The Living Dead (Book 1): Contagion (10 page)

            “No, just the first few pages. Things got a little intense at my house last night.”

            “They’re attracted to sounds. I’m guessing hearing remains their strongest sense. Corneas will dry out quickly after death as will the mucous membranes in the nasal passages. The inner workings of the ear are more protected. I wonder if they feel pain?”

            “I wonder too. The cold doesn’t appear to bother them. They must feel hunger though. On that subject-- I forgot to tell you. I have dried fruit and other food in the backpack I brought in if you think anyone might be interested.”

            “I’ll come back to this later then. No one has complained but something besides candy would taste good. Do you have soup?”

            “Dried packets of chicken noodle.”

            “That will be a feast. You’re going to be a popular addition to our little group here.”

            “I‘m blushing.” Charles laughed and left the room.

            Virginia sat down to search the net. The Red Cross website was still up and had been updated yesterday! She was surprised how heartening it was to find a familiar organization still functioning. She was less encouraged when she read the posts.

Beijing, March 3 (Xinhua) - The Red Cross Society of China (RCSC)

Despite official denials, evidence of the existence of what is being called Virus Z continues to mount in Beijing. Journalists cite a recent announcement by the Ministry of Health concerning travel restrictions. Certificates of health are now required for all citizens wishing to leave the city. Such certificates cost up to 8 million yuan and for those who can pay more, are available without a medical exam. Rumors exist of armed checkpoints on major roads but are not yet confirmed. Offices of Party officials have not responded to requests for information and some offices appear to be abandoned. Houses in the exclusive Zhongnanhai residential district, where many high-ranking party officials live, are conspicuously empty.

Small clinics in the Jiuxianqiao slum district report sporadic gunfire in and around Forth Street and are requesting additional workers and supplies to deal with the expected injury cases. A large number of people have congregated in the area but their purpose there is unclear.

Galkayo, Puntland March 4 (Somalia) - Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS)

Staff evacuations continue throughout the affected zone that now includes Ayn. Present focus of the operation is to remove all workers and those in their care. This may prove to be beyond our resources as the situation on the ground changes hourly.

Children, especially female children, are being “sacrificed” to the infected. Local warlords are sending raiding parties to orphanages to collect as many children as possible. Our attempts to halt this practice have failed and we are not able to defend or evacuate all the orphanages. Many locals continue to believe the blood of a virgin is a cure for the disease and we fear the sacrifices, of one type or the other, will continue.

            She clicked on BBC radio online just in time to hear the famous quote from Sir Edward Grey, "The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime." Apt but depressing. The announcer continued.

            “We have an update for you concerning the tube tunnel safe zones. Reports of infected outbreaks in Eastcote have forced evacuation of the Ruislip safe area. The designated zone that extends from Harrow-on-the-Hill to Amersham was still secure at last report. Only those who can pass the canine checkpoints shall be admitted.

            We have just been advised that we shall be shutting down operations at this location. BBC Leicester and BBC Cardiff will continue to broadcast for the present. I leave you with the words of one of our countrymen who, like ourselves, survived a very dark episode in British history.” Winston Churchill’s deep, rumbling voice, with its distinctive lisp, flowed out of the speakers.

            ‘We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind, We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, What is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory - victory - at all costs, victory, in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. Let that be realized, no survival for the British Empire. But I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men.’” Westminster chimes rang followed by silence.

            Overwhelmed by sadness, she put her head in her hands. She felt exhausted and didn’t know why. Voices from the main part of the building floated in through the doorway and she stood to go join the others. The room swayed suddenly and she put her hand out to steady herself. Somehow, her hand missed the carrel entirely and just managed to grasp the computer mouse, dragging the keyboard with it as she fell to the floor. Her head hit the flagstone floor hard and all went dark.

Chapter 11

All their predictions ran upon a most dreadful plague, which should lay the whole city, and even the kingdom, waste, and should destroy almost all the nation, both man and beast.

