The Plague Runner

by Burgy, P. J.

  His helmet tilted down. “It's what you really believe. Don't lie to me.”

  “It isn't what I believe,” she hissed.

  “Liar,” he said, shoulders squaring. He was much larger than her, his stance becoming aggressive.

  Her cheeks flushed. “I said I was sorry!”

  “I don't need your apology!”

  “What do you want me to say? That I lie, and I leave people behind to die? That I'm a coward? Would that make you feel better? Do you want to know what I do, Russell?” A burning sensation rose in her chest. As she spoke, she imagined their faces. Ash. Elijah. Isaac nodding to her. Simon's dark stare. She saw Jim smiling at her, offering a drink. Renshen at his work table, soldering an old radio. Gencho, drunk on the grass.

  “I run, Russell. I run away, okay? I left Ash behind and now he's dead! He's dead and I never got to say goodbye to him! I even tried to make it right, and I tried to find him. But he's dead! And I killed those Red Brethren. I screamed, and when the Wailers came, I slipped out, and I left them to die. I killed every man and woman in Salvation. I did what I had to do to make them trust me, and then I burned their home to the ground. Is that what you wanted to hear? Did you want to hear me tell you why I will always, always end up alone? Because running is the only thing I have, isn't it? Because forts fall and people die, and I always run away! I can hide in the darkness, but I can't hide from it! Is that what you wanted to hear me say, Russell?”

  By the time she was done, her throat was ragged and her eyes were burning. Kara realized that she was crying, and she raised the back of her hand to her face, wiping at her cheeks. It was humiliating to be seen like that, her blood on fire as she stepped back, turning away from him. Through the blur of tears she saw Lena in the saddle, frowning deeply at her.

  Lena sounded upset. “Kara?”

  Russell did not reply.

  Kara twisted around, her movements mechanical, facing him again.

  “I needed you to get me through the city. I needed you to keep me safe. To keep us safe,” she said, lips pulled back and teeth bared. “I'm sorry that I said something stupid. I don't need you to get us back to Blue Lagoon. I don't need you to help me anymore. But I need you. I need you. Because I... I like you, Russell. I like you. You're my friend, okay?”

  His helmet tilted and he leaned forward.

  “I believe you,” he said, his voice soft.

  “Okay. Okay.” Kara nodded, clearing her throat. She tried to gather herself up again, swallowing thickly and touching the side of her head, her fingers at her temple. The heat of the sun was making her feel sick. Or maybe it was her nerves in her highly agitated state. In either case, she felt her knees threaten to buckle and she went for the horse.

  “Please don't fight again,” Lena said to Kara as she slid into the saddle behind her. “You shouldn't fight with friends. Not like that.”

  “I'm sorry. I know that got intense,” Kara breathed and then grabbed for the reigns. She saw Russell next to her, standing on the ground. Kara held a hand out, letting go of the leather straps for just a moment to offer her palm to Russell.

  He lifted his hand, pressing his gloved palm against hers, and then dropped his arm. “If we're ready to go, let's get moving.”

  There were only a few hours left before they arrived at Blue Lagoon.

  Kara slowed the horse as she saw the walls of Blue Lagoon rise up over the horizon. She held her hand out and up, waiting for Russell to catch on. He ran over to the horse as Angel trotted along, and kept pace with her.

  “So, this might get awkward,” Kara told him. “You see, like me, no one at Blue Lagoon is going to expect an, ah, an Infected...”

  “To talk?” he said.

  “Yeah. So, you're going to have to bear with me here. The dogs aren't going to like you, and I'll have to explain the situation really fast,” Kara said.

  “Should I just wait outside?” he asked.

  “No, they need to meet you. They need to know what we're dealing with. You can describe what Meredith is, what her people are, better than I can, I think,” she explained.

  “Just tell them Russell is nice,” Lena said.

  Kara sighed. “It's not as easy as that, Lena.”

  “Should I tell them?” Lena asked.

  “That's not what I meant, baby. But, maybe we can both try.” Kara urged Angel along and they continued down the road toward Blue Lagoon. “Just, let me do the talking first, okay?”

  The high walls of Blue Lagoon were less than a hundred feet down the road when Kara heard the calls begin, back and forth across the tall sentry stations as the guards yelled to one another about her approach. Then, the dogs began to bark, the sound of them growing louder and louder the closer she rode toward home. Angel was not the least bit dissuaded by the sound of the howling, nor was she affected by the guards standing on the wall, above the gate and door, in their riot gear, brandishing guns.

