by John Grit
Nate looked around again and saw dead men everywhere he looked. “She went after them.”
Deni wiped blood off her cut lip and spit more blood.
“They did hurt you.” Brian knelt beside her.
“I saw stars when that one kicked me, but I’m all right.” Deni laid her hand on Brian’s shoulder. “Give me that bastard’s guns and any ammo he has. Then you two go after Caroline. She took one in the side.”
Nate grabbed the man’s AK-47 clone and three magazines. He handed them to Deni and then took the pistol he had in his own pack out and gave her that and two magazines. “You two stay here. I’ll go get Caroline.”
Semiautomatic fire erupted in the distance.
“Caroline,” Deni said. She still lay on the ground, looking into the woods.
“I tried to stop her, but then Brian took off to help you.” Nate glared at Brian.
Brian glared back. “And you just had to come after me?”
“Okay, guys.” Deni looked up at Nate. “He did get here just in time.”
Coughing from behind Brian alerted them that the man he'd shot was still alive.
Brian stood and turned on him, aiming the rifle.
The man opened his eyes. “Help me.”
Brian shot him through his heart. “No…freaking…way!”
“Cool it.” Nate put his left hand on Brian’s shoulder. “Stay with her. I’ll go see about Caroline.”
“You didn’t hear what he said, Dad.”
“That’s not what I mean. He had to die and would have in a few more minutes. You did him a favor. I mean keep your head on straight.”
Nate had walked about half a mile when he heard someone coming through the brush. He stepped behind a cedar tree and waited.
Caroline appeared between two trees. She was limping more than usual.
Nate rushed to her. He helped her to a crooked palm tree, growing horizontally from one of many Indian mounds in the area, before turning up toward sunlight. “Sit down.” While scanning the wall of green surrounding them, Nate asked, “Are you being pursued?”
“No, those bastards are in hell,” Caroline said. “Where are Deni and Brian?”
“Back at the creek. They’re okay.” Nate cut her pants leg away and saw the wound. “Damn it. Don’t walk on that again.” He yanked his pack off and pulled out what little medical supplies he had. After ripping a package open, he poured the contents on her wound. “This stuff came from Mel’s cave.” He pulled her shirt up and examined a wound that entered and exited just under her flesh over a rib. “That one’s not bad. The stuff I used on your leg will stop the bleeding.” He looked up at her. “But it will have to be surgically removed later.”
She rolled her eyes. “Great. Don’t use it on my ribs then.”
“We are a long ways from the bunker, and now there are two stretcher cases. Your leg was bleeding too much. It had to be stopped.”
Caroline’s chest heaved. “Well, wrap it up and let’s get going.”
“Do me a favor: do not walk on that leg again. I’ll go back, and Brian and I will carry Deni here.”
“Then what? Carry both of us in that water tank?”
Nate tied the bandage off and stood. “We will carry you one at a time.”
“That will take forever.”
Nate took a canteen out of Caroline’s pack and handed it to her. “We might still make it to the bunker by nightfall.” He picked up his carbine. “If you walk on that leg, you will bleed to death. Stay here.” He ran.
Brian was alert and saw his father at the same time he saw Brian. “Deni’s out again.” He seemed worried. “Not long after you left, her eyelids looked like they were getting too heavy for her and she went out like a light.” He looked behind Nate. “Where is Caroline?”
“She’s got a nasty leg wound. We’ll have to carry them both.” Nate walked over to Deni with Brian following.
They got her in the water tank and started for Caroline.
When they arrived an hour later, Caroline was passed out on the ground.
Nate checked her breathing. “She’s out from loss of blood.”
“Damn, Dad. My leg got infected from a little .22, and we used all the antibiotics.”
“I know.” Nate saw ants crawling on her. He brushed them off. “You stay with Deni. I’ll carry Caroline about fifty yards and then come back to help you carry Deni. We’ll keep doing that, fifty yards or so at a time.”
