Omega Pathogen: Despair (20 page)

After over four weeks of constant work, they could finally get some rest. With the new walls and the double-gated entrance in place, the residents felt safer—none completely safe, but it was a vast improvement to their situation. They now had an eighteen-foot-tall wall around them.

That evening they had planned on a grand celebratory feast, but their exhaustion kept it very subdued. After their early dinner, Marlene manned the video monitors that Brent had set up and called out adjustments while Brent, assisted by Rob and George, set up the remainder of the night vision capable cameras.

Jim and Royce helped out by running cables for the cameras while the rest of the residents went about other chores. Arzu and Jen measured out and finished marking off where they planned to place T-walls and Hescos barriers around the generators for noise suppression.

They finished installation of the cameras around 11:30 PM. They would come up with a schedule for watching the monitors the next day, but tonight Rob volunteered to keep watch until 4:00 AM and then Marlene would relieve him. Since the monitors were set up at the same desk as the radios, Marlene would likely be the one that watched them the most while she scanned the radios. They would just need to make sure she could get a break whenever she needed it.

After saying goodnight to everyone, Jen went to her bedroom. Like everyone else she could hardly wait to fall into her bed. When she got to her room, she noticed her bathroom door was closed and remembered she had let Janice use her bathtub. Janice had said she wanted to take a long hot bath. That had been over four hours ago.

Jen knocked on the bathroom door and quietly called out for Janice and then tried the doorknob and found it was locked. After a louder knock and call of Janice’s name, Arzu and Marlene overheard and came to Jen’s bedroom.

Arzu used a flat-headed screwdriver and unlocked the door. Arzu yelled for Jim when she and the other two women found Janice lying in the tub of pale red water.

An open pocketknife and an empty bottle of sleeping pills lay on the edge of the tub. Jim and others came in to try and help. Janice’s dark brown skin had turned pale and she wasn’t breathing.

Jim and Chris pulled Janice from the tub and the long lacerations that ran parallel from both her wrists to half way up her forearm became apparent. Like the water she had lain in, she was as cool as the ambient air and had no pulse.

She had lost too much blood and her heart had been stopped for too long for any life-saving attempts to make a difference. Janice was buried the following morning next to her husband.

Chapter 24

A week had passed since Janice had taken her life. The residents of the farm continued to work to reinforce their security and to establish sustainable food sources.

The greenhouse was finished and vegetables planted. Everyone, except for George, helped out. Except for the occasional sighting, he kept mostly to himself. The rest of the residents didn’t want to disturb him while he pored over files about the virus.

Jeremy’s youth and good health helped his back heal fast. He had been back to his normal self about a week after his injury. He and Chris had been helping their father on their latest of many projects, repairing and expanding the animal pens. Berk and Kayra had been pitching in as well. Their job was to help refill the holes around the fence posts.

Their dad left with their stepmother to get Berk and Kayra cleaned up before lunch. Jeremy and Chris wanted to place a couple more posts before they broke for lunch.

Jeremy stopped digging the posthole, took off his cap, and wiped the sweat away from his face with his shirtsleeve.

Even though it was January, the Florida weather had turned warm and humid. Jeremy looked over to the RV. “Does that guy ever come out of there?” he asked his brother.

Chris followed his gaze. “I only see George when he decides to come out and eat,” Chris answered.

Jeremy donned his cap and resumed digging. “Kind of an oddball. Don’t you think?” he said as he piled dirt beside the hole.

Chris went back to his work and dropped a post into a hole. “Yeah. I think that description fits. C’mon, let’s get the rest of these posts in. After lunch we can get the fence hung," Chris said. “Maybe we can get the pigs moved in here by tomorrow,” he added, and filled in dirt around the post.

“You idiot! They’re all talking about you right now. Are you blind? You’re stupid! You must be blind! How many times do you have to be told? They don’t give a shit about you!”

Multiple voices yelled at him. He told himself they weren’t real; they were just his imagination again. He’d get some more medicine and they would all but go away completely. “I’m not listening to you,” George mumbled. He squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on keeping the voices silent.

Linda patiently waited in the lunch line behind George when she heard him say something. “I’m sorry. What did you say, George?” Linda asked.

“Huh?” George said. He opened his eyes and spun around to see Linda smiling at him.
She’s laughing at me
, George thought. “Nothing. I’m fine. Nothing at all,” George said.  He smiled back and went to find a seat.

No, she’s not laughing at me
, he told himself. George made a mental note to search the RV the residents had given to him as his quarters. A doctor had used it before; it could have some of the medicine that he needed.

“Don’t be an idiot! You are an idiot. If you weren’t an idiot you wouldn’t need the drugs,” the multitude of voices insulted and chastised George. He blocked them out again as he got up and made his way back to the RV to eat.

Jim and Arzu finished helping Berk and Kayra wash their hands at the outdoor sink and were headed in as George exited the house. Jim and Arzu greeted him but he passed without seeming to notice them.

“George. George,” Jim called out.

George stopped and after a couple seconds turned to face them. His eyes were open wide. He swallowed hard and attempted a polite smile. “Uh. Hi. Jim,” George said. He stood there rigid and held his plate of food.

“Everything going alright?” Jim asked.

“Yes. Yes. Yes. Fine, Jim. Everything’s fine, Jim,” George replied and began to shuffle his weight from one foot to another.

“Okay, George. See ya,” Jim said.

George quickly turned around and walked at an awkwardly fast pace to the RV. Jim continued into the house with Arzu and their children.

“Odd man,” Arzu said as they got to the door.

