Black Flag | Book 1 | Surviving The Scourge

by Klapwyk, Dave

  Monique sat up in the snow. There was a throbbing pain where the bullet hit her. She touched her chest, expecting to feel the moist sensation of blood. Her fingers went through the hole in her coat and felt the large indentation in the bulletproof vest underneath. She got to her knees and looked towards the guest house which had lights flickering inside. The man that had shot her was running towards it.

  Her chest was on fire, but she managed to raise the pistol and point it at the man’s back and pull the trigger. The man fell to his knees and dropped into the snow. Monique ran by the dead man on her way to the guesthouse.

  Ayesha and Zach were shaken but not hurt, and Olivia was fast asleep on the couch.

  “Are we safe?” asked Zach.

  “I think so.”

  “Blender is really dead, isn’t he?”

  Zach was trying to hold back his tears, but when Monique held him in his arms, the dam broke, and he sobbed uncontrollably. Ayesha hugged them both and they all cried together. Roxie lay down on the floor next to them.

  Once they had regained some of their composure, Monique led them to the garage. “We’re leaving,” she said firmly.

  Zach looked at all the vehicles. “Can we take the police car?”

  “Yes, we can,” Monique answered.

  She double-checked the garage to make sure they were alone. Roxie followed Ayesha and Olivia into the back of the police car.

  “I have to go back into the house for a second to grab the bag with the extra ammo, but I’ll be right back,” Monique said. “Stay, Roxie, protect.”

  Despite their protests, she left them and ran back to the silent house. She had to walk over several bodies as she made her way to the study. As she grabbed the duffel bag from under the desk, she noticed the box. It was the box that she had seen Kevin filling with the family photos. She pulled the box out from under the desk and looked at the framed pictures. One was of a couple – he was bald and she was pretty. She also found a framed acceptance letter to a fancy university in the States. Her flashlight pointed up to the wall where the replacement pictures that Zach had printed were now taped to the wall. One had Laurel holding Olivia, another had Blender and Zach eating together. Beside it was a picture of Ayesha playing with the dog in the backyard. Another photo showed her, Kevin and Olivia posing together in front of the house like a happy family in front of their new house. She ripped the pictures off the wall and tore them into pieces, angry tears streaming down her face.

  She grabbed the duffel bag with the ammo and pepper spray and left the study. She said a quick prayer for Blender and picked up his shotgun. That’s when she noticed that Blender’s attacker was not there. The man that Roxie had bitten and that she had shot, was gone. She took off, running back to the garage. As she reached the side door to the garage, there was a gunshot, and a bullet shattered the wood siding beside her. She ducked and went through the door, closing it behind her. More gunshots rang out, and she could hear yelling.

  She re-opened the door, but stood beside it. She popped her head out briefly and saw Warren bleeding from his shoulder. He was walking towards the garage. She held the shotgun up, stood in the doorway and pulled the trigger. The gun stock smacked against her shoulder, and she stumbled backwards. There was a bright light, and a massive whoomph as the propane tank beside the house exploded.

  Monique ran to the car, but realized Zach was not in it. She looked to the other side of the garage and found Zach rifling through a box under a workbench.

  “What are you doing, Zach?” Monique asked. “You need to get in the car.”

  “I need to find something – got it!” he pulled a black rag out of the box and ran to the car.

  Monique turned the key and the car roared to life. She put it in gear and pushed the pedal to the floor. The push bar at the front of the car took the brunt of the impact as they crashed through the wooden garage door. Monique raced down the laneway, as the mansion burned behind them.

  “Wait!” yelled Zach as they passed through the open gate.

  Monique slammed on the brakes and the car slid a metre through the snow before stopping. “What?” she asked.

  Zach opened the door and ran to the mailbox. He carefully tied the black cloth to the little plastic flag on the mailbox. He stood by the mailbox for a moment watching Blender’s funeral pyre. The flicker of flames lit the tears streaming down his face.

