by Jeannie Rae
“It's my phone. The cell phone belongs to me,” Roxy said.
Randy smiled, “Bullshit. You stole it.”
“I bought it myself eight months ago,” she said. "Maybe the old phone number..."
“Quit playing games,” Randy said, dropping his hands. “Fine, what's your name?”
“Roxy, well, Roxanne Harper.”
“The same Roxanne Harper who received a flu shot at Angora yesterday afternoon?”
“Yes.”
“Prove it,” Randy insisted.
“Well, when I ran for my life, I didn’t stop to get my ID and passport.”
“Your address and birth date will do just fine for now. And were you one of the first to get the flu shot?”
“Eighteen-oh-six Pebble Lane, March twenty-sixth and no, I was nearly last. I had to wait three hours only for them to finally tell me, that they had run out of the vaccine. They found some more, as I headed for the door. Why are you looking for me?” She said sharply, then lightening her tone, “Is there a problem with the vaccine?”
Rhino held out his phone to Randy. Glancing at the phone, Randy walked slowly toward Roxy, analyzing her carefully. Inhaling deeply, it seemed as though he were taking in her scent.
“I need you to come with me,” Randy said in a calm voice.
“Come with you? Where?” She asked in defense.
Roxy stepped back, breathing heavily through her mouth, as though she was distressed at the sight of Randy. Dave took particular notice of her and of how Randy looked mesmerized by her, making him wonder for a moment if Roxy and Randy knew one another.
“Back to Angora, they need to run additional testing,” Randy said flatly, staring hypnotically into her eyes.
“What kind of testing?” She asked, stepping backward.
“Listen, it's safe there. The entire building is protected by solid walls and armed guards and it’s at the edge of the city. You will be safe there until this situation is under control.”
“No, I need to find my dad and my sister. I'm not going anywhere else until I find them,” she declared.
“Would that be Kathryn and Joseph?” Randy asked in a paced, condescending tone.
“Yes... How...” Roxy looked down in confusion. “How do you know them?”
Randy spoke not a word, merely stood before her meticulously studying her.
“Roxanne, we can discuss the details on the way, we really need to get going,” Rhino stepped in and motioned for the door.
“Do you know where my family is?” She demanded.
“Yes, we have a lock on them, and they are being brought to Angora for their safety by a member of our team. If we leave now, we'll probably get there just before them,” Rhino said nudging Randy.
“How?” Roxy gasped.
“Ms. Harper, we do not have time to discuss this here. I will say, that they were tracked by the built-in GPS in your sister’s iPod. We will explain all that you want to know on the way, but we have to get moving. The National Guard is sweeping the city, and we need to be gone before it gets here,” Rhino said.
“Why? Aren't they coming to help us?” Lynn chimed in.
“I’m losing my patience here. We need to go now. Once they get here, we won't be able to leave. They will be beginning full quarantine protocol shortly,” Rhino said.
“Fine, we’ll go. I mean if that’s where your guy is taking my family, then okay,” Roxy submitted, looking around to the others. “You guys want to go? He said we’ll be safe there. I was just there yesterday, and they do have huge gates that can keep the infected out. Ladies, come,” she turned to Dave, then looking to Mattie.
The dogs sprinted down the hall excitedly, prancing around Roxy’s legs, as Mattie, Lynn exchanged nods with Dave. Randy and his men took a step back as the two Pit Bulls entered the room. Their posturing changed dramatically as they eyed the dogs with uncertainty. Dave watched the men as their hands gripped their weapons, still down at their sides, slightly tighter.
This sounded a little too convenient for his taste. Dave knew two of these men well. He’d been their commanding officer in the Marines. Rhino—the drone, followed orders blindly with no real moral compass. The younger kid and cowboy in this group were strangers, but for them to be in this group, Dave knew that they must be very much like the Rhino. Then, there was Randy. Randy was of a rare kind. Dave knew first hand, the destruction and chaos that Randy could cause, making it difficult for him to maintain his composure. In fact, Dave hoped never to see this man again after what happened in during their overseas tour.
