Teddy staggered backward and slumped against the wall. He gripped the gangway’s doorframe to keep from falling.
Ein dug his fingers into where the thin rubber membranes from the two separate trailers met and pulled as hard as he could.
The magnetic seals snapped apart quickly, and the latches disengaged.
Ein separated the two membranes and stared out at the moonlit dock.
There were no sentries in sight, and the river looked only about three-hundred feet away.
“Come on, we’ve got to hurry.” Ein wrapped Teddy’s arm around his neck and carried him outside.
They hurried across the concrete as a chilly breeze nipped at their exposed faces.
“Where are we going?” Teddy bundled up tighter in the parka. He seemed more awake by this time.
“We need to get to the water.” Ein wiped his forehead with one arm as he labored his way closer to the river. “We need to get on a boat—we need to find something to get away from here!”
Spotlights mounted on top of trailers swung towards them and bathed them in light.
“They’re outside!” a voice screamed over the radio. “They’re on the eastern perimeter headed towards the dock!”
Officers poured out of the hole that Ein had created and pointed their rifles towards the fleeing men. Their gunsights wavered uneasily at the backs of the two men—both were wearing parkas.
Lemma Station to all units! Do not harm the subject—selective-fire only!
“Stop!” one of the officers ordered. “Stop, dammit, or I’ll shoot!”
Ein ignored it all and focused solely on the closing distance towards the water.
Ten feet.
Nine feet.
Eight.
A panicked voice came over the radio: Which one is the subject? We don’t have visual confirmation!
Feedback warbled as the radio traffic overlapped.
Another voice: Lemma, we have a visual of two subjects—which one is—
More feedback and a confused, jumbled mix of voices.
Four feet.
Three feet.
Ein could smell the water. “We’re almost there!”
Two feet.
A gunshot rang out.
Blood and goose down flew from the front of Teddy’s stomach as a hole blew out of his parka.
Teddy looked down in a stupor and placed a hand over the hole. He slowly pulled his hand away and looked at the crimson that covered his open palm.
Ein stared in horror at the blood.
Teddy let go of Ein, staggered forward a few more steps, and tumbled off of the dock and splashed in the water.
The officers—many of whom appeared to be in as much shock and horror as Ein—stood frozen for a moment, and a few even hesitantly lowered their weapons as Lemma Control started shouting at them over the radio.
“Teddy!” Ein ran towards the edge of the dock.
The officers snapped out of their apprehensive fear, ignored Lemma’s commands, and fired towards Ein. “Take him down—take him down!”
Ein dove into the water as bullets whistled overhead—his body going rigid with the sudden shock of icy water around him. He swam towards an unconscious Teddy, grabbed him, and went with the current and left the soldiers at dock further and further behind.
CHAPTER 25
Ein managed to drag Teddy out of the water and took shelter inside a sewer culvert just downriver from the facility.
After a few hours of Ein applying pressure, a clot formed over Teddy's wound, and the bleeding stopped. Clear fluid oozed out of it, and the skin around the edge was bright red and swollen.
From what Ein could tell, it looked as if the bullet went straight through, but he was definitely out of his element when it came to first aid.
He wiped the area as best as he could with a dampened piece of cloth and kept Teddy’s body covered with the parka.
Ein sat next to him with his arms around his chest, shivering. He kept an uneasy watch on the rise and fall of his friend’s chest and was sure that he was going to die.
Teddy lay in the middle of the concrete culvert with his head resting on some folded up clothes. He hadn’t opened his eyes ever since falling into the river, but he kept fighting—he kept breathing.
At dawn, off in the distance, Ein heard a few helicopters as they circled over the water.
The government’s futile search attempts ended almost as soon as they began, and eventually, the noise stopped altogether.
They must’ve seen the blood and assumed that he was dead, Ein thought.
By all rights, he should’ve been.
Given the copious amount of blood that saturated the tattered clothes and makeshift rags, how could there be anything still pumping through Teddy’s veins?
Nearby, there were iron rungs that led up to the street.
Ein considered going up and searching for supplies, but he couldn’t get himself to leave Teddy’s side.
Teddy would either wake up, or he would succumb—either way, Ein wasn’t leaving until fate made its inevitable choice.
Ein, freezing and hungry, sat and continued his deathwatch vigil as the day slipped away.
CHAPTER 26
JANUARY 4th
4:18 AM
A sonic boom followed by a series of thunderous blasts jolted Ein awake.
Ein sat up and looked around in a panic as the culvert shook, and pieces of concrete fell loose from the ceiling.
Intense heat radiated in from the open end of the culvert, and the air outside seemed to glow. Steam rose up off of the river, and the air reeked of burning plastic mixed with the garlicky stench of white phosphorus.
Ein climbed to the edge of the culvert and peered outside towards the dock.
The entire encampment was in flames. Fire danced atop a portion of the river. Officers and scientists ran out of the engulfed trailers, writhing in agony as they collapsed into burning mounds of flesh.
Ein caught a whiff of another smell, a sickening odor—he smelled burning flesh.
