Outbreak: Brave New World

by Van Dusen, Robert

  “There!” Frays said and pointed towards a gap in the trees. There was a driveway cutting off the road to their right, a barely noticeable gap in the trees. Lacey let of the gas and wrenched the wheel the truck sending it skidding and sliding down the shady and overgrown gravel road. Amy felt a sudden pang of something kind of like homesickness for a moment. The driveway looked an awful lot like the road leading up to her parents’ hunting camp.

  The vehicle exploded into a clearing, a small two story farmhouse appearing in front of them. Lacey slammed on the brakes sending everyone pressing against their seatbelts. Frays and Lacey bailed out covering the house with their weapons as Carl tried to get out. His long barreled Mosin-Nagant got hung up on the doorframe… “Carl, hurry up!” Amy shouted at her brother as she knelt, sparing a glance at the young man. “Get to cover!”

  It was still and quiet save for the sound of the children crying. Frannie forced a smile as she tried to tighten the bandage around Paulie’s hand. “Shh…” she whispered hoping she sounded somewhat comforting “It’s alright, buddy. I gotcha. You’re gonna be okay.” The blood was oozing out, soaking through the bandage and running down the boy’s arm. His face was getting alarmingly pale. “Shit…” she muttered under her breath. “Frays, can you come over here please?”

  Amy kept low, using the truck for cover, as she came over to Paulie and Rodriguez. “Oh, Jeez…” Frays whispered as she rushed forward. The ground under the boy was rapidly becoming a little mud puddle from the blood dripping off of his elbow. His wounds had somehow gotten opened up in all the excitement. “How you doin’ little guy? Don’t worry. Me and Frannie are gonna take real good care of you, alright?”

  Frannie and Amy exchanged nervous glances. Frays dug furiously through her CLS kit trying to find something, anything that might resemble a fresh pressure bandage. The poor boy’s face was pale and his skin was getting that peculiar waxy sheen to it that told her he was going into shock. “Crap. Paulie, stay with us buddy.” she smiled and gently slapped the boy’s cheek. “Talk to me, little guy.”

  Amy poked her head up for a second, sparing a look at Adam and her brother. “Carl, Lacey clear that house. We need to get the kids inside time: now!” she ordered as her hand thankfully closed around what felt like a bandage. Frays glanced upwards and gave a quick prayer of thanks before tearing open the plastic wrapper with her teeth as Rodriguez carefully pulled off the old one and threw it aside. The little boy whimpered as Frays replaced the bandage and tried to get it in place as tight as she could without cutting off the circulation to what was left of the boy’s hand. “Sorry, sorry kiddo.”

  Carl and Lacey appeared on the porch of the house. “C’mon.” Adam called, waving them towards the building. “Get in here. I’ll move the Humvee around back of the house.” Frannie gathered up the boy while Amy took Becca’s hand and the two of them bundled the children and took them inside. Freddie jumped out of the back of the truck and sprinted inside, almost knocking Frannie on her butt.

  “Damn dog!” Rodriguez shouted as she brought Paulie into what looked like a hallway. The animal scrambled past her and farther into the house, Freddie’s toenails scratching and tapping on the wood floor. She stood there a moment unsure of where to go.

  Carl stuck his head out of a doorway a few feet down the hall. “In here, Frannie.” he called, waving her into the room. It looked like a long disused living room or parlor, its chairs and couch looking somewhat moldy and the older style faux wood television was coated in a thick layer of dust. Frannie put the little boy down on the couch and smoothed his hair away from his face. The place was kind of humid and moldy smelling with a faint hint of decay.

  “Okay, buddy.” Frannie said quietly as she patted Paulie’s shoulder. “I need you to keep your hand with the owwie up on the back of the couch, okay? Can you do that, buddy?” She smiled reassuringly at the boy and rubbed his cheek. “I’ll be right back with your dad. I just need to get some stuff out of the truck. Amy and Carl’s right here if you need anything.”

