The China Pandemic

by A. R. Shaw

  “Of course not, Sam. I think taking them out when things are at their worst is probably a beneficial learning opportunity for them. Marcy, for one, hasn’t offered to go on a hunt yet, so this will be a good chance for her survival education.”

  “Well, she might have ulterior motives,” Tala suspected and smiled with significant perception.

  “There won’t be any of that. I’ll make sure the lovebirds stay busy.”

  Graham pulled a tired hand down his whiskered face. “I don’t know how much longer we can keep Marcy and Mark apart. All of a sudden, I’ve been strapped with two teenage daughters and they’re driving me insane.”

  Tala darted her eyes quickly at him and looked downward as she leaned against the kitchen counter.

  Having said the wrong thing entirely, Graham could have kicked himself for making such a mistake around Sam. The pain for the man being separated from his young daughter Addy was still too raw. The consequence of Sam’s sacrifice even strained their relationship with the Preppers at times.

  “I’m sorry, Sam…”

  Sam raised his hands up as if to physically keep the apology at bay. “Graham, I’ve accepted the way things are, for now. She’s fine and I still get to visit and talk to her. I can’t be with her but, she’s healthy and well cared for. That kills me, but Clarisse said she’d keep researching a cure. I can only hope, one day she’ll come up with something that will cure us of the virus. In the meantime, I’m stuck with you guys. No offense.”

  “Not at all, we’re happy you’re here with us. We only wish the circumstances were different,” Tala said, knowing she spoke for both her and Graham.

  “After months of this, the pain is still as strong as the day I left her behind, with the Preppers. I feel like a divorced parent and Dalton’s got custody of her. I love the guy but hate him too. Does that make sense?” Sam confessed, and looked to them for understanding.

  Though Sam bore the pain with admirable stoicism, Graham and Tala encouraged him to talk to them about the situation they were in. When Sam first arrived, he was too grief-stricken to utter a single word out loud for fear he would release his massive grief. To keep to himself, he would leave early in the morning to hike through the woods; no one knew what he was doing with his time and when questioned by the others, Graham told them to give the man some time to deal with his torment alone. His pain must be a living hell and Graham commended the man for not taking his anguish out on him. He certainly felt guilt over the situation and wished there was something he could do to alleviate the circumstances.

  Sam would typically appear around dinner time where they always set a place for him at the table, and settle in with them for the night. Slowly, he began sticking around more and taking part in their daily lives, until he became their family.

  The weight of his overwhelming grief, he’d had learned to balance in a way that would enable him to survive, but just barely survive. Otherwise, there was no point in going on at all without hope a resolution, would the future bring. He eventually found his way, out there amongst the stoic trees, desolate mountains and endless snow.

  Now that he carried the China virus, he had to join Graham’s camp, but at least he still spoke with his daughter Addy over the radio. In addition, every few days, Dalton would bring her to the Skagit river rendezvous spot, where, at a safe distance, he could lay his eyes on her. Somehow, things had normalized or at least they did in the only way possible, given their situation.

  “Actually, I hear Addy has been spending a lot of time with Clarisse lately,” Tala offered, to ease the conversation, “We talk on the radio at least once a week. She enjoys having Addy in the lab where she’s taught her how to identify different elements through the microscope. She’s even got a lab coat to fit her.”

  A prideful smile crept over Sam’s face. “Dalton told me Addy would rather spend her time with Clarisse in the lab, than the day school. Said you gave her some tips on teaching Addy advanced math?” Sam asked.

  “I did. I think this is the best arrangement for her. She’s very shy, from what I hear. If she were to stay in the day school, she wouldn’t progress as much as if Clarisse taught her. Clarisse is kind of a loner anyway. This arrangement is suitable for both of them.”

  “Dalton said Clarisse still blames herself somehow. Rarely leaving the quarantine building, she sends the guard back to camp while she sleeps in her lab, by herself,” Graham said.

