Sleepers Page 21

  The virus was never cured; it carried on for centuries, killing the young before they reached a certain age. Randy, who had lost two of his own children, decided he was going to come back in time and correct a wrong.

  On his computer were the Doctrines. They documented the virus and the survival of man. They followed a mythical child that was supposedly immune to the virus. Randy came back to find that child and get him to ARC, a government facility developed to protect and preserve mankind. If he could get the child there, he could stop future generations from dying of the virus. The child was believed to have the cure in his blood. The child … was Phoenix.

  I could see Danny was listening to Randy’s every word; Michael was trying to understand it. Beck was in shock, Alex still didn’t believe and me, I ached out a moan.

  My poor son, my Jeremy. Somehow it was easier to believe that God had caused it than a man from the future. Easier because at least if God caused it, I knew for certain my son was in a better place.

  “Why haven’t they cured it?” Beck asked. “You say you’re from over six hundred years from now. Things are advanced, man is so smart. Why haven’t they cured it?”

  “They try,” Randy answered. “They fail. It has become a genetic disease. In order to beat it in the future, the cure has to be found at this time. Supposedly it lies with him.” He pointed to Phoenix. “His DNA changed, mutated; he has the answers and the cure within his bloodstream that can stop future generations from dying. I’m here to follow the Doctrines which have been almost one hundred percent true. Things have changed some.”

  “Doctrines, you mean Bible?” Michael questioned.

  “Another leg of it. But it has become a legacy of man’s rebirth.” Randy answered.

  “And they state Phoenix is immune?” Michael asked. “How did they know?”

  “Since he was the only surviving child, they tested him when he arrived at New Jerusalem or the ARC.”

  Once again, Alex did his doubting Thomas act. “Stop. Hear me out. If the Doctrines state Phoenix is immune and he holds the cure, if they knew it, why didn’t they use that to cure it?”

  Randy paused before answering and he did so gently. “Because by the time Phoenix arrived, the injuries he had sustained were too much and he died before they could use him to help.”

  I gasped. “He dies? Oh my God, we can’t let that happen. We can’t.”

  “We won’t. We know how it happens,” Randy said to me. “If any of you want to read the Doctrines you can.”

  “Who wrote it?” Beck asked. “Do we know?”

  Randy nodded. “Yes. The Original Doctrines were called Logan’s Log. It was written by Bill.”

  This caused me to cock back. “Bill?” It didn’t make sense; how would Bill write Phoenix’s death unless we missed something. “Did we stop something from happening to Phoenix? How did Bill write them?” I asked. “He died.”

  Randy walked over and lifted the tablet. He read, “And the mother, holding the Phoenix child, stood watch in the house of worship with her son while the three men went in search for clues of the whereabouts of the young female paler.” He paused. “The Doctrines refer to the Sleepers as Palers.” He continued. “A large attack commenced. Palers descended upon the mother for the Phoenix child. Hungry for the child, instinctively knowing the child was special. It was there the son fought diligently and gave his life for his mother.”

  “I died?” Danny gasped.

  I felt my heart hit my stomach. Immediately I remember Bill adamantly insisting he stay back with me. Perhaps he thought he could handle them. “Bill knew.” I whispered out. “He knew and switched places with Danny.”

  Solemnly Randy nodded.

  At that moment, I didn’t know how to feel. There was no way I could repay Bill for the gift he had given me. I didn’t know how to react. My lips puckered, my face grew tense and eyes watered as I struggled with emotions.

  “So we’re all in there?” Alex asked.

  “Yes. Except me,” Randy said. “I’m not.”

  Michael waved out his hand. “I don’t want to read it then. I don’t want words on a computer screen to dictate what I did or don’t do.”

  “I’m with you,” Beck said. “I don’t want to read it. I just want you…” He pointed to Randy. “To buffer the pain. Got that. If something is coming and it can be stopped, you stop it or damn well do all you can.”

  “I’ve tried.” Randy replied. “But I’ve failed.”

