The Emerald Virus (48 page)

Sunday
Afternoon: Near Sawmill Pond, Connecticut

    
It was Sunday afternoon and Jack had decided after seeing no activity other
than lights go on and off Saturday night, he would spend Sunday watching the
house and the three RVs. He needed better information before he decided any
action was needed.

 
   He and Heather were together in a house across the street, but one house up,
so they could see past the RVs to the front door of the house. Jack had tried a
couple of houses until he found one with no dead bodies. There was a fresh
grave in the back yard, but Jack had no idea who had buried the people from
this house. They must have died early in the process.

    
So far he had seen two different men leave the house and go to the RVs. Each
one had gone to a different RV, and no one had yet visited the third one in the
line. They had done this twice each, and at the same time. As soon as they
entered the RVs they started them up and turned on the generators. Jack assumed
so they would have heat and electricity during the visit.

    
So Jack knew there were at least two potential adversaries, and there could be
more. He could also assume victims occupied each of the lead two RVs, but he
had no idea how many victims were there, or if they were alone. Knowing nothing
about the third RV bothered him, but he couldn’t do anything about that until
tonight.

    
Heather was in the attic looking down from the third story onto the scene. He
had told her to check back with him every fifteen minutes, and a couple of
times he had traded places with her. Fortunately the drapes had not been drawn
in the living room so they had an unobstructed view from the house.

    
They each had a thermos of coffee but Jack’s was long gone. Heather still had
coffee left but she was saving it for later. She knew instinctively that this
was going to be a long and tiring day.

    
They had each kept notes on all of the activity from the house, and Jack had
come to the conclusion that the men had taken food to the RVs twice now. He assumed
they would take a third meal later today, but he would have to wait and see if
that happened. No one had visited the RVs during the night last night, at least
not when they were watching. The house went dark about ten o’clock and at
eleven Jack called off the watch so they could get some sleep. They went back
to their RV for the night and returned to this house at five-thirty this
morning.

    
Heather came into the living room and speaking very softly she asked, as she
had done on each visit, “What do you think is going to happen?”

    
“I think it’s time for you to lie down on the sofa and get some sleep. It could
turn out to be a long night tonight and you’ll need to be alert.”  Jack knew
enough about teenagers to know that they required a lot more sleep than he did,
and he really did want Heather to be at her best later this evening.

    
He continued, “No arguments about this, I don’t need as much sleep as you do,
and if I do get tired I’ll sleep after you wake up. Don’t worry; I won’t do
anything without you.

    
“I’m starting to formulate a plan and after you wake up I should have it ready
and we’ll talk through it then. For now get some sleep.”

    
Heather didn’t even think about arguing. She had found some sleeping bags in
the basement and she unzipped two of them and used them as blankets. They had
decided that they couldn’t risk heating the house due to the noise.

    
Heather slept for three hours. When she woke Jack told her to go back to the RV
and make coffee and sandwiches. He would stay where he was watching the house
and later tonight they would attempt to rescue whoever was in the two RVs.

    
They had parked the car about six blocks away. Heather walked through the back
yard to the next street, down that street five blocks, and around the corner
for another block. She wasn’t worried since they had not seen anyone leave the
house in the twenty four hours they had been watching. And Jack had said he
would call and tell her what to do if anyone did leave the house.

    
She still wasn’t sure what she could do to help Jack, but she felt she could
and would do anything he asked of her. She didn’t know about the old world, but
he was one of the founders of the new world and everyone looked up to him. She
was surprised that he was so unpretentious and so calm about everything. He
didn’t seem to have an ego at all.

    
Not that she knew much about men. She knew her friends fathers of course, but
somehow she had grouped them all together into a category reserved for those
people who didn’t live in a teenage world. She just hadn’t given much thought
to them at all.

    
Of course she did compare her father to Jack, but even she knew that wasn’t a
fair comparison. Her father’s only reason for making decisions was to take care
of the family. She didn’t always realize that before the virus came, but during
the last month she became acutely aware of how desperate her father was to care
for and protect them.

    
And of course he saw her as a child needing help growing up. And she now
realized he was right about that. He was helping her, but both her dad and her
mom were trying to make sure she didn’t grow up too fast.

    
Jack looked at her as someone who was capable of acting like an adult if
treated the right way. He knew she had to grow up quickly and he seemed intent
on helping her. She thought after this trip she would look at herself
differently, if she didn’t screw up. She needed to be able to take care of
herself now, and she thought with a little help she could do that. She knew she
would be okay as long as she did what Jack asked her to do.

    
She was close to the RV now and realized she had been crying while thinking
about her parents. She dried her tears as she thought about how badly she
missed them. But she didn’t want to stop thinking about them, she wanted to
think they would be proud of her, and she did not want to live without their
memory.

    
She parked next to the RV and thirty minutes later she had both thermos bottles
full of coffee and a sack full of sandwiches and some chips.

    
She put her bulky coat over her arm and grabbed a thermos bottle in each
hand.      As she picked up the last bottle from the counter and turned towards
the door, it opened. She was shocked to the point where her mouth fell open as
she looked at a young man who was maybe eighteen years old standing in the open
door way with a gun in his hand.

    
His look changed from dead serious to being pleased with what he saw. He said,
“Who in the world are you and what are you doing here?”

    
Heather regained her senses and said, “I might ask you the same thing, and what
are you doing in my house holding a gun on me?”

