The Reaper Virus (Novella): Sarcophagus (2 page)

Chapter Three

Fifteen
minutes later the brightened sky alluded to further chaos in the distance.
Jessica was thankful for the charter bus being fairly soundproof. Every now and
then she saw the pastor, Nurse Sue and Todd jump at the sound of a gunshot.
Then a blast was close enough that Jess heard it past the muted bubble. Todd
ducked and Sue screamed outside. The pastor pointed at the buses and looked
frantic. He then gave their driver a signal then sprinted to the door of the
first bus. Seconds later the floor vibrated from the surge of a starting
engine. “Alright folks,” hollered the driver without even turning around,
“we’re finally hitting the road. Do me a favor and buckle up at least until we
hit the interstate.” Several metallic clicks echoed around the cabin. Other
than the sound of a nose sniffling from subdued crying, no one spoke.

The lead
bus started rolling slowly across the parking lot with the second bus
obediently trailing. Ava looked out the window and noticed a pair of headlights
erratically heading in their direction. A white Ford Fusion swerved around the
road. Behind the wheel was a frantically waving man. He laid one arm on the
horn while the other spastically danced around in the moving air out the
window. Once he made the short turn into the church parking lot the car slowed
to a near stop. Unusually thick morning clouds made it difficult to make out
details of the vehicle until it was upon them. Gore caked the front bumper. A
splatter on the windshield had spider-webbing cracks leading from a supposed
point of origin. Both buses jerked to a stop while their occupants watched the
perplexing display.

The
driver’s side door opened while the car was still in motion. Simultaneous gasps
sounded behind Jess in the bus as they watched the frantic man tumble to the
parking lot. She gripped her daughters little hand futilely hoping to draw her
attention from the window. Then the unoccupied car rolled into a parked
minivan. Airbags deployed to the empty seats of the blood spackled sedan. The
minivan countered this with a blaring car alarm. Jessica gave up on her hope to
distract Ava as she herself became lost in the madness outside.

Whoever
this man was, he obviously wanted to get the attention of the buses. He hoisted
himself up from the ground like the tumble from a moving vehicle had never
happened. Hints of road rash glistened under a torn pant leg while the rest of his
shirt was speckled with red spatter. Both of his arms waved frantically in the
air. His lips moved to the tune of screaming words but inside the bus Jessica
could barely make out a murmur. When the pastor and Nurse Sue jogged around
from the first bus to where he hobbled the wounded man finally settled his
mannerisms.

Nurse Sue
pulled a pair of latex gloves over her pale boney hands then knelt down to look
at his skinless knee. Pastor Doug talked calmly with the patient as the medical
examination was underway. From inside the second bus it looked as if the man
was trembling. Jessica assumed it was from the adrenaline coursing through his
veins after nearly missing the retreat buses. The wounded man visibly winced as
he reached back to remove a packet of folded paper from his back pocket. It was
quickly reviewed and the pastor nodded with acceptance. Then Sue took a hold of
his wrist to feel his pulse. The two were in contact for all of five seconds
before she yanked her hand away and took a quick step back.

The man’s
calm vanished and panic returned. Doug followed Sue’s lead and stepped back as
well. Concerned muttering picked up inside of the bus as all the occupants
watched the uncertain situation unfold. A female voice spoke above the whispers
from the rear, “I think he’s infected!” Volume increased in the concerned
passengers. Ava turned to Jessica with a confused expression. Before the
quizzical little doll could question what was going on the bus driver spoke up.

“Quiet
down ya’ll,” said the older man in a white button up shirt. “I
ain’t
openin
’ the doors unless
Pastor Doug gives me the signal. If that guy is sick then they won’t be
lettin
’ him on. I’m sure we’ll be on our way in a minute.”

