Heinz dropped his new armour off back at the yacht before heading to the hospital.
Donal and Philip promised to have sets ready for the rest of his group. They could be picked up today if anyone came by or from the centre tonight before they left for the next set of duty. They showed Heinz where they were stored and he had a key
He stopped by the town square on his way. The rubble was gone and the remains of the town hall’s structure removed, expanding the open space. A new noticeboard had been built off to one side. Once more a table was set out and was manned by a yellow bib.
People had returned to the site of destruction. Not many, and Heinz had a sneaking suspicion that those who had returned had taken part in the cleaning effort. People chatted but the mood was dour. The square was larger but less than a fifth of the population who once used it stood there now.
But it was a start.
The queue remained outside the O’Donovan’s family practice. Those queuing were less surly today, more resigned. No one kicked up a fuss and soon Heinz was at the front of the queue and through the doors.
The mood persisted inside.
Heinz popped in to say hi to Nico as he walked through the building. He didn’t need a checkup but wanted to check on his friend. Nico’s examination room’s door was ajar, letting Heinz peek inside at the man asleep at his desk. Heinz gently closed the door and went to find the Nurse to give her a heads up.
Ann had also been infected by the mood. She was pleased to see him but didn’t seem energetic enough for visitors. Heinz caught her up on the news, avoiding as much mention of his own activities as possible. She remained on a limited diet but the number of gifts and well wishes around her bed had diminished. He left before long with a small box of food cubes.
Jamie greeted Heinz at the door. She opened the door cautiously, swinging it wide open as she recognised Heinz. He didn’t miss the knife she slipped back into her pocket.
“Everything alright?”
Jamie nodded and gestured him inside. “I’m just a little tense.”
Heinz followed chopping sounds and the banging of pots to the dining room. The cottage wasn’t very big and the same could be said for its rooms. The table for four filled the cosy space. Jack gave him a wave as he chopped some carrots and parsnips.
“Heinz!” Maggie called happily from the kitchen.
The kitchen was separate from the dining space but, like in many old houses, adjacent. But Maggie had made some changes. The door between the rooms had been the first to go, the wood being repurposed somewhere in the garden. Next a hatch window had either been knocked in to give a clear view between the two rooms. It was far from an open plan but the adjustments made the two small rooms feel like one.
Maggie stuck her head through the hatch and gave a toothy grin.
“Can I help with anything?” Heinz asked. “I could pop out and see if that stall has any bread?”
Maggie shook her head. “Maybe for dinner but Jamie and I are making a salad. Sit down and relax.” She pointed at Jack accusingly. “Don’t be like Jack. He’s chopping for dinner.”
Jack gave Heinz a sheepish shrug. “I needed something to keep my hands busy.”
“They’ve been twitchy all day.” Maggie complained. She yelped as Jamie poked her in the side and disappeared out of the hatch and back into the kitchen.
“We’re twitchy because angry people turned up during your class.” Jamie scolded. “You’re one of the two Delegates that everyone knows about and less people want to get angry in front of a bunch of old women.”
“Two people coming by to ask questions shouldn’t make you twitchy!” Maggie shot back. “And they were polite. They waited for the set to end before they interrupted. If you participated in the class you wouldn’t-”
“Maggie.” Jack childed. “Let’s not start this again. They were polite because they didn’t expect to find 40 people with guards in the clearing. And they were Reclaimers. Even if they were calm they were dangerous.”
Maggie snorted but dropped it.
Heinz raised an eyebrow at Jack and tipped his head towards Maggie but Jack shook his head. Heinz took a seat on a thick wooden chair opposite Jack and became his helper. He peeled carrots and collected the compostable bits as Jack chopped. They settled into a comfortable routine until Jamie joined them. The two shared a look before Jamie addressed Heinz.
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“Should we have stayed?”
“We heard about Tara’s arm.” Jack continued. “We were too late to help and well..”
“We feel like crap.” Jamie finished.
Heinz took a big breath and set the peeler down. He’d just started to forget it. “I don’t think there’s anything you could have done. If anything I’m glad you weren’t there. It was chaotic enough as is.”
Jack chewed his lip. “We would have asked on the way back to the basecamp but you all seemed a bit out of it. Are you all alright?”
