Chapter Eleven: The Request
It was barely a three-minute drive to the docks, and the affair was done in a comfortable if slightly anxious silence. It was weird to see the streets empty. Pogonip may have always been a small town but that didn't mean that the streets had ever been this barren or quiet in all the time that she'd been living here. A quick glance out of the window was all Juno needed to spot the grey fishing pontoon that Kathy's husband, Danny, owned. The previous summer, right before the start of September, Kathy threw a 'New School Year' bash on the beach but a good portion of the time was spent on the spacious pontoon. It was Danny's pride and joy.
The truck pulled up onto the dock with an almost silent screech.
"Than' god yer here!" John Harris shouted.
Juno allowed a huge smile to bloom across her face as she unlocked the car door and ran down to meet the African-American man. John was the father of one of her Hearts, Elijah, and she had gotten rather close to the man about a month after the little boy was born. John had been in a bad place; his wife had passed away postpartum and he'd needed someone to look after Elijah while he worked during the day at various construction sites. She'd bumped into him at the grocers, one break down later -from John's part, she always kept her shit together in public... not that Juno judged John for breaking down, jeez even thinking about the situation in her head made her feel awkward as fuck- she'd become his regular babysitter until Elijah had turned two and was eligible to attend the daycare.
"John!" she shouted in excitement as she crashed into his open arms, "Fuck, thank god you're okay!"
The thirty-six-year-old man wrapped his beefy arms around her and lifted her off the metal dock, "How's Eli? He okay? Was he hurt? Bit?" he asked in a rush as soon as he set her down. The Kim men had quickly exited the vehicle behind her and were now helping the Evans family tie up the pontoon.
"He's fine, nobody in the daycare got hurt..." she reassured him before admitting in a quieter voice, "But there has been a lot of casualties of Pogonip residents," she squeezed his torso once more before pulling out of the hug to look at the others.
Lexie's eyes were red and it was evident to Juno that her sometimes co-worker had been crying. A small bark made her look down to see Simba, Kathy's rambunctious Russel Terrier, wiggling excitedly to see her. She bent down to pet him for a moment before standing up once more to help Alice, Kathy's eldest daughter, off the pontoon. The younger woman's nurse scrubs were bloody and her usually pristine brown hair was a mess. The twenty-three-year-old shot her a strained smile.
"Here," Jeff panted as he handed them a duffel bag, "It's got a bunch of clothes and this one gots a bunch of cans an' shit."
Juno grabbed the closest bag and hauled it over her shoulders, the sixteen-year-old wasn't really looking at anyone as he grabbed more bags and threw them onto the dock. Jeff was usually a pretty vibrant kid and was always quick to innocently flirt with her, mostly because it made his mom mad and embarrassed, but right now he just looked solemn.
"You okay, Jeff?" she asked softly.
His green eyes locked on to her own hazel ones, "No." he answered honestly, "I'm jus' happy I was home when this- when it happened. I was video chattin' with Sp-Spencer. Saw 'im get eaten."
"I'm sorry Jeff." Juno murmured before pulling the tall teen into a hug, he buried his face into her collar bone, much like her kids did when seeking comfort from her at the preschool. She'd met Spencer a couple of times before, the skater-kid was Jeff's best friend.
"Yeah," he cleared his throat before stepping back and grabbing the discarded bags on the floor, "Me too. Gotta get this shit ta the car."
Danny made himself up onto the deck beside her, a heavy-looking backpack strapped onto his back and a plastic container in his arms, "Hey Moreno." he greeted her, "How's my wife?" he asked as they loaded the back of the truck.
The man looked dirty and tired under her gaze, "She's okay, a bit freaked out, but okay overall."
He nodded before gesturing back to the pontoon, "I have Mrs. Martinez back there, she was bitten." he whispered, "Got Marcy's grandkid back there too, Sean's hiding underneath one of the seats, saw his mom go down. Wasn't pretty."
She nodded, Lexie usually looked after Sean when the kid's mom was busy, "Anybody else?"
