Riposte (The Redivivus Trilogy Book 2) (44 page)

Only then did Lydia realize what the woman intended to do with the thing that resembled a small boat anchor. “Who
are
you guys?” Lydia asked with genuine awe.

Without answering, Animal began swinging the grappling hook in a slow circular motion, keeping her eyes trained on the top of the wall in front of her. Just as the hook finished its upward arc, she let it go and sent it sailing over the concrete barricade. She pulled it back carefully, as though she had a huge fish on the line and was trying to coerce the hook in a little deeper. When she felt it catch, she gave it a solid tug and was on top of the wall in a flash.

Seeing that the closest of the infected was still at least thirty yards away, Plant tied a few knots in the rope and helped Ava, Annalee, and Lydia up the wall. As she climbed, Lydia heard the terrible sounds of Plant dispatching the first of the infected below her. No sooner than she reached the top, Plant was halfway up the rope behind her.

Dropping to the ground just inside the barricade, they paused to take in the eerie quiet surrounding the buildings. When they did not see or hear a single soul, each of them worried that everything they had gone through to get to the CDC had been for nothing.

Before anyone voiced his or her concern, however, Animal crouched to the ground, and said, “It looks like someone has been here. The grass is trampled and worn in a discrete path, not randomly like if it were due to the infected.”

As they followed the faint path that roughly paralleled the inside of the barricade, they saw several elevated platforms spaced out along the wall. Animal pointed out a less-worn path leading to a door on one of the buildings. When they reached the closed door, they were not surprised to find it locked. Turning to Plant, Animal said, “Boost me up to the window so I can take a look inside.”

Pulling up on the ledge, Animal felt the soft tickle of air on her skin as it was drawn through the narrow opening in the window. She saw, heard, and smelled nothing inside the building. Plant handed her a small pry bar and she managed to open the window a little more, though not enough for her to fit through. When Plant lowered her back to the ground, she told them what she had found.

Ava immediately asked him to hoist her up to the window ledge. He and Lydia voiced their immediate objections, while Animal drew harsh looks from both of them when she indicated that the little girl would likely fit through the small opening.

After a few seconds of heated argument, Ava spoke in a hushed tone that instantly silenced them all. “Please, you don’t understand. I know you’re trying to protect me, but it’s my choice. I
have
to go in there.”

As the young girl spoke, she sounded anything but young. Her fragile words carried all the pain brought on by the plague, as well as the little hope that still remained in the dying world. Ava fixed her unblinking gaze on Lydia, and the woman saw eyes that looked far older than her own. She thought of Lonnie, and how there would be nothing that could stop her from going into the building if there was even the slightest chance he was inside. As hard as it was for her to allow Ava to make that decision, Lydia knew it was Ava’s to make. Deep down, she knew she would make the same one. With tear-filled eyes, Lydia nodded.

“Thank you, Lydia. I love you,” Ava said, causing the floodgates to burst open completely.

Cautiously, Plant lifted Ava up to the ledge and she disappeared inside the darkened building. Stepping lightly, she moved deeper into the room, leaving the scant light and her friends behind. She scanned her surroundings as she walked, searching for any danger lurking in the sepulchral room. All of a sudden, a loud racket erupted as Ava’s foot collided with something on the floor. Pitching forward, she hit the ground hard.

Lydia snapped at Plant, asking him to boost her up to the window. Inside, she heard a quiet rustling noise as well as a soft groan, but saw no sign of Ava through the gloom. Lydia fought the urge to call out to her; worried she might further endanger the girl. The low click of a door latch disengaging triggered a visceral fear inside Lydia, and it felt as though liquid nitrogen coursed through her veins. She could neither move nor breathe as she waited for Ava’s guttural cries. Another click, far louder and closer than the first, made Lydia’s petrified heart shatter into a million pieces.

“Come on, this way,” Ava said.

Lydia let out the breath she was holding when she heard the little girl’s voice. Creeping into the darkened hallway, Plant and Animal led them through the building’s eerily quiet corridors. As they moved deeper into the structure, Animal heard faint voices in the distance.

Taking point, Plant moved forward with his weapon at the ready. The voices grew louder as they neared the room at the end of the hall. Even in the dim light, the look of recognition in Plant’s eyes was unmistakable when he heard the deep southern baritone voice of Reams Wilkins. Shaking his head, he smiled broadly at the lascivious look that flashed across Animal’s face. Without further pause, Plant opened the door and entered the room.

