Thumbing his cell, David bounced his head against the headrest. He should call her? And say what? I want you. What would that accomplish? If Mavis had the influenza she was going to die and there wasn’t a damn thing he or his desires could do to stop it.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Mavis popped the lozenge in her mouth—the third in an hour. She’d have the trots if she kept this up, but she’d pay that price to douse the fire in her throat. Standing on her front porch, she watched Marines, Soldiers and Airmen unload their sick comrades from the trucks in the smoky haze.
All of them coughed.
All of them were infected.
It just didn’t make sense. She was missing something, something important. How could so many of them become infected in so short a period of time? She could see it if someone had pneumonic plague. One cough or sneeze would infect a tent full of men, but this…?
She compressed the cough drop wrapper into a tight ball.
And she still hadn’t found Patient Zero.
The infection had practically sprung up everywhere at once.
What had she overlooked? She coughed into a handkerchief as Captain Doom-and-Gloom lumbered up to her.
With his black hair and blue eyes, he’d be nice looking if he weren’t such a sourpuss. The creases on his Air Force ACUs were tucked in just so and his hat firmly on his head as he strode over to her. He ran his thumb over the bridge of his nose, no doubt checking to see if his mask was still in place. “We’ve got an unknown subject with what appears to be farm animals approaching from the west. What are your orders, Ma’am?”
Mavis blinked. Farm animals? Farm animals. Doh! The fresh milk her neighbors had talked about.
“Let them into the park.” She raised the handheld computer and indicated the green zone bisecting her neighborhood. “Post guards near the drainage ditches. I don’t want any coyotes munching on our livestock.”
Above the mask, Captain Doom-and-Gloom’s eyes narrowed so much they practically disappeared. “It would be better for my men to set up the tents in that area, Ma’am. Keep the sick away from the healthy.”
Mavis counted to three. This wasn’t her first picnic, yet the man acted like she’d never made a sandwich before. So different from David. David. She sighed. Lister had said he’d been grazed but that he’d recover. She turned her cell phone over and over. Should she call and check on him and… And what? Just because she thought they had something didn’t mean he reciprocated.
But the next time she laid eyes on the man, she’d definitely find out. One way or another.
Captain Doom-and-Gloom cleared his throat.
She swallowed. The pain caused by the simple act scattered thoughts of her army liaison. What had she and the Airmen been talking about? Two Marines carried an occupied litter into the house across the street. Right. Bivouacking the troops.
“You have neither the man power nor the equipment to level the ground to erect the tents. Plus, the sick should not be out in the cold when the homes have some semblance of heat and protection from the elements.”
The captain opened his mouth.
She raised a hand to forestall his arguments. “Furthermore, we’re going to have to bug out of the city in the next few days and there’s no point putting the tents up only to bring them down again.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Yes, Ma’am.”
“Sequester the sick in this row of homes.” Angling the map so he could see it better, she pointed to the strip of houses running parallel to her street. “Use these five for the kitchen and mess halls.” She indicated the cul-de-sac that backed up to hers. “We need to consume the perishables first. Save the MREs for the trip out of town.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Doom and Gloom about-faced with military precision.
“Oh, Captain.” She waited until the airman stopped. “Send the farm animal lady to me, will you?”
“Yes, Ma’am.” He muttered something under his breath as he stalked away.
With her ears clogged, she couldn’t make out the words but it was definitely unflattering. Oh well, she was here to keep them alive so Sunnie had a chance to live.
She checked the handheld again and backed the map out until the interstate came into view. The screen blanked as the information updated in real-time from the satellites. When the images returned, the display was still the same. The roads out of town were jammed with cars that were out of gas and abandoned.
They needed a route from the city big enough to allow vehicles. A convoy of vehicles. Yet, gas was limited among the military as well. And the big vehicles didn’t get very many miles to the gallon. This meant they wouldn’t get very far.
