Outbreak: Better Days

by Van Dusen, Robert

  Once she was reasonably certain that she could go through the door without fragging a superior officer Frannie returned to the radio room. “Hey Frays…I gotta go pick something up from the Aid Station.” she said quietly and shot a glance at the two Navy guys nearby. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

  “Sure thing, Rodriguez.” Amy said with a knowing expression. Her friend was self conscious about her medication and she noticed the guys on Staff Duty trying to act like they were not listening to their conversation. “Hey Frannie…get some pads for me too.” She added in a stage whisper and barely kept herself from bursting out laughing at the looks of distaste on the squids’ faces.

  Frannie snickered and shook her head as she walked out of the TOC. After a few steps Rodriguez was shaking with laughter. She found it a little hard to believe that Frays had actually mentioned maxi pads in front of the squids. The goody little two shoes who she had never even heard swear and seemed unable to even say the word ‘sex’… It was the funniest goddamn thing she had seen in awhile.

  She gimped along as fast as she could manage towards the Aid Station. They were dialing back on her meds and Frannie found that it was fucking with her brain hardcore. There was this jittery sort of feeling in the pit of her stomach like spiders crawling around in her belly and it was getting hard to sleep. And at the bottom of everything there was a deep fear: that she was going to fuck up. That she was going to start drinking or taking pills again. Worst of all was the fear that she was going to do something to fuck up things with Carl and his sister.

  While they were holed up in the school she had come on to Lacey. Shit, she had practically thrown herself at him but thankfully the goddamn Boy Scout had turned her down. Rodriguez chuckled to herself as she hobbled along on her bad leg. The Boy Scout and Goody Two Shoes. That was something else entirely. A completely different type of animal all together… Actually it was more like a love/hate relationship that had been smoking pounds of meth and slamming Jack Daniels by the gallon.

  “Hey, beautiful!” a cheery voice called startling her out of her thoughts. Carl came towards her at a quick walk a big grin plastered all over his face. “Where you off to?” The younger man gave her a big hug and a peck on her scarred cheek when he got within range.

  “Gotta go to the Aid Station real quick.” Frannie said and returned the favor. She quickly disentangled herself from his arms and gave Carl a sheepish grin. “Um…wanna walk with me? I mean if you got time.”

  “Yeah, sure!” the blond man exclaimed and moved closer to the woman’s side. “We got the rest of the afternoon off ‘cause of the airdrop.” He added conspiratorially “I heard there’s gonna be a hundred Spec Ops guys dropping in.”

  Frannie rolled her eyes. “Nah, man.” she said and bumped her hip into the man’s side. “It’s just food and shit. Meds hopefully.” Carl frowned and slipped an arm around Rodriguez’s shoulders, holding her to him as they walked. She shrugged into his armpit for a moment then pushed off. “Look…um…”

  “Heh…” he muttered awkwardly and moved into a more comfortable distance. Frannie was weird about holding his hand and stuff while she was in uniform or on duty or whatever. “How you doing? I mean really.”

  She snorted and turned her face away rolling her eyes. “Scared shitless.” she admitted. The woman shrugged inside her plate carrier and made an odd face. “My head’s a scary place to be right now, man.” Her hand dipped into her ammo pouch and pulled out her cigarettes, lit one and put them back. “I…I almost flipped shit on Lieutenant Haskins. She just asked how I was doing and I…I wanted to shoot her in the face for a second there.”

  “It’ll be okay, Frannie.” He stopped and caught her arm, pulling the woman into a tight embrace. Carl put a hand on the back of Frannie’s neck and put his forehead against hers, the very tips of their noses touching under the rim of her Kevlar. “It’s gonna be alright, right? We got this shit. This ain’t shit.”

  She grinned and pecked the tip of his nose. “Right, man.” Frannie let her hands slide down the man’s sides, enjoying the way color crept into the man’s face as his breath ticked her cheek. “I don’t want to fuck this up. I don’t want to fuck this up.”

