The Emerald Virus

by Patrick Shea

  So far he had seen two different men leave the house and go to the RVs. Each one had gone to a different RV, and no one had yet visited the third one in the line. They had done this twice each, and at the same time. As soon as they entered the RVs they started them up and turned on the generators. Jack assumed so they would have heat and electricity during the visit.

  So Jack knew there were at least two potential adversaries, and there could be more. He could also assume victims occupied each of the lead two RVs, but he had no idea how many victims were there, or if they were alone. Knowing nothing about the third RV bothered him, but he couldn’t do anything about that until tonight.

  Heather was in the attic looking down from the third story onto the scene. He had told her to check back with him every fifteen minutes, and a couple of times he had traded places with her. Fortunately the drapes had not been drawn in the living room so they had an unobstructed view from the house.

  They each had a thermos of coffee but Jack’s was long gone. Heather still had coffee left but she was saving it for later. She knew instinctively that this was going to be a long and tiring day.

  They had each kept notes on all of the activity from the house, and Jack had come to the conclusion that the men had taken food to the RVs twice now. He assumed they would take a third meal later today, but he would have to wait and see if that happened. No one had visited the RVs during the night last night, at least not when they were watching. The house went dark about ten o’clock and at eleven Jack called off the watch so they could get some sleep. They went back to their RV for the night and returned to this house at five-thirty this morning.

  Heather came into the living room and speaking very softly she asked, as she had done on each visit, “What do you think is going to happen?”

  “I think it’s time for you to lie down on the sofa and get some sleep. It could turn out to be a long night tonight and you’ll need to be alert.” Jack knew enough about teenagers to know that they required a lot more sleep than he did, and he really did want Heather to be at her best later this evening.

  He continued, “No arguments about this, I don’t need as much sleep as you do, and if I do get tired I’ll sleep after you wake up. Don’t worry; I won’t do anything without you.

  “I’m starting to formulate a plan and after you wake up I should have it ready and we’ll talk through it then. For now get some sleep.”

  Heather didn’t even think about arguing. She had found some sleeping bags in the basement and she unzipped two of them and used them as blankets. They had decided that they couldn’t risk heating the house due to the noise.

  Heather slept for three hours. When she woke Jack told her to go back to the RV and make coffee and sandwiches. He would stay where he was watching the house and later tonight they would attempt to rescue whoever was in the two RVs.

  They had parked the car about six blocks away. Heather walked through the back yard to the next street, down that street five blocks, and around the corner for another block. She wasn’t worried since they had not seen anyone leave the house in the twenty four hours they had been watching. And Jack had said he would call and tell her what to do if anyone did leave the house.

  She still wasn’t sure what she could do to help Jack, but she felt she could and would do anything he asked of her. She didn’t know about the old world, but he was one of the founders of the new world and everyone looked up to him. She was surprised that he was so unpretentious and so calm about everything. He didn’t seem to have an ego at all.

  Not that she knew much about men. She knew her friends fathers of course, but somehow she had grouped them all together into a category reserved for those people who didn’t live in a teenage world. She just hadn’t given much thought to them at all.

  Of course she did compare her father to Jack, but even she knew that wasn’t a fair comparison. Her father’s only reason for making decisions was to take care of the family. She didn’t always realize that before the virus came, but during the last month she became acutely aware of how desperate her father was to care for and protect them.

  And of course he saw her as a child needing help growing up. And she now realized he was right about that. He was helping her, but both her dad and her mom were trying to make sure she didn’t grow up too fast.

  Jack looked at her as someone who was capable of acting like an adult if treated the right way. He knew she had to grow up quickly and he seemed intent on helping her. She thought after this trip she would look at herself differently, if she didn’t screw up. She needed to be able to take care of herself now, and she thought with a little help she could do that. She knew she would be okay as long as she did what Jack asked her to do.

  She was close to the RV now and realized she had been crying while thinking about her parents. She dried her tears as she thought about how badly she missed them. But she didn’t want to stop thinking about them, she wanted to think they would be proud of her, and she did not want to live without their memory.

  She parked next to the RV and thirty minutes later she had both thermos bottles full of coffee and a sack full of sandwiches and some chips.

  She put her bulky coat over her arm and grabbed a thermos bottle in each hand. As she picked up the last bottle from the counter and turned towards the door, it opened. She was shocked to the point where her mouth fell open as she looked at a young man who was maybe eighteen years old standing in the open door way with a gun in his hand.

  His look changed from dead serious to being pleased with what he saw. He said, “Who in the world are you and what are you doing here?”

  Heather regained her senses and said, “I might ask you the same thing, and what are you doing in my house holding a gun on me?”

  He stammered a little and said, “I saw you driving earlier and I thought you might be up to no good so I followed you to protect me and my friends.” He smiled while he looked Heather up and down and added, “But you don’t look like you could be much of a problem to me. In fact I think your going to be a nice addition to our little group.”

  “What group are you talking about? How many of you are there, and why are you here?”

