by Penn Gates
“Alien - as from another galaxy, far, far away?” Holden snickers. “I bet that’s not something you shared with your fellow scientists.”
“Hardly,” she retorts. She realizes he’s been finished with his cigarette for awhile and she’s getting chilly. She closes her window. “All I’m saying is that viruses seem almost consciously aware of what they’re doing. They’re able to target a particular type of host, conquer it, and move on to the next. And they’re able to mutate into something else in a matter of months. It’s as if they hack into the evolutionary process and manipulate it to their immediate advantage.” She blows an errant curl from her forehead with a deep sigh. “Adaptation is the hallmark of a successful species.”
Holden tries to ignore her pursed lips. For the first few days, he’d been too punch drunk from sleep deprivation to consider the effect a woman like the doctor can have on a man. Some women know it - and use it - but his gut tells him this one doesn’t have a clue.
“That would make a hell of a sci-fi novel - or would have. No time to read books these days - and half as many people left to read ‘em.”
“I suppose.” She goes back to looking out the window at the desolate landscape, then wrinkles her nose in distaste.
A large sign close to the highway announces GENTLEMEN’S CLUB, which seems to suggest an establishment catering only to men of impeccable taste, but the flaking sign painted across the front of a low block building tells a different story. It’s the written equivalent of a sideshow barker: NUDE GIRLS ALL THE TIME. Another contradiction is the life-size statue of a knight astride his charger. Aren’t knights supposed to rescue damsels in distress? Isn’t rural America supposed to be the last bastion of wholesome, traditional values?
Behind them, the soldier she’s come to know as Private Jimmy Diggs honks the horn of the truck he’s driving to acknowledge the strip joint and manages to make it sound like a wolf whistle. Ahead of the mobile lab is the truck driven by Marcelli, who half-heartedly adds a couple of toots, like the shy kid who goes along with the joke to fit in with the cool guys.
Around the campfire that night, the squad is quieter than usual, but Lisa is aware of their furtive glances when they think she won’t notice. It’s only been a few days, but how long will it take for these guys to warm up to her? Probably never.
After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, the corporal slaps his knees and stands up. “Doc, I need a word.”
Holden disappears into the darkness beyond the firelight. He hears the doctor behind him, stumbling over a rut in the frozen ground. Hopefully not a sign of things to come - because there’s a bumpy road ahead, and she better learn to keep her balance.
“What?” she asks, catching up with him. She pulls her coat collar around her ears. “It’s cold away from the fire.”
“Yeah - about that.” Holden clears his throat. “No offense - but the guys are used to talking about - well, hell - what all guys talk about. And you’re kinda putting a damper on their bull session.”
Even in the dim light Lisa can see the corporal’s scowl. She’s learning that the crease between his brows may be his defining feature.
“You mean they want to talk about sex,” she says.
“Yeah - so what? It’s what guys do.”
“I have nothing against sex,” she says. “Just the exploitive kind that goes on in that trash heap of a gentlemen’s club we passed this afternoon.”
“I figured someone smart as you could figure there are no boy scouts in the army.”
“Fine,” Lisa snaps. “I’d much rather spend my evening in the lab, anyway.”
“Good call,” Holden answers. “By the way - tomorrow morning we need to put our heads together and come up with a game plan. Winter’s coming - we got no time to be wandering around aimlessly.”
He realizes, even as he says the words, that the doctor is going to want to talk about it now. After only a few days, he’s learned this about her: when her interest is aroused, she goes after what she doesn’t know like a bull after a matador’s red cape. He hears her draw breath to ask a question. Before she gets a word out, he disappears into the shadows and heads for the camp fire.
Holden lights a cigarette and watches his guys swap tall tales. Making too much noise, he thinks. He should put a lid on it. But he doesn’t have the heart to spoil their fun. This is as close to R & R as they may ever get. Let ‘em talk about women and trade war stories. After the last week, they’ve earned it.
“I FIGURE IF YOU HAD a real idea on where you want to go, you’d have already told me.” Holden cups his hands around the metal mug, hot from the coffee brewed over the campfire.
