Chapter 20: After-Crisis Planning

"Any sign of them yet?"

Tobias turned at Jody's query. He was waiting for some indication of what was occurring inside the clinic where Monique was conducting the treatments. "Nah, I haven't seen anything for five solid days. I've been restocking their supplies, so I know they're still alive, but I have no clue how they're doing."

"Well, don't worry. Monique's a nurse, so she's better equipped for complications than most. Plus, she's been through this a few times." They both continued watching the building, though it didn't change.

"According to Monique, the new techniques were supposed to speed up the process. The fact they haven't finished yet is troubling."

"Yeah, the thought occurred to me too," Jody admitted.

Tobias turned away from the clinic to face her. "Where are you coming from?"

"I just completed surveying our propane supplies. We have plenty in local residential tanks to dispose of a hell of a lot of bodies. Now we need to decide how we're going to move them. Everyone's anxious to help, but Monique didn't want us to handle the corpses. Though David did it for a long time before he became sick."

"It isn't so much whether you can do it safely; it's having someone who can deal with an accidental exposure. While she's busy inside, she can't take on anyone else. It'll be easy enough moving the dead while everyone recovers."

"Still, everyone is excited. They're ready to tackle any problem we throw at them. They're convinced we can change the world. We've made tremendous progress on the roads. We've put up signs directing whoever enters the city on how to find us. We've surveyed the shops, taking inventory of what's available where. We're checking the various neighborhoods, marking doors with the number of dead inside. We're rehabilitating some smaller townhouses we can use during the winter, and we've already established multiple window gardens. We'll set up larger scale farming next spring once we know how cold it'll get. We selected some older homes in Grant Park which are large enough for everyone if the weather becomes too extreme. They've got plenty of fireplaces. I think Monique will be proud of what we've accomplished."

"She was impressed before she locked herself away. She'll be more so when she rejoins us. We've made substantial progress. Don't forget, once the weather turns, we'll likely get refugees from colder areas of the country. We'll probably get more from points further south too, since David's group won't head in that direction. Hurricanes aren't any fun if there's no one to rescue you afterwards. We don't know what the climate changes will do on that score. Make sure we have enough extra resources for however many people join us."

"I'll say this, though, as excited as everyone is, they're nervous as hell. They keep stopping by for a sighting of Monique. They're all talking about it. They're eager to see how the treatments turn out. They're both prepared for the worst and hopeful for her success."

"Yeah, Albert is investigating printing presses. We've got several computers and printers to print fliers, but they'll only last so long. We need something more permanent, so he's checking out the older historic equipment in various museums. We're hoping to produce a regional newspaper to get news out to everyone in the area. We can offer it to the other communities to build goodwill and encourage more trade and travel."

"That's a long term solution, but there's no reason not to use what tools we currently have, especially since they don't draw much electricity. But if it's as cold as they predict, Atlanta may become the new New York city. We have so few people and resources, it doesn't make much sense wasting them on small groups of people in inhospitable climates."

"Hey, is the door opening?" another observer shouted, after having stopped by to see if anything happened yet.

"Damn, I think it is!" Tobias adjusted his glasses to improve his vision. "I see her helping someone out."

A dark shape ran out, barking excitedly as Roscoe enjoyed being outside again.

"Monique's let Roscoe out a couple times each day. She trained him to return when she whistles, so it isn't a problem. Delivering supplies while avoiding contaminated poop is tricky. I watch my every step. But this is different. She never accompanied him when she let him out earlier."

"From what I understand, they never bring anyone out until they're past the highly contagious stage. That means they've recovered."

"At least those who survived." Tobias picked up his walkie-talkie. "This is Tobias. The chickens are out of the coop. Repeat: the chicks have flown the coop."

Roscoe ran around the people as they emerged from the building, barking his encouragement, egging them on with cries of freedom.

"You sure it's smart to alert everyone before we know the results?" Jody asked. She silently counted each person as they exited.

"It provides them a chance to provide pre-release notices on air. They warn people the news is coming. It gives people time to quit what they're doing and gather so they can hear the notice when it's announced. But either way, good or ill, the people deserve to know. They've been waiting for this news, so it's a big deal whether it's positive or negative."

