Omega Virus (Book 2): Revisited (6 page)

              “I turned sixteen shortly after you arrived. They declared me a legal adult and made me choose a career. I picked sentry. It seemed like a noble job at first but I ended up getting the third shift which was basically hell. I stayed up all night, almost all alone, except for my partner Chud.”

              “Chud?” Fanny asks interrupting him.

              “It was a nickname,” John replies, “I think his real name was Thad, or something. Either way my job had me feeling like a prisoner. So I volunteered, thought maybe I’d get some respect.”

              “That’s a noble reason, John.” Fanny lies trying to make him feel better. The group lifts Hope off the deck and carries her inside the cabin before they lock the door. “But the reason we can’t go home is just as noble. Like it or not we all volunteered for this rescue mission, and there are still people out there that need to be rescued.”

              “Your reason sounds a lot like mine,” Sarah says stroking John’s arm, “when I turned sixteen I wanted to be a chef, but instead I got stuck with the morning prep. Every day I would have to be up by two to prep food for everyone. I was told I wouldn’t be able to get off prep until another position opened up. I figured by volunteering I’d find a new passion, actually be able to do some good.”

              “All right, so we have a guard, a want to be cook, and me, a teacher. Oh and we can’t forget Hope who’s still unchosen,” Fanny says sarcastically, “What about you?” Fanny asks the last remaining volunteer. A shy older woman who backs away slightly as Fanny calls her out. “What do you do?”

              “I used to work in the library, Joshua’s personal library. Actually I was on the island before the virus spread. Granted that was back when I was a different person,” She answers.

              “What’s your name?” Sarah asks.

              “It’s Karen.”

              “Well Karen, it’s nice to have you,” Fanny says holding out her hand, “nice to officially meet all of you. It’s funny, I know there aren’t a lot of us on the island and I never would have thought I’d be surrounded by people I never really… SON OF A BITCH!”

              “What?” John asks.

              “Joshua knew that we didn’t have a chance of returning. That’s why he sent us here,” Fanny says before she punches the cabin wall.

              “But how did he know that we would all volunteer?” Karen asks.

              “That I don’t know yet. But soon enough.”

              Hope starts to groan and wriggle around as her eyes slowly flutter awake. “What happened?” her voice is barely audible as she tries to sit up.

              “You got knocked out,” Fanny says kneeling beside her.

              “What happened with the Zombie?”

              “It’s dead,” Fanny brushes her fingers though her hair checking for any additional bumps.

              “Are we going home now?”

              “No. I don’t like it, but we have a job to do,” Fanny says getting back to her feet, “so I need you to wake up, because we move out in ten.”

              “I have such a headache,” Hope complains.

              “I know,” Fanny says almost unsympathetically. “But you chose to come here so I’m going to need you to deal with it.” She walks towards a window and looks out at the night sky, keeping her face hidden from the others as she takes in a hard swallow. “
I never wanted to lead,”
she thinks to herself,
“I never even wanted to come back to this God forsaken land. But now I have to be the one to draw strength and courage. If they are going to look to me then I must do my best for them.”

             
“Don’t you think you were kind of hard on her?” Karen says pulling Fanny out of her thoughts.

              “This isn’t the place to take it easy,” Fanny says trying not to look her way. “Now please, make sure we have all our equipment. Once we step off this boat, there is no turning back.”

              “Yes ma’am,” Karen replies before leaving her side.

              Tension builds as the time dwindles down. Each person grabs everything they can before getting ready to leave. Fanny waves to the others to follow her as she reopens the cabin door. The breeze once again cools off their warm faces as they follow Fanny’s footsteps.

              “Close the door to the cabin,” Fanny orders, “Find a way to lock it. I don’t want to find any surprises when we get back.”

              John shuts the door as tight as possible before taking a length of rope off the deck wrapping it around the handle and tying it tightly to the railing.

              “There, now if anything gets through it, we’ll know,” He winks.

              “Good, now everyone keep your lights off and stay quiet, we don’t know how many of those things are out there,” Fanny says leading them off the boat one by one.

              John takes the lead, his gun drawn and ready to fire, Karen close to him, her gun is drawn as well, but her hands are shaking noticeably under the silver glow of the moon. Sarah and Hope each step off watching each other’s backs. Hope has her father’s sword drawn and is ready to attack, while Sarah grips a shotgun tightly in both hands. Fanny is the last to get off the boat. She has no weapon drawn but checks to make sure that the boat is securely fastened to the dock. She turns her head quickly checking her surroundings after thinking she heard a noise.

              “Did anyone else hear that?” She asks.

              “I didn’t hear anything,” John responds.

              “Let’s not take any chances. We move out swiftly, and we stick together,” Fanny says pulling out a machete. “Remember, the best way to stop them is to remove the head.”

              “Then what good are these guns?” Karen asks.

              “They buy us time, especially when we are overpowered. Also they’re good to have when you know there is no escape. That way you don’t have to suffer,” Fanny responds passing by the stunned group.

              Hope rushes to keep up with her disgruntled friend. “Are you ok? I’ve never seen you act like this.”

              “I’m fine,” Fanny lies, “I guess I just forgot what real fear feels like.”

              “I know you came to protect me, but don’t forget that I’m here for you as well,” Hope says grabbing her by the arm and stopping her in her tracks.

