Alan raised his hand. “I do.”
“Good, hope you aren’t afraid of needles,” Quinton replied with a grin.
Malcolm had to admire the man’s balls, considering that Alan had propped his shotgun on the centre console, the barrel pointed straight at the doctor’s chest. None of it seemed to phase him and he acted like being forced at gunpoint to perform surgery at animal clinic was just another normal day.
They slipped back into silence, the only sound Craig’s laboured breathing and Alan indicating when to take a turn. It wasn’t long before they were pulling the wagon into the clinic parking lot and Malcolm sent up a silent prayer of thanks that the place appeared deserted. He pulled around back of the building, making sure they couldn’t be seen from the street.
“I’ll go in first, make sure the place is clear,” Malcolm said. “If I’m not out in twenty minutes, go back to the station, get the others and find somewhere else to do the surgery.”
“What about you?” Lorraine asked.
“If I’m not out here by then it means I’m dead so don’t worry about me,” he said grimly, checking his gun before climbing out. He shut the door quietly and went to the large steel doors at the back of the clinic. Locked. His training came back to him easily as he moved quickly and quietly around the building, keeping a lookout for any movement around him as he made his way to the next door. This one was just a simple metal door with a flimsy lock in the door knob. He looked around again, making sure he was alone and then brought the butt of the rifle down on the knob twice, knocking it to the ground.
He pushed the door open, gun trained on the dark hallway in front of him, waiting for anything to stir in the shadows. After a few moments of nothing, Malcolm entered the building and began a methodical search of the place. As far as he could see, the clinic was completely untouched.
Everything appeared to be in its rightful place. The supply room had shelves full of various medical supplies, everything neatly stacked and organized. The cabinets containing drugs were still locked up tight. The furniture in the exam rooms and offices was all upright. The lobby was spotless, the large glass doors and wall of windows facing the street still intact.
Malcolm glanced down at the main desk in the lobby, finding a stack of flyers announcing the opening of the clinic and he noticed the date. The place was set to open the day after he had made land on his boat. They had never had a chance to welcome anyone into this place and the locals had probably forgotten it was even here. Well, thank God for small miracles.
He went to the back of the clinic, locating the double steel doors in what seemed to be a loading area. There were a couple large gurneys in the corner, one big enough for a horse which, being a veterinary clinic, was probably exactly the animal it was meant to hold. The flyer had advertised the clinic as being able to treat all animals, including farm animals from the rural outskirts.
He opened the doors and took the smaller gurney outside, steering it to the back of the wagon. The others were already on the move, climbing out of the car and they loaded Craig onto the gurney, the young man trying to choke down his cries of pain.
“The place is clear,” Malcolm told them as they wheeled the gurney into the clinic, Alan shutting the doors behind him. “Nobody has been here. The place is completely stocked up, supply closet hasn’t been touched. The operating room is down this way.”
“We’re going to need lights for the surgery,” Quinton said. “Operating rooms don’t have windows, it’ll be dark as hell in there.”
“Alan and I can hold flashlights,” Malcolm offered but Quinton shook his head. “Not bright enough. I’m going to be digging around in this guy’s abdominal cavity. Plus I’m going to need one of you to manually pump the respirator during the surgery.”
“It’s a medical facility,” Lorraine pointed out. “It will have a backup generator in case of a power outage. We’ve just got to get it up and running.”
“Okay, you go find the back-up generator and get it going,” Quinton told Malcolm before turning to Lorraine. “Find a transfusion kit and get our donor tapped. I’ll set up the surgical tray and the anaesthesia.”
The man’s confident tone made it clear that the operating room was his realm. Still, Lorraine and Alan were Malcolm’s people and they looked to him, hesitating to obey the stranger until Malcolm nodded his approval.
Malcolm went to the door but hesitated before leaving, turning to face Quinton, shining his flashlight in his eyes. “Don’t do anything stupid. I see you running out of here and I’ll shoot you.”
Quinton threw up an arm to block out the light, grimacing at Malcolm. “Yeah, I got it. Bullet in the back of the head. We’ve already been over this.”
Then he turned his back to Malcolm, going to the wheeled monitors tucked in the corner and beginning to move them to the table.
Malcolm figured that sign of vulnerability was good enough. Besides, they still had his sister as leverage and that was enough insurance to get Malcolm to leave the operating room. He had a generator to find.
He went through the doors, nearly knocking over Lorraine, who was rushing back with an armful of various medical supplies. She let out a terrified yelp, the supplies flying out of her arms to scatter across the floor. Malcolm grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her and she clasped a hand to her throat, taking several deep breaths.
“Sorry to scare you, darling.”
“It’s okay, I wasn’t paying attention,” she replied with a shake of her head before her gaze dropped to the floor and she saw the mess on the floor. “Oh dammit! I’m such an idiot. I was in a hurry and now some of this may be contaminated. Such a stupid mistake!”
She dropped to her knees to pick up the supplies and Malcolm kneeled down to help her. He noticed her hands were trembling and he reached out to lightly grip her wrist and she froze. Fear was etched clearly on her face and he knew this wasn’t from the scare he had given her a moment ago.
“Craig will be okay, Lorraine,” he reassured her. “With you and the doctor helping him, he’ll make it through this, I know he will.”
“It’s my fault this happened.” Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper. “I’m the reason he got shot.”
“Don’t be crazy, some asshole shot him, that’s not your fault.”
“No, it is,” she said, a tremor entering her voice. “When those men showed up, they told us that they would be willing to let us go on one condition. All we had to do was leave behind the truck, our weapons, everything we had taken…and me. Craig said we’d leave everything but me and they said that wasn’t the deal. They said they would just take what they wanted and that’s when everyone started shooting.”
