It wasn’t.
The first afflicted came through the gate. It had been a younger man in its previously uninfected life, maybe college age. He had on a blue jogging suit, the knees of which were worn through showing abraded and bleeding flesh underneath. The jacket was hanging from one shoulder held on by the zipper in front. He shuffled up to the opening and…stopped. Unlike the mindless zombies I had watched on countless movies, this Rage victim still had a trace of human caution left in his brain. Pops was ten feet away from him, hiding behind an older Ford Bronco that was parked by the wall. We all held our breath. The other Ragers were coming up behind him quickly, and our plan was eroding.
Pops made a decision and dashed out from behind the Bronco. He closed the distance between them and slashed at the throat of the afflicted man. The jogger noticed Pops’ presence and opened his mouth to announce it, but the big blade of the survival knife parted the flesh of his throat cleanly. Blood gushed from the wound, and I could actually hear the bubbling rasp of air from his lungs as it was expelled from the cut instead of finding its way to the larynx. The doomed afflicted did not react to the assault on his neck. Instead, he jumped on Pops and tried to bite him as his horrific wound continued to spurt.
I was about to run to Pops’ aid, but Emma held me in place with a hand on my shoulder. I might have pushed anyone else’s hand away but she was an experienced soldier, and I respected her judgment. A moment later that judgment was born out as Pops was able to shove the man against the wall. His head impacted with the concrete and stunned him. The diseased man slid down the wall into a sitting position and looked right at me as his body pumped out the last of his blood. I’ve never seen such hate in a person’s eyes.
Meanwhile, the second and third afflicted wandered into the gate. It was two women, and the fact that they were female stunned me. It is hard enough to kill an infected male, but males are taught since early childhood that “men don’t hurt girls.” Jimmy and Buck, however, had experienced combat situations that had eroded that sentiment. Jimmy lept forward and swiftly smashed his crowbar into one’s head while Buck did the same to the other with his entrenching tool. They both dropped, and it was over so quickly I hardly saw what happened.
I was just letting myself be encouraged at our success when it all came apart. Three of the remaining afflicted came staggering through the gate at the same time. The crazies quickly recognized us as uninfected and began caterwauling. Pops grabbed a big male around the neck from behind, trying to choke off his air but the Rager was so strong that he was able to pull Pops off of his feet and swing him around as he fought to get free. The other two were male and female. Jimmy smashed the woman on the crown of her head. She fell but wasn’t dead yet. The downed Rager continued her screams even though the volume had diminished. Jimmy wound up for a finishing blow, but she surprised him by latching onto his leg and sinking her teeth into his calf. He yelled in pain as Buck grabbed her by the hair and wrenched her free, delivering three hard strikes to her head. She lay at his feet now without any further signs of life.
While this was taking place, the Major was locked in combat with a tall, skinny male sporting long greasy blonde hair and a face full of acne. His slim body belied his strength, and the Major was being repeatedly slammed against the stone wall as he tried to hang on.
Emma shot forward to help her husband and I did the same for Pops. I heard a shout from Pops telling me to stay back. I don’t usually defy my father, but there was no way I was going to stand by and watch him get hurt. The infected male he was tussling with was huge, and everyone else was now engaged in their own battles. Pops was still hanging on to the male from behind, but his opponent was so tall that my father’s feet were not touching the ground. As I reached them, the male was slamming himself against the wall in his attempts to shake Pops free. I ran up to the big male and swung at his head with all of my strength. The hammer struck home with a wet sound, and the struggling male went down to his knees. Pops let go and allowed him to fall, and I gave him three more shots, maybe four. The powerful man dropped lower with every blow until the light finally went out in his eyes.
I stood there looking at the man for a brief moment. His blood and other bodily tissue were dripping from my arms and face. I backed away from him, my legs barely bothering to respond to the signals from my brain. Then I bent over and puked, over and over until there was nothing left in me. Then I retched some more until I was unable to maintain my footing and fell to my knees panting and out of breath. I was only vaguely aware of the two remaining afflicted coming through the gate. Jimmy and Buck quickly took them out.
