Earthblood

Jim made a decision. “Hold it, Steve. Listen, people. If they cut us off, then we have to get out fast. Out the rear exit… and they might be waiting for us. And we’re not ready. Take ten. Get clothes and packs. Sleeping bags. One-man tents each. Water and as much hi-concentrate food as you can reasonably carry. Anything else that might be useful such as matches, compasses, maps if you can find any. Use your common sense. Meet here in ten minutes, ready to back-country it.”

JIM SENT KYLE to the stores again to find a waterproof tarpaulin. Jed had overloaded himself and had to drop some of the food packs. Jeff Thomas had gone to the opposite extreme and was carrying as little as possible.

When they had all gathered around the cassette player again, Jim nodded. “Right. Switch on the tape again, Steve. And everyone keep ready for a fast move.”

Zelig sounded more tense. “Seems we might be getting company in a few minutes. So hear this. The plant cancer works so fast that a green and healthy crop can be dead and rotting the next morning. It produces a strange color alteration as it kills. Green turns red, like spilled blood.”

“Earthblood,” whispered Carrie.

“Before you took off on the latest mission, you might have heard something about trouble between Kurdistan and the alleged border violations with southern Iraq. That is, if you weren’t too busy reading the comic strips.”

“Was that a joke from Zelig?” breathed Kyle Lynch, disbelievingly.

“The situation deteriorated with accusations of chemical and nerve warfare.”

Jim suddenly recalled the last recorded news transmissions that they’d heard on board the Aquila. They’d mentioned this conflict.

Zelig was continuing. “Someone, I believe we will never know who, stole the research data from England along with samples of the genetic cancer. There was a border skirmish some days later and during it, so our Intelligence reports, someone released this virulent toxin.”

“Oh, Jesus,” said Pete Turner quietly.

“The question of responsibility is now purely academic.”

After a momentary darkening of the lights and a wavering of the tape, Zelig’s voice resumed again.

“Bandits coming closer. Start winding this up. Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, the poison spread like a wildfire. The Irish potato famine was an agricultural blink in the cosmic eye compared to what came to be called Agent Earthblood. Death came swiftly, from the humblest sphagnum and lichen to the tallest redwoods.”

“Those red forests,” Mac said.

“Overnight the world’s food supply was finished. Within a month the whole planet was infected.”

There was a booming sound from the main entrance, making everyone start and look around. But it wasn’t repeated.

“Seaweed died. Food chains were severed, and the ecosystem collapsed. Animals starved. Then people began to starve. New York, as an example, had less than a week’s reserves of food. The cities emptied into the country…” There was a pause and some noise in the background, then Zelig went on. “I have to go in a moment. There were deaths, deaths on a colossal scale. When you get away from Stevenson, you’ll find a grievously changed world. Not just thousands of dead but millions upon millions. By the time you hear this, it may be that the population of the entire United States can be measured in only tens of thousands, scattered far and wide. Keep away from cities, Captain Hilton. Society is gone, industry terminally finished.” They heard Zelig calling to someone else. “Right, Major. Get the men on double alert ready to move.”

Jim looked at the others in the low-ceiling room with him, seeing his own sick horror reflected in everyone’s faces.

“Not a dream,” said Mac, eyes like iced marble. “Fucking nightmare.”

“That’s how it is,” continued General Zelig. “Finish. End. But if you are hearing this, then you have survived. Three months before you listen to this message, at the time of your scheduled return, you know that I, your commanding officer, am alive and reasonably well. And there are others. Contingency plans have always been laid to cover any sort of disaster eventuality. Even one as unlikely as Earthblood. There are…”

Half the lights in the underground bunker went off, and the humming of the air-conditioning ceased. The tape faltered, then resumed.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *