The Vermilion Strain : Post-Apocalyptic Extinction

by S A Ison

  “Sounds good. When we go to put it down, let’s have the women help. I figure if we can use the straps to lower it down, there shouldn’t be too much trouble.” BJ said, crawling out of the hole. The bags of gravel and pea gravel were stacked neatly beside the building. Brian had never worked so hard as he had living here. Everything, every change, every modification took time and brute force. He’d lost weight, but had gained more muscle. He also noticed that BJ was the same.

  When he’d first met BJ, the man seemed almost puny, though he was tall. Now, BJ was more robust and broader through the back and chest. Brian had noticed that his own shirts had become tighter across the shoulders and back. He’d had to pick up new shirts on one of the outings, though his pants were loose around the waist. He’d been on his way to a paunch before. It had bothered him, but he’d put it down to aging. He’d considered himself fairly fit for a firefighter. Now, he was a lean, mean, building machine.

  Both men filled the bottom of the hole with a layer of gravel. Then they poured in the pea gravel. Brian walked around the building looking for the women. Emma was at the cooking table; she had the sun oven out and was cooking a stew. She’d dug up potatoes earlier that morning, and was using canned chicken they’d got at the store. It was getting close to lunch and his stomach growled in anticipation.

  “Hey Emma, can you and Paadi come over and help us with the freezer? We’re ready to lower one of them.”

  “Sure, but lunch is almost ready, so once we do that, why don’t you two take a break and come eat.” She called back.

  “Sound like a fine idea.” BJ yelled from behind the building.

  “Of course, it does, cause you’re a walking gut.” Paadi laughed, coming around the building. She’d been in the house.

  “Hey, that hurt. I’m a hard-working man.” BJ grouched good naturedly.

  “You’re a no good lazy lay about. You should have been done with that hole two days ago.” Paadi laughed.

  “Never satisfied.” BJ laughed.

  It took a bit of maneuvering, but with the wide moving straps, they were able to lower the freezer into the hole. Brian checked to make sure the vent pipes weren’t moved. He’d used silicon to seal them.

  “What do you think?” He asked Emma.

  “It looks great. We’ll have to lay on our bellies to get things out, but I’m okay with that.” She smiled.

  “Yeah, we’ll also have to keep a couple of cinderblocks on it, or keep it locked, so none of the little ones open it and fall in.” Brian said, looking down.

  “Shit, good idea.” Paadi said, all humor gone.

  “Let me go ahead and lock it, while we eat lunch.” BJ said, and Brian could see that the thought also disturbed him as well. It was a good job and one down. He figured they’d be finished with it all by that afternoon.

  “Why don’t we head out tomorrow morning, early. See if we can’t get us a pig?” Brian grinned at BJ.

  “Yeah, that would be nice. That will be nice to have, bacon, pork chops, Boston butt.” BJ grinned, the last aimed at Paadi. She turned and gave him a look over her glasses, her dark block brow raising in a threat. Brian sniggered beside him. That boy was going to get clobbered; he’d moved a few steps away from BJ, he didn’t want to be in swinging distance.

  TWELVE

  Flynn walked the field with Cliff. He was amazed that so much food was in front of him. Well, not food, but biofuel, as well as feed for the animals. Cliff’s farm was a self-sustaining island in a world that would be losing everything. He knew in less than five years; whatever population was left would again perish by more than half. Perhaps the Amish, this farm and other places where people pulled together would survive. Those, like Casper, were doomed to die if they stayed in the city.

  “How many acres do you have in corn, sir?” Flynn asked, the corn was now up to his chest.

  “The farm is seven hundred acres; we have two hundred acres in corn right now, some of that would have been shipped out for biofuel, you know, to make ethanol, we use some to make our own biodiesel. Now, we’ll cut back, and keep it up for our own use. You see those silos off in the distance? That is for our cattle, our animals. We store our grain there.”

  “I have to say; this is all amazing to me. I never knew what goes into a farm.” Flynn shook his head.

