Chapter XIX

CHAPTER XIX
OFF THE DEEP END
DAY 2

An impasse had been reached inside the church. Captain Logan cracked his knuckles in a gruesome fashion, poorly masquerading his emotional ties to his late friend, Lieutenant John Garrison.
Garrison’s last acts of bravery would be his true legacy. His words of impending doom incited Logan to pull the trigger on the operation. Interwoven inside this treacherous tapestry of life and death was John’s cautionary wisdom. John’s static filled last words were brought to Logan in a fading conversation over the malfunctioning walkie-talkie.
As the sun finally rose over the embittered colony, it warmly illuminated the previous night’s carnage, scouring the drenched fields that were littered with dozens of fresh, dead bodies, including John Garrison and Zartan.
“Our time is now,” Logan bitterly addressed Alethea. “Katy’s going to be on the short end of the leash on this particular mission.”
“I understand you’ve lost your friend,” Alethea attempted to coolly sooth the Captain’s burgeoning angst. “But, I have also lost many friends and family during this outbreak.” She paced around the inside of the once proud mosaic floor. The church was at one time a rich monument of worship and gathering, offering Dantu a reason to raid and pillage the church’s costly treasures, hereby financing his rebel army.
“John warned us that this virus could possibly be advancing itself at an alarming rate.” Logan’s teeth gnashed together grinding away at remnants of his last decent meal before he arrived. He had a delicious entree at his neighboring Chili’s. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and peppered corn on the cob. He had a terse feeling inside his wavering gut that those days had come to a grinding halt. “I need to find that detonator out in the graveyard if we are to have any success at eliminating this threat.”
“Anyway I can help,” Alethea offered the Captain.
“How’s the boy doing?” Logan asked.
“Stable.”
“The chopper will be here in less than two days. I’m going to pray that some of us will be going back along with the antidote’s formula. That way, the United States can reproduce the remedy and we can come back and cure the others that might have been infected.” Logan’s words were twisted and loaded with bullshit. He had a firm plan in place to blow this thing sky high, killing everything and everyone in its wake. Logan really wanted to make it back to the chopper alive, but he had solemnly promised the President that he would personally take care of business down here. And Logan was always a man of his word.
****
“This hot fucking sun is starting to annoy me,” Judas griped back at the wilting soldiers. “Keep up!” he barked.
“Sir, we’ve been marching for more than four hours,” they complained in unison.
“I promise you this.” Judas began to sweat profusely as his madness continued to consume him. “Once we get back to the colony, they will forever remember my name.” His hands tautly gripped the pistol, as it swayed alongside his briskly moving body.
“And why will they remember your name?” Judas was being contested by one of the ignorant rebels.
“I will offer them the antidote, cure their ills, and be recognized as a medical genius.” Judas proudly offered his master plan.
“That’s the plan?”
“Well, if they don’t welcome me back with open arms and suffice it to say, hear my wisdom,” Judas jiggled the gun. “Then, I will formally introduce the colony’s inhabitants to my new collection of ardent bodyguards.”
“We continue on in Commander Dantu’s memory,” the rebel chatted up the sinking morale.
“Excuse me?” Judas jerked his head around to face the defiant rebel. His hands shook the gun violently around, ready to prove his point if necessary. “Your Commander is now a decomposing mound of flesh at the bottom of the river. He’s the main course for all those hungry piranhas, crocodiles and any other ravenous creature lurking beneath the deep waters. I’ll be more than happy to offer you the same thing.” Judas squeezed his eyes, glaring down his ignorant opposition.
“I understand Mr. Judas,” he acknowledged his new domineering leader. “I will not question your motives again.” The soldier promptly saluted Judas and returned to rigid fashion, ready to march straight through the dense thicket, his weapon firmly in place. “What about the loud noises last night?”
“Ah, probably the wind that’s all.” Judas noticed the firm salute. “That’s much better.” Judas crackled with a sly demeanor. “We should arrive shortly.” He could see the fading black plume of smoke still smoldering from inside the colony. “It’s only a matter of time now,” he softly mumbled.
****
Logan, filled with remorse over Garrison‘s death, trudged across the church floor, a meager shuffling of his feet until he had reached the arched doorway.
“I’m going out to the graveyard and retrieve the detonator,” he said, looking over in Alethea’s direction. “Here,” he tossed a secondary communication device over to her. “You can contact me on this. Just clip this around your ear and speak into it.” Logan demonstrated for her. “Attach the small box onto your belt loop. Use it for the volume control and to change frequencies. The chopper’s frequency is number seventy-six.”
“Seventy-six,” Alethea repeated.
“If anything goes wrong, simply turn the dial to that number and communicate with the pilot.” Logan turned to step outside.
“I will stay here and wait for Katy,” Alethea affirmed. “And, if Judas returns as well, I will contact you.”
Logan had already started his brisk pace over to the muddied graveyard by the time Ally had finished her sentence.
“John,” Logan’s words trailed off once he located Garrison’s corpse embedded into the muddy surface. Garrison’s body was twisted and turned into a pretzel type of formation. Logan painfully observed Garrison’s traumatic head wound. The gaping hole in the side of the Lieutenant’s head had emptied a significant amount of blood and brain matter across the colony’s soil. Garrison’s eyes were left open, in an eerie, fixated position. Logan ran his dirty fingers across his friend’s face, gently closing Garrison’s eyes. “Rest in peace my friend.” Logan actually shed a brief tear, displaying a random moment of affection.
“Where’s that damn detonator?” Logan anxiously scoured the area, diverting his immediate attention away from his deceased friend.
For several yards, Logan stared in horror at the collection of misshapen, gnarled, and mangled colonists scattered about the graveyard. There was no sign of the black detonator that Garrison had within his grasp seconds before his death.
“It has to be here somewhere.” Logan nervously paced around, rotating his jaw in disgust. “I’m losing precious time.”
Katy meanwhile, had already begun her study of the blood samples, in the hope that some answer could be found.
Her nimble fingers slid the small slide of blood underneath the last remaining operational microscope. Blinking her eyes, she turned the magnifier to enlarge the minuscule speck of blood.
Katy would have to decipher many slides that Quentin and Alethea had collected. She was running out of time. Logan promised her a time to deliver upon her word.
Retrieving Dr. Forsythe’s sample, after his incident at Dantu’s camp, Katy peered down upon the fragile specimen. She was hoping to find some answers within Forsythe’s blood. Dantu had the full antidote injected into his own body, forcing Quentin to withdraw the Commander’s blood. Katy speculated that Quentin had time to analyze his own blood and come up a medical blueprint to reconstruct the crucial antidote.
Time was the common enemy, hours faded into minutes, that eventually eroded into seconds. Against the clock, Katy’s eyes strained to find the answer buried deep inside Quentin’s blood. A conglomeration of red blood cells amidst a larger collection of white blood cells indicated Quentin was attempting to stave off the combination of Leprosy and Ebola. However, Katy had noticed the new Leprosy/Ebola virus was aligning itself for a larger battle, possibly reinventing itself to storm through Quentin’s unsuspecting body at a later time.
Quentin was indeed infected with the super virus, as his increased white blood cells indicated some sort of fight was being waged. Katy stared deeper into the devil’s disease and found out that it had already mutated since Quentin’s arrival.
The previous samples taken from patients during the previous doctor’s stay indicated that this virus was strictly one-dimensional.
Quentin had ingested a new concoction, one that had distinctly changed it formation and prepared to ravage Quentin’s body.
Katy realized the virus changed gears in a small time frame, and that Zartan and the others could have been infected with an ever stronger strain, rendering this new antidote utterly useless. Of course, Quentin’s healthy immune system assisted in the minimal damage incurred. Katy nevertheless, had her doubts that Quentin would be able to survive the oncoming wrath of this new disease. And, that meant Logan’s plan to send the colony into the depths of hell would be the only choice.
*****
“Ahem,” his craggy voice pierced the muted atmosphere.
“What are you doing in my colony?”
Logan snapped his head up staring into the barrel of Dr. Judas Sturgis’ gun. Logan’s knees felt the wet saturation through his fatigues. He crawled and clawed his way through endless feet of muck in a dire attempt to find the missing detonator.
“It looks like we have ourselves a perilous situation here G.I. Joe,” Judas sneered down upon his pinned adversary. “Care to explain?”
“I was wondering when the hell you were going to return.” Logan’s free hand slipped behind his back, unlatching the Glock from the black belt. “You must be Dr. Strugis?”
“Stay right there.” Judas clucked his tongue. “I came for the missing page.”
“What?” Logan bickered back. His fingers clanged against the butt of the Glock. It would only be a matter of moments before Logan could turn the table.
“Listen to me G.I. Joe,” Judas snickered as he parlayed his powerful stand into a righteous sermon.
“My name is Captain Nathaniel Logan. U.S. Army.” Logan seemed impressed with the small band of men that Judas had brought with him.
“I don’t care,” Judas seethed, rolling his tongue around his mouth. “I want the antidote. And, if I don’t get it, my men here will make sure that I do.”
“You’re not in the right mind to be making haste demands,” Logan almost had the Glock in his grasp.
“Shut your trap.”
“Hey, where’s the other doctor? Was it Forsythe?” Logan peered around.
Judas took the bait and also turned his head. “He had an unfortunate run in with some poisonous spiders.”
Logan grabbed the Glock and enabled a nimble move, kicking the legs right out from underneath the unsuspecting doctor. The darting move took Judas by surprise and he stumbled onto the ground. Logan quickly drew his weapon and aimed downward at the wriggling doctor.
“Now, it’s your turn to answer some questions.” Logan peered into those daunting eyeballs.
Judas snorted a piece of spit into the fatigues of Captain Logan. “Fuck you G.I. Joe.”
“I’m running out of patience with your arrogant attitude,” Logan’s slimy tone had started to permeate into the conversation. “You’re not getting up until you tell me why you want the antidote.”
“Quentin Forsythe was the leading medical man in the entire field.” Judas gripped his gun tightly. “He had it all.”
“So?” Logan raised his brow.
“The women, the book deals, these trips into the impoverished areas of the world.” Judas griped with anger.
“So, jealously is your motive here? Along with fame and money?” Logan asked.
“I want to be the one that the world looks to for advice, heroics and humanitarian assistance.”
“You have some serious issues,” Logan responded tautly holding the Glock in a defensive position. “Are you going to cash in when you obtain the cure?”
“Money would be nice. I would like to keep it out of the hands of the government. I don’t trust them when it comes to administering the antidote to those that are infected. I’ve watched too many episodes of the X-Files to feel secure about my government’s true intentions. So, I will ask you again to hand over the missing page to the journal and let me return back to the States.”
“It’s not that simple,” Logan stated. “The U.S. Army surely wants to assist in any capacity to assure that the infected are treated with the cure.”
“Oh, I beg to differ with you G.I. Joe.” Judas smugness began to wear on the Captain. Judas reached into the sticky muck and pulled out the small dinged up black detonator.
“Hey, now. I need that.” Logan readied the shot. “Hand it over.”
“Screw you,” Judas snapped back. “It seems we have an old-fashioned standoff here.”
“The journal’s missing pages for the detonator?” Logan offered a truce.
