Apex Predator

by Glyn Gardner

  Jen didn’t even mention the loss of consciousness. She had no idea if there’s a bleed in her head, and wouldn’t without a CT. That was out of the question at this point. She’d just have to monitor her neurological status to tell her if there was a brain injury.

  “I need someone to get something to stabilize her neck. I don’t know if she has a neck injury. Get a towel or heavy shirt or something, and some duct tape.”

  Jackson returned with the requested items. Jen rolled the shirt up and wrapped it loosely around the young girl’s neck, supporting her chin and the back of her head.

  “Sit her up a little. Mike, hold her head still.” They did. She wrapped the tape around girl’s neck, keeping her head and neck in line.

  “Good. Get her into the truck. Keep her as straight as you can.” She looked to Lt. Cruzan. “Sir we need to get her to some kind of treatment facility. A doctor’s office or vet’s office would be ok. A nice empty hospital would be better, but I’m not keeping my hopes up.”

  “We passed an animal hospital about five miles back,” SSgt Brown reported. “Will that work for you?”

  “An animal hospital around here is going to be equipped for large animals. That’ll work.”

  “Ok, load up folks!” barked the Lieutenant.

  A couple of minutes later, they were heading back west towards the animal hospital. Jen was hovering over her new patient. The girl was in bad shape. Jen found her to have a Glasgow Comma Scale of 6. She did withdraw from pain, but that was it. A normal GSC is 15. The bench the girl was lying on had a GCS of 3.

  Her breathing had neither improved nor deteriorated. Upon further inspection, Jen determined that the girl most likely had a flail chest. Several sections of multiple ribs had broken, forming a sharp section of rib that sunk into the chest with every breath. She needed to stabilize it. She needed an IV bag. She pointed to the closest teacher.

  “You, lean over here.” He did. “Hold your hand firmly, right here. Don’t keep her from breathing, but you are stabilizing her broken ribs.” He did as he was told.

  Soon, they arrived at the animal hospital. LT. Cruzan and his Engineers entered the building first. There were no zombies inside, but the building was not empty. There was a tabby cat sitting on the receptionist desk. It had obviously not eaten in several days. In the kennel area, there were several dogs. They also looked as if they had not been fed or cared for in several days. The cages were stained with urine, and feces. There were no humans in the building. There were also no lights.

  Sgt. Procell returned to the parking lot. “It’s clear. Bring her in.”

  Mike and Jackson helped carry the girl into one of the treatment rooms, placing her on the long metal table. The other children followed their classmate inside. All were crying. The teacher continued to hold pressure on the flail segment of the child’s chest. Jen began barking orders to Theresa and Kerry.

  “Find some iodine or alcohol. Someone get an IV catheter 20 or 22 gauge would be ok. Someone see if they can find anything resembling a chest tube and some suction tubing, some sterile water, gauze, Normal Saline IV fluids, tubing, and foam tape. When you find it, bring it in here, and toss it on that counter over there.”

  The dogs in the back were barking and howling. “Father, why don’t you and the kids go see if you can do something for those dogs,” SSgt Brown suggested. The priest took the children into the back.

  Jen immediately began to reassess the child. No real change. Her breathing seemed a little more labored. She rifled through the drawers in the treatment room. She found gauze. Nothing else she needed.

  “Kerry, find me some 2-0 Nylon, a scalpel, some sterile OR towels or drapes, and some petroleum gauze.” To the soldiers, “I need some more light in here. Someone empty out that jar of dog treats and rinse it out. Then fill it half way up with some water.” Two of Lt. Cruzan’s engineers stepped forward with their flashlights. Mike emptied out the jar, rinsed it, and added the water.

  She tried to remember how her ER doctors had done this. She cut the girl’s shirt off, and poured the iodine over the girl’s chest. Kerry returned with the requested supplies. She opened the OR towels. Jen washed her hands and put on a pair of sterile gloves. Ok, here we go.

  She placed the towels around the area she intended to work. “Kerry, open that scalpel and drop it on the blue towels without touching it.” She picked up the scalpel, and cut into the girl’s side. The girl moaned and withdrew from the pain. Good.

