“I cut half of them down.” Burke added. “Remember.”
“Enough trees, though to make it pretty.” I said.
“I put that fence up.”
“Burke!” I yelled. “Will you stay out of my story!”
“Tell it right and I will!” he hollered back.
“I’m trying to, but you keep interrupting.”
“I keep interrupting because you’re telling it wrong!”
There was one thing that Tammy was able to do, that no one else could—yell louder than Burke. In a deep, irritated, gurgling voice, she blasted, “Hey! Will you two knock it off? Some of us would like to sleep.”
“Well, sleep goddamn it!” Burke yelled. “No one’s stopping you.”
“You are!” Tammy barked. “You and your big mouth.”
“Hey!” Burke had a bite to his voice. “Me and my big mouth along with my big shotgun are watching out for your big ass, so deal with it!”
Silence.
“Oh, my God.” I whispered, and then exhaled. “Well, that’s where we’re going. Doesn’t it sound nice? A fresh start.” I glanced from Simon, to Matty to Davy.
“Aunt Jo?” Simon tugged on my arm. “Will my mommy be there?”
I didn’t hesitate, I just answered. “I don’t know, Simon. Maybe.”
“Is she still lost, Aunt Jo?” Simon asked.
“I think so, Simon.” I took in his innocent face; puppy eyes that peered up to me and I gently placed my lips to his forehead.
“Mommy?” Matty called me. “When? When are we going?”
“When everyone is together, then we’ll go. And…” I paused when Sam’s coughing carried to me. “And… when everyone is well.”
“When will that be?” Matty questioned further.
“Soon.” My eyes made contact with Davy and I gave him a reassuring look. “Very soon.” Pulling Matty and Simon to me, I closed my eyes, blocked out the sounds of Sam’s coughing, and whispered to myself, “I hope.”
11. Realism
Just before dawn of day six AB, the airwaves went silent. Craig had stopped transmitting his hourly reports. Usually he’d sign off about midnight, later if he felt the initiative, then return at five the next day. We tuned in, Craig wasn’t there.
We heard from Tammy though. The first time in two days. At four days AB, she searched for Mick, came back for the night then left again. She took with her Burke’s radio and made one check-in call. It was to tell us she was heading south toward Mick’s father’s home.
Still, no Craig. No word. Then around seven in the morning, Craig showed up. The slight scuffling of his feet above our heads made Burke ‘weapons ready’. Until the door opened, and there was Craig… alone.
He had stayed with a man named Bruce, but couldn’t convince Bruce to come along. Craig did however, bring two pieces of good news. The radiation levels fell just a tad below four roentgens per hour, and an Army medical rescue station was set up not a mile from my home.
With the deliverance of this news, my thoughts turned to Sam. He had worsened. Though he tried to maintain a level of usefulness, for the most part Sam had to rest. His breathing was labored, and coughing up the thick gunk lodged in his chest became a chore. Dan had appointed himself Sam’s personal nurse. ‘Out of the goodness of his heart and indebtedness to Sam’, Dan claimed. I believed he helped Sam only because it was the least menial of all jobs.
Even with Dan playing Florence Nightingale, Sam needed more help than we could give. The medical rescue station was it.
But Burke and Craig had other plans.
Aside from Mona, three other people were unaccounted for: Hebba, Nicky, and Rod.
Hebba was a traveling hospice worker, and she had three stops to make every day. Burke and Sam had checked two of those stops when Sam helped Burke. But Hebba wasn’t there. Burke figured she had to be at the third, she had to be.
As fate would have it, Nicky and Rod both worked within a few blocks from each other. On the outskirts of downtown, in a little section called Beachwood. Ironically enough, Hebba’s third stop for the day was near there as well.
Beachwood was close to ground zero; it was hard to determine whether or not it was actually still standing. But radiation levels had dropped, enough time had passed, Burke and Craig were forming a two-man search party, and were about to find out.
I followed Burke around the basement as he gathered items for the search. “But, Burke…”
Was Burke ignoring me? He kept a conversation with Craig about ropes, flashlights, and a small shovel. Things they would need.
“Burke.” I grabbed hold of his arm, and spoke with hard determination. “Listen to me!”
Burke finally turned to face me. “Jo, we want to head out. OK?”
“No, it’s not OK. Sam needs help.”
“I know Sam needs help.” Burke said, “But right now…”
“You’re blowing him off.”
“Jo!” Burke snapped. “We will get Sam the help he needs… later.”
My eyes shifted to Sam who slept. His body propped up on four blankets. “Burke, if we can get him to the rescue station. Craig said there’s a rescue station.”
“I know. But right now, we’re headed in the complete opposite direction.”
I huffed out, “I can’t believe you are taking this attitude.”
“I asked Sam. Sam said to wait.”
“Oh.” I grunted in frustration. “Sam still doesn’t think he’s ill.”
Burke tossed a small rope to Craig, and then secured a hand revolver under his jacket. “Ready?” he asked Craig, ignoring me. They moved to the steps.
I was persistent. “Burke. Stop. The rescue station is only a mile away. Didn’t you listen to Craig?”
“Yeah, I did.” Burke spun around to me. “Didn’t you? Tell her Craig.”
“Jo.” Craig spoke calmly. “I told you, the rescue station was packed. No, more than packed. They’re saying it’s a two day wait for help.”
Burke stepped into the conversation. “Two days, Jo. You really wanna drag Sam down there to have him wait? Wait with all those people for two days? He’ll be more comfortable here. We’ll be gone a couple hours tops. We’ll work something out when I get back.” Giving a nod to Craig, Burke started to take the stairs.
“The hell with you then.” I barked. “I’ll go myself. I’ll go down there and get him something.”
Mid stairs, Burke stopped. “You will do no such thing. You hear me?”
“Yeah, I hear you.” I gave attitude. “But you’ll be gone, now won’t you?”
Burke’s face glared. “I swear to God, Jo, don’t you dare leave this shelter when I’m gone. You have three kids here. It’s a mad house out there. Your ass will stay put until I get back.” Burke gave a firm point. “Stay here.” He turned, said no more and walked up the steps.
After giving an apologetic look, Craig followed Burke.
How long did I stand there? Standing with my arms folded defiantly, I watched their legs disappear up the steps, then the slamming basement door caused a painful jolt through my body. I heard the walking above me, and I knew when they were gone.
My head dropped.
Dan’s slow sigh rang out near my ear as he stepped beside me. “For what it’s worth, you were right.”
Barely did I face him to speak, when Davy jumped a defensive.
“No, she’s not.” Davy argued. “Burke’s right. Sam said to wait. She should wait.”
“No.” I muttered softly. “No, I should go. Go now, I won’t be long.” I moved away from the staircase. Pretty much, I was all ready to go, since I thought Burke was taking Sam and me to the station. All I needed were my gloves, sunglasses, and bandana. Those I found with little problems.
“Mom, no.” Davy followed me. “Please don’t. Burke said…”