Deluge: The Conqueror Worms II

CHAPTER 9

Clenching his teeth, Kevin furiously worked the file back and forth, scraping more skin from his hand. Shreds of flesh peeled away and blood streamed from the wound, running down his wrist and forearm and splattering onto the floor in quarter-sized drops. He didn’t scream or wail. The only sound he made was a determined groan.

“Kevin, stop it!”

Shrugging out of her wet coat and tossing it onto the floor, Sarah ran towards him.

“Get back,” he warned. “Just stay over there.”

Sarah stopped in her tracks. The file slipped from Kevin’s fingers and clattered onto the floor. With his good hand, he gripped the wrist of his wounded hand and squeezed. The skin turned white.

“Look at your hand, Kevin. You’re sick. Not thinking straight. You—”

“I know I’m sick. That’s the fucking point, Sarah. I’ve got that white shit, just like the people back in Baltimore. You remember what happened to them? It grew over their entire bodies—turned them into drones. They ended up going down to the water and taking root.”

“But—”

“I’m not going out like that. It’s not going to happen to me. Not after everything that’s happened. I mean, what’s the fucking point? Jimmy is dead. Lori. Salty and Mindy and Juan. Taz and Ducky and all the others. Probably Teddy and Carl, too. But we’re still alive, right? That means something. That counts. The world is flooding and there’s giant worms and vampire mermaids and weird cults and giant, squid-headed fucks that crawl out of the ocean—and we’ve survived them all! We’re alive. There has to be a point to that. There has to be a reason. It’s the end of the god-damned world but we’re still alive. I didn’t face all that shit just to die from some fucking fungus. That doesn’t make any sense.”

Tears streamed down Kevin’s cheeks. He took a deep breath and shuddered.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” he repeated. “It just doesn’t make sense. Why?”

“I know.” Sarah tiptoed towards him and tried to keep her voice calm and soothing. “But you’re not going to die. We caught it in time. All we have to do is—”

Sneering, Kevin snatched up the file and waved it at her. “I said to get back, Sarah. I’m not kidding. You get too close, you’ll get infected.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but then just shook her head. Her shoulders sank in defeat. Deep inside, Sarah knew that he was right. They didn’t know for sure how the white fuzz was transmitted, but they both suspected it was through physical contact. She remembered seeing the bruises on his hand when she’d changed him, and tried to remember if she’d actually touched them or not.

“Did you… did you get it all?” She nodded at his bleeding hand.

“I think so. Jesus, it’s really starting to fucking hurt. But it doesn’t itch anymore. I’m not thirsty. So yeah, I think I got it all.”

“We’ve got to get you bandaged up.”

“I’ll do it,” Kevin moaned. Clearly, the pain was getting stronger. “Find me the stuff and slide it over here. But don’t touch me.”

“I won’t.”

“How did I end up in a Forest Ranger’s uniform, anyway?”

“I changed you while you were unconscious.”

“Fuck! What the hell were you thinking, Sarah?”

“Well, I didn’t know then, did I?”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m just freaked out, you know?”

Sarah nodded, biting her lip.

“We’ll need to disinfect everything in here,” Kevin said. “The bed, the floor—everything I’ve touched. We should burn my clothes and the mattress.”

With the initial shock fading, Sarah now felt numb. She searched through the station’s storage compartments until she found the first aid supplies. In addition to a bottle of Advil, she grabbed a roll of gauze, some bandages, medical tape, and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and sat them down near Kevin, making sure they were within reach. She noticed that his entire hand was now red. She opened the Advil and shook out a handful of capsules. She sat those within his reach, as well.

“You won’t be able to touch this stuff when I’m done with it,” he warned.

“I know. That’s why I opened the painkillers for you. There’s more peroxide and stuff over there, so we won’t have to worry about that.”

While Kevin bandaged his wound, ripping the gauze and tape with his teeth, Sarah retrieved the station’s cleaning supplies. She found disinfectant cleaner, a mop and bucket, rags, rubber gloves, and a bottle of bleach. She also discovered a pack of disposable respirator masks—the kind people wore when they had the flu or used to avoid hazardous fumes. She took one out of the package and slid it onto her face. The rubber-band strap pulled her wet hair. She winced in pain, and then felt guilty about it. Her discomfort was nothing compared to the agony that Kevin was obviously feeling.

“Where were you, anyway?”

“Outside,” Sarah said. The mask muffled her voice. “I wanted to see if I could get the power working.”

“Find anything?”

“Nothing useful. I can’t figure out the power plant. It’s way too advanced for me. There’s a little utility shed with a lawnmower and stuff inside. That’s about it, though. Nothing else.”

“Is there room inside the utility shed?”

Sarah frowned. “Room for what?”

“Room for me.”

“What are you talking about?”

Kevin sighed. “Like I said, I’m not itching anymore. I think I caught it in time. But just in case, we need to be careful for the next few days. I can’t be around you. If I am still infectious, then you could catch it off anything I touch. And if it’s airborne, then I definitely shouldn’t be around you.”

“If it was airborne, we’d both be dead already. So would everyone else we’ve met.”

Kevin nodded. “You’re probably right, but even so, I’d feel better if we limited your exposure. I think you would, too.”

“So you’re going to… what? Sleep in the shed?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s ridiculous. It’s cold out there. We’ve got no way to heat the shed. You’ll catch pneumonia.”

Kevin waved his bandaged hand. Blood seeped through the gauze. “That’s the least of my worries.”

“What about the worms? They seem to be able to find people.”

“I’ll lock it from the inside.”

Sarah stared, incredulous. “You think that’s going to stop them? You saw what happened at Teddy’s house.”

Kevin paused before replying. When he spoke, his voice was dejected and quiet.

“Well, I’m all out of ideas, Sarah. Can you think of an alternative that doesn’t endanger you?”

“No…”

Kevin smiled sadly. “There you go. Besides, it will be good to get some uninterrupted sleep. You snore, you know?”

Sarah faked a laugh and then turned away so that Kevin wouldn’t see her crying.

Kevin cleaned the blood and skin from the floor, and disinfected the bunk bed and everything else he had touched. He dropped the soiled rags into the bucket, along with his clothes. Then he grabbed Sarah’s old clothes that had been drying on the floor, and the goofy-looking hunter’s cap he’d taken from Teddy’s truck, and dumped them in the bucket, too. Finally, he carried the bucket outside and sat it on the stairs.

“Are there any more uniforms left?”

“Yeah.” Sarah tossed him one. “That’s probably better than running around outside in your boxers.”

She tried to keep her tone lighthearted, but she sounded anything but.

“After I leave,” he said, “you’ll want to disinfect this doorknob again.”

Sarah nodded.

Kevin pulled the mattress off the bed and dragged it towards the door. He whistled as he worked.

“What’s that song?” Sarah asked.

“The Police. It’s been stuck in my head. I bet you’ve heard it before.”

“How does it go?”

“When the world is running down, you make the best of what’s still around.”

Sarah turned away again, but this time, not even the rain drumming against the roof was enough to drown out her sobs.