Blood fever
The next day, Lucas met Charles and Alice at the lab. He needed to know what their plan was and he was going to act like he was before with them. No politeness, no airs, just frank conversation, direct with no detour.
"What the fuck was that?" He asked angrily as he entered the lab.
"Good morning to you too," Charles frowned.
"What was that game yesterday evening? Do you want my father to suspect you of something?"
"There's no way you father will find out. He's not that smart."
"How could you know about my mother? My age at the time? If my father finds out we are connected I'm dead and so are you."
"It's common knowledge. I just wanted to see his reaction towards you. I'm glad to see he defended you, protected you."
"What's the point?"
"You did a good job. He's certain you're on his side. There's no way he's gonna harm you, or us. He's so obsessed by his lovely Terra Nova that he doesn't even think about anything else."
"I'm fed up acting like I'm his prodigy son who came back to fight the evil with him. Now you're here, I want this to be over. You said you had a portal ready somewhere. My key is almost ready. When are we leaving this place?"
"Soon."
"When is that? I need to be prepared when we leave. What's the plan?"
"You don't need to know the plan. Be sure it's gonna work, that's all you need to know," he said firmly.
"Are you trying to set me up?" He asked, his eyes narrowing furiously on Charles.
"Boy, just know that the day we are ready to leave, you'll know it," he stated, ending the conversation.
Lucas spent most of the week at the lab with Charles and Alice. They didn't talk about the plan again. Yet, Lucas was sure it would happen soon. His key was ready now and all they needed was the portal, a place and a date to go to.
Alexandra spent her week with Jim and the other soldiers that were doing the training session. Actually, they were the same soldiers she used to go OTG with and she enjoyed it. They were nice to her and she had fun with them. It was really friendly and she appreciated not having to think about how to be with them. They treated her like a colleague, almost a friend, but not in a parental way or lover way, and that felt good. She had made an effort to be nicer to her parents and it worked out quite good. They were almost like a family again. She spent a bit of time with her father, talking about her job. She also started to chat with her mother about everything and nothing. She was avoiding Taylor, Lucas and Damon and it helped her to ease her temper. It was Sunday now and almost 8 in the morning. She was in the locker room with the others. They used to come there and get changed before starting the day.
"Damn it," Alexandra cursed, throwing things out of her bag, looking for something she couldn't find.
"What?" Thomas asked her.
"I can't find my bottle of water."
"Maybe you forgot it?"
"No, I remember clearly I put it there."
"Sometimes we think we did something when we didn't," he shrugged.
"Not me. I know I did this. I can clearly remember doing it."
"Well, unless you want to spend the day without water, you can borrow this."
"What is it?" She asked suspiciously.
"My spare bottle." Alexandra frowned. She didn't like the idea of sharing a bottle with Thomas. Even if she liked him, she didn't really trust him. And even if it looked ridiculous, she couldn't let this feeling go away. "I have no diseases you know," he smiled. She chuckled at the stupidity of the situation and took the bottle he was giving her.
"Thanks."
"Ok boys," Jim started. "Girl," he added, smiling. Alexandra was the only girl in this session. "Today is our last day of training. I hope you all enjoyed this week together. To end this training properly, you are going to pass some kind of exams. A few mini competitions." They all looked at each others, smiling, eager to compete. "First, warm up! You'll run three times around the area. Let's go, go!" They all went out and started to run slowly to warm their bodies up. After the three runs, they all stopped to drink while Jim was explaining what would happen next.
"Ok, so, for this exam, it's Lieutenant Keagan who's going to judge you." Alexandra nearly spat out the water she had in her mouth.
"Thank you Jim," Damon said when Jim stepped back to leave him in front of them. "Ok, soldiers. You're going to have 10 tests. Each test is based on what you've learnt this week. In every test you can earn points. At the end of the day, I'll count them and will tell you who was the best and who needs to continue training more. First: climb the rope." They all followed him to the training camp area and all tried to climb the rope as quickly as possible. The second test was a hand to hand fight that Alexandra easily won against Thomas. The third one was about precision gunshots and once again, Alexandra did a good job. They took a break before the fourth one. Alexandra sat next to Thomas, smiling.
"Not too disappointed I won?" she smiled, giving him a gentle shove.
"I'll survive," he smirked. "I let you win anyway."
"Yeah right!" She chuckled.
"I'm gonna fill my bottle with water. Do you need yours to be filled too?" Thomas asked her gently.
"Yeah, thanks," she replied, giving him the empty bottle.
"I'll be back in a sec," he said leaving her alone.
"The next test is your weakness, you shouldn't brag in front of Thomas the way you do," a voice said behind her. She turned her head and grimaced at the sight of Damon. "He's gonna beat you easily," he warned her.
"Thanks for the advice Lieutenant. I'll try to keep that in mind while I'll be running," she mocked, slightly annoyed. She knew Damon was right, the race would be difficult to win. At least, she would like to not finish last.
"Here!" Thomas said, throwing the bottle to her. She caught the bottle and drank some water. She needed to be hydrated for the race. The route of the race was inside Terra Nova. They could pass wherever they wanted but they had to pass through checkpoints. She knew Terra Nova by heart and she hoped it would make a difference. Damon called them and they all gathered around him.
"Test number 4: race. You start here," he said, pointing a place on a map with his finger. "There are 5 check points, here, here, here, here and here. The final line is in front of the headquarters. I'll wait for you there. You should do this in less than 30 minutes. Jim will lead you to the start." They all followed Jim to the start line, excited by the competition.
