H7N9 Penitence

by Mark Campbell

  “You better hope that those soldiers kill you,” Logan whispered. “If I catch you again, you’ll wish they did.”

  Logan raised his foot and kicked over one of Johannes’ filing cabinets.

  The cabinet crashed against the floor and flung vanilla folders all across the floor.

  “There! I heard it again! Thompson! Go check out that hall!”

  “Sir, yes, sir!”

  Logan ducked and ran out of the office in the opposite direction of the soldiers: towards the adjacent housing unit.

  In the distance Teddy heard the sally port’s metallic door fling open.

  “Goddammit…” Teddy muttered. He staggered back up onto his feet and limped towards the open office door.

  He froze as a flashlight beam scanned the darkened corridor and the sound of jingling equipment drew near.

  Teddy moved out of the doorway, hid behind the open door, and pressed his back against the wall. He stood very still, waiting.

  The office brightened as the soldier slowly stepped inside the doorway and scanned the room with the light attached to his weapon.

  The soldier breathed heavily through his foggy gasmask. A thick rubber gasket sealing the mask narrowed his field of vision considerably.

  Teddy kept quiet and stayed hidden against the wall right next to the soldier. He remained frozen, careful not to make the slightest movement within the man’s limited peripheral vision.

  “Thompson! What’s your status?” a voice asked from the end of the hallway.

  “It’s clear, sir!” the soldier shouted back, standing right next to Teddy.

  “Then move your ass and get to the next unit! The sooner we’re done here the sooner we can leave!”

  The soldier lowered his weapon, turned, and ran out of the office.

  Teddy waited several minutes before finally letting out a sigh of relief. He quietly crept out into the corridor, cracked open the door, and poked his head out into the unit.

  Brass shell casings covered the floor, and the concrete walls had been chipped away by gunfire. Bloodied corpses wearing khaki were strewn across the unit … a few hung off the upper tier.

  Unfortunately, Logan wasn’t among the dead.

  Teddy frowned and carefully made his way to the open sally port.

  As he walked, he noticed that the inmates weren’t the only fatality; he spotted a soldier slouched down next to one of the overturned laundry carts. The soldier had a homemade knife sticking out from the side of his neck, and the front of his uniform was stained a bright crimson. The metal chain that once held his dog tags was snapped in half and lying on the floor.

  Teddy noticed that the other soldiers hadn’t just take the man’s dog tags; they had taken his weapon and ammunition pouches as well.

  A faded laminated ID card was attached to the soldier’s duty belt by a small lanyard.

  Curious, Teddy walked over to the man and snapped the card off the lanyard.

  He held the card in his calloused hands and studied it.

  It was an access card for a FEMA center set up inside the Tucson Stadium.

  Teddy wasn’t sure why soldiers were being flown in all the way from Tucson just to execute some dying prisoners, but he knew now that things outside had to have been even worse than he had originally imagined.

  He threw the ID aside and started to walk away–

  He stopped.

  Teddy turned around, pulled the knife out of the soldier’s neck, and gripped it tightly. It certainly wasn’t an ideal weapon against a bunch of thugs with guns, but it was better than nothing.

  “Foxtrot to Charley Command,” a shaky voice said over the dead soldier’s radio. “Be advised, we found a couple of prison guards keeping camp in one of the housing units. How should we proceed?”

  Teddy cocked his head to the side and listened.

  “Charley Command to Foxtrot, Executive Order 17824 is quite specific in how you should proceed. They could just be inmates disguising themselves as staff members. Clean Sweep protocols are to be followed without question.”

  “B-but, sir, this is a male facility and one of the guards is a female.” He paused. “She can’t be one of the inmates.”

  “Just do as you’re told and follow the goddamn protocols, Foxtrot!” the gruff voice angrily replied.

  “Y-yes, sir… We’ll handle it. Foxtrot out.”

  Teddy heard a burst of gunfire echo from the other side of the institution.

  He frowned and shook his head, but he wasn’t especially surprised.

  He had to get out of here while he still could.

