The Island - Part 3

by Michael Stark

  The Island - Part 3

  Title Page

  Part 3

  Chapter X - The Beginning of the End

  Chapter XI - Motivations

  Chapter XII - The Changeling

  Chapter XIII - To Live or Die

  Chapter XIV - Angels and Harlots

  Chapter XV - Sacrifice

  The Island

  Part 3

  by

  Michael Stark

  SMASHWORDS EDITION

  PUBLISHED BY: Michael Stark on Smashwords

  The Island - Part 3

  Copyright © 2012 by Michael Stark

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced without the author’s written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Forward:

  This is Part 3 of the Island. If you’ve not read Parts 1 & 2, go back and read them first. If you can’t find them, come visit me at http://www.michael-stark.com/ for a list of places where you can read them free.

  MS

  Chapter X - The Beginning of the End

  This is Christine Arapaloe, with your WKLE news wrap-up. Just to let you all know, this is an extended edition of Five on the Hour. We have a lot to cover this evening.

  The woman paused. The hiss of her breath being drawn in came through the old radio’s single speaker clearly.

  The World Health Organization confirmed today that the disease known simply as The Fever has been recorded in every country and on every continent except Antarctica. Figures released today put the world wide death toll at two hundred and fifty thousand. Spokesperson, Ellen Marks, said those numbers are expected to rise as the infection spreads and medical facilities become increasingly overwhelmed. The disease continues its eastward march, radiating outward from its epicenter in Mexico with the United States, Europe, and Africa ranking among the hardest hit areas. Middle Eastern countries are reporting substantial numbers as well.

  From the Far East, indications are that The Fever has not yet gained a strong foothold. Incidents have been scattered and isolated. With a fifth of the world’s population living within its borders, China has enacted especially harsh measures to quarantine suspected victims. Stories have been circulating that rather than treat patients, Chinese authorities have ordered their disposal. China has denied the accusations saying that the reports are nothing but ill-founded rumors.

  Riots broke out today in several US cities including New York, Los Angeles, and Houston. Looters rampaged through downtown streets hitting grocery stores and food markets. Authorities said that in at least two cases, flash mobs had been instigated using online social networks, leading to speculation that internet services might be cut to areas with large populations. In a phone interview today, ACLU spokesperson, Marilyn Levinson, said that the organization would be watching the government’s response to the developing crises closely, indicating that lawsuits might be pushed into international courts if U.S. courts denied them standing.

  Rioters in Los Angeles clashed with police and National Guard units across multiple sections of the city. Two center-city police officers were gunned down just before noon by suspected gang members not far from Huntington Park. Police snipers opened fire on the gunmen as hundreds rushed through city streets. At least 34 people were killed in the violence. LAPD spokesperson, Julio Campano, said in a prepared statement that the murderers would be brought to justice. He also noted that no charges would be filed against officers and that internal investigations into the incident would be suspended until the national emergency had been lifted.

  Shots were fired in Kansas City overnight in two residential neighborhoods. Responders came under attack by unknown individuals as they rushed to the scene. An ambulance and a police car were found overturned and abandoned. The body of one EMT was discovered the next morning in a drainage ditch less than a hundred yards from the scene of the crash. Searchers said the body had been mauled and partially consumed.

  General David Brukhauser, acting Commander of the newly created U.S. Forces Americas, ordered military planners to designate sections known as community blocks for the entire United States. He also authorized the dissemination of millions of flyers that are scheduled to be posted in the newly announced blocks. The flyers are said to contain emergency contact information, reporting lines for alerting authorities to residents who violate the ban, and list symptoms associated with the disease including high fever, uncontrollable coughing, increased aggression, hallucinations, and eventual death. The flyers note that Fever victims can also appear as if they have been severely beaten with massive bruising and bleeding from a variety of orifices.

  When asked to define a community block, General Brukhauser stated that block sizes will vary with those in heavily populated areas potentially as small as three to five square miles. Rural sections of the country may see blocks as large as fifty square miles. The General noted that community blocks will be the focal point of relief supplies and defines the area in which residents cannot leave without violating the travel ban. The idea, Brukhauser said, is not to ban all travel, but to eliminate transmission of the disease across community boundaries.

  This afternoon, The CDC announced that reports from across the nation indicate The Fever is spreading rapidly and appears to be uncontainable. Officials are pleading with residents to remain indoors and limit their risk of exposure as much as possible. CDC spokesperson, Ann Trankin, said that early stages of the infection cannot be detected and that the only sure method of avoiding the disease is to avoid any and all contact with others. She estimated that the country may be facing millions of active infections at present. The organization also released new guidelines today telling residents to avoid all contact with animals, including pets.

  PETA decried the new rules, saying that many pets live indoors and should have the same protections as their owners.

