The Redivivus Trilogy (Book 3): Miasma

by Kirk Withrow

  Annalee’s head lolled to the side, and her eyes looked like they were struggling to bring Lydia into focus. Her mouth creased into a gross imitation of a smile, and she began to speak.

  “She made it. She made it,” Annalee said weakly.

  The words pulled Lydia out of her shock, and she replied in confusion, “Who, baby?”

  Annalee raised her hand to motion toward the window. “Ava,” she said in a hoarse rasp.

  A small wave of relief washed over Lydia when she saw the open window. I hope she’s safe. The sight of the jagged bite wound on Annalee’s hand was enough to eclipse the solace she felt about Ava. She knew what the wound meant for the little girl she’d come to think of as her own daughter, and it was too much for her to bear.

  Annalee saw the pain on Lydia’s face, and said, “Lydia, don’t worry about me. You guys need to find Ava and make sure she’s safe. You can save her.”

  Lydia shook her head as her tears flowed more freely. Like Annalee, she knew there wasn’t anything that could be done for her. Dr. San and her team were working on a cure, but they had yet to find one. Her heart swelled when she thought of the doomed little girl’s bravery. In her mind, she knew Annalee was right, but her heart refused to accept it. The little girl pushed Lydia weakly with her injured hand in hopes of coaxing her into action. While it spurred something inside Lydia, it wasn’t what Annalee had intended.

  “Annalee, were you bitten anywhere other than your hand?” Lydia pleaded.

  The little girl answered her with a blank stare that nearly suffocated Lydia’s small glimmer of hope. Undeterred, Lydia pleaded with her.

  “Annalee, please. Were…you…bitten…anywhere…else?”

  The little girl’s eyes seemed to come into focus for a moment, and she shook her head slightly.

  Lydia let out the breath that she had been holding as she waited for her answer. She knew there hadn’t been much time since they heard the gunshot. How fast does the virus spread through a person’s body? She wasn’t sure, but she thought she’d seen it take as long as an hour before someone showed signs of infection. She envisioned a creeping blackness slowly enveloping whatever was in its path until it finally controlled everything. At least, she hoped that was how it happened. Otherwise, the plan that had popped up in her mind wasn’t likely to work. If she were honest with herself, she knew it was a long shot regardless.

  Turning to Mother, Lydia said, “Give me your belt or sling or something. Quickly!”

  Despite his confusion, Mother saw the intense look in her eyes and decided not to question her. He quickly unslung his rifle and detached the web sling. Lydia worked deftly to secure the sling around Annalee’s arm near the shoulder. The girl winced as she tightened the makeshift tourniquet.

  Lydia wasn’t sure what she was hoping to see as she stared at the girl lying motionless on the floor. For a moment, there was no sound in the small room. Her mind raced as she tried to think of any alternative; none came to mind. She wasn’t a doctor or a scientist, but she’d listened intently anytime they discussed the virus. The tourniquet would restrict the blood flow to and from her arm, but she didn’t know if that would stop the spread of the disease. She recalled Lin discussing the similarities between LNV and the rabies virus, in particular the concern about the virus travelling along nerves to reach the brain. Can a tourniquet prevent that? Lydia didn’t think so. How long would it take to travel from her hand to her brain? There were so many variables. The situation felt hopelessly overwhelming. Refusing to give up, Lydia turned to Mother with a determined look in her eyes and a last-ditch plan on her mind.

  “Mother, I need you to do something. Please, hear me out before you say anything,” Lydia said. “We need to get Annalee to Dr. San as soon as possible, and we need to find Ava. We’ll have to split up to do both…”

  Mother sensed she had more to say, so he waited for her to continue. She had a tortured look on her face, as though the words she was trying to say were literally too painful to speak.

  “Cut her arm off.”

  Mother remained silent, unsure that he’d heard her correctly. When he didn’t respond, Lydia pressed him.

  “Please, Mother, cut her arm off. I don’t know if it will stop the spread, but we both know she’s dead otherwise. I’d do it myself if I could, but I don’t think I’m strong enough. Please, Mother.”

