The Salvation Plague | Book 1 |The Turning

by Masters, A. L.

  She was definitely riding in the front on the way back.

  “Are you okay?” Stewart asked quietly.

  She nodded. “Just carsick. The smell isn’t helping.”

  “Here, switch seats with me.”

  She braced against the front seat and lifted herself up and over as Stewart scooted. They managed to avoid any awkward lap-sitting in the process, but she was too sick to care really. She cracked the side window and rested against the seat.

  “Better?”

  “Much better, thanks,” she said.

  “No problem. I know how it is,” he said.

  “You get carsick?”

  “No. Chopper-sick.”

  Her stomach flipped uncomfortably thinking about riding in a helicopter. Yeah, no. Not in a million years.

  “Good thing you don’t have to ride in them very often,” she said with a smile.

  He nodded.

  Fifteen minutes later Jared stopped the truck in the middle of the highway. They saw the gate to the armory in the distance. It was surrounded by chain link fencing. After the stadium disaster she didn’t have much faith in chain link fencing at keeping the Biters out. She couldn’t tell if there was anyone there or not.

  “That’s the only way in, right through that gate. If you go around the side, it leads to a large garage for our vehicles. We have a small motor pool, but most of our stuff is deployed right now. We don’t have anything left worth driving,” Stewart said.

  “That sucks. A Humvee would have been badass,” Jared said.

  “Yeah,” Hank agreed. “Or a deuce and a half. I bet I could still operate one of those with my eyes closed.”

  “Maybe we can scavenge up some better vehicles from another armory sometime. Or maybe a police department. Since they have become more militarized, they’ve been allocated a lot more military-type vehicles and weapons,” Bradley said.

  “That’ll be the first place survivors are going to think to go,” Jared said.

  “We’ll see what comes up. First, let’s get some gear.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Vault

  “Well, it looks pretty clear to me,” Jared said.

  The tan brick building sat, unimposing and silent, within the untended field it occupied. The parking lot and the grass, which needed mowing, were the only signs of cultivation inside the perimeter of the fence. The gate was shut and locked. It did indeed look clear. Anna knew as well as they did that looks could be deceiving.

  There was no evidence of any battles or attacks. No blood splattered the parking lot or the sidewalks. No intestines draped over the chain link fence. The glass doors and windows remained intact, though she suspected nothing short of a tank round could bust through the ballistic glass.

  “Looks just like we left it,” Bradley said. “There’s my truck,” he said, motioning to a large black pickup, much like Jared’s. It was parked next to a white Suburban that belonged to Stewart. “We should take both our vehicles when we leave,” he told Stewart.

  Stewart nodded.

  “Wait, aren’t you guys coming back with us?” Anna asked, suddenly a bit panicky at the thought of their leaving.

  “We need to go find our unit. We lost comms with them during the attack at the stadium. We need to rejoin them and figure out the plan,” Bradley said.

  “Zip it,” she said, quickly covering Jared’s mouth and cutting off his highly redundant comment about the plan. He grinned and winked from behind her hand.

  “But you’ll come back, right?” she said.

  “If we can.”

  Her mood soured and she felt uneasy about them leaving. They had become friends and they provided a lot of expert advice that their group lacked. Yeah, they were leaving some weapons and ammo, but it wouldn’t be the same. They wouldn’t be as safe.

  "Wait!" Stewart squinted at the parking lot. "There are some cars missing."

  Bradley swore. "You're right. I wonder why?"

  “Let’s go find out.”

  Bradley covered Stewart as he jumped out and unlocked the gate. Jared drove in and Stewart slipped the chain back through the links. She noticed that he didn’t lock it. Perhaps he was anticipating needing a quick exit.

  “There should have been a few people here. We left some guys behind to coordinate.” Bradley led them around the back, bypassing the main front door. The heat was stifling today and sweat already started to dampen her clothing. There wasn’t a cloud in sight. She would have to reapply her sunscreen soon.

