High Pressure System: First Season Underground (17 page)

I blinked several times so I wouldn’t let what welled up there fall out. When I looked at Brandon and saw how emotional he was, I had to let a couple tears fall.

He only nodded and squeezed my hand tighter. I waited until he relaxed his grip before I let the need to leave overtake me again. “I should probably go before I catch this thing.”

“Is there anyone left that’s healthy that can help you?”

“I don’t know.” I chewed on my lip.

“I’m confident you will do just fine. You already have.”

“Like you said, it could be a long time before this is over and I sure hope I’m not the only one here that is able to deal with another round of creepy crawlies.”

“That won’t be good.” Brandon struggled to sit up.

“Hey, you aren’t going anywhere.” I gently pushed his shoulder down. “Rest up. I’ll find out if there is anyone left that is healthy enough to help me.” Why was I such a sucker for the vulnerable? There was an ache in my chest and I really hoped he would get better soon. He was not one that could handle being down. When I was sure he wasn’t going to follow me out of the room, I slipped out. He couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore.

I rested my back against the wall once the door shut. The ache turned into a gripping pain. Closing my eyes to subdue the panic rising up into my throat, I wondered how Brandon carried the load worrying about all of us clueless people for so long. I wasn’t sure how I was going to manage to keep everyone safe all by myself.

“Are you coming down with something?” a nurse felt my forehead.

“Just responsibility-itis.” I sighed.

“You’re feeling all right otherwise?”

“Mild closing off of my throat, heart palpitations, flushing cheeks. Burning, watery eyes. Just a standard panic attack.” I smiled as best I could to reassure the nurse I really was feeling all right. Except my flushing might not have been from anxiety, or worry about Brandon. I didn’t have time to be sick. Too many people depending on me. “I’ll be fine. Is there anyone that hasn’t checked in?”

“Let’s see. All the children. Sarah Haines, Melinda Marshall, Pamela Sharp, and Christa Anderson.” She scrolled through the list.

“Those are the moms with the children. I know Jim is in the Control Room. Anyone else?”

“Umm, Andrew Cooper just checked in. His parents are sick already. I haven’t seen his sister Marjorie. Let’s see… Micah Stoddard… T.J. and Britta Harper.”

“Okay. That gives me something to go on. You all are busy, but how is the medical staff? Anyone sick?”

“I think a couple of nurses that were poked while checking patients are feeling a little off. The doctors are faring okay. Not sure though what everyone has and how rapidly that might change. We are sending everyone to their apartments after we assess their symptoms and record the length of time it took for the illness to show. One of the doctors feels that the stress from the latest news might be what made everyone extra susceptible to what they were infected with. Brandon’s high stress level is probably why he is as sick as he is. This is easy for me to say and I’m not the one trying to protect the bunker, but try not to stress so much that you fall ill too. I would hate to see the little kids be the only ones left to protect us.”

I nodded because I couldn’t speak. It took a moment before, “Okay, thanks,” escaped my mouth and I made my way out of the sick floor. I sure hoped I wouldn’t need to stay there anytime soon.

As I returned to my apartment, it really concerned me that Micah had not gone to the medical floor. He told me to look for him at his apartment. However, I thought for sure he’d get checked out first.

There were a few straggler bots in the hall when I returned to my apartment. I smashed them as I went and wished I had a vacuum when I entered my living room. I dropped to my knees and stuffed a towel under the door to fill the crack while the dogs romped around me.

Leaning against the wall, exhaustion washed over me and I let the dogs lick my face. I slumped a little lower. They were looking for cuddles until Yodel yelped. He backed away and started barking.

I felt a pinch through my jeans. I jumped up and smashed the little bot. The apartment search was on. I found a few stragglers under the sofa cushions. A couple in the cupboards. I stripped the bed and found a few more there and under my mattress.

“This is unbelievable.” I climbed on the table to check my vent. It was still covered. They must have wiggled through the towel under the door while I was gone. I sat in my chair and rubbed my temples. Lots of little clicks and tapping were coming from the vent. I got the shivers. There was no way I was staying put.

