Snow Outbreak

by Boris Licina

  "THERE IT IS!"

  Amanda and Rachel exchanged glances.

  "Boss, is this it?", somebody asked.

  "I don't know, moron, we'll see. EVERYBODY TO THE EIGHTH FLOOR! The moron goes first", the ordering voice chose his victim to enter the lab first.

  "Now or never", Rachel whispered, "while they are down, we take the stairs and run. They won't even notice because of the lab."

  "I don't know, perhaps we better wait for the night?", Amanda did not like the idea to leave the safe hiding place.

  "We'll never leave Atlanta if we don't start now", Rachel stood up and whispered energetically. "Trust me. Besides, we're better off away from these idiots. The card they've just taken opens the door with the vaccine but also the most dangerous viruses on the planet! What the Snow Outbreak did not end, these idiots will!"

  She opened the door slightly and peered out. Nobody in sight. The office was in total chaos, papers and books everywhere on the floor. She squatted and invited Amanda to the same. She gestured to stay quiet and follow her. Again they were leaning against the walls until they reached the stairs. Then they opened the door and entered the staircase. They descended slowly keeping away from the railings. As they neared the eight floor, the voices became clearer, so they stopped on the ninth floor.

  "We'll go slowly", Rachel whispered, "into the lobby. No running. We have to be really quiet."

  Amanda gestured OK and followed Rachel who stopped at the mezzanine and bowed down. All the doors to the staircase had small windows. She tried to see if anyone was standing close by, but could not see anything. So they went on down. They bent over when passing the eight floor. Sounds of smashing were behind them. Although they knew the reasons for going slowly, their legs protested, so they ran towards the lobby door. Amanda pointed towards the exit with her head. There was an armed man standing there.

  "Garage", Rachel said silently and pointed the door some fifty meters away.

  Amanda again gestured OK. She opened the door and walked quietly towards the reception that was a good shelter from the guard at the entrance. They made it to the reception without a sound, so they squatted. Amanda peered out. The guard was still turned away from them. Amanda gestured to walk, Rachel started and very lightly brushed the container against the chair that moved several centimeters. Both women squatted low again. They heard footsteps approaching. The guard stopped and started walking slowly, then stopped again. Rachel put down the small container and held the large one with both hands. She was hoping the guard was right-handed so he would approach him from the right. Amanda held the chair to push towards him if he came from the left side.

  As soon as the guard peered from the right side of the reception, Rachel stood up, swung the container and hit the guard on the head. The lobby reverberated with shots as the guard's reflexes pulled the trigger as he was losing consciousness! Rachel took up the small container and ran as fast as she could towards the main exit! Once they cleared the building, they automatically looked up. There was a man with a gun on the eighth floor window. Both his hands were in the air. Amanda showed him the finger! The man went inside and the girls ran towards the car.

  Rachel threw the containers onto the back seat and sat at the wheel.

  "Go, go, go!", Amanda shouted holding both hands on the dashboard in front of her.

  Rachel turned the key.

  "Vroom. Vroom …", the engine coughed and died.

  "NO!", Amanda panicked.

  Rachel turned the key again.

  "Vroom. Vroom. Vroo…", the engine gave up again!

  The glass on the building crashed under the rain of bullets! Rachel and Amanda bent down and looked at each other. They had only one more chance! Rachel turned the key.

  "Vroom. Vroom. Vroo… Vroooooom!", the engine worked! Rachel pressed down the gas pedal and turned towards the compound's exit! Along the way she scratched one car, skidded a bit and then hit the road.

  Amanda turned around. Behind them, men they had just escaped from were jumping into their three cars!

  39.

  Eli shouted at the top of her lungs! Diego's head had fallen onto the car's trumpet! Blood was dripping down his neck and onto the car floor. Benjamin squatted behind the passenger's seat and covered the ears with his hands. The bullets kept bouncing off the Edge. Lika unbuckled, bent down, stretched her leg and pressed down on the accelerator. She turned the steering wheel and the Edge rushed to the street on the left side! The bullets bore through the back door, glass was shattered all over Eli and Benjamin. Lika turned into the street on the left and sped towards the Wells Fargo building they had just passed a moment ago. When they reached the intersection, the car swerved and hit a tree in the miniature park. What kind of a park is it, with only three trees, Lika thought as she was hitting the door with her shoulder.

