H10N1 (22 page)

“Tell me about it. We must have printed a million flyers,” Mai said. “Every night, the news was urging people to stay home, wash their hands, cover their mouths.”

Taeya nodded. “You know, I blame some of this on the media. Every year they made dire predictions about a flu pandemic just to boost their viewership. People were so numb to the hype that they didn’t listen.”

“Like ignoring the flight attendant when she’s telling you how to survive a plane crash.”

“I don’t know how they handled it in Chicago, but New York was rationing supplies and anti-virals, holding off for round two.”

Mai snorted. “Based on archaic data from a pandemic over a hundred years old.”

“Exactly. And of course, they were geared for H5N1.” Taeya shook her head. “Those people were in complete denial about the severity of this virus.”

“Oh, I know. I saw the city’s emergency plans. What a joke. They wanted tech specialists three deep, in case their first string was home hugging the bowl. And there were all kinds of telecommuting options. Social distancing, they called it. Didn’t anyone think we’d lose power?”

Taeya jerked forward in her chair. “And those shortwave radios. What an antiquated piece of equipment. You can’t text, or even leave a message.”

“I thought I was never going to hear from you again.” Mai lounged back on her elbows. “So tell me all about Rick. You both worked at the medical center?”

“There’s nothing to tell,” Taeya said. “We barely know each other. Sorry.”

“You should be. He is one hot hombre.”

Taeya considered telling Mai to help herself, but decided she just might. Rick would actually be an improvement over Michael. “Why did the medical officer take off?”

Mai allowed the detour in the conversation. “I suppose it was the hard work and the isolation. You’ll see. There’s nothing to do around here. I mean it doesn’t seem like it now, but after a couple months you start getting cabin fever.”

“I can’t think of anything that would make me give up the security of a place like this.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Rick hefted two full buckets of crap from the goat pens and made the long haul across the garden and down the stairway to the basement. Once he got to the bottom, he banged down the buckets and hollered for John.

When John poked his head around the corner and saw the load, he scurried over to help. “Holy cow, I’ve got a wheelbarrow for that.”

Rick flexed his aching fingers. “Great.”

“And there’s a lift right next to the laundry room. We use it to haul crops up to the kitchen.” A toothy grin parted his white beard. “Or to haul manure down to the basement.”

“Swell.” Rick placed his hands on his lower back and stretched. “So how about you show me what else I should know.”

John led him through a maze of ductwork and pipes, where he showed him water tanks, as big as silos, that stored all the run-off from the habitat: showers, faucets, washing machines.

Farther into the bowels of the basement, John showed Rick a huge room devoted to repairs. There were work-stations with tools for specific jobs: a milling machine, different sized mitres, metal cutters. “Jesus, is there anything you
don’t
have in here?”

He checked out all the screwdrivers on the wall lined up from longest to shortest. The hammerheads all faced the same way.

“My father was a real stickler for neatness,” John said. “I learned the hard way to put things away.”

“Yeah? Did he punch your lights out for losing a socket?”

“Gracious, no. He was an academian.” John winked, like it was some kind of inside joke. “His punishments were much more subtle. I left a book out once, and he made me remove every book from his library. Then he mixed them all up and made me re-alphabetize them.” John raised a finger. “Mind you, the books were perfectly organized to begin with.”

“What a prick.”

“Yes, well I did learn my alphabet.” John chuckled. “Parents are an odd lot. No two people have the exact same theory on how children should be raised. Some abuse, some are over-protective, others simply ignore.”

“Like Carol.”

“Precisely.”

“What’s her story? Michael doesn’t seem too happy with her.”

“Yes, well,” John scratched his beard. “Michael was trying to replace Charlotte, who used to manage the farm. Carol told him she knew all about farming, so he invited her here. Turns out, she lived on a small dairy farm as a child, but had little experience with crops.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t put her out. Especially with that little slut not lifting a finger.”

“I believe that unfortunate child is the only reason Michael lets them stay.”

The unfortunate child decided to push her luck and came late for dinner. If you could call it that. Rick tried eating slowly, but how long does it take to eat a little mound of coleslaw made of shredded broccoli stalks and carrots? There was no meat, just a huge pile of sweet potatoes.

