The Death Trilogy (Book 1): The Death: Quarantine (9 page)

Lori smiled; she felt very important now and loved having purpose.

As the Osprey drew closer, Lori spotted a camp that looked similar to Camp 13 but had to be ten times larger. Curious what it was, she asked, “Is that a FEMA camp at the north end?”

“Yes, it is. That’s Camp Sierra,” Chance answered.

“So it does exist,” she said.

“Of course it does,” he responded.

“Earlier you made it sound like it didn’t,” Maggie answered over the headset.

“Camp Sierra is one of many beta settlements around the world. When we break ground, CS will become the home to the thousands of laborers and personnel like you.”

Hearing this brought joy to Lori; this sacrifice she was making would lead to her family finally joining her later. Dying to hear a confirmation, she had to ask, “Chance, when we relocate to Camp Sierra, will our families be joining us?”

“Absolutely, Lori, when our work is done at the DIA, we will relocate your families there.”

That was exactly what she wanted to hear.

The Osprey banked over Camp Sierra and headed towards the central part of the valley. As it dropped in altitude, the propellers began to tilt up again, once again transforming the aircraft into a helicopter.

A Marine crew chief spoke on the headset. “Three minutes to touchdown in the LZ. That means no more rubbernecking, people, take your seats.”

Everyone obeyed his command, sat down, and buckled their seat belts for the landing.

The pilot brought the Osprey down so gently that Lori swore he landed on a large pillow.

Once the propellers stopped, the rear ramp lowered, and the crew chief called out, “You’re clear; you can go.”

Everyone unbuckled, took off their headsets, and stood to get off.

Lori was almost shaking with excitement. She thought about how much can change in a day. Just yesterday she could barely get herself out of bed because of her depression, and now she was a member of a team that would build what appeared to be the first of many new cities to save the human race.

She stepped off the metal ramp and onto the tall thick green grasses of the valley floor. Reaching down, she felt the tips of the grasses and pulled some from the ground so that she could hold them. Wanting to lock this moment into her memory, she brought the grasses to her nose and smelled. With her eyes closed, she let the feelings of hope lock in. Opening them, she took in the view. The valley stretched out of sight and was surrounded by the most beautiful mountains, their granite tops still covered in snow from the harsh winter. The temperature was perfect, a moderate sixty-five degrees, and the sky was an intense blue, with not a cloud to be seen.

“Over here!” Chance hollered.

She looked and saw him about fifty feet away up on a slight rise, standing next to a red-flagged stake.

She hurried to the spot with the others, and all stopped just in front of him.

“Right here, where this stake is, is the center of Arcadia. This will be the exact center of the new capital building that you, Lori, will build.”

She couldn’t help but smile when he mentioned her name.

“Look around, people. You are some of the founding members of our new home ,” Chance said; his voice rose at the end as he lifted his arms.

The mention of a ‘new home’ and ‘founding members’ rang odd to Lori, but she didn’t want to focus on it in a negative way. So much had changed that she didn’t know what was right or wrong anymore, so without a baseline, she went with her gut instinct, and that told her that this was right.

Again, Chance dominated the meeting and talked for almost an hour nonstop. He brought some of his preliminary drawings and plans and glowed with excitement as he pointed out the geographical points. He walked them through what would be the future streets of Arcadia. He asked them to imagine the marble and granite buildings that would line the streets, the bustling shops and markets where the city dwellers would go and purchase their wares. He talked to the point where Lori believed he’d pass out from lack of breathing.

Lori's imagination was in full gear and saw everything Chance described. No one asked questions as he walked them from one point to another. When they came to the far western edge of the valley, Lori spotted a group of people heading towards them. She squinted to make them out, but it was difficult as they were too far out.

“Who is that?” Brad asked, seeing them too.

“Who?” Chance responded, surprised by the question. He looked over his shoulder towards the small group.

“Are they surveyors?” Maggie asked.

Chance pulled out a small spyglass from his upper pocket and put it to his right eye. He adjusted the optics till they came fully into focus. A look of astonishment racked his face as he barked out, “Everybody, let’s head back to the Osprey. Come on, let’s go. Hurry!”

