He approached a trio of soldiers, two men and a woman, as they sat in folding chairs and ate their food from the brown plastic bag of the MRE. As he got closer, he realized the woman was the same short-haired blonde woman who did the medical examination yesterday.
He smiled and waved as he approached. “Good morning.”
Only one of the men, a black man with corporal stripes looked up and gave him a sleepy wave between bites of his hash browns. “Good morning.”
Ethan paused awkwardly. He didn’t know what to say next. His stomach demanded that he ask about breakfast as he watched the three soldiers eat. But he knew that it would be rude to bring up food so early in the morning.
“So, I heard a truck start this morning.”
The black soldier just nodded as he continued to eat. Ethan glanced at the other two soldiers. The woman watched him out of the corner of her eye, and he wondered why she was so suspicious of him.
The other soldier, a sergeant in his thirties, with a scar cutting across the back of his head, didn’t pay him any attention as he focused on his scrambled eggs.
“Where were they going?” Ethan continued. He hoped he could get them to engage in some kind of conversation.
The black soldier responded without looking up, “Out on a mission. They will be back soon.”
“A mission? What kind? Are they looking for more survivors?”
“Don’t know. I wasn’t told.”
He was about to ask about a way to recharge his phone, so he could try to call his mother, but the female soldier interjected, “If you’re looking for food, then they will be starting breakfast up soon. If you want, then you can go down there and help out.”
Ethan caught her tone, which was much more of a suggestion to leave them alone than to do anything else. He just nodded and smiled weakly.
“OK. Thanks. I’ll do that.” He walked away from the soldiers and thought he could hear murmuring behind him.
It reminded him of a time in school when he approached Kaylee Collins in the school cafeteria. He always thought she was pretty, and she seemed to appreciate his help in biology class. He tried to talk to her, but she was with her friends.
Though she was nice and friendly in class, around her friends, she was cold and aloof. He tried to talk to her, but she only gave one-word answers and then went back to talking with her friends. He heard them murmuring too as he walked away. He was certain they weren’t saying nice things then, and he doubted that the soldiers were saying nice things now.
He walked back down the rows of tents until he reached the other end of the football field. Along the way, he found a large box filled with clothes that appeared to have been lifted straight from a Walmart. The cheap plastic hangers were still inside the shirts. He found a heavy blue sweatshirt with an American flag on the front that fit him well enough.
A middle-aged Hispanic man with a mustache and a paunchy belly was opening a second can of pork and beans at the long plastic table that served as the kitchen. The can was the kind used in cafeterias and was larger than Ethan’s head. The man looked up at Ethan as he approached and gave him a friendly smile.
He spoke to Ethan with a heavy Spanish accent, “Good morning! No ready.”
Ethan smiled and tried to remember his Spanish. “Me ayuda usted?”
The man smiled and nodded, and Ethan joined him to work on fixing breakfast. They didn’t talk much. They had found the limits of the man’s English and Ethan’s Spanish. But they were able to introduce each other, and Ethan learned the man’s name was Angel and his family was sleeping in one of the other tents.
Otherwise, their work involved a lot of pointing, nodding, and shaking their heads as they communicated the best they could to slice up more hot dogs and heat the pork and beans. The experience was the most pleasant time he had spent in days.
He was stacking cases of bottled water at one end of the table when Madison walked up. She had put on a bright pink hoodie with the hood up over her head to keep out the cool air. Ethan thought she looked very cute in the growing light of dawn. The sudden strong urge to protect her surprised Ethan. The redheaded girl was not with her.
Madison smiled at Ethan. “Good morning! You’re up early.”
“Yeah, the truck woke me up so I thought I would get up and be useful.” He noticed that the swelling had gone down on her lip.
“Did you sleep well at all?”
Ethan paused for a moment, the image of the tall bronze doors stuck in his mind, but nothing else remained of the dream. “Yeah, I guess. How about you?”
She shrugged her shoulder slightly. “Kind of. I was pretty tired, but the spotlight was shining into my tent, and I think that kept me awake. I kept seeing yellow lights shining down on me while I slept.”
Ethan glanced up at the spotlights and remembered that they were a bright bluish-white color, not yellow. He looked down at the pile of hot dogs he was slicing.
“What about the girl? Did she sleep?”
Madison looked as if she was still irritated at Ethan’s suspicions of her. “Yes, she went right to sleep and is still sleeping in the tent. And she still hasn’t said anything.”
Ethan could feel her irritation, but before he could say anything, more people woke up and came to the mess area. Angel was stirring the beans inside a large pot which was heating over a portable propane stove. He waved to Ethan to hurry up with the hot dogs and put them into the pot.
“La niña bonita puede esperar. La gente tiene hambre,” he said, but Ethan only understood something about a girl.
Eventually, breakfast was served. Most people were too sleepy to complain about warmed up pork and beans again. Andrew was in line and stood with the redheaded girl, who kept her head down but still watched everyone. Ethan kept an eye on her as she and Andrew got closer while he handed out bottles of water.
Angel smiled and waved Ethan away so he could eat with his friends. They sat in the sun in the bleachers, Ethan next to Madison and the redheaded girl sat between Andrew and Madison. They were all quiet as they ate, still waking up.
