Teddy held up his hands and tried to edge past her. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
Nana grabbed his wrists with a sudden ferocity that he hadn’t expected. She leaned towards him and shouted. “Ayudarla!”
Teddy tore away from the old lady’s boney grasp, turned, and ran down the stairs as if hell itself was nipping at his heels.
Behind him, he heard Nana erupt into a violent coughing spasm.
Safely outside, Teddy didn’t stop running as he cut across the main square and towards the pier.
Passersby stopped and watched him, curious, but he didn’t pay them any mind.
His fear was irrational yet all-consuming. Every fiber of his being told him to get out of that town as quickly as humanly possible.
He saw Ein still sitting in the boat and slowed down to a fast walk as soon as he got on the pier.
Teddy stepped into the boat and got behind the helm.
“How is she?” Ein asked.
Teddy hesitated. He kept his attention focused on the controls as he started the engine.
“How is she?” Ein repeated in a louder voice.
“She’s… She’s fine, kid.” Teddy pushed the throttle forward and steered the craft away from the shoreline. “She’s doing just fine.”
CHAPTER 13
DECEMBER 30th
11:02 AM
Progress had been slow.
Shortly after leaving Dover, they came across a collapsed suspension bridge and an assortment of rusting military vehicles that poked up out of the water like iron buoys. Skeletons still wearing army fatigues washed up on the riverbanks.
Teddy figured that the army convoy was once headed north towards a significant city like Saint Louis or even Chicago.
It looked to him that whatever genius used to be in charge had severely overestimated the bridge’s weight capacity and sent well over fifty tanks, APCs, and flatbeds crashing down into the Cumberland River.
Between the scattered vehicles and twisted remains of the fallen bridge, there was no way he would’ve been able to navigate the boat safely through.
He took a detour along a northbound creek that cuts through the Shawnee National Forest.
The creek proved to be a disaster in its own right.
Weeds and overgrowth gummed up the motorboat’s propeller, and jagged rocks beat up the hull.
After clearing the trash off of the propeller, Teddy set up camp in a clearing just south of a small abandoned town called Golden Lilly.
Ein was quiet, depressed, and quite frankly miserable company.
Teddy wasn’t much for conversation himself.
No matter what he did, he couldn’t stop thinking about Lizzy.
He kept trying to tell himself that the reason Lizzy got sick had nothing to do with Ein, but he remembered the doctor’s words all too well: asymptomatic carrier.
Even if he found a haven on some Caribbean island, how long would it be before Ein wiped them out?
He was traveling with goddamn Typhoid Mary, and he didn’t know what to do next.
On that night, right after dinner, Teddy lay down and closed his eyes, but he didn’t consider eight hours of tossing and turning as any sleep.
CHAPTER 14
DECEMBER 31st
9:00 AM
Teddy finally found a creek that fed into the Mississippi River.
The river looked like a vast muddy ocean littered with capsized fishing boats, shipping tankers, and numerous rusting vehicles that floated lazily on their backs downriver.
Teddy kept the craft close to the shoreline so that he wouldn’t get turned around in confusion.
He could avoid the obstacles easily enough during the daytime, given how much maneuverability the large river provided him. Still, he knew traveling at night was no longer an option since he wouldn’t be able to see for shit.
If he struck one of the hazards lurking in the water, their tiny boat would join the others in the watery graveyard.
Large poplars and white oaks were starting to give way to a desolate suburban sprawl. In the distance, there was the faint outline of a city skyline.
Teddy knew they were getting close to a major city, but he didn’t know which one.
After a while, they all started to look the same.
Small ranch homes and apartment complexes overlooked the river, and most of them had their windows covered with plywood as if bracing for a major hurricane instead of a virus.
A few of the boarded doorways had spray-painted symbols on them, similar to what Teddy had seen a long time ago when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.
The cryptic markings, he recalled, indicated whether or not the building had been searched and numbered how many corpses lay inside.