Lori looked to see if she could identify who this unknown threat was, but they were still too far out.

“Let’s go, people,” Chance ordered.

Everyone listened without hesitation except for Lori, who stood in the same spot and kept looking at the group of what she estimated to be over a dozen people.

“Lori, come on!” Chance ordered.

She turned to face Chance when the loud crack of a whip snapped near her right ear, followed by the echoing of a gunshot in the distance.

“Lori, hurry, they’re shooting at you!” Chance yelled.

Never having been shot at, she didn’t recognize that signature cracking sound of a bullet going by her head. Movies always described it one way, but what she heard was strange and scary. Reflexively she crouched down and began to sprint towards the Osprey that was easily a half mile away. A steady stream of fear filled her as she realized how vulnerable she and the others were in the open valley. They were unarmed and exposed to the threat, a group of people who obviously wanted to shoot and kill them.

More shots rang out as the sound reverberated through the valley and bounced off the eastern mountains.

“Who are they?” Lori screamed.

“They’re Scraps. Now come on, hurry!” Chance screamed.

The Marines on the Osprey heard the gunfire and readied the .50-caliber machine gun; the only issue was Chance and the others were in the line of fire.

Not knowing exactly what to do, Lori began to zigzag through the tall grasses, hoping that she would make a difficult target.

More gunfire from the Scraps came their way, fortunately missing everyone.

As they closed in on the Osprey, Lori began to feel that they’d all make it.

The propellers on the Osprey began to turn slowly as the pilots began their prep for takeoff.

“We’re almost there, faster, faster!” Chance yelled.

Lori was so focused on getting to the aircraft that she never noticed she had passed Maggie. When she hit the ramp of the Osprey, she looked back and saw Maggie was barely running at a jog.

Brad made the ramp and dove into the fuselage, panting and hacking.

Chance was right behind him.

The crew chief called loud enough into his headset mic that Lori could hear, “All on board but one.”

The .50 caliber suddenly came to life.

Lori watched in horror as the tracer rounds flew just a few feet from Maggie.

The roar of the machine gun made Maggie scream. She was in a full panic, her heart rate racing and her head spinning. The altitude of the valley was near 8,500 feet, so that added to her cardiovascular issues. Now her pace had slowed to a jog with repeated stops to catch her breath.

Then Lori saw her fall; she disappeared into the tall grass. Not one hundred feet behind her were the Scraps, and they were closing in,firing as they went.

The propellers of the Osprey were now spinning fast .

The crew chief yelled at Chance, “Sir, want us to go get her?”

“Where is she?” he asked.

“Not sure, sir, she collapsed some forty feet out.”

The .50 caliber was still laying down fire, but the Scraps had spread out and were taking aim on the Osprey. Pings and pangs began to be heard from their fire hitting the side of the Osprey.

“Take us out of here,” Chance ordered upon hearing the rounds hitting the side of the aircraft.

Lori looked at Chance in horror and barked, “You can’t leave her! She’s one of us!”

“Not anymore, she’s a Scrap now,” he snapped at her, then turned back to the crew chief and said, “Get us out of here!”

Lori was still standing on the ramp when it began to rise. “No, we can’t leave her!”

The crew chief marched over, grabbed her by the arm, dragged her to a chair, and tossed her in it.

“No, no, we can’t leave her!” Lori screamed.

Brad was sitting across from her. He was trembling in fear and appeared to be in shock.

She shot Chance a look of hate.

He looked away and buckled his seat belt.

The Osprey lifted up quickly and banked away from the direction of the Scraps. The Marine manning the machine gun was still engaging as they lifted.

Once they were high enough, Chance unbuckled and made his way to a window and looked out. He then motioned for Lori to come.

She didn’t hesitate. Unbuckling quickly, she marched towards him, again ready to chew his ass.

“I know you don’t agree with leaving her, but she’s lost to us now. Look down there; see them?”

She looked and saw a dozen men around Maggie, who was kneeling with her hands in the air.

“How could you leave her there to die?” Lori asked.

