Mass Extinction Event (Book 11): Days 349 to 356

by Cross, Amy

  I shake my head.

  “You were yelling all sorts of things. Honestly, you seemed rather manic, to the point that I began to worry you might be utterly insane. You kept throwing out all these names of people you wanted to see, I'm not even sure whether they were real or not. I had to call for assistance, and there was a period during which we really thought that your mind might be completely gone. I'm glad to see that's not the case.” She stares at me for a moment. “To be honest,” she adds finally, “you seem more pulled-together than most of the people round these parts.”

  “I don't understand any of this,” I tell her.

  “Let me start by asking you a very simple question,” she replies. “Thomas, at any point over the past year, have you heard a voice in your head, calling you to Project Atherius?”

  “A voice in my head?” I hesitate for a moment. “No! Are you nuts?”

  “I had to ask,” she says, making another note. “Don't worry, I haven't heard a voice like that either. Very few people have, but there are some things going on that we're still trying to figure out. There's a rather large Project Atherius base not far from here, and zombies seem to be drawn to the location. We're not quite sure why that's the case yet, but there have been unconfirmed reports of uninfected people also hearing the voice. I'm skeptical of those claims, but it's our duty to be cautious.”

  “There are zombies here?”

  “Absolutely not,” she replies. “When they arrive, we terminate them. Sometimes we go weeks without seeing one, other times we get a few hundred in the space of an hour. They seem to travel in herds, but I suspect that's due to difficulties regarding the terrain. Certain natural features create bottlenecks, slowing their pace and funneling them along particular routes. Like I said, though, that's just a theory.”

  “You mentioned Project Atherius.”

  “Have you heard of it?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Smart answer. I like you.” She makes a note. “Just writing down that I like you,” she adds with a smile, “in case I forget later.”

  “My sister and I were passing through the area with our friends,” I tell her. “That's all. We weren't looking for any trouble. Then some guys in a big camper van kidnapped us. They hunted us down and forced us off the road.”

  “I should apologize for that,” she replies. “Some of the patrol teams can be rather rough, but then it's only the crazy ones who are even willing to do that work. They roam the deserted areas around the city, and they bring back people who are in a fit state to join us. There's a bounty system in operation, to give them an extra little kick of motivation.”

  “They killed a load of people in a car.”

  “Then those people must have already been beyond salvation,” she explains. “They were of no use to us here in the city, in which case the patrol teams are free to do what they want.”

  “They're cannibals!”

  “I wouldn't go throwing that word around. Not here. It's considered impolite.”

  “I want to see my sister!”

  “She's speaking to someone, just the way you are, and you'll be with her shortly.” She pauses again, while eyeing me with suspicion. “Everyone who arrives here has to be cleared first, before they can join the general population. With everything that has happened lately, I'm sure you understand.”

  “I'm not a zombie!”

  “Evidently.”

  “Then what's there to screen?”

  “We're just being extremely cautious. Thomas, we have thousands of people living here in this city. Imagine what would happen if even one infected individual got through the gates. Everything we've worked for, our entire culture here in Philly, would be destroyed in a matter of days. I'm sorry if you feel at all unwelcome, that's not our intention, but we have something to protect here and we will protect it. Now, I need you to sit down and wait while I carry out a few more physical examinations. There's really no way around any of this, Thomas, I absolutely can't make an exception for you. Every new arrival here in Philly has to go through these tests. I myself was subjected to them when I first came here. Once you've passed the tests, however, I can take you to see your sister. And let me assure you that you seem to be in fine health, so I'm sure this is all just a formality.”

  I hesitate, still feeling as if something's not right here, but then I realize that I don't really have a choice. I'm in no fit state to try fighting my way out, and I also have no idea what I might find once I'm out of this room. For now, my best best is to cooperate and wait until I'm reunited with Martha and Katrina, and then the three of us can try to work out where to go next.

  “Take a seat,” Lucy says. “The sooner we get this started, the sooner you can get out of this room. That's what you want, isn't it?”

  Thomas

  “Martha!”

  As soon as I see her, I rush forward and put my arms around her. She seems a little shell-shocked, but after a moment she reciprocates the hug.

  “Are you okay?” I ask, pulling back. “Did they hurt you?”

  “I'll be fine,” she replies. “I could definitely be feeling a lot worse.”

  “Have you seen Katrina?”

  She shakes her head. “They told me they're running some extra checks on her. I imagine that's because she's pregnant.” She gets to her feet. “I don't like this place, Thomas, it doesn't pass the sniff test. My gut's telling me that we need to get out of here.”

  “Out of this building, or out of Philadelphia?”

  “Definitely out of the building,” she replies as she looks around the room. “The rest... I guess we'll have to wait and see.” She heads to the door and tries the handle, only to find that it's locked. “One's thing's certain,” she continues as she turns to me, “these people don't want us finding out what they're really up to.”

