by Tim Moon
“Everyone get out and get in the other Humvee,” Ben said. He motioned for Oliver to come to him, but the boy climbed out of his own door and ran to the other vehicle.
Keanu stood up in the turret and let off a burst of rounds. The sudden noise of the machine gun was shocking. Ben flinched at the sound, but sprinted toward the driver’s side. Brass fell and clinked against the metal roof.
At the same time, Anuhea appeared. She came running, her hair flying wildly behind her. The gunshots startled Anuhea, but she had a determined look on her face and kept moving. She held the rifle with both hands, like a soldier charging toward the enemy.
“Run girl, run,” Keanu shouted at Anuhea.
A momentary flash of surprise crossed her face, but she didn’t slow down.
The remnants of the perimeter fence shuttered as dozens of bodies pressed up against it.
“We got everything?” she asked, panting.
“Yeah, we’re good,” Ben said.
“Who’s that?”
“The guy from the Brewing Company,” Ben said with a beaming smile.
She raised her eyebrows, but got into the Humvee. “That’s random.”
Keanu let off another burst. Ben glanced back toward the creeping mob. It was a terrifying sight and he was grateful that they were leaving.
Ben opened the driver’s door and said, “Okay, we’re outta here.”
“Wait! Hand me the 203,” Keanu said, slapping the roof to get Ben’s attention.
Ben pulled out the rifle and passed it up to Keanu. He pulled an oversize round from the vest he wore and loaded it into the short barrel of the launcher. He pulled the launcher barrel backwards and it clicked close. Then he flipped up a tall metal piece near the front of the rifle barrel.
“It’s a big crowd, right?” Keanu asked.
“Yeah,” Ben said, slowly.
The crowd began to surge around the tents. Ben could see them now. Shuffling toward them in their persistent, twitching gait, the infected were eager to sink their dirty fingers into their flesh. Others pushed against the fence, causing it to sway under their weight. None of them would be reaching their group. Not today.
“Not for long.” Keanu chuckled.
This dude is serious business, Ben thought.
With the rifle’s stock tucked under his arm and the barrel angled up, Keanu aimed at the crowd using the metal piece on the barrel. Ben heard a thunk, like a giant paintball gun, as Keanu fired the round. A moment later, there was a boom as the grenade burst. The grenade exploded right behind the leading edge of the infected. Smoke and dust rose from the small crater the round left in the hard ground. Bodies tumbled everywhere, either from the explosion or those falling over the dead or in the small dip created by the grenade. Nearly half of the crowd seemed to collapse, like morbid dominoes.
Keanu whooped and pumped his fist in the air. He looked at Ben with a smile. Ben gave their new friend thumbs up and looked at the damage.
Ben shook his head.
Just a couple of days ago, the Quarantine Center had bustled with activity, teemed with life, and buzzed electric with the hope of survival. Now, it was just a burned out husk, smoldering under the mid-morning sun.
“Let’s move,” Keanu shouted. He lowered the rifle down into the vehicle through the turret hole.
Ben looked up at Keanu. The big man fired another short burst from the machine gun. Ben blocked a casing with his hand that bounced off the roof and spun toward his face. Without wasting any more time, Ben ducked inside, put the Humvee into gear and pulled away from Kona’s Quarantine Center.
36
Ben pulled onto the Queen’s highway and drove north, away from the QC and the airport. He remembered that there was a scenic lookout along the highway with a large parking lot. When he spotted it about ten minutes later, he slowed down and pulled in.
“What’s happening here?” Keanu asked.
“Rest and figure out what’s next. Plus, I have to take a wicked wiz,” Ben said. Thankfully, the parking lot was almost empty. One car sat in the far corner on the south side of the lot. Ben parked in the farthest corner to the north.
Keanu nodded. He sat below the turret among the discarded shells. They rolled and clinked anytime the vehicle moved. Keanu stood up to look around. He dropped back down a moment later. “Looks clear. That car over there looks empty.”
“Fantastic,” Ben said, scrambling out of the vehicle. He ran on top of the rock wall and peed off the edge.
