The Day After Never - Insurrection (Book 5) Page 8

  Lucas frowned. “I’m not leaving Ruby.”

  Joel nodded. “I figured. That’s what I told Elliot.”

  “They’re going to send another team with cultures?”

  “Yes. That’s why I need to stay put.”

  Lucas glanced over at where Tango was standing in a nearby stall, distinctively taller than the other horses. When he looked back at Joel, his glare could have cut glass.

  “We need to guard the vaccine.” Lucas told him about the disagreement in the council meeting.

  “Crap.”

  “With only five hundred doses and at least fifteen hundred people here, you can see why someone might want to make away with some of it.”

  “Yeah. I get it.”

  “I’m beyond exhausted from spending two nights on sentry duty while you and Ruby rested, so you’re going to be in charge of guarding the vaccine. You think you can manage that?”

  “I said I was sorry, Lucas.”

  “I know.”

  “So how did they decide to distribute the vaccine?” Joel asked, anxious to change the subject from his failure.

  “They didn’t. There’s a group that wants to keep it for the town, and another that’s in favor of inoculating the women and children, and still another that believes it’s all God’s wrath.”

  “How would you handle it?”

  “I’d inject the kids and the younger women first, and then do a lottery for the rest. But the sheriff doesn’t share that view, and nobody’s asking me.”

  Joel studied Lucas’s face. “When are you going to tell them?”

  “When I’m ready. Sounds like with no doc here, they’re screwed anyway. You probably know more about making the vaccine than the rest of the town combined, so it’s not like anyone’s chomping at the bit.”

  “And the radiation?”

  “They’re going to dig up a Geiger counter. Until they do, it’s anyone’s guess.”

  “So we could be dying and not even know it,” Joel grumbled.

  “In case you haven’t figured it out, we’re all dying. Just a matter of when it becomes official. I’m not going to worry about it. Pretty sure with the size of that bay, we’re okay for now.”

  “But the water source…”

  “There are other rivers that flow into it.” Lucas yawned. “Now I’m getting some shut-eye. You want to worry about whether or not I’ll wake up with two heads, that’s your business. Just see to it nothing happens to the vaccine or you’ll answer to me. Am I clear?”

  “You don’t have to take the hard line with me, Lucas. I know I screwed up.”

  Lucas didn’t say anything further. He walked to Tango, patted his neck, and then shouldered his saddlebags and carried them out the door, back to the hospital, where he’d use one of the beds to get some much-needed rest. He regretted being so abrasive with Joel, but after two days of no sleep he didn’t have any buffer left, and he knew he was compromised and operating on a short fuse. He could always apologize later. For now, his body was telling him he was out of runway, and he knew himself well enough to heed the warning.

  Chapter 14

  Lucas came to with a start and reflexively reached for his M4 as he blinked away sleep. A door slamming somewhere in the hospital had woken him, he realized, and he sat up on the hard bed to check his watch. He’d been out for almost four hours, and while he was by no means revitalized, he felt better than earlier.

  He slipped on his flak jacket and Kimber, grabbed his M4, and made for the door. Lucas had wedged a plank against the knob to stop anyone from entering. He kicked it free, the air stuffy to him in spite of the open window, and stepped out into the hallway to peer down the long stretch in the gloom. Ruby’s room was near the lobby in what had once been the ER, and he made for it, stepping softly out of habit even though he’d been assured there was no danger to him within the town’s limits.

  Lucas entered the room and sat beside her bed. Her eyes fluttered open, and he tried a smile.

  “How you holding up?” he asked.

  “Not so great,” she said, her voice faint.

  “We’re working on finding some antibiotics,” he said.

  “How long have I been here?”

  “Only a few hours.”

  She swallowed with obvious difficulty. “See if anyone has some calendula.”

  “Calendula?”

  “Marigolds. It’s no substitute for penicillin, but it’s got anti-inflammatory properties and can reduce infection.”

  Lucas raised an eyebrow. “I’ll ask. I didn’t know that.”

