Point Of Profusion: A Post-Apocalyptic Epidemic Survival (The Morgan Strain Series Book 5) Read online

  Point Of Profusion

  A Post-Apocalyptic Epidemic Survival - The Morgan Strain Series Book 5

  Max Lockwood

  Illustrated by

  Hristo Kovatliev

  Edited by

  Valorie Clifton

  Copyright © 2020 by Max Lockwood

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design by Hristo Kovatliev

  Edited by Valorie Clifton

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the authors’ imagination.

  Contents

  Mailing List

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  About Max Lockwood

  Also by Max Lockwood

  Excerpt From It Began

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

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  Chapter One

  The interior of the old farmhouse glowed in the early morning. This was Elaina’s favorite time of the day—that moment when the world was silent before others woke and contributed to the clamor. For once in her life, she allowed herself to take in the peaceful nature of her new world, reminding herself that it was a challenge just to stay alive and not to get caught up in what she could be doing. The fact was, there was nothing she could do.

  Ever since she waved goodbye to the perplexed soldiers as they hovered over the farm, her mind had been spinning but never gained traction. For weeks, she tried to fiddle around with her meager supplies, but it was never enough for any real scientific discovery. She had her notes and her samples but longed for a place to test her hypothesis. After Alec caught her trying to collect another blood sample, using a kitchen knife, she promised that she would stop trying to work on her cure. After all, everyone knew that it was a futile mission.

  After collecting water from the well, she stuck the tea kettle on the embers from the previous night’s fire. Elaina warmed her hands on the smoldering pile of charred wood, eager for the days where she didn’t have to wear two pairs of Melissa’s grandfather’s socks. As she waited for the water to warm up, she wrapped the borrowed flannel shirt that she used as a robe tighter around her torso. Eventually, she got a match from the kitchen and relit the fire to expedite the process. Alec had warned them to conserve as many of the matches as possible, but she figured they’d eventually need a fire.

  Once the water was boiling, she poured it into several mugs, mixing a teaspoon of freeze-dried coffee into each one until the water turned a murky brown. Then, she quietly retreated down the steps of the cellar to find something to quiet her rumbling stomach.

  Her flashlight illuminated the bare shelves. Melissa had mentioned something about not having much food left, but Melissa was always saying things like that. It didn’t seem like all too long ago that the shelves were fully stocked with canned goods, many of which were put up by Melissa’s grandmother.

  Elaina ran back up the stairs and opened the small pantry to find that things were looking bleak. A lone can of chicken noodle soup sat on top of the shelf.

  She scurried around the kitchen, wildly flinging open drawers and cupboards, searching for anything edible other than the spices and bags of tea. Alas, there was nothing else to eat. She returned to the pantry and stared at the lone can, a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  Hands came from behind her, wrapping themselves around her waist, followed by a warm body pressed up against her back. Elaina inhaled the scent of mint toothpaste and tried to shake the feeling of dread. Alec’s touch helped some.

  “What’s up?” he asked softly, pressing his nose to the back of her head. She softened around his body as if she melted into him when he was near. A calmness came over her. Suddenly, the need for sustenance was only a pesky condition of being alive and not a true concern.

  “We’re out of food,” she mumbled. “I knew this day would come along eventually, but it always felt like we had more time.”

  “Oh,” he said, pressing his lips to her neck. “Well, it’s a good thing we planted a few weeks ago. Don’t worry about food. We’ll take care of it.”

  He turned her body toward him and kissed her, taking the chill out of the early spring morning. Alec parted his lips ever so slightly and Elaina jolted backward, turning her head.

  “I’m sorry,” she said as disappointment fell over his face. “We talked about this.”

  “I know,” he said, “but I thought that if enough time passed, you would see that I’m just fine. We’ve kissed before—months before—and I haven’t had so much as a sniffle since the virus broke out.”

  “You’re mad at me,” she said flatly.

  “I’m not mad at you,” he said, lowering his voice. “I just get frustrated sometimes.”

  “At me,” she replied.

  “At the place we’re at. It’s so hard to be around you day in and day out and not want to be with you. I don’t think I’m the only one who feels that way.”

  “You’re not.” She sighed, crossing her arms as she leaned against the counter. Elaina had been feeling strange urges that she was having a tough time controlling. She spent almost every waking hour with Alec. They even shared a bed. It was almost impossible to fall asleep at night when she knew all she had to do was scoot her body over a few inches to the right to touch him. It was torture, but it was all necessary.

  “I’m healthy,” he protested.