He doubted that it was the work of marauders or some ragtag militia.
He heard the jets, and he was positive that it was the work of the government.
Why they did it, he hadn’t a clue.
Were the repercussions for failure that severe, or was it merely the work of a rogue element?
The world has gone crazy, he reasoned.
Disgusted, he retreated back inside the culvert and sat down next to Teddy.
Teddy remained unconscious through it all.
For that, Ein envied him.
The sweet stench of burnt flesh wouldn’t leave Ein’s nostrils.
It was a long time before Ein finally fell back asleep.
CHAPTER 27
Ein went topside just past noon.
The fire had burnt itself out and the entire dock had been reduced to cinders and twisted scrap.
Instead of picking through the ashes, Ein ventured into downtown Greenville, Mississippi.
It was a city of corpses.
Most of the small, two-story structures that made up Greenville’s humble skyline had been severely damaged during the riots and the dead lay sprawled across sidewalks and streets. Storefront windows were shattered and the business gutted by looters in the final days. Many of the dead still lay clutching molding protest signs that read things like vaccination kills, fuck the feds, H7N9 is a bioweapon, and resist.
There were a few vandalized police cruisers in the street, but it was clear that the small city’s first responders had been easily overrun during the chaos.
Ein looked down at the signs and wondered just how many people actually believed what they were saying. He had certainly heard similar rumors back in Tucson, but he never remembered seeing large scale protests about it.
Navigating his way through the countless smash-ups and abandoned vehicles in the road proved difficult, but he knew it’d be downright impossible to do so if he had to lug Teddy along.
Besides, he didn’t t
hink Teddy could safely be moved.
I just hope he wakes up soon, Ein thought with a frown.
He wasn’t too concerned about leaving Teddy behind in the culvert for a few hours since the soldiers were gone.
Ein passed a high-end clothing boutique and was surprised to see that the only thing missing was the cash register and most of the handbags. The racks of designer clothes were practically untouched—he supposed that the dead and dying in the end weren’t too concerned with Burberry, Coach, and Prada. He got himself a warm change of clothes and packed two shopping bags full of clothes for Teddy before heading out to find a drugstore.
Two blocks down he came across what remained of a Walgreens drug store.
The store’s security grille was pried off of the windows and the interior had been gutted by flames. A plastic placard on the sidewalk read: Flu Boosters Available—No Co-Pay Needed. Someone scratched away at the original words and wrote across it in black sharpie: Vaccine is making people sick.
Frustrated, Ein kept walking and went inside a small bodega.
A skeleton with rotting flesh hanging off of its bones sat slouched behind the counter with a shotgun on its lap. Spent shell casings were scattered across the countertop and on the floor.
Ein gave the dead shopkeeper an uneasy glance and then covered his nose with his shirt as he went deeper inside the store.
The shelves were mostly empty, but he managed to find a few bags of chips, a pack of beef jerky, and some bottles of mineral water.
He bagged what he could and hurried back to Teddy.
When Ein finally returned to the culvert, he was shocked by what he saw.
Teddy was awake.
CHAPTER 28
JANUARY 5th
9:54 AM
Teddy sat with his back propped against the side of the culvert. He was bundled like a vagrant and held onto the bottle of mineral water with both hands.
Ein sat across from him and watched him nurse the bottle to his dry, cracked lips with shaky hands.
Teddy hadn’t had a thing to eat since he awoke, but he did manage to suck down three bottles of water all by himself. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and stared at Ein. “How much water do we have?”
The man’s voice was hoarse but coherent.
Ein checked the bag next to him and then shook his head. “Not enough… We need to go get some more of everything, really.”
“Kid, I don’t think I’m in any type of condition to do much of anything.” Teddy sat the bottle down and lifted the shirt that was tied around his abdomen like a bandage. He stared down the oozing wound, touched it with his finger, and then winced in pain. “Whole goddamn stomach feels like it’s on fire.”
Ein could see that the wound wasn’t scabbing over, and the skin around it looked even more irritated and inflamed than it did before. “You need stitches.”
Teddy covered the wound and scoffed at the notion. “Sure, let me just get my needle and thread, and you can get right to it.”
“I could get those things, you know.” Ein pointed up at the manhole cover.
“You don’t know what you’re doing, and I’m not about to be your pincushion.” Teddy sighed and carefully took another sip of water. “The thing is festering with infection… I’m already feeling feverish.”
Ein’s expression brightened. “Then, you need medicine! I can find you some!”
Teddy leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “I can tell you that the hospitals and pharmacies have already been picked clean—if not by looters, then by the government.”
“Well, what do you want to do?” Ein asked. “Do you just want to sit around and wait to die?”
“Look, I’m just saying that the only people who have what I need are the feds… Running around and digging through garbage is useless and will only get you killed.”
“What do we do then?”
“Hopefully, my old ass is still strong enough to fight it off. If not…” Teddy shrugged. “Then I guess we’ll see.”
Ein frowned. “I didn’t think you were the type who gave up so easily.”
