“I guess it depends on what you mean,” I replied, letting a hint of mischief into my tone.
“Anyone ever tell you you’re a bad boy? I don’t feel any breaks here, so that’s good,” she said. “Any problems moving your legs?”
“No, ma’am,” I replied. “To the second question, and yes to the first.”
“What did I tell you about that?” she said, shaking her head.
“That you weren’t that old,” I said. That was about the extent of my smartass game right now.
“You are not as funny as you think you are,” Estelle said, then shifted her chair and checked my arms, right, then left. “Still good. I suppose you have no trouble moving them, either.”
“Not at all,” I told her. “Except for my left shoulder.”
“I’ll start there, then,” she went around to the other side of the bed and sat on it, then began to probe around with her fingers.
That hurt. I stifled a sudden hiss of pain, and she made a sympathetic noise. Estelle spent more time there than she had on my extremities combined. After a minute, she moved on to my chest without saying anything else. There was a bruise from my right shoulder to my left hip, then across my pelvis, where the seat belt had kept me from going flying out of the truck.
After what felt like far too long, the bed rocked a bit as the doctor stood and walked around to the nearer side. “Well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news, Mister Forrest.”
“I’m not that old,” I said with a weak smile.
“Yeah, yeah,” she snorted. “Anyway, you were right. It’s mostly bruising and whiplash sorts of injuries from being thrown around. I can’t find anything broken, but tendons and muscles take a while to heal.”
“Great,” I said and sighed. “About how long?”
“Six to eight weeks,” she replied. “Maybe less, but I’d suggest you don’t push yourself.”
“So much to do, though,” I complained, probably sounding a little petulant.
“You’re going to have help,” she told me. “The three of us are packed to stay with you until you’re fit enough to overwork yourself again.”
“You guys know me pretty well for as short a time as it’s been,” I said, closing my eyes. “Tell you what, Estelle,” I said quietly. “Help me get back on my feet for long enough to find the guy who attacked me, and I’ll go on bed rest if y’all are serious about sticking around to help.”
“Well, we rather doubted you’d want to move to town,” she said. “How do you suggest I get you back on your feet?”
I looked up at her. She gazed right back, arms folded across her chest.
“Painkillers,” I replied. “Epinephrine.”
The doctor hissed softly and shook her head. “That stuff can kill you,” she said. “I’d rather not have to explain to Jackie about how I made her a widow before she even got married.”
“I’ll ask Bruce, then,” I said. “He’ll have some survivalist cocktail that’ll get me on my feet for this.”
“And I will kick his skinny ass,” the doctor said. “‘Do no harm’ be damned. I like you, Henry, I really do, and I don’t want you to hurt yourself in a permanent fashion just for revenge.”
“It’s not revenge,” I said after a moment of silence. “I kind of thought it was, but it’s not. There are people out there that this guy could hurt, too. He’s willing to kill in a situation where there are so few of us that we might not even be able to survive as a species.”
I scrubbed my face with my hand. “I don’t even want to kill him, Estelle. I want to stop him. Aside from him, I know this area better than anyone. Sure, Bruce, Angie, and Jackie might luck into finding him, but then I’ve put them at risk. Please help me.”
Our eyes locked as she mulled over my words. It was all true. If we could capture and rehabilitate this guy, I’d happily go that route. Did I expect it to happen? No. Was I prepared to kill? Yes. The Army did that for me years ago, and I still had the old conditioning.
Still, I wouldn’t be happy about it.
“Fine,” Estelle said at last. “I think you’re an idiot, Henry, but I can get you on your feet and functional for a few days, at least. It’ll wear off, and after that, you’re on bed rest until I say otherwise.”
“Done,” I said without hesitation. That was a lot better than I’d expected.
“I will definitely hold you to that,” the doctor said sternly. “Now, don’t go anywhere. I’m going to go get some of my other supplies.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Hmph,” she said and walked out.
Jackie, Bruce, and Angie hadn’t returned yet. Was the farm perimeter that big? I reckoned it was if Bruce meant to walk it, and I wouldn’t put that past him. My suspicions were confirmed when Estelle returned with a sour look on her face.
“That old idiot took them off on foot,” she said right off.
“So it’s just us?”
“Yeah,” she replied. “Don’t worry, though. I’m not planning on kissing you. However…”
I guessed the security cameras at the CDC had caught that little exchange and blushed a little.
“Yes?” I asked.
“I need you to strip down to your underwear,” she commanded. “I’m doing several injections, and I’ll have some fairly strong oral painkillers that shouldn’t make you too drowsy. I just don’t want you to use them for too long, as they’re highly addictive.”
“Understood.”
“You say that,” she muttered and offered me a hand.
I took it and started getting undressed while she prepped her kit. Once I was stripped down, I just lay back on the bed and waited.
“First, I’m going to numb up the injection sites,” she informed me. “I recommend just closing your eyes and leaving everything else to me.”
“Sure thing, doctor,” I said, and did.
I can’t really say for sure what, exactly, she did, but aside from the burn of the novocaine injections, there were at least two shots in the region of my injured shoulder and a muscle shot in my left hip. After that, she gave me a glass of water and a couple of small capsules.
