The Plague Years (Book 1): Hell is Empty and All the Devils Are Here (12 page)

May 13
th
, Wednesday, 07:30 pm PDT

Dave Tippet pulled into his driveway. It hadn’t been a very good day. He had been out trying to gather more things for his survival shopping list, but his truck was mostly empty. There was no ammunition to be had, save the two boxes of rather elderly 30-30 that he had picked up at a gun shop. There were no firearms to be had at any price. He had gathered three cases of water and small quantity of canned goods. With bulk commodities, had had done a little better and had managed to acquire two fifty pound sacks of flour and a twenty-five pound sack of split peas. He had also acquired a couple of propane tanks and one jerry can of gasoline. Not much for a whole day of shopping.

He began unloading the truck and silently cursed his bad hip. All that sitting and then trying to shift that full gas can from ground to the truck when he had loaded it hurt so bad that he had had to sit in his truck for fifteen minutes at the service station until he could drive. He saw Connor in front of the Strickland’s house and he waved him over.

“Connor, could you unload this stuff for me and put it in the garage,” said David. It was all he could do not to gasp as he got out of the truck.

“Sure, Mr. Tippet,” said Connor. “Ms. Tunney is over at our house with her kids. She wanted to talk to you. She didn’t look so good.”

Dave groaned inside.

“Now what?”
he thought irritably.

“Right, tell her I’ll be over in five,” said David trying to sound chipper.

He went inside his house and looked longingly at his couch. Getting off his feet would do wonders. Instead he went into his bathroom and took three Aleve. He had some prescription pain killers but they made him feel groggy and sleepy. He also grabbed his cane. He didn’t normally need it but it had been a hard day and he was hurting.

“Dave are you OK?” ask Mary when he came to the door.

“The hip is grinchy is all,” said Dave.

“Could I get you some wine? Heather, Chad, and I are having some.”

“Please.”

“Dave, I need to carry a gun,” said Heather before David could sit down.

“Well that’s not beating around the bush,” said David easing down the couch, glass of wine in hand.

“Stop trying to be funny and listen,” said Heather and then she related her story.

“The worst of it is,” said Heather as she finished her story, “is what the little girl told me as we were waiting for the police to question us. She said that her Mom had gotten sick first and her dad had tried to not tell anyone out fear that they would take her away. He got bit trying to take care of her.”

“How awful,” said Mary.

“It’s worse,” said Heather as she drained her glass. “The mother is just barely lucid. She was tied to her bed at home. Her last cogent request was that her dad should take care of Lindsey. Poor Larry Talbot was very ill himself but apparently he kept his daughter safe for three days as he got sicker and sicker. They ran out of food which is why they were at WinCo. This poor little one saw it all.”

“Who is taking care of her?” asked Mary.

“She is with her grandparents, who are as shaken up as she is.”

“This is what I was afraid of,” said Chad.

“How so?” asked David sipping his wine.

“Folks are now trying to disguise the face when they become infected. There is now a stigma attached to the disease. I suspect there will be lynchings before we are done.”

“Before I go out again, I want a gun. I will not be in a situation like that again. That poor girl was scared to death and all I could think of to do was give her Dad my effing sandwich!”

“That was still pretty quick thinking,” said David. “But I think these shopping trips are about done away, There is little food and what is out there is being rationed. I am surprised it hasn’t been confiscated or sequestered or whatever it is they do.”

“The subject was broached today at our meeting today, but as usual, the Homeland Security guy didn’t want to cause a panic.”

“We are going to need to continue to live off what we can buy on the market,” said David, “and stay away from our supplies as long as we can but we don’t need to do anymore wholesale shopping. From here on out we will go in pairs or more and at least one will be armed. I have a weapon for you to carry Heather, a little Glock 27 in .40 caliber, but we are going to have to get you up to speed with it.”

“I’m ready to go to the range now,” said Heather determinedly.

“You are,” said David, “But I can hardly stand right now. I hate to be a bother but my hip …”

“I am sorry,” said Heather going to his side. “I was just thinking of my troubles and not about …”

“It’s OK,” said Dave smiling. “Give me half an hour on the couch and I’ll be fine.”

“The last time you had the cane out like this,” said Chad, “you got all macho, mowed the lawn and went down for two days. I’ll take Heather out.”

“I have another favor to ask of you Dave,” said Heather, “and I am not sure if now is a good time.”

“Hey, as long you ply me with wine, I am a happy camper,” said Dave.

“I think it’s time to move out of my condo. There might be people in my building that are infected. The kids can’t stay cooped up all the time and there are still things I can do to help out but if you aren’t feeling well …”

“I am more than happy to see you move in. The added bonus is, since I am on light duty for a while, Chad and Connor will do all the heavy lifting.”

May 15
th
, Friday, 08:44am PDT

Chris Vaughn had developed the habit of showing up at the hospital around 7:30 am with coffee and scones. As usual, he brought plenty and included the nursing staff in the ICU so he was a welcome individual. The cop at the door was gone. He knew from the grape vine that his friends and every uniformed cop and reserve was patrolling and looking for folks who were infected.

“Hey,” said Amber.

“Hey yourself,” said Chris as he sat down. He handed her a berry scone and the latte she usually drank. He settled back with his cup of drip coffee and maple bar. He was still a bit of a cave man in some ways.

“What are we reading today?” asked Amber.

“Well we finished the Roosevelt biography and I wanted a little variety. Have you read Lord of the Rings lately?”

“Not since junior high when the movies came out.”

