The Alpha Strain

by Urcelia Teixeira

Still the old woman didn’t answer her. Instead she pointed her henna painted hand toward the stairs. Alex swung around and made her way down the dirty, narrow stairwell to the secret entrance into the fateful shop below where she found the shop owner scrubbing the pools of blood off the floor. The sight horrified Alex and she fought back the urge to run past him and out the front door.

  The shop keeper jumped to his feet and ushered her away from the spot where Ezra was shot.

  “What have you done with him? Where is my friend?” Alex asked with fresh tears streaming down her face.

  “Patel he take good care of your friend. I’m too sorry for your friend. Come, sit, sit.” The shopkeeper’s English was poor but his condolences punched a hollow hole through her stomach as she sat down on the stool behind the shop counter. Alex found herself looking up into the overhead mirror where she watched the shooting play out the night before. Regret filled her once again and she buried her face in her hands.

  “Calm, calm lady, please? Your friend he save my life. You save my life. I die yesterday but no, you save me. What you want huh? I give you all I got. Here, take for you.”

  The Indian shop owner pulled a few hundred rand notes from his hidden drawer under his till and stuffed it in her numb hands. She pushed it away.

  “I don’t need your money.”

  “What I give you want, huh? Say, I give you anything.”

  Alex wiped her face and looked up at the small Indian man whose desperate brown eyes pleaded for her forgiveness and a chance to repay her. It wasn’t his fault either, she thought. It was just an unforeseen event that neither of them could have prevented. He too will be scarred by this for the rest of his life.

  “Do you have a car?” She asked softly, blowing her nose on a tissue he handed her.

  “You want car? No problem lady, my pleasure!” The shop owner ran upstairs and a minute later appeared with a single silver key hanging from a gold and black plushy die.

  “You keep, no problem.”

  Alex took the key from his eager hand; his burdened eyes now filled with joy.

  “Thank you for your help. I’m sorry too,” she whispered and allowed him to drag her by the arm through the backdoor of the shop past the apartment staircase into an adjacent gated alley where his car was parked.

  When Alex settled into the rusty gold Honda that matched the die dangling from its key, she felt lost for the first time in a very long time. She missed Sam’s strength and found herself wondering what he would’ve said to lift her spirits right now. She had no means of communicating with him on the farm and she shot up a prayer for his safety. Hopefully by some miracle they had managed to repair their communications pack and had called for help.

  In front of her the streets outside the city lay quiet. Evidence of vandalism from the night before stuck out its ugly head every now and again but for the most part, it was relatively peaceful. Her mind wandered to Volkov and if perhaps he might have caught on to her. She had lost a lot of time and he could already be hot on her trail by now. Her eyes scanned the rearview mirror every couple of minutes but thankfully, there was no one in sight for miles and she was relieved to have an opportunity to reflect on her own thoughts.

  But, when Alex approached the tiny rural settlement en route to The Cradle of Humankind, she slowed the car down. Up ahead, the road was closed off by thick wooden poles positioned in a crossbar across the road. The horizontal pole was draped in wired fencing and large fires stood on either side. Armed men with bandanas covering their mouths, stood guard on both ends. She stopped a quarter of a mile away and took a closeup view through her binoculars. Her eye caught Ezra’s backpack on the passenger seat that the shopkeeper threw into the car last minute. Her insides felt heavy as she realized she couldn’t take the men on alone. She forced her mind back to the dire situation at hand and turned to look at the road behind her. There was no way around the barricade and the guards looked to be more hostile than friendly. She looked down at the map in her lap. The only way to the Cradle would be through them or through the field to her right, and she wasn’t sure this Honda would make it. As she contemplated her next move, her eyes went up to her rearview mirror and saw a black jeep fast approaching her from behind. She flung her head around and realized it was Volkov.

