We'll Go Down Together

First day

Justice woke up to the harsh kick of a boot his back, "Get up boy. Make breakfast then tend to the sick. You may take your mask off but keep it close, we clean the air in this camp so we don't have to constantly wear those but it sometimes breaks and the outside air comes inside."

"Yes sir", Justice said groggily as he sat up pulling the mask off, he hooked the straps of the mask to his belt loops. He stood up and stretched his arms above his head, "Where is the kitchen sir?"

"Down the hall to the left, you can't miss it", the man said as he tossed a few logs into the fire then sat down on the couch.

Justice nodded and hurried down the hall easily finding the kitchen. He climbed onto the counter and looked through the cabinets finding what he needed to make a good breakfast. He set them all down and started to mix the ingredients for eggs and pancakes, surprisingly the cabinets were well stocked with food. Justice made enough food for all twenty of the people and set it out for them before sitting back to relax. Soon enough one of the other resident of the camp sleepily made his way through the door of the kitchen grabbing a plate before looking at Justice. "Who are you?"

"My name's Justice", he smiled and held out his hand to the other camp resident, "What's your name?"

"Thomas", he replied firmly shaking Justice's hand, before pulling it back to pile food onto his plate, "I would start eatin' if I were you or there won't be any food left for ya. Everyone will be wakin' up soon."

"Nice to meet you Thomas", Justice smiled then nodded, "Yes sir, thank you." He grabbed a plate and took a bit of the food watching as other people started to file into the kitchen, some of them grabbed two plates and brought them to the sick people so they wouldn't have to get up. Justice enjoyed the familiarness of it, he hadn't been with people for a few months and he missed the human interaction.

"Tend to the sick once you're done eating boy", the man said as he ate, they all sat in the living room, the man was on the couch with a girl next to him. He's the leader. Win his approval. Justice thought as he nodded and stood up. The man spoke again but this time not to Justice, "Thomas. You have dishes today and clean up of the kitchen."

"Yes Cap'n", Thomas nodded and left the room following Justice to place his plate and fork in the sink.

"Shall I call him Cap'n to?" Justice asked looking up at Thomas.

"Yes ya shall Justice", Thomas nodded as he spoke, "He's our lead dog, most of us wouldn't be living if it weren't for him. He gave us all a home. We call him Cap'n out of respect. I don't know his real name though so you'll call him Cap'n."

"Alright Thomas, thank you", Justice nodded, "Oh by the way, I must ask where the sick people are?"

"Down the hall, up the stairs, first door on the left", Thomas pointed him down the hall then turned and started to clean the dishes, "Don't worry about names, we'll have a meeting tonight to introduce you to the others."

"Thank you very much Thomas", Justice gave him a soft smile before slipping out the door and silently heading to the sick bay. He walked inside the room and looked at the five beds crudely shoved into the room, three of the sick people were awake and eating but the other two were asleep and their food untouched. He stepped carefully around the beds straight towards the two that were asleep. Hopefully they're just asleep. He thought as he neared the beds, he reached his hand over and felt the first person's pulse, it was slow but it was there. He stepped over to the other and felt her pulse, gone. First day on the job and I lose someone. Great. He tipped her onto her back and started chest compressions.

"Is she alright", one of the patients asked as he caught sight of him doing chest compressions.

"No", was all Justice could say before he leaned forward to breath air into her lungs. He did it again before starting chest compressions again. She's not going to make it, she's too far gone to save. "Thomas! I need your help now", he called before leaning down to breath more air into her lungs.

Thomas rushed up the stairs and over to Justice, "What's wrong?"

Justice sighed and stopped doing chest compressions, "She's gone..."

Thomas stood there and bit the inside of his lip before turning away, "Alright. I'll go tell Cap." He walked down the stairs and into the main room to break the news to the others. Justice pulled the blanket over the woman's head and softly placed his hand on her body before turning away. He walked over to the desk that was set in the corner and sat down before grabbing a paper and a pen walking over to the first person closest to the desk. It was a young girl not much older than nine and she was staring quietly at the blanket that covered her body.

"Hello my name is Justice. What's your name?" He asked her softly.

"Is that what's going to happen to me", the little girl said softly, "Am I going to die?"

Justice looked away not wanting to answer that question, "May I ask your name?"

"Julie. My name is Julie", she softly pulled on the threads of the blanket before looking up at Justice, her blue eyes big and sad, "May I ask if I'm going to go away like Naana did?"

Justice let out a sigh, he might not have feelings when it came to adults but when it came to children he found it hard not to let his feelings out, "I don't know Julie. I will try my hardest not to let you go though. I promise."

"Oh okay", she swallowed hard and looked back down at the blanket.

"What are your symptoms Julie? Like coughing, vomiting", he asked trying to change the subject.

"I have a real bad pain in my head, I throw up sometimes, and I can't stand by myself cause I feel dizzy. I also feel warm to the touch but I'm cold and shivery", she replied.

"I'm guessing you've got the flu", he wrote down what she had said then placed his hand on her head, "You've got a high temperature to, I'll see what I can do for medicine, for now just rest."

She nodded softly and watched him as he stood up and walked to the next person. She tried not to look at Naana but glanced at her and then away shrinking down into the bed pulling the blanket up to cover her shoulders.