  Amy hurried over to one of the chairs and sat the little girl down. “Are you okay?” Frays asked as she patted the Becca down. She fought to keep a grimace off of her face as her left arm felt like she had banged her funny bone really, really hard. A twinge of guilt did backflips through her stomach at ordering Lacey to run the blockade. That feeling only deepened when the girl lifted up her shirt revealing a couple red marks in the shape of expended 5.56 casings on her chest and stomach. Amy dried the tears still running down Becca’s face as she held the little girl and stroked her hair for a moment. “Oh, kiddo…I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

  Frannie and Adam came into the house through the back door a moment later loaded down with water cans, cases of MREs, some ammo and Eamon’s medical bag. Amy and Carl rushed to help them set down their burdens around the room. Lacey went over to the couch and spread a parka over his son then sat down with the little boy’s head in his lap.

  Amy looked at Lacey across the room. She sighed and left Becca for a moment, wandering out in search of the kitchen. The little room at the back of the house was just as dingy and misused as the rest of what little she had seen of the house so far, but she was heartened by the little black woodstove in the corner. Frays guessed that it was antique, probably just there for looks… She grunted when she checked out the pipe leading from the stove to the wall. It seemed that she was wrong. Never underestimate Yankee practicality. Frays thought as she built a small fire in the stove.

  A few moments later there was a cheery little blaze going in the potbelly stove. Amy looked at the fire, a sick feeling roiling around in her stomach. She hated the idea that occurred to her but kept telling herself that it was necessary, that Paulie would eventually bleed to death if it was not done… Amy built up the fire a little more then turned and rooted around in the drawers until she found a wide carving knife. She set it on top of the stove and went back into the parlor.

  “Lacey, Rodriguez…” Frays said from the hall. “On me.” She leaned against the dirty cracked plaster wall, hands jammed in her armpits as she waited for Frannie and Adam to join her. “Frannie, have you gotten that bleeding to stop yet? I’m out of quik-clot.”

  Frannie looked grave. “Poor little guy’s lost a lot.” she said quietly. The woman shook her head and sighed. “I’m out too. It stops for awhile but he keeps coming open.” Rodriguez swallowed hard and took a drink of water from her camelbak. A little color drained from Frays’ face but the woman nodded.

  “We’ve got to cauterize it then.” Amy said quietly, feeling sick but trying to keep it from showing. “Lacey, Rodriguez…I’ll do it, but you’ve got to keep him still and calm. Frannie, give him some more painkillers. Have Carl take Becca in the other room.” The idea of hurting another little boy…it made her hands shake and her knees rubbery. She paced in the kitchen, telling herself that she was just giving Carl time to get Becca away. Rodriguez needed a minute to sweet talk Paulie in to taking a pill. Hopefully it would make him sleepy…

  She threw a couple more sticks on the fire from the wood box next to the stove and stoked up the blaze. Lacey came down the hall and stood in the kitchen. “Frannie just got Paulie to take his meds.” the Marine said. Amy marveled at the way the man’s face could mirror the way she felt at times like these. He looked sick and scared and a little tired. “Should give him a minute for it to kick in.”

  Amy nodded. “Okay.” She started pacing again and Adam strode into her path. He put his hands on her shoulders, holding Frays at arm’s length. They looked into each other’s eyes for a long moment. Lacey took a deep breath and clapped her on the shoulder. Frays put every ounce of energy she could muster into trying to make her hands stop shaking. “I think I’m about ready to go. I’ll be right in.”

  Adam swallowed, casting a nervous glance at the carving knife on top of the stove. The air in the kitchen was like a blast furnace from the fire. “I…” he started but Frays cut him off with shake of her head.

>   “No. I got it, man.” Amy smiled weakly. Geez, I feel like I’m gonna puke. Frays thought and patted Lacey’s shoulder then picked up the knife off of the stove. The handle was hot in her hand but not quite hot enough to burn through her gloves. “You’re his daddy and if he’s gonna get mad at anybody I’d rather it be me than you.”

  Frays followed Lacey into the living room. Thankfully Carl, Becca and Freddie were not there. “Okay, buddy.” Amy said quietly as she crossed the room to the couch. “I’m real sorry about this, but I gotta do it to make your owwie better. Understand?” Somehow she was able to run a hand over the boy’s hair without it shaking. The poor little guy looked so tiny and pale and scared… “Frannie, Adam…hold him down.”