Outside
the man was becoming frantic as the nurse and pastor backed away from him.
Pastor Doug pointed in the other direction very forcefully. They were shouting
now; muted tones were now audible even through the soundproofed bus walls. The
wounded man waved his arms in the air. Tears visibly highlighted his cheeks in
glistening sorrow. He limped after his forsaking saviors while leaving a trail
of dotted crimson on the pavement. Jessica’s heart skipped a beat when she
noticed how darkly tinted the blood trail was. “
People don’t bleed that way... but THEY do.
” She thought to
herself. All the while the man refused to leave as the pastor continued yelling
and ushering him in the opposite direction.

Unsteadiness
derailed the man’s pursuit and sent him to the parking lot. Doug turned to obey
his first instinct to help but Sue tugged on his arm reminding him of the
danger. Jess watched the expression on the infected stranger’s face as it
turned from desperation to dire realization. It appeared the man understood
that these people, regardless of the fact they represent a church, are going to
leave him here to die. Already returning to his feet, the shaking man found a
shard of glass on the pavement near a discarded picture frame. He gripped it
tightly enough that oddly viscous blood started dripping down from his fist.
The muted shouts became more erratic. Nurse Sue began crying and gesturing to
the bus then back to the nearby neighborhood across the street. Nothing that
was said appeared to calm the newcomer’s motions as the trio gradually worked
their way to the first bus.

A burst
of movement drew the collective gaze of the second bus towards the front of the
first. Todd sprinted out from the opposite side. His sudden appearance broke
intensity like a sledge. Even the infected man seemed to be taken off guard by
the youth pastor’s emergence from the quiet vessels. Approaching the woman and
two men Todd began furiously motioning in the opposite direction then pointed
his closed fist at the man’s head. Jessica realized that his fist was wrapped
around a small revolver. The gun had been nearly camouflaged against the grey
pavement.

“Why does
Todd have a gun
!?
” the woman in the back of the bus
shrieked. An ache pounded within Jessica’s cranium. She wondered if the
decision to join this retreat was in actuality a massive mistake. It felt to
her this good-intentioned mission had spiraled towards a critical mass of
tragedy. All of her good intentions had led her to empty her checking account,
leave their apartment and trust in a group of people she honestly didn’t care
for. Those good intentions put her sweet daughter in a front row seat to witness
a sick man shot to death by a youth pastor with a crush on her. Ava’s eyes were
locked on the scene. The troubled mother then began trying to find the courage
to pick up her daughter and run away from this madness all together.

The
volume outside then increased to the point where imagination could fill in the
muffled gaps left by the soundproof bus and discern what was being shouted from
the parking lot. Her head was throbbing. “
We
can’t be here. We can’t BE HERE. WE CAN’T BE HERE!
” screamed Jessica’s
thoughts. Right when she started to pull Ava from the seat, the ruckus outside
ceased. In that moment the universe came to a screeching halt; no one made a
sound and all movement stopped. The infected man’s arms dropped to his side.
His fist released the shard of glass allowing it to somersault down with a
splat on the concrete. For a moment he did nothing but stare at the
missionaries turned executioners. The eyes filled with rage a second before
were now hollowed with sorrowful acceptance.

Doug’s
lips moved to the words of a final sentence, Jessica imagined it to be a prayer
or an apology, before joining Sue and Todd in the last steps towards their bus.
The infected man stood as a shattered surrogate of the fighter he was minutes
ago. Vibration surged from the bowels of the bus.

“Show’s
over folks!” announced the driver, “Time for us to hit the road before anymore
trouble tries to up and stop us.” When the rumbling turned into movement the
man turned around and walked aimlessly in the opposite direction. A trail of
darkened blood dotted behind him like waypoints on a twisted map.

Relief
overcame Jessica. “Alright, baby,” she said to Ava, “we’re finally on our way!”
Her intent was to sound excited enough that the child’s trance on the man
outside would be broken. Finally she gently placed her palm on Ava’s tiny chin.
“Ava, don’t look at the sick man anymore. He’s a grown man… I’m sure he can
take care of himself. Read your book or talk to me. We’ll be there before you
know it.” The dazed beauty smiled and kissed her mommy on the cheek. Soon she
was lost in her book about ponies with neon hair.

