Chapter 452 (1/2)
Fenn watched as Dambree moved up to the car, opening the trunk and rummaging around in the back. She came up with a heavy bag marked with a red cross and a red crescent, hefting it with a grunt before slamming the trunk. Fenn was watching both babies in one of the back seats.
”Don't let them play outside,” Dambree said. She moved over to a clear patch of road, sitting down. Mister Mewmew was next to her and Fenn gasped in shock as Dambree pushed up her sleeve, exposing her fur covered forearm, and Mister Mewmew opened his mouth to reveal long fangs.
Mister Mewmew bit Dambree, holding position for a moment before opening his mouth, the fangs retracting.
Dambree dug through the medical pack, finding the dataslate first. Her arm stung a bit, but it wasn't the first time she'd have Mister Mewmew 'bite' her.
The dataslate binged, the screen brightening to show the Confederate Armed Forces logo.
>Please Input Service Number
Mister Mewmew put his paw on the screen.
>Cybernetic Medical Assistant recognized
>Civilian assistance mode activated.
”State the nature of your emergency,” the dataslate said.
Dambree coughed, took a drink of the fizzybrew to cool her throat, and looked the dataslate.
It was listing respiratory diseases, chest injury, and other problems, which told her that it had heard her coughing. She looked over and saw Aunt Fenn watching closely from inside the car and shifted so that the dataslate was hidden from Aunt Fenn and the other's eyes.
”Radiation poisoning,” she said softly.
”State the nature of exposure,” it said.
Mister Mewmew put his paw on the dataslate.
//Unarmored Exposure to M-67A3 Anti-Matter Fragmentation Grenade with Phasic Jacket
//Unprotected Exposure to Atomic Weapon Detonation
//Exposure to Atomic Weapon Deployment Fallout
all scrolled up.
>Take Blood Sample of Patient
Mister Mewmew pressed his paw again.
More data scrolled up and Dambree watched.
The results made her blanch. She knew that it couldn't have been good that she was crouched down when the first detonation had gone off, staring right at it, and outside the bushes. She knew that driving through the rain couldn't have been good.
But seeing it in stark letters on the dataslate made her sigh and crack open another fizzybrew, staring at it.
It's one thing to promise your siblings that you'll lay down your life to protect them, she thought as she took another drink. It's another thing to know that you've done it.
//Display Treatment Options with Available Medical Resources
Dambree watched as Mister Mewmew kept interacting with the dataslate. Finally it pinged.
>Step One: Remove Autoinjector Marked ”ATOMIC EXPOSURE”
Dambree dug for it, tapping it against the dataslate when she found it.
Fenn was watching as Dambree stood up, stripping off the heavy coveralls, then the clothing she was wearing, standing under the mag-lev train bridge in the chilly air. She watched as Dambree carefully held a thick tube, pulled a tab off of it, shook it, then carefully wrapped her thumb across the back of it. She reached out and tugged down her panties, exposing one butt cheek.
Ellie giggled.
Elu watched as his sister drove the autoinjector into her butt. Watched her ears go straight up and heard her make a muffled noise of pain.
Ellie giggled against the Elu rounded on him.
”Don't stare at my sister,” Elu said.
”I can see her butt,” Ullie said.
Elu punched him in the face, tackling him when he stumbled back, and both boys fell into the dirt, Elu yelling ”Stop looking at my sister” and Ullie yelling at him to get off. Ellie ran forward and Tru tripped him. Meglee turned and stared as Tru pulled Ellie back by his ears.
”Stay out of it,” Tru snapped. She stared at Meglee. ”You too.”
Elu was on top of his older cousin, punching him in the face with one hand while his other hand held the older boy's ears flat against the ground, straddling him and using his legs to pin his cousin's arms to his side. He ignored his uncle and aunt yelling at him to stop.
He wound back for another punch.
”Enough,” Dambree's voice was tired.
Tru dropped his fist, standing up.
Dambree had pulled her clothing back up and was walking forward, shaking a bottle of pills in one hand and carrying the dataslate in the other. She set the dataslate on the seat and motioned everyone to gather up.
Ullie was snuffling, his nose and lower lip bleeding as he got to his feet and moved over with everyone else. Dambree opened the bottle and rattled some pills into her hand before stuffing the bottle back into her pocket. She handed one to each of them.
”Take them, they'll keep you from getting sick like I'm going to,” Dambree said softly.
”Will you be OK?” Tru asked.
”Maybe,” Dambree said.
Tru's upper lip quivered as Dambree turned away, walking stiffly back to the car. She came up with another can of Liquid Hate.
