Broken Road
by Rusty Nail
Chapter Two
Into the Wild
It was eight thirty the next morning when Kasim came by their building to pick them up. They had been living in something similar to a commune. About twelve doctors of various nationalities slept in the same building, worked in various PCC's across Kinshasa and traded war stories of the doctor variety in the evenings over a meal.
Carter and Kovac stood outside waiting for Kasim in silence. Kovac had said goodbye to Gillian. Carter averted his eyes as he cradled her head to his chest and they spoke together in French, they were so easy with each other and the jealousy that crept into his chest was best kept at bay by ignoring them. Kovac later told him that Gillian was worried for both of them, he knew why, the area they would be working in was very dangerous, and though he didn't know the specifics he knew that they would have to be careful and do as they were told. Carter had heard that sentence from his colleague at least five times already that morning.
Kasim drove up in a white land rover and hopped out. With a pearly white grin he helped them lift their bags of clothes in the back and then ushered them into their seats,
"Dr. Audrey is waiting already." He said, his English disjointed but clear enough to understand, he was used to talking in English around Carter who didn't speak French.
"She said nine am…" Kovac started.
"There has been some of the complications." Kasim laughed, that was starting to annoy Carter already, despite his excitement for the trip. Was Kasim ever anything less than chipper?
"What kind of complications?" he piped up.
"Nothing to be worried with. Dr. Audrey will make it all good."
Carter and Kovac exchanged concerned looks as Kasim proceeded to drive on through the busy streets, singing something in what they could only assume was Swahili. He, at least, seemed completely confident in Dr. Thomas's abilities and was even unaffected by the heat, his mood consistently upbeat and energetic.
By the time they had reached the meeting point it was 9:17 am and Carter had completely sweated his way through his shirt which was undone two buttons and rolled up at the sleeves. He slipped his sunglasses on the bridge of his nose and swung his legs out of the land rover and walked around the back, popping the headphones of his iPod out of his ears as he went.
Kasim had pulled the bags out and Carter picked his up, joining Kovac who was staring past the Land Rover, shielding his eyes against the sunlight. Carter followed his line of sight to two women arguing vehemently. The younger of the two was making wild, angry gestures with her hands while the older had her hands on her hips and her head bowed, she shook it slowly at first and then rapidly, looking up. The words were drowned out by the sound of the street; Kasim was still singing and apparently oblivious to the argument as he started to load up the vehicle they had just arrived in with more gas.
"One of those two is Dr. Thomas?" Carter asked Kovac, watching with an apprehensive expression.
"Yep."
"The younger one I hope…"
"Yes Carter, the younger one." Luka laughed.
Carter released a 'phew' of relief as the elder woman, imposing in stature and severe in expression, threw some sort of parting comment to Dr. Thomas and stormed off into the crowds. Thomas turned sharply her eyes wide with what Carter could only assume was shock and anger at whatever those parting words had been. However she evidentially spotted Luka and turned on her smile like a light bulb.
Her features were instantly transformed, her grey eyes alive and excited. Carter found himself staring at her honey blonde hair, blinking slightly as he thought how soft and natural it looked no highlighted streaks or sculpted bangs. She crossed to them at a jog and he diverted his gaze, pushing his sunglasses up his nose.
"Morning boys." She said brightly, looking between them then at her watch,
"Sorry we're late. Kasim said you wanted to leave earlier…"
"No, no. Not a problem." She said, "I just wanted to get away before, oh, Kasim? Est-ce que pourriez-vous s'il vou plais mettre le refroidisseur dans le dos du durez Rover? Merci."
"This is Dr. John Carter." Kovac said after Audrey's attention was brought back from Kasim's moving of the cooler from the first to the second vehicle as she had asked. Carter removed his sunglasses and she smiled cheerily then shook his hand.
"Carter's fine." He corrected, then gestured in the direction the other woman had disappeared, "What was all that about?"
Audrey's demeanour changed almost instantly, her expression turned blank.
"That," she said, "was my mother."
Carter and Kovac looked at each other as Audrey moved away but they exchanged no more words. Audrey told Kasim and another native man who had joined the party to take the first van and that she would take Carter and Kovac in the second, all agreed and piled into the vehicles, loaded with water bottles and protein bars. Audrey started the motor without a word to her new colleagues and followed the first Land Rover down the street and out of Kinshasa.
Carter had fallen asleep in the back and Audrey had been fairly tight lipped, small talk about the weather and the PCC they had been working in lasted all of twenty minutes and five of those were uncomfortable. She avoided the pot holes as best she could, Luka was grateful for his stomach and for the fact that she seemed to be keeping in Carter's napping in mind. However, as well as she had been doing, Carter did wake up when one of their tyres got jammed in a rut and very nearly stopped their progress completely. Audrey was having none of that and after a little creative gear shifting and engine revving they were off again, catching up to the first Land Rover.
