by C. Martens
Waiting for the couple to disappear the next morning, the girl peeked from behind her curtain. Finally the two appeared, and after adjusting their fanny packs, they marched off. Anxiously, the girl waited. Trusting that they would remain gone for the day, she raised the garage door and pulled her small car from it. The door closed automatically as she waited. The little car, well used and in need of tires, accelerated sedately up the road. She pulled into the first drive outside the development that she came to.
Hidden behind the farmhouse, the girl parked and locked her ride. Some habits die hard. Now that she had her car outside of the garage, she had no use for another vehicle. She spent the rest of the day exploring the barn and outbuildings between efforts to find something fun on her link. Had it not been so strange, and had she not been so paranoid, it would have been fun. The house loomed near, but she knew there would be no people coming out to confront her. It was spooky.
The UTV passed by on schedule. She let it go. There was no reason to follow closely, as there were few options on the dead end toward the beach.
Her car followed silently with its quiet, little electric power-plant. She slowed at every house as she passed, peering intently for any signs of activity and finding none, moved on. The last place at the end of the road was the lighthouse museum and the campground. The parking lot of the museum was empty, so they had to be at the campground. She found a site just as she pulled in that hid the car. She would approach on foot from here.
For an amateur, the girl was surprisingly good at being silent. Perhaps the practice she had in stalking people in school helped.
Usually the couple got back to the house by dark, but tonight they had built a fire and sat eating burnt marshmallows as they chatted with a strange boy she had never seen.
He had arrived from the beach on the back of a spotted horse, bareback, and disappeared toward the back of the campground. As the others unloaded wood from their buggy, he reappeared without the horse.
Canned goods were placed in a blue container on the ground, and one of the white jugs was opened and poured in. The two living close to her stayed away from the single man. It confirmed her suspicions. They must be infected.
As dusk approached the couple built and lit a fire.
The girl cursed silently. She wanted to get back, not used to being outside in the dark. But she was curious. She would stay and watch from the bushes, listening to the laughter until the couple departed. Afterward, the young man sat watching the embers die down in the fire. Finally he got up and poured the liquid from his drink on them.
Driving the little car slowly back to the farmhouse in the moonglow, without lights, the girl had much to think about.
§
Prior to the plagues, earth’s population stood at well over twelve billion, although numbers are never accurate when dealing with living things. One plague, the first, was designed to leave significant portions of society intact. It would have left the center of the United States, east to west, with many branches north and south, critical industries and agriculture unharmed. The same held true for other locations in the world being exempted by intent. The people instigating the development and release had planned to save mankind from itself by severe population control.
The second plague, related but independent from the first, was designed to only save a select few based on ethnicity and was programmed to favor females otherwise. Targeting specifically those areas that the first plague was intended to miss, it was supposed to be a catchall that covered the globe in death. The man that designed that plan intended to save his family and place them in a position of power. He justified the act in the name of religion.
Plague number three waited in a granite vault as a contingency against aggression and was released with the purpose to protect a cloistered society. In the process, it was distributed as a tool to avenge the world and specifically targeted the family of the second plague designer.
None of the three plagues hit their mark. None did exactly what they were intended or designed to do. In the end that mattered not one iota. The combination of the three decimated the human population of the earth. They created the very apocalypse that man had feared as accidental. Post plague, right around six months from inception, the population of the earth would be roughly a million and three quarters. But that was not the end of the apocalypse.
People in the more populated Northern Hemisphere would have to get through winter. The cold was not an issue, and neither was starvation. Systems were autonomous and continued to function, and foodstuffs still crowded shelves in temperature controlled buildings.
Once survivors realized the numbers, the loneliness was what got to people. Between suicides and being too young to take care of themselves properly, as well as stupid accidents as people did crazy things without society to oversee their asinine activity, the remaining population plummeted further. The death toll from reasons other than the plagues was spectacular by any standard of normalcy.
The statistics would take years to stabilize completely, but of the contagion survivors, over eighty-eight percent died the first year post plague. The final figures could be argued if there were anyone with the ability to provide reliable counts, but the figure was eerily close to one hundred and forty-four thousand.
Perhaps prophesy is true. Or it was entirely coincidence.
§
The leaves changed slowly. In the pacific coastal rain forest there are many conifers, yew and western white, lodgepole, known as shore pines on the coast, and a subspecies of ponderosa, benthamiana…and many others. The color came from the deciduous shrubs and bushes, mostly, and in the neighborhoods from transplanted and non-native species.
One of the strange things about humans is that they will often find a location which is attractive for the view and then immediately plant trees that block it. The community Andy and Chloe inhabited was no different. Most of the houses had trees that were inserted into the landscape early and had flourished. Some were fairly large by now.