  “What happened with Addy wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. What happened, happened. I’m a carrier now. At least I didn’t die,” Sam said in practiced resignation and tried to change the subject by saying, “So we’re good, with the three day hunt? I can take the two lovebirds tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, at least Macy can catch a break from their antics for a few days. She’s getting pretty fed up and she’s armed. It worries me, man,” Graham said joking.

  “All right, I’ll get them geared up.” Sam said, and rose from the table.

  “And I’ll pack up the food supply,” Tala said and as each morning in this desolate life after death, they rose and began the day’s never ending tasks together, each going their own way as cogs in a wheel; without one the others soon tired, jeopardizing the whole bunch.

  2 Daily Routines

  Graham went to put yet another log on the fire in an attempt to chase the persistent chill away. Afterwards, he checked on Ennis once more. He found him sitting up and leaning against his pillow, whittling a potential arrow and dropping wood shavings on the blanket in front of him without a care. Noticing how Ennis shivered, Graham became concerned with him handling the sharp blade, against the soft wood with his hands trembling so.

  “Are you cold?” Graham asked him, but not only did he not acknowledge the question, he stared ahead and blindly slashed at the wooden arrow. Graham placed his hand on Ennis’s shoulder, getting his attention. At first, those eyes of his only recognized a stranger, after a second beat, the spark of knowing flashed before him. “Are you cold?” Graham repeated a second time, trying not to startle him, with the blade in his hand.

  Ennis stopped and lowered the arrow and knife to his lap, amongst the shavings clinging to the felted blanket, as if he needed a moment to ascertain whether or not the shaking meant the cold had overtaken him or if the constant burning pain, caused the trembling. “No,” came his words, gravely and slow.

  “Do you want to go sit in the living room, by the fire? I’ll help you.”

  “I can do it, but you can help,” and with his old gnarled hands he closed his knife with care, like he’d done countless times in his life. Graham blew a silent breath of relief, he didn’t want to hurt the older man’s pride, by taking the blade away from him.

  Graham peeled the littered blanket up and away from him and held out his arms to help the old man up.

  “I gotta go,” Ennis said. So Graham helped him shuffle his way to the restroom, slowly. Reluctant to leave him alone, he stood close by after Ennis motioned for him to close the door. Graham left him to have his own way, Hell, I don’t want anyone to help me go, when I'm an old man either, Graham thought as he waited by the door. As a second thought, Graham peered around the corner to check if Ennis drank the glass of water offered to him earlier. The glass stood full to the rim on the nightstand. Ah, crap. With the man shivering and not drinking, Graham began to worry he must be not only sick but also dehydrated. He’s probably got a bladder infection.

  Standing, adjacent to the clean and shiny kitchen, Tala had already taken off to the greenhouse, to work on the spring seedlings. Is she avoiding me? he thought briefly. She loved spending time out in the greenhouse; they all did. The hopeful sprouts represented, somehow, a promised achievement, as a milestone, at long last. If only the damn snow would melt and go away for good, lining out the new garden and getting things ready, faster meant a triumph in survival.

  The greenhouse they’d found on one of their many scavenging hunts stood resurrected between the cabin and the lake entrance as a
welcome addition and a harbinger of good things to come. Tala, so excited when they showed up with the deconstructed load, divided her day job between, the care and keeping of the cabin, food preparation and seed starting. She’d spent several days scrubbing down and sanitizing the inside of the building, piece by piece. Once the guys cleared the snow from a large enough area to erect the greenhouse, everyone pitched in to put the contraption back together like some giant jigsaw puzzle.

  Now she used every possible spare container to start the seedlings. As his mother had taught him each spring back in Mountain View, Graham scavenged as much newspaper as he found in the abandoned homes, to craft spherical pots out of them, as well.

  They set up tables with scavenged grow lights and Tala heartily threatened anyone from touching the emerging tender sprouts. Mold and bacteria posed the greatest threats and she kept a watchful eye over the plants as she did her newly acquired family.