  "Out! Out! Out!", she shouted at Eli and Benjamin.

  Everybody managed to get out of the car, and Lika showed them towards the river.

  "Over there, quick!"

  They ran along the building, crossed another road and rushed towards the Jacksonville Landing, the popular market place. There they ran between the chairs to the promenade along the river. Benjamin fell behind.

  "No stopping", Lika shouted and pushed him with her hand. "Faster!"

  Eli was several steps behind them. Her heart was beating as never before! They ran under the Acosta Bridge and continued along the river. Twenty minutes later, they hid behind several trees, catching their breath. Benjamin held his knees, Lika sat behind a tree and Eli tried to see if anybody was following them.

  "WTF!", said Benjamin. "What's happened!?"

  "I don't know. Somebody shot at us", Lika said trying to breathe.

  "We never should have left Diego", said Eli. "We don't even know what's happened with the first car!"

  "Diego is dead, trust me! Fuck …", Lika was furious. "We should've known with all these fucking obstacles and barricades. Morris drove away fast, he better take care of Oli!"

  "We couldn't have known!", Benjamin calmed him down. "They probably had nothing to do with the shooters. I'm sure everybody's OK, both Oli and Morris and the rest of them."

  "What now?", Eli asked nervously walking left and right.

  "I'll call Morris", Lika said and took out her cell.

  No response. She sent a message and tried to ring up Oli. No response. She took a deep breath and told herself how she wished Oli was OK. Her hand shook a little.

  "Oli, too?", Eli asked.

  "Yeah."

  Eli turned towards the river. For almost a minute they stood there in silence.

  "We have to go on", Lika said.

  "But, we have no idea where to? Nor where it's safe. Every step takes us away from Morris and the others", Eli did not like the plan.

  "I know, but standing still is the worst option. Trust me. I've been to a few war zones, the best is to keep going away from the conflict zone. The probability to meet the same people again is smaller to none. Let's go."

  They walked fast along the river towards the south. Some parts of the city looked like military troops trampled over them. Some houses were half torn down, some completely burned down. Large caliber bullet holes were visible on some facades. They were passing close to buildings and the shadows. The temperature was dropping, in a few hours night would cover Jacksonville. Lika decided to walk as far as they could.

  "Seems like we'll spend the night here", Benjamin said wiping off the sweat from his forehead.

  "Possibly", Lika said.

  "I don't understand why would somebody shoot at us, what did we do?", Eli asked.

  "Nothing", Lika patted her on the back, "as I see it, there were two groups in conflict. The chaos we've seen, the burnt and crumbled buildings, only heavy artillery could do. I don't know if the military is involved or the weapons were stolen from the base. All options are open. Whoever shot at us, probably thought we were enemies. Whatever that means."

  "Then we'll probably never know",
Benjamin concluded.

  "It doesn't matter", Lika turned towards him, "what matters is that we avoid any conflict. Of any kind. So, we walk until we're sure. We have to reach Morris. Oli must be OK!"

  They heard shots from the distance and walked faster. They were still in the area with lower business buildings. Too many people passed that way. Sick people. It was too risky to seek shelter in any of these buildings. They had to reach the residential area, find a safe house and rest. They had not slept since the Falcon. Everything was too exciting to sleep. They were tired and Lika was aware they should stop soon. She looked at the map and turned towards the place where the map showed houses. In the distance they heard the sound of vehicles, so they stopped. Lika held her finger up and listened.

  "They are looking for us, we better find a house and hide”, Lika concluded, "they are driving too slowly. Morris would not search for us blindly."

  Eli was walking and looking at the distance. It was the best way to notice anything suspicious. She was thinking of the Silverado that got hit first and tried to remember how fast Morris drove away, but it was impossible. There as too much noise in her head. She hoped Oli was safe, but there was always that option that he was not!