Could they make it to Campe Verde? If so, they would be able to jog east and maybe make it to the Rim before the nuclear power plant melted down. Following the map north along the interstate, Mavis felt her heart sink at the packed column of cars. Even if they started clearing the vehicles now, they wouldn’t have a clear route for days, maybe even a week.
Shoving aside the abandoned cars and trucks would use up fuel they couldn’t afford to waste.
Mavis crunched on the lozenge and gasped at the explosion of eucalyptus essence. Shuddering, she swallowed the goo down.
“You wanted to see me?” The woman before her was dressed in a paisley blouse and worn, blue jeans. Scuff marks dulled the tips of her brown cowboy boots. In her arms, a baby goat fed from a pink bottle. With her elbow, she pushed up her floppy straw hat and peered at Mavis from behind wire sunglasses.
“Are you the…” Mavis groped for the woman’s name. Nada. The fever was a curtain rising and falling on her thoughts. “… the goat lady?”
“Yep. That’s me.” The kid goat tugged on the nipple until she tilted the bottle higher. “I’m the goat lady. I was told to bring them here for grazing.” She glanced over her shoulder. More servicemen and women crawled from the trucks to make their way to the abandoned houses. “Didn’t realize this was where the military had relocated to. The news just said they were abandoning their posts.”
Mavis closed her eyes for a moment. Crap! She’d forgotten the stupid media. Leave it to them get things wrong. No doubt a few good citizens were panicking and looting and… She shut the thought down. One thing at a time. Anything more and her head might explode.
“Say, are you okay?” Tucking the baby bottle under her chin, Goat Lady reached for Mavis’s forehead as if to take her temperature.
Mavis stepped back. “I’m sick, and you should be wearing a mask. Many of the soldiers have symptoms of Ash Pneumonia.”
Goat Lady shrugged. “I’ve been outside since the Redaction started. Haven’t gotten sick yet.” She juggled the baby goat in her arms. “Neither have my animals, but then again, I’ve been giving them antibiotics every day.”
Antibiotics only worked on bacteria. The influenza was caused by a virus. Not the same thing at all. Mavis shook her head. That didn’t matter right now. The animals were important, although her brain stuttered over the reason why. She coughed and her throat caught fire. She reached into her pocket for another lozenge. Empty. Darn it!
“What did you want to see me about?” Goat Lady adjusted her hold on the kid.
What indeed? Mavis cleared her throat, stoking the fire. After she found her missing thought, she’d go inside and make herself a cup of tea with honey. Then she’d write everything down on sticky notes and plaster them to her forehead so she didn’t have to depend on her brain.
“Dr. Spanner?” Goat Lady pushed the brim of her straw hat up again.
The kid goat eyed Mavis.
Why, by all that’s holy, had God given the creatures square pupils? It was downright spooky. She shook her head. “Animals.” Yes, that sounded right. That was what she wanted to talk about. “How many animals do you have left in your neighborhood?”
“Aside from my personal stock, there’s probably twenty or so horses that I’m taking care of, chickens, roosters and, of course, the peacocks. Not that I
take care of them. Mean buggers. They can fend for themselves.”
“Horses?” That could be useful. They could pull wagons of people and supplies. No gas required. Hope rioted in Mavis’s gut. People didn’t need cars to cross the country. And the animals should be able to move faster than people walking, especially, if they were sick.
“Yes.” Goat Lady’s brow furrowed. “Twenty or so that I’m taking care of.” She repeated slowly. “There are more in the neighborhood, maybe another dozen or so. But their owners are still alive.”
“What about wagons?” Mavis licked her lips. She really needed a drink. Brandy in hot tea would quench the fire in her throat. Maybe she’d skip the tea and use the alcohol to combat the fever.
“I don’t think we have any wagons.” Goat Lady settled the kid over her shoulder. “But there are plenty of horse trailers.”
“There’s not enough gas or vehicles.” Mavis refused to be defeated. There was a solution somewhere. “We’re going to need the animals to help us evacuate.”
Goat Lady’s jaw thrust forward as she focused on a gum pepperoni on the cement. “So the military is leaving the city?”
