Book Read Free

Reset (Book 2): Salvation

Page 11

by Jacqueline Druga


  “The clothes were on the bed, the video played, telling us to shower,” Cole said. “Janice was the first to wake up. She said Mark wasn’t ill at first, not at all. At least not physically, of all of us he was the most mentally unstable. In his panic he left.”

  Janice spoke up. “None of us knew what happened, how we got there. Nothing. We were still sorting it out, we urged Mark to stay but he left.”

  John asked, “How long after he came out of Stasis did he leave?”

  Janice shrugged, “Hours. He found supplies and a way out. Went up there, came back down, and said he had to find help. We were still trying to help those who were choking.”

  “Hours?” Meredith questioned. “So you folks only woke up four days ago? Was there no countdown clock on a door?”

  Cole shook his head. “No. There was a door that led to an elevator but it was partially open. We thought at first Mark caught something up here, because within an hour of coming back down he started showing symptoms.”

  Meredith explained. “When we came out of Stasis, it activated a countdown clock, after five days the door opened and an elevator was there. It was during that five days our memories started to return.”

  “Not all,” John added. “Some still didn’t remember things. I’m thinking that it is a decompression period, possibly even when immunity to the virus builds up.”

  “Last couple days we looked for him,” Cole said. “No luck. Nearest we can figure is we are by Washington, DC. And that a lot of time has passed. Do we know why we were chosen?”

  “We learned,” Meredith said, “to preserve the human race in case things got out of control with a virus that was released to cull the population.”

  Cole sighed heavily and sat back. “Apparently it did.”

  Meredith nodded.

  “So a virus wiped man to near extinction?” Cole asked. “Is that what happened?”

  “And some,” Meredith said. She knew it was going to be hard, difficult to understand, and so easy to want to deny, but Meredith and John, did their best to explain to the newly awakened, what all had happened and what they had learned thus far.

  <><><><>

  “I want to sleep in a bed,” Jason said as he placed the sleeping roll over a small couch in the Rantoul library.

  “Considering the circumstances, I’m thinking that may never be a possibility.” Nora finished her bedding and adjusted the light on the lantern.

  “Nah, I find that hard to believe. Bet the people in this town are tucked away in their beds.”

  “It’s their town. Once we find a home, then maybe we’ll get the beds.”

  “If I recall correctly, there were dorm rooms and visiting pastor quarters at the church,” Jason said. “We’ll check that out tomorrow.”

  “That sounds good. It’ll be something to do. They aren’t party people. They go to bed early around here. It’s not even eight o’clock.”

  “What else is there to do? Yeah, and they kind of looked at us like we were nuts going back to put up notes for the others.” Jason paused to laugh. “They acted as if we were gonna be out all hours of the nights. They’re nice people.”

  “Yes, they are. Are you amazed by them?” Nora asked. “I mean, half of them weren’t even out of grade school when the virus hit, another big section were young adults. Yet, they survived.”

  “I think that amazes me most is in this world they could have turned bad. Instead they learned. They read, they learned. Hell the woman doctor is self taught.”

  “Would you want to settle here?”

  “We need to find your family. Find Salvation first, see what that holds for you.”

  Nora huffed out a little in sarcasm. “Rick would be seventy now if he is still alive and Lilly is pushing forty. I wonder if my return will be worse on them.”

  “You need to find them. We … will find them. Then after, whatever you want to do, I’m game.”

  “Thank you. So if I said, let’s get some land with the others and make our own town, you’d be fine with that.”

  Jason smiled. “Nora, you and the others are all I have. I’m golden with whatever you want.”

  “You can be the town preacher.”

  Jason laughed. “Yeah and you can be the town comedian.”

  “Hey, these people laughed at my jokes. You laughed at the new one.”

  “I laughed because it was so unbelievably dumb, how could I not?”

  Nora shrugged. “It got a laugh. I do want to grow corn like these people. Wasn’t it good corn? It reminded me of the Sweet Corn festival from Lodi, Ohio.”

