Influenza: Viral Virulence

by Ohliger, Steven

  “Stop!” Lorie screamed from somewhere nearby.

  Michael looked up. Lorie and the new girl were running toward him, a panicked look on their faces.

  “That’s my brother!” she pleaded with Michael.

  Michael looked down at his attacker. Red hot anger raced through Michael’s body as he hesitated. He realized that his attacker was just a young adult about as old as the late Richard. The kid’s eyes were wide with fear as the pipe threatened to puncture his neck. He was a skinny, small-framed boy—reminding Michael of himself when he had first started at the university. With fair skin and freckles over his arms and face, he did look like he could be Liz’s brother.

  “Why did he attack me?” Michael asked in a harsh voice. But he eased the pressure on the boy’s throat a little.

  Liz ran up and knelt by the prone body of her brother. She looked up at Michael and pleaded, “Please don’t hurt him. He was just trying to protect me.”

  “Protect you?” Michael retorted. “I didn’t do anything.”

  “We’ve been through hell the last couple of weeks, and we really don’t trust anybody,” Liz said.

  “It’s okay,” Lorie said softly, putting her hand on Michael’s.

  Michael removed the metal pipe from the kid’s throat and watched as he slowly got back to his feet.

  Still eying Michael warily, Jeffrey rejoined his sister, rubbing his neck with the palm of his hand. Standing next to Liz, Michael could definitely see the family resemblance. Although Jeffrey was younger than his sister, they shared the same facial features and reddish hair.

  “What are you two doing out here in the middle of nowhere?” Lorie asked, turning her attention to Liz.

  “We were on our way home, and we were abandoned,” Liz replied, looking down at her feet in shame.

  Looking like a wounded puppy, Jeffrey said to Liz, “I told you your boyfriend was a jerk.”

  “Well, you were right. He was a complete jerk,” Liz admitted. Then she turned to Lorie and Michael. “My brother and I were hiding out in my apartment for the past few weeks. We were waiting for Rick, my boyfriend, to drive us home…”

  “That’s right,” Lorie interrupted. “You don’t have a car.”

  “No, I don’t. Rick and his roommate have been driving us back and forth to school. When they finally did show up at my apartment to take us home, we put all of our remaining food and water in his car. Then, halfway to Lima, they pulled off the side of the road, claiming they had to ‘rearrange some of the stuff.’ After getting me and Jeffrey out of the car, they said they’d have a better chance of surviving without us, and they sped off with all our supplies. They stopped long enough to toss our suitcases out. What good our clothes will do us now…”

  “That’s horrible!” Lorie exclaimed.

  “How long have you been stuck out here?” Michael asked.

  “About six hours,” Liz answered. “Yours is the first vehicle that’s come along since we were dumped like a rotten garbage bag.”

  Lorie walked over to Michael and whispered softly so only he could hear.

  “Do you think we have enough room to give them a ride home? They just live in Dayton, which is on our way.”

  Michael shrugged and asked, “Are we sure that they aren’t sick?”

  “They don’t seem to be sick. I don’t know Jeffrey that well, but I do know Liz is a good person. I don’t think she would lie about something as important as that.”

  “Lorie,” Michael said, exasperated. “We can’t just pick up every stray that we meet on the road. We have to look out for ourselves. Taking them home just means more responsibility, more mouths to feed, and more time spent getting home.”

  Lorie looked at him like he had grown two heads. “But they are human beings, Michael. Unless we’ve lost our own humanity already, we still need to help people. And if we don’t help Liz and Jeffrey, what’s going to happen to them? They don’t have a chance of surviving out here all alone.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Michael relented. Lorie had effectively calmed his anger and his frustration level was going down.

  Lorie smiled at him and patted his cheek with her hand. “Now, that’s the Michael I know.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Michael said sheepishly, embarrassed by his outburst.

  Turning back to Liz and Jeffrey, Lorie asked, “Do you want to ride with us?”