    
He stammered a little and said, “I saw you driving earlier and I thought you
might be up to no good so I followed you to protect me and my friends.” He
smiled while he looked Heather up and down and added, “But you don’t look like
you could be much of a problem to me. In fact I think your going to be a nice
addition to our little group.”

    
“What group are you talking about? How many of you are there, and why are you
here?”

    
He said, “There are currently five of us, three men and two women and you’ll fill
the group out nicely. What do you have in the thermos and bag?

    
Heather knew that this had to be what Jack was worried about. This was the
owner of the third RV. He was obviously living in the house with the two men,
but since he didn’t have a partner he didn’t visit either RV. She was in
serious trouble and had to figure a way out of this.

    
She answered, “I’m traveling with a man who is taking care of me. I’m taking
food and coffee to him now. We have plenty if you’d like to share.”

    
“What are you doing here? I thought everyone had gone south.”

    
He hadn’t lowered the gun since he stepped in and Heather said, “If we’re going
to have a nice conversation please come in and close the door, and stop
pointing that gun at me. And, by the way, my name is Heather.” She tried to
smile as nice as she could, but she didn’t know what it looked like, she was
scared to death.

    
He didn’t move but he did look at her and say, “Heather, nice name, I think I’ll
like it.” Even though he stayed in the middle of the doorway he did lower the
gun to his side. “I think you’ll fit in well, and yes I’m hungry, I wouldn’t
mind a sandwich and coffee.”

    
Heather immediately put the thermoses on the table and sat down on the side
opposite from the door. She still had her coat in her hand and now placed it
across her lap. She said, “Okay, sit down, my man is always making me wait and
I’ll bet he isn’t even at the park yet. I have turkey and ham, both with
lettuce and tomatoes, what would you like? And you haven’t told me your name
yet?”

    
“My nickname is Topper, and I’ll have one of each along with some coffee.”

    
“Heather said, “Reach into that cupboard before you sit down and grab a couple
of cups. We’re at home so there’s no reason to use Styrofoam.”

    
Topper looked up and saw the cupboard was just above his head. He grabbed two
cups with his free hand and put them on the table.

    
Heather was still doing everything she could to keep a nice smile on her face,
and from Topper’s reaction it must be working. He didn’t seem suspicious of her
at all.

    
He sat down and put the gun down on the seat next to him, where he could easily
get to it and Heather could not. He picked up the first sandwich and started to
open the baggie.

    
Heather said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

    
Topper looked like she was teasing him and lightly said, “And why would that
be.”

    
“Because if you don’t do exactly as I say, I’m going to shoot you in the balls,
or as close to them as I can come.” As she talked she slid to the right and out
of the booth. He could now clearly see the pistol that had been hidden by her coat.

    
“Now stand up and keep your hands out in front of you. Hold your coat open
using both hands and lift it as high as you can; now, turn around slowly so I
can see your waistband.

    
After Topper had spun completely around Heather said, “Now I want you to very
slowly take off your coat and toss it under the table; now sit on the floor and
cross your legs, lean forward with your hands out in front of you.

    
“If you look up or move at all I’ll shoot you. Do you understand me?”

    
“Of course I understand you, you crazy bitch. What are you doing anyway, I
didn’t do anything to you at all, and I wasn’t planning on hurting you.”

    
“You mean like your friends aren’t planning to hurt the women in the RVs?”

    
“How do you know what’s happening in those RVs? You’ve been spying on us
haven’t you? We’ll I’ll tell you, you’re messing with a couple of real hard
asses and I don’t think you’re going to be up to it. Those two guys will eat
your lunch.”

    
“Maybe mine, but not Jack’s.” Heather moved backwards into the small hallway
leading to the back of the RV and opened the closet. When Topper heard the
noise and started to lift his head Heather said, “Don’t move, I’m not going to
tell you again.

    
She opened one of Jack’s small duffle bags and rummaged around until she found
the pair of handcuffs he had said were there. She tossed them under Topper’s
nose and said, “Put one side on your right wrist and the other on your left
ankle. When you’re done I want you to stand as best you can, and cram your left
hand into your back left pocket. If that hand comes out before I tell you to
move it I’ll kill you. Make sure the handcuffs are on tight.”

    
“Now move to the door and open it with your right hand, you’ll have to stand on
your left leg to do that. Now walk down the steps and to that car. Okay, stop
right there. I’m going to hold this gun to your back while I search you. If you
move suddenly I’ll simply pull the trigger.” Heather then searched him as well
as she could. She checked his pockets and found a set of keys which she threw
away, and a folding knife which she put in her back pocket. She checked both
ankles and his torso for any hidden weapons. While she didn’t find any other
weapons she did find a cell phone in his front shirt pocket.

    
After the search she pulled out the second pair of cuffs and had him cuff his
left wrist to the tow hook on the back of the car. Finally she felt like she
could breath and she called Jack.

    
He answered the phone at the first vibration and said, “Is everything alright?”

    
“Not exactly. A man followed me to the RV but I’m okay. I have him handcuffed
to the tow thinger on the back of the car but I’m not sure what I should do
with him now?”

    
“Is he with this group here?”

    
“I’m sure he is, he said he was with two other men and two women.”

    
“Okay, stay where you are. It will take me a couple of minutes to get a car,
but I’ll be back to the RV as soon as I can.”