by Carter, John
Emma looked back at the bed and grimaced, “I never liked being sick, so being up makes me feel better. Lying around all day is annoying.”
“I’m the same way, I don’t like sitting for too long,” Kayla chimed in as Tony gave her a look. “What? It’s annoying.”
“I know. Annoying for a lot of people,” Tony stopped as Lopez hit his arm.
Kayla glared at Tony as she spoke to Emma, “We have a few questions for you regarding health history. Have you ever had any serious illnesses or diseases?”
“Other than the flu, I’m diabetic.”
“Oh,” Kayla looked at Tony and back at Emma.
“Is that bad?”
“In your case, no,” Kayla shook her head as Emma held the puzzled look on her face for a few minutes as she thought about it. “I’m pretty sure you’re familiar with the tests that go into checking that, right?”
Emma snapped out of her thoughts and shifted her body, “Kind of. This Riser crap all happened a few months later, so I don’t have much experience, other than learning to deal with it.”
“Well, we’ll start with that and see what we can do for you. Our resident medical unit, Jeremiah should back pretty soon, so he can continue with planning out the testing.” Kayla looked at Tony, who gave a reassuring nod. “We have plenty of diabetic supplies. Besides, I’m pretty sure you’re starving right now, so we’ll let you eat.”
Emma looked over at Dani holding a tray of food for her, and her eyes widened. “Where did you get green beans?”
“Tony used to grow them out back near the bay since it’s a bit warmer there during the summer,” Kayla looked at Emma.
“Are we close to the bay now?”
“We’re right in between your place and the bay. I know Brady was thinking about taking off a while back but he’s been staying put for a long while now,” Tony said as he crossed his arms. Emma looked uncomfortable and shifted her weight. Dani walked over to her and helped her sit down on the bed.
“Thanks, Dani,” Emma smiled. “Brady’s been riling up people here and there. We were looking at relocating to that place near 55…”
“Yeah, we know. The place we found you,” Kayla stood near Dani.
“Were you following us?”
“For a while, we lost track of you when you turned off of 55 and back down Maple. That main road was completely flooded when we went by a few days earlier.”
“Why didn’t you help us?”
“Would you have taken it?” Tony looked at her, “I know how it is, thinking everyone is a bandit can protect you for a while. I thought Brady had a better handle on things.”
“Why are you interested in Brady?”
“He’s been screwing with our missions for a while. We’ve been trying to pick up radio equipment from the nearby tower but he felt that was more his territory and killed a few of our people. Nearly got our Dani here, but she survived and made it back with the rest of the group.” Kayla hugged Dani, who checked Emma’s blood pressure and heart rate.
“So, you’re thinking I’d be helping out in this?”
“Actually, we weren’t expecting anything from you. Other than getting better, I’m sure Brady will self-destruct so we don’t need much help there. I’m sure Mark has been keeping an eye on him like we’ve asked.”
Emma stared in disbelief, “Mark?”
“Yeah, he’s been great. He usually can subdue or derail Brady’s plans pretty quickly. He always did in boot camp, I was sure he’d continue on later,” Kayla smiled. “However, I don’t think he was able to stop the last supply run.”
Chapter 5
Brady and Ryan drove along the wooden fence and barbed wire. The truck slowed as Ryan pointed at the fence. "It looks like something got through," he drove past it then shifted the truck into reverse and parked next to the hole.
Ryan looked over at his side mirror and back at Brady, “I don’t see anyone out there, live or dead.”
“That’s just it, Old Man. You’re blind.” Brady laughed and looked over the dashboard.
Ryan flicked him off, “You’re such a turd. A big pile of shit. Go check it out, man.”
“Age before beauty,” he shook his head.
“Hell with that man, I fixed the fence the last time. You know why, because you were too busy acting like an ass.”
"Fine. I'll go check to see," Brady jumped out of the passenger side and left his rifle on the seat. "Keep the truck running." Ryan half saluted and moved the remaining salt and pepper hair out of his face as Brady smirked back at him. He inspected the fence and found shredded clothing.
