Derek was looking down at the paper with his dark shades on. Sasha couldn’t see his eyes, but she got the impression that he wasn’t really looking at the map, but was working something out in his head. She was right.
“Okay, here’s the deal. When we get there, Adam and I are going to go first. We’ll leave the car parked a ways away, and walk to it.” He put his hand up in anticipation of Sasha arguing, although she hadn’t started yet.
“If it’s a safe place, a well-organized camp with a future, then we will come back for you. If it isn’t, we’ll grab Hud and Travis and go somewhere else.”
Sasha tried to see it from his point of view. He didn’t want anything to happen to Nora and herself, and she appreciated that, but she was not about to let them be separated again. Between the 5 of them, they had been able to handle all the trouble that had come their way so far, and she was going to do it with him, everyone together. She turned as much as she could in the driver seat to face Derek.
“No. We aren’t splitting up again.” Her tone was more fierce than it had been for a long time. Lily’s head snapped over to see Derek’s reaction.
“Sasha, don’t do this. It’s better if we-” Adam cut him off.
“I think we should all go together.” He didn’t take his eyes off of the road outside the window in front of him.
Sasha nodded.
“We should. This is a camp for survivors, run by officials. It’s safe, Derek. What are they going to do? Hold us captive? Put us in jail? Shoot us? No, you’re being overprotective and I’m not letting us all split up again.” She hoped that last sentence sounded as final as she had wanted it to.
Derek just sighed. He looked down at Nora, and her huge eyes rose up under those dark lashes to meet his. She could see his eyes through his shades, and she wasn’t afraid of the blackness anymore. She seemed to put a brave face on, and a small smile tugged on the corner of her lips. She moved her small hand to Derek’s, let it rest on his, and nodded very slightly. Even she wanted them to be together.
Derek had a bad feeling. He didn’t like the idea of being so vulnerable, with a child and with them barely armed, walking into a place where the only other people he had seen in months were gathered.
“Besides, Derek, Hud and Travis are already there. They won’t let anything happen to us, right?” Adam was trying to ease the tension that was pouring off of Derek.
“Fine.” Derek said, as calmly as he could. “but we still need a backup plan. I don’t want us to ever be dependent on the whim of fate. Look where that has gotten us so far.”
Sasha was relieved, and quickly began thinking of ideas for a backup plan.
“Okay. Let’s say for whatever reason, we have to leave the camp. Where are we going to go?” She racked her brain, trying to visualize a safe place.
“Home.” Derek said. He had decided that their next stop would be his home near Washington, DC. He hadn’t been back since he had left to visit Cheryl months ago, and although he usually pushed the thoughts out of his head, he still clung to the hope that his parents were still alive. At the very least, he knew the area like the back of his hand, and there were many places he imagined would be more secure than the cabin had been.
They spent the next hour or so coming up with a step by step plan in case something went wrong at the camp. Sasha went along with it, only because she was so glad that he had agreed to stay together; she had all but convinced herself that everything was going to be fine.
Lily remained mostly quiet, and only spoke when she was asked a direct question. It had been decided that she and Derek would be the frontline in case they had to flee again, and just hearing her name paired with Derek’s seemed to lighten her mood a little. Sasha knew exactly what Lily was feeling, and it was painfully familiar. She knew what it felt like to fall for Derek, and him not fall for you. Although she had been mistaken, she still sympathized with Lily. She also made a mental note to stay aware of Lily’s actions. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Lily, it was more that Lily was the hardest one to read, and that made Sasha nervous.
Adam eventually opened the center console, and happened to find a small CD case. He laughed as he was looking through them. He pulled one out, slid it into the CD player on the dash, and smirked mischievously as the first few notes of a croony country song began.
The mood lightened a little, and Sasha went back to feeling that they were saved. She laughed and joked and tried to keep Nora’s face smiling, pretty effectively.
Time passed so quickly that they were near the small town in Virginia before they knew it.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Outbreak.
I left the lab last night at about 8 PM. I received a call this morning a few minutes ago describing how the Loki Variation has been released through some sort of accident at the testing lab. I was told that human beings have been infected, outside of the lab. I was told to report to a different meeting location for everyone involved in the project, probably to come up with ways to contain the infection before it reaches a greater population.
I have tried to leave the project. I have tried to transfer out to a different internship somewhere, but strangely, no other labs were accepting new interns. I tried to request a leave of absence, but was denied. My next step was to just leave and try to work it out with the Master’s program later but I had not taken that step yet, and I fear I may have waited too long.
I am going to the meeting. I don’t know what to expect, but I do know that several local authorities on infectious diseases and health departments have been notified, and there may already be a quarantine in effect. I am not sure how widespread this has already become.
What I do know is that this is a very dangerous parasite. It creates a very dangerous creature, stronger and faster than we ever thought, and resilient. The parasite reproduces at an alarmingly fast rate, and is easily transmitted. And it makes the infected extremely volatile, violent, and dangerous.
In Norse mythology, Loki was originally used by the Gods to do their bidding. He ended up becoming more and more mischievous, until mischief turned into evil. He eventually ended up being responsible for the death of the God of Light, and was prophesied to be the one to lead the battle against the Gods.
