by Ellis, Tara
“We’re glad you came,” Akuba reassured him. “But we are not without our own troubles.” She turned to Kavish. “Something has attacked the chickens. Recently, and with a bloodlust I have not witnessed before.”
Jess bounced anxiously on the balls of her feet, eager to retreat back to the house. She was already thinking of the extra candles she was going to pull out of storage, and where she would place them. Night was still hours away, but she saw no problem in planning ahead.
“I’ll go with you,” Slaider immediately offered to Kavish. “If you have weapons, we should ready them.”
“We have a couple of rifles,” Kavish confirmed. “But we could use more ammo.”
Slaider was shaking his head emphatically. “That won’t be enough. We must go in search of more tomorrow. How many of the Immune are here now?”
Jess frowned, confused by the question. “What do you mean?”
Glancing at Jess, Slaider then stared intensely at Akuba. “You know the past better than most. There is a war coming, and we have to prepare.”
Jess’s scowl deepened. She didn’t like what he was implying. “You’re talking about an ancient story from two-thousand years ago. I’m not about to be a part of planning how to attack and kill my own dad.”
“No one will be doing any such thing,” Akuba declared, glaring at Slaider. “We appreciate your offer to help protect the animals, and we will gladly take you up on it. Anyone is welcome here, so long as they are willing to work and contribute. But that is where it ends, Slaider. We’re all simply trying to survive, and I won’t have past stories used to encourage a fictional conflict.”
“This has nothing to do with my perception, and it certainly isn’t fictional,” Slaider insisted. “If what is happening at the Libi Nati Resort isn’t enough, then the unbalance in the animals of the Amazon should convince you. Sides must be chosen. It has been prophesized, Akuba. Surely, you remember that?”
Jess was already watching Akuba, and so she saw her immediate reaction at the mention of the prophecy. “What’s that?”
Akuba turned to her, and when she tried to look away without answering, Jess stepped forward and took her hand. “Please,” Jess pushed. “Tell me.”
“It is part of the ancient text on the walls of the Bergi Olo,” Akuba explained, reminding Jess of the location of the source of the Libi Nati. Letting out a heavy breath, she squinted at Kavish before looking at Jess again. “It has been translated many times over the years. This is the one shared by my mother: In the time of a great unrest, oceans will drain, lands will move, and a plague will be set free upon the Earth. As it has happened before, it will happen again, and only the chosen will endure.”
Jess was silent for a moment, as she considered the words carefully. “It happened before…” she muttered, her frown deepening. “You said the writing in the cave was thousands of years old.”
Akuba’s only confirmation was a slight bobble of her head.
“That means it has to be talking about another infection,” Jess gasped, understanding the implication. “A long time before the last Kra Puru.”
“Disi kai ala psa bifo,” Akuba whispered, reminding Jess of what she had said the first day of the MOHO event and the geyser eruption at the Libi Nati.
This has all happened before.
Chapter 4
PETA
Howard Air Force base, Panama
“Someone should wake him up.” Jason stared at Peta as he made the declaration, clearly indicting who he thought that someone was.
The man irritated her, and Peta wasn’t quite sure why. They’d hardly spoken to each other during the more than forty-eight hours since leaving the CDC lab, so she didn’t have much to go by. He’d spent most of his waking hours in the co-pilot seat, talking with Hernandez. The two of them apparently had tons in common and became fast friends. Which was the main reason she was annoyed that he was the one advocating to wake him up.
“You’re a doctor,” Peta reminded him, not moving from her spot. They were crammed into the back of the light utility helicopter. Hernandez had called it a UH something-or-other Lakota. All she knew was that it was pretty small, fast, and of course military, so lacked things like actual passenger seats or anything comfortable. “Don’t you think it’s important that he get some rest? He flew for over ten hours yesterday and can barely hold himself upright anymore.”
“The sun’s been up for over two hours,” Jason said with obvious agitation. He glanced at the other sleeping forms of Devon and Tyler.