”I love you, Bree,” Tru whimpered.
”I know,” Dambree said, hefting the can and looking at the side. Pink Cotton Candy and Sour AppleMax Energy Edition - 8.9% Alcohol By Volume the can said. Dambree cracked the seal, smiling at the little warning of 'you'll regret this!', and took a deep drink.
It tasted like chemical ass, but it was sour and sweet all at the same time and was as thick as motor oil, soothing her throat. It made her empty stomach cramp, but then the pain eased up as she took another long drink.
”We need to repack the car,” Dambree said. ”Tru, get the tape. Ullie, get all the emergency blankets. Uncle Inkee, I'm going to need you to repack the trunk. Aunt Fenn, I need you to inventory the food. Ellie, you're going to clean all the garbage out, keep any soft paper or cloth,” she moved over to the car and reached in, coming out with the black blocky looking Terran rifle. She knelt down and Mister Mewmew put his paw on it. The light turned red. ”Elu, come here.”
Elu came up, swallowing nervously. At Dambree's motion he wrapped his hand around the pistol grip. He felt the grip tingle for a moment. SYNCHED appeared on the digital readout.
”Say 'unlock',” Dambree said.
”Unlock,” Elu said.
The light went from red to green.
AMMO: 100%
POWER: 100%
LOW-V API
SEMI
”OK, you look through the sight. Where the little red dot is, that's where you'll hit,” Dambree said.
”I remember,” Elu said quietly. ”I'm the best shot with a rifle.”
”I know,” Dambree said. She ruffled her little brother's hair. ”Go stand by the back of the car. Keep watch. Shout and shoot at the same time.”
”I remember,” Elu said. He looked at Dambree. ”I love you.”
His upper lip trembled.
”I know,” Dambree said as Elu moved off.
She sighed, moving to the front of the car. She sat down on the plascrete road, facing out. The rain was still coming down, coating everything in a layer of black. There were several flashes and she counted the seconds.
Thirty two.
She divided by five.
Six miles and some change away.
The ground rumbled slightly.
She felt tired but awake as she took another drink off the can of Terran energy drink. She had a nagging headache, her throat was raw, but she knew the worst was still to come.
Mister Mewmew moved up, climbing in her lap and curling up. She sat there, petting him, while she watched the entrance the underpass.
Another set of flashes.
Forty-two seconds.
The fight was moving away.
She hoped that meant the Terran military was forcing the Slorpies back and not the other way around.
Mister Mewmew sat and watched Dambree doze off with unreadable eyes.
--------------
”Unlock!” Dambree jerked awake, raising the pistol. Her head twinged and she winced, lowering the pistol as she rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand.
Mister Mewmew looked up, giving a disapproving mrarowawal at being woken. Dambree noticed he had reverted to the dull metal look, but he was still warm and rumbling. She looked out and saw that it was late afternoon, early evening.
Dambree clipped the pistol back onto the belt and unscrewed the top of the can of Liquid Hate, taking a long drink. It helped soothe the burning in her throat.
Symptoms include unquenchable thirst, she thought to herself. She got up slowly, bracing herself on the front of the car. She paused for a second, feeling slightly dizzy, then looked around.
Elu was standing at the back of the car, the rifle in his hands, staring off into the rain.
Everyone else was laying on the ground, on the thin inflatable emergency mattresses, asleep. Tru was curled up with Nee, the new toddlers, and the new infants. They were in a small pile that shifted slightly as the babies and toddlers dreamed.
Check, please, Bree, for me, she heard Elu's voice in her head again. She looked at the tiny children, all asleep, all with suckies in their mouths. How can I keep you safe? Who will look out for you if I am no longer here?
Her aunt and uncle were curled up together, her three cousins between them, the thin inflatable mattresses pushed together. Dambree could tell they were exhausted from the fear, knew that they hadn't really gotten any rest in the car because of the stress.
Dambree moved up next to her little brother.
”Do you feel better?” Elu asked.
”A little,” Dambree said.
”I love you,” he said after a long moment.
”I love you too,” she said. She pulled him into a side armed hug. ”I love you and Nee and Tru more than anything in the world.”
Even more than yourself, Elu thought bitterly. I wish you still loved yourself as much as we do.
”Were there any problems?” Dambree asked.
”A whole bunch of big bugs ran by, but they didn't pay attention to us. They were all in armor and ran really fast,” Elu said. ”They were chasing something. They were running as fast a ground car and had planes with them and big robots that looked like them.”