  “Really?” Liz said with an expression of joy and relief. “I’ll answer with a definite yes.”

  Michael walked grudgingly up to Jeffrey and extended his hand. “Sorry about slamming you to the ground.”

  Jeffrey grinned and shook Michael’s hand. “I’m sorry about attacking you.”

  “Hey, it’s okay. You were only trying to protect your sister. These days, you can’t be too sure about anyone or anything,” Michael admitted.

  “That was some move you made. Where did you learn how to do that?”

  Michael chuckled. “I took Lorie to some self-defense classes a while back. Well, it was more like Lorie did the lessons, and I got to be the guy that got punched and thrown around by her. But I guess I must have learned a few things just by watching her.”

  Michael opened up the back door and looked at Sandy. “Do you mind sharing your seat with two more people?” he asked her.

  In response, Sandy just tilted her head to the left as if she were trying to understand what he was saying. Then, she wagged her tail.

  As he pulled his rifle out of the backseat, he heard Lorie ask if either Liz or Jeffrey had received a flu shot.

  “Both Jeffrey and I share a family allergy to egg protein. We couldn’t get the flu vaccine even if we wanted to. It’s a miracle we didn’t get the flu. Being a freshman, Jeffrey had to live in the campus dorm. When we heard the news of the virus pandemic, I made Jeffrey pack and bring what he could carry to my apartment. We hid there as the virus hit, and we tried to survive day by day, waiting for Rick to come get us.”

  “Jerk,” Jeffrey mumbled under his breath.

  Michael stifled a laugh. With the truck still idling, he helped Liz and Jeffrey stow their two ragged suitcases. He had to rearrange their things a little to make room in the backseat. Fortunately, he had enough bungee cord and rope that he could secure most of the items to the new roof-rack system and the rest on top of the truck’s bed cap. It didn’t look fancy or nice, but he did a good enough job to keep everything from blowing away. He hoped it wouldn’t rain anytime soon, or they’d have a lot of stuff getting wet.

  Finished with the repacking, they all climbed into the truck, and Michael started heading west once again. Sandy seemed to accept the two new travelers well enough and sat between them.

  “Did you really think you could have walked all the way home?” Lorie asked the pair.

  “We really didn’t have a choice,” Liz replied. “We got dumped out on the side of the road, and we knew we were probably going to die if we stayed there. We decided that if someone didn’t come along, we’d have to try to walk the rest of the way home. It was either that or try to make it back to my apartment.”

  “You’re lucky the wrong people didn’t come driving by,” Michael said, looking at them in the rearview mirror.

  “That’s true,” Lorie agreed. She then told Liz and Jeffrey about the close encounter with the men who broke into Michael’s apartment.

  Liz and Jeffrey were spellbound.

  “This just happened to you?” Liz asked, eyes wide with a mixture of amazement and fear.

  Lorie nodded. “Only about an hour and a half ago. It was terrifying.”

  “Wow!” Jeffrey exclaimed.

  “Yeah, if it weren’t for my friends, Brian and Scott, they would have gotten us,” Michael added. “Scott spotted them coming, and they delayed them long enough for us all to escape.”

  “I heard some sporadic shooting in town over the past few weeks,” Jeffrey said. “But I didn’t know it had gotten that bad.”

  Michael rolled his window up a little. �
�It’s very dangerous back there. People are getting desperate and doing horrible things to each other.”

  “There wasn’t much left back in town. That’s why we decided not to go back there after getting dumped on the side of the road. There’s no food, no water, nothing,” Jeffrey said.

  “Soon, they’ll be killing each other over a simple vending machine snack,” Michael said.

  “Have you had to, you know…” Jeffrey asked haltingly, “kill anyone?”

  “No,” Lorie said, shaking her head. Then she looked over at Michael, who didn’t answer.

  “Michael?”

  He still hadn’t told her about Crazy Ted. He didn’t want to upset her. But he also felt guilty about keeping anything from her. Sighing, he resigned to tell her, minus a few details.

