He turned. “Well I don’t believe that’s it’s just a rumor. Of course, you are quite right, people won’t be able to just go back to their old lives. But could you imagine a world where we don’t have to worry about infection anymore? Where we can start going back out and reclaiming what is rightfully ours? Now of course, I’m only saying and acting on this because I have proof. I have reports of people being immune. They’re out there, beyond our home. Out there, where there are no walls to protect them.”
My temper flared. “If you had me brought here because you think I know of these supposed people then you’ve lost your bloody mind. Matter of fact I- “His hand flew out and slapped me across the face. I fell from the force of the slap but the captain grabbed me by the shoulders and held me up.
Romero stepped forward and screamed in my face. “Don’t ever assume anything! Don’t even try to order me or even defy me in any way! You will listen to me and only speak when I give you leave!” he stepped back, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. A vein was pulsing in the middle of his forehead. I stared at his red face and wished with my heart I could stab him right through his eyes. “Now. Where were we?” He ran a hand through his short hair. He had gone back to being cool and composed as he was always seen as, especially in the public eye. “Ahh yes, the immunes.” He turned back to his maps. “See there are still reports of infected attempting to break through our walls and people becoming infected every day. We need those people to develop a vaccine. To keep my people, our people safe.” He turned to look at me. He put hands on either side of my face, cupping it gently. “Alice, I need you to understand. Without those people we are going to die out eventually. How is the human race supposed to come back when we’re dying faster every day?” He was way too close for my comfort. His breath smelt like he was smoking directly in my face, even though the cigarette was being held in his hand. I could feel the butt of it on my cheek. It felt like whispers that someone would bestow on a lover. He licked his lips slightly, and stared into my eyes. I stared back, determined to not blink or look away. I would not admit submission to him. After a moment he finally backed off, his hands lingering on my face.
“The reason you’re here is because you’re one of the best. My ‘eyes’ have seen how you handle yourself. Especially today. That was quick thinking, pulling the body over you disguising you scent from those things. Normally that would result in being locked up if not death. You were directly exposed to that nasty virus. Which raises all sorts of concerns, but I won’t bother us with them now, seeing as how you’re not infected. Which is what people are told to keep everyone in. As I told you earlier you help keep the peace, so I don’t have it enforced with you and a few others. You are seen as a Robin Hood figure, in a sense. Except that you’re not thief when there’s no one to steal from. But,” he sat down behind his desk, playing with his shirt, “I need someone to find these immunes and bring at least one back for me.”
I frowned at him. So, his ‘eyes’ were the ones watching me. Were they the ones in the gas masks? Was that them or just random people? “What you’re saying is that you want me to go out farther than I’ve ever gone to bring back someone who is immune to this crap so you can develop a vaccine. Now my question is this.” I stepped up to his desk. “Will the vaccine be used for everyone? Or the select few that you handpicked? And why can’t your ‘informers’ bring them in? And what am I supposed to tell these people? Hi, my name is Alice. I’m here to take one of you from your family so we can use you as a guinea pig because you’re immune and we really need some kind of vaccination to this disease so the human race doesn’t entirely die out.”
He chuckled. “Oh Alice. If you do this for me, then your family will be well provided for, for the rest of their days. No more worrying about food or shelter. I would take them in and feed them from my table if that is what it took for you to do this for me. My informers they can’t bring them in because its none of your business. They have their reasons for being out there. To collect immunes is not their responsibility.”
I stared down at my feet. To keep my family safe was what was most important to me but this man was a known liar. He’s a powerful man, fingers everywhere. If he wanted my family to starve he could do that or he could give them enough, more than just to get by. I looked up at him. “What if I say no, will I be executed for breaking the law? Or if I say yes, what happens if I die out there? What will happen to my family?”
He smiled. The same smile he always did but here, in person the smile didn’t reach his eyes and it was terrifying. “As long as you take your usual precautions nothing will go wrong. Captain, see that she is outfitted with the weapons of her choice and the necessary supplies that she will need.” His eyes flicked to the man behind me.
