Saturday, June 20th
Chapter 24
Deep in the woods of the Mark Twain National Forest, Jen sat next to the Jeep Grand Cherokee, stitching up a cut on her thigh. She slipped the circular stitching needle in and out of her flesh, making a neat criss-cross pattern with the thread, and then cinched the stitch tight and knotted it off. The trickle of blood from the wound ceased, and she wiped the remaining blood away with a towel then trimmed the excess thread. Still sickened by the sight of blood, she was elated that she had been able to stitch herself up.
It was as if something had snapped inside of her after she picked up the gore-covered pistol. She knew that if she hadn't overcome her fears and picked up the gun, she wouldn't be alive right now. The real danger had come from a much larger life form of life than the microbial variety she was obsessed with. Rich was a sick individual. There was no reasoning with people like that. She didn't feel one iota of guilt about shooting him either. Whatever his emotional issues were that led to the tragedy didn't change the fact that he was a murderous asshole that deserved to die. Nothing could excuse what he'd done.
Jen cleaned up the remaining emergency medical supplies from the Jeep and stuffed them back into a backpack along with some cans of food and bottles of water. The vehicle and trailer had been loaded with supplies, enough to keep each member of the neighborhood going for two weeks, which were now strewn about in a disordered mess around the wreckage. It was way more than she could carry. The supplies had been planned to supply the entire neighborhood, whose population had shrunk. Eva, Lance, and Rich were dead. Robin's husband Bert had been taken away. She wondered if anyone else had gotten out of the neighborhood safely, and if she should try to find them.
The Jeep was totaled. She wouldn't be driving it anywhere. She had food and water and could walk, but wasn't sure where to go. After the wild ride through the forest trails, she was turned around and couldn't tell which direction the neighborhood was in. Uncertain what to do, she followed the best advice she had to go by. Something Mike had told her. If you were lost and had food, water, and shelter, the best thing you could do is sit tight and wait for rescue. With the supplies in the Jeep, she had all three bases covered.
Emotionally and physically drained, Jen took a sleeping bag out of the Jeep and unrolled it on the ground. She lay down and closed her eyes, trying to shut out the horrors she had witnessed earlier in the day. Her anxious mind turned to her parents, wondering how she would get ahold of them. Their cell phones had been stolen in Barcelona. The home phone was incinerated by the soldiers, and now her cell phone was lost, tossed into the woods somewhere by Rich. Even if her parents found a phone, they wouldn't know where to reach her.
The woods were quiet aside from the chirping of songbirds, but she couldn't calm her mind down enough to rest. She lay there watching the canopy leaves in the forest rustle in the wind, and was finally able to relax.
Jen was brought out of her meditative state by a change in the background noise. All of the birds had gone quiet, and the forest went completely silent.
Jen opened her eyes, alert for signs of danger. She perked her ears up, listening, and heard voices in the distance. Afraid that the soldiers had found her, she rolled up the sleeping bag and slung it over her shoulder, then ran a short ways away and hid behind a patch of thick underbrush.
Figures ascended the hill towards the wrecked Jeep, partially obscured by the thick foliage of trees, their voices becoming louder as they approached. The approaching figures hit a clear patch of woods and Jen saw their faces, nearly bursting into tears. She left her hiding spot and ran out to greet them.
"Robin! Mike!" she called out.
Aaron had his arm slung over Mike's neck, limping along. Kelly walked next to her mother, but ran up the trail towards Jen when she saw her. Ted and his mother straggled several yards behind the others.
With the little girl approaching, Jen became aware of Rich's body lying a few feet away. She quickly unrolled the sleeping bag and tossed it over the corpse. Riddled with bullet holes and sitting in a pool of congealed blood, he wasn't a pretty sight to see. Certainly nothing she wanted a six-year-old to witness. Jen ran out to meet Kelly, and hugged her tight. She was greatly relieved to see that she had survived the ordeal.
Mike eased Aaron to the ground, and then flopped down next to him. Rivulets of sweat ran down Mike's shirtless torso. "Are you ok? What happened to the truck? Where's Rich?" he asked.
