by Sage du Toit
Everyone was given a loaded weapon, even Kaitlyn. Sam helped her adjust the gun holster and told her not to mess with it or take it out unless she was threatened. Kaitlyn told her she knew hot to handle a gun, her dad had taken her to a shooting range out on the edge of town when she turned sixteen and he gave her a pink camo Ruger SR22. She said it was locked up at the house and that was one of the reasons she wanted to go herself, she wanted to get her gun and her dad’s guns. When the others heard what she said they no longer protested.
They left as soon as everyone was ready and visited the pet store first. The store was still locked up so they pried the front doors open, they were glad to see there weren’t even any bodies inside. They got a big scratching post, a cat jungle gym, kitten food, litter box, litter, toys and a big pet crate. Sam suggested the crate because she felt the kittens needed a place to call their own and a place they could be put for their own safety if they needed to be locked up. They also got collars for the kittens and Lucky. Sam found a small four-leaf clover to hang on Lucky’s collar and thought it would be perfect for her. Tom also suggested they get a water bottle to put in the kitten trailer, like the one used for hamsters. Sam wasn’t sure the kittens would drink out of it, but she thought it wouldn’t hurt to try.
Next stop was the bike shop, after prying the front door open, they all went inside. There were a lot of very nice bikes and Tom tried out several and finally found one that fit his frame better. They all walked through the shop looking and Sam found several cases of sports drinks in the back. She had Kaitlyn and Beth help her carry them out to the truck. While outside, Beth noticed a medical clinic a few shops down so Sam went back in to borrow the pry bar from Tom and told him where they were going. Tom, Jacob and Charlie were outfitting the new bikes with packs so he told her to be careful and gave her the pry bar.
The clinic was unlocked so they didn’t have to use the pry bar to get in. Beth and Kaitlyn were about to walk through the clinic when Sam stopped them inside of the door. She explained to them how to clear a building and Kaitlyn asked, “Why? Everyone is dead anyway.”
Sam realized that the teen was already becoming hardened to this new world but didn’t yet realize how dangerous it could be. She explained to her that even if she thought everyone was dead, that didn’t mean someone couldn’t be hiding in here waiting to kidnap and rape her. She was hoping that being direct and honest would make the teen a little more cautious in the future.
In the front reception area there were two dead bodies that they carefully eased around. They checked through several examination and lab rooms and Beth kept wanting to stop and look in cabinets for supplies. Sam finally gave up and decided to finish clearing the building herself. She realized the other two would probably just get in the way if they did encounter someone since they didn’t know what to do.
She opened the door to the last room and realized this room had been occupied. There were burnt out candles on the counter and a thick pile of blankets on the floor. She shined her flashlight around and didn’t see anybody and was about to back out of the room when she realized there was a slight movement from the pile of blankets. She shined her light on the pile again and saw there was a pile of empty IV bags, empty nutritional supplement drink cans and candy wrappers. Lying in the pile of blankets was what looked like a dark leathery skeleton with wisps of hair covering a cavernous skull. Sam realized the eyes in the skull were open and looking directly at her.
“Beth!! Beth!! Come here quick!”, Sam yelled, shocked at the skeletal person and having a hard time believing it was still alive. But the movement of the eyes told her it was. Beth came running down the hall and Sam shined the light on the person and Beth gasped. She went to the pallet of blankets and the dark brown eyes followed Beth as she knelt and felt for a pulse. Sam watched as a boney hand rose from the blanket and touched Beth’s arm.
Just a whisper of a voice said, “Nurse Patterson? Help me….”
Sam looked at Beth’s face and she saw sad tears flowing down her cheeks, “Dr. Styles? Is that you? Just hang in there sweetheart, I’m going to help you.” Turning to Sam she said, “Go get the guys and tell them we have to leave right now. I need to get her back to the Barrell and start treating her immediately.”
Sam ran out of the door and past a shocked Kaitlyn. She quickly told the men about the Doctor and they dropped what they were doing and went running back with her. Tom and Sam quickly made a spot in the back of the truck where the Doctor could be laid as Jacob carried her out and gently put her down. Beth climbed in the back with the Doctor and Sam pulled out a space blanket from her belt pouch that she kept there for emergencies. They carefully tucked it around the Doctor and protected her from the wind as Tom sped back to the Barrell.
Once they had the Doctor set up on a mattress near the fireplace, Beth went to work and Tom helped her. The Doctor was so thin and dehydrated they had a hard time finding a vein, plus she had been giving herself IV’s and her left arm and even her legs showed damage from all the needles. Beth finally found a vein in her foot and put the IV on a slow drip. While Beth was doing that Sam asked Daniel to make a thin gruel from the oatmeal that was left over from breakfast. When it was ready Sam added a little honey and some of the dehydrated fruit.
Beth fed the Doctor as they all stood around and watched. The Doctor’s eyes were bright and intelligent and Sam could see relief as she slowly ate the gruel. People started drifting off back to what they were doing before they came rushing in with the Doctor.