"Yeah, Marie's back there keepin' pressure on Jane's wound. Them thangs took a giant bite outta her leg." he grunted before commanding his listless looking daughters, "Kids get the rest of our crap outta the boat an' let's go." the girls jumped nervously, they had been eyeing the town with mistrust. Marie was the single mom of another one of her Hearts, a sweet little Korean toddler they'd nicknamed J.J. From what she could remember Marie Rhee was an E.M.T. and occasional volunteer firefighter.
She quickly jogged back to the pontoon before jumping in and making her way to where the wheel was, it was the only area that she couldn't spot properly from before. Juno could make out a sobbing Jane and a worried-looking Marie. "Hey," she greeted before kneeling down beside them, "How can I help?"
Marie jumped slightly at her presence before looking back down at her patient, "Help me put pressure on the wound, I got a kit around here somewhere, gonna glue the wound shut right now with some crazy glue. That should hold up until we get to the preschool."
Juno nodded quickly taking over for the Korean-American, "You got it."
"No!" Jane gasped, grabbing Juno's face that their gazes were locked, "J-Jenny and Juan! Mis hijos! Have you seen them? They was- were supposed to go to the park. Ay, dios!" she gasped in pain, "Porfabor Juno! Dime! Tell me, you see them?"
"Juan is at the preschool, the Kim's picked him up and some other kids that had climbed up the jungle gym out of reach," she confessed quietly, trying to avoid telling the woman about her daughter.
"And Jenny?" Jane whimpered.
"I'm sorry."
"No, dios... porfabor Dios, dime que no! Mi hija, mi hija. Primero mi esposo y ahora mi pobre Jenny!" the woman sobbed brokenly covering her face as her shoulders shook. Juno turned around when she heard a sympathetic whimper and small cry.
Sean was curled up into a ball under the seat closest to her, his blonde hair was mussed up into different directions, and his face was red and blotchy from his tears. Marie slid down on her knees as she finally made her way back to them. "How's she doing?" the woman asked as she opened the kit and started rummaging through it.
Juno peaked underneath the bandage, the blood wasn't oozing continuously out of the wound, but it hadn't stopped yet either. "It hasn't clotted yet but it's not gushing either."
"Good. Good." Marie mumbled, "Are you wearing a belt by any chance? It's better than the rope I've been using for a tourniquet."
"No sorry," Juno responded regretfully as Marie began cutting the other woman's navy-blue pant legs. That was when Jane suddenly seemed to come to her senses.
"No." she demanded, slapping away Marie's hands. "Don't waste supplies on me."
Sean let out a louder sob from behind her.
"What!?" Marie exclaimed, "Jane relax you're going to be fine, honest! You just need some stitches and you'll be fine."
Jane just shook her head, "No. No. No."
"No? What do you mean 'no'?" Marie asked as she reached for Jane's leg one more time.
The woman pulled her leg away from their grasp, "It's too late. I'm infected. It's going to kill me, don't waste your damn supplies on me."
"You don't know that." Juno murmured softly, "Maybe if we jus-"
"You don't get it!" Jane snapped, "Miguel and I had heard some rumors last month about this shit. Then last week we got this video from a friend of ours, a surgeon in California. Some man came in screaming that he got bit by a crazy person in the airport. They treated him, but he still got a fever- a really high fever and then he died. But then- he came back. Turn into one of those things and he attacked the morgue staff."
"Fuck." Danny cursed from behind them, Juno didn't know when they'd got there but all of the others were now standing behind the three women entrapped with her story.
"At the time we didn't know what to make of it. The director of the clinic told us to quarantine anyone who got bit and that the military would make their way here at some point. But you know it, that's a pipe-dream! Ain't nobody coming here."
"Shit. Shit, shit, shit..." Jeff cursed softly behind them, panic clear in his voice.
"I'm going to die. A bite is fatal, the only thing I think could possibly save someone is cutting off the limb immediately after getting bit. But it's been like thirty minutes, it's already coursed through my veins by now." Jane confessed before looking up at them seriously, "I don't want Juan to see me like this. He saw Jenny die. He shouldn't have to see me turn into one of those things... I don't want to be one of those things. So please, kill me."
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(I apologize for the long hiatus, I've been busy! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!)
