"Bea, we are going to make a run for Sam's house. It's right behind ours. I need you to open the door then I will run out first and distract the ones in back while you and the kids run for it.
"No Ben, you'll be killed. I won't let you."
"We have no choice. We have to get to Sam's. Even if they grab me you need to run and don't look back or stop until you get there."
"No, I'll die with you."
He had grabbed her then and shaken her very hard. "No love of mine. You have no right to make that decision for Amber and Luke. Get our children to safety. I love you." Then he kissed her softly but quickly, after that he kissed his two children only four and five years of age. "Open the door," he whispered as he prepared himself to run while pulling these walking nightmares away from his family’s escape route. Behind him, he heard the table topple over and he knew they only had moments. Bea opened the door and he rushed out grabbing both of the creatures in his arms. He was strong, worked out with regularity and carried them down to the ground screaming, "Run!" to his wife. He saw her dart past him running all out, both kids held tightly in her arms, and then incredible pain erupted in his upper torso. Jesus they were biting him, tearing him to pieces. He bit his tongue, knowing if he screamed his Bea might turn and come running back. He could not take that chance and channeled his breath into a last shout for her to run.
"Run Bea! Run! I love you!" He saw her running without looking back like he told her. Then the nightmares from the house fell on top of him. Oh my God, the pain and they smelled so bad. Then he saw nothing more as he felt teeth tearing at his throat and darkness descended.
Bethany ran as fast as her toned legs could propel her while carrying her two children. The bushes in front of her parted and Sam stepped out, a rifle in his hands.
"Hurry," he said urgently beckoning to her. Dorothy was with him and another man she did not recognize who also carried a rifle. They ran passed the tree line and Dorothy was there wrapping her arms around the three of them while continuing to guide them forward.
"Dorothy, get them to the basement now. Kurt and I will bring up the rear and hold them off."
"Ben... We have to go back and get Ben," Bethany said.
"No hope there, lady. He's already gone," the stranger finally spoke with a nasal twang to his speech.
"Noooo!" she screamed, stopping, and started to turn back before she felt someone slap her face hard. So hard in fact, she almost lost her hold on her children.
"Stop that now, Bethany." It was Dorothy who looked scared but determined. "Ben sacrificed his life so you and your babies could make it out. Damn it girl, don't throw that away. Give him that much at least." Dorothy was hissing now while dragging them even faster through the trees. In semi shock Bethany could only keep going. Remotely she knew it was what Ben would want. From behind her, she heard gunfire erupt. A lot of gunfire. She kept running as she clutched her children tighter.
*****
Day 1: 2300 ET
Jean was so tired. She knew she needed to stop but she was on fumes and she did not know if her car would start again if she stopped it. She had been driving on and off all day. Earlier, she had barely escaped a military patrol, for the second time! If not for the Jeep, she would have been screwed as it allowed her to go off road and then hide.
Now she was stuck again. She did not know where she was and driving across another old plowed field caused her jeep to suddenly rise up and then slowly stop. She rested her forehead against the steering wheel feeling so tired and frustrated. Well no help for it and she turned the vehicle off. Now it was time to get some sleep and after that, see about freeing her Jeep in the morning. Her bladder begged attention. No way could she get any sleep when her body was telling her that it was time to pee.
She looked out the window at her very black surroundings. The instrument lights had ruined her night vision for sure and she did not want to turn her headlights on again, as those National Guard troops might see them. Other things might see them also. She had been listening to news on the radio nonstop. It was getting violent out there. She cracked the door further destroying her night vision as the windshield light came on. Damn. She slipped out closing the door quickly shutting off the interior lights, and listened to the night. Nothing could be heard: no birds, no crickets...nothing. Well, it was fall after all, and night. Moving a few yards behind the jeep she unsnapped her Levi's shoving them down over her hips. It took a few seconds as she preferred tight black jeans and thick leather belts, then pushed her panties the rest of the way, which were mostly down anyways from the tight fabric. You simply cannot take off tight jeans without your panties going with them, at least part way. She squatted, taking her time while relieving herself. She had too much to think about. Would she make it? Would the National Guard catch her? She didn't know. All she knew was that she must reach her children.
Branches snapped behind her from the tree line sixty-feet away. Their crackling snaps sounded like explosions in an otherwise still night. Her heart threatened to stop as she stood, quickly pulling her pants up. Oh my God, was someone watching her pee? So perverted. Quickly, she clamored back in her Jeep with the window rolled down slightly so she could listen. She heard more branches crackling. Her fear mounted. She kept listening for another ten minutes but nothing more. She was so tired.
Flipping the lever to put the driver's seat into a reclining position, she snugged her coat around her upper body, her legs twisted sideways and pressed together tightly for warmth. She thought back to Don. How he would have been so perfect right here and now. His last words to her though were haunting, with references to this New World Order. He'd been talking about it since his last consultation job and he had not been the same since.
The day so far had been great, with a tour of the new medical facilities where Don was contracted for security setup. He took great delight in showing her the safeguards and other devices he had meshed into a synergetic whole of facility protection against unauthorized entrance and exit. It was amazing how good he was at this sort of thing. The workings of half the devices he showed her were beyond her understanding. He led her into the penthouse offices at the end of their morning long tour, a culmination of the exotic placed amidst the impossible.
