“Maybe you’re right. Can you grab the pump from the back of the vike?”
“Yes, sir,”Josh said.
“Daddy?” Lilly called out.
“Yes, baby,” falcon answered without turning around.
“Can I have more water and beans, please?”
“Wow, you must be hungry.”
“Not really,” Lilly answered. “But she is.”
“She?” Falcon thought and turned his head slowly to peer over his shoulder. When he did, the tool fell from his hand.
Lilly sat with a baby, a girl, he supposed, no older than three. The tiny tot was filthy, her hair was splotched and she was bone thin. Her eyes were sunk in and her complexion was pale. But despite all that, the girl licked the red sauce that was on the beans off her fingers.
“Josh!” Falcon called out. “Forget the pump. Grab me water and some granola. Hurry.” He ran to his daughter. “And a fresh rag!” he instructed Josh.
“She’s hungry, Daddy.” Lilly said and handed the little girl the spoon.
The child hadn’t a clue what to do with the spoon. She reached for the plate.
“She ate the whole plate before I even knew it,” Lilly said.
“Lilly, where did she come from?” Falcon asked.
“I don’t know. I was just sitting here and she walked over after Josh went to you and grabbed my plate.” Lilly answered. “Isn’t she cute, Daddy? She smells but she is cute.”
Falcon crouched down to the little girl. Immediately the child scooted toward Lilly.
Lilly giggled. “She likes me. I tried to give her water. She doesn’t know how to drink it.”
“She needs water.” Falcon said and grabbed Lilly’s cup. He showed the cup to the toddler who did nothing. The Falcon held his finger up to the girl and made Lilly take a drink. “See?” he said to the baby and then extended her the cup. He put it to her lips and tilted the substance into her mouth.
She choked at first but then finally drank.
“Good girl,” Falcon said. “Good girl.”
“Dad,” Josh approached. “I got the stuff you … whoa, a baby?”
“Yes.” Falcon answered. “Pour me some water on a cloth, Josh.” While Josh did that, Falcon grabbed granola and handed it to the baby. “Eat.” He put the food in her mouth.
Josh handed his father the rag. “She’s the thinnest baby I’ve ever seen. Not like I’ve seen many, but I ain’t even seen a baby that was just skin and bones.”
Lilly added. “But she’s got a big belly!”
“That’s because she is starving.” Falcon said. “She isn’t eating.”
“But she’s just a baby, Daddy.” Lilly said. “How is she living if she isn’t eating? Where’s her ma?”
“I don’t know.” Falcon proceeded to wipe off the child. He needed to really see her skin color, to see her face. Her hair was falling out, a sure sign that she hadn’t eaten properly or much in a long time. She wore a shirt, only a shirt, and it had a black substance on it. It was the same substance that was on her arms. It smelled badly and Falcon couldn’t place the smell. It wasn’t human waste. He tried his hardest to clean her, then asked Josh to find a shirt of Lilly’s in the Vike.
The child didn’t cry or react; she was hungry, and she opened her mouth for anything. Falcon was careful not to feed her too much.
“Can we keep her?” Lilly asked
“No.” Falcon said. “She has to have a mother or father somewhere.”
“But where is she?” Lilly asked.
“I don’t know.” Falcon stared into the big eyes of the baby. It was frightening for him to see a child like that. He had seen children at the bathing stations and transient children, but never a child so pathetic, so frail and boney, a human skeleton with skin. There was nothing to her, absolutely nothing.
He instructed Josh to sit with Lilly and the baby while he finished the tire. The family of the baby had to be around somewhere and Falcon was certain they were frantically looking for her.
‘Keep an ear out,’ he told the children, in case the mother or family was calling out.
He finished the tire and it wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be. It seemed to work; it wasn’t the same size as the others, but they didn’t have much farther to travel to get home. He hoped it would get them there.
Lilly had taken to cleaning the baby obsessively and the child was smiling. Falcon brought over a cloth and made a diaper for the baby as best as he could. When he lifted her an ache grew in the pit of his stomach. She was like air.
