Pulse: Retaliation (Anisakis Nova Book 2) (5 page)

10 – Dom

Chelsea sat on the bottom bunk in the living room. She massaged her neck, a self-comforting habit Dom adopted recently, too. Dom leaned against the door to the apartment, soaking up the moments of silence they had. After all, it was just a matter of time before the screams, sirens, and sounds of the apocalypse started again. It was only a year ago that he heard the cacophony of destruction, but they'd be burned into his memory forever.

They hadn't spoken since the incident at the food distribution center. Both were in shock, consumed in their own thoughts. Dom couldn't get the images they'd seen out of his head. Dozens of people hid under tables while the crowd stampeded. When they emerged, eight people lay dead on the ground and another handful were wounded. While the good Samaritans helped the wounded, the military showed up. They checked everyone for infection and ID, then were sent on their way.

The typical forty minute bus ride back to their apartment took three hours. The military had checkpoints everywhere and were checking each person on every bus for signs of infection. When it stopped, those who entered were given the once over.

There was a rumor the infected figured out a way to suppress the tale-tell bloody eyes, allowing the smarter ones to more easily pass for normal. It was a horrifying thought that made it all worse. It made the soldiers more aggressive in their questioning and searching. They had to be.

Their roommates weren't back to the apartment yet. Wayne worked at one of the hospitals that was attacked and Dom assumed he'd been killed. Jamie didn't talk much and, now that Dom thought about it, wasn't really sure where he went during the day. And last, Laurie worked at a center for children whose parents or relatives were unaccounted for. She'd often stay there days at a time to be with the kids.

"We can't make the same mistakes as last time, Dom," Chelsea finally said, letting her hands drop from her neck. It was bright red where she'd been massaging. Her expression was neutral. She didn't need to say more because Dom knew exactly what she meant.

Their experience the first time around when everything went to hell changed her. She was still the same caring, bright, and quirky girl he loved, but she'd toughened up. Dom had, too. Having their lives on the line and losing friends to Anisakis Nova made them realize what was important and what wasn't.

Things that weren't: Facebook, the internet in general, overpriced coffee and gadgets, petty indifferences and fights over nothing.

Things that were: food, shelter, safety, survival.

"We won't be safe here, that's for sure," Dom said in agreement. "This apartment building is four times over capacity. It's a time bomb."

"We could go back to the farmhouse," Chelsea reasoned. "It was nice there. Safe. We could wait it out." The last part of her sentence trailed off. She took a deep breath. "'Waiting it out' sounds, I don't know, unrealistic, doesn't it?"

It sucked to acknowledge it, but it did sound unrealistic. They could wait for the military or government forces to help. That almost got them killed last time. Sure, with MAC and the efforts of the country last time they were able to recover. Yet here they were and it was starting all over again. If they waited around, there might not be a next time.

"We need to do something big. Make a big change, not just find somewhere safe while we wait for the world to go back to normal." Dom crossed the living room and sat down next to her. The bunk squeaked under their weight. "Call me crazy, but I don't think the world will
ever
be normal again."

Chelsea took his hand in hers, squeezing it hard. "I know. I know what you mean. We can't rely on other people, period. For anything. But damn, what do we do? What are we talking about here? Where do we go? How do we survive?"

He laughed hopelessly. Dom didn't know anything beyond living in a city, dependent on what resources were available to him. Camping in the woods had been hard.

"We leave. Go somewhere remote and live off the land, build our own community. God! That sounds ridiculous doesn't it? I can't even keep a houseplant alive, let alone farm my own food." His face paled slightly. "Killing animals. I mean, I know that sounds pathetic. I've just never done it before and don't know—"

"I know," Chelsea laughed. "I know, we're pathetic. The thing is, I'd rather die in the mountains from starvation than be tortured by one of the infected, or become one myself. Morbid, yeah, but it sounds a lot better."

They settled into a comfortable silence, both absorbed in their own thoughts.

Dom knew they shouldn't go alone. If one of them got hurt or sick, that left one person to provide for both. Safety in numbers, if the numbers consisted of the right people. They'd ask their roommates first, all decent enough people, if they wanted to be a part of their plan. Then, together, they'd vet other people to take with them. If there was one thing Dom learned from apocalypse books, movies, and his own experience, it was to be careful about who you wanted on your side.

"Let's start making a list of what we would need and who we want to go with us," Chelsea said. "And where we'll go. That's important. If one of the roommates come back, we'll fill them in, but until then we should figure out as much as we can. We can't assume any of them are alive or that they'll want to go with us."

"Sounds good." He paused. "I can't believe we're doing this. It’s a relief to accept we might not be coming back to civilization."

Chelsea shrugged. "Civilization is so one year ago anyway."

***

Even though Dom didn't need some aspects of the internet, it was still useful and they were fortunate to have a public library nearby that was still up and running. Their little town on the outskirts of Renton was shook up about the attacks on the hospitals in bigger cities, but were far from it. People interpreted that distance as safety. Dom and Chelsea planned on taking advantage of that.

Chelsea asked the library worker for a cart. Her job was to gather as many books on gardening, building, and survival as she could. The old man at the front desk, who was the only one working, didn't question what they were doing. Dom got a sense for him immediately; he'd probably been working at the library for decades and was here out of love and habit. His nametag, Jim Sanders, had lost its shine and had a definite oldness to it.

Dom searched maps online for remote areas in the mountains past Issaquah where they could go. He knew right away to look for somewhere close to a water source, like a river or lake. In minutes he had a few contenders. He narrowed it down to places far away from cities, which was easy. Then far away from clusters of buildings. He fed a handful of dimes into a printer and printed the areas he liked.

