Fight for Life and Death by Michael Anderle & Michael Todd

Author:Michael Anderle & Michael Todd [Anderle, Michael & Todd, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Apocalyptic, Dystopian, Science Fiction, Sci-Fi
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2017-12-31T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

“Dying of what?” Chris demanded.

“A terminal illness,” Kemp said. Her eyes were downcast and something in her demeanor was distant.

That would explain her interest in the medicinal properties of goop serum. Chris was about to ask her for more details when she spoke up again.

“I always wanted to be a doctor. I’d thought about joining the military since I was a kid, but medicine was my passion. My father was an NCO in the Army. He retired and became a security organizer. Thanks to him, I knew about some of this stuff. He knew how much I wanted to help people. So of course, he suggested I join the Army and become a medic. I wasn’t sure about that, though, since I wanted the full experience of being a real doctor.

“‘Well, then,’ he said to me one day, ‘you can still get the best of both worlds. Go to med school and apply to work for MEDCOM.’ I looked into it.”

“What’s MEDCOM again?” he asked. The name was familiar, but he couldn’t remember the details.

She sighed. Even now, she didn’t like to pause to answer questions. “The Civilian Corps of the United States Army Medical Command. MEDCOM,” she said. “Mostly, they treat uniformed service personnel, though as of 2024, Congress okayed us treating civilians who were caught in crossfire. They needed the extra help once we got involved in the civil war in Turkmenistan.”

Chris nodded. That had been a nasty conflict.

“So that’s what I did,” Kemp went on. “I was always good at keeping cool under pressure. Tests, track meets, bullies, I dealt with all of it fine from puberty onwards and I got through medical school with minimal delays.”

He had no trouble believing that. Emma Kemp did not strike him as a loafer or a party girl.

“I wanted to help the people who couldn’t be helped. I joined MEDCOM and accepted work in Turkmenistan, where I volunteered to treat anyone who needed it. Our guys, their civilians, even POWs. It wasn’t easy, but I felt good about it, and I was good at it.”

She paused again. She looked somewhere off to the side before she began again. “That little girl in the picture in my office—the one you were looking at,” she said, “was injured by a stray bullet. Their doctors were busy treating their own fighting men, and same deal with our medics, so I went out there and patched her up. I befriended the family and everything.” The lieutenant’s jaw tightened and she ground her teeth. “I moved out with an Army platoon that had been stationed right beside their village. The day after we left, the insurgents attacked and destroyed the town. Everyone was wiped out, the little girl included.”

Chris leaned back and shook his head sadly. He couldn’t imagine…

“That’s when I decided to drop the med kit and pick up a gun. Because there’s no point in healing people until the sons of bitches who keep hurting them to begin with are put down. So, I enlisted in the Army.

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