“Shh! Skeeter! Stop!” Buck tried to pull at her arms. “Skeeter!” he yelled. “We’re safe!”
She shook and continued to push away from him, convinced he was a zombie until she actually opened her eyes and stared around the clearing. “Safe?” she choked.
“If you’ll stop screaming, yeah,” he whispered. Fisher snorted and moved a bit, rolling slightly onto his good arm, then resumed his sleep. “If your screaming didn’t call the Army or any more of the zombies, then yeah. We’re safe,” Buck whispered.
Skeeter was still shaking, but she nodded, choking back the bile that had risen in her throat. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I thought we were dead.”
Buck shook his head. “You’re tougher than that,” he said. “I’ve seen you—”
“I can’t,” she whispered. “I’m too tired, Buck.” She met his eyes, and she suddenly looked much older than the ripe old age of fourteen. “This night has just taken too much from me.”
Buck stroked her hair and pulled her close for a hug. “I understand. But it’s over,” he said, glancing back at the body. “For now.”
She nodded, and he heard her sniffling as she turned her head. “I don’t know how much more I can take.”
“Hopefully, Daniel and the others will get this over with quickly.”
He heard the buzz of activity through the dense thicket of trees slowly die down in pitch and replayed in his mind what he had witnessed before he had been called back. The soldiers leading the people out of the transport. The people in white suits scurrying about so hurriedly. The semi-trailer seemed to be the center of attention, and Buck couldn’t grasp what could possibly be going on that there should be so much hurried activity surrounding what he’d seen. Whatever it was, it must have been important.
Captain Andrews directed personnel as they prepared for the incoming delivery of breathing specimens. Apparently Major Chappell made good on his request to bring in viable subjects. Captain Andrews was nearly giddy with anticipation as he had his people prepare the trailer. The air conditioning units had been turned as low as they could go in hopes of slowing the progression of the virus as it ravaged the test subjects he had waiting.
Captain Andrews stepped into the trailer and walked to the back. He opened the thin door and entered the holding cell area. A young woman and a sheriff’s deputy both sat in cells on opposite sides of the short hallway. Both wore zip tie cuffs behind their backs, securing them to the stainless-steel bar mounted securely to the bench that was bolted to the floor.
“Well, it seems that your wait won’t be much longer,” Captain Andrews addressed them both without looking at either of them. “Very soon, we’ll have fresh carriers here so that we can extract the samples I need and then we can observe nature first hand.” He turned to leave, but paused, his back to them both as they struggled against the gags in their mouths to scream for help. “Your service to your country is appreciated,” his voice dripped with sarcasm.
Andrews stepped with purpose to the end of the trailer and exited the steel door, leaving both the man and woman to stare at each other. The deputy continued to struggle with his bindings, but simply could not free his hands. Eventually his shoulders went slack and his head dropped.
The woman continued to struggle with hers. She could feel the sharp edge of the flex cuffs biting into her soft flesh, but still she struggled. Somehow, she knew if she didn’t, this would be the end for them both. She pulled at the plastic restraints until she felt the warm blood running down her hands and she bit at the gag in her mouth to keep from screaming. She refused to go out like this.
Both of them looked up when they heard the big diesel motor pull up alongside the trailer and the deputy stiffened. He had no idea if the military had brought more of his brothers in blue to incarcerate here with him, or if there were civilians to be held against their will, but the idea had him livid. He began struggling against the cuffs again with renewed vigor. The smooth steel tube the cuffs were wrapped around had no sharp edges to catch on and simply slid either way as he tugged and pulled. There was nothing for the plastic to catch on and possibly chip away with, yet he continued.
Outside, the activity commenced as soldiers ran to meet the transport, long steel poles in hand. Men in white HAZMAT suits stepped out of the white tent and began directing them as they came to the rear of the transport and another soldier connected two poles to the leather collars at the necks of the infected individuals, then unchained them from the rear side panel of the truck. As the soldier stepped back, the two soldiers with the poles pulled and directed the infected toward the trailer.
A white-suited man entered and walked ahead of the infected individual. He strode to the far side where the cells were and opened the rear cell. He made sure to hold the door open with the bars in front of him, even though the infected individual was bound, hand and foot. As the soldiers escorted the individual in, the infected still lunged for the white-suited man and snapped his teeth at him, causing him to jump farther back. The soldiers pushed him deeper into the cell and chained the collar to the rear wall, effectively limiting the infected’s movements to about six inches from the rear wall of the cell.
Both the deputy and the young woman stared in horrified fascination as the soldiers led two more infected in and chained them to the rear walls of the adjoining cells, then departed. Captain Andrews stepped in afterward and studied the situation. Nodding his head and smiling, he patted the bars of the cells.
“Very
