The Redivivus Trilogy (Book 3): Miasma Read online

  Ava knew Annalee’s interest in such training wasn’t just because a certain boy would be there. Ever since Garza had begun working with Anthony, the two girls had talked about learning how to better defend themselves. Yes, they were young; and yes, they were girls. But they’d seen enough to know that the infected didn’t care about either of those things. They also knew that the small amount of instruction Lydia had given them had proven to be lifesaving on their journey to Atlanta.

  “Maybe we should ask Lydia about it,” Annalee added. From what Anthony had told her, she imagined convincing the adults would be an uphill battle.

  Sgt. Garza’s plan to train Anthony had sparked a rather heated discussion between him and Lin. He argued that Anthony needed the combat and survival skills he could teach him in order to keep himself and those around him safe. His mention of Anthony’s innate abilities, which he’d observed when the boy had accompanied him to find the Bearcat on the outskirts of the city, did little to convince her that he was ready for combat training.

  “He’s so young and he’s already lost so much. Why can’t you let him keep what’s left of his childhood?” Lin had pleaded.

  Even as she said it, she realized how ridiculous it sounded. On the one hand, she knew Garza was right about Anthony needing to be able to protect himself. That was paramount to survival in this cruel, new world. The mother inside her countered that he was too young to be exposed to such brutality, and doing so would destroy what little innocence he had left. This latter voice echoed weakly in her mind, like the pathetic mewing of a lost kitten. Lin realized that her issue wasn’t really with Garza’s proposal, but rather with what the plague had done to the world. As much as she hated it, she knew that those who maintained their innocence usually died as a result of it. There was no refuge for childhood naiveté among the living.

  In the end, Lin relented, and Anthony’s training began the following morning with the basic principles of fighting revs at close range.

  * * *

  Annalee furrowed her eyebrows and huffed in frustration. “It’s not fair. Why can’t Ava and I train with Sgt. Garza, too? We need to be able to protect ourselves as much as Anthony.”

  Lydia couldn’t argue with Annalee’s point. Although she hated the idea of either girl being forced to fight, she hated the thought of something happening to one of them even more. When she’d realized she couldn’t always keep them safe, she’d armed them both with a machete and spent several hours instructing them on using the weapon before they set out for Atlanta. In the very least, that small amount of training had very likely saved Ava’s life. Whenever she closed her eyes, Lydia still saw the image of Annalee cleaving the mangled mail woman’s skull.

  Although she worried less about their safety now that they were behind the CDC’s walls, Lydia held no delusions that they were truly safe. Death was everywhere, and she conceded that the “education” Annalee desired was far more likely to give her a chance to continue living her childhood than to steal it from her.

  Even so, Lydia was well aware of the disagreement between Lin and Garza regarding Anthony’s training. While she certainly appreciated the doctor’s position, she didn’t think it was the most practical. Lydia’s experience fighting to keep the girls safe gave her an entirely different perspective. She recalled how terrified and utterly powerless she’d felt on the occasions that she hadn’t been there to protect them; it had been a sickening feeling.

  Lydia let out a resigned sigh. “I agree with you, Annalee, but I can’t speak for Ava. She’s with her father now, so he has to make that decision. I tell you what: let me talk it over with John. Fair enough?”

  Annalee’s confrontational demeanor changed instantly as she wrapped her arms around Lydia. “Thank you, Lydia. You’re the best.”

  Later that afternoon, Lydia found John and they discussed Annalee’s request. Much to her surprise, he completely supported the idea. He, too, understood Lin’s concern about the children growing up too quickly, but his top priority was insuring that Ava got the chance to grow up. The current state of the world dictated that those goals didn’t necessarily go hand in hand. If teaching his little girl to protect herself—and if necessary, to kill those who wished to harm her—was what it took to keep her alive, then that was what he would do.

