I can’t remember her name. Oh yeah, Rosa. Gorgeous woman. Doesn’t speak much.
“You see, I deal... or rather I dealt, with computer programs. Whenever there was a bad cluster of data, I would quarantine it, so I could deal with it separately without crashing the program.”
“Speak English, boy!” Christine could tell that her dad was about to lose his shit.
Patrick swallowed, and thought about it for a moment before continuing. “What I mean is we should quarantine young Jack – maybe lock him up in one of the classrooms – and monitor him until we know for sure if he is infected. Or not.”
“Hell no! I’m not waiting until the kid turns into a zombie!” Joe’s comment started a shoving match, as it was now Craig’s turn to lose his shit. Craig lunged at the big man and the two had a firm hold of each other’s shirts.
“God damn it! STOP!” Ern tried to push the two combatants away from each other.
“See what you made me do? You made me swear!” Ern was visibly upset now. “Nancy doesn’t like swearing!” Ern’s tirade confused and shocked the group into a temporary silence.
Patrick chose that moment to speak up again. “Why don’t we lock him up, and if it looks like he is getting worse we, um, take care of him?”
Craig and Joe still had a hold of each other, despite Ern standing between the two.
It looked kind of funny to Christine. Like the three were practicing an intricate dance. An involuntary smirk escaped her lips. Sarah noticed and shot Christine an angry look.
Oh, fuck you, white trash. Christine shot daggers back at Jack’s mom.
Just then the whole situation cooled somewhat, as Craig slowly unclenched his hand and dropped it down to his side. A far away look passed over Craig’s eyes as he through things through.
“He’s right.” He finally said.
“But. ... Craig.” Sarah said, clearly distraught. “What are you saying?” Her eyes started to sparkle with tears.
Craig turned to his wife and put up his palms. “Honey, what I’m saying is that I will stay with Jack tonight and keep an eye on him. We know that he is not infected.”
Sarah was crying at this point. Craig wrapped her up in a hug. “It will be fine, dear. You know he usually bounces back the next day.” He leaned his face down to hers. “Trust me.” He whispered as he held her tight.
Christine saw her mom pull her dad a step back at this point. She could see that her mom felt a bit of remorse.
That’s so unlike you, mom!
Dad wasn’t done though.
“Craig, I’m not sure if having you in the room with Jack is enough.” At least his tone wasn’t aggressive this time. “I think we need more security than that.”
Then Bill spoke up. Christine thought that it was funny how everybody shuts right up when a quiet guy speaks.
“We should post a guard outside the door. Somebody that’s weapons certified. Just to take care of the situation. If that’s needed.”
People from both sides of the conflict nodded.
“Ok, so we agree that I will stay with Jack in one of the rooms, and we will lock ourselves in.” Craig was back in management mode. “How about we agree to wait for one day and assess the situation again then? How about supper time tomorrow?”
The wheels were turning for him now, so he continued. “As Bill suggests, you post a guard with a weapon at the door, in case something goes wrong.”
John jumped into the conversation. “Who here is weapons certified? Can I get a hands up?”
Bill, John’s wife, the English woman, and track suit girl raised their hands.
“Would you guys be ok to help out?” John asked, to which he received affirmative responses.
John beckoned the group to follow him off to the side to sort out the weapons situation and a schedule for standing guard.
Craig turned to his wife. “Honey, can you collect a few water bottles and some food for us.”
Craig’s wife shook her head. “No Craig. I’m going with you.”
“Honey. No. We will be fine.” She was still shaking her head though.
Her eyes started to shimmer again as emotion was getting the better of her. “I’m not letting our son get shot!”
“Listen.” Craig raised his voice, so more people could hear. “You and I know that Jack is hurting because he got exposed to gluten. It’s not the first time this has happened.”
He lowered his voice as he continued. “If Jack gets worse by this time tomorrow, then the three of us will pack up and leave.” He put his hand under her chin and lifted her face so their eyes could meet. “Sarah, I promise you: I’m not going to let them kill our son.”
This seemed to take the fight out of her.
Claire had gotten up and walked over to the group, followed by a concerned Nancy. She glided over to the couple and placed a hand on Sarah’s back. When Sarah faced her, Claire smiled encouragingly at the other woman. “Come. I’ll help you gather some things for Jack and your husband.”
Sarah blinked her tears away. She took a deep breath and composed herself. “Ok.”
The two women left, followed by Nancy. Maria got up from her seat at a bench nearby. “Wait! I want to help, too.” Christine watched the girl limp off after the women.
Jack and his dad were to be locked up in one of the rooms downstairs. The reason for picking one of these rooms was because the doors did not have windows set into them. It would be an inconvenience because nobody could look in on Craig and his son, but not having a window made sense for security reasons.
Cots were shuffled around, and supplies were placed in the room. Craig and Jack would have a place to sleep and enough water and food to last them twenty-four hours.
The quarantine was made official with the closing and locking of the classroom door. Sarah watched her husband and son disappear and couldn’t keep herself from uttering a heartbroken groan. Nancy guided the stricken woman away, leaving John standing guard at the door.