  "Don't worry", Lika said, "I know you're thinking about Oliver. I'm sure he's fine. Morris drove away fast, and the Silverado is good against bullets. It is, after all, one of the NASA's official vehicles. I remember Ben, Oli's father, writing about it. NASA's versions of the car are tougher because of the extra load."

  "You're just saying that to calm me down", Eli smiled a little and adjusted her nose piercing.

  "Or myself", Lika also smiled, "but it's true. NASA really improved their Silverados."

  Benjamin pointed towards a house on their right. There were no cars and no red X on the façade denoting the "sick" houses. Lika nodded, so they came to the door. It was locked, and a good sign. The owners probably ran away on time, nobody inhabited the house. Red brick dominated the lower façade and the porch; the house seemed to be a nice, warm home. So they went around the house and entered the yard. The back door was also locked. Lika put her jacket over her arm, broke the glass and opened the door to the kitchen. Benjamin opened the fridge right away, and Lika checked the counters over the stove. A packet of cookies and some chips. Half a chocolate. They sat down in the living room to eat the chips and the cookies, while they left the chocolate for later. Eli turned on the TV and muted it. Not even news anymore. Just snow crash.

  Besides the TV, there was a large library in the living room, taking up one entire wall. Political thrillers, several cook books, dog training manuals, some classical literature, a lot of fantasy and science fiction novels. The next wall was filled with family photographs. Eli took a look. An older married couple, both grey-haired, embracing in front of the house. A younger couple with a child. Another young couple with three kids. All kids together. I wonder who survived, she thought.

  "Eli, come over", Lika said sitting on a large sofa with Benjamin. Eli sat down opposite of them.

  "We have to get organized", Lika began, "it will be night soon. We'll keep two-hour shifts. No lights, nothing to give us away. We monitor the main road. In case someone comes, we exit quietly through the back door. We leave at 5 am."

  "Where to?", Benjamin asked.

  "Back where we came from. I'm not leaving my son here!", Lika said.

  Benjamin and Eli nodded. Lika took out her cell. There were no messages. She clicked on Morris's name. It rang. Once. Twice.

  "Hey", Morris was whispering.

  "Morris!", Lika exclaimed and put him on speaker. Benjamin and Eli came closer. "Where are you? Are you alive? Where's Oli?"

  On the other end of the line there was silence.

  40.

  Cody, Kathryn and Martin stood in the last row of the food storage. It was fifty seven meters long, fourteen meters high and full to the brink. That food could last for decades, but was not diverse. They knew they would have to combine it with other food, more perishable. Cody was frustrated that not all lunches would be perfect. That time was over. The menu would have to include the optimal number of calories, not the optimal fine taste.

  "We'll take nothing with expiration dates less than three years", Cody said, "that means everything behind row 8 is fine. Martin, row 11 and 12, Kathryn is on 15. I'll do this one! Take a robot stacker."

  Robot stackers were usual in the warehouses. Especially in large ones like that, where time was of the essence. Before the Snow Outbreak, several trucks were supposed to be loaded in one day, taken to the Falcon and unloaded. Every minute on the runway was as dear as gold. The warehouse workers often joked that robot stackers would take over the world, but when one of the stackers ran over a worker, nobody felt like laughing. It was an accident. An angry worker, whose wife had an affair with the deceased, programmed the stacker to attack. "I just wanted it to push him around a little" he said in court showing that robot stackers were easily programmable. The sales went through the roof!

  Every stacker had a screen to enter the row, product and loading bay numbers where the truck was waiting to be loaded. Everything else was automatic. In systems such as that one, where trucks were loaded with the same products in the same time span, there was no need for typing. Everything was preprogrammed to do the job as soon as the truck arrive. With autonomous truck and such smart warehouses, there was almost no need for human operators. Almost. Still, many warehouses had employees. Sometimes a robot stacker had to be pushed when it stopped, trucks had to be supervised, documents inspected.

