Thankfully, Teddy didn’t see Danny nor Jane in any of the cages.
As he neared the end of the aisle, a white-suit carrying a fogger approached from around the corner.
Teddy pushed the white-suit back and took off down an adjacent row.
People cried out for help and moaned in pain as Teddy darted past them. Boney fingers reached through the chain-link towards him and a few people slapped against their cage doors with bloody palms.
Midway down the aisle, he stopped at one of the cages.
The cage had four gurneys inside, but all of them were soiled. A flimsy plastic tarp covered the top of the cage and was covered with mold from the fogger’s constant condensation. The red bucket in the corner of the cell had been tipped on its side and the brown water warped the stadium’s wooden flooring.
A man and a woman sat next to each other on the floor in front of one of the gurneys and both were gasping and fighting for their every breath; both were at their end.
On the opposite end of the cage, Jane sat on the floor with her back against the wall and her head down. Her left eye was swollen shut. Her forehead was starting to turn purple.
Danny lay across her lap covered by a thin foil blanket.
They sat there motionless.
Teddy’s heart seized and he fell to his knees. He grabbed the chain-link and shook it.
“Jane…” he whispered with tears in his eyes.
Jane slowly opened her good eye and looked at him…
Teddy’s eyes widened and his expression brightened.
“Jane!” he shouted excitedly. “Thank God!”
“Teddy…”
“Hold on! I’ll get you out of here!” Teddy exclaimed. He quickly got on his feet and ran towards the gate.
“Teddy… You’re sick…?” she asked as she stared at him.
“No, but I came here to rescue both of you,” he quickly explained.
Teddy tried to open the gate, but the padlock wouldn’t budge. He gave an aggravated groan and started uselessly shaking the lock.
Jane’s expression grew crestfallen and she slowly shook her head.
“Listen to yourself…” she said. “What are you doing here…?”
“Saving you!” he answered as he started shaking the entire gate. “We have to hurry!”
“Teddy…” she cried as a tear ran down her cheek. “You had a chance… You should’ve left… It’s what I would’ve wanted…”
“Stop talking like that!” Teddy said in frustration as he continued to shake the gate.
“You should’ve never come back for me…” Jane whispered – sorrow and pain deepening the lines of her face.
White-suits carrying assault rifles approached from both sides.
“Hold it right there!” one of the white-suits ordered.
Teddy frowned. He stopped shaking the locked gate and looked over at the white-suits.
“Let go of the fence and put your hands in the air or we will shoot!”
Teddy let go of the chain-link gate and slowly put his hands over his head.
“On your knees!” the white-suit barked.
Teddy fell to his knees.
Jane started crying.
Danny didn’t even turn around as he lay on his mother’s lap. He wrapped himself up tighter in the blanket, coughing.
CHAPTER 29
Sunlight poured in through the cracks in the stadium’s roof. Vignettes of the blue sky shone through the missing rooftop panels. The industrial swamp coolers couldn’t keep pace with the unrelenting desert heat - the air grew hotter with every passing minute.
Teddy sat next to Jane inside the narrow cage while Danny lay sprawled across their lap. His head pounded. His throat felt swollen from thirst. The blistering heat of the day made his dirty clothes stick to his sweaty back.
Jane’s eye was still swollen shut, and her greasy hair hung damp with sweat. Blisters covered her forehead and open sores were starting to redden her dry, cracked lips. She didn’t talk and barely moved as she stayed bent over Danny.
Danny lay motionless, his shallow breaths the only sign of life in him. Droplets of sweat covered his pale face as he floated in and out of consciousness.
Others in the nearby cages who were still healthy enough to move, took shelter from the sun underneath their gurneys or covered their heads with the thermal blankets.
The coughing and the noise throughout the stadium had subsided, but the persistent buzz of flies was starting to become a growing presence.
Teddy glanced over at the man and woman in the cage with them.
The couple was lying underneath two gurneys pushed together. They held hands as they stared at each other with dull eyes. They wheezed and their breaths came out in raspy wisps.
A white-suit pushing a wheelbarrow stacked with corpses walked past the front of the cage.
A second white-suit followed behind and sprayed the area with the fogger.
After a few moments, the fog cleared and the disinfectant’s smell dissipated.
Teddy slouched over and wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand. He looked over at Jane and frowned.
She hadn’t said a word to him ever since they locked him inside.
“Why do you keep staring at me?” she asked without turning to look at him.
“What happened to your eye?” he asked. “What did they do to you?”
“I resisted,” Jane replied simply as she stroked the back of Danny’s head. “I didn’t want them to take him…”
“You knew they would though, didn’t you?”
Jane nodded.
“I’m sorry, Teddy.” She paused. “I shouldn’t have lied to you.”
Teddy looked down at Danny, frowning.
Danny coughed against his mother’s lap, spewing droplets of mucus. He moaned in pain and curled up closer against her.
