“We warn you that the footage you are about to see is uncut and disturbing. There will be instances of nudity as many of the infected revived in city morgues and in hospitals. Please keep this in mind if you have younger viewers watching.”
The image switched back to the New York video. It was obvious that the mood of the crowd had changed from impatience to fear and panic. People screamed as groups of lurching, mutilated infected appeared at the edges of the crowd. Some were indeed, nude, with gaping, putrid black wounds and missing limbs. They attacked those at the perimeter. In the terror and frenzy the weaker and smaller in the crowd were crushed underfoot. Virginia changed the channel, unable to watch anymore.
FOX news displayed a map pinpointing heavily infested locations around the world. New York City and DC were overrun. So were all of the Caribbean islands. The entire state of Florida was considered lost. Blockades were set up at the Georgia and Alabama borders where National Guardsmen had orders to shoot to kill anyone approaching the barricades. The western part of the country was said to have fewer cases than elsewhere. Air traffic worldwide had come to a complete halt and the Dow had all but disappeared. Europe and Great Britain reported cases of infection but appeared to be holding up better than the U.S. so far. China and now Russia still claimed to be infection free.
She peered out through the blinds. Was the snow letting up a little? It was hard to tell. The streets and lawns were now completely covered and the picturesque peacefulness of the little street belied the horror she knew lurked out there. Portia and Bill’s house was dark and she shuddered when she thought of the bodies that lay within.
The internet was still up but most posted government warnings were the same. Watch for these symptoms. Isolate and restrain the infected. After the experience she had had with Bill, she knew these warnings in no way prepared anyone for what they would face when confronted with an actual infected person. She checked out various blogs. Lots of people were hiding in their homes. Some seemed confident they could ride the crisis out. Survivalists. Others were desperate for food, water and medicine. Many had moved into their attics as roving bands of looters broke into houses and stories of rape and robbery abounded. She found a post from a Catholic mission in Afghanistan addressed to the local Red Cross/Crescent.
“Greetings from the mission home of the Sisters of Mercy in Ghazni. We have a small compound here where every day, we strive to better the lives of Afghan women and children through the teachings of Jesu Christ our Lord, Amen. The hardships and trials these people are bearing are unknown to most of the world. Many of the precious children who come to us have handicaps, mind or body, sometimes both. Fathers don’t want these children. Mothers bring them here to save their lives. We believe we have been allowed to exist here, mostly unmolested, because we take children who “shame” their families. Whatever the reasons, we are grateful to God for these blessed children. We also have a day school where we teach girls and young women to read and write.
You must help us now. Taliban are coming each day and taking the women and girls. They bind them with explosives and send them out as bombs to destroy the infected whose numbers grow daily. The Mutawa'een take also women accused of violations of Sharia law and no longer stone them but send them out also. I am attaching this note from our former student, Malalay.
‘Beloved Sister, women are being killed each morning. The Mutawa'een took my mother to the wall for the al-ghul to eat. My father fought them but two men held him and ran his head into the stone wall. My beautiful mother, they bound her body with charges and dropped her down into the street outside the wall. She cried, ‘Why do you do this thing?’ They told her, ‘Woman, you have shamed your family. We will do as Allah has instructed us.’ When she dropped into the street, her foot twisted. She could not run except painfully and slow. The men from the wall are throwing stones at her. The al-ghul are not fast but they are many now. They heard the noise in the street. My mother has not the ability to run away. She is on her knees and praying as the first to reach her bites her arms she is holding up to God. She screams and they bite her until she screams no more. I closed my eyes until I heard the explosives and I knew my mother was dead. The Mutawa'een looked at us the women and girls inside the walls. He said, ‘We will give one of you to them every day until all disobedient behaviors are stopped.’
I think they do this thing to keep the demons away from eating them the men. They put two more women outside the walls this morning. You knew them, beloved Sister. The explosives did not completely destroy their bodies. Dilbahar Bibi and Zuqaina Javed are now among the walking corpses outside our walls. I have not seen my mother. I hope she is truly dead. I see fewer of my friends each day. I believe their fathers are hiding them. My father is still alive and I am caring for him but he has no consciousness anymore. I have no protection. Please help if you can.’
This dear child’s letter shows you our situation grows more desperate each day. We have information that such as this is taking place throughout the land here and in other countries of our region. The spilled blood of these innocents is crying out from the very ground. For ourselves we have no fear and are ready to live or die as God disposes but these precious children- in the name of Christ please come quickly.”
How could this be happening? Society was breaking down so fast. She found a post from a man in a high-rise apartment building in Miami. He wrote that the streets there teemed with infected and escape was impossible. A large convoy of military vehicles had moved through hours ago and he had hoped for rescue but they kept going and hadn’t come back. Electricity and water were intermittent and he feared losing both soon. His wife had been bitten in the street this morning and he watched helplessly as she grew sicker. Virginia sent him a message, recounting some of her experience from last night and saw that several other people had sent him similar warnings. Just then the power flickered then came back on. She wondered how much longer she had before it went out for good. She moved most of her supplies into the attic although she planned to leave here as soon as she could get the car out. She just didn’t know how long that would be and as she thought of her babies so far away she was again overwhelmed by worry and fear.
