Saturday Survival Serial – Volume 3, Week 4

This is week 4 in volume 3 of the Saturday Survival Serial. To learn more about what the Saturday Survival Serial is, click here. To start at week 1, click here.

Denise was tallying up the amount of glass jars they had to use for the harvest when she heard her name being frantically called from outside. Getting up, she could see Daniel running toward the building with a couple books in hand. Grabbing her jacket, she went outside to meet him. He ran up with a panicked expression.

“What’s going on Daniel?” The look in his eyes was a cross between panic and despair.

“I’ve lost another three! I don’t know what’s wrong with them. There is no wound but their faces are swollen up. It was on the first one, too. I can’t find anything in the books about it!”

Denise rocked back on her heels at the news of another three chickens dying. It was a huge blow to their protein supply. Four birds dead equaled 3 eggs not being laid every day.  Plus the meat. This was a serious threat to their livelihood.

She nodded and invited him inside. “We will get to the bottom of it, Daniel. Just calm down. First, we need to make a list of their symptoms and behavior, then we can look in the books together. If needed, we can always ask on the radio. Let’s get to work.

Over the next hour, Denise asked questions and Daniel quickly answered each one. The chickens were sneezing and their eyes and wattles were swollen. The ones with swollen faces weren’t eating or coming out of the coop.

“It sounds like they have a cold or something,” said Denise. Daniel’s eyes got wide and he smacked his forehead.

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of it! It’s infectious coryza! I have to go and quarantine the sick ones, right now.”

Before Denise could reply, he was up and out the door. She got up and chased after him saying, “Is it contagious?!”

He didn’t slow down as he yelled over his shoulder, “Yes, it could take out the whole flock!”

A feeling of dread landed like a lead weight in her stomach. She saw as people watched Daniel run and then look at her in shock when they heard what he said. She sighed, went back inside and got her jacket before following behind him.

When she came back out, people were standing around, talking to each other and looked to her with questions in their eyes. Well, the cat’s out of the bag now. She sighed again and started calling for people to help get the chickens separated out because some of them were sick.

“Have any died?” someone asked.

“Yes, four have died so far. I need three people to go down to the coop and help Daniel. Don’t ask questions, just help for now. All will be explained when we get through this. Right now, we need to get the healthy birds away from the sick ones and I need to research some kind of home remedy for them and hope we have the ingredients.”

Several people volunteered to help and she sent them off. She asked two others to follow her. One would research what infectious coryza was and the other would help her look for a treatment. With food stocks as low as they were, every egg and bird was incredibly precious.

*************

Jimmy kept his eyes moving back and forth in the general direction of where they had tied fish up in a tree. The sound of a large animal breathing heavily after a roar of frustration seemed to be just a few feet in front of him. Thought it was dark, he could make out faint outlines of bushes and tree limbs. He waited for everyone else in the patrol to get out of their sleeping bags and ready to deal with the threat. Given the time of year and type of noises being made, Jimmy guessed it was a bear coming out of hibernation.

“Alright,” Jimmy whispered. “Ryan and Terry go around to the right, the rest head left but don’t get too far in front of me. I am going to holler out and if needed, fire off a round, to scare him off. I don’t want to accidentally hit someone in the dark.”

In the dim light from the embers of the fire, he saw them nod and move away some. Jimmy gave it a few moments before yelling out, “HEY BEAR! Get outta here!” The noise stopped immediately. He moved forward and hoped the bear hadn’t managed to knock the dive bags with fish in them out of the tree. There was no way they could catch enough before they had to get back to camp. Today was the last day they were expected back and if they didn’t show up, a search party would be sent out. Worse than that, he would have a hysterical wife on his hands.

Stepping methodically and as quietly as possible, Jimmy’s sight adjusted and he was now able to make out the bear’s outline. The bear was less than impressed. In fact, he seemed to be watching Jimmy’s approach with a bored interest. He called out again and put his arms up to make himself look bigger. The bear sat back on its haunches and looked up at the dive bags of fish still hanging in the tree.