  Graham chuckled to himself as he thought of Tala, threatening Sheriff for sniffing at the seedlings the first and only time. She shook her head at the beloved dog and pointed her finger at him. Sherriff tilted his head to one side, perplexed by her peculiar actions. His big brown eyes conveyed to Graham, his concern; she’s lost her mind. She made her point over the plants though and now Sherriff didn’t even get close to the tables.

  These days, no one acknowledged the scars Tala had suffered at the hands of her two horrible kidnappers. Graham happily cut the cast off of her leg after Clarisse pronounced the bone healed enough. They made a grand production of cast break day; a celebration of sorts. They needed all the celebrations, both minute and grand. She limped about gingerly for a week or two, and Graham helped her stretch out the calf muscles but soon she walked perfectly fine in time on her own. Her outside scars had healed well.

  Graham growled to himself, knowing where his mind drifted to the thought of Tala’s inside scars. In truth, she lucked out with the accident and refused to confide the terror with him or anyone else. If it had not been for Dalton and Rick’s invasive tactics though, Tala’s fate would have been much worse. Regretting Sam’s fate, beat out the fact that he didn’t die of the virus and instead became a carrier. His suffering from being separated from his daughter because of this sacrifice was hard to bear.

  His mind drifted now. He and Tala had become close. In some ways closer than he and his first wife had ever been because of their shared circumstances. Her sudden distance was why he could tell something bothered her, something beyond Ennis’s deteriorating condition. Her silence worried him because he knew her well enough to easily come to the conclusion; she kept something from him, something important.

  ~ ~ ~

  Ennis turned the knob of the door, signaling Graham to open the exit for him. The old man had neglected to tuck in his shirt tails like he usually did, but he had no one to impress these days. They all appeared a little less kempt. With the way he leaned on him, Ennis seemed exhausted from this little journey to the restroom.

  “Do you want to sit by the fire?” he asked him again. The old man’s frail hands continued to shake, and the draft seeping through the cracks had them all double layering.

  “Yeah, I’ll sit in there. Where’s my girl?” came the gravelly voice.

  Happy for the first real sign of clarity, Graham asked, “You mean Macy?”

  “Yeah, Macy. Where she at?” Ennis asked.

  “She’s coming. Don’t worry, she’ll be here soon,” Graham reassured him, as he guided him the rocker set by the woodstove in the living room.

  Graham settled him down into the chair and grabbed the blanket draped over the back. He tucked the cover around him and added another log to the fire and poked cinders around a bit, sending sparks flying within the enameled cast iron hold. After he had closed the latch, he asked him, “Ennis, are you in any pain?”

  “Nah, I’m all right,” Ennis said.

  Graham doubted this; he’d seen Ennis become punier over the passing weeks. He wished he had a cure to keep the old man with them longer. Especially for Macy’s sake, she’d become especially close to Ennis in the passing months. She would often read to the old man in the evenings after dinner from the various books Graham managed to scavenge. Macy would finish one chapter each evening and shortly after Ennis would rise, and Graham would help him to his bunk for the night.

  In the early morning, Sam rose first and would assist Ennis into his chair by the fire and set him up with his coffee before he headed out for the day. They’d all come to love Ennis, so much his coming death would be a real liability for the group, Graham feared.

  They both looked up as Tala came through the front door, closing the blasted thing quickly, to preserve the warmth inside the cabin. Her earlier frown lines disappeared suddenly at the sight of Ennis up and about. She flashed a thankful smile to Graham that removed all his doubts about secrets being kept.

  “Good morning, Ennis. You ready for coffee?” she asked.

  She removed her outerwear and quickly reached down to hug the old man.

  “No. You two gotta stop fussin’ over me,” Ennis said.

  “We’re not fussing. We’re trying to care for you. You’d do the same for us,” Graham told him.

  “No, I would not! You’re too much trouble, to fuss over,” Ennis said to fluster them. He seemed proud of himself for the dig and laughed out loud.

  Tala smiled up at Graham, who shook his head at the old man, out of sight. At least he cracked jokes.

  “I’ll bring your coffee in a minute,” Tala said in a slightly elevated voice, barely loud enough for him to detect, and bent down to kiss him again. Graham motioned for her to leave them alone to talk; an effort to preserve Ennis’s dignity.

