Untoten Kreuzung: Aftermath
Chapter 4
In the early morning of the next day many of the scientists awoke to news that the new arrival was feeling very ill. This, however, did not raise any suspicion as most marked it off as the effects to her vaccination. Maxis, in spite of the chance for becoming ill himself he insisted on learning more about the future and braved what many of the other scientists, besides Richtofen, would not. Rune had been lying in bed all day ever since she woke to find herself dizzy and feverish.
"So, you're not feeling your best today." Maxis mentioned carefully.
"Yeah…I think it's the vaccination, but it's for the best. It builds my immunity after all." She sickly cheered. Richtofen was leaning near the door, alert for any of the scientists who'd need to tell Maxis updates and the like.
"Ve've taken apart zhat cell phone und have studied it. Most of ze parts ve found ve are now making copies und using zhem to advance our current technology and findings. I have to say I'm very impressed at how such small little things can hold so much memory in your time." Maxis informed.
"Yeah, I can't believe it sometimes either." Rune replied.
She held her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes.
"I feel like I have a migraine. You guys wouldn't happen to have anything to help with that would you?" she asked.
"Ve might have some sort of aspirin to help." Richtofen suggested from his spot near the door.
"If you vould, Richtofen." Maxis subtly ordered. Richtofen took the hint and left the room to get the medicine.
"Now zhat he's out of earshot, I have to ask you something a bit more private." Maxis urged. Rune opened her eyes and stared at him.
"You und him, how is it zhat you know him so vell?" he questioned. She sighed and closed her eyes again.
"You might not believe me, but in my world and in my dimension this whole world here is just a video game." She answered. Maxis raised an eyebrow, obviously curious about this turn of events.
"Ve don't exist in your dimension? Zhat might explain vhy ze zombie onslaught vas such a surprise to your vorld." He mulled over.
"Actually no, in our dimension the zombie apocalypse was caused by a supposed cure for cancer. It turned out to be the worst thing ever to come about in the entire world. Many people who recovered from their cancer found themselves undead within a week and the disease spread to those they'd been in contact with and….well you know the specifics." She informed.
"Hmm….so ve are just in a…video game? Vhat is zhat?" Maxis wondered. Rune chuckled, but knew that she had to explain to him what was so greatly accepted in her life.
"A video game is just as the name suggests. A game played on video, like a television. In our time video games have come very far and some of them look almost life-like in graphics." She explained.
"Ah, so it's more of an entertainment sort of thing." He concluded.
"Yep, and it's one of my favorite things to do. I learned to play them when I was two years old." She boasted.
"Mhmm…back to the subject of zhis whole different dimension thing." Maxis redirected.
"Oh, right. I guess you're going to ask me how much I know about Group 935 and the experiments you guys do, the whole nine yards." She pieced. Maxis nodded grimly, but there was something else he wanted to know.
"Yes, zhat, but I must know. Vell, you must already know zhat I have suspicions about Edward. Vhat I'm vondering is if he's in on something else, if he's trying to usurp me in some vay."
Rune kept quiet and pretended to be in sickly pain in order to think of something to comfort him without putting Richtofen at risk.
"Ed, he's actually just looking out for you. From what I remember there are others in the group that are much more suspicious than him." She lied.
"Who, exactly should I watch out for?" Maxis questioned.
"Hitler's preparing for war, and that's no secret, and in that war there will be infiltrators into Group 935. I know that one of them will be a man named Peter McCain." She informed truthfully.
"Peter McCain….alright, anyone else I should keep a look out for?" he continued.
"No one I can remember off the top of my head." She replied. Just after her answer Richtofen came back in with two pills and a glass of water.
"Danke schön." She thanked pulling herself up.
Rune took the glass of water and the pills, placing one of the pills on the back of her tongue then swallowing a gulp of water and doing the same for the other pill. She sat up for a moment clutching her head, but she eventually laid back down. Maxis cleared his throat and nodded to Rune.
"Vell, I think zhat's enough for today, after all you are feeling ill." He concluded.
She nodded and covered herself with the blanket ready to sleep off her illness.
"I'll have Edward come und check on you every now und zhen, is zhat all right?" he asked. She mumbled in agreement and closed her eyes shut. With that the two left her room and went to attend to their other duties.
As Maxis and Richtofen walked down the various hallways they kept silent, neither willing to converse with the other, until Maxis let a long sigh.
"I vill be returning to Der Riese in two more days, Edward. After I leave you vill once again be head of zhis facility." He informed his assistant.
"Of course Doctor Maxis." Richtofen obliged.
"But…" he warned, "if I so much as hear one rumor about ze Aügener Projekt in zhis facility, I vill return und your life is forfeit. Understood?"
Richtofen continued to stride beside him and nodded affirmatively.
"Jawohl, Doctor Maxis." He replied.
"Gut." Maxis ended.
Shortly after Maxis stopped at the door to his temporary office and went in without any other parting words. Richtofen inhaled and exhaled deeply and made a return to Rune's cell. In the observation room she could see that she was not sleeping well at all. She was tossing and turning violently, as though she were having a vivid, torrential nightmare. He only watched as he knew that it was the Aügener serum taking it's first steps into transforming her into the super soldier he believed she would become.
Schuster made a surprise entrance into the room and he himself was just as surprised to see Richtofen in the room as well.
"Oh, Doctor Richtofen, I thought I saw you with Maxis in the hallways earlier." He started.
"Yes, but I came back hier to see Rune." Richtofen replied.
"And how is she?" he asked.
"See for yourself." He uttered watching Rune intently. Schuster was shocked at what he saw and even more shocked to know that Richtofen was doing nothing about it. He attempted to go down into the room, but Richtofen gave him a dark scowl.
"It's all part of ze process, Schuster. Tomorrow vill be no different." He informed darkly.
He desperately wanted to help her and ease her suffering, but he knew that it would be him to catch the blame if word of this got out, and if he knew Richtofen he knew that he was willing to report to Maxis about this. Biting his lip he retreated from the door and stood by as the young woman endured a torturous sleep.
"Look at it zhis vay Schuster. If she turns out to be ze super soldier ve've alvays hoped for ve vill all be rewarded, vhether Maxis sanctions zhis or not." Richtofen pointed out.