14:15 PM
“We’re civilians, man,” Luke said to Lieutenant Carpenter, who pointed a rifle at them.
“Then how come you’re wearing military-grade hazardous-material suits?”
“We swiped them, to disguise ourselves, worked pretty damn good; we walked right on through the soldiers and the patrols ignore us.”
“If you’re civilians,” the bald man said. “You must be immune to the plague.”
“That’s right.” Luke said.
“And therefore, you wouldn’t mind removing your helmets.”
“It’d be a pleasure,” said Sophie glad to be out of the stifling helmet. She shook her hair free and Luke was stunned once again by her beauty. He was mesmerized as she removed the rest of the heat-retaining suit and he didn’t notice Carpenter’s surprised reaction to Sophie.
Luke unfastened his helmet, and heard a voice from behind exclaim, “Duuude!” He turned and was delighted to see Jake. “This dude’s a friend,” Jake told his gang and hugged Luke vigorously, “I can vouch for him, let them through.”
Carpenter stared at Luke in disbelief, checked the images he had of the wanted terrorists and couldn’t believe his Luck.
Luke nodded hello to the semi-circle of ten survivors, including Winnie, and beamed at her,” Hey, Winnie, how’s it hanging?”
“I’ll live,” she grunted. Jake introduced them to the group, including the gunman, who initially stopped them. “And this is Lew Carpenter, who ironically is a carpenter by trade.”
“No way, man,” Luke said taking them all aback. “You’re military.”
“Not me, I’m a humble carpenter,” he lied unconvincingly.
“Not the way you handled that weapon, you’ve had training, it’s something you don’t lose.” Luke glared at the man, and they were at a standoff.
“Dude, what’s with the hostilities?”
“He’s military, listen to the way he speaks, ‘military-grade hazardous materials suit’? Who speaks like that? He’s not a carpenter, that’s for damn sure.”
Jake said; “Live and let live, that’s my motto.”
Luke calmed. “There’s something ‘off’ with you, man,” he glared at Carpenter, who matched his stare, giving him the deadeye.
Sophie tried to ease the situation with logic. “If he were military, sent to infiltrate, then he’s got to be pretty dumb, because he’d have to be on a suicide mission.” A look passed over Carpenter’s face. “He has signed his own death warrant just by being here in the zone with us. Without a hazmat suit means certain death.”
This appeased Luke, as it made sense. He quickly explained his plan and they moved towards the docks, although Carpenter hung back, removed his boot and fiddled with his transmitter.
When they reached the rent-a-boat shack, Luke led them down a rickety ladder onto a wooden pontoon, where half a dozen speedboats were moored. He helped Sophie, then Winnie down after him, quickly followed by the others.
“Six speedboats, with keys, at your service,” he gestured with the flair of a game-show host.
“How’d you know these speedboats were here, dude?” Jake asked incredulously.
“It’s a long story. Right, are we agreed on the plan?”
Sophie said, “Sure, we hug the coast-line heading north, if any boats approach we separate and hopefully some of us will make it to safety.”
Winnie acted uncomfortable and Luke noticed. “Winnie, what’s wrong?” he asked her.
“Oh Lord, I am so, so sorry,” she uttered unable to meet his gaze.
Jake said, “Dude, we owe you our freedom.”
“We’re not free yet, man.” Luke reminded them.
“No dude, I meant our freedom,” he indicated the group of ten, who shuffled their feet not looking at Luke or Sophie. “Not yours.”
Luke heard the click of many firearms locking and loading. He looked up to see half a dozen soldiers lining the quayside above with their rifles trained on him.
“Sorry, dude, but he told us -” Jake said pointing at Carpenter. “There’s a bounty on your heads,” he said apologetically.
“I knew it . . .,” Luke said under his breath. “Tell me you don’t trust them?” Luke nodded up at the soldiers. “Winnie, are you in on this?”
She looked ashamed and studied her feet. “I know, I owe you my life, but we’ve been promised freedom if we turned you in. It’s something I’ll have to live with.”
“Man . . . Well, I hope you live long enough to regret it.” He could not believe his ears. He locked eyes with Sophie who was in despair, being caught in such an underhanded manner.
The soldiers herded them back up the ladder to the quayside under gunpoint. Major Osborne, a short squat man, waddled over in his hazmat suit. He approached and oozed charm. “Major Osborne.” He saluted Jake smartly, then turned to the others. “We are forever in your debt, and as a representative of the US government I will honor the agreement that led to the capture of the traitors -”
“Traitors! Us?” Luke choked on the words. One of the soldiers whacked him in the temple with the butt of a rifle, and he crumpled to his knees and fell forwards, he shook his head from side to side but it only made the pain worse.
“Hey, dude?” roared Jake. “We gave you to him, but there’s no need for that.”
“What you think is insignificant to me. These two traitors will be shot like dogs. You may watch if you wish, and then we’ll lynch them from lampposts as a warning to the others.”
“My God . . .,” whimpered Winnie. “What have we done?”
“You promised us freedom,” said the man in the Kiss T-shirt.