Chloe did not know what variety it was, but the large tree in the next cul-de-sac was magnificent. Not only large, it also had turned earlier than others and was in full display. At first the tree went yellow in spots between the green. Days later the yellow had gone orange and more yellow had shown up. Then the orange went red, the yellow orange, and more of the green yellow. Now it was a quatrophotonia of color, and other trees were turning as well.
Being one of the late comers to the infectious reality, staying isolated as they had, the young lovers had outlasted many. Occasionally they would suggest to each other that the illness they had experienced was just a cold and that it was not what they expected. But in their hearts they knew what was coming. Even if they were wrong, they were living as though these days were their last.
Life was good. Having time alone suited them. They made the most of everything they could. One thing they did not do was make plans for the future.
One of the things that Chloe valued above all others in their retreat from society was that she had gotten an implanted birth control in her arm before Andy made shore. At first it was good to know that she was free of that worry because they were without any comforts or stable environment. Now she was glad that a third life was protected by being avoided.
Even had she survived, she would have questioned the idea of repopulating the world. As she and Andy foraged, she knew that survivors were going to be left in a world of plenty. No one would have to labor or toil or even plan for contingencies. All they would have to do was break into buildings. That was not going to be difficult. Even the alarms would call no one. The most difficult obstacle to survival would be to avoid stupidity or to open a can as necessary. She did realize that some people would not be able to accept the new reality, and they would fall by the wayside by their own hand.
That thought was her single largest concern with her little brother. She wanted to protect him. She thought about him all the time now. Even when she was with Andy. Even in
intimate moments.
Seeing Emmett with the horse, and seeing the care and affection that had developed, gave her hope. In her down moments, though, she understood that Emmett could just take the bridle off and turn the pony loose, and then what would happen? Optimistic by nature, Chloe tried not to dwell on things she had no control over.
Protecting Chloe was a pleasure for Andy. He had worried that somehow in their last days one of the bounty hunters, the hit men hired by the Arabs, would show up and ruin their time together. As time went on, however, he changed his attitude. He would rather go down in defending the woman he loved from violence than this slow march to a conclusion they would both be aware of as it was happening. The waiting sucked. Where were the killers? He was determined at the least to survive Chloe. He did not want to leave her alone and afraid.
They were walking hand in hand and had just been admiring the big tree when Andy sneezed. Chloe had been feeling a tickle in her nose as well but had avoided mentioning it. They said nothing to each other. The day was young. By that evening, though, both had a light cold.
Some of the discussions they had with Emmett had been about their last meeting. Andy had insisted that once they had symptoms, they would not be coming to see him. They might be particularly infectious and would certainly not want to jeopardize all their efforts by being stupid in the end.
At the time, Chloe had disagreed, but Andy’s arguments made sense, so she was swayed, reluctantly. Now they were conflicted by the decision. In the end they resisted the impulse to see Emmett.
The girl behind the curtains wondered as the couple sat on the porch across the court from her when they would normally be leaving toward the beach. She understood when they each exhibited signs of a cold.
Emmett had forgotten the plan until his sister and her boyfriend failed to show up. Now he felt a great urge to leap on his horse and ride to his sister. He remembered Andy’s words and cursed him and his logic. He sat on his porch, not sleeping, all night.
Building a huge fire, much like the first they had in the house on arrival, Andy determined to stay up as well. He urged Chloe to go to bed in the belief that rest would protect her and that his coming in to check on her sleeping form would as well. But the young woman pushed him to the couch and snuggled up under his shoulder, laying her head on his chest.
During the night Chloe drifted off, and on waking in her disturbed sleep, she realized that Andy’s chest was silent. The fire had died down, and it was dark. Rising, she made her way to the front door and propped it open so the cat could get out. Then Chloe returned to the couch and snuggled in once more, as close as she could. Andy had no reason to be concerned. She was not afraid.
Chapter 16
Somewhere in Mexico City, in one of the huge earthscrapers designed and built deep into the ground to alleviate the press of humanity that the city was known for, a fine lady sipped her third mezcal. The strong drink was not going to agree with her new liver buds. She knew the risk, but the doctors were all gone, and she would have to make decisions for herself now. At least until her sons came to rescue her. Then she would allow her sons to think that they were making the decisions she would give them to make.
Inocencia Julieta Ophelia Servantes-Rodriguez missed her boys. They had not come to visit for ages. Surely, they were not too busy. She had made sure that they both understood the priority of their mother in their lives.
Miguel was so tall and handsome and a doctor. Not a real doctor, just an optician, but still doctor enough that she could brag about him. Inocencia had been after him recently to get back in school and finish becoming a real doctor. She was so disappointed when he declined, but she thought he was beginning to see the path he should take. Soon he would listen to his Mamá.
