Plague

by Victor Methos

  “Where have you been?” Wilson’s voice said on the other end.

  “I was attacked, Ralph. A group of men chased me down the street when I was walking to the hospital.”

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah, I ran into the mall and there were other people here.”

  “Whole damn city’s gone to hell. Did you know our vaccine shipments were attacked? They burned the crates. Two guards were injured.”

  “Maybe they thought it was something valuable.”

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  “Ralph, how are the aid stations doing?”

  “Fine. Why?”

  “I heard that they’ve been closing and that there’s not enough food for everyone.”

  Wilson was silent a while. “You better get to the hospital. I’m sending down a military escort for you. We need to talk.”

  CHAPTER 28

  Ralph Wilson sat in an administrative office at the Queen’s Medical Center and stared out the window at the abandoned streets below. He pictured kids out here, people jogging, teenagers heading down to the bus stop to get to the beach for the day’s surfing. But there wasn’t any of that. There was fluttering garbage and stray dogs and every once in a while, a group of men out prowling the streets.

  It reminded him of Kosovo when he was there supervising, unofficially, a NATO team providing medical assistance to civilians. He was a young man then and too stupid to know that he was expendable.

  The Army Rangers had dropped him off without anything but the name of a contact and the clothes on his back, and that was the way he liked it. Or so he thought, until it started raining so hard it was as if the sky had opened a wound and was pouring its lifeblood out onto the crumbling city. He contracted pneumonia and survived only because a family in town took him in and nursed him back to health with soup and tea. Otherwise, he would’ve died alone underneath a bridge that he was using as shelter.

  The family had been Muslim, and he remembered when the soldiers with the harsh Czech accents had come into the home by kicking in the door. They wanted to take the wife and the young daughter. The man of the house had not yet heard of the rape houses where they would be forced into sex acts with dozens, even hundreds of men a day. They would be forced to have sex with other women, including relatives. Mothers and daughters were especially prized.

  The Serbs and Croats were no longer human. Ralph had seen their devastation in the mass graves in soccer fields and parks. As the two men were dragging away the wife and daughter, Ralph, still weak from his illness, rose from his bed, pulled out a .45 caliber from its holster, and shot three rounds, two entering one man’s head and the other finding its mark in the other man’s throat.

  The family was grateful but shocked. They would certainly be marked for death now. Ralph helped them gather their belongings and they snuck in the dead of night to a NATO encampment almost a hundred miles away. The route was treacherous. The streets revealed nothing but decaying buildings with decaying souls looking out of them, their eyes blank. The war had taken what was human in them and crushed it.

  Now, twenty years later, at night he would occasionally wake up and see the buildings before him. Monsters in the darkness that were slowly collapsing, consuming whatever was around them.

  Looking out onto the streets of Honolulu, he saw that same evil here. Whatever it was, it was here. Not fully but a spark. It was beginning to take over and he knew that eventually, there would be nothing left.

  “Ralph?”

  Ralph looked up from the window and saw Duncan Adams standing by the door. “Yeah, Duncan. What can I do for you?”

  “I was calling your name for a good ten seconds. You doin’ okay?”

  “Yes, yes, I was, um, somewhere else. Have a seat.” Duncan sat down across from him and crossed his legs. “So where’s your sidekick?” Ralph said.

  “Samantha?” Duncan said. “Why would you think she’s my sidekick?”

  “You guys are always together and when you’re not, you’re calling each other.”

  “I wouldn’t describe Sam as anybody’s sidekick. If anything, I’m hers.”

  Ralph laughed softly. “She once punched one of her professors when he made a pass at her after class. She tell you that?”

  “No.”

  “Philosophy professor, I think. They’re all wackos anyway and this one was an aggressive wacko. I guess she belted him and nearly laid him out. She was almost kicked out of school but her father filed a lawsuit against the university and they backed down.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me. And to answer your question, I’m not sure where she is. I know she’s been setting up the aid stations the past couple of days.”

  “I spoke to her about an hour ago but I thought she would’ve been here by now. I have some news, Duncan, and eventually you’d hear it anyway so I thought I should share it with you.” He pulled out his iPad and passed it Duncan. “That’s Pushkin’s report on the infectiousness of Agent X.”

  Duncan read for a moment. “This can’t be right.”

  “It is.”

  “That’s impossible,” he said quietly.

  “It’s not. We’re gearing up for—”

  The door opened and Ralph’s assistant Betty poked her head in. “Sorry, Dr. Wilson, there’s someone here to meet with you and I thought you might be interested in meeting with them.”

  “Who is it?”

  “Benjamin Cornell from the anti-vaccination people.”

  “That son of a bitch. Gimmie a minute, Betty, and then let him back.”

  “Not happy with him, I take it?”

  “He’s the one that’s been attacking our vaccine shipments. I’ve dealt with him before. He targeted a meeting at the World Health Organization in Sweden a few years back and he started spraying animal blood on anybody walking in.”

  The door opened and Betty led Benjamin inside. Ben smiled and nodded hello to both men before sitting down.

