Catharsis: Outbreak Z: Books 1-4

by Roberts, EM

  “Your name, soldier,” Adams ordered. Did the man honestly think he could break him with one punch to the mouth? He was stupid if he thought that. Devil had been fucked in the ass, beaten bloody, and left in a shower stall to die. He’d been stabbed four times in the abdomen and chest and survived. This man was a fool if he thought his method of torture would work.

  “Fuck you,” he replied again, laughing.

  Another fist came, this one hitting him in the mouth. The old man was a tough mother fucker, and if it weren’t for the two guards with guns, Devil would have killed him with his bare hands. In fact, he’d like to kill the man. The two deaths earlier had only whetted his appetite.

  “Do you like killing, Devil?” Adams asked.

  “I’m going to enjoy killing you,” Devil replied, smiling through blood-stained lips. He wondered how he would do it.

  “You won’t kill me. You know why?”

  “Why’s that?” Devil asked, curiously. The man was much too cocky for his own good. Devil didn’t know if that made him dangerous or just plain stupid.

  “Because I’m going to let you kill as much as you want and not just the infected creatures. I’m going to reward you for it because I know you’ll do a good job at it,” Adams smiled a cold, calculating smile.

  He continued, “I’ve been looking for someone like you. Where’d you serve your time?”

  “Kansas.”

  “Lifer?” Adams inquired.

  “Six time,” Devil responded proudly.

  “Kipper,” Adams snapped at one of the guards.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Go get that prisoner for me and bring him in here,” Adams ordered.

  The guard returned a few minutes later with a man in his twenties. His hands were tied behind his back, and he looked like he’d been beaten.

  “This is Will. His friend escaped a few weeks back, and Will thought he’d do the same. We kill deserters here, and I want you to kill him. No weapons—just kill him.” Adams ordered.

  Devil looked at the officer. Was this some kind of sick trick? He had no problem killing anyone. But, what was in it for him? He asked the question.

  “Show me that you can be an asset to me, and I’ll let you live,” Adams replied.

  Devil grabbed the young man by the throat and squeezed. He could feel the man thrashing and grunting as the life left his body, and Devil smiled. He’d missed this feeling. He hadn’t really been around living, healthy people in the last ten months, so he hadn’t the chance to do this. God, how he’d missed it. The young man went limp, and Devil continued to squeeze, making sure the life had truly left his body.

  “What’s your name?” Adams asked for the third time.

  Respectfully, Devil replied, “Hector Burke.”

  “And how old are you?”

  “Just turned twenty-seven.”

  “Well, Hector, you’ve just passed the physical portion of your entrance exam, and you are now officially a member of the New United States Army.”

  Hector smiled. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. He wasn’t stupid; he knew Adams wanted him to kill. He also knew that Adams had performed some kind of reverse psychology shit on him by not torturing him into submission and giving him what he desired most. The man was a cunning bastard. He’d just shown that. If killing was to be Hector’s job, then he wouldn’t mind staying here. In fact, he looked forward to it.

  Chapter 6: Hope

  Parker looked down at the mewling infant. He really had no choice in the matter. There was a part of him that wanted to let it live and see what would happen. Maybe, it could be saved when they reached the facility? Maybe, there would be some kind of antidote? But, he knew that was a foolish dream. The child had no chance at survival. It was infected. There was no doubt of it. The consensus among the group was that it needed to be exterminated. To allow anything else was cruel not only to the child but also to its mother.

  The woman whose name was Linda agreed with these sentiments as well. Parker thought she would’ve had more resistance to the idea, but the woman knew there was no alternative. She’d seen and battled the creatures for months, and it had instilled a calm, logic inside of her. He was sure they were all becoming like this. They were becoming desensitized to the violence. The woman had made the choice, and she’d let Parker know that it wasn’t a decision she’d made lightly. That didn’t make it less painful, though, and Parker respected her for her decision.

