The Death Trilogy (Book 1): The Death: Quarantine (14 page)

“Yeah, been awake for an hour now, since just after you came out here.”

“I should go check on her,” Devin said as he sat up.

“Stay a bit, the ladies are having fun. It’s been a while since my wife has had another woman to talk to. Poor thing has been trapped here for six months now.”

“I can’t thank you enough for helping us out. I realize how difficult it was and understand that it’s a fucked-up world out there.”

“My pleasure, I apologize again for being an asshole, but I can’t just let anyone in here.”

“I have to admit, after what I found out today regarding the townspeople; I’m surprised you did help us.”

“You should really thank my Mary. If she hadn’t argued for you, you wouldn’t be here now.”

Devin leaned back in the chair and said, “I’ll thank Mary, then.”

“That dog of yours is really smart. What’s his name?”

“Brando, and yes, he’s smart, human smart or better.”

“He’s good with kids too; my boy won’t stop hugging him.”

“You’ll have to forgive me, but I forgot your boy’s name.”

“Hudson.”

“That’s right, Hudson.”

“He’s a good boy, but more of a momma’s boy right now. He’s never been the same since he lost his big sister.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Sorry? You had nothing to do with it. This fucking Death is to blame and wherever it came from. Not sure if we’ll ever know for sure how or where, but that’s what took my baby girl and my parents along with ninety percent of the world, they say.”

Wanting to move past this discussion quickly, Devin changed the subject, “Daryl, just so you know, as soon as Tess can move, we’ll be on our way.”

Daryl took another sip and answered, “Don’t worry about that now. Stay as long as you need.”

“We won’t be doing that; we’ll need to get moving as soon as she can.”

“Get moving to where?”

“North Carolina.”

“What the hell is in North Carolina?”

Devin took another long sip, sat the glass down and said, “Hopefully an answer to why this all happened.”

April 7, 2021

Denver International Airport

Lori again found herself looking for the coveted spot to sit in the cafeteria. She scanned the packed room, but not a seat seemed vacant. She began her slow walk through the maze of tables when she heard someone call her name.

“Lori, here!”

She turned to see the handsome Marine captain from yesterday waving her over.

She hesitated at first but knew finding another spot could take time, and after her encounter with him yesterday, he seemed harmless but informative.

“Good morning, Captain,” she said with a broad smile across her face.

“Good morning to you.”

She sat opposite him and immediately began to peck at her food. Again, her shyness appeared as it had yesterday.

“So what happened yesterday? You took off in a hurry, and by the way, your nostrils flare when you’re angry,” he teased.

She looked at him and said, “They do?”

“Yeah, hasn’t anyone told you that?”

Sensing he was flirting with her, she quickly changed topics. “I want to say I’m sorry for being so rude. Just what you said upset me, and I have this incredible knack for needing to know everything.”

“It’s all right. So did you find the answers you were looking for?”

“I got more than I was looking for,” she answered as she took her fork and jabbed a sausage link.

He looked at her left hand and noticed the ring. “Where’s your husband?”

Her head still down, she too looked at her ring and answered, “He’s with my son, back in a camp not fifty miles away from here.”

Sensing she was uncomfortable about that subject, he pivoted to something less sensitive. “You like to watch movies?”

“Um, yeah, I guess about as much as the next person.”

“Have you heard about the weekly movies they show up in C Terminal?”

“No, I haven’t. They have things like that?”

“Yeah, gotta have some downtime and entertainment, even during the apocalypse.”

“I guess that’s true. Just seems odd to watch a movie from before all of this without thinking about what was lost.”

“I see your point.”

“They also have a bar up on C if you’re ever interested in joining me and some of the fellas.”

Lori stopped poking her food and looked at him. “Captain Priddy, you seem like a really nice guy, but if your motives are for something
more
than just hanging out, I suggest you go looking somewhere else for that.”

Travis was struck by her candid response; he leaned back in his chair, eyes widened and smiled.

