Spore Series | Book 5 | Torch

by Soward, Kenny

  “Hi, Randy.”

  He nodded at the case. “What’s in there?”

  “I’m here to give you your vaccine.”

  He gave a hesitant grin. “Does that mean I’ll be immune to the spores? And I’ll never have to wear a mask again?”

  “That’s what we’re hoping,” she replied. “We’ve tested it against every possible mutation we can think of. Everyone who took it last week is tolerating it well, but if you have any issues with it, you have to let me know.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said. “I’ll make sure the Major gets on the standard military channels, so we can keep in touch. And I’ll call as soon as I get to Ft. Wayne.”

  “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want.”

  “Thanks,” Randy said. “I’ll rest here until you get those batches of serum and vaccine ready. Then I’m heading back north with them. I want to go home and see my sister, and my girlfriend.”

  Kim held her palms out haltingly. “No, I totally get it. The Major is a pretty cool place, huh?”

  “I wouldn’t say cool, but tolerable. Our leader is a man named John. He knows how to get things done, and he takes good care of everyone.” Randy remembered back to the opportunities the man had given him, especially the final one. “They’re going to crap when I come walking through the door.”

  “Really?”

  “They all think I’m dead,” Randy laughed. “I mean, I was going to die of the fungus, anyway. Then I left on that final mission...” He winced. “They weren’t too happy. It was probably a little selfish.”

  “Did it feel selfish at the time?”

  “A little.”

  “Then it was definitely selfish,” Kim slapped the side of his bed.

  “I guess. Well, I hope they’ll be happy to see me.”

  “I’m sure they will.” She rested her hands on the syringe case. “I still can’t believe that was you who saved me back in Indianapolis.”

  He gave her a heroic grin. “What are the odds of me overhearing you on the radio right when the Colony was about to dupe you. One in a million.”

  She fixed him with a scolding look.

  “I don’t mean to say you were stupid,” Randy quickly added. “I probably would have fallen for it, too.”

  “Nice save,” she smirked. “And the way you and that guy Dodger covered me as I got away. Amazing.”

  “Are you kidding?” he scoffed. “I saw you take out those guys by your bus. Like a boss.”

  “I guess I kind of am a boss,” Kim pressed her lips together but couldn’t stifle a thin grin.

  Randy sighed as his grin faltered. “Small world, huh?”

  “Apparently.” Kim tilted her head with presumptive expression. “So, are you ready?”

  “Yep.” He swung his legs off the bed and sat up, resting his arm in front of him.

  She opened her case and held up a syringe in front of his eyes. Using an alcohol wipe, she sterilized his arm and then uncapped the needle. As he watched her work, she reminded him of one of those pretty lady doctors on television, when they had television.

  “Ready?” She asked, arching a thin, dark eyebrow.

  “Do it,” he said, confidently.

  She injected his upper arm with the vaccine, capped the needle and returned it to her kit. “See, easy.”

  “Way too easy,” he chuckled, rubbing his hands together.

  A gentle silence passed between them, two old friends who shared a jagged past.

  “You were telling me about the Indianapolis people,” Kim said. “A guy named Odom?”

  “That’s right. He’s part of a rogue military faction up there. He’s nothing but trouble, and he’ll give you problems when you try to dispense the vaccine. I can almost guarantee it.”

  “You should tell everyone about it,” Kim gestured toward the door with her head. “Come on. We’re all hanging out, talking. You haven’t socialized much since being transferred down here.”

  Anxiety tweaked his stomach. He shrugged. “I didn’t want to make friends since I’m leaving and all.”

  “You can do better than that,” she gently scolded him. “All those people want to get to know you.”

  Randy lowered his voice. “But I’ll never see them after this.”

  “Oh, I think you will.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re the future.” She raised both eyebrows plaintively. “I mean, me and Bishop, too. But we’re getting older. We’re not kids anymore. It’s you guys who are going to run things ten years from now. You, Jessie, Dex, Garcia, Hicks, Trainor. Heck, even my own children. You may be spread out, but you’ll cross paths again and again. I just... I feel it.”

