Life In Death (Book 1): Surviving Death (The Struggle)

by Holmes, Ethan

  “Are you ok,” Anna screamed. Out of breathe from the sprint.

  “Not exactly. We’ll need a burial detail again. Don’t go upstairs unless you want to end up like me,” Frank said, still wiping his mouth off.

  “What did you see,” Steve asked.

  “A man, woman and two kids… All dead. They’ve been that way for a while. They’re all laying in the bed together. I need to go back in and open windows to let the place air out,” Frank said as he finally got back on his feet.

  “Frank, let someone else go,” Steve said.

  “It’s ok. I already lost my breakfast. No reason to force someone else to lose theirs.”

  Twenty minutes after disposing of the previous tenants they finally felt safe enough to start unpacking.

  “I wonder what happened to those people…” Frank said as Anna was changing the bandages covering Steve’s wound.

  “This may help,” Steve said as he pulled a pill bottle from his pocket.

  “What is it,” Anna inquired, looking over his shoulder.

  “Valium. The entire bottle is empty but it was filled just before the outbreak. My guess is they went pretty peacefully,” Steve said.

  Silence filled the room. No one knew what to say. None of them had thought about taking their own life but the notion was now out there.

  “I don’t think I could do something like that,” Frank said, finally breaking the silence. “Taking the easy way was never my style. Besides, you all would be crying and balling and you would never get anything done.”

  Everyone in the group laughed until tears ran down their faces. It was the emotional break they desperately needed.

  Frank looked over and met eyes with Anna who was still laughing. He thought to himself, ‘I have too much to lose, anyway.’

  After the bedroom had sufficiently aired out, they quickly removed the bed that the family was on and all the other fabric that was stained with the smell of the decomposition, including the carpet. They retrieved the truck keys of the previous owner and drove all of the contaminated materials a few miles away and dumped it. While they were gone, the room was completely sterilize by Natalie, Karen, Kim, and Will while the others settled and organized everything.

  That night Frank was on night watch with Anna on the front porch sitting next to each other, legs dangling off the edge.

  “Last night was way too close, Frank. We need to be more careful. It was a miracle that no one was bitten,” Anna confessed.

  “I know,” he said, feeling guilty. “I’m just glad we got out ok. We shouldn’t do that with the entire group with us. It would have been much easier to handle. We’ll remember that, God forbid, next time.”

  “I miss Robby. I can’t believe he’s gone,” she said as she laid her head on his shoulder and wept into his shirt.

  “I know. So do I,” he said, unable to hold back his tears any longer. They sat there the rest of the night and cried together.

  Chapter 11

  Medical needs

  The next morning, the entire group was moaning and groaning, stretching out their sore muscles. Frank walked into the kitchen and saw Will, Karen and a large bundle of yarn.

  “Morning. What all this,” Frank asked as he touched the fabric.

  “Good morning, Frank. I was crocheting some hats for us but messed this one up. Will was so sweet to help me with it so it doesn’t get tangled up,” she said as she smiled and wrapped the yarn around Will’s open hands.

  Frank picked up one of the finished hats, feeling how soft the fabric was. “Oh, this is some fine work, Karen. These are going to be comfy.”

  “I’m glad you like it, that one is yours. It’s good to know that my work is already being appreciated. Although I have to say, Will is looking a bit bored,” she said, smiling at Will.

  Will popped out of his haze. “Huh? What? Oh. I’m ok. Maybe a little bored but that’s ok. I needed something to do. Might as well help.”

  Frank and Karen let a little giggle slip.

  “And you’re a big help, especially since yarn is such a pain to get untangled. Usually when that happens I just go get another roll but we can’t afford to do that,” she said.

  Kim and Steve walked in, already wearing their hats. Frank put his on already feeling the warmth. “Just my style and it’s really comfy. Thanks Karen.”

  Frank pointed to Steve’s wound. “How is it feeling?”

