Read The World's Next Plague Online

Authors: Colten Steele

Tags: #zombies, #apocalypse, #infections, #plague, #disease, #undead, #cure, #infection, #diseases, #plagues

The World's Next Plague (3 page)

Breaking suddenly from his immobility, he
jumped up and leapt over the fire to his brother’s side.

“No. No. No. No.” He reached for the carotid
artery in brother’s neck and, feeling no pulse, quickly pulled his
hand away.

Through tear filled eyes, movement from his
left caught his attention. Glancing over he saw a charred spider
climbing over the edge of his brother’s aluminum plate and
unsteadily moving his direction.

Terrified, the brother jumped up and sprinted
hysterically towards Rock and the rest of the crew.

 

~ Chapter IV
~

 

Tanis lurked warily out of sight watching the
men in the Jombi village. It had been almost five years since the
ancient man had seen another uninfected human, and he had never
seen outsiders like this before. In his younger days the wrinkled
shaman standing upright would have barely reached the shoulders of
the powerful men in the clearing, however, now his crooked back
kept him perpetually stooped making him even shorter.

He had not worn even a loincloth in years and
was unexpectedly conscious of his nakedness when he first saw the
men. Tanis had removed the many bone necklaces and bottles from
around his neck and stashed them in the knot of a large tree to
keep from making noise. With only his walking stick, he was silent
and virtually invisible in the fading light of the rainforest.

The old man had been living alongside the
Jombi for years and knew how to coexist with them, but tribal lore
told him outsiders brought pestilence and death. For this reason he
was determined to remain undiscovered. He liked to think of himself
as wise, and knew the prudent thing to do would be to get far away,
but his curiosity and years of loneliness overwhelmed all fear and
reason. Using stealth he had developed almost instinctively from
early childhood, he crept close enough to hear the men, who were
now sitting around a campfire, talking in a language he did not
understand.

He suddenly became aware of something large
approaching at breakneck speed. It was crashing uncontrollably
through the underbrush and seemed to be coming directly at him. The
old man had nowhere to go, and was too slow to get away if he had.
He squeezed himself deeply into a small patch of tall weeds and
cowered weakly. His heart was beating uncontrollably. The unknown
threat barreled towards him screaming hysterically.

The branches were shaking and tall brush was
being knocked aside. Tanis suddenly was able to make out a figure
hurtling out of the gloom just before one of the panic-stricken
man’s knees collided with the side of his head. Darkness
overwhelmed him and he flopped over onto his side unconscious.

The tripped running man went airborne,
somersaulted, and crashed down to the ground head first, rolling
nearly into the campfire. The men in the clearing were all standing
up, weapons ready. Every one of them was startled and on high
alert. It was a miracle none of them had shot the wildly sprinting
intruder.

“It is one of the guides,” Rock exclaimed to
the men. “Be prepared for whatever is chasing him.” Rock pointed
his pistol into the darkness, swinging it in an arc from side to
side, waiting for an unseen assailant.

The scratched and bleeding guide scrambled
behind the line of men, joining Manon on the other side of the
fire. None of them made a sound. The jungle was black and silent in
the wake of the commotion. Only the crackling fire and the guide’s
heavy breathing could be heard.

The men all continued to point their weapons
into the murky bush where the man had emerged from, straining to
make out any movement. After a minute or so with no pursuit and no
approaching noise, Rock lowered his 9MM pistol and walked
stealthily towards the darkness. It was then he heard a low moan
coming from the underbrush.

He was barely able to make out the small
semi-conscious figure buried in the darkest hole the night had to
offer. The gnome-like creature seemed to be rolling over in an
attempt to get to its hands and knees.

Rock strolled over warily while keeping an
alert eye on the rest of the jungle. As he approached he glanced
down and could see the diminutive wrinkled being on the ground
before him was a naked old man. He snatched the man up by the arm,
half lifting as he dragged him back towards the fire.

When they arrived back in the circle of men,
Rock dropped the groggy man to the ground. “Pauley,” he called to
the still wide-eyed nearly hysterical guide by his English name.
“Is this what you were running from?”

