“Right. I’m not planning on being a speed demon, but flash your lights if you get uncomfortable at all,” I replied, then looked past her to Tommy, buckled into the passenger seat beside Estelle.
“You okay, bud?” I asked.
He flashed me that wan smile once more and gave me a weak thumbs-up. I nodded, glanced in the back at the still-sleeping baby.
“Thank you both,” Doctor White said quietly.
“We all do what we can,” I said, then nodded. “Alright, let’s blow this popsicle stand. See you in Opelika.”
She nodded, and I went back to the truck. Jackie was already waiting in the passenger seat.
“Not what we expected,” she commented as I put the truck in gear and got back on the road.
“Not at all,” I agreed. “Ain’t complaining, though.”
“So,” she said with a grin as she looked over at me. “You don’t mind me shacking up with you?”
“Not at all,” I snorted. “Why would I mind?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I’m insecure. I’ve never had much luck with boyfriends.”
“Really?” I gave her a sidelong glance. “We both certainly got lucky last night.”
Jackie giggled and shook her head. “Not like that,” she said. “Usually, I’d end up as the side chick instead of the main squeeze, you know?”
Some guys were amazing dumbasses is what I thought to myself. Of course, that kind of made Jackie a poor judge of character. Maybe it was the insecurity talking, and she wanted attention.
“You aren’t just interested in me because of…” I waved a hand mutely out the truck windows.
“Oh, no,” she protested. “There’s something different about you. You actually make me feel like I’m important.”
“That’s because I think you are,” I told her. “I ain’t just saying that, either. You’re an amazing girl, Jackie Purcell, and I’m happy as hell we got to meet. Shit, I’m even happier we hit it off.”
“Good,” she grinned.
I checked the rear view. Estelle’s Mercedes stuck to us like glue, which was good. I really didn’t want to lose her.
“There is something else about me that I probably should tell you,” Jackie continued after a few minutes.
Once again, I gave her a sidelong look. The girl was a bundle of surprise information.
“It’s nothing bad,” she said. “I mean, I guess it’s not.”
“Now you’re just building it up,” I teased.
“Well… I’m not a jealous person… which I guess is kind of weird.” She shrugged and leaned back in the seat, closing her eyes.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked curiously.
“Well, especially considering the circumstances, I don’t care if you pick up more women, just so long as you don’t throw me aside for them.”
“Oh,” I said, then fell silent.
The ride was quiet for a while. It was kind of weird to me to have this conversation the day after we’d gotten together, but I suspected in part that it was because we’d met another woman who was both attractive and exceptional. It made sense, I guessed, that something like monogamy wouldn’t contribute to the survival of mankind or our little family in particular.
Still, I didn’t really like the implication that Jackie was worried I’d just toss her aside after we just got together. I was quite attracted to the young woman, and not just because of her obvious physical assets and sexual talents. She was exactly what I’d been looking for, and I had no intention of letting her slip through my fingers.
Though, if it came down to it, I wasn’t sure I could share her in the same way she talked about sharing me.
“Jackie,” I said at last.
“Hm?”
“I would never throw you aside,” I told her. “It hadn’t crossed my mind to even consider anyone else.”
“So I got you thinking,” she said softly.
“You thought about it, didn’t you? About the future and kids and everything like that?” I asked, my eyes on the road ahead. Estelle was still behind us as we turned on the ramp leading to the Eastbound lane of I-85.
“I have an overactive brain, sometimes,” Jackie admitted. “While I think I’d be happy if we were exclusive, we just might not be able to be. I know I won’t be mad with you, and I’d hope you wouldn’t be mad with me.”
I shook my head. “Not at all. So long as you don’t throw me aside for someone else.”
She looked at me sharply, and I grinned.
“Using my own words against me,” she complained. “That’s not fair.”
“All’s fair in love and war,” I quoted.
“Do you love me?” she asked, picking up on that, of all things.