“I’ve been giving her water,” Josh said. "She’s been sipping it, too.”
“That’s good.” Falcon heard the words but felt that child in his arms. He wanted to hug her and he did, but was ever so gentle about it.
Falcon’s lips puckered and felt tight. He fought with his emotions of how badly he felt for the child and for the family as well.
Holding Lilly’s hand and with Josh close by they began to scout out the area. The child couldn’t have made it too far from her camp. There was so much rubble and no way had she crawled over it alone.
There was a mound of bricks and debris and Falcon asked Josh to carefully climb up to see if he could spot anyone.
Josh obliged but only made it halfway up the mound before he stopped. Appearing defeated, he looked back at Falcon.
“What’s wrong?” Falcon asked. “Are you scared? Come hold the baby, son, I’ll do it.”
Josh shook his head and then climbed down. He walked up to Falcon, lowered his head and without looking, pointed outward.
“Josh what is it?”
“On the other side of that car,” Josh said and pointed.
Falcon turned his head to the right. He spotted the red car, it wasn’t that far from them, and Josh had gotten a glimpse into it on his climb.
He made his way over to the car and saw what Josh had seen.
“Ma!” the baby held out her hand. “Ma!”
Falcon felt sick, he handed the child to Josh. “Take the baby, Josh, over there.”
“Yes, sir.” Josh took the child and immediately the baby wailed the word ‘Ma!’ over and over.
Falcon tried to block it. He walked around the car. He should have known. Check the cars. People always used cars as part of camps. Abandoned cars also provided safe shelter in case of stray animals. And there it was. In a make shift tent made out of an old curtain was the body of a young woman. She lay on her side on top of a sleeping bag. He eyes were open and flies buzzed about. Her skin was bloated from the heat and had begun to stretch and ooze. Covering his mouth, Falcon walked to the woman and discovered the source of the black substance that was on the baby’s shirt.
Falcon immediately fought the vomit that crept up his throat.
It was coagulated blood and body fluids. The woman must have died in her sleep next to the baby and the child had diligently waited for her mother to awaken.
How hard that child must have tried to wake her.
She must have been shaking her every day, calling to her, grabbing for her. That was evident by the tiny hand indentation in the woman’s decaying flesh.
Falcon took the curtain that was used as a tent and covered the woman’s body.
He returned to his children, grabbed hold of the baby and simply told them all, “Let’s go. Let’s go home.”
They were close.
It wouldn’t take long. Another day … maybe.
11. Final Stretch
With the search for the tire and finding the baby, they were in Louisville longer than Falcon thought.
Lilly named the baby girl Belle. Mainly because she thought it would be easier for the baby to say. And Lilly tried diligently to get the child to speak.
She said, ‘Ma’ and even giggled at Lilly.
It was dark faster than Falcon expected so he kept his eyes open for an abandoned car. They were crucial when out in the open. No matter how broken or old, they provided better shelter in case of a dust storm than
the Vike could. When he spotted one he pulled the Vike over and made a small camp about twenty feet from the car. Someone else had done the same at one point. The car wasn’t encrusted in dirt. He told the kids that when they woke up, they wouldn’t have that long to go before they got home.
They were close.
But it was just too dark to go any farther. The moon wasn’t a light on this night; it seemed hidden.
Falcon made sure that Belle was eating. He gave her small portions; he didn’t want to overdo it. Water was important; she couldn’t get too much of that.
She had a cough. It sounded like the croup at times. Josh used to get that. But it was a bit wet. Being a father, Falcon wasn’t worried too much about the cough. When they got back home, he’d find the doc and have him take a look at her or Mrs. Gleece. She was a midwife.
He was certain the child was weak from not eating for days after her mother died, and how long before that had she eaten a proper meal he couldn’t guess.
The thinness of her body didn’t come about in a couple days.
It was getting late and he could tell by the yawns the kids were tired with the exception of Belle who had finally perked up some. Lilly treated her like her own personal baby doll. But Falcon had to tell Lilly, not too play with her too much. It seemed every time Belle got excited she coughed.