  Lydia was relieved about how well her talk with John had gone. She wasn’t sure why, but she’d been nervous about the meeting. Perhaps it was because John reminded her so much of Ava, the little girl she’d come to regard like a daughter over the last six months. What she’d imagined would be several minutes of discussion had turned into an hour-long conversation about everything from Ava’s childhood to Lydia’s past and her time with Ava.

  John saw the delight on Ava’s face when she returned from hanging out with Annalee and found Lydia and him talking. Even though his heart ached for Rebecca, he was happy to see the depth of feelings Lydia and his daughter shared. He could provide many things for her, but a strong maternal figure was not one of them. Smiling, he gestured his daughter toward him.

  “Ava—Lydia tells me that you and Annalee are interested in learning more about defending yourselves.”

  Ava nodded timidly, unsure of her father’s thoughts on the matter. Before she had a chance to respond, he continued, “As much as I hope you’re never in a situation where you have to defend yourself, you need to be ready to do so if you are. Lydia told me how you and Annalee took down a rev by yourselves. You never mentioned that to me. I’m sorry you had to do that, Ava.”

  Taking in her father’s pained expression, Ava knew there was so much about her experience that she would never be able to tell him. She simply couldn’t bear to see how much it hurt him.

  * * *

  Lydia had witnessed Animal’s combat skills and was glad she’d agreed to help with the girls’ instruction, beginning with the basics of survival and self-preservation in the plague-ridden world. Life outside the walls had already taught the girls a great deal about these subjects, and they picked up the new information fairly quickly. Seeing the young girls wielding weapons and working out on the dummies Animal set up for their practice was a strange sight—yet another sign that the world had changed forever.

  A week later, John passed by the makeshift training ground just as Lydia and Animal were finishing up with the day’s training. Ava and Annalee were nowhere to be seen.

  “Hey, Animal, have you seen Reams?” John asked.

  The woman shot him a fierce look that said, “Do I look like his mother?” Despite her attempts to conceal her feelings for his friend, the question made her noticeably uncomfortable. If John wasn’t mistaken, he thought she’d even blushed at the mention of the big man, though it was hard to imagine someone as tough as Animal ever being embarrassed. Lydia watched the awkward exchange in amusement, all the while suppressing a snicker.

  Smirking, John said, “Well if either of you see him, will you tell him I’m looking for him? I’m heading to the lab to meet with Lin.”

  John felt the cool air wash over his face when he entered the research wing. Although the building’s interior was nowhere near cold, the temperature was much lower than it was outside thanks to several fans and a small air conditioning unit powered by the generators. That’s one hell of a perk, but I’m not sure it offsets having to get up close and personal with the deadliest pathogen the world has ever known…

  Seeing John enter the lab, Lin waved him over to where she sat talking with Mother.

  “John, I finished the list of supplies we’ll need for the next round of experiments. Mother and I have been looking over the map, and we think we’ve found a place that might have everything we need.”

  John peered over Lin’s shoulder at the map spread out on the desk. Several red circles indicated places of interest. Next to it sat a directory of local scientific supply companies.

  “Here,” she said, pointing to one of the red circles near the map’s edge. “This place stocks chemicals, reagents, and lab supplie
s.”

  John nodded in approval.

  Although Lin did her best to conceal her emotions, John sensed that she was anxious about the scavenging mission. He assumed it was because Garza typically led the supply runs, and Lin and the sergeant had become increasingly close during their time at the CDC. John reached out and raised Lin’s chin.

  “He’ll be fine, you know. Garza’s the toughest guy here other than Reams and maybe Animal.”

  Lin suppressed a half-hearted chuckle at the mention of the female warrior, who she agreed was probably the toughest person in the compound. “Yeah. It’s just hard not to worry about all of you.”

  As John hadn’t been on any of the scavenging missions, he wasn’t sure what she meant by her comment. He could see there was more on her mind.

  As if on cue, she said, “John, I think it would be helpful to have someone with a scientific background go out with the scavenging team. I volunteered, but L.T. adamantly refused—”

  John scanned the route between the CDC and the warehouse. Despite what the scale printed in the map’s corner indicated, it looked like an impossible distance. He could understand the why L.T. didn’t want Lin to go. Before Lin could finish her sentence, John spoke.

