Infection Z (Book 2): The Aftermath

by Gary Chesla

  The entire situation made her nervous.

  If Newb wouldn’t have been with her, Abbey might have just made a run for it.

  But there was something about the kid that made her want to believe what the Navy doctor was saying.

  Yesterday had been enjoyable, being with Newb.

  Being with another person again, talking about nothing in particular and just having another person near her.

  Even though it resulted in Abbey having to relive the nightmare of the day this had all started, deep down, she had longed to hear someone call her Abbey again.

  A voice other than her own saying, “Abbey.”

  It reminded Abbey that at one time, she had been a real person with a real life.

  The last month had made that part of her life feel like it had only been a dream and had never happened.

  When Newb, no, when Fran begged her to talk to this man, Abbey realized that she too was tired of running.

  She wanted to be with people again.

  She decided that it was time to take a chance, she didn’t feel that she really had too many options after listening to the doctor, but she decided, if not for herself, she would take the chance, so Fran wouldn’t have to.

  If it all worked out, then she and Fran might be able to start living like human beings again.

  If things didn’t work out, Abbey knew that she was better suited than Fran to deal with what might come next.

  If Fran ran, she still might have a chance.

  Abbey approached the site from the south.

  As she neared the edge of the brush that surrounded the food, she saw a man sitting on the food crate with his back to her.

  She watched him for a moment and determined that he was eating a candy bar.

  “That’s strange,” Abbey thought.

  She scanned the area, but didn’t see anything to indicate that there was anyone else hiding in wait.

  “Please come and join me,” Doc said, surprising Abbey.

  “How did you know I was here?” Abbey asked.

  “From watching how you approached the food the last few nights, I assumed you would again approach the site from the south,” Doc replied. “When I heard the grass rustle, I knew I was correct. Would you care for a peanut butter cup? They are my favorite. I have been saving this one since the day our base was overrun.

  I’ve been saving it for something special.”

  “So you saved it for today?” Abbey asked. “Do you consider today special?”

  “Being able to talk to the first survivor we have been able to find is something special,” Doc replied. “But the truth is, I figured there was a remote possibility that you would just show up and shoot me in the back. I didn’t want to die without eating this candy bar that I have been saving for so long. Besides, if I were to die, having the taste of a peanut butter cup as the last thing I would experience wouldn’t be a bad way to go. Are you sure you wouldn’t want one? I have one left.”

  “No thanks,” Abbey replied. “now what do you want to talk about?”

  “I have basically told you what I hoped to do,” Doc replied. “I was thinking that you might want to ask me some questions first. I do have many questions, but they can wait until I have answered all your questions.”

  “All right,” Abbey replied. “I had asked you how many men where in your group and you said you didn’t want to tell me that over the radio. So how many men do you have?”

  “Including myself, there are six of us,” Doc replied.

  “Is that all?” Abbey asked.

  “Unfortunately, yes,” Doc replied as he turned to face Abbey. “I was stationed at Fallon Naval Air Station with twenty-five hundred men. When the infection began to spread, our base was overrun by thousands of the infected.

  The five men and myself were the only ones to survive.”

  “How did you manage to survive?” Abbey asked.

  “Towards the end, we made a plan to fly as many men as we could to Granite Mountain to escape the infected,” Doc replied. “However, we were overrun before we had completed our plans.

  Only two helicopters managed to get off the ground. One helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff.

  My helicopter made it to Granite Mountain, but not until three of our men became infected during the trip. The helicopter crashed on Granite Mountain, killing the pilot, Fortunately the rest of us survived. Do you know where Granite Mountain is?”

  “Yes, I lived in Salt Lake City,” Abbey replied. “I’m familiar with that mountain.”

  “You then probably know about the records facility that existed on the mountain, however what few people knew was that the government had used the records facility as a diversion to build a doomsday vault there. The vault contains all the food, supplies and equipment that a small group of survivors would need to live for ten years and hopefully allow mankind to avoid extinction.”

  Abbey thought for a moment.

  “Do you know how many others survived?” she asked.

  “I am not positive, it took us some time to discover that you were here, but from my best estimates, beside my men, you and your friend are all that is left,” Doc replied.

  “Do you know how this disaster began?” Abbey asked.

  “A Russian satellite carrying biological weapons was destroyed and fell into the earth’s atmosphere,” Doc replied. “The virus, code named the Z virus, was then spread across the world. Do you remember seeing any orange rain? That’s how the virus started to infect the population. Once people became infected and turned into for lack of a better word, zombies, the living were overrun in a matter of days.

  But I don’t have to tell you that, you lived through it, you saw it happen with your own eyes.”

  “So you are interested in me because you haven’t been able to find anyone else?” Abbey asked.

  “I’m interested in you because you are alive,” Doc replied. “I admit the prospects do not appear good, but I plan to continue to search for other survivors. But I must also admit that I do have an ulterior interest in you and your friend.”

