by Tim Moon
Finally, the governor of Hawaii had come on TV and declared a state of emergency. He activated the National Guard and ordered them to help quell violence in the streets and to secure key airports on each island. The governor said it was “important to keep critical transportation infrastructure open for emergency response crews.” State of Hawaii law enforcement agencies were ordered to assist the National Guard in securing key resources. The Department of Health was directed to coordinate with the Centers for Disease Control to assess the disease and develop treatment options.
The governor urged people to stay in their homes and barricade themselves in. At this point, government officials didn’t know exactly what the disease was but warned people that the infected were extremely violent and should be avoided.
As if the public didn’t already know.
The one thing the government did know was that the disease could be transmitted through bites from those infected. The governor stressed the importance of remaining indoors and away from other people.
“I guess we learned that the hard way,” Ty said, glancing at Ben.
Ben just nodded slowly, they were out of pain killers and his face still throbbed from his fight with Eric. Thankfully, while he’d been passed out, Charlotte had straightened his nose.
Reports had been pouring in from all over the country. On the news, Jordan Jackson reported that as emergency services were overwhelmed, gang violence had skyrocketed, along with looting and home invasions. Major cities had it the worst because they had large populations, high population density, poorly distributed supplies, and poor defenses.
People were unwinding now that the veil of order and security had been torn off. Old rivalries flared up and decades of frustration boiled over. Gangs began fighting openly in the streets. Sometimes they fought each other and the infected at the same time. Looters were out in force, taking whatever they could. Ben couldn’t see how stealing a TV would help much these days, but that’s the kind of stupid shit people were doing.
It wasn’t just a U.S. problem either. Dozens of countries, mostly in Europe and Asia, were reporting similar problems. Police had initially tried to detain the infected, but attacks and injuries quickly overwhelmed them. Then, one by one, countries began announcing the closure of their borders just like China had. All around the world, people were dying.
One thing stood out to Ben. Amid all the noise in the news, an unofficial consensus had been reached that this was some sort of plague. He was just about to say something when Jordan Jackson came back on screen to report that just moments ago, at the direction of the president, the Federal Aviation Administration had grounded all air travel.
Ty was the first to respond. “Oh my God, how are we going to get off this island?”
Ben shrugged. “For now, we don’t.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
October 12, 2015
Waikoloa Beach Resort and Spa
1653 Hours
CHARLOTTE SIGHED HEAVILY and walked over to the window.
“What’s wrong?” Anuhea asked.
“I’m tired of eating trail-mix and protein bars. I need something real.”
“Like a salad?” Ty asked.
“Or some fruit, or a steak, I don’t care. Something real and filling. My stomach keeps growling,” Charlotte said with a frown, rubbing her stomach.
Ben knew that their food supplies, mainly left-overs from Mauna Kea and surplus for the other hikes they’d planned, were running thin. Soon, they’d have no choice but to venture out for sustenance. Just the thought of facing those creatures again made Ben’s heart race. So for now, they remained in the room, quiet and unassuming.
“Does your face hurt?” Oliver asked, staring at the dark bruise that had formed under Ben’s left eye.
Ben smiled at him and said, “It sure does.”
“I had a black eye once, just like yours. But it was this eye,” Oliver said, pointing to his left eye.
“What happened?” Charlotte asked.
“My friend next door, Tommy, threw a baseball at me, and it hit me in the face.”
“Ouch. Did it hurt?” said Ben.
“Yeah, it hurt really bad. Like really, really bad. This much,” he said, stretching his little arms out to demonstrate how much it hurt. “But my mom put ice on it and made it feel better.”
“Well, that’s a great idea. Your mom is very smart. I wish I had ice,” said Ben. He looked over at Ty. “Oliver may be on to something. Where’s the ice machine?”
“I think it’s about five rooms down the hall.”
The only pain relief option Ben had left was ice. And as long as he went out to get it, he wouldn’t be putting anyone else at risk for his comfort. But it meant leaving the safety of the room and going down the long hallway to the ice machine.
After a quick search, Ben decided his most likely weapon would be a toilet bowl plunger that Anuhea had found under the bathroom sink. With the plunger in one hand and the bucket for ice in the other, Ben surveyed the hallway from the peephole. No infected in sight.
“I’ll be right back,” Ben said, glancing back at his friends. Without waiting for a response, Ben unlocked the door and slipped out. He walked quickly and quietly down the hall toward the ice machine.
Despite all the strange noises they’d heard recently, things looked normal. The only things that stood out were Eric’s covered body lying parallel against the wall, and blood smeared on one of the doors he passed. Ben glanced at it as he walked by and wondered if the person who’d put it there was still alive.
As he approached the ice machine, Ben could hear the whirring of the motor, as it kept the cubes frozen. His mouth felt a little dry and he could feel his pulse quicken. The soft noise and the overall silence in the building was unsettling.
Ben moved against the wall and inched forward, peeking around the corner into the little side room where the ice machine stood, with the plunger poised to strike, anticipating an infected person to jump out at him. But no one was there.
