by Maxey, Phil
“That’s the state capital building,” said Tracey “Last I heard the army were using it as some kind of base or something. Before all the radio stations started broadcasting white noise, they told everyone to stay away from that place. Umm…” She looked back to the four-lane road, and the buildings back from it. “How long you want to stay, if your family are not there?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yeah but, like, they think you’re dead… so…”
“I don’t know. Depends if there are things there. If there are, not long.”
“Then what?”
“Then we try and find her friend’s home. Maybe they’re there.”
He turned the van around, driving back the way they had come, then took the offramp. He knew the owner of the van wanted a more definite answer, but it was an honest one. She was right though, Jess wasn’t about to wait for her deceased husband and son. She would get the vaccine then try to get to a safe place for Sam. But still, he wanted to check out the ‘most obvious landmark’ just in case.
Overpasses, parking lots, old red-brick blocks of offices came and went, as they continued along the wide road, steering around the occasional abandoned vehicle, the dome growing ever closer. Huge gray and beige block-like buildings with hundreds of windows slid by and everyone in the van was scanning the landscape for any movement.
“I thought you said there were creatures here,” said Landon.
“That’s what I heard. Maybe they all moved on or something.”
They passed a parking lot full of cars, their owners never having returned and took a turning, heading up a hill which was bordered by important looking buildings. The van’s engine echoed off the gray concrete. If there were things hiding in the monolithic structures, they would know their city had visitors, but as they approached an abandoned checkpoint, replete with sandbags and a Humvee, nothing charged at them.
“Looks like there’s no one here,” said Tracey.
Luckily, the checkpoint was a simple gate. Landon got out and pulled it back, then quickly got back in and drove past. Rather than taking the road, he bumped on the curb and drove straight across the muddy faded grass, past trees, a statue and then across a parking lot until he was sat at the base of steps, which led to the impressive Greco-Roman columns of the grand entrance. He immediately turned to Tracey. “Wait here.” He held up the radio. “Use this if you see or hear anything.”
She looked uneasily at the massive building looming over them, then in the rear mirror at the road a hundred yards behind. “Don’t be long.”
He turned the ignition key, turning the engine off and pushed the door open and jumped down, closing it slowly while listening for any echoes or animalistic sounds, but there was just the sound of the icy droplets hitting the concrete and puddles around him.
Are you here, Jess?
The small park which surrounded the building, the roads and the other governmental buildings beyond showed no sign of danger, but his instincts were telling him otherwise. He swung around to his destination and started running up the wide set of stone steps, but stopped before reaching the top. A stench so strong he could almost see it, emanated from the entrance of the old building. He walked slowly up the final steps, straining to see what lay beyond the dark glass of the doubles doors when he caught movement, but it wasn’t coming from inside the building. In the reflection, a dark object silently slid just below the stone colored sky. He turned and watched the helicopter sail over the top of the huge building, then started to run down the steps towards the van. Tracey’s voice came from his radio before he reached the bottom. He pulled the driver’s door open before she could say ‘Over.’
“Did you see it! In the sky!” she said.
He turned the key, firing up the engine and reversing out across the grass. “Yup,” he said, trying to keep track of the direction the helicopter was heading. The van bumped over the sidewalk and back to the road, where he turned and hit the gas.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
12: 43 p.m. Jefferson City.
Jess looked out of the small side window of Arlo’s van as it drove down a dead end road. Brick built single story homes resided on both sides of the narrow road, which contained dew covered beige and green lawns with the occasional leafless tree.
She shook her head. “No, these are not like his. His is a wooden construction. And it’s closer to the river, I’m sure of it.”
Arlo had his laptop in his hand, balanced on the dashboard, displaying a map of the area. “This is the last road for us to look at…” He leaned forward, his eyes squinting behind his glasses. “Well, there’s another road to the north of here, which runs along a creak. Could that be it?”
“I guess… I don’t know.”
Arlo pulled into a driveway, then backed out, turning around. “If it’s not this new road, then are we all agreed to get the hell out of this city?”
The air left Jess’s lungs. They had driven all the roads that the map showed were close to the Missouri River. She was beginning to doubt the details she remembered from her conversation with Amos. Was it even in this area? Maybe on the other side of the river? “I can’t leave. But after this next road, if you want to, go ahead. Just drop us off.”
“We’ve already had this conversation, lady,” said Eugene. “Leaving you here is a death sentence.”
She didn’t want to state the obvious, but she didn’t need to because Sam beat her to it.
“I could turn into one of those things at any moment. You really want that to happen just behind you?”
Arlo and Eugene looked at each other without comment, as they rejoined a wider road, moving north.
Similar homes slid by, brick not wood, but then, as they moved around a shallow bend, the buildings on their right became wooden.
“Um…”
“Yeah?” said Eugene.
“Keep going, keep… Wait, stop, back up!” They had driven past a pale-blue lodge style property. “The front door! I remember him telling me he had it painted to match the rest of the outside, because before it looked like a ‘red nose!’”
The van was stopped outside a pleasant looking single story home, with a dark blue door. There were no vehicles in the drive which sloped down from the road, curving around to the entrance.