  At the back of the building was an unexpectedly large room. It looked like a gymnasium.

  “That’s the drill hall,” Stewart said. She nodded.

  Bradley knocked on a solid door and waited. No answer. He tried again. Anna glanced around the area, nervously eyeing the large, steel half-circle structure they used for a garage. A lot of people could fit in there…a lot of sick people.

  “Stewart?”

  Stewart came forward and unlocked the door. Bradley held his rifle low, but ready, as he entered the room. Stewart went next, then Jared, she followed, and Hank brought up the rear. She felt a little like she was in a cop show when the SWAT team busted in a building.

  The cavernous space was dim, with only high windows to illuminate the area. It was a little cooler at least. The floor was empty except for some exercise equipment near a corner.

  Bradley flipped a switch on the wall. “Genny must have shut down. Wonder why it didn’t switch over?”

  They followed the soldiers down a corridor. Institutional concrete blocks lined the walls. Their footsteps thudded on the yellowing tile floors. Papers stuck to bulletin boards rustled as they passed by. This was getting a little spooky. Light filtered in from a door down the hall.

  They turned once more and went into an open office. It was empty. The lights were off, of course, and it was mostly dark. This was an inside room. No daylight came in. Her heart thumped as she looked around. She didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. That didn’t mean there wasn’t anything there. Feral Gina flashed through her thoughts and she looked up in the corners.

  Bradley clicked on a flashlight and shined it round the room. “What’s this?”

  Anna looked where he pointed the light. It was a whiteboard. Someone had left a note.

  CDR recalled. Sent to AA. MASCAL

  “Shit.” The vulgar language from Stewart surprised her.

  “What does it mean?” she asked.

  “Nothing good,” he said.

  “It means the Commander called the guys we left here. They went to the armory up in T-ville, the assembly area,” he said, pinching his chin and frowning at the message.

  “And MASCAL?” Jared asked.

  Bradley turned back to them. “It means mass casualty.”

  Stewart suddenly started to jog out of the room, and she looked at the rest of them before she followed. He turned left down the hall and went to a door further along. He unlocked it and went in, leaving it wide open. It was another dark room.

  Jared grabbed her shoulders gently as Bradley brushed past her, rifle raised. He scanned the room quickly while Stewart worked the locks on another set of doors. He finally got them open and motioned them in. They followed Bradley’s beam of light as he went to the pitch-black room.

  “Damn it! I knew it!” Stewart turned and leaned his arms on a nearby table.

  Bradley swept the room with his light. Cages stood open, mostly empty. Some boxes were opened and empty. It was obviously cleared out in a hurry.

  “They took it all. They cleared out all the fucking weapons, everything,” Stewart said. “The M24s, the SAWs, the .50’s…all of it.”

  Bradley left, taking Stewarts’s keys. When he came back, he was shaking his head. “Took all the ammo too,” he sighed. “We’ll just have to get ammo somewhere else. We can’t make the trip without it. We’re running too low.”

  “So, what’s the rest of this stuff?” she asked.

  “Some chem lights, spare parts, couple b
oxes of MRE’s…nothing we really need right now. Even the NODs are gone.”

  “NODs?”

  “Night vision.”

  “So, what will you do now?” Hank asked from the doorway.

  “Make a plan; find some ammo somewhere. We don’t have much time.”

  They stood around a moment.

  We can gather up whatever is here that’s useful, I guess. You guys want some chem lights and MRE’s?” Stewart said, passing everyone several boxes. “I’d save the MRE’s for when you need to travel lighter. Eat your canned goods and perishables first.”

  Jared fidgeted and ran a hand roughly through his hair. He seemed to come to a decision.

  “Alright. I can spare a thousand rounds. I wish it were more,” Jared said suddenly. “That should get you where you need to go, right?”

  “You don’t have to do that. We can go find some,” Bradley said. “I don’t want to put you guys short. You have more people to protect.”

  “Don’t worry about it, man. I have enough. I know you guys are anxious to rejoin your unit. If you are ever back this way you can resupply me,” he said with a smile.

