by V. L. Dreyer
"Michael, this is it," I said, grabbing his arm. "This is why the mutants are happening. Somehow – I don't know how – the virus has been breeding inside dead cells to save itself from dying out. That means it can keep breeding indefinitely inside the same host. It's been doing that for ten years. If we estimate that a single virus produces a million offspring every few hours, what happens when we multiply that by a decade? What happens over the course of thousands and thousands of generations?"
Suddenly, the light bulb seemed to go on behind his eyes. "Evolution."
"Evolution," I agreed, my expression grim. "I think I get it now. I think I finally understand. There isn't just one strain of the virus, not like we thought. There are hundreds of ever-so-slightly different strains, because of the population evolution happening inside each host. We can group them into three primary categories, though – the fast-burning virus, the slow-burning virus, and the new mutation." I counted them off on my fingers, my brow furrowed in thought. "At first, we only had the two strains, fast-burning and slow-burning. Natural selection has most likely killed off the fast-burning strain by now. But, the slow-burning strain survived, because it evolved a way to breed without destroying its host. And then the slow-burning strain kept breeding over and over again, until it started to turn into the new mutation.
"With Ebola X being airborne, when the new strain emerged it could easily spread amongst the available hosts. So, we can assume it evolved in the hospital, where there was – or should have been – that big concentration of people. The infected would have no real immunity, so if the new mutation was dominant then it would spread like wildfire…"
"…and infect all of those docile infected with the new mutation?" Michael summarised for me, a look of horror spreading across his face. "So, if this plague-bearer finds another population of infected…"
"…then it's going to spread the new virus to them, and then they'll turn into mutated infected as well," I answered softly.
"We have to destroy that thing. Right now!" His voice rose to a shout, and he raced past me with his weapon at the ready.
"No!" I cried, dashing after him. "Don't waste ammunition! We have precious little as it is, and for all we know the same thing may have happened in Wellington or Palmerston North or anywhere else that there's a dense concentration of infected."
Michael froze with his gun already raised halfway to the firing position. He looked at me, then looked back at the infected. "You want to use your Taser on that thing?"
"Why not?" I shrugged, reaching up to rest my arm on his bicep. "It's reusable, and it works. We need to use renewable energy sources whenever we can, or we're going to end up with nothing left but a sense of regret and an empty chamber."
"Well, that seems a bit dramatic," he said dryly. With a heavy sigh, he lowered his weapon and nodded to me. "Do you want me to do it?"
"No, I've got this," I answered. Just as I was handing him my shotgun, Skylar came running back with a flask in her hands. She watched me pull out my Taser and flick it on, her eyes widening.
"Is that safe to use in this rain?" she asked nervously. "I thought water was conductive?"
"These were made to be safe in all kinds of weather." I made a reassuring gesture with my free hand, and gave everyone a quick smile before I turned to deal with the unpleasant duty at hand. The infected was totally oblivious to me as I crept up behind it, trying to get close enough to use my Taser as a stun gun. Sure, I could have used the shot, but I only had one cartridge and I couldn't exactly run to the store and grab another one.
I drew a deep breath as I closed the last few feet, and reached out to press the Taser to the base of the creature's neck. It stumbled, but righted itself and kept on walking. A second blast of current brought it down, twitching. Before I could say a word, Michael was past me with the accelerant and a lighter.
With the rain pelting down and the wind howling around us, it took all of our combined efforts to get the creature burning to our satisfaction. When the fire was finally hot enough that it wasn't likely to go out on its own, we stood back and watched intently. No one complained about the cold or the wet. None of us wanted to leave until we were sure that plague-bearer was well and truly destroyed.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The morning encounter left us wary and on edge for the rest of the day. I found myself feeling far too anxious to simply sit passively, so I hauled myself halfway out the window to watch the endless cornfields with a degree of alertness that bordered on paranoia. The cold made my teeth rattle and my butt went numb, but at least I felt better for doing something useful.