Pauley continued to heave deeply, eyes
scanning in every direction for a threat.

Rock moved in front of the guide, inches from
his face. “Pauley!” Rock yelled at the man. Startled, the guide
jumped and cowered in front of the much bigger man. “What were you
running from?”

Panting, Pauley struggled to answer. ”My
brother,” he spat. “Spider…”

“Who is this?” Rock pointed towards the old
man.

Pauley, still out of breath, shook his head
and focused. “Don’t know… tripped.”

“Alright man, settle down.” He turned to the
three men still with their weapons poised to fire into the
darkness, eyes scanning the trees. “Go make sure there is nothing
out there, guys. Take lights and stay together.”

“Manon, get your camera rolling. Take a look
at this guy.”

Manon did not think he had ever seen anyone
so ancient and decrepit. The man was nearly as feeble as the
creatures lying on the ground all around them. The wrinkled skin
hung off his bones. “He must be over a hundred years old. He
reminds me of Yoda.”

Rock bent down near the old man. Tanis had
mostly recovered. He was sitting balled up with his knees pulled
tightly to his chest. The eyes poking through his wispy gray bangs
showed fear, like a trapped mouse looking up at the hawk streaking
towards it. A thin trickle of blood ran down the side of his face
past his ear.

“Are you okay?” Rock asked.

Tanis sat silently, staring.

 

~ Chapter V
~

 

The three men returned a short while later to
a quiet camp. Manon was writing in a notebook. Tanis was still
sitting in the same spot staring into the fire. Pauley was crouched
as closely to Manon as possible, with eyes still scanning the
darkness. Rock got up to meet the incoming group.

Armando reported, “We did not see or hear
anything. We walked the perimeter for fifty meters in every
direction. Nothing is moving except for the spiders.”

“Keep an eye out,” Rock said and then walked
over to Pauley.

Crouching down near the native guide, perched
on his toes, he paused briefly, placed a comforting hand on the
man’s shoulder, and then asked, “What were you running from?”

The man’s head was hanging. His answer was
given just above a whisper. “The spiders… they bit my brother,” he
paused, eyes watering, words faltering. “He… he is gone. Died. I
think.”

Rock looked around and noticed everyone was
listening intently, except the old man who had managed to creep a
few feet closer to the darkness surrounding them.

Pauley continued, “The spiders had been in
the fire, roasting. They survived. They should have been dead. One
bit Jaurus.”

“Armando,” Rock said casually without taking
his eyes off of Pauley. “Make sure that old man does not go
anywhere.”

“Pauley, can you lead me to your brother?”
Rock asked.

“No,” Manon exclaimed loudly from the other
side of the fire. It was the first word he had spoken since dinner.
Everyone turned to look at him. “His brother is dead. He is not
going anywhere. Let’s wait until morning.”

Rock stared sternly at the cameraman. He was
not used to hearing an opposing opinion to anything he suggested.
With an icy smile he said, “What if he is not dead?”

“An even better reason not to go,” Manon
replied. “We do not know what he could be now.”

Rock leaned his head back and laughed
heartily. “You have no sense of adventure.”

“Someone here is certainly lacking sense,”
Manon joked, smiling with relief that Rock was not going to
dissolve into one of his uncontrollable fits of anger. He picked up
his video camera, and walked to the other side of the fire. “Let’s
see what the old man has to say.”

“Good idea,” Rock relented and sat down near
the ancient shaman. “Pauley, join us please.”

Pauley walked over and sat down. He was still
visibly shaking, but seemed to calm down now that he had a
task.

“What is your name?” Rock asked the old
man.

Pauley translated. The resonance of the
language originated from the jungle itself; as beautiful as the
songs from the birds in the trees and flowing as effortlessly as a
slow stream. The old man’s head snapped up to stare at him. There
was a curious look on his wrinkled face. He did not answer.

Pauley asked again, accompanied this time by
a sweep of his right arm which indicated respect. “Can I know your
name, father?”

