Ashes (A Project Eden Thriller)

by Brett Battles

  “Do we have a squad available?”

  She consulted her computer again. “There’s a team that could fly into Colorado Springs first thing in the morning, then drive up. Should be able to wrap it up and be out of there before noon.”

  Perez thought for a moment. While the Project would soon be activating its plan to identify and deal with survivors, there was no sense in wasting an opportunity.

  “Set it up,” he said. “If the kids are truly uninfected, have them vaccinated and taken to our nearest facility.” He didn’t have to add the same wouldn’t apply to any adults who might be found.

  “Yes, sir.”

  December 27th

  World Population

  3,001,598,414

  Change

  – 2,842,431,503

  22

  CAMP KILEY, COLORADO

  1:25 AM MST

  SOMETHING PUSHED AGAINST Brandon’s back. More asleep than awake, he scooted to the edge of his bed to get away from whatever it was.

  Another nudge. This time he flopped his arm behind him to push it away. When he realized he was touching someone, he jerked back his hand and twisted around.

  “Loni?” he whispered.

  She was lying in the bed next to him, her lips trembling.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “I…I’m scared. I didn’t know where else to go.”

  “We’re all scared,” he said, trying to calm her down.

  “No. I mean someone in my cabin is…is…”

  “Is what?”

  “Coughing.”

  He sat up. “Are you sure?”

  She nodded.

  “Who?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Across the room, somebody turned in his bed and sniffled.

  Loni’s eyes widened. “Oh, no.”

  Brandon waited to see if a cough would follow, but none did.

  “You’re sure you weren’t dreaming it?” he said.

  “I’m sure.”

  “Which cabin are you in?”

  “Six.”

  He swung out of bed, slipped on his shoes, and grabbed his jacket.

  “Where are you going?” she asked.

  “To check.”

  “You don’t believe me?”

  “I do, but…just come with me.”

  Quietly, they crossed the room and went outside. Brandon let Loni lead him to her cabin. They cracked open the front door but remained on the stoop. At first all was quiet, and he started to think what she’d heard was probably someone clearing their throat while they slept. His dad did that all the time. But then someone coughed. Deep and wet.

  A moment later there was a second cough, only this one came from the other side of the room.

  Loni pulled at his arm. “Close it.”

  She didn’t need to tell him twice.

  “See, I was right,” she said. Her lower lip began to tremble. “That means we’re all going to get it, doesn’t it?”

  One of the videos the Resistance had made explained what to do if someone thought they’d been exposed. Brandon had seen it multiple times. “Go to the showers,” he told her. “Scrub yourself as hard as you can.”

  “The showers?”

  “Right now,” he said. “If any got on you, you might still be able to wash it off.”

  It took her a second before she seemed to get it.

  As she was turning to run to the showers, he said, “Don’t put those clothes back on, and don’t touch them after you’re done. I’ll bring you some clean ones.”

  She nodded and left.

  The first thing he needed to do was wake up Mrs. Trieb and tell her what was going on. Maybe they could separate the sick ones and save everyone else. With the exception of Miss Collins, who was sleeping in the cabin with the younger children, the supervisors were in cabin number eight, two down from Loni’s. He ran there and was about to pull open the door when someone inside broke out in a coughing fit.

  Backing away, he heard more coughs—not just from numbers six and eight, but from all the cabins except his and the one the little kids were in.

  There would be no isolating the ill, but maybe there were a few others he could get out before the infection reached them.

  He entered his cabin first and grabbed his pack, but just as he was about to start waking his dorm mates, the person he’d heard sniffle earlier coughed.

  It’s everywhere!

  He headed for the door, but stopped before he reached it. Maybe there were a few here he could still save. He shook the feet of the boys in the four beds closest to the door. Only two opened their eyes.

  “What’s going on?” a kid named Vincent said.

  “We’ve got to get out,” Brandon told him.

  “Why?”

