The Emerald Virus

by Patrick Shea

  It was now 3:15pm and blowing steadily. Visibility was down to ten yards and Turner gave the signal to move out the van. He stayed connected to Dog on the cell phone and when the three men in each vehicle were all on the ground he gave the word to move quietly into the forest on the north side of the road.

  All of the gunfire to this point had come from either the front or the rear of the convoy. Turner believed that with the ground being level with the road on both sides that the enemy wouldn’t put shooters directly across from each other and he was very optimistic they could disappear into the woods and make their way north and then west into the town itself.

  The group of six men huddled about a hundred yards north of the convoy and Turner looked at them and said, “Okay, from here on we’ll pair up and it will be every man for himself. Dog and I’ll be together, you two and you two make the other pairs.”

  He continued, “You first, go now and stay low.”

  He waited three minutes and said, “Okay you two get out of here.”

  Now that he and Dog were alone he said, “We’re going to make our way to the rear of their column. They don’t know we’re out yet and they sure won’t expect us to move on them. We’re going to take hostages and an RV and get out of here. We’ll head east on I-90 and then south. We’ll be okay as long as we keep our heads and move fast.”

  As Turner moved west towards the town, he angled south back towards the entrance road. He and Dog ended up behind the snowplows and could see the silhouette of an RV on the road. It looked like the last one in the line.

  Just as he was ready to move to the RV a group of four or five men came running from the direction of his vehicles. The first man in line fired a burst from his assault rifle in the air.

  The door to the RV opened and five people came out quickly.

  Ted Green lowered his rifle and said, “They’ve escaped. We snuck up on their vehicles in the snow and I decided to crawl underneath the rear one. I found a hole cut in the floor and both vehicles were empty. There were still footprints on the snow so they just left.

  “We’ll be able to track them until the snow gets heavier. I’ll get groups out right now. Don’t worry we’ll have them back in no time.”

  Turner realized he was right, unless he could stall them they would have little trouble following his trail. Without another thought he emptied his magazine towards the group. A two people were shot and fell, some of the others simply turned to him and returned fire as they fell forward into a prone position.

  They were only ten yards away and Turner was amazed at the amount of noise both from the rifles and pistols, but also from the bullets hitting all around him.

  Dog simply disappeared backwards in a red haze as he was struck multiple times in the face, neck and chest. Turner had fired from behind a tree and now had no choice but to stay there.

  He heard Ted Green say, “Cease fire, cease fire. Shelly take two men and move west and five yards into the trees. Noah take the other two and move east and five yards into the trees. I’m going to circle and come in from the north. Shoot anything you see except me.

  Turner realized that he had no choice but to surrender. He yelled, “I’m coming out with my hands up. Here’s my gun. He tossed the handgun towards the RV and stepped out. He actually thought they might shoot him.

  Instead he heard Sam say, “Keep your hands where I can see them. Move slowly towards us. When Turner was on the road she said, “Keep your hands up and drop to your knees, and stay there without moving or talking.”

  “Ted, get your patrols out to capture the others. There should be five more of them.”

  “I’ll do that Sam, but I’ll confirm the number. I believe there is at least one dead right here and there might be more.”

  Sam looked behind her and said, “Tell me about our casualties.”

  Jack spoke up and said, “One of our militiamen is dead, shot in the head. One has a minor wound, and Ben is wounded. It looks like he was shot in the left side.”

  “Has anyone called the medical team?”

  “Heather is on the radio now asking the doc to send help. They should be here in minutes.”

  Shelly had moved to try and help Jack stem the flow of blood from Ben. Sam didn’t know what to do except wait for medical help.

  Sam walked to the prisoner and grabbed his hat and pulled it off. When he looked up Sam said, “Turner, I’ll be damned. You really are a loser aren’t you?”

  Turner looked up and smiled as he said, “I don’t think so, I’ve managed to kill some of you haven’t I?”

