The Flu 2: Healing (26 page)

“I kind of have to do this.”

Chris closed his mouth tight and gave a proud look. “Then you go. You won’t be gone long, right?”

“I’ll leave in the morning and be back before you go to sleep.”

“Then you do it, so we can be even more proud of you.”

Mick pulled Chris into him and kissed him.

“Then you gotta get Rose back, Mick. You have to. Emmie needs her and Rose ain’t never had a daughter.”

“We’ll get her back. Then all of us, we head back to Lodi and live life as normally as we can.”

Chris pulled back. “Say, Mick? When you told us you wanted to take us away from Lodi for a change, did you ever think it’d get this crazy?”

“Absolutely, not. I definitely got more than I bargained for.”

“And a daughter.”

Mick smiled, taking in the moment, holding Chris and Emmie close to him for a while.

* * *

Las Vegas, NV

The sun was barely up. Lexi stood with Bill and one of Matt’s men by the car they would take on the trek to California.

Lexi was nervous. She hated to be away from Bill and it would be the first time in almost two months that she was.

“You got the suits and the extra duct tape?” Lexi asked him as she fiddled with the collar of his shirt. “I told you where you would find the lab —”

“Lexi.” Bill grabbed her hand. “We went through this. I know what to do, I know where to look, and we have this under control. I promise.”

“You’ll be out of radio range and I don’t think the cell signals will be up out there.”

“Then we’ll discuss everything when I get back. You have a lot here to keep your mind occupied. You have some pretty sick people who need tending to.”

“It’s going to be hard to concentrate, Bill. Unlike the others,
you
are going into a hot zone.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Please, please be careful out there. You’re all I have left in this world.”

“And you’re all I have, too. No worries.” He placed his forehead to hers.

“You two are the first warriors in the battle. You know that.”

“And we’ll kick ass. We’ll be back tomorrow.” He stepped back, grabbing her hands and bringing them to his lips. Just as he walked to the car, he halted, turned and went back to Lexi.

“What is it?”

Bill shook his head and without further words, leaned down to Lexi and kissed her. Really kissed her for the first time ever. He pulled back. “I love you.”

Her lips quivered and, scared to death that she’d never see him again, she whispered that she loved him as well. She would have said it louder but her throat tensed up.

She stood there watching as they got in the car and pulled away. It was much more than going off to clean the lab. It wasn’t the old world where they could stop for gas, call for help if they needed it.

The world had transformed and it wasn’t for the better.

Hopefully, sealing the labs and destroying them was one step to changing all that for the future.

* * *

Lodi, OH

Henry looked at his watch. He couldn’t wait any longer. Nelson had an explosives expert from the Ohio National Guard come into Lodi and prepare for the trip with Ethan. Lars was nowhere to be found and the Kent trip needed to be completed. It would be, of all the lab missions, the first to be taken out, even if they weren’t the first to leave.

After an hour, the president finally gave his orders and the units in Texas prepared. All of them were given the same instructions.

“Remember to suit up two miles before Kent,” Henry told Ethan. “Do the buddy system. Check each other’s suits. Duct tape the vulnerable areas. Sleeves, legs, all that.”

“Got it,” Ethan nodded.

“The suits are heavy and will be awkward to move in so be careful. You got two hours in the tanks, and should be able to communicate with each other. Check for power outages, then signs of a breach, dead animals, birds, stuff like that. You may have trouble getting through the secure doors if power is on.”

“If that happens we’ll power down. We have this. We’ll be back before dark.”

“Be careful and good luck,” Henry said.

“Will you watch my mom? Check on her?” Ethan asked. “I’m worried since she’s only one of a few patients at the hospital and Lars never showed up.”

“I’m sure she’s fine, I’ll check on her.”

Henry wished him luck once more, then watched them walk away. He didn’t want to let on that he was worried. Something had to be happening at the clinic for Lars to have stayed away. He’d missed the early morning briefing and had never answered the phone.

After the jeep had rolled off for the mission, Henry spotted Kurt coming his way.

“You missed the send off as well,” Henry said.

“Sorry, I was at the clinic, checking on the patients.”

“Is Lars having problems?”

“Lars isn’t there,” Kurt said.

“Have you checked his home?”

Kurt nodded. “Not there either.”

“For crying out loud, I hope he isn’t dead or something. What about Tom, where’s he?”

“I’m guessing at the store.”

“This is odd.” Henry started to walk.

“Where are you going?”

“To the video store. Tom runs this town, why wasn’t he at the meeting? I’m telling you, something is up.”

* * *

Tom looked up only briefly when the bell on his door dinged and Henry walked in. “Hey, Henry.” He returned to skimming an old magazine. His stomach twitched as if he were in trouble.

“Tom.” Henry walked to the counter.

“Ross didn’t return that Tom Cruise film if that’s what you’re wondering,” Tom said, keeping his eyes on the magazine.

“That’s not why I’m here. Do you know where Lars is?”

“Nope.”

“He didn’t show at the clinic, he’s not home.”

“You don’t say?”

“He didn’t show for the meeting,” Henry said. “And neither did you. It was a strategy briefing.”

“Was that this morning?” Tom shook his head. “I must have slept in. Having a teenager living at the house stirred things up.”

“Tom, come on. Where’s Lars?”

Tom put down the magazine. He was ready to say he didn’t know, but his head dropped.

