The Plague Runner

by Burgy, P. J.

  “Yeah. I’ll say it again.” Kara approached the bars of the cage. She stopped, leaving a good two feet between herself and the metal cage separating her from Meredith and Michael. “You’re crazy.”

  Meredith laughed, rubbing her forehead into her brother’s chest. Michael didn’t react at all, continuing to watch Kara with those black, empty eyes. When Meredith stepped away from the bars, she happened to spare a glance toward Russell, having heard him whine, and was shocked to see that he had moved. His back was no longer to her, but he was hiding his face against the wall, his breathing ragged.

  “I don’t want him to eat you, Kara, but I certainly won’t stop him. Maybe you can talk some sense into him, hm?” Meredith said. “We don’t have all day though. There is a ceremony to prepare for. If he doesn’t do in the next few minutes, we’re going to leave, and he knows what that means.”

  “Maybe it’s better if he eats me,” Kara muttered.

  “Not to him. Look how he suffers.” Meredith indicated toward Russell.

  Kara looked again and saw that Russell was staring at her. His brows were knit, his lips pulled back in a grimace. He was drooling that black stuff, thick and wet, hanging in quivering strands that refused to break off and drop to the dirty concrete floor. The black around his eyes was glossy, running down his cheeks to his jaw. Those were still Russell’s eyes, the light was still on. The giant black pupils focused on Kara and she nodded to him, smiling. “Russ.”

  He vomited up black bile onto the ground and gagged, clenching his jaw and pushing himself against the wall. Kara saw his eyes narrow, only the bloodstained whites of his eyes visible. He appeared to be having a seizure.

  “The longer you hold off, the worse it gets, Russell,” Meredith whispered. She brought her gaze over to Kara. “He’s dying. Starving to death. He’ll go mad before his body lets him kill himself. His body will find a way to survive, even if it has to overpower his mind to do it. He’ll tear you apart any moment now. I may stay to watch that. A pity, but, entertaining at least.”

  One of the guards made a low, gravely sound in the back of his throat. He was eyeing Kara with hungry eyes, his posture lowering.

  “Go. Get out of here.” Meredith shot the two guards a glance. “You’ll want a piece of her, won’t you? Well, you can’t have any. This one is his. Russell has to live with his choices. Go, and see about getting things started. You’ll be eating soon enough.”

  The guards left, and then it was just the four of them.

  Kara felt as though she had no other choice but to try to approach Russell, which she did carefully. Meredith held onto the bars of the cage, swaying back and forth while Michael looked on with ambivalence, arms at his sides. Russell was coming out of his seizure, eyes focusing on Kara as she neared him. She held her hands out, palms forward, and began to kneel down a few feet away from him.

  Kara heard Meredith speak behind her. “It should be soon now.”

  Russell sprang, but it wasn’t at her. He knocked her over and Kara had to scramble onto her side to face the direction he had gone. In a split second he reached the bars of the cage, the very same bars that Meredith was holding onto. He missed her, but not by much. Kara saw that Meredith had drawn back just in time and Russell was reaching out toward her with a wild hand, fingers outstretched to hook her, his face pressed into a bar. The sound that came out of him scared Kara; it was the mindless wail of the Infected.

  Meredith smiled, her expression thrilled. “Save that enthusiasm for her, Russell.”

  He shook the bars so hard that the cement and marble began to crack, some dust falling down from above and settling on the ground. Russell screamed at Meredith, his voice more his own, less metallic and pitched. He shook the cage a few more times before he gave up and fell to his knees.

  “You can smell me, Russell, can’t you?” Meredith asked him.

  Kara twisted her brows at Meredith’s strange question. She saw the girl swaying in front of Russell. She saw Meredith move close to Michael, her back to his chest, and continue her odd dance. Kara grimaced, the wrongness of what she was seeing sinking in deep as Michael placed his hands on his sister.

  “Oh, gross,” Kara said.