  Steve rubbed the wound tenderly. “It could have been a lot worse. My shoulder probably won’t be the same but I’m alive. Kim was about to help me change my dressings. Want to see?”

  Frank laughed. “No. I think I’ll live. It’s good that you still have jokes though,”

  Steve smirked and walked toward the living room. Kim stopped next to Frank and whispered, “It’s not looking that good, Frank. I think it’s getting infected. The bullet is still in there. We have to get it out or its going to get worse. He’s already on antibiotics but I think it’s only slowing it down.”

  Frank sunk down into the kitchen chair. “He knows this?”

  She nodded.

  “Why hasn’t he said anything,” he asked, trying to keep quiet so no one would hear him.

  “He thinks that we already have enough to worry about right now. He’s hoping the antibiotics will start working,” she said.

  “That’s stupid. Let’s go. I want to see his wound after all,” he said as he got up from his seat.

  They walked into the room and Steve realized what was happening. “Frank, before you start, I’m fine.”

  “Sorry Steve. You know I have to make sure. I can’t have anything happen to you,” Frank said as he help Steve get his shirt off.

  Kim pulled back his dressing to reveal the large hole in Steve’s shoulder, just below the collar bone, surrounded by a very large red, purple and nearly black bruise. The large hole in the center was nearly bright yellow with puss exuding out of it.

  “Steve… This is really bad,” Frank said.

  “Oh my God. It wasn’t nearly this bad yesterday,” Kim said almost in tears.

  “Damn. Ok. Hand me that pad and pencil on the table there,” he said as he observed his wound.

  Frank handed him the pad and he scribbled a list down. “Ok. Here’s a list of stuff we will need and I’m going to need my back pack too. Hurry up so we can get this over with.”

  Frank handed Kim the list and rushed outside to find Anna. He found her on top of the JERRV with her rifle slung. She saw the desperation on his face and jumped down from the truck to meet him.

  “What’s wrong, Frank,” she asked nervously.

  “I need some help. Did the IDF teach you anything about field surgery?”

  “Enough to use a tourniquet, suture a wound, and give an IV. Why? What’s wrong,” Anna asked through a choppy voice.

  “It’s Steve. He’s getting worse,” he said.

  “I might be able to help,” a frail voice spoke behind him.

  Frank turned around and saw Karen standing there with her shawl draped over her.

  “I was a surgical nurse for about 30 years. I can at least walk you through it. My hands are too shaky to perform surgery,” she said.

  “That’s great. We need to pick up the supplies and get started as soon as possible,” Frank said.

  When they got back, Frank handed Steve a bottle of Vicodin. Steve took two and had a shot of Novocain. Shortly he was numb as could be.

  Karen started poking the wound with a large needle to ensure the numbness was enough.

  “Can you feel any of this, honey,” she asked.

  “Teehee. Nope. Can’t really feel my face either,” Steve slurred then started to fall asleep.

  “Yep. He’s stoned. Let’s get started,” Karen said as she got up to let Anna, who volunteered to perform the surgery, sit down.

  “Ok. We have to remove all the infected and necrotic tissue. Then we will have to dig out the bullet. Think you can handle this sweetie,” she asked.

  “I can
do it. Just tell me where to cut and I’ll cut,” Anna said.

  “Ok. Let’s get started,” she said, nervously.

  The rest of the group was sitting out on the porch waiting for word from Frank. Kim sat down next to Will. She could see the worry on his face. She started to rub his back.

  “Don’t worry, Will. He’s going to be fine,” Kim said, trying to reassure him.

  “I hope you’re right,” he replied.

  “Between Frank, Anna, and Karen, I think it is a safe bet,” Kim said, trying to believe her own words.

  Anna’s hands started to shake and spasm after the third hour so Frank took over. Steve was sound asleep. Karen checked his breathing and heart rate periodically.

  “Ok, that looks good. Let’s hit him with another dose of Novocain before we remove the bullet. The last dose should be wearing off right about now. This should be the easier part,” Karen said as she handed Frank the syringe.

