Chapter 19: The Best of Intentions

“So how’s she doing?” Betty asked, glancing at the sickly girl shivering on the bed, as David unwrapped himself from her and stood up.

“She’s OK at the moment, but I’m worried,” David responded as he cleansed his hands, preparing to take a quick nap now that Betty had taken over for him. “Her heart rate is down, her breathing is slight, and she’s not moving much.” Drying his hands he paused, glancing at Natalie again, frowning at her odds of making it through this. “It’s as if she’s gone into hibernation mode. She hasn’t had the heart problems that others had, but frankly, I’m waiting for something to happen. She’ll either recover, or more likely, she’ll just start shutting down.”

“That’s not good,” Betty said, taking the girl’s hand. It was damp and shook as the girl quivered all over. She had been a slight thing before, but now, having suffered through this for so long, she didn’t look sturdy enough to last.

“No, it’s not,” David said, tossing his paper towel away with a scowl. “I was going to go visit her mother to brief her on it, but I’m not really looking forward to it. It’s easier to break depressing news when you aren’t so exhausted.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Monique assured him walking into the room surprising the two. She’d been periodically monitoring Natalie, and now she walked up and looked directly into David’s eyes with concern, holding his hand to let him know he wasn’t in this alone. “I’ve just come from my field hospital—another of the empty houses here—and was planning on visiting Tricia. I wanted to see how you and Natalie were doing first, though.”

“So how are all our prisoners doing?” David asked, not satisfied with fretting over only one patient. Still, Monique was impressed that he seemed to genuinely care about everyone, even those who’d tried to kill him.

“Not well,” she admitted with her own frustrated frown. “The most seriously injured finally died a couple of hours ago. That leaves one healthy prisoner from last night, the one you shot in the leg. Meanwhile, the guy we removed from the Peterson compound—the one we shot while he was trying to slip out the back door—his fever has broken, showing the new antibiotics are working, but he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”

“No, I’m sure the cuffs will stop what the fever doesn’t,” David replied with a smile before he caught himself unintentionally yawning, his tiredness finally catching up to him. “So how many prisoners is that, in total?”

“Counting the healthy guy we took when we first arrived, it’s four. They’ve still got another injured one in the Peterson compound, but apparently he’s recovering on his own without our help. But the first guy got into a fight with one of the guys you just shot. Apparently they disagreed about you.”

“Really?” David asked, amused. “What were they—?”

“Dad, a new situation,” Alice’s voice announced over the mobile base unit David always kept near while monitoring Natalie.

“What’s up?” David asked, suddenly perking up as he grabbed the handset, his brief grin disappearing as he prepared for yet another crisis.

“We’ve got someone coming out to talk to us,” Alice revealed. “She waved a white flag, but it looks like everyone in the house is waiting by the entrance, so we suspect this might be an attempt to surrender at once. We’ve seen no sign of Taylor for a while.”

“Probably because he’s still locked in his basement, spreading his hate over the airwaves,” David complained before focusing on the situation at hand. “Let this woman come to you, don’t approach her, and don’t let her so much as drop her hands. When she gets close enough to speak to, have her strip, removing everything. If she protests, tell her they’ve proven they can’t be trusted, and don’t take your weapon off her for a moment.”

“Thanks,” Alice replied with a quiet laugh, “you’re plan is much more ingenious than mine was. You always seem to go the extra few psychological steps. That’ll keep her on the defensive, off-center and uncomfortable.”

“Exactly, but make sure you keep an eye out for Taylor. It sounds like they’re doing this behind his back, so you’ll need to act fast if they want to abandon him.”

“She’s almost here so I’ve got to deal with her. I’ll let you know how it goes,” Alice assured him before signing off.

“So what was the ruckus between the prisoners about?” David asked Monique, returning to their previous conversation, showing that—while exhausted—his mind was still clearer than it usually was this long into the recovery process. Normally at this stage, he’d be barely able to speak, and only able to focus on a single thing at a time.