-Journal of the Plague Year

            Voices came and went in the mist. Some were familiar and comforting. Others made her want to flee farther into the murkiness surrounding her.

            “You have to do it now! We’ll carry her out on the roof and shoot her in the head then dump the body in the street.” She didn’t like this voice.

            “We don’t know what’s wrong with her. She may not even be infected. The wound I found in her side didn’t look like a bite and the redness and swelling have gone down since I cleaned it. This isn‘t the time to start acting like savages but I gotta tell you, I‘m thinking about throwing
you
in the street if you don‘t get out of here.”

            Virginia heard receding footsteps and then a dog barking. She tried but couldn’t move her arms. Someone placed something cool and wet on her forehead. She opened her eyes.

            “Welcome back. I hoped you would be awake for supper. I made my specialty. Chicken noodle soup served with tap water and Starburst, fresh from the vending machine, for dessert.” Charles smiled at her and took the wet cloth from her head.

            “Am I paralyzed?”

            “No, just tied up. Sorry about that. There was a chance you might be infected and well- you know.” He untied her arms and legs and she sat up carefully. Her side felt sore. She looked down at herself and saw she was wearing a man’s leather jacket and no shirt. Someone had replaced the bandage on her side. She clutched the jacket closed and looked up at Charles.

            “Don’t worry. I washed your shirt out in the bathroom sink. It should be dry by now. That gash in your side broke open and looked like it was getting infected. You were burning up and we were out of peroxide. Luckily, the librarian was a secret drinker. We found a bottle of Stoli in the locked desk drawer in her office. I used it to clean the wound.”

            “How long have I been like this?”

            “Not long. Just since yesterday afternoon. We have two new refugees. We pulled them in from outside the front doors last night. Unfortunately we’re under all out assault by the infected now.” She heard the forced calmness in his voice and saw the strain in his face.

            “What happened?”

            “The guy came down the street with his dog in the back of his pickup. The pickup was loud and the dog wouldn’t stop barking. We got them inside but the infected surrounded the building. We shot several during the rescue when they got too close. The ones still moving are climbing on the piled up bodies. It was dark and we couldn’t see what was happening. They’re almost at window level now.”

            “Window level? I hope Daniel can’t see them. Can you bring me my shirt? I want to get dressed.”

            He nodded and left the room, came back in with her sweater, then left again. She heard shots fired as she dressed. She went to the bathroom and rinsed her mouth with water, then drank her fill. Her side ached dully then with a sudden sharp pain when she put her foot up on the sink to make sure her grandfather’s knife was still tucked into her boot. She looked in the mirror and was surprised that she didn’t look any worse

            Voices came from the reading room. She walked in and handed the jacket to Charles.

            “Come and meet Mrs. Alvarez and the new guy.”

            She shook hands with Mrs. Alvarez, who was surprisingly young and pretty. To her dismay, she didn’t need an introduction to the new guy.

            “Larry. How did you get out?”

            “Same as you, through the golf course.”

            “Did you manage to get anyone else out with you?”

            “Believe me, the last people I saw there, we don’t want here.”

             Running footsteps came down the flight of stairs from the roof. Her erstwhile client Carson came in holding a police issue shotgun and breathing hard.

            “Charles, I’m out of shells. I don’t think shootin’ em is doing much good anyway. It’s corpse mountain out there and they just keep stackin’ up. And the smell! It’ll choke you. Hey Virginia! You made it! Have you seen it out there?”

            She shook her head and walked toward the oak stairs leading to the landing. The stench of decay grew stronger as she approached the window. Outside was a stack of corpses the top of which the infected had managed to claw their way onto. They were less than five feet below the base of the window. Charles joined her.

            “So you gave a prisoner a shotgun?” Charles smiled grimly when he answered.

            “Different world out there. If he could snag a six pack from the Grab n Go and share it, I’d just say thank you.”

            “I’d say the same for a sub sandwich. Carson used to hunt, you know, with his Granddad. He’s probably a decent shot.”

