Endemic Rise of the Plague (18 page)

Roxy opened her eyes, rubbing her knuckles over her face. She sat up on the sofa and looked around the room in confusion. Finding the ladies at her side, she quickly spotted Dave across the room. Last night really did happen, she thought, looking down at the dogs disappointedly.

“
Morning,” Roxy said, getting to her feet.

Pulling out her cell, she examined the screen, where the antenna bars usually resided in the upper right corner, instead were the words
No Service
. Slipping the phone back into her pocket, she could hear the twang of metal clanking and what sounded like a pipe rolling across the concrete floor downstairs.

“
Morning, well it's about 5:45, the sun is not even up and I think Mattie has been up all night long. He’s getting things together in the bags down there,” Dave motioned to the studio's window that offered a view out to the center of the garage. On the floor, three duffle bags were near the back roll up door.

“
What’s he packing in those things?” Roxy stretched her arms over her head and cracked her neck, her dogs dancing anxiously at her feet.

“
He has about five handguns, a shotgun, two hunting rifles and tons of ammo. I think he's been waiting for an attack or something,” Dave teased. “He has some food and water, a first aid kit, extra clothes, just tons of stuff. He is surprisingly well prepared and knows just what to bring.”

“
So he’s like a doomsday prepper or a hoarder. Either way, we’re in luck that he’s on our side. Do you know when we’re leaving? And what car are we taking anyway?” Roxy inquired, trying her cell again.

“
Any second now and I think it's a truck out back,” Dave said.

Roxy pocketed the cell phone, feeling uneasy about her dad and sister’s whereabouts. Her cell had lost all service and a late night attempt revealed
a dead line on Mattie’s landline.
What the hell is going on?
She thought back to last night, in her neighborhood and along the entire route she had traveled, not a single emergency vehicle had been spotted. She hadn’t heard a siren, seen any flashing lights, nothing.
Why? Wouldn’t someone have called nine, one, one? The only reason that emergency vehicles wouldn’t respond is if there was a major crisis somewhere else in town.
Roxy felt herself getting anxious at the thought of leaving. Itching to get to her family now, she only hoped that they would be at the beach house.

“
Well, looky here, now. Good mornin' darlin. Sorry 'bout all the noise, but I had to dig up some stuff I'd been storing for years. I have some coffee still in the pot if you'd like to snatch a cup before we shove off. It's still hot. But gotta warn you, it might be a little strong,” Mattie said happily as he emerged from the stairs into the studio.

Roxy nodded and headed straight for the coffee. She began to pour a cup and could overhear the guys going over the trip ahead of them. Mattie unfolded a map and laid it flat on the coffee table. She
tried reassuring herself that Dad would have gone to the beach house. She hoped that he didn’t try going home. Recalling the disarray of her neighborhood, she felt panicked at the idea.
He would definitely go home first—to get me.

“
Alright then, here is where we are now,” Mattie said circling an area on the map. “Now, this here, is where we’re headed first. This is my sister Lynn's house. Then we'll take Marlin Drive. That will take us straight over to Shoreline Road. We'll just follow it down to the beach house,” Mattie said scribbling all over the map.

“Sounds good.
So your sister's place really isn't that far from here. She's what, maybe ten blocks?” Dave said as Roxy approached with her coffee in hand.

“
Yes Sir. Alright Roxy, we've got it all planned out. This here is the route we’re gonna to take. Hopefully there ain't too many of them weirdoes all together, anywhere on the way. If we just see a few here and there, I think we can dodge ‘em. If all goes well, I think that we should make it to Lynn's place in about ten minutes or so. I don’t plan on being there long. I just radioed her a few minutes ago, and she's ready to go. Then we'll head straight out to your beach house. So, by the way I figure, we should be there in about an hour, tops,” Mattie pointed to the map, before folding it and sliding it in the back pocket of his pants.

“You called your sister on a radio, like a walkie-talkie?” Roxy raised an eyebrow.

“Nah, HAM radio. You know, amateur radio?” Mattie said with a smile.

Having never heard the words, ham and radio, accompanying one another in the same sentence, a blank stare
was the only feedback Roxy could offer Mattie. He waived her over to the closet off the kitchen.

