Spore Series | Book 2 | Choke Read online

“We’re not.” Kim knelt next to him. “General Miller is trying to detain me, so I’m out of here. I’ll leave you here for General Miller’s men to pick up. They’ll get you some medical attention.”

  Kim started to draw away, but Bryant grabbed her arm. “Take me with you. I can help protect you.”

  “You’re not in any condition to protect anyone,” Kim said, shrugging off his grip. “You did your best, and I appreciate that. Be safe. Get better.”

  Bryant’s expression turned troubled. “If General Miller gave you an order, follow it.”

  Kim shook her head and left the soldier sitting on the side of the road with a sour expression. She rushed up the bus stairs and caught the general’s last ounce of patience as it fled.

  “Mrs. Shields. Stay where you are. I have two vehicles coming to your location now to escort you in. Please do not resist.”

  “Start decontamination protocol,” she said to AMI, stripping down and tossing her clothes in the soaking bin. “And unmute me.”

  “Done.”

  “I’m not coming in,” Kim spoke as a spray of decontaminate burst from the nozzles. “But I left Lieutenant Colonel Bryant for you to pick up. He’s on I-395 westbound and needs medical attention.”

  The general didn’t respond, and she took that as a sign he was finished speaking with her.

  She scrubbed her hair, skin, and respirator mask in less than two minutes. Then she stood beneath a thirty-second quick rinse before the light on the door turned green. Kim ripped off her mask and stepped into the prep room. With shaking hands, she wrapped a towel around herself and moved toward the front of the bus.

  Kim slipped into the driver’s seat and muted herself again, because she didn’t want the general to know her destination. “AMI, please map a route to Yellow Springs, Ohio.”

  “Done.”

  Kim looked down at her dashboard GPS to see a blue map highlighting the directions. She put the bus into drive and pulled forward, bypassing the exit ramp and heading west on I-395.

  AMI’s voice chimed politely into the cabin. “Kim, my rear cameras have picked up movement on the expressway behind you.”

  She glanced at the array of screens on the passenger side dashboard and saw two Humvees highlighted in green night vision as they sped down the expressway. Then she glanced at the bus’s speedometer and saw it went to ninety-five. “What’s a Humvee’s maximum speed?”

  “Military Humvees can attain a maximum speed of around seventy miles per hour, depending on the model.”

  “They’re not sports cars,” Kim said with a grin. She pressed the gas and pushed the bus faster, speeding up to sixty.

  Kim gripped the wheel as she wove the bus between wrecks like a slalom course. She slowed to thirty-five to fit between two stalled vehicles, clipping the front quarter panel of one to send it rolling toward the shoulder. Kim pressed the gas and increased her speed again, climbing to seventy on the next straightaway.

  A glance at the rear camera showed the military vehicles falling behind as they drove recklessly to close the distance. They clipped vehicles left and right, slowing them down until they no longer appeared in her rear camera view.

  “You’ve forced my hand, Mrs. Shields.” General Miller’s voice was cold and angry through the cabin speakers.

  Kim gasped as a long helicopter swooped into her field of vision, flying sideways to match her speed. A mounted gun swiveled in her direction, the feed area loaded with a string of bullets. She glanced at the expressway and back to the gun. A shiver ran through her, imagining those rounds cutting the bus in half.

  A woman’s professional tone joined the conversation. “Attention, Kim Shields. This is Sergeant Major Amanda Smith piloting the helicopter above you. If you do not pull over, I’ll have no choice but to fire.”

  Kim slapped the mute button so they heard her again. “Really, General Miller? You’ll shoot an unarmed civilian?”

  “You’ve left me no choice, Mrs. Shields.”

  “You’ve got plenty of choices.” Kim slammed her hand on the wheel. “I’m trying to find a cure for this thing. It might be our only chance. If you ever want to walk around outside without a mask strapped to your face, let me go.”

  “I don’t have a lot of faith in scientists,” Miller growled. “Please stop the vehicle, and the sergeant major will guide you home to us.”

  Kim stared at the smooth-flying helicopter. The gunner held the barrel steady on her no matter how the road curved. She glanced down at the speedometer and saw she’d slowed to forty miles per hour.

