by Lundy, W. J.
“They were dead,” Luke blurted out.
“Primals … ah … the Buhmann?” Brad asked.
“No, not unless they have taken to binding wrists and ankles and burning their dead,” Jorgensen said with his head down.
“You figuring it was the others then?” Sean asked.
“Can’t confirm it, but whoever it was, they took the girls. We only found the old man and his boy. House was ransacked, all of their stores were emptied. There was no need for it, they were good people,” Jorgensen said, finishing. He shook his head again before getting to his feet.
“If you want to see your man before we leave, we need to get moving,” Jorgensen said as he turned and headed for the stairway.
They left the room and followed the boys down the stairs and back into the makeshift infirmary at the end of the second floor. A young girl in her twenties was sitting in a chair next to Hahn, removing the sweat from his brow with a damp cloth. Hahn was still unconscious in the bed, an IV bag still attached to his good arm. Brad looked and saw that his left arm had been amputated. “Jesus Christ, you took his arm!” he blurted out.
The girl quickly turned to face Brad, the sad expression on her face quickly disarming his anger. Brad stared at her speechless, then looked back at the stub just above where Hahn’s elbow should be.
“The doctor wanted to tell you first, but we made him get some rest. He was up with your soldier all night,” the girl said apologetically.
“Why, though? His arm?” Brad mumbled.
“We couldn’t break his fever, even with the better meds. The doc said it had to go, we don’t have the facilities to treat him here,” she said, a tear forming below her eye.
Luke moved forward, walking between Brad and the girl and putting a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay Sara, we know the doc did his best,” Luke said softly.
Brad moved away from the bed and took a seat on the bench. Sean moved to the bedside, looking Hahn over. “How is he now? The fever,” Sean asked.
“We think he is getting better, but he still has a long way to go,” Sara said.
“Where is the doctor?” Sean asked.
Sara looked at a watch on her wrist. “He should be downstairs by now, preparing for the trip.”
“The trip? He still plans on going … with Hahn in this condition?” Sean asked.
“The doctor said he would be back before dark, your friend will be fine in my care,” Sara said.
Sean looked her dead in the eye. “Are you a doctor? A nurse?”
“Well no, but I have training,” she answered.
“Explain,” Sean blurted out.
“I worked as a veterinary assistant, and I grew up on farms.”
“Good lord, I’ve had enough. Luke, lead me to the doctor please.”
Brad got to his feet as Luke opened the door into the family area of the second floor. He stepped off quickly, with Alex and Sean close behind him. Brad had to walk fast to keep up with them. They moved through the family area and into the next stairwell. At the bottom landing they found another guard, a fresh face that Brad had not seen before. He said good morning to the boys and opened the door, allowing the men into the first floor office. They found David and Jorgensen sitting on a desk. The doctor was in the far corner leaning back on a chair. He was dressed in heavy khaki pants, with a leather bomber’s jacket and fleece cap, as if he was preparing for a grand adventure.
Sean saw the doctor and headed directly in his direction. “Hey Indiana Jones, what the hell do you think you are doing cutting on my man without consulting me first!” he yelled.
“The wound was gangrenous and putting the man at risk for sepsis. He would have died, he still might, and the arm had to come off,” Ericson said, getting right back into Sean’s face, not backing down.
“That was my call to make!” Sean yelled back.
“If it had been a multiple choice problem I would have consulted you for your expert opinion, but turns out it wasn’t. Your guidance was not required.”
Sean stared at the doctor. “Well you have balls, I’ll give you that.”
“Like I said, I’m not interested in your opinions. Your man is resting well, I have him on the strongest course of antibiotics available. With a bit of luck he will pull through.”
David clapped his hands loudly. “Please be to God!” he shouted. “Now if this most eloquent discussion be over, I could go about unlocking your weapons.”
Sean moved away from the doctor and leaned against a wall. “Yeah, I suppose we’re good. Doc, you sure Hahn will be okay with that girl you left him with?”
