"...that many of you have been living in fear, fear of the virus, fear of each other, fear of the unknown. There have been people who have taken advantage of that. Despicable rumors and misleading videos have been broadcast from this network, lies designed to manipulate you, to make you believe that this ship and the people on it are your enemies. Nothing could be further from the truth. The men and women on this ship are some of the bravest, noblest that I have ever met, and it is an outrage, that their commitment to bring us all the cure has been undermined by those who thrive on your fear. I can tell you now that we do have a cure for the red flu. Attached to this message is a video where you can see for yourself our doctor attending and curing patients sick with the virus. It is our mission now to spread this cure to as many of you as we can."
She was humbled by the video that the President put out and gave her such credit in. She was glad he was doing what he could with the resources they had including valkyrie and her network. Val had set it up, so that Rachel's own computer could receive these messages as well. It was not particularly hard, because she did have a bluetooth computer, that was Val's response anyway. She liked Val. And she liked having someone else around who she could talk to.
When Val had asked about the guard, Rachel told her the truth, to which Valerie was surprisingly cool with. At least she understood, doing things that had to be done. And when Val asked further questions, it was nice to have a female experience onboard who could understand. It made her feel lighter.
Since they were going to be healing this great nation, in less than forty eight hours, she and Val had some work to do. Her guard let Val in and then escorted them both to the Mess Hall where there was a crowd of people already gathered. It was mostly officers: Mike, Kara, Burk, Danny, and Wolf, whom would give most of the instruction to the enlisted. And then of course, Tex in the back too.
"On each phone is an app, just press the eagle and it'll take you right in," Val started the presentation as she gave out the phones that she had.
"You hit the icon, the first thing you'll see is a photo of immune leader, Kevin MacDowell, number three under the Ramseys, one of their founding members, came to America months ago, started the movement here," Slattery informed his captive audience, "He's still at large, Last seen in Florida,"
Burk spoke up, "Are we expecting him to be in Vicksburg?"
"Unlikely. He maintains the ability to communicate over the deadman network. So he can still cause trouble." Slattery continued. "Dr. Scott?"
She nodded to him and gave it just a second as the faces all looked to her.
"With a wide radio call, we've hopefully given a large enough number of people enough time to make it to the port," She told them. "As we pull into shore, you'll all be given booster shots to compliment the vaccinations already running through your bodies. Within an hour, these boosters will make you vessels for the contagious cure."
Just saying that. She thought it was a miracle.
"For how long?" Tex asked.
That was a very good question. One that she was about to answer, but it was still good to get audience participation. Meant that they were listening to the words she was saying. And for it to be Tex, well, that was pretty nice too. She smiled even bigger.
"You'll be contagious for five to eight days. During which time, it is imperative that you pass it on to as many people as possible, who will then have five to eight days to do the same, and then so on." She told her audience. "We need a minimum of ten thousand people at each stop to sufficiently spread the cure across these sections of the country,"
"What about dropping the cure from the sky? Didn't you find a way to make the aerosol work?" Danny asked.
She blew out a breath, "I did," She told him. "Unfortunately, I only have a limited supply, perhaps not even enough for the crowd the size that I am hoping for. So the contagious cure really is our best hope."
"Okay, so we make port, and then we go breathing on anyone we can find?" Wolf asked. It sounded wrong when he said it, but that was essentially the idea. Someone with the contagious cure breathing on someone who didn't, it would give them the cure.
"The cure is in the sweat on your bodies and the moisture in your breath," She explained. "In order to maximize the chance of successful transmission-"
She looked around the room, and Miller was the closest person to her. He would be a fine subject. "Would you be so kind?" She asked him as she gave him her hand in order to pull him up to the front of the room.
He got up and joined her, a little skittishly. But she provided him an easy way in while providing the group instruction, "You shake the target's hand, you bring them in gently," She said as she looked out to the crowd. "Within six inches, you breathe normally but forcefully, for about five seconds while you're still holding their hand and maintaining eye contact," She did exactly as she instructed the group to do.
This caught Miller in an uncomfortable position, as he blushed, "I'm sorry for the onions,"
Everyone in the group snickered a bit. It was the perfect way to end her presentation. "You try to make it as natural and as friendly as possible," She said with a smile, while she gently patted Miller's cheek, "Thank you so much," She said and he whisked back to his seat, quickly, as he was the butt of the current joke.
