Quaranteam - North West Ch. 16

"I can stop by your place, and check in with the local cops if I can't find him," I said. "Shouldn't be too hard." It also wouldn't put me at any large amount of risk compared to Melina going down herself. All I'd need to do afterwards is have a bunch of sex with my partners.Oh no, poor me.

Melina thanked me, pulling me into a powerful hug that actually cracked my lower back a little, and Dani shot me a look asking me to wait as she walked the other woman back to the building with an arm around her shoulders. When Dani came back she stepped up into the truck passenger seat and shut the door.

"You sure you want to help with this, Harri?" she asked. "It's very sweet of you, but-"

"I might as well, Dani," I said. "There aren't as many welfare checks for Kyla and I to handle anymore, and if I can help her find a little peace of mind just so she knows if something is wrong or not... Well, I think it's worth it."

Dani smiled softly. "You're a good man, Harri," she said. "Just don't burn yourself out trying to help everyone, all the time."

"I won't," I said as I started the truck.

"Not bad, by the way," Dani said with a smirk.

"Not bad, what?" I asked.

"Oh, adding another Muscle Mommy to the list of hotties that want to bang you," Dani chuckled.

"There isn't a list, and she's got a boyfriend," I said.

"Says you, there's no list," Dani shot back. "And I'm not ashamed to say I'd be at the top of that list if it weren't for Leo. Remember how I almost imprinted on you instead of him?"

"'Almost' is a little strong," I said. "But thanks."

"No problem, buddy," she grinned and patted my arm. "But there's definitely a list."

"Oh my God," I sighed as I pulled the truck off of the forest path and onto the highway, heading for home. "There is no list!"

* * * * *

I left early the next day. I'd thought about leaving the truck for Kyla to use if she needed it and borrowing either Erica or Leo's car for the road trip down but was easily talked out of it by the girls. Erica walked me out to the truck that morning.

"Love you," she said with a little kiss. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Wait, how many things are on that list?" I asked. "Like, five?"

"Seven, now," she smirked. "No more sex with guys who aren't named Harrison Black. And no more daydreaming about hooking up with a guy named Harrison Black. That last one became redundant."

I snorted and kissed her. "Hold down the fort," I said. "I'll be back by dinner."

"And I'll be waiting with bells on," she said. "But do me a favour?"

"What's up?" I asked.

"Don't bring home any strays," Erica said.

"What, like a dog?" I asked.

"No, babe. Like some lady who needs shelter or something," Erica said. "Because it would be just like you to find some beautiful young thing, down on her luck and in a desperate situation. And probably injected with the Vaccine but not imprinted yet. That's the kind of luck you have."

"OK, so say I really do find that beautiful woman, down on her luck and destitute, and in dire need of imprinting. What am I supposed to do with her?"

Eric rolled her eyes. "Fine, you can bring her home. But we don't have any room in the bed. And the point of this was to say it out loud so that it wouldn't happen."

"Noted," I laughed.

The drive down was downright pleasant. It was another overcast summer day, which meant I got the occasional peek at the sky but otherwise it was just pleasantly warm and I didn't even need to wear sunglasses. Coasting down the highway and skirting through the southeast of Portland, I hit the I5 in record time and was headed due south. Traffic was almost non-existent until I hit Portland, and even then it was only a few cars on either side of the highway. I'd never liked driving so much as I did during the pandemic.

Passing through the small towns south of Portland was the same as on my way from Jewell. Salem was a slightly different story, but not by much. It wasn't nearly the size of Portland but was the State Capital so I'd been there plenty of times as a kid and teen on school trips to different government and historical sites. The city itself looked about the same as I remembered, just sort of cleaner - with no tourism and no cars around it looked like the city had decided it was a great time to refurbish their outdoor spaces. It was downright pretty, even for a city, in my eyes.

The first two hours and fifty minutes of my trip down were a breeze. Then, right at the end, I hit the roadblock about ten minutes outside of Eugene.