  The question was how to go about doing it. Should he shoot it or stab it in the head? Abandoning it was not an option. Stabbing seemed so personal, and he wasn’t sure he could do that. He pulled his handgun from its holster and placed it against the baby’s head. Closing his eyes, he sighed and pulled the trigger. The boom was loud in the silence. Izzy and even Jax had offered to do this task, but Parker had helped bring the child into the world, and he felt he needed to be the one to complete the task. Also, he hadn’t wanted them to experience this emotional turmoil.

  “Here, man, let me get that,” Jax said softly as he scooped the small child up into a brightly patterned blanket. He then wrapped it carefully into the blanket’s folds. Walking over to the group, he gingerly handed the infant to its mother, who’d weakly stepped from the Jeep.

  Izzy and Roe stood solemnly by the Jeep next to the woman. When Izzy had learned what needed to be done with the child, she’d emptied a small tote from the back of the truck for the child’s final resting place. Taking a small camp shovel, she’d brought from the farm with her, Izzy had dug the baby a shallow grave along the side of the road. It was a shame they had to bury the baby this way, but it was their only option.

  “Dear Lord,” Jax began when they’d all gathered by the grave, “Please accept this child into your loving arms, and please give its mother, Linda, your healing strength to recover from this loss. In your name we pray, Amen.” Jax placed the tote down into the small grave and stepped back.

  Izzy piled dirt on the infant’s grave and covered the top with several flat rocks she’d found on the side of the road. That way no animals would dig up the body. They’d experienced this phenomena on their journey, and Izzy had taken the lesson to heart. Roe had fashioned a small cross out of two sticks tied together and pounded them into the ground at the head of the grave. She also placed a small bunch of wildflowers on the grave. It was a pathetic event, but nonetheless, an event.

  Roe, Jax and the grieving mother piled into Roe’s Jeep while Parker, Izzy, and little Carly climbed into Parker’s truck. He didn’t know where they were going. They were simply following the map Ella had outlined for them. He knew they needed to stop for a couple of days somewhere and let the woman build up strength. He wanted to stay on the road for as long as he could, but he knew she was weak. He really had no other choice. He didn’t want her to sicken and die from neglect. Most women stayed in the hospital one or two days after giving birth to recuperate. He could at least afford her that courtesy since she’d just lost the child she’d carried for nine months.

  They pulled off onto another side road. He couldn’t take the chance of just choosing a place along the highway. If Adams were following him, then any place like that would allow discovery. He pulled down a country lane and up to white plank farmhouse. Kansas was a whole lot different from Tennessee and Missouri. The land started to level out, and there were more fields and pastureland than there were mountains. Hiding would be harder the farther west he got.

  He honked the horn several times just in case any survivors were inside. There were no survivors, but two creatures came running around from the back of the house. Before Parker could act, Izzy opened her door, firing at one creature and then the other. It was like poetry in motion. Parker watched as her weapon came up smoothly and cleanly. He could almost swear he saw each bullet whiz by. The creatures were flung back from the force of the bullets, their brains and bones exiting behind them.

  He and Izzy went into the house while the others waited outside. Parker didn’t care how big the home
was or how many beds were in it. He was just looking for a place to get some sleep. Even sleeping on the floor would be fine with him. As they made their way room to room, Parker was relieved to see the home wasn’t in a bad condition. Some of the places they’d stopped had been disaster areas.

  Izzy went out and with the help of Roe and Jax brought Linda inside. Roe took the woman into one of the rear bedrooms. A few minutes later, she returned to the living area where Parker, Izzy, Jax, and Carly had taken seats on the couch and armchair.

  “Well, I saw a small creek out back. I’m going to see if I can get some water there for bathing. Jax, you wanna help me?” Roe asked.

  “Yeah, it would be nice to clean up,” he muttered, standing and wiping a hand over his sweaty brow.

  “Yeah, you smell pretty bad, Uncle Jax,” little Carly piped up, causing the adults to laugh. It was the first time they’d laughed all day. After that, the attitude seemed to lighten somewhat.

