He dropped the hatchet and collapsed in a heap on the floor.
CHAPTER 38
It took the combined strength of Kenji, Jack and Daniel to pick up Ben and get him on to one of the tables in the mess hall. Maria and I cleared the table, throwing trays of food on the floor.
The guys laid the big man on his back.
"Damn, he’s heavy," Jack said.
Daniel ripped open Ben’ shirt.
"Has he been bitten?" I asked.
"I don’t know. I don’t think so."
We couldn’t see any bite wounds but we could see a lot of cuts and grazes.
And a gunshot wound.
He had been shot in the chest. The bullet wound was close to the heart. Really close.
"What do we do?" Maria asked.
"I… I don’t know," Daniel replied.
"Do we cut it out?" I asked.
"Yeah in the movies, they’re always cutting the bullet out," Jack said. "That seems to work pretty good, right?"
Daniel shook his head. "If the bullet has clipped an artery or a major blood vessel he’s gonna bleed to death. Won’t matter if we get the bullet out or not."
"We have to try," Kenji said. "We owe it to him."
More banging. "Hello? Are you still there? Please help!"
"Can you shut up for a second!?" Jack said.
This was a nightmare scenario. None of us were doctors. And we couldn’t just rush him off to the nearest hospital.
"We clean the wound, cut the bullet out," Kenji said. "And if we need to, we plug any arteries."
Daniel shook his head again. "It’s a one in a million chance," he said as he started backing away. He didn’t want to do it. He knew it was hopeless.
"Look at me," Kenji said. "One in a million is all this guy has got. We’re it. There is no hospital. There is no ambulance coming. One in a million is the best odds we’re gonna get right now. We have to try. He’s dead if we don’t."
Daniel took a deep breath. "OK. But we have a problem."
"What?"
"We need to get into the infirmary for supplies."
"What do we do with the mystery man in there?" I asked.
"Exactly," Daniel said.
"We leave him for now," Kenji answered. "At least until we get Ben patched up."
"But if we open that door," Jack said. "I mean, he could be infected."
"I am not infected!" the man shouted through the door. "My name is Tariq Sayid. I am here to help. I am not infected!"
"We need to get in there," Daniel said.
"But what about what that soldier said," Jack pointed out. "He said not to trust him. Called him a liar. Said he was one of ‘them’, whatever that means."
"He’d lost a lot of blood," Kenji suggested. "He wasn’t making a whole lot of sense."
"I don’t know you guys." Maria said.
"Look, if it’s an infected zombie person in there we have to kill it anyways," I said. "And if the person isn’t infected then we need to talk to him. Find out what happened here. We can’t just leave him in there to die. Besides, we need the supplies. I don’t think my blunt pocket knife is going to be much help."
"All right," Kenji said. "Jack, I need you to keep pressure on the wound, try and staunch the blood flow."
"Gross," Jack said. "Ben better not be infected."
We entered the infirmary. As usual Kenji and Daniel were out in front. Kenji held the shotgun at the ready. There was a man sitting in the corner with a black hood over his head. His hands were tied behind his back, which were tied to the supply shelves.
"Thank God," he said. "You have to get me out of here."
Kenji moved forward with the shotgun pointed directly at the stranger. Daniel had his back. Kenji reached out and removed the hood.
The man blinked a couple of times as his eyes adjusted to the light. The man had dark skin, a trimmed black beard. Scars on both sides of his face. He was wearing glasses.
He looked at each of us, before his eyes settled on me. He gave me a look of what could’ve been recognition. His eyes narrowed. "What a surprise to see you," he said. "All of you. I am so relieved. I thought I was never getting out of this room. These people, the soldiers, they have all lost their minds."
"That’s not what he was saying," Kenji said.
"Please, my name is Tariq Sayid. I am a research scientist. I volunteered to come here. To help with the outbreak."
"Why the hell did they tie you up?" Kenji asked. "What happened here?"
"I told you, the soldiers. They went mad. There was an issue a couple of days ago. One of the men was bitten. He had to be euthanized. This pushed the soldiers over the edge. We were sent out here to investigate."
As Kenji asked the questions with a gun pointed at the man’s head, Daniel looked for the necessary supplies. He handed me a few bandages and then a few more.
"What are you looking for?" Tariq asked.
"Nothing." Daniel replied.
The man looked out into the mess hall. He saw Ben lying on the table and Jack trying to stop the bleeding. "You are going to need gauze," he said. "And Quick Clot. Top shelf. Up there, near the bandages."
Daniel stopped looking for supplies. "How do you know that?"
"I can help. I am a trained field surgeon. I have worked for the Red Cross for many years. I have had a lot of experience with gunshot wounds. I can stop the bleeding. Just untie me."
We all paused. The look on Kenji’s face said it all. Could we trust this guy?
"Look no offense," Kenji said. "But you see that soldier. He didn’t exactly give you a glowing character reference."
"I told you," Tariq said calmly. "They had gone mad. They were all crazy. They had been cut off. Isolated. It was text book cabin fever. Every little emotion is magnified. Exaggerated."
"Why did they tie you up?" I asked.
