Redaction: Extinction Level Event (Part I)

by Andrews, Linda

  Manny opened his eyes.

  Dirt crescents trimmed the man’s fingernails. “That’s it. Focus on me, kid.”

  He shoved his fingers through his stiff hair, felt the burn across his skull as he pulled some strands loose. “I’m not a kid.”

  Papa Rose’s brown eyes crinkled above his blue mask. “That’s it, get angry. Anger helps to deal with senseless loss.”

  “Leave me alone.” Manny shoved at the bald man.

  The guy didn’t budge. “Not yet, Manny. You need to talk about it.”

  If the man wanted to be an ass, he didn’t have to stick around. There were other ways to reach the group. Manny clenched his fists and pivoted about. “No. I don’t.”

  Falcon adjusted the dusty covering over his black hair and stepped into Manny’s path, boxing him between the ATVs. “What was the worst thing about graveyard duty? A shirt slid back on one woman’s face. Reminded me of my momma and I had to sling dirt right on her face.”

  Manny plugged his ears with his fingers. He didn’t have to listen to this. He didn’t.

  “Not that.” Papa Rose edged closer. “It was the hollow thud the dirt made as it hit those swollen bellies. Sounded just like a drum. Except sometimes they exploded.”

  “Shut up!” He rocked back and forth. Hot tears ran down his cheeks and his nose pricked before it ran. Neither washed away the images the two men’s words conjured. Nor the thousand or so others stuffing his head.

  Falcon grasped Manny’s wrists and uncovered his ears. “Is it how black the bodies become from the pooled blood? Or the bugs devouring your friends right before your eyes?”

  Anger roiled through him like a rampaging beast, heating him from the inside out. He had to get away. Manny twisted and turned his arms, but couldn’t break the man’s grip. “Leave me alone!”

  Papa Rose snapped his fingers. “It was the children.”

  Manny stiffened. The rage vanished, leaving him hollowed out and brittle. A hot wind scoured his exposed skin, whittling away his soul, nothing remained behind.

  “The little bodies were wrapped up tight, but you could see their faces, couldn’t you?” Papa Rose grabbed his shoulders. “They were your brothers and sisters. They were…”

  To Manny’s surprise, his bones didn’t shatter into dust. “Don’t say it,” he pleaded.

  “They were the niños.”

  “Oh, God.” Manny’s legs buckled and fat tears rolled one after the other. Every tiny corpse had been Lucia, Mikey, Mary and Jose. He’d seen Rini in a thin body and Henry in the white hair sticking out of a shirt. But they were alive and safe. All of them. They had to be.

  Papa Rose wrapped his arms around Manny and helped him to sit on the ATV. “Sorry to push you so hard but we couldn’t have you breaking down in front of the others.”

  Manny clung to him, pulling on his strength.

  “Too many of them are sick.” Falcon released his wrists. “We need to make their last days as pleasant as possible.”

  “I know.” Wiping his nose on his sleeve, Manny hiccoughed. God, he was such a baby, blubbering like this.

  Falcon crouched in front of Manny and offered him a dusty handkerchief. “You’re a soldier, Manny, drafted in this war. A war we’re losing. Good people are dying for no reason.”

  Manny blew his nose while swiping at the tears.

  Squeezing Manny’s shoulder, Papa Rose pushed to his feet. “If you don’t let out that grief, it’ll fuck you up.”

  “Stay here. Kick some tires, punch some chrome. Cry yourself dry.” Falcon adjusted his face mask. “Deal with the anger and frustration, and when you’re ready to talk about it, you can see either us or the Colonel.”

  “Thanks.” Maybe. Crying seemed like a girly thing to do. Manny blew his nose again. Tears still leaked from his eyes.

  The blurry figures of the two men were halfway up the row of parked ATVs when the German shepherd appeared. With his hackles raised, the dog faced east, bared his fangs and growled. Farther down the camp, dogs barked and a cat yowled.

  “What the fuck!” Papa Rose eyed the dog before leaping on the seat of the Gator.