  “Beautiful day, boys. We should be out enjoying nature, not stuck in an office.”

  “Nature’s trying to kill us right now,” Duncan said.

  “Cut the shit, Ben,” Ralph interjected. “I know you’re the one attacking my vaccine shipments.”

  “They’re not your shipments, Ralph. And where’s your proof that I was even twenty miles near those shipments? Besides, that’s not my style.”

  “You don’t have a style. You’re a terrorist.”

  “I’m a patriot. What I do is no different than what the Founding Fathers did. I stand up to tyranny and arbitrary rules thrown at us from the government. You’re too deep in it now to see it, Ralph, but I protect people like you too.”

  “Protect me from medicine? I don’t need your protection. And neither do these people. As far as proof goes, if I had any you’d be sitting in jail right now instead of in my office.”

  “I don’t think there’s enough people manning the jails as it is,” he said with a grin. “Ralph, we’re getting off on the wrong foot. We’re really on the same side, you and I. You want to see people healthy and disease free and I want to see them healthy and disease free. Does it really matter that much that our methods of how to achieve those goals are different?”

  Ralph stuck a finger near Benjamin’s face. “Keep the fuck away from my vaccines or you’re gonna be sorry. We’re now under martial law. I won’t be so inclined to follow procedure if another one of my shipments is attacked. I’ll just send some MPs down to arrest you and hold you in a brig until we get back to the mainland.”

  “Don’t you mean if we get back to the mainland?”

  Ralph was silent a while. “Who the hell told you?”

  “Just an educated guess.”

  Duncan looked from one man to the other. “What’re you two talking about?”

  “You haven’t told him?” Benjamin said. He chuckled. “I think you should maybe tell the people who’ve risked their lives coming out here what you plan to do.”

  “I don’t give a damn a
bout what you think. And the only reason I asked you here is to give you one more chance. I have another shipment of vaccines tonight, which I’m sure you know about. They get touched, and you’re done.”

  Benjamin smiled to himself and rose. “Pleasure as always, Ralph. Dr. Adams, nice seeing you as well.”

  Duncan nodded and waited until he had left before speaking. “What was he talking about, Ralph?”

  Ralph exhaled loudly and leaned back in his chair. Exhaustion permeated every muscle, bone, and sinew in his body. Even his skin felt numb and tired. He hadn’t slept for thirty-six hours and looked forward to the time when he could be back at his own home and in his own bed.

  “Ralph, what was he talking about?”

  “What I’m about to tell you doesn’t leave this room. Not yet. Understood?”

  “Sure.”

  “You better shut the door then and sit down.”

  CHAPTER 29

  Samantha arrived at the hospital a few hours later. It had taken the MPs nearly two and a half hours to arrive and verify her identity before they allowed her into the Jeep and drove her back to the hospital in silence.

  She walked down the main corridor and saw Jerry Amoy sitting in the waiting area. There was an empty plate on the seat next to him and he was sipping a Diet Coke as he watched a DVD of Friends on the television that was hooked to the wall. Samantha came and sat down next to him.

  “I haven’t seen you in a few days,” Amoy said.

  “I’ve been setting up the aid stations.”

  Amoy nodded. “I’ve heard they’ve been running out of food.”

  “I just heard that myself. I don’t know how that’s possible. They’re supposed to be resupplied every night and we have shipments scheduled to come in every week.”

  “Don’t rely too much on the government, Dr. Bower. The government’s just people, and unless people have a strong interest, they do just enough to get by.”

  She nodded, though she didn’t agree with him, and they watched television a couple of minutes.

  “How are things here?” she asked.

  “Same as always. Patients show up at our doors for help and we have no help to offer them. This isn’t why I became a doctor: to choose who gets a bed and who doesn’t.”

  “Sometimes we don’t get to choose our circumstances. We just have to deal with them the best we can.”

  “I’m leaving the island.”

  “When?”

  “Day after tomorrow. I can’t…it infected a day care for young…” She saw tears well in his eyes and he wiped them with the back of his hand. “It’s amazing how evil nature can be. Man’s got nothing on it.”

  “It’s not evil, Jerry. It just is.” She watched the screen a few moments and then said, “Where are you gonna go?”

  “California. I have relatives there. I’ll take the licensing exams. This island was a paradise for me, but even when this is all over, it’ll be ruined for me. There’s nothing left for me here but memories of people dying.”

  Samantha rose. “You’ve done good work, Jerry. I wouldn’t give up just yet.”

  As she walked down the corridor, she glanced back to see his face buried in his hands.

  Ralph was sitting at his desk when she walked into the administrative offices of the hospital. Other than a few military personnel and the handful of staff volunteers that had stayed to care for the sick, the hospital was empty.

  It reminded her of some of the old hospitals from the fifties she’d been given tours of as a medical student. They still had equipment, and many of the rooms were unbearably creepy, as they still had clothing from old patients that had long since passed away. At least here there isn’t a thick coating of dust on everything, she thought.

  She waited by the door until Ralph looked up from what he was doing and motioned for her to sit down.

  “I’m sorry about what happened today. Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. A little shaken up, but I’m grateful someone was in that mall.”