  “Ok, open the chest tube.” She took the tube from Kerry without touching anything else. God, don’t let me screw this up, she thought. She shoved the tube into the girl’s chest, feeling a pop. Blood spilled from the end of the tube and covered the floor when she withdrew the trocar. She ordered Kerry to hold the tube while she hooked up the suction tubing. She cut the tubing so that it reached below the surface of the water in the jar on the floor.

  With every breath the girl took, bubbles rose to the top of the water. Good, the water seal is doing its job. She sewed the tube in place and wrapped it with the petroleum gauze where it met the skin, creating an airtight seal. Then she padded it with a couple of packages of sterile gauze and taped everything down with the foam tape. Then she secured the other end of the tube so that it would remain below the level of the water in the jar.

  Satisfied the emergency procedure was done, she inserted an IV into the girl’s arm. She instructed Kerry to monitor the child while she searched for some antibiotics. She found what she was looking for. She hooked the child up to the antibiotics.

  Now she needed to address the flail chest. She taped a 500 ml bag of IV fluid directly over the flail segment. This acted as a splint, stabilizing the sharp edges and protecting the lung. What vital signs she could assess looked good. Breathing was no longer labored. The water in the jar had turned red with the girl’s blood, but the chest tube no longer had any blood in it. Good, hemothorax resolved.

  She looked at Lt. Cruzan. “Ok, I think she’s out of the woods for now. I don’t know what’s going on inside her skull, but I can’t do anything about that anyway. We’ll keep an eye on her. Hopefully she’ll start to wake up, but I just don’t know right now.”

  “So when do you think she can move?”

  “I don’t know. It may be a few days before the lungs are good enough to go. As for her waking up, I don’t know. I’m hoping she wakes up in the next few hours.”

  “So, you’re saying we’re stuck her for a few days?”

  “Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Jen could feel the anger welling up inside.

  “I want to know the minute we can move. I don’t want to stay here any longer than we have to.”

  “I promise you’ll be the first to know,” asshole. He spun on his heels, and left the room, motioning SSgt Brown to follow.

  “You heard the lady. We’re stuck here for a while. Let’s get this place secured”

  “Yes Sir, I’m on it,” replied the NCO.

  “Alright guys, you heard the man. Let’s off load the truck. Jackson, can you back that humvee up so it blocks that door?”

  “Roger Sergeant. I’m on it as soon as the truck is unloaded.”

  “Good. Let’s get moving,” he barked. The soldiers went about unloading the truck. When they were finished, Jackson backed the humvee up until it blocked the door. He climbed out through the turret ring and climbed down into the building. They were now effectively sealed in.

  Father Albright and the children found food and water for the dogs and cat. After the animals were fed, the children began moving the dogs out of their soiled pens, and into clean ones. Of course, being children, the dogs didn’t go directly into their new homes, but had to receive a good dose of love and affection. The dogs of course accepted the attention and returned it with wagging tails and slobbery dog kisses.

  Lt Cruzan couldn’t believe how his luck had gone from bad to worse. First, he and his men had to get saddled with this bunch of kids. Now, one of them went and fell out of
the back of the damned truck. Shit! How the hell was he supposed to save his men if these civilians kept screwing things up?

  He paced the floor of the veterinarian’s office. He kicked a trash can. He wanted to pull his crew-cut hair out. Think Jason. What the hell are you going to do? Even after that little girl is able to move, she’s going to slow us down. She isn’t going to be able to run if we get into a bind. She’s going to slow us down and probably get somebody killed. Maybe we’ll get lucky and she’ll just fucking die tonight.

  SSgt Brown walked into the office. “You ok sir?”

  “Fine Sergeant,” he lied. “We secure?”

  “Yes sir,” replied the NCO. He took a deep breath. “Sir, I know what’s bugging you.”

  “Oh?”

  “She’s going to be fine, sir. I’ve seen injuries like this before. Unless her skull is cracked, she’ll pull through.”

