Hell Follows After (Monster of the Apocalypse Saga) (8 page)

Seething internally, Arc watched the girl minister to the ailing ox and repair something that should have gotten worse. She was too good at her trade. He followed her into the mining camp and watched as the two youngsters traded opinions over the contents of the corral. Had there been an inexpensive way to prevent the transaction in animals and iron shoes, he would have tried it. But the kid and the girl led four animals back to camp. They were not the best, but they might be the difference between making it all the way to Denver or bones bleaching under an unrelenting sun.

Somehow, Arc decided, he needed to put a thorn in their relationship. They were getting too chummy. One thing Arc never allowed to get in the way of anything he wanted was emotion. His or anyone else’s.

R
ough weather and a strong current pitched the old fishing boat in and out of the deep troughs. The coast of what had once been California was experiencing the traditional seasonal weather change. The three men on board were on the last leg of a month-long voyage, the hull filled with a good catch and setting low in the water. This last net to be hauled aboard, as all things dependent on luck would have it, was being reluctant. The ease of its early rise from the depths was suddenly, harshly made difficult as the material tightened against the gunwale.

“It’s an old net. Let’s cut ’er loose.” Jiffy Chin looked to his older brother to make the decision. It was his brother’s boat, his brother’s rules. The third man, Wooly Sedonia, relaxed from his straining against the turnstile that brought the net in. He looked expectantly to the Captain of the small boat, hoping for an affirmative answer so they could go home.

Looking over the side, testing the heft of the net to see if there was any give, Genric Chin set his teeth in a grimace as he flexed his big muscles. He could swear that he felt some movement.

Without looking or releasing any pressure, he admonished his men to assist him.

“C’mon, gi’me a hand. I’m pretty sure this thing is caught on something we can bring up.”

As anxious as they were to get home, they were curious. Some of the things they had latched onto below the surface had been interesting. Objects from the past were always worth a look. The world had once been a strange and wonderful place. While most net finds found their way back over the side, the brothers had a growing collection of unknown and bizarre things from the depths. Most objects were unidentifiable, but they made nice yard ornaments on these wind-whipped coastlines, and their wives relished the inexpensive gifts in the mistaken idea that their men were being thoughtful.

Sure enough, with all three men tugging on the net, there was a definite give. Whatever was creating the strain was heavy but movable.

With the leverage of the ratcheting turnstile, all three men sweating on a separate handle, the load rose. Once, there was a sudden lurch. They all knew it meant the net had given way and would need to be repaired, but that was a small thing. At least the object had remained caught. As long as they could get it to the side of the boat, they could tie it off and take it home. Carefully, slowly, they hauled the net up.

A solid clunk announced the arrival of whatever they were expecting. A hook secured the load from any chance of the old ratchet mechanism skipping and releasing. Gen rubbed his aching forearms as he stood upright. He was hoping for something good. The effort was a lot of work otherwise.

Jif and Wooly both relaxed and sat back against the pile of lines and net that filled the deck. Out of respect for the Captain they hung back and allowed him space to make the initial assessment of their catch.

Taking longer than expected, they finally crowded forward to peer over Gen’s shoulder.

When the world had gone dark and empty, two hundred years ago or so, there had been a bustling population of twelve billion human beings on planet Earth. The intentional plagues released upon the dominant species that was busy destroying their own habitat was intended to cleanse the planet of the greater part of the infestation. Those responsible were operating with the best of motivation. They recognized the inevitable outcome of an out of control human scourge intent on self-destruction. Humans were their own worst enemy.

In a chance conversation among several hung over fraternity brothers, all sons of privilege and extreme wealth, the eventual situation came into focus. Discussion, enhanced by being carried out in front of an especially graphic newscast on low volume, resulted in many chance but relevant comments. Of the several participants, a small number gathered later at the request of the acknowledged “brain” within the group. Without the bleary, morning-after heads of the initial conversation, they discussed the trajectory of things to come. Because of their educational experiences, both institutional and otherwise, they understood the world to be in deep trouble… and that those digging the hole were unlikely to put their shovels down.

As young children of privilege, they spoke with a certain unreality that more mature people would have brought to the issues they discussed. Not used to being denied and always having options that only great wealth could provide, they proposed solutions that would have been shunned in ordinary circles. It was agreed that in order to insure the future for themselves and their posterity, the better part of mankind was expendable. Not just expendable… counter to reason.

