Lana took the samples to deliver them to a specialist standing by. They then rolled Julian out of that room and into another that held the beam tomography CT scanner. Depending on what other tests Dr. Pearson had authorized, this process could take days.
He awoke in another plain white room. The lights lowered to a nice relaxing level, the sound of the monitoring equipment clicking and beeping in the background. He thought of Simon and there was no anxiety associated with the thought.
“How are you feeling?”
The voice was warm and tender, intoxicating. It was Susan, Dr. Hernandez, and she was sitting next to him. She gently stroked his arm and he felt waves of pleasure enveloping his entire body. She moved a little closer and he could see down the front of her shirt. Her nipples were hard and pert. Her breath seemed to deepen and she slipped her hand from his arm to his chest.
He heard the heart rate monitor quicken as her hand traced slowly down his chest, a slight turn as she went around his belly button. His stomach did a flip and he felt himself harden immediately. He started to protest, but she put her fingers of the other hand over his mouth, gently covering his lips at first, then tracing them lightly, while her other hand found its destination.
The heart rate monitor quickened again, and he felt her warm lips slide down over him as she took him into her mouth.
The shock felt like ten thousand needles sticking into him simultaneously. The pain replaced the pleasure and Julian knew that the pain was real. Alarms were blaring, klaxon horns blowing as his body heaved into the air, arched, and went stiff. Dr. Pearson was shouting something over the intercom as doctors scurried around trying to shut things down. Julian screamed so loudly that the people in the theater could hear him through the thick Plexiglas windows.
Mercifully, the scene darkened as the power went out. Emergency lighting came to life and an eerie red light glowed across the room. The two big orderlies got him pulled back out of the scanner and the doctors hovered over Julian, flashing lights in his eyes, examining his skin, talking excitedly over what they saw.
Again, he awoke in the white room. He began to panic thinking this was some kind of revolving hallucination. The pleasure would lead to the pain. He ground his teeth, then realized that no one was in the room with him. He exhaled loudly, blowing spittle out as he coughed violently.
The door clicked open and Brian entered. He crossed the small room and stood at the foot of the bed. “You seem to have survived.” He said it as if it almost surprised him.
“What the hell happened, Brian?”
“Well, we had you knocked out and when the scanner kicked on your entire body lit up.” He shook his head like he still couldn’t believe Julian was here. “The nanites in your system fried when the magnets in the scanner activated. They burned up in a millisecond, which was a good thing, because you probably wouldn’t have survived an entire second of that. We’ve gotten a completely new set of samples from you to compare to the ones taken from before the scan.”
Julian raised his head a few inches off the pillow and strained to look at his arm, which was now covered all over in little black flecks. He felt it with his opposite hand. It wasn’t bumpy; the flecks were all under the skin.
“We think that is from the nanites. Not sure, but you’re covered in them from head to toe.”
Julian chuckled. “There goes my chance for a date with Susan, I suppose.”
“Oh, I don’t think that is going to be an issue. She’s been flitting around here like an expectant father waiting to see if you’d pull through.” Brian sounded almost disgusted.
“So what did you find out, what did the test show you?”
“We won’t know until later. You just rest and we’ll talk again after a while.”
The next time he woke up, he was in his bed in his regular quarters. The machines were all gone and Simon played on the floor just feet away. He turned his head to find Susan staring at him. He blushed furiously, remembering the dream that he’d had right before being blasted by the CT scanner.
She mistook his look for one of disapproval and moved to get up. Julian’s hand lashed out and grabbed hers. It surprised him as much as it did her. “Do not leave, okay?” he murmured, trying to pass the show of desperation off as nothing.
“Oh, okay. How are you feeling?” She just as expertly avoided acting as if the situation merited any reaction from her as well.
“Better, thanks. Has Dr. Pearson been by lately?”
“No, but he left word that he should be notified when you woke up. He should be here shortly.” She smiled at him and he again felt the redness of his ears.
He found himself staring at her lips. “What?” she said, stirring him from his fantasy. “Uh, sorry, I, ahhh…” he mumbled incoherently. She bent forward at the waist and kissed him. Not the motherly or sisterly peck on the forehead, no, she latched on and pretty closely lip-locked him into unconsciousness. She straightened and tilted her head to one side. “Does that clear anything up for you, Dr. Ruegg?”
“It was worth almost dying of nanite implosions.” He grinned like a dopey kid. She ruffled his hair. “All your little black freckles are going away. It’s too bad, I kind of liked them on you.”
“Simon, your dad is awake,” she called down to the boy. He bounded up to the side of the bed and started chattering away about all the cool stuff he and Austin had been doing.
Brian came in a few minutes later and Susan took Simon and Austin into the other room.
“Well, good news and bad news. The good news is your body is recovering from the trauma. All your organs are functioning at normal levels and your blood work has shown no signs of any nanites in the last sample we took.”
“And what is the bad news?”
“We are no closer to finding a counter to the vaccine.”
Chapter 30
Day 7
Villas on the Green
Surfside Beach, SC
Jimmy
Jimmy waited until he was sure the girls were asleep. He pulled the two-way radio from his inside pocket and clicked down on the transmitter twice.
He knew what he was doing was wrong, but he was a survivor. He had survived the hell that was his life, and he would survive this new hell visited upon the world.
A response of two returning clicks sounded, and a set of headlights blinked on, then off across the field. He made his way to the first floor, being very quiet, and slipped out the front of the condo. He hadn’t seen any of the night screamers yet and he hoped they would stay wherever they were for just a few more minutes.
He arrived at the black SUV and the window silently disappeared into the door. “How many do you have for us?”
“Fifteen. They’re all in the storage place. Here’s the map, now where’s my payment?”
“We must verify the product before we give you your reward.”
“Look José, this is the third time we’ve done this. Don’t you trust me by now?”
The heavy-set Mexican in the back seat grunted, “Jimmy my friend, we could do this a thousand times and I would not trust you. Come on, get in the truck, we shall go inspect the merchandise together.” He smiled and Jimmy waited for a gold tooth to glint off the nonexistent beam of sunlight.
“I can’t leave,” he said to the fat Mexican. “I have to guard against the night screamers coming, man.”
“Guard who? You holding out on us, esé?”
“No, no, I mean, I have my dogs here. I can’t leave them to take you to the storage.”
“Get in the fucking truck, gringo, or I will just shoot you now.” The voice was no longer pleasant or smiling.
Jimmy hesitated and an arm shot out of the window, grabbing him by the neck. The door swung open and José dragged him into the truck.
“Drive!” the voice commanded, and the SUV rolled off the side of the road and onto the pavement, pointing itself toward the King’s Highway.
In thirty years of being in and out of jail, Jimmy had learned
the hard way that bucking the authorities was a bad idea. The Mexican had arrived on the scene the day after the shit had hit the fan. Jimmy had done some bullshit stuff for the guy a few years before in prison. Well, the guy shows up at Jimmy’s door and explains how things were going to go. Either Jimmy could wear his tongue as a bow tie or he would help him collect any women he could for slaves. He didn’t want men, only women. He said his organization worked the entire area and that if he knew what was good for him he would comply. Jimmy knew MS13 tats on sight and he knew this war was lost before it ever began. He agreed to watch over a collection point for the gang’s band of roving thugs. He would keep the slaves fed and safe until the gang’s transport could arrive.
The mini storage was the perfect place. He could use as many of the storage lockers as he needed and not have to worry about being overwhelmed by the bitch dikes he had to take care of. They were just a bunch of whores anyhow. Why did he even feel guilty for this?