  He swallowed hard when he realized he’d indeed heard her correctly. Still, he couldn’t believe what she was asking him to do. On the one hand, he knew Lydia was right. But despite the fact that Annalee had received a death sentence, the thought of hacking a limb off the beautiful little girl made him instantly queasy. He really didn’t think he could go through with it even if he agreed to her insane plan.

  He must’ve been shaking his head unknowingly because Lydia said, “Fine—then give me your knife.”

  All of the blood drained from Mother’s face when he realized her intentions. The steadfast expression on her face left no doubt in his mind that she would go through with it. Her outstretched hand waited expectantly. As awful as it was, he understood that it was going to happen with him or without him, and he wasn’t about to let Lydia shoulder that burden.

  Mother’s voice sounded twenty years older when he spoke. “No, I’ll do it. You go after Ava. I’ll take care of Annalee and get her back to the keep, and then I’ll come find you.”

  He handed his rifle to Lydia and waited for her to scramble through the open window. She paused in the windowsill and attempted to give him a look of gratitude. The anguished expression did little to set his mind at ease. Once Lydia disappeared through the window, Mother turned his attention to the motionless girl. His legs grew weak as he moved his hand to the hilt of his knife. He gave into the feeling and dropped to his knees. With a firm tug, he jerked the blade out of its sheath. It shook violently in his hand as he lowered it to Annalee’s arm. He stabilized her arm with his left hand and her skin felt warm to the touch. That’s a good sign…maybe there’s still time.

  Mother took a deep breath and tried to force everything out of his mind, especially what he was about to do. Unfortunately, he couldn’t complete and ignore the task simultaneously, so he decided to switch tactics. Instead, he imagined that the extremity was a log he needed to split. This deception allowed him to press the edge of the knife against her skin as he stared into the bathroom’s darkened recesses. The rubbery feel of the tissue beneath the blade shattered the illusion and left him staring face to face with the horrific reality of what he was doing.

  As part of his counter-terrorism training, Mother had been forced to watch video footage of executions carried out with edged weapons. A common feature that struck him at the time was that the executioners always seemed to work at a frenzied pace once they got started, as though trying to get as far away from the abysmal act as quickly as possible. He’d imagined that even terrorists felt an aversion to such a brutal, inhuman act as dismembering another person. Mother found that the same repulsive force was afflicting him as he sawed his blade back and forth. In two strokes, the blade reached the bone just below her elbow. After ineffectually sawing the knife against the hard bone a few times, He was forced to consider the problem and make adjustments accordingly. As much as he resisted it, this required his mind to be fully in the moment. What I wouldn’t give for an axe right now! The thought sickened him, and bile rose in his gorge. He turned his head to the side just as vomit spewed out of his mouth and nose.

  Without bothering to wipe his face, Mother turned back to the job at hand. He angled the blade toward the elbow and worked the edge into the space between the bones of her arm and forearm. The knife became bound momentarily until the ligaments released and the joint space widened. He yanked the knife free, and with a final stroke that cut deeply along the back of the arm, it separated.

  Mother stared at the limb as though it were a poisonous snake. He flung it away in disgust. Although it had taken less than ten seconds, Mother knew what he’d just done
was going to haunt him for the rest of his life. Fortunately, Annalee had hardly whimpered as he sawed at her appendage. Even the slightest cry of pain would have sent him screaming into the depths of the building. His gaze settled on the girl lying motionless before him. The tourniquet seemed to be doing its job, because the stump bled very little. Without warning, he turned and puked several more times.

  Mother scooped up Annalee’s limp body and settled her over his left shoulder. Although she weighed less than sixty pounds, the dead weight felt nearly twice as heavy. He drew his sidearm and triggered its light as he stepped into the hall.

  18

  “Hang in there, little girl. We’re almost there,” Mother said breathlessly.

  Even though she hadn’t responded to anything he’d said, it made him feel better to talk to her as though she were a part of the conversation. He hoped she’d merely passed out due to the stress of the situation, but visions of her waking up and tearing a chunk out of his ass made him nervous about the prospect of her coming around.