  Izzy found a gas grill in the outdoor shed, and surprisingly the propane tank was still full. They wouldn’t need to light a fire after all. Izzy found a couple of pots in the kitchen and set the creek water on to boil. Roe came and carried the water inside to the bathtub, the muscle in her arms straining with the effort. After she’d declared the water warm enough, she helped Linda bathe and left the woman sleeping.

  “Well, I don’t care if the water is cold or not. That creek is about knee deep, and I’m all for going down there and bathing right in it,” Izzy announced.

  Parker smiled. It was good to see the morale improving a little. What else was there to do? They could be depressed and worried, but what good would it do them? They needed to live and laugh while they could.

  Izzy, Roe and Carly took off down to the creek. He figured he would give them their privacy and then he and Jax could take their turn.

  “Man, did you ever think anything like this could ever happen?” Jax murmured, coming up to stand beside Parker.

  “Never, in a million years. If the world was going to end, I figured it would be some kind of nuclear bomb or natural disaster,” Parker replied. He knew his life and that of those around him would never compare to the way it had been.

  “When I think of all the money I made and all the fame I had, it’s crazy that it’s just gone and means nothing now. Here I am excited at the prospect of bathing in a muddy creek,” Jax laughed as he pulled a lawn chair over and sat on it.

  “I know what you mean. It’s easy to fall into that lifestyle where you never really think and worry about where your next meal is coming from or where you’ll sleep at night. I’m no longer the same man I was a year ago. I think I’m a better man, though.”

  Parker took the remaining chair and leaned back. He knew exactly what the man meant. It was like that world had never existed. It was as if he were a completely different person. It no longer mattered whether he was republican or democrat, right or left. Nothing really mattered except surviving.

  “I’m gay,” Jax announced in the silence.

  Parker looked over at the man. He would never have guessed it. Jax had always been seen with models and drop dead gorgeous women. Even when Parker had met him at the White House, the man had been all over his date. He didn’t care that Jax was gay. All he cared about was the whether the man could handle a weapon. The man was proving himself every day. He remembered Theo’s words from several months back when he’d told Parker that it didn’t matter what he’d been before, that is only mattered what he was now.

  “What, you don’t have anything to say?” Jax asked, cocking an eyebrow.

  “What am I supposed to say? Your sexual preferences are none of my business,” Parker replied. And, they weren’t.

  “Okay, I just wanted to be honest and up front with you guys. You know, this is the longest I’ve been straight in almost fifteen years, and I feel like I need to be honest and up front with everybody,” Jax murmured.

  “Man, that’s cool. You can kick this—I know it…if you don’t….Roe will kick your ass, for sure.” Parker laughed breaking the tension. Jax snorted and joined in.

  The women came back looking refreshed and relaxed as Carly jabbered on to Parker about crawdads and water snakes. Parker sure hoped they didn’t run into any venomous snakes. He wouldn’t know one from the other. The two men took their turn, and shortly after, it was time for bed.

  The next morning Parker rose early and wandered around the property. He noticed a large antenna and wondered what it was for. His question was answered when Izzy came excitedly out of the house.

  “You’ll never guess what I found!” Without waiting for an answer, she continued, “I found a Ham radio. So, since there are no cell phones, maybe, just maybe, there are people using ham radios.”

  “Don’t those need electricity?” Parker asked, not letting his hopes get up.

  “Well, I dated this guy once who was in a club, and with the proper adapter, it can be converted to a car battery. I think this guy already had that. I’m going to look over his books and stuff and tinker with it. You said we are staying here a couple of days, right?”

  “Yeah, just don’t get your hopes up because ham radio is something that is very technical, and I doubt a lot of survivors will even know how to work it,” Parker replied, hoping he didn’t sound too discouraging. Personally, he’d never met anyone who was into the hobby. He hoped for Izzy’s sake, she could get it too work. Hope, it was such a small word, but it was so, so powerful.

