Outbreak boston, p.17
Outbreak: Boston, page 17
Alex rubbed her back as Frays dry heaved while she leaned forward with her forearms resting on her knees. Once she recovered enough, he helped Amy walk a few yards away where they sat on the grass. She did not say anything, though her face was drawn and pale. He put his hand in hers and slowly the young woman’s fingers curled around his. Alex winced but did not try to pull away. He could feel her fingernails digging into him through her gloves.
“What happened?” she asked suddenly almost giving the old man a scare. He smiled sadly and helped Amy to her feet. “I need to know…what happened, I mean…if you know.”
The old man looked uneasily at her as they started back to the school. “Like I told you, Amy.” Alex said quietly. “The lieutenant stabbed Jean to death in the nurse’s office and then he did for himself.” He kicked angrily kicked a small rock out of their path. “I know he was sick or what have you, but personally, I’m glad that sonuvabitch saved us the trouble.”
She squinted and shaded her eyes, surprised to see what looked like Eamon and Lacey waiting by the back door of the school. “What do they want?” Frays wondered aloud as they walked. Her stomach started getting angry at her again and threatened to voice its displeasure with a renewed round of dry heaves like getting stabbed in the gut.
“They’re probably wondering where you got to.” Alex said, a little of his usual good humor returning to his voice. “Truth be told, a lot of us were all a little concerned about you. You always seem all sunshiny positive but hell, girl I don’t think I’d seen you not running around doing something for more than twenty minutes over the past week.”
Amy felt her cheeks get a little warm. “I didn’t mean to scare anybody.” she said with an uncomfortable little smile. “It’s just that…” Frays sighed shrugged her shoulders “I don’t know what’s going on or what I’m doing or anything and I’m worried sick about my family and Lacey’s...”
Alex smiled and put an arm around Amy’s shoulders for a brief second. “For somebody who doesn’t know what they’re doing, you sure don’t act like it.” he said reassuringly as he released her. “Looks like your flight wants to talk to you. Next time you want to buy me another cup of coffee just let me know, kid.”
Eamon and Lacey met Amy by the bleachers at the back of the school. “Glad to see you’re up and around, Frays.” Lacey said cheerfully. He pulled an M9 out of his pocket and handed it over to the woman. “T-This is yours. Jean…she had it on her.”
A kind of numbness started spreading slowly down Amy’s spine. “How did she get it?” Frays asked as she glanced at the weapon’s serial number, checked to make sure it was loaded and snapped it back into the holster strapped to her thigh. “I remember talking to Sergeant Barnes for a minute after our guard shift was over.” The two men looked at each other awkwardly; almost like they were little boys caught breaking a window. “Answer me when I ask you a question!” Frays demanded. Eamon and Adam both jumped.
“Look, Amy…” Eamon started and broke off. He looked at his feet for a second before looking the smaller woman in the face. “I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just gonna say it. I…”
Adam cleared his throat. “We.”
Eamon nodded. “We did something we aren’t proud of. I ground up some sleeping pills and slipped them into a bottle of water. Lacey made sure you got it when you were pulling watch together.”
Frays found that her hands were shaking. “YOU DID WHAT!?” she demanded as she turned sharply on her heel. Amy clenched and unclenched her jaw and forced herself to take several deep breaths as she jammed her hands into her armpits.
“We saw that you weren’t sleeping.” Eamon said quietly as he put a hand on her shoulder. “It was only a matter of time before it started affecting your judgment. It could have put us all in danger.”
She pushed the man’s hand off and wheeled around, sticking an accusatory finger in Eamon’s face. “So, naturally, the two guys I have to depend on to watch my back POISON me rather than try and talk to me like grownups!” Frays shouted. She snorted and turned away, shaking her head disgustedly as she mounted the stairs to the bleachers.
Eamon and Adam looked at each other. “Go on inside, man.” Lacey said after taking a deep breath. “I’ll talk to her in a minute.”
“Wow, dude.” Eamon said with a grin. “You’re a far braver man than I. If she shoots you I’ll put you in for a Medal of Honor.”
