Sometimes We Ran (Book 3): Rescue (10 page)

“Don't you guys have any medicine? Antibiotics, or maybe a vaccine?” Lyle said.

“I do have some medicine, but it's in limited supply,” Doctor Connelly, fresh from poor Cora's bedside, said. “I have to ration it, or next year we may all be in here in the infirmary sick.”

Lyle pursed his lips and looked around. “Poor people. Are they going to be okay?”

Doctor Connelly moved the conversation away from the sick to spare them any worry. “I don't know. Right now, it's out of my hands.”

Lyle looked back at our sick ward, then back at us standing at Doctor Connelly's desk. “What if I told you I could help. I've been holding back a little information. Back with my people, I have a supply of drugs. It's a small collection of things we took from some places on the road. It's not much, but I think I have some antibiotics and flu medicine.”

Denise was listening and very serious. “What are you proposing, Lyle?”

He stood up and looked around like he was about to tell a great secret. “Maybe we can make a deal.”

Denise looked Lyle square in the eyes. She often did this to gauge if you were lying to her. Nearly five years as leader had made her a human lie detector. “Okay,” Denise said softly. “Any deals must be discussed in my office.”

Doctor Connelly made a quick pass of the occupants of the infirmary, then we all adjourned to Denise's small office. Michael was at the front desk, going over something with Jaci. When he saw us all going to Denise's office, her dropped whatever he was doing and joined the group. He was determined to not to be left out of any discussions.

Actually, he probably just wanted to argue.

We crowded into the tiny space, and the door was closed. This was going to be a serious conference. Because of the heavy crowd in her space, Denise had to climb over us to reach her chair. She sat down heavily and cleared her desk for action.

“If we keep having meetings like this, I'm going to need a bigger space,” Denise said. Some nervous laughter came from the assembled masses. Denise took off her grandma-style glasses, and again, looked Lyle in the eye. “Now...what exactly are you proposing?”

Lyle shifted in his chair a little, unprepared for Denise's stiff gaze. He cleared his throat, and said, “I think we're in a good position to help each other out. My people are stashed away in a small town north of here. I think they're safe for now, but I don't know the area. It could be crawling with dead. It's south of Huntsville, or what used to be Huntsville.”

“How far south?” Michael asked. He was sitting at the end of the desk to Denise's right.

“A few miles. I made sure they were hidden. I put them in the downtown bank. I didn't see any zombies when I left to get help.”

“What do you want us to do?” asked Denise.

“You have a van. I need it to get my group to safety. You let me use the van, and I'll bring my people back here with the medicine. You can have it all.” Lyle paused to let us think about his proposal. Michael, as usual, wasn't convinced.

“Is that all? We lend you one of our necessary resources, and you'll just come back and return the keys?” I hated to admit it, but I was agreeing with him. Our van was needed by our community. Lending it to a semi-stranger was not a good idea.

Lyle tried to save his sales pitch. “Well, then send somebody out with me. Maybe John can go. Hell, I'm probably going to need help anyway.” Everyone in the room looked at me, expecting me to say something, but I stayed silent.

“We have a rule here, Lyle,” Denise said. We like to discuss things like your proposal and try to come up with answers. We'll talk about it, then we'll let you know.” She smiled to try and put Lyle at ease. “If you'll excuse us for a few minutes, we'll get to it right now. You can go to the front desk and Jaci will fix you up with water or something, okay?”

Lyle nodded. “Okay...thank you.” Before he stood up, he leaned forward and stared into Denise's eyes. His gaze was so strong, it froze her in place. “I really need your help. I know I can't prove anything, and I have no evidence of the medicine I told you about, or even if my group of people exists. You just have to take my word for it. They exist, and they need help. I don't know how much time they have left.” He leaned closer. The room went silent as he talked. “I promised them that I would find a safe place for them. I can't abandon them out there on the road. I have to see them to safety. I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't try and help them survive this thing. I know you know how that feels. You've been through it. You've all lived it.” Lyle looked away from Denise to address the rest of the room. “I don't know what else to say to convince you. I don't mean you any harm, and I don't want any of your supplies or cause any trouble. I just need your help.  Please.” After those final words, Lyle got up and left the room closing the door behind him.

