Decimation Series (Book 1): Contagion Page 6

  ♦♦♦

  “Piss off,” snapped Michelle. I stared at her angrily. I could feel my face getting red as my blood pressure was climbing.

  Seth turned to her, making a shushing motion with his hands. This earned him a glare of truly epic proportions.

  “Michelle, calm down,” he said quietly.

  “Listen, Seth,” I leaned in and repeated for at least the third time, ignoring the blistering glare coming from his wife, “this makes sense for everyone.”

  He turned from his wife and looked at me, his face serious.

  “I understand what you’re saying, Kevin,” he said, “but I also know where my wife is coming from. Listen, you all seem like good people, and we wish you the best in getting home to your families, but I’m not sure us all grouping together is a good idea.”

  I tried to keep my cool, knowing that losing my temper here would achieve nothing. I looked around the food court, noticing hardly any guards present. Some of the passengers were behind the grill in one of the restaurants cooking their own food.

  “There’s no downside here, Seth,” I said quietly, keeping my hands down at the table, trying to be as non-aggressive as possible. “You and Michelle need to get home, get packed and get gone; you can do that easier with some extra hands. We don’t know what things are like out there, and if you run into trouble, having people at your back can never hurt.”

  I thought that maybe he was open to the idea, but he didn’t know how to bring his wife on board. I turned to Michelle, hoping to get through to her.

  “Listen, Michelle, if you run into a traffic blockage, what are you going to do? No offense, but Seth here isn’t going to be able to push a stalled truck out of the way if you get blocked in. With the four of us along to help, everyone stands a better chance of getting out of this.”

  “And the four of you have a better chance of robbing us blind once we get to our house, right?” she asked, standing her ground.

  I was at a loss. As soon as I had brought up the idea of us leaving here and getting out of town as a group, I could almost see her gates slam shut. I didn’t know where this was coming from, but it was becoming clear that we weren’t going to be able to convince her that this was good for everyone.

  I threw my hands up, my temper finally getting the better of me.

  “All right, fine, you win. Have it your way,” I snarled. I pushed my chair back from the table and stood up.

  “Kevin, wait,” Steph started, trying to get me to calm down.

  “No, screw it,” I said. “You know what? I figured you needed us at least as much as we needed you, but if you want to be idiots about this, then fine, you’re on your own.” I looked at Steph and the twins.

  “All we did here was waste the last thirty minutes trying to reason with these morons. They deserve whatever they get outside these walls. We don’t need them, we’ll get home fine.”

  I turned and stomped out of the food court, my heart pounding in my ears.

  ♦♦♦

  I was lying on my cot, staring at the ceiling. I had a map of the Greater Toronto Area open beside me and had drawn with a pencil what looked like the most direct route north. From the most basic figuring I was able to do without a ruler, we were looking at around twenty-five or twenty-six-hundred kilometers to get home. It looked like going south around the Great Lakes through Detroit and Chicago would likely be a bit shorter distance, but I really didn’t want to risk trying to cross the border. Plus, the northern route would take us through much less-populated areas, which I reasoned would be safer.

  If we left at first light tomorrow, with four of us taking turns driving straight through, we could possibly be home by the next day, at the earliest. Assuming we didn’t run into any major delays. Assuming we were able to find gas along the way. Assuming we found a car with keys in it. Assuming we made it out of the airport without getting arrested. Or shot.

  I looked back down at the map sitting on the cot beside me. I looked like a very long way.

  I sat up and pushed the map aside, putting my head in my hands. I really didn’t feel prepared for any of this. I was a bookworm for God’s sake, and an out-of-shape one at that. But I also knew that Stephanie wasn’t going to be able to do this on her own, and, despite what had happened over the last week, I knew it wasn’t in me to abandon her. My kids needed their mother every bit as much as she needed me. Everything else was just chatter and noise.

  I heard Stephanie walk up and sit down heavily onto her cot beside me.

  I looked up at her. She looked like I felt. She looked tired.

  After a moment, I realized she was crying quietly, silent tears tracing tracks down her cheeks. I just didn’t have it in me to try to make her feel better, so I just sat there. Finally, she sniffed and wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. She pushed her hair back from her face and tucked it behind her ears.

  “It’s going to start getting dark soon,” she said. She looked out past the wall of windows at the unmoving airplanes outside and sounded more together than she looked. “Jamie and Alex said they were coming right behind me, all of us should try to get to sleep early so we can get going first thing in the morning.”

  I didn’t say anything, I just looked out the window at the long shadows stretching away from us. She looked back towards the food court, her mouth set in a tight line. I knew that look well, I had seen it pointed at me enough times.

  “Screw them,” she said, angrily. I knew who she was talking about. “You were right back there, we don’t need them. Assholes.” I smiled slightly. Despite recent events bringing my temper much closer to the surface, Steph had always had a hot streak. Next to her fantastic caboose, it’s one of the things about her that had always most attracted me. I guess that’s why we balanced out, or rather I guess we used to balance out.

  Suddenly from down the hallway towards the guard’s stations I heard several voices shouting, followed by a very loud “pop pop pop”, and I went cold. That was gunfire.

