by Evans, Mike
Greg said, “We don’t have a complaint box.”
Aslin held up a thumbs up. Greg asked, “But what about what I said, what are we going to do?”
Clary went to speak but Aslin turned around interrupting and said, “We are going to find people who have been forced to hide, we are going to do it slow at first until we get a process that works for us. While we are waiting for the snow to melt anyways. Once the snow is gone we’ll ramp it up, I assure you, and since it was your idea, we are going to do our best to make damn sure that you can go with on as many of these as possible. If you have so many goddamn ideas you can start sharing them with us and quit wasting them. How does that sound? But it’s on one condition.”
Greg pumped himself up a little bit and said, “Wait, you guys are up for it? Sure, what is the condition? It can be anything.”
Aslin said, “You listen to the orders given to you, no more lying, and you don’t leave the base without telling me again. Because I promise you, if this base falls because of you, if any more die senselessly then I'll put you out on the street with little more than the clothes on your back and carrying an open bag of blood.”
Clary’s mouth dropped open. He pulled a cigar out and said, “You and us will talk again Greg, before we start doing this. Let’s see how Shaun and Ellie do over the next few days before we plan this. There’s a great chance if we go and leave him behind he’s going to be quite pissed, there’s a good chance he is going to want some payback after all of this, and he is one hell of a shot the way that it is.”
Greg said, “Yeah, you know that Shaun is always in on going off to take care of the Turned when he has the shot to do so.”
Aslin and Clary both opened the door to leave and Greg almost choked on the words but forced them out. He said, “Hey guys, I….I didn’t mean to do this, you know that, right? I would never do anything on purpose to hurt someone. I just….I just thought that you guys had trained us so damn good that we could do anything that we wanted to and get away with it. We weren’t planning on finding anyone; we mostly just thought we’d cruise out and come back. If it hadn’t been for the black ice, you probably wouldn’t have ever even known that we were gone. It wasn’t like we were going to stay gone forever. We literally just wanted to go there come back and then tell you what we were able to learn and what we saw, hoping that what you just told us we could do would happen.”
“Is that your version of a sorry Greg?” asked Clary.
Greg nodded looking expectantly at them then Aslin said, “Well I’ve known this asshole for a few decades and he’s still never said sorry for anything stupid that he’s done.”
“Are you kidding me, when have I ever done anything bad?” Clary asked.
Aslin looked around the base and said, “I’m sorry, do you need the reminder of why it is that we are in Iowa and stuck in Iowa in the first place? I mean, if you need a quick little reminder ya’ll just let me know, I’d be more than happy to remind you of it Clary.”
Clary knew exactly what he was talking about and absolutely didn’t need to open the old wounds of the past. He knew how royally he’d screwed up by sending the information to the brass in Washington before getting a safe transport back to their base. He had come to terms with it though after news reports of the United States being taken over. The only place that he could think of that might not have been taken over was Hawaii and maybe Alaska, but the Turned had infected the states like a disease, not picking or choosing who it infected no one and absolutely no one was safe from them.
Clary gave him the finger and pushed out through the door the rest of the way, happy to brave the cold if it meant the slightest amount of nicotine flowing through his system if even just for the day. There wasn’t any health benefit that he could think of that was important enough to skip it.
Smiling, Aslin watched him go and said, “Greg, we will make plans, why don’t you go get some rest before dinner. I got a feeling you could use it.”
“Thanks for giving my idea a shot after all of this, I was pretty sure that you were going to throw me out on my ass Aslin.”
“It wasn’t far from my mind, but unfortunately for you, you have something that we need to keep well stocked around here.”
“What, a beating heart?”
“Potential.” With that he let the door shut behind him. Greg just stared at the closed doors.
Chapter Twenty-four
Two days after getting back
Joey walked across the base; the wind was high and frigidly cold. He did his best to keep the wind off of his mouth allowing him to breathe without feeling as if needles were stabbing the back of his throat. He pushed through the infirmary doors and went straight back to Shaun and Ellie’s bedsides, just like he had done both days before. He unzipped his many layers until he could sit and make himself comfortable. Lou walked past, patting him on the shoulder and asked, “How you doing this morning Joey?”
“You know I could be better Lou, Aslin took charge of cooking this morning. Clary had said he had some things to do.”
“Well don’t worry Joey, some of the guys and girls on my floor could make miracles out of much less than the supply of food that we have here, so I'm thinking the food is going to get quite a bit better much quicker. We just need to let everyone find their place here before we try pushing them out of the kitchen. We wouldn’t want to make Aslin and Clary feel bad.”
Joey laughed, then said, “I don’t know Mr. Lou, I kind of think that with all the curse words that Mr. Aslin says in the morning when he heads down to the kitchen that he might not miss it too much. “
He laughed at this, he knew this kid was not someone that took a lot of work to like, he was naturally sweet and real. “So what’s on the docket for the day Joey, you sitting here helping me again with Shaun and Ellie?”
