by Sage du Toit
She opened the vent hole and boiled some water and added creamer and the Hamburger Helper sauce packets and noodles. When it was done, she tasted the noodle mixture and decided not to add the pickles, it was salty enough as is. She dished out a bowl and sat down on her bed next to Lucky, who was sitting on top of the covers where her Hot water bottle was. She was getting cold fast, standing over the stove while the food cooked had kept her somewhat warm. She worried a little about the kittens but assumed Lucky wouldn’t leave them if the Hot water bottle wasn’t keeping them warm enough.
She ate fast and washed up her dishes. The bathroom was freezing and washing the dishes in the cold water made her even colder. The toilet seat was like ice and even though she really wanted to shower she knew it was just too cold. She checked the kittens and they were all in a pile next to the hot water bottle. She checked to make sure it wasn’t too hot and moved the runt who was on the far outside of the pile so that it was closer to the warmth. It made a little kitten mew sound and burrowed under one of the other kittens. She thought about what she was going to name the kittens. She hadn’t checked the genders of them yet and it was too cold right now to subject them to that.
Checking her watch, it showed 8:00. It was still early and the storm had abated a little. She could still hear a light rain but no more strong winds or thunder. She decided she would call it an early night and crawled under the covers into the warm bed. She pushed the Hot water bottle with her foot to the very end of the bed. The heat warmed her feet up fast and she was glad, because they were starting to feel like icicles. The warmth soon had her drifting off to sleep.
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12 July 2020 (Continued)
Fort Jackson, SC
Rebecca brought her a new tray of food since she had ended up wearing hers. She ate carefully and slowly; her face was still numb and it was reminiscent of eating after going to the dentist. She could see the worry in Rebecca’s face and she assured her she was alright. SSgt Timmons, Jerry that is, had done a great job, he was obviously a first-class medic. Tom had left when Rebecca came with the tray. She told Rebecca how great both of them had been to her and how Tom had held her hand through the whole thing.
Rebecca raised her eyebrows and teased “Reallyyyy” with a silly grin on her face. She knew that Sam had been crushing on the Green-eyed Beret because they spent their free time talking and making observations of who was hooking-up and who they wouldn’t mind getting to know better.
Sam finished her food and Rebecca asked her for every detail about Jerry. He was the current one she wanted to know better. Sam promised her that when she needed more ibuprofen, she would get her to go ask him for it. Everyone knew Rebecca was her battle buddy and she was sure it wouldn’t be an issue. Just as she finished eating Drill Sgt. Davis stuck his head in the door.
He said “Well congratulations, you are our first serious injury since we got here. Let’s hope it’s the only.”
He came in and sat in the chair behind the desk while he talked to the two of them and told them both to bring their stuff into this office for the night and sleep here. At first Sam was about to decline because she knew others would complain about her getting special treatment but then her nose throbbed. Rebecca took her empty tray and left to get their few belongings. Sam looked closely at the Drill Sgt. and realized he had aged in the last few days, she would guess he was about 35 but he looked 45. The stress was getting to him and she wondered about his family.
She asked if had heard from his wife before the phones died but before he could answer Tom came through the door and he was carrying something. He laid a stack of clothes on the desk. He said he borrowed some clean clothes from SSgt Lee, one of the Green Berets that was of Asian descent and had a similar frame to her. She was touched and thankful that he would even think of that. She felt her eyes watering and fought off the tears. That was something her dad would have done, he was always thoughtful of other people. She had noticed that about Tom too, maybe that’s what attracted her to him. Tom looked like he was in his late 20’s, he had light brown hair, cut short in a crew cut. He was clean shaved, even though most of the guys didn’t bother, they didn’t have a big supply of razors anyway. His chin had a slight dimple in it and his bright green eyes seemed to always be laughing or smiling at her.
