by Newman, AJ
Jon floored the old truck and sped on down Highway 98, ignoring the girls' chatter.
Chapter 18
Highway 98 along Mobile Bay, Alabama – July 2038
Jon turned down Alternate Highway 98 and was only a mile down the road when there was an explosion several hundred yards ahead of them. Jon slowed and then pulled down a side street toward the bay when gunfire erupted all around them. Jon rushed everyone out of the truck and into a shop behind where the truck was parked. Bullets pinged off the brick façade of the building, and one shattered one of the windows.
“Stay low. Jill, keep Bo behind the counter. I’m going to see what’s going on outside.”
Before Jon could crack the door, the thunder of a heavy machine gun rattled the air, and then the crack of large bullets hitting buildings split the air.
Jill said, “Jon, stay here. That’s a slaughterhouse out there.”
Jill no sooner spoke than the windows blew in and covered them with glass as explosions rocked the building next door. The machine gun fire ceased, but the sound of small arms split the air like a horde of hornets. They had walked into someone else’s fight. The machine gun fire started again, but this time it sounded further away. Several muffled explosions shook the building, but they also were far away.
As suddenly as the gunfire started, it stopped and yielded an eerie silence. Jon duck walked to the back of the shop to stay out of sight. He was shocked when he saw several spots of blood on his arms and saw the same on Jill and Barbara’s faces and arms. The glass had peppered all of them. Jon checked them for any serious wounds and found they only had been hit by small pieces of glass.
Jill said, “I think we blundered into a feud. Someone has cannons and a Ma Deuce and knows how to use them.”
Jon gave her a dumb look, and then Jill said, “A Ma Deuce is a .50 caliber Browning machine gun. It’s a big-ass gun. It can bring down an airplane or shred a truck. I’m surprised they’re using a cannon and a heavy machine gun for a local fight. These guys mean business.”
Jon replied. “And we don’t know who’s who in the zoo.”
Barbara’s brows furrowed. “Do what?”
“You know. We can’t tell the good guys from the bad guys,” Jon said.
Jill said, “The bastards with the big guns were shooting at us. The others were shooting at the guys with the big guns.”
Jon shrugged his shoulders. “Let’s keep hidden until we can escape all of them or at least find out who the good guys are.”
Before anyone could answer Jon’s comments, they heard shouts coming from the street in front of the shop. Someone yelled, “Move inland before they come back. The bastards are trying to kill us all. That gunboat leveled a dozen buildings.”
Jill said, “Shit. Crossing the bay just became more dangerous."
Jon gave up looking out the front door and went to the back of the shop. The shop was an antique store, and many of the antiques lay broken on the floor. He crawled around an old sewing machine and a butter churn before finding the back door. He twisted the knob and looked outside. He saw men, women, and children scrambling to get away from the area. He watched for a few minutes and noticed they all headed in the same direction.
Jon closed the door and went back to the sales floor. He saw Jill and Barbara standing up, looking at him as he came out of the backroom. Their eyes were focused on him. Jon said, “Get down. They’re still around outside. We need …”
He stopped talking when something poked him in the back, and two armed men stepped out of the shadows. They wore masks covering their mouths and noses, gloves on their hands, and wore coveralls.
One spoke, “Who are you?”
Jon spoke, “I’m Jon, and they are Jill and Barbara. Our plane crashed north of here. We’re trying to get to the other side of Mobile Bay. We tried to go across the bay on Highway 98 and found it blocked. We were also shot at and decided to try to cross by boat.”
“How have you avoided getting sick? Are you some of the immunes?”
Jon tried his best to look surprised. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We were up in Montana on vacation when the crap hit the fan. We were in a remote camp and didn’t know about the plague until a couple of weeks ago. We got ready to leave, and our pilot didn’t arrive to pick us up. We had to hike over a hundred miles to a village where everyone was dead. This scared the crap out of us, so we avoided all living and dead people. I found a plane, and we flew south. We stopped a couple of times for gas, and here we are. Who are the people trying to kill you?”