He was pleasantly surprised by the three vending machines that stood next to the ice machine. One was a snack machine with chips and candy, one had fancier snacks like sandwiches, and the third machine held drinks. Seeing them made Ben smile, at least they wouldn’t starve. And the sandwiches and other snacks might cheer up Charlotte.
Ben set the plunger down and raised the ice bucket to fill it up, but a sound caught his attention. It came from further down the hallway, from the stairwell. Ben waited, holding his breath, for the sound to happen again.
It happened again.
Someone, or something, was definitely walking around in the stairwell. The idea of one of those monsters coming up the stairs made his stomach sink.
Shit, shit, shit, he thought. Ben wondered if maybe he should run back to the room but the noises were getting close. Hiding felt like a better choice.
Ben picked up the toilet bowl plunger and stepped back in between the ice machine and the vending machines.
The steady thump of feet climbing stairs reverberated down the hallway. Ben’s hand clenched the plunger. He almost laughed at what a pitiful weapon it made.
The sound trailed off, and Ben wondered if maybe it was made by several people because of the way the sound started and stopped. If it was more than one of the monsters, Ben knew he was probably fucked. Fighting Eric alone had been difficult enough. Ben couldn’t imagine fending off more than one of the infected.
Blood thumped through his body quicker than he imagined it could. The noise drew near. Ben drew himself as close to the wall as he could, squeezing further between the ice machine and the drink machine. He cringed at the thought of getting caught and dying over some stupid ice.
The sound happened again. It was definitely more than one creature. They moved, paused, then they’d move again. Footsteps began to pass by Ben’s hiding place, they sounded purposeful not like the creatures he’d seen so far. Curiosity got the better of him and he inched his head up to peer over
the top of the ice machine. As he moved, the handle of the plunger scraped against the side of the machine.
Damn it!
Adrenaline burst into Ben’s veins, and a wave of goose bumps rushed down his arms. It sounded so loud.
A figure swung toward the noise. The silence burst into a flurry of loud bangs, as multiple objects struck the wall and ice machine. Ben ducked down between the machines, sliding almost to the floor. Through his shock, Ben realized that they were gunshots.
“Don’t shoot,” he yelled.
Whoever it was, at least they were alive.
“Hold your fire, Private,” a grizzled voice said. “Please come out slowly with your hands up.”
Ben stood up raising his hands over his head. He still held the plunger and ice bucket.
“Drop whatever’s in your hands!” one of them yelled.
Ben dropped his stuff and looked over to see a soldier staring back at him with his rifle raised. Another soldier was at the edge of the room, all Ben could see of him was half of the soldier’s head and the rifle barrel aimed at his head.
“Hello, sir. I’m Sergeant Riggs – U.S. Army. We’re here to help you,” said the soldier at the edge of the room.
“What the fuck happened to your face, man?” the other soldier said.
“Shut it, Jones,” Sergeant Riggs said, stepping out from behind the wall and lowering his rifle.
Ben just stared at them, smiling. He lowered his arms slowly. “You have no idea how good it is to see you guys.”
Sergeant Riggs looked at him. Ben felt like the sergeant was waiting for information.
“My name’s Ben. I’ve been hiding here with my friends. We have, um, five in our group, including me,” Ben said, nervously. “I was just getting some ice for my face. Is it okay if I do that really quick?”
“No, we should move. If any of those things are here they’ve definitely heard us,” Riggs said, shooting a look at Jones. The soldier looked embarrassed but didn’t say anything. “Besides you won’t need it where we’re going.”
“Okay.” Ben started to reach down for the bucket and the plunger, but stopped. With soldiers and guns around, he wouldn’t be adding anything to the equation with a goddamn plunger. So he left them on the floor.
“Jones, you and Markham watch this end of the hallway,” Riggs said.
“Sure thing, Sergeant.”
“Watch your trigger finger, Jones.”
“Yes, Sergeant.”
The two guys that Riggs had pointed to walked back toward the stairwell and stood with their rifles at the ready.
Ben led the soldiers down the hall to the room with two in front of him, two behind, and Sergeant Riggs next to him. Ben wasn’t sure if he should feel like a VIP or a prisoner. Either way, he was grateful for their presence.
Everyone stopped. Ben nearly ran into the soldier in front of him, but Riggs put his arm out, slowing his momentum.
“What’s that?” a soldier asked, glancing back at Ben and gesturing toward Eric’s body with his rifle barrel.
“Um, I guess you could say we had a casualty.”
“Is that why your face is all jacked up?” Sergeant Riggs asked.
Ben nodded, embarrassed.
“Right here,” Ben said, pointing to the door next to Eric’s body. He slipped his keycard out to open the door.
Riggs made a few hand gestures to two of the soldiers who nodded. They walked to the end of the hallway to guard the other stairwell. Now both ends of the hall were secured.
Sergeant Riggs nodded at Ben. He unlocked the door and Riggs pushed the door open and held it wide.
“Hey guys, we’ve got company,” Ben said with a smile.
Oliver looked strangely excited once he saw that soldiers were here. He peered around Ben and the Sergeant trying to look into the hallway.
“Well get in here and shut the door,” Charlotte said.
“It’s cool, they have guys watching the stairs,” Ben said, as the remaining soldiers filed into the room. “This here is Sergeant Riggs.”