"I'm OK. I wrecked the truck though," Jen said. "Rich is dead."
Robin jerked her head up, her eyebrows arched upward with interest. "What? How did he die? Did he hurt you?"
"He didn't hurt me," Jen looked over at Kelly, who was picking up pinecones a few yards away, then dropped her voice low so the girl wouldn't hear. "I shot him."
Mike jerked his head up this time, his eyes wide. "Huh. Are you sure he's dead? Where's his body?"
Jen pointed over to the sleeping bag. "See for yourself."
Robin and Mike glanced over toward the sleeping bag. Mike got to his and peeled back a corner of the sleeping bag, then nodded his head in appreciation, then covered the body back up. "They don't get much deader than that."
"Mike. Give me my cigarettes. You promised," Aaron said, his hand extended.
"Not yet Aaron. I said I'd give them to you when we were safe. We're not safe yet." He walked around the Jeep, inspecting the damage, and then picked through the supplies littered about the vehicle. Shaking his head, he faced the group.
"There's good news and bad news. The good news is that we got away. We've got food, water, and tents. The bad news is that we're going to have to carry it all with us wherever we decide to go. The Jeep is shot. We need to go somewhere though. We're only three miles from the neighborhood, we need to put more distance between the soldiers and us. If I can follow the truck's tracks, you'd better believe they can too."
"Do you think they'll follow us?" Ted asked.
"I don't think so, but there's no way to know for certain. I don't want to risk it. They didn't go inside any of the houses, so they might think we were all inside our homes when they torched them. From what I can gather, their job is to sterilize buildings that have been contaminated with Shanxi, and anybody near those buildings. Rich marked all of our houses, but I doubt he gave them a list with all of our names on it."
"Where should we go?" Sherri asked. "Our homes are gone. We've got nothing left."
Mike shook his head, and looked out over the landscape. "I don't know. We could try to find a roof over our heads, but with what just happened in our neighborhood, we might want to lay low for a while. Half of the country is a hot zone for Shanxi. With all of the refugees fleeing the city, I'd stay away from unoccupied buildings. We have no way to tell if an infected person stayed there or not."
"We have tents and sleeping bags. I've lived in worse doing foreign aid work in Africa. We went into remote spots with no cell phone--" Robin said. "That reminds me. I've got something of yours."
Robin tossed an object to her, and Jen caught it in mid air. "My cell phone! Where did you find it?"
"I tried to call you several times after Mike got us out of the cabin. I heard it ringing off to the side of the trail."
Tears of joy welled up in her eyes. With the phone, there was some hope of finding her parents. "Thank you!"
"Outside?" Sherri asked. "Teddy bear, they want us to live in the woods?"
Ted's face reddened, and he wrapped his arm around his mother. "I think we should listen to Robin and Mike. They kept us safe so far."
"You said we can't stay here. Where would be safer? Further into the woods?" Robin asked.
"More walking?" Aaron moaned.
Mike nodded. "I think it's the best option. The further away we are from people right now, the better. Let's move off the trail and go cross-country until we find a good spot. Somewhere secluded. What do you think?"
Jen was torn. If she went further into the woods, she would lose the single bar of c
ell reception she had now. Plus her cell phone was almost out of battery. If her parents tried to call, she wouldn't be able to answer. On the other hand, she could have been killed earlier today if she had been napping on the couch when the soldiers burned the houses down. The Shanxi virus was out there too, and she didn't want to be anywhere near it. Maybe she could stay with the group for a little while, just until a vaccine was found or the virus ran its course.
"Why not. I don't have anywhere else to be," Jen said.
One by one, each member of the group nodded in agreement.
Mike moved over to the back of the Jeep and began pulling items out, stacking them into separate piles on the forest floor. "Come on Ted, give me a hand."
