The Next Ten: Beginnings Series Books 11 - 20

by Jacqueline Druga

  “I said a younger version,” Hal assured. “Before this world got to . . .” An odd metal clunk that was not usually heard stopped Hal in the middle of his sentence. “Elliott?”

  Elliott had stopped walking. “Did something fall?” He stepped away from Hal and walked to where the sound came from.

  Behind him Hal followed. “It sounded like a . . .”

  “Manhole cover,” Elliott finished the sentence when he saw it on the street up ahead. As his eyes looked at the round metal object that had been moved from the opening, up from the sewer system hole came the upper portion of a Savage. He held a bow and arrow, aimed and shot. Elliott grunted and flew back as the closely shot arrow seared into his gut. He dropped to the ground in his stumble.

  “Elliott!” Hal cried out at the same time the Savage bellowed out his war cry. Withdrawing his sword in his charging run, Hal leaped over Elliott’s downed body, raised his sword up, swooped it down with precision and speed, and beheaded the savage before he could fire again. Using all his strength, Hal moved the manhole cover with his foot then kicked the head of the Savage out of the way as he went to Elliott. Blood flowed from the stomach wound where the arrow was deeply imbedded. Bracing Elliott under the arms, Hal slowed down in lifting his right hand man when he heard the frightening sound of it in the distance, metal on concrete.

  Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank.

  “UWA!” Hal called out as he dragged Elliott backwards toward a building. “On guard! UWA! Hal reached back and opened the door. “On Guard!” Pulling Elliott safely into the building, Hal laid him down and took the sword from Elliott’s waist. He stepped onto the street and pulled the door closed. Knowing it wouldn’t be long before his men were there, it began with the war calls, the screams, and the sound of bare feet pounding the pavement. To his left and to his right they came and they charged. Savages.

  Hal blessed himself and then . . . braced himself and raised his swords.

  Beginnings, Montana

  “I just don’t know how I will handle it.” Henry sulked over his drink at the bar, complaining to Jess. “How are people going to judge me?”

  “Why are you concerned about it?” Jess asked.

  “She’s my friend.”

  “Then you have to do what’s right. You gathered the evidence against her, Henry. Anyone else might use that evidence wrongly.”

  “True.”

  “And you’re council. It’s really part of your . . .”

  The boom of the flinging open Social Hall door made Jess and Henry, along with everyone else, spin their views to Frank and Robbie who marched in.

  “Jess.” Robbie hurried over. “How much have you been drinking?”

  “Water.” Jess held up his glass.

  “Let’s go.” Robbie twitched his head to the door. “We need you.”

  From across the room Joe saw Jess hurry and follow Robbie out. Before Frank could make it to him, he made it to Frank. “What’s going on? Savages?”

  “Yeah,” Frank said, “but not us. Bowman was hit.”

  ^^^^

  They took advantage of their house being just theirs as they moved in a certain slow synchronized rhythm in their prelude to making love. The warm shower water slipped between Dean and Ellen’s touching bodies. More laughing than moaning occurred during the kisses as they tried to make the best of an awkward stance. Closely behind her, Dean held on to Ellen, his lips moving on her neck and his hands gliding about her.

  Ellen felt his playful nibble and her head flung back with a silent laugh. Dean’s soapy hand found a grip on her arm and he lifted it, pressing her palm flat against the shower wall. Moving Ellen closer to the wall, Dean lifted her other arm, then lifted his lips from her when the pounding at the bathroom door startled him. “No,” he whimpered out, burying his forehead to her shoulder blade. “I thought he was working all night.”

  “Dean!” Frank pounded. “The fuckin doors locked.”

  “There’s a reason, Frank,” Dean yelled back. “We’re trying to make love.”

  “Yeah, well put it on pause. El’s needed. She has to leave now. Bowman was hit bad by Savages.” Frank leaned against the door. He heard the running water stop, the shower door slide open and, a few moments later, after being hit in the face with a cloud of steam, Ellen slipped out, wearing a towel.

  “How bad?” she asked as she wiped the water from her face.

