Viral Misery (Book 1)

by Watson, Thomas A

  Pushing the door all the way open, Arthur went in and climbed on the forklift. Driving outside, Arthur loaded up two hybrid buggies on display that had front and back bench seats with a small bed. Driving back inside, Arthur saw Kirk on another forklift picking up a pallet that held stacked storage bins.

  “What are you getting?” Shawn asked, walking over.

  Pointing to the back, “Feed. I don’t like it, but we will have to bring in more animals and until we can make enough feed, we’ll have to use this. They put too much shit in this stuff,” Arthur told him.

  Looking out the front of the store, “I hope you’re driving that big ass truck,” Shawn gasped, seeing the Dodge with the goose-neck trailer hooked up.

  “I am, Andrea will drive the Suburban,” Arthur said as Pat ran over.

  “I have my list done, want me to load?” Pat asked with a huge grin.

  Climbing off, Arthur pointed at the stacks they needed and then turned to Shawn. “Can you keep watch with Beth beside you?” Arthur asked.

  Chuckling as he nodded, “Yeah, I take her fishing with me. Beth listens,” Shawn told him.

  “Your lists done?” Arthur asked.

  The chuckle died on Shawn’s lips at the question, but he nodded. “Yes sir, but, um, I hope you don’t mind, but I loaded up another two bins for Beth and I. We ain’t never had nice clothes, boots, and shoes like this before. I was goin’ to ask, but forgot. I’ll put them back if we don’t have room. I marked the bins,” Shawn said nervously.

  Stepping over as Pat took off at a crawl on the forklift, Arthur grabbed Shawn’s shoulder and squeezed it as he smiled. “Son, you take whatever clothes and stuff you want. In time, we will have room but I promise you, you’ll like the clothes we will make much better,” Arthur told him and felt Shawn relax before he took his hand off Shawn’s shoulder. “I can’t make boots or shoes yet, so load up on those.”

  Relieved he hadn’t let Arthur down, “Thank you,” Shawn sighed, then grabbed Arthur and moved him to the side as Pat came creeping back up, carrying a pallet of chicken feed.

  “Keep an eye out, but stay under the cover of the awning,” Arthur said.

  “I will,” Shawn assured him. “I’ll stay beside that column like you did.”

  When Arthur nodded, Shawn walked over and grabbed Beth’s hand and led her outside. Turning around, Arthur saw Andrea going through bins and then closing them up and writing a name on the lid with a permanent marker. Looking over, he saw Vicki feeding Pam, “Has Lucas…,” Arthur stopped when he saw Shelia feeding Lucas.

  “I tried feeding Pam, but she didn’t want me,” Shelia said with a smile.

  When Andrea moved to another bin, Tony came over and picked up the one she had finished. Stacking it on a pallet, Tony moved back while carrying another empty bin and set it down near a stack of boxes with boots and shoes.

  “Jim, Betty, with me,” Arthur said and felt Daisy rub against his leg and looked down. Pointing to the front door, “Guard,” Arthur commanded and Daisy trotted off to the front of the store. When he looked up, he saw Jim and Betty beside him.

  Knocking the electric lantern over, Andrea gave a groan as she picked it back up. Setting it on a bin, Andrea turned and watched Arthur move off into the store. “You know what he’s getting?” she asked, glancing back at Vicki.

  Holding Pam’s bottle under her chin, Vicki leaned back and pulled out a stack of folded papers. Unfolding them with one hand, Vicki glanced where Arthur had headed and then down at the papers. “Stuff for the horses,” Vicki answered. “We were only supposed to load it in bins to pick up later, but Shawn thinks we can load it up since we now have another truck.”

  Standing up and looking out the front door, “Um, I hope he doesn’t expect me to drive that,” Andrea mumbled.

  “Arthur always says, ‘just drive slow, so mistakes are made slow’,” Vicki quoted as Pam emptied the bottle. “If he tells you, just do your best,” Vicki offered.

  When the babies were fed, they were laid down in the stroller to nap. Vicki laid a blanket out on the floor for Robin and Robin just dropped down and went to sleep, still only wearing the pink cowboy boots. Leaving Tony with Andrea, Vicki led Shelia out in the store to fill up storage bins.