“Wait, just a second. Uh, we are here to retrieve you—and only you, Ms. Harper. Not these other people and definitely not dogs. We are going to a laboratory, no dogs,” Rhino said with a grin, still eyeing the Pit Bulls.
“That's a problem then. I don't go anywhere without my dogs. And these people have saved my life. If they can't go, then I won't go,” she said firmly, her feet confidently planted beneath her.
Dave immediately noticed the change in Roxy’s demeanor. Instead of the shy girl he met in the park, an iron willed woman stood before him in this ancient house. She either paid little attention to the weapons in the hands of these strangers or she simply did not care.
“Ms. Harper, we have authorization to take you,” Rhino began.
“It will be fine, Rhino,” Randy interrupted in a monotone voice, with his eyes still fixed intently on Roxy. “The woman doesn't want to leave her dogs. That's fine. And Angora is big enough to maintain these friends of hers. Is there anyone else in the house?”
“Edgar!” Lynn turned to go down the hall, as the cowboy stepped into her path.
“I'll get him. You go get in the truck with the others. Where is he?” The cowboy asked.
“My fiancé Edgar is in the back bedroom at the end of the hall, sleeping. You have to wake him softly—he gets mad otherwise,” she said as Mattie grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the front door. “Plus he’s not feeling well, so make sure you wake him gently.”
The men began leading Roxy and her dogs out, followed by Dave, Mattie and Lynn.
As Boots approached the end of the hall, he looked at the two doors, one on the right, and one on the left. “Which door at the end of the hall?” He whispered to himself, wicking away beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead, and pulling up the sleeves of his olive colored, cotton shirt.
Boots opened the door on the right. A dilapidated dresser stood on the far end of the room and mismatched nightstands were on either side of the made-up bed. A mysterious odor drifted from the doorway as he spotted piles of clothes polka dotting the worn carpet and stacks of debris situated all around the room. With no sign of anyone in this room, Boots eyed the door across the hall. Slowly opening the door across the hall, he found the bed half-made, two chairs resting against the wall, next to a small table with an opened first aid kit atop. His eyes fell to the wastebasket, noticing bloody gauze pads and paper towels. After a glance around the room, he lowered his weapon.
“No one's here,” he said aloud.
With a sigh, he straightened his cowboy hat and turned back toward the door. He felt startled to see a man—Edgar, as the blonde woman had called him—standing in the doorway with his head awkwardly hung. Boots knew Edgar had the infection at first glance. Stepping back, Boots began to raise his gun, when Edgar lunged at him. Boots raised his left arm to block the attack as he aimed the gun at Edgar's torso. Boots fired his weapon just as Edgar’s teeth sunk into his wrist—down to the bone.
Edgar stumbled backward, looking at the wounds to his abdomen, then raising his head, he charged again. Boots fired the weapon once more. This time, the bullet struck Edgar just under the chin, his lifeless body falling to the floor.
Looking at his injured wrist, shockwaves rocked Boots as he found that his wound appeared far worse than Walker’s bite. Boots didn't want to be taken to quarantine. To be locked in a room, in solitude, he'd rather die from the wound than to be locked up like an anim
al. He grabbed the stack of gauze pads and quickly secured it to the wound. Then he added two layers of waterproof tape he spotted inside the opened first aid kit. He ripped the end of the tape with his teeth, and stuffed his pocket with the spool of tape and another handful of gauze, just as the blonde and Rhino rushed into the room.
“Why? Why?” The woman cried, cupping her hands over her mouth, dropping to her knees bedside Edgar.
“He was infected! I thought you said no one was bitten. There are bloody bandages in the trash. He came at me!” Boots shook his injured wrist behind his back so that his sleeve would slide down to his hand.
“He wasn't the one who was bitten,” she cried, using the inside collar of her black and white striped blouse to wipe her nose.
“Well, he was infected! Look at him! And what the hell is this then?” Boots yelled kicking the trash can over.
Rhino began to examine the body, looking down Edgar’s shirt and pulling back the sleeves of the long sleeve tee shirt. He looked up at Boots and the blonde revealing the original wound that caused the infection, a wound on the right forearm. The injury did not have the appearance of a bite, instead a festering hump of green puss and blood, leaking a toxic-looking ooze, disfigured Edgar’s arm.
