The Dragon Plague

Chapter 6

Sophie welcomed the new week and the dawn of Monday morning with something like relief. She didn't feel like leaving the house during the weekend, and had spent most of it watching stupid programs on television. The mindless way in which full days flowed fast while sitting in front of the television never ceased to amaze her.

She had breakfasted on a lemon-flavoured drink and a box of oatmeal, then took the first train to work.

She met a checkpoint that screened all those who entered the third ring: a nurse in the uniform of the medical police pricked her finger and a drop of blood touched the sensor.

Sophie had a moment of panic, but then a green light lit up.

"Go on," the nurse announced, smiling.

At that hour there were few people at the station, so it didn't take long for everyone to be screened. Sophie arrived at the medical centre early; she took the elevator to the basement of the building where the centre was, and discovered that neither Amanda nor Lukas were in yet.

Outside the door, however, a queue of people had already formed, so she decided to open and start receiving them. Working would distract her from the dark thoughts of the week end.

The first patient was an elderly lady, with long white hair tied up in a bun and a sweet, slightly absent-minded air. She reminded Sophie of her grandmother.

"How are you today, Mrs...?"

"Lemaire," the old lady said, "Emma Lemaire. And I'm pretty good, considering what I went through!"

"What have you had?"

"At my age! By now I've had everything!"

Sophie smiled and nodded.

The elderly often had a very dramatic way to describe their symptoms. Often she had the impression that they wanted to have a chat more than anything else.

"I came in last week and your colleague... Doctor..."

"Solarin," Sophie suggested.

"Yes, that's the one. Dr Solarin sent me to some analysis, and told me to come back today for the results."

"I'll go and take them," Sophie offered.

Emma Lemaire hesitated: "I had the impression she wanted to see them herself."

Sophie smiled: "I can go through them with you, and if you still have any doubt we will call Dr Solarin".

She went to the lab and found herself face to face with Lukas, who had arrived in the meantime.

He looked scruffy and his hair was little unkempt, as if he just fell off the bed (as he probably did), and Sophie couldn't help noticing how attractive he was.

She averted her gaze and began rummaging among the files of the analysis results. What she was looking for, though, seemed to be missing.

"Did you see Emma Lemaire's file?" she asked.

"Um... I think so, it sounds familiar..." he said, vaguely. "Ah yes, of course, the urgent analyses from last week. Amanda took them."

"Oh. I'll wait for her, then," Sophie gestured at the door.

"There was something weird about them, anyway," Lukas added.

She frowned. "What?"

Lukas shrugged. "Well, I don't remember. Something about strange plague antibodies."

Sophie's mouth dropped: "What did you say?"

"Yeah, there were some antibodies that were definitely out of the ordinary... oh, but calm down, she's not contagious!" he added quickly, noticing her bewildered expression ."If those tests had a positive result I would have done the emergency procedure. I'm not stupid."

"No, no, of course not."

Probably it wasn't anything important, but it was still worthwhile to check those tests with Amanda.

Sophie saw her entering the medical centre: she looked tired, with deep shadows under her eyes; her dark skin was marked by wrinkles of fatigue and worry.

"Amanda, hello. Listen, you know Mrs. Lemaire's blood tests ..?" Sophie began.

"Is she here?" Amanda asked her urgently, grabbing her arm.

"Who? The Lemaire lady?"

"Yes, of course, her!"

"She's in there," Sophie informed her, amazed by her colleague's reaction. "She's not infected, is she?" she asked, alarmed.

Amanda shook her head: "No, no, calm down. Send her to my room, and go on with the other patients. I will take it from here..."

"Because you know, Lukas said that there was something wrong with her plague antibodies..."

"Lower your voice," Amanda snapped, leaving Sophie speechless. "There is nothing strange. I told you not to worry."

"I'm sorry, I was only trying..." she began.

The doctor took a breath, as if to compose herself: "I know. I‘m not angry with you. Just send her to my room and forget about it, OK? Please?"

Sophie nodded: "OK... we'll talk later, right?"

Amanda appeared annoyed: "Sophie, really, it's nothing. Come on, hurry up, the waiting room is full."

Sophie motioned to the next room where the phone began to ring. Amanda answered immediately: "Solarin Medical Centre. What?" she paused "Now? OK, yes, at once."

At that moment a noise, distant at first, distracted them. It seemed to be getting closer and closer.

A high-pitched noise, metallic, annoying. A police siren, or rather two, or even... a group of sirens? It was only when two men kicked down the medical centre door that Sophie realized they were looking for them.

