The Fallujah Strain: Power After the Ebola Apocalypse

by Thomas Porter

  "I found a volleyball net and ball on my way back here yesterday," Savane said to Maya, who was sitting on a barstool at the island counter in the center of the kitchen.

  "I remember volleyball. We had to play it in gym class sometime," Maya said as she spun a knife in circles on the countertop in front of her.

  "Yea, me too. Me too. I didn't like it that much. Wasn't tall enough and can't jump. Nope. Gwen loved it. I got it for her. What about you? Did they have volleyball in your gym class?"

  Abel, who had just returned from dropping deer bones over the side of the boat into the ocean, walked into the kitchen. He placed both his hands on the counter opposite where Maya sat, palms down, and stared at Maya.

  "What? Why are you looking at me like that" she asked.

  "Nothing. I'm just not used to seeing you here. In the kitchen. Didn't we get you enough batteries? Do you need more?"

  "No. I'm just talking to Savane. Hey, you want to play volleyball tomorrow?"

  Abel raised his eyebrows slightly. "Volleyball?"

  "Yes, volleyball. What's the big deal? Savane brought a net back from her fishing trip today," Maya said.

  "OK, Maya, yes. What time do you need me?" Abel asked.

  "Whenever you'd like. What time, Savane?"

  Abel looked at Savane, shrugged, and said, "Whenever I'd like?"

  "Yes, yes," Savane said. "Whenever you'd like. My sister loved volleyball. I got the net for her. How about we play after the pool is cleaned, Maya? Will you be up by then."

  "Sure thing," Maya said. "See you then," and she stood up and walked out of the kitchen.

  As she walked through the door, Abel asked, "Do you need anything else?"

  "Nope," Maya said without turning around, and she was gone.

  Chapter 8

  Three bodies rested along an overgrown highway a four hour walk from the salmon river.

  Two of the bodies lay on an embankment along the west side of the highway. As the sun rose each morning, its warming rays fell on their decomposing faces, as if they were watching it rise. This is how it was supposed to be.

  The third body lay as it fell for the last time, on its side and curled slightly, with knees tucked upward. Its mouth was gaping open and a dried yellow-pink substance spread outward from it. Rain was unlikely to wash it away for several weeks and it was left for the insects.

  Cousins Orel and Graves greeted each sunrise. Hayes fed the insects.

  The Fallujah strain's newest victims.

  Chapter 9

  Pryce hung the long-handled pool net on the fence, removed the last pebble from the coffee container tied to the fence and dropped it into a matching container on the ground. He put the empty container on the ground and tied the full container to the fence. Tomorrow was Abel's turn. The sun had just risen and he turned toward it, letting it warm his face and create a glow in his closed eyelids.

  From the upstairs master bedroom, Maya's bedroom, he heard Maya laughing. Despite the difficulty of keeping Maya happy, and despite sometimes feeling like he was living on the rim of a grave which could, with one denied transfusion, claim him, Pryce was thankful for her. Despite her demands and her tantrums, he and Abel were alive. And for that he could only credit Maya.

  Now, hearing her laughing provided Pryce with his daily dose of hope that he would live to see the sunset. When Maya was happy and her mind was engaged in some activity that she enjoyed, she provided the transfusion happily and without the stubbornness that she sometimes displayed. Only on very rare occasions did that stubbornness, which was sometimes tinged with resentment, result in a missed transfusion. And even then, she relented and eventually allowed her blood to be drawn. So for that, Pryce was very thankful.

  He and Abel had buried Savane's sister Gwen just off the beach in the yard next door, a constant reminder, as if they needed one, of what would happen to them if Maya refused, or was unable to provide, a transfusion.

  Mixed with Maya's laughter upstairs was Savane's voice, which sounded like it could tip at any moment into laughter itself. As his face grew warmer and the rising sun changed the glow in his still-closed eyelids from reddish to white, he grinned to himself.