            “He is but we’re not going to be able to shoot our way out of here. There are too many of them. We’re low on supplies and we need to try to get out now. If we wait till we’re weak from hunger we’ll stand less of a chance.”

            “So do we all want to put our heads together and come up with something?”

            “Actually, I have a plan. This building may have exactly what we need to get out of here. Let’s get everyone together and we’ll discuss it.”

            Carson rounded everyone up and they gathered in the reading room. There were eight of them altogether. Mrs. Alvarez looked tense and murmured worriedly about checking back on her daughter. Daniel climbed into Virginia’s lap and she wrapped her arms around him as fear and worry flared again at the thought of her children, so small and so far away. Charles brought a wooden chair into the room, turned it around and sat, facing them. The tension she had seen in him earlier was still there but she now saw a reassuring air of easy command and leadership. Only Larry failed to respond to him and stood at the edge of the group, clearly wary and unsure of his place here.

            “Everyone ok? Good. I don’t have to tell you we’re in a bad way right now.  We’re surrounded and outnumbered. The doors and windows are completely mobbed by the infected but we may have another option to get out. Now, a brief history lesson. Some of you know that during the War Between the States this part of the state was not in favor of secession. We were mostly left alone, in part because this was not a strategic area to either side and it was so mountainous nobody wanted the aggravation. What most people don’t know is that before and during the war, our town was a stop on the Underground Railroad for fugitive slaves.”

            At this point Mrs. Alvarez slipped away, ducking her head apologetically. Charles nodded and continued.

            “Of course “Underground Railroad” is a metaphor for a hidden route. Most of the route didn’t have extensive underground passageways. But Tunbridge Wells
is
supposed to have tunnels underneath this old part of town. If we can find an entrance in the basement, we may get out of here alive.”

            “Then what? Where are we supposed to go once we’re out of here? It’s cold out there.” Larry asked.

            Charles agreed. “Cold, you bet. But there are places that will have food and that hopefully won’t be overrun by the infected. Any of you can elect to stay here, you know that. But I’m leaving once we find a way out. Anyone who wants to come with me is welcome. Meeting adjourned.”

            Virginia stood up, arms locked around Daniel, and went in search of Mrs. Alvarez. She found her in one of the back offices, kneeling beside a bench from the lobby that, with mail sacks, had been made into a makeshift bed. Virginia spoke from the doorway.

            “I don’t want to intrude but is there anything I can do to help?”

            Mrs. Alvarez turned her head and Virginia saw tears hastily wiped away.

            “No, no. Mari is not well and is only getting worse.”

            “What is it? May I take a look?”

            “Yes but without medicine I fear this is little anyone can do.”

            Virginia walked over, still holding Daniel. Placing him on his feet, she held his hand as she leaned over the sick child and saw Mari for the first time. She looked to be about 7 years old with soft light brown hair and dark eyes that were open but unfocused and her forehead was covered in perspiration. Her trembling hands searched and clutched until her mother enclosed them with her own. She seemed calmer then and closed her eyes.

            “How long has she been like this?”

            “Virginia, that is your name, no? I am Gabriella. Marisol has been without her insulin for almost two days now. We are trapped in here the first afternoon of the outbreak at the hospital. I came in to complete some paperwork after I pick her up from school when those things begin to attack the crowd in the hospital parking lot. We watch everything from the window on the landing at first then I take Mari downstairs when I saw the eating begin. We both have nightmares now. Maybe we all will for a long time now, yes? The putrefied; they are now in charge.”

            “If I can help you with anything, please let me know.”

            Gabriella nodded and Virginia walked away as she pondered her choice of words. Putrefied, putrefaction. They decay, why don’t they die? She felt small fingers brush against hers and she took Daniel’s hand. Together they entered the library lobby where Kincaid and Charles, equipped with flashlights, were heading for the basement stairs.

            “Daniel, do you want to help look for a secret tunnel?” He looked up at her and nodded. “Come with me, we’re going to explore downstairs.”