Pandemia

by Nick Lancaster

  The soldier bent over and shone the flashlight at Liz, holding his gaze on her for a while, studying her, and then he looked in the back of the Jeep, examining the items piled up in the rear.

  “This is a quarantine checkpoint. Have either of you been exposed to anyone who has exhibited symptoms of ECD infection?”

  Mike shook his head. “No sir, no nothing like that.”

  The soldier paused, again seeming to study them.

  “Where are you coming from?”

  “Detroit, just outside. We’ve been on the road a couple of hours.”

  “Step out of the vehicle please.” the soldier stepped back to allow Mike to open the door. Mike felt his heart rate suddenly increase, his muscles tighten.

  “What’s this for? Did we do something wrong?” Mike asked.

  “Just step out please. You too ma’am.”

  Mike opened the door and got out of the Jeep. He could see other drivers doing the same thing ahead of him. Liz followed and stood next to Mike by the vehicle.

  “Wait for a moment please, we just need to test you, make sure everything is OK.” the soldier kept his eyes on Mike the entire time.

  Further down the line a soldier wearing a surgical mask and gloves was examining the waiting subjects. As the soldier finished with each driver they returned to their vehicle and left, eventually the soldier came to Mike and Liz.

  “Have you been exposed to anyone who may be infected with the ECD virus?” this soldier was shorter than the others and of slighter build, he seemed more like a medic.

  “No. No, no one. My wife and I are fine, we’re healthy, we don’t know anyone who is infected, we’ve only seen them on TV.”

  The medic motioned for the first soldier to give him light and then held up a mouth swab.

  “Open your mouth please. I need to take a sample.” The medic commanded.

  Mike opened his mouth and the medic quickly swabbed the inside of his cheek. He put the swab into a plastic tube that contained liquid, then snapped the end of the stick and closed the tube.

  “This test will tell me if you’re infected. It’s very fast. If this liquid turns orange, your body is carrying ECD antigens, if it turns green you’re fine.”

  The medic shook the tube, moving back from Mike as he did so. He held up the tube and studied it as the soldier shone his flashlight on it. The liquid suddenly turned green.

  “Green means clean.” The medic smiled. Mike tried to smile back.

  The medic repeated the exam, this time with Liz and again it indicated there was no infection.

  The soldier lowered the flashlight. “You can leave now. Thank-you for your co-operation.”

  Mike got back in the Jeep, started the engine and Liz climbed in. They drove away and in the rearview mirror Mike saw the soldiers had constructed a roadblock immediately behind where he had been. The checkpoint appeared to be a long term affair. As they reached the squad car Mike looked over to the right, the Taurus was already covered with a blue tarp, a couple of soldiers standing guard over it.

  “Oh my god Mike. Oh my god” Liz didn’t need to say anymore.

  “We have got to get to the cabin Liz. This shit is out of control. They just killed a guy.”

  Liz looked at Mike and he could tell she was very scared. He was scared too. They drove the rest of the way to the cabin in silence.

  It was just after dawn when they finally reached the cabin. The roads had become progressively smaller and less travelled as they got closer to their destination. The final road was a single dirt track, barely visible unless you knew it was there. Mike slowed the Jeep and turned onto the dirt road, the view immediately changed to lush green leaves as the tree canopy closed above them. The forest welcomed them inside and Mike felt safe, surrounded by nature and hidden away from the world.

  Mike drove the Jeep slowly along the dirt road; it was roughly a mile into the forest until they reached the cabin. Liz had fallen asleep an hour back but woke now as the truck bounced along the rough track.

  “Are we here?” Liz asked, still half asleep.

  “We’re here.” Ahead of them Mike could see the single-story cabin. It was traditional in style, solid trunks of wood running horizontally along each wall, the base constructed of large rocks and concrete. A stone chimney was at one end. Beneath the cabin was a basement that was larger in area than the cabin above. It served as a cold store as well as holding various items Mike had moved here over the years.

  Mike could see the small tool shed behind the cabin. This was an addition he’d made, a place to hold the various implements needed to be self-sufficient. Last year he’d purchased a Stihl chainsaw and had used it to make short work preparing a sizeable log pile. The log pile itself was stored in a three sided, sloped roof structure that he’d built himself.

  He stopped the Jeep and climbed out, stretching after the long drive. Liz joined him and they began unloading the vehicle.

  “Jesus Mike, what’s with all the ammunition?” Liz had spotted the various cans of rifle, shotgun and handgun ammunition he’d packed.

  “I don’t know how long we’re going to be here and I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.”

  “Well, when the war starts let me know ok?” Liz carried a box into the cabin, leaving the question hanging.

