Those Who Remain (Book 2)

by Priscila Santa Rosa

  “Please… We… We need your help. Danny… Danny has been shot.”

  We find Danny fallen backwards on the school’s floor, coughing blood and eyes unfocused. The Sheriff presses his hands against Danny’s chest, trying to contain the bleeding. Around him, a pool of red grows by the second. I kneel down next to the body and feel his pulse: erratic. He’s in shock and his skin is pale from the blood loss. Someone shot him in the chest, possibly hitting one of his lungs. Every time he breathes, coughs and painful wheezes follow.

  That’s not good. Damn it.

  “How long since the incident?” I ask him.

  “We just found him like this. We heard a shot. I think… Three minutes ago? I don’t know.”

  “Okay, keep the pressure on, but be careful not to damage his ribs.” I turn to Tigh. “Get me Felicity, ask her to bring me a saline solution, an IV and every tool she has. Pads. A valve mask, if she has one. Needles, scissors and a rubber glove.”

  Tigh nods and sprints away. Lily walks around us, a hand on her face, the other holds a gun. Her incessant pacing bothers me, but I don’t have the time to ask her to stop.

  My fingers stay on Danny’s neck, checking his pulse every few seconds. It takes Felicity and Tigh what appears to be ages to come with the things I asked for. Danny doesn’t have time. His left side is already swollen: he has a collapsed lung and I need to extract the air so he can breathe again. That’s the immediate problem.

  I can’t think of the next ones. Not now.

  Felicity hands me the gloves and the needle. I make a small incision, releasing the air. Gently, I take the Sheriff’s hands off his friend chest. The man doesn’t even react, eyes fixed on Danny’s pale face. While I start to apply pads on his chest wound to try containing the bleeding, Danny reaches for the Sheriff, trying to raise his left hand. With his lungs decompressed, he can finally speak. Or, at least, try.

  “H-hey, Rog… The girl….”

  “It’s okay, Danny. Try not to talk,” his friend replies, passing the back of his hand against his sweaty forehead. Lily kneels down beside the Sheriff, listening with wide eyes to each word. “The doctor is here, everything is going to be okay.”

  I feel Tigh’s eyes on me. He knows just as I do that this wound is not something I can fix. He needs surgery, intensive care, the right amount of anesthesia, antibiotics and weeks of recovery. I don’t have the tools or the resources to fix a punctured lung. A shoulder with a bullet lodged just under the skin is not as evasive as the procedure Danny needs to survive. I would need to open his chest, sew the lung and repair any other damage the bullet did on its way out, hoping all the while he doesn’t bleed out on the table—I don’t have a supply of blood here. Even if I did manage, by some miracle, to close him up and not lose him to cardiac arrest or bleeding, the chances of him developing a general infection are enormous… I don’t have a breathing machine on hand either; without it he won’t able to breath properly for the duration of the surgery.

  “He’s not breathing… He’s not….” the Sheriff murmurs.

  “Do something!” Lily’s shout in my ear take me out of my daze. “He’s dying!”

  I blink and clear my vision. She’s right, he is.

  The Sheriff starts doing CPR. As I watch him pump air into his friend mouth, I sigh and shake my head. “There’s nothing… I… I’m sorry. He needs a hospital. Surgery. We don’t have the time.”

  She grabs me by the collar, with her face close to mine. “Make the time. Save him. Now.”

  “If I could… I would… He’s bleeding too fast. He’s needs air, and….”

  I stop. My mind flashes to Victoria, to every person infected with the virus. They don’t feel pain. They barely bleed. Their bodies’ responses become slow, almost like hibernating. They didn’t need much air in their lungs in the first place. A strange mutation, in the likes I never had seen before, but a reality nevertheless.

  My eyes meet Lily’s. She stares at me with open fury, waiting for a solution. Waiting for me to do my job.

  “I think I can save him. I think I know a way to save him.” I gulp for air. “But… I don’t know if….”

  “What is it? What you need? Tell me!”

  “We need to infect him with the virus.”