"These are the offices for Dr. Lynch and top staff. Notice the Cyberten palm scanners. The scanners on each floor have their own servers, meaning palm scans are performed in a fraction of a second. The delay is nonexistent with these babies." He was grinning proudly at his handiwork. "Each office is its own environment also. Nothing can get in or out if the occupant doesn't want it to." He pointed to rubber seals on the doors and the pneumatic pistons that opened and closed each of them, cleverly hidden in decorative chromed boxes that matched the surrounding steel and stucco decor. Glass was the main theme throughout and moving closer she saw the panes that enclosed the fronts of the offices were inches thick. Gingerly, she held a hand up and touched one.
"That's three inches of Polycarbonate Epoxy Plexiglas. It will stop everything short of an anti-tank missile." His proud voice narrated its strengths from behind her.
"Wow. Baby this has to be expensive. Why on a simple office?"
He had moved beside her now as she gazed into the stark interior devoid of everything but the simplest of furnishings like a desk and computer station and water cooler near the outside window along the wall. She felt him shrug.
"I don't know but that's how they had it designed. I'm only the security consultant not the architect. Dr. Lynch said it had something to do with the New World Order. Yeah it seems excessive since their not conducting their biomedical gene research up here. Those labs are on the second through fourth floors remember?" She did indeed remember. It was like walking into science fiction. She felt him turn away from her, his voice rising in greeting.
"Oh, hi, Dr. Lynch. How are you today, Sir?” Don was shaking the hand of an almost elderly man in a white lab coat complete with clipboard under one arm. Almost elderly, yet not elderly, sh
e thought, because it was obvious that even though his years must have numbered at least sixty; his well tanned taut face and sure movements belied a muscular body that was normally out of place on someone his age.
"Very well, thank you Don. Is this the young lady you have been telling me about?" Releasing Don's hand the Doctor reached out again in her direction closing with her as she turned, her hand reaching out to meet his. His grip was strong and firm yet not crushing, and she instantly saw his nails were perfectly manicured. Even better than mine, she thought with a brief stab of inner jealousy.
"Yes Sir. This is Jean. Jean, meet Dr. Lynch, my boss."
"A pleasure, Sir," she murmured smiling brightly at this imposing figure of an older man.
His gaze flickered up and down her form in a lightening quick assessment and yes, she saw his eyes hesitate for a fraction of a second when they reached her chest before moving on. She smiled inwardly. Men were so predictable.
"No my lady, the pleasure is all mine." He bent at the waist and for a second she thought he was going to kiss her hand like they did in those old movies about royalty but no it was only a half bow with his gaze traveling to her chest and back up again fast enough that she almost missed it. She felt like giggling but refrained. He was still holding her hand and talking, "Have you ever given a sample of your DNA before, Jean? I would love to see what makes up a stunning creature such as yourself." His broad smile showed perfect teeth.
"Thank you Doctor, but no, I don't think I've ever had my DNA looked at before," she politely responded. He released her hand slowly and she stuffed it in her jeans pocket. His stare was starting to unnerve her. At least his gaze was mostly focused on her eyes, she thought.
"Well, have Don make you an appointment, why don't you. I assume Don has told you about his new job and our little program here, correct?" He turned to Don who was smiling, "You are accepting the position right? We simply can't do without you." He turned back slightly to Jean. "Don is the best security consultant we've ever had. He's truly a wizard at his work."
"I still haven't decided, Dr. Lynch. Yes, I realize the pay is twice my regular salary. More actually, but I still want to think about it a little more and no I have not told her about the Order yet. I was planning on telling her that tomorrow." Don seemed embarrassed at the Doctor’s praise.
"Well, don't think too long on it, Don. Things are happening. It's coming together and we'd like to consider you onboard." He smiled one last time at Jean and stalked off. For stalk is the only term she could think of to describe the way he moved...like a hungry leopard approaching its prey.
"What's this Order thing, love?" she asked when the Doctor was safely out of earshot.
"Oh, well, it's like a society of the best and brightest people. Scientists and experts of all disciplines, coming together to promote environmental and social perfection. To co-exist in harmony with everything around us including and especially nature. Their vision of the future is really amazing." his response was enthusiastic and his eyes practically glowed as he continued, "The long term goals are no more pollution. A world population balanced with nature. No more hunger or crime."
"Less population? How would that work?" She knew he strongly felt the people of China and most third world countries bred like flies.
"Through the proper management of their paths of evolution, of course." he responded.
"Eugenics?" she frowned. It was a subject her psychology class had discussed briefly when she was getting her master's degree. She knew that it had to do with the improvement of humans through the breeding in of desirable traits like higher intelligence, physical attributes along with less disease prone genes and the reduction of breeding of those with less desirable traits, race being chief among them. It was a nasty sick movement and made her think of Hitler.
"You say that like the entire concept is dirty. No. They are not talking about rounding people up for mass extermination and genocide." He was scowling at her now, "Just drop it, okay? We'll talk about it later."
