The Fallujah Strain: Power After the Ebola Apocalypse

by Thomas Porter

  On one, as arranged, the two simultaneously jumped through the door and entered the lab, with Gabe following closely behind.

  It was quiet and dark. Gabe flipped on his flashlight and examined the room. Empty. He shone the light on the floor and saw several hundred small yellow pieces of metal. He knelt down and scooped up a few in his hand.

  "The ankle ring," he said.

  "Never seen that before," Pancho said. “One in pieces like that, I mean.”

  "Me neither," Gabe replied, still examining the scattered pieces on the floor. He plucked one which had a square piece of black plastic sticking out and held it between his thumb and index finger. Holding up his hand, he said, "The GPS tracker. This guy's gone." He lifted his radio to his mouth and keyed it. "Desk? Bad news. We've been chasing this thing for the last day and half."

  "This is Sandra. Is this 459? Over."

  "Yes, 459. Gabriel Sparrow."

  Shuh came on the radio. "Gabe, this is Shuh. What do you mean you've been chasing 'this thing'? What thing?"

  "THIS thing," Gabe replied, holding up the plastic chip. "The ankle ring is shattered. He figured out some way to remove it."

  "What thing have you been chasing?" Shuh asked.

  "The tracking chip. THIS thing! We've been chasing it for 24 hours or who knows how long."

  "Barringer removed his ankle ring?" Shuh asked.

  "That's what I just said," Gabe replied.

  "He can't do that. It's not possible."

  "Maybe so. But he did anyway," Gabe said and turned the radio off. "What is up with that guy? Am I not looking at Barringer's ankle ring right here?" he asked.

  Pancho, who was taking a more businesslike approach to the situation, looked at his two fellow travelers and asked simply, "So, where to next, hermanos?"

  ~ - ~

  Shuh turned to Sandra and said, "What's up with that guy?"

  "What guy?" Sandra asked.

  "Sparrow. What's up with Sparrow?"

  "Don't know, Mr. Shuh. He's probably just upset that 28974 was not apprehended. Would you like me to relay further instructions?"

  Shuh put his right hand on the table holding the radio, eased the pressure off his healing right leg, and winced. "Yes. Tell them I don't want them returning empty handed."

  "Yes, sir, Mr. Shuh," said Sandra. She turned to the radio and pressed the talk button. "Scout 459, can you hear me? Scout 459? Gabe? Over."

  In reply, Gabe's voice came on the radio speaker. "Yes, Sandra. What's up?"

  "Mr. Shuh has further instructions. Do not come home empty handed. Do you read? Over."

  "What's that supposed to mean?" Gabe asked.

  "Scout 459, Mr. Shuh is still with me here now and can hear our conversation. He said he does not want your party to return empty handed, over" Sandra said.

  "Still don't know what that means, Sandra. Can you ask him to be a little more vague?"

  Shuh put weight back on his right leg, winced again, and grabbed the microphone from Sandra. "Sparrow. I know you're upset. I understand. What I'm asking is this. You're out there now, right? If you come back in now, this trip will be a waste."

  Gabe cut in. "Yes, I suppose that's true. How do you feel about that?"

  "What do you mean, how do I feel about that?" Shuh asked.

  "Sorry, Mr. Shuh. I'm not asking you that. I'm asking Pancho and Serge here. How they feel about staying out here a little longer."

  "Of course, of course," Shuh said. "As you should. This is what I want you to do. What I want you, Pancho and Serge, to do. There is a girl with two dependents south of your location. I want her brought in."

  "Any particular reason?" Gabe asked.

  "Unauthorized move. She moved without re-registering," Shuh said

  "Did they finally approve that regulation?" Gabe asked.

  "Not exactly," Shuh said.

  "Then on what grounds am I bringing her in?"

  "Just bring her in. On those grounds. Because I'm directing you to. And listen. Do not, I repeat, do not bring her dependents in. Leave them. You got that?"

  "Yes, sir, Mr. Shuh."

  Shuh pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Sandra. "This is her number, 58963. Her last known location is there too," he said to Sandra. Then, to Gabe, he said, "Sandra will give you her number and last known location. She is coded green but I want her brought in. And without her dependents. You got that?"

  "Yes, we've got it," Gabe said.

  "Repeat your instructions back to me," Shuh said.

  "Bring this girl in. Leave her dependents. Is that it?"

  "Yes, that's it. Let me know when you've got them," Shuh said.

  Chapter 19

  As the sun descended to the treetops in the west, Savane rode slightly ahead of Pryce and reached their home's driveway first. She rode through the gate, taking the same path as when she carried her dead sister. She peddled past the spot where Abel first found Gwen and an involuntary impulse pulled her eyes to it. "Don't look. Don't look. Don't look", she said to herself. Then it was behind her. Pryce was close behind and they pulled to the garage together.

  "You need to get your transfusion," Pryce said as he leaned his bike against the right side of the garage.

  "Of course. I guess we stayed out a little long."

  "Maybe a little too long. I'm going to put these with the others," Pryce said, referring to the laptops in their backpacks. He lifted them out of the bike baskets and slung both over his left shoulder.

  They walked to the door together. In the house, Pryce turned to the right and ascended the stairs. He took the backpacks to the empty bedroom next to Maya's, entered it, lowered them to the floor, then carefully stacked the laptops next to the tablet computers Maya had not yet used.

  He heard Savane walking downstairs and calling, "Maya! Maya! We're home." Her calling stopped for about 30 seconds, then resumed in the opposite end of the house. "Maya?" Still no answer.

  Again Savane was quiet for about 30 seconds, then Pryce heard her behind the house. "Maya! We're home!" she continued to call out as she walked past the pool to the beach. Pryce, still in the extra bedroom, looked out the window and saw her stop where the dune grass gave way to the sandy beach. The sun had reached the treetops on the other side of the house and Maya stood in the rapidly darkening shadows. "Maya?" she called toward the waves, but this time something else was threaded into her voice. Fear. Pryce heard it, turned around quickly, descended the stairs as quickly as he could, walked through the window room to the pool area, and yelled, "Savane! Come on back. She never goes down there."

  Savane turned around and walked back through the sand to the pool area. "She isn't anywhere Pryce." Again, he heard that thread of fear mixed in with her voice. It was more prominent than before, as if it were forcing out other emotions.

  "Don't worry. She's around somewhere. She wouldn't just disappear. I don't think," he said, then turned and walked back to the house. Perhaps he lied to Savane. Perhaps he told the truth. At that moment, he didn't know. Although he could survive into tomorrow evening without a transfusion, if Maya were gone today then death would come soon enough to him as well. But his immediate concern, even before his own welfare, which he could worry about tomorrow, was Savane. She needed her transfusion before sunrise or she might not make it. What Pryce knew, but Savane did not because Anthony faithfully provided transfusions to her and his other dependents everyday, was that the sickness progressed more rapidly if transfusions were missed in close succession. Savane had missed transfusions twice in the last three weeks.

  Trying very hard not to show his own growing fear, Pryce checked all the rooms upstairs. No one. He then checked the rooms downstairs again, although he knew Savane had already searched them.

  "Did you check the transfusion room?" he asked Savane, who by now was laying on the couch.

  "Why should I?" she replied.

 
; Pryce walked to the transfusion room, just off the window room, and opened the door. Maya was laying on her back on the litter, eyes closed and ears covered with headphones. His fear escaped him in a burst of relief. He walked to her, lifted the headphones off her left ear, leaned in and said softly, "Maya?"

  She rolled slightly on the litter, made a soft noise in her throat, and lifted her eyelids almost imperceptibly. "I fell asleep. Where have you guys been? I thought you'd never get here. You ready for your transfusion or what?" she asked.

  ~ - ~

  Anthony arrived in downtown Wayton about mid afternoon, not long after Pryce and Savane had left the same town and headed home. Running through the center of town from east to west was a very wide main street, four lanes plus curb parking on both sides. Anthony stopped in front of "B&G Music and Video". The lamp posts that lined the street, still very much intact, dated to the 1930s. He remembered that the lab he interviewed with, Ceriel Labs, was located in an office park outside town but he couldn't remember beyond that. East of town? West of town? As he rested his right hand on a lamp post, he closed his eyes and turned his head downward. Where was that place? He squeezed his eyelids closed but just...couldn't remember. I wonder if this virus is frying my mind, he thought. Beside his hair falling out and his skin turning blue, what else was happening to me? Another minute passed and Anthony gave up. There's no way I'm going to squeeze those thoughts out of my brain, he decided. Laying on the sidewalk, unbroken but empty, was a soda bottle. Orange Crush. He stepped off the three-wheeled bike, leaned over, and picked it up. He held it close to the ground and gently skidded it toward the center of the street. It spun as it skittered until it came to rest. Pointing west.

