Chapter 16: A Surprise Visitor, and the Repercussions of His Visit

There was a flurry of activity in the household as they prepared to meet the newcomer, someone who hadn't even bothered to introduce himself. Everyone wanted to go along, especially the kids left behind during the last trip, but David was forced to put his foot down as he did not want to intimidate the person they were meeting by arriving with an army of excited onlookers. He figured the stranger would be skittish enough as it was, and that the meeting would likely progress much more smoothly with a limited number of people attending.

To his surprise, Peter presented a decent counter argument. "But we've been practicing how to shoot and defend you the entire time you were gone!" the young man declared proudly. "We won't shoot anyone, but we need some real world experience in how to deal with these types of encounters, especially when to not overreact. Having us along will get us used to how to respond. After all, if we have trouble in the future, you'll need to train us how to handle these situations eventually."

"Well... ," David hedged, considering the idea before making a quick decision.

"He's got a good point," Greg said, weighing in from the kitchen. "They say that for every police shooting, trained policemen fire a full seventeen shots for everyone hit they make. Having a bunch of untrained whippersnappers with guns is just plain dangerous."

"Alight, you've convinced me," David relented. "Practice on a shooting range is no substitute for practical experience in the real world. There are plenty of people trained for combat who freeze up in their first firefight, after all. Okay, some of you can come along," he told them. However, that simple concession produced pandemonium, as each of the kids proceeded to argue about which of them would be a better choice to accompany the adults.

"We'll settle this," he said, giving them each a sharp look as he turned to Betty. "Who's made the most progress on the firing range while we've been gone?"

"Hmm," she reflected as she peered at the suddenly quiet group of excited young men and women—almost all too young to even be shaving yet, waiting for her decision. "The two boys took to it pretty naturally, both in their shooting skills and in their appreciation and respect for the weapons, although Wendy and Nina did pretty well too. While they didn't take to it as naturally, they might have better eyes and they're more controlled when they fire," she reflected, refusing to make the final decision.

"What about me?" Jenny asked with a scowl, more upset at being excluded than at the prospect of eventually having to actually shoot someone.

"Are you kidding?" her brother countered with a snicker. "Your first shot you squealed and threw your gun away!"

"Yeah, but I'm a decent shot now!" she insisted to Peter before turning to address David. "And being older, I'm not as likely to overreact."

"That won't do much good if you never pull the trigger," Adam argued, glaring at her for taking away his chance to join the adults.

Not wanting this to descend into an all-out fight, David glanced at Betty, who merely shrugged at the mess he'd unintentionally stepped into. "OK, I know this is going to be a mess," he responded, trying to control the overly enthusiastic kids, "but I think I'll take Alice, Greg and Monique along as the core group, and we'll take Peter, Adam and Nina along as trainees," he said firmly as he pointed out the two boys and lone teenaged girl. "That means you're only there to watch. The three of you don't do anything unless you're told to, okay? As for the rest of you, normally I wouldn't have a problem including you, but I want to limit who goes so we'll appear a little less threatening. Although we're showing up with seven people, at least the three kids will appear less intimidating."

He paused for a moment as he worked through the rough plan in his head. "Now keep in mind, I don't want any of waving your military grade weapons around. As always, you should carry pistols, but you need to keep them holstered, and any rifles will be kept in the cars."

The three kids selected rapidly agreed with that, happy to be included at all, but the others looked partially disappointed at not being included while also relieved. No one really anticipated any trouble, but the girls weren't looking forward to the prospect of armed conflict in the future and weren't quite as anxious about preparing for it as Adam and Peter were.

"Don't worry, Mr. D," Adam excitedly told him, rapidly walking backwards in search of their gear, "we know what to do."

"Just remember," Jenny yelled after them, "you've got to learn to walk before you can run. You need to learn how to act during negotiations before you can act as a guard!" but her words of advice were lost as the kids ran off.

"You realize they're going to be hard to control," Jenny warned him. "Both tonight and in the future."

