Page 84 of Viral Justice

“Indeed. Much too late to help us or anyone in this village.”

“We have to do something,” she whispered. “Anything.”

“We can get the information out to our command and make sure samples are picked up so the process of creating a vaccine can begin, but again, that won’t help us or any of the people in this village.”

“What would help these people...us?”

“Passive antibodies, maybe, from someone who’s had the flu, survived and is now healthy.” He glanced at his equipment. “I’ve got everything I need here to isolate the antibodies, except for the equipment needed to deal with units of blood...” His voice trailed off as he stared. “A unit of whole blood might help. There are a dozen unit collection kits in with the supplies..”

“I met survivors when I collected those samples,” she told him, hope speeding up her heart rate.

“Could I offer food or medical supplies in exchange for a donation of blood?”

“Yes.” He stared at her like he was afraid to hope. Afraid to imagine an end to this nightmare that didn’t result in all their deaths. “Yes, you could. I’d need...” His gaze became unfocused. “At least seven or eight donors to start.”

Having a plan relaxed muscles in her face she hadn’t known were clenched tight. “Do I have your permission to start rounding up volunteers and sleep later?”

He walked up to her until he was only inches away. “I’m sorry. I was an idiot and I won’t do it again.”

He wasn’t getting off the hook that easily. “Do what again?”

“Disrespect you, in front of other people or in private.”

Despite wanting to move closer to him, she took a step back. “As much as I would like to insist on your groveling, we don’t have time. Apology accepted. What goodies can I give away? Where do you want me to bring the donors?”

“One of the rooms closer to the front of the building. I’ll have to see if Hunt and Tom can assist with drawing the blood.”

He looked around then grabbed a couple of bags of face masks, some simple pain and fever medication, and a couple dozen packets of electrolyte powder to add to water.

She shook a packet. “What’s this?”

“For anyone who’s been sweating or vomiting it’s one of the best medicines there are.” He watched her put it all into her backpack. “Will it be enough?”

“Yeah, I think so. Some rice or flour would be good too, but I don’t know if we have any we can give away.” She glanced at him and he nodded.

“Okay. Don’t take any unnecessary risks. If you see trouble coming, get out of the way.”

Her backpack hardly weighed a thing. “Are you saying I’m reckless?”

“No. You have a protective streak a mile wide and when you see someone in trouble, especially a woman or a child, you automatically try to help.” He walked right up to her and said quietly, “You can kick my ass and anyone else’s ass in a fair fight. These guys don’t fight fair, sobe careful.”

She came to attention and saluted him. “I will, sir. A lot of lives are depending on me.”

“Yes,” he said, his eyes full of emotion she wasn’t sure she wanted to explore too closely. “They are.” He saluted her, and she left.

Hunt had joined Jessup on guard duty near the front of the building. He’d picked out a great perch from which to watch the front door and windows. It was a waist-high counter that probably served as the hospital’s reception desk. He was lying on it in a prone shooting position watching for anyone approaching from the street.

“I’m going blood-donor shopping,” she told him. “Max needs blood from people who’ve had the flu and gotten better. So I’ll be back and forth. He’s also going to ask you to help bleed the donors, so let Jessup know you’ll be busy soon.”

“Shit, that kind of foot traffic is going to bring attention to us.”

She shrugged. “Can’t be helped.”

Hunt sighed, but didn’t otherwise comment.

Ali went to the door, waited to see if anyone was in the area, then slipped out the door and into the gray day. It wasn’t raining, but it looked like it could start anytime.

She went house to house asking for anyone who’d survived the sickness. In the first two houses, all she found was dead people. Not a promising start.

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