Outbreak: Brave New World

by Van Dusen, Robert

  Antidepressants were starting to become pretty hard to come by and supply containers, if they came at all, were needed for more important drugs: painkillers, anesthetics, antibiotics. There were others on the FOB that were on them too, no cases that seemed too serious yet but things were probably going to get pretty interesting here in a month or two. She made a note to bring up gradually weaning the people on psychotropic drugs off their meds to try and mitigate the worst of the effects at the staff meeting tomorrow morning. The last thing they needed on top of everything else was somebody flipping their shit because they ran out of Paxil…

  Once she down the hall and out of sight of the desk Lieutenant Haskins let out a terrific yawn and stretched then rolled her shoulders. It had been one long, long fucking day. Up at zero dark thirty, half an MRE while filling out requisition forms for supplies that probably would never arrive then an hour and a half meeting with Major Tennyson and that fucking letch from FEMA, Mike Bouchard, the other half of the same MRE then nine hours working at the first aid tent until coming back over to the Aid Station for a couple hours. Thankfully it had been reasonably quiet. The worst she had to deal with all day was some blisters, a busted thumb from an accident with a hammer, a couple spider bites and a woman with the runs.

  The woman glanced at her watch as she unlocked her office and tugged the door open. As the only doctor in the area, her office in the Aid Station doubled as her living quarters. It was kinda cramped and stuffy but at least she had the place to herself. Everyone else was either on cots in the resettlement center or in tents pitched on lawns of the various plots not designated for agriculture in the compound except of course for the FEMA guys and their contractors. They were living pretty high on the hog in what used to be the airport’s terminal building. Still, she had to admit that the little faux leather couch felt like a feather bed after a long day and the place had its own head with a shower in it.

  Haskins flicked on the light for a minute and stifled a yelp when she saw the sallow faced man sitting on her desk. “Hey, Beth.” the man grinned and hopped down off the desk, adjusting the way his khakis hung on his brawny legs. He was built like a side of beef with a stylish beard and Oakley sunglasses that somebody had dressed up in a black polo shirt and dress pants. He also had a Springfield XDM pistol strapped to his hip with a couple spare magazines opposite it. “Thought I’d stop by and talk about the new arrivals for a minute.”

  He knew it irritated the hell out of her when he called her by her first name so she did her best to hide it. Beth had no idea if the man’s utter lack of respect stemmed from some kind of misogyny or if it was just because he was just an arrogant prick. She had not (yet) brought up the subject with Major Tennyson so she was not sure if she was a special case or not. “They’re fine, Deputy Secretary Bouchard. Or at least uninfected. Nothing’s wrong with them that some rest, medical care and good food won’t fix.” Haskins said quietly, a polite smile coming to her face. “Airman Frays will start work with the base security teams tomorrow morning. Might end up getting voluntold to help the machinists. Private Lacey and Specialist Rodriguez are already released. I’ve heard that they’re filling some spots on the perimeter. Mister Frays is out with the field hands.”

  “Do you expect any problems from them?” the big man asked. He could not help but imagine what that tight little body of hers looked like naked as he leaned against her desk. “They seem trustworthy?”

  “Deputy Secretary Bouchard, Private Lacey’s got two small children.” She could feel the man staring at her tits again and by now she was just too plain tired and angry to be polite anymore. “Airman Frays is about four months along with her kid, which is pretty severely underdeveloped due to malnutrition. Truth be told, I’m surprised as hell that she didn’t spontaneously abort before now. Not to mention that she’s got a pretty severe neck injury. Specialist Rodriguez is missing about five or ten percent of her left quad. She’s going to be walking with a limp for the rest of her life. And Mister Frays is barely old enough to shave. I think they’re just grateful to be alive at this point.”

  “Alright, sweetheart calm down.” Mike said with a wry grin. What was she going to do file a sexual harassment complaint? He was the highest civilian authority in the state. Hell probably east of the Mississippi for that matter. And this was still the United States of America. True, the country had hit a bit of a rough patch but it was still America where the military answered to the civilians.

  The big man pushed himself off the desk, still smiling as he walked to within inches of the woman. He grinned when he saw the uppity bitch tensed up but, to her credit, Beth did not back away as he leaned over her. Mike breathed the woman’s scent in as if he were stopping to smell a flower. “That’s good.” Mike murmured his own face just a few scant inches from hers. “Don’t want anyone rocking the boat, do we?”

  She stared back at him defiantly. “They seem like good people who’ve been through a lot in the last couple of months.” Haskins told him. Their eyes clashed like swords ringing off one another for a moment. The man nodded after a minute or two and sidestepped around her to make his way towards the door. He came just close enough to let her know that he could have grabbed her ass if he wanted to.

