How were they doing it? It was the middle of the day, didn’t Rusty say they couldn’t see in the sun? Clearly something was different between the Wreckers that attacked them and the ones at the camp.
It was actually more than a camp.
They made their homes out of pieces of old cars, remaining structures, and trees. They weren’t small structures and they were creative. The homes were in a circle, outside laundry hung to dry, along with food being smoked.
John could smell the food, it was pleasing and he hoped it wasn’t human meat.
One thing was missing.
Wreckers.
There were a few but not as many as there were homes. Where were they?
Wrecker woman from the road led them to a building. By the colors and letters John knew it was formally a Subway sandwich shop. The building was partially buried and after they walked through a curtain, they had to step down to get in
His first thought upon stepping in was that the Wreckers were indeed creative. The woman could not have been all that old; she was obviously born post-nuclear war. It was apparent by her disfigurement. One that was shared by all of them. They all had the same features, it was something that happened genetically.
The floor of the home was the original Subway tile, and it was clean. Animal skin rugs graced the floor.
John couldn’t help looking around at the home. He was impressed. They were civilized.
Placing her hand to her own chest, Meredith spoke to the woman. “Meredith. Name. Meredith,” She then grabbed John’s hand and pointed to him. “John.”
Just as he was about to say they weren’t getting it, the woman responded. “Ana.” She patted her chest, then coughed, shook her head and said it again, “Ana.” She pointed to the male that was on the road with her. “Lun.”
“Ana. Lun.” Meredith nodded in greeting, then indicated to the child. “Him?”
“Bada.”
“Ana.” Meredith showed her the medical bag and opened it. “I am going to try to help Bada. Understand? I am not a doctor.”
Ana nodded, she coughed again,
John cleared his throat. “Looks like she’ll be needing help soon.” As soon as he said it, Lun coughed. “Oh boy.”
After holding up a finger to Ana, Meredith pulled John to the side and whispered. “What is going on?”
“Why are you whispering? They can’t understand you.”
“I know. Habit. John, you don’t think this is the virus, do you?”
John shook his head. “No, absolutely, one hundred percent not.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I have to. Rusty said the virus was dormant for ten years. Ten years after it had hit every single season. If this is the virus, then I think it’s more than a coincidence that it has revived about the same time as us.”
“Even if we did cause the virus to return. This can’t be us. How did it get way out here?”
John slowly shook his head and stopped. His eyes transfixed elsewhere.
“What?”
“MRE.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Genesis MRE. Not brown or green packaging, it is solid white.” He pointed. “There.” Sitting off to the side of the room on a shelf was an open white bag. It was clearly one of their MRE’s.
It was at that moment John believed he could have been judging the group of Wreckers all wrong. If they had the Genesis MREs, then they were the ones that attacked them.
John was torn between helping them or just getting the hell out.
SIX – SOMETHING MORE
Malcolm didn’t wear a protective suit when they removed him from his room, but they did however put him in a plastic barrier. He likened it to an old movie, Boy in a Plastic Bubble, he was like a hamster in a ball. Malcolm had to inch his way as he walked. The first few steps, he was clumsy. He wondered where they came up with the idea. Had they watched old movies? It was awkward and not nearly wide enough. The single hallway route was a journey to him. He walked and rolled himself to the end of the hall, escorted by Maggie who was wearing a hazmat suit. He had to keep backing up and turning the unit so Maggie could attach the ball to an expandable plastic corridor that was connected to another door. From there, Malcolm opened the hatch of the plastic bubble and stepped into the short extended doorway. The hamster ball sealed, keeping Malcolm in the clear corridor for a moment while it filled with a mist. When the mist cleared, Maggie signaled him to open the door and enter the room.
When he was finished, he would leave the room and go through the steps again in reverse. Malcolm didn’t need the bubble to protect him or anyone else on the way to the room. The bubble and decontamination process was needed when he emerged from visiting with former President Will Thomas.
The president, or rather Will, looked surprised when he saw Malcolm. No one had told him Malcolm was there. Will looked at him, started for a moment, and then turned away, as if he were put off by Malcolm’s presence.
“President… I mean, Will. How are you?” Malcolm asked.
Will hesitated, then looked at Malcolm. “You look familiar. Where do I know you from?”
“Cut the bull,” Malcolm said. “It’s been twelve days. Not nearly long enough for you to forget. No, wait, shorter than that, we woke up twelve days ago in Genesis.”
“Oh that’s right.”
“Oh… that’s right?” Malcolm chuckled. “You left. I mean… we thought you were dead. We almost went below to save you.”
“Then you would have been wrong.”
“We would have been dead. Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I knew when we woke up how long we had been out. Or about how long. And how was I to explain that to everyone? No, my best recourse was to keep silent and just follow my instructions, which were to locate the safe in the security office and get further instructions. My instructions were dated eight years after we went into stasis. I wasn’t certain Salvation would really be there, despite the note and directions.”
“How did you know how long we were out? Did you have a special clock?”
Will laughed. “No. I had special knowledge. The units can only sustain power for so long. So they are constructed by the basic concept of survival. Only the strong survive. After one year, in order to ensure survival of the fittest, the units of the weakest inhabitants start shutting down to convert power to the other units. Bio scans say which are the weakest. The computer system selectively shuts down one unit every hundred days or so. Three a year.”
“Except you.”
“Of course.”
“You still should have said something. You should have told us about this place.”
“Why?” Will asked. “Hmm? You’re here now. You found it. How?”
Malcolm started to explain about his son, but stopped. “I ran into an insane woman on my travels.”
Will folded his arm and nodded. “And I assume the others are here?”
“No. Just me.”
“Did they die?”
“It shouldn’t matter. Look, when we emerged we found evidence that mentioned other Genesis projects around the world. Do you know of any?”
“Of course.”
“Do you know where they are?”
“Why would I share this information with you?”
Malcolm grew irritated. He stepped to the president. “Why did you come here?”
“To survive. To live.”
“Do you know why you are in this room?”
“I assume the same as you. A precautionary quarantine.”
“Wrong,” Malcolm said. “You’re infected. I’m a link to your cure. You are a carrier of the virus that wiped out the world. You’re a dead man because… those behind these walls hate what the virus did to their world, what it took from them, deprived them of. They learned from news outlets this population control virus was your baby. They need a face of evil to conquer and you’re it. So if you know anything, this is your one shot to stop this virus from getting out again, and to possibly save your own life.” His voice was firm. “Now where are the other projects?”