by Ellis, Tara
Tyler came to stand beside her, and they looked at each other silently. They were at a point where it wasn’t necessary anymore to try and think of something appropriate to say to each other. Too many aspects of their experiences were beyond rational explanation.
“Definitely local military,” Jason confirmed, as he reemerged around the back of the truck. “It’s hard to guess, same as with the ferry terminal, but they probably met local resistance to forced evacuations. Or, maybe the government decided to try and round up everyone who was sick. There’re two uniformed bodies, and they’re both wearing gas masks. They’ve been here for at least two, maybe three days.”
“Could have been a futile attempt at creating forced internment camps,” Eddy agreed, nodding at Jason. “Which, for a less aggressive disease might have actually worked, if implemented fast enough.”
Peta sucked in a disgustingly foul breath and scowled at Eddy. That the man had no problem with the idea of mass extermination as a way to curb The Kuru shouldn’t have been surprising, but it was still shocking.
“What about the truck?” Tyler asked, choosing to skip over all of the unpleasantries and focus on what they still needed.
Jason pointed at the tires. “One, we could have dealt with. But all four are flat, and it looks like there was some damage to the engine compartment.”
Devon was already walking again. “If you all want to hang around and enjoy the aroma, go ahead. I’m ready to find some shade and a glass of water.”
After the next bend in the road, a small wooden sign announced the town of Wagen, population one-thousand one-hundred and four. Peta didn’t know why she found the sign so fascinating. That in the middle of the Amazonian rainforest, a tiny village thought it important to add the four on the end. She wondered how many of them remained. If the numbers held steady in South America, that extra four might be all that was left.
“There,” Jason was saying, as he pointed off to the left of the sign.
Peta could see the first stucco building set back into the trees. It was a small, square structure and definitely looked abandoned, but not recently. The jungle had already partially reclaimed it, and it was missing a door.
As they got closer, the road widened and the jungle receded, revealing several more buildings and what finally looked like recently occupied homes. A goat wandered down a dirt side road, and several chickens were gathered on the porch of the nearest house. A bike lay in the grass of the front yard and there was a heavy, eerie silence that filled the space.
Peta sighed in relief when she saw a more formidable storefront up ahead, and what looked like a gas station. A scattering of vehicles dotted what amounted to the town’s main street.
“Looks like the fight started here,” Jason said, gesturing to the signs of a gunfight, and another burned-out car.
Peta didn’t see any bodies right away, and for some reason that made the empty street even more disturbing. There should have been some bodies.
Eddy was headed for a jeep parked in what looked like a driveway a short distance up the road. Devon jogged after him, with Tyler and Marty trailing behind.
Jason turned to look back the way they’d come, his rifle held at the ready, across his chest. He glanced over and grinned when he saw Peta watching him. “I’ll keep an eye out in this direction, if you want to focus on the other end?” When she hesitated, he squinted at her. “You do know how to use that, don’t you?”
Peta swallowed, and decided honesty was the best course of action. “If you’d briefly go over the safety mechanism and how to fire it, I’ll be good to go. I’ve done it before, but it’s, uh…been a few years.”
Scratching at his jaw, his hand hid his initial reaction, so Peta wasn’t sure if he was angry or amused. Regardless, he grunted and then took the weapon from her hands. “Here,” he said, pointing. “It’s on safety, so flip it up to fire. It’s already loaded, so all you have to do is pull this charging handle back—right here,” he said, touching the handle. “To lock it in. You do know how to aim?”
Okay, so he was amused. Peta smirked at him and took the rifle back. “Thanks. Yeah, I know the rest.”
“Safety,” Jason said casually.
Peta stared at him; eyebrow raised. “Huh?”
He pointed at the rifle. “Put the safety back on.”
Blushing, she fumbled with the switch, fully aware that her whole internal conversation and plotting from earlier about pleading her case to be his back-up was not going well. When he suddenly stiffened and raised his rifle, her initial reaction was further confusion, thinking she’d done something else wrong.
