Considerable Destruction Series (Book 1): Evasion (

by Hernandez, Erica

  “How many want to go by Nadir’s and pick grapes?”

  “I’ll go,” Jose offers.

  “Me too,” Eli, Gracie, and Sam chorus. We all head out on foot. It’s a couple houses up, through back yards. We have to climb one fence and Sheba, who’s following, finds a hole, crawling underneath.

  “I’m trying to remember where I saw another Italian plum tree.” I muse.

  “I wouldn’t worry about it.” Sam pipes in. “If you want more work to do, we could bring you whole truckloads!”

  I realize she’s teasing me, “Oh shut up!”

  “Right back atcha!” She and I high five.

  As we walk, silently, we keep watch for anything out of the ordinary, besides everything.

  We arrive at Nadir’s back door. No one answers so we walk around to the side, finding Nadir picking grapes. “We came to check on you and help with your grapes. How are you? How’s Kristi?”

  “She died. I took her to the hospital and they said there wasn’t much they could do, so I brought her home. She died this morning. I don’t know what to do. The funeral homes are not answering their phones.” He is deflated with grief.

  I hug him. “I’m sorry, Nadir.”

  He hugs me back. “I need to find my son and grandkids. I need to know if they’re okay.” Tears roll down his cheeks. “Kevington isn’t far, but in this….” He trails off.

  We start picking the few remaining grapes, filling the boxes he’s laid out. Walking wasn’t the best idea, as the boxes will be heavy.

  “Would you like us to carry these inside or would you like to come stay with us?” I ask. “Then some of us could go with you to look for your kids?”

  “Yeah, in times like these it’s better not to be alone,” Jose pats his back as Nadir pulls him in for a hug.

  “Could you help me bury my wife?” Nadir asks, his voice cracking.

  “Of course!” Silence descends as Jose heads inside with Nadir to bring Kristi’s body out. She’s wrapped in a sheet and I let out a sigh of relief that she’s covered. The rest of us silently find Nadir’s shed, getting out his shovels. They return with her body, laying her in the grass while Eli grabs a shovel. We work together digging a hole deep into the earth. When she’s buried, Nadir mumbles some words in Farci.

  “Amen,” we chorus.

  “We could make a path through the back yards, don’t you think?” Nadir’s voice croaks. “I would like to visit her from time to time.”

  “That’s a great idea. I’m working on a fence around the front yard too, for protection from the crazies.” Jose thumps Nadir’s back in a friendly way.

  “We can do that easily.” Nadir is half hugging Jose, now, partially releasing him, but not quite. Nadir pulls himself together, “we’re going to have to drive these to your house. We won’t be able to carry them.” We start loading up his truck as I hear some commotion across the way.

  “Is that your neighbor? He sounds pretty agitated.”

  “Oh, that’s Jim.” We watch him stagger, leaning against his truck. He seems to be firing his gun wildly. We duck behind Nadir’s truck, peeking out to see what Jim’s shooting at. It’s terribly quiet, and I realize he’s shot himself.

  “Oh my God! Do you think it’s safe now?” I’m frozen with horror.

  “I’ll go. You guys stay here,” Nadir suggests.

  “Wait!” Eli says. “What if he’s not dead when you get there and he shoots you too?” Eli grabs Nadir’s arm. “Don’t go. I think he killed himself. The gun was pointed right at his head. We shouldn’t go any closer. We could call 911.”

  “He’s right,” I enforce. “Calling 911 won’t do any good, though. They don’t answer.” With the other hand, I grip his arm, giving him time to think before he risks himself. “Sam, does your phone still have service?”

  She pulls out her phone. “Yeah.” Her usual banter is gone. “But they’re not answering.” She’s got her phone up by her ear. “Just that repeated loop about how they can’t answer the phone.”

  “It’s this crisis,” Katie says resignedly, “It’s hopeless.”

  “Let’s get back to the house and stay together,” I say. “Things are going downhill fast.”

  We lug the rest of the grapes into this side of the truck, not wanting to risk the other side.

  On the way home, Nadir asks, “did you ever hear of the English Sweating Sickness?”

  “Never,” I answer. “What makes you ask?”

