Before they even reached the barge dock, Riley spotted people. Their fences had been extended since the last time she had been there, and it appeared a new field was being worked. It was difficult to tell for certain from her low angle. As the workers spotted the canoes, they waved enthusiastically. Most of the paddlers stopped at one point or another to wave back. Hope, who had grown weary of paddling and hadn’t dipped her blade the entire time they were in the river, waved to all of them. Riley thought she might be looking for Peter, but she doubted the boy would be among the farmers.
By the time they reached the wooden dock and started to double park against the Black Box’s canoes, a welcome party had formed. Several of them climbed down to assist them.
“I want to go find Peter, Mom,” Hope stated rather than asked as she and Riley made their way up to the top of the barge dock.
“I don’t want you running around here by yourself. Wait until someone can take you to find him.”
Hope huffed. She was usually given free rein within the container walls, but she didn’t know the Black Box as well and neither did Riley, so she had to stay put for the moment.
Once Riley’s patients had assembled, she began to lead them to the nearest entrance by the train tracks. Back on the barge dock, Karsten would finish unloading, then take on a shipment of food and return to the container yard.
“How come no one’s here to greet us?” Hope asked, holding her mom’s hand like a good girl, which was unusual. In Riley’s other hand, she carried the cooler of blood samples.
“I’m not sure.” Although there had been a welcoming party, Riley knew what Hope meant. Usually someone they knew well would be waiting for them, like Abby, Lauren, or Josh. Where were they?
As they neared the crane tower, Riley spotted the shape of a person climbing down from it. He or she must have started climbing down the moment the convoy had arrived, because the individual was near the bottom now. Riley couldn’t tell who it was owing to the distance and shifting layers of clothes, but once the person hit the ground, he or she began to run. Whoever it was, was coming toward Riley’s little group instead of heading for the dock.
“Wait a second, guys.” Riley held up a hand to stop her little troop. Those who hadn’t already followed Riley’s gaze did so now, picking out the person coming toward them.
The smiling face beneath the wide-brimmed hat became clear as it got close.
“Claire!” Hope released Riley’s hand as if she realized she had been holding a poisonous snake.
“Hey, Hope, you here to see Peter?”
“Yeah. Mom, can Claire take me to see Peter? Please?”
“I don’t mind taking her,” Claire added.
“Pleeeease?” Hope stressed.
“Do either Lauren or Abby know you were up there?” Riley asked, gesturing to the crane.
“Umm…no,” Claire spoke a little sheepishly, but then straightened up. “I’m twenty-one years old, you know, I don’t have to tell them how I spend my days.”
Riley paused momentarily, briefly distracted by the thought that Claire had been the same age Hope currently was when the Day occurred. She had been just a little girl when she watched her family and friends get killed, barely surviving herself.
“No, you don’t, you’re an adult and can make your own decisions,” Riley agreed, “but don’t you think you should tell them in case they’re ever looking for you? It would be better to hear it from you than to find out during some sort of emergency.” Riley didn’t want to think about that emergency being Claire splattered below the crane, but didn’t say as much.
Claire sighed.
“She’s right, you know,” Bill added. “This isn’t a time to be keeping secrets; your parents should know how to find you.”
Claire gave him a scathing look for speaking up, but it quickly softened. She knew they were right, of course.
“Can I go find Peter now?” Hope whined, tired of standing around and perhaps worried that Riley would find something about which to lecture her.
“All right, you can go with Claire to find Peter.”
“Yes!” Hope jumped and pumped her fist. “Come on, Claire! I bet I know where he is!” She wrapped her hand around the older girl’s and pulled her toward the entrance.
“Remember what I said, Claire!” Riley called after the pair.
Claire raised her hand in response as the duo dashed on, reaching the entrance and disappearing inside.
“I don’t envy you,” one of Riley’s female patients commented as they resumed their more leisurely pace to the entrance. “I can’t imagine trying to raise a kid amongst all this.”
“It’s not so bad,” a man who was a father of now grown children responded. “I mean, it’s different, yeah, but at least we don’t have the internet to compete with. And it’s not like you have to worry about someone kidnapping your kid and taking them to God knows where.”
This started a discussion amongst the patients about what had changed and what had stayed the same when it came to kids. Riley tuned them out. She had other things on her mind, the least of which being where her friends were currently hiding themselves.
***
When Riley entered the first of the rooms that made up the medical suite, she was surprised to find so many people she knew lingering on and around the plastic chairs. Abby and Lauren sat side by side, their heads together in conversation, their hands and faces covered with smears of dirt. Crichton sat ramrod straight beside the door to a recovery ward, while James Brenner paced back and forth nearby. Just as Riley registered them, and they registered her, Josh and Robin strolled in. Back before the Day, Josh had been a medical resident under Riley in the ER, and on the Diana, Robin had been her medical student. It was nice to see them working together now.
