The Strain Page 12

  Hal looked at the rear end damage. “It does. How did we …” He looked around, the without saying any more headed back to his driver’s side.

  “Captain, what are you doing?” Elliott asked.

  “Headed to Bowman.” Hal opened his door. “Everyone get in. And no one … say a word about this.” Hal got in the truck. The last thing he remembered was pulling out of Beginnings. He wouldn’t say a word to anyone about it. Not only did Hal have no recollection of what happened, he had no explanation on why he couldn’t remember. Eventually, he’d find out or at least he hoped. Until then, he, Elliott and George headed back to Bowman, and never spoke a word about what just happened.

  SIXTEEN

  “I feel terrible,” Andrea said to Ellen.

  “No, don’t,” Ellen told her. She knew what Andrea was feeling bad about. The fact that Andrea had to wear a mask, goggle and gloves. “Listen you and I, we dodged a bullet caring for Robbie. I wasn’t so lucky with the other patients. I don’t want you to take a chance.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Tired, but okay. The anti-infections are helping and ….” Her eyes shifted when the phone rang. “You think that’s him.”

  “Has to be.” Andrea pressed the ‘speaker’ button the counter phone. “This is Andrea.”

  “And you sound endearing as always,” Lars said.

  “Oh, thank you, Lars.”

  “Do you have news?” Ellen asked.

  “Yes. Yes. Whatever Dean concocted did cause a thirty percent decrease in those four patients, buying them and us more time to beat this.”

  “Do we know how he made this?” Ellen asked.

  “No. Unfortunately, after he turned it over to me, he said something about catching some sleep before heading to Bowman,” Lars answered. “I’d break it down but I don’t want to waste a drop. It seems, historically speaking, the brilliant Doctor Hayes has wonderful luck slowing the progress of a pesky infection or virus.”

  “This is true,” Andrea said. “Back when it all started, he was able to slow it down. Then Catherine found him some natural herbs and he combined it. He was never able to beat it.”

  “He tried though,” Ellen said.

  “I always thought if Catherine was there,” Andrea said. “The two of them would have conquered it.”

  “I wish I would have met her,” Ellen commented.

  “I did,” Lars replied. “I had the pleasure. Fine woman. Funny thing about Catherine, since she was an intern, she was waiting on the apocalypse. At least she lived to see it. I think… did she?”

  Andrea nodded. “She was killed in an accident on her way to meet Dean.”

  “It’s funny,” Ellen said. “We all knew of her, but only you met her.”

  “Mmm. She was a link,” Andrea said to pull us together. She then sighed. “Okay, now back to the present. How many more doses of the new Dean meds do we have?”

  “You have the last of it in your fridge,” Lars told her. “After that, we’re done. We just have to hold off two days. Then hopefully, they’ll manage the Hail Mary pass and get the antibiotics from the past. Speaking of the past, I have to head to Bowman in a couple hours. Our travelers go into quarantine here soon.”

  “They should be good,” Ellen said. “They’ve been so wrapped up, none of them were around any infected.”

  “Were they around you?” Lars asked.

  “No. Oddly, Dean met with Frank about something at three in the morning. Other than passing Dean the phone, I wasn’t around either of them. And Dean tested clean before working on that new med.”

  “This thing is tricky,” said Andrea. “Honestly. We’re missing something.”

  “What do you mean?” Lars asked.

  “Rather should I say … missing someone,” Andrea stated. “She didn’t work the ward yesterday. I did. So how did she get infected? As frightening as it sounds, there has to be someone in town carrying it.”

  “I have to disagree,” Ellen said. “This thing makes you feel bad. Everyone that we tested came in because they were feeling poorly. If there is someone out there infected, by now they’d be in here. Either they’re too sick to come in…”

  “Or,” Lars interjected. “They’re a carrier.”

  “That would be disastrous,” Andrea said.

  “Yes, so tomorrow morning,” Lars stated. “While our time trio is looking for the cure, we look for the person. We test every single person in Beginnings and those who traveled to and from. If there is such a person out there, and we don’t find him or her, no amount of antibiotics is going to stop what we will have ahead of us.”