  Amy unwound the bandage from around Paulie’s hand. The boy screamed when she had to tug the linen off of the stumps of his missing fingers. She flinched, grimaced. “Shh…sorry, buddy.” Frays said then steeled herself and moved so that she was using her body to block what she was doing from the boy’s eyes. She took a deep breath then pressed the hot blade of the knife against the stump of Paulie’s ring finger.

  The little boy let out an ear piercing shriek and thrashed the two grownups barely able to hold the writhing child down. Frays felt very far away from the whole thing, like she was watching herself in a bad dream. There was a residue of charred skin and burned blood on the knife blade when she pried it off. “It’s okay, buddy.” Frannie whispered and smiled at the little boy. She ran her fingers through Paulie’s hair and kissed his forehead. “You’re very brave. Shh…you’re my brave little soldier, huh?”

  Amy wanted to puke but she pressed the knife against the stump of the boy’s pinkie finger. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Paulie.” she whispered to the boy as they struggled to keep the screeching, thrashing child still. Frays held the knife there for a second then threw it down and kicked it across the room when she was at least reasonably certain she had done enough to seal off the blood vessels in the boy’s severed fingers. Amy pressed her palms against her eyes for a second, struggling to keep from blowing chunks all over the floor. The room stank of terror, pain and scorched human flesh.

  Rodriguez tapped her on the shoulder. “C’mon, let’s get outta here for a minute.” she said, the scars on the woman’s face standing out against the pale skin of her face. Frays could guess that it was getting to her too. “I need some air.”

  Amy nodded and climbed to her feet. “Okay.” She glanced down at the little boy, guilt and nausea tearing things up in her stomach like a couple of wet cats tied up in a sack. He was crying in his dad’s lap, clinging to the man. “I’ll tell Carl it’s alright to bring Becca and the dog back in.”

  Amy found Becca and Carl sitting in what looked like it might have been a dining room or something at some point. The little girl was curled up in Carl’s lap and the two of them were petting Freddie, the dog’s tail quivering back and forth. “It…we’re done in there.” Frays said quietly and followed Rodriguez out into the kitchen.

  There was a back door which opened onto a set of wooden steps that had obviously seen better days. They squeaked and groaned as the two women walked out into the overgrown grass between what Frays judged to be a barn and what might have been a smokehouse ages ago. “Gimme a cigarette.” Frays said flatly. Her legs felt wobbly so she sat down hard. There was a warm breeze blowing across the pasture. She was trying to catch her breath and her hands were shaking so bad…

  Rodriguez sat down next to Frays and dug out the crinkled pack of cigarettes that she had taken off of the dead man. She thumbed the pack open and frowned. “I don’t suppose one would hurt.” Frannie took two white and brown cancer sticks out and handed one to her friend. The woman grinned wryly. “Doesn’t matter anyways. Last two.” She thought that Frays did not need the temptation of knowing about the other pack hidden in the bottom of her rucksack.

  Amy chuffed as she took one and jammed it into the corner of her mouth. Frannie lit Amy’s cigarette then her own, the two of them sitting in the grass. Frays eventually lay on her back and looked up at the sky, blowing smoke out of her nose. There were white puffy clouds blowing by overhead, the peacefulness of the whole thing was kind of strange after what happened in the last hour or so. The grass smelled good the fresh green growing smell a pleasant contrast to the parlor. Amy lifted her head and let it drop back into the grass suddenly a little dizzy. The nicotine was starting to give her a little bit of a head rush.

  She propped herself up on her elbows and looked towards the house at the sound of the back door opening. Becca and Carl came out onto the grass with Freddie in tow. Carl’s jaw dropped when he saw the cigarette dangling out of his sister’s mouth. “Amy! What the hell?!” he demanded as he made a beeline for his big sister. Frannie snickered into her palm. The man’s tone reminded her of a pissed off Drill Sergeant. “Put that thing out!” He snatched the cigarette out of her mouth and threw it into the grass. “Jeez, Aim…what are you doing to my nephew? Seriously.”

  Amy was on her feet in a flash. She shoved her brother away, fist suddenly cocked behind her ear. “Oh jeez…” Frays mumbled under her breath as her shoulders sagged, the woman’s hands falling limp at her sides. She turned away from Carl and hid her face in her hand for a moment. “Carl…”

  “What?” Carl said his tone so snotty that it was only through sheer force of will that Frays did not turn around and belt him one right in the mouth. Typical spoiled rotten little maggot… Frays thought furiously. “You’re pregnant, Aim! The fuck!?”