He saw the others watching and keeping pace from the sides. Getting no reaction, Jimmy decided it was time to fire off a round in the hopes they would chase it off. They were not geared for taking on a bear. Jimmy hollered out, “Get on out of here bear!” again and the sound of a hammer being pulled back could be heard followed immediately by the gun firing. The sound echoed in the forest and caused the bear to jerk, startled.

The beast roared his displeasure at the sudden sound and stood up on its hind legs. Just as Jimmy was about to let off another round, Ryan stepped forward, arms flailing and yelling. The bear turned his attention to the young man, dropping to all fours. It roared as it gained speed and quickly closed the distance. A clawed paw larger than a man’s open hand swiped out and clipped Ryan on the shoulder, knocking him down.

Jimmy hollered, “Everyone back! Terry, drag Ryan out of there!” Jimmy’s yelling got the bear’s attention who turned toward him and stood up again, challenging the men who dared interrupt his fish meal.

Jimmy glanced toward Terry and saw him moving away with Ryan before letting off three more rounds into the animal’s chest, dropping it. His ears rang a little, blocking out other sound as he watched to make sure the bear was dead. After a moment, his hearing returned bringing with it the cries of pain.  

“Jimmy! We need you over here. He’s sliced up pretty bad!”

He moved quickly over to where Terry was pressing against Ryan’s shoulder to stem the flow of blood. Even in the darkness, Ryan’s skin was pale against the dark colors of his jacket that had been cleanly sliced through the fabric. It was roughly an eight inch gash from the top of his shoulder down his left arm. The metallic smell of blood from both Ryan and the bear permeated the air, snapping Jimmy back to reality.

“We need to get moving. The sound of the gun may bring in unwelcome guests and the smell of blood may bring in another kind of unwelcome guests. Terry, I need you to gut, skin, and quarter that bear. The extra weight will suck but I am not wasting good meat. You others, break camp up and then help Terry. I will take care of Tanner.”

Everyone moved into motion when Jimmy kneeled down to take over for Terry. Ryan was wide eyed and breathing heavily, trying to appear strong but Jimmy knew he was scared. Hell, so am I. He moved the bandana Terry had used to assess the wound. Pulling a flashlight out of his pocket, he clicked it on and focused in. The cut was deep and bleeding slow, but steadily. He breathed a sigh of relief, worried that it had been deep enough to hit the artery. Still, it was pretty bad.

“OK Ryan, I am going to have to flush this out with a little saline before getting the blood to stop and closing it up. That’s the easy part. The hard part will be the alcohol I will need to use to make sure the bacteria from the claws is killed. It’s also going to need stitches, no doubt about it. One step at a time though. If I can get the bleeding to stop, we may be able to hold off on the actual stitches until we get back.”

As Jimmy babbled on, he had Ryan hold the bandana over the wound with as much pressure as he could stand and then quickly pulled items out of his pack. The others built the fire up again and rolled up sleeping bags. Terry slit the throat of the bear so it would bleed out some before dragging it over to the fire for both protection and to see better.

Jimmy pulled several things out of the medical kit that was carried by every patrol member in their packs. No less than three people went out on patrol at a time and the supplies were spread out amongst three packs. He had never been more grateful for the money he spent on getting the good stuff than he was right now. Jimmy called out to get the other kits brought to him while he used utility scissors to cut away the fabric around the wound.

He watched Ryan for a moment and said, “Hey. I need you to focus on breathing slowly in and out. Keep it steady for me. That is the only thing you have to worry about right now. Everyone else has things covered. You hear me? If it hurts, you yell, cry, whatever you have to do. There is no shame in being human. Understand?”

Ryan looked up from his arm and nodded. “I hear you. I understand. Do what you need to.”

Jimmy applauded the young man’s bravado but knew the next days were going to be rough, let alone the next few minutes. He opened a wound irrigation kit and pulled the bandana back just as one of the others came over to help hold the flashlight. Jimmy glanced behind him and saw Terry and two others working on the bear. Camp had been completely broken down, with packs set together in the light of the fire.

He looked at Ryan, who was concentrating on breathing and raised the saline filled syringe. “This will be cold.” Ryan nodded. He pressed the plunger and worked the stream of fluid back and forth, giving him a better idea of how bad it really was. He could see bits of dirt and leaf deep and said, “This may be uncomfortable but it’s necessary.”

