by Dirk Patton
The sound of the rotor steadily rose and fell with the changing wind and he couldn’t guess how close it was, or even which direction to watch. About all he was certain of was that it wasn’t moving fast, so it was almost certainly a patrol. Squeezing into the footwell so he wasn’t visible if he were overflown, movement outside caused him to freeze.
Dog had seen it too, rumbling a low growl when small forms began emerging from the sand. Joe stared at the children in fascination as he quieted Dog with a hand on his back. Rachel hadn’t exaggerated the details and he was very glad that they seemed unaware of his presence. They just stood in the sand where they’d suddenly appeared, looking around like they were trying to spot something.
The helicopter! The heavy thump of the main rotor would easily penetrate the sand, alerting the infected kids. But they didn’t seem to know what it was. Weren’t looking up to scan the horizon or the sky overhead.
As he watched, more children emerged. Two of them hissed and growled at each other, both wanting to stand in the same spot, and he got his first look at the horrifying teeth. Rachel had tried to describe what they were like, but nothing he’d imagined had prepared him for the shock of actually seeing them. He understood why she’d been so freaked out when she’d returned to the plane.
More movement from farther out in the desert caught his attention. Looking closely at a large outcropping of rocks, he saw a large group of females stalk into the open. They were downwind from the children and began approaching cautiously. Absorbed with the sound of the helo, the kids were completely oblivious to their presence.
Drawing closer, the females broke into a sprint, using their terrifying speed to close the final forty yards. None of them made a sound and they covered half the distance before one of the children looked around and screamed a warning. The kids instantly scattered in every direction.
Their presence detected, the females screamed as they slammed into the group. Some of the children made it to safety, but most were taken to the ground to be savaged by the adults. Joe expected they would meet a swift and bloody end, but to his great surprise, the kids fought back.
Their nightmarish teeth were formidable weapons, more than one female having an arm slashed open to the bone. One small boy even succeeded in tearing into his attacker’s neck, tearing it open and sending hot blood fountaining into the air.
But the female’s greater size and strength was more than the children could resist and the massacre was soon over. Bile rose in Joe’s throat as he watched the females tear open the small bodies and begin feeding.
Looking away, he was surprised to see the surviving children had gathered into a small group, a good distance from the feasting adults. They stoically watched their brothers and sisters being consumed, the only reaction being the occasional open-mouthed hiss that displayed their teeth.
At that moment, Joe got a horrible glimpse of the future. The infected adult females had become the apex predators in the world. But that was going to change rapidly as their children grew larger, stronger and faster.
Unable to tear his eyes away from the gory scene, Joe eased the Hummer into gear. The females didn’t even look up from their meal, but the children who had been standing back instantly charged the vehicle. Cursing, Joe spun the wheel and pointed them west, towards the jet.
54
“Can you tell what it is?” Rachel asked, eyes locked on the distant aircraft.
“No,” Gonzales said. “Doesn’t matter. Has to be Russian.”
“Hope it’s not the one that shot up the convoy.”
“Shot up a convoy?” he asked, head whipping around. “Exactly what the hell haven’t you told me?”
Not looking away from the speck in the sky, Rachel relayed an abbreviated version of what had happened.
“Under the sand? Are you kidding?”
“Wish I was. Look! It’s stopping!”
The speck appeared to be hanging in the air, but soon it grew slightly larger before reversing course.
“Definitely a patrol.”
“Oh shit,” Rachel breathed.
“No shit.”
Together, they watched as it slowly moved north.
“How did you find us?” Rachel asked suddenly.
Gonzales remained quiet for a few beats before answering.
“I had to head south to get away from the infected that are moving with Nicole. Just got lucky, I guess.”
“We’d be dead if it wasn’t for you. But I wish you’d gotten her, too.”
“I was lucky to get most of the females.”
“How did you? Get them all, I mean. Or most of them, I guess.”
“Came in from the far side of the bus, so they didn’t know I was there. Got up on the roof about the time Viktoriya set the fire. Suppressed rifle, and with all the racket they were making and the roar of the brush burning, they didn’t know where I was.”
“You sure you didn’t get Viktoriya?”
“Never had a clean shot at her, so I took out the others.”
“So where the hell did she go?”
“Beats me. I lost sight of her, but she must have figured out what was happening and taken off.”
Rachel nodded in understanding. She’d been unable to see anything beyond the windows until the Master Chief had pushed the plane out of the fire, so she wasn’t going to second guess him. What mattered was they were alive and safe. But something was nagging at her.
“I don’t understand, though. How’d you get here; to the mainland?”
“Flew. Same way you did,” he said with a note of irritation in his voice. “What’s with all the questions?”
“Sorry. Just wondering.”
She fell silent, reminding herself that Gonzales was the reason everyone in the world she loved was alive at the moment. That thought brought her around to check on John. He was still unconscious and Mavis hadn’t left his side. She seemed to be asleep, but as Rachel watched she could see her lips moving, silently speaking whatever she was thinking.
