H7N9: The Complete Series [Books 1-3]

by Campbell, Mark

  Teddy ignored them and studied each one of the corpses. The burlap sacks made facial recognition impossible, but he was sure he’d be able to spot Ein’s lanky frame.

  “Is he up there?” Roger asked as he walked off of the footpath and joined him.

  Zoey followed.

  “No,” Teddy eventually said with relief evident in his voice. “He’s still out there somewhere.”

  Teddy and Roger stared up at the hanging corpses for a few moments before Zoey barked impatiently and looked up at them with her ears raised.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m going, girl,” Roger said as he reached down and patted her head. He stood back up and slapped Teddy on the back. “Old girl is hungry.”

  “We better grab something before they close it down,” Teddy said as he turned back towards the footpath.

  “Not too excited for cabbage stew or whatever garbage they’re serving. That’s why here lately I’ve been on a liquid diet,” Roger said with a grin.

  “Judging by how bloodshot your eyes are, I’m not sure that’s working out too well for you.”

  “Hey, whatever doesn’t kill you, right?”

  Teddy and Roger laughed as they walked past an officer who was on his way to relieve one of the men stationed at the gallows.

  Zoey trotted beside them.

  “Morning, officer,” Roger told the man as he tipped an imaginary hat.

  “I warned you before to get rid of that mutt,” the officer said sternly. He stopped walking and glared down at Zoey. His grip tightened around his rifle.

  Zoey lowered her ears and growled at the man.

  “It’s alright,” Roger said as he stepped between them. He smiled at Zoey. “It’s okay, girl. Just calm down.”

  Zoey stopped growling. She rose to her haunches, and planted her front paws on Roger’s chest. She started wagging her tail and licking his face.

  Roger laughed and pushed her off of him. “Easy! Easy!” he exclaimed jovially. “You’re embarrassing me!”

  Zoey barked happily and circled around him, wagging her tail.

  “Get back to the ally and I’ll bring you some scraps after work,” Roger said as he patted her back and then gave her a gentle swat on the rump. “Go on! Scooch!”

  Zoey barked a final time and darted off towards the footpath, disappearing into the crowd.

  Roger chuckled and started to head towards the footpath, but was suddenly blocked by the officer’s gloved hand.

  “Dogs are illegal,” the officer said coldly as he glared at Roger.

  Roger beamed a smile, reached inside his jacket, and pulled out a small plastic bottle of off-color liquid. “Yeah, they are, but so is hooch…” He handed the bottle to the officer.

  After giving Teddy an uneasy glance, the officer grabbed it, unscrewed the top, and took a whiff. Satisfied, he put the cap back on and allowed Roger to pass.

  “Pleasure doing business,” Roger said as he walked past the officer.

  “I don’t want to see that mutt again,” the officer halfheartedly warned, but Roger and Teddy kept walking.

  Teddy followed and glanced over his shoulder.

  As the two men joined the others on the footpath towards the dining hall, Teddy spoke.

  “Are you sure it’s wise to show your hand to them like that?” Teddy asked.

  “They’re not getting paid,” Roger dismissed. “Retention rate is horrible—cops walk away from details just as often as civilians. At the end of the day, they’re working for food and the promise of a paycheck yet to come.”

  “Let me guess... Alcohol isn’t something the government readily provides.”

  “Nope, but it helps me grease the wheels when I want someone to look the other way. A lot of these cops challenge you with some bullshit regulation just to see what you’ll offer… I oblige them. Life is easier that way.”

  Teddy chuckled as he followed behind him. Judging by how well Roger seemed to have adapted to the new way life suggested that the man would’ve done quite well back at Tucson.

  The crowd grew denser as they walked, and Teddy fell silent as his mind wandered back to Ein.

  Roger looked at him and was able to guess that something was bothering him—it didn’t take much for him to figure out what it probably was. “I could be wrong about what I said last night.”

  Teddy glanced at him, but didn’t answer.

