Chapter 10: I Am The Fire
December 7th, 2013 - 1220 (12:20 pm)
It didn't take long for Rachel to realize how wildly unprepared she was for this mission.
There were so many people.
She had easily inoculated fifty people with the first hour they were on land. Men, women, children - all of them sick and desperate.
She had nearly cried when she had found a woman and her baby curled up in a pile of trash. The young mother had clearly given up, and was weeping over her child's body. The baby was warm, alive (and hopefully not too far gone), and sleeping restlessly when Rachel had found them. Both mother and baby were covered in sores, clearly very sick.
Rachel found herself angry all over again when she realized that the mother had been headed toward Olympia, toward their death, trying desperately to save her baby.
"You're going to be OK," she promised, speaking quietly as she quickly swabbed an antibacterial wipe on the baby's arm. She had never given the cure to someone this young, but she knew for a fact that the baby would die if she did nothing, so she sent up a quick prayer and depressed the trigger. The baby woke up screaming as the needle pierced his skin, and Rachel smiled, her eyes wet with tears as she hushed the baby.
"It's all right now, love," she whispered, running her hand over the baby's wispy hair. "All right, mama, your turn now," she said, and the young woman sobbed as she held out her arm. Rachel quickly gave her the cure, and then hugged both mother and baby before standing to her feet.
"Thank you," the woman sobbed, grasping her hand tightly before letting go. "Thank you."
Rachel nodded, and then steeled herself to start all over again when she saw a small family watching her and Tex from inside a car on the other side of the alley. The car was all smashed up in the front, as if they had been in an accident, and the young girl and boy in the backseat were watching her with wide eyes. Rachel could see the tell-tale sores on their faces, the blood that dripped from the little boy's nose.
She smiled as she began walking toward them, motioning for Tex to stay back a little.
"Hello, little loves," she whispered, opening the back door and kneeling down on the ground to stare at them. "My name is Rachel. I have the cure, and I'm going to make you feel all better," she said, and the little boy sniffled, scooting toward her.
"Rachel!" Tex yelled, and she could hear him coming toward her quickly. She glanced up, and then gestured for him to stop. The man coming toward them was also clearly sick, and was probably in charge of the two children she was getting ready to treat. He wasn't a threat.
"Tex, no!" she yelled, and she held up both hands as the older man approached them. "Don't," she warned Tex, and then turned to the man. "I swear I mean no harm," she said, still holding both palms open to show that she wasn't going to hurt anyone.
"She says she has the cure, Grandpa," the little girl said, hugging her brother tightly.
The older man looked skeptical.
"How do we know you're telling the truth?" he asked, gathering both of the children to him as he reached the car. The little boy wrapped both arms around his grandfather's leg, and the little girl stood beside him. Rachel stayed where she was, kneeling on the ground, to appear less threatening.
"I am not from Olympia," she said, and then brushed her hair to the side to show her bulletproof vest, which was labeled with the insignia of the Navy. "I come from the USS Nathan James," she said quickly. "I am a scientist, and I've been working aboard the ship for months to create the cure. This is Tex. He seems scary, but he's just here for my protection. We've all been vaccinated, which is why we're not wearing masks even thought we're around people who are clearly sick."
She had barley finished her sentence before the little boy's eyes were widening. He gasped, and then, in a voice louder than Rachel thought possible from a boy who was so sick, yelled,
"That's my DADDY'S SHIP!" he shouted, now bouncing up and down.
Rachel felt her heart racing, her hand shaking as she reached out toward the boy. He was little, no more than five or six, and had dark hair and bright blue eyes.
Familiar bright blue eyes.
In fact, now that she thought about it, both of these children looked familiar.
"Who is your father, love?" she whispered, taking the boy's hand. He was grinning now, his two front teeth missing.
"My daddy is Captain Thomas Chandler!" he said proudly, reaching up a hand to salute her.
"Oh my god," she whispered, and without thinking, she reached out and enveloped the little boy in a hug. "Sam," she said, and she could hear the sharp intake of breath from the man standing in front of her.
"You know my son?" the man, the little boy's grandfather, asked.
Rachel looked up, her eyes swimming with tears. "Yes," she said. "I know Tom. He's here, he's on land."
"Where is my daddy?" the little girl asked, inching forward. Rachel reached out to her, brushing the hair out of her face. She held out an arm, and the little girl raced to her, into her arms, and she held both of Tom's children tightly, her heart singing.
"He's here, Ashley," she said. "He's with a team trying to stop what the people at Olympia are doing. They're not saving people," she added for the older man's benefit. "But I can save you. You guys are sick. How long have you been sick?"