I didn’t even have to think about it. “Yes,” I replied. “Maybe not from the moment we met, but I think I started falling for you around the time you started flirting with me.”
Jackie laughed and shook her head. “For me, it was shortly after we met. You treated me like someone important and smart and didn’t seem to care that I was pretty.”
“You are far more than just ‘pretty,’” I said.
“Flattery will get you everywhere,” she switched over to playful.
“Even in your pants?” I asked.
“Definitely in my pants, probably even in my panties,” she replied coyly.
“Hmm,” I mused. “I’ll have to up my game then.”
“I don’t know,” she lightly touched a fingertip to her lips. “Your game is pretty strong.”
“Not enough to get into your panties, though.”
“I said probably,” she laughed.
“Maybe,” I shot back, “I’m shooting for definitely.”
Her laughter was swelling into a full-fledged giggle fit, and I was grinning like an idiot. Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind, and I had to keep from just blurting out a particular question. It could wait till we got home, and I suspected it would make the young woman very happy, even if it was kind of meaningless in the current situation.
I figured I’d ask Jackie to marry me. Maybe that would get her to stop worrying about something that would never happen.
It took her a while to calm down, and she was blushing madly by the time we did. We were out of Montgomery and a good way along towards Opelika. In fact, Auburn was coming up. The sun was dipping towards the distant treeline, and the world was bathed in a rosy, golden light. Doctor White’s Mercedes Benz rolled along in our wake, keeping about four or five car lengths back.
“So if I didn’t make it clear,” Jackie said. “I love you, Henry.”
“And I love you, Jackie.” I leaned over, keeping one eye on the road, and we shared a quick kiss. There was a pleasant promise of more to come once we were back home and moved in. At least she didn’t have a whole lot of stuff.
I didn’t think Estelle would misuse or mistreat anything in the main house, either, so I had no worries about passing it on to her. Maybe we could even clear out one part of the house and turn it into an office for the doctor, especially since that was going to be all her.
Hopefully, she’d be willing to teach the rest of us a little more beyond first aid and first response sorts of treatments.
“I really hope Tommy gets better,” Jackie mused as we drew closer to our exit.
“Me too,” I said. “Did the doctor say anything more about what’s wrong with him?”
“She thinks his body has a partial resistance to whatever killed everyone, so it’s breaking him down slowly instead of all at once. Those of us who are immune didn’t suffer a lot of the main effects, but he is and slowly,” Jackie explained.
“Poor kid,” I muttered. “Is there anything she can do?”
“Make him comfortable and try to treat his symptoms, she said. Without a research lab, it’s mostly down to triage, hopes, and prayers.” Jackie let out a sigh. “There should be a research lab at Auburn or Alabama, I’d think.”
“Or,” I said quietly. “Atlanta.�
��
“Atlanta? Oh! The CDC!”
“Right,” I nodded, checked the rear view, and saw that they were still with us as I turned onto the road leading away from the interstate. “I’ll have to make the offer, and that’ll be more than a day trip.”
“So, I’m guessing you’ll want me to hold the fort when you take her if she thinks it’ll work?” Jackie asked.
“Want you to? No.” I replied. “But you might need to. I’d much rather have you along to watch my back, but you’re the only one I trust to keep this place in order. Besides, I plan on checking a couple of other places nearby for handheld shortwave, so we’ll be able to stay in touch.”
“Good. I’ll be the cavalry if you need it,” Jackie asserted with a decisive nod of her head.
“I’d expect nothing less,” I said, grinning.
As I had with the other turns, I signaled the turn into the farm’s driveway as I slowed, then swung the Dodge down the dirt track to park near the main house. Estelle pulled in beside me, and we all disembarked. The doctor gathered up Irene in her car seat and followed Jackie inside while I picked up the sleeping Tommy. He felt like he weighed next to nothing, and his breath rasped slowly in and out as he slept.
Poor kid. I really hoped we could take care of him.
