The Last Boys in Clinton - 5. Getting To The Bottom Of It

Friday

Tamika helped Ryan get breakfast set up for everybody, happy to be useful. Benjamin and Marie-Louise left at 10:00 AM after breakfast. Benjamin had found the article he previously read; it was indeed Mission Critical Labs in Clinton.

When they pulled into the parking lot and walked up to the front door, they noticed the man lying dead in the doorway.

"That does seem to bode well that it all started here."

"Yeah. I hope there ain't a lot of other dead bodies in there."

"I expect a few. Although you're lucky, for two to three days, this body looks remarkably good. No odor, no obvious signs of decomposure."

There were six other cars in the parking lot, more dead bodies were likely.

"You can stay outside, if you wish, Marie-Louise."

"No. I'll stay with you."

Benjamin opened the door, "I thought so. Step over him, if you can."

She thought, 'No shit, doofus,' but said, "I plan on it."

They went inside and roamed through the facility, finding four additional dead people, three men and one woman. When they found Patrick Towson lying in front of a damp sink, Benjamin felt they may have found the infamous subject zero.

"If this happened Wednesday, or more likely Tuesday evening, based on the small number of people here, this sink still wouldn't have water in it."

A voice behind them startled them, "That's because I turned off the water a little while ago. Who are you?"

"I'm Benjamin Fitzgerald, and this is Marie-Louise Small."

The man looked toward Marie-Louise, "I've seen you. You sunbathe just up the street, don't you?" He didn't mention the fact he'd seen her topless countless times. And he was pretty sure, bottomless once as well.

She smiled, "Yeah. I live there."

Benjamin took control, "And who are you?"

"I'm Doctor Kenneth Allen, I run, or rather, ran, this facility."

"Is it true you were close to a cure for cancer?"

"It is. Closer than you may have thought. Something awful obviously happened. I had a meeting at the CDC Wednesday, checked my email Wednesday morning and saw the news that the team had made a breakthrough. I tried contacting people here to get more of an update but was unable to. Then Wednesday afternoon, people started dropping like flies in Atlanta. I couldn't figure it out. I was fine. Thankfully, there were enough people in sealed rooms and hazmat suits for them to continue working. They discovered traces of a compound in the air that was suspiciously similar to what we were working on. Flying back wasn't possible. There were a few people roaming around Atlanta airport, but flights weren't taking off. I drove back up yesterday, came in this morning to confirm my suspicions, and voila, apparent proof someone here goofed. Most likely the cleaning staff, one of which was that gentleman at your feet."

Benjamin wasn’t about to pull punches, "I think it would be more accurate to say someone fucked up, badly. So, you contributed to killing potentially millions of people."

Kenneth Allen sighed loudly, "I didn't pull the trigger, but I helped manufacture the gun, yes. Why are you here?"

"A bunch of us followed signs to a hotel outside of Philadelphia. After some discussion last night, I remembered reading an article about this place. Everybody there had asthma and a few had early-stage cancers. I put two and two together. On a whim, we decided to come check this place out. I'm a med student at Drexel."

"That may turn out to be an important leap in logic. My best guess is that Patrick, the man on the floor, found a sample of the latest compound, thought it was trash and dumped it in the sink. You can see a couple brown drops and the remains of a large test tube in the sink. The drops would be what we called S-43b. Sample 43 with a slight modification in the chemistry. Anyway, apparently, when he turned on the water, he inhaled what was generated and it killed him. Folks from the CDC are on their way here now to take these bodies back and perform autopsies. I have no doubt that they'll find traces of S-43b in their lungs and bloodstreams."

"Do you have any ideas why we're still alive after hearing my, 'leap in logic'?"

"Yes. Speculation, obviously, but I believe that these men and one woman were healthy, with respect to asthma and cancer. The combination H2O plus S43b, apparently had some effect on their brains which caused death. Possibly because the S-43b didn't find any cancer cells to destroy. We're apparently still alive because the asthma prevented rapid absorption, and the compound did indeed find cancer cells to attack, so none reached our brains."

"Pretty detailed speculation, Doc."

"Well, this is my field of expertise, Mary."

"Marie-Louise."

Dr. Allen ignored her.

"Do you have any idea why the bodies seem to be decomposing very slowly?"

"I do, but that would be part of the proprietary nature of Sample 43-b."

"No hints?"

"A form of formaldehyde. So, what do you plan on doing now, Mister Fitzgerald?"

Allen emphasized the mister; to show Benjamin he was talking to someone superior.

"Head back to the hotel, fill in the rest of the folks, I guess."

"Not going to report this to the authorities, are you?"

"What authorities?"

"Like the CDC?"

"You said they were on their way, they'll see the mess for themselves."

Benjamin and Marie-Louise headed back to Ben's car.

"Can you like, find a hotel, or YMCA, or something? I think I need a shower after being near all those dead people. Especially since this fucking mess started there."