  She had Angel going at a trot, Russell jogging next to them. This was not the time or place to show off how fast he could really go. Something that Kara had been quietly wondering over came into view on the left. The pile of Wailer bodies, burnt, still smoking, had risen taller than she'd ever seen it before in her memories of days past. Lena stared in horror, Russell remaining silent as they passed the pyre. Blue Lagoon had been under assault by a massive number of the Infected, and the corpses were stacked up high. Kara moved Lena's attention back to the approaching walls.

  “We're almost there. Look,” Kara said.

  Distracted from the remains of the Wailers, Lena was entranced by the sight of the fort, leaning forward in the saddle. Russell, on the other hand, dropped back and kept close to Angel's right flank. Kara raised a hand. Waving it.

  “Fort hail!” Kara called out.

  With about twenty feet to go before Kara reached the closed gates, one of the guards hollered down at her, his voice familiar. It was Hooper. “Kara, stop right there! Please!”

  Kara slowed Angel to a stop and waited, sitting atop the horse and looking up at the shielded face mask of her friend. She held both hands up in the air. “Hoop, we gotta talk!”

  “Kara, the dogs are going nuts. Which of you is Infected?” Hooper asked.

  “That's a really good question, Hoop, which is why you should come out here first. You and Dad. We don't have much time. Only a few hours until sunset, and there's a lot I have to tell you. There's a lot we have to tell you,” Kara said loudly, lowering her hands to Lena's shoulders. “This is Lena Kalamon, the last survivor of Fort Pleasant Tree! This is Jim and Annie Kalamon's girl! They're all dead, Hoop! It was the Infected, but it isn't what you think. It's nothing like you could imagine! You gotta get Dad, and you gotta bring him out here now!”

  “I hear you, girl!” Renshen Bui barked from the other side of the wall. Then, he was standing next to Hooper. Renshen wasn't dressed in any armor, instead wearing his flannel and white tank. He leaned down over the railing, staring down at Kara. “I see the kid, but who's that?”

  “This is Russell. He's my friend,” Kara answered. “Dad, you gotta come down here.”

  “Bring 'em in,” Renshen muttered, loud enough to hear. “If any of 'em are Infected, we'll keep 'em in the security brig for now. Come on. Open the door. Get those dogs back!”

  Kara dismounted, meeting her father at the open door as the dogs bayed and barked, their handler, Jensen Hooper, trying to round them up before they swarmed toward Kara and Lena. Russell lagged behind, stopped at the entryway by a masked guard with a gun. Kara saw three or four sentries on the ground, and she looked up to see the ones up in the tall, wooden guard shacks.

  Kara and Lena were ushered into the gated clearing and the door was left open behind them, Russell remaining outside of the gate as the obvious odd-man-out. Angel was being led away by a guard, circumventing the quarantine process entirely. The horse was taken twenty feet in before being tied to a fence.

  Inside the walls of Blue Lagoon, Kara stared at Renshen Bui, who had n
ot made a move toward her just yet. He kept his distance, studying her, blinking at the young girl standing beside Kara. Then, Renshen shifted his gaze to Russell, who had his gloved hands up in the air.

  The dogs were particularly interested in Russell, frothing and jumping toward his direction as Hooper grabbed at their collars and pulled them back by hand. Hooper fixed his attention on Russell as well. “Don't let that fella in. He's ripe. Settin' the dogs off.”

  “What are we waiting for?” Miranda, standing near Kara, asked. “Put him down! Shoot him! Shoot him!”

  “No!” Kara saw Miranda lifting her rifle and moved to stand in front of her, placing herself between them. “Let's get into security. Come on.”

  “Take off your helmet, boy.” Renshen stepped up to Russell, moving to the door, his hands on his hips. The guard next to Renshen held his rifle up, aiming right at Russell's head. Renshen Bui raised a hand, waved it in front of his own face, scowling. “I can smell the stink of yah. I know yer sick. I should put y'down, y'know, but Yusha doesn't seem t'want me to do that. So, let me see how far along y'are.”

  “I, I don't think I should do that out here,” Russell said.

  “Should we wand him?” Hodges asked.

