Plague: Death was only the beginning! (16 page)

“Sadly, the time to grow up had passed, and everyone was now an adult whether they wanted to be or not.”

-Thoughts from the Author

Chapter 49

Tom sipped from the spoon that Sally held to his lips. The warm broth felt good as it warmed his insides after the cold of the evening. His face pulled with every move as the bandages stretched the swollen skin. He bit back the pain as he swallowed. Each bite mark and scratch was now inflamed, and he struggled not to cry out as the tissues rebelled against the infection. Heather had given him a shot of morphine a few hours ago, but that had long since worn off. So, he just took a deep breath and endured the issues that had set his body on fire. For now, Heather was giving him a number of broad-spectrum antibiotics to try to knock down the infections. She cleaned and re-bandaged the deeper bites with Betadine in the hope that the worst of the bugs were being removed. Tom nodded his head to let Sally know he was ready for more. If only he could have that steak he wanted! But, Heather had kaboshed that idea for now. It would cause too much pulling at his stitches, and she felt waiting a few days would be a small price to pay for having one later on.

That morning, the entire complex met for the first time. Alex and his family, Tony, Jim, Kim, and Joanne, along with Dave and his medical staff, Heather, Charlie and his wife Dana, and Jim and his family were there. Jim discussed the attack that had taken place from his point of view and how Tom had been badly injured while effecting repairs at his place. Heather took over and told how Tom was fighting a serious infection and was very weak from the loss of blood. She then explained what the dangers were from the bites, the course of treatment, and her feeling on how well Tom was currently feeling. Jim Thompson and the others expressed their thanks and concerns for Tom’s sacrifice after his efforts to secure the compound the day of the attack. The limited livestock and chickens had only survived due to those efforts and the sandbagging of the doorways to keep out the bats. Many expressed their horror that the bats were there at all and the wildlife had virtually disappeared completely. There weren’t any birds, deer, or squirrels to be found. All that remained were the small bits of fur and spilled blood that covered the ground the next day.

The rest of the meeting focused on what efforts they could take to ensure that the livestock would stay secure, as well as how they all needed to be indoors if they were to escape the dangers the bats could transmit with their bites. David, his co-workers, and Heather said that they would research the infection problems and their causes, and get back to the rest of the group as soon as possible.

Tony offered the use of his compound to house anyone who was currently over-crowded where they were. No one felt a critical need to move as of yet, but David and his staff asked if they could move in later on. Their quarters were secure for now but isolated from the rest of the group. They were concerned that something might happen to them being alone, and it would force them to re-locate during an attack if conditions changed.

Finally, Sally talked about the loss of the other radio stations they had had contact with before the bats moved in. She wasn’t sure if the bats were causing it or if the operators had just lost their ability to transmit. She also informed them of the terrible storms that were sweeping the northern states and how Sharon and Marsha were battling heavy snow and ice as it advanced. This news was hard to take as many of the group had family members and relatives who had last been seen up there. If they had survived the plague, which was possible, they might still be dying from the cold and ice. The members were subdued as they headed back to their own houses after the meeting. The men went to feed and care for the cattle and other livestock. The women gave thoughts to stretching out their food stocks until they could start growing vegetables in the spring.

The livestock could be the last that had survived the plague as it had advanced across the large herds that were known to be in the area. Every effort had to be made to ensure that they escaped the bats. As Sally sat reading a book while Tom slept, she wondered if this was one scenario that the preppers had failed to consider. The idea something so small could exact such fear was impossible to understand. She worried Tom’s feelings that the bats would starve might be wrong. They were still advancing across the south, and there was no indication they were slowing down or thinning out. The attack here was just as heavy and overwhelming as the reports they had heard over the last few weeks. Tom had even plotted them, and they seemed to be expanding their territories on a daily basis. If only there was something that would slow them down or kill them. But, nothing could be found.

After Sally fell asleep in the chair, Tom opened his eyes and looked around. He had visions of black shapes winging their way in front of him. They seemed to know he was there and rallied around him as if he was something important. The brush of their wings was like a soft caress as they landed upon his face and hands. Biting, feeding, and tearing into his body, they fought each other as they dug deeper under his skin. Finally, a scream escaped his lips and rang throughout the building. Sally woke in shock at seeing him twisting and turning, blood running from his stained lips where he had bitten them. She reached over and tried to calm him, but his eyes were open and unseeing the real world. His fever was raging through his body, and his mind had turned inward to its own demons. Heather ran in with a shot of morphine to ease his pain and allow him to go back to sleep. Afterward, she added a small bag of liquid antibiotics to help fight the battle what was taking place in Tom’s body. She also prayed that the high fever Tom was fighting would abate and allow him to rest in peace. She also prayed for hope.

“See the sun as it lights upon the graves of mankind.”