The sky is dawn pink behind him as Lisa glares at him, hugging herself against the cold. She looks amazing, her hair ablaze in the rosy light. He wants to kick himself for noticing. He’s never even liked redheads.
“You know that chill you’re feeling right now?” he asks. “FYI, it’s only gonna get worse. That’s why we’re heading west along the Ohio River until we take a sharp left turn into Kentucky, and on down to Tennessee. Milder winter weather just makes sense.”
Lisa can’t argue with his logic - although she wants to badly. Is this how it’s going to be? Him in command mode and her feeling cut out of the decision-making process?
“The odds of finding survivors are as good there as anywhere - right?” He reaches for the coffee pot. After he refills his own mug, he fills one for her. “Here,” he says. “This will warm you up.”
Lisa instantly wonders just what he means by that? And decides she’s being oversensitive. Maybe his gesture is just what it seems to be - a peace offering.
“Thanks.” She takes a small sip before she says, “For now - at the beginning of the search - I guess it doesn’t much matter where in the haystack we start looking for the needle. But at some point, it will. And I need to know that’s when we’ll make decisions together.”
“As long as you understand I make the military decisions - the ones that keep us all safe. You’re the science officer.”
Lisa nods unwillingly. When push comes to shove, she doubts he’ll remember that deal.
She’s still feeling the sting of his words when she climbs into the truck cab. “I reviewed some of the literature last night, hoping it might suggest the best way to begin my search,” she tells Holden, trying to salvage her pride.
“You got a library back there, too?” Holden mutters, taking a closer look at some gauge or other on the dash - and derailing her carefully thought out lecture.
“No books - just eidetic imagery.” She says and stops there. Once she’s read something, it’s in her head forever. And if he enjoyed hearing her thoughts about viral aliens invading earth, he’ll be twice as amused when he finds out she doesn’t need the books she’s already studied.
“Am I supposed to know what that means?”
“Photographic memory,” she explains.
“Why not just use plain English in the first place?” Holden asks. That, right there, is the reason she drives him crazy - that need to prove her superior education, over and over.
“There’s no meeting you halfway - is there, corporal?”
“A meeting of the minds you mean?” He frowns. “Our minds have nothing in common.”
“I couldn’t agree more! I’ve been trained to keep mine open when confronted with things I know nothing about.”
Holden laughs. “What did you find on your mental bookshelf?”
Their conversation reminds her of the parry and thrust of fencing - a sport she’d taken up in college as an antidote for all the sedentary study hours. She’d decided then she didn’t like it, and she doesn’t like it now. She makes a conscious effort to step back from the increasingly combative tone of the conversation. The mission is the only thing that matters, she reminds herself.
“For now, it’s back to the basics of tracking an epidemic,” she says, thinking out loud. “Can you remember the first time you heard of someone being sick? Did
you know them? How old were they? Had they traveled anywhere in the previous few weeks? What symptoms did you first notice? Were they different in any way from other victims you saw? It’s incredibly slow going, but it might tell me how fast Geezer travels, whether there are different strains, and eventually - fingers crossed - I might find that senior survivor.”
“Sounds a little sketchy - but I guess something’s better than nothing.” Holden puts the truck in gear and the convoy pulls out onto the highway.
CHAPTER 3: It Ain’t Over ’til It’s Over
Lisa Terrell looks in all directions before she kneels at the side of the creek. She splashes ice cold water on her face and gasps. No one should have to choose between hating the way they smell and bathing outside on an October morning. She’s pretty sure her lips are now the same shade of blue as her eyes. She shivers when she removes her oversized army shirt, then picks up a sliver of soap and washes under her arms.
During that first long, hot summer on the road, she’d been ready to trade a dozen senior survivors for a pond - or even a puddle - to wash away the dust and sweat. And here it is, in front of her. Be careful what you wish for, she thinks. Luck has a vicious sense of humor.