Adam laughed and clapped Eamon on the shoulder as the medic walked back inside. Lacey took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders, making a determined face as he set out after Amy. Ordinarily, he had the feeling that she would not even consider harming a hair on his head but just now…now he was maybe about eighty or a little over ninety percent certain of walking away unscathed.
Amy sat on the bleachers staring out over the field at the tree, the smoke from a cigarette lazily wafting skyward from between her index and middle fingers. Adam climbed the stairs and sat down a safe distance away. He opened his mouth a couple times, trying to find the right words. “I’m sorry.” he said at last. Lacey pulled off his Kevlar and slammed it down on the bench in front of him, sending vibrations through the aluminum. “I’m sorry, alright? We didn’t mean any harm…it’s just…” his mouth pinched up into a tight frown “we didn’t want you to…I dunno…fall asleep at the wheel the next time we go out and kill us all. If we knew how you felt about drugs we wouldn’t have done it.”
Amy jammed the cigarette into the corner of her mouth, squinting one eye as the smoke got into it and made it smart. The look of shame on the man’s face moved her towards pity. “I understand why you did it. You were scared. We’re all scared. I’m terrified.” Frays said at last. She leaned back on the bleachers and watched the dark clouds roiling around in the sky. It looked like it might rain later. “I forgive you because I’m a good Christian and…” she sighed as she propped herself up on her elbows “Jean wanted me to not be too hard on you two. I think I kinda remember her saying that. Just…let me be angry for a little while longer, alright?”
“If that’s what you want, Frays.” Adam said with a small smile. He walked over and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Amy patted it and gave him the tiniest hint of a smile. “You said we’re going out again soon? Something about Fort Devens? I mean, if you think you can trust us.” Amy scowled at him, drawing a look of mock fear from Lacey as he put his helmet back on. “We’ve got guard duty in three hours. You can tell us all about your daring plan then if you want.”
The rain was drumming down on their heads, making their shift a sodden misery. “Well, Saint Eurosia.” Amy muttered as she glanced skyward “Thank you for keeping the lightning away at least.” She, Eamon and Lacey stood along the side of the school facing the town with Rodriguez, Powers and Evans keeping watch over the fields to the south. Rodriguez and Powers were keeping their distance from each other as usual. Evans paced to and fro between them as if he were trying to keep warm.
Sergeant Barnes took over the lieutenant’s duties, such as they were, and so he was down at the town hall for a meeting with the mayor and the sheriff. Amy felt she could almost put up with the greasy fat mayor if they still had that coffee they served last time. She shivered, sending little rivers running down the folds of her poncho.
Lacey watched out of the corner of his eye, a small grin creeping ever so gradually to his face as he watched Rodriguez and Eamon slowly work their way closer to each other. If the chubby Irishman and his former patient were going to hook up, it might just help ease things between Eamon and Frays. Things were hard enough between the three of them right now without Eamon’s libido adding a whole new layer of difficulty. Not that he thought Amy would give him the time of day anyway. She seemed to be too much the solid professional type to let anything like that happen. Still, in his opinion it was a complication they did not need.
He wandered over to Amy and peered through the rain. “So what’s the plan for Fort Devens?” Lacey asked. He cupped his hands over his mouth and puffed air into them. “I know the place fairly well. What are we looking for?”
“What do they got there? We mainly need more food and ammo. Some fresh uniforms and cold weather gear would be great too.” Amy said quietly as she blew a raindrop off the tip of her nose “I got the route already planned out.” Something tickled her face and she slapped hard, smiling at the smashed mosquito on the palm of her hand. “I was planning on taking the Five Ton, maybe one of the school busses. Do you know how many fifty cal rounds we’ve got left?
Adam looked thoughtful for a second. “I think we’re down to about thirty or so. I can check later.” he said, looking out over the town. “Do you think Sgt. Barnes would let us borrow his Humvee? Or at least the Mark 19?”
Frays started pacing along the roof. “Maybe. I don’t know.” She made a mental note to bring it up with Sergeant Barnes when their shift was over. “I don’t think there’s that many forty mike mikes left.”
