What Remains (Book 3): Epidemic

by Barrett, Tyler

  “Thanks…” Dr. Victoria replied, unsure what to say.

  Why is this happening? Who is this person calling me?

  “Now doctor, I have some samples of the virus being sent to the facilities lab, I would like you to assemble a team to work on finding a cure. Use the data provided from the hard drives, pick up where the research teams stopped. I think it would be best to use your position to usher forward a vaccine, or even a cure… at any cost,” the voice said adamantly.

  I don’t know who this person is, but I’m sure it’s was someone I’ve previously worked with messing with me. Who else would have to a private line to her office, as well, who else would be able to get their hands on samples of the virus? As far as I know, the only sample is currently held at the CDC vault sitting on ice.

  “I’ll get a team right on that,” She replied with a hint of sarcasm.

  “Good, the samples will arrive in the morning,” The voice said before hanging up.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Dr. Victoria woke up, half wondering if those samples would be there or if it was someone with a terrible sense of humor. She felt inclined to believe the caller, but how crazy was the whole thing? Leaving her apartment, she headed to the complex, ready to find out the answer to the question.

  Traffic was light, and she made it to the guardhouse that blocked anyone who wasn’t with the division to enter. Grabbing her badge out of her purse, she rolled down the window as she approached.

  “Good morning, Ma'am,” the guard said cheerily.

  Dr. Victoria held out her badge for the guard to scan, “Thomas, you can call me by my name.”

  Thomas nodded, scanning her badge, “Sorry, Ma’a- I mean Susan. I'm not used to knowing the boss. If I had called my base commander anything other than Sir or Commander, I'd be in a world of trouble.”

  “It’s fine, Thomas, I'm not some scary commander,” Dr. Victoria said with a smile.

  Thomas scanned her badge, and with a beep, the system gave the all-clear. He held out her card for her to grab but stopped for a moment.

  “Before you go, there was a late-night delivery that was logged by the overnight guard. It said it was for you,” Thomas said, grabbing a clipboard, “Ah, it says here it was headed for the lab facility.”

  Dr. Victoria's stomach dropped, her palms began to sweat, and her heart raced, “Do-does it say what it is?’

  “Nope, just says it’s important,” Thomas replied.

  “Than-thank you, Thomas,” she said shakily.

  “Are you okay?” Thomas asked with a concerned face.

  “Yes, I'm fine…Thank you again, Thomas,” Dr. Victoria said, trying to regain her composure.

  Dr. Victoria grabbed the badge from Thomas and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel as she waited for him to open the gate. She pressed the gas pedal when the gate was barely open enough for her car to fit through. Speeding along the road to the parking lot, she swerved into her personal parking spot. Dr. Victoria jumped out of the car, almost leaving it running, before sprinting toward the laboratory building.

  The building was self-contained, and very few people had access to it. There was only one set of doors to the building, at the front, heavily guarded. The building was only one story above ground, but the Lab and storage were underground. She had taken every precaution to ensure that if they ever housed the virus that it couldn’t escape.

  Dr. Victoria swiped her badge quickly, yanking the door open. The guard inside stepped in front of her, “Ah, Dr. Victoria, your delivery is in the lab, I watched them unload it into the cold storage down there. Vials of black stuff!” the guard said with pride.

  “Yes, thank you,” Dr. Victoria replied, absent-mindedly.

  Moving around the guard to the elevator, she pressed the down button repeatedly until the doors finally opened with a ding. Holding the button to the only place the elevator went, the doors closed and knew she was drawing close to the moment of truth.

  It was probably lab equipment, seeing as they had ordered all kinds of equipment that took a while to arrive. It was probably nothing. She had to be sure though, she had to make sure it wasn’t virus samples.