  “Did Lodi make moonshine?” Jason lifted a flask, took a drink and handed it to Nora. “These people make great moonshine.”

  She was hesitant at first, but Nora took the flask. She sipped it. “Taste like popcorn.” She hit her chest when it burned all the way down.

  “Yep. It does.”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “You will anyway.”

  “What’s up with the drinking?” Nora asked. “Since we woke up, since you found that wine, you drink a lot.”

  Jason lifted his eyes with concern to her. “Am I being a danger? Getting in the way?”

  “No. No.” She waved her hand. “I was just wondering. Is it your way of coping?”

  “I like to drink. I always did.”

  “So you were the preacher that downed a few?” she asked.

  Jason lifted a finger. “No. It was one of my conditions.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I was a hot mess, Nora. I mean, when the network scouted me, I was … I was bad.”

  “Was this before the facial peels?”

  Jason chuckled. “Yeah. I drank a lot. Did drugs. Before that, I battled addiction. My parents … I don’t know what I told you about them, but I can guarantee it wasn’t the truth. My parents in their exercising of tough love, disowned me because I kept stealing from them.”

  It was hard for Nora to believe. The man he presented wasn’t the man he told her about. Yet, it oddly made sense. “How old were you?”

  “Nineteen. And it was the best thing they did. When you have an addiction, you need to want to clean up. I had been using for years. When they tossed me out, I took my guitar and hit the road. Played on street corners. Eventually I got off the hard stuff. Started drinking a lot, smoking weed. Never to the point that I was a slobbering idiot. I don’t think. So … after the network discovered me playing in a bar, in short they cleaned me up, got me a wife, and fixed my teeth … made me a poster child for Christ.”

  “Did your addiction ever come up?”

  “It was a selling point,” Jason said. “Don’t get me wrong. I was grateful. I loved my wife. I stopped the party life for the church, and stayed clean for my family. But you know, being sober made me see how much pain I caused my parents and I’ll never forgive myself for that.”

  “You know they did, right? They forgave you. They did. They loved you enough to let you go. It wasn’t because they hated you.”

  Jason nodded.

  “Did you ever make amends?”

  “Eventually, but it was never the same. They were never really part of my life. So that’s it.” Jason lifted the flask. “That’s my story that you haven’t heard.”

  “So you drink because you like it and not because you want to hide the pain.”

  “I like to drink. Hide the pain? There’s no real hiding it, Nora. But it does help to ease the pain. And there’s no audience or perfect wife to say I can’t.”

  “Then I won’t either,” Nora said. “I apologize for judging.”

  “You weren’t judging. And I promise, I will not let it get out of control.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Hmm?” Jason asked. “Did you just do a hmm at me?”

  “I did. You said that line all alcoholics say.”

  “I’m not an alcoholic.”

  “You just said you were.”

  Jason shook his head and took a drink. �
�You said you weren’t judging.”

  “I’m not. I’m not.” Nora raised her hands. “I kind of do like this imperfect Jason better.”

  “Gee thanks.” Jason put down the flask and fluffed the tiny homemade pillow given to him by one of the town’s people.

  Nora laughed.

  “What’s so funny, now?”

  “I just thought of a joke.”

  “Oh God. Don’t tell me, I want to lay down.” Jason lounged back, placing his head on the pillow.

  “You’ll like it.”

  “I doubt it.”

  “You inspired it.”

  Jason closed his eyes.

  “What did the one alcoholic say to the other alcoholic during a nuclear war?” Nora asked. “Let’s get toasted.”

  Jason opened his eyes.

  “You like?”

  Jason didn’t verbally respond, he merely sat up some and tossed his pillow at her. Nora once again laughed. She actually felt a breakthrough with Jason, a wall she didn’t know was there had come down.

  She couldn’t believe he was going to sleep so early. Nora wasn’t even tired. Since Jason was, she found her journal and once he was fast asleep, she claimed that flask. The popcorn flavored moonshine wasn’t half bad.

