Her steps were quicker than normal as she moved down the path, some gut feeling propelling her to go faster. As she started to jog, she realized that the feeling inside her was fear.
For the first time since she got to the island, she was scared.
Subject File # 745
Administrator: When things get too much for you here, do you think about using?
Subject: Nah. See, I never did that shit ‘cause I was stressed. I did it so I’d forget ‘bout the emptiness inside of me. The only time I came close to slippin’ was after my gran died. The only thing that stopped me was knowin’ how mad she’d be if I used her as an excuse to get high.
Administrator: Do you still feel that emptiness?
Subject: Not here. Not since I met those girls.
Jackson stood in the water, his pant cuffs rolled up to his knees, enjoying the cool water lapping against his calves. It was scorcher today. He had climbed up to the perch in the trees, his injured arm making the climb twice as long. The only problem was there was barely any air moving between the pine branches. After a few hours sweating up there and staring down at the water, he had climbed back down to take a moment to cool off.
The lake was refreshing, and he was tempted to strip down and take a proper dunk. Would it really be that bad to do it? There hadn’t been anybody spotted out on the lake in all the time they’d been here. He could still keep watch while he floated in the water and he’d leave the radio right at the water’s edge where he could get to it quickly if needed.
He looked back to the trees and then back at the lake. No one would know.
He walked back to the beach and dropped his radio next to his boots. He pulled his shirt over his head, mindful of his still tender shoulder, and undid his belt. He was about to drop his jeans when he heard some rustling in the trees. He scrambled to do up his belt and was reaching down for his shirt when Veronica crashed out of the trees about thirty feet down the beach. Her head whipped around to look down the beach and when she spotted him, she jogged towards him kicking up sand behind her.
He realized that there was something wrong and he let his shirt dangle in his hand as she ran up to him.
“Have you seen Audrey?” she gasped, out of breath.
He frowned and shook his head. “Thought she was back at the garden.”
She brushed her hair back as she looked around in a panic. “She hasn’t been to see you at all?”
“What’s happened?” He was completely confused by her panic.
“Audrey asked Janet if she could go fishing up at the north point but Claudia hadn’t seen her. We thought she might have gone to fish somewhere else but I walked the shore around the whole island and I couldn’t find her. I checked the cabin but she wasn’t there either…”
She trailed off, her eyes wild as she looked up and down the beach. “Nobody has seen her!”
“Hey, hey,” he said, reaching out to grab her elbow and making her to look at him. “S’okay. Calm down. She’s on an island, she can’t go very far and it ain’t like she can get lost on here, right?”
She nodded and took a deep breath. “I know, I just...this doesn’t feel right.”
“Yer panicking, that’s all. We’re safe here. Girl is pissed at us for treatin’ her like a kid, right? Probably didn’t want to be stuck with the other kids all day so she made up an excuse. Bet she’s hidin’ somewhere, readin’ one of her books, avoidin’ us ‘cause she’s mad.”
“Yeah, okay, maybe you’re right,” she said. “It’s just that I have this bad feeling about it.”
“Come on, we’ll go look for her,” he said, pulling on his shirt and sitting down to pull on his boots. “Ya checked the cabin and the lodge, right?”
She nodded. “She didn’t come by the boathouse while I was there. She could have gone there after Angela relieved me.”
“Get Angela on the radio, find out if she’s seen her while I get my boots on.”
Veronica took his radio and called Angela while he laced up his boots.
“Angela hasn’t seen her,” Veronica told him, her eyes distressed.
“Don’t mean nothin’. We still got the clinic, pump house and all the other cabins to check.”
He handed her his rifle and took the radio back from her. “Ya head to the clinic and I’m gonna check the pump house. We don’t find her then we’ll start on the cabins.”
Veronica nodded but then she looked out at the water and frowned. “What about your watch?”
“Fuck it,” he said, waving a hand back at the lake before he headed towards the path between the trees and she followed him. “After yer done at the clinic, wait for me to meet ya there.”