  “Maybe he’s not in that building,” Roger suggested. “Maybe he’s hiding out in one of the dorms and you just missed him.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Your friend, uh, Dan, could be—”

  “Ein,” Teddy corrected.

  “Ein, right, sorry,” Roger said. “Well, Ein could be out there looking for you, too.”

  Teddy offered a thin smile and a faint nod, but said nothing.

  The two men continued walking and the sound of shouting echoed from the distance, but neither paid it any mind.

  Teddy scratched over his coat where the RFID chip was implanted and an idea occurred to him. He turned towards Roger. “Could one of your cop buddies tell you where Ein is?” he asked with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. “They can look up the location of the tracking chips, right?”

  “The ones up in the tower could, but I think it’ll take more than a few bottles of shine to get them to tell me,” Roger said. “If I still had some cigarettes, then maybe, but I ran out a long time ago… I’m sorry, hoss.”

  “It’s fine,” Teddy said with a sigh. “I’ll just keep looking after work.”

  “Even during a snowstorm?” Roger asked as he looked up towards the clouds. “It looks like we’ll be getting our first snow soon.”

  “I won’t let that stop me,” he said defiantly.

  Roger chuckled. “I like your spirit, hoss. Heck, I ain’t doing nothing tonight anyway after work so I’ll help you look for him. Maybe I’ll turn Zoey into a bloodhound!”

  “I appreciate it, Roger.”

  “Ain’t nothing, but I may have to bring some shine to keep me warm out in this cold.”

  “Just keep that stuff away from me,” Teddy said. “Just one cup had me seeing sideways.”

  “Too hard for you?” Roger asked, grinning.

  “Apparently so.”

  “Aw, that’s too bad… I guess I’ll bring you a blankie and a juice box then.”

  “Fuck you, old drunk bastard,” Teddy said with a smile as he lightly punched Roger’s arm.

  They laughed.

  “We’ll work together and we’ll find him,” Roger assured, nodding. “You betcha!”

  Teddy entertained the idea, but he didn’t think that they would find Ein unless they got inside that administrative building.

  The crowd on the footpath came to a stop and a large group was gathered at the dining hall’s doors, shouting and jeering in frustration.

  Teddy and Roger stopped as the others around them craned their necks and pushed forward trying to see what was going on.

  The dining hall doors were chained shut.

  A group of officers stood on the dining hall’s roof and anxiously pointed their rifles down towards the crowd. They swept side-to-side, randomly aiming at people who were busy shouting profanities and throwing their fists in the air in frustration.

  Sgt. Mayville, his cheeks red from frostbite, stood behind the officers holding a pistol in his trembling hands. As the growing crowd became more clamorous, he cowered further back.

  A recording boomed over the camp’s PA system: Community Notice—due to a temporary inventory issue, contingency protocols have been implemented. Winter rationing is now in full effect—return this evening for your daily meal.

  The crowd became more vociferous and a few started pelting small stones and handfuls of dirt against the front of the building—even in their anger nobody dared hurl anything up towards the officers.

  Teddy wasn’t surprised.

  The recording repeated: Due to a temporary inventory issue, contingency protocols have been implemented. Winter rationing i
s now in full effect—return this evening for your daily meal.

  Some gave a few more shouts for good measure, but eventually obeyed the PA’s commands.

  It was just as Teddy had expected—a weak, broken population.

  However, what surprised Teddy, were the twenty or so stragglers who continued their protest and shouted all manners of profanities towards the officers on the rooftop.

  Teddy was unsure of what would happen next.

  It looked like the officers were just as surprised at the show of defiance. They kept their rifles pointed down towards the small crowd, anxiously taking a few steps back.

  A few looked behind at the sergeant and waited for his orders.

  Mayville’s eyes darted around angrily as he tried to think.

  Suddenly, feedback warbled from the row of loudspeakers that crowned the large concrete control tower erected at the center of the camp.

  Everyone fell silent and looked towards the ominous tower.

  Lt. Hock’s rough voice reverberated through the tower speakers: Civil disobedience will not be tolerated in my camp! Disperse and go to your work details at once—or I will authorize my men to use deadly force!

