by Woods, Shane
“What we do know is how it infects from a host, and how it controls the host,” Silverman began anew. “It interferes with the autonomous nervous systems. Sympathetic, parasympathetic, it rides them like a work trolley and gains function control of the host like this.”
“You lost me Doc,” I said through a mouthful of mushy beans and corn. “Back to simpler terms.”
“It, well,” he started, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose, “tt drives you from inside like a remote control car. It makes you perform the basic things it needs to survive. It sends signals and chemicals similar to adrenaline out to make you faster, stronger, and nearly immune to pain. But in bursts. It still needs sustenance. It still needs the body to rest. It needs a metabolism.”
“That explains quite a bit,” Jennifer noted. “The slow ones, Shannon called the shamblers. Why they always smelled like shit. And even why several times we had people reporting that they were almost kind of nesting together in shelter. But how did they infect others? And so quickly? And they seemed to, I don’t know, like, choose?”
“Salivary glands, believe it or not,” Silverman replied. “Once the virus had coded itself to humankind, and strengthened itself, it is able to inject itself very rapidly into new hosts through a bite. The same thing with their, er, vomitous attacks. This is the heaviest areas of infectious substance within an established host, and as it’s already coded to ‘go human’, it has nearly instantaneous results on the next victim. Remarkable, really. We’ve never seen anything quite like it.”
A sinking feeling began to spread through the pit of my gut as realization wormed its way through my conscious mind.
“Where and how are you learning all of this?” I questioned.
“Well,” the Doctor confessed, “here. We keep a number of subjects on hand. Except for the big buggers, we can’t seem to round one of them up without tremendous loss of life and breach of safety.”
“A number?” I asked again. “What number, Doctor Silverman? How many?”
“That’s quite confidential, Mr. Pfeiffer,” he stated, narrowing his eyes at me. “Rest assured, it is safe.”
“I doubt that,” I told him, then to my wife and friend, “Find out how many of us are here from Ohio, and get everyone that wants to go gathered here in, say, 14 hours? I’m going home. Fuck this deathtrap.”
“Agreed,” said Rich quickly.
“I miss my clothes,” Jennifer concurred, tugging at the ill-fitting nurses scrubs she currently wore, “And we forgot Gwen’s favorite coloring books in Ohio anyway.”
“Now, let’s not be hasty,” Doctor Silverman cautioned. “I assure you, they are locked deep away and safe.”
“They’re safe, but are we?” I started in return. “Look Doc, we had an outdoor compound that could probably have survived the end of the world just fine if Parker hadn’t thrown a truck, helicopter, and an armored vehicle at it. Even then, even in the furthest reaches of our territory, we refused the idea of keeping these things caged up. Kill them. Or they’ll do the same to you.”
“Mr. Pfeiffer,” Silverman began again, “it’s not just merely for study, we are doing this in hopes of-”
“Fucking what, dude?” I retorted. “Saving them? Us? Kill them, don’t get fucking bit. It’s that simple. Have you even seen these out in the world? How they work together? How they set traps and learn? How they take care of the slower among them so they can all remain strong?”
“I’ve seen plenty of these infected, Scott.” He glared over the table.
“That’s not what the fuck I asked Doc and you know it.” My voice began to rise. “You haven’t been out there. You haven’t lost-”
“Lost whom? Lost what?” his turn to cut me off as Jennifer placed her hand on my trembling fist. “Do you think we were allowed to go collect loved ones and possessions before the doors slammed shut? No. No I don’t recall being given that option. My wife, my children, my grandchild, no. They sent a patrol that way. Want to know what they were able to find?”
“Continue,” I grumbled.
“My neighbors. Scott,” he nearly sobbed, “they brought my neighbors back here for me to run tests on. Infected. Thirty-seven year old Amy, eight year old William.”
“And you couldn’t even turn it down?” I interrogated. “Tell them, perhaps, no? That it’s too dangerous? What are the safeguards?”
