Previously, the thing was dead but the shot hit Steve's son Isaiah as well and now he's hanging to life by a thread.
“Gentle! Gentle!” Jan’s voice was brisk and controlled; her
face was impassive and tight. It was a mask she put on regularly, one he
realized he saw only rarely. She took the First Aid kit one of the men had
pulled from her overnight bag and set to work clearing Isaiah’s shirt from the
lacerated stump that had been his arm. “Do you have a doctor or any other
medically trained personnel?”
“Bud was… Bud was a Navy Corpseman… but he’s dead,” Stu said
weakly. He was slumped in the corner, sitting on the floor and staring off into
the darkness outside the window.
“Phone’s dead,” he reported as soon as he entered the room.
“What do you need me to do?” He stood in the doorway, his son white and cold on
top of a slab of fir turned into a dining table in the haus, his wife probing
the wound, clearing it, and stabilizing her own son as best as she could with
meager supplies, and he stood there… waiting.
“He needs a doctor and NOW!”
“OK, besides the phone what options do we have?” He looked
to Stu who refused to meet his eyes. He moved in front of Stu, squatted down so
their eyes were level and fixed the man with a firm gaze. Evenly he asked, “Is
there a radio or something else we can use to call for help?”
“Ain’t nobody coming to save us…”
“Stu. I am going to ask again and you are going to answer
me. Is there a radio or something else we can use to call for help?”
“Ain’t nobody…”
“There’s a radio up at the dam!”
“Nobody going to get here in time… we’re all dead.” Stu’s
head fell to his chest and he wailed, his one good hand cradling his head.
“Anyone at the dam?”
“Sure, the 2nd shift’s up there or at the bunk
house… the bunk house! Stu! Stu! What about all them up at the bunk house?”
“How many?”
“Four guys.”
“You know how to run the radio?” The man nodded. “Good,
you’re coming with me. Pick two others to come with us and meet me outside in
five.”
The man hesitated, looking to Stu and then Isaiah, he looked
ready to suggest a lesser alternative but then he put his arm on his shoulder.
“Hey! Hey! Focus on me. Pick two men and meet me outside. You understand?”
The man walked out slowly and then pointed to two men who
were huddled behind a couch they were using for cover.
“I’m going for that radio,” he said to Jan.
“Fine.”
“I’ll come back.”
“Fine.”
“Like lambs to the slaughter…” Stu muttered.
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