Roland: Reluctant Paladin

by N. C. Reed

  “Perhaps I will be,” Maria was too tired to argue, “but it will do me no good to recover if you allow your health to suffer in the meanwhile. You must take care of yourself, Roland. For me, and for the others.” She coughed then, talking having exhausted her. Roland gently wiped her mouth with a clean cloth, then took a washrag from a basin and sponged her damp forehead.

  “I’ll be fine,” he promised as he ministered to her. “Don’t you worry. And once you’re better, I’m not going to spend so much time taking care of everyone else. You and me, we’re going to have more time to spend together, no matter what goes undone.”

  “I look forward to it,” she smiled, albeit weakly. “I’m sorry, Roland, but I’m so tired. I...I need to rest.”

  “You do that,” he nodded. “I’ll be right here, if you need anything.”

  “No,” she shook her head, “you rest while I do. That way you can be here when I am awake. Go, now, and sleep, mi corazon. Return to me only after you have slept, eaten, and bathed. Go, now,” she shooed him one-handed. “I will not rest unless you do,” she played her trump card when he looked reluctant. He sighed.

  “Very well,” he agreed, kissing her wet forehead, “but I do this under protest.”

  “Of course.”

  -

  Angie pretty much collapsed next to Mack in the small bed they shared. He wrapped her in his arms, holding her.

  “I’m so tired,” she almost moaned. “There’s always something to do. And nothing we do helps any.” She was as down as Mack had ever seen her.

  “You’re doing all you can, love,” he replied gently. “That’s all anyone can do.”

  “I know,” she sobbed slightly. Suddenly she buried her face into his chest, and cried softly.

  “S…so many niños,” she mumbled. “So very sick, and hurting so much.”

  “I know baby,” Mack tried to console her. He stroked her hair gently, crooning to her softly. He didn’t know what else to do.

  She cried until exhaustion claimed her, and she fell into a deep, troubled sleep. Mack continued his gentle touching, hoping it would help.

  While he did, he prayed.

  -

  “James, wake up,” Ralph said softly. James was awake in an instant, pistol in hand and aimed before he had time to think.

  “No, no,” Ralph shook his empty hands in front of his friend. “It’s not like that.”

  “What is it, man?” James asked, lowering his pistol, wiping his free hand down his face.

  “The ice machine’s broken down,” Ralph told him softly.

  -

  “Can you fix it?” James asked, as Ralph showed him the problem.

  “It’s the compressor,” Ralph shook his head sadly. “One of the few things on here I can’t jury

  rig, man. It might just be out of Freon, but I smelled burnin’ wire when I opened it up, so. . .I don’t think that’s it.”

  “Well, that’s just great,” James said dejectedly. “What’da we do now?”

  “There’s only one thing we can do,” Ralph shrugged helplessly. “We gotta go get another compressor, and maybe some Freon. I might be wrong, after all.”

  “Ralph, you’re never wrong,” James sighed.

  “First time for everything,” Ralph said, almost hopeful. Without the ice...

  “Well, we got to have the ice,” James put his younger friend’s thought into words. “So, what do we do? We’re quarantined and all that.”

  “We’ll just have to bend the rules a bit,” Ralph shrugged. “Probably need some help, too.”

  -

  “You what?” Jesse managed not to shout. He’d just been awakened from a sound sleep after eighteen hours of work.

  “We gotta go scrounge up a compressor,” Ralph repeated, “and maybe some Freon. Ain’t got no other options, neither, ‘fore you ask. This is it.”

  “We’re under quarantine,” Jesse reminded them.

  “And it’s one in the morning,” James rebutted. “We need the ice. Period. There’s a place in town that does refrigeration repair. Even if we have to use two compressors, we can at least get the ice maker

  running again. If we can pick up the Freon, so much the better.”

  “So you just wanna go out into the night and steal what we need?” Jesse asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “No, we’re going to go out and steal what we need,” James corrected. “We’d like your help, and your blessing, but we don’t have to have it.” The teen stood his ground as Jesse gave him the ‘look’.

  Finally, Jesse sighed.

  “Fine, but Ralph stays here,” he ordered.

