But Alex wasn't finished. As the man stumbled back, Alex drew his bat and simultaneously swept the man’s support leg.
The man’s limp body slammed onto the ground. Even though he was dead for good, Alex gave him three extra hits to the side of his cheek. If it wasn't for Elias, he wouldn't have stopped at three.
The six-foot African American had to bear hug Alex physically to restrain him. “Whoa, Alex,” Elias said calmly into his ear, “He's dead. You can stop now. You got him.”
Alex's adrenaline was surging.
“Let me go! Let me at him!” Alex growled, completely ignoring Elias’ order-request.
“Calm down, Alex. It’s over,” Elias repeated.
Elias’ tone had a soothing effect, but his firm hold was what really pacified Alex. After Alex promised that he wouldn’t carry on swinging like a mad man, Elias released his powerful hold.
“What the hell was that shit, Alex?” Diane said, leading the rest of the group over to his position. “You trying to get yourself killed or what?”
Alex didn't respond at first. Instead, he used the dead man's gray T-shirt to wipe off the blood on his bat before securing it. Then, he planted his foot on the man's face and pulled out the embedded machete.
“Simple. They were in our way. Now they're not.”
Cody was stunned, completely taken aback. He had never seen anyone move and kill with such ease and fluidity.
Larry, on the other hand, looked around nervously hoping no other infected were in the area.
“That's not how we do things, Alex,” Diane tried to say.
“Well, are we going to stand out in the open and debate my actions or get on with why we came here?” Alex said, walking away without waiting for a response.
Diane sighed heavily.
What is up with Alex?she thought,Not now Diane, we need to get to the lab. Talk with him later.
She turned to the group and said, “Alex is right, we have to get going. Larry, Cody, you guys know what you're doing. We'll see you in a little. Eli, let's move.”
The two scavengers split away from the group and made their way quietly into the town.
Diane and Elias caught up with Alex who was scanning the streets from behind a flipped over sedan. When the coast was clear, Alex led them to the left, around the corner of an arts and crafts store. There, they used an abandoned police car as concealment.
“The medical facility is up the street on the right, but the front doors are locked-” Diane started to say before Alex interjected.
“You need someone to climb up to the second story? Sorry, Doc, I don’t do heights. Maybe Eli here can-”
“Will you shut up for a second and let me finish? I was going to say that the back door is unlocked. All we have to do is make a right into that alley,” Diane said, pointing fifty feet ahead.
Alex peered underneath the Crown Victoria. “Damn, there’s four infected a block up on the corner,” Alex said, putting his back up against the car to think.
“We can’t risk a fight. Can’t risk them signaling any others,” Diane added.
“You guys worry too much,” Elias declared, nonchalantly. The dark-skinned political science teacher looked around and let out a sigh of relief. He reached down, picked up an unopened Coca Cola can, and handed it to Alex.
“I don’t think caffeine is really going to help me come up with an idea,” Alex replied.
Elias chuckled. “No, but I do think you have a better throwing arm than I do.”
“Nice. I like it,” Alex said, backing up to get a little room. As quickly as possible, Alex rose to his feet and hurled the can as far as he could.
The projectile soared through the air and landed a few feet past the infected, but skidded another fifty. The sound of impact and sizzling carbonation created enough of a distraction. The four undead chased after the spraying can, leaving the area unguarded.
Diane, Alex, and Elias darted to the alley, where they made it just as the infected spun around. The clinic’s emergency door was in sight, but Diane took no chances. She signaled for Alex to maintain a lookout post at the far end of the alley, and for Elias cover the near side.
“Give me a minute to get this door open,” she whispered.
After her last session at the clinic, Diane had put a few preventative measures into effect to ensure safety and security. Since she didn't have the building keys and the emergency door didn't have an outside handle, she had to keep the door propped open slightly, using a small stone. She placed multiple sections of duct tape across the door and taped them onto the adjoining wall. If any unwanted visitors had tried to make their way in, or out for that matter, the tape was a crude early warning sign.
When she finished, Diane whistled like a bird for the two lookouts. Elias arrived first and propped the door open; seconds later, Alex ducked inside and silently closed the door behind him.
Inside, Diane clicked on her LED flashlight and held her baton in a high-ready position above her shoulder. “Follow me and keep an eye out. We know nothing got in, but we don't know if our friend got loose.”
Directly ahead was a stairway that led to the second floor, but the doctor guided the others to the first intersection and then made a right.
The air was still and everyone could smell the all too familiar scent of decaying flesh. There were scattered charts and paperwork all over the ground. Gurneys and wheelchairs rested idly in the hallways.
Diane passed the first set of rooms and stopped at the second one on the left. She shined her light on the two pieces of duct tape; early warning indicator number two.
“Looks like our friend hasn't left his room,” she said, peeling off the pieces. “Let’s just hope he’s still tied down on the gurney.”
“So how are we doing this?” Alex asked, flexing his grip on the machete. “Drawing straws?”
“Got any?” Diane asked, jokingly.
At the risk of waiting any longer, Elias stepped up to the plate.