  The elevator came to a stop, making her stomach lurch from her nerves. The doors opened, and she moved to the lockers on her right. Dr. Victoria donned a suit and moved into the decontamination chamber, waiting for the process to begin. After a minute of waiting, the light turned green, and she opened the door into the lab. Across the room was the cold storage, where the guard said the vials were kept. She gripped the handle, pulling it open slowly, watching as the cold air inside dissipated enough for her to see the vials.

  Dr. Victoria grabbed the first one on the shelf, gently lifting it from its rack, turning it to read what its label said. Tokyo, Japan, dated no more than three months before. That’s impossible though, that would mean that this sample was from before the outbreak had occurred. This can only mean that whoever is making these calls to me is someone worse than I could ever imagine. If this person had access to the virus before anyone supposedly knew about it, how much power does this person have?

  So many questions flooded her mind, but she knew one thing. The person on the other end of the phone was real, and she was afraid.

  Chapter 18

  Kenji was still speechless. Before him stood Evans, someone he had seen bitten and sacrifice herself, so they had more time to escape. He had written her off as dead, but here she was in the flesh. Muller ran up beside Kenji at that moment, stopping his tracks.

  “H-how is this possible!?” Muller asked, confused as well.

  “You’re here too, Muller?” Evans asked with a crooked smile, “I’m glad you guys made it out alive.”

  “How are you still alive?” Muller asked in shock before looking down.

  She wore the tracking anklet that the team transporting the woman. That could only mean one thing, Evans was the woman they were looking for.

  Evans turned back toward the city, “There’s something beautiful about all this, isn’t there?”

  “Beautiful?” asked Kenji, concerned.

  “Yes, nature running its course, showing mankind that it isn’t the top of the food chain,” she said, making the two men uncomfortable.

  Muller gave Kenji a concerned look, “Evans, I have so many questions I want to ask you, but we need to get out of here as quickly as possible.”

  Evans turned around fearfully, “I’m so glad you guys are here to rescue me!”

  It was as if they had been talking to another person just moments before, and Kenji’s disturbing feeling had never left. It was Evans standing in front of them with scared eyes, begging them to take her away from the death and destruction they had left her in. Kenji could see something, something dark and twisted hiding behind that gleam of begging.

  Below, a chorus of gunfire rang out, signaling that they needed to move. The soldiers below firing could only mean one thing, more infected then they thought they could handle had arrived.

  Muller grabbed his radio, “Shields, report!”

  Kenji's radio crackled to life as he heard Shields reply, “There is a horde making its way from the south, at least one hundred by my count. Have you found the woman?”

  “Yes, contact was just established. ETA two minutes. Can you hold off the horde until then?” Muller asked.

  “Copy. Jung-ho has the perimeter locked down for now, but the horde will arrive before then.”

  Muller looked at Kenji, “Stay with her. Make sure she is…safe.”

  Kenji watched Evans as she was back to her lackadaisical self, casually following Muller as he walked back to the stairs. Jackson and king had gone down before them, leading the man they had found back down to the streets. They took the stairs two at a time, trying to beat the horde. King was at the door, holding it open for them, looking out the street.

  Kenji led Evans, keeping his left hand on her shoulder, toward the Humvee. As he left the building, the sound of the marching horde and the gunfi
re filled the air, deafening him. Kenji quickly glanced toward the soldiers accompanying them, hoping they were faring well. They slowly backed up toward their own truck, firing their rifles into the mob of Yokai.

  Kenji stopped Evans at the truck, allowing her to enter the back seat with the man inside. Jackson was at the opposite door from Kenji scanning the area around him with his rifle. Kenji turned around, finding a Yokai had snuck up behind him. Kenji quickly brought his sword up, bringing it down through the Yokai's head.

  “Hurry up, we need to leave!” shouted Evans in fright from the back of the Humvee.

  Muller and King had run to Jung-ho, before returning to the Humvee.

  “They are retreating, Shields get the Humvee started. King and I are going to provide them with cover until we move,” started Muller.

