Meanwhile, inside the black van, Gus was making a call of his own while driving a little further away.
“It’s me,” he said to the man that answered. “We ran into a snag, had to leave the neighborhood.”
“What snag?”
“That damn reporter showed up. We covered it. She saw our faces.”
“I know. I watched it on satellite. You should know that she’s on the phone right now harassing a VIP in D.C.”
“Great.”
“I thought I told you to eliminate her if she got in the way.”
“You did.”
“Well?”
“She wasn’t in the way.”
“Did she get your faces on video?”
“No. We threw on those orange suits when we saw the camera guy. It wasn’t rolling until we had the masks on our faces.”
“Good. Next time she comes anywhere near you, take her out. I don’t care how you have to do it or who sees it. Just make it happen.”
“Yes, sir.”
“There’s another confirmed infected that you need to go pick up ASAP. I’ll text you the address. It’s about twenty minutes from your current coordinates. Bring this one in alive.”
“Okay.”
“And Gus?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Don’t fuck up again.”
“Yes, sir.”
“It will be the last time if you do.”
“Understood, sir.”
The man on the other end of the phone disconnected the call.
“I told you,” Will said, teasing Gus, who sighed.
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.”
“What did he say?”
“He said she just used the last of her nine lives. Next time we see her will be the last time anyone does.”
“Okay. Anything else?”
“Yeah. We have another case. He wants us to bring him in alive.”
“Where?”
“Not too far. He’s texting the address.”
“Easy enough, as long as he doesn’t try to bite our face off like the last one did.”
Chapter 20
“Jackson?” Ned asked on his desk phone at the University of Georgia. “Is it you?” he continued with growing enthusiasm.
“It is! How you doing, Ned?”
“Wow! Good! How about you, my friend? How is the tour going? Has to be the middle of the night there. Don’t tell me you are already awake for PR.”
“You mean PT.”
“Whatever. Why the hell are you calling me this early? Are you alright?”
“I’m great. No, no PT this week. I’m actually on a brief furlough back here in the states.”
“Oh. Awesome! You’re here in Atlanta? We could have lunch.”
“No. I’m actually on the road, in Virginia at the moment.”
“Oh. Okay. Any chance you’ll be done fighting terrorists soon so you can come back to work? We miss you around here. We can cover your office with sand if you like. Plant a few IEDs. Make you feel right at home.”
Jackson chuckled. “You don’t waste much time, do you?”
“No. Why would I? Life is too short to waste time beating around the bush. Besides, you’re one of the best professors we have. And I miss your stories.”
“Since you asked, I’ve been thinking about coming back. I can’t quit yet though. Like I said, just on a short furlough. Right now on a road trip with Jax.”
“How is little Jax doing?”
“He’s doing well. Not so little anymore. Yell hi to Ned, Jax.”
“Hi, Ned!” Jax yelled.
Ned laughed. “Oh, yeah. Voice is deeper. He must be… what? Twelve or thirteen now? Tell him hi for me.”
“He’s thirteen. He can hear you. It’s on speaker.”
“Ah. So where are you heading on this road trip?”
“Maine. A guy there is selling his insect collection to me. Rare stuff.”
“Oh yeah? What’s he got?”
“He says about a hundred of the rarest specimens. South American mostly. He says he even has a land lobster.”
Jax gave his father a strange look.
“No way!” Ned said.
“That’s what he says.”
“Wow. Would be better if it was alive.”
“That’s what I said,” Jax said under his breathe.
“But neither of us has ever seen one dead or alive, so get him,” Ned continued.
“Right. Either way, nothing he has can touch what I have in this Costco bag right now.” Ned heard the sound of the bag wrinkling over the phone. “Alive,” Jackson continued, as if he was a magician, ready to move the curtain.
“And what would that be?”
“A white locust. Snow white, with black legs, red tarsus and claws. It’s beautiful.”
“What? There’s no locust with that color pattern. Did you bring it back from the Middle East?”
“Sure. TSA would have no problem with me bringing the world symbol of plague into the United States, on a jet liner.”
“Funny guy. Where did you get it then?”
“In Virginia, a few minutes ago.”
“Bullshit. Pardon my French.”
“Not at all. There was a swarm in the woods and I caught one of them.”
“A swarm of locusts, a breed that’s never been identified, in Virginia? I think that desert heat has eroded your brain, buddy.”
“Hold on,” Jackson said as he pulled off to the emergency lane again. “I’ll get a picture of it and send it to you.”
“Okay.”
Jackson pressed the camera app on his phone and handed it to Jax. “Take a photo of it when I open the bag. The red button. We have to be quick.”
“I know which button it is, dad.”
“Of course you do. Ready?”
The father and son looked at each other as if the fate of the world depended on their success.
“Ready.”
The locust was sitting still inside the bag. Jackson untied the bag and opened it slowly, revealing the two-inch long insect. “Take it. Hurry,” he ordered Jax.
“Got it,” Jax said just as the locust tried to fly out of the bag. Jackson closed it just in time.
“That was close,” he said as he re-tied the bag. He texted the photo to Ned’s cell phone. “Check your cell,” he said to Ned as he checked for traffic and pulled back on to the road.
