Red Death: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller

by Robinson, D. L.

  They made three trips, carrying multiple bags each time.

  Finally, Lee’s usual quietness was tested. “What in God’s name did you buy, woman?” he joked. Tara cringed inwardly, but decided to spill it. As she set the bags down, she pulled out the bullets from the gun store.

  Lee raised one eyebrow. “I guess we’re ready for anything now.”

  Tara nodded. “I tried to think of everything, and if we don’t need it, so be it. I bought stuff we can use anyway. Other than the bullets, it’s all food we normally eat, so nothing will be wasted.” She paused. “I also ordered some masks and stuff too, since I’m confessing everything. I splurged for overnight shipping. I just feel better having it all here, Lee.”

  He nodded, not mad at her at all, and Tara relaxed. She knew Lee really understood her. Thinking of every possible thing that might go wrong and preparing for it quelled her usual anxiety. It came from a childhood of total chaos—Tara needed control in order to feel secure.

  She threw her arms around her husband and hugged him. “I love you, and if there’s any way to keep us safe, I’m gonna do it!” she laughed. Lee smiled and told her he loved her too, crazy paranoia and all.

  She felt much better now. “It’s not paranoid to be paranoid when your next door neighbors die of Ebola,” Tara told him, munching on a cracker she’d taken from the package.

  His face fell, and then it hit her. Their neighbors were dead. They were nice people who didn’t deserve such a thing, yet it had happened. This was serious, and although both she and Lee were trying to keep it light, Frank and Marla were dead. The mouthful of dry cracker suddenly stuck like sand in her throat, and she threw the rest of the piece away.

  “May God rest their souls,” said Lee, and Tara somberly agreed.

  They spent the evening in their separate pursuits; Tara sorting cans of food and dating them with a sharpie. It made it easier to use the most recently dated first, so she placed those facing outward in the cupboard. She cleaned out the pantry, and stacked and rearranged the supplies. Lee brought down an old upright potato bin from the attic. It had been her mom’s and had a wire front on each of three shelves which she filled with cans too. Lee disappeared into the basement to take stock of his tools and Tara’s old shelf of prepper supplies from her parents.

  Later, they watched TV together for a while. The news had a CDC press conference from earlier in the day, but what they said didn’t make any sense. The CDC claimed no one else was sick with Ebola, and in fact, Africa was gaining control of the epidemic. They claimed no one had died in America, so there was no reason to panic. Tara was baffled by this, knowing the truth. Their neighbor’s fate made anything else the CDC said unbelievable. If they would cover that up, then all of it was probably a lie. Lee didn’t say much. When she asked him what he thought, his response was, “What else can they do once the toothpaste is out of the tube?” Tara thought he’d pretty much described things right there.

  ~

  The days passed this way, with both she and Lee tinkering around the house. Tara made one last run for supplies at the dollar store, avoiding every other human being she saw. She took a canister of hand wipes in the car with her, so she could use them as soon as she got back in.

  She saw Mary one day across the street, and yelled that Lee was taking his vacation for the next month. Mary gave her a wave and a thumbs up.

  Everything seemed normal otherwise. It was the lull before the storm.

  ~

  Bright and early one morning, at the end of Lee’s second week off, his boss called. Tara answered and Lee took the phone, glancing at her with raised eyebrows. Tara could only hear one side of the conversation, but after saying “Hello,” she heard Lee’s boss’s voice coming over the phone, rising in either excitement or fear.

  “You’re kidding,” Lee said. Then, “Yes. I understand. Okay. Good luck.”

  He listened for a second or so, then thanked her and hung up. Lee just stood there with his eyes narrowed in thought, and this really scared Tara. “What?” she cried.

  “Half the plant is out sick. They decided to close it down today. She said military people were there.” Lee stared off unseeing, stroking his chin. “They told her not to tell anyone, but she wanted me to know.” He turned away. “She said they threatened her.”

