“There a problem here?” the lead rider asked as he drew near.
“Not anymore. We’re here with a delivery from back east. You’ve been expecting us?” Lucas said.
The rider eyed Lucas’s clothes, covered with road dust and grime, and nodded. “Name’s Hayden. I’m the town sheriff.” He paused. “Took you long enough.”
“That it did. Ran into some problems. You got a medic in town?”
Hayden nodded again. “We do. Not formally trained, but she gets the job done since the doc died.”
“Good. We have a wounded woman here who needs care,” Lucas said, indicating Ruby, who looked about ready to pass out.
“Wounded?”
“Gunshot. She needs antibiotics or she isn’t going to make it.”
Ruby groaned at the last words and slumped forward against her horse. Lucas was out of the saddle in a flash and caught her just as she crumpled sideways. He held her in his arms, his face serious.
“Could use some help here, fellas. Anyone lend a hand?”
Chapter 12
Lucas followed Hayden into the maritime museum on the bay that served as the town’s council headquarters. They’d deposited Ruby at the nearby hospital, six rooms of which were habitable, and Joel had agreed to stay with her and the horses while Lucas met with the council to discuss their next steps.
The death of the doctor was a blow, and Hayden had been tight-lipped about any other options for vaccine production. The lawman seemed like a decent sort, but out of his depth with the challenges posed by the growing encampment on either side of the town, and he was obviously on edge as they walked past the nautical memorabilia hanging on the lobby walls.
“You have power here?” Lucas asked.
“Limited. Solar during the day, but the batteries are unreliable and getting worse every month.” Hayden frowned. “Coastal Oregon isn’t the ideal spot for solar, with as few days as we actually see sun every year, but we’ve managed – although winters are tough.”
“You have a radio, right?”
“Sure do. One of the few things we reserve some of the working batteries to power. That and refrigeration for any fish we store. The rest is tightly rationed, although there’s nothing stopping anyone from using their own solar panels to do whatever they want.”
“Are there many in town?”
“Not a lot,” Hayden said. The sheriff wasn’t a big talker, which was fine by him – Lucas hadn’t crossed a third of the country to make new friends.
“One of the guys past the fence said that all the doctor’s antibiotics went missing?”
“Not just the antibiotics. A looter cleaned his entire store out. Hurt us, but we’re managing that, too. We trade with Portland, so we can get anything they have access to, although they gouge the hell out of us.”
“But you don’t have any right now?” Lucas had asked Sylvia, the woman who was working at the hospital, tending to Ruby and changing her bandage, about drugs, but she’d given him a blank stare at the question and returned to her duties.
“No. We’re waiting for a shipment. Been a week, and no sign of it.”
“Some of the people out in the tent city said something’s gone wrong with the fishing?”
Hayden’s jaw clenched. “On the river. But we still have some sailboats over in the marina we use to cod fish in the ocean. Not ideal, but like everything else, it gets us by.”
“That’s got to be fun in big seas.”
Hayden stopped at one of the doors and fixed Lucas with a glum stare. “Not much has been fun since the world ended.”
“I noticed.”
That drew a nod, and then the sheriff twisted the handle and led Lucas inside a medium-size conference room where ten men were seated around a gargantuan table. Hayden introduced Lucas, who removed his hat and shook hands with everyone, starting with the man identified to him as the mayor – a short, balding man in his fifties named Hubert with a face like a vulture and unhappy eyes boasting discolored bags beneath them. To his right was a lean man with an olive complexion and curly hair named Loren, and beside him Grant, the mayor’s assistant. Lucas stopped listening to names after that, his patience and ability to absorb exhausted by the grueling trip from Colorado.
When they were seated, Hubert began by thanking Lucas for coming so quickly.
“No problem,” Lucas said. “I wanted to get this over with so I can sleep for a week.”
“Rough, was it?” Loren asked.
“You could say that,” Lucas responded. “Lost two good men, with another wounded.”
“Good Lord. I had no idea…” the mayor said.
“Not your problem. We knew the risks.”
“How did it happen?”
Lucas gave the men a dry summary and then sat back in his chair. “You’ve got a big problem on your hands. Don’t mean to be alarmist, but you’re probably going to have to pull up shop and move.”
“What?” Hubert exclaimed. “What are you talking about?”
“Nuclear plant up the river,” Lucas said, and told them about the dying man who’d reported the contamination.
“Everyone dead?” Grant asked when Lucas was finished.
“That’s right. Don’t know that much about radiation, but if it’s flowing into the river, that explains why your freshwater fish have disappeared.” He paused. “Can’t be all that healthy to be near the Columbia, either, if that’s the case. Again, I’m no expert…”
Hubert looked to Loren. “Doesn’t old man Boggs have a homemade Geiger counter he rigged up?”
“I think so. But how would we power it?”
“Let’s touch base with him after the meeting and figure it out. He’s pretty handy. May not even need a battery. If it does, we’ll find a way. If Lucas here is right, we’re living on borrowed time.”
“So’s Portland,” Lucas stated flatly. “Which means you could see a lot more refugees if you stay put.”
“We’re not going anywhere,” Hayden said.