She noticed car lights moving near the entrance to the neighborhood and saw Yun Li, bundled in a heavy coat and shining a flashlight in front of him, making his way up the street. Putting on her coat she followed him, hoping for news on road conditions. She heard him shouting at several people gathered near the entrance as they arranged and parked their vehicles in the streets, deliberately blocking the lanes.
“What are you doing? How is anyone supposed to get in or out with this arrangement?”
“That’s the point Mr. Li; no one can get in now. We’ve got to protect ourselves. They say gangs of those sick people are roaming the streets and attacking anyone they come across.” This from Larry. Several of the men around him nodded in agreement.
“The infected are not driving. Blocked roads won’t stop them. You must move these vehicles. We have no way of escaping in our cars if we need to.”
The wind shrieked so loudly in her ears Virginia had a hard time hearing anything they said. She moved to stand beside Yun.
“Don’t leave those here guys. If you do, we’re trapped. We may need to get out fast and we can’t do that if a bunch of vehicles have to be moved out of the way first.”
Todd Lang climbed down out of the Denali he had just finished parking. He trudged over to the shouting group and shook his head when he heard the discussion.
“We voted on it and this is what we’re going to do. They’ll think twice before they attack a place they can see people are prepared to defend.”
“Are any of you watching or reading about what is going on? These infected are demented! It is possible that they do not think once, let alone twice, about what they do! You are trapping us like fish in a bowl!” Yun Li was apoplectic.
“Don’t stroke out on us old man. You’d be better off if you just went on back h
ome now.” Larry again. “Virginia here will help you get back.” He actually touched her back and gently pushed her toward Li.
“Don’t touch me! And Yun Li will make his own decision about when he goes home.”
Larry leaned over and spoke in her ear. “Get the old man out of here now. Keep your mouth shut. I might pay you a visit later. Wear what you had on earlier. I liked that.”
Virginia felt a chill of revulsion. She realized the normal rules of civilization were breaking down in Wells too. None of the men in the group would meet her eyes. They didn’t want to oppose Larry, who seemed to be in charge.
She looked up at him. “Do not break into my house again. Do not come near me.” She turned to the rest of them. “All of you need to re-think what you’re doing. This is a mistake.”
Yun Li had moved closer to her and he now took her arm protectively. Together they turned and fought their way back through the drifts. They parted at her front door, which he insisted on walking her to.
“Take precautions young lady. That porcine fellow has designs of some sort on you. Where is your husband?”
She sighed. “I don’t know. He may still be in DC. We are- not together anymore.”
“I was aware of that but hoped things might have changed. One never knows. Again, take care and good night.”
She never saw him alive again.
Chapter 8
“What’s past is prologue.”
The Tempest
-William Shakespeare
Night had fallen. The wind gusted hard, whipping the snow into a howling, icy maelstrom that shook the house and blew down the chimney causing the fire in the fireplace to flicker and pop. Only CNN was still on the air. They broadcasted what looked like a pre-recorded loop of reports, no new information. She turned the TV off, made sure the handgun at her side hadn’t slipped down the sofa cushion, opened Bill’s envelope and began to read
The following account is taken from the writings of Fray Miguel de Sahagun, a friar who accompanied Columbus on his first voyage to the New World.
Anno Domini 1492
The Admiral prepared to leave and return to Spain, leaving several behind, including myself for I wished to know more of this people of Hispaniola and to bring them out of the darkness and into the light of Christ. Let me describe for the curious reader the appearance of these people. I have observed more men than women, although it may be that their women are secluded in some place. They are light brown in skin and well made with strong limbs. Their straight black hair is coarse and worn short. I observed no beards among them. Some I saw with wounds on their bodies. I made signs to ask the reason for these and they made me to understand that on other islands they have enemies of whom they seem to have great fear and are reluctant to speak but I will speak more on this later. Although they went about naked as God made them, they painted their bodies, some black, some red or other colors and did not seem to know of their nakedness. Indeed, when we gave their leader a suit of clothes that he seemed to greatly desire, he was quick to divide them up, giving the doublet to one, the ruff to another and the trunk hose to one of his wives, while he wore the soft cap on his own head. I did not observe greed in these people, even when we gave them glass beads and other trinkets. Marvelous excitement was seen when they received these simple gifts but they quickly passed them around to their fellows for all to enjoy. They seemed to me to have the makings of good servants and Christians, as they are intelligent and hospitable. I spoke to them of our Lord Jesu Christ and of His divine resurrection but they drew back with dark looks and I knew I had not conveyed the wondrous story properly. I resolved to try to explain more fully in time.
Let my reader know that I was given to understand that these people, who call themselves the Taino, once lived in villages near to the coast but of late have made their abode more in the interior regions of Hispaniola. This is not because of a desire to be close to the wondrous mountains we have observed from a distance but out of fear of the enemies of which I have promised to speak more.
