Jack caught Sally as she went limp against him. He picked her up and strode into their room, placing her gently on the bed. He hesitated, worried, but she seemed to be breathing all right. Maybe she was just exhausted. He removed her boots and armor and covered her before leaving to keep the Tradewind on course for Tallaha Island.
Aaron left Carl periodically to check on Sally. He noticed when her breathing became rapid, her heart rate accelerated. Checking he found her temperature elevated also. He went out to tell Jack what he had found.
"Did you check her radiation level?", Jack asked.
"Should I? I didn't think we were exposed to any out here. Do you think that's what's wrong with her?", Aaron asked, confused.
"No, she told me she uses radiation to heal. Check her life signs on her Pip-boy. She keeps her rads just under the fatal level. If they're down you're going to have to expose her to rads." , he explained.
Aaron raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything as he went back to Sally. Her rads were halfway down the scale, indicating she was using them. The waters of the river had been cleaned of rads by the GECK, and they had stocked the Tradewind with purified water, but out here the ocean was still radiated. He just needed to get some of the ocean water on board but he couldn't give it to her to drink with the high salt content and he didn't really want to bathe her continually in it either. Where was he going to get fresh radiated water out here? Maybe there was some in the stocks they had taken from the Sea Grate.
Jack was worried. He wanted to go to Sally to see how she was but he had a responsibility to his ship and crew. They were towing the Sea Grate, and though she was towing well, she was damaged and he had to take care. He had sent the crew to get some sleep, all but Aaron who was watching over Carl and Sally. He had to stay on alert. He was grateful the weather had held. The night was balmy with a gentle breeze. He watched the stars and the sea and waited for morning.
Aaron found old, radiated food and water in the hold where they had stored some of the booty from the Sea Grate. He took the water and a pair of radiation gloves. He was going to have to undress and bathe Sally and he couldn't afford to irradiate himself at the same time. It was going to be a long night.
The crew rose with the dawn. Bill prepared breakfast for all of them while the men went to check on their duties. Mike would take Jack's place and Dawson would look after the invalids so Jack and Aaron could get some well- earned rest. Jack ate his breakfast at the control console and waited impatiently for Mike to relieve him. Aaron reported that Carl was healing surprisingly well though Sally still cycled in and out of her healing process. Jack observed that all the men seemed to be healing at a rapid rate, including himself. The cut on his arm wasn't even bothering him this morning and he hadn't taken any more stimpacks. It still looked red and angry but it wasn't hurting.
Finally Jack was able to go to their cabin. Sally lay quietly, not moving. Her breathing was rapid, her heart rate and temperature accelerated. He sat down beside her on the bed and checked her Pip-boy. The radiation level was only a quarter way up the gauge but her life signs were stable if high. He slid on a pair of radiation gloves to bathe the still figure.
Red strands came away in his hand as he brushed her hair back from her face. He brushed at her hair and pulled loose the last of the golden red strands, now dull and lifeless in his hand. He pulled off a glove and ran his hand over her scalp, feeling the fuzz of new growth. He could see the shine of bright new hair, already nearly half an inch long, a silvery light blonde with shades of pale pink here and there. He studied her face. It was surely rounder, more pixie like than it had been the day before. Her skin seemed a shade darker, as though she were tanning, and her freckles a shade lighter. He pulled the blanket down and studied her scars. They had nearly faded away. Sally was definitely changing, and rapidly. He pulled the glove back on and began to bathe the still figure.
Aaron came in a while later and checked on Sally.
"I don't know what changes she's going through, but I think she's getting dehydrated. She must be using a lot of resources and energy.", he said to Jack. "I think we have some saline packs in the infirmary. I'm going to get them. I'm pretty sure they have rads in them too, they're from before the war, maybe that'll help."
Jack agreed. Something had to be done. Her rads had fallen faster than he could bring them up and she still wasn't waking up.
