“Shit.” Dianne cursed under her breath before glancing over at Mark who was still focused on watching out through a crack in the covering over the back door. “How long does he have?”
“Twelve hours at most. Beyond that he could go at any minute. As it is it’ll be a struggle to keep him functional for that long.”
“How did this happen? Was it something with the wound?”
“It was probably contamination from something. We cleaned everything as best as we could but given the situation and what I had to work with I’m not surprised it happened. That was a pretty nasty shot he took. A few inches over and he’d be six feet under right now.”
Dianne shook her head, both in disbelief at what was happening and with amazement at how casual Tina could be about Jason’s condition especially given that she had so recently lost her husband. You are going to need so much therapy when this is all said and done. Dianne thought about how much Tina was keeping bottled up inside, wondering how long she’d be able to hold it in before she lost control. After a few seconds she pushed the thoughts from her mind and focused on the task at hand.
“Okay, so somebody has to get to a hospital or this laser thing.”
“LTAC. Long-Term—”
“Right, right. LTAC. Got it.”
“I think there’s one in Blacksburg, on the western side, but I don’t remember the address.” Tina furrowed her brow as she tried to remember the location of the facility. Dianne, meanwhile, stood up and walked over to a kitchen drawer, opened it and pulled out a tattered book from inside. She tossed it on the table, sat down, opened it up and began flipping through the yellow-colored pages. Tina nodded and smiled at the sight.
“Everyone says to just get rid of your phone books because cellphones and the internet’s where it’s all at. I’m glad to see you hung onto yours, too, because mine’s part of a giant pile of ash.”
“Absolutely I kept one around.” Dianne continued flipping through the pages, searching through the medical care section. “The phone numbers are out of date but if this LTAC you’re talking about was a major facility then they probably haven’t changed locations in a few years. Wait. Here we go.” Dianne pointed at a faded advertisement on the right side of one of the pages. “Regency Long-Term Acute Care Facility. That the place?”
Tina nodded. “Yes. Bingo. That’s it.”
Dianne retrieved her notebook, tore out a piece of paper and scribbled down the address two times. She tore the page in half and stuffed one copy of the address in her pants pocket and left the second copy on the table. “Okay. So this place will have meds, you say. If they don’t, where do I go?”
“Try Montgomery or Hillendale. My guess is that looters would have targeted them first given that they’re very obviously hospitals and would have stuff like opiates on the premises. Regency, though...” Tina shrugged. “I think it’s the best bet.”
“Okay.” Dianne took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m exhausted. But I’ll leave in twenty minutes.”
Tina stood up. “I’ll go with you. I can leave instructions with Sarah and Mark for taking care of Jason and—”
“No way.” Dianne held up her hands, stopping Tina from coming around to the other side of the table. “You’re staying right here.”
“You can’t go out there alone. You’re tired, you’ve been through hell and if that group finds you then you’ll need backup.”
“You need to stay here and hold things down. Sarah’s an absolute wreck and completely out of it. If Jason takes a turn for the worse, you’ll be the only one who can help him. Mark, Jacob and Josie can handle most of the lookout and cooking jobs. Just trade lookout shifts with Mark, keep an eye on Sarah and keep Jason alive. I’ll be fine on my own.” Dianne put on a smile that she knew was completely unconvincing.
Tina slowly sat back down in her chair, turning over their options in her mind before finally nodding in agreement. “You’re right. I hate it, but you’re right.” She grabbed Dianne’s notebook and began writing in it.
“What’s this, a shopping list?” Dianne turned in her seat to read Tina’s scribbles.
“Yep. The names of all the different antibiotics that will work. We’ll also need bags of fluids to help rehydrate him and I want more lines and needles. If you can find all of this then you can get these things, too.” Tina spent a full five minutes thinking of a laundry list of supplies for Dianne to get. When she was finished she tore out the page and handed it to Dianne.
“These are in order of importance, right?” Dianne looked at Tina.
“Yes. The top five are absolutely required. The rest would be good to have.”
Dianne grabbed a permanent marker from a drawer and wrote out the names of the top five items on the list on the inside of her left arm, along with the address of the facility. She then folded the paper and tucked it into her pocket before looking around and taking a deep breath.
“Seems like I just got back here a few minutes ago and now I have to leave again.”
Tina took a step forward and lowered her voice to a whisper. “You really aren’t in a good condition to go out there right now. You’re exhausted, you gave all that blood, there are people out there searching for us. It’s a bad situation all around.”
“What choice do I have?” Dianne sat down and began putting on her shoes. “We can’t let Jason die if there’s a chance to save him.”
“That’s beyond question. I just…” Tina hesitated. “I just don’t know what I can do to help you.” She looked down at the table and shook her head. “You two risked everything to pull me out of that compound and now you’re having to go back out again.”
“You do what you do best. Keep Jason alive. I’ll be fast and as soon as I find what we need I’ll radio back.” She shook her head. “Though based on how well that worked the other day I don’t know that you’ll even get my message.”