I called Jim on the thumbpad.

“Rachel? What’s wrong?”

“I was wondering how you were doing.” I kept scanning the room for bots. Smashed two on the wall.

“I’m good. There’s nothing brewing out there. The longest stretch of clear skies I’ve seen in some time.”

“That’s good to hear. I wonder if it’s staying that way because of the drones.”

“That and I’m sure that computer wants to give those little spiders a shot at doing their thing.”

“They are doing their thing all right.” Stomped on one more before the dog tried to bite it. “They are all over my apartment. I’ve been so busy taking care of everyone that my home has been invaded.”

“Are the dogs all right?”

“They stung Yodel but I think it was because it was after me. Generally the bots don’t seem interested in them when I’m in the room. They only want me.” I batted one off the table.

“Do you need to relocate? The control room is safe.”

“I believe there is a place I could go where the dogs and I will be safe.” Micah would be upset with me if I told Jim about his secret garden. I stayed silent about my plans. However, I wasn’t going to have Jim worry about me if he wanted to know.

“Get there as soon as you can and check in so I know where you are.”

That’s right, he’ll know where I am. It will probably reassure him if I was with Micah. He won’t know the real reason why I wanted to be there.

I packed a backpack with dog food and nuts for Rocky. After coaxing the dogs in the carrier, I tucked Rocky in the backpack, covered the carrier with my favorite blanket, and headed for Micah’s apartment. At least there was only one way into his cave room, no vents, and he had invited me there. There were bees though. I wasn’t going to think about that until I had a reason to worry.

Micah didn’t answer his door when I knocked. I listened, there was no sound except for little spider robots heading for me, clicking their little legs as they crawled down the hall towards me.

I knocked again. “Micah? I know you didn’t go to the medical floor.” I stomped on the bots around my feet. “Are you okay? Please, will you let me in?”

I heard his voice but I couldn’t tell what he said. More bots crawled out of the vent. They must be drawn to my voice. “I can’t hear you and the spiders are coming after me.” I marched in place and shook my free hand in desperation to either get inside or leave.

I tried the door handle. It was locked. I swung my backpack around and wore it on my front so I could find my wallet. I slid my card down the crack. I tried undoing the latch with the second card. It didn’t work as easily as it worked for Marjie. Spiders were crawling up my legs. I had to concentrate. There was a crash on the other side of the door and Micah swore.

I shook my legs one at a time while I worked on the lock. “Micah, are you okay?” My voice escalated and he could probably tell I was panicking. It was for more than one reason. He was probably hurt and the spiders were surrounding me. I really wished I had a vacuum.

“Rachel, hold on.” He was finally on the other side of the door. The dogs barked when they heard his voice.

I picked up the carrier to shush them. When the door opened, I was practically dancing. Micah looked awful, but he laughed at me anyway. I probably would have laughed too with my backpack still on my chest, the dog carrier swinging at my side while I was trying to see my legs as I stomped, checking each one before I took a step inside. He took the carrier, I swung my backpack over my shoulder while I checked for bots. Micah was about to step on one running into his apartment when he wavered. I thought for sure he was about to fall and I caught his elbow, nearly falling on top of him. I managed to catch myself in time and slammed the door.

Micah winced and held his head.

“Sorry about that.” I stuffed the towel back under the door, smashing about seven bots as I was stuffing.

He carried the dogs across his apartment and into the cave room. I followed and helped Rocky out of the backpack. He barked at me for I don’t know what and it ended when we entered the garden. He ran up my arm and down my backside as he scampered around on the ground and immediately found a tree he liked.

“Go ahead and close that door,” Micah pointed at it as he staggered to the far end of the cave and collapsed onto a platform bed.

I did as he said and let the dogs out the carrier. They immediately ran around the garden and sniffed everything in their path.

