by Maxey, Phil
“Oh!” She pulled back, looking away at the same time.
“What?”
“Meg… She’s out there looking for you. We ran into two men, driving—”
“Clint and Jay?”
“Yeah!”
“They tried taking our car,” said Sam, her voice still gravelly. “Mom, kicked their ass.”
Landon looked shocked as Jess shrugged her shoulders. He noticed her bulkier looking hand and arm but resisted mentioning it. He looked back to the front window and the block like buildings passing by outside. “There!” he shouted to those in front, pointing at a gas station forecourt. “Park under the pump’s roof. It’s close enough to the store and there are trees everywhere. They shouldn’t spot us from above.”
He clicked on the radio again. “Tracey, we found a place to hide out. Stay out of sight and I’ll check back once the sky looks clear. Over.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
3: 26 p.m. Jefferson City.
Jess looked at Sam who was sleeping then to her husband, who smiled back at her, then the two others. Arlo was on his laptop, Eugene in the passenger’s seat up front, keeping an eye on above. The small stove was lit, its blue flame providing minimal heat. There had been no sign of anything in the sky and Jess and Landon had used the time to catch up.
She shook her head. “Can’t believe you were so close behind us. If it weren’t for those two men, I would never have known…” Her expression changed.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find Meg and Tye. But we can’t stay in the capital for long. I didn’t get to look inside the capital building, but it sure did smell like there were a lot of those things there. We’ll find a place to hold up and hopefully spot them when they show at five… There is something you should know about Tracey though—”
“Your company,” said Arlo, interrupting. “Sure was into some dodgy shit.” They both looked at him while he continued scrolling through screens of text. “I saved a few hundred terabytes of data before the net went down. Scraped as many government websites as I could.”
“You a hacker or something?” said Landon.
“Something,” he said, continuing his reading. “Says here, that Biochron was awarded a defense contract just this year, but it doesn’t say what it was for.” He finally looked at Jess, who looked confused.
“No, that can’t be right. We have a company policy, have done since the company was founded in the 80s, no work for the military. We work on developmental, medical science. R and D.”
He turned the laptop around so she could see the screen. “Yeah, well, according to this internal pentagon memo, a three billion dollar contract was awarded to your former employer, in March of this year.”
She got up and moved closer to the screen.
“Does Project ‘Ellie’, mean anything to you?” he said.
She shook her head then looked away. “Umm… maybe… There were some folders in a directory. I discovered them when there was a server glitch some weeks back. One of the files mentioned an experimental drug. It was a form of gene therapy. It was in a folder named ‘Ellie.’”
“Did you mention it to anyone?”
“Only my supervisor…”
“I think we now know why you were fired,” said Landon. “You saw something you weren’t meant to.”
She thought about Amos and a lump came to her throat. “He was warning me…”
“Who?” said Landon.
“Amos. The vaccine could be taken orally, but yet he made it clear when we met in his house that he wanted to inject me with it. He knew I would know… and they killed him like he was nothing… I can’t believe Biochron is part of all of this… ending everything…” She looked at Arlo. “You sure there’s—”
“Mom?” Josh’s voice came from Landon’s radio. He handed it to her.
“Hey, I’m here. Everything okay there? Over.”
“Yeah, I guess. Just bored. When are you coming to get me? Er… Over.”
She looked at Landon, who looked at Eugene. “Still nothing?”
The soldier looked up at the sky, craning his neck to scan from the east to the west. “Nope. Not even a bird.”
“One more hour,” whispered Landon.
She nodded. “Not long, just another hour. Over.” A sigh came through the radio’s speaker. “It’s better when its dark. The bad people won’t be able to see us from above. Over.”
“I know… what about the monsters? They can still see when its dark. Over.”
“We won’t stay too long. Over.”
“Where are we going after? Over.”
She looked at Landon. “We’re still discussing that, but it will be somewhere safe. Can you put Tracey on. Over.”
“I’m here. Over.”
Eugene pushed his passenger’s door open. “Taking a leak. Over…”
Jess ignored his sarcastic remark. “How’s it looking? Still no sign of the things or Biochron? Over.”
Tracey stood in a large open plan modern office, on the fourth floor and looked out over the center of Jefferson. The capital building stood proud, almost lost in mist a few miles to the south.“We got a pretty good view of most of the city from here. Not seeing anything bad to the south. Over.”
“Soon as the sun is below the horizon, we’ll be on our way. Over.”
“Make sure to bring something to eat. I’m sure not eating the sandwiches we found in some guys desk drawer.”
Jess smiled. “Will do. Over and out.”
“Where will you go?” said Arlo, looking between both of them.
She looked at her husband. “Somewhere where there are no people, or were people I mean.”
“Four more days and this is over,” said Landon.
“You really believed that?”
“That’s what the president said…”
He scoffed. “He told people what they needed to hear so they would sit around. The virus got them anyway.”
Landon didn’t want to contemplate what the portly man in front of him was arguing.