  The sunlight was blinding as he stepped through the sally port. He rubbed his eyes, kept low, and stuck his head outside.

  Flames leapt out of the shallow mass grave that had been dug in the recreation yard and black smoke billowed into the air. A few buzzards circled overhead as if they were waiting for the flames to die down so that they could pick at the charred scraps.

  All of the housing unit windows were dark and it was impossible to see inside the gun tower at the center of the compound through the tinted windows.

  Teddy knew that he’d be in the open if he stepped outside, but staying behind and waiting posed an even bigger risk.

  He heard a helicopter hovering in the distance, even though he couldn’t see it.

  After a few minutes of hesitation, he ran towards the housing unit on the opposite side and ducked into the shadows. He pressed his back flat against the concrete wall, hyperventilating as he stared up at the gun tower.

  No shots rang out.

  Teddy stuck his head out from around the corner and looked down the long sidewalk that led towards the main corridor.

  A few wheelbarrows and sacks of slacked lime were on the pathway, but no soldiers or inmates were in sight.

  The main corridor entry door was propped open.

  Teddy took a deep breath, came out of the shadows, and ran towards the main corridor.

  He didn’t even make it ten yards before the helicopter swooped over one of the housing units.

  The large helicopter was painted a drab olive color and had US ARMY insignias on the tail. The craft was armed with two mounted M134 machine guns. Its whirling blades kicked up sand and dispersed the smoke for the smoldering mass grave as the craft made a pass over the compound.

  Panicked, Teddy broke into a full-blown sprint.

  The craft slowed and hovered over the recreation yard. One of the doors on the side of the craft slid open and a soldier seated inside brought out a pair of binoculars as he attempted to peer through the smoky haze.

  Teddy sprinted inside through the main corridor and landed hard on the floor. He gasped to catch his breath and scooted away from the open door. He took cover next to the metal detector that was lying on its side.

  The helicopter hovered a few seconds before banking left and disappearing over one of the housing units.

  Teddy found himself lying amongst countless roaches and soggy rat droppings. Disgusted, he scrambled back up on his feet and dusted himself off as he looked around the dark corridor.

  The musty scent of death and decay was thick in the hot air. Mold covered the windows of the dining hall where the temporary staff quarters once stood. Plastic sheets were haphazardly thrown over the decomposing corpses. They were piled high in front of the inmate infirmary and the corridor that led to the special housing unit was blocked off with gurneys.

  All of the security grilles were wide-open.

  At the end of the corridor, towards the main security grille that led out of the institution, two soldiers emerged from behind a corner and illuminated the area with their weapon’s tactical light.

  “The eye in the sky said that he thought he had spotted a runner ducking inside back here!” one of the masked soldiers shouted. “Don’t let him creep up on our six!”

  The two men ran towards the dining hall as they scanned the nooks and corners with their lights. Their bulky equipment jangled, and their erratic breathing s
ounded muffled through dirty gasmasks.

  “Shit,” Teddy whispered. He quickly ducked down out of sight and took cover behind the overturned metal detector.

  Shots rang out from behind the soldiers.

  A group of four armed inmates had taken position at the end of the corridor and were firing at them.

  Both soldiers stopped, crouched down, and returned fire.

  “Lemma to Foxtrot! What the fuck is going on up there?! Tangos are up our ass!” one of the soldiers shouted into his mic.

  “Lemma! Some got through! We have a situation! We can’t hold the- Fuck! No! We need–”

  The transmission was cut off abruptly.

  One of the soldiers cried out in pain as a bullet struck him in the shoulder. He dropped his weapon and collapsed on the floor.

  His partner kept firing down towards the inmates.

  “Lemma to Charley Command! Man down, goddammit! We have another man down!” he yelled into his mic.

  “Charley Command to all units! Fall back and regroup at the front lobby!”

  One of the inmates, a tall Hispanic man, stumbled backwards as a bullet struck him in the throat.

  The other three inmates stopped firing and ran down an adjacent corridor.

  The soldier lowered his weapon and chased after them.

  Teddy got back on his feet and looked down at the wounded soldier lying on the ground.