  “I know…” Carl said as they came up to the building. He paused outside the Aid Station’s perimeter wall and let his hand run down her arm. She smiled at him and, just for a moment, he saw what she must have looked like five or ten years ago. “Amy’s got duty over in the TOC until like…eleven o’clock or whatever…”

  Frannie laughed and kissed Carl on the cheek. “I know. I’m sitting on the radio desk with her.” Carl’s face seemed to fall in on itself and it only made Rodriguez laugh harder. “Bring us some dinner later, please?” She wheedled him, looking up at Carl with her dark brown eyes. The woman grinned and could feel his desire for her like heat.

  “Oh, alright!” Carl exclaimed with mock frustration and patted Frannie on the butt as she hobbled through the front gate. It was no trouble at all. After all, the place where they handed out rations was like way on the other side of the place. It hurt him to watch Frannie limp along even if it was barely noticeable. And well…his little nephew was getting pretty big. It would not be long now…

  Unsure of what to do with himself, Carl started ambling over towards the Resettlement Center. He kicked a stone through the grass ahead of him as he walked with his hands jammed into the pockets of his jeans. He could not help but be a little worried about his sister. It was the third time since they got here that some asshole made her stay up so late. Aim was not sleeping good as it was and Frannie was coming apart at the seams…

  “Yo! Frays! Get your ass over here!” A big black man in one of the Digicam uniforms shouted from off to Carl’s left startling the boy out of his thoughts. The man’s voice was heavily accented almost to the point of being unintelligible. The guy sounded like he was African or Jamaican or some shit. “Where the fuck did you go?” There were two more guys with him, one of them dressed in kacki trousers and a black polo shirt. “Who the fuck told you you could leave?”

  “You did, Johnson.” Carl grumbled under his breath eyeing the man angrily. It was right about then that Carl noticed a Colt 1911 in a familiar holster on Kacki Boy’s hip. He took a couple quick steps towards the man, pointing at the weapon. All of a sudden Simmons and his little butt buddy were the farthest thing from his mind. “Hey where the fuck you get that?”

  “It’s none of your business, son.” Kacki Boy said, giving the boy a cocky little grin that shifted his fashionable Aviator sunglasses on his face slightly. He had a highfaluting accent, probably British. “And watch your mouth.” This drew little titters of laughter from the two Blue Diamond guys.

  “Lemme see it!” Carl demanded, pointing furiously at the man’s hip. “That looks like my dad’s goddamn gun! Where the fuck did you get that, you thieving piece of shit?” He walked up to Kacki Boy, his face a mask of absolute rage. “Gimme my fuckin’ gun!”

  Simmons slugged the boy in the side of the head, stopping Carl in his tracks. Carl lashed out with the toe of his boot catching the mercenary in the groin. The next thing Carl knew he was on the ground and the two mercs were kicking him. White light exploded behind his eyes when a blow slammed into the back of his head. Red hot lances stabbed through his chest. Carl coughed choking on coppery tasting liquid.

  Carl blinked and opened his eyes…or rather tried to open his eyes. They were swollen so much that he could barely crack his lids. “Oh, thank God!” Amy cried, wiping at her cheeks. She took her brother’s hand and held it tight. It took him a couple seconds to realize that he was on a bed in the Aid Station. “Thank God! Thank God!”

  Another voice interrupted his sister. “I think we deserve a little credit here too, guys.” Lieutenant Haskins said quietly. Carl’s world twisted and spun like a kaleidoscope on acid then slowly settled into the woman’s face. That other medic dude, the black guy, was standing next to her. “Somebody kicked the crap out of you, Mister Frays.”r />
  Carl made a strange sound in his throat that might have been an attempt at a laugh. Amy was shaking in her chair next to his bed but he could not tell if it was because she was scared or angry or whatever. “Who did this, Carl?” Amy asked in a low quiet voice as she squeezed her brother’s hand.

  Lieutenant Haskins made a face behind their backs. “He…he won’t be able to talk for awhile, Airman.” the doctor muttered. She had gotten to know Airman Frays and her brother pretty well in the short time they had been here. “His jaw was partially dislocated.”

  Frays dug into her cargo pocket and came up with a pen and a small spiral bound notepad. She flipped the little book to a blank page and put it on the bed. “Who did this, Carl?” Amy repeated as she put the pen in her brother’s hand. Carl scribbled something down then pushed the pad of paper towards his big sister. It took her a couple minutes to decipher Carl’s shaky chicken scratches but Amy felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on her head when she figured out what he wrote.