“Yup, I'm in charge of them when you need a break and there’s plenty of beds if I get tired. They need someone they know here when they wake up or they are going to freak out. No offense, but you’re really big and a stranger, and they’ve probably never had a reason to be in the infirmary before, so if we let them wake up like that they might go crazy and start crying and we don’t need any of that happening.”
Lou said, “You know that you are one of those friends Joey that people keep their entire lives. You can’t buy friends like you. I haven’t seen Greg in a few days, do you know if he is doing ok?”
“He’s been keeping to himself a lot. He’s been talking to Clary and Aslin almost every day though. Other than that he’s in the armory or going for runs. He’s the only one I know that is training as hard as he is.”
“He has something on his mind; there is little doubt about that.”
Shaun opened his eyes and looked around and saw a very fuzzy Lou standing near him. When Lou moved out of the way he saw Joey standing there. He lifted his head off of the pillow and laid it back down quickly. He could tell immediately he was very weak. Shaun asked, “Who the hell are you?”
Lou said, “Well nice to meet you too kid. My name is Lou and I'm a nurse that your friend Greg found a few days ago along with many others. I’ve been in charge of you and Ellie. You know Ellie I assume, right?”
Shaun tried to push up in bed but fell right back down. He turned his head, seeing Ellie laying there with a bandage around her head and in a hospital gown just like himself. His lip quivered when he saw her. The fact that Lou said it had been a few days made it extremely clear to him that she was not Turned, that they did not get her. It brought a tear to his eye and his lip began to quiver.
Lou said, “She’s ok bud or at least we think she is, as long as there isn’t more going on than what the eye can see. We still need to try and get a legit doctor in here, but I think that she should wake sometime, what I mean is, I don’t believe that it is going to be permanent. How badly she hit her head will be easy to know once she comes out of it and can answer some questions for us.”
Shaun tried to get up and Lou gently pushed him bac
k to the bed. He said, “You are just gonna end up falling on your face kid, give me a second.” He hit the releases on the wheels and Joey and he moved the cheap nightstand that was the only thing separating the beds. They moved Shaun so that he was right next to her bed. “You think you could eat something Shaun if we went and got you some soup?” Lou asked.
Shaun nodded and Joey didn’t need to be told, he ran out of the room and straight to the kitchen, screaming to anyone that would listen that Shaun was awake and that he was hungry. He got someone to get a small pot of food ready for the three of them to eat together in the sick bay and did his best to get it back without spilling any of it. When he was leaving, Kya was waiting outside and asked, “Joey, is it true that Shaun is awake? How is he doing?”
Joey nodded. “He just woke up about a half hour ago. He seems ok, but he’s really tired. Mr. Lou sent me to get some food for him. I think he needs to eat and get his energy back.”
“Well we will go get Patrick and Greg and be over after a while to see him; that is great that he is awake though. Is Ellie still asleep or did she come out of it too?”
Joey said, “She’s still asleep, you guys need to come see them, they aren’t dead you know. They are just asleep and would probably like some company. People don’t like to be treated different you know.”
She knew that he was talking more about himself now than them but she nodded nonetheless and said, “You know what Joey, you are probably right, we need to spend more time in the sick bay with them. It would do us good to let them hear voices of friends instead of putting it all on you and Lou. I’m going to go get the others now and we will be there in just a little bit, ok?”
Joey went to hug her, forgetting about the giant pot of soup and had to stop himself from pouring the scalding meal down the front of both of them. He nodded though and headed for the sick bay. When he got back, Lou had gotten Shaun up to a sitting position and Joey started to take out the crackers and spoons and bowls from the bag he had carried everything in. Shaun took a whiff of it and said, “Oh my God, I didn’t know soup could smell so good. Thanks Joey, I really appreciate it man.”
Joey balanced a bowl on a tray; the steam was dancing into the air until it disappeared. Shaun tried to reach for it and Lou reminded him, “Hey Shaun, unless you want to be wearing that soup, I would suggest that you let people help you, at least for today. If you can rest and eat today I bet within the week you are going to be as good as gold. We need to make sure that you don’t have any muscle fatigue; it doesn’t take long for that to kick in. I’m hoping that all of your muscle reactions are the same as well. If you can just do what you are told for the week, I'll have you back in killing condition.”
Shaun, who hadn’t shown anything but weakness as he was still coming out of the fog, nodded his head as he looked Lou seriously in the eyes. He said, “Yes, you need to get me back up and running because there are too many of those things out there and it is about time that we start putting the numbers back in our direction.”
“Man, are all of you kids so intense around here?” asked Lou.
Shaun replied, “Well sir, we have a lot of reasons to hate these things. We each have a story and we keep it to ourselves. Bringing up the past doesn’t help anything. People always used to say in school that we will let history repeat itself if we don’t pay attention to the past, but with the way things are currently, I don’t see anything whatsoever happening like that.
