Dead Earth: The Green Dawn Read Online Free PDF Page B

dispatcher made a soft sound and Jubal
pictured the man shivering. Despite the heat, he felt like
shivering himself. He glanced at the woman on the ground.
    “What about other hospitals?” he said.
    “I guess I didn’t make myself clear. Carlsbad
is havin’ a good day, compared to the rest of the state. It’s the
end of the world, Deputy Fife. I suggest you drink up.”
    The whole state? Jubal felt his lunch go sour
in his belly.
    “What about El Paso?”
    “My cousin Randy drives an ambulance down
that way. Let me just say this: you are fucked up the old tail
pipe, podna.”
    Texas, too? But how could—
    Jubal looked at the hills that comprised the
walls of the valley that Serenity sat within. Could the same
natural structure that had often protected the area from seriously
bad weather have slowed the progress of whatever this was?
    He wasn’t a geologist or pathologist. For all
the good he was doing the town, he wasn’t even much of a law officer
at the moment.
    He noticed movement all round him. The crowd
that had gathered to gawk at the sick woman had inched closer to
his cruiser. Jubal realized that they could hear the radio, could
hear what the drunken ambulance dispatcher had been saying. He
pulled the cruiser’s door closed. Within seconds the interior of
the vehicle turned into a furnace. The keys were deep in his pants
pocket. He’d have to climb out again and stand up to reach them, so
he let it go, hoping the conversation would be over soon.
    “What am I supposed to do?” he said,
painfully aware of the desperate note in his voice. “This woman has
the symptoms you described, only ten times worse. And I’ve got a
town of sick people getting sicker.”
    For a few seconds, Jubal heard nothing but
static. Then the voice of the dispatcher returned and he sounded
sober. “Buddy, let me tell you a story. A year ago, there’s this
kid graduating high school. Not a genius, but not a dummy, either,
right? So he knows a guy who knows a guy who gets him a dispatching
job at an ambulance company. This kid wants to do more, though, so
the boss—who’s not a total asshole—gets the kid some EMT classes
and he gets the kid licensed to drive the bus, so the kid can go on
runs and make some extra cash. Now the kid is close to getting
certified. See, the kid could never get into medical school, but
doing this—man, it’s like bein’ on the front lines, you know? And
when he has his ticket, he’ll get a big bump in pay; the boss has
already told him that. Good thing, too, ’cause this kid got his
girl knocked up and he—he’s gonna be a dad. Only...only she’s not
answerin’ her phone today and I’ve got such a terrible fuckin’
feelin’—”
    The voice was replaced by static. Jubal
couldn’t move. Even with sweat freely pouring into his eyes and
down his sides, he sat there in the heat, holding the mic and
waiting for the next words to come through the speaker. He thought
about Fiona and their plans together.
    “You still there?” the dispatcher said.
    “Yeah, man.”
    The unknown man sniffed. “I’m gonna take off.
I’m the only one who showed up today and I’ve been stickin’ around
like a fool, even though there’s nothing I can do.” He paused to
take in a deep breath. “If you believe in God, pray. If you got any
Indians left down there, get ’em to do a blessing. I got a real bad
feeling that this won’t have a happy ending. Good luck to you. I
got some things I gotta do.”
    “Wait,” Jubal said. “You still there?”
    The rattle of static was the only thing that
he heard.
    Jubal wiped the sweat from his face with the
back of his hand. It was a futile effort, since he was perspiring
faster than he could clean it away.
    He had a hand on the door handle, ready to
step out, when the radio came to life.
    “What is it, man? I really have to go.” The
dispatcher now sounded very tired.
    Jubal keyed the microphone. “Earlier you said
‘even if I could get there.’ What did