Apokalypsis | Book 5 | Apokalypsis 5

by Morris, Kate

  “I don’t think we want any more numbers,” Jane said softly. He went on to give the usual precautionary measures and what to do if someone became sick. Then he turned over the microphone to a man in a military uniform that Elijah did not recognize. The last one was named Allerton if he was remembering correctly. It left him to wonder if he’d become infected and was one of the stats in that number because this guy was not Allerton.

  “We urge people everywhere to stay inside after dark,” he began. “Please, do not call 9-1-1 unless it is a dire emergency. Many cities no longer are able to do pick-ups by ambulance for the hospitals. You will have to find a way there, but we do not encourage anyone to go out after dark at all. Period.”

  “Yeah, I think we kinda’ figured that one out on our own,” Wren said softly next to him.

  “We have established twelve more temporary housing bases around the country,” he said and nodded. A screen popped up with a map of the United States. Blue regions were shaded in and labeled as ‘safe zones’. Elijah doubted the accuracy of that title. “If you can no longer take care of yourself or your loved ones or you have been displaced from your homes, you must find a way to a safe zone. We cannot pick you up now. You will have to find your own transportation or method of travel to get there. We are sending out fuel trucks as fast as we can from the national reserve storage facilities. We know fuel is difficult to find, but we are doing our best to get fuel to gas stations. We cannot fuel up every gas station in every town.”

  “No scheisse,” Kaia swore in another language.

  “But we are working on filling up the underground storage tanks at major rest stops and trucks stops around America. If you can make it to those, you should be able to get fuel. We are also working hard to keep one lane on most major freeways open so that people can still travel to the blue zones.”

  “That’s a haul for some to get to gas first,” Tristan observed.

  “True. For us, too,” Avery agreed. “Nearest rest stop like that would be Canton, somewhere in Canton.”

  He also told them how to handle it if their family or loved ones became ill and showed another screen with the quarantined zones on them marked in red as if the word weren’t ominous enough without the fatalistic and evil color.

  Then he turned the mic over to some other general in the President’s cabinet, who discussed worldwide events and statistics. It was weird because his uniform seemed rumpled as if he hadn’t ironed it, which Elijah knew to be a big no-no in the military. After he droned on for a while, they gave the mic to another person, a woman this time, who discussed where they were with an anti-virus vaccine. It didn’t sound too hopeful. When she was finished, she handed it over to another official, this time the head of the FBI. He discussed crime, the government’s lack of tolerance for it, and how to handle it if anyone saw crimes being committed.

  “Are they for fucking real?” Stephanie asked aloud.

  “Yeah, a shootout in the middle of town, sex trafficking, murder on the road, those are pretty much all crimes,” Wren said with sarcasm.

  “Take your pick,” Elijah added. “And that was just this week in our secluded area.”

  Beside him, Wren snorted and bit her thumbnail as they continued to receive depressing reports.

  The FBI agent turned over the mic to another doctor, this time a woman. “Hey, we saw her in a video, too. It was some sort of doctor meeting that was being secretly taped.”

  She began on a sigh, “We’re working now on a vaccine and going through trials.”

  Mostly, she repeated what the others said, which wasn’t a whole lot more than what they already knew. She looked exhausted; they all did.

  “We have hope that within a year or perhaps a little longer, we could have a workable vaccine,” she said.

  “A year?” Avery gasped. “My parents didn’t allow us to get vaccines. My father was a scientist, so he didn’t believe in them. He’d never been given one, either.”

  “And what about now? Would you take this one?” Jane asked.

  “I don’t know. I’m responsible for the kids now. I guess I’ll have to make that call when the time comes.”

  “Screw that. Like I said,” Stephanie repeated, “you can’t trust the government.”

  Tristan chuckled.

  The doctor continued on the screen, “In the meantime, the government is going to ask for anyone who has been infected and recovered from either virus RF1 or 2 to come forward and report in at once to your local safe zone. There, the military will escort you to our medical labs where we’ll draw blood samples and ask you to remain in the safe zone for a short period of time while we run tests.”

  Tristan said, interrupting her, “Are they for real? Nobody’s going to do that. It sounds like they won’t let you leave once they’ve got you there.”

  “Anyone that goes there could be signing up to be a guinea pig,” Spencer added.

  “Yeah,” Renee said. “What if they make you sicker? What if they try injecting the sickness back into you to study your blood?”

  “I don’t know if they’d do that,” Avery said, playing devil’s advocate.

  “I don’t know if they wouldn’t,” Renee countered.

  “My friend Brian was immune,” Roman told them.

  “So am I,” Alex revealed to some shocked expressions.

  Tristan immediately asked, “So is Ave, but would you turn yourself in, Alex?”

  It bothered Elijah that his brother hesitated so long, “I don’t know. Maybe if it doesn’t get better soon.”

  Renee said, “What if they look at people’s medical records? They’d know where to find you. It wouldn’t take long. You guys own your uncle’s farm, right? It’s in your names?”

  They both nodded.

  She shrugged and tipped her head. “Well, that’s all they’d need. County courthouse records, which are all computerized. Your medical records would show them everything they need to start tracking people down who have immunity.”

