The China Pandemic

by A. R. Shaw

  The lack of heat was an issue. Although there were two old weathered windows of ancient wavy glass on each side for plenty of sunshine to enter, they needed heat or the low temperatures would surely freeze the birds. They couldn’t run electricity out to them so keeping the hens warm became a topic of concern until Ennis came up with a solution.

  As a boy, it was his job each winter morning to bring the ‘chicken brick’ out to the chicken coop each night after he rounded up the hens. It would become a daily and nightly chore here since the weather was even colder. They would alternate two cinder blocks, heating them on the woodstove morning and night to take them out to the chicken coop to keep them from freezing.

  Predators were the next issue. Although they were perfectly safe from them at night, during the day they needed to peck at the ground and do what chickens do. There was no way they could just have the run of the place or their five chickens would end up being three in no time.

  Without chicken wire around, Graham and the boys went on a mission to find some elsewhere the next day. Mark knew of an older, run down cabin about two miles east into the forest as the crow flies. He and his dad had sometimes ventured there when out hunting.

  The next afternoon, after letting Tala and Ennis know, Graham and the two boys left the others on watch and trudged through the woods to find it. On the way, Graham took the time to talk to Mark about getting too close to Marcy. Once Mark realized where Graham’s lecture was going, he got embarrassed real quick and reassured Graham that he wasn’t going to ‘do’ anything to Marcy.

  Then, they saw a small cabin through the trees slowly becoming a part of the forest itself. A spindly pine tree that lost its battle reaching for the light had crashed over the back corner of the small shack. They marveled at the cabin’s diminutive proportions. “It’s just your size,” Mark kidded Bang.

  Graham wouldn’t let the boys go inside because as he pushed hard on the corner of the building, the whole thing began to sway. So he went in, bent over so he wouldn’t disturb the ceiling, and started to swipe at the leaf-covered floor. He revealed a few treasures forgotten to the past world, now becoming revered for a new or old purpose. A rusty pie tin, an old hole-ridden green wool army coat, an old wood carving of a whale, an ivory stoneware coffee mug monogrammed with an S, a thick piece of wood that looked like it had once been a butcher block, a pair of old rusty bear traps and an old metal serving spoon. They collected their finds as Graham handed them each to the boys through the tiny door. There were probably smaller things hidden under the brush, but Graham started feeling like spiders were making nests in his hair. Nothing more important for their needs was to be found today.

  Outside, they nearly tripped over a small rusty fishing boat lying on the ground, top side up. Graham lifted it and all manner of creepy forest crawlers began to squirm around. Underneath, they discovered a roll of rusty chicken wire and an oar. Jubilant with their finds, they piled the smaller things into the boat and headed back home.

  With Graham in the front and Mark and Bang in the back, they began their trek towards home. It took them about an hour to get most of the way back, taking several breaks along the way. Being patient with the boys came easy to Graham since he drew on his father’s treatment of him over the years. He made them stop right before he suspected they needed to take a rest.

  During one break, they stood silently in the forest and could hear many creatures. A brown rabbit scurried through the brush and stopped just in front of their little metal boat, startling them as much as they startled it. The rabbit froze for a moment and then jumped right over the boat, continuing its retreat. Bang giggled.

  Then a light rustling snapped Graham’s attention in the direction the rabbit had come from, sending shivers up his spine. It grew louder and Graham instinctively pulled his weapon, surprised to see the boys do the same. He saw it coming and just had enough time to aim and shoot as the two gleaming wolf eyes shone through the greenery. He knew at once he hadn’t hit it. Options raced through his head like a mathematician going through known formulas, but nothing fit the equation. He believed the wolf was biding his time before attacking them. Should they run for the safety of the abandoned cabin or try to make it to their own? He couldn’t risk the wolf tracking them back to their place and possibly try to pick off one of them.

  Spotting a tree with low enough branches for climbing, he shoved both boys toward it. Mark shoved Bang up, then followed him, shoving the smaller child ahead, higher and higher. The whole time, Graham kept track of the dangerous creature.

  “Be careful, Graham,” Mark said. With both boys up out of danger, Graham crouched down and walked towards the foe, armed and ready. He wasn’t about to take a chance with his boys. His indecision had caused him anguish in the past, so he wasn’t going to let it go again. Any present danger had to be dealt with immediately.

  As he got closer, the gray wolf turned his head, looking behind him. Then looked back at Graham and lifted his head to howl. The eerie call made every hair on Graham’s head stand up. He took that moment of clear view, aimed and shot the wolf, which slumped right to the ground.

  Graham took several more steps towards it on the ground and heard something coming out of the brush ahead. “Shit,” was all Graham could say as another, bigger wolf came growling out of the woods into view. He could hear the boys yelling behind him, and then everything happened in slow motion.

  The wolf lunged at him, springing itself on its hind legs from a fallen log as Graham aimed and fired but missed again. Then out of his left peripheral vision, he saw Sheriff come flying to intercept the wolf, hitting him just as the wolf impacted Graham’s chest, sending him tumbling backwards to the ground.

