Linda Andrews - Extinction Level Event

Mavis’s heart stilled in her chest. No. This couldn’t be happening. Not yet. She wasn’t ready. The cell phone slipped through her numb fingers and clattered to the floor. “Oh, God, Sunnie. You’re sick.”

David pulled the Humvee to a stop next to the curb and shook off a yawn. He needed sleep. At least another six hours. Not that he was going to get it. He picked up his cup and drained the last of the cold coffee. The caffeine wasn’t helping anymore. Killing the engine, he grabbed the box off the passenger seat and exited the vehicle.

Crickets chirped in the early morning light, and bare tree branches shattered the full moon. Nothing moved in the stillness. At least, not that he could see.

But what he couldn’t see had killed over a third of the population.

Tears sprang to his eyes as he yawned again. Maybe, Mavis wouldn’t mind if he caught a few z’s on her couch, before he returned to base and today’s food distribution duty. Slinging the strap of his M-4 over his shoulder, he slammed the door shut and walked toward the back of the truck.

The buzz of his phone punctuated the night.

Unsnapping it from his belt, he eyed the LCD readout. The number was unfamiliar but that was nothing new today. With Colonel Asshole on leave, he’d become the ‘it’ boy for all the shit flying around. Opening the cell, he held it to his ear. “Sergeant Major Dawson.”

“Listen up, Dawson. This is General Lister of the USMC.” Lister bit off each letter. “I’m on my way over to Doctor Mavis Spanner’s house and if there’s not a sick body inside, I have orders to put a bullet through her brain.”

David stopped short by the bumper. Jamming the butt of his weapon against his shoulder, he tucked his finger against the trigger. He might not be as accurate firing with one hand, but he’d get his message across. “I won’t let you do that, Sir.”

“Not asking for your permission, soldier. I’m telling you what my orders are.” Lister cleared his throat and his voice dropped to a whisper. “Now get a sick body into that house ASAP. We need the Doc alive and in the loop if any of us are to survive the coming clusterfuck.”

David stared at the cell when the display blinked, signaling the end of the call. What the hell good was whispering when the government could pick up their conversation on the satellite network? He jerked as the general’s words sunk in. Holy shit! Someone was coming to kill Mavis!

Gravel crunched under foot as he sprinted across the landscaping. Moths buzzed around the porch light. A few danced their death throes on the cement entry. With his fingers curled into a fist, he pounded on the security door. The rattling metal echoed inside. “Open the door, dammit.”

He kept knocking until he heard a key turn in the deadbolt.

Mavis peeked through the opening. A mask covered her face, and fear dilated her pupils. “David?”

Sick. There was someone sick inside the house. He wouldn’t have to hide her, nor would he have to find a sick stranger to move in so Lister wouldn’t kill the woman. Relief and anger flipped through him like a coin toss in a football game. Shit!

Someone was sick in the house.

With his free hand, he gripped the security door’s handle and twisted. It opened easily and he pushed his way inside. “Are you sick? When did this happen? Is it the Redaction?”

Mavis swayed on her feet before cupping her hands over her mouth. “I’m fine. It’s Sunnie. She’s…” Her words ended on a hiccough, and her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Oh, God. What am I going to do?” She latched onto his jacket and tugged him forward. “I can’t lose her too.”

Dumping the box on the entry table, David pulled her into his arms and ran his fingers through her tangled brown hair. “Shhh. She’ll be all right. You’ll see. She’s strong like her aunt.”

She sniffed against his shirt before lifting her face so her nose burrowed against his neck. “But what if she’s not?”

“You can’t think like that.” He held her away from him and stooped so he could look her in the eyes. Platitudes stuck to his tongue. There was only so much loss a body could take before the heart broke and the soul bled out through the cracks. He’d seen it before. He’d see it again when the Redaction returned. But not to Mavis.

Never to Mavis.

“We must plan as if Sunnie will get better.” Pulling her close, he tucked her head under his chin. The light floral scent of shampoo and soap wafted off her. Heat washed through him as his body recognized something his brain had yet to mention. Mavis was dressed in pajamas. Silky ones. And she wasn’t wearing a bra. He shifted, easing his body’s response away from her. All he needed was for her to think he was a horn-dog. “And she will.”

“You don’t know that. Only one in a thousand will live.” Her hold tightened.

Wincing, he felt some of the hair on his chest get plucked out. Unfortunately, territory lower seemed to think it was foreplay. Get a grip, man . Now was not the time. Yet as a soldier, he knew anytime was a good time as long as both people were willing and breathing. “A simulation is just an educated guess.”

She stiffened in his arms and tried to wiggle out of his embrace.

He tightened his hold, keeping her against him. Stupid! The friction only encouraged his swelling erection. Time for some diversionary tactics, one that engaged his mind and body. And probably little or no touching. This was a reassurance mission, not R-and-R. “What I mean is someone will survive. Sunnie’s just as much a someone as anyone else. Why can’t it be her?”

He replayed his words over in his head. That could have been said so much better. But then what could he expect with so little blood reaching his brain?

Mavis must have understood because she rested against him again. Her warm breath puffed against his open collar. A moment passed. Then another. His body rebelled against the strictures of his head. She certainly seemed willing.

Finally, she leaned back to look at him. “You need to work a few less negatives into your pep talk.”

“I’ll take that under advisement.” He offered her a smile, making sure to flash both dimples. An engine rumbled in the distance. He swept her bangs off her forehead. “Go splash water on your face. We’re about to have company.”

“Company?” She sniffled before pulling away from him. Crossing the great room, she jerked a tissue out of the box and blotted at her red nose.

“General Lister is on his way.” Color fled from her cheeks, deepening the red rimming her eyes. Yeah, she knew why. She was one smart lady. He twisted the deadbolt on the security door, before closing the front one. For threatening to kill Mavis, Lister could wait on the porch until the cows came home. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

She folded the tissue before blowing her nose. “I won’t let you do anything foolish. Besides, if Sunnie does have the Redaction, I really don’t care what happens to me.”

“Well, I care.” David folded his arms across his chest. Christ, it was worse than he thought if the Doc was already thinking of red-lining herself out of existence. “Besides, we don’t know if she has the Redaction. All sorts of fun things are floating around these days.”

Sniffing, she cocked an eyebrow and frowned at him. “I think we both know it is just a matter of time before Patient Zero is discovered. God help us if he dies and no one discovers his body for days.”

Yeah, that wasn’t a pretty picture. Bodies did not age well, especially in Arizona. With warmer weather on its way, Patient Zero might very well swell and explode before he or she was discovered.