“What are their chances?”
She arched an eyebrow. “You really want to know?”
Hell no. “Yes.”
“I hope they reach us before their symptoms get too bad, so we can help them pass relatively painlessly.”
Damn. She was talking euthanasia and he wanted lottery ticket odds.
“Have I shocked you?”
Yes. “No.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not about to spike the Kool-aid, but we can’t waste medical supplies on the dead and, trust me, they’ll beg for it.”
He shivered despite the warm breeze. Guess, he didn’t have to worry about her making the hard choices. Perhaps, she did it a little too easily.
She glanced at the back of the truck. “Maybe I should ride in the back with Sunnie.”
“No.” He tugged her toward the cab and opened the door. “She’s fine. She even feels a little better than yesterday. Now get up front. You’re holding up the convoy.”
Shaking her head, she climbed onto the bench seat and squeezed next to Robertson. “Don’t get used to bossing me around, soldier.”
“Don’t try to shirk your duty, Surgeon General.” David climbed inside and slammed the door shut.
Robertson started the engine and shifted into gear. Slowly, he turned the truck around in the cul-de-sac.
“That was only to get the people to listen to my broadcast.” Mavis drummed her fingers on the laptop. “Miles is alive and recovering. He’s leading the march from the Virginia bunker to some mines in the Appalachian Mountains.”
David set his hand on hers. God help him if he had to listen to drumming for the next several days. “How’s the base set in Colorado?”
“Everything I requested has been sent. And some I didn’t. Miles confiscated some technology from NASA that might help us.” She turned her hand over and laced her fingers through his. “We’ll have boots on the ground in about two hours, then I’ll have a better idea of what that the commandeered technology will do and how to use it.”
“Who-wee.” Robertson slowed as they approached the street. A truck hauling a horse trailer waved them into the opening. “No wonder you love the woman, Big D. She speaks military.”
Brown and red splotches covered what he could see. More rats poured into the street replacing those splattered like marinara sauce on the asphalt ten-fold.
“I can do more than that, Private Robertson.” She smiled wickedly.
David fidgeted in his seat.
“My cursing can make a soldier blush.” She straightened as the truck rumbled down the road. “What’s more, I can do it in twenty languages.”
“Really?” Awe-tinged Robertson’s voice. “You know all the swear words in twenty languages?”
Christ Almighty! He couldn’t let these two bond over profanity. He’d never get any rest. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a walkie-talkie. “Here. This is so you can keep in contact with Sunnie in the back.”
“Thank you.” She kissed his cheek. Her lips lingered for a moment. “Now let’s get out of here.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
Air raid sirens sounded over the city. The noise wailed down the debris strewn streets and over the smoldering buildings. Here and there, people stirred in the rubble. Finally, the siren faded and a woman began to speak.
“This is Doctor Mavis Spanner, Surgeon General and acting commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. On March Fifth, our country was attacked by a foreign government. Instead of bombs, the enemy used biological or germ warfare, specifically Anthrax.”
The ghostly figures straightened and stared at the speakers on the church bell tower.
“The spores were delivered in the plush toys promoting the new film Hatshepsut. Fire will not destroy them. As such, I have ordered the evacuation of all cities. Directions for your egress routes will follow.”
The ashen people stumbled among the debris, slowly gathering their meager belongings, before again facing the tower telling them what to do, how to survive.
“Anthrax is not contagious. While the sick cannot pass it to one another by coughing or sneezing, I ask that you continue to wear your face masks. The spores are in the air and the masks will protect you.”
More ashen creatures stumbled forward, swelling the crowd to a dozen. One hand rested on the scraps of fabric over their faces, the other on their bundles of belongings.
“The trek ahead will be long and dangerous. While we have laid on food, water, shelter and medicine along the routes, you will need to depend on one another to survive. You will need to stand for what is right, although there may be no one to witness your transgressions. Discord cannot be allowed to gain even a toehold or we may all still perish.”
The people on the ground stared at each other. A few shifted closer. One held himself apart.
“Please follow the routes. Please join us. Now, more than ever, every person counts. You count. And we need you. We can and we will overcome this tragedy. With your help and your hope, the human race shall remain.”
The people stood a little straighter as the woman’s voice faded away. Soon a man relayed instructions for their route. One by one they formed a train, helping each other over the rubble, murmuring words of encouragement.
They weren’t the strongest of the species.
Nor were they the smartest.
But so far they had survived an extinction level event.
They could adapt.
And the voice told them how to do it, promising them a chance to survive.
They would take it.
Thank you for purchasing a copy of Redaction. Look for the sequel, Redaction: The Meltdown coming late Summer 2012.
If you’re interested I have two scifi horror short stories available:
Intelligent Design: LifeNeeds Corporation’s Board of Directors are looking for the next big thing to meet the demands of an ever-changing market and fill their pockets. While the heads of LifeNeeds Research and Development departments scramble to survive in their cutthroat business, C’Bre Rah designs a marketing plan to die for. Will he save his project from budget cuts and make humanity the latest commodity hawked on the universal market? Intelligent design: Sometimes it’s better to make up your own purpose for being than to discover your creator’s true intent.
Kindle
Nook
2012: Winter Harvest: Out of the galactic equator comes a race intent on harvesting every last human on Earth. Now on the longest night one man and one woman will find the key to prevent the human race’s extinction.
Kindle
I’m also on twitter http://twitter.com/#!/LindaAndrews
And facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorLindaAndrews
And have a blog: http://lindaandrews.wordpress.com/
About the Author:
Linda Andrews lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband, three children and a menagerie of domesticated animals. While she started writing a decade ago, she always used her stories to escape the redundancy of her day job as a scientist and never thought to actually combine her love of fiction and science. DOH! After that Homer Simpson moment, she allowed the two halves of her brain to talk to each other. The journeys she’s embarked on since then are dark, twisted and occasionally violent, but never predictable. If you’ve loved one of her most demented creations so far, she’d love to hear from you at lindaandrews at lindaandrews dot net
Contents
Title page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
About the Author:
Redaction: Extinction Level Event (Part I) Page 48