She could tell her direct comment hit its mark, and she was fine with it. After what happened yesterday at the chancellor’s office and what she had to go do tonight by going to dinner with him, she didn’t need more men sniffing around her.

“Um, ha, you’re a pistol, aren’t you? You just seem alone here, I thought—”

“I don’t mean to bark, but I have one job to do here, and that’s to get the plans and architectural sketches completed for Arcadia. The faster I can do that, the faster I’ll be reunited with my family.”

“Sorry, my intention wasn’t—”

Again, she cut him off, “I wasn’t born yesterday, Captain. I have no issue sitting here and joining you at times for meals, but I just want to make myself clear.”

“Crystal.”

“Good, now we can be friends.”

Her voice had been raised a tinge above her normal tone, and that caught the attention of the other Marines sitting at the table. When she had finished talking, all eyes were on them both, watching curiously to see if their conversation was going to be something more dramatic.

Travis saw this, turned to the junior officers, and snapped, “Mind your own business.”

Lori’s intentions weren’t meant to upset him but to make sure he had a clear understanding of who she was and where she stood, especially as it pertained to her marriage.

“Captain Priddy, where are you from?”

“California, San Diego, to be exact.”

“I love San Diego, so much to do there, and the weather is perfect.”

“I agree, me and my brilliance had a chance to be stationed there, but I thought it better to go somewhere new. I just didn’t know Camp Lejeune would be…” He paused to think. “I guess the most polite way to put it would be
different
than SoCal. I like it, but the damn humidity just sucks.”

“That it does. I could never live out East just because of that, especially in the south.”

“Captain Priddy, don’t forget we have formation in ten,” one of the junior officers said at the table as he stood up with the others.

Travis looked at his watch and said, “Oh shit. Lori, always a pleasure, but it’s time for us to get our shots.” He stood up, tray in hand, and looked down on her.

“Till next meal, then?”

“Yes, of course, or maybe we’ll see you up at the Cockpit sometime.”

“The Cockpit?”

“That’s the bar in C Terminal.”

“Right.”

The other Marines, tired of waiting, walked off towards the exit.

He watched them but couldn’t leave until he said one last thing for clarification, “Lori, please don’t take my—”

“Stop right there, no need to explain. I just wanted to make sure we had an understanding.”

He nodded, thankful that she took away the sting of her earlier comments. “Well then, see you later, and have a great day.”

He walked off, but she stopped him by asking, “Captain, what do you mean about getting shots?”

“We get them every month like clockwork.”

“Why?”

He looked at his watch and back at her. “Maybe I’ll tell you if you pop your head into the Cockpit sometime.” He turned and hurried off.

“Lori, Lori, Lori, don’t even think about it,” she said to herself, referencing any temptation of going up to the Cockpit. Although she was curious about the shots he mentioned. She hadn’t received any, nor had she heard about anyone else getting them. Her thoughts turned to the possibility that the government had some sort of vaccine and was giving it to the troops first, as an experiment. Not necessarily out of the realm of possibility, but then again, why give something potentially harmful to a group of value, like the troops. No, that didn’t make sense, she thought. Her head was now swimming once again with ideas and theories. Quickly she dashed them, she needed to focus on the job at hand, and that was to get her work done on Arcadia. Not able to eat another morsel, she got up from the table and headed out to get working on the one thing that ensured her family’s survival, Arcadia.

Jenks Residence, Reed, Illinois

Feeling he needed to contribute to Daryl and his family for what they had done, he offered to do whatever job they had for him.

Mary seized on that offer and sent him to the garden to pull weeds and water.

As Devin worked, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee hit him like a slap in the face. He was excited at having a cup, especially after spending a couple of hours working in the garden with Mary.

Tess exited the house onto the deck and hollered, “Who wants a cup of coffee?”

Mary looked up and replied, “Sounds great, but I’ll have a tall glass of water first.”

“Sounds perfect,” Devin said.

They both walked out of the garden together.

Devin’s jeans were relatively clean, but the sweat stains on his shirt showed the labor he had just completed. Taking off the gloves, he tossed them on a small table next to the back deck and climbed the steps.

