by JE Gurley
19
Sept. 15, Ross Ice Shelf near McMurdo Base, Antarctica
Liz sat beside DeSousa peering out the front window of the Kharkovchanka. They had seen the enormous ash cloud rising from Mt. Erebus, a black smudge in the dark sky, and felt its tremors. She hoped McMurdo still stood amid the earthquakes and ash fall.
Their own journey had not been without mishap. Crossing the ice shelf, they had detoured several times to avoid deep crevasses. The delays had added days to their trip and increased tensions until a fight had broken out between Charles Lester and Maurice Jernigan, one of the heavy equipment operators. They managed to throw only a few punches before the others broke it up, but everyone now walked on tiptoes to avoid further conflict. Worst of all was the fact that the other Sno-Cat bearing Wilkie, Shimoda, and Mullins was still missing. If Wilkie had encountered one of the deep crevasses, the tractor would have plunged hundreds of feet to the Ross Sea.
DeSousa almost lost control of the vehicle when the radio blared out Brad’s voice. Liz almost burst into tears of joy knowing he was safe.
“Sno-Cat one to DeSousa. Come in.”
“This is DeSousa,” DeSousa answered smiling. “I see you made it.”
“We’re safe. We found one survivor.”
“A survivor?”
“I’ll explain more about him later. How far from McMurdo are you?”
“About seven miles. Why?”
“The Sno-Cat is parked about a mile out. I’ll keep flashing my lights.”
Liz turned to DeSousa. “Why is he meeting us out here if everything is all right?”
DeSousa shook his head. “I don’t know.” He keyed the microphone. “Have you contacted Wilkie?”
Brad’s answer sank her heart. “No. Is he not with you?”
“We separated five days ago and haven’t seen or heard from him. There have been a lot of ground tremors.”
“Yes,” Brad replied. “We almost fell into a crevasse on the glacier.”
DeSousa looked at Liz. “He’s thinking the same thing we are. If Wilkie was alive, he would have beaten us here.”
“Maybe they’re lost.”
“Maybe, but the odds are against it.” He pointed out the window. “Hey! I see his light.” He spoke into the radio. “I have you in sight Niles, about three miles out.”
“Good,” Brad replied. “We’ll have to leave the Khark here and walk in. Too many zombies are in the area.”
Liz counted the minutes until she spotted the Sno-Cat and Brad standing beside it. The huge tractor had barely stopped moving when she jumped down, rushed to him, and let him envelop her in his arms. She had no thoughts of proper decorum or of what the others might think. She was overjoyed to see him. She hadn’t realized just how much she had missed him until she caught sight of him.
“God, I missed you,” he told her as he kissed her hair, then her mouth.
“I’m glad you’re safe,” she said when their lips separated.
He pushed her face into his shoulder and cradled it. “Who was with Wilkie?” he whispered into her ear.
She stiffened. She had briefly forgotten about them. “Shimoda and Mattie.”
“They might make it yet,” he replied.
She nodded. “Who is this survivor you mentioned?”
Brad frowned. “I’ll let you meet him first. He worked with the group that developed the plague, here in Antarctica.”
“At McMurdo,” she said in disbelief.
“No. A secret base in Oates Land. He said it’s caused by nanites.”
“Nanites? Why would anyone …?” She paused. “The military?”
“You guessed it. He also says there’s no cure, but I don’t believe him. He’s fought awfully hard to survive knowing he would eventually die.”
“Do you trust him?”
“Not for a second. He’s already trying to divide us with offers of safe passage when rescue comes.”
Her heart almost stopped. “Is rescue coming?”
“He said anyone trying to develop a cure would come to Resurrection City for samples.”
“Resurrection City?”
“The name was their little joke for the base where they developed the plague.”
She shuddered. “Some sense of humor.”
“Wait until you meet him. You’ll just love him.”
“I can’t wait. You’ve lost weight,” she noted.
He had no time to reply. He looked toward the Russian tractor as Bain exited, walked up to him, and offered him his hand. “Good to see you again.”