“I will honor the agreement, if you pass the plague test, then you will be transported north to freedom -”
“There is no test,” Sophie said. Lieutenant Carpenter slapped her across her face. She trembled with rage, and she turned to him. “You’re the biggest idiot, walking around here without a suit on.” He slapped her face once more.
Luke raged. “I’m gonna kill you!”
“That, my friend, would be a pretty neat trick,” Carpenter laughed.
“Cut it out,” said Jake. “The US army does not brutalize women.”
The major regarded him balefully. “Do you want this test or not?”
Jake looked ashamed and looked away. “Up to you,” said the major. “I’ll leave you to think about it.”
The rest of the group had no such qualms. Hands shot up. “Me, I’ll take the test!” A soldier snapped open a test tube, and indicated for the man to open his mouth, and inserted a cotton bud, much like taking a DNA sample, put it back in the tube where a liquid turned black. “He’s a carrier,” said the soldier.
Major Osborne swiftly pulled his pistol and shot the man between the eyes, the stunned man fell back off the quayside into the ocean with a mighty splash.
“He had the plague,” the major explained. “He was a danger to us all.”
The group was shocked into silence. The next volunteer took the test apprehensively. Once again, the soldier shook his head, and the major dispatched him to a watery grave. A woman went next, she crossed herself, but she too was condemned to death, she opened her mouth to scream, but was shot before she could utter a sound.
Luke looked up at Sophie and winked, which she took as a cue for a distraction. “You idiots, don’t you get it, there is no cure!”
“Shut her up,” the major snarled.
Lieutenant Carpenter had a glint in his eye, approached her, and raised his rifle butt-end to smash her in the face, when she said. “What sort of moron are you? Did they inject you with an antidote - is that it? Do you think there’s a cure? There’s no cure for this strain of the Bubonic Plague, you fool.” She pointed to the major. “He knows there’s no cure and he’s tricked you into being exposed to the disease. You’re going to die.”
Carpenter lost his nerve for a moment, hesitated and turned angrily to the major.
“Don’t listen to the traitor, soldier,
misinformation is a key tool of the terrorist.”
Sophie urged. “Look around you. Does it look like there is a cure?”
“Shut her up, that’s an order!” yelled the major. Lieutenant Carpenter flipped his weapon around and pointed it at her, his finger pulled slowly back on the trigger . . .
CHAPTER 28
15:00 PM
“Get off me!” General Malloy kicked out at the young soldier who had a firm hold of his ankle. His boot caught the rookie in the face, pain shot through him and he released his grip. The general shone his flashlight up at the hole and his possible escape route, but it looked out of his reach.
The young soldier rubbed his jaw. “Why’d you kick me?”
The general shot him a glance. “You questioning me, son?” he snarled nastily.
The boy gulped. “No, G - General, s - sorry, General.” He stood, gently testing his weight on his leg, then fell back screaming in pain, he clutched at his ankle, bewildered to see a jagged bone poking through his pant-leg.
The general jumped up at the hole, but fell short. “Son, come over here.”
He shone his flashlight into the young private’s face. The boy looked incredulous, and pointed at the bone sticking out. “Look!”
“Then, hop. Here! Now!” He sighed as the private gingerly raised himself from the rubble. He hopped on one leg, lost his balance and fell over with an agonizing scream. “That’s an order, son!” the general roared. The private stood and hopped as best he could. “Up there.” General Malloy shone a path with the flashlight beam up the pile of debris nearest the hole.
“I quit. I don’t want to be in the army no more,” he moaned.
The general unclipped the holster to his firearm. “That can easily be arranged.”
The rookie gulped and quickly stood. “That, erm, won’t be necessary, General.” He sighed with relief as the general re-holstered his weapon. He hopped up the ever-moving pile of rubble, lost his footing and had to start again. On his hands and knees, he dragged the useless limb behind him as he crawled. Finally he clambered to the top and sat on the apex under the hole. He drew in large gulps of air until he got his breath back. He rubbed his ankle; his face grimaced in immense pain. “Do you want me to stand, General?” he asked, hoping the answer would be no.
“Negative, Son. You sit there, get your breath back,” replied the general kindly, then briskly undid his holster, pulled out his firearm and shot the private between the eyes. “Sorry, son, but it’s for a good cause.”
He ran up the heap of broken masonry blocks, up the body of the private that still pumped blood from the neat hole in his forehead, and with the extra height leaped up and gripped onto the edge of the hole.
He grunted, groaned, and with every fiber in his body managed to heave himself up into the narrow gap. He pushed the flashlight in the hole in front of him and his heart sank as in every direction his escape route was blocked.
_________
With dogged determination, he removed the first block, then the second. However, this dislodged a slab of concrete above that brought down a cloud of dust on top of his head. He screwed his eyes shut and held his breath.
Eventually the dust stopped and he shone the flashlight beam upward and saw the dust swirling in the beam, signifying a draft and more importantly the outside air. He wriggled forward on his elbows and up over the jagged rocks, which ripped at his uniform. He pushed with his legs and forced his shoulders through the narrow gap, and slithered the rest of his torso up into what appeared to be the underground parking lot.