  Kenji watched as Muller and King took careful aim at the Yokai, taking them down with practiced efficiency. There were no more than a few seconds in-between shots. Kenji tried to count the soldiers as they retreated to their truck, finding they had lost several, but their casualties weren’t high. Kenji muttered a thank you to each soldier that had given their life to find Evans.

  She was the key to stopping the Demon Virus, and their lives made sure they had that possibility. It wasn’t long before the soldiers had retreated to their truck and were ready to leave. Kenji began to feel his anxiety dull as they were about to be on the move again. Kenji climbed into the seat, closing the door once Muller and King started back toward the Humvee.

  They all crammed inside, shoving their extra gear to the back as far as possible. Normally the inside was designed for five people to fit comfortably, but with two extra people, it was cramped. They made it work as the Humvee took off after the transport truck carrying Jung-ho and his men. Heading north, before taking a road to the west, attempting to circle back around to trace the route they had taken to get into the city.

  Kenji looked at the clock, hoping they would make it out of the city in time, knowing what would happen if they didn’t. They still had just under two hours until the bombs were dropped on the city. With the clock ticking, they drove a little faster than they did before, knowing that it would be about an hour's drive back to the airport.

  Just in the two hours since they entered the city, things had gotten a lot worse. Kenji watched out the window at the dying city beyond. He had seen his city crumble underneath the virus, but from afar, high up in his apartment. He hadn’t seen the chaos and destruction this close, and it was core shattering. Fear, death, pain, and suffering surrounded them, waiting for their moment to swallow them whole.

  Kenji watched as they passed countless Yokai, some busy tearing into an unlucky victim, others drawn to them like a moth to a flame. Kenji knew they were safe inside the vehicle, but outside the safety was another world on its own. Shops ransacked or destroyed, cars and trucks abandoned haphazardly, blood and gore splattering the sidewalks, dotting the streets. Kenji wondered if the bombs that were to be dropped could really stop the infection or if it would only slow it down. He had to hope that it would stop it but was doubtful.

  No one spoke within the cramped vehicle, everyone watching intently on the path ahead of them. Kenji knew if they didn’t have Jung-ho and his men guiding them through the city, they would have been lost and probably wouldn’t have arrived at the building yet. The main streets of the city were wide, but many people had attempted to flee using them, only to get stuck in traffic, or blocked by the dead. They tried their best to stick to the main roads, but many times had to take the side streets.

  The side streets were small, most one-way streets, with cars lining one side of the street still in their parking spots. A few times when even the side streets weren’t accessible, they took the alleyways. These were barely wide enough for their Humvee to make it through. Kenji didn’t like the feeling of only being inches away from the wall of the buildings they were driving in-between; it made him feel confined. He preferred it to not moving forward at all, though.

  After many turns, throwing Kenji’s sense of direction off, they ended up back on the main road and quickly picked up speed for a short time. Slowing down, they passed the original quarantine they had attempted, which ultimately failed. Yokai wandered nearby the blockade, some civilians, and soldiers who had tried to stop the virus. Jung-ho and his men didn’t stop; instead, they gave their truck gas, increasing its speed.

  With a loud clang, they used their truck to ram the barricade, sending the Yokai on the other side flying, or the truck plowing over them. The truck's weight and thick tires, combined with its speed, flattened the Yokai underneath it. Kenji felt the Humvee jump as they too drove over the bodies with a thump, leaving the blockade behind them.

  As they drove on, they passed over a bridge that was surprisingly clear of vehicles besides a car parked on the far-right side of it, the driver’s door left open. Kenji figured that the quarantine had helped prevent traffic from traveling through this section of the city. Just on the other side of the bridge were several abandoned military trucks from their initial deployment.

  They continued along the road between the trucks, where the traffic started again. Even though the road was four lanes wide, there had been significant traffic through the area. They were forced to slow down so they could navigate around the vehicles left in the road. They weaved in and out of the traffic, still making a steady pace. Kenji was apprehensive but felt like they had plenty of time, or at least hoped they had time to escape. He didn’t much like the idea of having a bomb dropped on him.