She quickly released the children, going for her case, only to find that Tex had beat her to it. He was grinning as he loaded a new dose into the vaccine injector. She smiled at him in thanks, taking it from his hand.
"I got sick first," Tom's father said. "Hunting. My hunting partner had been exposed, didn't know it. As soon as I started showing symptoms I grabbed the kids and headed this way. I knew it was our only chance. That was about four days ago."
Rachel felt her heart begin to race. Four days from the first symptoms. Oh, God, she hoped they weren't too sick to save at this point.
"Hold out your arm," she requested, moving forward to wipe his arm with the antibacterial wipe that Tex had just handed her.
"Name's Jed, by the way," the man said, holding his arm out to her. She quickly pressed the trigger and gave him the cure, wiping over the injection spot when she was done. "You clearly already know the kid's names."
Rachel smiled as she leaned down to find both kids with their arms already out. She quickly disinfected the area where she would inject the vaccine, and looked up at Jed. "Yes, their father talks about them all the time. He has their pictures in his cabin." She quickly vaccinated first Ashley, and then Sam. "Though Sam had a lot more teeth in those photos," she laughed, and Sam grinned proudly, showing off the obvious gaps in his teeth.
"Can we come with you to see our daddy?" Ashley asked, and she was grinning, though there were tears in her eyes.
Rachel nodded. "Of course, love. Not just yet, though. He's doing some very important work right now to save people," she said. "After he's secured the base, I have to go join him. You can come with me then."
Ashley nodded, clearly accepting her answer with patience and maturity that looked somehow wrong on an eight-year-old.
Sam, the little ball of energy, continued bouncing up and down. "I can't wait to see Daddy! I wanna tell him all about how I lost my tooth. I drew him a picture, too, to give to him when he came home. Mommy helped me!"
At the mention of their mother, both of the children seemed to suddenly deflate.
Rachel reached out again, offering comfort, and both children took her up on it. Sam crawled into her lap, laying his sweaty head on her shoulder and sticking two fingers into his mouth, while Ashley allowed her to hug her to her side.
Rachel looked up at Jed, smiling, happy tears tracking down her cheeks.
"I can't believe we found you," she said in wonder, standing up. She easily brought Sam with her, settling him on her hip to let him continue resting his head on her shoulder.
"You saved our lives," Jed said, returning her smile.
"She's gonna save the whole world," Tex added, as Ashley reached out to grab her hand.
Tex gathered up all of Rachel's supplies, since her hands were currently full, and the five of them continued forward to do as much good as they could while they waited for Tom's call over the radio.
December 7th, 2013 - 13:30 (1:30 pm)
It was a little over two hours after infiltrating the base that Tom finally stood in the middle of Amy Granderson's office, his gun held carefully in his hands still. Thorwald was standing next to him, surveying the scene in front of them.
"She killed herself," Tom explained grimly.
Rather than be taken in by him, Amy Granderson had injected herself with the same formula that they had been using to kill the people at Olympia.
"Good riddance," Thorwald said, kicking her arm lightly to make sure she really was dead. Tom secretly agreed with him, but didn't say anything out loud.
"Is the base secure?" he asked, and Thorwald nodded.
"All teams have checked in. All levels are secure. The power plant has been destroyed, and your other team is on their way to join us here."
Tom sighed in relief.
In all of the chaos, he had barely had time to think about Rachel and Tex. But now that it was over, his thoughts immediately turned to the scientist. He reached for his radio, pressing the talk button.
"Base is clear. Repeat, base is clear," he said into the radio, and he heard a crackling sound before Tex's voice came over the radio.
"Aye aye, Captain! On our way to meet you there. Your lady love is fine, by the way, since I know that was what you really wanted to know."
Tom could hear a struggle on the other end of the line before Rachel's voice came over the radio.
"We're fine, Tom. We're headed to you, but we're almost out of doses of the cure. Have you found the lab?"
Tom's eyes widened. She had taken almost 200 doses of the cure with her, and they had used almost all of them? He had underestimated the amount of people that she and Tex would run into, and let himself feel grateful for a moment that they hadn't come to any harm before answering.
"Yes. Lab is secure on the second level. We'll see you soon. And Rachel?"
"Yes?"
"Please be careful."
"We will. See you soon, Tom."
He smiled as he replaced his radio, and then turned back to Thorwald.
"Instruct your men to begin gathering the dead," he said, and used his radio to instruct his men to do the same. "If we're going to move your people in here, we should clean it up a little first."
