Spores

by creepymonkeiboi

Part 01

It was Lucy that killed me.
My apartment was sealed tight. I boxed in right when the panic and the riots started. My building is an unassuming three story all brick and mortar in a mostly industrial district. Not the best place to live in regular world, but when the world is ending, no better. No fires or looters here. Not like Boston or San Diego, entire cities burning with no one left to put them out.
The news first reported it as a localized event in the eastern european bloc. A new pandemic strain of influenza, some stupid shit. I started prepping then. Spending every paycheck on water, supplies, and air filtration equipment. Six months later the president of the United States is on the news in a full biological hazard suit, apologizing to the world and telling everyone to pray. The government shut down soon after, but by then the spore storms were already blowing across Indiana.
They referred to it as an "ETO", extra-terrestrial organism, speculated that it probably landed somewhere in the mountainous region near Turkey. It was a silica based lifeform, somewhere between a worm and a fungus. Completely parasitic and hostile to any lifeform it came into contact with, insects, birds, mammals. Towards the end they even said that it had adapted and started attaching to plants.
If it comes into contact with skin, I've heard that it can be removed. The spores. They attach to whatever they land on, and root in....deep. Two inches deep. This is Stage 1 of an infection. Within about a week, the head will vine out and become a flowering organism, releasing more spores. Stage 2. I remember watching the news during the first spore storms in China. It was like the sky turned black, they showed soldiers burning bodies along with livestock.
If a spore is inhaled, it latches inside the lungs, makes you crazy with pain. You become a walking infector, exhaling little clouds of parasite with each breath or cough. Eventually, in Stage 4 you find a quiet dark place to lay down and die. Then the worms just sprout out of your mouth and nose, turning you into a human flowerpot. Or in Lucy's case a feline flowerpot. I can see her tiny ribs flexing in and out, but she's been dead for two days now. The roots are wrapped around her lungs, flexing them open and closed. I can see tiny black particles spraying out of her into my apartment.
I'd had my apartment sealed shut for two weeks, I listened to my upstairs neighbor's wet ragged coughs get weaker and stop. I watched the news until the power went off. I checked and double checked all the seals around the windows and my air system. I watched the black stalks growing out of the mouth of the homeless guy down in the alley. When I heard Lucy crying at my door, scratching to be let in, I hadn't seen her in a month. I didn't even have cat food stocked. I don't know why I did.
I knew I was dead the first time she sneezed.
I feel a weird tickle in the back of my throat. It sends me into a coughing fit that lasts for over a minute. When I'm finally done I can feel...it...just barely draping out over my bottom lip. I look in the mirror and can see the long black tendril disappear down into my throat. I gingerly press on it with my back teeth. I feel a vice clamp down on my lungs, squeezing all the air out. I see flashing stars and blackness before it relaxes ever so slightly, allowing me to labor on for just awhile longer. I'm so pissed, so angry, I open my mouth wide, wrap my hand around the cord and rip. Pulling two feet of black rope out of my mouth along with a red and bloody chunk. The pain in my right lung is....
When I woke up, I can see all the blood I've coughed up, flecked with black spores and tiny wriggling threads. There are now two more tendrils touching my bottom lip. It took me an hour to crawl over to where I left my tablet. It's so hard to breath now.
I won't have to bother doing it soon.

Part 02

personal journal of Sean Whittier, canadian astronaut serving aboard the ISS, April 2nd:
C&C advises that the pandemic has spread beyond the India/China border. I can look out the viewport and see Instanbul in flames. Susie sent me an email that there are reported infections in Los Angeles and San Fran. I told her to pack up and go stay with her folks in SLC. This shit is scary how fast it went from a birdflu outbreak two months ago to some type of fungal lung disease and 10 million dead. Dmitri showed me an email from his cousin. (I don't read Russian). He said that his cousin talked about there literally being dead bodies in the street in St. Petersburg.
April 25th: We're getting our last shipment for awhile tomorrow. We're being sequestered up here "for our safety"
April 26th: Soyez TMA 30M arrived with mission specialist cosmonaut Andrevi Tasko on board. Module contains food and water supplies for six months, additional air tanks. After docking, Myself and Dmitri decided to enact a temporary quarantine to monitor cosmonaut Tasko for signs of infection. He was not happy. We'll give him twelve hours then pop the seal.
April 28th: We made the right call. We can see Tasko floating around inside the Soyez. He stopped moving a few hours ago. We can clearly see black particulates floating inside. the scrubbers for some reason aren't filtering. We think he's putting out more spores than the module can filter.
May 10th: It's....surreal looking inside the module. Tasko is floating around dead, bumping off the walls. There are black stalks growing from his mouth and nose and now eyesockets. The air inside looks...dirty...like smoke. HTV CC advised us that they were going offline within 24 hours. That leaves Houston. Toulouse, Quebec, Ober. They've all gone quiet. We've only got two weeks of food left. There's pallets of food inside the module that we can't touch. Luckily we're able to siphon the exterior tanks for air without cracking the door on that deathtrap. I can...I can see Tasko breathing. He's dead, but his ribs are moving and he's just pouring out spore.
May 13th: After purging the module yesterday, we repressurized it remotely. Looks like the infection in Tasko died out as well. He's not "breathing" anymore.
May 14th: I was five seconds from cracking the door when Dmitri stopped me. We exposed it to vacuum for eight hours, -90 degree temps. It just went dormant. He stopped me, looking through the portole, and said Tasko's chest was moving again. We watched the module fill back up with that black shit in four hours. six months of food ten feet away. Now, we can't even spacewalk because there's no telling if some of those spores landed on the hull. We can't risk even one getting in here.
May 30th: Down to three bags of gravy. I can look out the window and see black hurricanes sweeping across Africa. All we're getting from Houston is a standby signal. We tried raising someone on the radio and got alot of static. Somebody in Tulsa national guard left a recorded message broadcasting at max freq. "All west of Mississippi are lost, do not approach. Repeat. All lost. Stay away."
June 12th: I watched Dmitri burn up on rentry below me. He decided to go EVA three days ago. He suffocated long before he hit atmo. Said he wanted to go out on his own terms. I kinda envy him now. I'm too weak to suit up. The surface doesn't look like earth anymore. The spore storms are sweeping across every landmass, it's like the entire world burned to ash. No luck on comms. I'm not sure anyone's left standing down there. Houston's standby message went dark. That national guard message is still playing though.
June 14th: I cracked the seal. It was the best goddamn bag of turkey and gravy I've ever eaten. I've been coughing non-stop for four hours, and there are one inch black threads growing out of my arms and face, but fuck if I'm not going to die well fed. Next meal is spaghetti and orange juice. I might pop the airlock and join Dmitri later, maybe I'll just stay here with Tasko. God it's so good to eat.

Part 03

Patient one is currently in stage 1 infection and quarantined in a biological containment suite. Patient one was exposed as a result of improper decontamination procedures following a sample collection in the greater Los Angeles area. Patient one, formerly a Corporal in the United States Army, was sequestered and discharged from service for observation following his infection due to negligent handling of sample trays in the entry tunnel to facility Delta two.
Patient one displays symptoms of infection by two ETO sporocytes on his left forearm. Sporocyte organism was measured to have begun rooting into the upper dermal layer after approximately 15 minutes. Prior to this time, contaiminant can effectively be removed by thorough washing. Patient one was forcibly restrained from attempting to remove the ETO until after they had effectively implanted. Sporocytes grew into the dermal layer and underlying muscle and fat tissue at a rate of 2 cm per hour, while simultaneously extending out from the point of contact at a slightly slower rate. After 4 hours, the two spores had rooted to a depth of 1 inch and extending out of the dermis as a black tendril approximately .5 mm in thickness. One tendril was removed at the skin, which resulting in Patient one experiencing significant localized discomfort, likely a defensive response from the remaining root. The stalk, regrew at a similiar rate as before, returning to a comparable length as before. After approximately six hours, the second spore tendril began flattening and hollowing, until it resembled a blade of grass. At this time we were able to detect the tendril releasing 40 parts per CC of new spore cells every hour. This tendril was removed by surgical excision, removing the root as well as the head. Damage to Patient one's muscle and dermal tissue to effect this removal was moderate. By the time this procedure was complete, the first spore tendril had begun to flatten in preparation for seeding. Patient one was prepared for followup surgery to excise this spore. It was discovered during surgery that this spore root had grown deeper in response to our previous experimentation on it. The root had wrapped around the ulna three times and grown into the bone marrow. Patient one's arm was removed and he was declared free from infection after monitoring for twelve hours.
Patient two was brought in in Stage 3 infection, having been exposed to and inhaled airborne spores approximately 10 hours earlier. Patient two is a 44 yr old african american male exposed from close proximity to infected family members. Patient two received rudimentary medical care at Reno regional hospital prior to that facility being declared a black zone.
Patient two shows signs of dermal infection in twelve locations on his body, and was determined to be substantially infected in his lungs and trachea by endoscopic examination. Patient two was measured to be outputting approximately 80 spores per CC of each exhaled breath. Patient two also displayed four tendrils that had grown from inside his lungs into his mouth and had begun to portrude. Patient two indicated extreme difficulty breathing and discomfort. Patient two was monitored for four hours, and was found to have perished sometime during that time frame. Patient two was mistakenly believed to be alive due to the tendrils roots continuing to contract Patient two's lungs to further reproduction process. Patient two was disposed of by incineration.
Patient three is currently in stage 2 infection of both lung and dermal variety. Patient three was exposed due to improper or inadequate decontamination procedures following surgery on Patient one. Patient three was formerly an employee of this facility, but was sequestered and her employment terminated after she was found to be attempting to conceal symptoms of infection inside her assigned lab area. All exposed staff were placed into quarantine for observation.
Patients four through twelve are all in Stage two infection of the lung and dermal variety. All patients are formerly staff of this facility, exposed due to the actions of Patient three.
Samples thirteen and fourteen are in Stage 4 of infection, and deceased at time of their discovery. Both samples exposed due to improper or inadequate decontamination procedures during sequestration of Patients four through twelve. Samples thirteen and fourteen were located inside the B4 men's restroom handicapped stall and inside office B115. Both samples estimated to have been exposed approximately 20 hours before.
Facility Delta four reclassified as black zone.

