Omega Pathogen: Despair (8 page)

“Where did you guys get this?” Jim asked.

“We did some dealing with some of the other residents here. They had found some abandoned military vehicles on their way here from Jacksonville. I guess the unit had been overrun,” Chris said.

“So what was the deal?” Jim asked.

Royce explained that he and Kathy were currently the only people that knew how to use the farm’s welding equipment. The residents had needed their skills more than they thought they needed the M249. They told Jim that they had also received slightly over four thousand rounds of ammunition in the deal as well.

They spent another hour together before Arzu reminded Jim he had to return to the RV. Jim reluctantly went back to the hospital, accompanied by Arzu, Berk, and Kayra. On the way back they stopped by the outdoor kitchen and Jim visited with his mother until Arzu again reminded him to return to the RV.

When he returned to the RV-turned-hospital, Dr. Shultz checked Jim’s vital signs and gave him his medications. He told Jim he was doing well but had an elevated pulse. Jim took the prescribed diuretics and steroids from the doctor; the medicine was meant to increase the fluid Jim voided to help prevent increased pressure in his skull. “Make sure you take your meds. If the pressure gets too high I’ll need to drill a hole in your skull,” Dr. Shultz said. “Besides, I’ve never done that and would have to read up on it,” the doctor added.

“Yeah, doc. I’ll take my meds,” Jim assured him.

“Truthfully, I think you’re not at much risk of that. Otherwise I wouldn’t be letting you walk around,” Dr. Shultz said.

As the doctor had requested and Arzu ordered, Jim retired to his hospital bed for the evening. He neglected to tell his family or Dr. Shultz, but his headache and nausea had steadily increased since he had gotten out of bed and remained upright. Almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, Jim was asleep.

Dr. Shultz told Arzu that he wanted to keep Jim for one more night and then he should be fine to stay with his family. Although Jim continued to improve a great deal, he’d have to be careful and not overexert himself for quite some time.

While Arzu listened to the doctor, they heard some sporadic gunfire that sounded like it had come from the outer perimeter of the farm’s barricades. It had become a more common occurrence over the past few days. Arzu thought of the reports she’d heard about the infected venturing out more in the sunlight as the disease progressed. What government and Ham radio broadcasts had been reporting concerned everyone. Thankfully, they had the security of the farm.

As Dr. Shultz had said, the next day Jim was allowed to leave the RV and rejoin his family and friends. He’d been given another day’s worth of the diuretic medication and some dietary restrictions on salt, alcohol, and coffee. Jim broke the coffee restriction when he walked back to the MRAP with his third cup that morning.

Arzu glared at Jim and slowly shook her head as he approached with Berk and Kayra in tow.

“Oooh, you got the stink-eye, Dad,” Berk said and giggled.

“You’re in trouble,” Kayra added and laughed along with Berk.

“Don’t you two need to go to school?” Jim asked.

“It’s Saturday, no school today, Daddy,” Kayra responded.

Jim saw Hank approaching. “Berk, Kayra, you guys go see if your mom needs help, please,” Jim said.

As his youngest children left his side, Jim finished the last sip of his now cold coffee and walked to greet Hank. Hank smiled and waved to Arzu and the kids and then looked over Jim from head to toe. “Looking better, Jim. Can you walk with me?” Hank asked as the two shook hands.

“Sure, Hank,” Jim said and motioned for Hank to lead the way.

Hank began their conversation by thanking Jim for solving the problem of Luther Vance.

“Who?” Jim asked.

“That was his name, the biggest of the two brothers. The younger one was Raymond. The two others were Freddie and Vanessa Lutz. All of them had a long history of violent crime and drugs and prison before this started. They got worse after the chaos started,” Hank explained.

Hank told Jim about what they had heard from radio broadcasts, along with some word-of-mouth from the newest arrivals to the farm. All the information had been more confirmation on the rapid spread of the infection. Some camps were being hastily erected to accommodate refugees, but life on the camps was difficult and dangerous.

Not only did non-infected have the infected to worry about, but they also had to be concerned about falling prey to other non-infected. Jim started to sweat even in the cool early December day. Part of it was that what Hank relayed to him was terrifying news, but a bigger part was due to his headache, vertigo and nausea.

Hank talked again about reports of how those that had been infected early on in the plague were becoming less sensitive to sunlight. It seemed the infection continued to evolve or mutate, making changes to the brains of its victims. Large groups had been spotted during the daylight hours recently, although nowhere near the sizes of the hordes that could be seen at night in what had been large population areas.

“I guess the good news is, they’ll be easier to find and kill during the day,” Hank said.

“It also means we’re more vulnerable during the day,” Jim replied.

Hank brought up the official reports from the government that said the SCAR virus infection had started from an act of terrorism. Those responsible had nearly simultaneously released the disease in most of the international airports and populated cities around the world. Jim had already learned that information when he met Colonel Salas on the way from Texas.

Jim and Hank returned to the Matthews’ camp near the barn. Jim thanked Hank again for taking his family and friends into their compound. Hank made an official invitation to Jim and his family to remain on the farm as long as they liked. He asked if Jim would consider meeting and discussing security matters with him when he felt better. Hank noted they had several military veterans at the farm, but everyone was open to any suggestions.

Jim agreed to meet with Hank and the others, and offered any help that he could. Jim told Hank as soon as he was capable, he would sign up for guard and scavenging details as his sons had.

Royce and Kathy had been staying very busy at the farm, where they were in high demand for their mechanical skills. Arzu, with her civil engineering background, had been busy as well. Jim felt a pang of guilt for having been incapacitated and of no use. 

