“So, people will move down on the threat list in the years to come?” Shawn asked hopefully.
“Pfft,” Arthur scoffed. “NO. They’ll always be our greatest threat. Am I worried about animals attacking us? Yes, but I’m more worried about them wiping out our livestock. I don’t want to go out and round up more cows, goats, chickens, sheep, or horses, with packs of dogs that could number in the hundreds. I also want the fences, so those herbivores can’t come in here and heaven forbid, get into the greenhouses.”
“That’s a lot of dogs,” Todd mumbled, and his mind provided images.
“And remember, the only reason humans are apex predators is because of our brains. We can’t outrun them, and those predators will come to associate humans as an easy meal in time,” Arthur said. “Hell, it was just a week ago when we heard on the CB those people talking about a pride of lions outside of Little Rock.”
“Are humans going to go extinct?” Shawn asked.
“No,” Arthur answered, shaking his head. “I’m guessing, but I figure in two years, there will only be three to maybe five million people on the North American Continent. Half of the survivors who didn’t die from the virus will die from other diseases, mostly contaminated water, and another quarter from starvation.”
“Whoa,” Shawn mumbled.
“Indeed,” Arthur nodded. “Now, you see why I don’t want crops. I want big-ass greenhouses in the valley. We can grow year-round, but the greenhouses give us another level of protecting our food.”
Slumping down on the couch, “We have so much shit to do!” Shawn gasped.
“Yep, assholes and elbows for a long time,” Arthur agreed. “After the dorm and moat are done, we’ll start on the fence around the valley.”
“Arthur,” Wendy called out, smiling. “Just how long will this fence around the valley be?”
Shrugging, “Just over eleven miles,” he answered, and Wendy felt lightheaded. “That’ll give us seven square miles to live in.”
“That’s going to take years!” Andrea gasped.
Shaking his head, “Want to bet on that?” Arthur winked. “After the first week, I’m willing to bet we’ll average a quarter to a half a mile a day.”
“How?” Andrea blurted out.
“Wait till we start, and you’ll see,” Arthur replied, winking again.
Running through her mind what she wanted to bet, Wendy cleared her throat to get Arthur’s attention. “How long will the dorm take to get finished?” she asked.
“They’ll move in there in two weeks,” Arthur answered confidently. “We won’t finish the entire dorm, just two wings so everyone has a spot.
Hearing the confidence, Wendy decided not to bet on the fence. She looked around and saw some of the kids asleep, but everyone had a peaceful expression on hearing Arthur had a plan. In the end, Arthur was wrong about the dorm. It took sixteen days before the kids moved in.
Chapter Seven
The Princess is a Slut
For the last month, all they’d done was workout and look for supplies in the storage rooms along the subway tunnel. They settled on two MRAPs that were painted black and white with huge Homeland seals on the door and roof. It had taken some work, but they’d driven both MRAPs to the platform at the subway station and had even found a trailer to put on the second one.
They had all noticed the blocky protrusions on the roof of each of the MRAPs but paid them little mind. It wasn’t until they started loading them that Sarah had climbed up on the roof and saw the thing sticking out of the protrusion was a gun barrel. So they’d stopped all work and went to work on figuring out how to work the remote firing station. It was Sarah who’d wondered out loud why in the hell Homeland would even have something like this.
Working the station they’d figured out relatively easy, but not the machine gun. It took them over an hour and several books to figure out the gun was a fifty caliber M2 Browning machine gun. Then they’d gone in search of a book on how to work the thing. They were all happy that it had only taken them three days to figure out how to work the remote station, learn how the gun worked, how to do maintenance, and load the gun.
Looking at the clipboard, Sutton gave a sigh and he grinned. “And we still have room,” he said proudly, looking in the back of the MRAP. Another was parked right behind this one and it was packed full of gear, as was the trailer hooked to the bumper.
