I rolled my eyes. Yes, I was young, but I wasn’t stupid. I knew a lot more than they did about the outside world and if Billy didn’t believe me, then more than just one soldier was going to die tonight.
“I believe her,” was all Jack said. Billy started to say something else, but whatever he was going to say got lost in the commotion of shouting and screaming, and worst of all screeching, that blasted through the radio.
“Turn it down,” I whisper yelled, as I took the walkie-talkie from Jack and turned down the volume myself, not really giving him the opportunity to comply with my demand.
Jack started to run towards the exit, but I grabbed a hold of his shirt as I hobbled on my one good leg. “But I have to help.”
“You can’t do anything from down here. If you open that hatch, you could distract them from eliminating the threat, or you could let it in here. Either way, you won’t be doing anyone any good. They have guns up there. We just have to trust that they’ll do the right thing.” He was torn between wanting to protect me and needing to help his brother. But finally, he came to the same conclusion I had. That we couldn’t do anything from down here but wait. He helped me back over to the bed and we waited and listened.
It was probably only a few minutes, but time slowed down for us as we listened to the commotion upstairs. Finally, all the noise ended with two loud bangs. Then we waited again, before Billy came back on the radio.
“Jack, I need to talk to Summer.”
“I’m here,” I said into the radio.
“Are you sure everyone who is bitten turns?”
“Positive,” I said firmly.
There was silence and then two more loud bangs. Silence again.
“It’s safe now,” Billy’s voice cracked slightly, and it wasn’t just the walkie-talkie. “Jack, I need your help up here. It would probably be best if Summer stayed down there for the time being.”
“Will you be okay?” Jack asked me. I nodded. I wanted him to stay, but I knew that Billy needed him more. I didn’t have to be upstairs to know what had happened. It had escaped its restraints, bitten at least one person and now not only was Billy forced to kill his patient, or at least watch his patient die, he was responsible for the death of another person in the room.
I didn’t know what effect that would have on a doctor, medic, but I knew what effect it had on a human being. It stuck with you and would creep up on you when you least expected it to. The faces of those lives you took, always remained with you.
I spent the rest of the night in the bunker. Jack said he’d come to get me in the early morning, but that I was fast asleep, and he didn’t want to wake me. It was the best night’s sleep I had in years, which was strange. With everything that happened, it should have kept me wired, but I think I was just more exhausted than anything else. I also felt safe for the first time in ages. Now that they knew what was at stake, I very much doubted if Billy would allow any more infected into his clinic or any more experimentations, even if the commander ordered it.
CHAPTER SIX
“I can’t believe no one came to get me. I had a right to know.” I knew this would happen the moment she found out. It was all I could do, to keep April from attacking Billy again. He’d been lucky that she opted for the slap, rather than the punch. His face was red now, but at least he wouldn’t be wearing a bruise for the next few days. Jack had to calm Billy down because he was ready to let the guards take her away. Jack was busy calming his brother somewhere on the opposite side of the clinic and I was supposed to be calming April. It wasn’t going very well.
This was supposed to be a great day. I was finally getting out of here. I was going to see the village, move into a cabin with my sister. A home of our own. We hadn’t had that in so long. I’d warned Billy and Jack that April wouldn’t take the news of the previous night’s events well. I promised that I’d break it to her when she was in the right frame of mind. What I hadn’t counted on, was that a big event like this in a small community wouldn’t stay a secret for long. Even if it was a direct order from the commander.
“He has some nerve, telling me it had nothing to do with me. You could have been killed or worse. No, we need to get out of here.”
She’d already said that three times since she’d found out. I wasn’t taking her seriously. She’d made me a promise and she’d never broken a promise. Still, she was really starting to piss me off. Me yelling at her wouldn’t solve anything though. That’s what Billy had done, and he’d gotten slapped. Not that she’d slap me, but she certainly wouldn’t hesitate to yell at me. And I’d always hated yelling, ever since my sister had the big blow out with my parents. That yelling episode had led to six months without any contact with April or Andy.