Teddy was disturbed by the sight of the markings. He knew it meant that FEMA was around once before, and he prayed like hell that they weren’t around any longer.
Homes and apartments gave way to looted strip malls and vandalized shopping centers. Vines were encroaching up the commercial structures, and the overgrowth had already begun to reach out into the traffic-jammed streets.
He figured that winter would kill off the plants and temporary stunt the growth, but everything would come back with a vengeance by the time summer rolled around again.
Teddy wondered just how long it would be before nature reclaimed everything that was left behind.
They were close enough to make out the city’s skyline. A glass pyramid stood next to the river and reflected the early morning sun.
A crooked billboard displayed in cartoonish lettering: Memphis Comic Con—Oct 18, 19 & 20—Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.
“We’re in Memphis.” It was the first time Teddy had spoken to Ein ever since dinner.
“Are we stopping?” Ein asked.
“It looks deserted.” Teddy was relieved about the fact that there wasn’t anybody around for the kid to possibly infect. “So yeah, we’re stopping. Gas, food, water… The usual.”
“I don’t feel like stopping,” Ein said in a muted voice.
“Do you like eating?” The annoyance in Teddy’s voice was evident. “There aren’t any free meals—do your part. I’m not going to coddle you the whole trip just because you have a case of the blues.”
“It’s not the blues, asshole!” Ein exclaimed angrily.
“Don’t bullshit me, kid. You’ve been a miserable prick ever since we’ve left Dover. What’s your deal?”
Ein fell silent for several minutes as he stared out at the shoreline. “Something’s wrong with me.”
Teddy wondered if the kid had figured out the truth about Lizzy’s health. “Wrong? What do you mean?”
Ein shook his head and sighed. “No matter where I go or what I do, all I seem to do is piss people off.”
“I don’t see that.”
“I do,” he emphasized. “And it’s not just what happened in Dover—I’ve been like this ever since this whole mess started. Whenever I meet a new group of people, I always say or do something stupid and end up making a goddamn mess of things.”
Teddy shrugged. “It’s no use beating yourself up. There are enough pricks left in the world to do that for you, trust me. What brought this on anyway?”
“I’ve just been thinking.” Ein looked down. “I’ve been doing a lot of that lately.”
“About Lizzy?”
Ein nodded.
“What’s done is done.” Teddy turned his attention back to the water. “She made her choice, and there was nothing you could’ve done to convince her otherwise.”
“Exactly,” Ein muttered. “She made her choice, and I should’ve respected that… Instead, I snapped at her.” He reached up and cupped his cheek as if remembering the slap she had given him.
“What did you say?”
Ein hesitated. “I called her an ungrateful bitch.” He shifted in his seat, uncomfortable, and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Jeez, kid… Don’t have much expe
rience with women, do you?”
“I didn’t even mean what I said. I was just pissed off,” Ein admitted. “The worst part is that she was right about my intentions, you know? It was all about me and what I wanted—I wanted her.”
Teddy raised a brow. “Look, I’m not one to give life advice, but if you’re trying to get a piece of tail, then you need to have a little tact to your game.”
“It wasn’t just about sex.” Ein paused and shook his head, furrowing his brows. “Well, maybe partly—she was attractive—but there was something else too.”
“That makes you human. It doesn’t mean that there’s something wrong with you.”
“It was more than that. I didn’t want her to leave…” Ein looked down at the tattoo on the back of his hand and scowled. “Ever since this whole mess started, I’ve felt like a black sheep. Lizzy treated me like a normal person. I didn’t know how lonely I was until I finally met someone who didn’t look right through me or treat me like some science experiment.”
“Lonely?” Teddy looked at him. “Kid, not for nothing, but I’m here, right?”
“Yeah, but not like she was.” Ein wiped his eyes impatiently. “I needed the type of companionship she offered, you know? When I was with her, I escaped this place for a little bit. Now that she’s gone, it’s just you, me, and this fucking boat. I’m just tired of feeling so alone.”
