The China Pandemic

by A. R. Shaw

  “Macy, you’re hurt,” he said, reaching for her.

  She stood up too fast and swayed, her knees buckling, tilting her dangerously toward the woodstove. Mark pulled her away from the fire, and half carried her the kitchen table where he propped her on a chair. Marcy took off her coat to search for the source of the blood. They found a handful of hair falling away as they searched her head. A part of her scalp ripped up, with rivulets of blood pooling into a stream down to the floor.

  “Ennis! What should we do?” Marcy cried as she snatched a clean dish towel and placed it against her sister’s head. Ennis helped lie Macy across Mark’s knees, then he cut away the hair still hanging on the tab of torn scalp, and muttered, “Sons-of-bitches. Press down on that bleeding spot again,” he instructed Marcy.

  Bang pulled off her wet boots. Marcy wiped away the blood and pressed on the wound again, holding it still.

  Macy tried to sit up. “What is it?” she asked. “What’s happening?”

  “You have a cut on your head,” Marcy said. “We’re just trying to stop the bleeding. Then we’ll put some ointment on it and give you something for the pain,” Ennis, hearing this as he returned with the new first aid kit from the Preppers, thought she sounded a lot like Tala would have in the same circumstances.

  “He has to get that woman back safe,” he muttered and beside him, Mark nodded.

  The men must be real brutes to have pulled Macy so hard by the hair they yanked out a fistful of her lovely curls and hurt her so badly. It only made Ennis more worried for Tala’s safety as he saw this brutality. “I want to kill them,” Mark’s low comment sounded like a growl. “How could anyone hurt a girl like that?”

  “There are plenty of bad people in the world, still, I guess,” Ennis said as he handed Marcy a tube of antibiotic cream. When she’d applied that, he passed her a sterile dressing and some short strips of tape. His old police first aid training was coming back, but his hands weren’t steady enough for this kind of work.

  “It’s okay, Macy, I’m sure Graham will get Tala back and make those guys pay,” Mark said as he and Ennis helped Macy up and steadied her. They walked her to the front room and Bang took her a cup of cocoa like Tala would have done.

  “The only thing we can do now is sit and wait,” Ennis said and dragged his chair closer to the door with his rifle ready, just in case.

  Mark checked the monitors, but he knew the intruders were long gone by now. “Ennis, what if I were to take the other truck and go see if I can help Graham?” Mark whispered.

  Ennis didn’t want to tell the young man what to do. He just said, “If you did and something was to happen to you, what would become of these guys?” Ennis said as he pointed to the three. “Graham wanted you to stay here for a reason, Mark.”

  “You’re right, I know. I just want to do something. I hate not knowing,” Mark said in frustration.

  “You are doing something. You’re keeping them safe. He needs you to do that,” Ennis said, then added, “I’m an old man. I can’t chase bad guys. I can only watch the door.”

  Mark paced in front of the woodstove with his hands braced behind his head.

  Bang sat down by Sheriff on the floor and picked up one of the many sticks he was carving into arrows after Ennis showed him how it was done.

  “That’s a good idea, Bang,” Mark said, and continued to work on his own since they might need them.

  45 A Plan

  “What the hell happened?” Dalton asked Reuben.

  “The girls went for a walk up the drive. Said they’d be back in twenty minutes. They were armed. They went off camera to the north. Everything was fine. The guys were shoveling the south trails and the old man was in the cabin. Shots were fired and Graham took off through the west forest toward the north drive and off camera. Mark ran in the cabin and grabbed the truck keys and drove, I presume towards the shots. Then the next thing I saw was the twins and Mark return on foot,” Reuben said, taking a breath.

  “In the cabin, they said something about the lake men taking Tala. I figure Graham must have taken the truck from Mark and gone after her. Macy’s injured but appears fine,” Reuben said.

  “She get shot?” Dalton asked.

  “No, it looks like the intruders manhandled her a bit, nothing too serious,” Reuben said.

