The Flu 2: Healing

by Jacqueline Druga

  Tigger asked. “You alright, Chris?”

  Chris brought his knees toward his chest and lifted his hand. He sighed heavily. “Yeah, in a second. I just need a second.”

  And he did. His heart was still racing. He needed to catch his breath and his bearings. Everything was still so fresh. They had been running for nearly an hour. And they did so taking turns holding Emmie and covering her mouth. It had all happened so fast and Chris just followed his gut instincts to run. Run and hide, get away. He didn’t have time to think or plan, and he needed to take time to do that before they got moving again.

  The men who came to the camp weren’t playing around and they were merciless. Certainly Chris hadn’t expected it. No one had. He’d been playing around with Tigger when he heard the bang. The first sound wasn’t a gunshot; Chris knew what they sounded like. It was more like a car crashing into something. But the second and third sounds were definitely shots.

  He’d grabbed onto his little brother, who happened to be in the grips of Emmie at the time. When he lifted Tigger, Emmie dangled along, and Chris did his best to grab her as well. They were near the edge of the forest and Chris ran there. Just ducked inside to see if he could see what was happening.

  He heard voices, men shouting. ‘Grab that. Get this. Stop him.’

  Bang.

  He crouched down on the grade, hand over Emmie’s mouth, her toddler body tucked under his and urged them both to be quiet.

  Tigger understood. With his free hand, Chris gathered leaves around them and then Jake slid down in a hurry.

  “The soldiers just killed Bobby and shot Mr. Liam.”

  “Shhh,” Chris hushed him and grabbed for him to get down. “Stay down.”

  “We have to run.”

  “Stay down!”

  Chris listened, and heard one of the men shouting that he thought he saw more children. Another replied, “Keep looking.”

  Chris leaned his head toward Jake and spoke at the lowest whisper he could. “We do have to run.”

  “The cabin.”

  Chris nodded. He moistened his lips. He didn’t know if it was bravery or stupidity, but he had to see what was going on. “Pull them back,” he told Jake. “I’ll be right with ya.”

  “Where you going?”

  “I have to see what’s happening. We don’t know what we’re running from.”

  Tigger whimpered, “Chris?”

  “I’ll be alright. Go with Jake. Just down the hill. On your belly. Okay?”

  Tigger nodded.

  Chris’s hand still covered Emmie’s mouth. “You got to keep her mouth covered, lift her and run quiet. Go straight but not too far,” he told Jake. “I’ll find you. Go!”

  It was a switch of one hand to the other. No sooner had Chris removed his hand when Jake placed his over Emmie’s mouth.

  As slowly and as quietly as he could, Chris rose and belly crawled to the top of the grade. He peeked over. At first he didn’t see much. He did see Bobby’s body and he lowered his head for a second.

  He watched the movement of the men. He could only see a few. They shouted out orders and moved quickly.

  Then he noticed Mick’s SUV. No one went near it. The men were concentrated over on the other side of the camp. Knowing that they had to run and make a getaway, Chris, in a low crouch run, ran to the SUV.

  He ducked down, looking around. He caught a glimpse of one man. He was wearing a military uniform, but it was old, like the military used to wear in old movies. Quietly, Chris opened the door to the back seat.

  On the outside chance they’d be stranded out in the woods for a while, Chris grabbed the bug out knapsack and thin sleeping roll. He slid them over to himself, made sure no one saw him, and then, in the same manner, crawled back and made his escape.

  He found the others with ease. Tigger, Jake and Emmie hadn’t gone too far down the hill. There, twenty or so feet from the campsite, they waited a few minutes and when the voices grew nearer they took off.

  Jake lifted Emmie, Chris lifted Tigger and they ran at top speed.

  The last thing Chris heard was someone shouting, “Down there! Look!”

  But neither Chris nor Jake looked back; they focused and stayed the course.

  * * *

  “Found a map.”

  Jake’s voice snapped Chris from this thoughts. He sat down next to Chris and slid the map his way.

  “You’re supposed to be on watch,” Chris said.

