Whispers on an Undying World

Who?

    They weren’t on the helicopter long; they were transported to the nearest airport and were promptly tossed off the transporter. The five of them were ushered along a very short line; quickly they were on a plane. While being pushed forward, no usual checks were being made. The air was filled with panicked frenzy and stress. Before they actually on the plane they were each checked for bite marks and a fever.

    A woman in her sixties was ahead of them in line, when they scanned her for a temperature she had a fever of 103.2. She was pulled from the line and quickly isolated in a glass room. She screamed the whole way, as well as what must have been her husband and son. They stayed in line but yelled to let her go, the steward ignored their yelling, they were checked in and allowed on the plane. Despite their anger about the woman being separated from them, they got on the plane with little hesitation.

    Part of Micha felt sorry for the woman, her whole world left her to die.

    While sitting on the plane, Micha looked out the window. She could see in the room that the woman was in, just as the plane was starting to move there was a commotion in the room. The little lady was bent over for a moment then the next she was wrapped around a man near her. Even from as far away as they were it was clear that she had turned.

    The man fought her, eventually throwing the body to the group but was standing holding his neck. Seconds later he collapsed, maybe thirty seconds later he stood but and rushed the others that were trying to deal with the lady.

    Within a minute of the first attack in the room the five people in there were all bitten or being eaten. Micha stared at the horror unfolding in front of her in silence; there was nothing that they could do from there. If she had made a big deal out of it, it might cause others to panic.

    The Asian man leaned over their shared arm rest, his voice low. “I think that was the fastest change I’ve seen. I wonder if age is a factor in the rate of infection.”

    Micha started, she hadn’t realized that he saw the entire moment. Sighing she kept staring out the window; the plane was now on the takeoff zone and was in the process of lift off. “At least we know that it can most probably be exchanged through bodily fluid. It’s either that or they both had the virus beforehand and when they died it caused it to activate.”

    Leaning back in his chair, he shrugged. “The chances of that are slim. Unless it was in a source that was accessible for anyone. Water?”

    Shaking her head, Micha answered. “Not necessarily, it could be something like a bad batch of vitamins.”

    Matt winked at her. “I like how you think skates.”

    “Skates?”

    Quietly he whispered so no one could hear. “You’re skating into the big leagues. Hope you’re ready for it.”

    “I hope you’re ready for me.”

    Six hours pass before the plane lands in Portland, though it was less than a two hour flight normally. For most of the flight, most of the crew was silent. There were no flight attendants, and although each seat was full there was very little noise.

    The entire way Micha talked with Matt. He was actually pretty brilliant, they were able to conclude that it had to have been something man made that was introduced through a median that was likely accessed through a*****e. However unless they were to watch the attacked individuals afterward, they couldn’t find any evidence that it could be transferred through bodily fluids. Nor was it air borne because Micha was face to face with one of them and she felt nothing.

    This may be contained to just those few blocks of town, but it also could be the entire town. After Matt hacked a few more cameras, they were surprised to see that everyone that was in the buildings or anywhere near the infected were being herded into trucks or shot on the spot. They counted at least a hundred trucks being loaded and driven out of town, but there weren’t any cameras out where they were going. It was odd that there wasn’t any news hitting f*******: anymore. It was like everything coming out of Sacramento was wiped off the planet.

    Unloading was slow and highly uncomfortable, Micha decided to stick with Matt for a while even though a few hours was hardly a relationship, and she felt some worth coming from his hacking skills.

    He would be able to get information that others can’t.

    Grabbing her pack, she made sure it hadn’t left her sight, and followed behind the odd man. His roommates that refrained from talking the entire flight were behind her then Thomas.

    Thomas ‘woke up’ when the pilot announced their decent into the terminal.

    The two soldiers, McCoy and Sirius by their name badge, led them pass the other passengers. Some were taking longer to gather their things, whether it was on purpose was negotiable.

    McCoy, a rather pale fellow turned to talk to them first. “Everyone on the plane is going into quarantine; it shouldn’t be more than three days before people are cleared for release. Stay with us and we can get you booked in the correct station.” That was easier said than done.

    As soon as they walked through the landing hall, they were met by people in bio-suits covered head to toe. They put up fences to guide the passengers down the airports halls; they were met at different levels by different members of the military. Each time they were looked over by people in the white hazmat suits, not long after that the two soldiers that came with them had them shown to a pop-up tent with showers in it. It was sectioned off with thin walls, at the entrance more suits demanded that they take off everything they were wearing.