As she dries herself vigorously with a rough bit of towel, she hears a noise. Or thinks she does. She stops moving and holds her breath, the better to listen. There it is again! A sort of scratching sound, like twigs scraping against a solid object. Her eyes slide toward the thicket of bushes a few yards away. There’s no wind - not even a breeze - but the bushes move a little.
“Who’s there?” Lisa calls, clutching the piece of toweling across her breasts as she stoops to pick up her shirt. She sticks an arm into a sleeve while she shouts loudly, “Come out of there, you pervert!” She finds a small rock and hurls it close to the spot where she’d first spotted movement.
“Ow! Jesus Christ, lady, you coulda put my eye out!” Jimmy Diggs howls as he staggers from his hiding place.
“What the fuck’s goin’ on?” Corporal Holden calls out as he approaches the two of them at a full run. He takes in the scene at a glance.
This is what he’s been worried about from the beginning. One woman, too many men - a recipe for a shit show like this. He’s amazed that it hasn’t happened before, but not surprised it’s Diggs who’s snapped first. The asshole has sex on the brain.
“Diggs, you God damn horn dog!” he bellows and runs straight at the peeping tom, bulldozing him to the edge before shoving him into the icy water.
Diggs surfaces, sputtering, and struggles to his feet. He takes a furtive step toward the bank of the creek.
Holden stands at the edge of the water. “No you don’t, asshole! You stand right where you are for awhile and think about cleaning up your act.”
“I’m sorry!” Diggs whines. When Holden continues to glare at him, he adds, “Can I come out now? I can’t feel my toes.”
“He’ll get hyperthermia,” Lisa calls as she pulls on her bulky jacket, grateful for its warmth. She’s resigned herself to the fatigues and army boots by now and tries never to reminisce about what her clothes used to be like.
Holden is still staring down at a shivering Diggs. “Jimmy-boy needs time to think about why it was such a bad idea to invade your privacy. Then he’s gonna give the whole squad a report on what happens if they break that rule.”
Holden looks directly at Lisa for the first time, grateful that she’s fully dressed now. It’s not going to be easy to get rid of the image of her half-naked. He’s had enough trouble not imagining that for months now.
“I’d really rather not treat him for exposure, if you don’t mind.”
“Worry about yourself, doc,” he says brusquely. “Go warm up by the fire and grab a cup of joe.”
LISA CAN’T TELL IF Diggs was humiliated or not by his public confession, or viewed it as another feather in his disreputable cap. She, on the other hand, felt mortified as Diggs ‘confessed’ and Holden lectured. The guys sat stony-faced throughout the little drama - and it wasn’t lost on Lisa that not one of them as glanced in her direction. Did they think she ran to Holden and tattled on Diggs?
Why hadn’t Holden waited until she’d retired to the lab for the evening? Had he wanted her to see that he’d solved that particular problem - or was it a knight-in-shining-armor moment he couldn’t resist? After the better part of a year, she still has no idea what he’s thinking - about anything.
It’s almost noon by the time they begin to break camp, and Lisa longs to hide in the lab, but she decides to help where she can to show there’s no hard feelings on her side. After her offers have been repeatedly turned down, she gives up and wanders off so no one will see how hurt her feelings are.
The past year has been a roller coaster of hope and despair through a lonely landscape. Those first awful months, people had been few and far between - and who could blame them? If survivors were lucky they’d hunkered down in a warm place for the winter. When spring came - finally - survivors were spotted more frequently in small, ragtag groups. Most ran at the sight of army trucks, although occasionally a few brave souls would talk to them.
Lisa had asked one rail thin young man, “Why is everybody scared of the army? Isn’t it the military that’s been setting up emergency centers?”
“There’s rumors about those centers,” he’d muttered darkly. “Rumors that once you’re there, it’s tough to leave again.”
“Why would they hold people against their will?” Lisa had mused. “Unless things are so bad, it’s the only way the authorities can protect those who are left.”
The guy had just shrugged his boney shoulders. “I figure I’m better off on my own.”
