by Brad Knight
“We were just waiting for your authorization, sir.”
“You have it. Start them, right away. I’ve already got some plans for this new strain of yours.”
“Of course. We’ll start today.”
Sebastian turned to Ted and touched him on his shoulder to get his attention. “We need to go meet with the board. “
“Fine, Sebastian, we’ll go meet with the board. Doc, let me know the results of the human trials as soon as they’re done. Let’s go please the extended family.” Ted led the way out of the labs to the board room.
Chapter 5
: The Mojave
“Are they gone?” asked Amber.
“Yeah, I don’t see any more helicopters,” answered Mack.
“Great.” Amber and Mack got out from their hiding places amongst the rocks of the mountain.
The duo spent the previous hour hiding from a group of three helicopters that circled the area. They had search lights on that scanned the Mojave Desert. It was clear that they were looking for something or someone. There was something imposing about them. Thankfully they gave up and left.
Amber and Mack sat atop a mountain, overlooking the rest of the vast Mojave. They were watching a massive fire in the distance. It was so big that it lit up the whole desert. The blaze was almost hypnotic.
“Hell of a thing, to watch a whole city burn,” said Mack. As he talked he held his ribs and grimaced.
“I seem to remember telling you to rest. That includes not talking,” said Amber.
“I guess some of your stubbornness must have rubbed off on me.”
Amber laughed. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“Well...”
Amber looked over at him. “What are we gonna do?”
“For now? We’re going to sleep,” said Mack before lying down in the dirt and rock.
“You go ahead and take a nap. I don’t think I’m sleeping tonight.” She got up and started walking around the top of the mountain. Her progress was slow since she had no desire to fall. It would be a long way down.
Amber was restless. The path out of Las Vegas was rough. Being so injured, Mack had to rely heavily on the teenage girl. Though she tried to hide how taxing it was on her both mentally and physically, it took its toll. But she was too alert to be able to take as much as a nap.
This must be what he felt like for… well… since Dallas. Amber looked at the slumbering Viking that she came to care for. Even though she knew and appreciated all he did for her, she never really realized just how hard it was. One night escorting Mack out of danger was nearly more than she could handle. The fact that he did it for months was nothing less than awe inspiring.
Finally she laid down next to him, and stared up at the desert night sky. There was some smoke from burning Vegas, but she could see some stars too. After about fifteen minutes she was able to get some shut eye.
***
What is that? Is my face wet? Why do I smell dog breath? Amber awoke to something blocking the bright morning sun. It was furry and adorable. A Labrador retriever was licking her face.
“She likes you,” said Mack with a smile. He had already awoken and was drinking one of the protein drinks they nabbed before leaving Las Vegas.
Amber moaned as she sat up. Her back was a bit sore from sleeping on dirt covered rock. Overall though she was feeling pretty good. They both desperately needed the rest.
“Hey pooch, what’s your name?” Amber checked the collar around the dog’s neck. There were some metal tags. One of them said 'Lily'. “You’re name is Lily, huh? That’s a pretty name.”
It’s so quiet and calm. I could definitely get used to this. Mack looked in the opposite direction of Las Vegas over the desert spread out below his and Amber’s little mountain. It was still and vast. An orange and red sun rose over the horizon. There wasn’t a meat puppet in sight.
“Where did she come from?” asked Amber.
“Don’t know. I woke up and she was hovering nearby.”
Amber petted Lily. She could feel the dog’s ribs under her fur and skin. “Maybe she’s hungry.”
“She came to the wrong place. We hardly have enough for ourselves.”
Amber reached into her pocket. From it she produced an energy bar, and opened it up. Lily watched her intently and wagged her tail. The young girl tore the bar in half and gave one to the dog.
“Which way is California?” asked Amber as she munched away on her half of the energy bar.
Mack pointed behind himself.
“Back towards Las Vegas?” Amber had doubt in her voice.