  “Remember, herbs are my specialty.” She reached up with her good arm and wiped her brow. “I’m burning up.”

  Lucas guessed it was in the high sixties in the room. “It does seem a little warm,” he replied.

  A knock startled him and he rose, rifle in hand. The door opened and Hubert stuck his head in.

  “I wanted to stop by and see how your friend is doing,” Hubert said.

  “Not great,” Lucas said. “Any progress locating some drugs for her?”

  “Hayden’s made it his top priority.” Hubert looked to Ruby. “I’m Hubert, the mayor. Thank you so much for your sacrifice,” he said as he entered the room.

  Ruby coughed in response, and Lucas guided Hubert back to the door. “Let’s let her rest.”

  “Oh. Of course. I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to intrude.”

  Out in the hall, Lucas faced off with the shorter man. “She doesn’t get antibiotics soon, she’ll die. I’ve seen it too often before.”

  “I know. We’re doing our best.”

  Lucas remembered Ruby’s request. “Does anyone here deal in herbs? Or have an herb garden…or even a flower garden?”

  Since the collapse, trading in herbs had become a popular pastime, the dearth of medicine forcing people to rediscover natural remedies. Almost every town Lucas had visited had an herbalist in its midst – one of the few growth industries, along with trading, to emerge from the chaos.

  “Herbs? Yes. There’s a shop about halfway to the bridge.”

  “How do I get there?”

  “It’s an easy walk.” Hubert gave him directions, and when Lucas had repeated them back to him, he grew serious. “We found the Geiger counter and got it to work. You were right.”

  “How bad?”

  “Not terrible, but it’s something we’re going to have to monitor.”

  “You should plan on moving. Only going to get worse.”

  “It’s a consideration. We’re going to meet again tomorrow to discuss our options. As of now, there are only trace signs of radiation, but a group is going upriver in one of the boats to take measurements further from the bay. The good news, if there is any, is that we can draw water from the Lewis and Clark River – it doesn’t give a positive reading.” He paused. “But assuming you’re right, the Columbia is finished, which will obviously have a long-term impact on everyone.”

  “Not a good situation. You have to warn Portland. They’re directly in the path.”

  Hubert held up a hand. “I know. But we want to have our logistics sorted out before we do. We can’t afford ten thousand frightened refugees, much less the bikers that run the place, descending on Astoria. They’d overrun us in minutes.”

  Lucas didn’t respond, but he acknowledged that the mayor had a point. The post-collapse world was unforgiving, and if you didn’t take steps to safeguard yourself, you wouldn’t last. He understood, but he also had empathy for all the innocents who were being irradiated without their knowledge.

  “Any decent candidate spots for your new home?” Lucas asked.

  “There’s an abandoned town about a hundred miles down the coast – Newport. It could sustain us. But we’ll need to send a reconnaissance team down to scope it out. Our expert says the toxicity level here isn’t critical yet, but it’s probably only a matter of time.”

  “Probably?”

  “Depends on what’s gone wrong at the reactor.”

  “My hun
ch is whatever it is won’t fix itself, and it’s likely to get worse, not better.”

  “Of course. We’re all aware of the risk.”

  “Any decision on the vaccine?”

  Hubert shook his head. “That’s still a matter of discussion. As you saw, there are varying opinions on how to proceed.”

  “You could argue that the tent city needs it more than the town, which has an effective quarantine with the guarded entry points.”

  “That’s certainly one perspective.”

  “Maybe we should let Elliot decide, since he’s the one who developed it and sent it here?”

  Hubert looked like he was about to choke. “That would hardly be advisable. We agreed to act as the development and distribution point with the understanding the town was inoculated.”

  “Right. But now with the doc gone…”

  “Your man is capable of creating more, isn’t he?”

  “He’s a tech, not a physician or scientist. And yes, theoretically he could. But there are no guarantees.” Lucas wasn’t ready to break the bad news to the mayor yet – he’d do so at the time and place of his choosing. “Mr. Mayor, I need to see about some herbs to slow Ruby’s infection. You have someplace we can throw our stuff while we’re in town?”

