Meredith stepped forward. “I’m sure you’re not.”
“It’s a big area,” Nora explained. “You don’t need to go around anyone. You can stay in the church with us.”
“Church?” John asked snidely. “Why doesn’t that surprise me? But before we go in there, or even close, you need to let them know of my uncertainty.”
“Absolutely,” Jason said. “Nora and I will be right back.”
They asked to borrow the buggy to make the short jaunt back to Rantoul easier and faster. Nora and Jason were pretty excited about sharing the town of Rantoul with them and they left enthusiastically.
John watched until they were out of sight.
“You surprise me,” Meredith spoke softly, standing next to him. “You just never struck me as the type of person who would care so much about strangers.”
“It’s not care. It’s selfish. Thirty years in deep freeze, whether it is a blink of an eye or not, can do something to you. We were saved to ensure the continuity of mankind,” John said. “So you can say I just want to make sure that I am not the reason we don’t ensure the continuity.”
<><><><>
That night John made his jokes and comments about the home Jason and Nora recently made at the church. He called the bedroom very ‘Ricky and Lucy’ like with the twin beds.
The people of Rantoul were friendly, they fed them and even got Hunter to consume grain alcohol. Their all too ready protector was out like a light on the first pew of the church.
Meredith settled comfortably on a couch and John read a book. It had been a while since he got to sit down and read, and he was enjoying the secular story by the light of the lantern.
He understood the comfortableness that Jason and Nora instantly found.
It was all too evident that very quickly Jason had made claim to the town of Rantoul and wanted to stay there more than anything. In the new world John wanted to enjoy the charms of an established town. But he knew that would never be possible. It wasn’t their world anymore, or their time. John and the others, no matter how much they wanted to deny it, were different. They didn’t belong and had no place in this new society. Just like they disappeared from the face of the earth thirty years early, John had a gut feeling, for the sake of everyone, more than likely, they’d have to disappear again.
<><><><>
“Hey,” Nora returned back into the bedroom. “I thought you were with John.”
“He’s reading,” Jason lay on his side on the bed, the bible before him, an open journal beside it with a pen in his hand.
“Like you?”
“No, I’m working on a sermon.”
“We won’t be here next week.”
“We’ll be back. But this is for Doug to deliver. So are you staying in the room, or going back out to peek?”
“I’m done.” Nora sat on her bed. “I’m intrigued.”
“I gathered.”
“He’s kind of hot in an apocalyptic way.”
Jason peered up. “Really?”
Nora shrugged.
“He’s kind of a mutant.”
“That’s terrible. He’s a human being. God made him.”
Jason set down his pen. “God made man in his own image. Hunter is made in his image of the horrors of what man can do.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“To me it does.”
“It was very preacher sounding. Do you think because you said to accept him that was why everyone here did?”
“No, they’re nice. And why … are you sitting over there?” Jason asked, placing his bible and journal on the nightstand. He scooted over and patted the bed beside him.
Nora joined him. “Do you suppose this is what Lucy and Ricky did?”
Jason groaned. “I can’t believe John made that comment. But it was funny.” He propped his face on his hand. “Speaking of funny. You haven’t told a joke tonight.”
“I told the Germany one earlier.”
“Doesn’t count. You told it to Marilee.”
“Okay,” Nora thought a moment, staring up to the ceiling. “Did you hear about the plague of blindness that hit everyone?”
“Don’t believe I have.”
“Sad. No one saw it coming.”
After a moment of silence, Jason rolled to his back and laughed. “I don’t know if they’re getting worse or funnier.”
“Both.” Nora watched him for a moment. “You’re really comfortable here.”
“I am.”
“I know you don’t want to leave.”
“I hate to leave before Malcolm and Amy get here. But we can leave word that we’ll be back and they can come here. I mean …”
“No.” Nora interrupted him. “I mean …I know you want to make this a home. John doesn’t think we should. He thinks us and the other survivors from the other lab, once they get here, should go somewhere and make our own world.”
“John’s wrong.”
“What if he’s not and one of them is a carrier?”
Jason sighed.
“We can live close so you can run the church. I know you want that.”
“What do you want?” Jason rolled again to his side.
“Honestly?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t care where we end up. As long as I get to see my family first, or learn of their fate.”
“And I will stand with you on that journey. We take it one day at a time. And tomorrow our one day takes us on the road to finding Salvation. And I mean that in more ways than one. Fair enough?”
“Fair enough.”
In the quiet moment after his words, Jason smiled, he leaned down kissing Nora softly as he reached over and shut off the light.
FOURTEEN – COMPACT
Day Eleven AR
It hadn’t been since she was in the Genesis lab in Alabama that Meredith looked in a mirror. The one at Rusty’s didn’t help, the long crack in the fogged over mirror made it difficult to reflect a true appearance. In fact, it gave that blurred beautifying effect leaving Meredith to believe she didn’t look that bad.
Rantoul had mirrors.
The bathroom didn’t function in the church, so no mirror was there until after she retrieved water to wash. That was when Marilee, up and motivated with the sun, spotted Meredith by the well.