“This is it! I’m sure this is it!” She grabbed Sam and briefly hugged her tight to her, then before her daughter or anyone else in the van could say anything, turned and slid the side door open.
“Wait! Damnit!” said Eugene. He pushed his passenger’s door open and jumped down, scanning the buildings close by. “There could be creatures here!” he said, not wanting to raise his voice. “I should go in first and check the place out!”
Jess shook her head while beckoning Sam to get out as well. “No, if Amos is here, I need to talk to him first, just me and my daughter. But I’ll come back out within a few minutes.”
Eugene frowned and sighed. “A few minutes. Then I’m coming in.”
She nodded and with Sam walked down the concrete slope, quickly arriving at the deck, then stepping up to the front door. She rang the doorbell, but there was no answer. She knew there wasn’t much chance he would be there, but she wanted to have a look inside for the vaccine without the two strangers being with her. Who knew how they would react to finding something which would be priceless to survivors. She waited a few seconds then indicated to the two watching in the van, that she was going to go around back, to the lower floor.
Following the deck, they crunched fallen leaves and then cautiously walked down the wooden steps to the ground floor, which had a view of the forests which covered the valley below. She walked to the rear entrance, and—
Two men were standing in Amos’s living room, both in black hazmat suits. The kind she had seen used at her company. One of them stepped forward, and through the condensation on the inside of the visor she could see it was Amos. He stepped to the door and pulled it open.
“Jess! I’m so happy to see
you! Please come inside!”
She hesitated, but made sure to keep Sam behind her, then stepped over the threshold, her hand holding her daughter’s and moved into the moderately sized room. It was then she noticed the other two men, these wearing the same suits, but sporting semi-automatic rifles.
“No need to be worried about these other men, Jess, they are here to protect you and your daughter.” He looked past her. “Where is Landon and Josh?”
“What’s going on Amos?” Her eyes flicked between her work colleague and the three other men.
He turned to a silver suitcase laying on an armchair behind him, picking it up. “I knew you would be here—” He looked briefly at the other man, who remained expressionless. “— As I said in my message to you.” He flicked the latches on the suitcase, revealing a black sponge and two rows of eight, small bottles, together with a syringe with was already filled with a clear liquid.
“Amos! What’s going on!”
He held up the syringe. “I am here to fullfil my promise! This is the vaccine and I believe you are both ready for your next dose?” He looked again to the open door. “Are your husband and son behind you somewhere? Or perhaps in the van outside?”
She remained near the door.
“Jess, you really must take this vaccine now. You could change at any moment, putting the life of your daughter in great danger.”
The eyes of the shorter man next to Amos, remained fixed on her, as did the two soldiers’, ten feet to her right. Everything was wrong. This was not the Amos of the video message, frightened for what the company had done. She looked at the syringe and smiled. “Thank you for being here. I’ve come a long way. Unfortunately Landon and Josh did not make it.” She looked down.
“Oh dear… I’m sorry to hear that.” He waved the syringe again. “Please, we have very little time.”
She walked forward.
“If you could roll up your right sleeve.” She tried to hide her right hand, but his widening eyes told her she hadn’t been successful. She immediately looked at the man next to Amos seeing the same reaction and knew she couldn’t delay any longer. In one movement she moved at Amos, grabbing him with her right, while doing the same with the suitcase with her left, and moved back in front of Sam before any of the men had a chance to react. When her little plan had finished, two M4 rifles were aimed at her, but Amos was in the way.
“Jess! What are you doing! I’m trying to—”
She tried to keep behind the older man. A man she once trusted. “You can stop lying, Amos!” She looked at the other man, who she could just about see through the visor. The wrinkles around his eyes and graying hair made him look more like an accountant than security. Someone of authority, but nobody she had seen before. “I don’t know who you are. But I’m leaving with—”
She felt Amos slump in her arms before her mind registered the slight snip sound of a bullet. She looked down at the hole in his suit, directly where his heart was, then at the short man. Was he smiling behind the visor?
He turned and started to walk to the stairs. “Get them injected, then take them back to—”
Amos’s body hit him in the back, throwing him forward into the trajectory of the two soldiers. Jess had flung her old friend as if he was a fraction of his weight and immediately pulled Sam with her, out the door, running to the side stairs and racing up them, it was then she saw the helicopter hovering in the air, a few hundred feet up, completely silent, but she kept on moving, racing past the entrance which the man and the soldiers burst from.
“Uh uh Jessica Keller! You take another step towards that van, and you’ll both be dead before your next breath.”
“Fuck that!” shouted Eugene, the barrel of his rifle sticking out from the passenger’s window. “Who are these clowns, Jess?”
The man who appeared to be in charge, took a step forward, the soldiers behind now aiming their weapons at the van. He raised his hands. “There is no need for this.” He looked up. “Above there are bigger guns aimed at all of you. If you were to open fire, you would be dead seconds later.” He turned to Jess. “We know you took the vaccine, Jessica, but from the looks of how your right hand looks, perhaps a bit too late?”