Chapter 8

Over the next few weeks, the trickle of infected that came near the Yates’ farmland turned to a steady stream. The influx didn’t cause panic, but everyone’s anxiety level was up. Sleep became more difficult, since the number of guards had to be increased. More infected were seen during the daylight hours, but still not in the numbers that came at night. Those infected that ventured out during the day, the
walkers
or
slow-walkers
as they had been nicknamed, weren’t very coordinated and like their nickname, they seemed to be only able to walk and stagger.

Some could only crawl. The
walkers
also made no noise. They didn’t make the unnerving growling like those that only emerged at night. Most found this even more terrifying when out scavenging. Unless you heard them bump into something or heard their footsteps, they could get too close if you weren’t alert. They didn’t seem to care if it was day or night, or hot or cold.

Through conversations with others in the group, a curious thing about the
walkers
had been mentioned. Unlike the
runners
, no one had seen them drink. The faster and more aggressive infected had been watched. If they weren’t chasing something they could be seen sometimes drinking water from wherever they found it.

Although the
walkers
couldn’t move very quickly, they were still aggressive. A normal healthy person could generally avoid several unless cornered or surrounded. Or unless someone was caught off-guard, like had happened to a member of a scavenging party. A former police officer before the plague was attacked by two infected as she walked around the outside corner of a building. Responding members of the scavenging party had killed the infected quickly. However, within thirty minutes the former police officer had begun to turn rabid and was shot.

Many of the group tried to lift the other’s spirits and be more festive despite recent events. Christmas was around the corner and it seemed ingrained in most to have some semblance of normalcy for those that observed the holiday.

More people had arrived from the surrounding area. Some people left the Yates’ compound to try to seek out family and loved ones they’d become separated from since the plague. Contact with other pockets of humanity continued to be established and then sometimes lost. Most of the time, when communications had been lost, no one heard from them again.

Jim’s headaches had decreased over the weeks. When he did have one, he attributed it to the sinus problems he had always had. He figured his problems had been exacerbated by his facial bone fractures, courtesy of Luther Vance. Jim’s eye and facial swelling had left long before the extreme headaches and bouts of dizziness. The sclera of his left eye that had been filled with blood had cleared as well. He was left with two new scars, one that traced through the length of his left eyebrow, and another that ran vertically along the outside of his left eye just in front of his temple.

While not out with one of the scavenging parties or on perimeter guard duty, Jim helped where he could in the daily chores and projects on the Yates’ farm. Only those incapable were not encouraged to work and help out. Everyone that was able-bodied did something to assist however they could. With everyone doing some share, the work for the most part was easy, other than venturing outside the compound.

They had finished work on a new building that would mainly serve as the schoolhouse for the nearly thirty children that made up the residents. Judith had divided almost all her time between helping with meal preparations and helping with the children’s education.

On one foray north of the farm, the scavenging team had struck a goldmine. The team had located two large tanker trucks about fifteen miles apart. One of the tankers held diesel and the other gasoline. They had developed a system of taking a generator to fuel stations to supply electricity to the pumps and retrieve fuel. When the tankers were emptied they could collect nine thousand gallons of gas and diesel and store the fuel close by at the farm.

The latest mutation of the persistent flu virus found its way to the residents. Most of the residents’ immune systems fought the strain of flu without major health issues, though it had caused a slow-down in almost all aspects of the farm’s activities. A couple of residents fared worse than most, and the flu caused bronchitis.

The doctor had enacted restrictions to prevent the spread of the flu. Some of the reduced manpower they had needed to be diverted to help Dr. Shultz care for the sick. Until the virus had passed, Dr. Shultz recommended not having the sick mingle with the other residents. Residents wearing masks and gloves delivered food, water and medicine to those that were ill.

Two days before Christmas, Jim and Jeremy were on a scouting mission with other residents to the north, in Perry, Florida, when they came across other survivors heading south. The group of twenty men, women, and children had fled the outskirts of Jacksonville, Florida, where the infected had overrun the city and surrounding area. The travelers had escaped in a Greyhound and a school bus. As per the custom of the Yates’ farm residents, the group offered the travelers a safe place to rest, or to stay if they chose. The scavenging mission was cut short so the two buses could be led to the farm.

Dr. Shultz met with the group and determined that eleven out of the twenty in the new group had the flu. As a precaution the group was asked to stay together in a designated area on the north side of the farm. They were reassured they weren’t prisoners and could leave, but if they stayed would need to remain there until the doctor cleared them. The group happily agreed to the terms and was relieved to be somewhere safe. Food and water and medicine would be brought to them, along with any other needed items. Except for the newcomers, the residents on the farm had nearly gotten back up to full health.

The past three days had been very pleasant with regards to temperature; the nights had been cool but the days had been in the mid-seventies to eighties, not at all unusual for Florida winters. The Matthews gathered for lunch at their small area near the barn. “We’re about to get pissed on pretty bad,” Jim said, as he gazed at the sky. From the northern horizon, dark clouds were closed in. The wind was picking up and they could smell rain in the air.

“Jim, language. Please help get this stuff inside,” Arzu said as she and the rest of the family quickly started to pick up food and utensils to move them inside the addition built off of the barn. Other residents throughout the farm had taken notice of the oncoming storm as well, and had begun to cover and store items to protect things they needed against the wind and rain.

The inside of the barn was full of hay and feed for the animals; it also held other dried goods for human consumption. No one lived in the barn anymore; the Matthews had been the last as it slowly filled with supplies. They’d finished construction on their living area only this week. Jim had made sure the MRAP was always kept stocked with their supplies. And unlike before the outbreak of the SCAR virus, Arzu didn’t tease him about his paranoia.