  “You could stop me, but you’d be killing the last chance we have for a cure. That means everyone will die, one way or another: everyone in that chopper; everyone back at camp; any innocent person still fighting for survival.” She shook her head. “You know that, so I don’t think you’ll shoot me.”

  She pressed the gas pedal and shot beneath the helicopter.

  Watching the road through narrowed eyes, she expected a hail of lead and shattered glass. But no shots came. The helicopter hovered in her rear camera view, spinning slowly but otherwise non-aggressive.

  “Thank you, General,” Kim said through pursed lips.

  “You’re not worth the bullets, Mrs. Shields,” Miller said, and their communication clicked off.

  She relaxed her grip on the wheel as the helicopter leaned forward and flew back south. She eased her speed down to a manageable forty miles per hour and breathed a deep sigh of relief.

  Chapter 2

  Jessie Talby, Washington, D.C.

  Jessie led Fiona by the hand down a long retractable tunnel. The white tarp flapped in the breeze. Their gowns and slippers brushed softly as they shuffled along, and sunlight entered through clear plastic windows.

  They’d arrived at Ronald Reagan National Airport an hour ago, brought in by a pair of checkpoint guards and taken through the terminal to the decontamination area. Jessie had explained she was a CDC field agent looking for Kim Shields, and she wanted to speak with General Miller right away.

  The guards had promised to make their commander aware before handing them over to the decontamination team. She had stated their names to the staff sergeant as Jessie and Fiona Talby, mother and daughter. It was the only way to ensure they’d stay together.

  She’d held Fiona’s hand as they passed naked through all the chambers with chemical-smelling disinfectant sprays raining down on them. Once out of the cold rinse, a female guard had issued them soft cotton clothing. Soldiers with high-grade protective suits guided them to the quarantine tunnel where they were told to walk straight until they reached the quarantine tent.

  Jessie glanced down at the girl where her damp hair puffed out into cute ringlet curls. “Are you okay, Fiona?”

  “I’m cold,” Fiona said, looking up through her hair.

  “I’ll see if they have a blanket for you, okay?”

  Fiona nodded, and Jessie gave her hand a squeeze.

  Their journey to the quarantine tent took five minutes. A nurse greeted them at the end of the tunnel. She wore a full protective suit with a hood attached to a primary air line, and her eyes appeared tired, but kind, behind her clear visor.

  “Hi there. Look at you two.” The nurse smiled. Her voice sounded compressed coming from the hood’s speakers. “Mother and daughter?”

  She nodded.

  “I’m sure we can find a pair of cots close together.” The nurse gestured for them to follow. “We’re trying not to separate families.”

  “I appreciate that,” she replied.

  The humongous tent structure was more complex than Jessie would have imagined. The nurse led them down a long corridor dotted with tent flaps to other rooms. Then they stepped through into a large tent where nurses attended more patients.

  Their nurse unhooked her air line at certain points and re-attached it when they entered each new section. Jessie was familiar with viral containment structures, though General Miller’s place operated on an impressive scale.

&n
bsp; They finally entered a medium-sized tent with patients lined up in two long rows. Most of the patients rested quietly, though others displayed mild coughs.

  “As promised.” The nurse gestured to a pair of empty cots in the back corner. On each cot rested a folded blanket, a bottle of water, and packs of snacks. “If you need to use the restroom, just let the section nurse know, and he’ll show you where those are. A doctor will be around to give you an exam. Good luck, ladies.”

  “Thanks,” Jessie said, looking around. She gave Fiona a wink. “Looks like home sweet home for us.”

  “I want the bed by the window.” Fiona jumped on the cot resting below a ten-by-ten-inch plastic window.

  “Fine,” she laughed and sat on her own cot.

  She opened her water and took several long gulps, noting her throat felt scratchy. An overwhelming sense of weariness pressed down on her shoulders, and her head grew heavy. Jessie placed her snacks and water beneath the cot and stretched out. Pulling the blanket over her shoulders, she relaxed and breathed in the cool sterile air.

  “Stay close, okay Fiona?”

  “Okay. Are you taking a nap?”