Who was this young woman? It was an apocalyptic world; yet, she was clean, and fresh. Her face smooth and perfect, hair shiny and clothes tidy. Everyone in Rantoul looked as if they stepped out of an edition of Country Town living.
“You know …” Marilee called in the morning to Meredith. “I have a water warmer, I just turned it off. Water is still hot. Plenty if you’re gathering to wash.”
At first, Meredith wondered if she smelled, then she realized Marilee was being nice.
“I would like that, thank you so much. I haven’t washed with warm water in a while. Mostly, creeks.”
Marilee smiled. “Do you have clothes?”
“Yes, we popped by an abandoned store before we got here.”
“Good for you.” Her tone was upbeat. “Come on. You clean up, get fresh, feel better about yourself, and I’ll make coffee.”
“Do I look that bad?”
“You look like you need a pick me up feel good day.”
Meredith smiled. When she did, she felt the pull of the scab on her cheek. “I don’t suppose you have any lotion. Probably not, I just …”
“Oh, sure, we aren’t savages.” Marilee yelled. “We make our own soap, lotions, and shampoo. Did you wanna use all that?”
“Yes. Please.”
Marilee led the way. Her home was a trailer behind the old hardware store. There were several trailers there that surrounded a well. The trailer home was small, but pretty and clean. Meredith made her way to the bathroom, and Marilee showed her how to work the water pump to get a good five minute shower. She recommended that Meredith do any ‘shaving or hair washing’ before getting in the shower that way she could enjoy the continuou
s stream.
Meredith didn’t think much about a mirror until after Marilee brought her in a towel and on top of it was not only a hair brush, but a hair band and very small make up bag.
“What’s this?” Meredith asked.
“Oh, I know when I am having a bad everything day, I feel better by making myself look better. I’m not saying you look bad, you don’t, but I thought a little powder and maybe some lipstick would make you feel good. It does for me.”
“You’re kidding right? You wear makeup?”
“To church, on occasion. I like the way it makes me feel. The world may have gone to pot, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t allowed to feel beautiful. I know, it sounds shallow. And no way did I want to insult you, or make you feel bad,” Marilee said. “I just thought with all those bruises you may want to forget the bad experiences, even for a day, by covering them. I know how that feels, trust me. However …” She reached for the makeup.
Meredith stopped her. “No, I’m not insulted. Thank you. I’ll use it.”
It was after Marilee closed the door that Meredith saw her reflection. It was no wonder Marilee felt bad for her. Her face was discolored, parts of it yellow from the bruising. A huge abrasion on her cheek was scabbing over, her skin was dry and in some spots peeling from too much sun. Her hair, though she rinsed it in a creek, was horrible and was a matted mess.
Meredith felt sick in her stomach at how bad she looked. It wasn’t her, she always prided herself on her looks. But it was more than make up, more than nice clothes, it was that it hit her how demoralizing her experience was.
She waited until the urge to vomit passed and she cleaned up.
The shower was wonderful and the shampoo stopped her scalp from itching. She lotioned her body and even used the facial powder.
She felt better, the shower washed not only the surface, but a little bit of what was inside.
The smell of coffee and eggs carried to her as she walked from the bathroom.
“In here,” Marilee called out.
There was a counter that separated the kitchen and living room.
“Heard the shower stop. Breakfast is almost done. Got some deer bacon.”
“Never had it, sounds wonderful. Smells great,” Meredith said.
“You look so much better.” Marilee smiled, turning from the stove.
“Thank you.”
“Have a seat.”
As Meredith walked to the counter, she noticed the child like drawing on the fridge. “Who did the art?”
“Oh, my son, Dillard.”
“Your son. I haven’t seen him.”
Her smile remained across the lips, but Marilee lost the smile in her eyes. “And sadly you won’t.” She sighed and returned to the stove.
Meredith felt her sadness. Clearly, Marilee wasn’t old enough to have a child who passed in the plague. It was something else, something tragic. Marilee didn’t say any more and Meredith didn’t ask. It wasn’t her place to ask or bring up any more painful memories. She merely took her seat at the breakfast counter and enjoyed the hospitality of her hostess.
<><><><>
Malcolm felt as if he were having a case of déjà vu when stepping onto the base in Texas that housed the Genesis Two Lab. He wasn’t given an exact building and the base was huge. But the large warehouse oddly placed in a parking lot across from an office building looked exactly like Alabama. So much so, Malcolm wondered if they had returned to Marshal.
Another similarity was the lack of overgrowth. The weeds and cracked concrete were eerily similar to Marshal. They weren’t sure it was the building, however as soon as Malcolm saw it he was certain.
Coyly, Maggie said to him, ‘I’m going to guess you are going to that warehouse.’
“I planned on it.”
And surprisingly, with quick ‘how to’ instructions, she handed him an Aldervice. “Just leave it on. I’ll call you if we find anything.”
“You will?”
“You’re that sure?”
“If you walk in there and see a large red carpet before the office on your left. A carpet with a G on it, then you are here.”
“That’s an odd thing to say.”