“Hold on.” Ned pulled his vibrating cellphone out of his pocket and opened the text from Jackson. “Wow. It’s pretty. But it must be sometime type of grasshopper. Maybe still an undocumented species.”
“No, Ned. It’s no grasshopper. It was flying with a few thousand of its relatives in the Virginia woods. Definitely a migration. Locusts.”
“How can that be? There aren’t any locusts in the United States.”
“That’s what we thought. But I assure you, there is now. Jax got them on video.”
“Is that the only one you have?”
“Yes.”
Ned sat back in the chair in his office at the university and thought to himself for a moment as he stared at the photo.
”So let me get this straight. You’re telling me that you managed to catch a new species of locust. In Virginia, no less. Something that could get the department here at the university renamed after you, and you only caught one. And you’re keeping it in a plastic grocery store bag?”
“Afraid so.”
“Better than nothing.” Ned sat up straight, looking determined. “Please tell me it can breathe.”
“Of course. I poked some little holes in the bag. I’ve always liked your positive attitude and the faith you have in me, Ned.”
“Anytime. You sure it’s not albino?”
“No. It’s mostly white, but it has color as you can see in the photo.”
“It’s amazing, Jackson. What’s the plan now?”
“I’m going to get a jar for it. Keep it alive until we get back to Georgia. Hopefully for a long time.”
; “How about you spend a few bucks on a real habitat for it. Geesh.”
“Fine.”
“Then what? Keep it for a pet?”
“No. Of course not. I’ll bring it to the lab here.”
“Stellar! When will that be?”
“Ouch!”
“What? Don’t tell me the damn thing bites?” Ned asked, concerned.
“No,” Jackson chuckled. “It’s this mosquito bite. It hurts like hell all of a sudden,” he said as he scratched the raised bump on his elbow.
“Get some cortisone rub and stop scratching it. Whatever you do, don’t let anything happen to that locust. ”
“I appreciate your concern for my welfare, Ned.”
“No problem at all.”
“Don’t worry. It’s in good hands. We should be back in Georgia in a few days. I fly out Friday so it will be a quick visit.”
“Great. I can’t wait to see it. I mean you. We’re going to be famous, buddy!”
“You’re already famous, Ned.”
“More famous.”
Jackson rolled his eyes. “See you soon. Bye.”
“Bye, Jackson.”
Jackson hung up the phone as Jax asked, “We’re going to stop at the university on the way back?”
“Yep. I like the lab.”
“Cool. Me too.”
Jackson rubbed Jax’s head, messing up his hair.
“Did I hear you tell Ned that the collection has a lobster in it? Those aren’t bugs the last time I checked.”
Jackson laughed. “The land lobster. Not nearly as big as the one that crawls on the ocean floor. It’s actually a stick bug, about four inches long. The dryococelus australis, also known as the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect.”
“Oh.”
“It was nearly extinct. The population was down to like twenty at one point. Zoos have been breeding them so the numbers are growing again.”
“That’s good.”
“Yes, it is.”
Jax picked up the Costco bag and looked at the locust’s shadow. “Why do you think he looks different than all the other locusts?”
“Some kind of mutation I guess.”
“There’s a kid in my class that’s albino. He has red eyes in our class photo. He’s a freak.”
“That’s not nice. He can’t help that. It’s a genetic mutation that can happen to all living things. Just bad luck that he has it. He’s no freak.”
Jax looked ashamed for a moment. “What causes it?”
“Like all mutations, could be an error during cell division. Albinism can be attributed to environmental factors, chemicals or radiation.”
“Is that what happen to him?” Jax peaked again inside the bag. “Chemicals or something?”
“I don’t know. I’m really more concerned with the emergence of this new insect species rather than its color.”
“Why?”
“Locust swarms devour human crops really fast, leading to food shortages, even the absence of any food. That’s why humankind has looked at them historically to be a sign of plague coming. Crops are the staple for everything we eat.”
“We’d still have cows. For cheeseburgers.”
“Cows eat crops buddy. Hay, corn.”
Jax turned white. “Do you think is a sign of a plague coming?”
“Nah.” Jackson laughed. “Don’t worry yourself, kiddo. There are no reports of these anywhere else that I am aware of. And our agriculture is so diversified now that it would take billions of them to eat all the crops. I have total faith the human race will be going strong ‘til the sun burns out. It’ll take more than some mutated bug, that’s for sure.”
“That’s good,” Jax said, sounding relieved, though his face hadn’t caught up yet.
“It is a little eerie though, I’ll admit. Finding this little guy.”
“How do you know it’s a guy?”
Jackson retrieved his phone and showed Jax the photo of the locust while he kept an eye on the road, kind of. Jamie would be mad if she knew.
“The abdomen. See how it comes to a point?”
“Yeah.”
“Means he’s a dude.”
“Oh. I feel bad for him, trapped in that bag. He really wants to get out.”
Jax could see the man bug trying to fly his way out of the bag.
“We’ll get him a nice little plastic habitat to live in and some nice foliage to feast on. We can stop now and look for one. We’ll need gas soon anyway.”
