Rectify [Book 2] Page 6

  Although it was warm, the wet clothes caused Ella to be chilled. She thought about asking Miss Marcy for a change of clothes. She hated doing that, even for something as simple as dry clothing, Miss Marcy had done so much for her already.

  She raised her hand and knocked on the door.

  Ella bounced up and down to keep warm, waiting on Miss Marcy to open the door. When she saw her approach, Ella smiled. The smile quickly fell when Miss Marcy came into view.

  Miss Marcy peered out the glass pane of the door at Ella, her hand hitting against it.

  Ella stepped back, shocked and saddened. It wasn’t what she expected to see.

  Miss Marcy didn’t open the door. She couldn’t. Those who died and came back somehow lacked the coordination to turn a knob. It was obvious it was what happened to Miss Marcy. The sweet, wonderful woman who was always so helpful had died … and revived.

  <><><><>

  James caught glimpse of her going into Tent six and he recognized her. He knew for sure it was her when he saw Ella’s name on the check in from along with the words ‘arm injury’. He then shook his head with a smile, thinking, ‘I told her to say she had a bellyache.’

  He was glad she made it back, because that let him know she was safe. He worried about her. She was risking her life every time she went out to help the people in her trapped community.

  “Nice to see you again,” James said when he walked in.

  Ella had a blanket wrapped around her. Her hair was dripping wet.

  “You look soaked,” he said.

  “You’ll have that when you’re running in the rain,” she replied. “You look tired.”

  “You’ll have that when you’ve been up for …” he looked at his watch. “Thirty-seven hours. It’ll be over forty when I finally get to bed.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. It’s the vaccinations and cures. It’s been nonstop. On a positive note, I don’t have to be back to the hospital until Wednesday, I plan on sleeping tomorrow away.”

  “Oh … then I hope you can at least find time to enjoy my gift.” She pulled her backpack forward from under the blanket and reached in, lifting out a bottle.

  “For me?”

  “For you. I hope you like bourbon.”

  “I like anything in a bottle that has alcohol and isn’t beer.” He took it. “Thank you. Thank you so much. You came for some supplies?”

  “Yeah, but …” She lowered her head. “The guy at check-in said you were out. I came to see if you can help me get the vaccine for my people.”

  James cringed. “Oh, I’m sorry. We are here. But, I can't get more until tomorrow. I could bring it down.”

  “That’s your sleep day.”

  “You come at night. We can work it out. But the arm won’t wait.” James winked. “Didn’t I tell you to say you had a bellyache.”

  “You did.”

  “So why the arm injury.”

  “It … it wasn’t intentional.” She pulled her arm from the blanket exposing a small bite mark on her wrist.

  “Oh, Ella. How … how did this …”

  “Miss Marcy. She ... I guess Horace got to her, I don’t know. I tried to revive her because I didn’t want to see her like that and she got me.” Ella pouted. “Some luck, huh. I get bit and you guys are out of the cure.”

  “Yeah, we are. But they say the vaccine … the vaccine if given within four hours of a bite works as a cure.”

  “The man said they were out.”

  “The hospital is. But … he reached into the pocket of his scrubs. “I didn’t want to leave this hanging around.” He lifted a small blue plastic pouch. “Around here this is gold.”

  “What is it?’

  “The vaccine.”

  “You said you were out.”

  “We are. This is my dose. I didn’t take it yet.”

  “No. No I won’t take your dose.”

  “Hey.” He stepped to her. “I can get another when I go on shift Wednesday. I’m not worried about it. You need it.”

  “Are you sure?’

  “While it isn’t necessary, I would like to remove the area around the bite as a safeguard.”

  “Do what you need to do.”

  “And you’ll need to stay here for eight hours.”

  “That I can’t do,” she said. “I can’t. In daylight those things can see. My best chance at getting back to camp is to go before sunup.”

  “Okay, then you’ll stay here as long as you can before you head back. Deal?”

  Ella nodded. “Deal.”

  “Let’s take care of you.” James pulled the medical treatment tray forward, but before he worked on her arm, he opened his own dose of the vaccine and injected Ella.

  SEVENTEEN – DELIVERANCE

  Prior to the arrival of the vaccine and cure, Tom’s standard R-Team offense and defense gear was a gas can, revolver and rectifier. Now he was armed with a jet gun injector. A relic of the past mass immunizations used by the military, but it was brought back for the CO-D4 virus battle. Because of fear of virus transfers, the military stopped using it. However, since the jet gun would only be used to deliver the cure to infected, that worry went out the window. It was a matter of fast and mass injections over cross contamination.

  His R-Team was down from eight people to three. Some of his men were ill, a common side effect from the vaccine. While they did offer to go, Tom made them stay back. It was a simple call. A report regarding a mother and her baby. Things had been calm for a couple days, they could take the time off.

  He thought of Doctor James Ung as he drove to the inner city destination. Doctor Ung was working in the field hospital a few blocks away. Oddly they had developed some unspoken friendship. He liked Doctor Ung, respected him.

  As soon as Tom and the team pulled up to the building, he knew he had been there before. That same building.

