Tara opened her eyes and saw Luke sag with the news. He put his head down for a moment. “He liked you, Tara. He really wanted to help you.”
The sudden vision of the bolt cutters Kevin had dropped just feet from where Luke crouched flashed in her mind. “Luke, can
you
help us now? Kevin left bolt cutters just down the bank from you. Please find them! Please cut us out of here!”
The boy sprang into action. Tara saw tears shining on his face, but he pushed his grief aside and went to work.
“Where, Tara? Point them out.”
“Look for the handles, Luke, there should be two long lumps of snow, different from the rest of the ground. Right over there, below the bank.” Tara pointed. The women stood, barely daring to breathe. No one could believe this might be it. They watched as Luke swept his foot across the snow-covered earth, back and forth, moving section by section. Suddenly, he stopped and reached down for something.
The bolt cutters!
“My God, Ladies, let’s go!” cried Tara. “Quick, over to the corner,” Tara pointed to show Luke where to begin. She glanced behind her out into the concourse between the barracks, but no guards were around. They were all up front having their Christmas party. Tara almost screamed with joy.
Not yet, we’re not out, not yet.
She tried to calm herself, knowing their escape could be prevented at any moment.
“I should go in and get our stuff,” Julie whispered.
“NO! No one goes in! We leave with what we have. It’s too dangerous. We have to go NOW!”
Tara pointed toward the post where the plasma lay at its base. She told Luke what it was, and what it was for. He started in the bottom corner, working quickly to clip each diamond shaped link until he was able to peel back a section large enough for them to get out.
“Let’s go,” breathed Tara. She pulled everyone through, Mary shushing Ben who had awakened. Tara and Luke pushed the fence back down into place, making sure it stayed there. Surveying their handiwork quickly, Tara knew no one would even be able to tell it had been cut. This would make all the difference for them, time-wise, buying them extra hours.
She scooped up the plasma and tubing, tucking part of it in her pockets. One bag of plasma Tara stuffed inside her shirt next to her body, shivering at the icy cold, but Lee needed it thawed, so this was the best way she could think of.
Crouching low, they moved quickly up the slick path to the ridge, sliding and catching themselves with their hands, but finally exiting onto the hill above the camp. Luke helped pull Mary up, Ben still in her arms. Tara could not believe they had escaped. At the top, she took a moment to hug Luke.
“Thank you, thank God for you, Luke. You answered my prayers. ” She saw his sad face, and realized just how bad he must feel. In her own excitement, she had forgotten he lost his father in a terrible way, and that it was due to his father trying to help Tara.
“I’m so sorry for your loss, Luke, so very sorry. Your dad was a good man who raised a good son. He would be so proud of you.” The young man nodded and put his head down. He was obviously devastated. “Luke, the camp just got thousands more people. They plan to give them Ebola and let three thousand of them die just to cultivate more of the virus. We must stop it somehow. Your dad would want us to.”
Luke appeared shocked by this new information. “That bastard,” he breathed. “Please hurry to the factory, Tara. When they find you gone, they’ll come after us all. They know about the Resistance now, and at least we have the resources there to put up a fight. Maybe we can think of a way to stop their plans, or at least slow them down.”
“Yes, we’ll come, Luke. As soon as we can get the plasma into Lee and find a way to transport him.” She suddenly remembered her ancient friend Clyde. “Can you go to the old man’s house there in the alley? His name is Clyde. Can you tell him what’s happened to us? Maybe convince him to come too?” Luke said he knew right where it was and would swing by and deliver the message.
They parted ways, Luke into the woods toward Clyde’s and the railroad tracks beyond. Mary still carried Ben, and Julie asked if she needed to take him, but she said no. She was making up for lost time with the little guy. They all trotted as fast as they could, down the long snowy country road to the edge of town. Tara helped support Julie, since she was so weak. They didn’t even try to hide their tracks now. It was far too late for that.
As she ran along the road with the women who had so recently been strangers, Tara realized something. She and Lee had always stayed isolated, partly from the wound they’d suffered when their young son was killed so long ago. They had felt so alone in their grief, and this just naturally extended on to their interactions with the world ever since. Now, Tara saw how good it was to be close to someone. She loved these women with all her heart. They had saved her, in more ways than one.