  “On the trip to the big outdoor store, we were forced to kill someone,” he admitted.

  “What! And you didn’t tell me? What happened?” Lorie asked with concern.

  Michael then told them the whole story. He left out the fact that it was Crazy Ted, but everything else was on point. He told them that this guy had killed an innocent freshman boy and was just about to kill Scott. When he finished, he glanced at Lorie to see how she would respond.

  She said nothing for a few minutes and then spoke out. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked Michael once again.

  “I didn’t want you to think less of me for doing what I had to do. I didn’t want you to think of me as a killer or a murderer.”

  “Shooting someone in self-defense is not murder. It was obvious that this guy, whoever he was, was a killer. If he shot an unarmed college student for beef jerky and was about to shoot Scott, then you did the right thing,” Lorie said, looking at him.

  “I’m still wrestling with the morality of it all. So, are you okay with what I had to do?”

  “Of course,” she responded. “The only thing that upsets me is that you thought you couldn’t tell me about it.”

  “You’re right,” Michael said regretfully. “I’m sorry.”

  “Apology accepted,” she said, and that was the end of it.

  As they continued to make their way to Lima, they talked mostly about their experiences over the past few weeks. As they drove, intermittent farmhouses started giving way to more urban houses and communities. When they got closer to the city, the houses became more frequent, with less and less yard space in between. Michael started seeing signs for Lima. Fortunately for them, Interstate 75 was on this side of town. They wouldn’t have to try and navigate through the majority of the city and its unknown, hidden horrors in order to get on the road toward home.

  Michael was beginning to think they were in for smooth sailing when he saw a vehicle up ahead blocking the roadway. Driving closer, he saw that it was an army jeep. An army checkpoint? He slowed the truck further.

  Two men in uniform immediately appeared out of a small, green house on the left side of the road. They waved them to a stop.

  “What’s this?” Michael muttered. He didn’t want any hassles or further delays. He just wanted to be on his way.

  The taller of the two men signaled for Michael to get out of the truck. They both had AR-15s strapped to their shoulders. Well, at least they weren’t threatening them with their guns by pointing them at Michael…at least, for the moment.

  Michael and his three passengers obediently got out of the truck. Michael started to walk toward the two men.

  “That’s close enough,” the tall man said sharply.

  Michael stopped and waited.

  “Sorry, we need to make sure that no one in your party is sick.”

  “What’s going on?” Michael asked.

  “You mean this?” the tall man said, indicating their roadblock.

  Michael nodded.

  “Lima was decimated by the flu virus. Most of the population is dead or is in the process of dying. The army has restricted access to the city to try and keep the infection rate down. Anyone who wants to pass through has to be processed in our centralized FEMA facility. Once infection has been ruled out, you can be on your way. But we have plenty of food, clean water, and hot showers. You may change your mind and want to stay.”

  “No, we just want to get on the freeway and head home,” Michael said. “We won’t even get out of the truck. We’ll just get on the interstate and be gone. No one in our group is sick.”

  “Is that so?” the tall man said with a grin. “I’m sorry; you still have to be processed at our camp. Orders, you know. By the way, do you have any firearms on you?” he asked, indicating the truck.

  “No,” Michael lied. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t fully trust these men. Something just didn’t feel right.

  “That’s good. If you want to get back in your truck and follow us, we’ll take you in for processing, and then you’ll be free to go on your way.”

  Just then, a young woman poked her head out of the small house on the side of the road. Her makeup was smeared. She looked at Michael with haunted, pleading eyes.

  Seeing Michael’s gaze, the taller man turned and said sternly, “Shelly! What have I told you? Get back inside!”

  The woman disappeared into the depths of the dark house. But before she went, Michael caught a glimpse of fear on her face.

  Turning his attention back to Michael’s group, the tall army man asked, “What are your names?”

  “I’m Michael. This is Lorie, Liz, and Jeffrey. We’re from the university and just trying to get home.”