“Lock and key,” he confirmed. “They’re all kept confined, much as you were, except they don’t get invited up for Spam and canned vegetables. And, no, I couldn’t decline. Everybody down here has a purpose to one extent or another. If my purpose, my, usefulness, were to fall to the wayside, I wouldn’t be down here anymore.”
“What’s the alternative?” Jennifer interjected.
“Topside,” he stated firmly, motioning upwards with a finger. “We have a late-construction FEMA camp on the mountain. Mostly a cobbled-together shantytown, big tall chain link fence, guard posts, all draped with camouflage netting.”
“How can we locate those that came in with us?” I asked, changing the topic. “Or, were brought in, rather.”
“I’ll put word out through Agent Grayson,” Silverman assured. “We can have all of you meet here, in this cafeteria, post the dinner rush at around nineteen hundred hours?”
“Yeah that’ll work,” I agreed, seeing the hands of the clock positioned just after noon.
“Nineteen hundred hours?” Jennifer inquired.
“Seven PM,” I informed her, to which she nodded and shrugged.
It turns out I should have argued for a reunion to happen a bit sooner. It got rather boring, and it did so rather quickly. For the time being at least, we were confined to our new room, the cafeteria, and the hallways between. Something that mostly went over my head about accommodations and varying permanency, clearance, blah blah blah.
Once we departed company with Silverman and left the cafeteria, we were led by a young man in military uniform to our new lodgings.
It was nothing fancy, though worlds better than my previous jail cell.
The same colorless tile, emotionless white and green two-tone walls, and glaring fluorescent lights from the hallways followed us into the room, doing nothing to complement it. Inside was spartan, bunk beds on both sides of a smallish room but instead of the glorified cardboard of a mattress, we were offered real cushion. At the end of each bed sat a single two-drawer dresser. The end of the room held another doorway, beyond which was an open shower stall, sink, and toilet. Not attached.
“Where are you going?” Jennifer asked as she plopped into a sitting position on the bottom bunk, setting Gwen on the floor to walk around.
“Shower,” I muttered, stripping my clothes off even as our escort eased the outer door shut.
I left a trail of my coverings as I moved; I’d find out on my way back to pick them up if my clothing had stuck to the floor. I at the very least felt that filthy, and barely even let the water reach its maximum scalding…lukewarm temperature… before I found myself huddled under the meager cone of water emitting from the wall-mounted faucet. I had just unwrapped the bar of unscented soap I found nearby when the water shut off. I turned angrily, realizing after a moment that it was on a timer and twisted the single knob again.
After a while I was cleaned and searching for a towel, finding several folded and put on a shelf under the overhanging sink.
I left the shower area a new man, freshened up and smelling, well, neutral. I quickly ruined this effect by peeling up my dirty boxer shorts from the floor and donning them so as to save my daughter from the sight of naked dad.
“Your turn,” I said to Jennifer as I approached her, three pecks on the lips, and sat on my own bunk. “Both of you, probably.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked as she got up and took Gwen by the hand and led her toward the shower.
“Nap,” I replied, the single syllable as comforting in that moment as the action itself. Naps are always good, and while some may not be ab
le to sleep, that was no problem for me. I am an expert napper.
And true to fashion, I went under the covers and was asleep before their shower ended.
FOURTEEN
I’d love to say my rest was easy. I had been exhausted and clearly sleeping in the jail cell holding area hadn’t quite recovered me, but every noise roused me.
Without fail, every time I awoke, my mind started drifting. Thinking about how many infected they possibly had here. Would we be allowed to even leave? Were we prisoners here now or would everything work out? Furthermore, what if our people decided they wanted to stay behind and I’d be forced to make yet another tough decision, leave them or stay as well?
Ohio was home. As much as I hated that shit state full of grumpy people, bad weather, and corn, it was home. And my friends were there. I could even confirm or deny my fears and swing through Missouri on the way back to see if my parents made it.
As my mind raced, yet faded between asleep and aware, I took notice of my wife. She had our daughter between herself and the wall, safe from rolling off onto the hard tile floor. In all her grace, she herself was splayed out, knocked out, and snoring like the jake brake on a Kenworth. Damn I love that woman.
