The Journal: Crimson Skies: (The Journal Book 3) (13 page)

“After we gave the compound where all the
cabins are a cursory check to make sure no one was there, we went
back to the field where we last saw the turkeys. Fresh food was
more important than more tools,” Jason continued. “There was a nice
buck under the apple tree, grazing right along with the birds.
Since Eric can shoot double skeet, he took the birds that took wing
when I shot the buck.” They both grinned. “We make a good
team.”

“As they were leaving, they noticed smoke
above the trees in the direction of Mathers Lake, which is one of
the residential areas not owned by the resort.” The guests were now
rapt with attention. “More people means survivors. I think we
should investigate. Jim, Tom, what do you think?”

Tom was quick to reply. “The city services
are stretched to the limit, Allex, we really can’t take any more
in.”

“Tom, I appreciate your concern, but anyone
up there won’t need help. I’m sure they’re doing just fine. I was
thinking more along the lines of a trade route. They’ve got lakes
untouched by the ash for fishing and herds of animals.”

“And what do we have to trade?” Amanda
asked.

“A doctor,” I smiled at my husband. “And
limited dairy products; and beer. There could be more, and until we
find out what they need or want it’s hard to speculate.”

Colonel Andrews had been really quiet during
this conversation up until now.

“When do you plan on going there, Allex? I’d
like to come along as extra security. In fact, I’d like to bring a
few of my most trusted soldiers. Only a few, mind you; you don’t
know what may be waiting for you.”

“I think Jim has a valid point, Allex. I know
I would feel better with him along,” Mark stated. “Especially if
you plan on trading me.”

“I would never trade
you
, Mark,” I
took his hand in mind. “Only some of your services.” I grinned.

“So when is this expedition planned for?” Tom
asked.

Just then, Emilee stood and declared she was
still hungry and wanted dessert. She went over to the counter where
under a towel, she had hidden her treat.

“It’s a focaccia,” she announced. “It’s got
brown sugar and cinnamon on the top and rhubarb and raspberry jam
in the middle.”

Eric did the honors of slicing it like a
pizza, giving everyone a crusty piece.

September 9

“Mom, where’s Dr. Mark? Jacob is really
sick!” Eric said, bursting in the side door.

“On the deck, I’ll get him.” I turned to find
Mark already coming in the back door.

“What’s wrong with Jacob?” Mark asked,
grabbing his doctor bag/purse and followed Eric and me out the
door.

“He says his tummy hurts real bad, like he
has to poop,” Eric replied as we hurried across the brown grass. “I
remember when I had appendicitis I thought I had bad gas.”

Mark gave me a sideways glance. I knew that
look to mean something serious.

Jacob was curled up on his side on the couch
in the living room, crying. It broke my heart to hear him in such
pain.

“Hey there big guy,” Mark sat down next to
him. “Where does it hurt?”

“I’m
not
a big guy, I’m a little guy,”
Jacob whimpered. “It hurts here.” He pointed at his belly button
region.

“Okay, let me see, Jacob,” Mark’s voice was
gentle and kind. Jacob moved his hands, and Mark examined his skin
on the lower right side, feeling around. “That was good. We’re
going to go over to Nahna’s house and I’m going to make you feel
better. Is that okay with you?” Jacob nodded through dark, wet
lashes.

“Jason, wrap him up in a blanket and bring
him over – quickly. Carry him, don’t use the wagon. I don’t think
he could stand the jostling.” Mark turned to me and said, “I’m
almost certain it’s his appendix; his belly is swollen and
distended. I hope it hasn’t ruptured yet! We need to do surgery
immediately.”

