V Plague (Book 17): Abaddon

by Patton, Dirk

  “You need something from me, don’t you?” I asked after a long silence.

  West didn’t respond immediately, which spoke volumes. He was concerned that we were being monitored.

  “It would be helpful if you were here, Major,” he finally said.

  “Well, sir. I was thinking along those lines myself. Just not sure how I’m going to be able to pull it off. It’s a big ocean.”

  “I may have a way,” he said after a brief pause. “I’ll have the Chief contact you with details when I get it arranged.”

  He handed the phone back to Jessica, who was still very subdued. I knew how fond she was of the Admiral and could imagine how this was affecting her.

  “Do you still need to speak to Joe Revard?” she asked.

  “Yes, but first I need you to warm up a satellite and take a look at the area around me. There’s a big herd passing through and I want to know what else is out there.”

  “You’re going to have to wait for me to get back to Pearl, sir. Admiral Packard is in a civilian hospital and I’m with him.”

  I wanted to say a few choice words when I didn’t get immediate assistance, but I held my tongue. Jessica had spoiled me, always on duty and ready to help. It wasn’t her fault that I was going to have to wait.

  “Okay, Chief, but things aren’t too good here. Fast as you can.”

  “Yes, sir. On my way.” I was gratified to hear her shoes clicking rapidly on a hard floor. “And I’ll have Mr. Revard call you back on this number.”

  “Thanks, Jessica.”

  “What?” Rachel asked before I could even press the button to end the call.

  I told her that Captain West was working on a way to get us back to Hawaii. She stared at me in surprise.

  “Really? What’s so important about getting you to Hawaii? Important to him, I mean. That doesn’t make sense.”

  “It makes all the sense in the world,” I said. “He doesn’t know who he can trust. There’s another traitor, or traitors and he must suspect it’s someone pretty high up. At least that’s my guess. But bringing me back, especially if it can be done quietly, gives him an ace in the hole.”

  Rachel considered my explanation for a bit, then had to put the conversation on hold when the sat phone in my hand started ringing.

  “Injun Joe,” I said when I answered.

  “Stupid fucking white man,” he responded. “Talked to Rachel. Heard about what happened to you. Eaten anyone yet? Do we really taste like chicken?”

  “Forgot how much I really don’t like you, Tonto,” I said, chuckling to let him know I wasn’t serious.

  “So, besides the obvious, what’s up?” he asked, getting serious.

  “Got someone here who was attacked by bats. Rachel’s worried about rabies, but we don’t know what to do.”

  “She’s right to be worried,” he said immediately. “You need both the vaccine and HRIG. Human Rabies Immunoglobulin.”

  “Immu-what? Hell, hold on. Here’s Rachel.”

  I handed the phone over and listened to her end of the conversation, understanding maybe every third word. It didn’t take long before she gave it back.

  “Listen, in all seriousness, how are you doing?”

  “I feel great, Joe. Really. I’m stronger, got more endurance and can see and hear like a cat. It’s… kind of amazing!”

  “No anger issues? Violence or urges you can’t control? Well, any more than normal for you?”

  “No, and go fuck yourself,” I growled.

  “So, that’s a yes to anger issues,” he said without missing a beat.

  Despite myself, I laughed.

  “Look. I’m coming back. We’ll talk about it when I get there and you can run some tests. By the way, how’s Nicole doing?”

  “I presume you’re asking because she’s also been impacted by the virus,” he said.

  “Sharp as a spoon, Joe. Like always.”

  “She is perfectly normal in every respect except for the same changes you described. We’re monitoring her closely, but she’s the same as the last time you saw her.”

  I wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but I breathed a big, internal sigh of relief. There’s a part of me that had been worrying I was going to… well… degrade? Become more infected? A danger to others.

  “Thanks, Joe. I’ll come see you as soon as I get to the islands.”

  “Hey, John,” he said quickly before I could hang up.

