by RJ Crayton
Contained
Virus – Part 3
By RJ Crayton
Table of Contents
Dedication
1 – Elaan
2 – Elaan
3 – Lijah
4 – Lijah
5 – Elaan
6 – Elaan
7 – Elaan
8 – Lijah
9 – Elaan
10 – Elaan
11 – Lijah
12 – Elaan
13 – Elaan
14 – Lijah
15 – Elaan
16 – Elaan
17 – Lijah
18 – Lijah
19 – Elaan
20 – Elaan
21 – Lijah
22 – Lijah
23 – Elaan
24 – Elaan
25 – Elaan
26 – Elaan
27 – Lijah
28 – Lijah
29 – Lijah
30 – Elaan
31 – Lijah
32 – Lijah
33 – Elaan
34 – Elaan
35 – Lijah
36 – Elaan
37 – Elaan
38 – Lijah
39 – Elaan
40 – Elaan
41 – Lijah
42 – Lijah
43 – Elaan
44 – Lijah
45 – Lijah
46 – Elaan
47 – Lijah
48 – Elaan
49 – Elaan
Epilogue
Scented Preview
Also By This Author
About the Author
Join the Mailing List
Book Copyright RJ Crayton 2016
Cover Copyright Jennifer Zemanek/Seedlings Design Studio 2016
All Rights Reserved.
Version: CONT161025
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Dedication
This book is dedicated to my friend Samantha Hou. She taught me about friendship, kindness, following your heart, and, most importantly, helped me fall in love with the crew of the starship Enterprise.
Chapter 1 - Elaan
Elaan was ready for them to leave. Since Lijah had been back, things had been tenser than she’d expected. She’d been so happy to have him back that it never occurred to her that him being home wouldn’t be perfect.
Surely, she’d thought, after he saw their mother, he’d realize how glad he was that she was alive. But Lijah hadn’t spent months under the illusion that his mother was dead. He’d known for too long, and even before then, something had put distance between them. Distance a few home-cooked meals and a plan to cure the world apparently couldn’t fix.
Thank goodness for Amadu and Josh. Lijah seemed to be against the idea of being openly hostile toward their mother in their presence. Though he’d taken no such oath regarding Elaan. The few times she’d tried to talk to him about their mother, he’d told her to mind her own business, or expressed doubts that Elaan really knew Shonda. This seemed harsh since Elaan had spent her entire life with their mother. Almost as much time as Lijah, since he’d left the house for college.
“Babe,” Shonda said. Elaan looked up to see her mother enter their bedroom. She’d forgotten she was supposed to be packing. Instead, she was sitting on the edge of the bed with a couple of pairs of undies in her hand. “You almost done?”
Elaan nodded, though it wasn’t true. “Pretty close,” she said, as she stuffed the undies in the bag and went back to the drawer to grab a few more things.
Shonda closed the bedroom door and walked over to Elaan. Placing a hand on her shoulder, she spoke softly. “Something happen between you and Josh?”
Elaan shook her head. Her mother was only asking because she still didn’t trust Josh. Elaan was certain of that. It didn’t help that the two of them actually were keeping secrets from her mother. She looked her mother in the eye and said confidently, “Josh and I are great.”
For just a second, it was there — that look in her mother’s eyes that said I know you’re keeping something from me. It was a look her pre-virus mother would have given her. But then it was gone. Faded away in an instant. Post-virus mother seemed to be about keeping the peace rather than rocking the boat. Her mother slid her hand from Elaan’s shoulder and went over to her own dresser. Shonda had packed already, but she appeared to be going back through the drawers, trying to decide if she needed anything else.
Elaan shoved a few more items into her bag and turned to her mother. “Are you and Lijah going to be alright for a trip? I mean, he’s still a bit….” She wasn’t sure how to describe it without making it sound bad. But she supposed it was bad.
“I’m trying to give him some time,” her post-virus mother said. Pre-virus Shonda would’ve confronted whatever issue she was having with her son. This woman, not so much. Her mother smiled at her, one of those everything will be alright smiles and said, “Lijah and I will talk it out when he’s ready. You don’t need to worry about it.”
Easier said than done. “It’s just intense around the two of you.”
Shonda laughed easily. “Is that your idea of diplomacy?”
Elaan frowned.
“Sorry,” Shonda said. “That was a decent way to phrase it. It’s just, I’d rather you not push this issue. It will work itself out.”
Again, lameness. Elaan had never known things to simply work themselves out, nor had she known her mother to be one to sit around and wait for this miraculous working to happen. Not that her mother was a busybody. She just wasn’t a particularly passive person. Elaan was going to come straight out and ask, again, what exactly the problem was between Lijah and her mother. Only, there was a knock on the door.
Both Elaan and Shonda looked up. “Come in,” Shonda said.
The door opened and Josh poked his head in. “Car is all packed,” he said, then addressed Elaan. “Just waiting on that last bag.”
Last again. Elaan sighed and walked the bag over to him. “Thanks,” he said, taking it from her.
