“If we don’t go out there then everything that I Googled says he’ll get an infection. He could die.” Yue said into the silence following Nancy putting her foot down. She could still access the data network on her phone. The WIFI in their house had died when they lost power the night before. If she wasn’t so exhausted, she’d be working right now on trying to download every piece of useful information she could find. She’d snagged a few first aid documents and a couple of survival guides. She kept trying to find maps she could download to her phone in between scrubbing blood stains off the floor and couch.
“No one’s going anywhere. If Bart were awake, he’d say the same thing. We’re your parents. We’re not going to have you risking your lives like that. We’re definitely not sending you out into all that violence right now on what’d probably be a wild goose chase.” Nancy reiterated her opposition to the whole idea. She was as exhausted as the rest of them. She was determined to stay awake though. She needed to maintain her grip on her husband’s hand and make sure the kids didn’t do anything stupid.
Yue pulled up some more information on her phone. She stared at the skin around the gunshot wounds on Bart comparing them with the images from WebMD. She was looking to see if there was redness around the wound which would indicate infection. The wounds already looked infected to her. Nancy tried to downplay it when Yue showed her the images and told her about how bad the infection could be. She tried to downplay it, but her exhaustion kept her from being a good actress. She was terrified. Not for herself but for her family.
“I’m going to get some medicine for dad.” LeBron told Yue quietly while they were both standing in the kitchen. The sinks and tubs in the house were all filled with water. They were being very careful about keeping it as clean as possible. They’d been draining and refilling the tubs and sinks for the past week now in preparation for this eventuality.
“I’m coming with you. Wait until mom passes out. She can’t possibly stay awake much longer.” Yue said quietly. LeBron nodded suddenly understanding why Yue had kept bringing their mom pillows. She’d been working hard to make their mom comfortable ever since the outburst where Nancy had told them they weren’t leaving the house. He wondered idly how many times Yue had manipulated him into doing what she wanted. He stopped thinking about it deciding he was better off not knowing.
“What about Drew?” LeBron whispered the question.
“I don’t know. He’s taking this pretty hard. We leave him here to guard the house once mom falls asleep.” Yue responded. They both glanced over at Drew who’d leaned his head back and fallen asleep on the couch next to their dad. His mouth wide open as he shifted around uncomfortably on the couch.
Yue got their mom up off the floor and stretched her out on the couch as well. Less than five minutes later Nancy was asleep, and they were working on waking up Drew. Immediately after waking him up they found themselves in a hushed but very heated argument with him about who should go.
“I’ve been out there. You guys don’t know how dangerous it is. If anybody is going it should be me.” Drew said.
“You already carried him for miles. You saved his life once already. Let LeBron and me do our part.” Yue said. LeBron looked up at her admiringly. He’d been about to just fall into the regular pattern of arguing. Yue had approached it from a much better angle.
“Nice try. I’m going.” Drew said standing up.
“Then who stays here to guard the house and make sure nothing happens to mom and dad?” Yue asked pointedly.
“You’re the one who read all the first aid books and LeBron’s the smart one. I’m just the muscle. It makes much more sense for me to go. Besides with mobs rioting in the streets sending you out is like asking for you to get attacked.” Drew said making a very valid point.
“Chivalry is probably dead at this point.” LeBron echoed. “I think we need to be real about this. Drew and I should be the ones to go.” Yue got a stubborn look on her face. She may not be an armband wearing feminist, but she definitely wasn’t going to stand by and be told she couldn’t do something just because she was a girl.
“Chivalry goes both ways. The woman allows it as much as the man does it. LeBron’s better at the internet than both of us. He can stay here and download the info we’re going to need. Drew and I’ll run to the drug store and pick up whatever we can find to help dad. No more arguing.” Yue turned around and walked to the front door where she picked up a rifle and brought it back over to LeBron.
“Ok then let’s roll.” Drew said following Yue over to the front door where they grabbed their rifles and the car keys.
“Watch the house LeBron. It’s just as dangerous here as it is anywhere else.” Yue said to LeBron before her and Drew exited the house. They paused outside to make sure LeBron got the door closed and locked then they headed into the garage. Without hesitating to choose between the vehicles they hopped up
