by TW Brown
She stared at me while I puzzled over it. Then it dawned on me with a force that physically hurt my insides. I met her gaze and the doctor nodded.
“Sex?”
“One of the easiest ways to spread a disease is through intercourse,” the doctor explained. “There is always a degree, no matter how slight, of abrading that takes place and allows for the exchange.”
That would explain why Teresa died without being bitten; why she turned despite no exposure. That was terrible. No…that was tragic.
“We have to tell the others,” Dr. Zahn said quietly. “If they aren’t informed, then this will happen again.”
“How did you figure it out?” I had to know.
“I started writing down everything I knew about the infection and how it was spread.” The doctor picked up a notebook, opened it and thumbed through a few pages as she spoke. “I began to list diseases with similar traits. One by one I found enough differences to cross them out. That is until I reached the AIDS virus. While they are very different, they exhibit a number of similarities that I could not ignore. Of course I will not be able to say with absolute certainty unless I can obtain some test equipment, but I had enough from when I did the blood tests on everybody to at least build a strong case.”
“So when do we tell them?”
“Seeing as how we have two new members and no knowledge of their background, I say we do it now. Plus, I have not seen any signs of it from the others, but if anybody gets stupid and decides to express their sympathy in a physical manner for Mister Blossington, then they could be next.”
“Should we tell him alone first?” I asked. I really didn’t have any idea how to do this whole “break it to me gently” routine. I would absolutely defer to an expert’s opinion here.
“I think that would be best,” the doctor finally said after a few moments of hesitation.
I was really uncomfortable with this new version of the doctor. The doctor I knew was not one who doubted. She took things head on and never flinched. I wouldn’t have ever wanted to play chicken with the old Dr. Zahn. But this one was full of self-doubt and second-guessing. The look on her face inspired no confidence.
As I walked out into the general area where everybody was filtering in with the newbies in tow, I decided that it would be up to me to give the news to Jamie. I hated to admit it, but I didn’t trust the doctor to do it right at the moment. I spotted Jamie and waved him over.
“What’s up?” he asked. I saw a hint of the young man I’d come to know peeking out from the pain. Being around everybody was probably the best thing for him. We’d made the mistake of leaving him alone to grieve. Well that wouldn’t be the case any longer.
“I need you to come with me for a moment.”
He nodded and followed. I could see the instant look of trepidation on his face. He was far too raw to hide any of his emotions at the moment.
I opened the door and ushered him in ahead of me. He saw the doctor and it was an instant transformation. I hadn’t realized until just that moment how mature Jamie had become in such a short time. In that instant, he was a frightened school boy. It was like watching Teresa at the end with all of that vulnerability so easy to see.
“Have a seat.” I pointed to the only other open seat in the room. I was going to stand for this.
“W-what’s going on?” he stammered. His eyes didn’t seem to know where to look between me and the doctor.
“We have some news that we need to share with the group, but we needed to tell you first.” I saw a new look and quickly cut off that line of thinking. “No, nobody else is infected. However, we think we know how Teresa might have contracted the infection. We need to stress that we won’t be absolutely certain until the proper equipment can be brought in for tests.”
“Just tell me,” Jamie sighed. He sounded so tired.
“It seems that the infection can be passed on in ways besides a bite. It is like any other blood borne illness. Any exchange of fluids can result in spreading it from one person to another.”
I sat there silently and watched Jamie. I knew I wouldn’t have to spell it out for him, he was a bright kid. He looked back and forth between me and Dr. Zahn a few times as he puzzled over what he’d heard and the fact that he knew there was a message in it for him. When it dawned, it was instant.
“No.” He shook his head very slowly and just kept saying that over and over.
“This is not your fault, Jamie,” I said, trying to be as soothing as I could. Once again I was discovering that I was very much out of my element.
“No,” Dr. Zahn finally stood and approached the boy, “this is my fault.”
Crap. That wasn’t what I wanted either. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. It was what we were dealing with now in a world overrun by the dead. Nothing was the same. All the rules were out the window. We would have to start from scratch and learn on the fly. The best we could hope for now is to not make the same mistake twice.
“How?” Jamie turned to the doctor. “How could this be your fault?”
“I should have known better.”
I stood helpless now as two people that were dear to me began to heap burning coals on their own heads. It was a fight for who was more to blame and neither of them could win, but both could lose.
“When I got bit…when we thought I might be infected, we should have stopped having—”
He stopped short of saying it. His mouth hung open and the look on his face just continued to worsen. I’d never seen such inner pain etched on somebody so clearly. He was devastated. I didn’t know if anything could bring him back from the edge this time. I could post a watch on the door for a while; but for how long? When would it be long enough for him?
“I am so sorry, Jamie,” I said. The words felt hollow and useless. What good could they possibly do him?
I stood for a moment longer and decided that there really was not a single thing I could do here. All the votes of confidence I’d received lately from the group, from Melissa…and from Teresa…they all seemed equally useless now. I left the room.
“I need everybody to gather around,” I announced.