Part 04

Susan slid the window open on her 4th floor condo. Outside she heard the sound of traffic on 84th street. Although it was late on a saturday afternoon, the city was busy, especially on her street where there were two grocery stores and a Target. Susan heard the screeching of tires followed by a loud crunch. She could hear the argument from inside, peppered with profanities.
Chicago was under a mandatory boil order, and the governor's office was advising citizens to remain inside unless absolutely necessary. Of course this led to a rush on the local grocery stores. Susan finally walked over to the window and could see a Black Dodge truck that had flattened the trunk of a yellow cab. A CPD officer had already arrived and the two drivers were involved in a heated, although quieter argument with a very young officer between them. Susan scooped up her softly breathing dashschund and laid him on the window sill. She smiled. Outside she saw a fight break out between two hispanc women walking on the sidewalk. Both of them were wearing white surgical masks and screaming something that she couldn't understand. They quickly resorted to blows and the two women fell to the ground grappling. The young officer sprinted down the street, and ineffectively tried to pull them apart.
Susan grabbed her coat and keys. She pulled the coat on over her arms, covering the nine fully formed stalks or her arms. Susan doubled over hacking and coughing just as she was reaching for the door. A cloud of black spore sprayed out onto her wall, flecked with blood. She smiled and looked back to Pepper laying on the window sill. His chest was rising up and down, but his open eyes were glassy and lifeless. He had taken the spore into his lungs so fast, Susan thought to herself, Much faster than she did. She felt so much pride looking at him now, spreading the rapture into the air.
Susan had been planning this for weeks. Ever since the EU had declared a state of emergency and closed all borders for member countries. She had felt such a strong calling, she knew that this was the purpose for her life. She wasn't the only one, she had made so many friends online, people like her that knew that this was the path to returning the earth to a pure state, a clean form devoid of the real plague of humanity. It had been her friend, Halim, in India that helped her join the purification. He had smuggled samples out of Iran and shipped them to a contact in the Phillipines just before the docks in his country were closed. Susan had received the package just last week. An infected dove, with black stalks growing from its rotting body. Susan remembered her excitement when she was opening it. Pepper was whimpering in the corner, but he just didn't know how important he was. She sliced open the box and untied the plastic bag inside, gagging at the smell. She realized with excitement that the bag had originally been clear, but the inside was coated with black spores.
Susan closed and locked the door behind her, she wasn't planning on returning.
She walked out of her front door onto the crowded street. Most of the people walking by were wearing some form of mask. The officer had left already and the two cars had been left on the street, drivers nowhere in sight. A line of idling cars with impatient looking drivers sat behind them, unaware that their owners had abandoned them. An older man without a mask walked around her, she leaned forward and coughed into his path. He recoiled in horror, his eyes wide in shock, before hurrying off, covering his mouth with his sleeve.
"Fucking bitch" She heard him mutter as he departed. She grinned, feeling the first tendril in her mouth drag across the inside of her lips, seeking an opening. She gingerly shifted it around, stroking the strand softly with her tongue like a lover. A woman walking with a toddler walked past. The toddler reached out to her innocently, Susan slightly pulled up her sleeve and let the little girl touch her hands on a stalk coming out of her arm. The girl smiled brightly as her clueless mother, focused on the crowd in front of her, tugged her along.
Susan walked along sidewalk more slowly than the crowd, and they flowed around her. She held out her hands, rubbing them on strangers, trying to stroke bare flesh whereever should could. She coughed and exhaled into the faces of everyone near her without a mask. Some noticed and hurried away from her. A young black man that she very conspiciously coughed on screamed a tirade of obscenities at her. He stopped when she couldn't help but smirk at him, and unceremoniously slugged her across the face with a powerful right hook. She staggered backwards into the crowd, knocking over an asian couple, Although it took her a moment to realize what happened and recover, she made sure to cough and touch the faces of both husband and wife as they got up. They apologized to her, and Susan found that hilarious.
She continued for hours, walking through the grocery stores, touching unsuspecting shoppers, leaving black smears on cans and packages of food. She even spent an hour in the Target, standing behind a box fan that she had taken out of the package and plugged in, just breathing out. She did that until a customer had come over and taken the fan and put it into their shopping cart. She walked around the stores, spreading the savior to thousands of people. She watched the shelves slowly empty of food, but that didn't stop the thongs of desperate and panicked people from filing through, looking to buy anything to bolster their supplies. A young woman, no older than eighteen stopped next to her in an aisle, a covered baby carrier in her shopping cart. Susan pulled back the cover and saw a sleeping infant. She kissed her finger and softly stroked it across the baby's lips. She looked up and made eye contact with the mother. Susan walked away, leaving the mother standing there open mouthed and stunned.
Susan continued until her coughing became consistent and uncontrollable. A black tendril started peeking between her lips and she curled it back inside her mouth with her tongue. This resulted in a brief crushing sensation in her chest, which caused her to collapse in an aisle. No one stopped to help her. Eventually the looks from passerbys changed from indifference, to disgust, and eventually to anger as she found herself in frequent coughing fits. A pair of men began following her, and when she turned into an empty aisle whose shelves had already been cleaned, one of the men followed her and planted a powerful kick in the middle of her back. It took her thirty minutes to finally rise to her feet and stagger away, leaving a puddle of blood speckled with black wriggling threads.
She walked outside into a crush of people trying to get inside a drug store across the street. Weak and disoriented, she unsuccessfully tried to push her way into the crowd but was violently shoved back onto her butt by a white woman who looked no younger than seventy. An middle aged middle eastern man picked her up by her arm and helped her away from the mass of people.
"Are you ok?" he asked her. Susan nodded, wiping a smear of blood off of her chin, and onto the man's face. He stepped backwards, a look of shock and horror on his face not unlike the young mother had given her earlier. She ratched a ball of mucus in the back of her throat and spat it squarely onto the man's chest. He recoiled as though he had been shot, and disappeared quickly into the crowds.
Susan staggered down the street, stopping briefly outside of an electronics shop to watch a news report about rioting outside stores in the city. The scrolling bar at the bottom read that there was confirmed outbreaks of the mysterious disease in Oklahoma and St. Louis, Missouri. National guard soldiers had been mobilized in those areas as part of a declaration of martial law. Susan remembered her friend Tim from the forums, she remembered that he lived somewhere outside of Oklahoma City. She wondered if he had gotten his package from Halim. The purification was spreading across the world, wiping the garbage away.
Susan went into a dark alley between buildings, and with the last bit of strength she had in her body she climbed the ladder up a nearby fire escape, stripped off her clothes, and laid down on the landing. Susan laid there in the dark and watched the constant stream of people walking by. She hated them, every one of them. She hated them like she hated her parents for putting her into a psychiatric hospital at age sixteen after several suicide attempts. She hated them like she hated her therapist who constantly tried to convince her to voluntarily enter a group home, like she hated her probation officer, like she hated her landlord for posting the eviction order on her door two weeks ago. She was so happy to become something else, something better. She curled up into a fetal position and ran her tongue over the two stalks that curled out of her mouth and reached upward along her cheek. She rubbed her hands gently on the stalks on her arms, feeling them pulse in the muscles of her arms as they were touched.
She rythmically breathed in and then out, releasing a tiny cloud of spores each time. She continued long after she died.

Part 05

Evan dropped the dirty gloves into the red hazard trashcan next to the workstation and leaned back into his chair. He thought about picking up the phone again, but decided to just be patient. No sense in panicking he thought to himself.
Evan had flown into Istanbul two weeks ago on a work visa for what he described to the consulate as "Meteorological survey work". In truth, Evan was a rock chaser for major universities in the U.S. and europe. Colleges paid handsomly for verified meteorite samples, especially those that had landed recently. It was lucrative work, but as Evan discovered, completely dependant on the whims of the solar system. When Evan had gotten notice that an object had entered atmosphere and made groundfall, he started working immediately on obtaining his visa through the Turkish government.
Turkey at least, was a moderately developed country, and although the minister of interior representative he spoke to directly eyed him sceptically, he rightfully had no justification to deny him. Evan's work, although profit motivated, was legitimate. The samples would go to scholarly institutions. Unlike the droves of rock hunters that descended on landing sites looking to make a quick buck selling their wares on the internet, Evan had contact referrals at every major University in the states and throughout Europe, which the minister quickly tired of calling. In truth Evan preferred the simplicity of working in foreign countries. With his visa he had written authorization to search for and retrieve any samples he could find. In the U.S., he often found himself obtaining permits from local jurisdications, then permission from landowners, only to find that when he attempted to leave with his find, those same landowners would now claim ownership of all the results of his work. He trained in from the capital city to Erzurum, where he spent several days procuring supplies and guides to work for him. The object was recorded as having made landfall somewhere in the mountains near the border of Georgia.
Evan thought back to four days ago when one of his guides, Fidan , had approached him outside his tent. "Come see Come see" the boy had said. Evan had abliged the boy mostly to humor him. The boy led him just past a nearby ridge and near a clear mountain stream. There, next to the water, lay a hawk, black stalks growing from between it's feathers and from it's mouth. Fidan had tried to get close to the bird, but Evan pulled him away.
"Don't get close to that thing, that's probably mold. You'll get sick." Evan told him and the boy looked away towards the bird disappointed. "Did you touch it already?" Evan asked. Fidan shook his head no.
The next day, their courier from Erzurum arrived with supplies. He told Evan that he could not return until 10 days, as he was delivering medicine to a village west of them. The village had come down with sickness that spread rapidly among the people and livestock. Later that day is when Evan found the rabbit outside the camp, weak and sickly looking with more of those black stalks growing from it's back. Carefully, Evan had taken a sample of the infection and had one of his men burn the animal away from their site.
The phone next to him rang, and he quickly jerked the receiver up. "Makbule?" he asked.
"Evan is that you my friend?" Responded the voice on the other end.
Evan had called an old collegue from his days at the biology department at Stanford, before he had switched his major. Makbule Jerghon was a marine biologist who worked in California.
"Hey Mak, I wanted to get your insight on some organism that I've collected samples of here in Turkey. I've never seen anything like it. I know it's not your primary field, but I know you were born and raised here and I figured if anyone would know."
"Of course Evan, I also got your email with the photographs and spectro analysis. I'm sorry that it took me so long to get back to you. What I am looking at seems like some type of fungus or mold species. Obviously parasitic. Maybe some variation of the cordyceps fungus. I've never seen one that attacks mammals though. It's definitely not indigenous to that region. Have only animals been affected?"
"I'm not sure, I've heard some chatter about people being affected." Evan said.
"If that is true, this could be something to worry about. If you can safely do so, I would like you to send a sample to a friend in Cairo that specializes in these types of organisms. I will contact my uncle who works for the council of ministers and make sure that they are aware."
After briefly talking about family and old friends, Evan said goodbye to Makbule, still with a sick feeling in his gut."
Hours later Evan was woken up by Afrut shaken his shoulder. "Mr. Evan" he whispered. "Please come now. Fidan is sick." Evan grabbed his glass and slid into his shoes as he followed Afrut into the brisk night air. He was led to the makeshift outhouse at the edge of the camp, where Afrut handed Evan a flashlight and pointed at the door. Evan wrapped his shirt up over his nose and mouth, somewhat to protect himself from any illness, but mostly to cover the rancid stench that he knew was inside. Evan turned on his light and slowly cracked open the door. He shone his light over the figure of a young boy, who sat in the corner quietly sobbing. On the boys arms were several thick black ribbons. Fidan looked up with red watery eyes.
"I am sorry Mr. Evan. " Fidan blurted out. " I tried to move the bird before you told me not to and I lied to you." Evan noticed a deep bloody hole on the boys arm and a large amount of blood on the boys shirt. "I try to take them off but it hurts badly".
The boy had been taken to Erzurum by one of his workers in the bed of their work truck. Evan expressly told them not to touch the boy's arms. He didn't know if that would matter.
The next morning he called Makbule again. His friend answered on the second ring.
"Evan? Are you there?" Mak asked. There was obvious concern in his voice.
"I'm here Mak. It's jumped to humans. A boy here got sick last night." Evan said.
"Dear god." Makbule breathed. "Evan my friend, you must listen. I spoke to my uncle. This organism, it is dangerous. Many people are sick, some are dead. Have you had any direct contact with infected animals or that boy?"
"No, well yes... I don't remember." Evan said.
"Evan, you must leave now. Get away from that place."
Evan started nodding then paused. "The truck, oh my god Mak. They took the boy to the city with out truck. I can't leave here."
"You must find a way to leave. The government is sending planes to stop..." The line suddenly went dead, cutting off Makbules warning.
Evan tried dialing out again several times, without success. He walked outside and looked around. A flock of birds flew overhead away from the mountains. Evan heard a pair of jets pass overhead, in the distance he felt and heard loud booming from the payload that they dropped. Smoke was pouring off the nearby ridge, blotting out the rising sun.
Evan stood there in shock for a few minutes before simply sitting down in the dirt. Another series of explosions, closer this time, sounded over the camp. He scratched at the small black mole that had appeared overnight on his cheek.

