Elna rushed forward then. She had to do something. Malin was getting pulverized. However, as she rushed toward them, she saw his left hand reach out and grab the fallen syringe. As Mark grabbed his hair and lifted his head off his chest, Malin struck, driving the syringe into the soft spot at the base of Mark’s neck, just above his shoulder. It sank deeply, but Mark thrashed, elbowed Malin in the face, and reached up to pull the syringe out.
Dropping the rifle, Elna grabbed Mark’s hand and tried to pull it away from his neck, but he was strong. It was like trying to grapple with a wild horse. Elna was dragged forward as Mark grabbed the syringe despite her best effort.
At the last second, as the needle started to slide out of his neck, she saw a different approach. Instead of trying to hold on to his hand, she let go and slammed her palm against the plunger.
“No, what is that?” he said. She heard the strain in his voice. “What did you do to me?”
“A little medicine to help you calm down, Dr. Baker,” she replied.
He was still trying to pull the syringe out, even as she pushed her full weight against it. His strength won out, and she finally toppled to one side. But she’d already injected most of the syringe. He held it up, saw this, and cast the syringe aside with a loud curse. Then he shoved Malin off of him and rose to his knees.
Elna reached for the rifle, but Mark saw what she was doing and batted the rifle aside. It went spinning down the hall. He clenched a fist, as if he intended to take a swing at her.
“Punch me while you can,” Elna said. “You’ll be sleeping for a week.”
But the EMT rushed in then. He grabbed Mark’s right hand and forced it around behind him. Then he shoved him onto his belly and dropped down on top of him, driving a knee against the small of his back. Clearly, the sedative was already having an effect. Mark seemed helpless now, groaning and wriggling but unable to break free.
Elna couldn’t resist thinking, and the prey takes down the predator.
“Man, I was supposed to come up here and escort these people and their stolen goods off the grounds,” the EMT said. “Instead, I find some random folks fighting them tooth and nail. That was pretty awesome.”
“Yeah, it was pretty awesome,” Elna said.
“You know, there’s another guy on the stairs. He’s knocked out cold.”
“Good,” she said, crawling over to Malin.
Malin had a busted lip, a cut above his left eye, scrapes and bruises on his cheek and forehead, but he grinned broadly at her.
“He wasn’t so tough after all,” he said, spitting blood when he spoke. “It just took three of us to subdue him. Big tough predator! Ha!”
Mark was unconscious within a few minutes, breathing wetly through his gaping mouth. Elna and the EMT dragged him by his feet into the patient room. Then they dragged the other gang member into the same room and laid all three bodies side by side. After that, they went to the stairwell and grabbed an unconscious Tomek. After they’d dragged him into the room as well, Elna gave him an injection of the same sedative.
“There’s one more in a room downstairs,” Elna said. “He’s tied up, but he’s drugged like these guys. Does that account for all of them?”
“No,” Nurse Aubrey noted. “We subdued five, but there were at least eight.”
“Some of them fled,” the EMT said. “Went right out the back door when the fire alarm started. Their leader here couldn’t stop them. I guess they got spooked.”
She didn’t like that some of them had escaped, but there was nothing to be done about it now. As long as they were gone, so be it. Maybe they would scatter into the wilderness and find something better to do with their lives.
“We’ll let them sleep here for a while,” Nurse Aubrey said.
They closed the door, turned off the light, and Nurse Aubrey locked it with the keycard. When Elna turned away, she saw the small blonde doctor examining Malin’s wounds.
“Mostly superficial,” the doctor noted, “but these cuts should be cleaned.”
“It can wait,” Malin replied. “I’m still juiced on adrenaline. Feels pretty good, actually. I guess this is how a boxer feels after an exciting bout.”
“I wouldn’t know,” the woman said.
She rose and turned to Elna, extending her hand.
“Hello, I’m Dr. Ruzka,” she said. “I treated your friend earlier. Mr. Raymond Cabello? I’ll take you to him. Come with me.”
