The China Pandemic (30 page)

She ran the test again and again. Clarisse knew it wouldn’t come back any differently than the seven times before. She had to tell him now. She’d gone through every scenario, and there was just no other way. Dalton lay staring up at the ceiling. “Yes, Clarisse,” he said, knowing she was staring at him. He could always feel her presence, no matter where she was. He didn’t understand this since he was a happily married man but there it was.

“There’s news,” Clarisse said.

He knew something was wrong. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days, even though she was in quarantine herself. Having operated on Tala, she confined herself to the lab. Her chestnut hair hung loose down around her shoulders. He’d never seen it out of its tight bun.

“What is it?” he said as he came to the window.

“Sam. He’s been exposed, Dalton,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Dalton asked her.

“He’s not showing symptoms, but he’s a carrier now,” she said.

“Are you sure?” he asked, not believing.

“Yes!” she said, and broke down for the first time he’d seen so far.

“God dammit!” Dalton yelled, thinking of Sam’s now orphaned daughter.

“Does he know?” Dalton asked her, but she was still crying.

“Clarisse, does he know?” Dalton asked again.

“No,” she shook her head.

“I thought I should tell you first,” she said.

Graham carried Tala into the cabin carefully. They’d spent five days at the Preppers’ camp while Tala recovered from her injuries and the horrific ordeal. When she came to, Graham held her close while she cried.

He kissed her, “I love you, Tala. I’m so sorry this happened,” he said.

She held onto him, crying into his shoulder.

Now, not only did she have a fractured leg, her right shoulder had been dislocated as well. Clarisse examined her fully and then had a frank talk with her about how lucky she’d been in spite of what she went through.

The two women hit it off and Clarisse said that she wished Tala had not been a carrier because she was someone she felt she could be real friends with. Tala felt the same but was happy when they said it was time for them to go back, because she missed the children and even Ennis.

Graham laid her down on the bunk, taking extra care to arrange her casted leg and arm carefully. Fully medicated against the pain, she smiled up at him. “I’m okay,” she said.

He moved some of her hair out of her face. Then a very concerned Macy brought her a glass of water, pushing Graham out of the way. He gave the two some privacy, knowing Macy wanted to thank her for what she’d done for her. Tala hugged the girl, whose tears were streaming down her cheeks. Tala wiped them away from her and said to her in a strong voice, while holding her chin up, “I’m fine, Macy, really.”

“I know they hurt you,” Macy said as she began to sob even more.

Tala held the girl to herself, letting her cry.

“Yes, they did but there was no way I was going to let them take you, Macy, and no matter what they did to me, I know I did the right thing. Do you hear me? I love you as if you were my own child,” she said, and pulled her up to look her in the eyes again. “It doesn’t matter what happened. What matters is that you were safe from them,” Tala said and added, “You are the one who needs to go on. That’s what is important to me.”

“Thank you, Tala,” Macy said.

“You don’t need to thank me,” Tala said, and smiled at the girl and kissed her on her cheek.

Two weeks later, Sam and Graham tracked down the doe through the deep snow in the east forest. Sam showed Graham how to rig up a carrier sled using boughs from the pine trees so they could easily pull the two kills along behind them, making it a lot easier than carting them manually back to camp.

“I’ve got a date in fifteen minutes, Graham,” Sam said.

“Okay, Sam, see you back at the cabin,” Graham said and watched as the quiet man went on his way.

Sam walked quietly through the frozen forest floor, breaking a deep snow path as it became necessary until he came to the rendezvous spot alongside the Skagit River, partly covered in ice. The sound of the rushing water was almost overpowering this time of year. He brushed the ice off the boulder and sat waiting. He removed the small wood carving of the fawn he’d made for her this time, tossing it skillfully to land at the base of the pine across the river.

Soon he saw her coming, riding on Dalton’s shoulders. He’d promised to take care of the girl as if she were his own. He sat Addy down on her feet, dressed in a pink snowsuit with her hands in gloves and her hat pulled down. She was well cared for and Sam waved at his daughter as she waved back.

“Hi, Daddy,” she said, shouting over the rushing water.

“Hi, darlin’,” he said, wishing he could hold her in his arms, the ache never ending. “I put a present by the tree,” he said. Dalton pulled out the baggie and gave it to her, as usual. She ran over, excited to retrieve the gift. She knew to grab it through the baggie so Dalton could sterilize it before she could have it. The process would make the blonde wood turn darker, but she didn’t mind. She loved all the little creatures he made for her woodland collection.

“How was school today?” he asked her.