  “I agree with L.T.—no way we can let you go out there, Lin. You’re too valuable. I’ll go instead.”

  The worry on Lin’s face doubled. “I can’t ask you to do that. You have Ava to think about.”

  “You didn’t ask me; I volunteered,” John said without hesitation. “Besides, it’s only for the day.”

  John’s words did little to lessen the concern etched on Lin’s face.

  “But if I’m heading out later, I need to let Ava know,” John said as he turned toward the exit. When he reached the door, he paused and turned to face Lin.

  “Oh, I almost forgot. I’ve been thinking more about the preacher, Ezzard Mack, and the krokodil junkie who seemed to be invisible to the revs. I’d like to sit down and get your thoughts about that when I get back.”

  “Sure thing, John. I’ve done a little work with that idea,” Lin said with a genuine smile.

  Lin recalled the conversation she’d had with John about the two unusual individuals he’d encountered. The first was Reverend Ezzard Mack, who’d helped John’s group escape from an infected horde by showing them an old Underground Railroad tunnel. The old man had told them he suffered from a rare biochemical disorder that caused his body to emit a foul odor, and they’d witnessed him moving through the infected without being harmed. The second was a man they’d nicknamed the Pied Piper due to the fact that he seemed to be leading a horde of revs when they’d first spotted him. John said that unlike Ezzard, the Piper’s body had shown evidence of significant tissue damage that’d made him difficult to differentiate from the revs following him. While his ability to go virtually unrecognized by the revs was equally mysterious, they’d discovered that his body’s physical damage had been caused by the use of a homebrewed narcotic called krokodil. Although they had no clue what it might be, they wondered what, if anything, the two men had in common—something that served as an invisibility cloak against the infected.

  4

  “Damn, these things are heavy,” Reams grumbled, as he hefted the large case into the back of the vehicle.

  He and John had left the CDC on a scavenging mission earlier that day, along with Sgt. Garza, Cujo, Plant, and Animal. They were all well aware of the danger they put themselves in every time they ventured away from the relative safety of the CDC’s walls, but some things were worth the risk. Dr. San’s requests were always given top priority. Unfortunately, when they reached their destination, they didn’t find what they had hoped to.

  “Son-of-a-bitch! What the hell are we going to do now?” Garza growled. He stared through the Bearcat’s windshield at the scorched shell of a building that had once been the chemical supply warehouse they’d hoped would contain everything on Lin’s list.

  With no ideas forthcoming, Garza turned the big truck around and started back toward the CDC. While they were glad not to face the danger that came with venturing outside their little safe haven, that consolation was offset by the fact they were going home empty-handed. They all knew that without Dr. San’s supplies, they would be no closer to seeing an end to the LNV plague. Crestfallen and lost in their individual thoughts, they watched the passing desolation through the window. All of a sudden, John broke the silence that hung thickly in the air.

  “Garza! Stop the truck!”

  Garza slammed on the brakes in alarm. “What is it, John? What’s the matter?”

  “Sorry—nothing. I just got an idea. Reams, will you cover me? I need to go out and get something,” John said as he stood and moved to the rear of the truck.

  “Sure, John. You going out for a latte or something?” Reams asked, nodding toward the smashed and looted Starbucks he saw through the window.

  “Close, though all that milk would just go straight to my hips,” John quipped as he hopped down onto the broken pavement. He did a quick visual sweep of the area and saw no infected. Nodding at Reams, he crept toward the demolished Starbucks. When he reached the front of the building, he stopped at the pay phone that stood like a tombstone in front of the former coffee shop. Reams watched with bewilderment and muttered, “What the hell is he doing now? Ordering a pizza?”

  When John turned around with the thick phone book in hand, Reams suddenly understood. “I didn’t know people still used pay phones, much less phonebooks,” the big man said.

