Plague

by Victor Methos

  She opened her mouth to speak and Robert put his palm against her chin and violently jerked her head with his other hand. After a muted crack, like a cob of corn snapping in half, she went limp. There was still some life in her eyes as Robert leaned her back on the couch and watched her. It would take three minutes for her to faint from lack of oxygen, four minutes for her to fall into a deep unconsciousness and her heart to stop, six minutes for her brain to die. He wondered what those last few seconds before death were like.

  The essayist and philosopher Montaigne had been severely injured in a horse riding accident and his lungs slowly filled with blood as he drifted off to death, though he survived by some miracle. He said it was the most pleasant sensation he had ever felt.

  In a way, Robert envied this woman. In six minutes the Great Secret would be revealed to her. She would have more knowledge than any scientist or philosopher that had ever lived.

  He sighed, and continued through the house.

  A man with dreadlocks was in the kitchen with food lying out on the counter in front of him. His earphones were blaring metal. He turned to Robert and gave a quizzical look just as Robert put two holes in his chest.

  Robert went upstairs and found another man, who he shot in the back of the head while he was sitting in front of a computer, and then came back downstairs. Including the woman, that was five. Did the girl mean six men or six adults total?

  Robert quickly went through the rest of the house. It was in squalor with garbage thrown on the carpets and colonies of ants and cockroaches throughout the various rooms. Robert pulled out a scented handkerchief and kept it to his nose as he walked through the final bedroom. There was no one else here.

  He heard a noise outside and instinctively lowered himself to the ground. He duck-walked out to the back door and saw a man working on a car, a cell phone glued to his ear. Robert glanced around and saw no one else. He waited a full minute, and then stepped outside.

  “Excuse me,” he said, “what’s your name?”

  “Who the fuck are you?”

  A large metal cylinder lay on a small workbench next to the man and Robert grabbed it and bashed it into the man’s mouth. He heard teeth crack and the man flew off his feet.

  Robert brought the heavy cylinder down onto the man’s toes and then his ankles, slamming it into his flesh over and over and over. When he was convinced his feet were too mangled to walk, Robert sat down on a crate that was turned upside down just outside the garage entrance.

  “I asked you what your name was.”

  The man was cursing and shouting and yelping in pain. His mouth was foaming as he spit curses, holding his limp feet in his hands.

  “You fuckin’ broke my legs!”

  “No, I did not. I broke your ankles and your feet. Don’t be such a coward. Now, what was your name?”

  “Fuck you.”

  “Fine, then let’s avoid pleasantries and get to the only question I actually care about: that girl you’re pimping outside, where did you find her?”

  “Fuck you!”

  Robert picked up the cylinder again and crashed it into his wrist, causing another round of screaming and swearing. He waited until the man had calmed down and then asked him again, “Where did you find her?”

  “I don’t know, man.”

  “Oh, you’re confused.”

  Another crash of the cylinder, this one on his other wrist.

  “All right! Just stop, fuckin’ stop!”

  “Where?”

  “The school, man, the fuckin’ junior high. Lotta their parents died from the coffee lung and they was stayin’ there. That’s how we get our girls, man. From the school.”

  “Coffee lung?”

  “Yeah, man. The sickness.”

  Robert remembered reading a report on the plane over to Hawaii stating that victims of Agent X were vomiting blood that had mass in it that resembled coffee grounds.

  “Clever name. So how many girls do you have?”

  “I don’t know, a lot. We got ‘em everywhere. We need a lot of ‘em.”

  “Why do you need a lot of them?” Robert asked. The man remained silent and Robert said, “Oh, people with coffee lung have sex with them and then the girls get it too and can’t work anymore, is that it?”

  He nodded. Unable to hold his feet with his broken wrists, his weary head just tilted to the side.

  “Amazing,” Robert said, “people that ill, vomiting life out of them, still want to have sex. That’s fascinating. I wonder if Freud was right and sex is our primary motivation in all things? We have the power to explore the atom and distant galaxies and we use the majority of our brains to find sex. What a sad little species we would be if that were true.” Robert was silent a moment as he thought about this. He decided it was an issue he would consider later and pushed it aside in his mind. “So, the question is, what are we going to do? I’m assuming your operation is larger than the six of you I found here, so if I were to kill you it probably wouldn’t stop much.”

  “I swear, man,” he said out of breath and going into shock. “I swear, you let me live and I will never do that shit again. Never.”

  “Never ever? If we pinky swear?”

  “What?”

  Robert laughed. “No, you’re going to have to do better than that.”

  “What do you want?”

  “What do I want? Hm, well, there’s a house not two blocks from here with two Iranian fellows. I want you to knock on their door and when they come out I’m going to shoot them.” Robert looked into the garage. “By the way, whoever’s back there, I can see your shoes underneath the car. Come on out and join us.”

  There was a moment of quiet before the shoes shuffled across the cement and a young girl emerged. She was perhaps sixteen and shivering from fear. She stood there looking at the ground, not making eye contact.

  “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

  “Randi.”

  “Randi, do you want to be here?”