Over the course of the remaining school year, the young men formed a secret society. They became dedicated to the idea that solutions to overpopulation existed. Discussing each, they hashed out scenarios and planned for contingencies. In the early stages the idea was more for supporting each other through their mutual interests and fears, but as time passed they sold themselves on the fact that what they were discussing was actually possible. They were self-entitled and rich. They could not only do what was necessary, they felt they were obliged to be those to inherit the earth. To hell with the meek.

A large part of the discussions became the inconsistencies in how the world worked. They spoke of conversations they overheard between their parents, sometimes with mutual business acquaintances, and how it seemed ordinary to orchestrate and manipulate the money of the masses into the pockets of the few. It never occurred to them that this was anything to be questioned either ethically or morally. They saw the lower classes as lazy rather than lacking opportunity. Those masses were especially problematic and especially expendable. Those masses of unwashed and unproductive people were the problem. If not for the vast numbers of people consuming, there would be no significant problems. There would be no shortages, no diminishing resources.

Over time the maturity of those involved and the conversations they had changed. Originally they called themselves KB, short for Kill Breeders. As the organization and discussion evolved, a name remained fluid as well. Within days the name changed to KtB, Kill the Breeders. Then K@B for Kill All the Breeders. One of the discussions was about how to put an “S” in front so that the name would read Skab. After all, the population was a scab on the earth to be peeled away as the earth healed. The group laughed about that, but one was uneasy, strangely considering what was being spoken of and concerned they be more politically correct.

The school year was coming to a close, and the final designation was eventually realized as C@P. The @ symbol appealed to the group universally as indicative of pregnancy, and the word read as Cap…as in cap the population. They could say that they were involved in limiting the population, a politically correct statement of intent, a statement which masked the true intent of decimating the human population of the world, leaving only the chosen few to survive. C@P, behind the politically correct façade, was Cut All Populations. A statement with more sinister intent and consequences than was assumed by those outside the inner circle. The “Great Idea” was easily hidden because it was difficult to believe that anyone would be seriously considering… what they were considering.

As C@P became splintered when the members each finished college, they might have allowed the idea to fade, but one member of the group met a woman working for the CDC. She had a true fascination for disease. Much like fire fighters sometimes unintentionally hide pyromaniacs within their organizations, this woman was hiding behind a façade of concern within the CDC. She was a slightly older woman, attractive in appearance and manner, and fascinating in her experience to the young man. After some chance discussion following an amazingly aggressive sexual encounter, the woman grilled her young paramour lightly and carefully in his unguarded state. She learned much, and over time cultivated the rich kid with the interesting ideas and the funds to carry them out. Eventually she asked to meet his friends.

The spark provided by the well-educated and interesting woman ignited the dying embers of the secret society. She provided not only the flame, but suddenly there was an organizing influence from someone with real world experience. Carefully, very carefully, the CDC employee stoked the fire, and the organization started to have some functional results.

Now members were speaking in terms like minimized empathy, delivery system, and resistance mechanisms. Interest in the several deadly dangerous bacteria known by the term ESKAPE became fodder for discussion. The “K” became particularly interesting. The
klebsiella pneumoniae
bacteria was especially fascinating in many of its properties.

Recognizing that merely getting rid of people would leave the upper echelon of the earth with a sudden void of labor, another priority was identified. Although a sudden drop in the working class would leave incredible amounts of resources, there would be many reasons that a labor force should be retained. Assumed to be other human beings that would be in targeted areas insulated from the carnage, plans to vaccinate large populations became part of the plan.

Work progressed on a disease that could be spread by an initial infection that masked itself as little more than a cold, a disease that stayed contagious over an extended period of time until it suddenly killed the host quickly. A vaccine was also being developed for use by those chosen as worthy in the extreme wealth community. This vaccine was also intended to salvage the major populations in areas judged to be industrially or agriculturally necessary.

Another chance encounter within the first years of the organization becoming viable changed the path of intent. A demonstration of the emerging artificial intelligence industry and the robotics evolving in conjunction with it impressed one of the originating members of C@P. He brought a new idea to a meeting he called at one of his island estates.

As a back-up plan, the populations surrounding the I-80 corridor and several arteries north and south through the United States would be preserved. But the idea had now evolved to replace human labor with artificially intelligent mechanicals. Robots never wanted a raise, time off, or health care.

Within a short time the top robotics engineers and scientists of artificial intelligence were hired away from their less well-funded facilities. Just as the biotech companies had been raided in the previous years, scientists were isolated in well-funded, clandestine laboratories and design studios.

