Ella heard the door squeak open and close, then after another second or two looking at Jennifer, she headed to the house.
The second she approached James’ red double doors, she heard the heavy breathing.
Peering over her shoulder to her right, she saw a male Codie. He too, like Jennifer moved differently. It had to be Ben.
Eyes never leaving him, Ella reached for the door handle, just as she grabbed hold of it, before she could give it a turn, Ben charged her way.
Then exactly the same as Bradly, he stopped cold directly in front of her. His face a mere few inches from hers.
His mouth opened, head tilted as if he were orally taking in her scene.
“Tom,” Ella called out. “James? Stay inside.”
She wanted to go in the house but feared if she opened the door. Ben would go in. So, slowly and cautiously, she moved away from the door.
Ben kept the same distance, moving with her, studying her.
She didn’t like the feeling she was getting. Was he trying to figure her out?
Quickly she mentally went through her options. She could run or try for the door.
The keys were still in her hand.
She had to draw him from the house.
All it would take was a quick shove and then she’d bolt to the truck.
That was her plan.
The second she went to shove him, he grabbed her by the shirt and tossed her to the side.
She slammed against the house. Before she could bounce back, get her footing and run, he struck her in the face with a closed fist.
Everything spun around her, the pain was tremendous, even taking her breath away.
Ella lost all balance and toppled to the porch.
As soon as she hit the planks of the floor, he sailed a foot into her side, then rapidly and viciously began to kick her, one right after another. Ella brought her arms to her body to protect her ribs and rolled in a ball.
He landed six solid kicks before he stopped and fell down right next to her. Blood poured from his head, forming a puddle that aimed for Ella.
She felt her arm grabbed and she was lifted quickly to her feet.
James wrapped his arm around her, nearly dragging her back into the house.
It was happening so fast, Ella wasn’t really registering anything.
“I didn’t hear … I didn’t hear the shot,” Ella said.
“Paula put a silencer on her revolver.” He handed the weapon back to Paula. “Thank you.”
“Are you okay?” Paula asked Ella. “You’re bleeding.”
Rhonda rushed her way. “Oh my God, what happened?”
James held up his hand. “She’ll be fine. I’m taking her to dining room. Is Tom in the den?”
“Yes,” Rhonda answered.
“Tell him I’ll be right there. I need you to bring me my suture kit. I have it in there. Paula, grab me some rags, third drawer down, left of the sink, also a pan of water. And in the kitchen is Ella’s black bag. Grab me a bottle from her bag.”
“There’s more than one?” Paula asked.
James let out an airy chuckle. “Yeah.”
“Any particular spirit?”
“Any will do.” James led her though the living room. He sat her in one of the dining room chairs, then grabbed a glass from the cabinet in there.
“It’s empty,” Ella said as the glass was set in front of her.
“Won’t be for long.” James pulled up a chair and sat directly across from her. “What the hell happened out there?”
Ella exhaled heavily and leaned into James, whispering. “They’re different. I said it when I saw Bradly. These ones are different.”
“You’re not invisible to them.”
Ella shook her head. “But they look at me differently.”
“What do you …” James paused when Rhonda brought in the suture kit and Paula brought in the water, cloths and a bottle of Vodka. “Thank you.”
“Are we allowed to know what’s going on?” Rhonda asked.
“When I’m done, she can tell you.”
Rhonda nodded and stepped back. She and Paula left the room.
James grabbed the bottle and looked at Ella when she grunted. “What’s wrong.”
“I’m not a vodka fan.”
James shook his head and poured some in the glass. “It’s not all for drinking.”
“You’re gonna waste my booze on my injuries.”
“Drink.” He pushed it to her. “And tell me. You said they look at you differently.”
“Yeah, like they’re thinking.”
“That’s impossible.” He dipped one of the cloths in water and wiped her bleeding cheek.
“No, it’s not,” Ella said. “Your friend June theorized a part of them was still in there. Rhonda ... was still in there. These ones are completely and utterly a different breed. They think. They know. The ones that rot, the ones bit, scratched, they used to look at me like a meal. This one … he looked at me like a threat. He had an opportunity to take a bite out of me, but he didn’t. Instead …” She downed the small amount of vodka. “He opted to beat the hell out of me.”
“How much pain are you in?” James set down the cloth.
“I don’t know. My adrenaline is still going. How did you know to come out?”
“Paula,” James said, preparing the sutures. “She called for me.”
“Boy, for a couple that you just don’t like, they are coming in handy.”
“Stop.” He poured some vodka onto the clean cloth and brought it to her cheek.
Ella winced a little.
“Sorry.” He then poured some in a glass. “Have another drink. I’d like to get you numb.”
Ella laughed. “I’m a hardcore drinker. It’s gonna take more than that to get me numb.”
He pushed the bottle forward.
“James, the other ones, the ones that were like Rhonda. They were near dead, weren’t they?”
James nodded. “Yeah. Heart rate, respiration, all very slow. They are there, but slow.”
