by Mark Goodwin
The retired captain continued, “Meaning that if a retired cop gets on the national news network and says we’ve officially entered a state of complete anarchy, the less-savory individuals in our society will seize upon that statement and go out to commit whatever egregious crimes their hearts desire.”
“So, do you feel any responsibility for making such a statement?”
“No,” answered the contributor. “I don’t, because I don’t think this situation can be classified as anything other. I’m simply stating the obvious. Nothing I say could possibly make this circumstance any worse.”
The reporter cut to a grocery store in Concord, New Hampshire. “Talk to us about this video.”
The commentator said, “The first thing I notice is the vehicles in the parking lot. Most of the cars are newer models. We see a Mercedes, three, four, five BMWs, a Volvo. This appears to be in a relatively affluent neighborhood. These are not your average perpetrators. Most seem like moms, dads, husbands, and wives who are just trying to find something to eat. It was the same thing in the video we saw from Little Rock. If I were an officer in either of these situations, I’m not so sure my conscience would let me intervene.”
“So, you’d just stand back and watch?” asked the reporter.
“If I saw people fighting, I’d probably step in and try to break it up. But we’re talking about a grocery store that I assume was closed. People who were earnestly trying to come purchase supplies find that the shelves still have food, but no one working the register.
“Let me turn the question around. If you were in this situation, you had no food at home and you found a store with food, what would you do?”
The reporter paused. “You make a good point.”
The retired officer continued, “I was a cop, not a lawyer, but I’ve had my share of experience with the courts. One of the things that dictate which way a judge will rule is how would a reasonable person react in a certain circumstance. Considering these people’s predicament, I can’t say their behavior is unreasonable.”
“Captain Cordova, thank you again for joining us.”
“It’s been my pleasure.”
The camera cut to the reporter. “The GU Security Force is tasked with guarding the remaining GEMA relief centers around the country. One such center in downtown Baltimore came under attack just hours ago. Armed rioters engaged in a firefight with GU Peacekeepers. We are still waiting for reports to confirm the number of rioters and soldiers who were killed or injured in the skirmish.
“The Global Union is asking that we hold back on showing footage of the event as they do not want to provide any information that might be used by other groups around the country to coordinate copy-cat attacks.”
Stephanie came out of the bathroom in her robe. “The world is still falling apart, huh?”
“It looks like it.”
She sat next to him on the bed and put her hand on his leg. “Thank you for trying to get us out of harm’s way. I’m sorry if I was difficult.”
He ran his hand through her wet hair. “It’s not easy to be uprooted. All in all, I think you were a pretty good sport about it.”
CHAPTER 18
Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
Job 1:20-22
Josh awoke early on Thanksgiving Day to the sound of coughing coming from the bedroom above.
Stephanie rolled over. “That’s sounds bad. It could be Micah. I’ll go check.”
Josh put his hand on her shoulder. “You stay in bed. I’ll look in on him. You need your rest. It’s going to be a long day.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” Josh crawled from beneath the warm covers and put on a sweatshirt. He marched up the stairs to find Micah burning with fever. Josh checked his sheets, but they were dry. “Micah, can you drink some water for me?”
Micah shook his head. “No. I don’t want anything.”
“Try, just a few sips.” Josh coaxed him to take a drink. “Finish this glass, if you can. You need some Tylenol, and it’s not good on an empty stomach.”
Micah took small mouthfuls of water. His skin was pale and his eyes red. Josh got him some acetaminophen and encouraged him to take it with the last of the water. Micah forced it down.
“That’s good, Son.” Josh pushed Micah’s hair out of his face, trying not to show his own distress.
Nicole came out of the other bedroom and looked in the doorway. “How is he doing?”
“He has a very high fever,” Josh turned to see that she was carrying a ball of sheets. “How are you?”
“Sick. I’m going to take these down and put them in the machine.”
“You should be in bed.” Josh left Micah to rest and closed his door. “I’ll take care of that.” Josh took the bedding from his sister and placed them on the floor near the stairs. “How is Lindsey?” He opened the door to check on the teen.
“She’s sleeping now,” said Nicole. “She had a bad fever through the night, but it finally broke—for now, anyway. Neither of us got much sleep.”
Josh put his hand on Nicole’s head. “You’re warm.”
She crossed her arms and raised her shoulders as if she were chilled. “It’s better than it was.”
Josh collected the sheets again. “Get back in bed. Keep drinking water, and take Tylenol every four hours.”
“Yes, Doctor.” Nicole moped back to her cot.
Josh closed the door gently so not to wake Lindsey. He resumed his mission to get the laundry started. When the machine was loaded, he pressed the start button and went to the living room to check on Rev and Melanie. Both were in bad shape. He managed to get each to drink a glass of water and take some fever reducers, although, the pills seemed not to be very effective.
Once that task was complete, he walked outside on the porch with the radio. He looked across the field where Christina’s trailer was located. He pressed the talk key on the radio. “Christina, it’s Josh, pick up.”
