A ringtone filled the lulls in the alarm with a lively tune. Phillip perked up. It took a moment for him to distinguish the song from the alarm, but when he did, he dashed from the chair, scrambling for his lab coat. He rummaged through the pocket, retrieving his wife’s cell phone. He forgot he had it.

He raised the device and stared at the unrecognized number headlining the black call-screen. A tired, desperate man stared back. A man who saved his daughter. A man who, in doing so, created a plague, who destroyed his career and ruined so many lives. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind he’d do it again.

He swiped the call button and brought the phone to his ear, plugging the other with a finger. Licking his lips, he swallowed hard, his throat like sandpaper, his tongue like chalk. “Hello?” he croaked.

A stilted, familiar voice answered. “Phil? Oh my God—you’re alive!” Brenda sobbed, short breaths begging for oxygen.

“Brenda…” Phillip’s heart twisted: She made it out. She made it out! He could say it with certainty. His planned worked! Every muscle in his body relaxed at the realization. “I’m so relieved you’re okay.”

“Phil…” She sounded in pain; her voice yearned for his name.

“Dear, I’m here. I’m here.” The words struck him as soon as they left his lips. He should’ve been with her, holding her, comforting her. Instead, he was locked in a room with no exit other than a door leading to the things that chased him there in the first place.

Brenda continued to cry. His chest tightened. He needed to do something. He couldn’t let her lose herself.

“Brenda,” he whispered. He could barely hear himself over the alarm, but he knew she could hear him. She quieted, yet her breaths still came in gasps. “Do you remember the first time we took Jackie to the zoo?”

She was silent before replying, “She begged to see the lions, but the exhibit was closed…”

Phillip smiled. It was small, but it was genuine. “Yeah,” he said. “Over ten years later and she still talks about it. I still can’t believe she tried to sneak into the Lion House when we weren’t looking. What a card.” He could still hear his daughter’s voice: small, growing into something strong and mature, yet still holding a child-like wonder as she told and retold the story of how her father got her a private tour of the Lion House.

Brenda laughed. “Yeah, a wild card. If you hadn’t gotten us in there, I don’t think she would’ve let us live it down.”

“She knows what she wants,” Phillip said, “and she tries and tries until she gets it.”

“She’s her father’s daughter.” There was distance in Brenda’s voice. “So smart; so full of ideas.”

Phillip frowned, his eyes shaking. “My ideas are why I’m here and not with you.”

Brenda was quiet. “Phil…” The tears came back; he could hear it in her voice.

He knew what she was going to say. He dreaded this moment since he let go of her hand, and he couldn’t avoid it any longer. There were always risks with the kind of work he did; he just never thought it would ever come to this. “How will they do it?”

There was silence, an awful, heart-wrenching silence as if to punctuate Brenda’s next words: “They’re going to blow it up.”

He nodded slowly, as if Brenda could see the motion. With wide eyes, he saw so many cherished memories flash in front of him: his and Brenda’s first kiss, the moment he proposed, their wedding, when they brought Jackie home from the hospital...it all sped by in a second, ending on the day of Jackie’s first injection—the day she could finally enjoy life to its fullest. It wasn’t death that chilled him. It was the horror of leaving his family behind.

“Phil?”

“I’m here,” he squeaked, biting his lip.

“What do I do?” Her tone became frantic, choppy with sobs. “What do I tell Jackie?”

Taking a deep, quivering breath, Phillip found his nerves and said, “I regret none of it.” He wiped his eyes. “Tell her I’d do it all again if it meant she could live.”

The incessant pounding of his former colleagues had dwindled to occasional soft thuds. They were still out there, stalking the halls, waiting for him to be naïve enough to leave. He glanced at the door, and a taunting thought manifested: Maybe if he had a little more time...

The idea vanished as quickly as it came. He didn’t have the right to beg for time. Asking was selfish. If he had it, could he even make it?

He relished the fantasy. If he escaped, he could figure out how to destroy the parasites. He could bring these people back. Nobody understood what they were. They could still be alive. There could be a way to save them.

He punched the floor. Grinding his teeth, he cursed at himself for giving in to an instinct he created: curiosity for the unknown. His desire to learn, to know...He knew it was just a convoluted attempt to right his wrong. These people were trapped inside their minds because of him, and he couldn’t tell if his inclination to cure them was purely out of selflessness.

He had to accept what he promised he never would: He couldn’t fix this.

“Brenda, I’m sorry.” His voice hitched. “I love you...I love you so much. I didn’t mean for this to happen. You have to believe me. Please, believe me. I didn’t—” The words poured from his mouth. He couldn’t stop them. He didn’t want to.

“Phil,” Brenda whispered.

He barely heard her over the alarm. He cupped his mouth, stifling sobs.

“I never thought this was your fault,” she continued, calm, sincere. “You made it so our daughter could live a happy life. All you ever wanted was to help people. None of this was your fault.”

Tears ran down Phillip’s cheeks. “You’ve always been my rock, Brenda.”

“And you’ll always be mine.”

He wiped his eyes, then cleared his throat.“ Will you promise me one thing?”

Brenda said nothing. She was probably fighting tears trying to keep a level head, unwilling to break the way Phillip wanted to, but couldn’t. Neither of them could.

“Make sure Jackie never stops talking about the time Daddy showed her the lions.”

After a long pause, she whispered, “I will. I love you.”

“And I love you.” Phillip hung up. There was nothing else he could say. It was selfish to make Brenda continue, though all he wanted was to hear her voice as long as he could. He was already gone. He couldn’t make her hold on.

The phone’s battery blinked ten percent. Phillip stared longingly at the screensaver--an image of Brenda and Jackie, Jackie draped over her mother’s back, both of them making goofy faces at the camera. He caressed them. They were the loves of his life, and this was the last time he’d ever see them.

He smiled as the first bomb made contact. The building trembled, jostling him. Dust and pieces of drywall fell from the ceiling. He wasn’t scared. Brenda made it out, and he was at peace knowing that. He never took his eyes off the image of his family.

The alarm cut off, leaving behind a deafening silence disturbed only by the impact of the second bomb.