“I take it from the looks of things,” Judas said as he whirled his head around. “That all of these dead bodies have stepped up your suicide plan to blow up the colony and the virus.”
“That’s the plan Sherlock,” growled Logan. “Now, give me the box.” He shook the Glock at Judas’s wriggling body.
“Nah. I’d rather not.” Judas aimed his weapon directly at Logan’s mid-section. “The missing page. You have three minutes. Otherwise, this whole place goes up in one gigantic fireball.” He waved the black box around like a kid operating the controls to a train set.
“How do you know that’s not what I want?” Logan tried to call Judas’s bluff.
“Because if you did, the colony would be burning right now. Obviously, someone or something has clouded your judgment.”
“I see.”
“And, I want a safe return back to your pick-up point.”
“No,” Logan sternly addressed the demand.
“I know you have some sort of plan arranged to either pick you up or perhaps me or,” Judas’s words trailed off as he became partly distracted. “By the way, where’s my Katy,” He peered around Logan, trying to catch sight of his girlfriend.
“She’s working right now.” Logan’s finger flicked off the safety.
“Bring her to me,” Judas said as he waved the box in front of Logan.
“All of us are infected. There’s no way that you’re going back to the States carrying the disease.” Logan stoic and taut, refused to budge an inch.
“Correction. I will administer the antidote and completely heal and move on to helping millions of people across the globe. If you don’t help me, then I’ll let you slowly rot out here with all the other miscreants.” Judas shifted in the mud gaining a better angle on Logan.
“Logan!” Katy called out the distracted Captain.
“Ah, speak of the devil,” Dr. Judas Sturgis’ sarcasm was evident as he poked his head around Logan.
“We have a dire situation on our hands,” Katy’s dim voice caused great concern for Logan.
“Which is?” Logan couldn’t take his eyes off the wormlike doctor.
“The virus has mutated and Quentin’s virus could be useless. I’ve drawn a blood sample of Zartan’s son, who according to Alethea seemed to battle back the disease in its early stages. I think his young immune system couldn’t handle the rapid movement of the virus. Ultimately, it led
to Duke’s premature death.”
“What do you suggest?” Logan bellowed back.
“Judas?” Katy instantly recognized her lover, sprawled out on the ground. “Why are you aiming a gun at the Captain?”
“Because he’s aiming one at me, Honey. It’s a simplistic tactic actually,” Judas evilly sneered.
“Why? And where’s Quentin.” Katy looked around. Much to her chagrin, she was unable to locate Forsythe.
“He’s dead, Dear,” Judas responded with a chuckle. “And, he deserved it. All the shit he put me through, it was time for someone to take his place. Quentin had pulled the proverbial wool over my eyes. I’m doing all of this to rectify Quentin’s mistakes.”
“And, you think it’s your place to do that?” Katy was surprised at Judas’ aggressive arrogant demeanor. “I’m starting to see your ultimate plan. Ever since we met back at Quentin’s conference, you played me from the start.” Katy’s blood started to boil underneath her slick skin.
Judas carelessly shrugged his shoulders in response.
“This was all a game to get back at Quentin? You were always aiming to be the hero that saved the colony, and in the process discredit Forsythe?” Katy was becoming irritated at falling for such a dupe.
“That’s my plan.” Judas’ hands began to tremor, indirectly waving his gun around the air.
“Well, this antidote won’t work Judas.” Katy shot a nasty glare in his direction. “So, give up your crusade.”
“I really don’t want to hear that.” Judas shook the gun violently. His headaches had come back with a terrorizing aftermath. Judas brandished the gun wildly around taking it off Logan momentarily to clutch his spinning head.
“You are sick Judas. Let us help you.” Katy offered to her ailing lover.
“Do you have the missing page to Quentin’s journal?” Judas again demanded for the item.
“No.” Katy shook her head. “Why? Do you have one of his journals?” Katy curiously interrogated him.
“Yes Einstein. It’s in my backpack. But, the crafty son-of-a-bitch ripped out the page that contains the antidote’s construction.” Judas lowered his vocal tonality, indicating his growing impatience with the situation.
“You didn’t bother to read the preceding pages? They might hold a clue,” Katy responded with a promising suggestion.
“I don’t have the time to argue this point with you Katy.” By now Judas was completely pissed off with the outcome of things and motioned for his second in command to raise his shotgun. One of the men stood close to Katy, off to her left. “Logan is it?”
“I’ll kill you where you lie, dog.” Logan’s face narrowed with anger. Logan professionally analyzed the situation. He would have one shot to take.
Katy was caught off guard by the soldier’s quick reaction.
“We can make this very peaceful. Or, it can get ugly in a hurry,” Judas informed the trio. “Your call, G.I. Joe.”
“We’re all going to die out here Judas,” Logan readied his shot. “This virus has already infected our bodies. It’s only a matter of time before we all succumb.”
“Not if you get me that page,” Judas again raised his gun, aiming it directly at Logan once more. “I can save all of you. Then again, if you don’t comply with my simple
request I will kill Katy.”
“You bastard,” Katy scowled. “I loved you.”
“Your first mistake. And now, you’re going to make another costly blunder. I’ll tear through the colony and find the journal’s missing page myself. Or, I can also kill you and pry that vial of blood from your dead cold fingers.”
“Fuck off, Judas.” Katy clenched the vial and squeezed it until the contents exploded inside her hands. “There’s your God Damn antidote asshole,” Katy’s emotion roared with anger as she hurled the broken vial to the ground, burying it deep into the mud with the heel of her foot.
“Bitch,” Judas growled raising his arm to incite his order.
Logan’s peripheral vision was his greatest asset as a decorated Army Captain. He could feel the battle from all angles. Logan knew his window would be small to save Katy. Nevertheless, he enacted his plan. Logan realized that he had started to have feelings for Katy. He never considered the possibility of falling for someone all over again.
Acting with the force of a hurricane, Logan’s right foot smacked directly into Judas’ jutted jaw sending the doctor reeling flat to the ground. Logan then pivoted on his left foot wheeling around and unloading upon Katy’s shooter, squeezing off round after round. The stunned soldier’s body absorbed the incoming shots, sending random sprays of blood into the air. Staggering, the solider keeled over face-first, silently quaking his way into a cold death. The ensuing madness consumed Logan.
“Anyone else?” Logan prepared for a fight. To his surprise the other soldiers released their weapons, letting them drop harmlessly to the ground.
“Katy,” Logan called out to her. “Katy are you all right?”
Her lips quivered. A warm sensation poured through her fingers as she clamored to pressurize the wound.
Logan turned around and witnessed Katy’s horrifying condition. “Katy, no!” He ran to her aid.
Logan caught a brief picture of the smoking barrel from Judas’s fired weapon.
Katy fell to her knees. The bullet had embedded into her chest, nicking one of her lungs. Gasping for breath, Katy fought hard to sustain consciousness.
Logan skidded across the mud and caught her in his arms. Her face losing the fire that had once burned brightly in her eyes. Flickering, her eyes met Logan’s.
“I’m sorry,” her words were quiet and feebly coherent.
“Don’t be.” Logan pressed his hand against her wound attempting to stop the bleeding. “You did your best.”
“I wish we could’ve had more time together,” Katy’s words tugged at Logan.
“We will. You were just about to crack through my shell.” Logan kissed her clammy forehead. “You made me feel again. For that, I’m eternally grateful to you.” He cradled her face in his careful hands. “You need to rest. It looks like the bullet hit one of your lungs. I will come back for you Katy Madison.” Logan pressed his lips firmly against hers.
“I’ll wait for you.” Katy cradled herself in Logan’s arms. Her eyes gently closed, dreaming of Logan’s warm embrace.
Logan let a steady stream of tears streak down his weathered face, definitely an emotion he hadn’t felt since his wife died many years ago.
Logan carefully laid Katy down to rest, folding her arms across her chest. Logan gripped his weapon and feverishly headed across the field to encounter Judas once and for all.

Contagion Cover

Here's the potential cover for Contagion

Its was done by the excellent artist Brian Yount of Wicked Kanrival. You can access his site from the home page.

Chapter XVIII

CHAPTER XVIII
GRAVEYARD

Garrison’s body jolted straight as an arrow, back to its original position. The Glock pistol firmly in hand, the fiery Lieutenant scoured the immediate area for the mysterious sound. Muffled grunting filtered throughout the dark. This place definitely was scarier than any of the foreign places Garrison had stormed into with Logan.
The rain powered up for another pounding upon the colony. The muck slowed Garrison’s trek considerably, causing the seasoned war veteran to compromise his situation. With every step, his feet would become entangled in the thick conglomeration of mud and decaying bodies.
Garrison had stumbled into the colony’s expansive graveyard. He barely had any room to maneuver his way through the collection of dead corpses that were strewn about. Others started to wash away underneath their shallow graves due to the rain’s heavy current. Garrison whirled his Glock around trying to secure the area. A flash of white lightning would only allow brief glimpses into the vast darkness. Wandering about the muddy graves, Garrison’s foot stumbled upon another body. Losing his balance, Garrison tripped and splashed headlong into a collection of dead colonists.
“Mother…,” he started to grumble.
His limbs became entangled between the corpses, dampening his chances of escaping through the area unscathed. Writhing about on his back, Garrison felt an unusual tug on his left shin.
He alertly fished out his pocket flashlight, and rested it atop the Glock. Garrison then illuminated the immediate area of interest.
A pair of grimy, curled fingers started to claw their away along Garrison’s left shin. The nails dragged about Garrison’s fatigues, slowly tearing the fabric.
Garrison angrily unleashed a forceful kick to the arm trying to separate it from his leg. Another flail and the dying colonist rolled along the ground into a pile of other decaying bodies.
Another set of hands sadistically grabbed him roughshod by the neck and started to claw and dig away at the fresh skin, surprising the distracted Lieutenant.
Garrison brutally beat upon his attackers gnarled hands, managing to withdraw the assailants nails from inside his neck. Blood screamed to the surface, gushing out of his wound.
Attempting to rise, Garrison was tugged down by more colonists, that were embedded into the mud.
“Save us!” they murmured. “Help us!”
Garrison started to lose control on the situation. He lowered the Glock, aiming it directly into the pack of swarming colonists. He was writhing around the muck, sinking with every twist and turn. His finger clenched the trigger and released a shot into his intended target.
The colonist that had Garrison by the ankles moved slightly to the right upon seeing the weapon, and escaped the barreling bullet.
The bullet ripped into Garrison’s left foot, shattering the bone upon impact.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” Garrison screamed in agonizing pain.
“Did you hear that?” Logan snapped his head around to Alethea and Zartan.
“That gunshot? Yes, I heard it.” Zartan nodded his head.
“Where did it come from?” Logan tried in vain to locate the shot in the darkness.
“It sounded like it came from the western end of the colony.” Alethea kept a watchful eye on the child’s condition.
“The graveyard,” Zartan repeated. “That is where I buried my son. I will go and investigate.”
Logan reached for his binoculars, pressing them against his face. He kept searching the darkness, unable to locate the gunshot’s location.
Garrison rolled left and right, grasping at his damaged foot. Using his elbows, he managed to brace himself up, dragging himself along the graveyard and away from the colonists.
His itchy finger let another round off. This one bore a hole into one of the colonist’s chests, fracturing their ribs upon impact, and driving deep into their heart, instantly killing the crawling man.
“Take that,” Garrison growled back. His eyes watched in horror, as the remainder of the colonists convulsed violently as steady streams of blood poured out of their mouths and eyes.
“What is this fucking place?” Garrison chided.
“Sir,” a voice echoed in the eerie rainstorm.
“What?” Garrison whirled his head around.
Zartan stood above the wounded Lieutenant. “Let me help you out of here.” He stretched out his arm for assistance.
“Can I trust you?”
“Who are you going to trust out here,” Zartan assured Garrison. “I’ve seen this virus infect my son, and eventually kill him. I have no doubt this truly is the devil’s disease. My name is Zartan.”
“Well, I can certainly agree with that.” Garrison looked around the muddy area. “I’m Lieutenant John Garrison. These colonists resemble something out of the ordinary.”
“Indeed.” Zartan helped Garrison up and assisted him across the haunting graveyard. A series of quick lightning rods illuminated the entire colony, even showcasing the mountaintop off in the distance that harbored an ominous skull atop its ridge.
“How far from the church are we?” Garrison asked.
“Twenty minutes or so. It’s right past the graveyard.”
Garrison limped along, nursing his ankle. “I must say this has been one hell of a night.”
Zartan felt a swelling taking hold inside his body. His eyes started to roll backwards, his muscles contracted, dropping Garrison harshly to the ground. Garrison landed on his ankle, suffering further damage and angst.
“What the hell was that?” Garrison questioned Zartan.
“I found them!” Logan peered through his binoculars. His fervent persistence had finally paid off. “Zartan and Garrison seem to be in trouble. Garrison’s in obvious pain, and Zartan,” Logan broke off in mid-sentence.
“What’s going on?” Alethea begged Logan.
“Zartan’s eyes are rolling around inside his head. His body has started convulsing. He’s feeling the stinging effects of the virus.” Logan gripped his gun and darted for the door.
“I don’t think so.” Alethea blocked off Logan’s exit.
“Get out of my way,” he barked.
“Zartan’s infected and in a few short minutes so will your friend. We need to concentrate on us now.”
Logan hated to admit it, but she was right. His speech about war’s casualties and the emotional attachments came into play here. Garrison was his only true friend. All good things come to and end eventually.
“Damn you,” he scowled at Alethea. Logan stormed back to the open window and again raised the binoculars and witnessed what was about to take place inside the graveyard.
Zartan’s grip on sanity loosened as he turned around and faced Garrison, seemingly ready to attack him. “Help me,” he asked of Garrison.
“What?” Garrison raised his Glock and aimed at Zartan’s chest. “Back off, or I’ll shoot.”
“This virus must’ve altered itself, yes?” Zartan’s words started to slur. He wavered from side to side. “I was only infected a short time ago.”
“Logan, do you copy?” Garrison spoke into his sliding earpiece.
“John are you okay?” Logan’s voice crackled over the communication device. “I can see you through my binoculars.”
“Zartan here has changed. He says the virus had morphed into something else. I wanted to let you know that this antidote might not work now, and Plan B is our only option.” Garrison’s fingers retrieved the black box. “I repeat, Plan B is our only option. I can ignite the colony right now.”
“John.” Logan shook his head in dismay.
“Your call,” Garrison responded.
Zartan reached out for the gun and successfully gained a firm hold on the nozzle.
“Logan, I can’t hold on much longer!” screamed Garrison.
Zartan’s hand wrapped around the weapon, trying to dismantle it from Garrison’s grasp. Garrison let loose on the trigger causing an abrupt jerk that blew through Zartan’s hand, shredding it completely. Blood splattered across Garrison’s wet face, as he stumbled backward from the sudden discharge of the weapon, losing the detonator into the muddy field. Garrison’s earpiece slid off his ear and became buried in the muck beneath him.
Static penetrated on Logan’s end, causing the Captain to wonder what the hell was happening out there. His vision became limited by the intense rain and rolling fog that had swept over the colony.
Zartan teetered before he too toppled over, clutching his bloodied hand, holding it close to his chest.
Crawling over to Zartan’s quivering body, Garrison pushed the nozzle into Zartan’s chest cavity. “I’ll help you alright,” he snarled.
Zartan began to violently heave, causing Garrison to back away a few inches.
“Are you okay?” Garrison’s sense of humanity briefly entered into the situation.
Zartan could feel every organ inside his body melt away into a bloody pool. It was only a matter of time now. His lips slit open a few inches and a lethal mist of blood burst through and into the air, releasing the virus with it.
Garrison managed to duck away from the first cough, evading the immediate infection.
Zartan’s nose swelled as he started to sniff and snort. A sneeze was barreling down his nostrils. The once mighty, towering man, was now a shivering quaking remnant of what he used to be. Zartan rolled around helplessly in the muck a corrupted man from the virus‘s infection.
Garrison closely leaned in inspecting Zartan’s deteriorating condition, seemingly unaware if another round of coughing was amidst. The thickening fog had restrained Garrison’s vision. He again pressed the nozzle firmly into Zartan’s chest and readied his trigger finger. “Rest in piece, my fellow man.” Garrison squeezed off a round into the beating heart of the dying colonist. Nothing happened. The gun’s inexplicable jam stirred Garrison. Perhaps it was from all of the sludge and muck that had sneaked its way into the chamber during Garrison’s scuffles.
The sneeze roared through Zartan’s nostrils discharging a bloody macabre of mucus and phlegm directly into Garrison’s face. Garrison sucked in the bloody mix through his nose and mouth, unable to defend himself from the rampaging virus.
The fog rolled across the ground wrapping around the dead corpses that still littered the fields.
Garrison unable to see Zartan, had decided to unleash the Glock’s contents into his own body. Thinking of Logan and all of the great times they shared, Garrison pointed the pistol inward, and pressed the cold metal against his left temple.
Praying.
Hoping.
Garrison wanted the bullet to escape the chamber and into his body.
BANG!
Garrison wilted from the concave blast. His dying body swayed left to right waiting to collapse with a meek transition into the foggy mist. Zartan would follow moments later, as his liquefied organs spilled from every cavity, emptying its contents onto the ground.
A thunderous crack split the sky in half, allowing ferocious lightning to bombard the colony’s graveyard, displaying its two new entrants, entrenched in their shallow graves.
The Glock became entrapped within Garrison’s tightened grip, as the Lieutenant finally buckled onto his back, listlessly landing upon the softened soil. Garrison’s dead eyes were fixated upon the devilish image high atop the nearby mountaintop. The creepy, misshapen skull seemed to portentously stare down upon the colony‘s doomed inhabitants.

Chapter XVII

CHAPTER XVII
THE CHURCH

“We are still roughly a day away from the colony,” surmised Judas. “We will make our expedition through the night. I don’t want to waste any time.” Judas raised the gun to prove his point. “Any questions?”
The small collection of soldiers meekly shook their heads. They were confident that Judas would kill them if they didn’t agree with his orders. He had already killed their Commander and fellow solider in cold blood.
“Very well then,” Judas replied. “I expect everyone’s total cooperation of this mission.” Judas was starting to feel queasy and dizzy.
*****
The slow, methodical corrosion of the colony was becoming obvious to Captain Logan. He understood that there was no viable option of salvation without that precious journal, and even then, how close to perfect would that antidote be? Logan certainly was a rogue, a rebel, and a loner leading missions all over the globe for the President. He had nothing coveted back home. Well, maybe for a boxer named Telly and an assortment of hungry tropical fish. Logan was dutifully prepared to die within this firestorm of activity. His mind turned to the innocent doctors that had lent their expertise and equipment in a desperate attempt to resurrect the ailing colony. Doctor Quentin Forsythe, Katy Madison and Judas Sturgis would surely become victims of this inhumane virus. Logan kept thinking about what Katy said earlier in the day about this virus changing into something more formidable, constantly morphing its characteristics as it leapt from victim to victim.
He would have to solidify his position within the church, making a fortress of sorts against these marauding colonists. Logan had decided that the healthy colonists would be immediately moved into the church and set up with medicine and round the clock care. The infected would be treated within their own huts, thereby eliminating any contact with the healthy residents. Logan and Alethea would lend the necessary manpower to running the makeshift hospital, whilst Garrison and Katy would continue their search for any survivors, and possibly enact Plan B if necessary.
Zartan shifted endlessly around within the confines of the church, cradling his dead son within his mighty grasp.
“I need to speak to Katy,” he instructed of Logan.
“I’ve called her. She’s coming.” Logan attempted to reassure the despondent father. “Was it painless?” asked Logan, making reference to Zartan’s listless son.
“I hope so. He slipped into what you would call a coma, and he never woke up.”
“Well, we’re going to set up camp inside the church here, and gather the remaining colonists who are healthy, bring them here and take care of them,” Logan explained to Zartan. “We’ve also discovered more infected colonists as well.”
“I’m a highly religious man, and I will pray for those who still have hope.” Zartan sobbed over his son’s dead, limp body. “He was such a warrior.” He sniffed back a stream of tears. His nostrils flared open, his jaw tightened, and his frame grew taut with revenge. “Sir, Duke was my best friend. I will assist you in any way when it comes to defeating this virus.” His white eyes enlarged with a passionate fire.
“I will take you up on that offer once you’re ready for action.” Logan patted him upon his broad shoulders. “I too will say a prayer for you and your son. For in war, we lose the ones we love, and must suffer the gruesome consequences. But, that doesn’t mean we can’t stop and remember those that we have lost along the way.” Logan offered his condolences.
“Logan!” Garrison called out to his Captain.
“Excuse me for a minute,“ Logan politely left Zartan and headed straight for John‘s voice. “John,” Logan greeted him at the front of the church.
“Nice place,” Garrison quipped. “Not quite the four-star hotel, but it will do.”
“What do we have?” Logan asked.
“We discovered a wasteland of burning flesh, smoking corpses, and countless dead colonists. From what Katy spoke of, they were indeed the infected ones. Whether we have more inside the colony remains to be seen.”
“Well, we do.” Logan pointed out the several huts off in the distance. “Inside those huts according to Alethea, there are dozens of infected people just ready to implode from this virus. That action alone could be the spark plug that spreads this thing even further.”
“Then, I will start to lay the explosives around the perimeter of the colony.” Garrison tapped his knapsack. “As a precautionary measure of course.”
“Yes. That way we will burn the colony to the ground and take the virus with it, if we can‘t control this outbreak.” Logan looked up at the darkening skies. “It looks like we’re going to be in store for another round from Mother Nature, so be real quick about it. No sightseeing.” Logan cracked a wise smile.
“Screw you,” Garrison quipped back. “I’ll do all the sightseeing I want when we’re on vacation in Las Vegas after this mess is all said and done with.”
“Zartan,” Katy greeted her friend. “I’m sorry to hear about your son.”
“It is sad, yes.” Zartan looked down upon his son once more. “I’ve agreed to help the Captain any way I can.”
“Good. We’re going to need all the muscle and brains we can get in order to fight this virus.”
Alethea joined Katy and Zartan in the center of the church.