Sam and Tom decided there was nothing else they could do here to help Beth or the Doctor so they left to find Jacob. He was out back with Steve, standing near the old RV that had been moved around to the back of the building. As they walked up Sam saw there was a water hose attached to the RV, as well as a sewer hose going into a hole in the ground from the RV. Jacob saw them and told them Steve had looked over the RV and checked the generator and got it working. He also saw that it had a tankless propane water heater and was able to replace a part in it and got it working as well. The RV was all set up so they could all take turns getting a hot shower. They both complimented Steve and told him how excited everyone would be and Sam could see he was uncomfortable with the praise.
Tom told Jacob they were going to go back to the bike shop and get the bikes and asked him if he wanted to take a trip to his house now or did he want to wait for Beth? He told them to wait just a few more minutes and he would check with Beth. They found Kaitlyn and unloaded the pet stuff from the truck while they were waiting. They started putting the cat jungle gym together, which was a bunch of plastic tubes and connectors going through mesh and fabric. Charlie came over with Noah to help distract the kittens that kept trying to get in and climb on the gym while they were trying to assemble it.
Sam saw Madison come into the front room with wet hair and she came to tell them how wonderful the hot shower was. She said Latisha was in there now and Linda had taken the first shower. Just then they saw the van drive around the front of the building and head toward the back. Sam stayed to finish putting up the gym while the others went to help unload the van. The kittens were loving the jungle gym and were climbing in the fabric cubes and playing with the hanging balls and scratching on the posts. Noah was also having fun by putting the kittens on the top where they could jump back down and explore as they went.
Sam asked Noah if he was hungry, she saw it was close to lunch time and felt her stomach rumbling. He said yes and sat Serena down on the gym. The kittens and food seemed to be his two favorite things. They headed to the kitchen and Sam stopped by the pallet with the Doctor on the way to see if Beth needed anything.
Beth said the Doctor was resting and there wasn’t much else she could do for her. Sam told her the group was back from the butcher and told her about the RV and the showers. Beth said Jacob had told her about the showers and that she was going to go back out with them to the house. She was going to have Martha sit with Dr. Styles. Martha was still recovering and the on
ly thing they could really do for Dr. Styles now was give her food when she woke up. Beth gave Martha some last-minute instructions and then they went to the kitchen to get some lunch and then head out.
When they entered the kitchen, they saw there were boxes of food and jerky the other group had brought back from the Butcher Shop, it had obviously been a very productive trip. They also saw several suitcases and bags from where each of them had gone to their houses for items. Sam could see that Taylor was a little distraught and she could imagine it would be hard to visit your home and realize you wouldn’t be living there anymore.
They all grabbed a quick lunch and then headed out to the truck. It had already been a busy morning and Sam felt a little Déjà vu as her same group headed back out to the bike shop. This trip was completely uneventful. They retrieved the bikes and a few other things from the bike shop and Beth took some medical supplies from the Clinic. She told Sam that she wanted to find more IVs in case they found more people that were dehydrated and sick like Dr. Styles. Sam told her that she though the Doctor was probably a special case…most people wouldn’t have access to medical supplies and supplements to keep themselves alive. If they found anyone now, they would either already be starved to death or would have had access to a good food supply like the two groups that had survived. Beth agreed, but said they only had a few IV’s remaining from the pediatric clinic and that there were none in Dr. Styles clinic, she had used them all.
They went by each person’s house and they all helped by carrying bags out to the truck as they were packed. Tom and Sam discussed stopping by their house to get a few things they left behind but after the last stop at Charlie’s house they decided there wouldn’t be enough room. There was barely enough room in the back of the truck now for all the people. The temperature was dropping fast and they could see dark storm clouds coming in. The three females piled in the front cab with Charlie driving and Tom and Jacob insisted on toughing it out and sitting in the back. Charlie cranked the heater up in the cab and none of the girls complained. Sam managed to reach back in the crowded cab and open the sliding rear window. The two men were huddled around the window trying to stay warm, luckily the trip back was short.
They unloaded the truck and several people from inside came to help. As he helped, Chris told them that everyone had already made trips to their homes and they were all back. Half of the people had already showered and Sarah and Taylor were currently helping each of the kid’s shower. Beth asked if her kids were in there now and he said yes and she rushed to take them some fresh clothes. He told Tom and Sam that everyone left was being given a time slot for showers and that they were put at the end of the shower list because they didn’t know when the group would be back. Tom told him that was fine, they would probably shower together to conserve water anyway and he winked at Sam. She couldn’t help by grin at his wink as she felt her heart flutter.
She helped Tom pack the bags on his new bike and transfer some bags over from the old one. As they were adjusting the load on his bike for balance and making sure noting interfered with his movement on the bike. Sam looked at Tom’s old bike and then his new bike and asked him what he was going to do about camouflaging it. He gave her a pained look and said, “Why didn’t you ask that BEFORE we moved all of the stuff?” He said he was going to have to remove everything and paint it. She reminded him they didn’t bring any of the paint stuff with them. He said he would go to the tool store tomorrow and get the supplies he needed.
Charlie was sitting near them and had obviously been listening to their conversation, he said, “You should also go get another one of those cat jungle gyms and use it to replace that heavy wood contraption you have in your trailer, that would lighten your load a lot. And replace that heavy wood box your using as a litter box with a plastic tub or stainless-steel pan. There are some steam table pans in the kitchen that might even work.”