Eventually, a line of dark trees started to grow along the edge of the horizon, getting closer and closer with each passing second. I watched it warily, but to my relief our turn-off arrived before we plunged into darkness.
"Turn left in a hundred metres," I called down through the open window. With the rain pounding down on me, I barely heard Michael's grunt of acknowledgement. We reached the corner and turned onto another overgrown strip of roadway, almost identical to the last. A few minutes later, the cornfields ended abruptly, only to be replaced by waist-high grass dotted with dark specks in the distance. I lifted my hand to shade my eyes and stared intently at them, trying to work out what the specks were.
"Sandy," Michael said suddenly. I glanced at him, and realised that he was holding out his binoculars to me. I took them with a sheepish smile, and looked at the specks again. A second later, I relaxed.
"Just cows," I told him. Some things hadn't changed since the fall of mankind, and cows were one of them. They were still the same placid, even-tempered beasts they'd always been. The only difference now was that they were free-range animals, and the entire country was their ranch.
"Good." I heard Michael let out a deep breath, and when I looked at him again I saw that he was smiling. "You should probably come in, though."
"Why?" I asked curiously, lifting the binoculars back to my eyes so that I could scan the rest of the horizon for danger.
"I saw a flash of lightning when you were looking the other way," he answered. "It's still pretty far away, but I don't want my favourite girl getting electrocuted."
"Your favourite girl, huh?" I echoed in my most playful voice. I eased myself back down into the cab, and grabbed a towel out of the back seat to dry myself off.
"You say that like you didn't already know it," he answered dryly, shooting one of his silly grins in my direction.
I laughed and shook my head. "Oh, I know it. I just can't quite believe it."
"Well, believe it." He reached over and took my hand with his free one. "This is happening, Sandy. What we have, it's real and it's special. I've never felt like this about anyone before." He sighed, returning his hand to the steering wheel. "You know, there's something I've never told you."
"Oh?" I raised a brow, instantly cautious. "Are you secretly a serial killer? A failed superhero? A mime stripper?"
"No!" he exclaimed, laughing merrily. "Wait… a mime stripper? That's not even a thing!"
"Well, you better tell me what it is, then," I answered, folding my arms across my chest. "I've had a lot of time to think about this, you know."
"It's nothing like that, I swear," he said, struggling to get his laughter back under control. "I just… I didn't want to say anything until I was sure, you know?"
"You've already told me that you want to marry me and have babies with me," I pointed out. "What else could there possibly be that you were afraid to say to me?"
"Well, it's… a bit strange," he admitted, his expression suddenly turning serious. "Maddy told me I was going to meet you. A year ago."
"What?" I froze, startled. Of all the things he could have said, that was the last thing I had expected to hear.
"Yeah." He sighed softly and shrugged. "I didn't believe her at the time… let me start from the beginning. Maddy's special, you and I both know that. She wasn't always like that. I mean, she's always been a bit odd, but she started develo
ping that strange intuitiveness the summer before last. At first I just assumed that it was because she's a kid. Sophie said strange things at her age, so I thought it was normal. But some of the things that she started saying were… not normal. For any little kid."
"What happened?" I prompted gently, watching his face to try and judge his thoughts from his expression. He hesitated, and then he shot me a look of such sadness and longing that my heart dropped right to my knees.
"I was so lonely, Sandy," he said quietly. "I mean, we talked about it when we first met, but there's no way for me to verbally express it. Even with Sophie, and the others… it wasn't the same. I was so lonely that it hurt. It physically ached inside me. Did you ever feel like that?"
"Yes," I admitted, lowering my gaze. "In the first couple of years, before the… the bad stuff happened. I cried myself to sleep more than once."
