Breathless - Swarm Book 2: (An Epic Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller), page 17
“Grandpop and Gran brought me up. So you see, I can’t let her down.”
“What happened to your parents?” She was drawn to any kid who wasn’t raised by their birth parent, the guilt panging away in her stomach.
“Plane crash. Overseas. Happened when I was just a kid.”
“I understand. Truly, I do.” Kim reached over and touched Toby’s hand where it had clenched around the steering wheel. “I’ve got someone depending…”
A low moan from the back of the van stopped Kim in mid-sentence. Then Shannon screamed. Long. Loud. Rebounding inside the van until it filled every atom of space, a scream filled with such terror. A terrible coldness swept through Kim, as if her body had frozen into ice. A tree on their right exploded in a fireball of flames that soared over thirty feet into the air. She jumped in her seat, heart thudding fast.
Toby swore and swung the van to the left and put his foot down on the accelerator simultaneously. The van pitched from side to side and veered all over the road while he wrestled for control.
“Slow down!” Kim shouted above the desperate screams coming from behind her, as she vaulted over to help him hold the steering wheel.
“I’m trying!” Toby thumped hard on the brakes with both feet, apparently forgetting about his clutch. The van gave a massive jolt forward then backward. The engine cut out as they stopped smack bang in the center of the highway while the fire expanded, devouring trees and scrub, crackling and competing with the roar of the wind like it was in a battle to the death. Toby hunched over the wheel, his face close to the windshield, and inched the van forward.
Another long, horrendous scream came from Shannon, and the hairs on the back of Kim’s neck sizzled. She spun around in her seat.
The young man convulsed on the narrow bed, blood flowing down his face, his wife crouched over him. “Luke! Luke! Wake up! What’s wrong with you? Oh no, not now! The baby!”
Kim’s gaze darted to the window then back to the straining young woman lying on the bed inside the old campervan as it trundled down the dark road. She wiped sweat off the girl’s forehead using the edge of a towel. Arching backward, she adjusted the angle of their lone flashlight so she could see both Shannon and Luke. He’d stopped convulsing and spewing blood, but he lay far too still on the floor, wedged between the short corridor of cabinetry. Kim held her breath until the young man’s chest expanded beneath his dull, blood-stained shirt as he inhaled slowly. There was nothing more she could do to help him. But maybe, just maybe, she could help his wife.
Toby let out a mournful wail. “I dunno, dude. I dunno where we are, it’s so dark and there’s so much smoke.”
“I think you must have taken a side road somewhere along the line.”
“Hey! You want to drive?” His voice sounded harsh, belligerent and very different to the Toby who’d been so kind to her when she’d been stranded on the freeway. Since she’d insisted on picking up the couple, he’d retreated into what she suspected was a dark and lonely place deep inside.
Outside the world was dark and quiet as the van bounced down a narrow, potholed road that wound deeper and deeper into the Australian bush. There was no twinkle of lights that would indicate houses or a town but they appeared to be safe from the fires for the moment. The wind had died down or perhaps they were traveling in a valley, protected from the wild westerly. Another blessing, as it meant the chances of another spot-fire flaring up near them were slim.
“I wasn’t having a go at you, mate. I think you did a fabulous job getting us out of that bush fire so fast.” Kim smiled at him, uncertain whether or not he could see her expression in the gloom.
The darkness of early nightfall had eaten away what little sunlight had been able to leach through the heavy layer of smoke emanating from the massive fire fronts burning throughout New South Wales. Blood and muck had pooled over the sleeping bag covering the bed and the small expanse of floor area. The small van stank and Kim was thankful she wore her cloth mask over her face. It alleviated a little of the stench and helped to keep the meager meal she’d eaten earlier down where it belonged in her gut. She eased herself into the back of the van, breathing through her clenched teeth, and dribbled some water from a plastic bottle past Shannon’s parched lips.
“What’s wrong with him? Please, Kim, do something for my husband.” Panting, Shannon attempted to push herself up with her elbows, craning her neck to see her partner on the floor.
“He’s fine and sleeping now,” Kim lied and applied a gentle yet firm pressure to the girl’s shoulder until she flopped back onto the thin mattress. “Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
“Like I can get up and go anywhere.” The girl twisted her mouth in a parody of a smile and closed her eyes.