  “So the rest are in the cabin but as we predicted, the intruders took Tala and now Graham’s in pursuit?” Dalton asked.

  “That’s right. It’s just what we predicted and tried to prevent,” Reuben said.

  “All right, dammit, what can we do?” Dalton said, asking himself more than Reuben.

  “Logically, we shouldn’t do anything,” Reuben said, then they both looked at the cabin screen, seeing the old man and four anxious kids waiting for information.

  “Did you pull up the tracker?” Dalton asked.

  “Not yet, I thought I’d wait for you, plus this is Rick’s department. I’m not fluent in human tracking devices,” Reuben said.

  “Shit, he has three more days in the box,” Dalton said, and then added, “Patch in Clarisse.”

  One moment later, Clarisse rigged in a patch for Rick to walk them through activating the trackers on Tala and Graham. Rick hadn’t a chance to activate them yet, thinking he’d have time once he was sprung from quarantine.

  Three minutes after Rick told them how to activate the tracking, they could track the series of numbers on the screen indicating Tala being sped away presumably to the intruders’ base camp while Graham’s icon followed more slowly. Dalton knew Graham tried to follow the melting ice tracks to locate them. At least there would be a trail. Only now, night was descending fast and it would hinder his progress.

  “Dammit,” Dalton said.

  “What? What’s going on?” Rick demanded to know. His disembodied voice resounded through the tent. “God dammit, what’s happening?” he yelled again when no one responded.

  As news got out about the situation, several of the Preppers now hung in the background watching the situation unfold. For once, Rick wasn’t the one in the know and it drove him crazy.

  “They got Tala, and Graham’s in pursuit,” Dalton said.

  “Kids all right?” Rick asked.

  “Yeah,” Dalton said back.

  “You got to go help him, Dalton,” Rick said. “They won’t make it. You know that.”

  “The risk of exposure is way too high at this point,” Reuben argued with Rick.

  “You look at those kids and tell me that,” Rick shouted back to Reuben.

  “I am looking at them and I’m looking at mine too, Rick. You know the rules, man,” Reuben said.

  “Let me out, I’ll go,” Rick said after a pause.

  “No, dammit, Rick. No way!” Dalton said.

  “Well, someone’s got to go. What’d we do all this for? You’re wasting time!” Rick yelled.

  “I’ll go.” A determined voice spoke from the back and when Dalton looked behind him, he saw Sam already heading for the door.

  Two minutes later, Dalton and Sam were suited up with Reuben’s help. They would intercept Graham and converge on the enemy camp, retrieve Tala and be on their way. It was that simple, or so they hoped.

  46 A Violation

  Tala fought the man holding her to him. They hadn’t slowed since they’d left and drove at breakneck speed along the icy road in a small jeep. She was terrified but thought perhaps if they did crash, it might be a better fate for her than what she knew awaited.

  Already the man holding her, grabbed her through her jeans and sweater. When she resisted him, he’d punched her from the left so hard, her lip bled freely down her chin. Tala tried to wriggle free from the beefy monster. “Please don’t,” she pleaded but it was no use.

  “Don’t let her freeze. Remember, I’m first,” the driver yelled to the bigger man.

  She shivered and cried, but he wouldn’t stop.

  “I think we’re good. No one’s following us,” the driver said and reached one hand
under her sweater.

  She knew what was coming and could only take solace in knowing she’d saved Macy from these horrible beasts. Somehow, she had to start calculating how she could escape or kill these bastards. Tala closed her eyes and tried to detach herself from her body, thinking instead, of the eagles she loved to watch, soaring over land and sea.

  47 The Chase

  Graham raced, stopping every now and then to make sure he was on the right path. Thank God, the icy snow tracks left an undeniable trail. With so few vehicles these days, he knew this was the right trail to follow and they did indeed go in the direction of the other side of the lake.

  It was pitch dark now and even though he had to stop occasionally to check to make sure he was still on course, he made progress, but too slowly. He pushed away the despair and anger over what he knew they’d do to Tala.

