Chapter 78 Chapter 77

Stu was sitting in a chair by Franny's bed when George Richardson and Dan Lathrop entered.As soon as Franny saw them, she grabbed Stu's hand so tightly that it almost hurt him.She frowned tightly, and for a moment, Stu seemed to see her when she was old, and Stu felt that she looked a lot like Abagal's mother. "Stu," said George, "I hear you're back. It's a miracle! I don't know how happy we are." George shakes Stu's hand and introduces him to Dan Lathrop. Dan said, "We've heard there was a big explosion in Las Vegas, did you see it?"

"yes." "Everyone here thinks it was a nuclear explosion, is it true?" "yes." George nodded, then turned to look at Franny. "how do you feel?" "Very well. I'm glad my husband is back. How's the baby?" "Actually," said Lathrop, "we're here for Peter." Franny nodded, "Dead?" George and Dan exchanged glances, "Frannie, I hope you can listen carefully and don't misunderstand our words." Franny suddenly shouted hysterically, "If he dies, tell me!" "Frannie," Stu said.

"Peter seems to be recovering," Dan said softly. For a while, the house was silent.Franny raised her pale face and looked at Dan.Someone outside the house—Laurie Constable or Marcie Sperth—looks in and goes away. "What did you say?" Finally, Franny asked in a low voice. "Don't get your hopes up," said George. "Didn't you say... recovery?" Franny said with a look of surprise.Only now did she realize that, in her mind, the child's death was already doomed. George said: "Dan and I have diagnosed thousands of cases like this...you may have noticed that I didn't use the word 'treat' because neither Dan nor I could have any influence on the course of the disease. That's right. , Dan?"

"yes." "For God's sake, you get to the point, won't you?" "I will try to say this, but I have to be careful, we are discussing your son's life, I can't let you force me to make any assertions, I hope you can understand my train of thought. 'The Captain's Journey' is a change The antigenic influenza virus, in fact, almost all influenza viruses can actively change the antigen. Although you have been vaccinated, every two or three years, there will be a certain type of influenza re-circulation, which is the reason. For a period of time, type A influenza , and soon you get vaccinated, but two or three years later there will be another influenza B epidemic, and unless you get a new vaccine, you will still get sick."

"But you recover soon enough," Dan interjected, "because eventually your body automatically develops antibodies. Something changes in your body to deal with the new flu virus. But the 'Captain's Journey' is special, once you When your body builds up its defenses against one pathogen, it immediately changes to another. In this, it's not like the usual flu virus, it's closer to the AIDS virus. Like the AIDS virus,' Capt. The journey' is always changing until your body is exhausted, and the inevitable result is death." "Then why didn't we get sick?" asked Stu.

George said: "We don't know, and probably never will. The only thing that is certain is that people who are immune don't get sick and then get better - they don't get sick at all. Now it's specific to Peter's condition. , Dan, come and talk." "Well. One of the great features of 'The Captain's Journey' is that the patient always seems to be getting better, but never quite. Now this baby, Peter, had the flu 48 hours after birth. No doubt he had the "The Captain's Journey", all the symptoms were very typical. But the fourth stage of flu symptoms, that is, the late symptoms, never appeared. In other words, his illness seemed to be protracted longer and longer.

"I don't understand," said Franny puzzled, "what is..." “As the virus changed, Peter developed new antibodies,” George said. “Theoretically, he could still have the disease, but it would never develop into an advanced stage. And he seems to be over it.” " The room was silent again. Dan said: "You pass on half your immunity to your child, Franny. Peter was infected, but we think he's now equipped to beat the virus. We deduce from this that Wentworth The wife's twins would have had the same chance of surviving, but maybe it was bad luck - I still think they probably died not from the flu, but from a syndrome caused by the flu. The difference seems small, but it is very important. "

Stu asked, "What about other pregnant women whose husbands are not immune?" "We think they're going to have to watch their kids go through the same traumatic process," George said. "Some of them might die—Peter was also very dangerous for a while and, as far as I know, can come back. But Before long, all the newborns in the Free Zone—or the whole world—will be the product of the union of two immune males and females. Although it is hard to predict, I bet that once this moment Coming, it will be time for us to celebrate. Of course, at the same time, we have to watch Peter carefully."