Kim edged her way past the prone man until she crouched behind the front seats. “Any idea of where we are yet?”
“Nope.” Toby’s shoulders slumped and the expression on his face when he sneaked a quick glance toward her screamed defeat. “How they doing back there?”
“Luke’s unconscious which is strange.” Kim’s grip on the seat tightened as the van jolted over a pothole and everything inside rattled and creaked. “So far today, I’ve had two people die right in front of me. Both had terrible coughs and both had blood coming from their eyes, mouth and ears and both had a seizure. But this man, although he had similar symptoms, seems to have lapsed into a coma.”
“But he’s still alive.”
“True, but for how long, I can’t say.” Kim eyed the boy while she spoke. “Look, Toby, we need to work out exactly where we are so we can get to Wyong. Those two need a hospital, fast.”
“The chick…?”
“I think she’s fine. I thought she might be going into labor, but she seems fine now.”
“Not good, dude.”
“Yeah. We need a doctor.” Not to mention she needed an X-ray for herself. Kim pressed a hand against her chest where her suspected broken rib burned like a branding iron. Her lung capacity seemed to shrink every time she sucked in air.
“There’s a map in the glove box.”
Kim dug out the map from the pile of junk in the glove box, switched on the overhead light and unfolded the food-spotted paper. “OK. So about here is where we were ambushed by that fire.” She traced her finger along the line representing the old Pacific Highway, but they were definitely no longer on that road. “We’re still on a tarred road which helps. Do you remember seeing any signposts? Or intersections?”
Toby shook his head. “Dude, I just wanted to get away from the fire.”
Kim turned her attention back to the map then to the road in front of them as it curved to the left. “I think we’re in a valley which would explain why it’s no longer so windy. I don’t remember any steep hills so I’m guessing it’s a shallow one. Here. Here. And here.” She stabbed the paper in three different locations. “These roads are all possible, but the question is, which road is the right one?” She didn’t dare check the fuel gauge again because the last time she’d looked, there’d been only a quarter of a tank.
The van reached the corner and rattled around the curve.
“Look, Toby!” Kim shook his arm then pointed out his side window. “Over there. I see lights from a house. We can ask the way. There must be a driveway or lane somewhere close by. Slow down.”
A dark scowl furrowed his brow again and he shook the steering wheel with his clenched hands. “Gran is waiting!”
“You’ll be there quicker once we know where we are. Come on, mate. Slow down a bit.” These rapidly changing moods of his weren’t a good sign. He’d either taken something when she wasn’t looking or was coming down. With one eye on the road, Kim sifted through the piles of torn paper, a moldy donut, empty crisps packets, a pair of broken sunglasses, and then at the very back her fingers closed over a small bottle half-filled with gray-white powder. With Toby busy looking for the turn off to the house, Kim drew the bottle out and turning her back, read the label. ‘Amphetamine sulphate.’ In other words, speed. Hastily, she shoved it back out of sight.
“Alright.” His scowl deepened, as he clanged down the gears and they inched along the road. His frown vanished in a flash, and he even jumped up and down on his seat. “I can see the driveway. And a letterbox.”
Kim pinned a smile to her face all the while stomping down that inner voice that begged her to run. Get out and run. But she couldn’t do that, not only would she be stuck in the middle of nowhere, but she’d be leaving the young couple with a volatile young man. “That’s great, Toby. Well done.”
“What’s happening? Are we there?” called Shannon.
Kim glanced over her shoulder. “Not yet. We’re going to ask for help at a house we’ve found.”
“No, don’t stop. Keep driving. I want to get to the hospital.” She erupted into heaving sobs.
“I’m sorry Shannon, but we have to find out where we are, or we’ll be out here all night.”
Fingers tapping on the steering wheel, Toby swung the van off the road and onto the dirt track that cut through cleared paddocks and ended in front of a timber-clad house with a wraparound veranda. They pulled up with a tiny skid over gravel and Toby turned off the engine. In weighted silence they sat there staring at the house.
