by Poe, S. B.
Gideon stopped as they went through the doors into one of the large hangars attached to the terminal. The vapor lights hung from the ceiling but only half of them were lit. He could see the stars through the windows along the top of the far wall. There were a half dozen or so people standing under the light at the far side of the hangar. He could see his sister.
“Rachel.” He said aloud and took a step before feeling Dr. Sherrill grab his arm.
“Gideon, listen to me.” She urged. He turned to face her. “You, we, have to protect her. We have to make sure she stays alive. No matter what.”
“That’s what I plan to do.” Gideon said.
“She is the answer to this.” Sherrill said. Rachel ran into his arms.
“Gideon. They told me you raised a ruckus over me.” She said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“They didn’t lie. I wasn’t going to let them keep my sister locked up in here.” He said looking around.
“I’m not locked up. They’re protecting me.” Rachel said as a soldier walked up beside them.
“From what?” He asked.
“Not from what Gideon, for what.” Dr. Sherrill said. “We're protecting her for the future.”
“What the hell are you talking about? There is no future. Everything’s gone, you said so yourself.” Gideon said.
“We have to try. Something makes her different. Different from even the other few immune we’ve found. I have to find out what that difference is. It could be the thing that unlocks this. It could save us all.” Dr. Sherrill said.
As she spoke the lights above their heads dimmed slightly and Gideon could hear a low buzzing sound as though something were overloaded with electricity. The lights brightened again and the buzzing stopped. Gideon heard the walkie-talkie on the soldier’s hip roar to life.
“BREACH, NORTH RUNWAY. GET OVER HERE NOW!!!” Captain Murphy’s voice came through the speaker.
The sound of rapid gunfire crackled through the walkie followed shortly by the same sound as it made its way through the night air to where they stood. They all turned and looked through the open hangar door. They could see the flashes in the distance. The north fence was perhaps a mile from where they stood. Two HUMVEES came roaring past the open door towards the flashes in the darkness. The soldier next to Gideon started to move.
“Wait.” Gideon reached out his hand. “Just wait.”
“What the hell do you mean, wait?” The soldier looked nervously.
“What’s your name?” Gideon asked.
“Bannon.”
“Well Bannon, you look like an observant guy. That’s one of the things that make a good soldier right? Being observant?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Bannon said.
“You heard the doctor, right? She said that Rachel, this girl right here, might be our last hope.” Gideon said as he wrapped an arm around Rachel.
“Yeah.”
“Bannon, you need to help her. You need to help us. Let’s go jump in that HUMVEE sitting right there and let’s head the other way. Let’s get her out of here. You, me, the doctor and Rachel.” Gideon said.
“I can’t. I have orders.” Bannon said.
“Orders? We’re talking about saving mankind. We’re talking about saving the world. Those guys out there at that fence are fighting right now to save the world. You can make sure they don’t die in vain. You were chosen to be right here, right now for this moment. We’ll never make it without someone who knows how to fight, someone who knows how to teach us to fight. Come on Bannon, what do ya say? Let’s save the world.” Gideon said.
The Rest of Your Life
The bed squeaked as Gideon leaned against the wall. He watched as Bertie turned from the chair and waited for him to speak.
“We got lucky when we found this place. We got even luckier to have Bannon and his men to help us take it from the eaters, but we did it. And now we’re trying to keep Rachel safe because she is going to save the world.” Gideon said.
“But how?” Bertie asked.
“That’s what Dr. Sherrill has been working on ever since we got here.”
“Where are we?” Bertie stood and looked out the window.
“I think it used to be some kind of Scout camp.”
“I bet we’re at Spring Lake Boys Club. That’s where the fence came from.” Bertie said. “I remember when I was a kid standing on the other side of that fence. The rest of the lake was wide open except for that stretch of shoreline. Fence right down to the water all the way around their campground.” Bertie said smiling. “How’d you find it?”
“Really? After all the shit I just told you the best question you can come up with is how we found this place. I’m really disappointed in you Bertie. I tell you we’re trying to save the world and your prattling on about being a boy scout.” Gideon said. “Don’t you want to help save the world?”
“How?” Bertie asked.
“Everyone has a role to play. Come with me.” Gideon stood.
Bertie followed him through the door onto the porch of the little building he had been inside. He looked around and saw a few more buildings lining the trail like the one he exited. The trail went uphill slightly and ended at a wide set of wooden stairs that spanned the front of what had been the main lodge. Gideon walked towards it with Bertie in tow.
Gideon led him up the stairs and through the doors. They turned right as they walked past the reception desk. The wide hallway was adorned with various photos of campers carrying kayaks and sitting around campfires.