“Careful you don’t say that too loud, my boy,” Skannish laughed, carrying over a stack of books from the library. “Sarah may want to unpack it and see if we can get just a few more items in.”
Dropping the clipboard, “I’m not unpacking either of these things again,” Sutton declared, and his clipboard hit the concrete with a clatter. “After learning the remote firing station, Sarah wanted to make adjustments so we could bring more of the big bullets.”
“That’s what you said last time when we found the night vision gear,” Skannish cackled. “I still think she moved more stuff than either of us both times.”
Watching Skannish walk off, Sutton had to admit, he was moving much better. The months of exercise and regular meals was showing positive effects on both of them. Both had lost over ten pounds and could walk much farther without getting winded. All in all, Sutton felt pretty good about their chances, but his fear was for Sarah. And he had to admit, he loved that robot gun on the roof for that reason alone. The trip would be bad because Sarah was a pretty young woman, a bit of a bitch, but they both were endeared to her.
It was when they would set up that made Sutton worry so much. Skannish was sixty-seven and he was fifty-four. They had to find people, so Sarah would have help in a few years. He and Skannish had talked about it several times and if they found a good group that would let Sarah stay but not them, they would leave her. Neither was under any illusion, and knew they weren’t long on this earth. Not without modern medical care. The last two months were the healthiest either had ever lived since they were kids. They just didn’t want Sarah stuck alone when they wasted away in a few years.
One of the trips into the main compound, they had secured enough of each one’s blood pressure medication to last years. The trip into the compound had been to gather books from the library, but he’d snuck off to get their medications.
Another thing that terrified them was all the violence they heard on the radio. They still shot the guns every day and even started shooting other guns they had found, but all knew they weren’t warriors. This above all was what upset Sutton; you didn’t need to kill and take from the living. There were supplies still out there, but he knew in his heart there was evil, and society could usually hold it in check in the masses. But when that thin veil of society was gone, those who didn’t fight the evil in others succumbed to it, violently.
Going by their original numbers, Sutton was putting the population of the US between thirty to fifty million. People were still dying from the flu in the tens of thousands, but in the last few weeks, they’d heard there were more people surviving it. But now, reports on the HAM radio were starting to report other epidemics causing deaths, along with the violence humans were doing to each other. He would consider the US lucky if half of those alive now survived winter.
Glancing around and making sure Sarah wasn’t near, “Skannish,” Sutton called in a low voice. Seeing the intense look on Sutton’s face, Skannish jogged over. “When we leave, I want you to ride with Sarah,” Sutton said, cutting his eyes around. “You and I will fake a fight. I think she needs to drive, so one of us can shoot that remote firing station. She’s a pretty young woman and the thought of someone hurting her just breaks my heart.”
About to protest, Skannish stopped when he saw Sutton was serious. “It would break mine also, my friend. But may I ask, why you don’t ride shotgun with her?” he asked.
“First, she would expect me to drive some. She doesn’t like you driving the MRAPs. Second, you are a better judge of people than I am and will know who we can trust to join with. I have no doubt you
can use that robot machine gun, but I think she might hesitate if I was driving with her and she was on the joystick. If we hit a roadblock, I want you to get Sarah out and I’ll stall them. She’s a good kid and shouldn’t be dealing with this but she is, and I think we should do what we can before you and I are of no use.”
Hearing that Sutton had thought long and hard on this, Skannish nodded. “I’ll do it, but you’d better try your hardest to stay with us. Sarah gets on to me more than my wife did.”
Grinning, Sutton nodded, “Yeah, and now I understand what you complained about for all those years.”
Hearing running footsteps on the platform both leapt in the air and turned around, knowing it was Sarah. Each had a forced innocent expression that would’ve made any mother on the planet start asking questions immediately. When they saw Sarah round the corner they saw fear on her face, and both felt panic flood their bodies.
“Come here!” Sarah screamed, skidding to a halt before spinning around and sprinting off.
Neither hesitated, breaking into a run to follow, and realized Sarah could really run when she left them. They saw her duck into the Secret Service control area and pushed hard, while a million scenarios played out in their minds of what was wrong.
Bursting into the main control room, they found Sarah holding a large stack of computer paper. “They attacked the CDC in Atlanta!” she screamed.
Panting hard when they came to a stop, they both looked at Sarah in shock. “Who attacked the CDC?” Sutton finally asked while he panted.
“The military!” Sarah screamed.
“Our military?” Sutton yelled.
“Yes! Under orders from the president!” Sarah cried out but didn’t scream, still holding out the stack of paper.
Feeling very lightheaded, Skannish stumbled over to a chair and dropped down. Feeling a pain in his chest, he pushed on his breastbone while he struggled to catch his breath. “Why? Were they under attack like we were?” he asked.
“No,” Sarah mumbled, and her eyes got watery. “When our team arrived at the CDC, they notified Denver.” She stopped, holding up the continuous computer paper. “They specifically asked them about us. But the others told them they didn’t know what had happened to us, like we’d discussed. They used the information we sent and made the immunization. First batches were put out yesterday and this morning, a military team landed and wiped out the entire site.”
Sarah paused while tears ran down her cheeks, “They questioned Doug before he died,” she said, and Skannish and Sutton looked at each other, since Doug had been on their team for five years. “The president and his upper staff want us dead because we could let what’s left of the population know that he didn’t take us, and we had the cure. Millions more civilians died these last four months, along with the military. They’re worried about a coup if others find out.”
“But why everyone at the CDC? They weren’t here?” Sutton panted, feeling sick.
“Because they talked to the others from our team,” Sarah sobbed. “After our team got there, all communication to the CDC was deemed priority and only the president could authorize direct communication with them. They didn’t want word to get out.”
“There were over a thousand people there!” Sutton gasped, stumbling back into a desk.
Nodding, “Including families,” Sarah paused, giving a hard sob, “two thousand, three hundred and nine. They shot them because they didn’t want to lose the immunization.”
Keeping his movements hidden and pulling a bottle from his pocket, Skannish tossed a pill under his tongue. Shoving the bottle back in his pocket, “Sarah, are they coming here?” he asked.
Still holding the stack of paper out in front of her, “They don’t say. All they reported was this site was a complete loss, as reported by our team,” Sarah whimpered. “We should’ve stopped them.”
Pushing off the desk, Sutton took the stack of paper and pushed Sarah’s arm down. “Sarah, there was no way of knowing this would happen. The only reason we didn’t go was we were pissed about getting left behind. We haven’t talked to Denver because we want nothing to do with forced labor camps. None of us even fathomed they would do something of this magnitude.”
Nodding, Sarah wiped her face. “We have to leave soon because I’m sure they’ll come here, just to see if they can find our bodies,” she mumbled.
Putting the stack of paper down, Sutton grabbed her shoulders, “I say, let’s leave this evening. We all agree traveling at night with those night vision goggles will be safer. We checked over the loads and have a little room left, but let’s just take off,” he told her.
“They’ll kill us if they find us,” Sarah pointed out, getting her emotions back under control.
Giving a forced chuckle, “Well, this is a big country and because of this virus, it just got a lot bigger. They will have better luck searching for the Holy Grail than looking for us after we drive out of those doors,” Sutton told her.
Wiping her eyes, “Who knows where your sister lives? Is it on any form you ever filled out for the government?” she asked.
“Sarah, my sister lives there, but it is still in our deceased uncle’s name. The last time I was there, I was a teenager. The last time I saw my sister was six years ago, when we met up in Little Rock,” Sutton told her, and Sarah gave him a disapproving look. “Sarah, I love my sister, but she can’t shut her mouth. The problem is, she doesn’t say anything worthwhile. It tends to grate the nerves after an hour.”
“Oh, you’re being nice,” Skannish chuckled with the pain in his chest now gone. “I think Alicia talks just to fill the void around her with noise.”