“Zartan will you help me set up in here for our sick patients?” Alethea asked of her dear friend.
“Yes, once we properly bury my son,” Zartan started to leave the church and head back outside into the waning sunshine.
“It will be dark soon. We must hurry.” Katy followed Zartan outside.
Zartan’s hulking frame quietly shuffled across the muddy fields until he had found a secluded area amongst the trees where he could bury his son. He knelt down upon the soft earth and started to dig away the soil with his bare hands. The clouds had started to deliver on their promise of thunder and intermittent rain. Zartan forcefully retrieved piles of dirt and dumped it off to the side making a growing pile. The grave would be a shallow one for his son, for he had to assist the Captain in eradicating this virus from the colony. Katy knelt down beside him and offered her friendship, as both of them laid his son to rest. Katy smoothly crossed Duke’s arms and slid his eyelids closed.
“Thank you.” Zartan continued to pack the softened soil over his son’s distorted body. He firmly planted a makeshift tombstone into the ground using a collection of sticks tied together with string. He had scrawled the name Duke down the center of the homemade device and repeated a small prayer that the late Reverend used to preach about in times of sadness and despair.
*****
Garrison wiped away the rain that had collected upon his dreary face. He was going to have to find that extra source of energy if he was going to plant the explosives before the weather took a dangerous turn for the worse. “This sucks,” he mumbled angrily to himself.
The layout of the colony was simplistic. It offered no delusions. The church rested on one side of the colony, while the huts were gathered across the fields on the opposite side. In the middle, was where the medical tent had stood. The center also had a small area for the gathering of the colonists during their social peaks. The dense jungle completely surrounded the colony on all sides, offering protection from outsiders, although Commander Dantu would frequently find the colony. Garrison noticed the irrigation system was devastated, and the structures that were built before had collapsed either from neglect, or from Dantu’s constant trampling about the colony’s confines.
Garrison would set the charges along the perimeter of the colony, far enough to enact a powerful charge that would sweep through the heart of the colony, emanating a ripple effect. Once detonated, the charge would start next to the huts where the infected were going to be quarantined and work on a time delay system firing off in a complete circle, finally reaching the church on the other end. The entire heart of the colony would be encased in a circle of fire, burning from the outside and working inward taking no survivors in her wake. Garrison silently had hoped this wouldn’t be the case, despite the fact that he loved to blow things up. These were innocent people, not terrorists. Garrison wanted to believe that the antidote would precede all of this and they could all go back to the United States together.
Garrison plugged the explosives along the perimeter one by one, pushing them into the soft earth, and then burying the device just enough that it wouldn‘t hinder the charge. He continued to work his way around the edge of the colony.
*****
Logan motioned for Zartan, Alethea and Katy to join him by the church. “This task will be a hard one, and I’m going to need everyone’s full attention and commitment.”
“Agreed,” Katy responded.
“Yes. Not a problem.” Zartan looked up towards the opening skies. A consistent roll of thunder raced across the dark atmosphere.
“Yes, I will help.” Alethea had also offered her services.
“Great. Now, if this antidote doesn’t work, I will proceed with the total dismantling of the colony, using explosives that Garrison is now implementing right now along the perimeter of the area. I will also give each of you a weapon to defend yourselves against these colonists.”
Logan unlatched his knapsack and retrieved three 9mm pistols. “Does everyone know how to use these?”
“Yes,” the three concurred in harmony.
“Alethea and Zartan, I will need for you to start setting up the medical equipment inside the church. Katy and I will scour the huts and determine what the situation is.” Logan effectively mobilized his team. Ally and Zartan retreated back to the church to unload the equipment and start the rebuilding process.
“So,” Logan silently spoke to Katy. “What do you think our chances are of finding any remaining healthy colonists?”
“At this rate, pretty much slim to none.” Katy kept up with Logan’s brisk pace.
“These colonists resemble zombies?”
“In a way,” Katy replied. “It surely is a chilling spectacle. I had to come to grips with killing those innocent people inside the medical facility.”
“I’ve grown numb to the aftermath of killing people, especially innocent ones caught in the crossfire. You can’t let yourself get all emotionally wrapped up in any type of mission. It clouds your judgment.” Logan briefly let Katy catch a glimpse of the type of tortured soul he had elusively harbored deep beneath that leathery skin. “If these colonists are indeed infected with this harbinger of death then they will suffer greatly from the aftermath of its corrosive wake. Trust me, they are better off if we kill them ourselves if the antidote cannot be produced within a reasonable time frame.”
“I take it you lost a loved one in the crossfire?” Katy questioned the frazzled Captain.
Logan skipped over her question and continued along with his excessive peachiness. “Judas has until tomorrow afternoon before I start blowing up the colony and her surrounding perimeter.”
“I can see you have already made up your mind.” Katy became disgusted.
“Miss Madison, take it from me. If we are unable to contain this virus, then we’re going to have one hell of train wreck on our hands.” Logan cracked the bones in his neck. “And, all of us are on for the ride. The only variable is how long each of us has to live without that antidote, and even if we secure the cure, what are the chances that this virus could spread beyond this area? I can’t take those chances Miss Madison.”
“I understand where you’re coming from, but it still isn’t right.”
“Life’s a bitch. You have to dig down deep within yourself and find a way to cope with its wrath.” Logan approached the first hut. His fingers caressed the straw and mud that were caked together to form the walls of the leaning house. “This structure is not stable.”
“These materials are all they had to work with. That Commander came through and ravaged what they had.” Katy looked around. She had spotted Garrison along the far corner of the colony. A tightened, grim look overtook her pleasant facial expressions. “I don’t trust your Lieutenant.”
“Well, I do. And, that’s all that matters Miss Madison,” Logan said as he leaned into the hut with his 9mm pistol firmly in his possession. He clicked off the safety and entered the dimly lit room, where his feet stumbled over something large and soft, sending the Captain careening forward.
“Are you okay?” Katy entered the small room just as Logan dove head-first into a rickety table of pottery and fruit.
“No, I tripped over something by the door. Watch your step.” Logan brushed off the slimy fragments of wet pottery and stood back up.
Katy looked down upon the decomposing male body that lay strewn about the entrance. Gasping, Katy knelt down and snapped on her rubber gloves. She rolled over the male and noticed his entire flesh had melted away from his bone. The Ebola had already worked its way through his body, engulfing everything. The man’s organs had endlessly leaked through every opening in his rotting body.
“Is that what we are going to become?” Logan stared down upon the decaying body. Logan’s stomach churned with unrest upon noticing the pockets of flies, maggots and worms that were lackadaisically crawling about the man’s depressed eye sockets, ear canals, and nostrils.
“If we’re lucky.” Katy brushed her sweaty hair away from her face.
Nightfall had befallen the colony, engulfing her into a swarm of uncertainty and pounding her borders with rain and bolts of lightning. Garrison had almost successfully completed his task, while Logan and Katy were still investigating the huts locating any potential survivors to bring back to the church.
Alethea and Zartan had morphed the pews into sick beds, and equipped each with the necessary equipment to help sustain the infected colonists until the antidote had arrived.
“Why do you not have the antidote?” Zartan inquired.
“Quentin was the only one that had kept the antidote’s formula. He didn’t trust anyone, not even me. I can understand that, with my father running rampant through here. I would be the first person he would question and possibly torture for the antidote.”
“So, who did he trust?”
“The Reverend.” Alethea shuffled her weary feet across the dismantled floor of the ramshackle church and headed straight for the barren window, peering outside. Her eyes had caught quite a display of the flickering light show from above, giving her brief glimpses of the rain-soaked jungle in its wake. Then, darkness would swallow the jungle whole again, until another flash of brilliant light from above would reveal the jungle’s location once more.
“So, why did he leave?”
“He simply got up during the night and walked off, with the journal in his possession.” Alethea held back a stream of tears. She noticed Katy had left the Reverend’s Bible resting upon one of the naked pews.
“So, we need that journal, yes?” Zartan put together the pieces.
“Yes. Once we have it in our possession, we can recreate Quentin’s steps and solve this virus once and for all.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Quentin retrieved a blood sample from Dantu. He eventually would accidentally inject himself with it when the two of you were outside Dantu’s camp, during that explosion.”
“I remember now, yes.”
“We analyzed his blood and almost had the cure, until Quentin started to grow sick from the Leprosy, and his mind began to wander in and out of reality.” Alethea paced back and forth. “Quentin and I were able to record the progress down inside his journal, along with the exact process on how to reconstruct the antidote. We have several more of Quentin’s blood samples back inside my hut. We’ve also secured several more samples taken from those that were infected.”
“Do you hear that?” Zartan asked.
“Hear what?”
“That hacking sound.” Zartan tilted his head outside the church door. “It almost sounds like someone coughing.”
“Step away from the door,” urged Alethea. “That’s how Katy and I predict this virus spreads. When they cough upon you, they spurt up a bloody cloud of mucus and mist, that immediately enters your system. Another possible way is exposure to their infected blood, whether it’s a cut or scratch.”
Zartan started to pull his head back when a strong-armed man suddenly latched onto Zartan’s right wrist, refusing to let go. Zartan tried to jerk his wrist free. He winced once he felt his attacker’s long jagged nails fiercely digging into his dark skin, ripping away layer upon layer with every continual scratch. Looking down at the superficial flesh wound, Zartan noticed that the man’s yellowish skin color was stained with blood, while his fingers were curled inward enabling Zartan’s escape futile at best.
****
The rain continued to fall in heavy patterns, obliterating the colony’s landscape, causing the makeshift huts to slide about the slimy muck, teetering back and forth.
“Do you feel that?” Katy nudged Logan.
“Yeah, I do. Let’s get this child out of here before this entire hut collapses from the intense weather.” Logan fidgeted and scooped up the feverish youngster and laid him across his left shoulder and bolted outside.
Logan escaped the dangerous hut and felt the warm rain beating down upon his head, immediately saturating his hair. His footing treacherous from the slick muck, he needed to regain his steady poise. Katy braced Logan’s elbow and corrected his shaky balance, aiding the Captain and the child towards safer ground.
Garrison meanwhile, had approached his final destination. His entire body was damp and soaked from the choking thunderstorm, which started to agitate his impatient nature. “Here I am bent over like a fucking carnival freak implanting the colony with explosives in a driving thunderstorm. And, for what?” His random rumblings had only made sense to him. His wet, clammy fingers clasped onto the last remaining depth charge and embedded it into the muck.
“Logan are you there?” Garrison spoke into his earpiece. The rain had made it difficult for Garrison to maintain contact with the Captain.
“Yes, I’m here John,” Logan’s voice permeated over the headset. “Where are you?”
“I’ve just finished Plan B.” Garrison bent over to gather up his things.
“We’ve found a survivor,” Logan voice had started to break up.
“Survivor?” Garrison asked trying to understand Logan’s position. “Damn it!” Garrison had feared he would lose Logan’s reception, making it impossible for the two men to work in conjunction with each other.
“John,” Logan repeated into his own earpiece, unable to reestablish contact with Garrison. The rain had momentarily receded as the white moon penetrated through the swaying trees, mesmerizing the colony into an eerie atmosphere of uncertainty and ensuing panic. “We have to get back to the church,” Logan addressed Katy. “This weather will not allow us to investigate any further. I suggest we replenish our supplies and wait until morning.”
“Agreed,” Katy replied.
Garrison too had started to trudge his way through the mud back to the church, which was still located on the other side of the colony.
*****
Zartan pushed and pulled but the infectious man would not let go.
“I suggest you let go of my arm,” Zartan clenched his left fist into a ball and readied himself for a fight.
“Help us,” the man mumbled in an incoherent jumble of words. The effects of the virus had already impaired the man’s speech.
“Help you?” Zartan repeated the statement. “I can hardly understand you.” A brief flash of lightning had brought Zartan’s attention to the man’s face. Zartan was able to catch a quick, horrific glimpse of the man’s disheveled face. His swollen eyes were buried deep within their sockets. The man’s fattened, enlarged tongue inhibited the man’s speech. A sharp row of jagged teeth could also be seen intermittently through the man’s deep scowl.
The successive bolt of lightning had illuminated the approaching horde of infected colonists, lingering behind the man.
“Alethea!” Zartan called out his friend inside the church.
“We need your help,” the man again spoke with gargled words. “There many of us in need of your medicine.” The man twisted his fingernails sharply around in a counterclockwise direction around Zartan’s bleeding wrist trying to strengthen his plea for help.
Their moans filtered into Zartan’s ears, twisting around the ear canal and reverberating throughout his fearful mind.
“What is it Zartan?” Alethea briskly walked to her friend’s aid.
“I’m going to kill this man here if he doesn’t let go of my wrist.”
“Oh my God,” she stuttered as her hands clasped around her mouth in agonizing shock. “He looks infected Zartan,” Alethea recognized the man’s deadly symptoms.
“I can see that. He’s already drawn blood.” Zartan winced upon the further pain administered by the man’s sharp grasp.
“Let him go,” Alethea raised her weapon. “If you don’t, we can’t help you.” She stood directly behind Zartan, just mere inches away from his attacker.
“No,” the man staggered back and forth, droplets of blood escaping from his nostrils. The small incursion of blood had escalated to a full stream, pouring out from every one of the man’s orifices. A vibrant cough of blood spewed into the air, releasing the virus into Zartan’s face. Zartan desperately tried to hold his breath, refusing to suck the misty cloud of blood into his system. “There are more of us,” the man’s face shook violently, his eyes rolling back into their sockets like a Vegas slot machine.
Without hesitation, Alethea pulled the trigger and fired one shot into the man’s heaving chest. The force of the impact jerked the man backward into the darkness. The gunshot echoed throughout the silent colony.
*****
Logan and Katy had just approached the church as the man was sent flying into the gathering of trees along the boundary of the church.
“Hold your position,” Logan warned Katy.
“Alethea!” Katy jogged in a brisk pace to reach her friend and offer assistance, but found herself corralled by the Captain.
“I fear something has gone awry,” Logan called out to Katy. I can make out a roaming pack of colonists. We will go around the back of the church.” Logan briskly picked up his pace, still aware that he was carrying a sick child over his broad shoulders.
“What happened here?” Katy probed.
“We’re about to find out.” Logan slithered along the backside of the church, approaching one of the shattered windows. “Climb through, I’ll give the child to you once your inside.”
Katy jumped up and grabbed the stone platform, wriggling her body up. Shards of colored glass tore into her palms, but didn’t deter her from entering the church.
Logan promptly gave the child to Katy and hoisted himself up, carefully avoiding the remnants of broken glass.
“Zartan was attacked by an infected colonist.” Alethea lowered her weapon once she saw it was Katy approaching her. “The man also mumbled something else.”
Katy laid the child down on one of the pews and withdrew her weapon.
“He said that there were more of them.” A wincing Zartan fought bravely through the pain, firmly clamping down upon his bleeding wrist. “They are surrounding the church as we speak.”
“I have some medical supplies for that,” Alethea slipped the 9mm into the back of her pants. The gun felt awkward against her naked skin, but it was necessary if she wanted to survive out here. “Let me dress that wound for you.”
“What happened in here?” Logan’s brow tilted in a commanding fashion.
“Zartan had a scary incident with an infected colonist,” Katy brought Logan up to speed. “And you’re right, there are more of them outside.”
“Are you okay?” Logan inquired. Logan was roughly three to four yards away from Zartan.
“Not really.” Zartan’s face became a snarled mess of anger and angst. “First, I lose my son. Then, I’m mauled by some dirty looking man. So, I’m not okay.” Zartan continued to build pressure upon his injury using his large fingers. He leaned against the rocky remains of the doorway.
“Do you think you might be infected?” Logan coolly and elusively reached for his weapon. He walked about the center of the church, watching Alethea as she continued to rummage through her dismantled medical kit.
“I don’t know. That man coughed in my face. He spat up some blood. I held my breath.” Zartan eyes welled with discomfort.
“You understand I can’t take any chances here,” Logan addressed him. “I must effectively order a lockdown of the church.” Logan raised his weapon to the surprise of the others. “No one gets out or comes in.”
“What are you going to do?” Zartan elevated his arms in a defensive fashion.
“I understand that there might be more in the immediate area?” Logan’s face seemed to change shape into that of a determined military solider bent on restoring justice.
“Yes. However, they could be saved,” Katy responded.
“They didn’t look healthy to me,” Zartan interjected.
“Or, they could be infected like their friend was.” Logan aimed the weapon high, just to the right of Zartan’s left ear. Squinting the left eye, Logan fired off a blistering shot directly at Zartan.
“Logan!” Katy bellowed out in horror, as she watched the bullet tear through the air.
Unflinchingly, Zartan absorbed the loud ringing in his ear canal and turned around to face another man that had attacked him. Logan’s bullet bore its way forcibly into the man’s slanted forehead.
“Thank you.” Zartan turned back to face the gritty Captain. “You saved my life.”
“Don’t get all emotional on me,” griped Logan. “Next time, that will be you. We need to administer the antidote into your bloodstream within the next day.” Logan looked over at Katy. “Zartan probably only has roughly thirty-six hours at the maximum?”
“If he’s infected, then he should start feeling symptoms by sunset tomorrow,” Katy provided her educated answer. “The advanced Leprosy should overtake his motor control, speech, and mobility within the next three days. It all depends solely on the individual’s immune system.”
“How so?” Logan questioned her, as he glued his sight to the doorway.
“Most of the colonists have weaker immune systems.” Katy brushed the hair away from her mouth. “Their poor diets, hygiene, and living conditions can be factored into the equation.”
“So, people like you, me, Garrison, Quentin, and Judas,” Logan started his assessment. “We might have a fighting chance when it comes to this virus, because of our different living conditions and improved health?”
“We could sustain an advantage just long enough to find the antidote,” said Katy. “But, be warned that eventually this virus will find a way to devour your immune system and wreck havoc upon your insides.”
“What a lovely picture.” Logan grimaced.
“You’re a moody bastard, aren’t you?” Alethea walked past the Captain with several medical supplies.
“You don’t know me.” Logan wondered what the hell was taking Garrison so long.
While Alethea attended to Zartan along on of the pews, Katy checked in on the sick youngster.
“He’s running a fever.” Katy pressed her lips against the boy’s soft skin.
“I have a chopper coming in three more days,” Logan revealed his plan to Katy.
“What for?”
“It was originally to take me and John back to the States once we eradicated the virus. And ultimately, the colony.”
“Your a wicked son-of-a-bitch,” Katy shouted.
“I told you from the beginning our plan,” Logan defended his stance. His eyes caught another colonist meandering alongside the doorway. He raised the weapon and steadied the shot.
“Yes. But, not the part where you leave us dying in your fiery wake.” Katy routinely took the child’s fading pulse. “What are you doing?”
“There’s another colonist wandering about.” Logan aimed the weapon. “Every war has its casualties,” Logan responded with a dry, military tone. “I also never expected to meet someone that,” Logan caught himself in mid-sentence. Never let your guard down. He lived by that creed. Logan was starting to sense he had a chink in his thick armor.
“Fuck you.” Katy snapped back.
“Always a sweetheart.” Logan grinned as he continued to aimlessly stare out the church window. “And, don’t swear in the house of God.”
“Haven’t you lost anyone before?”
“I’m not the one on trial here,” Logan chided back.
The colonist suddenly turned and lunged for the opening, its mouth drizzled with blood.
BANG!
Logan unloaded a shot into the man’s throat, dropping him dead in his tracks. The limp body collapsed to the muddy earth.
The sudden action jarred the threesome.
“Now, that’s an attention getter,” Alethea said as she tended to the child.
“Our supplies are limited,” revealed Katy. “What you brought with you was only enough to sustain a handful of infected people. And now, we’re faced with more colonists heading our way.” Katy gripped her weapon and covered the windows.
“I wasn’t the one who had to go bonkers and blow up the only medical facility in the whole area,” Logan sternly reminded Katy of her impulsive actions. Another colonist wandered into the church, only to be met with a harsh round of the Captain, right between the eyes.
“I had no choice. Those colonists were hungry for us. That virus is changing the very fabric of who they are. It reduces them into prehistoric drivel. Their means of communication are stunted, while simplistic mechanisms such as clawing, scratching and biting are chillingly becoming part of their daily routine,” Katy growled as she followed Logan’s example, and fired off a devastating shot into a woman that had started to wriggle her way through the window using her mangled fingers for leverage.
“Well, in either case, I’m not going to take a back seat and wait for a mystery antidote to cure the virus. This menace has already started to compromise my team, and it won’t be long before we are next in its wake.” Logan whirled around and caught Katy’s brave action. A crude smile ran across his face. “That’s of course if we’re not already infected.” Logan had already made his decision. “Tomorrow, I’m implementing Plan B,” Logan informed Katy. “Whether you’re with me or not, I strongly suggest you stay close to me if you want to survive.” Logan snapped off a grenade and threw out the door and into the warm summer rain. He was hoping to eliminate a generous number of the infected colonists. “Cover your ears,” he chortled.
Ally and Zartan lowered their heads.
“What’s the point?” Katy mumbled as she cupped her hands around her ears.
The large explosion rocked the foundation of the church. Logan inched his way closer to the door and inspected the strewn remains of the men and women that had fallen prey to the disease. “All clear,” he noted. He then turned his attention back to Katy. “My plan is going down either way. If Judas comes back with the antidote, I’m taking the cure and blowing this place sky-high as a precautionary measure.”
“What if by chance we’re able to synthesize an antidote right here inside the colony,” Katy offered.
“That’s a slim chance, and my window’s closing on that opportunity. I have no idea how far this thing has spread, and we need to eradicate it as soon as possible,” Logan concurred. “As you can plainly see from tonight, they seem to be growing in numbers.”
“Well, I guess your mind’s made up then.” Katy sniffed at him.
“If you interfere, I’ll court-martial you if we do survive and get back to the States.” Logan slickly grinned.
“You never answered my question.”
“I had a wife once,” Logan responded.
“What happened?”
“She died,” Logan abruptly stated.
“And that’s it?”
“Yeah, that’s it. You learn to move on. There’s going to be casualties in life, you can’t wrap yourself around the emotional aspect of that, otherwise you lose your edge.” Logan defiantly stood his stubborn ground. “Your fire and grit remind me of her.”