  “I have the virus in my blood. That is not something that can be disputed,” she said firmly. “I’ve tested myself a hundred times and the virus isn’t going anywhere. I am infected, and I risk passing that infection on through close contact.”

  “You said you’re immune,” Alec said, resting his palms on her hips. “What if I’m immune too? It’s a possibility, right? I mean, I don’t know much about DNA, but if it’s a mutation that’s keeping you healthy, then maybe I have the same one. That would explain why I haven’t gotten infected by you.”

  Elaina shrugged. “That seems unlikely. I don’t even know what it is about my DNA that’s keeping me safe, but there’s so much genetic information in a person. It’s got to be like, a one in a million chance.”

  “So you’re saying there’s a chance,” Alec said, his voice drifting off as he leaned in to kiss her again. This time, Elaina didn’t fight it, staking all her hopes that he re
ally was one in a million. When they finally pulled away from each other, Alec had a big smile on his face.

  “You have a death wish, do you know that?” Elaina playfully chided. “I’m telling you that it’s potentially unsafe to be with me, yet you insist on putting your tongue in my mouth.”

  “If I die from being with you, then it will be the happiest death imaginable.” He grinned. “So, what were we talking about before we got distracted?”

  “The food situation,” she said, handing him his cup of coffee. “It’s not looking good at the moment.”

  “Like I said, you worry too much. I’m sure Melissa wouldn’t be happy about you insulting her farming skills. For a girl who grew up in the suburbs, she’s really taken to country life.”

  Elaina looked out the window toward the fields of green sprouts. She had spent so much time out there taking orders from Melissa. Even Elaina, who understood the value of being self-sufficient, wondered at times if they were better off risking their lives to find more canned food. But after the days of breaking up the cold, hard earth and sprinkling seeds into the divots they made, the promise of food was beginning to emerge from the ground. They would still have to wait a few weeks until anything could be harvested, but eventually, they would have all the vegetables they could ever want.

  “We’re going to be eating grass and weeds until our plants come in,” Elaina sighed.

  “What about the chickens?” Alec asked. “Have you checked for eggs today?”

  “I didn’t see any when we went out there. Besides, with four chickens, I don’t know if we can survive on one egg a day, each. We’re already a bit underweight as it is.”

  Alec ran his hand down her hair. “We have four chickens and a couple of cows out there. Do you know how much meat is in a cow? We can salt it and dry it and eat beef for the rest of the year. When it gets cold, we can pack it in snow and keep it fresh. We can eat steak for every meal.” He smiled.

  “Yeah, and we deplete the population of livestock in the area while doing so. We don’t know how long we’re going to be here. We need to wait until the animals reproduce more before we start digging into them.”

  “Well, we did a pretty good job of conserving what we had,” Alec noted. “Do you remember what kind of shape we were all in when we got here?”

  Elaina nodded. “I think we had all of the vitamin and mineral deficiencies.”

  “I could see your bones through your skin,” Alec replied. “But with a little canned food and a bunch of geriatric multivitamins, we managed to pull through. We can stock up during the summer. By the time winter rolls around again, we’ll be just fine.”

  Elaina wasn’t sure about the plans to stay another winter. While they had resided in the farmhouse for far longer than she’d initially planned to, she didn’t think she’d stay forever. Eventually, she wanted to see what was going on in the world and try to help kill off the epidemic, if it wasn’t too late already.

  “I’m talking about packing the cellar floor to ceiling with canned goods. I saw Melissa reading up on how to preserve things. Maybe we can dig a hole in the yard and make an icebox when it gets cold again. Summer is nearly here. I’m very optimistic about the garden.”

  “It would only take one big storm to deplete our food supply for an entire year. Then what?”

  Alec set his empty mug in the sink. “You’re probably right. It’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to supplies. You’ve got me there. I’ll take care of it today.”

  Elaina frowned. “How do you plan on doing that? If you think you’re going to round up all of the local livestock, good luck. Bobby Dean tried to take a neighboring horse that one time and he probably still has a bruise in the shape of a hoof on his thigh.”

  “I won’t.” He chuckled, still laughing at that memory. “Besides, I’m not entirely convinced that there aren’t any surviving farmers. I mean, Melissa was totally right about this place. Can you believe how long we’ve been here? We haven’t even seen another person since the soldiers dropped you off here.”

  That was rather remarkable. After what felt like non-stop running from hoards of infected, and the equally dangerous militias, life on the farm almost felt like a return to normal life.

