by Russ Melrose
I could hear blood gurgle softly in his mouth and throat. And for a moment, I thought he may have nodded at me. Then suddenly Raj was quiet and his eyes became still.
My bat lay next to him on the floor with flecks of blood on the fat end of it. He had used it to bash their heads in, but Raj was no match for the Swimmer even with a bat. A part of me couldn't believe he was gone, and I kept thinking there had to be something I could do to change the outcome. But it was too late. There was nothing I could do.
I had trouble concentrating and was at a loss as to what I should do. I knelt there woodenly. Too many incoherent thoughts fought for my attention and I couldn't seem to sort them out. The one thing I was sure of was that the Swimmer's shrill howl would draw the infected from the neighboring streets to us. But it would take time for them to get here. I figured I had at least several minutes before any of them showed up. I just needed to focus and figure out what I needed to do.
I avoided looking at Raj's body. I didn't need the distraction. The only thing I was sure of was that I needed to get Sarah and Becky out of the house and do it quickly. Get them to the research facility.
And then it struck me that something didn't quite track, as if there were something out of place. But that wasn't exactly it. And then it hit me. The picture window was intact. Not a crack anywhere. I glanced over at the door and it was perfectly intact as well. And I realized the infected hadn't broken into the house, Raj had let them in.
I didn't want to think about it. I couldn't. I got busy. The first thing I did was to close the front door and lock it. Before I closed it, I took a peek outside. The Swimmer had disappeared into one of the backyards across the street and South Fortuna Way was predominantly clear of the infected. There were two of them down the street heading our way, but they wouldn't be a problem, not with the Tundra.
I went to the stairs and called up loudly to them. "Sarah, we have to go. Throw the backpacks down and I'll be up in a minute to get you and Becky." Making noise at this point didn't matter.
I ran to the bathroom and turned on the cold water and splashed some of it on my face. I toweled off, then went into the living room and used the towel to wipe the bat clean. I could hear the backpacks hit the hallway floor upstairs with a thump. The infected man by the front door was near the bottom of the stairs. He was in the way. I used the towel to grab him by the foot and drag him into the living room with the others. Then I went into the garage and started the Tundra. It started right away and I could feel the power of its engine.
I hustled up the stairs and felt the soreness in my thighs. I went into the bedroom and grabbed the chair and took it out into the hallway and set it below the attic. I stepped onto the chair and helped them get down from the attic. Becky first, then Sarah. Sarah carefully lowered herself and I helped guide her down with my hands on her hips.
After I stepped down from the chair, Sarah lightly touched my arm below the wound. A dark spotting of blood had seeped through to the outer t-shirt. But my shoulder wasn't what was preoccupying her mind.
"Raj?" Sarah asked. But she already knew. They both knew. I could see the pain in Sarah's eyes. She was simply looking for confirmation. And Becky's face had already slackened into sadness.
I found I couldn't say the words. I didn't even know what they would be. Instead, I briefly shook my head and looked down at the floor.
Becky started to cry and Sarah pulled her daughter close to her. I knew we needed to go. There wasn't time to grieve. Not yet. It would have to wait.
I set the bat into its place in the backpack, then I gently touched Sarah on the arm. "We have to go. They'll be coming soon."
Sarah nodded. I slipped my backpack on and asked Sarah if I could carry Becky downstairs. She agreed. I picked Becky up and asked her to close her eyes. I didn't want her to see the carnage downstairs. She closed her eyes and buried her face in my shoulder, and I placed my hand on the back of her head. Sarah grabbed her backpack and Becky's and we went downstairs.
Sarah glanced at Raj as we passed through the living room. It wasn't more than a cursory glance. I kept my hand on the back of Becky's head as we passed by.
I got them settled in the back seat of the Tundra. "This will only take a minute," I told them.
Sarah looked at me quizzically, but I didn't want to explain.
