Linda Andrews - Extinction Level Event

Mavis nodded, looking for an opening. There had to be one. Think. “Yes.”

Pearl held onto her sister’s hand but leaned over the embers of the dying fire toward Mavis. She licked her wrinkled lips. “What was it like?”

Lie. Make up a cough, a sneeze. She caught Justin’s eye then Mr. Quartermain’s. She couldn’t do it, not when the old man had vouched for her. Risked his life to defend her to the soldier, to David. “Tense. If anyone had coughed or sneezed, the place would have cleared out in an instant. And sad. There were so few children.”

The group’s collective sigh swirled through the ashes.

Nani wiped her cheeks with the corner of her apron. “I heard from my great-grandchildren yesterday. The government is arranging their trip to me.”

She clamped her lips shut, not saying what everyone knew—their parents and grandparents were dead, struck down in their prime by the influenza.

Pearl and Rhea bookended the octogenarian, wrapping their arms around her wizened frame. “I’ve heard the number of orphans in the United States is twice what it was worldwide at the end of World War Two.”

Evan Thomas cleared his throat and stepped forward. His gait was smooth despite the prosthetic leg. Lean and toned, the forty-eight year old had managed to retain his athletic build despite not being able to compete in any Ironman Triathlons in the last six months. “With so many children alive, there’s hope for a better tomorrow.”

A false hope built on bright sunshine and clear skies. While somewhere high in the atmosphere lurked a killer directly from China, waiting to rain down and pollute their lungs with disease. God, she was depressing herself. “I couldn’t believe the prices. They were almost twice what they were before.”

Jasmine tossed the last can into the child trailer. “They took money?”

Had they taken cash? Mavis closed her eyes. There’d been a couple with children. Others with none. Shaking her head, she looked at Jasmine. “Sorry, I was so busy people watching that I didn’t notice. I imagine they did. But since I had a card, I paid with that.”

Li tugged a bandanna out of his back pocket, rolled it into a strip and tied it around his black hair. “I heard that money is going to be a thing of the past. The government will have cards with amounts on them, since most of the money is pre-Redaction, this will protect those who didn’t get it the first time.”

Bless him. Li had brought up the Redaction. Now, all she had to do was mention—

“They’re not taking money?” Malak tossed a worried glance at his wife.

Evan lifted a five-gallon chlorine tablet bucket of water and dumped it on the smoldering ashes. “There’ll be vending machines with the cards so you can swap one for the other. Fair trade. We’ll make sure you’re not cheated out of a penny.”

Jasmine unscrewed the push broom from its handle. Her husband held the bristles while she mixed the water into the ashes with the fiberglass stick. “We’ll need every bit if the price of things has doubled.”

Pearl brushed ash from her white tracksuit, creating a gray smear on the fabric. “I hear they’re going to have fresh vegetables.”

“And fruits.” Rhea smoothed the auburn hair away from her forehead and tucked it obediently back into her bun. “I’d love a banana.”

“Oranges.” Jasmine leaned against the pole before her husband pulled her back.

Evan shook his head. “A cherry pie with a golden crust and a dollop of vanilla ice cream.”

Mavis placed her hand over her growling stomach. The oatmeal wasn’t sticking to her the way it normally did. Of course, it didn’t help that talk always turned to food when they got together for the weekly trash burning. It was normal given the diet each had been accustomed to versus the one they had endured the last six months.

“Speaking of pies.” Rhea giggled. “I made a mock apple pie with saltine crackers.”

Pearl nodded, her bun fixed on top of her head. “Found the recipe in our grandma’s box.”

Setting the empty pail down, he eased closer. The metal foot of his prosthetic clacking against the asphalt. “You gonna share?”

“Oh, yes.” Rhea smiled and delved into her green tracksuit pocket.

Pearl pulled index cards out of her white one. “We made copies for everyone.”

Mavis used hers to cover her mouth. Poor Evan, he’d wanted a slice of pie, not an index card. Her stomach seconded that thought.

Mr. Quartermain scanned the list, before stuffing the card into his pocket. “Now, all I need is some crackers.”

Jasmine nudged her husband. Malak raised his hand. “We have a couple of sleeves left. Anyone have any soap?”

“Got a bar, green stuff.” Evan tucked his recipe card into his pocket. “I think it’s Irish Spring.”

“I found some bubble bath from when my grandkids were little.” Nani shuffled to her adult trike and tugged the folded up shovel from her basket across the back two wheels. “It’s pretty dried out, but I think you can rinse out the bottle and get some suds.”

Jasmine set her hand on her husband’s chest. “I’d love that. I also have enough cinnamon and allspice for everyone to make the pie once. Who has buttons that need to be sewn on?”

Mavis smiled. The system of sharing they’d started at the beginning of the influenza was still going strong. It would help when the disease struck again.

Evan lifted the shovel out of Nani’s hands. Unfolding it, he walked closer to the ash soup. “What are you going to do now that you’re no longer needed to marshal the troops, Mavis? I hope you plan a long vacation.”

Around her, the others nodded. Her cheeks heated. It wasn’t like she’d survived alone. In fact, they’d all helped make it easier to go on. “I—”

“Mrs. Spanner is working for the military,” Justin spouted from his bicycle seat.

This time, Mavis met his glare with one of her own. Childish, yes. But it felt good to give the little twerp a taste of his own medicine. Not that he noticed. The kid simply smiled and sat up straighter.

“The military?” Eyes wide, Jasmine scooted behind her husband’s shoulder.

Metal scraped asphalt. Evan scooped up the goop in the street and dumped it into the pail with a splat. “What are you doing for them?”

Now was her moment. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. Words abandoned her. Mavis blinked at the dwindling pile of ash. An idea broke free from the chunk of nothingness inside her head. “Looking into the Ash Pneumonia, predicting the spread and effects on the population.” Her gaze flicked to Jasmine and her husband. “That’s it. Nothing more.”

The couple’s shoulders drooped and their features relaxed.

Guess all their fear hadn’t gone away. Then again, neither had those televangelists. Mavis smiled, hoping to reassure them. She had some say in the government, and she’d make sure it protected everyone.

“Ash Pneumonia?” Jasmine moved out from behind her husband and began reassembling her push broom.

Time to add a little more information. Taking a deep breath, Mavis spoke, “China tried to use fire to control the spread of the influenza. All that ash was swept high in the stratosphere, where it got caught up in the Jet Streams, and is now literally raining down on our heads.”

Evan finished scooping up the remains of the garbage, and then dunked the shovel in a second bucket of water. “The armed forces have had over a thousand soldiers become sick from the rain. Haven’t you been watching the news?”

Nani took her shovel from Evan’s hands and used a rag to dry it. “The crisis has past and we survived. Better yet, my programs have returned. So why would I watch the news when, quite frankly, it’s depressing?”