Page 12 of Chaos Destiny
Even the coos had stopped.
“We have a camp,” I continued. “It’s north of here, at the Welcher Private College. It’s secure. I’m a doctor. I can help the baby, and I can help you too, if you’re hurt. Ask for Tayler or Dr. D. Please...please come.”
I waited a beat.
When there was no response, I left just as Phil, Omar, and Tasia were finishing up. Omar placed a chain on the pharmacy door and rigged the window so that it would be the next group’s point of entry.
On our way back, I continued to think about that mysterious figure with the baby. This world was no place where a baby could thrive without a community, and if they showed up to our camp, I would do everything in my power to ensure that the baby was well cared for.
Dallas nudged my shoulder. “Dr. D, you okay, darlin’?”
I sighed. “Yeah, I’m okay. I just…I don’t know if luck still exists, but something happened here today.”
Memphis flanked my other side. “Do you believe in God, Dr. D? I never much cared for religion, but after what we found today?” He shrugged. “I ain’t so sure, no more.”
5
GAGE
I don’t like feelinghelpless.
But I’d had few options.
Fighting the newcomers had been out of the picture, and I’d figured that their larger group might have been more helpful anyway. I’d been thinking in terms of opening the sealed-off room, but Thandie and I received so much more.
Formula.
Medicine.
Somewhere I could take Ari.
There was always the risk that the doctor wasn’t who she said she was, but to save Ari’s life, I was willing to take that risk. If push came to shove, I had zero qualms about annihilating their entire camp if they tried to hurt Ari and Thandie. With the world torn to shreds, it took with it an economic structure and legal system. This seemed to make people believe they were above the law and could do whatever they pleased, but they tended to fail to grasp that the same applied to me.
I fed Thandie and ate a can of tuna.
Then, I made a quick stop at the river to wipe her down with cool water. The baby wrap helped keep her safe, but being up against me caused her tiny rolls to collect sweat.
Renewed vigor and a darkening sky had us on pace to make it back to the camper in half the time it had taken to reach the clinic. With these, Ari had a chance. The last thing I needed was to get to her too late.
Thandie fell asleep as my mind continued to replay the doctor’s words:
“We have a camp. It’s north of here, at the Welcher Private College. It’s secure. I’m a doctor. I can help the baby, and I can help you, too, if you’re hurt. Ask for Tayler or Dr. D. Please...please come.”
Strangely, I found myself smiling, yet I doubted it had anything to do with the face I’d seen when I’d stepped farther into the light. It was simply because it had been a long time since we’d encountered kindness. Then, although the doctor had come wielding provisions, along with a face I could see as plainly as if she were standing in front of me, I had a hard time trusting it.
Ari had learned to use a gun, and we stayed armed like we were walking through a war zone every day—which we were, at times. With resources scarce, survival of the fittest was in full force. However, many people thought a man with a baby strapped to him wouldn’t put a blade through their throat or a bullet between their eyes.
Thandie made me more dangerous.
I didn’t have “nothing” to lose.
I hadeverythingto lose.
With it being me, Ari, and Thandie, we were always mistaken for husband, wife, and child. Considering how cutthroat thingshad become, I saw no need to correct it. The state of the world had devolved. Ari’s safety was directly linked to the strength of her connection to me, and without Julien around, “sister” wasn’t nearly adequate enough to protect her.
I never had an issue with it.
I’d slept in the same bed, on an adjacent sleeping bag, or on the floor if there was only room for her and Thandie. At the moment, sex was low on my hierarchy of needs. I’d had no reason to shuck the “doting husband” pretense to get close to someone, but the doctor’s face was still prominent in my mind.
