Veronica stepped inside the RV and gave a low whistle. “Brand new. Nice.”
“We just got it,” Simon said. He pointed to his wounded arm. “Cost us an arm and a leg. I’ll be paying out on the leg portion though.”
“Cute.” She sat down and motioned for him to join her. “Most of the folks around here just call me Vee. Or Doc.”
Lana fell into the chair opposite and watched as she untied the sling holding Simon’s arm. “Were you a general practitioner or…?”
Veronica slowly unwrapped the gauze as she spoke. “I was an ER physician by night.” She paused as she peeled the last layers off. “Training as a sports medicine specialist by day.” She paused and slowly extended his arm. “This was bad.”
“She’s got me eating bowls of antibiotics,” Simon replied, giving Lana the stink eye. “Gives me the screaming shits, too.”
Veronica nodded. “We need to get you some probiotics to get your natural flora back into balance. I’d say yogurt, too, but times aren’t what they used to be.” She looked up at Lana. “What antibiotics are you giving him?”
Lana shrugged. “All of them.”
Veronica raised a brow. “Do you still have the bottles?”
Lana nodded and slid off of the chair. “Be right back.”
Simon winced as she dabbed at the wound. “Let me guess, stitches?”
Veronica sighed. “It may be too late.”
She reached into her bag and withdrew a metal device that caused Simon’s butt to pucker. “What is that?”
She smiled, putting him slightly at ease. “Relax. I just need to check something.” Lana returned and set the box of pills next to the table as Veronica slowly probed the wound. “I’m not detecting any fragments.”
“I think it was a through and through,” Simon muttered as he tried not to watch her. He hissed as her probe rubbed raw flesh.
“How old is this wound?”
Lana glanced to Simon then shrugged. “Around a week?”
Veronica sighed. “If I trim the necrotic tissue, I might be able to stitch this closed.” She wiped the probe with a Betadine solution then set it in her bag. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any local anesthetic.”
“We have pain pills,” Lana offered.
Veronica nodded slowly as he examined the exit wound. “I’m not seeing any bone fragments.” She slowly extended his arm and made him go through movements, feeling for grinding. “I think you were extremely lucky.”
Simon winced as she reached for scissors. “Do you have any alcohol? That would help relax him for what I’m about to do.”
Both Simon and Lana stated, “No,” so quickly that she gave them a surprised look.
Simon cleared his throat and added, “I can’t have any.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “You wouldn’t like me if I were drunk.”
She nodded knowingly. “Let’s get him some of those pain pills then.” She set her bag on the table and began pulling out different items. “This won’t be comfortable, but we need to do it.” She gave Lana a quick smile. “All things considered, you did a pretty good job of keeping him alive.”
Lana felt her cheeks redden. “Thanks.”
Veronica gave her another look then added, “Once we’re done with him, I’d like to give you a checkup as well. If you wouldn’t object.”
Lana shook her head. “Whatever you think, Doc.”
She smiled as she grabbed the clippers. “Just call me Vee.” She turned back to Simon. “Want something to bite down on? This won’t be fun.”
Simon groaned and reached for the pain pills. “Just give them a moment to kick in before you start cutting off chunks, will ya?” He tossed the pills back and chewed them, praying they flooded his system quickly.
8
“And we do the work ourselves?” Donna asked as she, Trevor, and Brandy strolled down the street.
Trevor nodded slowly as he looked at the different houses. “Stanton said to choose one and start preparing it.” He pulled Brandy back by his side. “Not so fast, Peanut.”
“They’re safe. There’s nobody here but us.” She actually hopped with excitement. “We can choose any?”
He gave her a gentle nod and a wide smile. “As long as nobody else has claimed it.” He let go of her hand and pulled a piece of yellow ribbon from his shirt pocket. “We tie this to the front somewhere to let others know we’ve claimed it.”
Donna looked back over her shoulder. “Where are the others? There’s barely a dozen people here.”
Trevor paused to take in a stucco two story. “They’re coming. Some had things to do first.”
“But the best houses will be taken.”
He shook his head. “This neighborhood is pretty upscale. I don’t think they’ll have any real gripes about the leftovers.”
Brandy broke loose and ran toward a house with a rope swing hanging from a tree. “Daddy, can we…” She froze midsentence and stared at him, her face a mask of confusion.
Trevor stepped over to her and bent to one knee. “What’s wrong?”
She looked up at him, and for a moment he saw the pain in her eyes. Slowly her face softened into a smile and she threw her arms around his neck. “I love you, Daddy.”
Trevor had to swallow the lump in his throat as he pulled her into a tight squeeze. “I love you, too, Peanut.” He looked toward Donna and saw her covering her mouth, her eyes beginning to water. “What’s with this?”
Brandy pulled back and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “I’m glad you chose me.”
Trevor wasn’t sure what to say as she broke loose from his embrace and ran to the tree swing. “Can we have this one?”
He came to his feet and had to wipe at his eyes. “We can tie up a rope swing to any of the houses, Peanut.” He walked to the front door and pushed it open. “Let’s see what the inside is like before we choose.”