  Unladylike words escaped from under her clenched jaw. She had no idea how he had managed to find her without deciphering the zoo’s decoy. Her heart raced under the pressure of finding a way to bypass the barricade in front of her while simultaneously escaping Volkov behind her. She shifted the gear lever into first gear and tightened her hands around the steering wheel. The Honda puffed a big cloud of smoke from the exhaust as she revved the accelerator. It was now or never, she thought and without another second to spare she pushed her foot flat onto the pedal and screeched the wheels of her gold chariot toward the barred road ahead. Much to her surprise the Honda performed under the pressure and bolted down the tarmac. Straight ahead the armed guards jumped into position and flung their rifles off their shoulders and in front of them. A succession of shots fired from their weapons rained down onto the Honda’s bonnet and through her front window. Alex hunched down into her seat and kept going. Behind her Volkov’s men fired back, but much to her surprise, not at her but the guards. A few yards away from the cross pole Alex pulled her hand brake up and yanked the steering wheel to the right. The car slid sideways across the road before veering off into the rough on the side of the road. She shifted gears and forced the steering wheel back to the left, pushing her foot flat onto the accelerator. Vaguely conscious of one of the guards being shot dead to her left by one of Volkov’s men, she forced the car into a forward direction and pushed the noisy Honda through the rough and around the barricade. The wheels hit several large rocks that sent Alex off her seat but she kept going; several times almost losing control of the car. Dirt clouds behind her car made it impossible to see through the rearview mirror what was unfolding behind her, but there was no stopping now. She had to keep going forward — for as long and far as the rust bucket would take her.

  With her heart threatening to push through her chest and combat vest, and her legs feeling like jelly, she sped down the road through the rural settlement. A stray dog unexpectedly ran across the road forcing Alex to swerve hard to avoid it. Unable to maneuver the car back onto the road, she hit a makeshift street vendor’s tin shack, sending him diving out into the bushes to avoid being killed. Several bags of oranges hit her front window blocking her vision, so she pulled the steering wheel to the right in the direction of the road she was on prior to the incident. Two of the Honda’s wheels lifted off the ground as she fought to maintain control of the car again. Her hands ached under the strain of the steering wheel when all four wheels gripped the tarmac underneath her again. Somehow she managed to gain control of the car and found herself racing down the road. Frantic villagers scattered into all directions away from the road as the gold car sped past them. Adrenaline pushed through her veins and Alex looked back in her rearview mirror for the first time again. Behind her a truck with five or six angry hooligans on the back raced toward her. Volkov was nowhere to be seen. Her eyes repeatedly searched both sideview mirrors but the black Jeep was nowhere in sight. In that moment she wasn’t sure if she was relieved or worried that she’d now face having to fight the truck full of angry men behind her on her own again. She pushed on down the empty road away from the settlement and knew the road to the Cradle of Humankind heritage site wasn’t far down the road. She’d have to shake them off first though. Her hand went to Ezra’s backpack next to her and she stuck her hand into the front pocket. Unable to take her eyes off the road her hands identified the oblong shape of a hand grenade. Her strained mouth curled into a soft smile as she silently thanked him for his secret weaponry.

  A sudden boulder in the middle of the road caught her off guard and she swerved out to avoid it just in time. The truck behind her followed suit and was closing in on her. She pushed the Honda harder, but to no avai
l. Her hand reached for the grenade in Ezra’s backpack and she knocked the shattered driver’s window to her right out with her elbow. Her teeth gripped the steel pin as she pulled it out and tossed the grenade through the window in the road behind her. Her timing was impeccable as the grenade exploded directly under the nose of the truck sending her assailants through the air. Fear made way for an exhilarated rush of success soaring through her every cell and she wished Ezra or Sam were there to celebrate her escape with her. Somehow she felt they both helped her; Ezra by means of a realm beyond her present one, and Sam through thought transference.

  Still there was no sign of Volkov and his team. It was entirely possible they had been killed by the armed guards, but there was no way of knowing for sure. No body, no murder, she thought. She had to assume they were still alive and stay alert.

