Tammy and Ringo (12 page)

Why didn't you ask more questions?! In his assurance that he could do the job, he hadn't asked enough questions. He hadn't taken enough precautions. Now he was probably infected.

How the hell am I supposed to tell if I'm infected? he asked himself, mind racing. He didn't know and what he didn't know could cost him.

I can't think about that now, he told himself. I came here to do a job. If I'm infected and don't finish what I came to do, then I'm infected for nothing. I might as well have stayed where I was. If I'm done for, it won't be for nothing. He took a deep, calming, cleansing breath and steadied himself. Cleaning his sword on the pant leg of one of the infected, he sheathed it and went to retrieve the containers he needed.

Donning another pair of rubber gloves over his leather ones, Ringo quickly performed the work he'd come to do. It was grisly, but he'd known that from the start. Since he'd already decapitated two infected he chose the head that was in the best shape, the man's, and inserted into the cryo container. Securing it the way Hiram has showed him, he hit the button that released the nitrogen into the container, effectively freezing the head.

Taking the other containers he took skin and blood from all three of the bodies labeling each one male or female, about all he could do in that regard. The work took less than ten minutes, but it was a very long ten minutes for a young man who thought he might now be infected with the virus. Added to that was the need to constantly be on guard against the arrival of other infected. By the time he was finished, Ringo was nearly a nervous wreck. He wasn't often scared, but he would have admitted to anyone who asked that he was as scared now as he'd been when his parents had been killed.

Dropping everything into a bag with Biohazard markings, Ringo took one last look around him. Seeing nothing he moved back to the fence and then over it. He hurried to where his pack still sat and then paused. Clean himself up now? Get the hell away from here and then do it? The debate lasted less than five seconds before he snatched up the pack, crammed the shotgun into it and took off through the woods back the way he'd come.

He needed to clean up, but he needed to be away from here first. He was in trouble maybe, and if he was he didn't know how much time he had. For now he needed to find a place to leave the samples, then get cleaned up and then make a terrible phone call.

One he really didn't want make, since he'd be asking questions he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to.

CHAPTER TEN

Hiram jolted in surprise when the satellite phone by his side rang. He'd been waiting to hear it all day but when it finally rang it was a shock nonetheless. Despite his eagerness to hear from Ringo he was hesitant to pick it up, a feeling of dread settling in his stomach. He activated the phone.

“Ringo?”

“It's me, Hiram,” the boy's voice rang out. “I got it. Got it all.”

“Everything okay?” Hiram asked. The silence on the other end was answer enough. “Ringo?” Hiram spoke hesitantly.

“I need you to do something for me,” Ringo said rather than reply. “I might have a problem.” Hiram felt the dread in his belly congeal into a hard ball.

“What happened, son?” he asked gently.

“I need you to call that Baxter woman for me,” Ringo said calmly. “I need to know how long it takes for infection to show up in someone.”

“Are you bitten, Ringo?” Hiram hated to ask. His eyes were closed against the answer.

“No,” Ringo's reply seemed to take hours. “But I. . .I got some blood on me. I'm not sure, but I maybe got some in my mouth, too. One of the infected got on me and I killed her, but. . .well, blood went everywhere. I just don't know Hiram. And I really need to know.”

“I understand, kid,” Hiram managed to keep his voice even. “I'll call her right now. Have you activated the beacon yet?”

“No. I'm about to as soon as I'm done here. I want to be somewhere else when they get here, like you said. Especially now. I'm trying to get cleaned up in a creek and get rid of anything that's got blood on it. Then I'll be on the move. I spent last night in a barn so I'm going to try and get back there. If it's still safe I'll hang out there for a day or two and see if. . .wait and see. . .well, you know.” Ringo sounded defeated for all that he was calm about it.

“Yeah, I know,” Hiram answered. “I'll get on the horn with her right now, son. I'll get your answer for you. Now, you get gone from there once you activate that beacon. Where are you?” Ringo rattled off the GPS coordinates for his position.

“Room there for the chopper to land?” Hiram asked, writing quickly.

“Yeah. No wires and plenty of room,” Ringo affirmed.

“All right, then,” Hiram tried to sound upbeat. “You get clear and I mean right now. I'll give you twenty minutes to get moving and then place the call. Call me back in two hours or whenever you get holed up. I should have some answers for you by then. Sound good?”

“Sounds good,” Ringo replied. “Thanks, Hiram. I'm sorry,” he added.

“Hell, son, don't be sorry. I'm the one who should be sorry for mentioning this shit to you in the first place. And I am,” the older man admitted.

“I didn't have to do it, Hiram. You made that clear.”

“Yeah, well,” Hiram replied lamely. “Get moving.”

“See ya,” Ringo said, and then he was gone.

*****

“Son-of-a-bitch!”

