The Reaper Virus (Novella): Sarcophagus

by Barnes, Nathan

  “I…” a scream from the first row of seats cut her reply short and diverted their attention. Jessica knew something was happening outside so she ordered the little girl to keep her eyes focused on the book like they had been watching a kid’s movie with a sudden inclusion of adult content.

  She arched herself up to peak over the tall seat ahead. Directly behind the driver’s seat on their side a man sat with his face pressed against the glass to look out. The woman next to him had her face covered, she sobbed about how she didn’t want to see. After shooting a glance back to make sure Ava wasn’t looking, Jessica turned to investigate what new horror was playing out.

  Seconds ahead in the northbound lanes things turned sour in a flash. Cars swerved, collided and spun. Luggage was launched from their hastily secured rooftop positions onto the pavement. A plume of white shirts erupted from a suitcase that split upon impact with the fence guarding the railroad tracks. The roar of a dozen blaring horns gained enough volume to pierce their soundproof bubble. Jessica called back to her daughter, “cover your ears and close your eyes, now!” She couldn’t check if the girl complied because the madness on the other side of the tracks instantly hypnotized.

  The ripple of traffic accidents was so sudden and violent that Jessica almost missed what caused the mess in the first place. In the second before it travelled from her view she saw human figures wandering from a northbound onramp. Just past the ramp was a color-drained grass hill that had a playground at its peak. She counted six crimson stained people erratically spilling from the access point. How many entered the highway before the cars mowed them down was a preferred mystery.

  The last detail she saw before the gaps ceased in an endless wall of connected vehicles hollowed her inside. A shorter figure was last on the hill; it was clad in all purple neck to foot. As a mother, she easily recognized the design as that of a little girl’s footie pajamas. Not even the horrid stain of red covering the figure’s midsection could have spared her from this realization.

  Chapter Six

  Passing the tragedy of the northbound lanes ended any semblance of fragile calm that existed inside the second bus. Panic rippled from the outer seats facing the railroad tracks to the opposite side in seconds. Even if the passengers couldn’t bring themselves to look at the carnage that violently erupted on the opposite side of the highway, the reactions of those who could see was more than enough to end any peace in the vehicle.

  Jessica was in shock. Ava could hear everything through her little earmuffed hands. “What’s happening, Mommy?” she said in a tiny voice that was nearly lost amongst the clatter around them. “Can I open my eyes?”

  Ava sounded scared and her mother naturally wanted to sooth her. Placing her own hand over the girl’s eyes she answered, “no baby girl... keep them closed.” It was her job to comfort the girl yet her own fear made it a futile task; no one could be shielded from the rapidly deteriorating world.

  She couldn’t bring herself to look back out the window so instead she peered over the few rows ahead of them, then beyond the driver’s seat. The fully loaded black car still buffered the two buses leaving dangerously little space between its front bumper and the massive rear of the first chartered behemoth. Beyond the convoy she could make out an overpass with an oversized sign for the exit to Cary Street and Grove Avenue. A pit formed in Jessica’s stomach as she looked forward with the unshakable sense that something was tremendously wrong.

  The same overpass that she’d seen a hundred times now looked disheveled. Normally it was a typical scene consisting of a pedestrian fence border outlined with lampposts and highway signs mounted towards the expressway passing below. Where there would normally be a flawless barrier separating the foot or street traffic from a river of commuters was now a broken fence. Sometime before their approach the rear bed of a flatbed tow truck had backed up enough to pierce through the fence and nearly dislodge the lamp next to the left side of the large exit sign. Debris that was pinned between the fence and the truck in the collision dangled in the breeze.

  Squinting towards the damaged overpass, Jessica finally made out the detail that was eating at her. It was a person that had been pinned by the truck. This mangled effigy of a man flailed about, robbed of death’s release after the Reaper Virus severed its ties. In the pinnacle of bad timing, the motions of the undead piñata released it from the overpass as the first bus approached. One second sooner or one second later would have changed everything. If the dangling dead man had freed himself a second before then he would have met the concrete and a final end under the weight of bus tires; had he fallen a second later he would have bounced off the top. Guided by fate’s sadistic hand he managed a collision with the windshield of the bus containing Pastor Doug, Nurse Sue, Todd and so many of their friends.

  Jessica witnessed these tragic seconds unfold from her seat on the second bus. Her right hand instinctively shot across to secure Ava, who still sat cupping her little hands over both ears. She wanted to curl up in a ball around what was precious to her and wait for this hellacious dream to pass. Instead she saw proof that they would never wake from these new nightmares.

  Upon impact the lead bus veered to the right without any hesitation for the flow of other vehicles attempting to flee the city. It tore through the other lanes like a tree falling across a flooded stream. The tailgating Volkswagen didn’t stand a chance at escape; it slammed into the rear of the diverted bus then fishtailed in the opposite direction.

