The second he got out, Tigger jumped into the driver’s seat and grabbed the door, pulling it closed.
“What are you doing?” Jake asked.
“When they shoot Chris, we’re getting out of here. I got this.” Tigger’s legs didn’t even touch the floor, even though he slid all the way down. “I got this.”
His insides trembled out of control, but Chris took in a brave breath and walked toward the five men who were standing above the man he had killed. He whimpered, scared, on the verge of crying. “I’m… I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to kill him. I don’t drive. It was an accident.”
The men parted like the red sea, exposing the man, who was sitting up. A trickle of blood rolled down his forehead. He wiped it and slowly brought himself to a stand, staring at Chris.
“Aw, geeze, aw geeze. You’re big. Don’t hurt me. Please, I didn’t mean to almost kill you I swear. See? I could have ran. I didn’t. I came back. Sorry.”
The big man walked up to him. “Calm down. I’m not gonna hurt you. You’re all of what? Twelve?”
“Thirteen and a half,” Chris corrected.
“Still too young to drive, and I’m sure you were nervous.”
“I was, sir.”
“Commander Briggs,” one of the men called, “there are all kids in that car.”
“You guys alright?” Briggs asked.
“Yes. We’re just trying to make it home,” Chris answered.
Briggs walked by Chris and to the car. He opened up the driver’s door to see Tigger, who had slid all the way as far as he could on the driver’s seat. Hand on the wheel, his head barely came to the bottom of the steering wheel as he diligently tried to reach the pedals.
“What the hell are you doing, little man?” Briggs asked.
“I got this,” Tigger said, and then looked up. His eyes widened and he jumped quickly from the driver’s seat onto Jake’s lap. “I wasn’t driving. I didn’t hit you.”
“I know.”
Chris asked, “Are you okay, mister?”
“I’m fine. It takes a lot more than a Honda to kill me,” Briggs said, then held out his hand to Chris after looking at the others in the car. “Jonah Briggs, and you are?”
“Chris Hughes. That little guy is my brother Tigger. Don’t let his size fool you, he has a growing problem. And these guys, Jake and Emmie, we met at a camp. Our camp was hit by bad guys. Aw, geeze…” Chris stepped back in sudden realization. “You’re wearing uniforms too.”
“I’m not a bad guy, son. I know you don’t have a reason to believe me, but I’m not. Where’s home?”
“Lodi,” Chris replied.
“Ohio?” Briggs shifted his eyes to his men. “You’re going the wrong way.”
“We were supposed to go west.” Chris hung his head low. “We made a mistake.”
“A good mistake. There’s some trouble ahead. Chris, I want you guys to come with me, okay? I’ll explain later. I want you to come, we’ll get you fed, cleaned up and maybe try to contact Lodi to work out a way to get you back there.”
“Do we have a choice?” Chris asked.
“Not really,” Briggs said. “Trust me, it’s for your own safety.”
“We ain’t under arrest for almost killing you, are we?” Briggs shook his head. “You said you wanna clean us up. Are we that dirty?”
Briggs closed one eye and shook his head. “Nah, but…” he dropped his voice low. “You guys kinda smell.”
“Ah, geeze, those babies keep peeing their pants, that’s why.”
“You’ll have that.” Briggs placed a hand on Chris’ back. “Let’s go. Get your stuff and your gang.”
Briggs stepped to one of his men by the Humvee. “We’re gonna take these kids back to base. They were trying to get to Lodi, but since that’s not possible, head west, see what’s up. Do some reconnaissance, see what’s going on, and get back to me. And by all means, if there are a lot of them, don’t be a hero. Got it?”
The soldier nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Good luck.” Briggs stepped way. “Check in. I mean it.” He walked back to the car where Chris, Tigger, Jake and Emmie stood. He motioned his head for them to go to the jeep, then loaded them inside.
Briggs took a moment to watch the Humvee drive off, and then climbed in the jeep. He looked back at the group of kids. To him they looked scared, except the little guy. He looked completely unfazed and that made Briggs laugh. After telling them that everything was going to be all right, and hoping they believed him, they took off for Damon.
Las Vegas, NV
At a knock on her door at the crack of dawn, Lexi was greeted by Matt telling her that Palmer had taken a turn for the worst.
She gathered her bearings, got dressed, and went to see the man who was two doors down from Matt’s mother. He had definitely gotten worse. His lungs had filled up even more and he wasn’t responding to the antibiotics.
Matt’s mother was the same, no improvement, and Charlie the slot machine guy didn’t take his morning post at the video machines.
It was a tough strain of pneumonia, and though Lexi attributed it to remnants of the flu, she had to wonder if the deadly flu made the particular strain combative. Pneumonia after a bad case of flu was not uncommon, but this strain was stubborn.
It only reiterated to her that she needed to head to the medical center. While she was certain the flu epidemic had probably wiped out the hospital pharmacy, she was confident that other areas of the hospital would still have supplies.
It was a search and seize. She sent Bill with two of Matt's men to neighboring towns and communities to search for supplies. Bill knew what to get: intravenous supplies, antibiotics, chest tubes, suction devices.
She and Matt hit the hospital. A temporary fence was set up around the medical center with huge hand painted signs reading ‘Closed’. The front area was filled with cots and tents and Lexi could only imagine what was inside. The bodies inside were baked in the sun like some old fashioned means of dehydration. Leathery, prune like arms extended from beneath blankets. Exposed faces were tanned and the eye sockets, cheekbones, and the areas under the necks were sunken in. Not one exposed body contained eyeballs. They had either popped out on their own or were carried away by one of the thousands of birds that seemed to take over Las Vegas after the epidemic.
The avian population survived the flu; they were the impervious and the dominant species in numbers now.
Lexi devised a search plan with Matt, and just as she was about to step into the hospital, she heard the ringing of her phone. At first she thought it was Bill until she looked down.
Henry Wilson.
She gasped out loud, asked Matt to wait, and answered her phone. Henry Wilson was the foremost authority on viruses. While Lexi was certain she knew what she was dealing with, it never hurt to get advice from a genius on the matter.
“Oh, thank God.” Lexi said, then answered the phone. “Henry?”
“I got your text,” Henry said.
“Henry, it is so good to hear your voice.”
“You, too, Lexi, you too.”
“Are you still in Lodi? Last I heard that’s where you and Kirk were headed.”
“We are. We made a home there,” Henry answered. “Where are you?”
“You’re not going to believe this,” Lexi said. “We’re in Vegas.”
Henry laughed. “Getting in some gambling?”
“In a sense. It’s weird. A lot of people — more than you would think — are on a pilgrimage east. Life’s pretty dead and dry out this way.”
“Well, it was first hit, least prepared. Why Vegas?”
“It’s a major junction. A stop through. People on their way east stop here, rest, get supplies and move on. Just this morning, ten came in. They’re headed to a place in New York. Do you know anything about it?”