Sarah turned to Skannish when he nodded. “Yes, I’ve met his sister several times. I told Sutton he needed to see her more when he started working at the CDC,” Skannish said, pausing. “My wife and I had dinner with both of them a few years after Sutton had joined the CDC. I didn’t even get to sit down before I was ready to leave. My wife said she had to catch a cab home because she was worried about a friend before our meals hit the table. Alicia raped my ears,” Skannish stated with a straight face, and Sarah busted out laughing.
“It’s not funny! She forced information I had no care for or desire to hear into my ears. That is rape,” Skannish nodded. “I never told Sutton again he should visit with Alicia. But whenever I was close, he would drag me to dinner with her. That first dinner was the only time my wife met Alicia, before she passed ten years later. My wife had threatened divorce if I ever dragged her to another dinner with Alicia.”
Still laughing despite the moment, Sarah sat down. “I just wanted to make sure we didn’t need to go somewhere else,” Sarah told them. “I just can’t picture someone like that being Sutton’s sibling.”
“Neither could I,” Skannish replied flatly.
“Are both of you packed?” Sarah asked, and they nodded. “Let’s fill what room we have left with more food, then pull the MRAPs to the door and sleep in the cabs. After dark, we disappear.”
“That sounds like a plan we’ll follow,” Sutton grinned.
Looking over at Skannish, Sarah turned back to Sutton. “How close do you think your projections were on the production of the immunizations?” she asked.
“Sarah, if there hadn’t been an attack and we had gotten samples to the CDC, we still wouldn’t have had everyone in the complex immunized. It would be about now, that we would be getting results with those chickens that were hauled in. To be honest, by the time we got to real numbers being produced for the general population, everyone left would have already been exposed and recovered or immune. The virus was too lethal and moved too fast for us to make much of an impact,” Sutton told her.
Nodding, “I just wanted to hear you say it,” Sarah said. “That’s why the president did it. Not to save millions. He doesn’t want the people in Denver to know he would sacrifice them in a heartbeat.”
“Well, not many of his staff left with him,” Skannish chimed in.
“E
ach one that was immunized, with the exception of us and the rest of the team, made it,” Sarah said, picking the papers back up. “Ready to drive the MRAPs to the door?”
“Yeah, go check our rooms, so we aren’t forgetting anything,” Sutton said, grabbing the stack of paper Sarah was holding. “I want to grab my laptop and download some stuff from here, then we can drive to the door.”
“What do you want from this?” Sarah asked, waving at the computers.
“Evidence,” Sutton replied, looking at the stack of papers. “There may come a time when we need it, and I don’t want to come back here and get it.”
“Oh, I don’t know, I’ve actually enjoyed my time here,” Skannish admitted. “I learned to shoot machine guns and shot pistols for the first time. I’m working out, and that’s something I never would’ve dreamed of,” he chuckled. “I learned how to play Nintendo, even though Mario doesn’t jump when I tell him to.”
“You press the button, not shout at the TV,” Sutton groaned, throwing up his hands. “You rarely curse, but I found your vice; video games. You cuss worse than any sailor I’ve ever heard.”
Getting up, Skannish narrowed his eyes. “The princess is a slut! I was right there, and she could’ve run to Mario instead of just crying ‘help me’ with that turtle dragon there!”
“Bowser,” Sarah smirked out.
“She’s a slut!” Skannish shouted and headed for the door. “Mario went through all that and the dirty bitch can’t even run across the screen to him?!”
After Skannish slammed the door, Sutton turned to Sarah and winked. “I packed the Nintendo and the Super Nintendo. I’ll wait until he beats the first Mario before telling him there’s a part two.”
“Oh, I love watching him play,” Sarah laughed, wiping tears from her eyes. “I can’t wait till both of you graduate to an Xbox.”
“May be a little bit until we get some power hooked up, but I’m willing to try it,” Sutton said, walking out with Sarah.
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