“I’ll ask the questions. When did you last have contact with other people?”
“About sixteen days ago,” Jill said.
“I’d like to trust you, but you’ll be placed in quarantine for two weeks before we can tell if you’re infected.”
Jon asked, “Why don’t you just let us go on our way, and then you won’t have to worry about us being contagious.”
The man stuck the barrel of his AR-15 into Jon’s gut and said, “Shut up and do what you’re told.”
“I’ll do it, but let me turn my dog loose. I know you don’t want him.”
Jon saw the surprised look on the girl’s faces and said, “Well, that tells us who the bad guys are.”
Bo growled, and Jon said, “Easy, boy.” He bent over and slid Samantha’s memory card into the pocket on Bo’s collar for his identification info. Then he patted Bo and said, “Bo, go!”
Bo took off, running, and left the building. Jon didn’t know why he’d thought about saving the card, but he knew he didn’t want to lose Samantha.
The man asking the questions left the shop, and nothing happened for an hour. Two women walked into the shop with a pile of clothes, gloves, hooded sweatshirts, and masks. The leader returned and said, “Take all of your clothes off and stand there while we spray you with disinfectant. Then you’ll put these clothes on. We don’t want any contamination.”
Jill argued with the man. “I’m not dropping my clothes in front of you or anyone else.”
The man pointed his rifle at Jill’s head and counted. “One … two …”
Jill said, “All right,” and pulled her t-shirt over her head, exposing her breasts and then said, “You are a pervert.”
They stripped down to their birthday suits. The men sprayed them with a green milky-looking liquid as they gawked at the naked ladies. The green liquid was followed by a thorough dousing with water from what appeared to be garden sprayers. One of the women came back into the shop and tossed several towels to Jon and the girls. Jill said, “Have you bastards got your eyes full?”
The leader said, “Not really, but I guess that was our cheap thrill for the day.”
Barbara had tears in her eyes as they were herded down the street. Jill had a scowl on her face, and, with every step, tried to remember the SOB’s faces, so she could look them in the eyes when she killed them. Jon was upset; these strangers had abused his friends and caused them so much embarrassment. He also thought about how to kill them before he and his friends escaped.
They arrived at the local middle school, and Barbara gasped and then whispered, “That portable building is a hazardous decontamination unit used by the CDC and military. The men on the outside are wearing DPEs, which stands for Demilitarization Protective Ensemble. Those men in the building are in ‘blue suits,’ that’s what we called the positive pressure personnel suits like we wore at the CDC. This is a professional operation.”
One of the men saw her lips moving. “Shut up, and only speak when spoken to.”
Two armed men wearing the blue suits escorted them into a room just off the hallway at the building’s entrance. They were taken through a hatch into the portable building and told to strip down again. They all complied and were doused again with the green liquid, then rinsed with water before standing below a powerful blower that dried them. Barbara didn’t cry this time and just imagined strangling the people degrading her. Barbara knew this wasn’t a bunch of A
labama rednecks only trying to see naked women. This was a branch of the rogue CDC operation.
She turned as the air dried her body, intentionally tripped, and fell into Jon. She quickly whispered, “CDC, we must escape!”
She recovered her balance, and as soon as they were dry, they put on sweat pants and t-shirts provided by a woman in one of the blue suits. Then they were ushered into another room to be interrogated. The three women interrogators asked the usual information pertaining to where they lived, their health, and any contacts with the plague. They all lied as much as possible but stuck to the story about traveling south from Montana.
The interrogation lasted for over an hour, and Jon was surprised the interrogators didn’t pick their flimsy story apart. No one asked how he was related to the two women, how they met, or what they were doing up in Montana. As he feared, they were only interested in his and his family’s health history. He lied when asked about any transfusions, even when asked about his scars.