Anuhea stood and nodded at the Sergeant, “Hello.”
“Thank God. Now we can get out of here,” Ty said, excitedly. He stood up with a smile.
“Hello, everyone. As you know we’ve got a serious outbreak happening. We’re collecting survivors and bringing them to the quarantine center for evacuation,” Riggs said, looking at each of them. “If you folks would please pack up your essentials – medicine, mobility devices, et cetera – we’ll move out in ten minutes. No food, drinks, or extra clothing is necessary. The quarantine center has everything you’ll need.”
With that announcement, Sergeant Riggs gave a quick nod as if the matter was settled and walked over to the window. One of the other two soldiers in the room followed him, and they began chatting in hushed tones. The other soldier stood by the door.
“Well, this is a nice turn of events,” Ben said, smiling. “We’re finally headed somewhere safe.”
Ty high-fived him. Charlotte gave him a quick hug. Anuhea grabbed the first aid kit and downed a bottle of water. Oliver continued staring at the soldiers in awe.
Less than ten minutes later, everyone was ready and the group was escorted down the stairwell and out of the hotel. As they exited the hotel, Ben took a deep breath of fresh air and smiled. They were loaded into several humvees that sat in front of the hotel. Moments later, with soldiers manning the humvees’ machine gun turrets, they began the ride to the quarantine center.
I may not be heading home but I’m heading somewhere safe and that’s a start, he thought.
Chapter One
Gavin McKnight glanced up from his bag check station at the sound of a familiar voice. His girlfriend, Dari, was laughing and talking with his best friend, Mac, while he checked her ticket and identification, at the front of the security checkpoint.
Dari was wearing her airline uniform; a snug fitting dark blue skirt and a matching blouse that showed off her curves. Her glossy black hair, pulled back into a braided ponytail, drew attention to the sparse but effective makeup around her eyes.
She looks amazing, he thought.
However, things had been rocky between them lately. Dari was distant and had begun to volunteer for extra shifts at work, like the one she was going on now, but he had hope for their relationship.
Gavin glanced back down at the bag in his hands and completed his search. He returned the carry-on bag to its owner, a guy named Mike who was flying to the North Slope for his work rotation.
"Have a good shift, Mike." Gavin smiled. Mike was a regular passenger, like most of the oil company employees. They flew to Barrow, Prudhoe Bay and other such small places on a regular basis.
"You too, see you next month," Mike said with a grin.
Gavin watched Dari as she came through security, wondering what kind of mood she was in. He walked over and met her at the back of the checkpoint.
"Hi." A brief smile played across her lips.
"Hey, babe."
"It's that time again," Dari said. "I'll see you in a week."
Their eyes locked and she raised her hand and placed it on Gavin's cheek for just a moment. Their smiles shone in the bright overhead light, but they didn't kiss. They were on the clock after all and, like the saying went, "On the checkpoint, someone is always watching."
"Have a good trip," he said, wrapping her in a quick hug. "Stay warm, beautiful."
"I will." Then she turned and walked toward her gate on C concourse. Dari travelled often so they kept their goodbyes brief. It made it easier on both of them.
Gavin watched her walk away. Her heels clicked on the tiled floor. Her hips swayed seductively.
She turned her head and caught him staring at her ass. She smirked and winked at him. He grinned and gave a small wave.
Even though it was only Barrow, Alaska – cold, remote and boring - he still wished he could go with her. They could always find ways to entertain themselves.
It was times like this that G
avin was envious of her job. She had two great perks: frequent travel for work and free airfare for personal use. She could also take time off if she wanted, whereas he was rather limited in taking time off and needed to get his leave approved way ahead of time.
Gavin’s job did have some benefits, but they were of the kind that old people and family guys valued. He was neither.
Gavin glanced at his watch then thumbed the mic on his radio.
"It's that time folks," Gavin said with a sigh. His team started to switch work stations.
The officers changed positions regularly so they would stay fresh and alert. Even if they’d been graced with military-like discipline, which most were not, officers would eventually lose focus. Considering they were responsible for keeping airplanes full of hundreds of people safe, they had to be on their toes all the time. Rotating stations reduced the chances of mistakes happening. Or at least, that's what management said.
Gavin took over the walk-through metal detector, a seldom-used machine, since most passengers passed through the new body scanners. Mac came over to take his place at the X-ray machine.
"Hey, how come you're not going with Dari?" asked Mac. He waved at the next passenger in his lane to push their stuff forward and then sat down.
"Why would I? She's just going to work."
Mac's eyebrow shot up. "Okay..."
"As if I could get time off. Anyway, she'll be busy working and it's only a week," Gavin said with a shrug.
Mac stopped the X-ray machine and stared at Gavin for a moment. There was silence.
Then Gavin cleared his throat and said, "Besides I uh, have to stay here and keep you out of trouble. Like you’d better get that X-ray running before the supervisor rips you a new one."
Mac shot him a knowing grin.
Gavin’s eyes flicked over to the supervisor’s podium, which was made up of three big desks atop a giant raised platform. Some people called it "the starship" because it looked like the supervisor was on the command bridge of the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek.