“Yes. Yes.”
They wound around the back side of the building. The grass gave way to jagged black rocks coated in just enough water to be horribly slippery. Michael went over the rocks easily enough, but Gabriel struggled. He kept his gaze downward, focusing intensely on his feet. Every step was painful, and if he slipped, it could mean a broken hip that would never heal, then a walker, and later a wheelchair.
“Look up, brother.” Michael said. “You don’t wanna miss this.”
Gabriel raised his head and heard a peaceful sound that he’d given up all hope of ever experiencing again. His gaze landed on the one thing his heart had most yearned for, night and day, for five long years, and tears tugged at the corners of his eyes.
Ocean waves crashed against the rocks, beckoning him as if he were a lost child. The distinctive aroma of fresh saltwater rose into Gabriel’s nostrils. He smiled, and that smile soon became a laugh. One notion overwhelmed his every thought. He wanted to touch it.
Gabriel rested his cane against a speckled boulder and stumbled through the rocks as quickly as he could manage. When he arrived at the water’s edge, he dropped to his knees. The impact hurt, but he didn’t care. The ocean rushed up to meet him, and he closed his eyes, arms outstretched.
As the water surrounded him, he dipped his liver-spotted hands into the ice-cold waves. Eyes still closed, he pictured his old sailboat, remembering the late-night cruises, the wind, the sky, and the horizon. Smiling as he hadn’t smiled in half a decade, he cupped his palms and splashed water onto his face.
He opened his eyes and stared out into the moonlit expanse. The water had chilled him to the bone, but he’d never felt warmer. He stood and looked at Michael, who had slid over next to him.
“You didn’t have to bring me out here,” Gabriel said. “You have the right to intervene. That’s what the other slug told me, and you confirmed it. That means you could’ve just brought me a sample.”
“Yeah.” Michael shifted his body.
“So you brought me out here on purpose. For this.” Gabriel grinned. “Thank you.”
“I guess… I dunno. I didn’t have to, but I just thought that you deserved something nice for once.”
Gabriel laughed again, feeling a deep, comforting warmth within his chest. He wiped the moistness from his eyes. He knelt and placed his hands back in the water, his fingers resting on the backs of textured shells and wet seaweed. He felt the wind on his damp face as he stared into the horizon and took a mental photograph, because even if all his other memories went to hell, he didn’t want to forget what might easily be his final glimpse of the ocean.
When he started to shiver, he got back to his feet and walked over to Michael. He ran his hand across the giant slug’s spongy back. “So shall we go find this sample?”
“Yep.”
Gabriel collected his cane and followed Michael down the beach. The angular black outline of Bright New Day looked down on them like a watchful eagle perched on the rocks. The night sky was a beautiful sprawl of stars, reflected in the equally beautiful ocean. Tiny gold lights dotted the distant shoreline.
As they moved outside of the public area, a sloping hill obscured their view of the nursing home. After entering a clearing of tall grass, Gabriel spotted the metal surface of a buried pipeline. Using his massive tail like a broom, Michael swept away some of the debris to reveal more of the surface. A thin crack running the length of the exposed metal was slowly bleeding grey, copper-scented water. Some kind of slimy goo had oozed out of the pipe, leaving a black line that led toward the ocean.
The creature had escaped through the pipe then fled to the ocean. Closer inspection revealed multiple sets of streaks, which meant multiple creatures. Gabriel realized that more infected residents had died. His stomach felt queasy.
Gabriel reached into his pocket and pulled out the microscope slide. Crouching—ah, Christ, there’s that back pain again—he gathered a sample of the black slime, careful not to touch it with his fingers. He held the glass up to the moonlight to make sure he’d gotten enough. To his revulsion, the sample actually squirmed.
“Okay. Well, enough of that.” Gabriel tucked the slide back in his pocket.
A light rain began to fall. He’d gotten his sample just in time. As water dripped from the brim of his fedora, he stared out at the ocean and lit a cigarette. Waves rolled more aggressively over the sand, their white froth forming a wound on the beach’s surface.
A few minutes later, they began the long walk back to his bedroom window. He would need to wash his muddy clothes in the sink to avoid suspicion. As for the screen, he would blame that on the weather. Michael had bent it far too much for it to fit back into the window frame, but maintenance could easily replace it with a new one.
“This Black Virus,” Michael said, “with the elaborate deaths and black eyes, there’s something so disturbing about it, don’t you think? Something that doesn’t quite fit?”
Gabriel exhaled smoke. “I don’t understand it. I’ve seen so many diseases in my life, but this particular strain…”
“It defies understanding?” Michael said.
“Nothing defies understanding. But it’s confusing, certainly.” Each step was murder on Gabriel’s leg. His tiny bed on North Wing started to seem like a luxury suite. “The Black Virus is a virus like any other. A highly sophisticated and unique one, perhaps, but still just a virus. I’m not going to treat it any differently.”
“Gabriel, I like you. You’re a swell guy. And I want you to know that when you test that sample tomorrow, you’re not going to like what you find.”
“Why not?”
“You need to see it for yourself, fella. You’ll know why when you see it. If I told you now, you wouldn’t believe me.”
Climbing the hill, Gabriel bore down on his cane for support. “Sounds like a cop-out answer from someone who doesn’t know as much as he claims.” He frowned. “Regardless, it doesn’t really matter whether I like what I find or not. The only thing that matters is that I learn more about the virus so I can find a cure.”
“Gabriel, this isn’t gonna be like AIDS.”
“What do you mean?”
“Finding a cure for the Black Virus… that’s not gonna work, at least not the way you think it will. What you need to do is understand the virus. Because pretty soon, you’re gonna know more about that virus than anyone else in the world, and when you do, well…”
“Care to explain?”
“Ahh. Sorry, I can’t. It wouldn’t be right.”
The top of the hill was in view but still a good distance away. Gabriel paused to catch his breath. “Fine. In that case, just shut up. I’ll work on my cure, and we can eradicate this virus before it infects half the population. Just give me space, Michael. I’ll do all the work.”
Michael’s antennas twisted around to stare at him. “Gabriel, why are you lying to yourself? You know full well that the Black Virus is a lot more than just a disease. You saw it give birth right before your eyes. What kind of disease does that? What’s going on here is something way scarier than a disease.”
The rain was getting heavier, pounding on Gabriel’s fedora. “I don’t understand what you’re saying.” They were nearing the crest of the hill.
With his rain-spotted head, Michael gestured back toward the ocean. “Why do you think this virus is hitting here, of all places? Why here at Bright New Day, where you are? C’mon, you can’t tell me that’s a coincidence.”
Gabriel’s bedroom window came into view, and he worried that someone had seen the open window. He didn’t think so since the light was still off, but he wanted to get back inside as quickly as possible so he could start washing his clothes. When they reached the building, he put his cigarette out against the wall.