19
This time, I saw to the animals while Jackie helped Estelle and the kids get situated. The baby woke up fussy, and I was glad to get away from that, at least for a while. It would have been better for me, had everywhere I looked not been filled with accusatory eyes. All of the livestock, as well as the dogs, seemed to want every bit of my attention tonight.
Charlie, in particular, stayed very close, occasionally even pressing himself against my leg. Even Grandma’s pack seemed edgy and circled me like a defensive line.
“What’s up, girls?” I asked, wishing for all the world that the cagey canines could speak.
Maggie, the de facto alpha, barked once, her voice deep in her barrel chest. Something was definitely up, and they wanted me to figure it out. I checked all the pens and the kennel, then, with the dogs for escort, had a look at the sheds and the barn.
Nothing.
Back at the house, lights gleamed in the windows, and smoke had begun to drift up from the chimney. It was a homey scene and one that didn’t even hint at the underlying collapse of our society. My hackles raised. There was someone, or something, out here, I was sure of it. Call it soldier’s intuition or whatever, or call me paranoid for reading into the animals’ nervousness.
Rather than leaving the doors open for the cows and goats to wander, I got them all into the barn and closed the doors. They wouldn’t like it, but tonight had a weird feel to it.
As for the chickens, they were harder to secure. Most of them had settled down in the henhouse already, but a couple of the bolder ones still pecked and scratched around on the ground nearby. With the dogs ‘helping’ I gathered them up and secured them in the henhouse as well.
“Y’all up to keeping watch tonight?” I asked the dogs. They all sat on their haunches except for Sasha, who kept circling all of us, her little nose to the ground.
Maggie gave a single bark, and something off in the distance answered. A quick series of yips, followed by a howl. Another howl answered from a different quarter.
I sighed. Coyotes weren’t uncommon around here, but they were smart. They probably figured out that people just weren’t much of a problem anymore and wanted to test the waters. At least they weren’t a human threat, and wouldn’t take much to run off.
The mystery of the burning gas station still had me on edge, as unanswered questions tended to do. I reached over and petted the dogs all in turn, starting with Maggie. “Okay, then. Charlie and Sasha will be indoors. The rest of you will keep the livestock safe. Got it?”
Yeah, I talked to dogs. So what?
Maggie let out a whine and then turned as I picked up the little black dog, Sasha, and started for the house. It seemed to be an effort, but the pack held back, and once I made it to the porch, they spread out. Charlie sat there looking confused until Maggie trotted over and gave him a nip on the haunches to send him on his way after me.
“Come here, Charlie,” I called, after watching that. Maggie always seemed really bright to me. Now, even more so.
The door opened behind me, and I glanced back to see Jackie slip out onto the porch. “What’s up?”
“Coyotes,” I said flatly. “The dogs will keep watch, and I put the other animals up.”
“I guess Sasha and Charlie get to stay inside tonight?” she asked.
“Yeah. They’ll wake us up if there’s any ruckus,” I replied. “How are Estelle and the kids?”
“Irene’s fed and sleeping. The doctor medicated Tommy and tucked him in after he had some soup,” she told me.
“Eating’s good, right?”
Jackie shrugged, and then her shoulders slumped as she looked up at me. “I guess. Estelle seemed to think so.”
“Have you got your stuff ready to move?”
“Yeah. Which of the dogs stays here, and which goes with us?”
I rubbed my chin, and Sasha wiggled under my arm, trying to stretch out and get Jackie’s attention. The young woman reached over and petted the little dog who huffed happily at the attention.
“Maybe we check with Estelle,” I said at last. “She didn’t say anything about the cats, did she?”
“Nope,” Jackie answered with a shake of her head. “So they’re okay, I guess.”
“Good,” I said and leaned down to kiss her.
She returned it happily, smiling against my lips, then stumbling forward a half-step when I straightened.
“More?” she asked.
“Once we get moved into the cottage,” I replied. “Lots more.”
“Mmm,” Jackie practically purred. “Let me get started, then.”
