When Every Second Counts

Chapter 4
... And When it Isn't

Jane awoke to the gentle, yet at the same time urgent, voice. At first it just added to the disorientation. Pushing herself up slowly, she opened her eyes. Her senses adjusted one by one, and she started catching parts of what the woman beside her was saying.

"You're gonna be fine," what happened now? "Just take it easy, but we have to get out of here," why? "Get dressed and come outside ok? I need to check on other patients," and then the woman left, and Jane was alone.

So she dressed. Not her own clothes, she noted as she hastily dressed in the gray army surplus garments. Trying to piece together what happened didn't help much. From what she could last remember, the Deep Eye's were leaving the wasteland. And now a hospital. With a numb shoulder. Great.

So she did what she knew. Followed instructions. Of course it could never be that simple, could it?

Through the doorway was a nervous calm. Doctors were systematically rallying patients from their rooms and gathering them in organized groups. Disquiet manifested itself through nervous glances and shuffling feet.

Jane caught sight of the young woman who had woken her up. The woman was arguing with the leader of a military troupe. Jane recognized the man as one of those assigned for the Tucson mission, though his name eluded her. The idea that such a low ranking soldier would be in charge of anything, let alone that man with other people's lives, was a bit ludicrous.

"You're responsible for this you know," he snarled at Jane when he saw her approach.

"For what?" she asked, confused. More than once she had gotten the urge to hit this man, and now his manner was making her feel that urge again.

"The Barrier's going to fall and it's you and your damn Deep Eyes' fault," he said, as though it should have been common knowledge, "Well, congratulations, Corporal, you just got yourself arrested."

"Wait, if the Barrier is going to fall," Jane said incredulously, "then don't you think you have better things to do than arrest me? What about the people here?" What the hell was going on?

"I think that traitors are a high priority," the man sniffed, "You might give the Phantoms classified information if you're allowed free."

"Excuse me, but how the hell could anyone side with the Phantoms?" Jane asked, "They kill everyone who gets near them!"

"Maybe you could answer that question," the man said simply. Lieutenant Williams, there's the name.

"She's right," one of the patients, an older soldier, said from the sidelines, "No one has ever managed to surrender to a Phantom. I've seen men try. They all end up dead."

"If what he's saying about the Barrier is true," Jane said, addressing the six men gathered nervously behind the lieutenant, "I suggest you find your way to an escape facility immediately because they aren't going to wait for you. And if we stay here, we'll all die." Playing on emotions was not something she liked or knew how to do, but she did not see much of a choice.

"If you listen to her, you're all fools," Williams said angrily, "She is working with the enemy."

"What if she's right though?" one of the soldiers asked. He was helmeted, but his voice seemed unusually young to belong to someone in the force.

When the lieutenant began the answer, the lights flickered. Something about the air became heavy, and an eerie noise pierced the walls of the hospital.

Very few of the patients had not heard the sound before. But to a few of them and many of the doctors had never heard the bodiless scream of a phantom, the sudden whispering was terrifying. Panic broke when the silent glimmer of red suddenly shone though one of the walls. It was death for some, dread for others, and for Jane it was all the distraction needed for her to run.