  “It was a virus from the 1500’s that caused similar symptoms to the way this one starts, with a rapid descent to death,” Nadir explains, pulling out of his driveway. “It was confined to England but was very serious. I wonder if this could be a mutation of that virus. It reappeared three times back then, finally disappearing.”

  “Disappeared, yeah. I read about that in medical school,” Katie adds.

  “It just popped into my mind,” Nadir comments, turning down the hill.

  “I remember reading about it,” Katie continues. “People would start shaking, sweating, get a terrible headache, become dizzy. They became delirious, fell down, and were unable to rise… death occurred within 18 hours.” She pauses. “There are similarities. I wonder if it could have mutated, popping back up.”

  “That’s crazy,” Sam admonishes.

  We turn down our street.

  “Pull into the driveway,” I urge him. There’s some space behind Jonathan’s car. “We need to be really careful.” We each grab a box of grapes to carry inside.

  “We just saw a guy shoot himself,” I say the words but it doesn’t feel real, doesn’t seem possible the world has come to this. Everything looks strange to me after the suicide. It’s like I’m watching my surroundings from a distance, disconnected from them. I set the grapes on the table, unaware. Rob comes to hug Sam, Katie hugs me, then we’re all holding each other, rocking, rubbing each other’s backs.

  There’s a jumble as everyone talks at once. Then Rob takes the floor. “We’ve been trying to get news on the radio but it’s all static. I found your dad’s old transistor radio and have been searching through it. I found someone talking from Canada. They said there’s an estimated 90% dead. They added that 7-8% of the people who survive the flu end up psychotic and often dangerous. They mention a safety zone but it’s far away. They don’t seem to know what’s going on in Europe but they ask for people to keep communicating so the few survivors can stay in touch.”

  We’re all quiet. For what seems like many minutes we all stand by the table, saying nothing, trying to absorb the enormity of the situation.

  “How’s Jonathan? We’re going to have to keep a close eye on him and look for opportunities to collect antipsychotics in case he gets like that too.” I’m resigned, scared. We need him healthy. He’s my son, and he’s our doctor. Seconds pass before I remember we have Katie too.

  “So far he’s been okay,” Gracie tells me. Katie and I follow her back outside.

  “Hi, Jonnie. How are you feeling?” I resort back to his childhood name.

  “Better than I was. Katie, Gracie, can I talk to mom alone?” They look surprised but vacate the room.

  “I’ve been thinking about what happens to people who survive the flu, having seen it at the hospital. We couldn’t treat them all, so we let them go. I know where they keep the medicine in the hospital, perhaps we can go as a group and gather supplies in a few days. I’ve been trying to meditate, like you taught me, but I notice that I’m getting more agitated. I think the paranoia comes after this, and things could get worse. I wanted to talk to you in person to make sure you know where to find medicine and supplies. Here’s my key card in case things are locked. You’ve been to my office, haven’t you?”

  I nod, relieved that he’s telling me what he knows, while my chest constricts with concern. I can’t absorb what this illness means to him, much less to us. He reminds me how to find his office and the supply cabinet in case something happens to Katie. I find a pad of paper on the bedside table, handing
it to him with a pen. He starts making a list of what we’ll need. “Okay. Now, do you still have some antipsychotics in the house ?”

  “I do. I have some Seroquel, Klonipin, and Lorazepam.”

  “I’d get up, but I’m getting dizzy and should probably take a dose now.”

  “Okay.” I hurry to the kitchen. I have a cupboard there for vitamins and medications. I prepare the dose as he suggested. I grab a cup of tea for him and head back. “What do you think?”

  “I’ll take this.” Jonathan looks down, clearly feeling bad. “It feels like less might be enough…Thanks. I want to do everything I can to stay safe for you guys so we can stay together. Plus, two doctors are better than one, right?!” He’s teasing now, that’s got to be a good sign. “I think I can handle most anything we come up against.” I hand him tea.

  “Has it been bad outside?” He asks. “I think we should check the news and get over to the hospital pretty soon.”

  “I’ll go check and see if they’ve gotten anything local yet.” Entering the house, I ask, “Have you guys gotten anything local yet?”

