by K. M. Malloy
“Me too,” he said, squeezing her tighter. Mike released his grip, holding her shoulders as he studied her face. “Are you okay to get up?”
“I think so,” she nodded as he helped her to her feet. “I saw them on the road a little bit ago. Where are they now?”
“They’re coming from the southeast. There’s a semicircle of them sweeping the neighborhood and picking people off one by one. A few more are behind them to pick up any strays.”
“Like driving cattle.”
“Right. But if we can get into the woods we should be able to hide from them.”
“I think so too,” she said.
More screams and the barking of dogs could be heard outside, the cacophony of chaos growing ever louder as the Army pressed on. They were close enough now that she could hear the popping of their pistols as they tagged people running through the streets.
“We need to get going.” She grabbed her pack and made her way towards the hallway. “First we have to get Melissa. Then we’ll make a break for it.”
“We can’t get Melissa,” Mike said.
“Sure we can. Her house is on the way, and since you two are on the same street you should grab a pack with some supplies while I get her.”
Mike grabbed her arm and spun her towards him. “Aire, you can’t get Melissa.”
“Why not?”
“Because Melissa is gone.”
“She got out already?”
“No.” Mike lowered his voice. “I heard screaming just before the sun came up. I went from house to house trying to find who it came from. Most were empty, a few had dead people inside. I found Melissa in her living room. From the smell I don’t think she died today.”
Aire stared back at him, her body frozen in shock. “How?”
“It looked like someone hit her.”
“Gary,” she whispered, hot anger rushing over her skin. She clenched her jaw and grabbed Mike’s hand. “Let’s go.”
***
Thursday May 6, 2010
5:26 a.m.
Population: 122
Jackson’s team had the advantage of being in the heart of town. Their truck was parked in the City Hall lawn. Blue team leapt from the humvee before the driver had stopped and rushed to find safe vantage points to pick out the uninfected. He kept a careful eye on Jenkins as the man took cover in the nearby hedges.
“Make sure you tag them when you’re done so we can identify them,” Jackson called as his team dispersed.
He slipped easily throughout the town. He knew it as well as the residents, and would have to move fast before the eye of the storm caught up to him.
He hid just behind one of the clothing stores on the corner of Bourbon and Commerce. Once out of sight from his team, he ripped off his bandana and shoved it in his pocket. He kept a careful eye on his team and Jenkins. Patience, he whispered in his mind, patience.
Sweat soaked his face mask as he stood concentrating on four figures at once. He waited until he saw the first signs of panic before making his move.
In the distance he heard yelling, and a pack of stray dogs went sprinting down Main Street. First one, then two, and finally whole groups of people went running through the town square towards City Hall. Infected and uninfected alike ran panicked through the streets. Fights broke out as the severe cases ignored the panic and dove right in for the attack. The bodies began to drop. One by one they collapsed in the streets like wilted rose petals. Blue team was getting trigger happy. More and more tranquilized units dropped in the street. Now was the time.
It took less than two seconds for Jackson to peg his team with the tranquilizer darts. His hands were shaking as the last man dropped on the roof of the burger shop. A second too slow, a missed shot, and they would have pumped him with enough tranqs to stop his heart in a tenth of a second.
“Thank you, Jesus,” he whispered, his hands trembling.
Jenkins sprung from his hiding spot as the crazed units rushed the lawn. Jackson cursed as he lost sight of the major disappearing around the City Hall building. Jenkins hadn’t seen him dart the others though. If he had, he wouldn’t be standing. Jenkins was a rattlesnake, the best in the business. If anything got out of hand he could end it in milli-seconds. Until the madness became a plague, that was.
Jackson went into the clothing store and slipped into the back where they kept inventory. He climbed the ladder to the roof, and waited for Aire to show. She’d have to cut across town since there wasn’t enough time for her to make it to safety by cutting through the neighborhood. She’d have to run into the business district first, and he’d be ready and waiting for her.
***
Thursday May 6, 2010
5:26 a.m.
Population: 122
Aire wasn’t prepared for the scene she saw outside her front door Lunatics laughed in the street at the madmen attacking running families. They laughed like jackals, holding their sides and pointing until a dart pierced their hides and they fell to the dirt. The sad ones, as she thought of them, managed the will to walk out to their front porches. They sat down and watched and waited for the Army to shoot them or for a maniac to finish them off, seeming to beg death to come to them.
The madmen lashed out at anyone they saw. Dogs were mauled to death, and orphan children were beaten ruthlessly. Mothers carried their young ones, fathers fought back at the attackers. Most didn’t make it far enough to escort their wives into the city.
“Come on,” Mike yelled, and yanked her out of stupor. Aire began sprinting behind him as fast as she could, never letting go.
She screamed when she saw the first soldiers turn in front of them on El Dorado Road. Mike jerked her to the left to cut across the alley just as a group of the three soldiers popped off several rounds of darts at them that bounced off the fence like massive bugs who’d flown into a window.