We?

~~~

I quickly set up the massage table that had
been used more for medical purposes than massages lately. I
spritzed the vinyl down with bleach and wiped it with one of the
sterile washcloths I’ve started to keep handy. I even laid out a
few of the red cloths, though I doubted we would need them.

While Mark set up the table with his surgical
tools, I brought the two standing lamps that we had used for Eric’s
surgery, and made sure they had the brightest bulbs possible. The
table was ready with sheets and blankets when Jason arrived
carrying a very sick Jacob and laid him down on the fresh
linens.

“Okay, my little guy, I have to give you a
shot. I know you don’t like shots, I don’t like them either, but it
will make the pain go away,” Mark said softly. “I want you to watch
your daddy and not me. That’s good.” Mark injected the anesthesia,
and soon, Jacob was asleep.

I helped Mark glove and gown and then did my
own. I tied his mask, then my own, then one on Jason.

“Jason, you can stay, though you might not
want to watch this,” Mark warned my son. He began to work by
swabbing Jacob’s belly with the povidone-iodine solution.

The delicate work took less than a half hour,
and was completed before the organ ruptured. Mark had worked very
quickly.

When Mark finished the stitches and pulled
his mask down, Jason let out a sob of relief.

“Will he need blood?” I asked.

“No, there really was very little loss. I’d
like to keep him here and sedated until the morning. Jason, he’s a
lucky little boy. Good thing you caught this so quickly. You’re
staying, right?”

“Of course I am, but I need to let Amanda
know he’s going to be alright.” Jason swallowed hard. “Thank you,
Doctor, thank you!” He turned away before we could see his tears of
relief.

While my grandson slept peacefully on the
surgical table, I made up the futon for him, and put a mattress on
the floor for Jason.

I wrapped my arms around my husband’s neck.
“Thank you for saving him. He would have died if you hadn’t been
here.” Mark tightened his grip on me and sighed heavily.

“I won’t say this in front of Jason, but it
was touch and go there for a few minutes. It almost ruptured, and
then we might have lost him. In a surgical suite, it would have
been different, with all the equipment to wash out the poisons that
would have resulted in peritonitis. We don’t have that luxury
anymore.”

With limited supplies, we’ve gotten into the
practice of immediately re-sterilizing everything; we never knew
when it might be needed again. The scalpels were boiled and the
sheets were washed in bleach. I folded up the table and put the
lights away. What would we have done if there wasn’t any power? I
know we have the generator, but what will we do when there is no
more gas?

Weary as we both were, we sat with Jason for
an hour when he returned.

September 10

“Our emergency surgery yesterday has got me
thinking about my medical bag,” Mark commented over a second cup of
coffee. Jason and a sleepy Jacob had left less than an hour
ago.

“What about your bag? I thought you said it
was sufficient.”

“Oh, it is, for most situations. However, if
we couldn’t get someone back here and I had to do an emergency
procedure wherever we were, I wouldn’t have enough. I need a bigger
bag.” He looked thoughtfully into his cup. “Do you have a backpack
or something similar?”

“I think it’s time to bring out the medic
kit.” I went to the front pantry to retrieve the large, stuffed
pack and set it on the table, watching Mark’s quizzical look turn
into a grin.

“You never cease to amaze me, Allex. How did
you come by this? Never mind, it doesn’t matter.” He started
unzipping pockets and opening Velcro pouches.

“I know you’ll want to make changes, add some
things, and remove some. Let me know what I can do.” It was like
watching a kid opening presents.

He opened everything. Some of the items he
put back in after examining, others he spread out on the table. One
of the first things he set off to the side was a package of more
scalpels.

“Why are you leaving out the extra scalpels?”
I asked.

“I’m not going to leave them out, however, I
don’t trust the packaging and want to re-sterilize everything
possible: scalpels, forceps, and clamps, everything metal.” He
looked up. “You don’t mind do you? It’s not that I don’t trust what
you’ve purchased, it’s just… caution.”

“Of course I don’t mind, Mark. Do whatever
you feel needs to be done. Is the bag going to be big enough
now?”

“Oh, yes! This will hold four times what the
purse held,” he said. “I don’t want to do away with the black bag,
Allex, I’ve gotten rather attached to it. However, this will
definitely be more practical in the long run. So I have to ask:
where did you get this?”

