Z Children (Book 2): The Surge (19 page)

“Yeah,
just a little stiff from all the fun.”

“We
never did clean those wounds from when you got Chris out of the hospital…” Her
voice trailed off, a knowing lilt morphing her normal tone.

“I’m
fine.”

“That’s
what you said before, and it’s not going to cut it this time. I was tired,
didn’t fight you. Chris told me to leave you alone. Everyone needs to just stop
telling me what to do, dammit.”

“Woman—”
I had a feeling I was going to lose the argument though—she cursed. I’d learned
that she was edging into serious mode when she dropped a cuss word into the
mix.

“I
swear if you call me woman again, I’ll kick your butt, soldier boy.”

I
snorted involuntarily when she called me soldier boy.

“Now
grow a pair and roll up your sleeves so I can take a look.”

Chris
was shoved directly behind Virginia now. Somehow, Bonnie was still deep asleep.
Her soft snoring drifted to me, and it was a low sort of calming hum that
forced me to relax.

The
sleeves were fitted on the shirt I was wearing—a size too small, but a clean
option that Virginia and Chris had grabbed from the clothing store in Tyler.
Shifting in the seat, I pulled the shirt out of my belted pants and yanked it
over my head, revealing the many shrapnel scares that littered my skin. I
hadn’t been unmarred in all of my conscious memory. At some point, I know that
I was once a babe—perfect skin that my momma used to lotion—not anymore. And
never again.

Other
than the healed wounds, my body wasn’t bad to look at; at least I didn’t think
so. Virginia didn’t seem affected by it—she stared at me with clinically appraising
eyes, not the least glimmer of appreciation for my form floating around in the
pupils. Chris’s face spoke a different story. Again, I was struck by how much
the woman hated the male form. Period. Made me wonder how she worked with male
patients. Of course, she was a pediatric doctor, so maybe her hatred of the
male gender only translated towards the fully-grown penis-endowed.

“Shit,
watch it, woman.”

Virginia
didn’t respond to me calling her woman. Her fingers were gently playing at the
corners of the largest laceration on my arm, not the relatively minor one Chris
had bandaged post-escape. “It’s a little red around the edges, but looks okay
infection-wise. Neck stiffness your only symptom?”

“And a
bit tired, more than I’m used to.”

“When
was your last booster? I’m sure there was more than one thing in that Dumpster
that could have transmitted tetanus—construction dust, animal feces. You name
it. You both basically jumped helter-skelter into a bacteria mine field.”

“It’s
not like we had much of a choice in the matter,” I grumbled unhappily. I hadn’t
told her what had transpired escaping the hospital, but apparently Chris had.

“I
didn’t say you had a choice, JW. Don’t be sensitive.”

“I’m
not sensitive.”

Chris
piped up from behind Virginia. “So when was your last booster?”

“My
last what?” I shook my head, my eyes closing for a split second.

“Shots,
JW,” Virginia clarified, using an alcohol wipe from her red donation bag of
supplies to swipe the cuts along my right arm. “A tetanus booster.”

“Right.
Hell if I know—when I was active at some point, I guess.” Shifting in the seat,
I reached for the shirt I’d taken off. Virginia pushed me gently back against
the seat, not allowing my fingers to reach the green material on the floor.

“That’s
not good enough. We don’t know if you’re covered.” She stopped cleaning and
applied a long, wide bandage that covered most of the cuts on my forearm. The
wounds on my upper arm weren’t severe enough to warrant even a tiny taupe
bandage.

“No.
Uncover it, Virginia.” Chris reached up, ready to pull off the newly-applied
bandage.

Virginia’s
head whipped around. “I just cleaned it, Chris. Leave it alone.”

“It’s
better if he leaves it uncovered. Clean air will help if any bacterial spores
still exist in the wound.”

“Shit.
You’re right.” Virginia’s nails worked their way under the bandage edge and she
worked it off gently. It still yanked at the hair on my arms.

“We’ll
need to find him a booster.” Chris sounded concerned. I didn’t like that. If
she could muster up concern for me, then something was really wrong.

