Endemic Rise of the Plague (21 page)

Kate sat at the table, her hands trembling as she wiped the tears from her face. Alone in the kitchen of the General Store, the only sounds were the distant, static coming from the television in the store area, and her own sobbing. She tried to calm herself, but her bawling proved uncontrollable. After each exhale, her jaw and neck muscles would tighten, as each inhale became a gasping fight for oxygen. Her mind felt overloaded. She could barely process the events of the carnival and the aftermath. Her heart ached for those people. But it was different today, she knew Jake and Mary. Not as lifelong family friends, but as survivors joining together for safety. She surprised herself by how quickly she had attached herself to them. After all, it had been Hank, Mary and Jake who rescued her and her father.
If didn’t find us when they did
—

She shook her head, desperately making an effort to take her mind to another place but the aroma of Mary’s breakfast lingered in the air—as a painful reminder of what had taken place. Rising from her seat at the table, she peered out the back window. Through the hazy window, she saw her father and Hank, shovels in hand, behind the store. They placed the last of the soil on the third mound of dirt. The first mound had a makeshift cross fashioned of two old scrap pieces of wood. Across the right arm of the cross, the word
MARY
had been carved, using Hank's pocket knife. The second mound held a cross with the word
JAKE
inscribed upon it. Looking back at the men, her dad shoveled, while Hank made the third cross. He put the two pieces of wood together and secured them with a nail. Inscribed on that cross:
MRS. T
. Hank plunged it in the ground on the far end of the grave. Joe shoveled soil around the base, to help keep it in place.

Reaching for a pistol that lay near Jake’s grave, Hank passed it to Joe, offer
ing a few words and a nod. Hank pulled out a gold pocket watch from his front pocket and kissed it, before returning it to his pants pocket. From their body language, Kate guessed that they would be coming in any moment. She hurried to the sink and quickly washed her face, drying it with a paper towel. Kate sat back at the table as the men entered, and washed the clay colored dirt from their skin.

“
Kate, you cleaned up," Hank said looking around the kitchen. "It looks real nice in here, smells good too.”

“
I put the leftovers in the fridge and think I put the dishes where they all go,” her voice quivered softly.

“
You did good young lady,” Hank said.

“
Hey sweetie, have they said anything else on TV about what's going on?” Joe asked.

“
I haven't really been watching Dad. I think it’s the same thing over and over again,” she sniffled.

“
Alright, we’re going to get to Roxy this time no matter what it takes. Real quick, before we go, lets double check to see if there is any breaking news before we head out,” Joe said in a rush.

Kate followed the men into the store area. The television had no picture again. Joe and Hank went to work at trying to get a picture, by fiddling with the tattered wires once more. Kate dutifully watch
ed the screen to tell them when she could see a flicker of a picture appear, when she saw something pass in front of the store. It had been in her peripheral vision, so she wasn't sure what she had seen. She walked toward the front of the store, cautiously looking out the glass doors, from between crisscross of the metal grate. A cloud of dust lingered in the air, when a black hummer passed by, followed by a few black SUVs, then a train of camouflage painted vehicles.

“
How are we doing?” Joe asked. “Kate?”

Kate watched the parade of vehicles passing by the General Store.
Before long, Joe and Hank had joined her. All three stood in silence, as if hypnotized by the sight, gazing out the glass.

Mattie burst out from the guest—
room door of Lynn’s house, with an intensity that he hadn’t shown in quite some time. With his heart racing, he had to tell Lynn about what he’d just seen take place.

“
Lynn! Lynn!” he yelled as he sprinted down the hall. “You are not gonna to believe this!”

“Wow, I didn’t even hear the gunshot. Mattie, please don't get into the gruesome details,
” she pleaded. “Can we leave now? I’m looking forward to getting to Roxy's beach house. I already have it figured out. We can explain to her family what happened. I just know her father will let us stay. It's getting really bad out there. I keep hearing screams down the street.”

“
Lynn, listen to me. This is important,” he said out of breath, noticing the absence of her fiancé. “Where’s Edgar?”