She nodded and when they reached the fork in the path, she continued on towards the clinic while he headed to the pump house. The ATV and wagon were parked next to the small building and he checked the bed of the wagon before going inside the building.
“Ya in here Audrey?” he called out but silence came back to him.
Still he checked every inch of it, taking longer than he had expected with such a small space but there were plenty of hiding spots among the supplies and the well pump. When he was certain she wasn’t in there, he cursed and slammed the door shut.
Where the hell was she?
He decided to take a shortcut through the brush behind the pump house, avoiding the extra time on the path as it cut around the garden and orchard. The brush soon gave way to the garden. He took a moment to look inside the greenhouse
“Audrey, ya in there?” he called out but got no response. “Serious now, tell me if yer in there ‘cause I’m startin’ to get worried.”
He waited but there was nothing from inside. He cursed and took off towards the lodge, full out running now as he cut through the orchard.
He’d told Veronica to calm down but he didn’t seem to be able to take his own advice. He now understood what Veronica meant by feeling that something wasn’t right. He felt it now too.
He broke through the trees and saw Veronica standing out front of the lodge with Janet and Elaine, something in her hand as she waved her arms around frantically.
“Ya find her?” he called out as he ran up to join them and Veronica shook her head.
“I found this,” she said, holding out the orange bandanna that Audrey always wore around her neck. “It was in the waste basket and it’s got blood on it.”
He snatched it from her hand to examine it. Sure enough, there was a blotch of blood on it, still a bit wet.
“What the fuck?” he said, fisting the fabric in his hand. “And she wasn’t in there?”
“That’s all I found.” Tears were forming in her eyes as she ran a shaky hand through her hair. “Nobody has seen her, Jackson. Where the hell is she?”
“It’s going to be okay,” Janet said, reaching out to wrap an arm around Veronica. “That’s not a lot of blood. Maybe she just tripped and scraped her knee or she was goofing around and cut herself. It doesn’t mean anything bad happened to her. She was probably somewhere she wasn’t supposed to be and she hurt herself and was trying to cover it up so she didn’t get in trouble. The boys are doing that all the time.”
“Janet is right,” Elaine said. “She was probably in one of the empty cabins. Jenny can keep the kids in the lodge while we all go search the cabins. Angela can cover watch while Janet goes to the north end and gets Claudia. They can search the cabins there, I will take the ones on the west side. Veronica, Jackson, you guys check the rest on the east and south sides. We’ll find her.”
It was a solid plan and they needed one right now. Veronica wasn’t the only one who was scared now. The sight of blood on the bandanna he’d given Audrey their first day out on the road had frozen his veins.
“She’s right, let’s get goin’ and look for her.”
He reached out and took Veronica’s hand in his own. He knew the fear she felt. It was inside him too.
They needed to find her now.
Subject File # 744
Administrator: It appears that you and Quinton met the most people from Port Meyer. What was your impression of them?
Subject: They are competent. They’re strong. They’re also kind.
Administrator: You say that as if you still don’t believe it.
Subject: It’s not that I don’t believe it, it’s just that I’m still surprised by it. We hadn’t seen much kindness out on the road so it still surprises me. I had lost faith in people but meeting them, I’m finding it again.
Kim had to say she was enjoying playing nurse to Quinton, at least ever since Mrs. Austin had come over for a check-up.
The woman was tiny, probably no more than a hundred pounds, with short curly gray hair. Her pale skin was paper thin, her blue veins showing beneath the age spots that dotted it. She had needed help out of the truck that had brought her over, clinging to Jed as he helped her into the house, along with her friend Mrs. Frasier.
Mrs. Frasier looked like she was the same age as Mrs. Austin, her tanned skin wrinkled and her long braid white as snow, but she was much heartier than her friend. She was as tall as Kim with broad shoulders and rounded hips. Kim could tell she was also a strong woman in spirit.