“What?”

“I can’t lie. I can’t. I was supposed to wait until tonight, but I can’t.”

“Where is he?” Henry pressed.

“About right now,” Tom looked at his watch, “he’s in Erie.”

* * *

Erie, PA

He arrived at the barricade and set the bar of expectations the second he stepped from the car. “My name is Lars Rayburn. Do not point those guns at me. Get whoever it is that is in charge, they are expecting me.”

The men didn’t respond. They looked at him mockingly. There were only six of them and Lars made a mental note of that.

“Are we done being juvenile? I will tell you one more time, inform whomever it is that controls you people that I have arrived. I assure you that any further delay will result in more than likely some sort of vile consequence and not by my hand.”

One of the men lifted his radio, asked for Lars’s name again, then whispered something to the others. Within minutes a man who identified himself as Ace arrived.

Lars outwardly projected the attitude that he couldn’t care less. They patted him down for weapons and opened his large duffle bag. He told Ace, “I will gladly remove all items from this bag, but I’d prefer you and your men’s filthy hands not to touch or contaminate my sterile items.”

Ace informed his two men to stop their search.

“Take me to Rose, then we’ll talk.”

“You’re awfully demanding,” Ace remarked.

“You have one of my friends here, you want to barter her for me. I’d say you are the one who is demanding. Where is Rose?”

Ace huffed and waved his hand. He instructed Lars to get into the car and he drove him about four blocks into the thick of things.

Lars spotted very few civilians. Most of those who hung around sat in front of abandoned stores, drinking, smoking and talking.

Another mental note.

They pulled in front of a Breast Care medical office with an old ‘Flu Aid Center’ sign still posted on the front. At the door, Lars paused. “Is she here?”

“Inside, yes,” Ace said, and opened the door.

“Do you have any children here that you have found?”

Ace shook his head.

“Let’s try this again. There is a woman in my town who says that a band of men, not far from here, shot her and took children from her camp. Do … you … have children here?”

“I’ll check on that.”

“Once you do, I would like to see them.” Lars walked in the door. As soon as he did, he saw Rose on an examining bed sitting in the middle of what once was a lobby of the building. He rushed toward her, setting down his bag next to her.

“Rose.”

She managed a gasp. “Lars! Lars, what are you doing here? I told you not to come!”

“And when do I listen to anyone?” He gripped her hand and turned his head to Ace. “She’s not going anywhere and neither am I. Can we have privacy please? I’d like to examine her.”

Ace gave them a disgruntled look, but he complied and left the room.

Rose leaned her head forward. “You should have stayed back, Lars. It’s bad here. These men aren’t good.”

“I kind of figured that.” He stood upright. “My goodness, Rose. What kind of mess have you gotten yourself into?” He pulled down the sheet and looked at the seeping bandages. “Who did the bandages?”

“I did, and a young girl named Lola.”

“They’re still seeping.”

“It’s bad.”

“Oh, you’re probably exaggerating. I know you.” He slowly removed the bandage from her side and drew a sharp breath. The wound was still open and he could clearly see the broken rib as it partially protruded. It seeped a yellowish pus and around it, her whole body was black from retained blood and bruising. He tried, with everything he had he tried not to show a facial reaction, but Lars failed.

“Lars?”

“I’m not gonna lie to you, Rose, this … this is bad.” Lars had known Rose for many years. He knew her as a tough woman who could handle anything. It was apparent she was handling her injuries valiantly. What threw Lars for a loop was when Rose nodded and then began to sob.

“Rose?” Lars dropped to one knee to be close to her, face to face. He grabbed her hand again.

“I’m never gonna see my son again. I’m never gonna see my grandbabies am I?”

“Rose …”

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I’m sorry, nothing scares me more than never seeing them again.”

“That’s not gonna happen, Rose.” Lars stood up straight. “That’s why I came. If I have anything to do with it, you’ll be driving us all crazy again in Lodi, including teaching them boys to have the same foul mouth.”

“You said it was bad...”

“It is. But hey, I’m Lars Rayburn. I can fix this.”

“Do
not
tell anyone I was crying. I swear to God, if you get me better and tell people, I’ll fucking kill you.” She wiped her eyes.

“Never. Well,” Lars tilted his head, “I’ll hold it over your head and use it as blackmail.” He squeezed her hand firmly and spoke with seriousness. “We’ll get through this, Rose. I’m here now, and I’m not leaving until you are well enough to fight your way out of this door. And you will be, you will.”

Rose sniffed and nodded and Lars released her hand.

It was the best front Lars had ever put on in his life. He portrayed optimistic and arrogant, when Lars actually was worried and insecure about it. Her rib was so far out of place he was certain she had a punctured lung and possibly other internal injuries. Not to mention it was infected, and Rose was more than likely septic.

But Lars wasn’t a quitter, he had battled worse, that was for sure.

He wasn’t giving up. He couldn’t.

* * *

Glenn Grove, CA

Sixteen miles before his destination, Bill spotted the first body on the road. Another mile further, there were three more. They had apparently set up camp off the side of the road. It looked to Bill as if they’d pulled over because they were ill. All three were dead, their bodies decimated by disease and decomposition.

He found their target site with relative ease. It was like following a trial. Carcasses of animals, birds and several human beings paved a pathway. Unfortunately, the laboratory was located only a few miles east of a small town.