  Just as he began to pick up speed, bright headlights dawned in his rearview mirror, flashing at him. They must have had their headlights off and only then flashed him, creeping up in the distance. It was too late for Graham to make a defensive move as the vehicle pulled up in front of him, cutting him off. Graham grabbed his rifle ready to shoot when he realized it was the Preppers, suited up, driving a Humvee. Dalton put up his hand in what he hoped Graham would take as a sign of peace.

  “Get out of my way,” Graham yelled.

  “We’re trying to help you,” the Prepper in the passenger seat yelled back. Though the voice came distorted through the suit, Graham thought he recognized it.

  “Dalton?” he said confused.

  “Yes, it’s me. Get in the back. Hurry, there’s little time,” Dalton urged.

  Graham even left the keys, just grabbed his rifle and ran over to the other vehicle. Some of the pieces of the mysterious Prepper community were falling into place, but he didn’t have time to reflect on it now. He jumped into the back seat of the Humvee and they sped off into the distance without their lights on.

  “I think I saw their taillights up ahead. You know they have Tala, right?” Graham asked.

  “Yes, we’re tracking her now so try to stay calm. We’ll get Tala back, but you need to let us help you. This is Sam, and well, you know me,” Dalton said.

  “Yes, I do and later we will talk about why you didn’t say so in the first place,” Graham said, clearly upset. “Those fuckers grabbed one of the twins first. Tala traded herself,” Graham said, and continued cursing the situation.

  “We’ll do what we can. You have to keep in mind, we’re still susceptible to the virus you carry so if something happens to either of our suits, do not approach us, all right?” Dalton said.

  “All right,” Graham agreed.

  “Are there just the two men?” Sam asked.

  “As far as I know. I don’t know if there are any more in their camp. Three came by canoe from across the lake one night, but we took down one. It seems you already know that though. Son of a bitch! This is my fault. I should have wasted all of them that night,” Graham said.

  “Stop it, Graham. We’ve watched it all. This isn’t your fault,” Dalton said.

  Graham went on torturing himself. “I should have kept them in the damn cabin!”

  Sam spoke up then. “Look, Graham, can you see this screen?” He tapped a gloved finger on a glowing device on the front seat.

  “Yeah?” Graham said as he watched two little sets of numbers moving forward, one gaining on the other.

  “This one is Tala,” Sam said, indicating the farthest one out.

  “And the other one is me? You shits!” Graham said incredulously. “You can’t just fucking tag someone just because you can,” he added.

  “The point is, this one is Tala,” Sam said, and Graham was relieved to see some connection to her there.

  “Here’s the plan,” Dalton said.

  48 The Accident

  “Stop fighting me, bitch,” the big one said, as he tried to shove his hand down the front of her pants to gain better access to what he wanted.

  Clearly frustrated, he yelled to the driver, “Hurry up, man.”

  “I told you, she’s mine first,” the driver said and shoved him to make his point, but knocked Tala along with him. She leaned forward, grabbing the dashboard, trying to get away from the shoving match as the driver swerved and then overcorrected as they slid on the ice, causing the jeep to tip sideways as it went careening roughly. It had flipped over twice before it stopped, throwing all three occupants free, and caught fire where it landed.

  ~ ~ ~

  They saw the fire from a distance and sped faster over the icy road to the point of recklessness, but not quite, saying nothing to one another. They didn’t know what to make of the scene before them as it was lit by the jeep fire when the three exited the Humvee. Tala lay face down in the center of the track, not moving. Her left leg was at an odd angle, definitely broken in the crash. Graham rushed toward her as Sam yelled, “Wait.”

  They scanned the area and detected no movement. One man lay half under the burning jeep. On further inspection, he clearly proved to have died on impact, with his head gashed open and exposed brains. There was no sign of the other. Dalton nodded for Graham to go to Tala’s aid. He checked her pulse and found she was breathing. She was freezing to the icy road surface and obviously knocked unconscious from the accident. Graham didn’t know how to move her.