“I just can’t tell you enough how much this looks like Marshal.”
Maggie projected gratefulness, leaving Malcolm as she went with the others. Trey went with them as well. He was having issues with Malcolm although he didn’t say it. Even though he was now the younger of the two, Malcolm felt it.
He didn’t expect ultimate loyalty from Trey. Thirty years had passed; there was a sense of being strangers.
Using the same technique as he did in Alabama, Malcolm broke into the warehouse. Just as when he woke up, the buggies were there, covered in plastic.
“Malcolm.”
Maggie’s voice carried over the Aldervice. It was clear and crisp and the quality surprised Malcolm.
“Malcolm, look at the screen. Press the button that says open and we can have an open line.”
Malcolm did. “Yeah.”
“When you get a second, we need you here.”
“That was fast.”
“You were right.”
He was right? That meant one thing; they found the lab. Leaving the buggies for later, Malcolm slipped the Aldervice in his back pocket and headed over to join the others.
The double glass doors of the office building were open and sure enough, the red carpet was there. It was buried under dirt and someone had swept a hand across it to check the color. He could hear the voices when he stepped inside the office. It was exactly like the Alabama office, down to the computer and the folder of information left out. Historian Clark and his virus buddy Nelson were already digging into papers.
“Would this be the elevator down?” Norris asked.
“That’s ….” Malcolm shook his head as if to snap out of the daze. “That’s uncanny. That looks like the elevator we emerged from.”
“There has to be a staircase,” Norris said to his fellow soldier. “Let’s spread out. The elevator door isn’t opening.”
“It sealed on us,” Malcolm said. “After decontamination.”
“Dad,” Trey stepped to him. “You look like you saw a ghost.”
“In a way I did. It’s all the same,” Malcolm spoke in a low voice.
“What?” Maggie asked.
“It’s all the same. A carbon copy of the other office above the lab.”
Maggie shook her head. “I’m not sure what carbon copy means.”
Clark clarified. “It means duplicate.” He then looked at Malcolm. “You said the elevator sealed?”
“Yeah, during decontamination. We couldn’t go back down. But …” Malcolm looked at the one computer. “Nothing seems touched. I mean, if they had hatched, as you call it, and came up, things would have been touched. The first thing we did was try to find information about what happened. They haven’t come up yet.”
Maggie asked. “Do you really think that?”
“Without a doubt.” Malcolm lifted the folder. ‘This exact folder was left in the same exact place for us. If you read this it has information. If I can get the power up on this computer there will be a video and everything we know, you’ll know. I just ….”
“Found it!” Norris called out. There were thumping footsteps and he emerged back into the office. “Staircase door was hidden in the back of a closet. We ready?”
Maggie looked at Malcolm, then took the folder. “Yes. Yes we are. Malcolm after you.”
Malcolm agreed and walked before her.
Trey took hold of his arm. ‘Is this really an exact duplicate?”
“Yeah, yeah it is.”
“What do you think we’ll find below?” Trey asked.
“I don’t know,” Malcolm replied. “But prepare for anything.”
It was quiet below. The lights were dim, slightly brighter than emergency lights and from the tiny windows on the doors, a blue glow emerged.
“They’re all still here,” M
aggie said, peering in one of the doors. “They’re still in stasis. They haven’t hatched.”
“The timer hasn’t even started yet,” Malcolm added.
“What do you mean?” Maggie asked.
Malcolm pointed to the door at the end of the hall. “That square above it starts a timer. When it’s done, that door opens for the elevator. My guess is they’re all linked to together. The hatching triggers the countdown.”
Clark questioned. “What’s the purpose of the countdown? Nelson, you’re the virologist. Does this have to do with the sickness?”
“Maybe. It’s hard to say,” Nelson replied.
Norris walked the hall, peering in each room. “There has to be a main frame. Something that controls this. That tell us how they are set.”
Something clicked in Malcolm. “There is. If it’s the same layout, and I bet it is…” He walked down the long corridor to the door at the other end. “It’s behind here. It was at the other lab.”
Maggie gave a nod of approval to Norris. “Colonel, can you open that.”
“Right away,” he said and made his way to the door.
It didn’t take long for Norris to get that door open. Much less time than it took John back when he opened it. With the use of hand lights Malcolm led them down the small hallway.
“Once through here, there’s a power box.” Knowing where it was, the second he made it through the short hall, Malcolm turned on the lights.
“What is this place?” Maggie asked.
“Where you eat and make meals. This entire area is the heart. Water tanks are here and oxygen. They are all down that way.” Malcolm pointed to the far end and another door. He swung his aim to the second floor. “Up there are lockers. One for each person. It has their belongings. The computers are up there as well. I just need to power them up.”
Maggie asked. “Do you think the program for the units is up there?”
“I believe I saw it when I was looking at our computer. I’ll look.”
“Wonderful, we are going to look down here. If you don’t mind doing that?” Maggie asked.
“No. Not at all,” Malcolm said. He really was interested in finding out why they hadn’t hatched, or at least when they were scheduled to.
Reset (Book 2): Salvation Page 16