  She pointed to the injection site and Frank drove the needle in until she said stop, he pushed the plunger and the liquid was forced into the disfigured flesh.

  “Are you up to finish this Frank? My hands are good if you want me to take over,” Anna said as she handed him a bottle of water.

  “No. I’m good. How much longer is this going to take, Karen,” he asked as he took the top off of the water bottle.

  “Well, we have to get the bullet out of the muscle tissue. That shouldn’t take too long unless the round fragmented. The worst part will be to repair the damage. That should take a few more hours since we are all novices and we had to cut out so much tissue,” Karen said.

  “Well then, you may want to s-stick around Anna…” Frank said with a stutter.

  “Ok, Frank. Use the hemostats there and dig through bullet hole. You’ll feel when you’ve hit the bullet. Grab onto the bullet the best you can and force onto the hemostats until the finger holes lock together,” Karen ordered.

  Frank breathed hard and exhaled heavily, trying to release some stress.

  “Ok. Here we go…” Frank nervously said.

  He drove the hemostats into the reddened tissue.

  “Ok. Sometimes the track of the bullet isn’t straight after it goes in. You may have to do some wiggling to find it,” Karen advised.

  Frank went in a little deeper, wiggle the hemostats around a bit and then hit something hard.

  “I think I have it. Give me a second,” he said, sweat pouring off his face.

  Karen noticed his drenched face and grabbed a washcloth to wipe his face off.

  Frank kept wiggling the instrument around trying to grab a hold of the bullet. Finally he had it. He force the ends of the forceps together down as hard as he could, locking the tool, ensuring that he wouldn’t lose the round.

  “I got it,” he exclaimed.

  “Ok. Now, ease the bullet out. Not too fast or you’ll cause more damage. Nice and slow,” she said as she dabbed more sweat from his brow.

  Frank lightly tugged on the bullet, it sliding out with surprisingly little force needed. Soon the bullet rose to the surface. Frank raised it up to get a good look at his prize. The bullet was forced into a mushroom shape by the impact.

  “Looks like it’s all there. He was lucky. This could have been a lot worse,” Karen said. “Ok. We need start suturing the wound. Anna, why don’t you take over for a while?”

  Three hours later, Anna was taking off her gloves while Karen was bandaging the freshly sutured wound.

  “You two did some incredible work here. I’ve seen a lot worse work from a surgeon,” Karen said.

  “Thanks,” the two said in unison.

  “Is he going to be ok now,” Anna asked.

  “As long as we keep the infection out and keep it clean, he should be fine,” Karen said with a smile.

  They walked out to the front porch and saw that everyone is still waiting. All at once their heads jerked up as if being woken from a nightmare.

  “How’s my dad,” Will asked.

  “He’s going to be fine. We had to cut out a lot of tissue but Karen thinks that he will be ok. We just have to keep the infection out,” Frank said.

  Everyone let out a sigh as if they actually held their breath.

  Both of them sighed in relief. They were too tired to do much of anything else but too wired to sleep.

  Steve woke with the sight of Kim and Frank looking down on him.

  “Ugh. I feel like I got stomped on by one pissed off bull. Might the drugs talking but, Kim, you’ve got to be the best sight I’ve ever woken up to,” Steve slurred, still half asleep.

  Kim’s Asian features turned bright red. “All I had to do was get you high to say so.”

  “He’s such a sweet talker isn’t he,” Frank asked with a chuckle.

  “I do my best,” Steve said through grunts as he tried to sit up.

  Karen walked over with water. “Easy Steve. Frank and Anna worked very hard on those sutures. They will not be very happy with you if you rip them.”

  Frank help Steve sit up on the bed. Everyone was in the room at this point, Will sitting on the end of the bed.

  “Hey son. How do I look?” Steve asked.

  Will smiled. “Like you got shot.”

  Frank smiled. “He’s your son alright.”