Jon asked, “What are you doing with us?”
The woman said, “You have volunteered to help us find a vaccine to stop this virus from wiping out the entire human population.”
“When will you let us go?”
The other two women looked up quickly and then went back to asking questions of Jill and Barbara. Jon’s interrogator replied, “It will take about a week to prepare you for the tests and determine if your blood is compatible. Only then can we start the trials to see how the virus affects you.”
About an hour later, they were taken to what had been a classroom that was now devoid of all furniture except for three cots, a five-gallon bucket, a roll of toilet paper, and a jug of water.
Jon walked into the room and searched it for listening devices and cameras as soon as the guards closed the doors. He placed his finger over his lips and waved for the girls to come to him. He moved their heads together and whispered, “Barbara, is this the CDC?”
Barbara whispered,” Yes, these men are dangerous. We must escape before they begin their experiments.”
Jon said, “I’m working on a plan.”
They separated, but Barbara walked back to Jon and moved his head close to her mouth. “Thanks for not staring at me while I was naked.”
Jon grinned. “I’m sorry you ladies had to suffer the degradation.”
Barbara acted as if she was hitting him on the arm. “You are an asshole, but maybe you are a good guy deep down.”
Jill felt the blood rush to her face. She glared at Barbara and Jon, who looked up and was surprised by the nasty look. Jill moved between Jon and Barbara. “Can we trust Barbara? She was one of them.”
Jon nodded and said, “Play along until we know what’s happening. We must escape before the needles and bloodletting start. I have a couple of ideas.”
Jon walked around the room, laughed, and said, “The SOBs didn’t even give us a curtain to take a dump behind. If one of you has to go, I’ll hide my face in a corner. If I have to take a dump, you’ll need to cover your mouth and nose for about an hour.”
Jill snickered. “I’ve been in worse situations during the war in Europe. We had to crap in our own foxholes one time after our base was overrun, and we ended up fighting just to stay alive. Hell, I was an MP and not used to fieldwork. The shit got real that day.”
Jon replied, “I never served in the military, but I could curl your hair with stories about … damn … I got nothing to match what you could tell us. I’m a regular guy and not some military hero like you, Jill. You da bomb.”
Jill said, “These guards aren’t soldiers. They don’t have much training or discipline. We can take them.”
“Good to know. I’ll move our cots together so we can whisper tonight without them knowing we’re plotting how to escape. Tell Barbara to watch for any weakness we can exploit.”
Jill moved her lips to Jon’s ear and said, “Will do,” and a tingle surged through Jon’s body. He hadn’t seen Cindy in months now, and she seemed like a distant memory. He knew he liked Jill, and she was attractive, but he now felt attracted to her even if she wasn’t attracted to him. He shook his head and thought, Keep it in your pants, buddy. There’ll be time for fooling around later.
The lights were turned off just after dark, and the only light in the room was from the quarter moon. Jon climbed onto his cot and faced the wall. He said, “Ladies, I’m faced toward the wall. You can do your thing.”
He heard giggling and water splashing before silence fell on the room. He felt someone behind him snuggle up against him. It was hot as hell, and they parted when the sweat soaked them. Then he heard, “Jon, I hope we live through this.”
Jon whispered, “Same here,” and then they took turns whispering their escape plans in each other’s ear while Barbara stewed by herself behind them. They came up with a solid but risky plan before falling asleep.
Chapter 19
Daphne, Alabama – July 2038
Jon felt woozy when his eyes opened. He froze when he realized his arms and legs were tied down to the sides of a different bed. It was a hospital bed. His eyes snapped shut because he didn’t want anyone to know he was awake. He listened for a few minutes and heard breathing on either side of him. He squinted through his eyelashes and could make out Barbara to his right. She was also restrained and had several tubes running to her left arm. There were two bags of clear liquid slowly dripping into her IVs. Another larger tube came out from her legs. He wondered what it was until he saw the clear yellow fluid run down the tube into a bag strapped to the bed.
