“He’ll come right back,” Will whispered. The outer office door opened and Alex was gone. “See you soon, asshole!” Will yelled at the empty office. He looked at his longtime partner Bill’s desk. He picked a great day to call in sick. His eyes went back to a framed picture on his desk. Cindy took it of him and his girls when Allison played in a big soccer game in San Bernardino.
He picked up the picture and felt the tears welling. He would give anything to hear them call him Daddy right that minute. He pulled the phone out of his pocket, still read no signal in the top left hand corner. He grabbed the land line on his desk. Still dead.
He dropped the phone on the desk and walked to the engineering booth where Alex oversaw the show. The tears were coming. He saw the levels bouncing as the loop played his recorded voice. He sat down at the scanner. He put on the headset and listened. Beeping, automatic radio transmission. He scanned the dial trying to find sound. Channel after channel just gave him static.
He stopped on a channel that was broadcasting. It was filled with static, the sound of gunfire so he couldn’t make out the voices.
“They’re streaming back and forth at the border, thousands of ferals, it is a bloodbath. . .”
Will couldn’t believe his ears. He listened for another minute. It appeared to be a military channel. The speaker was cracking, the insanity of what he was hearing. Will started to think Jeff was the lucky one.
Will got up and walked to the vending machine filled with mostly candy bars, chips and a few granola bars. He had a little change in his pocket, but he stuck his hand out to grab some and laughed. He might as well smash the glass because he didn’t know how long he would be in the station until things got back to normal.
He put his hand on the glass to test how strong it was and saw his reflection. His eyes looked funny. Will ran to the bathroom. He flipped on the light and went right to the mirror. The whites of his eyes were pink. He leaned in closer, as close as he could safely get to the mirror. His eye was crawling. Tiny little things moved on the surface.
“Fuck!”
He turned on the water and was about splash his face try to clean it out. When the faucet came on it spit out green at first before a brown stream came out. The water looked like diarrhea and smelled worse. He struck the sink off. He ran into the office, went to the desk of a member of their sales team. A young woman who kept a case of water bottles under her desk. He grabbed one, twisted the top and poured some on his hands. He rubbed the clean water in his eyes and ran back into the bathroom.
He looked again at the mirror. The little things crawled across his eyeball, it was like they were slowly coloring him red. What did he eat? What did he touch?
“No! No! No!” Will yelled at himself. “Fuck!”
***
The computer had to reboot. Martin sat and watched it initialize. It had been stuck at 80% for several minutes. Thankfully, Mitchell warned him to wait. He followed the directions step by step, not understanding what he was doing. He had the address for an uplink, that once the computer was ready, he would load into the settings. The signal would then go up into space to a satellite that according these notes was in orbit just above southern California.
The address was mostly numbers, but a few case sensitive letters. Martin carefully typed each one in, checking the paper. He had to get it right. The security system was designed to crash the mainframe if the wrong password or address was entered. Apparently, hacker access to this system could compromise something Martin didn’t understand.
Martin put in the last number, prayed a last time and pushed enter. The spinning wheel on the screen showed that it was working.
85% initialized.
He wouldn’t know if the password worked until it was ready to go and the signal popped up. Martin felt the weight of it all, and was dripping in sweat, the tension burned inside of him. After the mayor’s transmission, he wasn’t sure how the military would react or what would happen.
95% . . . 98% . . . The spinning wheel disappeared.
He pulled out his phone and opened the settings. He smiled big when ‘Universal_Free_Wi-Fi’ came up as an available Wi-Fi signal.
He logged on, had to enter his e-mail address and accept conditions. Then he was on. He opened FaceTime and called Lisa’s phone. It rang five times and nothing. She had not checked. He looked at the time. He was ten minutes ahead of schedule.
