by Sage du Toit
She took the lantern over to the table where she had performed her minor surgery. She cleaned up all of the blood and rinsed the instruments in the sink and then poured alcohol over them and set them out to dry on a clean gauze pad. When she was done cleaning, she took the First Aid kit over to Tom and changed his bandages. She then found his poncho liner and covered him up.
She sat next to him on the floor and let the tears flow. She didn’t know what else to do. Her adrenaline of the emergency was gone and she was exhausted. But more than anything she was afraid of losing him. She held his hand and leaned forward, placing her forehead on his hand. She didn’t know how long she sat like that crying but when she picked her head up he had an imprint on the back of his hand from the stitches across her forehead.
She decided she should eat something and opened an MRE and took out the crackers and cheese. She was glad it wasn’t one with peanut butter, that would have stuck to her throat. She sipped her water and ate while she just watched Tom’s face. She loved his rugged face, from the dimple in his chin to his thick bushy eyebrows. He hadn’t been able to shave lately so he had a small beard growing and his hair was longer than normal. She decided she liked it.
She checked the watch and was surprised that four hours had passed since she gave him the first antibiotics. Four more hours until she gave him another dose. She dribbled some water in his mouth and checked his bandages again. She lay out her pad and sleeping bag next to his and turned out the lantern. It was only late afternoon but she was tired and knew it was going to be a long night.
Chapter 26
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29 November 2020 N-Day +142
Atlanta, GA
Sam had changed Tom’s bandages two more times overnight and the bleeding seemed to be slowing down. He still hadn’t completely come to, but she did give him another of the pain pills in addition to more antibiotics. She kept giving him dribbles of water but he needed more fluids. And to make matters worse, he seemed to be getting a fever. She was worried that the bullet had perforated his intestines and he might be getting sepsis.
There was an IV bag in Tom’s First-aid kit...but she had only done an IV once during first aid training. If he didn’t wake up by this afternoon she decided she would do it then. She lay next to him and gently stroked his arm. She kept the lantern off to conserve batteries until she needed the light to check on him or go to the bathroom.
When she had realized there was no access to a bathroom she had almost pushed the bookcase out of the way but she realized what a bad idea that was. She had turned one of the garbage cans into her potty instead. She took one that still had a plastic bag in it and crumbled some paper in the bottom to absorb the liquid. She put it on the other side of the room with a large plastic board covering the can and then put a big book on top to hopefully block the smell.
30 November 2020 N-Day +142
Atlanta, GA
Sam had given Tom the IV yesterday and this morning he finally woke up. He looked at her and said, “You removed your stitches.” She smiled at him and started crying. She had removed her stitches the day before. She realized the wound was all healed and they probably should have come out sooner. She buried her head in his chest and he stroked her hair. “Where are we?”
She dried her tears and sat up, “We are in a school Chemistry lab. I brought you here after you were shot...twice. And I did a minor surgery on your leg and removed the bullet from your knee.”
Tom raised his eyebrows, “Is that why my knee hurts?”
She slapped him on the shoulder and he moaned then smiled at her. He said he needed to pee and he was hungry and he added, in that order. She didn’t want him to get up and she had already planned for this. She helped him sit up and move back against the wall. Then she gave him a big beaker. He shrugged and filled it up and handed it back. She took it to the sink across the room and poured it down the drain then rinsed it out and sat it near him in case he needed it again.
She pulled out the MRE she had opened and took out the main meal to heat and handed him the pastry bar that was in the pack so he could start eat now. He sipped on water and ate the bar. “How long have I been out?”
“Two days. I was really worried about you when you started getting fever. But it broke after I gave you an IV.”
He looked at his arm where the band-aid was near the bend in his elbow. He pulled the band-aid off. “You didn’t bruise me, good job!” She had been nervous doing the IV, but when she tightened the band around his arm and saw his big veins pop up she realized it wouldn’t be too hard to find a vein on him.
She handed him the warm beef stew and a spoon. He ate half and then handed it to her, “Eat, cause I know you haven’t”
“I will have you know, I ate cheese and crackers the other day while you were napping!”, she replied.
“The other day….huh? What day was that? And what time is it today?”, he asked, pointing to his watch on her arm. She took it off and handed it to him. “Is it 13:00? or 01:00?”
She told him, “13:00”
He finished off his canteen and asked if there was more water. She brought him his hydration pack and told him to drink that until she could filter or boil some. She pointed to the lab tables. They all had gas valves and they worked. Tom asked if she knew how they worked and she told him that Chemistry had been one of her favorite subjects in High School and in College.
She found a large beaker and a tripod set up to put it on. She had already found the Bunsen burners and strikers inside of each table. She set up the tripod with the beaker full of water from the sink and then lite the Bunsen burner and put it under it. She looked at Tom, “Didn’t you have Chemistry in High School?”
He laughed and said, “Yea, but that was a long time ago!”
She changed his bandages so he could look at the wounds. He poked around the hole on the side of his stomach. He said, “It hurts.”
Sam rolled her eyes at him, “Well duh of course it hurts, you got shot dummy.”