  “I’m just going to rest my eyes for a minute.”

  The second Jessie shut her eyes, she fell asleep.

  Someone gently shook Jessie’s shoulder.

  “Jessie? Jessie Talby?”

  Jessie groaned and snuggled against the warmth pressing into her chest.

  “Are you the Jessie who works with the CDC? Were you working with Kim Shields? Is this Fiona?”

  She opened her eyes to a bush of black curls, and she took a deep breath of dry decontaminate rinse. It was Fiona. She must have sneaked into her cot and fallen asleep. Jessie’s arm lay protectively over the girl, her face buried in Fiona’s hair.

  Jessie lifted her eyes to see a big soldier sitting next to her cot. He wore fresh combat fatigues with a crutch laying across his lap. His ice-blue eyes stared back at her from behind the visor of his full-face air filtration mask. He wore an expression of concern and hope.

  “Are you Jessie Talby?” he repeated. “Is this Fiona?”

  “Yeah, that’s me.” She nodded and glanced down at the girl snuggled against her. “Yes, this is Fiona.”

  “Fiona,” the soldier whispered. He reached out to touch the girl with his knuckle-scraped hand but pulled back at the last second as if Fiona was a fine piece of china he didn’t want to break. He lowered his voice. “She’s immune to Asphyxia, right?”

  Jessie raised onto her elbow and pulled Fiona tighter against her. The girl made a sleepy sound and curled up even closer.

  “Who are you? What do you want with Fiona?”

  The soldier eased back in his foldout chair, an apology etched on his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you. My name is Lieutenant Colonel Scott Bryant. Several days ago, General Miller sent me and a few men to the CDC building in Washington to safeguard the cure for Asphyxia. That’s where I met Kim Shields and Tom Flannery.”

  “Okay, that makes more sense,” Jessie said with calming emotion. “You keep saying Asphyxia. I assume you’re talking about the fungal infection. The spores.”

  “That’s right,” Bryant said. “Kim mentioned your name several times. She said she lost contact with your field team, that you might have gone down in a chopper crash. She believed Fiona was the key to curing Asphyxia, but she thought you were both dead.”

  Jessie rose into a sitting position, shifting Fiona around. “We crashed, yes. The pilot died, but we lived. My orders were to bring Fiona to Kim unharmed, but the CDC facility was burning by the time we got there. I didn’t even know if she was alive.”

  Bryant scoffed. “It’s a long story, but I can assure you Kim is alive. She dropped me off here at camp before bucking Miller’s orders for her to stay.”

  Jessie’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

  “Kim is on a mission,” Bryant said. “She’s on her way to meet a guy who can help cure the disease. But Miller doesn’t believe in a cure. He’s gathering his resources, trying to keep the camp together. He thinks this will be the cradle of mankind.”

  “Then I guess we’re stuck here,” Jessie shook her head as her heart sank. “I’m just going to keep getting sick until…”

  “It doesn’t have to be that way,” Bryant grunted. “Look, I know where Kim went, but I didn’t tell Miller.” He lowered his voice and leaned closer. “Miller said I couldn’t go after Kim, but he put me in charge of supply acquisition. It just so happens there’s a great source of supplies in Yellow Springs, Ohio. That’s where she went.”

  “Why?” Her brow furrowed. “I mean, why would you do that.”

  An ominous shadow passed over Bryant’s face, and he cast his eyes down before lifting them to meet Jessie’s. “I screwed up back at the CDC facility, and I’m not proud of it. I need to make up for that. Plus, I disagree with General Miller. I think he’s making a mistake by not helping Kim. I’ve seen her determination. If there’s anyone who can cure Asphyxia, it’s her.”

  “But you’re hurt,” she nodded at his crutch.

  “Some asshole shot me in the hip, but Miller’s doctors got the bullet out.” Bryant shifted in his seat and stretched his right leg straight. “I can walk as long as I can deal with the pain.”

  Jessie nodded. “Okay. I’m listening. How do you plan on getting us out of here?”

  “You let me figure it out,” Bryant grinned. “Don’t worry. Just be ready when I come for you.”