“So we’re going to do that the whole way?” Before Nate answered, Brian said, “Okay. We can do that.”
“We’ll have to.” Nate picked Caroline up and left Brian standing there.
~~~~
Brian fell. His end of the water tank hit the ground and made a dull, metallic sound that reverberated through the darkening forest.
Nate put his end of the tank down and rushed to Brian. “You hurt?”
“No. God damn it. I dropped her and made enough noise to let anyone around know we’re here, though.” Brian’s clothes were soaked with sweat, and he could barely stand from fatigue.
Deni woke up. “What’s wrong?” She gripped the pistol Nate gave her.
“Nothing,” Nate and Brian said in chorus.
“Sit down somewhere in cover and rest, Brian,” Nate said. “Both of you be quiet in case someone did hear the tank hit that root.”
They waited thirty minutes. No one came. The time gave Brian a chance to get his second wind.
Just as it grew too dark to see, they reached Caroline. She was sitting up, her back against a pine tree, and her carbine in her hands.
“Brian,” Nate said, “stand watch while the rest of us eat.”
“Okay.” Brian left his pack by the water tank. He found a magnolia to stand under, taking advantage of its hiding shade.
“That boy has been carrying his own weight all day,” Deni said.
“I know.” Nate gave her a package of reconstituted soup and some crackers. “After I eat, he does, and then he goes to sleep. We’re not going any farther until morning.”
Caroline said, “It’s not far now. I can walk the rest of the way.”
“No!” Nate pointed at her leg. “There were blood vessels spurting. You get them to bleeding again and you’re dead. I didn’t carry you this far for nothing.”
There was silence for several seconds.
“In that case, I’m dead anyway,” Caroline said. “Unless there’s a surgeon around I don’t see.”
“They’re minor blood vessels. But you can bleed out if you try to walk.” Nate stopped to think. “They can be sown back together.”
“By whom? You?” Caroline asked.
“Maybe.” Nate did not seem too sure. “We still have Mel’s painkillers. So you will be out of pain, and I’ll have plenty of time—if you haven’t lost too much blood from walking. You will lose a lot during the operation.”
“But we have no antibiotics.” Caroline’s voice was emotionless.
“People survived surgery before there were antibiotics.” Nate lost patience. “Caroline, think of it this way: That leg was ripped up by a man. Are you going to let that asshole kill you? Or are you going to show him you’re too tough to let some prick get the best of you?”
There was silence for nearly five seconds. Then Caroline started to laugh. “You know how to screw with my head, don’t you?”
“We can’t afford to lose you,” Nate said.
~~~~
False dawn came. Nate had stood watch all night. He woke Brian. “Time to get moving. We will be at the bunker in two hours or so.”
Brian sat up and looked around. “You should have woken me to stand watch.” He got up off the ground and bent over Deni, who was still in the water tank. He could hear her slow breathing. He spoke to his father, “She’s asleep.”
Nate woke Caroline. He thought about just picking her up while she was still asleep, but thought she would likely wake up and shoot him, thinking he was attacking her.
They were clo
ser to the bunker than Nate had thought and arrived less than an hour after sunrise. Nate stood at the door, waiting for Martha to unbolt it, dreading telling her and her children about Ben.
Chapter 23
Martha and Cindy had little time to grieve. They went to work helping Caroline, while Nate and Brian got Deni comfortable. Their tears and worries about how they could go on without Ben did not slow their efforts to save Caroline’s leg and her life.
Tommy sat in a corner with Synthia. He was in a daze, not understanding why his father did not return with the others and his mother and sister were crying.
Carrie, as usual, paid little attention to the world outside her head. She did seem to wonder why Caroline was lying on the table they usually ate on.
Nate explained how the coagulant would have to be removed with a scalpel. He did not mention the damaged blood vessels.
Dead tired, Nate and Brian went to the cave and got all the medical supplies Nate thought they might need for the operation. He took the smallest suture kits for the blood vessels and larger ones to close the wound later. He also found a magnifier visor and bottles of alcohol. Oh God, how am I going to do this? He walked out into the bright morning with his hands full of duffel bags.
