Pandemic: Level 6: A Post Apocalyptic Medical Thriller Fiction Series (The Pandemic Series Book 3)

by Bobby Akart

  “That’s Janie. She’s the one who sewed up Tommy’s hand.”

  “Very cute,” added Derek, causing the guys to laugh.

  Doc slapped his boy on the back. “I’ve always said that there’s nothing sexier than a purdy young girl fawning over a corpse.”

  “Reckon she needs some help, Pop?” asked Derek.

  “I’ll do the helpin’, son. Terry, do you want Derek to do anything?” asked Doc.

  “Nah. There’s another body down that way and I’ve got the guys checking out these properties.”

  “Three dead? That’s gonna throw this year’s numbers way off,” said Doc with a devious chuckle. Hunter suspected most coroner’s numbers would be way off this year. “Being the coroner is not a taxing job in Summit County. We only had eighty-two deaths last year and most of those were visitors. More than half of the deaths were caused by heart attack. The high altitude can be difficult on the body’s circulation system. It causes the heart to work overtime.”

  Hunter made a mental note to pass this along to Mac. She’d noticed that the laboratory mice were showing early symptoms of the disease several days before humans were. It might be because of the altitude.

  “Doc, why don’t you take a look at those bodies with Janie and see if y’all come up with a cause of death,” said Sheriff Andrews. The Cooleys walked over to the back of the ambulance and made their introductions. Sheriff Andrews turned his attention to Hunter. “I don’t want to make a big deal of this, Hunter, but I can use someone with your experience around here. This sort of thing has happened in another part of the county, and now I’m receiving reports of gangs moving out of Denver and Colorado Springs and heading toward Breckenridge from the south. I need the kind of help you can provide.”

  This caught Hunter off guard and he avoided eye contact for a moment. Hunter didn’t want to lie and make up excuses. The sheriff genuinely needed his help, and in a small close-knit community like this one, you never knew when the sheriff would be needed to come to your aid.

  “Sheriff, let me be honest with you. I’ve made a commitment to three lady scientists that I’d protect them from the plague and the thugs who take advantage of a situation like this one. Tommy is a freak of nature at sixty years old and his capabilities with a weapon are outstanding. But I just don’t feel comfortable pulling away from them with things like this going on right down our street.”

  “Hey, I fully understand. The world is a dangerous place. I’m shorthanded and I’ve got to look to folks who are willing to become community leaders. I want to protect the south part of town, but there isn’t sufficient population to maintain a roadblock down at Timber Ridge. Most of the homes are vacation rentals and empty.”

  “Will you have to pull the roadblock altogether or just move it closer to town?”

  “First step is to move it closer to town, based upon the volunteers I can get. Of course, certain of those volunteers will be deputized, issued weapons, and a sheriff’s office car if requested. I’ll also give you access to the fuel depot for your vehicles. I’ve got plenty stored underground and secured under lock and key.”

  Hunter liked the way the sheriff sweetened the pot. The additional weapons would be a plus. The sheriff’s car was a great addition to their security. Nothing screams go away like a sheriff’s car parked at the front of your neighborhood. Finally, the offer of access to the county’s fuel reserves sealed the deal. “Okay, let me ask this. What if—”

  “It was murder, Terry,” shouted Doc as he escorted Janie back over to Hunter. “No doubt about it and Janie concurs. These folks were strangled. We could see evidence of their windpipes being crushed.”

  “That’s three murders—” started the sheriff before being interrupted.

  “Sheriff Andrews, we’ve got two more!” yelled one of the deputies from down the street. “I’ve got a murder weapon this time. A butcher knife!”

  Hunter looked at Janie and considered what had happened. He had to get involved in the overall security of their neighborhood. Sheriff Andrews began to walk toward the next murder scene before Hunter stopped him.

  “Sheriff, I’m in if we could make one small adjustment.”

  “What’s that?” he asked.

  “Let’s move the roadblock up here to Blue Lakes Road. It’s closer to home for us, so I can use Tommy and Janie to help.”