Aaron brought Dawson back with him. Carl was healing well and appeared to be out of danger so he felt confident he could leave him alone for a few hours. He showed Dawson how to adjust the drip, then left him to watch Sally. He needed sleep.
"You need sleep too, Captain.", he said. "It's not going to do her any good to sit here and watch her. You can't do anything Dawson can't do for her. You need to be alert when she wakes up." Jack sighed. Aaron was right.
"Alright", he agreed. "I'll be sleeping in Hawk's room. If she wakes you've got to get me right away."
"Of course", Dawson said.
Jack went to Hawk's room and found the boy there. He had forgotten he had told one of the men to put the boy in here.
"Hey, captain", the boy said cautiously.
"Hey, boy.", he responded wearily. He lay down on the huge mattress.
"Is this your room?", the boy asked curiously. "Why is everything so big?"
"No, it's not my room.", Jack answered, his eyes closed. "It was made for a friend. He's a super mutant, so it has to be big."
"Oh,", the boy responded, eyes wide. "You have a super mutant for a friend? Can I see him?"
"No", Jack growled, eyes still closed. "He isn't here. Now leave me alone, boy, I need some sleep."
"Why don't you sleep in your room?", the boy asked.
"Because my wife is sick and the doctor's with her there. Now go read a book or something.", he snapped.
"The scary woman is your wife?", he asked. Jack peeked open an eye.
"Yeah, I guess she is pretty scary. She scares me.". he sighed. In fact she terrified him at the moment. What if she didn't survive whatever changes she was undergoing? Damn the kid anyway. He turned his back to the kid and closed his eyes again.
The boy wandered over to the closet where he had found the books.
"Why are there so many books here if this room is the super mutant's?" , he asked.
"Because he likes to read. Now quit asking so many questions or I'm gonna have you put in the brig!", Jack growled.
"I can't read.", the boy said. "But, okay, I'll just look at the pictures in this book.", he added hastily as Jack began to growl. Finally Jack could get some sleep.
It was just after noon by the time Jack woke. He had slept less than four hours. The boy was curled at the end of the mattress, napping soundly. A child's first reader lay open beside him. Hawk must have found it and not made the trip to take it to the library yet. Jack made a mental note to give it to the boy when he left the ship. The remains of a meal assured him one of the crew had taken care of the kid.
He went first to check on Carl. Aaron was awake and sitting with him.
"Hey, Aaron, how's he doing?', he asked.
"His wounds seem to be healing really fast. Look here, there's hardly any sign of where the bullets went in. But he isn't coming to. I'm not sure what to make of it. I don't think we gave him that much anesthesia. He's breathing all right though, and doesn't seem to be in any distress, so I guess we just have to wait and see.", Aaron said thoughtfully,
Jack nodded. "Well, just do what you can for him.", he said. "I'm going to go check on Sally."
Dawson still sat by Sally's side.
"Hey, Dawson", Jack said. "How is she?".
"She hasn't changed any I could tell in the last hour.", he said. "But at least she's moving now. She seems to be getting restless."
"Good. I'll be on deck or taking stock of the supplies if you need me. Let me know if she seems to be waking up. Did you have lunch?", Jack asked. Dawson nodded, so Jack left to check out any damage or work that needed attending to.
He took care of making assignments and checking on the Sea Grate then returned to his cabin.
"Hey, Dawson,", he said. "I'm going to be working on my books here for a while. Why don't you get some sleep so you can take part of the watch tonight?" Dawson observed the tired, drawn face of his captain.
"Yes, sir", he said, leaving for the crew's quarters.
The afternoon passed slowly. Jack worked on the books, listing the damages and repairs, the objects lost and booty gained. He wrote up the affair with the Sea Grate, listing as closely as he could the names of the dead men from the roster he had taken from the damaged ship. He checked on Sally every few minutes, observing the continual changes. Other than keeping up her rads there didn't seem to be anything he could do for her. It was getting on to dark when Dawson returned to see if Jack needed help with Sally. He hadn't come out for dinner.