As they left the country road and entered the edge of town, Tara saw the headlights of a white van, cruising past a side street a block away. Her heart was in her throat as she pointed, and the women picked up their pace. Julie was gasping for air, but giving it her all. The van didn’t see them and must have turned the opposite direction. That was all that mattered.
They were close to home now. Tara’s fear grew along with her excitement—to see Lee, to save him. They reached the backyard where Tara’s car sat covered in snow. She rushed to the back porch, fumbling with the key she dug from her pocket. Flinging open the door, Tara screamed Lee’s name. Mary and Julie came right behind her with Mary detouring to the sofa to lay Ben down.
Taking the stairs two at a time, Tara reached Lee’s room. She did not want to stop long enough to put the mask and gloves on. She no longer cared if she died. She only wanted to save him, but Julie jerked Tara’s hand from the knob. “You
will
put it on!” Julie cried. So Tara did. Mary arrived then and suited up along with Julie. Tara was nearly done, racing to get the protective items on.
When Tara finally threw open the door, she saw Lee curled on the bed, the smell of vomit and the sharp tang of something else, heavy in the air. It was blood. His face was white and covered with it. The bucket was overflowing; Lee had obviously tried to get out of bed for the toilet but failed. On seeing his stillness, Tara knew the worst had happened.
“He’s dead.”
Chapter 16
The young man wove among the houses along the alley, not trusting the safety of the road. He had seen the old man out in his backyard many times while on reconnaissance with his dad. In fact, they’d exchanged greetings a few times. At the thought of his father’s body thrown onto a bonfire like so much trash, rage rose within him. His vision swam for a moment until he gained control.
I will pay them back, Meyers and all his lot. Or I will die trying.
He dreaded telling his mom what had happened. It was all he could do to keep going, knowing what lie ahead, how she would collapse at the news. His desire alone fueled him; for an accounting, a reckoning.
He reached the old man’s—Clyde’s— backyard, and carefully checked in all directions. Luke didn’t want to get captured now. He wanted his revenge and he wanted it at the end of a rifle—preferably, one
he
was holding. He knocked softly at the back door and it was opened by Clyde, his grizzled face wary.
“Hello, young man, can I help you?” Recognition lit up his eyes all at once. “Aren’t you the boy who goes around here with your dad?”
Pain took Luke’s breath away for a minute. He nodded, gathering himself. “Yes, I’m here to deliver a message from your friend, Tara. I broke them out of the camp—Mary was there too. So was my dad. They captured them all, but they killed my dad.”
“Oh no,” Clyde said. He touched Luke’s shoulder sadly, and Luke fought back tears at this kind gesture. He composed himself, and told Clyde the basic story, how they’d been caught and what the camp was planning. He explained Tara and Mary were bringing Tara’s sick husband to the factory. He told Clyde that Tara had sent him there to beg Clyde to come as well.
Clyde stood thinking as Luke watched, spent and emotionally exhausted.
“Okay,” he said quietly. “I believe I may join you all soon.”
Clyde shook Luke’s hand, giving him condolences on his father. “You are a brave young man. Sometimes it takes all we have to stop evil. Sometimes it takes too much. It’s the sacrifice required to keep the world safe.”
Luke nodded, said goodbye and started home. The factory was his home now, and it would seem an empty place without his dad.
~
Clyde watched the defeated young man walk away with shoulders slumped. He went back inside, his thoughts swirling. Things had gone too far. What sort of evil was this man Meyers? It reminded him a lot of Hitler. Clyde caught sight of his ancient Marine duds hanging on the doorknob. The uniform sparked an idea. He walked to the old hand-cranked radio, the Gibson Girl, and sat down. Maybe he could find something out on his own. Maybe it was time to call in the troops.
~
Tara stood in stunned silence, staring at the dead body of her husband. Mary pushed past her into the room, Julie right behind.
“Lee, wake up!” Mary shouted. She flipped back the covers at his feet and whacked them with one hand.
Suddenly, Lee groaned and stirred. Tara’s heart leapt into her throat and she nearly collapsed against Julie. Tara pulled out the plasma from next to her body. It was nearly thawed. Julie took it in her warm hands, agitating it gently, and Tara handed her the needle and tubing.
Mary spoke quietly to Lee, telling him Tara was here now, and that they had a transfusion for him and everything was going to be alright. Lee opened his eyes and seemed to focus on her briefly, then drifted off again.
