Praying for War: The Collin War Chronicles

by W. C. Hoffman

  Either Sean had poor control, or he meant to try maiming his fellow recruit. That was over the line.

  Collin stepped forward onto the mat with his arms out to separate the two recruits.

  “That’s enough, recruits. Back in formation,” Collin said.

  Before either recruit stepped off the mat, Major Logan rushed over. He stopped inches from Collin’s face, eyes burning. Major Logan’s whole body quivered with fury.

  Collin met his glare. He wasn’t easily intimated, even by a man like Major Logan.

  “Do you remember what I said last time you disrespected me in front of my Eagles?” Major Logan spoke in a low, tight voice. His teeth clenched and his jaw muscles rippled.

  “I vaguely remember some kind of threat,” Collin said. “But these aren’t your Eagles, they’re our Eagles.”

  As Collin’s statement of ownership ended, Major Logan’s fist connected with his jaw, sending Collin to his knees.

  The recruits gasped in surprise.

  I must be getting old, Collin thought. He brought one leg up so he was kneeling and rubbed his cheek, honestly surprised he’d just been knocked down. The inside of his cheek had a small cut. Blood coated his tongue, and his lips felt puffy but there was no serious damage. His jaw seemed to move fine.

  Collin looked up. Major Logan was still standing close.

  Meeting Collin’s eye, Major Logan pointed to the crowd and shouted, “Fall in line.”

  That’s the way he wants to play it, eh, he thought. Collin smiled. He spit blood out and looked right into Major Logan’s eyes.

  “I’m prepared to bleed for Goshen. Are you?”

  The Major’s face turned tomato red.

  Collin pivoted on his foot, throwing his elbow into Major Logan’s stomach. Collin stood up behind the major grabbed him around the waist, pinning his left arm to his side. In the same movement, Collin stepped behind Major Logan’s left heel and threw him to the ground, hard.

  The major took the toss full on his shoulder, unable to break his fall. He was a tough man and didn’t let the attack unsettle him. Major Logan elbowed Collin in the ribs with his free arm. Then he stepped out with his right foot, pivoted left to face Collin, who still had him by the waist.

  Collin moved his forehead to the center of Major Logan’s chest and tightened his grip around the man’s waist intending to bear hug him back to the mat. Major Logan had already grabbed Collin’s right elbow, threw up his pinned left arm and twisted Collin sharply off balance.

  Collin fell to his back. Major Logan followed him to the floor and began to pound on Collin.

  He’d always hated fighting from the guard position. So Collin covered his head and sat up as best as he could. He threw his arms around Major Logan again, dug his thumb knuckle into the Major’s spine, pulling him close. Major Logan arched his back and grunted in pain, as the hard knuckle dug in roughly. Collin planted his foot, pushed hard with his leg and twisted to roll him over. Now Collin was on top.

  Shoving aside Major Logan’s arms, Collin dropped his elbow right across the major’s cheek bone. Once. Then twice. The skin over the bone split. Collin threw another elbow, aiming the bony point at the bridge of the nose. He connected and Major Logan’s nose snapped. Blood rushed out, rivulets streaming down the sides of Major Logan’s face.

  The man reached for Collin’s face, maybe to gouge his eyes. Collin sat up, squeezed with his knees, and punched Major Logan in the ribs. When his arms came down instinctively to block, Collin swept a hook at the major’s head, connecting with his cheek. The cut widened. Sheets of blood were covering Major Logan’s face. There was no way he could see what he was doing, so Collin eased off.

  As much as he disliked Major Logan, he didn’t want to kill him.

  Collin rolled Major Logan over onto his stomach, while straddling him. He grabbed the Major’s hair and wrapped an arm around his throat. Major Logan clawed at Collin’s arm once he realized what was happening.

  Major Logan tried to head-butt him, but Collin had his head safely out of the way. He hooked his feet together around Logan’s waist. Collin tightened his arm and legs, rolled Major Logan back onto his back so he was lying on top of Collin. Major Logan slapped wildly at his arm.