Part 06

Li pushed his wife holding their son ahead of him, while simultaneously shoving a man backwards behind him.
“Go, Ayame. Keep going. He urged her. Tamao, hold onto my jacket.” His young daughter clutched tightly onto his sleeve.
Li fingered the three paper tickets he had in his pocket. He had spent all of his saved money, and even sold his car to afford them, but they would save his family. Ayame stopped as the JDF soldier held up his hand at the security gate. Li felt the person behind him push into him, not like how one impatient person pushes another, but like the very tip of a massive wave. The young soldier was wearing a white surgical mask, but had a rifle slung on his shoulder. Li thought to himself that he honestly could not remember the last time he saw a soldier armed in public. The soldier held a flashlight up to Ayame, checking her face and her exposed skin, and then took some type of reading from her lips with a device that projected a red laser onto her face. He did the same to the small baby in Ayame’s arms. The soldier waived them through and conducted the same inspection to Li and Tamao. Li passed through the opening last and was stopped by a pair of police officers who were detaining all four of them.
“Passes.” One of the officer’s said. Li nervously handed over the three tickets that had cost him so much to acquire. The officer looked at him skeptically, and was starting to open his mouth to say something when his attention was diverted to a sudden commotion behind Li. A middle aged man was trying to force his way past the same JDF soldier that Li had just passed by. The crowd behind was starting to become agitated and Li could see the makeshift barricades between gates flex inwards under the crush. The soldier shoved the man backwards, unslung his rifle and pointed it at him, screaming for him to stop. The man came at him again, wild-eyed and panicked, and the soldier’s rifle barked twice, dropping the man into a heap on the floor. This seemed to have a sobering effect on the crowd, which immediately stopped pressing into the barricades.
Li took advantage of the opportunity and ushered his family quickly away and deeper into the concourse of the airport. They walked with several other families past a glass viewing window. Li could see a line of passenger and freight planes taxiing onto the runway, taking off rapidly one after the other. The fact that there was no delay to allow planes to land did not escape his attention, nor the very few planes remaining at the concourse. They eventually arrived at their gate and found a crowd of several hundred people screaming and jamming up to the boarding counter. There were a dozen JDF soldiers at this gate, and their rifles were not slung. Li pushed Ayame forward through the crowd, until they got close enough to get the attention of the copilot standing near the counter. He flashed his tickets and was waived forward. They crossed under the velvet rope that still somehow managed to restrain the crowd, and Li handed him his tickets.
“There are only three.” The copilot said. “Do you have another?”
“No.” Li shook his head.
The copilot looked at them individually, then to the crowd behind him. “I’m sorry. One of you must stay.”
Ayami looked at Li in horror. “Why is he saying that? She asked him. “You said that we could bring Biu without a ticket.”
Li reached forward and stroked her hair alongside her face. A tear formed in the corner of his eye. “I could not afford the last ticket for us. I needed for you to leave and be safe.”
Ayami started slapping him on the chest, this woke up Biu who started crying. “You lied to me. You lied to me.” She repeated. Li grabbed her free hand and restrained her.
“You and Tamao and Bui will be safe, that is enough for me.” He said. “Australia is safe, it is an island.”
“THIS is an island.” She screamed. “It did not save us.”
“It will be different. You will be safe there.” He repeated stubbornly. “Please go.” Tamao grabbed her father’s leg and clutched tightly. “No princess. You must go with your mother and keep your brother safe.”
Tamao looked up into her father’s face. “Will you come later?” she asked.
“Of course. As soon as the planes return, I will board one and come find you.” he lied. He knew that no planes would ever fly back into Japan. Li ushered his family forward along with the copilot, who lead them to walk down the jet bridge to the waiting plane.
Behind him, Li heard several more shots followed by the roar of a mob unleashed. He heard the sounds of cracking and breaking plastic that he knew was the barricades finally giving way. The soldiers immediately sprinted off towards the rumbling sound further away. The copilot closed and locked the door to the jet bridge, to the immediate protest of the small crowd still waiting at the boarding counter.
Li watched from the window as his wife’s plane was pulled away from the concourse even before the side door was closed shut. He looked back and was shocked to see a wave of people running towards the gates. The soldiers tried to block their passage, but were quickly engulfed and overrun. Li began sprinting away from the gateway and further into the concourse. “Follow me!” He screamed. “There are planes still down here.” He was quickly overtaken by the faster runners in group, but he had successfully led the mob away from his wife’s vulnerable plane. He let himself be swept up in the random, confused river of humanity as they aimlessly rushed up and down the concourse, ripping open bridgeway doors that led to empty air. More than a few people were pushed through these portals to fall into crippled heaps onto the ground far below.
Li managed to swim sideways through the crowd and hug against a large window. He watched as a few, and then many people sprinted down the tarmac chasing the last few departing planes. One man managed to grab onto the landing gear of a jet as it started to take off. The man valiantly held on as the jet quickly accelerated and began rising into the air. Li watched as the man fell to his certain death from several hundred feet high.
Eventually the crowd thinned and filtered out of the concourse as it became apparent that the jets had all left. Thousands crowded around a pair of empty helicopters near a hangar. Li used the opportunity to begin slip out the front of the airport. He stood and faced west, looking out across the bay next to Nagasaki airport. In the distance he could see the dark clouds of an approaching spore storm rolling across the east china sea. He may or may not have time to make it home. Li felt a tug at his sleeve and looked down in surprise. Tamao looked back up at him and smiled. Li immediately scooped her up and hugged her.
“Tamao. Why are you here? Where is you mother?” He asked as he wrapped his hands around her face.
“I snuck away while she was getting onto the plane. I wanted to fly with you.” She said innocently.
Li began crying and squeezed his daughter tightly to his chest. “Yes.” he reassured her. “We will meet them next week. Come on, let’s go home and see if we have noodles to make.” He looked warily back at the dark storm approaching faster than he expected. The cloud that he knew brought infection, suffering, and death.

Part 07

My name is Hugh Arinset. I am the 11th president of the nation of Israel. Husband of thirty three years, father to five children, and I pray that history will judge me mercifully for finishing what began 70 years ago.
The plague had subtle beginnings, but like a wildfire left unattended, it quickly grew beyond our expectations, and then our ability to control it, and then our fears. I believe they recently dubbed it the “shrike” disease. Shrike is an ancient latin word. It means butcher. I feel that they undersold it. The plague began somewhere in the mountains of Turkey near the Georgia border. They linked it to the landfall of a meterorite. Some type of organism that was birthed in the stars. The idea that life exists outside of our small planet is overwhelming, the thought that there is more of this thing out in the cosmos terrifying. The organism made a solid beachhead on our world and began its attack. The Turkish government, not wanting to appear weak, tried to hide its existence while blasting their own lands and people with the flame of their military, not understanding that the organism had already spread into and was ravaging any nearby country that they did not want to show weakness to.
The world might have stopped it then, if they had heeded the warning signs, with a concerted effort. Animal extermination, mass treatment of the infected, burning the land that was already lost. But I am not one to cast stones as I too, ignored them. They are Turkish problems. It is a Georgian disease. We said these things as flocks of birds and insects were spreading the wildfire under our noses.
My country has the unique disposition to manage this type of threat better than others. Israel always faces extinction. Surrounded at all times by hostile countries that will, and have, tried to wipe us from the planet. The germans made a valiant effort to accomplish this. As the countries around us collapsed, their cities burning and their people hiding in whatever shelter they could find. The United States, was reeling from their own infections that mysteriously blossomed across their vast lands. We people of God, We had enacted our own policies. Aggressive, and admittedly brutal, treatment of infected people. We burned livestock at the first sign of infection. We met refugees at the border with flame throwers. And our people bore this with stoicism and acceptance. To do otherwise is death, and we knew it. We had accepted this seventy years ago when they loaded us onto trains by gunpoint and took us to the chambers. To compromise, to aquiese was to perish from the earth. We treated tens of thousands of people, those that could be saved, were. By removing limb or flesh, we delayed the spread of the plague. Those that could not be saved, were “humanely” ended. Not once did I hear of a person protest when the doctors told them they must die to protect the rest, not once, It is not our way. But it was working. While France and Germany were executing protestors in the streets for breaking curfew, while the president of Russia was dying in his bed, MY people were walking freely in the streets. What we could not control was the storms., the great, dark clouds of shrike spores that blew across the lands like dust storms. We didn’t know. Overnight our infection rates went from a manageable tens of thousands to millions. We simply did not have the resources to save ourselves, and there was no one left to help us. Within a week our people went from walking freely and openly in the streets, to dying in them, My wife, and all five of my beautiful babies with them.
We are a proud people. We have suffered slavery, and war, and genocide, and I would not see us ended by this shedim, this mavet. My countrymen have stockpiled for many years the greatest weapon of mankind. Weapons with the power of God to split the very atoms. I ordered them spread across our country, and in one moment, I will purge our lands of this demon and end the suffering of almost all of my people. I ended the task the Nazis, and the muslims, and now the shrike set out to do. God will judge my actions and hopefully find them holy and justified, I pray this will be true. I am Hugh Arinset, father, husband, Hebrew, soldier, and destroyer of Israel……and I am truly sorry for what I have just done.

