Sanctuary (23 page)

Jennie smiled and nodded, teeth chattering too much to talk.

Mrs. Crawford came back with a towel and a blanket. After Jennie had dried her hair some, she wrapped the blanket around her shoulders. “Do we have any rain jackets?”

“Why?”

“We need to get Pastor Billy to the quarantine center before he changes.”

Mrs. Crawford’s expression turned cold and her smile, plastic. “Whatever for?
We could just keep him here. He’s fine here.”

Jennie swallowed hard, and her face flushed with blood. Suddenly she didn’t feel as cold as she had a moment before. “Mrs. Crawford, we need to get Pastor Billy to the quarantine building.”

“I can take care of him just fine.”

“Shannon.” Pastor Billy stood at the first pew, next to Mickey. His arm was in a make-shift sling, and his shoulder was bandaged with torn strips of cloth. “Jennie is right.” He limped down the aisle toward them. “Get me to quarantine before I hurt someone.”

“No. I refuse. They’ll kill you or turn you out. No one has been cured.”

Did the Crawfords know about Hugh’s theories or the experimentation at the quarantine building? Jennie shook her head. “Wait. You’re wrong. There are some scientists who believe that the cure to this infection is to allow the person five days to recover without being bitten again. The best place to do that is at the quarantine center. They can keep Pastor Billy from hurting himself or anyone else while he recovers.”

“See, Shannon. It’ll be okay. Let’s go.”

Mrs. Crawford began chewing her fingernails. “But it’s raining outside. Shouldn’t we wait until it stops?”

Jennie shook her head. “It might rain for hours, and we have only about an hour from the attack until Pastor Billy starts to change. I already saw this with my dad. It’s not pretty, and it’s not safe.”

The fountain of tears Mrs. Crawford dammed back with her mask of calm broke free. “No. I don’t want you to go. What if I never see you again? I can’t do it. I won’t know what to do.”

“Shannon, you need to rely on God. He should be the rock of your hope, not me.”

She swallowed hard and her eyes grew wide. It looked as though Pastor Billy’s words had slapped her in the face.

Pastor Billy turned to Jennie and set a hand on her shoulder, saying, “Let’s go.”

“I wanna go, too.” Mickey jumped up from the pew he had been chewing on. He ran over and grabbed Jennie’s other hand.

She didn’t want to leave Mrs. Crawford alone nor did she want to drag Mickey out into the rain. But in the condition that the pastor’s wife seemed, Jennie believed the woman couldn’t take care of herself, much less the five year old boy. “Mrs. Crawford, you should come, too.”

The woman stood there, staring at the floor. Her lips were moving, but no sound came from them. She made no attempt to stop her hands from wringing her fingers into knots. Jennie wanted to shake her and tell her to get a hold of herself, but her hands were full. Mickey squeezed her hand and released it.

“Miss Crawford,” Mickey said, putting both his hands over the top of the woman’s knotted fingers. “Come with us. Everything is going to be okay.”

The woman stopped wringing her hands and sniffled. Her tears had begun cleaning the mascara streaks from her cheeks. She smiled at Mickey and took his offered hand, nodding. Jennie couldn’t be prouder of her little brother. His quick thinking had saved the day again and without being told to do it. The small band opened the door to the pouring rain and started for the yellow quarantine building.

Hugh

Hugh met the orderly
’s eye
s
as the elevator doors shut. One of the others took his pulse and another was cutting his pants leg with scissors to get to the wound on his thigh. “Has Phillip Bryant woken up yet?”

The orderly’s smile faded just a bit as he said, “I don’t know about that, sir.”

Hugh nodded. “Is he still asleep, then?”

“Sir, I’m not authorized to discuss the condition of a patient with another patient.”

“Right. Of course. Is there any way that I would be allowed to speak to the Colonel?”

“No, sir.”

“What about Sergeants Jones or Stanley?”

“I’ll check with them, sir. But right now we’ll be tending to your wounds and finding you an appropriate recovery room. You sure are lucky that girl had the wherewithal to get you here. Most girls wouldn’t be willing to get their hands dirty, or bloody, like that.”

“True.”

The elevator doors dinged and opened. Overhead, the florescent lights had been decorated with covers that had fish and butterflies on them. He hadn’t noticed it before. But he hadn’t been lying on a gurney either. The quarantine wing of the hospital was separated from the rest of the facility by a long hallway on each floor. The windows on both sides of that hall made him privy to the sight of the dark clouds and pounding rain outside. He wondered if Jennie made it to the chapel okay or if she still waited downstairs.

“Harris. What mess have you gotten yourself into?”

Hugh turned his head to the rotund gut of Sgt. Williams. He smiled. “Williams. It was one heck of a lunch break. Lucky you didn’t go last.”