  “Not yet, no.” Rob is doing his best.

  “Jonathan thinks we should get to the hospital and gather supplies,” I explain. “We could wait, but the longer we wait, the greater the chance that someone else will get there.”

  “Yes! He who hesitates is lost,” Sam says.

  “I think she’s right,” Rob says. “I think some of us should go, armed, and some should hold down the fort.” He looks around assessing the situation. “Sam and I have long range walkie talkies so we can stay in touch. I think we should stop by Mazama’s Sporting goods also.”

  Jose suggests. “You, Gracie, and Dixie should stay.”

  Rob adds, “Alex and Simon should stay since they’re injured. Four of us can go. We’ll stop by Mazama and if nobody is there we’ll get more guns and ammo.”

  I’m a little irritated that Jose wants all his women at home. “Okay. Be careful. If you bump into survivors, talk slowly and quietly.”

  “I want to go!” Faith interjects. “I never get to go anywhere!”

  “Take some sandwiches with you.” I don’t want to fight about women’s equality or deal with Faith. “Hey, Katie, when does this illness stop being contagious?

  “At the paranoid stage.” Katie elucidates.

  “We’ll start on the grapes and keep busy. Keep in touch, try to get more walkie talkies, and lots of medicine.”

  The five of them strap on guns and knives, while we pack lunch.

  “Here, Sam, this should get you guys through.” I hand her the bag.

  She hugs me. “Stay safe, wifey!”

  “Right back atcha, bitch!” I pat her on the butt, then follow them outside.

  They pile into Jose’s pickup and take off. I’m standing in the garage, taking deep breaths, trying to relax the tension in my chest. I’m glad they have their dog with them.

  Back in the kitchen, Gracie and Eli are washing and destemming grapes. Dixie has the water bath canner on the stove. I start simple syrup to make juice. “Don’t you think juice makes sense? It’s easy to make, we’ll need it later, and none of us cares for grape jelly, right?” There are murmurs of agreement.

  “I’m going to go get jars and finish this after. Simon, Dixie, Gracie, can you come help me?”

  “Really? All we do is work!” Gracie complains.

  “You want juice next month or would you rather drink filtered rain water?” I ask her deadpan. She just stares at me. I get the message that her complaints were more about worry than about the work.

  “I want juice, that’s for sure!” Simon and Dixie tease me, following me to the garage to get jars. We load the dishwasher, which, so far, is still working. We’re not talking very much. There’s tension in the air, worry about having the group divided. I get the syrup made, they process grapes, and we start loading the canner.

  “I’m going to check on Jonnie.” I decide. It’s been an hour or so.

  I head outside. “Hey, Jonnie…” I say, opening his door.

  “Don’t come near me. I’m… I’m… Something’s wrong!” His forehead is wrinkled and his arms are in front of him, hands raised. I quiet my voice, slowing my words.

  “Okay, I won’t come closer. You could take more medication. Look at the bedside table. Do you see the tea?” I pause again. “See the pills? Take the big one, maybe both.”

  He hesitates. “Don’t come closer.”

  “I won’t. But, take your meds, okay? It will help.” He looks at the pills, looks at me, looks down.

  “Go ahead. Take them…” I keep my voice quiet, calm, low, almost whispering. I’m holding my breath almost, waiting to see if he’ll cooperate. I’m concerned there aren’t enough men home now to force him down. He’s taller than the rest of us. Finally, he reaches for the pills, the tea. He pauses and I wait, baited breath.

  “That’s it,” I say quietly. “If you swallow them, they’ll help you feel calmer. They’ll help take that wrongness away.” He puts them in his mouth as I begin to breathe again. “Have some tea, sweetheart. They’ll go down easier.” He swallows tea. “Good job, Jonnie. I’ll check back with you later.” He sits down on the bed as I back slowly out of the room.

  I head into the kitchen. “I think we need to take shifts to watch Jonnie. He’s getting paranoid. I got him to take some meds, but it wasn’t easy. It’ll be an hour before they work.”

  Simon speaks up. “I can take a turn. I can destem grapes under the overhang in front of his door. I’ll call you if I hear anything, okay?” Simon heads outside, with a bowl of grapes.