“Let me have the light,” he said, extending his hand. “Alex, follow me in and branch off to my left. The room is a simple rectangle and we are coming in on the bottom left corner of it. It's just the wall on our left and cupboards along the far side. Our friend should still be strapped down in the middle; head facing us. If he's not, well, do what you did earlier.”
Diane was a little taken off guard in Elias' description and how he knew the layout since he had never been inside before. She held her curiosity for the moment.
“Good enough for me,” Alex replied, thirsting for action.
“I guess I'll just sit back and let the boys play,” Diane whispered unenthusiastically.
“What are you talking about?” Elias countered. “You have the most important job…”
“If you're about to say get us coffee or some bullshit like that, I will hit you,” Diane interjected. She maintained a serious face and waited for his response.
“You have our six,” Elias replied with a wink.
The schoolteacher lip-counted to three and then threw the door open, expecting to strike. The flashlight barely illuminated the room, but still both men moved with purpose. Alex followed Elias in and stuck to the left as planned.
They knew where the target was, but any number of scenarios could have been in play. Best case, Diane's patient was secured where she left him. Worst case, there was a deranged, infected man hiding somewhere in a dark room ready to strike from anywhere.
They were about to find out.
Seconds after Elias and Alex entered; Diane followed and reached for the lights to turn them on.
“Clear,” Elias said, releasing his defensive posture.
“Looks like our guest is still tucked in,” Alex declared, walking around the man in the center of the room.
The infected, shirtless man struggled restlessly to liberate himself from the leg, arm and head bindings, but the restraints were fixed securely to a gurney and appeared to be holding. Had it not been for the gag, the man’s moan
s and groans would have been strong enough to signal any other nearby infected.
“Nicely done, Eli. See, Alex, that's called a plan,” she said with a touch of sass, referencing Alex's bold assault earlier.
Alex rolled his eyes.
“Everyone, meet Bob,” Diane said, walking past the infected man to a particular cupboard on the far side of the room.
Alex inched closer to the man but said nothing.
Elias tugged on the leg strap to test the security. Satisfied, he turned to Diane and said, “Bob, huh? Name of a crazy ex or something?”
“I just made it up,” Diane admitted. She grabbed a pair of latex gloves and snapped them on. “But come to think of it...”
“Why do you need him?” asked Alex.
Diane put on protective glasses. Before she hooked a mask around her ears, she answered, “I need to harvest samples from a living source.”
“Living?” Alex repeated.
“You know what I mean. I need an active source. I tried to store blood samples, but the virus dies.” Both men appeared confused, so Diane provided them with a workable example. “Okay, say you kill one ofthem. Their blood and saliva remain ‘hot.’ Meaning the virus can still spread, but shortly after departing the host, it dies.”
“What’s the time frame?” Elias asked.
“Honestly? It’s hard to say. Without a dedicated staff and proper testing and-”
“Best guess, Doc,” Elias said, sensing a long speech filled with medical jargon.
“A minute? Maybe two?”
“Interesting.”
“So let me get this straight,” Alex said, circling Bob. “After one of these bastards dies or their blood has been outside of the body for a couple minutes, the virus can’t infect anyone else?”
“Exactly. Obviously the time frame is my best guess, so don’t go playing with the blood-”
“But all the kids are doing it these days!” Alex joked.
Diane rolled her eyes.
“Okay, well I am going to post up in the room across the way. It has the best view of the alley,” Elias said, making his way back to the door. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“Will do,” Diane said, voice muffled behind the protective cloth. She walked to the refrigeration unit located at the far side of the room and retrieved her samples.
On his way out, Elias stopped next to Alex. “A plan is always a good thing to have, but every now and then, you need a lil improv, too,” he said, followed by a wink.
Alex cracked a smile. He liked the appreciation.
1120 hours
Diane had transformed the simple medical room into a complex microbiology workstation. Before leaving the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, Diane had the forethought to bring with her all the essential equipment she would need to continue her quest for a vaccine. A white “HHS” insignia was plastered on each of the thirteen, forest-green cases scattered around the room. Most of the contents had long since been emptied and set up.
In the far corner of the room, Dr. Phillips worked tirelessly. She oscillated between scribbling notes on a legal sized pad of paper and peering intensely through a powerful microscope. Every so often, she looked back and checked both the centrifuge and, arguably more importantly, the incubator.
This particular incubator was a specialized and highly expensive two foot long cube of stainless steel that housed the final product of Diane’s year long efforts; the vaccine.
Alex sat on a stool near the entrance door and stared daggers at Bob. He fostered so much hatred for the infected. He knew they were once human, but what they were now, what they had become, Alex hated more than anything.
Diane cut a quick glance over her left shoulder. She noticed Alex’s flaring nostrils and could practically feel the anger permeating from his being.
“You alright over there, Alex?” She asked, before resting her eyes back on the microscope.
His response was quick and dry. “Ya, why?”
“No reason,” she said, lying. “So you wanna tell me about earlier?”
“I told you before, those men were in our way and needed to be taken out…”
“No. Not that. About what was going on with you, Collin, and Steve?”
“Oh,” he said, caught off guard. He fidgeted on the stool. “I-um- it was nothing. Just family shit. You wouldn't get it.”
