Three Days From Home
A Novel
By
William Baxter
Dedications
No part of this book could have been completed without the support and encouragement of my wife, Jenny, whose countless hours working in a hospital caring for others daily is something I admire about her and everyone in the nursing community.
Special Thanks
To my editor, Sabrina Jean at Fast Track Edit for always questioning me and to Hristo Agrigov Kovatliev, whose art never ceases to amaze me.
Julie
Memorial Hospital
Chattanooga, TN
Julie checked the IV, making sure that it was flowing well before noting it in the patient’s records on the computer. This had been a long day so far and she’d heard that the ER was swamped by people with an as yet unknown virus. Being in Cardiac Step-down, she didn’t have to worry about any of them coming to her floor, which she thought was just fine with her. She had enough to deal with as it was.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she snatched it up, wondering who needed what now.
“Hey” she said into the phone, trying to sound nice and hoping it wasn’t something stupid.
“Jules, come to the desk, Sheila wants us there for a meeting.” A voice she instantly recognized as Donna, the Unit Secretary said.
“What for? I’m a little busy right now.” Julie complained.
“I’m not sure, she’s not saying.” Donna answered.
“Well shit, be there in a sec.” Julie hung up and wondered what the deal was.
7 East was in the new wing of Catholic Health Memorial Hospital in downtown Chattanooga, TN. Julie had worked on 5 North before the building was completed, then the entire floor had been reassigned. She liked the new surroundings much better because it was more modern and visually appealing. She slipped the phone back into her pocket and made her way to the front desk, where everyone was waiting. Sheila did a mental head count before nodding and addressing the group.
“Ok, everyone’s heard the rumors about the ER being overran with some kind of sickness. This isn’t local, people, it’s now being reported from cities all over the world. This is now being confirmed as a terrorist attack. The CDC in Atlanta hasn’t identified the agent yet, so if we get any of these patients, full isolation procedures, just like we’ve practiced and we’ll deal with it from there. As of yet there’s no lockdown, but that could change, depending on how the day progresses. Heads up, people. This is serious. I’ll be in my office monitoring the news, unless you need me. Don’t say anything to the patients; the last thing we need is complete chaos from them. Okay, team, let’s get back to it.” Sheila said and waited as everyone went back to work.
Julie’s personal cell phone buzzed in her pocket and she checked the text. It was from Brad, her husband.
“You ok? This is looking really bad.” He said. She smiled, just like him to worry.
“Yeah, I’m fine. The ER is messed up. What’s up?” she pushed send and went into the restroom to be out of sight of her boss. In just a second she had her answer.
“They’re looking at a couple of freighters off the Gulf coast. Found two nuke missiles, they say there may be more. Be careful. Can you get the hell out of there, like now?” he asked.
“No. Not a chance. I’ll be fine. If things go bad, I’ll wait until dark and head out, just like you taught me. Do not even think of coming after me. The girls will be heading out soon and you need to protect our stuff.” She smiled. Brad had spent ten years in the service, most of that with the Marines. He was the one that was the prepper and it served them well during Katrina, when their home city of Bay St. Louis had taken a direct hit. After that she was onboard. When they moved to Ocoee, Tennessee, they’d just carried on with it. He taught her how to E&E, or escape and evade, how to shoot and make her comfortable with it. She’d gotten her concealed permit with ease. She learned how to hunt, trap and fish, so she was confident she could make it home. Whether or not it would be without the trouble that Brad had always talked about was another story.
It was just before noon, while Julie was passing out the lunch trays to her patients, when the lights flickered, then went out, then came back on as the emergency generator kicked it.
“Wheew. Thought we were in for a dark afternoon.” She chuckled at the elderly lady who smiled back and started to say something as the lights went down for good.
“Well this isn’t going to work.” Julie said as she reached for the phone in her pocket. It was out. She had a sinking feeling and tried her cellphone, dead too. She knew from talking to her husband what this meant, an EMP. It just had to be, because of the earlier reports that the virus that was running rampant across the globe at record speed was claimed as an act of ISIS, plus what Brad had texted her about finding nuke missiles on freighters. Now she was suddenly very scared. If, indeed, they really had been nuked, then she was screwed, being thirty-seven miles from home. She ran to Sheila’s office and found her uselessly punching at her phone. She looked up as Julie entered.
“What the hell??? Everything just died.” Sheila complained.
“It’s worse than that. Looks like an EMP.” Julie explained.
“What the hell is that?” Sheila asked.
“Electromagnetic pulse. Someone launched a nuke over the U.S. and it fried everything.” Julie explained. Sheila laughed.
“Yeah right. Next come the two-headed Martians that fathered some woman’s child.” She snickered.