Chapter Four

Their bus
eased out its way towards the parking lot entrance. From there they would take
a right-hand turn onto Woodlawn Avenue then another right onto Patterson
Avenue. After that the two vehicular mammoths will need to cut northbound on
one of the neighborhood streets to reach Monument Avenue. Once they make it
this far it will only be a few blocks before they can get on the Downtown
Expressway, head south across the James River then continue away from this
awful city. Most of the retreat members breathed a sigh of relief now that they
had begun moving. Movement was, in their minds, a sign that salvation was near.
They would be safe from the raging R33PR pandemic and the monsters it created.
At the retreat they would be able to enjoy a reprieve from news broadcasts
talking about the dead walking. Pastor Doug reassured them all that the spread
of such stories was more dangerous than the virus itself.

Jessica
glanced at the little one to ensure that she was properly distracted. Her
daughter was blissfully lost in fluffy tales. The exhausted mother’s face
transformed then from masqueraded hope into its truthful verge of tears. She
peered over Ava’s head to see out the window as the bus made its turn onto
Woodlawn. The infected man wasn’t far from where she last saw him. He shuffled
along like a soldier marching towards surrender. In the last seconds before
view of him was blocked by the turn, Jess saw him stop. She imagined the sound
of his face-first plunge was loud enough to echo. A nearby bird was startled
from its perch by the quick slap of bloodied clothing punctuated by the
sickening crack of his sorrowed eyes meeting the pavement.

“Hey
Mommy…” said Ava from behind the wall created by her storybook.

A scowl
inevitably formed from hearing the girl’s tone of voice. “Baby
please
don’t tell me you need to use the
potty already. I asked you to go before we left the apartment.” Immediately she
felt bad for being so cross with the little one but those words said in such a
way almost always means ‘
I have to pee!
’.

The
unprovoked impatience shown by the young mother was countered with a fat lip
that would melt the heart of Satan himself. “
Mom-
mee
! I went at home when you asked me
to and
I WASN’T
going to say that.
Can you…” She became sheepish then. Her eyes found their way out the window and
saw a woman sitting on a porch as the charter buses passed. The lonely-looking
lady wore a funny looking white dress with red polka dots and no jacket in the
cool morning air. Her silly dress made Ava smile but the woman on the porch
looked so sad. Her head followed the pair of giant vehicles as they went by.
“Can you please ask the driver if I can stand up by him to look out the front?
The bus is really high up and I was thinking it would be a good idea to see
from there.”

Jess
followed the girl’s eyes as her attention drifted outside their bubble of
safety. She too noticed the woman sitting on the porch. Even a momentary glance
from a moving vehicle painted enough of a picture of this woman to see that
she’d been through hell. Dim morning light reflected off of a tearful sheen
that dripped down her face. She sat three steps down from the top of a brick
staircase leading to an old house with its door opened. Her posture indicted a
person who suffered under the weight of defeat. A once snow-white dress was
stained with crimson spatter. These tainted polka dots irregularly painted a
grisly origin; their directionality showed flight from the area of the woman’s
right side. The buses had almost entirely passed by the time Jessica put the
pieces together and recognized the gore coated claw hammer held in the grieving
woman’s right hand.

Ava
continued to plead her case as she turned back to face her mother. “
Pleeease
Mommy! The bus driver man looks lonely.”

She
didn’t realize how transfixed she’d become until Ava interjected the second
request. Her mind was reeling over the events of this morning. They just passed
by a woman who had likely been forced to commit some abominable unknown horror.
Minutes before they witnessed a man get denied salvation from a church group
then hit a pinnacle of desperation before losing his will to continue. The
signs of the end have been all around them for a week but it wasn’t until now
that Jessica allowed herself to see them. One way or another, she knew that
they would not be returning from this retreat.

“No. I’m
sorry baby girl but no.” All she wanted to do was curl into a ball and accept
whatever was coming towards them but because of what sat beside her strength
could be the only option. “There aren’t any seat belts up there. I don’t want
to take the chance of getting the bus driver in trouble.”

Her
little shoulders rose with a quick and dramatic sigh. “Ok, Mommy. I understand.
Can we read my story together?”