  A short skinny man in Marine cammies met Frays as she stormed into the hall. “Frays! Frays, what’s going on?” Lacey said as he tried to catch the woman by the sleeve. Amy ignored him and kept right on going. “Frays, is Carl alright? Frays?! Stop!”

  Adam’s throat constricted when Frays turned to face him his friend’s eyes a roiling sea of anger, pain and confusion. “They beat him, man.” Frays choked out at last, one hand going over her mouth. “They beat him half to death. My baby brother, man. They…h-he…th…his friggin’ jaw is busted…”

  Lacey put his arms around her. “He’s gonna be okay, Frays.” he whispered in her ear as he held her tight, gently rocking her from side to side. “He’s a tough kid. Don’t worry. He’ll be up and around being a pain in your ass in no time.”

  Amy hugged him back then sniffed and wiped her cheeks. “Yeah.” Frays muttered as she extracted herself from the man’s arms. “Look…I gotta go get the report on this and then get back to the desk.” She looked horrified for a second. “Oh, jeez...Rodriguez has gotta be going nuts. This guy just came in and told me Carl was in the Aid Station…”

  “I got the rest of the afternoon off.” Adam volunteered as the two of them went outside and headed towards the gate. He glanced over his shoulder at the woman and shrugged. “I’ll head over there so Frannie can come over and see Carl.”

  The two of them went their separate ways, Lacey sprinting off towards the TOC while Amy went towards the Security Forces building. Sergeant Hanes stopped her a few feet inside the door. “Don’t worry, Frays.” he told her with a reassuring pat on her shoulder “You just go back to the desk over there. The investigation’s already underway. We’re gonna catch the guys.”

  Amy fumed. “Look…Sergeant…” she said through clenched teeth once she could open her mouth without shouting “It was Blue Diamond guys. Carl told me. I brought him here because it was gonna be safe. We’re here barely a week and he’s in the hospital.”

  The man frowned concernedly. “Frays…listen to me, alright?” he asked quietly as he hooked the woman’s arm and dragged her outside. Sergeant Hanes closed the door behind them and glanced back through the pane of glass. His face became the very picture of seriousness. “Listen. Just keep quiet. Let me handle it. Don’t do anything stupid, alright?” When the woman did not respond he put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Alright?”

  “Yes, Sergeant.” She snorted and pressed her lips into a thin line, suddenly realizing how similar this conversation was to one she had with her Flight Sergeant back just before everything went crazy in Boston. “I’m cool. I’m cool. I have to get back to the TOC. Rodriguez…Carl’s girlfriend, she was working the desk with me. Jeez…she’s gotta be going insane. I’ll get back over there.”

  Frannie sat in her chair rolling forward and back, one hand scratching at the scars on her throat. “Rodriguez….” Lacey said as he reached out and caught the armrest of the woman’s chair. “Don’t worry. I’m sure he’s fine.”

  Rodriguez exploded out of her chair. “How the fuck do you know that?” She paced around inside the office, still scratching at her throat. She felt a strange sticky warmth on her fingertips and frowned. It took her a moment to connect the blood on her fingers to the burning sensation under her chin. “Fuck…”

  Adam leapt up. “Jeez, Rodriguez…take a seat.” He put a hand on the woman’s shoulder and gently guided her back into her chair. Lacey started pawing through the desk drawers frenetically searching the contents while trying act like he was not in the least freaked out by Frannie clawing hers skin off in front of him. “Damn…not even a fuckin’ Band-Aid or whatever. Hang on. I’ll be right back.”

  “It’s…it’s cool, man.” Rodriguez muttered as she reached out and caught the man’s arm. She blew out a long shuddering breath and licked her lips, her throat and mouth drying out and filling with cotton. She found a thing of toilet paper from an MRE in her pocket so she unfolded it and used that to stop her bleeding.

  Frannie sat there taking long pulls of lukewarm water from her Camelbak and wishing it was filled with beer or maybe a strong mixture of Jack and Coke….one fifth or so to two liters of Coke would do the trick about now.

