The Systemic Series - Box Set

by K. W. Callahan

  I stood there, staring at the machine and the newspaper inside. Part of me wanted to know; but part of me was fine not knowing. It really made no difference now. And it would likely be an intensely depressing edition to read knowing the final outcome, but still, human curiosity pushed me to know more about how the majority of my fellow human beings had met their demise. Like not being able to turn away from a freeway accident, a dark side of me wanted to see, wanted to know more, wanted to understand and observe.

  I fished in my pocket for quarters and then felt foolish. It was yet another of those old reactions that no longer fit in today’s world. I thought for a moment, then went and got a big rock from around the corner of the building. I used it to smash a large enough hole in the dispenser’s front so that I could pull out the display newspaper.

  Since no one else had yet made it downstairs, I started to peruse the paper. I first pulled out the advertisement and auto pages that comprised a good three quarters of the newspaper’s bulk and set them down on the porch. I also pulled out an entire four-page insert of obituaries, the top of which noted, “Special Obituary Section in Tomorrow’s Edition.” I dropped this onto the porch as well.

  I was left with the front page news section, the financial page, and the sports and entertainment sections.

  The front page’s headline article spent a brief paragraph reviewing the flu, its origins in China, and how it had spread throughout Asia, into Russia, and then to Europe at almost the same time as it hit the US. Africa and South and Central America had been hit soon thereafter, and then Australia, which had managed to stay flu-free for several days longer than any other continent.

  The article touched on how, as the flu reached each new country or continent, it began spreading almost instantaneously, the number of cases growing exponentially in the ensuing hours and days.

  Then it discussed statistics. This was what I found most interesting.

  The piece noted that computer models were estimating eventual worldwide exposure at close to 90 percent in the next week to ten days. The mortality rate at the time was running somewhere between 85 and 95 percent, although the writer made sure to note that statistics were spotty in this regards due to the disease’s rapid spread and the chaos at many area hospitals and medical centers nation and worldwide.

  The article ended with a brief section on the CDC response, which from what I read, appeared to have been lacking in any real fortitude. The piece noted that the CDC had run through the standard flu-fighting advice – hand washing, staying indoors whenever possible, and wearing face masks to help reduce transmission of the disease – but had done little else to combat the flu’s spread. An unnamed source at the CDC was quoted as saying that several drug companies were in the process of working on a new vaccine; however, it would likely be weeks or even months before the new drug was available in the doses necessary to start combating the current pandemic, which as the author noted in his final sentence, would likely be of little help considering the flu had already spread worldwide in less than three weeks time.

  Then there were a litany of other articles in the main section. Almost all them focused on various aspects of the flu and its effects. There was one about how to protect against the flu. There was another about looting in the Atlanta area that also discussed similar situations in other big cities across America and around the globe. The article below this one discussed what to do to protect your home, family or business against looters. There was also a sizeable piece about the Atlanta metro area services that were currently closed or operating at minimal capacities. A huge alphabetical listing of area closings ranging from schools and libraries, to hospitals, city halls, social clubs, and even churches, accompanied the article and comprised almost two entire pages.

  The financial section was brief to say the least.

  It started off with an article about Wall Street and how markets would be closed for a seventh consecutive day. Then there were pieces about the huge worldwide financial ramifications of the flu, and yet another about the best companies to invest in to make money off the pandemic.

  I had to laugh when it read this one. “Still preaching stock investments and greed up until the very end,” I wondered aloud to myself as I shook my head sadly.

  The sports page was another meager section. Nearly every type of sporting event had been cancelled or postponed, and all public venues shuttered for the foreseeable future. There was even a piece about notable figures in the sporting world who had caught the flu or already succumbed to its deadly effects. Pictures of famous athletes from basketball, football, soccer, baseball, auto sports, and more lined the page, their condition or date of passing noted below each face.

  The entertainment page ran a similar section for television personalities and movie stars. Then there was an article about the effects of the flu on reality television and how certain channels that relied heavily on revenue from these sorts of programs might fare during and after the flu. Filming for many such programs had already been suspended, delayed or cancelled.

  I ended up spending probably 30 minutes reading. It was amazing how even with the world apparently on the brink of disaster, people still seemed to be looking beyond the flu, discussing how things would be handled afterwards, who would be handling them, how the recovery would take place, how much it would cost, how it would be paid for, and by whom. There never seemed to be any consideration that there would not be any going on “as usual” after the flu ravaged the world. It hit me as such an arrogant outlook upon the situation – a truly human approach to such a catastrophe. From what I was reading, it was as though the band was content to keep playing as the Titanic went down.

