Free Revelations - 02 by T. W. Brown Page B

Serenity Base to put down whoever we had in our midst that got bit.
    “It’s the child,” Dr. Zahn said, making my really bad situation instantly and exponentially worse.
    “This is gonna sound stupid,” I couldn’t even look her in the eye when I asked, “but are you sure?”
    “I wish I could say otherwise, but I’m positive.”
    Shit. I kept that particular sentiment to myself.
    “It’s Barry!”
    “It’s Jamie!”
    Teresa and Randi both exclaimed simultaneously. I turned and had no trouble spotting a motorcycle with the attached sidecar dart down a side street obviously attempting to give the slip to a few hundred pursuing corpses. They were doing all the right things driving with no discernible pattern; doubling back on themselves, not taking any sort of direct route to our location.
    Finally, they vanished behind some trees, but it was obvious that they were now heading for the road that would lead to us. Several minutes later, Randi and Teresa were bounding towards their men in a huggy, kissy, tearful, joyous reunion. Everybody had made it back intact. Plus…we had some new faces.
    Unfortunately, it was not over. We had the issue of the infected child to deal with. I looked over at our new arrivals. They were huddled close, each of them clinging to at least one other member of their group. The child was sandwiched between two women and looked the least worn out and frightened. Most of the real fear was on the faces of the adults. Looking just a bit closer, I realized something else, the child was the least malnourished in appearance. My guess was that the adults had done everything possible to care for the child; which included favoring him when it came to rationing food.
    A surge of anger and sorrow hit me hard and sudden. They’d done everything including deprive themselves of food—and most likely water—to preserve that child’s life. And for what? They’d been rescued, and the child would not live to see the next sunrise.
    “What do you want to do?” Dr. Zahn interrupted my daydreaming.
    “Huh?” I blinked my eyes a few times and bit down on the inside of my mouth. The tears were there, but now wasn’t the time. “Well, I guess you and I should talk to them and figure out who we’ll need to tell.”
    “You’re not gonna…” Dave’s voice trailed off as he turned and looked in the direction of the tiny group of survivors.
    “And what would you suggest?” Dr. Zahn said in a tight, clipped voice.
    “But, Francis—” Dave started to protest.
    “There’s nothing to debate here, David,” Dr. Zahn cut him off.
    Francis ? All this time I’d never known her first name. As far as I was concerned, it was “Doctor”. I guess you learn something new every day.
    “It’s a child .” Dave wasn’t trying to keep back his tears.
    “How ‘bout we keep it down,” I said, stepping between them. People were no longer interested in the happy reunions of Barry and Randi, Teresa and Jamie. We were now becoming center stage.
    One of the women detached herself from the group and walked across the open dirt and gravel strewn parking area towards me, Dave, and Dr. Zahn. Great , I thought, I’ve got about twenty seconds to decide how I’ll be handling this.
     
    .
    4
    Vignettes VIII
     
    Peter duckwalked down the row of armored vehicles. In the four days he’d been inside the relative safety of the armory, he’d put down a half-dozen of those things. He’d seen hundreds pass by. Sometimes a single one pathetically stumbling along. Sometimes a group ranging from a handful to a hundred would pass.
    Thus far he’d made it a point to stay low and hidden from view. He just wanted his luck to hold for two more days at the most as far as this place was concerned. That was how long it should take to finish loading up the APC.
    For the first time in his life, Peter King was glad he’d spent his summers growing up working on his uncle’s farm. This wasn’t some small plot of land with a two-bit