  Tara could feel her heart beating hard. It’s on. It’s really starting. Lee looked at her. “I think this time, Tara, you might be right.” Tara didn’t want to be right. She wanted them to be okay. She wanted a normal life. She wanted the whole world to be okay.

  Thank God, I made him take vacation! She wasn’t going to say this out loud, but then Lee hugged her, and said it.

  “Thank you. I think I dodged a bullet.” His brow furrowed again. “I wonder why the military came? What is their involvement? That’s what worries me the most. I mean, if half the plant had the flu, the military wouldn’t come.”

  “If someone from the plant tested positive for Ebola, they’d get involved fast, Lee. I need to talk to Mary. She told me her daughter Julie was possibly exposed too. I wonder what she knows.”

  They sat in the front room talking and just then, the mailman came. Tara leaned outside to get hers, watching for Mary. Sure enough, Mary poked her head out and reached into her mailbox.

  Tara came out on the porch and called her over. She watched as Mary crossed, suddenly aware there was much less traffic than usual. Tara, you’re getting really paranoid. But she knew she had to be. The smallest sign might mean the difference now.

  “Mary, I’m so glad to see you! I need to tell you something—my husband’s boss just called—their plant has been closed—half the employees are out sick! And the military was there, but his boss didn’t know why, only that they threatened her to keep quiet.”

  Mary leaned in, her face pale and distressed. “I heard from both my daughter Julie and my cousin this morning. I was going to come over later and tell you. My cousin’s boy works for Universal Heating and Cooling. They’re national, with a satellite office here in town. He has a desk job there and knows all the orders that come in. He also sends crews out to do the job orders.” The older woman swallowed hard, as though what she was about to say was stuck in her throat.

  “He says they have crews out all over the country, fitting grates on the ductwork in each Wally-World store. Not only did their crew do it here in town at our store, they also put them on the old abandoned K-Mart building down there beside it last week. And the local crew guys reported other companies were there working too, welding iron security gates across all the entrances and exits.”

  Puzzled, Tara’s mind raced. Why? Why would they need the ductwork covered?

  Mary narrowed her eyes and her voice dropped to a whisper. “They’re only covering ductwork big enough for a person to get through. The smaller ones, they don’t cover.” Tara thought her heart might stop. She felt immediately sick.

  “Oh, my Lord. What’s your cousin’s take on it?”

  “He thinks they’re making quarantine centers, camps maybe. The scariest thing is they made all of them sign non-disclosure releases. He was almost afraid to tell me, but everyone knows something bad is coming. Ebola must be all over the country, Tara, and they don’t want people to know. He said just that first case in Dallas caused the stock market to drop 300 points—so it might cause a panic and shut down the economy, the flights, and the stores. God forbid!” Mary made a sarcastic sound in her throat.

  “My God, that’s ridiculous! If everyone knew, maybe they could protect themselves!”

  “I’m beginning to believe they don’t want everyone to survive it. Maybe it’s some form of population control like the conspiracy theorists are saying.”

  Suddenly, the websites devoted to crazy conspiracies where Tara regularly lurked weren’t looking like such nutbags.

  “What about your daughter, Mary? Is she okay?”

  “Yes, she’s fine. She wasn’t directly exposed to your neighbors in the ER, but her whole shift
was given leave to self-quarantine. She’s kept my six year old grandson home all week with her too, because he caught a cold at preschool. Now she’s getting it. I was afraid for her at first, but she just has regular head cold symptoms and a small fever. With flu season around the corner, this is scary. Hard to know who has the flu and who has Ebola.”

  “Oh no, Mary, I didn’t even think of that.”

  Tara warned her to get her supplies now, mostly so she wouldn’t have to go out anymore. Mary nodded. “I thought I would top off my pantry today. Then I’m going into hermit mode like you and Lee.”

  Tara nodded. “I think it’s for the best right now.” She pulled her phone out. “Can I have your number and email, Mary?” They exchanged contact information.

  “I just had a thought—what would happen if we couldn’t use internet or phones? We would all be really isolated,” Tara said.