The SUV pulled up to the site and they dumped Jimmy out the door unceremoniously. He got to his feet. “Jeez man, could you take it easy? I’m helping you here.” This earned him a swift backhand from the large man as he exited the vehicle. “Get with it you piece of shit, or I will clean you off my shoe and be done with you.”
Jimmy hurried over to the lockers and began unlocking them, the headlights of the SUV showing three or four girls in each locker. They were terrified and huddling together for protection. The Mexican laughed heartily. “Very good gringo, perhaps we will let you live.”
Jimmy’s head hung down, not sure if he wanted to live at all.
“Now, what of these women you are hiding back at your condo, Jimmy?” The Mexican loomed over him.
“No, there aren’t any women there, just my dogs man, just my dogs.” Jimmy knew now that he was really dead, I mean, as in there is no reset button on this game. So, he did the only thing he could. He grabbed the gun off the piece of shit next to him and shot the big fat Mexican between the eyes. Survival was one thing. Giving up his friends was not an option.
He turned to shoot the other skinny dude but all he saw was a large blossom of flame. The buckshot sliced through him. A few pellets zipped past, but most of them caught Jimmy in the chest. He felt the air leave his lungs as he was thrown back like a rag doll. The pistol in his hand kept firing, lacing an arcing line of fire across the bodyguard’s torso. The blooms of blood that appeared on his shirt looked like daisies to Jimmy.
He stared at the pretty flowers as he hit the wall of the storage unit. The women, who had stood there watching in shocked horror, ran in several different directions. Jimmy’s last thought was I didn’t give up Auddy.
The night screamers appeared from every direction, drawn by the gunfire. The women would have been safe if they had just stayed put and closed the roll-up doors on the lockers. Instead they ran, and the creatures reveled in hunting them down.
Jay came awake when she heard the first set of distant gunshots. Then there was a boom of a shotgun in response, several more gunshots, then silence. And then the shrieking began.
She shook Auddy. “Wake up, we have to go now.”
Auddy looked at her, not comprehending. “What?”
“Grab your bag and move, dammit!” Jay shouted at her.
Auddy rolled off the bed, grabbed her bag, and hustled for the front door. She skidded to a stop, returned to the living room, and grabbed the keys to the truck. Teetering on one leg, she reversed course back to the front of the house.
Jay went through the sliding glass door and unlocked the SUV. She rolled into it and lit the area up. The UV lights blasted several unsuspecting crazies as they fought to get away from the punishing light. Jay climbed across the console and plopped into her seat; she fired up the gas-guzzling monster and stomped on the accelerator.
The SUV shot around the end of the unit and banged into the side of the next building, caromed off, and pulled around to the front of the condo. Auddy was already in the old pickup, engine running and her eyes the size of half dollars. Jay pulled up in front of her and rolled down her window, yelling and motioning for Auddy to follow. Auddy tucked the pickup in on her bumper and stayed close.
Neither of them had seen Jimmy, and they both worried that the crazies overran him. Jay drove slowly out of the complex looking for any sign of him. Auddy was crying, not a debilitating episode, just the slow tears of another loss as they left Jimmy behind.
Chapter 31
Day 8
US 90
Conway, SC
Jay & Auddy
The first part of the day was dicey at best. They had pushed through the darkness, and Ben’s genius lighting system kept most of the crazies at bay. A few attacked the back of Auddy’s truck whenever she lagged behind Jay too far, but never advanced toward the cab, fearful of the burning light.
With both Business 501 and its bypass bridges blocked at the Waccamaw River in Conway, Jay retraced the route she had used on her way south. It took time to weave in and out of the crashed vehicles, bodies, and other debris left on US 544, but they eventually made it to US 90. It took them northeast and off track, but there was no other choice. US 90 was not a well-traveled road. Twelve miles outside of Conway it came to a junction with Route 22. The traffic coming from North Myrtle clogged up the 22’s westbound lanes, but again they managed to get through on the eastbound side.