  He said, “There are currently five of us, three men and two women and you’ll fill the group out nicely. What do you have in the thermos and bag?

  Heather knew that this had to be what Jack was worried about. This was the owner of the third RV. He was obviously living in the house with the two men, but since he didn’t have a partner he didn’t visit either RV. She was in serious trouble and had to figure a way out of this.

  She answered, “I’m traveling with a man who is taking care of me. I’m taking food and coffee to him now. We have plenty if you’d like to share.”

  “What are you doing here? I thought everyone had gone south.”

  He hadn’t lowered the gun since he stepped in and Heather said, “If we’re going to have a nice conversation please come in and close the door, and stop pointing that gun at me. And, by the way, my name is Heather.” She tried to smile as nice as she could, but she didn’t know what it looked like, she was scared to death.

  He didn’t move but he did look at her and say, “Heather, nice name, I think I’ll like it.” Even though he stayed in the middle of the doorway he did lower the gun to his side. “I think you’ll fit in well, and yes I’m hungry, I wouldn’t mind a sandwich and coffee.”

  Heather immediately put the thermoses on the table and sat down on the side opposite from the door. She still had her coat in her hand and now placed it across her lap. She said, “Okay, sit down, my man is always making me wait and I’ll bet he isn’t even at the park yet. I have turkey and ham, both with lettuce and tomatoes, what would you like? And you haven’t told me your name yet?”

  “My nickname is Topper, and I’ll have one of each along with some coffee.”

  “Heather said, “Reach into that cupboard before you sit down and grab a couple of cups. We’re at home so there’s no reason to use Styro
foam.”

  Topper looked up and saw the cupboard was just above his head. He grabbed two cups with his free hand and put them on the table.

  Heather was still doing everything she could to keep a nice smile on her face, and from Topper’s reaction it must be working. He didn’t seem suspicious of her at all.

  He sat down and put the gun down on the seat next to him, where he could easily get to it and Heather could not. He picked up the first sandwich and started to open the baggie.

  Heather said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

  Topper looked like she was teasing him and lightly said, “And why would that be.”

  “Because if you don’t do exactly as I say, I’m going to shoot you in the balls, or as close to them as I can come.” As she talked she slid to the right and out of the booth. He could now clearly see the pistol that had been hidden by her coat.

  “Now stand up and keep your hands out in front of you. Hold your coat open using both hands and lift it as high as you can; now, turn around slowly so I can see your waistband.

  After Topper had spun completely around Heather said, “Now I want you to very slowly take off your coat and toss it under the table; now sit on the floor and cross your legs, lean forward with your hands out in front of you.

  “If you look up or move at all I’ll shoot you. Do you understand me?”

  “Of course I understand you, you crazy bitch. What are you doing anyway, I didn’t do anything to you at all, and I wasn’t planning on hurting you.”

  “You mean like your friends aren’t planning to hurt the women in the RVs?”

  “How do you know what’s happening in those RVs? You’ve been spying on us haven’t you? We’ll I’ll tell you, you’re messing with a couple of real hard asses and I don’t think you’re going to be up to it. Those two guys will eat your lunch.”

  “Maybe mine, but not Jack’s.” Heather moved backwards into the small hallway leading to the back of the RV and opened the closet. When Topper heard the noise and started to lift his head Heather said, “Don’t move, I’m not going to tell you again.

  She opened one of Jack’s small duffle bags and rummaged around until she found the pair of handcuffs he had said were there. She tossed them under Topper’s nose and said, “Put one side on your right wrist and the other on your left ankle. When you’re done I want you to stand as best you can, and cram your left hand into your back left pocket. If that hand comes out before I tell you to move it I’ll kill you. Make sure the handcuffs are on tight.”

  “Now move to the door and open it with your right hand, you’ll have to stand on your left leg to do that. Now walk down the steps and to that car. Okay, stop right there. I’m going to hold this gun to your back while I search you. If you move suddenly I’ll simply pull the trigger.” Heather then searched him as well as she could. She checked his pockets and found a set of keys which she threw away, and a folding knife which she put in her back pocket. She checked both ankles and his torso for any hidden weapons. While she didn’t find any other weapons she did find a cell phone in his front shirt pocket.

  After the search she pulled out the second pair of cuffs and had him cuff his left wrist to the tow hook on the back of the car. Finally she felt like she could breath and she called Jack.

  He answered the phone at the first vibration and said, “Is everything alright?”

  “Not exactly. A man followed me to the RV but I’m okay. I have him handcuffed to the tow thinger on the back of the car but I’m not sure what I should do with him now?”

  “Is he with this group here?”

  “I’m sure he is, he said he was with two other men and two women.”

  “Okay, stay where you are. It will take me a couple of minutes to get a car, but I’ll be back to the RV as soon as I can.”

  “Are you sure we should stop watching those guys?”

  “I think having someone from the group to question will prove better for us. Hang on, I’m on the way.”

  Jack moved as quickly as he could as he walked four blocks before he started looking for a car. It wasn’t hard to find one. Most houses had places to hang the keys inside the garage door. All he needed was to find a car in a driveway to avoid the noise of opening the garage door.

