A Bad Day Part 2

by Thomas DiMauro

  He nodded. "We all had a rough time of it, but believe it or not, I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for these two."

  "I believe it, but he needs care." She said this with much more of an accusatory tone than Jim would have liked.

  "I know, but I had no way of..." he stammered and looked down at his feet, "I had no medical supplies. You don't understand what it was like--" He did not understand why he suddenly felt defensive and guilty for something that wasn't really his fault.

  "I live through war and spend time in prison camp. I have idea what it like."

  Jim put his hands up in surrender. "You're absolutely right." He saw no point in arguing with a prison camp survivor. "But maybe you can help me. I have to get to my house today and find my daughter, see if everything is okay there."

  Her face softened, and an array of emotions seemed to pass over her at once. "You want me take care of dog while you go?"

  "Yes. If that's okay with you."

  "No problem. I take care."

  "Are you sure? You don't--"

  "My daughter missing too. Turnello supposed to try to find her when he went out. Now he gone too. I don't think they ever coming back." She looked up at him, her eyes welling with tears.

  He crumbled inside, but he had to put a stop to it. He pressed his lips together, tightened his jaw, and cleared his throat before he spoke. "We can't change whatever's happened. All we can do is use whatever time we have left to the best of our ability. You have a dog you promised to take care of and I have a house to check on."

  She looked at him for a long moment, stood up straight, and nodded. "I take care of him."

  He gave her a wan smile, then knelt to speak with B.A. "Listen, buddy," he said while stroking the dog's head, "I'm leaving you here for a little to get better while I take care of a few things, okay? But I promise I'll be back for you." The dog whined. Jim stood up.

  "I take good care of him."

  "I know you will," he paused. "Do you have a gun?"

  She shook her head. "You think I need one?"

  "I don't think I'd feel safe without one anymore. Take B.A. with you into the house and make sure you lock all the windows and doors. Don't open the door for anyone you don't know."

  The color drained from her already pale face and she nodded. Then she turned and walked back toward her house. B.A. looked at Jim but stayed put. Jim lifted his chin. "Go on. I promise, I'll be back." The dog moved off the porch and reluctantly followed the old woman into her house.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  David and Ivy - Denver, CO - Morning Thurs Sep 5

  The helicopter touched down late in the evening and men from the base took David to the infirmary to treat him for radiation poisoning with whatever it was they used for that. Ivy grabbed something to eat and got a few hours shut-eye in a room next to David's. At 5:00 a.m. sharp, someone woke her out of a sound sleep.

  "Dr. Williams. Dr. Williams, please wake up," he said.

  Ivy's eyes flew open, and she looked up at a square jawed blue-eyed colonel whose name tag read Thompson.

  "What's wrong?" Ivy asked confused, alarmed, and groggy from sleep.

  "General Jacobs would like to see you."

  Ivy sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "How is David?"

  "He isn't doing well. Now, please, come this way," he said, standing aside and gesturing toward the door.

  She slipped off the bed and out the door, then followed him down the long corridor out of the infirmary. They entered a large elevator, and he slipped a small tubular key into the panel, twisted it, and hit a button marked BB. The elevator descended.

  A short time later, they exited into a dark gray concrete block hallway. The moment they stepped out of the lift, a fluorescent ceiling fixture came on. "Follow me," he said as if she were planning on doing something else. As they proceeded down the hallway, light fixtures would come on and then off lighting their way one section at a time.

  They came to another elevator bank. Next to each elevator was a small panel with a keypad and something that looked like a security camera. He punched in a code and then put his eye near the camera. A thin beam of light moved across his face and the elevator door opened.

  He got on the elevator, but the moment she entered, a female voice said, "Unauthorized access. Please step off the elevator. Unauthorized access. Please--" The voice cut off as he punched another code into the keypad. "Override code accepted." The doors closed, and the elevator began its slow descent.

  It took an uncomfortably long time to get to the bottom. Even though the elevator opened into a well-lit cavernous space the size of an airplane hanger, Ivy felt claustrophobic. A driver stood in front of what looked like an extra-large camouflaged golf cart. The vehicle sat six, including the driver, and had large rugged looking wheels that seemed suitable for driving off-road. The driver stood at attention and saluted.

  Colonel Thompson returned the salute. "As you were, Sergeant. Take us to General Jacobs." He opened the door for Ivy and once she was seated he walked around to the other side and got in. They took off for the other end of the facility moving at a frightening speed considering the site was buzzing with activity.

  The area looked like a combination storage facility and military base. There were areas with stacks of wooden crates and fifty-five-gallon drums and other areas that looked like barracks. Along one wall sat a row of offices. Above this row was a metal walkway with a second story of offices.

  They pulled up to a stairway. Colonel Thompson jumped out, but before he could get around to her side, Ivy opened the door herself and got out. Not that she didn't appreciate the gesture but considering the circumstances she just wanted to get to the general and find out what the hell was going on.

  "Colonel, what is this place?"

  "It's a COG facility."

  "Cog? As in a cog in the machine?"

