Apocalypsis 04 - Haven

the kids who’d just arrived and someone I wanted to consider as a possible more official leader of Haven. I planned to watch him closely over the next few days or weeks to see if he was up to the task. I knew we’d eventually take a vote, since I wasn’t cool with being a chiefesse or dictator, but still … it was worth knowing what we’d be getting ourselves into. A revolution or revolt was one of those things-to-be-avoided-at-all-costs as far as I was concerned. Haven needed solid leadership.
    “Come on. We still need to get some other things that are down this way,” said Ronald, walking again.
    “Like what?” asked Bodo.
    “We need carts to roll the bodies on. I think there are some in the kitchen, but there could be some supply closets nearby with other things we’ll need.”
    “Like bleach,” Winky suggested.
    “Yeah. Like bleach,” agreed Ronald. “Although we’re probably going to need another crew for that. After we lift all those bodies we’re going to be too tired to do much cleaning.”
    “And too disgusted probably,” I mumbled. I wasn’t looking forward to this task at all. I knew it had to be done, but that didn’t make it any easier to deal with.
    ***
    We spent about twenty minutes exploring the kitchen without opening the fridge. We found four large rolling carts that would be big enough to put bodies on, lots of rubber work gloves, and plenty of cleaning products.
    Jamal came in with Gretchen, both of them loaded down with coveralls, masks, gloves, and boots.
    “Sweet,” said Flick. “Total hazmat setup.”
    “We tried to guess everyone’s sizes,” said Jamal. “Gretchen or I can go back and get new stuff if it doesn’t fit.”
    “Here,” she said, handing me a suit. “This was the smallest they had in there. Same with the boots.” She dropped a pair of black rubber boots at my feet that looked like they belonged to a guy as big as my father.
    I stepped into the suit and zipped it up. The material wasn’t plastic, but it felt like it would repel moisture; it was heavy canvas with some sort of shiny coating on the outside. The leg parts and sleeves were about six inches too long. Gretchen immediately stepped over and helped me roll them up. She already had her own outfit on, and it fit a lot better than mine did; probably because she was about four inches taller.
    I put my rubber boots on right over my regular shoes because they were so big, but the guys all took off their regular stuff and put the boots on either over bare feet or nasty, dirty socks.
    “I think we’d better get a laundry team put together asap,” said Gretchen, looking at the brown socks being shoved into boots.
    “I think we just need to have a giant fire pit where we can burn all of them,” I said.
    “You said it.” She looked around. “Need anything else?”
    “No. You can finish getting your stuff on.” I positioned my mask over the top of my head. “What was Peter doing out there?”
    “Triage. Trying to figure out all the injuries we have to deal with and who’s qualified to help work on that stuff.”
    “How’s Fohi?” I asked, sliding my mask over my face. It was the chemical warfare type with filter canisters on the sides.
    “He’s in bad shape. We need to deal with him first. I think he’s the worst of everyone.”
    “Maybe I should go back,” said Winky. “I have all the medical stuff in my backpack.”
    Gretchen looked over at her. “Don’t worry about it. They have a kid in their group who does medical stuff. Doctor Billy they call him. His mom was a nurse and his dad was a doctor. He’s good. I talked to him when he first got here. They already have your stuff set up.”
    “Nice try,” I said to Winky.
    She stuck her tongue out at me before pulling her mask down over her face. Her hood came up next, and she stood still while Gretchen secured it under her chin. The outfit was as oversized on her as mine was on me.
    “This thing is frigging hot,” said Winky. Her voice was muffled by the mask but still understandable. “And not in the good-hot kind of way. It’s hot in the I-have-sweat-running-down-my-ass-crack way.”
    All we could see were her eyes, and they didn’t look happy.
    Gretchen stepped over to secure my hood for me. “Consider it a beauty treatment. Pretend you’re at a spa in the sauna, sweating all the toxins out of your body.” She walked away from me when she was done, pulling her own mask on and fixing her hood.
    Winky went over and