Dr. Parsons chuckled. "Call me Hal." He raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't sure anyone had read that paper, so I'm honored. What have you been doing since you graduated?"
He wants me to call him by his first name? "I contract out doing fieldwork, mostly soil and water samples in remote areas."
Devin crossed his arms. "Contractor? I thought you worked for the state."
Jen shook her head. "I like to have control over my schedule."
Hal smiled. "We've only begun sampling, so we can certainly use your skills here. And I think we can expose you to some advanced analysis work, if you're willing."
"You bet."
The pilot carried their luggage over and placed it on the ground. "That should be all your baggage." He nodded at Hal. "I've got to get out of here, Doc. That cloud ceiling's coming down. National Weather Service says there's a hell of a storm coming in and aircraft will be grounded soon. I may be a crazy-ass bush pilot, but even I don't want to be up in this blow."
Hal clapped him on the back. "Have a safe trip back."
The pilot took two steps toward the plane and turned. "One other thing. There's a NOAA alert for increased sunspot activity. They expect moderate to severe communications interference for the next day."
"OK," Hal said. "We'll hunker down for now. See you in a few days."
The pilot saluted and strode off to the Otter as an older, rusted pickup rattled to a stop next to the plane. A thirty-something man with a trimmed beard and slick-backed hair climbed out and approached the pilot. Dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt with a big-ass gun strapped to his hip, the guy would've looked like a lumberjack if he weren't so thin.
"Who's that?" Devin asked.
Hal glanced at the man and frowned. "No one you want to know. He's our local bootlegger. Name's Griffin."
"Bootlegger?" Jen said. "He brews moonshine?"
"Point Wallace is a damp village. You can bring in alcohol for your own use, but can't sell it. Griffin brings in a lot more than one person can drink, but he always gets more."
Jen watched the pilot hand Griffin a box. Griffin laid it in his pickup bed and looked up, his gaze meeting hers. A half-smile broke out on his face. Creepy. Jen looked away.
Devin picked up his suitcase and reached for Jen's, but she grabbed it first. "I've got it," she said.
Devin hesitated, as if he were going to say something, but he stayed tight-lipped. He placed his bag in the truck bed and climbed into the front passenger seat without a word.
Jen frowned. She knew he wasn't capable of much emotion, but how could they establish a relationship if he didn't show it? Or at least talk. She tossed her suitcase next to his and took the back seat.
Griffin's starter chugged for a few seconds then started, and the engine roared to life. Black smoke belched out of the exhaust. Grinding the gears, he locked eyes with Jen and drove off, the truck disappearing over the hill's edge. A cloud of his exhaust whisked over Hal's truck. Jen wrinkled her nose at the stench.
Hal ignored it and started the crew cab pickup. He smiled at Devin. "It's been, what, twenty years?"
Devin grinned. Jen raised her eyebrows. Seemed he was capable of something more than a stone face after all.
"Twenty years," Devin said. "Ever since Gobekli Tepe in Turkey." He looked over his shoulder at Jen. "Hal was a medical doctor back then. Spent his time on archaeological digs, patching us up."
Hal shook his head. "I still can't believe I was able to fill my gravedigger position with the famous archaeologist, Devin Reed."
Jen squinted. "Gravedigger?"
"A term of endearment," Devin said. "The Chukchi Sea is eating away at the coast, and exposed an old native graveyard. I'm here to help the community relocate it to more stable ground. I don't usually work environmental studies, but I couldn't pass up time with an old friend."
Jen sighed. It took Devin talking to someone else for her to find out what the hell he was there for. When she'd asked him on the phone, he'd changed the conversation to the work he was doing then. She pressed her lips together. This isn't going to be easy, but I'll make it work.
Hal steered the truck down a dirt switchback road on the side of the hill. The village lay before them, sets of prefab houses patched with plywood and corrugated steel. Halfway down the hill sat three large white trailers outfitted with solar panels on a flat section of the slope. Hal pulled up in front of them and they all piled out of the truck.
Hal pointed to the middle trailer. "This is our headquarters and administrative offices. The trailer on the right holds our bunks and dining facility. You'll each be assigned a room." He nodded at the third trailer. "And this is a state-of-the-art lab. The best of its kind within the Arctic Circle."
