Chapter 4
4
TAYLER DIAZ MD, PHD
“Doc, you’re too important to the camp. You can’t go with us. Plus, Allen said you’re not allowed to leave.”
I continued to check the ammunition on the guns I planned to take with me for this latest run. “Omar, let me run a scenario by you,” I began. “We arrive at that clinic you saw in the woods. Inside, you find a room that’s got all sorts of different medications. Which one of these is the antibiotic? A) Minocycline, B) Amoxicillin/Clavulanic acid, C) Kanamycin A, or D) Ertapenem.”
Omar laughed. “Easy. B. The amoxicillin one.”
“They all are.” I tucked away a pistol. “You need me.”
“If something happens to you, everyone at camp is screwed.”
“Then make sure nothing happens to me.”
He groaned.
I stared at him to make sure he understood that my mind wouldn’t be changed. I was the only person at our camp who could read medications like a novel. We had a few paramedics and nurses, but they were the people we needed back at camp. They were used to trauma and stabilization. Once the patient was stabilized, I stepped in.
“Write me a list,” Omar tried again.
I shook my head. “I can’t write you a list of every antibiotic I can think of. Omar, stop asking. I’m coming. If you’d like to run and tell Allen, be my guest, but by the time you get back, I’ll be gone.”
Allen was the “leader” of our encampment.
That made me the encampment’s “First Lady.”
It didn’t start as a relationship in the most traditional sense of the word, but people looked up to me as much as they looked up to him. However, for me, it had nothing to do with love or affection. Being the leader’s girl gave me privileges that should have been afforded to me, anyhow, as the only doctor in sight. Still, most of what I’d been able to accomplish had come from Allen saying whether I was allowed.
“If you’re going, we’ll need more manpower,” Omar said. “Can you at least let me get more people together?”
“Our group right now, the way it is, is fine. Plus, if we dawdle any longer, we might run into Allen, which’ll be a whole thing.” I raised an eyebrow. “Or is that exactly what you want to happen?”
Without giving him a chance to respond, I headed to the front gates, strapped with two pistols, a navy combat knife, and an M6 rifle. Nothing short of strapping me to a bed would get me to avoid going. Our camp needed medication. We needed antibiotics the most. Viral infections, we could treat with supportive care. We’d already had a few colds and unidentified upper respiratory illnesses pass through. Bacterial infections, unchecked, spelled a long, drawn-out death in situations like these.
Omar begrudgingly ordered the gate open.
I started off at the head of the six-person team, who hurried to keep up with me, creating a perimeter around my body like they were the Secret Service. Omar fell in step next to me. As far as we knew, we were the only two who survived the CDC raid.
“So, is there a specific antibiotic you’re looking for?” he asked.
I scanned the woods for movement. “Azithromycin or erythromycin.”
“Anything else?”
“Anything we can find. IV fluid would be nice. We could potentially make some, but the risk of contamination is too high.”
“I agree. We barely have somewhere clean to take a shit.”
I slid him a glance.
He grinned, a thin space between his two front teeth in the top row. Despite the nights being cooler, the days could get scorching. Sweat was already glistening on his brown forehead, soaking the tight curls along his hairline. He was a former Marine, called in on special duty once the task force was assembled. From the moment Omar and I met, it was like two cousins who’d been best friends as children running into each other after a decade of not seeing one another.
Another good shot in our group, Tasia, let out a loud whistle. “Damn. Why’s it so hot today? We’re almost in October.”
“Almost,” I reminded her. “Fall’s not here yet, but that’s why Allen went out with that group today. To prep for a South Carolina winter. I’m not familiar with the area, but he grew up here.”
“So did I,” she said. “I don’t see why we have to listen to him like his words are from the Bible.”
The other four looked at her like she’d blasphemed.
“Where would we be without Allen?” Omar asked. “Hey, Phil, where would you be without Allen? Dude saved you and your dog.”
Phil shrugged, his shaggy dark hair blowing in the wind. “Omar’s right, Tasia. I was out there by myself before Allen showed up. So were,” he pointed with his chin, “Memphis and Dallas, the wonder twins.”
Memphis plucked a blade of grass. “Me and Dallas would’ve been just fine. We grew up in the country. The only difference between then and now? All the people.”
Dallas, Phil, and Omar laughed.
Tasia rolled her eyes.
I remained quiet.
It had been so long since I’d seen the world beyond our encampment’s walls. All we’d met so far were woods, but I felt the difference in the air.
The emptiness.
I’d always believed that human life could be sensed by other humans, even from great distances. As the trees wound endlessly down the roads and along the river, I felt, in my bones, that there would be only nothingness at the end of the broad, twisting stream.
The group continued to chatter, the sound mostly muffled to my ears. Occasionally, I picked up on something that made me laugh or shake my head, but most of my thoughts remained on my patients. The people counting on me.
When the first signs of the clinic came into view, the sun was at its highest. The air had grown muggy and thick. As fuel was scarce, the distance had made taking vehicles optional, but if the days didn’t soon cool off some, it would be too dangerous to travel on foot.
“Is that it, Omar?” I asked, pointing to the one-story structure that appeared to be in decent shape.
He squinted. “Sure is. What do you think? Might have supplies?”
“Clinics usually have a few things here and there in stock. Considering how rural this location is, I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a pharmacy on site.”
We picked up our pace.
Memphis and Dallas jogged ahead, weapons raised. Tasia and Phil left the group to check the perimeter while Omar and I continued straight ahead.