"Yeah, I know," David agreed with a sigh. "But I also know how Alice and Amy ... er, Mattie were initially," he tried to correct himself, realizing they never knew the young tomboy who'd dreamed of being a superheroine. "They adjusted, but only after they'd had a chance to learn. I don't mind enthusiasm, just as long as they know how to listen."

"OK," Jenny shrugged, resigned that someone else would be responsible for her brother and her other kids, "we'll stay here and get things ready in case your visitors decide to come back with you."

"I'll prepare one of the spare houses, in case they're afraid to stay here," Melissa called from the kitchen, where she and Greg were rummaging. The pair had decided to stick around to enjoy the company instead of their heading back to the solitude of their own home. She poked her head around the corner and looked at the two girls, each disappointed for their own reasons. "You two want to give us a hand?" she asked.

"I guess so," replied Wendy in a frustrated tone.

"We'll fix sandwiches for you to take along. If they've been traveling all day to get here, they'll probably be hungry," Mattie suggested.

Just then Adam and Peter returned to the living room laden down with M4s, thigh holsters for knives and breast holsters for pistols, oversized flak jackets, radio gear, and a variety of other gear they felt was necessary, all carried in their hands they were so excited they'd been afraid to don them before for fear they'd miss something. Nina just shook her head at David from behind them, shrugging her shoulders to let him know she'd tried to talk some reason into them.

"No, that's way too much," David said with a firm shake of his head. "Just a single pistol each. The other adults have rifles, but I doubt we'll even need them. This isn't some stranger but someone that came looking for us, so I don't want to scare them off looking like some avenging angels. You each need to learn to always carry a handgun, at a minimum, but any more is just too much."

"Ah, come on, what about body armor?" Adam asked excitedly, trying to carry everything he'd brought in with him. "What about the riot gear we saw in the armory?"

David laughed lightly. "And where are you going to find any that fits you?"

"Actually, we checked it out. I can fit into the smaller girl sizes."

"I'm sure you can, but the problem is that if it's not a good fit and it'll limit your movements too much. Besides, we're going to welcome a new friend and trading partner. It makes no sense preparing for a firefight if that's not what we're dealing with."

"Ah, you're no fun," Peter complained, but smiled as he said it, realizing just how outrageous their requests were.

"I'll tell you what, we'll go out in a couple of days and do some mock situations, where we'll go over how to respond to a number of different scenarios. We'll outfit everyone with one piece of equipment at a time, so you learn how to use each tool in a real world experience. How's that?"

"That sounds great," they chorused, even little Wendy getting excited over it.

"I hope I'm up to this," Nina said nervously as she carefully struggled into her pistol holster. "As much as I want to help, I'm not sure I'm ready to actually shoot anyone yet."

"Ah, but that's exactly the point," David explained. "We want you to get used to interacting with people, observing what could go wrong so you start thinking defensively. I don't want any of you shooting at anyone before you're ready for it. This is simply for you to observe. You're not going to do anything else."

"Nina?" Jenny asked the younger girl. "Do me a favor and keep an eye out for Peter for me. I know you'll be watching out for Adam, and Alice and the adults will be there as well, but still..."

"Hey, I don't need a babysitter!" Peter yelled, his honor insulted.

"Don't worry, since I have no desire to shoot anyone, I'll be busy watching the boys," Nina replied, glancing at both boys maternally. "If either one is in any danger, I'll be the first to defend them."

Shortly thereafter, three vehicles left the isolated house and turned onto the main road. David took Betty with him, as well as Adam and Nina in the back seat. Alice, as usual, drove her dead truck simply so she could keep Lassie with her, while Greg drove with Peter and Monique, the latter insisting on carrying her medical bag. She wanted to be there in case the person may have any medical issues they might have suffered on the road, remembering other cases where minor first aid was required.