“They won’t kill her,” Chance said. He pointed into the distance.

She looked where he was pointing and saw hundreds of people pouring out of the tree line and heading towards Camp Sierra.

“What’s going on? Who are these Scraps?”

“They’re a hateful group of people who are trying to do whatever they can to stop us. They don’t want things to progress.”

“I don’t understand.”

As the Osprey banked hard again to the left, she saw what must have been dozens of armored vehicles coming out of Camp Sierra.

“What will happen?” she asked.

“The Marines we have guarding Camp Sierra will clean them up. They don’t stand a chance against their firepower.”

“I don’t understand. Who are these people? Why are they fighting against us?” Lori asked, her questions all jumbled together reflecting her thoughts.

“Lori, please go sit down, rest. I’ll explain everything later.”

She looked at him, nodded, and returned to her seat.

Chance followed behind her and took his seat and buckled himself in for the ride back to the DIA.

The shock of the event was beginning to take hold of her emotions, but she fought it back. Closing her eyes, she thought only of David and Eric. She prayed they were safe, and allowed her mind to drift to happier times with her family, before all of this, before Pandora and before The Death.

Lovington, Illinois

Devin could feel the fatigue weigh down his eyelids. He looked at his watch and needed to stay awake and on guard for another ten minutes, but those ten would feel like the last hour. Knowing the prone position wouldn’t help him remain awake, he stood and began to do squats, with hopes the movement would get his blood flowing and keep the sleep away.

“What the hell are you doing?” Tess chuckled.

Startled by her comment, he jumped and turned around, his face flush with embarrassment. “Oh, um, squats. You know, keeping the blood flow going to stay awake.”

“Were those squats or monkey fuckers?” she asked.

“Monkey fuckers?”

“Never mind, it’s a Marine thing,” she said, standing and stretching.

“Do you think your fiancé is alive?” he asked.

“I’m not even going to answer that. I mean, who asks that kind of question. I’ll be right back,” she said as she walked deeper into the cornfield.

“Where you going?”

“To take a pee, I’ll be right back.”

While she was gone, he cleared a spot for him to nap. He was so tired, and the thought of sleep was pure pleasure.

She reemerged into their clearing and began digging through her pack when she lifted her head suddenly.

Simultaneously, Brando jumped up and craned his head.

“You hear that, boy?” Tess asked Brando.

“I really have to get my hearing checked,” Devin said.

“Sshh.”

Both were quiet, listening for the sound Tess and Brando had heard.

A few seconds went by, and there it was, the rumble of vehicles coming down Highway 32, which was to the northeast of them.

“No way, is that them?” Devin asked.

“I don’t know. I’m willing to bet there’s dozens of groups cruising around the country,” Tess answered.

They both approached the edge and watched as vehicles came into view and proceeded into Lovington from the west.

“They aren’t our guys; they look like US military,” Devin exclaimed and moved to exit the cornfield.

Tess held him back. “Hold on there, chief. We don’t know who they are. Best if we just stay put for now. Keep an eye out and our ears open.”

Devin thought about it, and she was right, but he hated thinking that US soldiers couldn’t be trusted.

“Do you think they’ll hurt us?”

“I don’t know, is all. I’ve heard rumors, some not good.”

“Like what?”

“The same conspiracy theorists that believe the government orchestrated the pandemic also believe they’re gathering up the survivors and putting them into FEMA camps…”

“How is that bad? FEMA camps are used to help people when a national emergency happens. It would only make sense.”

“But no one ever returns,” Tess countered.

“Of course they wouldn’t. The camp is safe; out here it’s not.”

“Hey, I’m not saying I believe it, but I don’t trust anyone anymore.”

“You trust me,” Devin joked.

Tess scrunched her face and countered by asking, “Maybe I shouldn’t?”

“I’ll side with your judgment being we can’t be so sure. Take the time to watch and listen while I catch a few hours of sleep. I’m dog-assed tired.”

Brando whined when he heard Devin’s dog reference.

“Oh, it’s a good thing, Brando, nothing bad,” Devin softly said to Brando.