Lou couldn't believe what he was hearing. His smolderingsense of anti-authoritarianism clawed up his ribcage. Even at the end of theworld, a black man couldn't catch a break. "Motherfucker, I oughtto..." he started before Brian jumped in.
"No, as a matter of fact, he saved us."
Lou was still outraged, and he stared the soldier down,until he turned his head away. If this was the street, he wouldn't have had toturn his head because he would already be face down on the concrete, doubledover, with Lou's boots planted firmly in his ribs. But this wasn't the street,and the man had a gun.
"Easy, Lou," Zeke said. Lou fumed inside, buthe composed himself as the soldier searched Brian.
"Clean!" the soldier yelled. He then turned toSarah, her daughters still clinging to her. "Sorry, ma'am, but I've gotto."
He reached towards Ruby to pull her away from her mother,but Sarah flinched back yelling, "You keep your hands off my babies!"
She was frantic, wild-eyed. Her voice sent shiversthrough Lou. It was a primal voice.
"Ma'am. I just need to see if she's bit."
"She's not bit!" Sarah yelled.
"Sarah, calm down. Just let him see. There's nothingto worry about, right?" Brian asked the soldier.
The soldier looked at him, appreciative of Brian's help."It's just a precaution. Nothing is going to happen."
Sarah clutched Ruby tighter to her chest.
"C'mon, baby. Just let them see," Brian said.Sarah squeezed her eyes shut, and then she set her daughter on the ground.
"We've got a bite!" the soldier yelled. WhenSarah had set Ruby on the ground, they could see the blood, even through theloud floral pattern of Sarah's dress. On her stomach, there was a round stain,not large, but enough to cause the soldier to back away, his rifle ready."Ma'am, were you bit?"
Tears came to Sarah's eyes. "It was just a littlescratch, when we were running." Her hands went to the fabric of her dress,covering the hole in the dress as if to hide the wound. Brian's face drooped.
"You and you," the soldier said pointing toZeke and Lou, "get up that ladder. Take those kids with you." Thegirls began screaming right away. Lou picked up the littlest girl, while Zekedragged the other one to the ladder. They fought and they kicked, but Lou knewwhat was going to happen next. Lou raised the little girl up, and a soldiergrabbed her arms, lifting her roughly onto the deck of the navy boat. Together,Zeke and Lou hoisted the older daughter into the air, her legs kicking back andforth. Lou caught a sneaker in the lip for his trouble as she was pulled ontothe deck, screaming at the top of her lungs.
They climbed the ladder. Lou looked back to see Brianholding his wife in his arms, whispering into her ear and kissing the side ofher hair. Sarah's eyes were squeezed closed. Lou didn't want to see anymore. Itwasn't for him to see. Zeke tapped him on the shoulder and they walked to theother side of the boat, looking out over the water. Zeke pulled a battered packof cigarettes out of his pocket and handed one to Lou. He lit it for him, andLou took a deep drag, blowing the smoke into the air where it was whisked awayby the ever-present river wind.
From behind them, they heard a single gunshot. The girlsscreamed and sobbed. Lou took another drag from the cigarette, and blew moresmoke into the air. This was the second boat Lou had ever been on. He hated it.
Chapter 12: Two to Drop Off
Their ride back to the refugee camp started outrelatively uneventful. When Joan had finished her cigarette, coughing andcomplaining of being dizzy in the process, she had dropped to the ground andexamined Martinez' wound. The man in the sunglasses handed Joan a knife and shesliced open the leg of his pants, exposing a nasty compound fracture. There wasnothing that Joan could do at the moment, but she let them know that they wouldneed to get where they were going pretty fast. The man in the sunglasses smiledas he accepted back his knife and said, "That's the plan."
The truck swerved and bounced through the city, avoidingthe dead. Even a giant truck like the one they were riding in would break downif it rammed into too many of the dead. It was a transport vehicle; not abulldozer. 200 pounds of limp flesh at 30 miles an hour... that was a recipefor AAA. Only, AAA didn't exist anymore.
"Thank you for your help, miss...," the man inthe sunglasses said, leaving the statement open.
"Winston, Joan Winston. I'm a doctor at thehospital, or at least I used to be."
The man nodded his head. He was older than she hadinitially expected, somewhere in his forties. She could see silver in his hair.
"I'm sorry about the whole naked thing. We can't betoo careful. Being a doctor, I'm sure you can understand that."
"Understand and like are two completely differentthings. But yes, I understand. And what is your name?"
The soldier removed his sunglasses and hung them on theshirt pocket of his uniform. He held out his hand. "I'm Staff SergeantHubert." Joan shook his hand. "What can you tell me about whathappened at the hospital?"
"The place got seriously fucked. That's whathappened at the hospital," Clara said, with her usual acidity.
Hubert turned his head to regard Clara, as if he hadn'tnoticed her. "And who are you?"
"I'm the only one of Joan's patients that's stillalive."
Joan put her hand on Clara's arm. "She doesn't meananything. We've all had a tough night." The truck swerved to a stop, andthey all lurched forward on the benches, splaying their arms to help themregain their balance.
"What's going on?" Clara asked.
Staff Sergeant Hubert put on his sunglasses and exitedthe back of the truck. His soldiers followed him, except for Martinez who layon the floor groaning. Clara and Joan looked at each other, and silently cameto the agreement