  “Good. Let’s hope so,” the officer replied curtly. “Set the guard schedule and get everyone fed.”

  “Yes sir,” he replied. He rendered a salute, did an about-face and left the room. He could see the children playing with the dogs in the kennel area as he passed. He stopped to talk to the priest.

  “Father, you’re pretty good with these kids.”

  “Well son, I’m kinda used to dealing with kids in trouble. You know death, illness, and broken homes. It sort of comes with the collar.”

  The big NCO smiled. “Yeah, I guess it does. I want you to help out with the children from here on out. I’m going to press the teachers into service and I need someone who can be responsible for them all the time.”

  “Sure Sergeant Brown, whatever you need.”

  “Thanks father.” He pivoted and walked to the front of the clinic. He found Mike, Jen, Kerry and Theresa talking just outside the girl’s room.

  “What’s this? You guys cooking up a conspiracy?”

  “No Sergeant Brown. I was just going over some things that are going to need to be done for our patient in there. As you can see, I’ve pressed these two into service as nurses in training. Mike here is going to serve as our orderly. You know, strong back and weak mind.” They all chuckled.

  “Hey,” replied Mike. “I’ll have you know a do not have a very strong back.” He stuck his tongue out at his wife.

  “Well then, don’t let me stand in the way of patient heeling. Mike, I’m still going to need you for guard duty.”

  “No problem Sergeant Brown. Just let me know when,” he replied. The big NCO turned and walked towards the three teachers who were huddled in the corner talking amongst themselves.

  “Sorry we haven’t been properly introduced. I’m SSgt Brown. I’m with the 108th Cavalry.”

  “Hi,” replied the tall teacher with glasses. “I’m Marty Love.” He pointed to the shorter balding man “This is Eric LeBlanc, and this young lady is Candice Arrington.” They each shook his hand as they were introduced.

  “Nice to meet you all,” he replied. “Look, I’ll get right down to it. I need to press you guys into service. I know you’re responsible for the kids; but right now, I have four babysitters and six soldiers. I need to know if any of you are familiar with weapons or have any military experience.”

  The three looked at each other. “I was in the navy,” reported Mrs. Arrington. “It’s been a long time, but I served.”

  “I wasn’t ever in the military, but I know my way around a weapon,” Mr. Love added. “I have a forty-five, like one of those on your hip at home. I’d like to think I’m pretty good with it.”

  SSgt Brown looked at Mr. LeBlanc. “No sir. I’ve never been a big fan of guns. I have…uh, had four kids in the house. I was always afraid someone might shoot themselves. Sorry.”

  “It’s no problem. You and Father Albright will be responsible for the kids. Keep them out of trouble, give them things to do, that kind of thing.” He looked to the others. “You guys are going to have to pull some guard duty. I’m sorry, but we need you.”

  “I was wondering when someone was going to ask us to pitch in,” Mrs. Arrington replied.

  “Well, I guess that would be right about now.” He excused Mr. LeBlanc. “How much do you guys know about these things?”

  “Well, I know they’re dangerous,” replied Mrs. Arrington. “And they seem like they’re hard to take down,” added Mr. Love.

  “True,” replied the NCO. “So far, the only way we know how to kill them is by destroying the brain. That means either a bullet or some other trauma. You guys think you can shoot one of these things in the head if one came at you?”

  “I guess,” replied the woman. “It’d have to be pretty close. I haven’t fired a pistol in about ten years.”

  “Don’t worry. I don’t think any of those things are going to get in here. And, I’m going to pair you up with one of the soldiers. So, you won’t be alone if trouble starts. When you’re not on guard duty, you are more than welcome to help out with the kids. I’m only pressing you into service for guard duty for now.”

  He took his belt off, and removed the two holsters. He handed each a pistol, holster, and a spare magazine. “Try not to shoot anybody with these ok,” he instructed. “I’ll let you know when your guard shift is tonight.” He spun around and walked to the group of soldiers.

  “Looks like the little girl is going to be ok,” he announced. “But, she isn’t going to be able to move for a while. We need to make sure we have enough food and water in here for at least four days.”