  We could hear more shouting, and then more shots ringing out.

  That’s it, I thought to myself, it was time for us to clear out of here. I told Steph to grab her pack, I threw mine across my back and grabbed Jamie’s and Alex’s, and we ran back towards to food court to find the boys.

  We met them halfway, they were running back to the sleeping area.

  “Where’s the shooting?” asked Alex. Jamie was right behind him. I handed each of them their backpacks.

  “It sounds like it’s coming from back towards the guard stations,” I said. I didn’t have to say that was the direction we had planned to go to get out of here.

  “Do either of you know another way down to the exit?” I asked. My forays with the guards, first into the pokey then into the quarantine, hadn’t taken me anywhere near the main floor area opening to the outside; the only route I knew was back in the direction the shooting came from.

  More shots echoed down the hallway. Jesus, I thought, what the hell is going on back there?

  “Screw it,” I said, “sometimes the best course of action is the direct one.”

  Steph and the boys looked at me, questioning, then fell in behind me as I ran towards the closest boarding gate I could see.

  The door was latched, but it didn’t seem that solid.

  “Outside is right through here,” I said, shaking the door. It rattled and shifted easily. Yep, we were getting out of here right now.

  I stepped back, then took a half step forward and kicked out, planting my foot hard in the middle of the door. The door boomed and rattled but didn’t come even close to opening. I hit it again; nothing. Then I noticed that the door hinged inwards towards us. Shit.

  Then the light bulb came on. Stephanie had the same thought, she looked at me and already started running back to our sleeping area.

  “The smoking area!” I called behind me to the boys. It took them about three seconds to outpace me and catch up to Stephanie as all four of us ran back to the boarding gat
e door that had been opened to allow people access to the jetway to smoke outside.

  The sound of gunfire was getting more intense, but so far it still sounded like it was quite a way down the hall. People were milling about the sleeping area in alarm. I could see others hastily gathering their items, likely with the same idea we had.

  We ran to the gate, still propped open with a chrome waste bin. I held the door open for Steph and the boys, then we all ran down the sloped jetway. You could smell old cigarette smoke in the air, and at the end we found an overflowing ashtray.

  I looked down. It looked like the opening was ten or eleven feet in the air. Without speaking, I nodded to the boys and shrugged off my pack, dropping it by their feet. I sat down on the edge of the jetway, my feet dangling, then rolled over onto my stomach, and shuffled out. Grasping the edge, I stretched out, lowering myself, then gritting my teeth, I let go and dropped heavily to the ground. I swore to myself I had eaten my last double-cheeseburger; salads from now on for this big boy.

  I stepped back and Jamie threw my pack to me. I caught it and set it aside, motioning for the rest of the packs.

  Stephanie mirrored my actions, but with far more grace than I had managed, and was followed by the twins who displayed an infuriating level of natural, youthful athleticism. In no time we were all standing on hard asphalt. Alex ran quickly over to an open truck sitting nearby with an empty luggage train behind it. He looked inside, then back at me with a smile and two thumbs up. Bingo.

  I jumped up behind the wheel and started the engine while Stephanie and the boys climbed onto the luggage trolley. Checking to make sure everyone was holding tight, I started to pull away.

  “Kevin, Stephanie, wait!” I heard from behind us. I looked back to see Seth and Michelle standing at the end of the jetway, waving for help. As I’m sure you can guess, I didn’t stop, and before I turned back to watch where I was driving, I saw Stephanie look back and flip them the bird.

  I smiled. That’s my girl.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Day 3

  Once out on the tarmac, it took us a while of driving around to figure out how to get out of the secured area. The truck we were driving had a top speed equal to a brisk trot, so it took some time to cover ground. Several times we ran into dead ends or areas that were gated preventing access. At one point we came around a corner to an area where there were dozens of military trucks scattered about, large and small. We didn’t see any activity at the moment, and we briefly debated maybe trying to see if we could find a weapon, but finally decided it wasn’t worth the risk. We could still hear the sporadic sound of gunfire and I didn’t want to take the chance.

  Finally, after driving for a few more minutes, we came around the corner of a building and saw what looked like a public or employee parking area on the other side of a closed gate.

  I braked and came to a full stop, and after a moment I shut off the engine. Sitting still as we listened to the truck’s engine ticking as it cooled, I became very aware of the silence around us. The shadows were long, the sun getting low in the sky behind us.

  I consulted my map and guessed on the other side of the sea of airport roads and ramps, past the hotels and commercial buildings to the north and east of us, was Highway Four-Twenty-Seven, with the city proper beyond that.

  The roads were all bare.

  Across where the hotels and malls were, nothing was moving.

  Further off to the east, we could see a few plumes of black, thick smoke rising into the air.

  “Jesus Christ,” I whispered. “It can’t be everywhere, not this fast.” No one had any answer to that.

  Finally, I climbed out from behind the wheel and approached the gate. It looked like it likely had an electronic lock operated with a keycard or some kind of remote sensor, but with the power out I was hoping it would be unlocked. I didn’t like our chances if it turned out we had to ram through the gate or fence with this truck; I had visions of me winding up impaled on a broken steel fencepost.