  “Can’t,” Ralph shook his head. “I got to see what’s there. I can’t tell you what’ll work and what won’t. I got to see it.”

  “All we need is a couple of guys to help with security,” James told Jesse flatly. “You’re welcome to be one of ’em if you want, but I figured you’d want to stay here,” he nodded to Jesse’s room, where Jennifer still slept, dead to the world with exhaustion.

  “Well, maybe so,” Jesse admitted. “I’ll get Drake to carry you. Good enough?”

  “Long as he don’t get in our way,” James warned.

  “I’ll be sure and tell him that.”

  -

  “Where are you going?”

  Ralph almost screeched as Mandy Barnes’ voice came from behind him. Whirling he saw the teen standing behind him, arms crossed.

  “Got somethin’ I got to do, that’s all,” he temporized, angry that she had made him jump.

  “Such as?” the girl demanded. “In case you forgot, we’re under quarantine.”

  “Ain’t forgot,” Ralph told her, turning back to his small bag. He checked to make sure he had all the tools he might need and then shut the bag tight.

  “Then where are you going?” she demanded again.

  “Out!” Ralph bit back a snarl. “I ain’t gotta answer to you.”

  “Tell me, or I’ll start waking people up,” Mandy simply replied.

  “You wouldn’t dare,” Ralph scoffed. Mandy inhaled a deep breath as if about to yell. Ralph, in a panic, leapt forward and covered her mouth with his hand.

  “All right, all right!” he growled. “Dammit, I gotta go and find a compressor for the ice maker.

  It quit workin’.” Mandy’s eyes widened at that news.

  “But we need the ice to...”

  “Now you know why I gotta go outside,” Ralph nodded. “Why do you care anyhow?”

  “Because I don’t want anything to happen to you, stupid,” Mandy replied, as if it should be obvious.

  “What?” Ralph frowned. “Ain’t nothin’ gonna happen to me.”

  “You don’t know that,” Mandy told him. “I’ve lost too much as it is, and now Mindy. . .Mindy might...” The girl trailed off, and suddenly started crying. She leaned into him, startling Ralph. He put his arms around her on instinct, and Mandy almost collapsed. Ralph managed to hold on to her and keep them both upright, but it was a chore.

  “Mindy’s gonna be fine,” Ralph tried soothing her, patting her back, “but that’s just another reason I got to go. We gotta have ice.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Mandy finally managed, pulling away from him and wiping her face.

  “Oh, no you won’t,” Ralph shook his head. “You’re stayin’ right here, girl. Me and James and two o’ them soldiers is goin’, and that’s all.”

  “If you try to leave me here, I’ll wake up Roland and tell on you,” the twin threatened.

  “And then we don’t go get the part, and there’s no ice, and what happens to Mindy when her fever goes up again?” Ralph countered. He was learning.

  Mandy frowned. She didn’t like it when Ralph stood up to her.

  “You need to go back to sleep,” Ralph continued. “Pretend this ain’t never happened. Got it?”

  His voice was firm, something Mandy wasn’t accustomed to. She wasn’t sure she liked it.

  “I ain’t kiddin’,” he adde
d, seeing the indecision on her face. Realizing that for once she wasn’t going to buffalo Ralph, Mandy nodded, looking down.

  “Just. . .be careful, okay?” she asked.

  “No problem.”

  -

  “What took you so long?” James demanded when Ralph arrived at the Humvee.

  “Aw, dang Mandy had her drawers in a knot, wantin’ to come with me,” Ralph exclaimed.

  James looked at his younger friend for a moment straight-faced, then burst into laughter.

  “I don’t see how that’s funny,” Ralph said.

  “Dude, you got two girls, sisters, twins even, fightin’ over you!” James laughed.

  “They ain’t been in no…what’d you mean, ‘over me’?” Ralph cut himself off as James’ words sunk in.

  “Are you blind?” James demanded, still laughing. “Those two have their cap set on you, man.

  Wouldn’t surprise me they don’t decide to just share you between ’em.”

  “Share me how?” Ralph demanded, then, as James’ suggestion settled on him, blushed from head to toe.