“It was one of those items that caught my
attention while I was doing some online shopping a year or so ago.
I had already set up the purse thing, but that duffle really called
to me. It wasn’t cheap, but now I’m glad I got it. And you won’t
have to be embarrassed about hauling around a purse.”

“Hey, that’s not just any purse, that’s a
bad-ass, brass-studded purse!” Mark joked.

I got out one of my larger cooking pots, and
filled it with filtered water, setting it to boil so the new
instruments could be sterilized. Once the pot was filled, I boiled
it for a half hour and then let it cool. I gloved and removed the
items with some tongs I had also set in the boiling water and laid
everything out on a bleached towel. Mark joined me in repackaging
the instruments, and then he found room for them in his new
duffle.

September 12

Colonel Andrews arrived promptly at 10:00 AM
with six young and not so young men and women as part of his
trusted core group. I was a bit nervous at first with having agreed
to this escort, however, all of his group, himself included, were
dressed in civilian clothes to not be so obvious to anyone we came
across.

“Good morning, Jim.”

“Good morning, Ms. Smeth,” he smiled back.
“Where’s the doctor?”

“He’ll be here in a few minutes. He had to
perform an emergency appendectomy on Jacob two days ago, and wanted
to check him over before we all left.”

“The little guy alright?” he sounded
alarmed.

“He is now, but Jason and Amanda will be
staying behind today, along with Joshua and Emilee.”

“Sanders, you and Perkins stay here for
additional guard duty. Go across to that house and introduce
yourselves, then make yourselves invisible.” Colonel Andrews turned
back to me, “Any objections, ma’am?”

“None at all, and thank you,” I said.

“Let me introduce you to the rest of my crew.
They are all handpicked for their expertise and loyalty. Step
forward with name and rank!”

The first one stepped forward. “Specialist
Tony Ramirez.”

“Specialist Carol Midler.”

“Corporal Chuck Wilders.”

“Sargent Jones.”

The Colonel didn’t hide his grin very well as
he addressed the last one. “Come on, Jones, you might as well get
it over with.”

She gave him a very un-military glare and
said “Sargent Rayn Jones.”

“All of it.”

Her eyes straight ahead, she repeated,
“Sargent Rayn Bow Jones, ma’am.”

Even as I smiled at the name, I couldn’t draw
my eyes away from this exotic beauty. She stood about five feet
three, petite and well-muscled, and had silky short cropped hair
that was so dark brown it was almost black. Her skin was the color
of caramelized honey and her eyes were an unusual translucent gray
with the slightest tilt. I could tell Eric was caught by her
stunning looks, too.

“That’s an unusual name, Sgt. Jones. Is there
a story behind it?” I smiled at her, hoping to put her at ease. She
glanced at her superior officer who gave her the slightest nod of
his head.

“Yes, ma’am,” she replied with a sigh. “My
grandparents are Egyptian, Native American, Caucasian, and
Japanese. Black, red, white and yellow: A rainbow. My parents were
hippies. They couldn’t resist.”

“Well, I think your heritage is a remarkable
blend. You’re a beautiful young lady. And apparently my son thinks
so too.” I turned to Eric. “Stop staring at her!” They both
blushed.

“Well, now that we’ve got that over with,
shall we get going?” Colonel Andrews said when Mark joined us.

“Did I miss something?”

“I’ll tell you later,” I whispered to
him.

~~~

The drive up to the gate that marked the
entrance to the resort property was only fifteen minutes, but that
was only half of the journey. From the gate to the compound was
another five miles, though we wouldn’t be going in that direction
once inside, at least not yet.

“The chain has been put back in place, Mom,
but there’s no lock this time,” Eric commented.

“Maybe they’re expecting a return visit,” I
thought out loud as the first Hummer nudged the gate open and we
passed through.

A quarter of a mile in, another road veered
off to the right heading toward Mathers Lake, and a few hundred
yards from there was another gate. The Hummers came to a stop and
we all got out.

The Colonel looked at the chain and locks
carefully, and then swung the gate open.

“It wasn’t locked,” he stated.

A shot rang out, and all the military hit the
ground and rolled behind the trucks. Mark and I dashed behind an
open truck door. Another shot, clearly a warning.

I was starting to get pissed off. “Stop
shooting at us! We haven’t done anything to you!” “Allexa?” came a
voice from behind a cluster of bushes. As he peered out, the sun
glinted off his thick glasses.

“
Lenny?”
I stepped out from the
protection of the heavy truck. Mark grabbed my arm but I shook him
off.