  All he could do was shake his head about Heather. He had no idea how she had got the upper hand on the man but he was looking forward to hearing the story. Why someone would have made himself known to Heather without holding a gun on her didn’t make any sense to him.

  Jack pulled up to the RV to see a man tangled into a ball hanging half in and half out of the back window of the Outback. He had to laugh at how Heather had trussed him up but it looked efficient. He left the man there while he went inside.

  Heather had tears streaming down her face and she was shaking like a leaf. She was surprised to see Jack so soon and said, “Jack, I’m sorry, I was hoping to get back to normal before you got here. I didn’t want you to see me like this.”

  Jack hugged her and said, “Don’t worry about what you look like. A lot of people get nervous after the fact, that’s not surprising. I’m only worried about what happened to you, catch your breath and tell me the story please.”

  Heather held on to Jack for a few minutes and then sat down on the sofa and told Jack everything that had happened. She finished by saying, “Jack, when he was pointing that gun at me my knees were actually shaking and I thought I was going to wet my pants. I’ve read about people doing that but I thought it was just stuff for stories, but it really happened to me. I didn’t know I could get that scared.”

  “I’m really sorry you had to go through that, but you did a remarkable job. Most people would have simply done what he told you to do without a thought of risking harm by trying to take the gun away from him.” And he smiled and said, “I’m starting to think I did the right thing by bringing you along.”

  Heather looked up and said, “You’re starting to think that? What do I have to do to convince you anyway? And she smiled halfway and Jack knew she was going to be okay. He still couldn’t believe she had pulled this off. He certainly wasn’t going to criticize her in any way.

  He went to the car and brought Topper into the RV. He said, “Heather, I have to compliment you for imagination. I think you have truly immobilized this guy. It’s a little unorthodox but very effective.”

  He kept him cuffed as Heather had done and told Heather to keep her gun pointed at him. Jack then drove the RV to the first cross street and turned left, drove for a mile, turned left onto a small side street, and backed into a tree lined driveway. The RV now looked like many others that would sit forever outside of their owner’s house. It was now almost dark and Jack put all of the window shades down.

  He told Heather to lead the way to the backyard of the house and he pulled Topper along with him. As he had hoped, the lawn furniture was still sitting out. He dusted the snow off of three chairs and sat them facing each other.

  Jack said, “Topper, I’m assuming you called your friends and told them you had followed Heather to our RV. Since I was watching the house I know they hadn’t left yet. But even if they did and they’re looking for you they would have to start looking in every backyard in town to find us. So I think it’s safe to say you’re on your own.

  “It’s also safe to say that neither Heather nor I care if you continue to live. I haven’t yet decided on that, and I may wait until I talk to the ladies you’ve held captive before I make the final decision.

  “Then on the other hand, if you don’t cooperate with me I’m willing to kill you on the spot. Do you understand me?”

  Topper spoke to Jack for the first time and said, “I think your going to kill me no matter what, so I don’t think I’ll talk to you at all.”

  Out of nowhere Jack saw Heather with a knife in her hand. She didn’t hesitate but plunged it into the top of Toppers thigh. He screamed like a banshee and when he stopped screaming Heather said, “The best reason I can think of for you to
talk is so I won’t keep stabbing you with your own knife, asshole.”

  Jack didn’t react or say a word, he did wonder for a second what in the world he had created in Heather and then he smiled to himself because he realized that he had helped create a very self-sufficient young lady who was quickly learning the disadvantages of hesitating.

  Jack said, “Heather, please pull the knife out of Topper, but get ready to put it back in the other leg if he doesn’t open up to us.”

  Topper looked at both of them and said in a pained voice, “I think your both as crazy as those other two loonies. I can’t believe she stabbed me. Do you have anything for the pain?” He was moaning as he talked and his face turned pasty white while sweat formed on his brow.

  Jack didn’t say a word. He walked to the back door of the house and broke in. A minute later he came out with a bottle of Vodka. He poured half of it over the wound, and then handed the bottle to Topper, who was screaming again.

  After a couple of minutes and a couple of drinks Topper said, “Gus, the smaller guy, was responsible for giving the RVs to survivors. When he realized early on that he was going to be a survivor he started planning for this. He was living in the Bronx and they must have prepared twenty RVs for survivors.

  “He picked out three good looking women and told them that he was a survivor also and he was getting a group of twenty or so people from the Bronx together so they could act as a group and take care of each other. He told them if they wanted to be part of the Bronx group they should wait until the deaths were over and go to Forest Park. He would meet them where Forest Park Drive intersects with Memorial Drive. He even set the navigation system for them so they wouldn’t get lost.

  “He reminded them that people would come at different times so they might see a big group or a small group to start with.

  “Then he recruited a couple of men to join the group. I guess when I came roaring up on my big Harley with chains on my jacket he thought I was the type of person he was looking for. I thought I was tough, but I had just stolen the Harley and I never rode with any gang. Gus didn’t’ know that of course.