She thanked him and turned back to the Drill Sgt. and asked him again if he had heard from his wife. Tom sat down next to her and she was momentarily distracted by his leg pressing against hers. The Drill Sgt. said that he had not heard from his wife, but she would have been at home with their two small children when the Nerve agent was dropped. Sam then asked where they lived and he said on base. Sam looked at Tom and asked a question she had been thinking about a lot over the last few days, “Couldn’t we send out a couple of people in MOPP suits to check on the local families?” Tom sighed and said he had already explained why they couldn’t leave the building and he had a kind of disappointed look on his face that he would even have to tell her this. But she had thought it through, “But couldn’t we set up a kind of decontamination area for them to pass through, like in the movies where they have the decontamination area and then a buffer between the lab and the outside.”
Drill Sgt. Davis sat up in his chair with excitement and Tom’s face took on a serious look as he contemplated the idea. He turned and faced her, “What did you have in mind?” The two men looked at her expectantly and she explained that she had thought of it while helping clean out the walk-in freezer. The kitchen had a very large walk in refrigerator and freezer that sat side by side. There was even a door between the two so you could easily gain access to the freezer from the fridge. It was set up that way because the refrigerator had a roll up door that lead to the loading bay. They had taped garbage bags over the roll up door to make sure Nerve gas didn’t leak through. She suggested they could use the fridge as a decontamination room and the freezer as the buffer.
Tom immediately understood and she could see the excitement in his face. He said yes! We could tape garbage bags over the refrigerator door to seal it and the door leading into the freezer put them up in such a way that they overlap and you have to walk through them like a curtain between the fridge and freezer. Sam pointed out that the fridge even had a drain in the floor to make it easier to clean and even a water spout. They could completely empty the room and make that the decontamination room. They could enter and exit through the rolling back door, keeping the other doors shut. Rebecca came back just then and realizing what they were talking about, she joined in the discussion. After a while Tom said it was a viable idea and Drill Sgt. Davis said tomorrow morning he would call a meeting and get everyone in on it. There was minor risk of exposure but he wanted to make sure everyone was all right with the plan or maybe had some other suggestions.
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19 December 2020 – Kittens 4 days old
Douglasville, GA
As soon as she woke up the next morning, she turned on the lantern and looked at her watch. The time showed 05:15. She made sure to wind it up and then climbed out from under the warm covers. It was freezing! She ran to the bathroom and started shivering as she did her business. Her teeth were chattering by the time she was filling the coffee pot up. She also decided to fill the kettle up and refill the hot water bottles. While the pots were heating, she climbed back in bed, it was still slightly warm from her body heat but the hot water bottle at the end of the bed was cool to the touch.
As soon as the kettle started whistling, she turned the flame off but left the coffee to percolate. She took both of the cooled hot water bottles and emptied them into the bathroom sink. She then refilled the bottles and poured some of the water that was left over oatmeal in a bowl. Taking one of the bottles she put it back in the kitten’s tub where Lucky was wrapped around the babies with her small body trying to keep them warm, once again the runt was pushed to the outside and she worried it might not be getting enough warmth. She put the bottle under the blanket closest to the kittens a
nd decided that after she ate, she would make another hot water bottle so they wouldn’t all have to pile on one.
She made her coffee and took it and her bowl of oatmeal to the bed with the hot water bottle. She snuggled down into the covers trying to stay warm while she ate. She guessed it must be freezing outside. She wondered if it had snowed. It had been raining so it was possible that the rain had turned to snow, but more likely it was an ice storm. At least she didn’t have to worry about the electric going out and smiled at the bad joke. That was something she would have said to Tom in this situation. Thinking about Tom made her stomach feel tight and she sat the empty bowl on the night stand and burrowed down under the covers. She had been trying so hard not to think about him and it had been easy because she was just doing what she had to do to survive. Now that she had time on her hands…
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Chapter 9
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12 July 2020 (Continued)
Fort Jackson, SC
Tom looked at Sam and said, “You look awful, ready for that shower?” He winked at her and she blushed a bright red. Tom turned to Rebecca and said he left a clean towel and soap in the kitchen and gave Rebecca a knowing look. He helped Sam stand up and then he squeezed her hand and left with Drill Sgt. Davis following behind him. She felt a little light headed and held on to Rebecca’s shoulder while they walked. Rebecca had a big smile on her face and Sam figured she was going to get teased about Tom later. When they walked into the kitchen Rebecca grabbed her hand and lead her over to the dish washing area and not the locker room.