Nonetheless, my final attempt at real sleep was cut short by a knock at the door.
I sighed, threw the blanket off, and sat up, promptly smacking my head off of the bunk above me which caused Jennifer to stir as well.
Making my way to the door, I opened it and found Rich standing there. His unruly red hair was freshly washed and lay about his head in a mess, but his blue eyes looked as if he’d only recently woken as well.
“1900,” was all he stated, nearly yawning the word.
“Yeah, right,” I replied, turning slightly to see Jennifer and Gwen emerging from their cocoons. “We’ll be on our way in a minute.”
Rich nodded and ran a hand through his hair before departing, presumably toward the cafeteria where we’d be reuniting with whomever was here from our group.
After a few minutes, we were making our way down the halls as well, looking every bit the ‘slow shambly’ infected. I’m surprised nobody called Silverman to come study us.
I led the way, and three turns later I was pushing open the cafeteria doors and ushering my wife and child in ahead of me.
Once I made my entrance as well, my heart sunk. Sunk. Shit, it fell through the floor.
Maybe a dozen people awaited. A dozen.
We had probably two-hundred people fighting on our side. Yet here sat a dozen people.
I eyed every person present. No big hugs, no showmanship or entry speech. Everybody looked ragged and worn, seemed every bit a post-battle crew having only had a shower and minimal rough sleep. I wondered how bad I looked as well. Bandages new and old, same old clothes I’d been apprehended in.
Henry was the first to speak.
“Yes, sir buddy,” he offered. “We’re all here, why the long faces?”
“Two-hundred people,” I muttered. “I’m damn glad to see you guys, but is this all that survived?”
“Oh, heavens no!” Henry exclaimed. “We did lose quite a few, rest their souls brother but many of our family made it out before they could be rounded up.”
“I’ve heard,” I confirmed. “I was just hoping to be able to put some worry to rest. I see you, Rich, hello to Dave, Shannon, Ashley, Cody, Clara, Erik. But we have my kid and one of the others, some of the high school students but what about the boat Gwen was in? With Rich’s wife? And the dozen other children she had with her? Did everyone make it safe? Who’s left?”
“I opened fire when they took the boat, just in view of our compound,” Cody informed me. “I couldn’t quite see, but the boat did shove off in the confusion, maybe they got away after all.”
“You opened fire with my kid and others present?” I eyed him furiously.
“Relax,” he assured. “Suppressing fire, just to work them up and break their focus. If Carolyn got away with the boat, then it worked.”
“Fine,” I conceded. “And, thanks.”
“Kinda funny,” Erik spoke up, the large man offering a half-grin, “but it probably worked in your favor; they brought your kid here and we know she’s safe.”
“Yours are too, I’m sure,” I comforted him. “Angie, right? Her and your kids were on one of the first boats to leave.”
“Still no confirmation that anybody made it at all,” he advised. “We were out of radio range to your buddy upriver, so we don’t even know if the boats got there.”
The thought caused a sour turn in my gut as I mulled it over. He was right. We had nothing but blind faith that the entire plan worked in the first quarter even, and it damn sure didn’t hold up through the entire game.
“I mean, anything is possible,” reminded Shannon as Ashley quietly eyed everybody present. She looked so lost here, like she was looking for something so simple as what to say in the faces of others.
“I think they made it,” I offered, “or they’d be sitting right here, right?”
“This looks like maybe a third or less of the people he took,” Jennifer noted. “So if that’s true, where is everybody else?”
“Shit, they could be back home already,” Dave suggested. “They might have just hidden and never got captured. If Parker didn’t leave any men there to watch the base, I’d be fixing things right this minute.”
“That’s possible,” Shannon agreed. Nobody else seemed to pick up on the out-of-character optimism from Dave, but I did. Maybe he and Bri really were closer than I assumed.
“Well,” Clara interjected, “I’m going home. I’m worried about Frank and my own kids. I’m not going to stay in Colorado.”