They were all surprised when a lieutenant walked up to them. He stood in front of them and looked at Ethan. “I have a job for you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Ethan looked up at the officer, a man in his mid-thirties with close-cropped black hair and brown eyes. His desert camo uniform was neatly pressed, and his hat sat squarely on his head. His gaze was commanding as he looked at Ethan.
Ethan was in mid-chew of a slice of hot dog and looked shocked that the lieutenant would even know who he is. “Me, sir?”
“Yes. I need you to go into the city and gather supplies. We need food and water, but I have a list of other things we need.”
Ethan was pleasantly surprised at the request after the cold reception he received from the other soldiers a little over an hour earlier. He liked feeling useful and he knew this was something he could do.
“OK. Yes. Yes, sir. I can do that.”
Andrew asked, “Why are you sending Ethan?”
The lieutenant, who’s name tag said Benton, looked down at Andrew. “You’re the one with questions. I’m short-handed right now. I have a parking lot of vehicles, more tents and sleeping bags than I know what to do with, and enough weapons and ammunition to outfit three platoons, but I don’t have enough personnel. And I just had to send a squad out this morning, which makes it worse. So, I’m relying on civilians who seem to know what they are doing for some jobs. Anything else?” He did not have the tone of someone who appreciated explaining himself.
Andrew closed his mouth and shook his head.
Ethan was still curious, but a little more tactful. “That must have been the truck I heard this morning. Where are they going? I mean, if it's OK for you to tell us.”
Lieutenant Benton looked back at Ethan. “They’re going south. Camp Mabry sent out a helicopter to connect to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. They lost radio contact with the helicopter a few miles from here, and t
hey’ve ordered us to send some people to track them down and mount a rescue, if possible.”
Ethan remembered the blue flash that took down a helicopter when it flew too close to the wildlife ranch and wondered if something similar had happened to this helicopter. But he remembered how Tully and Jeff didn’t believe him when he told them the story in the fire station. He didn’t want the lieutenant to think he was crazy just when he seemed to trust him with a mission.
Madison added, “That must have been the helicopter we heard yesterday.” Andrew and Ethan nodded in agreement.
Benton looked to Madison. “Where and when did you hear it?”
“We were in the outlet mall yesterday,” she cleared her voice. It was apparent she didn’t like discussing that place. “It flew right over our heads. It sounded like it must have been a few feet over the roof and flying really fast. But I don’t know what time it was. Sometime in the afternoon, I guess.”
The lieutenant nodded, acknowledging this new information without explaining anything. Then he looked back to Ethan. “That SUV you came in yesterday should be good. You will be given your weapons back and ammunition for the mission. If you do well, then you’ll be allowed to keep them in camp.”
Andrew said, “I’ll go along and help.”
The lieutenant looked back to Andrew. “Nope, I need you here.”
Now it was Andrew’s turn to look shocked. “Here? Why?”
“You told the sergeant yesterday that you were a paramedic, right? You have medical training? I need your skills here. You’ll be working with Specialist Smith in the medical tent and helping to take care of the people here.” It did not sound like a request.
Madison looked from Andrew to Ethan to the lieutenant. “Is it alright if I go with Ethan? We’ve done this before.”
Ethan looked up at the lieutenant hopefully. The lieutenant looked down at her, his eyes flicked over her for just a second and registered her athletic build. Then he nodded. “Sure. If you want to. Don’t take any stupid risks out there. We need supplies but so do a lot of other people out there. If you get into trouble, then get out of there and find another location.”
“Yes, sir. We understand. We won’t,” Ethan replied. He realized that he was so excited to have a role in the camp that he forgot that he was going to leave and continue his journey to Austin. But he thought that if there was a camp there, then maybe his mother was safe for another day.
“See the sergeant at the entrance, and he will get your weapons back. Here’s the list.” He took a folded piece of paper from his breast pocket and handed it to Ethan. He then turned and walked back into camp. Ethan saw him walk past the rows of tents and back to the command tent on the other side of the football field.
Once the lieutenant was into the camp and out of earshot, Andrew said, “You guys be careful out there. This sounds kind of like bullshit to me.”
Madison asked, “What do you mean?”
“Look at the camp.”
All three of them looked out over the camp. The sun was over the walls of the stadium now, and sunlight was warming the football field. The end zone closest to them was full of people sitting and eating. Ethan saw Angel cleaning out the pot of the last of the pork and beans. In the rows of tents, people were up and walking around. No one seemed to have any place in particular to go or anything in particular to do.
When Ethan and Madison looked back to Andrew, obviously not seeing his point, he continued, “There are lots of people here. There are even lots of soldiers. You know, guys with assault rifles and body armor. Do you really think they need to send out a Boy Scout and a softball catcher to go out on their own to get supplies?”
Ethan and Madison looked at each as they realized that perhaps they weren’t as qualified as they thought.
“And,” Andrew continued, “How much food and water can two people carry in an SUV? I mean, you guys were great back in New Braunfels. But that was for what? Half a dozen people? One trip to one house was all we needed. But this camp might have a hundred people in it. Think a few boxes of mac and cheese are going to cut it?”