“If we take one of the busses we should spray paint over the name and stuff on the outside.” Adam said. He kept pace with Frays, walking slowly beside the woman. “When are we going to go to Holden?”
Amy sighed and looked down for a moment. “Soon, okay?” she said at last, mentally bracing herself for another go ‘round. “We know they’re headed for my dad’s hunting camp. I know you’re worried about your wife and kids. I am too, but…listen…I really don’t want to argue with you about this anymore, okay?” Frays shook her head and spat over the edge of the building. “You’re a good egg and I’m tired of fighting with you every five minutes.”
Adam looked stunned for a moment. “Sure. Sure thing, Frays.” He turned and looked out into the rain. “Somebody’s coming.” The two of them stopped and watched the set of headlights coming towards the building. Frays’ hand strayed to her carbine’s magazine and flicked the safety catch off her grenade launcher.
“It’s Sergeant Barnes.” Amy said as she reengaged the M203’s safety. It was easy to get nervous: she thought she had heard gunshots while she was sitting on the bleachers a few hours ago. The Humvee pulled into lot at the front of the school and motored around the corner to the auto shop. A few minutes later Powers came towards them at a trot.
“Sergeant Barnes wants everybody downstairs in the conference room, time: now!” he said before turning and walking quickly towards the door. Frays and Lacey exchanged puzzled glances as they hurried after him.
“What’s going on?” Eamon asked as the lot of them hurried down the stairs. It was hard to miss the apprehension in his voice. “Does anybody know what’s going on?” Everybody seemed to ignore him as they made their way towards the conference room. It was on the other side of the building from the roof access so the six of them drew plenty of attention from the civilians. Amy did her best to calm everyone down, but did not stop to chat.
“Here’s the situation, people.” Sergeant Barnes said quietly once everyone had gotten settled down. His face was grave as he paused to glance at what he had written down in the pocket sized notebook hidden in his palm under the table. “Whatever the hell this disease is, there’s been a couple small outbreaks among the refugees at the fire hall and the Baptist church. Sheriff Yates says he and his deputies got it under control, but three of his eight men went AWOL after that.” Barnes turned the page over and continued reading “The mayor wants us to help take up the slack. I didn’t commit to anything, but it’s obvious that he’s going to keep bugging me about it.”
The others looked nonplussed. “He does know that there’s only the seven of us here that have any real training?” Evans asked carefully. He made a sour face and looked slowly around the table. “I mean, what exactly does he want us to do, anyway?”
“He wants help patrolling the streets.” Sergeant Barnes said as he scratched the side of his nose. “General peacekeeping, making sure the looting and property damage is kept to a minimum, assistance in managing any more outbreaks that might pop up.”
Lacey looked up from the piece of scrap paper he was taking notes on. “Are there any plans on the table to fortify the town?” he asked. Adam tapped his pen nervously on the table for a few seconds before Frays’ hand shot out and made him stop.
“There’s still no plans as yet.” Sergeant Barnes said, a look of displeasure momentarily flitting across his face. “There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of materiel or heavy equipment in town to do it. The sheriff deputized about twenty of the townsfolk and has them stopping people on the roads into town.”
Adam looked thoughtful for a second. “My unit did training at Fort Devins. Anybody know what a Force Provider Kit is?” Everyone’s ears perked up and Lacey could feel their attention on him. He fidgeted nervously with his pen under the table. “They’re basically a FOB in a box. They have to be delivered via C-17, but if we could get one sent out to us it’d go a long way towards helping us out. Do they have a front end loader in town? If they did, we could try to get them to send us a Force Provider kit and some barrier kits.”
Rodriguez smiled at the man across the table from her. “I knew there was a reason we were keeping this jarhead around.” she said hopefully then her face seemed to fall in on itself a little. “But we haven’t heard shit from anybody over the net since we left Hanscomb.”
Now Frays spoke up. “I was planning on taking my flight to check out Fort Devens anyway.” she said, her own spirits picking up a little bit at the thought of having an entire Forward Operating Base worth of supplies at their disposal. “If it’s overrun we might be able to organize a convoy of flatbed trucks or something to move the stuff we need. If not, we can hopefully at least get on the list for an airdrop or something.”