  He turned to Jackson. “You still have that emergency radio?”

  “It’s in the LMTV, along with the charger.”

  “Get it out. We’re going to set up a radio watch.” Jackson executed an about-face, and headed for the truck.

  “Jefferson and Williams, inventory the supplies and ammo,” the big NCO ordered. “Sergeant Procell, get with the priest and teachers and start setting up some living quarters.”

  The three soldiers turned and followed the NCO’s orders.

  Jackson retuned with the radio and solar charger. SSgt Brown ordered him to set it up at the reception desk. The soldier did as he was told. Several minutes later he turned on the radio, and ensured that it was receiving a charge from the flexible solar panel.

  “Stay here and keep an ear out on that thing,” ordered the young trooper as he left the room.

  The two engineer troops had dumped all the supplies on the floor in one room and were busy separating them into several piles. Good, thought the NCO, at least it looked like they had a fair amount of supplies. Jefferson looked at him and gave him a nod. SSgt Brown nodded back and continued on to the kennel area.

  He was amazed at what he saw. The children were busy removing the fencing that had served to cage the animals. He walked to Sgt Procell.

  “What is this?” was all he could manage.

  “I figured if we rearranged some of these fence sections, we could use this area as a fallback position. You know, like a keep inside of a medieval castle.”

  “That’s what I get for sending a fucking engineer to do an engineer’s job,” he chuckled.

  “I know it’s probably overkill,” the engineer responded. “But, you didn’t see those things go through the fence we were hiding behind earlier. They’re like fucking cockroaches. They’re going to get in. When they do, I want a halfway safe place to make a stand.”

  He pointed to the skylight in the room. “Plus, we get a ladder under that thing; we can use it as an egress route.”

  The smile faded from SSgt Brown’s face. “What about the little girl?”

  “You mean the one who’s unconscious? If those things get in here, she’s screwed.” He felt like shit just saying it. “I mean…” he stammered. “I guess we could carry her up the ladder. But, if we have to run she’s going to slow us down.”

  “We can’t just plan to abandon her.” SSgt Brown could feel the anger welling up inside. “After you get this place squared away, get with Jen and figure out how to move her if it comes to that.
We’re not going to abandon anyone.” He could now hear the anger in his own voice.

  “Roger Sergeant,” replied the younger NCO. “I…I just didn’t think about it like that. I’ll figure something out.”

  He was satisfied that he had done all he could. He took a deep, relaxing breath. “Good,” he replied in a calm voice. “Let me know when you’re done.”

  He walked back to the treatment room where Jen and her staff of neophyte nurses were hovering over the little girl. Jen turned as he walked into the room. Jen looked stressed. He could understand. She had acted way outside of her level of training and she was afraid of the consequences.

  “You ok?” asked the NCO.

  “She’s ok,” replied the nurse. “Still no breath sounds on that side, but it’s early yet. I’d really like it…”

  “Not what I asked,” he cut her off. “I asked how you are doing.”

  “Oh,” she replied. “I guess I’m ok. I wish I had a doctor to back me up, or maybe a good ICU to send her to.”

  “You’re doing great,” he said encouragingly. “If you weren’t here, she’d be dead by now. You saved that little girl’s life”

  “She’s not out of the woods yet,” she retorted. He could see the tears welling up in her eyes.

  “You can’t control that. Two hours ago, that little girl couldn’t breathe. Now she can. Nobody here could have done that, except you.” He placed a hand on her shoulder.

  “Right now, you are the most important person in this group. You have knowledge and a set of skills that none of us have. I hate to break it to you, but this isn’t going to be the last time we need you.”

  She looked at him through the tears that were flowing freely now.

  “We have a long way to go over some dangerous ground before we get to civilization. People are going to get hurt. None of us can do what you do. We need you.”

  “What if I can’t? What if something happens and I can’t save someone? What if I mess something up?” She was sobbing now.

  “If that happens, then it happens,” he replied. “You’re going to make mistakes. We all will.”