Eddy and Marty were gone when Peta woke up, and she assumed it was for a bathroom break. She stared at Jason for a moment, waiting for him to make eye-contact with her before saying what was on her mind. He was a large, rough-looking man with a couple-weeks growth of beard and hard, green eyes. His brown hair was unkempt, and she had a feeling that even before their apocalyptic circumstances, he wasn’t overly concerned with his appearance. Which she might have found attractive in another world, but at the moment it only added to her frustrations. It made it harder to read the guy, and she always relied heavily upon her initial intuition when meeting people. But Jason was guarded. His walls were so thick that it would take a bulldozer to get through, and whether it was because of his time as a Marine or he was just a dull shell, she couldn’t tell.
“What?” He was openly staring at her.
Peta blinked and had to force herself not to look away. How long had he caught her studying him? Shrugging it off, she frowned and concentrated instead on what she wanted to say. “Unless you’re also a pilot, we need him functional for as long as possible. Forcing him to stay awake until he literally collapses isn’t going to help.”
“That was his decision,” Jason countered, referring to the harrowing scene from late the night before, when Hernandez passed out briefly while they were still in the air. “I tried to get him to stop as soon the sun started to set. Flying VLOS… um, by visual line of sight is dangerous enough right now. We don’t need to take unnecessary risks.”
Peta considered his answer, and had to admit that she believed him. She had no reason not to. Some of the angst she’d been allowing to build up ebbed, and she leaned forward slightly. “You were also a medic with the Marines, right?”
He nodded, his eyes narrowing.
“What do you think our chances are of getting the same kind of greeting we’ve managed so far?” She was referring to the chain of military bases they’d stopped at for refueling and to sleep. Fortunately, the severely understaffed and collapsing bases hadn’t questioned the obvious military helicopter flown by a military pilot, with some sort of official-looking paperwork Garrett had given him.
Peta hadn’t dug into the details of the logistics too much early on, but since they were at the southern end of Panama and getting ready to cross over into South American territory, she was beginning to worry more about it.
During their brief conversation the previous night, before they all fell into various levels of fitful sleep, Hernandez commented that they were running out of bases. She wanted to know what that meant. They were presently sitting in a far corner of Howard Air Force Base, near Panama City. They still had over two-thousand miles to go before reaching Suriname, according to their maps, and the helicopter had to stop every five to six hundred for fuel. If there weren’t any more bases, she had no idea what they were going to do. They were already knowingly flying on borrowed time. The ash plume was continuing to spread, and would eventually force them to the ground.
Peta raised her eyebrows questioningly when Jason didn’t answer her question right away. Finally, she saw an expression flitter across his face that she recognized. Sitting back, she tipped her head accusingly at him. “What aren’t you telling me?”
A brief grin, and then the wall was back in place. “This is the last base.”
“What—”
Jason held a hand up to silence her. “Before you try to find someone to blame, I just found out last night. It was why Hernandez
was hellbent on making it here. The maps and information Garrett had someone from avionics put together, mapped out a visual flight plan for him, but it pretty much ends here. Today will be our last push to make it over a substantial mountain range and to a city called Barinos, in Venezuela. We’ll be lucky if the ash doesn’t ground us first.”
“But he’s so sick,” Peta said quietly, the fight gone from her voice. She knew Jason was right, but she also knew Hernandez was dying.
“Yeah, he is,” Jason confirmed. “You’ve seen enough of The Kuru to know he’d already be dead by now if it wasn’t for the cocktail Garrett gave him. It isn’t just the ash and the fuel that we’re up against the clock with.”
Peta nodded in agreement. Knowing what was ahead of them, and what still had to be done before losing Hernandez as a pilot, changed her priorities. As much as she hated to acknowledge it, he was going to die whether he slept or not. By not facing it, their whole mission was being put further into jeopardy.