“See, this here’s my radio set up. Lynn has one that’s nearly the same. We’re both licensed HAM radio operators. I picked these babies at a yard sale for twelve dollars, five years ago. Can you believe that? I always knew that there might be some sort of emergency and that these things would save our lives. And now look at us, with the telephones not working and the cellular phones too,
me and my sister can sure talk with each other. You wanna try it?”

“So you have to have a radio to talk to someone else, you can’t call a number through the radio, can you?” Roxy asked as she looked ar
ound the small closet-sized room.

A
small table with the radio equipment atop filled the room with a folding chair tucked under the table, leaving barely enough room to pull out the chair. The radio itself was a box-like contraption with wires protruding and connecting, and a microphone.

“Nah, not that I know of at least.
I think even if the phones were workin’ you still couldn’t connect to a phone line. This here, uses radio waves.”

“
Well I’m glad that you were able to get a hold of your sister on this radio. I like your plan Mattie,” Roxy said with a gentle smile.

Roxy advanced to the window in the kitchen and looked out at the street below. She could see a few of the
weirdoes
, as Mattie called them, drifting aimlessly through the street near the overturned bus. She looked down as Gypsy brushed her leg. Both dogs looked up at Roxy intensely.

“
Mattie,” Roxy turned around. “Would you happen to have anything to eat for my dogs? Just maybe leftovers in the fridge or something would be fine. I'm sorry to ask, I’m running low on treats. I’ll pay you for it. And is there a place that I can take them out to do their business?” She reached into her pocket, fishing out a twenty dollar bill.

“
Darlin, your money is no good here. I am sure that I do have something for them, just give me one minute,” he said.

Mattie plucked two mismatched soup bowls from the cupboard and put them on the counter. Reaching in the fridge, his hands returned with three leftover hot dogs, two hamburgers, a bowl of fries, and an open can of beans. As he filled the bowls, the ladies crept over to him. Encircling Mattie, they paced back and forth with their noses in the air, like sharks circling their prey in a water tank. He plopped the bowls on the floor and the ladies began devouring the goulash of food.

“Thank you Mattie,” Roxy said with a smile.

“
Now, don't you worry about it. It's like a war out there. We've got to stick together. Oh, where are my manners are either of you hungry? We should have a quick bite to eat, before we go. The dogs can do their business out in the yard, when we leave, that’s where the truck is anyhow,” Mattie motioned to the rear of the room, in the direction of the fence enclosed yard.

“
I don't mean to be difficult, but I’m a vegetarian. You wouldn't happen to have anything that might not have any meat in it would you?” Roxy asked bashfully, as the aroma of the hot dogs and chili taunted her hunger.

For some reason, meat is all that she'd been craving since yesterday afternoon.
She figured that she hadn’t eaten enough protein. Thinking back, she really hadn't eaten much but, she'd gone longer on much less and has never had cravings like this before.

“
Sure do, if you don't mind a PB and J sandwich,” Mattie said pulling out the peanut butter.

“
That'll be perfect,” she said with relief. Peanut Butter would have the needed protein that her body is craving. And hopefully stave off the urge for meat.

Unexpectedly, the television blared out a long BEEP. Mattie raced to the TV and slightly lowered the volume. Dave and Roxy stood behind Mattie and gazed at the screen, waiting to see if there would be news about
what had happened in The Port last night. The screen flickered for a moment before showing a man in a navy suit sitting behind a desk, and on the wall behind him the words, GHLN News Desk Channel 5.

“It appears that it is no longer safe for us to continue to broadcast from our headquarters,” the news anchor announced. “We are placing this broadcast on a loop, until we have set up a remote broadcasting station. At that time, we will continue to bring you additional information as it is available. Thank you and be safe.
”

The screen darkened momentarily, then static flashed on and off for a few seconds, until the anchorman appeared once more. Sitting erect behind the news desk was a man that nearly all of the residents of Port Steward had become accustomed to seeing delivering the
news each evening. Henry Lewis is a local, born and raised in this small town. He is a face that the community trusts and relies upon to keep them up to date with the happenings in Port Steward and all across the world. Although some older residents prefer to get their news by watching his nightly programming, for the younger generation and the tech savvy, he has cell phone apps available for download for up to the minute breaking news.

