Outbreak: Boston (42 page)

Amy rinsed her hands off then removed her combat gear and scoured her face with handfuls of damp paper towels. She let down her hair and tried to see what she could do about getting it clean but it was kind of difficult. The sink was too small to allow her to really get the job done. She swallowed bile when she noticed that there were several thumbnail sized chunks of bone and grey matter stuck in the drain of the sink. Frays dried herself off and put her hair back up then tried to get the stuff off her gear and ABU top.  

Frays put her flak jacket and LCS on over her undershirt and went back into the main room. “Try doing some of your dirty laundry in the sink, Lacey.” Amy said as she moved over to the Marine. She spread her ABU top over the back of a chair to dry in the sun. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve been out of clean clothes for a couple days. I’ll take over for you.”

Lacey nodded and took his rucksack into the head and filled one sink with a mixture of warm water and soap from the dispensers mounted to the wall. He concentrated on the task of scrubbing his dirty laundry in the soapy water then rinsing and wringing it out. Adam snorted as he worked, wondering what Laura would make of the sight of him washing his clothes in a sink. He rarely did the laundry at home
when he had access to their battered old Maytag.

Adam found himself wanting to see his wife and kids
horribly all of a sudden. He missed the feeling of Laura’s arms around him, the smell of his children’s hair… Lacey could not believe how lucky he was to have them in his life. He had promised his children when they were born that there was nothing he would not do to keep them from growing up like he did. Adam shook his head as his hands continued to work seemingly of their own accord.

He still could not quite wrap his brain around what he had done
today. The incident at the bridge back in Boston had been an accident or at least that’s what he kept telling himself. This time he had cold bloodedly pointed his rifle at two men he had known and pulled the trigger. He had killed Holder and Reynolds because they were going to hurt Frays. He knew that. He knew them and what they were capable of in the best of times: the two of them taunted him relentlessly because they could, using any meaningless little excuse to run him down until he lost his temper once and took a swing at Holder. The two of them had beaten him up then gotten UCMJ action brought against him, costing him a chance at a promotion. He had wished those assholes dead a hundred times since but now that they were he wished he could take it back.

He brought his piles of soggy clothes into the main room and set them up to dry like Frays had with her ABU top. Adam suddenly remembered something. “Hey, are you hungry?” he asked as he finished putting his last pair of socks on the table. With luck his clothes would be dry in a couple hours.

Amy looked at the man for a second. “Um…sure, I guess.” she said, turning her attention back to the world outside the window. Her back and shoulders were sore from digging and she suddenly wished to be at the camp with Mom and Dad and Carl so she could take a long hot shower. Amy groaned and arched her back then rolled her head around in slow circles, making her spine and neck sound like someone twisting rolled up bubble wrap.

“Wait right here.” Adam said as he retreated towards the kitchen with a strange look on his face. “I’ve got a surprise for you.” He disappeared through the swinging doors and started digging around the cabinets until he found a big frying pan and got the stove going with a box of matches he found in a drawer next to the stainless steel appliance. Soon he had four beef patties sizzling in the pan as he hurried over to the fridge and scrounged up a plastic package of cheese slices with peppers in them. There were some rolls that were still good so he grabbed them as well as a
couple plastic containers of some kind of fancy mustard and pickle relish as he put the cheeseburgers on a plate and brought them out into the dining room.

Frays’ stomach gurgled when she saw Lacey with the plate of burgers in his hands. She glanced outside then crouched and went to him. “I thought you said you couldn’t cook?” Amy asked as she glanced from the cheeseburgers to the man and back again. Her stomach growled as she put two of the patties on rolls and slathered them with mustard and relish.

“Hey, I’m a guy.” Adam said with a hint of a smile “I can grill a burger and stuff like that. Anything else? Not so much.” He fixed his burgers and sat down while Amy went back to her chair across the room. The two of them ate quickly and quietly, wolfing down their food with all the table manners of starving dogs.