  “Surprise!” Abbey said and began to look around expecting to see men jumping out of the brush to capture her.

  “My ulterior motive is that I am curious to know why the two of you have not been infected,” Doc said.

  “We haven’t been infected because we were smart enough to not let ourselves get bitten.” Abbey replied.

  “Before the zombies began attacking the living to spread the infection, people became directly infected by the virus carried in the rain,” Doc said. “The infected bodies or zombies have decayed and fallen apart, no longer able to function. However the virus itself is still alive and capable of infecting anyone that comes into contact with it.

  Soil and air samples have shown the concentration of the virus here around Stone is four times higher than it is back at Granite Mountain.

  I am risking infection by just sitting here talking to you.”

  “Maybe you should have worn a surgical mask to talk with me,” Abbey said.

  “Masks are not effective against this virus,” Doc replied.

  “But a good surgical mask can filter out a virus as small as 20 nanometers,” Abbey said. “The only thing smaller than that is the porcine circovirus.”

  “The porcine circovirus is five hundred percent larger than the Z virus. I have not found a practical method of filtering the virus,” Doc replied. “May I also say, I am impressed.”

  Abbey blushed slightly.

  “I was a nurse at Salt Lake City General,” she replied. “It has been a while. It just sort of slipped out without thinking.”

  “So you may have an idea then about what we are facing,” Doc replied. “But I am sure you are not aware that the zombies that attacked you here the other night had been dead for at least a month before they became infected, were reanimated and then attacked you.”

  “How is that possible?” Abbey asked then added, “how is any of this possible?”
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br />   “The Russian Z virus was programed to attack the mind and drive a person insane,” Doc replied.

  “When the virus mutated in space, it changed into something we had never seen before. However it did retain its original mission to attack and take over the brain.

  How it managed to reanimate the body was something we never had the opportunity to determine. How any of this is possible I do not know. All I know is that is happening and at this time all we can do is try to survive the best we can. Since you have been living out here all this time, I believe that your immune system may have some clues as to how we can protect ourselves.”

  “I guess we may never be able to understand any of this,” Abbey said.

  “You are probably right,” Doc replied then asked. “If I may, I would like to ask you one question. I know I said I would wait until later, but I feel now it is the appropriate time for my question.”

  “Alright, what do you want to know?” Abbey asked.

  “What is your name,” Doc asked. “I am Doctor Thomas Kennedy, but most people just call me Doc. It would only be polite to call you by your name.”

  “My name is Fl………” Abbey paused, then slowly replied. “You can call me Abbey.”

  “Thank You, Abbey,” Doc replied. “Sorry for the interruption, you may continue with your questions.”

  “If I came with you, what would you want from me?” Abbey asked.

  “Well Abbey, professionally, I think your skills would make you the perfect candidate to work with me on research and overseeing the health of our group. But first I would need to take a blood sample and place you in isolation for twenty-four hours to be sure that you would not pose a threat to the others,” Doc replied. “Personally, whatever personal relationships you would care to explore are your own business. I would only ask that if you do discover that is something you would like to explore, that you do so in such a way so as not to create any conflict between the others. I believe you understand what I mean.”

  “What about my friend?” Abbey asked.

  “I know she is younger and probably does not have any particular skills. I would assume she would stay under your watchful eye. We can have her do small jobs until we identify a way she can fit in.”

  “We have a dog,” Abbey added.

  Doc laughed. “Is it house trained?”

  “I don’t think so but I’m not sure,” Abbey replied. “But he is a cute little guy.”

  “No problem,” Doc laughed.

  “And what if we don’t want to go with you?” Abbey asked looking serious.

  “I would be disappointed, of course,” Doc replied. “It is dangerous for you to stay out here, even more dangerous than you realize. However, the choice is yours. None of us knows how much time we have left. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Together, life just might be a little better for us all. Who knows, we might even have a future.

  If you don’t want to join us, I will continue to drop food for you when we can, for as long as our fuel holds out.”

  Abbey nodded in thought.

  “I have a question that has been bothering me since we saw you meet with you friend,” Doc said. “Were you able to communicate with her to arrange the time and place of your meeting, or was it arranged before-hand in person?”

  “We had been communicating for over a month before we met,” Abbey said. “Until we met out on Route 84, I had never seen her before.”

  “How were you communicating? Doc asked.

  “We communicated by CB radio,” Abbey replied.

  “Where did you find CB radios?” Doc asked.

  “In the mountains and out here in the desert, you can find a CB in just about every pickup truck,” Abbey replied. “One day when I was on the run, I hid in a pickup that was abandoned along the road. While I was in the truck, I heard people talking, so I grabbed the mic and started talking to the voices to find out what was going on.”

  “Are there many others out there using CBs?” Doc asked.

  “At first, there were thirty or forty people talking on the air every night,” Abbey replied. “But after the last few weeks, there were only three of us left. A few days ago, we all made arrangements to meet here near Stone because of the food you were putting here.”

