Two Alive, стр. 64

“Oh…” Manson showed Burrows a scalpel in his left hand. “Sorry. Did I get you?”

“Yeah, fuck. And what am I supposed to tell the captain if he comes back?”

“By then the meeting will be over and I would be coming back anyway.” Manson turned to leave. “Just stay hidden and make sure no one goes in there.”

The scientist continued walking. He looked down at the scalpel in his left hand and the syringe in his right. He was certain he had pricked the soldier with the syringe but wasn’t sure if he had injected him with anything. It was a mistake and Manson pulled the cap from his pocket to cover the needle to keep from stabbing anyone else. He also decided it was best not to say anything if it turned out Burrows was not infected. But if he was… The scientist licked his lips at the idea of what could happen next.

In the monitor room, Antonio and Miles were told to sit down at the table in the middle of the room, Brandon sitting across from them. The three exchanged a look and Julia dragged a chair over to sit in the middle. She sighed and folded her hands in front of her, letting the silence settle in the room before speaking. Nadine turned around from her display screens to catch a glimpse of the gathering around the table. She watched Manson enter the room after Captain Baker, then quickly turned away when she heard the major’s coughing from the doorway.

“Were you able to settle everyone?” Julia asked Carver when he came bulling his way into the room.

The major marched towards the table, coughing the whole time through gritted teeth. “Everyone’s headed back to their aisles.” He didn’t even look Julia’s way. He was too fixated on the boys. “Though it was difficult to get everyone to calm down, after all that’s happened.”

“And that was all incited by you, Major Carver.” Julia side-eyed the towering man, who finally took notice of her. “Manson.” She spoke over her shoulder to the scientist, not entirely turning his way.

It took Manson a full two seconds to realize Julia had called him. He even pointed a finger at himself like, “Are you talking about me?” He had been daydreaming as he usually did, his mind preoccupied by something else.

“What did you find out? Tell them what you told me.” Julia turned and eyed him fiercely. She wasn’t in the mood.

Manson cleared his throat and licked his lips. “The blood sample I got from Bates did contain trace amounts of the LRS-10 virus. He was, in fact, infected.”

“So, he was infected?” Ben perked up from where he stood near the monitors. After hearing this news his stoic mood started to fade. He found it hard to believe the boys would kill someone in cold blood, but he still felt responsible for Bates’ death. If he hadn’t let the boys in to begin with then maybe none of this would be happening.

“Told you!” Antonio started up and was shaking his head as he just kept saying, “Told you. We told you. Told you.”

“That’s enough, Antonio.” Julia snapped around and the teen quieted, though he kept shaking his head.

“It’s true.” Dr. Chakrabarti leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. “I checked the body. Although it’s dying, the skin is already turning black around the wound where the virus was spreading. It’s the same way with anyone who gets infected.”

“It can’t be said, however, how much the infection had spread and when Bates would’ve turned,” Manson jumped in with an almost indifferent tone. He tilted his head towards Chakrabarti and looked at the medical doctor over the rim of his glasses. Chakrabarti scoffed at him and looked away.

“He was gon turn! He was already turning in the parking lot!” Antonio belted out. “He woulda turned in here! Y’all trippin’, y’all woulda let him in here and he’da killed everybody! Y’all hella dumb!”

“Antonio!” Miles took his bound hands from the table and put them on his brother to calm him down.

“Look man, we didn’t have to go out there to take care of them strikers. But if we didn’t, y’all’d be dead.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Julia said with a sigh. “But if you didn’t come here in the first place, that hive would’ve never found us. They were chasing you two.”

“That don’t mean shit. If they’da found y’all anyway, y’all’d be fucked.”

“Wait a minute? You guys went out there to fight off those freaks?” Brandon’s face was surprised concern.

“We call them strikers… or lurkers when they move slow.” Miles explained. “And a siren brought ‘em here. Sirens just scream and call other infected to a area. Sirens are dangerous. Maybe more dangerous than the others. But not more dangerous than a hive. Hives are the most dangerous.”

“Alright, we don’t need another full breakdown,” Carver interrupted. “You took care of the freaks and then killed one of our soldiers, who may or may not have turned. And even before that…” The major crossed the room to a table that had all the boys’ equipment and picked up an automated rifle, bringing it back to the center table. “You probably killed our other people to get this gun! You’ve been lying to us this whole time and playing games, waiting until we drop our defenses and then whoever’s out there will come in and--” The major went into a fit of coughing and couldn’t stop himself.

“Calm down, Eric.” Julia was forceful but her voice didn’t rise. After rubbing her face from stress and cursing under her breath in Spanish, she turned to the boys. “What happened to our people and how did you get their guns?”

“They killed themselves,” Antonio replied, “They was fightin’ and they killed themselves.”

“We