Brad clasped Bain’s hand in both of his and pumped it several times. “Welcome to McMurdo.”
“It’s rather a pleasure to be out of that smelly tin can.” He sniffed the air and frowned. “Though the air here has a certain unkind quality to it.”
“Mt. Erebus is throwing a party. We’re all invited.”
The others began climbing down from the Kharkovchanka – Lester, DeSousa, Reed, Jernigan, and Kopenski. They stood in a small group and eyed the dark cloud and flashes of light over the volcano with vary levels of trepidation. Kopenski hugged herself with her arms and shivered. Liz knew it wasn’t from the cold. In fact, she realized the temperature was above freezing. A thin sheen of water pooled on the ice in a few shallow depressions.
“Do we walk in?” she asked Brad.
Brad pulled the walkie-talkie from his pocket. “I’ll see if the others can provide a little distraction.”
He contacted Hughes. “We’re ready to come in,” he said.
Hughes replied, “When you hear the explosion, come quickly. I don’t know how long we can keep the zombies busy.”
They began the walk back to the base. Liz was dismayed when they drew close enough to see the condition of the small city. The last time she had seen it was in the daylight, and at that time, it was a thriving metropolis, a hive of activity. Now, it was a dark, empty collection of fire-ravaged buildings haunted by the stalking, fleshy ghosts of its former inhabitants; people she knew. The depression she had been fighting for days threatened to smother her in a fold darker than the night. She didn’t know what she had expected, but it wasn’t this.
They reached the rocky beach just as a pillow of flame lanced the night air east of the base, followed by the sound of the explosion.
“Come on,” Brad urged.
For fear that she might recognize them, she tried not to stare at the occasional human skeleton or the desiccated remains of dead zombies. She had seen enough friends die to last her the remainder of her years. When Brad stopped suddenly and held out his arm, she almost collided with him.
“Zombies,” he whispered.
Four of the creatures stood between them and the science building, which was their destination. They stared at the flames but did not move toward them.
“We can’t go around them.” He looked back at Liz, and then the others. “I’ll lead the way. Stay close together.”
He ran into the open firing his rifle. The zombies turned and came at the small group. Brad dropped two before they had taken three steps, but the steel tower of a weather station protected the remaining two. Brad waved the others on toward the science building, but Bain took out his pistol and joined him. Liz wanted to stay, but knew she had to help the others to safety.
“Move,” she yelled, and shoved DeSousa who stood watching. Their goal was the second building on the small hill. After so many days of sitting, the jog up the hill was taking a toll on her. Her breath came in ragged gasps. She wanted to fling over the heavy, smothering Anorak, but knew she might need it again. She looked back over her shoulder and saw the two zombies break from behind the tower and rush Brad and Bain. The first one went down quickly, but the second, protected by the first one, was on top of them before either man could fire. The creature went straight for Bain, the nearest. Brad leaped in, grabbed it by the collar of its shirt, and swung it around to face him. Liz screamed when the zombie lunged at Brad’s neck, but Brad ducked aside and slamm
ed the butt of his rifle into the back of the creature’s head. It stumbled far enough away for Bain to shoot it in the head. Relieved, she turned to face the building just as a man she didn’t recognize waved them toward the door he was holding open. The group raced inside. She remained outside by the door until Brad and Bain joined her.
Once inside, the man slammed the door and locked it. She took a quick inventory to make certain that everyone had made it inside, and then she collapsed on the floor.
The stranger urged them to keep moving. She eyed him suspiciously, as he spoke in a clipped Eastern-European accent. “This building is not as secure as the Core Pod. I suggest you rest there. We have food prepared.”
“Where are Deen and Hughes?” Brad asked him.
“They should be back by now. They used a propane tank as an explosive device and a gasoline trail to ignite it. The resulting explosion and flames seems to have served its intended purpose. The zombies were attracted to it.”
“Not all of them,” Bain said.
The man smiled. “You handled them easily enough.”
Bain frowned. “Who are you?”