  “We’ll make a point to come back for a visit, see how you’re getting along,” Bradley promised.

  “We’ve got to make sure you’re taking care of the Hellcat here,” Stewart said.”

  “Hellcat,” she snorted wryly. “That’s me alright.”

  “I don’t know…the way Bradley said you went after that mutant…”

  “Anyone would have,” she said, waving off his praise. It was misplaced. She wasn’t a fighter, not really.

  Not yet.

  She planned to be though. She was going to start working her butt off training. She was going to pull her own weight and make it through this. She had to. They all had to.

  “Oh, and what about the corn?” Jared said smugly. He grinned at Bradley and Stewart.

  “Jared…,” she warned, but he didn’t listen.

  “She was attacked last Sunday at the grocery store by one of the first crazies. Not kidding, full on attack. Anna takes it down with a can of creamed corn. Broke its jaw, knocked it out, everything. Cops had to come subdue it. Anna was so worried about going to prison for beating on an old lady,” he said.

  Jeez, he was practically gleeful telling them the story.

  “No shit?” Stewart asked.

  She nodded. “It wasn’t like I planned it.”

  Bradley regarded her more closely. “So, you want to stick with Hellcat? We can go with Sweet Corn instead...if you want…?”

  “I’m keeping that,” Jared said, pointing at her. “That’s perfect.”

  “I like Sweet Corn,” Hank said from the doorway.

  “Come on. Let’s go,” she grumbled.

  She puffed out air and shook her head before shifting the boxes of chem lights to a better position. Her arm was aching, and her scratches itched like crazy. The world as they knew it was over, and she ended up with a bunch of jokers.

  ◆◆◆

  Bradley’s truck and Stewart’s Suburban were parked near Jared’s garage. They loaded up the bit of ammo that Jared could spare. One thousand rounds of .223 ammo sounded like a lot, but really it wasn’t much. They split it fifty/fifty between the vehicles, loading up the magazines they had and leaving the rest in boxes.

  Anna knew they’d have to make every shot count. She hoped they found their guys soon so they could resupply. She hoped they made it in time to help. That message was probably a couple of days old by now. It could be too late for their unit.

  “Thanks for this water. We were going to have to stop and find some. This will save us time,” Bradley said.

  “No problem. Anna bought tons last week before the Shaking Plague thing. Hey, you want some beans?” Jared asked.

  “Uh…no?” Bradley asked.

  Anna raised an eyebrow at Jared. She was not amused. “You’ll be grateful for those one day.”

  “Then you can say ‘I told you so’, until then it’s just weird to collect only kidney beans. I mean, what about all the others?”

  “They were on sale!” she shouted.

  “Okay kids, we’re going to head out now. We’ll come back when we can. Don’t know when it will be. If there’s an emergency here, you can find us at the T-ville armory though I don’t know how long we’ll be there.”

  Bradley tossed the last bag into the backseat of the truck. “Sweet Corn, it’s been fun. Take care,” Bradley said.

  Stewart handed her two bottles of pills. “Every eight hours for another week and you should be good. Be careful with the pain killers. There are only a few in there, but you don’t want to get used to taking them.”

  “Thanks,” she said. She walked up and gave him and Bradley a hug. She had only known them a couple of days, but they felt like old friends. Jared came up beside her and shook their hands. “Be careful up there.”

  “Roger that,” Bradley said.

  They told Hank goodbye and loaded up. They had already said farewell to the others. The boys were particularly sad for the soldiers to leave.

  Jared put his arm around her waist as they watched the men drive away. It felt strangely lonely now, like a very vital part of their group was missing.

  “I’m going to miss them,” she told him.

  “Yeah. They were nice to have around. I’m sure they’ll come back sometime.”

  They went in, and the house did feel emptier. Maria and Violet were in the kitchen preparing supper. Juan was setting up a game of cards for him and Hank to play.

