Paul Kirk - Devastation Point

“Listen, can you tell me more about the Sickness? I mean, is everyone pretty much dead?”

Colonel Starkes took a moment to consider. “No, not everyone. Last known population count was at 45,211 in the States. Though, I’ll need to add two more, counting you both. Some stragglers arrive every so often, so the count’s still rising. And, reports from Europe are a bit higher at around 200,000. Keep in mind most are from Ireland and Scotland. Russia’s officially unaccounted for, but reports confirm some have survived the Sickness. Oh, and China, Japan, and the entire Pacific basin were hit bad. Probably less than 300,000 left from billions from what we can tell.”

“Oh. Ah…”

“India and the Middle East are essentially gone. No real count above 200,000. Mostly speculation at the survival rate. Might be lower. Same deal with Africa, but that only includes radio transmissions from Johannesburg.”

“I see…”

“And we don’t have any intel from elsewhere in the world except that Australia might be doing somewhat okay.”

“Australia?”

“Yeah… they’d be hard bastards to kill off totally, I imagine. There’s an extensive amount of Irish blood in that Botany Bay gene pool. Oh, and all science stations in Antarctica and the North Pole reported no exposure impact over the ham. I’m told probably because of the extreme cold. But… we did lose contact with all but the Norwegians last month.”

“Oh.”

“On the other hand, problem is, radiation from blown nuke plants right here in the U.S. and around the world definitely took a good number of people that survived those first few years. I know we would have had more survivors of this fiasco without them, that’s for sure. And the dead bodies piling up all around brought diseases, which were once easy to fight—not anymore. They killed hundreds of thousands more.”

“Oh my.”

Colonel Starkes and Nicole lapsed into silence, each lost in thought. Gently, Colonel Starkes pushed forward. “Umm, your name’s Nicole Townsend, correct?”

“Uh… yeah. Hold up! Now, how in the hell would you know my name?”

“Lemme explain, please! Nicole, look, we don’t know much about what’s going on outside the States. In fact, we don’t know much even in the States. But, we’re getting better.”

“But what caused the Sickness? Wait! How’d you know my name? Why didn’t you and I get it?”

“Whoa, slow up.”

“Why’re those big men here still alive and looking so healthy? Are there any other women?”

“Slow down, Nicole. Please . We’ll answer all your questions. And, if you want, we’d like you to come with us. Maybe come back to Camp David where we’ve set up shop. Then, we can head into Mt. Storm where we’ve set up our primary base of operations.”

“Camp David? You mean the president’s vacation home?”

Colonel Starkes stifled a laugh. “Yeah, with all the amenities.”

“Wow. Is he still alive?”

“Uh, no. Not the president you might be thinking of.”

“Oh, well then, is there still a president?”

“Yeah.”

“Who is he?”

“Umm, that would be me.”

“Cool.”

“Major, I’ll take one of those go packets as well, please.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Major O’Malley handed Colonel Starkes a packet and returned to the perimeter where ten fierce men, heavily armed, faced outward. Sitting near the helicopter, Nicole noticed the menacing automatic weapons, gleaming guns, which she’d not seen in her lifetime. But, she had questions while munching the string cheese. Closing her eyes at the burst of flavor, she sought answers.

“Okay, obviously you’ve taken a great deal of interest in me. And, I want to know why.”

Colonel Starkes finished a bite of stale cracker. Her eyes saddened. “Sure. I’ll tell you what I know.”

“Good. Thank you.”

“Yeah, well, H5N has essentially destroyed the human race. If you toss in the after effects of radiation poisoning, cholera, along with a host of other nasty diseases, you have a slam dunk.”

Nicole waited for more, but Colonel Starkes lapsed into a pensive silence. Nicole prompted her. “Okay. Sure, I hear you. A boatload of people died. But, some of us are still here, right? We just have to start small.”

“No, that’s not it. H5N1 and its airborne viral mutations had a hidden weapon in its arsenal that’s only come to light in the past few years.”

“Which is?”

“Well, the kicker is that H5N1 made all human males sterile. My DARPA lab confirmed this. This feature of the viral strain permeated the entire world population. The men around you are now sterile. And, at the time of the H5N1 avian pandemic, I was Deputy Director of DARPA’s Special Projects.”

“DARPA?”

“It stands for the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency . You can kinda consider it like the central research arm of the Department of Defense. Black listed. Mega money.”

“Oh.”

“Medical research indicates this male sterility is a worldwide event. Apparently, once the virus mutated to go airborne, it had a ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent sterility rate, whether it killed you or not. Sorta like all men on earth caught a real bad case of the mumps.”

“Wow! You mean…”

“Yeah, Nicole. That’s right. That child of yours is a national treasure. He’s not supposed to happen. And, as I see it, he’s to be guarded with the lives of myself and all my team.”

“Oh, I guess that does explain your interest.” Nicole stroked her baby’s cheek, swaddling him deeper into the green army blanket she’d received.

“Yeah, Nicole. Well, we’re very interested in you and your baby. ”

“How’d you find me?”

“A passing comment made by a hammer named Carl Rourke. Know him?”

“Uh, you mean Weird Carl? He died about a month ago. He lives about a mile from here in a farm basement.”

“I didn’t know he died. Though that explains why we haven’t heard any ham radio transmissions from him lately. We thought it might’ve been his windmill breaking down. Anyway, we heard from Carl and decided to verify his story of a young woman with a newborn. It took a lot of energy and coordination to fly this bird out here, but being president helped.” Colonel Starkes chuckled and regarded Nicole and her baby. “Seems like I was right to make the effort.”

Nicole dropped the can of soda and stood. Trembling, she studied the ring of men and hugged her baby tightly. “I won’t let you take my baby. No way!”

“Nicole, take it easy,” said Colonel Starkes, soothingly, “No one wants to do that. Please believe me. We’re interested is all. We’d like to better understand you and your baby. Maybe run some tests. You can be with him all the time, if you like. I promise. That little boy you’re holding is very important to the world. And we’d really like to find this Connor Mac.”

Nicole studied Colonel Starkes for a moment. She relaxed and sat. “Okay, I’m thinking I might be able to trust you some, colonel.”

“Good.”

“And I imagine there’s plenty more where CJ came from.”

“CJ?”

“Connor Junior. I named him after his daddy. I thought it was the right thing to do.”

“What do you mean plenty more?”

Nicole smiled mischievously. “Well, I guess you’ll see, if and when you find Connor Mac.”

“What do you mean?” asked Colonel Starkes, not quite sure where Nicole was going.

“ Hah . Look at you!”

“What?”

“Gettin’ all hot and bothered.”

“I am not,” said Colonel Starkes, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks.