The Union by Vernon Leah

Author:Vernon, Leah
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: 47North
Published: 2022-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

AVI

The dead worker plagued me whenever I drifted into a slumber. The thick foam spilling from his mouth. His body contracting. The screams from the children ringing. The way Father sat motionless as it unfolded. My own compliance sickened me. All I had managed to do was expel that morning’s nutrients. When I became General, that needless death would never happen again. I vowed to put a stop to it. Whatever it was. But until then, I needed to find out what was inside of those supplements. Were they really making the workers sick? Or was I just trying to unearth evidence to discredit Father out of spite for not being who I thought he was, for forcing marriage on me to a man I’d never love? Either way, I needed to know.

With much persuasion and a forged document from the General, I had a driver take me directly to the main branch of the Health Department. Physicians knew all about the drugs, and it was where I’d get answers. I’d done some research on my own in between sessions, finding the deceased worker’s medical chart and death record, but it didn’t yield the information that I needed. One odd finding that I had stumbled upon was an uptick in Lower Resident mortalities over the last two years. Many of them were undetermined. All ages. From different sectors. None of the data made sense.

I told Pea to stall, but there wasn’t much time before someone figured out I was no longer on the Citadel grounds. My foot tapped until we landed right next to the connected colossal silvery buildings.

My assigned watchman stayed on my heels as I scurried along the walkway; he kept pace until we both stood right in front. A holoscreen played a commercial that began with a robotic blinking eye. The next scene was a muscular man with thin white cords attached to his head and chest while he jogged in slow motion on a treadway. A physician entered through a door and paused in front of the monitor. “Greetings. My name is Physician Pike. I’m the director at the Southern Region Health Department Headquarters.”

The camera switched angles. Physician Pike turned his face to meet it. “Here at the Health Department, we take pride in the care we give and guarantee to prevent illness, promote healthy living, and protect our patients.”

His overly toothy smile and sleepy eyes caused an odd unease to build in me.

Inside, physicians hurried every which way. Workers with yellowed skin coughed behind white face masks. The second holoscreen showed Physician Pike once again. “Attention Lower Residents: if you or anyone you know has flulike symptoms or any other related ailments, please contact Health Department officials immediately. We must all work together to keep the Southern Region safe and germ-free.”

When the commercial ended, I grabbed a face mask and stepped inside the lobby. It smelled of iodine and deodorizer. Everything was vividly bleached: the riveted walls and ceilings, the polished floorboards. To the left was the emergency section, where more ill-looking workers funneled through.

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