  Steve laughed, wincing at the pain with every chuckle.

  “So, how did it go?” Steve asked.

  Frank and Anna looked at Karen.

  “It went much better than we could have expected. Frank and Anna did a fabulous job,” Karen said as she handed him the water.

  Steve started to tear up. “Thanks guys. I really appreciate it.”

  Anna sat down next to him on the bed. “You’re very welcome. Now, we know how stubborn you are, so are we going to have to strap you to the bed to keep you here for a couple of days?”

  Steve started laughing again, rubbing the tears from his eyes.

  “No. I will behave for a little while. How long have I been out?”

  Frank stepped forward. “You’ve been in a Vicodin induced haze for about 24 hours. You will probably need to stay on the Vicodin for a few more days.”

  “We’ll lower the dosage and add some Tylenol. Vicodin is easy to get hooked on,” Steve said.

  “If you think so,” Frank said. “How do you feel?”

  “Sore as hell, but better than it did,” he said, rubbing and poking his wound.

  “Good. Very good sign,” Karen said handing Steve a mirror.

  Steve looked at his sutures through the mirror while they changed his bandage. “Damn. That’s a lot of sutures. I take it that you had to take out a lot of tissue.”

  Karen handed Anna a fresh bandage to place on his shoulder. “We had to take out a few ounces of flesh. Most of it was skin. Everything looked good inside the wound. I don’t think there is any bone damage, just muscle damage. I’d say that you should get most of your range of motion back.”

  “Oh, thank God. I was afraid of what you would find in there,” Steve said with a large sigh of relief.

  “Well, we’ve got you on antibiotics to make sure we got all the infection out of your system. Speaking of which, take this,” Frank said, handing him a pill large enough to give a horse.

  “Holy crap! How have you been giving this to me if I was unconscious?” Steve exclaimed.

  “We gave you penicillin after they were done,” Karen said.

  “Good thing I’m not allergic,” Steve said.

  “Work with what you have. I played detective with your stuff. I figured that since you had so much in your med bag then you must not be too worried about it. Jim, Nick, and Tommy went to town to get the IV stuff,” Karen said.

  Steve smiled, impressed with how the group had come together to take care of him. He’d never felt better about their situation.

  “Alright, people. Let’s go so he can get some rest,” Frank said as he headed for the bedroom door. He turned to look and make sure that everyone was following him. Kim stayed by the bedsi
de.

  “I’ll be down in a minute,” she said.

  Frank looked at Kim then at Steve. He understood. “Ok.”

  When everyone left the room, Kim started to cry. Steve took her hand.

  “Everything will be ok. This was a close call,” he said.

  “I almost lost you. You and Frank take on too much as it is. I don’t know what I would do if I’d lost you. I love you, Steve. Why do you think you have to tough it out all the time,” she asked, holding back sobs.

  “I love you too. Frank and I do this because we have to, for you, for everyone. I don’t want to be a burden to you,” Steve said, beginning to cry again. He kissed her hand.

  “Yeah, how did that turn out?” she said jokingly.

  “Eh? Right now? Still pretty high so it’s not so bad. Give me a few hours for it to wear off,” he said, trying to cheer her up.

  Kim laughed. “You’re such an asshole.”

  “Yeah. That’s why you love me,” he said.

  Kim leaned in, being cautious not to put pressure on his wound and kissed him passionately.

  Chapter 12

  Canned Chicken

  Weeks had past, fairly uneventful. Frank had woken up for the day, getting ready for a run into town. He was thinking about all the events that led up to this point, trying to think about better ways that it could have been done. Self-doubt was sinking in. His train of thought was broken by a small hand touching his forearm. It was Isabelle. Putting his doubts aside, he knelt down to the child.

  “Frankie, can I go outside and play,” she asked.

  “I don’t see why not. Let’s go.”

  He scooped the girl up into his arms and headed out the door. He noticed that she had a doll in her arms that he’d never seen before.