“Unfortunately. We’ll go around what’s left of the city.” Mack crumpled up the carton of his protein drink and tossed it away. “If we don’t go out and find some more supplies we’ll be as skinny as the mutt.”
When Mack tried to get up his legs gave way. Dizziness overwhelmed him. He quickly fell back down to the rock he previously sat on.
Amber got up. “You’re not going anywhere, big guy. At least not until you get better. I’ll go out.”
“And what, I sit out in the sun and bake all day while worrying about you? I don’t think so.” Mack tried to get up again. His legs and back ached as they tried to bear his weight. In spite of his struggles, he managed to stand. But it wasn’t long before he started getting a bit wobbly again.
“Yeah, that’s not happening,” said Amber, after hurrying over and catching Mack before he fell. “The car.”
“What about it?”
“I’ll help you down to the car. It should still be there. Then you’ll wait there and I’ll go out and find us some food and water. Agreed?” Amber laid down the law. Before Mack could answer, she said, “Agreed. Good.”
They slowly and carefully made their way down the mountain with an enthusiastic Lily leading the way. It wasn’t easy. The momentum generated by going downhill was amplified by the fact that Mack was using his much smaller charge as support. That meant a portion of his weight was on her shoulders. She was strong, but she was still just a young girl.
Progress wasn’t fast but they made it down to the desert without incident. Though it was early, the sun started beating down on the duo. It was hot. Too hot for eight in the morning.
The old brown shot up station wagon remained where Amber and Mack abandoned it. It gathered some dust and sand but otherwise was in the same sorry shape it was when they left it behind. Though it didn’t run, it would provide decent shelter from the harsh desert sun.
Amber helped Mack into the back seat. The injured man laid out across it. He had a half of a sports drink and two small bags of chips. That would have to hold him over.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. After all, I got Lily with me. You just worry about getting better. I’ll be back by sundown.” Amber gave Mack a smile meant to reassure her protector.
She’s going. There’s nothing you can do to stop her. Just like there’s nothing you can do to protect her. At least not right now. Get better so you can get back to being the adult. “Is there anything I can say to stop you?” asked Mack.
“Before dark. I’ll be back before dark,” said Amber before walking out into the Mojave Desert with Lily close behind.
***
It was hot in the station wagon. True, Mack was shielded from the sun but he traded being roasted on a fire for being roasted in an oven. Nothing about the situation was ideal.
The heat made it harder for Mack to breath. It also sapped the energy out of his broken body. Every second felt like an hour. Every hour felt like a day.
There wasn’t much for Mack to do other than think. He thought about Amber, thought about her safety. He thought about what happened back in Las Vegas. He thought about all those people from the Golden Pony who he knew must’ve been dead. He thought about a thickly packed hoagie from Katz Deli.
Occasionally during his time alone in the station wagon, Mack thought about LeAnn and the little restaurant on the Gulf of Mexico. In his head he could still
picture the vivid red of her favorite lipstick. If he remembered correctly it was called “Candy Apple Red”. He smelt the pleasantly sweet coconut of her perfume. It drove him insane.
At one point, Mack could have sworn he saw LeAnn walking barefoot in the desert. Her red dress blew in the wind along with her short brown hair. Behind her he could see the still smoldering gambling capitol of the United States.
It’s just a mirage. She’s dead asshole. Just like everyone else. Mack knew what he was seeing and smelling wasn’t real. The combination of heat, thirst, and hunger was playing tricks on his mind. But they were damn enjoyable tricks.
Mack wished he still had access to some pain killers. The man wasn’t a pussy by any stretch of the imagination. He had a high tolerance for pain. Even for someone as tough as him, the litany of injuries that ailed his body were too much. It was hard for him to put together a clear cohesive thought.
Before Mack knew it, the sun began to set and temperatures began to drop, sharply. His sweat drenched clothes started to get cold and chill him. That didn’t matter. Amber wasn’t back.
