by Nikita Eden
“Better safe than sorry,” her mom countered.
Just over half a year later the smell still made Audrey feel sick. It was a constant reminder that she was alone. That’s why she avoided working in the clinics as much as she possibly could when she did her daily tasks.
She looked around the waiting room. There were plastic plants that stood in pots by tables that held magazines that were no longer printed. She pulled herself up out of the wheelchair and wheezed while she walked across the room to retrieve one of the outdated glossy paged volumes of Cosmopolitan.
She moaned in relief when she dropped into the chair next to the side table and picked up the purple magazine.
The cover was full of short titles designed to get a reader’s attention and Audrey felt slightly guilty when she opened it and thought of how her mother had always called it a “harlot’s magazine” because of all the sex related articles.
“Why do you need to know anything about sex when you’re only fifteen?” Her mom asked the first time she brought one home.
“I don’t want to know about sex,” Audrey yelled at her mom from her bedroom doorway. “I want to do the exercise routines so I can lose weight!”
“Lose weight?” her dad asked from the kitchen table. “Lose any more weight and we won’t be able to see you, kiddo.”
“You too, Dad?” she asked disgustedly before slamming her bedroom door closed.
She smiled at the memory. Her dad was always concerned that she didn’t weigh enough. He would always slip her candy bars or some chocolate milk at bedtime and told her it was to make him feel better.
She was halfway through the magazine when the doors to the center opened again and a group of three residents, Lincoln, and Max walked into the waiting area.
“Is there anyone here checking people in?” Max asked the empty counter.
“There was a woman here when I brought Audrey and Dean,” Lincoln limped over to the counter. “She might be helping out in the back.”
“Fantastic,” Max growled. “I’ll leave these guys with you and head back up for the rest.”
Audrey slid the magazine back onto the table and tried to summon the strength to get up and walk back across the room. After a second she decided it was hopeless.
“I’m in the corner, Lincoln,” she said loudly. “Just in case you thought I wandered off.”
Lincoln looked at the corners of the room and smiled broadly when he spotted her, “I’ll put you at the top since you were here first.”
The other people who were now waiting for Dr. Searle groaned impatiently.
“Hey!” Lincoln snapped at them. “If it weren’t for her that thing would still be smashing around Roswell. Give her a break.”
The people quieted down, but their discontented looks made Audrey feel guilty for making them wait.
Mr. Davies walked into the waiting room from the hallway and scanned the chairs until he saw Audrey. He walked straight to her and gave her half a hug before sitting in the chair next to her.
“Dean isn’t awake yet,” he told her.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she played with the hem of her shirt. “Is he going to be okay?”
“We don’t know yet,” Mr. Davies said, stretching his legs out in front of him. “I thought I heard him moving around, but it was just been me getting my hopes up.”
“I hope he’s okay,” Audrey put her hand over her eyes to block out the light that was making her head pound.
“In the very least he has a severe concussion. There may be a small brain bleed from where his head hit the wall, too. He has some broken ribs and a broken arm, but nothing that should keep him down forever.
“How long will it take him to get better after he wakes up?” Audrey stared at the grey flecks in the white linoleum.
“Dr. Searle thinks it would be best if Dean takes some time away from Roswell to heal,” Mr. Davies paused.
“Away from Roswell?” Audrey snorted. “What good is being away from his family and friends going to do?”
“He’s been terribly injured, Audrey. I know we want to keep him here, but we all know how erratic his state of mind has been lately,” Mr. Davies cleared his throat. “Do you think it at all possible that he may have done this purposely in order to harm himself?”
“I don’t know,” Audrey sighed. “He hasn’t been himself since Peter died and he’s been lashing out at everyone for stupid things that don’t matter.”
“Maybe when he is in good enough condition to travel he should go to Albuquerque then,” Mr. Davies said quietly.
Audrey looked at him and was surprised to see he was grief stricken. His eyes were puffy and red, “Why there?”
“Dr. Searle says there’s still quite a few medical facilities up and running in the city. We’re going to contact them and see if there’s a way to admit Dean for various mental health services while he recovers from his injuries. He’s not going to be properly cared for here,” Mr. Davies dissolved into tears.
“We’ve been trying our best, Mr. Davies,” Audrey tried to comfort him.
“And our best isn’t good enough,” Mr. Davies cried. “I’m not good enough to help my own son.”
Audrey looked around the room and rubbed Mr. Davies’ back lightly like she did for Dean whenever he was overwhelmed, “Having the strength to send him away is helping him.”
Mr. Davies didn’t reply. He took steady breaths and wiped at his face with the back of his hand.
“We all want what’s best for him,” she continued. “If I could have done more I would have.”
Mr. Davies nodded and lifted his eyes to hers, “I don’t want to see him go.”
“Neither do I,” Audrey said honestly.
“I have to go and tell Patricia what’s going on,” Mr. Davies said. “This is one of those times I wished everyone was able to use their old cell phones.”
He walked out of the center with his shoulders hunched and his head hanging. He opened the door to his car and took one last look at the building before sitting in the driver’s seat and driving away.
“Everything okay?” Lincoln shuffled across the room and sat in the chair Mr. Davies had just vacated.