  Jake pointed to Tigger, who peered out the window. “He’s better hidden than me. Besides, take a look.”

  It was like reading a foreign language. Chris had never seen a real map, let alone learned how to read one. “I have no idea what the heck to do with this,” he said.

  Jake grimaced. “Me either.”

  From the window, Tigger said. “Take watch. Let me look.”

  Jake produced a quirky smile. “How old is he again?”

  “He’s six, going on thirty. That’s what Mick says.”

  “Who’s Mick?” Jake asked.

  “My stepdad.”

  “Hey, won’t he come find us? We should just wait here.”

  “We could,” Chris said. “But how do we know that they didn’t get Mick and Ethan before they came to the camp? We don’t. We gotta keep moving and figure out where to go.”

  Tigger squatted down, pointing back. “Take the window.”

  “God, pushy.” Jake stood.

  Tiger looked at the map.

  “Tig, really, I know you wanna help but—”

  “Look,” Tigger said, “I may not know how to read this thing right, but I’ve seen Dora the Explorer enough to know we have to look for familiar things.”

  “Like?”

  “There’s a lake out that window, Chris. Ain’t there water on this map?”

  Common sense. Maybe his nerves were causing him to lose it, but Chris looked at the map. “We left Pittsburgh on a highway north.” His finger trailed the map. “Has to be this highway here.” He pointed. “We were headed to Lake Erie.” He showed Tigger the lake. “So we have to be in this area...”

  “Rosemont.” Tigger’s little finger pointed. “Does that say Rosemont?”

  “Tig, you can read?”

  “Yeah. Some words. Does it say that?”

  “Yes. Yes!” Chris grinned. “Rosemont is twenty miles west of where we were, that’s what Ethan told Mick.” He moved his finger to the right, east, away from Rosemont.

  “That little blue dot - water?” Tigger asked.

  “Has to be. Go see if there’s a pen in Mick’s sack.”

  After Tigger stood, Chris continued to stare at the map. He had to learn it. What were roads, which way they would go, and how would they get to safety? But the real question was, where was safe?

  He would think about it, but not for long. They couldn’t stay at the cabin. They had to get moving. Aside from figuring out a direction to go, he had to figure out a way to let Mick know they were fine and moving forward on the outside chance that Mick would come looking for them.

  Journal Entry

  I only have a minute to write, but I thought I should. Just in case something happens to us and this notebook is found.

  Our camp was attacked by these guys in older military uniforms. I don’t know how many, I only saw three of them. They killed a boy and other grownups in the camp.

  Mick had left with Ethan to search for more kids in a town nearby.

  I only hope Mick wasn’t caught up by these guys on his way back. Not that Mick couldn’t handle them, but what if he wasn’t ready?

  If he didn’t, then I am glad Mick wasn’t there when they came. Mick would have gone after these guys, like he always does, but they didn’t care, there was no fair fight in these guys, they only shot.

  I know Mick is out there and he’ll look for us. But right now, we have to run. We’re gonna head north to find the road and follow near that. But stay hidden on the way.

  We got a baby with us. She ain’t very old.
At least she can walk, but she cries a lot and I don’t know what to do with her.

  Heck, I don’t know what to do about anything.

  For as much as Mick and my mom and dad taught me, no one said anything about running to save your life. No one taught me what I would need or should do.

  I don’t have a clue and I got three kids with me that I have to watch. No one said anything to me about how to survive if I am stranded. I guess no one thinks to teach their kids that.

  I’ll just have to do the best I can. If something should happen to me, I tried.

  7. Smoke and Mirrors

  Tom didn’t find Dan Hynes, the driver of one of his trucks; Dan found Tom.

  Just about one mile outside of Wadsworth, the smoke was so thick Tom had to pull over. He didn’t believe they could go any further.

  His chest filled with a heaviness from the smoke, and even a cloth over his nose and mouth didn’t help. He felt bad for the two men in the back of the truck, and for them and their safety, he couldn’t go on.

  “You sure you sent the trucks this way?” Rose asked.