Part 08

Brent leaned back in his chair and gave a speculative look to his secretary of defense, Hugh Frakes. After a moment he waved his hand dismissively in the air on front of him. “Just tell the Russians that the Triumph will be pulled back by tonight.” He said.
Hugh scribbled something down onto a pad of paper, tore the top page off and handed it to a waiting aide behind him. “Brent, I believe they’re going to want the subs out as well. Pruvian has been edgy the last few weeks. This pandemic in China has got him seeing spooks.”
“Then let him ask for that. They stay on station until them.” Brent answered. “What about our World Health inspectors. Have we gotten a report back yet.”
Another man at the table spoke up. “Sir, we haven’t been able to contact them in Kuwait since Wednesday. Last reports were disturbing to say the least.”
“What are we looking at here, Tim?” The prime minister asked him.
Tim adjusted his glasses and looked at the report in his hand. “Our team reports that it is parasitic fungal type organism, possibly not terrestrial in origin. Extremely dangerous, and infectious across multiple species. So far They’ve seen it spread by avian, mammal, and insect vectors.” Timothy paused at this, and looked up, expecting someone to interject. When no one did he looked back down and continued. “Incubation period is virtually nonexistent. Once infected, a diseased organism will start spreading the infection within 24 hours. Infected generally remain completely viable for one to two weeks, before eventually succumbing. Insect vectors even longer as they don’t suffer lung infection. ”
“What do the Chinese have to say about their own spread.” Brent asked.
“We haven’t gotten a response back since last week. They’re strangely quiet. No media in or out either.”
“And the Americans, do they have input?”
Timothy leaned back and received a piece of paper from his own aide behind him. He took a moment to review it. “Washington is reporting minor outbreaks in Chicago, New York City, St. Louis, and San Francisco. Spread patterns atypical from what we’ve seen. They’re looking at it as a terrorist action. I should mention that Paris just sent over a communique that their starting to see infected wildlife in the South near the coast. ”
“And how about our potential response options.” Hugh inquired.
“We’ve got a two month stockpile of antibiotics and antifungals and are distributing them to major medical centers. London metro area is fully stocked. We’re pretty confident that that we can manage an outbreak. We’ve enacted screening procedures on all incoming flights and shipping from infected regions. We’ve been successful at catching people trying sneak through thus far.”
Brent shook his head in agreement. “Alright then, Matthew, how are we looking on finances. What kind of hit are we going to take from this?”
Matthew Fendbender, chief finance advisor for the prime minister, started passing out documents to the table and had just opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted by a royal navy admiral that approached the table.
“Mr. Smithson. We’ve just gotten word that the captain of the Defender stopped a two small container ship, The Younge and the Hammerfell, both bearing South African flags steaming, towards the coast near Plymouth.”
“Alright, dock them and have them run through the screening process.” Brent said.
“Sir…” The admiral paused briefly while he considered how to approach the topic. “The ships were loaded with hundreds of infected refugees. Mostly deceased. The Younge and the Hammerfell were sunk at sea. Several sailors are undergoing decontamination…sir… All the motor launches from Younge were missing. They think some of the passengers fled the boat once they made sight of land.”
“Let’s have some security sweeps focus in the area and round these people up, and go ahead and release a warning bulletin to the residents there to avoid contact with anyone they believe might be non-local. Sorry Matthew, go ahead with what you were saying.”

Part 09

Luke checked the seal on his mask again, before pulling the fur lined hood on his parka over the mask. The weather was picking up again, and he didn’t want the cold temperatures to crack the rubber.
He was wearing a full dry diving suit underneath the winter clothes. Four months ago the insulation wasn’t necessary, but with the Shrike storms rapidly changing the global climate, he had to adapt again.
And adapt he had, adapted and survived, for much longer than everyone else. Luke had repurposed an old diving suit to protect him from infection, and thus far it had worked well. An abandoned clean room at a local university science lab made for a adequate shelter. He would use the decontamination room to wash off the spore on the outside of his suit, followed by a UV heat wash at 160 degrees to kill whatever remained. It was a painful and long process, but so far, had kept them alive. Luke looked over the edge of a small hill that led into the warehouse parking lot. It wasn’t steep, but he knew that the black furry coating that used to be grass would be as slippery as ice. He carefully angled his legs and allowed gravity to slide him down the hill, and he came to a stop just short of asphalt. He trudged across the parking lot, listening to the sound like fine grit sand blasting against his face mask as the wind picked up. Although it offered ample warmth, the fur lining of the parka was black with spore, he would never be able to decontaminate it and left it outside when he showered off his dry suit. Luke eventually reached the front glass doors and read the words, “Yoman moving and storage.”. It was unlikely that he would find food supplies inside, but he might find candles and matches, and hopefully, a survivor nest with some cans of food remaining.
Luke pulled the crowbar off the sling on his back and jammed it between the doors, which snapped apart easily. Cheap shit lock he thought to himself. He only carried a pry bar with him anymore. He hadn’t seen another survivor in over three months, and the pistol he had liberated from a dead cop in a cruiser with stalk growing out of his eyes and mouth just seemed pointless anymore. Luke stepped inside and allowed the door to close behind him. The dim light from outside allowed him some visibility of the interior hallway, but he used a small penlight to look around anyway. Most of the storage lockers had the locks cut open and were open, their contents littered into the hallway. He picked a direction and headed off, hoping to find something of value left behind. Luke had barely made it around the corner when he sensed movement behind him.
“Who are you?” A gruff voice asked him. Luke wheeled around, crowbar raised, and found himself staring down the barrel of a shouldered shotgun. Outmatched, he slowly lowered the crowbar to his side.
“Just looking for supplies.” Luke said. The man lowered the gun to his waist, but kept it pointed at him. Luke noticed that he was wearing a yellow biohazard suit that went up to his neck, and a full face diving mask.
“Might have a few to spare. I’m Zeke. What’s your name boy?” the man asked, before scratching absentmindedly underneath the collar to his mask. This detail did not escape Luke, nor the undeserved courtesy. He had seen what happened to some the infected, The ones that knew they were going to die. They often just wanted someone around to share in their misery. He had seen this first hand with his own mother. She had come home from the hospital after being gone for nearly forty hours. The first thing she had done was walk up to his dad and embrace him...
“Asked you a question boy?” Zeke repeated.
careful, or he won’t let you leave here He thought. “I’m Luke. Luke Thiel. Nice to meet you.” no sense in not using my real name “You said you have supplies?”
“Supplies? OH yeah. Food, bottled water. Got a lot of that. Why don’t you come with me and we can swap stories over a cup of ramen.” Zeke said, again scratching at something underneath his collar. Luke noticed that the hose coming from the back of the helmet that should have led to an air supply was actually just dangling loosely at the man’s back.
“Sure, that sounds great! Lead the way!” Luke said, mustering all the cheerfulness he could into his voice. He felt like he had about a 50/50 shot of getting out of the warehouse alive. Zeke eyed him warily for a second, before gesturing to Luke’s right with the muzzle of the shotgun.
“You can leave the bar out here, get it on your way out. My safe room is right down here.” He said. Luke shrugged his shoulders, before tossing the crowbar into a storage unit with a loud clanging. This caused Zeke to ever so slightly lower his gun, and his guard. Luke walked towards Zeke as if to go past him. As Zeke started to turn alongside him, Luke’s hand darted out and grabbed the free dangling end of the air hose, He yanked hard as he sprinted forward, yanking Zeke’s helmet sideways on his head and spinning him slightly off balance. The shotgun roared loudly in the hallway and Luke felt the percussion of the blast as he sprinted for the nearest corner. Luckily, Zeke was just blind firing and came nowhere close to hitting his target. Luke sprinted down the hallways, taking turns wherever they came up in the hallways to confuse his pursuer. He became disoriented, and at one point rounded a corner to find himself behind Zeke running away from him, his helmet now discarded. Luke caught a momentary glimpse of the black ribbons growing from the man’s neck. He worked his way back outside, following unlit exit signs. Near an emergency exit door, he happened to spot a bulk pack of candy bars. He quickly snatched them up and burst through the doorway to the outside.
After he finished decontaminating his suit, Luke placed the chocolate candy into the sample tray that led to the interior labs. They wouldn’t survive the heat wash, so he’d have to clean them in a detergent bath later. After ten minutes of heat bath, Luke stepped into the lab and peeled the suit from his drenched body. His six year old brother Isaac was waiting for him.
“You took a long time.” Isaac said. “Find any good things to eat?”
“Maybe.” Luke said. “Is it your birthday?”
“It was last week! You didn’t get me anything!” his brother complained.
“Well too bad. Just 349 more days though, right?” Isaac folded his arms over his chest at this and pouted.
Luke smiled and rubbed his little brother’s hair playfully. He’d share the candy with him later, but for right now he just needed to sleep. Luke crawled onto a cot in a side office area, and passed out immediately. He slept fitfully, disturbed by dreams of his father making him promise to take care of his younger brother. His father said this to him from outside the car that he had locked them in. Luke remembered seeing the black stalk just barely peeking out from underneath his father’s mustache. You take care of Isaac. You keep the both of you safe for as long as you can, but stay together. You understand? He woke up suddenly at a strange noise. He looked over at his watch, 930pm. He had slept for almost twenty hours and his stomach grumbled in protest. He sat up in his cot and rubbed his neck. He heard the noise again. A soft coughing noise. Luke stood up and walked to the main lab area. Isaac sat on a office chair. Surrounding him were several empty chocolate bar wrappers. He could see chocolate smeared over his brother’s face.
“ I don’t feel good.” Isaac said.
“Of course you don’t.” Luke answered. “You can’t eat that much candy and …” He froze in mid step from approaching his brother. What he thought were chocolate smears on his brother’s face were clearly a small forest of stalk growing from his lips and chin. the candy. I hadn’t cleaned it yet. I just left it in the tray Luke backed away, into the decontamination suite dragging his suit along with him and slapped the door close button, sealing himself in the room. He breathed heavily, and watched his brother come to the door window and look at him pensively.
“Luke, what’s the matter, why are you leaving? Am I going to get sick like mommy and daddy?” Isaac asked.
Luke didn’t answer. He just stared at his little brother, and then started pulling on his dry suit. He listened, detached, as his brother protested, then begged, and then started crying, but Luke’s mind was already working out a plan, adapting. I’ll suit up, I’ve got enough air to make it to the dive shop to pick up another tank there’s food inside the hospital I just have to find a way to clean it when I make it to…where? Where am I going?
He remembered his father’s words to him and realized that he misunderstood the true instructions. He had only heard the first part before. But now all he heard in his head was stay together
His brother’s wailing had turned into soft sobbing. Luke suddenly realized that the entire time he had been dressing he was also crying, and he felt the cold salty tears drying on his cheeks. He had kept them both safe for as long as he could, now he needed to finish his father’s last request.
He pulled off his helmet, then stepped back inside.

