Page 100 of Casualties of War
“He’s from the north,” Garrett said. “I told him if he loves his family, he’ll go back there and hide out inthe bush and stay away from everyone. I…” His eyes closed. “There’s nothing I can do for him. I have no potassium, no Diethylenetriamine pentaacetate, barely any pain killers…”
“He’s dying?” she asked.
“He should have died days ago,” Garrett whispered. “He wanted to see his daughter. He made himself stay on his feet.”
Her throat tightened. “From radiation,” she made herself say. She continuedto scrub his skin, using more handfuls of the mud. He was covered in the stuff now and looked like a gray zombie.
Garret nodded.
“Where did he get exposed to radiation?” Carmen whispered. Even the thought of the toxic stuff on her island made her deeply uneasy. It made the silver mine slag she had once thought to be the epitome of environmental irresponsibility look like a Greenpeace project.
“He didn’t know. He couldn’t tell me…” Garrett swallowed. “His vocal chords were nearly gone,” he added. “All he could say was ‘dark and cold’.”
Carmen held back her horror with steel determination. “I’m nearly done, then you can wash off.” She kept her voice even.
He nodded. “My hands. Do them again,” he said, holding them out.
She covered them in the last of the mud from the tin, as Danielclattered his way down the unstable stairs up to the roof. He had the cellphone to his ear again. He’d left the broom up there.
As he listened on the phone, he pushed open the door to the front room where Garrett treated the patients and leaned in to look. Then he shut the door again. “He’s gone,” he said. He looked at Garrett. “I’m guessing Garrett told him to get himself lost somewhere no onewould find him.”
Garrett nodded.
“Yes, he did,” Daniel added. He listened, frowning, then nodded. “We can bug out inside the hour. Directions, sir?”
The ‘sir’ told Carmen he wasn’t talking to Olivia. Someone on the Big Rock then. Probably his brother, Duardo. The two of them were formally correct with each other when discussing business.
“Yes, sir. It could take a while, though. I don’t knowwhat lies between us and you and this could stir up traffic.” He listened.
Carmen held up the jug of water she had filled. Garrett nodded. She poured it over his head as he worked to wash the degreaser from his skin. She didn’t care about the floor. If she had interpreted Daniel correctly, they wouldn’t be in the house long enough to care about flooding.
Daniel ended the call and leaned againstthe door once more, letting out a deep breath.
“That scared them,” Garrett observed.
“It’s scaring the shit out of me,” Daniel said. “There are no nuclear reactors on Vistaria. There are no radioactive materials at all, not even in the hospitals. The stuff is banned from the islands under Amendment Thirty-seven of the Vistarian Constitution.”
Garrett’s gaze shifted to Carmen.
“Prohibitionof materials of terror and extortion,” Carmen murmured and poured another jugful of water over him.
“So where did it come from?” Garrett finished.
“Exactly,” Daniel said. “Although that isn’t our immediate problem. Your patient right now is sending out signals that certain spy satellites will see as a neon sign yelling ‘look at me!’” He pointed upward. “They’re powerful enough that someone whohas had a PET scan or radiation treatment will light up their dials. You can imagine what your patient looks like to them.”
“Someone will come running,” Carmen said.
“Let’s hope it isn’t the Insurrectos,” Daniel finished. “If they are the ones with the isotopes, they won’t want word to get out. So we’re getting the hell out of Dodge.”
“We need to burn this place down before we go,” Garrettsaid and spluttered under another jug of water. “We can’t leave the traces for some innocent neighbor to pick up.”
“I’ll kick the fire across the roof before we go,” Daniel said. “You about done there?”
“Nearly,” Garrett said. “This stuff stings like crazy,” he added.
“Your skin is all pink,” Daniel added. “None of the scars show against it. I will pack. Twenty minutes or less, okay?”
He didn’twait for an answer.