“Anyone who wants to live will need to evacuate.” Mavis glanced west, toward Palo Verde. Blue skies as far as she could see. Somehow she expected to see black clouds and ravens circling the nuclear power plant. The illness was affecting her more than she thought.
“But this is my home.” Goat Lady hugged the kid so tight it bleated. “I raised my children here.”
“It’s about to become a nuclear wasteland.” Mavis swallowed despite her dry mouth. “And the only things those who stay here will be raising are cancers and radiation sickness.”
“If that was true the government would have told us.”
“I’m the government and I’m telling you.” Mavis raised the handheld. The Rim country, with its iron filled mountains, seemed so far away.
“I’ve never heard of you before Doctor Spanner. So you’ll forgive my scepticism.” Goat Lady rubbed the kid’s back. “Sure, the President is ill and parts of the city are burning, but that’s not affecting us yet. And, no one said anything about leaving our homes.”
Sometimes anonymity was a bitch. She rolled her shoulders. Aches invaded her joints. Her fever must be spiking again. Aspirin. Tea with honey. A splash of brandy. Why couldn’t people just believe her? Life would be so much simpler. Of course, she could order the military to confiscate the animals, but that would only go so far.
And then there was the matter of their care.
She knew less about tending a horse than life on alien planets—which equated to a big fat zero. No, ordering people about wouldn’t work. They had to be convinced it was for their own good. Then Goat Lady would tell her neighbors and everyone would be on board. An idea popped through the fog. “Do you know what the Surgeon General looks like?”
“Of course.” Goat Lady arched a salt and pepper eyebrow. “He’s more important than the President right now.”
“Good. Come with me.” Turning, Mavis marched into her house, the camp’s temporary headquarters despite her and Sunnie’s illness.
Mr. Quartermain, his grandson Justin and the rest of her neighbors plus a handful of servicemen filled her living room getting a crash course on recording vitals on a handheld medical device from the lead doctor and two of his nurses.
Eighty-year old Nani separated from the pack and shuffled into the kitchen.
Acknowledging the training group with a nod, Mavis flopped down at her dining room table and grabbed her laptop. After making sure her fingerprints registered, she opened the computer and typed in her password.
Footsteps sounded behind her. Goat Lady had decided to follow.
Mavis stared at the screen’s reflection. And with the kid goat no less. After a moment, the operating system loaded, and she clicked on the video chat link.
Miles Arnez slept in his high back office chair. His mouth hung slightly open and a soft snore floated out.
Too bad she couldn’t record this. It would prove that the man snored once and for all. “Miles.”
The train of snores remained firmly linked.
“Miles.” Mavis raised her voice. The people in the great room hushed. Miles slept on. “Miles Arnez!”
He snorted up a snore then shook his head. Fever brightened his eyes. He blinked at the screen while his hands crawled over his desktop. “Mavis?”
“Yes and your glasses are on top of your head.” Was it sleep or the illness that had roughened his voice? Probably both.
After raking the readers off his nearly bald scalp, he perched them on his nose. He blinked again then leaned forward so the camera detailed every one of his pores. “Is that a goat? Or have I had one too many medicinal cocktails?”
“It’s a goat, but I wouldn’t rule out the cocktails if I were you.”
Nani set a mug of peppermint tea next to Mavis’s elbow before trudging over to the others. Not that they were continuing with their medical training. Every ear was on her and her conversation.
“Smart ass.” Miles shook his head. “So what did you wake me for? Not more bad news, I hope.”
Lately, it was always bad news. She didn’t want to burden her friend further. But this was one problem only he could solve. “I need you to confirm for the Goat Lady that I will be authorizing a full-scale evacuation of Phoenix within the next forty-eight hours.”
“Forty-eight hours? I’d say send the notice now, while the emergency alert system is still powered. With the last sims you sent, you’re going to need to leave before then. The call to abandon the East coast is supposed to go out tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, the routes haven’t been nailed down so no supplies are waiting for the evacuees.”