  Her eyes widen, and I feel everyone stare at me. “What?”

  “The virus mutates our bodies in such way that it slows our basic needs. Water, food… Lung function. I don’t know how it works, I can’t even explain it to you, but it’s true. If Danny is infected he’ll stop bleeding, he won’t react to the pain, and I’ll be able to open his chest and fix any internal damage. He won’t suffer any infection, because the virus will protect him.”

  She releases me, blinking quickly. “But if he’s infected he….”

  “We have the cure,” I answer her unspoken fear. “We can cure him, reverse it.”

  Lily stares back at Danny’s body. The Sheriff still tries to keep him alive. “Will it work?”

  “It’s our best hope.”

  She nods, face set. “Keep him alive. I’m going on a hunt.”

  “He doesn’t have much time… Maybe two hours, if we are lucky.”

  She stares back at me. “I’ll be back in one.”

  We all watch as she sprints away.

  The Hunter's Daughter X

  January 8th, Friday, 6 pm

  We leave Danny alone to cool off.

  I wanted to hug him. I wanted to shake him. For someone who thinks himself so logical and smart, Danny is incredibly blind. He can’t see past a wall of self-hatred and guilt that surrounds his mind. Roger’s frustrations are understandable: he wants to protect Danny, but nobody can protect him from himself. Neither of us can get inside his head and make him understand; make him see how much we care about him.

  So we are left with no options but to wait. Maybe he needs time again, time to calm down and absorb the news. We are all too emotional right now, and feelings get in the way of rational thought. A day or two and we can try again to reach him.

  With the noise of Movie Night in the corridors we decide to plan the trip to Canada in the quiet of the cafeteria. Roger prepares tea and we drink it while sitting around one of the tables.

  Roger looks defeated. I’m not surprised; he hates fighting with Danny.

  “Hey,” I whisper, moving next to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. “He’s just scared. He’s going to get better again.”

  “I shouldn’t have hurt him. I don’t know why I did,” he whispers back, eyes on the floor. “It made everything worse.”

  My hand find his and we clasp them together. I don’t say anything and let him continue.

  “I got so mad… About what he did. About what I did. All these months, I listened to him and ignored what I wanted to do deep down. And….” He lets out a sigh and closes his eyes for a second. “And I know we did what what’s needed at the time. I realize he’s feeling just as guilty as I am. So why did I do that? He just lost his mother.”

  I place my free hand on his cheek. “You are allowed to have feelings, you know that, right? You can feel anger. It’s okay.”

  He gives me a small, but sweet smile. “Maybe, but I don’t think punching someone is a good way of dealing with it.”

  “Of course you don’t. But it does help anyway, doesn’t?”

  “At the expense of Danny’s feelings. That’s not right.”

  I might even agree with him, but I’ve had enough of people feeling sorry for themselves. “It’s done now. And I think he wanted you to punch him. He knew what to say to get that reaction. I’m sure he thinks he deserved it.”

  Roger shakes his head. “That’s worse.”

  I place a finger on his mouth. “Enough. He’s already beating himself up over this. Please don’t do it too. Regretting the past just messes us up. We should be thinking about this cure. What’s the plan?”

  He clears a few strands of hair from my face. “Do you think I’m crazy for believing them? In hoping this
is true?”

  I don’t care about a cure being real or not, not only everyone dies eventually, sick or not, but my life before all of this wasn’t that great. Yet, I can’t ignore Roger’s hopeful look at the news. He wants a normal life, he wants to go back when the biggest problems he had to deal with were cats in trees. Roger wants this all to be true and is willing to risk everything in the off chance a cure is possible. So it doesn’t matter if I believe it or not, I’ll try to make Roger’s wish come true any way I can.

  Father would never risk himself for the slight chance of a cure, he would never believe in it or want to sacrifice his safety for the sake of others. It’s hard to ignore his voice in my head, but it’s not enough to survive anymore. Happiness is far more important to me than safety. And making Roger happy will make me happy.

  “You’re not crazy. Maybe it’s real. Maybe it’s not, but we have to try it anyway.”