  There was no need for Brandon to answer. Another cough did the job for him.

  Vincent and the other boy, Carter, jumped from their beds.

  “Grab your bags but don’t open them,” Brandon said. He explained about taking showers, and getting rid of the clothes they were wearing. “Wash off your bags first, though. Then you can take something out to wear.”

  Another head popped up, this one a sniffling mess. “Shut up, huh? Trying to sleep.”

  Vincent and Carter snatched up their bags and headed for the door. Brandon surveyed the room, but knew there was no one else left he could help, so he followed a few seconds after the other two boys.

  He headed for the little kids’ cabin, and paused outside. No hacks or sniffles coming from inside.

  Good.

  He reached for the handle, but stopped himself before grabbing it. There had been coughing in his cabin. Was it possible that though he couldn’t get the flu himself, he might be contaminated? If so, while he tried to save the kids, he would actually be killing them.

  He took a step back. “Don’t let them catch it,” he whispered. He spun around and ran for the showers.

  Entering, he could hear Loni washing off on the other side of the partition.

  “I’ll bring you something to wear as soon as I’m done washing,” he shouted loudly enough for her to hear.

  “Okay,” she replied.

  He scrubbed himself raw, and repeated the process with his bag. When he was done, he pulled out a set of clothes for himself and one for Loni. She was smaller than he, but it was the best he could do for now.

  “When you’re done,” he said to Vincent and Carter as he finished dressing, “meet at the cafeteria. If I’m not there yet, gather up some food. Enough for a few days.”

  “Where are you going?” Vincent asked.

  “To check if there’s anyone else we can help.”

  He tossed the other set of clothes through the opening to the girls’ shower, and gave Loni the same instructions he’d given the boys. He then jogged over to the little kids’ cabin.

  Once again, he paused outside. No sniffles. No coughs. No clearing of throats. Only quiet.

  “Thank you,” he mouthed.

  He opened the door and eased inside. Miss Collins’s bed was easy to pick out. Though she wasn’t a tall woman, she was twice the size of the kids in the cabin.

  Kneeling beside her bed, he shook her shoulder. “Miss Collins? Miss Collins, wake up.”

  She took in a deep breath and rolled onto her back, but didn’t wake.

  “Miss Collins, please.”

  Her eyelids fluttered, then opened. A second passed before she noticed he was there. “Brandon? What are you doing in here?”

  “We have to get the kids out.”

  She blinked, and rose on an elbow. “Why? What happened?”

  “The others are sick.”

  She stared at him as if she didn’t understand. “They…can’t…be. We’ve taken precautions.”

  “Yeah, I know, but people are coughing in all the other cabins. If we don’t get the kids in here out right now, they’ll catch it, too.”

  She swung her legs off the bed and stood up. “What about the staff cabi
n? Mrs. Trieb? Have you let her know?”

  “I couldn’t. They’re sick, too.”

  She took a step toward the door before looking back at him. “I…I need to check.”

  “We don’t have time.”

  “You get the kids up. I’ll be right back.”

  “Don’t go inside,” he called after her as she ran out the door. “Just listen from outside.”

  Whether she heard him or not, he didn’t know.

  Brandon moved quickly through the room, checking each of the kids to make sure they didn’t have a fever. When he was confident the flu hadn’t infected any of them, he turned on the cabin light and said, “Hey, everyone, time to wake up.”

  A few groans and some twisting in beds, but no heads popped up. He went around, pulling back their blankets and shaking their feet.

  “Come on! Let’s go!”

  This time several of the children sat up.

  “What time is it?” one of the boys asked.

  “It’s time to get up,” Brandon said.

  He knew they should all take showers, too, but it would be harder to get them washed up and ready to go. Plus, it would delay their departure, and that was not something Brandon wanted to do.

  Hoping none of them had been exposed, he said, “Everyone get dressed. Something warm, okay?”