  “This is the way they would have gone. Big Bear Food Storage is just outside of Wadsworth. This was the last trip to unload the warehouse.” Tom replied. “Son of a bitch.”

  Rose swiped her hand down her face. “Maybe they saw the fire and trouble and just stopped.”

  “We can hope.” Tom shifted the truck into reverse and just as he tapped the gas, he heard a double bang against the rear of his truck. He hit the brakes. One of the men in the back of the truck pointed, and Dan Hynes smacked against the driver’s side window.

  His face was dirty and bloodied with brush burns.

  “Jesus,” Tom opened the truck door. “Dan!”

  “Tom, thank God.” Dan grabbed his chest.

  “Get in.” Tom got out, making room for Dan to get in the truck.

  Dan struggled and grunted, holding on to his side as he climbed in, sitting next to Rose.

  “Where are the others?” Tom asked as he got back inside.

  Dan shook his head. “I don’t know. We got separated. They were alive the last I saw, but we decided to separate so they didn’t see us.”

  Tom turned the truck quickly and headed away from Wadsworth. “So who didn’t see you?”

  “Group of men. Big group. That’s how I got hurt. They were speeding away, don’t know if they saw me, but I dodged from their truck. Think I broke a rib.”

  Rose peered over Dan. “We can’t leave the others, Tom, we have to look for them.”

  “I know, I know. But we can’t see nothing with this smoke. Dan, which way were they? When did you separate?”

  “Near the warehouse. We were pulling in,” Dan said. “We saw the trucks; they beat us to the punch and were emptying it out. They had guns so we backed off. We ditched the trucks off to the side, but that was stupid on our part. They took them. Then we decided to split up. I went through Wadsworth.”

  “What happened there?” Rose questioned. “What’s burning?”

  “Everything,” Dan answered. “I guess it wasn’t supposed to be like that. When I arrived, they had a tanker and were emptying the gas station. They lit it up and it got out of control.”

  Tom twitched his head with a long blink. “Any idea who these guys were? Did they look like stragglers, a gang, something out of Mad Max, what?”

  “No,” Dan answered. “Soldiers.” Rose looked quickly at him at the same time as Tom. “But not dressed like normal ones,” Dan clarified. “Some were wearing black jackets. A lot looked like hunters.”

  “Yeah,” Rose said. “Sounds like militia.”

  Tom asked, “Rose, you’re part of Ohio Third aren’t you?”

  “No, Minuteman, but this doesn’t sound like them. More like OFD … even then I can’t see them burning Wadsworth.”

  “What are we gonna do?” Dan asked.

  “Head back, organize and think,” Tom answered. “Get on Henry to get back in touch with the government, see what they know. Rose, any thoughts about if we can find out if Minuteman or OFD is still operational?”

  “Take a ride to their compound, it’s not far. Buzz and I can take a ride out on the bikes.”

  Tom only nodded but didn’t give his verbal agreement. His options were limited. He had to find out what was going on, because all of this was far too close to home. He hated the thought of sending Rose out with Buzz, but with Mick out of touch, what choice did he have?

  * * *

  Las Vegas, NV

  He coughed his way through telling Lexi and Bill about there being rooms available in the hotel, and that at least a hundred people were there.

  Cough. Cough.

  He wasn’t sure. He was just someone staying there. There were other people running it, and they were hoping to make it a stopping depot for those going east.

  When Lexi asked why, he simply said, “Lots of people are going east. That’s where the life is.”

  It made sense to her. After all, the flu had started on the West Coast and people on the East Coast had a chance to lock down, maybe stay out of circulation. They were able to prepare a better defense against the flu.

  Bill asked the man, “How many have come through here?”

  “’Bout a hundred pilgrims last week.”

  Cough. Cough.

  Bill, in the middle of the conversation, wised up and stepped back. Lexi seemed to not care. They left him, and headed to find the lobby.

  “What do you think is wrong with him?” Bill asked.

  “I don’t know. His coloring is odd. It’s not just pale.”

  “You think it’s our flu?”