“I have not spoken to anyone in a long time,”
the old man croaked in a heavily accented dialect. “What is your
name?”

“In their language I am Pauley. My family
knew me as Papino. I am sorry I tripped over your head father. I
did not see you.”

Rock broke in. “What is his name?”

Switching back to English Pauley replied, “He
has not told me yet. It will take a minute. I need to gain his
trust first.”

“I will call you Papino. Why were you running
Papino?” The old man asked.

“A dead spider… bit my brother,” Pauley
replied sadly. “He died so quickly I could not help him.”

“Jombi,” the old man said and shook his head
solemnly. “You are fortunate you were able to get away from your
brother. He is not a man any longer.”

“What is Jombi, father?” Pauley queried.

“The living dead. You see them here in the
village, though they are harmless now. They were not always so
harmless.”

“Is my brother gone, father?”

“His spirit is gone, Papino, though his body
has been possessed by a creature intent on consumption, and
death.”

“Enough!” Rock spat. “What is he saying?”

Pauley switched back to English and
translated what had been said. The old man stared hard at Rock
while they spoke.

“Ask him what he is doing here,” Rock
demanded.

Pauley again translated.

Never taking his eyes from Rock, the old man
replied, “My enemies show more respect. The monkeys do not howl as
loudly. Who is this young iguana?” To the jungle natives, the
iguana was the least respected inhabitant. They lay high in the
trees, motionless all day, never accomplishing anything.

There was no word for employer in the native
language. “He owns me,” was the closest Pauley could come in
translation. “He loves himself above all,” he added.

“I have no patience for him. Tell him I will
talk in the morning. I am tired.”

“Can I have your name father? What should I
call you?”

“My name is Tanis,” said the old man.

Pauley relayed the information. Rock stood
without a word and briskly walked away.

 

~ Chapter VI
~

 

Manon woke at first light to a bustling camp.
Rock had Armando and the rest of the security detail awake and
busily taking down their tents. Instead of rolling the tents up
though, the men were laying them out flat.

Manon walked over to Rock, who was digging
through one of the big packs. “What is all the commotion
about?”

Rock continued searching and answered, “We
are going to go see what happened to Pauley’s brother. If he is
dead I am going to bury him. If he is almost dead I am going to
capture him. I need you to get your equipment ready to go.”

“Whoa!” Manon exclaimed. “You have no idea
what you are getting into.”

Rock found what he was looking for and pulled
a hatchet out of the pack before facing Manon. “Look at the four of
us my friend,” gesturing to the other muscular men working in the
camp. “We could take down an elephant with our bare hands. This guy
was less than half our size.”

Manon shook his head and started to protest
again, “but…”

Rock interrupted, “Plus, we are going in
prepared. If we cannot handle it, we will take him down,” Rock said
smugly, patting the holster on his hip with the pistol.

Rock walked to the nearest tree and started
cutting a thick branch about the same diameter as his wrist. Manon
followed closely behind.

“What is the plan then?”

“Since Pauley says his brother was dead the
last time he saw him, the most likely plan is we dig a grave and
throw the body in.”

“What if he has changed though… become one of
these… creatures?”

“We surround the little guy, walk up, throw
the tents over his head to avoid the teeth, and we take him down to
the ground where we secure him. We all wear our long clothing to
avoid any scratches. It should be over in less than a minute.”

 

“Maybe the old man has some advice you can
use,” Manon suggested.

“I doubt it. Like I said, this will be quick.
You should start getting ready to go.”

A few minutes later Manon was putting on his
long sleeved shirt, stunned he was actually getting ready to join
the proposed lunatic expedition. The voice in his head warned him
to decline the invitation. He set up the camera on the ground, and
moved in front of it to record himself. The push of a button on the
remote concealed in his pocket started the camera.

“I feel like a passenger boarding a doomed
airplane. I am standing at the gate. I checked my luggage and an
annoyed check-in lady is looking at me impatiently with her hand
out, asking me for my ticket for the third time. Passengers behind
me are pushing and muttering expletives, but I just have this
feeling the plane is going to crash.”

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