  “No need. Wand Yusha. Wand the girl,” Renshen said, keeping a few feet back from Russell. “Take off your helmet, boy, or I will shoot yah. Sorry, Yusha.”

  “Dad, look-” Kara began. She felt Hooper's hand on her upper arm and saw the UV glow of the wand as he raised it toward her face. He backed off when she came up clean. Kara grimaced, swinging around to stare at Renshen again. “Dad!”

  “Y'brought an Infected here, girl,” Renshen hissed at her, turning back to glare at Kara. His eyes narrowed. He grunted, facing Russell once more. “Now, boy... Russell, whatever yer name is, jus' take off yer helmet. Let me git a look at yah.”

  Russell hesitated. Kara felt Lena at her side, but found herself watching with wide eyes as Russell lifted his hands to his helmet, got a firm grip, and pulled it up and away.

  Miranda made a sick sound in the back of her throat, Hodges exhaled sharply. Hooper blinked, lips parted. The dogs were going mad.

  “Jee-sus Christ,” Renshen Bui whispered.

  It must have been agony, Russell's eyes squinting, his lips pulled back, teeth bared, black spit smeared across his teeth. His dirty blonde hair was matted down, gritty. The huge pits of his pupils were unfocused in seas of deep red, hemorrhaged blood vessels, his tear ducts leaking shiny bile. His skin was pale, the dark veins underneath branching out in intricate patterns around his jaw, his temples.

  In the light of the sun, he looked far worse than in the red light, or even the purple of the UV. Kara saw his skin reddening, blistering on his cheeks. He was clenching his jaw, clearly in terrible pain, shaking.

  “Shoot him!” Miranda shrieked.

  The ruckus was attracting the citizens of Blue Lagoon, and though Kara heard Gencho calling for her nearby, seeing him in her peripheral from the other side of the quarantine gate, she rushed toward the door, pushing Renshen to the side and placed her arm against the chest of the armed guard.

  “No! Russell, put your helmet back on!” Kara hollered.

  Russell complied, heaving heavy breaths and backing away, leaning on the door frame as Renshen shoved Kara backward, grabbing her by the shoulder.

  “Yusha! He ain't a normal Infected, is he? Eh?” Renshen asked her, waving to the guard beside him. “Girl, what in the hell did yah bring here?”

  “How is he that sick and still walking?” The voice belonged to Tai, who was standing behind Hodges. “Did you see him? He shouldn't be up and walking!”

  “He's turned. He's a Wailer,” Hodges breathed.

  “He can't be turned. He was talking,” Miranda said.

  “Russell is a nice man!” Lena cried out, breaking her silence. She spun away from Hooper, who had been wanding her. He let the girl get a few feet away before he attempted to stop her from getting too close to the door. “He's sick, but he's a nice man! Meredith will be here soon, and she'll kill you all! Just like she killed everyone at Pleasant Tree! She's the one you have to worry about, not him!”

  “Who in the hell is Meredith?” Renshen asked.

  “Dad.” Kara took his shoulder, forcing her father to face her. “We need to talk. Now.”

  Renshen blinked, jaw clenched. He glared at Kara and then glanced at Russell. “Son of a bitch. Okay. But he stays outside, y'got it?”

  “Dad-” Kara said.

  “I'm not lettin' that thing into the walls, Yusha. No way.” Renshen shook his head.

  “You can't leave him outside. Not now.”

  “There is no way I am lettin' that thing in. No way, no how, no way, not a chance,” Renshen repeated himself, waving a hand back and forth. His stature grew stiff as he straightened up, reacting to his daughter's continued glare. “I said no!”

  Tengen Hai stood leaning against the wall, idly glancing over at Russell, who stood in one of the quarantine cells in the security shack. Tengen had his twin katana blades fastened across his back, a sight which Kara had not seen in a very long time. He was dressed in lightweight riot gear, the pads and armor different shades of black and blue.

  Near Tengen, Gencho was fastening his chest plate, checking on his pistols at his hips, holstering them both afterward. Hoop was there, calming down Miranda while Hodges watched Russell, rifle trained on him.

  Meanwhile, Renshen Bui, his fingers clasping the bridge of his nose, shut his eyes and shook his head, sitting at the little wooden table across from Kara. Lena, at Kara's side, sat kicking her feet, sucking on her teeth and studying the room quietly.