  “It is not gross! It is beautiful!” Meredith cried out, her demeanor shifting so dramatically that Kara had no time reaction, she was simply stunned. Meredith bared her teeth, smiling again. “My brother will be the Adam to our Eve. I could not be that Eve, sadly. It did not work. Perhaps to a different Adam. A special Kindred. None here have proven to be that one yet, but we do have a new addition, don’t we?”

  “You fuck your brother?” Kara asked.

  “We would create Eden!” Meredith replied. “Eden here on earth! What would you know about Eden, you Lowly little animal? You are so far from the divine hand of God that even the flies lay their eggs on your corpses.”

  “And nothing will touch your disgusting stiffs because they smell like shit. There’s nothing divine about that.” Kara grinned, nodding as she saw Meredith's snarling lips. The provocation was the only thing driving Kara right now, the only thing that kept her heart from pounding in fear. This was war. “You’re not evolved, you’re mutated. You’re genetic freaks. You can’t even stand in the sunlight or step in the water, the sunlight and the water that your God has created for all his creations. All the ones he loves. I guess he doesn’t love you, huh?”

  Meredith stepped forward, her eyes two mad, black fires. Michael placed a hand on her shoulder.

  “She is afraid. Do not let her move you.” Michael’s voice was low and melodious.

  “He talks!” Kara put her hands on her hips again. “Damn, and I thought he was another one of the mindless Wailers you got locked up in cages around here, but better trained.”

  Meredith lowered her head and laughed. “To think, I let myself react to your desperate little words. The last cries of the dying are often pleas for forgiveness, not insults. You surprise me, Kara.”

  “Glad I could do that for you.” Kara sniffed.

  “I don’t know what I want to see more now. Russell eat you, or-” Meredith covered her mouth and giggled, the sound like a young girl child relishing over some silly game she had constructed all on her own, but much more disturbing to Kara as it was coming out of Meredith.

  “Didn’t you have somewhere to be?” Kara asked.

  “Maybe he’ll do both.” Meredith giggled again.

  “Or maybe he won’t do a damn thing and we’ll bust out of this stupid cage, and I’ll kill you,” Kara said. “Maybe you’ve underestimated both of us. Me and Russell.”

  “If you could smell what I smell. Oh, child.” Meredith calmed herself, taking in a few short breaths. She turned to the side, leaning her back against her brother’s strong arm. “I’m all excited. It’s driving me mad, you know. I can’t imagine how it is for our sweet Russell. He isn’t as strong as I am. My father was a mad man, a Kindred who had lost most of his mind to the fever. He was still in there. Some of him. Enough of him to keep himself from killing my mother. They don’t always try to eat you, Kara, not when they’re still clinging to the frayed strings of their conscious mind. Even if they’re starving. Hunger is hunger.”

  “I don’t get what you’re saying.” Kara frowned, hands balled into fists.

  “Yes, you do. You just don’t want to.” Meredith swayed again, hips rocking back and forth. Russell began to bang his head into the metal bars. “See? Russell knows.”

  “Russell, get away from her,” Kara hissed. “Come on. Go back to the corner.”

  Meredith giggled.

  Kara glanced up at Meredith, scanned the girl’s crazy face, and then brought her attention back to Russell. Kara’s insides went cold as she met his eyes. He was looking back at her over his shoulder, but she didn’t recognize him. Like before, in the garage, those lost eyes gazed back at her, glazed over, red and black pits with no humanity. No emotion on his face, his lips drew back, oil smeared across his mouth and jaw. Like a frothing wild a
nimal, he bared his teeth at her. A low, pained groan escaped his throat. Kara mouthed his name, tried to whisper it to him, to remind him of who he was.

  When he moved, she had little time to react.

  Russell’s attack was fast, and he was strong. He had her on her back, his palm on her shoulder and pushing her down so hard that it hurt. Kara cried out from the pain and Russell immediately released some of the pressure from her.

  Able to see his face, Kara saw a bit of Russell in his eyes, though there wasn’t much left of him now. He had his head turned, trying not to drool on her as he gagged, his eyes drifting back and forth from the floor to her face, again and again. He clenched his teeth, closing his eyes tightly.

