But then what? The gravel pit he’d instructed Caitlan to drive to was thirty miles away. It would take the better part of a full day to walk that distance, and even if he could make it without being picked up by the military first, what did he expect to find? Caitlan and Angela would no longer be at the gravel pit. Hayden had been very specific about that. If I’m not back with you guys by midnight, keep heading north. Find something… somewhere. Take care of the children. Hayden wasn’t sure of the exact time, but he knew midnight had already come and passed. They would’ve already started heading north by now.
Hayden wasn’t going to walk. He was either going to get the piece of shit Buick he was sitting in running again, or he was going to find another vehicle. And the only other working vehicles around were in Brayburne. Hayden would have to sneak back into town and steal one of the commandeered cars parked in the outdoor lot.
He threw the binoculars back on the seat and started to get out. He paused and picked them up again. Hayden would need every advantage at his disposable, and there were very few of those. The vehicle impound was further east. He tucked the binoculars into the back of his pants and set out.
Tommy had never known pain like this. His entire face was in agony. He touched a cheek with his fingers, and winced. That created even more pain. The old fucker did this. He got me down and beat the snot out of me. The old fucker was in his mid-thirties, but anyone over the age of twenty-five in Tommy Boyd’s eyes was ancient. That wasn’t right. It was a goddamned travesty that someone as fit and young as Tommy had had the shit kicked out of him by someone so fucking old. The beating had been bad enough, but having all the others witness it had hurt much more.
Tommy groaned and lifted his aching body up from the bed he’d been placed into.
“Easy, son. Go slow. Your face is a mess, but I’m more worried about those ribs.”
Tommy slowly swung his feet to the dirt floor and saw the white cloth wrapped around his chest and stomach. It was too tight. He tried a body stretch to the right and stopped. It felt like someone had planted a knife in his lung.
“What did I just tell you?”
Tommy looked at the man sitting on the end of a bed next to his. He was older than the asshole that had made mush of his face, a lot older. “Do I know you?”
The man pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose and rubbed a few strands of grey hair back over his mostly bald skull. “I’m Fred Gill. I was Brayburne’s only practicing physician up until about three weeks ago.”
“You’re… like a doctor?”
“Yes, I’m like a doctor.” He didn’t look at Tommy as he spoke. There was a woman sleeping in the bed he was sitting on. Most of her hair had fallen out, and it looked as though someone had taken a blowtorch to her face, neck, and upper chest. “I’ve worked in Brayburne for the last forty-two years. I’ve treated what seems like a million cases of flu in the very young and the very old, I’ve set thousands of broken bones straight, and I’ve delivered over five hundred babies.” He patted the woman’s leg gently and stood. “Never dreamed I would have to treat a thirty-year old kindergarten teacher for radiation sickness.”
“It looks… it looks painful.” Her skin had a shiny, stretched look. It reminded Tommy of wax.
“I’m sure it is. Thank heavens she’s too far gone to feel much of anything anymore.” He finally looked at Tommy with bloodshot old eyes under bushy white eyebrows. “I’m too old to be looking after people a third of my age. I’ve seen dozens like her in the last few days… folks wandering into town, suffering terribly. I’ve watched entire families slip away… fathers, mothers, sons and daughters… people supposedly blessed to have survived the attack. Some have recovered, sort of. Maybe they wandered off out of this tent and died somewhere else, I don’t have a clue. I tend to anyone that comes in here, no matter how much my old bones ache, and how tired my old brain gets. That’s my job, still, and I’ll do it until I drop dead. But you know what really pisses me off, son?”
Tommy was listening and feeling the bandages on his face. “Can I have a mirror?”
“No, you can’t have a fucking mirror. What really pisses me off is guys like you… guys like all the other soldier boys outside, marching up and down the streets like they own the place. It’s bad enough I have to try and treat people for something they didn’t deserve. Now I’ve got a bunch of goddamned macho idiots strutting about, getting into fist fights and having their ribs cracked. I don’t have the time to patch up idiots. I’m too busy looking after people that genuinely need my help. Do you know what I’m saying?”
Tommy’s fingers had settled on his nose. “How bad was it? I’ve heard people say that it’s almost impossible to straighten out a nose once it’s been bust. Will it have one of those stupid looking bends in it?”
Fred Gill wanted to break the nose again. A young soldier entered the medical relief tent before the doctor could do it. “There’s two more coming in from the east. The guards spotted them a few minutes ago maybe a quarter mile out on the highway.”
“They’re driving?” The doctor asked.
“Nope, walking, and sounds like they’re in pretty rough shape.”
Fred wanted to smack the soldier’s face almost as much as he wanted to re-fracture Tommy Boyd’s nose. Half a dozen nuclear warheads had evaporated what remained of Winnipeg and the surrounding area. If survivors were coming in from the east, chances were the injuries would be severe. “And you morons are just watching them? Don’t any of you have any sense of compassion?”
“Our commanding officer has set the rules of engagement clearly, sir; help those in need, but keep the base secure. When they’re close enough, we will bring them to you.”
“Rules of engagement? We’re not at war with the poor souls out there, and the last time I checked, this was still a town, not a goddamned base.”
Gill followed the soldier outside leaving Boyd in his bed to deal with his pains and to ponder over the state of his future appearance. Tommy glanced at the kindergarten teacher again, and looked away quickly. He feared she might wake up and call for help. What the fuck would he do then? What could he do for her, or for any of the other patients lying in their beds? He counted sixteen beds in total. Eight—including his own—were occupied. It must be late, he thought. Everyone was sleeping. This was a good thing. Tommy hated sick people. They were weak, and the longer you hung around them, the better chances were they’d give you whatever it was they were carrying. Is radiation sickness contagious? He wasn’t sure, and he didn’t want to find out. With considerable effort Tommy stood up. He remained stationary, swaying back and forth. There were no tables or chairs to lean on for support, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to rest against the teacher’s cot. The last thing he wanted to see was that shiny red face opening its eyes. She’d probably start screaming, or crying, or both.
The stabbing pain in his side dulled to a throbbing ache and Tommy moved towards the tent-flap door Dr. Gill had exited through.
The screaming started, but it wasn’t coming from the pink-faced kindergarten teacher.
Hayden was halfway between the broken-down Buick and the east end of town. He stopped dead in his tracks when a scream cut through the night. The binoculars didn’t pick up anything out of the ordinary. The white blobs standing around the barrel fires looked about, but no one seemed overly concerned or motivated to investigate. A few seconds later the repeating crackle of gunfire erupted, and the blobs started moving.