  “Don’t worry?” Jessie scoffed. “Right. When are you coming?”

  “Very soon. Tonight.”

  Bryant placed the crutch tip on the ground and stood, leaning his weight on the crutch pad. “It was good meeting you.”

  “You, too.”

  The soldier nodded. “Tonight. Be ready.”

  Chapter 3

  Jessie Talby, Washington, D.C.

  A nurse approached their cots later that evening. Fiona had been folding snack wrappers into interesting designs while Jessie battled occasional chest constrictions and bouts of coughing.

  She slid her feet off the bed and sat up. “Hi.”

  “Hi, ladies,” the nurse said from behind her mask. “How did your examinations go today?”

  “Fine,” Jessie nodded, then raised her hand. “Infected, as charged.”

  “Infected,” Fiona whispered as she crinkled her wrappers.

  “Good. I mean, not good that you’re infected,” the nurse apologized. “Good about meeting the doctor.”

  “I knew what you meant.” Jessie waved off her apology with a light cough.

  The nurse looked around suspiciously before raising an eyebrow. “Are you ready to go? I hear you’re going on a big classified mission. I’m jealous. Not many of us get to leave. I’d take a hard labor detail just to get out from these fabricated tents.”

  “Yeah, I guess we’re lucky,” Jessie said, confused.

  “The Lieutenant Colonel mentioned this was high priority,” the nurse explained. She hung back and waited, then gestured pointedly. “You may want to put a little hop in your step.”

  “Oh, right.” She sat up and pulled Fiona away from her wrapper art. As soon as Jessie placed the girl on her feet, she snatched her wrappers off the cot and stood there crunching them in her fists. Jessie smiled with a twitch of nervousness. “Are you ready, Fiona?”

  “Yes.”

  “I guess we’re ready.” Jessie glanced back at the cots. “It’s not like we have any possessions.”

  The nurse nodded with an apologetic expression. “None of us do. Now, come on.”

  Jessie took Fiona’s hand and followed the nurse out of their section and down a different tunnel than the one they’d come in on. Soft blue and green lights along the ceiling lit their way. After several confusing turns, they entered a long tunnel with reverse circulation sucking out the air.

  At the end of the tunnel, they ascended three steel-grated stairs to a platform that served as a makeshift d
econtamination floor. A second tunnel branched off at a hard left angle. In the soft light, she spotted a drain beneath the grating, and bundles of hoses stretched up the wall and across the ceiling to end in nozzles pointed down.

  “Okay, here we are,” the nurse said, pleasantly. “Lieutenant Colonel Bryant will be with you in a moment.”

  Jessie nodded as the nurse returned the way they’d come.

  “This is a strange place to meet.” She looked around. The floor lay dry below them, and the air had a clean scent, not the usual chemical smell of decontaminate. “They must rarely use this area.”

  She peered down the tunnel leading away, expecting Bryant to come hobbling down it at any moment. A zipping sound ripped the darkness, and Jessie turned as the tarp wall split open. She backed away with her arm thrown in front of Fiona but sighed with relief when Bryant’s sturdy form crawled through the gap with an air filtration mask and a high-grade respirator.

  He waved them over. “Come on.”

  They stepped off the platform, and she handed Fiona through the gap. “It’s okay, baby. This is Bryant. He’s just another one of those big teddy bears I was telling you about.”

  “Hi, Bryant,” the girl said as she stooped and passed through.

  Jessie climbed through behind Fiona and stood waiting for the soldier to reseal the gap. Wind gusted around them, and the sounds of distant helicopters and military vehicles filled the night sky. Clouds drifted across the moon’s face, masking its deep amber glow. The huge terminal with three gates loomed in front of them, while modular tents and tunnels spread out in all directions around them.

  The Asphyxia fungus grew in large crimson swaths across the tents like burn marks.

  “This way.” He adjusted his air filtration mask. Then he stood and pointed toward the terminal.

  The soldier skirted between tents and tunnels, hobbling along on his crutch with his head and shoulders ducking low. He crouch-walked beneath the plastic windows, and Jessie followed his lead. She caught sight of shadows walking up and down the tunnels, likely nurses and doctors going about their evening routines.