Apokalypsis Book Two

by Kate Morris

  “No!” he said adamantly. “No, Ave. Stay there with the kids. You’re better at that than me anyways. I-I don’t think you should come here. There’s so many sick people. I’m wearing a mask and rubber gloves. This place is a cesspool of sickness right now. Every room is packed. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “Then all the more reason for you to come home and me to come up. You need a break from the germs. To get a shower and eat a hot meal.”

  “The Red Cross is serving meals outside twenty-four hours around the clock. It’s mostly hot soup, but it’s good.”

  “Really? They’ve set up something like that?”

  “Yeah,” he answered and sniffed. “There’s so many freaking people here with visitors and the sick that the hospital closed its cafeteria to make food only for the sick and the staff.”

  “Wow, that’s crazy. I’ve never heard of anything like that before. Where’s Mom?”

  “She’s with Cyrus. They won’t let us in with the girls now. Moved them to an ICU ward. The nurse told me that the ICU used to just take up one wing of the hospital. Now it’s two floors. She said it’s common for the flu patients to fall into this comatose state. I don’t know. It’s so much bullshit mumbo-jumbo medical jargon getting thrown at us right now.”

  “Yes, I understand,” she said, now pacing up and down the hall while chewing her thumbnail.

  “So, they’re admitting this is the weird strain of flu going around?” she asked. There was no way she wanted him to know what she’d found out on the internet. She just hoped her mother was too busy taking care of and watching over Cyrus to do research of her own on the internet. She was like that. She’d find an alternative cure to common sicknesses, more holistic and homeopathic. She loved research. Avery hoped she kept busy or her phone battery went dead.

  “Yes, they said it’s the flu but not a common one,” he said. “That’s about all. Why? Do you know more?”

  She didn’t want to lie to him, but she also didn’t want to scare them more. It didn’t matter. The doctors had more information than she did and were in charge of her siblings’ care now anyway.

  “Um, just that it’s a new strain of the flu. They were talking about it on the news. Try to keep Mom off the internet. You know how she is. We don’t want her to get even more worried by stuff that’s mostly rumors and conspiracy theories.”

  “Oh, right. Yes, I guess that’s what it is. Mom asked them a bunch of times if a vaccine was out there for it, but they said there isn’t. She sent me last night to get some of the fever-reducing tea from the health food store. We’ve been having Cyrus drink it, but he doesn’t usually keep it down. It doesn’t seem to be working, either.”

  “Have they said anything about the kids having a second strain?” she tentatively asked.

  “No, what do you mean?”

  “Nothing,” she said. “Just curious.”

  He paused as if uncertain of her answer. “Have you heard from Dad? We’ve had a hard time getting cell service in the room. I’m standing outside right now to talk to you.”

  “Yes, he’s a little run down, but he’s trying to get a flight home.”

  “Oh, good,” Abraham said, sounding relieved. They’d all be glad when their father came home. He was the one who took care of them in bad situations. “I’m really worried about Mom. She didn’t sleep at all last night. I know because I didn’t either. But Mom doesn’t look so good. She won’t eat. Her eyes are bloodshot. She’s exhausted.”

  Avery tried not to focus on her mother having bloodshot eyes. It was just from lack of sleep.

  “Is she… sick?” she asked, not even wanting to say the word.

  “No, I don’t think so,” he answered immediately. “Just tired.”

  Avery released her held breath. “Are you sure you don’t want to swap out for the day?”

  “No, Mom said not to. She said she wanted you to keep the kids’ minds off this, take them outside to play or go for a walk.”

  “They’re swimming right now,” Avery said.

  “Good, good. That’s good. Keep them busy,” her ‘little’ brother said, sounding more mature than he should have to right now. “I’ll call later if anything changes.”

  “Okay, love you, Abraham. Give mother our love, too.”

  “I will. And we love you, too. Try not to worry.”