“Gregory Malosi. We don’t have time to exchange pleasantries. Come.”
They followed Malosi to the Core Pod. Liz remembered the biology lab from two years earlier when she had assisted one of the physicians with health checkups for the Dry Ice Valley team members. Upstairs, a pot of hot soup simmered on the stove and a large urn filled the space with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Blankets and pillows lay in piles along the wall. She wanted nothing more than to curl up and go to sleep, but her reunion with Brad had excited her too much for that.
While they were eating, Hughes and Deen returned from their expedition. Deen eyed the new faces and frowned. “Where’s Wilkie?”
No one answered. Finally, Liz replied, “Wilkie, Shimoda, and Mattie Mullins are missing. We hoped they might have arrived ahead of us.”
“What happened?”
DeSousa stood up. “I’ll tell you what happened. Your buddy Wilkie ran off and left us.”
Deen’s face turned red with rage. He balled his hands into a fist. “Wilkie would never do that,” he shouted.
“He did it, sonny,” DeSousa countered, pointing his finger at Deen. “He cut and ran like a coward.”
Liz had enough. “Stop it!” she shouted. They both turned to stare at her. “Isn’t it enough that they might be dead? We don’t know what happened to them or why they disappeared. Just leave it. We have enough problems to deal with.”
Clearly, the tension between the two men had not vanished, but they backed away from each other. DeSousa returned to his cup of coffee. Deen walked to the edge of the stairs but didn’t descend them. His eyes never left DeSousa.
“The ice was lousy with cracks,” Bain said in way of possible explanation for their disappearance. “The tremors and the sudden rise in temperature made the glacier unstable.” Then realizing that he had only heightened the possibility of their deaths, he added, “They may have been forced to take a long detour.” He looked at the others gathered there. “None of us might be safe here.”
Kopenski dropped her spoon into her bowl and gasped. “But we’re on solid ground.”
“With a great bloody volcano at our doorstep,” Bain reminded her. “These tremors are growing stronger. As more ice melts or breaks away from the continent, the changes in pressure could trigger a major volcanic eruption.”
“Where do we go?” Lester asked. “We barely made it here.”
Liz saw Brad glowering at Bain as if willing him to shut up. “We have no choice but to remain here, at least for a while,” Brad said. “No one is in any condition for another long trip. We have shelter, heat, food and water.” He smiled. “As a matter of fact, we’ve rigged up working toilets. No showers for now though.”
“Anything good on the telly?” Bain asked with a smile, falling into Brad’s attempt to lighten the already dark mood.
“Just cooking shows.”
Bain shrugged, walked over to the shelves of books and picked one up. “I suppose I shall have to read then, won’t I?”
Liz was glad of the camaraderie between the two men. She had felt anxious while in the Russian tractor with all the tension in the air. At least here, everyone could have a little more space to themselves. She caught Malosi staring at her. He smiled.
“You are the doctor, Brad spoke of. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
She glanced at Brad, who smiled at her sheepishly. “So you’re responsible for all this?”
His smile faded. “I am not. The military hijacked and misused our project. They are at fault.”
“But you worked on this nanite disaster,” she accused. “Can you help me find a cure?”
“There is no cure.”
His straightforward statement of denial angered her. “I refuse to believe that anyone would create such a dangerous machine with no off switch.”
“Oh, it is possible to stop the nanites and perhaps the zombies they control, but we are each infested with the tiny creatures.” He waved his hand about his head. “They are in the air we breathe. Anything powerful enough to render them harmless would be fatal.”
She held her breath. Would he lie about such a thing? If there were no cure, why would he believe that help was coming? “You don’t believe that.”
His hesitation gave her hope. “It is a truth.”
“But not the truth.”
He said nothing. She was about to press him further, but Brad intervened. “I suggest that everyone try to get some sleep, or at least rest. Later, we have a lot to do to make this place secure and comfortable.”
She nodded. Malosi used the lull in conversation to walk away.