“Yeah, I guess Dean is still unconscious,” Audrey sniffed. “They’re going to send him to Albuquerque when he wakes up.”
“Albuquerque?”
“There are better doctors and stuff there,” Audrey sniffed her nose.
“Are you okay?” Lincoln asked.
“I just want to make sure Dean is okay,” she sighed and laid her head on Lincoln’s shoulder.
“He will be,” Lincoln reassured her.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Volunteers helped the Runners establish a night guard at the opening in the wall. Although there had been a plethora of volunteers only a handful were picked while the Council rushed to find a temporary patch. They bolted two layers of chain link fencing onto the wall to keep the dregs out of the community.
“We don’t have the materials to repair the wall as of now,” Mr. Davies said to a frightened crowd in the Fairfield Inn’s conference room a few days later. “We are orchestrating a run to Albuquerque with a few of the Runners to collect the supplies we need to completely repair the hole.”
“When is that going to be?” a bald man who reminded Audrey of an angry egg snapped. “You think we’ll be okay with chain link fencing if another one of those things shows up again?”
“It’s is being arranged to happen within the next week. We are waiting for the Runners to finish preparations,” Mr. Davies explained.
Audrey knew that really meant they were just waiting for Dean to recover enough to travel.
After he woke up, Dean had a lot of difficulty doing anything aside from sitting up in bed. His concussion made it hard for him to stay focused for long periods of time and he couldn’t feel his right hand below the break in his arm. He spend most of his time sleeping and didn’t like to have many people visit him.
Au
drey had been one of the few people he allowed in his room. He asked for her often when he was awake, but she tried to limit her visits to when he woke up in the morning and around lunchtime.
His mother had gone to the care center as soon as she heard he was there and had not left his side the entire time he’d been there until the meeting. She sat in a chair behind Mr. Davies. Her sullen face drooped and tears streamed down her cheeks.
“How long will all of this take?” another citizen spoke up from the back of the crowd.
“It will be a two day trip,” Mr. Davies expounded. “They will be taking one of our pickup trucks and trailer the first day. They’ll stay overnight, as per traveling guidelines to prevent infection. They will return the second day with everything we need to fix the wall.”
When the meeting was over Audrey searched for Lincoln, who had not been with the Runners.
After the mess caused by the Behemoth he had been sent on his way with a severely sprained ankle and a broken rib, but it hadn’t stopped him from doing his job and getting things ready for the trip to Albuquerque.
The radio Audrey had been assigned and kept on her hip at all times crackled and Lincoln’s voice rasped over the static filled line, “Audrey, if the meeting is done I need you to come to the north gate as soon as possible.”
“What’s going on?” she said into the radio as she left hotel and grabbed her bicycle at the front door.
“There’s a problem with the guards here,” Lincoln radioed. “I’ll explain more when you get here.”
“I’m biking up there now,” Audrey answered. “Give me twenty minutes or so.”
“All right, see you soon.”
The radio went dead and the she headed away from the hotel.
It was hard for her to bike at a quick pace. The three broken ribs she had made it hurt to take deep breaths and that made her light headed, which didn’t help the concussion she had. She figured it would be okay to take a little time getting to the gate. If it were an emergency Lincoln would have let her know to get there sooner.
When she arrived she felt slightly reassured that everything was okay because there were no big crowds gathered around the guard post or people screaming in fear.
She calmly pedaled her way to the wall and smiled at Lincoln when he walked out of the building with one of the guards.
“Hey Audrey, thanks for coming,” he helped her off her bicycle and held her hand while he led her past the guard post. “We have a problem with the ammunition for the guards.”
“What’s going on?” Audrey asked.
Lincoln unlocked the padlock on the shed and pushed open the door, “This is the problem.”
Audrey walked into the shed. The shelves were almost bare. A small stack of boxes sat in the corner of a shelf at eye level, but the rest of the shack was empty save a few pistols she knew were in need of repair, “Yeah, I see the problem.”
“We wouldn’t be able to fight off another Behemoth with what we have,” Lincoln frowned. “We barely took it down thanks to you acting like a fool and jumping on it.”
“Took care of it didn’t I?” Audrey asked smugly.
“Alright, fair enough,” Lincoln chuckled and walked out of the shed. “But we can’t have all the Runners being taken down by one mutant. Audrey how come you didn’t say anything about Behemoths in your notes from Carlsbad?”
“There weren’t any down there. I’ve only heard about them from Albuquerque,” she shut the door to the shed and locked the padlock.
“I wonder why one appeared out of nowhere,” Lincoln pondered.
Audrey shrugged, “I don’t know, but we have to figure something out.”
“I think I have a solution,” Lincoln said seriously. “It will need to be approved by the Council, but it might be what we need.”
“What is it? I’m sure the Council will approve anything that will help.”
“You know I used to live in Hobbs, right?” She nodded and he continued. “There was a big ammunition cache left there after the National Guard abandoned it.”
“An ammunition cache would be nice to have,” The guard who was following them around said. “Where’s Hobbs?”
Audrey looked at the man with an open mouth and started laughing.