“These ones aren’t like that. I don’t think they’re rotting.”
“You think they’re one hundred percent alive.”
“Yes. We need to get one and test them.”
James laughed. “The best I can do is examine them. I can’t run blood tests. I don’t know what I’m looking at. I told you this before. Now, I need to get you sutured and then tend to Tom.”
As he brought his hand to her cheek, she stopped him, grabbing his wrist. “Bradly … Ben … they looked at me like they were thinking. Thinking, James. If by some chance they are, they can plot, they can plan.”
“We’ll have to be one step ahead.”
“Yeah, we will. But we have one problem.”
“What is that?”
“When it was just the Codies. The ones bit, the ones that passed and revived … we had an upper hand, but tens of millions got that vaccine. Tens of millions are going to wake up and be just like Bradly. And we’re in trouble,” Ella said. “These intelligent, thinking, raging creatures … now outnumber us.”
FIFTEEN - PREPPING
It was bittersweet for James. He hated leaving his house, yet, he knew they had no choice. In the hour that he waited until he gave Tom the vaccine, the neighbors began waking.
He packed what memories he could, telling himself, eventually he would come back. The house was going nowhere.
They loaded into two vehicles and headed toward the river where the Clipper Fleet was located. Stopping only at an Urgent Care for James to grab supplies.
They needed enough for a month, maybe more, that was how long he figured they’d have to be on the boat until they found a safe place to dock.
James knew the location of the Clipper Fleet but didn’t put two and two together until they arrived there.
It was close, too close for comfort to the part of South Side that was swarming with Codies. Only four blocks. But that section was blocked off by the military, large
fences and barricades were erected and did their job well.
He didn’t see any by the barricade. Ella said they were all center and massing where there was life.
She conveyed she was certain, at one time, a lot of the residents were alive.
Once at the Fleet, Don showed again why he was a useful part of the team and how wrong James was about him. Their annoying personality paled in comparison to how much of an asset the odd ball team was.
After breaking into the office building, Don knew where the keys were and chose the Majesty Two as their means of transportation.
It was large, and a smaller replica of the old steam boats. It was the last one used and docked in a position where they could easily head down river toward the compound.
James, Rhonda and the baby were left there, while the others went out to the Construction company and supplies.
He hated that he wasn’t out there with them helping, but he understood their reasoning to keep him away from harm.
The ramps were pulled up and locked, they were safe on the boat, even just docked.
The boat was large, three decks. The first was tables that surrounded a dance floor, a bar on one end and kitchen on the other. The second floor were more tables with an open center area that looked down, and the third floor, tiny as it was, were where the controls were located.
There were other little rooms, like offices, storage rooms and bathrooms.
He hadn’t a clue how they were going to organize over a hundred people to live on the boat for one month. Rhonda made the suggestion there were enough table cloths to create curtains for privacy.
That would work but having a destination would be better.
After exploring, James went topside to the outer second floor deck. It faced the city. Even with some of the buildings showing signs of fire, it was still a beautiful sight. Beautiful but, there was such a dead silence to everything. It felt lonely and terrifying.
For a second, looking at the skyline under the perfect, cloudless blue sky, James allowed himself to forget about all the horrors that were happening, he was brought back to reality by the bodies that continuously floated by in the river.
There were so many of them, James didn’t stay outside for long, he went in to wait for the others.
Tom helped until he couldn’t and then he passed out.
Ella was grateful for the help because there was no way she was assisting Don in putting the construction chutes in the truck. They were heavy and she worried about that. They had to put down at least five of them to get to the fence, at least that was what she figured.
Fortunately, Don had a flat dolly
That was the part of the work that Tom did. He made all the way to the Clipper Fleet and then he said he had to stop.
That worried Ella, but she didn’t show it. She continued to help Paula and Don on the supply runs. Ella hadn’t a clue there were that many food banks in the city. They hadn’t been touched or picked over.
They stayed away from residential areas. The business districts may have more Codies, but at least they were the original ones.
Ella never thought she’d see the day when she preferred one type of Codie over another.
By the time they had finished, Ella, too, had reached the end of her rope.
Her face throbbed and ached along with her entire body. She couldn’t determine where all she had been kicked and was certain the next day the bruises would pin point her injuries.
Then again, her face didn’t waste any time turning colors.
She saw her reflection once and it was briefly. Ella turned away. Her cheek was swollen and the entire side of her face was already blue.
Upon returning to the boat, they had to unload everything, and that process took time.
Ella was ready to rest, but she couldn’t. While it was still light out, she had to practice locking the chutes together.
One piece of the plan was missing … Tom.
Hours later, and he was still sleeping.
To Ella, that meant one thing. It didn’t work on Tom and he was going the same route as Bradly and anyone else that took the immunization.
“He’s fine,” James told her as they stood on the deck. “Trust me.”
“He’s still sleeping.”
“Well, the man hasn’t slept in days. Don’t you remember me?” James asked. “You thought the same about me.”
