Omega Pathogen: Despair

by J. G. Hicks Jr

  Jim kept an eye on George. He had seemed distracted and dazed most of the time. Jim didn’t know if the man’s normal behavior was like this. He thought maybe it was from lack of sleep and added stress, or a combination. Either way, he didn’t feel comfortable around him, much less giving him a weapon.

  As the shadows grew longer, they closed up the MRAP. “George, were you and that team of yours able to learn anything about this infection while you were stuck in Mexico?” Jim asked.

  George remained quiet and continued to eat. He nibbled at his food.

  Jim thought the question didn’t register, and opened his mouth to ask again when George answered.

  “We learned a lot I guess. But like most science, you learn one thing and then find out there are ten more things you don’t know,” George said.

  Jim, Chris, and Jeremy sat quietly eating and waited for George to continue. He didn’t.

  Impatient and unable to wait any longer, Chris broke the silence, “What did you learn about the disease?” He asked with a hint of impatience to his voice.

  George finished chewing some food and swallowed it. He took a drink of water and then cleared his throat. He looked each of them in the eye and began to tell them the same story he had when they first met earlier that day.

  George stopped and took a long drink of water before he continued. “One of the infected was killed, it was shot and killed by the guards. The guard had been bitten and he shot it. I mean he shot him.” George’s hands shook and his voice trembled as he spoke. After a pause and another drink of water he continued. “The body the guard killed was checked. It was dead. No heartbeat. Nothing. The body was placed in a body bag and isolated. The guard was placed under observation. The next day we went to conduct an autopsy, but when we opened the drawer, the body bag was moving. We opened the bag and it was alive again. It tried to attack us, but a guard shot it in the head and it died again,” George said and resumed eating.

  The men in the MRAP were silent. Jim, Chris, and Jeremy continued to look at George. He just stared blankly at the interior wall across from where he sat and took bites of food. Slowly Jim and his sons looked at each other and then back to George. “People have been pronounced dead before and found to be alive later,” Jim said.

  “We killed two more by shooting them in the fucking heart! One never went unconscious until shot in the brain and that killed it. The other went unconscious and came back four minutes later,” George, now red-faced angrily said.

  Jim pointed out that he, his sons, and many others had killed numerous infected without them rising from the dead.

  “The longer they’re infected the more likely it is to happen. It has to do with the virus mutation. How much it spreads into the brain,” George answered in a calmer voice.

  “How long?” Jim asked.

  “It seems they have to be infected for about two weeks, they become slower and don’t have the aversion to daylight any longer,” George answered.

  Jim stood and moved over to George, his forehead nearly touching George’s. Jim tried to speak calmly but the tension in his voice couldn’t be hidden: “Are you sure about the time? My mother turned infected and was not shot in the head. She was shot in the heart. Are you sure that she’s not in her grave trying to dig her way out?” Jim said.

  George’s face grew red again, his expression now turned from anger to fear. He slid back and down in his seat away from Jim, nodding slowly, “Yes, Jim. I’m positive. They have to be infected for two weeks or more. At first, before the SCAR virus mutated from its state when it was first released, the virus took three days before the newly infected person was contagious. After the three days, the newly infected person could then infect others. The virus in its pre-mutation form took two weeks before it mutated into what we all saw happen throughout the world. Two weeks and then those infected went rabid. Now, since it’s mutated the infection turns people mad in minutes.” George explained. His speech increased in speed as he spoke.

  “What about a vaccination or a cure?” Jeremy asked.

  George shook his head. “No vaccine, and no cure. Someone else may have found something I don’t know about,” George said.

  “You know, this shit already scared the shit out of me. Now we’ve got these, these . . . undead fuckers,” Chris said.

  Jeremy looked at George, his brother, and then his father. “Fucking zombies,” Jeremy said.

  Jim flopped in a seat and rubbed his face. “I need some Jack Daniels,” Jim said.

  Chris and Jeremy agreed.

  George chimed in, “Me too. I have some.” With a smile, he pulled a bottle out of his beat up backpack.

  Jim called the Yates’ home on the Ham radio and gave them a brief version of what George had told them. The news was met with silence at first, then some doubt. Jim and the other residents of the farm had been hearing what they had thought were rumors about the infected being killed and coming back to life. Some had talked about not being able to kill the infected.

  As it grew dark, they closed the MRAP turret and shut off the engine in hopes to attract less infected and lose the attention of those that had started to gather around.

  Courtesy of Arzu, black fabric curtains now hung near every window. Jim, Chris, and Jeremy unfurled them to prevent interior light leaking out. Jim and his sons talked quietly for a while before they tried to sleep. George would answer questions when asked, but he kept any conversation to a minimum.

  Jim woke with the rest still asleep. He quietly moved to the side window of the MRAP and donned a set of NVGs. Hundreds of infected surrounded them. It looked like thousands wandered further away throughout the military base. He checked the turret and the doors to confirm they were locked and then laid back down and tried to sleep.