  “Kind of like high school at the end of the world,” Randy laughed. “Come back for reunions and stuff?”

  “I don’t know,” she chuckled. “You may need help from one of them someday.” She raised her chin. “Didn’t you say you were the captain of your football team?”

  “Yes, but that was football. It doesn’t even exist anymore.”

  “For now. But you learned leadership,” she pointed out. “And that’s what the world needs. If I were you, I’d be out there making friends. Lots and lots of friends. Never know when you might need them.”

  Randy saw what she meant. As captain of his team, he had to help players get to school, make sure they kept up their grades, and act like a big brother to them if they had any problems. He supposed it wasn’t much different now. For a moment, he saw himself in the future. He and Tricia married, maybe with kids. He’d be a leader on John’s team, doing something important for the group.

  “I guess you’re right,” he concluded. “Being a captain was a huge responsibility. And I definitely could be a leader.”

  “It starts with you sharing your story with us. I want to hear all about Indianapolis and that raid on your camp.”

  “Sounds good. Can you hand me my crutches?”

  “My pleasure.” Kim took them from where they leaned against the desk and handed them to him.

  He stood and tucked them under his arm with only slight discomfort. “I guess with the cure, things will become even crazier. People will be fighting over resources, food, and territory. You name it.”

  “The vaccine was probably the easiest part of all this,” Kim agreed. “I don’t think things are ever going to be normal again. But you have the power to change the future. We all do.”

  Kim led him out of the room and walked beside him as he hobbled down the hall. He looked at Room 5 where it had been shot to pieces, and workers were still repairing it.

  They’d removed the guard desk at the end of the hall. The people of Redpine, and even the remaining security team, seemed to have gotten over their mistrust of each other and mingled freely with Kim’s group now that they had a common mission.

  With Burke and that Lexi lady gone, a dark cloud seemed to have lifted.

  He hobbled into the cafeteria to the quiet din of chatter. It was early evening. The lights were dim, and people ate or conversed in small groups while the kids played in the rec room.

  While they’d replaced the destroyed games and tables, holes remained, reminders of the battle that had occurred.

  Kim led him to a table where her husband sat with Garcia and Savannah. Fiona sat on Bishop’s lap, laying back on him like he was a recliner. Bonnie, her husband, and some other Redpine folk had joined them, too.

  In the middle of the table rested a picture of Weissman one of the soldiers had downloaded from his camera.

  “Hey everyone,” Kim announced. “Randy felt well enough to join us tonight. He’s going tell us all about Indianapolis.” She turned to him. “You like coffee?”

  “You know it,” he nodded.

  As Kim went to retrieve his drink, Garcia pulled up a seat for him while the others waited for him to start.

  He carefully sat and leaned his crutches against the table. “Heck, I don’t even know where to start.”

  “Sta
rt at the beginning,” Bishop said. “Start when the world changed for you forever.”

  *

  Two days later, Kim and Bonnie stood in the Redpine warehouse on the lower levels.

  “That’s a big order,” the chief scientist said with a prim expression, staring out across the cases of vials in the staging area.

  A worker swung into view, driving a motorized cart with several more boxes of vaccine in its bed. Kim stood on a platform near the office doors, staring in awe as they continued to stack the life-saving drugs.

  Five rows of cases stretched before her, three high, fifty vials each. Every dose meant life for someone struggling out there. Every dose was hope.

  “You must be feeling quite emotional right now,” Bonnie said, leaning closer.

  Kim nodded. “I was thinking back to that first day when the spore clouds hit. The world was falling apart around me, people choking and dying. All I could think about was getting to the lab. I felt confused and shocked, but Tom steadied me, and we made progress on breaking down Asphyxia at the cellular level. And then Burke happened.”