  The volleyball set was on one of the beach chairs next to the pool, where Savane had placed it the night before. It was quite large, with big wooden stakes that would drive deep into the sand and keep the heavy net in place, and Pryce remained impressed with how Savane had managed to get it back here on her bike. He lifted it and carried it onto the beach, where he dropped it onto the sand. Pryce was on shore leave from his ship when Ebola swept across the globe, and the volleyball net reminded him of the climbing nets his Navy ship slung over the side, so those in smaller ships could board. He wondered, as he did frequently, who among his shipmates survived. Considering the odds, he would be the only sailor who would see the sunrise he now enjoyed.

  He opened the box and pulled the contents out until everything was scattered in front of him. The instructions provided him with the dimensions of the court but he wondered if that really mattered. He might as well set it up correctly, he thought, and paced out the dimensions as closely as he could. He used metal U-shaped wire to hold down the white strip of cloth, which was provided to mark the court boundary. After he had laid out the net, the poles, and the wooden stakes in their proper positions, he walked to the garage to retrieve a long-handled sledge hammer. He carried it back to the beach on his right shoulder and about 30 minutes later, the net was up. He put the hammer and the empty box in the garage and returned to the house for breakfast.

  "Net's ready," he said when he reached the kitchen.

  "Let's go!" Maya said.

  "Now? Can I at least eat breakfast?" Pryce asked.

  Savane, who was sitting with Maya at the kitchen counter, said, "Yea, you can eat breakfast.” She turned to Maya and said, “Let's finish our breakfast, okay."

  And so it was. They ate slowly, Pryce remaining silent while Maya and Savane continued the conversation they had started upstairs.

  While they ate, Abel entered and Pryce told him, "Don't sit. We're playing volleyball."

  "Yea, okay. I've got a lot of stuff to do this morning. Any chance we're getting out of this?"

  "None," Pryce said.

  Maya and Savane finished their breakfast and ran out to the beach.

  "This looks great, Pryce. These sticks are huge," she said as she kicked hard on one of the wooden stakes holding the net up.

  "So...Maya," Abel said in a voice as polite as he could muster. But he sounded like a defense attorney talking to a hanging judge. "Please...do not...kick the stakes...the net might fall down."

  "Oh, right! The net might fall," Maya said, giggling. She scooped the ball up and ran to one end of the court.

  Savane laughed and ran to the other end of the court. "C'mon. Pryce, you want to be on my team?" she asked, then bent slightly forward and bounced up and down, ready for the serve.

  "Okay. Your team," Pryce said and walked to Savane's side of the net. At that moment he knew it didn't matter who was on which side of the net. Unlike Savane, he knew they were only there for Maya's amusement, and long as she was amused everyone else would get their immune blood. He stood between Savane and the net, arms hanging to his side. Without a word, Abel walked to the opposite side, Maya's side, and faced him.

  After several tries, with some encouragement and advice from Savane, Maya managed to hit the ball over the net. Pryce hit the ball straight up so Savane could hit it back. Abel did the same for Maya but she missed and the ball landed in the sand.

  "Oopsie!" Maya said and laughed.

  After 10 minutes, Maya grew bored of serving and passed that duty to Savane. Savane cupped the ball in her right hand and closed her eyes. She mouthed something to herself, something the others couldn't see. Something too private to share. Something for Gwen. Then she opened her eyes and hit the ball over the net.

  Another 30 mi
nutes after that, with Pryce and Abel doing the best they could to keep the ball airborne for Maya and Savane, the foursome managed to volley the ball over the net several times in succession between each serve. The girls continued their running conversation which started upstairs and was carried into the kitchen at breakfast.

  After a long volley, kept alive by a few good hits from both Maya and Savane, the ball finally landed in the sand on Savane's end of the court.

  "That's my point! I'm winning!" Maya said

  "Yea, that was a good one," Savane replied. "What do you mean winning? I didn't know we were keeping score."

  "Why not? That point puts me in the lead. I'm winning! C'mon. Serve it already."

  Savane picked the ball up, surreptitiously glanced at her teammate Pryce and rolled her eyes. Pryce turned his back so Maya couldn't see him and gave a "slow down" hand gesture to Savane.

  "Okay, here it comes," Savane said and sent the ball over the net.

  Abel hit it once, straight up and soft in front of Maya. Maya managed to send it back over the net, where it landed just outside the white strip of cloth marking the court boundary.

  "My point! Three more points and I win!" Maya said.

