“Guys, how bad is it? Belle has set up two beds in the clinic for them to be moved to.”
Ethan shakes his head and waves him out of the way to get the stretcher moving again before responding.
“They need chest x-rays. I’m pretty sure it’s pneumonia but the x-ray will tell me for sure. If that’s what it is, we’ll be taking them back to their area and I’ll stay and monitor them there.”
Lance is following along beside us as we pass even more people standing and watching us. I see Sasha in the group and pray she doesn’t have a happy or satisfied expression on her face or I might not be able to control my reaction. Thankfully she’s just frowning as we go by so I push her from my head and focus on what comes next.
“Why can’t they just stay here in the clinic? Are they contagious?” Lance asks as we pause to let the clinic's doors slide open.
Ethan doesn’t bother to answer but moves over to a cupboard and grabs a few face masks and starts handing them out. He lines the stretcher up against one of the beds and gently moves Ben over to it and adjusts his I.V. before turning and pushing Skylar towards the x-ray room. Just as he goes through with her he calls over his shoulder to us.
“Rex, wash your hands with soap and the rest of you get out!”
I do as he says but Lance and Belle just wait for him to come back out. When I turn around after drying my hands I see the woman and little girl who Skylar, Marsh and I helped from outside. Her face is sad when she meets my gaze over her own paper mask. She must realize it was her daughter that made Skylar and Ben sick. I don’t know what to say to her so I just nod and turn to the others.
“Why can’t they stay here, Rex? That other little girl is sick too. It makes sense for Ethan to have all the patients in one place.” Lance asks.
I want nothing more than to have Sky and Ben here close to me so I can stay and watch over them but I know that I can’t put my feelings ahead of what Sky wants. I’m the reason they’re sick so I’ll honor her wishes no matter what. I explain to Lance and Belle. Belle’s nodding in understanding but Lance doesn’t agree.
“I get that she doesn’t want to be a part of our group but they’re sick. They need to be here in the clinic!” Lance counters.
Before I have a chance to reply, Ethan is wheeling Skylar back into the room. He must have caught some of what we were talking about because he immediately shuts Lance down.
“No, I’ll be taking them back to their living area as soon as I get the results back from some tests.” He maneuvers her stretcher next to Ben’s and heads over to the cabinets to start preparing medicine.
Lance is scowling and takes a step towards Ethan’s turned back.
“Ethan, be reasonable!”
Ethan drops what he’s working on and turns to face us. He sighs and tugs down his paper mask so it hangs around his neck before replying.
“Yes, it would be more convenient to have them both over here but it also would have been more convenient and safer for Skylar to have left us outside. This little girl has had to endure a lot of pain and upset since we came into her life. She’s been carrying the load of her brother’s safety and well-being entirely on her shoulders. All she wanted in return for all that she did for us is to be left alone to continue that. I don’t agree with her because I think it’s time she let others help her share that load but I will honor her wishes until she comes to that decision.” He glances over at Sky and Ben and rubs at his tired face. “From what I’ve seen and heard about her so far, Skylar is a very special person. She needs help but she needs to come to that on her own. Forcing it on her might break her. I honestly think she’s close to a breakdown. The first time I met her in the cavern, she was half way to a full blown panic attack. You can only live under so much stress for so long before something has to give, especially at her age. I won’t be the one to break her just so I’m not inconvenienced.”
Belle’s nodding her head in agreement but Lance is frowning.
“Yeah, we owe her for taking us in. I guess this is a good way of building up trust with her and I think we’ll need to have that trust. I think things are going to start changing outside soon. All the forecasts I had read in the army about the aftermath of a full out nuclear war, stated that the timeframe of the atmosphere clearing would be between seven to ten years. I think the rain is the start of it. Skylar might have knowledge or access to things that will help us all start reclaiming a real life outside once it’s safe. We’re going to have to start making plans for a future outside. I very much want that girl to be a part of those plans.”
Lance looks at all of us in turn with love and sadness on his face.