"Equally effective would be taking a drink and sharing it with them," She went back to the group, quickly. Tex admired her ability to pivot. She'd probably done presentations like this a thousand times before. Must have done one in order to get her funding and ride to the arctic to get the primordial, the reason they were all alive. She took the top of a bottle and took a swig, "If they drink any small amount and your saliva mixes, then you are good to go,"
"I guess kissing would work, too. You didn't mention that," Tex said with a bit of a smirk. The whole room looked between them.
She gave him a withering glare, but it wasn't filled with anger. It was filled with frustration. Of course, once she mentioned saliva, he had to take his shot. They were together. This was friendly. It was nothing.
She gulped and nodded. "Oh, for sure. Kissing could be a way to go if you're up for it and can get written consent," She said with a devilish smile. She could play games too. If he was going to. And he adored that she was so up for it.
"Now, one important thing to mention," She told them, quickly getting back to being the serious lady that she was. "You can only get the booster shot once. So if the chain of immunization is broken and we don't successfully spread the contagious cure, we don't get another chance," It was a grave message, but an important one. She hated to leave it on that downer, but there wasn't much else to say.
Everyone but Tex and her guard left shortly thereafter, and he smiled. "You are an excellent orator, princess," He told her as he held her at the waist. "I've never gotten to tell you how proud I am of you. But I am. I am so proud of you." He said and he gave her a kiss that spread warmth through his bones and lit a smile up to his eyes.
When they pulled back, there was a smile on her face too. "Just practicing, I see?" They both laughed a little. "Come on, we should go see the river," She said as she took him by the hand and took him to the open air decks.
The open air decks weren't that much. It wasn't like a cruise ship where there were waterslides and pools and all that. No. It was mostly landing zones for helicopters and other sorts of planes. But you could smell the fresh air and feel the wind on your skin. That was enough to make it special.
The guard stood well behind her. Many people were milling about too. When they had time, they were pretty much always allowed up here, except for a landing.
She'd been looking out a pair of binoculars for awhile, while Tex chatted with a few of the guys. When he was ready, he came back over to her. She still hadn't lost the guard.
"The Mississippi. Snipers every six feet. Bet you Mark Twain didn't go up the river with sentries," He said as he looked at the kind of thing they were actually doing.
She shook her head and took the binoculars away from her eyes, "Not even close,"
"Commodore still keeping a guard on you," He said as he looked to the guy who stood a good distance behind her but was still looking directly at her and whatever she was doing.
While his word had been lessened. It was still proactive. If she were going somewhere that wasn't her lab or her quarters, she had to have a guard present to make sure that she was doing her business and then getting back to one of those two rooms. She had been able to go get her meals, but the guard took her plate, and someone roaming would take it back.
She decided it wasn't the worst thing in the world.
"He is nothing if not a man of his word," She replied.
"You can say that again," He told her. He shifted his feet as she put the binoculars back to her face. He waited until they came down again.
When they did he saw the concern on her face and damn, this was not going to be an easy conversation. It was never going to be. But he knew that she had to be here. She had to be the face of the cure. She couldn't be anywhere else but here. And she still had a few more days of the cure left running through her body. She could quite literally still cure millions.
But he had a different priority. One that she knew about, but that they rarely talked about. It was hard to talk about. He loved his daughter and he wanted to tell Rachel all about her, but he felt like shit having to leave her out in the world with just her mother to protect her from this plague. He didn't even know if they were still alive.
"Look, once we land, I'm going to go find them. In Jackson," He told her. It felt like a stone had fell to the the bottom of his heart, but there it was.
Them. The immortal them. Kathleen and her mother. They were important to him. It was important for him to go find them. To find his family. To have a family at all.
She nodded. "Of course," She said but it came out strained.
She wished that she could go with him. That they could find Kathleen together. She saw the little sparkle in his eye in the rare times that he did talk about Kathleen. She was good for him. He loved his daughter so much. And she wished she could go with him.
But being the scientist spokesperson of the President of the United States, well that was admittedly important too. And he wasn't begging her to go with him. Just informing her that he needed to go find them.
He looked down at his shoes and back up to her. He was a man and he was just talking. It was important to let her know what he needed. "Thing is, you said the booster lasts only five, six days. I was thinking I could bum a couple of the old-fashioned shots, in case I don't find them by then," He said.