Teddy couldn’t understand. “We’ve been together ever since we left that camp. I don’t see how you consider that being alone.”
“It’s not the same, Teddy.” Ein sighed. “We don’t have the same interests, and we barely even talk…”
“What do you expect from me? I’m not much of a talker. I’m used to being alone.”
“I know, but unlike you, I haven’t spent the better part of my life in prison.”
“Careful, kid…”
Ein held up his hands and shook his head. “I’m not trying to be disrespectful—I’m trying to make a point. I’m not used to this way of life. I used to have friends, but now they’re dead. All I do is eat, sleep, and shit. What’s the point?”
“You’re alive, and I’m alive, and that’s the only thing that matters,” Teddy eventually said. “You’re right about me, for what it’s worth. I never was a big fan of people. My life has always been simpler when I’m alone. You’re a pain in the ass sometimes, but I like having you around.” He turned towards him and smiled. “Unlike Lizzy, I can’t talk about all of that pop culture bullshit that you like, but I plan on sticking this out to end with you, kid.”
The smile was infectious—Ein smiled as well.
“What’s the plan once we reach the gulf anyway?” Ein asked. “We’ll need a bigger boat if we’re going all the way to the Caribbean or Mexico.”
That was something Teddy had given a lot of thought to during the night. “Maybe we won’t have to go that far.”
Ein looked confused. “What are you thinking?”
“We could stay at one of the small barrier islands off the coast of Louisiana,” Teddy said.
Ein thought for a moment, considering it. “There are islands by Louisiana?”
“Quite a few at the mouth of the Mississippi. Some are tiny strips of land, but we could set up a place and then travel back to the mainland when we need supplies.” It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was the only one that didn’t involve the kid killing off a bunch of innocents just by breathing.
“Does anybody live on those things?”
“Nope. It’s perfect—nobody will be there to fuck with us.”
“What about FEMA? They could still find us…”
“Nah.” Teddy sounded unsure, but he kept talking nonetheless. “They won’t bother searching every little island, inlet, and outlet.”
Ein kept silent for a few moments before shaking his head. “I like the Bahama idea better.”
“Why bother?” Teddy asked. “I think we could have a nice life right off the coast.”
“I already told you… I’m lonely. I know that you don’t care much for others, but Dover was pretty nice. Maybe there’s still a community like that out there somewhere. Shouldn’t we at least try to see for ourselves?”
Teddy’s expression soured as he stared out at the river. That hard-headed kid seemed determined to make him spill the news. Instead of engaging in an uncomfortable discussion, he decided to kick the can down the road for another time: “We’ll see.”
Ein went silent and frowned.
The river gradually narrowed as they got closer to the city, and Teddy could easily see both shorelines. The tapered waterway became congested with sinking fishing boats, an assortment of rusty vehicles, and a variety of floating debris.
Teddy managed to weave through the mess quickly enough, although he knew it would prove to be much more challenging as the evening drew closer.
They passed the glass pyramid and went underneath the Interstate 40 bridge as they neared the heart of downtown Memphis.
Unlike the outlying streets and the other bridges they had passed, I-40 was clear in both directions. The cars and trucks had been hauled off somewhere—probably dumped in the river for all Teddy knew.
It was eerily empty.
While Teddy was busy staring at the interstate, Ein was eyeing the skyscrapers.
“Check that out,” Ein said as he pointed at the shore.
Teddy turned and noticed that most of the office buildings had lights on in their windows. The side-streets were still full of crash-ups and stalls, but the traffic signals were working dutifully.
Even though electricity had been restored to an entire section of the city, Teddy couldn’t see a single soul.
He didn’t like it.
“Lights are on, but nobody’s home,” Teddy said. “Doesn’t that seem odd to you?”
Ein stared at the shoreline. “Do you think it’s another ambush?”
