The sailor glanced over his shoulder then turned back to Andre. “We’re heading to port. The field reports said that the cure works and we need to resupply.”
Broussard felt his brows rise. “All of the ships or just this one?”
“All except Navy One. The president will be staying at sea until we’re certain that it’s safe.”
Broussard rubbed at his chin as his mind worked. “Couldn’t you just radio ahead to check if it’s safe?”
The man gave him a tight-lipped shake of the head. “We lost radio contact with most of our land bases over a week ago.” He glanced over his shoulder again then lowered his voice. “We’re not sure if it’s because they lost power or…” He shrugged. “We’ll find out though.” He slid over and gently pushed Andre back. “You need to go back to whatever it is you do. You don’t want to be caught up here.”
Andre stepped back and turned slowly. Could it be possible that the military bases had been overrun? Were they heading back to a possible attack?
As he worked his way back to the lab, he remembered the streets when he and Dr. Chaplain had driven them. During daylight hours, they felt safe. It was only at night that the Zeds became problematic. Was that reversed now that they were exposed to the cure?
He pushed open the door to the lab and froze when he saw Carol again. “I was about to come looking for you. Do you any idea what’s going on?”
Andre nodded as he stepped inside. “They’re headed to port. Resupply us and check the area.”
Carol seemed to pale slightly. “I wonder if…”
“What?”
She shook her head. “I was just wondering if they would return you to France now that the worst is over.”
Broussard shrugged. “I’ve no idea.” He paused and glanced at the monitors that Kevin had been on. “But I’m not so sure that the worst is over.”
Simon tried not to stare at Lana as she went about her daily routine. He commented that she looked like her skin was beginning to tan a bit and she gave him a ‘duh’ look. “It’s from the sunburn, that’s all.”
He gave her a weak smile. “I have a feeling you’ll make a full recovery.”
She went about her morning rifling through supplies and pouring an ungodly amount of liquor down the drain. As she finished pouring the last bottle, she commented, “It’s a good thing we’re moving. This place smells like a distillery.”
Simon snorted. “Like that’s a bad thing.”
She gave him a deadpan stare. “From where I come from, yeah.”
As she prepared gear for the road, he stepped out onto the front porch. “We could just move to another house here.” She overheard him and met him outside. “Aren’t you afraid of your cager friends finding us?”
Simon shook his head. “It didn’t look like they’d been back.” He gave her an optimistic smile. “I doubt they would. They’d have no reason to.”
She sighed deeply, her mind trying to weigh the pros and cons. “It would be nice to have water.”
“I’m pretty sure the water towers are empty.”
“What about wells?”
He shrugged. “And how would we power them?”
She stared down the hill toward the Cager Compound. “How do they have power?”
Simon shrugged. “Solar? Wind? Something.”
“If they can do it, so could we.”
He pointed to his wounded arm. “Not any time soon.”
She gave him another ‘you’re an idiot’ look. “I’m not broken.”
“No, but I wouldn’t expect you to try to install a whole power system by yourself, either.”
She huffed and leaned on the porch column. “What about something less…permanent?”
“I’m not following you.”
Her mouth slowly curled into a smile. “Something mobile.”
“A mobile home?” Simon scrunched his brows at her. “We’d still have to hook up power.”
“I’m thinking something more like a Winnebago. Something with a generator.”
Simon grinned at her. “Yeah. Something that already has power.”
“That’s what I’m thinking.” She narrowed her gaze at him. “I think they can carry water, too.”
Simon nodded slowly. “And I happen to know a place here in town.” He turned and gave her a broad smile. “It’s not far, either.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” She turned and grabbed her jacket. “Let’s find us a Winnebago!”
21
“It’s like Vicky tried to tell me, Buck. We can’t save everyone.”
Buck sat up in his chair. “I felt so bad for the guy.”
“I understand.” Hatcher sighed as he sat back. “Look, we’ve had limited exposure to the…” He thought for a moment. “The cured?” It was as good as anything else he could think of. “But what little I’ve seen, they’re all just a bit unhinged.”
Buck stared at him, surprised. “Do you think they’ll stay that way?”
Hatcher shrugged. “I honestly have no idea.” He sat back again and rubbed at his chin. “The first lady I met was pretty distraught. Then she flew off the handle, screaming and…” He glanced up at Buck. “It wasn’t pretty. The next one I ran into was Nick.”
“He seemed nice enough.”
Hatcher nodded, “But still not completely all there, if you know what I mean.” He thought it best to clarify. “He couldn’t remember his name when we met him but an hour later, once he realized his wife was gone, he killed himself. He didn’t even wait to find out if any other family had survived.”
“Then this Mathew guy,” Buck added. “I mean, I guess I can understand him being upset. He just woke from a nightmare.”
“But blaming somebody else?” Hatcher shook his head. “Then again, it’s real easy to be an armchair quarterback, especially if you haven’t had to live what they went through.”
“Realizing that doesn’t help me figure out how to help.”
“Sometimes you can’t help people that don’t want to be helped.” Hatcher’s voice was low and soft. “As much as you want to help them heal, there’s just nothing you can do.”
“Great.” Buck sat back hard in is chair, his face a mask of frustration. “Either way, Mother Nature wins. She creates a virus to kill us all off and