“Think what you want, I’m headed to my car to get something. Keep an eye on my patients?” Julie asked and Sheila nodded. Julie took the penlight out of her scrub pocket and headed to the stairs, passing a group huddled around the elevators. She ignored them and went into the stairway. Fortunately, the emergency lighting hadn’t been fried, so she flew down the seven flights, grabbed a mask by the ER door and went through it and out the ambulance entrance which had been propped open. She looked around at the crowd in the waiting room and hurried to the employee parking lot. The heat and humidity hit her like a wall, but she slugged through it and found her car, forgetting that the unlock button wouldn’t work and laughed at herself. Glancing around the parking lot, she noticed how eerily quiet it was as she made sure no one was around and watching her and used her key to unlock the hatch. From the back, she took out the Get Home Bag, as Brad, her husband called it, and eight liters of water she had stashed under it. From the console between the front seat, she took out her Glock 23, checked to make sure there was one in the chamber before putting it in her pack along with the two extra clips. She returned to the back and recovered her Colt M-4 that Brad had insisted she learn to shoot along with eight magazines. She attached the sling and ran back to the hospital, making her way back to her locker, evidently unnoticed as everyone seemed to be focusing on something else, which suited her just fine. She unlocked her locker and stashed her gear, deciding to wait until dark to make her way out. She went up to Donna at the desk.
“You’d better go get your bag, this one’s for real and I’m outta here after dark, with or without you.”
“I’m on it.” Donna said, standing to leave.
“Better grab a flashlight. Put your stuff in your locker for now.” Julie told her. While she and Donna weren’t exactly best buddies, they were friends, and Donna and her husband Sam lived one town over from Julie, so they’d planned over the last few years for an event like this one and routes to get home together. Two being safer than one, Julie figured. Julie went back to doing what she could for her patients, knowing that she was going to have to leave them to whatever staff stayed. Most lived less than half an hour away meaning they could be home relatively quickly. Julie had to go past the deadliest
area in Chattanooga, at night, on foot, and without a cop around. She was downright scared, but the thought of what the drug-infested neighborhood would do once the junkies and the gangs found out what was going on, scared her even more.
She found Sheila at the desk, fidgeting.
“Look Sheila, when it gets dark, Donna and I are out of here.” She said.
“You can’t leave. What about the patients?” Sheila asked, looking stunned.
“I can’t help them, without power most will likely die. I expect this place to be hit hard later tonight by every junky in town.” Julie explained.
“But the cops won’t let that happen.” Sheila said.
“There are no cops than can get here, unless it’s on bicycle or horseback. Even then it’ll be too little, too late. If I were you, I’d send anyone that can get home out of here. If you want to hang around, I’d damned sure find some way to block all the stairwells. I’ve got an extra .380 and some extra rounds, if you want it.” Julie said.
“I don’t know how to shoot. They’ll fire you for bringing it up here anyway!” Sheila said and Julie shook her head.
“You still don’t get it, do you? They can’t fire me, I quit. And besides that, there’s no more of the world we knew. This one is going to be a lot harder to do everything. No law, no cops, no ambulances or firetrucks. No nothing. It’s like right after Katrina only worse. The quicker you wrap your head around that and get out of here, the better.” Julie said and walked away. It angered her that no one believed on her. As she rounded the corner Tamika, one of the techs was standing there.
“I know how to shoot. If you’re still offering, I’ll take that gun. I’m going to stay awhile, but I want to be able to get home to my kids.” She said. Julie nodded and went to the locker room.
“Are you sure about this, whatever it is, thing going on?” Tamika asked.
“Positive. My husband texted me that the Coast Guard had found some nuclear missiles on a couple of freighters before the lights went out. He said the government thought there were more. Looks like he was right.” She answered as she unlocked her locker and dug the second back-up pistol out. She also fished out two extra magazines and a box of fifty rounds and handed them over, “You be damned careful and get the hell out of here as quick as you can. We’re leaving right after dark before people realize this is permanent. I have almost forty miles to get home, the quicker I leave, the quicker I get there.” She said.
“Thanks for this, sister. Good luck to you and Donna. You going through the Wilcox tunnel?” Tamika asked.
“Hell no! I’ve got some routes planned, so it’s okay.” Julie aid. The thought of going through a darkened tunnel at night where they were just wasn’t even worth entertaining. Besides, even with the night vision in her pack, it was just too dangerous on a normal day.
Julie worked until an hour past dark, by her guess it was around 9:30. She’d done all she could for her patients and spent an extra six and a half hours there when her relief finally walked in and took over. Julie went to the desk and got Donna to follow her back to the locker room.
“It’s time to change and get outta Dodge girl.” Julie said unlocking her locker and pulling out her bag. Brad had packed her two sets of Marpat digital woodland BDU’s with matching boots and quickly changed, as did Donna. Julie strapped on her drop-leg holster that she thought was just bad-ass, and dropped her pistol in it. She donned her load bearing vest, wishing she’d listened to Brad and gotten the plate carrier as well, placing the magazines for the M-4 in the pouches and secured them while Donna was doing much the same. She made sure that her K-Bar was secure on her vest and her secondary knife at her hip. She poured water that she’d gotten from the breakroom into her water bladder and made sure Donna did the same. She rammed a magazine into her M-4, pulled back the arming lever and let the slide fall forward, tapping the forward assist, just to make sure the round was seated before putting the rifle on safe. She put her night vision on her hat and suddenly felt very unsure of herself.
“What’s wrong?” Donna asked.
