Feeling a strange twinge in his arm, Arlan woke up and looked around.
"What are you doing?" he asked as he saw Dr. Curtiss taking his blood with a syringe.
"Did it affect your mind and make you an idiot? I'm drawing your blood"
The man pulled out the syringe and turned away ignoring him again.
Arlan massaged the spot where his blood had been drawn while his mind was in chaos.
'What was that...? a dream?'
He couldn't get that blindfolded woman out of his mind, he couldn't forget that tranquility and peace that her touch conveyed. It was addictive, almost an obsessive feeling.
"Do you feel anything strange in your body?" asked Dr. Curtiss as he put a drop of Arlan's blood under the microscope.
Arlan concentrated on feeling his body and realized that he felt fine, his broken arm still hurt but it looked like it would be completely healed in a couple of days.
Otherwise, Arlan felt different...he felt strong.
His muscles felt strangely strong and stimulated, his senses seemed to be a bit sharper and overall Arlan felt powerful.
"Well, I feel pretty good..."
"Nothing new..."
The symptoms Arlan felt were the same as the man himself had felt, so while it was new information, it didn't really add anything.
For a couple of hours, Dr. Curtiss continued to run tests on Arlan to look for what changes had occurred in his body.
However, the doctor was able to find little or nothing. The change was too unnatural, there was no sign of any kind of doping drug or similar in the food.
There was also nothing in his blood or waste, so without sufficient evidence, Dr. Curtiss removed Arlan from his lab and focused on investigating what little he had to find even the slightest trace of anything different.
But who knows how long it would take to get any results, how many more people would die before he got an answer?
Hours passed and the day was over, by the next morning, another 15 people had died. Leaving the bunker with only a little more than 100 people alive.
***
The days passed very slowly, concluding 2 weeks since Arlan had arrived on the island, and three weeks since it all began.
During the last week the population inside the bunker decreased more, but with each passing day the deaths were less, to the point that that same day in the morning no corpse was registered among the people.
Eventually the problem of deaths was solved, only two major problems remained.
The food ran out.
At least the food that was not infected, that was a couple of days ago. So unknowingly, the survivors ate infected food.
Some died, others survived and just like Arlan and Dr. Curtiss those who survived looked stronger and healthier than before.
Their wounds had healed, and their mood improved a little. Now all the living people inside the bunker had eaten infected food and survived, so another problem was solved.
And now there was the last and perhaps the most serious problem of all. The soldiers who had left for the Alpha bunker never returned.
With the connections severed, the only way to contact them was for them to return with some information...but that was not possible now.
Only Tristan, Laurel, Dr. Curtiss, Arlan and the soldiers knew about the expedition. This was intended to keep the civilians from panicking over the men's disappearance.
But now they were at a stalemate.
The food would now last longer, but at some point, it would run out. Things could not continue as they were at this point.
That was why Laurel had called a meeting again, this time with the topic they were discussing the first day Arlan had eavesdropped on their conversation.
"Do you still think it's real?" asked Tristan to Laurel who was sitting across the table from him.
"Whether I think it's real or not doesn't matter. What matters is that we no longer have a choice"
Arlan looked at the two as they spoke without understanding anything they were saying.
"And who is supposed to go? Enough of my soldiers have been killed by the monsters, and the ones that are left are needed to guard the bunker."
Laurel was silent hiding her frustration behind her neutral face.
Arlan raised his hand drawing everyone's attention and asked:
"What are you two talking about?"
It seemed that neither of them remembered that Arlan didn't know about the subject since it was something that hadn't been talked about since practically the day he arrived.
"We're talking about a possible way out of this place" explained Tristan summarily.
"A way out?"
Tristan nodded and continued.
"The first day of the attack, Laurel and I encountered a strange man dressed in a white robe. At first, we thought it was some sort of ritual being held on the island that we were unaware of, however the man began to talk about strange things"
Tristan paused and looked at Laurel for her to continue.
"According to the man, near the volcano there is a shrine with an object that will get us off this island"
Arlan frowned and asked again:
"So, we're arguing about something we were told by a man who was most likely insane?"
Tristan smiled slightly but said nothing, instead Laurel sighed and nodded.
"Yes, we're assuming there's an object on the island that he can't get out of this hellhole. It may be the delusions of a madman, or it may be our way out"
Arlan asked nothing more and instead began to think about the possibility of getting off the island.
After a few minutes in silence where none of the three spoke, Arlan broke the silence with the question they all had but none wanted to say.
"If the soldiers aren't going, and neither are the civilians. Then, when are we going to leave?"