The Nation 03
Hazleton:
Bear "Hey," Bear said. He knelt down next to Winston where he lay on a cot. "What's going on?" Winston nodded. "I think it's just something else, Bear. I know Cammy is worried, thinks it's my heart, but I don't think so."
Bear nodded. "What can I do?"
"Nothing, really. I think it just has to run its course." He shrugged.
"Pain in your chest? ... Arm?" Bear asked.
"Arm aches. Pressure in my chest. I got a bad ticker... I know it. I get that sometimes. I got Nitro... plenty," Winston said. "But you don't think it will get worse?" Bear asked.
Winston lowered his voice. "It's a bad ticker, Bear. Been bad before; been worse, better. I really think it's going to be okay. I don't have that feeling of doom. I can't explain it better than that. You get this feeling when it's really bad. I don't have that." Winston finished.
"We'll probably be here the rest of today and tomorrow. Then we're thinking of pulling out... if you think you feel up to it. So, rest. Let me know... but be honest about it. Let me know how you feel," Bear shrugged.
Winston shrugged too. Bear stood. Cammy stayed where she had been, seated on the end of the cot.
Beth walked along silently. Bear walked beside her. He had come back after all and caught her as she was coming down the ladder. He had waited as she made a quick trip to the garage, and then they had walked slowly into the junk yard, watching the rows of cars as they went. Bear told her what Iris had said to him earlier.
"Iris can be silly sometimes. She gets an idea in her head and she runs with it," Beth said at last. "Hopefully it doesn't cause you problems."
"It can't cause me problems," Bear said.
"I can't believe, though, that Iris would go to Cammy." Beth shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Either way it can cause you problems, and I hope it doesn't."
"It can't," Bear said again. "Cammy and I had a talk today. Let me rephrase that, Cammy talked to me, and I listened." Beth looked up at Bear.
"Cammy wanted me to know that she is not in love with me... can't love me. That was it. But that's not all of it. People think that we are together, and I haven't, she hasn't, corrected that. But the truth is that there is nothing there. Hasn't been. She was with someone else when we met. Long story, but she lost that person. I went through something bad too... lost someone I loved, the same as most of us did. She wanted me to know she's not ready to meet someone else. But we're not together, so Iris can say what Iris wants to say. Doesn't matter... Can't cause me problems."
Beth took a sip from the pint and passed it to Bear.
Bear sipped deeply. "Wow." He handed the bottle back, reached into his top pocket, pulled his pouch free and rolled a cigarette. He motioned to the pouch and looked at Beth.
"Please," Beth said.
"Shit will kill you," Bear warned.
"Yeah, well," Beth laughed and looked around. "I'm pretty scared."
"Guess I feel the same. If I didn't, I would have tossed this crap." He rolled a second cigarette and handed it to Beth. A second later he scratched a match to life and lit both cigarettes. He blew gray-blue smoke into the air. They walked in silence for a time.
"Let's get to where we're going and then sort this out," Beth said. She looked over at Bear.
"Alright, that's fair," Bear agreed.
"Yeah... No sweat," she added. Bear nodded. "Yet," Beth added with a laugh. She took a sip from the bottle and then passed it back to Bear. Bear chuckled, took another deep pull from the bottle, felt the fire roll down into his stomach and then passed it back.
"Yet," he agreed. The people traveling with Bear, Beth, Billy and Pearl are not always equipped for a life of constant fighting and travel. They do the best they can for those who are with them and the survivors they pick up along the way...
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