Meanwhile, fifteen Marines entered the crowded space between two doors and looked out of the glass windows that separated them from the Rive. They were swarming the area between them and the control center, and the Marines realized that they had left a man behind. Sergeants Early and Vasquez were trapped in the control center, but had the ability to release the door and let him in. They knew that if they were to make such a decision, it would let the Rive into the space where the others were already safe. They had no choice but to watch them rip his helmet and respirator off and attack his face where he was vulnerable.
Sergeants Early and Vasquez opened the door and tried to sneak out, but the Rive that were in a pile feeding on their colleague let out screams and headed for the control center. No sooner than they had tried to get out, they were forced to pull the door closed again.
“Hey, Marines, at least we can communicate,” they heard from an intercom in the control center. It was Sergeant Fitzgibbons’s voice. He was in the decontamination room, pressing an intercom button.
Sergeant Early found the communication relay button to the decontamination room and pressed it. “Fitz, do you think if I open that door, you could toss some Betties out there?”
“Yeah, we have a few between us,” Fitzgibbons said.
“Let’s do it,” Vasquez said.
Sergeant Early hit the button that unlocked the decontamination room. Fitzgibbons tossed a Bouncing Betty out onto the floor, and several Rive stood up and charged them. Once they were within proximity of the mine, it bounced up off the ground and exploded, destroying their legs and causing them to fall to the floor.
Fitzgibbons looked at Early and Vasquez and gave them a thumbs-up. But they were looking past Fitzgibbons, their concentration focused on something behind them. The men in the decon room turned around to see a man dressed in a hazmat suit with a plastic face shield.
“Who are you?” Fitzgibbons asked him.
“My name’s Dr. Brad Carter. I’m the premier scientist of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex and leading biologist on the research of the Omega virus and its effect on humankind. I’ve been in direct communication with USAMRIID and Washington, DC. I’m the package you’ve been sent to recover.”
Entry Twenty-Seven
Just west of Charleston, West Virginia
“It’s been nearly three weeks since we left Haven, and I’ve watched Lydia fall asleep every single night since we left. I always insist on taking first watch especially for that reason.
“The infection that Lydia once carried appears to be gone. The nodules that covered her skin seemed to have been affected by the chlorine dioxide that she breathed when I blew up that building at Haven. She doesn’t seem to be aware that she was ever in any kind of jeopardy.
“She is the light of my life, and though we have hoped to find safety beyond the ash where no Ravagers stalk the streets, I am honest with myself that there is little hope. I keep wondering how many got out before it spread. How many people living on the brim of the area of effect made it out and took sanctuary among the unaffected? The likelihood is small.
“The ash is gone. I have waded in drifts as high as two feet and have forgotten the warmth of the sun. Now, as we approach our destination, Lydia and Shemika are optimistic about our future. Where there used to be the soft cushion of volcanic ash beneath their feet, there is only earth for as far as we can see.
“Samuel doesn’t like to be called by his name. Somehow, someway, it increases his faith forgetting about what was and focusing on the here and now. We have deep discussions in the night when Lydia has fallen asleep. He has proven himself to be a true friend. I can’t explain it, but he has proven to me through his own faith in his God that there has to be a Creator.
“At first I explained away his ability to walk among the undead as I do. I even talked myself into believing that his apparent knowledge about things he could have no way of knowing is just a strange coincidence. But even I am wise enough to know that enough circumstantial evidence can lead to an overwhelming case of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Who knows? Maybe someday I’ll prove myself wrong.
“We should be approaching our destination soon. Charleston, West Virginia, is said to be the gateway to the old world. The preacher and I have been told that it’s the epicenter of the new world order, whatever that means. Washington, DC, still runs things, as they always have. I understand that half of them have been in their respective offices well beyond the term they were elected for. There’s been no elections since the Flash. The people are not consumed with governments and foreign affairs. The countries of the world have most likely put aside their disagreements and become one in purpose.
“Shemika looks forward to seeing a society without war and petty squabbles. Me, on the other hand, I’m skeptical that mankind is even capable of peace…”
Mason’s notation in his journal was interrupted by the rapid braking of the bus they were riding in.
Lydia, Shemika, the preacher, and Mason had been offered a ride by a bus full of hipsters. Generally, there would have been heavy suspicions about a bus full of people offering anything at all; maybe it was considered wrong to be judgmental, but in some cases, these judgments saved their lives many times over. However, in this particular case, they were wary of the offer, but after looking upon the hipsters, they judged them for what they were, peaceful men and women headed east for the old world.
It was apparent that they had seen little violence. Maybe they had seen no Ravagers jump on men and pull the artery from the neck of the living. Mason couldn’t help to think that if they had, they might have been packing some firearms. These hipsters seemed like old world hipsters. Where they were going, they would fit right in.
The sudden jolt of the bus coming to a stop caught Mason and the preacher off guard, but it startled Shemika and Lydia from their sleep, where their heads were resting against the window until this moment.