“It was good. I drew you a picture. I sent it to you,” she said. “I bet it’s real pretty.”

I’ll be sure to look at it as soon as I get back,” Sam assured her.

“I love you, Daddy,” Addy said.

“I love you too, baby. See you tomorrow,” he said and she turned around, reaching for Dalton’s outstretched hand. Dalton waved at Sam and he waved back, then Sam watched as they retreated back the way they came. When Sam could no longer see the pair, he turned and walked back to Graham’s camp.

The End.

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The Cascade Preppers
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The Last Infidels
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Deception on Durham Road
, a Kindle Worlds commissioned novella based on characters of Author Steven Konkoly’s series the
Perseid Collapse.

The author welcomes any comments, feedback or questions at
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A. R. Shaw is the author of
The China Pandemic
,
The Cascade Preppers
,
The Last Infidels
and
Deception on Durham Road
, a Kindle Worlds commissioned novella based on characters of Author, Steven Konkoly’s series the
Perseid Collapse.

A. R. Shaw, born in south Texas, served in the United States Air Force Reserves from 1987 through 1991 as a Communications Radio Operator, where she served at the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS Station) at Kelly AFB, Texas.
Her first novel, The China Pandemic, (2013) climbed to #1 in Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic genres in May of 2014. Hailed as "eerily plausible" and her characters "amazingly detailed," Shaw continues the engaging series in post-apocalyptic (SHTF) fiction.

She lives with her family in eastern Washington State, where after the deep snow of winter finally subsides to glorious rays of summer; she treks northeast to spend her days writing alongside the beautiful Skagit River.
 

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AuthorARShaw.com

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A. R. Shaw, Author

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Graham’s Resolution, Book Two

The Cascade Preppers

1 Trial between the Trees

The early winter sky cast in vibrant lavender led to piercing blue up north of the horizon. It was as cold as hell is hot, if you can imagine the heat of hell. Graham pulled in the weighted line, hand over hand. He wrapped the twine from hand to elbow while staring down the murky blue ice hole of the frozen lake. The brown trout came squirming their way up the ice tunnel towards him, till they met their last fate.

Sam reached out and grabbed the greedy guy that currently hung in midair. Tearing the hook from its mouth, he dropped the frigid slimy fish in a pail with its brothers. They went for quantity over size when fishing in the shallow waters beneath the ice, but the chore had taken a little longer than usual this morning, to get enough to feed them all. By this time, the sky had already gone from deep plum with a moon encircled in a fine mist to daylight, so intense it was meant for eye protection and extra layers of fur to contain the fleeting warmth.

Once they caught their fill of breakfast, they silently gathered their gear to make their way back up the trail to camp. Like any two men who’d worked the same routine, they would perform their job without uttering a single word with regards to the task.

“Get your nose out of there, Sheriff,” Graham gently warned the dog in a worn low voice as he caught him peering into the bucket, “you’ll get your share.”

He tussled his head as he reached down to retrieve their morning haul. Sam came up behind him with the other lines after he’d covered the ice holes with spare plywood to keep them from freezing over too much.

“Ready?” Sam asked.

“Yeah.”

They crunched along the reliable crust as their boots echoed in the vast open until they met the trail between the trees. Mark finished clearing the paths from that night’s continuous onslaught of snow.

As they walked up into the clearing, Bang, dressed in his snow gear from head to toe, tossed scraps to the chickens as they scampered all around him eager for their meager delicacies. Sheriff ran up ahead to help out his young friend. Amused that the dog did not understand why they kept the birds caged, nor why he wasn’t allowed to visit with them inside the coop, Graham laugh at the dog. They often ran away and rudely scurried as a collective to the other end of their enclosure as Sheriff came to greet them each morning.

He called out to Bang, “make sure you give them fresh water.”

“I always do,” Bang replied, confused by the remark, but didn’t linger on the reminder and remembered he had a message, “Mark told me to tell you, Ennis isn’t up yet.”

“All right, thanks. I’ll give him a hand.” The two men walked in silence past the front face of the cabin. Sam seemed to be pondering something, which wasn’t unusual for the man. After spending the entire day with him, other than a nod of the head or an occasional word, he didn’t say much, but he always suspected he was either thinking ahead or mourning his daughter. Whether he’d he let you in on his thoughts, was anyone’s guess.

His statement surprised Graham when he spoke up, “You know, he won’t see another winter. You might want to be prepared for that, Graham.”

“Yeah, I’ve pretty much figured that out,” Graham barely voiced the word.