  “Doctor Hoyle told me that they're just being cautious, in case we're infected.”

  “And was this Doctor Hoyle person wearing any kind of protective gear?”

  “No, but -”

  “Exactly. So I don't think they're too worried about us being infectious.” She looks toward the ceiling for a moment. “This place seems remarkably fancy considering the general state of the world. Honestly, if I'd just woken up here after being asleep for a year, I'd never guess that there's a full-on zombie apocalypse going on outside. I'm almost worried that they might have cameras hidden away.”

  “So what are we supposed to do?” I ask. “Break out?”

  “I don't think we'd get very far. It'd be a waste of energy.” She turns to me. “At least while we're here, we're not going to starve. At least, I don't think we will, and that was a very real prospect when we were out on the road. You might not want to hear this, Thomas, but we might be dead by now if those idiots hadn't brought us here. I've got a feeling that being brought to Philadelphia might just be the miracle we were all hoping for, even if it came about in a pretty messy way. Before we rush to judgment, we should at least -”

  Before she can finish, a second door opens at the far end of the room and two guards shove Katrina into the room. I rush over to help her, and I just manage to keep her from falling as the door swings shut.

  “It's okay!” I say as she pulls away, clearly panicking. “It's me!”

  “Where's Riley?” she stammers, looking all around. “Is he here?”

  “I don't think so,” I tell her. “Are you hurt? What did they do to you?”

  She hesitates, and then she reaches down and puts a hand on her belly. There's no sign of a bump just yet, of course, but it's clear that she's still highly protective of the baby that's growing in her body.

  “I'm sorry,” I say, “I blurted out that you were pregnant. I shouldn't have done that.”

  “It's not your fault,” she replies, “I told them pretty much immediately. I was worried they might inject me with something. They kept asking me loads of questions, but I didn't know any of the answers. They were swabbing me and poking me and scraping me, it was like they
thought I was sick or something.” There are tears in her eyes now. “We have to find Riley! He might be here!”

  “Riley left before we were kidnapped, remember?” I reply.

  “That doesn't necessarily mean that he's gone, though,” she sobs. “He wouldn't just leave me alone like this! You don't know how we felt about each other, we were making plans, we were going to find somewhere to set up and build a life!”

  “Katrina -”

  “I was going to tell him about the baby, I swear!” she continues. “Do you really think he'd have just run away like this?”

  “No,” I say cautiously, after a moment, “I don't.”

  “Then he might be here!” she says, with hope in her eyes. “I have to go and look for him!”

  “First we need to figure out what they want from us,” I tell her. “For a bunch of people who are worried about infections, they sure went to a lot of trouble to bring us here, and I doubt they did that out of genuine concern.” I pause for a moment. “When we were on the camper van, I saw one of those guys...”

  My voice trails off for a moment.

  “You saw them what?” Riley asks.

  “This is going to sound really gross,” I continue, “but I saw one of them eating a foot. A human foot. He was just eating pieces of skin that he picked from the bone. He was storing it on the van and just kind cutting bits off whenever he was hungry. I think they'd picked the bones clean from those people at the crash site and then -”

  “Thomas.”

  Turning, I see Martha glaring at me.

  “I really don't think that we need to hear about that right now,” she says firmly, before turning back to the door and trying to find some way to get it open. “I'm sure we can all imagine worst case scenarios, but at the end of the day we need to focus on figuring out exactly what's happening.” She fiddles with the door for a moment longer, before sighing and stepping back. “Right now, however, we're definitely trapped in here while these guys decide what to do with us.”

  “And what do you think that's gonna turn out to be?” I ask.

  “I think we need to stay on our toes,” she replies, even though I can hear the doubt and fear in her voice. “We need to be ready to react. To anything they throw at us.”

  ***

  “You're all cleared to come with me,” Hoyle says as she steps into the room a few hours later. “All the tests have come back negative, so we no longer have to worry about keeping you isolated. In fact, you're all in pretty good health considering the fact that you've been out there in the wilderness for so long.”

  “So we can leave?” I ask, stepping toward her.

  “Leave?” She furrows her brow. “Why would you want to leave?”

  “It's having the choice that seems important,” Martha tells her. “How many people used to live in Philadelphia in the old days? A couple of million? And how many are there now?”

  “Not a couple of million,” Hoyle replies a little stiffly. “I don't know what things are like in the rest of the world. I've heard stories about a few places, but here in Philly we certainly suffered. Fortunately, we had some people who were able to step in very early and make the tough decisions.”

  “What tough decisions would those be?” Martha asks.

  “There's no room for easy ways out in this new world,” Hoyle explains. “Let me be blunt with you. When you arrived, we had no idea whether or not you were clean. If you'd displayed any hints of having the virus, you'd have been expelled from the city immediately. Anyone who doesn't like how Philly is run is also free to leave, provided they take nothing with them other than the clothes on their back. We're not a charity.”

