Free Day One (Book 1): Alive by Michael Mcdonald Page B

first night and who hadn’t. Kember and I needed to be in perfect condition to make it a few more days until the Military could get things wrapped up and let life come back to normal. I was positive that all of this would soon be over with and the life we had been living would slowly return.
    I got her diaper changed and felt even worse. I wanted to lie down for a few minutes and hope that whatever was wrong with me would subside, although I couldn’t do that with Kember up and awake. If a few of those things passed by and she was making too much noise, they would attack and I was in no condition to fight them off. They would kill us in just minutes.
    There had to be something that I could do to quiet her while trying to rest, but forcing her to lie down would only anger her and she would cry hard. I had to get her to sleep another way, even if she didn’t want to crash. Easier said than done.
    The hydrocodone will relax her, as well as knock her little butt out. Just break one in half and that will be plenty. My mind suggested. I sat there leaned against the back glass, which blocked any prying eyes from seeing into the vehicle.
    “Would they hurt her though?” I asked aloud, wishing that I knew more about medications and their side effects, as well as how young someone could be to take them without it being a fatal dose.
    “Kids have surgery all the time… they have to give them something for the pain, right?” I spoke, thought several more seconds upon the idea and looked across at Kember. “They can’t honestly just let the child suffer in pain afterward, right?”
    Kember looked at me, as though she could tell I was deep in thought about something and it was painful for me to decide upon. She moved over to me and put her little hands around my neck, patting my back with her right hand. My heart melted.
    “Daddy’ doesn’t know what to do, baby. If I don’t give you something you could accidentally draw those damn things to us… but at the same time, I could never forgive myself if I hurt you in anyway. I don’t know what to do.” The tears ran down my face and as if Kember knew exactly what I was saying. She hugged me harder than before, and then looked up at me with a beautiful smile. I held her as if tomorrow was not going to come and cried as if they were my last tears and needed to be purged from my system.
    I broke one of the small pills in half and took the other half, swallowing it with a sip of juice. Looking at the other half in my hand, I wondered how I would get her to take it, because if she put it in her mouth the vile taste would most likely cause her to spit it out. Hell, I couldn’t handle the nasty taste of it, so how would I expect her too?
    I grabbed a lid from one of the empty juice containers that were already on the floor of the backseat. Put the pill in it and poured some juice over it, giving it a few moments to fully dissolve into the juice. I pushed the pill around a few times, tapping it until it was nothing but a liquid.
    “Now I know this isn’t going to taste the best, baby. But you have to take it,” I said and reluctantly offered it to her. She took the lid and I helped to steady her hand as she poured it into her mouth and drank every drop. A unique face blossomed upon her face, lasted only a second, and then vanished with a smile. I couldn’t help but smile back at her ever-growing expressions she was so good at.
    “Uck,” she stated and I nodded my head.
    “Uck is right, baby,” I said to her.
    The windshield had not been painted nor had the driver and passenger side windows. Only the second row of windows and the rear had been altered, as that’s where we slept and ate. One of the blankets he had found in the brown sedan had been tacked to the roof lining and when lowered would separate the third row from the rest of the interior. The added level of security allowed us to move about day or night and use the flash lights we had also found and not be spotted by