Lucas shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’m just the messenger. Do as you like.” He hesitated. “We have another problem. We only brought five hundred doses of the vaccine. Not sure how long it will take for you to make more, but that won’t cover everyone I saw on the way in – not by a long shot.”
“It’ll cover the town,” Hayden said. “The rest will have to fend for themselves.”
“Lot of women and kids out there. Back in Texas, we tend to do things like women and children first. Maybe it’s different here,” said Lucas evenly.
“That’s none of your affair,” Hayden snapped. “We’ll figure it out. We didn’t invite any of those people here. No reason we should sacrifice anyone in the town for them, is there?”
Lucas stared at the sheriff, his expression revealing nothing. “Other than because they’re also Americans with all the same rights you have? Nope. No reason at all.” He shook his head. “Nice to see we risked our lives for nearly a month so you could live, while everyone else doesn’t. Not sure that was in the job description.”
Hubert interrupted the increasingly heated exchange. “We’ll have plenty to go around once the vaccine production starts up, so then it will be a moot point. Perhaps we should move on?”
Lucas sighed. “Right. Now, what’s all this about your doctor getting poisoned?”
“Where did you hear that?” Hubert asked, the color draining from his face.
“One of the tent people. Is it true?”
Hayden and the mayor exchanged a conspiratorial look, and Hubert nodded. “Happened at the gypsy bar out on the shore. Since then we’ve outlawed unnecessary trips out of town after dark.”
“Any idea who did it?”
A long pause. Hayden shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I’m still following up on things.”
“How long’s it been?”
Hayden’s stare turned ugly. “What’s it to you, anyway? Why all the questions?”
“My experience, you don’t solve a murder in the first
couple days, odds drop off pretty quickly from there.”
“You have a lot of experience?” Grant asked.
Lucas shrugged. “Used to be a ranger before the collapse.”
Hayden snorted. “Like in a park?”
Hubert studied Lucas’s fatigued profile. “I think he means he was a Texas Ranger, Hayden.”
Lucas nodded. “That was a long time ago, and this isn’t my problem. But I want to know what I walked into so I can report back, that’s all. This is your town. I’m just passing through.”
Loren regarded Lucas with a quizzical expression. “What would you do?”
“Loren, I’m so beat I can barely talk. My friend’s in the hospital, dying, by all accounts. I’ve been rode hard and put away wet, and I show up here to find a town under siege with a leaking reactor upriver. Not sure I’m in a good position to advise you on what to do. No offense.” He exhaled loudly and rubbed a hand over the stubble on his face. “I want a bath and a meal, and then to sleep for a few days. If you’d be good enough to see our horses are fed, I’ll be out of your hair shortly. You have your sheriff here. I’m sure he’ll get to the bottom of things.”
Hayden frowned. “Between that and the IED that took out a bunch of our security force, I’ve got my hands full, but I’m doing my best.”
Lucas’s eyebrows rose. “IED?”
Hubert explained about the marauder report that had resulted in the disastrous sortie a few weeks earlier. When he was finished, the silence was oppressive in the poorly ventilated room.
A man with a heavy beard at the opposite end of the table spoke up. “This is the Lord punishing us, just as I’ve said all along.”
“Caleb, don’t start. Please,” Hubert said.
“Ignore it at your peril. He sent the virus to purge us for our sins, yet still some of us persist in living in sin, going out to that cursed bar and drinking alcohol. I’ve heard stories of what goes on out there. All of us are in danger because of the actions of the lowly, Hubert. Permitting them to slake their base appetites has visited further misfortune upon us. First the heathen Chinese, then the tent people descend on us like a plague, and now our water source is contaminated. Exactly what has to happen for you to believe?”
Loren leaned toward Lucas. “Caleb here is a religious man, in case that didn’t come across.”
“One of many, Mayor. More every day,” Caleb fired back.
Lucas blinked away fatigue. “Chinese?” he asked.
Caleb nodded with the gravitas of an executioner. “That’s right. Sailed all the way from their Godless land. The beginning of our misfortune, that was.”
Loren frowned. “Losing over ninety percent of the town to disease wasn’t?”
Lucas held up a hand. “Gents, I don’t want to get involved in any…disagreements, all right? I hired on to transport the vaccine and the culture. I’ve done my job. The technician Elliot sent with us is here, and he can work with your people to create more. In the meantime, whether you have Chinese sailing the seas or refugees from the big city is none of my affair. Everyone’s got to sort their own laundry, and this isn’t mine.”
One of the other councilmembers spoke up. “If we’d stuck to the discipline that got us through the worst of this, we wouldn’t have the Chinese problem or the squatters.”
Hubert cut in. “Kendall’s one of the original preppers who helped establish order in the town. He and many of his like-minded friends did miraculous work for the first few years, but over time, as the town stabilized, a different approach was required…”
“He means a bleeding heart liberal approach,” Kendall grumbled.
“That’s directed at us,” Loren said with a smile. “Like most communities, we all have different ideas how things should be run. This council represents our various perspectives, but make no mistake, when push comes to shove, we rally and do what’s necessary.”
“Really?” Kendall spat. “Then why have we been overwhelmed by mouths to feed?”