Amy licked a dollop of mustard off her finger and looked over her shoulder at Adam. “Thanks for lunch.” she said quietly. The burgers had been very good but she found that she was still
absolutely famished. She crossed the room and opened the little fridge behind the bar. Frays smiled when she saw another big bottle of green olives and took it out as well as a couple cans of soda. The airman divvied the contents of the jar between two bowls and gave one to Lacey along with a can of root beer. “You make awesome burgers.”

“You’re welcome.” Adam said
as he accepted the dish. He was genuinely pleased that she appreciated his efforts. Lacey was silent for a long time while Frays was content to munch on the olives and enjoy the peace and quiet. The birds resumed their tweeting and flying from branch to branch across the street. An amused little smile came to Amy’s face as she watched a pair of red squirrels chase each other around a tree across the lot until a larger grey squirrel showed up and ran the two of them off, barking and shaking its tail at them until they disappeared into the woods.
If you didn’t know any better, you’d swear everything’s normal
she thought somewhat dejectedly. She did know better. You could not even see normal from where they stood. Amy sighed quietly to herself and spared a glance at Lacey.

He caught her looking at him. “Say, um…Frays.” Adam said quietly. He fidgeted with something in his lap then put it in his pocket and moved across the room
. Lacey pulled up a chair next to her, his shoulders slumped as he scratched his forehead. “Can I ask you something? I dunno if you really want to talk about it.”

She was a little afraid of where this conversation might go, but the guy really looked like he needed to talk.
“Sure. What’s up?” Frays asked keeping her voice low as if to not disturb the squirrel outside hopping across the parking lot towards the building.

“H-How many people have you killed?” Adam’s question hung in the air between them like a fart nobody wanted to admit to letting loose. His face turned a little red and he looked away. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

A sad little frown came to Frays’ mouth as she pondered whether or not she really wanted to answer the question. “Three that I know of for sure.” she said, feeling a little uneasy but strangely finding that she in fact wanted to share this with her friend. “Me and my flight sergeant took out an insurgent mortar team when we had to fill in for some Base Security guys that were out sick or whatever when I was in Iraq. I dunno if anybody I shot at the other day died or not. God, I really hope not.” Frays shivered, for a half second remembering how hot it had been that day all those months ago, the strange combination of pride and revulsion at her actions… The woman pushed the thoughts away.

“I didn’t really want to do it.” Lacey said quietly, a single tear working its way down the stubble on his cheek. Frays noticed that he had not shaved in several days. “They were going to…ya know. Or at least Holder was. I couldn’t let them do that to you. I wasn’t…”

Amy put a hand on Adam’s shoulder and squeezed it. “I know, buddy.” Frays said quietly as the cheeseburgers she had just eaten started to kind of creep their way back up her esophagus. She had made every effort to not think about what might have happened if Lacey had not been there. That was the closest she had ever come to…you know… “Thank you. I wish things had turned out different, but I’m really glad you were there.”

“Hey, I’d hate to have to explain to your mom and dad why I didn’t save their daughter.” Lacey said the man’s voice just above a whisper. He frowned and searched Amy’s face for a moment. “Does it ever go away?”

She bit her lip and wished she had something better to tell him. “No, I don’t think so.” Frays muttered under her breath. “I feel bad about what I did every day, but I think it’ll get a little less with time. I dunno.” She paused and frowned again as she looked at her lap, trying to put words to her thoughts “I mean, it’s not as bad as it used to be but it’s still not alright, get it?” Amy sighed and rubbed his shoulder, wishing she could do something to take away his pain. “I dunno if this helps, but Captain Bollinger, the camp chaplain over there, told me that if it hurts afterwards that means you’re still a good person.”

A few more tears trickled down Adam’s face. “Goddamnit.” he muttered as he wiped them away. Lacey seemed to shrink a little as he hugged himself. “How far is it to your
parent’s place? I need to see my wife. I need to talk to my wife.”

“It’ll be okay, man.” Amy said quietly as she put an arm around the man’s shoulders. “It’ll be okay. We’ll let Rodriguez get healed up a little
bit and we’ll go. We’ll get out there to the camp and our families will be there waiting for us. You’ll see.” Frays smiled a little as she clapped Adam on the shoulder and regretfully left the man to his thoughts.

