What Remains (Book 2): Quarantine

by Barrett, Tyler

  If that was the case, it could only mean things had gotten worse. So bad that the military didn't want it to be looked upon by the public eye. It had her wondering what could have happened that was so bad, and if it meant that there was no way the military could stop it. She knew that if things had gotten worse, the soldiers would be on edge, making their already dangerous plan a death sentence.

  It didn't persuade her to abandon their plan, though, determined to get to the truth. They were all jittery from knowing that every minute that passed was another minute gone until they were breaking the law. Something she had never done before. Minori felt an odd sense of freedom emerge from the thought of knowingly breaking the law.

  In their boredom, they each found something to keep themselves occupied. Nobou was checking over his camera to make sure that everything was in working order. Hisashi called a few more of his friends to see if they had heard anything since there was nothing on the news. Minori busied herself with looking at the map, and then finally decided she would check on their pilot, whom they hadn't spoken to since they got off the plane.

  She tried to call him but was met with a dial tone. Frustrated she tried again with no success, checking her service to see if that was the problem. Minori was surprised to find that she had none, but attempted to get on the internet browser on her phone, but was yet again unable to connect.

  “Hey, does anyone have service? My phone says it doesn’t!” exclaimed Minori.

  Nobou pulled his phone out, “No, I don’t have any service…no internet either…”

  Hisashi gave her a concerned look, “Same. You don’t think the military is blocking our service, do you?”

  “It’s likely, with Martial Law curfew they wanted to limit phone traffic. But, I mean I don’t know why we can’t connect to the internet,” replied Nobou.

  “Well, to me, it only makes the military look more suspicious,” said Minori with skepticism, “But let’s see if we can find anything to support my theory tonight.”

  As the time got closer to the start of the curfew they decided to eat before they left, knowing they wouldn't have time to later. After the three of them ate, Nobou made sure to pack up his camera and place it in a backpack he had bought so he could carry it with ease. Hisashi brought the van to the front, and they got in.

  As they began to head towards Toru's house, they found that the military had set up several checkpoints, along the major roads in and out of the city. They made sure to dodge and avoid each one, but they knew that they would have to be careful. The military had a more substantial presence than what they previously thought and hoped that it didn't ruin their plans.

  As nighttime got closer and closer, the sun began to sink. They were getting scared that they weren't going to make it to Toru's house before curfew started. Hisashi reassured them that they would make it, and they did with only minutes to spare. They parked the van outside the home and quickly moved to the door.

  Toru opened the door before they could knock, ushering them in, “Did you get stopped by the military?”

  “No, we took a long way here, but we avoided each roadblock the military had set up,” replied Hisashi.

  “Good. Now listen up, it's going to be hard to avoid all the patrols, but I did some scouting myself. I have a route planned for us to take. If I say something, do it, or we risk getting caught, or worse,” Toru said with a deadpan look.

  Nobou nodded his head in agreement, “None of us plan on doing anything stupid tonight.”

  “Glad to hear. Now, follow me, we are leaving through the back alley,” Toru said leaving the house through the back door.

  They followed him into his backyard, which he hadn't kept in some time. Toru approached a gate that led into the alley, stopping to slowly open it to make sure there was no one in the alley. He waved them on, the coast being clear. The alley was wide enough to drive a small car through, but they stuck close to the wall.

  Halfway down the alley, they heard the approach of a vehicle on the road ahead. Toru shoved them back against the wall, and they all crouched behind a dumpster. A truck slowly drove by, the soldiers inside shined bright beams of light up and down the alley, trying to catch anyone sneaking about. They all held their breath until the truck passed, letting out one collective sigh.

  They quickly jogged to the end of the alley before the truck made its way back around. Toru looked both ways before sprinting across the street to the adjacent alley; they each sprinted over as well. Continuing down to the next block before cutting through someone's backyard, they waited for a patrol to pass by. Carefully making their way across the street again, they followed the street, staying low behind several parked cars along the road.

  They zigzagged through the streets for several blocks, and Toru had spoken true about his knowledge and ability to get them across the town at dark. She felt like a criminal casing a house, but the house was a town. While these thoughts raced through her mind, Toru finally stopped them. They had arrived at their waiting point.

  They were on a hill overlooking the part of the town, with the hospital the military used as their base lay down below. Minori could make out people moving around, but was far enough away where they couldn't be spotted. Nobou pulled out his camera, zooming in on the hospital, which now had small towers built around the perimeter of the hospital, searchlights swiveled on top of them. Nothing exciting was happening at the hospital, so they got comfortable while waiting for a foot patrol to pass by.

  Minori sat on the playground equipment, waiting in the dark. A slight breeze made some of the equipment squeaked with gentle movement. Minori started to wonder if a foot patrol was going to actually come by the area when they heard voices from down the street. It was two men, but they were too far away to tell what they were talking about.

  They hid behind some rocks at the edge of the park, waiting for the soldiers to approach.

  “Psst...Nobou,” Minori said trying to get his attention.

  “What?” He asked quietly.

  “Make sure you start filming once they come into view, but don't blow our cover,” she whispered to him.