“I
know.” Virginia rocked back on her heels, her body knocking into Chris. Her
tone said—
just because I made one mistake, doesn’t mean I’m completely
inept, Chris.
“What about your legs?”

“Barely
a scratch or two through these pants.” I had on issue cargos. The material was
thick, not easily ripped.

“Here
put a shirt back on.” Chris pushed around Virginia’s leaning body with a fresh
shirt—cotton and breathable. She tossed it sideways and it landed in my lap.
“We’ll have to find a hospital or clinic.”

“I’ve
got a shirt,” I grunted unhappily.

“Not a
clean one.” Chris’s tone was smug. “Now, let’s find a hospital in that atlas.
Bet there’s one close with the airport here.”

“Because
going into a damn hospital worked out so well last time?” Now that Virginia had
cleaned the wounds, shifting my body actually ached more trying to thread my
arms through the shirt sleeves.

“Tetanus
is not something to mess with, JW. It could take you out of action for a long
time.” Virginia patted the arm she’d just treated, her body still leaned
against Chris’s.

“I’m
tough. I’ll live.”

“Sure.
You’ll live. As a powerful toxin begins to attack your motor neurons rendering
your muscles inept, useless things, you’ll live. Doesn’t that sound grand, JW?
You and your macho grandstanding and muscle-reliance. I’m sure you’ll live just
fine after abdominal stiffness that’ll make taking a shit a real treat. Painful
body spasms. Difficulty swallowing. Fever. Sweating. Elevated heart rate.”
Chris was ticking off symptoms on her fingers. It was damn annoying. But I also
got the damn point.

“I get
it. You can shut up now.”

“Don’t
tell me to shut up,” Chris retorted.

Virginia
groaned. “No. Just no. You two are not starting your bickering again.”

“So we
need a tetanus booster,” I acquiesced.

“Yes.
If you contract it, it’s not something we can treat on the road. We need
antibiotics also, just to be safe.”

“Penicillin.”
Chris nodded.

“Nope,”
JW said, getting the clean shirt over his head. “Allergic. You want to see
spasms? Give me a dose of that shit.”

“Fine,
erythromycin then or whatever we can find.” Virginia’s tone basically said for
me to stop being difficult. I didn’t like the levels of shade the two women
were throwing my way. Not one bit.

I
turned enough in my seat to look the doctors in the faces. They were both
worried, Chris as worried as Virginia—maybe because she realized that they
didn’t stand a chance without me, but she’d never vocalize that. Not in her
wildest feminist dreams.

When
was my last battery of shots? Four years ago… or six years ago… I just couldn’t
remember.

“Fine.
Let me check this out and we’ll get back on the highway. Next medical facility
we see, we’ll try to find what you both think I need.” I watched the two women
nod. “But we only go in if the risk is minimal. No use saving me if it means
putting you all in the line of fire.”

They
didn’t vocally agree or even nod, but Bonnie stirring in the back of the truck
made us all turn to look at her. She was the real reason we wouldn’t take huge
risks. A kid always changes the perspective an adult has on a situation—always
changes it if the adult isn’t an insane maniac missing his or her heart.

No way
was I leaving that kid to fend for herself. Virginia and Chris would be about
as useful as a spoon for cutting steak.

“It’ll
be good to add to my medical supplies too,” Virginia muttered, digging through
her two red sacks. “I grabbed a lot of useful things, but more never hurts.”

“Fine,
we’ll find what I need and beef up your meds in case we sustain any real
damage.” I looked back at the airport. “Now, if all that’s settled, I’m gonna
back this rig into that entry control point,” I lifted my hand, indicating the
break in the fencing, “and have a look around.”

“There’s
a fair few of them out there, JW.” Virginia’s hand was back on my knee. “Do you
want me to go with you?”

“Or
me,” Chris mumbled halfheartedly. I knew she didn’t want to go with me, but I
also knew that she didn’t want Virginia to go with me more.

“I’ll
be better on my own. I won’t be focused on keeping anyone else safe. Chris, you
take the wheel. Virginia, be ready to have the passenger door open if Ranger
and I come running.”

Before
either woman could answer, another voice came to life.

“You’re
taking Ranger?” Bonnie was awake, lying on her side and staring at our huddled
group at the front of the delivery truck.