“This way.” Gideon said as he stopped and opened a door. “Just have a seat. I’ll be right back.”
Bertie stuck his head in the door. The room was large, like a conference room but empty except for a chair against the far wall. There was another door to his left but it was closed. He walked across the room and sat as Gideon closed the door behind him.
Dr. Sherrill leaned against the table by the window and glanced down at the notes scribbled on her pad. She muffled a laugh at herself. It was almost medieval. Short hand notes trying to describe what she was seeing through a standard microscope. But wasn’t that how it all started? Pasteur didn’t have much better equipment than she had now and he helped save the world once. She tilted her head down into the lens and looked again. No change. She crossed her fingers as she heard Gideon’s boots climbing the stairs outside.
“So far so good.” Gideon said as he came into the room.
“No symptoms?” Dr. Sherrill asked.
“He seems normal.” Gideon said. “It’s been almost twelve hours since the infusion, not bad?”
“There are too many variables to know if it means anything at all. The first two trials made it this far. But you know that what comes next is all that matters.” Dr. Sherrill said.
Bertie leaned back in the chair. The room was warm and he began to feel sleepy. The door to his right swung open and a tall woman wearing a pair of jeans and an army fatigue jacket walked in holding a clipboard.
“Mr. Baker, my name is Dr. Sherrill.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you. Gideon says you’re trying to save the world.” Bertie smiled.
“Well, I don’t know about that but I am trying to help.” She said. “How are you feeling Bertie?”
“Fine I guess.” He said.
“Have you eaten? Are you hungry?” She asked as she made notes on the pad in her hand.
“I ate what y’all gave me.” He said.
“How about your vision?” She asked. “Any blurriness or anything?”
“Not any more than usual.”
“Any headaches or numbness in your fingers or toes?” She asked without looking up.
“No. What’s all these questions for? Gideon said I was going to help.” Bertie protested.
Dr. Sherrill stopped writing and looked at him. She walked over and lifted his arm to check his pulse.
“You are helping Bertie, by answering these questions.” She dropped his arm.
“Any pr
oblems standing or walking?” She asked.
“Just a little stiff. Guess it’s the cool air.” He said.
She glanced at him and he could see her studying him closer than before. She leaned closer to him, looking intently at his eyes but not into them.
“Come with me.” She said as she turned towards the door. Bertie followed.
The room next door led into a smaller hallway with only one door at the end. They went through it and Bertie paused as they crossed the threshold. The girl from the night before sat in corner reading a book under the light of the only window. Bertie felt his knees get weak when he saw the goner in the other corner. It was strapped to a dolly with its arms tied to its side. Its eyes were bandaged over and wads of cotton were stuffed up its nose. There were two men standing on either side of the goner. One of them was Gideon.
Bertie paused but he felt hands grab his shoulders from behind. Gideon and other man sprang at him from the corner. Before he even knew what was happening he was tied to another dolly just like the goner in the corner. He began to yell but his mouth was gagged and struggling quickly became useless. They wheeled him over beside the goner and he felt them loosen the strap on his right arm. Sweat popped out on his forehead and he felt the terror well inside as he watched them lifting his arm toward the chomping mouth next to him. He struggled to keep his arm down but it was no use. His eyes felt like they would leap out of his head and he screamed through the cotton in his mouth as the rotted teeth bit into the flesh of his forearm. Before the pain even began to subside he felt his arm once again restrained by his side. He slumped against the restraints as his chest heaved for air. He felt a cool hand gently slap his cheek.
“It’s all good Bertie. Every one has a part to play. This is your part.” Gideon said.
“Hmmph..” Bertie started. Gideon reached up and tightened the gag.
“Shh. It’s all over. Now all we do is wait.” Gideon said as he stroked Bertie’s head.
Rachel looked up from her book but didn’t move. The two other men huddled in the corner, propped up by the empty shelves behind them. Bertie could see the rifles stacked beside the door.
“How long before we know?” One of them asked.
“Could be a while. Or it could be in a few minutes. The virus spreads differently depending on the host. You got somewhere you’d rather be Bannon?” Dr. Sherrill said as she furiously scribbled notes on her pad.
“We’ll check back.” Bannon tapped the other guy’s shoulder and they grabbed their rifles before leaving through the door.
“Those guys suck.” Rachel said.
“They’re doing their job.” Gideon said.
“Like that show you had me put on for them last night? That was so gross.” She said as she looked back at the book.