They arrived at the town square and saw a man sitting on the front steps of the abandoned police station where he'd called from. He was a slightly older man, possibly in his mid-thirties, with dark hair just beginning to go gray in the temples, and looking vaguely Russian. David figured he probably came from some Eastern Block nation. His hair was shaggy and he bore several days beard growth, probably grown while he'd been on the road looking for them. His apparel was casual, as would be expected if he'd been traveling. His dimples showed that he was normally a happy guy, but his serious expression make David wonder just what he found humorous. At the moment, his expression was fairly solemn.

"We really need to put a public bench there," David commented to no one in particular.

"We'll find one," Betty assured him.

Getting out, they fell into a natural pattern, with David leading the way and both Betty and Monique trailing slightly behind. Greg and Alice, with Lassie, took up positions to either side, establishing flanking positions just out of force of habit, while the kids simply tried to find a position behind everyone else where they could watch what happened.

"Hello there," David called out as he approached. "What did you say your name was?"

"I didn't say," the man responded as he stood. David stopped a fair distance away, not wanting to challenge or make him nervous about potential exposure.

"I'm here to deliver a message," the man said emotionlessly, his expression a bit dour.

David glanced at Alice, since she was the only one in his line of sight, but she looked just as confused as he felt.

"Okay, and what might that be?" David asked, cocking his head to the side, intrigued just what they'd send someone all this way to say. He'd expected that they might send someone to trade or to establish a commitment, but the man didn't seem to be interested in establishing a friendly banter necessary for negotiations. But if they weren't interested in something, they wouldn't have sent someone all this distance, so David figured he'd take a tough guy route and present a list of demands instead.

"We discussed your offer at length," the man slowly said as he flexed his fingers. "And we finally decided there's only one response, and that response is..." He left the sentence hanging as his hand went to his hip and he suddenly drew a pistol. Before anyone could react he fired several shot in rapid succession directly at David.

As time seemed to slow to a crawl as he groped for his own weapon, David cursed himself for getting caught completely flat-footed. Although the first two shots missed him completely, the next hit him square in the chest, sending him staggering back, grunting in pain, while the next nicked his arm, spinning him around as he fell to the ground.

Everyone froze, not even recoiling at the shots, unable to fathom just what was going on, as no one had expected this kind of response. But Alice reacted immediately and decisively. Not wasting time screaming out an unnecessary warning, she acted instinctively to protect her father in the only way she could and brought her M4 to bear firing multiple shots directly at the man attacking him. However, unlike the assailant, she didn't miss, and the man staggered back, collapsing in a heap, his pistol clattering to the side as he fell. Alice hadn't hesitated, hadn't questioned what she was doing. If someone threatened someone she knew she'd pull no punches, and if it was her father, she'd let her full vengeance loose.

Luckily, everyone had deferred to David, letting him stand alone, so when the assailant had fired at him no one had been close enough to him to be hit by the wildly inaccurate spray of bullets by a man who, despite his vehemence, was clearly unused to firing a gun.

Things pretty well fell apart after that, as once Alice responded everyone else starting rushing to do something, anything. Greg drew his own rifle, much too late, scanning the surrounding buildings with wild blazing eyes. Lassie barked excitedly but didn't advance, instead dancing in place beside Alice never leaving her side. Betty and Monique, perhaps more used to trouble and random acts of violence than the others, had dropped back and ducked after their initial delayed response, and as a result they were slow to respond, only getting back up well after the bullets had stopped flying. But the kids were much quicker.

Peter and Nina immediately ran to David, attempting to help him. Adam, moving slower than his friend and sister, simply stood back and watched events unfold. Nina tried to see where David might be wounded, as Peter tried to lift him up, turning him over so they could evaluate what they needed to do. They were surprised when he suddenly sat up with a wheeze, shoving them both forcefully away, knocking them both onto their butts.

"Get the fuck away from me!" he bellowed in a roar that startled everyone. However, once they fell back into the dirt his tone softened somewhat.

"I was hit. There's blood all over. I don't want you getting infected."

"Where are you hit?" Monique asked, as she donned her gloves and knelt beside him, preparing to provide whatever aid was necessary.

"I was lucky," David coughed as he shakily got to his knees "I was wearing my vest, which stopped the main shot, but I also got hit in the arm. The fucker is really bleeding and hurts like—"

"Watch the language," she chided him, ignoring his previous curses. "Remember there are children present."