“What was all that,” I asked at last. The pain was already fading, and I had a surprising range of motion back in my arm.
“Mostly steroids,” she replied. “The pills were Dilaudid.”
I let out a low whistle. “You weren’t fooling around.”
“No, and neither are you. Get out there, collect the others, and go find that asshole,” Estelle told me. “You’ve got about eight hours before you need more Dilaudid, and I want you back here so I can administer it. Everything else should last you a bit longer.”
“What can I say but thank you,” I said, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. The floor was cold beneath my toes.
“You can say you won’t hurt yourself any worse,” she said grumpily. “And actually mean it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
33
“Nice little place you’ve got here,” Bruce said once we had all assembled back at the house. He still wore body armor, helmet, and sunglasses, with the HK91 cradled in his arms like a baby. “Not that defensible, though. There are too many approaches from the east and south that are open, and what barricades you do have wouldn’t really stop anyone with the teensiest bit of determination.
Angie just stood at parade-rest, blank-faced, while Jackie eyed Bruce in a mixture of wonder and irritation before coming over to check on me.
“Are you okay?” she asked softly.
“For now,” I replied. “Estelle got me back on my feet, but I’m going to have to take it really easy in a couple of days.”
“A couple of days?” Bruce broke in. “Will that be enough time to track this quarry of yours?”
“He’s got a day or so head-start, anyway,” I replied. “I’m hoping that he doesn’t know the area as well as I do, but we all know the saying about wishes and horses.”
“Yep,” Angie said.
�
�Well then,” Bruce walked over and plopped down heavily in the wicker chair. “What’s the situation, Henry? Try not to leave anything out.”
“I’ll do my best,” I said, and leaned against one of the columns framing the steps down from the porch. Jackie nestled up against me, and I put an arm around her. It was nice to not hurt for at least a little bit, and almost too bad that I had to waste it searching for my assailant.
Estelle wandered out, Irene in her arms, and took over the rocking chair.
“Here for the briefing, doc?” Bruce asked.
“The fresh air, mostly,” she replied. “I’m going to stay here and watch the baby, but I’ll be ready to patch up any of you assholes that get hurt.”
I grinned, and Jackie giggled. Bruce just nodded.
“Good enough,” he said.
“Okay, well,” I said. “Let’s not waste any more time. The one thing I know is that he seems to be operating right around the welcome centers. The truck he used on me was from the Georgia side, but he hit me on the Alabama side. When he blew up the Kenmore, he went for the woods on the north side of the road, while I went south.”
“There are houses and little towns within easy reach from both welcome centers. In fact, I think Valley, Plant City, Lanett, and Little Shawmut are extremely close. On foot and based on the direction he was heading, I think we might be best served checking Little Shawmut first.”
Bruce nodded and looked over to Angela.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“I’m not familiar with the lay of the land,” she admitted. “Though from what Henry says, the one town is closest to the welcome center.”
“In a straight line, it is,” I added.
“What about resources?” Bruce wanted to know. “Anything around there that our troublemaker could use.”
“It’s a small, southern town,” I replied. “There're houses and farms, gas stations, and probably lots of guns. I’ve got no idea what he blew the Kenmore with, though, but we might be able to find out something if we go look at it.”
“We’ll start there, then,” the old survivalist said. “And we’ll see what we can recover from your truck.”
I nodded and sighed. I was really going to miss that Dodge, but maybe this was an opportunity for an upgrade, especially if I could find something closer to Bruce’s ride.
“Load up,” he said, then looked at Estelle. “We’ll try to make radio contact every hour at the latest, so keep it on.”
“Will do,” she said. “Watch yourselves out there.”
“Keep the shotgun close,” Jackie told the doctor. “Just in case.”
“And lock up,” I added.
Estelle looked at me and smiled, then nodded.
“That’s a no brainer,” she said and waved us off. “Get out of here. I’ve got this.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Bruce said and did an about-face, clomped down the stairs and beelined for his big, green truck.
“Let me grab some hardware,” I called after him. “I’m not going after this guy with just a sidearm.”
“Hurry it up, then, son,” the old man said as he heaved himself up into the cab.
Angie winked at me and followed, while Jackie grabbed my lapel and pulled me down for a quick kiss. “Meet you in the truck,” she said, smiling.
I went back into the house to get the Creedmoor. Sure, I could have gone and opened my gun safe in the cottage to retrieve my Bushmaster AR-15, but with the collected firepower of the rest of the team, long-range accuracy and close-range defense were my priorities, and I had a 6.5 Creedmoor with a five-round magazine for one of those, and my Les Baer custom .45, with eight rounds for the other.
Bruce could hand me something else if he thought I was under-geared. Right now, I just wanted to get this show on the road. So I waved to Estelle, and jogged out to the deuce-and-a-half, then clambered up on the passenger side. I expected to see one of the girls in the shotgun seat, but Bruce looked over at me.
“They’re in the back,” he said. “You know the lay of the land, so you’re up here with me.”
“Hi, Henry,” Jackie called through the rear window of the cab as I pulled myself the rest of the way in and got situated while Bruce started it up with a grumbling roar and got it aimed back up the driveway to the street.