  The soldier was lying in a pool of blood as he gripped his wounded shoulder. His body was trembling and his face looked unnaturally pale through his gasmask’s visor. As soon as he spotted Teddy, his eyes widened and he reached for his rifle.

  Teddy kicked the man’s hand away, bent down, and picked up the rifle.

  The soldier tried to scoot away and reached for his mic–

  “Don’t,” Teddy warned as he pointed the rifle at the man’s head.

  The solider moved his hand away from his mic and held it in the air towards Teddy as he tried to scoot away.

  “P-please… Don’t do this,” the soldier said in a raspy voice.

  “What’s your name?” Teddy asked without lowering the weapon.

  “…What?” the soldier asked, taken aback.

  “Your name! What’s your name?” Teddy asked, aggravated.

  “Harris.”

  “Alright, Harris, tell me, what are you people doing?” Teddy asked as he stepped closer with the rifle. “What the fuck is going on out there?!”

  Harris scooted further away, shaking.

  “P-please,” he begged. “I’m just following orders! I didn’t even want to come here and do this, but they made us!”

  Teddy looked disgusted.

  “Why?! Who ordered this!?”

  “I don’t know!” Harris shouted. “Okay? I don’t know who is in charge anymore! None of us do! They put us on a chopper and sent us down here!”

  Harris started to hyperventilate as he scooted across the floor. His wounded arm left a bloody streak on the concrete.

  Teddy jabbed the riffle’s barrel against Harris’ forehead.

  Harris froze and his eyes stared up the length of the barrel.

  “They?” Teddy asked. “Who are ‘they’?”

  “FEMA! They’re the ones who’ve been calling the shots ever since last week. They’ve amalgamated with the military at the national level and set up safe zones in most major cities. They have one at the stadium nearby in Tucson and another in Phoenix. FEMA said that they may need this facility eventually but were concerned about anarchists and criminals who may still be inside! They were worried that you people might get out there and cause trouble!”

  Teddy cocked an eyebrow and stared at the man as he kept his rifle pointed at his forehead.

  “There wouldn’t have been any trouble if you idiots didn’t come start popping doors,” Teddy said.

  “We’re just following orders, that’s all! Eventually they’ll want this place and I guess they don’t want any surprises when they come!”

  “Why would FEMA want this place?” Teddy asked.

  “Shit, man, I don’t know! That’s above my paygrade! All I know is what I’ve heard.”

  “Well?” Teddy asked, annoyed. He jabbed Harris with the barrel of the rifle.

  “Well what?!”

  “What have you heard?!” Teddy asked, exasperated.

  “I know that they’ve already secured the county jail. They sent another team to secure and federalize the power plant. I’ve heard that the hospitals, state prisons, and even Tucson International Airport are next on their list.” He paused and listened to the gunfire that was being exchanged in the distance. He shook his head. “Look… even if these animals kill us all, FEMA doesn’t care. They’ll just send in more men with more guns, so killing me is pointless.”

  Teddy frowned. He didn’t like the sound of any of it, but he didn’t have time to try to figure it out. He knew that he had to get out of there.

  “Alright, Harris, tell me, if I walk out that front door into the parking lot, how much resistance am I going to have? How many soldiers are in your crew?”

  “H-how would I know?” Harris asked, stammering. “Look man, just let me go and I’ll make sure that–”

  Teddy raised his foot and dug his heel into Harris’ wounded shoulder while keeping his weapon pointed at him.

  Harris cried out in pain and started convulsing on the floor.

  “Harris, buddy, I need you to focus for me, okay? How many assholes with guns are there waiting outside?” Teddy asked calmly.

  “Twenty!” Harris yelled as tears ran down his cheeks. “Twenty plus the two pilots! Ten rode on the chopper and ten of us came on the flatbed! Twenty came, but I don’t know how many are left!”

  Teddy moved his foot off the man’s shoulder and stepped back.

  “See? That wasn’t so hard,” Teddy said.