  “GET OFF MY BACK, YOU SPOILED LITTLE SHIT!” Amy shouted. She shook her head, took off her patrol cap and ran a hand over her hair then turned to face her brother. Her entire body quaked with just barely restrained fury. “YOU’RE NOT MY DAD, YOU’RE NOT MY BOYFRIEND SO SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!” Carl looked like he did not quite know what to do. She slapped her cover back on and shoved past him marching back into the house.

  Carl glanced from his sister to Frannie and back again. “Can you watch Becca?” he asked and took off after Amy. The woman had a good head start climbed the stairs into the kitchen before he finally managed to catch up. “Aim…c’mon…I’m sorry.”

  Amy leaned against the dusty kitchen counter, hiding her face in the palm of her hand. “Aim, I’m sorry.” Carl repeated as he puffed up the stairs. “Please…I didn’t mean it. I’m not mad.” He walked into the kitchen and tentatively took a couple steps closer to the woman.

  “Carl, please…just…just leave me alone.” Frays grumbled into the palm of her hand. She was shaking and she felt like she was going to be sick again. “Please…” She hurried across the kitchen to the sink and leaned over the basin, becoming sick into the dusty metal sink.

  Her brother hustled over and put a hand on her shoulder, making comforting noises into Amy’s ear. “C’mon Aim…” Carl murmured as he helped his sister into the living room. “It’s okay, sis. Just sit down over here and take a load off.”

  “We’ve gotta get going soon.” Amy said, jerking herself free of Carl. She hated acting like some scared little girl who was crying and getting sick all the time. Frays scowled at him as she rinsed her mouth out with a little water from her camelbak. She had gotten her Bachelors Degree at sixteen, graduated near the top of her class at the Academy, did a tour in a friggin’ war zone and had almost gotten her Masters at twenty before everything went to heck. Now her little brother was going to be bossing her around and treating her like she was crazy or something? Aw, heck no. That stuff was not gonna fly.

  “Hey, Lacey.” Frays said as she walked into the room. The Marine and his son both looked at her, the little boy still curled up in his father’s lap. “Let’s grab a bite and get going.” She crouched next to Paulie and smiled sympathetically. “What do you say, buddy? Ready to get going again?”

  Frannie brought Becca and Freddie back in a few moments later. Frays, Rodriguez and Lacey showed the others how to cook MREs. It was hard for Frannie to tell what the kids liked more: th
e way the heater steamed like magic when you put water in the plastic bag or the fact that the MREs came with candy and crackers and peanut butter. “Army people get embenembs?” Becca asked as she marveled at the little packet of M&Ms that came in Amy’s meal. Frays smiled and divided the candy between the two children. The dog drifted between them all, happily accepting whatever bits of their food that his new family gave him.

  They left their garbage in the corner, gathered the supplies and got back in the Humvee. This time Frannie drove and Carl rode in the front seat with Frays, the kids and Lacey crammed into the back. One big happy family. Adam thought as he glanced at his little ones and Frays out of the corner of his eye. It suddenly occurred to him that yes, they were a family. Maybe closer to the Addam’s Family than the Brady Bunch, but still they were family in their own strange way. The thought brought a little smile to his face.

  A combination of pain meds and a full stomach put Paulie out like a light. The boy was snoozing with his face smooshed against Amy’s shoulder. She looked uncomfortable but not like she was going to freak out or anything, which he took as a good sign. He felt an indescribable sense of weirdness or loss or something. Adam’s mind drifted back to when that stubborn, brilliant big hearted little bitch had asked him and his wife for a ride to the nearest supply point back in Boston. He missed Laura fiercely. She had been the love of his life, the one constant thing in his life that he could rely on…and now she was gone.

  Lacey let his eyes wander back over to Frays as he hugged his daughter. The woman was breathtakingly intelligent. He had watched her rewire the cold storage area at the school to run off of a couple batteries scrounged from the bus garage after spending fifteen minutes checking the blueprints. And…well…he had to admit she did look pretty hot in that tank top tee shirt thing and blue jeans he saw her wearing a couple times... The thought brought another startling one to the surface. Did he really want to be with her or did he just miss his wife?