“I know it isnt the classy thing to do, to sit down and chat with your kind of people. Nothing personal, but your industry doesnt have the best track record in making sure people like my wife and I are viewed objectively.”
“My job isnt to do that. What I want is a short conversation about what happened to you, to her. I want to know, for our readers, what chain of events led to the incident on the 23rd of September.”
“And the fact that neither my wife or I did anything at all to precipitate that incident will be present in your final article? Or will it be like the myriad of other hit pieces against those of us who suffer through this illness, or disability, or whatever theyre calling it these days, where we are framed as the antagonists no matter what?”
“Our audience are discerning readers, they understand that stories like yours are nuanced and with layers of right and wrong. Surely you arent saying that your wife and yourself are perfectly innocent people. After all, you are both infected, are you not?”
“Infected, is that the new term? You make it sound like were spreading something, like those awful people who go around and knowingly spread HIV. Both my wife and I take every precaution that is currently available to prevent that and we have both done so ever since we discovered our respective conditions.”
“You avoided the question about your innocence.”
“Of course we arent 100% innocent in everything. We are still humans. But in the case of the incident you are here to ask me about, there can be no question that the fault lay at the feet of those men who attacked my wife.”
“Those men, who are still in hospital, perhaps never to awaken.”
“I understand the implication of what youre saying, and I agree that those men should be walking free and unharmed. But your publication, in the very recent past, has published articles where the thesis has been ‘Dont Start Nothing, Wont Be Nothing,’ and I think its irresponsible journalism, if I can stretch the definition of the word to include publications like yours, to pretend that that only applies to people like my wife and I.”
“We are getting off track a little bit. I dont have much time here and I dont want my article to be expressly about your hostility to the interview. After all, you did agree to this without duress, didnt you?”
“I did.”
“But your wife did not?”
“She trusts you less than I do, which is saying something. But she is always away currently, dealing with her condition.”
“Is it a common occurrence for her to leave the family home to, as you say, deal with it?”
“In times of accelerated stress, yes. When she was pregnant with our son, she was unable to leave the secure room we have in the basement. This episode, however, has been precipitated by people like you hovering above us like vultures, waiting for your moment to strike.”
“Where has she gone to undertake this intervention?”
“That is none of your business. She is somewhere safe and alone. She isnt hounded by your kind, or anyone else, and can relieve her stress as needed.”
“Without you and your son, either.”
“Is there a question there?”
“Tell me about your condition. Youre a lucky one.”
“Thats the term they use. But its not luck to be, how you said, infected. Just because my condition isnt externally visible, doesnt make me luckier than those who are. I still have to deal with the issues arising from it being solely inside me.”
“Where is it, exactly?”
“My stomach.”
“Does that affect how you eat?”
“Of course it does. I, as the human, no longer feel hunger. I dont even want to eat. The idea of food means very little to me.”
“As the human?”
“The other part of me, what used to be my stomach, has very different ideas on what food means. When that hunger arises, and its not hunger as you know it, or any other non-infected human knows it, but thats the only word that comes close to describing it. Thats when I have to leave my family and take care of it. Fortunately, I have a large family and plenty of people who are willing and ready to help me.”
“How do you take care of it?”
“That is not something that is the focus of this interview.”
“We’ve spoken to a cousin of yours, a ranch hand down in Texas. They said that they breed any number of animals down there expressly for your … hunger.”
“Anyone can call themselves my cousin. Doesnt mean they are. They can make things up about me all they want, even if you publish them, it doesnt make it true.”
“Is any of what I said true?”
“I have family across the country, its possible I have cousins in Texas.”
“Youre not going to answer me?”
“I will answer questions asked in good faith that arent attempts to frame my family as any part of what happened to my wife and I.”
“Your wife, then. She isnt so lucky. She is externally presenting.”
“As has been widely publicised, her entire left forearm, from the elbow to the ends of her fingers has been replaced, yes.”
“And this is treated how, usually?”
“We have a specialist who has access to special bandages that keep it from being a problem. 99% of the time, her arm is tightly bandaged. It allows her to live a normal-ish life.”
“And your son?”
“Is uninfected.”
“For now, obviously.”
“That is not obvious to me.”