Part 10

Fault error A23/cmd - diagnose
orbital degradation 17.0% - cmd/initiate corrective maneuvering thrusters 5, 7, 9
catastrophic system failure/orbital thrusters/ error5ar/6t - nuclear fuel expended
cmd/communication link…
link failed/scan initiated…
no viable signals detected/ cmd-therm/radio/optical detection initiate radio
scan sector 33...no results! Logic fault 2016 override
scan sector 34...no results! Logic fault 2016 override
scan sector 35/losangelesus/…no results! Logic fault 2016 override
cmd/COMMprotocolB - establish secondary uplink/report for repair
orbital degradation 17.0% - cmd/initiate corrective maneuvering thrusters 5, 7, 9
catastrophic system failure/orbital thrusters/ error5ar/6t - nuclear fuel expended
last transmission received 2078/04/15@1637hrs - 38.7N104.8W/textconvertdisplay
“This is Major Jonathan Steward formerly of the United States Army. It is December 18th, 2059. This message has been set to repeat for as long as the power holds out. I am the last survivor of this fallout shelter, and as far as I know, humanity. I’ve been underground for 33 years, what the Shrike disease did not kill; disease, suicide, murder, old age, and famine finished what was left of our people hiding underground. Our last scans show the surface, our home, has been rotted by this plague. The Shrike first eliminated all animal life, then plant life. What life remained in the seas limped on for some years, until the climate shift rendered the surface a frozen wasteland. The seas froze, the land became nothing but black desert whose sands were death incarnate. This is the final message of our race. If you have come to this planet in search of our people, or for exploration, do not land. There is nothing on this planet but death. Do not land here. God save us all.”
general scan 38.7N104.8W…no rad/therm/opti results!
scan sector 36/denverus/ …no results! Logic fault override
cmd-therm/radio/optical detection initiate thermal
surfacetemp -40F
orbital degradation 17.0% - cmd/initiate corrective maneuvering thrusters 5, 7, 9
catastrophic system failure/orbital thrusters/ error5ar/6t - nuclear fuel expended
scan sector 40/londonuk/ …no results! Logic fault override
cmd/em broad sweep scan initiate…no em detected! Logic fault 1982 sustained
…system reboot…
JALS COMM nuclear sat /system v.3.2 launch date 2015/12/20 current date 2123/06/01@2319hrs
system diagnosis……
Fault error A23/cmd - diagnose
orbital degradation 17.1% - cmd/initiate corrective maneuvering thrusters 5, 7, 9
catastrophic system failure/orbital thrusters/ error5ar/6t - nuclear fuel expended
cmd/communication link…
link failed/scan initiated…

Part 11

“Everybody shut the fuck up!”
The roll call room, bursting with noise and energy moments ago, suddenly fell silent and all eyes directed towards the man standing in the front. Captain Ruttre laid the stack of papers in his hand at the elevated podium in the front.
“Thank you. Gentlemen I appreciate the gravity of our current situation, but we need to get started. Since you’re here, I can assume that you are aware that the Chief called for emergency staffing. All essential personnel are required to be on duty, which you are.” Ruttre looked around the room at the sixty men and women crammed into the room that normally held half that. “What some of you don’t know yet….is that Chief Graves and Major Tran passed away overnight. Both Captain Young and Havers are in Stage 3, so that leaves me as acting commander until further notice.”
Ruttre looked down and let the news sink in to his officers before continuing. “As of 0800 this morning we are suspending all investigations and motors operations. ALL staff are uniformed until…” He paused and swallowed, not wanting to end the sentence. “ As you might have noticed we’re short. We’re about 60% down in manpower. Guys if you’re infected, don’t neglect it and don’t hide it. We can manage mild stage 1 infection but you have to have affected areas wrapped if you can’t have it excised.”
Ruttre walked away from the podium at the front of the room and over to a large whiteboard at the front side of the room. The board had a large map of the city taped to it with several locations marked and circled on it.
“We’re on emergency operations for the remainder guys. Fire and Rescue got hit harder than we did, but they have Engine 33, 41, and 42 running. I’m assigning two squads per engine and your sole purpose in life is to protect those assets. They are strictly on fire watch. We’ve had fourteen cases of arson and ten accidentals over the past twenty four hours. These guys are going to get mobbed at every scene for medical aid, keep the crowds back and let them get the fire out, then you get them the hell out.”
An older male officer with a graying mustache raised his hand and spoke up from the back of the room. “Cap what level of force are we authorized…”
“Lethal.” Ruttre interrupted. “Give your verbals but you put down anyone that gets near. They’ve already lost seven guys to mob assaults on scene. They aren’t there to do anything but make sure we don’t have a repeat of Tuesday night. As we all know now one unattended fire can take out a city block. Clear?”
The officers in the room nodded solemnly. Almost none of them had ever fired their weapon in anger in their career, and they were now being told to shoot sick and panicked civilians, but they knew that if they failed to do so it could cost the lives of thousands.
“Squad 4, “ Ruttre continued “That’s Reynolds, Davis, Harris, and Hernandez. You guys are on station security. I want two of you on the roof with rifles. The Sheriff’s office got hit earlier today by two sovereign citizens nut jobs with AKs.” This revelation caused brief stir in the group as officers looked around at each other. “They lost four deputies and the front lobby got burned out by a firebomb. If anyone comes near this place strapped you don’t let them get in the front door. The rest of you guys, make sure you are masks on, two per car, and every car grab a rifle and some ammo out of the armory, the door is unlocked. We’ll have food and water here for you guys. This is basically continuous coverage from this point on so come back here and rack up if you need to, or take turns sleeping in the car. Yes, Hodges?”
Another officer near the front spoke up this time. “Sir is there any word from the governor about sending in some aid or a cure?”
Ruttre cleared his throat. “Word from the Governor’s office is that we’re on our own. National guard is tied up keeping martial law in the capital. There’s no update on a cure just yet.”
There was soft muttering in the room now, and Ruttre could hear more than a few expletives being whispered under their breath.
“You guys and gals are the last thing keeping this city from burning to the ground.” This statement quieted the room again. “This….thing…doesn’t look like it’s going to end soon. The downtown district has pretty much been ripped and stripped out from all the looting, so focus on keeping dirt bags out of people’s homes. That’s all we can do now. Be safe out there, watch each other’s backs.”
Corporal Hodges raised his hand at the Captain nodded in his direction. “Sir are we authorized to euth….to help people if they are too far gone and ask us?”
“Your call. Just save one for yourselves.”

Part 12

My name is Cheyenne Yohla. I think I’m 23, maybe 24 now. I’m not sure because the power ended about two years ago, and the little calendar in my checkbook only went through last year. It’s funny how unprepared we really are when someone else doesn't lay the groundwork for us. I have now idea how to write a calendar. I’m sure I can figure it out, but once you fall behind about eight weeks it just doesn’t seem to matter anymore. When it snows most of the year now, no one cares if it’s November or April.
We sailed out of Honolulu harbor on August 17th , two days after the island was declared a black zone. There were 7,700 people on board. Over 3,000 sailors and seamen and the rest of us. We were crammed on board the U.S.N Carl Vinson and put out to sea watching the city burn at night. I still remember hearing the screams of people swimming out into the harbor and slapping against the hull. I remember the smell of smoke, and the red glow on the horizon as we sailed deep into the pacific, away from the spore storms that were sweeping the west coast.
For months we sailed back and forth across the ocean, staying away from the coasts. Too many times we would drift too close to another survivor ship, or a garbage patch and the seagulls would come. Sometimes they would be infected, sometimes not. We didn’t take chances, the crew shot them on sight.
8,000 people.
I think there’s about 900 of us left.
All the planes were eventually pushed off. All the bombs. If it wasn’t food, or fuel, it was dead weight. It eventually didn’t matter. After a year the fuel ran low and we set to drift. Only using the engines to push us away from land when we got too close. We used the decks to grow food for awhile when our supplies started running low. That worked until the first typhoon raked us clean. Most of what we managed to save then didn’t survive the first sporephoon a few months later. The shrike made the jump just before we left harbor, moving from only animals to infecting plants as well. We lost everything that it touched. And storm after storm after storm whittled our numbers down and reduced us to cowering below decks more often than not. You can imagine what happens when you put hungry people in close quarters for weeks at a time.
We fish a lot now, I think our population is more sustainable. We kinda ate ourselves, literally, into a state of equilibrium. We did save some plants too. We mostly farm them on the hangar deck next to the doors that we can open and close manually. The cannibalism isn’t as bad as it used to be. It still happens, but at least I don’t have to sleep with a paring knife under my pillow. If you’re healthy and productive and no one has an axe to grind with you (pun intended), you don’t worry too much.
Most people have accepted their fates too. After dark July. We lost 400 people in three days because a guy didn’t want to tell anyone about a spore on his neck. He crawled into closet and died. 400 people from one guy. Nowadays the deal is this; if you catch Shrike, sorry Charlie. Come forward, and they will OD you on morphine and dump you over the side. Try to hide it, and they just skip the morphine. People just accept their fates, better to die happy than drown in the ocean.
I know I’m only alive because of what I have to offer. I’m not a scientist, or a doctor, or an engineer, or mechanic. I was a pretty 21 yr old, and I offer the only thing that men want when the world is ending. I’ve thrown two babies overboard since I’ve been here. The fathers didn’t care. I’m not a monster. It’s better to die quick than get eaten like all the other babies that some of these stupid women tried to keep.
I’m not a monster, but it’s not like anyone left on this planet has any right to judge me, but I say that because sometimes I judge myself.
It’s cold most of the time now. Without power, or sun, it’s cold. All of our crops have pretty much died, and we can’t fish deep enough to catch anything. Pretty soon people will get hungry again.
I’m not as pretty as some of the other girls.
I'm not a monster

Part 13

This is the gospel and testament of the first book of Jonathan.
Verse 1: And the lord looked down on his creation in the hour of judgement and deemed that man and beast were ugly to him. The lord had given the mantle of guardianship over the earth to man who squandered his charge and made waste to what God had created. And the lord grew angry.
Verse 2: And thus the lord drew from his eye a black terrible seed and threw it upon the earth. And whatever touches this seed if he or it be not worthy is made naught but a vessel for the lord’s wrath. And so the lord sowed a new garden on earth.
Verse 3: The angel, Gabriel, descended upon the earth and found that man refused to humble themselves and be punished for his sins. He searched and found only pride and arrogance among man until one day he found a true and humble servant of God. And that man was named Jonathan. The angel Gabriel spake unto Jonathan and directed him to serve the lord and spread his cleansing seed. And Jonathan replied, “I will gladly serve God’s will, despite my terrible fear.”
Verse 4: Gabriel looked at Jonathan and implored “Don’t fear, for your service will guarantee you an honored seat among the lord’s company. And each man you lead back into the lord’s grace will be saved.” At this Jonathan felt gladness in his heart.
Verse 5: So Jonathan began his work, first speaking out against man’s lack of humility by using man’s very own pinnacle of arrogance in trying to communicate as God with all things at once. But man cannot understand such power and spoilt his words with pornography and curse. Through this Jonathan found many other willing servants of the lord, and implored them to work for salvation for all mankind.
Verse 6: With his new brothers and sisters, Jonathan allowed the cleansing seed of God to spread among their hearts and lips and bodies. In was in this way that God’s will would be hastened.
Verse 7: God looked down upon his true children and grew saddened that they suffered so greatly for him. They allowed their bodies to be vessels for his punishment and gave themselves to him. As God’s punishment is so mighty, even those with true faith fell prostrate in supplication.
Verse 8 : Jonathan too, grew a heavy heart at the plight of his people. But Gabriel returned to him and said “Be saddened not, look there now. See those men and women who served the lord. Their souls now rejoice in heaven.” And Jonathan saw this was true and passed the word to even more believers.
Verse 9 : And so Jonathan’s task became clear to him. He must refuse God’s cleansing that he so desired, so that he could lead more people into righteousness. And God provided for him a safe haven that he could use to spread the word. And so Jonathan accepted his responsibility with true graciousness.
Verse 10: God will be pleased with all of his creations again. Praise the lord. Praise his cleansing. His glory will be had in the kingdom of heaven the same as earth, forever and ever. Amen.