The curse was accompanied by the sound of porch furniture being thrown about. Helen looked up from where she was peeling potatoes, frowning in concern. Tammy was at the stove preparing to place bread in the oven. She started toward the porch but Helen stopped her.

“No,” the older woman said firmly. “That. . .he's not in a good frame of mind at the moment, dear,” she settled for saying. “Let him work it out first, then we'll talk to him.”

“Do you think it's Ringo?” Tammy asked, worry in her voice.

“I don't know,” Helen admitted, but her voice said something else. “We'll have to wait and see. But now isn't the time to ask him about it. You'll just have to trust me on this dear.”

“But what if--?”

“I said not now!” Helen snapped suddenly, her voice taking on an edge. She instantly schooled her features and in seconds was the kind older woman Tammy had come to know.

“Not now,” she repeated more calmly. “Hiram is working through a problem and he needs space and peace. When he's calmed down, he'll tell us what the problem is, if it concerns us. I know you want to know about Ringo,” Helen held up a hand to stave off the coming objections. “But now is not the time. Now let's get back to work.” For all that her voice was calmer now, gentler, the steel in her voice was plain. Tammy nodded, cowed for once, and returned to what she'd been doing.

Her mind was still running away from her, though, in fear.

*****

“I'm sorry to hear that, Colonel,” Baxter said evenly. “I did warn him.”

“I don't want to hear that shit,” Hiram snarled. Unlike his wife he made no attempt to rein in his anger. “I'm well aware you warned him. Now I'm asking for information. Are you going to give it to me, or will I have to make you regret withholding it from me?” Baxter blinked at that. What did the man think he could accomplish from so far away was beyond her. . . .

“I can see the wheels turning, lady,” Hiram growled softly. “Don't think even for a second that you're beyond my reach. Understand? All I'm asking for is some simple information. Information I know you have and that I need. Now tell me what I need to know so we can still be friends.”

Baxter was not accustomed to being threatened, but she dealt with enough people like this Colonel that she knew the difference between someone who was serious and someone just talking out of their ass.

This man was serious.

“If he's contracted the virus, there's simply nothing we can do for him, Colonel,” she explained gently. “So far nothing we have tried has been successful in even slowing the virus down, let alone stopping it. If he's infected he should begin showing signs within twenty-four hours, give or take six hours. That depends on how he was infected and how deeply.”

“He may not be infected at all,” Hiram's tone was more congenial now. “He had to kill an infected woman who was on top of him and her blood went all over him. He was wearing the protective gear but he can't be sure his mouth wasn't open. He isn't bitten, scratched, or cut and he's already cleaned up, disposed of the clothes and gear that were bloody and set your samples where they can be picked up.”

“Have him wait for the helicopter and they can bring him here,” Baxter told him and Hiram didn't miss the slight excitement that crept into her voice. “We can treat him--”

“I'm going to pretend you didn't say that, Doctor Baxter,” Hiram replied, his voice as cold as the liquid nitrogen used to freeze the severed head of the infected man. “Because if you did say it, I'd have to kill you,” he continued, his voice conversational despite the frigid tone.

“I only meant that we could care for him here,” Baxter stumbled over the words. “It's the least we can do after all he's done for us.”

“I know exactly what you meant,” Hiram told her flatly. “Do us both a favor and don't say it again. Now, if he's still clear after seventy-two hours, would you say he's safe? In the clear?”

“Most likely,” Baxter nodded. The Colonel had seemed much easier to deal with before. “Every report we have has indicated that infection sets in within twenty-four to thirty-six hours, usually the low side of that. In some cases it's been much lower but in all of those there was a direct fluid transfer of some kind, it seems. How direct I haven't been able to determine. If he hasn't shown symptoms in three days, he's probably going to be okay.” She went on to briefly describe the onset symptoms for him to relay to Ringo.

“Now that wasn't so hard, was it?” Hiram smiled over the video link and the smile made Baxter shiver despite the safety afforded her by distance and the bunker she was currently housed in. She'd misjudged this man badly.

“I appreciate your help, Doctor,” Hiram finished. “I doubt we'll speak again. For the record, I had thought that you weren't like the majority of the people I'd run across in your line of work during my service. I can see now I was wrong. If I'd known you were like that I wouldn't have offered my assistance. Mark me well, Doctor Baxter,” Hiram leaned in closer to the webcam “If your men try to find that boy, I will hunt you down and make you beg for death. Understand? If you have any doubt about it, then let me ask you a question. Is there a man working for you by the name of Williams, perhaps? Large man, white hair, bad eye with a scar running through it?”

“Yes,” Baxter answered without thinking. “There is.”