She told him she was worried about the bullet perforating his intestines and he said that it may have nicked them or caused percussion damage but he wasn’t showing signs of sepsis so it should be fine. The edges of the wound were only a little red and he said it was healing, not infected.
Next, he looked at his knee, “Oh...well that explains why it hurts.” He tried to flex his leg and the wound started bleeding.
“Stop! You’re going to open it up!” Sam exclaimed. She checked the butterfly strips and they were still holding; the blood was just seeping from around the edges. She asked if she should put more butterfly strips on and he said no, the wound would need to drain.
She replaced all of the bandages and she was asking if the knee bandage was too tight. Tom grumbled, “I’m not going to be able to walk! Do you realize what a handicap I’m going to be? We couldn’t even make it back to Fort Jackson, much less on to Texas with me like this.”
Sam felt tears in her eyes. “Tom….Tom, look at me.” He had been looking up at the ceiling in despair, when his green eyes met hers she said, “Tom, I don’t care if I have to carry you...but I’m not leaving you behind and I’m not giving up. We have options! We can find a car, we can find a motorcycle with a side car..if we could find one you would fit in!” He smiled slightly and she continued, “We can make a brace for your leg once it’s healed enough...there are options! You are a Green Beret!! You should know what to do and not give up!!!”
Tom grabbed her and pulled her to him in a hug and then groaned in pain, “Ugh I forgot about my side wound there for just a fleeting moment! I love you Samantha, I’m sorry. I just don’t like being in this position of not being able to take care of you!”
Tenderly Sam said, “I love you too Tom. We WILL get through this, I promise you!”
“Are we safe here? Did those gangsters see where you took me?”
Sam explained how she was careful coming in and made sure no blood trail
was left behind and they didn’t see her come in the School. Of course, if they did a thorough search of the area they may eventually find them but they didn’t seem too smart. She also showed him how she had blocked the room off.
9 December 2020 N-Day + 152
Atlanta, GA
They had been in the Chemistry lab for over 10 days now. After the first few days it started to reek from the trashcan potty, it didn’t contain the smell very well. She even tried putting the can inside of one of the cabinets but it only helped a little. Tom came up with the idea to search the chemicals in the lab to see if there was any lime. Sam had loved chemistry, but she didn’t remember what the chemicals did, that’s where Tom’s expertise came in handy. Sam read out the name of the chemicals until finally she said calcium hydroxide. He had her put on gloves and her gas mask and then she sprinkled it over the stinky can. It worked a miracle.
It had also been getting much colder. Sam attached and lit all of the Bunsen burners and turned the flames so they were all blue. She thought it might heat the room with all of them going. It did provide a little light but not much heat. Instead they cuddled together as best they could around his injuries.
Tom’s injuries were healing. He could stand up now and put a little pressure on his knee. The wounds had all sealed up and he was working on getting his knee to flex. He said it felt like there was a catch in the knee and it was very swollen and still draining. He thought he would eventually be able to walk and support his weight enough that they could continue their journey. But it would be at least another week.
They had plenty of water and Sam kept both of them clean with sponge baths, but the problem now was they were out of food. They had stretched the food out as far as they could but they ate the last of their MRE yesterday. They had heard the gangsters outside the window the day before and knew they were searching the school. If Sam left the room to search for food now, it was possible the gangsters would still be in the school, plus she would need to search the building herself to find the cafeteria, but if she waited until they found the cafeteria there clearly wouldn’t be any food left. The choice was to stay here and slowly starve or take a risk and go find food.
Sam started to empty her rucksack and Tom stopped her and told her to keep the essentials in there. She took out her hydration pack and left her assault pack. She dressed carefully, making sure her boots were tightly laced in case she had to run. She could tell Tom was nervous about her going out without him. She had her 9 mm with an extra magazine in her pocket and her big Bowie knife and canteen on her belt. But she wasn’t going to take her M16 because it would restrict her movement. Tom kept giving her advice of what to do if she encountered anyone and how to back track around and back to the room if someone was chasing her.
When she was ready she gingerly pushed the bookcase forward on the side where the towel was. Then she ran back and kissed Tom on the lips, “I love you with all of my heart! Don’t go anywhere, OK?” He nodded a worried nod. She went out the gap and then pushed it back after she was through. She looked at it from this side and she couldn’t even tell an opening was there. This could just be a small classroom. Unless you realized a Chemistry Lab would be bigger.
She edged carefully up to the door and looked out. As she was about to open the door she noticed a map on the wall next to the door that showed fire escape plans and the route to the outside. She pulled the paper down and thoughtfully examined it. It showed all four levels of the building, including the other attached buildings. The cafeteria was on the first floor right in the middle of the building.
She folded the paper up and put it in her pocket in case she needed to reference it again. She checked the hall again and eased the door open, careful to shut it quietly behind her. She ran down the hall to where the stairs were shown and put her back against the wall in the stair well. She had her 9 mm in her hand and up and ready. She slowly made her way down, keeping close to the wall as she went and checking each level below.
