Joe gently tugged on the leash. “Come.”
Oscar obediently followed, leaving his beloved handler behind.
Chapter 14
After spending a sleepless night in their seats, Kinsey woke. Her brother Tyler was on one side, her mom on the other.
“How are you doing, Mom?” Kinsey asked.
“I don’t know yet.” Becca rubbed her eyes and blinked them open. “This was about as comfortable as sleeping on a cramped airline seat, minus the snacks and drinks.” Becca rolled her head to work out the kinks in her neck. “Where’s Ethan?”
“At your service.” Ethan approached the family carrying a cardboard tray of four drinks.
“I see you got takeout. Hot coffee by any chance?” Becca asked hopefully.
“It’s coffee, which is positive.” Ethan offered a cup to Becca and her two teens. He retrieved several packets of cream and sugar, and handed them over.
Kinsey poured in three packets and stirred the cold coffee with her finger. Taking a drink, she grimaced. “You’re right. At least it’s coffee. The kind to put hair on your chest.”
“I also found some stale croissants and several energy bars. Don’t eat them all at once. We need to ration them.”
“Awesome,” Tyler said. “I’m starving.”
Ethan handed out the croissants and energy bars. Becca waved him off. “I’m not hungry.”
“Mom, you need to eat something.” A worried expression fell across Kinsey’s face. “Are you feeling okay?”
“To tell you the truth, I’ve felt better,” Becca said. She touched her leg where the shrapnel had caused the injury. In fact, Becca was feeling miserable. Her queasy stomach flipflopped at the mention of food, and her leg throbbed with the force of a jackhammer.
“You’re kinda pale.” Ethan studied Becca. Her formerly cheery disposition and positive attitude were lacking this morning. “Let me see your leg.”
Becca pulled up the leg of her jeans, carefully rolling it over the wound. She gritted her teeth at the sight. A quarter inch of shrapnel protruded from her leg, and the skin around the wound was an angry color of red in stark contrast to her fair complexion. It hurt when she flexed her foot. “What are we going to do?” she asked in a shaky voice.
“I’ll find some alcohol to disinfect it, a pair of pliers, bandages, and…” Ethan trailed off.
“And what?” Becca pressed.
“How’s your pain tolerance?”
“Why? Are you going to pull out the shrapnel?”
“It needs to come out, otherwise you could lose your leg.”
“From the infection?” Becca asked.
“Yes, and unless we do something, gangrene could develop,” Ethan replied.
“Maybe triage has some antibiotics.”
“Have you seen what happened to the triage area on the field?”
Becca, Kinsey, and Tyler peered at what was left of triage.
“It’s gone.” Tyler slumped back into the seat.
“Right,” Ethan said. “Supplies must have been looted, and the medical staff have left. They must’ve been overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of wounded, and without any proper medical care, the staff probably realized the situation was hopeless. When things get bad—”
“How much worse can it get?” Tyler interrupted.
“It can get a lot worse. Believe me.” Ethan leaned against a seat to address the family sitting in front of him. “A huge reset of society is on the horizon. Food will run out soon, faucets will stop working because the pumps won’t have any electricity, and hospitals will be abandoned. Infrastructure will cease to exist, meaning grocery stores won’t be able to re-stock. It’s lucky we haven’t been attacked, and unless we get out of here in the next day or two, it might be impossible to make it back to your home.”
Ethan took a breath to let what he had said sink in.
“Gangs will form, and neighborhoods will be on lockdown with armed residents patrolling the entrances to subdivisions,” he went on. “Unscrupulous survivors will charge for passage on the roads. And when people decide food is more valuable than money, then food becomes the new currency. Money will be useless, and more than likely will be used as toilet paper.”
“Ethan, you’re crazy,” Tyler complained. “I don’t plan on wiping my butt with a twenty.”
“You will if you have to, although you could scoot across the grass like a dog.”
“Mom, let’s get out of here and walk home.” Rising from his seat, Tyler placed his hand under his mom’s elbow to help her up.
“Tyler, I can’t walk,” Becca protested, shooting him an angry expression. “My leg is nearly useless.”
“I’ll stay with you,” Kinsey said. “You should too, Tyler.”
Tyler kicked a seat, angry at the situation. “I’m not leaving you either, Mom, and I’m sure not going to let Mr. Pilot dictate our every move.”
“I’m not here to tell you what to do,” Ethan cut in. “I’m only advising you. There’s nothing keeping me here other than my offer to help, so if you want me to leave, I will. It’s your mom’s decision.”
Becca put her hand on Ethan’s arm. “We would like it very much if you stayed to help us. I know my children feel the same.” Becca paused. “Right, Tyler?”
“Right,” Tyler mumbled. He plopped down in his seat and crossed his arms.
“Ethan,” Kinsey said, “I’ll help you find the items you need.”
Before Ethan could reply, Tyler said sharply, “I’ll help him, Kins. You stay here with Mom.”
Ethan knew he was treading on Tyler’s place in the family, especially since the teen was full of too much teen anger and not enough adult reasoning. “Tyler, you need to stay with your mom to protect her. You’re big for your age and look older than you are. It would be safer if Kinsey came with me and you stayed here.”
Becca nodded her approval. “Kins, go with Ethan. Tyler
