I can't wait to see my old place and..." she trailed off and glanced at me. I turned away. But it was too late. Alma knew many things about me. I had lost track of the tearful conversations we had shared. Alma deserved to go home.
She deserved to go back to her old life. My friends all deserved that. Happiness wasn't something I would hold against them. But I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't going to miss them. These girls were my home. If I were to return home, I wouldn't even know what I was returning to. We walked on in silence. Dr. Green wasn't in her office. Reluctantly, Alma and I headed outside.
"It's not a big deal. I can wait," said Alma. "There's no rush. I just don't like not knowing where he is. She's in charge of this place but she never seems to be in her office. It's just a little frustrating to me."
"You'll feel better once we reach the garden," I pointed out.
"Yeah, I probably will."
"I still can't believe that Bake didn't like the gardens!"
"She never said that she didn't like them. All she said was that they were nice," Alma pointed out. Nice? The gardens weren't nice, they were breathtaking and beautiful. Everything about them was enchanting.
"Blake clearly needs to get her eyes fixed," I laughed. "Maybe then she'll be able to appreciate them properly."
I could see them now. The sea of colorful flowers slowly appeared in the distance. The air was heavy with the heavenly, sweet floral scent the blossoms carried. We watched as the flowers bobbed in the wind. There was no way that this was real. This place was too beautiful to be a part of this world. Every part of me wanted to dive into the flowers and roll around in their colorful sweetness. My thirsty soul drank in all their beauty as Alma, and I sat at the top of the hill.
"You made the right choice," I whispered to her. "I'm so glad we came here."
"We all choose together. It wasn't just me," she said. "Things really worked out perfectly for us. I never let myself hope. I never dared to believe that there was a cure for us. It just seemed too good to be true. I didn't want to be crushed by disappointment or despair. But now that I'm starting to remember how wonderful life used to be, I want to hope. I want to believe." Her eyes were alive with a dazzling light. It was a light that I hadn't seen in her eyes before.
"Come on, Vera. Let's see if we can help the gardens out." She took my hand and led me down into the valley of flowers. We made our way through the fields to a small group of workers who were planting some bright red flowers in one of the newest flower beds.