  A hissing moan erupted from the darkness as Mother turned into the hallway leading to the keep. A rev stepped into his path, nearly pressing its forehead against the barrel of his pistol as it did. Without hesitation, he squeezed the trigger, sending a slug tearing through the wasted thing’s skull. The rev dropped instantly amidst a shower of tissue and bone. Having shot and killed many other infected on his way back to the keep, his ears were ringing so loudly that he hardly noticed the gun’s report.

  Mother’s chest filled with excitement and he quickened his pace when the entrance to the keep came into view at the end of the dark hallway. He wasn’t surprised when Stack popped up from behind the makeshift barricade erected at the mouth of the crosswalk, and he was too tired to care about the rifle aimed at his head. Lacking the requisite air to call out to his comrade, Mother pressed forward, staggering under the weight of his heavy load.

  For his part, Stack kept his weapon trained on the shadowy figure moving down the dimly lit corridor. Covered in blood and gore from head to toe, Mother was virtually indistinguishable from one of the infected. Stack prepared to fire as he watched the figure plodding forward on wobbly legs. He applied steady pressure, taking the slack out of his trigger. His brain urged him to continue squeezing until the shot broke, but something in his heart gave him pause. Despite the potential consequences of doing so, he hesitated.

  Stack questioned his decision when the approaching figure lurched to the side and let out a pained groan as it collided with the wall. Something metal clattered to the ground as the man braced himself to keep from falling down. He was now close enough for Stack to see that he was burdened by something heavy and unwieldy.

  Wait? Is that thing carrying something? The infected don’t carry things…

  Stack’s internal conflict intensified when he recalled the possibility of rev-human chimeras he’d heard some of the others discussing previously. Fortunately, the approaching man spoke before Stack’s brain pulled him any farther down that rabbit hole.

  “Stack, can you give me a hand, please? This little girl weighs a ton.”

  Stack stood slack-jawed for several seconds as his brain tried to make sense of the situation. Not only did the infected not carry things, they didn’t speak either. Unless he was hallucinating, this one had just spoken his name.

  “Well, are you going to help me or not?” the man added.

  Dropping his rifle to the low ready position, Stack regarded the man for a couple more seconds before lowering his rifle and stepping forward. It wasn’t until he was right on top of him that the first shred of recognition hit him.

  “Mother? Is that you? Holy shit! Are you okay?” Stack asked uncertainly.

  Sounding winded, Mother replied, “Yeah, I’m fine. But we need to get Annalee inside ASAP. She’s been bitten.”

  Stack stiffened in response to his words. He was under direct orders from L.T. not to allow any infected to enter the keep under any circumstances, yet here was his colonel asking him to help carry one of their own who’d been bitten into the safe zone.

  Mother must have sensed his turmoil, because he turned slightly to expose the bloody stump where Annalee’s arm should’ve been. Stack recoiled at the gruesome sight.

  “I think I got to her in time. She may not be infected, but she’s lost a lot of blood. Please, Stack, I promised Lydia I’d get her to Dr. San,” Mother pleaded. If Stack noticed Lydia’s absence, he didn’t mention it.

  Stack was a career soldier, which meant that disobeying the direct orders of a commanding officer was about as natural to him as watching a rev tearing someone apart with its teeth. That said, he trusted Mother without question, and they were talking about one of their own. Not only that, but she was also a little girl. Stack let his rifle fall to its sling and shifted Annalee onto his shoulder.

  “Come on, let’s get her inside,” Stack said.

  With a weary smile, Mother replied, “Thanks, Stack.”

  Several confused faces greeted them when they entered the keep a moment later. As it was located on the periphery of the compound, the keep had several windows that provided significantly more light than that found in the hall outside. L.T. saw Stack carrying the girl’s limp body and asked, “Stack, what’s going on? What happened to—”

  Before he could finish, Mother stepped into view. L.T. recoiled at his appearance.

  “It’s okay, L.T. I don’t think she’s infected. Where’s Dr. San?” Mother interrupted.

