Chapter 29
They arrived back at Cooper’s home with a half-hour to spare before the meeting would begin. Dranko collapsed on his living room sofa and was snoring before Cooper had removed his body armor and stowed the rifle.
Cooper went immediately to Jake’s room. Angela was seated on a chair next to his bed, dozing. Jake was sleeping soundly on his bed, his chest rising and falling with regularity. Thank God. He turned his view back towards Angela. He had been impressed with how she had stepped in and done what was needed to be done. Cooper admired that trait in people. He took a moment and smiled as he watched her peaceful face bob up and down as she slept in the chair.
He tip-toed over to the edge of the bed and then knelt down beside it. Jake lay just a few inches from the edge. Cooper buried his face into his hands and pressed them deeply into the softness of the bed. Exhaustion, worry, and grief overtook him. Tears came readily, washing down his face. He struggled to remain quiet, so that Jake’s sleep would remain undisturbed.
His thoughts pleaded: Please God, let him live. Let me find a way to save him. I cannot, I will not, survive if I lose him, too. His fists tightened into balls of frustration as he pressed them hard against his ribs. He turned his head from side to side, welcoming the almost painful friction from the mattress’ edge.
After a few moments, his tears stopped and his thoughts turned. I’ve given too much already. Elena is gone. I’ve been forced to kill again. I have no more to give.
He raised his eyes and looked at Jake again. The only telltale signs that he was ill were his flushed face and the tiny beads of sweat across his face. Damn you God, you cannot have him too. I will not let you have him. Damn you if you try.
His own face, flushed with anger as he stood up resolutely, and walked from the room. He failed to notice Angela watching him from the corner of her eye. She had watched him transition from grief to rage by witnessing the shifting lines in his face. It had been like a violent summer storm rolling across the Plains. At first, distant and seemingly calm. Then building to a sudden, and growing, fury that seems like it will never end. Suddenly, it passes as swiftly as it had arrived.
He had scarcely stepped into the hallway and closed the door quietly behind him, when he heard someone rapping on the door. Looking out a window, he saw Calvin waiting on the doorstep.
He opened the door, “How ya doin’, Calvin?”
“Good, considering the circumstances,” he chuckled briefly. “We have the reports in from the survey teams.”
Cooper invited him to sit down in his living room with a wave of his hand. Cooper still couldn’t get used to the sight of people visiting him with a handgun on their hip and a long arm in their hands. Calvin sat down heavily into the soft welcoming arms of Cooper’s sofa. Everyone must be dead tired by now.
Calvin looked up with worry-worn eyes, “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”
A wry smile crossed Cooper’s lips, “Today, I will take the good first.”
“The two-block area immediately to our north is pretty well organized. They have defensives positions and patrols up, much like we do. However, they are not very well armed.”
“Thank God for Dranko’s paranoia, eh?”
Calvin’s head bobbed up and down, “Absolutely. I guess he turned out to be not so paranoid, did he?”
Cooper nodded in reply before Calvin continued, “They have also taken over the Second Lots grocery store and are disbursing the food in an organized fashion.”
“Lucky for them to have a store selling odd lots of canned goods and jars of peanuts in their backyard.” Inside, Cooper was kicking himself for not having thought of that store as a resource point, since it was so close to them.
“I’ll say. However, we might be able to trade a few weapons for some food. Our survey team told me that they were salivating as they saw the weapons our guys were carrying. All they have are a handful of old hunting rifles and a couple handguns.”
Cooper scratched his chin, “That’s a good idea. The better defended they are, the better it is for us. For example, we can reduce the barricades on our northern side and use the few extra people elsewhere. We will have more warning if a serious threat develops there.”
Calvin nodded; chin in hand, “Good. I will talk to Dranko about it and see what we can do.”
“Right. OK. So what’s the bad news?”
“Just to our south, some bad elements are developing. Apparently, there were about a dozen families who all belonged to the same church in that neighborhood. The church has become a focal point of organization.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Cooper interrupted.
“You’re right, it should be. However, the churchgoers are using their access to food and other supplies as a heavy-handed recruitment tool. Our team talked to some in the neighborhood who are getting pretty upset about being forced to attend daily services at the church if they want food. It’s very possible it could turn violent,” Calvin concluded gravely.
“That’s too bad. From what Dranko has told me, churches have become a rallying point in lots of different places. All kinds of religions too—from Christian, to Buddhist, to Muslim, to Jewish. Why would these guys take this route?”
“They are short-sighted. Or, maybe their God told them to do it this way. It is small church, so who knows what their religious grounding is.”
Cooper shook his head, “Alright, we should make a point to keep in contact with those we met there and keep an eye on that situation. Anything else of interest?”
“Not really. To our east and west are mostly just disorganized. There is one last tidbit,” Calvin finished and a wide grin spread across his face, despite his best efforts to control it.
Cooper’s brow wrinkled, “What is it, man? Spit it out!”
Calvin chuckled, “This is why I never could play poker.” He leaned in and whispered, “As our teams asked about the illness, they all found out something incredible.”
Cooper raised his eyebrows, “And?”
“All the neighborhoods had the same report: no one new has come down with the illness within the last twenty-four hours,” his words came rapidly now. “I couldn’t believe it. So, I had our internal team do another round-up through the neighborhood. We haven’t had anyone come down with it since…”
Cooper leaned back heavily, “Since Jake. It’s been about twenty-four hours since he came down with it.” A roil of emotions washed over him. “So, what does this mean?”
Calvin’s face was aglow with excitement, “It could mean this thing is over, Cooper. Think about it. We’ve been dropping like flies since the outbreak. Just in our neighborhood, we’ve had several people coming down with the symptoms every single day. I think it has to mean something that no one in a wider area has got it for a full day!”
Cooper knocked his head with his hands, trying to make sense of it, “OK. Let’s get Lisa and Angela in here. They are our best medical minds available to us.”
“I’ve already talked with Lisa. She’s cautiously optimistic like me. She said it is possible it is an anomaly. Since the outbreak, the radio and internet have been rife with rumors of ‘it’s ending’ every day. So, I wouldn’t trust much of that kind of news, anyway.”
“What does she recommend?”
“She said we should watch it closely. If we get another twenty-four hours without any more with symptoms, she said that would mean something else entirely.”
“I can’t believe it. I don’t know what to say,” Cooper said as he sank back again into the sofa, his hands clapping his forehead.
“I couldn’t either. It took me an hour of pacing about my living room to finally, remotely, start believing it.”
Cooper sat up with a start, “Oh, no! If this thing really is ending, Jake could be one of the last ones to have got it.”