Donna appeared behind him and loosed a low whistle as they stepped inside. “This is swanky.”
Brandy ran past them and into the living room, her footsteps echoing off of the tile floor. “This is too loud. I wish it had carpet.”
“I’m glad it doesn’t,” Donna stated. “Tile is much easier to clean.”
Trevor walked into the kitchen and smiled. “Just the kitchen is bigger than our entire RV.”
Donna appeared next to him and shook her head. “Not really, but it is huge.”
Brandy pressed her face to the French doors leading to the back and smiled. “This is the one.”
Trevor and Donna both peered over her head and smiled. “A play set?” He reached down and rubbed her head. “Again, though, we could put one in any backyard.”
“But this one already has it.” She turned wide eyes to him then looked to the stairs. “I bet it’s got a room just for me, too.”
“I’ve no doubt,” Donna added as the little girl broke for the stairs. “No running in the house!” she called.
Trevor sighed as he leaned against the door jamb. “You know, you’re not committed.” He stared at his feet as he spoke. “I realize you were scared and wanted away, but now…” he looked up and smiled. “Things are different.”
She gave him an understanding look and reached for his hand. “You expect me to live all alone in one of these big houses?”
He shrugged slightly. “I’m just saying, you don’t have to stick around,” he peered into her eyes, “if you don’t want to.”
She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his middle. “Maybe I want to.”
She lay her head on his chest and Trevor felt his lower jaw quiver. “You want us to be a family, then?” He felt her nodding against his heart and he had to swallow another lump.
Donna pulled back and stared up at him. “It’s different this time.”
“How so?”
She gave him a soft smile and cupped his face with her palm. “Because this time it’s my choice.” She pulled him closer to her and kissed him gently. “What say we go and look at our room?”
Trevor nodded and bent to kiss her again. “You make me happy.”
She pulled back and gave him a playful poke to the ribs. “Remember that the first time we get into a spat.”
He shook his head as he pulled her hand and led her towards the stairs. “No spats.” He winked at her. “I’m a firm believer in never going to bed angry.”
She laughed as they rounded the corner and started up the stairs. “You like losing sleep, huh?”
Trevor paused and gave her a mischievous smile. “I LOVE losing sleep.” He wagged his brows at her. “Especially with you.”
She slapped at him playfully as they started up the stairs. Brandy appeared at the top landing, her face a mask of shock.
“Uh oh. What’s wrong, Peanut?” Trevor asked, reaching for her.
“My room is pink.” She wrinkled her nose at him. “We definitely have to paint over it.”
Carol poured another cup of coffee and sat down at the workstation. “Who has the blood test results from the secondaries?”
Tammy slid the printouts to her. “These appear to be the most current.” She shook her head. “Whoever performed these tests didn’t even bother with viral loads.”
Broussard groaned. “Fucking Higgins.”
The other researchers gave each other knowing looks before Dr. Randy Carlson noted, “Dr. Broussard, I believe that’s the fifth time in the last hour that you’ve said that.” He stifled the smile that fought the corners of his mouth.
“Perhaps if his ineptitude did not hit me in the face every time I turned around…” He sat back and groaned and he pulled the reading glasses from his face. “I’m beginning to entertain the possibility of using him for human testing.”
“Andre!” Carol chided.
He gave her a droll stare. “I would say I was only joking, but the deeper we delve into this mystery, the more he reveals his incompetence.” He gave her a shrug. “Human testing seems to be the only way he might actually prove himself useful.”
Dr. David O’Dell appeared at his side with a stand of test tubes. “These were the most recent blood samples taken from…them.”
Dr. Irene McDonald groaned. “We have to give them a name or at least a classification. We can’t simply keep referring to them as ‘them’ or…” She glanced to Carol.
“Fine.” Carol stripped the gloves from her hands and dropped them in the trash. “What do you suggest?”
“Assholes,” Tammy muttered. She looked up and blanched. “Sorry. I just have little regard for politicians.”
“While ‘assholes’ might work,” Carol replied, “I’m afraid it might get confusing, what with the caliber of people working at this base—the general included.”
A short round of snickering followed before David suggested, “How about ‘contractors’? They contracted their condition after the fact.”
“I like Secondaries,” Andre stated. “They are secondary cases of infection, regardless of the source.”
“Second generations.” Carol glanced at the others. “Gen Two’s.”
After a short round of agreement, the team returned to the tasks at hand. “Besides throwing Higgins into a cell with one, does anybody have an idea about testing the transmittance of their condition?” Broussard asked.
Randy leaned back in his chair and stared at the people trapped in the acrylic cells. “Are there any cases of cross speciation?”
“None that I’m aware of,” Carol replied.
Randy shrugged. “Then I guess we toss Higgins in with them and find out.” He smiled at her and it quickly faded as she narrowed her gaze at him.
Irene slowly stood and stared at the printouts from the primary virus. “I think first we need to make sure that it was your strep bacterium that carried the mutated viral DNA.” She looked to Andre. “I realize that I’m primarily a botanist, but in plants, fungi are often a vector for viruses.”
“Contamination.” He looked to Carol and shook his head. “I hadn’t even considered the possibility that…” he trailed off.
