The Reaper Virus (Novella): Sarcophagus

Sarcophagus :
A Reaper Virus Story

By Nathan
Barnes

A few words…

This story takes place during the fall of civilization that
is described in THE REAPER VIRUS. It is not meant to be a sequel – that
can be found in THE REAPER VIRUS: WHAT REMAINS, published by Permuted Press in
2015. Rather, SARCOPHAGUS serves as another vantage point of Richmond, Virginia
during the fictional outbreak of the R33PR viral pandemic.

Richmond’s sights and sounds heavily inspired the real
setting of this novella. All characters are entirely a work of fiction –
any resemblance to persons living, dead or undead is purely coincidental.

I’m grateful to the many readers and fans that continue to
encourage my take on the apocalypse. Love and gratitude go to my enchanting wife
for her incessant reminders to finish this tale… she’s adorably eager for me to
end the world. Once completed, she then survived the horrors of my raw
manuscript in effort to prepare it for public consumption. I could not ask for
a better partner in the end of days.

Chapter One

“Everything
is going to be fine, baby.” Jessica said to Ava.

The early
morning November air was brisk. Spring, summer and fall all were so mild that
the year was beginning to feel like one season. Now the winter was approaching
and she could feel nature’s balance testing the waters. Jessica was thankful
that Ava asked to wear her warmest winter coat. If the little girl wasn’t so
accustomed to being snuggled up at six-thirty in the morning then the frazzled
mother may not have thought to bring it. Groggily the bundled girl pulled on
her mother’s pea coat pocket and said, “Mommy, when will we get to come home?”

Jessica’s
shoulders sank. This wasn’t the first time Ava brought the question up; she
knew it wouldn’t be the last. “Hun, I’m not sure. But we’re going to have fun
on the bus trip with the church. I’m glad we have such a nice group to take a
vacation with while the police deal with all the sick people.” She wanted to
believe the lie. The crack of a gunshot from somewhere else gave the voice of
doubt inside her a little volume.

She tried
to navigate their bag out of her car’s trunk without letting go of her
daughter’s hand.
Their motions were duplicated several times
around them by other families at other parked cars
. After giving the
little girl a forced yet reassuring smile, Jessica whipped around to make sure
the buses were still waiting. A sigh of relief escaped her lips at the sight of
the two charter buses idling at the other end of the lot. They were larger than
she thought they would be; big shining cylinders with black pronounced mirrors
that looked like exaggerated antennae on a duo of silver caterpillars.

There was
a flurry of activity around the pair of elevated transports. Beyond the church
property Jessica could make out a dark plume of smoke rising against the dim
sky from a few blocks away. Rattling of suitcases temporarily spared them from
the sounds of chaos that peppered through normality. She still felt guilty for
not letting Ava bring all the stuffed animals she wanted. “
She’s only five… how could I make her leave her toys?
” bullied her
thoughts. All guilt aside, she knew from watching the news that her decision
was the correct one.

Images of
Louisville burning like some textbook picture from a World War II battlefield
were on the television all night. All she had seen for the past week was
coverage of the Reaper Virus pandemic. However, something about seeing those
pictures of a burning city made it all seem so real. The news coverage made her
feel better about her decision to buy the tickets for the church retreat. A
month ago she would have laughed at the idea of buying into the doomsday talk.
The notion of leaving their home for some retreat while being prepared for the
possibility of never return was ludicrous to entertain. Although, true lunacy
was within the reports of entire cities reaching quarantine levels thanks to
some virus that can make the dead walk. Jessica started thinking that this
story about infection and cannibalism wasn’t just media hype and used her
‘rainy day fund’ to buy two tickets for the retreat.

They had
only been active with this church for about six months. Overall, Jessica found
the people to be tolerable. She had found most churches to be quietly
judgmental of a young, single mom. This one either did not judge or was much
better at hiding it.
Todd, the youth pastor, jogged out to
them to help with the bags.
“Can I put the suitcase inside of the cargo
area?” He said, already with the olive-colored wheeled bag in his hands.

She
attempted to hide her uneasiness under the generalized worry everyone was ripe
with. “
Would they let us stay on the bus
if they knew I had a gun?
” thought the anxious woman. Originally, Jessica
had no intention to bring the .38 special
revolver
on
their trip. A blanketed text message that was waiting on her phone when she
woke up changed her mind. Sent from an old friend in Seattle, the message said:
“Believe whatever you hear because I’ve seen it. ARM YOURSELF and fight for the
LIVING.” She’d gotten the gun years ago while waiting tables in a
less-than-hospitable area of Chicago. Last minute the weapon was tucked into
her bag.

“Thanks
Todd.” Jessica said biting her lip. “You can put it with the rest. I think
we’ll be good on the ride with only our backpacks. Do you think there’ll ever
be a time before we get to the retreat that I might be able to get a change of
clothes or something out of it?”

