George (Book 2): The Long Road Ahead

by Le Clair, Scarlet

  “One hour and forty minutes and counting.” She smiled back. “See you later George”

  I turned and walked away, cringing when I heard their loudly whispered argument from behind me. Wow was I going to be unpopular.

  Next stop was the hospital wing. I washed my hands at the nurse’s station before entering the ward, after the nurse had entered the door code.

  Will was sat with Nia, he was reading to her, her eyes were closed but she had a smile on her face. When they heard the squeak of the door opening they both looked at me.

  “I’m sorry, were you resting?” I smiled apologetically and stopped half in the room and half out in case they wanted me to leave.

  “No, just listening to uncle Will reading. He used to do it for me when I was little.” A little of her color was coming back and she looked a lot better even in the short time that I was gone.

  “Why Will, I didn’t know you could read?” I teased

  “Cheeky” he returned, throwing the book at me, missing and falling just short at my feet.

  I picked up the book and threw it back at him, then nodded with my head that he should join me out in the corridor.

  “I’ll be back in a moment love” Will placed the book on the bed by the side of her.

  “All ok?” she looked at me worried.

  “Yeah all is good, just updating Will on tomorrows duties. Amelia says hi, I’m sure that once she’s been cleared that she will come to see you.” I tried to sound re assuring.

  “Mmmm well ok then. See you later George” she gave me a suspicious look to which I stuck my tongue out. Nia rolled her eyes and laughed before picking up the book and reading it.

  “What’s up?” Will closed the door behind him fully, hearing the lock click into place.

  “Let’s go and find the doc so that I can tell you together” I said turning and heading towards her office.

  She was sat in her office behind her desk writing in a yellow legal notepad.

  “Hey Doc, I’ve spoken to the captain. He wants us all to meet in his office tonight at 7. Just to go over the final details, I’d appreciate it if you could join us.”

  “Yes of course, that’s excellent news. Thank you both, I really appreciate it.” She beamed at us.

  “Will are you still in? I’d like to take a team of six”

  “Yeah of course I’m still in. Adam and Billy?” Will replied.

  The other two men were just obvious choices. We knew them well and knew that we could trust them.

  “I hope so yeah, If Amelia let’s Adam” I winked letting them know that I was joking, well kind of.

  “Ok that’s excellent. I cannot tell you how excited I am to be getting the meds that we need. I don’t suppose that there’s any chance of me tagging along?” she looked really hopeful, I wasn’t sure if she was just as stir crazy here as me or if it was because she wanted to see something from a life long gone.

  “You’d have to ask the captain, to be honest I think that you would be needed more here than with us. We have the list you gave us and any plans and info that you have on the facility would be extremely useful” I smiled at her not wanting her to think that I didn’t want her to come.

  Truth was I didn’t want her on the supply run with us. She was just another person that we would have to protect, her knowledge of the facility would come in handy but she could also get in the way and get harmed. Anything could happen on these runs. I didn’t want to make the call that could see our camp without a doctor.

  “Ok I shall come to the meeting later and perhaps you are correct. I probably am of more use if I stay here. I’ll write down all I can remember about the facility, here take my key card, it will grant you access to most of rooms there.” She handed the key card to me, her hand felt cold against mine, it caused me to shudder.

  “Sorry, it’s the air con” she said by way of explanation.

  “You’re lucky you have it, wait until you get to the captain’s office later” I laughed.

  “I’ll bet. Right I’ll go and check on Nia’s dressing now and maybe give her a new one. You two go get some dinner or take a walk ok? Give her a few hours rest.” The doctor advised using her no-nonsense voice. She sounded quite stern when she wanted to.

  “Just don’t tell her about the run ok doc?” Will begged giving his best puppy dog look.

  “No problem, I’m the one wanting her to get rest and not be worried. She didn’t sleep particularly well last night, I’ll be giving her a sedative this evening around 8. So, I’ll need all visitors gone by then. It should knock her out for a good twelve hours.”

  “Ok, sounds good, tell her I’ll come back later. See you later doc”

  “Bye Will” she smiled at him and I swear she batted her eyelashes.

  “Bye doc” I grinned

  “Uh yes, bye George” she cleared her throat and looked away quickly but not before I saw the scarlet shade of her cheeks.

  Will and I left the office and walked towards the canteen.

  “What are you grinning about?” Will asked

  “That doctor wants you” I wiggled my eyebrows

  “Wants me to do what?” he asked looking totally confused.

  “You know, she wants you, she wants your body” I sang in a mocking tone.

  “Shut up, no, she... Really?”

  “Yeah man, how can you not see the way that she looks at you?”

  “I guess I never really noticed. Huh, she is kinda cute” he looked really pleased about it. I chuckled but remained silent and left him to his thoughts.

  We entered the canteen and joined Billy at a table close to the main doors, he was just finishing up his food.

  “What’s for lunch today?” Will asked clapping him on the back.

  “Hey guys, its pasta with a watery white sauce. It’s really good though” he answered with his mouthful.