“What will we do with these guys?” Elna said, pointing at the locked door. “They won’t sleep forever.”
“We’ll handle it,” Dr. Ruzka said, moving down the hall. “Trust me. We don’t take looting lightly around here. I promise you, they will never steal so much as a cotton swab ever again.”
Something in the steeliness of her voice convinced Elna. Yes, they would handle it.
She led them down the hall toward a door. Elna saw the room number—345—and suddenly the reality of their situation sank in. Had they really just fought and beat Tomek and Mark into submission? Had they really just taken the clinic back?
Dr. Ruzka opened the door, and there was Raymond. He was lying in a hospital bed, his blanket tucked in around him, and his hands folded on his chest. Despite the IV in his arm and the heart monitor beeping away in the corner, he looked quite comfortable. Still, when he saw Elna, he shook his head in amazement.
“I heard the whole thing, señora,” he said. He still sounded weak, his voice hoarse. “What a fight. I thought maybe you were all getting killed. I can’t believe you are standing here in one piece.”
Dr. Ruzka moved to the other side of the bed and began to check his vitals. “He is stabilized. I’ve got him on antibiotics to fight the infection. Furthermore…” She looked up at Elna. “He’s told me everything. In fact, when that damned gang had us rounding up medication, I set a few things aside. They’re here.”
She walked over to a cabinet near the door and opened it. Fishing around inside, she produced a small cardboard box and set it on the hospital tray table near the bed.
“Formula 7531,” she said, producing two large pill bottles, a few syringes, and a folded piece of paper. “With instructions for taking it. I can’t promise you it will work. Phase 1 went okay, but there’s really supposed to be a doctor present to administer and monitor the patient.”
“We’ll take our chances,” Raymond said, sleepily. “As long as we have the right medicine, there is hope.”
Dr. Ruzka rooted around in the box again and produced two more industrial-size bottles. “These are for your father’s hypotension. The first one is midodrine. The second is fludrocortisone. Both will raise his blood pressure. Start with a low dose and see how it goes. Sorry, it’s the best we can do.”
“Doc, you have nothing to apologize for,” Malin said. He’d grabbed a tissue from a holder near the cabinet, and he was dabbing the blood from his lip. “We had no intention of bringing those creeps here. We owe you the apology.”
She shook her head. “This is the world we live in now. We’re all at risk, but you didn’t flee when you could have.” She put the bottles back in the box and handed it to Elna. “I hate to ask about payment, but…”
“We have some very expensive bottles of wine down in the lobby,” Elna said. “We can pay. I’ll let you take a look and figure out what these drugs are worth.”
“Fair enough,” Dr. Ruzka said. “How will you get home from here? Is it far?”
That thought made Elna so tired, she almost didn’t answer. “An island off the coast southwest of Redwood State Parks. My father and I run a vineyard there. It’s a long way. We had a boat, but we docked it a few days’ walk north of here. I guess we’ll just start walking. What choice do we have?”
The EMT, Nurse Aubrey, and Nurse John appeared in the doorway.
“We lost two,” John said. “Both security guards. Plus an assistant downstairs was knocked unconscious. I think those are all the casualties. Patients are safe now, and all the looters are either sleepin
g or gone.”
“Good,” Dr. Ruzka said. She pointed at the EMT. “Tyler, these nice folks here need a ride. They’ve got a boat docked a few miles north of here. Can you give us a ride?”
“Us?” Elna said.
Dr. Ruzka smiled at her. “I told you, someone has to administer Formula 7351 and monitor the patient.”
“The van is ready,” Tyler said. “Almost a full tank. I can be ready to go in a few minutes.” He stepped out of the room.
Elna couldn’t believe it. Such blatant willingness to help was so rare among strangers in this world that she almost doubted it was real.
“I rather enjoy sailing, actually,” Dr. Ruzka said. “I used to go every weekend in the old world. Let me pack a few things, and we’ll head out soon.”