  Michael said. “Fate. This is where God’s will comes in. If it’s God will to happen, there’s nothing we can do.”

  “Bullshit,” Beck snapped. “I’m sorry, Pastor, but bull. Those words are future, they haven’t happened yet, therefore they can be changed.” Beck growled in frustration. “This is screwed up. It is. Who knows what do to?”

  “We keep going.” Randy suggested. “East like the Doctrines says. You can read it, Beck, if you want.”

  Beck shook his head. “No. No. You just let us know. Buffer. Okay? I don’t want to read it and I don’t want to know too much.”

  “Well, I do.” Alex stated. “I want to know. Hell, I’m in it, right?”

  Randy nodded.

  “Do I die?” Alex asked. After a moment of silence, he raised his eyebrows, bit his lip and nodded once. “I’ll take that as a yes. When?”

  Michael shot out a hand to Randy. “Don’t answer him. No man should know.”

  “When?”

  “Don’t.” Michael said stronger. “Don’t answer that.”

  “When?” Alex asked again.

  Randy looked directly at Alex, and ignoring Michael’s ‘please’ he stated, “Tomorrow.”

  28. Holding out

  I returned to watching over Jessie and holding Phoenix as close to me as I could. The more I thought about it, the more I felt like Beck: I didn’t want to know or read too much about what was going to happen.

  Although, knowing me, I could see me turning the page and saying just one more section.

  It was obvious that the Doctrines were rewritten several times and simplified. The only name that stood out was Phoenix. Everyone else had a title. I was the Mother, Danny the Son. Bill was the Man of Technology, Alex was the Warrior and Beck was the Strong Man.

  Pastor Mike was the Preacher. According to Randy he travels with us. The Doctrines were huge, over a thousand pages long. A part of me longed to read it, but then I knew how much of it was changed.

  I did have Randy find me the section about the church and how Danny died. How did we learn about going to the prison?

  It was stated in the Doctrine as a sign from God. It kind of made me chuckle, because I could see Bill writing ‘it was written on the church sign’ and it being translated as ‘a sign of God’. I guess in essence it was.

  In the late hours, I sat with the computer on my lap, debating on whether to read it.

  That was when Alex walked in. “How is she?”

  “Um ... the same. Not fevered, but not responding.”

  “She’s sedated.” Alex said.

  “What do you make of Randy saying she gets well? You don’t suppose, though, she’s the reason Phoenix gets injured, do you?”

  Alex shook his head then pointed to the computer. “No. I know why you would think that, but I don’t. It’s here if you want to know.”

  “I don’t want to know that. That’s a choice I have to make, you know.”

  “I do.”

  I sighed. “Randy has been my Cliff Notes until I read it. I’m hoping that we change it so much that it does become fiction. According to Randy we’re not far off from getting to New Jerusalem.”

  “But it’s out east, right?” Alex asked.

  “Randy is trying to decipher that with Danny since he’s not familiar with landmarks and everything is different since the Great Quake of the Twos.”

  “Great Quake of the Twos?” Alex smiled. “What the hell.”

  “No kidding.” I held up my hand. “Randy said on February 2nd
, 2222 a huge quake hit and totally changed the face of the eastern seaboard.”

  “Whoa.” Alex sat back. “So the east may not be so east.”

  “Who knows.”

  “Did you ask for the Cliff Notes about me?”

  I bit me lip. “I read that part.”

  “And?”

  “I can’t figure it out.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked. “Doesn’t it say how I died?”

  “It says how you die, but the circumstances don’t make any sense.”

  “Maybe if I read it,” Alex suggested.

  “Maybe.”

  “So in what manner do I die?”

  “You … you get shot in the head.”

  “What?” Alex laughed. “How the hell does that happen? Were you aiming for my legs?”

  “Not funny, Alex.”

  “Yeah, it is.” He crinkled his brow.

  “No, it’s not. As much as we fight,” I laid my hand on his. “We need you. I … need you. I don’t want you to die.”