“No—someone is cleaning up and getting the place back in order,” Teddy said, recalling his job detail at the labor camp. “I have a pretty good idea who, too.”
Ahead, a barge vessel had run aground, and its bow jutted up onto a pier. It smashed most of the dock to wooden splinters and toppled a cargo crane.
Instead of cargo containers, the barge hauled corpses; some were in body bags, but most were left to rot in the open. Hundreds of men, women, and children had been heaped onto the barge in a helter-skelter manner and then dusted with slaked lime. Buzzards circled overhead and periodically swooped down to take opportunistic bites.
Teddy steered the boat around the barge and glanced up at the dead. “Looks like they’ve been busy.”
Ein finally understood what he was getting at. “You think this is all FEMA’s work, don’t you?”
“I’m pretty sure that they’re around here somewhere.” Teddy frowned and pushed the throttle forward and accelerated. “Forget searching for supplies. Let’s get away from here and stop at the next town.”
“Fine by me.” Ein wrapped his arms around his chest and glanced around nervously over his shoulder. “Place is kind of spooky anyway… I feel like we’re being watched.”
“Me too, kid.”
The boat cut around the stern and continued down the river.
Teddy’s nervousness turned to sheer panic as soon as he saw what lay before him.
“What’s that?” Ein sat up and stared ahead.
A massive concrete wall constructed out of prefabricated slabs zig-zagged along the narrow downtown streets and cordoned off a section of the city. Guard towers were erected along the top of the wall and had an array of spotlights mounted to their roofs. FEMA police officers patrolled the catwalks that ran along the top of the wall and stared off into the desolate horizon. Sprayed across the wall were thick black letters that read: MEMPHIS SAFE ZONE.
“That’s one of their fortified cities that I was telling you about!” Teddy turned the helm and spun the boat back towards the shoreline. As the craft accelerated, the propeller jettisoned water high into the air.
Within seconds the boat was safely back behind the cover of the barge and headed towards the pier.
Ein clung to his seat to avoid getting thrown off. “Why not just drive past it?”
Teddy rolled his eyes. “They’ll pick us off the moment we try something stupid like that.”
“We’re not doing anything to them, though!” Ein argued.
“That doesn’t matter,” Teddy said. “In case you forgot, we’re wanted fugitives.”
The boat slowed and bumped against the broken pier. It knocked off a few of the already damaged planks and sent them crashing into the water.
Teddy anchored it to one of the support pillars. He climbed out of the boat and turned to offer Ein a hand.
Ein frowned and looked at him doubtfully.
“Hurry up!” Teddy growled as he motioned for him to grab his hand. “If they have perimeter patrols outside, I don’t want to be standing around in the open.”
Ein took the offered hand and was yanked up onto the pier. He rubbed his aching back and looked around.
Teddy took some of the pier’s broken wooden planks and placed them over the boat. He tossed a few old ropes and whatever trash he could find nearby atop for good measure.
Satisfied that the vessel was at least somewhat obscured, he dusted his hands off and started walking up the embankment.
Ein followed. “So, what now? We’re walking the rest of the way?”
“No—we’re laying low for now.” Teddy headed towards the back of an old shipping warehouse. It was a small aluminum building that resembled a miniature aircraft hangar. The lights were on, but the row of windows along the roof had been shattered. “We’ll move in the middle of the night and sneak past their watchmen when it’s dark, and they’re half asleep.”
Ein looked over his shoulder at the numerous pieces of debris that floated in the brown water. Most of it looked small and benign, but some looked capable of ripping their hull apart. “You won’t be able to see anything… It sounds dangerous.”
“Trying to move right under their noses during daylight is even more dangerous,” Teddy said. “I’ve dealt with these trigger-happy motherfuckers before when they sent us to work in Topeka. I do not doubt in my mind that they’re the type who will shoot first and ask questions later.”
H7N9- The Complete Series Page 66