“Honey, I’m home,” Plant said as he stared down the barrels and shafts of the various firearms and blades aimed at him.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Reams said simply.

Animal stepped into view behind Plant, and he smirked when he saw the nervous tension this incited in Reams.

When Lydia walked in holding the two girls’ hands, Reams felt his knees go weak. Despite having never met the little girl, he knew Ava’s beautiful face almost as well as if she had been his own daughter. He stepped forward and scooped her up in a huge bear hug that was far more fitting for a reunion of a father and daughter than a first encounter. The sight of the large black man she assumed was John Wild immediately confused Lydia.

Ava was equally confused, though surprisingly, she was not scared. After a moment, she strained to pull her head away from the man’s broad chest, and asked, “Mister, have you seen my father? His name is John.”

At that moment another figure stepped into the doorway and was surprised to find that there were far more people in the room than when he left five minutes ago. The sound of glass shattering caused everyone to turn in his direction. Upon hearing the voice he had been struggling to keep alive in his mind, John dropped the glass he was carrying.

Reams set Ava down and saw that her feet were moving before she even touched the ground. She ran as hard as she could across the short distance to where her father stood motionless and unbelieving. Ava refused to let him slip away this time. For a split second before she slammed into him, she wondered if he might just be a dream. When she felt the warmth of his strong hug and the salty wetness of his tears, she knew he was no dream this time. He was as real as it gets. She had found him. She had her father back, finally.

John stared in disbelief at the little girl. He looked into her beautiful emerald green eyes, and for the first time in months, he felt true happiness. Without loosening his embrace in the slightest, John glanced around the room and realized just how lucky he was. Sure he had lost a great deal; they all had. But he still had so much. He had Reams and Kate who had fought by his side to help him make it all the way to Atlanta. There was Lin and the people who had risked their lives to give her a chance to beat the virus. Each and every one of them had faced impossible odds and lived to tell about it, all the while managing to hang on to their humanity despite the horrors all around. Most importantly, John had something he had not been sure he would ever have again—he had his little girl, Ava.

Even though John hardly knew many of them, he felt far closer to the people crowded in the room than he ever had to many of his own blood relatives. Aside from he and Ava, no one else was related, yet they were all united by the struggle—through the common bond of facing the apocalypse without giving up. Why he was given something none of the others had he did not know, but he vowed to cherish it forever and always. He knew there was nothing he would not do for his daughter; she was all that mattered to him. With tears in his eyes, John realized he had in fact found both hope and closure: hope for the future, and the closure that Ava brought with her.

After brief introductions, they split up and went to get the other survivors from the lab and the command center. With everyone gathered in the old cafeteria, Lydia, Plant, and Animal detailed how they had come to be at the CDC facility. Lt. Weaver, in turn, gave them the run down of the situation at the facility as well as what he knew about the situation on the local and national level. By the time everyone was finished talking and introducing themselves, it had grown late and the darkness of night had settled upon them.

With Ava still clutched in his arms, John hugged and thanked everyone who had helped reunite them. The reunion was so heartwarming that everyone cried, including Plant and Animal.

“Are those tears? Are you crying, Ann?” Plant said as he wiped his own eyes.

“It’s Animal…and I’m not crying, my eyes are just a little sweaty,” she said. With a hearty laugh, he scooped her up in a big hug that nearly precipitated World War III.

As John carried Ava back to the sleeping quarters, she fell asleep in his arms. Despite his own exhaustion, he could not imagine ever laying her down. He was amazed at how soundly she slept, apparently unmolested by the nightmares that plagued every survivor.
Maybe Ava’s stronger than this cruel world.

Holding his beautiful daughter, John thought about everything he had seen and done over the last month. Even though he was a doctor and knew of the historical plagues that had threatened the very existence of humans in the past, John found it hard to imagine a force as strong as mankind could be destroyed by something as small as a microscopic virus. The more he thought about it, however, he realized that was not what was happening at all. As he had discussed with Reams and Ethan only weeks ago, the biggest problem with a war such as this one was that there was no clear enemy with whom to lay blame. Having learned of LNV’s true origin, John knew the virus was merely a pawn in humanity’s ongoing war with itself, and as such, all of mankind was to blame in a sense. LNV was little more than the weapon chosen for the execution. Of course, the direct responsibility for the current state of the world belonged to a few individuals, but they were a product of the civilization created by the collective masses. With that in mind, John was not surprised by what the world had become. Humans are brilliant and corrupt creatures—capable of the most amazing and horrific acts, often at the same time.