“Are you good?” Rhino asked with serious eyes.
“Yeah, but it was close man,” Boots said, nodding his head.
“Who’s bit?” Rhino asked, looking to the woman.
“What?” She asked, distraught with grief, as tears plunged down her cheeks, dripping off her lips.
“You said that he wasn't the one with a bite. So then, who else has a bite?”
“Roxy,” she said between sobs.
Rhino bolted for the door. Boots pulled down his other sleeve and grabbed the woman’s arm, yanking her out of the room. They strode out to the front room where everyone else had come back into the house. Raising his weapon, Boots aimed it at Roxy, following Rhino’s lead. She raised her hands in front of her shoulders and shook her head.
“She is infected. She has a bite," Rhino announced.
“Let me explain,” Roxy pleaded.
“No, shut up. Boss, am I clear?” Rhino asked.
“No, you're not, stand down. I want to hear what she has to say,” Randy said with a smirk.
Rhino cocked his head at Randy, contorting his face in confusion, before exchanging glances with Junior, then Boots.
Boots shrugged. He didn’t know what she would say, but he wanted to hear it too, his wrist searing with pain.
“It’s healing. Dave, show them the picture,” she said.
Dave stepped up to Randy and pulled Roxy’s cell phone from his pocket and revealed the picture he'd taken a few hours ago of Roxy's bite. Boots and the others leaned in to look at the photo of the wound. Boots cringed at the sight, the photo looking similar to the injury on his wrist. If her bite is healing, maybe mine will too.
“Left, back-shoulder,” Rhino said. “Let’s see it.”
Roxy turned away from the men. Slipping her top off, she revealed the black tank top underneath and her bare shoulders. All that remained was a dime sized scab. The men drew closer to get a better view, looking back and forth between the cell phone and her shoulder.
Boots slid away from the group, pulling out his yellow and black sat phone, and pressed the radio button.
“It’s Boots. We just picked up our package and it looks like she’s immune to the bug. You copy, immune? Make sure you bring the other two, I think the doc will be interested in all three of them,” Boots whispered into his phone.
“Copy that,” replied the voice on the phone.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
As the vehicles hummed by, Kate pondered the idea of going outside and asking for help. But she reconsidered going outside, after all, this place seemed deserted of the infected when Jake had been bitten. Then the last of the military style vehicles sped away in the distance.
“What do you think they’re doing?” Joe turned to Hank.
“Possibly headed downtown, maybe they’re going to combat and contain the madness, that would be my guess,” Hank went back to the television set. “Come on Joe—let’s get this thing working so we can see if the news has any new information. Then, we’ll get going. I’ve got a shotgun behind the counter that we’ll bring along. We’ll get your other daughter Joe. I give you my word.”
Joe squeezed Kate's shoulder as he went to help Hank.
Kate wondered how Hank could be so intent on fixing the TV, when Mary just died. How could he pretend that ten minutes ago they weren’t just burying her body? I can still taste the breakfast that Mary made on my breath, and Hank is so focused on that stupid TV. Didn’t he love her? Didn’t he care at all for her?
Kate gazed out the glass doors watching as the dust, that had been kicked up by the train of vehicles, began to settle back to the ground. Popping her headphones into her ears, she started her playlist titled Rock It, a collection of her favorite rock and metal tunes. Her mind soon went back to the vehicles that had just sped by, and she couldn't help thinking that they were going to some secure Army Base and how she should have asked her dad to go out there. She began to daydream of how this imaginary base would look and how safe they would be until the Army could stop the destruction of her town. She knew that they would be able to rescue Roxy. Leaning against the metal grate, still thinking of the safe base and staring out the doors, she spotted a black Expedition pulling to a park in front of the store.
Kate's jaw gaped open in suspense. She watched as a man in all black armed with a huge gun—like the kind she’d only seen in movies, exited the vehicle and jogged toward the front door.
“Dad! The Army is here,” she yelled, pulling off her headphones.