The rest of the group climbed out of the Humvee too.
“Can I get out?” Oliver asked.
“Of course, just stay close and don’t make too much noise okay?” Charlotte said with a smile. “We don’t want to attract any bad people.”
Oliver climbed out, ran over to the wall facing the ocean, and looked over the edge as best he could. The wall was waist high on Ben, but for Oliver it reached just above his shoulders. Ben finished his business and hopped down from the wall.
“Be careful, buddy,” he told Oliver.
Keanu looked around at everyone and said, “Hi, I’m Keanu. I remember a couple of you from the Brewing Company. I’m guessing you all saw the attack?”
“All of us except for that little guy,” Charlotte said. “Oliver, say hello to Keanu.”
The boy turned and walked over.
“Were you in the army?” Oliver asked, looking up at Keanu.
The big man nodded. “Yep, for six years before I joined the Coast Guard.”
“What’s the Coast Guard?” Oliver asked.
“It’s, um…well, the Coast Guard helps keep our country safe, like the army but in a different way. We sometimes stop bad guys on the water, but mostly, we rescue people who have accidents in the ocean,” Keanu said, clearly unsure how to describe it.
“Oh,” Oliver muttered. He bit his finger and nodded as though that left him with a lot to ponder. He turned away, walked back over to the rock wall that surrounded the parking lot, and looked toward the ocean.
Suddenly, Oliver ran over and poked Ben in the arm. Ben looked down.
“I’m hungry. Can we eat now?” he asked.
“Of course, grab an MRE from the back of the truck.” Ben pointed.
“I’ll help you, Oliver. I want a snack too,” Anuhea said, reaching out for his hand.
“Charlotte, do you think you could take a look at my leg?” Ty asked, limping to the Humvee. He leaned against the hood and looked at her.
“Sure. What did you do?” she asked.
“Cut it at the airport. When the…” Ty stared at the ground. “…alarm went off.”
“Lucky for you, I just stocked up. Sit down and I’ll take a look.” She went to retrieve her backpack.
Anuhea was already ripping open one of the boxes of MREs. She handed Oliver an MRE, which he tucked under his little arm and carried over to the wall. Ben walked over to get some water. He grabbed an armful of bottles and passed them out.
A few minutes later, Charlotte finished patching up Ty’s leg. She stood at the wall, washing her hands off with a bottle of water. Ben grabbed another bottle for her to drink and walked over to chat.
She smiled at him when he sat down on the wall beside her.
“Hawaii is so beautiful. Such a contrast to the infection,” Charlotte said. She looked over at Ben.
He nodded with a slight smile that never reached his eyes. She turned and glanced back at Ty, who sat on the ground next to the vehicle leaning back against it. Ben had seen the bandage she put on his leg, covering a long cut.
“Was it a bite?” Ben asked, watching her as she looked at Ty.
“No.” Charlotte shook her head. Her eyes met his and she smiled a little. “You two need to talk.”
Ben snorted, shaking his head. He didn’t want to deal with his friend’s failures just then. So, he looked out at the ocean. Having a brief rest was exactly what they needed to recharge after the day’s drama. He didn’t want to ruin that with an argument. They sat on the rock wall that ran a
round the perimeter of the viewpoint’s parking lot. Wave after wave of the Pacific Ocean pounded the rocky shoreline far below them.
Charlotte put her hand on his arm. “Don’t lose your best friend over this. No one knows how they’ll act in an emergency and not everyone can be brave.”
Ben clenched his jaw. She was right, but he was still too mad to acknowledge it. He felt that Ty owed everyone an apology for putting them all at risk not just once, but several times.
Charlotte looked over at Oliver. He was playing with the spoon from his MRE and rocks or something on the ground. “Are you doing okay, Olly?”
Oliver looked up, smiled at her, and kept playing, too engrossed in whatever fantasy was playing in his head.
“I guess we need a plan of some sort, huh?” Ben asked, mostly to himself. He sighed and stood up, dropping down off the wall into the parking lot.
Charlotte looked at him with curiosity and patted his back.