  Alex gave a gentle smile. “You may not say that in a year. But . . . it’s not gonna happen, Mera. Trust me.” He squeezed my hand. “Come tomorrow, those Doctrines change again. I’m not going anywhere.”

  29. Flipping a Page

  “I’m sorry, Mera,” Beck told me. “There was trouble and Alex died.”

  Those words were spoken to me in the dream and they seemed so real, they caused me to jolt awake.

  I don’t know how long I had been sleeping, not long, but long enough for Jessie to have stirred as well.

  I sat up in the chair to see Jessie sitting on the bed, legs on the floor, staring at me. Just staring at me.

  Her long hair dangled in her eyes as she locked a bone chilling stare on me.

  “Jessie, sweetie?” I whispered in question, standing slowly.

  Her head raised and her eyes took on a better look. My heart was at ease. A few more steps toward her, then Beck entered the room.

  “Hey, look who’s up.” He said walking to Jessie, “Let back down, sweetie, you’re still hooked up.” He gently guided her and Jessie resumed lying down. Beck checked her IV. “As soon as this is done, we’ll start one more and see where it goes.” He touched her arm. “Feel her skin; it feels good.”

  Jessie sat up a bit, slowly, not the robotic and rigid movements usually made by Sleepers. She lowered her head to his arm.

  “Beck,” I peeped out in a warning voice.

  “I’m good.”

  I was fearful my daughter, even subdued, would snap and take a chunk out of his arm. But she didn’t. She merely brought her nose to his arm, inhaled then rubbed her chin against his skin.

  A soft whimper rolled from my chest in gratefulness.

  “Look what I got you,” Beck said and held up a plate. “Are you hungry?”

  I noticed what was on the plate. “Beck, she hates Spam.”

  “I’m thinking, she may not know.” He winked.

  Hungrily Jessie grabbed the slice of Spam, lifted it from the plate and brought it to her mouth. She shoved the entire thing in her mouth, chewed twice and gagged. It rolled out of her mouth in a slow vomiting manner.

  “See,” I said.

  “We’ll try something else.”

  “Where are her restraints?” I asked.

  “Alex took them off,” Beck replied. “She’s not showing any signs of violence. She’s almost like a two-year-old.” He stared at Jessie. “You know, intense therapy could give her some things back. Like a stroke victim. We can try. I’d like to,” Beck turned and looked at me. “I would.”

  “I would really love that, thank you.” I stretched. “So is Alex sleeping?”

  “No.” Beck shook his head. “He went with Michael a little bit ago.”

  As if I touched an electric socket, a shock went through me and I gasped. “What! No!”

  “Mera?” Beck questioned as he stood. “What’s wrong?”

  In a whimper, Jessie held out her hand.

  “It’s okay,” Beck told her. “She’s fine.” He looked back at me. “What is wrong?”

  “I can’t believe you let him go. I can’t believe Randy let him go.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s how it happens. He’s with Michael when he dies.” I flew from the back calling out for Randy as I emerged from behind the altar.

  He and Danny were huddled with the computer.

  “What’s wrong?” Randy asked.

  I was enraged; so many emotions twirled inside of me I didn’t know which one to grab onto first. “How could you!” I blasted. “You promised to buffer. You promised! And you just let him go!”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Randy said.

  “Mom?” Danny asked. ‘What’s wrong?”

  “Alex. Alex went,” I explained. “With Michael. I read the Doctrines. That is how he dies.”

  My voice was loud, blasting; I was about to open my mouth and continue on with my rant when I heard gibberish screaming coming from the back. It was Jessie.

  Spinning on my heels, fearful for Beck, I flew back to that room. Jessie was seated on the bed and Beck in the chair next to her. “What’s going on? Are you guys okay? I heard her screaming.”

  “Actually,” Beck ran his finger down the bridge of his nose as if he were using his hand to cover his smile. “She heard you and like a toddler was just mimicking.”

