Chapter Five
Artie was waiting for us when we got back to The Wall where the cable cars were moving smoothly around and around on their track. He had a grim look on his face and was alone.
His eyes flickered to me and quickly away. A muscle tensed in his neck.
"I sent everyone else up. Come on, we need to get back," he said, steering us into a cable car. It turned slowly around and headed back up towards the city.
I stood at the glass wall, staring down at everything we were leaving behind. After several minutes, I realised the silence had grown tense and I looked back to see Artie frowning.
"What's wrong?" I asked. My mouth felt dry.
"I hope nothing," he began. I felt my pulse rise. "They may need to quarantine you for a few days to be sure that you don't pose a threat to the population. Also, there may be disciplinary action against the two of you for breaking protocol." He wouldn't hold my eye and I knew he was trying to downplay what he thought would happen.
"But she was dying!" Taylor burst out.
"I know." The look on Artie's face showed how much that worried him. "But there's a reason friends shouldn't be paired together on these sorts of expeditions. It's easier to think clearly with someone you have no personal connection to outside of the job."
"I don't think I would have let anyone die," Taylor said incredulously.
"No. But you may have remembered to radio back before acting so rashly," he snapped and I almost recoiled. Artie never lost his temper. "We have the whole population to think of and we can't risk any contamination getting inside The Wall." He glanced at me and I could see the fear in his eyes.
"I feel fine," I said, trying to reassure him. "And I thought we were extending The Wall to cover that area soon, so it shouldn't be contaminated should it?" I asked, staring desperately between Taylor and Artie.
"Well, no. But we were doing those tests, taking those samples today and until they come back clear we have to follow contamination protocol. I'm sorry but I think this is going to get a lot worse before it gets any better." He bit his lip and drummed his fingers against the glass in agitation.
The cable car glided to a halt and I staggered to regain my balance, bracing myself on Taylor's arm. As I let go, I glanced at my hands and realised they were shaking again. I took a deep breath as the doors slid open.
Waiting for us were six armed Wardens and Professor Delo. They were all dressed in their own biohazard suits. Delo's usual look of distracted indifference was replaced with a stern frown.
As we joined them, I was very aware of the broken helmet still grasped in my hand and the fact that everyone else had theirs on.
"We ask you not to communicate any further until we are able to interview you. For the protection of yourselves and the population, you will have to be detained and checked for contaminates before we can consider you for re-introduction to the population." Professor Delo spoke in clipped tones and the Wardens moved forward to surround us.
"You will need to put on a new helmet for the journey," he said to me, handing one over with a look of disappointment on his face.
I obediently fastened the new helmet into place and surrendered my broken one to a grizzled Warden.
"I'm the only one who had my helmet off," I said, looking uncomfortably at the way Taylor and Artie had been surrounded by the Wardens too.
"We ask you not to communicate any further until we are able to interview you," Professor Delo repeated, his eyes hard. I nodded and he turned away to press some buttons on the control panel by the sealed door which lead back into the city.
"Lift your arms please," he commanded and we all did as instructed.
A dark grey mist descended from vents in the ceiling. It crept down in twisting tendrils that snaked together. It kept coming, falling all around us and getting thicker and thicker until I could barely see my hand in front of my face.
The temperature dropped and it felt like the mist had found its way deep inside my bones, making me shiver. Then the temperature started to rise again. It became unbearably hot and the mist began to ascend, condensing as it went, and disappearing back through the vents.
The heat continued to soar and I could feel myself perspiring, though the air filtering through my helmet stayed cool and fresh. It felt like my skin was on fire and I twitched, trying to stop myself from screaming out.
As quickly as it had heated up, the temperature dropped back to normal.
"Decontamination complete," a smooth female voice announced over the speaker system.
"What the hell," Taylor muttered.
"We ask you not to communicate any further until we are able to interview you." The ice in Professor Delo's voice was unmasked.
"Sorry," Taylor mumbled. The Warden standing behind him gave Taylor a harsh shove forwards as the door opened and we made our way out into the city.