Chapter 8 Chapter 7

The sun had just set, and it was not completely dark yet.A thin afterglow hangs over the ground as Vic Palfrey wakes up from his lethargy for a brief moment during what the filmmakers call his "magic moment." I'm going to die, he thought.These words resounded strangely in his mind, and he had a hallucination, thinking that he had yelled, but he didn't. He looked around and saw a hospital bed. He felt that his lungs were filled with water, so he bent down to try to sit up, only to find that he was tightly wrapped in copper wire, and the sides of the bed were turned up.Seems to have suffered a lot, he thought, a little amused.What the hell.Finally, I remembered: where am I?

Around his neck was a saliva scarf, which was covered with phlegm.My head hurts again, and all kinds of strange thoughts flicker in my mind.He knew that he had been in a coma just now... maybe he would pass out again.He is really sick. Judging from the current situation, he won't recover quickly, and he can't even talk about getting better. It's just a moment of relief. He touched his forehead with the inside of his right wrist, and immediately bounced back, as if scorched by a stove.Boy, it's burning really badly.There were tubes all over his body, two thin transparent tubes came out of his nostrils, and one coiled out from under the bed sheet, and was connected to a bottle on the floor. As for what part the other end was connected to, he had no idea. very clear.Two bottles were hung on the shelf beside the bed, and two tubes protruded from each, which were combined into one above the head and inserted into the arms into a Y shape.This is given intravenously.

Don't you think that's enough, he thought.In addition to these pipes, there are seven twisted and eight twisted wires.On the scalp, on the chest, and on the left arm, there is also one that seems to be glued to the navel, covering the navel tightly.He's pretty sure something's stuck in his ass too.God knows what the hell it is, it can't be a fucking radar, right? "Hi!" He wanted to yell loudly, but what came out of his mouth was a groan that was as if he was under a serious illness.The voice was finally squeezed out, and the sticky phlegm in his throat almost made him unable to breathe.

Mom, did George bring the horse in? He began to ramble, and his disordered consciousness flashed across like a meteor.At that moment, he was almost completely hallucinated.I don't have long to live, he thought.The thought made him panic.Looking at his bony arms, he estimates he's lost at least 30 pounds, and that's just the beginning.This disease...who knows what it is...will kill him sooner or later.He'd babble like a frail old man, and die.Thinking of this, he couldn't help but shudder. George went on a date with Norma Willis.Vic, you lead the horse yourself, and hang up the hay sack, be good.

Not my business. Victor, you love mom, don't you? yes, but it's not You really love mom, don't you?Mom has a cold. No, it's not a cold, Mom.It's tuberculosis, and you'll die if you get it.If George goes to North Korea, he will die within 6 days, which is the time to write a letter, and then bang!boom!boom!george is... Vic, help mother, bring the horse in, I say one last time. "It's me who has a cold, not her," he muttered, regaining his senses, "it's me." He looked at the door of the room, thinking that even a hospital would not have such a ridiculous door.The corners are rounded, the frame is riveted, and the lower frame is at least 6 inches above the tile floor.Even a third-rate carpenter like Vic Palfrey...

Give me the comic strip, Vic, you've been looking at it long enough! Mom, he stole my comic book!give me back!give me back! ...wouldn't make the door like this.This is a fan... (iron gate) There seemed to be a nail in Vic's consciousness, driving deep into his brain, and he tried desperately to sit up so that he could take a closer look at the door.Yes, that's true, an iron door.How could he be in a hospital with iron gates?What happened?Are you really going to die?Is it really time to think about how to meet God?God, what happened?He was very desperate, and tried his best to penetrate the thick gray fog, but only the sound of voices came from a distance, and he couldn't recognize who was speaking.

If you ask me...they're just talking...inflation to hell with it... You'd better turn off the pump, Harper. (Harpo? Is that Harpo Schom? Who is he? I know the name well.) They're dead, so... Give me your hand and I'll pull you out... Give me your comic strip, Vic. The sun dipped slowly behind the horizon, and the light-controlled ceiling lights in Vic's room came on automatically.It was only then that Vic noticed that there were faces behind the double glass, watching him seriously.He screamed, and the first thought that flashed was that these people were talking in his mind.One of them, in a white coat, was gesturing eagerly to someone out of Vic's field of vision.Vic was too frightened to be frightened.The light that was turned on silently just now, and the faces that stared intently (like a jury of ghosts in white coats), made him sober up a lot, and he finally knew where it was.Atlanta.Atlanta, Georgia.These guys came and took him, Harper, and Norm and his wife and kids, and they took Hank Carmichael and Stu Redman.God knows who else.Vic was startled and angry.He was sneezing and running, but it wasn't cholera, much less the strange disease that had plagued the unfortunate Campion and his family.He had a low-grade fever and remembered Norm Bruitt staggering and being helped onto the plane.His wife yelled.Little Brueter was crying too...crying and coughing.A harsh, breathless cough.The plane was parked at an airstrip outside Braintree.To get across from Arnett you have to go over a barricade on State 93 where some guys are putting up barbed wire... barbed wire going into the desert...