“Yeah, but you weren’t bit. He was.”
“He’s fine.”
“We need to know,” Ella said. “If he’s a new and improved Codie, we need to know.”
“Oh my God, he’s not.”
“I’m finding out.” Ella walked inside and to the corner where Tom had set up a make shift bed on the floor. “Hey.” She nudged his leg with her foot. “Hey.”
“Nothing.”
“Ella, let him sleep,” James said. “He’ll wanna take watch tonight and tomorrow is the rescue.”:
Ella ignored James. “Tom. Tom. Tom.”
“Ella,” James warned her.
Then Ella started to sing her own version of his theme song, “This is ground control to Major Tom, you’re laying on the floor and I need to know if you’re human anymore.”
Tom groaned. “Yes, Ella. I am.”
“Oh. Good. Thanks.” Ella turned and walked away.
◆◆◆
She had blisters on her hands. James treated them and suggested gloves for the rescue the next day. He was sure after they got the people from Sanctum, if they were successful, Ella would, like Tom, pass out. She was running on fumes and booze.
In fact, James found her on the deck, bottle in hand, leaning against the railing staring out into the darkened city.
“Think maybe after we get everyone situated,” James approached her. “You may want to give your liver a rest?”
Ella laughed. ‘You’re cute.”
“I’m serious, Ella.”
“I know.” She sipped from the bottle. “And eventually, I’ll stop. Just not now. Not yet.”
“It’s still going to be there. Sober or not,” James said.
“In time I’ll face it.” She lifted the bottle and pointed to the city skyline. “I never thought I’d see the day when the world went dark. Yet, here we are. You know, if you listen you can hear them.”
“Hear who?”
“The Codies.”
“No, you can’t.”
“Yes, you can. Just have to tune in. So … did Tom finally get up?”
Before James could answer, Tom did.
“I’m up and up to speed,” Tom stepped onto the deck. “I know the plan. And, Ella, while I appreciate you worrying, please know I wouldn’t have shunned my responsibilities. I literally couldn’t do anything. It took over.”
Ella nodded. “Do you think it worked?”
Tom shrugged.
Ella face James. “What about you? Do you think it worked?”
“I don’t know. We should test it. Maybe tomorrow …”
“How about now?” Ella asked Tom. “Take the truck and hit the barricade?”
“Ella,” James squealed out in shock. “It’s night. It’s dark. You’re drunk.”
“I’m not drunk.”
“Okay, then tipsy.”
“I’ll give you that,” she said. “We’re not going in. We’re just going to the barricade. If they charge for him and keep trying to get him, then we’ll know. We’ll be completely safe either way. At least it’s the OG Codies.”
Tom chuckled, ‘The O … G Codies?”
“Original Gangster Codies. First wave, non-modified and intelligent.”
“You really think that’s what we’re dealing with?” Tom asked.
“You didn’t see, Tom,” she said. “That Codie knew exactly what he was doing to me.”
“Okay, then let’s do this.”
“You know what?” James lifted his hands in defeat. “I give up. And … I am not staying here. I’m going.”
“Doc,” Tom said. ‘You rea
lly shouldn’t.”
“Ella said it is completely safe. I want to leave this boat. I’m going to be on it for a while. So … let’s do this. I want to see for myself.”
Ella was game and seemed rather happy that James was coming along.
After telling the others, they loaded into the construction pick-up and headed a few blocks away to the barricade.
The moment James stepped out, he wanted to tell Ella how right she was. He could hear them, in the dead of night and a silent world, sound traveled in an abundance. He could not only hear the Codies, he could hear baby Rodney crying blocks away.
The Codies were gathered at the barricade fence, they could hear the baby, too.
A smell filled the air, it was awful. Like some garbage pen with rotting trash.
That and the moment the three of them were spotted. The Codies grew vicious and rushed the fence, clamoring over each other to get out.
“James,” Ella said softy. “Go back to the truck. We need to see if it’s Tom they’re reacting to, as well.”
James agreed and backed up. He needed to get away from the smell. As he stepped into the truck, he watched Ella walk straight to the barricade.
They didn’t go for her, they moved as if she was blocking their view.
“I still got it,” Ella yelled. “At least with them.”
James slid in the truck, shut the door and slid down. Enough to be out of sight but not far enough that he couldn’t watch.
Tom walked to the barricade.
It was at that moment, James knew that it worked.
The Codies backed off and calmed down.
He watched as Ella and Tom celebrated with high fives to each other like they were watching a football game.
For months the world battled the CO-D4 virus. Mankind had gone to the edge of extinction, retreated and returned the edge again.
Every scientist in the world worked on a way to beat it.
Finally, by accident, their little group discovered a way.
There were two types of inoculations handed out. A supposed antidote and the other, a vaccination.
The antidote didn’t work to defeat the virus in the body, but oddly, the vaccination did.
In order to be immune, one had to be infected and cured.
The Rectify Series (Book 3): Rectify 3 Page 7