Goat Lady sucked in a breath. “It’s true?”
Miles pointed through cyberspace at her. “Consider yourself lucky. We’re looking at a near zero chance of survival for those on the Eastern Seaboard. Too damn many power plants.”
“I’ll get the word out. We’ll round up our supplies and every available animal and transport.” Goat Lady dumped the kid into Mavis’s arms then turned on her heel. “We’ll be back in thirty-six hours. Don’t leave without us.”
The kid goat nibbled on the ends of Mavis’s hair.
She tried to hold the creature away from her body but it wiggled and squirmed. Good Lord what if she dropped it?
Smiling, Nani held out her arms. “I’ll take him.”
“Thanks.” Mavis handed it over then wiped her hands on her pants. That was worse than a baby.
Miles’s laughter boomed through the laptop. “You should have seen your face, Mavis!” He took off his glasses to wipe his eyes. “Priceless. Absolutely priceless. However did you manage to take care of a baby?”
Her cheeks heated. “Jack took care of it.”
Babies were such fragile things; it was a wonder they survived. Her son might not have, if it hadn’t been for her husband.
But then, neither had outlived her.
She glanced toward their pictures on the mantel. She really wished they were here now, to help her through this.
Nani cleared her throat. “Well. That’s enough training. Let’s go put what we’ve learned into action.”
Her neighbors and the service men and women slipped out of the room.
Mavis sipped her tea. The peppermint and heat soothed her throat. She waited until the door snicked shut. “Something’s bothering me about the way this disease is spreading.”
“Tell me about it.” Miles scrubbed a hand down his face. “It seems to have popped up everywhere at once.”
“Exactly. Do you think it’s possible that the old strain mutated while it was inside us then resurfaced, like chicken pox returning as shingles?”
“We can’t find any sign that it’s changed enough to become a new strain.”
She blew the steam off her tea. “What if it’s something else?”
Miles rolled his eyes, coughed and then opene
d the drawer of his desk and pulled out a lozenge. “The idiots below are spouting such nonsense as terrorist attacks.”
“They’d have to have some big money backers to infect so many people simultaneously.” She dismissed the thought but it surfaced again. Was it the fever making false connections or something else? “And we would have picked up on chatter if the cells embedded in the US were launching a coordinated attack.”
“The minimum intelligence agencies haven’t noticed anything.” He frowned, while twisting the lozenge free of its wrapper. “Hell according to them, the Redaction was on our side and wiped them all out.”
“No one quite knows where the influenza strain came from.” She shrugged and sipped from her mug.
“To launch something this deadly it would have to come from either Russia or China.” He popped the red oval in his mouth. “Both have had their military pretty much wiped out.”
“This makes biological warfare all the more attractive.” She rubbed her neck. The ache didn’t diminish. “Of course, there is the matter of delivery.”
“Exactly. And motive? What do they hope to gain?” Miles steepled his fingers. “Both countries are still quarantined and we haven’t received any new stuff. The merchandise from China that had been sitting on the dock for the last six months is just now being distributed.”
“So what have we missed?”
“I wish I knew.” He sighed and leaned back in his chair. The leather creaked as it adjusted to his weight.
Mavis shivered. Damn, she’d forgotten to take an aspirin. “We’ll figure it out.”
Miles closed his eyes. “At the rate this disease is spreading, even if we knew what it was tomorrow, it would still be too late.”
Her sigh rippled across her tea. She had a feeling he was right.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
“We did good today.” Henry yelled over the drone of the green ATV. His wheelchair rattled around the empty trailer attached to the back of the vehicle as he drove over the speed bump.
Manny jerked on the seat as he twisted the gas handle. Clenching his teeth, he eased up. Even after driving six of the ATV’s back to Connie’s, he still sped up and slowed down. How did the old man keep the pace steady? “We have enough vehicles and supplies, just not enough people to drive them.”
Redaction: Extinction Level Event (Part I) Page 36