She looked over her shoulder, "Welcome back." She said to a yawning Carter.
"How long was I-"
"About three hours." Luka interjected, also looking over his shoulder. Carter nodded and shifted himself up a little in the seat, having slipped down with a folded shirt as his pillow. He looked between Audrey and Luka's heads and propped himself forwards to set himself in-between them a little more, they seem to be holding a fairly stoic silence.
"So what about Dabana? Anything we should know?"
Audrey glanced at him, "Glad you asked, I don't usually take team members on without giving them a full briefing on what to expect, but this whole event is touch and go." She looked forwards, speaking loudly now so that they could still hear her, "Dabana is a few hours east of Etoumbi; along the Likouala River. Etoumbi has had four recent outbreaks of Ebola virus. Last year; one hundred and twenty people were killed in an epidemic…" She noted the horrified expressions on the men's faces,
"Don't worry, Dabana hasn't seen a case in the past three years, and Etoumbi is under an unofficial quarantine which we expect them to finalize over the next few months. The rumour was that at first it looked like Typhoid Fever, the medical teams were dispatched from Kinshasa to Dabana, to distribute antibiotics, ampicillin, chloramphenicol…" Carter and Luka were nodding along,
"The trouble was by the time they got out there, it was pretty clear that they weren't dealing with Typhoid, the people had fevers pushing 101˚F, internal and external bleeding, you get the picture. Anyway, barrier nursing went into affect at the same time there was a new outbreak in Etoumbi, only they got all the news coverage because it was their second outbreak. The medical team members managed to persuade the people that they were getting sick and dying because of the meat they were eating from the forest. Dabana took it on board, Etoumbi didn't.
"So, in short, we got the all clear, no new cases in Dabana in the past three years, we can get back in there and help them rebuild the place. Whole generations were wiped out and they've been alone all this time, no healthcare, high infant mortality rate, we're going to change all that."
Her mood seemed much improved; all thoughts of the argument with her mother gone from her mind. She took her eyes off the road momentarily to look at the men once more. They still looked utterly petrified by the prospect, Carter was wearing a, 'how the hell did I get involved with this?' expression and Luka was silent and pale, his lips pressed together.
"Hey, I know it sounds bad but we wouldn't be cleared to get in there if there was a possibility that there are still infectious agents present. The people were educated by the medical teams; they know not to eat the meat off carcasses they find in the forest, how to prepare any meat that the do gather in a safe way. It'll be fine."
She smiled encouragingly at them, Luka nodded, "Is it, ah, just going to be us and Kasim?"
"No," Audrey replied, "Dr. Nichols is already out there with Lewa, another nurse. They went out a few days ago to start sterilizing the place down; as soon as we got the green light to re-establish medical care they took off. We didn't want to flood the area with foreigners instantly either, it helps to ease the community back into our presence. I spent the past two days organizing our supplies anyway, so it all worked out."
The hours slid by with only two breaks for the drivers to stretch their legs, Audrey was eager to get to Dabana, that much was clear in the excitement in her voice as she described to Luka and Carter her plans for the Clinic. The latter decided he could listen to her talk all day, her accent was smooth and mellow and her diction perfect and he smiled to himself slightly as the sun's lower lip touched the horizon. Her enthusiasm was completely contagious and he found himself thinking less and less about why he had come to the Congo in the first place and more about what he could accomplish.
They turned into an average sized town as the light began to fade from the sky. They slowly drove through the town and people stopped what they were doing, mainly standing around the streets smoking, some children were being carted home by their mothers but even they turned to watch the stark white vans roll by. Audrey explained that the Red Cross was already set up in this town and they were staying the night before leaving again at dawn, that way they would reach Dabana about the same time the next day, if they made good progress.
They were met by Gregory Allen, who introduced himself to Carter and Kovac as an American Red Cross worker but seemed to know Audrey pretty well already. He was young, maybe in his mid to late twenties and everything ended in a questioning tone with him. He took them through what he called the 'Hub' of the Red Cross activity which looked a little like a call centre without phones. Boxes of medicine, blankets, food, water purifiers. Luke was confused; it looked more like emergency aid response gear.
When he asked Greg replied nonchalantly, "We get a lot of displaced people here Dr Kovac. They filter in everyday and we have to feed and house them, immunize most, and even clothe some. We make sure we have enough supplies to keep up, you know?"
"Displaced?" Carter ventured. They were walking up a flight of stairs now, Greg and Carter up front, Kovac a step behind with Audrey in tow, speaking in French again to Kasim who hurried off to check their trucks and make sure to secure the supplies.
"Refugees from the north, yeah?"
"There's a lot of rebel activity in Couvette-Ouest, Carter." Kovac said.
Audrey hopped up a couple of steps and joined back into the conversation, "They're not interested in Dabana and Etoumbi. They have both been classed as Maladie de sang, Blood-Sickness. Even they know that Ebola is something you don't want to tempt fate with."