Jen grinned. "Impressive. But do you have cable?"
Hal laughed. "A sense of humor, too? We'll get along just fine."
Devin pointed at a big gray tank that sat a hundred feet above them on the slope. "What's that? Water?"
"Fuel," Hal said. "We're mostly solar powered, but on days like today, we sometimes have to switch to generator."
He opened a door on the end of the headquarters trailer. "Come on. I'll give you the five-minute tour."
Devin and Jen followed him into a long, narrow corridor peppered with muddy shoe prints. Hal walked past a couple of rooms and led them into the third.
A cluttered room, it sported two desks and several bookcases stuffed with binders. The dense odor of old, burnt coffee hung in the air.
A thirty-something man with bleached blond hair and Clark Kent glasses sat behind one of the desks, hunched over a microphone while he moved dials on a radio panel. An older native man with a buzz cut stood in front of the desk, while a younger native man in jeans and a Grateful Dead T-shirt leaned against the wall next to him. He looked to be about Jen's age.
The radioman pressed a button on the microphone. "Wallace Science One to Wainwright Science One, do you copy?"
He released the microphone button, and loud static came from the speakers. The radioman adjusted another dial and repeated his request. He got the same answer.
The radioman shook his head. "Sorry. The solar activity is too great right now." He looked over at Devin and Jen and smiled. "You must be our new team members. I'm Pete Nance, Hal's assistant."
Devin nodded. "Devin and Jen Reed."
The older Native man offered his hand. "Raymond Kignak, and this is my nephew, Chris Nageak." Jen shook Raymond's hand, then stepped back so Devin could do the same. Raymond had a helluva strong grip for a guy who looked to be approaching seventy. She noted the Marine Corps tattoo on Raymond's forearm.
Chris nodded at Devin and Jen. "Good to meet you."
Hal cleared his throat. "What's going on?"
Raymond frowned. "Leo set out for Wainwright this morning. He was supposed to call when he arrived, but we haven't heard anything, and he should be there by now."
"None of our phones or radios in the village are working, but we thought yours might," Chris said.
Hal scratched his chin. "I wouldn't worry too much about it. He'll probably call as soon as the solar activity dies down." He shrugged. "After all, Leo was born and raised here. What kind of trouble would he likely get into between Point Wallace and Wainwright?"
3
Hal pointed to the last door in the headquarters hallway. "Here's the final stop on the tour. Devin, this is your workspace."
Jen's stomach growled. "How about we catch lunch after this?"
Devin glanced at his watch. "I agree. It's almost two."
Hal smiled. "Sorry. I get carried away sometimes with what we've done with the facility. We'll do a quick look in the archaeologist's office and head to the dining hall."
He opened the door and flipped the light switch. Florescent lights flickered on to reveal a twenty-foot-wide, ten-foot-deep windowless room with shelves lining the back wall. An autopsy table sat in the middle.
Hal moved to one of the neatly arranged cardboard boxes on one of the shelves.
"You should have ample supplies." He pointed to labels beneath each box. "Body bags, surgical masks, gloves."
Devin pulled a box out and rummaged through the contents. "Damn fine setup considering how remote we are."
Jen's stomach growled again. "Unless you've got a hamburger and fries in one of those boxes, I'd like to check out the cafeteria."
"Let's go then, shall we?" Hal said.
He led them out of the headquarters trailer just as Chris zoomed up on an ATV and hit the brakes. He skidded to a stop, sending gravel flying across the parking area. Cupping his hands to his mouth, he yelled over the engine, "Dr. Parsons, we need you right away at my uncle's house. Leo's back and he's in real bad shape."
Hal tossed his keys to Devin. "Start the truck. I'll get my bag and let Pete know what's going on." He ran into the trailer.
Chris sped off, spraying more gravel in his wake. Jen and Devin ran to the truck. She hopped in the back while Devin took the driver's seat. He pulled it up to the trailer just as Hal reappeared carrying a small satchel.