“We’re losing him a little each day. He rarely talks, but when he does they’re always warnings. Like, he’s trying to give us as much as he can before he goes.” Graham stopped in mid-stride and scuffed his boot at the ice, sending crystals a few feet forward. “I’m thankful we had him for as long as we did.”

Sam clapped him on the back in understanding. He liked Ennis too, who’d even shown Sam a thing or two about carving the little wooden figurines he made for Addy. If a man taught you something useful in life, they were keepers in Sam’s book. Too bad they were made to witness the man fade away so soon after coming to love and respect him so much.

“Hey, I’ll clean the trout and gear. You go ahead and help Tala with Ennis,” Sam said.

“Thanks, Sam.” He handed off the gear to him, then noticed Sheriff trotting behind Sam, in high hopes of a fish head or two. The dog easily shifted his daytime alliances based on who had the better treats. This morning, Sam was the man, but by nightfall, he’d no doubt shift his loyalty back to Macy.

~ ~ ~

Graham walked back towards the cabin, taking the stairs by twos, as he came up the porch. The cabin door swung open showing Tala with a fretful expression.

“There you are, I need your help. He’s not doing well,” she said, getting worked up herself. The worry lines on her forehead were clenched in fear as she fought tears. He reached for her, “Shh, don’t worry.” He soothed her as best he could. Not often one for anxiety, Tala had proven herself to be level headed, more so than most of the women Graham had ever encountered. Everyone silently predicted and dreaded the upcoming loss of Ennis. Yet, for Tala to be anxious at all, worried him and made him fear the ending neared.

“Mark and I tried to help him up but he said he’d wait for you. Sometimes, I think he doesn’t recognize us.” She seemed slightly terrified.

“I’ll go check on him. Has he eaten anything yet?”

“I brought him some water earlier. I don’t think he’s had any yet.”

Tala whispered to him, “Graham, what are we going to do, he’s getting worse every day and he’s avoiding water and other drinks. I think he’s got an infection and he doesn’t want us to catch on to how much pain he’s in.”

“We’ve been lucky to have him this long,” Graham said and pulled her towards him. She looked pale, he caressed the side of her face with the back of his hand. Looking into her eyes, a moment of fear lurked there. Confused by this, his attention was interrupted by footsteps behind him. Macy stepped out of the bathroom, into clear view of their embrace.

“Can’t you guys do that somewhere else?” she said and stomped, frustrated out the door.

Graham and Tala began to laugh. “Poor girl,” Tala used the excuse to point his attention away from herself and said, “I think Ennis needs antibiotics and Phenazopyridine Hydrochloride.”

“Phenazo-what?” he asked.

“Phenazopyridine, numbs the urinary tract. Don’t ask me how I know. The antibiotics we have, but none of the other. I hate to think of him in constant pain.”

Graham nodded. Unshed tears pooled in her eyes. She knew what he left unsaid. Hugging her close, he kissed her on the forehead and released her.

“Let’s keep him as comfortable as we can until we know for sure.”

She closed her eyes and nodded, unleashing quiet streams down her cheeks.

After taking off his coat, he left her there, standing alone as his retreating form gave way to the silent morning as the light rays cast in from the formidable outside cold, leaving their gleams stretched along the weathered worn flooring.

He strolled into the bunkroom finding Ennis asleep on his side; still and quiet, snoring with a whistle cadence he’d come to accept over the last few months. Graham straightened his covers a little and felt the old man’s forehead for any trace of fever. Finding nothing wrong with him, he left him alone to rest and closed the bunkroom door behind him, to keep out the noise of the living, going about their morning routines.

“He’s sound to sleep right now,” he whispered to Tala, keeping the peace within the cabin for a little while longer before the rest returned. “After breakfast, I’ll try again. When’s your next call into Clarisse? Maybe she can give us some pointers?”

“We’re scheduled to talk tomorrow afternoon.”

She still looked a little tense and as he peered into her brown eyes he saw something more concerning in there, in fact, on further inspection, she looked quite pale for someone with her heritage and skin tone. “Are you sick?”

“I’m fine. Just a little worried.”

She quickly went off into the kitchen, to get things prepared for breakfast.

As he began to ask her something else, the front door opened with Sam and the kids, as well as Sheriff, in tow. There was hardly ever a moment of privacy for the two of them in such close quarters with the kids, two additional adults and Sheriff.

Sam handed the cleaned fish off to Tala for her to make quick work of pan-frying them because they were all starving from the morning tasks. While everyone else cleaned up and set the table, Graham reloaded the woodstove to fend off the persistent cold that seeped through the cracks of the old cabin.

