Thirty-four
February 1
They could hear shouts coming from the thickening fog. Ruth hurried over to where Seth was kneeling on the ground next to the paramedic. Seth was sitting very silently on his heels, his head down. He had left the shotgun back at the ambulance. She wasn’t frightened, though, even though the gun, and especially an armed Seth, had come to mean protection and security in the last few hours. Seth looked on the verge of tears. She laid a hand on his shoulder.
“I think he’s dead,” Seth said quietly. “I — I don’t know why, but him dying really makes me sad. Like, more than anyone else so far.” He shrugged and his voice was harsh and filled with tears when he spoke again. “So far! Ha!” He hung his head down again and looked at Jones for a few seconds, then he started to get to his feet again. Ruth jumped up quicker and offered her hand for support. “He said they’ve blocked off the rest of the road. Some military blockade or something.”
Ruth hadn’t said anything yet, not sure if her voice would stand up to the stress of seeing her… protector… under such stress. “So how are we gonna get by?” Her voice surprised her. It wasn’t weak at all. “Do you think we could just go around?”
He looked at her for a second, the two of them still walking back toward the ambulance. “No. I don’t think we can.” She nodded, willing to accept almost anything that he decided today. It had worked well so far.
They reached the ambulance and Ruth went to check the soldier again after Seth asked her if he was alive or dead. His pulse was almost gone and his breathing seemed to have stopped. She nodded, then added in a whisper, “Just about.” Seth nodded back and picked up his shotgun from where it had been laying in the ambulance. He looked at the soldier one more time, shrugged, and turned toward where the shouting was coming from.
“Let’s go see what all the noise is.”
Ruth jumped up from the wet pavement and followed, her weapon forgotten.