“The first guy we captured thought the most recent guys were idiots for joining in Peterson’s fight, but got annoyed when they wouldn’t shut up about you. They got into a brief fistfight, but neither one was really throwing any punches, so we got them separated fairly quickly.”

“That’s funny,” David said grinning, a sight that made both Betty and Monique’s eyes light up. “As long as it doesn’t turn serious. How about the two from last night?”

“They’re doing surprisingly well, and are fairly upbeat despite being restrained and kept under close guard. They’re both anxious to talk. It seems we’ve given them hope where they had none before. Whereas Taylor played on their fears, we’re offering them some real solutions. While they’re willing to concede that we’ll probably never trust them, they’re anxious to learn anything they can about what we’ve been doing.”

“You haven’t been telling them that much, have you?” David asked, worried about what they might have already picked up.

“Well, we haven’t revealed anything specific, such as where we’re located, who we’re communicating with or what our specific resources are, but we have been telling them about what we’ve discovered, how people are functioning, and what you envision happening. They’re actually fairly easy to manipulate in their enthusiasm. Anytime the subject drifts into an area we don’t want to discuss, we simply provide another tantalizing piece of information and they forget what we were discussing. They’re like sponges, soaking up everything we’ve been telling them.”

“Still, I’m nervous about accidentally revealing something compromising,” David admitted, always trying to anticipate every potential complication. “They were convinced to do the wrong thing once, and even if they’re legit now, they could still have friends eager to hurt us.”

“Hearts and minds, David,” Monique reminded him, caressing his cheek reassuringly, something she’d have been terrified of doing only a week ago. “We need to win over people’s hearts and minds. If we can convert our enemies, we’ll have more committed believers. These guys seem to be on the cusp, and they’re already close to doing whatever we could want them to. What they did was stupid, but—”

“She’s on her way back,” Alice’s voice interrupted them over the radio, so Monique shut up for the moment. “I’m sending her back in the buff, having warned her that if she drops her hands to cover her modesty we’ll drop her where she stands.

“You were right, they want to surrender,” Alice said, her voice hopeful for a successful conclusion to this whole unfortunate episode. “She’s going to present our demands to those inside. Seems Taylor is locked up in the basement, not allowing anyone else in to consult with him, and no one trusts him now. They see you trying to help, despite the odds, while he’s doing nothing but using his people to escape the repercussions of his own actions.”

“What are the demands you set?” David asked, intrigued about how his daughter’s mind was evolving concerning negotiating.

“If they surrender, they each have to strip as naked as she is and come out one by one with their hands raised, turning around so we can see they aren’t armed,” Alice related, relishing each detail as she relayed them. “We’ll then meet them part way and put restraints on them, forcing them to walk the rest of the way completely naked, subjecting them to further humiliation which hopefully will make them consider what they’ve done. The woman leading the surrender didn’t think anyone would resist, as they’re ready for this to be over.”

“Good. Not to put too much pressure on you, but try to handle this as quickly as possible. There’s no telling when Taylor might return, or what he might do when he discovers what’s happening.”

“Actually, Taylor hasn’t left his refuge much. He’s got one man who acts as his go between, but that guy is the one who thought up this whole mass surrender, so she doesn’t think he’ll even show his face. She says he’s got plenty of food to last him, and he thinks that no one can reach him.”

“Yeah, that is going to be a problem,” David reflected, holding his forehead as he contemplated one more problem. “By the way, I’m curious, how has Ayana been doing? Is she contributing?”

“Oh yeah. When I explained what I was going to do, she took over, telling me to play the heavy with the gun while she dictated our terms. She’s eating this stuff up. She comes across as tough, but just a little concerned about how they’re doing. I think she’s got a real knack for this kind of thing.”

