Marcus got out of the cockpit, and walked up to the mechanic. He asked, "Do me a favor. Can you do a quick check on the scanners. I'm not even picking up traces of the fungus. It's possible, but something feels wrong."
The mechanic seemed lost in his thoughts, but responded quickly enough when Marcus talked to him, "I checked them last night, but I'll give them another check if you want. I have to admit, not even picking up traces of the fungus is unusual."
Marcus watched him for a minute or so, and decided to make some small talk. "So, what's your name?"
"Austin Lindauer. Your's?"
"Marcus Barrett. You wouldn't happen to be from Texas, would you?"
Austin sighed jokingly, "Every time, without fail..." He chuckled. "No, I'm from New York."
"Oh. Got any family there?"
"My mother lives in Manhattan" his voice broke a bit, "I hope."
Oh shit. Marcus thought. New York City had gone to hell eight days ago. Last word out of the city, there were more infected inside the city then healthy. Those who weren't infected were either dead, trying to escape the city, or killing anyone they came across. The city was deemed completely unsalvageable by the government. From what he had seen on TV, it was awful.
"I'm sorry. I'm guessing you haven't heard from her."
"Nope." He said with a sigh.
After a few minutes, Austin got up. "I can't find anything wrong with it."
"Well, I guess I was being paranoid. Thanks for checking it out."
"No problem." Austin said, but Marcus could tell his mind was somewhere else.
That poor bastard. Marcus thought, walking to the barracks. He couldn't imagine what Austin must be going through.
When he got inside, he went to the phone to call his father's place. His wife got on the phone, "Hello?"
"Hi Kathryn. How are you holding up at my dad's farm?"
"We're fine over here. But from what I can tell, you must of had a very dull childhood."
"You'd be surprised. You can't imagine what awesome parties the cows had."
Kathryn laughed," All jokes aside, your father is a gem. Your real lucky to have him."
"We'll, not as lucky as I am to have you honey. Mind putting Cory on the phone?"
"Sure thing." There was a brief pause, and he heard his wife tell their son daddy was on the phone.
"How you doing Cory?" Marcus spoke softly, a smile appeared across his face. He had met Kathryn a couple of months after he finished basic training, and they got married 4 months afterwards. From the moment his father saw her, he told Marcus that somehow, he knew she would be right for him.
His wedding had been the happiest day of his life. They both thought they could never be happier. Then, a little more then nine months later, Cory came into both their lives.
"Dada." Cory said on the other side of the phone.
Marcus was stunned. He had never heard Cory speak before. "Yeah, it's me. How you holding up over there kiddo."
"Dada" Cory replied.
Marcus and Kathryn both smiled. Kathryn said into the phone, "Come on Cory, I need to talk to dada about something, ok?" She knew Cory didn't understand a word she was saying, but she didn't care.
Kathryn got on the phone again, "So, how is Boise holding up?"
Marcus didn't hesitate, even though he probably was not allowed to tell Kathryn about that info, "It's still clean, somehow. We got very lucky. I meet some poor guy who's mother lived in Manhattan."
Kathryn cringed. "That poor soul."
"Yeah. I can't imagine what most people are going through right now. Most people in the country have lost contact with at least someone."
"I'm glad that hasn't happened to us yet"
"You're much to good of a shot for anything to happen to us. Trust me."
They both laughed. "You mentioned something the other night about a quarantine zone getting set up in Boise?"
"It's happening. Last I heard, the walls around the city are about halfway set up, and getting food to the city shouldn't be a problem. After all, this is Idaho. We may be able to keep Boise in more or less of a stable state. "
"You sound optimistic."
"I have good reason to be. I haven't picked up anything but traces of the cordyceps, and the numbers from yesterday have actually gone down."
"Thats great."
"Indeed it is. Mind if I talk to my dad for a bit?"
"Not at all. I need to get to sleep anyways. Goodnight, call me in the morning."
"Sure thing. Goodnight"
Kathryn's walked over to the garage with the phone, "Hey, Jason. Marcus is on the phone."
"Thanks," said Marcus's father. "Hello, Marcus, you there son?"
"Yep. How are you holding up over there?"
"Just fine. Yourself?"
"Great."
They chatted for a couple of minutes, when Jason commented, "From the moment I saw Kathryn, I had a feeling you would be perfect for her."
"You were right dad. As always."
There was a brief pause. Marcus said, " Ever since me and Kathryn had Cory, I've been thinking a lot about you." Another pause. "All those years, I never realized how much you cared for me, in spite of all the crazy shit I did. I thought I could never care anyone more then I loved Kathryn, but Cory is everything to me. Don't worry, I still love Kathryn, and would never leave her, she feels the same way about our son."
"What I'm trying to say, is that I never fully understood why you managed to put up with me until about a year ago. I knew that you loved me because you were my father, but I never knew it would be like this."
" I realize how all the hardship I put you through must have hurt you. I know that all the times I went against you in what really mattered, it must have been like a knife in your gut. I'm sorry for all of that."
"I want to say thank you dad. Thank you for always being there for me. Thanks for making me the man I am today. I can only hope to be a good a father to Cory as you were to me."
Tears were welling up in Jason's eyes. "I know son. When I fell in love with your mother, I felt the exact same way. Then you came into my life. I can't deny a word of what you just said, about the hurt you caused. I can't blame you for it, and I never stopped loving you. You are a fine young man, and I'm proud to be your father. "
"I know dad."
They were silent for a minute. Marcus broke the science, saying "I have to go. Dinner is in 12 minutes, and I'm starving."
"I love you Marcus. Goodnight."
"I love you too dad. 'Night."