Chapter 14Plague
"B-babies? B-babies?" His mind tripped and went into reset and his eidetic memory reviewed the very first time (of only two) that they'd made love. Well, the first was almost animal sex brought on by their mutual grief and the emotional tension of their situation.
'Drat! The first time – no protection. None the second time, either. If she's pregnant, we need to find a permanent place, a safe place, to start our community. Oh, Newton! We'll need an OB/Gyn and a trained nurse and delivery facilities and we'll need to start collecting baby clothes and Pampers and…'
She couldn't see his face in the dark but from his breathing and the cold sweat she felt on his brow, she knew he was in panic/plan mode.
"Sweetheart, I'm not pregnant. I've still got a good 3 months left on my shot so we won't have to worry about condoms until the spring. I just wanted to see how you felt about the two of us starting a family once we find others and can establish ourselves."
"We'll need to get married first, Penny. We'll need to find a preacher or a priest or – "
She kissed him more to stop his ramblings than to start anything but it turned into a hot kiss that led her to pulling down his sweatpants and fondling him but he stopped her.
"I must be insane, Penny, but I'm really not up for this tonight. Give me a couple of days to recover fully and then we'll need to worry about soundproofing the bedroom, okay?"
Sheldon felt like crap and although they hadn't really started anything, her movements had pulled at his restitched wound and it hurt. He wouldn't say anything because she'd feel guilty so he just begged off.
"I'm gonna hold you to that, Moon Pie. I'll just muffle my screams of ecstasy by stuffing a pillow in my mouth."
She loved teasing him and wished there were some light source that would allow her to see the look on his face. Sometimes he was such a prude and other times he just seemed to roll with her comments.
Leslie heard a moan from the Pullman bunk above her and she reached up and laid the palm of her hand against the compartment above her and swore she felt it vibrating.
"Bomber, you okay up there?" It was supposed to be his shift on watch but it looked like the sky was turning gray so he must have just come in.
"Just c-c-cold. Sorry to w-w-wake you." His teeth were chattering and he was cold…the cold that a diabetic feels when they're pushing things with their insulin dosages. He was trying to stretch out his meager supply until they could recover more that wasn't 'stale' and susceptibility to cold was a side effect.
"I'm coming up. Can't sleep anyhow. Make room for me." She rolled out of her toasty cocoon of blankets and climbed up into the bunk above hers bringing her blankets with her. She slipped in beside him and whispered that he should roll over and she'd spoon against his back and he'd be warm in no time.
"You need to lose the sweats, Bomber, if this is going to work. Don't be such a prude." She helped him pull off his sweatshirt and she hissed when her bare skin touched his. It was like ice!
"C-can't get warm, Les. M'thermostat's screwed up. Can't stop shiverin'."
Leslie started rubbing him all over with her uninjured hand, cursing the woman in the Feed & Grain for her injury. She needed her other hand.
She shoved a thigh between his and pulled him as close to her as possible and wrapped the blankets around them and soon his shivering subsided and Bomber turned over and rubbed her bare back and whispered, "Thanks. I feel a lot better now."
Leslie smiled wickedly in the dark and whispered back that soon 'we'll both feel a lot better, Hideki'.
After a quick breakfast, the group split up for the first shift of driving. Sheldon had demanded to ride along with Penny and she finally agreed after he jerked her back into the bedroom and told her the 'facts of life'.
"Penny, Bomber's health is slipping. I've been keeping track of the insulin, checking on it for deterioration. He's skipping doses altogether, depending on those pills we got from the doc to carry him through. It's not going to work and he's having problems already. Besides, he and Winkle have established a sexual relationship and it's only fair to let them have some comfortable 'alone-time'."
Penny looked subdued and stomped out into the galley, grabbed a cup of coffee and turned and glared at Sheldon saying, "If you freeze your balls off, don't expect me to warm 'em up, Moon Pie." She stormed off the coach and Sheldon quickly followed, his coffee in one hand while he pulled on his field jacket.
Penny's 'anger' was all a façade. She agreed with Sheldon about Bomber but was serious about not warming up his nuts if they got cold.
Casper was a no-go. Most of the buildings in the business district had burned to the ground either intentionally or accidentally, no one knew. They all agreed to push on further east but to alter their route and head for Douglas, a small town where they could scavenge and hopefully find a place to hole up for the next few weeks.
Sheldon and Leslie were cleaning up after the lunch stop and Sheldon told her about Bomber's insulin usage and told her to push him to 'use what he had' and follow the Mormon doc's instructions.
"He can't handle the cold, Sheldon. He shivered so much last night that it woke me up. I had to cuddle up with him just – "
"I remember how it was at the Magnetic Pole. The heater died one night. Yeah, embarrassing but we didn't freeze to death. We just agreed never to talk about it."