  They said goodbye and disconnected. Avery slumped down the wall of the hallway and sat on the hardwood floor hugging her knees. Her little sisters were both in a coma. How could this be happening?

  She sat there feeling sad for a few minutes, stood and dabbed at the dampness under her eyes. She wasn’t going to have a meltdown. She had to keep it under control. After going downstairs to the basement to throw in another load for the boys and fold the bed linens from last night, she joined the kids in the pool. She even engaged them in a game of Marco Polo, which they always enjoyed.

  After pool time for another few hours, Ephraim suggested they play airsoft wars in the woods, which she hesitated in answering. Her hesitation came from the fact that the sun would set in an hour and a half. She didn’t want to be in the woods after dark. The night she was followed down the road by one of those things, or what she figured was one of those things, came flooding back into her mind. The attack in Renee’s woods was also after dark. It set her on edge, so she suggested a board game instead. She told the kids to get their showers, bring any additional dirty clothes and towels they found in their rooms to the laundry room, and get ready to settle in for the night.

  She dashed up to her apartment to check her emails and grab a change of clothes. As she was walking back down the hill, she heard a dog in the distance. It reminded her of their neighbors’ dog, Charlie. She should drive over there. They never did get ahold of Mr. or Mrs. Campbell the next day or the one after. She’d called the sheriff again to do a well-visit on them but never heard back. The shrill violin ring tone of her phone caused her to jump.

  “Avery, dear,” her father’s voice came over the line. “I finally caught a flight. The airports were packed with travelers. I’ve never seen it so busy.” He paused to cough. Then there was static for a moment. “I’m leaving in an hour. I should land at JFK around four in the morning your time. I’ll be home as soon as I catch a flight to Cleveland or Akron, whichever I can, my love.”

  “Thank God,” she said with her hand over her heart, pausing in the driveway to listen to his calming voice, his tender and loving voice. She missed him so much she was tearing up. “Dad, have you spoken to Mom?”

  “Yes, dearest,” he said. “I must go, Avery. They are calling for my flight to begin boarding. Send the children my love. I’ll be home as soon as I can. Goodbye.”

  “I will. Safe travels. I love you.”

  His phone cut off. She wasn’t sure he heard her. Sometimes connections here out in the middle of nowhere got a little crazy. He being halfway around the world didn’t help. They often lost calls with him. She just hoped he heard her say that she loved him. That was important. It always was in her family. She’d tell him tomorrow for sure. Words left unspoken was not an acceptable thing in her family. They always sat down and resolved their disagreements and issues, told each other goodnight and good morning, and ended their calls and goodbyes with affection. That all came from her mother and not just because she was a therapist.

  A strange sense of peace came over Avery when she heard that her father was coming home. With everything that was going on in her life lately, she needed him home. Their lives were falling apart, but with him home with them, it would just feel better. Her father always took care of the big things in their lives, in her mother’s life, and handled situations so calmly. Avery was a wreck. The only reason she was even barely holding it together was that she knew he was coming home now and because she had to be the mature caretaker of her younger siblings. Not anymore. Once her father arrived home, he’d take care of everything.

  “Can we have spaghetti tonight?” Ephraim asked. �
�I’m hungry for Italian.”

  “Hm, how ‘bout we go out for pizza?” she suggested a short time later. They didn’t go out like that very often. It was cost prohibitive with ten of them, and her mother liked them to eat organic and healthy. She was a great cook. Avery hoped to cook for her own children someday the same, healthy, nutritious meals. But tonight, the kids deserved to have pizza, go to town, and take their minds off the current situation. They’d all drilled her throughout the day about the others, but she hadn’t had the heart to tell them about Faith and Joy. She hoped by morning they girls would be a lot better and she wouldn’t have missed telling the other kids anything. Finn jumped up and down with joy. Ephraim hooted, but Kaia still seemed worried about the others. “Let’s go out and have some fun. Sitting around here worrying isn’t going to help anything, right?”