“That’s for sure.”

“So is Bryant awake yet? Please give me some good news.”

“I’m afraid there is no news to give. He is not awake, but he’s not dead yet either.”

Hugh nodded, but his flame of hope flickered. “I was afraid you’d say that. But at least he’s not dead.”

The gurney turned the corner, but Williams followed at his own leisurely pace behind them. Hugh lost sight of him. The room spun for a moment while they turned his gurney around so he faced the door. One of the orderlies nodded to the others and said, “Sorry, Mr. Harris, but we’re going to have to turn you over to dress your injuries.”

Hugh nodded and helped the men turn him over. He turned his head, so he could watch them. Each of the orderlies nodded at Williams as they left. He pulled up the sleeves on his white lab coat and washed his hands. Then, he went to the counter and pulled a pair of gloves out of the dispenser.

“You’re treating me?”

“I’m a doctor, and I’m here. Might as well.”

Hugh nodded. The stubble of his cheek caught a little on the light green cotton sheet of the gurney. He suddenly felt very tired. Was it the blood loss? Or were the effects of the infection beginning? “Do you think my theory has validity?”

“After reviewing the tapes we have and the experimentation conducted before you came, I’d say it’s got a good chance.”

The doctor cleaned his wound, and Hugh clenched his jaw at the burning sensation. “Everything is riding on whether that man wakes or not.”

“Yep.” Williams pierced Hugh’s thigh with a needle and soon the wound went numb. Only the tugging of his skin as the doctor sewed could be felt. “I’ll need to give you an antibiotic for this, too.”

Hugh’s scalp began to itch, and his joints started to ache. How long had it been? Had it even been an hour yet? Blood rushed to his face. “I’m starting to feel a little flushed. I’m going to need that room soon.

“Right. I just need to look at this wound between your shoulder blades.” After a moment of cleaning it up, he replied, “This one’s a puncture wound, so we won’t be stitching it.”

Hugh nodded.

The gloves snapped as Williams pulled them from his fingers. He went to the intercom and pushed a button. “He’s ready. Send in an orderly to take him to observation room four.”

“Yes, sir.” The answer crackled over the intercom almost immediately.

Because Hugh was on his stomach, he couldn’t see the fish, birds and butterflies on the ceiling. The windows showed the sky had lightened up a bit, and the rain had subsided to a drizzle. He was getting really tired. “Are there Shisa on the base still?”

“Nope. I guess our guys chased them off.”

“That would be good. But I wonder if it had something to do with the rain.”

Williams hand rested on Hugh’s shoulder, and he heard the man whisper. “You might have something there. I’ll look into it.”

“I think you should.”

They reached the room, and Hugh watched his reflection in the observation mirror. The orderlies lifted him from the gurney and laid him on the floor. The white room was barren of carpet, furniture, or windows. He’d be alone in this room for five days with little more than a few water bottles thrown in and snacks tossed on the floor. Like an animal, he’d eat them to survive.

With a sigh, Hugh truly hoped he wouldn’t remember. The door clicked behind them all. He was alone. Tears of self-pity coursed his face as he lay on the floor, unmoving for what felt like forever. A moan escaped his lips when he tried to move. His joints burned with fire.

The intercom crackled. “Williams here. You just concentrate on surviving this, Harris. Nothing else. I’ll be here for you the full five days. Survive.”

“
It has been five day
s
now, Jennie. When will we hear?” Mrs. Crawford asked, as the last refugee left the chapel.

The evening sun shone through the wide-open chapel door. The Shisa hadn’t returned to the base, so the alert level had gone down. Still, Jennie didn’t feel comfortable with the door wide open and often watched for large shadows throughout the day. Mickey played behind her, because she always kept herself between him and the open door. “I don’t know,” she finally answered.

As Mrs. Crawford stood, her chair scraped against the hardwood floor. She walked over to the door and shut it part of the way, staring at the sky. She plastered on a smile and raised her voice a tick. “Are you guys ready for dinner?”

“Yeah!” Mickey leapt to his feet and ran for her.

Jennie stood from her stool with a smile and headed up the aisle after him. Mrs. Crawford picked Mickey up and swung him onto her hip. A breeze fingered through the trees outside, making the first days of August feel more like late fall. It hinted that winter was coming, and no one talked about it. How long would it last? She pulled her jacket closed and zipped it, She walked toward the mess hall.

The small community of refugees on the military base felt generally useless. The military didn’t give them jobs to do. Luckily, Jennie and Mickey had been loosely adopted by the Crawfords, so they stayed busy working at the chapel with them. The days were cool, but at least they lasted just as long as they normally would. It was nearly seven and the sun hung low in the sky, but they didn’t have to worry about nightfall yet.