Ethan paused to think. He didn’t want to believe that the officer was making a bad decision. He certainly didn’t want to think that he was intentionally sending Ethan out on a dangerous mission. What would be the point?
“Well, maybe he needs those people for something else. Or they are going out on different missions.”
Madison added, “Yeah. Remember ,we saw people collecting gas yesterday.”
Andrew shook his head and took another bite of his pork and beans. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m full of shit, but something doesn’t add up. Just be careful out there.”
Madison smiled and nudged Andrew’s arm as he tried to spoon up the last of his beans. “Aw, are you actually worried about us?”
Andrew looked at her and Ethan. “I don’t know who to trust. I’ve seen a mother kill her kid. I saw a man choke an old lady to death. But so far, you two have been pretty solid. So, stay safe out there.”
The redheaded girl just looked down at her empty plate, but Ethan could tell she was listening.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Ethan and Madison went to the front entrance where the same sergeant from yesterday returned their 9mm semi-auto pistols to them. He offered to return the revolver but told them they didn’t have any .357 ammo to give Ethan. So, Ethan just left it with them. Madison brought her aluminum baseball bat just in case.
They decided to remove one of the rear seats of the SUV so they could make more room for supplies. Despite Andrew’s concerns, they were feeling optimistic they could find enough supplies to make a difference in the camp, even if it was small.
Madison sat in the driver’s seat, and Ethan in the passenger’s.
“One of these days, I’m going to have to give you driving lessons,” she said.
He opened up the piece of paper given to him by the lieutenant and read it out loud to her.
“Non-perishable food of any kind. Drinking water. First-aid supplies. Antibiotics. Pain medicine. Wheelchairs. Propane tanks. I think we can probably find a lot of this stuff at a pharmacy or a grocery store.”
“There’s two of those really close.”
“How close?”
She pointed at the driver’s side window. Ethan looked past her and saw a large shopping plaza just across the open parking lot. There was a Walgreens pharmacy in the same area as an HEB. Parked in the back of the store, near the loading docks, were four semi-trucks. They could have walked there from the stadium. Remembering Andrew’s concerns, they looked at each other.
Ethan said, “I’m sure the soldiers have gone there already.”
“Yeah, but that store is huge. It's the only one in San Marcos. There’s no way that the soldiers could have emptied it out already.”
Ethan looked back at the grocery store and saw how big it was. It would take a dozen soldiers and citizens using one of those large trucks a few days to gather up all of the food in the store.
Madison continued, “He was going to send you alone. In there. I don’t know. I’m starting to think Andrew is on to something.”
Ethan looked back at the list. “Well, whatever. My guess is that they do need this stuff. Let’s just go someplace else. Do you know where there’s another pharmacy?”
Madison nodded.“Well, there’s a CVS nearby. I think I remember how to get there. They would have a lot of that stuff, too. I don’t know about the propane, though.”
“Alright. Let’s do that. Maybe it hasn’t been looted as much. I’m sure everyone ran to the HEB once things got bad.”
Madison started up the SUV and drove them out of the stadium parking lot. The drive was much the same as the day before. Wrecked and parked cars still clogged the side streets and access roads, though the road into and out of the stadium was open thanks to the army.
The cool morning air meant that the stench of the bodies left in the streets wasn’t as bad today. Ethan noticed that there were
fewer vultures, too.
Madison drove slowly and had to backtrack in some areas because the roads were impassable. Ethan looked out at the window as he worked up the courage to bring up a difficult topic. He decided to start with something safe.
“So, how is the girl doing? Has she said anything yet?”
Madison watched for debris in the road as she drove. “Not yet. But just give her time. I’m sure she will come around. She probably is just waiting until she feels safe with us.”
He continued to look out the window, not wanting to look her in the face. “I don’t trust her.”
“Why not?” she asked as if he said he didn’t like puppies.
“Haven’t you seen the way she looks at people? It's like she’s studying them.”
“No, I haven’t seen that. And even if she were, of course, she’s studying people. She doesn’t know anyone. She doesn’t know who to trust.”
“It's not like that. I mean, have you ever seen a cat that’s watching a bird? It's kind of like that. Like she’s trying to figure out when to pounce.”
She shook her head and smiled. “You’re being ridiculous. She barely even looks up. She’s not some kind of predator.”
Ethan flinched at the word. Predator. It seemed to resonate with him at a deep level as if she had touched on a grand truth of the universe. He had trouble making sense of the feeling.
He wondered if he was simply imagining everything. To him, the redheaded girl seemed so obviously dangerous, but no one else was seeing it. Could he be wrong? He didn’t think so, but he didn’t feel like arguing with Madison about it.
“Just…be careful around her, OK?”
She chuckled a little. “Wow, you and Andrew sure have gotten mushy on me. Don’t worry. I can take care of myself.”
He was about to remind her how she couldn’t take care of herself at the outlet mall. But he couldn’t take care of her either. It was a bad situation that could have only been avoided by staying vigilant. The thought reminded him that he needed to stop debating with Madison and get ready for whatever came next at the pharmacy.
Saga of the Scout Page 13