  “But… Are you really okay going on a trip like this?”

  I give him an honest smile. “Do you even have to ask? I’m far more useful as a guide, anyway. We are in this together, whatever this is.”

  He looks down. “Leaving Redwood is….”

  “I could go alone, if you want. It’s okay.”

  Roger shakes his head slowly. “No. I want to go. I need to go. I know Hector and Billy can do a good job. For all their faults, the Council will keep everyone together. Danny will stay too, and help after he calms down. As much as I worry about the short term issues we are having, the truth is that this is about our future. A better future. And if I’m in a position to give them that, I will. I can’t leave this to chance, I want to be there to protect the cure. It’s just….”

  “Scary,” I finish his thought with a small sad smile. “You did a good job here, Roger. You did your part and made it safe for everyone. They’ll have to take care of themselves for a bit, yeah, but we’ll come back. One way or the other.”

  He nods.

  “Do we have any more people we can bring with us?” I ask. Safety in numbers and all that.

  “Ted and Martha have a kid and Ted’s elderly mother... If Frank finds outs, he will hate us more than he already does. Your mother—”

  “Isn’t coming.”

  He nods and takes a sip of his tea. “We don’t have many options. These are our best shots.”

  “That’s depressing,” I say with a smile.

  “Tell me about it.”

  “What happened to Joanne and her two sons? They used to hunt too.”

  “They left, same day that you did.” He blows into the hot liquid, two hands over the cup. A simple gesture, but I can’t help but stare at it with fondness. “To be honest, everyone who had somewhere else to go or family away, left. We got stuck with the ones who didn’t have a choice. But don’t tell Danny that.”

  “I think he probably knows it already.”

  “But pretends not to.”

  We share a smile, one that doesn’t really reach our eyes.

  “About Danny.” I pause as he looks behind my shoulder, still uncomfortable with the subject. “Maybe we should take him with us.”

  Roger finishes his tea. “I don’t think he wants to go.”

  “He’s lonely, Roger. He needs us.”

  “No. He stays.”

  His tone is harsher than I expected. After all, yesterday I was the one arguing for him to be left alone and Roger was the one wanting to intervene.

  “Why? We can keep an eye on him, try to help him get better.”

  “We aren’t making him better, Lily. We are keeping him this way.” He gets up and walks over to the nearest sink to clean his cup. “What’s that word? Enabling him.”

  I frown at his choice of words, my tea still very much untouched. “You are talking like Danny is an addict.”

  “If I had done things the way I wanted to, taken charge instead of letting him make all the plans… If I had pushed him more… Maybe he wouldn’t be like this. I always thought I was helping him, by shielding him from bullies and… People in general. But I just got in the way, Lily. I think he resents me for it too. We need some time apart.” He places a gentle hand against my cheek. “He’s going to be fine. This is for the best.”

  I open my mouth to argue, point out not so long ago he was afraid Danny could consider suicide, but before I can, we hear a gunshot, close and loud.

  We bolt out of the cafeteria, running toward the sound. Screams and cheers echo around the walls. I reach inside my holster for my SIG, only to find it empty. Panic spreads in my mind as I realize I gave the gun to Danny while carrying the girl we found.

  “Maybe it was the movie…?” Roger says as we reach the corridor.

  I shake my head. I know the difference between a Hollywood sound effect and the loud, harsh sound of a gun blast. “No. That wasn’t fake.”

  We turn a corner, then another, opening classroom doors to check them. Every time we find nothing, my chest gets tighter. We reach the nurse’s office.

  Felicity’s already at the door, with wide eyes and shaking hands. “The girl… She’s gone. I was sleeping… And… She’s gone.”

  Roger and I don’t pause to answer her, passing her by and following the corridor ahead. On our way, I check the class where we left Danny. He’s gone too.

  “Lily… What if…?”

  “Stop. We don’t know anything yet.”

  Panic won’t help. We keep running.

  Roger stops first, a hand over his mouth. Danny’s body is spread on the floor, blood spurting from his mouth as he coughs for air. I fall on my knees next to him, feeling his face and neck. His still-lucid eyes find me, but his body is trembling and cold.