  They programmed their robot stacker, entered the row and the food product to be taken to the truck. After that, they just stood and watched. The stackers worked and Cody, Kathryn and Martin were killing time.

  "All trucks will be fully loaded in an hour and a half", Martin said.

  "Great!", Cody was satisfied. "This means food for the next two to three years. Depends on how frugal we are. And if we enlarge the farm, there's no worries."

  "You really think we would return to Earth? I find it hard to believe", Kathryn sighed.

  "Who knows, we probably will", Martin was musing, "but it's better in any case to have enough food."

  "That's right", Cody confirmed, "if everything's OK, we can fly down back to Earth. It is true though, that it will never be the same considering the number of casualties. But, in two hundred years, who knows. New generations will grow, some new people will be born and everything will assume the new rhythm. If there's several million people left, that's enough to start again. Unless they are idiots that would annihilate themselves."

  They felt silent. No sounds but the robot stackers loading food into trucks.

  "We'll take nothing sweet", Kathryn broke the silence after several minutes.

  "I'm afraid not", Cody said, "more damage that it's useful. We'll use that space for other ingredients."

  "I was thinking I might occasionally bake a cake", Kathryn laughed.

  "Well, yeah, you're a pastry chef!", Martin remembered.

  "That's right."

  "From … California?", Martin recalled the introduction in Ava's office.

  "Yes. From Carmel", she revealed.

  "A beautiful town", Cody added, "a lot of galleries."

  "Yes. And tourists", Kathryn said modestly. "There were several galleries around our place. On the corner of Ocean and Lincoln. Many customers."

  "What was your most popular product?", Martin wanted to know.

  "Lavender ice cream with a chocolate cookie!"

  All three of them nodded imagining lavender ice cream. Within a few minutes all three robots peeped. Their work was done. The trucks were loaded. Martin jumped down to the trucks, offered his hand to Kathryn as she jumped beside him. Cody also descended from the loading platform.

  "OK, team", he said, "destination Kennedy!"

  Night was slowly falling over Kissimmee. The self-driving trucks were pulling out of the warehouse and turned towards the main road. In a few minute
s they were already rushing towards the Kennedy base. As usual, the roads were empty. If there were any survivors, they did not show up. We'll never see you again, Kissimmee, Cody thought. All the way back, the sunset was spectacular.

  The trucks took a little more than an hour and a half to reach the Kennedy Space Center and the landing strip where the Falcon waited. Cody stopped the trucks at the entrance and called Jessica.

  "Hey", he said, "what's the procedure?"

  "Welcome back! I'm glad everything went fine!", Jessica said. "Bring the trucks to the Falcon. Stay inside! The robot stackers will load the goods into the Falcon. When they're done, you may enter the quarantine I prepared for you."

  "Good!", Cody laughed. "The quarantine."

  "You know you have to, the same rules apply to all."

  Cody told the plan to Kathryn and Martin. They took control of the trucks and parked next to each other near the Falcon. Then they opened the rear door and the stackers began to unload goods from the trucks and stack them up in the loading bay of the Falcon. Some of it would be stored in the passenger part and that is why the procedure lasted longer, at least two hours.

  It was already night and only the lights of the trucks and the stackers illuminated the runway. The stackers were interesting to watch, how they skillfully avoided collision, just at the last moment. Like toys, Cody thought. Ava would have liked it.

  The stuffed crabs that he had prepared for her, were delicious. As was every night with her. He liked her being vulnerable and gentle, but at the same time decisive and strong. She won his heart in a short time. And she was not indifferent towards him, either. Ava openly exchanged endearments with him in public. Cody did not know if that was her usual behavior or just special circumstances. Probably the circumstances. The Company's policy was no open relationships, but the Company was no more. He was looking forward to seeing her again.

  "Rrrrrring!", the mobile device woke him up from the slumber.

  "Hey …", he muttered.

  "Cody, we're done!", Jessica said. "Move the trucks from the runway and take the rear stairs to the quarantine.