  “No. Actually the only death is this one poor man you just shot. We wiped out your force at the exchange, we burned your town, we destroyed your camp and we killed quite a few of your men here. And you traded all of that for a chance to kill one of ours. You have to be the most stupid man I’ve ever met.”

  “I don’t agree with that either. And there isn’t much you can do to me. First, I believe we are in Wyoming, which I don’t think has the death penalty. So the best you can do is lock me up, but sooner or later I’ll be back on the streets, and you and I’ll meet again. And by the way, I didn’t kill anyone; it was that idiot I was with that did the shooting.”

  Ted had just walked out of the woods and he picked up the handgun Turner had thrown out earlier. Ted said, “Sam, that isn’t true. There is one body in the woods and his gun is still in the holster. I checked and it hasn’t been fired. On the other hand, the magazine in Turner’s gun is empty and this gun has been fired, quite recently.”

  Sam looked at Turner and said, “You still don’t get it do you? There is no Wyoming any more. The only law now is the law that we make. It’s kind of ironic that living without the benefit of laws is what you wanted, and it’s going to do you in as well.”

  Turner looked worried now and said, “But you have to give me a trial and an attorney at least.”

  Sam replied, “I think there is only one thing I have to give you and that’s a pass out of here.”

  She pulled her handgun and shot Turner in the chest. What went through her mind was her father telling her that sometimes she had to make a decision and act on it, even if it meant taking a life. The irony was, that at the time she wasn’t sure she could do it.

  As she stood looking at Turner and thought about shooting him again, Noah walked up and shot him, and a second later Jack did the same thing, and then Shelly, and then Ted, and then Heather who had joined them.

  Noah looked at the group and said, “If there’s going to be a trial over this it’s going to be a big one isn’t it?”

  An hour later the doc told them that Ben and Danny were both still critical. He agreed to move the medical RV to the lodge but only if the snow plows did their best to level the road ahead of him, and they drove at no more than ten miles per hour. He was afraid that any movement would be harmful to his patients, but he believed Sam when she told him that if he didn’t come now he could be snowed out of the camp for the rest of the winter.

  They tied the forty four prisoners in the back of the snow plows and everyone headed back to the lodge. Each snow plow had two armed guards assigned but as far as Sam was concerned, anyone who wanted to escape into this blizzard was welcome to do so.

  When they reached the lodge the prisoners were locked into one of the out buildings with an armed guard at the only door. The guard changed every twenty minutes.

  In the lodge Noah was saying to Christian, “I think you need to have a trial to preserve order since Sam and I did kill Turner. I think you can forget the ones who came after us though, I’m sure it was my bullet that killed him.

  Jack spoke up and said, “Noah, I’m sorry to argue with you, but he was still moving when I shot him.”

  Ted started to speak and Christian said, “Okay that’s enough. I’ll tell you exactly what’s going to happen. We’re going to write a history of our first winter and in that history Turner will be noted as a casualty in the battle of Yellowstone.

  “Th
at will be the end of this nonsense about trying anyone for a death that occurred while we defended ourselves against current and future evils.”

  Jack called Charlotte to let her know that everything was over and that a militiaman killed had been from her group.

  He told her about everything that had happened with both he and Heather and explained what they were going to do with the prisoners. When she asked why they were going to release them he said, “It’s really because we don’t want to establish a prison facility, maintain guards for a long period of time, and feed them for as long as we hold them captive.”

  Charlotte said, “I agree with that, we wouldn’t want to do that either. How is Heather holding up, that was quite an ordeal for that young lady.”

  “Heather is devastated. She hasn’t left Ben’s side since he was shot. I think the doc is going to have her arrested or something, just so he can have some peace.”

  “How bad is Ben?”

  “It’s better than we had hoped. The bullet didn’t hit any internal organs, and the entry and exit wounds are clean, although he has two broken ribs. One of them might be splintered but the doc isn’t sure yet.”