“
He felt just awful, so he went to lie down for a while in the bedroom. I told him to take some medicine, he looked terrible. I think he just feels so bad about what happened to Roxy. What’s so important?” Lynn asked, sucking in a drag from her cigarette.

“
You have to listen to me—” he stopped mid-sentence, as he saw a figure pass across the front window. He angled his head to the side. Before he could react, the front door burst open.

In flooded several shadowed figures. The late morning sun
shone in like a spotlight, beaming through the doorframe. The light shined on Mattie and Lynn, making the ones entering the house appear more like audience members at a play. The shadowed figures shouted all at once, making it difficult for Mattie to make out their words. They were men and weren’t infected, as far as he could tell. The last man that entered slammed the door behind him. As Mattie’s eyes began to adjust from the bright sunlight, he could see that the men were armed with assault rifles, and all but one, were dressed in black tactical uniforms and all wore cloth, face covers, hiding their identities. Mattie couldn’t be sure if they were here to help or to harm them. Instinctively, he raised his arms in submission and Lynn emulated his action.

“
Stay where you are. Are either of you bitten?” A commanding voice sounded.

“
No, we're not bitten,” Mattie declared.

“
Put your hands down,” another voice commanded. The man lowered his weapon and the others followed his lead. “We are looking for someone.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Mattie could see Dave charging down the hall. He came fast around the corner of the hallway. The group of men turned toward Dave, quickly raising their weapons at him.

Dave lifted his hands halfway up, “Hey, hey, hey. Take it easy,” he said.

“
Dave?” The front man said, pulling down his face cover. A smile swept across his face as he lowered his gun.

“
Randy,” Dave said flatly, his face tensing up.

“
Well, well, well, what do we have here? Look Rhino, it's our ole pal Dave. What are you up to now, Dave? Was it bar tending? Pretty prestigious for a man of your caliber, from a commanding Marine Officer, to a bar maid,” Randy chuckled.

Dave eyed the men who’d charge
d into Lynn’s house as though they were the Port Steward SWAT team. Although their attire and stances suggested some type of tactical unit, Dave had a feeling that they weren’t exactly what they appeared. Their covered faces and the embroidered badges on black shirts of the three up front were all wrong for the police. Then, there was the last guy, a cowboy from head to toe. Something was definitely off about these men.

Following Randy’s action, one by one, Rhino and the rest lowered their weapons and pulled down their face covers. Dave could see that of the four men standing before him, Randy and Rhino had been in his unit in the Marines. He had heard that a few of the guys from that unit had all been recruited right after their service to some sort of security detail or something. He never dreamt that sort of job would lead these men to Port Steward.

“You SWAT with a lost Texas Ranger along or something?” Dave sneered, eyeing the men’s attire and equipment, taking special notice of the cowboy.

“
Something much better, but we can catch up on that another time. How do you know these people?” Randy interrogated.

“
I just met them when all this shit started. What's it to you? Why are you here?” Dave fired back.

“
Yeah, well, we're doing the questioning here,” Randy smirked. “We are looking for someone. She is infected, and we tracked her here.”

Dave felt apprehensive about this situation, as he glared at Randy in the muggy living room. He couldn’t for the life of him figure out what would bring Randy to Lynn’s house?
Why here? And who could he possibly be looking for?
In all the years that Dave had known Randy, he never cared for Randy’s arrogant approach and sense of entitlement. But his disdain for Randy stemmed from a deeper seeded issue in their past.

Rhino pulled out his cell phone, attaching a corded, rectangular box to it. The black contraption resembled a television remote control. Rhino extended an eighteen inch antenna and began pressing the buttons on what Dave recognized as a military grade device.

“Is that the prototype PCSR? Where did you get your hands on one of those? You steal it?” Dave asked, eyeing Rhino.

“What’s that?” Mattie whispered, nodding at Dave.

“It’s a portable cellular signal repeater,” Dave said. “It amplifies cell phone signals within a small area. You can get repeaters pretty easily, but you need an antenna outside and a receiver inside to boost the signal. But you can’t just get a portable CSR anywhere. We used them in basic for the Marines. They were prototypes—I didn’t know that they were made commercially available yet.”