Sam asked, “Where are we going?” Rebecca just smiled even bigger. The dish washing area was located in a separate area from the kitchen. The big machine no longer worked but the rolling belt to push the dirty trays into the room still worked because it was just rollers, no electronics and there was a really big sink for washing all of those dirty dishes.
Sam’s team had already done KP the day before so she was familiar with how big the sink was, she could barely reach the bottom when leaning over the edge. There were two candles in the room, she remembered seeing them in the employee area before. And there was a step ladder sitting in front of the giant sink and there was steam coming out of the sink. She looked at Rebecca in confusion and said, “What’s this?” Rebecca explained that the two soldiers that were fighting, Pvt Perez and Pvt Townson, felt so bad about Sam getting hurt and covered in food that they came up with this idea for her to have a hot bath. They got permission from the Drill Sgts’ and they hauled boiling pots of water from the kitchen and filled up the sink. When others found out what they were doing they suggested the candles to help light the room so it would be a softer relaxing light and one of the Green Berets even donated a travel size bottle of shampoo, a bar of soap and a full-size towel. Sam knew who that Green Beret guy was that donated the items....it had to be Tom.
The tears were real now, there was no way she could hold them back. She was so touched and she turned around to hug Rebecca when Rebecca put her hand out and stopped her. She looked down at her front and realized she was still covered in spaghetti. They both laughed and then Rebecca helped her get undressed and climb into the sink full of hot water. The hot water felt wonderful, even though it had been so hot lately that she hadn’t minded the cold washes, this was heavenly. The sink was filled to the top and it was big enough that she could lean back against the side with her knees only slightly bent and it covered her to her chest. She looked at Rebecca and said “Heavenly, but I hope they washed the sink first”. Rebecca laughed and helped her wash her hair. She was leaned back enjoying it when Rebecca said there was a little spaghetti in her hair too. Sam plucked a noodle that was floating in the water and threw it at Rebecca, she said “ew! Now I need a bath! Get out!”
They were both laughing when they heard a deep voice from right outside the door “Hey, what’s all of the ruckus going on back here!” They both froze and then Sam realized it was Tom’s voice.
In her thickest Texas accent she said “Jus’ washin’ our hair sir”. She looked at Rebecca and giggled. She heard Tom chuckle and he said he just wanted to let her know that it was OK if she got the splint and tape wet, if it came lose it could easily be replaced and it was more important to wash the blood off from the nose bleed, just to be careful around the bridge of the nose and to not dunk her head under the water. She thanked him and then he left. She was glad he came and told her because she was just thinking of dunking her head under the water.
Rebecca helped her rinse her hair and then she finished washing herself and carefully got out of the sink. Rebecca handed her the towel and Sam said, “You know the water is still warm...why don’t you get in and wash.”
Rebecca quickly stripped off her clothes and climbed into the sink. She leaned back and sighed and said, “Well there are some benefits to getting hurt, this bath for one...and someone checking in on you and holding your hand.”
Sam threw the soap at her and said, “Wash your nasty butt!”
Rebecca didn’t need her help but she helped her wash her hair anyway. She knew how good it felt to let someone else wash your hair. But Rebecca could dunk her head so she dunked under to rinse and finished washing her body. She pulled the plug on the drain before standing up to get out. Sam had dressed in the clean clothes that Tom had brought her; brown t-shirt, boxers, socks and pants. She was especially careful to pull the t-shirt over her head without hitting her nose. She handed Rebecca the damp towel when she was done and she didn’t complain. Having a full- size towel was a luxury right now. Rebecca put her clothes back on except for her panties, she said she was clean and she didn’t want to put dirty ones back on, she washed them out in the sink with the soap and said she would hang them in the room to dry overnight.