  “So why send groups of assholes out to drag people back here?” Martha says.

  “We need healthy people who can contribute, and you all seem healthy enough.” She turns to Katrina. “Obviously your condition makes you slightly different, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Besides, we have no rules against babies in the city, and a new generation has to come along eventually if the human race is going to survive. Our leader will approve when we tell him.”

  “What leader?” I ask.

  “For a city to survive like this,” she replies, “the vision of one person is required. We could have wasted time listening to countless voices, but a true leader is never going to be happy as just one voice in the crowd. Since he arrived, he's transformed Philly and given us a sense of hope again.”

  “What's his name?” Martha asks.

  “There'll be time for all of that later,” Hoyle says, before grabbing the door and holding it wide open. “You're all free to leave. Be sure to come back soon, though. You'll only be able to get food and water from us here in this building, you won't find rations anywhere else.”

  “Let's get out of here,” Martha mutters, pushing past me. “We're in a hurry.”

  “I'm sure you all are,” Hoyle continues. “Please, make yourselves at home. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when you find what we're doing here.”

  Thomas

  “This place... doesn't look too bad,” Katrina says cautiously as we make our way to the top of some steps outside the front of the building. “It seems kinda peaceful.”

  Looking out across a large open square, I can't help but feel that she's being a little premature. Sure, there are no fires, and I don't hear any screams, and I can even see a few pedestrians wandering about. At the same time, I've been through enough by now to know that experiences can be deceptive and that there could be darkness rumbling beneath the surface. Still, I have to admit that so far Philadelphia actually seems fairly normal.

  For a post-apocalyptic city, at least.

  “Don't trust anyone,” Martha says tensely.

  I turn to her.

  “I'm serious,” she continues. “There's no way any place could be like this, not after what's happened. If there's peace here, it must be because people are afraid.”

  “You don't know that for sure,” I tell her.

  “People tend to be quiet when they're simply doing what they're told.”

  “Couldn't it just be that they've got a common plan, and that they're working together?” I ask. “This isn't that different to New York. In New York, people were trying to get their lives back to normal. They were working together in teams, they were organizing properly. Would you be happier if they were fighting each other?”

  “I just don't believe that people can cooperate like this,” she replies.

  “When did you turn into such a cynic?”

  She glares at me.

  “When the world turned to shit,” she says firmly. “How about you? When did you become so naive?”

  “Riley might be here,” Katrina says, stepping past us and making her way down the steps. “I'm going to go and see if I can find him.”

  “We should stick together!” I call after her, but she's blatantly not listening. “We should,” I add, turning to Martha. “Shouldn't we?”

  “Sure, but that doesn't mean we have to go running after every idiot who doesn't realize that,” she replies.

  I hesitate for a moment, shocked by her coldness, and then I start making my way down the steps.

  “Seriously?” Martha says. “It's that easy for someone to get you to do something stupid?”

  “I really don't think he's going to be here,” I tell Katrina as I catch up to her, “and he wouldn't want you to put yourself in danger. Katrina, please, can we just stop and try to come up with a better plan?”

  ***

  “Fabric to trade,” a voice calls out, sounding a little dry and weak. “All offers considered. Good fabric, different materials. Sourcing service available too.”

  Walking along a wide street, I realize that this part of Philadelphia has been turned into some kind of market. People don't seem to be charging money for things; instead, there's some kind of bartering system, and I've got to admit that I'm quite surprised by the resourcefulness that I'm seeing. People have marked out di
fferent spots for their products, and each area seems to be devoted to someone who has a particular specialty. Despite everything else that's happening in the world around us, commerce goes on. I guess maybe that's just how humans adjust to disaster.

  “Water,” a voice whispers nearby, and I spot a woman sitting cross-legged on the ground. “Water.”

  “Shouldn't we try to find some for her?” I ask. “We can't just leave her there.”

  “Keep moving,” Martha replies, nudging my arm. “I heard people talking earlier, the only two things that can't be sold in the market are food and water. The governing bodies have a monopoly in that department.” She glances over her shoulder, looking back at the woman. “I don't think she's asking for any,” she adds, “I think she's surreptitiously selling it. There are probably some pretty major punishments for anyone who gets caught breaking the rules.”

  “Have you seen a guy named Riley?” Katrina asks several people as she walks past their stalls. “Have you met anyone named Riley?”

  “This is pathetic,” Martha mutters. “And I say that as someone who literally kept her zombified boyfriend in a barn.”

  “Desperation makes people do different things,” I point out.

  “At least I had a reason to stay hopeful,” she replies. “This Riley guy is obviously just some loser who ran off. If it make you feel any better, I doubt he did too well on his own. His bones are probably being picked bare by something or someone by now.”

  “Thanks,” I say with a sigh, “that doesn't make me feel better.”

  “Latest news!” a voice calls out, and there's an immediate stir of excitement all around us. “I've got news from the latest meeting at the hall!”