  The lack of foresight astonished me, although I wasn’t sure why. It was exactly the reason why I had urged my family and friends to leave the Chicagoland area and join us in the isolated region of southern Illinois when the presence of the flu in our area had first come to my attention. I knew that many people – and society as a whole – had difficulty looking past their next cup of gourmet coffee or upcoming credit card bill. How could they be expected to think about and prepare for the long-term effects of a worldwide pandemic? How could they ever begin to consider that our federal government – the same government that was largely viewed as a pain in the ass when people were forced to abide by its many rules and regulations, but at the same time was expected to come to the rescue during every major flood, hurricane, superstorm, or earthquake – might not be there for hand-holding and cajoling during a cataclysmic event?

  It was something I never would understand. I guess that people had just gone for too long without having to truly take care of themselves. The safety net the government had cast across the nation allowed them to dismiss the possibility of events that could one day endanger them. Sure, they liked to watch movies and read books about such disaster scenarios, but they weren’t ready to take action and prepare themselves for these types of events. That required effort. That was time consuming and troublesome. And heaven forbid someone think they were being silly or look at them oddly if they prepared for these sorts of catastrophic events.

  I lifted my head from reading and noticed someone walking toward me down the middle of Main Street.

  It was Joanna.

  I folded the paper and tucked it under my arm for further reading. Funny enough, as I did so, a part of my old-world thinking told me, “This paper might be worth something one day.” Then I chuckled at myself for the ridiculousness of the thought and walked down the front porch steps and out to the street to meet Joanna.

  “You know, you shouldn’t just wander off like that,” I called to her in greeting. “Makes people worry.”

  “I didn’t just wander off,” she said, giving me a stern look. “I knew where I was going.”

  “Where were you going then?” I asked, curious and slightly concerned that she’d leave the general store unaccompanied and without letting anyone else know.

  “What? You my dad or something?”


  I noticed a certain tone in her voice.

  “I have to clear everything with you first?” she went on.

  “No,” I said, feeling slightly attacked. “But I tend to worry when people disappear these days. It’s not exactly a safe world anymore.” I paused, “And there’s Shane to consider.”

  “First off,” Joanna started, and I could tell by her tone that I was in for it, “the world never was safe. It’s probably safer now than it was before.”

  I decided quickly that her statement certainly held some merit.

  “Second,” she continued, “why are you worrying about me? You should be worrying about Claire and your own family. And third, Shane’s mine to worry about, and I’ll take care of him no matter what.”

  She stood staring at me, almost angrily.

  “Fair enough,” I nodded. “You’re right. I should be worried about Claire and my own family. What you fail to recognize though, is that you and Shane are a part of my family now.”

  “Humph,” she sniffed. “Yeah right,” she said, blowing past me and heading for the store’s front porch.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I turned and called after her.

  “Whatever you want it to mean,” she said as she kept walking, not even turning back around to look at me as she answered.

  I watched her walk up the porch’s steps and disappear inside through the front door.

  I shook my head, not understanding. I’d gotten used to dealing with Claire who was so simple to read, so amicable, so easy to get along with. I didn’t understand what was going on with Joanna. I had a feeling that were I to do a little soul searching, I could probably figure it out, but right now there were other, more important things to focus on.

  CHAPTER 6

  Manufacturing in the post-flu world was nonexistent. And what people were able to create was typically consumed shortly thereafter. What remained of society lived largely hand-to-mouth now. This meant that when many of the supplies that had been left after the flu – things like fuel, guns, ammunition, food, bottled water, boots, clothing, electronics, medicine, and the likes – were gone, they were gone. There would be no factories to replace durable goods. There would be no farmers to grow more food, and if there were, there would be no trucks or trains to transport the surplus to urban areas. And while the numbers within population centers had been drastically reduced, Ava was amazed at how even just a small percentage of the previous population could rapidly consume the remnants left behind by a once civilized and productive society.

  Without the ants there to replace the crops, the grasshoppers would soon fall on hard times.

  Ava gave the nation’s metropolises a year – maybe two or three if they were like Atlanta and slightly better organized – before they began to crumble under the weight of their own degenerative populations. Then the fighting would begin anew. It would be like the months immediately following the flu. Right now, things were comparatively calm because there was still enough to go around or be stolen by the substantially reduced population. But once the excess began to dry up, people would begin to fight among themselves again, diminishing the already decimated ranks until there were just enough people to sop up the excess for a while longer, and then the sequence would start all over again. Ava guessed that this cycle would continue to run itself again and again until the remaining populace became so tired of squabbling over the scraps that they gave up, got organized, and became productive again, or until no one was left to fight over those scraps. Either way, she wasn’t going to sit on her hands and wait to see what would happen.

  Ava had quickly realized that growing their private army was going to be a necessary evil if they were going to compete in Atlanta. They needed manpower to execute raids, defend their spoils, and carry out all the menial tasks that she and Jake neither had the time nor desire to handle. Ava also realized that there was a point at which “peak manpower” in the post-flu world was reached. Hitting this point meant that it was just as much or more trouble to add new bodies to their organization than their productivity was worth. More men meant more mouths to feed, more alcohol and cigarettes to provide, more guns and ammo to supply, more potential for dissent or mutiny, and more mad dogs with the potential to overstep boundaries that could bring the wrath of the Three Families down upon the entire organization. And while their operation had yet to achieve this point, Ava knew that at some point in the near future they would reach it; and once they did, things could quickly get out of hand.

