Shelter: Book 2, A Long Days Night by Ira Tabankin

myself, thank God Tony and I got our hands on body armor, without it, many of these people would be dead. The armor and our trench kept us alive. Looking at them, seeing nine of my wounded neighbors, two of them seriously, I know I responsible for their pain and suffering.  Should we have just handed the farms over and left when we first noticed the mobs? What happens now? How can I lead these people back to where they were wounded? Is a house worth the risk of us attacking them? This time, they’ll be the ones in the defensive positions. We’ll be the attackers, the odds usually favor the defenders, unless the attackers have sufficient numbers to overwhelm the defenders, which we don’t. We need to figure out some sort of force multiplier.
     
    Tony knows what I’m thinking, “Jay, we’re alive because of you. I know you feel guilty, there’s no reason for you to feel the way you do. You have to remember all you did to save our small community. We’re alive and able to fight another day. You and I both know not very many who face the odds we did can say that. Put a smile on your face and greet those who shed blood for us.”
     
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    Tony takes me to see Fred, we hug like we haven’t seen each other in years. I look at his arm and shake my head. My eyes well with tears, “Fred, I’m sorry I got you shot again. I’ll find a way to make it up to you.”
     
    “Jay, it’s not your fault. I’ve figured out I’m a bullet magnet.” Fred and I walked together to visit the other wounded. He put his arm around me to guide me to see the others.
     
    Walking into the medical facility brings tears to my eyes. I pause at the entrance watching our two doctors and nurse check on my friends and neighbors. We invited our family doctor, Doctor Basco to join us when everything turned to crap, Tony and Nancy brought their family doctor with them, Doctor Philip being 20 years younger than Doctor Basco sometimes clashed over theory, but they worked like the right and left hands on the same body when the wounded arrived at their facility. So far, we’ve been blessed that both doctors brought all of their sample drugs, bandages, and other equipment with them. In the weeks leading up to the attack, they wrote us prescriptions for antibiotics, pain medication, insulin, and heart medications. Between the two doctors and the other thirty-eight of us, we have over two years of medication stored in a cool, dark storage room under the shelter. Most of our wounded were hit in their arms or shoulders. In the month we’ve been in the shelter, we’ve had two sprained ankles, and one broken arm when one of the teens fell running in the shelter. Not counting the two of us who died in the fighting, we’re lucky we suffered only minor injuries. It dawns on me watching the doctors check on Flo’s injuries that we don’t have a preacher or any other person representing the Lord with us. I wonder how the hell I missed this. I feel a disturbance in the force, turning quickly I see Lacy and Cheri standing behind me, Cheri asks, “Are they going to be okay? They’ve been in and out of here for a month.”
     
    Doctor Basco replies, while smiling, “Yes, only Fran has a long-term injury, she broke her arm when she fell against the steps. She came down really hard, she has a compound fracture. Normally she would need surgery, however, given our limited facilities, I’ve decided to see if I can find a way to keep the arm healing correctly without surgery.”
     
    Lacy asks, “Doctor, do we have an X-ray?”
     
    “Yes, Jay ordered a small one.”
     
    Cheri asks, “How long will she need to have the cast?”
     
    The Doctor shook his head, “I don’t know. I check her weekly to see her progress. My current guess is another eight to twelve weeks.”
     
    I ask the Doctor, “Is there anything else I should know?”
     
    “Yes, we’d like you to spend some time with us. We’re concerned about you. Lacy wouldn’t allow us near you