by Chesla, Gary
“I could use something to eat myself,” Tony said.
“Feel free to give the cat as many cans of sardines as it will eat,” the Captain grinned. “The men hate them worse than the MREs.”
“They must be bad,” Tony laughed, then left.
Tony went back inside the Greenbriar and found the room where Mike, Linda and Jamie were staying.
He knocked on the door.
“Yes,” Linda answered.
“Mind if I come in?” Tony asked.
“Tony, is that you?” Mike asked.
“Are you decent?” Tony asked.
“Define decent,” Linda yelled.
Tony stepped inside the room and smiled.
“Whoa, what’s that smell?” Tony asked.
“George has been eating stink bugs again,” Jamie grinned. “Those damn things are everywhere,” Linda frowned.
“I can tell,” Tony smiled.
“When can we get out of this room?” Linda asked.
“Now,” Tony replied. “The Captain said they just needed to make sure we weren’t going to turn into zombies. He says we’re free to do what we want now.”
“Does that include getting something to eat?” Mike asked. “I’m starving.”
“Me too, let’s go,” Tony said.
“George says he is hungry too,” Jamie said running over to Tony with George in her hands.
“The Captain has a special surprise for George,” Tony replied.
“He does?” Jamie asked. “What is it?”
“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I said what it was,” Tony replied.
Jamie put her hands over George’s ears.
“Now you can tell me,” Jamie grinned. “George can’t hear you now.”
“Sardines,” Tony whispered.
Linda laughed.
“Are there any of those cherry pie things down there for me?” she asked.
“Probably as many as you can eat,” Tony frowned.
“Maybe I’m going to like this place after all,” Linda grinned.
Chapter 26
July 4th, The food drop outside of Stone
Abbey walked out into the yard and began making her way to the food drop area.
She tried to stay out of sight, ducking behind trees and brush as she walked.
She stayed behind one large thicket when she heard the helicopter, then saw it hovering above the site where she was to meet Doctor Kennedy.
She watched as the helicopter dropped down out of sight, then took off a few seconds later.
Abbey waited until the helicopter was out of sight, then continued on.
“I don’t know why I bothered staying out of sight,” Abbey said to herself, “they have probably been watching every step I took with their satellite.”
Abbey looked up into the sky for a second, as if she would see the satellite, then started to walk again.
She didn’t bother to try and hide her movements any longer and just tried to take the easiest path to where the meeting was to take place.
Abbey’s stomach began to churn as she got closer to where she was to meet the doctor.
After months of keeping up her guard and staying out of sight, she couldn’t believe she had agreed to just walk right in to whatever was going to be waiting for her.
She hadn’t always been like this, but over the last few months, it was the way she had to be to survive.
The entire situation made her nervous.
If Newb wouldn’t have been with her, Abbey might have just made a run for it.
But there was something about the kid that made her want to believe what the Navy doctor was saying.
Yesterday had been enjoyable, being with Newb.
Being with another person again, talking about nothing in particular and just having another person near her.
Even though it resulted in Abbey having to relive the nightmare of the day this had all started, deep down, she had longed to hear someone call her Abbey again.
A voice other than her own saying, “Abbey.”
It reminded Abbey that at one time, she had been a real person with a real life.
The last month had made that part of her life feel like it had only been a dream and had never happened.
When Newb, no, when Fran begged her to talk to this man, Abbey realized that she too was tired of running.
She wanted to be with people again.
She decided that it was time to take a chance, she didn’t feel that she really had too many options after listening to the doctor, but she decided, if not for herself, she would take the chance, so Fran wouldn’t have to.
If it all worked out, then she and Fran might be able to start living like human beings again.
If things didn’t work out, Abbey knew that she was better suited than Fran to deal with what might come next.
If Fran ran, she still might have a chance.
Abbey approached the site from the south.
As she neared the edge of the brush that surrounded the food, she saw a man sitting on the food crate with his back to her.
She watched him for a moment and determined that he was eating a candy bar.
“That’s strange,” Abbey thought.
She scanned the area, but didn’t see anything to indicate that there was anyone else hiding in wait.
“Please come and join me,” Doc said, surprising Abbey.
“How did you know I was here?” Abbey asked.
“From watching how you approached the food the last few nights, I assumed you would again approach the site from the south,” Doc replied. “When I heard the grass rustle, I knew I was correct. Would you care for a peanut butter cup? They are my favorite. I have been saving this one since the day our base was overrun.
I’ve been saving it for something special.”
“So you saved it for today?” Abbey asked. “Do you consider today special?”
