"So they're watching us...and you're not creeped out by that?" Andie asked. She had her arms crossed at her chest and her hip popped out to one side.
After the boys came back from their meeting with the Captain they all gathered in a circle inside of their housing. This was the closest thing they had to a team meeting.
"They just want to make sure they can trust us and we won't cause any trouble." Finn explained.
"Why are you looking at me when you say that," Kaid sighed. "when we have Dracula on our team," he extended an arm to exhibit the ex-Duskie, who was also standing in their circle. "And the science experiment with a more than aggressive appetite?" Kaid looked at Jamie now.
"Because in their eyes we're all innocent, are you're the threatening one that sleeps with a gun under his pillow." Jamie retorted.
Kaid rolled his eyes. "It's self preservation."
Finn put his arms out to try and cool the conversation. "Just try and blend in for the next week or so. Okay?"
"We can do that." Andie smiled. She took Kaid's hand in hers. "Let's take a walk and see what this place looks like in the daylight." Grudgingly, Kaid followed her lead out the door.
A part of Jamie wished that his life was as simple as theirs. Being able to just walk around in the daylight or holding hands with a cute girl and not feeling like he wanted to bite her at any moment.
The two left the building leaving Jamie, Finn, and the ex-duskie behind. Jamie laid on his bed and put the pillow over his head.
He didn't think that his headaches were getting any better, but that maybe he was just getting used to them. Still without fail, the headaches came with the sun. Everything just seemed a bit too bright and a bit too loud during the day.
"I'm going to go see if I can find any food." Jamie heard Finn say. "Do you-are you hungry?" He must've been asking the ex-Duskie because he responded, "No. I'm not."
"All right." Finn didn't ask Jamie.
Jamie heard the door click shut and Finn's light footsteps fade away on the brick outside.
Then there was silence. Well, mostly. Jamie could hear the sound of life around him. There were birds chirping, children waking up and starting to play outside, basketballs bouncing that eerily reminded Jamie of a heartbeat…
He rolled over to his side trying to ignore it. He probably needed some sleep. He hadn't slept much the night before-in fact he'd been nearly wide awake. It was probably just because they were staying in a new place and he wasn't used to his surroundings...
His eyes felt heavy now. His head was groggy. He shut his eyes.
"Don't you think it's weird," The ex-Duskie asked just as Jamie was starting to rest. "That even under medical examination they didn't find anything wrong with us?"
"Maybe they don't have as good of doctors as they think." Jamie mumbled.
"Anyone would be able to notice that your heartbeat is slower than it should be, or if they looked into your eyes with a light that they are dilated more than they should be, or the-"
Jamie sighed and rolled over to face him. "All right I get it. I'm not normal. We know this."
The ex-duskie looked at Jamie. "I didn't mean it like that… I just meant. Maybe they've seen it before, you know, someone like you."
"Like me?" Jamie raised his eyebrows. "I doubt it. I'm some fluke."
"Maybe. But maybe it's a mutation that lets you survive the virus. And maybe that got passed on to me when I... bit you." He paused, "that's how species evolve: mutations. Maybe other people have it too."
"So I'm an X-Men now. Cool."
"I don't mean that either." The ex-duskie started over. "Not all mutations are bad. Species can have beneficial mutations like this that help them survive."
"You're starting to sound like Doc."
"That's another thing," he paused, looking for the right words. "I think I'm starting to remember my old life. I think some of my memories are coming back. Or I at least find certain things familiar, which I think are old memories. And I think I understand this virus-as much as one can."
Jamie looked at him skeptically. "To be frank, you probably understand it better than anyone."
"Exactly, and I think I can help. If they have a lab here I might be able to do some research-."
"Save yourself the trouble." Jamie dug Doc's well-loved journal out of his backpack. "These were all the notes that Doc had. A lot of them were about me or tests he did on me. He did more research than anyone. A lot of it goes over my head, but maybe you can understand it." He dropped the book in front of the ex-duskie.
"Thanks." He started to flip through the pages of the journal. "Jamie?"
"What?"
"I'm sorry that I made you worse."
Jamie wasn't sure what he expected him to say but it wasn't that. "You didn't know any better."
"I know what it's like to feel what you're going through, ten-fold. The sun is painful, the thirst is excruciating, and the only thing that offers some sort of relief is blood." He extended his arm and in it was a plastic bottle filled with dark red liquid. Jamie now noticed the bandage across the ex-duskie's hand. "Please take it. It's not much but it will help. You need it. The more you ignore it the worse you will feel."