“Not much I can do for him, he needs rest. Sara will see to his needs,” Ericson answered.
“Okay, then let’s get a move on,” Sean said.
David opened the safe and handed out the weapons to Sean and Brad, who quickly reassembled them. When they were ready they moved back out into the empty first floor of the building. James was beside the truck, refueling it with a large five-gallon can. He announced that the truck was nearly full and ready to go. There would be plenty for the trip north up the road and back again.
David went to the large overhead door and began raising it as Alex and Jorgensen leapt into the back. “Doc, you can ride up front with me and Luke,” James shouted over the rumble of the overhead door. Doors opened and slammed shut as the truck’s engine roared to life. Brad and Sean joined the other men in the back, and once the factory door was opened just enough to allow the truck to clear, they backed out of the large building.
James quickly maneuvered the truck around in a three-point turn and pulled up next to a waiting David. “Okay boys, get to the Murphys’ road, and be sure and get back before dark, ya understand?”
“Yes, Father,” they heard James answer from the cab.
David looked to Jorgensen in the bed of the truck and gave him a nod. Jorgensen responded with a nod of his own. The truck ground into gear and slowly crept back down the broken concrete drive. Brad looked at the surroundings. Unlike on the trip up when they were confined to the interior of the van, he could now clearly see the terrain. They were surrounded by a number of old abandoned buildings, many of them crumbling with nothing left but battered foundations. As Brad searched the area, he could see that the factory they had taken refuge in was just one of many, a perfect hiding spot.
23.
The truck moved steadily on the road heading north. The temperature was lower than the previous day but the skies were clear, giving no indication of foul weather. Brad watched as the forest again thinned and returned to the snow-covered rolling hills. There were no signs of creepers or primals in any direction. Brad put his head down, pulling his fleece cap low, and tried to relax as the truck rolled down the paved road.
Alex was sitting in a corner of the bed with his back resting against the cab of the truck. Like the first time they had met him, he was again holding the old and battered shotgun. Jorgensen was next to him cradling a heavy barreled, scoped bolt action .308 rifle. Sean looked up at Jorgensen and slapped the sole of his boot. “So what’s your role on this trip?”
“Me? I’m just along to keep the doc safe and make sure the boys get home okay,” Jorgensen answered.
Sean nodded. “Are you a professional bodyguard then?”
Jorgensen laughed. “No, more of a tour guide.”
Sean didn’t bother concealing his smile. “I’m thinking there is a bit more to that story, Jorgensen.”
“Please friend, call me George. Yeah, I have been a hunting guide on this isle for close to twenty years. Mostly rich folks from the mainland. Over my time I have camped or scouted nearly every inch of this rock.”
“That’s more like it, George. I’d say you have a valuable skill set.”
“Some may think so, lately I have felt more like a babysitter than anything else.”
Sean laughed. “Trust me brother, I know the feeling. So how did you get paired up with this group … I’m sensing you’re not family, or from the nei
ghborhood.”
“You have a keen sense, Sean, that you do,” Jorgensen said. “I found David and his group a bit after things went dark. They were held up in the woods in a tidy little campsite some distance from here. David claims I saved them, I think they saved me.”
“So you didn’t know them at all, before I mean?”
“No. I usually work farther west. Taking out groups of three to four on week-long excursions. Was on a hunt when this all started. Brought my clients back to the city to try and get them a flight home. Airports were closed up by then, more planes were landing then going out.”
“What did you do?”
“I had a mate that ran a charter fishing business. I thought we might be able to come to an agreement. In those days a lot of the fishermen were smuggling folks back and forth. We managed to make it to the marina. Never found my mate, things had begun to fall apart by then. Signs of infection had been encountered in the cities south and up some spots north. Most of the mainland was already going dark. Riots were starting, the military was putting up roadblocks restricting travel. I offered to take them back to the hunting grounds. I have equipment there, shelter, food. I figured we could hold out indefinitely.”