They rounded onto Commerce Street, panting as they looked around the business district beginning to fill with running people.
“Aire look,” Mike shouted over their screams. He pointed towards a humvee parked on the City Hall lawn.
Aire shook her head. “They’ll follow us.”
“We can go as far as we can and ditch it.”
“Okay.” They began sprinting towards the unmanned vehicle. “Wait,” she said pulling on his arm to slow him down. “If we have a truck I’m getting Doc.”
“Aire-“
“I’m not arguing with you, just get the truck and meet me at the practice.
Mike nodded. They parted as they ran across Bourbon. She hadn’t gotten thirty feet when she heard a strangled yell behind her. She kept running, looking over her should to see Mike crumple to the ground, his hand on the truck door, a red dart in his back.
A soldier emerged from behind Maggie’s. The barrel raised, pointing at her. She zagged to the right. A whizzing sound buzzed past her ear as the red dart shot past her and bounced off a trash can into the street. She turned when she reached Dr. Caughlin’s office, doing a double take at a soldier laying in the street before disappearing into the office.
***
Thursday May 6, 2010
5:31 a.m.
Population: 118
The shot had been a risk, but one worth taking. Kane would have plowed into the the soldier if he hadn’t fired. There was still no signs of Jenkins, but Jackson knew he’d be close.
As though hearing his thoughts, Jenkins jumped down from a tree three blocks south, and popped a dart into the man Aire had been with just before he could open the humvee door. Now he was sprinting across the lawn in hot pursuit of the girl. More troops were coming from the south on Commerce, blocking his path to get to her.
“Shit.” He watched red team rush down Bourbon. Jenkins was going to get to her first. “Move,” he whispered as four members of red team scanned the street. “Move.”
***
Thursday May 6, 2010
5:31 a.m.
Population: 118
“Dr. Caughlin, we’ve go
t to get out of here,” Aire shouted as she burst into the doctor’s office.
She found him sitting behind the secretary’s desk, his hands pressing hard on the table. Aire rushed towards him and grabbed his wrist.
“Come on, Doc, we gotta go.”
The doctor twitched. Aire let go of him but it was already too late. His wrinkled hand lashed out and clutched her throat. He picked her up by the neck and shoved her into the exam room. He eyed her carefully as she tried to kick him, her arms struggling to get out of his grip. He twitched again and smiled.
“Such a pretty girl.”
He slammed her onto the table, his grip tightening as she struggled to keep him from ripping her pants down. Coolness prickled her skin. She vaguely heard the sound of belt buckle. He loosened his grip as he thrust. Not much, but just enough to give her some air.
She wished he would have strangled her then. She could feel him, could feel her stomach grow sick with the sensation of his belly smacking against her thighs. Her skin crawled, she tried to scream, but no sound escaped her lips. The only words she heard over and over again were, “such a pretty girl.”
It lasted less than a minute, but to Aire seemed an eternity. The doctor’s face contorted, his jaw dropping open. Tears rolled down her cheeks when she felt the warmth.
There was a quiet pop from behind him. Caughlin’s expression changed to surprise, then went slack as he slowly toppled to the floor, Aire kicking him the rest of the way down. She choked and sucked in air, trying to pull her jeans up as she collapsed next to the old man. She wiped away the tears to see a gun inches from her nose.
She stared up at him, her eyes hard and glowing beneath the tears. She sat unmoving, unnerving him with her stare.
“Go ahead,” she whispered.
The soldier stared down at her, the tip of his gun beginning to tremble. He took his hand off the trigger, and threw his helmet to the floor. Her eyes widened as he removed the black mask from his face.
“You were in on it?” she said, her voice slow and trembling.
Jenkins looked down at her, a tear sliding from his gray eyes. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I came to sa-“
Jenkins dropped to his knees, his eyes wide as he crumpled next to Caughlin. A yellow dart babbled from the back of his neck. Aire looked up. Another faceless soldier stood in the doorway, motioning for her to follow.
“I’ll explain on the way. Come on, Aire, we don’t have time to talk right now.”
He offered his hand to her as a friend would. She hesitated, looking from him back to Jenkins.
“Come on, I’m here to help you.”
She remained still as the soldier removed the orange bandanna from Jenkins and tied it around his arm. He took a blue one out of his pocket and tied it on Jenkins. He held his hand to her again.
“Aire, they’re going to kill you if you don’t come with me,” he said.
“How do I know you’re not going to kill me?”
“Because I would have done it already.”
She nodded, and reached out to take his hand.
“Play dead,” he told her as he pulled her to her feet. “The only way I can get you out of here is if they think you’re dead.”
“Okay,” she nodded. The soldier picked her up and threw her over his shoulder and she let her limbs go limp as he carried her through the door.
The streets were packed with frantic people. Those with their minds intact could no longer be distinguished between those who didn’t. Everywhere people were running and screaming, attacking the faceless soldiers and dropping like flies to the ground.