  West it is, Anthony thought. He peddled down the main street toward the sun, which was still high in the sky but on the downhill side of its daily journey.

  As he peddled past the broken sign for the "Stu b e Inn" on the right side of the road near the edge of town, things began to look familiar. Up ahead was an intersection with a traffic light held over the road by a horizontal metal bar. Still mounted on the metal bar was a street sign for "Williams Blvd". All those years ago, when he was dressed in his suit and tie and hoping to do well in the job interview, he remembered driving in search of the Glenn Williams office park. Or was it the Williams Landing office park? No. The "Williams Landing at the Glen". I remember! Anthony thought with a smile as he peddled toward the intersection. When he reached the intersection, he stopped the bike and looked left, then right. There it was, on the right, Now I remember, he said to himself. He turned his bike and, more quickly than before, peddled down the road.

  He quickly found Ceriel Securities Labs, plainly marked on the entrance of building 4501. He left his bike outside the front entrance and pushed open the broken glass entrance door. The glass that was scattered on the floor inside the door alarmed him but he continued down the hall to the third door on the right. Through the door he heard a strange noise, like hundreds of tiny pebbles being shaken in a box. It reminded him of a TV show he watched once. The filmmakers put miniature cameras and microphones inside an ant colony.

  When he pushed the door open, which was unlocked, 10 or 20 grasshoppers jumped, walked, and flew through the opening. He quickly stepped inside and discovered hundreds of the bugs in the reception area and in the inner hallway to the right. Maybe thousands. At the end of the inner hallway, Anthony saw the window which was left open, allowing them to enter when their swarm passed by outside. They were trapped.

  Anthony quickly checked the doors along this interior hallway. All except one were open. Inside a dark bathroom he found a cardboard box holding toilet paper. He haphazardly dumped the toilet paper onto the floor, went back to the hallway and, for the next 45 minutes, used the box to scoop up the grasshoppers and take them outside, one boxful at a time. A few of the grasshoppers had died and he swept these up last.

  As he had done at Transfer Med Lab, his old workplace, Anthony cleaned Ceriel. He was unfamiliar with the layout of Ceriel Labs, though, and cleaning it took him several hours longer. Breaking in the locked door in the hallway, just outside the lab, was an exercise in futility as it contained cleaning supplies, nothing more. But the two natural gas-fueled cooling incubators, which were fed by tanks just outside the hallway open window, worked perfectly. He decontaminated them with H2O2 he brought from the other lab.

  Anthony worked by the light of two small LED lanterns he brought, and forgot to eat. Late into the night, he allowed himself to feel satisfied. The lab was organized, disinfected, and fully stocked. It was ready. As he sat at a work bench, he resisted the temptation to draw the first of his blood and start the mutation process. This was careful work and he needed rest before starting.

  He found a corner of the lab, stretched out on the floor, and fell fast asleep.

  ~ - ~

  As Anthony worked in the lab, Pryce worked in Maya's garage. Using an acetylene torch, he cut four bikes apart. Savane held them steady as he cut but she left as he started drilling. Using a top-of-the-line battery operated drill he acquired last year, he managed to make the holes necessary to fasten the pieces together into a serviceable pushcart. He had an unlimited supply of bolts and the bicycle pieces went together easily. In the late, late evening, when he was almost finished, Savane walked in and burst out laughing.

  "That is possibly the most ugly thing I've ever seen," she said.

  "You're right about that," Pryce replied. "But I think it will do the job. Want to try tomorrow morning?"

  "Might as well," she said, giggling. "What was the name of that place? Ceriel?"

  Chapter 20

  By 7 a.m. the next morning, Pryce was back in the garage, putting supplies in the pushcart. Despite its appearance, Pryce was happy with how it turned out. He jumped up and down on it several times and pronounced it sturdy. On the outside of the back wall of the cart, he tied a shot gun. As he was loading a backpack stuffed full with yellow winch straps, 4 inches wide and designed for use by truck drivers, Savane entered the garage.

  "Good morning, Savane," Pryce said. "You ready? Don't laugh. I'm feeling good about this pushcart. I really think we're coming back here with a tank of natural gas tonight."

  "I'm sure we will. I'm sorry that I laughed yesterday," she said.

  "No problem, Savane. It is ugly. I'll grant you that. But remember, I've got unlimited access to all the best stuff and this thing's really held together."

  At that moment, Maya walked into the garage.

  "What's that thing?" she asked.

  Pryce and Savane both looked over at her in surprise.

  "Maya?" Pryce said. "Since when do you wake up so early?"

  "Since when I'm bored. Bored, bored, bored. And who was making all that noise in here?"

  "Sorry, Maya. That was just me testing the pushcart. Did I wake you?"

  "Yes, but that's okay. What's that thing for?"

  Savane answered. "We found a tank of natural gas yesterday near Wayton. A big tank. Pryce said we can use it to cook, heat water, all kinds of stuff."

  Maya, who had never experienced the effort required to gather and chop the wood they used for cooking and heating, didn't understand. "So what? Can't we just use wood like we always do?"

  "Use wood? Do you have any idea..." Savane said, but Pryce cut her off.

  "Yes, Maya. We can just use wood. But if it's okay with you, we'd like to also use natural gas. It will help me," Pryce said.

  "Okay. Sounds good, then. Can I go?"

  "Can you go?" Pryce asked. He could not disguise the disbelief in his voice. Maya, go with them? That cannot turn out well, he thought. Before Savane could speak, Pryce said, "Yes, Maya. If you'd like to go, you can go. We're leaving very soon, though. Are you sure you'll be ready? It might be better if you stay home and try some of those computers we brought back yesterday. Better for you, I mean."

  "No way. I'm bore
d of computers. I'm going with you guys," Maya said, then added as an afterthought, "Okay?"

  Savane, who was slowly learning how Pryce handled Maya, said "Okay, Maya. Yup yup. Sounds fun. We'll have a great time. Super."

  ~ - ~

  About 30 minutes later, the cart was ready and Pryce pushed it to the end of the driveway. Savane helped and the two were ready to set off.

  "Savane, can you please tell Maya we're ready to go?" Pryce said.

  "Sure thing," Savane said and walked to the house.

  A few minutes later, the two girls emerged from the house. Pryce immediately assessed whether Maya was ready for a long day of walking. No coat. Yoga pants. Mary jane flats. Not good.

  "I tell you what, Maya. We'll wait here while you put one some other shoes, maybe hiking shoes. You're really going to want them, trust me. Plus you should grab a coat. I'll carry it for you. You never know when you might want to wear it. And those jeans you wore last week would be great. They fit you and those yoga pants might get ripped."

  Maya stopped walking and looked at Pryce. Savane tilted her head down and turned her eyes to Maya, who stood without speaking for several seconds.

  "Okay, Pryce. Whatever you say. You know best," she said, turned, and walked back toward the house.

  Savane looked at Pryce and rolled her eyes. "Whew," she said to Pryce. "I saw those shoes but was afraid to say anything."

  "Come on. Let's wait by the cart," Pryce said.

  Another ten minutes passed. Finally, Maya emerged from the house again, dressed as suggested by Pryce. "Let's go. This is going to be fun," she said.

  Pryce was the first to push the cart. Its big balloon bicycle tires rolled smoothly and he was surprised at how easy it was to handle. Pryce and Savane walked briskly next to Maya in the center of the street. About 20 minutes after leaving, they had covered more than a mile. Both sides of the street were lined with million dollar houses, set far back from the roadway but now decaying. Vines grew to the roof of one, and on another a maple tree had taken root in the front porch gutter. At another, the front door was missing and there was a path, apparently made by animals, leading into it. At another, a fallen tree branch had knocked down part of the three-foot stone wall that lined the yard and that is where Maya sat down.