Brady’s face hardened and he looked up to the driver’s cab. "They're inside." His eyes shifted towards truck and saw a Riser sniffing the truck's back tire. He stood still and continued watching.
Ryan looked over to Brady and honked at him. “Come on, man.”
The truck suddenly backfired as the Riser realized Brady was watching it. The Riser jumped on him as the truck backfired again. The back of his head hit the fence post and caused him to see double. The Riser screamed as Brady covered his face with his arms. Ryan got out of the truck and pulled the Riser off of him. Brady scrambled to get to his feet and stumbled forward. He watched as Ryan and the Riser were clawing at each other. The slow movements made hurt his head as he wanted to sprint to the truck. He eased his way back into the truck cab and closed the door. Ryan looked back as the Riser held onto him. Brady shifted the truck into drive and took off towards the barn.
"Damn it, Brady!" Ryan struggled with the Riser as Brady continued to drive. It bit into Ryan's arm as he yelled, “AHHH! Get over here and help me!"
It yelled at him and continued to bite him until Ryan stopped moving. It stood up and stared at Ryan's body. The Riser pointed it’s nose into the air and sniffed. A distant wail caught the Riser’s attention and it sat up to listen.
Brady continued to drive recklessly back to the barn. He nearly wasn't quick enough to stop and missed hitting Chloe as she was pulled out of the way by Trevor. The twins pulled Brady out of the truck and started beating him up. Chloe looked on with pride as the boys nearly kicked every side of Brady at least twice.
Mark ran from the farmhouse and pulled out his side arm. "Get the hell away from him!" The twins dropped him to the ground and backed away. Mark continued to point his gun at them, "Get out of here." They lingered as Chloe smiled and nodded. "Get the hell out of here!" Chloe motioned for the twins follow her toward the silo.
He picked up Brady by the forearm. "What the hell happened?"
Brady pulled away from Mark, "Riser jumped on me and got Ryan." He dusted himself off and straightened his uniform. "They're inside the fence."
"You didn't kill it?"
"I got the hell out of there," he took out his cigarettes and lit one. He took a slow drag and exhaled.
"We have to go back and clear it out."
"You go ahead. There's no way in hell I'm going back there." Brady sat down with his back on the barn's wall and continued to smoke.
Mark ran over to the farmhouse and walked in. "We have to clear out the back of the fence. Brady left Ryan there with a Riser."
"What? Let's go!" Sarah grabbed her machete and ran outside. Rory grabbed his shovel and followed Mark.
Brady watched as Sarah and Rory got in the truck, and Mark sat in the back. He waved as he grimaced at the pain he was feeling from his upper arm. He pulled up his sleeve and saw that the bite he received was deeper than he originally thought. He got up slowly and walked into the barn.
The truck came to a stop in front of the broken part of the fence. Ryan's body was found a few feet to the right with no sign of the Riser. They slowly approached the body and examined the area.
"There's nothing left of him," Sarah turned away and Rory held her. The old marine was once tough and tall, but now laid in pieces on the ground. Sarah’s stomach turned as she remembered the smile he wore every day. “Damn it! Damn Brady for being a shit!” Rory attempted to comfort
her as she cursed at the world and Brady.
"That might be the reason why he's not up and attacking us right now." Mark crouched to look closer at Ryan's body.
"He should've gotten up anyway. Well, at least part of him," Rory looked on.
"Yeah, I agree, but nothing. No movement or noises," he pointed to the throat. "I've seen someone with a shredded throat walk around after they died."
"We have to bury him," Sarah wiped the tears from her eyes. "It’s the least we can do for him. He won't be one of them any time soon."
"Let's fix this fence first before we let anymore in." Mark grabbed the leftover barbed wire and wood. They worked on the fence and buried Ryan next to where they found him.
