“You are never alone, Cooper,” she said. “We’re all in this together. I love you little man. It’s okay to be afraid. We all are.”
“I’m going to see if we can get to lower ground,” Doug said, moving closer.
“What if it’s flooded?” Tina asked.
Doug’s look was grim. “Inside is about to become flooded.”
As he left, a large window shattered sending the lot of them screaming and fleeing out of the way. Caris shoved a fist to her mouth. She could see the tornado in the distance. Black smoky swirls were headed their way. Everything in the tornado’s wake exploded and was obliterated. An out-of-control locomotive barreling down fast, raising goosebumps on her flesh. Cold winds sent shivers of ice to invade her bones. Tina pulled a blanket firmly over Cooper to shield him. The three huddled behind a stretcher they flipped onto its side.
A gaunt woman in her early thirties was pulled into a ball on her stretcher near an ill teen girl. The teen was wide-eyed but not sobbing, she seemed too afraid for tears. Her small thin arms covered her head and protected her face. Caris shot to her feet to throw heavier blankets over them. Caris didn’t know them, they were new to the ward which wasn’t unusual. There was zero protocol left. Patients wandered aimlessly to wherever help could be located. Cooper was a regular, his parents were dead. Tina checked his IV and Caris almost smiled. Tina, sweet wonderful, unshakable Tina was a diehard nurse to the core. No doubt she’d check over little Cooper if they were airborne.
“Come with me.”
Caris jumped when Doug appeared. No longer afraid, he was calm and moving with purpose, his gentle countenance was back. The doctor grabbed the teen’s stretcher and pushed her down a dark corridor. Caris took hold of an old man’s bed and Tina carefully placed Cooper next to the gaunt woman. The doctor turned back and shouted for them to go one at a time.
“Tina if we don’t make it I want you to know how much I admire you,” Caris said into the beautiful dark face of her friend.
“Back at you. I am proud to know you. Honey, we will make it. I know it.”
The doctor came back running fast. He took the woman’s stretcher, handing Cooper back to Tina and demanded Caris follow next after he rounded a corner. They could only make it one at a time, of that the doctor was adamant. The floors wouldn’t hold much more weight. The walls were unsteady and crumbling but so was the ground beneath her feet. Caris could see great gaping holes leading to lower levels. Smoke was rising from few unattended fires. Wires were crackling and some danced to an unheard tune. Maneuvering the stretcher bed would be a hair curling experience.
Caris raced forward at the doctor’s yell, pushing the bed hard in front of her. Her fingers locked onto metal and she groaned as the wheels stuck at first. At the doctor’s command she moved fast but cautious. The old man was saying a prayer and Caris was so scared she forgot his name.
“Hang on, I got you,” she yelled.
Caris’s heart pounded within her chest. Sweat dripped from her temples. She gritted her teeth when she threw her weight against the bedrail. The bed skidded and the wheels wouldn’t cooperate, the right one locked sideways.
“Damn hospital budgets and cutbacks.” She screamed as the stretcher careened sideways toward a gaping hole.
The wheels scraped the edges of the four-story drop into underground parking. Using every ounce of her strength Caris pulled hard on the metal under her grip. Her eyes squeezed closed as the bed began to fall. She refused to let go, the slick ground made a squeal under her rubber soled shoes as she was dragged forward. She heard a sharp scream, her world went dark and her hands flailed as the rail of the bed slipped through her fingers.
“Nooo.”
She lunged forward, unseeing, uncaring of her own safety and was certain for a second there was no floor beneath her feet. The backs of her hands banged into a solid material and she gripped the bed again. The stretcher careened to the right off two of its wheels allowing her to avoid the gaping hole. Light was visible near an opening leading outdoors. Regaining her footing she shoved her way toward the light and was soon standing, shaking in the doctor’s grip.
“You made it,” he crooned. “He’s safe. You saved him.”
Caris looked around disorientated. They were outside under a huge overhang. The dark gray of the day didn’t matter as she sucked in much needed breath. The hospital bordered a large mountain. The doctor pointed. Up the hillside was a roundish dark hole. She had never seen it before, then again she’d never been in this parking lot. With some confusion she gazed at her surroundings. Rubble continued to fall as the ground trembled. The rain stopped. The wind died down. There was a cavernous hole where she fled the hospital.
“The floor fell apart. Tina is still in there with Cooper,” she cried out and turned to go in after them.
“Look.”
The doctor waved a forward hand motion and smiled. When Tina immerged with Cooper in her arms, she was harried and disheveled, an arm held high lifting the IV bag. Caris thought they’d died and her relief overwhelmed her. She ran to take the boy and sobbed as she wrapped an arm around Tina.
“See, I told you we’d make it,” Tina said gasping in huge gulps of air.