MOST MEMBERS OF THE group were sitting around in the cafeteria later that evening. The mood was somber. Christine was hanging out with her family at one of the benches. Her family members were bantering and shooting the shit like Christine remembered they usually did. Attempting to create some semblance of normalcy.
The rich couple was sitting at the next table over, with the oriental guy. The rich guy was trying to carry the conversation, but it was obvious that nobody was interested in talking.
Christine looked around and noticed Jack’s mom was sitting at another table with Claire, Ern and Nancy. They were talking quietly amongst themselves. Sarah was a mess.
Christine remembered how Claire was inconsolable on the remainder of that bus ride, and practically catatonic since arriving at the school. Not sure how much Claire can lift your spirits. She’s practically a zombie herself.
Emily was sitting together with Bill, track suit girl and John’s wife. Christine guessed they were talking about guns. She didn’t figure that they would have much else in common.
Christine wondered how Bill was going to use a gun, with his wrist and hand all banged up like that. She supposed that he could handle a gun with either hand.
Finally, she looked at the last occupied table. Maria was sitting by herself. Her eyes were on the glass of water resting on the table in front of her. She looked sad. Christine suddenly had the strong impulse to go and talk to the teenage girl.
After all, I’m the closest girl to her age. We should have some things in common. She walked over and put on her most winning smile. “Mind if I join you?”
Maria looked at her and shrugged.
Not the best start...
Christine sat down across from Maria and smiled at her again. “How’s your ankle feeling?”
Maria pondered for a moment. “Ok, I guess.”
Christine nodded and sat in silence for a moment. “Pretty crazy, that stuff with Jack. I sure hope he is not infected...” Maria looked at her and did not respond. Christine was about to give up on t
he conversation when she spoke.
“You don’t get it.”
“What do you mean? Of course, I get it!”
“You’ve got your whole family over there.” Maria said with a wave. “Craig and Sarah are going through hell right now. While you guys just sit around, joking, like there is nothing wrong.”
This got Christine’s temperature up.
“That’s a fucking ignorant thing to say! You don’t know what we went through!” Both girls were ready for a fight.
“Oh yeah? Well why don’t you tell me who you’ve lost?” Maria challenged the older girl.
“I’ve lost. ... I ...” Confusion clouded Christine’s face.
A smug smile crossed Maria’s face. “Yeah. Who did you lose?”
She was sure she had won the argument.
“... Matt.” Christine looked down, then slowly locked eyes with Maria. “... I’ve lost Matt.”
Maria was silent.
“We had been together since last spring. We met at the horse track, of all places.” Christine smiled as she remembered.
“He treated me so good. Better than all the others. ... I was sure he was the one.” Christine brought her hand up to her mouth.
“The last time I saw him, he was leaving for Rochester, to go to his parents. They were both sick. He begged me to go with him.”
Maria expression turned rueful. She waited for the older girl to continue.
“He called four days ago. His parents were very sick, and he couldn’t get any help for them. The worst part was that he was getting sick as well. He knew that he was infected. He sounded so relieved when I told him I was feeling fine.” Christine fumbled for something in her pocket.
“After that he sent me a few texts.” Christine pulled out her cell phone, selected her text, and held out the phone to allow Maria to read.
‘Mom died a few minutes ago. OMG she is dead.’
‘Things r crazy! mom attack dad. She bit his throat. I think he’s dead. then she attack me! Locked her in bedroom.’
‘Mom pounding on door. Tried talk to her. OMG she killed dad.’
“I know. She is zombie. Want to attack me. Door breaking gtg.‘
‘I’m in the attic. She doesn’t know I’m here. IDK what to do.’
The next text was sent on the following day.
‘Not doing too well, babe.’
Later that day.
‘So much pain I think dying’
Then the final text, very early the next morning. That would have been yesterday.
‘love u for ever. See u in heaven.’
Maria looked up after reading the last text. The older girl’s face was screwed up in anguish.
“That was it. ... I never got to say goodbye.” The cell phone slipped out of Christine’s hand and onto the table. Maria reached across and put her hand on top of Christine’s hand. The two girls looked at each other for a moment.
“I’m sorry.” Maria said.
Christine blinked the tears out of her eyes and with a small smile she squeezed Maria’s hand. “It’s ok. I know you went through worse than me.”
Maria took a deep breath. She slowly reached for the glass of water in front of her and raised it to her mouth. Before taking a sip, she looked up and locked eyes with the older girl. She took her drink, never breaking eye contact. Christine could tell that the younger girl had made a decision.
“I think I want to talk ... Can I tell you what happened?”
Christine nodded. Maria took another sip and carefully put the glass down. Her eyes now locked on to the half-full glass in front of her as she prepared to share her story.
Maria did not speak for long moments. Christine saw that the younger Latina girl was reliving some terrible things and struggling with them mightily. She was about to tell Maria that it was ok – she didn’t have to talk about it if she didn’t want to – when the young girl started to speak.
“I don’t know why papa and my little brother Jose got sick, while mama and I were fine.” Maria said it almost as if she felt guilty about it.