“Sound decision-making. What happened?”
“All of this,” Jorgensen said, raising his hands. “I waited too long.”
“Your clients?”
“Don’t rightly know friend, lost them in the chaos. We were at the marina behind the barricades when they hit. The things broke through … folks were panicking, trying to get to the boats, anything that floated to get away. Most of the water crafts were swamped. I made it to a roof top, tried to use my rifle to hold them off. It was no good, nothing I could do for them,” Jorgensen said, putting both hands on his rifle and squeezing the handguards.
The truck slowed and pulled to the side of the road before its engine shut off. Alex and Jorgensen jumped from the bed as the cab doors opened and shut. “This is the spot,” Luke said as he walked towards a gravel cut in the road that led further up the hill, perpendicular and away from the road. With the snowfall and overgrown grass, many would miss the turnoff if they didn’t know it was there. Adding to the natural cover, several large boulders and sections of tree trunks had been placed across a section of the path.
Brad and Sean climbed from the truck bed to join the others on the ground. Brad carried his heavy pack with his left hand and walked around the truck to where the gravel path met the road. Looking up the drive and beyond the barrier, he could see nothing. The broken trail seemed to go on and on before disappearing into a tree line near the top of the hill. Casually searching the ground, he saw no footprints, no signs of life. Brad could see from the corner of his eye that Jorgensen was doing the same thing.
“You sure this is the correct spot, boys?” Brad asked.
“Oh yeah, this is the Murphys’ place. I know it don’t look like it, but up beyond those trees it opens up into some prime pasture. Been here plenty of times,” Luke said.
“We should get going then boys, we don’t want to waste the daylight. Luke, I’ll be seeing you back here in about five hours. Keep an eye on your cousin there,” Jorgensen said, smiling.
“You aren’t all going?” Sean asked.
“No, sir, we need to make our rounds, we have hides to visit and goods to retrieve,” James answered. “Plus it ain’t good to have this truck parked here, might draw suspicions to the road.”
“Here Luke, take the shotgun,” Alex said, tossing the old battered weapon to his brother.
Luke caught the gun one-handed and looked it over. “No, you better take it brother, I’ll be okay in the truck, and if we see any trouble we will just come on back.”
Brad listened to the discussion and looked down at his pack and the 870 shotgun strapped to the top. He hesitated for a moment before making the decision. He loosened the strap holding down the Remington and slid out the shotgun with the synthetic black stock. “Go ahead and take that gun Luke, I have something for your brother,” Brad said, handing the shotgun off to Alex.
“Wow, you sure? This is a lot nicer than the one we got,” Alex replied.
“Yeah I’m sure, just be careful with that thing. Works just like the one you got. There’s already a round loaded in the pipe, and it’s on safe. This isn’t like TV where we wait until we see the bad guy to go racking a round to look cool. In real life we pop the safety and squeeze,” Brad explained.
Jorgensen interrupted, “That’s settled. Luke, James, hit the road, I don’t want any excuses for why you didn’t make it back here on time.”
“Yes sir,” Luke said, climbing into the truck beside his cousin. The engine started and the truck pulled away from the shoulder and continued tracking north away from them.
“Where are they headed?” Brad asked as he watched the truck fade from view.
“We all have our secrets, Sergeant,” Jorgensen answered. “But they will be fine, if’in that’s your concern.”
They stayed in position, hiding by the concealed road entrance for another thirty minutes until they were sure they hadn’t drawn the attention of any nearby primals. Brad had offered the doctor one of his handguns, but the doctor declined. Even in the interest of his own safety, he refused to arm himself. He convinced the others that he would be plenty protected with their company.
When it was time to move out, Sean asked Jorgensen to lead the way on point, keeping Alex close to him. He said it would make more sense for the Murphys to see a friendly face than those of strangers. Jorgensen politely accepted the suggestion, but Sean knew he suspected the real reason. Even though everyone was friendly, there was still tension in the group, and Sean didn’t want the armed men having his back.