Part 14

Janet jumped across the small creek, just missing the opposite bank by a few inches, her boots splashing into the shallow water.
“Goddamit.” She cursed as Keiran barked out laughing at her.
“Fail.” Keiran giggled.
Janet leaned down and scooped a handful of mud and rocks from the creek bed, slinging it at the two girls behind her. Keiran shrieked and laughed and Beth froze in place, gasping loudly as she took the majority of the icy water.
“You raging cunt…” Beth whispered at Janet while glaring at her. Janet and Keiran laughed loudly as Beth slowly pulled her wet shirt away from her stomach. Keiran lithely vaulted over the creek, landing on the other side with nearly a foot to spare, much to Janet’s disdain. Janet slogged out of the creek bed and sat down on edge, looking at her soaked boots and socks. Keiran unslung the large pack she was carrying and set it on the ground. “We might as well camp here tonight.” She said. We gotta get your boots and socks dried.” Janet slapped away a horsefly that landed on arm. “Yeah this is as good a spot as any. We still have another day to make it to the ridge anyway.”
The three girls had been long time friends, and were avid hikers, often spending days out in the woods. Janet and Beth had known each other since high school, having dated until they got to college, where they met Keiran. The three became inseparable friends despite Janet and Beth’s history. When the news began advising people to stay inside their homes to avoid infection, the girls began packing up for a long trip, and planned to hike out to Annoquan Ridge, a frequent hiking destination for them. The site was secluded, more than forty miles from the closest civilization and nineteen miles from the jeep trail that they had driven up from. They planned to stay out for at least three weeks, to let the panic and plague wash around them safely away from populated areas.
Keiran walked over and threw another branch onto the campfire, sending a shower of sparks into the night sky. Janet eyed her specutively, secretly hating the beautiful girl for her boundless energy and small muscular frame. Janet took another sip from her warm beer before looking back over her shoulder at Beth who was standing back from a nearly assembled tent.
“You need some help, Beth?” She asked.
“No I think I’m good. Just trying to remember where this last pole attaches up top.” Beth answered.
Keiran walked over and took the pole from Beth’s hand, immediately running it through guide loops around the edge and snapping it into place at the bottoms.
“Ah thanks.” Beth said, before walking over to the fire and sitting down next to Janet. Janet offered her beer to her which she took and drew a healthy swig from.
“Did you hear from your mom yet?” Janet asked her.
Beth shook her head no and looked down at her feet. Her mother lived in San Francisco, and Beth hadn’t received a call from her since earlier in the week when the city was placed under a mandatory quarantine. Janet nodded her head and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Janet had long been estranged from her parents because of her sexual orientation, but she understood that most people did not have that type of relationship with their parents. Beth’s was especially close to her mother since her father had died when she was only ten. Janet was opening her mouth to say something, when she felt Beth pull away suddenly. She looked over and saw that Keiran had embraced Beth in a hug from the opposite side.
“I’m sure everything is going to be fine.” Keiran whispered into her ear. Eventually the two girls released each other and Beth wiped her moist eyes.
“Do you think it’s better or worse?” Beth finally asked, breaking the silence.
“We can fire up the radio when we get to the ridge tomorrow.” Janet said. “But I don’t think it’s better. I told you that I saw that dead homeless guy in the alley behind the Kroger right before we left. There’s dead bodies just laying around.”
“It’ll get better.” Keiran said. “This will all die down. You’ll see.” She coughed into her arm and the two girls looked at her alarmed.
Keiran looked up with watery eyes and noticed to other two girls looking at her. “The smoke guys. Jesus Christ it’s the smoke from the fire, settle down. “
Beth and Keiran laughed but Janet just sat quietly and took another sip from her beer.
Janet woke up inside her sleeping bag and unzipped herself. She heard Beth and Keiran laughing outside. Janet sat up, stretching her arms out and being rewarded with a satisfying snapping in her back. She noticed a black speck on her arm and went to pick it off. This caused a sharp stinging sensation in her forearm. Janet blinked and looked closely at the speck, and could see it was a millimeter long tendril growing out of her arm. “Shit!” she barked and jumped up and rushed out of the tent. Keiran was sitting outside sipping a cup of coffee and gave her a puzzled look. Janet rushed over to the stream and ran her arm under the water, picking at the tendril, feeling a growing throbbing pain in her arm in response. Janet pulled a pocket knife from her pocket and dug it into the flesh of her arm next to the tendril. Blood began pouring out as she frantically cut around the parasite, trying to excise it from her flesh.
“Oh my god.” Keiran said from directly behind her. “BETH!” she screamed. “BETH come help!”
Keiran ripped off a piece of her shirt and handed it to Janet, who flicked a bloody chunk out of her arm into the water. She grabbed the shirt and tied it around the wound.
Beth ran up from the woods to the two girls. “What happened?”
“There was one on my fucking arm! SHE gave it to me!” Janet screamed and pointed a bloody hand at Keiran.
“What?” Keiran said, a bewildered look on her face. “I’m not infected.”
“Bullshit!” Janet spat. “I knew it when you coughed last night. I TOLD you we shouldn’t bring her. We have no idea where she was the night before we left.” She said to Beth. I told you that over the phone. I told you we had no idea where she was before yesterday morning. She got infected and she brought it out here with us.”
“I’m not sick, Janet. It was the smoke last night that’s all.” She started walking towards Janet. “ Look I’ll show you….” Keiran paused and her eyes looked down at the small pistol that Janet had pulled from her cargo pocket of her pants and leveled at her. “Get back away from me you typhoid mary bitch!” Janet snarled.
“J, what the fuck?” Beth said. “Where did you get a fucking gun?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She replied. “This bitch got sick and brought it out here.”
“I’m not sick.” Keiran whispered, still eyeing the pistol pointed at her.
“Bullshit! Where you pick it up from the night before we left? I know you were volunteering at the fucking hospital again. Why did you bring that shit out here to get us sick?”
Beth stepped forward towards the pair. “J she wasn’t at the hospital Thursday. She stayed with me all night.”
Janet opened her mouth to say something but only a croak came out. She swallowed hard.
“She’s not sick.” Beth repeated. “She was with me. I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to find out like this.”
Janet grimaced as her arm throbbed from the pain. A tear streaked down her face.
“Bullshit.” she muttered. “She’s sick. I know it. How else did I get infected?”
Keiran took a step towards Beth. Her hands still held in front of her. “ Janet I promise I’m not sick. I’ll even let you look down my mouth.”
“Get away from her…” Janet said to Keiran.
“What?” Keiran asked, taking another step away from Janet and towards Beth.
“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Janet screamed at her.
“Janet I’m no…” Keiran was interrupted as the gun barked loudly in Janet’s hand and Beth threw her hands up to the side of her ears instinctively. Keiran looked down at the red bloom spreading across her chest from the .380 round tearing through her chest.
“…sick.” She breathed as she collapsed onto her knees.
Beth screamed and ran over to the girl clutching at her life running freely out of the front of her shirt.
Janet lowered the gun slowly. Silently mouthing “I’m sorry” over and over.
“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?” Beth screamed with tears streaming freely down her face. Keiran’s head was laid back into her lap and the dying girl slowly stroked Beth’s face. She smiled.
“…she….I was trying to…” Janet stuttered. “I didn’t want you to get sick.”
“I’M ALREADY INFECTED YOU DUMB BITCH!” Beth screamed, pulling down the collar on her shirt, showing a white medical bandage wrapped around her neck. “I GOT INFECTED YESTERDAY. WHEN IT WAS JUST THE THREE OF US. IT’S IN THE AIR. WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE ANYWAY!”
Janet dropped the pistol onto the ground and it bounced over the bank and into the water with a plunk.
Beth wailed loudly as Keiran’s arm dropped to her side and the life left her eyes. Janet started to say something, but instead turned and walked down into the creekbed, soaking her pants up to the knees. After awhile of slogging through the frigid water she finally could no longer hear her friend sobbing in the distance. She sat down on the bank and looked at the blood soaked piece of shirt tied around her arm. She listened to the bubbling creek and the eerie silence of the woods around her, no birds or insects to be heard. Next to her, a beetle crawled up from under a dead leaf. Janet looked at it and saw unnatural fine black hairs sticking out of its back. After a few seconds, it disappeared beneath a root, leaving her alone next to the water.

Part 15

Did get that # from Tom? - sent April 14th 5:58 pm.
I forgot to tell you. Matt wanted to drop by today and pick up his chairs - received from Jill April 15th 9:13am.
Sorry I missed you text sexy. U snuck out of here way too early this morning lol - sent April 15th 3:12pm.
Thanks again bro - received from Matt April 15th 7:01 pm.
Did you see the news? - received from Jill April 15th 10:51 pm.
Fucking nuts. You think that shit is for real? Your brother came and got his chairs - sent April 15th 10:53pm
Idk. I heard sirens earlier today the next block over. Sucks I have to go to class at 8. They should make it a plague day - received from Jill April 15th 11:13pm.
Lol. Got enough beer to last till August in my basement. You can always stay here you know - sent April 15th 11:14pm
Love you babe. Going to bed. I’ll head over tomorrow after work ;) - received from Jill April 15th 11:20pm
Love you back - sent April 15th 11:22pm
Sup bitch. You dtd tonight? - received from Alex April 15th 11:43pm
dtd? - sent April 15th 11:44pm
downtodrink, like DownToFuck, but no homo lol - received from Alex April 15th 11:57pm
yes to both nigga lmao - sent April 16th 12:04am
Just woke up lol. Couple of guys came over last night. You off work yet? - sent April 16th 4:41pm.
Hey babe give me a holla. Love ya - sent April 16th 8:03pm. Jill call me please - sent April 16th 10:13pm
Sup Bro? last night was crunk thanks for bringing that rum- sent April 16th 10:25pm
You guys hanging again tonight at your place - sent April 16th 10:26pm
Hey matt you talked to J? - sent April 17th 12:09am.
Yo! Hit me back. - sent to 4 recipients April 17th 3:25am.
Babe I’m starting to get worried. You won’t answer your phone. - sent April 17th 3:30am
Matts dead man. Just thought you should know. They found him in the bathroom at work here. I think he got that shit goin round in his lungs - received from Alex April 17th 4:01 am
? You shittin me? - sent April 17th 4:07am
? - sent April 17th 4:23am
J Im so sorry I just heard. Are you ok. I’m so sorry about your brother please call me and let me know your ok - sent April 17th 4:25am Fucking answer me! Please! - sent April 17th 4:31 am
Please be ok - sent April 17th 6:57am
It’s too late. I’m sick. I’m going to die. Everything went to shit so fast in the city. Building next to mine burned, saw people on fire jumping out. Nobody came to put it out. There’s bodies in the street. Neighbor died in my hallway yesterday and started spewing that shit into every apartment. You‘ve got to get away from the city. - received from Jill April 18th 6:24am
Babe imma come get you out of there - sent April 18th 8:10am
Hold on - sent April 18th 8:11am
It’s growing out of my neck. Stay away. Promise me you’ll stay away - received from Jill April 18th 8:23am.
There’s fucking cars blocking the bypass, gotta find away round - sent April 18th 9:07am
I’m on 15th and West. There’s too much smoke. - sent April 18th 9:40am.
I can’t get past 17th street, there’s a fire trruck on its side blocking the road - sent April 18th 10:02am.
Babe - sent April 18th 11:13am.
I cant get to you. I can’t get out of my car. There’s bodies everywhere. - sent April 18th 12:11am.
Jill? - sent April 18th 1:21pm
Jill I have to turn around - sent April 18th 1:34pm
I’m sorry - sent April 18th 1:54pm
It’s ok sweetheart. You’re going to be ok. Be safe. I’m going to go lie down now I love you - received from Jill April 18th 2:00pm
I’m so sorry. I love you I’m scared I don’t know what to do - sent April 18th 2:10pm
I love you - sent April 18th 5:43pm
Jill? - sent April 18th 8:45pm
Babe? - delivery failed April 19th 4:00am
I love you im so sorry - delivery failed April 19th 4:24am
You there? - delivery failed April 23rd 3:59pm
See you soon babe - delivery failed May 1st 1:34am

