Endemic Rise of the Plague (22 page)

As Boots approached the end of the hall, he looked at the two doors, one on the right, and one on the left. “Which door at the end of the hall?” He whispered to himself, wicking away beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead, and pulling up the sleeves of his olive colored, cotton shirt.

Boots opened the door on the right. A dilapidated dresser
stood on the far end of the room and mismatched nightstands were on either side of the made-up bed. A mysterious odor drifted from the doorway as he spotted piles of clothes polka dotting the worn carpet and stacks of debris situated all around the room. With no sign of anyone in this room, Boots eyed the door across the hall. Slowly opening the door across the hall, he found the bed half-made, two chairs resting against the wall, next to a small table with an opened first aid kit atop. His eyes fell to the wastebasket, noticing bloody gauze pads and paper towels. After a glance around the room, he lowered his weapon.

“
No one's here,” he said aloud.

With a sigh, he straightened his cowboy hat and turned back toward the door. He
felt startled to see a man—Edgar, as the blonde woman had called him—standing in the doorway with his head awkwardly hung. Boots knew Edgar had the infection at first glance. Stepping back, Boots began to raise his gun, when Edgar lunged at him. Boots raised his left arm to block the attack as he aimed the gun at Edgar's torso. Boots fired his weapon just as Edgar’s teeth sunk into his wrist—down to the bone.

Edgar stumbled backward, looking at the wounds to his abdomen,
then raising his head, he charged again. Boots fired the weapon once more. This time, the bullet struck Edgar just under the chin, his lifeless body falling to the floor.

Look
ing at his injured wrist, shockwaves rocked Boots as he found that his wound appeared far worse than Walker’s bite. Boots didn't want to be taken to quarantine. To be locked in a room, in solitude, he'd rather die from the wound than to be locked up like an animal. He grabbed the stack of gauze pads and quickly secured it to the wound. Then he added two layers of waterproof tape he spotted inside the opened first aid kit. He ripped the end of the tape with his teeth, and stuffed his pocket with the spool of tape and another handful of gauze, just as the blonde and Rhino rushed into the room.

“
Why? Why?” The woman cried, cupping her hands over her mouth, dropping to her knees bedside Edgar.

“
He was infected! I thought you said no one was bitten. There are bloody bandages in the trash. He came at me!” Boots shook his injured wrist behind his back so that his sleeve would slide down to his hand.

“
He wasn't the one who was bitten,” she cried, using the inside collar of her black and white striped blouse to wipe her nose.

“
Well, he was infected! Look at him! And what the hell is this then?” Boots yelled kicking the trash can over.

Rhino began to examine the body, looking down Edgar’s shirt and pulling back the sleeves of the long sleeve tee shirt
. He looked up at Boots and the blonde revealing the original wound that caused the infection, a wound on the right forearm. The injury did not have the appearance of a bite, instead a festering hump of green puss and blood, leaking a toxic-looking ooze, disfigured Edgar’s arm.

“
Are you good?” Rhino asked with serious eyes.

“
Yeah, but it was close man,” Boots said, nodding his head.

“Who’
s bit?” Rhino asked, looking to the woman.

“
What?” She asked, distraught with grief, as tears plunged down her cheeks, dripping off her lips.

“
You said that he wasn't the one with a bite. So then, who else has a bite?”

“
Roxy,” she said between sobs.

Rhino bolted for the door. Boots pulled down his other sleeve and grabbed
the woman’s arm, yanking her out of the room. They strode out to the front room where everyone else had come back into the house. Raising his weapon, Boots aimed it at Roxy, following Rhino’s lead. She raised her hands in front of her shoulders and shook her head.

“
She is infected. She has a bite," Rhino announced.

“
Let me explain,” Roxy pleaded.

“
No, shut up. Boss, am I clear?” Rhino asked.

“
No, you're not, stand down. I want to hear what she has to say,” Randy said with a smirk.

Rhino cocked his head at Randy, contorting his face in confusion, before exchanging glances with Junior, then Boots.

Boots shrugged. He didn’t know what she would say, but he wanted to hear it too, his wrist searing with pain.

“
It’s healing. Dave, show them the picture,” she said.

Dave stepped up to Randy and pulled Roxy’s cell phone from his pocket and revealed the picture he'd taken a few hours ago of Roxy's bite. Boots and the others leaned in to look at the photo of the wound. Boots cringed at the sight, the photo looking similar to the injury on his wrist.
If her bite is healing, maybe mine will too.