    After arguing with one of them for five minutes, Micha was able to convince them to let her take her bag back after washing it all off with bleach. The batons and knifes were confiscated, though they failed to recognize her homemade collapsible bow and arrows for what they were. Not that it mattered, once she got back to her house she can grab her other supplies.

    Their clothes were taken and burned, just when Micha thought that she was given some privacy a suit came into her little chamber with a couple of brushes. She proceeded to scrub Micha down until her skin was red, when the lady saw that she was thoroughly scrubbed down Micha was given a pair of blue scrubs. Nothing she said at this point mattered, which was worse than running through the streets with cannibals.

    It was nearing eleven at night by the time they got her back to a tent that had ten cots inside. To her surprise her flight companions were all in there as well.

    “Micha!” Matt whispered loudly, waving her over to the little group around him. Thomas, Sean, and Garett were sitting on the cot across from Matt while leaning over a tablet that they had managed to acquire. When she dropped her bag off on an empty cot, she walked over there and looked down at what they were looking at. It looked like letters between the secretary of defense and the National Guard. Reading through it quickly Micha found out that they were planning to blow up Sacramento at dawn, it would be easily explained because they already said that there were terrorists there. Make them suicide bombers and it would be an easy cover-up.

    “I’ve been reading through their emails for hours, they might know what caused the outbreak but they have no idea how to contain it.” He flicked through a few more pages of information before bringing up more footage from old Sac. This time the buildings were on fire and people on the group setting the fires. After flipping through pictures from multiple cameras all over the city it was clear that they tried to evacuate civilians at the beginning but it started to get out of hand. The infected were really aggressive, attacking anything that wasn’t like them.

    There were a few tapes of tanks being overrun by them, by the end of the barrage of videos that kept coming in they came up with a new conclusion. Anyone that was rendered dead after being attacked, it took at least ten minutes before they started to move again. But if someone was attacked and survived, usually running into a*****e or hotel that had cameras that could be hacked, it took nearly six hours before they were knocked unconscious then died. Minutes after that they would spasm for a minute before getting to their feet and going nuts, they followed this man that managed to get into a jewelry store and locked himself in. After fast forwarding a few hours they watched as he got more and more lethargic, slowly he moved less and less until he looked like he fell asleep. He had his spasm around the time they landed here.

    They sat in their group for nearly an hour, going through every bit of information they could get their hands on. Now they tried to piece together all of the information to try and understand what happened. “So far we know that it can be transmitted through bodily fluids, there had to be some type of contaminate that was the catalyst.” Matt had to charge the tablet before they could look through any more of the files. How they hadn’t been caught yet was amazing, he must have some type of hiding agent on his devices to not be detected.

    Sean leaned forward, clearly trying to piece together something. “The symptoms so far: aggressive behavior that appears linked to hunger, seizures, bleeding from random orifices, and loss of pain receptors.” He turned to Micha, holding his folded hands to his face. “Micha, you and Thomas are the only ones that were able to view them up close. Is there anything else you remember about them?”

    Thomas answered when she didn’t right away, she wanted to analyze her memory as clearly as possible. Micha was the one that was in front of Thomas so she made have notice something they hadn’t. “Abnormal strength, one of them snapped an arm off like it was a chicken wing.”

    Sean nodded then looked back at her, waiting for her response. “A few of them were bleeding from their eyes, but it was like their veins in their eyes exploded, and their skin was red. High blood pressure, and a fever for sure.” She sat there a moment to try and describe the inconsistency from the information they got and what she saw. “It wasn’t like they were hungry, they were just really angry. Indescribably angry, a blind rage. Rather than eating the people it was like they were just using their mouth to rip them apart but not eat them. If that makes sense.” She groaned and went through the picture of the nearest infected man again, he was over the body of a worker woman but she was still moving. Right before Thomas closed the door he spit out the chunk of flesh in his mouth and ran at them. “He spit out what he bit off, and the lady was still moving when he was biting her.”

    They were silent for a while; no one really knew what to say to that. Matt was the first to talk. “What was the smell like?”

    “Blood for the most part. There was something that I don’t recognize and vomit.”