Greg showed Carter and Kovac a room with two cots in it, explaining that they were basically the last port of call to medical teams travelling into the Northern areas of the country. The Red Cross was more than happy to house doctors and aid workers from other agencies for a night since travelling at night was "a death wish on wheels". Carter commented that he wished surgical and medical back home could be as helpful to each other.
Audrey walked straight into the room next door with a quick goodnight to the men, telling them that she would be hoping to leave at 5am the next day. Carter kept his reaction to that piece of news to himself until he and Kovac were alone in their room. He tossed his wash bag onto the left cot and stretched.
"Five AM?"
Luke nodded with a smile as he delved through his own small bag of soap and toiletries for his toothbrush. "If we leave much later I guess we'll be arriving in Dabana in the dark. Not a good first impression on the locals."
"We couldn't just take a plane?" Carter slipped his hands into his pockets and paced across the room, looking around. They had electricity which was nice, the beds looked clean and freshly made, mosquito nets hung around them in gentle folds, shifted by a light and welcomed breeze through the window which was opened a crack. He stepped over to it and stared out into the darkness, nothing stood out, the occasional lamp light here and there, but since they had arrived the final rays of the sun had weakly withdrawn from the horizon.
Kovac had disappeared into their mini bathroom, the door of which stopped a few inches before the floor. Carter could see his feet, he shook his head and returned to his bed, taking his own toothbrush out and waiting his turn.
Both cleaned and refreshed, Carter and Kovac settled into their respective cots and drew the netting around them. Carter seemed to have trouble with it and rolled his eyes with a sigh as Kovac managed with an expert flick of his wrist and turned onto his side to sleep.
Five o'clock came around quickly.
In the light of the morning he could see the room a bit better, plain walls, plastered and white washed, bare wooden floors, not the type you wanted to be walking barefoot on either. The sun filtered into the room through the shutters on the window and the heat came with it. Luka's coal black hair was dark with sweat and matted to his forehead. Having navigated his way out of the netting around the bed he slapped the travel alarm clock off and gave Carter a gentle nudge. He was asleep on his back and snoring and he didn't wake.
"Carter..?" Luka prodded.
Nothing.
"Carter!" He shouted.
"Wha- huh? Ugh, what time is it."
"Four thirty. If you want a shower you should get up..." Carter nodded vaguely, rubbing his eyes and Luka turned around, taking a towel from the chair by the door. He knew he was going to appreciate hot running water in a few days and savoured the shower for a full five minutes before emerging again, dressed and rubbing his hair with the towel.
Carter had moved around the room, opened the shutters, pushed the netting back from around his bed and made it already. He grinned and Luka was glad to see that, despite the early start he seemed enthused.
At four fifty they were downstairs, packed up and ready, they met Audrey in the hallway, she had a cup of coffee in one hand.
"You know how long you're planning on staying in Dabana?" Greg was asking.
"After the initial set up? Who knows. The Adem are moving around there a lot from what I hear, though I don't think they will interested in Dabana, it's not really of any tactical advantage to them, especially with their suspicions over the Ebola in that region."
"Morning." Luka said as he approached with a cleaned up Carter in tow.
"Excellent timing." Audrey proclaimed, "The trucks are all ready and waiting, there's breakfast and coffee in the kitchen." She shook her cup with a grin then returned to her conversation with Greg.
Carter and Kovac agreed and made their way to the canteen. It was much like the one in the accommodation they had had in Kinshasa. Long tables with eight or nine seats spanned the width of the room and a few doctors and aid workers lined up chatting with plates in their hands. Scrambled eggs, toast and some sort of native meat that looked and smelled a lot like bacon but tasted nothing like it were on offer.
They sat down at a table and ate, cups of strong coffee next to their plates.
"You know," Luka started, "I didn't see a ring."
Carter looked up, "Huh?"
"On Audrey's hand. No ring."
Carter grimaced, looking down at his plate. "Ahh. I hadn't noticed."
Luka chuckled and sipped his coffee, looking up at John who had a distinct pink tinge in his cheeks. He was eating silently now; his mind clearly somewhere else and Luka noticed that after a moment the boyish look in his eyes was replaced with something else, something darker. He didn't push, he had an inkling as to what that shadow in Carter's eyes was caused by and he didn't want to strain their already tenuous working relationship, not when they seemed to be making slow progress.
At Five am precisely Audrey appeared at the doorway and waved at Luka who raised a hand in response. The canteen itself was empty by now, the few people that had been there had moved off in groups to get to work nice and early, before the direct heat of the sun was too much to bear.
They cleared out and before long were crammed back into the Land Rover, Audrey behind the wheel again and this time Kovac sat in the back. The day of driving stretched ahead and Carter decided to get comfortable as the terrain got increasingly rugged and the road diminished to a track.