  An hour later, Pat called out that the trailers were full and Arthur gathered everyone up. “I’m leading in the new truck. Andrea, you will be driving the Suburban with most of the kids, so be careful. You will follow me with Shawn at the back,” Arthur explained and everyone nodded. “Vicki, you will explain to Shelia how we keep watch in the Suburban. Tony, you’re riding with me and Jim, so he can explain it to you.”

  Tony raised his hand slowly and Arthur nodded at him. “Where are we going, sir?” Tony asked in a low voice.

  “Home,” Arthur sighed with a grin and then felt Nicole move and pulled another bottle from his cargo pocket. “We are only making one more stop. The only ones getting out are me, Tony, and Shawn. We won’t be stopped long and everyone needs to keep a lookout.”

  Everyone nodded and Arthur told Jim and Tony to head for the truck as he led the group out the side. “I’ll open the gate so just drive and turn around but remember, you have a long trailer so swing wide. Shawn, when you clear the gate, jump out and just roll it closed, then we’ll take off,” Arthur told them as they loaded up in the vehicles parked inside the storage yard. Putting the dogs in the back of the Suburban, Arthur folded up the stroller after Lucas and Pam were put in their car seats.

  Closing up the side doors, Arthur headed to the front and closed the front doors. Looking at the trailer, Arthur gave a wry grin at all the stuff piled on. “Just might make this,” he said to himself.

  Climbing in, Arthur saw Jim and Tony were both in the front seat looking around. Pulling the truck up, Arthur climbed out and opened the yard gate. Holding Nicole so she wouldn’t bounce, Arthur trotted back over to the truck and climbed in. Unlike the Suburban or Blazer, the massive Dodge barely acknowledged the heavy ass trailer it was pulling.

  Avoiding what big roads he could, Arthur headed north leaving town. As the businesses and houses spread out, Arthur saw the interstate ahead. The exits formed a cloverleaf and an Army detachment was set up in the eastbound exit ramp. Having stopped there already when he had scouted the towns, Arthur had only found four troops there. All four had been in the tents, lying on cots and coughing up chunks of blood.

  Pulling to a stop on the road the ramps fed from and ran under the interstate, Arthur glanced around as he put the truck in park. “Jim, keep an eye out and if you see anything, start calling on the radio,” Arthur instructed and Jim gave a nervous nod while holding up his radio.

  Climbing out, Arthur looked back and saw Andrea had pulled up beside his trailer and Shawn was right behind her getting out of the Blazer. “Let’s go,” Arthur said, gripping his AR but didn’t jog, so he wouldn’t jar Nicole.

  Following Arthur, Shawn held his AR to his shoulder and scanned the area, seeing several military vehicles near some tan tents. They smelled the stench long before they reached the area. Slowing, Arthur eased up to the first tent and glanced inside.

  Cots lined both sides of the tent with bodies and Arthur only spotted movement from one at the other end. Slipping inside, Arthur moved down the tent and stopped at the cot with movement. A young man not even old enough to buy beer was sprawled out on the cot. Breathing shallow, fluid rattled in the young soldier’s lungs as the young man coughed weakly, never opening his eyes.

  Moving over, Arthur propped him up using pillows from other cots and then placed water bottles on the soldier’s lap. “Gather the weapons and backpacks,” Arthur told Shawn and Tony as he tried to get the soldier to drink some water.

  When the soldier coughed after drinking a few sips, Arthur put the bottle of water in his hand. “You have to drink, but sit up,” Arthur said, standing up. “Sorry, but that’s all I can do for you.”

  The soldier never opened his eyes as he continued to wheeze when Arthur walked off. S
topping at three cots, Arthur grabbed the combat vests off the floor and headed for the door.

  He saw Shawn and Tony coming back for another load. Moving back to the truck, Arthur tossed the vests in the back and then moved to the driver’s door. Taking the sling off, he placed Nicole in the seat and then gently closed the door.

  Breaking into a run, he passed Shawn and Tony carrying a load back to the truck. Emptying the first tent of equipment, Arthur pulled the boys over to a five-ton truck and started tossing out ammo cans and other boxes. The boys would grab them off the ground and carry the thirty-pound ammo boxes back and toss them into the bed of the truck.

  Jumping out of the supply truck, Arthur helped the boys carry over what he had tossed out.