“Hey!” Jason shouted.
When he called out, Peta finally reacted appropriately and used her thumb to toggle the safety switch off again, as she turned to see whoever had caught his attention.
A woman was leaning casually in the open doorway of the house with the chickens and bike in the yard. She was across the street from them, but close enough so that Peta could see her face. She didn’t look scared, but like someone who had accepted their fate.
“Hello! Hola!” Jason tried again, lowering the rifle part-way.
The woman responded by stepping out and to the side, making room for a man to come out. His hands were empty, and he was also moving in a relaxed, non-threatening manner. “Hola,” he called back, but without vigor.
A child no older than five ran out between them, and was closely followed by another man and woman. Once all of them were stationed on the porch and in the yard, an old man finally emerged. He walked down the sidewalk until he had reached the road, twenty feet away from where Peta and Jason stood.
“Dejanos,” he whispered, pointing down main street.
“He says to leave,” Devon said, walking rapidly toward them. “There’s a couple more people in another house by us, too,” he added, sounding concerned.
Jason waved him off, and Peta turned to see Eddy and Tyler were still beside the jeep, holding Marty back. Two other men were standing opposite them, next to the gas station. They didn’t appear to have any sort of weapons, and were leaning against the building, arms folded across their chests.
“The Jeep?” Jason asked, not looking away from the old man.
“Keys are inside,” Devon said quickly, looking nervously around at the remaining residents of Wagen.
The child laughed as she chased a chicken, and one of the men on the porch was as fidgety as Devon. Peta didn’t think they were a part of the Cured crowd, but it was getting difficult to discern the difference between emotionless and emotionally scarred.
“Tell them all we need is that jeep, if that would be okay, and nothing else,” Jason ordered Devon, his gaze unwavering. “And that we aren’t here to hurt anyone.”
After what seemed like an awfully long dialogue from Devon, the old man simply raised a hand and pointed down the road in response. Jason slowly reached back and touched Peta on the arm as he lowered his rifle the rest of the way, so she did the same. When that didn’t elicit a reaction from any of the people, he took her by the wrist and they walked together toward Devon.
The old man nodded once and then shuffled back to the house. All but the child followed him inside, and Peta didn’t think she’d ever forget the image of the half-naked, dirty little girl playing with the chickens in the remnants of what used to be her world.
“The town of Wagen is defying the odds,” Jason said as they approached the jeep that Eddy already had running. Tyler was getting settled in the back with Marty, watching them anxiously.
Peta considered the comment, and frowned. “There shouldn’t be more than two to four, at the most.” She was happy to discover that the death rate might not be as high in the small town in Suriname, though it implied a change in the behavior of the prions.
As she climbed into the jeep, she saw the two men at the gas station were still watching them. Observing.
Goosebumps rose on her arms as an unexplainable instinct overrode her optimism. When Peta saw h
ow Jason was looking at her, she knew he felt it, too. There was another aspect to the disease playing out in the depths of the Amazon, and she was afraid they were about to find out what it was.
Chapter 23
TYLER
Near Pokigron, Suriname
“So, when you say it’s the end of road, you mean it literally?” Devon asked, looking up at Jason in the rearview mirror. Tyler laughed at his expression, even though his legs were cramping from being crouched down in the very back of the old, bare-bones jeep for over two hours.
“The end of the paved road,” Jason corrected. He waved a different map than the one they’d been using up until then. “It’s where the real fun begins.”
“Is that what this has been?” Peta scoffed, snatching the new map away from him. “I’d hate to find out what you consider dangerous.”
The mood had lightened considerably once they were moving again, and they had some solid miles behind them and that weird town. It was a relief to Tyler, because as strange and mismatched as they appeared, they were all that was left of his surrogate family. He needed them to get along.
“How’s the gas?” Eddy asked from his co-pilot position. He hadn’t said much after the whole cow-in-the-truck guy incident, but gas management was definitely his thing.
