by Newman, AJ
While Jon talked with the tower, Jill dragged the bodies to the back of the plane and placed them in seats. She wondered if she’d killed some poor slobs just obeying orders.
After circling the field twice, getting the feel of the aircraft, Jon was ready as he would ever be. “I’m ready. I hope.”
“Okay, have the others get in their seats and buckle up. Tell them to lean over, place their head on their lap, and place their hands around their heads when you get close to the ground.”
Jon said, “I knew that part, and I guess I should add – ‘and kiss their asses goodbye.’”
“Now, now, have faith. I’m an excellent trainer, and you passed my course. You are a pilot, and you can do this. Now, line the plane up and reduce …”
The flight controller continued to ease Jon’s nerves and give instructions until just a second before the wheels touched down. He saw the plane bounce twice and settle down. The pilot had some steering issues but did a great job.
The controller said, “Damn, I knew you could do it,” as he shook his head and made a slashing sign across his throat to the others in the tower.
Jon replied, “I think I’ll change my pants and underwear before leaving the aircraft. Thanks for the help.”
The air traffic controller said, “Just a day’s work. Now do yourself a favor and take a damned cab next time. You suck as a pilot.” Jon and the controller laughed and said they’d share a drink after they arrived in the terminal.
Jon pointed at the fuel gauge and said, “We still have about half a fuel load. Do we walk home or try to fly this tin can?”
Jill was surprised. “We know you can land a plane, well almost. Can you take off?”
“Lady, I have dozens of hours on the You Can be a Pilot computer program on my XBOX. I can do it.”
“Okay, let’s turn the beast around and get it headed back down the runway. Crap, we should have headed on to Dallas instead of flying here.”
Jon saw the ambulance pull up close to the plane, and a woman and man in hazmat suits jumped out and approached the plane. They avoided the props and knocked on the fuselage. Jill yelled, “What do we do now?”
Jon said, “Let them board and communicate back that the rough landing jarred the hold downs on the sealed container. We have to get a hammer to break them loose.”
Jill opened the door to yell at the two when the man pulled the steps down. Jill said, “Hey, we can’t unload until we go to the maintenance building to loosen the cargo container.”
George asked, “What container? Isn’t he in a suit?”
“No, our boss said to use a hermetically sealed container to make sure there isn’t any contamination.”
George pushed Jill out of the way, and Barbara followed him into the cabin. Jill regained her footing, pulled the steps up, and sealed the door.
Barbara said, “Why did you close the door?”
“I told your friend we have to taxi to the maintenance shed. Buckle up, so you don’t fall,” Jill ordered.
George and Barbara glanced at each other, and Barbara shrugged her shoulders. “It’s too bad this plane can’t drop us off close to Mississippi.”
Jon revved the right engine and released the brakes. The plane turned toward the taxiway and taxied to the runway. George said, “Wait, the maintenance building is over there.”
The plane picked up speed and went down the taxiway to the runway. Barbara yelled, “What is the pilot doing? Is he taking off?
“Stay seated and enjoy the ride. You can take off those suits,” Jill calmly said with her pistol pointed at the two, then added. “We’re going on a little trip. Behave, and I won’t shoot you.”
George said, “I’m not taking mine off. Let us out and do what you want to. We just need the immune guy.”
Jill chuckled, “Sorry, but he’s our pilot. He has about an hour of flight experience, and I wouldn’t mess with him now.”
George and Barbara’s jaws dropped. Barbara asked, “Where are you taking us? We planned to escape and head to the Gulf Coast. You’re screwing up our escape.”
Jill shook the pistol in front of their faces. “Shut up for now. You are escaping with us, so be happy.”
Barbara said, “Please put the gun down. You scare me.”
Jill said, “Buckle your seat belts and enjoy the ride. I’m a policeman from Nevada, and the dead guys in the back of the plane kidnapped us. If you don’t want to join them, shut up, stay seated, and behave yourselves.”
Then there was a sudden turn, and the plane was at the end of the runway. Jon held the brakes while he revved the engines to take off speed. The plane lurched forward and began to pick up speed. Jill could see one of the Humvees chasing them, but the plane was going too fast now. The scenery was flying by at an increasing speed when the plane lifted and then bounced on the runway before soaring into the air, just barely missing the top of a building a half-mile from the airport. Jon took the plane up to altitude and speed and engaged the autopilot.
Back in the cabin, Jill and the other two screamed when the plane only cleared the building by a few feet. Jill’s hands gripped the seat so hard her knuckles were white, and the veins in her neck bulged. Barbara began praying for the first time in months while George yelled a string of curse words that would make an Army drill sergeant blush. The plane cleared the building, and they all began breathing again with one simultaneous deep breath.
George yelled, “Does this bastard even know how to fly? He’s going to kill us all!”
Jill snorted, “What do you expect for a guy who only has an hour of training and flight experience under his belt? The pilot is in the back row seats. We had to kill him to gain control of the plane. They were taking Jon to the CDC to kill him and take his blood. Hey, you two are from the CDC, aren’t you?”
Barbara was very defensive. “Yes, but we don’t kill people. We were trying to find a cure.”