Hal jumped in and pointed to where Chris had disappeared over the lip of the hill. "Head there. The hill's slope is flatter from this point on, so it's a straight shot. Just take it easy."
Devin drove the truck over the lip and down toward the village. Jen rolled down her window, rain pelting her in the face, and took in the scene. The roads, nothing more than tire tracks between houses, were barely visible in the reduced light. They passed by a corrugated metal house with a dozen doghouses outside, a barking husky chained to each one. The truck's headlights picked up a handful of kids running after each other and weaving between buildings. They waved as the truck passed. Jen waved back.
Hal pointed to a large one-story building up ahead. The modern, flat-roofed structure stuck out like a sore thumb. It was as if someone had picked up a building from the city and dropped it in the middle of the village. "Turn right after the community center," Hal said. "Raymond's place will be the third house on the left."
Moments later, they pulled up in front of a larger house with an ATV parked outside. A pair of antlers hung above the front door, and a drenched American flag flapped on a short pole attached to the porch railing with duct tape.
Hal jumped out and ran into the house, leaving the front door open. Jen and Devin followed him inside just as the rain intensified and thunder rumbled overhead.
The front rooms consisted of a large, well-worn living room and a kitchen. The aroma of cooking meat filled the area. Jen couldn't identify the meal by its smell, but it made her mouth water and stomach grumble again.
Hal knelt next to a blanket-covered couch, talking to a young native man who writhed in pain, his eyes squeezed shut. Raymond stood at the head of the couch, arms crossed and worry lines creasing his face. Chris watched from the other end, his fists clenched by his side.
Jen stepped closer to get a better view of Leo. The man's clothes were soaked, and his left pant leg was crudely cut off and wrapped around his calf. Chest heaving with each raspy breath, his body spasmed, and something shiny fell from his pocket and bounced across the floor. Chris picked it up. He caught Jen watching him and showed her a worn lighter with the Marine Corps symbol embossed on the side. "Leo's lighter. My uncle gave it to him, and he'd hate to lose it."
Hal opened first one of Leo's eyes, then the other, and shined a light in them. Leo's pupils were so dilated, Jen couldn't see any part of the irises. Hal pursed his lips and untied the crude wrapping around Leo's calf. It dropped away and he gasped. Jen craned her neck to see. It looked like someone had drilled a half-inch hole through Leo's leg. The edges of the wound had turned black. Even with all that, there was only a little blood oozing. Hal turned away and coughed. A foul odor slapped Jen in the face. "Shit." She buried her nose in the crook of her arm and fought back the urge to puke. Devin made a disgusted noise next to her.
Hal looked up at Raymond. "Can we get some hot water?"
Raymond turned toward the kitchen, and an ancient native woman in a traditional kuspuk, a tunic-length hooded overshirt, shuffled out of the hallway. She looked a hundred if she looked a day. She said something to Raymond in Inupiaq, and he answered in kind. She nodded, limped into the kitchen, and took a glass pitcher out of the cupboard.
Hal pulled a stethoscope out of his bag and listened to Leo's chest. He shook his head and pulled out a blood pressure cuff. Leo jerked his arm away as Hal attempted to wrap it around his bicep.
With effort, Raymond held Leo's arm still. Hal wrapped the cuff and took the reading. He sat back on his haunches. "This is bad."
Raymond released Leo, who seemed to have settled down. "What is it?"
"His heart rate's increasing and his blood pressure's going through the roof."
"Islig," Leo moaned.
Jen furrowed her brow. "What'd he say?"
"Islig," Raymond said, his eyes on his sick nephew. "We call it a mountain, but it's more like a big hill. It's forbidden to go there."
Chris let out a loud breath. "Islig means fear. Fear Mountain. Where the spirits live."
Raymond leaned over Leo. "What about Islig? Were you there?"
Leo squirmed. "Bodies. Dozens. Hundreds. Death is in me. It calls to me."
A crash came from the kitchen. The old lady froze, her eyes wide. The pitcher lay broken at her feet. Lips trembling, she said, "Tuqunaragri."
Leo murmured something Jen couldn't make out. She leaned in closer. Raymond had bent down, and Hal cocked an ear. "What was that, Leo?"