Soon, the sounds and aroma of fried fish fillets held promise for hunger as a familiar line formed by the bathroom door to clean up before breakfast. Just as quickly, they’d finished their meal of cornmeal pan-fried trout, creamy grits and biscuits without much conversation beyond the uttered gratitude. They didn’t eat a formal lunch to keep their rations plentiful so they’d learned to eat well at breakfast and dinner. If they were starving in between from the hard labor their days demanded, they partook in the extra baked goods Tala kept available, seeing them through to the evening meal.

Graham finished eating and looked up expecting to meet eyes with Tala like usual, but she purposely looking down in thought. She worried about Ennis but was awfully quiet this morning all the same, and he missed her usual cheerfulness.

“Good breakfast, Tala.”

She glanced up at him and flashed a small smile, and went back to contemplating her meal; barely ate anything at all. He was about to ask her more, when Sam piped up. Since he didn’t waste words, Graham gave the man his full attention, while Tala and the rest of the gang began to clear the table.

~ ~ ~

Experience told Sam, this hunt would be the last of the season before things got too muddy and dangerous to travel far enough to make the expedition worth it. He hoped, Graham would trust his word and let the two kids come along, so they’d learn how to safely go on their own hunt next year. He and Graham needed to teach them these things, for their own survival. In this life they now lived, one never knew if they’d see the next sharp cold days of winter, let alone the hopeful blooms of the coming spring.

“Hey, Graham, before you go, I wanted to propose another hunt. We need more meat to preserve for later, and Mark and Marcy want to go out this time,” gesturing towards the two teens who scuttled out the door for watch. He tried to convince Graham why the trip was necessary to go out in the deep of winter, yet again, on the last overnight hunt before season's end.

~ ~ ~

There was a noticeable pause after the question. Graham had some reservations, since the outside temperatures ranged in the low single digits, these last few weeks. Graham hadn’t seen a winter as cold as this in several years. Being February now, they all yearned for warmer weather. As if, the earth itself mourned the massive loss of human life, Mother Nature expressed its grief with a desolate landscape, draped in white.

“Can you wait another week?” Tala piped from the kitchen, breaking up the uncomfortable silence, “Maybe the temperature won’t be so cold by then.”

“If we wait any longer, things will start to thaw, the environment will be worse camping in wet snow and much more dangerous hiking through the mountain passes, risking slides. This is the last safe time to go till later in the season. I wouldn’t offer to take them out, if conditions were too dangerous.”

“Of course not, Sam. I think taking them out when things are at their worst is probably a beneficial learning opportunity for them. Marcy, for one, hasn’t offered to go on a hunt yet, so this will be a good chance for her survival education.”

“Well, she might have ulterior motives,” Tala suspected and smiled with significant perception.

“There won’t be any of that. I’ll make sure the lovebirds stay busy.”

Graham pulled a tired hand down his whiskered face. “I don’t know how much longer we can keep Marcy and Mark apart. All of a sudden, I’ve been strapped with two teenage daughters and they’re driving me insane.”

Tala darted her eyes quickly at him and looked downward as she leaned against the kitchen counter.

Having said the wrong thing entirely, Graham could have kicked himself for making such a mistake around Sam. The pain for the man being separated from his young daughter Addy was still too raw.  The consequence of Sam’s sacrifice even strained their relationship with the Preppers at times.

“I’m sorry, Sam…”

Sam raised his hands up as if to physically keep the apology at bay. “Graham, I’ve accepted the way things are, for now. She’s fine and I still get to visit and talk to her. I can’t be with her but, she’s healthy and well cared for. That kills me, but Clarisse said she’d keep researching a cure. I can only hope, one day she’ll come up with something that will cure us of the virus. In the meantime, I’m stuck with you guys. No offense.”

“Not at all, we’re happy you’re here with us. We only wish the circumstances were different,” Tala said, knowing she spoke for both her and Graham.

“After months of this, the pain is still as strong as the day I left her behind, with the Preppers. I feel like a divorced parent and Dalton’s got custody of her. I love the guy but hate him too. Does that make sense?” Sam confessed, and looked to them for understanding.

Though Sam bore the pain with admirable stoicism, Graham and Tala encouraged him to talk to them about the situation they were in. When Sam first arrived, he was too grief-stricken to utter a single word out loud for fear he would release his massive grief. To keep to himself, he would leave early in the morning to hike through the woods; no one knew what he was doing with his time and when questioned by the others, Graham told them to give the man some time to deal with his torment alone. His pain must be a living hell and Graham commended the man for not taking his anguish out on him. He certainly felt guilt over the situation and wished there was something he could do to alleviate the circumstances.