  Manny heaved himself up. His sneakers sank into the padded seat and he balanced on the balls of his feet so as not to fall off. About a mile away, flames devoured buildings and belched plumes of black smoke. Surrounded by fire on three sides, an empty field stretched between the fires and their camp. Instead of the expected green weeds, a black and brown tide swept down the growth. He blinked. “What’s wrong with the field?”

  The German shepherd barked as a furry rat dashed out of the vegetation.

  Why would one small rat cause the dog to bark? Hadn’t he ever seen them before? Manny had practically lived side-by-side with them for months. Except… His bones felt like ice under his skin. Except the brown and black field was thick with writhing, leaping bodies.

  “Rats!” Falcon jumped to the ground in a puff of dust before grabbing the gasoline can from the rack in the back of the ATV. “We’ve got incoming!”

  “Come on!” Papa Rose grabbed a second can. “We’ve got to protect the camp. Those damn rats will claw and bite anything in their path.”

  Grabbing the last can, Manny chased after him. The barking dog ran beside him. Rini and Beth met them halfway

  They reached the main camp just as two women and a golden retriever sprinted down the embankment. “Rats. Lots of them. Headed this way.”

  “We’ve brought gasoline.” Liquid sloshed when Falcon raised the can. “We’ll build a fire around our ground, force them to go around.”

  “It won’t work.” Henry adjusted his useless legs on the wagon while Mildred collapsed his wheelchair and heaved it onto the sacks of feed in the back. “They’re in too much of a panic. They’ll just race right through it.”

  “So what do we do?

  Henry tugged the walkie-talkie from his shirt pocket. “Take the ramp out of the wash and give the horses their head.”

  “But the smoke?” came the crackling reply.

  “We’ve got incoming.”

  “Incoming?”

  Dust mingled with the thick smoke marking the progress of what remained of their group. Half a mile left from one that had straggled four miles yesterday. So many people lost… Shaking off his thoughts, Manny watched the lead wagon rattle up the dirt ramp onto the access road running parallel to the wash.

  “Rats,” Henry said.

  “About two miles wide and more than that deep,” Papa Rose panted.

  “Did you copy that?” Henry again.

  “Copy that. We’re heading for the firewall. I pray we’ll make it through before we dip down into the river bottom again.” The lead wagon picked up speed then another lurched out of the wash. One by one the four wagons exited. Then came the people riding double and triple on horseback. And the cyclists.

  “Where do you want us, Colonel?” Falcon asked.

  “Make torches and place the ATVs between the people on foot and the rats.”

  Mildred climbed into the back holding the small dogs, the cats and kittens, the niños and a few sick. With a crack of the whip, the wagon lurched forward.

  Manny followed the charge back to the ATV’s, Rini and Beth at his heels. He skidded to a stop on the stones. “How are we going to make torches?”

  Papa Rose jerked a shovel off the back of the ATV. Next, he ripped off his shirt and wrapped it around the handle. “Like this.”

  Shucking his hoody, Manny handed it to Rini then he removed his shirt. They finished their makeshift torches at the same time, and then stared at Papa Rose.

  He tugged a lighter from his jeans and handed it to Beth. He held out his vest to Falcon. “Soak me down, man.”

  Rats scrambled down the hill.

  Above the squeaking, civilians shouted.

  Tilting the gas can, Falcon doused the fabric with gas then moved on to the next one, then the next.

  Manny blinked at the fumes.

  Beth fumbled with the ligh
ter. Each torch caught fire with a whoosh.

  “Move out as soon as you’re good to go.” Papa Rose mounted his ATV, started the engine and took off across the wash. Everyone else scattered to their rides.

  Manny jumped behind Rini as she started the Gator’s engine.

  “Ready?” She tossed over her shoulder.

  “Go!”

  The ATV lurched forward joining the queue. The German shepherd and Golden Retriever raced beside them barking at the rats, catching a few in their teeth then flinging them in the air.

  Manny swung his torch beside the vehicle. Through the dust ahead, he watched the last two wagons maneuver between the people and the rats.

  Brown arrowed into the stream of people. Screams rent the air.

  Shots rang out.

  Manny grasped Rini around the waist as the ATV trundled over the rats. Flames flickered and heat licked his face. They maneuvered into the middle of the dozen ATVs. The motorcycles raced ahead and then fell back, blocking the people as best they could. Smoke thickened. The lead wagons and horsemen disappeared.

  The brown wave slipped down the banks into the wash. Pink tails erect. Beady eyes glistened. He kept swinging the torch. Rodents screeched. The air filled with the pungent scent of burning hair and flesh. The ATV bumped over the vermin carpet as they swerved, swept along by the furry stream.

  Rini leaned forward against the handlebars, steering them back to the others.

  More screams sounded ahead. Gun shots rang out with greater frequency.

  The German shepherd leapt onto the back basket. He snapped at the rodents, plucking one off Manny’s thigh and flinging it over his shoulder.

  Manny moved the torch back and forth as they climbed the ramp. The seething carpet carried them to the edge, threatening to topple them into the wash. He reached around Rini. Gripping one handlebar, he helped turn the wheels on the backs of the vermin.

  The fur carpet stretched for miles and bubbled up the hill. Ahead, a red wall of flames raced along the northern edge of the field. The vermin flew into a frenzy trampling each other. People went down under the mass. Here and there, a hand emerged, before it melted back into the sea of brown and the lump lay still.

  The torches created red arcs but didn’t slow the rampage.

  Manny kept swinging. Ahead, fire raced across the access road. The motorcycles surged through it. They darted to the side as the fire died down to reveal a large truck. Soldiers with flame throwers and guns stood in the bed of a truck as it backed toward the running people. Every once in a while, flames washed down the side and swept aside the rats climbing the tires.

  The lead ATV slowed. A figure wearing rats from the waist down, threw himself across the boards on the back. Rats flew off him. The first ATV approached another person. The vermin tide swept him over the bank.

  Soldiers lifted people into the bed of their truck, one after the other. Slowly, they cleared the main body. The stragglers lagged further and further behind. And their numbers were dwindling.

  “We have to go faster!” Manny shouted.

  The vehicle lurched forward.

  The German shepherd leapt from the back of the Gator onto a rat-covered man as they passed. The man struggled to his feet. Manny watched Falcon slow long enough to pick both up.

  Gunfire came in one uninterrupted burst now. Rat bodies bounced as they were hit by the bullets.

  Manny flung the shovel aside as they approached a couple carrying a young child. The man swatted at the rats with a branch as they slogged forward.

  “Them.” Manny pointed so Rini could see them.

  Nodding, Rini slowed.

  Rats clawed up his leg. Clenching his thighs tight, he reached for the woman.

  The man stopped to throw her. She landed in the back and the ATV bucked in the front. Twisting in his seat, Manny slapped aside the rats on the bloody woman. The man went down on one knee. Rats swarmed over him.

  A torch swept over the bunch and he lurched to his feet. The ATV driver stopped and dragged him from the sucking swell of vermin. Shaking off rats, they staggered to the vehicle and took off.

  After tossing the last rat off the woman, Manny turned back around. Nothing but the carpet of rats undulated across the road. The soldiers’ truck began the bumpy ride forward with the ATVs close behind.

  They zoomed through a line of fire and he almost pitched forward as Rini brought them to a quick stop.

  Henry sat in the front of a supply truck. More trucks formed a line on the side of the road where soldiers with flame throwers fed the fire line repelling the vermin tide. “Bring the wounded over here. We can’t stop for long.”

  They puttered forward and a soldier in camouflage glanced at the woman in back. They lifted her and the child free.

  The rest of the ATVs zoomed through the smoke and drew to a halt.

  Standing in the middle of the chaos, Sergeant Major Dawson tugged down his mask and smiled. “About time you guys got here. We were getting ready to leave when we saw the first wagon emerge from the river bed.”

  “You waited for us?”

  “Of course.” The soldier tossed him a bag of cookies before setting his face mask back in place. “We would have found you sooner, but the smoke renders the satellites useless. Now, let’s head out. We should be at base camp in another couple of hours, then we will relax.”

  Manny tore open the cookies, before offering one to Rini.

  She peeked inside before taking one. Lifting her mask, she nibbled on one corner. “We’re safe now, aren’t we?”

  “Yes.” He stuck a whole one in his mouth. “Yes, we are.”

  And their tribe had gotten a whole lot larger but that was a good thing.