The red light on the strange door flashed.There was a hissing sound, followed by the sound of the air pump starting.When the sound stopped, the door opened.Walk in a man in a puffy white inflatable suit with a see-through face mask.His head bobbed back and forth behind the mask like a balloon in a box.He is carrying a high-pressure gas cylinder, and his voice is harsh and harsh, as if it has been processed through technology, and has no human characteristics at all. It is more like the voice of a game console when it defeats you: "Do it again, young man." A piercing voice rang out: "How do you feel, Mr. Palfrey?"

Vic didn't make a sound, he passed out again.He saw his mother's face in the transparent mask of the man in white.The last time Dad took him and George to see Mom in a nursing home, she was all in white.In order not to infect others, she had to be admitted to a nursing home.Tuberculosis is raging, and if you get infected, you will die. He talks to mom...says he'll be good and brings the horse home...tells her that George took the comic strip away...asks her if she feels better...asks if she'll be home soon...white Someone gave him an injection, and he fell into a deeper sleep.The man in white glanced at the faces behind the glass wall and shook his head.

He flipped the switch of the helmet communicator with a click of his chin, and said, "If this injection doesn't work again, he probably won't live until midnight." For Vic Palfrey, the "wonderful moment" is over. "Roll up your sleeves, Mr. Redman," said the pretty, dark-haired nurse. "It won't be too long." She was wearing gloves and holding a blood pressure cuff.The face behind the mask is smiling in a way that makes it seem like they're sharing an interesting secret. "No!" said Stu. The smile tightened slightly. "It's just a blood pressure measurement, it doesn't take more than a minute."

