Jim stops with his hand on the latch to unlock the door, his back toward everyone inside. He turns his head and, with his voice muffled by the gas mask, says, "I'm going to go kill them, honey,” and exits the MRAP.
He walks to the bus to their rear first. His suppressed AR-15, sounding like loud claps. He fires two rounds killing a man clawing at the passenger side bus door. He then sees another sitting near the front driver side tire with what appears to be a damp cloth on his nose and mouth.
The man looks to his right when he hears Jim's footfalls. Only able to see blurred shadows, he sees Jim’s distorted shape caused by tears and fog from the gas.
Two more muted claps and the man falls to his left. Jim walks the twenty yards or so to the bus blocking them from the front. He sees a man crawling under the bus away from him.
Reaching down, he grabs the man's pants at his waistband and hauls him out. The man turns over quickly onto his back. Gagging and coughing, he tries to aim a large caliber revolver at Jim. Before he can, Jim steps on his forearm and puts a 5.56 round into his left cheek and one into his eye on the same side.
Movement from inside the passenger side of the bus draws Jim’s attention. The man in the overalls, rubbing his eyes, catches sight of Jim and begins to lower what looks like a .30 caliber carbine at Jim. The hacking and gagging causes the man’s aim to wobble and bounce. Jim quickly ducks, side steps to the left and rises in the front of the bus with a view of the man still searching out the driver side window.
A triplet of rounds, in quick succession strikes the man in the right side of the neck just below his ear. A second round strikes in the ear and the third in his temple.
The man voids his bowels and falls to his left, into the aisle between the bus seats. Jim hears quick and fading footfalls and glimpses three other men running down the center of the road. The men are three abreast.
Jim takes aim between the shoulder blades of the man in the middle and sends out two more 5.56 mm rounds. The man’s feet and legs lose all coordination and strength. His arms stop flailing as his body continues its momentum forward. He slams into the pavement and slides about three feet and ceases movement.
Jim switches his aim to the man further away and to the left. He places his finger on the trigger and then removes it. Too far? He thinks. Flipping the selector to Safe, he turns back to the bus.
Stepping over overall-man, Jim sits at the wheel, starts the bus and backs up. Exiting, he walks to the body in the road and drags him by his pant legs out of the roadway. Jim returns to the MRAP.
They continue through the small town that they don’t know the name of. Jim wonders if their silence is because of his deeds or because of the deeds of the men he killed. He thinks perhaps it’s both. Jim takes up position in the turret as they continue past the buses and the dead. “We can’t have that kind of shit,” Jim says. His words are quiet and just barely perceptible, but are heard over the comms. The statement seems to be directed at no one in particular and not for the intention of eliciting a response. No one replies.
They reach Alabama in the early evening. After hurriedly refueling the MRAP, they look for a place to park and camp for the night. They’ve tried driving at night. The amount of infected converging on them was dangerously high. The vehicle could easily plow over those in the way, but the speed had to be kept slow so the driver didn’t lose control of steering and crash. Even then, steering was difficult.
Deciding on a rest stop off the highway, they park the MRAP behind the building, which consists of men and women’s restrooms. They begin securing their immediate area by conducting a building search. First the women’s restroom is checked. Jim stays in position to cover the unsearched men’s room while Jeremy and Chris set about clearing the women’s.
“Clear,” is softly heard over their comms, and then the sight of Jeremy emerging from the door. Next is the men’s room. Chris is first to enter this time, followed by Jeremy. After a few seconds Chris announces over their comms, “One corpse. Very dead, but clear.”
After securing the building, they decide to hurriedly take turns at a shower. They haul in and strap the camping shower bag on one of the shower stall supports. Arzu takes Berk and Kayra inside and washes them. Plodding out wrapped in towels, Jim dries them and helps them get dressed. In the meantime, Chris stands sentry in the turret, Jeremy is stationed near the roadway, and Chelsea is prepping for dinner.
After Arzu finishes, Jim takes his turn. Arzu picks up the prepping duties for dinner while Chelsea goes to shower after Jim. Then Chris, and then Jeremy last.
The mood is lighter among them; it’s amazing what a lukewarm shower can do for morale. They decide to eat quickly and then clean out the MRAP that’s increasingly becoming riper inside.
As the sun sets, they hunker down in the MRAP. The night belongs to the infected.
The night goes by with no sighting of infected. Several hours apart, and traveling in opposite directions, two vehicles are seen speeding by on the road on the other side of the rest stop.
On the road after dawn, they head more northeast to avoid some upcoming larger cities. They plan to then turn and head directly south in Georgia, aiming for a route directly through the center of Florida, then east into Gainesville.
Throughout the day the sky begins to darken. Periodically some drizzling rain accompanies the cloud coverage. Although it’s only past 2:30 PM, the sky seems to be that of dusk. They begin to see packs of infected. Most seem to be running in random directions. Some change course and attempt to intercept the MRAP but, although they seem to tire less quickly than normal people, they can’t compete with the diesel engine’s speed.
Chapter 31
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Siberia 1974
Doctor Kosktov knows their next project will be to weaponize the virus but, thankfully, not in this shithole in the middle of nowhere. He’s finished his preparation to give his brief report on the virus to Colonel Azarov, as was ordered. And then, hopefully tomorrow or the next day, they’ll be leaving.