  They piled into her car, and Avery made sure to shut the gate after they pulled through it. She’d also made sure to set the whole house security system. She didn’t need Tristan Driscoll to tell her how to keep her family safe. She wasn’t an idiot.

  She even put some peppy tunes on the radio and sang along as she drove the fifteen-minute drive to town. It seemed to do the trick because they went to a local pizza joint, ate, and even laughed and joked a little. It was a good night.

  When she got back to the house, she drove through the gate, pressed the button to shut it again, and parked down in front of her parents’ house. Then she tucked Finn in, told her brother and sister to both get some rest and bade them a goodnight, as well. With the kids tucked in, she folded three loads of laundry and still felt restless. Her father practiced tai chi and taught all the kids to do it, too, even little Finn. So, she went to the living room and performed tai chi for an hour. By the time she was done, Avery had worked up a gentle sweat. She went to the fridge and reached for a pitcher of purified water but spotted the bottle of open white wine her mother must’ve started.

  “Why not?” she said, hoping it would help her relax. She knew it was supposed to have a calming effect, and she needed that tonight, badly. Even tai chi hadn’t helped. So, she poured a wine goblet about half full and went to look out the floor-to-ceiling windows of the living room. It was a quiet night with a full moon and a cloudless sky, every star visible. An idea occurred to her, and she downed the wine and checked on the children. They were all asleep thankfully.

  Avery changed in the bathroom back into her suit, took the whole bottle of wine with her, and went outside.

  Chapter Twenty

  Tristan drove to the smaller hospital of the three in the Canton area and found a spot to park on the street. Then he walked the few blocks to the main entrance. It was locked. That was strange. It was only eight-thirty in the evening. He walked to another door on the side, then two more. All locked. Tristan kept going. He was getting in this damn hospital tonight one way or another.

  Mostly what he wanted to see was where they were keeping the flu patients and what they looked like. He made his way to the Emergency Room doors but was met by a police officer standing in front of them. The older man took one look at Tristan’s dog tags hanging from his neck and greeted him with a less stern face.

  “I’m here to see my girlfriend,” he lied to the cop and noticed the black plastic that was covering all of the long and tall windows of the waiting room and entryway facing the street. They were hiding something or…everything. “She was brought in to this E.R. about three hours ago.”

  “Well, son,” the cop started, “then she probably hasn’t been seen yet. We’ve got a nine-hour wait right now. It’s jam-packed.”

  “From what? Big accident I didn’t hear about on the news or something, sir?” he asked, knowing it wasn’t the case anyway.

  “No, ain’t that,” he said. “It’s the flu that’s going around. Got the E.R. filled up. They ain’t even taking trauma patients. Those are being routed to Mercy West.”

  He offered Tristan a conspiratorial wink as if he should keep it on the down-low. Obviously, the police knew. Tristan already figured that out from the two incidents he was involved in. He’d choked out a civie and killed another, who’d in turn first killed three innocent people. No investigation. No crime scene tape. No interviews. No reporting it to his commanding officer. No damn court-martial. Yes, the police knew what the hell was going on. After tonight, Tristan hoped to be a little more in the loop, too. He needed to get on an equal playing ground with them.

  “Ah, right. Can I get in to wait with her, then? She doesn’t have any family around to help her out.”

  “Can’t let you in, son,” he said.

  “Seriously?” Tristan asked of his fake girlfriend.

  The cop nodded as if he wanted to help him. “Hey, I’ll tell ya’ something, though.” He pointed around the side of the building. “There’s a delivery entrance about two blocks that way. Door ain’t locked. You could maybe see if they need help unloading a truck or something.” He winked again.

  “Yes, sir. Thanks,” Tristan said and tipped the bill of his Army ballcap toward the portly man.

  Then he pulled up the hood from his gray hoodie over the top of his ballcap and dragged it low over his forehead in case they had cameras. He was about to break the law. Maybe. It was private property open to the public. It just wasn’t open to the public right now. Gray area.