Leo's eyes flew open, his irises huge and deep yellow. "It's in me!"
Jen stumbled back, stepping on Devin's foot, but he didn't seem to notice. His eyes were fixed on Leo, who kicked out and nearly connected with Chris's jaw.
Hal broke the spell first and fished around in his bag. "Hold him. I'll give him something to calm him down."
Raymond held Leo's shoulders while Chris and Devin restrained his legs. Leo's creepy eyes focused on Jen. Hair stood up on the back of her neck. What the hell had happened to the guy? She'd never heard of anyone with yellow irises before.
Hal injected something into Leo's arm. Within a minute, he relaxed and his eyes closed.
"He should sleep awhile." Hal listened to Leo's chest. "Better. Not great, but better."
Jen hugged herself. "What's wrong with him? And what the hell's up with his eyes? I'm going to have nightmares for months."
Removing a blood collection syringe from his bag, Hal shook his head. "I don't know yet. Whatever it is, it's moving fast, and he could lose the leg. We need to get him to a hospital."
Chris stared at the floor with his hands shoved in his pockets. "We can take him overland."
Hal frowned. "Normally, I'd agree. But his illness is too big of an unknown. He may not survive the trip."
"Maybe that bush pilot would go up in an emergency," Jen said.
Hal stuck the needle into Leo's arm. Dark red blood flowed into the collection tube. "He won't take the chance. Bush pilots are a bit crazy, but they're not suicidal."
"We've got to do something," Raymond said.
Packing away his equipment and the blood samples, Hal nodded. "I'll get these to the lab and see what I can find out."
Jen placed her hands on her hips. "We should go to the mountain and find out what happened there."
Hal stood. "No. We don't know what the hell's out there. It could be contagious."
Devin crossed his arms. "I'm with Jen."
Jen's eyebrows shot up. He's agreeing with me?
Devin continued. "If it's contagious, we already have it, so I'm going. I've been on several digs with biological hazards and can handle it. Time for me to be useful around here."
Chris stepped next to Devin. "I'm going, too. I know the way."
Jen straightened. "I came out here for a unique experience. If hunting corpses by a haunted mountain in the middle of nowhere doesn't check that off my bucket list, nothing will."
Hal's lips pressed tightly together, but he
remained silent.
Jen strode to the door. "Time to find out what happened to Leo."
4
Jen stepped onto the porch. "So how do we get there?"
Devin turned to Chris. "We'll need equipment from the archaeologist's office. If we load it into the truck, will it make it out to the mountain?"
Chris shook his head. "Not a chance. You need a four-wheeler. I've got a buddy with an ATV trailer that'll hitch up to the back of mine. Unless you've got a ton of stuff, that should work."
Jen crossed her arms. "We're going to get real cozy if all of us ride your ATV together. Are there any others?"
Chris jogged down the steps and mounted his four-wheeler. "There are three more sitting in back of the headquarters trailer." He started the engine and raised his voice. "Keys are hanging on the wall of the admin office. Meet you there." He waved and rode off, disappearing behind a house.
"What's your plan, Gravedigger?" Jen asked.
Devin scratched his chin. "Chris and I will go see what's out there. If there are bodies, my job here may have gotten bigger."
Heat rose in Jen's face. "What do you mean you and Chris? You're not leaving me behind. I'm damn sure not taking another step in that house, and I won't sit around a stuffy science trailer on my ass. I'm going, too."
"We don't know what we'll run into out there. Besides, the tundra's no place for a city kid."
"City kid?" Jen glared at him. "You don't know me. That's the damn problem. If you'd brought your ass around a little more when I was growing up, you'd know I've spent a lot of time in the wilderness camping, hunting, and fishing. I know how to ride ATVs and snow machines, how to make shelters and snow caves, and where to find food and water."
Devin's face fell. Jen clamped her mouth shut. She had lost control and overdone it. Again. That was how she'd lost her last three boyfriends. The rain picked up and Jen wished it would just wash her away.
"OK," Devin said. "You're coming. Let's get moving."
The Zombie Uprising Series: Books One Through Five Page 2