Chapter 9
9
GAGE
The sun continued to rise above the horizon. The sky, especially at this time of morning, was a soft amber-gray, and the temperature was almost perfect.
It was during times like these that I wondered whether human life was more like an infection, a cancer to Earth with natural disasters acting as her immune system to attempt to obliterate us all.
High-force winds of destruction.
Heavy floods.
Earthquakes.
Volcanoes.
Raging wildfires.
It was as if the more the population grew, the more weapons she sent. Yet, humans continued to thrive. So, this time around, without the help of a core-destabilizing space rock, Earth chose the next best thing—a pandemic. And, as the end of human life unfolded, the sun rose. The sky remained a clear palette that promised a beautiful day.
While we die, Earth smiles.
Amid it all, I stood in front of a squeaky metal water pump with fresh water running through my hair and down my bare chest for the first time in what felt like forever. I was sure there was a rule for rationing water to avoid depleting the underground aquifers, but until someone informed me of those rules, I would momentarily indulge.
A gust of wind blew.
Goosebumps created small hills across my skin.
That morning, I woke up expecting to change and feed Thandie, but Tayler beat me to it. I’d opened my eyes to her sitting cross-legged on the bed, Thandie cradled in her arms, and her staring down into Thandie’s face with a look that eased me closer to trusting her with Thandie’s care. However, as much as I wanted to stay for the sake of Thandie and Ari, if I found out that these people were into any weird shit, I would raid their resources before hightailing back to our previous path—everywhere and nowhere.
I filled an empty tin I found in the room and turned it upside down over my head, allowing the water to stream down my face and neck. A light crunching noise sounded from behind me, and I wondered how long she’d stood there, watching me play like a blue jay in a bird bath.
“Are you going to say something or keep staring?” I asked.
She walked around my side and stopped a couple of feet in front of me. “I was assessing you,” she said. “How do you feel?”
“I’m fine.”
“Thandie has a fever. I think it’s probably the same thing Ari has, which means Ari likely did pick up a virus that led to the secondary infection. With Thandie only now presenting with symptoms, I’m much more hopeful about her outcome.”
I frowned. “What does that mean, more hopeful? Did Ari get worse?”
“Well…” She sighed and briefly looked off to one side. “She didn’t get worse, but she’s not improving as much as I’d like. But we don’t know how long those antibiotics were in storage. We also don’t know if the storage conditions were consistent. Anything could have affected their viability. Right now, we’ll have to wait and see.”
“And the good news among all this, Doc?”
“She’s not worse,” she reiterated.
“Are we all right to stay here until she’s better?”
“Of course. You can stay here as long as you want. I invited you, remember?”
“Don’t you have to run it by,” I pointed toward the central area of the camp, “your boyfriend?”
She snorted. “No, I don’t.”
Before her little snort, she’d started to roll her eyes but stopped midway. Strangely, I wanted to see what it looked like. I wanted her to roll her eyes whenever her boyfriend was the topic of the conversation.
“Well, I plan to be useful while we’re here,” I said. “So, however you need to use me, Doc,” I held her gaze, “use me. For what you’re doing for Ari, I’m indebted to you.”
She held the eye contact for a moment before she looked away again, toward the sunrise. I hadn’t been there a day yet, and it appeared this woman would be the first to challenge the faux-husband role I’d played without issue for months.
A man with shaggy brown hair approached her from behind. While these people posed more of a danger to me than they did her, what I’d learned in life was that, in situations of survival, trust could be as fragile as a paper bridge in flood waters.
“Hey, Dr. D?” he called.
She turned. “Yes, Phil?”
“I was looking for the new guy.”
“Well, you found him,” she said, gesturing to me. “Why? Did Allen send you?”
The man’s steps slowed, and I got the sense he would have stopped closer had I not been around. But I was much smaller than I’d been pre-pandemic. With no scale to confirm, my best guess was that I’d returned to the weight class of my early twenties.
Phil nodded. “Yes, ma’am. He wants the new guy to help him out with something.”
“No, the new guy’s staying with me. I want him to help me out in the clinic.”
“A huge guy like this? He’ll be a waste in the clinic.”
“His wife’s touch and go, and his baby girl is sick. I want him nearby.”
“But you?—”
“If Allen gives you any issues, send him to me.”
I gave the pretty doctor another once-over. If Allen gave her any issues, he could come to me. This woman was Ari’s last hope, and I planned to be as dedicated to Ari’s recovery as she appeared to be.
“Where is my baby girl, by the way?” I asked.
Tayler smiled, and unexpectedly, that smile mattered. I didn’t know why or what that meant, but it was the second time she’d done something that didn’t make kindness feel as fleeting as it once did. Before the end, I’d found people to be mostly made up of shit. Where there wasn’t shit, there was shitty water. Every once in a while, a flower bloomed—as flowers were often wont to do when fertilized by manure. But, at the end of the day, I’d found most people to be ignorant, arrogant, lying, selfish fucks.
That didn’t change with societal collapse.
Yet, here she was.
A ray of something.
Phil continued, “What about after? You think, after the baby and his wife are all better, he might be able to help us out?”
After a long moment, she shrugged. “We’ll see. We’ll decide on that later.” She faced me, tilting her chin upward to look me in the eyes. “Are you all done here?”
I nodded. “All done and at your service.”
“Well, grab some breakfast and then report to the clinic in thirty. I need help with some heavy lifting.”
“I have some experience as a combat medic,” I said. “Maybe I can put some of those skills to use as well.”
“That would be amazing. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
We returned to locked gazes.
Then, she turned away, and as she walked off, I caught a smile unfolding along the side of her face. It wasn’t until Phil cleared his throat that I realized I was staring, her worn-out green scrubs shifting with each step. Based on how she was shaped, her body would claim all the tissue from her upper half before it considered drawing nutrients from her curvier lower portion. Those curves would outlive the apocalypse.
“The sick lady’s your wife?” Phil asked.
I shook the remaining water from my hair. “Why?”
“Nothing. Just that I’m sorry she’s sick.”
“She’ll pull through. Ari’s strong. Stronger than even she realizes.”
“And the baby?”
“She’s going to pull through, too. She has to. She needs to see this world turn over. The two of them, they’ve lost so much…”
I canceled my train of thought.
“Are you married?” I asked.
His right shoulder jerked in a shrug. “Was.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“Sometimes I wonder why we keep going.”
“I ask myself the same question.”
“And what’s your answer?”
“Because I’m not ready to die,” I said, headed back to the main building. “I’ll see you around.”