“We need to get to that cave,” the doctor said.
“But the stretchers,” Caris said.
“There’s a trail. It’s uneven but we can do it before another storm hits. It looks like the tornado passed us by,” Doug said. “The interns are forever fooling around on this trail, sneaking wheelchairs and hauling stuff for campouts. I guess it’s a good thing they did.”
“What about supplies?” Caris asked.
“You both take the stretchers up and I’ll head back inside.”
“The floor is almost gone,” Caris said.
Doug smiled through a face covered in dirt and sweat. His hair was a wild unruly mop. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “All I can do is my best.”
When he took off, Caris and Tina began making their way higher up the mountain to the cave. They were able to make the distance in record time. The young teen found her feet and was able to amble up the somewhat steep slope. They muscled the stretchers inside and while Tina fussed with the patients, helping the teen back onto her bed, Caris gazed around.
The cave was surprisingly roomy. The dirt floor was packed down. There were pieces of old furniture strewn about, a couch that had seen better days and a chair where one would sit taking blood. A hospital bed was in a far corner with a battered nightstand. Books were scattered about. It was obvious students and interns created this place to study or hang out. Maybe get away from the hovering doctors. A large hearth sat in the middle surrounded by stones. A supply of wood and kindling was stacked to one side. Dozens of packages of matches lay scattered as did lighters. Beyond the cave entrance was quiet.
Doug returned often with supplies. Caris asked to go with him, but he refused saying Tina needed her help. Using a wheelchair to aid him, armloads of sheets were set on benches. Pillows, dressings for bandages were removed from a large duffle bag. Doug seemed tireless until she noted the frown lines when he appeared again carrying flashlights, plates, clothing and a number of other useful items. As they set up Caris worried openly about food. She held a few packages of juice, and sandwiches Doug must have tossed together or taken from the less fortunate, presumed dead. Doug would never steal.
“When this is gone we’ll starve unless we have someone who can hunt and knows edible plant life,” Caris said.
“I think I’ve found someone,” Doug said.
Three men entered the cave, all loaded with bulging burlap sacks. Caris was surprised. They were well built, good looking, and gazed at her with curiosity. In total she counted ten survivors. The elderly man was settled back asleep as was the teen, Cooper and the sickly woman. The commotion had taken its toll on the ill, they were wiped out. The stretchers were at the back where another fire blazed for warmth. They wanted the patients well away from the open cave door.
&
nbsp; The men began placing tins on shelves. Caris filled with awe. Canned meats, potatoes and vegetables soon lined the shelves. The shelves were once bookcases, and they were numerous with few books.
Caris lifted down a glass jar. “Potted meat? Funny I was reading about that only days ago. Since food is so scarce I thought we’d have to revert to old ways. I guess someone had the same thoughts.”
“It’s good they did,” Doug said. “Maybe the men will find other things.”
“I can help,” Caris said, although trudging off into the unknown was a little worrisome. “Once we settle and get into a routine Tina won’t need me as much. Doug when you’re too busy to scavenge I can go instead.” Caris looked to the patients. From their exhaustion she didn’t think they would survive much longer. No, she and Tina would no doubt have time on their hands before long. She was saddened with her thoughts as her gaze centered onto little Cooper. What would they do for meds for him?
“I wonder if it will storm again,” Doug said.
“It always storms, you know that,” Caris replied, then sent him a fast glance. He winked at her in a teasing fashion. She was certain he must have seen her frown when she mentioned she’d help search for food. Her expression was something that always gave her feelings away. Tina went and took Cooper into her arms from the bed when he fussed, and they rocked together as they had done so many times before.
“Yes, of course it always storms,” Doug said. “Maybe in time the planet will settle. We have to have hope, Caris.”
The wind picked up and howled around them. “At least the weather waited until we were safe,” Caris said.
She went to stand at the mouth of the cave while the patients slept. The tornado was gone but the area was a darker gray as night began to fall. The rain began in a heavy deluge. Caris stepped back when hail hit the ground. At a sharp noise she jumped when the hospital caved in at certain places. She sighed. Doug put a hand on her shoulder. The fast crumbling hospital faded into the background. Blackness covered ground and skies. Her body was weary and ready for sleep.
“I don’t suppose that building will stand much longer.” Doug’s face was grim. “But I’ve got a lot of supplies and so did the men I found. We should be okay for a few months.”
Caris shuddered. A few months in a cave with almost virtual strangers and patients who needed constant care with little to no meds. Could she take the suffering? She would have to, Caris was no quitter. She wouldn’t abandon them. She sighed as she stepped away from the mouth of the cave and gazed around. Four of their number were ill. It would take nothing short of a miracle to see to their survival.
Authors note: I hope you enjoyed the preview!
Unearthly World Christmas Page 10
