Outbreak: Boston (44 page)

“Well, we’ll put them on the shopping list, then.” Amy said as she shook her head, looking down at the other woman. “We’ve got to get going soon and we’re going to have to find a drugstore or something along the way.”

Rodriguez looked at Frays and raised an eyebrow. “This have anything to do with why the jarhead took you into the kitchen the other day?” She had noticed that Lacey was acting a little strange around Frays lately, or at least stranger than usual. The guy seemed to be making more of an effort to do stuff for her, like trying to figure out how to cook and making sure that she and Frays got the larger shares of whatever he made. He had said before that they were just friends before but still…

“I-I might be pregnant.” Frays said quietly. She sighed and looked shamefully at the ground between the toes of her boots. “We were planning on trying to find a drugstore or something on the way to my
parents’ camp so I could find a test kit to see wither I am or not.”

Frannie laughed and clapped her friend on the shoulder. “Congratulations!” she said happily, drawing a nervous smile to Amy’s face. Rodriguez blinked and shook her head a little then looked uneasy. “Who’s the father?”

“Um…unless it’s a virgin birth, a guy I was seeing for a little bit after I got back.” Amy said with a titter of tense laughter. She looked around the room as if purposefully trying to avoid making eye contact.

“So…not Lacey then?” Frannie asked with a small grin. She patted her friend’s shoulder and propped herself up on an elbow.
Amy glared at the woman lying on the floor for a minute, making Rodriguez feel like a total shitheel. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

There was a long, uneasy silence between them. Frays sighed and shook her head. “No, no Lacey is NOT the father.” she grumbled and loosed an exasperated sigh. Amy looked
down at her friend and scowled, fixing Rodriguez with a look of utter seriousness. “Promise me when we get where we’re going you won’t even breathe a word of anything like that. Lacey’s wife and kids will be there. It’ll be bad enough because I know my folks will jump to conclusions. I don’t want him catching static from both sides if I can help it.”

Rodriguez smiled up at her friend. “Hey, it’s cool.” she said and grinned as she sank back onto the cushions. “Gotta sa
y, I’m a little surprised. I didn’t think it would be you that would…er…might be having a baby first.”

“Shoot. I kinda hope I’m not…I mean, don’t get me wrong I’ve always wanted kids but…jeez…” Amy said quietly as she sat down Indian style next to Frannie’s makeshift bed and rubbed the back of her neck. “No hospitals, no doctor… What if something goes wrong?”

Frannie shook her head. “Look, Zoomie.” Rodriguez said carefully as she smacked her friend on the knee and smiled. “Let’s worry about getting the test and stuff first. I mean, won’t you feel kinda dumb for stressing out about all this if you’re not even pregnant?”

Amy laughed and nodded. “Yeah, you’ve got a point.” she said with a wry grin. Frays put a hand on her friend’s shoulder and squeezed. “We’re going to be moving out soon so make sure you get your rest. We won’t be on the road
long but it might be kinda uncomfortable for you.”

“When are we going?” Rodriguez asked as she squirmed into a more comfy position on the pile of soft cushions. “I’m ready to go anytime. I can
walk a little bit if we have to so let’s get going already.”

“I’m not sure.” Frays said with a small smile. “That hole in your leg hasn’t ripped open in a couple days, but you’re not one hundred percent yet.”

“I’m pretty sure that I’ll never be one hundred percent again.” Rodriguez muttered morosely as she felt the bandage wrapped around her thigh. She sighed and grumbled under her breath as she shifted her weight around again. Frays frowned and patted her friend’s shoulder, unsure of what to say. Without the attentions of a surgeon the damage to the woman’s thigh would probably keep her from being able to walk right ever again.

It did not seem fair to her, but then Frays figured that if she
was
pregnant they would both be in the same boat in a couple months. And Frannie would not have to try to pass an eight to ten pound baby through a hole the size of a lemon either. Her friend also would not have a tiny little person relying on her for everything for a minimum of the next ten or twelve years. Frays sighed heavily and moved off to busy herself with helping Lacey pack up what little was left of the food and fill up their water cans with sanitized water from the taps in the kitchen. They got one five gallon can filled and another almost there when the tap groaned followed by the water slowing to a trickle. Frays and Lacey exchanged nervous glances as the Marine screwed the cap on the three quarters full water can.