Brian closed and locked the cave door. He searched the woods for danger, his father’s rifle ready, while they walked back to the bunker.
Caroline was in a lot of pain, but kept still and quiet on a small table, waiting for what came next.
Nate read several of Mel’s notes on analgesics. He picked up a bottle and held it in a ray of sunlight that streamed in through a loophole. He did the same with two more bottles. “This stuff is all old. And she’s lost a lot of blood. Probably too much to use any of this.”
“Oh, to hell with it.” Caroline ripped at the bandages. “Forget the painkiller. How much can it hurt?”
Brian gaped at her and blinked with his mouth half open.
“You said you can fix me,” Caroline said. “Well, stop wasting time. Get to it.”
Nate stepped back. “I…”
“Nuts,” Caroline said. “The big man has chickened out. Look at him. He’s as green as Brian. Martha, you do it. This is a job for a woman’s courage anyway.”
Martha wiped her face. “Nate is the best friend you will ever have. Why are you torturing him like this? Can’t you see…” She caught herself. “Brian, pump water while I wash my hands and arms.” She walked to the pump and picked up a bar of lye soap.
Nate took his filthy jacket off and scrubbed up to his elbows, cleaning swamp mud out from under his nails as best he could. He looked at Martha as he scrubbed. “There are blood vessels that have to be sutured back together. The smaller ones can be cauterized, but the larger ones are needed if she is to keep her leg.”
Though this was the first Martha heard of Caroline needing such delicate surgery, she nodded as if she were confident she could do the operation.
“I will need your help,” Nate said.
“Cindy,” Martha said, “light up the gas stove.” Nate had just lifted a heavy burden from Martha’s shoulders, but the relief scarcely showed on her face.
Gunfire echoed in the distance.
Brian grabbed his father’s rifle and looked out a loophole. “Who are they shooting at?”
Nate thought for a moment. “Must be the vigilantes.”
“Wow. They’re serious, aren’t they?” Brian searched through another loophole. “I can’t believe they’re hunting those lowlifes all the way out here in the woods.”
Nate stood erect. “Listen!”
No one said a word.
Deni spoke. “Rotorcraft. More than one.”
“Yeah,” Nate said. “Coming this way.”
The hum turned into a roar and debris flew outside in a whirlwind of leaves.
Brian pointed the rifle out a loophole.
Nate grabbed it. “No.” He set it in a corner.
The Huey hovered while four soldiers slid down ropes. They ran and formed a defense perimeter, then got down on one knee, carbines pointing outward.
The ropes were retracted and the helicopter landed. A soldier got out while the blades slowed to a stop. He looked older than the others did.
No one but Brian had ever seen Nate smile so much. “Look at that, Brian. It’s Mel!”
“Holy shit!” Brian ran for the door.
Nate pulled him back. “Bolt the door behind me. And no shooting or pointing weapons at them.” Nate stepped out and swung the heavy steel door closed. He heard a bolt slide into place as he held his arms up, hands open, and walked toward the soldiers.
When Mel saw Nate, he ran to him and shook his hand. “You son of a gun. You made it! Where are Susan and the kids?”
Nate looked at the other soldiers. He noticed one of them was a colonel. “Susan and Beth got sick and died. Brian is inside with some others.”
“Oh, hell. I’m sorry.” Mel could not possibly be surprised, but it still bothered him. “Jesus Christ, you’re a tough son of a bitch, Nate.” He looked him up and down. “How in the hell did you keep Brian alive this long?” He glanced at the bunker. “We’ve been to your farm. It was picked clean by the assholes we’re hunting. They didn’t burn the house down though.”
“Yeah. I know,” Nate said. “A lot of my stuff is out on the road, some in disabled trucks.”
The colonel spoke. “You the one who booby-trapped those trucks? We lost a man.”
