Convulsive Box Set by Marcus Martin

Author:Marcus Martin [Martin, Marcus]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Unknown
Published: 2019-11-26T22:00:00+00:00

FIVE

Doctor

________________________________

The van slowed to a halt. Heavy rainfall had cleared Boston’s streets of snow, and left the storm drains awash. They were somewhere in the metropolis – neither of them knew the city. They’d slept in the van that night, on the city’s outskirts, but the sleep had done nothing to alleviate their hunger. Lucy’s stomach churned. Her head felt light. She rubbed her upper arm. The lesions were spreading. Lopez’s were worsening too. Both of them knew it but neither said it: they were growing weaker by the day.

The van’s fuel was critically low. She always knew tracking the rumored doctor down was going to be a long shot, but only now, as they trawled the deserted streets, did she realize quite how desperate their plan was. For the past twenty minutes, they’d been honing in on two thin smoke plumes – the only hints of life so far.

“Of course,” said Lopez, slowing the van to a halt.

The street ahead – tantalizingly close to the grey stacks – was sealed off by overturned cars.

“Next block?” suggested Lucy.

Her optimism was soon dashed. Block after block was sealed off, using a mixture of improvised but heavy-duty barriers made of buses, concrete blocks, shipping containers, and sandbags. They followed the unyielding perimeter for at least a kilometer before it turned sharply and extended in the perpendicular direction. They followed the new stretch until they reached something resembling a checkpoint.

A line of concrete bollards spanned the width of the street like a highway barrier. Towering over them was a wall of sandbags two stories high. Behind that, Lucy guessed there must have been a scaffold platform, because guards were stationed amidst the upper row, staring down at the new arrivals along the barrels of their rifles.

Lopez left the engine running and they waited for a moment, but no greeting party came.

“Shall we do this?” said Lucy, placing her hand on the door.

“I guess if they were gonna shoot us outright, they’d have done it by now,” said Lopez.

Together they stepped out onto the damp street, hands raised.

“State your purpose,” called a sentry from above.

“We’re looking for a doctor,” said Lucy.

“Are you infected?” said the sentry.

Lucy glanced at Lopez. “We think so,” she replied.

“Then you need to move on,” said the sentry.

“We’re with the US Army. We need shelter,” said Lopez.

“You’re in the quarantined zone. No-one from the quarantined zone enters these walls,” said the sentry.

“What’s behind the walls?” asked Lucy.

“You need to move on now,” said the sentry.

“Wait, so we’re in the quarantined zone? What else is here?” said Lopez.

“A lot,” said the sentry.

“Are there any other military personnel in there with you?” said Lopez.

“Sir, you’re not coming in,” said the sentry.

“We’re the army, for Christ’s sake!” protested Lopez.

“No such thing,” said the sentry.

“I’ve been saying that for days,” muttered Lucy.

“Look at our uniforms, look at the damned flag. This is insane - we’re American soldiers, on American soil, and you’re shutting us out?” said Lopez.

“It ain’t about being a soldier, or an American.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.