“The past seven years has been a struggle for all of us but we had each other to count on and make a life with. Skylar had the opposite. She had the luxuries of everyday needs but she’s had to do it all alone while growing up and learning to parent her brother at the same time.” He looks to me, “Her father gave you, Matty, Belle, and Sasha a huge advantage the day the bombs dropped and it probably saved all your lives. We owe it to him to take care of his children now in any way we can.”
Ethan nods his head and turns away to work on the medicine that will hopefully make Sky and Ben healthy again. Lance and Belle leave the clinic to go back to the work they had been doing earlier and I pull up a chair next to Sky’s stretcher and just wait for her to wake up.
…
“Is Sky going to die, Rex?”
I lift my tired head from the side of Sky’s bed where I’ve been for the last three days and turn to look at her little brother on the stretcher bed we had brought into her room so they could be together. He’s very pale and dark circles stand out under his scared and sad eyes but thankfully, the red flush from fever has left his cheeks.
“No buddy, she’s not! She’s just sleeping now. Ethan said her last chest x-ray showed improvement.”
Ben scrunches his face up in worry. “Then how come she’s not waking up? I woke up yesterday.”
I turn back to look at Sky’s peacefully sleeping face. I don’t really know what to tell him. She should have woken up by now. The medicine Ethan started them on had worked to bring their fevers down and started to clear their lungs after the first twenty-four hours. Ben had woken up not long after that but Sky’s closed eyes hadn’t even so much as fluttered so I tell him the only thing I can think of.
“I think she’s just really tired and needs her rest to get better. She’ll be ok, little man.”
Ben’s voice hitches with tears, “I think it’s my fault. I was really mean to her. I said lots of mean things to her before she let all you guys in. Maybe she’s mad at me and that’s why she won’t wake up.”
His voice is so sad and his words echo the guilt I have in my own head and heart.
“No Ben, that’s not it at all. It’s my fault you guys got sick. It was some of the people who came inside with me that were sick and gave it to Sky.” I lower my head back to the side of the bed and close my eyes before whispering. “All I’ve done since meeting you guys is bring danger into your home. I’m so sorry Ben.”
I must have fallen asleep for a while because the next thing I know is Ethan’s shaking my shoulder and motioning me out of the room. I take a last look at Sky but she’s still out and Ben’s sleeping too, so I follow Ethan out into the living room. Ethan looks just as tired as I feel but I hope he got some sleep on the couch. We’ve both been taking shifts staying with Sky and Ben and after three days it’s starting to wear us down.
“I’d like to take Ben over to the clinic for another chest x-ray and blood draw to check his numbers. He seems to be improving but I’m worried about his kidneys being damaged. I’ll do Skylar’s after his. You need to spend a little time with your own brother while we’re over there. He’s probably getting pretty worried about you.”
I try and rub away the exhaustion from my face as I think about Matty for the first time in hours. Ethan’s right. Even with the others to watch over him, I should check on him but
I hate the idea of leaving Sky over here alone.
“What about Sky? Do you really think she’s ok to be left alone? I just don’t understand why she hasn’t woken up yet!”
Ethan walks over and gently closes the bedroom door before answering me.
“There is no medical reason for Skylar to have not woken up yet. Ben’s pneumonia was worse than hers was and he woke up in under a day after I started their IV antibiotics."
"I think, well - I don’t think she wants to wake up yet.” At my confused look, he sighs.
“Honestly, I think Skylar is tired, mentally. She’s had so much heaped on her shoulders for so long that I think she’s taking a break, for want of a better term. She needs to want to wake up, so once we finish running the tests and get back here, we should have Ben start talking to her. There are plenty of reports in the medical community of patients waking up and reporting that they heard their loved ones speaking to them while they were in a coma or unconscious. We’ll see if Ben can reach her. As for her staying over here alone, I don’t think she’s in any danger now but I will ask AIRIA to keep monitoring her and alert us if her vital signs start to go bad. I wish you could stay here but only you are authorized to open the doors for us.”