Jess looked at Arlo whose eyes were now flicking to the passenger’s door. “What about you?” she said.
“Uh… same plan as yours. Get the hell away from cities, from the things. But we’re going to have to get…”
“What’s wrong?”
He went to speak when the passenger’s door opened and Eugene reappeared, with a bag full of candy and chips. He grinned. “From now on, everyone gets to call me San—”
The spray of blood from the soldier’s disintegrating skull made it all the way inside to Jess, small crimson flecks covering her arm. Landon was already reacting, the shotgun in his hand and thrust past her to the front cab as Arlo threw himself to the floor.
As Landon scrambled into the driver’s seat, keeping low and turning the ignition key, Jess threw out a hand, stopping her daughter from getting up. She looked out of the side window. Black uniformed men could just be seen at the corners of the gas station.
“They’ve found us!” she shouted.
Landon pushed hard down on the gas, turning the wheel and surging from the forecourt. The van bumped across a curb, and back onto the road as he tried to see what he could by peering over the dashboard.
“Wherever you run, Miss Keller, we will find you.” The voice dripped from Landon’s radio, still beside Jess. She looked at Arlo as the engine roared and the van sped through a suburban street. “This time it was simply triangulating of the radio signals. But why are you—”
Jess picked up the radio, hitting the ‘talk’ button. “Why are you doing this! You didn’t have to kill him! Or Amos!”
“You are correct—” The van skidded around a corner, making her lose her balance. “— We did not have to. But he was an impediment to what I want.”
“Which is?”
“Your good self and the vaccine. I do not care about your family, they may go free.”
She shook her head. “Why me?”
As he spoke, a chill flowed through her. S
mall pieces of a larger puzzle were fallling into place in her mind.
“… patent, number 07851 was remarkable. A breakthrough in molecular and genetic science that at first, even we did not know its true potential. Allowing true synthesis between all genomes, all species if you will. You, Mrs. Keller, are responsible for everything that has transpired over the past twenty—”
Her hand fell by her side and what little was inside her stomach left her mouth, hitting the inside of the side van door. She knew the patent number, she knew all of those that she had submitted. But it was part of organ transplant research, not…
“— You are very valuable to Biochron. We are not your enemy, missus Keller. Stop the vehicle you are in. Come to us with the vaccine and your family will be allowed to live.”
“He’s lying!” said Arlo, streaks of Eugene’s blood across his face.
She looked at him. He was right, but could they run from her company for the four days? Or longer?
Think Jess, think…
“Okay—” Arlo looked shocked, but she raised her hand, allaying his fears. “— Give me your word that you will let them go, and the others that are with us.”
“Of course, Mrs. Keller. Why would we harm your family if we want you to work for us?”
“I’m going now to meet my son. Once I have him with me and I know my family are safe, I will arrange to meet and I will go with you. Do we have an agreement?”
“And the vaccine?”
“You know full well that they will need that to survive the next few days.”
There was a pause before he responded. “Fine. We have an agreement. But remember, if you do not keep to your end of the deal, we will find you, and next time there will be no more conversation. I expect to hear from you again within the hour.”
The van turned sharply again.
“You can slow down, Landon. I bought us some more time.” The revving engine dipped slightly.
“There’s no way you’re going with those people, right?” he shouted.
“No, of course not. It was the only thing I could think of to give us a chance to get away. How far are we from Josh?”
“Should be at the end of this street.” Landon looked at the sky. There was no sign of anything up there, other than gray-white clouds. Light rain began hitting the windshield as they drove over an overpass, crossing the highway which moved up to a bridge. The sky behind the arches was noticeably darkening.
“They just shot him,” said Arlo, who was shaking. Jess went to place her hand on his shoulder, but he pushed it away. “You’re part of this!”
“This is not mom’s fault!” shouted Sam.
“Instead of arguing,” said Landon. “Figure out a way we can get out of this city without being detected! And tell Tracey we’re coming!” While Jess clicked on the radio, informing Tracey they were about to arrive, he racked his brain, trying to think of any training that would help him and his family escape. He eased down on the breaks, while turning into another road bordered by turn of the century brick houses and stores divided by more recent block-like offices.
“She see’s us,” said Jess. “It’s the building on the left.”
He drove them into the parking lot, parking next to the other van then turned off the engine. He turned around. “They probably know where we are. When we leave here, it will have to be on foot—”
“To hell with that!” said Arlo. “When you get out, I’m leaving! This has nothing to do with me! I’m not dying for whatever this is!”
“It’s your vehicle, you can do what you want with it. But I doubt you’re making it beyond the confines of the city without being chased down or worse. But hey, it’s your choice…”
Arlo shook his head, the frustration obvious. “Then what am I supposed to do!”
“Come with us,” said Jess. “We’ll go inside, wait until it’s dark then empty what you can carry from this van, and we do as my husband says. We leave on foot, find another vehicle then get far away.”
“He said he expects to hear from you within the hour…”
“It will be close, but it should give us ten or so minutes of dark.”