  “Three people?” Doc asked.

  “Yes, Fran, John and myself,” Abbey replied. “But we lost contact with John two days ago. We don’t know if something happened to him or if he is has just gone silent because it isn’t safe to get on the air where he is.”

  “Do you think John is still alive?” Doc asked. “Could he still be on his way here to meet up with you?”

  “It’s possible,” Abbey replied. “There could be a lot of reasons we haven’t heard from him. It could be that his battery went dead and he hasn’t been able to find a new one yet where he is. Finding batteries that still had a charge was becoming a problem the last couple of weeks.”

  “Did you have a specific place where you were to meet up with John?” Doc asked.

  “No, we were going to talk when he got closer,” Abbey replied. “Do you think you could keep an eye out for him with your satellite? If he doesn’t have a CB any longer, he would never find us out here.”

  “We can do that,” Doc smiled. “Do you have any more questions for me?”

  “I’m sure I do, but this is so overwhelming, I can’t think of any more right now,” Abbey answered.

  But Abbey had heard enough in the short time she had talked with Doctor Kennedy.

  She had always been a good judge of character, or at least she thought she was.

  Abbey had heard enough to know what she felt she should do.

  But she had one final test she needed to do, to see what would happen, to confirm if the gut feeling she had was right.

  “No, nothing more for now,” Abbey said.

  “I am going to call for the helicopter now,” Doc said. “If you wish, you may go back to Granite Mountain with us, or you can take a day to think about it. I honestly hope that you decide to join us today. I’m sure you realize that between now and tomorrow, anything could happen.”

  Doc picked up the walkie talkie.

  “Rogers, are you still awake?” Doc asked.

  “Yes, Sir,” Rogers laughed.

  “Come get me,” Doc said, “It’s time to go home.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want this last peanut butter cup?” Doc asked.

  “Since I didn’t shoot you, you can save it for something special again,” Abbey smiled.

  “I am, and I would like for you to have it,” Doc replied. “There isn’t anything better than a peanut butter cup. I have always considered a good peanut butter cup to be one of life’s little pleasures.”

  “Thanks,” Abbey replied, moved closer to Doc and took the candy bar.

  Abbey nervously watched as the small helicopter came over the horizon and slowly landed next to the crate.

  Rogers looked at Abbey, smiled and waved.

  Doc slowly walked to the helicopter, turned and looked back at Abbey.

  Abbey waved and watched to see what the men were going to do.

  Would they just get in the helicopter and leave, or would they rush out and grab her, or maybe they would shoot her with some kind of tranquilizer dart and take her that way.

  Doc turned and got into the helicopter and buckled in.

  He smiled at Abbey and tapped Rogers on the shoulder.

  The helicopter slowly began to rise up in the air.

  When the helicopter was about a hundred feet in the air, Abbey began to frantically wave her arms.

  For a moment, she thought that they didn’t see her, but then the craft hovered for a second, then stared to drop back down towards Abbey.

  She ran to the other side of the crate and waited for the helicopter to land and the rotors to stop spinning.

  Abbey walked over to the helicopter as Doc opened the door.

  “If the offer still stands, we would like to go with you,”
Abbey said.

  “Was this a test,” Doc smiled.

  “A girl has to be careful,” Abbey grinned.

  “I wouldn’t have expected anything less from you,” Doc said.

  “You knew I would wave you back, didn’t you?” Abbey asked.

  Doc smiled, “Get in the back and we’ll take you over to the farmhouse to pick your friend.”

  “Her name is Fran,” Abbey replied. “And if you don’t mind waiting for another fifteen minutes, I think it would be best if I went over first and told her that we will be leaving with you. I told her if she heard the helicopter flying around the farmhouse before I got back, that she should make a run for it. Just give me a few minutes to reach the house then come on over.”

  Abbey reached the house as she heard the helicopter lift off in the distance.

  Snoop and Fran were sitting on the floor next to the bicycle which had been packed to look like a pack mule.

  The CB and battery were in the basket with a suitcase of food tied on top of the basket.

  Snoop was in the pouch, anxiously looking around and Fran appeared nervous.

  When Abbey opened the door, Fran jumped up and grabbed the handlebars of the bike and looked at Abbey.

  “We’re going to go with the men on the helicopter,” Abbey said. “I think you were right, they seemed like nice people.”

  Fran looked excited and began to smile, then her look changed to a serious expression.

  “What about John?” Fran asked.

  “Bring the CB,” Abbey said. “We’ll keep getting on the air until we contact him. I’m sure the Navy guys will go pick him up when we find him, in fact they agreed to use their satellite to help us find him.”

  “Are you sure?” Fran asked.

  “I’m certain,” Abbey said. “When we contact John, we’ll have him come here and stay at the house with the food. That way he will have a place to stay and food to eat until they come and get him.”