Read Online Through the Killing Glass by Mainak Dhar - Free Book Online
Authors: Mainak Dhar
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revealing several missing teeth.
'My name is
Doctor Steven Edwards, young lady. I have a story that may interest you.'
Doctor Edwards
sat back, munching on his biscuit.
'I was a
virologist working for the US Department of Defense before The Rising. In the
days that followed, I did what many did. I hid and survived the best I could,
and one day I was picked up to go and work in some labor camp in the Mainland.'
'How long were
you in the camps?' Satish asked.
'I spent eight
years cleaning barracks and tilling fields. At first I tried to fight back, but
when I realized there was nowhere to go to and no hope for escape, I gave in.
The beatings and broken teeth helped.'
Doctor Edwards’
response chilled Alice. She had heard of the camps and had talked to people who
had lost relatives to them, but she had never met anyone who had survived one.
She now saw the scars crisscrossing the old man's body and wondered what horrors
he had endured. Having grown up to think of Biters as the ultimate horror,
Alice now realized that her father had indeed been right: the worst cruelty was
what man could inflict on a fellow man.
Doctor Edwards
continued, 'I had resigned to slaving away in the camp until a year ago, when
some folks in the Central Committee had me brought to Shanghai. They told me
that they thought they could create a vaccine against the virus that turned
people into Biters. Based on my background, they thought I could help.'
'Why would they
single you out?'
'Because, my
dear girl, I had worked on the viruses that perhaps led to this monstrosity in
the first place.'
Alice thought
back to the Queen of the Biters and the story she had told Alice.
'Did you know Dr.
Protima?'
The old man
looked down. 'I did not know her personally but I knew she was one of the
researchers. Unfortunately when I did meet her, it was to harvest her dead
body.'
Alice recalled
how Dr. Protima had sacrificed herself in the attack to rescue Alice from the
Red Guard base where she was being held. In the chaos that had followed the
battle, and in wanting to escape impending Red Guard reinforcements and air
strikes, Satish and his men had whisked Alice away from the base, but Dr.
Protima's body had been left behind.
'I took her
blood samples and got to work, thinking they were interested in only a
vaccine.'
Alice explained
about the vaccine Dr. Protima had given her, and Edwards looked away sadly.
'That vaccine
was unstable. It saved you from becoming a Biter, but not entirely. With the
labs the Reds gave me access to and blood samples from Protima, I was able to
refine it.'
Satish leaned
over. 'Is there a vaccine?'
'I couldn't get
an actual sample out, but if I can get to a lab, I do have the details in a
print-out with me. The reason we were trying so hard to get to you was that I
wanted to find out if Alice was real or just a story created by people. With
her blood sample and a lab I could make a vaccine that works.'
'Doctor, how
did you escape?'
Vince had been
silent so far, but now he chipped in. 'Not all of the Chinese are bad. As word
got out about what was happening here, many of our guards were talking about
whether the Biters were what they had been told. Several of them were letting prisoners
escape, even against threat of execution. A young man who had lost his brother
in the Deadland helped me and a few others get a spot hidden on a transport
plane to Ladakh. When the doc told me what was going on, I got him along.'
'What happened
to the others who escaped with you?'
The soldier's
eyes hardened. 'They all died. Every single one of them. There were twenty of
us, hidden among boxes of food and ammunition. We didn't have a much of a plan,
but this was our best chance. When the plane landed, we tried to fight our way
out. We had surprise on our side, but not much more. There were only a couple
of us who knew how to use weapons, and I managed to get Doc out, but nobody
else made it. We got a jeep and drove some of the way, but since
'My name is
Doctor Steven Edwards, young lady. I have a story that may interest you.'
Doctor Edwards
sat back, munching on his biscuit.
'I was a
virologist working for the US Department of Defense before The Rising. In the
days that followed, I did what many did. I hid and survived the best I could,
and one day I was picked up to go and work in some labor camp in the Mainland.'
'How long were
you in the camps?' Satish asked.
'I spent eight
years cleaning barracks and tilling fields. At first I tried to fight back, but
when I realized there was nowhere to go to and no hope for escape, I gave in.
The beatings and broken teeth helped.'
Doctor Edwards’
response chilled Alice. She had heard of the camps and had talked to people who
had lost relatives to them, but she had never met anyone who had survived one.
She now saw the scars crisscrossing the old man's body and wondered what horrors
he had endured. Having grown up to think of Biters as the ultimate horror,
Alice now realized that her father had indeed been right: the worst cruelty was
what man could inflict on a fellow man.
Doctor Edwards
continued, 'I had resigned to slaving away in the camp until a year ago, when
some folks in the Central Committee had me brought to Shanghai. They told me
that they thought they could create a vaccine against the virus that turned
people into Biters. Based on my background, they thought I could help.'
'Why would they
single you out?'
'Because, my
dear girl, I had worked on the viruses that perhaps led to this monstrosity in
the first place.'
Alice thought
back to the Queen of the Biters and the story she had told Alice.
'Did you know Dr.
Protima?'
The old man
looked down. 'I did not know her personally but I knew she was one of the
researchers. Unfortunately when I did meet her, it was to harvest her dead
body.'
Alice recalled
how Dr. Protima had sacrificed herself in the attack to rescue Alice from the
Red Guard base where she was being held. In the chaos that had followed the
battle, and in wanting to escape impending Red Guard reinforcements and air
strikes, Satish and his men had whisked Alice away from the base, but Dr.
Protima's body had been left behind.
'I took her
blood samples and got to work, thinking they were interested in only a
vaccine.'
Alice explained
about the vaccine Dr. Protima had given her, and Edwards looked away sadly.
'That vaccine
was unstable. It saved you from becoming a Biter, but not entirely. With the
labs the Reds gave me access to and blood samples from Protima, I was able to
refine it.'
Satish leaned
over. 'Is there a vaccine?'
'I couldn't get
an actual sample out, but if I can get to a lab, I do have the details in a
print-out with me. The reason we were trying so hard to get to you was that I
wanted to find out if Alice was real or just a story created by people. With
her blood sample and a lab I could make a vaccine that works.'
'Doctor, how
did you escape?'
Vince had been
silent so far, but now he chipped in. 'Not all of the Chinese are bad. As word
got out about what was happening here, many of our guards were talking about
whether the Biters were what they had been told. Several of them were letting prisoners
escape, even against threat of execution. A young man who had lost his brother
in the Deadland helped me and a few others get a spot hidden on a transport
plane to Ladakh. When the doc told me what was going on, I got him along.'
'What happened
to the others who escaped with you?'
The soldier's
eyes hardened. 'They all died. Every single one of them. There were twenty of
us, hidden among boxes of food and ammunition. We didn't have a much of a plan,
but this was our best chance. When the plane landed, we tried to fight our way
out. We had surprise on our side, but not much more. There were only a couple
of us who knew how to use weapons, and I managed to get Doc out, but nobody
else made it. We got a jeep and drove some of the way, but since
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