  “Yeah?”

  “Don’t fuck around with this. It’s too dangerous. You start feeling different, or, hell, I think you know what I mean. Anyway, if you do, don’t risk Rachel’s life or anyone else. You isolate yourself until I can help. Understand what I’m saying?”

  I chewed on his advice for a moment before answering.

  “Yeah, Joe. I understand. See you soon.”

  I broke the connection before he could impart any more advice that would play directly into the fears that were already running through my head. Sure, it was great to feel like an earth-bound version of Superman, but nothing was worth risking Rachel and our unborn child, or Mavis or anyone else I cared about.

  “What did he say?” Rachel asked.

  “Usual Joe shit,” I said with a grin. “And the good news is Nicole is still the same. She hasn’t started running around and snacking on people, so there’s no reason to think it will be any different for me.”

  She looked at me the way a woman does when she’s trying to decide if she’s being bullshitted or not.

  “Joe said that?”

  “Yes,” I said, involuntarily looking away.

  “John…” Warningly.

  “Okay,” I said with a sigh. “Nicole is fine. He just didn’t say the last part. That was me.”

  She looked at me for a few beats then moved forward and wrapped me in a hug. I stood there holding her until Dog came over, forcing his head between us. Rachel scratched his ears and I spotted Mavis watching us from a few feet away. When I held my arm out, she came forward and I folded her into the embrace. None of us spoke, just drew comfort from being close.

  19

  “Okay, sir. I’m zooming on your location… what the hell?”

  It was half an hour later and I was on the phone with Jessica who had just arrived at her desk.

  “Bats, Chief. Bats.”

  “Oh. My. God! Are you fucking kidding me? Sir.”

  “Wish I was, Chief. There’s a house underneath all of them and that’s where I am.”

  “I… wow. Just wow. Holy shit!”

  “Got it, Chief. Tell me about the herd.”

  “Damn. Sorry, sir. Okay, hold on.” I listened to a couple seconds of rapid-fire typing. “Here we go. Big herd. And… it’s… hmmm.”

  I waited a moment but she didn’t continue her thought.

  “Chief?”

  “Yes, sir. Okay, it’s massive, but it’s not people. Are those…?”

  “Yep. Kangaroos.”

  “Ooooooookaaaaaay,” Jessica said. “Suppose that makes some kind of odd sense in a weird Australian way.”

  “Don’t try to figure it out, Chief. The whole world has lost its fucking mind. Just tell me where they are and what they’re doing.”

  “The main body is passing to the north of you by a little over a mile. That doesn’t mean there’re not thousands in your immediate area. They seem to be avoiding the bats. Not like they’re afraid of them, just kind of flowing around anywhere the bats are concentrated, if you know what I mean.”

  “I got it, Chief. How long until the herd is past?” I asked.

  “About thirty minutes if their rate of travel remains constant. But you’re not going to like this. There’s a herd of human infected about six hours behind them, following the same path.”

  Well, shit.

  “How big?”

  “Nowhere near as large, but still plenty. Computer estimate is five thousand.”

  “They moving at the same pace?”

  “Yes, sir,” she said after a moment
.

  “Okay, I can deal with that. Now, tell me what Coober Pedy looks like. Specifically, spot the hospital and check the area around it.”

  “Hold on, sir.”

  While I waited for Jessica to adjust the target of her viewing, Mavis walked over and handed me a glass of water. I accepted it with a smile and drank it in one long gulp.

  “You’re going to Coober Pedy, aren’t you?” she asked quietly.

  “Lucas needs medicine and there’s a hospital there.”

  “Take me with you.”

  “No way,” I said immediately. “Far too dangerous.”

  “That’s why you need me. To watch your back. Rachel can’t go ‘cause she’s pregnant, so you need me.”

  I looked in her massive eyes for a long moment before pulling her close.

  “I do need you,” I said. “But I need you to stay here and help Rachel and take care of Dog. Okay?”