“Just wondering if we can do this.” Julie said. Donna smiled.
“We’re both country girls, we’ve got this.” She said and Julie smiled, thinking that she hoped her friend was right.
Julie and Donna stepped out of the locker room with their rifles at the low ready. It was time to get serious and they both looked the part, Julie hoped that it was more than just looks. She’d do her best to remember her training and take it from there. Sheila just shook her head as they passed the desk.
“You know I have to fire you for this? They’ll probably take your license.” She warned.
“Like I care. Good luck to you Sheila.” Julie said as she headed for the stairwell.
“Good luck, G.I. Jane!” Sheila called out as the door shut behind them.
The lights were a little dimmer when she opened the door than they were earlier. Some people were making their way down the stairs and when they saw the two of them, quickly hurried up like they were infected with whatever the terrorists had let loose. Julie didn’t care, she just made her way down the seven floors with Donna taking up the rear. The downward trickle of people was thin, but she figured it would thicken as the night grew longer and people figured out what that the power was out for good.
They had both grabbed masks, which they put on before exiting the stairwell. Whatever this virus was, neither wanted. As they rounded the corner to exit through the ER, a doctor stopped them.
“What the hell?! No firearms!” he said loudly.
“We’re just leaving.” Donna said as they walked around him. Julie understood the rules, but the rules had gone out the window. As they made their way through the darkened parking lot, Julie turned her NVG’s on and then told Donna to do the same. The neighborhood they were in was known to be among the deadliest, with it getting worse before it got better. Donna snickered suddenly, bringing Julie to a dead stop.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing. Well, it’s just that Pat Benatar’s ‘We Belong to the Night” just went through my head.” Donna admitted.
“Thanks, now I have to hear that in my head for a while. And yes, we need to be one with the night. And be quiet. Whispers only.” Julie smiled.
“We could use the headsets.” Donna suggested and Julie mentally kicked herself for forgetting about them. She nodded and turned hers on.
They made their way along Glenwood Drive, because it was closer to the tunnel. When they actually got to the tunnel, Julie planned to climb over the hill it went through rather than the easier method of going through it, figuring that it had been long enough for the bad guys to block it off, taking whatever they wanted from anyone stupid enough to venture through it. Turning right on Wilcox brought them to the base of the hill.
“I’m too old for this shit.” Julie hissed quietly.
“Me too, but let’s get going. “Donna whispered. Somewhere in the distance they could hear a party raging and Julie was glad to be out of the hospital and moving away from it. They found a barely discernable game trail up the very steep embankment and Julie took the lead, taking her time. A sprained ankle now would be disastrous.
Julie grabbed at anything she could to help her up the trail, wishing that Brad had thought of a walking stick in the pack, but thankful that he’s put some tactical gloves in there as they kept her hands from being destroyed by the brush. It took them half an hour to work their way to the top, mainly because Julie was taking her time and trying to be quiet. It was a difficult climb, Julie slipped once and Donna had fallen on her face at the halfway mark, but all in all they reached the summit unscathed, but exhausted.
Julie took a seat beneath an old tree as she fought to catch her breath, then found the hose to her Camelbak and bit it, sucking down the warm water. Normally, she wouldn’t drink warm water, but this time she was glad she had it.
“That took a lot out of me.” Donna whispered.
“You realize we haven’t
even made it a mile. Let’s sit here for a while, recover and head down the other side.” She was going to continue when gunfire erupted in the distance behind them. It sounded like the gangs had finally figured it out. “I’m thinking we take Shallowford Road. There are fewer houses which means, or should mean, less people. We can stick to the backs of buildings for as long as that holds out.”
“Yeah but do we take Highway 153 or do we stay on Shallowford?” Donna asked.
“They’ll be more cars that aren’t running and people on 153. Let’s stick with Shallowford for as long as we can. What we need to do is work our way over to 64. It cuts in and out but goes right by the street I live on and continues to your house.” Julie said.
“Yeah, but it goes through some pretty tough neighborhoods before we get to Ooltewah.” Donna said and Julie nodded.
“Then again, every neighborhood’s liable to be tough now. I say we stay the hell off the interstate for as long as possible. I-75 has the potential to be a death trap for anyone having supplies. Those that lack them will try and take it from those that do.” Julie said and then stood up to go. She re-adjusted her pack and her rifle as Donna stood and did the same. She looked and could see quite a distance from their perch on the hill. She noticed several fires burning, knowing that help would be a long time coming and that entire neighborhoods were in jeopardy. She felt helpless for the first time in her life. Turning her NVG’s back on, she followed the game trail down the hill. Going downhill seemed to be much easier on them, but she stopped at the bottom anyway to assess their surroundings.
The tunnel still looked and sounded deserted, but she was going to stay as far away from the entrance as possible. The tunnel, built in 1932, had been recently renovated, ironically with a new lighting system. Julie had looked through the goggles and the tunnel had transformed itself into an evil smile. She shivered and walked down the hill. She wanted to stop and take a look at the plat maps that Brad had printed out for her, but since there were houses around, she decided to wait until she was in an area devoid of humans.
Three Days From Home Page 1