  After they’d unloaded the truck Mike took stock of their supplies. They had plenty of water as the cabin had a well. They had a few weeks worth of emergency food, clothes and of course the guns and the ammunition. They also had enough fuel for the generator to operate for a couple of months assuming they used it sparingly and kept only the refrigerator running 24/7.

  “Liz, we should go into town, get some groceries and stuff. No sense breaking into the supplies we have until we need to.”

  “You go, I’m beat. I’ll stay here and air out this place, get rid of some of the cobwebs.”

  Mike kissed his wife then headed out to the truck.

  The drive into town took about thirty minutes, it was a beautiful sunny day now and he had the windows open on the truck, feeling the wind against his skin and smelling the fresh, clean air. He turned the radio on, the news was just beginning and he wanted to see if anything was being reported about what had happened the previous night. Presumably someone being gunned down by soldiers at a checkpoint would be big news and there were several other people who saw what happened.

  As the news report progressed it was clear there was not going to be any mention of the incident. It didn’t make sense to Mike and it could only mean that the media was being censored or the item had been covered up. Neither option was good.

  Mike pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store. It was one of the smaller chains, not the massive mother ship stores found in the suburbs.

  He entered the store and grabbed a cart. The sound of John Denver greeted him as it played throughout the store. After twenty minutes of scanning the aisles he’d collected enough of pretty much everything to not need to come back for at least a month. He headed to the checkout and unloaded his items on the belt.

  “You feeding an army?” The young woman operating the register smiled at Mike as she chewed her gum.

  “Nah, I just don’t like grocery shopping, try to get a lot done at once you know?” Mike smiled back. No sense telling her that he was actually stockpiling for the collapse of civilization. She had presumably seen the same news he had, it was her choice how to react.

  “You see the President on the news? Pretty crazy huh? We’ve had a few people coming in and buying up water and stuff. You getting ready to hunker down too?”

  Mike was a little stunned, it was as if the woman had looked directly into his head.

  “No” he forced a laugh. “Like I said, just not a fan of shopping.”

  The woman finished scanning the items and Mike tried to finish bagging, inevitably he failed. It was apparently not humanly possible to bag groceries at the same rate a cashier
could scan them. He paid and then left the store with most of the items still loose in the cart.

  By the time he’d got back to the cabin he was very hungry. He opened the cabin door and struggled in with six bags of supplies which he placed on the table.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked Liz, who true to her word had opened all the windows in the cabin and was finishing wiping down counters.

  “I’m starving. What did you get?”

  Mike opened the bags and began loading the cabinets and fridge.

  “I tried to get stuff with a long shelf life, but there’s fresh stuff too. Not sure how long we’ll be able to get fresh food so let’s enjoy it while we can.”

  “You want eggs then?” Liz smiled.

  “Sure, eggs would be great. After breakfast do you want to walk around the property?”

  The cabin sat on several acres of land, though it wasn’t fenced in. Mike had no idea who owned the land around them but a nature trail skirted fairly close to them. Mike had put ‘no trespassing’ signs in that corner of their plot to prevent a hiker accidentally wandering across the property.

  The cabin faced North and just over 200 feet to the north east of them a river flowed towards Lake Huron.

  “Yeah, maybe some fresh air is what I need to wake up.”

  While Liz prepared the food, Mike walked over to a shelf and grabbed the radio he’d stored there the previous year. It was an emergency weather radio, operated with a crank handle. He turned the handle a few times and hit the radio button. The local station soon became audible, the tail end of a tune playing out.

  The broadcast continued into commercials and then a news broadcast came on. Mike listened to the local news report and then to the boating weather forecast but there was still nothing about the shooting they’d witnessed. He turned the radio off.

  Mike grabbed his messenger style bag and filled the 20 ounce water bottle. He didn’t know how long he and Liz would be gone but he always took the bag with him. Inside was room for the Hi-Power but he decided to keep that in his shoulder holster. The other contents were items he felt he’d need away from home for a short period of time.

  Recently he’d added chemical glow sticks and some Deep Woods wipes to the bag. The kit evolved over time. When he found himself in a situation where he needed something that he hadn’t anticipated, he would determine if it was worth adding to the pack and then include it if so.

  Mike had moved the AR-15 and the Remington 870 from the Jeep to the cabin. He stored both of them in the master bedroom along with the cans of ammunition. The King Cobra and the Springfield XD were also in the bedroom.

  “Liz I want you to keep this gun with you.” Mike was holding the snub .357 Magnum. “I’ve got a holster for it you can wear, it’s small and light, I think it’s a good idea you’re able to defend yourself.”

  Liz looked at the gun. “Defend myself from what? The virus? What the hell do I need to carry a gun for?”

  “Things are changing out there Liz. The world we know about is going away. What we saw last night, it’s not even on the news. It’s different now. Please, just take the gun.” Mike held out the gun in it’s Crossbreed inside the waistband holster.