As they had helped her into the house, Mrs. Austin had insisted that she was perfectly fine and didn’t need to have any doctor probing her. Mrs. Fraser wouldn’t hear it, telling her friend that she had been coughing for two weeks straight and she needed to have it checked.
Mrs. Austin hadn’t been happy about that, at least until she had walked in the MacGregor’s door and set eyes on Quinton.
She was clearly smitten with the doctor even if she had about fifty years on him. She had been all smiles and flirtatious looks throughout her exam, much to Mrs. Fraser’s chagrin.
Quinton had taken it all in stride except for the wink she had given him when he had asked her to unbutton her shirt so he could listen to her heart. That had caused the tips of his ears to grow pink and Kim had to stifle a laugh.
“Alright, Mrs. Austin, I think we’re done here,” Quinton said, pulling off his stethoscope. “You can button up.”
“I told you, darling, call me Gloria, please,” she told him with a capricious smile as she buttoned up her cardigan.
Mrs. Fraser rolled her eyes and let out a snort. “She’s always been a flirt. I’ve known her close to seventy years and she can’t ever turn it off when there’s a man with a heartbeat anywhere near her.”
“I just hope I’m that lively when I get to be that age,” Kim said.
“Well, Gloria, your lungs sound good,” he told her. “I don’t hear any fluid in them so I think it’s just a nasty cold. Try to rest, drink plenty of fluids and you should feel better in a few days.”
“You hear that, Elsie?” Gloria called out to Mrs. Fraser who gave another eye roll. “Perfectly fine, just like I said.”
She reached out and clasped one of Quinton’s hands in both of her own. “Thank you for taking the time, Dr. Alpert.”
“Call me Quinton, please.”
She gave him a dazzling smile and her hands went up to pat her curly grey hair. “Quinton, then. Thank you so much for taking the time and lending your talents to make sure we are all healthy. We appreciate it.”
“I’m happy to do it,” Quinton replied.
“Come on, Gloria, there’s others waiting,” Mrs. Fraser said, slowly pushing herself to her feet, “And we’ve got to get to work on dinner. Plenty of mouths to feed.”
Gloria took Quinton’s hand and let him help her to her feet, threading her arm through his and gazing up at him with adoring eyes.
“My, my, what a gentleman,” she said, patting his arm as he led her out of the living room. “Tell me is there anyone special in your life?”
“Yes, ma’am, there is,” he replied. “Her name’s Janet. She’s back at our camp.”
“Well, you tell that Janet that she is a lucky woman,” Gloria replied, “And if she doesn’t keep you happy, you know where I live.”
They walked out onto the porch where the front lawn was starting to look like a construction site.
A truck had pulled up after the third round of patients had come through, the bed filled with the supplies from their list. Two men had introduced themselves as Martin and Scott and along with Trey, Banks and Mendez, they had got to work on unloading the supplies before they headed back to the mall for more. They had come back with more supplies and Mrs. Austin and Mrs. Fraser.
Trey and Scott were unloading more plywood to add to the already large pile on the lawn. There was a large stack of boards in all different sizes next to it as well as boxes of brand new tools, bags of concrete, a couple cases of nails and screws of various sizes. Though she couldn’t be certain, it looked like the people of Port Meyer were giving them a lot more than what they were asking for and she couldn’t be more grateful.
It wasn’t just the supplies, it was also their willingness to work with them. It was encouraging to know that there were still people in the world who were willing to help.
“Your son is a hard worker,” Mrs. Fraser said as she walked up to join her at the porch railing.
“So are your people,” Kim said, nodding towards Martin and Scott.
“That they are. You know, there are quite a lot of people that would’ve left us old biddies to ourselves but not these people. They’re good people, all of them, and they work hard to take care of us. We do our best to help, we cook and we clean but that only goes so far. We’re a liability but they don’t care. They look after us and they sacrifice for us.”
Maybe it wasn’t just chance that had them coming to Port Meyer today. Maybe their two groups, so alike, were meant to meet today.
