Yesterday's Gone: Season Three (THE POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIAL THRILLER)

dog’s belly. Boricio took every syllable, mostly because he knew he deserved them, but finally a month’s worth of torment cracked through his facade. His shoulders started shaking, then sagged.
    His entire body shuddered and Boricio finally broke down.
    Once his tears started to fall, Will lowered himself to the mattress beside him, wrapping his arms around Boricio’s shoulders and softly whispered his apologies.
    Boricio gathered his composure and nudged his breathing into the same steady rhythm he’d been practicing for weeks. Finally, once he felt like he could finish a full sentence without his voice cracking in half, he said, “I don’t get it. You all have used the serum on animals and nothing like this has ever happened, right?”
    Will nodded.
    “And with the first human subject, Luca, it cured him. No bad side effects. Dr. Williams said he’d used the same formulation. There is nothing different about the serum. Nothing! Why did it do … that , to her?”
    “Well, first of all, Luca has been having side effects. I tried to warn you that we didn’t know what we’re dealing with, but—”
    “No, he didn’t turn into a fucking monster! Why did Rose?”
    Will folded his hands in front of him, “I don’t know. There’s so many variables in play, and our team is looking them over, trying to figure out what happened. Obviously this is a huge setback in the program, even if Rose wasn’t a part of it — she’s become a part of it, now.”
    Boricio swallowed. One more slice of the guilt pie.
    Boricio swallowed hard, trying to put words to a thought that had been forming in his mind since he’d been thrown into the cell.
    “What is it?” Will said, knowing his son like a book he could read without turning a page.
    Boricio said. “What if I’m the variable.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “The serum was the same and Dr. Williams performed both procedures. The biggest variable is me — this time I handled the vial.”
    “Did you open the vial?” Will asked.
    “No, but maybe I didn’t need to. Or maybe the seal wasn’t as tight as I thought it was.”
    “That seems unlikely,” Will said.
    “I know, but ever since I got the vial, I’ve been having these weird dreams. The vial has been all I could think about. It was like an obsession, clouding my thoughts. Like I was suddenly so damned certain that I needed it in order to help Rose. More certain than I’d been with Luca.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I don’t know, but what if I somehow infected the vial? What if I’m the variable? That means maybe the Doc could make a new serum. Get a new vial and just start over without my interference? Maybe it will reverse the effects?”
    Will looked at the floor. “I’m not doing that,” he said.
    Boricio flared with anger, but didn’t have the strength to fuel it. He started to sob, again. Then finally, from behind his broken pieces, a cracked voice said, “Please, Will. You’re her only hope. That makes you my only hope too.”
    Will said, “Why don’t you first tell me where to find one of the other two vials you took. That might be a good place to start.”
    His tears vanished. Boricio wiped his eyes and turned to Will.
    “What? Are you saying there are three vials missing?” He shook his head. I only had two, not three.”
    Will ignored the discrepancy in the math and said, “How did you get them?”
    Boricio should have expected that Will would infiltrate his mind, but sitting beside him sobbing had reduced his guard to rumor. Now that he wanted to keep Will out of his head, it was already too late.
    There was one second when Boricio felt especially full, followed by a flash where he felt nothing but empty, then a slight prick inside his brain that felt a bit like a needle slipping into his skin.
    “No,” Will shook his head. Sudden horror widened his eyes. He stuttered, “You didn’t ask him . What the hell, Boricio?”
    Boricio wondered if Will was saying “him” instead of “Luca” because of the closed-circuit cameras.
    “Do you realize the danger you’ve put us in?” Will seethed. “And I mean all of us!”
    “I’m so sorry,” Boricio said. “I had no idea.”
    Will turned to leave the cell.
    “Where are you going?” Boricio called.
    Will turned back and hissed, “To fix your mess.”

    * * * *

CHAPTER 6 — Callie Thompson

    Black Mountain, Georgia
    March 2012
    FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE EVENT…

    Callie wondered if they’d ever return Charlie to his