  “We’ve arranged one of the houses near the stable for you to use during your stay. When you get back, I’ll have someone show you the way.”

  “Perfect.” Lucas hesitated. “What’s Hayden’s background? He doesn’t strike me as a cop.”

  Hubert’s eyes narrowed. “He was in the national guard. A sergeant.”

  “So no investigative training.”

  “We’re all doing the best we can with what we have.”

  “Understood. It just seems like maybe your man is overwhelmed with everything on his plate. The murder, the drugs, the IED. I’m not criticizing. Just stating the obvious.”

  “You’d approach this differently?”

  Lucas sighed. “I’d want to talk to everyone who knew the doctor – see if anyone had a reason to kill him. I’d speak with whoever was around him when he died. I’d be looking hard at the drugs as the motive and put out feelers to find out who took them. Had to be someone in town.”

  “That narrows it to four hundred and eighty-six suspects.”

  “Got to start somewhere.”

  “I’ll pass along your thoughts when I see him. Appreciate it, Lucas.”

  “No problem. Figured I’d try to help however I could since we’re here for a while. Can’t leave until Ruby gets better.”

  “Taken in the spirit it’s offered. I know the drugs are important to you. I’ll light a fire under him. And his deputy, Alex.”

  “Didn’t meet him, did I?”

  “No. He wasn’t at the meeting. But I’m sure you will. It’s a small town.” The mayor handed Lucas a red ribbon. “Tie this around your right arm. It’ll let the patrols and the guards know you’re authorized to be here. They’re jumpy around strangers, what with all the squatters. Don’t want any accidents.”

  “Will do.”

  “I’ll go find Joel and introduce myself. He’ll need one too.”

  Lucas took his leave of the mayor at the hospital entrance and set off down the road that paralleled the bay shore, the bridge a seemingly endless strip that disappeared into a fog bank on the Washington side, the streets deserted other than an occasional rifleman patrolling to ensure that no tent people had breached the walls.

  Chapter 15

  The mayor found Joel in the stable, introduced himself, and presented him with his red ribbon. Joel accepted it and lashed it around his arm, responding to the mayor’s friendly questions with monosyllabic answers. Hubert attributed the tech’s antisocial demeanor to fatigue and left the man to his thoughts after a few minutes of one-sided banter.

  Back at the museum, Hubert located the two-way handheld radio he used to communicate with Hayden and powered it on. Static erupted from the speaker, and he tweaked the volume until it was manageable and then depressed the transmit button.

  “Sheriff? Hubert. Stop by my office when you have a minute, would you?” he said, and then listened for a response. Five seconds later Hayden’s voice boomed over the speaker.

  “10-4. Give me fifteen.”

  “Roger that.”

  Hubert nodded as though the sheriff could see him and switched the radio off. He took a final look around the room and then went in search of Grant, who would be working in his office, trying to calculate the logistical hurdles the town was going to face due to the burgeoning tent city and the load it was placing on their limited resources. Even though the squatters weren’t allowed into Astoria, Hubert felt that he needed to consider them when planning a move – in his view, they were fellow countrymen who’d been unfortunate in where they’d been living when the collapse occurred, not pariahs, as some in town felt. Hubert didn’t buy into the religious doomsday prophecies spouted by Caleb at virtually every meeting and felt that eventually the town would need to open its borders and integrate the new arrivals, who were growing stronger for their presence rather than weaker, as the survivalists and the religious believed.

  That philosophical difference was only one of many that had surfaced over time, and some days it was all Hubert could do to keep the various factions from each other’s throats. It was probably his biggest challenge as mayor – acting as a unifying force rather than allowing division to weaken the survivors for whom he was responsible. But the job wasn’t easy, especially now that someone had murdered the doctor while he was in the tent city and used an IED to slaughter some of the town’s most capable fighters. After those bombshells, the anti-squatter sentiment had ratcheted to an all-time high.