Over the next hour, Mike and Ted unloaded the truck, and he gave instructions to each member of the group. Jen was responsible for picking out what medical supplies they would need for an extended stay in the woods. They couldn't carry everything with them all at once, there was simply too much. They would have to pack in the bare necessities, just in case they couldn't come back to the Jeep. Mike and Ted divided the food into several large packs, and then split the camping gear and tents among the group. Ted, Mike, Robin, and Jen carrying the bulk of the items. Aaron, Sherri, and Kelly would have a hard enough time just traversing over the rugged terrain.
Jen lifted the heavy frame pack onto her shoulders and adjusted the straps so that the weight rode on her hips and not her lower back. She was surprised at how much was left in the Jeep. If they were able to come back, there would be several trips worth of gear and food waiting for them.
Wiping her nose on the back of her hand, she noticed the dirt under her fingernails and smiled, realizing what she'd just done. Her mind started to go down a familiar course, searching her pockets for hand sanitizer. Jen reminded herself of her victory in the Jeep, closed her eyes and counted to twenty. The compulsion to wash her hands was there, but muted. Something had broken inside of her, but in a good way. She was able to push the thoughts away. Full of newfound self-confidence, she stuck her thumbs underneath the straps of the heavy frame pack to keep them from digging into her shoulders and began to walk. The pack was heavy, but another load had been lifted from her mind, a much heavier load. She new she could do whatever she had to in order to survive.
Saturday, June 20th
Chapter 25
Long fingerlike shadows grew across the valley as the sunset, cast by trees standing far above along the ridge. Not yet dark, a full moon was already visible in the sky. A strong breeze blew through the valley, rustling leaves and carrying the first hint of the cooler temperatures that the night would bring. Two hours had passed since they had last seen any signs of human presence in the forest. A well-worn gravel road, unused in quite some time. Just one of the many forgotten travel arteries leading through the vast wilderness of the Mark Twain National Forest. To make sure that they were deep enough into the woods to avoid others, Mike led the group cross-country over two rugged mountain ridges, descending along a treacherously narrow rock face. As the more difficult terrain transitioned into rolling hills, Mike followed a game trail that led to a secluded glade deep in the forest.
Mike dropped his pack to the ground and drank the last of the water in his bottle. Overheated, he pulled up his shirt to enjoy the breeze. It was only eighty degrees outside, and the breeze felt good, but between the heavy pack and the rugged terrain, he was sweating like a stuck pig. He grabbed another water bottle out of the backpack and handed it to Aaron.
The old man had somehow tapped into an inner reserve of strength, and kept pace with the group during the hike. He was the first to arrive in the glade after Mike, and sat down in the shade, his back to a tree. His eyes closed as soon as his head rested against the tree. Even without a pack, Mike knew the hike had pushed him past the point of exhaustion. He wasn't sweating and his face was beet red. Sure signs of dehydration.
"Want that cigarette now?" Mike asked, handing him the bottle of water.
"Asshole" Aaron wheezed, taking the bottle. "That was some nature hike."
Mike sat with Aaron for a few moments, worried that he had pushed him too hard. Aaron finished the bottle of water, and seemed to breathe more easily.
"Now give me those cigarettes you bum," Aaron said.
Mike snickered and passed the pack of cigarettes and lighter over, happy to see Aaron had recovered some of his snarky attitude.
With Aaron sorted out, he back down the trail to check on the rest of the group and help the stragglers. Robin nearly walked into him as she plodded along the trail, head down watching the path. "Whoa. Want some help with that pack?"
Robin shook her head vigorously, slinging beads of sweat free from her forehead. "I'm good. Are we there?"
"Yeah." Mike said. Kelly came around the corner, skipping down the trail and holding a pair of cattail's she'd found in a pond earlier. Mike smiled, wishing he could put trauma behind him as easily as the child. She seemed to have completely forgotten the ordeal in the neighborhood. Jen followed a short distance behind Kelly, sunburnt and sweating, limping underneath the weight of the pack.
"Are you all right?" Mike asked.
"My leg is sore where Rich hit me with the rock. I stitched it earlier. It's bruised and sore," Jen said. "I'll be ok."
