When We Were Still Human by Vaughn Foster (best ereader for textbooks .txt) 📕

to provide oxygen, but it wasn’t enough. She pressed tighter against the cold lockers. Something. There had to be something.

“Vital capacity-— The amount of air that moves in, plus the amount that moves out with maximum effort”

“Val, remember to call Aunt Macy on her birthday, okay?”

Air. Warm air hitting her face. She was running. There was something else, something—

“Val.”

She opened her eyes to Patricia gently placing a hand on her shoulder. “There are some detectives outside. I don’t know how, but they managed to find some strange footage. It was probably the interns on shift, slacking off... They want to ask you a few questions. I said I’d see if you were up for it, but if not, I can tell them to leave. You’ve already— Today’s already been—”

“It’s fine.” The words came from her mouth, but they felt a million miles away. Running. The only thing she could remember was running… Stepping past Patricia, Val picked up her bag and walked to the door.

As the nurse had promised, two men in sports coats and jeans were waiting in the hall.

“Detectives?”

“Good evening, Miss Stephens,” the taller one with the blond beard said. “I’m Detective Ericson.” His eyes were kind, but there was a concern behind them in how he looked her over. She turned to the other to see the same expression.

“Detective Omar,” the second one offered. He extended a firm hand and Val shook. There was an odd silence after she stepped back and the detective cleared his throat. “If it’s alright,” he continued, “can we ask you a couple questions about the man who attacked you and your colleagues yesterday?”

“Um.” Val looked over her shoulder to Patricia, then to the second detective, but neither gave anything away. “I already gave a statement to the hospital yesterday.”

“Yes, we understand,” Ericson said. There was compassion in his voice. Whether rehearsed from the job or genuine, Val couldn’t tell. Regardless, he seemed to be struggling for words himself. “But that was before we could access the tape.”

“What tape?” Again, she couldn’t read either of their faces. It was clear they were trying to gauge hers as well, but all parties came up blank.

“I think it’d be easier if you came with us to the security room,” Detective Omar said gently. Val turned to Patricia, who was trying her best to muster a smile.

“It’s okay, Val. I’ll be right here when you’re done.”

Turning back, Val nodded to the men and followed them away from the locker room. The hospital suddenly seemed more menacing than before. The bright lights felt unnatural and the clicking of the detectives’ shoes echoed eerily down the empty corridor. They passed a few nurses’ stations and open doors, but no one spoke. It was like a ghost had come through and yanked out everyone’s vocal cords, leaving them to awkwardly stare or feign occupation with other matters.

They reached the elevator. Ericson opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again. Apparently small talk hadn’t been on the academy’s syllabus.

Within minutes, they were standing in a small room lined wall to wall with monitors. The quiet whirring filled the air with an ambience that created the feeling of being in a spy movie. Not Bonds, those were overrated, but something more down to earth. One of the films where a normal person gets sucked into some top-secret hero role.

But Val was no hero. Whatever happened was creeping over her shoulders, running tendril- like fingers, or claws, or something just as disturbing over her skin.

“Can you show Miss Stephens what you showed us?”

Val looked down to see a scrawny kid, no more than eighteen, sitting at the control seat. The tech nodded, clicked some keys, then moused over to a file in a folder marked with the previous day's date.

Val stared at the screen as ice pooled in the center of her stomach. Unable to speak, she watched herself stumble through the rear staff doors and collapse. Her clothes were torn and splattered with dark red. Leaves and sticks stuck out of matted hair, which in the current frame, looked more brownish-gray than black. Her whole demeanor had a distinct corpse-like quality to it. Cheeks, sunken in. Skin, a zombified white.

A nurse who had just gotten off her shift—Patricia—ran to her, gasped, then appeared to ask a string of frantic questions. Val—the one on the screen, the one capable of speech—mumbled something back, then clutched her stomach. Patricia quickly ushered her down the hall in the direction of the E.R.

Some more clicking occurred, and another window popped up. This one showed Val sprinting out the main doors of the Emergency Room.

The clip ended. Still, Val couldn’t tear her eyes from the screen. That wasn’t her, was it? She ran through every possible instance her brain would render, but she couldn’t remember any of that having occurred.

Without warning, the dim light of the room exploded into a blinding sheer. The computer hum followed suit and now roared like a ravaging dragon. Val clenched her eyes tighter and covered her ears in an attempt to will the attack away.

“Miss Stephens!”

A hand on her shoulder. Air flooded her lungs again and she opened her eyes. A concerned Detective Ericson was helping her into the nearest chair.

“I- I’m sorry, I don’t know what—”

“It’s perfectly fine.” Detective Omar kneeled beside her and smiled. Val could tell he was trying to read for some clue or recognition, but she only shuddered and turned away. “I- I don’t know what that was.”

“So, you have no recollection of that morning at all?”

She shook her head. “I remember the library. I remember being at home. Then I- I went to the park…” Tears welled, and she violently shook her head again.

Omar bit his lip and turned to his partner.

Val caught the gesture. “What