“
Left, back-shoulder,” Rhino said. “Let’s see it.”

Roxy turned away from the men. Slipping her top off, she revealed the black tank top underneath and her bare shoulders. All that remained was a dime sized scab. The men drew closer to get a better view, looking back and forth between the cell phone and her shoulder.

Boots slid away from the group, pulling out his yellow and black sat phone, and pressed the radio button.

“
It’s Boots. We just picked up our package and it looks like she’s immune to the bug. You copy, immune? Make sure you bring the other two, I think the doc will be interested in all three of them,” Boots whispered into his phone.

“Copy that,” replied the voice on the phone.

As the vehicles hummed by, Kate pondered the idea of going outside and asking for help. But she reconsidered going outside, after all, this place seemed deserted of the infected when Jake had been bitten. Then the last of the military style vehicles sped away in the distance.

“
What do you think they’re doing?” Joe turned to Hank.

“
Possibly headed downtown, maybe they’re going to combat and contain the madness, that would be my guess,” Hank went back to the television set. “Come on Joe—let’s get this thing working so we can see if the news has any new information. Then, we’ll get going. I’ve got a shotgun behind the counter that we’ll bring along. We’ll get your other daughter Joe. I give you my word.”

Joe squeezed Kate's shoulder as he went to help Hank.

Kate wondered how Hank could be so intent on fixing the TV, when Mary just died.
How could he pretend that ten minutes ago they weren’t just burying her body? I can still taste the breakfast that Mary made on my breath, and Hank is so focused on that stupid TV. Didn’t he love her? Didn’t he care at all for her?

Kate gazed out the glass doors watching as the dust, that had been kicked up by the train of vehicles, began to settle back to the ground. Popping her headphones into her ears, she started her playlist titled
Rock It
, a collection of her favorite rock and metal tunes. Her mind soon went back to the vehicles that had just sped by, and she couldn't help thinking that they were going to some secure Army Base and how she should have asked her dad to go out there. She began to daydream of how this imaginary base would look and how safe they would be until the Army could stop the destruction of her town. She knew that they would be able to rescue Roxy. Leaning against the metal grate, still thinking of the safe base and staring out the doors, she spotted a black Expedition pulling to a park in front of the store.

Kate's jaw gaped open in suspense. She watched as a man in all black armed with a huge gun—like the kind she’d only seen in movies, exited the vehicle and jogged toward the front door.

“Dad! The Army is here,” she yelled, pulling off her headphones.

“
What is it?” Joe hurried over.

As he approached her,
a pounding jostled the glass. Joe jumped back from the shuddering doors, Hank rushing over as well, only steps behind.

“
Open the doors!” the man yelled.

Hank shook his head, pushing past Kate and Joe,
“Sorry, we're closed.” He pointed to the sign on the door.

“
I am looking for Joseph and Kathryn Harper. Roxanne Harper sent for them,” the impatient man said.

“
Open the door Hank,” Joe demanded.

Hank shook his head, “How do I know you aren't bitten? I’m not letting anybody in here that might be bitten.
”

“
I'm not bitten… yet,” the man looked around, his voice slightly distorted by the barrier of glass. “Roxanne is en route Angora Laboratories. It’s safe there. She wants her family to come so that she can know that they're safe.”

A wave of relief swept over Kate. Her sister was alive and safe, and this man
would to take them to her. She looked up at her father with exhilaration, her hopes restored. Instead of going to the secure Army Base she daydreamt about—she would go to a place equally safe, where her sister would be.

Hank nodded and pulled a set of keys from his pocket and tossed them to Joe. Grabbing his shotgun from behind the counter, Hank aimed it at the door.

“Open it Joe, and lock it right behind him.”

Joe nodded in agreement and busily unlocked the padlock on the metal grate, then the door.

“Quickly, come into the middle of the room,” Hank ordered.

The man followed Hank's request, as did Joe, locking the doors and the grate behind him.

“Put that weapon on the floor and tell me exactly why you are here. And don’t leave out the part about how you found Joe and Kate, here.”

Roxy sat in the middle row of the
suffocating Expedition. The interior of the vehicle looked pristine, although the smell of sweaty men overpowered her—even with the air conditioner at full blast. She slid her small finger over the plastic, window control button on the door’s console and cracked the window to let in a little fresh air. The man introduced to her as Rhino drove and sat directly in front of her. She had no difficulty imagining where his nickname came from, after seeing this hulk of a man. Dave sat next to her in the middle row of the vehicle, directly behind Randy on the passenger side. She could see Randy staring at her in the mirror, attached to the overhead visor. Randy had angled the visor upon entering the SUV, so he could see her. She shrugged it off, thinking that he may be worried that she may still change into one of the monsters.