“I didn’t say anything about giving up. We need to get to the surface and find us another boat. The original plan is still on as far as I’m concerned.”
“But you’re injured…”
“So? That just means we’ll be moving a little slower is all.”
Ein opened a pack of beef jerky and took a bite. “When do you want to leave?”
Teddy capped the bottle and put it aside, thinking. “Not today… Tonight, maybe. I need to get some strength back first.”
Ein nodded. “Okay. I’ll gather some supplies this evening, so we’ll be ready.”
“Works for me.” Teddy wrapped a jacket around himself and sunk down lower. “Ein?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for getting me out of there, kid.”
“It’s no problem.” Ein smiled. “Just hurry up and get better so we can get out of here, yeah?”
Teddy wiped the beads of fever sweat off of his brow and grinned. “I’ll be fine—I’ve been through worse.” He paused, considering. His grin faded, and his expression grew troubled. “I have to ask… When you went up top to get these supplies, did you happen to come across anybody?”
“You mean cops?”
“No. Nobody cares about them,” Teddy quickly dismissed. “I meant regular people… Just regular, normal survivors?”
Ein shook his head. “Greenville is deserted. I didn’t see a single living soul.”
A look of relief washed over Teddy’s flushed face.
Ein became puzzled. “Why ask?”
Teddy’s expression went flat, and he hesitated. “You saved me, and I’m grateful, but before we go traipsing through any more cities, I need to tell you something…”
“Tell me what?” Ein grew more confused than ever.
Teddy looked at him for several moments, silent. He wanted to tell him, but he knew the revelation would break the kid’s heart. What sane, rational person wouldn’t be disturbed knowing that they were a walking biological weapon?
He wondered if it even mattered.
If Greenville was empty, then wasn’t anybody there for the kid to infect.
He’d tell him, eventually, but he’d wait until the time was right.
Too much had happened, far too fast.
All that Teddy felt like doing was sleeping and allowing his immune system to clear the poison out of his festering wound.
“Well?” Ein persisted. “Tell me what?”
Teddy shook his head. “Never mind. It’s nothing that can’t wait till later.” He rolled over onto his side and closed his eyes. “I’m going to rest for a bit.”
Ein stared at him, frowning. “What time should I wake you up?”
“Sunset,” he answered without even bothering to turn around. “We’ll head out then.”
However, when Ein tried to wake him, it was evident that they weren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Teddy shrugged off all of his attempts and continued to sleep. His blankets and clothes were soaked with sweat.
Whenever Ein neared Teddy, he could feel the fever radiating off of his body.
Ein removed the shoddy bandage and periodically wiped away the yellow fluid that leaked out of Teddy’s wound with one of the rags.
He didn’t like what he was seeing.
Red lines spidered across the inflamed tissue that surrounded the open wound, and parts were already turning black.
He knew that if he didn’t get help soon, Teddy would die.
CHAPTER 29
JANUARY 6th
1:00 PM
The sun beat down on their backs as they walked down the middle of the street. It was a typical wintery day in the south—freezing in the morning and scorching by noon.
Ein wiped the beads of sweat off of his forehead with his hand as he used his other to help support Teddy.
Teddy limped alongside him, grimacing with pain. He had
one arm wrapped around the back of Ein’s neck and used the other to keep a blood-soaked rag pressed against his dripping wound. He was pale, disoriented, and full of fever, but he kept moving.
The two-mile journey from the culvert down along the riverbank proved to be especially taxing on both of them.
They followed the riverbank south and searched the recreational fishing piers for a seaworthy vessel.
Since Greenville’s main port had been obliterated by the thermobaric barrage, their only hope was to find something left behind at one of the smaller piers.
Their search hadn't yielded any results.
Just when they were about to give up hope, they spotted a dock near the south of the city that was cordoned off by chain-link.
As soon as they arrived at the abandoned security gatehouse, they knew that their luck had taken a change for the better.
Ein stared at the rusty sign hanging on the fence and read it aloud. “Greenville Port Authority…” He smiled and looked over at Teddy. “Sounds like a winner.”
Teddy peered off into the distance with tired, bloodshot eyes. “Looks like a winner, too.”
Ein followed his gaze and saw two tug boats that were docked next to a small dispatch building and an empty helipad. The boats were stenciled with the Port Authority’s logo. “Think they’re gassed and ready?”
“Only one way to find out.”
They walked around the gatehouse’s boom gate arms and underneath a hanging sign that read: Authorized personnel only—by order of the port police.
The closer they got to the dispatch building, the more evident it became that it hadn’t been occupied for a very long time. All of its windows were murky with mineral deposits, and the front door was covered in webs. Untrimmed weeds filled the flowerbed, and vines crawled halfway up the building’s stucco side towards the roof.
Unfortunately, the boats didn’t appear to be in any better condition.
One of the boats leaned lopsided against the wooden pier, and the control panel underneath its covered helm was splattered with bird droppings and feathers. Rainwater had gathered around the stern and waterlogged most of the electrical components.
H7N9: The Complete Series [Books 1-3] Page 71
