The Stark Effect
~Chapter 7~
"Please, Allison, that's ridiculous-" Charles was saying, pacing back and forth in front of an even more exhausted Jack.
"Oh, come on Grant! When was The Last time you felt your pulse?" Charles went to say something, but then changed task and felt his wrist. "Nothing, right? Me neither. We must be lying between life and death. That's why Nathan's here."
Stark cut in, his baby blues filled with confusion. "Wait, how am I here again?"
Henry snapped his fingers. "Well, the answer is simple, compared to everything else that is going on. All of our deaths- or almost-deaths- must have attracted your particles, bringing you back together."
Allison cut in, massaging her temples. "Wait, does that mean his body is back in the real world to?"
"Theoretically, it should be." Henry said.
Jo nodded, resting her gun on her shoulder. "So, how are we going to get out of here?"
No one knew the answers to that. Jack stood up, wincing as he put too much pressure on his injured leg. Allison ran over to him to stop him from hurting himself, but Jack shrugged her off.
Allison grabbed him and stopped him. "What are you doing?" Her voice was kind of harsh, and she cleared her throat.
Jack shrugged her off again. "I'm trying to stand up. We've got nothing better to do, so why don't we do something productive and actually try to find a way out of this death dimension, huh?" It all came out fast and his voice broke at the end, giving away how tired he felt.
Henry gasped and held up a finger. "Eureka! I've got an idea –but it's going to be tricky."
Zoe walked into Global Dynamics, a worried look in her blue eyes. It was almost 11:00 PM, and her dad hadn't arrived home. S.A.R.A.H said that she had heard nothing from Jack since that morning.
Everyone inside Global Dynamics was frazzled and on edge. Zoe spotted Taggart and ran over to him. "Taggart! Have you seen my dad?"
He looked very worried and had dark circles under his eyes. "No, kid, I haven't, but you've gotta come with me." Taggart grabbed Zoe's wrist and pulled her halfway across the building until they reached the infirmary. Stepping through the door, Zoe felt as if she might faint. Lining the wall of the infirmary were six beds of injured, near-death people- her friends. Refusing to let any tears fall, she began walking down the row. The first bed she came to was Fargo's. He had a circular puncture wound about three inches in diameter, only a couple centimeters from his heart. The next was Zane, followed by Allison. They both had similar injures- blood had dried on their heads, and Zane hand some burn marks on his arms and chest. Fourth was Henry. He looked fine, but the paleness of his skin and the oxygen mask he was sporting told Zoe he was anything but. Fifth was Jo, and she looked worse for wear. Blood had dried on her shirt. It appeared like she had been shot right below her heart. Last was that Dr. Grant. His head was bandaged, but blood had already begun seeping through. He had a broken arm, and a broken ankle. There was one more bed in the small infirmary room, but it was unoccupied.
Zoe turned to Taggart, who stood staring sadly at Jo, a few traitorous tears escaping his eyes.
"Taggart," her voice broke as she spoke. "Where's my father?"
Taggart shrugged. "I haven't seen 'im all day. Sorry. 'E'll be over here as soon as he hears about what happ'ned." Zoe sighed and slumped into a seat beside Allison's bed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw what looked like a translucent version of Allison floating behind Taggart. Zoe gasped and threw back the chair. She staggered back, and looked at the injured Allison in shock. When she turned around to look behind Taggart, the apparition was gone.
Allison reappeared beside Jack, letting out an exhausted breath. "Wow...that was...interesting."
Jack gave a weak smile. "What'd you see?"
Allison sat cross-legged on the floor, which everyone else had resorted to doing while she was gone. "Basically, we're all lying between life and death in GD's infirmary...but, Jack... I didn't see you there."
Jack shrugged. "I'm probably just in a different room- yours was probably crowded."
Allison shook her head, not convinced. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure there was an unoccupied bed."
"Well, maybe you already passed, Carter." Stark said, trying to be funny. No one laughed.
"I saw Zoe," Allison continued, ignoring Nathan's comment. "She didn't seem terribly distressed- well, as distressed as she would be seeing us all lying in hospital beds. No, she would have been broken up if you were dead. If you were in a different room, she'd be there. Zoe looked...confused."
Henry sat, deep in thought. This was all so confusing. After coming to the conclusion that they needed to act, the gang got into Allison's car and headed back to GD. Henry's theory was that if they concentrated hard enough on being in the 'real world', then they should be able to get a glimpse of it. Of course, he wasn't certain, but it seemed to work when Allison tried it. Presently they were seated on the floor of the infirmary- whatever room you were in seemed to be the one you could see in the real world.
Allison rested her head on Jack's shoulder; teleporting really did a number on her health. She was exhausted!
"You okay?" Jack asked her quietly, smiling at how beautiful she looked at that moment, her dark hair brushing his neck.
"I'm fine. It just takes a lot out of you."
Zane fiddled with his hands, obviously stressed and anxious to get out of this silent dimension. "How do we get out of here? I mean, it's great and all, being able to see into our Eureka, but I'd rather be back in my own body, if you don't mind."
Jo nodded, her gun discarded and forgotten, leaning against the pale white wall. "Yeah, Zane's right. I want out. We all do."
"How do you suppose we do that?" Fargo asked, pushing his dark glasses farther up his nose. Before anyone could answer, the walls shook as a fierce roar filled the silent air.
A/N: Are you surprised I updated so quickly? I know I am. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review and tell me how I'm doing, apart from my bad updating schedule, of course. Thanks to all who reviewed/story-alerted this!
