Miasma (The Redivivus Trilogy Book 3) Read online

  Bayani took advantage of the early morning fog and the last few shadows remaining in the predawn light. He headed west for roughly 500 yards before turning due north and doubling back to the east. An abandoned four-story building stood roughly 200 yards from the soldier’s makeshift camp outside the trailer. All the windows were shattered, making any of them a potential location for a sniper’s hide. He watched for any sign of movement inside the building. After nearly thirty minutes, he decided that the shooter had either moved on or hadn’t used this location. Just as he was about to step out of cover, however, he caught sight of a brief glint of light inside the corner room on the third floor.

  “I got you now,” Bayani murmured.

  Moving slowly to avoid drawing the attention of whoever was inside, Bayani crawled through the underbrush until the window was out of sight. He pressed against the wall and crept to the rear of the building. As he rounded the corner, he ran directly into two of the infected. The closest of them was a particularly decrepit thing that looked like it might topple over at any moment. Its skeletal claw locked onto Bayani’s vest.

  Bayani jumped back immediately. He felt a slight give before falling on his ass. Expecting the monster to collapse on top of him, he began backpedalling. Instead, the monster appeared to collide with some invisible wall that prevented it from reaching him. Not wasting a second, Bayani brought his ginunting up in a wide arc that decapitated the rotten thing. The other creature turned toward the commotion, and Bayani saw that it was missing both of its eyes. It, too, seemed unable to reach him. He cleaved its skull with a sharp downward slash.

  Bayani scanned the area to ensure there were no other threats as he took a moment to catch his breath. When he looked at the infected he’d slain, he was surprised to see that each had a tether about its waist. Although he had no idea how or why that was, he realized that was the reason they hadn’t been able to reach him. Cautiously, he stepped past the bodies.

  The dim light inside the abandoned building made it difficult to discern many details about structure. It appeared to have been some kind of warehouse, as it was filled with stacks of empty wooden pallets. Faint shafts of light poured in through the windows, piercing the darkness at regular intervals like paths of enormous bullets perforating the east-facing wall. Dust motes swirled lazily in the beams, unaffected by the tension Bayani felt in the air. Sticking to the shadows, he slid along the wall, silently searching for the stairs. The floor was a minefield of debris, making every footfall a potential alarm.

  When he reached the staircase, Bayani found that the door had been propped open. The concrete stairs made no sound as he ascended the first flight. He paused on the second floor landing and heard nothing that warned of danger. Based on the staircase’s location, he imagined that the window in which he’d seen the flash of light was near the top of the next flight of stairs. About half way up, he heard a metallic clang like that of a buckle scraping against the concrete floor. He paused once again, training his sidearm on the doorway at the top of the stairs. After a minute passed during which he heard no further sound, he continued up the stairs.

  Despite not seeing or hearing anything in particular, Bayani sensed that someone was there. He edged closer to the corner room’s doorway, which was less than five yards to the left of the stairwell. What he saw when he peered around the corner made his blood run cold. One of the infected stood just inside the doorway. Beyond the monster, he saw the outline of a man lying prone on a couple of stacks of pallets, which raised him to the height of the window. With all of his attention focused out the window, the sniper seemed completely unaware of the thing that was surely about to end his life.

  Several thoughts raced through Bayani’s confused mind as he struggled to process the situation. Why hasn’t the monster already killed him? What is it waiting for? Something else troubled Bayani: why hadn’t the sniper killed him? From his vantage, he would’ve been able to see him as he investigated the trailer.

  Given the monster’s proximity to the unsuspecting man, Bayani didn’t expect that the sniper was long for this world. After nearly thirty seconds passed with nothing except the thing’s muffled moans, Bayani had a realization. That thing must be tethered as well. He must be using the infected like a security detail.

  With startling speed, Bayani rushed into the small room. The ginunting whirred through the air before its razor-sharp edge bit deeply into the back of the thing’s neck with a dull thwack. Propelled by the force of the blow, dark blood splattered against the floor as the blade pulled through. The monster crumpled into a heap on the floor as though it had simply been switched off. Bayani brought the blade around and had it pressed against the shooter’s throat before he ever knew Bayani was there.

  “Nice and easy, comrade,” Bayani said, “Move your hands away from your weapon.”

  Bayani noticed that much of the man’s gear appeared to be U.S. military issue, a fact that confused and angered him. His first thought was that he should kill the traitorous dog that had slaughtered his own brothers, but he didn’t immediately act upon that inclination.

  Without flinching, the shooter complied, placing his hands out in front of him. He was surprisingly calm, as if he’d been expecting Bayani all along. Having seen many tough men bawl like babies when they found themselves on the wrong end of a Filipino blade, Bayani was impressed by the man’s valor. It was almost certainly the result of combat experience, or at least significant military training, he thought. What he couldn’t figure out was why he would’ve taken out Inman’s men if he was military himself. Before he could ask, the shooter spoke.

  “Would you mind if I sat up? I was just about to pack up when I saw you out there. I’ve been lying here for hours,” he said calmly.

  The man’s question caught Bayani off guard. So he did see me, and he didn’t shoot. He gave no verbal response, but instead relaxed the pressure of the blade he held against the man’s neck.