“What is it?” Joe hurried over.
As he approached her, a pounding jostled the glass. Joe jumped back from the shuddering doors, Hank rushing over as well, only steps behind.
“Open the doors!” the man yelled.
Hank shook his head, pushing past Kate and Joe, “Sorry, we're closed.” He pointed to the sign on the door.
“I am looking for Joseph and Kathryn Harper. Roxanne Harper sent for them,” the impatient man said.
“Open the door Hank,” Joe demanded.
Hank shook his head, “How do I know you aren't bitten? I’m not letting anybody in here that might be bitten.”
“I'm not bitten… yet,” the man looked around, his voice slightly distorted by the barrier of glass. “Roxanne is en route Angora Laboratories. It’s safe there. She wants her family to come so that she can know that they're safe.”
A wave of relief swept over Kate. Her sister was alive and safe, and this man would to take them to her. She looked up at her father with exhilaration, her hopes restored. Instead of going to the secure Army Base she daydreamt about—she would go to a place equally safe, where her sister would be.
Hank nodded and pulled a set of keys from his pocket and tossed them to Joe. Grabbing his shotgun from behind the counter, Hank aimed it at the door.
“Open it Joe, and lock it right behind him.”
Joe nodded in agreement and busily unlocked the padlock on the metal grate, then the door.
“Quickly, come into the middle of the room,” Hank ordered.
The man followed Hank's request, as did Joe, locking the doors and the grate behind him.
“Put that weapon on the floor and tell me exactly why you are here. And don’t leave out the part about how you found Joe and Kate, here.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Roxy sat in the middle row of the suffocating Expedition. The interior of the vehicle looked pristine, although the smell of sweaty men overpowered her—even with the air conditioner at full blast. She slid her small finger over the plastic, window control button on the door’s console and cracked the window to let in a little fresh air. The man introduced to her as Rhino drove and sat directly in front of her. She had no difficulty imagining where his nickname came from, after
seeing this hulk of a man. Dave sat next to her in the middle row of the vehicle, directly behind Randy on the passenger side. She could see Randy staring at her in the mirror, attached to the overhead visor. Randy had angled the visor upon entering the SUV, so he could see her. She shrugged it off, thinking that he may be worried that she may still change into one of the monsters.
Looking to Dave, she could see how the last sixteen hours had taken a toll on him. He sat quietly looking out the window. He expressed to her before they left that he hadn’t felt a hundred percent on board with the idea of traveling to Angora—especially with Randy, but he respected her wishes to be reunited with her family.
Roxy glanced out the back window seeing a second SUV following closely and Mattie’s truck bringing up the rear of the train of vehicles. In the vehicle behind them, a cowboy going by the name of Boots drove with a really young looking guy, close to her age, named Junior. Mattie, of course, drove his truck with Lynn accompanying him. He refused to leave his truck behind.
Her exhausted dogs slept peacefully in the back seat. She felt equally exhausted and wanted nothing more than to do the same. Taking a peaceful nap and awakening to realize that this all was a terrible nightmare would be a blessing to her. She knew that this was no nightmare. The events of the past sixteen hours were real. They had taken place, and were still ongoing. Her thoughts turned to her sister, Kate. She hadn't heard from Kate or Dad since all this began and worry crept into her mind. As she thought of them, a fiery feeling welled up within her chest. She felt anxious. She wanted to be with her family now, right this very second. She wanted to know that they were safe—to see it with her own eyes.
Few infected could be seen about roaming between the buildings here on Brewer Road. The area is more of an industrial part of town than anything else. The smell of fish had always stained the air, but today the stink seemed nearly unbearable, the stench of what could only be described as rotting fish saturated the atmosphere. This is generally the place where the fish from the day’s catch are sold after they are weighed and inspected at the dock and the fishing boat captain has been paid his take. Brewer Road has separate warehouses for each variety of sea life caught on the waters surrounding Port Steward. These warehouses are where they are cleaned and prepped to go market or to be shipped out to other areas of the state and even the country. Each structure is painted a drastically different pastel shade, from pale yellow to mint green and even violet.