“I’ll walk you out,” she said, joining in step with Josh as he walked through the upstairs of the house, to the stairwell that led down, and out into the lower level garage.
The little Prius was stuffed to the gills with their luggage and supplies. “Wow,” she said. “You guys really got everything in there.”
Josh shrugged. “We’ll be gone at least a week. Need to stay prepared, right?”
She nodded. She still wasn’t sure this was the best idea. They were all going to the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. Amadu had been a student there and knew his way around. Their goal was to find a lab, test her mother’s theory on a real vaccine for the virus, and, if they succeeded, try to release it to the world and get things back to normal. If they didn’t succeed, she supposed they’d come back here. Like pre-virus mother, post-virus mom wasn’t the type to talk failure. A backup plan wasn’t discussed. However, her mom seemed to be leaving stuff here, as if they might come back. The problem was, who knew what they’d find if they returned. Somebody else might be squatting here.
Josh wrapped his arms around Elaan and held her tight. “You alright?”
Not really. “As alright as I’m going to be,” she said, tucking her head into his shoulder, enjoying the warmth he provided. Well, at least if they were going to leave, she had Josh. She had all of them, really. They were all going together. No more separation. �
�Did you charge your thing,” she asked Josh.
It was a weird thing to say, but Josh had been cagey about mentioning his satellite phone to the group. He seemed to think there was danger in everyone else knowing.
“Yeah,” he said. “I think I should turn it on, though. Just to make sure it’s working. And since we’re leaving, even if there’s a short ping of the satellite, it will be brief, and not long enough to track the location.”
She nodded, though she wasn’t sure of the logistics. She didn’t know how satellite phones worked. Only that they were more reliable than your average cell tower. That “Can You Hear Me Now” guy apparently had nothing on the satellite phones.
Elaan and Josh left the garage and headed up to his room. Technically, it was Josh and Amadu’s room. They both seemed to be OK with it. While no one would call Lijah a prim donna or diva, he had made one demand of their mother when he moved in: that he not room with Josh.
Elaan understood why, she thought. But no one else did. Her mother could’ve put Lijah and Amadu in the room together and left Josh in the room with the single bed. Yet, her mother had already gotten a little snippy with Elaan about being alone in Josh’s room. So, she put Lijah by himself and doubled up the other guys.
Amadu had a pretty gentle disposition, so it had worked out well. Elaan wasn’t sure where Amadu was at the moment, but he wasn’t in here, so that was good. Josh bent down and reached under the bed. He slid out a phone that was hooked to a charger. It looked bulkier than a regular phone but other than that seemed normal. Josh disconnected the charger and held out the phone for Elaan to see.
He seemed to be seeking reassurance that he should turn it on. She wasn’t sure. He’d thought it was a good idea when he proposed it. Who was she to contradict that? She nodded. Josh pressed a button, and the phone lit up. He sat on the lower twin bunk, the phone in his hand, and Elaan joined him.
“Looks like it’s working,” she whispered.
He shrugged. “Have to wait for it to fully boot,” he said, “and acquire a signal.” He blew out, the phone clutched tight in his fingers. “Part of me wants to make sure that there’s still an option for help, that there’s still the possibility of phoning someone.”
She nodded. ET phone home. The idea comforted her for some reason. If a weird-looking, stubby plastic alien could call home and get help, why couldn’t they? She shook her head. Oh yeah, they couldn’t because the world had all died around them.
“Signal acquired,” Josh said. “Guess it works.”
“Guess so,” she said. Elaan looked down at the phone. “You sure you don’t want to tell everyone else. I mean, maybe they’d know some emergency number to call, too.”
Josh chuckled. “I don’t know,” he said. “My dad told me to keep this under my hat, to let this be a last resort, to tell no one. But sometimes, maybe, he’s too much of a loner. Maybe… I don’t know.” He stared at the phone as if it could give him answers.
Elaan stared, too. She wasn’t sure if his dad was a loner or not, but she felt confident he was a selfish prick. Think charitable thoughts. She glanced down at the ground and noticed a thin plastic card with writing on the back. Maybe it was an ID card. She was about to take a closer look when she heard it.
Rrrring.
Wide eyed, she looked at the phone in Josh’s hand. His palm vibrated as the phone warbled its ringtone. He was startled enough that he bobbled the phone, almost dropping it.
Rrrring. Josh managed to get it under control, but his green eyes were frightened as he stared at the ringing phone in his hand.
Rrrring.
He seemed frozen. “Answer it,” Elaan said.
Chapter 2 - Elaan
Josh swallowed. He pressed one button and then another. The words “Speakerphone on” appeared on the screen. Josh lifted the mouthpiece closer and tentatively said, “Hello.”
“Thank god,” said the relieved voice on the other end. Kingston Wells. And for once he didn’t sound pompous or high and mighty. He sounded grateful. “Josh. Where are you?”
Josh stared at the phone, his eyes still wide. “Dad?”
“Yes, it’s me,” the older Wells said. “I’ve been worried. Where are you?”
Josh hesitated, and finally said, “Where I said I’d be?”