  After a long moment she nodded, then Jessica was back on the phone.

  “Sir, Coober Pedy is crawling with infected. The hospital doesn’t seem to be any worse than the rest of town, but there’s a ton of them.”

  “Are they herding?” I asked, not happy with the news.

  “No, they’re not. But they’re all in close enough proximity that if they spotted you there’d be hundreds collapse in on your position in less than a minute. You definitely don’t want to go in there.”

  “No choice, Chief. Got a hurt man.”

  She was quiet, probably unsure how to respond to that.

  “Gotta run, Chief. Thanks for your help.”

  “Good luck, sir,” she said, then a click and she was gone.

  I put the phone on a counter and began preparing to leave. Loaded magazines went into my vest and a couple of extra knives were strapped to me. Rachel stood in the middle of the kitchen with one arm around Mavis and a hand on Dog’s head, watching me.

  “You have a list of what I need to get for Lucas?”

  She handed me a slip of paper and I looked it over quickly in case I had any questions or difficulty reading her writing.

  “You don’t have to do this. He can get treatment in Hawaii.”

  “And when will we be there? You already told me you’ve only got enough antibiotics to last another twelve hours. It may take me every bit of that to get to Coober Pedy and back.”

  They watched me continue my preparations for a few seconds, then Rachel moved forward and stepped close.

  “At least wait until the sun is up,” she said softly.

  I looked into her eyes, clearly seeing the fear she was feeling. I shook my head slowly.

  “That’s hours away. Maybe time he doesn’t have. Besides...”

  “Besides what?” she prompted when I didn’t finish.

  I hesitated, sighing when I decided she had the right to know.

  “I can see as well as they can at night,” I said. “Maybe better. I’m not sure. But there’s no advantage in waiting for daylight.”

  She stood there watching me without saying another word. I could tell she was trying to come up with an argument that would convince me to either stay, or delay.

  “I never wanted children. Did you know that?”

  I blinked in surprise but had no words to respond.

  “I always had this silly school-girl image of the perfect man. A man I’d want to spend my life with. Not tied down but traveling and having adventures together. Well, seems like I got way more than I bargained for.”

  We’d had conversations about our feelings for each other. There’d been no avoiding it with everything we’d been through. But this was something I wasn’t prepared for. Not by a long shot. I reached out and took her hands in mine.

  “I get it,” I said gently. “Now that you’ve found me, you don’t want to lose me.”

  “What? Oh! Sorry,” she said with a wry giggle. “You’re about as different from what I pictured as the perfect man as you can be.”

  I blinked a couple of times in surprise this time.

  “Uhhh, but…”

  “You great big dumbass,” she whispered, leaning in and kissing me on the lips. “I thought I knew what I wanted. Until I met you. And now we’re going to have a child, and the virus has done something to you, and you’re going to run off again, and… and…”

  She sniffed as tears began to roll down her cheeks. I tried to pull her into my arms but she pushed me away and stood there, staring at me with a red, swollen face and her hands balled into fists.

  “You’d better come back,” she said, wiping her nose with her sleeve. “If I have to raise this child by myself I’ll hunt you down and hurt you. Understand?”

  I nodded dumbly, nearly flinching when she hurried forward and kissed me. Turning, she fled the room. Mavis, Dog and I watched her go, then they looked at me and turned to follow her without saying a word.

  Smyth walked into the kitchen a moment later, an inquisitive expression on his face. I just shook my head before he could say anything.

  20

  “I’m doing what?” Jessica asked, certain she’d misunderstood Captain West.

  They were on the bench where Admiral Packard liked to smoke and watch the ships in the harbor below. An electronic anti-eavesdropping device sat between them, generating a constant drone of white noise that was barely above the threshold of hearing. Despite how quiet it was, it would completely mask any attempt to listen in with a long-range microphone. Additionally, a cordon of Marines, hand-picked by Captain Black, provided security, ensuring their conversation would remain private.