  “Bad,” Frank answered. “Jess is gonna fly you down. I can’t leave, not with things so tight around here. Hal says there are seventy-five injured and at least thirty are serious.”

  The bathroom door opened again and Dean came out with a towel on as well. “Do you need me?”

  “No, I . . .” Frank looked at Dean’s attire. “This is fuckin embarrassing. Get dressed, El.”

  Ellen flew passed him to her dresser. “Is Hal all right?”

  “He’s hurt, but fine.”

  “Elliott?” Ellen questioned.

  “Who?” Frank asked.

  “Elliott Ryder. Is he hurt?”

  “How the fuck should I know?” Frank snapped.

  “You don’t need me to go? That’s a lot of injured,” Dean said as he reached for his clothes.

  “No, you have to be here. Jason’s flying down as well.” Frank cringed. “God, a naked Dean and Ellen. Can I be hit emotionally any harder?”

  Ellen rolled her eyes. She had her jeans in hand and wore only a long tee shirt. She picked up her shoes and darted to Dean. “I’ll call you. I love you.” She kissed him quickly, shook her head at Frank’s ‘uh’, and moved to the door.. “Let’s go, Frank.”

  “El, be careful,” Dean called out.

  Frank placed a hand on Ellen’s back as she darted out then looked back to Dean with a grin. “Bye, Dean.”

  The word ‘bye’ and a wave to his wife never got to emerge from Dean. Between the events taking him from his moment so quickly and Frank’s snatching Ellen away, Dean’s head was spinning. He sat on the bed and allowed the newest reality shock to hit him. Twice in one day, at two different locations, the Savages had struck.

  Bowman, North Dakota

  The still smoldering flames below on the streets of Bowman and the scattered bon fires were the only guiding light Jess had as he glided the helicopter through the thick black smoke. He had to land in the distance away from main section of town.

  The three of them, Ellen, Jason, and Jess were greeted by a corporal who led them to the main street. Ellen’s heart pounded with each step she took. UWA soldiers lined the streets. They were protecting as well as trying to the aid the injured that had flowed out of Dr. Blue’s clinic. She could barely breathe and she knew the contents of her little black ‘Dean’ bag were just not going to be enough.

  “They didn’t tell us.” Ellen looked at Jason.

  “It does seem they left some details out.” Jason hid his heavy exhale as he looked around the destroyed buildings and the blood lined streets still filled with carnage of Savages that had not yet been burned. Bodies of UWA soldiers who had failed to survive the surprise attack were being carried--some in pieces--off the street.

  Ellen made her way through the men and into the clinic. Blue looked frazzled and Ellen directed Jason to him as she spotted Hal. She sighed heavily in relief when she spotted his back and long pony tail. His shirt was blood stained, but that was to be expected from the battle from which he had just emerged.

  “Hal.” She laid her hand on his shoulder.

  Hal turned around.

  Ellen gasped. What had happened to the man so much like a brother to her? His face was cut, gashed, and bleeding. His shirt and pants were totally saturated with blood and filled with holes and tears. He still bled. “Oh my God,” she heaved out.

  “I’m fine.”

  “No, Hal, no you aren’t. Let me take a look at you.”

  “Ellen.”

  “Hal. No.” She grabbed his arm and he winced as he tried to hide his pain. “Sit.” She brought him to a chair. She knelt befo
re him as she undid his shirt. She closed her eyes briefly at the wounds to his chest and stomach. “Hal, you need stitched and . . .you still have.” Her fingers moved about him in a count. “Seven arrow heads in you.”

  “They’ll stay. They aren’t deep. They can be removed later.”

  “No, they’ll be removed now. I’m putting you on a chopper with some of the others to go to Beginnings.”

  “No, Ellen,” Hal stated strongly and closed his shirt. “This is my town. My men. I have to stay.”

  “And what?” Ellen questioned. “Die of infection? Because that’s what’s going to happen to you.”

  “I can’t go.”

  “And I can’t let you stand up and handle things in your condition. You let me fix you or I’ll knock your big ass out and they take you out against your will.”

