Genesis Plague (27 page)

I
recounted the events surrounding the discovery of the truck in
the trees off the highway, up to the moment Jake and his group brought us to
Helena.

The Mayor gazed off into
the distance while he listened, his watery eyes shifting back and forth, his
mouth slightly open. By the end of my story, his clear blue eyes were dry.
There was no sign of infection.

“A boy’s foolishness,”
he said weakly. “What is so easily forgiven as a boy becomes deadly with age. I
told him not to go. I gave Bill specific orders not to allow him on those
damned scavenging missions.”

“Bill was never really
one to listen to authority,” Jake said.

“Too true, too true.”
The Mayor smiled at Jake and patted his arm. “Help me to sit, then please
excuse us, my son. I must speak with our guest alone.”

Jake guided his father back
into his chair, then left the room without glancing in my direction. Before the
wooden doors closed, he said, “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

The Mayor sighed with obvious
relief as he settled back into his chair.

“A good boy,” he said
thoughtfully. “Almost completely without impulsive tendencies.” He smiled sadly
and his eyes twinkled. “Almost.”

“Mr. Mayor,” I said,
eager to move this party along, “as I explained to Jake, my friend and I really
do need to get back on the road as soon as possible.”

I told him about the
pharmaceutical compound in Rapid City, and of the potential for information
which could lead to a cure.

“Please, have a seat,”
he said, gesturing to a nearby bench.

I hesitated, then sat lightly
as he looked into my eyes.

“Did you kill my boy?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“You found those bodies
exactly as you described?”

“Exactly.”

He sighed. “You want to
know a secret?”

“I’d rather get back on
the road. Am I a hostage?”

“We are helping your friend.”

“No offense, but you
don’t have the capability. I’d like to see her,” I said, standing. “Now.”

“First you must indulge
me,” his voice boomed. His eyes were so clear and penetrating that I caught a
glimpse of the emotional power this man must have once possessed. His statement
was disguised as a mere suggestion, yet there was an underlying force which
brooked no argument. I slowly sat back down. I could have easily overpowered
the Mayor, but Marco, who stood just outside the door, was another story altogether.

“I’m not really the
mayor,” he continued. “I lost the last election to the son of a bitch who fled
east with most of the city’s population. I had a following, though, and many of
them stayed behind, trusting me to do what was best for them. There are about a
thousand of us left, I believe. The ones who aren’t infected are cooped up in
their houses with loved ones who are, so it’s only a matter of time before
Helena is a ghost town. The previous mayor took everything from our emergency
stores when he left. All the food, all the water, the batteries, the
fuel…everything. I am forced to send the boys out to scavenge for goods just to
feed those who remain.”

“Why did you stay?”

“This is my home.”

“I’m all for
sentimentality, but survival is the trump card in this deck.”

“It doesn’t take a
genius to realize that humanity is being shown the proverbial door. We could
scramble east to meet our doomed fate, or we could meet it here, in our homes,
with those we love.” He looked around the room slowly. “It happened so fast.
Our entire world changed—” he snapped his fingers, “—just like that. This town
was almost completely emptied in less than twenty-four hours. An impressive
feat. One for the history books. Too bad no one will remain to write our
history.”

“You sound more like a
philosopher than a politician.”

He smiled. “I was a
college professor. Ethics, if you can believe it.” His face darkened. “Which
leads me to the next bit of unpleasantry. We’ve tried to hold on to our
humanity in these waning hours, but others have made little to no effort to do
the same.”

“You’re talking about
the people who were chasing me on the road before I met Jake.”

He nodded. “They and
the two men who killed…” He paused and swallowed hard. “…who killed my boy are
from Townsend, a small city a few miles south. If my philosophy calls for a
quiet, withdrawn finale to a long life, then the people of Townsend subscribe
to the exact opposite. They are led by a woman who will do anything to survive,
and who encourages her followers to do the same.”

“You say ‘followers’
like it’s some kind of cult.”

“It may as well be. How
easy it is to twist a mind enslaved by fear. It has taken a great deal of
effort on my part just to safeguard this town from her influence. You are lucky
you ran into Jake when you did. If you had driven past that semi-truck
unescorted, you would have never made it into town. Her men roam the highways,
preying on the defenseless. Whatever spoils they do not consume on the road are
taken back to town for distribution. As the surrounding cities weaken, Townsend
becomes stronger.”

“Why didn’t they
evacuate?”

“They have no intention
of running from the plague. And they are mostly without infection. Those with
symptoms are quickly banished to a building on the edge of town, watched over
by an armed guard. But that is not the extent of the town’s evil. It is not
just the infected who are locked inside this building, but anyone suspected of
unleashing this virus on our country. Foreigners, frequent travelers…even those
who are suspected simply because they disagree with their leader’s methods.
They are all locked away and forgotten.”

There was a long
silence, and I stood.

“I wonder,” said the
Mayor thoughtfully, “if I could have been the type of man to save his city by
condemning a handful of individuals, guilty or not. You cannot fault the
efficacy of such an action. Townsend will endure long after Helena has fallen.”
His gaze drifted down to the floor.

“Your people made their
choice,” I said. “And I’m sure you did the best you could to keep them safe.”

“The best I could,” he
repeated.

“It’s all any of us can
do.”

“Tell me,” he said,
slowly looking up, “what chance is there, truly, of finding a cure in Rapid
City?”