Mason stood up, keeping his finger in the pages of the journal, careful not to lose his place. “What’s going on?” Mason asked the person standing near the front of the bus.
“The streets are deadlocked,” he answered.
Mason put his journal away and walked to the front of the bus, where he was able to look outside. The streets were beset with older-model vehicles, making it impossible to proceed by vehicle. Outside, people were standing around their vehicles, seemingly confused about what to do or where to go. It was obvious that everybody heading west was heading for the unaffected states—to be a part of life the way it used to be. So why stand around? If traffic was congested, move on foot.
Mason didn’t like sitting still in one place for too long; neither did the preacher. “We have to keep moving,” Mason said, motioning for Lydia and Shemika to join him. The four of them stood up and made their way to the front of the bus. Once they were by the driver, Mason thanked him for the generous ride and asked him, “Where are we?”
“I-64, just west of Charleston, man. Looks like we may be here a while.”
“Would you mind if I took a look from on top of the bus?”
“No, man. Go ahead.”
“Thanks again.”
The driver opened the bus door and they got off. Shemika and Lydia stayed on the ground while he and the preacher climbed on top of the bus for a better view. Once they were on top of the bus, they were shocked to see that the bridge over Kanawha River had been blown, preventing access by anyone from the west. Beyond that, they heard random sounds of gunshots in the background, coming from West Virginia. The shots were impossible to hear from inside a vehicle. The sound of weapons being fired sparked their curiosity.
“Let’s keep going,” Mason said. “Something’s not right here. I want to take a closer look.”
The preacher sighed. He felt that something was wrong as well. In fact, he had told Mason several times along the way that there was a safe land in the old world, but it was one that they wouldn’t attain without great tribulation. Mason did what he always did a
nd dismissed it under the notion that the preacher might be wrong just this once.
They continued on foot, and the crowds of people grew thicker. It reminded them of the old pictures of the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival. Some people were standing around in groups; others were sitting around in groups. No matter where they cast their eyes, there were people. Many of them were pressing their way into denser populations, hoping to get a better look at what was happening on the east side of the Kanawha River. As they pressed deeper into the crowd, they could hear the grumblings of the people as they went. They spoke words like killings, death, quarantine zones, and inaccessible.
They decided to press even deeper until Mason heard the sound of Iroquois military choppers whirring overhead. He looked up to see five of them coming in from the west. With his curiosity at an all-time high, he decided the wonder was worth breaking a personal rule of his. He tugged on a man’s coat and asked, “What’s going on here?”
The man turned around to look at Mason. “Are you kidding me? You’re not from around here, are you?”
“No, we’ve been on the road for a long time, and we’re seeking the old world.”
“Everybody is, mister. Nobody’s getting in. They have it locked down tighter than Fort Knox.”
“Why?”
“To keep some kind of contagion on the west coast from infecting the east. As if the Flash wasn’t bad enough, now we gotta deal with this.”
Mason knew about the contagion all too well. Many of the people this far east had little knowledge of it. The general population hadn’t been exposed to the effects of the infection. They were seeking shelter in the old world, but had little reason. They didn’t even know what they were running from.
In the distance, they heard another chopper. The people began to gasp at the idea of another helicopter trying to penetrate the quarantine zone. Mason turned to see what they were talking about. This time, it was a medical chopper labeled “Air E-Vac” on the side. He watched it closely as it made its approach, but no sooner than it reached the river, a barrage of antiaircraft weapons shot a stream of devastating projectiles that knocked it out of the air. The people screamed in horror and scattered in all directions as it began falling overhead.
Mason stood there watching the chunks of fiery debris fall from the sky. The pieces were set to impact somewhere near Mason’s position. The debris landed just a few feet away from him. The people screaming erupted into a pandemonium of various emotions as they surrounded the debris and began their search for survivors. Mason remained calm, having been hardened by violence and calloused to death.
“I found one,” a woman’s voice called out.
People flocked to her to see a woman’s hand reaching out from beneath the debris. They worked together to remove the heavy helicopter frame that had her pinned down. A scream pierced the solemn occasion as the creature they were rescuing jumped up from the wreckage and savagely attacked the crowd. Many of the wounded disappeared into the crowd, but one in particular was killed and eaten on the spot.
The Flesher was busy eating its prey when the preacher took its head off. The crowd, now at a distance, gasped in dismay at the sight. He stood over the victim and saw that it was a young man still alive, but dying. Behind him, the crowd was closing in to spectate the incident. He knew what he had to do, but the crowd would not understand.
“I’m a medic,” a voice said from the rear as he pushed through the crowd of people to assist.
The preacher looked around and saw two or three innocent people with Flesher wounds on their arms. He knew they would soon catch a fever, then an infection, and die, only to reanimate and begin the cycle anew.
The preacher turned away and walked over by Mason, who was distracted by the view of Charleston. Everything on the east side of the river was militarized. They knew that nothing was getting past that boundary—nothing that they didn’t authorize. It was filled with tanks, armored personnel carriers, antiaircraft guns, and plenty of soldiers.