  Chapter 7: A Voice in the Distance

  Ella and Sully made it back to the trading post. Sully radioed his mother and the others. It was an awkward silence as the two waited for the group’s return. Ella wished she could take back everything that had happened, but dammit, it wasn’t all her fault. So, why did she feel to blame? And why was she always making mistakes when it came to men and relationships?

  “When everyone gets back, I want to talk to you guys. There is something you need to know,” Ella mentioned as she took a seat in front of the store. She crossed her ankles and leaned her head back.

  “You want to tell me now?” Sully asked, still not looking in her direction.

  “I’ll just tell everyone at the same time; do you want to look at that research?” Ella asked, leaning forward.

  “Yeah, I’ll do that while we wait,” Sully replied.

  Ella stood and walked to her vehicle. Reaching in, she grabbed the binder containing her brother’s notes. Walking back, she couldn’t help but notice how Sully averted his eyes. It was starting to piss her off. They’d fucked. What was the big deal? It used to happen all the time before the outbreaks. Not to her, but she’d had friends who’d engaged in one night stands and bar hook ups. Last night was no different from that.

  “Here, you go. Do you mind if I wash up?” Ella asked—anything to get away from the tension.

  “Go ahead, there are showers out back. The rule is you have to replace the water. There’s a well with a hand crank on it,” he muttered as he looked through the folder.

  Ella grabbed some necessities from her car and made her way behind the ranch house. There was an outbuilding marked Showers. She entered the small building and stepped into one of the stalls. These people had thought of everything, she marveled. The shower had been rigged up with a bucket of water and a hose. She didn’t care that the contraption was archaic. She only cared about getting clean. When the water came out, it was warm from the sun’s rays. She knew she had to conserve the water, but it felt so good to be clean.

  After washing her hair, Ella donned a new pair of jeans and a tee shirt. She walked to the front of the building and sat back down in the chair she’d used previously.

  “Well?” she asked Sully, curiously.

  “Well, I was right when I said it really isn’t my area of expertise. But, I did look at the components for the vaccine, and it’s understandable enough. I guess he wrote it that way in case something happened. I think I could probably do it, but the supplies and equipment are too advanc
ed. There is no way you would ever find what you needed,” he said, shaking his head in frustration.

  A cloud of dust indicated that the others were returning. She sat in the chair watching as they made their way to the various parking areas. When Amos stepped from the back of a truck, Ella could see from his facial expression that he was glad to see her. He was so glad, in fact, that he came right over, grabbed her, and picked her up.

  “Whoa, Amos, be careful!” she laughed as he swung her around.

  “I’m just so glad to see you,” he replied.

  Sully hugged his mother and whispered something in her ear. Ella assumed it had to do with what she’d mentioned earlier because the older woman clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention.

  “Ella has something she wants us to know that’s very important.” Mimi turned to Ella and motioned for her to begin.

  “Well, there are a few things that I haven’t mentioned. I was just waiting for the right time, and with the Army coming through, it kind of fell apart. The President of the United States is alive. Parker Wallace lived with our group for several months in Tennessee,” Ella said, waiting for a reaction. It didn’t take long.

  “What? You mean to tell me that bastard escaped with his life? He’s responsible for this—all of this,” a woman cried angrily.

  “That’s what I thought, too,” Ella replied. “And, then I received information that contradicted that theory. Parker Wallace wasn’t responsible for this. A terrorist group was responsible, and then the United Nations took matters into their own hands. That is the truth. Parker Wallace didn’t tell me that. Lt. General Adams told me that last part.”

  “How can we believe that?” the same woman yelled.

  “I guess there’s no way to prove it to you, but Parker is leading a group of people to a secret survival facility in Nevada. You can come with me and go there, too. It is not a small building. This is a place big enough to jump start humanity. That was its purpose. Who knows what kind of supplies and technology we’ll find there?” Ella explained.