“Riley, you’re here.” Josh sounded a little surprised to see her.
“Did no one tell you I was bringing some patients by for testing?” she gestured to the people gathered behind her while also lifting up the cooler.
“No. I mean, yes someone told me, I just forgot is all.”
“What’s going on?” Clearly Riley was missing some important information given the lack of the usual greeting. People’s minds were preoccupied with something else.
“Can we have a status update on the boy, please?” Crichton cut Josh and Riley’s conversation short.
“He doesn’t have an active infection,” Robin told the room. “However, Abby and James, we’d like to run your blood as an extra precaution. Sorry for dragging you away from your duties like this, but you know how paranoid some people get.”
Abby nodded and got to her feet, Lauren’s hand lingering in hers before she walked with James and Robin down a short hall to one of the exam rooms.
“He’s grossly malnourished,” Josh continued where Robin had left off, “but we’ve been giving him some liquids. Unfortunately, he’s still unconscious so he can’t feed himself or answer any questions. We’ve cleaned him up and assessed that he has no injuries besides a few on his hands and knees that are consistent with stumbling and falling. There was nothing in his clothes to give us any idea who he is, and he had no weapons of any kind.”
“May I sit with him until he awakens?” Crichton asked, pushing up onto his feet.
“You’re welcome to, just let me know the moment he does.”
Crichton nodded and then disappeared through the doors behind Josh.
“New arrival?” Riley guessed based on the bits of conversation she had heard.
Josh nodded. “Yeah, a kid, maybe somewhere between seven and twelve years old best I can figure. He showed up outside the fence and nearly got mistaken for a zombie. Luckily, Abby had heard him cry for help before he collapsed.”
“Poor sod,” a patient behind Riley mumbled. They had begun to disperse about the room, finding themselves seats.
“You should have seen how quickly Abby was over that fence,” Lauren added. “She and James went out there to bring him in.”
“Hence the blood tests,” Riley nodded.
“So,” Josh clapped his hands as he changed topics, “how are you? Need any help with this lot?”
“I’m fine. Are some of you okay with Josh running your tests?” Riley asked her group.
“I’d prefer it,” one man answered. He was here to get a strange discolouration of his testicles looked at. It had originally been examined by one of the male doctors at the container yard, and the man had been acting a little squeamish about the idea of Riley taking a look.
Shrugging out of her backpack and opening it, Riley took out the patients’ medical files. They were similar to what they had been pre-zombies, only now everything was hand-written. Several doctors wrote too fast, or too illegibly, to the point where they had ‘hired’ a former nurse whose job it now was to go through everything and rewrite it all in a much neater print.
“I should tend to these first,” Riley told Josh, indicating the cooler while she handed over the medical files.
“Of course. You know where the lab is. We can catch up later.” Josh looked at the man who had spoken up about preferring him. “What’s your name? I’ll start with you.”
Riley picked up her backpack and the cooler and left the medical suite. Although there was some equipment in there, the mini lab across the hall was better stocked for what she needed to do. The lab was currently occupied by only one other person, Dr. Edward Owen. He waved to Riley as she entered, then returned to his work. Riley wondered what he might be up to. He could be running similar tests to those Riley was about to perform, or he could be doing a more extensive work up on the blood of the boy who had shown up.
After placing the cooler on a table and hanging her bag off the back of a chair, Riley located a pair of gloves to snap on over her hands. Then she set to work. There were blood samples to examine for things other than the zombie prion-virus hybrid, as well as a blood sample from a newborn that she needed to type. Without being able to keep a supply of blood on hand in case of injury, the doctors filed everyone’s blood type so that they all became potential donors. Along with the blood were some Pap smears, and a couple of tissue samples, one from a persistent rash and one from a persistent sore throat. The scariest thing that Riley had to exam was a biopsy. It had been performed on Bill in the shipping container they had made sterile and covered in plastic. A growth had been discovered in his lymph nodes. His reason for coming along on the trip was to get a full work up, but this biopsy might be all they needed. If it turned out to be cancer, there was nothing they could do about it except maybe give him a rough estimation of how long he had left. Riley tried not to let her worry show, even after Edward had completed his own tests and left her alone in the lab.
Getting inconclusive results for the rash and sore throat was annoying, but not unexpected. When there was nothing left to do but monitor the machines, Riley crossed the hall and examined and ran additional tests on her patients. Robin and Edward assisted. With four doctors, it didn’t take long to get people the x-rays, scans, and various examinations they needed, including an endoscope of a woman’s stomach. It all provided more data for the lab to process.
Josh walked into the lab, carrying the last of the x-rays, and found Riley sitting on a stool with her face propped up and buried by her hands.
“Everything all right?” he asked, pausing on his way to the light table.
“Bill has cancer.” She moved her hands away from her mouth to speak clearly but continued to cover her eyes, not wanting Josh to know that she was crying. “It’s inoperable.”