  “That ain’t no kinda funny, man,” he growled. “They ain’t nothin’ but trouble.”

  “Dude, we should all have that kind of ‘trouble’,” James chuckled.

  “Yeah, and if Melissa was a twin?” Ralph shot back. James got a ‘far away’ look for a moment, and Ralph punched him in the arm.

  “Dude, I’m tellin’,” he jibed. James laughed again.

  “C’mon, man,” he said finally. “We’re wasting moonlight.”

  “You gentlemen ready?” Sergeant Drake appeared out of the night.

  “We are,” James nodded.

  “My orders are to provide security, and assist you in any way possible,” Drake said. He clearly wasn’t completely happy with Jesse’s orders. James motioned the sergeant aside as Ralph climbed into the truck.

  “Your job, your primary and most important job, is to protect that kid,” James nodded back to the Hummer. “This group absolutely cannot afford to lose him, no matter what. I want one of you with him at all times, I don’t care if he’s just taking a leak. He’s not trained for something like this. He’s too valuable to risk.”

  “Then he shouldn’t be on this mission,” Drake pointed out.

  “No choice,” James shook his head. “He’s got to look for what he needs, and there’s no way for him to tell us. He has to look at what’s available, and choose from that. And we’ve got to have that ice machine working. Period.”

  “Very well, then,” Drake nodded. “Let’s saddle up.”

  -

  The Hummer eased down the small side street, coasting to a stop in front of a small building.

  The sign atop the store front read “Rick’s Refrigeration”. James slid out of the door before the Hummer had come to a complete stop, looking around carefully. The town was quiet, nothing moving anywhere he could see. Motioning for Ralph to follow, James walked to the door. He stopped short, seeing the door had already been jimmied.

  “Wait here,” he ordered, and Ralph nodded. James motioned to trooper Dominic, the driver, to follow him. Dominic looked to Drake, who nodded, taking a position near Ralph, and the trooper nodded back.

  James opened the door just enough to get inside. He could tell even without a light that the store had been rummaged through pretty thoroughly already. He hoped that whoever had been here had left what they needed. Moving quickly through the building, he found it clear and whistled sharply. Ralph entered, Drake staying with the vehicle.

  “All right, man,” James whispered. “Place is a mess, but maybe whatever you need is here.” James shrugged off the empty duffle he’d been carrying, and handed it to Ralph. “Time’s a wastin’.”

  “Right,” Ralph nodded. He immediately started scrounging through what remained of the shop’s contents. James looked at Dominic, pointed to his eyes, then at Ralph. Dominic nodded, and moved to where he was only a few steps from the teen. James eased out the front, where Drake was standing in the shadows, watching the street and their surroundings.

  “All okay?” he asked. James nodded.

  “He’s looking. Place is a mess, so it may take a few minutes.”

  “We’re clear here,” Drake said, eyes never leaving their surroundings.

  “Thanks for helping,” James offered. Drake grunted.

  “Orders is orders,” was his reply.

  “Still appreciate it,” James shrugged. “Without ice, we’ll lose people for sure. Gotta have a way to fight the fever.” Drake nodded. Two of his men were in the clinic, after all. He wanted them to make it, too.

  “You cleared the building pretty good,” Drake complimented. “Where’d you get your training?”

  “From Roland,” James told him evenly. Drake spared him a look.

  “You’re not service?”

  “No.”

  “Trained you pretty good, then,” Drake mused.

  “Yeah, he did,” James nodded, “and I’m grateful. And to you guys, too. All of you.”

  “Just followin’ orders,” Drake said again.

  “And you could have stopped anytime,” James pointed out. “I’m glad you didn’t.” Drake gave him a long, appraising look, then nodded.

  “So am I.”

  -

  Ralph almost shouted in relief when he found what he was looking for. Two beautiful, shiny, new compressors, just like he needed. Sighing gratefully, he placed the two components into his bag.

  He picked up four ‘jugs’ of Freon he had come across, and two transfer kits. Stopping long enough to grab a handful of tools he could use, he and Dominic gathered the Freon and parts and headed for the door.