Without the limitless connections people had enjoyed for decades, John had no idea
how far the rest of the world had fallen. If it was anything like the small fraction of the U.S. he had experienced, he knew mankind was standing on the edge of a mass extinction event the likes of which had not been seen since the end of the Cretaceous period. How could they possibly survive? If they did, how could they ever come back? There are places from which people do not return. Was this one of them? He had no way of knowing for certain, but he truly hoped it was not.

Despite the abundance of evil in the world, John had witnessed too many selfless acts to give up on people entirely. Nearly everyone had his or her story to tell. Plant and Animal, the two people who had very nearly killed him and Reams, rescued Ava and brought her back to him. C.J., a man whom John had never met, stopped to help a little girl in the woods and, in doing so, saved Lydia and Annalee. Annalee had risked her own life to save Ava.

It was all too complex and intertwined for John to accept it as mere random chance. He truly believed it was far more than that—it was a miracle. While John did not know exactly what that meant, he thought there had to be some higher purpose behind it all. And with purpose, there was hope.

His mind had come full circle, and he felt centered for the first time in months. He had Ava, Lin, Reams, and all the others. He had hope, and he had closure. Although he knew it might be a long shot, he had a chance and a reason to keep fighting. Despite the world around him going to hell in a hand basket, for the first time in longer than he could remember, John felt like a pretty lucky guy.

There was no denying that mankind faced a threat far greater than any it had previously faced, but John was certain the same was said of the last
greatest
threat
before it was conquered. He had no way of knowing how things would play out this time, but as he watched his beautiful daughter sleeping, he had no doubt about where he was going to put his money. John’s thoughts drifted to something the strange, old man with the monkey had said:

“Must be something mighty important for you to knowingly face certain death.”

As that something snored softly in his arms, John Wild could not have agreed more.

POSTLUDE

Six Months Later

Atlanta Metropolitan Area

John hated going on missions outside the wall. Ever since he was reunited with Ava, he could hardly stand to be separated from her for more than an hour before his anxiety over the possibility of losing her again became too great. Even so, he knew Lin needed his help and he was not about to let her down. He also reminded himself that all of this was as much for Ava as anyone else. The single greatest thing John could do for his daughter was help Lin find a cure.

In the six months since John and the others arrived at the facility, Dr. Lin San had made several potential breakthroughs, each of which ultimately fell flat on its face. While she and her team had learned a great deal about LNV, they had yet to translate any of their research into an effective treatment for the infection. In addition to being engineered in such a way that made finding a cure extremely difficult, LNV seemed to have taken on a life of its own once it found its way into the general population. The degree in which it changed its surface covering far exceeded that exhibited by other viruses such as influenza, making it virtually impossible to get a fix on a target. They had attacked LNV from so many angles it made John’s head spin, and every new therapeutic attempt required more of the infected upon which to test it. Acquiring said infected subjects had been the objective of several previous missions, and while they had the
meat runs
down to a science, John hated the idea of intentionally bringing the deadly plague vectors inside the barricade. Thankfully, the objective of their current mission was different.

In light of the failure of their most recent therapeutic trials using various nucleoside analogue drugs effective in the treatment of HIV, as well as a few other known antivirals, Dr. San and Maria decided they needed to switch gears entirely if they were going to get any closer to discovering an effective treatment for LNV. Accordingly, Lin produced a list of chemicals, supplies, and reagents needed for their next set of experiments. After reviewing the list with John and Mother, they identified a chemical and scientific supply warehouse in the Atlanta area that should have most, if not all, of what they needed. That would be the target of the next mission.

Every time they ventured outside the barricade they knew they were placing themselves in harm’s way. Ice had been bitten during one of their early missions. They brought him back to the facility where Dr. San and Dr. Sodecci administered a modified version of the Banks Protocol to try to stop the spread of the virus. The original protocol developed by Dr. Banks utilized high dose anti-retroviral drugs such as those given to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to fetus, in conjunction with a modified rabies vaccine. Dr. Banks himself was proof that the treatment was marginally effective at best. With Ice, they added the induced coma that was the backbone of the Milwaukee protocol developed to treat advanced cases of rabies, as well as several other less specific antiviral drugs including interferon, ribavirin, amantadine, and acyclovir. Although delayed by a couple of days, Ice’s symptoms progressed despite their efforts. He now resided in the holding cell next to Dr. Banks.