Ben left to get more water. He grabbed a few extras and did another round.
“Thanks,” Keanu said. He stopped stretching and began to gulp down the water.
Oliver smiled and tried to open his bottle.
“Need a hand?” Ben asked.
“Nope, I have two.” Oliver grunted and strained and finally the plastic lid began to turn. “See!”
“Good joke.” Ben rolled his eyes.
Anuhea tossed an MRE to Ben as he approached.
“Finally, some rest,” she said to Ben. “And a delicious meal.”
Ben laughed. “You did a great job at the QC.”
“Thanks.” She was sitting on the ground with the contents of her MRE spread out around her.
Keanu sat down near them, forming a small circle in the parking lot. “How did all of you guys meet?”
“Ty’s a friend of mine from college. We went to South Korea to teach English this past year and then we came here for a vacation,” Ben said.
“Together?”
“As friends.” Ben laughed.
“Sorry, man. You never know.” Keanu’s face turned red.
“No problem,” Ben said, still chuckling. “Charlotte is Anuhea’s friend, so that’s how we met and I grabbed Oliver at the triathlon in Kona.”
“Excuse me?” Keanu shot him a suspicious look. “You grabbed him?”
“Ah, sorry. He was about to be attacked by one of the infected and no one else was helping him.”
“No shit?”
“Yeah. He was lying in the road crying and people just ran past him,” Ben said, replaying the scene in his mind.
“You’ve got balls, brotha,” Keanu said, patting him on the shoulder. “Not many people can do something like that.”
“Thanks.” Ben felt shy about it. He wasn’t trying to be ballsy, he just couldn’t live with himself if he’d walked away. “I surprised myself.”
“Good thing, too, it would have been bad juju to turn your back on him.” With a grin, Keanu continued snacking on his MRE.
Ben leaned back on his hands. The air smelled fresh, clean, and slightly salty thanks to the ocean. He felt lucky and a profound sense of gratitude for the friends who helped him make it this far. So many people hadn’t.
Strange how things work out, he thought.
“What I wouldn’t give for a shower or a dip in the ocean right now,” Anuhea said. “We all look and smell like…”
“Death,” Keanu said.
They were quiet for a few minutes.
“Does anyone’s phone work?” Ben pulled his out to check for service, but it looked like it was completely out.
It didn’t work except when there were infected around, he thought bitterly. At that moment, his phone didn’t even have one measly bar. Not one.
Ben thought about his mom sitting at home, worried sick about him. He hated the thought. Hopefully, she could be strong, stay hopeful, and safe. He didn’t want her to leave the house. Surely, she had enough medication to last a few weeks.
Then he thought about his dad in Colorado and the strange text message he’d sent a few days ago that sounded rather ominous. Not to mention the messages in the parking lot that almost killed him. He wasn’t sure what it all meant and he still hadn’t told anyone that he had received any messages. A twinge of guilt struck him. What could he tell them about the messages? He rationalized it as a private family conversation.
“Nope. My battery’s dead,” Keanu said.
Anuhea shook her head. “My phone got lost at the triathlon.”
Something had happened to Ty’s phone too, although Ben wasn’t sure what. Charlotte’s broke or got wet? In any case, it looked like Keanu and Ben were the only ones with phones. With no service though, it didn’t really matter much. Ben wanted so desperately to call his mom. He was annoyed that the phone didn’t work even though he knew that was absurd. Who was going to work at a time like this?
Ben had to focus on the problems right in front of him or he’d spiral out of control, overwhelmed by the big challenges. Right now, they needed shelter, more water, and something better than old army food to eat. Especially Oliver, he was the most fragile among them because he was so young.
“Isn’t there a gas station nearby?” Ben asked.
“It’s further north, where you turn to head out to Mauna Kea. Why?” Anuhea asked.
“We should get juice and better food for the little guy,” he said.
Anuhea ate slowly while she inspected her weapon.
Ty still sat on the ground, leaning his head back against the Humvee.
Ben cleared his throat. “Hey, where do you two think we should go? It’s getting late and you two know the island best.”