  White House officials confirmed that the President and Vice President have been moved to separate secure locations where they will remain indefinitely. Officials also sought to downplay speculation that one or both men had been exposed to The Fever, saying that all persons accompanying them had been thoroughly tested and none showed any sign of infection.

  On another front, The White House moved quickly to quell rumors that the virus had been manufactured by a government or terrorist organization. A statement issued this afternoon stresses that the stories are irresponsible, unfounded and serve only to increase tensions around the world. Interim Chief of Staff, Dorothy Ortiz, said the President had taken personal offense to those suggesting that the disease may have escaped from a U.S military facility or secret biological weapons program. Ortiz indicated that governments around the world were working diligently to defeat the virus.

  The newscaster paused to catch her breath. The disc jockey evidently thought her segment at an end. The station apparently only had DJ’s, or at least, only two had been allowed to travel. Right or wrong, radio voices had always fostered images in my mind to go along with the personality. Night brought out a man who made me think of ascots, Clark Gable mustaches, and smoking jackets. He filled the darkness with soothing strains that blended greats from every style and genre music had to offer. Glen Miller might front for Ella Fitzgerald. Louis Armstrong might slide in after The Carpenters. He blithely ignored lines that would anger a purist, and blended both ages and eras without worry as to who might be offended. Morning hours, oddly enough, put the doper at the wheel. Flick the switch on the radio and it might blast out Jimi Hen
drix, coast along with Mama Cass, or venture along kaleidoscopic highways with Janis Joplin.

  At least the tune-spinners seemed to get time off. The woman was the only news announcer I’d heard on the station.

  “Wow, Christine, it just gets worse and worse,” the man said in his smooth Clark Gable voice.

  “Oh, I’m not through, Martin. Hang on. You’re not going to believe this next segment.”

  More than a dozen residents in Opelika, Alabama last night reported, get this, troll-like creatures roaming the woods. They were described as eight to ten feet tall, greenish-brown in color, hairless and exceedingly ugly. 911 callers reported seeing them on multiple occasions in and around wooded areas, and said they carried rough weapons such as clubs and axes. Two people are missing in the area. Police spokesperson, Evan Andrews, said in a news conference that the city would not be, quote, ‘arresting trolls, fairies, or any other mythical beasts,’ pointing out that nearby Auburn had more than a hundred cases of the Fever. He went on to note that residents reporting such nonsense might be infected and should be avoided.

  The AP released a story today indicating that the quickly evolving virus has claimed more victims from the new symptoms associated with heightened aggression. A patient in Milwaukee set fire to a hospital last night, killing himself and as many as forty others in what local authorities are describing as the worst murder-suicide event in the state’s history. Officials said that the man had been restrained after screaming about small demons slipping into his room and telling him they couldn’t wait to eat his dead body. How he escaped his restraints is not known.

  And finally, on a personal note, several callers have asked how we are able to stay on the air. WKLE released a statement today pointing out that, for now, we are considered part of the essential communication infrastructure.

  Her voice lost its official tone and dropped into a conversational mode. “That means we’re escorted to work, stay here for sixteen hour shifts, and then are escorted home. Trust me. We’re not driving around with the music blaring and the windows down.”

  Static hissed for a second before Linda Ronstadt started feeling bad on her way down to Blue Bayou. Martin had chosen a good one, but I had little desire to slide along the musical meanderings with him. I beat Elsie to the off switch, rendering an abrupt silence in the room.

  “It’s the damned Chinese,” Devon said hoarsely.

  Denise, her ponytail back in place, turned abruptly, smacking Joshua across his face with the tightly bound tress.

  “What are you talking about?” she demanded.

  He climbed to his feet, his thin features hard and angry. Muscles in his jaw quivered, pulsing like an extra heartbeat.

  “You heard them. China has almost no infections. Explain to me how one fifth of the world’s population gets to slide by when everyone else is dying,” he shouted. “They made the friggin’ thing and gave their own people the antidote. That’s how.”

  The girl rolled her eyes.

  “That’s just crazy. No government would do that. It would be stupid to create a disease capable of evolving,” she retorted. Otherwise all the vaccines in the world wouldn’t do them any good. By the way, an antidote is for poison. Vaccine is for disease.”

  The man looked barely able to contain his anorexic anger. “You’re calling me crazy? How much clearer does it have to be? They’re not dying. Everyone else is. If they didn’t do it, who did?”

  Joshua leaned over to look at his friend, still wiping at the eye that had borne the brunt of the ponytail assault. “That’s all we need - a war on top of a pandemic.”

  Elsie shook her head. “It ain’t the Chinese.”

  Devon looked hard at her. “How do you know?”

  She frowned. “Settle down, boy. They may be able to make a disease, but you reckon they can make little demon critters like Hill William seen? No, it’s all tied together somehow.”