The captain grasped my elbow again and steered me out of the room.
Chapter four… Does it have to be goodbye
I didn’t have long. How was I going to explain everything in ten minutes? There was just so much going on too fast. I didn’t even have the energy to spare to be upset or angry, I was absolutely focused on what I needed to do. Ten minutes, just ten minutes to retrieve my weapons and tell Jack what he needed to do. As soon as the SUV came to a stop, the soldier on my right slid out. The captain slid out of the front seat just as my feet hit the ground. While the soldier, who had slid out in front of me undid the handcuffs that bound my wrists together, the captain pulled out his watch and stared at it. As soon as my hands were free, in a booming voice he announced. “Ten minutes. If you come out at ten minutes and one second we will come in and drag you out.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. I raced up the steps and slammed the door open. I kicked it shut behind me. “Jack!” I yelled. I rustled through the stand that was sitting in the hall, underneath the stairs. There had to be a pen in here, plenty of paper but no pen. Footsteps came running down the stairs. “What’s wrong? Where were you all night?”
It was mom. My heart plummeted. “I need to talk to Jack. I need to explain things to him, and well I guess that you’d better listen too.”
She nodded, the tone of my voice informing her this was not the time for questions. “I’ll get him.” She ran back up the stairs. She knew when to ask questions, and when to act. I couldn’t be more thankful at that point.
I went back to rummaging for a pen. I was throwing paper and office supplies all over the floor but time was of the essence here. I couldn’t waste one second by moving everything nicely and organizing it. Emmie would be furious if she could see this mess. I finally found one in the back of the drawer, it was almost the last thing in the drawer. Of course. I started scribbling on a piece of paper that somehow hadn’t made it onto the floor. Both Jack and my mom came scrambling back down the stairs. Jack only in a pair of shorts, my mom in a nightgown. I only hesitated a moment before shoving the paper into Jack’s hands, there was no time to debate if they could handle it or not. I knew Jack could, but mom. I honestly didn’t know, but she was here. Maybe it would be better for her to hear it from myself, not just second hand from Jack. “Now listen, I only have minutes left. I have to go, I don’t know when or if I’ll be back. But if in two weeks you haven’t heard from me you need to contact the man that I wrote down on the paper. He’ll help you get out.”
“But why do you have to leave? I don’t know what’s going on.” Jack murmured angrily.
“I know. I know. And I’m so sorry. Just do this. In two weeks if you haven’t heard from me and if soldiers start showing up it’ll be time for you to go. Contact this man. Please. Please just trust me on this.” I pleaded.
Jack nodded reluctantly. My mom wrapped her arms around me. “I love you. Come home soon, don’t make us wait too long, ok?”
I hugged her back but only for a moment. I didn’t want to leave. If I didn’t make it back she’ll have lost dad and me. I squeezed my eyes shut, I’ll make it back. I reluctantly pulled myself away. If I didn’t I wouldn’t let go of her. I watched her wipe tears from he
r face. But I couldn’t offer her any more comfort, I was running out of time. I lifted my backpack off of its hook, I almost never emptied it of the necessities. It was still loaded and ready to go, with my machete hanging from one of the straps and my pistol buried inside of it. With my other hand I lifted my bow and arrows. It wasn’t much but it was all I had. But I’d rather use what I had than anything that Romero would offer me. Illogical yes, but I didn’t trust him one bit and I didn’t need anything else held over my head. At the door I turned to look back, I had one more thing to tell them. I looked at mom.
“In the top drawer of my dresser, behind all my clothes, is Dad’s gun. There’s not much ammo but what’s there should be enough.” I turned my gaze to Jack. “And Jack, Lily’s present is up in the attic. It’s inside a purple suitcase. Give that to her for me, will you?”
Jack nodded. “I will. And I’ll keep everyone safe, I promise.”
Despite the situation a surge of warmth surged through me. “I knew you were a good egg Jack. Good luck.”