  Twenty minutes later, they loaded up and Arthur led them north. Before they drove off, the soldier in the tent weakly opened his eyes, wondering why he was sitting up. Wanting to lay down, the soldier pushed the pile of pillows from his cot and lay back down.

  Just as Arthur drove through the gate at the house, the soldier gave a grunt as his last breath escaped. Nobody knew that the soldier had joined the billions that were already dead and still had billions more to go. The virus was now at its peak, with over fifty million dying an hour around the globe.

  Chapter Twenty Three

  Preparing for a journey through hell, tickets please

  May 16

  Standing out on the balcony, Wendy scanned the shore for any signs of life. Lowering the binoculars, Wendy glanced up at the dark clouds of the storm that had rolled in last night. Her fear of tornadoes had kicked into overdrive as the ship had rocked back and forth during the night.

  Looking around at the ocean, Wendy gave a shudder at all the floating bodies. The beach was lined with them and several days ago, they’d watched sharks feeding on the dead bodies. Even as she looked on now, Wendy saw a body two hundred yards away get jerked under the water. When the body bobbed back up, a large splash appeared at the body and it went back under.

  Turning away from the feeding, Wendy saw Jo Ann and Sally looking at the shore with binoculars they had scavenged up. “Ready for some breakfast?” Wendy asked.

  Lowering her binoculars, Sally looked up at Wendy. “I think we’re closer to shore,” Sally blurted out.

  Taking a deep breath, Wendy nodded. “Yeah, I know we are,” she said, just thankful that the sea had calmed down and the ship wasn’t rocking that badly today. “I’m just guessing, but I think we moved in a few hundred yards.”

  Still looking at the buildings of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, “I’m just glad we didn’t move further out,” Jo Ann admitted.

  Suppressing a shiver, “Me too,” Wendy agreed, watching Jo Ann lower her binoculars.

  “Daddy isn’t coming back,” Jo Ann said in a low voice.

  Reaching over, Wendy pulled the twins into a hug. “Girls, we don’t know that. I put a note in your cabin so he can find us, but we can’t stay here,” Wendy told them. “The computer in the bridge shows a bigger storm coming and I don’t want to have to travel miles to get back to shore.”

  Squeezing Wendy tight, Jo Ann and Sally nodded.

  After the night Wendy had taken care of Anthony, she and the girls had carried Ryan to the kitchen and found the emergency lights were still on. Reaching the kitchen, they’d found that the freezers and refrigerators still had power.

  On a hunch, Wendy had tried the service elevator she had used at the stern and found it still worked. It may have worked, but they didn’t use it. Instead, they would load it with supplies and then walk up to their level and call the elevator up.

  None of the passenger elevators worked, so Wendy led the girls up to the bridge and found it still had full power. It took some time on one of the computers, but Wendy found out that the ship was only running emergency systems. The computer had given a readout that said those would shut down in fourteen days when the last of the fuel ran out.

  That was the only day Wendy had tried the radio. When she’d called out for help, a stern voice had answered and told her if anyone left the ship, they would be shot.

  After the warning, each day Wendy exercised more and scouted the ship with the girls, and the spear gun in hand. They even searched the crews’ quarters and engine rooms, but found no one else. Searching the rooms of all her friends, Wendy found them all dead, with the exception of Alicia. What gave Wendy some hope was Alicia’s purse and small suitcase were gone. All the twins knew was that a bunch of people had left, but not who. Saying a prayer that Alicia had made it to shore, Wendy continued scouting the ship. It was on those scouting missions that Wendy finally knew how they were getting off.

  At St. Lucia, Wendy and the others had rented jet skis from the onboard marina and had ridden around, even up to the beach. She hadn’t forgotten about it but when thinking of getting off a ship, a lifeboat was always the first thought. Wendy did wonder why the crew hadn’t used them, but was thankful because they were there.

  Another change they made was clearing the large suite beside them and opening the door between the two rooms. Their room sat at the corner of the starboard stern and the balcony looked over the stern. The balcony for the other room looked starboard or to the right of the ship, if you were facing the bow or front.

  Hearing Ryan babbling, Wendy moved inside and saw Ryan kicking his legs in the air from the pallet they’d put him on before going to the balcony. The day before yesterday, Ryan had showed them that he knew how to roll over, even rolling over the pillows they’d surrounded him with. As they had scanned the shore, they’d all heard the thump and turned as Ryan had let out a scream.