  "No. COG as in continuity of government. Follow me," he said and climbed the stairs up to the second level offices. Ivy followed behind him. He turned and entered the last office after knocking.

  "Thompson, it's about time," said a gray-haired and craggy-faced man behind a desk in the small office. He sat at a ruggedized laptop. Several file folders lay on the desk along with a large plastic barrel of hard pretzels. "Dr. Williams, please come in and have a seat," he said, standing to greet her.

  "General, I have other things to attend to," Thompson said, nodding to the general and then he turned to leave the room.

  "Of course. Give us about an hour."

  "Yes, sir," he said and then left.

  Ivy sat in one of the two available seats, and the general followed suit. She looked past him to a whiteboard filled with writing in different colors and then to a full map of the US. The general cleared his throat and flipped open a file folder that sat in front of him.

  "Dr. Ivy Williams, MD/PhD. Graduated Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree in microbiology from Texas A&M. That was also where you got your medical and doctoral degrees. You were about to begin a research fellowship and residency in emerging infectious diseases at the University of Arizona." His voice was raspy, like someone who had spent decades barking orders.

  "You forgot to mention my panty size."

  "Now, Dr. Williams, don't get your size six Victoria Secrets all up in a knot. I like to be thorough and neither you nor I have any time to waste."

  Ivy kept her expression neutral, but she wondered if the general had just made a lucky guess or he really had that level of detailed information about her. "I agree, General, but I already know my curriculum vitae, why don't you tell me something I don't know."

  "How do you know David Hadley?"

  "I first met him a few days ago when all of this happened. I was riding my motorcycle along the scenic road Mt. Lemmon doing an overnight camping trip when it basically died. I remembered passing the observatory and so I walked there to see if I could get help."

  "Tell me about your contact with the
aliens."

  Ivy felt herself sag into the chair. She wasn't expecting an interrogation. She had questions of her own she needed answered. She sighed. "When I got to the observatory things there were worse than my situation. David and another man had somehow gotten radiation poisoning. His car and other electronics were also not functional. So I wound up spending the night there. Just after dark the aliens attacked us. They killed the other man. I killed them."

  "You killed multiple aliens with sophisticated weaponry by yourself? How did you manage that?"

  "Well, sir, I am from Texas. I always bring my 44 magnum camping because, well, you never know." She looked away for a moment and her eyes narrowed as she thought about losing the revolver her father had given her. "That's what my daddy taught me anyway."

  The corners of the general's mouth turned up ever so slightly. "How did you wind up on the alien ship?"

  "We needed to make sure there weren't any left and I think for David it was pure scientific curiosity."

  "What did you find?"

  "Once we got on the ship it locked down for some reason. Maybe it sensed us on board. The technology was fairly impressive but there were a few really strange things."

  "Let me guess. Marijuana plants."

  Ivy's eyes narrowed, but she found herself unable to speak. How could he have known? After a long pause she said, ”Have you spoken with David?"

  The general shook his head. "No, unfortunately, David isn't able to speak anymore."

  She sat back in her chair with a hand on her chest where an ache formed in her heart. "Is he dead?"

  "Not quite yet, but things aren't looking good."

  Ivy's jaw tightened, and her mouth set in a hard line. "General, I've answered your questions now tell me what's going on here."

  "Oh, I will do even better than that. I assume you've already been briefed on the asteroid situation?"

  "Yes."

  "We've unexpectedly gained a great deal of intelligence recently regarding why the asteroid changed trajectory."

  "All righty...and?"

  "We also have some understanding of what appears to be, for lack of a better term, a zombie virus outbreak on the East Coast."

  Ivy scrunched up her face and rubbed a hand across it. Then she sat up in her chair. "A what? Bless your heart, General. What are you talking about?"

  The general put his hand out to stop her from continuing. "I completely understand your skepticism, but I have it on good authority that the reports are true. I also have video footage and now I have something of an explanation."

  He tapped a few keys on his laptop and then spun it around for Ivy to see. A video played of a street location. It seemed to be police video, and the scene was one of absolute chaos. People running in every direction, screaming, police shooting, and yes, there were some people trying to eat other people. Ivy looked away from the screen her expression dulled.

  The general stopped the video and turned the laptop around. "Dr. Williams, we are in a heap of trouble and we are going to need your help."

  "My help?"

  "We need you to work on stopping this viral outbreak on the East Coast."

  "How in holy hell am I supposed to do that?"

  "We have a classified state-of-the-art research facility in the northeast whose electronics are still intact. They are outside the EMP zone. The area still has a power outage, but the facility is grid independent. It has its own power supply. You'll be leading a small team out there to get the job done."

  Ivy's head was spinning. Everything was happening much too fast. She couldn't process it all. Just a few days ago, she was solo camping in the desert enjoying herself before another intense academic push. Now the apocalypse was happening before her eyes and she was being asked to help stop a portion of it. How could she refuse?

  "I'll do whatever I can," she said, her voice a whisper, her eyes traced circles on the floor.

  "Good. Now I'd like to take you to meet another key member of the team."

  Ivy sat up, caught the general's gaze and nodded. "All right, let's do this."