  Chapter 19

  It had only been a few blocks since crossing the bridge before they found themselves in the heart of the city. The flow of people out of the city had caused many to leave their means of transportation on the road. This was the case as they neared Yeonsan Rotary, a normally busy intersection. It was a point of convergence for six roads, making it prone to accidents year-round. Earlier today had been no exception to this.

  Kenji leaned to his right, trying to get a better view of what lay before them. Several first responders’ trucks were in the road, an ambulance, firetruck, and a couple of police cars surrounded an eight-car accident right in the middle of the enormous intersection. It looked like the police had attempted to help the flow of traffic through the intersection, keeping the lanes heading southwest clear. Many cars blocked the other roads in other directions, the passengers forced to leave them on foot.

  A small horde of the Yokai had formed, attracted by one of the police cars, which still had its siren blaring. Lines of infected moved their way through the abandoned cars making their way toward the loud shrill noise. If Kenji had to guess, he would say there was around one hundred to one-hundred and fifty, with more adding to the group. As they drove by on the opposite side of the intersection, a few of the Yokai turned their focus to the loud trucks, splitting from the horde. Turning onto the second road on their right, they began heading toward the mountains in the distance.

  A small part of Kenji wanted to tell them to stop the truck, so he could kill the Yokai, but knew that time wasn’t on their side. His quest to end the virus still rang true, he didn’t want to stop until he knew that the human race was safe from it. However, with Evans being a carrier, she could help stop this tide of death and destruction from being the thing that gave Kenji nightmares. She was the hope of an entire race, and Kenji would make sure to keep her safe.

  Kenji gripped the handle of his katana tightly, reassuring himself that he would stop at nothing to end the virus. He returned to watching out the window at the Yokai that passed by, wishing he could kill each one they passed. He wondered what the others in the group were thinking about, maybe getting to safety, or even killing the infected as he was.

  Continuing to follow the Jung-ho and his men through the city, they artfully dodging vehicles left in the road and car accidents. Turning left onto a wider road, with eight lanes, split part of the way by a median with short trees, they curved back toward the city center. O
n their right, a raised subway track above followed the road. Cutting across multiple lanes, they drove on the wrong side of the road to avoid a massive graveyard of abandoned cars that sat outside a subway station.

  As they passed the subway station, memories of them traveling along the subway lines in Tokyo flooded Kenji’s mind. The crunch of the gravel beneath their feet as they moved along the path. Stopping at each subway station to make sure there wasn’t a horde waiting within to ambush them.

  What broke his memory and brought him to reality was Shields slamming on the brakes sending him forward into the driver's seat. Blocking a majority of the road were the subway cars that had toppled from the tracks above, snaked across the road. Somehow the last car was still above on the tracks, on its side, while the rest was on the ground. Kenji had been hopeful that the trains had made it out with as many people as they could, but it would seem at least one didn’t.

  The head car had become detached from the rest of the train when it landed in the street below, sliding across the street into the building blocking the left two most lanes at an angle. The second car was straight, with two more bent at odd angles blocking the right four lanes. There was a small gap in between the first and second car, which is why they had slowed down so quickly.

  Cutting past both cars, they drove past the windows of the second car. Kenji could make out several Yokai wandering around inside. Since the doors were still closed and there was no way for the creatures inside to get in or out, it meant that someone on the train had turned. He hoped that the military was screening everyone before allowing them out of the city; otherwise, they were in big trouble. If even one infected got by because someone wasn’t thoroughly checking people, the virus could easily spread.

  Leaving the train wreck behind them, they continued to follow the road, weaving around abandoned cars once more. Tall buildings dotted the skyline, and Kenji noticed one had flames erupting from almost all of the windows on the upper floors of the building. It wouldn’t be long before the entire building was gutted by fire. That didn’t matter honestly, soon the whole city would be engulfed in a cleansing inferno after the bombs fell.