  “When are you coming home?”

  “I’m not sure yet. I don’t believe I can get Heather out of here until Ben is back on his feet and I’m afraid that will really mean it will be spring time.

  “Are you and Jane doing okay without me?”

  Charlotte told him about their efforts to establish clans and about Jane’s idea of calling the clans in the traditional Scottish sense.

  Jack said, “You wouldn’t be planning on doing that first on the 17th of January and the again on the 16th of April would you?”

  Charlotte was stunned and asked, “Jack, how in the world could you know that?”

  Jack laughed and said, “Jane’s maiden name is ‘Campbell’, one of the great names in the history of the Scottish Highlands, and of course that’s my heritage as well.

  “The first date commemorates the battle of Falkirk, and the second the battle of Culloden. I’m not sure how excited your non Scottish families will be to use those dates but I think they’re great.”

  “That won’t be a problem. I don’t think we’re going to use much Scottish except for the calling of the clans, which all of us like. We told the group the clans would announce themselves in turn, based on the age of the leader.

  “As it turns out the oldest leader is a third generation American named Norman Kenshin, from a group in Oregon who will announce his clan while he and they are dressed in the traditional robes of a Samurai warrior, using the colors of Daimyo Kenshin. The next in turn will be Johnny Cupero, from the Kansas group, whose clan will wear peasant style dress from Sicily, and the colors will be the red and yellow of the flag of Sicily. I can’t wait to see what the other clans will decide, even mine.”

  Jack felt good about Charlotte and he signed off and went to tell Heather the news of home.

  The next day the group started working with the prisoners. They took pictures of each prisoner from every angle, both with hats on and off. They then had those with beards shave them, and took those pictures. Lastly, those without beards put on a fake beard and had that picture taken.

  All of the prisoners and all of the residents were crammed into the lodge when Sam addressed the prisoners later that day, “We’re decided to set you free. When we do so we are going to send your pictures with descriptions of scars and tattoos to every group, and we’re going to post them on the survivor web page.

  “While you can go anywhere you want, we are recommending that you not be allowed in any group of civilized people. You aren’t the kind of people we want to help create a new world.

  “I suggest you go east and north. That part of the world will be without people, except for you. If you come back here, or anywhere else we might be, you’ll be shot on sight. You’ve caused a great deal of pain and misery for us and we’ll not tolerate you in the future.

  “As soon as the snow stops and we get the road open, we’ll take you to the other side of West Yellowstone and set you free. We’ll wait for one hour. At the end of the hour you will be shot on sight.

  “A day later we will start sending out patrols to look for you in surrounding farms and towns. Our intent will be to find you and kill you. Your only hope to survive is to walk until you find a vehicle and use it to get as far away from here as possible.”

  One of the men asked, “What about our women.”

  Sam replied, “I’d guess by now they have all frozen to death. You left them to fend for themselves and I think nature has won that battle.”

  That quelled any other questions the group might have had. Sam had them taken to the lock up.

  Once the prisoners left Sam looked at her group and said, “The women don’t deserve any help, but two of our men took a snow cat with a big sled and risked their lives yesterday to drive to where we left the women. They were all still with the pickups, and all still alive, although a couple of them may still die from frost bite.

  We took them into Butte and as with the men we took their cell phones. We told them to find shelter, warmth and vehicles so they could leave this area. We threatened them just as you heard me threaten the men. Our hope is that they all leave the area.

  “I have no intention of sending out patrols, but we will all have to be careful in the future. If these men and women do stay around they’ll be dangerous, and finding new weapons won’t be a problem for them. From now on anyone leaving the park will need to be both armed and attentive.”

  Colleen asked, “Won’t the men freeze to death looking for vehicles?”

  “I don’t think so. We’re releasing them on the road that goes past the airport. I had two buses parked there awhile back because I thought we might need them. They’ll be able to see them from the highway and the keys are still in them. All the prisoners need to do is dig their way to the highway.”

