“I’ll kill your friend if you don’t let us go!” Steve shouted, but there were other gunshots. The man victim quietly walked on the left side of the van, and in one snap he took a shot that killed the intruder who drove the car.
The first intruder kicked Steve in the groin. They fought for the gun’s possession for several minutes. The intruder pointed the gun at Steve’s chest, but Steve used all his strength to reverse the situation and aimed it at the intruder’s mid-section, then pulled the trigger. Then there was another gunshot, but this time the man victim died.
“Stay low,” Steve said to the pregnant woman and the kid.
“Mister… Mister…” The pregnant woman said weakly.
“What?” Steve saw the blood flowing on the woman’s legs.
“Are you on labor?!” Steve said in surprise. He knew he needed to kill the intruder first before he can help the woman, or they will all die.
“Breathe woman. Help her to lie down.” He instructed the kid, then there was another gunshot.
“Son of a bitch!” Steve cursed. With the presence of mind, he lied face down and saw the intruder’s feet. He aimed for both legs. The intruder fell to the ground while shouting in pain, but Steve showed no mercy. In one more shot, he hit the intruder’s head.
“That’s for making our lives miserable,” Steve said.
“HELP! Baby’s coming!” The pregnant woman shouted.
“Lady, I am Dr. Steve of Southcrest Community Hospital. I am a General Doctor and Anesthesiologist, but I’ll do everything to help you and your baby.” Steve removed his coat and covered it to the woman’s legs. Fortunately, the baby’s head is now visible in the birth canal, so all he needed was to help the woman push her baby out.
“Young boy, can you support her head?” Steve said in a calm voice. Fortunately, the young boy has enough strength to help him.
“Perfect. Now, Push Lady! PUSH!” The pregnant woman pushed several times.
“Breathe. Inhale, exhale. One more, Lady. One big push on three!” Steve said.
“One, two, three. PUSH!” Steve ordered. The pregnant woman pushed with all her strength. Then a baby started crying. Steve slapped the baby’s butt, then the woman smiled and was relieved that her baby is alive. She thanked Steve but fell asleep right away.
“Stay there, young man.” Steve scanned the van and searched for something useful. Fortunately, there were two blankets and a plastic bag. Steve pulled out a Swiss knife out of his pocket. It’s not the proper tool, but he has to cut the umbilical cord. He used the scissor knife and sliced the portion carefully.
Steve placed the umbilical cord in the bag immediately for further inspection. Then he covered the baby with a blanket. He still had his presence of mind and recorded the time and date of the baby’s birth on the plastic bag.
“Do you know the woman’s name?” Steve asked the young boy, but he shook his head.
“Can you hold a baby?” Steve asked the young boy again.
“Yes, I have a baby brother.” The young boy said with an innocent voice.
“Please hold this for the lady, and let’s all go inside the car.” Steve covered the woman with another blanket and carried her to the van
“Are alright young boy?” Steve asked the kid.
“Yea, I just want to be home.”
“We’ll go home now,” Steve assured the kid.
Steve started the engine, but it won’t start.
“Bullshit!” Steve muttered.
“Wait here, kid. Please keep the baby warm, and watch over her mother. Okay?” The kid nod.
Joseph was stunned with the events that have happened with his best friend.
“I thought we are going sooner, but I still had to fix that stupid van. It took me four hours regulating the engine. Then I had to drive the woman to the nearest hospital. It took us two hours because of the traffic. Then I found out that there was another riot. We needed to take other routes.”
“The ambulance conveyed the boy to his family, and I had to wait for more hours before I could finally go here because of the riots nearby,” Steve said.
“You need to get a rest, Steve. You had so much.” Joseph said because he saw how tired Steve was.
“For the meantime, I’ll go to Mr. Jobs and deliver the news.”
“What news?” Steve asked.
“Dr. Ames moved out of the town, and to discuss the power generator,” Joseph replied.
Walter, Nurse Janette, and Mrs. Daniels were watching the news at the cafeteria. They saw the flash report about the Marauders demands.
“The Government had privately arranged a meeting with the Marauders to talk about their demands. Senator Forbes was said to be in-charge of the talk with the Islamic Leader. According to the reports, the Government wanted to have a peace talk, but the Marauders refused until the Government grants their demands. They wanted the Government to give all its wealth and a position in the Administration. However, the State has been clear that the interests are unfavorable and that there’s no possibility to give it to the Marauders.” The reporter said.
“There’s no way that the Government should give in to their requests.” Nurse Janette said.
“If they ever agree, my group at the militia are willing to fight to Government,” Walter said the bravely.
“O, God. I hope that we still have a bright future ahead of us.” Mrs. Daniels said.
Joseph knocked on the door of Mr. Jobs office, but there was no response. After several tries, he decided to enter the office. He thought that Mr. Jobs was sleeping on his desk.
“Mr. Jobs? I have some news for you.” But Mr. Jobs wasn’t moving.
Joseph lifted Mr. Jobs shoulder, but he was surprised to see that Mr. Jobs was lifeless. He checked his pulse hoping that he can save Mr. Jobs, but it’s gone. He still tried to give him chest compressions, but Joseph thought that he’s already late. Joseph believed that Mr. Jobs suffered Heart Attack due to stress. He was in deep thoughts, and haven’t slept for the past few days. Joseph checked Mr. Jobs phone to call her wife, but he was surprised with what he saw on the screen.
It was a text message from her son that Mrs. Jobs died because of an intruder that went inside their house. Mrs. Jobs was all alone and was helpless to defend herself. The intruder stabbed Mrs. Jobs twice in the abdomen, thrice in the neck and one on the head. Joseph was surprised with the brutality of the intruder.
Joseph nestled Mr. Jobs and hurriedly went down to bring his body to the Morgue. However, the lights started to flicker as soon as they went out of the office. After a few walks in the hallway, the lights turned off, and it was dark for Joseph to walk. He pushed himself and used his senses and familiarity to go to the Morgue of the hospital. Joseph had to use the staircase because he knew that their generator was finally out of the engine. He successfully brought Mr. Jobs dead body at the Morgue. Then Joseph remembered his patients. He hurried back to his clinic and called Steve.
“Steve! Sorry to bother your rest, but we have an emergency.” Joseph said.
“What?” Steve asked.
“The generator is out. We have to check the patients.” Joseph said.
They grabbed some flashlights and ran out of the clinic.
“What’s the plan?” Steve asked.
“I’ll go at the ICU, and you do the rounds,” Joseph said.
“Copy that,” Steve said.
“Doctor Brave!” Walter shouted.
“Walter! Just in time. Please, can you help Dr. Steve do the rounds and make sure that the patients are alright? Calm them and explain the situation. Has anyone checked the generator?” Joseph said.
“Yes. Jay went down already.” Walter replied.
Jay White and other remaining maintenance men tried to fix the generator. Fortunately, they were able to come it to life with their remaining Diesel gas and water supplies.