"Me too," he replied. I felt his big hand land on mine again, and his fingertips gently rubbed my skin. The touch reassured me; I took his hand in both of mine, and held it while he spoke. "I'm man enough to admit that I've cried over it more than once. We were so young when all this happened. I had never even considered that I'd lose my opportunity to have a family. I just sort of assumed that it'd happen naturally, you know? I figured I'd focus on my career for a while, then when the time was right, I'd meet the perfect woman. She'd be smart, beautiful, funny, and she'd love me as much as I loved her. I had the same vague dreams as everyone else: we'd travel the world together, then one day settle down and start a family.
"One day, I'm in my apartment daydreaming about the future. A week later, almost everyone I've ever known is dead, and my chance for a family is gone forever."
He paused and took a deep breath; I squeezed his hand, feeling the intensity of his emotion through his palm. Suddenly, he looked at me and I could see the terrible pain in his eyes. A moment later, he returned his gaze to the road, and he resumed speaking.
"I never got over that," he admitted. "I accepted the situation for what it was, but I could never get past the pain. It just got worse and worse every day, but I learned to hide it and focused on nurturing Sophie. She was all I had. And don't get me wrong, I loved her more than life itself and put my everything into raising her – but it was never the same as the life I'd dreamed of."
"I know," I whispered, leaning up against him to comfort him in some small way. Even though I was damp and smelt like wet leather, Michael smiled at the contact.
"I wish you could have met her, Sandy," he murmured. His eyes were focused on the road, but his expression said that his thoughts were a million miles away. "She would have loved you, and I think you would have loved her, too. She was a brilliant kid. Obsessed with books, and always smiling and laughing. I think she kept all of us sane, until…"
"I know," I repeated gently, hugging him as best I could without disrupting his driving. "I know that I would have loved her. From the sound of it, she's just like her uncle."
Michael glanced at me, and gave me one of his quirky, lopsided smiles. "I suppose she was, in a way. The laughter kept us going." He sighed, looking back out the windscreen at the pouring rain. "But not always. You know how I am. Sometimes I drop."
"You're a Pisces, sweetie." I leaned up and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Pisces are always moody and mercurial."
This time, the glance he gave me was one of amusement. "Oh, are we just? And how do you know that, missy?"
"Sophie wasn't the only one who had a lot of time to read," I answered dryly. "I am a stubborn Capricorn, which is clearly why I'm the boss of you. So there."
"Oh, I see." Michael gave me a dubious, but amused look. "Well, then. I won't contest that. I like it when you're the boss of me."
"I know you do," I teased, playfully running my fingers along the top of his thigh. "Anyway, what were you saying about Maddy?"
"Huh?" He glanced down, momentarily distracted by my touch. "Oh, right, Maddy. Yeah, I was in my room in a dark mood, just lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. Moping, basically. Out of the blue, Maddy came marching into my room with a purpose. She sat down on the edge of my bed, looked me right in the eye, and said, 'Don't worry, Mister Michael. You won't have to be lonely for much longer.'"
"Really?" I sat up straight and looked at him. "She said that? A year ago?"
"And that's not all," he said. "When I asked her what she meant, she just smiled mysteriously, and said 'Your wife is waiting for you. She just doesn't know it yet.'"
"You're kidding me!" I exclaimed, startled. "You have to be making that up."
"I'm not, I swear. Cross my heart." He grinned and glanced at me again. "At the time, I figured she was just talking nonsense, so I forgot all about it. And then this crazy blonde walks into my life, punches me in the face, and suddenly I'm head-over-heels in love. I wasn't a hundred percent sure until you put that ring around your neck, but now I am. You're the one that Maddy saw in her vision. My future wife."
"Well, that's sweet, bewildering, and a little concerning all at the same time," I said, fighting a wave of conflicting emotions. "I mean, if we're, I don't know… fated to be together… well, what about free will? Don't I get any say in the matter? "
"No, and neither do I." Suddenly, he smiled at me. "Either one of us could walk away from this any time we wanted. Do you want to walk away?"
"No," I answered without a second of hesitation. "Do you?"
"Not a chance," he answered just as swiftly. "And that's why we're destined to be together. Because we want to be together."