I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder and heard Pepper’s voice. I was immediately embarrassed at my perceived weakness and swept a handful of dirt over the evacuated contents of my stomach.
“Virgil, don’t worry about that right now. Just relax and try to settle down.”
Somehow her concern just seemed to increase my embarrassment. I wiped my mouth with my sleeve and continued to gulp air for another few moments. My breathing started to slow and the panic I had been feeling subsided. I sat back on my heels and looked around me.
The nine dead bodies were lying close to me. Several of them still quivered and jerked as their bodies surrendered to death. The sight threatened for a moment to send me back into a panic, but it passed. I could hear Pepper, still making consoling sounds behind me.
“I…I’m sorry you had to see that.” It was the only thing I could think of to say. I was sure the sight of me vomiting would be disgusting to anyone who witnessed it.
She came around me to where she could look me in the eye. “How in the world could you say such a thing, Virgil? That was the bravest thing I have ever seen. You saved your father’s life.”
I looked around me again. The others were starting to recover from the excitement. Bodies were already being pulled over to a corner of the compound and laid out.
“Bravest?” I asked as I pointed at the others. “Didn’t you see what they did?”
She knelt in front of me. “Of course I saw. And with the exception of your father, everyone else is a veteran soldier with recent combat experience.” She leaned in closer making me worry about the probable condition of my breath. “And Virgil, you’re only sixteen so, yeah! I think you were very brave. I know I couldn’t have done it.”
I stood, and she moved to steady me. I signaled I was okay even though the feeling of her arm around my waist was a tad exciting. Pops came over to us and put a hand on my shoulder.
“Good work, son. You probably saved me from being killed by that brute.”
“Mr. Cole!”
The shout had come from Emma. She was kneeling next to Jimmy who was sitting with his back to the wall. His pant leg was rolled up, and I could see the broken flesh even in the darkness of the evening.
Pops’ question chilled me to the bone.
“Bitten?”
✽✽✽
Pops’ question had significant ramifications. It appeared that the Rage virus or bacteria was easily transmitted to others. Otherwise, we would not be seeing so many of its victims walking around. There had not been time for any government agency to adequately study the sickness so no one knew if a bite would infect a person. After all, didn’t every zombie movie show that to be the case?
Jimmy’s face showed his worry as we helped him up and into the mansion. We took him to sub-level one, and I was surprised to see Dr. Tashnizi dozing in one of the clinic’s chairs. He jumped up as we entered and the physician’s eyes fixed on Buck. To say he was afraid of the man was probably an understatement. We got Jimmy on the table as Marie cried and held his hand. Jimmy looked to be more worried about his wife than himself. Having spent some time with the ex-marine, I was not surprised.
“What happened?” Tashnizi snapped on a pair of rubber gloves and moved to the exam table.
“He was bitten by one of the infected,” Emma answered.
The doctor actually took a step back. “By a
Rage carrier?”
Buck’s face began to go red and the Major pointed at Tashnizi’s face.
“Yes, by an infected. Who else do you think would bite him? Now get over there and do your job.”
We all glared at him as he took one step closer to the exam table then backed away two. “Well, …the thing is…if he was bitten, he is most likely infected. We can assume the disease is airborne by the remarkable rate of infection spread. Knowing that,” he took another baby step away from Jimmy, “the possibility of it being spread by contact with saliva is almost a given.”
Buck couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He darted forward and grabbed the Iranian by his shirt front. “Listen, you little putz. You are here for only one purpose, and that is to treat us when we need treating. Now you get over there and clean and disinfect his wound or you’ll be the next one needing treatment.” He punctuated his feelings by shoving the doctor against the table.
Tashnizi reached out toward Jimmy’s leg with trembling hands.
“Boo!”
Jimmy’s shout elicited a shriek from the medic and a laugh to everyone else, regardless of the seriousness of the situation. Tashnizi glared then looked back at Buck as if being frightened would somehow relieve him of his obligation. When Buck’s glare increased in volatility, Tashnizi turned to Emma.