Sam smiled at Charlie and said, “You sir, are a genius.” She kissed him on the cheek which made him grin a big toothless grin. Sam hated the wooden box they were using, there was no real way to line it like she had originally thought and the kittens were still learning to use the litter box and would sometimes dig up the plastic she used to protect the wood. They were currently using a regular litter box but once they got back on the road, she was hoping to find another solution. She also agreed with Charlie’s assessment of the heavy scratching post pieces they used. They could even cut and adjust the plastic tubes to fit inside of the trailer and there was a curved scratching platform that would even follow the curve of the trailer.
Thinking of the kittens, Sam realized she hadn’t checked on them in a while and went to look in on them. They were all asleep in a big pile in one of the cubes on the jungle gym. She didn’t see Lucky and went to look for her. She found her lying next to Dr. Styles. She was scratching at her new collar and Sam hoped she would get used to it soon. She bent over and gave Lucky a good scratch around the collar and she saw that Dr. Styles eyes were open. She sat down next to her and introduced herself and asked if Lucky was bothering her. Dr. Styles said no, the cat had been by her side for most of the day and was a great comfort. Sam noticed that her voice was still weak but that she was alive and talking at all was a miracle.
She saw Martha was sitting off to the side not really paying attention, Sam asked her if she needed anything and the Doctor said Beth had just told her that dinner was about ready. Sam nodded and got up to leave when the Doctor stopped her, “You’re the one that found me, aren’t you?” Sam nodded again, not sure what to say. “Thank you, you saved my life. I was so scared and knew I was about to die. You saved me and I can never thank you enough.” Sam squeezed her hand and went to check on dinner.
Sam and Tom took a shower in the RV right before going to bed. It was a very small shower, so they couldn’t really both fit in the shower and were disappointed by that. But still it was nice to have a hot shower, even if it wasn’t as nice as the last hot shower, they had at Fort Jackson. They both still appreciated the luxury and knew it might be their last for a while. After they were done, Steve had shut the generator down and disconnected the water. The storm had moved in and icy rain was coming down and covering everything in a thin sheet of ice. They knew that everything would be frozen by morning.
Chapter 8
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6 February 2021
Douglasville, GA
As the morning sun shined down and cast it’s bright rays on all of the glistening surfaces, everyone crowded around the front windows by the kitten’s new jungle gym, they could see that thick ice covered everything. The cars, trees, even the black asphalt of the parking lot. The sun was bright and the sky was clear but it didn’t look like anything was melting because it was still so cold outside. There were tree limbs and other debris blown everywhere. Someone said it really looked like the apocalypse outside and everyone moaned at the bad joke. Luckily, they were all warm inside. They had plenty of wood and propane.
Breakfast seemed almost like a celebration, everyone was in a joyful mood. They had found cured slabs of bacon at the butcher as well as a lot of different types of jerky. For breakfast there was bacon, pancakes, various dried fruits and even warm syrup. They all sat down to eat and even Dr. Styles was able to sit up and feed herself. Everyone kept calling her Doctor and she finally told them to stop and call her Kendra.
It was much too cold and icy to go outside yet. Tom decided he would have to wait to paint his new bike. Even if he had the paint, he couldn’t do it now because it was too cold outside and no one would appreciate the fumes inside. Instead they spent the morning sitting around the warm fireplace telling their stories.
Kendra told her story; she was at the Clinic getting ready for the days appointments when her receptionist came back and told her there was a strange prank going out over social media with pictures and messages about it being the End of Days. She had just turned her computer on and was looking at the crazy
posts and what everyone was saying when her phone went off with the emergency alert. Just after her phone went off, she heard a strange sound coming from the reception area. When she looked out, she saw the receptionist and nurse were both on the floor near the front door.
Kendra’s face was ashen and it wasn’t just from starvation, Sam could tell she was having a hard time recounting the events leading up to her rescue. Kendra continued, saying she started to run out and help them but when she saw they both had bloody foam coming from their mouths and blood coming from their eyes she realized there wasn’t anything she could do. She ran back and hid in the back storeroom. Kendra had tears running down her cheeks now and her voice was cracking. Sam realized part of it might be she was still so weak and she wasn’t used to talking out loud after all that time alone.
Everyone sat quietly and listened to Kendra, even the kids were quiet. It wasn’t that her story was much different from anyone else, it was that it was so much the same. The realization you couldn’t help someone and doing what you must in order to survive. Everyone sympathized with the pain she was showing and Sam knew it would be good for her to talk about it. They all needed to share, it was part of moving on. Kendra said that after she saw her two friends die before her eyes, she knew that what she saw on the internet wasn’t a joke or a prank like her receptionist had suggested.
She said she did what she had to in order to survive but admitted to considering suicide several times. She said she walked out to the front almost every day for the first two months with the intention of going out the front door but she could never get herself to walk past the bodies of her friends. She said that after that she just kind of gave up on leaving and concentrated on conserving her energy and hoping for rescue.