The Emerald Virus

by Patrick Shea

  After a couple of minutes he remember all of the wrecks he had seen abandoned on the road, and the bodies he had seen in the burned vehicle. He finally understood that no one was going to call for help. And apparently no one was going to stop and see if he was alright. Everyone seemed to be taking care of their own problems today; except for that idiot of a truck driver who seemed to be willing to avenge some stranger.

  When Karl had opened the passenger’s door of the RV the hinges had sprung. The door was now lying flat against the RV and Karl was sitting on the rearward side of the entrance propped up on his elbow, looking in the same direction he had been driving.

  He saw headlights flashing on and off in the upcoming traffic lanes and a semi-truck looked like it was slowing down for him. Karl started waving both arms over his head when the driver of the truck put down his window and leaned out. Karl felt a cold dread envelope him as he saw the gun in the driver’s hand and heard the first shots being fired. Karl realized this was the same truck that had caused his problems.

  He reached for his gun and found it had fallen out of his waistband during the accident. He didn’t even think about his choices, he simply dropped through the opening back into the RV. He straddled the steering column when he fell and he thought he crushed both of his testicles when he landed. The pain was immense and he screamed again. When he stopped screaming he heard only the sounds of a receding air horn being blasted.

  It took him a couple of minutes to get his breath back and be able to move again. He looked around for the gun but couldn’t find it. He realized it could be anywhere and he wasn’t sure he wanted to spend much time closeted in the RV since he didn’t know what the trucker would do next.

  Karl crawled into the back and tried to open the closet where the rifle and shotgun had been stored. He found the entire side of the RV had twisted and the door was no longer square. It was wedged so tightly closed he couldn’t get it to budge an inch. He looked around for something he could use as a pry bar but nothing he tried would work.

  Karl was getting nervous. He didn’t want to be stuck in the RV if the truck driver returned to look for him. Especially now that he knew the guy had a gun.

  All of a sudden the C.B. radio came to life and Karl heard the voice of the trucker saying, “Hey survivor asshole, are you still there? If you can hear me I just want you to know I’m coming for you. Just stay where you are and I’ll be right there.” And then they guy laughed, not like a maniac, but like there was something really funny going on.

  Karl was really scared now. He scrambled through the wreckage and climbed back onto the side of the RV. This time he situated himself so that he was sitting on the door itself and looking back the way he had come from. He could see the tracks of the RV where it had left the road, where it had overturned and where the slide had started. He could also see the lights of an oncoming big rig and he knew the trucker was almost upon him. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to stand up and make a better target and he wasn’t sure he wanted jump down. The ground looked like it was about ten feet away and he knew he could hurt himself if he landed wrong. He really would be a sitting duck if that happened.

  Karl looked up as the air horn started again and he saw the truck leave the road exactly where RV tracks started. Karl knew there was nothing he could do to save himself.

  Chapter 6

  Chapter Nineteen: The Wild West

  Sunday: Near the Circle Square Ranch, Nebraska

  Noah Yellowbird and Elliot Walker rode in the front seat of Elliot’s pickup together. They were headed into town this Sunday morning, but not for church. Elliot and the Randall’s had shown symptoms for eight days now. Noah was still symptom free and they were going to town to get Noah set up in a survivor RV.

  Noah had wanted to go alone but Elliot had insisted on driving him on this cool Sunday morning. Elliot had called ahead and made sure an RV was available.

  Elliot asked, “Have you thought about where you’re going and where you’re going to store the RV for the next week or so? You sure don’t want anyone messing with it between now and the time you get on the road.”

  I’ll just keep it at my house, I’ve got a small barn it should fit in and I want to weld a hitch to the back of the freezer trailer so I can pull my horse trailer. I don’t want to leave Palouse behind, mostly because I’m not yet convinced that we won’t all be on horseback again in the near future.”

  “I wish I had known that was your plan. I could’ve asked these people to add and stock a horse trailer for you.”

  “That’s okay; I’ll do alright on my own. I already feel guilty for taking their RV. It’s more than I have a right to expect. But it will make this first winter a lot easier, especially starting this late in the year.”

  Elliot said, “Tell me Noah, what’re your feelings about being a survivor”.

  “Well, I haven’t thought too much about it. I was perfectly happy with the thought that everything was out of my hands and I was going to leave this earth along with everyone else. Now that I know I’m going to be around for a while I have some real mixed emotions. I like the thought of starting a new life. This one hasn’t been great for me. But I don’t see anything but a struggle ahead. On the good side it’s a nice kind of struggle since I’ll be on my own and can set myself up in any manner I choose.

  “The funny part for me is, as much as I like being alone, I kind of wish I knew somebody going into this new life. I know that doesn’t make much sense but that’s how I feel.”

  “That sounds like a logical contradiction to me. We can rarely have things the way we want, and being a loner is a lot different than being totally alone, at least in my mind.”

  “I guess so. Anyway, how bad is it for you, knowin you’re about to pass on?”

  “I’m glad you asked. I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately and to tell you the truth I’ve already lived longer than I thought I would, and probably a lot longer than I had a right to. On the other hand, knowing it’s my time to go, and being ready to go, is two really different things.