  It was an extremely early morning, the sun hadn’t risen and the sound of a baby’s cry carried in the night air.

  “Major, that’s a newborn,” Private Garret said as he stepped from the truck.

  “How do you know?” Tom asked.

  “I know. The baby is a newborn.”

  “Has to be alive and not revived,” said the other soldier Wanes. “The revived don’t produce enough air flow to vibrate the vocal chords.”

  “My God, you’re right,” Tom said. Immediately his mind raced to the child. It was still alive, but for how long? It could have been injured, bit, and he readied his Jet gun.

  They were greeted by a frantic older woman in her sixties. She stood outside the single door main entrance to the apartments.

  “I’m the one who called,” she said. “I should have called earlier, the baby has been crying nonstop. But I thought it was just a baby thing. When I realized it wasn’t, that maybe something was wrong, I was too scared to go up there and check.”

  “It’s alright, Ma’am,” Tom said. “You reported only a baby and the mother?”

  “Yes,” she replied. “Her name is Rhonda. I remember seeing her walking around pregnant. I don’t know her last name, but her first name is Rhonda.”

  “Anyone else in the apartment?” Tom asked.

  The woman shook her head. “No. But I am sure it is her apartment. I went up and listened. 4B.”

  Then it clicked. Not only had Tom been at that building, he was at that same apartment, not long before. A pregnant woman called for the R-Team.

  He thanked the older woman, signaled Wane and Garrett and together they entered the building.

  There was no need for gas. Especially since there was only one adult in the apartment. Unless Rhonda suddenly took people in, she was the only threat in the apartment. That was if something happened to her.

  The sounds of a crying baby told Tom, that maybe Rhonda was fine. After all, if there was a revived in an apartment with a baby, there wouldn’t be any sounds of crying.

  “There’s a possibility,” Tom told the team. “The baby is in another
room. Let’s do this. Stay alert. Stay alive.”

  He reached for the knob to test it, expecting it to be locked. It wasn’t.

  Slowly he opened the door, looked in. “Clear,” he said, then signaled the others to enter.

  Wane and Garret ran by him into the apartment.

  “Nothing,” Wane said.

  “Crying is coming from the back,” Garret said.

  “Careful of a revived jumping out.”

  “Roger that.” Garret moved ahead down the small hallway. A moment later, he called out softy in the radio. “Major, you have to see this shit.”

  Tom hurried that way, the door was open and when he stepped in, he slid to a stop.

  Sitting in a rocking chair next to a crib, holding the crying baby was a revived Rhonda.

  She lifted her head and looked at him.

  “What do we do?” Wane asked. “Shoot her?”

  “Can’t take a chance she’ll bite it if she hasn’t already,” Tom replied, he stepped forward toward her. “I’m taking the baby. I need to help the baby,” he said to her.

  “No disrespect, Major, she doesn’t understand you,” Garret said.

  Another inch to her and Rhonda tried to lift the baby his way.

  “Jesus, did you see that?” Garret asked. “She handed him over.”

  Hurriedly, Tom took the baby, as he tried to quickly asses for bites, he saw the note pinned on his tee shirt. With a pivot of his body, he handed the baby to Garret. “Check him for bites, scratches, then see if you can find a bottle. If not field hospital is a few blocks away. Take him there.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Tom returned to looking at Rhonda. She wasn’t violent, she just stared at him. He looked at her and thought about the note, the open door, she had tried before she died to make sure the child was easy to get to. She made him think of June.

  Tom pulled out his pistol and aimed it at her. “Rec ... Rec ...”

  “Major? You need me to ...”

  “No.” he shook his head. “No, I got this.” He locked eyes with her. “Rec …” He couldn’t finish the word, then Tom couldn’t pull the trigger.

  EIGHTEEN – WAIT

  To Ella, Doctor James Ung was either a genuine saint, or he was trying in some way to make up for something he felt he did wrong. He was far too nice and helpful.

  A soldier was in the camp not feeling well, but not sick enough that the doctor asked him to accompany Ella to the river for her return.

  He had known this soldier and trusted him.

  The soldier didn’t move as fast as Ella, she felt as if she was dragging. But a slow pace was good, she had been bit. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t worried about it, that somehow the cure wouldn’t work and she’d turn Codie inside Sanctum.

  “I appreciate this,” Ella told him. “I feel bad I can’t go back with doses.”

  “I don’t understand why you just don’t stay until Ung can get it for you tomorrow.”

  “I’ll come back.”

  “Why take that chance?” he asked. “You’re injured, you got the injection, you’re supposed to take two days.”

  “Thank you. I’ll be fine.” She turned and untied the boat.

  “You must be one brave chick,” he said. “Is it always like that?”

  She hadn’t a clue what he was talking about, lifted her head and looked at him.

  He had just lowered a pair of binoculars.

  “Look like what?” Ella asked.

  He handed them to her. She didn’t really need them. As soon as she looked across the river she could see the Codies. They moved in masses along the wharf. However, because she had them, she lifted the binoculars to her eyes. Her usual landing spot was swarming. The mass of them spanned the shore line.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” she asked.

  “I’ll take that as a no.”