“Hey. I was waiting to see signs of life before I called. I didn’t want to wake anyone up. How’s my girl?”
“She’s sleeping soundly. She had a rough night, but the fever broke. Didn’t sleep much, I don’t think.”
“How are the others?”
“Nicole is doing better than last night also. The rest are in bad shape. Let’s hope no one else catches this thing.”
“About that,” said Christina.
“No. Don’t tell me you’re getting sick.”
“I’m not, but Emilio ended his shift early last night. He was complaining of body aches, and feeling very tired.”
Josh sighed. “I need to get him moved to the house then. I’ll have Lindsey call you when she wakes up.”
Josh walked back to the cave where Emilio was residing during the quarantine. “Hey, buddy. How are you?”
“I’m gonna be honest. I’ve been better.” Emilio peeked out from under his sleeping bag and heavy blanket.
“Can you walk?”
“I have to hike out of the cave and into the woods to go to the bathroom. I better be able to walk.”
“Okay, then. Let’s get you moved inside the house before you start feeling worse. Carrying Melanie on the stretcher was a big enough challenge. You make three of her.”
Emilio got out of the sleeping bag sluggishly. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. It’s nice to know that you expect my condition to deteriorate.”
“You’ll beat it. I’m not worried about that, but you’ll probably get worse before you get better.” Josh began folding Emilio’s cot.
Emilio rolled up his sleeping bag. “What are we going to do for security?”
“We’ll split it into eight-hour shifts, with one person on call at all times.”
“Make sure Mackenzie’s shift is in the daytime,” said Emilio. “And it would be better if Christina were the on-call person while Mackenzie is on shift.”
“Okay.” Josh began carrying the cot out of the cave. “We’ll put Christina in charge, and I’ll relay your suggestions. But for now, you just worry about resting and getting better.”
“You got it, boss.”
Josh helped Emilio get set up in the room with Micah. He made sure he drank several glasses of water and took some medicine. He checked on his son before he left the room. Micah was doing no better.
He went back to the bedroom to see Stephanie and waited for the next patient who might need his assistance.
Stephanie was getting ready. “How’s Micah?”
Josh did not want to worry her, but he knew their son’s condition was perilous. He folded his hands and looked at the floor. “Not good.”
The rest of the day was filled with washing sheets and forcing people to drink water. This would be a Thanksgiving without turkey or stuffing, cranberries or green beans. Yet, Josh considered the horrific state of all the people around the country trapped in riot zones with no food and no security. So, at the end of the day, he thanked God for provisions, for shelter, for water, and for keeping his family safe—so far.
***
Little changed on Friday. No one else became ill. Micah’s condition did not improve, but neither did it get worse. Lindsey continued to feel terrible, but had few bouts of fever. She seemed to be out of the woods but still had a long road back to full health. Nicole and Emilio were both very sick on Friday. Rev and Melanie remained feverish throughout the day.
By Saturday, it had become obvious to both Rev and Josh, that the old preacher was not long for this world. Josh sat near his cot Saturday afternoon. “I need to tell Mackenzie what’s going on.”
Rev was weak. He shook his head. “I don’t want to worry her. And I certainly don’t want her to come in the house. It’s too risky.”
Josh could see the pain this was causing his friend. “She’ll feel abandoned if you don’t at least call her on a private channel to say goodbye. I’m sure you have some parting words, even if it’s over the radio.”
Rev closed his eyes. “Okay.”
“Take all the time you need. I’ll come to check on you in an hour or so.”
Rev’s strength was all but gone. “Can you call her? Have her go to the private channel for me?”
“Sure.” Josh pressed the talk key. “Mackenzie, can you go to channel 5, please? Your father wants to talk to you.”
“Yes, how is he doing?”
Josh paused, then pushed the key. “I’m going to let him tell you.” Josh changed the channel and handed the radio to Rev. “I’ll give you a little privacy.”
Josh stood up and walked into the bedroom.
Stephanie gave him a compassionate look, as if she knew the grim task he’d be burdened with. “Rev still isn’t getting better?”
“No.” Josh pushed his hands into his pocket. “How is Micah?”
“His fever finally broke.”
“Praise God!” Josh felt hopeful.
“He’s still an extremely sick boy. The fever could come back at any moment. I’m afraid to get overly excited.”
“But we can be cautiously optimistic.”
“Very cautiously optimistic,” she said.
Josh thought about the fate of his friend, Rev. “I’ll take it.”
“We’ll have to.” She kissed him. “I’ve got laundry to do. See you in a bit.”
“Okay.” He heard Stephanie let out a gentle cough as she opened the laundry room door. Josh immediately followed her down the hall.
She was removing sheets from the dryer and refilling the machine with a damp sleeping bag. “What’s up?”
“You just coughed. Are you okay?”
“I didn’t even notice. Probably a speck of dust in my throat or something. I’m fine.”
“Why don’t you let me take over? You go rest. You’ve done enough over the past few days.”
“It takes both of us to keep up with everything.” Her eyes suddenly looked mournful. “Besides, I’m afraid you’ll have to be the one digging the grave.”