"You also said fueling your thirst made it worse." Jame said matter of factly. He stood up and walked over to grab the bottle. "Is it even safe for me to drink your blood? Something weird could happen again?" At this point he was wondering if he could come up with any more excuses.
"Smell it."
Jamie opened the cap and gingerly sniffed the liquid. It immediately made the hunger rise to the surface. He wanted it. He couldn't deny that.
"Your body knows what it needs. Denying it will make you feel worse than if you drink it."
Jamie paused and looked at the liquid. He was right. Denying it didn't make him feel any better and the only time he felt relief was after he fed. "What was the name you gave them?"
"Sam. I think my name is Sam."
"Sam," Jamie started. "Thanks." He started drinking the blood.
…
At some point after showering, Jamie had finally fallen asleep. As he was waking up he noticed Sam wasn't in the room anymore. Everyone else seemed to still be gone too.
Jamie guessed it had to be around dinner time. The sunlight was starting to get golden and soft. He figured everyone else was probably eating by now.
The blood and sleep seemed to be helping right now. His body was a little stiff from his sleep but after stretching he felt pretty good. Better than he had in a little while. The feeling probably wouldn't last long though. His ever persistent hunger would be back soon enough.
He grabbed a baseball cap for good measure and headed out the door.
The paths between the buildings were brick. The streets were quiet. The temperature was just starting to drop, but Jamie still wore a t-shirt. The coolness of the air didn't bother him much. He actually preferred it over a hot, sunny, summer day now.
He still walked with his hands in his pockets though. He could at least pretend to be a little cold. He was reminded that he was being watched.
Every other turn or so he would see a guard. They didn't look like traditional army soldiers. They wore all black instead of camouflage. They were pretty much covered head-to-toe-even their faces, so it was hard to tell what or who they were looking at. Jamie just kept moving along, trying to keep a low profile.
He made his way to the center of this mini-city. As suspected, he found all the people gathered at what looked like a food hall. It was a big building with giant garage doors. At one time there were probably giant army vehicles stored here.
From outside he could hear the hum of conversations and the smell of cooked food. It almost made him nauseous.
He gathered himself with a deep breath and walked inside. He looked around for his familiar group of faces and didn't see any. The more he looked the more he thought maybe he was looking in the wrong place.
"Hey!" A voice called out.
A petite girl came up to him. "You look lost. You can sit with us if you want." She smiled and blushed slightly. Her heart was beating fast.
Jamie continued to look around. Finn, where the hell are you? "I'm just looking for my friends. I assumed they'd be here but maybe not." He started to turn toward the exit again.
"You can sit with us and see if they find you." The girl offered.
Jamie looked down at her. She was about chest height to him and still smiling. He could hear his brother now, just try and blend in. Jamie sighed. "Okay."
Her smile grew. "Yay! We don't get many new faces around here. I'm May by the way."
"Jamie."
They walked up to a table of people about the same age. She rattled off names and they smiled and waved but Jamie didn't listen much to who's name belonged to who. He really didn't care to make friends.
May turned out to be a talker and never seemed to pick up on the hint that Jamie wasn't interested in conversation.
"I saw your friends exploring the base today but I don't recall seeing you."
"I was resting." Jamie paused. "We had a lot of traveling to get here"
"Right." May said knowingly.
"I'm surprised they haven't asked you to be a guard yet." May paused. "You look like the type." She placed a hand on Jamie's arm. Her hand felt hot against his cool skin making him flinch. She pulled back.
"And what type is that?" he asked, taking his hands off the table and into his lap.
"Oh you know strong...handsome…"
If Jamie was drinking something at the time he would have spit it all out. Handsome?
"I-uh.."
"Jamie!" Finn's voice called out. He waved from across the room before he came up to the table. "I didn't know you were out. You could've sat with us."
"No worries!" May said. "It gave us a chance to get to know each other." She bumped shoulders with Jamie.
"...Yeah" Jamie stood up and gave his brother a look. Get me out of here.
"See you around, Jamie!" May said as they all left.
"Someone's got a crush." Finn laughed.
"Shut up. I'm blending in, remember?"
They looked over their shoulders to see May waving and smiling back at Jamie.
"I think she likes you." Andie giggled.
Jamie elbowed her in the ribs. They all continued to laugh.
It felt good.
It's been a while since they'd all laughed.