Much talk of monsters was bandied about amongst the sailors, as all their ilk I found them to be superstitious in the extreme. No monsters have been found in these lands but for the human monsters I will describe. The gentle Taino call them the Carib and do not speak their name except in hushed tones and then only very reluctantly. By gestures and other means, I was given to understand these men come from the south in large canoes that hold 70 or 80 men although I have not seen canoes this large among the Taino. In appearance, they are similar to the Taino but wear their hair long. They are said to raid and plunder much from the Taino, including women and children of whom they make unspeakable use. I mean to say that they eat the flesh of these innocents. According to my hosts, no one is safe from the Carib.
Now patient reader, what I have to tell you next is of these Carib and what I observed of them and the Taino. One night, several weeks after the Admiral sailed for Spain, I found my hosts preparing to leave their homes and move even deeper into the interior of the island. They said it is now the time of the moon when the Carib sail in search of plunder and food. I noticed they did not bother to take such livestock as they had penned but left them with water to drink. I was told the Carib do not bother with such meat. We moved quietly in the velvety darkness, my hosts sure footed from long traveling these paths and ascended into trees well stocked in advance with the sharpened sticks that are all they use for battle. The infants among them stayed nestled to their mothers’ bosoms, but the older children were armed, some with the sharp sticks, while others were given half gourds on which animal skin was stretched taut for a purpose I shall reveal in time.
After a time, I heard stealthy footfalls approach. At a signal that I was unable to see, the Taino began to rain down the sharpened sticks on the Carib, for it was they who approached below. Some were struck and killed but others began to climb the trees and snatch the women and children. The Carib in the trees flung those captured to the ground and other warriors carried them away. The cries of the children were heart wrenching. The sounds of battle began to die away as dawn crept into the sky. The Carib had departed with their human prizes yet we remained sheltered in the branches. I began to climb down to relieve myself whence my host took my arm and gestured fiercely to me to stay in the tree. There were no more warriors below, only the bodies of the fallen, yet we waited.
Something crashed in the driveway. She put the papers down and opened the blind. The trashcan lay on its side, rolling back and forth in the wind. I’ll pick it up in the morning. She resumed reading.
What I tell you next is true. The bodies of the slain Carib began to twitch and then slowly rise to their feet. Soon they staggered about under the trees. Though they scratched at the base of the trunks, they were unable to climb in their present state. I saw other Carib bodies stumble from the forest where they had fallen after dying of their wounds and join their dead fellows. Some will say they had never been dead, only wounded and stunned but let my reader consider the grievous and fatal wounds the bodies bore in their bellies and breasts. I looked at my host but he was watching the bodies intently. Again, a signal was given that I was unable to perceive and the children holding the skin covered gourds scampered down from the trees, showing no fear of the slain Carib. These children, with light step and an air of merriment, began to beat their hands upon the gourds producing drumming sounds that the Carib appeared to hear for they began to stumble clumsily after the children who frisked about before them and led them farther into the green forest. After a time the Taino climbed down from the trees and quietly followed the children. We came to a clearing with many large and medium sized stones strewn about the ground. The children were still drumming and skillfully evading the attempts of the Carib to capture them when one, a small girl, stumbled on a stone and fell. A Carib was upon her quickly, tore an arm from her small body and began to eat the flesh. The others immediately closed in to partake whence the Taino warriors took the stones from the ground and cast
them at the Carib, knocking them to the ground and then, taking the larger stones, smashed their heads to fragments, the remains of the Carib emitting a most foul and corrupt stench. I noted they also treated the body of the fallen child thus. All this was accomplished efficiently and with an air of familiarity for the task. The women with the small children watched, unmoved by the spectacle. The Taino now began a weary march back to their village, leaving those behind who were to dispose of the bodies. Amazed I made many inquiries about the events of the night but found my hosts unwilling to discuss the evening until they had slept. I too, was exhausted but images of the extraordinary night stayed in my thoughts and prevented sleep. Over the next several days I was able to extract some explanation for what I had seen but my hosts’ previous taciturnity on the subject had returned and I feel my information is still incomplete. I will set down what I know.
The Taino explained to me that the Carib are diseased in a way that makes it unbearable for other peoples to be around them. Their tribe is made up almost entirely of male warriors. They eat some of the women they capture on their nighttime raids and keep some for breeding. Of the offspring produced by the captive women, the female infants are eaten while the males are raised to become warriors. The Carib feel that women can always be captured and think it a waste to raise them from infants. As for the remarkable reanimation I witnessed, the Carib have not always been thus but after congress with the “black men with shining sticks” * have become monstrous as seen. The disease referred to before causes their bodies to rise after their spirit has fled and they continue to lust for human flesh. The bodies are especially attracted by sounds and seem to be unable to resist the call of the drums I saw used by the children. The only way to dispatch these bodies is to destroy the head. It was obvious from the distaste the Taino showed when I questioned them that they thought my inquiries the height of bad manners. I was unable to obtain further information from them on this topic and judged it best to cease inquiry.
The Living Dead (Book 1): Contagion Page 6