When Chelsea brought the cart back, it was loaded with books. "I got plenty of stuff on gardening, farming, and even electrical work and building. I got this cool one on uses of herbs and roots for health. Not so much on first-aid. Why don't you print some out?"

Dom shuffled his stack of maps and papers beside him. He stretched his fingers over the keyboard. "Okay, like what?"

"How to set a broken bone, how to do stitches. Stuff like that. Maybe search for 'survival techniques and first-aid'."

Dom did as she said. The resources were endless. "We're going to need more paper."

The librarian brought out the last two reams he had, and came to unlock the printer with a tiny set of keys on his belt. "Don't worry about checking those books out, kids. It says something about our society that no one has come to take them already."

Chelsea and Dom looked at each other, then him. Chelsea asked, "How so?"

"Well, seems like we were busy dying and running in the beginning. Then we were busy hiding and surviving on whatever we could find. Then we were busy following directions from the military and forgot to think about the future." He shrugged. "I know what you kids are doing. I think it's a great idea. Smart. I've lived through wars of my own, and know enough from my dad and grandaddy that it takes longer than a year for a people to recover. Some never do and start blaming each other for everything that went wrong."

Dom guessed Jim was talking about Russia's recent threats to nuke the East Coast. A handful of countries recently went public with statements of the US engineering the virus and introducing it into the population. The logic of why the US would have patient zero located in North Dakota was beyond him.

He finished loading the printer and shut the drawer. "You want to go to Rattlesnake Lake." He pointed at Dom's stack of printed maps. "Beautiful up there. Used to go hunting as a kid, spent the night by the shore with my pop."

With that, he wandered off to his desk.

The old man hadn't asked to go with them, but Dom felt an overwhelming urge to extend an invitation. He could imagine potential backlash already; a senior gentlemen would be baggage. Dom would disagree. There was a kind of wisdom and knowledge older people had that was invaluable. Dom also felt a fondness for him because he looked just like his own grandpa, with the precise gray buzz cut and clear green eyes.

"Chelsea, I want to invite him to come with us."

"He's at least seventy."

He hadn't expected that from her. "He's right about Rattlesnake Lake and he obviously has experience hunting. Imagine we're up there, trying to make a new life, and something bad happens. All we'll have are these books and whatever we print out, and whatever experience everyone in our group has. He would be valuable."

"You're right, but you know it'll be hard to take care of him if anything happens." Chelsea paused. "That's on you."

Dom smiled and gave her a peck on the cheek before going to the librarian's desk.

"As you probably guessed, we're planning on heading to the mountains. We wanted to know if you'd like to come with us," Dom said. "I can't promise it will be easy, but it'll be better than what could happen here."

The man's eyes lit up. "I would love to. I'll do whatever I can to help, too."

"Great!" Dom was surprised how quickly he agreed.

He introduced himself officially and told Dom he spent his time at the library every day, but when the full quarantine was enacted (and it was only a matter of time) he'd be at his house three blocks away. Most of his life was spent as a Marine, and when he came back he settled into the library where he worked at a teenager.

The man was already an asset and they'd only known him for less than a half hour. He had an old moving van his recently deceased brother left him, as well as a pickup he drove to work. He also was an experienced hunter and gardener, and was familiar with first aid from his time in Vietnam.

When Chelsea and Dom left the library, he was feeling more confident than he ever had about their future.

***

Wayne and Jamie were at the apartment. The moment Dom and Chelsea entered the room, Wayne was off his bunk and hugging both of them. He was straightforward, kind, and wasn't afraid to show physical affection. He said it was because he grew up in a family of eleven. He’d shown Dom a photo from a family reunion. Each kid had flaming red hair and big toothy grins.

Dom felt a pang of guilt for assuming Wayne died. The emotion was fleeting, and irrational, but there it was. How quickly he wrote him off.

"You wouldn't believe it," Wayne said in a rush. "A bus full of school kids, all infected, attacked the hospital. It was a nightmare. I can't believe I made it. Everything happened so fast, but I let my instincts take over. I didn't think, just hid. When I saw my chance I ran."

Chelsea gave him a quick hug. "We're really glad you're okay."

"What about you?" Dom asked Jamie, who was still laying on his top bunk. "Where were you?"

"Nowhere, really," Jamie said in that lofty way of his. "Was just around downtown Seattle when I heard the sirens. Headed back here but it took a while."

"What about you two?" Wayne asked. "Have you seen Laurie?"

"We were in rations when the notice came over on the radio," Chelsea answered. Her face showed a flicker of distress. "And no, we haven't seen her. We were hoping you might have."

Everyone went quiet. Laurie could've stayed with the children. She could also be dead. The first of many who would die in the infected's retaliation.

Dom wandered to the kitchen where he filled a glass with water, downing it in a few gulps. He was exhausted and the work hadn't even started yet. Chelsea went to her bunk and settled in. Dom was aware of her gaze following him. She was waiting for him to bring it up.

And Dom did. He told them exactly what his intent was and asked if they'd like to join. Anne, his old manager who he hadn't thought of once until today, used to use the word 'transparency' in team meetings. It was a joke since Anne was anything but transparent about her motives. But Dom liked the idea of it. He believed in it and vowed to always be transparent.

At first they were both quiet. Dom knew Wayne lost most of his family to Anisakis Nova, and some were still missing. He didn't have much to lose. Dom couldn't say for sure, but he figured Jamie was in the same boat.

Finally, after an agonizing minute, Wayne nodded. "My medical experience would be helpful. If the hospital isn't a hot zone still, I could try and get some supplies."