“What if they got night vision or something?”
She frowned. “This is all I got.”
He nodded. “Okay, okay. Lets—”
A bang came from the side door, making them all jump.
“Mom?”
Emotion mixed with tears across Jess’s face and she threw the side door back and embraced her son, who jumped up inside. A small dog jumped up as well. She looked in shock at the animal, who was wagging its tail while slobbering over her.
“Yeah, about that…” said Landon. “We now have a dog.”
*****
4: 31 p.m. Jefferson City.
Meg pulled at the cables binding her wrists. She could feel the skin starting to flay but there was still no give. The light seeping through the blinds of the small room she was in was almost completely gone, and then she would be in the dark, making it even more difficult to escape. Those that had taken her and Tye didn’t say much. Two men, one thirty something the other a little older, talked about being immune, but they had to be sure, so they would tie her and the boy up in separate rooms and see if they changed. From the lack of the sound through the thin office walls, Tye hadn’t, so that was something. He was immune, but she wasn’t and sooner or later her captors would know it.
So much for finding Landon and Josh…
The plan that Jess whispered to her, to meet at sundown at the most obvious landmark in Jefferson pretty quickly went sour. She backtracked to where they had traveled, the idea being that Landon must be in the vicinity and hopefully the sound of the sedan would be enough to alert the detective, but instead she ran into two people that said their car had broken down and needed help. After the old man and his son, she figured what were the chances that she would run into another set of assholes? Turns out the chances were pretty good.
Stupid… so stupid…
She tugged at the plastic around her wrists again, this time the pain being sharper, but she didn’t care. She could only make out dark forms now in the room. A desk, filing cabinet, computer monitor. She had to escape.
Not only had she not found Jess’s husband and son, but she managed to get herself and the other boy taken hostage by a bunch of crazies.
Well done, Meg…
The voices that she had heard with the sounds of engines outside the window, confirmed that the two that came out of nowhere with assault rifles were just two of many more. How many more she wasn’t sure, but she just knew that the clock was ticking on her time as a human.
Maybe I am immune?
She scoffed.
Wouldn’t that be ironic.
She knew the chances of that being true were low. On the long drive east Jess had explained that in any good-sized city, there would be maybe a hundred people immune. That didn’t mean they would still be alive of course, for the things would kill them anyway. But in a small town such as Rocky Pine? Maybe two or three would have gotten lucky. And she doubted she was one of them.
Need to escape. I really hope you found that vaccine, Jess.
She tugged again on the strap. The pain was searing, but she was gritting her teeth, forcing her muscles to obey, despite the burning emanating from her lower arm…
Her thumb squeezed free, quickly followed by her—
A muffled cough came through the wall to her right. She waited, frozen in hope which was quickly dissipated by another cough.
Oh god, no… you have to be immune, kid…
A door creaked open downstairs, followed by footsteps and the sound of more aging boards. Tye was still coughing. Heavy boots moved across the landing to the door adjacent to Meg’s room, which was then opened.
“Sorry kid, but if you’re changing, I gotta put a bullet in you!”
What?
As Tye tried to protest through his shortened breath and coughs, Meg scrambled to get her other hand
free and then onto her feet.
Come on!
Tye’s cries of anguish got louder.
“I gotta do it, kid! You could kill all of us!”
Without hesitation Meg got up, fumbling in the dark for the item she remembered when there was light. Grabbing the small pot and plant, she moved to the door and turned the handle. She gambled that in the chaos the man wouldn’t hear her open it.
She tugged it back and sure enough a twenty something man with a baseball cap was holding a shotgun through the open door to her right. The white of his eyes obvious from the glow of a flashlight resting against the doorframe. He raised the double barrels as Tye’s attempts at breathing continued.
“I don’t want to do it! I have to! It’s the rules! Everyone has to—”
Meg brought the clay pot down as hard as she could on the back of his head, but he remained upright. He turned, shock across his face, wavered then collapsed. Meg ran forward, pulling the gun from his quivering hands and looked back into the room. She went to move forward but then stopped. What if Tye does change?
“I’m… not… a… monster… Asth… ma…”
She walked quickly into the room, placing the gun on the ground and pulled at the straps around his wrists. “It’s going to be okay. Try to control your breathing.”
“Inhaler… pocket…”
She stopped untying his ankles and delved into his jacket pocket, pulling out the small blue plastic device and handed it to him. He immediately pressed it to his mouth and pushed down on the button, then took a deep breath.
“See… everything’s going to—”
“Harold?” shouted a male voice from downstairs. “Was the kid a monster or not?” They started to climb the stairs. “Shit. Have I got to put all of them down, or can you do it for...”
The man looked up at the shotgun pointing directly at his face.
“Lower the rifle, real slow,” said Meg. “Place it on the step and move back—”
In the split second it took for him to raise the long barrel the inch towards the woman at the top of the stairs, she had already fired. Meg knew he was going to from how his face tightened just before. Another thing that Liam had taught her.