  "Not your point," Savane said. "It was out."

  "Not out, Savane. My point."

  "Except it was out, Maya. That makes it my point."

  Pryce glanced at Maya through the net, and saw her face getting red. He picked the ball up and handed it to Savane, and spoke softly into her ear. "Really, Savane. Give it a rest. I can skip a day but Abel needs his transfusion. So do you."

  She looked at Pryce, then at Maya, and tried one more time. "Maya, if we're keeping score, we should do it right. And if you want to make this game mean something then well, you know, it already does to me. So, my point."

  Maya, face red, said, "Fine. You win. I'm going to my room. Maybe I'll see you at breakfast."

  As Maya walked toward the house, Savane turned to Abel and mouthed the question, "at breakfast?" Then the full import of that statement struck her like a punch to the stomach and she dropped to her knees in the sand.

  Chapter 10

  Abel mounted his bike in the driveway and started peddling. From behind, heavy footsteps caught up to him and Pryce grabbed the handlebars.

  "Where are you going?" Pryce asked.

  Abel dropped his right foot to the ground. "Away."

  "What do you mean, 'away'?"

  "I mean away. Done. Out. Gone. Leaving."

  "You can't just leave," Pryce said. "Where will you go?"

  "Don't know. Don't care. Out. Away."

  "She'll come around. You know she always does," Pryce said.

  "I'm done, Pryce. Done. Every time she pitches a fit then.....then we don't know."

  "Yes we do know," Pryce said. "We do know. She always comes around. She will this time. Come on. Let's go talk to her. She's probably in her room."

  Abel looked him in the eyes, looking for an answer. Is this the time she doesn't “come around”? Is this the time she comes around, but too late? He couldn't articulate his swirling thoughts. He simply asked, "How do you know?"

  Pryce lied. "I know. We know. I know because I know. That's how I know."

  "You know because you know? That's your answer? I'm dying here. Right now. Infected. I can feel it. Inside. You're dying now too. You know it. And you're going to just wait?"

  "We can talk to her. Now. She'll come around." Pryce lied again.

  "She'll come around. She'll come around. That's what you say. What I know is I might be dead before she does. She locks herself in her room and I wait for the Ebola to liquify my organs. I can't do it anymore."

  "Come on, Abel. Let's go knock on her door. Just knock. If she doesn't come to the door, I won't stop you again. Come on. Inside? Okay?"

  Abel was silent for several seconds. He stared at the ground. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. "This is...this is easy for you to say."

  "Easy for me? What are you talking about?" Pryce said.

  "Easy for you. You miss a day, you're okay. You're not the one who's going to be dead when she finally 'comes around'. Comes around? Okay, let's say you're right. She'll come around. She'll come around tomorrow and you'll be okay. Sick maybe, but okay. I'll be dead."

  "Come on. Let's go knock on her door. It's easy for me to say. You're right. Let's wait outside her room," Pryce said.

  "How long do we wait this time? How long?"

  "You're forgetting something," Pryce said. "She'll come out for Savane. Let's say you're right. This is the time she wouldn't come out. But this is different. You saw Savane when she showed up here. She won't last past tomorrow morning and Maya knows it. She'll come out for Savane, then we get her blood for everybody."

  "Last time, Pryce. I swear, I'm done. Last time. She comes out for Savane, good. She doesn't come out, good. I'm okay either way."

  "Let's go, then," Pryce said.

  Without saying a word, Abel got off the bike and let it go. It dropped to the ground. Pryce put his right hand on Abel's left shoulder and said, "If it makes you feel any better, I feel it too. Maybe not as much as you yet, but already I'm nauseous. Until she comes out I can't eat anything. And if she doesn't come out by tomorrow lunch, I'm probably done too. If that makes you feel any better."

  "No, that doesn't make me feel any better. But thanks. Okay. Let's walk."

  The two turned toward the house and walked slowly toward it. "Where's Savane," Abel asked.

  "Don't know. Inside the house someplace I think. We'll get her and knock on Maya's door. She'll come around, you'll see," Pryce said.

  They found Savane on the couch, lying on her stomach with her left arm draped onto the floor, palm up. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was open.