  “The morning I woke up with the symptoms three things came immediately to mind. The first was that I was surprised it was on me like this, so quick and so final; the second was that I wish I had someone to say goodbye to, but my family has been gone for some time now; the third was that I was surprised that I wasn’t quite ready to go yet.

  “So to answer your question I also have mixed emotions. But when I think about how difficult life is going to be for you I believe I’m better off at my age just giving up the ghost.” Elliot smiled as he finished his statement and looked pretty comfortable with that assessment.

  Noah thought for a little while and said, “You’re probably right about how difficult this new life will be, but I’m okay with that. I’ve spent my whole life working hard in some of the worst of conditions. I don’t think physically this is going to be any worse, although it might be a bit less convenient than I’ve grown accustomed to. But I promised myself when I lost my Sally that I’d stay and do my time, and I’m not going to change my mind now.”

  As they neared the town’s border a pickup truck with two cowboys passed them going extremely fast and blowing their horn as they did so. Elliot was surprised. He hadn’t thought about his speed, he was driving the speed limit just like he always did. He guessed that not many lawmen were out and given the circumstances people were taking advantage of that fact.

  They parked in the town center, in front of the courthouse and joined two men standing on the sidewalk next to an RV with a trailer attached to it. Elliot introduced the two of them and the men told them they were glad they had come early. They had outfitted three RVs and this was the last one to be claimed. As soon as they finished explaining the RV to the two of them they were going to go home to their families and stay there.

  Noah followed two men into the RV and listened intently to their explanation of what everything was, where everything was, and how to operate the various systems. Th
ey showed Noah where the instruction books were for all of the equipment, and then walked to the trailer with the freezer. They explained to Noah how the trailer could use its own generator or the one on the RV and the advantages of both.

  Noah asked about welding a hitch onto the freezer trailer and the men walked to the back and kind of proudly showed Noah that they had already done so. They thought that whoever claimed the RV might have a horse they wanted to keep with them. Noah smiled and thanked them for their foresight.

  Just as he accepted the keys from the men the doors to the saloon across the street banged open and four men in western gear walked out with drinks in their hands. One of the RV men said, “You two better get out of here now, those men have been drunk for three of four days now. They’ve been eating and sleeping in the saloon and have taken over the place. They kicked the owner out and won’t let anyone but their friends in the place. They were trouble makers before all of this started and they’ve just gotten worse.”

  Noah said “Thanks for the warning, if they’ll just stay across the street for two minutes my friend and I will be out of here.”

  As he finished talking he heard Elliot say, “Ah, hell. Here they come.”

  And sure enough, the group was crossing the street towards them. The big guy in front looked at them and said, “Well look here, we got ourselves a real Indian trying to take our last RV. I’m not sure that we want to let an Indian have such a fine machine until I’m sure that I don’t have a use for it.”

  One of the RV men said, “Jess, this ain’t the time to start any trouble. You have no claim to this RV. You didn’t provide it, and you didn’t contribute to it. I’ll be the one making decisions about who’ll get this RV”

  The one called Jess looked at the man and started laughing. He said, “Well, that was a nice speech, but just talking isn’t enough in today’s world.” His hand drifted to the butt of the western style six-shooter holstered on his right hip. He continued, “Now I think all of you should just stand real still why my boys and I decide if we want to take this thing out for a test drive. He looked around and said, “Boys, we could have a lot of fun in this thing over the next couple of days, I think we ought to board up right now. Gene and Bob, why don’t the two of you run back across the street and pick up a case of beer and a couple of bottles of Jack Black.”

  Noah was standing with his hands in his front pockets wondering how to get out of this mess, and Elliot was standing with his arms crossed over the front of his blue jeans jacket. As he unfolded his hands Noah saw that he pulled a semi-automatic hand gun from a shoulder holster.

  Elliot never said a word; he simply pointed the gun at Jess’s face and pulled the trigger. Jess dropped like a rock, he was dead before he hit the sidewalk. Elliot smiled at his friends and said, “That was a man asking for trouble. I wonder why he thought he wouldn’t find it.”

  One of Jess’ friends looked at Elliot and said, “You son-of-a-bitch, you can’t come in here and start shooting people.”

  Elliot was still smiling when he shot him in the middle of the chest. He looked at the other two and said, “I don’t want to hear a word from any of you. Hand your weapons to me, very slowly.” After he and Noah had collected the guns he said, “If you want to live walk onto the courthouse lawn and lay face down. If one of you so much as looks up I’ll shoot you. Get going now.”

  The two men walked about five feet onto the lawn and fell first to their knees and then forward so that they were all lying face down.

  Elliot looked at the two men with whom they were doing business and said, “I hope this doesn’t hurt you in anyway. I think my friend and I can take it from here so why don’t the two of you go on home and visit with your families. If you think these two will cause you trouble I’ll be happy to shoot them before I go.”

  The two men were still shocked at how quickly they had witnessed two men die, but the leader said, “I think we’ll be just fine. I’m sorry it came to this, but I don’t hold the shooting against you. It was clearly going to be you or them. We’ll take you up on your offer. If you can give us two minutes we’ll be long gone.” With that the two men walked down the street and got in a pickup truck and drove away.

  Elliot looked at Noah and said, “You okay Noah?”

  “I am. I appreciate your quick reaction. I didn’t even come armed this morning since I knew there were going to be guns on the RV. I’m surely glad you didn’t feel that way. You want me to get some rope out of your truck and truss these guys up?”

  “Yeah I do, I think that’s a great idea. Be a little careful of the saloon across the street. I’m sure they heard the shooting but with the RV in their way they can’t know what’s going on. As soon as it moves out of the way and they see their friends on the lawn there might be more trouble. We may have to shoot our way out of here.”

  Noah thought about that and said, “Yeah I’m sure you’re right. They won’t take this lying down.” And both he and Elliot laughed at that line, although neither of them was feeling too humorous at the moment. Noah continued, “I think the best option is just to walk across the street while they’re all still wondering what’s going on and make sure they know better than to follow us.”

  Elliot thought on that and said, “Yep, I suppose so. Let’s get that rope and put these two out of commission and I’ll join you.”

  Noah walked back to the Elliot’s truck and grabbed a length of rope from the bed. As he turned for the short walk to back he looked at the saloon and saw at least three or four people trying to get a look out the front window. They all had drinks in their hands and they were all talking and smiling. He told Elliot what he had seen and said, “If there are that many at the window there is no telling how many more are inside waiting to be told what happened. That’s an awful lot of firepower if they’re all armed.”

  “Yeah it is, but we’ll have surprise on our side if we do this right. The other option is to simply empty our guns, and the ones we just collected, into the front window and then drive out as fast as we can. There are four ways out of this town and they’d have to be lucky to pick the right one on the first try. Once we get on the county road we should be okay. But it’s your choice; I’m willing to go either way.”

  As they tied up the men on the lawn Noah thought about the two options. He had never been in a gun fight and while he would prefer not to start today, he thought circumstances were well beyond that now. Noah said, “I think our best option is to just start shooting as we drive away. We have six handguns between us and we’re both good shots. Why don’t you get in the truck and pull out first and I’ll fall in right behind you. As soon as you clear my front bumper you can start shooting and I’ll do the same.”

  Elliot said, “That’s a pretty good plan with only one flaw. If I go first I’ll be past the saloon before I start shooting and that’s not going to be very effective. The best chance we have is if you pull out first and as soon as you start moving we’ll both start shooting.”

  Noah said, “Yeah, I hate doing it that way but you’re right. We’ll have more firepower if I go first. I don’t want you dawdling though, it shouldn’t take them long to come out on the street and start shooting.”

  “Don’t you worry about me; I’ve never been known to dawdle when I didn’t need to. You go ahead and start this thing up. We’ll give it about thirty seconds to warm up.”

  Noah did so and said, “Okay, be quick, give me a wave as soon as the truck starts and we’ll get out of here.”

  Elliot walked back to the truck and tried to be nonchalant as he got in and started the truck. He put down the front window and waved at Noah, who put his rig in gear and started forward. At this point they both started shooting up the front of the saloon. He saw a couple of guys go down hard and then he was moving faster and couldn’t see anything at all.

  He was surprised that he had emptied one gun, thrown it on the floorboards and was still shooting the second one as he pulled out of range. He had planned on starting s
lowly enough to empty all three guns into the saloon. He laughed in a funny way and remembered that adrenaline did funny things to you.

  Elliot watched the rear view mirror until they made the first turn. He had not seen anyone come out of the saloon. He thought they had done okay and it looked like they were going to be home free. He stayed behind Noah back to the ranch, and never saw another vehicle.

  As Noah got out of his rig he was smiling and said, “Man, I’ve never been so scared. I don’t know about you but that was my first gun battle, and I’m now hoping it’s my last.”

  “I’d like to say it was my first also, but Uncle Sam got hold of me when I was young and claimed first rights on that score. But it has been a lot of years, and I agree I can do without any more of that nonsense.”

  Alec and Kelly Randall came out of the house as they finished the conversation and Alec said, “What nonsense are you talking about, did you have trouble in town?”

  Elliot said, “Just a little bit with some drunken cowboys, but it’s over now so there isn’t anything to worry about. It did get our adrenaline rushing though.”

  Kelly asked, “Noah is everything alright with the RV? Are you comfortable with it? Do you need anything else at all?”

  “I think I have everything. They put a hitch on it and I’m going to put my horse trailer on the back so I can take Palouse with me. We’ll stop along the way for feed.”

  Alec said, “I’m glad to hear you’re taking your horse with you. I have a favor to ask you, but first tell me what size horse trailer you are going to use.”

  “I only have one, and it’s a single, I figured I’d make do with that.”

  “I’d like to ask you to take Dutch as well. We’ve raised him from a colt I’d like to think that he’ll be with someone I know and trust. I’ve got a twenty-four foot horse trailer that will hold two horses easily and there will be enough room left over for all the feed and hay you’ll need for the first winter. All we have to do is get it from the barn. If that’s asking too much just say so, I sure don’t want to burden you.”