Martin pulled up his Gmail. He had a few e-mails from out of town family asking if he was OK. A few e-mails from the morning involving the library event that had been his plan for the day. He was surprised how little there was. He got on the elevator and pushed the button for the ground floor. He opened his Twitter. The signal was spotty, so the text came up without pictures or video links. When he stepped out of the elevator, he typed in the hashtag #sdfires and #prayforSD that were trending.
Martin stopped. Headline after headline, tweet after tweet spoke of the downed fiber optics, but also that the fire appeared contained. No mention of military checkpoints. He couldn’t believe his eyes as he opened a blank tweet window. He selected a photo he had taken of the orange sky above the skyline and typed.
Important press statement coming from the Mayor of San Diego #Sdfires #PrayforSD.
He hit send and walked up to the last of the reporters huddled around Kendra’s Phone.
They were on FaceTime with someone who looked like they woke him from bed. An older gray-haired man whose webcam made his eyebrows look out of control. Probably someone on the east coast. Paul Bingham the reporter leaned toward Martin.
“It’s the network.”
“I knew something was wrong. We got e-mails from you Kendra saying the fire was contained, but when does a whole region go dark. I have talked to the times, other networks, no one has seen a video or anything beyond these terse e-mails.”
“How could I do that? We just got a signal just now. I never sent those e-mails, something very wrong is happening here. You need to get us on air. We have the mayor ready to set the record straight.”
The network executive sat up, his bewildered wife covered herself and went to the bathroom.
“What you are telling me now contradicts every news report coming out of the region. A serious can of worms.”
Kendra pulled Martin into the view of the camera. “This is Martin Strickland, Mayor Hillard’s chief of staff. He can confirm everything I have said.”
Martin really didn’t know what she said, but assumed she was telling the truth. Martin leaned into the camera. “Someone is trying to kill us all.”
***
The Mohawked woman set down water bottles for Andrew and Adam. Andrew had his son on his lap. The frightened boy was just starting to calm down. Victoria already had Damian on the living room couch drinking water. Jake held Tiffany’s hand as Scott shook the ash out of his hair. Everyone was still coughing except Scott who just now took off his gas mask and fell into a chair in the living room. His hands still shook.
They were all still sweating and shaking off messes from the chaos of the last couple hours. Honestly, Jake had no idea how much time had passed. Still you could hear faint screams and gunfire from time to time outside. A little reminder to not relax.
The older man with the dreadlocks offered a water bottle to Jake, tried to muster a smile but just nodded.
“I’m Robbins. That young lady is my friend Austin.”
Jake looked at the woman. Half this man’s age. He wondered what their relationship was.
“You live here together?”
The two shared a look. Jake had the feeling they were thinking about what to say.
Austin shrugged “His place, I’m just riding out the storm.”
“But you’re friends.”
Austin squinted and looked at Jake. “Yeah, friends, just old friends.”
Robbins smiled a big disarming smile. “So, yeah, welcome.” He pointed to the kitchen. “You can stay. Help yourself to the can goods, I already threw out anything that m
ight be tainted. Don’t turn on the water. There are wet wipes in the bathroom for washing your hands. A bucket in the garage if you have to number two.” He paused. “I drained the toilet.”
Austin took a seat on the couch near Victoria. Jake stayed in the dining area that was between the kitchen and living room. “I gotta admit, I didn’t want to open the door for you.”
Victoria looked at Austin. “Thank you.”
Austin shrugged.
Robbins nodded. “But Austin is right. We need all the good karma we can get.”
Tiffany waited in the corner. “Can I use the bathroom, Mister Robbins?”
Robbins turned and smiled at her. He pointed to the bathroom off the kitchen. She ran off to the bathroom.
Jake looked at everyone just trying to catch a breath and he was so thankful for this sanctuary.
He put out his hand. They shook and Jake was taken aback by how rough his skin was.
“Thank you.”
Robbins smile faded. “You can stay till morning. My only other rule is don’t go upstairs.”
Jake and Scott shared a look at that. The staircase was off the dining room and neither of them got a good look up there before they passed into the living room.