The meeting broke up a couple minutes later in much high spirits than it started. Sergeant Barnes took his soldiers back out onto the roof to finish their shift on guard duty, allowing Frays and the others to use the conference room to plan their mission scheduled for the following morning. Once they were alone Amy went to the whiteboard mounted to the wall at the front of the room and picked up a red dry erase marker from the tray beneath it. She started to write something on the board then put the marker back and turned around to face the two men seated a few feet away.
“I’d like to say something before we start.” Frays said awkwardly. She scowled at her boots for a second as if she were trying to figure out how to put something to words. “I’d like to apologize for some of my actions over the past week or so.
“Lacey, I never should have left it for you to…take care of…that woman on our way back to Hanscomb. I’m your Flight Sergeant and I should have been the one to do it, not you.” She looked shamefacedly at the floor before returning her gaze back to the Marine. “I’m sorry for any suffering my lack of action might have caused you.”
Lacey smiled weakly at her. “It’s okay.” he said softly. He swallowed hard as he unintentionally recalled the look on Alice’s face. “I don’t blame you. I didn’t mean to shoot her in the stomach, you know. My hands were shaking so bad I’m surprised that I didn’t miss.”
Amy looked at him sympathetically for a second before turning her attention to Eamon. “I realize now that I should have come to you for help.” she said, meeting the man’s gaze. Frays pursed her lips and exhaled audibly through her nose. “I’m sorry if I worried you guys. I didn’t mean to and in the future please don’t hesitate to say something if you notice a problem. It will be easier on everybody if you would.”
Eamon smiled, shifting his facial hair around his mouth. “Listen, are we going to have a big group hug or get on with this?” he muttered irritably. Frays and Lacey laughed quietly as Eamon stood up. “Do you want me to go see if Rodriguez wants to go with us so you two fellas can go blow each other?”
“Don’t sweat it, Eamon.” Frays said with a small grin as she headed for the door. “I’ll go see if Sergeant Barnes will loan us one of his people. Give you two lovebirds a chance to be alone.”
The two men exchanged looks of mild shock. “D-did that just happen?” Lacey asked. He cocked an eyebrow at the woman as she left the room. “Did Frays just make a joke? I gotta be hearing things.”
Eamon chuffed laughter and ran his fingers through his beard. “If you did I must have heard the same thing.” he said as he watched Frays leave, a grin wrinkling his facial hair. “Stranger things have happened, I suppose.”
Chapter Six
25 May 2011 0438 hours Walter Raleigh Senior High School Concord, Massachusetts
It was hot. It was always hot. Not a hot summer day back home kind of hot, more like standing in an oven that was cranked up all the way hot. The worst part was that it was only 0930: the hottest part of the day was still to come. Thankfully, there was a little bit of a breeze but not really enough to kick up too much dust which cut the heat down a little bit.
They had been in country about a month and a half and between the weather, the constant acrid stench of burning garbage or raw sewage (depending on which direction the wind was coming from at the moment), ginormous camel spiders (they seriously made her wonder why people came here and friggin’ stayed in the first place) and nigh constant mortar attacks life at Camp Freedom was rapidly starting to lose its appeal.
She struggled up the ladder with a heavy black plastic Pelican rifle case strapped to her back. “Let’s go, Frays!” Sergeant Emery shouted down to her. “Move it, Airman! Come on, you’re almost there!”
The big man reached out, caught hold of the drag handle of her LCS and hauled the woman onto the platform. Frays took off the rifle case and frowned at the broken piece of 550 cord tied to the ladder then turned her attention back to the case. A couple of jokers had apparently broken it in the middle of the night and not replaced it. “You know, one of these days I’m going to make you carry this thing.” Amy joked as she popped the latches and hauled the massive M107 Special Application Scoped Rifle out of its case. She wiped the sweat off her brow and double checked the range card to her right as she got the rifle ready to go on the rest built into the low wall in front of her.