“What is this?” Kat picked up her dinner plate from the kitchen counter.

Judith turned slowly in her seat and lounged an arm over the back. “Those are half rations. Until you contribute to the work around here, that’s what you’ll get.”

“This is bullshit.” Kat stormed into the dining room, heading straight for Michael. “We had a deal.”

His face flushed as he hopped up from his seat. “Why don’t you take your plate to your room, Katherine. We’ll discuss this later.”

But she walked over to the table and slammed her plate down next to Judith. “I don’t know who you think you are—”

“All right. That’s enough.” Michael grabbed Kat’s arm and dragged her up the three steps to the main hallway, with her slapping and kicking at him the whole way. She started to yell something, but it sounded like Michael clamped a hand over her mouth. Rick could hear them scrabbling as they battled down the hallway.

Everyone at the table sat in silence until they heard a door slam.

“Wow!” Rick clapped his hands together and rubbed his palms. “That was fun. Can we do it again tomorrow?”

Judith cleared her throat and looked over at Carol. “I’m sorry if I overstepped my bounds, but in the military, that’s how we get cooperation.”

“Don’t matter to me,” Carol said. “Can I have her food?”

Mai looked a little shell-shocked from the blow-up between Kat and Judith, so everyone stuck around to help her clean up. Well, not Carol. And as soon as the last dish was dried, Mai lit out, no doubt looking for Michael. John said he had some chores in the basement.

An hour ago, Rick thought he’d fall asleep in his plate, but now he was pumped. It could have been the food, or Judith’s argument with Kat. Or maybe it was the sun still lingering over the tops of the Santa Catalina Mountains off to the west.

For whatever reason, he just wasn’t ready to give up the day. He suggested an after dinner drink. Devin was all for it, and Judith looked like she could use a stiff belt.

Sanchez was her usual negative self. “Are you kidding? I can hardly keep my eyes open.”

Her eyes were indeed drooping. And her hair had declared its freedom about halfway through the day. All these wild waves of black hair bracketed her gorgeous face.

“But it’s still light out,” Rick countered. “I guarantee as soon as you lie down, you’re going to be wide awake. You need a little nip first. Then a long shower. By that time, it’ll be dark and you can sleep like a baby.” He even cradled his cheek on his folded hands.

She bought it.

The four drifted out to a small patio at one end of the catwalk that overlooked the garden. After pouring a healthy shot of spiced rum into four glasses, Rick clinked his against Judith’s. “Congratulations. Not here twenty-four hours, and the villagers are lighting torches. Think they’re holding a secret meeting in Michael’s apartment to discuss who’s going to toss us out?”

“Shit, man. I couldn’t help it.” Judith swirled the booze around her ice and then took a big gulp. “That little bitch had it coming.”

“John called her an unfortunate child this afternoon.” Rick said.

Devin tossed back his shot. “That’s no child. I’d say she’s been all growed up since she was about twelve.”

“It’s still a sad situation,” Sanchez said. “The poor girl’s been left on her own, and she’s learned that the easiest way to get what she wants is to cause a scene.”

“And what’s with her and Michael?” Devin wondered out loud.

Judith clicked her tongue. “What a scumbag. Did you catch how he calls her Katherine? Probably to convince himself she’s older while he’s fucking her.”

“Poor Mai.” Sanchez rubbed her finger around the rim of her glass. “I hate it that she feels like she has to put up with someone like that.”

“What is it with women?” Judith sounded disgusted. “Always thinking they aren’t complete without a man.”

“You have a man,” Rick teased.

“Yes, but I don’t
need
him.” She pinched Devin’s cheek. “He’s more like my boy-toy.”

She grinned and he snapped his teeth like he might bite her finger.

“I’m disappointed in Michael,” Sanchez said. “Kat’s too young to understand, but he should know better.”

Rick and Devin guffawed.

“And he’s such a poser,” Devin added.

“You mean our tour?” Sanchez asked.

“Yeah, that too. But when we were talking about guns earlier? That was total bullshit.”

“It was?”