Peta didn’t wait for Devon’s answer, and instead leaned forward from the back seat to stare at the dash. Moaning, she sat back heavily, nearly hitting Tyler in the nose with the back of her head. “Not good.”
“I said we were getting low a half-hour ago,” Devon reminded everyone. “I clearly announced we were down to a quarter-tank.”
As if on cue, a rusted road sign came into view. As they passed it, Tyler saw it listed the town of Pokigron as only ten kilometers away.
“It’ll be enough to get us there,” Eddy said, without any hint of doubt.
“I’m sure it would be, but that doesn’t mean we should wait to stop there,” Jason countered.
Tyler sighed. He figured it wasn’t much different from the typical banter any group would have when traveling together, except that for them the stakes were much higher than getting to a reservation on time. He had to agree with Jason, though. “I’m all about not stopping in a town again,” he said, reaching out to drape an arm around Marty. “Like, ever.”
Peta chuckled. “I’m with Tyler.”
“No one’s been violent since Guayana City,” Eddy said, twisting around so he could face Jason and Peta. “If we come across something before Pokigron then I also think that we should stop, but I don’t quite understand your reluctance. I find the number of survivors in the area to be fascinating. I think it might even prove beneficial to try and speak with more of them to determine if they’re immune, or have recovered from The Kuru. The more data we have, the better.”
Tyler knew that Peta was some big-time scientist, and Jason was a doctor. So, if what Eddy said made sense even to him, then he’d expect them to agree. Except, neither of them answered right away, and Tyler could tell they were trying to come up with a good argument against it.
Jason cleared his throat and then rubbed roughly at his face. “It’s more about a feeling, Eddy,” he said with obvious frustration. “Call it instinct, or training…or my gut. But I know we’re in danger every time we’ve come across either a town, or a group of people, and sometimes even when we’re simply standing still and it’s too damn quiet. Our objective hasn’t changed, and it isn’t to take a poll and interview people, but to get to the Libi Nati. Every time we stop and expose ourselves, we risk more of a delay, or failing to reach our goal altogether.”
“I think Eddy does have a really good point,” Peta said, surprising Tyler. “And after we’ve gotten to the hot springs and figure out what we’re going to do next, then I’m all over looking at the bigger picture and what’s going on here. But Jason is also right, and I feel it, too. It’s taking too much unnecessary risk at this point.”
Eddy seemed to carefully consider their words, and then shrugged. “I’ll have to defer to Jason’s instincts and your field experience, then.” Shifting, he included Devon in the conversation. “Perhaps once we’re settled, I could recruit your help in conducting a larger investigation.”
Devon looked stricken, his eyes flitting up to the rearview mirror again and begging someone to help him. “Um, well…how about you hit me up for that parade later on, and we can talk more about it then?”
Grinning, Tyler turned back around and attempted to relax as Eddy and Devon’s conversation continued. Marty took advantage of his lap, and lay his head down so that Tyler could scratch at his ears. His stomach grumbled, and Tyler realized they hadn’t really eaten anything since the day before, and it was already after dinner time. If he was hungry, Marty had to be starving.
The road flowed away behind them, and it was easy to become mesmerized by it. Filtered sunlight dappled the cement in dizzying patterns as it passed through the tall, dense canopy of the rainforest. It continued to thicken as they moved further inland, and Tyler didn’t even want to consider what it was going to be like once the sun went down.
He was doing his best not to think about Hernandez, but every once in a while, he had an unexpected upwelling of dread. Like he’d forgotten to do something really important, or left something critical and unforgiveable behind. Then, he’d realize it was Hernandez that was missing. That he hadn’t forgotten him, but intentionally left his cold body buried under too-thin a layer of dirt, alongside a dingy cement building in a country he’d never heard of before.
Tyler pulled Marty a little closer as the emotions threatened to bubble to the surface again, and he bit at his lower lip to help maintain control. He couldn’t lose it. Not yet. Not until they were inside four secure walls and maybe even had some light, so that he felt safe and not so vulnerable. It was like he was afraid whatever evil was lurking would take advantage of his moment of weakness and pounce.