“Yeah,
kid, need my backup.” Nodding, I reached over and patted Ranger’s back. I did
it firmly because it gave him a sense of security. He was in easy reach, still
seated in the passenger seat. My touch elicited a low rumble from deep inside
his belly. He knew what was coming and he was letting me know that he was
ready.

“Come
back.” Bonnie didn’t say anything else. She turned over onto her other side,
her face now staring at the inner wall of the van. Those two words were enough
to steel me, enough for me to make a mental promise. My own two mental words—
I
will
.

“You
two good?” I looked at the adult women. Virginia looked concerned. Chris looked
like she was about to get her panties in a wad again because I was questioning
her ability to deal. If she proved that she could deal, then I’d stop asking to
make sure. So far, all she’d proven was that she froze when the shit got thick.

“We
got it, general,” Chris said sarcastically, giving me a pitiful
Civilian-attempt at a salute.

I
frowned.
I work for a living, always have. I don’t polish a chair with my
ass like some decorated officer.
I let it go. Chris might have meant it the
way I was taking it, and if that was the case, then I wasn’t giving her the
satisfaction of knowing that she’d gotten my goat.

“Keep
the Glocks close, and if you need to use them, don’t hesitate.” But then I was
the one that hesitated. “Watch what you’re shooting at, though. Ranger and I
don’t need any more bullet scars.”

“We’ll
be fine, JW. Really,” Virginia answered me, her hand was on Chris shoulder, as
if holding the woman down or keeping her from saying something that would piss
me off.

I
really liked Virginia. The more time I spent with her, the more I couldn’t
understand why she was with Chris—the man hater—when she could get any gal, or
guy for that matter, in a skinny minute. Attractive, smart, could handle herself—for
the most part.

As if
Chris could read my mind, she spoke and the words had just the tinge of acid to
them, “Thought you were leaving.”

It
wasn’t a question. So I didn’t need to answer. Although, admittedly, my backing
the vehicle into the control point, opening the driver’s door, and exiting the
vehicle was probably answer enough.

***

VIRGINIA

I
really didn’t like how Chris was behaving. She wasn’t acting like the woman I
knew and loved. But I also didn’t know what to say to her, how to snap her out
of this bitchy jealous act that was driving me nuts. And I knew that’s what it
was. She didn’t like the way I was speaking with JW, the way I was accepting
his leadership.

Well,
she was just going to have to get the hell over it. I wasn’t bisexual. I didn’t
find JW physically attractive. I just wanted to survive.

JW was
the one with experience. If we made it to Atlanta alive, he’d be the reason.

The
only time I got a glimpse of the woman I loved was when she lapsed into her
clinical self—helping me treat JW and addressing Bonnie’s collapse—although,
having that candy bar in her pocket was pretty shitty. There was no way she’d
just forgotten about it. The bar had been a king-size for God’s sake. She had
to have felt it in her pocket.

Before
all of this had started, I hadn’t known where Chris and I stood. Now, I was
even less sure.

***

JW

The
first tent was abandoned.

So
were the second and the third.

Ranger
was out in front of me by a good ten yards. His ears turned this way and that
picking up minute noises, while his nose deciphered all the incoming smells. No
soldier had ever had a better point man.

We
were keeping it totally in the ready—poised to react, knowing the horde
gathered on the tarmac a mere hundred meters or so away could converge on our
location at any second. The re-built rifle felt right in my hands, its compactness
made it easy to maneuver as I was clearing the tents. There was a lot of stuff
left behind.

When
the evacuees had moved, they’d moved fast. That meant the threat had been
imminent and real. A large board showed a list of flights. They’d prioritized
the children. Had they known? Had they known it was the children spreading the
sickness? No. They couldn’t have known. They were probably just loading them
onto aircraft as fast as the pilots could fly them out.

Finally,
I was closing-in on the tent I wanted—I’d known right off where I needed to go;
it was apparent by the color. The big green one, obviously military. All of the
other tents were white and fairly lightweight. This green one was heavy,
designed to be a command tent. Unfortunately, it was also closest to the zombie
soccer players and the spectator Z adults.