Malcolm felt bile rise in his throat at the thought of what those men wanted with Lorraine. Christ, what had become of their world and the people in it? Order lost and within a few weeks they were already kidnapping women.
“If I had just gone with them, none of this would have happened,” she whispered, her voice cracking as tears began to fall.
“Lorraine, it’s not your fault. Craig did the right thing. You never give up one of your people,
ever
. Every last shred of blame lies with those motherfucking assholes out in the streets. Don’t you dare feel guilty for one more second.”
“This is the second time he’s put himself in harm’s way for me. I never would have made it out of our apartment building if it wasn’t for him. I don’t understand why he keeps risking himself for me, I don’t deserve it.”
“Well, sounds to me like Craig thinks you deserve it and as much as I think he can be a cocky, immature kid, I’m willing to admit he’s smart. I don’t know you too well but from what I’ve seen, I think you deserve it too. Don’t be so hard on yourself, all right?”
She nodded and took a shaky breath while she wiped away her tears. He passed her the rest of the supplies and they both stood up.
“Now you’ve got to put this out of your mind. Craig is going to need you to be clear headed for the surgery,” he said, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze and she nodded, sniffling delicately.
“Good, now go help our boy in there,” he said and waited for her to disappear into the operating room before he went searching for the generator. It took opening and closing several doors before he found the utility closet with a compact generator tucked in the corner. He crossed his fingers as he threw the switch, holding his breath until he heard the sweet sound of the ventilation system kicking in.
He walked out into the hallway to see the emergency lights shining and he followed them back to the now brightly lit operating room. Craig lay on the operating table, several blue sheets draped over him, leaving the gunshot wound exposed. Alan was seated in a desk chair next to him, Lorraine pressing a needle into his arm. Quinton had donned surgical scrubs and cap, the mask dangling around his neck as he turned on several machines next to the table.
“Good work on the power,” Quinton said. “Ventilator and heart monitor are up and running.”
Malcolm watched as Quinton went over to a wheeled table that had several trays set out on it and began to sort through the equipment that was on them. Malcolm went over to him, his eyes narrowing as he closed the distance between them.
“Your ID said you’re a surgical resident,” Malcolm said watching Quinton lay out several different sized scalpels on a tray. “You actually performed this surgery?”
“This will be my sixteenth surgery on a GSV, my third as lead,” he replied, continuing to sort through the equipment, putting what he needed on the tray. “I’m used to doing this in a fully functional human hospital but the concept is still the same. I get the bullet out and then stitch him all back together.”
“Simple as that?”
Quinton shrugged. “I know what I’m doing.”
“I need you to understand something,” Malcolm said and he waited until Quinton’s attention turned away from the equipment and was fully on him. “That man over there took a bullet so Lorraine wouldn’t be taken by a bunch of rapists. In my books, that makes him a hero and we take care of heroes.”
“Look, I get it. This guy, he is important to you. I know that if he dies on my table, you’ll kill me and my sister. That’s enough motivation, I don’t need you breathing down my neck every single damn second. So back the fuck off and let me work.”
Quinton glared at Malcolm, eyes sparking with a fiery defiance. Malcolm felt momentarily guilty that the doctor believed they would execute him and his sister if Craig died. Malcolm had been more focused on the doctor betraying them, he hadn’t thought about what would happen if Craig didn’t make it. He knew he wouldn’t kill a man who had at least tried but if the possibility was good motivation for the doctor, he wasn’t going to take it away.
“Let’s just get this over with, Doc,” he said before retreating to a stool in the corner where he could silently watch the operation.
Subject File # 750
Administrator - Trust has become a very important commodity in this world.
Subject - Hard to come by too.
Administrator - And yet you have the group.
Subject - I’m lucky. We’re all lucky. Besides, trust is a hell of a lot easier to gain when you’re fighting for your lives together.
When the others had left the sheriff’s station, things had remained tense between Veronica and the men, silence reigning as they kept their weapons trained on each other. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, it could have been an hour or five minutes, but Jose let out a tired sigh and lowered his gun.
“I will leave the stand offs to the young,” he said, taking a seat in one of the desk chairs and stretching his arms over his head. “My knees are too old for it. Besides, I have no intention of shooting you, dear, so no reason to keep it pointed at you.”
Travis gave her a once over, as if to consider her potential to cause damage. He obviously found her wanting since he joined Jose, pulling up his own chair and resting his gun across his lap. Despite their disarmament, Veronica kept her gun trained on them. They could be sincere but it could just as easily be a trick to get her to lower her guard.
Besides, she had no intention of moving an inch. Claudia was still clinging to her leg and though she had remained silent and still throughout all of this, Veronica didn’t want to chance moving away from her.
The men had begun to converse in low tones and she strained to catch what they were saying.
“Ana is going to be beside herself when we come back with Craig in that state,” Jose said, shaking his head. “She’s not going to let me come out on these runs anymore.”
“I’m sure you can reason with her. We’ve got to get supplies.”
“Ah
mijo
, I’ve been married fifty years this fall and I’ve learned a few things in that time. The most important is that you always trust a woman’s intuition. God has granted them the ability to see and feel things that are invisible to us men. I do what my Ana tells me because I trust her wisdom.”
They both turned at the sound of her laying her shotgun down on the desk and Travis raised an eyebrow.
“You trust us now or did your arms just get tired?”
Veronica smirked. “My woman’s intuition told me I can put it down. After fifty years, that man is still madly in love with his wife. That’s the kind of man I can trust.”