“Being able to talk to the first survivor we have been able to find is something special,” Doc replied. “But the truth is, I figured there was a remote possibility that you would just show up and shoot me in the back. I didn’t want to die without eating this candy bar that I have been saving for so long. Besides, if I were to die, having the taste of a peanut butter cup as the last thing I would experience wouldn’t be a bad way to go. Are you sure you wouldn’t want one? I have one left.”
“No thanks,” Abbey replied. “now what do you want to talk about?”
“I have basically told you what I hoped to do,” Doc replied. “I was thinking that you might want to ask me some questions first. I do have many questions, but they can wait until I have answered all your questions.”
“All right,” Abbey replied. “I had asked you how many men where in your group and you said you didn’t want to tell me that over the radio. So how many men do you have?”
“Including myself, there are six of us,” Doc replied.
“Is that all?” Abbey asked.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Doc replied as he turned to face Abbey. “I was stationed at Fallon Naval Air Station with twenty-five hundred men. When the infection began to spread, our base was overrun by thousands of the infected.
The five men and myself were the only ones to survive.”
“How did you manage to survive?” Abbey asked.
“Towards the end, we made a plan to fly as many men as we could to Granite Mountain to escape the infected,” Doc replied. “However, we were overrun before we had completed our plans.
Only two helicopters managed to get off the ground. One helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff.
My helicopter made it to Granite Mountain, but not until three of our men became infected during the trip. The helicopter crashed on Granite Mountain, killing the pilot, fortunately the rest of us survived. Do you know where Granite Mountain is?”
“Yes, I lived in Salt Lake City,” Abbey replied. “I’m familiar with that mountain.”
“You then probably know about the records facil
ity that existed on the mountain, however what few people knew was that the government had used the records facility as a diversion to build a doomsday vault there. The vault contains all the food, supplies and equipment that a small group of survivors would need to live for ten years and hopefully allow mankind to avoid extinction.”
Abbey thought for a moment.
“Do you know how many others survived?” she asked.
“I am not positive, it took us some time to discover that you were here, but from my best estimates, beside my men, you and your friend are all that is left,” Doc replied.
“Do you know how this disaster began?” Abbey asked.
“A Russian satellite carrying biological weapons was destroyed and fell into the earth’s atmosphere,” Doc replied. “The virus, code named the Z virus, was then spread across the world. Do you remember seeing any orange rain? That’s how the virus started to infect the population. Once people became infected and turned into for lack of a better word, zombies, the living were overrun in a matter of days.
But I don’t have to tell you that, you lived through it, you saw it happen with your own eyes.”
“So you are interested in me because you haven’t been able to find anyone else?” Abbey asked.
“I’m interested in you because you are alive,” Doc replied. “I admit the prospects do not appear good, but I plan to continue to search for other survivors. But I must also admit that I do have an ulterior interest in you and your friend.”
“Surprise!” Abbey said and began to look around expecting to see men jumping out of the brush to capture her.
“My ulterior motive is that I am curious to know why the two of you have not been infected,” Doc said.
“We haven’t been infected because we were smart enough to not let ourselves get bitten.” Abbey replied.
“Before the zombies began attacking the living to spread the infection, people became directly infected by the virus carried in the rain,” Doc said. “The infected bodies or zombies have decayed and fallen apart, no longer able to function. However the virus itself is still alive and capable of infecting anyone that comes into contact with it.
Soil and air samples have shown the concentration of the virus here around Stone is four times higher than it is back at Granite Mountain.
I am risking infection by just sitting here talking to you.”
“Maybe you should have worn a surgical mask to talk with me,” Abbey said.
“Masks are not effective against this virus,” Doc replied.
“But a good surgical mask can filter out a virus as small as 20 nanometers,” Abbey said. “The only thing smaller than that is the porcine circovirus.”
“The porcine circovirus is five hundred percent larger than the Z virus. I have not found a practical method of filtering the virus,” Doc replied. “May I also say, I am impressed.”
Abbey blushed slightly.
“I was a nurse at Salt Lake City General,” she replied. “It has been a while. It just sort of slipped out without thinking.”
“So you may have an idea then about what we are facing,” Doc replied. “But I am sure you are not aware that the zombies that attacked you here the other night had been dead for at least a month before they became infected, were reanimated and then attacked you.”
“How is that possible?” Abbey asked then added, “how is any of this possible?”
“The Russian Z virus was programed to attack the mind and drive a person insane,” Doc replied.
“When the virus mutated in space, it changed into something we had never seen before. However it did retain its original mission to attack and take over the brain.
How it managed to reanimate the body was something we never had the opportunity to determine. How any of this is possible I do not know. All I know is that is happening and at this time all we can do is try to survive the best we can. Since you have been living out here all this time, I believe that your immune system may have some clues as to how we can protect ourselves.”
“I guess we may never be able to understand any of this,” Abbey said.