  Chapter 13

  The scavenging mission returned earlier than expected to the farm. Arzu met with the returning team that had included Kathy and Royce. They had found some of the larger equipment Arzu had requested for fortifying and re-expanding the perimeter. The quick return was due to their good luck and to the large amount of items they had collected. She had given a specific and general list of items she had needed to work on improving their security fence.

  “Hi, Kathy,” Arzu said as she, Berk and Kayra approached the group after they pulled through the gate and stopped.

  Kathy climbed out of the driver seat of the Mack tractor-trailer and smiled. “Hi guys,” she replied as she stepped from the cab. “Any word from Jim?” Kathy asked.

  Arzu’s happy expression turned to a mix of irritation and worry. “Yes, they radioed and said they found someone from the plane we saw and they were trying to gather more supplies before they come back,” Arzu said.

  Kathy motioned with her head toward the trailer. “Check out what we got,” she said. Arzu followed to the rear of the vehicle.

  Arzu had requested materials so she could construct molds to make large concrete blocks use to build the walls. Kathy and the scavenging team had returned with plywood, 2 x 4s, rebar, and several rolls polyethylene plastic sheeting. The residents and probably most survivors had learned by now that the infected were drawn to noise and movement. They hoped the solid walls would reduce the noise and light from the compound. And in turn they hoped to reduce the infected from being drawn in.

  The tractor-trailer was moved away from the gate and offloaded. Arzu and others in the group started immediately on preparing for constructing molds for the concrete walls. Kathy, Royce, and the others on the scavenging team took a short break and departed the farm again to continue their search for supplies.

  Arzu had also given the teams a list of things she needed to reconstruct a better gate system. The way it worked now, they had to try to draw away any infected near the gate by using human bait, then hurry the vehicle out or in and shoot any infected that were too close.

  Her plan was to make a double gate system. Arzu planned on using an electric powered system with battery backup for the first gate, that they had foun
d at a farming supply store. Once the vehicle was in the vestibule, they could close the first gate then dispose of any infected that got in. The second gate could be opened manually.

  With a limited supply of some materials, she knew would need to make use of what she had and integrate them to construct the best barriers she could. It didn’t have to be aesthetically pleasing; it just had to protect them from the infected.

  While Arzu and the others worked on frame designs for the molds, Berk and Kayra did their best to help out by holding tape measures, keeping track of their mother’s notepad and pencil, and fetching tools.

  Arzu thought of the other children that were still in quarantine. She felt terrible that they were separated from the rest of the people. What else could they do? Everyone felt terrible about having to put the children through the ordeal, but it had to be done. They did make sure that they made it as comfortable as possible and an adult was always nearby.

  While in the process of assembling molds for the walls, Rick Yates drove up in a pickup truck to see how the molds for the walls had progressed. Quick but polite hellos were exchanged as Rick approached the group. “A lot around today?” Jen asked her uncle.

  “Not too many, they’re coming in small waves. All of them are those slow ones, though. I took care of about ten of them so far. Since they were right up on the fence, I saved ammo and just put one in their heads,” Rick replied as he examined their work.

  “Looks like it’ll work just fine, Arzu,” Rick said.

  “I hope so,” Arzu replied.

  “See y’all later. Going to check more of the fencing,” Rick said as he walked to the truck and drove away.

  Jen noticed Arzu looked at her wristwatch frequently while they worked. The concern on Arzu’s face was obvious. “Jim said they would call us again to report on how things were going,” Jen reminded her.

  Arzu looked up from her watch at Jen and gave a smile that poorly hid her concern for Jim and the boys. She did her best to bury her worry and concentrate on the tasks at hand. Improving the perimeter fence was of high importance. It would give more security to her children and everyone else at the farm.

  After a break for a quick lunch, Arzu and the others had one of the molds completed. The only thing that remained would be to add rebar to provide strength, and to line the inside of the mold with the plastic sheeting to keep the concrete adhering to the mold as it hardened.

  Later, in the early evening, Kathy and the others in her scavenging team returned for the day. It would be dusk soon. They had returned with more plywood as well as sheet metal, rolls of chain-link, fence posts, and numerous other building supplies and materials.

  Arzu and Jen had stopped their work on the molds to join the others and check out the supplies that had been collected.

  Marlene approached them with news. She told them Jim, his sons, and the airplane crash survivor would be spending the night. Before anyone could ask, Marlene confirmed they were all okay.

  Small talk began to break out again among the group until Marlene got their attention once more. Everyone stared at her with wide eyes and open mouths as she relayed what Jim said the crash survivor had told them about the SCAR virus.

  Everyone, except for the few on guard duty, had gathered that evening for dinner; theirs was delivered to them before the others ate. The conversation at the Yates’ home during the meal centered on the latest news from the survivor Jim and his sons had found at the military base. Arzu, like the rest of those on the farm, found the news had left her with a more pessimistic view of their situation.

  Arzu listened to everyone speak about the news. They talked over one another, but none talked of plans for their security and their survival. They only discussed the latest news. The unconstructive nature and direction of the conversations began to aggravate her until she couldn’t take it any longer.