"Ready, steady, go!" Jim shouted. They all ran quickly in the same direction. After 5 minutes, distances began to widen between them. Alexandra was not the last but still near the back of the pack. When she reached the first checkpoint, she had no idea of her place. She ran towards the second rallying point, anyone behind her, anyone in front. There were several solutions. Either she was way ahead or way behind. She preferred the first theory. She went through shortcuts known only by her. She kept her fingers crossed, hoping she would beat some of the others. When she saw the second point, Thomas was leaving it. She accelerated her pace, eager to beat him. She remembered her father's advice and how with will and a strong mind you could succeed in everything you try. They ran neck and neck to the third point and until the fourth point. On the way they passed two other competitors. Alexandra was exhausted but wanted to continue. She was too happy to be in the race and she was quite proud not being the last. Her breathing was erratic and she could feel her body growing dim, yet she forced herself to keep running fast. Thomas looked at her, noticing she was out of breath and slowed down to stay next to her.
"Giving up already?" He mocked her, yet concern was audible in his voice. Her face was pale instead of red from the heat of the day and the race.
"Ah ah," she forced a laugh, wincing. She suddenly felt the urge to stop. She could see the headquarters and knew the finish line was few meters away only, but a deep pain in her lungs stopped her. Thomas hesitated but stopped too.
"Alex? Are you alright?" She put her hands on her knees and tried to regain a normal breath.
"I… I…" She stammered, unable to swallow properly, putting her hand on her chest to calm down. Her lips started shaking and she felt suddenly cold. It was more and more difficult for her to breath. She grimaced in pain.
"Lieutenant!" Thomas yelled, waving to Damon to come. Damon saw Alexandra leaning against the wall of a house, her face wincing in pain. He ran to her and reached her in a second.
"What is it? What happened?" He asked Thomas.
"I don't know," he shrugged. "She was ok a minute ago and then she couldn't breathe properly."
"Alex? Alex? Talk to me? How do you feel? Where are you hurt?" Damon cupped her face in his hands to look at her. She was staring at him, panic in her eyes, unable to speak, concentrating on her breathing. Lucas, who was with his father saw the whole scene from the headquarters. His father tried to stop him but he was already gone in their directions. Something was wrong. Alexandra could see Damon saying her name, but she couldn't hear his voice. She could only hear her heartbeat hammering. Her vision started to darken and she could feel her body growing weaker. Her legs couldn't hold her anymore, making her fall down. Her head was burning but her skin was wet and cold. She saw Lucas running towards her. He pushed Damon away and kneeled in front of her, his face worried. His lips were moving, he seemed to be asking questions, but she couldn't hear them. Her heart was racing in her chest. She could feel she was fainting. She tried to stay awake, but the noise her heartbeat was making in her head started to grow louder, making her sick. Inhaling and exhaling was burning her throat. She started to cough and saw panic in everyone's eyes. She looked at her hands and realized they were covered in dark red blood. Her eyes widened in disbelief and she started to cry, her aching body giving up. She felt Lucas pick her up and it was the last thing she remembered. After that, everything went dark and quiet.
Lucas carried her quickly to the infirmary, followed by his father and Damon. When he arrived, Dr Shannon was already waiting for them.
"What happened?"
"She coughed up blood," he said quickly. "She fainted just after. She was mumbling something about a hammer in her head." Lucas put her gently on a bed.
"Oh my god, she's boiling from fever!" Dr Shannon exclaimed. "Her temperature is 105 degrees Fahrenheit!" Lucas was pacing around Dr Shannon, rubbing his face with his hand, anguish growing up in him, an impression of déjà vu frightening him. Charles and Alice stormed in the room, anxiety on their face.
"What's going on?" Charles asked immediately to Dr Shannon.
"Your daughter is having a reaction to something I don't know. She passed out 5 minutes ago." Alice ran to her daughter and pulled up Alexandra's eyelids.
"Her eyes are red," she stated. "Did she spit blood? Does she have a fever? Has she had difficulties breathing?" Alice asked eagerly.
"Yes," Dr Shannon said, surprised. "How do you know?"
"Charles…" She pleaded her husband, tension in her voice.
"We know exactly what she has," Charles told everyone. "We call it blood fever. I had this disease few weeks after we arrived into the Badlands."
"How could she have this now?" Taylor questioned him.
"It takes days, weeks sometimes, to infect you. She must have contracted it when she found us."
"How did you heal from this disease?" Dr Shannon inquired.
"Alice found a cure."
"What cure?" Dr Shannon asked urgently.
"The only cure is a plant in the badlands. We need to go there right now or she won't survive," Alice warned them.
"We are going to send someone immediately to find and bring back that plant," Taylor said.
"No, you don't understand, we don't have the time. People who are not treated within 7 days end dead. We must take her there," Alice urged them.
"All right, I'll come with you," Dr Shannon stated, starting to pack medicines in a bag.
"No, you're too valuable to this colony," Taylor stopped her. "We need you here."
"I'm her doctor. I won't let her go without her doctor," she said firmly. "She's like a daughter to me," she added, pleading Taylor to let her go.
"Think about your own family Elizabeth," Taylor warned her. "You can't leave them."
"We'll take our daughter with us," Alice said hardly. "We'll take care of her."
"I'll go with you," Lucas suddenly said. "I am a doctor too. I know how to go there and I know how to survive out there. I'll do it." His father looked at him suspiciously and noticed the readiness in his voice. He was determined to go and nothing would stop him. He was clearly not asking for permission.
"Ok, but you will take two other soldiers with you," Taylor commanded him.
"There's not enough space for us and two soldiers in the car," Lucas said thoughtfully, his mind obviously already planning everything.
"I'll come," a voice said from behind them. They all turned and saw Thomas at the door. "I'm coming with you." They all looked at each other's and Charles nodded.
"What are we waiting for then? Let's go."
So? What do you reckon? Blood fever? Strange how this disease appears when Lucas' work is over...