“I don’t think he’ll like the habitat much better. He wants to fly away.”
“Well, just like that kid at your school, this guy has bad luck. He needs to be studied. We need to know more about him and his kind.” Jackson scratched the mosquito bite hard, leaving red fingernail marks across it. “Ouch! Damn that hurts!”
“That bite is really bothering you.”
“Yeah. It itches like crazy. Hurts a little.”
“Mosquitoes cause plagues too,” Jax said with concern, a shade paler again.
“That’s true,” Jackson said. “Really little things cause big ripples. Remember?”
Jax nodded. “Which ones were they again? We talked about this in school, but I don’t remember.”
“Yellow fever is one. It still kills thousands of people a year,” Jackson said stoically, waiting for a reaction from his son, who seemed to be frozen with fear. Jackson couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “No worries, Jax. It’s highly unlikely this mosquito bite has given me Yellow Fever. Almost all of the cases occur in Africa.”
Jax looked relieved, kind of. “What are the symptoms? Just in case.”
“Let’s see. Fever and chills. Nausea. Loss of appetite.”
“Do you have any of that?”
“No. In fact, I feel like I could eat a horse. We never had breakfast.”
“I’m pretty hungry too.”
“There are a couple of places to get food and gas at the next exit. And a pet store,” Jackson said as he noticed the store mentioned on the exit sign. “We’ll stop there.”
The truck pulled into the pet store parking lot two minutes later.
Jackson and Jax stood in front of the section where the habitats were located and Jackson started coughing and scratching the mosquito bite at the same time.
“You alright, dad?” Jax asked.
“Yeah. I think my lungs are still a little irritated from yesterday. All that smoke.”
“Yeah. Me too. That mosquito bite is really bothering you.”
“Yeah. Just itches like hell.”
“I hate them.”
“Well, such is life. There will always be ups and downs. We keep moving forward and make the best of it. Right?”
“Yep.”
“What about this one?” Jackson asked as he pulled a small habitat off the shelf.
“Looks good to me.”
“Me too.”
They emerged a few minutes later with the small plastic habitat. Jackson pulled some leaves off a tree in the parking lot on the way back to the truck, along with some green grass and twigs, laying it all in the habitat.
After he and Jax transferred the locust to its new temporary home, they drove across the street and pulled into the gas station bay at the Quickie Mart. It seemed isolated, aside from the green Volkswagen Beatle in the parking lot.
Two mountain bikes, one black and one yellow, leaned against a red motorized wheelchair that was parked near the front door.
“Let’s go find something to eat inside first and then we’ll get gas,” Jackson said. He rolled down the window for Jumper again. “Stay.”
A moment later, the father and son walked through the front door of the Quickie Mart, though it was going to be a while before they could eat.
Chapter 21
“Do you have an appointment, ma’am?” a guard at the reception desk in the CDC office, Atlanta said to Jamie as she stood there asking to speak with Lars Bigsby late Wednesday morning.
“No.”
“Wel
l, I’m sorry then, miss. Deputy Director Bigsby isn’t available without an appointment. You’ll have to come back another time after you make an appointment. Can I give you his secretary’s phone number?”
“No, thank you. I need to see Dr. Bigsby today. Now. I’m certain he’ll see me if you just call him and let him know that I’m here.”
The guard looked dumfounded standing behind the counter. Long since retired from law enforcement, he still had a bite to him and never let anyone be disrespectful to him. “Who are you again?” he asked her starkly, yet cautiously. An air of authority practically leaked from her pores.
“My name is Dr. Jamie Mills, Deputy Regional Director with FEMA Region IV.” Jamie flashed her identification. “I spoke with Dr. Bigsby by phone yesterday, and he asked me to come here to speak with him in person. I came by yesterday and was told to come back today.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am. But…“
“I won’t be turned away again. Call him. Please. Just call him.”
The guard scowled as he focused on her face. He had always been a sucker for a pretty one, and so his scowl softened despite the dark circles under Jamie’s eyes. They did very little if anything to detract from her beauty.
Jaime went back to FEMA yesterday after her failed attempt to see Lars, and fell asleep in her office. She had yet to change clothes.
“Let me see what I can do.”
The guard hesitantly picked up the phone on the counter and pushed a constellation of buttons on it. “Hey… yeah, Ralph here. Guard Force. Good! How are you doing? Oh yeah? That’s great! How many tickets? What section? Heck yeah! I’ll go!”
The guard, Ralph, looked up at Jamie, who looked like she was about to strangle him.
“Listen, I got a lady down here from FEMA says she wants to see Dr. Bigsby. Now. No, no appointment. I know. She’s some kind of bigwig with the FEMA. Yes. Okay, I’ll hold on…” The guard looked at Jamie. “They got me on hold.”
“I gathered,” Jamie replied with a sarcastic smile.
Ralph began to whistle what sounded like the theme from Little House on the Prairie. He seemed to become lost in his own world as he waited with the phone receiver to his ear. “Yes. I’m still here. Really? I see. Okay, I’ll let her know. Thanks. Yeah! You too!”
And We All Fall (Book 1) Page 17