  Pryce approached her first and gently shook her by the shoulder. "Savane? We have to go upstairs, wait outside Maya's room. That always gets her out quicker. Come on."

  Savane's mouth closed. She lifted her left hand off the floor and wiped the spit from her cheek. "You sure?"

  "It works, yes," Pryce said.

  "We need you, Savane," Abel said. "Most times she comes out if we wait by her door but sometimes she falls asleep and keeps us waiting 'til morning. She'll come out for you tonight, we're sure."

  "Okay, I'll come. I'm really sorry, you guys. Really. I had no idea. No idea."

  "It's not your fault," Pryce said. "That's how she is. Don't worry. She'll be out."

  The three of them ascended the stairs, with Pryce leading the way. Savane followed behind him. Abel followed her, pulling himself up by the handrail.

  Outside Maya's room, Pryce put his ear to her door. "She's in there all right," he said and gently knocked. "Maya, we're outside, okay? We'll wait here for you. Savane is here." He turned to Savane and whispered, "Say something. Anything. Just let her know we're here and need her blood. But don't be pushy. She doesn't like that."

  "What should I say," Savane whispered back.

  "Just tell her we're here and we'll wait," Pryce said.

  Savane turned and leaned to put her mouth close to the edge of the door. "Maya, we're here. We're waiting," she said. She turned her head to Pryce and shrugged her shoulders, silently asking, "Okay?"

  Pryce nodded and mouthed the word, "Yes."

  Abel put his back against the wall opposite the door and slowly slid to sit. He leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes. Pryce and Savane followed him to the floor. Pryce also sat against the wall and Savane laid on her back and closed her eyes.

  Several hours later, Pryce woke up. The window at the end of the hall was dark. Evening. Abel was gone. Savane's mouth had fallen open. Pryce shook her but she didn't stir. He pushed himself off the floor, squatted down and lifted Savane. He carried her to her bedroom and covered her with a sheet. He took one of the pillows from her bed, dropped it
onto the floor, and sat on it.

  "We'll be okay. She'll come out, Savane. Promise. You'll see. She'll come around. We'll all live. You'll see."

  For the last time that day, Pryce lied.

  Chapter 11

  The next morning, Maya woke as usual. She slipped her hairless body into her swimming suit, descended the stairs, and approached the pool just as the sun's rays began to warm the water. At that moment, the surface of the pool looked like a single living entity, greenish-tan and jerking spasmodically. It was covered in grasshoppers. Some were dead but most were helplessly kicking, trying mindlessly to launch themselves into the air. Maya slowed her walk as she approached the pool's edge then stopped. Her face turned red and her hands balled into fists.

  She turned her head and yelled at the house, to no one in particular, "Grasshoppers! There are grasshoppers here!"

  She walked to the coffee containers which Abel and Pryce used to manage their pool cleaning duties. The one attached to the fence had 7 pebbles and the one on the ground held none. This told her nothing.

  "Who is supposed to clean these grasshoppers?" she yelled again to the house. She waited a few seconds for a reply but none came. She kicked the fence with her bare foot, turning her big toe upward so she struck the fence with the ball of her foot.

  "Ow!" she yelled. "That hurt! Why are there grasshoppers?"

  No answer.

  Maya limped into the house and down the hallway, then turned into the guest bedroom which Savane had adopted as her own.

  Covered to her neck with a teal green sheet was Savane. Strands of her hair, recently fallen off, lay on the pillow and around the bed. Her mottled scalp showed through her hair like a bride's face through a veil. Pryce knelt on the floor next to her face and held a straw, which projected from a cup, to her lips. She sipped weakly.

  "Why are there grasshoppers in the pool?" Maya asked. She stood in the doorway on one foot and held herself steady on the door frame.

  "Maya, if Savane doesn't get a transfusion within a couple hours, she'll be gone."

  "Gone where? What are you talking about?"

  "Gone, Maya. Dead. Buried next to Gwen. Gone."

  Maya's face, which was still red with anger but fading, seemed to drain of color. It looked like someone pulled a bathtub drain plug. In an instant its color changed from reddish to its natural bluish-gray, then continued a downward spiral until it was nearly white.