“Yeah nah,” I agreed. “Did they tell you guys they’re keeping an undisclosed number of the infected here?”
I assumed not, as this news sent a murmur of worry and protest throughout our small grouping as others in the room observed cautiously. We proceeded to bring everybody as up-to-date as we were and considered the job done when every question had to be answered with a clueless shrug.
Nonetheless, three people, the high schoolers chose to stay behind.
“We have nothing left in Ohio,” spoke a girl whose name I believed to be Anna. “Our families are gone, and we just think it’d be safer here. Surely they wouldn’t bring those…those monsters here to keep unless they could do it safely.”
“All that’s happened,” Cody spoke up in her direction, “and you still trust the fucking government to do anything right? They couldn’t even get shit right before the end! I definitely am not staying here. No way.”
“Do you think it’s any easier out there?” started another teen, a boy with dark hair whose name I couldn’t place. “How far do you think you can travel without being overrun? I’ve heard the stories from teams that come back, I listen!”
“Well then stay the fuck here!” shot Erik. “We don’t need lightweights taking up our food supply anyway! Sit here and piss yourself, you fucking girl!”
“Fuck you dude!” the boy nearly spat. “It’s quiet around our compound but you go in any direction and they’re still everywhere! You’re insane!”
“Guys!” I broke in, not wanting an argument to persist. “Yeah, it’s insane, but I’ve got to know, and I’ve got to be back home. Why the fuck are y’all arguing for anyway? Nobody is making anyone stay or go to begin with, what’s arguing about to solve? Shut up!”
“He’s right, everyone, why we gotta bicker?” Henry helped.
“Yeah, chill. Shit’s about to get crazy anyway, if you don’t want it, then stay here,” Rich opined.
“Well, we don’t have much with us, we can talk to Grayson,” I suggested. “See if any of our gear was saved and if we can get any going away packs.”
I didn’t have time to continue when all the lights blinked once, twice, then went out.
In their place came a glow from the many emergency lights around, followed immediately by oscillating red strobes
and a mechanical BUZZZZ BUZZZZ BUZZZZ.
“Oh great,” I murmured, looking at all the scared faces around us. “Ah shit.”
I backpedaled among my shocked friends and half-ran to stick my head out of the cafeteria door. At just the right moment, I caught sight of a white button-up shirt and salt and pepper hair as it passed at a jog.
“GRAYSON!” I shouted over the alarm buzzer, and the man turned. It wasn’t him, but upon seeing me, the guy put up one hand, mounted by a single index finger.
“One sec!” he mouthed, then disappeared around a corner as he put a radio up to his mouth, holding it sideways like all cool guys do.
I felt a presence next to me and turned to see Rich on one side, Clara and Jennifer on the other.
“Guys, get everyone gathered up and get back into the kitchen,” I ordered. “Block all the doors but this front one until we figure out what’s going on.”
We started ushering personnel toward the kitchen; most went willingly but I did watch Cody grab one man up by the shoulder and nearly give him a kick start in the right direction. Once the cafeteria was devoid of people, I’d turned to go in with them, into the stainless steel safety of the kitchen area.
Just as I’d reached the door, the entrance to the kitchen burst open.
“Pfeiffer!” Grayson shouted, and I whirled around.
“What the fuck is going on here, Agent?” I countered.
“Parker!” he shouted and motioned that I come with, to which I turned back to the kitchen, pointed at my fighters, Rich and Clara.
“You two come!” I ordered, then to Jennifer and the rest of the Ohio all-stars team, “You guys, keep everybody hidden until I come back, we don’t have weapons so find anything you can use! Stay low, stay quiet!”
Before even Jennifer could jump to stop me, I was gone again, hot on the heels of Agent Grayson who was moving too fast to speak about where or why.
Now, I thought we were moving at a pretty good clip, but apparently not as we got nearly shoved aside by a large group of men in gas masks toting rifles as they blazed past us on the way to whatever was going on.
