Virus

Five

As we ran through the fire, more of the butterfly soldiers caught up with us and started firing. I saw a bullet hit one of the dudes in the back. He just kept running like it was nothing.

One of them pulled a polished red pistol out of their belt and aimed it at the squadron of soldiers. A bolt of electricity shot from the barrel of the gun and disintegrated all the soldiers into dust.

After a fire minutes the men stopped in front of a metal trapdoor in the grassy forest ground.

The one holding Michael flung it open and the two disappeared down a dark staircase. Sara, Hal, Travis and I followed them obediently, not wanting to leave Michael and Gary.

Sara closed the door behind us and pitch black fell.

We used the walls to guide us down the stairs. We emerged in a lighted room. It was an office.

The two soldiers stood by the door, holding the boys. A woman in a pristine pinstripe suit sat behind a dark mahogany desk. The floor and the shelves that lined the walls matched. The room was dimly lit by a oil lamp on the desk.

"Take them to the infirmary boys," the woman said. The men exited through a door behind her.

"Are any of you wounded?" She asked. When no one answered she continued. "You have now entered the heart of the Holler Resistance Army. Here we plot to destroy Mick Holler and bring the United States government back to the west. We chose to rescue form Holler's soldiers because we are living by the U.S mottos. My name is Myra Minalon. I am the president of the Resistance. I've worked closely with President Girida. He is living in the White House. The rest of the east coast is in infected with deadly, unknown virus. The only this left of the original U.S gov. is the White House. Our mission is to destroy Mick Holler and rebuild the U.S."

Her speech was obviously practiced. It made me question whether she was true to her words or if she was just saying them because she had to.

"How do you expect to rebuild the country with a deadly virus spreading everywhere?" Sara asked.

"Our base in Amarillo is developing a cure. The virus isn't complicated it's just a combination of a lot of deadly things. It won't be hard to cure."

"How fast is the spread rate?" Sara said. She was surprisingly engaged in this. Everyone else just stood and listened.

"We've found cases as close as Kentucky but we move then back into the quarantine. There's not been an outbreak yet."

"Yet?" Sara demanded as if she had the right to be suspicious of her.

Myra flushed with anger. A woman dressed is stained clothes about ten sizes too big walked into the room.

This Minalon lady used a secret buzzer under her desk to summon the maid. What other secrets did she have?

The maid escorted us out of Minalon's office. We emerged in a long corridor that extended forever in either direction. The hallway was lined with doors.

A man stood a few feet out the door of the office. He wore the same clothes as the other soldiers.

"My name is General Vladimir. Follow me." He spoke with a hoarse, soldier voice.

The maid went back into the office and Vladimir led us to a door across the hallway. On the other side of the door is a tiny living space. A bed, a tiny three-drawer dresser, a table with a buck of maps of the United States on it. Next to the dresser is a door that led into a tiny bathroom with a counter, a shower, and a toilet.

Vladimir pointed at the map on top of the stack. He finger landing right on Topeka. "There's a large underground community down in Kansas. If you wish to stay out of this war, we will be able to transport you there, but the rebels offer not protection form Holler. If you choose to stay with the rebels in the war, we'll ship you off to Mexico for six months of training. I advise you let your friends in the infirmary stay here. We can deliver them to Topeka when they are well enough to travel."

The General talked about us as if we were things and not people. Words like ship and deliver and transport. Told me he was vicious, no regard for human life.

"We'll give you the night to decide." Then he took us to our own chambers. It was identical to his except there were two beds. Travis and Hal shared a bed and me, Sara, and Jasmine shared the other.

We laid her down and got chairs around the table. By the time we were all sitting around the table, Jasmine was fast asleep.

Travis had already had this planned. "I'm staying. I'll watch over Gary and Michael until their ready, and then I'll go to Mexico."

"No," Sara said quickly. "No, we are all traveling to Topeka, end of story."

"Gary or Michael could die on that trip," Travis said bluntly. "It's smart to leave them here but we are going to need someone to stay. We can't leave them here alone."

"I want to go to Mexico," Hal chimed in. We all stared at him.

"Hal you can't go to Mexico," I said. "You have to go to Topeka with me."

"I don't have to go anywhere, Kelly," he snapped.

I gasped. What had gotten into him?

"Fine, lets just all stay here," Sara said. I hated the idea.

"No, there's no chance of a future here," Travis said.

"There's no chance of a future anywhere. This entire country is at war, there's a huge plague going around, and people are dying. This country has fallen into one giant shot hole. A hole with no future for anyone!" Halfway through Sara had raised her voice. Jasmine began to stir.

"Sara, stop. You'll wake her up," I said, gesturing to Jasmine.

"You two are going to Topeka, period. Don't argue," Travis said. "I'm staying, and Hal is staying with me if he'd like to."

"Hal...," I pleaded helplessly. I saw in his eyes that he wasn't going to change his mind, not for anyone. Not even for me.