We Who Remain Page 4

  Her offspring.

  Named Pyrrhus and Alexander, not only did the children trail their mother, they along with their mother were on a orbit that brought them closer to the earth every eleven months.

  When Buford took the position, even the best estimates, even with the ‘offspring’ speeding up, there was no real threat to earth,

  For years there was no real threat. Even up to a year prior when they knew they’d come close there was no danger to the human race. The smaller one, Alexander, would whiz by its sibling and mother, making land fall somewhere without probably even a blip. Pyrrhus would make a close orbit, then two weeks later, Olympias, would come closer to earth than any other object. If the world thought Pyrrhus’ tail created a light show, Olympias would be a master visual event.

  There would be some minor disturbances like radio failure, maybe a meteor shower as her tail dropped debris. Everything predicted was mild.

  The predictions were wrong.

  Buford saw that for himself when he arrived twenty-eight hours after the incident.

  He didn’t intend to take so long to get there. Normally, he would have been there within the twenty-four hour mark.

  But no one knew what had occurred.

  No one knew what happened.

  It was estimated that at least six motorist drove through the town and reported nothing.

  Finally, someone driving through just before five PM called the state police. That was nearly ten hours after everything happened.

  It was still unknown what exactly occurred in Rose City and several hours later, not only did they discover the same scenario in a strip of towns, they discovered that it was an arrow of death, pointing to the impact site of the small, yet mighty comet, Pyrrhus.

  The only reason they knew of the comet’s landing was because a radio transmission from the investigating office was cut short. The State sent another squad car out when they couldn’t get a hold of local officials.

  After they too went dark, they contacted Buford’s department.

  He was confused by the report that a ‘meteor or something landed’ and people nearby are dead.

  It was vague.

  Buford realized how vague it was when he pulled up.

  He didn’t smell anything when he stepped out of the car onto the street. He expected to be immediately pelted with the rotten, horrendous stench of rotting flesh. He thought perhaps the reports of ‘bodies everywhere’ was vastly over exaggerated. Until he remembered, the phrasing wasn’t ‘bodies’ but rather, ‘remains’. The report he received stated that there were remains everywhere.

  Buford didn’t see them. Not at first. He did, however, see the flies. That was something he had never experienced before.

  There were so many flies, there was a steady hum, sounding like an electric current in the air. They were thick and such an abundance, they lifted and swarmed creating a black magic carpet, floating on the air.

  Where were the bodies?

  He saw the temporary trailer and tents set up in the street. Military vehicles moved about, some with staff wearing hazmat suits, some not.

  “General,” Captain George Miller, saluted then shook the general’s hand.

  “George.”

  “How was your trip up here?”

  “Insignificant,” Buford replied. “Not long enough to absorb the information, but long enough to wonder what the hell I was looking at. What’s going on George? I was told there were bodies.”

  “There are, well, remains,” George replied, waving him forward.

  Buford kept swiping his hand in front his face, swatting away the flies that danced and darted at him.

  George led him to a parking lot across the road. Narrow red sticks with small white flags poked up. They stopped by a flag. It protruded from a shoe.

  Their presence disrupted the flies and they billowed upward, exposing a pinkish substance and clothes.

  “What the hell?” The General asked.

  “We are assuming that is a person. There are many. This way.” George led in the direction of the trailer. “Yesterday, at approximately, seven hundred, thirteen hours, the comet Alexander made impact, landing on a McDonald’s, seventeen miles north of here in Mio, not far from Mio Dam pond. It was close to being a water impact."

  “Wait, did you just say it landed on a McDonald’s?”

  “Yes, sir. After making its way through our atmosphere, Alexander was about the size of a SUV. There was an initial fireball, the impact broke windows, took out two square blocks.” He opened the trailer door for the General.

  “Why are we setting up here? I’m sure the townspeople …”

  “There are no townspeople in Rose City. They’re all dead, sir. Not just the ones in the parking lot. The whole town. Everyone. Everyone from here all the way to Mio and three miles beyond.”

  Buford followed him in. “How is that possible?”

  “That's what we are trying to figure out.”

  “It’s a comet. Are you suggesting the comet was responsible?”

  “I’m not suggesting that. It was responsible.”

  “And you know this how?” Buford asked. “Testing?”

  George passed a smug smile, one which he quickly erased as he and the general had a seat at his desk. He pushed him photographs. “These are ones retrieved digitally. The first group of state police that went in, went in without a suit. They said they smelled sulfur and that was it. They succumbed like the others. We believe when it entered the atmosphere and was close enough to impact, starting at Rose City, something was emitted from the Comet.’

  “No shit and it’s still emitting it.”

  “To an extent. Within a hundred feet. Any closer than a hundred feet, this …” He pointed to a picture of a pile. “Happens if you aren’t in radiation suits. And they need to be radiation suits. Bio suits don’t cut it. Even protected by radiation, those who got too close are now experiencing skin lesions.”

  Buford shuffled through the photos. “Anywhere else reporting people, for lack of a better description, melting on the street?”

