The Emerald Virus

by Patrick Shea

  “The other option is that you wait for me to come and get you. It’s your choice so when you decide let me know.”

  “I’ll look around here first and I’ll let you know.”

  Noah walked cautiously towards Turner’s saloon. He saw no sign of life anywhere. When he reached the parking lot he took off the snowshoes and walked quietly to the front door. The parking lot was full of RVs but none of the engines were running so he had to believe their owners were elsewhere.

  He slung his rifle and took out his handgun and walked brazenly into the saloon. As he had hoped it was empty. He took a quick look around and went to the closest stove, opened the door, and using the pellet shovel he took out the hot coals and threw them along the wall.

  He went quickly to each of the other stoves and did the same thing. Five minutes later the place was burning throughout the interior. Noah went out the front door and was walking through the parking lot looking for a pickup truck when he heard a man yell, “Hey, you. What’s going on in there, and what are you doing here?

  Noah turned around and saw a man struggling in the snow on makeshift crutches and a large bandage around his head. He was trying to stay on his feet as he unholstered his gun.

  Noah raised his 9mm and fired three times. The man went down hard and stayed there.

  Noah stayed perfectly still for a good three minutes. His eyes were focused straight ahead while he listened for any sound. All he heard was the fire getting louder as it started burning through the walls and into the roof.

  Noah walked to the RV the man had obviously been using and carefully looked inside. It appeared empty and Noah walked in, quickly searched the bedroom and bathroom, saw the keys lying on the console, and decided to take the RV.

  He pulled the RV out of the parking lot and then walked back to the tanker truck parked amongst the RVs. He put all three hoses on the ground pointed them towards the burning building about twenty five yards away. He then opened each of the valves in turn and watched the hoses gush three grades of gasoline towards the fire.

  Noah ran back to the RV and drove away as quickly as he could. He was on the ramp to I-90 when he heard the explosion and saw the large cloud of greasy black smoke roiling upwards as part of the fireball. He could see debris flying towards him and he floored the accelerator. Noah was amazed at the size of the explosion. Now he wished he hadn’t taken the time to set the building on fire, the tanker would have sufficed.

  He smiled as he thought of the carnage that was now Turner’s winter camp. He wasn’t sure how all of this was going to play out, but Turner would need a new home after today, one way or the other.

  He saw the caravan ahead of him and slowed down. He lowered his window and stuck the rifle barrel out.

  He called Danny and said, “I’m in an RV and I’m the last vehicle in Turner’s caravan. As soon as the other vehicles stop I’m going to put this thing across the cleared lanes to block the exit. I’m then going to move to the north side of I-90 and walk towards you. I’ll stay in the depression between the frontage road and the interstate.

  “I’ll be out of Ben’s sight so I’ll be safe from him. I’ll also be able to fire on the caravan from point blank range if you need me to.”

  “The trouble with that point blank range stuff is that the enemy gets the same advantage. We’ll save that option for emergencies only.

  “I assume the fireball and explosion were you’re doing, what was it?”

  “We’ll, it seems Turner was dumb enough to leave a tanker in his parking lot. I don’t think he’ll need this camp anymore.”

  “Danny laughed and said, “Good job, let’s hope the rest of the morning works out the same way.

  “I just arrived back at my RV. Turner’s RV is parked on the other side of the hill and as soon as he calls I’ll start the walk to the top of the hill. It’ll be in three minutes or so and I’ll be off the air until the exchange is over. Take care Noah, I’m out.”

  8:55 a.m. At the rear of the Turner Caravan

  Noah parked his RV across the road. He did so making it look like he was turning around trying to prepare for a quick getaway. He put the passenger side towards the front of the column so no one could see him exit the RV from the driver’s side.

  Once outside he used his knife to puncture all of the tires on the driver’s side and then crawled under the RV and did the same on the passenger’s side. By the time he was done it was a pretty tight fit for him under the vehicle but he got out okay. He crawled military style over the snow bank caused by the snow plows and down into the medium. He waited there out of sight of the caravan for a couple of minutes and then looked out.

  Danny had just reached the exchange point with Rick. Turner was almost to him but was alone. Noah shook his head and thought to himself that he was glad he was on Danny’s side. So far Danny had predicted everything that had happened, and with just a little more luck the rest of the morning would go just as he had planned.

  Noah knew everyone in Turner’s column would be watching the exchange point so he used this opportunity to hurry across the westbound lanes and down to the frontage road. He would be out of sight of everyone, but he knew if he made an appearance Ben would take him for a shooter. Ben was too good with that sniper gun to take that risk.

  The other thing that concerned him was that if Turner had put out a sniper or two, one of them most likely would be north of the interstate which would mean he had a clear shot at Noah. Maybe not a close shot, but a clear shot.

  For the first time in his life Noah understood a little about what it must feel to be an infantryman walking through an open field towards a forest, or a line of brush or a village. You never knew what to expect, but today you were chosen to walk point because someone had to. Your only hope was that next time would be someone else’s turn, assuming of course that you lived through today.

  8:58 a.m. The Hill, 500 yards south of the Exchange Point:

  Ben was looking closely at the column and listening to Heather say, “Ben, I know I just saw a man run from the back of the caravan across the highway and over the embankment.”