“The dogs are trained to hunt,” I said as the pack cleared out of our path. “But they wouldn’t know how to hunt a person.”
“That takes special training,” the old survivalist said. “I know. This is going to be eyes and guesswork, but if your friend is still around, we’ll find him.”
I took a moment to look around the cab. There was a fair bit of high-tech electronic gear as well as the old-style gauges and whatnot.
“How much of this stuff still works?” I asked.
“All of it,” he replied. “Most of the satellites are still there, but since civilian smartphone GPS requires a wi-fi signal or a cell signal, you need a dedicated unit.”
“Unless you have the right app,” Angela chimed in. “Most smartphones lock you out of the GPS system, but there are a few ways to hack your phone to access location data without a data connection.”
“Useful to know,” I said.
“I prefer my way,” Bruce pointed to a dash-mounted screen. “Show me where we’re going on that.”
“We might as well start at the welcome center,” I replied. “What’s left of my truck is nearby, and he might be too. It’s possible he’s waiting in ambush.”
“It’s also possible he saw us,” Bruce said. “Unlikely, though.”
“We didn’t take the interstate,” Angela said through the back window. “Bruce took back roads all the way from LaGrange.”
“It worked, didn’t it?” the old man grumbled.
“You did eighty most of the way,” she exclaimed. “I didn’t know this thing could do that.”
“My baby is full of surprises,” he said smugly.
I chuckled and leaned back a bit. There were still a few aches left, but Estelle’s treatment had done wonders. I assumed there would be some kind of crash later, but that was a price I was willing to pay.
“Sneaky?” Bruce asked as we neared the interstate. “Or shock and awe?”
“What’s the difference?” I asked in return.
“The first, we make a stealthy approach,” he said, pulling the big vehicle to a halt and indicating the GPS map. “We take back roads, cross the interstate, and then go on foot to the rear of the welcome center. Then we make a sweep to see if the target is anywhere nearby before approaching your truck. He might have wired it.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
“The second, we just roll right on up, full daylight, colors out for everyone to see, and I run my signal jammer and hope it covers whatever he transmits on.”
“You girls have any opinion?” I asked through the window.
“Sneaky,” they both said, at almost the same time.
“Sneaky works for me, too,” I told Bruce.
“Good. I’d rather not risk getting blown up,” he said, shifted gears and accelerated, turning left. We crossed over the interstate and headed for the back roads.
About a half-hour or so later, we swung down a small cul-de-sac that looked like a war zone. Houses had their doors broken in, cars were vandalized, and bodies from the houses had been pulled out and left in the yards.
“We have spoor,” Bruce observed, stopping the truck a good distance from the actual roundabout.
“Somebody was here,” I said. “And they weren’t exactly the easygoing type.”
“Jackie,” Bruce twisted his head. “There should be some more body armor back there. I want you and Henry to suit up. Helmets too.”
“Yes, sir,” she answered.
I chuckled a bit and scanned the nearby homes for life while the old survivalist twisted around and said, “Angie, pass me the AR with the thermal scope.”
She didn’t answer, but I heard rummaging, and a few momen
ts later, an AR-15 in the more-or-less classing M-16 look was passed through the window. It was followed by a set of neck to crotch body armor and a modern military helmet. While I squirmed around awkwardly to put on the armor, Bruce got out and began a slow scan of the houses through the sight.
“They probably know we’re here,” Angie said quietly.
“I know,” I said as I donned the helmet. “What all has he got back there?”
“Ammunition, explosives, boxes of MREs, lots of guns, and some sort of minigun, I suppose,” Jackie said. “I’m not sure what it is.”
“It’s a freaking Gatling gun,” Angela said, awe and disbelief in her voice. “Hand crank and everything.”
“Grenades,” Jackie added.
“Looks clear,” Bruce called. “I suspect your attacker was probably here, but he’s not now.”
“Might as well give the houses a once over,” I suggested as I got out of the truck and looked around myself.
“I’ve got an idea,” Angie said, she and Jackie walked up from the rear of the vehicle. “Why don’t two of us head through the woods there to the welcome center, while two of us circle around in the truck to meet them up there?”
“Henry and I can go on foot,” Jackie volunteered before I could open my mouth.
Bruce looked us over and nodded. The young woman wore a Glock in a hip holster and carried a scoped Winchester .308 with the barrel pointed to the ground. A sticker of some anime character I didn’t recognize decorated the stock. Otherwise, she was in hunter camouflage beneath the body armor.
“Works for me,” I said.
“Fine,” Bruce said with a nod, then pulled a walkie-talkie from his belt and offered it to me.
I took it and clipped it on my belt. “Once we hit the woods, I’m going to turn it off.”
“Fine,” he said and smiled broadly. “Last one there’s a moist petard.”
“A what, now?” Angie demanded, looking from me and back to the survivalist.
He ignored her and returned to the cab. I just shrugged, and the former soldier huffed and joined him. We watched him start the truck and begin to roll out before setting off through the yards towards the distant woods.
After The Virus (Book 1): After The Virus Page 23