  The German Shepherd took the wolf completely by surprise. It turned from attacking Graham, to vent its fury on the dog instead. The fearsome sounds of the two animals each one fighting for his life chilled Graham’s blood. He found himself lying on his back with his weapon knocked from his grasp while the creatures fought over him. Not certain it was a good idea when he thought of it, he reached out and grabbed Sheriff by the flank and hauled him towards his chest to get a clear shot at the wolf. Graham aimed and fired but just grazed the wolf, making it run off all the same. The wolf stopped before entering the brush to escape and looked back at them as if he wanted to get a good impression, then entered through the dark forest and out of sight. Graham, breathless from the struggle, looked up at Sheriff. “Thanks, buddy.” Sheriff licked his face then continued his panting.

  Both boys were still screaming, not sure if Graham had been injured in the melee. They couldn’t tell from their vantage point and Mark was trying to convince Bang to stay up in the tree while he went to check. Graham stood and motioned for them to calm down, not trusting yet if the coast was clear. He continued to check behind him as he carefully walked around the downed wolf with Sheriff sniffing the carcass as they passed by.

  He and the dog returned to the boys and Graham saw Bang’s snotty and tear-streaked face, and even caught a stray streak of moisture on Mark’s, which he pretended not to notice. He held his arms up so that Mark could lower Bang to him, and caught the little boy close in a comforting hug before putting him on his feet. Then Mark turned around and Graham caught his sneaker to help lower him down as well. He gave Mark a hug like a father would give to his teenage son. “I’m okay. It’s all right,” he said to them both and Bang grabbed Graham’s leg, wiping his tears on his jeans. “It’s okay, guys, we have to get through things like this,” he said to them.

  “Thank God for Sheriff,” said Macy behind them, startling all three. Mark turned his head to wipe his eyes. “Did you trail him?” Graham asked her.

  “Yeah, we heard a shot and Sheriff was acting funny and ran like a dart in this direction. I ran after him and heard the commotion. When he stopped, I stopped and heard the growling. He moved so fast that I couldn’t keep up, then I heard it before I saw what was going on. The next thing I knew, I saw Sheriff attacking a wolf and y
ou were on the ground. I yelled, but I don’t think you heard me,” she said.

  “No, I didn’t hear anything else. It was all in slow motion for me,” Graham said, then clapped his hands. “All right, party’s over. Let’s get this stuff back to camp and then we need to check out our hero there and make sure he doesn’t have any injuries.”

  Macy kept her pistol ready as she and Sheriff guarded the party as they made their way back to camp.

  Once there, they were greeted by a very concerned Tala and Ennis. They put the boat down and Mark was welcomed by Marcy as she came up and hugged him, kissing him on the cheek. “I was so scared,” she said.

  Mark looked a bit embarrassed and said, “Graham put me and Bang up a tree. So no heroics here.”

  Graham tried to ease the moment by saying, “Actually if it hadn’t been for Sheriff, I don’t think we’d be talking right now.”

  “Sheriff jumped right at the wolf before it got Graham,” Bang said and choked a little on the last word, motioning with his hands as he remembered the action occurring just minutes before. They were all a little surprised when the boy spoke up. Tala hugged Graham and he pulled her close as Bang hugged his leg again. “I’m all right,” he said, just for her.

  “Let’s see if he has any bites or scratches that we need to treat,” Graham said about Sheriff, and started running his hands through the dog’s fur.

  Sheriff was so pumped up he just thought he was receiving much needed attention and began reaching around and licking Graham’s hand in gratitude. Then he returned his attention towards the dangers of the forest with his ears twitching and turning for any indication of danger.

  They were all getting a little cold standing out in the open in two inches of glistening snow. After they put the small boat away and removed the contents, Tala hurried those not on guard duty indoors, where they removed their boots and put them all along the wall. She made them hot tea or cocoa and they all warmed up from the steaming cups and more so, from being together after coming so close to tragedy. Other than a few scratches around Sheriff’s muzzle, he seemed unharmed and for that they were all grateful. Graham suspected he would encounter the wolf again and he would need the dog and any other help he could get next time.

  34 An Observation

  Dalton got the surveillance report of action in Graham’s camp. A commotion of some sort happened. Tough they didn’t have cameras in the east forest. It appeared, though, all the occupants were accounted for and none of them looked injured, including their pet dog.

  When the previous report had come in about the three men in the canoe approaching Graham’s camp at night, he and several of the other Preppers crowded the small observation room. They held their breath and watched as Graham and Tala slunk into the woods just before the men came walking into the camp. Then they could just barely make out and piece together the next events. Though they didn’t have audio set up, it was clear one guy was down and the other two made their way back to the canoe in haste with the dog after them.

  “This guy doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing,” he remembered Rick, their technology specialist, saying at the time. “He should have dropped all three already.”

  In Graham’s defense, Dalton said, “He’s a math professor not military, remember? He doesn’t think like us, but you’re right, he should never have let them get that far into camp. Now they’ve got a better layout of the campsite.”

  Dalton knew those guys would be back.

  Since then, he’d felt edgy and helpless. If something were to happen to Graham’s crew, he knew he shouldn’t act. It would be too dangerous, exposing himself and the others. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stop his emotions. He owed Graham for caring for his young cousin, and he liked Graham, too, for that matter.