  “I believe you, but I can’t do anything about it. I was watching Turner walk forward alone and was trying to get a bead on him and figure out what was going on. You’ll have to keep your eyes over there as well.”

  “You know I will, but something really strange is going on. I think the guy that ran across the road parked his RV sideways across both lanes and I swear from here it looks like all of the tires are flat.”

  “I just put the scope on the tires and you’re right, they are flat. I don’t know what’s going on but whoever did that has to be trying to help us. Keep looking for him but I’m not going to pull the trigger on him unless he starts shooting at one of ours.”

  Ben and Heather were lying side by side now, still covered with their white sleeping bags. They had moved cautiously to this position about an hour ago. Heather had not seen any movement behind her before they moved. Every five minutes of so she would roll onto her back and lift her head enough to use the scope to scour likely places behind them.

  Just as Danny arrived at the exchange point Heather said, “Ben, we have company behind us. I don’t think he’s spotted us because I can see him moving his scope all over the place, but he’s in a position to shoot either Danny or us. I think we have to take him out.

  “He’s on top of a barn or warehouse at your ten o’clock. It looks like about a six hundred yard shot to us and maybe nine hundred to Danny. He’d have to be good but we have to assume he is.”

  Ben looked at Danny and saw Turner had just reached him. He knew he didn’t have much time and decided to take out the other sniper now.

  He moved very carefully to a semi prone position behind a large rock he could use for his bipod. Heather guided him to the shooter and he saw a man in a dark green winter coat lying exposed on the crest of the roof. Everything below his arms and shoulders was on the other side of the roof. Ben realized that this mig
ht be a hunter who could shoot, but at least he didn’t have military experience. No one with experience would be out here dressed in anything but white.

  Ben took thirty seconds to focus the shot, estimate the range and wind, and at 9:01 pulled the trigger. It looked like the round took him through the right shoulder and then through the chest. He disappeared from the crest of the building and left behind only a red spray that settled on the snow.

  9:01 a.m. The Exchange Point

  Danny looked at the man who had just arrived. He had dove to the ground when he heard the shot and now looked up at Danny, who had remained standing.

  Danny smiled and said, “Dick, what a pleasure to see you again. You should just ignore that shot. It only means that one of the men you put on the south side of the interstate was just killed. I warned Turner about that. He probably didn’t tell the guy though, or maybe he did. What do you think Dick?”

  Dick looked scared and slowly came to his feet. I don’t know nothing about that or any shooter south of here. I do know we have ten snipers with guns pointed at you right now, so it’s time you shut up and listened to me.”

  “Danny continued to smile, but the smile looked more serious now. He said, “Dick, this isn’t your circus, you just think it is. If you have ten shooters out there they’ll all be killed as they raise there heads. If anyone shoots me you’ll be dead before you can say adios.

  “Turner got you into this, but I’m the only one who can get you out of it. Where is Turner anyway? I guess he convinced you that he really did have the balls to do this, but he had more important things to do so he left you here almost alone. What a leader huh?”

  “I asked to do this, and I’m not alone. I’ve got an Army behind me.”

  “Ah, things have changed in the world haven’t they? You have a bunch of hung over women in pickup trucks and some rifles sticking out of windows with no one to shoot them. You know, in the old world we wouldn’t have called that an Army.

  “Oh, and by the way, before I forget I should tell you that the explosion you might have heard, and that black smoke you see behind you is all that’s left of your home base and the RVs. It’s too bad Turner took the group out for a spin this morning, I would’ve liked for him to see that.

  Danny looked over Dick’s shoulder and said, “Dick is that part of your Army? You have a guy in a bright red ski cap helping you” Are you and he both idiots? That’s like wearing a target. Are all of your people that stupid or is it just you and him?

  “Don’t answer that, and excuse me for interrupting you. What did you want to say to me?”

  Dick lacked some of the confidence he started with but still tried to brazen his way ahead. He said, “I don’t care what you did with that camp, it was a dump anyway. But I want to tell you that I’ve got that witch of yours in the RV and she’s going to stay there until you’re dead. And then I’m going to have a final session with her. I want you to be thinking about that as I……”

  Danny interrupted Dick by taking his handgun out of his pocket and shooting him twice in the chest and then leaning down and shooting him in the head.

  Rick, who had stayed quiet through all of this, started whimpering.

  Danny said, “Rick, shut up or I’ll shoot you, you need to remember that this has never been about you.”

  As Dick fell, Ben fired his next shot into the engine compartment of the lead RV.

  9:04 a.m. Turner’s RV

  Jack Sweeney, red hat and all, ran into the side door of the RV and in a panic stricken voice yelled “They killed Dick, they killed Dick, let’s get out of here now, let’s save ourselves.”

  Turner’s lieutenant looked back from sighting his rifle through the windshield and yelled, “Shut up Blackie or you’re next, and glanced at the other two men and said, “Kill Danny now.”

  As he finished the statement Jack shot him and then calmly and quickly shot the other two men. He then walked to the front of the RV and shot each one a second time. He couldn’t afford to risk being shot by a wounded man.