Approaching Micah slowly, I wasn’t sure if he really wanted me there. He was shivering as he piled blankets on top of him.

I dug through my backpack to find the facemask and gloves. On my way to his bed, a bee scared the crap out of me and I flicked it off my shoulder. “Micah, I don’t know if I can handle real insects right now.”

“Before I felt this bad, I was jumpy too. Now I don’t care. Unless one decides to crawl in bed with me and sting me. I’ve been stung enough already today. I might have to do away with this whole bee idea.”

I didn’t even need to touch him. Heat was radiating from his body. “Why didn’t you go to the medical floor? You have a really high fever.”

“I have what I need here already.”

“You can’t even walk across a room. How did you expect to take care of yourself?” I felt his forehead. His eyes were as bad as Brandon’s, puffy with red rings around them, flushed cheeks. He shivered whenever I touched him. “I’m really about as bad at nursing as I am with cooking.”

“Good thing I didn’t expect you to bring me back to the living then, isn’t it.” He tried to smile. He folded his arms tighter to his chest and tucked his chin under the blanket.

“What can I do?” I didn’t want to unsettle him so I rested my hands on my knees.

He closed his eyes and rocked for a moment. I thought he was done talking to me.

“I have some pain and fever medicine back there on that counter. There is some vitamin C powder there too. If you mix some in that orange drink, I’ll drink it.”

I found the counter he was talking about in the back of the main room. At least it wasn’t as big of a mess as the one in his apartment. There was a fridge like the one in the safe rooms.

“Ow!” Micah yelled. “Rachel, Ow.”

“What?” I rushed over to him.”

“Fricken stupid bee. It was my good hand too.” He held out his hand. There was a stinger imbedded in his palm.

My backpack was at the foot of his bed. I pulled out the card I used trying to get in his room. At least I could successfully remove a stinger with it even though I obviously couldn’t buy anything with it anymore or break into apartments with it.

“I’ll be right back.” I made a baking soda paste to go with everything else he asked me to bring him.

Once I was done exercising my limited nursing skills, I was exhausted. It had been such a long day.

The dogs settled in the bed beside Micah. He petted Yodel until he felt the stinger in his hand again.

“See that big mass of fabric over there? I was making a big curtain thing to hang from the ceiling to cover the bed. I fell ill too fast and couldn’t finish it. It will keep the bees out. Can you hang it?” Micah asked as I plastered more paste on his palm. “You are a far better nurse than you think.” He squeezed my hand as he fell back into his pillow. “Thank you.” He closed his eyes again.

With exhaustion I had never felt in my life consuming me as I stood, I found the fabric drape thing. I searched the back room for a ladder. Once I had hooked the loop to the hook in the ceiling, the lights went out.

“Whoa.” I wobbled on the ladder and almost fell. The room was only dark for a minute or two as the garden lights slowly lit up. “Micah, is the power out?” I felt my way down the ladder. My eyes hadn’t adjusted yet.

“No, they are on a timer. Sorry.” He groaned slightly as he moved. “I hate feeling like this.”

I pulled the curtain around the bed and stopped to look at him with the soft garden lights illuminating the white fabric. I could see his face faintly while I held the sides. “Do bees fly around at night?”

“Not usually.”

“Not usually?”

“This isn’t really the outdoors so they don’t always behave the way bees in the wild behave.”

“Oh.” I closed the drape around his bed and wondered if I could sleep on the sofa knowing that the room still had creepy crawly things in it that could sting. At least the dogs were safe and happy to hang out with Micah.

Imagining bees crawling in my mouth was too much for me. I left the facemask on while I tried to find a comfortable position on the sofa. It was long enough for my body but not comfortable at all. I tossed one way and felt as if I was suffocating with the backrest in my face and my backside was exposed. The other way, I couldn’t curl my back as much as I wanted to.

Once I started to doze, Micah mumbled in his sleep and then he yelled stop.

I accidentally rolled off the sofa. My legs were wound up in my blanket and once I was untangled, I yanked the curtain open. There was barely enough light to make out his outline.