Heads turned my direction and everybody made their way to the long tables we sat around during meals. I waited until they were all seated and moved to where they could all see me. I needed to be certain that they understood not only what I was letting them know, but also, what it had meant in regards to Teresa.
“I just met with Dr. Zahn and she has made a disturbing…” I paused. It wasn’t really a discovery yet. It was still going to need some research and some tests before she could be absolutely certain. “Hypothesis.” I’d heard the word before and now seemed like as good of a time as any to use it. “The infection, as many of you know, is transmitted by a bite. However, it has come to our attention that it acts like any other blood borne illness in its ability to be spread. It is Dr. Zahn’s belief that a bite is only one way the disease can be transmitted.
“Additionally, we know that it is not a one hundred percent certainty that a bite means you will be turned. Some have shown immunity. We have also discovered that an individual who is immune will turn after death. That means that they still carry the virus or whatever the hell it is.
“That leads us to the newest and very unfortunate discovery. It would appear that the infection can also be spread through exchange of bodily fluids between a person who is infected but immune and a person who is not infected.”
I waited for a moment and let all of that sink in. A few faces changed their expressions as they began to realize what I was saying. Melissa was one of the first and I saw the tears welling in her eyes. She knew.
“Teresa was not infected by a bite,” I said. I had to pause again to work up the courage to say it out loud. “It is believed that she contracted the infection through sexual contact.”
The room was silent and then an outcry rose as everybody tried to ask questions at the same time. I raised my hands in order to quiet the crowd and fi
nally got everybody to settle back down.
“Should we be taking precautions with the food preparation?” Jake was the first to raise his hand, so I had pointed to him.
“No,” I said. “Look…this is like the AIDS thing. When it first hit the mainstream, people started freaking out and coming up with all these insane ways you could supposedly catch AIDS. So, to answer your question; no. And the same goes for hugging a person. It doesn’t work that way. Dr. Zahn has way more to say about this than I do, but just rest assured that it won’t just jump to you from somebody who is immune. We had people with us before who were immune. This is a specific incident of two people who were sexually intimate.”
As I finished speaking, I looked around the room. My eyes stopped on Thalia and Emily. They both had confused looks on their faces and Melissa was busy whispering to them both. They didn’t look like were understanding any of this any better, even with Melissa’s explanation. Super, I thought, another “daddy” talk that I was very unprepared for. I looked over at DeAngelo and Melinda and saw a similar scene playing out with them and the two children, Levent and Rabia.
A few more general questions about how Dr. Zahn knew this without testing came my way and I deferred them for the doctor. I wasn’t about to try and explain her guesswork.
“I need you all to step up and help me keep an eye on Jamie,” I finally said at last. “When Teresa died, he stayed alone in the back. That isolation is what I believe led him to attempting to commit suicide.”
There were nods and assurances from everybody. Satisfied that I’d done all I could, I adjourned the hastily called emergency meeting. Melissa came to me with the girls and wrapped her arms around me. It felt wonderful. The girls hugged me and started in almost immediately with the questions.
“Are you and Melissa doing sex?” Emily asked.
“Okay, girls,” I knelt to look them both in the eye, “I am not very good at this stuff. So listen carefully; what happened to Teresa was an accident. It was what we used to call a fluke. Basically, Jamie gave a sickness to Teresa that he didn’t know he had. The way it happened is not important right now. What is important is that Jamie is gonna be really sad for a while. I need you girls to try and be happy around him. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes, daddy,” they both said in unison.
“Now maybe you should go get cleaned up and see if you can help Sunshine with dinner.”
The girls ran off and Melissa waited until they were gone. “He has to be devastated.”
“Oh yeah,” I agreed. “But Dr. Zahn is almost as bad. I’ve never seen her like this.”
“Why?”
“She thinks she should have had it figured out sooner.”
“How should she have known?”
“Because she is a doctor; hell, I don’t know.”
The door opened and Jamie came out. His head was down and he didn’t look at anybody. He made his way past the tables and was about duck into the sleeping quarters when Jon called out. “Hey, Jamie!”
He didn’t turn around, but at least he stopped.
“You haven’t been up in the tower recently. Could we get you to take a shift in about an hour?”
“Sure.” And with that he left.
Just as dinner was being served, Jamie emerged dressed in full gear. He stopped at the table and grabbed a few things to take up with him. As he disappeared up the ladder, I realized that everybody had stopped talking.
“Folks,” Nickie spoke up from her seat next to Brad, “we need to stop clamming up every single time that boy makes an appearance.” She had said exactly what I was thinking.
“Jeez,” Christina sighed, “I thought it was just me.”
And just like that, everybody began talking about how we needed to work at not making the young man feel self-conscious. By the time dinner was over, we had a plan ready to set into motion.
Eventually it was time to go to bed. I was exhausted. It had been an insane couple of days. I hoped that it wasn’t going to be like this all winter.
Melissa and I went to tuck in the girls. Thalia was sitting on her bed. It was the very one that Teresa had died in. I was surprised when she had asked specifically for that bed.