-Thoughts from the Author

Chapter 50

Chevy watched the pot bubble and steam as the meat and carrots filled his vision. He had walked the long way back to the house and had rested for only a while before melting a pan of snow for water. Afterward, he added some of the canned meat to the water to soften and cook. Later, as the meat grew tender, he added a small can of carrots to the mix and some flour to thicken it. His impromptu stew mix smelled divine, and he tasted it, adding salt and pepper to bring out the flavor. After forcing himself to learn how to cook, aided by cookbooks salvaged from the other apartments, he had become good at making do. You had to if you wanted to be able to survive on what you could get out of cans and boxes. As he spooned some of the stew into a bowl, he covered the pot to keep it warm for later. The gas supply was running out, and he needed to conserve what he had. The first few days of wasting heat was now coming back to haunt him, and he pulled his coat higher on his shoulders to try to keep his head warm. As he finished the first spoonful, he moaned out loud. He was so hungry and so cold that the liquid warmth was like water to a dying flower. He ate slowly and cupped the bowl to give his hands a warm place from which to feed himself. As he licked the last of the stew from the spoon, he licked the bowl as well. He knew that he would be forced to move to the other house tomorrow. He hoped that he could find another nearby that might have a real fireplace. The gas one had been so nice, but now that the gas was almost gone, he needed to find something better. The house was also much closer to the other abandoned houses that might supply him with food and water over the coming days and weeks. This would save him walking miles in the snow to find a can or two upon which to live.

He gave one last look at the stew pot and moved away. He had to ration everything now if he wanted to make it through this storm and continue his travels to the south. The snow was getting deeper, and he had to really struggle to get back as it was. If the snow kept up, he would starve before he could move on.

Making his way back to the couch, he opened his sleeping bag and slipped inside it. Pulling a woolen cap over his head, he settled down to read a book, a darn romantic one at that, and used the last of his single candle for something besides daydreaming. The hours of restless sleep had driven him to find ways to kill the daylight hours that seemed to stretch in an endless cavalcade as the time passed. Finally forced into reading, he found the escape much more welcome than he thought it would be. He had lived in trying times and now had to escape in his mind to find them again. He’d give anything for a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich and a cold beer or a slice of pizza from his favorite place on the Lower East Side. Finding himself dreaming about food, he snuggled deeper into the sleeping bag and opened his book.

Later, he warmed up the stew for supper and finished it off. It would only freeze overnight, and he wanted the warmth to help him get through the cold night that was already descending upon him. Using his finger, he wiped up the last of the gravy and sucked it into his mouth. God, that was good! Who would have thought that he would enjoy cooking. His friends would laugh until they fell on the floor if he had told them that now. Well, if they were still alive. Chucky had died right in front of him, and he still remembered when his bowels and bladder had released and filled the apartment with that smell. No. No, he was just fine where he was and doing what he could to pass the time. Learning to cook had awakened something inside of him, and he was driven to find somewhere he didn’t have to always eat out of can. Florida and the south coast sounded like just the place he should be heading. He wondered if he could find a decent house down there that was still in one piece with all this weather. He continued to dream about all the different things he could use to prepare meals with. Him, the former King of New York, a short order cook!

Sharon brushed the hair from her eyes and looked out the window. For now, the snow had stopped, and they were able to clean the solar panels enough that they could use some light that night. During the height of the storm, they had fallen back on oil lamps and going to bed early to pass the time. But even Simon could only sleep so much and had been cranky at being forced to go to bed for most of the day. Finally, they had all bundled up and gone outside for an old-fashioned snowball fight. This had released a lot of the tension, and they were able to have a relaxing dinner and afternoon nap before going back outside to complete other chores. Later, they played a board game with Simon after supper. After dark, they were able to read for several hours by the fire before sleep eventually overcame them.

The radio reports the next day chilled them as they realized that only the cold weather was stopping them from being attacked by the vampire bats. They had to wonder if in the spring warmth, the bats would come there too. No one could believe the vast numbers of the bats as they swarmed across the south. This house had so many windows, and there was no one who could help them cover them up. They might be forced to move elsewhere or figure out a way to wait out the hours of darkness until the sun rose the next day.

Sally told them that Tom was burning up with a high fever and had finally lost touch with reality. His delusions seemed to be about the bats, and his screams echoed in the background while they visited. Sharon and Marsha told her they would say a prayer and pray that the fever would pass soon. The bites were getting worse, and Sally told them he might not make it through the night. They signed off, deep in thought.

‘The world was holding its breath as the darkness roamed the land with a sword.”

-Thoughts from the Author

Chapter 51

The world did seem to be holding its breath as the bats flowed over the land in wider and wider arcs much vaster than the plague. The people who had survived up to this point were shocked to see their friends and family covered in a mass of screaming and biting bats. Fighting back, they tried to remove them until the bats covered them, and they fell beside their own. Others hid inside cars and truck cabs in an effort to keep the bats at bay. And for a day or two, it worked. But now, the glass was cracking, and the screams were louder as their children fought to escape the terror that was filling the night around them. A shout and they were enveloped in a black mass that quickly silenced them all. The next day, the scene looked as if a slaughterhouse had visited the area as the bloody tissue and bones were scattered across a large area. The insides of the cars were filled with dead and dying bats that had been crushed inside the tight space. They added to the moving mass as many of the bats had refused to leave as daylight approached. The dark pockets inside the bodies gave them a place to escape the bright sun, and they fought for a better place in which to lick the blood that still pooled inside the body.

Across the Southern and Central American countries, the bats were moving swiftly as they overran the small villages and population centers that had so far escaped the plague. Even the nearby islands off the coast were visited by small bands of bats that had braved the open ocean. The people farther out had been able to distance themselves from both disasters, and they wondered if they might be the last of mankind as the world closed in about them. Who could help them now?

Deep in the caves of southern Mexico, a fresh wave of bats was being born and taking flight. They numbered in the millions of millions, a count so vast that they covered whole forests as they slept the day away. While over a thousand miles away, the swarm began to wake as the darkness fell across the land. They screamed as they leaped into the air and rode the air currents in their search for prey.