The younger son, a boy really to his mother, was her pride. Jesús was such a trouble maker, and it was all she could do to deny the awful rumors that everyone told of him. He was not drug-dealing filth. He was just successful, and people were jealous. The huge ring and the new car without any sign of employment were not even hard to overlook because he was such a good baby. She knew he was a kind and generous man, even as the two toughs that accompanied him everywhere stayed at the door when he visited. Inocencia never noticed how they followed in their own car when her baby drove her to church on Sundays, even though one would open her car door at both ends of the journey.
Her sons had forgotten her for the past several weeks. She had tried calling them several times now and was being ignored. Tempted to do something about it, the Señora looked to the shrine to The Virgin that filled one wall and said a small prayer as she contemplated whether to have another drink. Her doctors would be furious. The effort they had put into harvesting her cells and creating the small replacements to save her from her damaged organ was being jeopardized. Her sons would be sorry that they had not come to visit.
§
The big airport in Moscow, empty, was too cold. All of the stone and hard surfaces sapped the heat right out of the air. In one of the off corridors, in the new wing that had yet to be opened officially, a sleep pod opened. Peeking out timidly, Cheslav Ustimovich made sure that he was unobserved.
Months ago his whole operation had crumbled. The identities he had been selling and the financial assets attached to them were suddenly bringing arrests to those that used them. The buyers had no sense of humor.
Ches had tried his best to explain that any information could be compromised, and he never offered any guarantees, but they failed to understand and blamed him. If it had not been for the distraction of the young prostitute and a hair pin he found on the floor, he might have been found in the Moskva River. Or more likely never found in the foundation of one of the new government buildings in the prosperous new Russia.
Now he was reduced to electronically jimmying the doors of the airport pods in order to find safety while he was asleep, and he slept most days away as there was nothing else to do. The only thing other than sleep that occupied his time was using the little laundry utility within the small confine that kept his stink to a minimum.
One of the things that had been difficult was the lack of news. No matter how he tried to engineer it, the entertainment system would not energize after he ran out of coin. He was frustrated, but staying alive was more important, even if he was out of touch with his city and the world.
Amazed that he had not been found and evicted by airport security, he thanked whatever Deity was responsible.
Strange how empty the airport was. He had never seen it so barren, even in these areas that never had any traffic.
The vending machines were easy to fool. He took what he needed and wondered why they were never refilled. As he continued to eat from them, he noticed the expiration dates were passed, and still no one refilled them. Oh, well, they would come to do their job sooner or later, and eating out-of-date food was the least of his worries.
§
Hiding was fun, and Jilly hid well. But she missed her mommy and daddy and her little brother. When they started to smell funny after she was unable to wake them, she shut the door and only checked back occasionally.
Over the next several weeks, she opened the door less and less. Ralph, the big sheep dog, was a good companion, and she slept with him every night. When they ran out of dog food, she fed him cereal. When they ran out of that, she had to find something else.
She knew where the market was, and they found it on the first try. Somehow they never found their way back home. All the streets were so similar, and Ralph kept running one way and then the other, investigating strange scents. There was lots of dog food in the market, and lots of cereal, and Jilly remembered that she should never talk to strangers.
When a woman came in to forage for canned goods, Jilly made sure to hide well. Ralph was gone after the woman left. Not seeing how the woman welcomed Ralph because she was inside the manager’s office and under the desk, Jilly thought he had run off. She was much lonelier now and often cried herself to sleep.
§
Dogs. God, he hated dogs. Even in veterinary school he had wanted to throttle every one he worked on.
Over the years no one had questioned the numbers of dogs that had died as they passed through his care. Ron Doane laughed as he thought about it.
Understanding how to manipulate the dog owners’ emotions was one of his strong points. They brought their mutts in, sometimes sick, often dying, and he would sell them hope at exorbitant prices. Even the people in the slums and shanty towns worshipped him as he drained the little they had and murdered their furry companions.
Twenty-two years in practice and not one serious complaint. Well, maybe one. There was a girl who had accused him in his third year, railing loudly about how her perfectly healthy terrier had up and disappeared from the facility. She had taken the story poorly when told that the dog had died of a twisted gut during her two days of vacation. She had paid kennel fees up front. Ron refused to even give her a refund. No problem. She disappeared, crying, and never even filed a law suit.
Laughing again, Ron studied his route as he walked.
The best times were when people would bring injuries. He remembered his favorite often. A young man with his new wife in tow carried their pointer in. Even as the mutt was laid on the table, the veterinarian knew the dog was toast. Shooing the owners from the room, Ron had furthered the dogs decline as he shot expensive x-ray images in numbers too many to be justified. Then he let the dog lay whimpering as he poured a cup of coffee and settled in to watch and listen to it whine. When he presented the bill to the young couple, explaining that he had tried everything, they had practically fawned on him in their gratitude. The money went a long way toward the cute little car for his daughter’s graduation.