Apocalypse Life/Issue 12

'Previous Issue - The Blockade

Issue 12 - Let Go
Julius and Alice come in, hands held together, as they get shaded by the large sheet of tanned nylon that roofed the entrance.

He was pulled away by a soldier, forcing him to let go of Alice's hand. Two soldiers suddenly crowd up on him, with one folding up his right sleeve. They obstructed him from Alice's view, who seemed to be receiving an identical treatment.

"What is this?" Jen asks, who was standing at Julius's far left. She was talking to another soldier who was missing the helmet and vest. "What're you guys doing to them?"

"Just some new procedures we have to do," responded the soldier on Julius's left. "Doc's orders." He had a syringe ready in hand. Julius hadn't noticed the other soldier wiping the top side of his right arm with a wet cotton ball. It started to smell antiseptic somewhat.

Jen seemed to look powerless, opting to stand still and wait for the procedure to end. "They're people, y'know," she tells them, impatiently. "Normal, uninfected people."

The soldiers didn't budge. The one to Julius's left inserted the needle to Julius's arm, injects the substance there for a second, then pulls it out. Julius felt the substance flow inside his arm. Other than feeling the small traces of numbness, he felt the same. The two soldiers, who were closely observing him, felt differently.

"He looks fine," the soldier who injected the needle says, looking away after staring at Julius's eyes for a while. They turn to Alice, who had the same thing done to her.

"This one too," another soldier follows. Jen mixes in with the crowd of soldiers and glances both Alice and Julius.

"You guys fine?" she asks them. Julius hears someone mutter "They're alright, Jen" among the group of soldiers. They now seem to be fixated on something else.

Jen brings the pair with her, walking toward another soldier who was talking to someone else. As she was approaching, he dismisses the other soldier.

"Found them on the Wilco Grocer downtown, sir," Jen says to the man. He looks to Jen, then to the pair.

"More survivors, eh?" he replies, exchanging glances between Julius and Alice. "We're holding off on rescue missions, private. We're running out of room." He nods off Jen and walks to meet the pair.

"Corporal Arroyo. You guys are safe now." He salutes them.