That evening Frays conducted a briefing for the others over dinner. Lacey had set aside a huge can of
SpaghettiOs with meatballs, which they all ate ravenously. She spread her map on the table and pointed towards a dot with her spoon. “Here’s where we are right now.” Amy said then traced a route along a couple back roads to another dot. “This is where my parent’s camp is, or at least near enough.”

Frannie looked at the little dot that symbolized their destination. “Right on the lake, huh?” she asked then ran her spoon along the bottom of her bowl to get up the last of the red sauce in it. “Sounds nice. Maybe I’ll get to work on my tan.”

Frays snickered and continued. “I wrote down the way I was thinking of going.” she said and took out her notepad, ripped out a page and handed it to Lacey. “Here. Looks like you and me are going to alternate driving, so take a copy.” The Marine studied it a moment then folded it up and stuck it inside his Kevlar. “We’re going to leave first thing in the morning, so take a look around and make sure we’re not forgetting anything.”

Amy ate a spoonful of the tasty little canned pastas. “Once we’re on the road, everybody be careful.
There’s the infected to keep an eye out for and other people too. There’ll be traffic jams on most of the major roads as well. I’m sorry, Frannie but it looks like we might not be able to stay on the actual road much.”

“As long as the codeine holds out, I’m not all that worried.”
Rodriguez said with a little grin. She finished off her portion of the food and used her cup of water to wash down the two pills sitting next to her bowl. “How much longer do I have to keep taking this fuckin’ penicillin? I’ve been pissing out of my ass for like a week and a half.”

Lacey looked at Rodriguez and shook his head. “Good dinnertime conversation.” he muttered as he looked at his food. “Really nice. It’s like
I’m having dinner with my kids but they’re four. What’s your excuse?”

The next morning after Frays and Lacey made one last check of the clubhouse
to make sure they were not leaving anything behind. Amy made a splint for Rodriguez’s leg and the three of them spent a little time trying to find the most comfortable way for her to ride in their truck. Frannie could sit in the back seat of the truck with her injured leg resting across the seats with a cushion held in place with one hundred mile an hour tape over where the person in the cupola was supposed to stand. Lacey and Frays would ride up front and the back of the truck was full of piles of canned food, MREs and their supply of water.

Lacey helped Frays load Rodriguez into the truck, trying to hide his nervousness from the two women. They were only going to hopefully be on the road for about an hour and a half or so, but if they ran into problems on the way what would they
do? Rodriguez could barely walk let alone run if they got surrounded. He knew that if it came to it Frays would not leave her friend behind. What would he do if pushed to it?

Lacey frowned slightly as he considered the question. The hint of a smile played across Frays’ face. “Ready to go, man?” she asked as she looked the man’s gear over. “If you’ve gotta
pee, now’s the time. I don’t want to have to stop once we leave.”

Lacey smiled and patted Frays’ shoulder. “Nah, I’m good.” he said with a smirk. The Marine considered making a crack about pregnant women having to go all the time but thought better of it. “Do we got everything? I’ll drive.”

“Alright.” Amy said as she walked in front of truck and climbed into the passenger’s seat after stowing her carbine in its rack next to the radio mount. She frowned as Lacey opened the driver’s side door and swung in behind the wheel. He half smiled at her as Frays bowed her head and prayed quietly. Lacey was a little surprised when both Rodriguez and Frays crossed themselves. Adam shook his head slightly as he fired the truck’s engine up.

The three of them were quiet as they pulled away from the clubhouse and drove across the golf course. Amy smirked as she glanced at the ruts their vehicle was leaving on the turf in the side view mirror. “Stay out of the bunkers, Marine.” Frays said under her breath as Lacey steered the truck around a couple oak trees. “Two stroke penalty if you get stuck.”

Lacey and Rodriguez laughed. “Only two?” Adam asked, sparing a quick glance at the airman next to him. “I wonder if I should chance it.”