  Grant raised his head when Hubert filled the doorway. “Just finishing a few things here.”

  “I want to meet in my office. I’ve asked Hayden to join us.”

  Grant’s brow furrowed. “Yeah? What’s up?”

  “I’ve been thinking about the newcomer. Lucas. Seems to me we’ve been handed a real opportunity.” Hubert motioned to him. “Take a few minutes and let’s hash things out.”

  “I’m not sure I understand.”

  “You will.”

  Hayden arrived as Grant and Hubert were taking seats in Hubert’s office, and faced the pair warily. “So what’s going on?” he asked.

  “What’s your impression of this Lucas fellow?” Hubert asked.

  “Impression?” Hayden answered. “He seems…capable. Why?”

  “As a former Texas Ranger, he has a wealth of experience in law enforcement. Not to knock your contribution, Hayden, but that kind of specialized investigatory skill could come in handy in getting to the bottom of the doc’s murder, as well as the rest of the stuff that’s been thrown at us.”

  Hayden stiffened, his expression that of being gut-punched. “You’re not satisfied with the job I’m doing?”

  Hubert shook his head. “I’m not saying that.”

  “Then what are you saying?” Hayden fired back.

  “That we have a situation here where it doesn’t appear you’re making any progress, and we have an expert in the field at our disposal who we aren’t using. That would be like someone with a broken car insisting on trying to fix it himself rather than using the trained mechanic next door. Strikes me as self-defeating, doesn’t it?”

  “You trust this outsider you just met more than me? Maybe I should just hand in my badge and you can do the job instead.”

  “Hayden, you’re a valuable member of the team, and I have no problem with the job you’re doing keeping the peace. But you have no more training in detective work than I do, so give the pearl clutching a rest, okay? This isn’t about you. This is about catching a killer and getting to the bottom of why our men were butchered.”

  “So you say.”

  Grant cleared his throat. “The mayor has a point. If Lucas really has relevant experience and would be willing to help, we’d be stupid not to use him.”

&
nbsp; Hayden glared at him. “Who asked you?”

  Hubert sat forward. “I invited Grant to join us. I value his insights, just as I value your opinion.” He paused. “Why don’t you tell me why it’s a bad idea to invite Lucas to help us out?”

  “Because it calls into question my competence, for starters.”

  “Like if I had a heart problem, going to a cardiologist would call into question the competence of my regular doctor? Please. That’s not a valid objection and we both know it. Seems to me you’re letting your ego do the talking, Sheriff.”

  “That’s not it at all. Bringing in an outsider undermines my authority, plain and simple.”

  Hubert kept his voice even. “I can see why you’d feel that way, but it in no way undermines anything. You’re the town sheriff. You’re not a homicide investigator. Nobody thinks you are, and nobody expects you to be. The council asked you to do a tough job and look into the murders, knowing that it wasn’t your field of specialty. You agreed to because there was nobody better. Now someone with real qualifications has fallen into our lap. We need to take advantage of that.”

  Hayden’s frown deepened. “Sounds like you’ve made up your mind.”

  “It’s for the best.”

  “Then why even ask me?”

  “I wanted to see if I’ve missed anything, and I wanted you to understand my reasoning so you’ll cooperate with Lucas. We don’t have time for territorial spats.”

  “Why do you even trust him?” Hayden asked. “You know nothing about him. Nothing.”

  “I know he crossed half the country and survived when half his team didn’t, and that he must be the best Shangri-La has if they trusted him to get the vaccine to us. And I know he couldn’t have been involved in any of the shenanigans and won’t play favorites because he wasn’t even here yet when they took place. What else do I need to know?”

  Hayden rose. “Is that all?” He glowered at the two men and shook his head. “For the record, I don’t like this, but I’ll play along so I don’t rock the boat. We have enough problems right now without me creating more.”

  “I appreciate that, Hayden. I’m going to ask that you accompany us when we have a chat with him. Probably tomorrow morning.”