I’m scared that I couldn’t have picked a more appropriate name for the Loki Variation.
Posted by Sanjeev at 4:41 AM
Chapter 50.
The gas gauge had barely sunk below a quarter when they pulled off Interstate 81 and followed the handwritten directions on the map. The truck became silent again, Derek’s concern and Sasha’s hopefulness taking the place of the conversation from before. Their vista turned into nothing but picture perfect hills, blue and misty and beautiful.
Derek had rolled the window down to let the air come into the backseat. Although it was cold outside, he wanted to be able to smell any danger if there was any. So far, he could only detect pavement, dirt, grass, and metal. A glance at Lily revealed she didn’t smell anything out of the ordinary either.
The few remaining miles wound through a beautiful area, green and lush and hilly. The closer they got the camp, the harder Sasha’s heart pounded. Derek could hear it.
They followed one deserted street until a field appeared before them. Sasha let her foot slide off of the accelerator, coming to a crawl in the middle of the street.
A huge field was covered in canvas tents. A 10’ tall chain link fence topped with overly thick razor wire surrounded almost the entire field. Several military vehicles, jeeps, and cars were parked protectively around the field. A large concrete building rise up behind the field, it’s walls reflecting the orange glow of the low sun.
“There’s so many.” Sasha said in wonderment.
And there was. The pointed tops of the tent probably numbered in the hundreds, and as Sasha looked, she realized she could see people moving around. A large, open sided tent sat near the fence, and as the truck began to close the gap, Sasha realized it was a makeshift
mess hall. People were cooking on outdoor stoves, and others were lined up with paper plates. Her stomach growled in response.
“Oh, it’s awesome!” Sasha exhaled, pushing on the accelerator once more to get there faster. Everyone in the vehicle was craning their necks to get a clear view of the camp as Sasha followed the circle around the fence to where several uniformed men were standing near what seemed to be the main gate. She pulled up close enough for them to hear her through the open window and they came up to the vehicle cautiously, their hands on the weapons.
“How many you have?” The older one said.
“There’s five of us. Well, there was seven. Two of us are already here.” Sasha answered quickly. Derek was watching the men. They didn’t seem to be dangerous, but they didn’t seem overly eager to help, either. As they got closer to the car, they noticed Ripley.
“Sorry, no dogs.” The older one said again as he moved his arm to point towards where Sasha should park.
Derek stiffened. So did everyone else in the vehicle. There was no way he could leave Ripley out here. He immediately began to replay their backup plan in his head, and felt Sasha staring at him questioningly as she pulled the SUV in the parking spot that had been pointed out.
She killed the engine, and was waiting until the uniformed men had come around on her side before she opened the door. She wanted a chance to argue their case for Ripley, but as soon as the men became visible around the back end of the SUV, she saw a familiar face at the front of it.
“Hud!” She pulled open the driver door and got out. She wanted to hug Hud, but his stance made it clear that he was trying very hard to be professional, so she didn’t.
“I got it from here.” He barked at the other men, who turned a dime and began walking back the other way. They looked as if they didn’t care one way or the other who was going to be checking the new arrivals in.
“Took you long enough.” Hud said, relaxing. He perused the SUV with a raised eyebrow and nodded an approval.
“Nice ride, but what happened to the Mauler?”
“Ran out of gas leaving the cabin.” She said as Lily and Nora emerged from the back seat. Adam appeared around the front of the car, wiping his hands on his pants.
“What, you didn’t think to refill from the extra tanks at the cabins?” Hud looked annoyed that they would forget something so important.
Derek stepped in from behind the back bumper.
“We were lucky to get out of there with our lives, let alone fuel. We got completely blindsided by the biggest horde of those things I’ve seen since Jacksonville. It’s a long story.” Derek dismissed the request for context that he knew Hud would be asking for, instead focusing on the news he had just received from the two former uniformed men.
“He said no dogs?” Derek had let Ripley out of the back, she was sniffing Hud’s feet as they spoke.
“Nah, don’t worry about it. We just need to get her on a rope and keep her with you. I already talked to them about it.” He nodded towards the building behind them. Apparently the stone building is where the higher-ups stayed, Derek presumed. How interesting that the majority of the survivors were staying outside in ragtag military tents, sleeping on the ground, and the military was sleeping in beds in a warm building.
They didn’t have any rope available, but Derek clutched Ripley’s collar, and the group made their way towards the gate. A small desk was set up, and Sasha watched as a boy who looked barely older than Adam pulled out a clipboard and pen and readied to ask them questions.
Hud went to find something to tie to Ripley’s collar, and the uniformed boy began with Lily; she had obviously attracted his eye.
“What’s your name?” He said, holding his pen at the ready over a short informational form.
“Lillith Anthony.” She replied, as he wrote her name down. He asked her several other questions, her age, her original home, any surviving family members, and then he set down the pen and stood to meet her face to face.
“Sorry, I just have to check your eyes. Standard stuff. Can you please take off your sunglasses?” He said, obviously feeling no threat from her.