“Really?” Katy seemed a bit surprised at the Captain’s emotional exercise.
“Like I said, you can’t wrap yourself up emotionally when it comes to these things. It detracts your attention from the bigger picture at hand.” Logan wiped his brow anxiously.
“I’ll make you a deal,” Katy offered.
“Deal?”
“Okay, a negotiation.”
“Fire away.” Logan obstinately heard her proposal.
“Give me to sunrise to look over our blood samples.” Katy raised her eyebrow.
“I thought you lost everything in the fire?” Logan was confused.
“Actually, we saved a small collection back at Alethea’s hut. It has Zartan’s son’s sample that Quentin had taken, along with several other healthy colonists that were seemingly exposed to the virus but not infected. Perhaps, there’s something in their blood that could help stave off the viral attack.”
“Sounds risky. Why didn’t you mention this before?” The Captain bristled.
“You really didn’t seem open to other suggestions at the time.”
“Do you think you can find a solution in their blood?”
“I can definitely try.”
“You have until 0600 hours, which according to my watch is exactly seven hours from now.” Logan tapped his watch.
“Agreed. If I can’t find a substantial development, then I will personally assist you in executing Plan B.”
“It sounds like you have what it takes to be a master negotiator.”
“I have my solid arguments. Just ask Judas.” Katy’s eyes welled up a bit for her missing companion.
“Ah, you have history with him?” Logan sharply noticed her emotional reaction.
“It’s complicated.”
“Aren’t they all?”
“0600.” Katy shook her head. “I better get going.” She raised her weapon and exited the church, stepping over the collection of dead bodies.
“Have a good night, Miss Madison.” Logan felt his ear vibrate and leaned his head to one side.
*****
“Logan?” Garrison’s voice carried over the Captain’s tiny earpiece.
“What is it John?” Logan responded.
“I’ve set all of the explosives around the colony’s perimeter and several areas within. This will ensure that if the devices are set off in a certain fashion, that the virus will burn in a confined area, successfully consumed within the fiery flames.”
“Very good. Are you headed back now?”
“Yeah, but what was that gunshot before, And the grenade explosion?”
“We had a situation. It’s under control now. An infected man attacked Zartan. And then more of his friends came to the party.”
“Is he going to be okay?”
“Assuming we get that antidote by sunrise,” Logan delivered the scenario for Garrison. “I’m giving Dr. Madison until sunrise to come up with an alternate antidote or possibly something we can work with.”
“You’re getting soft in your old age,” Garrison snapped back. “It must involve a girl. The old Logan would have blown this place up five minutes ago, no questions asked.”
“I still plan to. At 0800 hours tomorrow, this place will be a remnant of what it used to be. And, our President will be proud.”
“Well, you know my thoughts on that subject.”
“I’ll be looking forward to seeing you shortly,” Logan signed off. “And stay safe.”
Garrison leisurely sauntered along the muddy trail, not fully paying attention to where he was going. He had lost sight of the church in the distance, losing it in the immediate darkness. His feet ached from the endless walking, he bent down to rub his burning soles. He momentarily laid his gun down and untied his laces, massaging the aches and pains that had overwhelmed his joints.
His wet fingers reached for the gun upon hearing a faint noise directly behind him. Garrison had believed he was all alone. However, once you were inside the colony, there weren’t any guarantees.

Chapter XVII

CHAPTER XVII
THE CHURCH

“We are still roughly a day away from the colony,” surmised Judas. “We will make our expedition through the night. I don’t want to waste any time.” Judas raised the gun to prove his point. “Any questions?”
The small collection of soldiers meekly shook their heads. They were confident that Judas would kill them if they didn’t agree with his orders. He had already killed their Commander and fellow solider in cold blood.
“Very well then,” Judas replied. “I expect everyone’s total cooperation of this mission.” Judas was starting to feel queasy and dizzy.
*****
The slow, methodical corrosion of the colony was becoming obvious to Captain Logan. He understood that there was no viable option of salvation without that precious journal, and even then, how close to perfect would that antidote be? Logan certainly was a rogue, a rebel, and a loner leading missions all over the globe for the President. He had nothing coveted back home. Well, maybe for a boxer named Telly and an assortment of hungry tropical fish. Logan was dutifully prepared to die within this firestorm of activity. His mind turned to the innocent doctors that had lent their expertise and equipment in a desperate attempt to resurrect the ailing colony. Doctor Quentin Forsythe, Katy Madison and Judas Sturgis would surely become victims of this inhumane virus. Logan kept thinking about what Katy said earlier in the day about this virus changing into something more formidable, constantly morphing its characteristics as it leapt from victim to victim.
He would have to solidify his position within the church, making a fortress of sorts against these marauding colonists. Logan had decided that the healthy colonists would be immediately moved into the church and set up with medicine and round the clock care. The infected would be treated within their own huts, thereby eliminating any contact with the healthy residents. Logan and Alethea would lend the necessary manpower to running the makeshift hospital, whilst Garrison and Katy would continue their search for any survivors, and possibly enact Plan B if necessary.
Zartan shifted endlessly around within the confines of the church, cradling his dead son within his mighty grasp.
“I need to speak to Katy,” he instructed of Logan.
“I’ve called her. She’s coming.” Logan attempted to reassure the despondent father. “Was it painless?” asked Logan, making reference to Zartan’s listless son.
“I hope so. He slipped into what you would call a coma, and he never woke up.”
“Well, we’re going to set up camp inside the church here, and gather the remaining colonists who are healthy, bring them here and take care of them,” Logan explained to Zartan. “We’ve also discovered more infected colonists as well.”
“I’m a highly religious man, and I will pray for those who still have hope.” Zartan sobbed over his son’s dead, limp body. “He was such a warrior.” He sniffed back a stream of tears. His nostrils flared open, his jaw tightened, and his frame grew taut with revenge. “Sir, Duke was my best friend. I will assist you in any way when it comes to defeating this virus.” His white eyes enlarged with a passionate fire.
“I will take you up on that offer once you’re ready for action.” Logan patted him upon his broad shoulders. “I too will say a prayer for you and your son. For in war, we lose the ones we love, and must suffer the gruesome consequences. But, that doesn’t mean we can’t stop and remember those that we have lost along the way.” Logan offered his condolences.
“Logan!” Garrison called out to his Captain.
“Excuse me for a minute,“ Logan politely left Zartan and headed straight for John‘s voice. “John,” Logan greeted him at the front of the church.
“Nice place,” Garrison quipped. “Not quite the four-star hotel, but it will do.”
“What do we have?” Logan asked.
“We discovered a wasteland of burning flesh, smoking corpses, and countless dead colonists. From what Katy spoke of, they were indeed the infected ones. Whether we have more inside the colony remains to be seen.”
“Well, we do.” Logan pointed out the several huts off in the distance. “Inside those huts according to Alethea, there are dozens of infected people just ready to implode from this virus. That action alone could be the spark plug that spreads this thing even further.”
“Then, I will start to lay the explosives around the perimeter of the colony.” Garrison tapped his knapsack. “As a precautionary measure of course.”
“Yes. That way we will burn the colony to the ground and take the virus with it, if we can‘t control this outbreak.” Logan looked up at the darkening skies. “It looks like we’re going to be in store for another round from Mother Nature, so be real quick about it. No sightseeing.” Logan cracked a wise smile.
“Screw you,” Garrison quipped back. “I’ll do all the sightseeing I want when we’re on vacation in Las Vegas after this mess is all said and done with.”
“Zartan,” Katy greeted her friend. “I’m sorry to hear about your son.”
“It is sad, yes.” Zartan looked down upon his son once more. “I’ve agreed to help the Captain any way I can.”
“Good. We’re going to need all the muscle and brains we can get in order to fight this virus.”
Alethea joined Katy and Zartan in the center of the church.
“Zartan will you help me set up in here for our sick patients?” Alethea asked of her dear friend.
“Yes, once we properly bury my son,” Zartan started to leave the church and head back outside into the waning sunshine.
“It will be dark soon. We must hurry.” Katy followed Zartan outside.
Zartan’s hulking frame quietly shuffled across the muddy fields until he had found a secluded area amongst the trees where he could bury his son. He knelt down upon the soft earth and started to dig away the soil with his bare hands. The clouds had started to deliver on their promise of thunder and intermittent rain. Zartan forcefully retrieved piles of dirt and dumped it off to the side making a growing pile. The grave would be a shallow one for his son, for he had to assist the Captain in eradicating this virus from the colony. Katy knelt down beside him and offered her friendship, as both of them laid his son to rest. Katy smoothly crossed Duke’s arms and slid his eyelids closed.
“Thank you.” Zartan continued to pack the softened soil over his son’s distorted body. He firmly planted a makeshift tombstone into the ground using a collection of sticks tied together with string. He had scrawled the name Duke down the center of the homemade device and repeated a small prayer that the late Reverend used to preach about in times of sadness and despair.
*****
Garrison wiped away the rain that had collected upon his dreary face. He was going to have to find that extra source of energy if he was going to plant the explosives before the weather took a dangerous turn for the worse. “This sucks,” he mumbled angrily to himself.
The layout of the colony was simplistic. It offered no delusions. The church rested on one side of the colony, while the huts were gathered across the fields on the opposite side. In the middle, was where the medical tent had stood. The center also had a small area for the gathering of the colonists during their social peaks. The dense jungle completely surrounded the colony on all sides, offering protection from outsiders, although Commander Dantu would frequently find the colony. Garrison noticed the irrigation system was devastated, and the structures that were built before had collapsed either from neglect, or from Dantu’s constant trampling about the colony’s confines.
Garrison would set the charges along the perimeter of the colony, far enough to enact a powerful charge that would sweep through the heart of the colony, emanating a ripple effect. Once detonated, the charge would start next to the huts where the infected were going to be quarantined and work on a time delay system firing off in a complete circle, finally reaching the church on the other end. The entire heart of the colony would be encased in a circle of fire, burning from the outside and working inward taking no survivors in her wake. Garrison silently had hoped this wouldn’t be the case, despite the fact that he loved to blow things up. These were innocent people, not terrorists. Garrison wanted to believe that the antidote would precede all of this and they could all go back to the United States together.
Garrison plugged the explosives along the perimeter one by one, pushing them into the soft earth, and then burying the device just enough that it wouldn‘t hinder the charge. He continued to work his way around the edge of the colony.
*****
Logan motioned for Zartan, Alethea and Katy to join him by the church. “This task will be a hard one, and I’m going to need everyone’s full attention and commitment.”
“Agreed,” Katy responded.
“Yes. Not a problem.” Zartan looked up towards the opening skies. A consistent roll of thunder raced across the dark atmosphere.
“Yes, I will help.” Alethea had also offered her services.
“Great. Now, if this antidote doesn’t work, I will proceed with the total dismantling of the colony, using explosives that Garrison is now implementing right now along the perimeter of the area. I will also give each of you a weapon to defend yourselves against these colonists.”
Logan unlatched his knapsack and retrieved three 9mm pistols. “Does everyone know how to use these?”
“Yes,” the three concurred in harmony.