December 7th, 2013 - 13:45 (1:45 pm)
"Why didn't you tell Daddy that we're with you?" Ashley asked from where she was holding Rachel's hand on her right side. Rachel smiled at the little girl. She was already starting to look better. The sores hadn't receded any, but she was looking a little less exhausted, had a little more energy than she'd had when they had first found her.
"I wanted it to be a surprise. Your daddy has been missing you so much, love, and I think it would be a nice surprise to have you walk in and give him a big hug."
Ashley grinned, clearly liking this idea.
Sam, however, had different thoughts on his mind.
"Why did Tex tell Daddy that you were his 'lady love'?" he asked, his lips turned down in a confused little frown.
Rachel sighed and shot Tex a look. He grinned back at her, shrugging as if to say, 'what can you do?'
"Tex can be an idiot sometimes," she told Sam. "Your daddy and I are very close. He's one of my best friends."
The answer seemed to please Sam, who nodded, but Rachel could still feel Jed's eyes on her. She avoided his gaze, not wanting to have this conversation right now. She could kill Tex, but then they wouldn't have any protection, so she supposed he was allowed to live for now.
"My boy's very loyal," Jed commented from behind her. Rachel flinched, but didn't say anything as he continued. "He's a good friend to have."
"Tex?" Rachel asked, and motioned for him to take her place by the kids. Looked like she was going to be having that conversation after all. Tex nodded and took her place, swinging Sam up onto his shoulders. The little boy shrieked happily, and Ashley giggled from his side as Tex reached down to take her hand.
"He is very loyal," she agreed, falling into step beside Tom's father. The man looked at her with a small smile on his lips. She felt the need to add, "He never cheated on Darien."
Jed chuckled. "I know he didn't, sweetheart. He never would. But she's gone, and I'm glad he has found someone else to be happy with."
Rachel fidgeted, running her fingers across the ridges of her bulletproof vest. "It's very new," she whispered, and then looked up to see Jed still smiling softly at her. "I care about him very much."
"And he must care about you very much, too, to tell you about his children and allow you in his cabin."
Rachel blushed, feeling the need to clarify that point.
"I have nightmares," she said quietly, casting a glance toward the children to make sure they were otherwise occupied. "I was... I was assaulted not long ago, aboard the ship of a man who kidnapped Tom and Tex. I was trying to save them. We did save them. But," she paused, unable to continue. She bit her lip, shrugging. "I feel safe with him. He makes the nightmares better."
Jed reached out and squeezed her hand.
"I'm glad you have him, then."
Rachel felt herself smiling at the man. He was a lot like Tom. He had a very commanding presence, and at first look seemed gruff and grumpy, but he had a heart of gold. He had only known her for an hour, and already she liked him very much.
"Thank you," she whispered, and then her attention was drawn by Sam, who was still sitting atop Tex's shoulders.
"Rachel! Rachel! Do you see me? I'm so tall! I bet I'm taller than Daddy up here!"
Rachel laughed at the little boy, agreeing with him. "I bet you are!"
Sam giggled and reached his hands out to grab onto Tex's hair. The man cussed as his hair was yanked by the five-year-old, and Rachel found herself laughing more.
It was then, while they were distracted, that the first shot rang out.
Tex grunted, lurching forward, though Rachel was relieved to notice that the shot had hit him square in the back - right over his bulletproof vest. He would be bruised, but otherwise OK.
Sam screeched as he fell from the man's shoulders, but Jed managed to catch him before he hit the ground.
"Tex!" Rachel yelled, grabbing Ashley and putting her body between the little girl and the direction the shot had come from.
"Get down!" Tex yelled, quickly scrambling back to his feet and ushering their little group behind an abandoned car for cover. "I can't tell which building the shots are coming from!"
He was trying to shoot back at their unknown attacker, but without knowing exactly where they were coming from, it was pointless.
Rachel winced as another shot rang out. She could hear the bullet hit the car they were hiding behind. Sam screamed, and Ashley was crying. She reached frantically for the radio she still had a hold of, pressing the talk button with shaking fingers.
"Tom! Tom! We're pinned down! We need help-"
She was cut off when, out of nowhere, a tall man with a gas mask appeared. He grabbed the radio out of her hands, smashing it on the ground, and then yanked her to to her feet roughly. A second man had taken Tex's gun and jabbed him sharply in the stomach with his own rifle, causing him to double over in pain.
"You're coming with us," a third man said, and Rachel felt fear settle in the pit of her stomach as she clutched Sam to her chest. Behind her, Jed, who was holding Ashley, was being pushed forward by a fourth man.
Please, Tom, she begged, squeezing Sam to her as he continued to cry in fear. Please save us.