I glance back at the closed bedroom door before reluctantly agreeing. I hate the idea of leaving her for even a few minutes.
“I guess there’s no choice but to leave her alone for a bit. I need to milk the cow and collect the eggs so I’ll grab Matty and bring him over for that. The kid should get a kick out of it.”
Ethan’s expression turns thoughtful before asking,
“How much milk and eggs are you getting from that every day? What have you been doing with it all?”
“Well, there’s quite a lot in the walk in fridge in their storage area that’s just sitting there. I don’t know how long the milk will last before it goes bad. There’s probably two dozen eggs by now in the basket on top of the dozens already in the storage room. Skylar said something about canning and dehydrating them when she gave me a tour when we first got here but I can’t remember exactly what that was all about. Why? What are you thinking?”
Ethan leans against the back of the couch and folds his arms. “If Skylar and Ben aren’t using the fresh dairy products and they’ll just spoil anyways, do you think she would be upset if we took them to the barracks to use? There are some kids over there that would really benefit from fresh milk. I worry about the lack of calcium that you kids have missed growing up. Would you give me a quick tour of the storage and fridge over here? I don’t want to take her supplies but if it’s just going to spoil anyways then she shouldn’t mind.”
I nod. “When Sky first showed me around, I asked her about all the extra fresh food she was producing that she and Ben couldn’t use up. That’s when she explained about the canning and dehydrating she does. She said that even though there are huge amounts of supplies in here that at some point they would be living outside and helping to rebuild. She’s been preserving all this stuff to help others in the future. I think she would hate for the milk and eggs to spoil instead of giving it to us so I think it’s ok to take some of it.”
Ethan pushes away from the couch with a nod. “Ok, let’s take a quick look in that fridge and load up a cart with some milk and eggs to take over to the barracks. You can push it to the tunnel while I go get Ben into the wheelchair for the trip over to the clinic.”
I show Ethan the contents of the storage room and walk-in fridge and smile at his look of wonder. I figure it’s the same expression that was on my face the day Sky had first shown me everything. I have to laugh when his mouth drops open in shock when he sees the area in storage that has chocolate. After seven years of living off of the most basic of food supplies and lots and lots of sprouts, seeing such luxuries that we used to take for granted was kind of awe inspiring.
It doesn’t take long for us to fill a push cart with jugs of milk with thick cream settled on top. We only take the oldest jugs and leave the fresher ones in the fridge. We both look longingly at the baskets of fresh produce but neither one of us is willing to take what Sky and Ben had produced with hard work without permission. She’s already done so much for us at a huge cost to her and Ben that we won’t take advantage of anything else.
When Ethan joins me at the tunnel entrance with Ben in a wheelchair, I ask him about the milk but he just shrugs his shoulders and says “Sure”, so we head through the tunnel to the barracks. I can’t help but look over my shoulder back toward where we left Sky all alone.
Chapter Fourteen … Skylar
“How do I look?”
I spin around on my silver ballet flat slipper, making my gorgeous silver and gold prom dress flare out in glimmering waves. My long blond hair is perfectly curled with half of it swept up on top of my head with jeweled combs. I’ve never felt so beautiful in all my life.
“Oh, Sky! Oh my baby, all grown up! You look just like a princess!”
I laugh at the sentimental tears filling Mom’s eyes and feel my own eyes growing damp. I quickly blink them away though. She’s let me use mascara for the first time and there’s no way I’m ruining it with tears.
“There’s NO WAY you’re leaving this house looking that gorgeous! Especially with a BOY!” bellows Dad in fake outrage, making me giggle. He shakes his head in wonder and makes a twirling motion with his finger so I spin around again. I can feel the glow of happiness on my face as the dress settles back down over my knees.
I’m so excited I can barely contain myself and I just want to bounce up and down and clap my hands in glee. This is my very first dance that I’m going to and I can’t wait for my date to get here and see me in my dress.