She ran into Phillip as he was leaving the mess hall.

He greeted her with a grin. “Oh, hey, Shorty. What have you been up to?”

His smile was contagious. The scars made by his own fingernails would take a while to heal on his forehead and cheek, but it was good to see his bright smile. It gave her hope. And hope made her heart flutter. “Nothing much. Helping where I can.”

He ruffled her hair like she was five years old. “You’re a good kid. You know that?”

She nodded her head, trying to shirk off his hand.

The man couldn’t have been ten years older than her, and it was rather silly that he treated her like he was old enough to be her father. He pulled her into a hug. “You keep up on being good and have faith. If I could come back from this, they both can, too.”

She nodded again, her face rubbing against his down jacket.

He pushed her back and looked at her. “You’re a quiet one.”

“You talk enough for the both of us.” She smiled, and he guffawed, literally slapping his knee.

Phillip waved to a woman across the street. He sauntered away, shouting to the woman, as he crossed to pull her into a hug. He had slept nearly twenty hours. If Hugh survived his turning, he could sleep until the sixth day, too. She just needed to be patient. And so did Mrs. Crawford.

The pastor’s wife stood in line just behind Mickey, who pointed to things he wanted her to put on the tray for him. Jennie smiled and reached for a tray.

“Hi, Jennie.” Brad’s voice came over her shoulder, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She hadn’t realized before how similar his voice was to Hugh’s. She chided herself for feeling so strongly about the teacher at her former school. Why had she let them develop during the five days of his absence? He was nearly eight years her senior and wouldn’t be interested in her that way. In fact, he probably thought she was just a kid, like Phillip did.

A familiar looking woman stood behind Brad. “Hi,” she said looking between them both. They were obviously together.

“Oh, Jennie, this is Sarah White. And Sarah, Jennie…I’m sorry, but I don’t know your last name.”

Was it her imagination, or did Brad look a little annoyed with Sarah? She reached a hand over his arm toward Jennie.

Jennie forced a smile. “It’s Ransom. My last name is Ransom. White?” She knew the face struck a chord, and now she remembered. “I think you were the scientist watching me while I was in quarantine.”

The dark haired woman nodded, sidling herself in front of Brad. He stepped back and let the woman push her way between them. “Yes, I think you’re correct. You have a little brother, right?”

“Yeah.” Jennie pushed her tray down and accepted a bowl of chili from the cafeteria worker.

“Jennie?” The woman said her name with a finger on her chin like she was trying to remember something. “Are you the same girl we watched walk through the aliens that day when they attacked, like a week ago?”

Jennie swallowed hard. She didn’t realize she was being watched. “Yeah, I guess.”

“That was awesome. How did you do that?”

“Jennie! Hurry up! You’re too slow.” Mickey called to her from across the room. She was thankful that she didn’t need to explain something unexplainable to someone who wasn’t likely to understand. She smiled her apologies, picked up her tray, and headed for the table.

She sat on the bench right next to her little brother and smiled when he took an extra brownie from his tray and put it on hers. “I took two before they ran out, so you could have one.”

“Thanks.”

“Do y’all mind if we sit with you?” Sarah stood in front of Brad who held both trays. He had an apologetic look and shrugged.

“Of course we don’t mind,” Mrs. Crawford answered.

The couple sat across from Jennie and her brother with Sarah directly across from her. “So Brad tells me that you all arrived here together. It’s great that you’re still with each other. How many were in your party?”

Mrs. Crawford answered, while Jennie chewed the cornbread she’d just stuck in her mouth. “There were three children, four women including myself, and five men.”

“That’s quite a load. How did you all get here at once?”

“A bus!” Mickey shouted. “And we picked up Mr. Phillip on the way here!”

“Wow. That’s a story Brad has neglected to tell.” She poked him in the ribs, eyeing him coldly, and he nearly coughed up his chili.

"Sorry, honey."

Jennie had to stop herself from shaking her head. This really didn’t seem much like him to her. But what did she really know about him? He’d never been so quiet, and he was clearly close to this woman, even though he didn’t seem to want to be. He reached for his empty glass.

“I forgot to get a drink.” He rose to his feet.

“Me, too!” Mickey called out and jumped up, although he had a glass of milk in front of him.

“You have milk, Silly.” Jennie chuckled.

“But I wanted
chocolate
milk.”

“Me, too, Bucko, let’s go get some.” Brad turned and took Mickey's hand.

“Brad’s so strange. He opens right up about some things, like Clarissa his ex-girlfriend, but clams up about things like all of you.”

“He talked about his ex-girlfriend? The one Hugh stole from him?”

