[story] lab rats
author: cleo/istoria (istoria)
email: istoria [at] gmail.com
The panic didn't set in until nearly twenty-four hours had passed. Only then, when Thomas could no longer ignore the tight feeling in his stomach did he dare speak the one question they all had on their minds.
"What are we going to eat?" he whispered.
The other two occupants of the room, dressed in the same white lab coats and blue scrubs he wore, said nothing at first. After a moment, Claire sobbed once and buried her head further into her knees. Sarah reached an arm out and draped it around the other girl's shoulders, looking at Thomas with a mixture of disdain and understanding.
"It's only been a day," Sarah said softly as if trying to remember the reason she was going to disagree with him. "We don't need to start thinking about things like that yet."
"People can live without food for weeks," Claire managed through a few sniffles. "We can wait..."
"Fine," Thomas replied gruffly, crossing his arms against his chest. "What are we going to do for food in a few weeks then?"
"Someone will come get us by then," Claire replied, biting her lower lip.
Thomas looked at her, eyes shifting between disgust and anger. He cast a glance at Sarah but found she didn't dare look up from the spot on the floor she had taken to staring at. "Someone will come," he repeated, not able to keep the rage out of his voice.
Jumping up from his spot on the floor, he strode past the work benches, past the broken test tubes and up to the steel door that was tightly shut. "Do you see that?" he demanded, pointing to the LCD monitor embedded by the door frame. "Do you?" he yelled.
"Tom," Sarah started, trying to make peace between them but still not looking at him.
"That says everything outside this room is bio-hazard level 4. That means everyone beyond this door is dead. That means no one is 'coming to get us.'"
Claire sobbed and turned away from him, dragging herself to the darkened corner to cry. Sarah pushed her hands through her short blond hair with a defeated sigh. "You don't have to be so mean about it."
"I need you two to start taking this seriously," he snapped. "It's been a day, we have to assume it will take a lot more before we can get out."
Sarah looked over at the door, as if trying to will it open. But the steel door stayed bolted in place, refusing to budge until it could verify that the situation outside was no longer fatal to humans. For the second time since it had shut, Sarah wondered if it wouldn't have been better to be on the other side, have it done quickly rather then being trapped in here.
"Which one do you think it was?" she asked, looking at the flashing monitor.
Thomas relaxed a bit, assured that she was really considering their situation, and shrugged. "Who knows? There were at least five viruses they were studying that could have caused this reaction."
"But only one or two that would be dangerous to the outside world," she continued. His anger flared up again and she tried to intercede. "I'm only suggesting that they may have been able to contain it to the facility. There could be other people trapped in safe rooms, there could be people who are trying to get in too..."
"And there could be no one," he stated, hands clapping together in an attempt to bring her back to reality. "We need to plan for the worst, assume that there is no one coming to get us. That if the virus didn't escape the facility and kill off all of humanity then that the entire area has been declared a bio-hazard and no one will be allowed to come get us."
He started to pace, as had been his habit when he needed a break from staring into the microscope for too long. It used to help him think, but now all it ended up doing was illustrate how little space there was in the room. "I can't believe I volunteered for this," he muttered. "Prestigious internship my ass. I should have known there was something fishy when they asked how close I was to my family."
Sarah watched him and frowned. "They wanted dedicated people," she replied, repeating the same argument she had used on herself when she worried over their questions about her social life. "People who weren't easily distracted."
"They wanted people that no one would miss," he retorted. "It's easier to clean up a biological disaster if there are no family or friends that have to be paid off."
"You make it sound like they knew this was going to happen," she whispered, looking over at Claire after realizing she had fallen silent.
"I think they knew that what we were working on was dangerous and might lead to this," he said, looking over at Claire as well.
"It was rather obvious, considering the ton of papers we had to sign before working here," Claire whispered.
"So if it was so obvious, then why are you so upset?" he demanded.
Claire wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm worried about Felix," she sniffled. "Who's going to feed him if I'm not there?"
Thomas laughed, once, shortly and then dissolved into near hysterical giggles. "We're possibly the last people on earth and you're worried about your cat!" he snickered. "Great. That's just wonderful. So while you worry about who's going to feed your precious kitty, I'm going to be an adult and worry about who is going to FEED US."
There was a chirp and three heads whipped around towards the monitor in the door. The screen changed and in neat text, a message appeared. "Would you like food?" it asked.
"Can you hear us?" Sarah said, standing up and walking over to the door.
The message did not change.