“Well, surely during that 1% where her arm is not bandaged, the risk is there for your child to be infected.”
“If there is even the slightest chance of her arm being exposed, period, our son is not in the house. In fact, that is why we bought our farm. We didnt want neighbours just in case things went wrong. We are able to predict, with relative confidence, when her bandages will need to be replaced, or when my hunger will start to rise. At those times, our son is sent off to a clean zone where he can participate with children of other infected people while they also wait for things to return to normalcy.”
“How long does that take?”
“For my wife, the specialist can have her re-bandaged in a matter of hours. For me, once I have fed.”
“So, that could be-”
“It takes as long as it takes.”
“I see. And if you vomit?”
“I’ve been infected for 15 years. I have not vomited once in that time. I dont think I am capable of it anymore.”
“You still drink?”
“I drink water, yes.”
“And alcohol?”
“Ive been sober since before I was infected. I dont know how that would affect me.”
“So you werent drunk at the time of the incident?”
“No.”
“Were you hungry?”
“We didnt start the incident.”
“That isnt what I asked. Were you, at the time your wife was attacked, hungry?”
“I was in the early stages of it, yes.”
“Early stages, what does that mean?”
“When a normal human is hungry, you feel the pangs, yes? I feel something similar, except it isnt in my stomach, its in my head. I can almost hear the hunger. Feel the hunger. Its a mental concept for me.”
“How long had you been in these early stages?”
“A few hours. I had noticed them, but hadnt brought them to her attention yet. Once we were done with our errands that day, I was going to send our son to the clean zone so I could deal with them fast.”
“You have the ability to deal with them at your farm?”
“Yes.”
“And you would still send your son away?”
“We dont want to take any risks. As soon as I feel the pangs or as soon as her bandages start to fray, our child is evacuated and our treatments begin.”
“So when those men attacked your wife.”
“Because of her bandages.”
“Because shes infected. When they attacked her, where were you?”
“I had been in a nearby store, browsing for gifts for her birthday which was the following week.”
“So you werent with her.”
“I wasnt next to her, no. But I could still see her.”
“And thats how you knew something was wrong?”
“No, I felt it.”
“Felt it?”
“Like her and I, before our condition, fell for each other and had that connection, so too do our … companions. I, or rather, what used to be my stomach, could feel her bandages being tugged off.”
“And you ran over to assist?”
“Not at first, no. She has never been the sort of woman to need anyones help, particularly a mans. She is a very self-sufficient person and I knew she could handle two men attacking her. Even if they were focused on her arm.”
“What do you think they were after?”
“I cant answer, because they are still unconscious. They never said, at the time, what they wanted. They just attacked her and tried to take her bandages off.”
“What do you think they wanted.”
“Understand that this is pure speculation because I dont know.”
“Answer my question please.”
“I would never say, for sure, what they wanted, but interviews with their own friends in the aftermath of this seem to imply they wanted to be infected.”
“And thats what you think?”
“I wish I knew more. Like all of you, and the rest of the people following this, I am waiting for them to wake up so we can ask them.”
“And if they never do?”
“Then we dont get closure, do we? Its not that hard to figure out.”
“When did you realise that she wasnt defending herself?”
“She was defending herself. She was punching one of them in the face when I arrived.”
“With her good hand.”
“With her non-infected hand.”
“And the other?”
“Was held above her head, attempting to keep it out of reach of the other man trying to grab it.”
“That is what the security cameras show.”
“They also show the two men approaching her, not the other way around.”
“Witnesses claim that they heard her arm speaking.”
“That doesnt happen.”
“There are documented cases of externally presenting infections speaking.”
“While my wifes arm is bandaged, it cannot speak.”
“Was it bandaged at this time?”
“Yes.”
“Completely?”
“Yes.”
“Could it be that your wifes bandages were starting to fray, in the same way that your hunger was starting to rise? That she hadnt told you about it yet because it wasnt over that threshold?”
“If that was the case, how can I know? She hadnt told me.”
“Its been four months. Are you saying she didnt tell you in the whole time since then?”
“They attacked her, not the other way around.”
“And now they are in the hospital, their survival not guaranteed, and they are both infected by both you and your wife. The first two cases of dual infection. Surely you must understand how that looks for you two?”