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.