  “No, maybe a handful. Never that many.” She returned the binoculars.

  “Is there another way?”

  “Not to get back to our compound. That’s the easiest way.”

  “How many followed you?” he asked.,

  “I don’t know. It was really dark because of the storms and I just ran.”

  “Take this as a sign. You’re supposed to hang back. So hang back. We’ll figure out a way.”

  Ella nodded. She glanced again across the river then to the young soldier. He was pale, tired looking, “I appreciate you walking with me. I’m sorry I dragged you out of bed.”

  “No, it’s fine.” He peered to the sky. “It’s getting light, let’s head on back. I’ll just grab some sleep then.”

  Again, Ella agreed with a nod. She felt defeated and worried. There was nothing vital she had to bring back, but it didn’t stop her from feeling guilty for being unable to return.

  The soldier said maybe it was sign. Ella hoped it was a good sign, and not one that meant she wasn’t supposed to return because she was actually still infected.

  <><><><>

  “To repeat under the advisement of the FDA and the CDC, all vaccine inoculations are to be put on hold,” the female radio voice announced.

  James listened as he gathered things so he could go home and get that long awaited sleep. He looked at the bottle Ella had given him, undid the cap and took a small drink. He gasped out in the pleasure of tasting it.

  “With the severe reactions to the vaccine in a small group of individuals, those distributing are asked to cease at this time. If you have not taken the vaccine, you are urged at this time not to do so. While it is believed the small pocket of individuals is not the norm, further testing is required and vaccinations are expected to resume in several days. In the meantime, the cure can still be distributed—”

  James laughed out a ‘ha’ and shut off the radio. “Do you know how many were already vaccinated.”

  “Talking to yourself?” her voice entered the tent. “I hear that’s a sign of intelligence.”

  James turned around and in shock said her name. “Ella, what are you doing here? Is everything alright?”

  “No. I’m fine but … the wharf was overrun, I couldn’t get across the river safely.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. I’ll try again tomorrow. You said I should rest anyhow, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Plus, you know you said you were gonna come back tomorrow with more of the vaccine. Okay, well later tonight, since it is already technically tomorrow.”

  “About that.”

  “You changed your mind.”

  “No. No.” James shook his head. “It’s not that, the government has put a hold on vaccines. Temporarily. There’s been some reactions.”

  “I knew it. They didn’t test it enough,” Ella said.

  “The news is saying only a small amount of people are having adverse reactions.”

  “Shit.”

  “What?”

  “You gave it to me.”

  “For the cure,” James said. “And I am sure it is fine. Two thirds of this city already picked up their vaccine pen.”

  “What kind of reaction, did they say?” Ella asked.,

  “No, I’ll find out. And let you know.”

  “Thank you. So … how does one go about getting a cot for the night in this place? Or day, considering it’s morning now.”

  “I have a better idea,” James said. “Why don’t you crash at my place today. My transport should be here soon, I have a guest room. It would be much better than a cot. I’m not … I’m not hitting on you or anything like that.”

  Ella laughed. “I know. You’re just a nice guy.”

  “I try to be. Plus, I have air conditioning.”

  “You’re not going to insult me again and tell me to shower, are you?” Ella joked.

  “No. I …”

  “Doc,” Tom rushed into the tent, calling out with urgency. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize—”

  “No, it’s fine. She is a new friend of mine,” James said. “Wh
at’s going on, Tom? Everything okay?”

  “Doc … I uh … I did something,” Tom said. “And I need your help.”

  NINETEEN – REVERT

  “You did what?” James asked in a near scolding voice as he stood before an apartment door.

  He was already irritated. He had already been up for over forty-eight hours, should had been home in bed instead of eight blocks away from the field hospital in a less than desirable neighborhood.

  Then Tom bursting in the tent with urgency, claiming he did something, but refusing to say what it was didn’t help matters. He needed James to come along and bring a medical bag.

  James thought at first Tom had shot someone innocent and was afraid of getting in trouble. Until Tom led them into the building, four flights upstairs, stood before an apartment door and said, “I gave the cure to a revived.”

  “Let me get this straight,” Ella said. “You, the king of undead euthanasia, not only gave the cure, but wasted a dose on a revived. When they’re already dead?”

  “Who is this woman and why is she here?” Tom asked.

  “I am the woman who was supposed to be in an air conditioned house, bunking on a couch and getting a pretty good 'peace of mind' rest while I heal. I don’t want to miss my ride.”

  “What is she talking about?” Tom asked.

  “Don’t worry about it,” James said. “Now tell me what in the world made you give a revived a cure dose?”

  “June,” Tom replied.

  “Whose June?” Ella asked.

  “My colleague or former colleague,” James replied. “She believed that the revived were still us. They just couldn’t voice it, but they were in there.”

  “I thought that at times about my husband Bruce,” Ella said. “He used to look at me like he knew me. Then one day he just went … enraged and wasn’t the same. He was like every other Codie.”

  James looked at Tom. “You saw something in this person?”

  “I did. She had a child. A baby, a newborn. The crying was what alerted us,” Tom said.

  “Revived can’t speak or make noise,” James stated. “How was a revived baby crying.”