  Only scared by the fall, Ryan had been okay. Now, if they weren’t in the bed with Ryan, he slept on the floor.

  Picking Ryan up, Wendy watched the twins pull over the highchair they had moved into the room. “Don’t feed him the green beans,” Sally grumbled.

  Laughing as she put Ryan in the highchair, “Sally, he has to eat and Ryan really likes the green beans,” Wendy told her as she buckled Ryan in.

  The girls grabbed bowls and cereal and then pulled a jug of milk from an ice chest. Wendy sat down, opening up the baby food jar. “What do you want me to cook today?” Wendy asked, dipping the baby spoon in the jar. Ryan slapped his hands on the highchair and opened his mouth before the spoon was even out of the jar.

  “Grilled cheese,” the twins cried out and Wendy gave a sigh, putting the food in Ryan’s mouth.

  “Girls, I’ve cooked that every day. How about soup to go with the grilled cheese?” Wendy offered as she refilled the spoon. When Wendy had found out the kitchen stoves still worked off stored propane, she’d cooked them one meal at least every day.

  After looking at each other, the twins nodded while picking up their spoons. “Okay,” they said in unison.

  Glancing over at the girls, Wendy no longer needed the barrettes to tell them apart. Even when they spoke and Wendy wasn’t looking at them, she could tell which one it was, most of the time. “Sally, you need to brush your hair again,” Wendy said and then spooned more food into Ryan’s gaping mouth.

  Sally gave a groan and then scooped up a spoonful of cereal. “I can do it,” Wendy offered.

  “You brush hard,” Sally mumbled.

  “Not as hard as she brushes teeth,” Jo Ann said under her breath.

  “Girls,” Wendy said, guiding the spoon to Ryan’s mouth. “You have to brush your teeth, so you don’t get cavities. I can assure you, neither of you want me to fix a cavity.”

  “What about the dentist?” Jo Ann asked.

  Refilling the spoon, the tiny bit of joy Wendy had felt left. “Girls, I’m sure some are alive, but the world is changed now,” Wendy told them with her voice breaking.

  Dipping her spoon into her bowl, Sally just pushed the cereal around. “You think those people on the radio were telling the truth about all the sick people, don’t you?” Sally asked in a small voice.

  Wendy and the girls had listened to the radio, but nev
er called out again. In truth, Wendy had been hoping to hear from the other dozen cruise ships parked around them. Before the storm, there had been sixteen cruise ships around them. The other ships were about half a mile apart but this morning, they’d found one just a thousand yards away. Also, there were only fifteen around them now. Wendy was hoping when they headed to the bridge they would see the missing ship further out to the northeast, since they couldn’t see in that direction from the balcony.

  “Girls, what I think is a terrible virus has hit us, killing many and those of us left have to rebuild,” Wendy said solemnly.

  Slowly, the girls ate because if they didn’t, Wendy would feed them and to them, that was worse than the teeth brushings.

  “What if the sharks eat the jet ski?” Jo Ann asked, taking a bite.

  Looking over as she refilled Ryan’s spoon, “Then I won’t slow down,” Wendy smiled, but even she was worried about that.

  With the balcony door open to let a breeze in, they all turned when they heard the soft report of a gunshot. They all stared at the open balcony door. “Wendy, do you think Anthony has friends on the land, waiting?” Sally asked.

  Turning away from the door and feeding a spoonful to Ryan, “If he does, then I’ll do the same to them,” Wendy said with iron in her voice. “I’ll kill anyone that threatens any of you.”

  Hearing Wendy tell them again, Jo Ann and Sally perked up again and continued eating.

  After breakfast, the group grabbed flashlights and backpacks. “How many diapers does Ryan have?” Wendy asked, putting Ryan in a baby body carrier on her chest so he faced her.

  Leaning over, Sally counted. “Thirty-four,” Sally reported. “Do we have to find more in the cabins?” Sally asked with wide eyes. Wendy never let them go inside the cabins, but standing outside in the hallways with dead bodies was just as terrifying to the eight-year-olds. On one scouting trip, Wendy had found the body of a man that had been bludgeoned to death and knew it’d been Anthony’s work. So far, she hadn’t found the others Anthony had claimed.