  “Yeah, I’ll help man the roadblock especially if it’ll keep murderers from getting closer to us,” interjected Janie.

  “Me too,” said Derek. “If it’s okay with Pop.”

  Doc slapped his son on the back. “Son, are you sure you can get along with someone like Janie? It gets awful boring on these checkpoints sometimes.”

  “We’ll do just fine, Pop. Right, Janie?”

  “Absolutely,” she replied. “Sheriff, get us started.”

  Chapter 31

  Day Sixty

  Quandary Peak

  Derek volunteered to escort Janie back into town to select a sheriff’s department vehicle for Hunter’s use. Hunter was amazed at how quickly the spark between them occurred. He wondered if his relationship with Mac would’ve taken off as quickly had the circumstances been different. When they first met in Guatemala sixty days ago, there was an air of friction between them. Mac was territorial and Hunter was naturally guarded. It was fate that brought them together in that Greek hotel’s lobby. He was pleased to report to Mac that same kind of fate might have introduced Janie to a new love.

  “I’m glad to know you’re a matchmaker in addition to being my billionaire Batman,” said Mac as she gave her man a squeeze. She was excited about the prospects of her day’s work in the lab, but it was her afternoons hanging with Hunter that made her happiest.

  “Well, I don’t think I’m a billionaire anymore,” started Hunter. “I know this. I love you. If you have love, you don’t need anything else. If you don’t have it, then it doesn’t matter much what else you do have.”

  “Awww,” cooed Mac. “That’s so romantic. I love you too, Batman.”

  They hugged and made their way outside, where Tommy had been working diligently on his Chinese greenhouse.

  “I’m not even sure I’m Batman anymore,” said Hunter with a chuckle. “Do they have bats in Colorado?”

  “You know, I don’t know,” said Mac. “There are plenty of caves. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bat. The bears in the caves probably run them all off.”

  “Bears?”

  “Yep. Black bears are everywhere in the Rockies. You’ll find them rummaging around campsites, homes, and even parked cars. If they suspect something is a food source, they’ll move heaven and earth to get at it. They can be very destructive when their curiosity is piqued.”

  Hunter nodded. “Good to know because one of the things we’re going to do this afternoon is create several buckets to hide food, medical supplies, and weapons around the mountains. A survival cache will enable us to have a new start if we’re run out of our home for some reason.”

  “Do you think that’s a possibility?”

  Hunter stopped Mac and gave her the details on today’s discovery down the road. She was shocked to learn the elderly couple had been strangled. However, it was the news a person had been stabbed to death that caused her the most concern.

  “People are murdering without misgivings just for the purpose of stealing or looting. Hunter, those homes are a mile away from us. We’ve got to be careful.”

  Hunter took a moment to explain the sheriff’s offer regarding the roadblocks. At first, Mac protested because she thought they were being spread too thin. But when Hunter described the various perks that came with the job, including the use of Doc’s men as additional security for their street, Mac was fully on board.

  “Hey, guys. Come take a look,” interrupted Tommy. “Welcome to our winter garden paradise.”

  Using the kit they’d purchased at Deep Roots, Tommy had assembled the structure and supplemented it with leftover materials from Mac’s lab. The end resu
lt wasn’t pretty, but it was functional.

  Using a patio door as an entrance from the back side of the house, the Chinese greenhouse used the combination of the block foundation wall, the southern exposure, and the 8 mil plastic sheeting to create an eight-foot-by-sixteen-foot structure complete with potting benches, mist irrigation and specially mixed soil designed for indoor gardening.

  “The plastic sheeting, in combination with the Lexan panels, is designed to retain as much warmth as possible using the high thermal mass of these block walls and the insulation provided in the kit. We can grow crops year round, even when it’s freezing cold outside.”

  Mac walked around the structure and peered inside the Lexan panels to get a better look. “This is very impressive, Dad. You did all of this on your own?”

  “Pretty much, with your mom’s help, of course. I almost hit my thumb with a hammer this morning and she threatened to hit my head with it to teach me a lesson. It worked out because she volunteered to help.”