  He ran back to the car and sat in his seat. “I can’t believe he’s gone.”

  They all sat in silence as they travelled down the dark, snow-covered road. Thoughts and emotions swirled around in Monique’s mind, as the snow swirled in front of the windshield.

  Blender is dead. We have no home or food. Laurel is gone. I don’t even know where I’m going or what I’m going to do. I'm looking after three kids and a dog by myself. Kevin, where are you? Are you coming back? Why didn’t you tell me this wasn’t our house? You fool. You knew. My shoulder hurts.

  They drove into the dark, cold night in the direction of Commerce City.

  Chapter 25

  Joe, Ben, Tank, Camille and Kevin slept through the night without event. They blocked the doorway to the stairwell and Tank slept at the top of the escalator. The rest of them slept in the bedding section. Sometime during the night, the emergency lights had died, and the power had not come back on. Early in the morning, Tank woke them up. “Rise and shine people. We need to get going before Raphael’s men find us.”

  Joe sat on the side of the bed and stretched. Ben was still sleeping in the bed next to him.

  Joe walked over and shook him. “Wake up, Ben. It’s time to go.”

  He didn’t wake up.

  Is he dead?

  Joe shook him harder, “Wake up!”

  Please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead.

  Finally, Ben stirred and opened his eyes. “Water,” he croaked.

  Tank came over and handed him a water bottle. “You don’t look so good.”

  Ben’s skin was pale, and his eyes were red. Tank checked his pulse.

  “I don’t feel so good.” Ben was struggling to sit up.

  “We need to get him to a hospital,” said Joe. “Everybody, get your winter gear on, we need to find a vehicle.”

  They donned their winter hats, gloves, and boots, grabbed their gear and walked down the escalators. Ben put his arm over Joe’s shoulders to help him walk.

  They didn’t hear or see Raphael or his men as they passed through the department store. The snowstorm had abated, and the sun was rising. The morning rays of sunshine glistened on the fresh snow that was left behind by the storm. It wasn’t windy, but it was cold.

  “Okay, someone has to find another vehicle,” said Joe. “Ben is in no shape to walk, and Camille shouldn’t either.”

  Tank spoke up. “I’ll stay here with Ben and Camille in case those men show up. You and Kevin can go find something.”

  Kevin and Joe trudged off making fresh boot prints in the snow.

  “I think I saw a couple of car dealerships up a few blocks when we came in,” said Joe.

  “Are you suggesting we steal a car?”

  “Unless you have a better idea. There are no buses or taxis, and I don’t think we can get an Uber.”

  “I suppose. Where is everybody anyway?”

  “Dead?”

  “Do you think Ben is going to die?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I hope Monique and the baby are okay.”

  “I’m sure they’re fine. Just like Blender, Laurel, Ayesha and Zach.”

  Down the road, they found two car dealerships. The closest one was a new vehicle dealer selling shiny Hummers and Buicks. The front glass windows were broken, and the indoor showroom appeared empty. Half the building was blackened from a recent fire, and a thin trail of smoke rose to the sky.

  “I’m thinking we might have better luck finding something at the used car dealership, further down.”

  Beside the new car dealer was Chateaugay Used Cars whic
h remained untouched.

  Joe found a rock to break the lock on the front door, but when he tried it, he discovered the door was already unlocked.

  “Maybe they’re open for business,” said Kevin.

  Joe opened the door. “Did you bring your credit card?”

  As soon as he opened the door they were hit by a wall of stench. Kevin almost puked but managed to swallow the acid bile that accumulated in the back of his throat. Joe covered his face with his scarf. “What is that smell?”

  “I don’t know,” said Kevin as he covered his nose with his mitt. “It can’t be good.”

  Joe looked behind the front counter and found the source of the smell. The rotting corpse of an older man was sprawled on his back on the floor. A frozen river of blood ran from his nose, mouth and ears to a frosted pool of red on the floor. His frozen eyes glistened as they stared up, sightless. A large silver cross on a chain sat on his chest, and a small red bible was clutched in his frozen white fingers.