  Liz looked at the gun for a moment and then took it from Mike. “How do I wear it?”

  “It’s a concealed carry holster, it goes inside your pants, those plastic clips go outside over your belt. It’s really comfortable and the more you wear it the better it gets.”

  Liz walked to the bathroom and came out a few minutes later. “Ok, just call me Annie Oakley.” She smiled and lifted the rear of her shirt, exposing the Pachmayr grips on the stainless revolver.

  “Take this too, you remember it from when we went shooting?” Mike handed her a speedloader for the revolver, five .357 jacketed hollow points already loaded in it.

  Liz nodded as she took the Speedloader.

  “The only thing that’s different are the bullets. You’re used to shooting .38s but I’ve put .357 Magnum rounds in the gun and the Speedloader. You shot them before, it’s not fun but it’s very effective.”

  “Well I don’t think I’ll need to shoot them at all, but thanks for the heads up. Let’s eat, how do you want your eggs?”

  “Scrambled. Hey, I’m going to call my dad.”

  Mike grabbed his cell phone from the charger and walked outside the cabin. The sun was already getting high and the he could hear the birds. He dialed his father.

  The phone rang but no one answered. Mike’s father had retired years earlier and was likely napping or engrossed in a documentary on the Military channel. He dialed the number again, this time his father picked up.

  “Hello?”

  “Dad, it’s Mike. We’re at the cabin, we got out of town. I want you to come up here with us.”

  There was a pause before his father spoke. “I can’t Mike.”

  “What, you have plans? C’mon. You see what’s going on outside right? You know what’s happening?”

  His father paused again before speaking. “I know what’s going on outside Mike. I can’t come to the cabin. I’ll be fine here. You need to think about yourself and Liz. That’s all I’ve got to say about that.”

  Mike considered his father’s words. He understood of course, his dad had always been independent, Mike supposed it was where he got his own single mindedness from.

  “Dad, this is serious. I’m coming to get you OK? Just pack some clothes, I’ve got everything else you need. Oh, bring that .22 with you too, might be useful for bagging some small game.”

  “You’re not listening to me Mike. Just stay put. I’ll be fine. I love you son.” The call disconnected.

  Mike looked at the cell phone, then hit the contact list and picked his father’s name. He hit dial and the phone rang. Mike waited but he knew the call wouldn’t be answered. Something was wrong. He looked at his watch, it was just before 11am. He could be at his dad’s house by 1pm if he left now.

  He went into the cabin. “Liz, something’s wrong with my dad. I have to see him.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me right now? After what we went through, what we saw getting here? You want to leave now?”

  “Liz, it’s my dad, I have to. Please, you have to understand. I have to see him.”

  Liz looked at Mike, resignation coming across her face. She knew Mike had to go, she would do the same, but leaving her here, she was scared.

  “Go. I love you.”

  Mike grabbed the keys and got in the Jeep. His dad lived in Grayling, about a hundred miles west. He started the truck and headed to the road.

  It took Mike close to three hours to make the trip. Twice he was stopped at quarantine checkpoints, one operated by State police and another by the military. The routine was much the same as the previous night, a mouth swab followed by a test and then he was free to go.

  Eventually Mike reached the outskirts of Grayling, as he drove under the overpass he immediately felt like he was coming home, except something didn’t feel quite right. For the past thirty minutes he hadn’t seen another vehicle.

  Mike drove through the town, still not seeing any vehicles. He pulled up at his father’s house, his childhood home. The ranch style house wasn’t large but as Mike was an only child it hadn’t been cramped. Mike’s mother had died in a car accident when Mike was in his mid-teens. He had been devastated, but his father had suffered much worse, Mike realized now his father had probably suffered a breakdown. Mike had stayed with his dad in their home until he’d left for college.

  So many memories came back as Mike looked at the house. The sidewalk where he’d first learned to ride his bike without training wheels. He remembered how one of the neighbor’s kids, a few years older than him, had been able to ride a bike and how Mike had so wanted to do the same. He’d asked his dad to remove the wheels and eventually his dad had done so. Mike remembered his father holding onto the saddle, trying to hold his son up as he pushed away.

  This house was where Mike became the man h
e was today. The nightly meal around the family table was something his mother had been strict about. Meal time was a special time she said, a time for the family to gather and talk. There were no distractions allowed at the table, no books or newspapers and definitely no television.

  Mike’s dad had been strict but fair. He remembered the punishment his father had given him when he’d caught Mike smoking, back then Mike thought it all so unjustified. Now he saw it through wiser eyes and realized how much his father loved him.

  Mike walked to the door and searched his key ring for the right one to open the front door. As Mike was about to open the door he paused, then knocked on the door instead. He didn’t know how his father would react after the phone call. As he waited Mike noticed a black trash bag lying on the ground, it was wrapped around something.