"Medical police," one of them said, "Nobody move. We have an arrest order for Amanda Solarin. She's infected."

Amanda acted before the dust of the ruined door had time to settle on the floor: she grabbed Sophie's arm and pulled her inside the room where Emma Lemaire was waiting and quickly barred the door.

"Oh, Doctor!" Emma greeted her "Just the one I was waiting for! What was that noise...?"

Amanda ignored her, turning instead to Sophie: "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry I have to drag you into this, but time is short and I have no choice. Listen..."

"What...? Are you really infected ..?" Sophie stared horrified at Amanda's hand that kept its powerful grip on her arm.

"Of course not! Listen to me, I said! They mustn't take her. Under no circumstances must they take Mrs. Lemaire."

"Who?"

"The medical police! They came here for her. Her blood is the key to the vaccine!"

Huh?" Emma exclaimed. She looked confused.

"A vaccine...? But then we have to tell them..."

Amanda rolled her eyes: "They don't want it to be created or distributed; they will do anything to stop it."

She gave her the dossier with Mrs Lemaire's analysis: "Keep her safe, they may already know her identity. In three days, Thursday at seven p.m., go to the subway station called Stuttgart. There you will meet a man called Jamie. You will easily recognize him. He will ask you for a password, which is ‘Saint George'. Do you understand? In the meantime, hide in a safe place. Don't trust anybody. Get these," she put a few packs of drugs in her hands, and Sophie mechanically pocketed them.

"They will come in handy."

Someone began knocking violently at the door: "Open now, it's the police!"

Emma winced: "What's going on? What do they want from me?"

"Do you understand?" Amanda repeated, staring Sophie in the eye.

She was on the verge of tears: "I... I..."

"I'm really sorry, but this is too important. All our lives may depend on the blood of this woman. You must keep her hidden until you bring her to Jamie. Do you understand?"

Sophie nodded, sniffling: "What about you?"

"It'll be okay. Now you go," Amanda opened a cabinet where she kept the medicines: to Sophie's surprise, her colleague flicked a mechanism that made the panel and shelves shift laterally, revealing a hidden door inside. Behind it, there was a narrow, dark tunnel.

"Go on!"

Emma Lemaire seemed unsure of what to do, so Sophie pushed her inside the cabinet as fast as she could.

"Easy, easy... my legs!" the old lady complained.

Unfortunately there was no time for apologies.

As she closed the door behind her, the one at the entrance of the room opened up.

Sophie realized she had failed to properly close the cabinet door, so there was a small c***k left. She didn't know what to do, afraid of attracting the attention of the medical police if it shut with a noise.

"What's going on?" Lemaire asked, increasingly confused.

Sophie mouthed her to be quiet. Thankfully the frail old lady nodded, though she appeared terrified.

The next moment Sophie heard the voices of the police officers who burst into the room. She put one eye against the c***k of the door, but all she could see was an empty corner of the room.

"Amanda Solarin, an arrest warrant was issued against you."

"On what grounds?"

Amanda's voice sounded calm and confident, but Sophie knew her well enough to realize how agitated she was.

"Contracting and spreading DH16N10," the cop answered in a flat, expressionless voice.

"That's ridiculous. I have been screened this very morning before entering the third ring. I'm clean."

The policeman did not seem to hear her: "Put your hands behind your head and come with us."

"Why?"

Some nervous noises followed: "I told you to put your hands behind you head... don't get closer!"

"Stay calm, look, I... "

"I told you not to get closer!"

Sophie heard objects falling to the ground, the wheels of the stretcher rolling across the floor, and then a dull, grim sound that she didn't recognize. It took her a moment to comprehend that it was the sound of someone being hit.

Suddenly Amanda fell on the floor, in the very corner of the room Sophie could see. She had to clamp one hand against her mouth so as not to scream: Amanda's face was covered in blood that gushed out of her nose and trickled out of the corner of her lips.

For a brief moment their eyes met, and Sophie could read a mute plea. Go away, what are you still doing here?

Then she saw Amanda dragged away, leaving a trail of blood on the disinfected floor.

For a few moments there were radio noises that communicated something unintelligible to Sophie, the sound of objects being moved, people walking, agitated voices from the waiting room.

Then the silence became heavy and almost unnatural.

Emma Lemaire took Sophie's hand: "We must go, my dear," she said in a gentle whisper.

Sophie nodded, pushed the door shut with a barely audible click, and followed the old lady down the dark alley that stretched before them.