“You can tell me, son.”
“No, he can’t,” Elaan found herself saying, even though this wasn’t her conversation.
“Who is that?” Kingston asked.
“Elaan,” Josh said. “We’re still together.”
There was a pause, and then maybe a muffled retching sound. “Fine,” Kingston said. “I understand. But I think you should leave. I want you to come to me. Bring her, too, if you want, but I want you to come to me. I can protect you here. If you’re here with me, no harm will come to you.”
The door to the room opened and Shonda came in, staring at the two of them on the bed, speaking into a phone. Her mother’s eyes widened for a second, looking at the phone in Josh’s hands, and then her lips crunched into an angry line. Josh had a right to talk to his father. Elaan stood and walked over to her mother. She could hear Josh asking his father where he was.
She motioned her outside the room. When her mother stepped out, Elaan closed the door gently.
“He had a phone?” Shonda whispered angrily.
Elaan nodded. “It was just for an emergency.”
“Why didn’t he tell us?”
“His father asked him not to,” Elaan said. “It was just in an absolute dire emergency.”
“And what emergency is going on right now that he called his father.”
“Kingston called him,” Elaan said, irritated with her mother. “I assume you came in because you heard the phone ring.”
Shonda nodded. “Has it been on the whole time? Can people track us here because of the phone?”
Elaan shook her head. “It’s not been on the whole time.”
“And tracking?”
Elaan winced. “I’m not sure.”
“Tell him to hang up the phone,” Shonda said, her eyes flaring.
Elaan didn’t want to admit it, but her mother was right. Josh should hang up. She opened the door and walked back in the room. Josh looked up at her. Kingston was still talking on the phone.
“It’s safe here in Charlottesville. Many of the people from the DC facility were moved here.”
“My dad, too?” Elaan asked.
Kingston hesitated a moment, then said, “He’s the head of the SPU. Why would they leave him behind?”
It was a weird response and didn’t quite answer the question. “Is my dad alright? Were they mad that we left?”
There was silence on the other end of the phone. Finally, speech. “Leaving caused complications, but now that I’ve reached Josh, we can resolve all those problems. I just need you two to come back.”
Elaan scrunched her nose. “I’m not going there,” she said. “I’m not going to be a guinea pig.”
Shonda had stepped in the room. She was waving her arms and mouthing for Josh to hang up the phone. Elaan had completely forgotten. She’d gotten caught up in the mention of her father.
“Dr. Wells, we can’t talk anymore,” Elaan said. She eyed Josh, urging him to hang up.
Josh’s face had paled, and he looked down at the phone. “Dad, I’m turning this off. I should go,” he said. “We can’t come there.”
“Wait,” Kingston said. “I’ve been trying to reach you, hoping you’d turn this thing on, and when I finally got the ping that it had been activated, I was so relieved. Don’t go yet.”
That was the kindest she’d ever heard Kingston sound. He seemed as if he really did miss his son. He certainly wasn’t the warm, fuzzy type, but at least he genuinely cared. “Dad, I don’t know how long this thing will work,” he said.
“Just tell me, are you alright? Are you eating?”
Josh smiled. “Yeah, Dad, I’m eating,” he said. “The eating thing kinda has to happen, or else you die
.”
“Aren’t you funny?” Kingston retorted. “I’m well aware of that. That’s why I asked about it.”
Josh had opened his mouth to say something else, but just then the screen flashed a message: “location sent to remote access point.”
“Dad?”
“Yes, son.”
“Did you just ping my phone for the location.”
There was a pause, and in it Elaan’s heart sank. She swallowed as they waited.
“Yes, I did.”
“Why?”
“You know why,” Kingston said.
“Say it,” Josh said.
“Because it will make you safe. They guaranteed your safety for Elaan. I have her location—”
Josh disconnected the phone. His mouth hung open and he had the general appearance of shell shock when he said to Elaan, “I’m sorry. I didn’t think he would—”
“No, you didn’t think,” Shonda said, staring daggers at him. Josh looked up, seeming to have forgotten she was there. “You two need to get anything you really want and take it with you. I’m going to pull the CPU from the computer, and we’re leaving in five minutes. I told you I thought the power was on because there’s a military base not far from here. I think it’s a fifteen minute drive. If they have decent communication, he can get them mobilized and to us in twenty. We need to get out of here, quickly.”
Chapter 3 - Lijah
“We have to go now. Run!” That’s what Amadu had said when he’d found Lijah at the lake, trying to catch a fish or two for a nice meal before they left.
Lijah hadn’t known why or what for, but he knew Amadu was not one to mislead. If he’d said run, it was important. They had. Through the fallen leaves and bare branches, until they reached the house. Heavy breathing with exertion was greeted with a hasty explanation. Something about a phone call, about their location being known. “Get anything you need,” his mother had said. “We’re not coming back.”
Lijah hadn’t bothered to go back to his room. There was nothing he needed anymore. Not in terms of actual possessions. His sister, yes. He needed to know that she was safe. But there were no things necessary for his existence.