  “No… No. We need the Doctor,” I whisper, chest tight and eyes watering. “We need a doctor!”

  My scream echoes around the corridor. Roger doesn’t take his eyes off Danny and gives me no response. I get up and run. I open the doors of the basketball court, gaze racing over the stands. I spot her and the Sergeant.

  The Doctor stands and jogs to meet me halfway.

  “Please… We… We need your help. Danny… Danny has been shot.”

  She nods. When we arrive back the corridor, Roger already presses his hands against Danny’s chest, trying to contain the bleeding, but by the pool around him, it isn’t working. As the Doctor checks him and give orders, I can’t stop looking at his pale face. He’s wheezing and in pain.

  I walk around the scene. Roger’s hands are red, his face distorted in a painful grimace. The Doctor checks Danny’s pulse and vitals. Every single second appears to last hours, every cough and wheeze hits me like a ton of bricks. Danny doesn’t have much time. He’s bleeding too much and can’t breathe.

  The Sergeant brings Felicity with the Doctor’s equipment. They work on Danny, piercing his chest so air can escape his punctured lung. He starts to talk to Roger. I kneel down, desperate to hear his voice.

  “H-hey, Rog… The girl….”

  He doesn’t have to say more. The girl did this. Somehow. This is my fault. I gave him the gun, I brought the girl in. Danny is dying because of me.

  “It’s okay, Danny. Try not to talk. The doctor is here, everything is going to be okay,” Roger answers with his voice trembling.

  Danny closes his eyes and doesn’t respond to Roger anymore.

  “He’s not breathing… He’s not….” Roger murmurs, desperation clear.

  The Doctor avoids our eyes, her hands falling on her sides. She does nothing. I shake my head, anger filling me whole. Why isn’t she doing anything? Why is she just standing there?

  “Do something!” I shout at her, heart pounding against my chest. “He’s dying!”

  “There’s nothing… I… I’m sorry. He needs a hospital. Surgery. I… We don’t have the time.”

  I grab her by the collar, my voice ice cold. In this second, in this very moment, I can see myself killing her if it meant Danny could breathe again. “Make the time. Save him. Now.”

  “If I could… I
would… He’s bleeding too fast. He’s needs air, and…” Finally, after what feels like years, she looks directly at me. “I think I can save him. I think I know a way to save him. But… I don’t know if….”

  “What is it? What you need? Tell me!”

  “We need to infect him with the virus.”

  I take a step back with wide eyes. “What?”

  “The virus mutates our bodies in such way that it slows our basic needs. Water, food… Lung function. I don’t know how it works, I can’t even explain it to you, but it’s true. If Danny is infected he’ll stop bleeding, he won’t react to the pain, and I’ll be able to open his chest and fix any internal damage. He won’t suffer any infection, because the virus will protect him.”

  I let her go, trying to process her idea. “But if he’s infected he….”

  “We have the cure,” the Doctor interrupts me, firm. “We can cure him, reverse it.”

  My eyes fall on Danny again. Roger’s now doing CPR, sweat all over his face. “Will it work?” I whisper.

  “It’s our best hope.”

  Felicity gently pushes Roger off Danny, and places a breathing mask on Danny. As she pumps air with her hand, his body relaxes. It’s a temporary solution and everyone here knows this. I look at Roger and we nod at each other. We will do anything to save Danny. Even this.

  “Keep him alive. I’m going on a hunt,” I say, body already tense.

  “He doesn’t have much time…” the Doctor says. “Maybe two hours, if we are lucky.”

  I stare at her. “I’ll be back in one.”

  I leave the school behind, grab rope from the back of my pickup, enter the front and take out a handgun in the glove compartment. I break every traffic law, accelerating the car way above any and all speed limits and rush past the Main Street and out of Redwood.

  The road to my community college gives me shivers. Everything looks the same. If it wasn’t for my own desperate thoughts and tension, it would be almost like I was getting ready for another normal day of boring lessons.