  Hunter and Mac laughed. Hunter had noticed a considerable difference in her parents’ relationship since the day they’d arrived. The playful banter had increased and Hunter was certain he’d heard the two of them fooling around after a bottle of wine the other night.

  “Well, I’m lookin’ forward to some of Tommy’s tomatoes,” said Hunter.

  “Tommy’s taters for me,” added Mac, laughing.

  “Ha-ha, very funny,” said the jokester. “When we’re eating a big fresh salad in a couple of months, you’ll be thanking me.”

  “I’m thanking you in advance, Tommy,” said Hunter. “This is incredible and something we absolutely need. By the way, tell me about the heirloom seed concept. I forgot to get the details from you.”

  “Oh, okay. Heirloom varieties are open-pollinated, which means the seeds you collect after a harvest will produce more plants during the next growing season. Like a family heirloom, they’re passed from generation to generation.”

  “I noticed you insisted upon this variety, Tommy. It seemed important to you, which is why I bought them all.”

  “I’m glad you did because, as you’ve taught me, we need backups to our backups. You see, most of the seed varieties you purchase at Lowe’s or Home Depot are designed to produce results for the novice grower for one season only. When you consider a post-apocalyptic scenario like this one, you won’t have access to gardening centers to buy more each year. You have to collect and preserve them for the next go-around.”

  “Dad, I had no idea you knew about this stuff,” said Mac.

  “After I retired, your mom was away a lot, so I took up hobbies. Golf was never my thing. Fishing was fun, but gardening was something I could do around the house all year long. The weather in Coos Bay could be rough in the winter, so I built a greenhouse and learned about heirloom seeds.”

  Tommy got back to his project and Hunter led Mac over to his. He spread out six five-gallon buckets with lids on the grass behind the house. A variety of medical supplies, MREs, and weapons were laid out in front of each bucket. An extension cord ran off an outlet at the rear of the house and was plugged into the FoodSaver machine, which sat on top of the sawhorses.

  “Look at all of this,” said Mac. “I’m guessing you’ve got a system in mind.”

  “I do. It’s something I learned in Delta training and is used by Special Forces all the time. Basically, a survival cache is a pre-staged resupply point.”

  “Makes sense,” Mac added.

  “I’ve already prepared one of these buckets and hid it near the Jeep. It’s full of handguns and ammo. What I plan to do with these is divide the food, weapons, and medical supplies equally between the six buckets. Then we’ll find locations to hide them, stretching from Blue Lakes, around the house, and down toward the highway.”

  “Okay, where do we start?”

  Hunter reached down and grabbed a handgun, a box of fifty bullets, and a spare magazine and approached the FoodSaver. He placed the items in a bag, added an oxygen-absorber packet, and then sealed it. It created an airtight, moisture-proof package, which he placed in a bucket.

  “The next step will be some food. Obviously, we can’t pack up Tommy’s garden or the contents of our freezer in a small bucket. At REI, I purchased some high-calorie nutrition bars and these ready-to-eat meals, or MREs. Each bucket will sustain a person five days, or the five of us for one day. It’s not designed to be a long-term solution—only an immediate survival tool.”

  Hunter picked up a LifeStraw, a canteen, and a flashlight from a pile and added it to the bucket. The last set of items he addressed were medical supplies.

  “I purchased six of these small medical kits designed for hikers at REI also. I’m gonna supplement them with more ACE bandage material, gauze, and Neosporin. Sprains will be common up here in addition to minor cuts and scrapes. Without medical help, even a small scratch can be deadly.”

  Mac picked up a roll of duct tape. “What’s this for?”

  Hunter laughed. “The better question is what is it not for. In the military, we could find a thousand uses for duct tape. Trust me, if we ever have to dig into these things, the duct tape will be a very useful tool.”

  Hunter stuffed a tarp and a roll of paracord inside the bucket and then sealed it with the specialty lid. “This is called a gamma seal lid. Do you see how it twists open and shut?”

  “Yeah. You don’t have to wrestle the entire top off like when you’re opening a paint bucket.”