  “Attans,” Kaia swore softly in some other language. He could tell it was a swear by the look her sister gave her.

  “Tristan, I don’t want to go there,” Avery said nervously.

  He pulled her close and said quietly, “No way, Angel. I won’t let anyone take you. Don’t worry.”

  Then he kissed the top of her head, and she nodded and leaned against him. They had some serious relationship goals going here, and it made Elijah feel super single.

  On the screen, they changed speakers again, and the Secretary of the Interior, Dr. Maleah Chandler came on. It was a good thing they displayed her name on the news screen. Elijah had never seen her before.

  “We must be vigilant in our fight against this deadly disease,” she said with a funny accent. “We’ve already lost too many. Everyone must help their neighbors, stay with family, stay together when possible. This is something that we’re going to have to battle together as one nation.”

  “She clearly hasn’t been out in it for a while,” Alex remarked and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Whatever this chick’s smokin’, I need some of it,” Stephanie said.

  “I’m sure you’ve already tried it,” Alex jabbed.

  Everyone ignored them and went back to paying attention. It seemed like the meeting was about to wrap up, but they had yet to hear from the President. He used to come on to reassure people everything was under control.

  “Food shipments are still being coordinated by our military and will begin being available again at the outposts we showed on the screen. We’ll show them again when this meeting is over, so stay tuned if you didn’t get a chance to see where your nearest safe zone is located. Follow the water purification techniques we posted before. We’ll show that again, as well. Take all necessary precautions when going out and avoid it if you can. We are working with public utility companies to keep power going to your homes and doing everything we can to provide basic human comforts. Please, be patient. Remember, don’t go out after dark.
The infected are photo-sensitive. Your safest time of travel is during the day. We’re doing all we can right now, but with limited resources and workers, it’s becoming increasingly difficult.”

  She droned on a while longer, Dr. Bachmann got back on and reminded people to report for blood draws, and then the screen went black before it jumped to the safe zones, quarantine zones, and a new zone called ‘no-go zones,’ which seemed pretty self-explanatory even though they hadn’t mentioned those. Elijah was left to assume they were overrun with infected. Or perhaps they no longer were on the power grid. Something. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. His old town and the area Roman were from near there were listed.

  Avery said, “That was weird.”

  “Why?” Tristan asked her.

  “There were no reporters. They didn’t take questions.”

  Renee agreed, “Yeah, and where were they?”

  “They usually broadcast from the White House or the Pentagon,” Jane said quietly. “That looked like a meeting room somewhere. And it was kinda’ dark.”

  “Underground, I bet,” Elijah said what popped into his head.

  “Yikes,” Avery remarked. “That’s scary. Why would they be underground? And where?”

  Tristan seemed more casual about the whole thing. “Eh, somewhere safe where the docs and govt people like the President’s cabinet can be kept germ free. Makes sense if they’re the ones who are going to find the cure.”

  “Maybe a bunker,” Spencer said.

  “Or the CDC,” Tristan suggested.

  “Really?” Avery asked.

  He nodded. “Yeah, they’re like bunkers. No need for any other. They keep weaponized germs there, too. Lots of experiments go on in there.”

  “I don’t think we want to know,” Renee said glumly.

  Stephanie said, “Yeah, screwing around with germs was such a hot idea the last time.”

  He nodded again. “I’m sure we don’t want to know what they do there. But anyway, now that that’s over, let’s finish dinner and plan the night.”

  Everyone sat back down, but most didn’t resume eating. Elijah felt guilty for wasting. Avery assured them that the scraps would feed the dogs and chickens. Then she brought out cupcakes, and the mood lifted exponentially.

  “It’s silly, I suppose, to waste flour and sugar to make cupcakes, but what else was I going to do with six tubs of frosting?”

  “Not a waste,” Tristan said and leaned over to kiss her neck. She blushed and smiled. “These are great, Angel.”

  Elijah noticed that Wren, along with everyone else, dug into the sweet treat with vigor. It had been a long time since they’d had anything like this, and he figured Jane and Roman’s camp was the same. His little brother seemed elated as he left with Finn and a plate of cupcakes to their massive Lego ship they were building in the living room.

  Tristan and Gyles led the meeting, and together they figured out who was going where and doing what. Elijah was upset to be getting left out of it but understood the reason behind it. Roman, Tristan, and Alex were going, and when he was in better shape again, he’d join them on missions.

  “I want to go, too,” Stephanie spoke up.

  “I don’t know,” Tristan said. “I haven’t worked with you yet. This could be…”

  “I know how to shoot,” she told him.

  “If we need our nails painted, we’ll get with you,” Alex said, irritating the blonde with the choppy ends and grown-out, darker roots.

  Before she could rebut, Tristan said, “Do you know how to handle yourself if the crap hits out there?”

  “Yes,” she answered quickly.

  “You sure about that?” Alex asked.

  She rolled her eyes and said, “Yes, just because I didn’t join the military doesn’t mean I don’t know how to handle myself. Trust me, you have no idea how I grew up. I’ve got a whole lotta’ pissed off in me that makes up for skill.”

  Roman chuckled, but Tristan still looked unconvinced.