“Try me,” Diane insisted.
Alex rose from the stool and inched closer to Bob.
As he drew near, Bob wrestled with the straps, pulling so hard, the skin around his wrists and forehead split and exposed bone.
“I don't think I'm ready for a Dr. Phil moment,” replied Alex. He tilted his head and gazed into Bob’s dark, lifeless eyes.
Diane pulled back from the microscope and stood up to face Alex.
“It's Phillips, not Phil,” she joked. She raised her arms up and bent backwards into full body stretch. She snapped off her gloves and removed her mask and eye protection. “But we both know what you meant.”
Alex cracked the ever-so-slightest of smiles before returning back to a face of ice-cold anger.
Diane chalked it up to a victory; considering it a good first step. From what she knew about Alex, he was always the comedian. Telling jokes, screwing off, and making fun of just about anyone and anything. But over the past six months, he had become cold, calloused, and closed off- at least that's how Collin put it.
“So you wanna tell me about this magical cure of yours?” Alex said, changing the subject. He extended his hand and dangled a finger over Bob's gagged mouth.
Bob craved liberation. He would do anything to taste Alex's flesh. His body squirmed and wrestled so intensely that the fabric on the right wrist strap tore ever so slightly.
The split in the strap went unnoticed as Alex pulled his hand back and walked over to Diane.
“What do you want to know?” she asked.
Before Alex could speak, they were interrupted by Elias' entry. “Knock, knock. Sorry to interrupt, Doc, but I just got off the radio with Larry and Cody. They came up with a pretty good score of food and are finishing up at the pharmacy. Should be back here in less than ten minutes. Thought you might want an update.”
“Thanks, Eli.”
“How's everything coming by the way?” he asked.
“Geez, you must be psychic. Alexjustasked me that. Why don't you come over here and check it out,” Diane said, waiving him over.
Both Elias and Alex tried reading Diane’s notes, but neither could decipher her chicken-scratch writing or even begin to make out what the various equations and variables meant. To facilitate their understanding, Diane had them look through the microscope.
“Mind telling us what we are looking at?” asked Elias, dumbfounded.
“Dude. Ditto,” Alex added, casting a look similar to Elias’.
“Thought you'd never ask,” she said, ripping out a blank piece of paper from her notepad. “So I'm going to skip over all the medical jargon and boil this thing down for you two. No offense.”
“None taken. I failed chem in high school,” Alex admitted.
“Dude. Ditto,” Elias followed up, sending another textbook wink to Alex.
“Okay, so here it goes,” she said, making some room on the desk for her illustration. Alex and Elias huddled over each of her shoulders.
“Based on the limited testing…”
“Whoa, limited testing?” Alex interrupted immediately. “I thought you were studying this stuff since the outbreak last year?”
“I was studying it. With teams of doctors, as a matter of fact. But diseases take time to study, Alex, especially when you don't even know what you'relooking for. And even more-so when you don't know what you'redealing with.” She could tell Alex was still apprehensive, so she continued. “Okay, let's just say you have a disease like, I don't know, rhinovirus. The common cold. We know the symptoms. We know what the virus looks like, more or less. Sure, it mutates, but the general structure of
the virus and its process has been mapped. Like hundreds of other diseases that have been studied. Follow me?”
Alex and Elias both nodded.
“Great, and let's hold our questions and comments to the end, okay?” She said playfully but with a serious undertone. She began to create amateur sketches of viral structures as she walked them through in layman's terms.
“So, by the time this disease finally made headlines, it was everywhere. Medical institutions from around the world were sending the CDC and DHHS updated lists of people and their symptomatology. Before we knew it, we had a pandemic on our hands. This thing spread so fast. Faster than anything before. But, for the scores that we didn't know, I did suspect one thing. This couldn't be a standard outbreak. You know, patient zero gets virus X and infects someone else and so on and so forth. We know those trends. Short of the apocalypse and God coming down from Heaven himself, thishadto be a manufactured and calculated attack.”
“Well, that's still a possibility. Dead back to life? Isn't that in the Bible?” Alex joked. He caught a glare from Diane and then zipped his lips shut. “Right, no interruptions.”
Elias, though, did have a serious question of his own.
“Wait, you really think someone could have made this disease and released it on the world? Isn't it possible that it was just some new disease? After all, what kind of a sick person would do that? Would even have the resources to do that?”
“Good question, and that's your only one ‘til the end,” she said, taking a sip from her canteen. “Yes, it is possible.Like I said, my mind wasn't set, it just got me thinking. But the reporting also made me question natural versus artificial. As I said, we received reports of close to a dozen cases from around the world, and it couldn't have been transmitted from some random businessmen, traveling from airport to airport. The incubation rate was, well is, just too quick- good thing it’s not airborne. Anyway, accounts of infection were literally timed-stamped to the same day, within hours in fact from hospitals around the world. I’m talking ones in Indonesia, Europe, Asia, Africa and America. You name a continent and there was at least one report. And the further along I got, the more certain I became. A few weeks before I left the CDC in Atlanta, my staff and I...we found it.”
The Longest Road (Book 2): The Change Page 6