  The people gathered around the front of the building fell silent. They scattered down the alleyways and footpaths like roaches.

  Emboldened, the officers stepped towards the edge of the roof, and aimed their weapons at the civilians as they scuttled away.

  Mayville relaxed, took a step forward, and holstered his pistol with a smug satisfied grin.

  “Come on,” Roger said as he grabbed Teddy’s shoulder. “Let’s go before Gomer Pyle up there shoots an eye out.”

  Teddy frowned up at the young sergeant, turned, and followed Roger away from the dining hall.

  The mood was sour and tense; there was no more playful banter.

  As they walked, Teddy couldn’t help but wonder if his initial assessment of the camp’s population had been wrong.

  Maybe, he thought, they were now bent to the point of breaking.

  CHAPTER 10

  Without breakfast, the bus ride was especially grueling.

  Teddy sat slouched at his window seat with a hand on his sour stomach. He felt the acid bubbling inside and crawl up his esophagus. He felt slightly lightheaded.

  Even worse, the heaters weren’t emitting any semblance of warmth.

  All the passengers sat shivering with their arms across their chest. At the front of the bus, past the grille, Salguero manned the wheel and Vue sat silently across from Parham.

  A wiry, nervous looking man with olive skin and jet—black hair sat next to Vue. He was wearing a white dress shirt, grey slacks, and scuffed dress shoes. A briefcase sat in his lap and he anxiously fiddled with the handle as he stared down at the floor.

  Teddy thought that the man looked ridiculously out of place—he looked like a college kid applying for his first job.

  The sergeant announced back at camp that they were headed out to some godawful town about thirty miles away to get a power substation back online.

  The Topeka settlement was experiencing brownouts and that just wouldn’t do.

  Teddy didn’t know much about electrical shit, so all he could do was hope that he did not end up electrocuting himself.

  He supposed that this was the reason why they had a Middle Eastern man in ill-filling business casuals riding shotgun.

  If he had to guess, the man was some sort of engineer.

  People with knowledge like that were worth more than a whole truck full of food in this new world, he imagined.

  Back when Teddy boarded, he noticed a military Humvee idling behind the bus. A masked officer manned the .50 CAL gun turret on the roof and swept it menacingly towards the crowd.

  Teddy didn’t understand why they had an escort at first, but after seeing their unusual travel companion it wasn’t too hard to put it all together.

  If he listened closely, he could hear the Humvee’s rumbling diesel engine tailing close behind.

  His mind wandered back to the day’s task that awaited him at the substation.

  God, it was going to be a lot of work.

  Outside work.

  Cold work.

  No gin rummy today, Teddy thought sadly.

  It was going to be a long day.

  Teddy was hungry, tired, and so fucking cold—the prospect of forced labor intensified his pain and discontent.

  Next to him, Roger looked just as miserable and was actually quiet for once.

  Whatever pitiful country road they were traveling on was in a state of extreme disrepair. Every pebble and crack in the sun-beaten asphalt made the bus rock on its axels.

  His window still had a small peephole scratched through the black paint coating.

  Teddy kept leaning over and peering outside.

  Endless dead fields and scattered farmhouses with their shutters drawn stretched out as far as he could see.

  They rolled past weathered billboards which he read with bored fascination.

  A couple announced the arrival of the Pratt County Harvest Festival, but Teddy figured that the billboard had turned out to be a goddamn liar by the time the plague passed through. A few others proclaimed the salvation and mercy offered by Jesus Christ, but considering everything that Teddy had witnessed he doubted any truth in those advertisements as well.

  One billboard in particular caught his attention.

  The advertisement had been scraped away. The message painted sloppily across it in red paint said: Join the Kansas Farmers Freedom Militia TODAY—tyrants and traitors not welcome!

  Teddy wondered if these were the folks responsible for sabotaging the Topeka settlement. It was only a matter of time before like-minded people would gather and impose their own rules in the absence of law, he figured.