“Fair enough,” Scott said.
“We’re not staying that long,” Andrew said from the kitchen.
Robbins nodded. “You’re choice.” Then he walked to his chair and looked out the window. Jake could smell the smoke now even through the walls, or maybe it was just in his clothes, the ash smell was powerful. The layer of soot on his exposed skin felt awful. He wanted a bath but had to keep focused. They had to figure out a way to get to the station.
Damian stood up holding the empty water bottle and ran to Jake. Despite the awful events he was glad Damian was feeling better, he sat down and hugged his legs. He still felt warm, but better. Adam ran out of the kitchen holding his Legos. The two friends from school sat on the floor together.
“You don’t have a car do you? We could buy it?”
Robbins laughed. “There is a car in the garage. You might as well take it.”
“We can write you a check,” said Victoria.
Austin laughed a little.
Robbins kept his eyes out the front window. “Nah, your money is pretty worthless now.”
“This won’t last forever,” said Victoria.
Scott looked up at Jake, silently disagreeing. Jake allowed himself to think about the future for the first time in hours. He still had not told Victoria the news about his health. He had even managed somehow to forget himself. The death sentence didn’t matter if he didn’t get his family to safety. He felt the urge to tell, guilt over keeping the truth from her ate away at him. It had him feeling hostile.
Tiffany came out of the bathroom and threw away the used wet wipes she had cleaned herself up with. After cleaning the soot off her face she looked like his little girl again. She sat in the kitchen near stairwell drinking a water bottle. Andrew came into the living and they were all in the room now. Jake the only one still standing. Andrew took a spot where he could watch the boys play near the kitchen table.
“Oh, ma’am, it is over as it can be,” Robbins said as he leaned back in the dining room chair set up against the outer window.
“How can you be so sure?” asked Victoria.
“Really? You were just outside begging for help,” said Austin.
“Today is bad, I get it.” Victoria nervously rubbed her hands together. “But it will pass and sure we will remember this date like 9/11 or Katrina. Everyone will tell stories.”
Robbins laughed. “Tell yourselves that, but that is not what is happening.”
“What is happening then, huh?” Jake asked
Robbins now turned to look at Jake. “Tipping point. Been happening for a long time but the straw just snapped the camel’s back. Total ecological collapse.”
“That doesn’t happen overnight,” Andrew said.
“No, it doesn’t.” Austin leaned back the couch. “He has been writing a book about it for years.”
“Let me explain this clearly.” Robbins grabbed his notebook off the floor. He tapped it with his pen, as he lectured his voice elevated. “The air we breathe is filled with smog, a million tailpipes spitting out a poison here and there. No big deal, right? The water is filled with pollution, farms run off so much crap, the fish die. What makes us think it’s safe to drink? They use that same water to feed our meat and water our vegetables. It’s not safe to eat. If you do, heart disease is on the rise. The food is fatter than ever. They use corn syrup to make it all stretch.”
“Whoa, none of that lecture explains what is happening outside. We have a fire,” Scott interrupted.
“The hell it doesn’t. We overshot our ecosystem a long time ago. Global warming is no different from cancers, heart disease, illness, those crazy people all of it the same. Society is a sick dying limb festering with maggots. The fire is a literal smoke screen for cutting the limb off. It is over.”
“Then why try to survive at all?”
Robbins shrugged.
Austin sighed. “He wants his book to survive, he doesn’t care about himself.”
The older man didn’t argue with her. Seemed to be fine with what she said. Jake was glad the children were in the other room.
Victoria looked first at Robbins and then back to Jake. “There were lots of cancer cases, maybe that was a sign.”
Andrew looked at Jake. He knew Jake had not told his wife about his cancer. Jake suddenly felt hot under the collar, as if he was busted. As if she knew his secret already. He shook his head and stepped closer to the fire place. His eye just happened to catch one of the photos.