  A few yards further the road to the heritage site came into view and Alex slowed to turn into it. She wriggled upright into her seat and leaned forward onto the steering wheel affording her a clearer view between the bullet holes in the front window. The long winding road leading up to the entrance was completely deserted. On either side of the road dry grass stretched out for miles in all four directions. It was as if she was in the middle of a barren land with nothing around her. In the parking lot an abandoned bus stood to one side and a couple of bicycles were still chained to a tree. Using the bus to conceal her car she parked up but kept her eyes fixed on her surroundings — just in case. Satisfied she was alone, she emptied Ezra’s backpack on the seat next to her. Aside from one wrinkled decolorized photo he had no personal effects in the bag. The faded image in the photo caught her eye. It was a young Ezra standing between his multiracial parents. Alex slid three more bullets into his gun’s magazine. Her thoughts drifted to her own parents and she wondered if she’d ever see them again. Willing her mind into the present she grabbed spare ammunition and tucked two grenades into her backpack. With his loaded gun in her waistband at the front of her pants and her gun reloaded and ready in her hand, she slowly climbed out of the car.

  Chapter Twenty

  Nature’s silence was deafening as she stood surrounded by fields of dry grassland. A soft warm breeze touched her skin while she cautiously set off down the footpath towards the dome shaped building that was entirely covered in grass. A large sign displayed the name ‘Maropeng’ and hung above four glass doors that spanned the entrance from left to right —they were all locked. She took a few steps back and looked over her shoulder before firing a bullet through one of them, shattering shards of glass everywhere.

  Inside, the exhibition centre was dark and Alex switched on her flashlight. The large hall showcased a multitude of rare fossils marking the evolution of the human race. Aside from her rubber-soled combat boots squeaking on the shiny floor, it was as silent as it was outside. She paused in front of the lifelike upright replica of Homo naledi and studied his face under torchlight. If only he knew how much trouble he’d caused, she thought.

  She explored the prospect of Professor Graham hiding the tooth inside this reproduction and inspected the glass casing around his hairy human-like body. It was entirely sealed. She second guessed whether she might have misunderstood the alphabet clue. Her mind recalled her writing in the sand at the zoo. She should double check it. She sat cross-legged on the cold floor and pulled the leather book from its hiding place inside her shirt. Her hand reached for Ezra’s lighter from within her backpack and she flicked a flame underneath the page. She ran through the code in her head. It clearly spelled out ‘Rising Star’. Satisfied she slammed the book closed, tucked it back down her shirt and slipped Ezra’s lighter into her pants’ pocket instead; it might just rub off some good luck. It was decided then. She needed to find the Rising Star cave.

  Back on her feet she shone her torchlight, out in front of her face and turned in a three hundred and sixty degree circle. There was no signage pointing to the cave anywhere. Hastily she worked her way through the massive exhibition hall searching for a map or exhibit that would provide any clues to the cave’s exact location, but, apart from a three dimensional display of the intricate cave system, there were none. Her eyes lingered on a cross section of the cave system on the display wall. There was more than one entrance it seemed and from what she could see, it all pointed to the cave being a fair distance away from the exhibition centre. A slight heaviness took hold of her stomach as she studied the narrow pathways and chutes that ventured a hundred feet deep and displayed tunnels that were only eight inches wide. Photos of the actual excavation showed tunnels only accessible by sliding and wriggling one’s body through. Her eyes caught the words ‘superman crawl’ and ‘Dragon’s Back’ and fear trickled down her spine. There was no denying it; she was scared. In the back of her mind she hoped that perhaps, by some miracle, the professor had hidden the tooth somewhere outside the cave instead. Doubt that she could complete this mission filled her mind. She wasn’t a caver by any stretch of the imagination and navigating the narrow tunnels to the Dinaledi chamber where Homo naledi was excavated was going to take all the wit and nerve she could muster; not to mention she had no equipment whatsoever. She rubbed her hand across her throat in a futile attempt to relieve the tightness that increased by the minute as she skimmed through the small gallery of photos on the wall. The sudden realization that it would be very dark down there dawned on her and she promptly switched her torch off to preserve the battery.