Mary grabbed the disinfectant on the table and wiped down Lee’s arm. She and Julie worked in tandem, attaching the tubing to the now liquefied bag, then the needle, finally inserting it into Lee. He didn’t even flinch, he was too far gone. Julie held the bag high, and Mary at one point squeezed it to deliver the dose more rapidly. All in all, it took about thirty minutes.
Tara began cleaning up the mess and the others joined her as soon as the transfusion was finished. Tara opened the window and placed the second bag of plasma outside on the roof to keep it frozen. Tara washed Lee next, going in search of fresh sheets and blankets for his bed. The women worked efficiently together, and finally Lee was sleeping soundly in clean bedclothes. The garbage bags were full of dirty linens. The bucket and slop jar full of waste were carefully wrapped and covered. Tara stood staring down at Lee a moment more before they took everything outside to bury in the pit.
“We have to leave right away,” Tara told the women. “We have to move Lee somehow, and get him to the factory. I don’t think it’s safe to even stay the night.”
Mary agreed, but Julie had hoped to settle in for longer. “Are you sure? I don’t think they will find us missing yet—they’re too busy with their Christmas party!”
“It’s just too dangerous, Julie. What if someone does happen to notice our empty cots? Or the cut fence, or our tracks in the snow outside it? You saw the van pass by on the way home. We just can’t risk it. We’ve come too far. And I never want to see the inside of that camp again.” Julie finally agreed.
They went through the sterilization routine and returned the chamber pots and bucket to Lee’s room. They gathered in the living room where Ben still lay asleep on the sofa.
“Poor little guy, he’s been through so much,” Tara said. Mary pulled the sleeping child onto her lap, not wanting to be apart from him.
Tara took stock of the situation. “Okay, number one priority is to haul Lee to the factory. I think he could curl up in the yard cart. We could wrap blankets around him. I don’t know what they’re going to think of someone contaminated coming in there with them. Hopefully, they’ll allow us in some other section where they aren’t at risk.”
The prospect of approaching the Resistance with Lee being sick worried Tara. She hoped Luke and his mother would vote on their side if it came to that
. But I’m the reason Kevin is dead.
Tara kept coming back to this fact.
“Can we get Lee downstairs?” asked Mary. Tara hadn’t thought of this. Julie was pretty weak and wouldn’t be much help. “We can lay him on a blanket and, drag him if we have to,” she said. “Come on, we have to get going. We’ll save Lee for last.”
Tara hoped the Resistance had their own store of disinfectant, soap and water. The women couldn’t possibly carry all theirs with them. At this thought, Tara called Mary over.
“What have you got to haul stuff at your house?”
“I’ve got a yard cart too! And I think Ben’s little red wagon is in the garage.” Tara told her to go get them, but be careful.
“I’ll come with you, Mom,” Julie told her.
Tara glanced at Julie, noticing for the first time that she still wore Tara’s coat liner. “Julie, come here.” Tara walked to the closet and dug out a thick winter coat, scarf and hat, along with a pair of gloves. Julie put them all on, thrilled at the warmth. Tara zipped the liner back into her own coat.
Mary motioned to her daughter to follow and they left by the front door. Tara locked it behind them, and went to the cupboard next. She took down the pre-mixed baggies of ORS, some Crisco, flour, sugar, and a few bags of rice and dried beans. She left about half their stores there, just in case.
Tara made a pile on the back porch, then came in and checked her gun to make sure it was fully loaded. She dumped the entire box of bullets into one coat pocket, and the gun into the other. Next, she gathered blankets and garbage bags, their boxes of gloves and medical masks, and the bleach and disinfectant. She stood looking at the pile, trying to imagine what else they might need at the factory. There was no way of knowing really, and finally, Tara gave up, calling it done.
She heard Mary and Julie approaching from the driveway side of the house. Mary came into view pulling a sturdy yard cart. Julie had a red wagon. The women loaded Mary’s cart with the piled goods. They returned to the living room and Tara reminded Mary not to forget her gun. Mary retrieved it, putting the bullets in her coat pocket as soon as Tara told her where she’d stashed hers. At least they could defend themselves.
Julie was exhausted, and sank down on the sofa beside Ben once they’d finished.
“Are we ready?” she asked Tara.
Tara stood thinking for a moment, just as Ben sat up rubbing his eyes, his blond hair sticking up adorably. Tara remembered it was Christmas Eve.
Poor kid.