"What the fuck?" I muttered to myself. There were four big, green army trucks parked across both lanes of the highway and a big tent off to one side that was some sort of a waystation or command centre. I slowed down my truck as I approached - there was one car stopped at the roadblock, and another one was being directed to turn around onto the opposite lane and was getting sent off. A national guard soldier with a big handheld stop sign waved frantically at me as I came in behind the car ahead of me and I slowed to a crawl and then a stop. The driver of the car was being interrogated by a National Guardsman while another two were doing a security check on the vehicle, checking under it for what I could only assume would be explosives, and peering inside the windows.

Another Guardsman came around that group to me but hesitated when he took in the bold white stripe and 'Sheriff' printed along the side. I rolled down my window as he approached and put on my best 'I'm not someone to argue with' glare from my MP days.

"Uh, the highway is closed," the Guardsman said as he approached. He was dressed in his regular fatigues but had a hazmat hood over top, along with gloves. I found the medical maskinside the hazmat hood to be a little silly and just served to muffle the guy. "What's your purpose of travel, Sheriff?"

"Is the highway closed, or are you interrogating travellers, soldier?" I asked. "Because the first one is understandable, but the second one breaks at least two constitutional rights that I can think of off the top of my head."

"Both?" the soldier hedged, and then firmed up. "I mean, both. The highway is closed, and we've got orders to ask for the reason for travel."

"On whose command?" I asked. "Where are your orders coming from?"

"Oh, uh, my regimental command," he said.

I sighed and rubbed under one of my eyes, levelling my glare at him. "Why is the highway closed, private?"

"That's classified," he said.

"A major interstate highway is closed and it's classified?" I questioned him. "What, did aliens crash land in the middle of Eugene or something?"

"That's all I can say, sir," the soldier said. "You're going to need to turn around."

I snorted and shook my head. "Hold on," I said. I pulled out my phone and dialled Miriam, keeping it off of the truck speakers.

"Please don't tell me you're in another shootout," Miriam answered her phone.

"Nope," I said with a little smirk. "And hello to you too, Colonel. I'm currently on the I5 outside of Eugene, travelling on official business, and I've got a National Guardsman telling me it's closed for classified reasons."

There was a long silence on the other end and then a short sigh. "What are you doing heading that far south, Harri?"

"Investigating a disappearance," I said.

"There's a lot of those going on down there right now," Miriam said.

"So this is a real thing, then," I said.

I could practically hear Miriam quickly thinking through what options she had for how much she could, or wanted, to tell me. "Eugene is under martial law," she finally said. "Do you really need to go in there?"

"Well, if I'm going to try and find the person I'm looking for, yeah," I said.

"Alright. I'm going to make a couple of quick calls and you'll be let through. Just- and I know I don't need to tell you this, but no photos or video, Harri. No leaks."

"OK," I said. "Talk to you soon."

"You too. Stay safe."

I hung up and looked at the Guardsman. "You're going to get a call."

Another car pulled up behind me, and the one in front of me was turned around and sent back the way we had come, by the time the Corporal in charge of the roadblock crew got called over to the command tent at the side of the road to pick up a sat phone. I watched as several men had a quick back and forth before the Sergeant in the tent and the Corporal waved over the Private who had stayed at my door the whole time. After another quick chat, the Guardsman jogged back over.

"I'm, uh, sorry for delaying you, Sheriff," he stammered. "We didn't know you had clearance."

"Well, my clearance levels seem to fluctuate by the day," I said. "No worries, soldier. Stay safe out here."

"Our Sergeant says you're expected down at the HQ. We're set up in the main Eugene Police station," he said. "Do you need directions?"

"I'll figure it out," I said and gave him a nod.

They had to move one of the big green trucks for me, the engine in the thing making my bowels shake as it turned over heavily. All it did was remind me of days I thought had been long behind me. I could just barely hear the guy in the car waiting at my rear shouting at the Guardsmen when they didn't let him follow me.

* * * * *

Parking at the Eugene PD was... limited. Not because there weren't many spots, but because the place was packed. More army trucks, along with some humvees and jeeps, took up a good portion of the lots on either side of the station and into the commercial office space around it. Several staging tents had been deployed outside the front door in the little courtyard-like area and the grass of the front lawn was torn up from trucks and lots of travel over a short amount of time. The entire area looked like a mix between an army depot and the remains after a big music festival.

Except that, other than a couple of National Guard posted up at the front door, there wasn't anyone around.

I pulled into the visitor parking area right at the front, my pickup flanked on either side by military jeeps. As I approached the front door both of the National Guardsmen glanced at each other and looked ready to stop me, but I stopped short and pulled my new badge out of my back pocket. It was in a little leather frame that I had attached to a chain and I looped that over my head so it hung on my chest.

"Boys," I said in my MP voice and gave them a respectful nod. Between the badge, my confidence and the voice they let me through without issue. Inside there was a lot more activity going on - there was a buzz of conversations as National Guard, and several members of other military branches, along with local PD and other emergency services and civilians that I assumed were running admin roles were all working in a quiet frenzy. Despite the energy through the room, there was also exhaustion - big maps of the city were posted on walls with neighbourhoods and areas coloured in quickly, or with stats written across them.

When no one immediately approached me, or even really noticed me, I went up to the front desk where I assumed a secretary or officer would have usually been stationed. Still nothing, so I tapped the service bell firmly. The ring cut through the noise and almost thirty people looked over at me just in that front office area.

"Who are you?" someone in the crowd asked. They were all covered in medical masks and gloves and it was hard to tell who had actually spoken.

"Sheriff of Black County," I said. "I'm-"

"Here to see me," Captain Bloomberg said, coming out of a side corridor and pointing at me with two fingers and then giving me a 'follow' beckon. That seemed enough for the various officers, both military and emergency services, and they went back to work as I skirted around the front desk and caught up to the Captain as she was headed back down the corridor.

"Captain," I said. "Nice to see you again."

"What happened to staying out of trouble?" Laura asked.

"I'm pretty sure that was a suggestion," I pointed out. "And this barely constitutes as trouble."

The Captain scoffed and shook her head. "Harrison, you just drove into a city on the edge of collapse."

"I... really? It didn't look that bad on my drive in," I said.

Laura led me to an office she seemed to have temporarily appropriated and shut the door behind us, gesturing for me to sit. "You can take off the mask, I know you're safe," she said as she peeled off her own. "And I disinfected this whole fucking room."

I took my mask off and along with the seat she offered as the Captain sat behind the desk, sorted a few papers and then turned to me. "Yes, Harrison," she said. "It really is that bad. Just over two weeks ago there was a run on a bank downtown when it couldn't fulfil cash withdrawals - they weren't out of money, their delivery was hijacked. Insurance and the Treasury would have covered it. But one bank 'failing' cascaded into issues for all the banks, and that turned into a full-on riot. There was a full day of chaos across the city before the National Guard rolled in - looting, vigilante justice, protests, the works. The locals and the National Guard did what they could to mitigate the fallout, but best guess is there are two distinct waves of Duo Halo outbreaks that have swept through, not to mention the COVID outbreaks that are shitty enough to deal with. Now I'm down here seeing if there's anything that can be done to save folks with the vaccine, but after the debacle with your construction site we're low on vaccine supplies and California can't make it fast enough for their own rollout right now. You're literally catching me on my way out."

"Well... fuck," I said. Eugene was a city of around 175,000 people, give or take. Based on how Duo Halo had hit the construction site, that meant... "Fuuuuuck."

"Yeah," Captain Bloomberg said. "Official death toll is over 50,000 right now, and that's just confirmed deaths. We're expecting it to be much higher."

The weight of it hit me like a brick in the gut. Five hundred construction workers had been the estimated death toll at the site, and that was with emergency vaccine deployment. It had seemed like a massive number. Now we were adding two zeros onto that number,and growing.

"I- well, shit," I said. "And this is all being kept quiet?"

"Think about it, Harrison," Laura said. "One bank has one delay, and the powder keg of this city got set off. The fact that we were able to keep it locked down is practically a miracle. The entire western seaboard could be on fire right now if people saw anything about what happened here. The whole city is cut off - no news, no cell service, no internet, no landlines. Every road out is blocked, and the algorithms are constantly searching for any mention of what's going on to strip it from social media."

"And if it was handled so well here," I guessed. "Eugene probably isn't the only place this has happened."

"Probably not," the Captain nodded. "But I'm not privy to that information. It's the only city in Oregon, at least. Well, other than a couple of smaller towns that are looking more like ghost towns now."