I grabbed the matches from my backpack and tossed the backpack on the passenger side in front. A red plastic gas can sat on the floor on the other side of the garage near the lawnmower and the snowblower. I'd spotted it when Raj and I had been in the garage yesterday. It was half full, but it would do.
I took the gas can into the living room. The first thing I did was to pull Raj away from the recliner. He looked so uncomfortable with his neck bent so sharply. I poured the gasoline all over his body and on the wood floor around him. I stepped back and lit a match and tossed it on his body. The flame spread quickly over Raj's body and the floor. It was a yellow flame and it danced and licked upwards at the air.
For a moment, I thought about saying something, but I didn't know what would be appropriate and we needed to get going.
Once in the garage, I headed to the garage door. When I got there, I reached up and grabbed the red handle for the bypass switch and pulled it, and I heard the lever lock into position. The bypass would allow me to open the garage door manually. I grabbed the door handle and lifted the garage door quickly. I took a peek outside and checked to make sure we were clear, then made my way back to the Tundra.
I shifted the truck into drive and could feel the anger rising within me. A part of me hoped the Swimmer would be out in the street so I could run him over. I scanned the street, but there was no sign of him. The two infected I'd seen earlier were lumbering toward us. I simply drove around them and accelerated.
I glanced in the rearview mirror as we approached the curve in the road and then I saw him. He'd come back out into the street in front of the house we'd just left. He stood there for a moment watching us and then he began to hobble after us. I didn't mention his presence to Sarah and Becky. They had enough to deal with.
I could see a couple blocks down Fortuna Way before the road curved again. It would be four blocks before we got to Brockbank Drive and then two blocks down to the facility. About a block ahead, a handful of infected stumbled about in a front yard. But they'd be no hindrance to us. We'd be by them before they could get out into the street.
I glanced in the rearview mirror and could see Becky leaning into her mother. She was crying softly. Sarah stared vacantly ahead. I hated to interrupt them, but I knew we had to contact the facility.
"Sarah, could you text them and let them know we'll be there in about three minutes?"
She didn't say anything but reached into her backpack and grabbed her phone. I could see her texting. I checked my watch and it was a little after six. I couldn't help but notice the gates to the homes were closed this far down Fortuna Way. The Swimmer had apparently opened the gates for about a block and a half down from Jupiter.
We passed the infected out on the lawn. They turned and stared at us as we drove past. A spattering of fresh blood brightened their dusty clothes. A couple of them chewed slowly on something in their mouths. They had broken into four successive homes on the east side of the street. They started to amble after us, but they were no threat.
We went past the last curve in the road and ahead of us I could see the stop sign where Fortuna Way intersected with Brockbank Drive. We were still clear. I had no doubt the majority of the infected in the East Bench were back in the area where I'd fired the shots, or headed in that direction if they weren't there already.
I slowed at the stop sign and turned right and headed down the hill. The Salt Lake Valley opened majestically in front of us and offered a breathtaking view. A month ago it would have been a beautiful morning. People would have been jogging and bicycling on Wasatch Boulevard.
The morning sun had poured its brilliance into the valley all the way up to the Hollad
ay area. In another five minutes, it would light up the East Bench area too.
Brockbank swung sharply to its left right before it intersected with Wasatch Boulevard. I followed the curve and the Jorissen Research Building came into view, a three-story brick building with long, narrow dark windows. The building took up nearly half a block and was built into the lower slope of the mountain. The first thing I noticed was a large black helicopter sitting atop the building.
I was surprised to see it. Sarah hadn't mentioned anything about anyone other than the scientists being here. I looked back at her and I could see the surprised look on her face.
She looked at me and shrugged. But the presence of the helicopter didn't really matter. We had nowhere else to go. And then I wondered if the helicopter had something to do with the secure location that had been mentioned in the text.
I turned into the back parking lot, a decent size lot with plenty of parking spaces. A Hyundai Elantra was parked in the middle of the lot not far from the back door. I drove near the back door and swung the truck around so it faced the parking lot exit, just in case.
