"Come on, Kimmie. Don't you dare give up now."
Even amidst the pain coursing through her body, Kim didn't miss the determination in her little sister's voice. She was about to respond when another spasm hit. As Kim waited for it to subside, she realized it was not as bad as the previous ones.
Maybe it's working, she thought hopefully. As that thought passed, she felt a subtle easing of the pain. Suddenly, it wasn't quite so hard to draw a breath.
"Kim?" she heard Kayla call out. "Are you feeling any different? Better? Worse?"
Moving gingerly, Kim lifted her head and nodded. "It doesn't hurt as much now as it did before. I think it's working."
Kayla smiled. "That's good. That's really good." Kim could see her sister looking around before turning back to Kim. "Just keep still and let the antidote work. I've got to help the others." At Kim's nod, she continued, "I'll be back just as soon as I can."
Kim reached for Kayla's hand before she could leave. "Thank you," she said softly. Kayla just smiled and squeezed Kim's hand before standing up and moving away.
Out of the corner of her eye, Kim could see Kayla quickly administering the antidote to Jack and Jennifer, then moving on to the next group of victims. As she watched, Kim realized the pain was nearly gone.
Still moving slowly, Kim raised her arms and looked at her hands. Just a few minutes ago, they had felt nearly paralyzed but now they were responding normally. She put her hands on the ground and pushed herself into a sitting position.
She looked around and nearly gasped at the sight. The entire parking lot and lawn next to the Spectator building were filled with people lying on the ground, moaning and coughing. She could see Kayla moving efficiently among them, administering the antidote, and offering what comfort she could.
Kim could also see paramedics from the line of ambulances working among the victims. Carly was at the far end of the lawn, examining people being brought to her by paramedics and firemen.
As Kim watched, a man wearing a gas mask rushed a young woman over to Carly. Kim felt her heart skip a beat as she realized the woman was the Spectator receptionist. Kim remembered how the girl had fallen inside the building, but Kim had been unable to help. She said a prayer as Carly gave the girl some of the antidote. Please, she whispered. Please don't be too late.
A shadow crossed her line of sight and she looked up to see a police detective standing there. She had to remember his name - Brian . . . Brian Scofield. He had driven her and Andrew home from Salem Elementary the day of the shooting there.
"We don't seem to meet under the best circumstances," she said, surprised by the strength of her own voice.
Brian shrugged. "Are you okay?" He seemed nervous. "I wasn't supposed to leave you. Commander Brady's orders, but. . . ."
"I'm fine," Kim told him.
Brian's entire body seemed to sag in relief. "Oh, good. It's just . . . I don't think, well . . . this Commander Brady hasn't been in Salem very long, and, uh, I don't think he realized that my dad works here."
"Oh." Kim suddenly grew concerned. "Is he okay?"
Brian held up his hands. "I think so. Whatever Dr. Manning is giving folks seems to be working, but they want to take him to the hospital for further tests." He frowned slightly.
Kim could almost read his thoughts. "I really am fine. You should go with your father. I don't need a babysitter. And if you need me to tell that to Commander Brady, send him my way."
As Brian walked away, Kim looked around until she spotted Roman. He was standing with Abe Carver and several other police officers. As she watched him, he turned and caught her eye. A relieved smile crossed his face and she smiled in return, doing her best to let him know she was okay.
Roman stared at her for a long moment, then nodded, and turned back to Abe. Based on his gestures, Kim figured he was doing his best to coordinate the quarantine of the scene.
"Kim?" said a voice back to her right. Turning, she saw Jack and Jennifer both sitting up and looking much better than they had moments ago.
"Are you two okay?" she asked.
"I . . . I think so," Jack replied, looking down at Jennifer.
Jennifer nodded. "Whatever Kayla gave us really seems to work."
"How did you know?" Jack asked, looking at Kim.
Kim did not know what Jack was talking about. "How did I know what?"
Jack moved closer to Kim. "How did you know what was happening . . . the gas?" He paused, as if replaying the events in this mind. "And you called Kayla as soon as it happened. . . ." He looked more closely at Kim now. "This wasn't a surprise, was it?"
Kim gathered her thoughts for a moment. Obviously, there was no need for secrecy anymore, but she was not sure how she could explain it all to Jack. She could also see that Jennifer also was looking at her expectantly.
"If you are asking if I knew there was going to be an attack on the Spectator, then the answer is yes, it was a surprise."
Jack scoffed. "So you just happened to be here at the right time, huh?"
"Or the wrong time, depending on how you look at it," Kim shot back. "But if I hadn't been here, things could have been much worse."