“I know, baby, I know,” she said quietly. “It’s going to be okay…”
“Mama…” Danny mumbled hoarsely. “I hurt… I hurt everywhere…”
“I know, baby,” Jane said as a tear ran down the side of her sunburnt face. “It’ll be okay though. Mama is here, okay? I won’t let anybody hurt you… Just sleep, sweet thing. Go to sleep and this will all be over soon… I love you so much...”
Danny wiped his feverish face with the palm of his small hand, closing his eyes.
A few minutes passed and Danny’s consciousness faded.
A lump formed in Teddy’s throat as he watched the child struggle to breathe in his sleep.
Teddy looked away.
“How long has he–”
Teddy’s voice trailed off.
“A few days now,” Jane answered. “He was playing with a neighbor’s boy whose parents came over to say goodbye before they headed out towards Nevada.” She sighed and shook her head. “I didn’t know that their kid was sick. Danny started getting a fever that night and then I knew…”
“He’s a fighter,” Teddy said with tears in his eyes. “When I first got it, I was out of commission within the first twenty-four hours.”
“I know he is,” Jane said with admiration. “That’s why I thought he was going to be okay…”
Jane sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
“He might have been okay,” Teddy admitted. “I think being in here only made it worse.”
“No,” Jane quickly replied. “It was getting worse, especially at night. The day I found you was the day I was out looking for some sort of medicine, but everything had been picked clean. He knew he wasn’t feeling well, but I lied to him and told it was allergies… What sort of mother does that make me?” She paused and rubbed her forehead. “I just didn’t want to admit it. I didn’t want to make it real, you know?” She stopped and cleared her throat, rubbing her swollen lymph nodes. “It was a mistake to go with you.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“Yes, it was. Back at that parking garage, I brought Danny around other people who were healthy… Li
ed to them… I probably infected them. Who knows how many people I killed during our little trip? I deserve to be here.”
“You were just doing what you had to do to survive and protect your child, that’s all.”
Jane did not answer immediately.
“I failed horribly,” Jane muttered. “I was just a coward who couldn’t face the truth. Now we’re both going to die in here.”
Jane stopped abruptly as an attack of deep, hacking coughs shook her frame.
Teddy looked over at her with alarm.
“How long have you–”
“Since they brought me in here,” she cut-in. “This whole time I thought I might be one of the immune ones, but I guess I was wrong. It’s for the best. If he dies, I don’t want to live.”
“You may not be immune, but you could still survive,” Teddy assured. “I mean, I got sick too, but I got better. Lots of people did.” He looked at her and placed a hand on hers. “You’ll recover and so will Danny.”
“Do you think that’s how our story will end?” she asked wistfully.
“It could be. You never know, Jane.”
“That’s a nice thought,” she said with a slight smile.
Jane erupted into another coughing spasm.
“Jane…” Teddy said. “Just tell me what I need to–”
“Shhh,” Jane replied as she placed an index finger over her pursed lips.
Teddy fell silent and listened.
“You talk too much,” Jane whispered. “Right now, I just want you to hold me…”
Jane placed her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
Teddy wrapped an arm around her, kissed the top of her head, and cradled her against him.
He felt her relax as she fell asleep.
His arm grew numb and tingled from her weight against him, but he didn’t pull away.
Teddy closed his eyes. Sleep remained elusive despite his exhaustion.
CHAPTER 30
“Food! Water!” a white-suit shouted, as he dragged a cardboard box of supplies in front of the cages, a few hours later.
Teddy opened his eyes - his head felt heavy and groggy. He dislodged his dry, swollen tongue from the roof of his mouth with some difficulty. The heat from the sun beating down on him stung his raw, sunburnt skin – muddling his thoughts.
He forced himself to raise his head off the back of the cage and looked towards the voice.
Nobody else moved.
The white-suit carrying the supplies kicked on the cage’s chain-link.
A second white-suit stood next to him pushed an empty wheelbarrow.
“Is anybody even still alive in there?” the white-suit with the wheelbarrow asked as he peered inside.
“We are…” Teddy said in a dry, raspy voice. He raised a sunburnt hand in the air.
The white-suit unlocked the cage and stepped inside. He stopped and peered down at the couple lying underneath the gurneys in front.
“How about you?” the white-suit asked.
The couple didn’t respond.
Aggravated, the white-suit flipped the gurneys over with his boot and kicked against the side of the man’s leg.
The man and the woman had their milky eyes stuck open - their boney hands locked together in death’s embrace. Bugs crawled out of their vomit-caked mouths and disappeared up into their nostrils.
The white-suit sighed and sat the box down.
“Come help me with these two,” he said.
His partner entered, helped him lift the corpses, and together they loaded them on the wheelbarrow.
Teddy watched as the bodies were unceremoniously heaped on top of one another and given a quick spritz of disinfectant.
“We’ll scan them when we take them to the pit,” the white-suit said as he dusted his gloved hands off. He bent over, picked up the box, and started to walk out of the cage.
“Hey, wait!” Teddy said as loudly as his sore throat would allow. “What about the water?”
The white-suit stopped and turned towards him.
