The Siege (29 page)

     And one pint of whole blood almost certainly wouldn’t be enough if there were complications during her surgery.

     Even if the old woman and Frank both survived, there would be other scars, unseen, that would likely be much worse than the visible ones.

     They had survived a massacre, yes. But their ordeal was just beginning.

Chapter
60

     As far as David could tell, the bullet that tore through Frank’s body managed to miss his major organs. His white blood cell count was relatively normal and there wasn’t any blood mixed with any of his body fluids.

     “He doesn’t show any signs of
hemorrhaging,” he told Eva. “It may be that since it was a high speed bullet and put off a lot of heat, it actually cauterized some of the vessels as it passed through his body. Either that, or his dehydration thickened his blood and made it clot like hell.”

     Eva countered, “No. It wasn’t either of those two things. It was God watching out for my Frank. Either for the things he did during the freeze to help others survive, or because he’s destined to do more of God’s work. In any event, he will wake up tomorrow.”

     David smiled.

     “I certainly hope you’re right. But how on earth could you know that for sure?”

     “Because we’ve been married for thirty one years. And because tomorrow is my birthday, and Frank would never let my birthday pass by without wishing me a happy day. You watch. He’ll wake up tomorrow, you’ll see.”

     David turned to Debbie and asked, “Okay, your opinion, doc…”

     “In my opinion, it wouldn’t be prudent to search for repairs to make internally if he’s already hypotensive and shows no signs of hemorrhage. We could restart the bleeding and put him at unnecessary risk. I say let’s zip him up, restrict him to bed for awhile, watch his numbers and hope for the best.”

     “And pray,” Eva added. “Don’t forget to pray.”

     David said, “I concur. With both of you. Help me roll him onto his good side. Debbie, would you rather have the entrance wound or the exit?”

     She examined both bullet wounds carefully and then said, “I’ll take the entrance wound. It’s cleaner, and you’ve had more practice at this than I have.”

     It took more than half an hour to get everything sutured. David inserted two drain tubes and ordered a week of bed rest. He would be administered saline and intravenous vitamin B-15 and B-6 to promote the generation of new blood cells. He’d also be given antibiotics for the same reason and to head off any infection.

     Widow Spencer’s surgery was a lot more involved and a lot more gruesome. They took the leg, mid-thigh. She’d be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. But she was having trouble getting around of late anyway, only going a few steps at a time with the aid of a walker. Eva hoped that she’d make the transition to a wheelchair easily, once she found that it actually gave her added mobility, not less.

     Medically, David and Debbie worried. She’d lost some blood, but it could have been a lot worse if someone hadn’t applied a
tourniquet rather quickly.

     Unfortunately, the
tourniquet was in place for several hours, without being loosened occasionally.

     David’s primary concern was a blood clot in the hip area, which might break free and make its way to her heart or brain. If it did, it could cause a stroke or death. He prescribed blood thinner and the same course of vitamins that Frank would be getting.

     To ease her psychological shock when she awoke and found her leg gone, he also prescribed something rather unusual. Someone was to sit with her, holding her hand, twenty four seven, until she woke up. He didn’t want her to be alone with her own thoughts before he had a chance to talk to her.

     He needn’t have worried. If he’d known Widow Spencer at all, he’d have known she was one tough old bird.

     “Oh, heck,” she said later. “As soon as I looked down and saw my leg hanging there in pieces I knew I was going to lose it. I was just happy to wake back up again.”

     And sure enough, Frank did indeed wake up the following day. Like Eva predicted, his first words were, “Happy birthday, honey.”

     Then he drifted back to sleep for awhile. He woke up again later, and Eva softly explained to him that his best friend Jesse was dead, along with most of the others on Buena Vista Drive. After all they’d been through, one horrific night had destroyed it all.

     When Frank nodded off the second time, he cried himself to sleep.

Chapter 61

     The group had a monumental decision to make. From the beginning, they’d decided on a government similar to one used by native American tribes. The group would be called together on occasion to discuss important issues.

     Every man who had something to say would be given the opportunity to do so. Once all the words were spoken, each issue was put to a vote. In the event of a tie, the three man council of elders would make the decision. Children were encouraged to attend, to watch the process, but must remain silent and could not vote.

     There were some modern day modifications to their version of the process, though. In old Indian culture the braves made the decisions. In this group, women were allowed an equal opportunity.

     Also in this group, the council of elders, instead of being the
three wisest men in the tribe, was simply the three eldest persons. Regardless of gender.

     This method of government had served them well since the early days in the mine, even before Saris 7 struck the earth and changed things forever.

     Almost everyone gathered in the dining room for the meeting. The children were released from school for a “field trip” to the proceedings.

     There were a few missing, however. Hannah and Sarah hosted a “picnic” in the apple orchard for Eva and Bobby and Bobby’s two little nieces. Joe manned the security console, keeping due vigil on the monitors.

     And Debbie stayed in the clinic, watching over her two patients.