  Ava envisioned two distinct options when it came to the expansion of their empire. Either they kept growing until their operation turned into an overweight, slow moving, inefficient blob that would eventually succumb to one of the aforementioned fates, or they kept it lean, mean, trim, and agile, which would allow them to move when necessary and take what they wanted when they wanted it.

  She looked at the development of their own little army as a general might. They could take Russia’s World War II approach of mass assaults and just throw bodies at bullets, which at times had benefits when looking to trim some fat, or you could develop a more professional army.

  Personally, she was a fan of the latter.

  The problem that she saw within their own organization was that their band of miscreants was anything but a professional army. And while she and Jake were decent leaders, they weren’t combat trained. While Jake liked to think he was something special when it came to leading his men into combat, Ava recognized that neither of them had the proper skills to develop their band of mouth-breathers into any sort of truly cohesive fighting unit.

  She’d been pondering what to do about this issue for some time since she knew that Jake certainly wouldn’t be losing any sleep over it. It wasn’t that he didn’t care; he just didn’t know how to resolve it. And he figured that was why he had her.

  This was when Ava began to formulate the current portion of their longer-term plan, the first phase of which they were preparing to execute today. And as far as she knew, none of the Three Families had yet laid claim to the items that were on her appropriation list, which surprised her since they could prove to be some of the most valuable. She guessed that due to the size of their organizations and relative lack of competition, they hadn’t felt a need for such things and likely believed that should they ever become necessary, they could just take them. She could already see that the families were becoming overconfident in their positions of power, and today, she hoped to use this slight miscalculation to her advantage.

  But right now, she needed some cannon fodder, and she knew just where to find it.

  She’d learned that it helped to leave Jake behind when she went on the type of recruiting mission that she had planned for this morning. His presence was often a turnoff to prospective recruits. He was the up front and forthright type, which Ava found an attractive quality. There was no beating around the bush with him. However, many others found it to be a severe character flaw, something that made him instantly dislikeable to many. And when you were trying to get people to lay their lives on the line for a bag of drugs or a case of booze, you often needed all the people skills you could muster.

  Ava however, had discovered that drug addicts or alcoholics, while incredibly unreliable in a fight, were often quite eager to come along on just about any sort of mission and put themselves in extreme levels of danger to acquire their fix. And in the post-flu world, there were plenty of people looking to dull the heavy doss of pain the world had dealt them with any remedy they could lay their hands on.

  These people tended to congregate with other like-minded individuals. Ava wasn’t sure if the reason for this was the feeling of security their numbers provided, the ability to share product, or just because misery loved company. Whatever the case, like hoards of maggots to a piece of rotting flesh, they always seemed to find a spot near a steady supply, whatever their particular poison. And Ava was turning out to be one of the most reliable sources around.

  She’d started in the Atlan
ta drug trade purely by accident. In one of the many warehouses they’d raided, she’d stumbled across a truckload of drugs. Heroin, cocaine, marijuana, pills – they were all there. Jake didn’t do drugs – other than partaking heavily in alcohol and tobacco – and therefore was largely uninterested in the supply. Therefore, he was willing to let Ava do with it as she pleased. Ava wasn’t big into drugs either. She was more of a recreational user, but she understood the power of drugs and substance abuse and how it could be used to their advantage. So she had their men haul the supply back and stash it at the pump station where it could safely be stored and doled out when the situation called for it – and right now, the situation called for it.

  There was a big apartment building just down street about six blocks from the pump station. Ava knew that this was where some of the more degenerative addicts tended to congregate. It was a real pile of shit building and the “tenants” lived in squalor to put it nicely. The place smelled of human waste and decomposition of every sort, and Ava hated going there, but sometimes it was a necessary evil. It was a great way to pull short-term manpower into their organization. This worked out extremely well for their purposes. It acted as a sort of temp agency that Ava could pay with a product she cared little about. Better yet, when the men perished in battle, Ava actually felt kind of good about it since their deaths were quick by the gun rather than long and drawn out by way of the needle – plus, it saved her having to pay them.

  Today she took Rambo and Kill King – their sharp shooter and self-proclaimed “sniper extraordinaire” – along with her for security. It wasn’t that Ava couldn’t handle herself, but addicts were crazy. They were quick to lose their cool and willing to do just about anything to get drugs when they were desperate. This often played into Ava’s hand when it came to bending them to do her bidding, but she liked to have some muscle on hand to kick some crack-addict ass when necessary. Sometimes these guys needed a little slapping around to get the point across, and Ava wasn’t going to get her hands dirty with that sort of work. There was a difference between taking risks and just being stupid, and Ava wasn’t going to get herself killed or stabbed or jabbed with a needle just trying to temporarily bulk up their ranks with a few junkies.