  “Intelligent Infected?” Renshen echoed. “Did I hear yah right?”

  “Yes.” Kara nodded.

  “I knew I should'a left it outside,” Renshen muttered.

  “Talking Wailers…” Miranda breathed.

  “Does it spit up like the others do?” Hodges asked, “It'll get us all sick in here.”

  Russell grunted, sliding down to the floor to sit on his rear on the other side of the bars. His helmet lay next to him, rocking on the ground where he'd let it drop only moments before. Running his gloved fingers through his hair, Russell replied to Hodges, his tone strained, “There's a toilet. I'll aim for that.”

  “Smell of it'll make yah sick, sure 'nuff,” Renshen stated. “But y'won't get the fever 'less it gets in yah, Hodges. Don't worry Miranda like that, got it? Ain't that easy t'catch.”

  “Easy enough,” Hodges said.

  “You said they'll be here by nightfall,” Hooper interjected, bringing the conversation back on track again. He stalked over to Kara, placing his palms on the tabletop. “Ren, I think we'd best alert the guards, don't yah think? Not much good keepin' this to ourselves.”

  “Yeah, I agree.” Renshen nodded.

  Gencho lit a cigarette. “What's it matter then? We're stilled stocked for ammo. Just shoot 'em. No one's getting fooled. Just open up and let 'em have it.”

  “They're smarter than that,” Kara said. “They'll find a way in.”

  “Like Pleasant Tree,” Lena added.

  “Pleasant Tree let them in. We're not that stupid,” Gencho stated, wincing immediately after as he saw Lena's flashing eyes. “No offense, I mean...”

  “We'll be on guard, is what he meant, sweetheart.” Tengen cleared his throat, stepping forward to approach the table. “We'll warn our people about the threat.”

  “The one'll mind is Horse. He'll be damn devastated,” Renshen said. “If what y'said is true an' Frankie's workin' with 'em. Never took him to be that kinda man, betray his own kin like that. Awful.”

  “Before the attack on Pleasant Tree, they'd been getting rushes for the last few nights. Like the things were testing them, or depleting their ammunition supply.” Kara eyed Renshen, and then looked to Gencho, Tengen, and Hooper, meeting their gazes one at a time. “From what I gathered from Frankie, it sounds like they have the mindless ones, the, ah
, the Wailers we know, attack the fort for a week before the real assault. They have them trained. That means that the intelligent ones are out here too, guiding them. The thing is, they'll know that we got here and warned everyone, so they're probably not going to have Frankie try to trick us.”

  “What'll they do?” Renshen asked.

  “I don't know,” Kara replied.

  “Hodges, why don'tcha run out and gather up some of the ground guards?” Renshen said. “An' the fort officials too. Miranda, find Lena here a nice bed on the island.”

  Hodges left, the door opening and closing.

  “I want to help,” Lena stated firmly.

  “Sounds like this Meredith wanted you pretty bad, girly,” Renshen told Lena. “Wailers can't swim, so y'll be safer out in the middle of the lake, y'got it?”

  “I want to fight.” Lena pushed herself away from the table, standing on the floor with her fists clenched at her sides. “They killed them all. My parents. My sisters. Let me have vengeance.”

  Renshen blinked at the girl, raising an eyebrow at her before sharing his perplexed but impressed expression with Kara and Hooper. “Vengeance, eh? Girl, you are mighty fierce, but y'ain't gonna be nothin' but in the way when those things are bashin' at our front door come sunset. I 'preciate the sentiment, I really do, an' y'daddy was a good man, a brave man, but I'ma need yah to lay low, okay?”

  “But... Kara...” Lena turned to Kara.

  “He's right, Lena, I'm sorry,” Kara said.

  “Go on, go with Miranda, lil' one.” Renshen nodded toward Lena as Miranda came over to touch the girl's shoulder. Lena walked off with Miranda, obviously unhappy, as Renshen closed his eyes and took in a low breath of air.

  The door to the security hut opened and closed.

  “Seems like a waste of resources to build rafts. The odds of them getting in are so low anyway. And, if they do, we can fall back along the bridge,” Gencho stated, shrugging. “We can wait it out on the water, taking shots at ‘em. They can destroy as much as they want ‘til dawn, then they’ll go running. We can rebuild.”