He carried her down Bourbon towards the parked truck. Another soldier in black stopped him in the intersection.
“Finally got her, Major?” the soldier asked. The man carrying her nodded. “Good. I didn’t think it’d take you long to find the Wild Card. We’re almost done here. “
The soldier said nothing as he nodded again.
He rushed past the marine to the truck and tossed Aire in the back. Seconds later, she felt it begin to move. From the direction she felt like they were headed north. The sounds of the screaming city began to fade as the truck sped down the road.
“You can get up now, but stay low,” he said.
Aire sat up and climbed behind his seat so she could look out the front window while still being able to duck down if someone saw them.
“Where are we going?” The truck sped faster down the highway through the woods.
“I’m getting you out of here.”
“Are you taking me to Parker?”
“No, Parker is on the other side of the state. You’re not where you think you are.”
“Then where am I?”
“Underground,” he said, pressing his foot harder on the accelerator. “You’re in an underground facility built to look like a small town in northern America. “
“But, how can that be? How are we underground if there’s rain and the sun and wind?”
“It’s all computer generated. Fans blow air, sprinklers bring rain, the sun is a series of LED lights like a planetarium. None of its real.”
“But,” she said slowly, her mind lost for words. “But that doesn’t make sense. We can’t be underground, we can’t be. And what’s a computer?”
“God, there’s so much you don’t know,” he said, typing rapidly on the buttons next to the gear shift. “The real world is completely different from what you know. Its ruled by computers, television, MP3 players, internet, cell phone, radio. When you get out there, don’t get a social security number, driver’s license, credit card, nothing. You either stay away from people, or only go to heavily populated areas.”
“What do you mean the real world is different? I come from the real world, and there’s no such thing as a social security number or a credit card.”
“No, you don’t,” he said, hitting the last button and replacing a clear case back over the pad. “This whole place is a lie. You live in a government created community two and a half miles underground.”
She sat back in the seat, chewing on her finger as they drove past the first set of billboards. “Why?”
“The government wants to create world peace, so they had people like me create computer chips that insert into the back of the cranium. The chip, that thing you’ve been carrying in your pocket? That chip regulates the hormones and neurotransmitters in the brain to keep people from getting violent or depressed or anxious.”
“Is that why Troy went crazy? Because he was missing his chip?”
“Yes,” he nodded. “Without the chip, the chemicals in his brain couldn’t control themselves.”
“Do I have a chip?”
“No, you’re the only one without it. We wanted to see if we could create peaceful people without using it.”
“Nature versus nurture.”
A chill ripped down his spine. “Exactly.”
“Did Jenkins have a chip?”
The soldier turned his head to look back at her. They’d passed the third set of billboards. Time was running out. He turned back to the road.
“Did Jenkins have a chip?” she asked again.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Jenkins was a soldier sent to monitor you and regulate the community.”
The landscape began to change. What had once been forest was now rocky ground overrun with weeds and wayward grass. No trees lingered near the now dirt road.
“What happened to everyone? Everyone I knew?”
“There was a problem with the chip. We couldn’t fix it.”
“But-“ Aire started, stopping herself short when she saw the dark blue emblem of a lion against a light blue backdrop.
“The blue lion,” she whispered, her hands beginning to shake.
The soldier jerked his head to look at her as he slowed the truck.
“You’ve seen this?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “I dreamt of it, and then saw it on one of Jenkins’s letters.”
He b
rought the truck to a stop just in front of the giant emblem staring back at her and began punching buttons on the truck dash. A loud groaning sound came from the lion as it ripped in two, the double doors opening slowly as the soldier inched the truck inside of it. She could hear the clicking of gears and the grinding of metal as the truck slipped behind the entrance.
“What is the blue lion?”
“The blue lion is an elitist group who paid for this place.”
The soldier pulled to a stop in front of them. “Wait here.” He jogged to the lion on the left, removed his mask, and began punching more buttons. The door began to close as he jogged back, and put the truck into drive.
“You’re the African,” she said, her eyes were wide as she stared at him.
“What?”
“I knew you weren’t extinct. I dreamt of you, too. You held the chip in your hand and told me to beware the blue lion.”
The man smiled. He had beautiful teeth that radiated next to his midnight skin. “Word of advice when you get on the outside. When you see people my color, you call them black or African American.”
They drove into a huge parking garage, the door closing behind them. Aire’s jaw dropped when she saw crumpled tents and broken down carnival rides in the corner of the massive steel room. None of it’s real, The Moto, the carnival, my family, nothing is real. The man shut off the truck and ordered Aire to get out. He took her hand and led her up a set of steel stairs.
“What’s your name?”
“Jackson.”
“Jackson, what’s that noise?”
He stopped at another steel door, and pushed more. They entered a large circular room littered in chairs and more gadgets like the one in the truck. Five hallways radiated from the room like arms of a starfish. He took her hand and led her down one on the far left. Huge sections of glass were cased on one wall. From behind it people in white coats banged furiously and shouted silent screams at them.
