The arrival of a military aircraft in a place cut off from society — if only for two days — tended to draw a crowd. By the time the C-130 had touched down and rolled to a stop, a convoy of twenty pickups and three motorcycles had arrived at the airport.
Colonel Huber with the Utah National Guard had his men dressed in black biohazard suits, standing ready to accept the new cargo — and keep anyone in the twenty pickups from stealing it.
Monte Young, Elton’s father-in-law and the only sheriff Kane County had known for twenty-four years, stood at the front of a white Dodge Durango with a six-pointed badge on the door.
The rear of the C-130 yawned open and the National Guardsmen began the work of unloading palletized food and medical supplies.
The crew on the arriving transport was careful not to go beyond the confines of the ramp. None of them would dare leave the plane. If they did, they would find themselves calling Kanab home for the foreseeable future.
Though most of the valley was predominately Mormon and taught to prepare for disasters with extra food, it was amazing how fast the shelves of the local grocery had been stripped bare once news of the quarantine was broadcast.
Neighbor stopped visiting neighbor and a personally enforced approach boundary of at least fifteen feet became the norm. If someone had a cold or sneezed, the nonapproach area was raised to a bubble of thirty feet or more. As a doctor, and one mandated to deal directly with those already infected, Elton was placed even farther out in what he called a yell-zone — where he had to raise his voice just to be heard in normal conversations.
The guy who’d brought pizza to the clinic the night before had left the food at the curb, yelling at him to leave his money on the sidewalk. Elton didn’t have the heart to tell the poor kid that if he was infected, his money would be the last thing anyone should touch.
Last to be unloaded were the sets of large Pelican hard cases that Elton knew contained ECMO units. His heart fell when only two were lowered onto the tarmac.
An armed soldier ordered him to halt when he tried to walk closer.
“I thought we were getting a dozen ventilators and at least six ECMO machines,” he yelled to the guy who looked like he might be in charge.
“Realigned,” the soldier said.
“What does that mean?”
“Means the hospitals need the units for themselves. New cases are popping up in Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Seattle, and Los Angeles. Everyone’s holding on to what they have in case they need it.”
Elton’s shoulders fell, stunned.
“Sorry, Doc,” the soldier said. “There’s talk of bringing some over from the East Coast. Maybe next trip.”
Elton knew better. If the disease was spreading, no hospital administrator was going to give up a piece of equipment they might need for their own patients.
He looked at the two Pelican cases. They wouldn’t be enough — and with all the information and conspiracy theories flying around the Internet, everyone in town already knew it.
A barrel-chested man wearing jeans and a faded tan Carhartt jacket stood beside a KLR motorcycle off the side of the runway. A curly head of black hair moved in the noon breeze. Brody Teeples was a known hothead and sometimes drunk. A talented cabinetmaker, he was ever spoiling for a fight. He had a mouth like a sailor and the eye of an artist. And though he was quick to crack another man’s skull for looking at him wrong, one word from his wife would cow him immediately. He loved her more than life.
And she was one of the sick.
Teeples strode over to face Elton, not caring to keep the distance of any yell-zone. His eyes, red from crying, stared holes in the doc. He hadn’t shaved in days.
“My Stephanie better get every bit of the care your family gets.” Teeples’s hands clenched in tight fists at his side. His lip quivered as he spoke.
“We don’t even know what—”
“I’m not askin’ you what it is!” Brody screamed, showing his teeth. “I’m telling you my wife had better get the care she deserves. The way I see it, your brother-in-law, who happens to also be related to the sheriff, is getting the best treatment while the rest suffer.”
Elton clenched his teeth at the accusation. He knew it would only incite things, but he slid down from his pickup to face the fuming Teeples, who had him by two inches and at least sixty pounds.
“And I’m telling you that we’re doing all we can,” Elton said.
Monte Young’s jovial voice drew Teeples’s attention away and saved Elton from the imminent beat-down.
Though nearing sixty, the sheriff was a wide, squarely built man with a strong jaw. He had a bit of a belly, but big arms and shoulders to go with it. Certainly past his prime fighting days, Young gave the impression that he would have no qualms against throwing out his back while he used his last bit of good health to give a ne’erdo-well a whipping.
“You boys didn’t hear about the whole social distancing thing?”
“I don’t give a damn about me getting sick,” Teeples said. “I just want to make sure your son-in-law takes care of somebody besides people related to you.”
“And you know he will,” Young said.
“I don’t know shit anymore, Sheriff.” Teeples shook his head, sniffing back angry tears. “The news says everyone that gets this stuff dies. They’re saying the only chance anyone has is to be on a heart-lung machine — and any fool can see they didn’t bring enough of those on that plane.”
Elton took a deep breath. “I’m going to do everything I can—”
Teeples spun, cutting him off. “Don’t you go making promises you don’t intend to keep.”
Sheriff Young moved a half step closer. “And you might consider not making threats that will get you hurt.”
“Take it like you want, Sheriff,” Teeples snapped. “But if my wife dies because your family gets better treatment, there’s gonna be hell to pay. You can count on that. And I’m starting with the little doctor man here.”
Young nodded his head as if chewing over the words. “You know,” he said at length, “they’ve given these poor National Guard boys live ammo to enforce the orders of this quarantine — and protect the hospital.”
“I’m not scared of no National Guard troops.”
“I guess I wouldn’t be, either, if I was you.” The sheriff shrugged. “They might pause before they shoot you, thinking you’re just a poor, misguided soul who’s upset over his sick wife. But they don’t know you like I do, Brody.” Young’s eyes suddenly narrowed and his voice grew stern. “I won’t make that mistake.”
“You threatening me?”
“Take it like you want,” Young said, hand on his sidearm.
A shout from the colonel drew everyone’s attention away and gave Elton a chance to move away from the stare-down and toward his truck. He drove away, leaving the sheriff and Brody Teeples posturing on the tarmac. His main concern was to lead the National Guardsmen back to the hospital with a truck full of medical supplies and the ECMO machines. There were fifteen people there with an unknown illness. No one knew how contagious it was, or how it even spread — but, for now, the hospital seemed to be the safest place in town.
CHAPTER 41
Quinn slipped out of his boots in the entry of Ayako’s studio apartment and watched as she used her fingers to fluff the moisture from her hair. Without the helmet and oversized goggles, it was easier to get a look at her. She hung the denim jacket on a hook along the wall and mopped her brow with her forearm. A white wooden bowling pin with a little black bow tie stood on the shelf just inside the door.
Quinn nearly knocked it over when he took off his jacket. “You are a bowler?” He pushed the heavy pin back a little, making sure it stayed upright.