A bit of the anger in Jack's eyes dissipated, but not all. "Okay, you didn't know about the attack, but you knew about the gas. How?"
Kim looked around and could see that people were starting to recover. "Look, this really isn't the time for this conversation. We should be helping these people."
"We will help, but you have a second to answer my question. How did you know?"
Kim sighed. "Shane figured out that Lawrence was working on some kind of deadly toxin to use as a weapon. He had the immunology lab working on an antidote because he suspected Lawrence would use it here."
Jack shook his head, slowly rose, and then helped Jennifer to her feet. Looking down at Kim, he snarled, "So Shane knew about this and didn't bother to tell anybody, not even the people Lawrence had a reason to try and hurt."
Kim took a deep breath and stood up. "It's not that simple, Jack. If the information had gotten out, it would have caused a panic and probably caused Lawrence to go underground. The only chance they had was to try and stop Lawrence before he attacked."
"Well that really worked now, didn't it?" Jack snapped. Jennifer tried to calm him down, but it clearly wasn't working. Jack spun back towards Kim. "You said 'they.' This is what Steve was working on with Shane wasn't it?"
Kim nodded and, for the first time, let herself think about Shane. "Yes, and right now, Shane is missing and, since Steve isn't here, I'm guessing he's out there trying to find him."
Jack looked away. "I'm sorry. I know you're worried about Shane. But I don't understand why somebody couldn't have warned me . . . us . . . about this."
Kim had reached her limit. "You know damn well why they couldn't tell you." She glared at Jack. "You don't have the best history of keeping your mouth shut."
Before Jack could respond, Jennifer stepped between them. "Kim's right. This isn't the time to have this discussion. We need to make sure everybody is okay."
Jack nodded and, without looking at Kim, turned and walked towards a group of people sitting nearby. Jennifer offered Kim a small shrug and followed.
Kim sighed softly as the left. She had not meant to get into an argument with Jack and she could not even blame him for being upset. She knew why Shane had insisted on keeping the information secret, but she also knew that keeping secrets always had consequences.
She spotted Kayla and Carly talking together and began walking towards them. As she reached them she heard pieces of their conversation.
". . . . transported to University. Most of them are elderly or have pre-existing conditions that should probably be checked out," Carly said.
"That makes sense," Kayla replied. "Something is strange though."
"What?" Carly asked.
"That video we saw . . . the victim had spasms and paralysis, but there was no coughing. But here, everybody was coughing-" Kayla stopped as she saw Kim approaching.
"Kim!"
"Hi, baby sister," Kim said.
"How are you feeling? Are you okay? I know I didn't get back, but I saw you standing and talking to Jack and Jennifer."
"I'm feeling fine now," Kim said. "You had your job to do, so don't apologize for doing it." She looked at Carly. "I didn't mean to interrupt. I just wanted to see if I could do anything to help."
"You're not interrupting," Carly replied. "I'm glad you're okay."
Kim hesitated and then asked, "That girl they just brought out." She motioned to the receptionist. "Is she-"
"She should be fine," Carly said. Turning back to Kayla, she said, "You're right about the coughing, but maybe that had to do with the gas. In the tape, it was given with a mask, not through room exposure."
Kim wondered what tape they were talking about, but figured this was not the time to ask. She just listened.
Kayla's eyes narrowed and her brow furrowed the way it did whenever she seemed to think deeply. She turned to Kim. "You haven't felt any kind of relapse since I administered the antidote have you?"
"You mean like the pain and everything coming back?" When Kayla nodded, Kim shook her head. "No. I could feel it working almost immediately, and I've felt progressively better ever since. No relapse at all."
Kayla glanced at her watch and then looked at Carly. "That had to be at least 15 minutes ago. There are no secondary effects."
Carly looked around and Kim's followed her gaze. People who had been lying on the ground, appearing close to death just a few minutes ago, were now standing and talking.
"You're right," Carly said, turning back to Kayla. "Maybe they fixed that."
"But why would they want to?" Kayla wondered. "It made the toxin even more dangerous."
Carly shook her head. "I don't know. I'm just glad that the antidote we developed worked. Everyone seems to be recovering pretty well. It looks like Lawrence's plan failed."
"Yeah," Kayla said, sounding uncertain. "No relapses. . . . Not even any fatalities." She let the words die, but her expression spoke volumes. She was troubled.
Carly seemed to pick up on what Kayla was saying, and she frowned. "Not even among people with prolonged exposures. . . ."
Kim felt a growing unease. She looked at Kayla, unsure of what her sister and Carly were thinking. But she could tell it was bad. Finally, unable to stop herself, she said, "What's going on, Kay? Tell me. What's wrong?"