“So, Jon would have had a few small vials of blood taken without any possibility of dying?”
Barbara’s head dropped. “Well, we do have some who die, but we don’t kill them on purpose.”
“What percentage of people survive?”
“This work is being done to save all of humanity. Every last human on earth could die if we don’t get treatment,” George said.
The plane leveled off, Jon walked out of the cockpit, and his eyes were met by the most captivating eyes he’d ever seen. He wanted her to remove her suit so he could get a better view. They were deep green with flecks of gold around the edges. He lost what he was going to say until his eyes shifted to see the beautiful woman’s face. Her face scared him. She looked mad as hell, and her red hair accentuated her anger.
The mad as hell woman spoke. “Why the friggen hell are you kidnapping us, you prick?”
She cursed him and continued cursing until she saw the huge smile on his boyish face. Jon said, “You’re beautiful when you’re mad. Does your mother know you talk like that? My mom would wash my mouth out with soap for talking like that. Now, calm down. We didn’t want to take you with us, but here you are. We’re heading to Mobile. Enjoy the ride.”
George began a tirade about being kidnapped, and he’d report Jon to the CDC and a general back in Atlanta. Jon kept the big smile on his face but had to make an effort to keep from slapping the crap out of this rude asshole. Jon finally had enough and made the timeout sign with his hands. “Sir, shut up. You talk too much, and every other word is a threat. My friend has a gun aimed at you, so your opinions don’t mean jack shit in this plane. You keep jacking your jaws, and we’re going to see if you can fly.”
The redhead gasped when she remembered the man in front of her was the pilot, “Who’s flying the plane?” asked Barbara.
“The autopilot. Now, were there men and women in this test required to give all their blood? How much of my blood was going to be taken?”
George said, “Yes, about 65 percent women to 35 percent men. We’d take just enough to run our experiments.
A few subjects died.”
The color of Barbara’s face matched her red hair when she said, “Most died. Not the few George just said. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to escape.”
Jon’s faced scrunched up. He scratched his jaw, and said, “So killing these blood donors was all to save your sorry asses at the CDC and perhaps the lives of politicians?”
George angrily replied, “No, it was to save the human population and allow us to re-populate the world.”
Jon pushed his finger into George’s chest. “That’s bullshit! Each man and two women could have been turned loose to repopulate the earth the old fashioned way, which would be a lot more fun for them. It’s a dirty, thankless job, but I’d raise my hand to have sex all day instead of being bled to death.”
Before the others could speak, Jill said, “Jon is right. You’re killing off the people who could actually repopulate the earth and save humanity. What kind of selfish monsters are you?”
Chapter 15
Flying somewhere between Atlanta and Mobile, Alabama - July 2038
“I’m Jon Stone, and apparently the CDC thinks I’m immune from the disease. I recognized Barbara’s voice from the radio a couple of days ago. Tell us about this plague or virus, whatever it is.”
Barbara said, “The Coronavirus is an airborne virus, you can catch it the same way you catch colds and the flu. Sneezes, handshakes, sex, touching an infected countertop, and sharing eating utensils or glasses will transfer the virus. The virus can survive for hours in a droplet from a sneeze. It is very contagious and you can become infected just by walking through a room an infected person was in as long as two hours ago. Anyone who is infected can actually infect another person who touches something the infected person touched or breathes on.”
She took a deep breath and continued talking. “This new strain is a manmade genetically engineered combination of Coronavirus and Ebola. This virus has many of the similarities of the two other human coronaviruses, Mers and Sars. The symptoms are more deadly and then add the hemorrhagic symptoms about a week into the infection. The old virus’s symptoms were runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat, fever, and feeling cruddy. People died, but not in massive amounts. This new mutation causes the capillaries to burst, and the person slowly bleeds to death. The blood from the eyes, nose, and ears also make for a gruesome sight. It’s more contagious and doesn’t kill quickly, which lets the infected person spread the disease for over a week.”
Jon said, “I …err …hey, did you know you were luring me to my death?”
Barbara’s head dropped, and she said, “Yes, but …”
Jon was pissed. “No, buts after admitting you knew I could die from the bloodletting excuses your actions. This is bullshit!”
Tears flowed down her cheeks. “But the Doc in charge told us we had to get the immune people into the lab, or he’d throw us out of the CDC. People who were thrown out didn’t just try to survive. They were shot. So freaking excuse me for wanting to live, asshole.”
Jon regrouped. “My next question is – are any of you immune? I’d hate to think I could become the last man on earth.”
“I think I may also be immune. I handled my dead sister and niece to bury them. I washed the blood from their faces without taking any precautions. I’ve had to shoot a couple of half-dead people who attacked me and probably could have caught the disease,” Jill answered.
George shrugged his shoulders, but Barbara said, “We’ve found only about one out of ten thousand people are immune. We also found most have a genetic immunity, and others became immune when they received the latest synthetic blood transfusion.”
Jon said, “Glad, I’m not the last immune person on earth. Hey, why can’t they give everyone some of the synthetic blood? It apparently worked for me.”