“We’re all survivors, Kendall. All trying to make it to the next day. Just because we’ve been more fortunate doesn’t mean we don’t have any duty to treat our fellow man with compassion,” Hubert said.
“The Lord is going to strike us with a powerful blow. Mark my words,” Caleb proclaimed, one finger raised like a tent revival preacher. “This is the beginning. My only consolation is that the Rapture can’t be far behind. All you nonbelievers, you sinners, would be well advised to see the light before that happens. You’ve been warned.”
An uncomfortable silence hung over the room, and Lucas pushed back his chair with a yawn. “Fellas, it’s been a pleasure, but I need to hit it and get some shut-eye. You got any food for me and my team? Been a long time since we had anything but dry rations.”
Hubert stood as well. “Of course. Hayden, will you see to it? Whatever Lucas wants.”
Lucas regarded the sheriff. “No leads on who stole the antibiotics? My friend’s life depends on them. She’s pretty bad from infection.”
“Not yet,” Hayden admitted, with an expression like he’d just drunk urine.
“You have anyone who can look in on her, other than the nurse? She’s sweet, but no offense intended, she didn’t seem like the brightest light.”
“Sylvia was the doc’s assistant. She’s the best we have at the moment. Sorry.”
“It is what it is.” Lucas paused. “I’ll leave you gents to your discussion. Good luck with it.” He wedged his hat back on his head and made for the door as the councilmembers watched him in disbelief, Hayden close behind him.
Out in the hall, Lucas turned to face the sheriff. “Your boys there don’t seem to agree on much, do they?”
Hayden smiled for the first time since Lucas had met him. “Got a talent for understatement, don’t you?”
Lucas took a deep breath and started down the hall, his energy reserves on empty, the only things on his mind a meal, a bath, and finding a solution to keep Ruby alive before he slept for a week.
Chapter 13
Lucas returned to the hospital to check on Ruby, who was slipping in and out of consciousness, her face bright with fever. Joel was nowhere to be found, and Sylvia, who Lucas surmised had no real medical training other than what the murdered doctor had taught her, told him that he’d gone to look after the animals and unpack. After getting directions to the stable, he set off in search of Joel to break the news about the vaccine allocation and find out how long it would take to get more into production.
The stable was two blocks from the hospital in a building adjacent to a playing field. Two men watched as Lucas approached and extended a greeting.
“We just got in an hour ago. They told me they brought our horses here?” Lucas said.
“That’s right. Inside. Your buddy’s in there,” the younger of the pair said.
“They been fed and watered?”
“Yep.”
“Thanks.”
“No need. We heard about what you done. We got you to thank, not the other way round.”
Lucas entered what appeared to be a former dry goods warehouse and walked along a row of homemade stalls to where Joel was standing by his horse, a dejected expression on his face. Lucas slowed as he neared.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I…it’s the culture samples. When my horse went down, it must have cracked the protective case.”
“But they’re still there?”
“They are, but the virus has been destroyed. We can’t make any more vaccine without viable cultures.”
Lucas absorbed the news. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. I already talked to Elliot on the radio. He says we’re screwed. The only way to do it without the doc is to send another culture from home.”
“But we have five hundred doses of vaccine. Can’t we clone that or something?”
“No. We need active virus so we can produce antigens. It’s the antigens that are the ingredient in the vaccine.”
Lucas shook his h
ead. “You say the case was cracked. Doesn’t that mean the virus is contagious? Could we have already infected the town?”
“Negative. It’s actually fairly fragile outside a host. It was dead within twenty-four hours of the case being destroyed – I mean, a virus isn’t technically alive, so not dead, but no longer viable, I mean.”
“Could we have done something if we’d discovered it earlier?”
Joel reddened. “I suppose we could have repaired the case with that glue of yours.”
Lucas eyed him. “You didn’t check the culture while we were on the trail?”
“I…I was in pretty rough shape, Lucas.”
Lucas’s voice hardened. “This was your only responsibility. It’s why you’re here.”
“Believe me, I know. I’m not stupid,” Joel snapped.
“But it didn’t occur to you to check on the case until now?”
“We were almost here. I was dealing with my injury. I’m sorry. If I could do it over again…”
“Axel and Red died in vain,” Lucas said softly, shaking his head. “And Ruby may follow them. All for nothing.”
“That’s not making me feel any better.”
Lucas looked away in disgust. “My job isn’t to coddle you. You had one task – get the culture and vaccines here safely. You didn’t. Am I missing something?”
Joel just stared at Lucas resentfully. There was no response that could help.
Lucas took two steps toward Joel’s saddlebags. “What about the vaccine?”
“Those are fine. They weren’t on the side that took the hit.”
Lucas sighed. “I suppose that’s a small piece of good news.” He hesitated. “What does Elliot want us to do?”
“Drop off the vaccine and return home. No point sticking around here. I mean, I have to, but not you.”
“Ruby’s in no shape to travel and won’t be for a while.”
“He didn’t say there was any rush. But if the water here is radioactive, wouldn’t it be best to hit the trail as soon as possible?”
The Day After Never - Insurrection (Book 5) Page 7