Mason grabbed Lydia’s and Shemika’s hands and walked away from the upcoming terror that they all knew was about to be unleashed upon the crowd. Mason didn’t want his daughter anywhere near the Ravager when it came to. He stopped and looked back for the preacher. He was standing near the dying young man, waiting for the inevitable.
“Preacher?” Shemika called out.
He turned to see them waiting for him. “You guys go ahead. I’m going to stay to see this through.”
“I’ll be right back,” Mason said to Shemika as he let go of her hand. He walked over to the preacher and extended his arm for a handshake.
The preacher embraced Mason with an unexpected hug of friendship.
“Go on now,” the preacher said. “Get your little one to safety.”
“Are you going to be alright?”
“My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior. Second Samuel, twenty-two and three,” he answered.
The situation was too grave for Mason to give him a smile, which was what he wanted to do—to crack some joke and walk away into the sunset with his daughter and girlfriend. But all of that escaped him. With one hand on the preacher’s shoulder, he said, “May the Lord strengthen you for the impending tribulations.”
The preacher took the blessing as a sign of faith. He nodded to Mason, who returned to his girls and disappeared into the crowds. When they were safely away, the wounded man had long since been dead. It was the guttural sound he made followed by the screams of the people that turned him around to see the creature lifting itself from the ground.
Epilogue
The landscape is forever changed.
It took two years for the Omega virus to spread from the Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming regions to the eastern borders of the United States. Alaska, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and everything east has been spared from the ravages of the Rive, for now.
What remains of the United States has been cut off from the west. Clear borders have been established, and nothing is permitted to cross or enter its airspace without strict authorizations and controls.
Washington, DC, remains the capital of the US, but resources are dwindling. Foreign aid is pumped into the surviving states, but even those are tightly controlled due to increased pressure to maintain an isolated America.
In the new world, the Rive is absolute. Pockets of survivors fight against the ever-increasing threat and spread of the O-virus. Over time, the secrets of the contagion will be revealed, and those who remain will adapt to it. Others will die and join the ranks of the undead.
The CDC at USAMRIID, Maryland, will continue to study the contagion under very strict protocols. The chlorine dioxide antidote has not yet been discovered in the east. A Marine Corps veteran with a young daughter and two friends bear this knowledge; they are fighting for their survival west of the great chasm.
About the Author
L. Douglas Hogan is a USMC veteran with over twenty years in public service. Among these are three years as a Marine Corps antitank infantryman, one year as a Marine Corps Marksmanship Instructor, ten years as a part-time police officer, and nineteen years working in state government, doing security work, supervision, and administration. He has been married over twenty-five years, has two children, and is faithful to his church, where he resides in southern Illinois.
Books by L. Douglas Hogan
Oath Takers
This book is a call to return to our American roots; to remember our heritage and birthright. Most importantly, it is a reminder that our oaths are binding, and we have a responsibility to ourselves and our posterity to honor them. Douglas Hogan writes in a style that is both direct and candid. No words are minced; there is no “beating around the bush” or “tip-toeing through tulips”. Douglas says what he means, and his incredible passion is ample evidence that he means what he says. This book is a must read for anybody that has sworn an oa
th to uphold the Constitution of the United States. You are OATH TAKERS.
Acts of Defiance
This novelette reveals the first days of martial law before it became known as the Flip. Live through the lives of the people that were a part of life shattering changes and learn how difficult life can become when the laws of morality and ethics find no place in the human condition. Stephen Gill was an Army National Guardsman when the Flip went down, His trials mirrored the lives of every patriot that lived under the yoke of unconstitutional fiat. His presence was sought after when Tori made it to Gorham, but his story was never told, nor the reason for his absence. Until now...
Tyrant Book 1 - The Rise
Follow Nathan, Denny, and Jess, as they struggle through a post-apocalyptic America, where the only law is Martial. Their struggles take them from the comforts of their southern Illinois homestead, to the brutal realities of an America where liberty is no longer a right, and survival is of the fittest. The author of “OATH TAKERS” brings you his version of a neo-political post-apocalyptic novel of how America could end if patriots and oath takers will not honor their oaths to the Constitution and embody the American spirit of resistance to tyranny.
Tyrant Book 2 - Main Core
This action packed sequel to TYRANT The Rise, follows the surviving victims of a violent raid on their southern Illinois homestead to their trek north where their intentions are set on liberating prisoners of a FEMA and UN controlled facility, located on Goose Island, in Chicago, and overseen by a brutal dictator, whose goals are calculated and evil. The question is, will they reach their destination, or will they succumb to the harshness of a land without civil order? What became of General John James and Admiral Belt McKanty? Did they find their destination and did Lieutenant Colonel Charles Buchanan rally enough support to overcome the enemies of liberty? This mind gripping novel will keep you on the edge of your seat wondering who is strong enough to survive and do morals in a lawless America matter where tyranny is running rampant?
No Light Beyond Page 19