  “But you beat him that time,” Bonnie said.

  “And we kept working at it.” She took a resounding breath as the events of the past six weeks shaped themselves and swirled around in her head like a waking dream. “Me and Paul and Jessie. We got just a little farther.”

  “It’s like taking baby steps.”

  “That’s exactly what it felt like.” Kim pursed her lips. “Actually, it’s more like one baby step forward and two back.”

  “Do you think they’ll catch him?” Bonnie’s eyes were full of hope.

  “They have to catch him.” Kim nodded. “They’ll catch him and get your people out of there. Then we’ll bring him to justice, like we always meant to do.”

  “And Lexi.”

  “Yes.” Kim stared at the crates, hope and hopelessness battling inside her for dominance. “She’ll pay, too.”

  Bonnie stiffened and relaxed in a full body sigh. “You know, I don’t hold out much hope. Seeing our grandson alive again seems like a remote possibility. It almost seems like...” Her words trailed off.

  “Like what?”

  “It just reminds me of my husband and his bird watching.”

  “Bird watching?”

  Bonnie’s smile turned fond. “Before Burke forced us to lock down here, we lived on the outskirts of town. We were just a few years from retiring early. I mean, Burke paid really well.” Her eyes took on a distant look. “Anthony used to bird watch in the woods in our back yard. He’d go out in the morning to look for songbirds, finches, and swallows. He was always searching for a rare something or other. I forget all the names. Each time he would return shaking his head. He took beautiful pictures of the regular ones, but never the rares. That’s what this feels like. Things are going to get better for most people, but I doubt we’ll find my rare bird. I doubt we’ll find my grandson.”

  A fierceness rose inside Kim’s heart, and she wanted to put Bonnie’s mind to rest, but she tempered herself. “I could say things are going to be all right. I could tell you we’ll find your grandson and the others alive.” Kim shook her head. “But that would be giving you false hope. All I can say is that Jessie is smart, and Bryant is about the toughest man I’ve ever met when the chips are down.”

  “Melissa’s pretty tough, too.”

  “That’s right. And by all accounts, a great pilot.” Kim turned to her. “They’re a superior team and, to be honest, they’ve been the backbone to all of our efforts.” She flashed the chief scientist a look. “I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but we are winning. Good people are prevailing. We just have to stay the course. We have to keep on fighting. I think we’re turning the corner.”

  Bonnie nodded, seeming partially convinced. “What do you make of Moe Tsosie?”

  Kim watched the dock workers. “At first, he was a little too quiet. Definitely different. But Bryant told me what he said on the helicopter when they considered turning around and giving up on Lexi.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Mueller told him the situation with your people. That many could die if Lexi was allowed to take Burke to California. Moe said that every child was a seed for the future, and that his life meant nothing in comparison. He actually volunteered to go back into a deadly fight for us, and we barely know each other.” Kim shook her head, perplexed. “He’s someone of incredible character, and I hope to meet him again someday.”

  Bonnie nodded, seeming satisfied with the answer.

  Kim covered the woman’s hand with her own and watched the warehouse workers stack more cases.

  Chapter 44

  Carver, Chinle, Arizona

  Pipes played and drums hammered out a beat as Carver walked through New Eden with Susan on his right and two of his priests on his left. A small contingent of personal guards trailed behind them, desert flowers tucked above their ears, rifles hanging at the ready.

  The center of the camp undulated in the throes of change. People sat in circles, holding hands as they chanted the rites his priests had taught them. They wore bleached shirts or sacks over their shoulders.

  The priests dressed similarly, though necklaces of desert flowers separated them from the rest. They moved through the circles, feeding devotees sips of tea as the drums beat on and the trilling music played.

  Many in the circles sat and waited patiently for the tea’s effects to take hold, while others leaned off to the side and vomited into the dirt. Priests came to help, holding them steady as their stomachs heaved and their eyes rolled around.