  “Fuck you, man…” Harris cried as he rolled over on his side and curled up into a fetal position. He gripped his wounded shoulder and squeezed.

  Teddy glanced down the corridor and saw a small group of inmates wearing orange gathering at the main entrance sally port. He reached down and pulled the radio and mic off of Harris’ tactical vest. He removed the radio’s battery and flung the radio down the corridor.

  Some of the inmates turned towards the noise and started careening their heads to the side in an attempt to peer into the darkness.

  Two armed inmates readied their riffles and slowly started walking towards Teddy and Harris.

  “Thanks for your help,” Teddy whispered. He lowered his weapon, turned, and started to walk away.

  “Hey!” Harris whispered back in a panic. He looked towards the direction of the approaching inmates and then looked back at Teddy. “You can’t leave me here like this! They’ll kill me!”

  “Not my problem,” Teddy grumbled.

  “Please!” he begged. “They’ll torture me! Don’t let them slaughter me like a dog!”

  “And?” Teddy asked. “If the roles were reversed, you’d slaughter them.”

  The two armed inmates were getting closer.

  “I told you! I was just following orders!” Harris said as he scooted across the floor and tried to take cover by the toppled metal detector.

  Teddy rolled his eyes, crouched down, and started to walk towards the dining hall to hide.

  “Wait! Don’t go!” Harris pleaded. “I have a daughter! Okay? She’s at the stadium and I’m all she has. Her mom died from the flu. I need to get back to my daughter.”

  Teddy paused and cocked his head to the side.

  “You should’ve thought of that before you came down here,” Teddy said coldly.

  Teddy turned his head back straight and started to walk again–

  “W-w-wait! If you help me, I’ll help you! Get me patched up and I’ll sneak you inside FEMA’s safe zone at the stadium,” Harris begged. “They have lots of food… Clean water… A place to sleep… You’d be a lot safer in there than outside on the streets! It’s complete ana
rchy out there, you know. Get me to the vehicle and I can show you how to get there. I can take you to safety!”

  Teddy ignored him, cracked open the dining hall door, and slipped inside.

  “Wait, goddammit!” Harris shouted.

  The dining hall door closed shut with a gentle thud.

  Harris curled up and gripped his bleeding shoulder as two lanky men approached him.

  One of the men had long black, oily hair and a wild bushy beard. His pale green eyes were bloodshot and his face was covered with sores. Splatters of blood covered his orange SHU jumpsuit.

  “Well, well, well… What do you reckon we have here, Earl?” he asked with a smirk across his cracked lips. He pointed his rifle at Harris.

  The other man was wearing a dirty t-shirt and tattered khaki pants. Faded tattoos covered his neck and his head was shaved bald. Scraggly stubble covered his pale face.

  “Shit, Jay, it looks like we have a piggy in need of assistance!” he cackled. He walked to the other side of Harris and brandished his pistol at him.

  “Please… Don’t do this,” Harris said. He held his hand up towards them in defeat. “I can help you… I can help both of you…”

  “Shitin’ me, bossman,” Earl said. “You can’t even help yourself.”

  Both men stared down at Harris and watched him curl up, crying out in pain.

  Finally, one of the men spoke.

  “Should we help him, Jay?”

  Jay grinned and aimed his rifle at Harris’ chest.

  “Yeah… I’m gonna help him alright,” Jay said.

  The door to the dining hall flung open and slammed against the wall.

  Startled, Jay and Earl spun around and turned towards the noise–

  Both men were flung backwards by a burst of automatic gunfire.

  Jay’s bullet-riddled corpse smacked against the ground next to Harris and bled out on the floor.

  Earl collapsed on top of the metal detector and gurgled for breath as blood bubbled out of his chest. His eyes grew wide as he weakly reached for the pistol that he had dropped–

  Teddy stepped forward and fire another three-round burst into Earl’s chest.

  Earl convulsed as the hot lead punched through him. He let out one final wheeze and rolled off the metal detector.

  Teddy’s heart pounded in his chest. He prodded both bodies with his foot before lowering his weapon and turning towards a wide-eyed Harris.