They walked the road in a traveling formation, two in the front, the doctor holding the center, followed up by Sean and Brad in the rear. As they traveled, Brad examined the surface and shoulders of the pockmarked drive. There was little to no evidence of the road being used recently. If it was in use, the owners had taken precautions to conceal it. No boot prints, no drag marks or tire tracks. Perhaps there was another trail leading in and out of the property.
Brad looked up and noticed that the doctor had slowed his pace and was now walking just in front of him. Ericson looked back at Brad. “I’m sorry about your friend … have you known him long?” he said.
“Keep it down, Doc, you’d be surprised how voices can travel out in the open like this,” Brad said, seeing the immediate disappointment on the doctor’s face. Brad took a few more steps and the doctor fell back to walk beside him.
“No, I only met him a few weeks ago, he’s a good man though,” Brad said, barely above a whisper.
The doctor spoke, still looking straight ahead. “I find it amazing that the man wasn’t infected. Do you all have these bite shirts?”
Brad pulled down the collar of his jacket, showing the thick fabric to the doctor. “Yup, we all do.”
“Amazing, something so simple yet so effective,” Ericson whispered.
“Doc, exactly how much do you know about these things, the ones with the primalis rabia?” Brad asked.
“Actually, not a lot. I haven’t had the opportunity to examine one. And either way, I’m not that type of doctor. To be honest, I have been fairly insulated from them since the first major attacks. I was lucky to have found my way to David and his family very early. Still, we were briefed at the hospital, but this wasn’t like a flu pandemic, all hands on deck type of thing. This was more like nuclear fallout. By the time we were hit it was too late to respond. From the early medical bulletins, I understood it to be a sort of rage virus, perhaps rabies based,” Ericson answered. “It fits the spectrum … Rabies, for example, just by the simple symptoms alone … aggression, light sensitivity, no social speech patterns, inability to reason. It is uncanny.”
“But what about the creepers, the ones that stagger about as if … like zombies.”
“Scientifically speaking, there is more th
an one strain of the rabies virus. Not all animals that contract it go into a rage. Some just wither and die, or lose some motor function faster than others, or fall into a coma. I suspect the same things exist in this primalis rabia virus. Is that the phrase you used to describe it?”
“That’s what the chief said they called it. He said it was weaponised and used against us.”
“If this was modified in a laboratory, then all bets are off, my friend,” Ericson whispered. “I would suspect they found a greater means of transmission, and a way to accelerate the incubation period, even to extend the life of the infected victim. Fascinating, really.” Brad looked at the doctor with a puzzled expression. He was about to make a comment when Jorgensen stopped just where the road entered the tree line. He motioned for Sean to come to the front. Brad stopped and dropped to a knee, pulling the doctor down beside him. As Sean moved forward to join Jorgensen and Alex at the front, Brad saw a man exit the woods, walking towards them.
Not wanting to raise his rifle to use the optic, Brad squinted hard, trying to focus on the far-off figure. He watched as Sean changed into a ready stance, then relaxed his posture, lowering his weapon as he walked forward. He suddenly recognized the man as Brooks. Brad smiled. “Come on Doc, let’s go, that’s our man,” he said, barely concealing his excitement.
Brad charged up the road with the doctor behind him struggling to keep up. As they got closer Brad saw more figures exit the tree line. They joined Sean and Brooks at the end of the drive. He recognized more of them, all of his friends. He saw Chelsea. She turned in his direction and recognized him at nearly the same time. Brad watched as she began running towards him down the path. He stopped and waited for her.
He began to speak just as she leapt at him, catching him in a deep bear hug and planting a wet kiss on his lips. Brad took a step back, trying to catch his balance. He dropped his rifle and let it hang from the end of its sling. Failing to steady himself with the large pack on his back and Chelsea hanging onto him for dear life, he fell backwards onto the road, landing on the pack, with Chelsea still on top of him.