  I heaved out a smile that came from a breath of relief. Jessie was responding and not violently. She was trying to be human. “I’m okay, baby.” I said to Jessie. “Mommy’s just mad.” I walked to my daughter, laid my hands on her cheeks and kissed her forehead. “I’m fine.”

  Her hands reached up and touched mine.

  My forehead to her forehead, eyes locked with hers, I giggled an emotional laugh. “Beck, she used to scream like that when Daniel and I fought.”

  “My daughter did the same thing.”

  “It’s amazing, isn’t it?” I shifted my eyes to Beck.

  “Yeah, it is. It’s a gift, Mera.”

  I was caught up in that moment, my daughter’s face in my hands. A child I had condemned to die was alive and coming back.

  “Mom.” Danny’s strong voice came into the room. “You can’t just …” he stopped.

  I stepped back from Jessie.

  “Is she okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah, yeah, she is,” I smiled.

  Jessie held out her hand to Danny.

  “Oh, wow,” Danny said in awe, reaching out to Jessie’s hand. “She’s not growling or trying to bite. Alex was right.”

  “Speaking of Alex,” My words sharpened and then I saw Randy. “Why did you let him go?”

  Randy replied. “Is there any stopping Alex?”

  “But I read the Doctrines,” I explained. “After sunup Preacher and Technical Man go out for supplies and to set diversions...”

  Randy cut me off. “And after they were gone too long, the Warrior Man sought them out.”

  I nodded. “Yes. There was trouble at a farmhouse and he walked into it, getting shot.”

  Randy held up a finger. “Stopping Alex was one thing, stopping Michael from doing his work was another. Worse. Alex and I went through the scenarios. We couldn’t stop Michael from going. If Alex stayed behind and Michael went out and didn’t return, what would Alex do?”

  “Go out for him.” I said.

  “Just like the Doctrines. So Alex’s theory was, be Bill.”

  “But that doesn’t mean . . .”

  “You’re right,” Randy said. “But all we can do now is wait for Alex and see. That’s all.”

  ****

  The wait was killing me. They had been gone for several hours and as much as Beck wanted to seek them out, I put up a fight and wouldn’t let him.

  In fact, at one point I threw such a temper tantrum that I actually saw Beck get angry.

  Danny was submerged in the Doctrines. But he focused more on the immediate and what had happened. He, like Be
ck, Michael, and me, fell into the fear of not wanting to know. Not for his own safety, but Danny feared learning about me and Jessie.

  Randy told Danny that if he skipped to the sixth chapter, then he wouldn’t know any people. Bill was moved into a technological position and wrote the remaining Doctrines to his death, and most are based on what people had told him.

  I didn’t understand the Doctrines and why they were so important. They weren’t the supposed word of God like the Bible.

  Randy explained, “It’s more than just the story of the Phoenix child. It really is. It goes beyond the walls of the New Jerusalem and how people survived, the lessons learned. There’s a lot to be said about the forefathers and their struggle to rebuild beyond an iron wall.”

  “What does it say about us finding it?” I asked. “I mean how do we find it? Does the Doctrine say?”

  “It says Prison Man, Miles, was the first to hear from them and it was during Bill’s contact with Miles that they learned or rather you learned.”

  Again with his name, I sighed. “Bill. He always played with that radio.”

  “Yeah, and now that we have someone to communicate with, Bill’s gone.”

  Danny’s spoke up softly as he read aloud. “And shortly after, those behind the prison sanctuary were brought to the safely of the New Jerusalem and the Palers were unleashed upon the city for their reckoning.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Reckoning?” I asked Randy.

  “It never was clear what that meant,” Randy answered. “Some say it meant that they roamed until they passed on. Most believe it was God.”

  “It says here,” Danny stood up. “We stay at this church for two moons. Does that mean nights or moon cycles?” He walked to us, reading. “It was then word was received from the Prison Man, and the Technological Man urged the group to move east in search of the New Jerusalem because the reckoning was at hand.”

  Speaking my understanding of this passage, I said. “So Miles and his people get rescued and Bill urges us to go to find the New Jerusalem.”