  General Jacobs gave her a wan smile. He reached into his desk drawer and withdrew a set of keys. "Come along with me, Doctor."

  They walked down the stairs to ground level, then to the last office where he unlocked the door. The stepped inside a dimly lit room with a single MP standing guard duty. A heavy black curtain ran the length of the other half of the room. The MP stood at attention and saluted. "At ease, Sergeant. This is Dr. Williams. She'll be joining our team. We're going to have a little chat with Cornelius."

  "Yes, sir."

  The general stepped up to the curtain and drew it aside. Behind the curtain were two small holding cells only five-by-five feet. The cells had a cot mounted to the wall, running the entire back length. In the cell on the right, sitting in the center of the cot, sat an alien slumped forward.

  Ivy gasped. The alien raised its eyes toward them, then sat up. A large circular medallion hung from a chain around its neck. "Cornelius, I'd like you to meet Dr. Williams. She is the scientist I told you about."

  The alien's nose and mouth seemed to twitch and tremble and a voice emanated from the medallion sounding much like HAL from the movie 2001. "Hello, Doctor Williams."

  "Cornelius, I'd like you to tell Dr. Williams everything you told me."

  "Where would you like me to begin, General?"

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Organizing the town hall meeting - Cherry Ridge, Mid-morning Thurs Sep 5

  Maurice sat at the kitchen table with his breviary open, staring out the window to the backyard. His half-drunk cup of coffee was cold. He watched Daisy and Violet kicking a soccer ball back and forth to one another and running around. Ann and Mahirimah's muffled conversation bled in through the closed back door as did the creak of their rocking chairs.

  In an instant, he found himself in a different time laying prone at the edge of a field looking through binoculars at a small hamlet five hundred meters away. Two brown skinned boys were playing with a soccer ball in the dirt outside their home under a fierce midday sun. A woman in a niqab put up laundry on cords strung between two poles. A dog barked and played with a young girl. It was a peaceful scene.

  He pulled his face away from the binoculars and rubbed his eyes. Then he turned to the man to his right. "All I see is women and children. No military aged men. No weapons. If the fire came from this town, then they aren't here anymore."

  "I'm with Walker on this one. You know how it goes. These guys shoot and scoot," said the man to his left.

  The man on his right continued looking through his spotting scope. "I agree," he said. Then he reached down and keyed the mic of his radio. "Kingpin 2 this is 2-1. We've observed the town for one hour and see no evidence of hostiles. There are only women and children. How copy?"

  "Good copy 2-1. RTB," the reply came.

  "Let's move out."

  As they picked up their gear the entire hamlet exploded in an enormous cloud of smoke. After peeling themselves off the ground they stared at the spirals of dust incredulous. The entire town had disappeared in a single synchronized barrage of artillery.

  Someone knocked on the front door bringing him back. He slid his chair from the table then walked to the door, wondering who'd be coming for a visit at this time and under these circumstances. He pulled the door open to find Caine, the police chief, standing with his hat in hand.

  "Good morning, Reverend, mind if I come in?"

  "Please," Maurice said, pulling the door aside to let him in, "can I get you a cup of coffee?"

  "No thanks, I don't think I'll be staying that long anyway."

  They both walked into the kitchen and pulled up chairs. Caine laid his hat on the table and Maurice closed his breviary and pushed it aside. Caine took a deep breath and sighed. "Iggy never got back last night."

  Maurice felt a chill run through him. "There are a lot of reasons why he might not have gotten back yet."

  "I can't think of any good
ones."

  There was a long pause. Maurice looked away and felt his jaw tighten. Then he looked back at Caine. "So what do you want to do?"

  "I think we need to go ahead with that meeting we talked about and tell people what's going on as far as we know. We only have six men in the sheriff's department here including myself and Iggy. If anything serious happens that's not nearly enough. We need to organize security for the town with select volunteers. We need to organize any medical personnel we have in town and set up a way to deal with the sick folks. We need to deal with the lack of power. We need to deal with long-term food supplies. There's more, but that's the most important."

  "Don't you think we should send someone out to search for Iggy?"

  "We can't spare the manpower right now."

  The back door opened and Ann and Mahirimah walked in looking concerned.

  "Oh, it's you, Chief," Mahirimah said. "We were wondering who Maurice was talking to."

  "Good morning, ladies," Caine said with a nod.

  "Iggy never got back from his patrol last night," Maurice said.

  The women stopped in their tracks and their faces became pale. "What?" Ann said.

  Caine put up a palm. "That doesn't mean anything bad happened to him. He might've gotten a flat tire or run out of gas. Something simple like that could have delayed him."

  "Are we sending someone to look for him?" Mahirimah said, glancing back and forth between her husband and Caine.

  "We can't just yet. We need to get this town organized and we need your help."

  "What sort of help?" Ann said.

  "We will have to assume that, under the current circumstances, we are on our own and we will act accordingly. But we'll work that out at the meeting. What we need to do first is get the word out to as many people as possible to come to the church this evening at, what do you say, Reverend, 5:00 p.m.?"

  "That sounds good. This way people can head home before it gets too dark."