    Silence again, everything pointed to it being a viral infection but no one had heard of something like this. If it was an infection then there would be no ways that they would let any of them go after a few days. Why would the suits tell them that? Unless they planned on doing something horrible and didn’t want them to run away, but that could mean months of quarantine.

    Standing up, Micha shrugged out the ache in her shoulders. “There isn’t anything we can do right now, we might as well sleep.” She walked back to her cot and lay down, leaving her shoes on. “They have patrols every half hour, if something happens we’ll know.”

    She said to sleep but she didn’t, though Micha might have drifted off for a few minutes. Everything started again at dawn; tent by tent people were taken down through white tubes but didn’t come back through. 

    “This way.” A hazmat walked into their tent, motioning Micha to follow her. She was the nearest to the door so it was natural for her to go first, but she was nervous about not knowing where she was being taken. Micha had strapped on her bow and arrows to her waist before trying to sleep, it looked mechanical but not like weapons so it was easy to get away with wearing them.

    It was a simple contraption; on the side was a button that controlled the spring mechanism that popped the bow into its extended shape. There were two loops that one of her fingers fit perfectly that made for a quick opening. All she had to do was flip the switch to green, loop her finger through the rings and swing the arms out by making the contraption go in a counter-clockwise motion. By the time the circle was completed the bow was in its open position, but she had to catch it with her left hand upside down and spin it 180 degrees for it to be in the correct position for shooting. When compressed it was six inches long. The arrows had a similar contraption, all she had to do was grab the fledging and flick it out into the clicked position. It went from one inch to a full arrow.

    Though she had a guess at what they were going to do. Her suspicions were confirmed when she was lead into a sterilized room and put on a hospital bed. They took her blood, saliva, and a bit of hair. It was odd but she did what they asked, hoping to make a great history so they wouldn’t expect her to leave suddenly if she had to.

    After sitting in that room for an hour she was taken along with her odd contraptions to a place that looked similar to a quickly made prison yard, including watch towers and barbwire fences. Much to her dismay Micha found herself with at least sixty others in an oversized kennel. On the watch towers were armed guard along with two exits, how they found the time to build this surprised even her. This was a place for pigs ready for slaughter.

    Micha found the nearest corner that had a rough wiring ten feet above her head. If she climbed just right she would be able to get to the top of the fence and jump to the nearest tower, and then climb down from there. The chance that she would catch her legs on the wire was large but it was better than staying in a death trap.

    That is where they were left for the rest of the day, if any of the others hadn’t noticed they were a test before coming into the pen they were starting to notice now. However that might be what the suits want, if humans are put under pressure they tend to have a chemical reaction that could aid any virus’s in their body.

    Were they trying to get these people into the fight or flight stage?

    If they were there would have to be some sort of catalyst. That catalyst turned out to be fire-hoses. Just after noon they began spraying down everyone in the pen. That is when the pigs decided to riot. Bad idea. Anyone who got aggressive toward the fences was shot with rubber bullets. Their plan worked like a charm.

    The screams that were so different from the cries from outrage pierced the crowd. The worst possible thing that could happen right now is to have an infected kill anyone around them. That turns sixty humans into sixty raving lunatics. If that one infected person gets into the crowd then the suits turn everyone in here into pincushions.

    Without hesitation Micha bolted in the direction of the warped screams.

    Micha shoved everyone out of her way, which was surprisingly easy. In the amount of time it took Micha to get from the corner to the opposite end of the pen was enough time for the infected to get through the seizure stage. The last few people moved out of the way just in time for Micha to see a middle aged man begin attacking the nearest man. The victims arm was thrown over Micha’s head before she was able to grab her condensed bow.

    With one fluid, practiced, movement Micha spun the bow into its extended body and pulled an arrow out of her pouch while fling it to its full length. She sighted then took him down but not in time to stop him from biting the throat out of one of the screaming people next to him. Most of the others were screaming at the top of their lungs trying to climb the fences to no avail.

    Another two flip-shots and the quad fell silent as she walked up to the four bodies. The first man, in a horrible pink and yellow plaid shirt that was now drenched in his own blood, shook in her arms as he tried to understand what just happened. There was no way he was going to live through this and he knew it.

    “You weren’t bit so I don’t think you’re going to come back, you can’t hurt anyone.” Micha wasn’t sure what to say to someone that was dying, she’d never seen anyone die before let alone kill three people. Everyone standing around them was silent, including the suits. They might have been wondering where this was going.