  Accepting the gesture as an affirmative answer, the shooter turned and sat up slowly, being careful to keep his hands in plain view. For his part, the man was impressed that Bayani had managed to sneak up on him so easily. Judging from the way the soldier carried himself, it was clear that he was well trained. While he was in uniform, it wasn’t one issued by the United States military, which was a definite plus in his eyes. The shooter realized the man could be quite an asset if he could convince the soldier to join him.

  “Thank you, brother. My back was beginning to ache something fierce.” Motioning toward his canteen, he added, “Care for some water?”

  When Bayani didn’t reply, he asked, “Would you mind if I took a pull? I’m thirstier than a desert rat.”

  Bayani eyed him suspiciously. Again, he answered by retracting his sword slightly. The shooter took his canteen and drank greedily. The razor-sharp ginunting nearly shaved the skin of the man’s neck as his Adam’s apple bobbed with each swallow. Finally, Bayani spoke.

  “Why did you kill those soldiers?” he asked, “Are you not in the same military?”

  At this, the man stopped drinking abruptly and fixed Bayani with an icy glare. It felt as if the temperature in the room dropped several degrees in that instant. The shooter’s teeth gritted audibly before he answered.

  “My military?” he said incredulously, “Those soldiers were part of a corrupt and unjust organization. They were opportunistic parasites.”

  Bayani was surprised by the anger in the man’s words. Having spent many years in the military, he found it difficult to fathom turning on his fellow soldiers until he thought of Corporal Inman and the rapist. They weren’t like other soldiers he’d known. They weren’t guided by honor and loyalty. Although he hadn’t considered what he was going to do when he caught up with the soldiers, he harbored no delusions that it would’ve been a pleasant exchange. If he were honest with himself, the image he conjured in his mind was virtually identical to what he had discovered outside the trailer. The only difference was that his means to the end would’ve
been cold steel rather than lead slugs. This realization gave him pause, and he wondered if it was he or Corporal Inman who had veered off course. Perhaps they both had.

  Being an astute observer, the shooter picked up on the fleeting doubt that passed through Bayani’s eyes. In its wake was a faraway look accompanied by a subtle, yet unmistakable, change in body language. Sensing an opening and having nothing to lose, the shooter decided to go out on a limb.

  In a low growl, the shooter continued, “I did what needed to be done, and those men got better than they deserved. They were a disgrace, and they didn’t deserve to go on living. I watched the way they acted. They were no different than the rest. You want to know why I killed them? Because they needed killing.”

  Bayani found himself nodding in agreement.

  When the blade finally fell away from his neck, the shooter knew he had the soldier. He flashed an odd smile before telling Bayani the entire story of why he harbored such animosity toward the U.S. military.

  When he finished, he added, “My name’s Connor, by the way. Connor Roan.”

  Bayani, who had been speechless as he listened to Connor’s diatribe, finally spoke. “Clever use of the infected, Connor Roan. You are like a puppet master.”

  “A puppet master? I like that,” Connor replied with a self-satisfied grin.

  Having bought all the rhetoric hook, line, and sinker, Bayani was a card-carrying captain in Connor’s new army from that moment on.

  7

  Mother and Stack ushered Garza and his team inside the building. Garza noticed the look Stack exchanged with Cujo. It was laced with relief and desire, and for once, she hadn’t greeted him with a smart remark.

  “What the hell is going on out there, Garza?” Mother asked.

  “I’m not sure, Colonel. From what the guys tell me, it was pretty messed up,” Garza replied. “Let’s get everyone inside, and the rest of the team can fill you in on the details.”

  Once all of the crates were unloaded and everyone was assembled, John and Garza briefed Mother, Montes, and L.T. on the mission. Reams, Plant, and Animal provided additional details when necessary. Dr. San took the news of the supply warehouse’s destruction hard, as it meant she didn’t have what she needed for her next round of experiments. John reassured her that he’d identified several other potential supply locations when he’d acquired the phone book on their return trip. They were already discussing the details of their next expedition outside the wall.

  The military personnel, on the other hand, absolutely beamed when they looked through the crates’ contents. Months of isolation without resupply meant that the soldiers’ weapons and equipment cache was growing noticeably thin. The additional weapons, ammunition, and tactical gear were desperately needed and would put them in good shape for at least another couple of months. L.T. grilled Animal about what she’d encountered inside the building that housed the supplies. The details she provided were so horrific that many in attendance recalled some pressing matter that needed their immediate attention so they wouldn’t have to listen to any more. Lin stayed despite the sickly look on her face that indicated it was the last thing she wanted to do. Noticing her discomfort, John pulled her aside.

  “Lin, I’m sorry we didn’t get what you needed,” John said.

  After hearing Animal’s description of what they’d experienced, Lin couldn’t believe he was apologizing to her. He was the one that had gone into that house of horrors. If anyone should be sorry, it was she. After all, she was the reason they’d gone out in the first place.

  Not being privy to her inner monologue, John continued, “As soon as we figure out what’s going on out there, we’ll head out and search the other locations. We have a few good leads, and Garza and the others are up for it.”