“OK, be cautious but move quickly and show these people compassion,” David told her, also wanting to remove any risk to his people. “While I’m not crazy about what they did, it was Taylor who made the decision to attack us. I think these people never thought they had much of an option. I’m sure the more dangerous ones are already gone. Once they’re out, send in a couple of people to search the house. There’s still a chance it may be booby-trapped. But send one person down to watch the entrance to the safe room. If we’re lucky, we’ll catch Taylor leaving, or hopefully he’ll have left the door wide open. Once the others finish the sweep of the building, we’ll be able to shift people. Put some on guard duty while letting the others rest. Have them nap in the house itself, so if a firefight with Taylor breaks out, they’ll be nearby.”

“Sounds good, they’re coming out, though, so I’ve got to go,” she told him, signing off once again.

With that she was gone, so David turned back to Monique as she watched Betty deal with the mostly unresponsive Natalie.

“Hopefully this will finally end,” he told her, “but we’ll have to think of a way to smoke that little weasel Taylor out, and just hope he doesn’t convince any other idiots into attacking us.”

“Good luck with that,” Monique replied sounding skeptical. “It sounds like he plans on causing as much trouble as he can.”

“David?” a quiet voice interrupted.

David reacted immediately to Betty’s unasked question. “Yeah?”

“It’s Natalie. I think she’s recovering,” she whispered urgently, watching David while holding Natalie. “She’s squeezing my hand.”

“Really?” David asked, surprised. He was sure she was slipping into a coma, or that her body was giving up the fight. Hurrying over, David and Monique huddled around her, Betty relinquishing her position to him. David grasped her hand, and she returned his grip even as hers grew stronger. Finally her eyes began flittering as David gently whispered encouragements to her.

“Ugh... , am I still ... alive?” Natalie groaned, her voice a scratchy whisper.

“You’d better believe it,” David assured her, holding her tight with a big smile on his face. “You pulled through. You survived. You’ll never have to worry about the Great Death again.”

“Mom?” she asked, glancing around but not elaborating.

“You can’t see her for a while, but we’ll let her know you’re OK,” David explained as Monique held a glass for her, allowing her to slowly sip a little water. “You’ll continue feeling like shit for a while, and be incredibly weak. You’ll also be highly contagious, so you can’t get too close to anyone until the fever breaks. Then you’ll just have to avoid touching them.”

“That’s OK,” she answered with a infectious grin, making David smile in response, “as long as I get to hug you,” she added, weakly wrapping her arms around him.

David laughed, giving her the physical contact she desired. She hugged him like her life depended on it, but she was still so weak she had a hard time maintaining a firm grasp, so David finally eased her back.

“There are a few of us you can touch freely, but you’ll always have to be careful around anyone else... , like your mother or anyone you may fall in love with.”

“I think ... he’ll be fine,” she assured him with a big grin.

“I hate to break this up, but I need to give Tricia the good news,” Monique said. “Betty needs to take care of Natalie, and you need to visit your people. I know you, David, while you’re exhausted, you won’t be able to sleep until you determine how everyone is doing.”

“You’ve got that right,” David replied. “I was just thinking that before Natalie came to.”

“I’m proud of you, once again,” Monique said, kissing him. “It never fails to amaze me every time one of these people pulls through. You’re our little miracle man. Now go perform another miracle and rescue those confused people.”

“That was great, Dad,” Alice said, standing beside her father watching the people he’d just spoken to still moving about. “While bringing Natalie along was difficult, I think it’ll make a significant difference. These people have been talking about you ever since they surrendered, asking if you could really cure her. They’re partly encouraged and partly haunted by the thought that she’ll never be able to touch anyone again, while also attracted by the idea of never having to fear exposure to others again. But you represent more of a hope for the future than Taylor ever did. Taylor fed their worst fears, while you give everyone hope that there’s a solution, or at the very least, a way to avoid death if they fall ill. And that means a lot.”

David had helped Natalie walk to the house where they were keeping the Peterson compound prisoners. It had been slow going, and she’d had to stop frequently, but she’d soldiered bravely on. While they had to keep their distance and she needed a lot of support, the others cheered her, and it seemed to rally them all. They called to her, wishing her luck, though she was too weak to respond other than simply making a weak wave in response. Her mother, Tricia, was there as well, so she at least got to see her daughter, evidence of her recovery plain for her to observe. But now Betty and Monique had taken her back to recover while David was discussing issues with Alice, seeing for himself how everything was playing out.