  “James,” Ralph hissed softly. Instantly James was there at the door.

  “I’m good,” the boy said softly. James nodded and motioned for Ralph to get to the Hummer.

  In less than two minutes the four were loaded and moving.

  Mission accomplished.

  -

  Ralph wearily reached up and hit the switch, activating the ice maker. He sat and waited as the machine worked. It would take a while. Leaning back against the machine itself, he never realized it when he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

  He was startled awake by the sound of ice falling into the box. Jumping up, he raised the door and was greeted with a cold rush of air. Ice was still settling atop what had been left in the box.

  “Oh, thank you, God,” he breathed. The machine was working. He gathered his stuff and walked into the hall, where James was sitting, waiting.

  “It… it’s fixed,” Ralph almost sobbed in relief, but managed not to cry in front of James, whom he respected and looked up to so much. Relief was palpable on James’ haggard face.

  “That’s great, buddy,” James sighed. “Get some rest, Ralph. You need it, and you damn sure earned it.” Ralph nodded dumbly, and staggered to his room. Setting his tools down, he kicked his shoes off and fell into his bed, not even bothering to remove his clothing.

  He never knew when Mandy came in, covered him with a blanket, and lay down beside him.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

  Vaughan was the first to die. The hardy trooper simply went to sleep, and didn’t wake. Jennifer tried everything she knew, and every bit of advice the CDC, or what was left of it, recommended.

  Nothing worked. Vaughan basically drowned in his own fluids.

  The entire group was stunned. If any of them had been expected to make it, it was Vaughan.

  Always working out, always cautious about what he ate when he could be, tough, strong, he had always seemed. . .invulnerable.

  Mack and Angelina were especially hard hit by the trooper’s death. They had been friends for a long time, and through some rough times at that.

  James, ever reliable, dug Vaughan’s grave. There was a brief service as they laid the soldier to rest, but few were in attendance. Many were sick, and others were busy caring for them. It was one of the saddest things James had ever
seen.

  Jesse spoke over the grave, but his heart wasn’t in it. He had liked Vaughan, a kindred spirit. He felt a heavy weight on him as he walked back inside.

  The day hadn’t ended before two of the children succumbed to the fever, rather than the pneumonia. Jennifer, Melissa, and Angelina were in tears as six-year-old Cody, and nine-year-old Kimberly breathed their last, both having slipped into a coma during the night. Jennifer knew both had almost certainly suffered brain damage from the fever despite the cold water baths and ice packs.

  Angelina broke down as she washed the little bodies. Once she was finished, Jennifer ordered her to take the entire next day off. She refused, but Jennifer Kingston could be domineering in a way only a doctor could be, and Angelina finally relented, agreeing to return to work for the midnight shift the next evening. She took a shower, ate, and then cried herself to sleep once more in Mack’s arms.

  Jesse, Ralph and James took care of the burial.

  -

  The next day saw one of Drake’s sick troopers, Corporal Lance Jamieson, die along with four-year- old, Brandy Nixon. At the same time, two more children and Deena were placed in the clinic, having moved from symptomatic to sick.

  During all of this, everyone pitched in as best they could, and Roland let them. He spent every waking moment at Maria’s side, whether she was awake or not. He was constantly sponging her with cold water, or helping her drink water, or one of any other dozens of things that needed doing. In a way it wasn’t fair, since no one else had a constant attendant, but no one was willing to say anything to Roland. He had done more than anyone. He had earned a respite, even one as bitter as this.

  The third day after Vaughan’s death, Fiona Richards died along with Mindy Barnes, Trooper Darrell Morrison, and eleven-year-old Frankie Munz. Roland left his post beside Maria’s bedside long enough to assist with the burial detail.

  Mandy Barnes was beside herself with grief, and Roland couldn’t imagine what the teen was going through. Bad enough, he figured, to lose a sibling, but a twin? Someone who essentially shared the same DNA? He did note that Mandy was clinging to Ralph as she bawled her eyes out, and that Ralph was doing all he knew to do to support her. Ralph looked at Roland and Roland nodded to the boy in respect for his actions. Ralph blushed a little, but stood just a bit straighter as well.