Brad whispered in her ear, “Don’t push him. I think he’s dangerous.”
She stared at Brad. “Do you think he’s lying about a cure?”
“I believe he doesn’t think we can find one, but I’m certain he hopes someone can. Otherwise, he wouldn’t put so much effort into surviving.”
Liz hoped that Brad was right.
After finishing her meal, Brad gave her a tour of the labs. She eyed the equipment with envy. Her medical clinic at Amundsen-Scott seemed so Spartan in comparison. She especially admired the Tescan Vega Scanning Electron Microscope. It would allow a clearer picture of her foe, the nanites causing the plague. She held out little hope that she could develop a cure on her own. Her expertise was as a physician, not a researcher, and she had no working knowledge of nanites, but Brad had faith in her and she couldn’t let him down. At least trying was better than simply sitting and waiting for the nanite virus to strike.
“It’s a beautiful lab, Brad,” she told him.
He beamed with pride. “We tried to fix it up. I hope this is all you need.”
“It’s very well equipped. I’m sure that with Malosi’s help, we can do some good work.” His smile slipped for a fraction of a second before returning, just long enough for her to understand that her noncommittal answer didn’t please him. “If it’s possible to develop a cure or a vaccine, this equipment is up to the job. I don’t know if I am,” she admitted.
“I wasn’t doubting you, Liz,” he said gently. “I do have doubts about Malosi.”
“Is he dangerous?”
Brad shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m positive that he doesn’t want to die, but I don’t know how far he might go to ensure his own survival. Keep an eye on him.”
Great! She thought. Deen and DeSousa at each other’s throats, Lester and Jernigan ready to throw punches again, and Malosi might be dangerous. As if an erupting volcano, a horde of hungry zombies, and facing imminent death from plague infection weren’t enough problems to deal with.
* * * *
Brad felt suffused with energy now that Liz had arrived. He wanted to race around the building singing and dancing, though he was good at neither. He felt like a kid again suffering the first pangs of adolescent romance. His separati
on from her had been the most difficult part of the long journey to McMurdo. He vowed never to part with her again. He had hoped that their reunion would have been more enthusiastic, but she had seemed tired and disheartened, distracted. He supposed that was to be expected. After all, their journey had not been without mishap. He didn’t share DeSousa’s belief that Wilkie had left them behind to fend for themselves. If that were the case, then he would have arrived already. He hoped that Wilkie and the others turned up soon. Their loss would place that much more strain on the group’s fragile dynamics. The possibility of their rescue if necessary was almost nonexistent. It was all they could do to see to their own welfare.
He returned Liz to the loft area. Things there were winding down. Though it was only mid-afternoon, many of the new arrivals were settling down to sleep. He would let them rest as long as possible before tackling the remaining problems of setting up a safe base of operations. So far, they had avoided attracting the attention of the mass of zombies haunting McMurdo, but that could easily change. The first order was security. They needed more weapons than the three rifles and assorted pistols they now possessed. Hughes was certain they could obtain more weapons and ammunition from the main supply room. A scientific community such as McMurdo had no real need for weaponry. In fact, it was discouraged, but sports such as skeet shooting and the necessity of rifles for protection meant a certain number were stored for such eventualities. Arming and training everyone in their use could prove vital to their chances for survival until rescue arrived.
Food was no problem, but water was. The small tank in the loft above the labs would not last long. Melting snow, which was rapidly melting, would not produce enough for their needs. A larger water tank was needed and a pipeline to the base’s main water lines. The third item on the list was a plan for rescue. Brad held out little hope for anyone searching them out. That meant that they would have to leave Antarctica under their own power. There were no planes adequate to meet their need. Until the ocean thawed, escape by ship was impossible, but it was their only choice. Building a boat capable of safely navigating the wild waters of the Southern Ocean would be laborious and possibly beyond their capabilities. The main thing was to keep everyone busy doing something. Once people gave up hope, they would give up cooperating. This would create a domino effect that would reduce everyone’s chances for survival. In this instance, false hope was better than no hope.