Part 25 (1/2)

I don't want to think about it but I can't help it. My mind automatically shows me the worst case scenario. I imagine a person, a normal, everyday person. A girl, maybe. Or an old woman. They are stuck in their apartment. They haven't been outside. They can't see what's going on but they can hear it. And they know.

They know they are helpless.

Alone.

Trapped.

I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

This virus is a nightmare.

It's weird though, they way they swarm in large groups. It's almost like it's a survival mechanism of the virus or something. Safety in numbers.

I don't know.

Anyway, because of their tendency to hang out in large groups, the streets were sometimes full of infected people and sometimes they were empty. When the streets are full it looks like a riot, or a protest march or even the start line of a big charity fun run. But once they all clear out, and eventually they do, the streets become deserted, like the whole city has been evacuated and abandoned.

I guess that's the reason Jack survived when he ran through the city. He's gotta be one of the luckiest guys in the world right now. I mean, if he had taken a wrong turn he would've been surrounded and overwhelmed. He would've died. Or he would've led the infected right to us.

I s.h.i.+vered at the thought.

I watched the rest of the horde sprint around the corner to the next main intersection. They kept on going. Full steam ahead. 'Single minded aggressiveness' as Doctor West described their behavior.

It certainly was.

The streets below continued to be emptied. A minute later it was deserted.

I guess it would be possible for someone to be alive down there.

Possible.

But not probable.

I exhaled on to the window, breathing on the cool gla.s.s so my breath fogged it up, obscuring my view of the outside world.

Even though we were high up in our tower, our castle in the clouds, we wouldn't be safe for much longer. Not here. Not in the city. There were just too d.a.m.n many of them.

And Maria. She was important. We had to get word out that she was alive and resistant to the virus. We had a responsibility, a duty to the rest of the world to do this.

Feb 20th - The choices we make The city had been relatively quiet over the past couple of days. No gunfire. No explosions. I figured the military had completely fallen back. I figured the soldiers who had been left behind in the city were now dead.

We decided to have a meeting and plan our next move. We were sitting around a table that had been set for four people. A family maybe. Or a double date. The table was right next to one of the floor to ceiling windows. We looked out over the city as we discussed our fate.

”The military have bugged out,” I said.

Maria furrowed her brow. ”Huh? Bugged?”

”They've retreated back to the coast,” I added. ”Or the airport. The small force they left behind to occupy the infected are gone. They're most likely dead.”

”How do you know that?” Maria asked. ”You don't. You can't.”

Maria was in denial. She knew being alone in this city was not a good thing.

”Trust me,” I said trying not to scare her. ”They did the same thing in Woomera. I was there. I experienced it.”

”So what happens now?” Jack said. ”What happened in Woomera? How exactly did you get away?”

”I got lucky. I ran.”

”What the h.e.l.l is that supposed to mean?”

”I was in deep. I was smack bang in the middle of an outbreak. Command had called in an airstrike to contain the infection. We were able to get out of the danger zone just in time.”

”Wait a minute,” Maria said. ”So you're saying, after the military falls back, they call in an airstrike?”

”That's what they did in Woomera,” I answered.

”And then they nuked the joint?”

I nodded.

”So you're saying they could be gearing up to do the exact same thing right now?”

”Maybe.”

”We have to get out of here,” Jack said.

Maria wasn't so sure. ”There's no point if they're just going to drop a nuclear bomb. We'll never get far enough away.”

”Yeah, Maria is right,” I said. ”But there's a good chance they won't call in a nuclear strike.”

”Why the h.e.l.l wouldn't they?” Jack asked. ”This place is crawling with infected.”

”They might not call in the big guns because they've already lost control. Airstrikes and nuclear weapons won't stop the virus now. It's beyond the point of no return.”

”We can't take that risk,” Jack said. ”I mean, I don't want to say it but the military were keeping the infected occupied. And now that they're gone or dead or whatever, there's nothing to keep the infected occupied. This means, there's more chance that they'll find us.”

”Yeah,” I said. ”Exactly.”

”So we're on our own now?”

”Well, realistically, we were always on our own,” Maria said calmly. ”We survived against all odds. No thanks to the military or anyone else. We survived. And now in order to stay alive we need to plan ahead. We need to be smart. It's the only way.”

Maria continued to surprise me. ”I couldn't have said it better.”

”OK,” Jack said. ”What's our plan? What's our next move? We can't stay up here forever.”

”I know you both don't want to hear this, but we need to contact the military,” I said. ”We need to let them know that Maria is still alive. We need to make sure they know she is one hundred percent immune to the Oz virus. Maria is special. She is valuable. If we can get the word out, if we can let the military know our position, they will send help.”

”We're gonna need radios or walkie-talkies or something,” Jack said. ”Good ones. Long range.”