The van turned out to be an ambulance. They settled on a price of four bottles of Gold Label in exchange for the drugs and the ride. Elna thought it was a huge bargain. She would have given every bottle, but she let it go. Within the hour, they were all loaded up, lugging medicine, water, food, their tools and supplies, and the rest of the wine into the back of the ambulance. Dr. Ruzka brought a big satchel full of medicine, medical supplies, and personal items.
The clinic had a service gate in back that led to a small gravel road that ran along the edge of a slope overlooking the beach. As they pulled through the gate, Nurse Aubrey waved goodbye before shutting the gate. To Elna, leaving the clinic felt like a dream. She’d come so close to giving up hope.
As they drove away from the gate, she held Malin’s hand. He’d washed his face and hands, and the doctor had bandaged his wounds. A rather nasty bruise was developing above his eye, and he had a fat lower lip, but she thought his wounds made him look rather heroic.
They followed the service road back down to Manchester and soon were on their way, weaving through the dead cars on Highway One as they headed north. Elna leaned against the glass, watching the passing scenery. She’d almost dozed off when the roar of large motorcycles roused her. Blinking rapidly, she saw six or seven Harleys headed south, their riders dressed in brown leather jackets. They had rifles slung over their shoulders.
Another gang, she thought, as the bikes sped past. At least they’re not our problem. Not today.
31
Dr. Ruzka put Malin to shame when it came to sailing, but he didn’t mind. Standing on deck, feeling a cool wind sweep over the sloop, and knowing they were going home changed everything. He gazed off to the east, saw the shoreline there, and felt a profound sense of relief that they weren’t on the mainland. Even with rough seas, cold wind, and the constant swaying of the deck beneath him, being on the boat was so much safer than walking the highways.
Currently, Elna was manning the tiller, Dr. Ruzka was letting out the mainsail, and Malin was standing near the jib sheet, waiting for further instruction. Even Raymond felt strong enough to leave the cabin, and he stood on deck. He still had his right arm in a sling, but it didn’t seem to bother him quite as much. He watched proudly as his crew guided the ship northward.
They weren’t making much better time heading north than they did heading south, but somehow it seemed different.
It feels a lot worse when you’re abandoning a bunch of people who depend on you and heading off into the hostile unknown, he thought.
Later, when trading places with Elna, he gave her a hug and said, “I like the triumphant return a lot better. We need more of these.”
“Let’s never the leave island again,” Elna replied. “That way it’ll be like the triumphant return that never ends.”
“Sounds good to me.”
They came in sight of the island on the evening of the second day. Malin was standing on the cockpit, using the binoculars, when he saw the familiar shape of the island’s central hill. It looked rather like a giant’s bent back. He felt an immediate warmth in his belly.
Home, he thought.
“Land ho,” he shouted.
Raymond Cabello gave a creaky cry, raising a fist in the air. Elna wiped away a tear.
They sailed in from the south, approaching the lighthouse rock. Dr. Ruzka took the tiller, as Malin and Elna worked the sails under the skipper’s directions. They’d gotten a lot better at this. Because the water was rocky on the north side of the big promontory, they came in from the other side, guiding the sloop just close enough that they could reach a low rocky shelf with Elna’s makeshift gangplank. Then Dr. Ruzka dropped anchor, and they lowered the sails.
“That was quite fun,” Dr. Ruzka said. She looked like a natural in her rain gear and floppy-brimmed hat. “You folks are decent sailors.”
“You can thank this guy,” Malin said, putting an arm around Raymond. “Skipper taught me everything I know.”
To this, Raymond beamed.
Crossing the gangplank on foot was easy. The hard part was getting all of their gear off the boat. It took many trips back and forth, as they slowly stacked it all up on the flatbed cart. When they had everything, Malin pushed the cart across the rocky shelf and up a steep path to the top of the promontory.
“I never thought I’d be so happy to see this ugly, abandoned base,” he said, as they passed by the shells of Army buildings, heading for the fence and the hill beyond.
“I think it all looks rather quaint,” Dr. Ruzka said.