  I carried on walking to the serving hatch to get my bowl, it did look and smell delicious. Will was close on my heels, probably just as ravenous as I was.

  I saw a familiar face in the kitchen, Kandace smiled at us and came to serve Will and me.

  “Hey boys, how are you both” her eyes flickered to me, then to Will. Another person feeling bad for me.

  “I’m ok thanks, all things considered” I answered honestly.

  “That’s great George. How’s Nia?” she scooped up the pasta and put it into a white bowl with little pink flowers over it.

  “She’s getting better but doc wants her to stay in a few more days” Will replied grabbing my bowl of food as I was too slow.

  “Hey” I complained

  “Too slow, sorry not sorry” will laughed ducking out of my way and back to the table. I shook my head and chuckled.

  “The cheek!” Kandace said smiling, she placed an extra scoop into my bowl and winked at me.

  “See you later George”

  “You too sweetheart, thank you” I held my bowl in salute and walked back to the table.

  Billy had gotten us a jug of water and three white mugs and placed it in the middle of the table.

  “I was just filling Billy in on the doc’s mission for us” Will informed me, in between huge forkfuls of food that he was shoving into his mouth like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. But then again, we hadn’t eaten properly in months, since we had to ration everything.

  “What do you think? Are you in?” I took a bite of my own, the creamy richness was so good. A little watery but it didn’t take away from the flavor.

  “Yeah, the captain has already asked me to join you” Billy smiled, he had just eaten the last of his food and took a sip of water.

  “That’s great thank you. It’s nice to know we will have a few men there that will watch our backs.”

  “Captain Coopers men are our men now and they will protect you and the other members of this compound above all others” Billy sounded so serious, that at first, I thought that he was being sarcastic. But one look at his face told me that he fully believed what he was s
aying.

  Will looked at me with his eyes wide. A ‘what the hell was that’ kinda look.

  “I’m sure they will” I nodded. I fully believed that they would protect us for as long as they could. However, I wasn’t sure how many of them had been through what Will and his men had, had Captains cooper men ever had a near miss? I wasn’t so sure about how things would go down if we were backed into a corner, I’d like to think that they would help us out but sometimes when it came down to it, some people were ‘every man for themselves’.

  Billy nodded seeming satisfied with my response. “I’ve decided to join the military, they need all the men that they can get now plus this would give me the extra training and fitness that I need to survive in this harsh new world.” He told us proudly, puffing out his chest.

  The last bit seemed as though he was reading from a script, maybe they were the Lieutenants. words and not Billy’s. Didn’t matter though because what he was saying was correct. Those skills would help him to survive should anything happen to this place.

  Billy had given me an idea. He and Will started to talk about Nia and her health. I finished my food and collected the three bowls, taking them back to the hatch. Kandace was no longer in sight, so I thanked the tall thin woman who had now taken over.

  Instead of going back to the table I made my way to the notice board, there were many things on here. Weapons training times, available jobs, missing people posters could be put on the board at the back of the room now as this one was getting too full.

  I made a note of the survival training days and times. I wanted to be able to care for myself and my friends should we ever find ourselves alone in the world again.

  Survival training was a mixture of little skills. Building camp fires, how to build a shelter out of items you can find outside, a little weapons training and more. I’d see the captain and see if a few of us could attend the next session.

  “George I’m headed out, I have rounds. I’ll meet up with you all later” Billy called out. I gave a small wave and retraced my steps back to the table.

  “You headed back to see Nia?” I asked Will, already knowing what the answer would be.

  “Yeah, I’m going to have a shower first” he leaned back in his chair, yawned and gave a huge stretch. He had dark circles under his eyes.

  This last week had taken a lot out of all of us. I knew that Will and Adam felt the loss of my family deeply. I should talk to them and thank them for being there and for taking care of…well for doing what needed to be done. I just wasn’t ready.

  I nodded, we were allowed to use the showers but sparingly. The water was only luke warm but it was soooo good.

  “Ok, I have a few things I need to get done also.” I didn’t tell him about the training sessions, I’m sure he already knew but I wanted to ask the Captain if he could fit us in first.

  I left the canteen just after him and headed to the rooms they were currently using for classrooms. Until the other compound was ready, the schooling area was located in the corridor adjacent to the canteen.

  I arrived in the corridor quickly and followed the joyful sound of children’s laughter.

  Chapter 5

  I stood outside the first room that I came to. The door to the classroom was closed. I watched the teacher talk to the children through the glass window in the top of the door. I couldn’t hear what he said to them but the little people seemed to love it. It tugged at my heart strings to watch their little faces light up at something their teacher had said.

  I began to get all choked up, before I started crying again I knocked at the door. The teacher came to the door “Can I help you?” his voice was deep but remarkably gentle.

  He had chocolate brown skin and his eyes were Jade. His jet-black hair was shaved closely to his head and he had on a pair of combat trousers and navy t shirt. He wore a guarded expression on his face. After all, it was his job to protect our future generation and he didn’t know me.

  “Yeah, I was looking for the library room, please?” my eyes flickered to the curious little faces back in the room.