Josh was telling a story, sipping on his water ration and making it last.
Falcon loved when Josh told stories. He made them up and did so as he went along. Sometimes they made sense and other times they didn’t.
He loved when he incorporated things from the old world, but didn’t understand their uses. His current story had a refrigerator as a place where people stored their extra shoes.
“You mean they had more than one pair that fit?” Lilly asked.
“Oh, sure,” Josh said. “People in the old world, they had hundreds of shoes.”
“What for?” Lilly asked. “Why do they need that many shoes?”
“Because the ground was radioactive and they had to change their shoes to new ones every day.”
Falcon laughed.
Then a huge, rolling ‘boom’ caused the children to scream and jump.
“Dad?” Josh asked. “Dust storm?”
As Falcon peered up the sky flashed brightly and the thunder rolled with a mighty crack.
Another flash of light but it was an odd color, almost white.
Belle cradled to Lilly.
“Looks like it’s gonna be a doozy of a dust storm, let’s get in that car,” Falcon instructed. “Go on. Hurry.”
“Dad?” Josh asked with a bit of fear. “We ain’t been out in a storm. Will we be okay?”
“We’ll be fine. The car is good shelter. And the wheels are still on it, so we’re good from lightening. Go on. Just let me get our stuff.”
Falcon gathered the small amount of items and the wind that whipped about had a chill to it. He was fearful of being out in the open. Using his foot, he kicked dirt and doused the small fire while saying a prayer. “Please, God, let this be a small one.”
Arms full, fire out, Falcon rushed to the car as the storm grew louder. He tossed the items inside then hurried to the Vike. He fought against the whipping wind to secure the canvas and he double checked that the horse was secure to the car. “Sorry, pal,” he said to the horse. “I hate to do this to you. But hopefully it’ll pass.”
He gave a soothing pat to the horse and ran to the car. The back doors were closed and he made the children get in the back seat and he huddled there with them. The seat was falling apart, but better than up front. The driver’s door wouldn’t close all the way.
The noise of the storm was deafening and he could see the looks of fear on his children’s faces. Belle seemed numb to it, still trying to play with Lilly’s hair.
“We’ll be fine,” Falcon said. “We’ll be …”
Pat.
Pat. Pat.
It started slowly. Little tapping sounds at first and then it continued, growing louder and faster.
“Dad?” Josh asked.
“Oh, my God.” Emotionally the words seeped from him. “Oh, my God. It’s raining.” Excitedly he turned around, placed both hands to Josh’s cheeks and squeezed. “It’s raining!” he kissed him then turned to Lilly. “It’s raining!” He kissed her as well and then followed with a kiss to Belle. “It’s raining Belle. Rain!”
Both the children started to cheer. Lilly’s hand shot to her mouth and she played her enthusiasm with the highest dramatics.
“Can we go out in it?” Josh asked. “Please. Can we?”
“Not yet,” Falcon said. "When the thunder and lightning stops, you can.” Falcon’s heart pounded in his chest. His arms grabbed for his children and he brought them close as he lifted his eyes. “God, forget what I said about making this a small one. Make it big. Make it long.” He closed his eyes with gratefulness bringing his family into him. “Thank you for the rain.”
12. Home
It would take a lot more than a night of rain to end the drought, but Falcon knew if his farm took a rain pounding like they did on the side of the road, then it would do wonders for the wells. And a little replenishing would go a long way to work a piece of land for a late planting of something other than tobacco. There was coolness in the morning air that Falcon hadn’t felt in a long time. It also had a fresh smell, a much needed fresh smell.
The night before, Josh and Lilly had danced in the rain, while Falcon held Belle inside the car.
Her cough had worsened and as soon as the sky began to lighten Falcon headed home.
He couldn’t figure it out. Belle wasn’t fevered and she wasn’t fussy.
Actually, she giggled, and not far from Landen, she was playfully restless, jumping and reaching until she had to stop to cough.