“Then you are in for a treat. I have here in my hands, the 50
th
Anniversary Boxed Edition that includes maps, over fifty illustrations and the fully corrected text. By that I mean all the words are the ones Professor Tolkien wrote, not some copy editor.”

“Awesome!”

“This was a gift from my mom when I got my Master’s degree.”

“You, a Master’s?”

“Don’t look so surprised. When I got divorced, I was at loose ends. I started an MBA program, you know for promotion? Well, I am stubborn and I finished and mom knows my geeky side.”

Just then the theme from ‘Firefly’ played on his phone.

“Vaughn here,” said Chris into the phone with a wink at Amber.

“Yes Lieutenant.”

“Yes sir, I can be there at 1:30.”

“Is the investigation complete?”

“I see, so exactly what is this limited duty?”

“Right, I’ll be there at 1:30.”

“Bye.”

“What was that all about?” asked Amber.

“Apparently, I am going back on limited duty tomorrow.”

“Oh,” said Amber looking sad for a second. If Chris hadn’t been looking right at her, he would have missed it. Then she was chipper and upbeat.

“So what about the investigation?”

“Well, there have been three shooting incidents this week. The lieutenant says that if this keeps up, it will be just him and the dispatcher on patrol. The prosecutor and the department have made a deal and all shooting investigations will go in front of a panel with a judge, the officer’s supervisor and the Assistant DA. If it looks like a good shoot, you will be on ‘limited duty within a week.”

“So what is the limited duty?”

“I get to find out when I go in this afternoon.”

“I suppose that means I won’t see you as much …”

“Well, I will have a day job but I have enjoyed this. Most folks I talk to, don’t read much and don’t think about what they do read. I suppose there isn’t much to think about in Sports Illustrated …”

“Or Cosmo.”

“Yeah, I’ll take you word for it on that. Anyway, what I am spooling up the nerve to say is that, if you’ll have me, I’ll keep coming after work or whenever my schedule will allow. Your company pleases me.”

“I’d like that. But at least take some money for the pizza and coffee and what not that you keep bringing up here. I am still getting paid last I checked and I am not doing anything with it.”

“Amber, I live in a little two bedroom apartment with a TV, a computer, too many books, an old truck, and a collection of firearms. I can afford it.”

“You know what we sound like?” said Amber with a giggle.

“Like two junior high kids trying to go on a date?” said Chris sheepishly.

“Right, now about
The Hobbit
, will you show me the pictures as you read it?”

May 15
th
, Friday, 01:33 pm PDT

Chris had arrived a little after 1:00 for his 1:30 meeting To tell the truth, he had cabin fever. He made his way to the locker room area and found four of his colleagues crouching over the screen of an iPad.

“Hey guy,” said Chris casually, “Mariners lose again?”

Worse than that,” said Billy Thornton, a four year veteran of the force. “They are canceling the rest of the season due to the ‘Zombie Plague’. This is getting out of hand!”

Chris was about to reply when Lieutenant Mills poked his head into the locker room and gestured for Chris to follow him.

“Chris,” said Lieutenant Mills after hustling him into his office and closing the door, “we have a problem.”

“So you said on the phone.”

“It’s worse than that I am afraid. The city and the Department of Health are taking over Richland High School even as we speak. The hospital is full to overflowing. They need space to hold and treat the infected. Right now they have a bunch of contractors putting in ‘restraining frames’ and beds into the classrooms and the Gym.”

“What is a restraining frame?” asked Chris.

“These are pretty basic I am afraid, it’s a cot or a bed with a 4x4 frame around it. The infected, those that are delusional, are tied to the frame. It is close enough that care givers can still get around and do their job, but it keeps the patients from hurting anyone.”

“OK, I see the need I suppose, but where do I fit in?” asked Chris warily.

“You have experience with the infected.”

“If you count ten minutes that ended in a shooting then yeah, but what does that have to do with it?”

“It’s more than most right now. Anyway, they are going to break away from these restraints, or talk their way out, some of the infected have periods where they are quite lucid. I want you and frankly anyone one I can spare to do security.”

“Shouldn’t the local PD or the National Guard or the Army …”

“Hold your horses Chris,” said Mills raising his hands. “I said the same things but the National Guard was not activated today. Homeland Security is afraid it will panic people. I will be asking again tomorrow.

“The local cops have had more shooting incidents than we have. We are frankly scraping the bottom of the barrel. I can give you a mish mash of local cops, a couple sheriff deputies, and another WSP to do this job and that is all. I am asking around from the recently retired guys but they are staying close to home and frankly, I don’t blame them. You’re in charge. I’ll start you with eight officers but I’ll probably have to take one or two before the week is out. Hopefully, by then, we will have the National Guard or the Army to take over.”

“So what do I do exactly?” asked Chris.

“You and your crew will be there 24/7. If anyone breaks out from their restraints, you will contain them.”

“Sir, with respect, I don’t want try to wrestle them back into bed,” Said Chris.

“I didn’t say restrain, I said contain. You will have full protective gear but let me make this very plain; I can’t afford to lose a single officer, not one. Things are going to get much worse before they get better and we will likely be ‘overtasked’ to keep the peace. So patrol in pairs. Keep your radios on. Carry shotguns and do not hesitate to use them. Am I clear?”

“We are to shoot them just for breaking out of bed?”

“Chris, Tasers don’t work very well. We have had two local cops bitten trying to restrain violent infected. You stay safe and shoot first. We will back you up. I have assurances from the Mayor and the DA that they will support this as long as it doesn’t get out of hand. We will still review all shootings, but it will take hours not days.”