  Adam felt his eyes getting watery as he watched Rodriguez sitting there. She had lost Eamon, her boyfriend or whatever, like a couple of months ago and oh God Laura… Rodriguez was taking this pretty hard but Carl was going to be okay. He just got hurt or whatever… He jumped a little bit when the woman mumbled something under her breath. “I’m sorry, what?”

  Rodriguez sighed and made a strange face. “I said I want a goddamn drink.” Frannie sighed again and shrugged. She scratched an itch on the side of her nose and let a breath out slowly through her nose. Now’s as good a time as any, I guess… Rodriguez looked the man in the eye. “I’ve been sober for seven months or so. Used to have a little problem with the bottle and pills. Gave me all I wanted in the hospital. Bastards threw me out on my ass as soon as I could walk again.”

  It took him a second but all of a sudden he realized at least part of the reason why Rodriguez had been so moody and depressed while he and Frays were helping her recover from her gunshot wound… They had kept her pretty well doped up on whatever they could dig out of Eamon’s bag of tricks. “Oh, Christ…” Lacey muttered and wiped his mouth with the palm of his hand “Shit…I’m so sorry, Frannie.”

  The woman shrugged. “It’s okay. You guys didn’t know.” Frannie turned back towards the radio and leafed through the manual on the table. “It isn’t like I told you. And well, the drive to the cabin wouldn’t have been fun… And I don’t really like to advertise it.”

  Adam loosed a small nervous laugh. “Yeah, I guess so…” he muttered and absently scratched at the back of his neck for a moment. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anybody if you don’t want me to. Your secret’s safe with me.”

  Rodriguez smiled a little bit and put a hand on his shoulder. “Thanks.” She squeezed his upper arm and took her hand back. Just then Frays burst into the room. The three of them looked at each other for a moment, Amy’s eyes shifting from Lacey to Frannie and back again. The other woman looked as if she was not sure if she was interrupting something or not.

  “Um…Frannie…” Frays said awkwardly as she took a couple steps farther into the room. “Carl’s gonna be okay. Somebody kicked the crap outta him pretty good but he’s gonna be okay.” She smiled at the relieved look on Rodriguez’s face and she walked over, put a hand on her shoulder. “He wants to see you.”

  Amy sank into the empty chair after Rodriguez had left. She glanced at the radio then picked up the binder on the desk and started reading. Lacey opened his mouth to say something a couple times but could not think of anything to say. He could tell from the way the woman was sitting and the way she kept running a hand over her son she was obviously upset.

  The door opened and Adam leapt to his feet. “Officer on deck!” he shouted and snapped to attention. He bit down hard on laughter w
hen Frays followed suit spilling the binder onto the ground with a loud slap.

  Major Tennyson stood in the doorway, the middle aged man wearing an amused expression on his usually stony face. “At ease, son.” he said as he took a step inside the room and closed the door behind him. “Airman Frays, I want to speak to you for a minute.”

  Amy glanced at Lacey as she put the binder back. Adam felt a strange sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach at the slightly worried look in the woman’s eyes. “Yes, sir.” she said as she checked to make sure she had her patrol cap in her cargo pocket. Frays could not help but snatch surreptitious glimpses as she followed Major Zachariah Tennyson back into the lobby and down the hall. She had worked in the radio room a couple times but had never been beyond that before. It was kind of busy and cramped with people going here and there like some kind of beehive or something…if bees wore uniforms.

  “I heard about your brother, Airman.” the compact, muscular Marine said over his shoulder as the two of them walked quickly down the hall. The two of them dodged an Asian man dressed as a Blue Diamond contractor. Tennyson glared at the man for a second as if he were trying to start the man’s head on fire with his mind. “Hope he gets well soon.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Frays said, rolling her eyes at the mercenary as she continued following the major. Almost plowing into a pregnant woman was one thing but a friggin’ senior officer? Some people had no respect at all. “I…I guess he was thinking of enlisting.”

  Major Tennyson let her into a large room at the end of the hall. It looked like it had been one of the hotel’s higher end rooms once upon a time: there was a large bed in the middle of the room along with a Jacuzzi filled with water. Amy glanced inside the open door that looked like it led to the latrine with its private toilet, sink and combination bathtub and shower. The latrine looked like it was about the size of her cubicle at the Resettlement Center. There was a large flat screen television mounted to the wall and a desk in the corner that was piled high with papers and binders.