  What made things worse was the rest of the team becoming more attached to the carriers. Graham’s camp became a sort of soap opera for them. Rick started it all one evening at dinner. A source of entertainment that he often recalled during their evening meal for the other members to enjoy. Rick suspected that Graham and Tala were getting ‘better acquainted,’ as he put it. He regaled them with the humorous chicken story as Bang pulled them out of the truck cab and when one got away and how the boy finally pinned it down with the wings flapping him in the face. He told them about how Macy and Marcy were very different twins. Macy often helped Graham and Mark with splitting wood and other outdoor chores, as Marcy aided Tala in all things domestic.

  A boring life in the end it was. These little entertainments of human activity kept them looking forward to the next day. They’d been sheltered since the beginning in the safety of their haven. Occasional hunting groups allowed the men to venture out a little now. Planning for next year’s vegetable gardens and the care and keeping of tools and equipment became mundane.

  So the news from Graham’s camp each evening provided a treat to look forward to and helped keep them from dwelling on their recent past and the losses all had endured. This practice wasn’t unlike, “Something like television in the old days after a hellacious day on the job,” Rick said.

  Concern about the safety of Graham’s camp, due to the invaders, occupied Dalton and Rick’s conversations lately. Rick had become enamored of Graham’s camp because of his daily surveillance of them.

  Rick wanted to talk to Dalton about reaching out to Graham to help him secure his camp more efficiently. He was sure Dalton wouldn’t go for it but since they were now all involved in their story, he might entertain the idea, even though he knew logically they shouldn’t do it. If they didn’t do something soon to help, Rick felt certain the invaders would attack them and they’d be wide open for slaughter. Of course, in doing so, they risked revealing to Graham that they were watching them.

  The people in the small cabin had suffered much more than any of them in the Prepper compound. Somehow, these few had found one another after losing their entire families and realizing their immunity to the virus made them a much hated minority, endangered by the fact they were known to carry the virus.

  They could see Graham had somehow picked up foundlings whom he might have determined as being of no concern to him. Despite that, he’d collected them and brought them to safety. They knew he’d just stumbled onto Tala and the old man, but even they were accepted. Graham’s kindness in taking in Dalton’s young cousin without question had earned him a great deal of respect from all the Preppers. They felt they owed him, in a way, and maybe that’s why they’d all become emotionally involved and were cheering the carriers on. Not just because Graham was Dalton’s boyhood friend but because he’d taken these others in without question, in these horrible times, and they couldn’t help but feel admiration for the man.

  ~ ~ ~

  Dalton walked into the dining tent where his wife, Kim, and Tammy were making lunch for the children who were watching the cartoon version of Pocahontas, down below in the underground shelter.

  They’d established a strict rule about what they could bring into the compound when an emergency hit, but one of the other dads smuggled the DVD player into the shelter. When they found out, he argued it was necessary to keep the kids safe and occupied. They continued to argue about it until he revealed his collection of DVDs with all the Disney movies in addition to all of Clint Eastwood’s The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, among others. After the rest of them saw that, they voted that it was actually a good idea and then started having a weekly movie night for both the children and adults, using a wide screen computer monitor. All in all, it became a kind of escape for them from the reality and dangers the carriers posed for them.

  “Whatcha ladies making today?” he asked Kim and walked up behind his slim wife, planting a kiss on the top of her head.

  “Tuna sandwiches and dehydrated apple rings.” Then she renamed them. “Otherwise known as tuna triangles and apple snacks,” she said and laughed when Dalton tickled her neck with his kiss.

  “Stop that, mister, we’re working here,” Tammy butted in, amused at the
two causing a scene.

  He loved Kim’s smile. Actually, he loved everything about her. From her strawberry blonde hair to her perfect unpainted toes. Dalton was terrified when the chaos broke out. He couldn’t get her and the boys to safety fast enough. Now the challenge was just to keep them safe.

  They started out eating just MREs when everyone was gathered and stayed locked up underground in the shelter they’d built over the years in secret. Then when things settled down, or more precisely, when most of humanity had perished, they opened the doors, pulled out the military tents and established new rules.

  They began cooking with what supplies they had and the meat they’d hunted, saving the MREs for leaner times. Kim and Tammy also started baking bread more out of a need for comfort than anything else. Tammy had always made their own bread at home and now she was doing it on a larger scale for the rest of the group, which everyone enjoyed. They were able to make sandwiches out of peanut butter and jelly or tuna or even canned chicken. One night, she caught Rick making one out of some cold roast venison and he swore it was the best thing he ever had. The only thing it was missing was the fresh tomato and lettuce.

  They had yet to see the real cold snows of winter and were already dreaming of tender green onions, crisp red radishes, heads of romaine and peas tucked in their jade pods. This pastime, not unlike the drama of Graham’s Camp, came a close second in the evening conversations. So much so, they would begin salivating until someone would put a stop to it by asking for mercy. Spring could not come fast enough. Even though, it was way too early, they’d already set up the tables and hung the grow lights in anticipation of next February.