  <><><><>

  It dawned on Frank that the only sleep he had gotten in two days was the short nap he took right before the morning meeting. He had every intention of sleeping more, but things just didn’t work out that way.

  After the meeting he made his way to Bowman to meet with Ben from Fabrics to get his new Vegas clothes. That took a little longer than needed since Hal backed into him on the roadway. Then he thought maybe after he could catch some sleep, but when he called Ellen, she asked him if he could go to the New Town and check on the kids. He told her he really wanted to see her before he left, but once she explained she couldn’t leave the ward, Frank headed west to check on things.

  That round trip took up most of his afternoon. He stayed awhile, talked to the kids, Jenny and Jess had some Chinese food then drove back to Beginnings to get Henry then Dean, who … was sleeping.

  “Dean, I’m fucking tired,” Frank told him. “Can we just finish up.”

  “I need to shower, Frank. You should have slept.”

  “I was running around all day, then Fuckin Hal caused a car accident with me.”

  “Are you okay?”

  Frank nodded. “Just tired.”

  “Want me to drive to Bowman and you can sleep in the truck.”

  “Dean, it’s ten miles. I wouldn’t consider that a nap. I’ll sleep when we get there. At least I should be able to sleep or I’d have that nervous ‘can’t sleep before vacation’ thing happening.”

  “Why do you run and get the letter from Jason that we’re supposed to take back. That will cut out some time. We can all meet at the clinic, there’s something I want to do.”

  Frank agreed and headed to Jason’s lab to get the letter, which was fairly painless, then he called Henry who was at History making copies.

  When Frank and Henry arrived at the clinic, Dean was scurrying around placing things in a small carrying bag.

  “Do you have the eraser?” Dean asked. “I know you took it.”

  “It was an accident,” Frank said. “I wanted to test it out.”

  “On who?” asked Dean?

  “Hal.”

  “Did you?”

  Frank smiled. “Yep.”

  Henry laughed. “I bet that was funny. Too bad Hal doesn’t know. What are you packing Dean?”

  “Well, since none of us have taken ibuprofen or Tylenol in forever, it’s our own pain medication.”

  “That’s good thinking, Dean. Did you pack sunscreen?” Henry asked.

  “No.” Dean laughed. “Why would we need sunscreen and where am I gonna get sunscreen.”

  “I don’t know,” Henry said. “But I need sunscreen. It’s July and we’re headed to the desert. We’re going back in time to June. We’re meeting past Jason at the pool. He said he’s always at the pool in the morning.”

  “Did you bring your trunks?” Frank asked.

  “No. Should I have brought something?” Henry asked.

  “Well, you can’t hang with me and Dean after we find past Jason. You’re the constant. What if you hang at the pool? It’ll be hot. You’ll want to go in the water.”

  “Oh, that’s true, Frank,” Henry said. “For sure I’ll need sunscreen.”

  “You won’t need sunscreen,” Dean said.

  “No, Dean, I burn. I burn really bad.”

  “Then go inside. Wander around. You’re gonna have like
fourteen hours to kill,” Dean said. “Go eat. In fact, I brought something in case you guys get sick. I remember our last time trip…” He eyed Frank. “And the McDonald’s incident.”

  “”Oh, that was bad,” Henry said. “Frank was so sick.”

  “Exactly. Now imagine him walking around the city of all you can eat buffets.”

  Frank’s eyes widened. “I have to go to a buffet. All you can eat crab legs.”

  “You still have to be careful,” Dean pointed at him. “Medicine or not.”

  “Fuck.”

  “What?” Dean asked.

  “Buffet’s cost money.”

  “Maybe you can sign up for one of those casino cards,” Henry suggested. “They may give a buffet away with that.”

  “Or…” Frank snapped his finger with the thought. “Young Jason. Maybe he has money.”

  “I bet he does,” Henry replied. “He was rich.”

  “You think he’ll give us money?”

  “No,” Dean answered. “Absolutely not. My father may.”

