Chapter 23


"Dude, what are you going to do with Larrin?" Burk asked Wolf, as they were waiting for Danny and the others to come back. He knew he'd been swapped for Miller because Miller would be distracted by his mom than being alert for trouble.

"Larrin is my younger sister. She's living with our buddy Tex and his daughter Kat, along with Danny's girlfriend Kara. She was supposed to be in Sydney but last minute trip to US brought her here." Wolf explained to Mrs Miller who was waiting patiently with them.

"Was she with you when the pandemic happened?" Mrs Miller asked.

"No, I was in Little Creek from what I know she was somewhere on the west coast on her own." Wolf said regrettably as he wished she had been at his side because all could think about was her enduring every possible worst case scenario. "And what Larrin chooses to do is her business as long it's nothing dangerous." Wolf added answering Burk's question.

"My, she must be a real tough one." Mrs Miller said.

"Our Dad built us tough. We lived on a property that backed onto bushland so he would take us out into the scrub and teach how to survive on the land with limited supplies among other stuff." Wolf assured her with a smile but it only made Mrs Miller look at him like he was odd.

"Here I thought it was the Navy that made you hardy." Burk commented drily, Wolf didn't talk much about his childhood but Burk knew it wasn't normal like his. There were just things about Wolf that were a little off, like how he was coldly pragmatic about the world in general instead of being surprised by human nature. When Ravit had died, Burk had been angry, he wanted vengeance part of him still did but Wolf was just quietly resigned as if it was all normal. He was upset but he hadn't felt angered by the injustice of it.

"Nah, Navy is a breeze after my childhood." Wolf half joked, he felt that his and Larrin's childhood was the only reason that Larrin survived as long as she had. "You grow up in a country filled with deadly animals and insects that hide in the scrub. That's Darwinian working at it's best." he added with a chuckle.

"You forgot the Vegemite, that stuff is disgusting." Burk told him making a face.

"Puts hair on your chest and steel into your backbone, Mate." Wolf said teasingly, as he carried a jar with him everywhere. So of course as a nice bridging of cultures he shared it. He hadn't been an ass about it by watching them eat a teaspoon of it pretending it was Nutella. No, he taught them how it was really supposed to be eaten because he wasn't wasting any of it. Even in small doses it was an acquired taste that luckily none of Nathan James could get behind which was good for him as it meant he didn't have to share the rest.

"I think it's quite delicious." Mrs Miller said to him.

"You got Vegemite in these parts?" Wolf asked as he wanted to start looking for more given he would run out in time.

"No, but I used to have online pen pals who sent me care packages and vice versa. I really liked it spread on Sao's with butter." Mrs Miller told him with a dreamy smile.

"Mmm the best or on toast with garlic and avocado." He said nodding his head in agreement. He had to admit talking to Miller's mum really made him see where Miller got a lot of his personality from. She was really nice and polite woman yet had a backbone. She was definitely not a doormat of a woman but then she probably grew that grit from months of being on her own.

"I never tried that." She said thoughtfully.

"We'll have to find some more Vegemite. I'm already running low." Wolf said as he kind of

"Yeah, like we'll find that anywhere in America." Burk scoffed.

"Got to be an shop that imported foreign foods." Wolf argued in good humour.


Larrin sat in the hospital's emergency department waiting room with the police officer assigned to her. Without her passport the police hadn't believed that she wasn't an adult. So they had assigned an officer to sit with her until someone rocked up to claim her.

Not like the police had been thrilled to help her. When her attacker had broken her arm, she'd scream from the pain which had brought the attention of some people. So he'd run off but not without taking her bag with him. It seemed without a passport or official papers to prove that she was refugee or in possession of reciprocal citizenship status. Well, she was a nobody and it didn't matter that she knew her attacker's name and could describe him because the man she described sounded like '60% of the male population' and well, everyone had a name.

It was like talking to a brick wall, so she gave up as the Police's main priority was getting her out of the station while appearing to do their due diligence which was why she was sitting next to Officer Brody in the ER waiting to be seen by a doctor. Never in her life had she felt so insignificant. So irrelevant as she watched people with the sniffles and sprained ankles get prioritized over her. She had a broken arm, nose and at least two ribs. Probably a concussion as she was just throbbing lump of pain and nausea. The only thing that was just stopping her from making a noise was that she didn't want to draw attention to herself anymore than she had. She was also sure that if she truly acknowledged the pain and fear coursing through her veins she would panic and fall apart. Something that was not conducive to keeping a low profile as she knew he'd be back for her.

"Larrin?" Kara asked in shock, Larrin looked to her and watched Kara as she rushed over to them.

"Ma'am." Officer Brody said stopping in front of Kara. "I need to see some identification." he said. Kara frowned but complied.

"I'm Lieutenant Kara Foster, your partner came to my house and informed me." Kara said, she showed him her military ID before she crouched down in front of Larrin and carefully assessed her. She didn't touch Larrin as she was afraid of aggravating her pain. But she could see the broken arm and nose. The blood on her face and the bruising contrasted harshly against her pale skin as Larrin looked incredibly fragile. "Why is she sitting out here? Where's the doctor?" Kara demanded.