  The following morning they released the prisoners, and all but a small squad of militia returned to the lodge.

  Chapter Forty Two: Epilogue

  Thursday July 1st: Genesee Park, Colorado

  Jack drove east on I-70 from central Utah towards Genesee Park, Colorado. He was on the phone talking to Charlotte and had just asked her what she was doing.

  She replied, “As the hosts of the gathering my team has brought some heavy equipment into the park and we’re digging the last of the fire pits right now. Nice sized ones for each group, with smaller ones surrounding the group ones for the clans, and one huge one where the festivities will start. We’ll have the calling of the clans at the big one of course.

  We’ve gathered enough wood to burn these fires steadily for about four years, my folks got a little enthusiastic with that project, but everything is moving along well.

  “Has anyone arrived yet?”

  “The early arrivals were here Tuesday with the bulk arriving yesterday. I think you’re going to be the last ones here.”

  “When did Christian and the Northwest group arrive?”

  “Almost all of them came yesterday but a couple arrived earlier today. Christian is really jazzed about this. His clan wears the traditional Lederhosen and Dirndls of the Bavarian Alps and carries the blue and white colors of Bavaria.”

  “How about Noah?”

  “His clan dresses in American Indian traditional dress, and he originally wanted to use the colors of the Lakota tribe, but he decided to be inclusive of all Native Americans and his clan uses the colors of the rainbow.

  “All of the American clans have also decided to wear red, white and blue. Some will use armbands, some will make it part of their clothing, but Noah and his clan will use face paint and have one stripe of red, of white, and of blue on both cheeks. I love the idea.” The Canadian and Mexican clans will also wear their national colors.

  “This is going to be a colorful festival isn’t it? What a great idea you and Jane came up with.”

  “I agree. We just wa
nted to find a way to keep people from feeling so lost and so forlorn that we thought doing anything to create families would help. The idea pretty well took on a life of its own after we had our small calling of the clans’ ceremony in January. Obviously the word spread quickly and within weeks all of the groups chimed in and wanted to participate, but they couldn’t all travel in the winter.”

  “Will Danny be at the festival?”

  “I don’t know. Everyone is hoping he comes but with Danny you just can’t predict anything. When last I spoke with him he was in the northeast trying to rig a small ocean going vessel that would allow him access to Europe. We’ll just have to wait and see if he joins us.”

  “How did you decide on Genesee Park for the festival?”

  “We wanted a place that was kind of central, and in the mountains to avoid the summer heat. There isn’t much air conditioning still working. So we looked at the map and found this huge park.

  “We also looked at Rocky Mountain National Park, but I-70 goes right through Genesee Park and some folks still aren’t used to driving the RVs.

  “As we all settle into our permanent homes, stability will only increase. I think the only use most of us will have for the RVs in the future is for this gathering, which we plan on doing every summer, or at least as long as the fuel is useable.”

  “My research shows we can get about five years use from existing fuel as long as we use available additives after the second year.

  “But we have a petroleum engineer working with a team of other engineers in south Texas trying to get one refinery back on line. There are two super tankers in the harbor so we’ll have crude oil for a century; we just need to figure out how to refine it into fuel. The nice part is that with so few people it won’t take much to keep us supplied.

  Jack asked “Have all of the groups settled on permanent locations now?”

  “Almost. We now have two groups in California, one in Texas, the Delaware group has moved to Florida. The Tennessee River Valley group is going to stay put. The Phoenix group has pretty much disintegrated, although a small group has stayed. As you know the Northwest group moved to the Columbia River Gorge. That’s a group that doesn’t like hot weather and they think the wind farms there, coupled with the hydroelectric dams on the Columbia, will keep them in power for a long time. A number of groups who spent the winter in the Northeast are moving south now, and those who moved south originally are staying put. I think by the fall the northern U.S. will be pretty empty.