Keanu looked up with a mouthful of crackers. Crumbs cascaded down his chin and stuck to his t-shirt.
“We could always head back to the hotel you guys had?” Anuhea said.
Ben gave her a look. “Come on.”
“Where are you guys trying to go?” Keanu asked, dusting his shirt off.
“Well, actually, I was wondering what you had planned for dealing with this…outbreak or whatever,” Ben said. He felt weird asking but with everything happening, it was important to know where everyone stood, especially since they didn’t really know the guy. Hell, the only person Ben really knew was Ty and he wasn’t even sure about that anymore.
“Yeah, that. My plan, I guess, was to wait at the Quarantine Center for my brother to show up. He lives near Hilo, but I haven’t heard from him for a while now,” Keanu said. “So, I think I need to check in on him. It’s unusual for him not to follow through like that.”
“I understand,” Ben said with a nod. “I’m sure he’s safe.”
“Thanks.” A flash of worry passed over Keanu’s face, but he put on a tough face. He cleared his throat, rubbed his face and looked toward the ocean. “Great view from here. You can almost forget what’s happening.”
“Almost,” Ben said, shifting his position on the ground. His butt was starting to fall asleep and the tingling sensation in his legs was painful.
They still had a few good hours of daylight before the sun started to set.
“I can’t speak for everyone else, but I want to get back home. I live in Washington State, although I doubt that’s happening any time soon,” Ben said, glancing at Keanu. “Unless you have ideas about how we can get off of this island?”
Keanu looked at him for a moment. “I suppose if Kona had a QC and an airport evacuation plan, they should have one at Hilo’s airport.”
“Do you think?” Anuhea asked, looking up from her rifle. “I figured they had consolidated their efforts and focused on just one airport. Since more people were in Kona for the triathlon, it’d make sense.”
“I don’t know, but it might be worth checking on,” he said, shrugging his big shoulders.
“How long would it take for us to get there?” Ben asked.
“If we cut across near Mauna Kea, I’d say less than two hours. That’s assuming the road is clear and we don’t r
un into big groups of those infected things,” Keanu said.
“If we left right now, it’d be getting dark by the time we got there. I doubt driving through Hilo will be easy,” Anuhea said.
“I don’t like the sound of that. It’d be better to find a place to hole up for the night over here and leave in the morning.” Ben nodded in agreement. “I think I know a place we can try.”
“Oh?” Anuhea raised an eyebrow at him.
“Do you mind if I stick with you guys until we get to Hilo?” Keanu asked.
“I’m cool with that,” Ben said. “We’re headed that way, so we can probably drop you off at your brother’s house. And if you two want to join us, I’m sure we can fit one more in the beast.” Ben patted the Humvee like a good dog.
“Sounds like a plan,” Anuhea said with a grin. “Tell us about this place you think we can try.”
Ben smiled.
37
Altoona, PA
Vanessa dressed and returned to the kitchen. Steve was still washing dishes, obviously lost in thought and not in any rush at all.
“Do you mind if I sit in here?” she asked.
He glanced over his shoulder at her. Their eyes met for just a moment.
Vanessa thought he was handsome, not in a hot, sexy kind of way. More of the wholesome, take home to mom and dad type of guy. She couldn’t see this going anywhere, but she enjoyed his presence.
“Sure, no problem.” He turned back to the dishes.
“I’m going to make a few calls to check on our progress.”
Steve’s head shot up. His jaw dropped open.
“What? You still have your cell phone?” he asked.
“Yes, I have to call some of my people and figure out our next steps.”
“I thought you ditched it at the coffee shop.” He turned from the sink, walked over and leaned on the table, glaring at her. “You must be kidding me. You know they can trace where you are with that. Why didn’t you destroy it at the cafe or after we left? I thought you said you guys had great security?”
“It’s a burner phone. I’ll ditch it later. No one outside of EoT even knows that I have it,” Vanessa said defensively. She was caught off guard. He was right, she had told him about their security. However, she had meant their encrypted internet communications and computer security. His anger made her nervous and it began to dawn on her that he might be right.