The pale-yellow lights glowed from the two front windows like feral eyes in a well of darkness and something cold slithered down Kim’s spine. Every instinct she possessed warned not to approach the building, to turn around and drive like crazy. But with Shannon moaning low in her throat on the bed and Luke unconscious and probably in a coma, there was no choice but hope that someone inside that building would help.
Chapter 17
DR KEIKO SATO. BOULDER, COLORADO
Keiko woke in her chair to Jacob Horowitz standing over her singing Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead. She stole a look at her laptop. Phew! It had gone to sleep. Jacob couldn’t have read her notes while she slept.
“Well, look who did the walk of shame last night.”
“What are you talking about?”
Jacob made a sweeping gesture covering Keiko from head to toe. “Same Metallica shirt as last night. Same pants as last night.” He leaned close. “Is that blood on your shirt?”
Keiko sat up and massaged the small of her back. She hadn’t slept in a chair in a long time and her back was a mess. The awkward sleeping hadn’t helped her hip any, either. It still hurt from where she’d fallen on it at the Supah Dupah. She counted ceiling tiles to steady her mind, then lowered her voice and stood. “If you’re going to insist on talking, let’s go into the lab. I don’t want to wake the girls.” She turned her back on Jacob and walked a few paces.
To her eternal relief, Director of Security Sanford Helmes, six-feet-five inches and 260 pounds of former NFL linebacker, stood in the doorway.
Jacob flinched. “Who are you?”
“Sanford Helmes.” The walls resonated with Sanford’s bass voice. His chest rose as he spoke, emphasizing his massive shoulders and pecs. “Who the hell are you?”
Jacob stepped forward. “Pleasure meeting you too. I’m Jacob Horowitz, Maclaren De Jager’s nephew.” He tapped Sanford’s chest. “Which pretty much makes me your boss.” He turned toward Keiko. “And, Dr. Sashimi-san, I got in the same way you did: keycode, retinal scan, badge.” Jacob turned back to Sanford. “Why are you still here? Don’t you have steroids to shoot up?” Jacob then walked to the lineup of Keiko’s microscopes and spun around. “By the way, beefcake, your little scientist here? She calls you ‘Security.’ Like the mall cop variety.”
Sanford shot Keiko a look and she shook her head no. “Ms. Sato, setting aside this jackass for a minute, can you explain why there is a young man outside my lab, insisting that you are expecting him?”
Keiko froze. Joe McCarty had tracked them. But that was impossible. I was so careful! “Is he tall, skinny, crew cut, about seventeen?”
Sanford shook his head. “Short, skinny white boy. Looks like he weighs a buck fifteen soaking wet. He’s got a dog and a little kid.”
Keiko shrugged. “I have no clue.”
“Says his name’s Sam Leary?”
“He’s here? But he’s at Berkeley. He can’t be here.” She’d sent him a note—polite but nothing more, expressing interest in his bugs—but she’d never expected him to show up.
“Well, he is.” Sanford glared at Jacob, then turned to Keiko. “Next time, Sato,” Sanford tapped his temple, “guests cleared through me. Before they knock on my castle door.” He turned to leave.
“Sanford, wait… before you go. Did you happen to notice if Sam had any blood on him? Especially on the face. Eyes, nose, ears…”
“You mean the cicada infection-thingie? No, he looked fine. He has less blood on him than you do.” Sanford furrowed his brow. “You really ought to clean up. Maybe think about changing your clothes. And is that a gun under your cardigan?”
Keiko looked down at herself. Her cardigan had shifted, revealing her bloody Metallica tee and half of her shoulder holster. “I’ll explain another time.”
“Add ‘conceal-carrying guns into the lab’ to the growing list of things to see me about before doing them, got it?” Sanford left without waiting for an answer.
A few moments later, the lab door buzzed. Jacob jerked the door open and Sam Leary stumbled into the lab, his hand still on the door handle. A boy about Maiko’s age hung back in the hall with his hands thrust in his jeans pockets and his curly, light brown hair sticking out in every direction. Beside the boy stood a shaggy-haired dog, its body rigid, ears back, growling at Jacob.
Keiko closed her eyes. Of course there was a dog. And a minor.