  It was everything she could do to not scream in frustration after the man had closed the door behind him. There was nothing she could really do right now about the guy: as Assistant Secretary to the Director of FEMA, he had enough pull to never mind torpedo her career he could have her locked up or possibly shot if she raised too much of a stink. And of course the fact that she was the sole doctor probably for at least a three county area did give her a little pull of her own…

  Beth took off her uniform jacket and threw it onto her desk then lay down on the couch. She glanced at her watch again. It was almost lights out, when by Assistant Secretary Bouchard’s orders, the generator at the airport would be shut down and kill power to the compound save for the cold storage for the food and medicine. She balled up the little throw pillow under her neck, shifted her weight around a couple times and almost instantly fell into a deep black exhausted sleep.

  It was quiet in the Aid Station after the lights went out. Amy shifted around, trying to get comfortable on the hospital bed. There was a nervousness doing backflips and cartwheels in her stomach. She was supposed to go meet her new boss and coworkers tomorrow morning with the Security Forces in a walled off building a few blocks east of the Aid Station. Would she get along with them? Frays found herself anxious to use her brains to solve problems, to have some connection back to her old life before the world went crazy.

  Lacey and Rodriguez would likely be going back to their old jobs too… It would be weird to not have them around. As annoying as Lacey could get sometimes upon reflection she would miss the guy. And…well…as much as she hated to admit it he made her feel wanted. It was something she started to realize that she needed especially as she started to get chubby. The whole thing was kind of funny, really.

  Frays had kept in good shape for her PT tests and the like not for her figure. At the same time, she had always noticed that men never really seemed to look at her the way they looked at Frannie or Lieutenant Haskins. Now she was getting plump around the middle and her face felt kind of puffy… Amy smiled a little in the dark. She was turning into a fatty little toad but Lacey kept looking at her like she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

  She looked at the little boy asleep on the other side of the room. He was a little cutie. Can I be what your daddy needs? Frays asked herself. The young woman considered the question as she continued watching the little boy. Amy realized that no, she probably could not. Lacey was a good man but…it probably would not work. She would end up burying him or he would end up burying her. Frays sighed heavily. I can’t. I can’t do that again.

  She dozed fitfully off and on throughout the night waking occasionally after half remembered nightmares or other…stranger…dreams. There was something about a little spider monkey
or something like that of all things… She was just starting to drop off again when Paulie cried out in his sleep.

  Amy leapt up and padded barefoot over to the little boy’s bedside. She gently shook him awake. “Shhh…” she said quietly and smiled at him in the shadowy light thrown off by the emergency lights in the hall. “You were having a bad dream, buddy.” Amy brushed the boy’s hair away from his face and pressed her lips against his forehead. “I’m right here. Everything’s alright now.”

  He smiled sleepily and squirmed around a little bit. “Thanks, Mommy.” Paulie said as he already started drifting off again. Amy grinned and tucked the little boy in then gently rubbed his stomach until he was sleeping soundly again.

  Amy smiled to herself as she crossed the room and got back into bed herself. Did the little guy mean to call me mommy? Frays wondered to herself as she rubbed her hands over her belly and tried to get comfortable again. The child in her womb seemed to start running through some combatives practice in her belly, sometimes kicking hard enough to make the woman wince and scowl at the little guy. She half wondered that if she were to pull her pajama top back if she would actually be able to see the little guy as he wailed on her insides.

  Frays stared at the ceiling and tried to calm herself down and relax so she could hopefully get a little more sleep before reveille. The urge to pee (again) broke her concentration and she hustled off towards the bathroom. The little guy’s probably stomping on my bladder or something. Frays wondered as she conducted business.

  She could not help but be a little worried. Somehow Frays knew that she should be more than a little chubbier around the middle. The woman did not know how she should know that, but she did. Maybe it was the way Waterman, the guy who did the ultrasound said ‘a little small maybe’. Or the slightly worried look in Lieutenant Haskins’ eyes when she was checking on the baby earlier. Amy took a couple deep breaths, suddenly fighting back tears. I lost my friends, my parents… she thought angrily, clasping her hands in prayer and pressing her forehead against them. I’m not gonna lose this baby. I’m not. Please, please help me…I don’t know if I can stand losing any more. I’m tired and scared and just plain worn out. Please help…

  Frays finished conducting her other business, making the sign of the cross before getting back into bed. Amy rubbed her belly and wondered how the little guy was doing in there. He might be small but he was strong as a bull judging by how hard he kicked. Eventually she started to drop off again when the little guy seemed to tire of kicking the crap out of her insides and go to sleep. Good night, little buddy Frays thought and yawned. See you in the morning. Mommy loves you.