His mind had been on her, and the thought of a grave caught him off guard. “A grave?”
“For Rev.”
“Oh, right.” The fleeting sense of anxiety dissipated. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Lindsey will be up and about in a day or two. She can start helping with laundry and light tasks.”
“I appreciate the concern, but I’m fine. You’re just paranoid. It was nothing.” She smiled and returned to the task at hand.
Reluctantly, Josh left her to the laundry and went to the kitchen to fill water jugs for the patients upstairs. Once filled, Josh carried the jugs up the stairway, placing them on the small wooden credenza in the hallway. The door to the girls’ room opened. Lindsey stepped out looking thin and frail. “Mr. Stone, I’m starving. Can I have something to eat?”
He’d been able to get her to consume nothing more than chicken broth for the past three days. “Sure. Should I bring something up for you?”
“I think I can eat downstairs.”
“Okay, that’s great.” He led the way to make sure she was strong enough to get down without assistance. “What would you like?”
She moved slowly but seemed to have no trouble descending the staircase. “I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.”
“I finished off the last of the horse, but we made a packet of cheddar-broccoli rice and opened a can of chicken. Do you want to try that?”
She grinned at his lame humor and pulled her oily hair back out of her face. “Sure.”
“Have a seat at the counter, and I’ll warm up a plate for you.” Not wanting her to overdo it, Josh prepared a small portion for her. “Eat this, then give it a while. If you’re still hungry, you can have more. You don’t want to overload your stomach on its first day back to work.”
She smiled and stuck her fork in the rice. “Okay.”
“Hey, look who’s feeling better.” Stephanie walked into the kitchen. “You’re welcome to get a shower after you eat, if you feel up to it, that is.”
“Thank you. I’m pretty slimy, so I think I’ll take you up on that.” Lindsey took another bite.
Josh finished up the remainder of his chores, made sure everyone was settled in for the night, then turned in himself.
***
Sunday morning, he awoke to find Stephanie with a searing fever. “Oh baby, you’re on fire.”
“I barely slept,” she said in a raspy voice.
“You know the drill. Bed rest, lots of water, and acetaminophen every four hours.”
“I’ll be fine.” She started to get up.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m just going to check on Micah. I’ll come right back to bed.”
“I’ll check on Micah. He was doing much better last night. If he feels up to it, I’ll help him down the stairs to see you.”
She looked weary and pale. Stephanie stared at him for a second before capitulating to his instructions. “Okay.” She pulled the blankets back over her shoulders. “But don’t push him if he doesn’t feel up to it.”
“I won’t.” Josh feigned an upbeat attitude, but he felt unsettled at seeing her in such a condition. He readied himself for the day and left the bedroom. His first stop was the living room. Melanie was fast asleep and breathing heavily. He knelt next to Rev. “How are you feeling?”
Rev did not answer. Josh put a gentle hand on his friend. The fever was gone—along with all of Rev’s other worries in this world. Josh pulled the blanket up over his head. He’d finish making his rounds to care for the living, then offer his final service for Rev.
When he arrived upstairs, he found Lindsey sitting on the foot of Micah’s bed. Emilio was also sitting up.
“Nicole is still sleeping?” Josh looked at th
e three of them.
“Yes,” said Lindsey. “I don’t think she had any fever last night. Micah says he could eat some soup. Is it okay if I prepare it for him?”
Josh ran his hand through his son’s hair. “Sure. That will be fine.” Even the smallest bit of assistance from Lindsey would be a welcome relief. Josh had his work cut out for him.
“How is everyone else doing?” Micah inquired.
“Mom’s not feeling so hot,” he said. “Rev passed last night.” Josh hated telling Micah both of those details in the same breath.
“Rev is dead?” Lindsey’s face became disfigured by sorrow and tears rolled down her cheeks.
Emilio looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry to hear it.”
“Me, too,” said Micah.
Josh collected the damp bedding. “I’ll be back in a while. I’ve got to address his final needs.” The joy of seeing his son feeling well was overshadowed by the pain of losing his friend. Josh started the laundry, then put in a call to Poochy.
“Josh, hey.”
“Can you go to channel 4?”
“Sure.”
Josh turned the channel. “Rev passed last night. I’ll need some help digging a grave and carrying his body out of the house.”
“Anything you need,” said Poochy. “How is Melanie?”
“She’s still sick. She’s drinking water though, so that’s a positive sign.”
“What about Mackenzie? Are you going to tell her?”
“I don’t want to tell her over the radio, and I can’t risk exposing her to the virus to tell her in person.”
“No problem. Do you want me to tell her?”
“Maybe it would be better coming from Christina. Will you ask her to do it?”
“Sure. I think she’s asleep right now, but she needs to wake up anyway if I’m not going to be on watch.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“Any idea where you’ll dig the grave?”
“That big oak on the opposite side of the field from the trailers. We’ll dig back far enough to not hit the roots. It’s a quiet peaceful place.”
“Sounds good,” said Poochy. “I’ll meet you over there.”