April was pacing the tiny space in my curtained off room, completely oblivious to the fact that I’d been attempting to dress myself for the last ten minutes, unsuccessfully. I’d been given brand new clothes, tags still on. The cozy blue sweater was easy enough for me to get on, but the yoga pants were trickier with my injured leg. I’d been attempting to get my leg in without tugging at the bandage, but it wasn’t happening.
“I’m going to go see Billy again,” she said heading for the curtain.
“Stop right there,” I said firmly before she could open the curtain. “First of all, you’re not going to go yell at him again. None of this was his fault. Second, the situation has passed and I’m fine. They’ve learned how to handle the problem and it will not happen again. Third, I’m still in my underwear, if you haven’t noticed and I’d rather not be exposed to any passerby’s.” I motioned to the pants I was struggling with.
She huffed and finally came over to help me. “I have a right to be pissed.” She glared up at me as she helped delicately pull my pant leg over my injured leg. She kept glaring at me when she was done helping. Now she was mad with me. It had been so long since she’d been like this. For months I’d been dealing with a shadow of my sister. This was better than that. At least she was showing emotion. I guess I could count that as a small blessing. “You shouldn’t have told them not to tell me.”
“I knew you’d overreact. And I was going to tell you. I just needed to get you in the right frame of mind.” I pulled myself up, holding onto the bed for support. The pant legs were too long, most pants were. I always had to hem the ones we found, except on the rare occasion that we found a store that still had my size on the shelf. Most stores had been successfully looted over the years. April tucked my pant legs into my socks. I could hem them later, if I could just get a hold of some thread, scissors, and a needle.
“This is not an overreaction,” she said more softly as she brushed my hair out of my face. I pulled away from the gesture. It was annoying how she still treated me like I was five. She didn’t act phased by my refusal to let her fuss with my hair. “I can’t lose you. You’re all that I have left, and I trusted you with them. Even when I knew I shouldn’t. That was a mistake that I won’t let happen again.” She pulled me in and hugged me tighter than she had in a long time.
“I’m okay. It’s going to be okay. I know we’ve had some close calls recently, but I believe that here, that can all change. I trust it. I have faith in it. You need to have faith too.”
She pulled away, still holding onto my shoulders as she looked intently into my eyes. “I’m not like you. I can’t trust blindly.”
I wanted to tell her that it wasn’t blind faith. That I had inside information, but she was not in the mood to be receptive to hear what our father had told me. It was doubtful that she’d believe me even if she were in a good mood, but what would make it even harder, was that she was still so angry with our father. I could hardly blame her. He’d practically shunned her when she decided to marry Andy, even when she miscarried. My parents didn’t see the point. They were so young. But the baby was never the reason they wanted to be married. They were soulmates. I could see it, even though I was only a child. I always wanted a love like theirs’.
“Hmmm, Hmmm,
” Jack coughed timidly behind the curtain. “Um, the commander has sent for you. If you’re ready of course.”
April’s face turned red as she opened her mouth to start yelling again. “No more yelling,” I said firmly putting my hand over her mouth. That should have set her off. She didn’t like being told what to do, but I guess the fact that it was coming from me, shocked her into silence. When I let my hand fall from her mouth, she didn’t look angry, more like annoyed.
“It’s fine Jack, I’m ready.”
……………………………………………………………………..……………………………………
“You should have taken his offer up on the wheelchair,” April whispered into my ear. “I’ll go back and get it for you.”
I grabbed a hold of her arm before she could leave. “Don’t you dare. It’ll make me look weak. I’m doing fine with this,” I motioned to my new cane. When I refused both the offer of the wheelchair and the walker, I was only allowed to leave the clinic if I promised to use the cane. Even if I didn’t want to use it, which I didn’t, it didn’t matter much. I needed it. It was taking me awhile to walk to the commander’s office. It wasn’t that far from the clinic, but I’d only done laps of the clinic’s hall so far and the uneven earth was making it hard for me to maintain my balance. Every step was excruciating. Thankfully, I’d had years of practicing how to hide my pain, to the point that even April struggled to tell anymore.
