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Chapter 39 – Concern Mellowed into Relief

Chapter 39 – Concern Mellowed into Relief

[Location: Decontamination Depot t3rm1nu5 - Infirmary]

Linda softly touched Charlie’s swollen face as tears rolled down her cheeks. The ice pack she applied to his right eye had removed a lot of the swelling and the bandage around his head had stopped the bleeding.

She had never seen her husband in such a battered state. Linda always thought of Charlie as her knight in shining armor, but as he lay beaten and bloody on the gurney, he looked anything but.

Linda was happy that Charlie had always kept the infirmary well stocked with medical equipment and prescription drugs. The only thing that wasn’t available was a nurse or a doctor, which was far outside of Central’s budget. He had mentioned to her that in a medical emergency, it was his responsibility to keep the injured resident of D.D.315 alive until the professionals arrived.

She pulled the crisp white sheet closer to his neck, wiped her tears away, and bent down to whisper into his ear, “Don’t worry, hun. We’re safe now. You’re here with me and help is on the way.”

Charlie moved the ice pack from the side of his face, slightly opened his eyes and looked over at Linda. Then he whispered. “McCormick?”

Linda smiled and brushed his hair away from the bandage she had applied to his head. “It’s over, hun. We don’t have to worry about him any longer.”

Charlie closed his eyes, leaned back into the pillow, and breathed a sigh as he allowed his body to relax. A second later, his eyes popped open as he fidgeted on the gurney. “You okay? Did he hurt you?”

Linda gave Charlie another loving smile. “Hun, hun…calm down. I’m perfect. Not a scratch on me.” Then she gently kissed his forehead and moved the ice pack back to his right eye.

“He killed everybody.”

Linda’s head tilted slightly. “What do you mean?”

“He killed’em all. Jozef, Roy, Ruben, Salsbury…butchered’em all.”

“I found Jack,” she lowered her head, “under a pile of ductwork.”

Charlie huffed. “Yeah, when the place went up…he…he was…” his throat tightened. “How bad is the place?”

“I don’t know for sure, but all of the life support systems are still functioning.”

“I opened the main relief valve just as the place started to crater. I wanted to try and vent some of the explosion.”

“It must ’ve worked because the hull wasn’t damaged by the explosions.”

“How many were there?”

“Well…” Linda sat down on a rolling stool next to Charlie. “I’m not an expert like you, but it seems pretty bad. I heard six or seven small ones and then I felt a larger one when the compressor went down. We lost three, maybe four vessels in the tank farm, there’s pieces all over the place. I’m guessing the compressor is history. It was loaded so full of debris, I think it actually stopped right before it let loose.” She sighed and placed her hand over Charlie’s. “The control system did try and save the place, but it seems it couldn’t catch it one hundred percent.”

Charlie lay back, repositioned the ice pack, and closed his eyes again. “The system couldn’t shut itself down properly because McCormick turned the argon scrubber’s votec diverter to zero. I’d guess the code that runs the place couldn’t compensate for it.”

Linda watched as Charlie’s mouth began to slightly tremble as he tried to hold back tears. She moved closer to him and softly whispered, “Hey, you don’t need to worry about anything. I’m sure Central will understand what happened once you tell them what McCormick did. And don’t forget that being the Chief Facility Officer is your job, not your life.” She gently squeezed his hand. “And no matter what job you have or where we are, we’ll always have each other.” She straightened on the stool. “We need to thank God that both of us are still alive.”

Tears slid from the edges of Charlie’s eyes as he gave Linda’s hand a slight squeeze and smiled at her as they sat in silence. It was quiet inside the infirmary and the air was sterile and cool. From here, no one would believe the mayhem that had taken place only a few feet away in the hydrogen plant.

A look of confusion appeared on Charlie’s bruised face as his senses continued to return. “Where’s McCormick? What happened to him?” His eyes locked with his wife’s.

Linda felt flush as she stared at Charlie for a second and them lowered her head. Tears returned to her soft cheeks and drops fell to the floor. “He’s dead.”

She looked at Charlie, her eyes red and filled with tears. “When the facility started to go out of control, I tried to contact you but you didn’t answer. So I got worried and went to look for you. I heard the klaxon and the warning message and went through the tank farm and then over by the compressor. I happened to notice there was a hand gun lying on the grate. It was like the gun the guys from the Elysian Fields had. I got scared and I didn’t see you anywhere, so I picked up the gun and headed back toward our quarters. When I got back, I saw McCormick standing over you with a pipe in his hands. I froze for a second trying to figure out what to do…then…” She paused and placed her hand over her churning stomach, thinking about what had happened. “McCormick didn’t see me. I quietly walked behind him, put the end of the gun behind his head…” She closed her eyes and pushed out the words as the event replayed in her mind. She blurted, “Then I shot him.” She looked down and exhaled as tears continued to wash down her cheeks.

Charlie’s look of concern mellowed into relief and he sighed. “Hey…hey. Come on, angel.” He rolled to his side as he struggled to reach over and hug her. “You did what you had to do. You saved my life.” Charlie began to cry as he pulled Linda closer. “I’m sure the whole thing is tearing you up inside.”

After a minute, Linda released her husband, sat up on the stool, and tried to relax. She blinked a few times to expel some of the tears and used her fingers to wipe her cheeks. She cleared her throat and swallowed. “I contacted Lodabar-Central. They’re sending someone to help. They said it’d take about four hours for them to get here.” She sniffled.

Charlie rolled over so he was once again flat onto the gurney, wincing from his broken ribs. “I’m sure they’ll send a patrol cruiser. They gott’em all over the place just waitin’ for somethin’ to happen.” He locked eyes with his wife. “Just so you know, the officer you’ll meet isn’t human. He’s a cyborg.”

Linda wrinkled her face and shrugged. “I don’t care what he is, as long as he can help us.” Then she sighed and looked at her husband in deep thought. “Since you’re lookin okay, I’m gonna go and get ready for him. They told me to power up the evac hatch—“

“You’ll have to override the hull sensor. If you don’t, it’ll lock down the hatch and he won’t be able to get in.”

Linda nodded. She stood from the stool and leaned over her husband to give him a kiss. “You stay here and relax. And I don’t want you out pokin’ around tryin’ to fix anything. The wounds on your head are nasty—I bet you have a concussion—and I think you’ve got three broken ribs, so do what I ask and stay here.”

Charlie closed his swollen eyes. “Yes, ma’am. I’m not going anywhere.”

Linda headed toward the door and turned to look at Charlie. “I’ll be back in about thirty minutes. Like I said…” she pointed at him, “stay here.”

“Don’t you worry about me, Mrs. Kennedy. When you get back you’ll replace your husband right where you left him.”