A couple of minutes later, Tasia and Phil gave the all-clear. Memphis and Dallas stood at the entrance looking down at an unmoving figure that had definitely once been an Infected.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “It’s dead, isn’t it?”
“It’s a fresh kill,” Memphis said. “The blood hasn’t dried. Looks like a knife to the temple.”
“Fresh enough that the person might still be here?”
Dallas smiled. “Guess we’ll find out.”
Memphis entered first, rifle in the air. “Daddy’s home!”
Omar sighed.
I bit back a smile.
Phil and Tasia followed, and I entered next, with Omar protecting my flank. I hated the idea that I was “precious cargo” when their lives were just as important as mine, but I understood the circumstances. My training gave me an inherent priority, especially in a scenario like this one that none of us could have envisioned would have happened in our lifetimes.
The team announced each room they cleared. Omar and I walked down the hallway, which ended at a door with a filing cabinet leaning across it.
“You know shit’s bad if they locked something in,” Memphis said. “Brother, prepare to breach.”
A noise caught my attention.
It was quiet, and it was a miracle I’d heard it, but because of what it sounded like, my ears would have picked up on it in a thunderstorm.
“Everything okay, Doc?” Omar asked.
I peered inside the last room Phil cleared. The room itself, a former administrative unit, was a mess. The Infected didn’t have the mental capacity to hide, but that didn’t mean whoever was hiding inside would be interested in friendly conversation. One year ago, the person inside could have been a potential acquaintance. With resources as scarce as they were, relationships had to be approached while dangling a tenuous thread that created a demarcation between support system and competition.
Still, the fact that the person was hiding could have indicated that we meant them more harm than they meant us. If I was right about what I’d heard, they had a crucial reason to be more cautious than aggressive.
“Okay to go in?” Memphis asked.
I turned to find them all looking at me.
“You know better than I do,” I said.
Phil shook his head. “Still gotta consult the First Lady.”
Phil and Tasia moved the filing cabinet. Memphis and Dallas, who I suspected feared nothing, went in first, followed by Phil and Tasia.
The noise sounded again.
Omar’s head swung around. “What was that?”
“What was what?” I asked.
“You didn’t hear that? It almost sounded like,” he frowned, “a baby.”
“Really, Omar? A baby?”
He chuckled. “You’re right. I think my blood sugar’s getting low. We need to get back.”
No gunshots followed; we tried to shoot as little as possible due to noise and ammo preservation. However, there were four thuds, and I held my breath until Memphis returned and poked his head out into the hallway.
“All is safe, Your Majesty.”
I rolled my eyes, entered, and nearly fell to my knees.
It was a pharmacy.
An extremely well-stocked pharmacy.
“Grab whatever you can,” I said. “We’ll have to find a way to secure this before we leave. Tomorrow, we’ll send another team out to collect more.”
We filled our backpacks.
I started to look toward the hallway, just in case our unannounced visitor decided to have a change of heart, but something caught my eye.
I rushed forward and grabbed a can.
“Baby formula?” Tasia asked, walking up behind me. “Think we need that?”
“Just because we don’t have babies now doesn’t mean we won’t,” I pointed out. “Our place is growing. There are bound to be babies.”
“That’s what breastmilk is for,” Tasia added.
“Breastmilk might not always be available, especially in an already undernourished population.” I dropped a few cans in my backpack, found an empty box, and collected a few more. “I’m here. Might as well listen to my advice.”
She laughed. “Might as well.”
I pointed to the hallway. “Phil, you already cleared that room there, right?”
He glanced my way. “Uh...yes. Yes, I did.”
“It looks like an admin unit. I’m going to take a quick peek and see if there’s anything we might be able to use. Memphis, Dallas, your packs are full, right?”
The twins nodded.
“Guard the front entrance. Make sure whoever killed that bugger out front doesn’t come back.”
Memphis and Dallas made their way to the front.
I headed to the room where I’d heard the coo, my heart pounding so hard that it gave me an instant headache. The person hadn’t yet shifted, and with how neatly they’d obscured themselves in the darkness, I realized I might have been wrong.
This wasn’t an amateur.
They simply had precious cargo.
All I could see through a sliver of light coming through a boarded-up window was a shock of blond hair.
“I won’t tell them you’re in here,” I whispered, setting down a couple of cans of formula, a few bottles of broad-spectrum antibiotics, and anti-inflammatories. “I just want to leave these. I know you have a baby, and trust me, I’m not here to hurt the baby. This formula? It’s specially formulated for children with low birth weight, dietary restrictions—things like that. I don’t know what shape the baby’s in, but this can only help.”
Silence followed.
Even the coos had stopped.
“We have a camp,” I continued. “It’s north of here, at the Welcher Private College. It’s secure. I’m a doctor. I can help the baby, and I can help you too, if you’re hurt. Ask for Tayler or Dr. D. Please...please come.”
I waited a beat.
When there was no response, I left just as Phil, Omar, and Tasia were finishing up. Omar placed a chain on the pharmacy door and rigged the window so that it would be the next group’s point of entry.
On our way back, I continued to think about that mysterious figure with the baby. This world was no place where a baby could thrive without a community, and if they showed up to our camp, I would do everything in my power to ensure that the baby was well cared for.
Dallas nudged my shoulder. “Dr. D, you okay, darlin’?”
I sighed. “Yeah, I’m okay. I just…I don’t know if luck still exists, but something happened here today.”
Memphis flanked my other side. “Do you believe in God, Dr. D? I never much cared for religion, but after what we found today?” He shrugged. “I ain’t so sure, no more.”