Chris sighed, crossing his arms behind his head and staring at the
ceiling. He still had about an hour before the nurse would be back
for another round of testing and the last thing he wanted to be
doing was thinking about what had occurred to put him here. As far
as accommodations went, his room in the Vermont Center for Disease
Control was better than the hospital rooms he had been in before,
but just barely. He felt tears welling in his eyes as he remembered
the hospital room where his wife and son had died, two of the first
victims of what they were now calling the Super Flu.
He blinked back the tears, silently berating himself for allowing
the military men watching him to see his sorrow. Once he was back
in control he curled up on his side, deciding to try to get a little
more sleep before the nurse arrived.
+ + + + + + +
Ezra sat by his mother's bedside, only long training allowing him to
keep his poker face intact. He heard her trying to cough and slid
in behind her, gently pulling her up into his arms so that she could
sit. He leaned her forward, a handkerchief held to her mouth as she
coughed. Once she was through he took another cloth and tenderly
wiped her mouth, his heart nearly breaking as she smiled tiredly up
at him.
"It's not going to be much longer, Ezra. Sing for me, just once
more. Please."
The green eyes teared as he reached blindly for the guitar that sat
leaning against the wall. He slid to the foot of the bed, cradling
the instrument and absently plucking at the strings. "As you wish,
Mother. What would you like to hear?"
She just smiled. "Anything, Ezra. Just sing for me."
Ezra glanced down at the floor but his fingers began strumming the
guitar. And as a single tear slid down his cheek, he sang.
+ + + + + + +
Vin walked down the darkened road, perfectly comfortable in the
utter silence that surrounded him. He shoved his hands into the
pockets of his jacket, wondering just what had made him decide to
head north instead of south as he had planned. The harder he tried
to make sense of it, the more confused he got until he just shrugged
and decided to ignore it. He would just accept the fact that he had
an almost uncontrollable urge to head north and leave it at that.
As the night wore on he finally decided that it was time to stop for
a rest. He dropped to the ground off the side of the road. He
wasn't worried about any cars taking him by surprise, especially
since he hadn't seen any since he had left town two days ago. He
shuddered silently as he recalled the way that death had seemed to
simply take over the small Arkansas town, leaving only him. He
stretched out on the ground, hoping that the images wouldn't follow
him into sleep.
+ + + + + + +
Nathan sat quietly on the porch, a beer in one hand. The other hand
was absently stroking the golden fur of Kojak, the dog that was
sprawled at his feet. The dark eyes just stared out into the night,
trying in vain to erase the images of death that had been plaguing
him for days. His training as a doctor had done no good in the face
of this killer and he had been forced to stand by and watch as so
many people had succumbed to the Super Flu while he had remained the
picture of health.
He tossed back a gulp of the beer without actually tasting it. He
glanced down when Kojak raised his head and whined. He smiled as he
scratched the dog's ears, a little bit of normality in a world gone
mad. He glanced back out into the night, a small sigh passing his
lips.
"I think it's time to head out, Kojak. In the morning, we're
heading north."
+ + + + + + +
JD knelt in the dirt next to the fresh grave of his mother. He
gently ran his fingers across the crude wooden cross, the only
memorial he had been able to make for her. "I know you don't mind,
Mom, but this was the best I could do. And I hate to leave you here
like this, but there's nobody left in town except for Maddie." He
felt the tears in his eyes and absently brushed them away.
"I've just got this feeling that I need to be going somewhere. I'll
be back someday, Mom, but for now I have to go. I love you." He
slowly stood, brushing the dirt off of his pants as he walked back
into the house for the last time. Once he packed up what he would
need he'd go find Maddie and they would leave.
+ + + + + + +
Buck slowed his old pickup as he approached the city limits.
Despite all evidence to the contrary, he was still hoping that he
would find someone alive in the small town. But as he cruised
through the silent streets he was forced to admit that this town was
as empty as the last one he had gone through.
He sighed as he pulled up in front of a small store. He would get
enough supplies to last until the next town and then he would be
moving on. He chuckled sadly when he realized that he didn't even
know exactly where he was going. All he knew was that for some
reason he felt an odd need to head north. Then he shrugged. North
was as good a direction as any.
+ + + + + + +
Josiah sat on the porch of the small house, his fingers steepled in
front of him. He had known that this time was coming for a while,
but until recently he had continued to hope that he might be wrong.
He frowned as he saw the crow flying overhead, cawing at him in
glee. He really hated being right.
He intentionally ignored the black bird, gazing across the yard at
the field of corn. He smiled as he saw a pair of glowing red eyes
emerge from the corn, shadows clinging around the unseen form.
"They're all coming, you know. There's nothing you can do to keep
them from coming, and together we shall defeat you."
Josiah's smile grew as the red eyes faded into the darkness and the
crow took wing and flew away. The coming battle would be difficult,
but they would win it. He could feel it.
The End
