Through the open doors of the big outbuilding they saw Jeff Thomas come out of the house at a stumbling run, dropping to hands and knees in the trodden snow. He threw up copiously, face as pale as parchment.
Nanci sniffed and turned away contemptuously. “The best surprise is no surprise,” she said.
There wasn’t a lot of spare fuel in the barns, but they managed to fill enough cans to get them a good way on their odyssey toward the north.
It was obvious that one of the reasons for the collective act of suicide had been starvation. The kitchens and larders of the commune were almost completely bare of food and drink. Jim went scouting, finding that the smell of the dead was less oppressive away from the front part of the house. He discovered some dried meat hanging from hooks in a cold scullery, as well as a few cans of peas and beans.
By the time he came out again into the cold air, the packing of the trailers was almost complete. Mac and Paul had given the engines of the two tractors as thorough a check as they could in the time available.
Jeanne was nursing little Sukie on her lap, brushing a strand of hair from the girl’s damp forehead. She looked up as Jim came back into the barn.
“Worse, Jim,” she said.
Carrie looked around, holding a pile of plaid blankets. “Could do with antibiotics. Nanci went inside and checked out the house, but it seems they didn’t believe in medicine. More in the power of prayer.”
“Right,” said Nanci Simms briskly. “And look where that got them.”
Jim knelt down and peered at the child. Her eyes were swollen from weeping, and a thread of green snot was dangling from her nose. She was breathing fast and shallow, and it didn’t seem as if she was focusing properly.
“I don’t know,” he said.
Carrie had settled the bedding into the second of the horse trailers and rejoined them by the sick girl. “Could be anything. Since we landed back here on Earth, I’ve seen the symptoms of all sorts of sickness. Stuff that had almost gone from the United States before Earthblood came along. Typhoid and cholera have gotten a real big hold.”
“Think it’s one of those?” asked Jeanne, her voice ragged with worry.
“Might be. All we can do is hit the road and look out for a pharmacy and pray it hasn’t been raided.”
After last-minute double checks, they were ready to move. Jim drove the first tractor, picking his way carefully along the farm trail, then making a right when he reached the blacktop. The huge ribbed wheels made light work on the snow, which became wetter as they headed a little closer to the ocean. The sky had been clear for some time, though there were threatening banks of cloud to the east and north. The cab was reasonably protected, but daggers of the cold wind came through a number of gaps, making him glad for the fleece-lined gloves and the woolen cap with the earflaps. But he still couldn’t rid his nostrils of the heavy smell of multiple death.
Paul was at the wheel of the McGill part of the convoy, perched high, giving Jim a wave if he caught him looking around.
Now that all the survivors were together, Jim found that he could actually relax a little. There were still some problems, large and small. The illness of Sukie McGill, and the doubts about the reliability of the enigmatic Jeff Thomas. Not to mention the powerful presence of Nanci Simms with the help and the threat that she represented.
But there were some big pluses.
Heather was coping with experiences that might have left a weaker child traumatized for life. Having Mac and the remainder of his family around was terrific. And the times when Carrie gave him support and something that was coming close to love all meant so much.
Jim wondered where Zelig was… and what the Hunters of the Sun were doing.
At that moment the fitful sun broke briefly through the iron clouds and flooded the white fields around with a dazzling light. Jim wondered if that was a good omen.