Part 16

The reign of man comes to fate
not by fire but natures hate.
Mother’s weep at children’s death,
brought by each tainted breath.
Vine and worm and blackened rope,
takes from us surviving hope
Trees, and bird, and frog, and bear,
only rocks their fate won’t share.
Where flesh exposed the fiends attach,
with every breathe your lungs will catch.
Silent
still
quiet
hunger and thirst
Fires burn, smoke does rise
and down comes man’s house of lies.
The wars and tanks and jets and lead
did nothing to stop the waves of dead.
Goodbyes and farewells whispered soft
Each family bearing the final cost.
In holes and caves, behind locked doors
Mankind hid from his final war.
Voices crying out throughout the air
slowly quieting, leaving speakers bare
Silent
still
quiet
our voice is lost
No measures took my life did save,
This boarded house to be my grave.
Mother, father, sister…daughter,
locked away to rot from slaughter.
The shrike has took them all away,
and stole the sky, from blue to gray.
Ten long months I wept,
inside my tomb the sickness kept.
Swaddled by cold, and dark, and fear,
inside these walls that death enfold.
Pills for healing, what man intends,
bring me peace, my soul ascends.
Silent
still
quiet
sleep and wake no more.

Part 17

What is the Shrike?
The shrike is designated as a massively replicating hostile parasitic organism. It spreads by physical contact with any number of host species, from which it detracts nutrients and carbon matter to replicate via sporocyte particles. The origin of the shrike organism is theorized to be non-terrestrial, making landfall on this planet somewhere south of the Caucasus mountain range. The organism quickly adapted to terrestrial conditions and easily infected a wide range of species, including most known types of avian, mammal, insect, reptilian, and some species of amphibians. Homo Sapiens and avian species proved to be most influential in progressing the spread of Shrike beyond it’s initial exposure location.
Is it dangerous?
The shrike spore measures around 8 microns in size, which is just at the lower limit of what is visible to the naked human eye. The shrike fungus is classifiable as a hyphen growth ballistospore, using fingerlike growths to mechanically eject replicating spores from its host body. The shrike is VERY dangerous to any living organism. You should be always take precautions when you feel like you are at risk of exposure.
How can I tell if someone is infected?
Shrike spores first method of infection is via dermal implantation, in which a spore cell directly contacts flesh. The spore begins actively piercing the hosts skin with a repurposed flagella extension. The spore immediately begins extracting nutrients from the host body and increases in size by an exponential rate. Within hours the spore has rooted in several inches deep into the dermal layer of the host organism and is highly difficult to remove without massive tissue trauma. It is recommended that exposed subjects wash or otherwise cleanse their skin to remove spore particles prior to injecting themselves into the skin. Likewise, freshly rooted spores can still be removed with minimal tissue damage. A clean, sanitized knife or safety blade should be used to remove the tissue layers at the site of infection. It is imperative that ALL of the root material be extracted, as the organism will continue to grow if not fully extracted.
What do the different “stages” of infection mean?
Stage 1 of infection means that a host has been dermally implanted by one or more spores. They are extremely dangerous because they maintain all their ambulatory function, spreading the disease anywhere they go.
Stage 2 of infection involves a host that has multiple sites of dermal infection and has been infected in its respiratory tissues. These subjects are highly contagious and not easily contained as they are also fully in control of their motor functions. It is recommended that you terminate anyone in this stage as they can infect an entire colony population in just a matter of hours. (ref. Denver freedom shelter).
Stage 3 subjects have had respiratory infection of sufficient duration that the adapted spore flagella that would normally be used for rooting in the dermal layer have extended outwards to be exposed to the environment directly. The shrike will also have created a lattice fiber type structure in the respiratory tissue that permits it to manually control the subjects respiratory function. While the subject may retain some ambulatory function, they are generally exceptionally weak and have difficulty maintaining critical bodily functions. These subjects are typically within hours of expiring and should be terminated as soon as possible.
Stage 4 infections are those subjects that have perished but persist as infection agents from dermal and respiratory sporeocytes. As with stage 3, these types are extremely dangerous in that they can render entire areas lethal with airborne spores. Thorough immolation is recommended.
What’s a spore storm?
Another danger present is the combination of environmental weather conditions along with a high saturation of spore particles. Colloquially known as shrike storms, black winds, or sporenados, these dangerous weather events can blanket entire geographical regions in lethal amounts of particulates. A smart survivor will learn to recognize imminent weather events and always be prepared to shelter within minutes. A repurposed fire blanket combined with a respirator can allow one to shelter in place to safely pass a shrike storm.
Uh oh. I’ve been exposed to spores, now what?
Clean it off immediately. Use lots of water and soap. Spores will take up to fifteen minutes to begin piercing the dermis of a host subject.
I heard that water will kill spores, is that true?
While Spores themselves are especially hardy, (capable of surviving even in deep space!) spores will remain dormant when saturated if they have not attached to a host body. A rainstorm is a fine time to scout for food and supplies. Not only is rain useful in lessening the amount of particulate on the ground, but it can safely be collected for drinking water. Although it is important to filter collected water, boiling drinking water for at least ten minutes will kill Shrike spores. If water cannot be boiled, the fungus is not well suited to highly acidic environments and should be eliminated in an average human stomach.
My family member is in stage 3, what do I do?
It’s better to end their suffering. Explain the situation fully to them, and make sure they know you love them and only want to hurt them to protect everyone else.
This informational brochure has been compiled and distributed by Jericho publishing, Anchorage, AK.

Part 18

Dmitri waved his hand down in front of his face. Karlov could see his commander clearly through the grainy green night optics pulled down over his face, despite the moonless cloudy night. He knew that his squad could see him as well because he heard the soft clicks of the NV gear being removed.
“Twenty seconds.” Karlov heard Dmitri whisper into the headsets the squad was wearing. He took one last look down the gently sloped hill they were lying on top of and counted again.
Twenty Chinese commandos stealthily crept through the knee high grass. They were veteran soldiers, and Karlov could only make out the faintest swishing noise of their uniforms against the stiff grass from fifty feet away. They would have been a challenging fight for Karlov’s spetnaz sapper squad of six men, had they not been sighted crossing the ridgeline by the sharp eyes of their east German sniper, Frenz. They had laid in wait in the most likely spot for the commando team to pass through the area, and it had paid off. The twenty men were now walking directly into a well prepared ambush.
“Flare.” Dmitri ordered. And a single blinding red streak shot into the air above the hill, Exposing the shocked Chinese soldiers in a shifting glare. For a few moments, there was an eerie silence over the rolling landscape, that was suddenly and violently broken by the ripping noise from Peters' Pecheneg squad machine gun that he had cleared out a shallow firing pit for and laid prone into. 7.62mm rounds tore through half of the commandos at virtually point blank range. The rest of Karlov’s squad joined in and the the remaining commandos fell having only fired a handful of poorly aimed shots. In less than two minutes, Dmitri and his squad were walking among the bodies, collecting ammunition and food kits. His squad was operating in an independent fashion, in true Spetnaz fashion, living off the land where necessary, armed with whatever they scrounged from the dead. In this way his group had been in the field for three weeks, only in contact with command via encrypted radio.
“Call in in.” Dmitri said to Karlov, and he removed his pack, opening the small radio pack inside. Karlov advised their location and the number of combatants killed.
“Tell them we’re coming in.” Karlov instructed him when he finished relaying the information. He was holding a pair of tags with Armed forces of Russia on them that he had liberated from a dead Chinese commando‘s pack. “These were PLA spec ops. They were sent here specifically to wipe out our units.”
The skirmishes and flare ups between Russian army troops and PLA forces had exploded several days ago into open warfare near Yakutsk, where an entire PLA regiment with gunship support had viciously attacked a Russian armored vehicle battalion guarding the border. The entire battalion was cut down, which was met with repeated and thorough air strikes from Russian bombers while the largest air battle ever fought on the planet raged overhead. In the end there were nearly 10,000 dead PLA troops burning on the ground, and half that in Russian troops before the PLA withdrew back within their borders. But this conflict did little to stem the human flood that poured across the border. Refugees fleeing mainland China seeking refuge in the frozen tundra of Siberia.
“Sir they are advising that we need to divert for a new assignment.” Karlov answered.
“Negative, advise we are two days past and red on supplies.” Dmitri growled.
“I did.” Karlov answered. “We are priority 4 from command to proceed to sector…F13 for ground target acquisition. I think there is something big going down.”
Dmitri pulled a laminated map from his rucksack and laid it flat on top of two dead soldiers that had fallen on top of each other. His finger traced across the paper until he found the location. He then looked at the GPS watch he was wearing.
“That’s on the other side of this ridgeline in the valley, maybe 3 clicks.” He said. “Gear up, let’s move out in case this was just a scouting party for a major offensive. Don’t want to be caught in the open if there’s a major armored group just over the hill.”
Several hours later the Russian special forces squad was laid prone across the top of a rocky ridgeline, surveying the shallow valley below them. A literal flood of humanity was streaming between the mountains northward from the border. Karlov was relaying the information through the radio. He spoke in a normal voice, not needing to be secretive over the din of humanity beneath them. Children’s wails and screams pierced through the night frequently.
“Commander, HQ wants to know if we can give an estimate.” Karlov asked.
Dmitri lowered his binoculars and lowered his head for a moment in thought. “Maybe 8 or 900 thousand in the valley. Probably twice that on either side. Ask them what they want us to do. We could wade in and shoot every bullet we have and I don’t think the refugees behind them would even be able to stop.”
Karlov advised the estimate and waited, receiving instructions. “Sir.” He eventually said. “They want us to mark for air strikes and withdraw.”
Dmitri rolled onto his back and pulled an IR marker from a pouch on his armor. He nodded to his men to do the same.
Frenz hesitated, looking his superior earnestly. “Civilians.” He muttered. “Children, women. These aren’t soldiers. You know what doing this means for me.”
Dmitri pointed to his ear, and then down to the human flood. Eventually over the low chatter from so far away, a single haggard cough sounded up the hillside. Dmitri raised his finger to accent the point.
“Not civilians. Not people. Weapons now. Those that are sick we can’t care for, and those that aren’t will just sap our resources and strip our lands to the dirt. Don’t mistake what this is. They are being herded and pointed into our motherland like a bullet. Every one they send to us weakens us, and strengthens them. WE have no choice to survive this pandemic.”
Frenz looked between his commander and the refugees. His hand shook noticeably over the pouch on his arm.
“Here. Dmitri said. “I will do it for you. Maybe that will mean something to the devil when we all stand next to your grandfathers.”
Dmitri lowered his head in shame and handed the black object to Dmitri.
Thirty minutes later, the squad was making good progress away from the valley, having laid their beacons out in a line along the ridge. The first slivers of dawn finally began to spear through the black, moonless night. That is when they heard the first of many jet engines scream overhead, Followed by the bright flashes, distant thumps of explosions, and the roar of screams in the valley behind them.