He slowly turned his head and saw Jill on the other side. She had the same restraints, tubes, and IVs. He tried not to be scared but had to wonder if the bastards had already started their unholy experiments on them. He looked up and saw the monitor with his vital signs. His heartbeat and blood pressure were normal, but there was a little red light flashing on the bottom right corner. He glanced over at Jill and Barbara’s monitor, and their lights were green. He thought, Damn, the bastards know I’m awake.
There was a noise in the hallway, and a nurse and orderly pushed a gurney through the door and parked it by his bed. He ignored them. The nurse said, “We know you’re awake. You can fool us, but not the machines. Open your eyes and take your medicine. Today is your lucky day. You are free from the virus, and you can join in on our efforts to develop a vaccine.”
“Wait, I was told it would be a week before they could start the testing.”
“That’s right. One of our processing workers tells that to everyone. Oh, I forgot. You probably don’t know that you’ve been asleep for six days while we flushed any contaminates from your body and verified you were a suitable candidate.”
“Are you shitting me?”
“No, sir.”
“What about my friends?”
“They also passed and will be processed with you. We need two more days to finish feeding you to make sure you are strong enough for the tests. You’ll like this part. You’ll have steaks and other real food for a change. No more scrounging to survive from now on.”
The orderly helped the nurse move Jon onto the gurney and then wheeled him down the hallway back to their original room. The cots were gone, and three single beds took their place. The room was furnished with a dining table, chairs, and a large screen TV on the wall. The TV had an old western movie with cowboys and Indians fighting to their deaths while the orderly helped Jon into his bed. The orderly gave him the remote to the TV and left the room.
Jon changed the channel to find a man speaking about the state of the country. The bottom of the screen said the man was the President of the USA. Jon didn’t recognize him.
The man in a dark suit with a blue tie said, “That’s the status of Australia. Now for our country. There are no survivors left outside of our government and military bunkers. Yes, there are a few stragglers who have been much slower to die, but for all practical purposes, the USA has been wiped clean of all human population. We have less than a million people spread
out on the east and west coasts. The middle of the country is reverting to grasslands and forests.
The only good news is we can’t find any evidence of life in Russia, China, or the entire Middle East. Our enemies fared much worse than we did. On a positive note – the CDC says it’s close to a breakthrough in making a vaccine to defeat the virus. Several trials are underway now, and we have people who are immune to the disease. Our scientists are now trying to find a way to make several of the trial vaccines in bulk quantities. Until then, stay in your bunkers and stay safe, America.”
Jon hadn’t noticed the orderly standing in the doorway. Jon heard, “More bullshit from the commander and chief.”
A lady’s voice said, “Only the rich and powerful are getting the treatment.”
Jon turned to see them wheel in a gurney with Barbara, who looked unconscious or asleep. “Barbara! Barbara!”
The nurse said, “She’s asleep. She had a rough day.”
They left but quickly returned with Jill. Jill was raising hell about being kidnapped. “Why are you helping these corrupt people? They only intend to bleed us to death to use our blood. That’s murder.”
The nurse pulled a small package from her pocket and produced a syringe. She stuck it into Jill’s IV and injected the contents. The nurse said, “That will shut her up.”
The nurse left, but the orderly remained. He bent over Jon and whispered, “Stop complaining, or they’ll put you in a coma and do what they want anyway. The escape is planned for tomorrow, and you all need to be awake.”
Jon looked confused and started to speak, but the orderly rushed out of the room. Jon wondered if it was a setup, or could this man really be trying to help them? He looked over at Jill, and she was fast asleep. Barbara was behind him and sitting on the edge of her bed when an alarm went off. The orderly came back into the room and said, “There is a pressure pad under all of you. It’s standard procedure to make sure a patient doesn’t get up and fall. It’s also good to help make sure you don’t wander around.”