"I'll start putting up the tents. Everyone is exhausted and needs to rest," Robin said. "I take it we're not going to build a fire tonight?"
Mike nodded in agreement. "That would be prudent. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves. I'll see if the others need help and then put up a tarp to keep the gear dry when I get back."
He pressed on for a while and found Ted and Sherri sitting on the forest floor next to the trail, trailing far behind the rest of the group. Ted's face was beet red, the sides of his neck almost purple. He'd taken off his shoes and socks and groaned loudly, rubbing his feet. A lifetime of physical inactivity and playing video games in a dimly lit basement had left him ill prepared for carrying a fifty-pound pack through the mountains on a sunny day. Ted had a serious sunburn, and would have severe muscle pain in the morning.
"How are those feet? Blisters?"
"You know it man. My feet are killing me." Ted said.
Sherri shot a stern look at Mike. "How much further? My Teddy bear can't carry this for much longer. It's too heavy, and he's not used to physical labor."
Mike bit his lip to keep from smirking. "I know he's not. The campsite is not much further. I'll carry his pack."
Ted slipped his shoes back on, wincing as he got to his feet. Holding his hand out, he helped his mother stand up and then limped down the trail to the campsite.
Mike shouldered the heavy frame pack and followed them back to camp. When they arrived, he was surprised to see that Robin had already set up one tent and had begun to erect a second. Aaron appeared fully recovered, leaning back against a tree with a cigarette between his fingers, complaining to Robin about the placement of his tent.
Mike dumped the frame pack next to the others and set to work hanging a tarp above the supplies to keep them dry. He took a length of cord from one of the packs, and strung it up between two trees, then planted stakes in the ground and tied down the corners of the tarp. It would keep the supplies sheltered against anything but a torrential downpour.
The supplies secured, he sat down leaning against a tree. He was sore from carrying the gear on the long hike. As soon as the tents were up, he planned on eating some food and sleeping straight through until morning.
Across the camp, he spotted Kelly sitting alone, her head hung low. It looked like she was crying about something. He wondered what had happened. Moments ago she had been skipping along the trial, seemingly unaffected by the long hike and the incidents in the neighborhood. Robin was busy setting up their tents, so he walked over to see if he could find out what the problem was and help.
"Hey, what's going on?"
Kelly looked up at him, her lips pursed together, frowning. She didn't say a word, and f
idgeted, pulling bits of the cattail apart.
Jen walked over next to Kelly and sat down. He wasn't the only one who had noticed the girl was upset.
"What's the matter Kelly? Can you talk to me?" Jen asked.
The little girl glanced at Mike suspiciously, then leaned over and whispered in Jen's ear, her hand hiding her mouth.
"She's fine. Just a little tired, that's all," Jen said, then silently mouthed the real issue.
She's afraid of the dark.
Mike thought back to his own childhood camping experiences with his mother and father, several miles away in these very woods. A vivid picture came back to him of one of their earliest trips, and he recalled having similar anxieties, and how his father had calmed him as a little boy.
"Have you been camping with your mom and dad?"
"No," Kelly said, lifting her head up.
"Did you know that I used to go camping not too far from here with my parents when I was a little boy, just about the same age as you are right now. Can I tell you a secret?"
Kelly nodded, still pouting.
"You promise not to tell anybody?" Mike asked. "I'd be really embarrassed if anybody found out. Especially Ted."
Kelly leaned forward conspiratorially, her interest piqued.
"When I was a little boy, I was scared of the dark. I didn't want to go camping. My parents made me go, but all I wanted was to go home. I thought that once the sun went down it would be pitch black and I wouldn't be able to see anything. Who knows what could be out there in the dark, right?"
Kelly nodded, her eyes widening with fear.
"But when the sun went down, do you know what happened? Something magic! The moon was so bright, it was almost as if there was a nightlight on, lighting up the whole forest. And then there are the stars, millions of them. More than you can see at home. If you're lucky you might even see a shooting star. And that's not all. Guess what else comes out after dark."
The Shanxi Virus: An epidemic survival story Page 15