Iain McKinnon - Remains of the Dead

“You ever read Of Mice and Men , David?” Cahz asked, surprising himself calling Cannon by his first name.

“Nope,” came Cannon’s short answer. “Why?”

Cahz thought back to Candy’s dog being shot.

After a moment he said, “It’s not important.”

Ryan was pacing up and down, rocking the baby, when Cahz and Cannon returned.

“She won’t stop crying,” he said.

Elspeth lay on a camp bed, apparently asleep even with the racket. Cannon unconsciously walked round to cover her, just in case her sleep turned into something more permanent.

“The infection?” Cahz asked.

“No, I just think she’s hungry,” Ryan said. “It’s way past her feeding.”

“You didn’t bring any baby food?”

“Well, no, I didn’t think to. I threw on some clothes and grabbed an armful of Molotov cocktails. That was it.” Anger started to rise in Ryan’s voice. “I didn’t think any of this would happen.”

“Okay, fair enough. None of us thought today would turn out the way it has,” Cahz said, trying to diffuse the antagonism.

“Is there some powdered milk in that ration pack?”

Cahz looked down at the army issue meal. He hadn’t expected to open it so soon, and besides, was there any point feeding an infected child?

Cahz berated himself for having such a callous thought. “No, there’s not,” he said.

Worried that Ryan might doubt his honesty and expose his emotional bankruptcy, Cahz slung his weapon and sat down on a crate. He unfastened the pouch Bates had given him and slipped out the insipid khaki brick of plastic. Printed along the top were the words ‘peelable seal’. Cahz ignored the advice and pulled his knife from its scabbard. Although the packs were supposedly designed to be opened by hand, the only man Cahz had ever seen do so was Cannon and even that was as part of a bet to see if anyone could. Cahz placed the tip of the knife to the wrapping, but before he pierced it he read the batch number.

“Shit, Cannon, this thing’s only a year out of date!” he called out enthusiastically.

“Where the hell did Bates get that from?” Cannon asked. “I’ve never seen a single Post-Rising MRE.”

Cahz slashed open the packet. “Crafty little bugger. Do think he’s been hoarding them or does he have contacts off ship?”

Cannon shrugged.

Cahz spilled the contents onto the crate lid beside him. An assortment of different packets slid to a halt. “What can we give the kid?” he asked as he spread out the contents like a pack of cards.

Cannon reached down and picked out an item. He stretched over and passed it to Ryan.

“A dry cracker?” Ryan said, puzzled as he read the label. “She can’t eat a cracker.”

“Mash it up in a cup with a little water or chew it like a mama bird. Either way it’ll do for now.”

Ryan looked at the packet and then back at Cannon. “Okay,” he said sheepishly, realising how sharp this otherwise dumb-looking marine had been. “Will you hold her while I…”

“Sure,” Cannon said with a surprisingly kind smile.

“Anyone mind if I snaffle the gum?” Cahz asked, holding up the tiny red film bag with two solitary chiclets.

Neither of the other two men objected as Cahz tore open the packet and popped the contents in his mouth.

“Whoa there!” Cannon called out suddenly.

Both Ryan and Cahz froze. Cannon was staring at Ryan crushing a handful of crackers.

“Don’t waste them all,” Cannon said.

“But she’s hungry,” Ryan countered.

“Well mash up a bit at a time. There’s no point wasting them if she won’t eat it.”

“He likes the crackers,” Cahz explained.

“How else are you supposed to eat the peanut butter?” Cannon’s look was strangely serious. Evidently he actually was looking for a genuine suggestion from Cahz.

“Could you not just suck it out of the tube…?” Cahz’s lacklustre suggestion trailed off as he noticed Cannon’s stern look.

“Ali made a great Thai Satay with a jar of peanut butter and some canned coconut milk.” Ryan paused for a moment, looking at the ceiling. “At least that’s what he called it. Real spicy but nice. He made it a few times until we ran out of something. Couldn’t say what it was but it wasn’t right after a while. Maybe the coconut had spoiled.”

“Well, thank you for the recipe tip,” Cannon said.

Cahz started to drop the individual packets back in to the open plastic pocket.

“What’s the main meal, anyway?” Cannon inquired.

Cahz picked up the big rectangular box and orientated it to read the label. “It’s spicy penne pasta,” he answered between loud chews of the gum. He held up the empty wrapper for Cannon to see the bold writing below the menu designation. “It’s vegetarian.”

“Penne with vegetable sausage crumbles in spicy tomato sauce,” Cannon quoted from memory.

Ryan looked up from stirring the pulped-up cracker. “Doesn’t sound that appetising.”

“It’s not bad,” Cannon countered. “Quite meaty-tasting for a vegi meal.”

“One thing we’ve got Iraq and Afghanistan to thank for,” Cahz quipped.

“Why’s that?” Ryan asked. He presented his child with the first spoonful of mush.

“Wanted us boys to feel like we were being looked after. Keep up the morale,” Cannon said. “I guess they thought it made up for not issuing proper body armour.”

Cahz nodded in agreement. “One less thing for us grunts to moan about.”

“Let’s have a look,” Ryan said, holding a hand out.

Cannon picked up the rectangular brown packet. “Not much to see,” he said and passed it over.

“You two serve together then?” Ryan asked.

“No, we only met after all this shit started,” Cahz said. “We’ve both done tours overseas, but Cannon here was a civvie when we met up.”

Cannon’s silence gave Ryan the impression that the big man didn’t want to talk about their first encounter and when Cannon broke the silence only to inform him, “She’s dribbling,” Ryan thought it best to leave the subject.

“She seems to be enjoying that,” Cahz noted.

“Yeah, it’s doing the trick,” Ryan admitted.

Ryan idly flipped over the bland package and looked at the utilitarian information printed on it. “Hey, have you guys read this?”

“Yeah, sure,” Cahz said.

“No, I mean really read it,” Ryan said with a snigger.

“Why?”

Ryan put on his best anchorman voice and read, “Restriction of food and nutrients leads to rapid weight loss which leads to: Loss of strength, decreased endurance, loss of motivation, decreased mental alertness.”

“So?”

“Well, come on,” Ryan said, back to his normal voice. “It’s like it’s describing a pus bag.”

“Hmmm,” Cannon puffed. “I suppose.” He turned to his commander for his reaction, but Cahz was looking the other way. “Boss?”

Cahz turned back from looking at Elspeth. “Not very tactful.”

“Ah shit,” Ryan said, the humour in his voice crashing down.

Elspeth lay on an aluminium tubing and dull blue fabric camp bed, shivering. Her pale skin was laced with dark polluted tracks of infected veins and pricks of cold sweat dotted her face.

“We need to keep a watch over her,” Cahz said.

“How long since she was bitten?” Cannon asked.

Cahz looked at his watch. “Must be close to two hours now.”

“What you reckon?” Cannon asked. “A bite that close to her neck…”

Cahz turned to Ryan. “How old is she?”

“Um… mid-fifties,” Ryan said, uncertain. “I think?” He shrugged. “To be honest I don’t rightly know what year this is.”

“You got the wheel of death on you?” Cannon asked.