Unbeknownst to anyone—except for the mangled guard—the infectious and demented Vladimir stalks out of the bathroom, leaving the older man on the cold tiled floor behind. His face, from the hairline of his forehead to below his nose, is stripped clean of flesh.
The older guard’s flesh and cartilage of his nose is gone. Only the underlying articulating musculature remains. The eyes, cold grey-blue, are now lidless, the flesh there picked clean and consumed by the thing that was Vladimir. Lying on his back, the older guard breathes rapidly and shallowly with intermittent deep inhalations. His lidless eyes dart around the room, although not really focusing on anything.
If asked, he would say the pain of his ravaged face is subsiding. He would complain of an increasing headache that feels as though the center portion of his brain were expanding.
As he lies there, he hears the noise of his attacker pacing quickly in the bunkroom. Searching for a way out, the infected Vladimir doesn’t have the memory of operating doors. He continues to stalk about the darkened room, trying to get to the noise he hears in the distance behind the unknown obstacle of the door.
Doctor Kosktov approaches Colonel Azarov and asks if he’s ready for the updated report of their progress. The Colonel nods and takes a seat at the desk and points Kosktov to the seat in front of the desk.
Doctor Kosktov skips parts of the report he knows the Colonel is aware of. He explains that their research has confirmed the original speculation that the virus is an ancestor of the modern rabies virus. The major difference is that this form of rabies affects humans much differently.
This rabies, this Siberian version, once they were able to extract a whole sample, they have recently found to be extremely virulent and thus far it has only resulted in those infected being in an exaggerated version of furious rabies.
Major difference are pointed out, such as the fact that this form of the virus does not prevent the infected from swallowing food and water, this being u
nlike known rabies. This version also has thus far stopped destruction of brain cells after affecting those related to memory and aggression and higher consciousness.
The Doctor explains this Siberian version, like known rabies, produces hyper-salivation that contains high concentrations of the virus. But unlike known rabies, the Siberian variant has a much higher concentration.
Colonel Azarov presses to the subject he’s most interested in, weaponization. The doctor explains that that research is not possible at this facility, but informs the Colonel that history shows that persons entering caves housing numerous rabies-infected bats have become infected without being bitten, presumably because of high concentrations of aerosolized rabies.
Doctor Kostov pauses a moment then responds, “in theory, we could. This virus does after all, have more highly concentrated amounts in the infected’s saliva. Further research will need to be done to make it more stable and reliable for delivery as an airborne weapon.”
During the report and question and answer session between Doctor Kosktov and Colonel Azarov, the guard with the mutilated face has now become a vector for the infection. Like Vladimir and the two contained in the prisoner hold, he too now has changed. The ruined-faced guard stalks along with Vladimir in the sleeping quarters, trying to find a way out to attack what’s making the noise they hear.
Up above in the storage area above ground, the soldiers finish eating and gather near heaters for warmth. Three of the men decide to wash off the smell of the helicopter fuel and head down the stairwell toward the facility's guard quarters and their showers.
When they reach the room, they’re attacked quickly and mercilessly by the infected guards. One of the soldiers is killed outright, his trachea severed from a bite and then the hemorrhaging from the wound drowning him.
The other two soldiers are injured. One escapes the room but collapses in the stairwell while trying to reach the surface, infection coursing through his blood and speeding to attack and deform his brain.
The third soldier takes refuge under a bottom bunk as he begins to succumb to the virus. The body of the soldier that was killed at the onset blocks open the doorway of the room. The two are free now to hunt.
What is unknown to Doctor Kosktov and Colonel Azarov is that the virus in the saliva increases in concentration during the life of the host. The longer the infected lives, the more virus is produced in their salivary glands and the more potent it becomes. Where initial infection may take hours, subsequent infection by the same human vector increases speed, from hours to minutes. Doctor Kosktov and Colonel Azarov will learn this soon.
Quickly after the first soldiers are attacked, the first sounds of a security breach are heard in the form of muted gunfire and screams from the stairwell. The doctor and colonel rise and start to investigate. At the door to the laboratory, they can hear the gunfire and voices, no clearer than before but higher in the volume.
The Colonel turns and marches to the same radio the doctor used to report their progress. He quickly enters a sequence of codes and then keys the mic. After a pause of about a second, the colonel says “Icebreaker, Icebreaker.” A few seconds later, a distant-sounding static voice answers, “Received, Icebreaker is inbound, out.”
Looking at the Colonel with a puzzled expression, before Kosktov can ask what the meaning of the radio traffic is, the Colonel answers his question, “Get the samples. We are leaving now.”
“What of the snowstorm, Colonel?”
“Would you prefer to freeze or burn, Doctor?” the Colonel replies curtly as he retrieves his AK-47 from the desk and stands near the door.
Doctor Kosktov heads out past the colonel and to the left, where his office is containing the samples and documentation related to the project.