"no." "It was the doctor's order," she said, beginning to be businesslike. "please." "Since it's the doctor's order, let me talk to the doctor." "He's probably busy right now. All you have to do is-" "I can wait for him." Stu said calmly, without any intention of unbuttoning his shirt cuffs. "It's just my job. You don't want to make trouble for me, do you?" This time, she sent a captivating smile. "Just let me..." "I'm not going to cooperate," Stu said. "Go back and tell them to send someone over." The nurse looked a little uneasy, she walked to the iron door, took out a square key and inserted it into the lock.The air pump started, the door swished open, and she stepped out.When the door closed again, she cast a reproachful look at Stu, who responded with a calm look. As soon as the door closed, he sat up in bed and walked irritably to the window--the window was double-glazed and barred from the outside--it was too dark to see anything.He went back to the bed and sat down again.He was wearing faded jeans, a checked shirt, and a pair of tan high boots that were slightly slit at the hem.He raised his hand to touch his face, like a needle prick, and retracted his hand bitterly.His beard grew so fast they wouldn't let him shave. He has no objection to doing experiments, but he cannot accept this practice of throwing people into darkness and terror.He wasn't sick, at least not yet, but had been frightened for a long time.He didn't want to deal with these perfunctory and cajoling words any longer. He wanted to know at once what happened to Arnett, and what did that Campion have to do with these things?In this way, he can at least know what he is afraid of, so he doesn't have to worry about it for no reason. They also thought about asking him something, and Vic could see it in their eyes.Hospitals always have a set of tricks to hide the truth. Four years ago, his wife died of cancer, when she was only 27 years old.It started as something wrong with the uterus, and then the symptoms spread like wildfire throughout the body. How did the doctor avoid her questions in those days: either talk about it or tell her a lot of technical things in general Stu is personally involved in everything.So, he didn't ask anything at all, which, he could see, made them uneasy.Now, it's time to speak, that is to say, it's time to get some meaningful answers, even if it's just a few words. He tried to resolve all the doubts in his heart by himself.Campion, his wife, and children had a very serious illness.The initial symptoms are like the flu or a common cold in summer, but the difference is that it will continue to worsen until the nasal mucus blocks the airway and eventually suffocates to death, or the high fever persists until it burns to death.The infection rate of this disease is quite high. Two days ago, on the afternoon of the 17th, they came and took him away. 4 soldiers and a doctor.They are polite but determined, and resistance is impossible. All four soldiers were armed.From then on, Stu Redman began to feel a deep fear. There was a shuttle between the airstrips in Arnett and Braintree at the time.With Stu there were Vic Palfrey, Harper, the Bruetts, Hank Carmichael and his wife, and two sergeants.They were crowded into a military station wagon, and despite Lila Bruet's hysterical crying, the two sergeants didn't even say "yes", "no" or "maybe". The other cars were packed too.Stu couldn't see who was in the car, but he saw the Hodge family of five, Chris Ortega, Carlos' brother, and the volunteer ambulance driver.Chris is the bartender at Cape India.He also saw Parker Nathan, the old man in the trailer park next to Stu's, and his wife.Stu figured they probably rounded up everyone at the gas station and everyone who had spoken to anyone at the gas station since Campion hit the gas pump. At the border of the town, two olive-green trucks sealed off the road.Stu guessed that other roads into Arnett were likely closed as well.They're putting up barbed wire to seal off the town from the outside world, and possibly posting sentries. It looks serious, very serious. He sat patiently on the chair next to the bed that was completely superfluous to him, waiting for the nurse to bring someone back.The first person you bring doesn't matter.It might not be until early in the morning before someone with a good talker would come out, someone who might say all he wanted to know.He is not afraid to wait.Patience has always been Stu Redman's strong point. In order to pass the unbearable time, he began to review the physical conditions of those who went to the airport with him one by one.Norman was the only one visibly ill, coughing, spitting, and running a fever.The rest of the people seemed to be more or less cold.Lake Bruet sneezes, Lila Bruet and Vic Palfrey cough softly.Harper's nose was always clogged, and he kept blowing his nose.Stu remembers a time when he was a child, more than 2/3 of the children were infected with some kind of germ. He nursed the first and second grade students at that time.The symptoms of these people in front of them seem to be not much different from those of those children. However, what frightened him the most—perhaps it was just a coincidence—was the scene when their car had just driven onto the airport road: the sergeant who was driving suddenly burst into three big sneezes.Most likely just a coincidence.June in East Texas can be tough season for people with allergies.Perhaps, this driver just had an occasional cold, a common cold, rather than a strange disease that infected other people.Stu would rather Gexin be like this.If germs could spread from one person to another so quickly... A military escort boarded the plane with them.These soldiers looked numb, and did not make a sound except to tell them their destination.The plane will fly to Atlanta.Once there, all you need to know is (obviously lying).The soldiers declined to disclose any other information. Harper had been sitting next to Stu, very drunk.This is an authentic military aircraft, but the food and drink are quite good, which belongs to the treatment of first-class air crew.Of course, it is not the beautiful stewardess who takes care of everyone's food and drink, but the sergeant with a deadpan face.As long as you don't care so much, you will definitely feel comfortable.Lila Bruet also calmed down now, hugging her pair of little ones. Harper, smoking a Scotch cigarette, moved closer to Stu, who was bathed in a warm cloud