“You know that was the bed where Teresa—”
“Went to be with my mama and Emily’s daddy in Heaven,” Thalia had blurted. She obviously had very strong feelings about it and I could not argue with her logic.
I peeled back her blankets and she squealed. My male-chauvinist brain immediately assumed that she’d seen a mouse.
“Look, Daddy!” Thalia spun around and was holding a red flannel shirt. I was still puzzling over it when she announced, “This was Teresa’s zombie killin’ shirt!” She even said it in a passable impersonation of when Teresa tried to talk in a deep, gruff voice.
“Wow,” I said. She had the shirt clutched under her chin. I knew better than to even try and ask for it.
Sure enough, she climbed into bed holding the shirt like other children might clutch a teddy bear. Emily climbed up to the top bunk and I was again treated to a shrill yelp that I am almost certain only young girl’s can produce.
She waved something that looked like a headband at me. I guess Jamie knew what each girl would like.
“In the morning, you girls need to tell Jamie thank you,” I said.
“We will,” they sing-songed in unison.
With that, I told them the story Jack and the Beanstalk for the hundredth time. After prayers and a kiss goodnight, I headed to where Melissa and I slept. When I got there, Melissa was digging through a basket of things.
“What’s all that?” I asked as I began peeling out of a few layers of clothing. It might be cold outside, but our sleeping bags got downright toasty when we slept together.
“I guess Jamie didn’t want to see this stuff.” Melissa held up an assortment of baby things we’d been accumulating. Of course we’d been dividing it between the two pregnant women. Now there was only one and she was loaded.
I peeled back the sleeping bag and found an envelope on my pillow. I sat down and opened it up. Inside were three photos of Teresa along with her driver’s license. I looked at the face of the young girl who was obviously very excited about getting her picture taken at the DMV. She looked so fresh-faced and innocent. I saw the date of issue: February 22nd of this year. She’d barley had the thing three months when the world had done a huge face-plant.
The other two pictures were ones she must’ve carried in her wallet. I guess she’d taken them out at some time. Not much use for wallets these days. So I could understand the shirt and hair band doo-hickey; I could understand the baby stuff. These pictures made no sense—
“Dammit!” I jumped up and ran for the door.
“What?” Melissa called after me.
“Just go get Dr. Zahn!” I yelled as I limped for the ladder that would take me up to the crow’s nest.
I hoped to God that I was wrong. Flipping open the hatch, a booted foot caught me on the side of the head. I looked up and felt like I would be sick. Dangling from one of the crossbeams by his belt was Jamie. His eyes were milky with black tracers.
I had to scoot against the wall on my butt to get away from the thrashing legs. He’d thought enough to gag himself and had even managed a set of handcuffs that he’d fastened over the cuffs of the thick leather gloves.
“Damn you, Jamie.”
17
Vignettes XXIV
“I do not wish to over step my place, mighty leader—” Markata leaned closer to Aaheru. He was almost in Ahi’s lap as the men who had been summoned to this council sat and ate at a large table in the lobby of what had once been a rundown hotel.
The table they used had been in the center of the lobby and once held racks of pamphlets for the tourists to pick through and decide where they might go to see “the wonders of Egypt.” It was now spread with an assortment of dried or pickled fruits and vegetables. A female stood behind each man with a bottle of water.
“Please forgive me,” Markata bowed his head. “I do not mean disrespect. It has been a long time…the age of Cleopatra would be the last true pharaoh of Egypt…until now.”
“We now have a leader worthy to bring Egypt back to her glory. No longer will she be a puppet for the West or a bargaining chip for the Bear in the north.” Ahi spoke with such reverence that it made Aaheru smile.
I have chosen well my right hand, he thought as he scanned the faces at the table. Markata would serve adequately if it came to negotiating with any other band that might equal theirs in strength. He was shrewd in nature, but not trustworthy. However, Aaheru did not hold out much hope that such a band would be found; that made Markata expendable. He would serve a purpose when the time came.
“I have done as you commanded and separated all of the women from the men,” the stern-faced man that many had taken to calling Dakarai—happy—as a joke, addressed Aaheru. “The ones who can bear children have been set aside from the others as you have bid.”
“Excellent,” Aaheru commended. “Now, as for tomorrow when we move for the ships, you are to place our best men as their escort. They are the mothers of our New Egypt. We can not let them fall. Understand that the men are expendable and while I will grieve the loss of capable fighters, there will be no future without those women.”
“And a few men falling by the wayside means more wives for the survivors,” one of the other men at the table said with a cheerless laugh.
Ahi bristled and he went for the blade at his side, but Aaheru placed a firm hand on the man’s arm and gave a slight shake of the head. The men who would fight often used morose humor to lighten their mood when their chances of survival were low.
Aaheru was no fool. He’d climbed up to the roof of this hotel with Ahi to see the route they would take. The first few miles would be easy. It seemed that the walking dead had chosen to stay close to the central part of the city for some unknown reason. Very few wandered the outskirts. In fact, they’d not had to kill more than a dozen to take the hotel and secure the area.