Joey knew about the missions out that were being planned but figured that he would let someone in charge mention it to him. Shaun took the spoon, watching it shake in his hand as he brought it up to his mouth. When the warm soup went down his throat he smiled, thinking he’d never eaten anything so good and that if it was going to, in some way, help him get his energy back, that he was going to eat as much as body would allow him. He asked, “Has Ellie been awake at all Lou?”
Lou shook his head no, he said, “She must have really smacked her head hard on something. Do either of you know what it was?”
Shaun said, “She was pushing me out of the way at the time. I want to say it was a shelving unit or the floor, but either way I know that she was out for the count the second it hit her. How much longer do you think that it is going to take for her to start to come around?”
“It could be days, it could be weeks, it is hard to say kid. But the important thing is that you are up and awake. The best thing you can do for her is let me take care of her and you focus on caring for yourself. You aren’t going to be able to help her with her recovery if you aren’t even able to get out of bed now are you?”
Shaun shook his head no, thinking this guy was not going to be hard to get to like. “So how many of you were there that made it back here?”
Lou said, “Well once your little group found us, I think we were sitting at around twenty-five or thirty people. I am not sure, we were together for so long it was the last thing that we needed to worry about. It wasn’t like we were taking head counts, there was just so much room and so many people and everyone did their best to work together and try and get along. It was out of our hands with the circumstances, so we just came up with jobs and I think that because of that it is going to make for a pretty easy transition here. It was really a godsend that Greg and Joey picked the apartments, of all places, to try and hide out while they were trying to wait for you.”
Shaun smiled uneasily thinking of Greg. “Yeah we should have never been out there in the first place, but that’s too little too late at this point. When I thought we were going to get taken over, I went outside of the grocery store and lured them to follow me. Well that is after I ran into one and had my life flash before my eyes. That damn thing tried ripping my head off but I got away…..just barely.”
Lou said, “What happened when you left? They said that you were seconds away from one of those things ripping your head off.”
“Honestly I don’t remember all of the details but I'd ran out on the ice. I can remember that and then I remember the ice cracking more than I had expected for it to and I fell beneath. I had to use my guns to kill one of the Turned before I finished out the magazine trying to break my way out from beneath in the cold frigid water. I was pretty sure that I was screwed, but I eventually got out. Unfortunately one of those things must have survived too but other than getting out I can’t say that I really remember too much about what had happened. I just know that whatever it was, I absolutely do not want it to ever happen again.”
“Yeah I can think of a lot of things which have happened which I have no interest in ever having happen again. I think that going forward things are going to be a lot better for us though or at least a lot safer,” said Lou.
Shaun wasn’t fully thinking yet and said, “That’s how it always plays out until one of those damn things comes from nowhere and rips your best friend to pieces in front of you. It really messes with your head man.”
Lou nodded slowly, thinking about his daughters and the fact that they still knew nothing that would help them and that all the training in the world still might not be enough if they got attacked and taken over. “Well are you going to be one of the ones training all the new people? They had discussed giving us training so that we are able to help with anything if needed.”
Shaun said, “I’ve been passed out Lou, I couldn’t tell you what they are thinking. I’m honestly surprised that no one has said anything about Greg. I would have thought that someone would have taken a few minutes to kill the son of a bitch after everything that happened with Ellie and me.”
*****
There was a knock at the door and Greg was standing there holding his watch cap in his hands. “Is it alright if I come in please I’d like to see Shaun and Ellie,” he asked.
Shaun nodded, motioning him in and Greg smiled glad to see his best friend awake and not looking like he was going to die again. He said, “Come on in Greg.”
Greg did and when he passed Lou he asked, “Would you and Joey mind taking some
food for yourselves and eating in the infirmary break room. I have a feeling there’s a conversation that I need to have with Fox here that no one else needs to be around to hear if that is alright with you?”
Lou quickly got two bowls worth ladled up and pointed to the rest of the items for Joey to grab. They could hear Joey asking why he didn’t get to carry the soup on the way out and a reply from Lou about how he still wanted there to be some soup when they made it to their destination.
Greg walked up slowly and feeling like he was on death row. He knew that the hardest conversation he was going to have was going to be with Shaun and Ellie because he felt the guiltiest about what had happened to them. The feelings he had about Phillip and Shelman were beyond reproach as well as those he had for Maryann. He pointed to a chair and Shaun nodded. He said, “Look Shaun, I never meant for any of this to happen. The trip out was a stupid idea. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt and I'm sorry that you almost died. When Aslin told me about how close you were to being taken out, it felt like someone ripped my heart out of my fucking chest. I figured that you got away and that you would be back any minute. Once we got Ellie somewhere safe we never left the window, we were too busy looking out for you and seeing where you went to.”
Shaun said, “Thank you for getting Ellie to where you could protect her. It was the one thing that I was worried about. You know my own safety is always second when I have to worry about someone else getting hurt by one of those damn things.”
Greg said, “Yeah I know and I hope over time we are able to help you with that problem or at least get you to the point that you worry just the slightest bit that there is an issue with you doing something like that.”
