While the neighbors all walked over to the Martin house, so the Walkers could take a look at the place, Alex decided to head next door to check on Jack and Andrea, who had been missing from the impromptu social event that morning. It had been a couple of days since Alex and Jack had talked, so he wanted to check up on his old friend and see how his recovery was going.
Andrea answered the door and did not look well. The stress had clearly been wearing on her and she appeared as though she hadn’t slept in days. “Hi Alex,” she said forcing a smile as she stepped aside to let him in. “It’s good to see you back home, we were all worried about you.”
“Aw shit, Stone,” Jack said from the living room, where he was leaning back on the couch with his leg up. The twin sized mattress was still on the floor in the corner of the room and appeared as though it was still where Jack was sleeping at night. “I wasn’t worried. You’re one squirrelly fuck, so I knew you’d figure out a way to get back here.”
Alex almost blushed at the best compliment he had ever received from the crabby old former US Marine Gunnery Sergeant.
“Don’t let him fool you,” Andrea chimed in. “He was awfully quiet yesterday and I’m pretty sure he said a prayer or two for you.”
“I ain’t never prayed to no one for nothing! It must have been these meds they keep pumping me with. I’m in and out like a whacked out junkie!”
“How are you feeling?” Alex asked as Andrea picked up a tray that was on the coffee table next to Jack and brought it to the kitchen.
“I’m fine,” Jack said pulling himself up to a seated position and putting both feet on the floor. He grimaced slightly, but did his best to play off the pain. “Truth be told, the leg ain’t bothering me as much as the damn heat.” The temperature had been consistently in the low 70’s for the past couple of days, but that morning it felt like it was back to the 80’s and they expected it to get hotter as the day went on.
Alex noticed that Jack was sweating quite a bit. “Do you want some water?”
“No, Andrea’s already been making me drink too much as it is. Feels like I need to piss every other minute.”
“Alright, I need to go shopping for some food,” Alex said getting up to leave. “We all need some fresh meat and I’m already getting a late start today. I’ll stop by again later before I take over my security watch later. You got any special requests?”
“Yeah, try and find me a nice fat cow. I would kill for a big juicy steak right about now.”
“If I come across any cows, they’re all yours, buddy,” Alex replied as he headed for the front door.
Later that afternoon, Alex, David and Erik were sitting in the back yard, talking and watching the goose soup cook over the open fire. Alex had only found two, but he wasn’t worried that he hadn’t seen a bigger group. He started so late in the day that they had likely moved on from the cemetery, where he usually hunted them, back to their nesting spots along Mother Brook. The area had been so overrun by them in recent years that he was confident they would continue to be plentiful for a good while.
“What did you think about the Martin house?” Alex asked Erik.
“It’s gigantic. Samantha and the kids had fun exploring the place, but it definitely felt weird being in the house with all of their belongings still there.” When the Martins left, they traveled by bike and could only take a couple of backpacks full of essentials. “Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot in the house that we can make use of, but it still feels weird.”
“Yeah, it will probably feel that way for a while,” Alex said.
“It sucks leaving all your own stuff behind,” David added. “When we left to come here, I kept thinking about stupid little things that I thought I would miss.”
“Yeah, I bet you guys know exactly how we’re feeling,” Erik said. “Anyway, I’m still grateful to have a place here.”
“We’re glad to have you,” David said. “Besides, we needed an extra body for security watch. With Jack down, we have had to leave one shift uncovered, which has made us all a little nervous.” The group had settled on a 12 hour schedule with two people on watch at all times, before Jack got injured. With Alex gone the day before, the group was stretched even thinner and Tony’s wife, Martina, joined the rotation to help cover the day shift.
“Sure thing,” Erik said. “I’m not looking for a free ride here. In fact, I’ll cover the overnight tonight, if that would be helpful.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Alex said, “You and I can cover the night shift and David and Tony can cover days. When Jack heals up and can work himself back into the rotation, maybe we can start getting days off every once in a while.”
“We should talk about Jack,” Naomi said, joining the men outside. She was originally from Barbados, so even though the men could hear the concern in her voice, her Bajan accent seemed to make bad news not sound quite so bad when she delivered it. That, combined with her calmness in dire situations, had made her a very successful ER nurse.
“What’s going on with Jack?” Alex asked. “I just saw him a little while ago.”
“I’m worried that his leg wound might be infected,” she said matter of factly.
“But he said it felt fine,” Alex protested.
“He’s as stubborn as he is tough and he refuses to be honest about how he feels. The redness around the wound has spread a bit and he has a low grade fever. If it is an infection, it will begin to smell or show puss in another day or so and the fever will get worse. I missed the fever at first, because I thought he was just sweating from the heat and Andrea had been changing his bandages the past couple of days. When Lilliana went to check on him this afternoon, she noticed the redness and decided to check his temperature.”
“So what are you going to do?” Alex asked.
“There’s not much we can do. Ideally, we would start treating him with antibiotics as a precaution,” Naomi said. “Something like Cephalexin or Doxycycline might work, Vancomycin would probably be better.”