  “College kids?” The tall man smiled at his partner. “I’m Lieutenant Handley, and this is Private Sealy,” he said, indicating his shorter, rotund partner.

  Liz spoke up and asked, “Did you guys see a red Mustang come through here earlier today?”

  Sealy put his hand on his AR-15 and glanced up at Handley.

  Handley paused uncomfortably and gripped his gun a little tighter. Then, he seemed to recover, and he smiled. “Yes, we let them through today. Two college boys, right?”

  “Yeah, that’s them,” Liz said. “Do you know where they went?”

  “They were taken in and processed. Then, once they were cleared, they went on their way.”

  “Too bad,” Liz said. “They took some things from us, and we were hoping to get some of them back.”

  “Yeah, they headed out,” Lieutenant Handley confirmed. “I don’t think you’ll see them again. Well, the sooner we take you in, the sooner you can get on your way. Just follow us, and don’t stray off the path.”

  Handley and Sealy turned and got into a big, black, jacked-up truck parked by the house. Michael hadn’t seen it before, since it had been partially concealed by some tall hedges. He had assumed they would get into the jeep, but he figured they still needed to block the road with it. Sealy turned his face toward them and grinned as he waved them forward. Michael did not like that grin. It reminded him of a hungry wolf.

  The army men waited as Michael and the rest got back into the truck. Still feeling uneasy, he started the truck and slowly rolled behind the black truck. The two trucks began moving down the road.

  Unable to suppress his nervousness any longer, he turned to Lorie. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

  “I know what you mean,” Lorie said. “Did you see the way Sealy looked at Liz and me? Like we were just pieces of meat.”

  “And did you see how scruffy they looked?” Liz added from the backseat.

  “Everybody looks scruffy nowadays,” Michael said in their defense.

  “Yeah, but even their uniforms didn’t match. Sealy’s shirt was about three sizes too big for him.”

  “And those boots weren’t even regulation,” Jeffrey said. “I know that for sure. I just started in the ROTC program on campus. And if I’m not mistaken, that isn’t a lieutenant’s shirt Handley is wearing. The stripes on the side are sergeant stripes.”

  Michael thought about everything that had just transpired in the past few minutes as they slowly followed the black pickup truck into the c
ity. He wasn’t happy about the situation, but at this point, they had little choice. The two men were supposedly from the armed forces, and besides, they had bigger guns.

  Lorie had started a conversation with Liz about her very recent ex-boyfriend.

  “Don’t think about him,” she was saying to Liz. “Just remember that you’ll probably never have to see him again.”

  “Unless they get this mess cleared up and restart classes next semester,” Liz said gloomily.

  Seeing the overpass for the interstate approaching, Michael eased off the gas and let the truck slow down. As they drove under the overpass, Michael noticed the graffiti recently scrawled on the concrete that read, “The End is HERE!”

  “Right you are,” Michael muttered under his breath as he continued to follow.

  “What?” Lorie asked, breaking off her conversation with Liz.

  “Nothing,” Michael replied.

  They drove past the entrance to the interstate. How he wished he could just turn his truck up the ramp instead of going to be “processed.” He almost considered doing just that, but he saw that the ramp was barricaded with more than twenty cars. Reluctantly, he continued past. The thought of going to a FEMA camp was unnerving. It reminded him of the death camps during the Holocaust. As he pictured the mess of cars blocking their way onto the interstate, suddenly, alarm bells clanged inside his skull.

  Interrupting Lorie and Liz, Michael asked urgently, “Liz, what kind of car did you say your boyfriend had?”

  “Why?” Liz asked back curiously.

  “Just tell me,” Michael demanded. “What kind of car was it?”

  Liz looked offended. “It was a red Mustang. He thought it made him look cool.”

  Michael slammed on the brakes, and the truck screeched to a halt. Caught off guard, everyone was jerked forward. Sandy almost fell off the seat onto the floorboard.