Melody no.1
Apocalypse

Before Meryl could say anything, she was inside a black van with tinted windows and the men were seated on each side of her. Nervous and unable to flee she felt small in her seat, unable to move or act freely.

“What is happening?” she asked with a slight tremor in her voice after a long silence.

“We are not authorized to reveal anything, Miss. But someone will explain everything when we get there.”

“Where are we going?”

“There,” he said. The man raised his hand pointing with a finger.

They were far from the city and in the distance, she could see a huge complex of buildings that she like other civilians, had never seen, but they were enormous. The military base. This site and all its surroundings were restricted for any purpose beyond the projects that were carried out in the main area. These twenty minutes were the longest trip of her entire life.

The car stopped in front of one of the largest buildings after stopping at several checkpoints. Everyone who knew the reason for her being there looked at her strangely, with a mixture of anxiety and compassion.

“Come on,” said one of the men who opened the door. His feigned good manners were disconcerting.

Meryl left the car and saw a squad of uniformed young cadets in small groups running from side to side of the main courtyard. The main building was huge. She had never seen it because not even reporters were allowed to enter the vicinity of the base. Once again, she began to get nervous wondering what she was doing in a place like this, but also grateful that it was not about any debt related to a mobster.

“Wait here a minute. Someone will tell you everything,” The soldier left her alone in the waiting room.

“Ok.”

This room was huge and the walls were painted white. In the center where she was sitting, there was a long table full of black padded chairs, actually more than a waiting room it felt like a meeting room abandoned by lack of advanced technology and its remote location.

A few minutes later, the door opened and Mark Collins came through it unable to hold back a grimace of disgust at the sight of the girl. Her black hair was flawless, but her nerves were uneasy, at least for the moment she managed to keep her composure.

He left a document on the table and fixed the round glasses that lent him an intellectual air and sat down. He wanted to appear intimidating to the young girl. Just thinking that the fate of the world depended on this small stupid woman made him sick.

“I will not beat about the bush,” he started speaking after having made the decision to stop Meryl before she could articulate some of the questions that she had. “We will offer you a deal. We need you to collaborate in an experiment that will not cause any kind of damage to your body, either physical or mental. He took a breath and continued, still not giving Meryl the opportunity to interrupt. “In exchange for you accepting, you’ll never have another single economic problem.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I see,” Mark sighed. “I’ll explain in a way that someone with your intellectual capacity can understand. We’re doing a study. You just have to be asleep in front of a camera for a week, in exchange for that, we will pay the debts of your family and you can live without working anymore for the rest of your interesting existence.”

“Only sleep in front of a camera? I’ll get paid for that?” she asked bewildered and confused by too much information.

Professor Collins snorted to himself frustrated at how slow she was taking to understand. He clearly explained it to her so it had been unnecessary for her to ask questions. He armed himself with all the patience that he could muster and continued.

“That’s right! If you’re ready here’s the contract. Take all the time you need to read it,” he finished with a fake smile, pointing to the folder with his finger.

He put the document in front of her and left the place feeling sick and cranky. Meryl looked repeatedly at the door and the contract alternately and couldn’t believe her luck, but it smelled fishy, so much money for something so simple was strange.

However, she read it and re-read it several times. Everything seemed in order and it would save their lives.

Meryl grabbed the pen tightly, her hands trembled slightly, it was inevitable that she was afraid when she didn’t know what to expect. Still, she signed all the papers and left them on the table looking at them with apprehension. It was done and there was no turning back.

“Good choice.” Another man in a white coat who was younger than the last man smiled at her. Meryl looked puzzled because she had not heard anyone come in. “Now, you can call your mother to tell her that you will be away for a week because of a trip.”

“Now?” Meryl asked scared. “But ...”

“Believe me, miss we have to hurry with this. You cannot imagine how important it is for everyone. Take this.”

“But my mother will wonder why I’m taking a trip. What will I tell her?”

“You’re a smart girl, right? Surely, you’ll think of something. I’ll be back in five minutes.”

Meryl sat in the chair trying to think of some excuse that would sound realistic. She didn’t have too many options. Whatever she said would end up sounding strange to her mother.

“Mom?” Meryl felt nervous when she heard her voice on the other side.

“Dear? Are you all right?” Her mother asked puzzled because her daughter rarely called her cell phone.

“Yes, mom, something has come up and I’ll have to leave for a week.”

“What? What the hell does that mean?” Her mother asked, walking through the nurse’s room. “In a few minutes, I have to go out and do rounds.”

“Listen, mom, it’s something that can change our lives. A job as a translator for a politician,” she said displaying her knowledge of three languages. “It will only be a week for a summit and they have offered to pay me very well. The only thing is that I have to leave immediately and I’m not able to pick up George from school.”

