Cryonic by Travis Bradberry Read Free Book Online Page B

been since my arrival. It always opened for Alex and the men in white coats without any discernible effort. I groped the walls and crawled across the floor in vain, hoping to find an activation switch. I got back into my bed, which suddenly felt like it was made of stone. I listened to them squirming beneath their sheets. Sleep was out of the question. I was trapped.

9.
    Alex arrived first thing in the morning. He must have thought I was still asleep because he went right to his work. I sat up and tried to attract his attention, but he ignored me.
    â€œAl, hey Al.” Nothing. He had his back to me and tinkered away on the dials. He didn’t seem concerned that I was living in a leper colony. “Alex!”
    Alex looked over his shoulder. “Oh, good morning, Royce.”
    â€œWhere were you last night?”
    â€œMe? I don’t sleep here.”
    â€œListen, Al, you gotta tell me what’s going on with these people. They’re dropping like flies in here.”
    â€œI don’t want to scare you, but they’re not entirely certain. They should be coming in shortly to have a look. Perhaps Dr. Feng will give you an update.”
    â€œDr. Feng?”
    â€œHe’s the lead physician on the cryonics team.”
    â€œThe asshole?”
    â€œRight. I have to run.” Alex headed out the door.
    I looked across the room at my three companions. They lay on their backs in their beds in dead silence. I could see Janet and Barry’s abdomens rising with each breath, but Elliott’s was not. I stepped slowly toward Elliott’s bed to have a look. Elliott looked hideous. His vapid skin had a charcoal gray undertone punctuated by black hemorrhagic blotches. His throat was covered with large blistering sores. Some oozed a milky fluid that trickled down his neck. Hiseyes were closed, and I couldn’t hear him breathing. I was afraid he was dead. I moved in closer to see if he was breathing. I turned my head so my ear was beside Elliott’s mouth and I could look up at the rest of his face. I felt a gentle burst of cold air from Elliott’s nose. At least he was alive.
    His eyelids lifted slowly, revealing deep crimson orbs. I jumped back from the bed. The whites of his eyes were filled with blood. Elliott didn’t react. I don’t think he even knew I was there. He just stared at the ceiling, motionless. I stood there breathing heavily, chuckling to myself for having been so squeamish.
    Barry and Janet weren’t looking much better. Their skin had begun taking on the charcoal tone, and fresh volcanic sores erupted from their necks. While I stood there looking at the three of them, I felt alone. My new companions were not going to make it. There would be no mutiny. No cryonic uprising. It was just me against the world, once again.

10.
    I was thrilled when Dr. Feng finally barged into the room. If there was any hope for them, he was it. The doctors poked and prodded the sick. For more than an hour, they debated and obsessed over the imagery produced by their holograms.
    Alex came in next holding a cherry red instrument the size of a soda can. He handed the device to Dr. Feng who used it to generate a hologram of Elliott’s brain. The men in the white coats oohd and ahhd at the image projected. To me it looked like any other brain. Dr. Feng frowned and sat down on the edge of Elliott’s bed.
    Alex worked his way over toward me.
    â€œWhat’s happening?”
    At first he spoke under his breath and feigned checking on my machines. “They are really, really sick. The doctors don’t know how to stop it.”
    â€œThanks, genius. You don’t need grad school to see that.”
    Ambushed yet again by my sarcasm, Alex whipped his head in my direction.
    â€œIt’s something they’ve never seen before. Some sort of variola virus.”
    â€œTell Feng to give them some antibiotics.”
    Alex rolled his eyes. He looked over his shoulder. The men