“You’re thinking that the process wasn’t sterile?” Carol asked.
“We created the strep variant on a ship in the middle of the ocean.” He groaned as he sat back down. “A ship crawling with other people, all carrying god knows what on their skin. There’s no way we could maintain a truly sterile environment.”
Carol groaned as she lowered her head to the table. “I was so focused on the genetics…I didn’t even think about other vectors.”
Andre stood and pointed to Irene. “You’re probably the most familiar with fungi, so I want you to take the lead on that search. Go through their samples and see if you can find anything that would indicate that as a vector.” He pointed to Randy. “I want you to go through all of their medical records. See if they have anything in common, and I don’t care how inane it might seem. If they were all exposed to…yellow fever, chickenpox, an STD…whatever they might have in common.”
“What are you thinking?” Tammy asked.
Andre turned and sighed. “Our cure might not have caused this.” He glanced to Carol, hope flashing across his features. “If they carried an unforeseen viral load from a different exposure…a different vector, it could have interfered with the viral coding in our strep cure.”
“Viral interference?” Carol asked, slowly rising from her chair.
“Oui. It’s a possibility,” Andre replied.
David O’Dell shook his head. “The odds are so slim,” he stated. “All of them were exposed at the same time and became symptomatic at almost the exact rate.”
Andre turned and raised his brow. “But they were also all members of Congress. If they had been exposed to Legionnaires or even minor exposure to anthrax or any other kind of biological…” He left his thought unfinished. “If there is any sort of connection, we need to find it.”
“Kevin,” Carol replied softly.
Broussard turned to her and shook his head. “We have no idea what he may have been working with prior to coming to the ship.” He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “I may very well be wrong, but we need to consider all of the possibilities.”
“How will that help us find a cure?” Tammy asked.
Broussard squared his shoulders. “Once we identify the how, we have a better chance of finding a way to undo it.”
Simon winced as he gently sat down outside in a folding chair. “Fuck me, my arm hurts.”
Lana handed him more pain pills. “I don’t doubt it.” She passed him a bottle of water and sat next to him. “She excised a lot of necrotic tissue.”
He gave her a sideways look. “I guess you were listening as she chopped half my arm away.”
Lana shrugged. “There was a lot of dead flesh.” She gave him a sad smile. “Sorry.”
He shook his head as he sighed and stared up at the tree canopy. “Not your fault. You didn’t shoot me.”
“Howdy neighbors.”
Both turned to see Trent standing at the edge of their campsite. “We’re having a get together at the upper campsite. We thought y’all might like to join us.” He handed Simon a beer. “You’re kind of the guests of honor.”
Simon waved off the bottle. “Thank you, no.” He looked to Lana who almost seemed afraid. “Want to go and mingle?”
She gave him a cautious look and slowly shook her head. “I’m not really feeling it.”
Trent popped a squat across from them and gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s just a chance to meet folks. Let them say hi and…hey. We all kind of look out for each other up here.”
Simon gave her an understanding look. “If you don’t want to, I could go solo.”
She slowly shook her head. “No. You just had surgery.” She stood from the folding chair and gave Trent a cautious look. “You sure it’s just a meet and greet?”
He nodded, a slow smile forming. “Nothing nefarious, I promise. Folks just want to meet the new neighbors.” He slowly stood, his knees creaking and popping as he came to h
is full height. “Anytime you feel weird or just get tired, nobody is keeping you there.”
Simon held a hand out and Trent pulled him to his feet. “Might as well.”
The large, shaggy man gave Lana a grin. “We even grilled some fresh meat. I made my secret sauce. You’ll love it.”
“Meat?” Simon asked, his curiosity piqued.
Trent nodded. “One of the guys got lucky and shot a deer a few days ago.” He stepped toward the edge of the campsite. “Best barbeque in three states, I guarantee it.”
Simon turned to Lana and shrugged. “Sounds like a party to me.”
She sighed as she fell into step and followed the men to the upper campground. “Nothing says ‘Welcome to the neighborhood’ like a slice of grilled Bambi.”
9
Hatcher dropped the box on the dining room table and peered through the sliding glass door at the setting sun.
“This house is too big for just you.” He turned slowly and caught Vic walking in from the garage. “I see you’re already moving in.”
“What’s wrong, sis? You think I need a roommate?” He raised a brow at her. “Coop is not moving in here with me.”
She chuckled as she stood beside him. “He’ll stay with me until he’s back on his feet.”
“What about after?”
She shrugged. “We’ll just have to see.”
“That’s gross.” He shook his head. “He’s almost as old as dad.”
She punched him in the arm. “He is not.”
“Nearly.”
“This was about you, not me.” She sighed and leaned into him. “You need to think about carrying on the family name.”
Hatcher scoffed. “Not hardly.” He turned and stared at the setting sun again. “I couldn’t bring a child into this world.”
She turned and gave him a surprised look. “The world is changing, Danny.”
“Maybe.” He sighed as the last rays of light stretched across the evening sky. “But I’m not willing to bet a child’s life on it.”
Caldera 10: Brave New World Page 6