Looking to Dave, she could see how the last sixteen hours had taken a toll on him. He sat quietly looking out the window. He expressed to her before they left that he
hadn’t felt a hundred percent on board with the idea of traveling to Angora—especially with Randy, but he respected her wishes to be reunited with her family.

Roxy glanced out the back window seeing a second SUV following closely and Mattie’s truck bringing up the rear of the train of vehicles. In the vehicle behind them, a cowboy going by the name of Boots drove with a really young looking guy, close to her age, named Junior. Mattie, of course,
drove his truck with Lynn accompanying him. He refused to leave his truck behind.

Her exhausted dogs slept peacefully in the back seat. She
felt equally exhausted and wanted nothing more than to do the same. Taking a peaceful nap and awakening to realize that this all was a terrible nightmare would be a blessing to her. She knew that this was no nightmare. The events of the past sixteen hours were real. They had taken place, and were still ongoing. Her thoughts turned to her sister, Kate. She hadn't heard from Kate or Dad since all this began and worry crept into her mind. As she thought of them, a fiery feeling welled up within her chest. She felt anxious. She wanted to be with her family now, right this very second. She wanted to know that they were safe—to see it with her own eyes.

Few infected could be seen about roaming between the buildings here on Brewer Road. The area is more of an industrial part of town than anything else. The smell of fish had always stained the air, but today
the stink seemed nearly unbearable, the stench of what could only be described as rotting fish saturated the atmosphere. This is generally the place where the fish from the day’s catch are sold after they are weighed and inspected at the dock and the fishing boat captain has been paid his take. Brewer Road has separate warehouses for each variety of sea life caught on the waters surrounding Port Steward. These warehouses are where they are cleaned and prepped to go market or to be shipped out to other areas of the state and even the country. Each structure is painted a drastically different pastel shade, from pale yellow to mint green and even violet.

Roxy glanced at Randy once more, who hadn’t taken his eyes off her in the mirror.
Something felt odd about the way he stared at her, making her feel uncomfortable. But on some level, he seemed almost…familiar to her.

“
Why were you looking for me? Was there a problem with my flu shot, a problem bigger that what’s going on out there?” her voice became sharp and to the point.

An
uninterrupted silence hung in the air that seemed to last for minutes. As if no one wanted to answer her question, or perhaps, no one knew how to answer it. Normally, Roxy had been a fairly easy-going person, that didn’t say
no
often and that mostly went with the flow without asking too many questions. Her patience wore exhaustingly thin, perhaps because of the fear that filled her about the disarray of the town, or maybe it could have been the worry that she felt she was drowning in—with regard to her family. These people had her family and were taking them to a place of safety. That was the only reason she agreed to come with them back to Angora.

“
Well ma'am, we are not really at liberty to disclose that information with you. There is a doctor, well—a scientist, who needs to see you. She can fill you in on the details,” Rhino finally broke the silence, glimpsing in the rear view mirror only once, before focusing on the road ahead.

“
Not at liberty to say? Okay, I get it. You are worried about a lawsuit, aren't you? That flu shot was probably out of date. You just want to get me to your building so that you can have some legal-wise doctor try to smooth things over. A lawsuit is the furthest thing from my mind right now. I just want to get to my family and go somewhere safe, until this whole mess is taken care of,” she fumed.

“
Please, calm down. What information we have is limited. It barely makes sense to us. We just have orders to bring you back to Angora, and we follow them. Management has the information that you want to know, not us,” Rhino attempted to ease the situation himself.

Roxy thought for a moment,
“Does this have anything to do with what is going on in The Port?”

“
I don't know. You will have to check with Dr. Brandenburg, when we get to Angora.”

Roxy sighed thinking for a moment, the glaring back up to Randy, who sat silently with his eyes fixed on her in the mirror.

“Okay. Can you answer this for me then? When you were at Lynn's house, you said that you were looking for the owner of my phone. You also said that
she
would have changed last night. What aren't you telling me?” She bated.

“
You heard that, eh? Attention to detail, impressive,” Randy finally spoke cryptically.

