The Clever Doctor
Drip…drip…drip.
The continuous sound of water made the man go crazy.
“Why can’t they fix this cell?” He asked himself. “I’ll be living in it my whole life.”
It started thirty days ago. Of course, no one was counting. The man looked around the room. It was a plain room with a small bed without a mattress, a table with a cup of water, and a chair that had straps on either side. Every day a guard would come in and fill the glass of water. Every two days a different guard would come and set a plate of food on the table. And every three days both guards would come in and strap him to the chair. Then they would draw his blood and check his… progress.
“I never should have applied for this job,” The man said to no one. His voice was scratchy from the lack of water. His stomach growled and churned at the thought of his next meal. “Why am I doing this?”
This man, of course, wasn’t a criminal. The world had no more criminals. He had volunteered for this experiment. An experiment to test how the mind and body could change. Of course, when he volunteered, he didn’t expect to be put in an old jail cell for the rest of his life. The man sat on the chair and stared at the empty cup of water. He needed to get out of here, but he didn’t know how.
Drip…drip…drip. The sound was coming from somewhere, but where he didn’t know. He looked up at the tiny window above his bed. The dripping sound wasn’t coming from there. He looked at the cell door. There was a small hole that he could see out of. He went over and looked through the tiny hole. He could see the door at the end of the hall that led outside. Outside. He sat on the floor thinking of the soft grass that he would lay in as a child. The cawing of the crows he would hear every morning. The dark shadows that the tall trees cast over the many fields. He would never go outside again.
“You can still back out of this,” The doctor had said all those years ago when he volunteered.
“It’s too late now,” The man said to the ceiling. The man heard a familiar clang. The first guard came in holding two cups of water.
“Drink,” The guard said, holding out a cup. The man took the cup and looked into it.
“That’s not water,” The man said.
“I know,” The guard said. “Drink it or I’ll force it down your throat.”
The man was too weak to argue. He drank the weird substance. It tasted like lemon and honey. The man gagged at the sudden sweetness. Then the guard gave him the next cup.
“Water,” The guard said. The man drank it with delight. The guard turned and sat on the bed watching the man drink. “Dr. Holten.”
“What?” The man asked.
“That was your name,” The guard said. “Dr. Jason Grant Holten.”
“My name,” The man said, smiling. He had forgotten it after all the years of it not being used. “Why are you telling me this?”
“It’s been fifty years since you put yourself in this cell.” The guard said.
“I didn’t put myself here,” Dr. Holten replied. “I volunteered for an experiment.”
“You don’t remember anything?” The guard asked. “You said you wouldn’t.”
“Remember what?”
“Fifty one years ago you were a very big scientist in this world. You had created time travel and got rid of criminals. Then you started experimenting with the mind. You were curious about what would happen if the mind were to be shut down.” The guard explained. “You came up with this experiment. You asked for volunteers. You wiped their memories and put them back into the world. They all went crazy and started to become criminals. You couldn’t figure out why, so you decided to try it on yourself. You told us to put you in the cell, wipe your mind and draw blood every three days. Then freeze the blood and keep it safe. You said that you would forget the world and forget everything in fifty years.”
“But I remember the world,” Holten said. “I remember the grass and the trees. Shadows and birds chirping.”
“Dr. Holten, how many people live in this world?”
“Well that’s easy,” Holten said. “Three! Me, you, and the other guard.”
“No,” the guard said. “There are over ten billion people living on the planet earth and about two billion on Mars. A few people have also made settlements on the moon.”
“But… That can’t be. I…” Holten suddenly stood up. “Is there an antiserum? Can I get my memories back?”
“You made one,” The guard said. “But you hid it. We’ve tried to replicate it, but we were unsuccessful. The substance you just drank should have given you a few memories back.”
“I have none,” Holten said. “No memories. The last thing I remember was a bedroom filled with books everywhere and an unmade bed with blue sheets. I remember a dark-haired girl telling me not to do it. What is it?”
“Your wife,” the guard said. “Your wife came to you the night before the experiment and tried to convince you not to do it.”
“I have a wife?” Holten asked. “Wait, please tell me I don’t have kids.”
“A boy and two girls. Your youngest child, Micheal, is 55 years old. Your two daughters, Lily and Ana, are 57. They are twins.”
“I remember them,” Holten said. “It’s coming back. Micheal had dark brown hair like his mom. Lily had blonde hair like me. Ana was born with jet black hair. I can’t make out their faces. Please help me.”
“I cannot help you,” The guard said, shaking his head. “I came for you to help us. You need to find that antidote. You are the only one that can save them.”
The guard covered his mouth with his hand.
“Save who?”
“No one,” the guard said standing. “Come with me.”
“I’m not going anywhere unless you tell me who I need to save.” Holten said, sitting back in his chair.
“Cancer has come back,” the guard said. “We…you got rid of it years ago, but something new has come back and none of our scientists can find a cure.”
The guard took out a phone from his back pocket and showed Dr. Holten an image of the cancer.
“That is not a new cancer,” Holten replied, recognizing the picture. “That is a rare cancer that was discovered in 1952. ASPS also known as Alveolar soft tissue sarcoma. It’s a tumor that starts in muscle, fat, or nerve tissues. It is not new.”
“Then why did it come back?” the guard asked. “And if it’s so rare, why does everyone have it?”
“Everyone?” Holten asked. “Do you have it?”
The guard nodded and pulled up his sleeve. His arm was full of dark red spots that were bubbling and bursting.
“That is not ASPS. That is a zombie infection.” Holten replied, a little shocked.
“You are very smart,” the guard said, shutting the door.
“What is really going on here?” the doctor asked. “Am I really a doctor? And what about the experiments is that all a lie too?”
“None of it was a lie,” the guard said. “You are the last human on this planet that has not been infected. We have kept you here for longer than you wanted. You are a special prize, my prize. I will savor every moment of your death.”
Drip…drip…drip. Holten looked at the ground. The guard's arm was dropping blood.
“How long have you been infected?” Holten asked, staring at the drips of blood on the ground.
“For thirty days” the guard said. Drip…drip…drip.
“That’s when the dripping started. I think I can heal you,” Holten said. The guard smiled again. Holten rubbed the guard's arm.
“No,” the guard said. “Why did you do that?”
“How long does it take to get infected?” Holten asked.
“Twenty-three seconds.” The guard said, then his eyes widened. “Once you are infected I can’t hurt you.”
“I thought so.” Holten said. Suddenly his eyes went misty and he started shaking. “The zombie infection is not all that rare. It was discovered fifty one ago by a scientist named James Holten. No, not discovered, created. This scientist wanted to rule the world, but it got out of hand. He put himself into a secure prison and locked himself there. He wiped the mind of everyone including himself. He told the guards a fake story and waited until the infection spread. It finally did and when it got to the jail the doctor didn’t know what it was. Not until today when his mind was free from the prison of forgetfulness. Now he is more powerful than the rest of the world.”
“How?” The guard asked. “You are still stuck in a cell.”
“Of course I thought of that. So I created an immunity to the disease. I will have this disease for ten days, then it will pass through my body.” The doctor said.
“Then I can wait,” The guard said.
“You don’t have time,” The doctor said. “Your time has come. Those bubbles mean the end of the disease. You will die any day.”
“You evil man,” the guard said. “You destroyed the world for your selfish needs!”
“As my wife used to say. ‘You always have to think years ahead of your opponents.’” Dr. Holten said. “I have thought this out for years, I have been in misery for fifty years, but now is my time to live and the world's turn to die.”
He then grabbed the guard’s keys, opened the cell door and walked out into the world of the dead.
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