"I see all four patients," Judy said, since her eyes were sharper than Tobias', even with the aid of his glasses. "However, they're helping one walk. He seems to be having trouble."

"Can you tell which one it is? I can't identify faces this far away."

"It looks like Dennis. Monique included him so he could return to Charlotte, yet still help out here while he recovers."

"Maybe he's the holdout. If he took longer to recover, it would explain why he's having trouble getting around."

"I don't know. I can understand them being unsteady, but while the others are moving slowly, they're walking normally. Dennis is seriously limping."

Tobias adjusted his glasses again. "You're right. I can see it now. Something happened to him."

They watched as the figures moved away from the front door of the clinic. The first two patients shuffled forward, shading their eyes from the intermittent sunlight. Behind them Monique and Candice guided Dennis, who favored his left leg. Every time he took a step, his leg collapsed under him, unable to support his weight. Both Candice and Dennis were type As. Monique selected Candice because she was in excellent physical shape and Dennis because Sandy needed help back in North Carolina. Dennis seemed to be in incredible pain, wincing with each step he took.

"You can tell Monique is a nurse," Jody said with a certain satisfaction in her voice. "She insists on forcing patients to exercise despite their reluctance." She was pleased her friend Candice was doing well enough to assist the others.

Tobias lifted his walkie-talkie once more. "Home base, this is Tobias with an update. One chick is hobbled but all survived. Repeat: all the chicks survived."

"That's tremendous news," John responded. "I'll put out an immediate announcement. Keep us updated. I'll broadcast a running update so we can report everything immediately."

"Sounds good, John. Tobias signing out," he said as he re-pocketed the walkie-talkie.

As the two girls helped Dennis, the first two people climbed into the prepared pit and began scrubbing each other down. The contaminated water filtered through the dirt without impacting the plants on the surface. Now that everyone was out of the building, Roscoe walked beside his temporary master as she and Candice assisted Dennis. Even though the patients looked weary, the time spent inside seemed to have done Roscoe a world of good, as he looked healthy and energetic.

It took Dennis some time to reach the edge of the pit. Monique glanced up, noticing the people gathering by the side of the road. Tobias waved to get her attention, and Monique handed Dennis over to Candice, who had no problems supporting him on her own.

Monique walked forward and called loudly enough to be heard. "How long have you been waiting?" Roscoe trailed her, obeying her command to heel by sitting at her feet. Somehow, she'd done an excellent job training the dog in a very short period of time.

"All week!" Tobias shot back, grinning. "We've taken turns. We always have someone nearby during the day. Other people stop by between tasks on the off chance they may see something."

"I can understand. I appreciate that while keeping your distance, you're each wearing facemasks. We aren't as contagious, but it's a good practice to maintain."

"So how'd the treatment go?" Tobias asked as Jody and the others edged close enough to hear every word. He didn't bother mentioning Dennis.

Monique shrugged. "Not as well as I'd hoped. It wasn't hard on me as everyone was in better shape. They weren't as bad as they've been in the past, but Dennis had an unexpected complication. He suffered from a blood clot in his calf. It wasn't due to the treatment, but because he lay in bed for such a long time. It's possible the procedure affects blood flow. I fed him Aspirin which prevented it from worsening, but there wasn't much else I could do. I think the damage to his leg is permanent."

"Do you think it'll prevent him from returning to Charlotte?"

"I don't think so, although he'll require a strong blood thinner for a while and will take longer recovering. The others recovered by yesterday. With the clots, Dennis didn't do as well and took longer."

"I noticed Candice is in good shape," Jody shouted.

"Yeah, she's a trooper. She improved a full day before everyone else. She helped me treat the others. That makes treating more people much easier. Anyway, I think Dennis will be fine, but he should return with someone else. He'll also need daily exercise to strengthen the leg, and he won't be able to travel as freely. Once he reaches Charlotte, I recommend he remain there and treat anyone in the city. That means Sandy is stuck traveling, but that should work out well enough."

Tobias reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a tennis ball. Roscoe eyed it intently, dancing in place. "What if one of our people takes his place in Charlotte and Dennis remains here?" Tobias teased Roscoe with the ball, not waiting for her response. He knew Roscoe was feeling frustrated and needed to burn off his excess energy. Tobias tossed the ball and Roscoe took off after it.