  The old man driving the second bus reacted quickly by forcing the large steering wheel away from the crash. They turned sharply into the leftmost lane and missed sideswiping a pickup truck by inches. Momentum took them out of the lane all the way into the shoulder. Metal shrieked as the side with Ava and Jessica clapped against the chain-link-topped Jersey Wall that protected the train tracks. Screams from the passengers couldn’t top the chaotic chorus that lasted for several eternal seconds.

  Then the driver regained control of the monolith. He found the left lane again as the terror in the seat rows behind him continued. A new gap in the traffic that formed with the sudden disruption allowed their path to resume without running anyone else off the road. The old man called back, “we’re okay people! Please calm down!”

  A man in the second row on the right side stood trying to pry the window open that wouldn’t budge by design. Pressing his face against the glass in an attempt to see behind them he grew vocally frustrated before he jumped from the row and ran up towards the driver’s seat. “What about the others?!” he hollered.

  “Mister,” the driver pleaded, “please stay in your seat. No need to get everyone more scared than they already are. I’m worried about the people on the first bus too.”

  On the inside he was more anxious than he wanted anyone to know but he appeared far too irate to be calmed, “Tell us what the hell do you see in your mirrors?” The driver’s lack of verbal response added fuel to the fire. “I don’t give a shit that we’re here with a church, old man,” the man threatened, “I’ll still knock you out if you don’t start talking.”

  Silence returned in the cabin. With the exception of bits of subdued sobbing, all attention was focused on the two men at the front. The driver mumbled something undiscernibly.

  Anger was the easiest outlet as rage nearly bubbled over in the man. He shouted at the driver, “what did you say?!”

  This pushed the driver over the edge in a different way. He resigned any sensitive attempt to spare the group from reality. “I said that the bus flipped. It turned hard then flipped onto its side. If we hadn’t side swiped the wall on the left then we woulda been clipped in the process. Traffic all but stopped behind us because when the bus wrecked it walled off the highway.”

  Stunned silence had never been so loud. Dumbfounded and depressed, the aggressive man returned to his seat without a word. After a minute without anyone speaking, the driver added, “I’m sorry folks but there’s no turning back. The pastor told me to keep going no matter wha
t and that’s exactly what I intend to do. Even if I wanted to turn back and help the other bus, I don’t think I could without causin’ another wreck. We gotta keep going. We have to make it to the retreat spot. That’s what every soul on that bus we just lost would have wanted for us. There ain’t any other way now.”

  Jessica felt a little sting on her right hand. She looked to see Ava with her hands no longer over her ears. It was a mystery how much the little girl had heard of what just transpired in the bus, but the sweet hint of confusion in her face indicated she had heard enough. Ava pinched the top of her mom’s hand because it was the only exposed skin she could reach. The pinch was all she could think to do to get Jessica’s attention.

  “Mommy,” her little voice said, “your arm is pushing down kinda hard.”

  She pulled it away feeling terrible for pressing so hard in her attempt to secure the girl while expecting them to crash. “I’m so sorry sweetheart. I wasn’t trying to hurt you,” Jessica apologized at the brink of tears. “Everything is going to be alright. I promise.”

  Ava’s expression indicated more curiosity than fear. “It’s okay Mommy, I know.”

  They sat there for a few minutes without speaking again. Jessica had no idea what to say to the girl about what happened or would happen. Truthfully, she herself wished for the answers to those questions. She gazed upon the little angel that stared forward as thoughts clearly turned through her curly head in contemplation.

  “Did they die?” Ava questioned with a remarkable level of cognition, “The other bus we were following. Are they… are those people dead?”

  The words dropped her mother’s jaw. Jessica didn’t know how to answer. She marveled at how astute Ava had become. It’s a prideful feeling that she hated experiencing under the current circumstances. Fairy tales and magical ponies are what her daughter should be thinking about. This was supposed to be a vacation for her, an adventure that they would experience together. Any prevalence of death has no place in such fairy tales.

  She hesitated. Ava instantly looked frustrated. There was no sugar coating the truth anymore, not even with a five year old. “I’m not sure sweetie.” She said seeing the little brow furrow back. “But with what our driver said had happened to their bus, I don’t think they had a very good chance to walk away from it.”

  “I hope it didn’t hurt,” Ava said sadly.

  Tears lightly streaked across Jessica’s cheek. Struggling to keep the sorrow out of her words she agreed, “Me either, baby. Hopefully they’ve found some peace.”

  The little girl pondered that for a moment before saying, “are we going to die?”

  Hearing this hollowed Jessica. She battled to sound strong because her daughter deserved to hear strength in her mom. “No, hun,” more warm lines traced their way down her face, “we’re not done here yet…. not today.”

  Chapter Seven

  The expressway continued onward with the all the pomp and circumstance of a death march. Any justifiable urge to drive recklessly, to weave and swerve or maneuver further was quelled by the sheer volume of cars. A gap was cut in traffic when the doomed bus careened across the lanes. The space filled with cars barely a quarter of a mile beyond the crash scene. Tension amongst the remaining retreat members was paralyzing.

  Jessica started to notice that their average speed had reduced with every passing minute. The backup was absurd even by the worst rush hour standards. In the time it had taken them to go three miles, they should have already crossed the river and passed city limits into Chesterfield County. She tried to go back to reading to keep busy, but after what they had just seen it was difficult to reenter the fantasy world offered by Ava’s book. Most of the passengers seemed to be in a similarly shell shocked state.

  The man that had previously challenged the bus driver stood to speak with him again. A few whispers in the rows behind them reacted to the anticipation of conflict. Sensing the approaching passenger, the driver shot a glare back. “Sir, I’m not going to allow you to rile people up again,” asserted the white-haired man.

  However, the previously aggressive man showed no sign of challenging. His shoulders drooped like a child emerging from time out. The harsh tone he’d used minutes before had withered into a timid plea. “No trouble here. Just seeing how things are going. Do you see any break in the traffic coming up?”

  A collective sigh of relief could be heard. This was yet another twist in the roller coaster of adrenaline that they’d all been put through. Fear polarizes all that it touches. A reasonable man can turn into a maniac when properly motivated by fear. The passenger couldn’t accept that he was powerless to affect their situation; it maddened him before. It would seem that now, after having learned the fate of the first bus, fear extinguished his anger leaving a fragile husk behind.

  Recognizing that his position wasn’t being threatened, the driver also seemed to calm. He let out a heavy breath and said, “it’s not moving much but we ain’t stopped, so there’s that. Everyone’s running from the city... same as us.”

  Outside a horn blared from one of the lanes to their right. None of the retreat members seemed to pay it any mind. Jessica heard the angry trumpeting through the bus’s muting exterior. Although the source of this noise wasn’t within her view, it didn’t take much imagination to picture what caused it. Its source was a frantic woman in a car so filled with belongings that she had the seat pushed forward to its limit. She hugged the wheel with one arm while reserving the other for throwing obscene gestures. Her hostility was entirely misdirected; so many cars filled the road that no one could have been blamed for the traffic. This fact didn’t stop the crazed woman from using the full power of her horn.

  “Have you seen any more of those… things? You know…” the man futilely attempted to speak quieter, “the ones that already turned?”

  “Except for the one that dropped from that overpass, none have made it onto the lanes on this side of the expressway. The tracks seem to keep most of ‘em on the side facin’ downtown. Good thing, too.” The driver finished his sentence then pointlessly flipped a few switches on his console to make it seem like he had to get back to work. Behind him the man stayed, not taking the hint. Hardly masking his impatience, the driver added, “you gonna be alright, sir?”

  “Paul, my name’s Paul,” he said back.

  “Nice to make your acquaintance, Paul. My name’s Frank.” Jessica spied the exchange from her third row seat. She saw Frank, the driver, scratch his head impatiently then ask, “you going to be alright, Paul?”

  Jessica wasn’t the only one spying the exchange. The forward rows all had heads peeking above the tall seats. Paul leaned against the metal divider that separated kicking feet from the recessed driver’s area. His voice grew so distant that she could barely make what he said from a couple rows back, “you have any family back in the city, Frank?”

  “No. No, I don’t got any family. But I’m sure if I did that they would want me to carry on and get myself somewhere safe. They’d want me to be exactly where I am now.” Paul hadn’t moved and Frank was clearly not in the mood to play counselor. After a second Frank asked, “you want to help our situation, Paul?”

  “Of course. I’m not used to staying still... it’s making me go a little crazy,” the anxious man answered.

  “Good,” Jessica saw Frank’s eyes in the mirror as he said it. He looked in his mirror realizing that nearly everyone was listening in. “All of the church leadership was on that bus. You’re a big guy with a loud voice; why don’t you fill in and use that voice to calm people down.” He didn’t give the man standing behind him a moment to think it over before announcing, “alrighty folks, Paul here is going to act as our leader for a little while. He’s gonna see to it that you all are comfortable. I need to focus on the road to keep us on target so if there’s a problem or anything take it to him first. When we get to the retreat we’ll all reconvene to see who is going to head things up. Until then, I’m sure he won’t let us down.”


  A variety of chatter answered the announcement. One woman was still sobbing so deeply that she was practically catatonic. Ava looked up at Jessica with a sweetly raised eyebrow. She was blissfully lost by what the adults were making a fuss about. Jess smiled back, placing a comforting hand on her leg to reassure her. Since no one challenged the order, Frank gave Paul thumbs up then returned his full attention to the sea of cars.

  Centering himself in the aisle, Paul cleared his throat loudly. At first his voice was shaky, “listen up! Nothing about this morning has gone as planned, so I’m not gonna lie to you and say that everything is alright…. because we’re all scared.” He paused, panning his eyes over the rows starting on the left then following back up on the right. When he reached Ava he stopped; she was the youngest on the trip by at least a decade.