Jack was leading the way to the commander’s office. He was keeping a safe distance ahead. He didn’t realize that had April still wanted to hurt him, she could have easily lobbed a rock at his head. It wouldn’t have been the first time. Billy had opted to stay in the clinic. Whether he had work there or not, I doubted if he was ready to be in April’s presence just yet.
It was nice to be outside again, even if it was a little chilly. I’d been offered a jacket, but I figured my sweater would be warm enough. I knew it was fall already, but when I’d gone into the clinic, it had still been warm. It was like the weather had gone from summer to winter overnight. All that was missing was the fresh dusting of snow on the ground. At least the sun felt a little warm on my face. Not quite winter after all.
All around, people were busy bustling about their business, heading from one edge of the village to the other. There were a couple of men working on a path, pouring fresh cement. Only half the village had paths leading to various buildings. It would have been nice if the path from the clinic to the commander’s office had been finished, but they’d only started to mark off the area so far.
Jack stopped just shy of a small cabin. It had smoke puffing out of a chimney. It looked kind of cute, like something you might expect to see in a fairy tale. All the buildings looked similar, but this one was oddly shaped with a small cottage layout up front, a small deck and just behind it was a slightly larger rectangular building that looked to be attached.
We caught up to Jack who looked annoyed, not with us being slow, but at the person waiting up on the porch. Sitting in a lovely hand carved rocking chair was a woman who looked to be a little older than me, her hair was long, blonde, and wavy. Her legs long and lean. She would have been beautiful, if not for the look etched on her face. I couldn’t place it. It wasn’t hate, or anger…it was almost like a happy, menacing kind of look. I didn’t like her. And I thought April was the only one who liked to prejudge people. I guess we were more alike than I realized.
“What are you doing here?” Jack asked in an irritated voice. Something about his posturing, reminded me of his brother. It was very similar to the way Billy held himself when he was trying hard not to hit my sister. The only difference was that Jack was keeping his face neutral. I wouldn’t have sensed any hostility if it weren’t for the change in his voice and the stiffness in his body.
“I, unlike you, was invited to this meeting. I am, after all, in charge of overseeing work details. Speaking of which, you haven’t been exactly showing up for your shifts. In fact, you’re already late. I’d suggest you move along, before you force me to report you to my father.”
I could see from the way Jack’s shoulders were set, that he really didn’t like taking orders from her. He turned around to face me. “I’ll see you later,” he said in a voice that wasn’t quite steady. He attempted to smile, but it never reached his eyes and then he was gone.
If she could unhinge the smile that I thought was permanently a part of Jack’s face, then I was right not to like her.
“You’re late too you know,” she said to me with a sort of arrogance to her voice. “We work on a schedule here. And we all contribute. We don’t have space for charity cases,” she said, eyeing my leg.
April’s hand flexed into a fist. I put my hand around hers. She slowly relaxed her hand in mine. I bit my lip, to try to control my emotions. It was okay not to like everyone in the community. I mean, that was bound to happen. What were the chances that I would have to deal with her on a regular basis?
Apparently very good. I sat in an uncomfortable metal chair facing the commander’s desk. He was sitting in a nice leather-bound office chair behind a beautifully crafted wooden desk. His daughter, Michelle, stood behind him. April was left pacing outside. She’d wanted to come in with me, but Michelle said she wasn’t invited. I could see April was ready for a fight and I needed this community thing to work for us, so I asked April to wait outside. I was nearly eighteen. I didn’t need my big sister to help me face these people. The commander himself was quite pleasant as far as I could tell. Michelle, his unpleasant daughter, kept making snide remarks, but I was ignoring her for the most part.