Sam coughed then attempted to clear her throat.
“Oh, it would appear she is about to change. Choose now Jessica, come with us and save your daughter, or die here, as you watch her become something—”
Sam coughed again, this time doubling over. Jess put her arm around her shoulders while frantically looking between her and those in the hazmat suits.
“How about a third choice?”
Shock, relief and joy hit Jess at the sound of Landon’s voice. She spun around to see him emerge from the small forested area to the right of the property, a shotgun aimed squarely at the man in charge, but stopped short of coming completely out from the foliage, keeping the canopy between him and the helicopter above.
Even from the distance of fifteen feet she could see the anger on the man behind the visor.
“To me, Jess!” Landon shouted.
She backed away towards her husband bringing her daughter with her, Sam’s cough now constant. The three of them walking backwards through the undergrowth, which was now blocking their view of the front of the property. An engine roared followed by screeching breaks, and at the top of the bank Arlo’s van reversed into view.
“Get in!” shouted Eugene.
They scrambled up the muddy slope, Landon and Jess carrying Sam between them and fell through the open side door.
“Floor it!” shouted the soldier to the driver.
As Arlo and Eugene argued about the best way to lose a helicopter, Jess flicked open the latches on the suitcase as Sam’s legs and arms started to flail. “Hold her!” she shouted at Landon, who was already doing just that but quickly losing the battle.
Pulling one of the small bottles out, she unscrewed it then tilted Sam’s head back. Her daughter’s eyes looked different, not one pupil but many, but the shock didn’t slow Jess down and she pulled Sam’s mouth open and poured the liquid down her throat, closing her mouth to make sure she swallowed.
Sam continued to fight being held, now taking both of her parents to stop her from slamming her feet and fists into the interior of the van, but slowly her energy subsided, until she stopped moving completely.
“Sam?” said Jess, placing her hand on her daughter’s cheek then neck.
The horror on her face told Landon there was no pulse and she immediately opened Sam’s mouth, making sure her airway was clear, then started chest compressions. The two arguing men had gone quiet and the only sound was the engine and Jess furiously pushing down on her daughter’s chest then switching to breathing into Sam’s lungs.
Landon held Sam’s head, watching and feeling helpless, his mind suspended at the edge of grief.
“Come on!” shouted Jess, switching back to compressing Sam’s chest again, her daughter’s body bouncing with each new impact. “No… please…”
Sam arched her back taking in a huge breath, as Jess’s hands froze in motion, just above her.
“Sam? Sam?” said Jess, as the teen’s eyes opened, looking normal and at her mother above.
“Being a monster feels the… same”
Jess hugged her, also pulling Landon in, tears coming from both of Sam’s parents.
“Josh’s alive…” said Landon to his wife and daughter who continued to cry tears of joy.
“What happened? Over.” Tracey’s voice came from Landon’s radio.
He pulled away. “Yes! I have them. I’m in another vehicle. We’re heading north. Can you see the helicopters following us? Over.”
Jess held another of the small bottles up, indicating that he needed to drink it. He nodded.
“Yeah I see it, it’s landed on the lawn opposite the property you were at. I don’t think you got long before it goes after you.”
“We’re going to have to find a way to lose it. Head north, but keep a few miles awa
y. I don’t want them tracking you as well. Try and park under an overpass, anywhere where you can’t be seen from above. Over.”
“On it. Over.”
“Who’s that?” said Jess.
“Someone we found on the way here.” He looked at the small bottle. “Just drink it?” She nodded and he quickly unscrewed the cap and did so, then moved past her to the front, behind the two seats. “Hey, thank you for what you did.”
“Yeah, no problem,” said Eugene. “Who were the assholes with hazmat suits. Didn’t look standard military?”
“I don’t know, maybe corporate. We need to find somewhere we get cover from above, or we’ll never lose the helicopter.”
Arlo looked at his passenger who nodded. The van skidded, Arlo taking a quick right. Pleasant looking homes with white picket fences and neat lawns sailed by.
“This is Arlo, I’m Eugene.”
“I’m Landon, detective at Denver PD.”
Eugene smirked. “I thought there was something about you.”
“I get that a lot.”
“You got the vaccine right?” said Arlo. “That’s what you gave to your daughter?”
Leafless trees, bordering double garages that were attached to expensive looking homes slid by as Arlo took another quick turn, glimpsing at the sky. “Are they above us?”
Both Landon and Eugene looked at the gray-white clouds. “Can’t see them,” said Landon. “That helicopter is almost completely silent. They could be right above us and we might not know. Just keep heading towards the central area. There’s a friend driving another van with my son onboard. I told her to meet us in the city.”
He felt a hand on his arm and he turned to the red eyes of his wife.
“Josh is okay?”
He smiled, nodding. “He’s fine.”
Emotion flooded across her face as she hugged her husband once again. “I’m sorry, so sorry I left you both, I just thought there was no way you could have… but I believed in my heart that…”
“I know, I thought the same about you and Sam, but I saw you both leave and took off after you. Daryl and Arlene stayed in the town.”