Sam started to bend over to pick up her soiled clothes and she had to steady herself on the side of the sink. Jerry had warned her about getting dizzy if she bent over and she had completely forgot. Rebecca picked up her clothes for her and threw them in the sink. She said Pvt Perez and Pvt Townson would wash them later. Sam shrugged and knew she didn’t hold any hard feelings against them. It was a stressful time and there would probably be more fights and arguments before it was all over. Rebecca blew out the candles and they went back to the office where they were staying for the night.
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19 December 2020 (Continued)
Douglasville, GA
Sam woke up and sat up in the bed. She had fallen asleep again after burrowing under the covers with the warm Hot water bottle. She got up and put her boots on and put a t-shirt on under the sweat shirt and then one of the men’s flannels on top of that. It was still very cold and she didn’t want to get sick. She looked at her watch and it was just after 8 am. She opened the shutters and pulled down the taped-up garbage bag, she wanted the warm sunlight to shine in the room. She looked out the window and saw that the back lawn still had white frost around the edges. However, the sun was shining bright and would soon melt it all. She wondered how long this cold front was going to last.
She checked the Hot water bottle in her bed and it was still hot so she put it in the kitten tub under the other side of the blanket. They were all currently laying on the other hot water bottle with Lucky wrapped around them. She checked to see where the runt was, and once again it was on the far outside edge of the pile and she worried about the tiny thing. It had gotten a little bigger but not as big as the others. She filled Lucky’s dry food bowl and then opened a can of food and put it in a bowl next to the dry food, she also topped off her water bowl. Lucky was out of the tub and at the food bowl as soon as she sat it down. She remembered about the cat vitamins and retrieved the bottle from the bathroom where she had stashed most everything. The vitamins were labeled as chews so just threw one in the dry food bowl and hoped she ate it. Lucky was curious about what just got tossed in the bowl so she stopped eating long enough to smell it. She quickly ate it and then went back to
the wet food bowl.
Sam glanced around the closet and thought how cramped it was with all of the clothes. She decided to move the men’s clothes into one of the other bedrooms. She sorted through them as she moved them, pulling out any flannel shirts and warm over shirts she could wear. She would be wearing layers until it warmed up. She then went through the women’s clothes and took out everything that was of no use to her, the uniforms, dresses and fancy shirts and slacks. When going through the clothes she was glad to find some turtle neck sweaters and other thick sweaters. She looked through the shoes and found a pair of rubber boots that would fit her but they weren’t the type that went over your shoe. There was also a pair of men’s brown lace-up Roper boots that looked brand new and when she tried them on they fit perfect. The rest of the shoes were either impractical or didn’t fit. She had taken everything to the boy’s room and thrown it all on the bed. She had already started putting the full garbage bags in the girl’s room and didn’t want to mix the two.
The closet was a lot roomier now, only about 1/4 of the clothes were left and she put them all at the front of the closet on the left side with shoes underneath. Since the clothes weren’t blocking the way now, she moved the kitten tub to the back-left side against the wall. She was about to move the litter box when she realized she hadn't changed it out yet. She considered dumping it outside but she didn’t really want to go outside in the cold yet and just dumped it in a garbage bag and put with the others. She wasn’t planning on staying here forever, so this was her best option right now for garbage disposal.
She placed the filled litter tub across from the kitten tub and moved the food bowls and water bowl to the wall next to the kitten tub. Lucky had already finished eating and she was back in the tub with the kittens nursing. She couldn't help but think what a good mama she was being. She wondered how old Lucky was and if this was her first litter of kittens. She knew you could estimate a cats age by looking at their teeth but she wasn’t sure what to look for.