  But in the same way, it was as if the four had been transported into a different time. A year ago, Elaina had spent all of her time in a high-tech laboratory, collaborating with some of the brightest minds in the industry. Now, she planted crops and played chess with Bobby Dean by candlelight. Microwave meals and takeout were replaced by canned goods and cooking over a fire. Some days, the only human contact she would get was through email. Suddenly, she was spending time in close quarters with three other people. Even more perplexing to Elaina was the fact that one of them was her boyfriend.

  Boyfriend. The word still felt foreign in her head as she thought about her relationship with Alec. But that was the only word that really fit what he was to her. They were far more than travel companions and obviously more than friends. They weren’t lovers because their physical relationship was still lacking due to the virus. They cared deeply for each other, but the impermanence of their longevity made it hard to consider each other as partners. So, Elaina figured that Alec was her boyfriend—her first one, at that.

  “So it’s settled, then,” Alec said, putting on his boots. “Bobby Dean and I will head into town and see what kinds of goods we can find.”

  “What? No!” Elaina said, scowling. “I never told you to do that. We haven’t been into town yet. We have no idea what’s even there.”

  “Now’s our chance to find out. By now, any infected are probably dead. Bobby Dean and I will take the motorcycle and return once we have everything we need.”

  “Where are we going?” Bobby Dean asked as he strolled into the kitchen. He grabbed his cup of coffee from the counter and let out a dramatic yawn.

  “We’re out of food. I thought we could take the motorcycle in and do a little collecting.”

  “I’m ready when you are,” Bobby Dean said.

  “Let me go with Bobby Dean,” Elaina protested. “I’m immune.”

  “If there are infected in town, they aren’t going to take a little nibble,” Alec countered. “I’ll take the gun and we’ll be fine. We’ll be back in a few hours.”

  Elaina wasn’t happy that they were going into unknown territory, but she couldn’t deny the fact that it was necessary for someone to pick up food and other supplies.

  “Tell Melissa I went into town,” Bobby Dean said as he grabbed the saddlebags from the closet. “She’s probably going to be pissed, so tell her that I’m going to find some chocolate for her. That should keep me out of the dog house.”

  “Any requests?” Alec asked Elaina hopefully, trying to stay in her good graces.

  “Come back in one piece,” she replied shortly.

  “Will do.” He planted a quick peck on her cheek before following Bobby Dean out the front door. Elaina listened as the motorcycle started up, then sped down the dusty road.

  There was nothing more Elaina could do to keep Alec safe. She couldn’t create a lifesaving vaccine for him, nor could she talk him out of going into unknown territory. She knew there was always the risk of losing him, but after spending so much uninterrupted time with him, it would be a much bigger blow if he were captured or attacked. Gone were the days of pushing Alec away, both physically and emotionally, to prevent heartbreak if something happened to him. They were in it for the long haul.

  Chapter Two

  On this particular motorcycle ride, Alec let Bobby Dean take the front seat so he could act as the lookout. After all, Alec had heard stories about Bobby Dean’s gun handling skills and decided it was best for him to hold the weapon. It wasn’t a job that he enjoyed doing, but he did it better than anyone he knew.

  As they rode toward the nearest town, Alec felt like he had driven the road a million times. Melissa had a photographic memory and loved adding in extraneous descriptions when she told stories.
A simple question about what she remembered about the town turned into a verbal cartography experience. If Elaina asked about the grocery store, Melissa would launch into a story about the time she got separated from her grandmother while shopping and she had to walk past the pharmacy, the diner, and the police station to find her. She talked about riding her grandpa’s pony down the road, only for it to be spooked when it saw a snake on the ground, over by the dead tree, which was halfway between the house and the town. Every bit of unnecessary information was a puzzle piece, giving the others a complete image of where they were.

  It didn’t take Bobby Dean long to find the grocery store. It was, just as Melissa had told them, next to a thicket of trees and overgrown grass. Bobby Dean parked at the adjacent gas station and began to refill the motorcycle, along with another empty canister.

  “Should I get started while you finish filling up?” Alec asked him, surveying the scene. It was truly a ghost town. Most cities saw far more destruction in the aftermath of an infection, but the tiny village of Mallardton was virtually unscathed.

  “Do you mind waiting a bit?” Bobby Dean asked apprehensively. “It’s too quiet here. It’s giving me the creeps.”

  Normally, Alec would have ribbed on Bobby Dean for being a wimp, but he, too, was unsettled by the silence. So, he waited another few minutes as Bobby Dean siphoned out as much gas as the tank would allow.