“No, sir,” Nate answered. “It was the ones you’re hunting. I did put out a few punji sticks in the woods. Shouldn’t be hard to notice. There are dead men there.”
“There are dead men everywhere.” The colonel eyed Nate closer.
“Some of the stuff in those trucks was stolen from us,” Nate said. “We need it to survive until the next harvest. I would like to get back as much as possible.”
“We’ll see about that later. I hear you were in the Army.” The colonel cocked his head.
“Yes, sir,” Nate said, “in a former life.”
The colonel’s eyes lit up. “You wouldn’t be the one who held that bunch of brigands up at the bridge for so long, would you?”
“Me and my son—and a few friends.”
“Colonel,” Mel said, “with your permission…I haven’t seen his son since I was called in. He’s an old friend.”
“Go ahead, soldier. We will be here a while.”
Mel ran to the bunker.
The colonel turned to Nate. “You left a lot of rotting garbage strewn all the way from the bridge to here. I’m sure there’s a law against that. But you made my job easier, so I’ll let it go this time.” He smiled as if it was a private joke only he was in on.
“We were trying to protect our farm so we would not starve. What is your job, exactly?” Nate asked. “Is there no Constitution now?”
The colonel gave him a wintry smile. “That’s a political question. Ask a politician.” He cleared his throat. “You might want to know that Congress is down to thirty-three men and women—both houses—total. The president is still kicking, but his VP died in the plague along with the common folk. There are two left on the Supreme Court, last I heard. The plague was especially hard on older people.” He made a long sweep with his right arm. “I’ve got men out there hunting down those you tangled with. We’re working in cooperation with your newly-elected county sheriff and several hundred citizens he deputized.” His face hardened. “They’ve had enough of lawlessness and asked us to help exterminate the vermin so they can get on with the business of rebuilding. For the time being, their focus is on extermination, not law. The governor agrees.”
“There are two groups,” Nate said. “The one that crossed the bridge is the worst, but the others aren’t exactly boy scouts. They raided our farm while we were fighting off the first group at the road.”
The colonel nodded. “We have most of your boy scouts in custody. They surrendered without a fight. Good thing. There were a few children with them. It could have
been bloody. Like this bunch in the woods around here.”
“It was bloody,” Nate said. “One of your choppers attacked them on the road along with the other group.”
Nate stood silent while a radio came to life.
A soldier listened.
When the soldier did not call him over, the colonel turned back to Nate.
Nate spoke first. “Colonel, what hit us? I mean, does the government know where the plague came from?”
“I’m just a colonel. All I know is it spread around the world fast and nearly wiped the human race off the face of the earth.”
“Just a colonel, huh?”
“That’s right, Mr. Williams. And you’re just a civilian.”
They stood there and said nothing for ten seconds, both knowing the other was not going to say what he was really thinking.
Synthia was crying for some reason.
The colonel sighed. “As you probably know, there is a shortage of everything because of a lack of manpower. We will be leaving soon. We’re low on fuel. And there is no telling how long it will be before you see another sign of government. You will be on your own again, but if I can help you with anything while I’m here, I will.”
“We have two women in need of medical care,” Nate said. “One is a civilian. The other is Army. She was on leave when it hit the fan. It’s not her fault she’s AWOL.”
The colonel smiled. “Sergeant.”
“Yes, sir,” the soldier answered.
“Get Doc Reynolds here.”
“Yes, sir.” The soldier talked into a radio microphone.
The colonel headed for the bunker. Three soldiers followed with their carbines ready and eyes sweeping the area.
“Mel says he built this place.” The colonel rested his hand on a Colt 1911 strapped on his right side.
“Yes,” Nate said. “You want to see it?”
“What I really want to see are the people inside.”
Brian was introducing everyone to Mel when Nate and the colonel walked in.
Mel spoke up. “Sir, there are people here in need of medical attention.”
“Yes, I know,” the colonel said. “We have the doc on the way.”
Caroline looked the colonel up and down. “You mean the damn Army is actually going to be good for something for a change?”