  The boys were playing with a couple of chem lights that Stewart had broken for them. Alejandro was pretending his was a light saber and cutting Carlos with it. Carlos obliged and kept falling down dead.

  It was such a normal thing for boys to be doing, that it startled her. This wasn’t a vacation with friends, or dinner with family. This was their group of survivors. These were their people now. This was real.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Visitor

  Two days after Bradley and Stewart left, four days since the shit hit the fan, one week since she had been attacked in the grocery store, and she was jolted awake. The room was extremely dim; it was still early. Violet lay snoring on the bed still, and Jared laid on his stomach nearby. She felt the heat of his leg against her calf. It was weirdly soothing.

  She sat up groggily, listening for what woke her. It came again…talking from the living room. She slipped out from under the sheet and crept out of the room. Someone had opened the back curtains, allowing the first blue light of dawn to filter through.

  Hank held a woman at gunpoint near the front door.

  “Hank! What’s going on?!” she said.

  “That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” he said. “This woman broke in and woke me up.”

  Anna looked at the woman. She was older, perhaps sixty, and wore ill fitting clothes. She wasn’t the cleanest person in the world, but that was nothing to judge anyone for now. None of them were paragons of good hygiene anymore.

  “I did not break in. I have a key!” she bit out and stuck her chin in the air.

  “Oh, and where did you find it?” he asked.

  “Under the fake rock where my son keeps it!” she said. Her eyes flashed with anger and Anna felt that she was being completely truthful.

  “You’re Jared’s mother!” she shouted.

  “Obviously,” the woman answered. “Who are you people? Where’s my son?”

  “Jared! Jared, come here!” Anna called out. “Mrs. Carson—”

  Jared came bursting into the room, a pistol clutched in his hands. Concern and fear were evident on his face. “What’s wrong?!” he said loudly.

  He looked at the woman near the door. “Mom?!”

  He rushed over to her and pulled her in for a hug. Anna smiled at the relief he felt. She knew he had agonized over his mother’s fate. This would go a long way to lifting some of that weight from his shoulders.

  “How did you
get here? Where have you been?” he asked her, pulling back to stare at her.

  “That’s a long story, son. Do you have any coffee?” she asked.

  “Sure, sure. Um, Anna, would you mind starting some?” he asked her.

  “I’ll do it right now,” she told him. “I’m glad you’re okay, Mrs. Carson. We were worried about you.”

  “Thank you,” Mrs. Carson said with a curious glance between her and Jared.

  Anna made up a pot of coffee on the stove, idly wondering how they would cook and make coffee after the gas went out. Propane probably, or maybe a wood burning stove. She didn’t even want to think about not having hot showers anymore, though that was probably coming soon as well. It couldn’t be much longer before everything ran out or shut down. Jimmy Don would probably know. She should have asked him.

  “Where’s Kate?” Jared said, as soon as they sat with their coffee. Hank sat, still looking suspiciously at Mrs. Carson.

  “She was alive the last time I saw her,” Mrs. Carson answered after a moment. She looked haggard and stressed.

  “Mrs. Carson, what happened at the stadium?”

  “Call me Enid, please.” She sipped at her coffee before speaking. Gathering her thoughts, Anna assumed.

  “We left with a couple of neighbors who were home when the outbreak happened. They set up the shelter quickly and we were some of the first to arrive. They had soldiers and police there, a fence, and other safety measures in place. It looked like an ideal place to stay until they cleaned up the mess…” She trailed off and wiped her eyes. Jared held her free hand gently.

  “Anyway, we got there and got through the medical examination. Just a basic exam, you know. They were quarantining people with fevers, but I was better by then, so they let us in. We got cots near the stands. Kate went to one of the soldiers to see if she could check the roster for her friends —they took down everyone’s names— when it happened.”

  “Some sick person, a crazy person, jumped from a cot and started attacking people nearby. I guess they must have turned crazy right then. It was so fast. It kind of shrieked, and a minute later more came from the hallways. It was chaos! Everyone was panicking and running…”