“You are probably right,” Doc replied then asked. “If I may, I would like to ask you one question. I know I said I would wait until later, but I feel now it is the appropriate time for my question.”
“Alright, what do you want to know?” Abbey asked.
“What is your name,” Doc asked. “I am Doctor Thomas Kennedy, but most people just call me Doc. It would only be polite to call you by your name.”
“My name is Fl………” Abbey paused, then slowly replied. “You can call me Abbey.”
“Thank You, Abbey,” Doc replied. “Sorry for the interruption, you may continue with your questions.”
“If I came with you, what would you want from me?” Abbey asked.
“Well Abbey, professionally, I think your skills would make you the perfect candidate to work with me on research and overseeing the health of our group. But first I would need to take a blood sample and place you in isolation for twenty-four hours to be sure that you would not pose a threat to the others,” Doc replied. “Personally, whatever personal relationships you would care to explore are your own business. I would only ask that if you do discover that is something you would like to explore, that you do so in such a way so as not to create any conflict between the others. I believe you understand what I mean.”
“What about my friend?” Abbey asked.
“I know she is younger and probably does not have any particular skills. I would assume she would stay under your watchful eye. We can have her do small jobs until we identify a way she can fit in.”
“We have a dog,” Abbey added.
Doc laughed. “Is it house trained?”
“I don’t think so but I’m not sure,” Abbey replied. “But he is a cute little guy.”
“No problem,” Doc laughed.
“And what if we don’t want to go with you?” Abbey asked looking serious.
“I would be disappointed, of course,” Doc replied. “It is dangerous for you to stay out here, even more dangerous than you realize. However, the choice is yours. None of us knows how much time we have left. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Together, life just might be a little better for us all. Who knows, we might even have a future.
If you don’t want to join us, I will continue to drop food for you when we can, for as long as our fuel holds out.”
Abbey nodded in thought.
“I have a question that has been bothering me since we saw you meet with you friend,” Doc said. “Were you able to communicate with her to arrange the time and place of your meeting, or was it arranged before-hand in person?”
“We had been communicating for over a month before we met,” Abbey said. “Until we met out on Route 84, I had never seen her before.”
“How were you communicating? Doc asked.
“We communicated by CB radio,” Abbey replied.
“Where did you find CB radios?” Doc asked.
“In the mountains and out here in the desert, you can find a CB in just about every pickup truck,” Abbey replied. “One day when I was on the run, I hid in a pickup that was abandoned along the road. While I was in the truck, I heard people talking, so I grabbed the mic and started talking to the voices to find out what was going on.”
“Are there many others out there using CBs?” Doc asked.
“At first, there were thirty or forty people talking on the air every night,” Abbey replied. “But after the last few weeks, there were only three of us left. A few days ago, we all made arrangements to meet here near Stone because of the food you were putting here.”
“Three people?” Doc asked.
“Yes, Fran, John and myself,” Abbey replied. “But we lost contact with John two days ago. We don’t know if something happened to him or if he is has just gone silent because it isn’t safe to get on the air where he is.”
“Do you think John is still alive?” Doc asked. “Coul
d he still be on his way here to meet up with you?”
“It’s possible,” Abbey replied. “There could be a lot of reasons we haven’t heard from him. It could be that his battery went dead and he hasn’t been able to find a new one yet where he is. Finding batteries that still had a charge was becoming a problem the last couple of weeks.”
“Did you have a specific place where you were to meet up with John?” Doc asked.
“No, we were going to talk when he got closer,” Abbey replied. “Do you think you could keep an eye out for him with your satellite? If he doesn’t have a CB any longer, he would never find us out here.”
“We can do that,” Doc smiled. “Do you have any more questions for me?”
“I’m sure I do, but this is so overwhelming, I can’t think of any more right now,” Abbey answered.
But Abbey had heard enough in the short time she had talked with Doctor Kennedy.
She had always been a good judge of character, or at least she thought she was.
Abbey had heard enough to know what she felt she should do.
But she had one final test she needed to do, to see what would happen, to confirm if the gut feeling she had was right.
“No, nothing more for now,” Abbey said.
“I am going to call for the helicopter now,” Doc said. “If you wish, you may go back to Granite Mountain with us, or you can take a day to think about it. I honestly hope that you decide to join us today. I’m sure you realize that between now and tomorrow, anything could happen.”
Doc picked up the walkie talkie.
“Rogers, are you still awake?” Doc asked.
“Yes, Sir,” Rogers laughed.
“Come get me,” Doc said, “It’s time to go home.”
“Are you sure you don’t want this last peanut butter cup?” Doc asked.
“Since I didn’t shoot you, you can save it for something special again,” Abbey smiled.