  “Oh, its two doors down on the left” he pointed down the corridor. I nodded my thanks and started to walk that way, I heard the classroom door close, once again leaving me alone.

  The library room was no more than a few shelves of tattered books that people had brought from home with them or that the soldiers had found. Books were not a high priority but they would come in handy for the children.

  I had a good look through the paperbacks and choose a few books of different genres that I thought Nia may like, anything to help her with her boredom. It might convince her to stay a little while longer in the hospital wing if she had something to distract her.

  I signed out the books on a little pad that had been left there and exited the room, closing the door softly behind me.

  I could hear loud excited voices from the classroom opposite the library and peeked in. These were older children, I’d say from the ages of 10-13. At the age of 14 the captain felt that they were old enough to train with the adults.

  The teacher had them doing fitness in this classroom, they were playing some sort of indoor obstacle course. All of the tables and chairs had been stacked neatly around the walls of the room giving them plenty of room to run and jump about.

  I laughed at the teacher showing them how to do it and pretending to be clumsy, to take off any apprehension some of the smaller ones may have had.

  She saw me watching her and waved, her red cheeks giving away that she was embarrassed at being caught playing the fool. I turned away not wanting to distract her further and it was then that I saw the notice board, they were asking for any books people may still have and advertising for a classroom assistant/librarian.

  I left slowly, heading back towards the hospital wing. Excited to tell Nia about the new job opportunity that would be perfect for her. She was kind and caring but could be super strict and kind of scary when she needed to be. Good traits for a teacher and/or librarian. However, I also had in mind what the doctor had said about Nia getting some rest, so I took the scenic route, around the exterior of the buildings. I paused to watch the construction of the new fences over at compound two, after the last attack they were wasting no time and it already looked a lot more secure than before. They had inserted large metal spikes that ran from the fence panels and into the ground in the hopes, it would make the fence more secure.

  It was a little busier in the medical area this time. Nurse Amy was accompanied by another man and woman, not dressed in medial gear but dressed smartly in trousers and shirts. They were taking instructions off Amy and looking closely at a dummy person.

  “What did that Dummy ever do to you” I chirped.

  “why? You offering to take its place?” Amy asked.

  I got closer and could see a rubber band around its arm and a needle poking out of it.

  I could feel myself getting paler “Uh, no thanks, I’ll stick to just visiting” I gave her a small grin, feeling slightly squeamish.

  “Chicken” she teased and inclined her head that I should follow her.

  I grinned at the two students and got a chuckle out of them before following Nurse Amy.

  She entered the code to the ward and for once when I entered the room, Nia was alone. She had changed into a bright orange vest top and grey shorts. It was a little warmer in here now but still not as hot as the captain’s office was earlier on.

  “Hey George” Nia smiled, placing down the book that she had been reading. The cover was missing off it and so I wasn’t sure what it was but she seemed to be enjoying it.

  “Hey sweetheart, I’ve brought you some more books, but I wasn’t sure what ones you would like“I handed her the pile of books.

  She looked through them, I noticed that when she stacked them onto her side table she added the horror ones on top.

  “So, you like the scary ones huh?” I grinned and nodded towards the stack.

  “Yeah, love a good mu
rder mystery too. What did you think I’d like?”

  “Uh, those girly gooey romance books with the hot hunks and steamy scenes.” I wiggled my eyebrows up and down.

  “Oh, don’t worry, I’ve got my very own real-life hunks right here” she winked.

  “I can take those others back if you want?”

  “Nah that’s ok, I’ll give them a go. Thank you for bringing them. I’m so bored here. Tell me what you’ve been up to?” she settled back into her array of different cushions which had been propped up behind her and I got comfortable in the chair.

  I filled her in on what I had been up to and what was for dinner, she said that she had already had her dinner and got extra helpings. I explained about the job boards and the available teaching assistant/librarian opening. Her eyes sparkled when I told her and she said that she would speak to the captain as soon as possible.

  This made me happy and I knew that Will would be over the moon also. The job would be much safer for her than securing and cleaning out the second compound. Plus, as a teacher she was less likely to be called on for sentry duty or supply missions.

  “I’ll be seeing the captain later, I shall let him know of your interest in the position” she clapped her hands together excitedly and did a little dance. Before she took in a sharp breath and her face creased in pain.

  “Are you ok” I stood up and moved to her side.

  “Yeah I’m good. They have had to cut back on pain killers as we are running out”

  “That’s not good, you need them” I was worried about her, tomorrow couldn’t come quick enough. I would make sure that we got everything we could off the list.

  “It’s ok, I just caught it in the sheets as I was doing my happy dance” she smiled up at me.

  “As long as you’re sure?” I sat back down, still concerned but knowing that until we got the extra medication there wasn’t any more that I could do for her.

  “Yeah, I’m good really, I promise to say in the hospital until the doctor clears me. Oh, and George could you do me a favor?”

  “Yeah, anything” I meant it

  “When you go on the supply run could you please look for some art supplies?” she smiled widely and batted her eyelashes.