They arrived back at US 501 about four miles north of Conway. Traffic in the northbound lanes had thinned considerably and when they crossed over to the southbound lanes, it was no problem. Now they only had twenty or so miles to get back to Sparky’s and find out if Jon and Gwenn had waited.
Jay pulled over and stopped the SUV and Auddy followed suit in the pickup. The old pickup sputtered, gasped, and lurched forward a little when Auddy released the clutch before the engine shut down completely. She got out, saying, “Sorry, I’m still getting the hang of the manual transmission.”
Jay nodded. “Kind of a crash course, huh?”
“Yeah, thanks for that,” Auddy shot back, smiling at her mom.
Jay stood with her hands on her hips looking toward the north. “I think we ought to be ready for anything when we get to Sparky’s.”
“Okay, what exactly does that mean?”
“We go in my vehicle, have our weapons at the ready and our eyes on the lookout.”
Jay chose a second nine millimeter from the box of stuff Auddy had liberated from Charlie’s store. They both were far from experts and Auddy was at a loss as to how to remove the magazine from one of the semiautomatics.
“Mom, how do you get the thing with the bullets out?”
“Push in on the button down by the trigger guard, and it’s called a magazine.” Auddy pushed the button and the magazine fell out and clattered on the ground.
“Oh crap.” She bent over and retrieved it, and came up with an exasperated look on her face. “Mom, this is just temporary, right?”
“What do you mean, sweetie?”
“This,” she said, pointing around her, then down at the box of guns.
“I don’t know Auddy, honestly I am just getting past the fact that you are with me. Now, I guess we go home, then up to Philippi. Then we will figure it out from there.”
“But what about dad? It will be impossible for him to get back home from Seattle.”
“I wouldn’t count your father out quite that quickly. He can be very resourceful, especially when it concerns us.”
“Okay, let’s go. There’s no room for all that stuff, or I’d say just ditch the truck for good.”
“Ditch my truck? Ain’t no way, I just learned how to drive it.”
“Okay, we’ll come back for it once we’re sure it’s safe.”
“That’s funny momma—‘when it’s safe.’ Any idea when that will be?” She meant it to be funny, but she saw the tears well in Jay’s eyes. “Oh crap, I’m sorry, I didn’t…”
Jay waived it off and smiled as she wiped at her eyes. “No, it’s
just that you ‘momma’ed’ me. It is unbelievably cool that I get to hear that again.”
They got in the SUV and headed for Sparky’s.
As the building came into view, Jay strained to see if there was any activity. They always hid the vehicles from sight, but Jay looked for the signal that Ben had told her he would leave if things were good. Then she saw the fish flag was flying, which meant that at least it appeared things were okay.
They pulled up to one of the gas pumps, stopped the vehicle and got out. Tami opened the door and shouted to them. “Park around back, right next to the building.”
Jay and Auddy got back in and drove around the building. When they parked, Ben and Jon came out of the back door and greeted them.
“Hey there Jay, and this must be Auddy?” Ben said.
“Hi,” Auddy said and nodded at Jon, who she had met before but hadn’t seen in years.
“So, anything interesting happen since I left?” Jay asked. Jon looked at Ben with eyebrows raised, questioning if he should say anything.
“Why don’t we go inside before we get into that?” Ben said as he opened the door for the ladies.
When they entered the dining area, it was immediately apparent that something interesting had occurred, and was still occurring. Two men stood behind a guy that looked incredibly like Danny Trejo, the famous actor tough guy. The Trejo lookalike was bound to a wooden chair in the middle of the room. The two guys behind him had their weapons pointing in his direction as if he might break his bonds at any minute. Another man Jay hadn’t met stood in front of the angry-looking dude tied to the chair.
Everyone turned when they came in, then looked to Ben. “They’re the folks I told you about. Jay here came down from West Virginia and had some interaction with the Winston-Salem gang.” As he said this, he nodded at the man in the chair.
Apocalypse Family (Book 2): Family Reunion J Page 17