    An odd warm filling surrounded Micha, just before the man’s eyes glazed over he smiled at her faintly. The moment he stopped breathing was horrifying and revolting but somehow that warm feeling made it easier to handle. It was after he stopped breathing that everyone held their breath, stepping backward just in case he came back.

    Micha was almost completely positive that he wouldn’t come that she sat there and held his body until the minute was up. After that, Micha stood and grabbed her bow then loaded it. She saw someone that looked like they were in charge and pointed it at them. Whether they liked it or not they were going to let her out.

    “This experiment of yours was completely unnecessary. You just killed four people. If you tested us correctly then you would have known that he was already infected.” She was so angry that she didn’t care that she just put herself on the radar. “If you wanted to stress test them then you should have put each of us in a black room, then only the infected would be quarantined and not the healthy.”

    Much to Micha’s surprise, the one she was pointed her arrow at took of her mask revealing a marginally pretty middle-aged red-head. She looked curious and slightly amused. “How did you get that in here?”

    A tall figure behind her held out a chart to the woman while talking a little too loudly. “We thought it a trinket. She was uncooperative until we allowed it.”

    That caused the square-jawed lady to chuckle. “How does a weapon look like a trinket?” It was then that the lady addressed Micha again. “Mikala Anderson. That is you correct?” Micha nodded while trying to ignore the strain that the bow was putting on her muscles. “Miss Anderson where did you get that trinket?”

    “I made it.” Micha took that confused look as a sign of disbelief and lowered her bow. “I don’t care what you have to say, I’m leaving quarantine tonight. I clearly don’t have any infection and have no interest in missing the fireworks. I’ll give you this thing if I can go take a shower.” Although her attitude wasn’t appreciated, she was waved to the gate. The people around her weren’t happy that she was the only one allowed to leave but they also didn’t want to come near her.

    The gate scraped open and a few steps after exiting it closed behind her. Micha was met with a hand gun pointed at her head and a hand outstretched for the bow. Holding up her hand she waited for permission to condense it. Micha had to wait until the red-head climbed down from the tower and stood in front of her with a smug look. With a wave of her hand, Micha slid her finger in the rings then dropped it into a clockwise swing. By the time it finished its rotation it clicked back into its six inch version.

    It was only after it was safe that Micha handed it to the nearest masked soldier, even though the mask was foggy she could see his blue eyes and blond hair. He wasn’t afraid but focused.

    “You made this? How?”

    Micha wiped some blood from her face before answering. “I was going to school for mathematical-engineering, this was one of my projects when I was ten. It was cool so I kept it.” She did her best to not glare but the audacity of this lady ticked her off.

    “You are twenty-three, correct?” The lady was looking through a chart that could only have been Micha’s. She probably knew everything about Micha already.

    “Yes.”

    She flipped the clipboard closed and crossed her wrists. “Why have you not been offered an internship? With your talents you should have been accepted to Harvard but instead you chose a community college then a liberal university. Why?”

    Pursing her lips, Micha tried to keep her temper in check though she doubted she was doing a good job. “Right before applying for colleges and scholarships a teacher assaulted me so I went to the police. He then accused me of perjury. No one wanted a liar and a cheater in their school.”

    “Mmm.” It was then that Micha saw that the lady won whatever battle she was trying to play with Micha. “It looks like court ruled in his favor for lack of evidence on your end. It was later concluded that you fabricated the assault to victimize yourself and get him fired for catching you cheating.”

    Micha smiled, knowing she won. “I suppose in those documents you have my medical records as well?” She nodded. “Then you know that when I was seventeen I was admitted for ectopic pregnancy and an emergency abortion two months after I went to the police the first time. Then a month after the court chose his side I was there again for swallowing a bottle of pills.” Standing there, the lady hadn’t expected Micha to retort with that. “What about a police report two years later which states that the same teacher shot himself in the head leaving a note telling them the truth? I’m sure that should be in there too.”

    She was too surprised to respond, though it made the other four people around them shift uncomfortably.

    Thomas thought this was the best time to walk up then, hearing the last of Micha’s speech. He didn’t know any of that so his stern look was fazed for a moment. But his approach caught the woman’s attention. “Mother, do you agree that she is useful yet?”