Micah rolled over and was talking incoherently when he shouted again.

“Hey, wake up.” I shook his shoulder gently, afraid he was going to hit me.

He yelled when he finally did open his eyes and backed away from me.

“It’s me, Rachel.” I pulled off the facemask when realized I was still wearing it.

He sat upright and pulled me against his chest, holding me tight. His hands tangled in my hair as my face pressed into his sweaty shoulder and neck.

“You
are
here. That was awful.” His heart was pounding so hard in his chest, I could feel it against mine.

“I think your fever broke.” And if I really wanted to avoid getting sick, it was now a lost cause. He was rubbing his germs all over me. Obviously I didn’t mind all that much because I let him.

“There were spiders everywhere trying to get in the room while I was too sick to do anything but lay here.”

“You’re acting like something happened to me.” I pulled away to wipe his sweat off my forehead.

He was still breathing hard as he looked at me. Opening his mouth a couple times as if he had something to say, he shook his head, and rubbed sweat off his forehead. “Oh, that was gross. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” I unburied my facemask from the blanket. It was pointless to wear it around Micah anymore. I straightened it out and smoothed it on my thigh. Then I didn’t have to meet his gaze.

He relaxed and moved my hair away from my eyes. “I don’t feel like I’m freezing anymore. I do feel hot though.”

“That means you’re fever is easing up.” I yawned so hard my eyes watered.

“Did I wake you?” He rested his hand on mine.

“I was just dozing. I was having a hard time sleeping over there.”

“Please stay here. I don’t want to be alone after that dream. Now I’m so thankful you figured out where I live.” He leaned onto his pillow, closed his eyes, and held my hand.

“Did something happen to me in your nightmare?”

He refused to answer and let my hand go as he rubbed his eyebrows.

I slid down the bed, wildly aware of being so close to him, and yet wanting to keep my distance from his sickness. How unfair. I pulled my blanket up over my shoulder. Dobbers had to move and he settled in the bed behind my knees.

“Man, it was awful. I don’t want to tell you anymore than that.” His hand covered mine again.

Our heads rested on our pillows facing each other.

I looked away first. “I hope you aren’t sick for long.”

“I only hope I didn’t give it to you.” He squeezed my hand.

Somehow his touch was all I needed to pass out.

I didn’t want to open my eyes. I couldn’t quite remember where I was. I sure had lots of vivid dreams. Waking up was not something I wanted to do. There was light in the room and it took a minute for me to remember that I was in Micah’s apartment, in his cave room… in the same bed with him. My heart skipped a beat and there was no sleeping anymore. I opened my eyes and everything came flooding back. The fear was the worst.

Micah was watching me sleep.

I covered my mouth with my blanket, suddenly very self-conscious.

He smiled at me. “Good morning.”

“Are you feeling better?”

“Not running a really high fever. I still don’t feel good. I tried getting up. I was really lightheaded.”

“You’re probably dehydrated.”

“That, and I didn’t want to wake you if I fell on you.”

“Oh,” I rolled onto my back as Micah crawled over me to leave through the opening in the drape.

I held his hand until he could stand upright without wavering.

As I was left alone with my thoughts, my fears were running amok. By the time he came back, I was trying to hold back tears.

“What’s wrong?” He sat on the edge of the bed. I scooted over so he could have some room.

“I must be overwhelmed. Besides you, and you don’t count on the healthy list anymore, the children, and the mothers at the school, only three other people didn’t check in on the Medical floor. Marjie was one. I’m not sure why Marjie didn’t check in. She was there but I guess she wasn’t sick and left. Of all people, the Harpers are the other two. I don’t remember seeing them on the stairs.” I rubbed my face hard. “You know what? I don’t want to be Brandon. How am I going to fight off all those little bots if we get another round? Or what if we have more flooding with the acid water? How am I going to deal with that? What if I get sick now because I spent the night so close to you? Who is going to take of everything then?”