Linda Andrews - Extinction Level Event

Mavis shivered. Damn, she’d forgotten to take an aspirin. “We’ll figure it out.”

Miles closed his eyes. “At the rate this disease is spreading, even if we knew what it was tomorrow, it would still be too late.”

Her sigh rippled across her tea. She had a feeling he was right.

“We did good today.” Henry yelled over the drone of the green ATV. His wheelchair rattled around the empty trailer attached to the back of the vehicle as he drove over the speed bump.

Manny jerked on the seat as he twisted the gas handle. Clenching his teeth, he eased up. Even after driving six of the ATV’s back to Connie’s, he still sped up and slowed down. How did the old man keep the pace steady? “We have enough vehicles and supplies, just not enough people to drive them.”

“Trust me.” Henry’s steel gray ponytail slipped over his shoulder when he looked over at Manny. “The people will come.”

That’s what he was afraid of. People. Not all of them could be trusted. He’d tried to convince the adults that they were enough, but it had come to nada . They didn’t believe him. Manny tightened his grip on the handles and the ATV leapt forward, pulling abreast of Henry. “What if the people are sick? Are we going to let them join us?”

“Yep.” Henry increased the distance between the two vehicles as they approached the corner.

“But they could get the rest of us sick.” Manny’s chest tightened and he struggled to suck in a breath. The niños could get sick. Slowing the ATV, he banked through the turn.

“That’s a possibility. But we could already be infected, just not showing signs of infection yet.”

God, he hoped not. Manny wiped the sweat beading his forehead on his sleeve.

“Those folks who are sick now will be able to nurse us back to health once they recover.” Henry eased up as the road straightened out.

Through the haze, Manny could barely make out the turn into their cul-de-sac. “That’s if they survive.”

A big if. The news had reported thousands of cases of Ash Pneumonia. And that was only one of the diseases coming his way. “What if they have the Plague? They said it could be passed from person-to-person by coughing.”

“We’ll just have to pray the masks protect us.”

Pray? Manny’s mouth opened. That was the old man’s solution? Manny had been down on his knees for weeks bargaining with God for his parents’ lives. Fat lot of good it had done him. “I—”

“Do you hear something?” Two houses away from the gate leading into the neighborhood, Henry stopped his ATV.

Manny nearly pitched over the handlebars of his ATV as he followed the older man’s lead. Killing the engine, he strained to pick up out the noise. Rats scratched at the piles of garbage. There. Fear drummed his chest. “Voices.”

People.

He swallowed the lump in his throat. What if it was the Aspero?

Henry scratched his chin then tilted his head. “Walking on the road.”

Manny stared down the street. If they tried to pass in front of the gate, whoever was on the other side of the fence would see them, know they were inside. If he or Henry started the engine, they would hear the motor. If they hadn’t already. “What do we do?”

“Wait.” Henry crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the turn in the road.

Manny licked his dry lips. Henry couldn’t do much from the top of the ATV except flee, but fleeing would lead the newcomers’ right to Rini, the niños and the women. He’d been stupid to leave the baseball bat behind. Hours of housebreaking and running the liberated goods back to Connie’s had made him relax his guard. Now they were helpless before whoever came through the gate. He glanced at the wheelchair and the leather pouch on its side.

Maybe they weren’t completely helpless.

“Do you want me to get your gun?”

Henry shook his head. “Took it out and locked it in the safe after Lucia found it while unloading the last batch of goodies.”

“Fuck!” Manny buried his face in his hands. Please God, don’t let the newcomers come into the neighborhood.

“I tell you I heard something.” A man’s voice came down hard on each word.

Manny straightened. The guy sounded pissed. Or desperate. Not a good sign.

Henry uncrossed his arms, pulled up the bottom of his jeans and stuck his hand in his boot. He pulled out a six-inch curved knife.

“We’ve been hearing cars leave all day.” A woman this time. “Look at how many we passed on the way here.”

“They might have gas to spare,” the man insisted.

“No one has gas to spare.” Another man spoke, with just the hint of a tremble in his voice. “Besides, we don’t even know where we’re going. Away from the fire isn’t exactly a good plan.”

“Grandpa, will…” coughing interrupted the question.

Niños . There were niños outside the gate. Manny glanced at Henry. The old man stared back. They had to welcome the newcomers into the neighborhood. If something happened to him, he needed to know that his niños would be taken care of. How could he demand something, if he wasn’t willing to do the same for others? With a nod, Manny started the ATV and eased it forward.

Smiling, Henry did the same. As they neared the last house, he darted forward. “Hello! Hello. Who’s there?”

“I told you I heard something.” The first man spoke again.

Footsteps pounded on asphalt before the gate clanged.

Henry veered toward the gate; Manny followed closely behind him. Twenty faces stared back at them from between the bars. The little kids were in arms and on shoulders. Masks obliterated nearly all their features. A few young teenagers and adults had winter scarves wrapped around their noses and mouths. Backpacks hung in twos on some people’s backs. Others had luggage with wheels leaning against their legs.

Henry parked the ATV next to the sensor and the gates started to swing open. “Welcome to the neighborhood. How many are in your group?”

A man with a blue floppy hat set the little girl on his hip down before moving to the front of the crowd and squeezing through the opening gate. As if they were attached to him, the group moved in lock step behind him.

Manny eased beside the trailer, blocking the view of the wheelchair in the back and rested his hands lightly on the handles. They looked like normal people. Not that it said much. But the niños … The black toddler in an Asian guy’s arms couldn’t be his. They had to be taking care of each other.

A very good sign.

“There’re twenty-two of us.” Blue Hat tugged his matching knit scarf down and tucked it under his chin. The shadow of a beard clung to his jaw. “We won’t stay, but we’re hoping you might have a gallon or two of gas to spare. Just so we could be on our way.”

Henry rubbed his chin before he too pulled down his mask. “A gallon won’t get you far, especially in a vehicle big enough to hold you all.”

Ignoring the speaker, Manny flicked his attention to the others. A Latina hitched a bright white baby with a tail of red hair sticking out of her hat higher up her hip. A woman with wrinkles at the corners of her eyes held the hand of two girls with missing front teeth. Each child held a small green toy in their hands and had their matching masks tucked under their chins. A boy with the shadow of a goatee stared back at Manny.

Those pale blue eyes seemed so familiar. Recognition skirted his thoughts. Where did he know that kid from? His incarceration? Maybe school.

The boy hitched his chin in greeting.

Manny replied in kind. These folks were from the area, but not from his neighborhood.