Genesis Virus

by Pinto, Daniel

  The Engineer says. “If this is not bad, you’re one sick bastard.”

  David says. “What does that make you, if I’m the one tied up?”

  The Engineer says. “Aaah, good one kid.”

  There is a long pause and David is sweating uncontrollably, the lantern’s flame is a steady pilot light. It feels like an oven in the room.

  The Engineer says. “What’s causing all this? Your best guess, private school boy. Help me understand this.”

  David says. “High fever and infectious encephalitis kills many. The Genesis Virus is an ancient strand of life that can only live with our deaths. Its origins could be from deep space or was trapped in our glaciers since the beginning of time. The universe is a recycling organism, repurposing energy in a random and chaotic fashion. The Genesis Virus will always be here in one form or another. Our universe seems original because our understanding is limited.”

  The Engineer fidgets in his seat like a fussy toddler in a high chair during mealtime. “The remaining talking humans were inoculated by the hand of God. We who are left are the Premies, the premature dead. We are the dogs at the pound no one wants, waiting to be put out of our misery. We are not the chosen, we are the damned. We’re the Raptured leftovers. These monsters don’t play by the rules, you can’t label them, they’re Nondenominational Followers who can walk, run, fucking fly, and one or two that could probably do your fucking taxes. Death and taxes, the two only absolutes you can expect from life.”

  David says. “If you say so.”

  The Engineer crosses his arms across his chest. “I’m not a learned man, but if God wanted us to be equals, why did he makes us all different. To be an individual is to forsake everyone not like you. Truth through elimination.” The creases between his brows deepen.

  David says. “Spinoza’s God personally doesn’t give a shit about this world, never did and it always showed, he will start over and this time he will cut out the middle man. Free will. And make our replacements thankful slaves.”

  “Spin whatda?” The Engineer brings his chair closer to David, but is still halfway in the dark. “There’s a demon within each of us and this Genesis Virus unleashes it. What does it matter what we do?”

  David says. “Let’s all work together, if we do, we can lessen the burden on everyone left.”

  The Engineer fans his face. “What kind of Commie bullshit is that?” His laughing turns to choking. “This here is America. One generation is all it takes to be great, but it’s done by the individual.”

  David says. “A family of strangers can work. You and your men caught me because you’re a family against the individual.”

  The Engineer looks like he was just hit by a sucker-punch, he quietly leans back into the dark, and a minute later says. “The billionaire and the hobo will always want more, none of us are entitled to anything.”

  The Engineer twirls the knife in the air while looking up. “Oh. All of this is not going to last long. Family is a lot of shit taking and un-satisfaction with the hope it’ll be ok in the end. A blood bond is not a perfect bond, it takes work like everything else.”

  David bangs his head back against the wall. “Nothing, including the universe is forever, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find meaning and a common purpose if we try and put aside our differences.”

  The Engineer says. “We traded one cage for another one. Why try to save this place, the best of all possible worlds, it’s time for another extinction and rebirth of a species that will learn the hard way like we did. Self-destruction is the closest to peace we can ever get.”

  David says. “This can be the best of all possible worlds there’s no rule that says we have stop trying to make it better. Put aside your bullshit and pride to help everyone, to help yourself.”

  “Sounds to easy to be true…Our best-selfs are trapped in the past.” He stops moving and thinks to himself.

  David says. “Why does peace have to be complicated to be real?” He catches his breath after he coughs for a moment. The heat is cooking his insides. “Think of the U.S. Highway that can take you wherever you want to go. The possibilities. Right? Now think about a pothole in this system of roads, do you fill it with tar or do you rebuild the entire freeway?”

  “Patch it up, of course, time and cost. Are you trying to set me up to look dumb?”

  David says. “Replace the complex highway system with a complex human, should we kill the person because of a mistake and hope the next one will be better?”

  “That’s the not same thing.”

  David says. “Nothing is ever the same thing. Everything is its own thing.”

  “A murderer deserves to be put down, a pothole ain’t shit.”

  David says. “Why because it sounds efficient, so when someone is broken just dispose of them to rid yourself of the hassle.”

  “Killing murderers is for society.”

  David says. “Not everyone agrees.”

  “Leaders know best.”

  David says. “Best for who, themselves, the person about to die, you?”

  “All of the above.”

  David says. “Do you belief that?”

  “Never thought about it.”

  David says. “No one does and that’s the problem. Because they figured someone else has figured it all out and it’s their hassle, not mine. Can you hurry up and fix this pothole and kill the bad guys. To them they want both done as soon as possible and feel detached to both scenarios so much that it becomes a joke and the go-to solution when someone is abnormal.”

  The Engineer is quiet and leans his cheek against the mud wall.

  David can see the corner of the Engineer’s lip began to twitch; he has a look on his face as if David has just ask him if he could fuck his mother. He screams as he stabs the wall over and over with David’s knife. “You’re trying to trick me, you look down on me, and on my kind.”

  David pushes forward. “What? Relax.”

  The Engineer shrinks back and slaps himself. “You come here to steal my world, my life.” He starts to blink rapidly. Small whistling inhales and exhales come out of him.