"And we're not the only ones who care about Peter," Dan added. "Peter belongs to the Free Zone in a real sense now." Franny whispered: "I just hope he can survive, because he is my child, because I love him." She looked at Stu: "And he is my connection to the past world. He looks like More like Jesse, I'm so glad. Do you understand, honey?" Stu nodded, and a strange thought came into his head: he really wanted to sit with Harper, Norman Brueter, and Vic Palfrey for a beer again, and watch Vic do his things. Smelly homemade cigarettes, and Kiri told them what happened.Vic and the others like to call him Silent Stu.But this time Stu was going to make their ears callused, and he talked for a day and a night.He grabbed Franny's hand subconsciously, tears welling in his eyes.

"We've still got to go around the wards," said George, rising, "but we'll be watching Peter closely, Franny. We'll tell you all we can, and there's no end to it." "When can I nurse him? If... if he doesn't..." "In a week," Dan said. "That long!" "It's been a long time for us, too. There are 71 pregnant women in the Free Zone, nine of whom were pregnant during the pandemic. It's going to be an especially long time for them. Nice to meet you, Stu. Dan shook Stu's hand and left.He has his own work to do.

George shook Stu's hand and said, "I'll come and see you at noon tomorrow at the latest. How? Just let Laurie know when you'll be free." "do what?" "Your leg," said George, "is in bad shape, isn't it?" "Not too bad." "Stu?" Franny sat up. "What happened to your leg?" "Broken, misplaced, too tired," George said, "but it can come back." "No big deal..." Stu said. "What's nothing! Let me see, Stu!" "Stay a while," Stu said. George stood up, "Remember to make an appointment with Laurie, okay?" "He will," Franny said. Stu grinned, "I will, the lady boss has given orders." "Glad to have you back," George said.He seemed to have 1,000 questions to ask, but the words stopped at the end of his mouth.George shook his head slightly, turned and closed the door and left. "Let me watch you walk," said Franny. "Hey, Franny..." "Come on, let me watch you walk around." Franny watched Stu take two steps, as if watching a sailor on a bumpy deck.When Stu turned, Franny began to cry. "Oh, Franny, come on, dear." "I can't help it." Frannie said, covering her face. Stu sat next to her and held her hand and said, "No, don't cry." Franny stared at Stu, tears still flowing. "So many dead, Harold, Nick, Susan... how about Larry? Where's Gran and Ralph?" "I have no idea." "Then how do you tell Lucy? She will definitely come in an hour, every day, and she is still pregnant for a month. Stu, if she asks..." "They're dead," Stu seemed to be talking to himself, "I think so. I know it." "Don't say that," pleaded Franny. "Don't say it in front of Lucy, she'll die of grief if she finds out." "I think they are all victims. God is always looking for some victims. His hands are covered with blood. Why? I don't know. I'm not smart enough. Maybe, we are killing ourselves. The only thing I can be sure of is that the explosion happened There instead of here, we'll be able to spend some time, a little time, in peace." "Is Flagg dead? Really dead?" "I don't know, I think . . . we've got to be wary of him. Sooner or later we're going to find the places where the 'Captain's Journey' was made, bury it, cover it with salt, and pray over it. We all pray." It was almost midnight that night, and Stu pushed Franny, who was in a wheelchair, down the hospital corridor together, with Laurie accompanying them.Franny has watched Stu make an appointment with Laurie. "Looks like you should be in a wheelchair, Stu," said Laurie. "It's not a big problem now." Stu replied. They came to a large glass window into a room decorated in blue and red, and a large moving sculpture hung from the ceiling.In the huge room, there is only one cot in the first row with a child. The card in front of the cot reads: Goldsmith Redman Peter, male, birth weight: 6 lbs 9 oz. Stu watched in fascination. Peter is crying.He clenched his fists, his hair was actually black, his face was red, his eyes were blue, and he seemed to be staring straight into Stu's eyes, as if complaining that Stu was the maker of all his misfortunes. Franny cried again. "Frannie, what's wrong?" "The other beds are empty," she whimpered. "How is this going to work? He's so lonely, otherwise he'd cry. Stu, Peter's so lonely, the other beds are empty, God..." "He won't be alone long," said Stu, putting his hand lightly on Franny's shoulder. "I think he's getting over it. Don't you think so, Laurie?" Laurie had gone away quietly, and they were left alone in front of the glass of the nursery. Slowly, Stu knelt down beside Franny, hugging Franny awkwardly, his right leg was so painful that he frowned.They all looked at Peter with wide-eyed amazement, as if they were the first babies born on earth.After a while Peter fell asleep with his little hands clenched on his chest.The two still stared at Peter, as if they were still amazed that he could come to this world.