Ben does the bouncing and clapping for me as he dances around me chanting, “Princess Sky, Princess Sky!”
Dad clears his throat and lifts the camera up to his face to take more pictures but not before I see he has tears in his eyes as well.
“Skylar Ross, perimeter breach detected.”
A frown crosses Dad’s face and we all freeze for an instant but then the doorbell rings through the house making me jump in excitement.
“He’s here!”
I take a few quick steps towards the door before spinning around and pointing a teasingly stern finger at Dad.
“BE NICE!” I say before I dash off to open the door. Another giggle erupts from my mouth when I hear him mutter, “No promises.”
I get to the door and pause to straighten my dress and pat at my hair. I wonder if he’ll be able to hear the pounding of my excited heart. I can’t help but smile even wider as I open the door and see him standing there in his tux with flowers in his hands. My belly flutters at the admiring look in his green eyes and his dimples deepen when his own smile widens. The limo I can see waiting at the curb behind him just sweetens the whole night and we haven’t even made it to the dance yet.
We just stand there smiling at each other like a couple of loons until I feel my dad’s hands land on my shoulders.
“Skylar, do you want to let Rex in now or are you guys just going to stand there all night?”
Rex turns bright red and another giggle slips out of me before I step back and move to the side. Rex juggles the flowers to get a free hand and thrusts it towards my dad who’s standing there with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.
“Mr. Ross, thank you for letting me take your daughter to the prom tonight. I promise to take good care of her!”
We both wait anxiously until dad finally cracks a smile and shakes Rex’s hand.
“You better take care of her and no funny business Mister!” He practically growls but his grin takes the sting out of his words. He’s known Rex since he was ten and has always had a soft spot for him.
“Daniel, stop terrorizing the boy and let him in! I want to get some pictures of the kids together before they leave.”
Dad tugs Rex into the house and mock growls over his shoulder at Mom, “It’s a father’s duty to terrorize his
daughter's suitors, Vanessa. Don’t you remember your father putting me through the wringer when we started dating?”
Mom just laughs and pulls Rex and me into position before snapping a kazillion pictures. Once Rex has pinned my corsage to my dress with shaking hands, it’s time to go. He holds out his arm with his elbow bent for me and we head to the door. We only make it halfway there when from the ceiling a computer voice blares out.
“Skylar Ross, attempted breach of barracks exterior door detected. Integrity maintained.”
My parents’ faces change in an instant. They were happy and proud but now Mom starts weeping and Dad’s face is full of anger. He lunges towards us and yanks me away from Rex.
“Skylar, I told you not to trust anyone! What are you doing? Are you trying to get Ben killed? How could you be so careless?”
I stare at him in shock. What? What does he mean? I look to Mom for help but she’s on the floor in a puddle of blood. I spin frantically in a circle trying to understand and now I see Dad lying on the carpet naked with a bullet hole in his back. My mouth opens and a sound I’ve never heard before comes rushing out. It’s the sound of a wounded animal. My eyes see Ben on the ground also. He’s not moving and I don’t know if he’s alive. Finally, my horrified eyes find Rex and he’s standing there in the middle of my decimated family shaking his head saying he’s sorry over and over again.
My knees hit the carpet and I tear at the beautiful gown that just moments ago I was so proud to wear. There is no beauty in this world. There’s only death. My parents are dead but I need to get to Ben so I throw myself towards him only to come face first with the carpet.
I push myself up on weak shaking arms and look through blurry eyes at the empty bedroom I’m in. There’s no one here. I’m not in the house I grew up in but in my bedroom in the cave. My parents are long gone and Rex isn’t here with me but neither is Benny. I use the side of the bed to claw myself to my feet on legs that barely hold me up. I have to find Ben! The dream is still with me, giving me the adrenaline I need to stagger to the door. I clutch at the frame to stay upright and use the wall as support to make my way to Benny’s room but land on my knees again when I find it empty. I’m having a hard time getting my breath so when I try and speak nothing comes out but a wheeze.
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