“One more thing,” he said. “While you were in the house saving your wife, I got a radio transmission from Jarvis back at Avalon.”
“Are you serious?” I sat up abruptly.
“Yah, he told me he wanted his helicopter back,” he said with a big grin.
“Really though, he did contact us. Guess they got the place back in order. He told me we would be welcome, even wanted back if we decided to head that way. They have doctors and medical supplies.”
“What do you think?” I asked. I knew that Jarvis was one of the good guys, but I wasn’t really all that excited to return to the place we called a prison.
“It’s an option. It’s definitely an option. Right now, we couldn’t get there on the fuel we have left. Augusta is our best bet for the moment… if it hasn’t been overrun.”
We sat silent for a short while, mulling over that idea. It was a clear day and the sun was glistening through the clouds. Up here, high above the ground, things still felt… okay.
When we reached Augusta, it was clear that Kyle was right; we were running on fumes. He began using the radio in the chopper to hale the base. Static is all that we received over the airwaves. Frustrated, Kyle continued flying closer to Fort Gordon.
Looking back through the small door, I watched Jenn sit up, fully awake. She was holding her belly, with an uneasy look on her face. Worried, I started to unbuckle my harness. She shook her head, letting me know that she was all right. She then leaned forward to grab a cup of water and ice.
Reluctantly, I turned back toward the cockpit. I could see the look of concern in Kyle’s face as we flew over the large Savannah River. Still, no contact with the base.
In the daylight, we could see zombies stumbling through the streets. Highway 20 was infested with them, as they slowly crept around the crashed cars and trucks. I watched whole groups of them get stuck behind a roadblock. They didn’t appear to have the brainpower to turn back or simply walk around it. I remember thinking that they might stand there forever, trying to push through that barricade.
Through the headset, I heard Jenn urgently speak, “I think the baby is coming. These contractions are definitely real.”
Kyle and I shot a quick glance at each other. I must have looked horrified. I know he did.
That’s when Jenn screamed out.
I jerked violently as if shot, fumbling to release my harness. I lurched into the cabin. She was holding her belly and crying that the contractions were really close together, coming almost on top of each other. I didn’t know much, but I knew that meant the baby was coming fast. Even I could tell that this was bad. Usually, she would have had contractions for hours before. The trauma and lack of help from a doctor through this ordeal must have wreaked havoc on her body.
Looking up at Kyle, he could see my panic.
“You know anything about giving birth?” I barked, horror stricken.
“No,” he cried, flicking his hand in the air. “I’m better at taking life out of this world than bringing it in.”
My attention went back to Jenn, writhing in pain. Something felt wrong, completely and utterly wrong. I could feel it in my very core. I let out a petrified cry when her eyes were pulled into the back of her head. She started to bleed all over the leather and carpet. I was helpless; not knowing what was happening and certainly not knowing what the hell to do.
“We need to land. These fumes aren’t going to get us much further!” Kyle snapped in desperation. “Maybe the base has a medic.”
“We don’t even know if there is a base anymore!” I shrieked.
For twenty minutes, we hovered over Augusta, as Kyle frantically called over the radio looking for any sign of life. Jenn was losing too much blood. She was clutching my hand, screaming with each push.
“This is it!” she finally yelled.
Shifting into place, and pulling her legs apart, I looked down to see the crown of a small head. With each contraction, the head was pushed farther out, revealing dark matted hair. Jenn continued to cry out in pain as her body arched up, splashing through the blood that she continued to lose.
My panic-stricken eyes were pulled up from Jenn and toward Kyle, when he suddenly sat up right in his seat, not saying a word as he lifted his hand up to the headset holding it tight against his right ear.
“Yes! Yes, we’re up here!” I heard Kyle cry out in excitement. “We’re low on fuel, and in desperate need to put down. We also have a woman in labor. Request permission to land!”
He went silent waiting for a response. Jenn tried her hardest to mute her cries of pain as we both listened in anticipation for Kyle’s next words.
“Yes, Sir. We’ll be there in five minutes. Make sure the medical unit has what they need for delivery.”
Looking back at us, he gave thumbs up and told us to hang on. We’d be cutting it pretty close and this was going to be a bumpy ride.
“Hold on, baby. Hold on,” I pleaded with Jenn.
“Ahhhngnn,” she screamed. In an urgent and pain filled voice she said, “You’re going to have to pull him out. You have to deliver him, John… we don’t have five minutes. He’s going to suffocate if he doesn’t get out!”
Having gone to a number of birthing classes over the past months, I knew she was right. Hands shaking, I reached down and wedged my fingers around the head, and started to pull.
“We’re two minutes away!” Kyle screamed back.
Jenn pushed with everything she had left in her. A vein was pulsating out of her forehead, and her hands were firmly squeezing on the side rail of one of the leather seats.
The head emerged, followed by an arm. I gently wrapped my fingers under his armpit, and slowly pulled the second shoulder through. A split second later, the legs followed.
For a moment, he didn’t move. Covered in red, pale with blue lips, the baby hung in my arms lifeless. Then, in a moment of magic, a small burst of cries shot from his mouth. With my eyes tearing up, and my whole body still shaking, I wrapped the child in one of the embroidered white blankets to warm him. Jenn looked up at us. Her eyes were half open, and her body was limp.
“One minute,” Kyle yelled back.
I could feel the chopper coming down, the pit of my stomach lurching up.
“Let me see him,” Jenn whispered.
I placed the wrapped child in her arms, which she didn’t have the strength to hold up on her own. She forced a smile, and her eyes widened for just a moment.
“Hello, Baby. You’re more beautiful than I ever could have imagined,” she said.
Unsuccessfully trying to hold back my own tears, I leaned in, kissed our baby on the forehead, and whispered, “Welcome to the world, little man.”
Gritting her teeth, she motioned with a weak hand for me to take the child. I reached down to pull him into my arms.
Her body tensed up, eyes rolling from side to side. She kicked her legs out involuntarily for a moment, and I pulled our son to my chest, protecting him from any inadvertent strikes.
I felt the helicopter hit the ground, and heard Kyle jumping out of the front cockpit. Everything slowed down. I was waving my hands feverishly from behind the window toward the medics who were running with a gurney towards the chopper door. The sound of the chopper blades was deafening, as I yanked the headset from my head, trying to scream toward them to hurry.
Glancing down at Jenn, her body arched up, then fell to the red tinted leather, and stopped moving.
Then, just like that… In a moment of clarity, she met my eyes and spoke softly.
“John, I love you. You came back to me. After everything, you made it back to us. I’m so proud of you. You are going to be a great father.”