Frannie scowled at the back of the man’s head. “If you want me to put my good foot up your ass go for it,
Boy Scout.” she said, her expression softening into a hint of a smile. “Those damn pills you gave me haven’t kicked in yet.”

“Well, I don’t think you should have any more
right now.” Amy said with a frown as she glanced at her watch. She had given Rodriguez some codeine along with her dose of penicillin half an hour ago. “The bottle said one every eight hours. Give it a minute.”

Rodriguez grumbled under her breath and took a drink from her camelbak. Her leg was a mass of throbbing ache attached to her hip from getting banged around trying to get into the truck. An empty feeling settled into her chest as she kept watch out of the opposite window and it took her a minute to figure out what it was. She missed Eamon. Was it just because he knew how to use the good drugs? Or something else? They had a good time together and stuff, but...it was like she had told Lacey. It wasn’t like they were going to get married or anything, right?
Right?

Frannie started to feel real loose as the codeine started to kick in a few minutes later. She snorted and shifted around, trying to find a more comfortable position. “Heyyyy…there we go.” Rodriguez muttered and smiled as she sipped from her camelbak again. “Looks like you were right, Zoomie. Hey, can I bum a smoke off you?”

Amy dug around in her pockets for a moment then turned in her seat and handed Rodriguez a battered and half empty pack of cigarettes. “Here. I think I might have a pack or two hiding in my ruck but I’ll have to look later.” she said with an uneasy expression. Frays sighed heavily and returned to looking out the window as the truck rolled onto a street. “I don’t think I really should be having any of those any time soon.”

“Hey, we don’t know anything for sure yet.” Lacey said, trying to sound reassuring. Truth be told, he was worried sick about all the things that might go wrong if Frays was indeed with child. “Don’t go giving away all your smokes.”

“Nah, my dad would kick my butt if he knew I was smoking.” Amy said with a wink as she gave Rodriguez her lighter. “Serious, guys. Kinda hypocritical ‘cause he smokes like a chimney.”

Frannie snickered as she thumbed open the pack and jammed a cigarette into the corner of her mouth. She flicked the lighter and held the flame a few millimeters from the end of the cancer stick. “Shit. Sorry.” Rodriguez muttered as she stashed the smokes and lighter in the elastic band around her Kevlar. She winced when she wriggled her toes in her boots. “Second hand smoke’s bad for the kid too isn’t it?”

Amy and Lacey looked at each other for a second and shook their heads. “Yeah, Rodriguez.” Adam said quietly as he steered the truck around a line of stalled cars. “That’s bad. Why don’t you try and get some sleep? We’ll be there in a couple hours.”

About forty five minutes later Lacey brought the vehicle to a stop. Rodriguez
woke up and blinked when she heard the doors to the truck open up. “Wuzgoinon?” Frannie asked sleepily as she brushed a couple strands of hair out of her eyes. “Are we there yet?”

Amy smirked as she pulled her M4 out of the rack next to the radio. “No, not yet.” Frays said as she put the sling of her weapon over her head. “We found a drugstore. Just hang tight, we’ll be right back.”

Lacey had parked the truck about a quarter mile away from what looked like a little mom and pop pharmacy at the bottom of a pretty steep hill. The two of them snuck a little closer as Amy slapped the magnification module into place on her carbine and Adam dug out a pair of field glasses.

“Well, crap.” Amy muttered as she scanned the parking lot of the building and the strip mall around the building. There was easily two dozen or more infected either sitting, standing or shuffling around on the blacktop and in between the cars. “You see this, man?”

“Yeah.” Lacey grumbled as he surveyed the buildings. He shook his head and glanced at the woman next to him. “Know what we need? An Asian kid in a sexy car.” A smile crept onto his face as Frays started furrowing her brow at him. “You know…like on that show
The Walking Dead
?”

Amy snorted and shook her head. “Oh, yeah. I think I caught a couple episodes online or whatever.
It was pretty good. Where’s that guy with the crossbow when we need him?” Her eyes strayed to a couple of the cars left on the side of the side of the road, one of which was a Honda Accord. An idea slowly started to form in her mind. “What about a sexy American chick in an Asian car?”