  “Good. Because we need money.” As soon as Frank said that, his mind immediately flashed back.

  “Ellen has money,” Dean said so smug at the meeting before the very first time trip.

  Ellen gasped. Everyone kind of shouted out, ‘what’ and Joe asked Dean just to be certain. “Ellen has money?”

  “Sure,” Dean nodded, “And lots of it.”

  Standing up and holding his hand out to everyone, Joe walked down the table. “How does Ellen have lots of money, Dean?”

  “Before we left Ashtonville, she robbed the First Savings and Loan. Then she hit up the drug store, grocery store, video store . . .” He paused when a pencil flew at him. “But she has money. A whole box full, don’t you Ellen?”

  “No!” she answered quickly, “He’s lying Joe. I don’t have any money.”

  Dean laughed. “I cannot believe you won’t own up to the money. Joe she has it.”

  Joe looked at Henry. “Henry, she lives with you. Does she have a box of money at your house?”

  Henry shrugged, lost. “She has boxes, I don’t know if they have money.”

  “No.” Dean shook his head. “The money is in one of the boxes at my house.”

  Frank was curious, but not about the money. “What boxes does Ellen still have at your house, Dean? She still has boxes at mine.”

  “That’s what I want to know!” Joe interjected. “She has boxes at Dean’s house and at Henry’s. Does she have boxes at your house Frank?” After Frank nodded, Joe took on an interrogation tone “How can that be? We were only allotted three boxes each when we moved here. Ellen?”

  “Dean gave me two of his,” she said, “and Henry gave me one of his.”

  John Matoose felt a little like adding fuel to the fire. “Uh Joe? I gave her a box and so did George.”

  “And me,” Andrea added. “I gave her one of mine because I really didn’t have anything.”

  Joe walked closer to Ellen. “Nine boxes? You brought nine boxes?”

  “Joe, I had a whole house to pack up. You people wandered into Ashtonville. I had a house of memories.” She began to account for the boxes on her fingers. “I had knickknacks, and not to mention my videos, pictures, my china, wine glasses, clothes . . .”

  “Ellen!” Joe halted her. “And don’t lie to me. Did you use one of those boxes for money!?”

  Ellen came clean. “Yes.”

  “So you lied to me!” Joe scolded. “Now how much money do you have?”

  “Not much.”

  Stopping Dean before he tattled any further, Joe stepped as close as he could to her. “How much is not much?”

  Ellen slid down in her seat mumbling.

  “Excuse me?” Joe cupped his ear. “I can’t hear you.”

  “I said twelve thousand, seven-hundred, and fifty-six dollars, in small and large denominations. Mostly small.”

  “What!” His booming voice shook Ellen and caused her to scoot to Frank. “Why in the world do you have almost thirteen thousand dollars?”

  “I thought that we may need it someday.”

  “Guess what Ellen, we do.”

  “We do,” Frank said as he came out of that memory.

  “Frank?” Dean chuckled his name. “Of course we do. I mean if you’re talking about the money.”

  “I am. Finish up, Dean, we have one more stop here in town before going to Bowman. Our very own … ATM.” Frank smiled.

  <><><><>

  “Oh, yeah,” Frank flipped through the wad of money before placing it in his back pocket. “Buffets watch out.” He started the truck.

  “Can I have some to play the slots?” Henry asked. “I have to waste time.”

  “Yeah, But I need to save some for souvenirs. There was only six hundred in old bills left.”

  “That was good thinking, Frank,” Dean said.

  “Yeah, it was.” Frank began to drive. “We’re still are hitting your dad up for money.”

  “My dad.” Dean smiled. “I can’t wait to see my dad.”

  Frank and Henry both agreed and they talked about William on the short drive to Bowman. When they got there, Frank finally got some rest. He closed his eyes half way through the first quarantine, woke up for the blood test, then fell back to sleep until Dean woke him to tell him they all have gotten a clear.

  “One more test before we leave,” Dean said. “I think we’ll be good.”

  After that, Frank couldn’t go back to sleep. The excitement of the next day raced through his mind. Going back in time, Vegas, seeing William and having an all you can eat buffet.

