Bill cleared his throat. “Lex, come on.”
Lexi looked at him, then to Matt, who had turned away. “I would think that with what both of you saw during the outbreak, this would be nothing.” She rolled the tissue and threw it away, then removed her gloves and tossed them in the trash as well. “The texture is good,” she told Lucy. “So is the color. So I’m going confirm your diagnosis of pneumonia. Lots of fluids, we’ll get a course of antibiotics in you, an expectorant, and in a few days you’ll be good as new.” She addressed Matt. “I’m also convinced that’s what our boy Charlie the slot hero has as well.”
Bill asked. “You can tell that without looking at his spit?”
“It was on his chin,” Lexi winked. “Besides, the color of his skin lets me know his O2 levels are down.” Again, she looked at Matt. “Did you clean out the hospital? Medfast places, things like that? Pharmacies?”
“Not all. We have a room of supplies,” Matt replied. “If you can’t find it there, there’s still a ton left at the pharmacies and the hospital. But the hospital is a wreck, just so you know. We just didn’t know what was viable to take and what wasn’t.”
Lexi nodded. “I can understand that. While I’m here, I can help.”
“Excellent. Let’s go to the next room.” Matt said. “We have two more for you to look at, same as my mom.” He bent down and kissed his mother on the forehead. “See, I told you I’d get you well.” And then Matt walked to the door.
Bill reached out and grabbed Lexi’s arm, pulling her back. “Wait, slot guy, this woman and two others. Is pneumonia contagious?”
Lexi shook her head. “No. But, I’m beginning to think, we may be seeing a delayed repercussion of our flu that we weren’t expecting.” She paused at the door. “Hopefully, that’s all it is.”
What Jon had told him stayed with Briggs throughout his lunch. He sipped a cup of broth, ate a cracker and thought about Jon’s words; the things he’d conveyed about the Ohio search party, what his man in Ohio had told him. The look on the survivor’s faces. His mind swirled. Then he thought about Jon. He was younger, but not only was he technologically smart, he seemed to represent both sides of reason, and Briggs liked that.
He had an idea of what he wanted to do with Jon, but first, he fired up the radio, and contacted Sergeant Nelson of the Ohio Minuteman.
“This is Commander Briggs of the United America Army, how are you son?”
“Good,” Sergeant Nelson replied. “What can I do for you, sir?”
“Hey, I know you guys are squarely in. Jon told me you sensed some problem with the guys I dispatched from Southern PA to clear warehouses.”
“Well… shortly after I met with your guys, one of our towns burned to the ground. I just felt it ironic that they had recently been in the area.”
“What were their attitudes?”
Silence.
“Sergeant?”
“Smug. Trying to act hard ass.”
“I tried to reach them, no luck. Any chance you can send men out to look for them? I’ll deploy some relief to you. I know you gentlemen are working hard in that area to organize.”
“Sir, they said they were meeting up with another team in Pennsylvania, they’re probably there by now. May be easier to dispatch from your end. But I can definitely use the help here.”
“I’ll get some men out to you, and I’ll send out for the other group. Thank you, Sergeant.”
Briggs ended the radio call, and like he had a dozen times in the previous two hours, he looked at his cell phone. Still no signal.
He downed the rest of his broth, and sought out Richards, one of his trusted men, one he had known long before the flu hit. He was in the troop dispatch center working on unloading trucks.
Briggs called for him and pulled him aside. “Richards, I’m heading back into Damon, and I need to speak to some incoming survivors and to Jon. What can you tell me about the teams from PA 149?”
Richards cocked back, seemingly surprised by the question. “149? Hold on.” He grabbed a notebook and checked it quickly. “I haven’t logged any into the computer yet. “
Briggs followed him to the small desk. “They contacted us when the flu was in full swing; we told them to hang tight and would give them a mission before they head up here.”
“Yeah, I recall.” Richards flipped through the notebook. “We don’t really know much. Unorganized militia group. We don’t know much about that group, but we accepted their help. Gave them three counties in Ohio and two in PA, they’re to report back here in two days.”
“So we know nothing about who they are?”
Richards shook his head. “The CO of the unit passed away from the flu. Seemed like a decent enough fellow. But, Jonah, we have to remember, we’re taking all the help we can get. Are we having a problem with them?”
“Maybe. I tried to reach them.”
“You won’t be able to. They’re probably out of range. We just gave them orders and you can talk to them when they get here. Unless, you know, they end up taking off with what they got. I mean, really, we gave them intel on food storage, weapons storage… who knows?”
Briggs’ eyes lifted. “I didn’t think of that.”
“It’s a possibility with any of the unregulated units or those we don’t know.”
“Thank you,” Briggs said. “I’ll be back.” He gave a swat to Richards’ arm and headed to the stables.
He mounted his horse, and took a straight route into town. Upon arrival, he gave word to a guard to find Jon Wentworth, then Briggs headed to the municipal building where survivors were registered.
The young man behind the desk stood. “Sir.”
“At ease,” Briggs said. “Son, some survivors were brought in earlier. Do you know if they are still here?”
“Um…” The young man scratched his head. “We brought in forty today.”
“Really?” Briggs nodded, impressed. “This one was a group of three. Two women and a child.”
“Oh, yeah, a few hours ago.” He went to the laptop. “They’re over at the Med Center with Doc.”
“Are they sick?”
“One of the women is. Doc is holding the other two for observation,” he replied.
“What’s wrong with them? Starvation, injury?”
“No, get this,” he said. “Doc thinks it’s the flu.”
“Flu? Our flu?”
He shrugged.
Briggs lifted a hand. “I’ll be back. If Wentworth gets here, tell him to stay put. I need to see what’s going on.”
Before the young man could acknowledge the request, Briggs had left the building.
Emmie hadn’t spoken a single word since they fled camp, and now she was repeating over and over that she had to go potty.
This was another dilemma that Chris hadn’t even thought about.
He thought he had it. They’d follow the lake then go straight. But somehow that road didn’t seem as close as it had on the map.
“I have to go potty.”
“I know, I know.” Chris stared at the map. “Here’s where I get confused. West is left. East is right. How do we know we’re going east or west? Obviously, we didn’t go straight.”
“I have to go potty.”
“I know you do,” Chris looked at the little girl. “But there isn’t a potty here, so you have to go behind the tree and pee.”
“Potty.”
“Oh my God.” Chris closed his eyes.
“This is why I’m glad I’m a boy,” Tigger said. “Don’t need anything special to pee. Just stand there and go.”
“Potty.”
Jake laughed and grabbed Emmie’s hand. “Come on, we’ll make you a potty.”
“You sure?” Chris asked.
“I had two little sisters. I can do this.”
“Cool. Thanks.” Chris again returned to the map, then he noticed Tigger in a crouch next to him. “What’s up, Tig?”