  He wanted to argue. I didn’t blame him. Nothing about The Fever seemed natural. Riding on top of the peculiar list were two items that seemed at odds with each other. Diseases that killed rapidly usually burned themselves out in a relatively short period of time. Quarantine measures had proven extremely successful at stamping out such infections, using logic that worked for firefighters and doctors alike. Like a forest fire running wild needed a constant supply of fresh fuel, the virus needed a constant supply of new hosts. Break the chain of infection and it died just like a wildfire severed from its source of fuel.

  Diseases that killed slower had often proved more successful in the wild. Ebola and AIDS highlighted the difference perfectly. The first killed rapidly. The second could take years or even decades. Both used blood-borne avenues of transmission. The reason one ran rampant across the world while the other hadn’t could be directly attributed to the speed at which they killed. Ebola needed new a victim within days. AIDS could lie in wait for years until it found a new host.

  The travel ban acted like a quarantine. The terrifying rise in infection rates and mortalities didn’t concern me as much as the disease suddenly appearing in isolated areas where the odds of exposure should have been nil in the first place. The situation pointed to transmission vectors we didn’t understand. Add to that, a virus capable of mutating at will and The Fever seemed too perfect. Everything about it felt manufactured, not by nature, but by men who wanted a weapon.

  “Well, I haven’t seen any demons,” Devon finally muttered.

  “I’m not the only one. Something out there is eating people,” I interjected. Denise and Devon both had stubborn looks on their faces. I didn’t need a confrontation over something we couldn’t control. “Every broadcast has a weird story. Yesterday, people were talking about monsters in Washington. Tonight, the boogey men were ten feet tall and green.”

  Jessie, the dark haired girl who rarely spoke at the gatherings, ventured hesitantly, “The news did say that those types of reports were from fever-induced hallucinations.”

  “I don’t have a fever. I could go along with that diagnosis if I hadn’t aged a year last night while trying to kill my own monster,” I said pointedly. “The question I have isn’t if they exist, but how are we going to keep them away?”

  Silence hung in the room. Exasperation swept over me at the blank looks the question had drawn. I waved a hand in a vague semi-circle.

  “On top of that, we have a ton of work to do here if we’re going to survive. We’re sleeping on the floor and eating out of coolers, for Christ’s sake.”

  Joshua stroked his beard, his face thoughtful.

  “I don’t want to be a spoilsport,” he began and looked around at the others, “but, if I’m going to die in a week, I don’t care to spend it working on something I’ll never use.”

  “I was just thinking that myself,” Kelly sighed. “I mean, why bother?”

  Devon had never taken his seat after leaping up to level his accusation against China. He grinned sardonically. “Maybe the pot heads down the beach have the right idea. Just lay back and let it come because it’s going to anyway.”

  I wanted to argue with him, but couldn’t. I’d come to the island with the same purpose in mind. While the rest of the world built barricades and hunkered down in their houses, I’d set my sights on going out with my feet propped up on the stern, a cold drink in one hand and a fishing pole in the other. I hadn’t expected the end to be sudden or peaceful. At the same time, I hadn’t wanted to spend the last days scrabbling for survival when the outlook held less hope than winning the next lottery.

  Pushing the issue with Devon would be like arguing with myself when I didn’t fully understand the reasons my outlook had changed. I sat as quiet as the rest, struggling with my own inner demons and trying to figure out why the need to survive seemed more urgent and pressing than ever.

  Tyler resolved that problem a few seconds later.

  “I don’t know about the rest of you,” he said from the corner, “but I didn’t come here to be eaten. I’m going to fight the bas
tards.”

  The instant the words left his mouth, understanding dawned like a new sunrise. Before I could put thought to words, Elsie nailed the difference succinctly.

  “Count me in on that,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone. “I can’t stop the disease. But ain’t nothin’ gonna be chewin’ on my innards if I can help it.”

  The thought brought back her earlier comment about the night watch.

  “Elsie thinks we need to bring the guard inside. I agree with her. Putting two people outside with our only firearm doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, so starting tonight, guard duty is right here.”

  Finally, something generated at least movement. Nods worked their way through the group.

  I shot a glance at the old woman. “Are the other rooms ready?”

  She shook her head. “Not yet. Kate and Jessie worked hard on them today, but they need muscle. Maybe tomorrow a couple of the men will help and we’ll get it squared away.”

  “Then we’ll just sleep in here with the guards. Tomorrow morning after breakfast, we’ll figure out how to make this place more secure.”

  I saw a lot of nods when I looked around the room.

  “Then let’s get set up for the night. I don’t want anyone sleeping in the open space in front of the windows. Let’s leave the watch a clear field of fire, just in case.”

  Nervous looks swept around the table that time.