Suddenly, the sports utility vehicle jerked to the side. Roxy slammed into Dave, her head slamming into his shoulder. In an effort to stay on the street, Rhino overcorrected and sent the Expedition into a spin. The automobile spun two and a half times before skidding to a stop, as the engine stalled. Facing the direction from which they had just traveled, the second SUV, containing Boots and Junior had rolled completely over. Mattie and L
ynn parked their yellow truck next to the overturned vehicle. With Lynn racing to the SUV to evaluate the situation, Mattie stood guard with his handgun drawn.

“Where did she go? Did I hit that lady? She came out of nowhere,” Rhino explained, looking to Randy.

Roxy whipped her head backward, to check the ladies in the back. The dogs shook off, pacing excitedly in the back seat. Dave had an equally concerned look upon his face, while Rhino and Randy seemed rattled but appeared fine nonetheless.

Looking out the windshield at the flipped Expedition, Roxy could see that Lynn
had already begun helping the driver out of the vehicle. The inverted SUV lay in front of a king crab processing building, near a street lamp and a blue postage drop box. The dated asphalt beneath the SUV looked more like puzzle pieces than a street, with tar filling in age cracks, desperately in need of repaving. Few cars were parked near the curb on either side of the street, but no sounds emitted from the buildings—no sounds of machines running, forklifts moving about or voices shouting over the noise to one another. The few faces that could be seen belonged to the infected, they were likely the owners of the cars parked along the road—but they would not be driving today. The infected in the area were drawing closer to the street. Mattie looked panicked, turning his head back and forth, scanning his eyes over the area.

“
We have to go help them,” Roxy said looking out the windshield. She instinctively reached for the door handle and pulled. The door would not open. She tried again and so did Dave. Neither door would budge.

“
Passenger safety locks. Our mission is to get you back to Angora. If we try to help, you could be injured or worse. Rhino, let’s go,” Randy said coldly.

“
No! Those are your men out there and my friends!” Roxy screamed.

“
And my men know the risks of this job. If they weren't willing to die to complete the mission, then they would not have come. Besides, it looks like your friends have the situation under control,” Randy said in a low voice.

Roxy rolled down her window as soon as Rhino restarted the engine. She reached her hand outside the half-down window and pulled on the door handle, the door popped opened just as Rhino
put the vehicle into drive. She leapt from the vehicle, slamming the door behind her. Rhino slammed the gear to park, while Dave followed Roxy's example and exited the vehicle in the same fashion.

Roxy could hear the heavy footsteps of Randy and Rhino, seconds behind her and Dave. As Roxy neared the overturned SUV, she could see Lynn pulling Boots out and
Junior crawling out on his own. Before she could reach them, an infected man cut in front of her, grabbing hold of Junior from behind.

Only yards away, Roxy raced toward them, pushing every muscle in her body to the limit. She watched in anxiety, as the infected man tilted his head back, teeth snarling.
He thrust his head forward toward Junior's neck. Before he could connect with Junior’s skin, Roxy's hand seized the infected man’s shoulder. He hesitated for just a moment, but that was all the time that she needed. With her other hand, she grabbed him just under his armpit. Without thinking about it, she pulled him toward her and threw him forward with all her power. The infected man was airborne for about eight feet before slamming onto the asphalt and tumbling to a stop nearly twenty feet from Roxy.

Roxy froze,
stunned with uncertainty. For a moment, she couldn’t be positive that she had actually thrown him. She looked at the man in the street and then at her hands, held out in front of her, perhaps hoping to see an explanation as to how that was even possible. A faint, gust dizziness surged through her head as she tried to wrap her mind around the tremendous strength that she’d just portrayed.
How…how did I do that? I threw him, right?

The man in the street
began rising to his feet. Staring into his soulless eyes, she felt as if they were the only beings on the planet. Planting her feet, she felt a rush of power swelling inside her. Focusing on the man, she readied herself for him to charge. Turning his attention back to Junior—as though he wanted nothing to do with Roxy—he poised himself to sprint. Roxy’s focus shattered when Randy fired a shot into the man's temple as he and Rhino approached the scene.

“
Dave, get her back in the SUV, and we'll get everybody else out of here,” Randy commanded.

“
Roxy, let's get back to the ladies,” Dave said, out of breath as he approached, looking at her in bewilderment.

“
Did you see that?” She asked, flustered and breathless.

“
Yeah, you forgot to mention your world’s strongest girl powers. We have to get back in the SUV,” he gently grabbed her arm at the elbow and began to guide her.