  “Okay,” he finally said with a nod. “Okay, you can go. You listen to me, though, ya’ hear? If you can’t take orders, you don’t go again.”

  “I can take orders,” she said and then looked at Alex. “As long as they’re not from him.”

  Alex laughed obnoxiously and walked away, muttering under his breath. Elijah followed his brother.

  “Hey, you sure you want to go?” he asked Alex. “I can go instead. I’m doing great. I think I’ll probably be ready to start working out in a few days.”

  “Don’t push it,” Alex said.

  He nodded with a frown but wished he were going with them.

  “Hey, there’s not enough room in the truck,” Alex said as if reading his mind. “If we get lucky enough to find these girls, there definitely wouldn’t be enough room in the truck.”

  They all gathered in the foyer to wish everyone luck, and he handed Alex his rifle. It felt awful standing there watching his brother leave, knowing they could all be in danger.

  Beside him, Wren was angry. Elijah knew she wanted to go, too, but he was actually relieved she wasn’t.

  When everyone was gone, Avery suggested some board games and conversation. Wren looked ready to walk home.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Jane

  Watching Roman leaving with Alex, Stephanie, and Tristan caused something to clench hard at her heart. The night engulfed them, and she had a bad feeling come over her that something was going to happen to him. She nearly jumped out of her skin when someone wrapped an arm around her shoulders. It was only Avery.

  “I know,” she said quietly. “It’s hard watching them leave, huh?”

  Jane nodded.

  “They’ll be okay. Don’t worry. If it was just one of them going, I’d be more worried. Tristan did a lot of that while I was in a coma.”

  “A coma?”

  “Come on,” Avery said, leading her away from the open door and locking it. “I’ll make us some tea. I want to know more about everyone. Let’s sit in the living room and chat, shall we?”

  Jane nodded again but sent a longing glance over her shoulder at the closed door before following Avery into the kitchen. It was the size of Nana Peaches’s kitchen and living room combined.

  “Can you take down some mugs and put them on that tray over there by the ovens, please?” Avery requested, to which she nodded.

  “Sure.”

  Then she explained the coma situation and how Tristan took care of her, the remaining children in her family, and their home. Avery, for being so kind and sweet and optimistic, had been through so much.

  “So, you and Roman and Stephanie went to school together?” she asked her.

  “Yes, and Destiny and Brian.”

  Saying her friend’s name brought tears to her eyes, and Jane was glad for the distraction of a task.

  “Right, your friends. I’m so sorry, Jane.”

  “It’s okay.”

  It was definitely not okay at all, but she had to fake it like everyone else. She’d become a master at putting on a stoic face and hiding her emotions during her tenure at school, any school she’d gone to.

  “What was that like? I never went to public school,” Avery said and then added, “Grab the honey dipper and the sugar dispenser, too.”

  Jane looked around and found them on another counter next to the coffee machine. It was some big silver coffee maker that probably brewed many types of hot and cold coffee beverages. Without a manual, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t even know how to get it going.

  “You know. Just school, I guess.”

  “I don’t know,” Avery admitted. “We were all homeschooled. I’ve never been in high school. We all started taking college classes around the eighth or ninth grade. Tell me what it was like.”

  “Basically, like this pandemic,” Jane mumbled.

  “How’s that?”

  She frowned and said, “Survival from one day to the next.”

  It felt odd telling anyone the truth of her hel
lish time at school. Avery laughed, and Jane offered a smile.

  “Hey, sweetheart,” her father said, coming into the room. “I think Noah and I are going to hitch a ride with Spencer to go home. I’m feeling pretty worn out.”

  “Oh,” she said, concerned about her father, who’d been so big and burly just a short few months ago. He’d lost any extra weight he’d been carrying, and now his flannel shirt seemed loose. “Yeah, okay. You should rest, Dad.”

  “Are you coming or staying here?”

  “She’s welcome to stay,” Avery butted in. “I’m making some tea. Figured we’d play some board games.”

  “Do you want to stay?”

  “Yeah, sure,” Jane answered with honesty. Avery seemed nice, so it was better than sitting at home by herself because she knew her father would go to bed, and Noah would retreat to the loft. “Unless you want me to go with you. Are you feeling okay?”

  “No, no. You stay. Have a fun night. You deserve it, kiddo. I’m fine, just a little tired. I can take Connor, too.”

  “He and Finn are playing,” she told him. Then she felt undecided. He was only a little kid. They should probably both go to bed.

  Avery said, “He could spend the night. Finn and Ephraim were already hinting at it earlier. When I put them to bed later, he could sleep with them in the basement.”

  “Yeah, that’d be okay,” her dad said. “Might be good for them, ya’ know?”

  Avery nodded and offered a gentle smile.

  Spencer and Renee walked into the kitchen with Noah trailing behind already in his coat. He had dark circles under his eyes, and they were very bloodshot.

  “Ready?” Spencer asked her father, who nodded.

  Her dad hugged her and kissed the top of her head. “Have fun. Don’t worry about me.”

  She nodded and tried to offer a small smile.

  They left a moment later, and Jane felt herself watching their tail lights going up the driveway, too.