The stairs came out facing a large open cafeteria with large windows running along a curved outside wall. She saw a long counter where lunch trays would be collected and filled. So far, she had not seen any bodies in the school. They must have been out for the summer with just a limited staff coming in for summer school or training.
She was wearing her gas mask because she didn’t know if she would encounter open doors or windows where the nerve agent had come in but it bothered her because it limited her peripheral vision too much. She ducked down and kept her back even with the tops of the tables as she headed toward the kitchen.
After she eased the swinging door to the kitchen open she saw there was food out on the counters that they must have been cooking, two dead bodies on the floor and the door to the walk-in refrigerator was standing open. She was glad she had on her gas mask.
She found the dry foods storage room in the back. She wasn’t going to take much; besides big cans would take up too much room and she only had her back pack. But she saw boxes of granola bars, chips, small boxes of cereal, little cups of fruit and apple sauce, all of which would be perfect. There were also large cans of vegetables, pasta sauce and noodles but she would just take the small things.
She sat her 9 mm on a shelf so she could remove her pack. Just as she unbuckled the waste belt a dark arm wrapped around her throat. “Hooo hooo hooo, what do we have here!”
She hadn’t even seen anybody! Where did he come from? He grabbed her 9 mm and stuffed it in his pocket and then patted her down and found the magazine and map in her pocket. His hand lingered on the front of her pants as he checked her pockets.
“We are going to have some fun with you!! Now...where is yo man? We know he’s hurt, but where you both been hidin’?”
He pulled her out of the storage room with his arm around her neck and the other holding her arms down. She was struggling to get away but he was too strong. They went out to the cafeteria and he gave a long low whistle.
Another man came from the stairs she had just come down. He smiled a leering smile and said, “Nice! You got one! Yea man...we are gonna have some fun with this one too! Even if we don’ find ta other” He walked up to them and pressed himself against her, sandwiching her between the two men. They started dry humping her from both sides and she could feel them already getting hard and she felt like she was going to puke.
Another guy walked in from a side hallway and saw what they were doing. He was short and stocky but had a mean air to him that she immediately recognized as dangerous. He cleared his throat and the two men stopped and pulled away from her. “Sorry G...we was just samplin the product.”
He told the one holding her, who he called Sebastian, to take her to the truck and tie her up good. As he was turning away he turned back around and said, “Did you search her?”
Sebastian said, “Yea G, all I found was a 9 mm, a extra mag an this piece of paper.” He held out the map of the fire escape plan Sam had stuffed in her pocket.
He grabbed the paper and said, “Dummy, you don’t even know what you hold in yo hand! This is the escape route from ta room they are hidin in! It’s the map to da treasure!”
Sam groaned and rolled her eyes as the tears started leaking out. They were going to find Tom!!!
Sebastian just picked her up in front of him and started walking. Her rucksack was pressed against him but that didn’t stop him, he was still rubbing himself against her as he walked, taking every pleasure he could. He crudely said, “I like it when you struggle, it feels good against me.” Sam immediately quit struggling. “Aww now why do you stop?”
He sat her feet on the floor and let go of her arms so he could open the door to outside. She knew as soon as her feet touched the ground what she needed to do. She quickly moved her hand back and unsnapped the strap on her knife and pulled it out, stabbing it backward into his thigh as hard as she could.
“You bitch!” He tightened his arm around her neck and she changed the angle of the blade and raised it and stabbed him i
n the arm. He let go of her and reached for his gun. She turned around and jammed the knife into his eye socket and he dropped to the ground like a rock.
Just then she heard gunfire coming from upstairs. They had found Tom! She didn’t even stop to get the gun, she knew later that she should have, but she was only thinking of Tom. She sprinted for the stairs and ran up them two at a time. By the time she got to the top the gunfire had stopped. She was completely winded and she stood in the stairwell looking toward the Chemistry lab. At the far end of the hall were more stairs and they were dragging Tom’s limp body toward the stairs. She could see blood seeping into his shirt from his chest where he must have been shot. She watched as they picked him up and threw him over the rail of the stairs like a rag doll. They were laughing as they watched him tumble down.
She turned around with tears streaming down her face and ran back down the stairs and toward the front of the building where she had originally entered. She cautiously approached the stairs at the front of the building and could hear them laughing from up above. She could see Tom’s body on the landing above. His arm was at an odd angle laying underneath him and he wasn’t moving. His head was lying in a pool of blood and she couldn’t even see his chest move. She sobbed and realized he must be dead. She couldn’t go check his body because they were right above and coming down.
She ran out the front door and threw the small side gate open as she ran through. She could see the gangster’s truck down by the side of the building where Sebastian had been taking her and there was another guy in the back of the truck waiting. He saw her running across the street and yelled. He then pointed his gun and started shooting at her.
Sam ran while sobbing, she didn’t even know which way she was going or even why. She had promised Tom...promised him she would keep going if something happened to him. But why? Why did they kill him like that? She kept running until she couldn’t breathe anymore. Then she collapsed in the middle of some thick bushes that were in front of a Doctor’s office.