Her heart felt lighter. This ask, it didn't mean forever. He was just asking for the cure. They weren't breaking up. Which meant it couldn't be forever. He would have to come to her at least once more and tell her something more. She smiled as she looked at him. "I think that can be arranged," She said as she nudged him with her shoulder.
He nudged her with his shoulder too. And it was back to normal. They were just two people who really liked each other on a ship, ready to save the world. And they were ready for Vicksburg. She pointed her binoculars at the point that the city should be coming up, eager to see the size of the crowd that they had rustled up.
"It's not enough," She told Tex, handing him the binoculars, so that he could see for himself. "It's not nearly enough,"
Tex went inside to help people get ready while she still looked at the miniscule crowd out of the binoculars. He told her not to. But the damn woman wouldn't listen to him on the subject. And he had to go. Go find Kathleen and her mother.
Tom approached him and Tex stood up from fiddling with the gear that he was helping with. "If things are going south, I can stick around," He said. It was a genuine offer. It's not like he didn't have anything here. Rachel was going to be with them for awhile, since she and the president were the two most visible faces of the cure, and well, she had gotten it.
"Find your girl, Tex," Tom told him.
Tex clasped Tom's hand and shook it with vigor. "Meet me in St. Louie, Louie," He said, with a half hearted smile. It was hard to leave. But it would always be hard to leave. It was one of the reasons that he wanted to find Kathleen in the first place, so that he could find a place for them altogether.
When he got off the ship, he found an old motorcycle that would do just fine for him. It had a little bit of gas and there was even a gas station that was working nearby. Then he got on the road. He'd said a half hearted goodbye to Rachel, but it wasn't good enough. He knew it. But he couldn't say a full goodbye to her. He didn't want it to be goodbye. He never wanted it to be goodbye with her.
It took about an hour to get to Jackson, he knew the last whereabouts that Claire had taken Kathleen. It was a little outside of the city limits, but he liked it. It was the kind of place that was very different from Reno. A place where you had to have some grit to really keep up.
He was greeted by a man with a loaded shotgun aimed at him. "Stop right there, Easy rider," The man said. Tex did what he was told, but that didn't seem to satisfy the man. "Turn around and go back where you came from," The gun was still held high. And then he cocked it.
"Not gonna tell you twice," The man's voice had a deep menace to it.
Tex took his sunglasses off and placed them on the bill of his hat, to try and make himself less intimidating. "I'm looking for my daughter," He explained, "Kathleen. And her mother, Claire Nolan. You know where they are?"
The man immediately pulled his rifle down and gave Tex the twice over. "So, you're Ken."
"Yep," Tex said as he nodded his head. He got off the bike. "My friend's call me Tex," He told the man. Anyone who was taking care of his daughter was a friend to him.
"I'm Court," The man said as he let Tex approach. "Claire and Kat were staying here with me."
"Were?" Tex asked. "Where are they?"
"Kat hear about that ship with the cure." Court laughed at the whole thing, "I talked her out of it for a day and a night, but she said she had to find out for herself. It's too late to catch that stop in Vicksburg, so she took off, heading towards Memphis."
"And Claire?"
Court tipped his head towards the inner workings of the farm and started out that way. Curious as to what that had to do with Claire, Tex followed him. It didn't take but three minutes to get to the grave marker, but he saw it and it was suddenly clear what had happened to Claire.
"Looters came in the night about three months ago. I thought a raccoon had got in the kitchen. Claire was the first down the steps. It was quick, but she managed to warn us. I had my hands full with the guys in front. Kat ran to my room, hauled this old shotgun out of my closet, held it at her waist like I taught her, and fired point blank through the door. She got the rest of those fellas as they were coming in,"
Court explained all of it while Tex bent down to look at Claire's grave. The mother of his child was dead. Just like that. In the time that he had been at sea, she had been dead. His child had been an orphan, relying on the kindness of Court to help her along. He picked some dirt up in his hand and looked at it. Claire was gone. Kathleen didn't have a mother. And hadn't for three months. God damn, this disease and what it did to people, it was just so fucking miserable. It put into focus that nothing mattered if the cure did not get spread.
"That girl of yours, she's got a hell of a heart," Court said. Tex could hear the smile in his voice, but he was still looking at the dirt.
He took one more fine look and said goodbye. Claire was gone. She was good to him while it lasted and then she was good to Kathleen, and that was all that really mattered to him.