"Yeah, sure."

"You can join me in the shower, if you want."

"I think I'll pass."

"You a fag too, like Ryan?"

"No. I'm not gay. But I agree with George and Lionel and would submit that you're an entirely disgusting person. If I wasn't a nice guy, I'd leave while you were in the shower. But I'll at least get you back to the hotel. After that, I request that you keep your distance from me."

"What'd I do?"

"You stared at my groin almost the entire trip up here. And don't think I didn't see you touching yourself a few times."

"A girl can't think about sex?"

"You're sixteen, I'm twenty-three. That's not an acceptable combination. Wait until you find someone closer to your own age."

"What if I don't?"

"I suppose you'll have to die a virgin."

"That's how much you know, mister smarty pants. I've fucked a lot of guys."

"I rest my case. Disgusting. And you can forget that shower. It wouldn't surprise me if you planned on walking into wherever I was waiting, naked, and throwing yourself at me."

Marie-Louise shut up. She had planned on doing exactly that.

Back at the hotel, Marie-Louise tried once again to get into Ryan's pants.

"So, Ryan. Feel like joining me in the pool? We can fool around some."

"Like I said about peeking yesterday. No thanks."

"What's wrong with you? Ain't I pretty enough?"

"I suppose you're attractive enough. But as you so rudely surmised yesterday, I'm gay. Not to be rude, but if my only option for repopulating the world was with you, I'd choose extinction."

Less than a half-hour later, Mathias found Ryan.

"Ryan, that girl Marie-Louise. We need to do something about her. She knocked on my door a short time ago, totally naked and asked me to fuck her. 'Fuck me now, please' were her exact words."

"She tried to seduce me as well. I'd hate to kick her out, but if she doesn't start behaving, I might have to reprogram her room's lock and do just that."

Benjamin happened to be entering the lobby and overheard, "Make that three attempted seductions. I'd be happy to help you throw her out, if it comes to that."

"No need, I've convinced her to leave, somewhat of her own accord."

Henry Green was walking into the lobby behind Marie-Louise, pointing a pistol at her. He was patient enough with her to allow her to dress and gather her things.

"Fine. I'm leaving, you're all a bunch of fags anyway, I bet. Have a happy fag orgy. I even bet you'll try to recruit the kids."

"Fuck off, bitch!" Henry was quite annoyed.

Marie-Louise left, and the four men watched her drive away.

"Don't you think that was a bit of an overreaction, Henry?"

"Not in the least, Ryan. She said I should, how did she put it? Oh, yeah, 'use my balls before they dried up and fell off.'"

Benjamin couldn't hide his mirth, "That would be sort of funny, without considering your condition. She only stared at mine the whole ride north."

Henry wasn't amused, "Well, maybe if she didn't grab them first. I'm sorry if you think I overreacted."

Mathias didn't think so, "Good riddance to bad rubbish, I'd say. I'd buy you a drink, Henry, if they weren't already free."

"Marie-Louise's antics aside. I came down so you could arrange to get the rest of us together, Ryan. I did learn quite a bit from the trip north."

"Great. I'm sure we'd all love to hear it. I'll get some snacks set up and tell everyone else to meet us in the breakfast room at four."

"That's good. See you all again then, and I'll fill you in. Marie-Louise asked about taking a shower from being among the dead people at ground zero, but after that interaction, I think I need one to wash her essence out of my pores."

The others agreed that was a fine option.

Ryan found the rest of the women in the lounge, sharing a bottle of wine and told them about the gathering at four. They all agreed to attend. Ryan knocked on 105's door. When there was no answer, he checked the game room, then the pool. He found the boys swimming in their undershorts. Fortunately, their state of undress did not interest him, but he did tell them to meet in the breakfast room at four.

Four o'clock came around, and George immediately noticed Marie-Louise wasn't present.

"Somebody boot the bitch?"

"As a matter of fact, George, yes. As you so eloquently put it, the bitch has gotten the boot. And you have me to thank for it, but the rest of the men were in total agreement."

"In that case, I will thank you, Mr. Green. I just hope we don't encounter her again."

"As do I."

Lionel added his two cents, "Yes. Thank you. I hope when you kicked her out you actually kicked."

Henry chuckled, "No, there was only implied violence involved."

Ryan got them on track, "Yes. Now that we've covered that bit of business, Benjamin found out some things in Clinton that he'd like to share with us."

Benjamin explained about meeting Doctor Kenneth Allen at Mission Critical Labs, and what had apparently happened there. George was saddened when he heard that people as far away as Atlanta had died as well. That left him no hope that his father was possibly alive. However, he had plenty of offers of substitute parents, siblings, and even one grandmother. All those offers were extended to Lionel, as well.

Then, as they say, 'out of the mouths of babes,' came the big question.

Lionel asked, "So, what do we do now?"

Next Up - "Finding More Survivors"