“Then tell him the Goblin sends his love and let him tell you if I'm serious or not, Doctor. I'm sure he'll enlighten you. Oh,” Hiram added almost as an afterthought, “tell him not to bother looking for me. I'd take it personally. He'll know what I mean. Good luck to you Doctor.” Hiram literally stabbed the button that killed the connection and stood still for a full two minutes, breathing, trying to bring his temper under control.

That two-faced, lying, back-stabbing bitch! For a few seconds his anger threatened to override his common sense and send him on an errand to erase her and all her kind from the planet. But common sense came knocking back, reminding him that the two-face lying bitch was needed to try and get some kind of control over this virus if that were possible.

“I shouldn't have said all that,” he spoke aloud. “I was hidden and I should have stayed that way. Lord, forgive me for bein' stupid, please.” With that Hiram headed outside to call Ringo and give him the news.

After that he was sure Helen would want to know what his fit earlier had been about. Some days it didn't pay to get out of bed.

*****

“Hiram?” Ringo's voice answered.

“Yeah, it's me kid,” Hiram affirmed. “Chopper's inbound. Are you clear?”

“A mile gone and moving,” Ringo replied. “Beacon is lit off.”

“Good, that's good,” Hiram answered. “Baxter tried to get me to have you wait for the chopper to bring you to her, Ringo,” he decided the boy deserved the truth. “I convinced her that wasn't a good idea. She didn't really want to talk to me about this, but I guess she felt like she owed you for the work you've done. Basically if you're still good in seventy-two hours then you're golden.”

“If you start running a high fever then you may be infected, son,” Hiram broke the news gently. “The fever is the first sign, followed by capillary bleeding around the eyes, nose and sometimes the ears. You may start to cough up a bloody phlegm, but not everyone they know about has. Those are the signs you need to be concerned with. If they show up, then. . .well if you start having them show, you're. . . .” Hiram couldn't bring himself to say it.

“Then I'm screwed and the rest won't matter,” Ringo said it for him. “Well, that's what I needed to know. I've got food for several days and I'll filter some water before I hole up. I've got that collapsible water-bag I can fill. Should last me long enough to know if I'm gonna need more or not,” he tried to chuckle.

“Ringo, son, I'm sorry,” Hiram blurted, eyes closed as he imagined the fear the teen must be feeling.

“It don't mean nothin', Hiram,” Ringo replied calmly. “If it wasn't this, it'd just be something else. At least I got the job done. So maybe it's not for nothing, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Hiram replied, thinking how many times he'd said those same words. They had always tasted like ashes in his mouth then, and they were no better now. “Get back to your barn and lay low, Ringo. Call if you need anything, or if you just want to talk.”

“I won't,” Ringo told him, though not unkindly. “But if I turn up with the symptoms I'll call and let you know. You deserve to know, just in case. Otherwise I'll call you when I start back.” He paused a minute, then added; “I'm glad you and Helen are there to look after Tammy. I wanted to get her somewhere safe, and I did.”

“You sure did, kid,” Hiram smiled in spite of himself and the dire situation. “Now I'm gonna have to go and explain to her and my Helen why you aren't coming straight on back.”

“Lie to 'em,” Ringo said. “Ain't no reason to tell 'em the truth.”

“Son, you ain't married, but just in case you get the chance, let me give you some advice,” Hiram chuckled this time. “Don't never try to lie to the woman you sleep next to at night. It ain't healthy.” Ringo's laughter rang through the phone and Hiram was glad to hear it.

“All right then” Ringo said finally. “I'll let you deal with your problem and I'll go deal with mine. Take care, Hiram.”

“You too, son,” Hiram returned, but Ringo was already gone. Hiram secured the phone, setting it down beside him. With a deep sigh he stood and headed inside.

He had a problem to deal with, as Ringo had said.

*****

Ringo had put the landing zone he'd marked out far behind him by the time he heard the helicopter in the distance. He kept to the trees so long as he could hear the aircraft, only moving to lighter cover once the whoppa whoppa of the chopper's flight fell away. Evidently the beacon had led them straight to the sample containers with no problem. To his ears, the chopper had been on the ground less then five minutes, closer to three by his count.

As he plodded through the woods on his way to the barn, Ringo pondered his dilemma. There really wasn't much to ponder on, he admitted. Either he was or he wasn't. There was no middle ground. In a few days he would know if he was sick or not. If he wasn't, then he could finally move back to Hiram and Helen's place and enjoy some well-deserved rest and peace. If he was. . .well, if he was he'd be haunting that barn for a while, he figured.

He allowed himself to play over the mistakes he'd made on this little venture and there were plenty of them. The biggest in the bunch, of course, was his failure to keep the woman who might have infected him in sight. If he'd done that, she could never have gotten the jump on him. If he lived then he could file that away as knowledge gained by hard won experience. If he didn't then it wouldn't matter how well he'd learned the lesson, since he'd never have a chance to employ it.