Chapter Thirty-five
Maria
My dad worked in construction. I remember him coming home every day after work, smelling like metal and sawdust. He would be so tired when he came home from work! But he would always spend time with Jose and me. We used to play in the back yard or go down to the park and play baseball. He used to play professional baseball back in Honduras when he was a young man, before he met mama. Anyway, he adored us.
He paid special attention to my hermanito – that means little brother – and was teaching him all about baseball. He volunteered this summer as a coach, just so Jose could play. We didn’t have enough for league fees, but my dad worked it out with the club. I was very jealous. Especially when I found out that they had been going out for fast food after games. We never eat fast food at my house. He did many things for me too. I guess I shouldn’t have been jealous.
Every day, after supper, papa would always enjoy his pride and joy, his lazy boy chair. I still remember the day we got that chair. Mama had pretty much ordered him to buy it, because he had not spent a penny on himself for as long as I can remember. The whole family piled into our pickup truck and headed to the furniture store. It was a beautiful Saturday! Jose was complaining, asking why we weren’t going to the park. I remember feeling overwhelmed when we walked into that store though. Two floors of fancy furniture, as far as the eye could see!
That chair though. It was love at first sight for papa. He made a beeline for that chair as soon as he laid eyes on it. And the look on his face when he sat in that chair! A sales guy came right over, so papa asked him how much it cost. I don’t remember how much it was, but I remember my dad’s expression fading from excitement to disappointment.
Mama saw it too, and before anybody could say a word she said: ‘We’ll take it.’ My dad tried to argue but there is no arguing with mama once her mind is made up.
After that, every day went the same. Papa would come home from work, we’d play until supper, then we’d eat supper, and after that he would climb into that chair and turn on the tv. The funny thing is that pretty much every day he would fall asleep within half an hour. Jose and I would be climbing all over him and he’d sleep right through it. I remember taking off his shoes and socks and putting nail polish on his toenails. Sometimes we would style his hair! We even put ribbons in his hair the one time.
Papa would sleep through it all.
I don’t think he was really asleep though. He just didn’t want to interrupt our fun.
Mama kept us from getting out of control. She was more of the bad cop in our family. She was strict. I think that was from her upbringing. She was raised on a farm in Honduras, which made her tough as nails and a very hard worker. I don’t know how she did everything, but she did. And I mean everything! From making sure that our house was the cleanest on the block, to cooking almost all meals from scratch, to bringing us to school and picking us up every day – so we couldn’t get in trouble – she would say. Our back yard was even a miniature farm! We had a small pond, a chicken coop, and a huge vegetable garden! I remember being embarrassed by it all. None of our neighbors had this stuff. They had grass and flowers and mini playgrounds. We had beans and eggs.
Jose was our baby. He wasn’t actually a baby anymore – he was eight and hated that we called him our baby – but that didn’t change how we felt about him. He was still our baby. All of us adored him and did everything for him. He was cute, and smart, and funny! I remember him crawling around in the back yard when he was a baby. All chubby and curious. He would stick his little hand in the dirt, and next thing you know he’d eat the dirt! It would freak me out, but mama said it was fine. In fact, she said it was good for him! That baby would put anything into his mouth. One time, I was able to pull a big fat worm out of his mouth just in time! It was gross.
Mama was always there though. Jose almost fell into the pool a couple of times, but every time mama was there
to catch him. She was amazing.
Jose and I spent a lot of time together. We weren’t allowed to leave the house until all our homework was done, and once we were done, we would usually just play together until Papa came home anyway. We had some pretty big fights, but most of the time we got along great. We hung out together and found ways to entertain ourselves. He was my best friend.
“We all loved each other very much.” Maria paused in her storytelling.
Her eyes glimmered and her expression had turned from remembered fondness to one of melancholy.
“I’ve lost them. ... All of them.” The realization hit Maria hard, and she started breathing rapidly through her nose as she tried to control her emotions. It took all the willpower Christine had not to rush around the table between them and wrap the girl into her arms.
Finally, Maria’s breathing slowed, and she took a hurried sip of her water. The moment passed. Maria’s thoughts turned inwards as she continued her story, not noticing that more people had started paying attention.
IT WAS ABOUT A WEEK ago when we first started getting concerned about this Syndrome. There were protest marches downtown, and the news stated that the infection was in America. Mama was worried. She was on the phone almost all day, trying to reach our family members in Honduras.
The mood was different that day. When papa got home, we didn’t go out to play in the park with him. Instead we all huddled around the television, catching all the news as it was happening. We all went to bed early that night.
The next day I remember going to school, and only about half the kids were there. There were cars showing up all morning to pick up kids. After lunch, there were only a handful of kids left in class. I snuck out of school and walked over to the elementary school. It was even worse there. Even the teachers were leaving the school. I walked in and mister Jenkins, the principal – who used to be my principal as well – immediately took me to Jose’s classroom to collect him.
We walked home and met mama about halfway. She was coming to get us. I remember being scared by the look on mama’s face. We got home and watched the news until papa got home. There were riots and protests all over the world. People were scared.
Apocalypsis Immortuos | Book 1 | Syndrome Page 23