The cabin constantly reeked of fish now, for Steve, the camp’s butcher, gutted the daily hauls from the lake. With the weir Ted had built, they were now more than able to keep themselves fed calorie-wise, if not nutrition-wise.
Life was okay. The demons hadn’t arrived as they’d feared, and behind the thick castle walls everyone slept quite soundly. Frank ran a squad that spent each day thinning out nearby trees to make it easier to spot approaching threats, and they deposited the timber in the castle’s courtyard where Ted’s team would then make use of it. In the late afternoon, Hannah taught hand-to-hand fighting techniques that the teenagers in particular loved learning. The group was toughening up, in more ways than one.
But there were problems too. Problems like the fact Kamiyo was peering down at another dead child. Emily was only twelve-years old, but she’d never reach thirteen. Her cause of death had been an innocuous nail jutting out of one of the canoes in the shed. A careless accident, but one which had taken her life in the space of six days. Nothing Kamiyo had done to keep the three-inch gash clean of infection had worked, and within forty-eight hours the gash was oozing pus, and the redness and swelling had crept up her entire arm. In the end, sepsis killed Emily.
Kamiyo also had a patient with suspected Lyme disease, and a child with a broken finger. The Typhoid had burnt itself out days ago, taking no other victims, but it had left the sufferers weak and depressed. When you counted the dead, sickness had taken more than the demons had during their dreadful attack two weeks ago.
And great stone walls couldn’t keep out sickness.
“You need help with her, Doc?” Vamps nodded to Emily. The young man had not turned violent since the night he’d attacked Kamiyo and Jackie in that darkened room. It appeared that, whoever the Red Lord was, he had gone for now—perhaps forever. Every day, the relief on Vamps’ face grew increasingly obvious, and eventually he had asked to have his bonds removed. Kamiyo reluctantly agreed, despite arguments from others in the camp, and the two of them had gone on to become friends of a sort. Despite being shunned by everyone at the camp, Vamps worked tirelessly to help wherever he was needed.
“We should tell the others,” said Kamiyo, patting Emily’s damp hair so it was neat. “They will want to bury her with the others.”
Vamps sucked at his teeth and shook his head sadly. “She was a good kid. Wanted to play violin in an orchestra, she told me. She must have had a different upbringing than I did, bruv.”
“But she ended up in the same place anyway,” said Kamiyo. “We all did.”
“Yeah, Doc, I guess you’re right.”
Kamiyo asked Vamps to keep watch on the patients while he reported Emily’s death to the others. He went downstairs, and the first person he bumped into was Philip. The man still hated him after losing his son and had been very vocal about it in the last two weeks.
“Christopher,” said Philip curtly, refusing to call him ‘Doctor’ like everybody else did.
“Philip. How are you?”
“Wonderful, thank you for asking. It’s almost like my son hadn’t died two weeks ago.”
Kamiyo rolled his eyes. While he appreciated that the man was in pain, he was losing patience with the endless derision. “I’m afraid Emily has just passed away. Could you get word to Jackie for me, please?”
Philip shook his head in disgust. “You killed another kid? Go tell her yourself. Don’t get me involved.”
“Infection killed her Philip, not me. As for getting involved, we’re all in this together. If a child dies, it’s on all of us.”
“You’re the only doctor here. Not a very good one, admittedly.”
“Yes, I’m a doctor,” Kamiyo shot back. “Not a miracle worker. I have no medicines to administer. No equipment. No staff. I do whatever I can, so get off my fucking back, Philip.”
“Do not swear at me, or I promise you I’ll—”
“You’ll what, Philip? You want to throw another punch? Do it!”
Philip stood for a moment, lip curling, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. “I’ll pass your message along to Jackie,” he said. “Tell her you’ve failed again.”
Kamiyo waited for him to leave, then stepped out into the fresh air to take a breather and calm down. He’d never been a violent man in his past, but it took a lot not to strike Philip. A man could only take so much.
Steven was nearby, carrying a large fish that Kamiyo had no idea the identity of. He nodded to Kamiyo and smiled, reminding him that others welcomed his presence despite Philip’s misgivings.
“Morning, Doc.”
“Morning, Steven. How was the catch today?”
“Not bad. We’re getting two or three bigguns each morning, so can’t complain. Look at this Barbel, she’s a stonker.”
“Good, good.” Kamiyo thought of telling Steven about Emily but decided he’d prefer the news come from Jackie. She was better at making announcements.
The sky was overcast, and the breeze from the lake chilly. Kamiyo wondered how everyone would fare once winter arrived. The castle’s stone was frigid, but there was room for a campfire right outside and several hearths inside. The bedding had been relocated from the cabin and placed into the castle’s upper rooms, but few in the group possessed coats suitable for winter. How much