“They aren’t
—not with the power behind this one,” Randy smirked. “I work for a company that’s technology is nearly limitless. But that’s for another conversation. Are you going to answer my questions Dave? Someone here was infected—”

“
There’s no one infected here,” Dave said. “You’re in the wrong place.”

Randy stood tall with an overconfident smirk. A faint sound of a cell phone rang. After a brief moment of silence, the phone sounded again.
With reluctance, Dave pulled a pink cell phone from his pocket and silenced the ringer.
No way.

“
Pink's not really your color Dave. Where'd you get the phone?” Randy asked.

“
It's a friend's. Why are you interested in this phone?” Dave questioned.

“
We are looking for the owner. She was infected. She would have turned around dusk last night," Randy said sternly, "So where did you get the phone?”

The men before Dave stood smugly in the tiny living room, their feet rooted. They weren’t going anywhere, and their weapons ensured that they would not be leavin
g until the retrieved whatever they were after.
With a leader like Randy, I don’t trust these guys for anything. What could this guy possibly want with Roxy? Randy is out of his mind if he thinks that I am going to turn her over him and his goons. Not in this lifetime.

Dave raised an eyebrow.
“I told you, it's a friend's. Why would you think she’s infected and how could you pin point exactly when she would turn? Do you know her?”

“
Listen Dave, this isn't Q and A time. I need to locate her body. Just answer my question. How did you get the phone from her and where are her remains?” Randy demanded.

Dave looked at Randy, defiantly sliding the phone into his pocket. "I think you are in the wrong place Randy," he turned to walk into the kitchen.

“Don't turn your back on me!” Randy growled, lowering his head, glaring at Dave.

Dave spun around,
“You tell me what I want and I'll tell you what you want,” Dave's face became rigid and furious. Dave resisted the urge to launch himself at his self-absorbed former Marine. With the armed comrades that stood at Randy’s flank, it would be a short lived fight.

“
You listen to me Dave!” Randy started to raise his weapon.

“
Wait,” Roxy said softly, stepping out from behind the wall, her arms extended in front of her with palms open.

While di
sappointed that Roxy came out, Dave felt relieved that she had slipped on her brown button up blouse, from her duffle bag, covering her shoulder where she’d been bitten by the infected man in the front yard. These were the type of men to shoot first and not even bother with any questions. Glancing down the hall, he could see that the ladies were sitting about halfway down awaiting Roxy’s command.

Lynn gasped
, extinguishing her cigarette in a plate. She looked to Dave with terror, while grabbing Mattie’s arm, then looking to him. Mattie gave her a wide eyed look, shaking his head slightly.

“
God Damn it! Who the hell are you? How many more people are in this house?” Randy shouted in frustration.

“
It's my phone. The cell phone belongs to me,” Roxy said.

Randy smiled,
“Bullshit. You stole it.”

“
I bought it myself eight months ago,” she said. "Maybe the old phone number..."

“
Quit playing games,” Randy said, dropping his hands. “Fine, what's your name?”

“
Roxy, well, Roxanne Harper.”

“
The same Roxanne Harper who received a flu shot at Angora yesterday afternoon?”

“
Yes.”

“Prove it,” Randy insisted.

“Well, when I ran for my life, I didn’t stop to get my ID and passport.”

“Your address and birth date will do just fine for now. And were you one of the first to get the flu shot?”

“Eighteen-oh-six Pebble Lane, March twenty-sixth and no, I was nearly last. I had to wait three hours only for them to finally tell me, that they had run out of the vaccine. They found some more, as I headed for the door. Why are you looking for me?” She said sharply, then lightening her tone, “Is there a problem with the vaccine?”

Rhino held out his phone to Randy. Glancing at the phone, Randy walked slowly toward
Roxy, analyzing her carefully. Inhaling deeply, it seemed as though he were taking in her scent.

“
I need you to come with me,” Randy said in a calm voice.

“
Come with you? Where?” She asked in defense.

Roxy stepped back, breathing heavily through her mouth, as though she was distressed at the sight of Randy. Dave took particular notice of her and of how Randy looked mesmerized by her, making him wonder for a moment if
Roxy and Randy knew one another.