“Alethea and Zartan, I will need for you to start setting up the medical equipment inside the church. Katy and I will scour the huts and determine what the situation is.” Logan effectively mobilized his team. Ally and Zartan retreated back to the church to unload the equipment and start the rebuilding process.
“So,” Logan silently spoke to Katy. “What do you think our chances are of finding any remaining healthy colonists?”
“At this rate, pretty much slim to none.” Katy kept up with Logan’s brisk pace.
“These colonists resemble zombies?”
“In a way,” Katy replied. “It surely is a chilling spectacle. I had to come to grips with killing those innocent people inside the medical facility.”
“I’ve grown numb to the aftermath of killing people, especially innocent ones caught in the crossfire. You can’t let yourself get all emotionally wrapped up in any type of mission. It clouds your judgment.” Logan briefly let Katy catch a glimpse of the type of tortured soul he had elusively harbored deep beneath that leathery skin. “If these colonists are indeed infected with this harbinger of death then they will suffer greatly from the aftermath of its corrosive wake. Trust me, they are better off if we kill them ourselves if the antidote cannot be produced within a reasonable time frame.”
“I take it you lost a loved one in the crossfire?” Katy questioned the frazzled Captain.
Logan skipped over her question and continued along with his excessive peachiness. “Judas has until tomorrow afternoon before I start blowing up the colony and her surrounding perimeter.”
“I can see you have already made up your mind.” Katy became disgusted.
“Miss Madison, take it from me. If we are unable to contain this virus, then we’re going to have one hell of train wreck on our hands.” Logan cracked the bones in his neck. “And, all of us are on for the ride. The only variable is how long each of us has to live without that antidote, and even if we secure the cure, what are the chances that this virus could spread beyond this area? I can’t take those chances Miss Madison.”
“I understand where you’re coming from, but it still isn’t right.”
“Life’s a bitch. You have to dig down deep within yourself and find a way to cope with its wrath.” Logan approached the first hut. His fingers caressed the straw and mud that were caked together to form the walls of the leaning house. “This structure is not stable.”
“These materials are all they had to work with. That Commander came through and ravaged what they had.” Katy looked around. She had spotted Garrison along the far corner of the colony. A tightened, grim look overtook her pleasant facial expressions. “I don’t trust your Lieutenant.”
“Well, I do. And, that’s all that matters Miss Madison,” Logan said as he leaned into the hut with his 9mm pistol firmly in his possession. He clicked off the safety and entered the dimly lit room, where his feet stumbled over something large and soft, sending the Captain careening forward.
“Are you okay?” Katy entered the small room just as Logan dove head-first into a rickety table of pottery and fruit.
“No, I tripped over something by the door. Watch your step.” Logan brushed off the slimy fragments of wet pottery and stood back up.
Katy looked down upon the decomposing male body that lay strewn about the entrance. Gasping, Katy knelt down and snapped on her rubber gloves. She rolled over the male and noticed his entire flesh had melted away from his bone. The Ebola had already worked its way through his body, engulfing everything. The man’s organs had endlessly leaked through every opening in his rotting body.
“Is that what we are going to become?” Logan stared down upon the decaying body. Logan’s stomach churned with unrest upon noticing the pockets of flies, maggots and worms that were lackadaisically crawling about the man’s depressed eye sockets, ear canals, and nostrils.
“If we’re lucky.” Katy brushed her sweaty hair away from her face.
Nightfall had befallen the colony, engulfing her into a swarm of uncertainty and pounding her borders with rain and bolts of lightning. Garrison had almost successfully completed his task, while Logan and Katy were still investigating the huts locating any potential survivors to bring back to the church.
Alethea and Zartan had morphed the pews into sick beds, and equipped each with the necessary equipment to help sustain the infected colonists until the antidote had arrived.
“Why do you not have the antidote?” Zartan inquired.
“Quentin was the only one that had kept the antidote’s formula. He didn’t trust anyone, not even me. I can understand that, with my father running rampant through here. I would be the first person he would question and possibly torture for the antidote.”
“So, who did he trust?”
“The Reverend.” Alethea shuffled her weary feet across the dismantled floor of the ramshackle church and headed straight for the barren window, peering outside. Her eyes had caught quite a display of the flickering light show from above, giving her brief glimpses of the rain-soaked jungle in its wake. Then, darkness would swallow the jungle whole again, until another flash of brilliant light from above would reveal the jungle’s location once more.
“So, why did he leave?”
“He simply got up during the night and walked off, with the journal in his possession.” Alethea held back a stream of tears. She noticed Katy had left the Reverend’s Bible resting upon one of the naked pews.
“So, we need that journal, yes?” Zartan put together the pieces.
“Yes. Once we have it in our possession, we can recreate Quentin’s steps and solve this virus once and for all.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Quentin retrieved a blood sample from Dantu. He eventually would accidentally inject himself with it when the two of you were outside Dantu’s camp, during that explosion.”
“I remember now, yes.”
“We analyzed his blood and almost had the cure, until Quentin started to grow sick from the Leprosy, and his mind began to wander in and out of reality.” Alethea paced back and forth. “Quentin and I were able to record the progress down inside his journal, along with the exact process on how to reconstruct the antidote. We have several more of Quentin’s blood samples back inside my hut. We’ve also secured several more samples taken from those that were infected.”
“Do you hear that?” Zartan asked.
“Hear what?”
“That hacking sound.” Zartan tilted his head outside the church door. “It almost sounds like someone coughing.”
“Step away from the door,” urged Alethea. “That’s how Katy and I predict this virus spreads. When they cough upon you, they spurt up a bloody cloud of mucus and mist, that immediately enters your system. Another possible way is exposure to their infected blood, whether it’s a cut or scratch.”
Zartan started to pull his head back when a strong-armed man suddenly latched onto Zartan’s right wrist, refusing to let go. Zartan tried to jerk his wrist free. He winced once he felt his attacker’s long jagged nails fiercely digging into his dark skin, ripping away layer upon layer with every continual scratch. Looking down at the superficial flesh wound, Zartan noticed that the man’s yellowish skin color was stained with blood, while his fingers were curled inward enabling Zartan’s escape futile at best.
****
The rain continued to fall in heavy patterns, obliterating the colony’s landscape, causing the makeshift huts to slide about the slimy muck, teetering back and forth.
“Do you feel that?” Katy nudged Logan.
“Yeah, I do. Let’s get this child out of here before this entire hut collapses from the intense weather.” Logan fidgeted and scooped up the feverish youngster and laid him across his left shoulder and bolted outside.
Logan escaped the dangerous hut and felt the warm rain beating down upon his head, immediately saturating his hair. His footing treacherous from the slick muck, he needed to regain his steady poise. Katy braced Logan’s elbow and corrected his shaky balance, aiding the Captain and the child towards safer ground.
Garrison meanwhile, had approached his final destination. His entire body was damp and soaked from the choking thunderstorm, which started to agitate his impatient nature. “Here I am bent over like a fucking carnival freak implanting the colony with explosives in a driving thunderstorm. And, for what?” His random rumblings had only made sense to him. His wet, clammy fingers clasped onto the last remaining depth charge and embedded it into the muck.
“Logan are you there?” Garrison spoke into his earpiece. The rain had made it difficult for Garrison to maintain contact with the Captain.
“Yes, I’m here John,” Logan’s voice permeated over the headset. “Where are you?”
“I’ve just finished Plan B.” Garrison bent over to gather up his things.
“We’ve found a survivor,” Logan voice had started to break up.
“Survivor?” Garrison asked trying to understand Logan’s position. “Damn it!” Garrison had feared he would lose Logan’s reception, making it impossible for the two men to work in conjunction with each other.
“John,” Logan repeated into his own earpiece, unable to reestablish contact with Garrison. The rain had momentarily receded as the white moon penetrated through the swaying trees, mesmerizing the colony into an eerie atmosphere of uncertainty and ensuing panic. “We have to get back to the church,” Logan addressed Katy. “This weather will not allow us to investigate any further. I suggest we replenish our supplies and wait until morning.”
“Agreed,” Katy replied.
Garrison too had started to trudge his way through the mud back to the church, which was still located on the other side of the colony.
*****
Zartan pushed and pulled but the infectious man would not let go.
“I suggest you let go of my arm,” Zartan clenched his left fist into a ball and readied himself for a fight.
“Help us,” the man mumbled in an incoherent jumble of words. The effects of the virus had already impaired the man’s speech.
“Help you?” Zartan repeated the statement. “I can hardly understand you.” A brief flash of lightning had brought Zartan’s attention to the man’s face. Zartan was able to catch a quick, horrific glimpse of the man’s disheveled face. His swollen eyes were buried deep within their sockets. The man’s fattened, enlarged tongue inhibited the man’s speech. A sharp row of jagged teeth could also be seen intermittently through the man’s deep scowl.
The successive bolt of lightning had illuminated the approaching horde of infected colonists, lingering behind the man.
“Alethea!” Zartan called out his friend inside the church.
“We need your help,” the man again spoke with gargled words. “There many of us in need of your medicine.” The man twisted his fingernails sharply around in a counterclockwise direction around Zartan’s bleeding wrist trying to strengthen his plea for help.
Their moans filtered into Zartan’s ears, twisting around the ear canal and reverberating throughout his fearful mind.
“What is it Zartan?” Alethea briskly walked to her friend’s aid.
“I’m going to kill this man here if he doesn’t let go of my wrist.”
“Oh my God,” she stuttered as her hands clasped around her mouth in agonizing shock. “He looks infected Zartan,” Alethea recognized the man’s deadly symptoms.
“I can see that. He’s already drawn blood.” Zartan winced upon the further pain administered by the man’s sharp grasp.
“Let him go,” Alethea raised her weapon. “If you don’t, we can’t help you.” She stood directly behind Zartan, just mere inches away from his attacker.
“No,” the man staggered back and forth, droplets of blood escaping from his nostrils. The small incursion of blood had escalated to a full stream, pouring out from every one of the man’s orifices. A vibrant cough of blood spewed into the air, releasing the virus into Zartan’s face. Zartan desperately tried to hold his breath, refusing to suck the misty cloud of blood into his system. “There are more of us,” the man’s face shook violently, his eyes rolling back into their sockets like a Vegas slot machine.
Without hesitation, Alethea pulled the trigger and fired one shot into the man’s heaving chest. The force of the impact jerked the man backward into the darkness. The gunshot echoed throughout the silent colony.
*****
Logan and Katy had just approached the church as the man was sent flying into the gathering of trees along the boundary of the church.
“Hold your position,” Logan warned Katy.
“Alethea!” Katy jogged in a brisk pace to reach her friend and offer assistance, but found herself corralled by the Captain.
“I fear something has gone awry,” Logan called out to Katy. I can make out a roaming pack of colonists. We will go around the back of the church.” Logan briskly picked up his pace, still aware that he was carrying a sick child over his broad shoulders.
“What happened here?” Katy probed.
“We’re about to find out.” Logan slithered along the backside of the church, approaching one of the shattered windows. “Climb through, I’ll give the child to you once your inside.”
Katy jumped up and grabbed the stone platform, wriggling her body up. Shards of colored glass tore into her palms, but didn’t deter her from entering the church.