“I’m sorry,” Josh spoke sincerely, then continued on to the light table where he proceeded to examine the films. Riley took the opportunity to clean up her face. After some time, Josh leaned against the computer-laden table behind him and asked “So how are you? I know you said fine earlier, but you know… You’re not always honest.”
Riley thought for a moment that she had failed, that it still looked like she had been crying, but then realized that Josh was just trying to make some light conversation.
“Really, I’m fine. Same old, same old, I guess. You? Still seeing Anne?”
“We’re living together now, actually.” Anne used to be the girlfriend of Tobias, a member of their group. When Tobias was killed, their little extended family had agreed to look out for her. Apparently, Josh started looking out for her more than most, and after an appropriately respectful amount of time had passed, they began seeing each other.
“Congratulations,” Riley told him. She really was happy for him. Josh used to have a crush on Riley, which had sometimes made her feel guilty about being with Mathias. She was glad he had found someone who could return his affections.
“We’re not married or anything, we haven’t even discussed it,” Josh was quick to add. Quick enough to make Riley think he wanted to marry Anne, but was still unsure about how she would respond to the idea. “I don’t suppose you have any prospects?” he changed topics, managing only to strengthen Riley’s idea.
Riley gave him a look to remind him that she had no interest in other prospects. She had loved then lost and was okay with leaving it at that. She didn’t think she could handle another love in her life.
They continued to chat about other things, like what Hope had been up to, how the crops were growing, and who had decided to leave their respective colonies. Riley personally hated that word, colony, because it made it sound like they were in some newly discovered land, but there were times it was the best description despite that.
“Anyone new over there?”
“Nothing but zombies showing up at our wall. What do you know about the boy?”
“Barely anything. You heard what I told Crichton, right? That’s pretty much it.”
“You said you were giving him liquids?”
“Not an IV if that’s what you’re thinking. We still have enough supplies for one, but it’s not necessary. No, Robin and I just boiled a watery broth, which we’ve managed to trickle down his throat a little at a time. His swallow reflex is still active.”
“You think he might be faking his unconsciousness?”
“If he is, he’s very good at it.”
“Well, I should get back to work. I’d like to have all my data collection done before tomorrow morning.” Riley pushed off the desk they had been leaning on and walked around it.
“Let me know if you need anything. I assume you’re spending the night at Lauren and Abby’s?”
“That I am.”
“All right, I gotta go deal with this,” Josh decided, tapping on the x-ray. “See you later.” He exited the lab with a wave.
Riley waited a few minutes, then exited after him. Her tests were already complete, but there was someone she had to find.
The hallways branched off one another like an erratically grown tree, but Riley knew where she was going. Even in her depression, she had managed to study and memorize the layout of the Black Box and its colour-coded walls and floors. Despite her good sense of direction, she was delayed when she turned a corner and literally bumped into Rose.
“Hey, Riley!” she smiled brightly.
“Hello, Rose. How are you?” Riley did her best to return the smile. She had been one of the doctors to save Rose’s life when she lost her arm, and had sat with her beneath the smoke while the Diana burned and Rose waited to be evacuated.
“Not too bad, not too bad. Yourself?”
Riley shrugged, tempering it with a fake smile.
“Yeah, yeah, I get ‘cha.” Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t. “How’s Jon?”
“He’s out scavenging right now.”
“Oh.” A funny little look crawled its way across Rose’s face. Riley knew what that look was. She hadn’t been the only one depressed upon arriving at the Black Box. Rose was the kind of girl who would jump at the chance to be a scavenger, but lacking a hand made it too dangerous for both her and the people she would be out with. She didn’t even move to the container yard because of her d
isability, although it was probably safe enough for her to come now.
“He should be back anytime during the next week and a half. Do you want me to tell him to come visit when he shows up? He should probably visit Claire and the rest of his family anyway.”
“Yeah, yeah he should visit them.” Rose clearly wanted to see him too, but jumped on the chance to hide that. She could be very similar to Riley at times, which made it easy for Riley to talk to her.
“By the way, I’m looking for Dr. Haily, have you seen her recently? I wanted to go over your medical supplies with her.”
“Yeah, I think she’s in her room right now. She’s been doing night shifts and might still be asleep.”
“Good to know, thanks.”
“I’ll let ya be on your way.” Rose grinned and stepped around Riley. “I think I might try to jump scare your daughter.”
“Good luck with that. She’s become very aware of her surroundings ever since you started doing that whenever we visit.” At first Riley didn’t like that Rose would deliberately try to scare her daughter, but now she was glad. Constant awareness was a skill Hope needed to have in this new world.
Rose gave Riley a cheeky wink and then headed off down the hall. Riley watched her go for a moment, noticing how Rose always seemed to stick close to the wall, keeping her shorter arm away from anyone who might be passing by.
Survival Instinct (Book 4): Defensive Instinct Page 6