  With her flashlight switched off the hall was so dark she could barely see her hands in front of her face. She shut her eyes and centralized her senses to navigate her way through the expansive space; feeling her way along the glass casings and the walls back to the entrance. A sudden noise at the entrance ahead of her stopped her dead in her tracks. She opened her eyes and strained her ears. There it was again. It sounded like glass crushing under feet followed by squeaking shoes on the floor. Her heart skipped several beats. She wasn’t alone. It could only mean Volkov and his men had survived the barricade and were very much alive. Panic numbed her legs as she listened to them coming closer towards her. She pushed her back firmer against the concrete wall. The faded outlines of a large exhibit in front of her came into view. Having seen most of the exhibition hall in torchlight she held somewhat of an advantage over them — but only if it remained dark. Her mind conjured a plan. If she could remain hidden in the dark she could evade them by slipping past them along the outer walls and, once they were further along in the hall, escape through the front doors. Careful not to announce her position and have her soles squeak in reply, she continued at a sloth-like pace on her tip toes along the outer wall, pausing every couple of seconds to assess where they were. The numbing sound of a flashlight’s switch bounced off the walls; further confirmed by the sudden bright ray that spilled across the floor about five yards in front of her. She pulled back behind a tall graphic display and narrowly missed the flashlight’s beam. Her heart beat wildly in her chest as their footsteps drew closer and closer. She drew in a sharp breath and held it when they moved within a yard from her. If she as much as breathed they’d hear her. She squeezed her eyes shut waiting for them to continue past her. Her gun’s waffle-print handle etched marks into her flesh from gripping it too tight. Then they stopped; dead in front of her. Alex identified the silhouettes of at least three men. Their sudden pause caused her leg muscles to tighten as she readied herself to run. If they turned forty degrees to the left with their torchlight they’d see her. Beads of sweat broke out on her lip. It seemed like an eternity frozen in silence, but then, as suddenly as they had stopped, they continued on and walked past her. Once they were a fair distance from her she finally exhaled and took a couple of short shallow breaths instead. She tried taking a small sideways step concentrating on putting her foot down slowly. The floors were not very forgiving of noise and the tiniest of squeaks escaped from beneath her rubber soles. Deciding it was too risky she lay flat on her tummy and raised her feet in the air. She’d slide her way out of there instead. Using
the wall to guide her she pushed her body along the floor toward the bright light of the entrance door.

  Relief washed over her as she finally reached it and jumped to her feet. Bits of shattered glass made a crushing noise under her shoes as she ran through the entrance and down the path. Convinced the glass under her feet had alerted them of her escape, she ran faster. There was no stopping now. She had to run as fast and as far as her legs could carry her. Her feet thumped hard on the concrete path. As predicted, her departure over the broken glass had alarmed them and they announced their pursuit with a succession of bullets on the concrete next to her feet. A split decision had her veer off the path and into the hip-high grassland. Her eyes caught sight of the signage warning against snakes, but she couldn’t divert now. She’d take her chances. Another bullet whisked past her head and she ducked in response. The ground under her feet was unstable but she kept running. A brief turn of her head confirmed it was indeed Volkov’s men on her tail. She tried to get her bearings and changed direction. She was out of breath but adrenaline propelled her feet forward. Unannounced she hit a narrow footpath and took it. A small sign with an arrow which pointed to the right came in sight, so she followed it. Where it led she couldn’t say, but it offered a way to escape and that was all that counted. She briefly turned around again and slammed down hard onto the ground when her foot hit a small boulder in the middle of the path. Her arms instantly ejected her off the ground and she scrambled to her feet. There was no one behind her and no bullets flying over her head. It worried her not knowing where her attackers were, but she kept going. A fork in the path forced her to choose between a yellow arrow or a red one. An instant choice had her decide on taking the yellow one. The footpath was far more rugged and she struggled to find her footing. Her lungs burned as she pushed herself to run faster where the path offered the opportunity. Careful not to fall again she turned once more to look behind her. There was still no sight of anyone behind her. Relieved she might have either outrun them or possibly even eluded them when she took the yellow trail, Alex slowed her pace just enough to gather control of her breathing. Her legs were heavy and they ached in the wake of her sprint. She needed to stay focussed, she reminded herself. No time to slack off. She’d get that tooth and ride on out of there with her trusty gold wagon. And with newfound vigor, she continued down the path at a gentle jog.