  Lexi shook her head. “No, not at all. First, with that cough, that stage of the flu, he’d be too ill to be playing a slot machine. Then again, he was drinking heavily. But I heard the cough. It rumbled, it was productive.”

  Bill chuckled. “Yeah, he had it productively on his chin.”

  “Exactly,” Lexi said. “Did you notice the color?”

  Bill snorted a laugh. “Uh, no. Well, yeah, but what does that matter?”

  “Our flu didn’t come with a productive cough. It was so thick it stuck in the chest. And also, when it was ejected, it was thick and brown. Remember? It was blood laced. This guy’s phlegm was frothy. More than likely he may have pneumonia. But who knows?”

  They followed the signs to the lobby and when they arrived, it wasn’t what they expected. A wire cage fence was erected around the front desk, and a man wearing a dirty county police officer uniform stood up. His face was unshaven, hair wiry, and he had a shotgun draped over his shoulder.

  “Welcome, folks.” He stepped to the counter.

  “Hi,” Lexi said. “We’re only passing through.”

  “Going east?”

  “Yes.”

  “Isn’t everybody?” He smiled.

  Lexi returned the smile. “The man in the casino told us we can get a room for the night?”

  “Ah, Charlie. He loves those slots. He doesn’t even get up to take a piss. Has a bottle right next to him.”

  Bill winced. “Glad I missed that.”

  “I bet,” the man said. “Well, we aren’t a fancy resort, we’re a stopping post. We ask that you don’t cook anything in the rooms. Fire hazard, you know. You can do so outside or in designated areas of the hotel. Clean up after you leave. Sanitizer is in each room.” He pulled a sheet of paper forward. “We’re pretty secure. I have guys on watch. You can’t see them, but they’re there. Kind of defensive against trouble. Not that we have seen a lot of trouble. Folks are pretty good, just wanna go east. Glad I’m not there.”

  Lexi was curious. “Why not?”

  “More people, more problems. Kind of like a reverse return to the Wild West now. Quiet, empty, and I like it. You can control what you have and what you need when you aren’t fighting for scraps against a thousand starving people.”

  “Makes sense,” Lexi agreed.

  “So you’re pretty protected here
. One of the things we ask if that you check your weapons. We’ll give them back when you leave.”

  Lexi looked at Bill.

  Bill replied. “We have a knife.”

  “A knife?”

  “We have an ax,” Lexi said. “It’s in the car. Tire iron? Does that count?”

  “A knife, ax and tire iron?” the man said. “What kind of knife?”

  Bill laid the six inch hunting knife on the counter.

  The man pushed it back. “It’s fine, you can hold on to that. Man,” he shook his head and added with some sarcasm, “you guys are prepared.”

  Lexi smiled. “We try.”

  “I’m joking. What in the hell is wrong with you two?”

  Lexi cocked back. “I’m sorry?”

  “You’re crossing the country with a knife, an ax and a tire iron. This isn’t a Stephen King world. This isn’t all the bad in one place, all the good in another. Good and bad are scattered about. More bad roam. Especially, I’m guessing, the further east you go.”

  “We discussed this,” Lexi said. “We don’t believe in guns.”

  “Well, you should. And if you change your mind, we have some you can barter for.”

  “Thank you,” Lexi said.

  “Okay, that’s the rules. Now what do you have to barter for the room?”

  Lexi peered up at Bill. “What do we have?”

  “We have some food,” Bill said. “Some water. Not much. “

  The man shook his head. “Food and water don’t barter here. I’d take that knife, but I’d feel guilty leaving you defenseless.” He sighed. “Any gold? Silver? Brass? Pennies? You got pennies, they melt down.”

  Lexi shook her head.

  “What the heck, people?”

  “What about skills?” Bill asked. “Can they be bartered?”

  “Depends,” he replied. “What’s your skill?”

  “Not me,” Bill said. “Her.” He pointed to Lexi. “She’s a doctor.”

  Suddenly, the officer’s entire demeanor changed. All expression dropped from his face and even his voice changed. “Are you serious?”