The ceiling has collapsed down onto vehicles. Some sturdy utility trucks and off-roaders crushed to half their normal size, but allowed a small gap, which he took full advantage. He slid between a supporting wall and a garbage truck, when he saw the body of a woman blocking his passage.
He shone his flashlight in her face, her eyes reacted to the sudden brightness, and her lips tried to form words. He knew he could not go back and had to continue forward. He had no time for sympathy, or even to offer help, the ceiling could cave in at any moment. A rumble in the distance was a timely reminder of the need for speed and he inched forwards on his elbows.
The woman detected the man crawling on his stomach towards her and relief filled her broken body from head to toe. “You’ve come to help . . . praise the lord . . .” but her thankfulness turned to abject horror, when he crawled right over the top of her as if she was mere debris.
She screamed out in misery as his elbows dug into her already broken ribs. With total disregard, he crawled over her, the full weight of his body crushing her tiny frame, his knee compressed her chest and forced the remaining air from her punctured lungs, then as a final indignity, his boots dragged across her face breaking her nose.
An explosion from above made the general redouble his efforts. He progressed inch by inch, along the debris-strewn parking garage. He heard the iron girders screech in protest as the building and gravity wanted to complete its journey to the earth. He struggled on and could detect the sloping of the parking garage floor that he hoped was the exit ramp. As he neared the exit the damage to the structure lessened and he was able to get up onto his hands and knees and shuffle onwards, when he heard the first squeaking. He could not place the sound at first and wondered if the ceiling might still fall in upon him, when he was this close to freedom. The noise sounded as if the fabric of the building was crying out, but realized it was animal in origin. He crawled faster, when he saw the first of the rats, feeding on the corpse of a child. The rat quickly joined by another, then another.
He went to shoot at them, but thought that he might draw attention to himself. Although a grown man, and a four star general to boot, there was something about the rats that shot fear up his spine. He knew he could beat a bunch of rats in a normal battle, but the Black Death had been a game changer. These pests could multiply out of control and now, even more disturbingly they seemed to have lost their natural fear of man.
He thought that dogs could soon be roaming around in wild packs. With creeping dread, he recalled that many deadly creatures were indigenous to Florida, panthers, lethal snakes and even bears lived in the wild. He hoped they would not stray into the cities, but there was one creature that was likely to roam into town if left undisturbed, the ever-present alligator.
Over one million throughout Florida at the last count, and what with all the lakes, rivers, and canals that were characteristic of southern Florida, the snappers were never far away. He had the notion that they would soon become curious by the lack of noisy activity and might venture from their natural habitat and once they saw the corpses and got a taste for human flesh . . . then, well, it was unthinkable. As if he did not have enough on his plate, all ready.
15:05 PM
Major Osborne yelled. “Stand down!” and Lieutenant Carpenter lowered his rifle smartly and snapped to attention.
Sophie sighed with immense relief.
The major listened to the message from his walkie-talkie solemn-faced. “It seems like you two have won a reprieve. They want you alive at all costs.” He smiled charmingly at them as if they had won a prize-draw. He tossed the walkie-talkie back to the signalman. “Tell ‘em we’ve got ‘em and we’re bringing them in.”
Sophie knew she had to act, because once shackled and in custody, there would be no hope. She turned to Lieutenant Carpenter. “He’s lying to you.”
Carpenter ignored her, but she saw his resolve starting to crack. He’d obviously dwelt on her earlier comments.
“Think about it,” she said calmly. “If there’s a cure for the Black Death, then why is the Major wearing a biological warfare suit?” She smiled and knew that her logic had hit home.
Lieutenant Carpenter absorbed the information and then slowly turned the rifle to point at the major.
“Have you gone totally insane?” the major blustered. “How dare you point a weapon at a superior officer?”
Carpenter’s hands trembled. He tightened his gr
ip not only on the rifle, but also on his resolve. He steadied his aim.
“Take him out!” Major Osborne ordered the other soldiers.
The soldiers raised their weapons clumsily, but it was nigh on impossible to aim properly wearing their helmets, so held the rifles on their hip, but were obviously uneasy about killing one of their own.
“That’s an order!” the major demanded, panic rising in his voice.
Luke used the distraction to attack from his crouching position; he grabbed the ankles of a startled soldier and hoisted him over the quayside into the water below. Jake jumped into action and shoulder-barged the soldier next to him with all his might, making him stagger. The soldier tried to regain his balance but was hindered by the hazmat suit, Jake gave him the smallest of pushes, and it was enough to send the unbalanced solider over the edge of the quay. Jake snatched his rifle out of the air as the soldier passed then tossed it to Luke.
Lieutenant Carpenter shot dead the major, but before anyone could react, he then turned on the prisoners. Luke was in his line of fire, when Winnie clouted him around the back of the head. He spun around to face her. “Fuck you, coon,” he grunted, shoving her harshly from his path, he turned back to Luke who now had his weapon pointed at his head. “Told ya, I’d kill ya,” he said and fired.
The one remaining soldier aimed his gun at Sophie, when to his utter amazement Winnie grabbed him around his waist. “May God forgive me . . .” she said softly and yanked him backward and they tumbled over the quayside together.
The Doomsday Infection Page 18