By the time they pulled into town, Belle had gotten tired. She lay on the backseat, her head resting in Josh’s lap, her feet on Lilly. It was ironic, before they found Belle, Josh and Lilly were engrossed with a treasure that was Falcon’s, and now on the journey they had found their own treasure.
That was fine. Belle was a great treasure to find.
Town was buzzing and it wasn’t ration or barter day. People moved about, placing their hands in the few remaining puddles, splashing themselves with water and smiling as if it were the greatest thing in the world.
At that point in time, it was great.
Falcon saw Bill Gleece standing outside the barter stop. He watched people; perhaps it was a form of entertainment for him.
He stopped in front of Bill.
“Hey, there, Falcon,” Bill said. “Glad you made it back safely. Did you get what you went for?”
“Yes, sir,” Falcon said. “Give you a full report to update your maps.”
“I see you got a little more.” Bill nodded at Belle. “Where did you find her?”
“In Louisville.”
“Weren’t you the one that said you weren’t taking in anymore people?”
“Yeah, I make exceptions. Where’s your wife, Bill?” Falcon asked. “The baby is sick and I’m a little worried.”
“I can see that. Malnutrition pretty bad,” Bill said. “Actually she’s on your property tending to Lea.”
“She didn’t have the babies, did she? They’d be early.”
“No, just routine,” Bill said. “She’s up there.”
“Thanks, and I’ll be back to see you shortly.” Falcon gave a snap of the reins to resume moving.
“Want me to go get Mrs. Gleece for you?” Josh asked.
“Yeah, that’d be good. I’ll drop you off by Chad’s and head up to the house,” Falcon said.
“I’ll run real fast.” Josh told him.
“I’d appreciate that.” Falcon guided them to the property. James was out front keeping watch, and opened the gate for them. He called out a welcome to Falcon as they rode by.
Falcon would have stopped to talk, but he really wanted to drop off Josh and get Mrs. Gleece.
Chad’s property was about ten yards off the driveway and Falcon brought the Vike to a stop. Chad was out front of the trailer smoking a cigarette. He waved with a wide grin.
“Look, there’s Chad.” Falcon pointed.
“Dad,” Josh called out softly.
“Tell Mrs. Gleece …”
“Dad…”
“That if she needs me to come down, I will,” Falcon continued.
“Dad.”
“What is it?” Falcon asked and then turned to the back seat.
Josh only lifted his eyes. “Something is wrong with Belle.”
Immediately, Falcon felt his blood flow thorough his veins. It ran hot and he could feel it all the way to his face. His cheeks burned, his chest felt heavy and his ears filled with a rushing sound of his own heart beat.
He jumped from this seat and to the back seat.
“Daddy?” Lilly whimpered out. “What’s wrong with Belle?”
“Dad.” Josh’s eyes welled and his mouth pouted.
Falcon bit his lip, held up a finger then reached in for Belle. A painful, aching moan, seeped from his gut, up his chest and into his throat the second he lifted Belle and her lifeless body flopped in his arms.
“Daddy!” Lilly cried. “Daddy, what happened to Belle!”
“Dad?” Josh whimpered.
Falcon couldn’t think. He couldn’t move.
“Hey, all!” Chad called out, trotting their way. “Glad to see …” He stopped cold.
Falcon spun way, back to Chad, to Lilly to Josh. Both of his children were crying out, crying his name, and asking what was happening.
Falcon held up his hand without looking. His words breathy, “Take them to your house, please, Chad.”
“Sure thing. Come on.”
Falcon heard Chad gathering the children, telling them their father would be right with them and they needed to go with him.
He heard that, but it was faint. His ears were clogged with a rushing sound.
Mouth open in a silent scream, Falcon curled up his arms to bring Belle’s dangling body into his chest. Then holding her to him, he slid back against the Vike until he crumbled on the ground.
How long had it been since he had cried? Really cried? Years? He didn’t even get a chance to cry for Stacy because he was so engrossed in Lilly and Josh.
America's Demise 01 - Wasteland Page 5