Jack went to take his place at the helm, relieving Mike to get his dinner and get some rest. Dawson would take the early guard. He left Aaron to watch over Sally. He would also have to keep checking on Carl to make sure his condition stayed stable. Bill and Fred had already retired to the crew's quarters. They seemed unusually tired. Jack felt pretty exhausted himself. It was going to be another long night.
"Aaron." Aaron looked up from where he was sitting by Carl's side. It couldn't be midnight yet, he thought. He was concerned about Carl as he had developed a fever and was very restless even though he was unconscious. Mike stood in the doorway.
"Hey, Mike, what's wrong?", he asked, taking in the man's strained face. He found it was hard to raise his head to look at Mike. He wasn't feeling well. His head was splitting and every muscle in his body seemed to ache and he felt feverish.
"We're all sick.", Mike said. "Fever, headache and muscle aches. I'm going back to sleep but I thought I should tell you."
"All of you?", Aaron asked.
"Yeah, I checked. The others have passed out already. You don't look so good yourself.", he mumbled.
"Go back to bed.", Aaron said. "I'll take a look in later." Mike nodded and stumbled off.
Aaron drug himself up and slowly made his way up to where the captain was leaning heavily over the operating console. He didn't look good either.
"Captain", he croaked. "It's not just Sally. Everyone is sick. You look like you have it too."
Jack nodded. "I really feel awful. What do you think this is, Aaron?"
"I don't know, we could have picked up something from the pirates or at our last stop. Flu is always a concern and there have been some pretty bad ones around. I can't go much more though. What should we do?", he asked foggily.
Jack made an immediate decision. "Our sails are already down since so many crew members are out. I had them take them down when Mike told me everyone was getting sick and I had to send Dawson off to bed. He was practically out on deck. I'm cutting power and dropping anchor. We can't go into port when we might be carrying a disease. If we stopped at an island like this they'd kill us all and burn our ships. We're too far from Baton Rouge to make it. You go on to bed. I'll take care of securing the ship and then I'm going to have to crash too. We're just going to have to take our chances, there's nothing else we can do."
Aaron groaned. "What about the kid?"
"God, the kid.", Jack groaned. "Can you take care of him while I take care of the Tradewind?"
Aaron nodded and left, stumbling slightly. His muscles felt like someone had beaten him with a sledge. Twice.
The boy looked up as the door opened. The big man he knew was Aaron was standing in the doorway with a large carton. He placed it in the room then left and returned with another. Altogether he left 4 large cartons.
"What's going on?", the boy asked as Aaron placed the last carton on the floor.
"Listen, kid,", Aaron croaked. "You've a right to know. You don't seem to be sick but everyone else on board is. We don't know what it is. I can't let you out because we don't know you and don't know if you'll try to kill us all while we're down. I've left you enough food and water here for a month. That's more than enough to keep you until someone finds you if we all die. This trade route's pretty well travelled and someone should come along in a couple of weeks."
"But I…." the boy started to say, but the door closed and he heard the click of the lock. The big man had looked really awful. He went over to inspect the supplies. There was indeed enough food and water though some of it didn't look very tasty. At least he had books and some holo tapes he had found in the locker.
Jack completed the task of putting the Tradewind on auto and making sure she was as secure as he could then made his way slowly to his cabin. He crawled into bed beside Sally and fell into a restless sleep. The night was calm and balmy, the ship still in a sea as smooth as glass. The weather was holding.
The next day dawned warm and clear with little breeze. No crew member rose to greet the beautiful day. Only the boy watched the coming and going of the sun as the day passed. The ship was still and silent. He wondered if the others were still alive. Maybe he was all alone on a death ship. He curled up on the huge bed of the big mutant's as the day gave way to night and tried to sleep, his head under the covers as though he could shut out the darkness around him.