The World's Next Plague (5 page)

The two sat in silence for a long time, each
contemplating different thoughts. Pauley stared at his brother’s
wriggling form.

The shaman said something to Pauley.

“He says if we move my brother to the other
side of the camp he will calm down. He senses our presence even if
he cannot see us. Our life blood calls to him, but distance will
mute his ability to sense us.”

Manon yelled over to the group of guys with
the information. They picked up the frame and moved Pauley’s
brother far away, leaning him up against a tree where they could
watch him. They then returned. The figure lashed to the wooden
frame struggled less as the men walked further away. By the time
they arrived back in camp, the wildness had subsided and nothing
could be heard from the Jombi.

Manon was surprised how quickly his head
cleared now that the snarling had stopped. He finally felt himself
calming down and he was able to start assessing the situation.

Pauley removed his hands from his head. He
looked immediately refreshed as well. “I think it would be better
if we just put him out of his misery. He is no longer alive anyway.
That thing over there is no longer my brother.”

Manon asked, “How does the shaman know about
this cure?”

Pauley turned to Tanis and the two shared a
lengthy conversation.

Eventually, Pauley turned back to Manon. “He
says he created these creatures he calls Jombi. He claims it was an
accident. As far back as the stories of his people go, they have
always known how to bring the dead back to life, but those who
return are murderous, attacking with an insatiable need to kill
everything.”

Pauley paused, then continued, “He says these
Jombi would return with super-human strength. I think we might call
it hyperactive adrenalin. Without a tremendous amount of meat to
consume, though, the metabolism of their overactive body consumed
itself from the inside, and the Jombi would die within days.”

“He claims to have access to a cure which
will calm, and eventually remove, the aggressiveness. Once the
Jombi no longer feel the urge to attack, they are no longer a
threat.”

“Unfortunately, Tanis says the Jombi have now
evolved. He told me is had something to do with bugs, but I did not
understand what he was talking about. These new Jombi show the same
aggressiveness, but are able to sustain their bodies for years
without any food or water. They also do more than attack their
prey; they now pass on their deadly infection to those they are
able to bite or scratch.”

Manon spoke quietly, “If this disease leaves
the jungle it will be uncontrollable. Even if a percentage of the
population is immune to it they will be killed by the rest who are
infected. Without a treatment, millions of people will die. We have
got to get this shaman’s cure, and your brother, back to
civilization and into the hands of someone who can study this.”

“There is another problem, though” Pauley
remarked. “I think it is safe to say the spiders have picked up the
disease and can pass it along as well. What do we do about
them?”

Manon had no answer to the question.

~ Chapter IX
~

Manon had given Tanis one of Rock’s thin
khaki undershirts to hide his nudity. The shirt was massive on the
little man. It dragged the ground when he first put it on. With a
knife, Manon had hacked off a hand’s breadth of the length from the
bottom and tied it in the middle with a piece of rope. With the
shirt and his short walking stick he looked ridiculous; like a
miniature Jedi Knight. Tanis was thrilled with the luxurious gift.
Unable to stop himself, he unconsciously stroked his hands over the
silky cloth continuously.

Tanis had been without his necklaces and
bottles for days. When he finally made it to the tree, after a long
slow trip, he was happy to place his familiar belongings back on
his shoulders and around his waist.

At Manon’s request, Pauley had accompanied
Tanis on the trip to retrieve the shaman’s possessions. Manon did
not trust the little man to return on his own. He would be a
valuable resource to surviving the hike out of the jungle, and
would be able to assist with a cure.

Handing a green bottle to Pauley, Tanis
explained how a single drop would calm an infected creature for
many hours, allowing it to be cautiously controlled, and even led
around using a leash. A Jombi in this state would follow wherever
it was pulled. He also mentioned one drop of the tonic could be
used on a person, and would result in a very deep sleep lasting for
days.