Sarah looked down and closed her eyes, "sometimes all you have is a chance to say goodbye." Ryan was the man who rang the doorbell and told her that her father wouldn’t be coming back. The worn marine took them in as they ran low on food. She opened her eyes and Rory pulled her toward the truck. “He’d yell at Emma all the time, because she’d scare the hell out of me by hiding from me.” Her eyes watered, “He protected us more than our own father did.”
Mark bowed his head and followed them. They drove back to the barn and found Brady shooting at cans.
"What the hell are you doing?" Mark ran over to Brady. "We need that ammo."
Brady smiled, "for what? To prolong the inevitable?" He threw his hands in the air and aimed the gun at the rest of the cans, "Why should I stop?" He shot and missed.
"Brady, give me the gun." Mark calmly asked.
Brady pointed it at Mark, "You want the gun?" He pointed it to his own temple and pulled the trigger. The gun clicked. "Oh, I must’ve forgotten about the rest of the bullets." He grimaced and lowered his gun.
Mark watched as Brady loaded the gun, "Just give me the gun."
"No," Brady stiffened his body. "I won't let you take my side arm." He sighed and suddenly aimed at Sarah. Rory jumped in front of Sarah as Brady simulated shooting them. He laughed and threw the gun at Mark. "Keep it. I don't need it or any of you!" He walked toward the silo.
"You two stay in the house for the night. I'll keep an eye on him while we get our plans together." Mark emptied the gun and followed Brady.
Rory walked with Sarah to the farmhouse. "He's lost it."
"Just like the rest of us." She walked into the house and closed the door behind them.
Chapter 6
Dani paced around Jeremiah as he drew blood from Emma. His slightly longer than Army standard, straight black hair shook as he fought to keep his arm still. “You’re making me nervous, kid.” He looked at her and she finally sat near Emma. “She hates needles. We always had to check her levels daily. But give her a stick and some nails and you’ll have a melee friendly weapon in no time.”
Emma looked at Dani searching for an explanation, “I wasn’t bitten but they thought something that happened to my mom would’ve been transmitted to me.”
Jeremiah gave the vials to Dani, “Yeah, Lopez, or Kayla as you know her, was part of an experiment a long time ago. It was a few years after the Risers happened. We were stationed together and one of the officers decided that the need for super soldiers was more important than protecting the great soldiers already had.”
“What did they do to her?”
Kayla walked in, “To me?”
Dani and Jeremiah stood up, “I’ll run a basic panel and see where you’re at overall.”
Emma spoke up, “Yes. What happened?” Kayla’s eyes darkened for a few minutes as she cleared her throat. Emma looked at her as both Dani and Jeremiah stepped out of the room.
“I’m sorry.” Emma looked down as she hoped her apology sounded sincere.
Kayla sighed, “There’s nothing to be sorry about. I’m sorry for the dramatics. It was a rough time and I probably wouldn’t have had Dani.” She showed Emma her scarred ankle and arms. “The ankle wasn’t really the Major’s fault. The rest were just him trying to inject different fluids. We don’t really know what he was trying to mix up with those injections, but it supposedly had a Riser’s blood. I feared that I was going to turn into one. I had nightmares where I’d rip people apart and the blood. It was horrible. It finally stopped until about a year later when I was pregnant with Dani. The dreams came back. That’s why we had to make sure she was normal.”
Emma closed her eyes and realized she had been daydreaming a lot more. She hadn’t had a real dream in the past few days after waking up the first time in the room.
“The daydreams are getting a little too real for you, huh?” Emma nodded as Kayla smiled, “that’s good at least. Maybe you’re getting enough rest at night now.”
“When can I go home?”
“Whenever you feel that you’re ready. Your wound is still healing, but I think you should be fine. Jeremiah will do some tests on your blood and we can see what happened.”
Emma looked down, “thank you.”
Kayla put her hand on Emma’s uninjured shoulder, “no thanks necessary.”
Dani walked in as Kayla stood near the door, “Dani, help Emma with whatever she needs, okay?”
“Okay, mom,” Dani answered as she walked out of the room.