She giggled and pointed her spoon at Jennie. “Hugh didn’t steal her. Brad took her from him. Where’d you get that idea? She was the senator’s daughter, too good to be with a school teacher who didn’t have any ambition. Before she turned zombie on Brad, she was going to invest in helping him start a garage of his own. If things ever return to normal, I plan on stepping in and being his partner.”

Jennie had stopped with her spoon halfway to her mouth while Sarah spoke
.
This was quite the opposite of the story Brad had told her. But why would he have lied to her, a complete stranger? She finished the spoon’s progression to her mouth, and her face flushed with embarrassment. What had she said to Hugh that night before they left? Didn’t she scold him for stealing Brad’s girlfriend? She felt like such a complete fool.

Brad returned with Mickey and their chocolate milks. The smile he’d had while joking with her little brother faded a bit when he sat down next to Sarah. He didn’t like her. Every part of his body language said so.

Jennie shook her head and looked down at her food when she came to a realization. Brad was staying with Sarah because of her money—although what good money would do now was debatable. Maybe she had other resources?

Jennie shook her head. That was the kind of person Brad was—the kind of man who would lie to a complete stranger, so she would think badly of his brother, and stay with a woman he couldn’t stand for, for...money. She looked back up at him while he ate his chili. Suddenly, she could understand why he’d had a black eye when she’d first met him. Part of her wanted to make it black again.

She looked back down at her chili and continued eating. There was no way that she could eat fast enough and get out of the company of the supposed love birds.

“I recognize you…you work at the quarantine facility, right? Do you know anything about my husband, Billy Crawford?” Mrs. Crawford pushed aside her tray and clasped her hands together on the table in a pleading motion.

“Uh…” Sarah suddenly looked very uncomfortable. “I only work with newly arrived refugees, the ones on the first floor. I don’t know anything about the fourth-floor experiments.”

“Experiments?” Mrs. Crawford’s voice cracked on the word. It didn’t sound promising to Jennie either.

“Uh…sorry. That’s what they call them. I honestly don’t know anything about what they are doing or the status of the patients up there.” Sarah looked uncomfortable and finished a few quick bites of her chili.

The air between them had turned cold, and Brad smiled at Sarah’s discomfort. He chewed with his mouth open in a wide grin. Jennie had to look away before she vomited. Mickey chattered to anyone who would listen about his great tasting brownie, but it did nothing to warm up the chill. After another minute passed in relative silence between the adults, Sarah said, “Brad, I forgot that I need to get something from my apartment before I head to the lab. We’d better get going.”

Brad furrowed his brow in disappointment and shook his head while he sipped his chocolate milk. She stood quickly and grabbed him by the elbow to encourage him to his feet.

“It was nice meeting you all. Hope to do this again sometime.” Her plastered smile said the opposite of her words, and she turned on her heel without looking back. Her demeanor showed her confidence that Brad would not hesitate to follow.

He shrugged and picked up their trays. “Have a nice night, y’all,” he said and started after her.

It wasn’t until he was gone that she realized he hadn’t said a word about Hugh. He didn’t seem to care about the status of his own brother. Her opinion of Brad Harris had changed considerably since she’d entered the mess hall. She took a bite of her brownie and watched him follow after Sarah like a whipped puppy.

At least after the love birds left, she was able to relax and enjoy the brownie in her little brother’s company. Mrs. Crawford seemed pensive but plastered on a smile for Mickey’s sake. She’d gotten to be stronger since being on her own without her husband. Jennie and her brother had been doing everything they could to help her on that journey.

The crowd in the mess hall had thinned when they left. Jennie held her brother’s mitten in her gloved hand. Dusk had fallen and so had the temperatures. A chill wind picked up, sending a shiver down Jennie’s spine. Lights along the street blinked on automatically with the darkening evening. The sky was barren of stars or clouds and seemed almost black in the washout of the military base’s lights. Across the street, two men stood under the porch light of the chapel.

“Billy?” Mrs. Crawford jogged toward the men.

The men who stood in the dim light of the chapel porch made Jennie’s heart skip a beat. They were tall and could easily be Hugh and Pastor Billy. Her jaw tightened, making her hold her tongue. Could they have been released from quarantine already?

The two of them stepped off the porch as Mrs. Crawford approached. She had stopped a short distance away, which made Jennie feel she was right to be reserved. Mickey pulled his hand from hers and patted her on the hip. She hardly needed to look at him to know he wanted her to pick him up. Without a second thought, she lifted him.

A deep voice began, “Mrs. Crawford, we regret to inform you—”

“NO!” She screamed and fell to her knees on the concrete sidewalk, covering her ears. Sobs racked her body, and she shook her head, refusing to listen.