  Tristan picked up the pace and jogged along the sidewalk until he came to a concrete block wall that obviously went down a ramp. There was a sign that said, “No Admittance Beyond This Point” and another that said, “Deliveries.” Bingo. Slightly grayer area, but he wasn’t going back now. He had to know.

  He slipped around the corner of the high wall and walked unimpeded down the ramp. Then he slinked past a cargo delivery truck where he could hear men talking on the other side of it. Three more similar trucks were lined up beside it.

  “…man, I don’t even know!” a man said in an exaggerated tone. “This shit ain’t right. I used to deliver here like once a week. Now they got me comin’ in three, sometimes four times a damn day. The overtime’s great, but I gotta get some damn sleep.”

  Tristan took a quick glance at the truck, which seemed to be a wholesale food delivery vehicle. Beside it was a semi for a medical supply company. The hospital must’ve been having trouble treating and feeding the influx of so many patients lately.

  He spotted a door to his left and walked through without anyone stopping him. He kept his head down and barreled forward. All around him was a loading dock and tall shelving units that seemed mostly empty. It was like a warehouse, just a lot less full of supplies and a lot darker. A hallway to the left led him away from the bustle and noise of skid steers and people talking. Continuing that path, he passed a breakroom where a few people were talking. He didn’t make eye contact but kept moving. They didn’t bother with him, if they even saw him. He’d called the hospital earlier and found out when they had a shift change and was told eight-thirty, so he knew this would be a busy time of day, easier to sneak around.

  Charging forward in a manner that made it seem like he knew where he was going, Tristan came to another room further down the way that was labeled as “Employee Locker Room.” He let himself in. Nobody was in there from the lack of noise, so he went straight for the back of the locker room and was met with another door, this one with a glass partition. No matter. He balled up his hoodie over his hand and broke the glass, letting himself in. Once inside the dark room, he located what he figured would be there. Metal lockers containing uniforms and maintenance gear. And keycards. Now he had what he needed.

  Tristan pulled on a white lab coat, folded his ballcap, and stuck it in the back pocket of his jeans. He also found a name badge that was empty of a person’s name, but on a lariat, so he hung that around his neck, turning it backwards as if it was just on wrong. Then he spotted rubber gloves and a surgical mask. If everyone was walking around the hospital with similar masks, he wouldn’t stand out. He left, peering cautiously both ways before letting the doo
r to the locker room close softly behind him.

  He went to the spot most hospitals had where hallways converged so he could study the layout on the map inside a glass display case and the elevator assignment for each floor’s departments. He wanted access to their computer lab but wasn’t sure if he could get away with that. It would surely be manned round the clock. Forward and one floor below should be the morgue, so he went that way, of course. That was always a quiet place, especially at night.

  He took the stairs and came to a swipe card entry to get into the morgue. His pass card got him right in with an instant green light. Handy. The morgue wasn’t quiet, though. It was teeming with people, the kind that were still alive. But he got a good glance in the hallway to his right the second he went through the door and was greeted by the sight of many dead people on gurneys. A young doctor was rushing down the hall in his direction, so Tristan discreetly went back through the door behind him. That was never going to work. Too many people. They’d know he wasn’t one of them as soon as he was asked for an opinion or to perform an autopsy. He was good at making people get dead; he just wasn’t good at dissecting them once they were that way.

  A yellow painted arrow on the wall pointed in the up direction of the stairwell for the Emergency Room. So be it. That’s where he wanted to go anyway.

  He took the stairs two at a time and jogged up two flights to the E.R. again, this time as an employee instead of the guy visiting his girlfriend. The second he swiped through the door, he realized it was total insanity. Nurses and doctors, orderlies, paramedics, and police officers were trying to make sense of the chaos. They all seemed to be in a hurry, looked exhausted as if they’d all been at the hospital for thirty-six hours straight, and were rushing to treat patients.