"There's a line." Officer Brody told her.

"She should've been triaged to the front of it." Kara told him. She looked at him incredulously as anyone with medical training could see Larrin needed immediate attention.

"Not how the system works anymore." Officer Brody told her. Kara shook her head and looked to Larrin. "I'm going to get you a Doctor." she told her, Larrin looked at her and barely nodded her head as tears streaked down her face of their own volition.


"This is unnerving." Mrs Miller said as they drove to the closest airport near Milwaukee safe zone which turned out to be General Mitchell International Airport. They bypassed the main terminals heading to the one of the main runways large and long enough for a Hercules to land. The only good part about the pandemic was that when the planes had been grounded they'd been neatly parked at the terminals. The months of sitting idle gave the airport a feel of vacancy and desolation as there was no one around to maintain the upkeep or so they assumed as there hadn't been anyone to greet them.

Danny wished he'd brought an infrared scope as he really didn't like this. They'd made contact with St Louis and apprised the Captain and Commander of what they'd encountered and their idea of offering the cure in exchange for information or safe passage. Apparently the Senator of Missouri knew the Regent of the Milwaukee safe zone and made contact for them. Apparently the Regent was open to the exchange but only for information as she wasn't interested in opening her territory to Danny and the others.

So the Regent said she'd send her second to meet them at the airport runway which a Hercules from St Louis carrying cure and supplies would meet them. It also meant they could send Mrs Miller safely back to St Louis. Danny knew Miller would feel a lot better once his Mom was safe and among their friends. He hadn't been game to ask him how he felt at the fact that Miller's Mom would be meeting Larrin. The girl he was unofficially dating. Danny was looking forward to seeing that unfold but not so much when Mrs Miller would find out Kara was pregnant as he doubted that he'd look like a great guy given how the situation looked on the outside.

"The plane will land in the next half an hour, and take off as soon as the cargo is unloaded. You'll be in St. Louis in an hour and 10 minutes." Danny told her.

"I've never flown anywhere before." Mrs Miller said as she looked out the car windows with wide eyes like she'd never seen an airport or imagined planes to be so big. Danny had to admit the lack of visible human presence was unnerving to him as it made him keep wondering where the people were.

"It's fun. Mom. You'll like it." Miller assured her. "And you'll get to meet all my friends." he added.

"I look forward to that." Mrs Miller told him with a smile. Danny pulled the car to a stop a few kilometers away from the designated meet as he couldn't park on the runway given a plane was going to land on it soon. Burk, Alisha and Wolf had split off from them to be the lookout for when the group from Milwaukee showed up. Danny had a bad feeling about it as they were just a tiny group and they hadn't really prepared for this kind situation. Miller and he stepped out of the car looking around the area as they held their guns at the ready.

"Wolf, what's your status?" Danny asked over the radio.

"In position, no signs of any life but the birds." He relayed.

"Here come's the plane." Miller said gesturing to the sky.


"Larrin Taylor? The young woman over there who clearly should lying down in a bed being seen by a doctor not sitting in a chair." Kara said to the nurse at the admittance desk, she'd already repeated Larrin's name twice which made her question the efficiency of the woman in front of her. She felt like she was some kind of twilight zone.

She was never one to shout or get visibly angry at people when she was in a frustrating situation but right now she was ready to scream down the bloody ward to get someone to show an ounce of care. She'd been trying for the past 10 minutes trying to get an answer as to why Larrin wasn't getting prioritised over a guy who clearly had a cold and the little girl who had a 'yucky' tummy but yet to show any signs of actually being sick. The nurse looked to where Kara was pointing and her face lit up with recognition. She pulled the file they had on her and flipped it open.

"Oh, the foreigner." She said looking at the file, her want to help Kara seem to dim. "Look,she has no social security number, no papers whatsoever-"

"Who cares." Kara said as she didn't see how any of it was relevant. The nurse gave her a tight smile and closed the file.

"Medical system does. Supplies cost money and frankly I amazed they even bothered bringing her here given they'll just toss her back outside of state lines. So why should we waste medical supplies on her? She'll be dead in a few weeks or less if she's lucky." The nurse said in a matter of fact tone.

"Excuse me?" Kara asked in a mix of shock and disgust.

"Don't pretend not to know. She's prime sport even in her current state." The Nurse told her.

"Sport?" Kara repeated in confusion as she didn't know what the woman meant.

"Look, I don't have time to pretend with you. We have patients who can pay for their care. So if you want to delay the inevitable then be my guest and get her out of here." The Nurse told her and with that the woman turned her attention to her work pointedly making it clear their conversation was over. She shook her head as she walked away from the desk and back over to Larrin. She sat down next to her feeling the pain and confusion roll off her.

"You think you can walk?" Kara asked her in a soft tone. Larrin nodded not saying a word. "Ok, let's get out of here." she told her.