Where is she? Should I go out and look for her? Or am I just panicking? If I’m not, can I even look for her? Shit, I wouldn’t make it a mile. Mack sat up against the back passenger side door of the station wagon. He looked out the nonexistent back windshield. Tell me I’m not seeing this.
Two hundred yards away, coming from the direction of the city, were dozens of pairs of red eyes. Not all of the meat puppets in Las Vegas were consumed by the fires. Those that were left were converging on Mack’s old brown station wagon.
Damn it, damn it, damn it. Mack frantically searched the station wagon for any kind of weapon. He locked his pain away in a deep part of his mind as a sense of urgency took over. If he didn’t find a way to defend himself, he was as good as dead.
The eyes got closer and all Mack found was an ice scraper and a road flare. Why would someone living in Las Vegas need an ice scraper? Whatever their reason, I’m happy they did. This is all I got. It’s not good but it’s better than nothing.
Armed with his makeshift weapons, Mack laid down in the area below the backseat meant for passenger’s legs. All he could do was hope that the meat puppets would pass him and the station wagon by. Because there was no way he was winning a fight. Hiding was his only realistic option.
Mack could smell the distinct aroma of burning flesh as the meat puppets got close. All he could compare it to was spoiled meat burnt in an oven. He heard their heavy footsteps. And he found himself silently reciting prayers that he wouldn’t be discovered.
Through the broken windows, Mack saw the meat puppets go by. None of them seemed to notice him. They were a ghastly sight. Most of them still had pieces of burnt flesh, muscles and tendons that clung on to their metallic skeletons. Almost none of them had anything that resembled a human face. Smoke still rose from their recently flaming bodies.
One of the meat puppets stopped next the car door near Mack’s feet. It suddenly turned towards him. His hiding spot was discovered. The creature’s mouth distended and it let out an ear drum piercing screech.
Before Mack could recover from the jarring meat puppet screech, the door nearest his feet was ripped off. He was exposed. The creature grabbed him by the ankles. It tried dragging him out of the station wagon.
Mack tried to find something to hold on to. Half his body was out of the old brown station wagon before his hands found a seat belt. Metal claws gouged pieces of jeans and skin off of his legs as more meat puppets joined the impending frenzy.
With one arm holding the seat belt, Mack used his other to start hacking away at the hands and arms trying to pull him out. The ice scraper didn’t last long. It was made of plastic. And not a particularly thick or strong kind either.
Unable to fight off his attackers, it was only a matter of time before Mack lost his grip on the seat belt, and he knew it. Rather than get dragged out against his will, he let go. If he was going to die on that night it would be by his own terms.
In the middle of a pack of smoking meat puppets, Mack didn’t have any time to think. All he could do was fight with every last scrap of energy he had in him. And that’s what he did. He used his fists, his feet and even his head. With so much adrenaline, he didn’t feel their swipes taking chunks out of his body. The Viking didn’t feel one bite his arm.
Mack took out the road flare he retrieved from the station wagon and removed its cap, igniting it. He swung it around to back up the pack of meat puppets that attacked him. That only worked for less than a minute. Sensing his only shot at escaping, he tried to limp away.
The meat puppets didn’t hesitate to follow him. They harassed him as he fled. All he could do was wave his flare and try to push them back. It was a miracle that he managed to stay on his feet. That changed though.
The ground beneath Mack’s feet gave way. Unbeknownst to him, he stepped on the thin ceiling of a mine. He fell twelve feet into one of the mine’s tunnels. Sand, dirt and rock followed him down, along with two meat puppets.
Mack dropped his flare during his fall. As soon as he got his bearings he scrambled to grab it. When he found it, there was a nice sized rock next to it for him to hold in his other hand. The meat puppets that fell into the mine with him attacked.
With a swing that took a good deal of the strength left in his body, Mack swung his rock. He could hear it collide with one of the meat puppet’s metallic skull. Unfortunately it didn’t take it out. Instead it only staggered it. Once it recovered, it lunged at him.