“Get me a bottle of wound wash.”
Emma didn’t react to being ordered by the doctor other than to look through an open cabinet and taking out a large bottle filled with a clear liquid and sporting a weird tube on the top. She held it out to Tashnizi.
The doctor pointed at Jimmy’s leg. “Irrigate the wound.”
That was too much for Pops and he suspected Buck was close to squeezing Tashnizi’s head like a pimple. “Doctor, Buck already told you this but let me reemphasize his point.” He stepped up until he was looking down at the doctor. I watched as Tashnizi’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down a few times in rapid succession. “We have all bent over backward to accommodate you because we knew we might need you someday. Well, this is that day. Now you stop ordering others around and treat that man, or I will personally kick your ass down the hill.”
I couldn’t tell what was whiter at that point, the doctor’s smock or his face. His chin quivered, but he forced himself to spray the bite marks with the liquids. He then retrieved a smaller bottle and used a wad of gauze to paint it with yellow disinfectant. He even dabbed at the broken skin to make certain some of the stuff got into the cuts. He finished up by giving Jimmy a shot of penicillin and wrapped his leg in a bandage.
Tashnizi stepped back as if he had been working on a hot stove then looked at pops. “That’s it. That’s all I can do for him. If the Rage is a bacterium, the penicillin might help him. If it is a virus…well.” He left the thought unfinished, but we all knew what he meant. “In the meantime, Mr. Cole, I suggest you bind Mr. Bronson to this exam table and have someone watch him tonight. He might…develop symptoms.”
Jimmy shook his head but gave Pops a look. “Actually, Dan, the courageous doctor here probably has a point. We all know we’re not concerned about my little leg wound itself, but a bite could result in transmission of the disease.” He patted Marie’s hand and gave her a consoling smile. “We can’t change what happened, but I refuse to be a danger to all of you. I don’t mind being shackled to the bed until we know I’m not going to turn. Really, it’s all right.”
Pops frowned, and I knew he was going through hell right now. As the owner of Dragon’s Lair, he was the chief decision maker. He chewed the inside of his lip for a moment then turned back to Tashnizi. “How long before we can be certain he isn’t infected?”
The doctor’s eyes flashed upward and to the left as he accessed the part of his brain that stored memories. “The few descriptions of the disease that we heard before the TV and radio went off the air said people were developing flu-like symptoms within a few hours. The destruction of parts of the brain followed shortly after that. I would say within twenty-four hours. Probably a shorter period than that but a full day should do it.”
Marie teared up, and we all looked at each other, silently agreeing to step out and give the married couple some privacy. Tashnizi tried squeezing by Pops in the hallway but didn’t make it as my father clutched his arm.
“You’re staying here tonight, doctor.” The smaller man raised his eyebrows displaying a lack of understanding. “Your job is to be on hand should he need you. You don’t have to stay awake, I’m sure Marie will be up with him, but if he starts showing symptoms you need to be here. Pick yourself out a comfortable chair.”
I could tell Tashnizi wanted to argue (or more likely, whine) but instead he managed a nod along with a slight smile. Pops looked back at Marie to be sure she had heard him. She smiled back and gave a nod. If the good doctor had designs on sneaking off to his room after we all went to sleep, Marie would remind him of his duties.
✽✽✽
After we left the clinic, I looked at my watch. “I’m still on duty for another two hours. I’d better get back out there.”
Pops turned to me. “Son, if you need to rest…”
I interrupted him. “I’m okay, Pops. Really.”
He smiled as I went up the stairs to the main floor and out into the compound enclosure. The moon was half full, and the light it gave off was enough to allow me to make my way to the main gate without my flashlight. In the excitement, we had neglected to leave anyone on watch, but I saw Jaime’s small frame standing on a step ladder and looking over the wall.
He heard me coming and waved. “How’s Jimmy?”
“He’s okay… for now.”