Without waiting, he pressed the plunger harder to increase the flow and get the wound clean. Ryan tensed up and sucked in a breath, holding it. Jimmy didn’t take his eyes off what he was doing as he said, “No holding your breath. Breathe slow and steady.” Putting the syringe down, he opened a couple packs of gauze and reached for the small bottle of precious rubbing alcohol. Breaking the seal, he met Ryan’s eyes.

“You may pass out from this but that can be a blessing in disguise. I won’t sugar coat it, it’s going to hurt like hell. You’re young and may think you need to take it ‘like a man.’ That’s a load of crap. I’ve seen plenty of wounded soldiers in my day. You think the ones that cried out, passed out, or showed they were in pain were any less of a man for it? Not one damn bit and do you know why?”

Ryan shook his head, breathing steadily as he was instructed. He was listening closely.

“Because they made it through to the other side. They dealt with it and made it through. That is a big part of being a man. You wade through the shit and keep going. So, let’s get through this and get home, alright?” Ryan nodded again and Jimmy poured some alcohol on the gauze.

The sound of pain echoed through the trees, across the lake, and came back at them before the first scream was done. Jimmy had to practically sit on Ryan to keep him in place. On the third scream, Ryan passed out. The silence rushed in as Jimmy grabbed the flashlight and checked Ryan’s pupils. He placed his fingers on Ryan’s neck, checking for a pulse, making sure he was still breathing.

“He’s good. Get the smelling salts and the butterfly bandages ready while I finish cleaning it up.”

Working quickly, Jimmy placed the bandages and wrapped the arm and shoulder tightly in gauze. He cracked open the tube of salts and waved it under Ryan’s nose, who jerked away from the scent. Jimmy snapped his fingers next to Ryan’s ear.

“Come on, Ryan. Come back to us. Focus on the sound of my voice.”

Ryan shook his head groggily and turned to Jimmy, trying to do as he was told. He tried to talk and only mumbled something, then hissed in pain as he had moved his arm.

“Ryan, don’t move right now. I want you to be awake and looking me in the eyes before we do anything else.” Jimmy looked over his shoulder at Terry and the others. “How’s it going over there?”

“Good,” replied Terry. “Just about done. It’s going to be slow going with the extra weight but we’ll manage.”

Jimmy nodded. He started cleaning up the mess, taking the blood soaked gauze and remnants of Ryan’s jacket and shirt sleeves to the fire. He looked up at the sky, estimating another hour or so before there would be enough light to safely travel. He wasn’t worried about anything coming close anymore. Ryan’s screams were those of pure suffering and anything living who heard it would want to get as far away as they could. He was going to be weak and with the extra weight, Terry was right about the travel being slow.

Jimmy asked for some water to be heated for breakfast. They were going to need the energy.

*************

Roger looked at Sticks and licked his lips nervously. Beads of sweat appeared on his brow. He took a deep breath to steady himself and looked Captain straight in the eye.

“Sir, I swear to you that we are part of Liberty’s Teeth. In every message broadcast, there is the name of a founding father mentioned. We are not spies. I didn’t know the U.N. had sent any spies out. You make a good point though, the information will affect everyone, everywhere. Is there someplace we can speak that’s more private?”
Captain glanced around and saw that every eye in the Main Hall was locked onto them. When he turned, a few people looked away guiltily. Others openly watched. He pursed his lips, knowing that the news would spread across the camp and in less than thirty minutes, everyone would know something was up. He knew the gossip would fly and everyone would be in a tizzy until they were told the real deal. Might as well have it all out there from the start, he thought to himself.

He turned and shook his head. “No, that’s not how it works around here. I would rather everyone know at once instead of letting people’s imaginations run wild. Let’s have it, then.”

Roger nodded and moved to sit down. Everyone else at the table joined him and the people in the room moved closer to better listen. He licked his lips nervously, looking around at all the faces watching him. “The United Nations is changing tactics. They are clearing areas, mostly small towns that are miles away from any large city, that will be ‘settled’ by survivors. Like I said, I don’t know anything about U.N. spies, but I do know there are spied on our side that are in some of the deployment camps. That is how we got the information. There are lines of communication set up all over the southern states and are spreading north as we speak. That’s how we knew that RR and Tyler were in the area, Sir.”