  <><><><>

  It was an odd location where they had set up camp. Just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. The skyline of sin city was nothing but a mere shadow of darkness across the well lit star filled sky. Colonel Norris said it was one of his favorite places to stop and camp for the night. It was safe. Vegas had long since been empty. For many years it was a sort of a mini Salvation. Pockets of people went there with hopes of survival. Power was supplied by the Hoover Damn. But as the virus swept in every year, the population dwindled.

  People moved on.

  It was a dark, dismal ghost town. At least at night.

  Norris assured Malcolm that when day broke, he’d get to see it in its full glory. There was a lot of sand. Without people and automobiles to keep the city clean, storms blew sand in by the foot. Most parts of the Las Vegas Strip were buried.

  It was surreal for Malcolm. In his mind and time frame he had been to Vegas not six months earlier for a security convention. A part of him wanted to see, but a part of him didn’t.

  Malcolm was shocked how warm it was.

  Norris had erected a two man blow up style tent and they had, as he referred to it, atmospheric conditioning. Malcolm could have turned in for the night, but it was still early. He had hoped to have a chance to talk to the historian, Clark and the scientist, Nelson, but they retreated to their tents the moment they settled.

  It was a pretty impressive camp, one that was erected pretty quickly. The two igloo air tents and a tent that pulled out from the transit van plus two fire pits.

  Norris had done it before, it was obvious.

  Trey turned in for the night, claiming he couldn’t take the heat.

  To Malcolm it was hot but tolerable. He and Trey had their own tent, Maggie, Clark, and Nelson shared one, while Norris and the private took turns on watch, and slept in the transit van tent.

  Malcolm was using the light from the fire to read the scrapbook that Trey had brought. Newspaper clippings, stories about Malcolm at the end. The smell of coffee moved through the slight breeze and Malcolm looked up to see Maggie. She brewed a pot over her own fire in front of her tent.

  The gurgles of percolating carried to him and he walked over.

  “Join me?” Maggie asked. “It’s like heaven in a cup.”

  Malcolm laughed. “Your coffee?’

  “Yes.”

  “It’s good, but not heaven in a cup.” Malcolm pulled up a folding chair and sat next to her. He accepted the cup of coffee. “Thank you.”

  “Can’t sleep?” she asked.

  “I haven’t tried. You?”

  “Too excited.” She brought her shoulders up.

  “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “Because when we left you were quiet.”

  “I was nervous,” Maggie said. “This is the first time I have been outside Salvation since I entered.”

  “You’re joking.”

  Maggie shook her head. “Not at all.”

  “Are you not allowed to leave?”

  “Unless you are authorized for a mission you can leave, but you can’t come back. Or if you are like Trey and distribute to Salvation. Really, there’s no need to leave.”

  “Yeah, the world. Aren’t you curious? I mean there’s a whole world out here.”

  “It’s a deadly world,” Maggie said. “Aside from there being the chance of getting sick. There are bad people out here.”

  “Those walls will have to come down at some point,” Malcolm said.

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. It just doesn’t make sense. It’s very Logan’s Run like.”

  “Logan’s Run?”

  “It’s a science fiction movie. People live in a perfect world.”

  “That’s us.”

  “But they euthanize everyone the day they turn thirty.”

  The smile dropped from Maggie’s face. “Oh, that’s horrible.”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “We wait until they are seventy.”

  The corner of Malcolm’s mouth raised in a smile. She had to be joking, because she followed her statement with a laugh.

  “So,” Malcolm clapped his hands together. “What do you think? I mean, of what you have seen so far.”

  “It’s empty and sad.”

  “Yeah, it is. Tell me, what made you decide to be a doctor, or virologist.”

  “Decide?” Maggie asked.

  “Yeah, was it the virus that made you want to find a cure?”

  “I didn’t decide,” Maggie said. “This is what I was told to do. When I was twelve, they said I was exceptionally smart and I was assigned the career.”