  Rini drifted forward bringing their ATV alongside Falcon’s and into the convoy. In a couple of hours, they would reach their new home.

  There’d be no more rats.

  And no more dying.

  Chapter Fifty

  Night shoved against red flames making a jagged edge on the horizon as David’s truck pulled into Mavis’s neighborhood. Parked military vehicles tilted drunkenly from the curb. Black ghosts shuffled along the sidewalks and streets while yellow flashlights punched holes in darkness. The headlamps cut across the face of a donkey. The animal shied away before the handler got it under control. Slowly a cart trundled by. Limbs protruded from the bodies in the back and flopped about as the cart bumped over a pothole.

  “It had taken us the whole day, Big D, but I think we did great finding Wheelchair Henry, Manny, and all. Plus, those animals are gonna come in real handy feeding everyone.” Robertson nosed the personnel carrier into an empty spot and killed the engine.

  “The Doc will be pleased.” About the people. Who knew if she’d planned for more animals. He scanned the crowd. Where was Mavis? Had she gotten worse? He checked his cellphone. No message. But that didn’t mean one hadn’t been sent. Around the burning valley, cell towers had been destroyed, rendering coverage spotty at best. He pushed open the door and jumped to the asphalt.

  General Lister spied him from the opening of Mavis’ cul-de-sac and marched over. “Bout time you showed up. The Doc was getting worried. That we don’t need, Sergeant-Major.”

  “Yes, Sir.” He gestured to the wagons being herded deeper into the neighborhood. “We found some survivors.”

  “Good.” Lister rubbed the stubble on his chin. “How many sick?”

  “More than half.” He didn’t bother counting actual numbers. There wasn’t much point. “We’re told many passed in the night.”

  Metal screeched as the trucks’ gates dropped. Soldiers, Airmen and Marines formed queues nearby, personally sorting the arrivals and leading them to different locations. Fatigue and helpless bowed many square shoulders at the number of sick children. So many sick children.

  “Death is going to be our constant companion for the next couple months.” Lister sighed as a trio of coughing toddlers were carried by. “This is a hell of an enemy to fight.”

&nb
sp; “Almost makes me miss Al Qaida.”

  Lister grunted. “I’ll brief you on the walk to the chow line.”

  “Yes, Sir.” He swung his M4 over his shoulder and fell into step beside the general, walking down the center of the street. Around them service men and women packed the trucks, emptied survivors from others and shuffled people to and from the houses. “We preparing to bug out tomorrow?”

  “Some have already left. And the evac route has been modified a bit. Rain’s turning the washes into quicksand.” He glanced up at the smoke-filled sky. “Cold front is supposed to move in tomorrow so we’ll be hitting snow once we reach the Mogollon Rim.”

  David shook his head. Bad weather. Just what they needed. “We need a break.”

  “We need a miracle. This jaunt is turning into a Hail Mary effort with every passing second.”

  “Sergeant Major!” Manny sprinted from the group gathered in the center of the road.

  Walking with the general, David headed toward the kid.

  “That your group.”

  “Yes, Sir.” He eyed the assembly of twenty or so people. None of them coughed or wheezed for breath.

  “They look healthy. You have the damnedest luck, Sergeant Major.”

  Luck had nothing to do with it. Wheelchair Henry, Manny and his group hadn’t gone to the Burgers in a Basket. But their long walk here might have exposed them. In two months, none of them might be alive.

  Drawing up short, Manny sucked air into his lungs before setting his hand on his knee and craned his head to look up at them. “Wheelchair Henry wants to talk to you.”

  He held out a yellow and black child’s walkie-talkie.

  Lister eyed it like it was a hand grenade. “Now, see here, young man. The sergeant major and I have work to do.”

  David set his hand on Manny’s shoulder. Bones pushed back against his palm. The kid needed some meat on his bones. “Wheelchair Henry is retired Colonel Henry Dobbins, General. Nearly a dozen vets left the VA hospital to find the old man when he didn’t show up for free burgers and shakes on Monday.”

  The day the Veteran’s Affairs had distributed anthrax-laden toys to the sick and injured. Silence drifted on the smoke as Lister made the connection.