  It was too late to tap out. Major Logan crossed too many lines.

  Collin began to arch his back, flexing his arm to cut off the blood flow to the major’s head, while squeezing his legs just below the major’s ribs. He stretched the Major out as far as he could, rendering the man completely helpless. Major Logan made a gagging sound and slapped Collin’s arm with an urgency he knew came just before the lights started to go out.

  Collin squeezed harder.

  Major Logan’s attempts to tap out slowed. His body went limp.

  Satisfied that he knocked the major out, Collin immediately released his hold and pushed Major Logan off him. He rolled to the side and stood up slowly. Collin sucked in air, exhausted from the brawl. He leaned forward, hands on his knees, and realized that everyone was staring at him. Some with open mouths.

  On the floor, Major Logan stirred as he began to regain consciousness.

  Collin looked at the stunned crowd. He stood up straight, wiping the Major’s blood off his hands onto his pants.

  “Class dismissed.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Hot water washed away the remaining blood on Collin’s hands as he stood in the shower.

  His bloodied clothes were in a pile on the bathroom floor. He’d deal with washing them later. Collin wanted to get cleaned up before heading to the hospital for his daily routine with Dr. Horner and her staff. It was always nice to see them, even if he had long ago grown tired of the routine.

  Collin hopped out of the shower and dried off. He could already feel the aches that would harass him for the next week or so. He wondered if anyone at the hospital would even notice his minor injuries. They would definitely notice Major Logan’s, if he went in for help.

  Throwing on clean clothes, Collin readied himself for a couple of hours at the hospital. He grabbed his jacket off its hook and left the house.

  He walked quickly down the center of the street, hoping to avoid further conflict. Although Collin didn’t expect another attack, he was unsure how much losing a fight in front of the Eagles might provoke Logan into doing something stupid. So he checked all directions every once in a while, to avoid getting ambushed.

  Too much drama, he thought.

  With a heavy sigh, Collin tried to recapture the joy of his morning. He hadn’t seen another bee and he still didn’t have a chance to tell Koby the news.

  The hospital was still as drab as ever. He went in through the busted front doors and made his way upstairs to begin the monitoring and testing regime Dr. Horner had ordered.

  Due to all the damage from the night of the attack, when he’d woken up, most of the upper floors had been closed off. So Collin only had to go up to the second floor. He exited the stairwell, walked down the dim hallway, and turned right. He pushed through a frosted glass door into what used to be an outpatient clinic.

  Anna sat at the front desk, which was unusual. She was usually busy prepping things, or doing other medical stuff, Collin wasn’t exactly sure what.

  “You get demoted?” Collin said with a brief smile. His fat lip was still tender.

  She looked at him. Something looked a little off with her. Anna gave him a half smile in return and shook her head.

  Collin leaned against the counter and peered through the little glass window at her.

  “Anything new today?” Collin said softly.

  Anna shook her head. “Same as yesterday. Fifty-seven with the fever, forty-nine of which are asleep.”

  “Ugh,” he grunted with the emotional weight of it. “So many. It gets me every time.”

  He thought about the eleven people who chose to end their suffering early. Rather than wither away in their sleep, some opted for the self-imposed route. Collin couldn’t blame them. It was quick, and gave
them a sense of being in control when so many things leading to that point were out of their control. Still, it wasn’t the option that he would go with.

  Collin hadn’t realized the untreated lottery losers would drop at such a rapid rate. After all, spring was just beginning. He thought of his insect visitor that morning and wondered if the fever would be worse now that bees were back in the mix? He needed to talk to Koby.

  “Any casualties today?” he said.

  Anna shook her head again.

  He sighed in relief but he knew that if they didn’t get another shipment of BT76 soon, all of those fifty-nine plus others would die. More than one hundred residents were left out of the latest round of inoculations because of the Viper attack. Collin wished Goshen had the facilities available to keep them all alive, but the small hospital just didn’t have enough capacity. Too much was lost over the years.

  He rubbed his forehead and asked the question he dreaded to ask, “How’s Doris?”