“That was the thinking, if I can win over those opposed to me and can turn people’s fear into support, then we’ll do better, even if we don’t depend on any of these people. Hopefully word that we’re making advances will spread eventually. But what’s happening here now?”

“We’ve cleaned everything out of the building; I can’t really bring myself to call it a ‘house’ as the place is more a cathedral than someplace to live. How they ever hoped to keep it heated come winter with limited fuel, I have no idea. They didn’t seem to have any long term plans at all. There are several things of interest, so you’ll have to decide what to return to them and what to keep for ourselves. However, most things, like ammunition, long term foods, electronics and such, it seems that Taylor had locked up in his little hidden room.

“The others told us where it is and how to access it, but we’re sure he’s locked it from the inside, meaning it’s inaccessible to us until he comes out on his own. We’ve had someone watching it since we took the house over, but he hasn’t budged since.”

“No, these places are built so the occupants can observe and listen to those outside,” her father reflected, studying the house as if it held some clue. “While they usually wouldn’t work without power, they’re usually constructed when the house is first built using separate power sources. It wouldn’t take much to rewire them to run off a generator, so he’s probably been both watching and listening to you.”

“That’s kind of what we figured. I told the guys not to talk while guarding the room, and to always keep their guns trained on the door in case he decides to make a break for it. But we can’t keep an indefinite watch over the room if he can safely stay in there for weeks.”

“I don’t think you’ll need to,” David answered confidently, his eyes lighting up as they often did when he got a new idea. “A safe room is a small reinforced room with no outside sources of ventilation that can be used to compromise the room’s integrity. But if he’s using a generator, that implies he’s got an outside vent, otherwise he’d end up as dead as Flora’s neighbors. The key to ending this is to cut off his air supply. The only way it could possibly be vented is through the roof, so see if we can find a ladder someplace and we’ll cover all the vents to the house.”

“Someone’s already examined the caretakers shed and there’s a collapsible ladder there that’s perfect for it.”

“It’s too bad Amy’s not around anymore,” David reflected. “She’d take to something like that like she was born to it.”

“Hey, nothing against Amy, but I was the one who trained her how to climb trees, mountains and cliffs,” Alice reminded him defensively. “I’m perfectly capable of climbing on a roof, and frankly, it’d be safer for me to do it than one of you clumsy older men who might fall off.”

“Hey, I’m not about to let you r—”

“The hell with that, Dad, you know I’m better at it than anyone else, and you’re still too exhausted to trust with waltzing around a strange tiled roof. Besides, while I’m not as thorough as you, I’m quick, and I can get it done faster.”

“OK, you’ve convinced me, but just promise you’ll be careful. I’d rather not have you survive the Death only to end up with a broken neck.”

“Only if you promise not to end up getting shot again,” she shot back, laughing as she headed off.

“Mattie, are you there?” David asked, touching his ear as he descended the stairs to the basement after he finished speaking with Alice. The communication devices he’d gotten from the National Guard armory were certainly top shelf, as the sound quality didn’t decrease even as he headed downstairs.

“I’m here, what did you want in the van?”

“I want you to turn on the radio and set it on scan. We’re not broadcasting, so it should find Taylor’s broadcast. If you can’t pick it up, you may need to move the vehicle since it’s a one direction transmission.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve already found it,” she informed him.

“Turn it up so I can hear it over my earphone,” he instructed her. Once he could hear it, he thanked her and opened the door leading into the downstairs den located in the basement. Entering quietly, he took in his surroundings, motioning Debbie—who’d been guarding the room—back. David knew that Taylor would be more willing to take him on than he would a youngster with a gun, but he doubted Taylor was brave enough to risk a gunfight with someone more experienced than he was.