  “We’ll take our wheat to Claus; he has a mill. He usually grinds our flour for us. The rest of the wheat is sent to market, but now, there is no market. We’ll end up planting less of everything now. Except of ours our garden that we eat from. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

  Fear speared through Flynn, was he and Xandra going to be turned out, because the farm would no longer grow as many crops and so they didn’t need the extra farm hand, nor mouths?

  “Yes sir?” Was all he could manage. His heart was beating fast in his chest and his ears began to ring.

  “Beth is a veterinarian. She is, rather, a large animal vet. She’s pregnant and to be honest, I’m not happy about her being around all those animals. Son, I’d like you to apprentice with her. Begin doing everything she does. She’ll be with you and teach you, but I want you to take over care of all our stock.”

  Flynn was stunned into silence; he was shocked and could say nothing for a few moments. He’d never worked with animals, never been around them. But now, he was being given a chance at a vital and important job. He swallowed hard.

  “I’d…I’d be honored to, sir. I mean that. I don’t have a clue, but I’ll do my very best and I won’t let you down.” Flynn sputtered.

  “Good, that’s good. Since we have no doctor around, my Sarah and I talked about it, Beth can be a people doctor. She has more training than anyone I know. She can attend to all of our needs and you, can attend to our animals. My daughter-in-law is only a couple months along, but I’m hoping you’ll be capable of most things, by the time it begins to get too risky for her to be around the animals.” Cliff said, scratching his jaw and looking out over the fields, he was turning in a circle.

  “Might I suggest Cliff, that at some point, you go to the nearest veterinary clinic and hospital and pick up all the supplies you can? I suspect that the supplies are just sitting there and at some point, I think you and your family and the farm might well need them.” Flynn suggested.

  Cliff turned and looked at Flynn for a long moment, and Flynn held his breath. Cliff reminded him of his own father, stern but fair. A smile creaked onto the older man’s face and he slapped Flynn on the shoulder.

  “That is a damned fine idea, son. If you’d like to come with us, I’ll take Beth and Jake.”

  “You might want to leave Beth here. It is going to be gruesome at the hospitals I think, and probably at the vet. Also, I think we should wear protective gear. In fact, if you just take me and give me a list, I’ll go in and get what you need. Especially in the hospitals. I’m not sure if I’m immune, but since you all were sequestered on the farm, you might be susceptible. Please, let me do this for you.”

  “My god, you might be right. I would almost have to say no to the idea. Let me think about it and let me talk to Beth.” Cliff said, the color leached from his face. Flynn understood; it was a frightening thought. He didn’t like the idea of being around all that gore again, but he liked it even less if this family somehow got sick, because he sent them to a virus infested area.

  Both men began to walk back toward the house, both deep in thought. Flynn began to worry that he’d perhaps opened up a box that shouldn’t have been opened.

  “You know, there’s a veteran’s clinic a few miles from here. I would almost say that perhaps it would be safe to go looking there. That was open only a few days a week I believe. Perhaps we can go to these offices, and see if there are in fact, any dead there. If not, get supplies from there.” Cliff said as they walked up onto the large porch. He opened the door to the house and ushered Flynn in. Flynn could smell something very delicious cooking. Dinner would be in about twenty minutes.

  He smiled wh
en he saw Xandra in the kitchen with the other women. Beth saw him and her father-in-law and walked into the living room.

  “Did you talk to him dad?” She asked, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel.

  “I did Beth, and he’s happy to learn. We were talking about getting more supplies, from the veterinary clinic and also, from the hospitals. He’s worried about if there are any remains, you know, of the dead, that there might be a possibility of the virus and perhaps bringing it here.”

  Beth’s eyes widened and she nibbled her lip.

  “That’s a real concern. There are a couple veterinary clinics on main street. We can go to those. I would also suggest that we can use my disposable coveralls. Also, double up on gloves, masks. Then, strip down and wash down in a betadine solution, then alcohol.”

  “You won’t be going daughter. Flynn has volunteered. I agree, one person, and you can give a list of what you think you might need.”

  “Don’t forget the tractor supply store, they have a lot of over the counter meds for the livestock there as well.” Jake said, coming up behind his wife.