  Joe tapped the body lightly with his foot. The body was rigid and frozen. “If it’s frozen, why does it smell?”

  The reason became apparent when they saw the other side of the body. The man’s sweater was pushed up, and blood, gore and entrails had leaked out.

  They heard a low growl, and a shaggy brown dog emerged from behind a filing cabinet. Its teeth were bared and red with blood.

  “Easy, boy,” said Joe and held out his hand.

  “Was he eating that guy?” said Kevin. “That’s disgusting!”

  “He’s been stuck in here with no food.” Ben reached into his pocket and pulled out some of his beef jerky. He unwrapped it and held it out. The dog stopped growling and moved closer.

  Joe beckoned the dog to come closer and eventually the dog snatched it from his hands almost taking one of his fingers with it. Joe reached down slowly to let the dog sniff his hands. With a barking growl, the dog snapped at his hand. Joe pulled it away just in time.

  “I’m going to find some water for this dog,” said Joe.

  “You do that. I’m not going anywhere near that beast. I’m going to see if I can find some keys.”

  Joe found the dog’s water dish, which was bone dry. When he tried to fill it with water from the tap, he realized the pipes were frozen. Instead, he let the dog outside where it lapped up some of the fresh snow.

  Kevin found the keys to an older model brown van with two rows of seats in the back. Kevin climbed into the driver’s seat, and Joe sat beside him. The dog sat outside the van, looking at them.

  “We’re not taking that eater of human flesh, are we?” asked Kevin.

  Joe got out of the van and opened the sliding door. The dog sat looking at him. Joe stepped back out of the way, and the dog hopped in. He slid the door closed and got back in the passenger seat.

  The dog sat upright, and alert in the seat behind them. When Joe reached behind him to pet the dog, it growled and snapped at him.

  “I guess he doesn’t like to be touched,” said Joe, pulling his hand back.

  “And you want this killer dog as a pet?”

  They drove back to the mall and pulled up to the door. Tank opened the door and the dog moved to the back of the van. Tank helped Ben in, who wasn’t looking any better. Camille got in beside Ben in the middle row, and Tank got in the back with the dog.

  “Good dog,” said Tank tentatively.

  “Careful,” yelled Kevin from the front, “That dog eats people.”

  There was a bark and a snap. “Son of a…” Tank yelled.

  “Told you!”

  Ben coughed and blood splattered on his hand.

  “Does he have the Scourge?” asked Camille. “Is he going to die?”

  “I don’t know,” said Joe.

  Kevin pulled out of the mall parking lot. “Do you know if there’s a hospital near here, Camille?”

  “Yes, Chateaugay General Hospital. You need to take a left at the next lights.”

  They didn’t see any other vehicles on the road, and the van made fresh tracks in the snow.

  As they pulled up to an intersection with traffic lights no longer lit, they heard the sound of a vehicle behind them.

  “We got company,” yelled Tank from the back. “Looks like a TAPV.”

  “A what?” asked Kevin.

  “A tactical armoured patrol vehicle.”

  “The army?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, I’m pulling over,” said Kevin.

  “We don’t have time for this,” said Joe. “We need to get Ben to a hospital.”

  The choice was made for them when an army jeep pulled out from a side street and blocked the road in front of them.

  Kevin slammed on the brakes, and the van slid to a stop just before colliding with the side of the jeep.

  A uniformed man got out of the passenger side of the jeep. He had a holster holding a sidearm but didn’t have it out. The driver stood outside his door with a large machine gun, but it wasn’t pointed there way at the moment.

  “I’ll handle this,” said Joe and got out of the vehicle with his hands in the air.

  “Vous ne pouvez pas être ici, vous devez rentrer chez vous,” the soldier barked, the steam puffing out into the cold morning air.

  Joe called back to the van. “Camille, you need to get out here.”

