The man started to back toward the door. “No need to get overly excited,” he said, holding up his hands. “Look, you just put those down. If you shatter those boxes you’ll send both of us to a certain death within an hour. There is no antidote in this bunker, that’s true. I never thought it would be necessary. Now, gently, young lady, push those boxes down and let’s talk this out. Let’s reconsider the options before us, all right?”

He looked at Laura as she balanced the two plastic boxes over her head. He could see that her one arm was weakening and that she was getting dizzy once again. The boxes were tipping back and forth. He realized how foolish he had been to walk so far into the room without seeing where she was. He couldn’t make a run for it. There was too much of a risk of her shattering the vials before he could get away. He tried talking in a soothing voice.

“Calm down, young lady. Let’s see our way out of this little dilemma.” He saw her swooning. If he could just be patient, she’d faint, and he could grab the boxes. Be patient.

“No deal, sir. I’m through with coming up with quick decisions to save my neck for the moment. That was then, this is now. I’ve committed myself. I think in long-range terms,” Laura said, fighting the nausea. She rocked unsteadily for a moment, causing the man to flinch. If she dropped those boxes, they would be dead within the next few hours. That flu was volatile.

Facing Eternity
Laura gulped and continued. “My life’s been one big egocentric journey, and so is yours.”

“Right,” the man agreed smoothly. “We’re alike, you and I.”

“One big difference,” Laura corrected. “I’m a hypocrite.”

“Eh?” the man asked. “I don’t get you.”

Laura blinked slowly. “You totally believe that what you’re doing is right. As deep-down evil as your plot is, I don’t for one second think you ever doubt the sincerity of your duty. You really act as if the deaths of other people are noble, in some weird way. I, on the other hand, lived in a state of denial over my true self. I played the religious game and held Jesus up like a placard whenever I felt it best suited my needs. As a matter of fact, I never really had a relationship with the King.”

The man watched the boxes. They were rocking back and forth over her head. Cold sweat broke out on the back of his neck.

“Hey, look,” he said, stepping toward her. “You can have your new walk with Jesus and whatever you like to do, but just calm down, OK?”

He tried a chuckle.

“Look, I wasn’t going to send any of those letters out. I remember the anthrax scare years back, and that was bad enough. I . . . I was just kidding, so let’s just put those boxes down, OK?”

Laura looked at him firmly. “Please don’t take another step. Let me finish what I was saying, please. I was just telling you that I got things squared away whenever we thought we were locked in the room on the other side of this underground bunker. I lowered my head and asked Jesus to take over. Sir, even if you don’t realize it, heaven is a reality, and it’s where I intend to go when I die.”

He stepped back and grinned. “But you won’t.”

“I won’t what?”

“You won’t die.”

He grinned even wider.

“You’re too scared to die, I’ll bet. You won’t throw those boxes. You’re like all the other teens in this world. You love life on this earth too much. This is all a bluff.”

Laura shook her head. “Nope, no sir, that’s no true.”

“Oh, come on,” the man teased. “You’re no different from any other kid in this country. You’re obsessed with saving your own skin.”

“Not true at all,” Laura said. “You see, sir, I’m already dying.” She closed her eyes and rocked back on her heels slightly. The wave of nausea came back.

The man’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”

Laura looked at him steadily. “The house where I lived was condemned because of a landfill error. Clouds of benzene filled my home. Benzene’s a toxic substance that brings on cancer. My friends don’t realize it, but I know I’m dying of cancer. Leukemia. I’ve got enough symptoms to know that I’m in the advanced stages.”

“How do you know this?” the man asked.

“When we thought we were locked in the other room, the girls were huddled and panicked, trying to figure out if we were poisoned with some spilled samples of the flu virus. We thought we were locked in for good. I pulled a medical dictionary over to look up the Spanish flu, and I found one of your more recent books on diseases, one you have left behind by mistake. There was a whole section on benzene poisoning.”

She looked at him matter-of-factly.

“I’m dying from overexposure to benzene. I made peace with God about my death. The great thing is, He took away the fear of death.”

The man started shaking. “Well, I haven’t got to that stage. Death means a fate worse than anything I can imagine, and I’m not going there anytime soon. You are going to give me those boxes. You may want to be some big martyr, but I’m not going in that direction, you understand?”

He trembled but managed a small smile.

“What are you going to do, stand there with those boxes over your head all day? I can see you weakening.”

Laura said nothing.

The man’s fear overcame him. “Give me those boxes!” he screamed and lunged for her.

Laura threw the plastic boxes across the room.