  “You did not misunderstand me, Chief,” he said calmly.

  “Sir... begging your pardon, but I’m not the right person for this! I haven’t even held a weapon since basic training! There’s nothing I can do there that I can’t do here!”

  “I disagree, Chief. We have no way of knowing what hardware issues might be encountered and having you on site could very well make the difference between success and failure.”

  “Sir, I’m not a warrior. I use keyboards, not guns!”

  “Chief...” West began, then paused to collect his thoughts. “Chief, I’m not asking nor expecting you to go into combat. There is already a squad of Marine Raiders on site. If there’s any fighting to be done, they’ll take care of it. All you have to do is go for a ride and get the software modules up and running.”

  “I don’t know that I can, sir,” she continued to protest. “I’m not an aerospace engineer. Sure, I can hack into systems and manipulate them, but I won’t know what I’m looking at.”

  “And that’s precisely why you’ll have support available. I’ve found someone who has worked on similar projects in the past. In fact, his code is the foundation for several platforms. He’ll know exactly what you’re looking at and will be able to talk you through it over the phone.”

  “Then send him! Sir.”

  West was already shaking his head.

  “Would if it were possible, Chief. He’s retired. Almost eighty years old and dying from cancer. His mind is as sharp as ever, but he’s not physically able to make the trip.”

  Jessica stared at him, eyes wide with fear at the thought of going to the mainland. That’s where all the infected were! She fumbled a cigarette out of her purse, but her hands were trembling so badly that it slipped between her fingers. Captain West retrieved it and handed it to her, then had to take the lighter she couldn’t strike and hold the flame for her. She took a deep drag, held the smoke for a long time then blew it out in one long exhalation.

  It was clear that she was frightened. Terrified, in fact. He didn’t hold this against her or think any less of her. Everyone had their strengths. But sometimes people had to step outside their comfort zone and face their fears head on.

  “Chief, you’re the logical choice. Not only are you capable of doing what needs to be done, but I trust you. There’s no one else that meets those two requirements.”

  Jessica stared at the water below, taking another deep
drag. The nicotine seemed to calm her as her hands were no longer shaking.

  “Is it that important? Bringing the Major back, I mean.”

  “It is, Chief. He still has a role to play before this is all over. And I need people I can trust. Trust without reserve. He may be a maverick and a pain in the ass, but both the Admiral and I trust him to do what’s right.”

  “I noticed you didn’t say to do what we tell him, sir,” Jessica said.

  West snorted a laugh.

  “We both know him better than that, Chief. He reminds me of some of the old school warhorses I grew up around. They’re a pain in everyone’s ass, but when the balloon goes up there’s no one better to have on your side.”

  Jessica nodded as she smoked the cigarette down to the filter. She quickly brought out another and lit it off the still smoldering butt.

  “Yes, sir. I’ll go. When is this happening?”

  “In about an hour,” West said, watching a fresh look of fear wash across her face. “Time is of the essence. Can you be ready?”

  “I... yes, sir. I’ll be ready, but how?”

  “Remember Commander Vance?”

  “The pilot Major Chase fished out of the Sea of Cortez?”

  West nodded a confirmation.

  “But he was injured! The militia cut his... cut him open. Down there.”

  “He’s had good care and is mostly healed. Besides, when I told him the purpose of the mission, he insisted on going. Seems he feels he’s in the Major’s debt.”

  “And he can be trusted?”

  “I believe he can, have no reason to think otherwise, but you shouldn’t discuss anything sensitive in his presence. Understand?”

  “Yes, sir. Understood.”

  “Good,” West said, waving to a pair of Marines who quickly trotted over. “Escort the Chief to wherever she needs to go to collect her equipment, then to the flight line. There will be a Commander Vance waiting. Do not allow anyone to delay her movements and don’t let her out of your sight until she’s in the air.”