We stayed in the truck while Sarah texted them again. About ten seconds later, the back door opened. A man in black military-type garb held the door open. He didn't pay any attention to us but scanned the area and kept his eyes peeled down the street.
I grabbed my backpack. "Let's go," I told them. Becky had stopped crying, but her eyes were still red and swollen. We got out of the truck and I locked it. And as I walked past the bed of the truck, I set the keys as casually as I could in the back corner of the truck bed. I wasn't sure why I did it.
Four steps led up to a large steel door. The door was a good three inches thick, painted pewter gray. I went up first to check things out. He held the door open with one hand and cradled an automatic weapon with the other. He was my age, maybe a few years older, and he was all business. His eyes were narrowed in concentration. He had a lean, hard build and a tight face with a sharply delineated jaw line.
A few feet back from the door stood a slender man in chinos and a crisp burgundy polo. The man had thick, silvery hair that was neatly trimmed. It looked to be a fresh cut. He smiled easily at me as I stood in the doorway. He had one of those comfortable-in-his-own-skin smiles. He radiated relaxation and a quiet confidence. He wore aviator-style wire-rimmed glasses. And if you threw a suit on him, he could easily pass for a corporate officer. He looked to be in his fifties and looked fit. The only hints to his age were the silvery hair, a web of fine wrinkles that fanned out from the corners of his eyes, and a few thread-thin creases across his neck.
He looked as if the apocalypse had never touched him.
I stepped aside and let Sarah and Becky into the building, then I followed them.
"We're so glad you made it. Please come in. My name is Lukas Melzer. That's Lukas with a k," he said. "I'm a consultant with the Homeland Security Department."
Chapter 17 – Reconstructing Babel
Melzer stepped forward. "And you must be Sarah," he said warmly, extending his hand. Sarah hesitated before reciprocating. He took her hand and placed his other hand on top of hers in a reassuring gesture. Sarah stared at the enormous, open room behind Melzer.
Melzer held Sarah's hand a moment longer before letting it go.
The room was dominated by a maze of drab gray office cubicles filled with computers and other office paraphernalia. There were three long rows of cubicles divided into sections of four by vertical and horizontal hallways. The ceiling was a good twelve feet high, giving the room a cavernous appearance. A bank of offices lined the left side of the room.
Becky leaned into her mother's side and wrapped her arms around her.
Melzer nodded sympathetically in the direction of Sarah's eye. "That must hurt," he said. "Maybe we can do something for it."
"It's fine," she said.
Melzer shrugged and turned his attention to Becky. "And you must be Becky. How are you, young lady?"
Becky forced a half smile and pressed her head into her mother's side.
"Well, that's all right. We've certainly been looking forward to meeting you, Becky. We understand you're a very special young girl."
The security man closed the door quietly and locked it. The door had a simple knob lock and a large vertical deadbolt toward the top. He slid the deadbolt up into its chamber and pulled the deadbolt knob over to secure it in its slot, and he picked up a security bar off the floor and placed it against the underside of the door knob.
Melzer noticed the bat handle sticking out of my backpack. "And you are...?" he asked me.
"Jake," I told him.
Melzer smiled and offered me his hand and I shook it.
"Very nice to meet you, Jake," he said. "Please call me Lukas."
"I'll do that," I told him.
And then he looked around and seemed puzzled. "Excuse me. I thought there were supposed to be four of you."
Sarah and Becky stiffened.
"Our friend didn't make it," I told him.
He seemed to sense our discomfort. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."
We all stood there awkwardly for a moment.
Melzer raised his arm usher-like in the direction of the offices to our left. "Let me show you where you'll be staying and you can get settled in and relax for a while. We'll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning."
We followed Melzer. Coleman trailed silently behind us.