Mother briefed the team on the details of the mission including the route to the facility, point of entry, objectives, and proposed point of extraction. Given that the collapse of the power grid had set them back at least one hundred years, the information they had to work with was far from complete. There were also innumerable variables that made it imperative that the team, led by Sergeant Garza, be able to adjust on the fly.

Because of his scientific background, John was asked to go on the mission. Lin hated that he had to go. She knew that he was not only capable of handling himself, but he was also the only one she could count on to get everything they needed. Besides, if John went, Reams went. And if Reams was going, Animal was going as well. Knowing what Animal was capable of without someone there to keep her on a leash, Plant accompanied her almost everywhere. Lin thought those three alone were capable of fending off legions of revs. Rounding out the team was Cujo, the only female soldier at the facility and one of the toughest in Lin’s opinion. She could not imagine a group of people that could protect John better than them. She also knew that Garza was going to be in charge of the team. As hard as it was to know that the two men she cared the most about were heading into the infected zone, she was comforted by the fact that they would be there for one another.

Having managed to get the Bearcat back into usable condition, the team gathered their gear and piled into the truck. Stack turned on the distraction, and they waited for the mournful sound of old-time banjo music to draw the infected away from the gate before they fired up the engine. Judge perched atop one of the obs tower platforms, providing overwatch as Mother opened the gate to let the truck pass. Staring out the truck’s rear window, John heard the thud of the heavy gate as it slammed shut behind them.

The warehouse was less than fives miles to the south, and they knew from previous expeditions that the roads in the area were relatively passable. Lulled into a trance by the sound of the engine and the jostling of the big truck, John’s mind drifted to Ava and their current home at the CDC. Things had settled into somewhat of a routine since their arrival nearly six months ago. Everyone did their part to make things run as smoothly as possible. In all, there were twenty-one uninfected humans and one dog residing at the facility—twenty-one people out of the millions living in the United States at the time of the outbreak. He knew there had to be others out there, but he also accepted the harsh reality that LNV had all but wiped out mankind. John constantly reminded himself of the operative words
all but
in order to maintain the will to keep fighting. The fact that he, Ava, and the others were still alive meant the plague had not succeeded in wiping out mankind. The life they still possessed was the motivation that allowed him to persevere.

To say that life after LNV was hard was a gross understatement; the mental and physical trauma they endured defied description. So much had changed that John often wondered if he might one day wake up and no longer recognize anything. Every time his thoughts started down that dark path, however, he witnessed countless instances of people being people just as they always had. Perhaps the strongest and most consistent of which was the vigor and vitality of the three youths that reminded him of the roots of his own strength. All in all, the three adolescents got along well, and it was readily apparent that Anthony had grown quite smitten with Annalee.

As one would expect anytime men and women find themselves together in a confined space for any length of time, there were other examples of love in bloom. John had been surprised to learn that his friend, Dr. Lin San, and Sergeant Garza had developed a romantic relationship. Even though he and Lin had lived on different continents and were not nearly as close as they had once been, John did not think he had ever seen Lin as happy as when she was with Garza—even amidst the apocalypse. With a smirk, John thought of his new friend, Reams, and the fierce Animal. Although Reams would never comment on the subject, John had a sneaking suspicion that things were heating up between them as well. While he was happy for the love they had all found, he also felt sorry for them in a way. He knew firsthand the pain that such love could bring in a world so full of death and loss.

“ETA five minutes,” Garza called from the driver’s seat.

Cujo sat in the passenger seat, scanning the surrounding area with the vigilant eye of a hawk. The other three members of the team sat next to John in the passenger compartment, stone-cold determination etched across each of their faces.

When he was not out on missions such as this, John helped Lin as much as possible, even if only as a sounding board for ideas. Thus far their efforts toward finding a cure for LNV had been disappointing, to say the least. As they were dealing with a virus, they knew they were not likely to cure someone of the infection after it was contracted. At best, they hoped to keep the viral load sufficiently low that the host would not express symptoms of the disease. Unfortunately, no drug they tested even came close. Any hope for a vaccine was also dying a quick death. Every strain of LNV they analyzed was slightly different than the last. It was like the problem with influenza, only a thousand-fold worse.