  She glanced up and then back down to the ground. “I’m his girl.”

  “You’re his girl, you’re his girl.” Robert looked down to the man. “So are you going to knock on that door for me?”

  “I think you broke my ankles, man. I can’t walk. But she could do it. It’ll be better ‘cause they won’t be expectin’ nothin’ from a girl.”

  “Hm, not a bad idea. You’re right, I will use her.” Robert lifted his weapon.

  “No!”

  He fired one round, the slug entering just to the right of the nose into the corner of the eye. The man fell back as it ricocheted in his skull, having the velocity to enter but not the velocity to exit.

  Robert smiled at the girl. “You’re not his girl anymore. Do you understand?” She nodded. “Randi, I’m guessing there’re a lot of you girls around here, is that right?” She nodded again. “Everyone here is dead. Get the girls and clear out. Find somewhere nicer. There are shelters set up farther in town, go there. Or go to a church. But stay away from men right now. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, I understand.”

  “Good. I’m sure there are guns in this house. After you do what I’m going to ask you to do, come back and carry one or even two with you at all times.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Very simple. We’re going to walk to a house two blocks away. You’re going to knock on the door and tell whoever answers that you need help and that you need two people to help you. Don’t tell them what help you need. Just panic and scream. Scream as loud as you can. As soon as the men come to the door, you jump down onto the ground. Do you think you can do that?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Let’s go.”

  “What are you going to do to those men?”

  “I’m going to be hiding and then I’m going to shoot them in the heart. Is that something you have a problem with?”

  She thought for a moment and then shook her head.

  “Good,” Robert said with a smile, “then y
ou and I are going to get along just fine.”

  He held out his hand and she took it.

  CHAPTER 31

  Samantha waited outside the conference room at the Ritz as two MPs cleared her identification with someone on the other end of a radio. They eventually nodded her in and she saw a room packed with men. She looked over them and recognized only Duncan who was busy at work on an iPad.

  “Hey,” she said, sitting down next to him.

  “Hey. I tried calling you.”

  “My phone died and there’s no power at the hotel anymore.”

  “They have a generator here. I switched hotels yesterday.”

  “So I’m being shipped out tonight.”

  Duncan nodded, glancing at the document he had up on his iPad. “You leaving on the eleven or one o’clock?”

  “One. You don’t seem too surprised.”

  “I’m on the one too.”

  “Duncan, what are you talking about? Ralph told me he chartered a military plane to get me out of here.”

  He gave her a quizzical look, and then understanding lit up his eyes. “Oh my gosh, he didn’t tell you, did he?”

  “Tell me what?”

  Ralph walked into the room with the general behind him and several men in suits surrounding him. He took his place at the front of the room and waited until there was quiet before speaking.

  “Thank you for being here, gentlemen. I don’t have much but I do have a few quick items of logistics to go over…”

  Duncan leaned over to Samantha and whispered, “Sam, the data came back. Agent X is a T-6—they’re shipping out all non-essential personnel tonight. The United Nations and World Health Organization are sending down specialized units.”

  Samantha comprehended the words but they didn’t sink in right away. T-6, T-6…it was something that had only been theoretically possible. Like absolute zero Kelvin or stopping time by traveling the speed of light. T-6 was a thought experiment; how long would it take to wipe out all species with an infectiousness rate of T-6? The answers were always interesting, a quick exercise to warm up the mind before getting down to real work.

  “Are they sure?” was all she managed to say.

  “I ran the data myself and sent it back to USAMRIID to have my biostats guys run it. It’s legit.”

  Ralph continued speaking and then sat down as the general took to the front of the room. He began by answering questions and issuing orders. Ralph looked to her and had a bittersweet smile on his face, as if apologizing.

  When the general had completed his Q and A the room began to clear out. Sam sat quietly until everybody but Ralph and Duncan had left. She noticed the FBI agent from earlier, Billy Donner, standing near the entrance. He smiled to her and she smiled back before he walked out.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Sam said.

  Ralph rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. His eyes had black circles under them and were rimmed red. “Because you would’ve wanted to stay.”

  “I do want to stay.”

  “Out of the question. You both are on that plane at 1:00 a.m. Don’t miss it because there isn’t another one for three days.”

  Ralph stood up without another word and walked out of the room. The door shut behind him and Sam and Duncan were left alone, the sound of vehicles outside as military officers were shuttled to the airport to prepare for the eleven o’clock flight off the island. The room was hot and Sam felt as if she were in an oven that was just beginning to warm. There was no air conditioning, as power was conserved wherever possible.

  “I think he should’ve asked for volunteers,” Duncan said.

  “T-6. I don’t even really know what that means, Duncan. We’ve never dealt with anything like this. He’s just taking every precaution. I don’t think it’s his fault. Besides, I think the military’s calling the shots now. I doubt Ralph could’ve stopped this if he wanted to.”

  Duncan shrugged. “So where to for you when you get back?”

  “A hot shower and a good meal with my mom. How about you?”

  “There’s a restaurant in Baltimore called Faustina’s. They have a turkey burger that’s delicious and you get strawberry bread pudding after the meal. Then after that I’m going to the movies. I really miss going to the movies.