An ATV came up the road driven by Jed and sitting in front of him was a child wearing a motorcycle helmet.
“That’s Shay,” Mrs. Fraser said as Jed parked the ATV in the driveway and helped the girl remove her helmet. She was around eight years old with a shock of curly red hair and a face covered in freckles that Janet could spot even from this distance. “She’s a sweet girl. She lost her parents when we were attacked.”
“You were attacked?”
Mrs. Fraser nodded. “Three weeks back a group of people came through town. They were ragged, tired, looked like they had been to hell and back. We brought them in, helped them. Nobody realized they were just getting the lay of the place. They were part of a bigger group and one night the group showed up and the others let them in.”
She paused in her story, reaching into the sleeve of her shirt and pulling out a handkerchief to dot at the corner of her eyes. “Gloria and I, we got the kids and locked ourselves in one of the stores. We kept them quiet so they’d be safe. Unfortunately, a lot of their parents died that night trying to fight.”
Kim shook her head, looking at the little girl that was holding Jed’s hand as he walked her towards the house. She was so small, her shoulders slumped and her chin down against her chest. It wasn’t fair that the children had to go through something like that.
“We’ve taken the little ones under our wing,” Mrs. Fraser told her. “They might not have their parents anymore but they do have a family.”
Kim reached out and placed her hand over Mrs. Fraser’s and the older woman looked up at her, questioning.
“You aren’t a liability. You protected those kids when they needed you. You’re there for them when they’ve lost everything. That means a lot, maybe even more than being able to fire a gun or sit watch.”
Mrs. Fraser looked over at her, her face blank for a moment and then a beautiful smile spread across her face, making her look nearly a decade younger.
“Thank you, dear,” she said, tucking her handkerchief back in her sleeve. “It does my old heart good to hear that. I’m glad that you came here today.”
“Me too, Mrs. Fraser.”
“I’ve got your final patient,” Jed said as he led the little girl up the porch steps. She kept her head down, staring at her shoes and her impossi
bly long eyelashes hid her eyes. “This is Shay. She was complaining this morning of an ear ache.”
Kim knelt down in front of her. “Hi Shay. My name’s Kim and this is Dr. Quinton. He’s going to take a look at your ear if that’s okay.”
The girl just kept staring at her shoes.
Mrs. Austin stepped up to little girl and put a hand on her shoulder. “Oh, missy, you are in luck today. You get to see Dr. Quinton and I happen to know for a fact that if you let him examine you, he’ll give you a treat.”
Gloria reached into her pocket and pulled out a red lollipop. Shay’s head slowly rose and she eyed the lollipop in her hand.
“This is what I got,” Gloria told her, “And I bet if you let him look at your ear, he’ll give you one too.”
“Really, Miss Gloria?” Shay whispered.
“Really,” Gloria said, patting the girl on the head. “Now, why don’t you and Jed go inside with Miss Kim.”
Shay nodded and let Jed lead her into the house and Kim followed them. She glanced back to see Gloria handing the lollipop to Quinton and pinching his cheek. He pocketed the lollipop and made Gloria’s day by leaning down and pressing a kiss to her wrinkled cheek.
“So, Miss Shay,” Quinton said when he was seated across from Shay in the McGregor’s living room which had been acting as his exam room. “Which ear is it that’s been bothering you?”
She looked to Jed and he nodded for her to go ahead.
“This one,” she said, pointing to her right ear.
“Okay, good. Have you had a cold recently?” Quinton asked.
“She’s had the same cold everybody has had,” Jed told him. “It’s not a bad one, just the sniffles.”
Quinton reached into his bag and pulled out his otoscope. “I’m going to use this to look inside your ear to see what’s wrong with it. It won’t hurt at all.”
She sat there quietly as Quinton examined her ear. “Well, that doesn’t look bad at all. It looks like you’ve got a little swelling there but nothing to worry about. No signs of infection.”
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