"Really, Sheldon? You guys slept naked and – oh, I don't even want to know…" She did. She was always curious about what guys did when they were out away from society and on their own. She'd long ago admitted to a prurient interest in such goings on.
"I was between Howard and Leonard. I think Raj spent the whole night sighing and giggling. I believe I fulfilled my REM requirements. I have no idea what other fulfillments the others may have attained nor do I wish to conjecture."
"Oh, TMI…I wonder how Raj is doing? Think he made it home okay? He was the only one I really related to. Howard and his blonde are probably fucking like bunnies in some warm chalet in the Dells, right? I sure hope so."
Talk of their friends died out as each silently concluded that they were probably dead. Winkle realized that Sheldon had deflected the conversation onto 'safer' ground and away from Bomber's situation.
"Shel, we need to hole up someplace – a farm house or a ranch house or – "
"Look for house trailers…mobile homes or parks. An RV park. We can maybe scavenge some propane and dump our poop tank and gray water at an RV park. If there's potable water, we can all enjoy a few showers before moving on."
They saw the signs for the "Medicine Bow RV Resort" and turned off I25 at the indicated exit. The road was a well maintained 2-lane with several vacation homes in clumps but Winkle pushed for getting to their goal.
"We can always check each one out after we fill up our tanks and maybe take a few days just to recharge. I don't know about the rest of you but I'm mentally exhausted." She wanted a few days' down time with Bomber to get him back on his schedule.
Medicine Bow RV Resort
South of Douglas, WY
Penny stopped the coach in the middle of the road and shut down the diesel engine. She cracked her neck and then stepped down into the cold mountain air, shivered and quickly zipped up her bulky over-sized field jacket. Sheldon had ripped up a blanket and made 'scarves' for them all and now she was so glad they'd sacrificed the fleece.
"Okay, Bomber and I will take the fuel truck just past the entrance and set up a look out while you and Penny check out the few travel trailers that are there. Once we're sure we're alone, we'll bring up the coach and the fuel truck and park them out of sight from the road."
Winkle handed out instructions like a drill sergeant but it was just a formality. Penny carried the MP-5 and Sheldon carried a Mossberg shotgun. Both had their 9mm pistols and each had a grenade to be used only if they ran into big trouble.
The driveway ran up a fairly steep grade and then leveled out offering a breath taking view of the mountains that were the main topographical feature of the national forest. There was a large A-frame Chalet made of logs on the left with a restaurant and bar attached almost as an afterthought at an angle to the right. An old neon sign flickered on and off ironically flashing 'Vacancy' every few seconds.
"Power," murmured Penny. She'd pulled the scarf up over her mouth and nose. Sheldon muttered, "Stay put, Penny. I'm going to check the first travel trailer." He took out the radio and told them about the presence of power. Power meant people and people meant trouble nowadays. Winkle rested her SAW on the canvas cover of the truck and scanned the area.
The aluminum door to the travel trailer was unlocked and Sheldon stepped in, a flashlight in one hand – and came backed right out, almost falling off the rickety wooden steps and falling to his knees, vomiting. The door banged against the wooden railing and slammed shut.
He held up a hand and signaled Penny to stay where she was and got up, wiped his mouth with a handful of snow and then walked to the front of the trailer and shook each of the propane jugs. Both were empty.
He walked to the next trailer and Penny jogged up beside him. His face was pale and his eyes were watery.
"We'll need to burn it, Penny. I don't want any of you going inside. Just burn it." He walked briskly away and Penny finally answered Winkle.
"Something bad in the first trailer. Shel says to burn it after we check the rest and no one is to go inside."
Of the four units, only one had a full canister. They quickly unhooked it and set it in the middle of the paved lane. Penny went back to bring the coach up and Sheldon walked over to the 'Office' and looked through the glass, not wanting to go in alone. He was deathly afraid of what he might find.
Winkle had them park the coach and the fuel truck behind the restaurant in the employees' parking area. She and Penny did a quick walk around the resort complex, noting that there were laundry facilities and showers, both of which were very welcome.
"Did he say what was in the first travel trailer, Penn?" Winkle had stopped her after they walked out of the guest shower area, curious.
"No, but from his reaction…I don't wanna know, either. We'll just use the fuel truck to tow it out into a field and burn it."
The door to the Resort office area was unlocked and the two men walked into the lobby, impressed by its highly polished log beams and walls. It was like walking into another century. It was more like a hotel lobby than anything else, complete with a vintage registration desk. And everything was clean without the hint of dust. There were newspapers and magazines for sale and all pre-dated Thanksgiving.
While the girls backed them up, the men checked out the entire office area. It was empty but the computer at the desk was still displaying a screensaver and Bomber wondered aloud about the power source.
"We didn't see any power lines when we drove in so it must be an on-site source but then I don't hear a generator, either. Let's clear this place and then the restaurant and bar.
Next: There goes the neighborhood