“No.”
“He’s here. And it’s not good. I don’t know what he was told, or believed before it all went down, but while you guys slept in your ice beds, the world blamed him as the one that started the plague. He emerges, tells people he was frozen, the world now has someone to punish for the virus.”
“That’s what’s happening?”
“I think so. They went into lockdown. There are riots. I just wanted you to know you’re my neighbor, ok?”
“Yeah.”
“I gotta go.” Trey placed his hand on his father’s leg. “I’ll be back, Don.” He smiled.
“I’ll be here.”
Trey turned.
“Trey?” His father called out. “Anything else I should know, in case they ask?”
“You make valves for the machines that process the corn oil. That’s it. You live alone. Kind of a hermit. Haven’t been in Salvation since they opened the walls.”
“Got it.”
Trey conveyed another smile, walked to the door and opened it.
To his surprise two Salvation Command guards stood there wearing not only their black combat uniforms, but cloth facemasks as well.
“Trey Lowe?” One spoke. “I’m Lieutenant Landstrom of SalCom. Do you have a second?”
Nervously, Trey replied. “Yes.”
Landstrom reached back and closed the door.
“What’s going on?” Trey asked.
“How well do you know Mr. Stanton in there?”
Trey had to think fast. Just on the outside chance they looked at the picture ID of Don Stanton. He replied, “Not very. We’ve never really spoken. He delivers his parts to Mr. Diaz. He lives three farms over.”
“How did you come to bring him here?”
“He showed up at my house extremely sick.”
“With his ID?” Landstrom asked.
“Yes, I guess, he was injured.” Trey said. “Am I in trouble for bringing him?”
“No. Sir, are you aware that the former president has arrived and claims to have been in a cryogenic stasis during the past thirty years?”
Trey nervously laughed. “For real?”
“Very much so. He also claims several others survived with him. We believe that man in there is one of those people.”
Trey didn’t reply.
“We came to ask for your help in finding out who he really is.”
“Absolutely,” Trey said.
“Thank you. But first, we need you to come to quarantine.”
“What? Why?”
“We have reason to believe,” Landstrom said. “He may be highly contagious.”
THREE – EMERGE
Malcolm felt better. He was groggy during his talk with Trey, but once the fog cleared from his head, he felt stronger. The fever that beat him down was gone.
He listened to the voices outside of the room. Trey spoke to someone. Malcolm couldn’t make out the words. He sensed it wasn’t good, especially after the news Trey delivered. He guessed it wouldn’t be long before someone came into his room. If Trey was covering up Malcolm’s identity, surely it wasn’t a doctor going over Malcolm’s condition with him.
His arm was attached via tubing to an intravenous bag, but other than that Malcolm was mobile and he wanted to take advantage of that. He missed the entrance into Salvation. More than anything he was curious about the world set behind a wall.
What type of city was it thirty years in the future? Nothing in the room was ‘futuristic’. Of course, Malcolm learned from the Back To The Future movies that thirty years was a mere blip. There was a chance technology wasn’t zooming ahead. He remembered seeing the movies and waiting for all the cool stuff that the movies predicted. In a sense, a lot was accurate, but on a smaller scale.
Still alone in the room, voices outside continuing, Malcolm removed the sheet, swung his legs over the bed and stood.
The window was close and Malcolm wanted to look out.
He wanted to see, at least a part of, Salvation.
He parted the blinds ever so slightly, like a nosey neighbor trying not to be seen. What Malcolm did see surprised him. He wasn’t many floors up, maybe three or four and his view was stilted. There were no cars, no exterior motor noise, very few people walked the streets. He didn’t know what city he was in, but it looked to Malcolm like a small town. Those structures still remained, almost like a relic or museum. Beyond the original buildings were multitudes of the same gray building. All four stories high, all square, plain. They were simplistically constructed. Those, Malcolm imagined, were erected in the preparation years and more were added as population grew.
It was all speculation from what he saw, which wasn’t very much. It was all very old fashioned, yet futuristic.
He turned with a jolt when his door opened and a man in biohazard gear entered the room.
“We are going to need you to step back and into bed please.” He said.
“Everything okay?” Malcolm asked.
“Please return to your bed.”
Not one to disobey orders, especially since he was the ‘alien’ in the new foreign world, Malcolm retreated to his bed. Once he sat upon it, the man signaled at the door. Four more people entered, all dressed the same in protective gear.
They moved quickly, sealing the windows with plastic, covering everything including vents. Around his bed, they erected a tent. While doing so, no one spoke to him.
Malcolm didn’t need to be a scientist or doctor to realize he was being placed in some sort of quarantine. But why?
He only knew that whatever the reason, it wasn’t going to play out well.
His heart sunk and he cursed the injury that brought him there. Something in his gut said that for him it was going to be far from Salvation.
Rusty made John and Meredith a care package. Not that he wasn’t escorting them to Wrecker land to find their buggy, he was. But he knew they weren’t coming back with him. That’s what he told them.
“That’s big,” John commented when Rusty showed him the old duffel bag as he loaded it in the back of the cart.
“Ain’t all,” Rusty lifted a box. “Made you a humdinger of a care package.”
“Is that so,” John said.
“We really appreciate it,” Meredith added.
“I know you two have your stuff. But this is good stuff. Important. Things you’ll need.” Rusty opened the bag and box some, then indicated that aside from the revolver size crossbow, which John likened to an old nerf gun dart shooter, he gave them marijuana and moonshine. “Won’t get stuff like this anywhere,” He lifted the jug. “Best this side of the straits of the Waste.”
“Straits of the Waste,” John repeated. “Obviously referring to the post nuclear wasteland.”
“You got it.” Rusty winked.
The horse drawn buggy ride was bumpy and long. John wondered how he never woke up even briefly after his attack. It was a different view of everything, especially with Rusty giving the narration of each step.
“All this here,” Rusty pointed out. “Was a mall. The mall then became a medical camp. After that, it was tore down. Yep. I can remember as a boy coming here and stealing food.”
Meredith said, “it had to be difficult for you.”
“We did what we could. Houses used to be closer. There used to be grocery stores. I think the only thing that is better is pockets of humanity.”
“What do you mean?” John asked. “You’re talking about those who survived?’
“No, those who survived and are good people. They kept their humanity. Neighbors help neighbors now. Not a lot of hate.”
“That’s one good thing,” Meredith said.
They moved along for a bit further until Rusty pointed out and announced, “This is where I found you.”