  After passing the militia’s billboard, he started noticing KFFM painted on the sides of some of the old barns and houses. Drawings of a skull and crossbones along with KFFM were painted across the side of the overturned semi-truck that lay off the road and sat in the ditch.

  Teddy knew that there had to be hundreds of similar ragtag militias scattered throughout the United States fighting for dog-eared pieces of territory to call their own. He thought their motives were just like those of the prison gangs—power for the sake of power.

  It was pathetic really.

  But honestly, was FEMA any better with their twisted ideology of rebuilding the very same structure of government that had failed in the first place?

  Perhaps, the good folks over at KFFM could do a better job. Hell, why not give a chance to the Yankee Doodle Dandy Gang or whatever ridiculous names the other countless militias were going by?

  Teddy didn’t care who sat at the throne.

  All he wanted to do was to get away from them all.

  He had never joined a gang back in prison and he sure as hell didn’t plan on joining one now that he was out.

  Roger yawned and looked over at him. “You’re quieter than usual today.”

  Teddy looked away from the window and gave a shrug. “I could say the same about you.”

  “Uff-da!” he groaned as he cupped his forehead. “Hangovers and bumpy rides don’t go together well, dontcha know… I was hoping for some eggs to soak up the sop in my belly, but no luck.”

  “I’m hungry too,” Teddy complained. “You wouldn’t happen to be holding onto a candy bar, would you?”

  Roger chuckled. “All I brought is a deck of playing cards that we won’t get to use today.”

  Vue rapped his fist repeatedly against the iron grille. “Yo! Shut up back there! No talking!"

  They fell silent.

  Parham’s attention snapped in their direction. He stood up abruptly and leaned his rifle against the bench. “Who was talking?” he asked in a cold, stern voice. A hand slid down and rested on his holstered pistol.

  Teddy knew that the sergeant already knew. It was an excuse for the man to posture and bluster, he thought.

  Pa
rham’s gaze was fixated on Teddy. “Who was talking?” he repeated—eyes unwavering.

  “Some idiots in the back,” Vue responded passively as he gave a dismissive wave towards the grille.

  “I wasn’t asking you, officer,” Parham said without looking away from Teddy. “I was asking them—the cowards in the back who refuse to speak up like men!”

  Teddy rolled his eyes and went back to peering out of his window’s peephole.

  Parham became enraged upon seeing Teddy’s nonchalant reaction. “Open the grille!”

  Vue looked up at him, uncomfortable.

  “Sir, we’re moving…” Vue reminded. “Rules say—”

  “Fuck the rules!” Parham snarled. He turned his rage towards the officer. “If they try rushing the grille, shoot every last one of them!”

  Vue’s eyes shifted from the sergeant to the passengers and then back again.

  “I gave you a goddamn order, officer!”

  “Yes, sir…” Vue apprehensively stood up and unlocked the grille.

  Parham marched down the aisle towards Teddy with his hand wrapped around the pistol’s grip. He glowered at Teddy in a dark, hooded gaze. “Who spoke?” he asked again menacingly.

  Roger let out a heavy sigh and started to sit up, but Teddy reached an arm out to stop him.

  “Why do you ask when you already know?” Teddy asked without looking away from the window.

  Parham stopped and stood in front of Teddy’s row. He puffed his chest out and stared down his nose at him.

  A total lack of fear, the sergeant noted.

  That was unacceptable.

  “Didn’t my officer correct you yesterday?” he asked with narrowed eyes.

  “I reckon so.”

  “Do you have a problem following rules?”

  Teddy slowly turned away from the window and looked up at the short man, unimpressed. “Do you?” He nodded towards Vue. “Your man over there told you not to go through the grille, but fuck the rules, right?”

  Tiny veins throbbed across the sergeant’s neck and his brown eyes widened. His whole face took on a wild, savage expression. The hand gripping the pistol started shaking.

  Teddy noted the change in the man’s face and decided it’d be best to submit and let him have his little five minutes of glory. “I’m sorry that my words offended you, boss-man… I won’t talk anymore.”