  “You’re joking.”

  “That’s the second time you claimed I was joking. Why would I joke?”

  “It’s absurd. You can’t pick your own job.”

  Maggie shook her head. “No, we learn from a young age what we are capable of doing and train from there. It works. Things run smoothly in Salvation. Not like we learned of the world before the virus. Wars, sickness, fighting, who needs that.”

  “You have no sickness.”

  “Only injuries and treatable illnesses like your infection.”

  “What about cancer?” Malcolm asked. “Millions of people, I find it hard to believe there isn’t a case of cancer.”

  “Oh, there is. We fix it right away.”

  “Wow.” Malcolm leaned back and enjoyed a sip of his coffee. “Sounds like they created a Utopia pretty quickly.”

  “We did. You’ll really love it there, Malcolm. It’s a great place. You won’t want to leave. I never did.”

  “Well, I’m not so sure if my friends are gonna wanna stay there or try to make it on our own. I’ll do what they decide. I mean, we are bonded in a way.”

  “That makes sense.”

  “ Although, I’ll have to tell Nora that her former husband is there.”

  Maggie cradled her cup of coffee. “Richard. Very nice. He’s sixty-nine now. She’ll probably be very shocked when she sees him.”

  “I’d say and the fact that he’s remarried.”

  “Are you worried?” Maggie asked. “About your friends?”

  “I am. I gave my word I’d meet up with them.”

  “Can you tell me where?”

  Malcolm exhaled. “Why do you want to know?”

  “Because if I can get you there, I will.”

  After a moment of thought, Malcolm said. “A little town called Champaign, Illinois. It was center point. The meeting place.”

  “Then I’ll make you a promise,” Maggie said. “Since you are helping me, I’ll help you. I’ll get you to Champaign, Illinois.” She held out her coffee cup. “You may be late, but better late than never. Right?”

  “Right.�
�� Malcolm clinked his cup against hers and followed it with a sip. A part of him was uncertain, that maybe he should not have told Maggie about the meeting place. But the reasonable part of his being argued, why should he worry about it? Maggie and the others seemed like good people. If she said she was going to help, there was no reason not to believe that.

  ELEVEN – TRAIL BEGINS

  DAY NINE AR

  There were more reasons for staying the night at the Genesis Lab camp other on the advice of Hunter. He felt it would be too dark to travel and there were animals. But Meredith and John couldn’t, with a clear conscience, just leave Harold and the others without helping them in some way. It was wrong. There was an unspoken camaraderie and Meredith and John were the veterans of waking up in a post apocalypse world.

  Harold and the others were rightfully confused. They also were sad, heartbroken, and at a loss at what to do. Like John and Meredith, they thought about finding their families.

  Other than helping them and staying put for safety’s sake, there was another reason. They were close to Washington, DC. For a reality check, Meredith needed to see DC. She had to and John agreed. Hunter came with them. He didn’t see what the big deal was. John jokingly told him, “I guess when you’ve seen one nuked city you’ve seen them all.”

  Hunter didn’t understand the sarcasm.

  They didn’t go into Washington, DC, that would have been nearly impossible. The bridges and roadways were crushed or twisted wreckage. But on a hillside, just above the Potomac River, they saw enough.

  It was dead.

  Even though buildings stood, some of them mere skeletons, nothing was green. Nothing grew. Surprisingly, a good bit of the Washington Monument was still there, blackened, charred and chipped away.

  They didn’t stay long. Long enough to see the icing on the cake, the undisputable proof that the world fell apart when they slept.

  Harold and the others didn’t come with them. John advised them not to. Not yet. It would be too much of a shock. They, like John and Meredith had to absorb what happened slowly. Taking in each piece of the apocalypse until they got the big picture.

  There was also the task of getting them road ready. There had to be transportation, that was part of the project. While Meredith went over what supplies they would need, John sought out the means of transportation. The buildings were still intact, that meant that transportation was around.

 

‹ Prev