I was surprised to hear Melzer say we'd be leaving. I knew the idea of moving to a secure location had been suggested in the text message, but I couldn't grasp the idea as real, and I had difficulty reconciling the idea in my mind. All along I'd been dead set on getting to the cabin, and not going there felt like a betrayal. Getting to the cabin had been my sole focus till Sarah and Becky and Raj had showed up. Now my mind was scrambled, and I didn't know how I felt about anything.
Melzer led us to the first two offices toward the front of the room on the left. Just past the offices was a stairwell door that led up to the top two floors. Along the front wall of the room, there was a cafeteria to the left, his and her rest rooms in the middle, and double doors to the right that led to the reception area.
The double doors were solid oak and had thick, vertical deadbolts at the top similar to the back door. A barricade of tables and chairs and computers were crammed up against the double doors. Even though the double doors were the most vulnerable part of the building, there was little to worry about. The infected would have to get through the front doors in the reception area first before they could ever get to the double doors. And Melzer told us it would be easy to isolate the infected on the first floor. The only access to the second floor came via the elevator in the lobby or the stairwell. And Melzer mentioned they had a security bar for the stairwell. No one would be able to get past the stairwell door with the security bar in place. If the infected somehow breached the building, we'd simply move to the second floor, securing the stairwell door with the security bar, and escape via the helicopter.
Sarah and Becky and I were the sole lodgers on the first floor. Both Coleman, the security guard who'd let us in at the back door, and Alvaro, the other security guard, roomed up on the third floor. Alvaro was also the pilot. Melzer mentioned them both by name but never introduced us. They alternated doing security sweeps of the building, the top three floors and the basement. But there was little to do since there was only the front door and the back door to worry about.
The back door was virtually impregnable, and Coleman and Alvaro couldn't check the front door since they'd barricaded the double doors leading to the reception area. But they conducted their security sweeps anyway. Melzer told us their most important job was going up on the roof. They would go up every half hour checking on the movements of the infected in the area.
Melzer had taken an office on the second floor to be close to the two scientists who shared the lounge on the second floor. The labs were located on the second and third floors.
Sarah an
d Becky took the office nearest the stairwell and I took the office next to theirs. It would only take us a matter of seconds to get to the stairwell if the need ever arose.
They'd brought in a second couch from one of the other offices for Sarah and Becky's room so they'd have enough room to sleep. And they pushed the desk and the chairs up against a wall so they'd have more room. The offices were only slightly less drab than the cubicles. The walls were a soft avocado green and the carpet a light beige. The outer walls of the offices had large opaque windows that let some light in yet offered privacy.
My office had a desk and a leather swivel chair and then two chairs in front of the desk along with a couch. Two file cabinets stood in the corner with a mix of rustic-hued plastic flowers carefully arranged in a jade vase sitting atop one of them.
I tossed my backpack onto the couch and sat next to it. I tried not to think about Raj. I felt out of sorts, disoriented. We'd stepped into a new world and I didn't know what to make of it.
I took one of my t-shirts out of the backpack and pulled off the two long sleeve tees I'd been wearing. I did it with great care. My shoulder still ached.
After I put a fresh t-shirt on, I dug my iPad out of the backpack and checked to see if the internet was still alive and it was. I checked the usual sites but found nothing of interest, so I turned the iPad off and stretched out on the couch.
I felt exhausted and numb and my body ached all over. I rolled over and buried my head in one of the throw pillows. I did my best not to think about Raj and what had happened back at the house, but the scene burrowed its way into my mind nonetheless. I knew Raj's death wasn't my fault, and I wasn't going down that self-judgment road again. Not this time. I'd done everything I could. Raj didn't have to open that door. If he hadn't opened that door, he'd be alive and well. Raj had a choice to make and he made it, and that was on him, not me.
And then I thought about being up at the cabin. And I let images of the cabin and the stream and the woods drift before my mind's eye. Not even a minute passed before I was asleep.