  Hal nodded slowly.

  “All right.” Ellen stood up, holding back her bangs with her hand. “As I can see, Blue’s tried, to organize this. Don’t move.” She held her hand to him. “I’ll find a place to put you. Just don’t move or I’ll be pissed.” Running her hand down his face, Ellen turned around and walked over to Jason. “This is bad.”

  “Tell me about it,” Jason responded. “Blue says at least fifteen need major surgery. They don’t have the facilities here.”

  Ellen peered around the room. “Has he divided them?”

  “As best as he could. Major injuries are in the back. How’s Hal?”

  “He should be back there. He’s been stabbed, speared, arrowed, you name it. But he won’t go. I’ll have to operate here.”

  “Will you need assistance?” Jason asked.

  “No. I’ll be fine. As for now, get someone healthy to gather all the ones that need help but not immediate. Get them up to the second floor patients’ rooms. Have them wait and so they will be out of our way. Keep the other ones that would be, let’s call them stage twos, ‘serious, but not so serious. If need be, we could handle them.”

  “What about them?”

  “Keep them on this floor. I’m gonna get Blue to go on in the back. We’ll start stabilizing those for the trip and getting the most serious ones out ASAP with Jess.”

  Jason nodded. “I’ll find assistance and aid Blue.”

  “Good. I’m gonna prepare Jess. Pick out someone to help him and we’ll start loading the choppers then I’ll come in and deal with Hal. Can you prep him?”

  “Without a doubt.”

  “Excellent, but first things first. I’d better call home.” Ellen received an agreeing nod from Jason. She edged her way through the crowded first floor of the clinic and out into the street. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was all such a nightmare. The smell of death and burning flesh filled the air. She knew Bowman and knew where she had to go to find a phone so, through the destruction, that’s where Ellen went.

  ^^^^

  “Oh God.” Ellen covered her eyes as she spoke on the phone. “Dean, I’m out of my league here.”

  “El, no, you aren’t,” Dean tried to be reassuring.

  “I can’t do this. This is your field.”

  “No, it’s yours. Organization is vital. You’re doing that. We’ll be ready here.”

  “Is Joe sending the choppers?” Ellen asked.

  “Robbie’s in the air now. Johnny is getting the next one ready.”

  Ellen’s long deep breath seeped over the phone. “Jason or I will call back with stats of the serious. I just know from the look of things, blood will be in demand. Prepare for a long night of surgery.”

  “Do you want me to get beds ready?”

  “You better believe it. The ones we fix here, we may ship them up as well.”

  “El, it’ll be all right.”

  “Dean, it’s a war zone.”

  Dean was silent for a second only. “El, what do you expect? We are at war. Of course, when it started against the Savages . . . none of us know.”

  ^^^^

  By the time Ellen had made it back, Jason had begun prioritizing. The six most critical were placed closest to the door for their easy removal and loading on the chopper. Three of them had limbs missing. Blue had cauterized the wounds so as not to have to use a tourniquet. To Ellen it was like a Civil War scene. The weapons used were so primitive, yet they devoured in a deadly way.

  Ellen hadn’t seen him at all and assumed he was running things for Hal at the front lines, so she was surprised that Elliott was in the clinic, let alone number six to be loaded in the chopper on the critically ill run.

  Elliott lay on his back on a cart, staring up at the ceiling with impatience. A blanket came up to his chest and his face was pale. He didn’t shake, moan, or make a noise. He just looked antsy.

  Her hand laid on his arm first and then Ellen moved into his view. “Elliott?” she called his name softly.

  He turned his head her way. “Dr. Hayes.” He smiled and spoke through a raspy voice.

  “Will you just call me Ellen? What happened?”

  “I had a run in with a Savage. I feel fine. I’ve stopped bleeding, but your Dr. Godrichson said I have to go immediately to Beginnings. Why?”

  “I don’t know.” Ellen quickly visually examined him. He had two arms, two legs, and no facial wounds. “How do you feel?”

  “I’m all right as long as I don’t breathe too heavily or cough.” He tried to smile. “Or . . . laugh.”