I turned and left the building, leaving them all behind me. I did all I could for them, now it would be up to me getting back home in time. If I didn’t, then if they did what I told them to do they would make it out alive. If they didn’t follow my directions then that would be on their heads not mine. I’ve done all I can do for them for now. I pushed them out of my head and focused on staying alive.
Chapter five… Going on a road trip
I stood outside, fidgeting. My backpack was sitting by my feet, with my bow resting on it. My backpack was laden down with food, water and medical supplies that I might need. It was mouthwatering, watching them load the food in. Most of it was freeze dried but it was food that I haven’t seen in so long, I couldn’t wait to devour it. There was fruit, vegetables, coffee, oatmeal, soup, and those were the ones that I was able to see. They had also put in what looked like protein bars and either smoked or dried meat. At least I would be eating good. My stomach rumbled just thinking about it. I crossed my arms across my chest and turned away to stare at the gate.
The gate was one massive door that would slide to the side when opened. It ran off of a motor that they hastily built off to the side. The door was made of steel, or at least I think it was made of steel. Since the infected overran everything I hadn’t seen the door open, not that I hung out over here anyways. Before what was left of the population had been forced to move inside the gate would be left open, it was the last resort. Basically, if it came to where everyone had to be evacuated inside then the rest of the city would fall. The wall itself was built solid, concrete with steel beams holding it upright. The wall were at least ten feet thick. It was strong enough that trucks could ram into it all day and it wouldn’t budge. The wall encircled the entire city, or at least the populated portion of the city. Everywhere you went in here, the wall loomed down. You couldn’t escape it. This grey edge on top of everything it seemed. Every five hundred feet or so there were large round openings, they were the access points for water runoff. They were covered in steel meshing that kept you in or out. It was through one of the run offs that I would use to come and go.
I was sick of waiting. I’d been waiting for at least an hour now and even though it might mean my death I was eager to get moving. I paced restlessly, back and forth. On the other side of the road Brody was sitting on the ground, leaning his back on one of the vehicles that had brought us here. He was picking at the rocks that littered the ground. Every time I looked at him, my vision would turn a shade of red. It was taking every ounce of my control to just leave him alone. To avoid interacting with him at all. If I was being honest with myself, I would like nothing more than to go over and slam his head repeatedly into the side of the vehicle. I pushed the air out of my lungs through my nose and kept pacing.
Around me soldiers circled. They were taking turns watching me, Brody, the gate and for the rest of the party that was supposed to be showing up. They were all moving. Not one of them was standing still. Most of them were wearing uniforms in shades of brown and tan. Some were wearing ones that were in shades of green, ranging from dark to light. All of them were wearing boots of some kind and they were carrying the same gun. It was a rifle of some kind, it had a strap on it that they slung over one shoulder. They each had one hand tight around the grip and their other hand up on the long barrel. Above the grip, on the top of the gun there was what looked like a handle. While on the barrel along the top, there was a triangular piece of metal that must be the sight. Every one of them that I had asked refused to tell me how many more people would be joining us. Either they didn’t know or they were under orders to not tell me. The longer I waited, the more I fidgeted. The more I fidgeted the angrier I was getting. I was having to take deep breaths to keep some sort of calm façade. I crossed one arm across my chest, holding my elbow of my other hand, the free hand I was using to rest my face on. Using it to hide most of it from the faces around me. I don’t need them to know how close I was to losing it. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on how I would do this, to try to formulate some kind of plan. No matter what, they’ll have to follow my lead. They’ll have to follow my orders if they want to survive. I wonder if anyone’s told them this, or if I get to break it to them. Oh, I hope I get to, because I could use some fun today.