"Still a hail mary call to that ship. I told her not to go. I mean how do you know if it's real or not?" Court asked.
Tex understood the hesitation of the man. It wasn't exactly easy to know what was going on now. But Tex knew the truth. And that he could give to Court. He could also give him the cure. "It's for real," He said, before taking the man's hand and then looking him in the eyes and doing just as Rachel had told him this morning on the boat. He did it, just like he had seen her take Mase and Ophelia's hand too. "We got to start spreading it,"
And then they walked away from Claire's grave and back to the road. Where he would find his motorcycle and head up to Memphis. Court insisted that he stay the night. And he wasn't in any real position to deny the man who had helped his daughter. As much as he wanted to get to Memphis, it was pretty late to travel, and a lone motorcyclist was a prime meal for looters in the middle of nowhere, Court told him. Kathleen would be alright for the night on her own.
In the morning, he made quick work of breakfast, before he said goodbye to Court and headed on out. Court was a nice man, someone he hoped he would see again. He would have to stop to get gas eventually, but the ride was sweet.
It was cool air and serene landscapes of the American west. The hills loped for a couple of hours, before he decided that a break would be in his near future. When he made it to the gas station, he turned off the bike and got off with every intention of just filling up and leaving. But it was quiet. Too quiet for a place like this, he thought, and before he pulled the lid to his tank, he looked up and saw why.
Everyone had blood on them. Not like virus blood. But blood on them. Some had obviously been shot. Others less obvious. He pulled his gun from the holster and held it in front of him, in case whoever did this was still on the premises.
He searched slowly, determined to find something. And then a voice.
"Stay away from me,"
"Stay back"
He went further in, looking for the voice. It was a man on the ground like all the others, only he was alive being the biggest difference. And he didn't have the worst wounds of the bunch.
"Stay away from me. I'm sick."
"Who did this?" Tex asked, his gun still up. "They still around?"
The man shook his head and Tex holstered his weapon. That was one small mercy for this place, he thought. He wished that he had got there sooner, he could have maybe helped, but who knows what would have happened.
"Tell me what happened," Tex said in a soothing voice, as he place his fingertips, his palms gloved for the bike, onto the man's face.
"Immunes," The man coughed out, "They grabbed me back in Tallahassee and brought me here,"
That sounded about right for immunes. Tex looked around and found a bottle of water, took the cap off, took a big swig and then gave a drink to the man. "All the way from Florida, huh? How many?" He asked. This was all vital information that he would have to relay to the James if he could get it back there.
"They got a truck full of sick people. Maybe eight, ten guys."
Tex knew the man hadn't cared about his bullet wound before, but he would now, now that he could be cured. Tex looked around and found a jacket laying on a cabinet and stuffed it under the man's hand. He winced, but it was better than nothing being between his hand and the wound. Rachel had taught him some basic medical knowledge in her off time, sort of by osmosis, since she was so passionate about the subject.
"They stopped here for gas, forced me to walk around, try to expose the virus to everybody," He gasped out. He was really doing a lot for Tex even if he didn't know it. "They fought back. The immunes took care of them the old fashioned way. I got caught in the crossfire."
And then it dawned on Tex just where this was going. "Where were they taking you?"
"Memphis," The man replied. His theory confirmed.
Tex thanked the man, told him that he would be okay. That if he took care of that wound and rested that he would feel better in no time, that he had the cure and hopefully it wouldn't take too long to start kicking in. He got his gas and relayed the information about Memphis, everything that he could to the Nathan James through his cell phone and then he was on his way to Memphis too. He had to try and meet up with the James there.
Everyone was abuzz in the lab, making their part of the aerosol while Rachel supervised. They had been so busy with the contagious cure, that the aerosol had not even been yet made. So everyone was working as hard as they could, including Bacon, who provided them the cornstarch and was sifting it, making sure that it was as fine as it could be, in order to avoid clumping, which would make it less effective.
"This is enough for how many?" Tom asked.
"It should blanket an area of half a square mile," Rachel informed him as they walked toward the progress being made. "Depending on the winds and how concentrated an area the people are packed into. Given our limited supply we'll have one chance," She told him gravely. She didn't ant him to underestimate just how much of a risk it would be to do this all at once. "How many people are we expecting this time?"