  I grabbed the gate and gave it a pull. Nothing. I waved the boys over and had them lean into it. I let out a sigh of relief as the heavy gate slowly started to roll back. We pushed until the opening was wide enough for us to fit the truck through.

  We followed the signs on the roads and made our way to the Arrivals area of the airport. Here too were some military vehicles parked near the doors, but no people. Parking the airport trolley beside a jeep with a flat olive-green paint job, we grabbed our packs and climbed out. Before we abandoned the truck, I dug around behind the seat and found a tire iron, which I took with us.

  We walked along slowly, following the signs directing us to the car rental stations located in the multi-storey parkade across from the terminal, our footsteps echoing eerily in the silence. The first rental kiosk we came to looked like it was securely locked down, with mesh metal screens across all the windows. I figured eventually we might be able to get in there using the tire iron to pry with, but we decided we’d check the other kiosks first to see if any of them looked like easier pickings.

  After a couple more stops, we got lucky. There was a car rental kiosk that looked closed up, but not locked down. I walked up and tried the door, and found it unlocked.

  A small bell above the door jingled as I opened it. The small building looked deserted.

  “Hello?” I called out. Across from the door was a counter with brochures and maps displayed on it, and behind that was a desk area and a wall-mounted lock box where I hoped we would find keys for the rental cars. Beside the desk was an open door leading to what looked like a staff room.

  I set my pack on the counter, leaned over to look behind it and found a latch that allowed me to lift a hinged section of the counter and get back to the lock box on the wall.

  Once at the lock box, I looked into the staff room, and could see a small bathroom in the corner. A woman lay sprawled on the ground halfway into the bathroom.

  “Shit, Steph give me a hand here,” I said rushing into the room, kneeling beside her. She was laying on her stomach, head to the side, and I’m guessing that’s what saved her. If she had been laying on her back, she would likely have strangled on the mess of phlegm and snot that had poured out of her mouth and nose, pooling on the ground around her head.

  “Oh, dude,” I heard from behind me. “I think I’m gonna puke,” said Jamie.

  “Well go do it somewhere else, man, there’s enough of a mess in here already!” I yelled back at him.

  Grimacing, I leaned my head in near the woman’s mouth. I could hear a shallow gurgling as she struggled to breathe. Her eyes were half-open and rolled back in her head, only sickly-yellowish whites showing. Her eyes had a crusty buildup on the lids (“eye-boogers”, as my kids would say).

  I looked up at Stephanie where she knelt beside me.

  “We have to try to get her some help,” she said. I considered this for a moment, then nodded. The shooting we heard inside near our quarantine area was a long way from the main entrance; I could run back and see if I could find someone. If I saw any signs of violence, I would run back here.

  “I’ll be quick,” I said. I stood and grabbed a jacket from where it hung across the back of a chair, likely hers. I folded it and set it under her head.

  “Stay here and make sure you keep her head turned to the side so she doesn’t choke, I’ll run down to the Arrivals gate and see if I can find a guard.” I turned to look at Alex where he stood in the staff room. He looked green but not as bad as his brother who was outside barfing on the side of the kiosk.

  “You guys go through the keys here and see if you can find a vehicle, preferably a minivan or even better an SUV. Get it started and up here, and make sure it’s full of gas okay? Pack up our gear. I’ll be back as soon as I find someone, then we’re out of here.” He nodded grimly.

  I ran back down the way we had come, and passing the army trucks and our airport trolley, went back into the airport terminal to look for help.

  Just inside of the
terminal there was a spot you could see had been set up as a muster point or checkpoint of some kind. There were a few camo backpacks leaning up against the wall near where a table had been set up, along with several chairs. Playing cards lay strewn across the table and floor, the chairs pushed back from the table. One of the chairs had been knocked over.

  “Hello?” I called out, my voice echoing in the large empty room.

  I looked at the backpacks, wondering if I should grab them. Finally, I decided to leave them, thinking I could grab one on my way back through if I wanted.

  I walked past the guard station and continued along walking towards the baggage claim area where I had been only a couple hours before. As I took a step, I kicked something that jingled and went skittering across the floor. I looked down to see empty bullet casings scattered across the floor. Dark red blood spatters were evident in many areas.

  My stomach fluttering in fear, I continued along deeper into the terminal. It wasn’t long before I came across the first of the bodies.

  ♦♦♦

  A green minivan was parked next to the rental kiosk with the doors open, and I could see our packs inside as I ran up. Jamie looked up from behind the counter as he saw me arrive.

  “Any luck?” he asked, looking at the state of my clothes, and surprised at the pistol I had in my hand.

  I shook my head, rushing past him and into the staff room. Alex was sitting at the desk and Stephanie was kneeling on the floor next to the unconscious woman. They both looked at me as I came into the room.

  “Let’s go, we’re leaving right now.” I said urgently

  Stephanie looked up at me, and looked at the gun I was holding, surprised. “What?” she said, confused. “Didn’t you find anyone? We can’t just leave her here like this!”

  “We have to leave her, we have to leave, we have to leave now,” I said in a near panic. “There’s no-one to help, everyone inside is dead.”