  She climbed out of the vehicle and said something to the soldier who responded in French.

  “What are they saying?” he asked.

  “They say we shouldn’t be out driving, and we need to go back home.”

  “Tell him we have a sick man, and we need to get to a hospital.”

  She spoke in French to the man who responded and got back in his vehicle.

  “What happened?” Joe asked. “Can we go now?”

  “They want us to follow them to the hospital.”

  They got back in the van and followed the jeep across town.

  “What happened?” asked Kevin. “What did they say?”

  “They said it’s not safe in the streets right now, so they will take us to the hospital.”

  Joe watched the houses go by as they drove. Garbage was piled up on the streets and many of the homes were boarded up. Some had black pieces of cloth or flags hanging in front of their house.

  “What’s with the black flags?” asked Joe.

  Camille answered from the back as Ben coughed intermittently. “That’s for the dead. If someone dies from the Scourge, you’re supposed to put a black flag out front, and they’ll pick up the body.”

  They drove up to Chateaugay General Hospital. There was a large noisy generator beside the parking lot. They pulled up to the emergency doors, and Joe helped Ben out. “I’m going to find a place to park, then we’ll come and find you,” yelled Kevin.

  The sliding doors opened, and Joe helped Ben through. The lights flickered.

  A male nurse with bright blue eyes ran up to them. “Puis-je vous aider?” he asked.

  Joe regretted not bringing Camille, but she spoke up behind him.

  Camille and the nurse spoke rapidly back and forth. The nurse looked briefly at Ben, then at Camille’s bandaged arm. He left for a moment before returning with a wheelchair. They followed him through a pair of large automatic doors, around ripped plastic sheeting.

  They walked down a hallway lined with patients on beds. It reminded Joe of St. Jude’s except not near as busy.

  “It’s not very busy,” said Joe.

  Camille and the nurse talked as they walked.

  “He says most Scourge patients have already died.”

  They entered a former cafeteria. It was now a makeshift hospital ward and was crowded from one end to the other with beds. Half of them were filled. There were no curtains or separators between the beds. Doctors and nurses walked the room tending to patients.

  “Does Ben have the Scourge?” Joe asked as they helped Ben, who was uncharacteristically quiet into the bed.

  Camille translated the question to the nurse who re
sponded.

  “He’s not a doctor or a nurse. He doesn’t know.”

  “He’s not a nurse? Is he a volunteer? Why would anyone volunteer at a hospital during a pandemic?”

  The nurse seemed to understand some of his questions. He stood in front of Joe, and his piercing blue eyes seemed to look into Joe’s soul. “Qui donne aux pauvres prête à Dieu,” he said and walked away.

  “What did he say?”

  “He who gives to the poor, loans to God.”

  A few minutes later, a nurse showed up and took some of Ben’s blood.

  Ben lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. Joe sat at his side. “Ben, are you okay? Should I be calling someone?”

  “No. There’s no one. My ex hates me, and my kids never even came to visit me in jail.”

  “Okay. If there’s anything I can do for you, let me know.”

  “I’m glad you’re here.” He coughed again, and his breathing was wheezy. “You’re the only friend I have left.”

  Beside them, Camille stood awkwardly. “In case you die, Ben, I just want to say that I’m sorry I hit you in the face yesterday.”

  Joe creased his brow and looked up at Camille. “He’s not going to die.”

  “No, it’s okay, Joe. She’s right, I’m not going to make it. Camille, it’s okay that you hit me. It means you’re tough. Tougher than me. You are going to survive in this crazy new world. I’m a nerdy overweight accountant. I was never going to make it.”

  Tears started to build in Joe’s eyes.

  A doctor came by with a clipboard. “Quel est ton nom?” he asked Ben.

  Camille translated. “He wants to know your name.”

  With Camille’s translation, Ben gave his name, age, birthplace and current address of residence.

  Then his tone turned somber as he relayed the news, they all knew was coming.