"Just give me everything you've got"
"This is the last of it," She reiterated to him.
The answer was still the same though. He wanted all of it.
Tex got to the college in Memphis where the meeting was planned before the Nathan James, something that he was sort of glad for. It gave him time to look for Kathleen before hooking back up with them. He shouted her name at the top of his lungs, looking for her in the crowd. Court said that this was where she would be, so he did it over and over and over.
Eventually he found someone with a megaphone and asked if he could borrow it before grabbing it out of the guy's hand. The guy didn't seem to mind that much. And he shouted her name into the megaphone twice, before he found a truck that he could stand on and shout some more. It felt sisiphysian almost, but he would do it. He would.
He wanted her. He wanted to find his little girl.
"Dad!"
A hop in the crowd caught his eye and there she was. His little girl. The weight on his heart had been lifted. She was alive. And she was there. He got off the truck and they raced to each other, the distance being easily closed.
"Kathleen!" He said as he heard her laugh and heard her cry. It was a tough moment. He gave her the biggest hug that he could think of, cradling her to his chest, thinking about all the moments that he had given up with her. And how he wouldn't give those up so easily now.
"Dad, mom…" He heard her cry. And he nodded. He knew because he felt it too. The emptiness that Claire left was deep, but they would get through it together. She came up and looked him up and down and then really looked at his face, studying it, like she was trying to commit it to memory. "I can't believe you're alive. I missed you so much,"
"Can you forgive me? Can you forgive me for not being there?" He asked as he looked at her too. He wouldn't give up his time on the Nathan James and finding Rachel who was the love of his life, except for Kathleen. It was his biggest regret that she had to deal with so much on her own. But that was not going to happen any longer.
When she nodded, he took her back into his arms and held her to his chest just a little bit longer. Because he had his baby girl. And she forgave him. And that was honestly something he didn't think he could have.
When he let her go, they milled about for a little bit, ultimately finding a spot on the other side of the courtyard, behind a car. He was still cautious, the cure was coming, but he knew that the immunes were going to be here too.
And then he saw something.
"Wait a second," He told Kathleen.
He got his cell phone out and went into the eagle app that Val had put on the phone. And just like they had promised, the first thing that came up was a picture of Kevin MacDowell. And that was him. That was the man he saw.
"Aw,hell." He muttered to himself. He looked to Kathleen. "You keep your head down," He said as he got the walkie function on. "All teams, this is Tex. I found MacDowell. He's here at the college. Shaved his beard. Six foot five. And the bastard is dressed like Navy," He told them. "I repeat, eyes on MacDowell, northeast corner of the campus. He has other fellas with him. I'm guessing that they're immunes, and they're all in digi blues. That guy was right. They're here to infect people with the virus."
"This is cobra team, headed northeast to intercept. I got eyes on more immunes. Also sporting Navy Blue. Stay tuned."
Tex pushed Kathleen to keep her head down and kept his gun out, killing a few of the guys who he knew weren't from the James.
He looked around at the panic and thought, they had to do something. He looked at Kathleen and took her hand, "Come with me," He told her, "Come with me,"
"Everybody stay where you are, the cure is coming," He and Kathleen repeated to as many people as they could. It wasn't effective to many people. Everyone was still panicked and driving themselves crazy because they couldn't get out, but what else could they do? All they had was their voice.
Still they tried as they ran through the crowd, trying to keep as many people calm and collected as they could. And they put their hands on as many people as they could, hoping and praying that if nothing else, that might be enough.
"Look" Kathleen shouted, as she spotted the helo in the air,
"Yes!" Tex shouted, proud of his girl, "That's the cure! All you have to do is breathe it in," He said and then people finally relaxed as the aerosol came over them. Everyone looked awed at the beauty of it.
Tex and Kathleen didn't get on the Nathan James with everyone from Cobra team. They were driving to St. Louis. But they were determined to be there. He told everyone to tell Rachel that he'd see here there, but to otherwise, let her focus on her work.
When they came in to St. Louis, Tom, Rachel and her obligatory guard came out onto the open air deck, to meet the president. He was looking out a set of binoculars, the same ones that Rachel wore around her neck, because she would like to see the size of the crowd too.
He took them down and sighed. "However this plays out, thank you both, for everything you've done to get us here," He said graciously.
They all waited for the moment and when they were close enough Rachel put the binoculars to her face, steeling her heart in case of another Vicksburg situation.