“I have to say, I was rather impressed by how you handled the little situation we had last night. I heard you were pivotal in the successful outcome.” Little event? Two people had died. One was inevitable, but the other could have been completely avoided if some basic common sense had been applied. Had April been in here, she would have surely given him an earful about the ‘little’ situation. But I wasn’t going to let my misgivings about some of the commander’s tactics, sideline my chance to find a home here. I kept my mouth shut and simply nodded in response. “I think you’ll be quite the asset. Do you understand the rules we have here?” He asked me after I handed him back the sheet of paper, he’d had me read over and then sign.
“Yes, this community is not a democracy. You are in command and if we don’t like the rules, we are welcome to leave with what we came with.”
“Yes. That doesn’t bother you?”
“No, should it?” We hadn’t come with much and they were offering us sanctuary, shelter, food. Who wouldn’t want that?
“It bothered your sister. She only signed this morning and wasn’t too pleased about it.”
“I’m not my sister,” I said simply. He looked me over and smiled.
“Now as for your involvement in the community, I understand that you are injured but we still need you to contribute.” I’d been prepared for this. Jack warned me that the commander didn’t have patience for those who didn’t contribute. And I knew that despite my injury, I could still be useful. I was prepared to speak up in defence of my skills, but before I could, Michelle decided to put her two cents in.
“In other words, don’t expect other people to pick up the slack for you. You won’t be given any excuses. Everyone earns their keep here,” Michelle said in a snarky tone. “Honestly, Dad,” she said in a loud whisper, pretending to try to make it so that I couldn’t hear as she leaned into his ear. “She’s practically a cripple. What do you think she can possibly do?”
“Enough Michelle,” Commander Tate shouted. “You’re making our guest feel unwelcome. I think it would be best if you leave.” All the commander’s pleasantness faded from his features as he glared at his daughter. I felt awkward sitting there. Even when my father had been furious with April, he’d never looked at her like that. It was like she was a fly buzzing around in his ear and all he wanted to do was squish it.
“But…
”
“We will figure out what she will be doing, without you. You’re dismissed.” He said looking down at his desk and fiddling with papers, completely dismissing his daughter. Michelle bit her lip, her face turned red, but she kept her mouth shut and obeyed. She did make sure to slam the door on the way out. The commander ignored the temper tantrum.
“Sorry about that. Not sure what’s with her today. Probably that time of the month,” he chuckled. I tried not to look offended. Did he seriously just make that comment about his daughter? I thought. Okay maybe the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. “Well then, we need to find something for you to do. Everyone takes a shift in the kitchen twice a week, but with your leg, I’m not sure what you would be able to do.”
“Sir, so long as I can sit, I can work. I can dry dishes from a chair, I can chop food sitting down. I can help, I just need to be creative about it.”
He smiled at me again. “I like your attitude. Well then, I’ll see that you’re added to the schedule. As far as a regular community tasks though, I’m not sure where to put you. We need help in the greenhouse but with your leg…it’s quite intense manual labor, no chair can solve that. There’s construction,” he eyed me up and down, “Yeah not even if you had a good leg.” Now he was being just as insulting as his daughter. Just because I was a little malnourished, didn’t mean I was weak.
“May I help by letting you know what I actually can do, sir?” He nodded and relaxed back in his chair. “I can sew by hand, if you had a machine, I would easily recall how to sew with one of those as well. That can be done sitting down,” I tried to hold back the sarcasm. “I also am an excellent knitter.”
“Yes,” he said picking up a piece of paper from his desk, “we confiscated your knitting needles when you entered our village…being a potential weapon and all.” They had come in handy as a weapon in the past. They hadn’t been lethal, but I had managed to blind a guy who’d tried to steal our supplies, which in this world was pretty much as good as killing him. “I’ll see that your needles are returned to you and have materials delivered to you and a list of things we need made. With winter coming, I’m sure we can put your skills to good use. Welcome to Safe Haven, Summer Evans.”
Seeking Hope: Book 2 in the Seeking Saga Page 6