  Kara felt him squeezing her upper arm. His thighs moved against hers. He positioned one knee down between her legs, forcing them apart. When his pelvis met hers, Kara cringed as felt a bit more of him than she cared to push against her lower stomach.

  “Don’t do this, Russell,” Kara whispered. “This isn’t who you are. I know you, Russell. You’re my friend. I’m your friend, Russell.”

  Head turned away, he opened his mouth and screamed in his own voice, some of his black drool dripping on Kara’s vest. She watched with wide eyes. Any bit of that could infect her. If a drop got into her eyes, her mouth, an open wound, she was done for. In six hours she’d be coughing up the same black goop that he did. In twelve she’d fall into the coma. Not long after that, she’d be dead, or worse, she'd be one of those things. She took in a slow breath and released it.

  “Russell…” Kara said his name again.

  “I can’t. I can’t,” Russell choked on his words.

  “Why didn’t you eat, Russell? Why didn’t you?” Kara felt her eyes grow warm. She didn’t want to cry, but it was hard not to. A tear slid down the side of her face toward her ear.

  “Didn’t want you to see that,” he told her. “I didn’t… want you think... I was a monster.”

  “I never would have thought that. Never. You don’t have to do that anymore, okay, Russell? When we get out of here, you don’t have to be ashamed, okay? You’re my friend,” Kara whispered to him, closing her eyes and frowning as she heard Meredith’s giggle. Kara tried to place a hand on his side. “We can figure this out.”

  The soft wail that escaped him left Kara with little confidence, and she opened her eyes. Above her, his face had lost that familiar warmth. His eyes were cold and predatory. Russell had turned his full attention to her, his weight beginning to crush her, and her ribs ached from the pressure. His knee pushed the inside of hers, and there could be no resistance.

  Kara closed her eyes again. “This is what has to happen, Russell.”

  He growled at her, lowered his head and licked her vest.

  She took in a slow breath. “I’m so sorry, Russell.”

  Then, she screamed.

  “Russell! Get off of me! It got in my mouth! It got in my fucking mouth! Get off of me! Get me water, please! It got in my mouth! Russell, get away from me! Get away from me, you bastard! Oh my God! Get it out!” She thrashed in vain under him, trying to kick, trying to get loose.

  It would not have worked if he had remained there, but he was off her the instant she’d said enough he understood.

  When she was free, she kicked at the ground and propelled herself toward the wall. Once there, she pushed her back against the tiles and took her vest off, throwing it to the ground a few feet away. She began to spit, gagging and coughing, screaming her throat ragged. She began to sob, shaking her head. The tears she had begun to cry earlier came easily now that she called them forth, and she heaved, pausing to spit again, dropping to all fours.

  It wouldn’t have been smart to try to look at him, or at Meredith. Kara had to keep her head down and her eyes filled with tears. She had blinded herself, the world a blurry mess as she forced out more terrible cries from deep within. Choking, she spit up. The smell of the place was bad enough, but Russell had vomited not too long ago. She let the stink overwhelm her, triggering a spasm in her guts. She sucked in her stomach and forced herself to vomit up what little she had in her from earlier.

  “Get him out of there,” Meredith said. “Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.”

  Kara looked up, doing her best to appear sickened, and watched as Michael entered the cage and grabbed at the back of Russell’s head, meshing his fingers in Russell’s choppy hair. Russell didn’t put up any type of fight at all, painful as it looked when Michael pulled him up to his feet.

  For a moment, Kara was able to see Russell’s face. Her stomach sank, and she could have thrown up again.

  He was grimacing, eyes closed. When his eyes opened and met Kara’s, the grief was obvious. It was him again. Russell was in there, aware of what had happened, or rather what he thought he had done. Kara’s heart ached but she had to continue. She spit again and fell backward, her shoulders hitting the wall.

