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“Created in a lab? Someone made this evil thing intentionally?” Carly slumped in her seat, stunned and sickened someone could have done such a thing.
Justin hesitated when he saw her reaction, but he answered truthfully, and for that, she was grateful. “I think so, yes.”
“And what, it got loose or something? Someone spilled a test tube of it?”
Justin shook his head. “Paris, London, Beijing, New Delhi, Moscow, Osaka, São Paulo... My contacts reported almost simultaneous outbreaks. It was intentionally released in the most populous cities all over the world.”
“Terrorists?”
“Perhaps.”
“Are we immune?”
“It seems that way. You took care of your parents while they were sick. If you weren’t immune, you should have caught it for certain from sustained close contact. But even if we’re immune, we could be carriers.”
“Like Typhoid Mary?”
Justin nodded. “It’s possible. There’s no way for us to know for sure at this point.”
“Were you around any sick people?”
“I was camping when the Crisis hit. I stayed out in the woods until...until it was over, but if I wasn’t immune, I should have caught it as soon as I came into the city. There were still Infected wandering around. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the virus lingered in the environment, perhaps in the water supply or even in the air itself.”
“I thought viruses died fast if they didn’t have a host.”
Justin shrugged. “Some do. Others can survive outside a host for days, even weeks, in some cases. If they made a weaponized virus, they’d ensure it was able to survive for long periods outside the body.”
“Only two survivors out of over thirty thousand people in Juneau,” Carly mused.
“There may have been others. We don’t know. They could have hidden from us. Or they could have died after the Crisis was over from accidents, suicide, or health issues. People with medical conditions like diabetes would be unable to get their medicine. Most modern people aren’t prepared to survive, and more will die when winter comes.”
Carly fell silent. If Justin hadn’t found her, she would have been one of them. She would still be sitting in her apartment, numb with shock and grief.
Justin chose not to dock at the pier where the ferry would have docked and Carly saw why as they passed. There were dozens of bodies on the dock, people who had undoubtedly been waiting for the ferry to evacuate, waiting for a boat that never came. The gulls on the bodies took flight as they sailed by, and Carly looked away. Birds, apparently, were immune to the Infection. Nature was not respectful of the dead.
“I haven’t seen any dogs or cats,” Carly noted. “We used to have a couple of bears that came into town and ate from trash cans. I haven’t seen any, and you’d think without the Fish and Wildlife people chasing them off, they’d be scavenging in town.”
“From what I’ve seen, it looks like many mammals weren’t immune, though I’ve seen some rabbits and squirrels. Domestic animals seem to have fared the worst. I’d guess it was because of their close, continual contact with humans. In a way, I suppose it was a mercy since they wouldn’t have anyone to take care of them any longer.”
Carly thought of dogs and cats trapped inside their houses, of farm animals waiting in their pens and pastures for their owners to take care of them, and she had to agree. At least they didn’t have to endure a lingering death from starvation.
Justin docked the boat and Sam jumped out as soon as it came to a halt, as though he were grateful to be back on dry land. Justin lifted Carly out, and then she helped him get the bikes up to the dock. They had to unload the wagon again and then repack it once they had it on the dock. By the end of that process, it was late afternoon, and Justin suggested they stay in town and move on in the morning.
They found a little motel nearby and Justin came back from the office with two room keys. His eyes kept flicking around, watching their surroundings intently. She didn’t know what he was looking for, and that concerned her. Sam picked up on his tension and remained alert, his ears swiveling like little satellite dishes, listening for sounds that might indicate danger.
Their rooms were adjoining, something that made Carly feel relieved. Just a few days ago, she’d been terrified of the Biker Guy, and suddenly she was afraid to be without him. Justin carried in their bags while Carly scooped out a bowl of food for Sam and filled his dish with clean water.
Carly went into the bathroom and tried the taps. She squealed with delight when water flowed from them and ran into Justin’s room to announce she was taking a shower.
“It’ll be cold,” he said, warning her.
“I don’t care. It’ll be such a relief to get all of this grime off me.” She’d felt gross for days, since the water in her apartment stopped working, even though she wiped herself down every evening. The shower was icy but felt wonderful, and Carly washed as quickly as possible. She didn’t want to use up all the water, not when Justin still had to shower. She dried off, picked up her clothes, and gagged. She knew they were clean, but they reeked. They smelled like death, and she couldn’t bring herself to put them on.
She wrapped herself in towels and went back into her room. “Justin?”
“Mm?” He poked his head through the adjoining door and did a double take to find Carly wearing only white towels.
“I can’t wear my clothes. They smell awful.”
