The World Without Flags

“Listen,” Randy says, the impatience obvious in his voice. “We have to get this going. We have to meet Raymond by tomorrow. Get your samples so we can get on the road.”

Doctor Bragg turns toward Randy. I don’t see his face, but I can hear his disapproval. “You should call him President Barber,” he says.

“Don’t worry,” Randy scoffs. “I know what to call him.”

Taking me by the arm, Doctor Bragg leads me out of the room. “I would still prefer we stay out of this war,” he says. “It seems to me we can get plenty of subjects without involving these people.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Randy hisses. “How long do you think we can go around infecting people without them catching on? Huh?” As they talk, they’re leading me out of the room. I follow in the awkward steps of the infected.

“As I’ve said before,” Doctor Bragg argues, “I believe infecting whole populations is wasteful. We could very well do this one by one. Involving these armies seems dangerous.”

I can tell by their tones that they’ve had this argument several times before. “Look,” Randy says in an exasperated tone. “You want to find out how to kill the Worm, don’t you?”

“Yes.” The clipped word has venom in it.

“Well,” Randy says, “this will give you all the freedom you want, trust me. You need to experiment on people, you’re going to need an army. Like I’ve told you a thousand times. You can’t hide it forever. This war was lucky for us. It gives us freedom to work.”

They lead me through the door and into the hallway that leads to the operating room, research space, whatever it is. Careful to keep my jaw hanging open, I think furiously of a way to escape. I have to be patient, wait for the perfect time. I’ll only have this one chance. One opportunity. If Doctor Bragg finds out that I’ve already had the Worm and survived, I don’t even want to contemplate what he’ll do to me. But I have to be patient. I have to wait.

Randy walks ahead of us and opens the door, holding it for us as we pass. When I move by him, he grimaces and turns away. I’d like nothing more than to snap at him, even bite him, give him the scare of his life, but that would give it all away. After we pass, I hear Randy behind us shut the door. “You really need me for this?” he asks.

Doctor Bragg positions me in front of the chair and lets me go. I’m standing where Squint stood yesterday. I can see the door to the outside where Eric and I escaped last time. Everything in me wants to sprint for the door, throw it open, and run for the river, but I beat the feeling down. I could easily get caught. I only have this one chance or I’m dead. With Doctor Bragg, I’m way worse than dead, I’m a living experiment. It takes all my determination to keep from trembling.

“No, I don’t need you,” the Doctor answers, looking back to Randy, who is standing far from me. “I want you to tell me what is happening, why we are meeting President Barber, why we are moving from here.” The Doctor stands up and faces Randy, his face a blank. “You never tell me what is happening until it has already happened.”

Randy crosses his arms, looking at him. Then he smiles his toothy smile. “It works out, doesn’t it?” He throws his hand toward me like I was a chair or a table, just some object he was able to find.

“That is not the point,” Doctor Bragg says flatly.

Randy laughs. “It kind of is the point though,” he says. “Look, you’re good at this.” Randy points at me. “And I’m good at everything else. You lost her, I found her. I wanted her to die with the rest at Cairo, but this is even better, isn’t it? You do your thing, I do my thing. It works out for us, let’s not change things now.”

“It disturbs me that you are so reluctant to share your plans.”

Randy studies him and then shifts from one foot to the other. Doctor Bragg doesn’t move. He just stands there, eyes fixed on Randy, his back straight, his long face emotionless and disturbingly steady. As they focus on each other, I study what I can of the room without moving my eyes. On the chair next to me, where I was strapped down the day before, I see an aluminum tray. On it glimmers a scalpel and several glass tubes, some of which are filled with some dark liquid. I can almost feel the scalpel in my hand.

“Yeah, all right,” Randy says to the Doctor suddenly. “I’ve convinced the Stars that the Gearheads have been spreading the Worm. They’ll give you all the people you need to find the cure for the Worm that they think the Gearheads are spreading. You’ll have all you need. I’ll make sure of that.”

Doctor Bragg is silent, thinking. After a moment, he says, “Good. Thank you.”