Thinking fast, Mack stuck his lit flare into the meat puppet’s open mouth. The rock may not have worked, but that did the trick. Its head lit up reddish orange and the creature fell to the dirt. That marked the last of the fight the big man had left in him.
Mack fell back onto the dirt floor of the mine. He leaned up against one of the walls. More meat puppets fell into the mine tunnel and joined the one he didn’t dispatch. They all started beating on him.
There was no way to tell how many times Mack got hit. However many blows he took, it was enough to put him out. The curtains came down. Everything went black.
He died.
***
Amber looked back at the station wagon that was becoming smaller and smaller with each step she took. Part of her wondered if she’d ever see it or Mack again. She shifted her attention to Lily who happily walked beside her, and shook such macabre thoughts from her mind.
“It must be nice being you, Lily,” said Amber. Lily of course didn’t respond. Instead the dog shook its tail and looked back up at her. “You don’t have a care in the world, do you?”
Look at it. It’s like something out of a nightmare. Amber looked up at a burning Las Vegas. She’d never seen something so surreal. Few people ever had. The smoke created a thick black and gray cloud that hung around, carried away only by the wind.
Amber had a destination in mind. She saw it that morning atop her and Mack’s mountain. There was a rest area outside the city. It was located on a highway that cut through the desert and led to Las Vegas. For travelers before the outbreak, it was the last stop for gas and food that wasn’t within the city limits.
It’s a lot farther than it looked. I thought it'd take me an hour or two, tops. Amber’s trip to the rest area seemed to stretch on and on. But that was okay. She needed the calm. There was something comforting about the stillness of the open Mojave Desert around her.
Amber didn’t have to worry about a meat puppet jumping out and trying to kill her. There was nowhere for them to hide. She didn’t have to worry about being ambushed by other people. She’d see them coming. It was just her and Lily.
There’d better be something to drink in there. Or we’re screwed. Amber took the last sip of her sports drink. Not too concerned with littering, she threw the empty plastic bottle over her shoulder.
Amber’s demeanor changed as she got close to the rest area. She saw the sign outside that read 'Peter Buol Rest Area', was splattered with
dried blood. It was a reminder of just how dangerous the world she lived in was. And it heightened her alertness that had dissipated a bit on the walk over.
“Lily! Lily!” Amber yelled after the dog who sprinted, barking, towards the open doors of the rest area.
All Amber had was a knife to defend herself with. She brandished it as she approached the rest area. The reaction of her new dog had put her on edge and on the defensive. But turning back was not an option despite probably being the smart move.
This isn’t creepy. No, not creepy at all. Amber tried to ease her fears with sarcasm. It didn’t work. The main reason was due to the horror movie like nature of the place.
When the nanite virus reached Nevada, denizens of the state headed west. They hoped to outrun it not knowing that it was airborne. There wasn’t anywhere to run. So a number of people decided it would be better to hold up somewhere and try to wait it out. That place was the Paul Buol Rest Area.
The logic behind choosing the rest area was sound. It had food, water and even bathrooms. And the forty or so people that took shelter there were fine for a while. That was until the virus made its way into the building.
Only five of the forty were infected initially. But they were enough to slaughter the rest of the inhabitants. With relentless ferocity they killed or infected everyone they came across. The remnants of the horrible events rotted where they dropped. An atrocious smell permeated every inch of the building. There was no power, adding to the nightmarish nature of the place.
Amber wasn’t bothered by the state of the rest area. The smell and sight of the dead and rotting was all too familiar to the teen. The carnage displayed in blood splattered walls and floors didn’t faze her. Not even the prospect of there still being meat puppets inside deterred her. There wasn’t anywhere to get food or water for an unknown amount of miles in every direction. She had to explore.
Without a flashlight, Amber had a hard time getting around in the rest area. It wasn’t like back in Vegas where her eyes had adjusted to the darkness. For the previous few hours she was in the bright sunlight of the early morning. The floors, covered in the bodily fluids leaked from decomposition, were slippery. That didn’t help.