“Nearly 16 years later, I’ll never get over being called ‘Mom.’ Before I enlisted in the Army, they told me having kids was next to impossible. I can say that something good did come out of this.” Kayla left as Emma sat thinking of how she was going back without stirring up too much. Dani walked in with Emma’s clothes, a backpack full of supplies and a machete. Emma suddenly remembered Sarah’s face as she watched the Riser bite her. She remembered the blood spraying out of her shoulder and neck. The horror of looking into Sarah’s green eyes when that happened caused her to shudder at the thought.
“Are you okay?” Dani looked at her with concern.
Emma rubbed her eyes, “How far away are we?”
“Used to be about two hours. You can make it in under two hours though, since we’ve cleared out that whole area.” Dani stood close to her, “Let me know if you need anything else.”
Emma shook her head, “Thanks. I don’t think I could ever…”
“Don’t. There are still people out there that are still among the living. Not all of us are dead heads. At least, not completely.”
Jeremiah walked in, “Well, I may have an idea as to why you didn’t turn. I ran an old school panel and found that your glucose levels are low. Lower than normal. How long has it been since you’ve been diagnosed?”
“Wouldn’t it be high? Why would it be low?” Emma thought back and remembered the beeping of the insulin pump. The look of disappointment her father gave her when the Army doctor at the VA diagnosed her with Type 1 diabetes. “I was about 12. I was on a pump for a short time until the stock ran dry. I’d use regular syringes sometimes but we ran out of those. I started to eat conservatively and suffered through the highs and lows. Mostly the highs. I’m just really surprised that it’s low right now.”
“Your blood may be too abnormal for the virus to attack your body. You see, the virus is activated when your antibodies and immune system attack it. Since your body is too busy attacking itself, the virus stayed dormant in your body. I think that the irregularity in your blood, meaning there’s too little or too much of something in there, saved your life. I just wish I had a better explanation as to what will happen afterward.” He grimaced and looked away.
“Is that why you’re giving me that look?”
“I’m guessing that the virus isn’t active but I think it might be trying to hibernate in certain parts of your body, like your brain. At least, that’s what I’m thinking. I’ve taken blood swabs and tested them for the spikey cells of the virus. Fortunately, I didn’t find any of those spikey cells in any of the samples I took from you. I don’t think it should affect you since your body is constantly fighting itself. Even if you got normal insulin treatments, it should still stay dormant if not die.”
Dani looked confused and tapped
Jeremiah’s arm, “So she should be okay, right?”
“It’s not as simple as that. Since I don’t have specialized medical equipment and most of this stuff I’m working on is from at least the eighties, I wouldn’t know other than to tell you that you have an infection that your body is already attacking. I just hate not having a complete diagnosis.”
“Am I safe to be around you guys?”
“Yes. Well, at least I think so. You aren’t showing any signs that would prove otherwise,” he crossed his arms.
“So one step forward, twenty steps back. Is that why you aren’t working on a cure?”
“You can’t cure this without a permanent solution like death. In your case, you were able to survive because you’re a diabetic. We’d have to somehow make our bodies attack one of our organs. It’s not simple; your body does that because it’s coded to do so.”
Emma stood up and picked up the backpack that she left by her leg. “Will you guys follow me?”
Dani shook her head as Jeremiah spoke, “No, you should be fine on the way there though. You have some MREs, sugar pills, and a gun with some ammo, in case you need them. I’ll take you to the end of the highway then it’s all you from there.”
Emma hugged Dani goodbye, and followed Jeremiah out of the room.
Jeremiah waited for Emma at the bunker door and closed it once she was outside. He led her towards the grassy hill that was near the highway. The afternoon sun was growing old and made the rest of the area look cold and desolate. The sand from the nearby beaches had been carried for miles and landed on the unused highway. They could see the entire layout of the valley as they peered from over the hill.
Jeremiah brought out his binoculars and searched the area, “Looks like it’s clear.”
“Are you guys planning to stay here for a while?”