  “Okay. So, we’ll get a list, and I’ll take Flynn out. We can do this tomorrow. You get me the disposable coveralls, gloves, mask and betadine solution, and Flynn can strip down, wear the suite and go in. If no one is there or rather no bodies, then we get everything and go to the next place. We can bag everything up and put in the back of the truck.” Cliff said.

  Beth looked at Flynn, worry in her hazel eyes. He smiled at her, and tried to keep his mouth from trembling. It was a scary thought, but he was sure that it was important they have these medical supplies.

  “Hey, if we can also hit ambulances, I’m sure there aren’t any dead people in those. Maybe get a lot of supplies from those.” Flynn suggested, brightening at the thought.

  “That’s a really good idea. But, if you open the ambulance doors, and you see anything but a pristine ambulance, close the doors.” Beth said.

  “Count on it.” Flynn laughed.

  Ӝ

  Brian was getting ready to head out to hunt his boar. BJ looked like he was about to jump out of his skin. He’d never hunted pig before and all were looking forward to bacon. Both freezers were in the ground now. Both were locked up tight with a heavy fourteen mil plastic over the tops of each chest. Brian had placed several cinderblocks over the plastic, so it wouldn’t blow away in high winds. It was also a deterrent for the smaller children.

  The children were still in bed, because they were leaving early, Dillan had been allowed to sleep over with Cooper. The boys played half the night and Brian was feeling the effects. Emma and Paadi were also up and making pancakes and eggs for breakfast. Each had a cup of coffee and sat in their camp chairs staring bleary-eyed into the fire. It was a humid morning, though relatively cool.

  “Who in the hell suggested we get up this early?” Paadi groused.

  “I thought you cops were up and at’em like daisies.” BJ grinned over at Paadi, who narrowed her eyes threateningly.

  “You really want to start in on that, this early?” She growled. BJ laughed and put his hands up in surrender, and a smile slid across Paadi’s lips and was gone.

  All four looked toward the parking lot. They heard the distant clopping of horses, several, they were walking in it would seem.

  “Looks like Jeff and Bradley are here. Guess we won’t be going on a hunt this morning.” Brian said and looked at the group.

  “Christ, they’re up even earlier than we are. Glad I’m not a farmer.” Paadi said, looking over her shoulder. It was a few minutes before the horses came into view, there were four riders. Two men and two women. Brian stood and the rest followed. They walked toward the coming horses and smiled. Buddy came running around the house with Daisy in pursuit. Neither barked however, taking their cue from the humans. Brian smacked his leg and Daisy came over to sit beside him, her eyes watching.

  “Welcome.” Brian smiled and walked over to Jeff and held out a hand.

  “Good morning, figured we’d swing by this morning, it’s gonna be a hot one, that humidity is going to rise, so wanted to get out early.” Jeff grinned.

  “Come on over and have some coffee.” Brian invited. BJ ran to the storage shed and pulled out four camp chairs and carried them to the firepit. The group dismounted and followed Brian.

  “Brian, this is my wife, Barb, and that is Bradley’s wife Ester.” Jeff announced, and the women smiled and nodded.

  “Ladies, this is BJ, and Emma and Paadi. Please, everyone sit.

  “Looks like you were going hunting, I’m sorry, we interrupted you.” Jeff said, looking at the rifles and backpacks sitting by the camp chairs.

  “No, that’s fine. If what you say is true, then I think we can wait a day. I’d not like to try to bring anything back if it were too hot. We were going to hunt boar. I’d found some indications a couple miles south of here.” Brian said, sitting and giving his guests coffee mugs.

  “Nice, we’ve got pigs at our place. You know, we’d be more than happy to trade with you.” Jeff smiled.

  “Really? That would be great. I’ve got a smoker that I’m wanting to use. Make some bacon.” Brian grinned.

  “Sure. Give me a couple days and we’ll get you some meat. Would you want a whole hog? Roughly four hundred pounds.” Bradley put in.

  “Four hundred pounds?” Paadi asked, a stunned look on her face.

  “I think that might be a bit much, how about half that? That way, Emma and Paadi can also can the meat.” Brian suggested as the women looked at each other and nodded.

  “Sure, I’ll bring it by early in the morning, you’ll want to work on it when it’s cool like this.” Jeff said.

  “Great, what can we trade?” Emma asked.