  “I could use some banana bread,” he called after her, “I miss banana bread.” Ennis held both of his old gnarled hands, shaking, as he formed a rectangle shape.

  “I doubt we’ll have any bananas around here, for a long time.” He touched the old man’s head for any sign of fever again. “In all seriousness Ennis, you have a fever. I think you’re in pain and keeping it to yourself. You’re also not drinking anything. Do you have an infection?”

  The old man huffed and looked down into his lap. “I do not want you to waste your medicine on me. I’m on my way out, Graham. Them kids, Tala, they might needs them more, later. They do not make them anymore, you know that?”

  The admission shocked and angered Graham. “How long’s this been going on, Ennis? Hell, we can get more meds. Yeah, they don’t make them anymore but there is sure as hell more supplies nearby. You cannot sacrifice yourself like this for us. Jesus, Ennis.” He reached for the old man’s face again.

  Ennis tried to bat his hand away. “No, Ennis, knock it off man. Are you even going? You know what I mean.” He tried to whisper it.

  “No, not much. Hurts to go,” he admitted.

  “God dammit! Tala, get him some water and the antibiotics,” he yelled, and ignored Ennis’s protests as he rose to retrieve them himself.

  Tala handed him the water glass and meds. “Go easy on him, please, or he’ll shut down altogether. We do not have the painkillers. These will take a few days to work.”

  “The old doc’s house probably has the pain meds,” he said as he brought the two antibiotics to the stubborn old man. As he handed the meds to him, he also handed him the glass of water, “take these and drink this.” He remembered Tala’s words of caution and added, “Please.”

  Ennis accepted them both, looked up at Graham and said stubbornly, “you not the boss of me,” shaking his head, but he took the medicine all the same. While he drank, Graham told him, “I am right now but that’s okay, we’ll trade, and you can be the boss of me later.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Graham looked behind him as Macy came in with cold rosy cheeks, “Tala, I’m ready to call in. Any news to report?”

  “Yeah, tell them Sam, Mark and Marcy are leaving in the morning, on our last hunt, for the mule deer, this season,” Tala said trying to k
eep Ennis’s condition to themselves for the time being.

  “All right, not having that around for a while will be nice,” Macy said, rolling her eyes. She went into the bunkroom and sat at the table, set up with the radio to the Prepper camp. Communicating daily became her routine chore now; to make a check and relay news each morning.

  Macy depressed the mic. “Hi, Rick, Macy here,” she said.

  “No, no, no, you’re doing the entry all wrong,” Rick said.

  “Why do I have to use ‘twin two’ call sign? You don’t use a call sign?” Macy complained emphatically.

  “Rick is my call sign. I don’t make up the rules; I just enforce them,” he said, kidding her with an old cliché.

  “Fine. Twin Two, here,” Macy said with as much mustered sarcasm for the occasion called for.

  “Much better,” he teased her, “Whatcha got this morning?”

  “All is well. Sam, Mark and Marcy are leaving on a three day hunt, going north for the mule deer in the morning,” she said.

  “Okay, sounds good. We’ll be free of the north exit until 0800. All is quiet here, except we’re having a banjo tournament, we discovered there really is a Bigfoot and we’re having a pizza party. Sorry, you guys aren’t invited,” he said, teasing her.

  Macy didn’t bite; she used her deadpan voice instead and said, “I’ll share the good news. Have a spectacular day Rick, Twin Two out.” She barely acknowledged Rick’s exit call before she hung up.

  She found Rick often exasperating, and why they still went by what Macy considered an expired procedure, seemed senseless to her. She liked that term, ‘expired procedure’, and used it in conjunction with school, politics and braces. With only two percent of the population still alive, meant the unlikely event of too much radio traffic over radio frequencies was pretty miniscule. Still, she enjoyed having a camp job which gave her something important to be responsible for. She volunteered for the job willingly. After the call ended, she wrote in the log, noting the time and response, leaving out the banter part and went back into the kitchen to check in with Tala.