“
Back to Angora, they need to run additional testing,” Randy said flatly, staring hypnotically into her eyes.

“
What kind of testing?” She asked, stepping backward.

“
Listen, it's safe there. The entire building is protected by solid walls and armed guards and it’s at the edge of the city. You will be safe there until this situation is under control.”

“
No, I need to find my dad and my sister. I'm not going anywhere else until I find them,” she declared.

“
Would that be Kathryn and Joseph?” Randy asked in a paced, condescending tone.

“Yes... How...
” Roxy looked down in confusion. “How do you know them?”

Randy spoke not a word, merely stood before her meticulously studying her.

“Roxanne, we can discuss the details on the way, we really need to get going,” Rhino stepped in and motioned for the door.

“
Do you know where my family is?” She demanded.

“
Yes, we have a lock on them, and they are being brought to Angora for their safety by a member of our team. If we leave now, we'll probably get there just before them,” Rhino said nudging Randy.

“
How?” Roxy gasped.

“
Ms. Harper, we do not have time to discuss this here. I will say, that they were tracked by the built-in GPS in your sister’s iPod. We will explain all that you want to know on the way, but we have to get moving. The National Guard is sweeping the city, and we need to be gone before it gets here,” Rhino said.

“
Why? Aren't they coming to help us?” Lynn chimed in.

“
I’m losing my patience here. We need to go now. Once they get here, we won't be able to leave. They will be beginning full quarantine protocol shortly,” Rhino said.

“
Fine, we’ll go. I mean if that’s where your guy is taking my family, then okay,” Roxy submitted, looking around to the others. “You guys want to go? He said we’ll be safe there. I was just there yesterday, and they do have huge gates that can keep the infected out. Ladies, come,” she turned to Dave, then looking to Mattie.

The dogs sprinted down the hall excitedly, prancing around Roxy’s legs, as Mattie, Lynn exchanged nods with Dave. Randy and his men took a step back as the two
Pit Bulls entered the room. Their posturing changed dramatically as they eyed the dogs with uncertainty. Dave watched the men as their hands gripped their weapons, still down at their sides, slightly tighter.

This sounded a little too convenient for his taste. Dave knew two of these men well. He’d been their commandin
g officer in the Marines. Rhino—the drone, followed orders blindly with no real moral compass. The younger kid and cowboy in this group were strangers, but for them to be in this group, Dave knew that they must be very much like the Rhino. Then, there was Randy. Randy was of a rare kind. Dave knew first hand, the destruction and chaos that Randy could cause, making it difficult for him to maintain his composure. In fact, Dave hoped never to see this man again after what happened in during their overseas tour.

“
Wait, just a second. Uh, we are here to retrieve you—and only you, Ms. Harper. Not these other people and definitely not dogs. We are going to a laboratory, no dogs,” Rhino said with a grin, still eyeing the Pit Bulls.

“
That's a problem then. I don't go anywhere without my dogs. And these people have saved my life. If they can't go, then I won't go,” she said firmly, her feet confidently planted beneath her.

Dave immediately noticed the change in Roxy’s demeanor. Instead of the shy girl he met in the park, an iron willed woman stood before him in this ancient house.
She either paid little attention to the weapons in the hands of these strangers or she simply did not care.

“
Ms. Harper, we have authorization to take you,” Rhino began.

“
It will be fine, Rhino,” Randy interrupted in a monotone voice, with his eyes still fixed intently on Roxy. “The woman doesn't want to leave her dogs. That's fine. And Angora is big enough to maintain these friends of hers. Is there anyone else in the house?”

“
Edgar!” Lynn turned to go down the hall, as the cowboy stepped into her path.

“
I'll get him. You go get in the truck with the others. Where is he?” The cowboy asked.

“My fiancé Edgar is in the back bedroom at the end of the hall, sleepin
g. You have to wake him softly—he gets mad otherwise,” she said as Mattie grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the front door. “Plus he’s not feeling well, so make sure you wake him gently.”

The men began leading Roxy and her dogs out, followed by Dave, Mattie and Lynn.