“Oh, yeah,” Devin said. “Somewhere along the line, I guess Michael decided he wanted to try hunting. So he went out and bought an expensive gun, with a fancy Swedish scope, probably spent a fortune on boots and jackets and all the little accoutrements that the guy in the store told him he had to have. But I bet he only went hunting once or twice. When it didn’t turn out like he thought it would, he threw all that crap in a closet with his skiing gear and golf clubs. He sure as hell never bagged a deer.”

Sanchez was curious. “How do you know that?”

“Well, for one thing, any guy who does serious hunting always has at least one great story that he can’t wait to tell you, the first deer he bagged, falling out of a tree stand, something. And most hunters start out with a used gun like their granddaddy’s old Rigby. Even if they upgrade to a newer, more sophisticated rifle, they’ll still tell you about that crap first rifle. I didn’t get any of that from Michael.”

“I’ll tell you this.” Judith stabbed a finger at Devin. “He better be in that garden working tomorrow, or I’ll drag him out there by the balls. And if he gets in my face again…”

“Hey, now,” Devin said. “I thought you promised to ease up on the hostility. Sounds like this naughty girl needs some discipline.”

“She needs something,” Rick mumbled.

Devin stood and wrapped an arm around Judith’s waist. “Let’s just go see what that is, shall we?”

Once they left, Rick wagged an eyebrow at Sanchez. What the hell. He had at least a ten percent chance.

“Are you kidding?” Her chair scraped against the metal grate floor, echoing in the glass dome. She shook her head in disgust as she snatched her glass off the table.

Sitting back, Rick smiled. That went pretty well. Sanchez knew he was coming on to her, so they were on the same wavelength. Her outrage was over the top, which meant she’d expected it. And he got to watch that fine ass as she stormed away.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

It was still dark when a computer-generated voice startled Taeya out of a sound sleep to announce that sunrise was in thirty minutes. She tracked the voice to a small digital clock in the wall that also served as a night-light. According to Mai, the idea was to be in the garden at dawn to get a couple hours’ work in before breakfast.

Taeya dressed quickly. She wanted to brew a pot of the coffee Rick found at Starbucks. But the aroma of coffee already filled the air as she made her way to the kitchen. Rick was just pouring a cup when she walked in. He handed it to her.

Wasn’t he full of surprises? Like last night when he suggested the drink and a hot shower to guarantee a good night’s sleep. And earlier, when he’d defended her and the CDC when Michael brought up the lack of vaccines.

What hadn’t been surprising was his lame come-on out on the terrace. Men were so predictable. Odd, though, that he hadn’t walked her to her door and tried to weasel his way inside.

“Thanks,” she said as she took the cup. After blowing across the top, she took a quick sip. That first bite of caffeine cleared her head.

Judith and Devin wandered in, drank tall glasses of plain water, then stood at the counter as though waiting. As soon as the others came in, Judith pounced.

“I don’t know how things were handled before,” she said, “but that garden is in terrible shape, and I expect everyone to help out.”

John looked a little panicked, but Taeya didn’t see any reason why he shouldn’t help. She wasn’t sure if Michael was even listening.

John and Taeya were assigned to tie up sagging pole beans. Rick was one plot over, crawling on his knees, gathering bugs again. Michael sauntered out, grabbed a hoe and wandered over to Rick.

He held the hoe handle like a golf club, shifted from foot to foot as he lined up the blade next to a weed, then swung the hoe and lopped off the top of the weed.

“Mind if I play through?” he asked.

“Hey, man,” Rick said. “You can’t do that. The weed will just grow back.”

Michael cocked his head to the side. Rick reached over and pulled the weed out. “You have to get the roots.” He dropped the weed in a bucket. “We’re saving them to feed the goats.”

“How clever.” Michael lined up the hoe at the next weed, lopped off the top, but then bent over and pulled the rest out.

“I used to be a plus handicap player, back in the day,” he said. “Do you play?”

“No.”

Taeya remembered Devin’s hunting story from last night.

“Then I guess you’re not too impressed with my handicap.” Michael leaned on his hoe. “You see, the golfing association came up with handicaps as a way to level the field between players of different proficiency. Normally a handicap shaves points from your score.”