  “Exactly,” said Hunter. “Once this bucket is secured and covered with rocks or pine needles, you simply remove the material, unscrew the gamma lid, and replace it when you’ve retrieved what you need. It’s that simple.”

  Mac smiled and hugged Hunter. “I’m impressed. After we’ve put these together, where do we hide them, and more importantly, how do we remember where they’re hidden?”

  “As I said, we’ll hide them in a variety of locations from one end of our perimeter to the other. It’s important to avoid areas that would be susceptible to rain runoff in the event of a storm or even melting snow. We have to cover them sufficiently enough to keep curious critters from digging them up.”

  “Do we mark the location somehow?” asked Mac.

  “I plan on using GPS coordinates,” said Hunter. “Just because cell phone service is down or towers can’t be reached doesn’t mean our phones aren’t useful. The GPS on our telephones work regardless.”

  “They do?”

  “Absolutely,” started Hunter. “The global positioning system is made up of satellites, ground stations, and receivers. Just like looking at the stars and constellations to guide us when we’re lost, the satellites in Earth’s orbit act like stars for a GPS device, like a cell phone.

  “The ground stations use radar to receive a signal from the satellites. The receiver, whether it be your phone or satellite radio, is constantly looking for a signal from these satellites. The receiver will calculate how far away they are from four or more of the satellites.

  “Once this connection has been made, the receiver, using triangulation, can determine your location within a few yards of your precise location. Some high-tech receivers can pinpoint you within inches.”

  “Wow, sounds complicated, yet simple,” said Mac.

  “Now you see why my eyes glossed over when you were explaining peptides and amino acids. It would have been easy enough to say we’ll use GPS and leave it at that. Sometimes, it helps to give the details.”

  Mac pulled out her phone, which she used to organize her clinical notes and photograph the health of the mice. “Every time we bury a bucket, we’ll use our phone to identify the location on GPS.”

  “Yes. Tonight, I’ll enter the coordinates into everyone’s phones together with a list of the bucket’s contents. From now on, in addition to their sidearm, I’m going to suggest everyone carry their cell phone too. It can be used as a flashlight, a compass, a camera, and to make notes.”

  A gust of wind interrupted their conversati
on and dark, ominous clouds suddenly appeared over the Continental Divide to their west. “We better get going. I don’t like the looks of those clouds,” said Hunter.

  Chapter 32

  Day Sixty-One

  Quandary Peak

  At breakfast, Mac put in a request—more mice. After the hilarity died down, during which the group all joked about what a hard-core survivalist she’d become by wanting to eat mice, and then the inevitable comparison to the Donner Party and that Walking Dead bunch who decided eating people was necessary, she explained her appetites and cuisine choices hadn’t changed. She needed more mice to accelerate her work in the lab. Mac wanted at least three mice to inject per day until she’d created the perfect compound.

  Hunter planned on taking the day shift at the newly established checkpoint at the bottom of the mountain. He wanted to get to know Derek better to determine if he could be counted on. Derek was young, but had shown Hunter some maturity. He wanted to look for any character traits that would make Derek unreliable or, even worse, a loose cannon.

  After the group finished breakfast, Tommy led Barb and Janie down the trail that traversed the steep elevation behind their house to Monte Cristo Creek, which meandered between the ridges a thousand feet below them. The hike down took nearly thirty minutes, but the return trip would require at least an hour.

  Janie and Barb’s goal was to trap deer mice, which were most prevalent where the deer fed along creeks and their grassy banks. Hunter and Tommy had discussed the prospect of deer hunting along Monte Cristo Creek, but then they wondered how in the world they’d get the dead animal up the mountain again. They’d have to field dress the carcass at the bottom, butcher it on site, and then tote three hundred pounds of meat up a thousand feet to the house. They both agreed they’d rather eat pine nuts.

  Hunter supplied them with glue boards and plastic traps designed to lure them into a space from which they couldn’t retreat. He’d purchased two electrocution mouse traps from Amazon for deployment around the house. For Mac’s purposes, dead mice would tell no tales, so Hunter kept the electrocution traps up the mountain.