“What do we do if it comes this way?” Rachel asked, turning her attention back to the patrolling craft.
“Only one thing we can do. Everyone gets on the floor so they can’t see us and hope the gunner isn’t bored and looking for something to light up.”
Gonzales shut the engine off, the sudden absence of the clattering engine almost deafening.
“What are you doing?”
“Not taking the chance they’d do a thermal scan,” he explained. “It’s a hot day, but the engine is still way hotter than the surrounding environment and would be a dead giveaway.”
Rachel nodded slowly, enough experience under her belt to understand the Master Chief’s concern. Together, they watched as it reached the northernmost boundary of its patrol sector and gently banked. It came several miles closer before turning south and Gonzales leaned forward over the steering wheel for a better look.
“Still a long way out.”
“What about Joe and Dog?”
“What about them?”
“Think they’d shoot a man and a dog walking along the road?”
“Who the hell knows,” Gonzales grumbled. “Makes sense them shooting up a convoy of Humvees. Beyond that, no way to know what their orders are.”
Rachel nodded again, sparing another glance at John.
“Are we far enough away to turn around and head west without them seeing us?”
He stayed quiet, watching the slow progress of the helo.
“Master Chief?”
“Maybe,” he finally said. “If we wait until the right moment, they’d only spot us if they were looking directly at our location. Thought you were worried about Joe and Dog.”
“I am,” Rachel said, irritated by the comment. “But we won’t do them any good if we’re caught or killed.”
An excruciatingly slow minute passed, Gonzales waiting for the plane to move south of the freeway. At that point, they would be behind the cockpit and hidden from the pilots unless the
y had a reason to turn and check over their shoulders. Starting the engine, he shifted into gear and made a sweeping U-turn.
The transition across the median was rough, and Rachel made her way back to John by clinging to seats so she wasn’t thrown to the floor. Her heart skipped a beat when the tires began to spin in the sand, but the big vehicle had enough momentum that the Master Chief was able to keep the power on and plow through.
As she reached John, there was a hard bump when the rear of the bus bounced back onto pavement and she lost her grip and fell to her knees beside Mavis. Rolling on the floor beneath her seat was an autoinjector with an empty vial still inserted. Frowning, Rachel picked it up, careful to keep the exposed needle well away from her skin.
The ride had smoothed out now that they were on pavement and she made her way to where Gonzales had piled Joe’s equipment. Rachel thought she had properly secured the device she’d used to inject John, but assumed she’d been sloppy because of Viktoriya’s attack. Opening the case holding the machine that had incubated the virus, she froze in shock to find that the partial vial of serum was missing.
For a moment, she didn’t breathe, then frantically tore open a small storage compartment mounted inside the case’s lid. The autoinjector she’d used on John was safely secured, exactly where she’d put it. She slowly raised her head to look at Gonzales. Wondered if this was what had seemed off about him. But he hadn’t had an opportunity to access the vial, nor did he even know of its existence.
Heart pounding, she turned toward the back of the bus. Looked at Mavis, whose eyes were still closed as she mumbled to herself and supported John’s head. Locking the autoinjector away, she moved to the young girl’s side.
“Mavis?”
She didn’t respond. Reaching out and touching her face, a sob escaped Rachel’s throat when she felt the heat of a raging fever.
“Oh, honey. What did you do?”
55
I sat in complete darkness. I was tired. More exhausted than I could ever recall feeling, and that’s saying something. And the pain. It was everywhere. I just wanted it to stop. Was ready for it to stop. To let go and move on from constant agony.
Ahead of me was a green, sunny pasture. The light didn’t extend to where I was, instead ending at a sharp edge like I was watching a 3-D movie screen. A massive tree shaded a round table and seated around it, laughing and talking, was a large group of people.
Colonel Crawford, Master Sergeant Jackson, Nitro, Sergeant Scott, Captain Black. All people who’d touched my life. All people I missed. But as much as they’d all meant to me, the one I couldn’t stop looking at was Katie. Her hair shimmered like copper as she threw her head back and laughed at something Nitro said.
A distant scream sounded in the darkness, but it wasn’t a female. There was something uniquely different that conjured an image of a primeval beast. No one at the table reacted, so I didn’t care what it was. If it was stalking me, maybe it would end my suffering.
More screams. This time from several different directions. I was being surrounded, but only smiled as I knew they couldn’t hurt me. Nothing could hurt me anymore. All I had to do was let go and walk into that pasture.
“Dad.”
A woman’s voice, but she couldn’t be talking to me. I was alone.
“Dad. I’m here.”
Slowly, I looked over my shoulder but couldn’t see anything in the dark. Turning back to look at the pasture, I was happy to find that I was closer. So close I could almost reach out and touch the thick grass. Katie looked directly at me and smiled. I raised my hand toward the light and felt myself being drawn closer.
“Dad!”
A strong hand suddenly gripped my wrist, pulling me back at the last instant. Angry, I tried to bat it away, but it was too strong. Then, appearing out of the darkness was the woman the hand belonged to. Mavis! Only it wasn’t. This wasn’t the little girl I’d rescued in Australia. Instead, a tall, striking woman stood smiling sadly at me.