Doctor Levenon is in Kosktov’s office when he arrives. The expression on his face shows that he’s also heard the yelling and shooting. “Grab what we’ve packed and come with me,” Kosktov orders and grabs the case containing their files. Doctor Kosktov and Levenon share the weight of the cryogenic container, with each holding onto handles on the sides.
As they reach the door to Kosktov’s office, they hear a burst of automatic gunfire. This is very near. Peeking out, they see three forms lying still on the floor near the stairwell doorway. Colonel Azarov motions them toward him in a hurried hand gesture.
“Elevator,” he says and gestures with his AK-47 toward it. They quickly obey and rush to the elevator. Wrenching the door open makes an amplified sound like that of nails scraping a blackboard.
They rush inside and Levenon frantically presses the UP button as an infected soldier sprints from the stairwell and turns in their direction. Doctor Kosktov slams the door closed, just after the Colonel sends a burst of 7.62 mm rounds into his former comrade-in-arms.
Loud, shaking, and painfully slowly the elevator climbs toward the surface. It shudders to a stop at the top. Levenon reaches for the door and has his arm batted away by Colonel Azarov. The Colonel leans close to the elevator door, pressing his ear against it.
Straightening and taking a step back, the Colonel aims his AK-47 at the door and says, “Open it.” Levenon moves quickly and pulls the rusted door open, its squeal nearly as loud as before. They're met with the sight of several wounded and dead soldiers. Someone has opened the small personnel doorway to the outside. Snow and wind howls through the opening.
Colonel Azarov runs to the door and checks outside. He motions for the doctors to hurry and join him. “We head for the center helicopter,” the Colonel says and exits the storage hangar with the doctors in tow.
They reach the center helicopter and, as instructed by the colonel, remove the large camouflage protective tarpaulin. The colonel had entered the helicopter as soon as they reached it and hurriedly begins going through pre-flight checks.
As the two doctors climb in, they secure the virus samples and documents with personnel harnesses. They then buckle themselves in and await takeoff.
The rotors begin to slowly turn. Slowly they build up speed until they’re a blur. After a few more seconds they lift off and bank to the right.
Colonel Azarov constantly checks his watch. He knows they don’t have much time to reach minimum safe distance. He hopes to at least be behind the next low mountain ahead and to his left.
Just as their helicopter begins to make a left turn to put the mountain between themselves and the facility, a blinding light fills the interior of the cockpit and personnel compartment.
Alarms begin to sound and then are silenced by the sound of a roar from the small exploding star behind them.
The entire tail boom is sheared off from the blast wave. The helicopter is spun counter-clockwise. Mercifully, the centrifugal force causes the three men to black out before the helicopter strikes the side of the mountain and bursts into flames.
The force of the spin also ejects the poorly secured cryogenic storage container. It lands in a snowbank below and will be found in a month, after an extensive search by the Soviets.
Chapter 32
Present
Thousands of them. Thousands of the infected come into view as they crest a small hill, their appearance like that of ants from the distance between the MRAP and their masses.
They’re converging on an area that remains out of view because of the vast numbers of the horde and the patches of mist and fog from the humidity. Jim has Jeremy stop the MRAP.
He climbs out of the turret and stands atop the vehicle to get a better view. Using the binoculars, he searches ahead of the mass of infected that are in various stages of closing in. Some are sprinting. Some are limping slowly, and others trot along. But all head to the same point.
Finally, Jim catches a glimpse. He’s overheard by those below in the MRAP saying, “God help them.” Climbing back down into the MRAP and sealing the turret, Jim looks to Jeremy and says, “Turn us around, son. We need to double back and put some distance between us and them.”
Jeremy begins to maneuver the MRAP, going
forward slightly, then veering to the right and then back to the left, making a U-turn in the shallow overgrown median.
Jim explains that what seems like a recently erected military base is being overrun by the infected. The thick and tall concrete T-Walls they used are being climbed by the mass of infected like ants crawling on top of each other. Any hope of giving assistance would likely mean the death of all in their group, and the likelihood of a bombing mission to try to save the military and possibly civilians trapped inside could cause the group to become collateral damage.
They make their way slowly to the north of the gathering, taking themselves more off their planned route. The sky clears as they travel and the temperature drops into the 40’s. Although the sky has cleared, time has passed and the sun is near setting. They top off their fuel from two semi-tractor trailers.
Pushing a few more miles north after fueling, they then turn south again and look for a place to stop. Once they settle on a location, Jim informs them that he wants to push a little further through the night. After they eat, he’ll nap and then drive some more without headlights, using the NVGs. He explains he’ll have to take it slowly because of driving without headlights. Even with night vision optics, it’s difficult to judge depth and distance as well as with light.
Everyone eats and Jim tries to nap. Chris takes first watch since Jeremy had been the last to drive. The rest of the occupants all drift off to sleep as well.
Chris hears his dad moving around and reports a few sightings but like before, if the vehicle isn’t moving or making noise, the infected pass it by. Only a few nearer ones give it more than a cursory inspection.
With a pat on his son’s back as he passes Chris stepping from the turret platform, Jim takes the driver seat. Waiting for Chris to get settled down on his air mattress, Jim then dons his NVGs, lets his eyes adjust and starts the MRAP.
Omega Pathogen: Mayhem Page 14