I nodded and followed her into the house. Estelle sat in the den with a bowl of soup. Her shoulders rested in an exhausted slump, and her head was down. Ghost and Pepper, for whom there were no strangers, sat at her feet staring up at her and waiting, impatiently, for any food that might come their way.
Jackie flashed me a smile and slipped off to start moving her things while I drifted on into the den and sat down on the couch. I placed Sasha on the cushions beside me.
“Hey, doc?” I said quietly.
Estelle turned her head and looked at me curiously.
“Is it okay to leave a dog in here with y’all?” I asked. “There are coyotes out and about, and I’d feel better about having the two smaller dogs indoors.” Admittedly Charlie wasn’t that small, but he was a veritable midget compared to the burly girls of Grandma’s pack and the raucous hunting dogs that had been the Roberts’. Sasha, though, was bite-sized.
“Might be nice,” she said. “Tommy and I both like dogs.” The doctor gave me a weak smile.
“How’s he doing?” I asked.
“About the same. Are you up to taking me to check out the nearby facilities tomorrow?” Our eyes met, and I saw something in hers that I recognized. Hope.
“Actually,” I answered. “Jackie and I had an idea…”
Instead of saying anything, the doctor just waited, her dark eyes on me.
“What do you think about making a run into Atlanta to hit the CDC? Like you told Jackie, they’re bound to have everything you need to figure out what’s wrong and help him, right?” I kept my eyes locked on hers.
She froze for a moment, then sat up straight in the easy chair.
“Are you serious?” Estelle asked after a moment of silence.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m pretty sure I can get you there. It can’t be worse than a vehicle recovery run in Afghanistan.”
“You were in the service?” She wanted to know.
“Six years,” I replied. “U.S. Army.”
Estelle nodded her head slowly, then asked, “What about Irene? We’ll need to take Tommy with us, which’ll be rough, I know.”
>
“I’ve got it,” Jackie called from the doorway. I wasn’t surprised that she’d been listening. “Much as I hate not going with you, I can hold the fort here.”
“There’s no telling how long it will take,” Estelle said quietly. “There might even be some of the other doctors there. The complex has its own power, generators, solar panels, and a really small reactor.”
“A reactor?” Jackie and I both said at the same time.
The doctor nodded. “It was completely independent of the power grid and meant to survive in the case of disaster or terrorist attack.”
I let out a low whistle and glanced from Jackie to Estelle. “Maybe we’ll be lucky, then. I mean to collect some mobile ham radios for us to use. The truck has an inverter that I can use for power, and the one I mean for here can use a generator.”
“Ham radio,” Estelle mused. “Good idea. We might even be able to find other survivors with that.”
“Considering the ranges,” I said. “Yeah. I never got into that hobby, unfortunately, or I’d have thought to do that sooner. Anyway, there’s a little shop tucked away in downtown Opelika that carries radio supplies and other electronics.”
“The solar project has to wait,” Jackie said. “We’ll get back to it, right?”
“Damn straight,” I said.
“When do we leave?” Estelle asked.
“Give me a day to get the radios set up and tested,” I said. “Early morning, day after tomorrow, unless you think Tommy will get that much worse.”
The doctor just shook her head. “I really have no way to know,” she told us. “Part of me wants to leave tonight, but…”
I looked at my watch. It read 20:42. “Well,” I said with a wry smile and looked over at Jackie, “we could do our radio setup tonight and head out early.”
“I’m game,” the young woman said with a smile.
“Right,” I said, pushing myself to my feet. “Estelle, do you know your way around a shotgun?”
“My daddy taught me to shoot when I was a teenager,” she replied. “I haven’t touched a gun in years, though.”
I pointed to a cabinet next to the doorway into the kitchen. “Grandma kept a loaded twelve-gauge over-under in there, just in case of coyotes or persistent salesmen. Lock the door behind us and keep your ears open.”
After The Virus (Book 1): After The Virus Page 13