“Mavis?”
“Hi, Dad!”
“What’s happening?” I asked. “What are you doing here?”
Rather than answer, she threw her arms around my neck. After a beat, I folded mine around her and held tight. We stayed that way for some time, then she leaned back and looked at the pasture.
“Is that Katie?”
I turned, somehow surprised that Mavis could see her.
“Yes.”
“She’s beautiful.”
I nodded, grasping Mavis’s shoulder and looking into her eyes. My heart broke when I saw the red.
“What happened to you?” I whispered.
“It was the only way I could come here.”
“Here?”
“We’re in Baralku.”
“The Island of the Dead?” I asked, remembering the Aboriginal mythology.
Mavis nodded.
“And that’s the next world,” she said, tilting her head at the pasture. “A world you’re not ready for. Not yet. I’m here to bring you back.”
“Bring me back? Back where?”
“To me. To Mom. We need you.”
“Mom?”
“Rachel,” she said with a smile. “And we need you. We’re in danger.”
“I...”
I looked around us but there was only impenetrable darkness other than the pasture with my friends.
“I’ll guide you,” Mavis said. “But you have to want to come with me. I can’t make you.”
“What happened to you?”
I stared at her, trying to understand how she’d gotten infected.
“I don’t...”
“Dad,” she said, interrupting me. “If you don’t come with me, Rachel will die. I will die. I’m sorry. I know you want to go to them, but we need you. Now. Please come with me.”
Stepping away, she extended her hand and waited for me to take it. More screams from the dark and though I couldn’t see the beasts, there was a sensation that they were swirling all around us. I stared at Mavis for what seemed a long time, then raised my hand. As I placed it in hers, I looked back to the pasture.
Everyone was standing, but they weren’t facing me. Instead, they were gathered around a large man and a woman with beautiful hair that shone like gold in the sun. The new arrivals were greeted with smiles, laughter and hugs. I gasped when I recognized the faces. It was Lucas and Irina.
Lowering my eyes, I stared at the blackness. Felt the sense of loss of more people I loved. Looking at Mavis, I let her lead me out of the darkness.
56
I sat sideways on the bus seat, cradling Mavis in my arms. She was unconscious and I could feel the heat of the fever burning through her small body. I was tired but was feeling better by the minute. I’d just finished telling Rachel what I’d seen when Mavis came for me.
“Irina?” she asked, worry creasing her face. “You can’t think that’s real.”
“Don’t know what I think. But I knew Mavis was infected. She told me it was the only way she could reach me. How would I know that?”
Rachel looked into my eyes for several long moments before answering.
“You won’t like hearing this, but just because you were unconscious doesn’t mean your mind wasn’t processing input. You could have heard something and it was incorporated into what you were hallucinating. Just like when someone suggests something and then you have a dream about it.”
“Bullshit,” I said.
Rachel lowered her eyes for a beat, then leaned in and kissed me. Kissing Mavis’s sweaty brow, she gently brushed a stray hair from her face.
“Doesn’t matter,” she said. “What does is that you’re back. And we’ve got a whole new problem.”
I listened in dread as she told me everything that had happened while I was out, including how Master Chief Gonzales had saved their lives.
“You really think they’re the infected’s children?” I asked, suppressing a shudder at the creatures she’d described.
“It’s the
only explanation that makes sense. As dramatically as the virus has affected people, it’s only made physiological changes, not physical. These... things... would have to have been genetically altered, and nature only does that during the development of a fetus.”
I looked at her with a blank expression on my face.
“Okay,” she said with an apologetic smile. “It’s made people who were already born stronger and faster. None of them have sprouted fangs or claws.”
I nodded in agreement but didn’t see much point in putting a lot of thought into the children at the moment.
“What about Joe and Dog?” I asked.
“No idea.”
Fuck. Gently moving Mavis off my lap, I placed her small body on the seat. I was still tired but could feel the virus coursing through me. Working its magic. Walking to the front of the bus, I grabbed onto a vertical bar next to the driver’s seat.
“Welcome back, sir,” Gonzales said, glancing up at me.
“Thank you for saving them,” I said. “I owe you.”
He shrugged and didn’t respond. Pretty much the same thing I would have done.
“Rachel says we’re heading for Yuma. How far?”
He pointed and I looked through the windshield at a road sign just as we passed it. Eighteen more miles.
“Got a plan?” I asked.
“Steer clear of that Russian aircraft. She tell you about the convoy she found?”
I nodded.
“We got comms with anyone?”
“Nope,” he said, shaking his head.
“The Marine air station in Yuma,” I said. “Should be able to find something there.”
He didn’t respond immediately and I thought I picked up on some tension coming from him. Before I could ask if there was something on his mind, we were buzzed by a low flying plane. The bus rocked hard in its wake and I was glad I’d had a firm grip on the rail.
“What the fuck?” Gonzales snapped.