John recalled the conversation that led to them heading out on the mission in the first place. When Lt. Weaver asked her about the prospect of a vaccine for LNV during a report on the treatment efforts of the previous week, Lin replied, “Vaccines are generally targeted against the markers on the outside of the virus’ capsule. These antigens, as they are called, are what the human immune system sees, and what allows it to distinguish a virus as a foreign threat. In order for that to be maximally effective, the immune system has to have advanced knowledge of the virus—in other words, the defenses need to be in place when the virus is encountered in order to successfully protect against the threat. Unfortunately, these antigens can change over time through a phenomenon called
antigenic drift
.” Lin paused to ensure the group was following her. When no one appeared overly confused, she continued, “For example, the antigenic drift exhibited by the influenza virus periodically provides it with a new
coat
, effectively disguising it from the immune system. That’s why you have to get a flu shot every year, and the fact that scientists must accurately predict which strains are likely to be the biggest threat each year is the reason that the vaccines are all but useless some years. With LNV, this process occurs at such a high rate that we would have to get a new vaccine nearly every day.”

The meeting had ended with that sobering thought. John accompanied Lin, Maria, and Dr. Sodecci back to the lab following the briefing. Their spirits were understandably low, and John had no words of encouragement to offer. Thinking out loud, John muttered, “If there is no less variable target to exploit, it would be nice if there were broad-spectrum antivirals.”

Unexpectedly, Maria stopped dead in her tracks. John bumped into her as she had been walking in front of him while he stared at the floor.

Alarmed, Lin asked, “Maria, is everything okay?”

Without turning, Maria said, “What did you say, John?”

“Huh?” he said, still confused as to why he ran into the woman in the first place.

“You said something about broad-spectrum antivirals,” Maria stated matter-of-factly. “I think that might be the answer, John,” she added excitedly.

“But we
don’t
have anything like that, do we? I said it would be nice if we did,” John stated with a hint of frustration.

Without responding to his query, Maria turned to Dr. Sodecci, and asked, “Do you know if Gerald Graham’s lab is accessible?”

“I think so. It should be. Why do you ask? What’s this about?” Dr. Sodecci replied, now as confused as the rest of them.

“I’m not entirely sure. Dr. Graham told me he was beginning a project involving some new therapy developed at MIT. He said it was supposed to be a broad-spectrum treatment for viruses. I don’t know much about it, and I’m not sure if he had started work on the project but it may be worth checking out,” Maria said with a gleam in her eye.

* * *

“Son-of-a-bitch!” Garza growled. He stared through the Bearcat’s windshield at the scorched shell of a building that had once been the chemical supply warehouse supposed to contain everything on Lin’s list. “What the hell are we going to do now?” he added.

With no ideas forthcoming, Garza turned the big truck around and started back toward the CDC. While they were glad not to face the danger that came with doing anything outside of their little safe haven, that consolation was offset by the fact they were going home empty-handed. They all knew that without the supplies Dr. San requested, they would be no closer to seeing an end to the blight of LNV. Crestfallen, there was little to do except stare out the window at the passing desolation. All of a sudden, John exclaimed, “Garza! Stop the truck!”

Slamming on the brakes in alarm, Garza said, “What is it, John? What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. I just got an idea. Reams, will you cover me? I need to go out and get something,” John said as he stood and moved to the rear of the truck.

“Sure, John. You going out for a latte or something?” Reams asked, nodding toward the smashed and looted Starbucks just outside the vehicle.

“Close, though all that milk would just go straight to my hips,” John quipped as he hopped down onto the broken pavement. He did a quick visual sweep of the area and saw no infected. Nodding at Reams, he crept toward the demolished Starbucks. When he reached the front of the building, he stopped at the pay phone outside.

Reams looked on in bewilderment, and muttered, “What the hell is he doing? Ordering a pizza?”

When John turned around with the thick phone book in hand, Reams suddenly understood. “I didn’t know people still used pay phones, much less phonebooks,” the big man said. From behind him, he heard Animal say, “What the f…” just as John exclaimed, “Got it.”

While John was heading back to the Bearcat, Animal was heading away in the opposite direction. Turning toward the woman, Reams asked in confusion, “Now where are you going?” She kept walking, neither replying nor acknowledging he had even spoken.