"They tied me up because they thought I had brought the infected here. Me. By myself. Can you believe that? They weren’t making sense. None of them were eating, none of them were drinking. They weren’t sleeping."
There’s no way I could tell if this guy was telling the truth. I would have to trust the other’s judgment.
"How could I have brought them here?" he continued. "There are hundreds of infected outside."
"I think we should let him help," Maria said from out in the mess hall. "We can’t just let Ben bleed to death. He saved our lives. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t even be here. We would never have made it this far."
"I can patch him up," Daniel said. "I’ve had training."
"Training?" I asked. "How much? What kind? A second ago you didn’t even want to do this!"
"We’re trained to deal with stuff, in case something happens in the field. I can do this."
"No offense," Tariq said. "But if the bullet is lodged in his chest, you could have fragments or shrapnel near his major arteries. You need a surgeon. I can do it."
We looked at each other. Once again it came down to risk and reward. The warning of the dying soldier was loud and clear in my head. "Don’t untie him."
What was the risk? What was the reward?
Life and death.
Constantly weighing up these two opposing forces was draining and exhausting.
"At least untie my hands," Tariq said. "You can keep my legs tied. You can keep me tied up to the table or whatever. But I need my hands."
"OK," Kenji said. "Just your hands."
CHAPTER 39
The procedure took about an hour or so. I had to look away as soon as Tariq made the first incision with the scalpel.
Despite everything that I’ve seen over the past month and a half, all of the death and the violence, seeing a medical procedure up close and personal like that; it was too much to deal with. Surprisingly, Maria was more than happy to help. She said she was more fascinated than grossed out. She kept the wound clear, wiping away the excess blood. She handed Tariq the surgical tools when he needed them.
After the procedure, Tar
iq checked Ben’s pulse about a hundred times. He checked his neck pulse and then his wrist. Each time he counted the beats for a full minute just to be sure.
When he held Ben’s wrist, I noticed a tattoo of a barcode on the inside of his forearm. "What’s that?"
"Don’t know," Kenji said. "Similar tattoo to the one the dreadlocked woman had."
"Maybe it has something to do with the Fortress?" I asked.
"Maybe."
After awhile, Tariq seemed confident that Ben had stabilized. "He was lucky," he said. "It was a good wound. I was able to remove the bullet. It had not fragmented or damaged any arteries or blood vessels. He will probably need antibiotics though. Keeping the wound clean is his biggest worry now."
I was about to say thank you but I never got the chance. As soon as he had told us his prognosis, Daniel had tied his hands again.
Maria looked shocked and embarrassed. "Oh come on, Daniel. Is that really necessary? He just saved Ben’s life."
"It’s necessary until we find out what happened here," Daniel replied. "We need to know if this guy is telling the truth."
"I’m not a threat," Tariq said. "I…"
"Save it," Daniel snapped. "What happened here?"
"I already told you," Tariq replied calmly. "The soldiers were isolated. They went mad. There was an incident a few of days ago. One of the men was bitten. As a result he had to be euthanized. This death, this tragedy, pushed the men over the edge."
"And why are you here?"
"Two days ago we lost contact with this outpost."
"Who’s ‘we’?"
"The command center. The Fortress. There’s not many of us left. General Spears is the only military commander still here. The rest have fallen back to home soil."
"You mean the U.S. military have completely fallen back to the States?" Kenji asked.
"Yes. As far as I know they are setting up their defenses on the home front. They are making sure the Oz virus does not get in."
"Do they think the Oz Virus is going to go global, do they think it will reach that far?"
"Going to? It already has."
"What?"
"It is already spreading. There has been an outbreak in New Zealand."
I breathed a sigh of relief.
"We knew that." Jack said.
"You did?" Tariq asked. "How?"
"Well, we found a computer," Maria began to explain. "It belonged to one of the doctors who…"
"It doesn’t matter how we know," Daniel said cutting Maria off. "I told them. I’m a member of the U.S. Special Forces. I came in after the outbreak. After the nationwide quarantine."
Tariq nodded. "It is good to have you around. I am sure you have come in handy keeping these people alive."
"But New Zealand is hardly global," I pointed out. "It’s just as isolated as Australia. Maybe even more so."
"I agree," Tariq said. "But it will not be long. Asia will be next. And once it hits Asia, the rest of the world will soon be overrun. You can mark my words."
"How is it spreading?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "You have all seen it. You have all experienced it. The virus moves fast."
"Yeah it moves fast," Jack said. "But that’s because we were unprepared. No one knew what was happening. The rest of the world is on high alert, right? They’ll know what to do."
"Maybe not," I said. "The rest of the world is really in the dark about this. They won’t be prepared."
"So the U.S. military is just leaving Australia?" Jack asked. "They’re just giving up on us?"
"No, it is not like that." Tariq said.
"Really?" Jack continued. "Because that’s exactly what it sounds like. What about the navy? Is their blockade still being enforced?"
"I don’t know."
"How do you not know?"
"We’ve been cut off for quite some time now."
"How long?" Daniel asked.
"At least a month. Maybe more."
"And now we’re on our own?" Jack said.