  From behind him, he heard Animal say, “What the f—” just as John exclaimed, “Got it.”

  While John was heading back to the Bearcat, Animal was heading away in the opposite direction. Turning toward the woman, Reams asked in confusion, “Now where are you going?” She kept walking, neither replying nor acknowledging she’d even heard him.

  Plant stared past her into the distance and said, “What’s going on over there? We should probably go with her to check it out.” Although Reams couldn’t see what had captured her attention, he had every intention of following her. Reams, Plant, and John set out after Animal, leaving Garza and Cujo with the Bearcat.

  When they finally caught up to her, Animal stood outside a large shipping container, which sat in the middle of a vacant parking lot. The side door’s rusty hinges groaned loudly as she pulled it open. She stared into the enclosed space created by the four shipping containers that had been arranged in a square. The air was heavy with the coppery scent of blood and the fetid odor of decay.

  John peered over Animal’s shoulder and saw at least a dozen mutilated bodies inside. They didn’t look like revs that had simply been put down, but rather they looked to have been tortured—almost as if someone had been experimenting with them. Several lengths of chain with shackles attached to the ends were anchored to one of the walls. Aside from the light shining in through its open roof, the enclosure reminded John of a medieval dungeon. Before he could divert his gaze, his stomach took over, causing him to vomit forcefully.

  “Hey guys, check this shit out,” Plant said, his voice echoing as though far away. Plant stood at the open end of one of the empty containers. When Animal asked where he was, her voice resonated through the space, sounding as clear as if she were standing directly in front of him. It was dark inside despite the light filtering in through the open doors on the far end, which were affixed to those of the adjacent container. The only way forward was straight into the next container. Plant noticed a black rectangular box with wires protruding from it located at the opposite end of the container. Intrigued, he stepped inside.

  While his first heavy footstep echoed inside the empty metal container, the second was drowned out by the booming voice of a man beckoning him forward. The voice sounded garbled, drunk, and frankly evil, spewing all manner of profanity and derogations directed at the infected as a bright light flashed near the black box. Just as abruptly, the container fell dark and silent about fifteen seconds later. As his vision b
egan to clear, he glanced around tentatively as though waiting for something to jump out and grab him. When nothing did, he said, “Well, that was messed up.”

  Plant looked down and noticed a welcome mat with wires conspicuously poking out from under it. Kicking the mat to the side, he crouched to examine the pressure switch hidden underneath it. Now more intrigued than ever, he followed the wires to the other end of the container where they ended at a very crude circuit. Some of the components had been soldered, while others were simply twisted together. Several more wires connected the circuit to a small strobe light and a handheld digital tape recorder that was plugged into the speaker he’d seen from the entrance.

  Inside the adjacent container, Plant found a similar set up that he began to suspect was designed to draw the infected farther inside. While the first mat had been a black rubber industrial affair that was hard to see, this one was a brown coir mat with the words Welcome Bitches stenciled on it. Eyeing the floor mat conspiratorially, Plant said, “Oh, why not?”

  A second strobe light and a recording of the same creepy voice were triggered as soon as he put weight on the mat. Although the words were different, the message and the delivery were the essentially the same. Once again, everything fell dark and silent fifteen seconds later. Plant was not surprised to find a mat and a pressure switch at the mouth of the third container, but this time the speaker and light were located outside the side door in the enclosed space between the containers.

  John and Reams followed behind Plant, though neither of them stepped on the mats. When they came up alongside him, John asked, “What the hell is this place? Do you think someone is trying to round up the infected to reclaim the area or something?”

  None of them knew the answer to that question.

  Standing approximately eight feet tall, all but the top foot of the walls inside the enclosure were smeared with a rusty brown color as if they’d been painted with a rag. John thought the setup appeared to be designed to corral the infected into the grisly courtyard in the center. Although they’d captured revs for Dr. San’s experiments, he couldn’t fathom why anyone else would want to do such a thing. As he stepped inside, he lost his footing and nearly fell to the gore-slick pavement.