“What? I’ve never been outside of Roswell before. Not all of us travel get the chance to travel a lot,” the guard said defensively.
“I’m sorry,” Audrey coughed trying to stop laughing because it was hurting her ribs. She felt bad for laughing, but it was weird to think there were people who stayed in Roswell their entire lives. “I’m terrible.”
“Yeah. So, where’s it at?” the guard asked exasperatedly.
“It’s by the Texas border,” Lincoln said because Audrey was still catching her breath from laughing so hard.
“So why didn’t you guys from Artesia bring any of the ammo when you came here?” the guard asked.
Lincoln sighed, “Because the guys from Artesia didn’t know about it. It was a small bunker in the high school there. The military used the high school after the infection broke out. It was taken over by roamers right before Hobbs decided to close down, but I bet we could clear it out easily.”
“We who?” Audrey asked somberly. “It’s not like we have an abundance of Runners who can go down, especially with three going to Albuquerque soon with one not coming back,” Audrey sighed.
“There were never mutants around Hobbs while I was there, only dregs. If the Council will approve it we can take a car down and get a bunch of ammunition and come back the same day,” he said. “It’s only a few hours away.”
“The Runners going to Albuquerque to get supplies for the wall could just ask for more ammunition while they’re in the city,” Audrey said.
“No, they can’t,” Lincoln cut her off. “We contacted them before I radioed you. Albuquerque is in pretty rough shape with that kind of stuff. They’re not giving out much more than food and in our case some building supplies.”
“Let’s talk to the Council about this now,” Audrey said. “Let’s get going.”
~~~
“It is too dangerous,” Pat Ruthers huffed. “I don’t think we should send anyone out until the other Runners get back from Albuquerque.”
“Do we have a choice?” Mr. Davies argued. “It will only take a few hours and if we send them with a truck they could get a good supply and come back the same day.”
“Lincoln would have to go,” Audrey said. “He’s the only one who knows where the cache is.”
“He’s injured,” Mr. Ruthers raised his voice. “It’s unsafe all around. Between two of our good Runners being gone and losing another one we can’t afford to have a gimpy Runner gone too.”
“Gimpy?” Lincoln muttered under his breath.
Audrey smirked, “Old person talk for injured.”
“We need something that can help us defend ourselves while the wall is being repaired,” Mr. Davies bickered.
“I’ll go with him,” Audrey interrupted the arguing. “He needs someone to go with him and I’m not much help here anyway.”
“I know you mean well, Miss Campbell,” Mr. Ruthers said condescendingly. “But I just don’t think we’d be able to spare half of our Runners at the same time. Besides, if we send you, you’ll probably be killed in the state you’re in and we’ll end up being attacked.”
“What about the guards that are still here?” She asked. “Couldn’t they take over some of the responsibilities for the few hours we’re gone?”
“It’s a good idea,” Mrs. Jimenez said quietly. “We need ammunition until the wall is fixed.”
“Do we have the fuel available for two different trips?” Mr. Davies inquired.
“I think we do,” Mr. Ruthers pouted and pulled out a folder that tracked the supplies they had. “If we can afford to have two sets of Runners gone at the same time I guess we might just have to take the risk.”
“We’d be able to see if there’s any change in the mutant pop
ulation at Carlsbad while we’re gone,” Audrey suggested.
“If a Behemoth can grow in our own backyard does it really matter if there are mutants in Carlsbad?” Mr. Ruthers snapped at Audrey.
“I think it does,” Audrey lifted her chin. “If it weren’t for my runs to Carlsbad we wouldn’t even know about mutants.”
“Look what good that has done for us,” Mr. Ruthers sneered. “One of our Runners was killed by a mutant.”
“Do you remember when most of the town thought the howling at night was escaped howler monkeys from the Albuquerque BioPark?” Audrey asked and he nodded. “They don’t anymore because of my scouting trips to Carlsbad. Who knows what else might be there?”
Mr. Ruthers capped his pen and put it on the table and sat back in his chair. He eyed Audrey angrily and crossed his arms over his chest, “What do you think, Grant?”
Mr. Davies rubbed his forehead and looked supportively at Audrey, “I trust your judgment.”
“Thank you Mr. Davies,” she smiled at him appreciatively.
“I think if you can make a round trip down and back tomorrow we’ll be able to pull it off,” he looked at her sternly. “Do you think you could do that?”
Audrey looked at Lincoln questioningly. She didn’t know what it was like in Hobbs, but he had said it was overrun by dregs. They were both injured as well, which made her uneasy about the whole thing.
He nodded at her and she turned back to the Council, “We can do it and we’ll be back before the end of the day.”
“Give them the truck,” Mr. Ruthers said bitterly. “We’ll need as much ammunition as you can bring in case another Behemoth makes its way here before the wall is fixed.”
“They’re rare,” Mr. Davies wrote something on a paper. “Why would there be another one?”
Mr. Ruthers and tossed his pen on the table in front of him, “How should I know?”
“All right. You can make your monthly run to Carlsbad tomorrow too. Document any changes in the mutant activity and get a decent supply of ammunition for future use,” Mr. Davies instructed Audrey and Lincoln.
“Can do boss,” Audrey turned to leave the room.