“Yep. He is that,” Jim replied.

Jim and Arzu got plates of food for themselves and Berk and Kayra. They joined the rest of the extended Matthews family at a table. “After we get the pig pen finished I want to go out tomorrow and try to find a few things. I really need some hair clippers,” Jim said.

Others at the table mentioned soap, shampoo, and other hygiene products. Jen overheard and mentioned she could use some things as well. Other residents at the Yates’ compound mentioned they were lacking the same things. Hygiene products. In all the groups’ preparation and scavenging the priority had been given to food, water, and security.

“All of the kids could use some more clothes, too,” Arzu said.

“Okay. We’ll plan on going out and doing some scavenging tomorrow,” Jim said.

The next morning, Jim, Chris, Jeremy, and Linda prepared for the supply run. George approached and asked if he could go along. Jim agreed. He figured George could grab supplies while others provided security. He still didn’t feel comfortable with George having a firearm.

Linda drove the MRAP as Jim and her sons went over their procedures for building entry again.

“Do I get a gun?” George asked. He watched Jeremy and Chris check over their weapons.

“Let’s wait until you can get some training and practice. Okay, George?” Jim said and patted him on the shoulder.

As Jim left his side and went into the turret, the voices came again. “You need a gun. You need a gun. You need a gun! You stupid shit! How will you defend yourself? You can’t depend on these people. They are part of the problem!” The voices yelled at George. He squeezed his eyes shut and grabbed his head in his hands. He held his breath as he concentrated on keeping them quiet.

“What’s wrong, George? George, are you okay?” The voices said. Startled, George jumped back and opened his eyes when he felt the hand on his shoulder. It wasn’t the other ones, the ones only he seemed to hear. It was Jeremy and Chris. They stood in front and looked at him with concern.

“You all right, man?” Jeremy asked.

“Yes. I’m fine. Just a headache,” George answered and forced a smile.

The first stop was at a clothing store in one of the two strip malls in the town, after two slow moving infected were dealt during the search of the store. The first place yielded only a few clothes for the children. Jim, Chris, and Jeremy discussed searching the Wal-Mart, but Linda suggested checking for storage containers behind the store. She reminded them extra stock was stored in the containers, especially around the holidays.

She was right; the containers that they had collected and used on the compound had been used to store Christmas decorations when they found them. Linda pulled up and stopped near the loading dock. As she had said, there were six storage containers placed behind the store.

After opening two of the containers and doing some sorting, they found several boxes of kids' and some adult clothing.

“Got some slow movers coming this way from the east,” Linda shouted from the driver seat as Jim and Chris handed up boxes of clothing to Jeremy and George in the MRAP.

“Okay. We’re done here,” Jim replied and he and Chris climbed in and closed the doors.

Jeremy climbed in the turret as his father and brother got inside. Out the passenger side windows they saw six of the infected coming toward them from the high brownish-colored grass in the field behind the store. Six muffled gunshots from Jeremy’s rifle and the infected fell.

They decided to try the local Walgreens and CVS pharmacies for the soap and hygiene products they were after. They hoped that the smaller size of the buildings would mean less infected hidden inside.

They pulled up at a pharmacy and from the outside observed as much as they could of the interior for movement. They didn’t have to wait very long before twelve infected walked out from the shattered front doorway.

Like the others they’d seen appearing more frequently during the day, these didn’t run as they moved toward the MRAP, but walked. Some moved more quickly and with more coordination as they ambulated, but others staggered and shuffled as they moved toward the vehicle. Almost all seemed to have a random twitch in one extremity or another.

“I like this kind better,” Chris said as he watched. “They scare me but don’t make me shit my pants like the ones that run,” he added.

Jim stood in the turret and fired on the infected, clearing out those that had exited the pharmacy.

They waited for another few minutes to see if more came; some walked toward them from other directions of the town but none from the building they planned to enter. Those that approached close enough to be a threat while they were inside were shot before they went in. Linda would cull others that approached and warn them on the radio if the numbers grew too high.

Jim, his two sons, and George entered the pharmacy. Jim was first in line, followed by Jeremy, then George with Chris last. As they entered Jim led them on a right-handed search pattern. They stayed along the furthest interior walls and checked down the aisles for infected.

They reached the actual pharmacy section in the rear of the store. The metal roller door was down blocking access over the counter; both it and the access door were locked. They didn’t have medication as a high priority but they’d take what they could get if opportunity presented.

They dismissed the medications for now and continued their search pattern. They came to double doors that led to the stockroom. The doors could be pushed open from either the store section or the stockroom beyond. Handprints of what looked like blood, long since dried black, were smeared on both doors.

“Dad, hear that?” Chris whispered from behind.

Jim looked back at his son and saw him pointing to the wall they leaned against.

Jim shook his head and pressed his right ear to the wall.

“I hear it too. Running. It’s getting closer,” Jeremy whispered.

Jim kept his ear to the wall and listened. “I don’t hear shi . . .,” Jim said and he was struck in the left shoulder and arm by the swinging door closest to him when it burst open.

The door wasn’t very heavy, but it startled him and caused him to lose his balance. Jim fell backward to the floor.

Jeremy had kept proper spacing, so his father didn’t hit him when he fell, and was able to bring his rifle up.

The door swung closed and revealed the back of an infected man. He was breathing heavily and began to growl as he turned toward them.

Jeremy fired several rounds into the man’s chest and head and he collapsed to the floor.

Jim got up in a crouch and backed away from the doors. “Good ears, guys. Thanks,” Jim said as he pulled the Halligan tool off his back.