“Do we have anything?” Alex asked, even though he knew the answer.
“Nothing,” Naomi replied. “Lilliana and I scoured every house looking for medicines and any medical supplies we could find, weeks ago. Unfortunately there were no antibiotics to be found.”
“We need to think of a plan,” David said. “In this heat and with the lack of proper sanitation, an infection will be hard to contain without meds.” Lilliana had often talked about her work as a nurse over the years, so he had learned a thing or two about infection control and prevention during their dinner table conversations.
“I feel like such an idiot,” Erik said.
“Why?” Alex asked.
“Remember when we started looking into those websites that sold veterinary supplies for fish?”
“Yeah,” Alex said, realizing what Erik was getting at and instantly feeling the same sense of regret as well.
“What do fish have to do with anything?” David asked.
“We found some YouTube videos that were made by a nurse who was also a prepper,” Erik explained. “She did a demonstration, where she purchased antibiotics that were labeled for treating sick aquarium fish and she compared them to antibiotics prescribed for humans. She was able to show which brand name prescription antibiotics for humans corresponded to the same exact meds sold without a prescription for fish. The pills were identical and the dosages were the same. In fact, they were created by the same exact pharmaceutical companies in the same labs, but they were just labeled differently for sale and distribution.”
“We’re idiots,” Alex said, when Erik finished his explanation.
“Are you kidding?” David said. “My family would probably be starving and half dead right now, if it wasn’t for you guys getting into prepping. You couldn’t prepare for everything, you know!”
“I know,” Alex said frustrated. “But looking back on it, it was a big mistake not to just go ahead and buy the stupid fish meds. I mean any one of us could get hurt like Jack
. Even a small cut could turn into a big deal nowadays. What happens if one of the kids gets hurt next?” The group sat quietly for a moment, before Alex broke the silence. “We might have been idiots, but I know a couple of guys who weren’t idiots.”
“What are you talking about?” David asked.
“I’m talking about Mike and Adam,” Alex replied.
Mike Browne was a mentor and father figure to David and Olivia, since their own father had passed away when they were young. His son, Adam, was one of David’s closest friends along with Rob Melo, who also grew up with them. When Alex married Olivia, he eventually became part of their close knit group as well. In fact Mike and Adam were the ones that originally got him into emergency preparedness and, coincidentally, the men were all together at Rob’s house the night of the EMP attack.
“They stocked antibiotics?” David asked.
“Yeah, as soon as I showed them the YouTube videos, Mike went and ordered a bunch.”
“Where does your friend Mike live?” Naomi asked hopefully.
“Randolph,” David said with a discouraged tone.
“What happens to Jack if we don’t get the antibiotics?” Alex asked Naomi.
“I don’t have a lab to run tests, so I’m not even 100% sure how bad it is or if it will get worse. His body could fight the infection on its own without medication.” Naomi was worried about Alex making an impulsive decision and putting his own life at risk, based on her diagnostic impressions of Jack’s case.
“If it could get worse, then I should go sooner than later,” Alex said. “It could take a couple of days to get to the Browne’s and back and that’s only if I can make the trip without running into any road warriors along the way.”
“Well you can’t go alone,” David interjected. “I’m the only other one that knows where they live, so if you are going then I’m going.”
“Do you remember how bad it started to get over by the highway, only one day after this mess started?” Alex asked, starting to get louder. “We can’t both be out there, it’s too dangerous!”
“So then you stay and I’ll go!” David argued.
“Enough!” Naomi said in the loudest voice any of them had ever heard her use, before lowering her voice to her normal calm tone. “You both have families depending on you, so no one is running off tonight to get themselves killed. I will check him in the morning. If he still has the fever or if his symptoms get any worse, we can discuss what to do next.”
The men grew silent and accepted Naomi’s feedback and suggestion to revisit the conversation. They considered what she said about their own families and knew that if something were to happen to either of them, it could endanger the wellbeing of their wives and children, who were relying on them. With this in mind, David and Alex resisted the urge to continue the debate and resolved themselves to wait until morning to decide on the appropriate course of action.
CHAPTER 11
The next morning, Alex sat watching the parkway from the window on the second floor of the Kim residence, while he waited for his brother in law to switch off with him. His head ached from the caffeine withdrawal that he was experiencing, making it hard to concentrate. He wished he could just lie in bed and try to sleep through the misery, which he knew would last a few more days. His sister in law, Lilliana, had given him some migraine relief medicine that contained some caffeine in it to help him cope with the headaches, so he took his prescribed dose in hopes that it would at least improve his ability to think straight.
Alex had spent most of the night thinking about Jack’s situation and hoping that it didn’t turn more serious. As he was contemplating their choices, he heard footsteps approaching and looked out the window that faced the direction of his own house, expecting to see David. Instead, he saw Tony, who looked like a kid that just had his lunch box stolen.
“What’s the matter with you?” Alex asked, when Tony came upstairs and joined him a minute later.
“I’ve been thinking about Gunny,” Tony replied, visibly worried about Jack’s prognosis. “What are we going to do?”