“
Good evening. We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you breaking news. Henry Lewis here, from GHLN News, channel five. There is chaos in the streets of Port Steward. There seems to be a terrible outbreak of disease in our fine town at this early hour. Dear residents, please know, that the disease does not appear to be airborne at this time. The sickened individuals are indiscriminately biting otherwise healthy residents and tourists alike and infecting them with the disease. CDC officials are estimating that it is being spread by the infected individual's saliva entering the bloodstream of the host. This causes the host to become ill with flu-like symptoms, and within as little as a few minutes to a few hours, the host appears to die. Pulse and breathing fall to undetectable levels for a short time, then the host awakens.

“The Center for Disease Control reports, that it is unclear at this point, what disease this is exactly. Those infected appear to have the following symptoms of the disease:

“Their skin becomes pale in color, reducing to an unnatural three to four shades lighter than it had previously been. Their veins look as if they are black in color and can be seen all over their body, through the pale skin. Their skin becomes extremely dry, with the lips cracking and skin peeling away, and the whites of their eyes and their gums turning to black. It is not known whether or not they can see or if they locate others by some other sense. The infected have shown no signs of speech or even comprehension of language, possibly due to some damage to the brain from the disease. There are some that can move extremely quickly, while others move far slower. It is undetermined at this time why some are faster than others.

“What is
clear, is that they are extraordinarily strong, regardless of their speed. They have an unquenchable hunger for—” the anchorman’s strong voice hesitated for a moment. “A hunger for human flesh. It seems that is the driving force behind the disease.

“The CDC will be holding a press conference within a few hours. There have been many rumors as to what may have caused this ranging from another strain of the flu, to a terrorist attack, and so on, but at this time, it is unknown what has caused this devastation in our resilient town. This endemic appears to be spreading much quicker than any known disease, and has the potential to spread to epidemic proportions, if not contained.

The National Guard will be commencing preliminary quarantine protocol with the assistance of the local law enforcement. Residents of Port Steward, please remain inside your homes. Lock your doors and board up your windows.

“Do whatever you can to keep
yourself, and your loved ones safe. It looks like it is no longer safe for us to continue to broadcast from our headquarters. We are placing this broadcast on a loop, until we have set up a remote broadcasting station. At that time, we will continue to bring you additional information as it is available. Thank you and be safe.”

Hank and Joe looked at each other stunned at the information the newscast had conveyed. Joe felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him and Hank looked as if all the blood had drained from his pasty face. Joe
broke the stare first. He stood up and called for Kate, as Hank dashed to the side door leading to the garage.

“
Hey Dad,” Kate answered from the kitchen, coming around the corner with a plate of breakfast, her mouth still chewing. “You’ve gotta have some of this breakfast. It’s delish!”

“
Kate, stay in there for a minute, okay?” He called out following Hank to the door.

“
Okay,” Kate said taking another bite of her hash browns.

Hank pulled his pistol from his holster and opened the door, with Joe following close behind. Pausing for a moment in the doorway, they didn't see any commotion but didn't see Mary or Jake either. Joe quickly looked around feeling quite insecure, entering the room unarmed.
Just inside the doorway, Joe saw some rusty garden tools in the corner, to his right. He grabbed an old hoe and held it tightly over his shoulder ready to swing.

A sinking feeling came over Joe. Shaken up by what he ha
d heard on the news broadcast, it all made sense, now. After escaping the carnival, Joe had tried not to think about what had occurred there, burying it deep beneath his worries about Roxy. H recalled that he had pointed out to Kate that the ones that had been attacked on the ground had disappeared, and that he’d thought that they were under the wheel. Joe wanted to slap himself. After Jake had been bitten, all Joe could see was an injured firefighter that had likely saved Hank’s life last night.
I should have thought about the carnival.
I should have pieced it together.
Guilt crept into Joe’s mind.

The men stepped around the front of the parked truck, toward the cold box. The door
hung slightly ajar, with a fissure of dim, yellowish light glowing around the door. The men hurried to the entry, without hesitation, Hank heaved the door outward, pointing his weapon inside the cooler. Just five feet from the door, Jake stood next to a broken plate and mound of eggs and sausage on the floor, with his back to Hank and Joe.

“
Hey Jake,” Hank said softly. “Where is Mary?”

Jake just stood there as if Hank had not said a word.

“Jake,” Hank's voice commanded attention.

Jake turned slowly, as if he were in slow motion. He was about half way turned around when they got a view of him. His face and mouth were covered in blood, as were his hands and arms.