The Living Dead Series (Book 3): Dead Coast (20 page)

Shutting down the laptop she placed it next to a now slumbering Fitz and ran down the path to the main house. Passing underneath a loggia entwined with grape vines she went inside.

She hadn’t been in this part of the house before. Graceful, arched doorways gave an Alhambra air to the atrium. Water splashed in the stream bed before running outside.  If it weren’t for the cots stacked up against the wall, and cases of bottled water this would have looked like a setting for a tale from
A Thousand and One Nights
. It seemed quiet after the hubbub of the rest of the camp and she listened for voices in vain until she came to a set of double, beautifully carved wooden doors. Someone was talking in the room but she couldn’t make out the words. She moved in closer when the doors suddenly opened and two men brought out a stretcher bearing an Asian man in a filthy, blue uniform. Bea ducked behind a column and peered out.

Mei walked alongside the stretcher, holding a bottle of water and tucking a blanket around the soldier’s shoulders. He had a shock of dark, coarse hair, pale skin and bad teeth. He looked very young. Someone had gagged him with a cloth and his hands were bound. Terror-stricken eyes searched the atrium as the men paused to open the door, bright light momentarily filled the space and then they were gone. Bea moved back to the doors now partially ajar.

Colonel Hamilton spoke, “That’s it, gentlemen. We know they were supposed to be the advance guard of a much larger invading force but they have completely lost contact with the PRC. Their captain was injured in an onboard fire. There has also been some sort of power struggle in the chain of command.

If they can’t find what they want here, they can lift anchor and move on. Of course they can bomb us even closer to the stone-age than we already are before they go. They knew there were survivors but didn’t have a clear indication of location because their equipment is malfunctioning.

I ask you to consider the opportunity this situation gives us. We have a living weapon in our hands, if we act quickly. We can release him and let him go back to his ship. If he makes it on board and spreads the virus, all the better for us.”

There were murmurs of agreement and then scattered conversations began. Bea thought of the look of terror on the prisoner’s face and was dismayed. She looked in and saw David seated near a stone fireplace. He was frowning and nodding his head in response to something Ian was telling him.

She knocked lightly on the door and pushed it open, stepping into the room. David looked up and raised his eyebrows. She was suddenly conscious that she wore little more than an oversized tee shirt and flip flops but she cleared her throat anyway and waited until she had everyone’s attention.

“Hi. I’m new here and I haven’t met most of you. I’m Beatrice Kelly and I have a suggestion. What if you cured, or at least attempted to cure, this soldier? What would it hurt? We could then send him back and he will let them know we have a cure, well a possible cure anyway. Maybe they would let us board and get away. Letting him die seems wrong. There are so few of us left now, the living I mean. Every new person we can save feels like a gift from God.”

There were a few smiles around the room, some annoyed, some condescending. Colonel Hamilton spoke first and to his credit, his tone was business-like and genuinely interested.

“How do you propose to cure this soldier? Has something new been discovered that I should know about?”

“Malaria. It is possible to cure the early-stage virus with a malaria inoculation. It’s been done.”

“Young woman, I don’t know where you got this idea but do you have any proof? Do we even have the means to try something like this?”

David spoke up. “Sir, scientists in D.C. attempted this cure with a degree of success. It is not guaranteed in any event and we lack the means to try it here. I’m sure Beatrice means well but-”

She interrupted, “We do have the means to try it here. The CDC sent malaria samples that should still be in storage but it has to be done now. As soon as possible.”

“Why was I not told?” the colonel asked.

Ian said, “I think I can speak for all of us, sir. We didn’t know the samples existed until now.”

The colonel said, “We still have to make a decision. This soldier represents a chance to take out the last ship. I can wait a few hours more but not much longer. Ian, you are responsible for overseeing this ‘cure’ attempt. Report back to me as soon as there is something to report. That will be all today, gentlemen.”

Ian took Bea’s arm, frowned at her and began to walk out of the room then paused as the colonel motioned him over. Bea waited.

The colonel lowered his voice but Bea still heard him. “Find that young woman some clothes. Tell Fitz that I expect better than this from him. We ought to be able to clothe our refugees decently.”

“I will, sir.”

Bea opened her mouth to say her outfit had nothing to do with Fitz but Ian pulled her along, still frowning. Once they were outside he spoke.

“Where are the samples?”

“Barry stored them in the spring house.”

“I never heard anything about them.”

“Well, we were shelled while we were opening them. I didn’t even think about them until a few minutes ago. They sent two different strains. Do you remember which strain they used on Virginia?”

Ian said nothing, just kept walking. He looked off into the distance and his mouth was compressed in a thin line. Finally he said, “I’ve never told anyone else about Virginia getting infected. You and your brother know. So does David, of course, but it’s not general knowledge. I don’t want my wife to be experimented on or dissected. If I had known we had the samples I certainly would have spoken up. I don’t want anyone to die if we can save them but I don’t want Virginia’s name brought into this. Do you understand?”

Bea was somewhat taken aback. His tone was just short of threatening. “I understand completely, Ian. I would never do anything that would hurt Virginia. I’m disappointed that you think I would.”

His shoulders fell and he seemed to relax a little. “I didn’t think you would do it on purpose. It’s just that some things are dangerous to talk about in desperate times. People are often considered expendable. And no, I don’t know which strain they used on Virginia.”

They found Barry in the infirmary and they had a quiet talk in the hallway with both him and Mei.

“Do not under any circumstances tell him what we are using to treat him. We don’t hold a lot of cards in this poker game so we have to play the few we do have very close to our chests.”

They agreed but had one condition of their own. Neither of the nurses would inject the prisoner unless he agreed to the treatment. After a brief question and answer session with Mei, he consented.

“One more thing, Bea,” Ian said.

“What?”

“Get dressed. You’ve upset Colonel Hamilton.”

She stuck her tongue out at him and walked away, smiling. She hoped she had just saved a life. Then she had another thought. She might have just taken away the only effective weapon they had against the hostile ship. A ship that could easily destroy them all.

~

Bea leaned against the wall and slowly slid to a sitting position on the cool tile. It was sometime in the early hours of the morning and she was exhausted. She knew she wasn’t helping anyone by being here but she felt responsible for what the prisoner was going through now, for better or for worse.

The family living in a large supply closet had been sent elsewhere and the prisoner moved in. He had been injected and within hours developed a high fever that left him alternately sweating and chilling. Mei barely left his side and a worried frown creased her brow. When the prisoner’s temperature reached 104 degrees she started to unwrap some of the blankets but Ian, also hovering closely, stopped her.

“We need to maintain a high temperature for as long as we can. It’s best if it spikes at around 105.”

Mei raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you had a medical background.”

“I don’t but I do know a little about the process. Malaria therapy has been tried before, most notably with syphilis.”

“Where did you get that information?” Mei asked.

Ian grinned. “Wikipedia. I had to learn something about the treatment since this is my assignment. But really, if we can keep the temperature at around 105, that’s best.”

Mei sighed, “Brain damage can occur after 103. We have zero medical history with this patient. I can’t even type his blood! I’m not comfortable with this at all.”

“Just picture the fever burning away all those nasty little bugs. Take a break, Mei. I’ll wake Barry for his shift in a few minutes and I’ll stay here as well.”

Mei nodded and, stretching her back until she heard a crack, wandered out into the hallway and saw Bea, slumped to one side, eyes closed.

She poked her and Bea jumped. “Mei! How is he?”

Mei sat down beside her. “Stable. The fever is higher than I like but scorching this s.o.b. virus to death is what it’s all about. I hate experimental medicine and I wish the CDC had sent more information with the malaria samples. I’ve been trying to email the World Health Organization but keep getting server error messages. If this works it could be a huge bonus for our side. Ian is pretty sanguine about it. I feel like he knows something that I don’t.”

Bea shrugged, “Maybe. Or maybe he’s just an optimist.”

“I don’t know. I love what I do because it almost always ends positively. Human beings are incredibly resilient but I wonder if we can overcome this. I wanted to have children someday but now? What a horrible world to bring a child into. Scratching out a place to hide, foraging for food, inadequate medical care. I can’t see a path forward at the moment. Maybe I’m just tired. I miss my family.”

Bea asked, “Did they make it? I mean, are they still alive?”

Mei said, “I don’t know. I was called in to work when this all started and you probably know what the hospitals were like. Lines for the E.R. stretched around the block. The infected outside died and reanimated of course. We were completely mobbed. Once we realized what was going on it was way too late. I was trundling an expired patient to cold storage in the morgue when she sat up then rolled off into the floor. I thought I was losing my mind, you know? Just crazy tired. I tried to get her back up on the stretcher and that’s when I knew something else was going on. That mouth fastened down on my shoe like a bear trap. I had to stomp her with my other foot before she would let go.

Finally I shoved the stretcher up against her and ran to the morgue for help. Bodies were up and moving there, too. The ones in body bags writhed and twisted along the floor. Others, naked with that blue mottled flesh turned as soon as I opened the door and lurched over, mouths wide. I shut the door and left. My dead patient was gone who knows where. I looked for security but there were too many for security to deal with and security didn’t know how to deal with them anyway.

Eventually all we could do was try to escape. A few of us did get out but this was as far as I got. I got a text from my dad telling me how much he loved me but that was the last time I heard anything. I’ve been trying to call but I get nothing.” Tears ran down her face and she wiped her eyes before continuing. “My parents were incredibly controlling to the point that at times I almost hated them. I hesitate to call them racists. I prefer to think of them as traditionalists. They didn’t want me to marry anyone not Asian. My mother told me she didn’t want ‘blue-eyed mongrel’ grandchildren.”

“Ouch.”

“I know. I was dating someone ‘not Asian’ at the time she said that and I think that’s one reason we eventually grew apart, although I never told him what my parents felt. Who knows, maybe he sensed it.”

“So I’m free to do what I want but I never wanted it this way. It seems so silly, doesn’t it? Each and every life is precious and should be cherished. If I ever get another chance to love someone and pledge my life to theirs, I’m doing it. I like blue eyes.”

Bea said nothing but felt a quiet despair. She told herself she had no right to feel this way but it didn’t help.

Mei said, “I think I’m going to get that chance. Sometimes the most unexpected things occur, don’t they? The end of the world as we know it and love is still possible.”

Her face glowed softly as if lit from within and Bea felt that sharp twist of jealousy.  Mei was so lovely. No wonder David looked at her like he did.

Harsh words rang out in the storage room. Words Bea didn’t understand. “What did he say?”

Mei shushed her and listened then smiled wanly. “He wants his mother. It’s amazing how often that happens.”

Muffled voices erupted inside the storage room and they heard metal clank against metal. Mei left and didn’t come back. The sounds ceased and the nighttime hush again descended.

Bea thought about what she missed the most. Her mom and dad had been gone for so long that missing them seemed like a normal part of life. She missed showers and clean clothes and her lumpy old futon mattress. She missed the musical clink of ice cubes in a glass and chicken sandwiches from Wendy’s .99 cent menu. She missed Evan more than she thought she would and hoped he had somehow survived.

What would she do in the new world? Be an art historian again? That was laughable. What luxuries the old world had offered that someone could actually be paid for that kind of work. She had no particular skills needed now. If she were an engineer she could build something. A computer systems expert could try to repair the failing internet. A cobbler could make shoes. A gardener could grow crops. She, however, was just as useless as a life coach, professional organizer, or a color consultant.