  They were bunking at the field house just off the newly built runway. The field house was always there. It had a pilot’s lounge from the old days when the airfield only accommodated smaller craft.

  He went outside for a smoke, and when he came back in, he heard Hal and George talking in the pilot’s lounge.

  “What’s going on?” Frank asked, as he stepped inside.

  “Hey, Frank, coffee’s fresh,” Hal said.

  “Thanks.” Frank walked to the pot and after he poured a cup, he noticed that Hal and George were seated at the table with papers sprawled in front of them. “What are you doing?”

  “Passing time,” George said.

  “I thought you’d sleep.” Frank walked to the table and joined them. “You have to fly us in a few hours.”

  “I’ll be fine. I’m too excited. Spent the first couple hours in here figuring out logistics,” George said. “Where to land. That sort of thing. Then you know, I realized, we don’t know what it would look like.”

  “Robbie flew over Vegas,” Frank said.

  “That’s right,” Hal commented. “After the Fredrickson. He wanted to see what happened to the coast.”

  “Did he say what he saw?” George asked.

  “It’s wasn’t a blanketed desert like everyone says in would be.” Frank shrugged. “He said it looked fine.”

  “That’s good news. Landing won’t be a problem.”

  Frank reached for the papers on the table. “These aren’t maps.”

  “No.” George shook his head. ‘They aren’t. We were discussing the book.”

  Frank looked at Hal. “Danny’s book from the future.”

  Hal nodded. “It passes the time and I believe what Roy protected us from seeing is now nothing more than a future work of fiction.”

  “In what ways?” Frank asked.

  “Me,” George answered. “In this book. I’m dead. That alone makes a huge difference in everything. Without me, my people are scattered. Disorganized. In the book, you didn’t have them. You do now. In this book you didn’t have the scan system … we have that now.”

  “But the Great War is still coming,” Frank said. “We know this. The General told us that was his mission to come here before hand.”

  “But how ‘Great’ will the Great War be?” Hal asked. “It could be over because we have the capabilities to see them coming or …. It cou
ld be much worse.”

  “Yeah, like if they knew George is alive,” Frank said. “In this book, he was dead. If they knew that, they knew to just sail their way over. But if they think there’s an inkling of government remaining, they may do something else.”

  “Something we’re not expecting,” George said.

  “We need to find those missing three hundred,” Hal told him. “That has to be a priority. Why isn’t our scan system picking them up?”

  Frank rubbed his chin. “The war is also not coming when we thought. It should have already started.”

  “Which is good.” George lifted a finger. “It gives us more time to prepare.”

  “What gets me,” Frank said. “What’s weird is Robbie was the first casualty of the Great War. He died in this time around the same date he died in this book.” He tapped it. “What if some of the deaths aren’t able to be changed.”

  “A what’s meant to be thing,” Hal added. “Hopefully that’s not the case. Because if it is, it won’t be long before we lose Dean and Ellen as well. They die in the Great War. Helping people in a battle zone. But George has a theory. Tell him, George.”

  “What if we didn’t stop or halt the Great War, but changed it,” George said. “What if we are already in the Great War.?”

  “What do you mean?” Frank asked.

  “What if by going to the future, by discovering the twenty-four hundred, my presence, all that switched things up? What if now the invader isn’t tens of thousands of soldiers, but rather a germ? A bacteria. A battle we need to fight. If our Great War now is a germ, then Robbie was indeed the first casualty.”

  “And Dean and Ellen would be in the battle zone helping people,” Frank said.

  “But just like we wanted to do all along,” Hal said. “We can stop it. Or try. This trip is important. It is not the first time you used time travel to stop an illness from wiping us out.”

  “It’s risky, Frank,” George added. “It really is. Going back that far, interacting, and trying to secure that much medicine. If we don’t succeed. If we can’t figure out a way, then like in this book … we will lose a lot of people, just like we do in this book.”

  Frank stared for a moment, shifting his eyes from George to Hal. “That’s a lot of pressure.” He stood.