“Not sure, yet. I’ve been thinking about it all night.”
“Naomi said that your friends over in Randolph might have some antibiotics.”
“Yeah,” Alex said. “Mike and Adam had the sense to store some away with their disaster supplies. But it’s 10 miles each way and we can’t just jump in a car and be there in 20 minutes, like before. David and I had a heck of a time trying to get back here from their place when this all went down and that was way before everyone went off the deep end, when they realized the lights were not coming back on.”
“For fucks sake, Stone!” Tony said in frustration. “You know if it were you that got hurt, Gunny would walk his ass to Timbuk-fuckin-tu to find you some meds.”
“Calm down, I’m not talking about sitting on my hands and doing nothing. I’m just saying we need to explore other options before we impulsively pick door #1.”
“What other options are there?” Tony asked in a slightly less agitated tone.
“Well the second worst idea I came up with was that we could go out on a limb and check out the local pharmacies and hope that people were only looting those for maintenance meds for existing medical conditions, like asthma or high blood pressure or just looking to get high. But I know that it would be a far stretch of the imagination to think that we’re the only ones in the city in need of antibiotics. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the doctors raided the pharmacies themselves, once they realized the crapstorm we were all in.”
“Yeah, that is definitely a shitty idea, when you put it that way,” Tony agreed somberly. “You got anything less shitty?”
“I believe I do, as a matter of fact. After Jack got shot, I went through the cart that those morons had,” he began to explain.
“Yeah, they had some meds. But it was all pain stuff, right?” Tony asked.
“Exactly, no antibiotics,” Alex replied. “But I got to thinking about the fact that they had all of those drivers’ licenses like they were trophies and realized that it was like having a shopping list of places to check for antibiotics. It seemed like those jerks were only looking for medication to get high with, so it’s reasonable to think that they might have left behind other meds that they didn’t see a need for.”
“Hmm, that is a less shitty idea,” Tony said, rolling it over in his head.
“And I hate to say it,” Alex continued. “But when I originally saw the ID’s my assumption was that those guys probably killed whoever they belonged to and I felt bad for their victims. But now part of me is just thinking about how we could take advantage of the situation. I would never wish harm on anyone, but if they are already dead and gone, then whatever they have is fair game, right? Either way, the thought of ransacking their homes is messing with my peace of mind.”
“I hear you, bro,” Tony said. “We’re in a world of shit right now and we’re just doing the best we can. None of us would be in favor of stealing from other people, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with making use of stuff that people have left behind. I know you are a God fearing man, Stone, so you’re probably overthinking this too much, worrying about doing something wrong. The bottom line is Gunny needs our help and I think that door #3 sounds like our best bet for pulling off some good Samaritan sh…, I mean stuff. I mean, you know, what would Jesus do?”
“You trying to get Biblical with me?” Alex asked, laughing out loud. “Anyway, I know it’s our best plan and it’s the one I am most comfortable with after talking it over. Let’s see what Naomi and Lilliana say about Jack today. If he isn’t any better, we’ll do it.”
“Good plan,” Tony said getting up to leave. “I need to go relieve Erik; I’ll talk to you later.”
“Go in peace, my son,” Alex said, joking.
“Ah… amen?” Tony said, gesturing with his hands in an awkward attempt to make the sign of the cross.
A short while later, David arrived to take over the sec
urity watch. Alex quickly explained the plan that he and Tony discussed and indicated that he was going to make his final decision after checking on Jack. David agreed with the plan as their best possible option to help their friend and he offered his seal of approval.
Before leaving to check on Jack, Alex grabbed the bag of ID’s from the closet and put it in his sling bag. He thought for a moment and then reached for the pouch full of jewelry and stowed that away in his pack as well.
Prior to the EMP, Alex had read many armchair survivalist blogs about the benefits of bartering following a SHTF situation. In some cases, people recommended storing away thousands of dollars in precious metals, such as silver and gold, to be used as currency. Alex never subscribed to this approach, since most people had no practical understanding of the actual value of gold and silver. They were not commonly used in modern society for buying goods, so he believed they would be less useful than cash money, which most people could wrap their heads around and understand. Particularly trivial to him were the people that suggested buying old quarters made before 1965, because they were loaded with silver. In the coin collector or precious metals market, they were much more valuable than a typical quarter based on their silver content. However to the common person, they looked like a run of the mill quarter worth twenty five cents. As a result of this philosophical difference, Alex never saw a need to invest in precious metals in his family preparedness plan.
However, given their current situation, he saw no good reason to leave the jewelry behind, since they didn’t have any practical need for them in the neighborhood. He did not plan to go looking for any prepper swap meets while he was out, but if there was some remote chance that he might be able to use them to get the meds, it was better to have them on hand than not, so there was no real downside to taking them.
When he finished, Alex said goodbye to his brother in law and went over to Jack’s house to check on him. When he knocked, his sister in law answered the door with a concerned look on her face.
The Power Struggle Series (Book 2): The Downward Spiral Page 8