Heinz nodded slowly. “I think we’re getting there. How was Nathan?”
Jamie’s face twitched. “He didn’t join the team heading back but he went on duty with us later in the day.”
The conversation died there and after a moment or two, Jack picked up his knife and got back to chopping. Heinz picked up the peeler and joined him.
“All done.” Maggie announced, slinging a tea towel over her shoulder as she joined them at the table. “We can eat whenever but want to play something first?” She reached back and pulled open a drawer to pick out a pack of cards.
Heinz shoved the carrots and parsnips off to the side.
Heinz knocked on the loaf of bread again and considered the weight in his hands.
The baker had still been open and he’d gotten one extra large ‘duty’ loaf and one normal sized one for three credits. The stall was interesting to browse with a weird variety of breads in stock. The baker had reached the point of using whatever he could find to bake. Olive bread was joined by potato, tomato, jalapeno, mushroom and pepper as other ingredients were used to stretch out a dwindling supply of flour.
The extra large loaf was as big as a toaster but Heinz was still concerned. Maggie had prepared several bowls of salad earlier, clearing out a few days of harvest from her greenhouse and garden. It hadn’t been enough for him. One of Maggie’s food cubes had been enough to fill the hole in his stomach but it showed a disturbing trend. How long before only the food cubes would feed him?
“Heinz!”
He followed the shout and sharp whistle to see Rosa waiting expectantly.
It was Jack who opened the door carefully this time. He welcomed them in quickly. They followed the laughter back to the dining room now. The card games had continued after lunch. Heinz had been able to break his losing streak by volunteering to get bread for the dinner soup but the others were closer matched.
“Rosa.” Maggie greeted with a smile, hopping up to give her a hug. She squeezed past them and disappeared into the other room to grab a spare chair.
Heinz reclaimed his own, shaking his head at Rosa as she pouted and took the more rickety option Maggie was handing her. Rosa set up at the table edge.
“What happened with the latest fire then?” Maggie asked when they were all seated. “Was everyone okay?”
“Fire?” Heinz asked.
Rosa glared at Maggie. “While the clearing work was going on, the arsonist started a fire at the gardening centre. It was spotted and dealt with before long. No one was hurt. The Gardai think they have something and the council are being very cooperative.”
Heinz raised an eyebrow at Rosa. She hadn't mentioned it. Rosa gave him a judging look back. Right. He wasn’t in the best mood for bad news earlier.
“It’s handled. Now is someone going to deal me in?”
Phil was late to the group meeting.
It wasn’t too much of a surprise. He was often late and was usually late by the most when it did happen. No one was too upset. They all expected it at this point and had plenty of time left on their duty timers. Phil had picked up his armour earlier in the day too so they didn’t have to wait for him to get changed.
Tara and Shane were off in a corner, discussing how best to manage their broken arms. Louise was sitting on the harbour breakwall watching the water and setting sun. Heinz was taking the time to add extra tape onto his van’s fuel inlet.
“Sorry, sorry.” Phil shouted as he arrived at a jogging sprint.
They all bundled into the van and set off for I38-2U, Bandon town.
Phil explained his lateness as they covered Heinz’s van with some branches.
“Samantha’s got some kind of rash about an hour before I left and it spread to Emma and Fiona. I was running around cleaning, trying to stop Emma from scratching and attempting to soothe Samantha. Fiona refused to let Liam help. She was too worried that he would catch it.”
“Did you bring anything new home?” Louise asked. “If all of them got the same rash it could be a hereditary thing.”
Phil shook his head. “Fiona didn’t buy anything either. Even if we had, Samantha wouldn’t have touched it.”
“Poison ivy?” Heinz suggested as he placed a branch on the windshield. The branches were too bare to do much but it made Heinz feel slightly better about leaving the van here. The smarter move would have been to park at the stables and run from there but no one wanted to go back. “Your ehm.. garden was a little overgrown when I was there a week ago.”
Phil paused and considered it. “Maybe. I didn’t see them go out but that might be why I wasn’t affected.”
They finished the shoddy disguise and gathered up by the wall. Louise counted them down and they stepped through.
After the all clear, Heinz felt out the zone control.
Zone Control - I38-2U
Swarm Growth
50%
Local
40%
Not much had changed.
Grimly they set off for the town.