It wasn’t much longer before I could hear the distinctive sound of tires on gravel. I pulled my face away from my hand. It was another SUV. It pulled to a stop but no one opened the doors. The captain emerged from the hut, straightening his uniform as he did so. Once he stood at attention the two back doors of the SUV opened and two men emerged, one from either side. Despite everything I was curious as to whom I would have to be dealing with while on this undertaking. The taller of the two men came first, he stepped away from the SUV and greeted the captain with a forced smile. His gaze traveled across the gate, passing over Brody who was dusting his backside off, until it finally landed on me. He flashed a smile that exposed crooked but white teeth. He made his way over to me where he stood, towering over me. Which basically everyone did so it wasn’t much of a surprise. He was lean, like a runner. He had on cargo pants with a jacket zipped up to his neck. In one had he had his backpack, and across his back he had a rifle of some sort strapped to it. He had green eyes that flashed down at me with dark brown hair that fell down a little past his ears and the start of a beard growing on his lower face. Handsome.
He held out his hand. “I’m Dean.”
I stared warily at his hand. After a few moments I grasped it in mine. His hand was much larger than mine when he wrapped his fingers around my fingers, my hand was lost in his. I shook his hand, pulling mine away as soon as possible. “Alice.” It was odd. He has this quiet demeanor about him that felt like gravity pulling me in, touching his hand didn’t make me want to tear him a new one, if was shocking. Immediately I put myself on high alert. I’d have to stay on my toes around him. The more relaxed I feel around a stranger was all the more reason I should not be.
The second man was standing at the front of the SUV, which they had pulled up in. He stood there looking down on everyone, not physically but the way he held himself, haughty. As if he were better than the rest of us. I just knew that we were not going to get along well. Dean sighed. “And my counterpart over there, his name is Richard.” Richard was darker in complexion. He had dark skin with dark, curly hair. His hair even with it cut short I could see the curls. It hugged his skull making him look like he had no actual hair just fuzz instead.
Standing in the middle of the road the captain cleared his throat. Dean turned away from me and I stared daggers at the man addressing us. “Richard, Dean you both have your orders. While you two- “He looked first at me then at Brody, “-are to see them safely to where they need to go. You will give your expertise when needed. Other than that, they give the orders.”
I rolled my eyes internally. Well we might as well die here and now. Behind us the gate was slowly being pulled open. It groaned, and the motor had
to work overtime to pull it only a short distance. I pulled my backpack over my shoulders and adjusted my bow so it sat comfortably with my arrows. Brody pulled his backpack on as well. Before the gate could finish opening the captain strode over to me. He planted himself directly in my path and leaned in close.
“You have your orders. You will follow them precisely with no objection. They will tell you what to do. And you will follow them.” He leaned into my face. I could smell his sour breath with each exhale of air. “If you don’t, just remember your family is here without you to protect them.”
I stared him down, not wanting to break eye contact first. Eventually he broke first because a soldier came running up to him holding out a piece of paper. He snatched it out of the kid’s hands, skimmed it and looked back up at me. “You’re still here?”
“Not for long.” I stated. I turned on my heel before marching through the gates, leaving the rest of them to catch up. The traffic jam ended here. As soon as we cleared the gate we had to start squeezing in between cars or climbing over them. There were cars that had shoved themselves up onto the sidewalk even. Every bit of space was taken up by rusting cars. Both Richard and Dean had balked temporarily at seeing all the cars. Brody and I plunged in. It would be like this almost the whole way to the bridge, slow going at its finest. I pulled my knife out, just in case I needed it.
The gate was further up from where I would usually leave the safe zone. It was temporarily disorienting. I had to dig through my memories of how to get to the bridge. The bridge was the most direct way of getting where we needed to go, or at least getting started. From what I had seen of the maps the bridge was the ideal way. It was that or trek all the way around. That would be a long walk, while the bridge wasn’t that far from here. I could probably get there in about three or four hours at my current pace. As long as I didn’t get sidetracked or run into trouble we could make it fairly quickly. I was in the lead so I set the pace. I wanted to get moving, I always felt better on the move. Besides we wasted enough daylight waiting for Dean and Richard to show up.
Dead Paper Birds Page 5