"Yes, ma'am," David responded as he hacked again, groaning as he looked towards the Police Station. "Where's the shooter?" he asked, trying to scan for a continuing unseen danger he was in no condition to protect against.

"I got him," Alice called back. "He's down and hurt, but he's still alive. I suspect if you want to speak to him, you'd best do it soon."

"Don't you dare move until I can examine you," Monique warned.

Ignoring her, David stood, groaning as he did. Holding his loose shirt sleeve over his wound to soak up his blood, he stumbled to where the shooter was, Monique hurrying after him.

"Alright, treat me here while I get to the bottom of this," he said as he crouched down beside the assailant. Wincing slightly, he rubbed his chest. "Man does my chest hurt," he complained while rubbing his chest, wincing slightly from the pain. But despite the bruise to his chest—and his ego—he was more concerned about his bleeding arm contaminating anyone than he was in any blood loss to himself.

"OK, what the hell was that about?" David demanded of the man, who had two large wet spots on his shirt, showing that Alice had hit him twice in the torso, and that he was bleeding badly. His guts, mixed in with copious amounts of his blood and his wheezing gasping breath, showed that he didn't have long. As Monique set to work examining David's arm—ignoring the man's wounds—he struggled to answer.

"We ... decided you pose a risk. While you survived, you're still ... contagious. Thus you present a threat to each of us who are uninfected. You represent ... a new wave. If you survive, then only those who are like you will live, while those like us... , those uninfected, will die. We had to take you out, in order to protect the millions like us around the world," he explained, even as blood began to seep out of his mouth and his speech kept breaking up as he'd grimace from the pain of his wounds.

"You're nuts!" Greg commented from the side where he was observing. "He represents our future. He's the one that will provide a potential cure for the rest of us."

"Ah... ," the man responded, finding it hard to both breathe and speak at the same time, "it's not that simple. If he lives, everyone else will eventually be ... exposed. Which means that only those ... both exposed and immune ... will live."

Despite being wounded, and in unfriendly company, the man seemed driven to explain his actions, hoping to justify his actions. It was strange behavior for an assassin, but David was just as eager to understand what drove these people. "Our hope has been that this ... scourge would burn itself out. That it would kill all its hosts, leaving it with ... no more carriers. But instead, you went and survived, providing it with a long time ... host. That means it won't die out like we planned, but will thrive, effectively becoming stronger. Thus you present ... an ... unacceptable risk ... to the rest of us."

"And by killing me, you hoped to eliminate this risk?" David asked. The man merely nodded, still struggling for breath.

"I've bandaged your arm; you nicked a vein, that's why there was so much blood. Should I check this ... loser?" Monique asked, not sounding terribly sympathetic as she glared at his trembling form.

"No, check the kids. He's not going to survive his wounds," David answered with certainty. Monique got up and left so she wouldn't be there when David did what he planned, since it would conflict with her professional oath, if not her own sentiments. She felt like David did in this; if they saved this man, he'd only attack someone else for similar reasons. In this new world, one couldn't allow those likely to kill loose on the world.

"What's the plan?" Greg asked, moving closer to provide assistance.

"You don't need to be a part of this," David answered before he turned and looked pointedly at his daughter. "Alice?"

"Hell no," she responded vehemently. "You're not sending me away this time. Each time you decide to send a signal to the world, you send us ... me, away, but no longer. If someone tries to kill my father, I take it personally."

"Very well. But if you could do me a favor, please keep everyone else distracted," he asked Greg. He waited until the big man took off and then turned back to Alice. "I've got a machete in the back of the SUV, could you get it for me?"

"A machete?" she asked. "You were anticipating this?"

"This? Absolutely not, but I've taken to carrying it recently, figuring I'd want to do this sooner or later." With that she nodded and took off to retrieve it.

"What are you ... planning?" the man—who they'd never learned the name of—asked.