I lied and told him I
didn’t think there was any chance at all. He wanted justification for staying
behind, for allowing his people to rot instead of trying to stay ahead of the
virus. I lied because I thought it was what he wanted to hear.

And, judging by the way
his eyes flashed with relief, I was right.

C
onny was waiting for me in the rotunda, and she looked a damn
sight better. Her eyes weren’t bloodshot and her face was a healthy color instead
of sickly pale. She smiled weakly.

“What did they give
you?” I asked, looking closely at her skin.

“A cocktail of a coagulant
mixed with tranquilizer. The doctor who gave it to me said it gave some people
an extra day.”

“Some people, but not
all?”

She shook her head as
Jake and Marco approached.

“You ready to hit the
road?” asked Jake.

“Been ready since
before we got here,” I said.

The night was cool and
quiet as Jake brought us outside. I cast a wary glance behind me as Marco
followed. His bushy handlebar mustache rose as he offered a friendly grin.

“Where are we going?”
asked Conny.

“To your new ride,” Jake
said.

“Any chance it’s a
plane that comes with a pilot?”

“Nope, sorry. All the
pilots used their planes to get the hell out of town.”

We walked across the
grassy lawn to the two trucks that brought us to the Capitol building. There was
a third truck parked nearby, smaller but newer, and in much better shape than
the others.

“Tacoma,” said Jake. He
slapped the hood. “Extended cab, four-wheel drive, and reinforced front and
rear bumpers. Roll cage in the back with halogen spotlights along the top.
Those’ll blind anyone coming at you. You’re stocked with extra fuel, two spare
car batteries, a case of bottled water, and some of them crappy Army meals in
tinfoil bags. It has one of them sliding windows in the back window, for
ventilation or whatever. Windows ain’t bullet-proof, unfortunately, so watch
yourself there. You got two nine millimeters in the glove box, a .270 hunting
rifle with scope on the rack behind the back seat, and a .410 shotgun in the
bed. Oh, and here’s this,” he added, handing me the .38 revolver from the Chevy
truck.

“Hell of a gift,” I
said hesitantly. “What’s the catch?”

“The catch is you get
your ass to Rapid City and find a cure. I heard what you told my dad, and I
think you’re lying about not thinkin’ you’ll find what you’re looking for.”

I returned his steady
gaze without answering.

“And two other
conditions,” Jake said. “Number one, Marco goes with you.”

“Hey, look,” I said,
holding up my hands. “I appreciate the offer, but this could be a one-way trip.
There’s no guarantee we’ll even
get
to South Dakota.”

“Marco don’t care about
that,” Jake said. “Do you, Marco?”

The muscular man shook
his bald head, smiling the whole time.

Jake punched his
shoulder. “Marco’s a crack shot, and he’s tough as nails. He’s also a damn good
cook, so it pains me to send him away. But he’s a good man, and he’ll do you
more good than us.”

“What’s the last
condition?” I asked.

Jake hesitated for a
moment, then he said, “Look in the back seat.”

I stuck my head in the
open window of the Tacoma. Curled up in the back on a fluffy sleeping bag was a
little blonde girl, no older than five.

I leaned back slowly,
drumming my fingers on the door. Conny cupped her hands to the tinted window
and looked in the truck.

“You can’t be serious,”
I said.

Jake nodded. “Dead
serious. She saw her mom killed right in front of her eyes. She ain’t said a
word since. And now her daddy’s gone, too. That’s my brother’s girl. She’s one
of the few who ain’t infected, and she don’t stand a chance if she stays here
with us. My dad will probably shoot me his own self when he finds out what I
done, but I can’t let her stay.”

I looked into the truck
again. The little girl’s hair lay over her face. Her small chest rose and fell
slowly with each breath.

“We can’t take her,” I
said quietly, feeling my heart ripping as I spoke the words.

“Her name’s Emma.”

I shook my head. “What
if we’re run down on the road, or what if she gets infected?”

“She’s dead if she
stays here,” Jake said, “just like the rest of us. Out there, with you, she’s
got a chance.”

“You can’t put this on
us.”

“I sure as hell can.
You wanna walk to South Dakota?”

“You’re threatening me
to take your niece?” I asked in disbelief.

“I’m doin’ what I have
to so she’ll survive,” Jake said. “Is that really so hard to understand?”

I looked at Emma, and I
thought of my own niece, Tara. She was out there, somewhere, hopefully safe and
sound with my brother and his wife.

“No,” I said. “No, it’s
not hard to understand. We’ll keep her safe as long as we can.”

“Anything else you
think you’ll need?” asked Jake.

“A phone that can make
long-distance calls.” I wanted to check in with Flint.

“Landlines are down. Cell
phone networks are jammed up, too. We haven’t been able to make a call in a few
days.”

“Well,” I said
reluctantly, “I guess that’s it, then.”

Jake shook my hand
firmly, then walked away without looking back.

I let out a heavy sigh.
Conny hopped up into the bed of the truck and sat down.

“You sure you’re up for
this?” she asked.

“No choice, right?”

Marco laughed. He
slapped my shoulder and almost knocked me over.

“I stand in the back,”
he said in a thick Spanish accent, then he winked. “Keep an eye out.”

He jumped into the bed
easily and stood behind the cab, facing the front of the truck. He gripped the
roll cage with one strong hand and the shotgun with his other.

“Where are you from,
Marco?” I asked.

“Catalonia,” he said
proudly.

“Very cool. You mind
shooting anything that tries to run us off the highway?”

“My pleasure.”

“Then let’s get this
show on the road.”