She looked towards Sasha and Derek, both of which nodded. There was no other choice at this point. She looked back towards the boy, lowered her head and reached up for her sunglasses. When she removed them and looked back at him, he immediately jumped back, swearing.
“She’s infected!” He yelled, and suddenly there were men surrounding Lily, holding her arms behind her back and dragging her away from the entrance of the gate.
“Wait! Wait! Stop!” Sasha yelled, but it was useless. They had Lily pinned to the ground, handcuffing her arms. She may have been fighting, but it was hard to tell because of the amount of uniforms holding her down.
Derek began to make his way over to her, and was held back by the arms of the few guys who weren’t on top of Lily. Derek could have easily taken them, but he knew that in total, he was severely outnumbered and Lily was incapacitated. He stopped and tried to ask what was going to happen to her.
Of course he got no answer from the guys who thought they were holding him back. He began scanning for Hud’s face, Hud would be able to help them. Ripley was pulling against the collar he was holding, choking herself trying to get to the crowd of people around Lily.
Then Derek heard Lily calling his name. It was the most vulnerable he had ever heard Lily sound, her voice muffled by the bodies around her. She was begging, even in only saying one word, Derek, he couldn’t stand it. He pulled the sunglasses off of his face, made sure his black eyes were noticed by the men standing nearest him, and moved forward as they fell back. He went towards Lily, letting go of Ripley. Sasha lunged to grab a hold of the dog, and watched as Derek began pulling the uniformed men off of Lily one by one and flinging them to the ground. It was over in a second, a few guns were pulled, Sasha was screaming, and then there was Hud, running through the gates towards Derek, rope dangling from his hand, voice booming.
“Hey! Hold it! What the hell is going on here?”
Chapter 51.
Sasha was holding on to Nora’s hand too tightly. She knew it, but she couldn’t release. In her other hand, she gripped the rope that had been tied around Ripley’s collar, keeping it taut so Ripley was forced to walk within inches of Sasha’s feet.
Adam was directly in front of her, and Sasha was walking so close behind him that she barely missed stepping on his heels a few times. A very large man in a washed out Army uniform was leading them to the place that they were supposed to call home.
Hud had left with Lily and Derek, as at least a dozen of the soldiers had escorted them into the large stone building across the street. Hud had done his best to convince the rest of them that Derek and Lily were not dangerous, regardless of their symptoms, but all he was able to do was have them take the handcuffs off of Lily and be a little more gentle. A man who had looked like he thought he was in charge had explained that he had to watch out for the safety of everyone inside the gates, and Derek and Lily were not going in. Then he had barked at a few of them to take Sasha, Nora, and Adam to the West corner, where there were less people for the dog to bother.
The large guy in the uniform in front of them stopped and nodded towards a dirty canvas tent. It was the shape of an A, and the flap that served as a door was tied back to reveal the inside. Home, sweet home. Sasha thought bitterly as she surveyed the contents of the tent.
A pile of itchy looking wool blankets were piled in a corner, barely folded. A plastic milk crate was turned upside down, obviously supposed to be a chair. One rolled up mat was slung in another corner, looking like it would provide as much padding as a boulder.
“You’ll have to see one of the moms for other stuff.” The soldier said, already turning to leave.
“Moms?” Sasha asked, wondering if she had heard him right, but he had already taken several long strides and was out of hearing range.
Letting go of Nora’s hand, Sasha picked up one of the blankets and
set it back down quickly, letting a small mushroom cloud of dust erupt over it.
“We need to get out of here.” Adam said.
“We will. But not without Derek and Lily. We have to wait for Hud to find out what’s going on.” Sasha said, still gripping Ripley’s rope. Ripley was panting heavily, her tongue curling up with every inhale.
Just as Sasha was going to ask Adam to see if he could find some water for her, a woman’s voice called from outside the tent.
“Hello? I’m Miranda.”
Sasha went to the door and saw a woman who was wearing about four layers of dirty clothing. It was still pretty cold outside, Sasha had barely even noticed it.
“Hi,” Sasha said tentatively, “I’m Sasha.”
She waited for the woman to speak again, hoping she would give them a clue as to what to expect next.
“I’m one of the moms.” Miranda said. Her face was friendly, but she didn’t make a move forward to shake hands. Sasha didn’t blame her, and was glad for the personal space.
“Oh, he did say moms, then,” Sasha said, vaguely pointing in the direction she imagined the large soldier had gone, “he said to ask one of the moms if we need anything.”
“Right, I can get you the basic supplies, the clothes, dishes, things like that. We have some toys and books for the young ones too.” She tried to glimpse inside the tent to see Nora.
“Can we have some water for our dog, please?” Sasha asked.
“I’ll get you a bowl and a bottle of water. Looks like you’ll need some more clothes, too, I can find some that will probably fit you and the girl. We don’t have as many clothes for men, but I’ll see what I can do.” She made eye contact with Adam as he approached the door, smiling.
“That would be great. We also wanted to find out about our friends that they took into the building.” He said, not even bothering to be pleasant.
The Loki Variation Page 27