  He looked at Shelly and said, “Hold on, I think we’re almost through the worst.”

  He took the duct tape off Shelly’s mouth as he pulled his knife and cut the ropes binding her in the chair. Without saying anything she pulled her hands apart and placed them on the wall of the RV. Jack raised his pistol and shot the chains from about two inches away.

  The cuffs split and Shelly asked, “Time to go?”

  Jack responded, “I think so, we’ll have to run to the exchange point and hope for the best.”

  “I don’t know who’s still shooting out there, but that sounds like one big gun. The sniper put a round into the engine of this RV when I was only about three feet away, I don’t know if he’s that good or that lucky, but it worked. That’s the same gun we hear now, I guess he’s shooting at the trucks behind us.”

  Shelly, who was looking out the windshield while Jack talked said, “Jack, here comes Danny’s RV with the snow plow on the front. I don’t know whose driving but they just stopped for him”

  Just then two other guns opened up. Shelly said, “Jack, Danny’s down, I think he’s shot. The shooter is on our left somewhere on the side of that hill.

  Jack said, “Okay, we’ll have to run. It’s only fifty yards or so but its slippery so be careful.”

  “Jack, take off that red hat, it’s like a target.”

  “Shelly, I told Heather to let everyone know I’d be the only one out here dumb enough to wear a red hat in a firefight. It’ll be the only thing that keeps us safe. Turner’s men still think I’m one of them.”

  As they exited the RV Jack thought there were at least four guns shooting now, and maybe more. The big gun was still hammering away and someone was shooting an M-16. No rounds were landing anywhere around him however.

  He took a quick look behind him and saw that many of the pickups were askew and some were smoking. He realized the shooter had continued shooting engine blocks and the gun was powerful enough to have pushed the front ends to the side.

  The women were almost all out of the trucks lying on the ground.

  Jack yelled, “Stay down and you’ll be okay. Don’t touch your rifles unless you want to be shot.”

  At 9:06 a.m. he grabbed Shelly’s arm and started for Danny. When they reached the RV Sam was cradling Danny’s head with tears running down her face.

  She looked up and said, “He’s hurt bad, I need help getting him inside.”

  Jack grabbed his shoulders and the women took each leg and they lifted Danny inside. Jack laid him on the floor, looked around, saw the M-16 and the extra clips, and before Sam knew what was happening he was out the door again.

  Shelly looked at Sam and said, “Find the opening and stop the bleeding. That’s all you can do. Look for both the entrance and exit wounds and use pressure, a lot of it if you need to, but stop the bleeding.

  As Sam leaned over Danny she asked, “What are you doing?”

  “I’m taking your rifle and I’m going to help kill those snipers. None of us will be safe until they’re dead.”

  She grabbed the 30.06 and a box of cartages and followed Jack out the side door.

  9:05 a.m. The Hill, 500 yards south of the Exchange Point:

  Ben was doing what Danny had asked him to, which was disabling all of the vehicles, when Heather said, “Ben, Danny’s been shot. There has to be a sniper on the hillside across the interstate. I saw him go down and he was pushed towards us by the bullet.”

  Ben shifted his scope to the hillside and Heather did the same thing. He said, “Someone on the other side of the interstate is shooting up the hill. That must be the guy you saw earlier, see if you can locate where he’s aiming, the sniper will be there.”

  “Ben, straight across the interstate, forty yards up and behind the large rock wall, use the front of Danny’s RV as the focal point and go up from there.”

  “I see him.”

  Ben shot once and Heather watched the sniper’s head explode. I
t had been the only thing visible.

  Ben said, “There are more, I hear at least three rifles firing. Get your M-16 and fire at anything you think might be a target, and fire and load as fast as you can. I know you’re out of range but try to at least keep them down. ”

  Heather grabbed the 16 and starting burning through banana clips as fast as she could. Ben was still shooting the fifty at any likely target, and whoever was on the frontage road was still shooting up hill.

  A minute later Heather saw Jack and Shelly start their run and told Ben they were moving. As soon as they got to Turner’s RV Heather dropped the 16 and grabbed the scope again.

  She said, “Ben about forty yards to your left of the first guy, and about twenty yards lower. He’s covered in a white sheet but you can see his glasses shimmering.”

  Ben didn’t say anything but twenty seconds later he fired and saw the gun across the way slide forward and down the hill.

  Heather said, “I don’t know where the third guy is. He’s shooting but I can’t pick him up.”

  While she was talking an M-16 near Danny’s RV opened up and Heather watched the rounds stitch a pattern upward towards a clutter of brush.

  Ben said, “I got him, hold on.”

  He fired three times and as he ejected the clip Heather handed him the next one, he emptied it and two more into the brush until finally a body burst upwards and backwards.

  Heather said, “I haven’t seen anything else move over there but that doesn’t mean anything.”

  Ben replied, “I agree, we’ll just sit tight for awhile. Take a look behind us now. I think the danger from that direction must be over by now but it won’t hurt to look.

  From behind Heather and Ben heard a man say, “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, I think you need to stay right there and don’t move.”

  The two young people did as he said; neither of them doubted that he was pointing a weapon at them.