  “Well, that coffee smells great and we’re getting low. We had planned to make a run, to get more, but we’ve been so busy. We’ve not had time. How about some coffee?” Jeff said.

  Brian grinned; it was down to business. Between he and BJ, they’d taken damned near every can and box of coffee in all the stores they hit. The ones in airtight bags were buried underground. They’d picked up one of the food-saver machines, that suck the air out. They’d also picked up mylar bags and oxygenators. Brian guesstimate they had perhaps three hundred pounds of coffee squirreled away, if not more and that wasn’t counting instant coffee.

  “Okay, how about ten pounds of ground coffee, five pounds of instant coffee and ten pounds of sugar. Do you need powdered creamer?” Brian asked, seeing the smiles ripple across his guest’s faces.

  “We’ve got a couple cows.” Jeff grinned and he looked at his wife who nodded with a wide grin.

  “Done.” Jeff laughed and shook Brian’s hand. They turned when Cooper came from the house toward them. He was in Batman pajamas and his hair was sticking straight up. He looked half asleep and walked to Brian and crawled up into his lap.

  “I’m hungry daddy.” Cooper said sleepily, then looked around at the new people. He buried his face into Brian’s chest and Brian put his arms around the boy, holding him tightly. He knew Cooper was shy around strangers and liked being protected.

  “This is my son, Cooper.” Brian grinned at the surprised looks that went around his guests.

  “I’ll make him a pancake. How does that sound Coop?” Emma asked. She was rewarded by a nodding head, beneath Brian’s large hand. She grinned, her eyes crinkling.

  “We’ve acquired several orphans, and they’ve adopted us as their parents.” BJ said, smiling softly.

  “Oh dear, that’s so sweet. I guess I didn’t think about all the children left behind when the virus struck. The other group has children as well, but I’m not sure if they are their own children or not.” Barb said softly, her eyes softening and Brian saw sorrow behind them.

  “We feel pretty lucky to have them. They’ve been a joy for us.” Paadi said, her own face softening.

  Emma looked around the group questioningly before she began to pour the batter of the pancake mix
.

  “Oh, goodness, no, we’ve already eaten breakfast. Please, don’t let us stop you.” Ester said shyly.

  Emma poured the batter onto the griddle, which causes a satisfying sizzle. They turned to look when Dillan staggered out and like a drunken sailor, he made his way to BJ and crawled up in his lap. BJ kissed the chaotic hair and held the boy in his arms. Dillan’s eyes closed as his thumb went into his mouth. Brian smiled when he heard the women coo, their hearts melting.

  “I’m impressed with your camp. It looks well organized. Are those sheds new?” Bradley asked.

  “Yes, we’ve all been working to turn this place into a home. We’ve put into two inground root cellars, we used chest freezers. We have one set up for meat and the other for the vegetables. We plan to put milk crates with straw into the freezer and put the veggies and fruit in them. We have that shed over there, and we’ve stocked the shed with the canned good. The building is well insulated.” Brian said.

  “Well, it really shows. Were you a builder in your previous life?” Bradley asked.

  “No, I was a firefighter, BJ’s the carpenter. Emma is a nurse and Paadi was a Boston police officer.” Brian grinned, his eyes crinkling. He took the plate that Emma gave him and turned Cooper around and began to feed the child. Like a baby bird, perched on his lap, the boy opened his mouth wide and ate the food.

  “A nurse, wow, that’s great. Would you mind, keep the coffee and we’ll trade on visits to see Emma.” Barb asked and Jeff gave her a pained look.

  Brian laughed and shook his head. Emma grinned and laughed.

  “Keep the coffee, come by any time. I don’t mind. It will be nice to have company.” Emma said, shaking her head, her eyes crinkled in humor.

  “Deal, and next visit, I’ll bring my applesauce cake. I’ll also bring some cheese. We have goats and I make cheese.” Barb grinned. Brian could feel the tightness in his shoulders relax. He liked these people. They now had friends and someone to trade with.

  “We have powdered milk and canned milk for the kids, but perhaps at some point next year, do you think it will be possible to trade for a milking goat and a lesson on cheese making?” Paadi asked, grinning.