  “I used to go every few days. I’d sneak out from work for lunch and just buy a hot dog at the theater. There’s something calming about watching movies in a dark theater by yourself. It erases you for a little bit. No one comes to talk to you or ask you questions. All your worries and fears and problems disappear for that little bit.” He waited a beat and then said, “Sam, I’d really like it if you came up to Maryland and we went to the movies together.”

  She laughed.

  “What?”

  “No, it’s nothing. You’re just really cute when you don’t know what I’m going to say. There’s something really 1950s about you. I feel like this is how someone back then would’ve asked me on a date.”

  “Would you prefer something more modern? I could send you a tweet.”

  “No, Duncan. It’s very sweet that you asked. But I’ve been away far too long as it is. I don’t think I can take any trips for a while.”

  “Oh.”

  “But, why don’t you come down to Atlanta? We have movie theaters too.”

  “Sure, why not?”

  They rose and Duncan gathered a few papers. They walked out of the room together and down the hall. The linoleum floors were filthy with black boot prints and dirt that had been brought inside. There was no cleaning crew anymore.

  They got outside and past the MPs when a man walked toward them from an awaiting car. Sam recognized him as Ben Cornell. She noticed that Duncan folded his arms and gave him a disapproving look.

  “Doctors,” Benjamin said, “how we doing tonight?”

  “Better once we leave our present company.”

  “See, that’s what I’m talking about. Dr. Adams, you don’t know anything about me. We haven’t really even been introduced. And for some reason you hate me. And because you hate me, you won’t hear anything I have to say, even if I’m right.”

  “You’re not right. Your campaigns against vaccinations kill children. How do you possibly sleep at night?”

  “We all have to do what we think is right. I don’t know if vaccinations do or don’t harm us. But what I do know is that they won’t fund any major studies to see if they do. My son has autism, Dr. Adams. He began displaying symptoms right after his vaccinations. Do you know what autism is like? He can’t form social bonds. It feels like he doesn’t love or care about me or his mother. It’s a pain I can’t even describe. Some days…some days I think it would be better if he would’ve just passed away. Or that, maybe, I should be the one to pass away.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

  “No, you didn’t. You just made a judgment without any evidence. Hardly seems fitting a scientist, doesn’t it?”

  Sam noticed that Duncan was full-on blushing. She considered Benjamin Cornell. He appeared wiry and was shifting his weight from foot to foot. He was clearly anxious about something and it made her worry. But there was also kindness in his eyes. She could see it sparkling through the passion he had for his cause.

  “I have no quarrel with you two,” Benjamin said. “You both do good work. But you work for monsters. Still, we all have to work for somebody I guess, so I don’t blame you for it. But I think what you’re doing here is wrong. It’s just plain wrong, even evil. I don’t know how you, Dr. Adams, can sleep at night doing what you’re doing.”

  “What exactly do you think I’m doing?”

  “Government evasion is cowardly, Doctor. Let’s at least be honest with each other, even in the lies.”

  “Ben, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Benjamin stared at him quizzically a moment and then recognition dawned on him and his face lit up as a grin came over his lips. “They haven’t told you, have they?” he said in a
lmost a whisper.

  “Told us what?”

  “You’re leaving the island.”

  “We knew that.”

  “No, not just you. Everyone. The military, the CDC, everyone. This island will be quarantined and the people on it will not be allowed to leave. They didn’t tell you that?”

  Sam and Duncan looked to each other and Sam said, “He’s lying.”

  “Call Ralph and ask yourself if you don’t believe me. They’re pulling everybody out and cutting the supplies. These people are supposed to survive on their own.”

  Sam turned around and went back into the building, Duncan following behind her. She rode the elevator up to the top floor and found Ralph’s suite. She knocked but he wasn’t in. They went back down to the restaurant near the lobby and saw Ralph sitting by himself, sipping a beer. They sat across from him.

  “Tell me it isn’t true,” Sam said.

  “You’re leaving, Sam. That’s all there is to it.”

  “Not that.”

  He glared at her a moment. “Then I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Ralph, we’ve known each other a long time. I can tell when you’re bullshitting me.”

  He nodded, looking down to his beer and absently peeling off the label. “Who told you?”

  “Benjamin Cornell.”

  “Little prick. If I find out who leaked it to him I’ll have their asses.”

  “I don’t believe this is happening. And you’re so calm about it. Like it just happens every day.”

  “How would you like me to be, Sam? We’re talking about the deadliest virus in history coming out of the jungle and infecting this island. Thank God it was an island and not Los Angeles or Seattle. This is an extinction event. Agent X is the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs. We can’t risk its release no matter the cost.”

  “This is…I can’t believe we’re even talking about this. Ralph there are hundreds of thousands of people on this island that aren’t infected.”

  “And I feel for them, I really do. But there’s nothing that can be done.” He leaned back, taking a sip of his beer. “Besides, I couldn’t stop it if I wanted to. The military’s taken over. They think it’s a national security threat, which it is. This is the official decision.”