  “No, sir. I just believe when it was close, it caused the damage. It didn’t get close enough until Rose City. Well, on the ground.”

  Buford looked up. “What do you mean?”

  “I have a theory. Flight 6520. The plane that made an emergency landing in Cleveland yesterday. They said the passengers were killed by a flash fire. I think Alexander was responsible. Same area, same time. Just too coincidental.”

  “Get in touch with the FAA, they probably have a lid on it.”

  “I did. They won’t give me anything. And of course, I’m not telling them anything. So, we’re at a stale mate.”

  Buford grumbled a, hmm. “We need to get someone on this stat. We have Pyrrhus arriving in a couple days. He’s bigger, much bigger, can you imagine what could happen, that thing is circling the globe.”

  “It’s circling the globe,” George said. “It’s not making impact. Whatever chemical compound Alexander released, it did so entering the atmosphere, and affected those who were close. Fortunately, Pyrrhus and Olympias aren’t going to be anywhere near this close. I think we’re going to skirt the danger.”

  “Let’s hope you’re right.”

  “I am. Our focus right now is on why this happened and how.”

  Buford trusted George’s word, after all everyone on his team was an expert in the field. George knew celestial bodies and was brilliant. George designed the plan that they would implement should the world be faced with an extinction level asteroid hurling to earth.

  If George said the threat was confined to Alexander, Buford had to believe that. After what he just witnessed, it was just too frightening to believe otherwise.

  But Buford also wanted to know about that flight. It was all too established that government agencies didn’t share information. But they did within their own office.

  If George’s theory was right about that plane, there was one branch of the government who
would know if the passengers on the plane and those in Rose City meet the same fate.

  Buford knew exactly who to call.

  <><><><>

  Cleveland, Ohio

  The music selection in the lab was early seventies, a mixture of folk music and rock, stuff no one was ever sure if Bob Dylan wrote or not.

  Walker and Mallory not only shared a similar job at the CDC, a love of viruses, but they shared the same love of music.

  Mallory was inside the lab, the music playing in her suit, while Walker watched her work from the other side of a glass wall. He would have preferred them to be back in Atlanta, but the lab in Cleveland would do. They could always digitally send their findings to the main lab.

  “Nothing?” Walker asked. His eyes going from his wife to the monitoring screen and the microbe.

  “I’m so lost,” she replied. “I mean it’s biological and it’s chemical.”

  “Any identifications?”

  “None. It’s not recognized by any software.”

  “It has to be. I mean, even if they created a compound, it was created out of elements we know.”

  “You would think,” Mallory said. “I mean it’s alien to me.”

  He didn’t mean to do it, but a thinking ‘huh’, slipped from his mouth.

  “What?” Mallory asked. “What was that?”

  “Well, when you said that, I just thought about the video.”

  “What video?”

  Walker chuckled. “Not funny, but it is. Rudy was telling me that one of the flight attendant’s was video messaging his sister. Showing her the one comet in the distant when the flash fire broke out.”

  “How was that funny?” Mallory asked.

  “Last night, they called Rudy and said to check out the video. It was a comet, he swears he saw a comet tail, they think Alexander. They think a comet caused this.”

  Mallory spun around to face the window. “Wasn’t Alexander supposed to make impact yesterday?”

  “Yeah, it did. I don’t know where. Must not have been a big deal.”

  “What if they’re right?” Mallory asked.

  “Mallory, I love you, but what are you thinking? Some sort of real life Andromeda Strain?”

  “Yes. Some sort of alien microbe.”

  “Hardly.” Walker lifted his hand when the phone rang, he answered it. “Lab.” He stared at Mallory, all expression dropping from his face. “Where at? Okay.” He hung up.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Looks like we may have a similar situation in Michigan.”

  “Our weapon?”

  Walker nodded. “So, clean up, get dressed, and put the alien microbe from the comet out of your mind, this was on the ground.”

  “So was the Andromeda Strain.”

  Walker grumbled and walked away. He needed to get a team ready to dispatch. He was hoping that they’d get more information that would tell him about the virus, whether it was weapon or nature. He was sure of one thing, it wasn’t something related to the comet. That scenario was not only outlandish, it was impossible.

  <><><><>

  It wasn’t real. Not until the moment Mitch opened his eyes the next morning. He was so wrapped up in the mysterious event on the lane, that he didn’t take a look at what the aftermath meant to him.

  Pain and loss.

  The night before he was focused on being the Sherlock Homes of aviation disasters, and he completely blocked out what toll it took. Maybe it was a coping mechanism, one that failed in the morning.

  The waking moments brought the truth.

  His parents were gone.

  Killed.

  No more Christmas celebrations, surprise visits or guilt trips to come home for Thanksgiving. No more middle of the night phone calls from a desperate mother who had an inkling of worry.

  No more texts asking when he was going to make them a grandparent.

  Gone.

  The last of his family was no more. Yet, Mitch wasn’t really dealing with it alone.

  Strangely enough a person with whom he shared a rowhouse common wall was the same person he shared a common tragic event with.