Part 19

Call me Rich. Both because that’s what my name is and that’s how I used to describe myself, and my name isn’t Ahab and this isn’t Moby Dick.
I’ve killed seventeen people in my life. Two before…this happened. The rest to protect myself. The first person I killed was a 17 year old boy riding on a bicycle. He was trying to cross the street, I was trying to drive on the street. My dad’s lawyers did a pretty good job convincing the judge that the kid wasn’t exactly in the crosswalk (he was), my light wasn’t red (it was), and the four witnesses that testified to how much I had drank that night were lying (they weren’t). The $50,000 cashiers check left under the judge’s car seat probably didn’t hurt. It was a good day to be a rich, white, 19 yr old and a bad day to be a 17 yr old black kid riding home from his night shift at McDonalds. Fuck it. I don’t remember what his name was. Darren or Daniel or something. I was pretty much high through the entire court case anyway.
The second person I killed was my girlfriend, Vicki. I knew she had too much to drink and at least $500 worth of blow already up her nose. But she asked for more and I thought “Fuck it, she sucks dick better when she’s high.” Twenty minutes later she’s twitching on the floor and my balls are still dry, so I just went to bed. My maid called an ambulance the next afternoon (I was still asleep). They tried to argue negligence on my part, but the truth was nobody forced her to snort booger sugar and I’m not a fucking doctor, how do I know what an overdose looks like. Dad probably didn’t even need to bribe anyone in that case, but what’s another $50k when your looking at your 2nd private jet. I remember her father, some bald, fat fucker. He walked up to me after my acquittal just outside the courthouse steps. He looked like he’d been crying. His hand was in his pocket fiddling with something while he was standing in front of me. He just looked at me and asked why? I was too fucking high to even answer him. Probably saved my life. I think that old shit head would’ve plugged me with that little .38 jframe or whatever was in his pocket if I started blubbering some stupid apology or blown him off. I think he just wanted to hear my voice before he did it. My attorney pushed me on and I was just too damn out of it to even respond. I think he didn’t know how to react to just not even being acknowledged.
Since then I’ve fucked, been fucked, got a job, lost a job. Made money, lost money, blown money on drugs and hookers and more drugs. That’s the lifestyle of the rich, you know? Things that people work and save and scrape for, we just used and threw away like a you people throw away a…what the fuck do normal people throw away? Soda bottle?
I spent the first three months of the collapse locked away a “elite” society bunker outside of Omaha. Ten years of food, medicine, medical facilities, storage tanks of heating oil for the winters, solar panels, geothermal, a fucking well…..and 94 of the oldest, least interesting fucks in existence. We had access to our own military comsat and airfield. It wasn’t even the shrike that got us. We got hit by a militia group late one night. We had a security force of ten guys. They were good, former soldiers and SWAT team members. When the rednecks outside got tired of getting their shit pushed in every time they got near the walls, they just gave up and drove a panel truck full of fertilizer and fuel oil into the front doors. When they came in, there were only five security guys left. It was pretty much the OK corral in there. When I came out an hour later with my pistol, there was only one half dead kid with bad teeth and fatigues still alive. I guess the rest took off. I put a bullet in his head. Number 3.
After the panics and first wave of dieoffs. It got easier to move around. Nobody left to turn you away at ports or airfields. Sure it was harder to get things you needed because nobody wanted money anymore, but when you have guns and guys to use them for you, you kinda get what you want. ( Nmbrs 4-13 ) Fuck it. You have what I need to live. I may not be the fittest but I’m the one surviving.
California, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, New Zealand. I tried em all. Same stories. Dead people, no water, no food. About the time I got to NZ was when the shrike started making the jump. Before then it was just animals. As long as it was never “breathing” it was probably safe. The shrike storms started to get worse, more frequent…lasted for days. I killed number 14... We were hungry and she…this isn’t a world for kids anyway.
Leonard was a good pilot, a good man. It was a shame to lose him. He got me all the way here, where I’ve been for two months. Base camp at Mt. Everest.
The spore storms don’t come up this high. And what does manage to get up here….it’s always too cold for it. Won’t latch. Leonard lived through the burning of Chicago, the purge in Hawaii….died from a blood infection from breaking his ankle.
Two sherpas came round about a week after he died. They had water, lots of canned food. They offered some of it too me and said I should come with them. (no 15 and 16)
Yesterday was my last. Hopefully my last. He said his name was Paul. Sounded like a genuinely nice guy. He looked about forty, but I couldn’t be sure. He had one eye bandaged up and told me that he had a stalk growing out of his fucking eyeball. His plan was to lay down at the summit. He said he climbed it once when he was younger, that it was the high point of his life. He wanted it to be the last thing he saw. I told him it wasn’t going to happen and to fuck off. I THOUGHT the Beretta in my hand made the point pretty well, but he just laughed and walked past me. I told him to stop. He told me to have a nice one. He turned around when he heard me cock the hammer. He started to say something and step towards me before I put out his other eye. Number 17.
Normal people didn’t live through the shrike. Good honest people burned and died and choked. Cops and firefighters and nurses and doctors and that pilot that crashed his plane into the ocean on the way to the safe zone on Guam when they found three infected on board. People like that don’t live through this. It’s bastards like me that survive. Even survivors like Paul don’t make it, they aren’t ruthless enough, they don’t have the…
you know what? This shit is boring. It’s fucking cold and my right foot is black. I’m never going to get sucked off by a beautiful woman or eat a steak dinner again. Why the hell am I up here?
Fuck it.

Part 20

Loki’s eyes dilated fully in the near darkness of the storm drain tunnel. His eyes had adjusted to the weeks of living underground, but even still, most of his new underground domain could only be navigated by sound, touch, and smell.
The rat ahead of him sniffed upwards, catching a faint hint of another animal in the stale air. Loki also drew deeply into his nostrils, not detecting the telltale indicator of fear and stress coming from the animal that he knew to avoid.
Loki lept from his perch along a drain pipe and sunk his needle like teeth into the rats neck. With his powerful hind legs, he kicked and raked into the rat, eviscerating it and ending the creatures struggling efficiently.
After filling himself to the point of contentedness, Loki sat on his haunch and groomed himself meticulously. He had moved into the underworld domain weeks before, chased underground by the death and dying around him. Loki had always been an alley cat, accustomed to hunting the urban environment ever since he had been abandoned in a cardboard box behind the Giorgino’s restaurant as a young tom. It was here that he had been named by the cooks that smoked out back on their breaks, feeding him slivers of fish for years. When the sickness started, Loki had been driven further and further into the side alleys and backstreets by the smells and sounds of infection. Instinctively, he had never fully trusted people he did not know, and he never approached one that behaved strangely. Two cracked ribs that healed on their own and an ache in his right shoulder from time to time from the pellet lodged there had taught him this. He knew the sickness was wrong, he could smell the stink of sweat and feces and rot on their bodies and avoided it. He did not know that this by default kept him distant from the spore particles and safe
Eventually the fires and smoke had forced him into the storm and sewer tunnels ,where despite the damp and cold, he felt safe from what was happening above him and had a plethora of food in front of him. For a time he had sustained himself just below the streets, but as the sirens and screams and alarms faded away, Loki began to notice that his food was bringing the sickness down with them. He could smell the fear and stress on them, see the black blades poking from their snouts and tails. He avoided these as well and went deeper into tunnels where the light came only in a scant few places from grates far above.
Loki walked slowly along the path that led back to his favorite sleeping spot, a cracked exhaust pipe next to a worn mattress. The pipe, fed by gas piped in from far away tanks put off a warm air that landed directly on the mattress. A long vanished homeless man had discovered this, and Loki was more than happy to appropriate the bed for his own use. Loki rounded the corner and smelled the rot and death coming down the large tunnel to his left. Midway down, about fifty feet away, Loki could see the crumpled shape of the woman laying at the bottom of the manhole ladder. The woman’s chest rose and fell steadily, but her face was buried almost completely in the muck she lay in, a leg was caught in between two rungs and bent unnaturally away from her body. He turned away, knowing not to approach the body. Eventually he made his way around the impasse, and slid in between the slightly ajar metal door into his room. He curled up onto his mattress, and quickly slid into a resting state under the radiative heat from the exposed pipe.
Loki woke up slowly, realizing that he was curled into a tight ball, the room now much colder than before. He sniffed, and listened, no longer hearing the soft clicks from inside the nearby gas pipe. His heated bed was no more.
He sluggishly stood and stretched out, loosening up his cold joints. He slowly padded out through the half open door and stopped. His long whiskers twitched as his nostrils worked in the cool air. His right ear flicked back and forth. He smelled shit and decay ahead of him, he heard the labored breathing of a large dying animal ahead, blocking the tunnel. His eyes, now black orbs, could pick out some details in the darkness. He let out a low moaning call. The figure lifted up his head and looked down towards Loki.
“Huzzat.” the thing said, and began coughing. Wet ragged hacking that splattered blood on the brick tunnel. “Who’s there. Help me please.” Loki could see the outlines of black tendrils jutting from the creature’s eye sockets. He turned and walked back into the room, pausing only a moment to look back at the helpless creature that had dragged itself into his realm. Loki went through the room and into the tunnel on the other side. The one that led deep beneath the subways, deep into the earth where there would be no more sunlight. Where the food was harder to find. Where the sickness wouldn’t follow.