of smoke. "I said Stu, these old boys are really interesting. They are a lot of age, and none of them wear a wedding ring. Professional soldiers, guys who can't get along." Half an hour before the plane landed, Norman Bruett passed out somehow, and Lila started screaming again.Two sullen flight attendants wrapped Norman in a blanket, and he quickly regained consciousness.Lila couldn't calm down, she kept screaming.After a while, she pushed the kids away and spat out all the chicken salad sandwich she had eaten.Two "old boys" came over expressionlessly and cleaned up the dirt. "What's going on?" Lila yelled. "What's wrong with my husband? Are we going to die? Are my babies going to die?" They all buried their heads in her plump arms.Luc and Bobby were quite frightened and looked very uncomfortable, especially because Lila made such a fuss, and the two children were even more at a loss. "Why is no one answering me? Is this still America?" "Why didn't anyone tell her to shut up?" Chris Ortega complained from the back of the cabin. "How can you let a noble lady scream like a broken record player?" A soldier forced Lila to drink a glass of milk, and Lila really shut up.For the rest of the time, she gazed out the window at the vast fields passing by under the wings of the plane, sometimes humming a few times.There must be something else in the glass, Stu thought, besides milk. When the plane landed, four large Cadillacs were already waiting there.The residents of Arnett boarded three of them, and the military escort boarded the remaining one.Stu reckoned that the servicemen who didn't have wedding rings, which meant they probably didn't have families, must be somewhere in the building by now. The red light on the door came on.After that sort of pump or compressor or something stops, a guy in a white spacesuit walks in.It's Dr. Denninger.He was young, dark-haired, olive-skinned, chiseled, with pale lips. "Patty Greer said you were giving her a little trouble," Denninger said as he approached Stu, his voice coming from the speaker on his chest. "She's sad." "You don't have to," Stu said in a relaxed tone.It's not easy to look relaxed, but he really doesn't want this person to notice his timidity.Judging from Danninger's demeanor, he belongs to the type who bosses around the weak and flatters his superiors.This is the kind of man who'll be submissive if he thinks you've got something to hold him back, and whoever makes him feel you're afraid of him will give you that ancient cake: a thin layer of icing— "I'm sorry I have nothing to say"--there's a thick layer of flour underneath, a scorn for the stupid little folks asking for secrets they shouldn't know. "Hope you answer a few questions," Stu said. "I'm sorry, but..." "If you want me to cooperate, please answer my question." "When the time comes you will..." "I'm going to make it difficult for you." "I understand," said Denninger, somewhat exasperatedly, "I really have no right to tell you anything, Mr. Redman, and I know almost nothing myself." "I guess you've done my blood. Look at the needle holes." "Not bad," said Denninger alertly. "Why do you need a blood test?" "I repeat, Mr. Redman, I can't tell you what I don't know." It was that exasperated tone again.Stu believed him a little.He's just a decent technician at the job, and it's obvious he's not too happy with that. "They quarantined my hometown as an epidemic area." "I don't know anything about that either." Denninger subconsciously avoided Stu's gaze. This time, Stu understood that he was lying. "Why haven't I seen any reports about this?" He pointed to the TV fixed to the wall. "What did you say?" "They cordoned off a town and put barbed wire around it, and that was news," Stu said. "Mr. Redman, just ask Patty to take your blood pressure." "No, if you want something from me, you'd better send two able-bodied men. However, no matter how many men you send, I'm going to poke holes in those germ suits. Yours People, I don't think all of them are strong, do you understand?" He grabbed Danninger's clothes playfully, and Danninger jumped backwards, almost falling.There was a screech from the speaker of the intercom on the body, and there was a commotion behind the double pane glass. "I guess you could put something in my meal to bring me into submission, but then your experiment would be off the table, wouldn't it?" "Mr. Redman, you are so unwise!" Denninger carefully kept a distance from him. "Your uncooperative attitude will cause serious damage to the country. Do you understand what I mean?" "I don't understand." Stu replied, "Now it is obvious that the country has caused serious damage to me. I was taken to Georgia for no reason, locked up in a ward, and chatting with a doctor who doesn't know shit. I'm going to get out with my tail between my legs and talk to someone who can make the decision! Of course, you can also call a few more people and use force to get what you want. But I won't be caught without a fight, you just wait and see .” After Denninger left, Stu sat quietly on the chair, motionless.The nurse did not come again, and no able-bodied soldier came in to force him to take his blood pressure.He thought that what was obtained by force, even such a trivial matter as measuring blood pressure, would not be satisfactory in the end.So for the time being, they probably won't provoke him again. He got up and turned on the TV, staring at the screen, but couldn't see anything.The fear in my heart keeps expanding, like a running elephant.For two days, he has been anxiously waiting for all kinds of terrible symptoms to appear in his body: sneezing, coughing, until he coughed up black phlegm, and then spit it into the toilet.He was thinking about other people he knew.He wondered if they had the dreadful symptoms of Campion.He thought of the dead woman and her child in the old Chevrolet, and had a vague idea that the woman's face had become Lila Bruet's and the child's had become Cheryl Hodges Jr. The TV blared in surprise.His heart was beating very slowly.Vaguely, he heard the sound of the air purifier gently blowing air into the room.Under the expressionless face, fear is entangled and churning in the body.Sometimes, it is like a panicked elephant, rushing left and right, trampling everything; sometimes, it is like a wandering mouse, with sharp teeth biting non-stop.Fear followed him like a shadow. 40 hours passed before someone who could actually say something finally showed up.