"Is there anyone else out there?" she asked, voice unsteady.
The screen went blank and a second later the same message appeared.
"YES!" Thomas screamed before Sarah could say anything else.
"One moment please," the screen typed. A small slot opened beneath it and three M.R.E. rations dropped to the ground. Thomas dove for one and opened it hungrily.
"What is the situation out there?" Sarah asked, placing her hands on either side of the screen.
"Containment maintained. Biohazard level in lab 221 is zero. Food will be available again in twenty four hours. Have a nice day!"
"What about the other labs?" Sarah yelled, pressing her forehead to the screen as if that would get its attention. She listened to Thomas devour his food next to her and realized it was much worse then she had thought. They weren't simply trapped here. They were trapped in this small room with a containment system that could possibly keep them alive for years. It wasn't so much the fear of what would happen if the food ran out, it was the dread she felt when she realized that now there was hope that they might survive this. Not waste away but simply be trapped here for months or years before rescue. She looked at Thomas and at Claire and tried to imagine spending a decade with them in this room.
For the third time since the door shut, she secretly wished she had been outside.
"Cage 221 has discovered the food subroutine. Cage 225 is attempting to hack into the computer system to make the door open."
Johan frowned, his crossed arms tugging the white fabric of his coat tightly against his back. "Sound the alarms in 225, let's see if that will spook them. I want a detailed report of the occupants of 221 as well as a probable survival prediction." He looked over at the well dressed men next to him. "It's surprising that any of 221 would have discovered the food source. It must have been an accident."
"Will this skew the result?" one of the suits asked.
"Not really. Chance will always play a role in experiments, especially when the subjects are human. Gentlemen I assure you, this is as perfect a test of humanity's ability to cope with an end of the world scenario as can be made. You will be well pleased with the final results."
"And the cover story?" another suit asked.
"Holding. The applicants were screened carefully. There isn't anyone who will look beyond the initial accident coverage on the news."
"So there is nothing to worry about," the last suit said, though by his demeanour it was clear he wasn't one of the clients. His tone was firm, his posture ramrod straight in its confidence. It didn't hurt that the name on his badge was on most of the instruments of the room.
"Well," Johan frowned a bit. "There is one thing. You don't know of anyone who would want a cat, do you? I don't want the poor thing to suffer."
the end
email: istoria [at] gmail.com
The panic didn't set in until nearly twenty-four hours had passed. Only then, when Thomas could no longer ignore the tight feeling in his stomach did he dare speak the one question they all had on their minds.
"What are we going to eat?" he whispered.
The other two occupants of the room, dressed in the same white lab coats and blue scrubs he wore, said nothing at first. After a moment, Claire sobbed once and buried her head further into her knees. Sarah reached an arm out and draped it around the other girl's shoulders, looking at Thomas with a mixture of disdain and understanding.
"It's only been a day," Sarah said softly as if trying to remember the reason she was going to disagree with him. "We don't need to start thinking about things like that yet."
"People can live without food for weeks," Claire managed through a few sniffles. "We can wait..."
"Fine," Thomas replied gruffly, crossing his arms against his chest. "What are we going to do for food in a few weeks then?"
"Someone will come get us by then," Claire replied, biting her lower lip.
Thomas looked at her, eyes shifting between disgust and anger. He cast a glance at Sarah but found she didn't dare look up from the spot on the floor she had taken to staring at. "Someone will come," he repeated, not able to keep the rage out of his voice.
Jumping up from his spot on the floor, he strode past the work benches, past the broken test tubes and up to the steel door that was tightly shut. "Do you see that?" he demanded, pointing to the LCD monitor embedded by the door frame. "Do you?" he yelled.
"Tom," Sarah started, trying to make peace between them but still not looking at him.
"That says everything outside this room is bio-hazard level 4. That means everyone beyond this door is dead. That means no one is 'coming to get us.'"
Claire sobbed and turned away from him, dragging herself to the darkened corner to cry. Sarah pushed her hands through her short blond hair with a defeated sigh. "You don't have to be so mean about it."
"I need you two to start taking this seriously," he snapped. "It's been a day, we have to assume it will take a lot more before we can get out."
Sarah looked over at the door, as if trying to will it open. But the steel door stayed bolted in place, refusing to budge until it could verify that the situation outside was no longer fatal to humans. For the second time since it had shut, Sarah wondered if it wouldn't have been better to be on the other side, have it done quickly rather then being trapped in here.
"Which one do you think it was?" she asked, looking at the flashing monitor.