"There is still a small but substantial force left," Tariq answered. "But yes, the majority of the military are either dead or they have left the country. If I was to hypothesize as to what the navy was doing, I’d say they would have left as well."
It sounded like Australia had been abandoned. Written off. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
"Do you know this man?" Daniel asked, pointing to Ben who was still unconscious.
Tariq looked at Ben. Shook his head. "No. I have never seen him before."
"He told us that he’d been stationed at the Fortress," Daniel said. "Apparently he worked closely with General Spears. How do you not know him?"
"I was working with the research team," Tariq answered. "General Spears kept everyone separate. Soldiers. Research teams. Civilians. Everyone was kept separate just in case there was an outbreak. General Spears was very paranoid about the virus. But can you blame him?"
Jack shook his head, kicked a chair over. "We are so screwed. The world. Humanity. We’re done for. Worldwide zombie apocalypse, here we come."
"No," Tariq said. "There is still hope."
Yeah we have Maria, I thought.
"What do you mean?" Daniel asked. "What hope?"
"There is a research team working at the Fortress. We are close to a break through. I mean, we have had our setbacks. But we are close."
"How are you going to keep working?" Kenji asked. "We’re completely cut off."
"We’ve got the Fortress," Tariq said. "We’ve got protection. We can finish our work. We can save this place."
Daniel still seemed unconvinced. "So, let me get this straight. The command center, the Fortress, lost contact with this station two days ago?"
"Yes. Correct."
"And so they sent you here to investigate? By yourself?"
"Not by myself. I accompanied a team of Green Berets. They had been working directly under the command of General Spears."
"What happened to the Green Berets?"
Tariq shook his head. "They came in the night. Took us by surprise. We thought we were in a clear area. Eventually, we ran out of ammo. We were surrounded. They just kept coming."
"And you were the only one who made it here alive?"
"Yes. Only just. I had to check myself over a couple of times just to make sure I had not been bitten."
"Wait. Why did they send you again?"
"I told you, I have had experience with the Red Cross. I came with the Green Berets as a precautionary measure. When we lost contact with this outpost, we assumed they had run into some trouble. We figured they would need medical attention. But the Green Berets…" he said trailing off.
"Go on." Daniel urged.
"None of them made it. And when I got here, the soldiers were on the brink of insanity," he said motioning towards the dead soldier. "And he had completely lost his mind."
Daniel pointed to the laboratory door, the one with the warning written in blood. "What’s in that room?"
"He said that's where he put them," Tariq answered. "He said he couldn't bring himself to kill any more of his brothers."
"Are they all in there?"
"I am not sure. I have not been in there. But I do not think it would be wise to open that door."
I totally agreed with Tariq on that point. Especially since the warning was written in blood.
Do not open. Infected inside.
You’d be mad to open it. Or suicidal.
"I doubt all the soldiers are in there," Tariq continued. "It is only a small facility. They would not physically fit."
"Do you have any idea of where the other soldiers would’ve gone?" Daniel asked.
"No. They have just vanished."
"Just vanished, huh?"
"Yes. There is no sign of them. It is like they have disappeared into the desert."
"Why were you locked up?" Daniel continued. "Why was this soldier guarding the door? Why did he tell us not to let you out?"
"I have no idea. You ha
ve to believe me. I do not even know that man. And when I tried to ask him what had happened…"
Daniel held his hand up, cutting him off. "He called you a liar. He told us not to trust you. Why would he say that?"
"I do not know. Please, that man, he had lost his mind. He was in a manic state."
Daniel looked at Kenji and shook his head. I think he was at his wits end.
Tariq on the other hand remained calm the whole time. His story sounded plausible. Maybe the dying soldier really was crazy with cabin fever.
"What are you even doing here in Australia?" Kenji asked taking over the questioning.
"I was flown out here, to the Fortress, when things got really bad."
"Why were you sent here?"
"I am a research scientist. I was sent here as part of Project Salvation. Our mission was to develop and manufacture an anti-virus. But unfortunately things have gone from bad to worse since I arrived. Nothing has gone to plan."
"What the hell is Project Salvation?" I asked.
"Project Salvation. The cure. It was supposed to be a solution for the outbreak. It was supposed to stop the plague."
"How?"
Before he could answer a soft alarm sounded.
"Whoa, what’s that?" Maria asked.
"That is the proximity alarm." Tariq informed us. "It is tripped when something moves through the motion sensors."
"Oh," I said. "Well, of course it’s going off. There are literally hundreds of infected outside."
"No, the motion sensors are set up at least ten miles away. So if it’s tripped, the soldiers have time to respond appropriately and prepare."
"So what is it?" Maria asked. "More infected?"
"Guys." Kenji said. "I think you should come take a look at this."
Kenji had moved into the communications room. It was only a small room connected to the mess hall. Actually it wasn’t much of a room at all. It basically consisted of one long table with a few computers. A rack of walkie-talkies, phones and what appeared to be satellite phones. The windows in the communications room had also been spray painted over. And again someone had scratched out a few small peep holes.
Kenji was looking at one of the computer monitors. It appeared to show black and white images of the desert.
Where The Dead Men Lie (The Secret Apocalypse) Page 18