But when she took them away, she could clearly see it. It wasn't like Vicksburg at all. It was what it was supposed to be. There were tons of people in the crowd, who were whooping and cheering the ship on as it came into the harbor. It was fantastic.
Everyone on the boat cheered this momentous occasion. They had cause to celebrate. They were really doing this. It was happening. They had the numbers here to truly get it across a good section of the state. Rachel was absolutely beside herself.
Tom had a different reaction.
"You were right, Mr. President. This is the place," He told the president.
Everyone who was on the ship, got the boosters and went out into the crowd. They were shaking hands. They were sharing drinks. Hell, for most of the crew, it was the first time they saw land since shortly after the panic with the engines. Everyone was happy in the crowd, ready to receive their contagious cure.
Through the crowd, she heard a shout.
"Rachel,"
She looked, and there was Tex. With his girl. Kathleen.
"Hey, Rach!" He said and she rushed over to him, not being rude to people who wanted the cure, but not particularly caring at this moment about sharing it. There were enough people.
"Tex!" She said, delight evident in her voice. She looked to the girl, "And you must be Kathleen. I've heard so much about you," She told the girl.
The girl nodded. "That'd be me." She seemed a little nervous.
"I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to meet you," She said, wrapping the girl up in her arms. Kathleen was the person that he cared most for in the world. And as she took Kathleen in her arms, she understood why. It was such a deep bond that must share with her. Father and Daughter. She was happy that Kathleen had that. Rachel had never had any sort of bond with her own father, who was hard at the best of times, and indescribable at the worst.
Tex looked on with love in his eyes for both his girls. Seeing them hugging, starting to form a bond, well, that was just about what he wanted most in the world now. Was to have them both by his side for a very long time.
Rachel was the one that broke the hug, but she looked like she loved her right away. Like there was nowhere that she would rather be.
"My God, you're pretty," Rachel said as she looked at Kathleen.
Tex laughed. It was certainly true that he thought his daughter a beauty, but he didn't have a lot of beauty standards. "She takes after her mother," He said, and voice was a little sad. Rachel would have to ask him about her mother later, but now wasn't a good time. Now was about celebration and that was obviously something that brought him down.
When the President got up and swore his oath of office, there were some people that thought Rachel should stand with Tom and be above the crowd. She refused. She had just gotten Tex back and was not about to do something so formal without him. So she stood, with Tex and Kathleen in the crowd and watched. And it was glorious right from there. It felt like they had finally found hope. And a home.
The judge and her family quickly gathered up the crew of the Nathan James, the ones who didn't have formal outfits ready to go, and took them into their home and gave them some formal clothes. After all, there had to be a presidential ball and they couldn't go dressed just in jeans. They were guests of the President. They had to make a good impression. So Tex and Rachel dressed in borrowed finest and headed to the hotel ballroom, which had already been made up before any of them had arrived.
Of course, it didn't stop Rachel from doing a bit of work when she thought no one saw, but Tex did and he kept it to himself. The woman would not be stopped. And now she had other people to help her gather data.
They only got to share one dance before there were people at her ear.
Rachel looked at Tex and sighed, "I'm sorry, I've got to get this to Tom's room. He'll want it for the president."
He nodded. He really did understand. "This is our life now, you're the face of the cure, baby," He said before kissing her. "We'll go where you go," He promised her. He wouldn't let Kathleen leave his side. Not for awhile at least.
She got out of the ballroom and down the corridors where they were all given temporary quarters except, of course Ravit. Ravit had been given a room in the best hospital that they could find, one with physical and occupational therapists, that would hopefully make it possible for her to get some quality of life back. The hallways criss crossed and she looked to the right number. She needed number 33.
He was already at the room though, dressed in his handsome dress uniform.
"Beat me to it," She joked. "I was going to leave this under your door. Flying out first thing in the morning. Tex, Kathleen, and I. I wanted to make sure you got the epidemiological models for the president."
"Where you going?"
"First, Lincoln, Nebraska, fresh outbreak's been reported there. Most likely immune dead-enders," She told him. It was so nice that he was so worried about it. "Then toledo, sioux falls, then on west,"
"So the President ordered this?"
"He did," She said with a bit of a blush, "He also included me in his pardon. Hence no more guards. We're not on the ship, so it's not really up to you anymore."