The expense was tremendous. Even by the standards of the past, these facilities were expensive. One reason was the quality of those working on the compartmentalized projects as well as the top-of-the-line equipment and materials. But the other expense, and perhaps even greater, was the necessity and nature of secrecy involved. Sometimes security involved extreme measures.

Money had been a minor concern early on, but as the group expected, they aged and inherited control of their family fortunes. Money was passed down just as opportunity and education was passed. And because they represented the cream of their advantaged society, they were the logical inheritors.

Realistically, what did any expense matter? Those involved in the inner circle knew there would be side effects, and one was that money was going to become obsolete. Robotic labor would see to that.

Work progressed. There were three functionally different areas being worked on. Occasionally the contagion science surged ahead of the robotics. Then the AI would make a leap ahead and seem close until a glitch made it fall back. Each of the three stages, contagion, robotics, and AI vied for the lead even though those doing the work knew nothing about each other.

When a huge leap in the AI capabilities facilitated a sudden advance including an unexpected ability for the AI brain being developed to participate in its own design, the robotics and AI teams were introduced to each other. There were some frictions between the human components, especially as the robotics team seemed threatened by the capabilities of what the AI team was working on. But they became fascinated and mollified when the AI brain was introduced. It was difficult to be anything but fully on board as they realized that this brain could help design out the flaws in the body of the robot that would carry it. Where the robotics team would have come to blows with the AI team over ego, they accepted the AI brain as a workable and interesting partner in overcoming problems.

Finally the day came. The vaccine, the infection, and the AI-controlled robot all came to fruition within months of each other. The disease was extremely contagious within a long-surviving host which changed reliably into a close to one hundred percent lethal killer, but well-controlled if one knew the key to the vaccine. The robot was fully capable of learning any operation that a man was capable of performing, as well as having communication within the hive of units so that any function performed by one was immediately transmitted as ability to all the others. Human labor was obsolete. Man was suddenly entirely expendable.

As with most things controlled by the human race, Murphy’s Law came into play immediately on implementation.

The delivery system worked perfectly. The contagion performed flawlessly. The mechanical labor force was instructed to function as a salvage operation to save threatened animals until and during the demise of humanity. The robots did their job as instructed, better than expected.

But the operation as planned collapsed. It imploded due to the capriciousness of human ego. There was a fly in the ointment.

One of the original members of C@P was a Sheik of the United Arab Emirates. He executed a clandestine plan to save only his own family, using the resources of the group to design his own infection, one modified to leave an abnormal percentage of women outside the family as survivors. Because he was part of the original group, he had vaccine from both the original contagion as well as his own which were distributed throughout his own huge family. The family was not informed. The risk of exposing the whole plan was too great. The Sheik was confident they would thank him later.

What the Sheik did not expect was that there was another organization that was prepared. The LDS Church had a clandestine arm of enforcers of its own. The Mormon Mafia, while unofficial in all its activities and known within the ranks as The Danites, was not only prepared to take steps to protect their own but had the means. Through information gathering of their own, they identified the sources of the plagues, and noting the second as a betrayal with possible religious implications, they targeted the Arab Royal Family almost immediately. A disease that had been sitting inside a granite vault for decades, awaiting just such a use, modified Ebola virus was loosed on the world along with the two other engineered diseases.

But there was one more machination with no reasonable expectation of being foreseen. Because of this, no one came away unscathed. An American President, who had grown up as a youth oppressed by Mormons in Salt Lake City, took the threat of a surviving LDS Church seriously. He made sure that the protection of the judiciously-used virus came to nothing when he decided that a surviving theocracy could not be allowed to control the world. The nuclear option on his own citizenry laid waste to the last remnant of organized society, as well as what could have been the last remaining organized religion.

The twelve billion people of earth, all busy in the daily grind of fighting, fucking, and fantasizing in what the future held for them, within six months dwindled to less than a tenth of one percent of the original population. Those who survived had a tremendous rate of attrition immediately after the plagues. Many could not handle survival guilt or the sudden emptiness of the world. After all was over and done with, there were so few people surviving, it was sometimes difficult to find others.

A failsafe within the brains of the AI robots, laid down and integrated by the Arab Sheik, came into play. The Sheik was a careful, suspicious, and Machiavellian man. He inserted a time-delayed program in the labor force just in case his plan failed. He did not live to reset the trigger, so the robots fulfilled their present activities, planning for and caring that the future was harmed as little as possible. Once they did what was required in the winding down, the millions that had accumulated over the several years of their existence gathered on the beaches of the oceans on all continents and marched into the sea.