  Arzu rose from the table and stepped up on her chair. “Hey!” she yelled. No one seemed to hear. Arzu placed her index finger and thumb to her lips and produced a long ear-piercing whistle. The group immediately fell silent and turned to face her. There was no sound except for the tick-tock of Jen’s grandfather clock and the faint sounds of a few birds outside.

  Arzu looked around the room and shook her head. She sighed and then spoke. “I know the news we got today is crazy. But let’s not forget we still have to protect what we have here. We have to protect each other and ourselves. We still have to scavenge for more supplies. This news just shows we need to increase our efforts. I suggest we keep our focus on our survival and less on whether the infected walking around are alive or dead. They can kill us either way,” Arzu finished her speech.

  As she stepped down from the chair she overheard many, if not all, say she was right. She then focused her attention on making sure Berk and Kayra finished their meals.

  “You tell them, Arzu,” Kathy said.

  “Arzu, I think you scare me more than Jim does,” Royce said.

  It was extremely quiet for a few minutes before conversations resumed. That time they were about improving their current security. Arzu smiled back at Kathy and Royce and hoped they hadn’t noticed the tear she wiped away.

  Chapter 14

  “Why did you shoot me? Why, Jimmy? I’m not a monster. I’m not like them,” Judith said and rolled onto her back. She lay on the floor of the schoolhouse and looked up at him. She touched his face with her hand and asked again why he had shot her.

  Jim wept as he placed his hands on her chest wounds in an attempt to stem the flow of blood from his gunshots. “I’m sorry, Mom,” Jim cried out. No matter what he did the blood still came.

  “Dad, why did you shoot her?” Chris screamed behind him.

  His eyes opened wide as he woke and sat upright. Jim looked around the MRAP. He tried to slow his respirations as he wiped beads of sweat from his brow.

  He sat on the floor of the MRAP and checked his watch. The sun’s first light should have started to show by now. Jim stood and peeked out through the curtains. Although the numbers had shrunk, he could still see hundreds of infected nearby. Many of those he could see were the slow moving variety. They twitched and lumbered along.

  Periodically one of the infected would bite another. The bites weren’t something that would have caused major injury or death — especially for those already dead — it seemed sometimes to be done out of anger. Other times it seemed to be done with no emotion at all. It was like they just had to bite something. Anything.

  “I think that may be something that contributes to the virus mutating,” George said.

  Startled by the words since he thought only he was awake, Jim spun his head around to find George looking over his shoulder. “George, you scared the shit out of me,” Jim said and turned back to look outside.

  Chris and Jeremy began to stir, yawning as they rolled up their sleeping bags and took turns at the toilet.

  “George, how is it possible that the . . . the dead ones, the ones that come back, how do they survive?” Jim asked.

  “We didn’t have enough time to prove every theory, but the SCAR virus attaches to nerves just like rabies. The difference is that the SCAR virus does it on a massive scale. Once the virus has had time to integrate with parts of the brain that it needs to survive and manipulate movement, then the death of the host doesn’t matter that much. The person infected is still a vector for the virus to spread,” George answered.

  Jim inhaled deeply and then released the breath slowly as he moved away from the window. He sat in the driver seat and made sure the exterior lights were off before he turned on the battery switch. With the power to the Ham radio, he called the compound. He let them know they were still okay and they planned on checking more of the base before they returned that evening.

  The men finished stowing sleeping bags and pillows, and started on coffee and breakfast. The sun was fully above the horizon and would be soon be bright enough to cause most of the infected to retreat to the shadows.

  Inside the M
RAP, the small talk turned to the plan of the day. “I’ve been watching them, the infected. It looks like only a few came from or went into the hospital,” Jim said.

  “What about other entrances?” Chris asked.

  “True. There’s other ways in. They could have come and gone through them,” Jim answered.

  “We still need more medical supplies and equipment,” he added. Chris and Jeremy nodded in agreement as they ate.

  Once the sun was high enough, Jim opened the turret and shot the slow moving infected that were still meandering around the area. He made sure to take headshots, but it made hitting them more difficult.

  They drove the MRAP around the exterior of the hospital, looking for the best point of entry. They decided that they would go in through the main entrance. They hadn’t seen many infected use any of the entries, so they hoped it would be safe enough.

  “Let’s go back to the garage first. I want to get us some protective pads from the clothes and uniforms we stacked on the trailer. We need to sight in these laser sights, too," Jim said.

  “Okay,” Jeremy replied and headed to the vehicle garage.

  The garage was still clear when they returned. Jim, Chris, and Jeremy zeroed the weapons' laser systems.

  They would use the full-auto capable M4s. “The good thing about the M4 is that it can shoot fully automatic. That can also a bad thing. Don’t rely on volume and neglect accuracy,” Jim cautioned his sons.

  Once the rifles were ready, Jim dug through the boxes they had stacked on the trailer that they planned on taking back when they left today. He found what he was looking for and tossed elbow, knee, shin, and forearm pads to the others.

  On the way back to the hospital, they noticed they had attracted about ten of the slow moving infected. They walked and staggered toward the MRAP but were a few hundred yards away. Jeremy brought them to a stop in front of the main entrance. Jim, Chris, and Jeremy went over their gear and then checked over each other.