Jacob shot out a hand and caught Sam, then dusted off Sam’s shoulders. “You all right, kid?”
Sam tentatively extended his hand. “I’m Doctor Sam Leary. Dr. Diana Stewart is my mentor—”
Jacob pumped Sam’s hand. “Pleasure’s all mine, Doc. I’m Jacob Horowitz. I’m in charge here, and this is my assistant, Keiko Tojo-san.”
Keiko glared at Jacob—the Tojo reference was too far—but Jacob was already moving into the hallway toward the little boy and the bristling dog.
Sam looked befuddled. “Tojo-san?”
What crappy luck for Sam to meet Jacob Horowitz first thing on arrival. Crappy, but not crappy enough to give him a home in her lab. The quicker she could get his cicada samples and then get him out, the better. Still, she couldn’t leave him dangling. She lowered her voice. “Ignore him. He thinks he’s something because his uncle finances the lab. He’s an idiot.”
“So Tojo-san was a joke?”
“Yes. A bad one.”
“I couldn’t tell.”
Keiko raised her voice to a normal level. “I’m Doctor Keiko Sato.” She shook Sam’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Doctor Leary.”
Jacob’s voice came from the hallway. “Hey, Sam, come calm your dog. I think it wants me for dinner.”
Sam clucked his tongue twice. The dog trotted into the lab and sat at Sam’s feet facing Jacob, hackles still raised. “Henry is a he.” Sam rummaged in his knapsack and lifted out a rectangular wooden box. Beaming, he handed the box to Keiko. “There are three samples of Magicicada apocalyptus inside. Two females, one male. One of the females will amaze you.”
“Why?”
“She’s a queen.” Sam paused, his head bobbing almost imperceptibly as if he were counting. “I forgot I’m supposed to introduce you to Jesse. You’ve already met Henry.” He skritched the dog’s ears. “Jesse, come inside the lab. It’s okay.”
The boy shuffled into the lab, his eyes puffy as if he’d been crying, gazing at the microscopes, the glassware, the computer monitors. He looked overwhelmed and very, very parentless. “Where’s Diana? She said she’d come for me…”
Diana? A sister, maybe? Keiko filed away the questions that were already forming. She shook Jesse’s hand. “Jesse, I’m Doctor Keiko. I know someone about your age who is probably tired of adults and might like someone to play with and show around—if you’re okay with it being a girl?”
“Girls are okay. Is Diana here?”
“Sorry, no Dianas.” She shot a look at Sam, but he didn’t supply any answers. His attention was concentrated on the boxes he’d brought to her lab. Keiko walked Jesse around to the lounge where Netsy and Maiko were playing crazy eights.
Netsy looked up. “She’s killing me, as usual.”
“Sam, please do the introductions. I need to work. And thank you for the samples.” Keiko carried the box toward the door, then stopped with her hand on the handle.
Sam tentatively rested his hand on the boy’s shoulder. The boy didn’t flinch or make eye contact with anyone. “This is my friend, Jesse. Jesse, this is… Um, I don’t know your name.”
Maiko held out her hand. “I’m Maiko.”
Keiko smiled. Good job, Maiko.
Jesse shook Maiko’s hand.
“And that’s Netsy. She’s my babysitter.”
Netsy waved and said hi, then wandered off to the TV.
Sam nudged Jesse. “Jesse, the rules say you’re supposed to say ‘it’s nice to meet you’ right now.”
“It’s nice to meet you.”
Sam pointed at the playing cards lying in two hands on the table. “Can Jesse play?”
Keiko caught her daughter’s eye and arched an eyebrow.
Maiko nodded. “You can take Netsy’s place. She’s terrrr-ible at crazy eights.”
“Because I let you win,” said Netsy from beside the TV.
Sam walked to Keiko. He smiled and his eyes lit up. “Let’s go look at those samples. I have ideas about protein folding deformities.”
Jacob stepped close, and both Sam and Keiko inched backward. Jacob flashed his cynical, handsome smile and clapped Sam on the shoulder. “We need to stay away from those proteins, Doc. Keiko’s in hot pursuit of a CO2 root cause. She’s confident that’s what will lead us to the antitoxin. She should know, she’s a genius.”