He had then taken her out for a wonderful evening of dinner and a nightclub afterward where they slow danced to oldies but goodies. He had slid his hand under her dress to Barry Manilow, and feeling her breath quicken, had taken her home right afterwards. They made love on the balcony of her small deck and he had been gentle, yet deliciously demanding.
However, the subject of the Order never came up again. That had been two months before their last night together. He had gone on to take the job with this company and she rarely saw him after that. Originally, he claimed they would be able to see more of each other but just the opposite actually occurred. He attended many late night meetings and they were always going on retreat outings on the weekends where she was not invited.
She felt tears rolling down her cheeks as she hugged her coat trying to get warmer. She dared not start the engine. The Jeep was already on empty. Those memories had been from a distant more innocent and kinder time in her recent past. Right now, she was cold, starving, thirsty, and cramped in the small compartment of her Jeep. Not to mention lost. She had no idea where she was, or even which direction Newaygo was from here. More tears rolled down her cheeks and she quickly wiped them off because they made her face colder. Would she see her children again? Oh, she prayed it would be so. She had nothing else in the world that mattered besides her parents.
These creatures they talked about on the news terrified her. The FEMA warnings had gotten dire by the hour. The latest word said to take no chances with the infected, that some communities were taking the law into their own hands and shooting them on sight. Other communities had been completely overwhelmed by these things, with no word getting out from many of the larger cities. It was chaos of frightening proportions out there and she was scared.
Would her parents be home or out back in the old canning shed with its cellar? Or would they be at their neighbor’s place. This man Jay was an enigma. Her dad had mentioned him before but only in passing. A programmer, she thought, or web designer. Why would her parents take her children to a programmer's house? Maybe he had a basement. She did not know, and she was too tired to think anymore. With one last shiver, she tucked her head over her arms and fell into a fitful sleep.
*****
Chapter 3
Day 2: 0730 ET
Emma woke me early wanting to play. I hugged her tiny body tightly until she squealed, then kept kissing her until she squealed again. “Just daddy giving you your one hundred kisses a day until you get old enough to make me stop,” I murmured to her. She was also hungry, so it was time for her to get up. The kids were all starting to wake up. No sign of Michael yet and I peaked in the dining room. Becky was asleep, her arms and face across the large table, drooling all over its cherry surface. I could hear voices coming over the speaker too low to make out. I didn't turn it up yet. First things first. I had hungry kids.
I grabbed Clarissa to help and soon had fixed oatmeal, flavored and sweetened with honey and a big pitcher of juice. The kids were chowing down all over the living room and watching cartoons Becky had put in for them from the video library I had. Yeah, she had woken up. Damn, I needed a bigger living room for sure, I thought. Paul was wearing his Red Ninja outfit and had his Nerf sword in hand showing off. It was a Power Rangers cartoon. I smiled and hoped he could hold onto his childhood for a little bit longer. I prayed so but it was not looking that way. Becky joined me in the kitchen and we sat on stools eating oatmeal. She had tried waving it away but I insisted.
"You need your energy. I have a feeling we will be a bit busy today. She nodded reluctantly and accepted it. Once she started eating, she ate fast while I waited. She had stayed up much longer than I had and may have only slept minutes. Soon she was finished. She looked at me and I could see the tears beginning their trek down her broad face.
"Oh my God, Jay. It's horrible out there. So many people dying. It's like World War III. I need my Michael and I'm so scared." She broke down and I held her after quickly setting our bowls
aside. I let her sob, wetting the shoulder of my sweatshirt. I did not know what to say. I could have told her it would be all right but I honestly did not think it would. Not for a very long time anyways. "There are thousands and thousands dead. More by now I'm sure. Too many to count. The police gave up trying to keep things under control. Most of them are near Fremont. I heard a few National Guardsmen arrived to help. That was the last I heard before I couldn't stay awake any longer." She had gotten herself under control and had resumed talking normally. Then she started blubbering about Michael again and I tuned her out. I had to think. I had to know how bad it was. I patted her shoulder, kissed the top of her head, and looked out my kitchen window. Paul came up and asked if they could go outside and play. I quickly said no. They all had to stay inside and in the living room where we could watch them. He reluctantly agreed and went back to being Red Power Ranger Paul in the living room.
Usually, I can catch a hint of Highway 37 from the window. Sometimes I could see the glint of cars as they drove by but this morning I saw no glints and no cars. I left the kitchen and went out the front door. It was quiet. Too quiet. I could faintly hear a few cars way off in the distance. I could also hear many gunshots, some not so far away. I swiveled my head back and forth, as I moved out into the front yard a short distance from the house. Most of the gunshots appeared to be from the direction of town. I also smelled smoke, quite a bit of it. I frowned and wondered if it was time to head on down to the shelter. One of the car engines I had heard was coming closer. I ran inside and grabbed my shotgun. I will be honest; I can thread a slug through a Dixie cup at a hundred yards. My tree line from the house was only fifty. I was totally unworried about missing anything I shot at. Therefore, I waited.
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