  David’s nails digs into the dirt wall. “I’m looking for someone and I had to protect myself, the end.”

  The Engineer rubs both of his cheeks in frustration. “Been trying to guess why you’re here, it’s really sticking in my craw.” He scratches his head, “are they coming,” he kicks the wall with the tip of his boot. “I don’t need this shit today.”

  David plays along. “I can help you before they come tomorrow. We can help each other out, no one has to die, I’ve been put through the ringer as well.”

  The Engineer takes a critical breath before he explodes. “Have you ever been so thirsty you ask someone to piss in your mouth…no? You don’t know shit.”

  David’s legs scrape into the ground as he tries to standup. “I was sent in first to see what’s what and tomorrow morning, a group of thirty is going to hit this town with everything it has. These men will put you and your men on those poles outside to be pick-cleaned by the vultures.” He falls down.

  The Engineer turns his back to David and stands still for a minute. He talks slow and lingers on each word. “Bullcorn…the enemy of my enemy…is my…fucking enemy.”

  David kicks his legs up. “Either way, if you’re going to kill me, get it over with. I want to be in hell in time for supper.”

  4

  A cogitating Boss glances up to the sound, removes his glasses, and closes his book, The Handmaiden’s Tale. He’s sitting in his chair with his head angled back with his hands folded over his lap, he says as they file in. “Enlighten me, gentlemen.”

  One of the men says in a scratchy tone. “Sir, that new fellow Phillip doesn’t want that woman.”

  The other man says. “Sir, I heard what happened to ya’ll out there, I’m glad you made it back.”

  The Boss says to him. “I’m glad too, it was taxing.” Then he says to the other man. “Let him be or try again.”r />
  One man says. “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

  The Boss says. “The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep.”

  The man says. “What?”

  The vex Boss says. “Nothing.”

  A woman in her forties, thin with dark hair and skin is shoehorned into his Phillip’s room; he’s resting on a small mattress flipping through the book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

  The man that delivered her, says. “Try this one.” The guy doesn’t wait for a response and leaves them unaccompanied. Earlier, Phillip setup a blanket over his doorway to achieve some semblance of privacy like an inmate with a curtain between him sitting on a toilet and his unlucky roommate.

  The Native America woman startles back as Phillip sits up. He waves his hand gesturing her to come nearer. Unaware if she speaks English. She delays for a while, Phillip steps off the bed with one leg and takes her by the wrist and pulls her closer. She becomes feisty and slaps him a few times in the face, so he picks her up and slams her down on the mattress. He doesn’t mutter a word until she calms down. He says. “Don’t worry I’m not going to hurt you or touch you in that way.”

  The man from earlier opens the thin door and sees Phillip kissing the woman as she’s fighting him off. The man says. “So, your thingy down there works after all.” The man chuckles, and closes the door. Phillip stops kissing the woman, he pulls his face back only to get smacked harder than before by the woman. She says. “I thought you said you weren’t going to touch me.” Phillip grimaces, rubbing his face. “That was for them. I need your help, tell me everything you can about these people, this place, and the Boss.”

  The woman stares at him like he’s crazy. “Why should I do that?” Phillip looks at the door then at her. “When I leave, I’ll take you with me, I have a place to live and it’s not here. That should be enough.”

  The door flies opens up again; the Indian woman grabs Phillip’s head, turns it to face her, and kisses him. The guy from earlier is back with his buddy. He says to him. “Look I told you, she likes him, hell, I’m falling from him too. Look at those big muscles.”

  “Nava-hoe.” Both men laugh then leave after one more look as if it’s a peep show and they want their quarter’s worth. The woman finally lets go of Phillip’s big head.

  He says to her. “You see that, these men are crazy morons held together by one smart man.”

  She says. “So what’s the plan then?” Phillip lies down besides her looking at the cinder block ceiling. “I’m working on it, but whatever it is, my daughter’s safety comes first.” The close proximity of their warm bodies creates a false sense of intimacy. It makes him want to be honest with her as if she really is his new wife. Comfortably laying in bed like husband and wife, he falls back into the normal routine of chatting about his day right before bedtime. “I helped save a group of lives, today, but I don’t know their level of innocence, so I don’t know how to feel.”

  The woman squeezes his hand. “You have to claim me, so we can talk more so I won’t get sent away to their other camps. I’ve been playing my future in my head and it’s never pretty.”

  Phillip looks at her. “We might be here for a while, what happens when they become suspicious that you’re not showing?”

  She says. “You’ll tell them that you’re shooting blanks.”

  Both of them give a little smile.

  “Phillip.”

  “Sora.” She turns the light off.

  5

  Youngblood and Ava get to the edge of the small town. Two rows of black squares lie up ahead. All the houses look the same, uninviting.

  Almost out of breath, he says. “I wonder if they have women and children here too. I hope not.”

  Ava says. “You ok? All ages of life are equal in their worth. Do what they do to evil women and children in the Bible, and you’ll be forgiven, my son.”

  Youngblood says. “Never read it.”

  Ava says. “Kill them too.”

  Youngblood says. “Seriously?” He releases nervous laughter.