              “I appreciate it, I really do,” Fanny starts freeing her arm, “but can we continue this after we find a safe house?”

              “Yeah,” Hope says slightly crushed watching as the others trudge by her leaving her to the end of the pack. “I guess.”

              The night air begins to get crisper. The winds begin to pick up as a fog blows in around them. They pass by several houses, each destroyed either through the mayhem or natural neglect. The moon is almost directly above them when they come across a small brick building. The sign that hangs above the door hangs crookedly the name “Jim’s Convenience” is almost hidden behind the black spray paintings. Words like “Repent”, and “The end has come”, litter the front. The windows look solid with the exception of a few cracks running through the glass. The team circles the building cautiously not finding any impending circumstances. They forcibly enter the small building. John and Karen turn on their flashlights as they search the interior. The store is dark and dusty. The shelves disheveled, items thrown eschewed on the floor. A horrible smell coming from near the back coolers burns their nostrils. Empty to mostly empty bottles line the shelves in the coolers but they are afraid to open the glass doors.

              “John, Karen and I will search the back. Hope and Sarah search for any supplies that we might be able to use,” Fanny orders.

              “Do we really need three people to search such a small building?” John asks.

              “Better safe than sorry,” Fanny says pulling out her gun.

              One by one they slink into the back, guns drawn and ready for anything. Hope and Sarah start to search the remaining items in the store.

              “Can I ask you a question?” Sarah says after the others leave them alone.

              “Sure,” Hope says sorting through a stack of newspapers.

              “You and Fanny are really close aren’t you?”

              “Like sisters.”

              “Do you think she’ll really be able to get us out of here alive?”

              “To be honest I don’t know what’s she’s capable of. Out here it’s almost like she’s an entirely different person.”

Chapter 5

              “What do you mean?” Sarah asks a slight stammer in her voice.

              “I don’t know. She seems so dark. There used to be a light about her, like even though the world was… was shit, that maybe, just maybe there was a little ray of, of,” her voice trails off as she loses the words.

              “A ray of hope?” Sarah says trying to fill in the blank.

              “Yeah,” Hope says with a quick chuckle. “But here that seems gone.”

              “Maybe there is a reason to that,” Sarah says sifting through a stack of scattered items that lay on the ground.

              “Yeah what reason could there be?” Hope asks getter angrier.

              “The only reason I could even think of is she is doing what she can to keep us alive,” Sarah responds.

              “That might be so,” Hope says with a sigh, “but still I wish she would calm down a little bit.”

              “Maybe I could calm down if you learned how to take this more seriously,” Fanny says standing in the doorway.

              “Hey I take things very serious,” Hope says caught off guard.

              A loud scratching noise from the glass door stops the fighting. The fear inside the small store intensifies. Fanny pushes her way toward the door, her flashlight out and her gun drawn.

              “You sure that’s wise?” Karen asks.

              “No,” Fanny responds, “but it’s better than just hiding in fear.”

              The scratching sound comes from the window again causing Fanny to jump back slightly. The glass shatters, a half rotted hand reaches inside. Growling and hissing accompany the hand as it reaches wildly for Fanny.

              “How did it know we were here?” John asks huddled in the corner with the others.

              “It must have tracked our scent,” Fanny says backing up slowly, reaching carefully for her machete.

              She slices downward, severing the arm at the elbow. The creature growls louder, almost as if it’s in pain. Fanny stands still, paralyzed with fear as the beast rams its head repeatedly into the glass.

              “What do we do?” Karen asks, her face drenched with tears.

              Fanny doesn’t answer, she just watches as the Zombie manages to smash its head through the glass. Its skin is a pale gray color, its hair almost completely fallen off its head. Scabs hang off around the cheek, shards of glass stand newly erect from the beast’s head.

              “Supper time bitch,” Fanny exclaims before slicing off the head. “See that wasn’t so bad.”

              She turns around and flashes a halfhearted smile, her heart beating a mile a minute inside her chest.

              “Are you alright?” Karen manages to mutter.

              “I’m still alive and that’s all that matters,” she replies, “besides we have a bigger problem.”

              “What could be worse than that?” Hope asks.

              “If one was able to find us then we have to assume there are more on the way. We need to take what we can and keep moving,” Fanny says wiping off her blade.

              “But, where are we going to go?” John asks a hint of fear surfacing in his voice.

              “When I was younger, a few months after the virus spread actually, I spent time in a bunker,” Fanny starts.

              “You mean the one where mom and dad found you?” Hope asks.

              “Yeah. Anyway, when I was there I overheard the others mention that there were several other bunkers all over the country. I think that’s our only chance of survival,” Fanny finishes.

              “But where would we even begin to look?” Hope asks.

              “The bunkers were primarily set up for people of importance. You know like, scientist, politicians, and so on. So I suggest we head toward the biggest city we can find,” Fanny rationalizes. “Who has the map?”

              “Greggory did,” Sarah says.

              “And no one took it off him?” Fanny questions slightly confused.

              The others look back and forth at each other.

              “We didn’t think it was important,” John finally says.

              “Well that makes sense,” Fanny says starting to get mad, “I mean I don’t know my way to Texas from here but obviously you do.”