“Little sister, those guys that suck, they’re keeping you alive. And while they probably enjoyed the show, you didn’t do it for them. You did it for Bertie. He needed to be freaked out and damned if you didn’t make him piss his pants before he passed out.” Gideon said as he smiled at Bertie.
Bertie listened to their conversation but it sounded like he was hearing it under water. His head throbbed and he could feel his veins pulsating under the restraints. The wadding in his mouth was dry and he felt the tickle of a stray fragment of cotton. He didn’t feel the blood coming from his nose but when it found its way around the gag he could taste it in his mouth. He tried to wiggle his toes and realized they were numb. He ran his tongue to the roof of his mouth but it was numb too. He felt his heart beating against his rib cage. His lungs ached. The edges of his vision began to dim. He thought he heard a voice somewhere in the distance.
“Well, that is disappointing.” Gideon said.
“Six hours and twelve minutes.” Dr. Sherrill noted aloud. “Starting new count now.” She made a note on her pad.
“New count to what?” Bannon asked. He had checked in twice already, third time was the charm.
“Reanimation.” Dr. Sherrill said. “If we could keep the dead, dead...”
“Sorry doc.” Gideon interrupted as he backed away.
The body twitched under the restraints. The things fingers extended as far as possible, twisting under the strain. Tiny blue tendrils of vessels painted lines across the cheeks and small droplets of blood fell from the corners of its eyes.
“Well shit.” Bannon said aloud.
“Dammit.” Sherrill said. “Dammit dammit dammit.”
“Go ahead Bannon. Wheel him out.” Gideon said. “Hang him up with the others.”
“Will do. What about the woman?” Bannon asked as he tilted the dolly back.
“Wait until dark. I want the infusion in her system for at least twenty-four hours. And keep her calm. Obviously the excessive adrenaline caused by stress wasn’t effective.” Dr. Sherrill said.
“So my little striptease was for nothing?” Rachel stood as she spoke.
“We needed to see if an rush of adrenaline in the system perhaps made a difference. It is just one a myriad of variables that may need to be tested.” Dr. Sherrill said.
“So I won’t have to do that again?” Rachel asked.
“No dear, you won’t have to do that again.” Gideon said as he guided her out the door behind Bannon. He closed the door and looked at Dr. Sherrill.
“Oh don’t be so disappointed.” He said. “You’ll have better luck with the next one, I’m sure.”
“You mean the last one. If this doesn’t work…” She started.
“If this doesn’t work we’ll find some more.” He interrupted.
“How many more? Maybe there is no cure. Maybe we’re wasting our time.” She said.
“Wasting what time? All we have is time.”
“But at what cost?” She asked.
“This again?” Gideon turned to her.
“This always. We’re killing people. The people we’re supposed to save.”
“And every one of them is a indispensable part of the process. You should revere them. Honor them.” He smiled.
“Bullshit Gideon. Bullshit.”
“Look Doc, if you don’t want to keep doing this…”
“I don’t.” She said.
“Then I suggest you find what we need.” He opened the door and walked out into the night air.
Harvest of the Dead
Part 2
Down the Long Road Home
The Wind Remembers
The sky turned gray as the sun began to climb behind the clouds. Kate pulled the curtains back to let what little light there was come inside. The house was like most of the others inside the barricade. Smaller than the one she had left in South Springs but a vast improvement over the shacks in the woods. A couple of bedrooms meant Scott was back under the same roof. She stood at the counter in the kitchen and smiled as she scooped the coffee grounds into the handkerchief. Dottie had taught her how to tie it so the grounds wouldn’t come out as it boiled. It had been three days since they buried their friends. She walked out the back door and tossed the coffee bag into the pot of water boiling on the grill.
“So, tell me what the plan is again.” She said.
“We need to run out to that roadblock, back by the interstate, and get those seeds.” Bridger said. “Kind of pointless just to leave it since that was the whole reason we came out of the compound in the first place.”
“Who’s going with you?” Kate asked.
“Evelyn, Tilly, Josh and Lori. I’m planning on getting our new friend to go too.” Bridger said.
“Which one? This town has a few.” Kate smiled.
“Not from this town. The new friend you brought.” Bridger said.
“Cameron?”
“What’s his story?” Bridger asked.
Kate briefly relayed the story told to her from Cameron, chance encounter after chance encounter that led him to their gates.
“Small world seems an understatement now.” Bridger said.
“Listen, don’t take Tilly with you.” Kate said.
“Why not?”
“The other night, when that herd of deaduns came to the gates, she kept the place together. She was smart and she made good decisions. She acted like you do. I want you doing what you’ve done since this all began. But if you’re outside, I want her inside.” Kate said.