  The two soldiers began to get close to the park, and shined their flashlights over the park. They did a quick sweep, barely covering all the nooks and crannies that could be hiding people. Continuing to walk, the soldiers headed in the same direction they had been before they stopped at the park. It took the soldiers sometime before they were far enough away that Toru had them follow them.

  The soldiers were almost a block ahead of them; Nobou had a tough time keeping the camera focused on them, quickly abandoning the idea of filming them on the move. It was hard for them to stick to the shadows completely, but they did their best. They ducked behind anything they could, so long as the group didn’t make noise they were fine.

  The soldiers continued their patrol of the neighborhood, occasionally chatting, but otherwise searching for something. She was hoping they could catch that something on film, and then they might fully know what is going on and know if her theory of some new virus was spreading was correct. The thought of finding out if she was right or not, and the implications drove her onwards, it was what drove them all on.

  The next two hours were spent tailing the two soldiers, who stopped several times and waited. They had also almost seen them hiding a few times, but they had been lucky and avoided it from happening. Minori was starting to feel as though they were chasing the wind; they had yet to find or see anything useful. They all began to become disheartened and were close to calling off their plan.

  As Minori ducked behind another set of cars, the soldiers stopped, this time on alert. Sure she had been caught, they froze. The soldiers began to jog down the street away from them, stopping at the next alley. Once they realized the soldiers weren't looking for them, they jumped out from the alleyway and got a little closer.

  Nobou pulled out his camera and began to film the soldiers. They both shined their flashlights down the alley they had stopped at,
and began yelling at someone, but they couldn't see anyone. Then, after a few moments, a man came out of the alley.

  He let out a horrifying noise that sent chills down all their spines. A moan was heard even from their distance, and both soldiers raised their rifles, firing one warning shot at the man's feet. The man ignored the soldiers and shuffled towards one of them.

  Bang. Bang. Bang.

  The soldier fired his rifle at the man, hitting him in the body. The man ignored that he had been shot altogether, grabbing ahold of the closest soldier. They fell backward onto the ground, struggling for a few moments, arms locked; the other soldier stood frozen where he was. The soldier in hand to hand combat yelled out to his comrade, who finally snapped out of his inability, pulling the man away from the other soldier.

  The man bit into the helping soldier's arm; the soldier screams filled the air. However, the soldier pulled the man off him, shoving him back. The soldier raised his rifle, shooting the man in the head at point-blank range. It echoed throughout the night, and then it was still for a moment.

  The other soldier rushed over to help his friend; he inspected the wound. Tearing the sleeve of his shirt off and he began to tie it around where he had been bitten. The unwounded soldier started talking into his radio about the attack, calling for reinforcements. He stopped dead; more moans were heard from down the alley, street, and from behind houses.

  Several people emerged from the darkness, shuffling in the same manner as the man who now lay on the ground dead. The unwounded soldier grabbed the attention of his friend and began to back up down the road. He stopped, firing towards the crowd approaching them. He scored a couple of body shots, but it had trivial effect on the people.

  They began to move faster back down the street close to where Minori and the others hid, filming everything. The unwounded soldier sprinted, leaving his wounded friend behind. He, unfortunately, tripped over the curb, landing hard on the sidewalk. More people had come around the corner of the intersection that separated the soldiers from Minori and the others hiding.

  They quickly surrounded the soldier as he attempted to get up. He stood up, trying to rush past them, but there were too many, and they quickly overpowered him. The group pulled the soldier back into them all, and he attempted to fire his rifle at them. It was in vain, and shortly after Minori heard his screams as well.

  In the distance, two trucks sped down the street stopping near the wounded soldier. They were military transport trucks. Eight men jumped out of the back of each truck, and out of the cab jumped one man who began to order the soldiers into the formation. It was the Major General.

  The soldiers began to pick off each person that was in the area, making sure to get direct kills. The night filled with a chorus of gunfire, as the soldiers cleared out the approaching figures and the people away from the dead soldier on the ground. The gunfire finally stopped, and there were multiple bodies on the ground.

  The wounded soldier approached the Major General, saluting him. They began to talk, the soldier pointing in the direction the people had come from. The soldiers from the truck began pulling body bags from within the truck. The Major General patted the wounded soldier on the, reassuring the soldier.

  It seemed that it was all over and that everything would be ok. That's when the Major General grabbed the soldier's arm, lifting it up. He pointed at the hastily bandaged bite. The soldier answered, and what the Major General said to him caused the soldier to slink down in defeat.

  The Major General let go of the soldier’s arm. He backed a few steps away from the soldier, shaking his head as if he was disappointed. The soldier still held his head down low. The Major General pulled out his sidearm, aiming it at the soldier’s head. Minori sat frozen as she watched this, flinching as another gunshot rang out.

  The soldier dropped to the ground dead. Nobou immediately shut off the camera, “FUCK! Did you see that?” he asked shaking.

  “Why did he just...just shoot that soldier...” Minori said just as stunned.