The shaman also explained how he had
discovered administering four drops from the green bottle would
cause the Jombi to collapse and fall into a deep sleep for days.
When the creature awoke, it simply stayed wherever it had dropped
to the ground. It would no longer attack, and could no longer be
persuaded to do anything. The Jombi was unwilling to even stand.
Its only reaction to the world was to follow any nearby movement
with its eyes.

The two started to walk back towards the
camp. Pauley moved quietly, watching out for any spiders in his
path, lost in thought. The liquid in the green bottle had to merely
be a drug. With modern science and access to the components the
drug was made from, it should be easy to recreate in the hands of
an experienced researcher, he thought.

“What is used to make the liquid in the
bottle?” Pauley asked.

There was no answer.

Pauley turned and looked around. The little
shaman was nowhere to be seen.

Pauley jogged all the way back to the tree
where the two had retrieved the man’s possessions, but there was no
sign of the missing man. He then retraced all of their steps
looking for any indication of where the man had stepped from the
path, but he was unable to find a footprint or even a single bent
twig or blade of grass.

Knowing it was no use, he called out the
shaman’s name into the jungle anyway. “Tanis, Tanis!” Then he
listened forlornly for a response he knew would never come.

There was no hope of finding the little man,
but Pauley was embarrassed to go back into camp without him. He
continued to look, expanding his search off the path.

After a couple hours, he could faintly hear
someone yelling his name. From off to his right a minute later,
someone else called for him. Soon, Pauley was able to see Armando
coming towards him, weapon high and alert for any trouble.

Pauley stood up and walked toward the
approaching man. When he was close enough, he simply stated, “I
lost him. The shaman is gone.”

Armando called out loudly to the rest of the
search party members, letting them know Pauley had been found, and
they all headed back to camp.

Manon was waiting when they arrived. Darkness
was quickly approaching. Pauley repeated his news.

“I lost him. The little guy just disappeared
while we were walking together. I searched for him, but never found
a sign.”

“Tell me you got the cure first,” Manon said
apprehensively.

Pauley reached into a pocket and pulled out
the green bottle. He swirled it around, and an inch of liquid could
be seen circling the bottom of the bottle.

Pauley started to relay the conversation he
and the shaman had had, including the dosages.

“Hold on,” Manon said. “I want to record
this.”

He went over and set up the recorder on the
tripod. When it was recording, he interviewed Pauley, preserving
all of the information.

Without the use of the tents imprisoning
Pauley’s infected brother, the five remaining men shared two tents
between them. Two people slept in each tent, and the fifth man was
assigned to watch duty. The night was hot and muggy. The jungle
noises seemed nearer and eerier than they had on previous nights.
At one point Manon looked up and saw the dim shadow of a hairy
spider crawling on the outside of the tent against the thin
moonlight. The men slept poorly.

~ Chapter X
~

At the first sign of light, a howler monkey
started his angry cry in the trees above, and the men were all
quickly out of their tents. The men huddled around a bright fire,
boiling water to stir instant coffee into. Coffee was the one
luxury Rock had allowed on the expedition, mainly because it was
his addiction, but this morning the five men were thankful. Rock
had forbidden Pauley and his brother to bring cigarettes and, from
experience, the rest of the crew knew better than to try to sneak
any alcohol.

Armando was the first to offer anything more
than a good morning. “We need to get out of here. What do you think
Manon?”

“I think I am not in charge,” the cameraman
answered gloomily.

“Well,” Armando replied, “you are the only
employee of the network here. The rest of us are just contractors.
The network is paying us, so we work for you now, but I say we bug
out as soon as possible.”

Manon looked up at Armando. The scratches on
his face from the encounter with Rock the day before were red and
very swollen. Pus bulged just beneath the skin and thin red veins
spider webbed from them in all directions. The flickering firelight
cast peculiar shadows on his ruined cheeks.

“We have a lot of responsibility, the least
of which is to our employer,” Manon began. He pulled out a
recording device, stuck a miniature audio cassette tape in, and hit
record. “Whatever we do potentially could have disastrous effects
on the rest of the world. We have a lot of things to worry
about.”