  He tapped his pen against the desk. “You’re going home. Tonight. I’ve booked a flight for you on a military charter that’s dropping off another shipment of vaccines.”

  “What? Ralph, you need everyone you can get out here.”

  “I’m leaving too.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Martial law is being declared. The military is fully taking over operations and the World Health Organization is sending infectious disease bio teams to handle the patients. Our work is through.”

  “What are you talking about? Hundreds of people a day are getting infected. How is our work through?”

  “We’re containment people, Sam. We deal with the initial stages of a crisis and make sure it doesn’t spread. Once it’s contained, our job is done and we bring in the disaster handlers. That’s the military. It’s their show now. Anyway, your flight’s at one in the morning. Enjoy your last day in paradise.”

  “I don’t think I should leave.”

  “Sam, I know we’re friends, but I’m also your boss and you need to treat me as such. You’re leaving, end of story. There’ll be other epidemics and other curious agents. Don’t get too hung up on any one.”

  CHAPTER 30

  Robert Greyjoy drove through a quiet suburb near Honolulu in a stolen Range Rover. Well, stolen wasn’t the correct word; most cars had been abandoned on the side of the road and he happened to find one that had a half tank of gas left.

  The neighborhood was clearly middle to upper class. You could always tell based on the cars parked in the driveway. Some people put themselves in massive lifetime debt over their homes and then had nothing left over for the cars. Cars were much more useful for predicting the socio-economic climate of a neighborhood than any other factor except for the maintenance of the lawns.

  A group of men were walking by on the street and they eyed him. One had his shirt off and he had a large tattoo of a shark on his back. He threw up some sort of gang sign and Robert laughed despite himself. He kept driving.

  There was a young girl on the corner, perhaps no more than twelve. Another shirtless man with tattoos held her by the arm and was clearly scolding her. He looked over and saw Robert’s car and said something to the girl before disappearing into a house.

  The girl casually walked in front of Robert’s car and he had to slam on his brakes to avoid a collision. She came up to the window. She was lovely, Robert thought. Dark hair with emerald eyes rimmed red from crying. She was wearing a sundress with high-heels that she clearly was not accustomed to.

  “Are you looking for sex?” she said.

  Robert grinned. “I think what you want to ask is if I’m looking to party or looking for a good time. If you say ‘looking for sex’ you’ll scare most people off.”

  “Are you looking to party?” she said timidly.

  “How old are you?”

  “Old enough.”

  “No, you’re not. Why are you out here?”

  She looked down to the ground. She seemed somewhere else for a few moments and then looked up again. “Do you want sex or not?”

  “No.”

  She turned and went back to her corner. Robert pulled his Range Rover over to the curb and stepped out. He locked the doors, not that that would really help now, and then walked to the girl.

  “That man that was out here with you. Who is he?”

  “None of your business.”

  He leaned down, looking into her eyes. His stare had power. There was a time when he would work on it in the mirror, but that seemed like ages ago. His eyes were reflections of what was inside. Work on the interior, and the exterior will follow.

  “Who is he?” he said flatly, menace in his voice.

  “My…my mama died and they take care of me.”

  “How do they take care of you?”

  “They gimmie food and I can sleep in the closet. They protect me.”

  “How many of them are there?” She didn’t say anything and Robert grab
bed her arm and squeezed gently. “How many?”

  “Six, and two other girls.”

  The man that had been out here before came out again, a cigarette dangling from his lips. “Hey, man, you gonna fuck her or what?”

  “How much?” Robert said, beginning to walk toward the man.

  “We ain’t take no money no more. Ain’t no stores open anyway. You gotta come up with somethin’ to trade. Last dude gave us a gold watch.”

  Robert was only a few feet away from him now. “Gold watch? Hm. How’s this one?” he said, holding up his watch.

  “That don’t look like no watch I—”

  Robert spun and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind him so violently that the man sucked down his cigarette. He forced the arm up, nearly parallel to the shoulder, using the man’s body weight and gravity. There was a snap in his shoulder. The man screamed.

  The man reached for a gun that was tucked in the small of his back. Robert grabbed two of his fingers and jerked them to the side, breaking them, and took the gun himself. It was a Beretta.

  “Nice gun,” Robert said, admiring the weapon. He put the barrel to the back of the man’s head near the cerebellum and pulled the trigger. There was no blood at first, just a hole with a bit of gray smoke wafting out.

  The man dropped to his knees and Robert pushed him over with the tip of his shoe. He looked to the girl and smiled, before walking up the street into the house.

  There was a woman of about forty and a man on the couch smoking something out of a broken lightbulb. Robert put a slug into his left eye. The woman was about to scream and he grabbed her by the hair, using it as a handle, and slammed her face through the glass coffee table. He flipped her back to the couch. Her face looked like bloodied meat and she began to scream.

  “No! No, please. I didn’t do nothing.”

  “Exactly,” Robert said, leaning over her and picking a few shards of glass out of her face. “God is not passive. He doesn’t forgive you simply because you do nothing in the face of evil. Inaction, is action.”