We sat in silence for a minute or two, Lyle's words banging around in our heads. “Well,” Denise finally said, “Any thoughts about this?”

“There's a real good chance he's lying,” Michael said. The story could be all made up. He might be an advance scout for bandits or cannibals, and he'll just lead his friends right to the front gate.”  This was a banner day for Michael, because I found myself agreeing with him again. Twice in one day. That almost never happened.

“It could be made up. Seems like we've heard some of these kinds of stories before. What do you think, Doctor?” said Denise.

Doctor Connelly stood, and leaned against the desk with her arms folded. “All I know is I have seven residents in my infirmary that, for lack of a better word, are being consumed by sickness. I have medication that could help them all, but I have to hold back or we'll be vulnerable to epidemics in the future. I think that if there's even a slim chance Lyle has the medicine he says he has, we need to chance it. I say we need to go out and help get his people, and cure our people in the process.”

Michael shook his head, and tapped Denise's desk. “What if he's lying? At the very least, we'll lose the van. Worst case scenario, he'll bring his gang and tear the place apart.” He turned to Denise. “We've seen these people in the past. They lie, they try to steal our supplies, and they try to slaughter us. You don't think it's just a little bit convenient that he has the exact thing we need in his possession? We need medicine, and he happens to have it. It's just a little suspicious.” He turned to the doctor. “The last time we tried to help people, five of our residents were murdered, Two of them children.”

Doctor Connelly continued her argument. “I know. I was there. We were all there. But what if he just really needs our help.”

Denise leaned back in her chair. “Michael could be right. It could be another River Mill incident. We'll bring them back here, and they'll try something.”

“Maybe. Then again, Lyle just may be a guy who needs a hand. Call me crazy, but I think he's telling the truth.” The doctor sat down again to get on eye level with Denise. “And another point. In case anyone has noticed, humans aren't exactly flourishing in this area anymore. It might not be a bad idea to help a few survive. If we can get them here to safety, they would at least have a chance.” She paused for a minute to collect her thoughts. “I'm a doctor. I want to help everyone, but it's more than that. I still believe we're all in this together, every man, woman, and child that remains. We need as many humans to survive as possible, or I don't know what's going to happen to us. I think we need to start rescuing people again. Not just for the sake of the people still out there, but for our sakes as well. That's all I have to say.” Doctor Connelly went silent, and looked at her feet.

“We're all in this together,” I said. I meant to say it in my mind, but I said it out loud.

“Something you want to add, John?” Denise asked.

“No,” I said. “Just something I might have said to Claire a few days ago.”

Denise stood up, and paced behind her desk. She stopped and stared at one of her walls. “I just don't know. Lyle could be lying. It wouldn't be the first time someone lied to us to get our supplies.” She sat down again. “But I think we need to take a chance.”

Michael shook his head. “Denise...”

She held up her hands. “I know. It could all be a fabrication, but the doctor is right.” She picked up her favorite pen, the one with the green ink, and began to tap it on the desk. “It's just a feeling, but I think Lyle needs our help. I can't explain it. Just something I feel. We'll help him get his people to safety. Everyone agree?”

We all nodded silently, even Michael. He still didn't look too sure of it all, but he went along with Denise.

“But we're just not going to hand him the keys to our van. Someone is going to have to go with him and help out,” Denise said.

Before I could change my mind, I volunteered. “I'll go. Lyle seems to trust me.”

Denise nodded in agreement. “Okay...but you're not going alone. I want someone to help you watch out for trouble.”

“Who's available? I think we're shorthanded. Most of our people are watching the gate,” Michael said.

“Oh...I know somebody who may go with me.” I stood up to leave. “Me and her have worked together before.”

“Claire,” Michael said. “You think she'll agree to this? You know what happened last time you guys left the compound.” Michael still hadn't apologized to Claire after their dust-up in the infirmary.