“What will we do once we’re in Barinos?” Devon was propped up on an elbow, watching them from the other side of the Helicopter. Tyler and Hernandez were asleep in between them.
Jason shrugged, glancing at Peta. “If The Kuru is as widespread in South America as it is in the States and Mexico, we shouldn’t have any trouble finding available ground transportation. Our main issue will be getting enough gas.”
“And the borders?” Devon pushed, sitting up. He rubbed at his face and then unsuccessfully tried to flatten his hair, which had taken on more of an afro appearance the past few days. “Because I’ve been to a couple of these countries over the years, and travel isn’t what you’d call easy or friendly.”
Peta winked at Devon before tossing him a bottle of water. “That makes you our official guide.” Looking back at Jason, she grew more serious. “He has a good point, though. What if the borders are still manned?”
“Then you’ll have to find another way in,” Hernandez interrupted. His voice was gravelly, and Peta could tell it took way too much effort just to speak. He was trying to sit up and Devon quickly maneuvered himself so Hernandez could lean back against his legs. “You’ll be crossing into Guyana, and then Suriname. Even if they somehow have enough forces left to guard the border crossing, which I doubt, it shouldn’t be difficult to find another route, or else overpower whoever’s left.”
Eddy pulled the side door open then, and stuck his head in. “I’d suggest we leave. Now.”
Marty jumped up and leapt past Peta with his tongue lolling, and a wild look in his eyes. He slammed into Jason hard enough to knock him backwards, and then tried to climb onto his lap, obviously worked up. As Eddy followed the dog inside with his arms full of snacks and water, Peta got a view of the open tarmac behind him.
“Who’s that?” Devon called out, before Peta had a chance to react.
Three people were running across the wide span of cement, two of them in uniform. One of them was bringing their rifle around to point it at the helicopter.
“Time to go!” Eddy shouted as he dropped the food and hauled Hernandez roughly to his feet. “Word got around that there’s a ride out of here, and we’re suddenly very popular.”
Peta slammed the door shut, and then shook Tyler awake as Eddy and Jason helped Hernandez into the pilot seat. “I thought the base was still under military control?” she asked, not convinced by his explanation.
Eddy glanced back at her. The roar of the engines coming to life made the helicopter vibrate with energy, and he stuck his arms out to brace himself in the opening to the cockpit. “I think the corporal who came out to greet us last night was using that term very loosely. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s him, his girlfriend, and probably his best bud coming to see us off.”
“Is there room?” Tyler asked groggily.
Peta balked at the suggestion, and was then quickly ashamed by her reaction. She could imagine how much unrest there was in a city as big as Panama. Military base or not, if it was overrun, nowhere would be safe from looters or riots.
“They’re sick,” Eddy said bluntly. “All of them. And from the calculations Hernandez has, we’ll be coasting into Barinos on fumes with the weight we’ve already got. It can’t be risked,” he added, matter-of-factly, before turning to face the cockpit.
“Um, guys!” Devon yelled, the noise of the aircraft increasing. “Might wanna get us off the ground. I think that guy is about to start shooting!”
Ping!
The statement was underscored by the rather subtle sound of a bullet ricocheting off the side of the helicopter, next to the door where Peta was kneeling. Falling away from the noise, she dropped to her stomach, below the level of the windows. Reaching out, she tugged at Tyler’s arm and pulled him down next to her. She’d managed to fulfill her promise to Bill so far, and she intended to keep the kid alive for as long as she could.
A second bullet rang off the metal as the helicopter lifted and rapidly ascended. It was closely followed by a third.
Peta prayed the guy was a bad shot, or at least didn’t know the best spot to hit them. She closed her eyes and waited for more. Or for the sound of a sputtering engine, or the same smell of smoke that filled the cabin the last time they crashed.
Her eyes snapped open.
As she expected, Tyler was curled up in a ball, hands pressed over his head and against his ears. After a few more minutes had passed without further incident, she closed the couple of feet between them and without thinking, wrapped her arms around him.