Robbins kept talking. “Just the tip of the iceberg. What we do to the web, we do to ourselves. We only have this planet to live off of, we are stealing from the future. Ain’t no Mars to run too.”
As he talked, Jake scanned the photos on the walls. A very white family, two kids and two parents in a staged picture in front of a corny studio back drop. A framed picture of a father with his son and daughter taken by selfie-stick at a Padres game. Father and son in cosplay as Marvel superheroes at Comic-Con, and in the last frame husband and wife on their wedding day.
Jake never got a chance to ask who they were. A muffled scream came from deep in the house.
“Tiff?” Victoria knew the scream right away.
“I said to stay down stairs!” Robbins cursed.
Victoria jumped first. Jake behind her turned the corner to run up the stairs. At the top of the stairs an awful smell hit them. Tiffany backed out of the upstairs bathroom. The shower curtain was pulled open. Two children Jake recognized from photos were dead in the bathtub. Their heads were mostly intact but the backs were blown out into a splattered mess on the wall. Victoria screamed and Jake ground to a halt.
Tiffany ran to her mother and hugged her. “He killed them!”
“What the fuck, Robbins?” Austin yelled as she saw it from the edge of the stairs. She looked just as stunned as everyone else at the sight. Scott and Andrew were behind her getting their first look.
Robbins walked up the stairs slowly. “I didn’t kill nobody, look at the whole room.”
The dad was on the floor between the toilet and the tub. His empty right hand was pointed at his head.
“Now I took his pistol, the one I am holding right now, but I found the man that way.”
Jake and family turned around to look at Robbins. He held the pistol, pointed down.
“His name was Roger Murphy. He knew it was the end. Infected.” Robbins looked imposing blocking the way, holding the pistol. “They all were. He did what he had to, but now this house is our sanctuary, so I ask you, do we have a problem?
***
Adam looked up the stairs. Damian wished he wouldn’t. His father told them to stay downstairs. He didn’t really remember getting to this house. Last thing Damian remembered was being in the van. He was still thirsty, holding his
empty water bottle. He wanted to ask his mother for more water. He wanted a drink and to lie down. He was tired.
Mom was upstairs with the adults. They were yelling at each other. Adam was trying to get a look, hiding at the edge of the stairs. Damian didn’t care, just wanted a drink of water. He looked at his bottle and walked into the kitchen. The sink was just out of his reach. He pulled a chair over from the table and stood on it.
It helped enough for him reach and push the tap on. The water spurt for a second before it came out in a steady stream. Damian held the bottle under the water as it got full. He was so thirsty this was going to feel so good.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Redcrow held on to the strap at the edge of the cockpit. They hovered just over the busiest border crossing in North America. Montgomery yelled as the last rounds left the chamber of the massive guns on their wings. He depressed the button still, if the motor was not so loud they would hear the giant ammunition belts spun through the rack empty. The ship felt lighter in the air and more sensitive to Montgomery’s touch now that they had unloaded everything they had. The gunship to their right headed west toward the beach where the wall extended far past the shore. It was still firing but they would not have much left.
“General, I am as dry as Amish pussy.” Montgomery laughed at his own joke and then closed the cap on his trigger.
“Give me a look,” Redcrow yelled into the microphone.
The border was a swirling pit of clouds, smoke and flames. Ferals ran while drenched in flames, the border wall was gone. All that was left was a crater the size of a football field. It was now a mass grave to the bodies of those who died and the ones still blanketed in flames in the process of dying.
Redcrow looked out to the glow on the eastern horizon. Homes and fields glowed orange as the fire over took them and approached slowly towards their position.
“Hello, beautiful,” Redcrow said only for himself to hear. The cleansing fire approached. He gave a look back at his soldiers and laughed at the stunned look on their faces. He snapped his seat belts off and looked at his pilot. “Take us back north. We need to re-load.”
Ring of Fire Page 25