  “I’m sorry, Kara. I’m sorry,” Russell said. Michael pulled him toward the door. Russell staggered and Michael threw him outside. Russell fell of the platform and down into the tunnel. He must have hit the ground hard by the sound of the impact.

  “Russell.” Kara struggled to stand up. “It wasn't your fault. Russell!”

  “Patience is a virtue.” Meredith smiled sweetly. “We’ve a ceremony to attend. A feast to have. A celebration. I have words for my people. Then, after dawn, we shall all rest in preparation for the next night. Our Eve shall rise, and we shall continue with our mission. Perhaps you shall be among us then. I’ll check on you tomorrow, I promise. If you’re dead, I shan’t miss you. If you’re a feral child, I think you will be quite likable. Should you be a Kindred, I look forward to the challenge of bringing you into our flock, but I would just as soon kill you. What a waste that would be though.”

  “Go away. Leave me alone.” Kara spit again, falling to her rear.

  “What? No fire left in you? So sad,” Meredith mused. “I will see you soon, Kara.”

  Kara flipped her off and Meredith laughed. Michael descended the steps first, grabbing for something that Kara assumed to be Russell and dragging him away. Meredith followed after and Kara was left alone.

  Many minutes passed as Kara listened to the sounds around her. Spitting out the bitter vomit she had left in her mouth, she looked for anything made of cloth. She found some pieces of what had been a flannel shirt wedged into the corner of the cell and cleaned herself off. Exhausted, she closed her eyes. She found herself lying on her side, eyes closed, still burning with tears.

  “Hello, Kara.”

  Kara lifted her head, saw the figure sitting on the ground on the other side of the bars, and pulled herself to her knees to stare at him. She recognized the clothes of a runner, the patches sewn into his camo pants and black shirt completely different colors and designs. His sneakers were worn, his gloved hands clenched into fists in his lap. His veins were dark under his pale skin, his brown hair short and choppy. He was a lanky thing, thick built and strong like the Infected would be, his eyes bloodshot, his lips pulled back across teeth just a bit too big for his mouth. Kara knew his face, despite the layer of dirt and grime on his skin.

  “Frankie?” Kara breathed.

  “Ah yeah, it’s me.” Frankie Reed smiled, the bile on his teeth visible as his lips moved. The black pits of his eyes traveled over Kara. “Fancy meeting you here.”

  “You’ve been here, all this time?” Her brows furrowed.

  “Yeah.” He nodded, glancing off to the tunnel before returning his gaze to Kara. “Been awhile now. They got you running full time for Blue Lagoon, eh?”

  “Frankie, everyone thinks you’re dead. Tommy-”

  “I was dead.” he cut her off. “Now I’m alive.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I serve Meredith. She woke me up. I owe her.” He said, grinning. “I suppose she’s going to wake you up too then. Or, that’s the hope. That’s what she’s trying to do. I could have ended up mindless, I guess.”r />
  “Are you helping her?” she asked.

  “Of course. I told you, I serve her.” He nodded.

  “How could you, Frankie?”

  “You’ll understand soon enough. When you wake up, you will see. She is a Goddess," he said. “And I am her herald and harbinger.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means I am the messenger, the first to arrive.”

  “It was you, wasn’t it?” Her words caught in her throat. “You got the guards to open the door and let you in at Pleasant Tree? They let you in because they knew you, thought they knew you, and you let the horde in?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “They hesitated since it was after dark, but they did, despite the dogs. They did try to quarantine me. That didn’t go well. They weren’t ready. It was too easy. All I had to do was open the door. Just like the fort before that, and the fort before that. They're already running low on ammo, thanks to our quiet brethren. It's not much of a fight after that.”

  “You mean, the swarms...”

  “We send in waves every night until we're sure. It usually works. Your kind loves to shoot at us, after all,” he said. “They run dry soon enough.”

  “What the fuck...”

  “Then I show up. It doesn’t always work though. Once or twice, they haven’t believed me.” He reached to his shirt, showing off a sewn patch and ran his fingertips across the fabric. He grimaced, and then smiled again. “But brute force works just as well.”