“We’re okay,” Peta whispered, pulling at him gently until he sat up. When he hesitantly lowered his arms, she took his head in her hands and forced him to look at her. “We’re okay.” When she was sure he was in control, and he offered her a small nod of confirmation, she let him go.
To her relief, he smiled sheepishly before shaking it off, and grabbing at one of the bottles of water that was rolling around on the floor. “Looks like Eddy scored us a vending machine,” he said, picking up a candy bar and bag of chips.
Devon caught the bag of chips Tyler threw at him, and then cautiously went to look out one of the windows. Peta joined him to stare out at the massive city falling away below them. Smoke rose from numerous locations, and the whole area was dark and unmoving as far as they could see, out to where it met the sea.
“Good riddance, Panama,” Tyler said, offering a half-hearted salute.
Peta continued to watch as the buildings were replaced with rising mountains and dense vegetation. She tried not to think of the hundreds of miles of dangerous, untamed terrain they still had to travel, let alone how they were going to do it. “Goodbye, civilization,” she whispered.
Chapter 5
TYLER
Somewhere over Colombia
Peta hadn’t said much for the past hour, not since they divvied up the snacks and reclaimed their spots on the floor of the helicopter. Tyler sat looking out a window, watching the endless mountains and increasingly dense jungle flow past beneath them. They weren’t flying that high. At least, not nearly as high as commercial planes. Jason said something the day before about how the helicopter’s upper “deck” was eighteen-thousand feet. And that they were flying quite a bit lower than that because of the ash, and since Hernandez had to navigate by sight, instead of radar.
Tyler had heard part of the conversation between Peta and Jason, so he knew they were in even more trouble than when they started out. He was trying not to get too irritated about not being included in what he considered pretty critical stuff. Sure, he was sixteen, but it was his life, too. Peta was just trying to look out for him, and after his freak-out, he couldn’t deny he needed some help. But that didn’t mean he shouldn’t be included in discussing their looming demise and how to avoid it. He might even surprise ‘em and come up with some pretty good ideas.
Wiggling his fingers at Marty, Tyler tried to lure the dog over to him with the promise of a head scratch or belly rub. For a reason he hadn’t figured out yet, the German Shepard had
been basically glued to Peta’s side since they all piled into the helicopter together. She didn’t strike him as much of an animal person, and other than having a hand resting on his back, he hadn’t seen much affection between the two. It was more of a…relaxed co-existence.
Like all the other times they’d been on the run, or traveling to an unknown destination, there wasn’t a whole lot of chatting going on. Part of it was because of the noise. The smaller helicopter wasn’t nearly as bad as the last two, but you still had to either wear a headset or practically have your heads touching to be heard without yelling. It took too much effort, and they were all so physically and emotionally drained that it was easier to stay inside your own head, or sleep.
Jason had dubbed himself as co-pilot, and was spending all his time up front with Hernandez. Eddy seemed to prefer to stand at the back of the cockpit, looking out the front, instead of sitting on the floor with the rest of them. That was fine with Tyler. He wasn’t quite as freaked out by Eddy as he used to be, but he still didn’t trust him. He couldn’t. Not when he knew the guy didn’t have enough emotions left to feel much of anything. How would you measure right or wrong, and what was morally okay if you couldn’t feel? He still wondered if Eddy did anything back at the base to make those people chase him. Would he have bothered to lie about it if he had? Since Eddy seemed to think everything he did or said was based purely on intelligent thought, and therefore foolproof, then he wouldn’t feel like he had to lie about the choices he made. And it seemed like the whole purpose of lying was something driven by feelings of guilt, or greed, or—
Tyler shook his head and looked away from the window. Thinking about it gave him a headache. That thought kicked his anxiety up another notch, because then he worried that maybe he was finally showing the first symptom of The Kuru. That he wasn’t immune like they all wanted to believe, and he was going to die after abandoning his dad, making everything they were doing for nothing.