  Again, Lin could hardly believe her ears. The only people left that meant anything to her had just faced the most wretched and depraved evil she could imagine, and they were already planning on going back for more. She opened her mouth to protest, but the rational part of her brain intervened—the part that had made her travel to the U.S. in the first place. She didn’t want her friends to further endanger themselves, but she knew that was selfish. It wasn’t about her. It wasn’t about any one of them. LNV superseded the individual, and none of their lives were worth anything if the plague’s reign of terror couldn’t be stopped. She stood there, mouth agape, looking like a fish out of water.

  Meanwhile, the others seemed content to ignore the elephant in the room. Judging by the concern etched on each of their faces, however, its presence wasn’t lost on any of them. The fact that someone had amassed such a powerful arsenal was significant, though understandable given the apocalypse all around them. That it had been placed under the guard of a maimed and mutilated platoon of revs was even more concerning.

  While no one at the CDC would think twice about putting down a rev when necessary, they all recognized that the infected were once human. Having seen countless loved ones fall victim to LNV, it wasn’t too hard to keep this in perspective. The real enemy was the virus, not the host. Accordingly, any time they killed a rev, it was out of necessity—them or us. There was never any torture or disrespect such as that described by Animal and the scavenging team. The revs guarding the building seemed to be clear evidence that someone was attempting to militarize the infected to create something of a revenant army. Such a plan pointed to a dangerous psychopathology that left them worrying about its implications for their future.

  Although the infected guards represented the most deranged examples, they weren’t the first revs they’d seen exploited by the uninfected. While on patrol the previous week, Stack and Rooster encountered a group of revs chained together and stretched across a road. Three rows deep and numbering nearly fifty in total, the revs formed a formidable barricade. At the time the two soldiers thought it might have been someone’s way of trying to contain the revs. The infected roadblock forced them to detour, thus preventing them from searching several buildings in the area. In light of what Animal and the others described, they wondered if the same individuals had placed the revs there for a specific strategic purpose. Every new detail left more troubling questions in its wake.

  “Something tells me we’re going to be needing these supplies sooner rather than later. None of this shit sits well with me,” L.T. said.

  “I agree,” Mother replied. Turning to his men, he said, “Garza—you and your team rest up, you guys may need to go out again soon. Judge—make sure nobody gets within a mile of the wall. Stack and Rooster—make an inventory list of those supplies. Everybody clear?”

  As everyone dispersed, Mother joined L.T. and General Montes, who both appeared ten years older due to the concern etched on their faces.

  “This looks bad, Lieutenant,” General Montes said.

  L.T. pressed his thumb and index finger against the bridge of his nose and nodded. He, too, understood that corralling so many infected would require a large, organized group of individuals. A cursory look at the supply crates the scavenger team had obtained left no doubt that whoever was behind these actions possessed enough firepower to pose a legitimate threat to the group at the CDC. Given that many of the items were U.S. military issue, he wondered if they might be dealing with a rogue unit. Having no idea of the group’s numbers and training only compounded his already considerable worry.

  “We need intel. We have no clue who is operating out there or what they’re up to. We don’t even know for certain that their intentions are bad,” L.T. said.

  While that was true, none of them harbored any delusions that the responsible party’s intentions were anything but bad given the level of depravity they’d seen. Visions of a former military commander driven insane by the post-LNV world came to mind, like a real life iteration of Apocalypse Now’s Colonel Kurtz.

  “Garza and the scavenging team are resting up. They want to head back out to check the other locations for Dr. San’s supplies as soon as possible. I suppose we can task them with
gathering intel as well,” Mother replied.

  L.T. considered this thoughtfully. They huddled around a map of the city marked with the locations of the buildings the scavenging team intended to search, as well as those of the weapons cache and the rev barricade they’d encountered previously. Although one of the alternative warehouses wasn’t far from the latter two positions, he worried that sending a team of men in an armored vehicle would be too high profile. He needed something quiet, something subtle. What he needed was a recon platoon.

  “Too risky. We need those men to focus on acquiring Dr. San’s supplies. Plus, if whoever is out there is halfway professional, they’ll spot the Bearcat coming a mile away,” L.T. said.

  “Good point,” Mother agreed. “What are our other options?”

  General Montes cleared his throat and said, “Garza—I’ve seen how he handles himself out there. I think he may be your man.”

  The other two men nodded in unison. Garza had led the scavenging team to look for the supplies, and he intended to do so again as soon as the team was rested. Although he was the newest addition to the small band of soldiers, Mother already relied heavily on his skills. Given that Montes had ushered Dr. San to the CDC with Garza’s help, the old General knew what he was talking about.

  L.T. looked to Mother and asked, “Any objections?”

  “No, sir. Garza is a fine soldier, but we can’t send him out alone on foot,” Mother said.

  “Agreed. We’ll send a two-man recon team. Ask him who he wants to go with him,” L.T. replied.

  Just then, Stack approached with a worried expression on his face.

  “What’s on your mind, soldier?” L.T. asked.

  “Sir, I’ve finished inventorying the weapon cache,” Stack said, waving the list before them as proof of his statement.