"No, it isn't."
"Although, I have to say I am slightly disappointed." She told him, "I was kind of looking forward to seeing you squirm on the witness stand,"
He laughed. "I would have stood by my decision,"
"I would have counted on it,"
"But I would have given you a sterling character reference," He added. There was no malice anymore. They were back where they were supposed to be. They were friends. Friends who could joke about hard things. "Of course, you wouldn't have needed mine. You would have gotten 204 of those,"
They joked a little more and then she finally handed him the models that she was so desperate to give him just a little while earlier.
"I'll see you when I see you," She told him. Because she was not about goodbyes. And with Tom, it would always be more complicated than just that.
"Be safe," He told her. There was a comfortable silence, but a silence that bore that there was something else to say. And he finally did. "And when you get back, find me,"
She left to go to her and Tex's room, to get ready for bed, because while Tex was just coming as her boyfriend and protector, he didn't have much to get ready for in the morning, she definitely did. So she wanted to be rested. Plus, she couldn't pull him from a party. That was his place. He thrived on the energy and that's exactly what she wanted for him. A little happiness.
Tex, in the ballroom, was being asked to sing a sea shanty. Despite, not technically being a sailor, he had apparently learned quite a few of them over his time in the Nathan James.
"Alright," He said as he downed another shot and then cleared his throat. "I'm gonna need a little help with this one," He said as he started, "We'll be alright between the devil and the deep…"
Everyone helped him repeat the chorus several times, and then they went into the next part. And back again. Burk even put his own riff on the shanty, which was great for him. He loved it. And they all sang gleefully, having the grandest of time, no one would have heard a sound coming from outside that room at all.
As Rachel reached her room, there was a man in the hallway, he seemed friendly enough. "Hi," He said. "Are you the lady who made the cure?" He asked.
And then she noticed that there was something not right. Something in her gut told her that something was not right. But she was polite and as long as she could get this guy away and she could get inside the room, she would be safe. There was no need to panic. None at all.
"Yes," She said, trying to see him, but he was cloaked in the darkness.
"Can I get it?" He asked.
Such a confusing question. "Well, weren't you in the park earlier?"
"No, I missed the party," He said as he kept creeping closer to her.
She smiled and fiddled with the keycard in her hand, "Well, with so many people exposed, it's likely you caught it just walking into the hotel," She told him. But he kept coming closer.
"Still, I'd like to get it from you," He insisted, "For history and all,"
She didn't think in the long run, it would really make a difference, but he kept coming closer. She couldn't think with how close he was getting. It was like he was stalking some prey.
"How close do you have to be to get it?" He asked.
She pushed her hand out but still tried to be polite. "Uh, that's close enough," She told him. It wasn't what she recommended earlier, but this was not a normal case. This was someone that her gut told her was dangerous. And she didn't want him any closer.
"Yeah," He said, with a stupid smile on his face, "I think so,"
And then he shot her. Shot her at point blank range. And everything was going black. It was going black so quickly. She didn't remember to scream. She crumpled to the ground and the world was falling apart around her.
Doors opened quickly and it wasn't long before they got the sick son of bitch that had shot her. It was pretty clear. He was the only one with a loaded gun on the premises. And he got snatched up by the police.
Tom, who thought something might go wrong, was trailing the halls when he heard the gunshot and he ran towards it. He saw Rachel, crumpled on the ground and people around her, trying desperately to help, but not really knowing what to do. It was fine. He shooed them all away, making them call anybody to help, to get her to a hospital. To get Tex and Kathleen. He packed her wound and gently tried to get her to open her eyes, with firm but soft pats on her cheeks. She looked at him and her eyes were lost. They were open, but they weren't looking at him. They only saw him indirectly, like he was a chair. He was not a focus.
Tex and Kathleen were outside with the hospital van, waiting for Rachel, and Tom was the one carrying her. Tex breathed a little sigh of relief, but then he saw the extent of her wounds. A head injury, and a shot to the chest. A pretty major one. He hadn't gotten her heart, but it was only luck that he hadn't.
"We're here," Tex said as he got in the van with her. "We were going places. You can't stop that now,"
"Tex," She whisper groaned, "Tex, I love you. I'm scared." It came through bubbles of blood, but he knew that in this, this uncertain time, he would help her to the end of the earth.
He nodded. "I know baby, but it's gonna be okay,"