  The girl in the last bed stared at him, a bear hugged to her chest. He walked over to her.

  “Ellie, right?” he said.

  She nodded.

  “You need some help?”

  “I don’t have any more clothes,” she told him.

  “That’s okay. Let me see what I can find, all right?”

  He gathered items from some of the other kids. Like the clothes he’d given Loni, these would be big on the girl, but they’d do.

  As he was helping her dress, the cabin door opened and Miss Collins walked back in. It was clear from the stunned expression on her face what she’d discovered.

  Brandon helped Ellie pull her jacket on, then, after making sure she had her bear, he picked her up and hurried over to the supervisor.

  Stopping a few feet away, he said, “You didn’t go in, did you?”

  Miss Collins shook her head. “No.”

  “But you heard the coughs.”

  A nod.

  “Then you know we need to get out of here.”

  No response this time.

  “Miss Collins!” he yelled.

  She jerked and focused on him.

  “We need you to be okay. You’re the only adult.”

  A stuttering breath and then a nod. “You’re right. You’re right. I…I’ll be okay.”

  Since she had been near the infected cabins, he told her she should take a shower and change clothes. “I’ll take everyone over to the cafeteria, and we’ll meet you there as soon as you’re done. Don’t take long, okay?”

  “I…I understand, Brandon. I’ll be quick.”

  He kept everyone away from her as she gathered her bag and left again.

  As soon as the door closed behind her, he said, “Okay, we’re going over to the cafeteria.”

  “What about Miss Collins?” one of the kids asked.

  “She’ll join us in a few minutes. Is everyone ready?”

  Tired nods all around.

  “Then follow me.” With Ellie in his arms, and the others trailing behind, Brandon went out the door.

  __________

  TEN MINUTES PASSED before Miss Collins showed up. In the intervening time, Loni, Vincent, and Carter put together several bags of food, while Brandon worked on how they would get out of there.

  They could hike, but who knew how far they would have to go before they reached a house or building they could take shelter in. Too far, probably, especially with seven little kids. The only real answer was down at the end of the cafeteria.

  Sergeant Lukes’s Suburban SUV.

  Brandon checked the vehicle, hoping the keys would be inside, but they weren’t. He would have to get them from Sergeant Lukes himself in the staff cabin.

  Grabbing another change of clothes from his bag, he stopped by the showers first, leaving them on one of benches inside before heading to the staff cabin. The chorus of coughing had increased since his last visit. Even though he knew he was immune, it scared the hell out of him to be so close to the disease, but he also knew it was this immunity that was going to allow him save the others.

  He took several deep breaths to work up his courage, and finally pulled the door open. He moved slowly into the room, gently transferring his weight from foot to foot so that the floorboards would creak as little as possible. Sergeant Lukes’s bed turned out to be the second one in on the left. Like the others, his breathing was labored.

  Brandon found the sergeant’s pants folded neatly on top of his shoes beside the bed. He checked the pockets. No keys. The man’s jacket was lying on the empty bed beside him. No luck there, either. The only other place to look was in the sergeant’s bag, which he found tucked under the bed.

  Carefully, he worked it out from beneath. The zipper proved to be a problem, though. There was nothing he could do to muffle the sound it made. He was halfway through when he heard someone stir and sit up. He dropped out of sight between the beds. If it had been Sergeant Lukes, Brandon would have been discovered in seconds, but the sergeant was out cold.

  After a few seconds, Brandon chanced peeking over the top of the empty bed next to the sergeant.

  Mrs. Trieb was the one awake. She was sitting up, but her head was in her hands. Several more seconds passed before she groaned and lay back down.

  Knowing he couldn’t chance opening the zipper any more, he slipped his hand in the bag and felt around until his fingers touched the keys.

  It took every ounce of will to walk out of the cabin as slowly as he’d walked in, but once he was outside, he raced to the showers.

  When he finally returned to the cafeteria, he found the others, including Miss Collins, sitting at tables nearest the door, bags of food piled in front of them.

  “Grab as many bags as you can,” he said to the three older kids, “and follow me. Miss Collins, you stay with the kids, okay?”

  She nodded absently.

  He snatched up four of the bags himself, and led the others out to the Suburban. It took them two trips to get everything out and fill up the storage area in back.

  When they finished, Brandon went over to Miss Collins and whispered, “Are you okay?”

  “Where are we going to go?” she asked, as if whatever they did was going to fail.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “But we’ll figure that out later. Right now we just need to get away from here.” He paused. “We need you to help us. You can’t give up.”

  “I…I’m not,” she said. “I’m just…” She closed her eyes for a second and rubbed her forehead. “Okay, okay. No problem. I’ll be fine.”

  “Can you help with the kids?” Brandon said.

  She nodded and stood up. “All right, everyone,” she announced. “We’re going out to the Suburban. It’ll be a bit of a squeeze, but you should all be able to fit.”

  “Where are we going?” one of the kids asked.

  “On a field trip,” Miss Collins told her.

  “Where?”

  “You’ll see when we get there.”

  “This way,” Brandon said, opening the door.

  With him in the lead and Miss Collins bringing up the rear, they headed out. They were only halfway to the SUV when a voice called out, “What’s going on here?”

  Brandon stopped in his tracks and twisted around. Mrs. Trieb was standing at the far end of the parking area near the dorms, staring at them. He knew in his gut that if he hadn’t disturbed her sleep, she would have never gotten up.

  She sniffled and ran a hand under her nose. “I asked you a question. What the hell’s going on?”

  “Get them in the truck,” Miss Collins whispered toward Brandon. She then turned toward her boss. “Alicia, look at your
self.”

  “Keep going, everyone,” Brandon said, getting the kids moving again.

  “You’re sick,” Miss Collins went on. “You’ve got the flu.”

  “Sick? What are you talking about? I’m not sick. It’s a headache, that’s all.” As if to emphasize the point, Mrs. Trieb touched her temple and winced. “Get those children back to their beds.”

  “You are sick,” Miss Collins told her. “And it’s not just you. These kids are the only ones who aren’t. I have to get them out of here before they get sick, too. You would do the same. If you don’t believe me, go back to the dorms and listen to the coughs.”

  With another wipe of her nose, Mrs. Trieb started walking toward the group, her balance far from perfect. “Everyone, back to your beds!”

  “Alicia, please!” Miss Collins shouted, moving to keep herself between Mrs. Trieb and the others. “If you get too close you’ll expose them, too! I know you don’t want that.”

  Brandon ran the last few feet to the Suburban and threw open a side door. “Everybody in. Quick.”

  The ones closest to him piled in, but those in back looked unsure of what to do as they glanced between him, Miss Collins, and Mrs. Trieb.

  “It’s going to be okay,” Loni said, urging the younger ones along.

  After the last of them was in the car, Vincent and Carter followed.

  “You, too,” Brandon said to Loni.

  “What about you?”

  “Just get in and keep them calm. I’ll be right there.”

  Reluctantly, she climbed inside.

  “Hey!” Mrs. Trieb yelled as she altered her course toward Brandon. “You get them out of that car right now!”

  Miss Collins repositioned herself in front of her boss again. “Alicia! Stop! You don’t want to do this!”

  “Shut up, bitch!”

  Mrs. Trieb was fifty feet away from the Suburban, Miss Collins twenty feet in front of her.

  “Get in the car,” Miss Collins said to Brandon.

  He hesitated a moment before climbing into the front passenger seat. As soon as the door closed, Miss Collins turned and ran for the SUV. When she reached the truck, she circled around the front to the driver’s side door.

  Unfortunately, Mrs. Trieb had also picked up her pace. Though she wasn’t as fast as Miss Collins, she was able to round the hood just as the younger woman pulled on the door handle.