Todd,
brimming with naivety, nodded his head. “Oh don’t worry, Jess. Just think of
this as a regular road trip with pit stops and everything. This mess will blow
over in a week or so. We’ll have a great time together and make the best out of
it! You and Ava go on to bus number two. I’ll load your bag beneath it for
you.” Hoping a flirtatious distraction would pull attention away from her bag;
she placed a hand lightly on his arm and smiled. The bashful church worker
blushed and looked to the ground. “Ava, you best get your mommy on the bus and
get a good seat!” Todd said to cover the bashful self-awareness he got over a
parishioner’s gentle touch.

Ava
smiled inside of her fuzzy purple hood. She was about to say something back to
the playful youth pastor until a woman that was boarding bus one started
sobbing loudly. The little girl couldn’t understand why the woman would be so
upset about going on a retreat with the church. Her mommy told her that they
were going away for a little while and that it would be lots of fun. Although
she wanted all the sick people to get better, Ava couldn’t help feeling excited
about the pseudo vacation.

Chapter Two

The
mother/daughter duo went to the line to be examined. Sue was a retired nurse
that worked twenty years at the nearby Saint Mary’s Hospital. When she realized
what the church was putting together she saw an opportunity to help them and
herself. She suggested to Pastor Doug that anyone buying tickets to the retreat
submit to a brief medical exam. This would help detect anyone that might be
carrying the virus to protect the others. Doing this might mean having to abandon
the normal attitude of the church and turn people away. However, after recent
reports from the Center for Disease Control, the church would be foolish in
taking the chance of the virus tagging along just because they gave someone the
benefit of the doubt. The pastor agreed and offered her free passage in
exchange for performing the exam on anyone who bought the ticket.

Sue
examined both Jess and Ava in the span of five minutes. She looked for the well-known
symptoms of R33PR infection. First she took their temperature. If it was
elevated she looked for obvious bite marks as well as any subsequent darkening
of the veins. Just like all the other passengers so far, both girls were in
perfect health. Jessica thanked the nurse then led her daughter to the steep
steps leading into the elevated charter bus. A volunteer worker at the door
told them that the first bus was mostly full and they were only going to use
half of the second for passengers. Any remaining space would be filled with
bulk supplies. “
They better have plenty
of supplies after charging us four hundred bucks a head
” thought the sleep-deprived
mother. “What if the two buses get separated?” she asked the worker.

They all
tried to ignore a distant shriek that echoed towards them from blocks away. He followed
it with an unconvincing smile saying, “I highly doubt they will. But don’t
worry because both drivers know how to get to the retreat and we will all be
able to meet there no matter what.”

They
found seats three rows from the back on the driver’s side. Jessica let Ava have
the window seat in hopes of keeping her entertained. Once they sat down she
turned to the girl and said, “Sweetie I need you to promise me something… if I
ask you to get away from the window or to cover your eyes you need to do it
without arguing. Can you do that?” The little girl nodded. “I mean it.” She
nodded again. “Good. Go ahead and settle in,
hun
. I
doubt the trip will take more than an hour – two if there’s traffic.”

Ava
peered out the window marveling at how high up they were. “Mommy I don’t think
even Papa could reach the windows!” She said thinking of her tall grandfather.
Jessica forced a chuckle and tried to control the nervous tapping in her right
foot. Anxiety both inside and outside the bus was palpable. After bus one
filled up they were only waiting on one ticket holder to arrive. The pastor
stepped aboard and assured them they would give the final person another ten
minutes to arrive then they would be forced to depart.

Several
of the other retreat members talked loudly amongst themselves. They gossiped
loud enough that it was hard for the more reserved bus mates to ignore them.
The mild excitement in their tone turned the blossoming apocalypse into another
source of gossip. “I heard it is a hundred times worse farther in the city,” a
big-haired woman chatted to the lady in the seat across the center aisle from
her.

Only half
listening, the other woman checked her over-applied makeup in a compact mirror.
After snapping the clamshell closed she replied in a nauseatingly thick New
York accent, “
who
did you hear that from? None of my
phone calls have gone through over the last day.”

“My
neighbor, Debbie, told me all about it this
mornin
’
while Patrick packed the car. She said her nephew lives in one of the apartment
residence halls on the university. You know, the older one by Monroe Park?”

The New
York woman answered, “mmm hmm.”

“Well
Debbie had a voicemail from him today when she woke up. She was
beatin
’ herself up over missing the call…”

“Come on,
Terry,” interrupted the other woman, “who gives a shit about her
beatin
’ herself up.” A couple gasps in the seats around the
pair came from the foul language. She lowered the volume a notch then said, “
what
did the voicemail say?”

The
answer came in a faux whisper that Jessica could still hear from three rows
ahead, “her nephew said that the sick ones are everywhere. He and a bunch of
other students are trapped there. And cars are crashing and streets are
blocked. And… he said the sick ones are attacking anyone on the streets.”

“Goodness
gracious…” They were silent for a few seconds then the New York woman dug
further, “what’s Debbie going to do?”

“I begged
her to follow us to the church. Said Pastor Doug would probably let them come
if she came with the cash for the retreat. But she wouldn’t listen! She said
she had to go get him… was waiving a big kitchen knife around talking about how
the dead don’t scare her. Then Patrick came out with our last bag so the three
of us said a prayer and we came here.”