“I'll just have to convince her,” I said. “And that may be the hardest thing I do on this mission.”

I
took a quick stroll to the houses we converted to schoolrooms, going over various ways to convince Claire to leave her family yet again to join me on a dangerous mission outside. The wind picked up, so I quickened my step. All I had to do was figure out what to say to get her to help me. Claire was all I had left. Lisa and her sister had to stay inside to protect the residents, and everyone else was sick. I couldn't go alone. Someone had to watch Lyle, as he was still a stranger.

Since the little altercation with Michael in the infirmary, Claire had retreated to what she loved : her children. In the five years since she arrived at Cannon Fields, Claire had become a teacher and she did a pretty good job. Convincing her to leave her kids was not going to be easy.

I finally reached to door to the converted schoolhouse. We had two such buildings. One was set up for the younger kids, the older kids went to school next door. Cannon Fields took the protection and education of its children very seriously. They were nothing short of the future of the human species.

The security guard at the door aimed his rifle in my direction. ”Hold it! Who's there?” he called out.

Raising my hands, I yelled, ”It's me, John.”

The guard lowered his rifle, and ran up to meet me It was Josh, wearing his usual baseball cap and leather jacket with camo pants. There's young, and then there's really young. Josh was barely eighteen years old. His schooling was still going on, but he wanted to join the security forces. As he was still in training, I gave him light duty and usually paired him with a more experienced guard. Today, he was watching the schools with Elizabeth.

“Hey, John ....I mean, yes, sir.” Josh stammered over his words. He was always eager to please.

“What did I tell you guys about the sir stuff?”

Josh looked crestfallen. “You told us not to call you 'sir.' Sorry.”

“Just kidding. Relax before you shoot somebody in the butt. Where's Liz?” I said.

The smile returned to Josh's peach-fuzzed face when he realized I was joking around. “She's in the yard. The kids are getting some fresh air.”

I went around the house and approached the fence. The sounds of children playing a game of tag reached my ears. I stood and watched for a few seconds. The kids ran around the small yard chasing each other in a game they called “Don't Be Bitten”. One of the kids is designated as the Red-Eye and he chases the other kids around trying to get them. When the game was first invented, the kids actually bit each other, but the teachers quickly put a stop to that. It was now just a fancy game of tag.

Elizabeth walked up to the fence, and said, “You know, I think I like watching over the children the best of all.”

I couldn’t agree more. It was the best duty in Cannon Fields. I often volunteered in the early days, and it made me feel better about life somehow. “I agree. Claire around?”

Elizabeth pointed to the house. “Over there near the porch, talking to a couple of kids.”

A plastic football arced in and hit the fence, just inches from Elizabeth's rear end. We both looked up and saw two blond-haired boys of about seven, laughing and running away. They made funny faces to get Elizabeth to chase them.

I entered the yard, and walked carefully through the riot of children. I tried my best to hide my weapons. A majority of the children ignored me to continue their frantic game, but a few shrank back and looked scared. I tried to smile and gently touch each one of the fearful ones on the head as I went past to show I meant no harm. Seeing an armed man in their midst still scared them. No matter how hard we tried to chase them away, a few of the kids still had terrible visions of the past in their heads. The orphans were the worst. Many had seen their family slaughtered in front of their eyes. It sometimes took a few months to even get them to talk again.

I finally navigated the sea of children, and reached Claire who was sitting on an old folding chair, baseball bat at her side. She was bandaging the tiny wrist of a little red-haired girl. Tears stained her angelic face, but Claire made it all better. She kissed the wound, and the little girl was all smiles again. She ran off to rejoin the game in the yard.

“Good job. Doctor Connelly should watch her back,” I said.

Claire turned to look at me. She looked tired. “Just a boo-boo.” She closed the first-aid box. “What brings you to our humble school, John?”

“Need to ask you a favor.”

Claire beat me to the punch. “You need me to go out with you on some crazy-ass mission.”

I was stunned. Maybe Claire was psychic as well. “How did you know?”