“Hang on.” She ran out of the room and raced up the stairs, all the way to the attic. She dug in an old box of her son’s toys. She’d saved many of them from the time he was Ben’s age. She chose a couple and rushed back down.
“Look what Santa Claus left you up there!”
A beautiful smile lit up his small face, and he immediately became engrossed in the toys.
Tara decided they were as ready as they would ever be. It was time to get Lee. She led Mary back upstairs, and Mary suited up, deciding to put Lee into a gown, facemask and gloves too, the better to calm the Resistance into accepting him. Tara brought another blanket to drag Lee on, and then she donned protective clothing too.
She and Mary wrestled Lee from the bed onto the blanket, and the older woman pulled Lee out into the hallway.
“Bring the pan,” Tara called, hoping maybe Lee would sleep the entire way and not need to use it. Julie came upstairs and put a mask and gloves on herself and Ben. “We’re ready,” she called.
“Julie, go into the closet and gather as many more blankets and sheets as you can carry, okay?” Julie returned with them, taking them down to the cart Lee would ride in.
“C’mon, Mary, let’s get him downstairs.”
They somehow rolled Lee into the blanket and each took an end.
“Mary, pull his feet. I’m going to cradle his head.”
They inched their way down the stairs onto the first floor, and then slid the bundle containing Lee over to the back door. Julie and Ben were already outside waiting. Mary and Tara followed the same procedure for the back steps.
Once they got Lee onto the ground, they lifted the bundle by both ends and placed him in the yard cart, wrapping some of the blankets around him. They tried to brush off the snow that clung to the blanket. Lee didn’t make a sound and Tara wondered how long it would take for the survivor’s plasma to take effect. She hoped it was soon.
Julie wrapped Ben up too and placed him in the Radio Flyer wagon. She gave him the toy to hold and he stared at the bright yellow helicopter in awe. Tara smiled, remembering how much her son had loved it too.
Tara climbed the steps to the porch, giving a final glance into the kitchen sadly.
Maybe we’ll be able to come back here. Maybe things will get better.
She slowly pulled the door shut with a click.
“Okay, are we ready?” She looked at their eager faces, and knew they thought of her as their leader. However, Tara didn’t feel like a leader. She lifted the handle of the yard cart and tested how hard it was going to be to pull Lee along. It began to roll and it wasn’t bad at all. The large tires seemed to glide effortlessly through the snow.
Julie was able to handle the small wagon with Ben in it, and Mary had a heavy load of supplies in her cart, but she was also managing just fine.
The night was dark, but the snow lightened things up considerably. “Keep aware, everybody, watch for vans.” They headed down the back alley quietly. The snow appeared to be about three inches deep, and Tara thought it muffled the sound of the carts and wagon wheels nicely, so considered it a bonus.
How’s that for optimism!
She almost laughed out loud at herself.
The tracks we’re making are the worst thing.
Nevertheless, she figured once they were inside the factory, it wouldn’t matter anyway. Besides, the Powers That Be at the camp already knew about the Resistance.
The air was crisp and the snow was still flying. Tara strained at pulling the cart. It was slow going, and Lee was heavy. She glanced at the others and they too were working hard, but making it.
At the railroad tracks, Tara paused, wondering if she could pull Lee down the middle. She settled for one side, where there was only pea gravel instead of railroad ties to navigate.
A noise spun Tara around. A white van crossed the country road behind them where they’d just turned down the tracks. “Get down!” hissed Tara, and everybody crouched. She watched as the van slowed going over the bumps, then continued around the bend on the road, which ran parallel to them.
“Stay down,” whispered Tara, waiting for the van to reappear across from them. The headlights swept around the turn, illuminating the still-falling snowflakes for a moment, then it passed by. They watched as the van approached the factory ahead on their left.
“Let’s go, they seem to be doing sweeps of the area which really worries me. They may be looking for us already.” Tara hoped they could cross the remaining distance before the van came round again.
The little band of refugees crept forward as fast as they could go, which wasn’t fast enough for Tara. Between the snow and the heavy loads, they were really bogged down. She kept one eye peeled for the sentinels who had greeted her here last time. But they were nowhere in sight. Tara thought Luke’s new information had probably warned them, and they were engaged elsewhere.
Maybe they’re preparing for what they think is coming.
The women came to the end of the tracks and stopped. There was an open area of ground they would have to cross to reach the factory entrance. The road across from them curved their way here, running along just in front of them after it passed the factory entrance.