  L.T.’s expression darkened considerably at the mention that Annalee could be infected. The tension in his body was evident in the way he squared his shoulders and let his hand casually rest on the grip of his sidearm. He looked like a man preparing to do something very unpleasant. The charged situation was defused somewhat when Lin stepped forward.

  “Oh my God! What happened to her? Where’s Ava?” Lin exclaimed.

  Mother did his best to explain the events that had transpired. He felt like a monster and could hardly relay the details of the incident when he came to the part about amputating Annalee’s arm.

  “I’m so sorry,” Lin said. She wasn’t looking directly at him, so it was hard to say exactly to whom or for what the comment was intended.

  Worry lines creased Maria’s face like deep canyons when she spoke. “Bring her into the light. We need to see if there is anything that can be done. Dr. San, I know we still have a few experiments left to complete, but now might be the time to test the new treatment.”

  If Maria looked worried, Lin looked absolutely overwrought. It was hard to say if this was on account of Annalee’s condition, which was indeed dire, or the possibility that their latest attempt to treat LNV infection—the most promising to date—might come up short like the others before it.

  Lin was a research scientist, not a medical doctor, and she wished John were there to help care for the little girl. Unfortunately, she knew Annalee didn’t have time to wait for him to return. Besides, Lin had no way of knowing for sure that he would return. The thought made her wince, and she forced it out of her mind.

  It didn’t take extensive medical training to see the gravity of Annalee’s condition. Missing an arm, covered in blood, and unresponsive, it was hard to imagine that the girl would survive her injuries without proper medical care even if LNV infection weren’t part of the equation. Given that Annalee had been bitten and thus likely contracted the virus, Lin put her chances of survival at just above zero percent. The only reason she gave her any chance at all was because she hadn’t completely given up on the idea of miracles. While Lin hated thinking of Annalee’s situation in such terms, it didn’t seem possible to make her condition any worse than it already was.

  With a look of resolve on her face, Lin tried to sound optimistic when she replied, “I agree, Maria. Unpack the boxes we brought over from the lab while I gather the medical supplies so that we can tend to her wounds. God forbid we manage to cure her of LNV only to have her die from some other infection.”
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  Turning to Mother and Stack, Lin said, “You two help me tie her hands down just in case?”

  As soon as the words left her mouth she realized what she’d said. Stack stared at her in confusion while Mother looked as though she’d just punched him in the solar plexus. Lin grimaced at her poor choice of words. Understanding her rationale, Mother compartmentalized his emotions about what he’d done to Annalee. Before she had a chance to say anything further, he responded.

  “In case the infection already has her—I get it. I’ll help, and then I have to go back out to find Lydia and Ava.”

  Mother and Stack arranged the unconscious girl as comfortably as they could before restraining her. The last thing Mother wanted was to discover that Annalee had woken up and attacked the very people trying to save her. With Annalee restrained, Mother turned to look for L.T. Stack grabbed his sleeve before he had a chance to step away.

  “I’m coming with you,” Stack said. “Two people are better than one out there. L.T. can handle things in here.”

  Stack’s pleading eyes told Mother that the soldier had more to say, so he waited for him to continue.

  The urgency in Stack’s voice grew, and he added, “I need to look for Cujo.”

  Mother couldn’t argue that heading outside the wall with even one other person was far safer than going out alone. He, too, was worried about the scavenging and recon teams. They should’ve been back already, and Mother had no idea how they were going to get past the horde currently besieging the building. The look in Stack’s eyes told him that he wasn’t going to be easily dissuaded. When Mother thought about the lengths he would go to if he thought there was even the smallest chance of finding someone he loved, he knew it would be pointless to try to talk Stack out of it.

  “Let’s go talk to the lieutenant,” Mother said as he clapped Stack on the shoulder.

  19

  Perched on the bathroom window’s sill, Ava straddled the divide between two very different worlds. In contrast to her previous experience alone, she’d felt happy and safe since her arrival at the CDC. She’d been reunited with her father and enjoyed the protection the compound’s walls provided. She no longer felt any of that as she stared at the hideous monster sprawled atop her best friend. All that remained for her inside the compound was the stranger who’d shot the rev attacking Annalee, and he was no less frightening than the rev he’d just killed.