  Mary nodded. “They could shut that stuff off as easy as pie too. Not to mention if the electric goes—none of us will be able to charge our devices! But if, God forbid, that happens and you ever need me? See that little window right over there?” She pointed and Tara nodded. “You just shine a flashlight over in that window. The head of my bed is right there. I’ll see it and come.”

  Tara looked up at their own bedroom window. “You could do the same thing with ours. Our bed is further back, against the wall, but I would see the light on the ceiling eventually, if you kept it up.”

  Mary nodded. “Okay, I’m going for supplies, Tara. You need anything?” Tara told her no and they said goodbye. She was even more worried now. The unreality of it all struck her—but unfortunately, it was all too real.

  She went in search of Lee and passed on what Mary had said. Between Mary’s news and Lee’s phone call, a different feeling had descended on her. Tara didn’t like it at all. It was one thing to imagine an apocalypse, another to believe you might experience one.

  ~

  Another week went by, and to Tara, it seemed even less traffic was on the formerly busy street out front. The media had stopped reporting anything about Ebola. Just the week before, Facebook had still been full of the usual inane concerns about kittens, Justin Bieber’s relationship status, and The Real Housewives of New Jersey. When Tara asked for info or posted Ebola concerns, most people got upset, so she stopped. But this week, she began to notice a lot of her friends list was absent. They simply were not posting. And a few more posted cryptic one liners like “Sick,” or “Ugh, house full of flu here.” This didn’t help calm her fears.

  That night, something woke her up. The projection clock on her ceiling said it was almost 4 a.m. Tara lay there for a minute, and then became aware of the steady drone of large vehicles on the street out front. After a moment, out of curiosity she got up and looked out the window.

  Truck after military truck rolled by, end to end, bumper to bumper, all camo colored. The line stretched as far as she could see. “LEE!” she yelled, and heard him yelp awake. “C’mere, quick!”

  Tara watched at least twenty more go by before Lee joined her at the window. He whistled under his breath. She counted out loud. “Thirty six, thirty seven, thirty eight,” she kept it up until the end of the line, sixty-seven, all together.

  “I think the sound of them passing is what woke me up. I laid there listening for at least a minute before I got up, so I must’ve missed a bunch. There must be a hundred and fifty at least!”

  Lee looked worried. “This can’t be a very good sign, I’m afraid. Any large movement of troops within the US usually signifies something happening. Especially here in this rural area, without a base anywhere nearby.”

  They crawled back in bed and Lee dozed off right away, but Tara couldn’t stop her mind. She stared at the ceiling, chest heavy, watching the numbers on the projection clock changing.

  ~

  The next morning, Tara decided to call Mary with what they’d seen. She picked up on the second ring.

  “Mary, I’m getting scared. A huge line of military trucks went by at four in the morning. I counted sixty-seven after I got up to look out, and they’d been going past a while before I got to the window.”

  “Oh, no,” Mary worried. “I just heard from our neighbor Anna down at the end of the street. She ran to the store early this morning. Two soldiers were outside the entrance holding a little radar-gun looking thing pointed at each person’s head before they went in! She said they stopped one guy, and someone in a spacesuit led him around the corner, behind the store. She didn’t know where.”

  “Oh, dear God.” Tara hung up and stood there in a daze. It’s on. They’re checking for fever.

  To her it felt like the whole world was holding its breath, waiting, waiting. It’s you who’s waiting, Tara, that’s why it seems that way. She walked into the kitchen and stood staring at the cans in the pantry. She felt very protective over them somehow. She really wanted to laugh at her foolishness, but couldn’t.

  Deep down, she knew there wasn’t enough to sustain them for long. Not nearly long enough anyway. Before the media went quiet on the stories about Ebola, they’d been reporting a maximum 21 days from Ebola exposure to symptoms. But Tara did some research and read about a few people showing symptoms at 30 days and beyond. So ideally, she and Lee needed enough food to last them through the initial “die off,” and maybe the second wave too. That was a long time. Even if the average case showed symptoms by 21 days, the second wave would be 42 days.

  The WHO and CDC’s rules originally claimed two 21 day quarantine periods without a new case meant the outbreak was over. So, she and Lee needed 42 days of food in a best case scenario. However, Tara thought 60 days was probably more like it, to really be safe.

  Sixty days. We’re gonna run out long before that. She stared into the stacked rows of cans uneasily. We need enough to be able to bug out for six months. I’d feel better if we had that much. That’s 180 days of food. At three cans of food each per day, that was 1,080 cans!

  They didn’t have that much. If they were careful, maybe they could go a month. Tara’s dark sense of humor kicked in again. Well, I’ve been meaning to lose some weight.

  She walked to the window and looked out. It was October now, and leaves were falling. Their yard was a long one, surrounded by trees and bordered by an alley in back. A squirrel scampered across the grass, and another one ran down a tree trunk to meet it. I wonder if we can eat the squirrels. Monkeys and bats carry Ebola. They know that for sure. And maybe dogs, that’s why they took Marla’s, I bet. Would boiling meat kill the virus, if the squirrels carried it? And what about rabbits? We have food sources right in our own yard, if things get bad enough. The squirrels raced around obliviously, unaware of their impending nutritional status.

  Just then, her cell phone rang. It was Mary.

  “It’s almost dark. I want to go look over across the gravel pit at the old Kmart store down the road. Will you two go with me later on? I think we need to go on foot, so as not to draw their attention. By the way, my friend Anna went out again, and when she got back, someone had broken in and ransacked her house. Worst thing is they stole almost all her food! She’d been stockpiling for a while, like us. So, I don’t know what to think!”

  The thought of break-ins in the neighborhood freaked Tara out. “Oh no! I sure hope it’s not a trend, because none of these homes are very secure. Yeah, I’d like to go see what’s going on down at Kmart too. Call me in two hours.”

  She hung up and told Lee what Mary wanted to do. Surprisingly, he was game and wanted to go as well. Tara told him about the break-in just a few houses down, and the fact that they stole food. Lee didn’t say anything, but she could tell this disturbed him. It definitely disturbed her.

  Lee went off to the basement to finish his ongoing organization project. Tara stood in the kitchen thinking. The terrible feeling that she hadn’t thought of everything nagged at her.

  A sudden noise from the church building on the other side of their house made her jump, and she backed awa
y from where she stood near the window. Someone’s out there!

  Chapter 4

  The thin, wavy glass pane between Tara and God knew what, struck terror into her heart. She couldn’t see anyone, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. It’s not safe in here, really. We have a little food—just enough for somebody to take from us. She glanced up at the tall window, then over at the back door with its large glass opening. Panic nearly stopped her breath. This house is full of ways in, all over the ground floor! We have to get them covered. She peered out at the church and parsonage again but could see no threat. Maybe it was just squirrels on the roof. They’re thick out there this year.

  But Tara still walked through the downstairs of the big old house, counting. Eleven windows and doors! Twelve if you count the basement landing, more if you count the basement windows. Oh, my God.

  She could hear Lee still tinkering somewhere in the basement. “Lee, come up here!” Tara called. “Hurry,” she added, as she heard him slowly moving up the stairs. There’s no way he’s going to go for this, but I have to try.

  Tara grabbed his arm. “We need to cover the windows. I heard something over at the church. You know the parsonage has been empty for almost a year, so no one should be there, anywhere. Maybe it’s a squirrel on the roof, but someone could be breaking in looking for stuff.

  “Tara, calm down, what are you talking about?”

  “Look!” she pointed at the back door, then at the window over the sink, then toward the pantry where the large window looked out over their backyard.

  “What?” asked Lee, baffled.

  “The windows! They’re everywhere.” Tara pulled him toward the pantry. She took his hand and placed it on the thin glass. “Is this really all you want between us and some thug looking for food?” Tara finally saw recognition dawn on Lee’s face.