  Hisashi and Toru didn't say anything, dumbfounded at what had just happened. Toru finally snapped out of his daze, “Quick, follow me! We need to get out of here before they find us,” Toru stated fearfully.

  They quickly followed him, not attempting to stay quiet as they had been before. They were only worried about getting to safety. They ran, afraid for their lives.

  Chapter 11

  The dark alleyways felt safer to them than the streets that were lit up by street lights. They knew that the military would be more careful now that they had been attacked and lost two men. They wouldn’t give a second glance at whether you meant them harm or not. It was so dangerous to be out now that the chances of them making it to safety lessened with every passing second.

  They didn’t stop moving, but they were careful themselves, Minori knew what could happen if caught. The crazy people and the military were both bad choices to have to choose from. Safety seemed unobtainable, but they kept moving in hopes that they could. Toru was their only hope at this point; he was the only one who knew his way around the dark alleyways, all the secret shortcuts through the neighborhood.

  They had kept to the shadows, and carefully checked for anyone before they crossed a street. Each one of them wanted to stop and find somewhere safe, but they weren’t somewhere familiar. It only made sense to keep continuing, since they had yet to find anywhere they could call safe. None of them had any weapons or anything to defend themselves, and they weren’t about to try to start a fight breaking into someone’s house.

  Most houses had their lights off, no one was around to help them; they only had themselves. They only knew that they needed to make it back to Toru’s house. The alleys and streets started to all look the same as they continued through the night.

  Toru led them down yet another darkened alley; this one small, and only wide enough for them to walk single file. He stopped them halfway, holding his finger up to his mouth. “Shh,” Toru hissed at them.

  He pointed at the end of the alley, “I think I heard something up there, stay here.”

  With that he walked towards the end of the alley, stopping before he got to the end. He moved out from the alley and looked to the right. A figure came from the left; it moved just like the people that attacked the soldiers. However, this time, Toru was the victim.

  The figure lunged at Toru catching him off guard, knocking him back into a pile of trash. He quickly fought to stand up but sunk back into the garbage. Before he had time to get out of the way the figure fell on top of him, the light showing the figure to be a woman. His scream sent Hisashi in action; running down the alley to help him.

  It was too late; the woman tore into Toru's leg. Hisashi ran up to Toru and grabbed the woman off him, throwing her into the wall. The woman's skull collided with the wall, followed by a loud crack. The woman stopped moving after that.

  Hisashi motioned to the other two, “Come on, we need to get out of here. Someone might have heard his scream, help me move him.”

  Minori ran down the alley to help, while Hisashi had ripped off the sleeve of his shirt and began tying it around Toru's leg. Toru looked in bad shape; blood was everywhere, and he was pale.

  Nobou moved to help Hisashi pick up Toru, “Come on we need to get him back home, he's hurt badly.”

  They all ran across the street without looking before running; Toru's life hung in the balance. All their focus was on trying to help him.

  “Why...did…she...it's cold...” Toru choked out.

  “He isn't looking good,” Nobou said worriedly.

  They stopped at the alleyway and looked at Toru as he started to shake. Setting him down they saw the blood that trailed across the street. He was bleeding too much even though they had tried to stop it. Hisashi went down to grab Toru again but noticed that he had stopped breathing.

  “Toru? Toru! Wake up!” Hisashi exclaimed.

  Nobou felt for a pulse, “He's dead...”

  “Why did that woman attack him
?” Minori asked, scared.

  Hisashi closed Toru's eyes, “There was something wrong about her. I didn't get a good look, but she didn't like right.”

  Nobou snapped, “We can talk about all this later when we get back to safety.”

  “He’s right,” she said, “But you are the only one who can help us Hisashi...you are the only one who knows the area.”

  “Okay...okay...” He said shaking, “I will try...”

  He was interrupted by a noise, one that sent them all reeling back. It was a low moan, like air escaping a bag. They all turned and looked at the source of the noise, finding Toru staring at Hisashi.

  “What in the hell?! I thought you said he was dead, Nobou,” said Hisashi.

  Nobou backed away, “He was. I swear he was. There was no pulse, and he stopped breathing. I checked.”

  “Let's leave...something doesn't feel right,” Minori whispered.

  Hisashi opened his mouth to argue but stopped. He could tell that Toru didn't look right, his eyes speckled red as if blood was filling them. Black veins webbed their way across his face and neck.

  Toru reached his hand out towards Hisashi, like he wanted him to come closer. It felt like he was trying to pull him closer, but he didn't want to be close to him. Hisashi's mind told him that it was Toru, but his eyes said it wasn't. He wasn't himself anymore, but something new altogether.

  Hisashi grabbed them both, pulling them back away from Toru, “I don't think that's Toru anymore. We need to go.”

  “Are we just going to leave him?” She asked as they took off down the alley.

  Neither one of them answered her, continuing down the alley. She looked back fearfully, unsure of everything. Tonight had left her with more questions than she had started and nothing made sense anymore.

  Even in the dark, she could see that Toru had stood up and started following them. The only thing she felt was fear, and it pushed her to run. They ran through the night, trying to outrun their fear.