  Ava looks around. “No…Use your judgment, protect yourself, but don’t kill innocent people. For all we know, more people could be prisoners here.”

  Just then, Ava’s walkie goes off and she grabs her heart. “Shit, I thought it was off.”

  The walkie says. “Ava, me and the Chief are coming, where are you?”

  Ava says. “We’re at the south end, you two head for the north end, and lets check each house, in pairs. It’s too quiet. Save the church for last.”

  The walkie says. “You sure?”

  Ava says. “Yes, and make sure you know who you’re killing before you pull that trigger.” She looks at Youngblood.

  The walkies go off and Ava leads the way with a blade and a handgun.

  6

  The cross Engineer yells, “fuck you,” and punches David in the face and the wall as well when David slides to the side. He stands up with asthmatic gasps and places one finger on his lips. “Let’s make the beast with two backs to kill the time, you have a pretty mouth.”

  The Engineer pulls David by the ankles, he feels trapped in a bag, the Engineer then props David over a table face down, his head makes a bonk commotion; the Engineer licks his hand and bumps David in the back with his groin. “I bet that man-pussy of yours is as clean and tight as a whistle.” Excited to take his catamite for a spin.

  The Engineer unbuckles his pants, spits in his hand, the table rocks, and David falls to the hot ground.

  David says something in a low voice; the Engineer bends low in David’s face. “What was that again, pretty boy?”

  David says. “I said. Emotions make people interesting, but also stupid.”

  The Engineer wobbles closer to David with his pants around his ankles and dirt in his eyes, he laughs loud like a drunk. “Dang, I’ve must of hit you harder than I thought. I don’t know my own strength.” His sliver teeth reflect the light.

  David firmly grabs him behind the throat with one hand and pulls him forward. “No, you did just fine.” The Engineer shakes his head in disbelief; David cuts his throat with a single razor blade removed from the lining of his jeans.

  David was buying time to cut through the rope and goaded him after to attack him. He repeatedly gave the Engineer the chance to live, but he willingly chose his fate.

  The Engineer breaks free, stands up; the razor is halfway in, he grabs his bloody throat, stumbling around the room knocking the table over. David gets up in a rage and grabs his knife from the ground, places a hand over the Engineer’s mouth and shoves the knife into the man’s heart with a hard upward thrust. David sees his face in the man’s dying eyes as he thrusts his knife in the man’s chest for a second time, piercing him into the wall.

  The Engineer says. “See…it’s over. No saving us.” The vein on the man’s forehand throbs through the skin, the lantern slowly rolls on the ground, there’s a low crunch sound from the blow of his head against the wall. The Engineer gurgles on his blood, fastly gulping like a man drinking water in the desert, a shudder shoots through his spine and finally his head lowers onto David’s shoulder.

  David takes back his pistol from the Engineer’s belt and says. “No one’s eating or raping my ass.” With a turn, he unlocks his blade and the man falls face first.

  It’s complete darkness and silence outside of the room except for the faint sound of footsteps as David explores the catacombs designed with great care like ants for their Queen.

  7

  A man in the tunnel in the dark is dragging his hand on the wall while walking up to a silhouette of another man in the dark. The silhouette is standing up and leaning back against a corner with his cowboy hat covering his face. His lantern is placed on the ground near his feet and the light is weak.

  The man walking up says. “Engineer, I hear something going on up top, do you want me to check it out?” The silhoue
tte says. “Yes.” Then he rushes the other man, grabbing his throat with his left hand, forcing the man’s back to the wall, and then he shoves the knife in his heart. The man’s eyes roll back. David has on the Engineer’s coat and hat, he checks what the man has on him; he finds a flashlight in the back pocket. David heads in the dark in the direction the man came from, feeling on the walls like a blind man. David’s hands are muddy with blood and his fingernails are black. His wrists are sore from the slow cutting of the rope as soon as he got the Engineer to talk his heart out.

  Rooms have wooden pallets for beds and a pot in the corners to piss in. The walls look coated in dry dung and smell like it. David continues to move straightforward. It all seems the same; he never takes his hand off the wall. He feels like that chicken earlier. Most of these rooms have to be bedrooms for the men up top, but they’re waiting for expected guests. I hope I’m not too late to help.

  Eventually, David gets to the room he saw when he woke up earlier, he finds a dead man hanging and the torturer asleep in the corner. David wants to grab the two-by-four plank of wood and smash his head in, but resists the urge. Instead, he gets on his knees by the sleeping man’s torso like he’s about to pray and brings the knife down, the man’s limbs jerk up on impact like a dying man being shocked back to life. The force cracks the pallet underneath the man. He shines the light on the upside down man’s face then swiftly looks away. The beaten man’s mangled head and body looks like bumpy clay in the process of being molded into a real person. Not even the man’s spouse could identify him. His back is flayed open and his lungs hang down like insect wings. A blood eagle ritual done in the pitch dark. David grabs the whittled away two-by-four and breaks it over the torturer’s face. He tells himself, just in case he comes back to life, that’s a lie. That brings David’s total kills to half of the residents of Dead Town.

  He reaches the square area with the four tunnels and vomits his stomach acid.