“I don’t know dear. Are you sure, everything’s okay? This sounds a bit strange.”

“Everything is perfect,” Meryl repeated in a cheerful tone that couldn’t be faked. “Trust me in a week I’ll be back home and everything will change.”

“Well, be careful and call me.”

“I’ll try, but with the time change and how busy I’ll be...”

“Okay, at least tell me you’ll try.”

“I’ll try. Bye mom, I love you.”

Meryl hung up and sighed deeply she hated lying to her mother. In fact, she never lied, but this time, she had a good reason.

She was a little nervous waiting for the return of the man with the beautiful smile. She had liked him. He hadn’t treated her like an idiot. Like the man with the glasses and his derogatory comments.

A person that looked like a doctor led her to a room so she could change her clothes and gave her a series of instructions she had to follow. She undressed and put the clothes on a table then took a shower that in her opinion smelled of disinfectant. She was forced to shower with very hot water and when she finished she had to apply a lotion that gave off a strong odor of alcohol. Meryl dressed in a white dress that had striking sleeves and when she looked in the mirror Meryl decided she didn’t look bad. The white color made her green eyes look even darker.

“Very good, come with me. We have to go to lab number three,” said the man, who was now wearing another suit that covered half his face, as if she had an incurable, contagious disease, but she could hear the kind tone of his voice, which was at odds with his attire.

“Excuse me,” she whispered, the man stopped completely and turned expectantly. “Is it true I only have to sleep?”

“That’s right we will induce a deep sleep. It is painless. When you wake up we will have gathered enough data to continue without your help.”

“Okay,” she muttered unconvinced. She could not back out. Meryl had to settle for what little she’d been told.

However, she still thought that it seemed strange to get so much money for taking a nap for a week. It wasn’t normal. A frightened Meryl followed him through the hallway. Her legs trembled slightly and felt cold. The silence was deafening.

They were in a high-security zone that smelled strongly of disinfectant. Meryl ran her hands down the sides of her ribs trying to contain a chill. There was no one around. Everything seemed normal when they entered the room where she had to sleep. There was a small separate room filled with computer equipment and other scientists separated by a transparent wall. They walked down a plastic tunnel that smelled like plastic. Half the room was crowded, and the capsule where she was supposed to sleep, was connected to a myriad of machines and monitors via long black cables.

“Beth, prepare her immediately,” Dr. Collins ordered. The young man who had accompanied her stood next to the exit. Staying close to Meryl.

“Yes, sir,” Beth said, as she approached the intercom to tell Meryl what to do.

The woman guided Meryl gradually, with the help of the young man, to place several patches on her head and chest. They explained that it would keep her monitored and allow them to calculate the level of stress her body could tolerate in case something went wrong. They could interrupt the experiment immediately thanks to the patches and machines.

Meryl saw the bitter man out of the corner of her eye. He sat in a chair on the other side of the glass wall with his arms crossed and did not take his eyes off her for an instant. His gaze was anything but comforting. Meryl knew right away that he didn’t like her, and the feeling was mutual.

“Perfect, now sit here and stay still while I inject you with a solution. If you feel dizzy or confused, we’ll wait a moment before placing you in the capsule. In a few seconds, you will begin to feel very sleepy, miss. Do you understand everything?” The man smiled sincerely.

“Yes,” she said, noting absently that the syringe carefully approached her neck.

The situation began to seem surreal and she felt as if they had just put her in a cheap science fiction movie. Just a couple of hours ago she was at work thinking about how to help her family, and suddenly, her father’s debts were settled because someone decided that she could do this job. It seemed too good to be true.

Meryl lay in the capsule with the help of the nice doctor. It was spacious and very comfortable. At first glance, it looked like a flat white wooden bed. She had expected it to be hard like a table, but on entering realized, that it was the softest surface on which she had ever been. They closed the capsule as soon as she moved into position and couldn’t hear anything outside of the capsule. It was hermetically sealed.

At first, she panicked and it was difficult to relax in a place so similar to a transparent coffin. Her breathing quickened and her heartbeat accelerated. Meryl concentrated in breathing the air coming in and out of her lungs and tried to forget the sensation of drowning, and the imaginary whistle that silence made her hear constantly.

Gradually, an enormous sense of peace washed over her and she began to close her eyelids. Carried away by the combination of tranquilizers that they added to the original solution. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt so good. She was floating on a cloud of cotton and felt wonderful. Once Meryl was asleep, the most critical moment began, the cryogenics phase.

Nervous, Collins pushed the button that would initiate the process. All the scientists watched in complete silence. In only a few seconds, the cold would engulf the capsule completely. They were relieved when the process ended and her vital signs were as expected. Meryl seemed to be peacefully asleep as if she was a modern day Snow White.