  I let out a long breath, relieved Simon’s there. I start on the next batch of jars. I begin filling them with grapes, simple syrup, and putting them to can. I get a weird feeling in my gut, pulling me back outside.

  “Gracie, could you all finish this?” I need to check on Jonnie. I race out before she answers. Jonathan is standing in his doorway.

  “There’re bugs crawling all over me!”

  Simon is standing near him. “It’s cool, man, you took your meds and they’ll help soon.”

  “I’m dizzy. My head is scrambled!” He stumbles, bumping into Simon. Simon reaches out to steady him.

  “Don’t touch me!” Jonathan jerks back, pushing the space in front of him with both hands.

  “Let’s walk in the grass.” I keep my voice quiet. Jonathan stumbles down the path into the grass, beginning to pull at his hair with his other hand.

  “I want them out!” He slaps the air, saying, “Get them out!”

  “It’ll get better soon.” I motion for him to keep moving. He continues stumbling between the gardens. I back away to give him more space. He staggers to the trampoline and leans on it.

  “I can’t stand the crawling!” His voice is intense as he pulls at his hair.

  “Maybe some exercise will help.” I remind him quietly. “You’re right there, climb on.”

  He rounds the trampoline towards the ladder, leaning intermittently, pulling at his hair with both hands. “No! Stop them!” He screams and leaps off the retaining wall, stumbling at the bottom.

  “Are you hurt?” I watch from a distance, my hands icy cold. He pulls himself off the ground, climbing up, heading around towards the ladder of the trampoline. “Jonathan, you’re doing fine.” Remarkably, he heads for the trampoline. I watch him climb on and start moving around the edges. I let out a deep sigh. This might help him get through until the medication takes effect.. I head back inside. “Gracie can you see him from the kitchen window?”

  “Yeah, Mom. He’s still moving around.”

  I set the timer, filling the next seven jars. “Staying on task helps me stay calm. Anyone hungry?” I don’t feel hungry. Half my family is out and Jonathan’s illness has reached the paranoid state.

  “Not really hungry.” It’s a chorus.

  “Okay then, we all eat yogurt, apple sauce, or a banana.” I insist we eat something. Gracie joins me. Eli get
s a banana.

  “I’ll just eat grapes for a while,” Dixie says.

  I poke my head out the back door. “Simon, could you eat something?”

  “I could go for something simple.” He’s standing guard with Jonathan.

  “I’ll bring it out,” I offer. I fix him some yogurt, slice a banana.

  “Go ahead. You need to eat some protein. I hand him the bowl. “Do you want to take a break, I’ll take a turn here? You can harass Eli to eat. All he’s had is a banana. Can you rotate the juice and start the next batch?”

  “Sure. I’ll go.” He hops up. heading inside. I sit down on a patio chair, watching Jonnie slow his walk around the trampoline while I eat my yogurt. I pause periodically to destem grapes. Soon I’ve got a rhythm going which is kind of meditative. I check the time. It’s been nearly an hour since Jonnie had medication, and the guys have been gone a couple of hours. I pick up a walkie talkie.

  “Jose?” I don’t say it very loudly.

  “Not now.” I hear him say. What’s going on out there? I wonder. I consciously take deep breaths while I destem. I’ve forgotten about food. I’m hoping to hear from Jose before I can take another bite. I keep my fingers working.

  I look up, checking on Jonathan, who is laying down on the trampoline now, staring at the sky. “Jonnie?”

  “Thanks, Mom. I’m still feeling off, but the strangeness is gone. I’m not scared, or not like before anyway.” He sits up and I walk over to him.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Um, kind of weird?” He moves his head around, from side to side, then rolls it around. “It feels heavy and my mouth is dry.”

  “You wanna come inside now? It’s pretty cold out here and we have stuff to drink inside.” He shouldn’t be contagious anymore.

  He climbs off the trampoline. “Yeah. Give me a hand okay?”

  I grip his hand as he descends, hugging him to me for several moments. Then, clutching at me, we walk back across the grass, inside to the kitchen.

  “Can you pour him some tea?”

  Gracie pours tea and hands it to him. “Are you okay, Jonnie?”