Manon poured hot water from the tall silver
pot on the fire into an aluminum drinking cup and spooned a large
scoop of instant coffee into it.

As he stirred, he continued with his
thoughts. “The biggest problem of all, in my opinion, is the
spiders. The species in this area can spread the infection, and
there is nothing we can do at this time to change that. We have no
idea where we are, and I do not know how we can get back here.
Bringing a treatment to the rest of the world is great, but
eradicating every living thing with the infection should, and will,
be the priority of those in charge.”

Armando broke in at this point. “I have a map
and a compass, and a lot of experience with this sort of thing. I
can get us back here if needed. I just need to keep track of some
coordinates as we hike back.”

“Good,” Manon continued. “Second, the only
other living thing we know of, besides the spiders, able to spread
the infection is Pauley’s brother. If we bring him back to
civilization, and something goes wrong, we could potentially be
responsible for the deadliest plague the Earth has ever seen. If we
do not take him back, we lose our proof and a living sample which
could potentially be used to find a permanent cure.”

“Speaking of a cure,” Pauley added. “What we
have is not really a cure. It is a way to prevent the carriers of
the infection from spreading it further and attacking other people,
but it does not cure them.”

“Good point,” said Manon. “I hate to
contemplate how difficult it will be carrying that rack all the way
back on a month long journey with Pauley’s brother struggling the
entire time. Did you guys feel the intense pressure in your heads
when he was near, or was it just me?”

“I felt it,” Armando replied. “I think Rock
just wanted to take the Jombi back to become more famous, but
ultimately, he was right. We have to take a sample of the infection
back with us if there is any hope of finding a vaccine.”

Pauley suggested, “What if we carried a few
spiders back with us? They would be much easier to carry and
control. If needed, they can infect a chimp or something when we
get them to the right people.”

“I like it,” Manon approved. “What do we do
with your brother then? What about the poor creatures scattered
around the clearing?”

“We leave them here,” said Pauley.

“Or we put them out of their misery,” Armando
suggested. “What if we leave and someone else wanders by?”

“Armando is right,” agreed Manon. “We can’t
leave them here like they are. If we don’t take your brother, and I
can’t see how we can, we have to make sure he, and the others here,
never infect anyone else.”

The men sat silently.

“I will take care of my brother then,” said
Pauley glumly. He stood up, walked away, and started packing up his
sparse equipment in anticipation of leaving the cursed
clearing.

Manon asked, “Armando, can you end the misery
for the rest of the creatures in the clearing?”

Armando nodded.

The others finished their coffee in silence.
One by one, each got up and started packing.

~ Chapter XI
~

Manon shouted across the camp, “Let’s go
guys.”

Pauley approached Armando hesitantly. The
large man, still on edge from yesterday’s incident with Rock, had
not noticed him and was startled when Pauley spoke up.

“Can I borrow Rock’s… pistol” he hesitated,
“for my brother?”

Armando had placed the handgun in its holster
on his belt and deftly retrieved it. Pointing it towards the
ground, he handed it to Pauley, handle first. He asked, “Do you
need my help?”

“No, I can handle it.”

Armando watched as the small native man slunk
away towards his brother with his head hanging.

Pauley walked slowly. His eyes were looking
down, but not due to depression. He was concentrating on a task
very different than the one Armando assumed he was about to
perform.

From his jacket pocket, Pauley pulled out the
green bottle the shaman had given him. Keeping it close to his
chest, and hidden from the view of the camp behind him, Pauley
pulled off the top. A strong aroma resembling the sweet smell of a
compost heap on a hot muggy day wafted up from the opening.

Pauley tipped the bottle and applied a small
amount of the potent and precious liquid to one end of a strip of
hard beef jerky he had pulled from his pack a short while ago. The
shaman had told him four drops would knock out and eventually
pacify the Jombi. This was the amount he was attempting to
administer. Once the jerky was ready, he recapped the bottle and
stowed it again in his large jacket pocket.