Jacqueline Druga - Healing

“What the hell happened?” Ethan asked.

“Best I can figure, those two were camping and they were ambushed.”

“For what? She was naked, Mick, you don’t think…”

“More than likely, yes.”

“Christ. That’s wrong. It’s sick. Didn’t we have enough death in this world?” He handed over Baby Doe to Mick. “And it’s scary, too. So close to camp.”

Mick’s head sprang up as he took hold of the baby. “Oh God.”

“What?” Ethan asked.

“It is close. Too close. We need to get moving. Now.”

Ethan didn’t hesitate; he slammed his foot to the gas and sped away.

Tigger looked happy as he ran about. At least Chris thought he did. Madge told the kids that she was getting lunch and if no one wasted anything, they’d get to go fishing.

“There’s a lake, you know,” Jake, a boy of twelve, told Chris. He introduced himself at least three times. He seemed nice enough, but nervous. He was a skinny African American boy, with huge hazel eyes. He kept lifting and adjusting his baseball cap, probably to cover his hair that needed a cut.

He took a liking to Chris, maybe because they were near the same age. There were seven kids not including Chris and Tigger. Two were about the same age as Tigger. One was smaller, a little girl, who was maybe three. And aside from Jake, the other two were older.

But all of them played. Right in that spot near the edge of camp.

“It’s a nice lake,” Jake said. “We been there. Ethan said before the flu, fishing was tough there. Now there’s lots. Used to be some old guy that lived in the cabin that took care of the lake but he died. Good thing the flu didn’t kill the fish.”

“Good thing,” Chris echoed.

“That your brother?” Jake asked.

“Yep, he is.”

“Real brother or after-flu brother?”

Chris snickered. “He’s my real brother.”

“You’re lucky, my family died in the flu.”

“All of them?”

“Yep. We came up here hoping to stay clear of getting sick. But it didn’t work.”

“I’m sorry,” Chris said honestly. “That’s horrible. I know how you feel. We came here to get away ‘cause we lost our mom and brother.”

“You took a vacation?”

“My stepfather’s idea,” Chris said.

“Your stepfather? You’re lucky you still have family.” Jake sighed. “Some people came, you know, and took some kids with them. I guess ‘cause their own died, but they left the older ones. That was before Emmie. Someone surely would have taken her.” He pointed to the little girl. “She got here just before you. Ethan found her on the road. She was just walking by herself.”

“Wow, that’s terrible.” Chris shook his head. “Well, you know, you are welcome to come with us when we leave and go back home.”

“Really?”

“Oh, sure, unless you wanna stay here. But we have a nice town, too.”

“We should bring Emmie…” Suddenly, Jake laughed. “Look at her chasing your brother. She must like him ‘cause they’re same age.”

“He’s just small. Born with a condition that don’t allow him to grow.” Chris stood when he saw Tigger diligently trying to avoid the little girl who clung to him. He called to his brother. “Tig!”

“She won’t stop kissing me, Chris,” Tigger said. “I tried to tell her I’m not looking for a relationship, but she can’t talk.”

Chris smiled. “Be nice.” Just as Chris reached down to Tigger’s arm, the heard a loud bang.

“What was that?” Tigger asked.

“I don’t know.” Chris shook his head.

Two more bangs caused Chris to not only jolt, but he grabbed on to Tigger for dear life and headed for the mobile home.

Tom didn’t stop. With determined steps, he strode directly to his store, went in the back and grabbed his shotgun.

A short distance radio was all he had to work with as a fast, effective means to get hold of those he had deemed able bodied enough to be the ‘watchdogs’ of Lodi.

Reality hit Tom when he arrived at his truck to find Rose waiting to go and about three other men.

He turned to Lars. “Is this it?”

“I can go,” Lars said. “I don’t have a problem.”

“No, I need you here in case something goes wrong,” Tom told him. “Where are our young fit men?”

“You sent four of them out on the trucks,” Lars replied. “We can’t spare Buzz, he’s all we have around here as trained law. And Tom, most of our young and fit died in the flu. The majority of our surviving adult male population is over forty.”

Tom closed his eyes. “Well, I said I needed four men. Glad I have these guys.” He waved out his hand. “Load in.” It was then he saw Rose getting ready to jump in the truck. “Rose, what in tarnation are you doing?”

“Going.”

“I wanted men to go.”

“Yeah, well, tough,” Rose said. “I’m a better shot.”

“Still, Rose, you’re a woman.”

“You gotta problem with women?”

Tom stammered for an answer.

“You tell me if you don’t think I’m tougher than most of the fucking men in Lodi. You tell me that, I’ll stay back.”

Tom stared and then growled. “I can’t. You got me beat, that’s for sure. Get in.”

Rose did and then Tom opened his driver’s door and got into the truck.

Lars walked around and closed it. “Be careful, Tom. I hope everything is okay.”

“Well…” Tom twitched his head and spoke calmly. “My trucks are two hours late and our closest town is aflame. I’d say chances are it’s not.” He nodded to Lars, started his truck and took off.

Las Vegas, NV

One of Lexi’s biggest fears was that she and Bill would run out of gas or the car would break down in the desert.

They had a plan for gas on the journey. A small generator would help to pump gas from the storage wells at abandoned stations. Unfortunately, a long stretch of road through the California desert didn’t reveal a gas station and they traveled on a wing and a prayer that they wouldn’t break down or run out.

They used their last five gallon container to make it the rest of the way. They sputtered the final distance into Sin City, pulling over at a station just before town.

Vegas looked orange. A dusty hue covered the city and the sun reflected off the buildings causing the illusion of fire. Dirt and sand covered the gas station lot and they almost had to dig their way to the reserve well.

The highway wasn’t much different. It looked like a sandstorm had moved in, but Bill told her, no movement on the road, no clearing of the dirt and sand. With the steady, warm air, sand just rolled in.

“I always wanted to see Vegas,” Lexi told Bill.

“Then we might as well stop for the night.”

Not that it was anywhere near nightfall, but they had a country to cross. At least that was the plan.

It was scary though, what would Vegas hold? Would anyone be there? Maybe on the outskirts, but on the strip?

“I was here once,” Bill said. “Isabella and I came here to get married.”

“I didn’t know you were married.”

“We chickened out.”

Lexi laughed with a toss of her head and then she saw what looked like a light. Actually, the hotel name seemed to be illuminated.

“Do they have power there?” she asked.

“Has to be an optical illusion,” Bill suggested. “It has to be. Or a mirage?”

“Ha, ha, ha, the irony,” Lexi said as they pulled slowly down the strip. “Wait, ” she instructed.

Bill did. “What’s up?”

“Pull over.”

He turned the wheel, pulling the car under the protective covering of the hotel’s ‘drop off’ area. “What’s going on?”