  Mitch wondered if Liv also woke up to be slammed by the tortuous truth of her loss.

  He had spent the evening with her, talking about the flight, what they saw on the video and about his parents and her brother. However, it just wasn’t real.

  It was now.

  Mitch had to be at the hotel at noon to give a DNA sample.

  He thought about going over and seeing if Liv needed a ride, but more than likely she didn’t. Her husband Mark was a good guy and would want to be there to take her.

  Typically, it would take twenty minutes to get to the airport, but traffic had been bad and after taking a shower and mentally preparing for the day, Mitch walked out the door.

  He didn’t expect to see Liv standing there, hand raised as if she were going to knock.

  “Hey,” she said. “I’ve been calling you. I was worried.”

  Mitch cringed. “Sorry. Yeah, I turned off the ringer. I keep getting calls.”

  “Tell me about it, now some woman named Mallory is trying to reach me. She won’t say what for.”

  “I haven’t checked my messages.”

  “You okay?” she asked.

  “No, not really.” Mitch stepped on to the porch. “You?”

  “Not really. And not really ready to give DNA. I was seeing if you wanted to ride together.”

  “Mark’s not taking you?” Mitch asked.

  “No, he … oh.” Liv held up her hand. “I am so sorry. You want to be alone. I’ll drive.”

  “No,” Mitch came back quickly. “I just assumed he would take you.”

  “He wanted to. I just thought it would be better for him to go to work. I’ll need him around when it’s time to make arrangements and stuff. I’d rather him save his days for that. So, is it alright? Can I ride with you? Or I can drive.”

  “I’ll drive. I can use the company vehicle.” He pointed to the truck. “Let’s go. Let’s get this over with.”

  Mitch pulled and locked his front door and walked with Liv to the truck.

  6 – UNLIKELY SPIES

  Cleveland, OH

  ‘Swell’ and ‘great’ were the two words Liv muttered after looking at her phone when it was returned. They weren’t happy exclamations either. Her phone looked the same, but the video was gone and all of her social media accounts were suspended.

  She took a walk down the hallway at the hotel, standing at the wall of windows that overlooked the courtyard.

  “Why would they do that, Mark?” Liv asked on the phone.

  “First, you don’t know who ‘they’ is.”

  “Awfully convenient, don’t you think, Brandon sends a video that clearly shows there wasn’t a flash fire and now the video is gone?”

  “Didn’t they tell you it showed it was a flash fire?” Mark asked.

  “Yeah, they did, to cover up. Mitch slowed the video and did a frame by frame. It was the comet.”

  “The comet? The one that landed in a lake somewhere yesterday? You think it did this?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, that’s possible. I mean they did say the comets could cause electrical interference, maybe it did start the flash fire.”

  “No, Mark,” Liv said with a whine. “I don’t think there was a flash fire.”

  “Then what was it?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, hon,” Mark said. “I don’t know isn’t a good ground to stand on. You have a lot on your plate. I don’t think you’re thinking clearly.”

  Liv rolled her eyes, Mark couldn’t see it though. “Fine. You have your thoughts, I have mine, just don’t placate me.”

  “Don’t be like that,” Mark said.

  “I just know it wasn’t a fire, I feel it. There has to be a way to find out. Maybe talk to people. They’re covering something up. Why else would they delete the video and cut off my access to social
media?”

  “We don’t know if anyone cut you off from social media. It could be your fault. You know you’re always posting things inciting political posts.”

  “True. But no one really reads them.”

  “Still conspiracy theories,” Mark said. “It’s your thing. But it makes sense to me that this isn’t settling well with you. It’s your brother and you need to know what happened to him. I won’t say anything else. You obviously need to focus on this. Do what you feel you need to do. Just make sure you get rest. You’re dealing with a big loss.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I have to get back to the floor. See you at home.”

  Liv nodded and said her good-bye. She turned from the window and Mitch was there.

  “Everything alright?”

  “I don’t know,” Liv put her phone in her purse. “Mark usually believes me when I think things, or at least acts like it. This time it’s like, I don’t know.”

  “That’s because the truth is plausible, and you and me, we aren’t offering a plausible alternative,” Mitch said. “Seriously, think about what we are saying. There wasn’t a flash fire. A comet flew by. And somehow that comet did something to people on the plane.”

  “Yes.” Liv nodded.

  “Ok, what? We don’t know the what? That would help if we had an inkling.”

  “Maybe I should state the premises of that old movie as our what.” Liv said.

  “What movie?”

  “Well, one of the things me and Brandon liked to do was watch old end of the world movies. Especially the bad ones. We actually were gonna watch …”

  “Liv,” Mitch cut her off. “What was the movie?”

  “Night of the Comet. A huge comet flies by earth and disintegrates everyone that’s exposed and those who are semi exposed turn into blood thirsty zombies.”

  “Um ... yeah. No.” Mitch shook his head. “Not gonna work.”

  “Wouldn’t the fact they erased the video make it suspicious? They don’t want it known about the comet. Why? If the comet caused the flash fire, so what. So, it has to be more.”