  Anna dreaded answering the question as much as Collin hated asking it, he could tell by the sadness in her eyes.

  “Still asleep in room two,” she said softly.

  Collin was still bitter about how the shortage of BT76 was handled. Even though Doris had been content with the result, he knew it was unfair and just plain wrong. At least she was going the way she wanted to — peacefully in her sleep. He requested to carry Doris to her house, so she could sleep in her own bed. He thought she would like that. But Dr. Horner denied the request because of the logistics involved, and the proximity of the morgue.

  Anna still seemed off. Something other than work was bothering her, Collin could feel it.

  “Come on. I can tell something is bothering you. What’s up?” he said.

  She looked over her shoulder, then down the hall. Finally, she stood up and came out from behind the desk. She walked over to the frosted glass door and looked out into the hallway. Anna glanced back and motioned for Collin to follow her into the hall.

  He raised his eyebrow. “What’s with all the secrecy?”

  Anna looked down the hall again and confident that no one was around said, “Major Logan just left my mom’s office.”

  “Don’t worry about that. We just had to work out a disagreement. These things happen,” said Collin.

  “No, no. I get it. Boys will be boys or whatever,” said Anna. “But that’s not what concerns me.”

  A nurse came around the corner.

  Suddenly Anna nodded and said, “Yes, Doris is still sleeping in room two.”

  The nurse walked toward them. She was holding linens in her hands and walking fairly quick. Collin didn’t recognize her, but she smiled briefly at him.

  “Okay,” said Collin, playing along and returning the nurse’s smile. “Can I go see her?”

  “Of course,” said Anna.

  The nurse passed them and went into a door farther down the hall.

  Anna let out a small sigh.

  “You can’t trust them, Collin,” she said.

  “Don’t you think I know that Logan and I have trust issues?” He pointed to his fat lip.

  “No, it’s not him,” Anna said. “Well, it’s not just him.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Anna glanced around again. Her mother, Dr. Horner, came around the same corner the nurse came from just a moment ago. Anna’s eyes widened and she leaned forward slightly.

  “Not everything in Goshen is what it seems,” Anna said quickly in a low voice. “I heard my mom tell Major Logan that if you knew who you really were, you’d be a threat.”

  Confusion etched itself on Collin’s face.

  “That’s all I know,” she added.

  Dr. Horner was walking toward them, reviewing a clipboard in her hands. She wasn’t moving with the same sense of urgency the nurse had.

  He looked deep into Anna’s eyes, searching for the truth.

  “Who am I?”

  She looked sad and nervous. A tear slipped from her eye.

  “I don’t know,” she said with a shrug.

  Dr. Horner looked up from her clipboard and smiled. Then she noticed Anna’s tears and looked concerned at both of them. Julie put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder.

  “What’s the matter, dear?”

  Collin cut in. “Doris,” he said, channeling the very real sadness he felt.

  Dr. Horner nodded knowingly. She slipped her arm around Anna’s shoulders and kissed her forehead. Doris was close with Anna, often watching her when she was younger and Julie was working.

  “I know, baby. I know,” she said to Anna. Then stepping back and looking at Collin she said, “Are you ready? I believe we have an appointment.”

  Collin nodded and started to follow her down the hall. He glanced back at Anna.

  She mouthed, “Thank you.” She waved a little and then went back inside the office to her desk.

  Collin turned back around and glanced sideways at the doctor. You can’t trust them, Anna told him. It’s not all what it seems. Collin got the feeling things in Goshen were about to get interesting.

  “I figured you would be down here,” Dr. Horner said. “You and Doris became close didn’t you?”

  Collin shrugged. Given what Anna had told him, he didn’t want to share any information that he didn’t have to.

  “Well, I don’t blame you for feeling down. She was a lovely woman. Very kind,” she said, her voice trailing off. She pushed open the door to office. Collin followed her inside.

  “She is a lovely woman. She’s not gone yet,” Collin said defensively.