“Of
course we can. Let’s just wait until we reach the highway. We don’t want to
finish all of your books before we even cross the river!” She faked a smile.

It didn’t
take long for Ava to become lost once again in her picture book. Jessica
attempted to get a read on the other passengers without coming across as overly
nosey. Some of them were just as lost in reading material as her daughter. Many
had headphones over their ears attempting to fill the soundproofed void with
distraction. Others were doing exactly what Jessica was – appeasing
curiosity while trying not to express their worry. They glanced out the windows
or at each other. From the rear of the bus she could hear a woman gasp loudly
at something she witnessed outside. Her gasp immediately turned into a panic
until the man sitting next to her shot his arm high above her shoulders and
pulled her away from the window. Sobs became the only sound in the bus for a
moment. Then they were replaced by the man talking as he soothed her with his
sheltering embrace. “It’s ok. It is going to be okay. He has them now. God has
them now.”

The roads
were as eerie as they were hazardous. This was a lull in the storm. Jessica
remembered seeing local roadways like this once before when Richmond took a
decent hit from a hurricane. She was stuck at work but decided to risk the
drive home during a brief dissipation in the previously relentless rain bands.
During the drive she couldn’t help but feel like the world was in a
transitional calamity. Roads were littered with debris and the occasional
abandoned car. Any traffic came from random passing vehicles with people
frantic to get to safety.

Pedestrian
traffic moved with a similar purpose. The atmosphere was one of panic and fear.
Even if people didn’t know where they were going they knew that the open
streets were the last place they should be. Jessica replayed her memories of
reaching home during that storm and shuddered thinking about how bad the things
got that day. The only light in the memory was that of safely holding Ava. She
knew the strength that came from being in the presence of her most precious
accomplishment propelled them through it; so it must do the same during this
new storm.

Random
disabled cars transformed the road into an unpredictable maze. The bus hummed
along undisturbed just long enough for the retreat members to forget this was
not a typical church trip. That peace abruptly ended as the bus would jerk and
swerve out of the way of some unseen threat. The unnerving turbulence started
occurring so often that the passengers stopped looking to see what was causing
the trouble. They became forcefully apathetic so long as the trouble wasn’t in
the confines of their safety bubble.

At the
helm of it all was a bus driver that did everything he could to not react aloud
to the nightmarish obstacles he continuously maneuvered around. Soon their
caravan had to detour off of Patterson Avenue onto a few neighborhood streets
instead of their original plan to travel the most direct way to Monument
Avenue. Patterson had quickly become too risky and they were close enough to
their plotted turn that the detour shouldn’t be an issue.

Jessica
felt everything list to the right as their large shuttle made its turn onto a
narrow side street. Due to the size of their transport it was difficult to
gauge how fast they were traveling, however, Jess had a feeling that the speed
limit wasn’t really being considered. They should be on the Downtown Expressway
within a few minutes. Once they reached that point then the possibility of
escaping city lines becomes much more likely. She knew, of course, that it would
be foolish to think that the danger presented by the infection was limited to
Richmond. Things would feel dangerously tense for the retreat group until they
reach the other side of the James River. After they pass that point the
prevalent dangers of an infected city won’t be as much of an issue.

With the
new direction she decided to risk looking out the window once again. Fronts and
backs of houses zipped by outside as they continued down the narrow two-lane
street. Occasionally alleyways broke the blur of passing households. The first
perpendicular outlet was a long expanse of nothingness. Jessica jumped in her
seat when the stillness of the alley was broken by the shape of a person
running full tilt out of a yard and into the empty lane. His speed suggested
that he might be fleeing from something, but obviously she will never know what
that something was.

Then they
passed an alley that was visibly marred by a bloody mess. Indistinguishable
globs of flesh painted a scene that couldn’t conceivably have originated from
the life of one human being alone. Jess instantly gagged at witnessing the
brief horror. She never did well with scary movies; the reality of this murder
scene was inconsequential thanks to the passing view from a moving bus. They
were going far away from this nightmare and that was all that mattered to her.