They settled into a routine over the next couple of days. During the day Frays taught Lacey how to play
spades with a pack of cards she had discovered behind the bar and they played endless hands of the game, pausing only to check the perimeter and make sure Frannie was okay every five or ten minutes. The card game went on hold when they decided it was time for lunch or dinner. They eventually stopped using the food in the freezer and most of the stuff in the refrigerator, as the food started to smell like it was going bad. Lacey could not help but feel a little disappointed every time he went to warm up something out of cans and saw the stainless steel doors across the room. They were still eating very well when compared to their stay at the school so he supposed that he should not complain too much.

Rodriguez woke and blinked in the sunlight. “Hey! Frays? Lacey?” she called as she tried to look around. She frowned at the straps holding her to the stretcher and tried to see where everyone was. The evil thought that something might have happened to her friends or, worse yet, they had abandoned her slipped its way into her mind. “Where are you guys? Guys!”

Amy put a hand on Frannie’s shoulder and smiled a little bit. “Hey, glad you’re up.” she said as she shook a pill into the palm of her hand and gave it to her friend. “More penicillin. Looks like your leg is healing alright. How are you feeling?”

Frannie washed down the pill with a little water from her camelbak. “I think I could eat something.” she said quietly, still looking around. Rodriguez frowned and looked at the strap across her chest then back to her friend. “Can you let me up? I gotta use the latrine. Like right now.”

“Oh, jeez.” Amy said as a nervous smile crept over her face. She hurriedly undid the straps and helped Rodriguez up off of the table. Frannie screamed and tears welled in her eyes when her left foot touched the ground. Frays caught her friend and put the woman’s arm over her shoulders. “It’s alright, Frannie. It’s okay. I got you. You’re okay. Let’s get you to the toilet, alright? You can do it.”             

Amy could not help but feel bad for her friend by the time they got into the bathroom and situated on a toilet. Tears were streaming down
Frannie’s cheeks and beads of sweat stood out on her pallid forehead. “I’ll go see if there’s something in Eamon’s bag to help.” Frays said quietly as she stood at the door to the stall. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Hurry. Percocet. Like right now, please.” Rodriguez puffed, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. She looked to Frays like she might pass out and Amy wondered if she would have to get Lacey to help her carry the woman back out to the table. Rodriguez tried to lower her trousers and screamed. She sat there on the toilet panting and sweating, glaring at her friend.

Amy could only shake her head. “Alright. I think we’ll have to cut off your pants, though. I’ll get some shears and a blanket, okay?” When Frays rushed out into the main room she found Lacey standing there by the door with a spatula in his hand, the other clutching the pistol grip of his rifle. He looked pale and worried.

“What’s going on?” he asked, trying to see over the woman’s shoulder and into the latrine. “Is Rodriguez okay? I heard her screaming.” The Marine followed her as Amy ran to the chair where Eamon’s medical bag hung on the back of it.

“She had to go to the bathroom.” Frays explained as she pawed through the bag’s contents and searched for a pair of shears. “I don’t think Frannie can get her pants down so I’m going to cut them off. Can you grab me a blanket and put it by the stretcher, please? Just go in the kitchen and I’ll let you know when it’s safe to come out.”

Thankfully, Lacey did as she asked and disappeared into the kitchen as Frays rushed back into the latrine. “Okay. I’m back, Frannie.” Amy said as she entered the stall and immediately started pulling off the other woman’s boots.

“Took you long enough.” Rodriguez panted as she smiled weakly at her friend. “I’m about to piss in my pants here.” Amy snorted laughter as she started cutting the legs of Rodriguez’s trousers. She started to feel a little nauseous when she put on a pair of rubber gloves and trimmed the old bandage on the woman’s leg. Frannie squirmed and bit back a scream when Frays pulled the roll of gauze that Eamon had jammed in the wound when he first patched her up a few days ago.