  “Of course.” Dr. Horner led him through the office to the examination room. Not that Collin didn’t know exactly where it was. He’d been there nearly every day since he agreed to help her find a vaccine for the fever.

  The examination room looked typical. A small counter and a sink with locked cabinets on one side. Posters on the wall displayed an anatomical view of the human in the traditional DaVinci pose. A cheap, metal wire chair with black padding, sat in the corner for companions. There was also a short rolling chair for the doctor to sit in. In place of the normal metal bed, there was a chair that more closely resembled a dentist’s chair.

  Collin sat down in the dentist-like chair, ready for Dr. Horner or one of the nurses, to drain him of yet more blood. He folded up his sleeve for the doctor. Glancing down he saw a bunch of little marks where medical staff had stuck him with needles. Both of his arms looked like that now. He shook his head, then sat back, and mulled over what Anna had said to him.

  Dr. Horner interrupted his thoughts. “There’s no need for that today.”

  “Why not?” Collin asked suddenly suspicious to the change of routine.

  “You’ve given so much blood at a fairly rapid pace. It wouldn’t be safe to take anymore right now,” Dr. Horner said. She smiled at him. “I’ve been monitoring your platelet count. Your white blood cell count is low. I don’t want to compromise your immune system any more. We don’t want you to get sick.”

  “Well that’s a relief,” he said. “I hate giving blood.”

  Dr. Horner chuckled and pointed at his face. “It looks like you already made a donation today.”

  “You should see the other guy,” Collin said. He watched for her reaction. But she gave no indication how she felt about it. No smile, no disapproving look.

  “If the other guy comes in for treatment, I’ll get a very good look,” Dr. Horner said. “Who was it, if I may ask?”

  Collin wasn’t sure if she was messing with him or just flat out lying. He hadn’t seen Major Logan since he’d left him crumpled on the floor at the gym, and it was possible Anna was the one lying to him. He hesitated, then decided to play along with the doctor.

  “Actually, Major Logan did this to my face,” Collin said. He gestured to his fat lip. There was a small bruise on his cheek, but it wasn’t very obvious. His lip had changed color and stuck out like he was trying to hitch a ride.

  Dr. Horner feigned surprise, overa
cting. Collin knew right away that Anna had told him the truth.

  Two taps on the door interrupted them. Dr. Horner pushed her chair over to the door and opened it. It was Pastor Pendell. He smiled and walked inside.

  Other than seeing Pastor Pendell at church, this was the first time since the lottery conversation in the Council meeting that they met face to face. They hadn’t spoken in the three weeks since. Tension filled the air.

  Pastor Pendell smiled at the doctor. Then he sat in the guest chair and looked at Collin.

  Both of them were smiling at him, which was weird. Collin felt like a young child about to find out that his parents were divorcing.

  Pastor Pendell sat forward with his hands on his knees. He glanced at the doctor, then back at Collin. The smile was still plastered on his face.

  “Have you told him yet?” he asked.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Told me what?” Collin asked.

  Pastor Pendell jumped up, startling him.

  “We have a cure!” he shouted. “Praise the Lord, we have a cure.”

  The pastor stood and smiled.

  Collin looked at the doctor. She rolled her eyes.

  “We might have a cure,” Dr. Horner said, with measured enthusiasm.

  Pastor Pendell sat down and put his arm around her shoulder.

  “Come on, doctor. The good Lord has blessed us with this miracle. Don’t be so skeptical.” He gave her a squeeze.

  “It could be an effective treatment or it could be a deadly weapon. At this point, we don’t really know,” Dr. Horner said. She looked at the pastor. “It will take more testing before we know for sure, pastor. Please leave the medical determination to me.”

  “It’s progress, is it not?”

  “It is-”

  “Yes, it’s a huge step forward for Goshen.” Pastor Pendell looked at Collin. “I told you our town was blessed.”

  “Progress doesn’t mean cure. And several positive test results do not make it a miracle. We can’t make such sweeping statements based on preliminary results. I don’t come into your church and give sermons on a whim, do I?” Dr. Horner said.