"Oh." I paused to consider his point, and as I considered it I felt myself relaxing. My automatic fight-or-flight instinct switched off, and was replaced by human logic. "Okay. I think I'm good with that."
"Good, because I'd be really upset if you changed your mind now," he said with a laugh. There was a pause, then the subjected changed as swiftly as it had begun. "Hey, I see houses up ahead. Should we stop to look for supplies?"
"No," I said, shaking my head firmly. "This land is claimed. We don't scavenge here, and we don't stop for anything unless we have to. We need to find that radio tower and get out of here before we're noticed. I'm hoping this weather will work in our favour, and we can be far enough south by nightfall to relax."
"I think we may be out of luck in that regard," Michael said softly. I looked where he was pointing, just in time to catch sight of a human figure disappearing behind a house.
I swore under my breath, and picked up my walkie-talkie. "Guys, we've been spotted. I want you to move in close together, and lock the doors if you're inside one of the cars. Don't stop for anything unless we stop, or I tell you to."
Michael waited until I finished relaying the instructions to the rest of the convoy, then he gave me a worried look. "Are these people really that dangerous?"
"I don't know," I admitted, "which means we should presume they're dangerous until we find out otherwise. Gangs are… well, they are gangs. Every one of them is different, depending on the nature of the members and the leader. Also remember that to them, we're a rival gang travelling through their territory, which means that we're automatically a danger to them. They may shoot first and ask questions later."
"If they have weapons," Michael pointed out. "I mean, this is still New Zealand. Guns are rare, and ones that still work are rarer still."
"True," I agreed quietly. "Let's just hope that works in our favour. For now, keep following this street."
Michael just nodded and fell silent, apparently sensing that I was in no mood to be reassured. He was right. My run-ins with gangs over the years had been frequent and mostly unpleasant, and I didn't really want to have another one. Suddenly, I realised that I was clutching my shotgun with a death-grip, and my knuckles were turning white. I forced myself to take a deep breath, and relaxed my grip.
At least this time I had some control over the outcome of what felt like an inevitable conflict. I had people to watch my back. Not just one person, either. Now, I had twenty-three people, on
e feline, and an elderly sheepdog on my side. I couldn't exactly rely on the kids or animals in a fight, but I trusted most of the adults. The thought made me smile; how far I'd come, that I could use the t-word so freely.
"Something up ahead," Michael said suddenly. "I see a car."
I stuck my head out the window, and looked through the binoculars. There was an intersection coming up, where a car waited patiently at the stop sign. After a few seconds, I shook my head. "That car isn't going anywhere. No driver. You're getting as paranoid as me, honey."
"Better safe than sorry," he said sheepishly. We drove past the abandoned car and continued deeper into the city. Well, town. It was certainly bigger than Ohaupo and Arapuni, but not by much.
The trees on the roadside began to get thicker, interspersed with an odd mixture of vegetation. Shrubs and flower beds that had once been well-loved and tame had gone wild without the gardeners to care for them. Now, they encroached on the road and were engaged in a brutal, silent battle with the larger trees for dominance and sunlight.
Every few meters, there was a gap in the foliage and a flash of colour beyond that told me that we'd entered suburbia. Faded weatherboards, broken fences, and the odd piece of discarded refuse paid testament to the people that had once called this place home. They were gone now – or were they? A brief movement caught my eye, but by the time I focused on it, it had vanished.
"We're being watched," I concluded, trying to keep from sounding too morose; the last thing we needed was for me to make everyone else nervous. Nervous people made mistakes. Luckily for me, Michael wasn't the kind of man that disturbed easily. He just nodded silently, and accepted my warning for what it was.
A few minutes later, the roads began to widen and the foliage thinned out, letting me finally get a clear look at the buildings. Most of them were in fairly decent condition, but there was one thing that immediately leapt to my attention.
"Is that graffiti over there?" Michael asked suddenly.