Closing his eyes against the imagery the thoughts were conjuring up, Tyler instead tried to picture the beach back on Madagascar. The cove where Mikael’s parents had their resort. He managed to get lost in it for all of about twenty seconds before guilt over his best friend quickened his pulse and forced his eyes open.
Tyler was learning how hard guilt was to live with. Anger, fear, hate…those were all emotions he could at least bury enough so he could still function, and take them out later to examine. But guilt? It was eating away at him, no matter how deep he tried to shove it down. Guilt at abandoning his best friend, over his mother’s death, the decision to leave his dad, and—Hernandez.
He wasn’t sure if it was because he wanted to give him the pills, or because he didn’t a whole lot sooner, before Hernandez spent so long needlessly suffering. Either way, it came down to being selfish. That was the only reason they kept him alive for so long, and the reason Hernandez held on was for them, not himself.
Taking a shuddering breath, Tyler wiped at his nose and focused on the trees. He was still being selfish. He should be glad that his friend wasn’t being tortured any longer. Instead, he was finding ways to make it all about himself. Or, maybe it was to avoid thinking about his dad. Tyler flinched at the thought, as it caused a painful spasm in his stomach.
No. No, he couldn’t go there. Not yet.
“We’re coming up on something!” Devon shouted.
Tyler was glad for the distraction from his own self-recrimination. Disrupting Marty, he happily got back onto his knees for a better look. Sure enough, about a quarter-mile up the road, there was a huge span of open space and what looked a large, weathered barn.
“There’s a tractor out front, but I don’t see a house,” Eddy observed.
Devon slowed, trying to decide if they should stop. “Do those things take gas or diesel?”
“It looks old enough to run off gas,” Peta answered. When Jason raised an eyebrow at her, she scoffed. “Why is it so surprising that I know that? I was raised on a farm.”
“Really?” Jason sounde
d surprised. “I have to admit that Australia is a country I haven’t had a chance to make it to. What kind of farms do they have there?”
The Jeep bounced over the uneven terrain as they pulled off the blacktop and drew closer to the tractor. Tyler searched the open fields around the barn, relieved not to see any signs of anyone living or currently working there.
“It was a horse farm,” Peta answered. “But I’ve driven my share of heavy equipment, and that relic probably runs on gas,” she added, gesturing at the large tractor.
“Hey!” Tyler interrupted, pointing at the barn. “There’s a riding lawn mover over there. Those take gas, don’t they? Ours did.”
“Yes!” Devon hooted. Throwing the Jeep in park, he was the first to jump out.
Tyler eagerly clambered out the back and had to take a moment to stretch before he could trust his legs. Marty began running in excited circles, his muzzle buried in the grass. Whatever he smelled must have been pretty good, because it was the most energetic Tyler had seen the dog act in days.
A familiar sound caught his attention. Tyler realized it was a car approaching at about the same time everyone else reacted. Jason was the first to have his weapon ready, and he held the rifle to his side as the vehicle came into view. It was coming from the same direction they were headed, and there were two men inside. While the car slowed and they stared out the open windows with curiosity, they didn’t call out or stop.
As it disappeared from view, Tyler had that weird feeling again that they were doing something wrong. It was the second car they’d seen that afternoon, since getting the jeep. The other one had passed them going the opposite direction about an hour earlier. A woman was behind the wheel and she never even slowed down. Tyler had seen her face, and she’d looked terrified.
It was strange. Tyler thought that with most everyone dying, the ones left would want to find each other. That they’d want to be together and figure things out, not be isolated and alone. Instead, it seemed like they were all too scared to even take a chance at saying hi. He didn’t understand how it had changed so fast. How everyone went from one extreme to another. Maybe it was different back in the States. Although, they’d already witnessed it to a certain degree on the streets of Reno, and even the highway leading away from it, at the rest stops. And that was early on in the infection.