Logan promptly gave the child to Katy and hoisted himself up, carefully avoiding the remnants of broken glass.
“Zartan was attacked by an infected colonist.” Alethea lowered her weapon once she saw it was Katy approaching her. “The man also mumbled something else.”
Katy laid the child down on one of the pews and withdrew her weapon.
“He said that there were more of them.” A wincing Zartan fought bravely through the pain, firmly clamping down upon his bleeding wrist. “They are surrounding the church as we speak.”
“I have some medical supplies for that,” Alethea slipped the 9mm into the back of her pants. The gun felt awkward against her naked skin, but it was necessary if she wanted to survive out here. “Let me dress that wound for you.”
“What happened in here?” Logan’s brow tilted in a commanding fashion.
“Zartan had a scary incident with an infected colonist,” Katy brought Logan up to speed. “And you’re right, there are more of them outside.”
“Are you okay?” Logan inquired. Logan was roughly three to four yards away from Zartan.
“Not really.” Zartan’s face became a snarled mess of anger and angst. “First, I lose my son. Then, I’m mauled by some dirty looking man. So, I’m not okay.” Zartan continued to build pressure upon his injury using his large fingers. He leaned against the rocky remains of the doorway.
“Do you think you might be infected?” Logan coolly and elusively reached for his weapon. He walked about the center of the church, watching Alethea as she continued to rummage through her dismantled medical kit.
“I don’t know. That man coughed in my face. He spat up some blood. I held my breath.” Zartan eyes welled with discomfort.
“You understand I can’t take any chances here,” Logan addressed him. “I must effectively order a lockdown of the church.” Logan raised his weapon to the surprise of the others. “No one gets out or comes in.”
“What are you going to do?” Zartan elevated his arms in a defensive fashion.
“I understand that there might be more in the immediate area?” Logan’s face seemed to change shape into that of a determined military solider bent on restoring justice.
“Yes. However, they could be saved,” Katy responded.
“They didn’t look healthy to me,” Zartan interjected.
“Or, they could be infected like their friend was.” Logan aimed the weapon high, just to the right of Zartan’s left ear. Squinting the left eye, Logan fired off a blistering shot directly at Zartan.
“Logan!” Katy bellowed out in horror, as she watched the bullet tear through the air.
Unflinchingly, Zartan absorbed the loud ringing in his ear canal and turned around to face another man that had attacked him. Logan’s bullet bore its way forcibly into the man’s slanted forehead.
“Thank you.” Zartan turned back to face the gritty Captain. “You saved my life.”
“Don’t get all emotional on me,” griped Logan. “Next time, that will be you. We need to administer the antidote into your bloodstream within the next day.” Logan looked over at Katy. “Zartan probably only has roughly thirty-six hours at the maximum?”
“If he’s infected, then he should start feeling symptoms by sunset tomorrow,” Katy provided her educated answer. “The advanced Leprosy should overtake his motor control, speech, and mobility within the next three days. It all depends solely on the individual’s immune system.”
“How so?” Logan questioned her, as he glued his sight to the doorway.
“Most of the colonists have weaker immune systems.” Katy brushed the hair away from her mouth. “Their poor diets, hygiene, and living conditions can be factored into the equation.”
“So, people like you, me, Garrison, Quentin, and Judas,” Logan started his assessment. “We might have a fighting chance when it comes to this virus, because of our different living conditions and improved health?”
“We could sustain an advantage just long enough to find the antidote,” said Katy. “But, be warned that eventually this virus will find a way to devour your immune system and wreck havoc upon your insides.”
“What a lovely picture.” Logan grimaced.
“You’re a moody bastard, aren’t you?” Alethea walked past the Captain with several medical supplies.
“You don’t know me.” Logan wondered what the hell was taking Garrison so long.
While Alethea attended to Zartan along on of the pews, Katy checked in on the sick youngster.
“He’s running a fever.” Katy pressed her lips against the boy’s soft skin.
“I have a chopper coming in three more days,” Logan revealed his plan to Katy.
“What for?”
“It was originally to take me and John back to the States once we eradicated the virus. And ultimately, the colony.”
“Your a wicked son-of-a-bitch,” Katy shouted.
“I told you from the beginning our plan,” Logan defended his stance. His eyes caught another colonist meandering alongside the doorway. He raised the weapon and steadied the shot.
“Yes. But, not the part where you leave us dying in your fiery wake.” Katy routinely took the child’s fading pulse. “What are you doing?”
“There’s another colonist wandering about.” Logan aimed the weapon. “Every war has its casualties,” Logan responded with a dry, military tone. “I also never expected to meet someone that,” Logan caught himself in mid-sentence. Never let your guard down. He lived by that creed. Logan was starting to sense he had a chink in his thick armor.
“Fuck you.” Katy snapped back.
“Always a sweetheart.” Logan grinned as he continued to aimlessly stare out the church window. “And, don’t swear in the house of God.”
“Haven’t you lost anyone before?”
“I’m not the one on trial here,” Logan chided back.
The colonist suddenly turned and lunged for the opening, its mouth drizzled with blood.
BANG!
Logan unloaded a shot into the man’s throat, dropping him dead in his tracks. The limp body collapsed to the muddy earth.
The sudden action jarred the threesome.
“Now, that’s an attention getter,” Alethea said as she tended to the child.
“Our supplies are limited,” revealed Katy. “What you brought with you was only enough to sustain a handful of infected people. And now, we’re faced with more colonists heading our way.” Katy gripped her weapon and covered the windows.
“I wasn’t the one who had to go bonkers and blow up the only medical facility in the whole area,” Logan sternly reminded Katy of her impulsive actions. Another colonist wandered into the church, only to be met with a harsh round of the Captain, right between the eyes.
“I had no choice. Those colonists were hungry for us. That virus is changing the very fabric of who they are. It reduces them into prehistoric drivel. Their means of communication are stunted, while simplistic mechanisms such as clawing, scratching and biting are chillingly becoming part of their daily routine,” Katy growled as she followed Logan’s example, and fired off a devastating shot into a woman that had started to wriggle her way through the window using her mangled fingers for leverage.
“Well, in either case, I’m not going to take a back seat and wait for a mystery antidote to cure the virus. This menace has already started to compromise my team, and it won’t be long before we are next in its wake.” Logan whirled around and caught Katy’s brave action. A crude smile ran across his face. “That’s of course if we’re not already infected.” Logan had already made his decision. “Tomorrow, I’m implementing Plan B,” Logan informed Katy. “Whether you’re with me or not, I strongly suggest you stay close to me if you want to survive.” Logan snapped off a grenade and threw out the door and into the warm summer rain. He was hoping to eliminate a generous number of the infected colonists. “Cover your ears,” he chortled.
Ally and Zartan lowered their heads.
“What’s the point?” Katy mumbled as she cupped her hands around her ears.
The large explosion rocked the foundation of the church. Logan inched his way closer to the door and inspected the strewn remains of the men and women that had fallen prey to the disease. “All clear,” he noted. He then turned his attention back to Katy. “My plan is going down either way. If Judas comes back with the antidote, I’m taking the cure and blowing this place sky-high as a precautionary measure.”
“What if by chance we’re able to synthesize an antidote right here inside the colony,” Katy offered.
“That’s a slim chance, and my window’s closing on that opportunity. I have no idea how far this thing has spread, and we need to eradicate it as soon as possible,” Logan concurred. “As you can plainly see from tonight, they seem to be growing in numbers.”
“Well, I guess your mind’s made up then.” Katy sniffed at him.
“If you interfere, I’ll court-martial you if we do survive and get back to the States.” Logan slickly grinned.
“You never answered my question.”
“I had a wife once,” Logan responded.
“What happened?”
“She died,” Logan abruptly stated.
“And that’s it?”
“Yeah, that’s it. You learn to move on. There’s going to be casualties in life, you can’t wrap yourself around the emotional aspect of that, otherwise you lose your edge.” Logan defiantly stood his stubborn ground. “Your fire and grit remind me of her.”
“Really?” Katy seemed a bit surprised at the Captain’s emotional exercise.
“Like I said, you can’t wrap yourself up emotionally when it comes to these things. It detracts your attention from the bigger picture at hand.” Logan wiped his brow anxiously.
“I’ll make you a deal,” Katy offered.
“Deal?”
“Okay, a negotiation.”
“Fire away.” Logan obstinately heard her proposal.
“Give me to sunrise to look over our blood samples.” Katy raised her eyebrow.
“I thought you lost everything in the fire?” Logan was confused.
“Actually, we saved a small collection back at Alethea’s hut. It has Zartan’s son’s sample that Quentin had taken, along with several other healthy colonists that were seemingly exposed to the virus but not infected. Perhaps, there’s something in their blood that could help stave off the viral attack.”
“Sounds risky. Why didn’t you mention this before?” The Captain bristled.
“You really didn’t seem open to other suggestions at the time.”
“Do you think you can find a solution in their blood?”
“I can definitely try.”
“You have until 0600 hours, which according to my watch is exactly seven hours from now.” Logan tapped his watch.
“Agreed. If I can’t find a substantial development, then I will personally assist you in executing Plan B.”
“It sounds like you have what it takes to be a master negotiator.”
“I have my solid arguments. Just ask Judas.” Katy’s eyes welled up a bit for her missing companion.
“Ah, you have history with him?” Logan sharply noticed her emotional reaction.
“It’s complicated.”
“Aren’t they all?”
“0600.” Katy shook her head. “I better get going.” She raised her weapon and exited the church, stepping over the collection of dead bodies.
“Have a good night, Miss Madison.” Logan felt his ear vibrate and leaned his head to one side.
*****
“Logan?” Garrison’s voice carried over the Captain’s tiny earpiece.
“What is it John?” Logan responded.
“I’ve set all of the explosives around the colony’s perimeter and several areas within. This will ensure that if the devices are set off in a certain fashion, that the virus will burn in a confined area, successfully consumed within the fiery flames.”
“Very good. Are you headed back now?”
“Yeah, but what was that gunshot before, And the grenade explosion?”
“We had a situation. It’s under control now. An infected man attacked Zartan. And then more of his friends came to the party.”
“Is he going to be okay?”
“Assuming we get that antidote by sunrise,” Logan delivered the scenario for Garrison. “I’m giving Dr. Madison until sunrise to come up with an alternate antidote or possibly something we can work with.”
“You’re getting soft in your old age,” Garrison snapped back. “It must involve a girl. The old Logan would have blown this place up five minutes ago, no questions asked.”
“I still plan to. At 0800 hours tomorrow, this place will be a remnant of what it used to be. And, our President will be proud.”
“Well, you know my thoughts on that subject.”
“I’ll be looking forward to seeing you shortly,” Logan signed off. “And stay safe.”
Garrison leisurely sauntered along the muddy trail, not fully paying attention to where he was going. He had lost sight of the church in the distance, losing it in the immediate darkness. His feet ached from the endless walking, he bent down to rub his burning soles. He momentarily laid his gun down and untied his laces, massaging the aches and pains that had overwhelmed his joints.
His wet fingers reached for the gun upon hearing a faint noise directly behind him. Garrison had believed he was all alone. However, once you were inside the colony, there weren’t any guarantees.