The long slog up the hill to the vineyard was rough, especially with boat fatigue ravaging his body, but Malin relished every step. He knew this place. There was a sense of safety on this island that existed nowhere else in the world.
When they finally reached the vineyard, he heard familiar barking. Sniffy came tearing through the grass to reach them, barking and whimpering and sniffing their feet.
“Well, at least he didn’t forget us,” Malin said.
Selene was sitting on the back porch, and when she saw them, she rose, started to approach, then burst into tears. Elna rushed to her side.
“I thought I’d never see you again,” Selene said.
You almost didn’t see us again, Malin thought.
“They’re so sick, Elna,” Selene said. “They’re both so sick. I can’t help them. I tried. I did everything I knew to do.”
Dr. Ruzka approached, taking off the rainhat and tossing it onto the porch. “Take me to them.”
In the end, Dr. Ruzka decided to start George on fludrocortisone. Then she started Daniel on his experimental treatment, which was comprised of both a pill and an injection. Malin stayed out of the way, sitting on a stool in the tasting room and enjoying a nice bowl of berry salad prepared by his favorite chefs in the world: Joe and Rita Dulles.
He was sitting there, quietly enjoying every bite, when Elna walked into the room and sat down beside him.
“Daniel is weak,” she said, “but the doctor thinks there’s a good chance for him. We cut it very close, Malin. Too close. The poor kid hasn’t been out of bed in days, and he’s been refusing food.”
“And your dad?” he asked. “How’s he doing?”
“Pop will be fine,” she said. “He’s already feeling better, but that might just be the result of hope.”
“Hope,” he echoed.
Elna leaned against his shoulder, then wrapped her arms around him. It felt great to hug her now that he was clean and in fresh clothes. He offered her a bite of salad, and she ate it.
“What now?” he asked her.
“Now?” She chewed thoughtfully for a moment. “Now we get back to our normal lives.”
32
Dr. Ruzka and Selene were deep in conversation as Selene canned the late-autumn vegetables in the kitchen. Elna listened to them from the hallway. They seemed to be talking shop, though they came from very different approaches to healthcare. Despite this, there seemed to be an immediate friendly connection between the two.
Norman and Malin were out bow hunting, and Elna was hopeful that they would bring back some bigger game this time. There weren’t all that many species to choose from on the island. Elna had thought about joining t
hem, but she decided it might be a good time for the two men to hang out.
Finally, she went outside and found her father sitting on the veranda, his feet kicked up on a table as he leaned back and gazed out across the parking lot toward the sea.
“It’ll be time to start making wine again soon,” he noted, as she stepped through the door. “Grapes are almost ripe.”
“We have a lot of prep work to do in the winery,” Elna said. “We haven’t done any work in there since the EMP.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
“Just don’t overdo it,” she said. “You still have to take it easy. And don’t sample too much of the wine. It’s not good for you.”
“I can have a little now and again,” he said, giving her a look of mock offense. “Selene said so. By the way, Raymond and the kid are down by the fishing dock. That kid has responded well to the treatment. He’s a little bundle of energy this morning.”
“That’s good,” Elna said.
Elna crossed the veranda and headed east, walking through the parking lot and down the eastern road. She found Raymond and Daniel sitting together at the end of the fishing dock.
“Is the land really over there?” Daniel was asking his father, pointing into the misty waters of the bay east of the island.
“I think so,” Raymond replied.
“Ten miles to shore,” Elna said, as she approached.
She walked to the end of the fishing dock and peered at the causeway. She could see the first and second drawbridges. After that, it faded out of sight. As she stood there, the cool wind whipping her hair, she thought she heard something. It came to her faintly, just below hearing, almost more of a trembling in the air than a sound.
“Do you guys hear anything?”
“Yes, señora,” Raymond replied. “We keep hearing it. I thought maybe it was the mainland. We keep trying to see it, but we can’t. It’s too far.”
Someday, I’m going to clarify that I’m not a señora but a señorita, she thought. Not today. It has become almost endearing.
Island Refuge EMP Box Set | Books 1-3 Page 50