He nodded. We all knew what the bigger fear was. I saw his eyes drop. “I should have jumped in to help him.”
I shook my head. “We were told what to do, and we did it. It would have been chaos with all of us out there swinging weapons around. We would probably have done more damage to each other than the infected.”
He gave me a grateful smile, probably thinking I was just trying to make him feel better. Truth was, I really meant it.
We heard the main door open across the compound and saw Pepper coming out. She crossed the grounds and waved to us.
“Hi, guys. Jaime, I’ll take it from here. Mr. Cole said to thank you for holding down the fort.”
Jaime offered to assume the rest of her watch, but Pepper wouldn’t accept. She was determined to pull her own weight. When Jaime left us, she joined me at the gate, and we both looked out over the foothills below us. Over in Clovis, there were flashes of light followed immediately afterward by the reports of gunfire. We heard them every night, so we weren’t surprised or alarmed.
We surveilled the slope for a few minutes then did a quick three hundred and sixty-degree circle of the compound before ending up back at the main gate. We talked about different things for an hour or so. I had a feeling Pepper had something on her mind, something she wanted to say. Before long, she leaned against the wall and looked at me.
“Do you like me, Virgil?”
The question shocked me. My adolescent mind scrolled through every possible response it could imagine, and none of them seemed adequate. I settled for absolute honesty. “Well, of course, I like you. Why would you ask such a thing?”
I had turned to face her; she took a step closer to me, her lips curling into a slight smile. Her expression was a little hesitant, and she unconsciously bit at her bottom lip. “Well, I know you don’t dislike me. But I mean, do you like me?”
“No, I knew what you meant,” I assured her. “I definitely like you in that way. I think you’re smart; you’re funny and…you are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”
I’m sure we were both thankful for the dim light. There were a few silent moments and an awkwardness that we both struggled with. Finally, she took another step forward until she was right in front of me. She looked up at me; I stand an even six feet and she was tiny. Her hand slid behind my head as she pulled my lips to hers.
I still regard that kiss as one of the top happy memories of my life.
I put both arms around her waist and hung on until she broke the kiss. She smiled shyly and dropped those long lashes for a moment before looking back at me.
“I had a feeling I would have to be the one to make the first move here.” Her smile broadened, encouraging a similar expression from me. My head was still spinning. I moved in for another kiss, and she let me then pushed me back gently. “We have a job to do, and we can’t do it with our eyes closed.” She noted the disappointment in my face and her expression softened. “Don’t worry, Virgil. We have plenty of time.”
We were relieved at six A.M., and we both went downstairs to check on Jimmy. Marie was sitting beside her husband reading a book. Jimmy’s hands were shackled to the rails on the bed and someone, probably Marie, had wrapped the parts that touched his wrists with cotton and tape. The bitten man was sleeping.
Marie saw us and smiled. She placed a finger to her lips, and we nodded. I noted he was breathing easily and I could see no perspiration on his brow. I took that to be a good sign. We waved silently to Marie and backed carefully out of the room. When we got to the head of the stairs, Pepper grabbed my hand and gave a look both up and down the stairway to ensure we were alone then pulled my head down for another kiss, this one long and passionate. I know we kissed like that for a solid two or three minutes before she broke away, then reached out to touch the tip of my nose with her index finger.
“Boop.”
Pepper grinned and scampered off to her room. I stood there, unmoving for five minutes, still savoring the wonderfulness of my feelings.
Chapter 6
The next morning we ate breakfast that had been cooked by Pepper and her mother. Toni Johnson was an excellent cook, and it was easy to see from where Pepper had gotten her looks. I couldn’t take my eyes from the younger Johnson girl as she flowed around the room, putting full platters in the center of the table and setting down glasses of water. They both finally settled into chairs and her eyes flitted across mine. She gave the briefest of all grins and lowered her head to say grace with her mother. Most of us joined in on the prayer, except for Dr. Tashnizi, of course.
Virgil's War- The Diseased World Page 5