I wiped my face and sat back, sucking in and breathing out a long stream of air. "OK," I said. "So... shit."

"The Colonel said you were vague on the phone about why you came down here," the Captain said. "How about we start there?"

"I'm looking for someone," I said. "I've got a name and an address."

"Why, though?" Laura asked. "And I mean this with exactly the tiny amount of respect your office holds considering I'm the one that made it legal to begin with - what the fuck are you doing down here?"

"A glorified welfare check," I admitted. "There's a woman I-"

"You're doing this for a woman?" Laura asked, levelling her gaze at me.

"Not like that," I said, holding up a hand. "She's part of a quarantine group that I've been helping out, and it's her boyfriend. She hasn't been able to reach anyone down here, for obvious reasons now, and asked me to look into it. I figured it would be less hassle for you or Miriam if I just came down here to find him myself instead of bothering you with it."

"And yet, here you are," Laura smirked. "Bothering me with it. But roll it back, Black. What's this 'quarantine group?'"

I told the Captain about Valkyrie Falls, and that just made her more incredulous that I'd stumbled across an Amazonian heaven in the middle of the forest and had somehow not only met them but befriended them and was now their go-to person for interacting with the outside world. She asked for pictures as proof and I told her I didn't have any. Then she asked for names and took out her phone, but we quickly remembered that there wasn't any service so she couldn't look them up anyways.

"You realize that you are the luckiest fucking person this side of the Rocky Mountains, right?" she said.

"It's not a big deal," I said. "Really. They're just friendly people who needed some help."

"Miriam is not going to believe this one," Laura sighed and shook her head. "Alright, here's the deal. The records are kind of loose right now, so what I can do is hook you up with a local guide. I'm hitching a chopper ride out of here in about an hour back up to Portland, so if you get into any shit I'm not going to be around to pull you out of it again. Think you can handle that?"

"I'd argue I don't get into that much trouble, but I think we both know you'd win that one," I said.

"Good, you're learning," Laura smirked.

She led me out of her temporary office, after we both masked up again, and down to the main area and flagged down an admin person and spoke to her quickly. That woman took her directions and then went looking for someone else.

"She'll bring you your guide," Laura said. "And seriously, don't get into trouble."

"I won't. Thanks, Captain," I said.

She nodded and left me waiting in the front lobby area, and I had a moment to process what she'd told me. The city was fucked.

Fifty thousand dead.

I had to step over to a wall and put my hand on it to keep myself up as I tried to imagine that number in my head.

"You OK, sir?" someone asked me, and I realized my legs had buckled a bit as I'd had my eyes closed.

"Um, yeah. Yeah," I said, getting myself up and standing straight, blinking rapidly to try and clear my thoughts. The woman was dressed in a firefighter's uniform, which was to say a button-down short sleeve navy shirt with the Eugene Fire Department crest on the sleeve. She was brunette, with a sort of severe angle to her face, and while she wasn't tall she still had a somewhat powerful and active build that made me think of the women back at Valkyrie Falls. "Sorry, I just got filled in on... what's been going on."

"Mm," she hummed with a single nod. There was a sort of hollowness to her expression that told me she'd probably been going through waves of what I'd just been feeling. "My name is Kristine. I've been ordered to help you get around town?"

"Yeah, yes," I nodded, offering her my hand. "Sheriff Black."

"Sheriff of where?" she asked, shaking it and then immediately turning to a wall-mounted sanitiser bottle and squirting her gloved hand with it and scrubbing thoroughly. I did the same, following her lead.

"Black County," I said. "It's small and up north."

"You're Sheriff Black, of Black County?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. It was the first bit of real emotion I'd seen from her.

"Long story," I said.

"Alright, well, if you've got a vehicle then we might as well take yours," she said. "What exactly are we doing?"

"I'm trying to locate someone," I told her as we headed for the door.

"That might be tough," Kristine told me.

"Well, I've got one day down here to try and get it done," I said. "Might as well make the best of it."

I led her out to my truck, which got my second flash of emotion from her as she raised both eyebrows this time and whistled behind her mask. "Brand new?" she asked.