"I'm leaving a message. I figure your friends would want confirmation that you succeeded. I want them to know what happens when they try something like this."

"But what... ?" he asked again when Alice returned, handing her father his machete. The man looked at it, his eyes growing large, even as he started coughing.

"I was just telling this nice gentleman that his friends are probably nearby, we'd better check our surroundings."

"Already done," Alice assured him. When David turned to regard her she continued. "How do you think I knew we were being watched the other day? Lassie alerted me that there were people nearby. She gave me no indication this time. I'm pretty sure there's no one else here."

"They must have planned a common rendezvous. No problem, when he doesn't make it they'll come here and see my message."

"Anything I can do?" Alice asked.

"Nope, if you stand too near you'll get his blood all over you. You'd do better standing back," he warned her.

"Wait, you ... you can't do this," the man objected.

David, taking momentary pity on him, leaned over to address him. "Look, think of it this way. This is quick and painless, like putting down a rabid dog. The alternative, the fitting alternative, would be to drop some of my blood into your wound, and let you experience what you so richly deserve. Now if you don't mind, I was in the middle of something."

"You ... you can't—" the man tried to object again, before his arguments were forever cut off as the machete made a sickening wet crunching sound as it severed his head, which spun onto the ground below spilling blood in a wide arc.

As they were preparing the body, Greg returned, a grim look on his face—completely unrelated to the grisly scene laid out before him.

"Monique thinks we have a problem," he revealed quietly. "She said both kids had cuts from working in the woods together. She's afraid they've been infected."

"Shit. We'll have to get back and set up a plasma transfer. Alice?" he asked, not explicitly spelling out what he was asking.

"I've got it, Dad. I'm assuming overhanging the freeway exit leading into town?" He simply nodded; turning and heading off to see what state Peter and Nina were in. Alice swallowed, preparing herself for what lay ahead. This was the first time she was doing this herself, and while she wanted to do it, it still took a bit to reconcile herself to the act.

"Do you need help?" Greg asked softly. Alice considered the offer, noticing he looked a little green, so she questioned whether he was up for this or not.

"Probably not," she replied, swallowing as she pushed down her own nervousness. "I think I can do this on my own."

"Still, it would be easier with someone lifting his dead weight," he responded.

"That's true. If you think you're OK with it?"

"Does it make sense to alert everyone that we're on to them? Wouldn't it make more sense to attack them directly?" he asked instead as he helped lift the body.

"If I understand my dad's thinking, I'm assuming he's planning on spending the next several days taking care of Peter and Nina, and as you know, it's going to be rough," she explained as she folded the corpse's arms over its chest. "Everyone will be feeling it. As a result, if anyone comes looking for us, they'll note the body, a clear sign of vengeance, but they'll see no sign of my father, and they'll notice everyone else responding in a discouraged manner. They'll jump to the natural conclusion that he succeeded, and that their task is done. They may still expect a response, but they'll probably assume that once the leader is taken out that the rest of us will break up, each going our own way, so I'm guessing that while they'll post guards, they won't expect a direct action."

"That makes sense, but it's based on a lot of assumptions," Greg pointed out. "You know, if they take this 'threat' idea seriously, they'll realize that he's not the only threat, in which case they'll want to take out you, Mattie and Betty, as well as anyone who's survived any of the diseases, like the two new couples."

Alice blanched as she realized the implications of his logic. "Basically you're suggesting they're starting a war between the survivors and those never infected?"

"Exactly. That's what this ... guy ... claimed. As long as any survivors remain, the Great Death will never die out. In order for those not infected to survive, everyone carrying any trace of the disease must die. They're trying to kill the diseases' hosts, and that includes you."

"Shit," Alice said wearily as she ran her blood coated fingers unconsciously through her hair. "This could get to be a mess."

"It became a mess when they tried to kill David."

"That it did," Alice acknowledged, as her mind imagined what they were about to become embroiled in.

"OK, what the hell happened with you two?" David asked as he stormed into the house after the seemingly endless drive back. Despite his determined demeanor, he was clearly upset by what he'd unintentionally inflicted on another two people.