Barbara began removing her suit and looked at Jon. “The supply was low due to the conflict in Europe. I hate to say, but the stockpile of synthetic blood was given to the government and elite people. It didn’t work because the synthetic blood transfusion has to occur several months to a year before potential infection.”
Jill looked a bit startled and then said, “Damn, their bad luck the worthless pieces of shit. I agree with Jon’s earlier thoughts. It’s one thing to ask for volunteers, but to shanghai unwilling people and kill most of them to save your own asses is barbaric.”
George’s face turned red, and his teeth clenched. “Barb and I aren’t killers. We were doing our jobs. Barb, you shouldn’t have removed your suit.”
Jon said, “I never liked the Calley defense. Killing innocent people because your boss says so is pathetic and horrendous.”
Barbara said, “That’s why we were trying to escape. We were told to do our jobs, or we would be thrown out into the jungle outside the laboratory. Everyone who was thrown out on the streets was found dead later. Sorry, but we wanted to live, and yes, we helped with the experiments. I’m sorry.”
Jill said, “Let’s stop the finger pointing and get on with our escape. Jon, where are we going?”
“I’m flying to Mobile. The rest of you can go where you want to go after we land.”
“I’m okay with Mobile. My folks live north of New Orleans close to McComb, Mississippi. You could drop me off on the way to Mobile,” said Barbara.
Jill said, “Well, I vote for Dallas, but our hard-headed pilot is from Mobile, so hold on for the ride. Hey, Jon, do we have enough gas to get there?”
“I think so, but we should probably lighten the plane some to extend our range.”
George asked, “What can we pitch? The dog?”
Bo heard ‘dog,’ looked around, and growled at George.
Jon sneered. “We’ll pitch your sorry ass if you touch my dog.”
Bo picked up on the tension and growled at George again and then bit into the arm of George’s suit, ripping it. George yelled in anger, and Jill pointed her gun at him. He sat down and shut up. Jon said, “We can start by shoving the dead men out the door and then get rid of any seats we don’t need. George, you need to tone it down and stop resisting, or I’ll pitch your ass out. I’m going to check the gauges and fuel status, and then I need you to help me toss the bodies out the door. Until then, figure out how to remove the middle seats in the plane. Oh, take that silly suit off. It’s useless now.”
George looked puzzled. “Why not the ones closest to the door?”
“I think keeping the weight balanced would be a good thing.”
George took off his hazmat suit and fumed as he thought about what to do. He was now alone with Barbara for a few minutes. “Barb, we have to get away from these mad people. I’ll grab one of their guns and force them to take us back to Atlanta. Help distract them when I say so.”
Barbara said, “Hell, no! I don’t like what these two did to us, but I’d rather chance it with them instead of going back.”
George was mad and cursed below his breath. “Barb, the CDC has operatives all over the country. They will find us.”
“George, are you crazy. The CDC is a medical and research group. They don’t have soldiers.”
George had a wicked grimace on his face. “No, but the men who took over the CDC have a large private army, and they want the cure. That means they need every immune person they can find.”
Barbara stopped talking because, in an instant, she knew how the CDC had stayed one step ahead of the research group’s discontent. George was a spy.
Barbara quickly thought through her situation and asked, “Who is the leader of the group that has taken over the CDC?”
George said, “I don’t know for sure, but he spent billions in the days after the virus began decimating Europe to fund a small army of people to forcibly take over the CDC and several other government groups. The bastard is so rich, he owns the Deep State. With so many people loyal to his cause already planted in the government, it was easy to take over many of the government departments.”
Barbara thought, Oh, shit. We’re screwed.
; Jon saw the fuel level showed about half a load of fuel. They had flown from Amarillo to Atlanta and should make it to Mobile. He wanted more of a margin for safety in case the airfields were damaged or blocked. All of the other gauges were indicating everything was normal, so he went back into the cabin to join the others. He was pleased George already had two seats ready to toss.
“George let’s go toss these dead fellows,” Jon said as he passed by him. George followed, and Jon opened the rear door, which folded back into the plane. The door opened with a blast of cold air, almost knocking both of them down. Jon motioned for George to help him drag the pilot to the door. He shoved the body out of the door and held tightly to the doorframe while he watched the body sail through the clouds. The others followed the body to the ground. Jon watched each one and wondered if they hit some unlucky soul on the ground. He said, “Damn, that would be some real bad luck.”
Barbara was shocked when the bodies were tossed out the door. “Did you have to kill them?”
“No, they would have gladly sat back here with you two while we escaped in their plane. Lady, what world do you live in? These asshats were taking us to drain his blood and probably kill me.”
The redhead said, “They wouldn’t have killed you. I heard them say the headhunter was also immune.”
Jill fired back at Barbara. “The immune headhunter’s body is lying in a ditch out in New Mexico. I knocked her out and took her place to save this man. I should have minded my own business and drove on.”
Barbara glared at Jill but helped move seats to the back of the plane while the men dropped them out of the door. They pitched sixteen seats and the men’s belongings they couldn’t use. That only left four seats in the back of the plane and two in the front.
Jill said, “The only things left are the food and water. I think those might come in handy.”