He uncapped his water bottle and took a drink, still very aware of being surrounded by strangers who could kill both him and Sticks and no one would ever really know what happened to them. Sweat now tickled his forehead and he resisted the urge to wipe it away. He took another drink before continuing, choosing his words carefully.

“Our intel said the people who live there will be more free and able to live in houses instead of barracks. Live more normally, without the walls of the camps, I guess. The people who live there will have to grow food and raise livestock provided to them from the U.N. in exchange for helping supply new settlements.”

Someone snorted at that comment. “Sounds like forced labor and a jail without walls to me. More like supplying the troops. Can people come and go as they please?”

Roger relaxed a little. He was really worried that these people would take the news as something good instead of what he felt was just another phase in the United Nations’ plan for control. He shook his head.

“We’ve been told that survivors will be welcome to join the settlements without worry of harm coming to them. There has been nothing said about being able to leave. There will be a person from the U.N. appointed as a mayor and checkpoints into and out of them, so I imagine there will be some kind of identification? I’m not really sure.”

Captain took everything in and mulled it over. He didn’t believe that the U.N. had some change of heart all of a sudden. He grudgingly admitted that it was a brilliant move to get more people into the fold, so to speak. The winter had been a brutal one, weather wise at the least. His people had been able to get by without starving but there were thousands of people across the Northern Hemisphere that weren’t as prepared. Not by a long shot. Those camps would be like a beacon of hope. The problem was the beacon was really an electric bug light and the survivors the moths drawn to it.

He looked at the others gathered around and noticed more had come in. “What else? Will there be electricity, running water, medicine?” People began muttering to one another at that one.

Roger shrugged, nervous again about how these people would really take the news. He had to get word to RR and Tyler. There was more to be told but for their ears, only. And we really need something to identify us to one another!

“I don’t know about all of that but I would imagine it’s easy enough for them to get a supply of solar systems and distribute them to the settlements. That would provide a lot right there.” He steeled himself to just ask the question. Not knowing was killing him. Just as he was taking in a breath to ask, Sticks spoke up, surprising everyone. He hadn’t said a word this whole time.

“What, are you thinking you want to go to one? The closest will be in Plymouth, Indiana, in case you were wondering. You could always wait here, too. They are already working their way north and will run into you eventually.”

Gasps were heard around the room and all eyes locked onto Captain to see his reaction. The question was so blunt that it caught him off guard and he failed to cover his emotions. They ranged from shock to a smirk, then to anger and back to amusement. He liked the new guys and his gut told him they were who they claimed to be. He stretched and stood up, balancing himself on his cane before making a sweeping motion with his arm to include everyone there.

“What do you say? Do you want to head out and live in one of the settlements? Leave your cabins behind and live in real houses again?”

The resounding “NO!” from those gathered made Roger and Sticks jump in their seats.

Captain smiled. “You have your answer.”

*************

Jimmy helped Ryan sit down. There was no way they were going to make it today at the pace they’d been traveling at. It was already mid afternoon and they were only about halfway. Between needing rest from the weight being carried and Ryan needing to stop, it was slower than Jimmy expected.

“I’m so sorry Mr. Jimmy. I’m really trying but so tired.” Ryan slumped back against a rock.

The boy has heart, that’s for sure. Though they had been going slower than he’d hoped, Ryan had shown an incredible resilience that had little to do with his age and more his willpower.

“Don’t worry about that. I need to check your bandage anyway so it’s good timing. Just lay back and rest a moment.”

Ryan nodded and closed his eyes after getting his arm out of the hoodie he had brought in his pack. He focused on his breathing again while Jimmy unwrapped the gauze from his shoulder and upper arm. Suddenly, he felt a sharp jabbing sensation in his arm and then very light headed. He heard Jimmy say, “Shit! Get me the med packs and water boiling. Might as well make camp here.

He sounded so far away though, and Ryan couldn’t understand why. Then, darkness.