There Tess said, “Good morning.”

“Hi, good morning to you too.”

“Go sit down, I’ll bring some water out with your coffee,” Tess said as she went back inside.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?” Devin said.

Mary walked up behind Devin and said, “She’s a little firecracker that one. I can tell she’s tough as nails.”

“She’s tough but not invincible; she really needs to rest,” Devin commented as he took a seat in the same rocker he had been sitting in the night before.

Tess came out with a pitcher of water in one hand and a carafe of coffee in the other. She placed them down and quickly turned back around.

“Hold up there,” Mary said. “I agree with Devin, you need to be resting.”

“I’m fine. I rested last night, and the antibiotics are working.”

“They can’t be, too early. You need to be resting, I’m serious,” Mary barked.

Mary was in her mid-thirties, tall with long straight brown hair. Her tanned face and arms showed the signs of many days out unprotected in the sun. The crow’s feet around her eyes made her look ten years older than she actually was. However, her youthful and jovial temperament helped blunt her weathered features.

Tess stuck out her tongue in a playful gesture and went back inside.

“Where’s Daryl?” Devin asked.

“He was working on something in the barn,” Mary answered.

“Does he need any help?” Devin asked, and stood up. He was on a mission to be productive.

“No, he’s fine. The barn is his domain, kind of his man cave.”

Devin looked towards the barn, an immense metal building that stood at the far corner of the property surrounded by dead corn.

“You sure?”

“Yes, now sit down and relax. Gosh, you two are such busy bodies,” Mary teased.

Tess came out of the house again, a smile from ear to ear, this time with glasses and two cups for the coffee.

Devin took notice that he hadn’t seen Brianna, Brando or Hudson in a while.

“Where’s Brianna?” he asked Tess.

“I don’t know. I’ve been inside making myself at home.”

He looked at Mary, who shrugged her shoulders.

Tess turned around and hollered into the house, “Brianna, Brando!”

No response.

“Brando, come here, boy!” she hollered.

Nothing.

Concern gripped Tess and the others as they started to realize no one was in the house.

“Are you sure they’re not in the barn with Daryl?” Devin asked.

“I don’t think so but…” Mary said.

A series of barks echoed from the front of the house.

Everyone reacted identically as they dashed in the direction of the barks.

Always one to think of a means of protection, Tess grabbed her pistol from the bedroom on her way out.

Devin and Mary raced through the house and exited the front screen door onto the front deck. There they saw Brando crouched in a defensive posture, with Hudson and Brianna standing in the county road, a few feet away from several uniformed men and their Humvee.

The men heard the door open and responded by pointing the rifles they had at Devin and Mary.

“Hold up right there!” the first man said, his thick beard jetting out from his face.

Devin and Mary both put their arms up in the air to show they were not armed.

“Go check them out,” the first man ordered the other two.

They started to march towards Devin and Mary but stopped when Brando barked and growled deeply.

The first man looked at Brando and said, “Someone better shut this fucking dog up or I’ll put it down!”

“Brando, come, boy, come here. Everything is all right!” Devin ordered.

Brando wouldn’t listen; he kept his eyes glued on the first man.

“I’ll shoot the fucking dog, I swear I will!” the man screamed.

“Please don’t shoot my dog, please!” Devin pleaded.

Tess had stopped short of going outside; her pit stop to get the pistol delayed her enough to hear the interaction between the men and Devin. She took up position in the house, now with her rifle at the ready. She placed the front sight post on the first man’s head and aligned it with the rear sight aperture. There she kept a perfect sight picture and her finger on the trigger, ready to squeeze off a shot when necessary.

Even in the midst of this tense ordeal, Devin made a mental note that Tess hadn’t come outside. This made him feel safer; because he knew without a doubt she was inside ready to start shooting.

Brando barked and growled again. This time it was directed at the two men who were approaching Devin and Mary.

The first man lowered his rifle and took out a pistol from a holster he had attached to his tactical vest and held it firmly in his grasp.