Thomas relaxed a bit, assured that she was really considering their situation, and shrugged. "Who knows? There were at least five viruses they were studying that could have caused this reaction."
"But only one or two that would be dangerous to the outside world," she continued. His anger flared up again and she tried to intercede. "I'm only suggesting that they may have been able to contain it to the facility. There could be other people trapped in safe rooms, there could be people who are trying to get in too..."
"And there could be no one," he stated, hands clapping together in an attempt to bring her back to reality. "We need to plan for the worst, assume that there is no one coming to get us. That if the virus didn't escape the facility and kill off all of humanity then that the entire area has been declared a bio-hazard and no one will be allowed to come get us."
He started to pace, as had been his habit when he needed a break from staring into the microscope for too long. It used to help him think, but now all it ended up doing was illustrate how little space there was in the room. "I can't believe I volunteered for this," he muttered. "Prestigious internship my ass. I should have known there was something fishy when they asked how close I was to my family."
Sarah watched him and frowned. "They wanted dedicated people," she replied, repeating the same argument she had used on herself when she worried over their questions about her social life. "People who weren't easily distracted."
"They wanted people that no one would miss," he retorted. "It's easier to clean up a biological disaster if there are no family or friends that have to be paid off."
"You make it sound like they knew this was going to happen," she whispered, looking over at Claire after realizing she had fallen silent.
"I think they knew that what we were working on was dangerous and might lead to this," he said, looking over at Claire as well.
"It was rather obvious, considering the ton of papers we had to sign before working here," Claire whispered.
"So if it was so obvious, then why are you so upset?" he demanded.
Claire wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm worried about Felix," she sniffled. "Who's going to feed him if I'm not there?"
Thomas laughed, once, shortly and then dissolved into near hysterical giggles. "We're possibly the last people on earth and you're worried about your cat!" he snickered. "Great. That's just wonderful. So while you worry about who's going to feed your precious kitty, I'm going to be an adult and worry about who is going to FEED US."
There was a chirp and three heads whipped around towards the monitor in the door. The screen changed and in neat text, a message appeared. "Would you like food?" it asked.
"Can you hear us?" Sarah said, standing up and walking over to the door.
The message did not change.
"Is there anyone else out there?" she asked, voice unsteady.
The screen went blank and a second later the same message appeared.
"YES!" Thomas screamed before Sarah could say anything else.
"One moment please," the screen typed. A small slot opened beneath it and three M.R.E. rations dropped to the ground. Thomas dove for one and opened it hungrily.
"What is the situation out there?" Sarah asked, placing her hands on either side of the screen.
"Containment maintained. Biohazard level in lab 221 is zero. Food will be available again in twenty four hours. Have a nice day!"
"What about the other labs?" Sarah yelled, pressing her forehead to the screen as if that would get its attention. She listened to Thomas devour his food next to her and realized it was much worse then she had thought. They weren't simply trapped here. They were trapped in this small room with a containment system that could possibly keep them alive for years. It wasn't so much the fear of what would happen if the food ran out, it was the dread she felt when she realized that now there was hope that they might survive this. Not waste away but simply be trapped here for months or years before rescue. She looked at Thomas and at Claire and tried to imagine spending a decade with them in this room.
For the third time since the door shut, she secretly wished she had been outside.
"Cage 221 has discovered the food subroutine. Cage 225 is attempting to hack into the computer system to make the door open."
Johan frowned, his crossed arms tugging the white fabric of his coat tightly against his back. "Sound the alarms in 225, let's see if that will spook them. I want a detailed report of the occupants of 221 as well as a probable survival prediction." He looked over at the well dressed men next to him. "It's surprising that any of 221 would have discovered the food source. It must have been an accident."
"Will this skew the result?" one of the suits asked.
"Not really. Chance will always play a role in experiments, especially when the subjects are human. Gentlemen I assure you, this is as perfect a test of humanity's ability to cope with an end of the world scenario as can be made. You will be well pleased with the final results."
"And the cover story?" another suit asked.
"Holding. The applicants were screened carefully. There isn't anyone who will look beyond the initial accident coverage on the news."
"So there is nothing to worry about," the last suit said, though by his demeanour it was clear he wasn't one of the clients. His tone was firm, his posture ramrod straight in its confidence. It didn't hurt that the name on his badge was on most of the instruments of the room.
"Well," Johan frowned a bit. "There is one thing. You don't know of anyone who would want a cat, do you? I don't want the poor thing to suffer."
the end