“Oh yeah, forgot about you over there,” the white-suit said casually, as he reached into the box. “Are you three okay?”
Teddy felt Jane’s shallow breaths against his skin; her head was still resting on his shoulder and soaked his shirt with sweat. He glanced down at Danny; he looked asleep.
“We’re fine, but we need water,” Teddy answered.
“You don’t look fine,” the white-suit said. He reached in the box and tossed three plastic bottles of water and three packets of apple sauce on the ground in front of Teddy.
The white-suit stepped outside, locked the cage, and walked with his co-worker as they carted the bodies away.
Teddy reached forward and grabbed the waters.
Jane’s head bobbed forward off of his shoulder when he moved and she started coughing.
“I’m sorry,” Teddy said as sat back up. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
He opened one of the bottles and handed it to her.
“It’s fine…” Jane whispered, barely able to speak. She tried grabbing the bottle, but did not manage to grip it.
Teddy frowned.
“Here, let me help you,” Teddy said with concern.
He gently lifted her chin and placed the bottle against her lips.
Jane’s eye was still swollen and her other eye had yellow pus in the corner. Snot encrusted her nostrils and left a trail down her chin. She looked disoriented and feverish.
Teddy poured a little into her mouth, but she immediately started coughing and choking.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he quickly removed the bottle. “What happened?”
Jane leaned forward and spat the water up on the ground, gasping for breath in-between coughs.
She shook her head and stayed hunched over.
“Can’t swallow…” she explained. “Throat too swollen… Give some to Danny…”
“Okay, okay, just sit back for me,” Teddy said as he helped her back up. “I’ll take care of it, okay?”
Jane plopped the back of her head against the chain-link and wheezed as she closed her eyes.
“Hey little buddy…” Teddy said gently as he shook Danny’s shoulder.
He pulled back immediately: Danny’s body was cold and stiff to the touch.
Gathering his last remaining strength, Teddy slowly turned the little boy over on his side to see his face.
Danny’s lips were blue and the lymph nodes on his neck had swollen to purple pustules. Teddy stifled a sob and passed a hand over Danny’s eyelids to close them. He choked back tears and gently turned the lifeless body facedown.
“Is he...” she started to ask.
Jane’s voice trailed off and she started coughing.
“I’m sorry…” Teddy said, hands trembling. “I’m so very sorry…”
Jane clumsily ran a hand over the back of Danny’s head and stroked his hair. She burst into tears, coughing in-between the sobs.
Teddy reached around and wrapped an arm around her.
Jane put her head on his shoulder and gasped for air; she was too sick to even mourn the death of her child.
“I…” Jane stammered weakly as she placed her hand on his chest. “I want you to remember…” She gripped his shirt tightly. “…no matter what you see, or where you go… Remember Danny and remember that there is still good in this world… You need to remember that… You need to know that. This world needs good people…” She let go of his shirt, coughing and wheezing. “You’re a good person, Teddy… I hope you’ll remember that even when I’m gone. You need to… remember that. Do it for Danny…”
“Shh, shh,” Teddy said. He gently pressed his lips against the top of her head. “Don’t talk like that. You’re not going anywhere, okay? We’re walking out of here together.”
Jane closed her eyes and rubbed her cheek against his shoulder, cuddling closer.
“That’d be nice…” she said wistfully. “…if it were true.” She coughed violently and
took a moment to catch her breath. “If you leave… at least take my words with you. There is still good out there and if that’s not worth fighting for then I don’t know what is…”
Jane fell silent and wheezed as she leaned against him.
Teddy held onto her and ran his fingers through her hair. Neither of them noticed the tears that were streaming down his sunburnt cheeks.
CHAPTER 31
The sun went down and the air inside the stadium was starting to cool somewhat.
Six crushed plastic bottles and four empty packets of expired MRE apple sauce lay in front of Teddy’s feet.
Teddy noticed that numerous white-suits passed by during the day and slowed down as they stared at him.
He imagined that they were amazed that he was still healthy, but he didn’t say a word to them.
A few of them shouted questions, but he couldn’t catch their words; he was too preoccupied and lost in his own world.
Danny’s corpse was still lying partly across his lap. It was still and had started to stink especially after the sun had beaten down on it all day.
Jane felt cold and limp against him. He had not felt her breathe nor hear her cough for several hours.
Teddy knew that it was an odd scene.
He knew it was damned near crazy.
Yet, despite how morbid it was to be sitting with two decaying corpses, he couldn’t face the reality of saying goodbye.
A white-suit trudged past the front of the cage while spraying his fogger, but he didn’t stop to look.
Behind him, a coughing man was being escorted by another white-suit.
Teddy recognized him.
The biker glanced over at Teddy and immediately recognized him too.
“It’s your fault!” the biker yelled as he kicked the chain-link. “They said my results came back positive, but I know what the real reason is–”
“Keep moving!” the white-suit escorting him, shouted.
The white-suit shoved the biker forward.
The biker let out a chain of coughs, clutched at his stomach, and kept walking forward.
H7N9 Penitence Page 31