  It was pitch dark in the perimeter around the burning jeep and headlights of the Humvee, so Sam stood guard. Dalton checked Tala out and decided it just couldn’t be helped. They needed to just lift her, despite the badly broken leg, and get her into the Humvee before she died right there.

  Graham put his arm under her and Dalton helped flip her over so that Graham could pick her up. She had a bad gash on her forehead. It bled copiously as do most head wounds, and it was swelling fast.

  They started for the Humvee when the hair on the back of Sam’s neck started to rise. He turned around quickly and saw the second intruder pull himself up, aiming at Dalton and Graham. Sam fired but not before the man also fired off a round, aiming at the last second for Sam.

  “Sam!” Dalton yelled as he watched Sam recoil from being hit. Graham saw the man aim yet again, but at Dalton this time and as he dropped to one knee with Tala to his left, he pulled his rifle up and shot the other man squarely between the eyes, leaving no doubt of his death.

  “I think I’m okay,” Sam said. Dalton looked at his side where the shot had clearly shredded his hazmat suit but hadn’t come into contact with Sam himself. “That’s a fucking miracle,” Dalton said, feeling pretty damn lucky. Before he got back into the truck though, Dalton got the emergency tape to patch up the suit to decrease Sam’s risk of contamination.

  Dalton drove quickly back to their camp. They needed to assess Tala’s injuries and at least set her leg in a cast before they took them back to Graham’s camp.

  “We have a decision to make,” Dalton said, looking at Graham in the rearview mirror. “We don’t take carriers into our camp because it’s too risky. I hope you can understand that.”

  Graham just looked at the man through the rearview mirror. Cradling Tala in his lap, he’d managed to straighten up her clothes as best he could, anger curdling in his veins as he did. The swelling in her leg remained a problem and she clearly had a concussion.

  “Look, she’s hurt really bad. She might even have internal injuries. Is there someone you have who can look at her?” Graham asked.

  Dalton looked at Sam. “Call Clarisse, Sam. Maybe she’s got a suggestion.”

  “Hi, Dalton, what is it?” she asked, knowing if he summoned her, it was a medical emergency.

  “We’re going to need another quarantine room. Sam’s suit was compromised, but we don’t think he was exposed. It’s taped now and the female has several injuries. She has a leg fracture, concussion and possible internal injuries from a car accident,” Dalton said.

  “Dalton,” she said in a soothing voice, feeling his desperation through the line. “You know we made
rules against bringing them here. I’m not against it, but you know you’re risking direct exposure to us all. As it is, we only have three rooms. I’ll have to let the guys out early. You and Sam will need to have separate ones since he’s at risk. Then, she will need the last one. I don’t think that’s a problem but where do we stop breaking the protocols we set in place for the carriers? Again, I’m not against this, I just want you to be certain that this is what you want,” she said.

  “I hear you and I understand,” he glanced back at Tala in the backseat. “Get it ready please and thank you, Clarisse,” Dalton said.

  49 Bad News

  She ran the test again and again. Clarisse knew it wouldn’t come back any differently than the seven times before. She had to tell him now. She’d gone through every scenario, and there was just no other way. Dalton lay staring up at the ceiling. “Yes, Clarisse,” he said, knowing she was staring at him. He could always feel her presence, no matter where she was. He didn’t understand this since he was a happily married man but there it was.

  “There’s news,” Clarisse said.

  He knew something was wrong. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days, even though she was in quarantine herself. Having operated on Tala, she confined herself to the lab. Her chestnut hair hung loose down around her shoulders. He’d never seen it out of its tight bun.

  “What is it?” he said as he came to the window.

  “Sam. He’s been exposed, Dalton,” she said.

  “What do you mean?” Dalton asked her.

  “He’s not showing symptoms, but he’s a carrier now,” she said.

  “Are you sure?” he asked, not believing.

  “Yes!” she said, and broke down for the first time he’d seen so far.

  “God dammit!” Dalton yelled, thinking of Sam’s now orphaned daughter.