  Guards with high-powered rifles lingered on the edge, curious or jealous.

  “The Ceremonies of Indoctrination are going well,” he spoke to Susan on his right side as they walked between the circles. “They’re purging their old selves.”

  “Opening themselves up to new possibilities,” she said with an agreeable nod.

  “Soon my army of Light and Venom will be ready.” He smiled and held out his hand. “They’ll do anything I ask. Run through stone. Climb canyon walls. Strike down any foe I point to.” He shook his head as an intense revelation struck him. “The power of devoted flesh is the most powerful weapon of all.”

  Susan nodded. “Praise be to the Lord of Light and Venom, and his son who stands before me.”

  He led them through the circles of initiates. Those not completely out of their minds under the influence of the tea watched him walk by with reverence. One woman threw herself prostrate at his feet, grasping his legs before Susan grabbed her by the neck and tossed her off to the side. They passed the medical buildings and stood at the head of the indoctrination area.

  They’d cleared out a swath of tents and built a roofless structure with two large pots in the center. Scrawny Steve Gasman stood next to one, eagerly stirring around long leaves in a thickening brew. His sunken eyes stared out at the circles of revelers with an expression of wonder and excitement.

  Not only was Gasman an expert at fixing cars, but he knew how to mix the correct plants they used to create the spiritually cleansing drugs.

  “You have everything you need?” Carver asked.

  “Yes. The High Faith Ayahuasca Retreat in New Mexico had ample stores.” His eyes widened like a child on Christmas day. “I’ve sent back three devotees to revive the dying vines. With the right amount of soil and water, we should have a regular supply.”

  “Excellent, man.” He turned and grinned at the swooning crowd. “Once again, your knowledge is paying dividends.”

  “And my time as an ayahuasca advocate,” the thin man added with reverent delight.

  Other communes had dubbed Gasman a shaman before he joined Carver in the desert five years ago. He had a reputation for brewing mind-altering teas, which could be used to reform soft wills.

  “The fact that you are here with me now. It can only be divine intervention.”

  “Praise be to the Lord of Light and Venom,” Gasman bowed his head. “And hi
s son who stands before me.”

  Carver nodded at the accolade and continued on. He strode through camp like a god, watching as they wiped away the US military and reformed it into something more spiritual.

  A tank stood off to the side painted with gaudy peace signs and communal logos. Three Humvees sat parked next to it, similarly colored with flowers sticking out of their mounted rifle barrels.

  He came upon a circle of men and women deep in the throes of tea drinking. They’d stripped the soldiers down to everything but shorts, then they held hands and swooned from side-to-side. Priests walked among them. They whispered prayers and recited hymns, guiding their thoughts and ideas. Camp followers massaged their shoulders.

  “They’re hard to break,” Susan commented, dryly. “Wouldn’t it be easier to find someone else to drive the tank?”

  “No, they’ll be worth it,” Carver said. “We’re stripping away their fascism, making room for new ideas. When we’re finished with them, they’ll be ready, no, ravenous, to fight and die for us. After that...” He glanced at the tank. “Nothing will stand in our way.”

  A movement in the crowd caught his eyes, and he turned as Cash strode up with several of his deputies trailing behind him.

  “We’ve got news on the Navajo.” The big man spoke with plodding words.

  “Speak it.”

  “They’re controlling the infection. They’re making successful supply runs, and they’ve got two rigs now. One of our scouts saw them unloading a ton of stuff last night. Food. Engine parts. Everything.”

  Carver’s brows lifted in amusement. “Where are they getting this stuff?”

  “We don’t know,” Cash shrugged. “We see them drive away on the back roads away from the canyons. They return a day or two later with truckloads.”

  Food and water had been a concern of Carver’s from the beginning. That was one reason for the indoctrination ceremonies. With his remaining supplies dwindling, the need to feed so many mouths had become a burden. Through the ceremonies, he separated the true believers from those less pliable.