"Do you mean just now, or earlier?" Peter asked.

"How did you get those cuts?" David asked, trying to piece together what had happened.

"We were picking up the dead animals in the woods," Wendy explained, showing him her own wounds trying to defend her sister. "It was hot and we had to reach in the bushes to get the animals."

"Why weren't you wearing long sleeves?" David asked, still not comprehending.

"As Wendy said, it was hot, but we each did what we were told," Adam explained as he and his sister hugged each other, happy that he'd avoided what had happened to the other kids, but worried about Nina as well. Peter and Nina were more than ready to let the others speak for them. They were too afraid of what was happening to say anything if they could avoid it. "We protected ourselves, not touching anything except using either the gloves or the plastic sheets. We didn't know anyone would get covered in your blood."

"Ah, as much as I hate to admit it, that makes sense. Still, you've got to be careful. Any cut can become life threatening now. They should at least be covered."

"We had too many small cuts," Jenny explained. "Though we've got bandages, we didn't feel we could just help ourselves, since what we have has to last for the next ten or twenty years." It appeared clear she was close to tears, as were the other two siblings. Peter and Nina seemed to be the only ones not speaking up.

"OK, you all saw what happened to Betty?" David asked, speaking softly and, he hoped, reassuringly. "You realize just how hard this is going to be. While Mattie and Betty survived the treatment, there's still a huge risk that you won't. These are very dangerous diseases. Betty almost died several times, and even Monique was more than willing to let her go."

"We understand," Peter answered levelly.

"Uh, David, we have another problem," Monique interrupted nervously from the corner of the room.

Groaning at the news, David turned to regard her. "What?"

"As I was removing my gloves, I noted I'd torn them. I think I'm exposed as well."

"Well disinfect your hands then," David told her, annoyed she was distracting him when he was trying to tell the two kids what they should expect. "As long as you don't have the cuts the others have, you should be OK."

"Really?" she asked, looking at him sharply. "Ask Mattie about that. If touching you is dangerous, then being exposed to your blood is much worse. Plus, the hole was from something that ripped the glove. I didn't find it, but it cut my finger where the hole was."

"Shit," David muttered as he sank into his chair, "this is too much."

"If you'll remember, I volunteered for this treatment before," Monique said in a slightly peevish tone. "So you should understand that I'm willing to undergo it."

"Yeah, but if you remember, Betty said it wasn't worth undergoing, and that she wouldn't have done it if she knew what was involved."

"That's not strictly true," Betty corrected him as she sat on the arm of his chair. "I said I wouldn't choose to do it, but now that I have, I'm glad that I did."

"Please, Betty, let's not confuse the issue here," David pleaded.

"No, I think this is worth discussing. These people attacked you because they're terrified. But since I got sick, I've been freed from a similar fear. I know I can't get sick now, and what's more, I'm not afraid of touching anyone."

"You still can't touch 'anyone'," Alice pointed out. "While you can now touch Dad, before you could have touched the others. So you've actually limited who you can touch."

"That's true, but touching anyone required an assumed risk, since you never knew if someone had been exposed and just didn't know it yet. Although I can only touch a few people, now I can do it without fear of any kind." As if to punctuate her words, she touched the side of David's face and stared into his eyes. "That's an amazing gift that I wouldn't give up for anything."

"Still, it's not addressing the point," David insisted as he tried to keep the topic on the risks, which everyone else continually seemed to underplay. "These kids need to realize what they're getting into, and that the risk of dying is extremely high."

"We all knew that, even before we were exposed," Peter calmly explained. Strangely, the boy seemed more at peace and more focused than anyone else in the room, as if he'd already made peace with what he needed to undergo. "As Betty said, every day is filled with dozens of potential risks. Each time we pass by someone, every time we pick up a glass and drink from it, every time we take a breath we consider whether it will mean our deaths." He shrugged in a temperament of almost casual acceptance. "This was an accident, pure and simple, and seeing as we did it trying to help you, I'm not sure I'd take it back."