After the corporal first dubbed the CDC lab Moby Dick, the guys had struggled to top each other with variations on the theme: The Dick or The Whale being the most popular. In a disturbing twist, they’ve recently discovered their expedition has become the stuff of myths. Survivors no longer run, but whisper among themselves, The Whale - it’s real.
“Who in the name of sweet Jesus decided it was cool to pass that on to any stranger who would listen?” Holden had raged the first time he witnessed the phenomenon. “If I find out which one of you assholes has been makin’ us famous, I’ll leave you by the side of the God damn road and you can be the first one the army hangs for desertion!”
Lisa sighs. Before Diggs had thrown a monkey wrench into their plans, they’d been on their way to investigate another tantalizing rumor of an old codger who lives over the hill or around the next bend in the road - what Holden now sarcastically refers to as rural legends - as opposed to urban ones.
Private Marcelli’s voice comes from behind her. “Are you about ready, doc? Holden wants to get on the road soon.”
Lisa struggles to pull herself together. Marcelli is the only one of the guys who’s made an effort to get to know her. He’d been kind to her at that awful moment in the ER when she’d been confronted by the order to come with the military, whether she liked it or not.
“I’m all set to go,” she mumbles, taking a swipe at her eyes before she turns around.
“Uh - ma’am?” Marcelli’s shyness - at least with her - sometimes seems to tie his tongue in knots. “You - uh - still upset about Diggs?”
“I’m more upset about being there when Holden laced into him,” she confesses. “I didn’t deserve to be embarrassed all over again.”
“I’m one hundred percent certain that Holden didn’t intend to upset you,” Marcelli says quickly. “He’s not that kind of guy.”
You could have fooled me, Lisa thinks, but keeps this opinion to herself. “Do the other guys think I put him up to it? Because I didn’t!”
“Uh-uh!” Marcelli says, shaking his head vehemently.
“They don’t like me, though - do they?”
“It’s more like - uh - they’re scared of you,” he mumbles.
“Afraid of me!” Lisa cries. “How could anyone be scared of me?”
Marcelli thinks ab
out it for a second. “Maybe it’s not so much scared as not knowing how to talk to you - you’re a a scientist with lots of education.”
“Oh for heaven’s sake,” Lisa answers. “I went to school to learn certain skills, same as you. Otherwise, I’m just like anybody else.”
Tony looks unconvinced - and that troubles her. She’s made a conscious effort to change the superior attitude she hadn’t realized she possessed until Holden had confronted her one day. That’s one arrogant piece of bitchery, lady, he’d said. Why don’t you give it a rest and get down with the rest of us?
When Lisa climbs into the semi cab of The Whale, Holden doesn’t waste time with small talk. “Weather’s changing, and now we’re behind schedule,” he announces. “We should make it through the Shenandoah Valley today. We’ll overnight in West Virginia and cross into Pennsylvania tomorrow.”
In the spring they had agreed to explore Tennessee first. They’d worked their way east through the mountains into Virginia during the summer. She had assumed they were heading north because there was no point heading south into Georgia until she’d found something concrete to share with the CDC. But no matter where they’ve looked, the world they thought would last forever has disappeared. They might as well be travelers from the future touring Europe during the Black Plague.
“Why don’t we see what’s in Maryland first?”
“Listen - if we don’t find anything by the time we hit the Pennsylvania border,” he says so quietly she almost misses his next words. “I’m thinking we should head back to Pittsburgh.”
“What! No! We can’t give up!”
“It’s been a year, doc. For all you know, your fellow scientists might have found a cure already, and you’re just spinnin’ your wheels out here in the boonies.”
“You don’t really believe that!” she says. “Just admit it - you don’t want to do this any more.”
Holden holds onto his temper with difficulty. Nothing he’s done in the past year has convinced this woman he’s serious about helping her. As far as he can tell, she still thinks of him as a glorified chauffeur. “I’d drive into hell if I knew there was an answer there,” he tells her in a monotone. “But we’re just goin’ in circles now. It’s pointless.”