  “No pain except when you move?”

  “No pain unless I’m moved. Ellen . . .” His voice dropped. “I can’t feel my right leg. Tell me . . .” He swallowed. “Tell me it’s still there.”

  “It’s still there,” Ellen assured him. Her thoughts quickly raced. Did he have a spinal injury? She had to tell herself ‘no’ or Elliott wouldn’t be on his back. She lifted the bottom of the blanket to examine his right leg. Her hand moved up it. “Can you feel this?”

  “No.”

  As she felt his thigh, she saw the saturation of blood on his pant leg. “Elliott? Where were you hit?”

  “The stomach.”

  Covering his legs back up, Ellen lowered the sheet from his chest. She didn’t see the portion of the arrow that remained though she should have. It protruded from center of his midsection. The rest was so deeply imbedded, Ellen could see no end to it. The blood had clotted around it, causing the outward bleeding to stop. She feared the worst. “Elliott. This may hurt. Can you bear with me?”

  “Yes, I’ll be fine.”

  Ellen hovered over him, secured one hand under his hip and the other his shoulder. Using all her strength, she rolled him on his side, slightly towards her. Her eyes shut instinctively at first then she opened them to see. The lower portion of Elliott’s back was nearly black with settled blood. The cot under him was damp from the internal bleeding that found another means out. Soothingly she laid him back to the cot and felt the pain of his cringe.

  “It’s bad, isn’t it?” Elliott asked. “I can tell by your face.”

  “It’s . . . it’s . . . it’ll be fine.” She smiled at him. “Wanna know why? My husband is taking care of you personally and I will see to it.”

  “Should someone need assistance before me then . . .”

  “No, you take priority.” Ellen leaned down to him and whispered. “Between you and me, the Captain is in bad shape. He’ll need you well fast.”

  “He’s walking. I’m not.”

  “He’s mentally distraught. He and Frank will be a great pair. They both are mentally disabled and mentally distraught.”

  Elliott choked a painful laugh. “Thank you.”

  “Get better. Hey, at least when I return home, you and I will have lots of time to talk while you’re in that hospital of ours.”

  “I look forward to it, just like I said in my letter.”

  “El.” Jess’ hand came down upon her shoulder. “We have to take him.”

  Ellen nodded and stepped back. “Be careful, Jess, please.” She lifted her hand in a wave to Elliott as they started to move him. As he le
ft from her sight and Ellen turned to go to the patients, her mind snapped to Elliott’s last words. Ellen was baffled. “What letter?”

  Beginnings, Montana

  Frank’s hand slammed on the arm of the chair at the same time he stood to his feet. He was emotionally spent. “Fuck. Why didn’t Hal tell us it was this bad?”

  Joe, confused yet calm, sat behind his desk and tossed up his hands. “I don’t know. Jason said there are casualties.”

  “How many?”

  “There’s no count yet.”

  “And Hal?”

  “Are you ready?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Sit.”

  Frank didn’t question. He just sat down. “How bad?”

  “Seventeen arrow hits, three spear hits, and his thigh was knifed.”

  Frank couldn’t speak. His hand only swiped down his face.

  “Frank, what the hell is going on with these Savages?”

  “I don’t know Dad. I really don’t. My question is . . . why all of the sudden? Why after all this time?”

  “You had a good theory on that earlier,” Joe said. “They got what they could from the land and now they want more.”

  “I said that?” Frank bobbed his head. “That was good.”

  Joe grunted.

  “Still.” Frank stood up and began to pace. “What happened down there would not happen up here, guaranteed.”

  “You can’t guarantee that, Frank.”

  “Fuck I can’t. We can see them coming, unless they take out the tracking. Then they’d have to break the perimeter, which they couldn’t unless they had two of their men block the means in a suicidal opening of the gate.”

  “Frank, so they can get in. They can take out the tracking, barge the front or back gates, or come in through the fields.”

  “All right, all right, they can. Or, like they did before, come down into the underdeveloped section.”

  “Which . . .” Joe added, “is slowly becoming developed.”