     Each of them had selected a trusted friend to debate their position on their behalf, and then to cast their votes by proxy.

     Hannah and Sarah tried to portray the picnic as nothing but a chance to relax and get to know each other. If Eva and Bobby knew there was a specific reason for it, they didn’t let on.

     So as the six of them sat at a wooden picnic table under the largest of the apple trees and munched on
sandwiches, the meeting was called to order in the big house.

     As was the usual procedure, a call would be made for topics of discussion. And a couple of minor grievances might be brought up. But everyone knew there was only one major issue at hand.

     Would the visitors stay or would they go?

     They wouldn’t be sent anywhere, of course, until they’d healed. It just wouldn’t be the right thing to do, to send sick or injured people out to fend for themselves. If they were to be outcast, it would be after they were
well again, and they would be given the essential things to survive on their own. Transportation. Weapons. Enough food and supplies to get them settled elsewhere.

     Or, they might be allowed to stay. There had already been precedent for this, when Rachel and Roxanne suffered a similar tragedy and were welcomed into the fold.
But precedent didn’t always mean much. Since the camp was invaded, a general pall of mistrust of strangers fell over the group. No one knew how that mistrust would play into the decision they had to make.

     Mark was expecting to
be sanctioned by some members of the group. After all, he’d been the one who made the decision, on his own, to bring the wounded people into the compound for treatment.

     He fully expected to get some grief for making a decision that wasn’t his to make, and he was willing to accept it.

     But in the end, the meeting was brief and rather unexciting. No one challenged Mark for making the decision he made. There was a general sense that a decision had to be made quickly under the circumstances, to keep injured people from dying. No one faulted Mark for stepping up to the plate to make that call. In fact, most of them would have made a similar decision under the same circumstances.

     The opposition had basically one key concern: would there be enough resources to support the additional people if they were brought in permanently
?

     In fact, that was the first question asked.

     Karen, the one everyone pretty much recognized as the camp expert on all things food, stood to address the question.

     “Right now the corn and wheat crops alone would feed us for the next year if it had to. And we still have all the livestock, all the plants in the green houses, all the dried foods in the trucks parked in the yard.

     “So food is definitely not a factor. We could easily feed two dozen more people if God sent them our way.”

     It was easy to see, even before the vote, which side she was on.

     Mark, the man who worked with architects to design the compound, pointed out that they’d intentionally left room for growth.

     “When we designed this building, we allowed plenty of room for our numbers to grow. We didn’t have any idea how long it would take for society to get back to normal. We knew it might take awhile.

     “So we took that into consideration. We had the place built with only the highest quality materials, so it would last at least a hundred years. And we built it a lot bigger than we had to. That’s why the entire third floor, and most of the second floor, is used for storage. All of those extra apartments were meant not for us to use, but for our children, and grandchildren, and great grandchildren. And, yes, for anyone from the outside that we elected to bring in to join us.”

     David stood up and made a point that no one else had considered.

     “Many of us are related in one way or another. Many of us share the same bloodline. Obviously, if we want to continue to expand our population, many of us cannot bear children together. If we are going to grow our numbers in the years ahead, it is essential that we bring in others who do not share our bloodlines. And if not now, then when?”

     Perhaps the most poignant statement was made  by Rachel, herself taken in under similar circumstances.

     “For a long time after I came here I felt like an outsider. It wasn’t that you guys didn’t show me love and comfort. You did. It was just that I wasn’t part of the original group, and I felt I was not one of you. So for the first two years I pretty much kept my mouth shut. I had no voice.

     “But now I’m comfortable enough to speak my mind. I love each and every one of you. I’ve come to consider you my family. And each and every night I get on my knees and than
k God I was given the opportunity to join you.

     “You had this
same choice to make when you saw Roxanne and I standing out on that highway. We knelt over the body of our murdered father, abandoned. Alone, and afraid.

     “I honestly don’t know what would have happened to us if you hadn’t taken us in. We would have wandered off, I suppose, and either starved to death or been murdered ourselves. We simply had no tools or knowledge to survive on our own.

     “But we didn’t have to face that, because you were kind enough to take us in. And now you tell me all the time that I’m one of you. That I’m like a sister or a brother or that weird cousin that everybody tries to avoid. But I’ve become part of the family.

     “I appreciate that. I really do. You did the right thing, and Roxanne and I owe you our lives.

     “I know in my heart that the same thing will happen again. Let’s welcome these people into our group. Let’s give them sanctuary. A safe place to live. Let’s take those orphaned children and raise them as our own. We didn’t put them in the dreadful situation they’re in. But we can darn sure take them back out of it.”

     After Rachel finished, the two others waiting in line to
state their case sat back down. There simply seemed to be nothing else to say.

     “Okay,” Mark announced. “It’s time to vote. Who has proxy for Hannah and Sarah?”

     Sami stood up.

     “I do. They both want the newcomers to stay.”