Into the Badlands by Brian J. Jarrett

to be extremely careful around her. They'd know within a day or two if she had it. The masks and gloves would be used until then.
    They lifted her onto the makeshift stretcher, with Ed on one end and both boys on the other end, then they carried her out of the store. They had to shove the door open wider to fit the girl and the contraption through, but they made it. She moaned occasionally, but made little other movement or sound. Ed thought she probably had a fever, but couldn't risk touching her with exposed skin just yet.
    If she was feverish, then at a minimum she needed some fluids and rest, and probably some antibiotics. Ed had used up the last of the antibiotics they had six months prior when Jeremy had been running a high fever. He anguished for days until the boy's fever finally broke.
    Ed felt in his gut that she wasn't infected with the virus. If she had then she wouldn't be unconscious, she'd be raving mad. He still made Zach and Jeremy keep their face masks and goggles on, just in case. He kept his own on as well.
    If what the girl had was bacterial he could do some good with the antibiotics, provided he could find some. If it was viral it would have to run its course. Any antivirals were surely gone, raided after the pandemic started. They were useless, but many had tried all the same.
    They needed a place to keep her until she got better, or until she died. Ed remembered passing a few farmhouses just before the exit. In this part of the Midwest the highway cut right through mile after mile of farmland, so farmhouses weren't that hard to come by. He thought it was their best option.
    He and the boys carried her almost a mile on the stretcher. The lacing between the bars and the board loosened along the way, but ultimately it held. Progress was slow, and they had to take a few breaks along the way, but eventually they spotted a suitable farmhouse and headed toward it.
    Here the highway was level with the ground around it. They maneuvered the stretcher with the girl atop over a fence then trudged through the frozen, brown vegetation underfoot. It crunched with each step they took. The girl stirred, but continued sleeping. Ed wondered if she'd even make it through the rest of the day.
    The plowed terrain of the farmland was bumpy, filled with dirt clods, dips, and divots. Jeremy fell once, but Ed and Zach were able to keep the stretcher relatively steady until he could regain his footing.
    They scanned their surroundings for carriers as they walked, but saw none along the way. Ed tried not to think about what they would have to do if they did run across any. The thought of leaving the incapacitated girl behind to be devoured alive felt inhuman. The boys wouldn't understand that they might not have any other choice. The best he could do is shield them from it and hope they kept their sanity. He couldn't dwell on those thoughts though; if they had any hope of bringing this girl back from the brink of death they had to first get her stabilized.
    The farmhouse sat about a quarter mile from the highway, so it didn't take Ed and the boys long to reach it. They reached the front yard of the farmhouse, then gently sat the girl down on the ground. “Get behind me boys,” Ed told them. “Zach, get your gun ready.” Ed drew his own gun, chambering a round.
    “What about the girl, Dad?” Zach asked.
    “She'll be fine there until we get back. We have to check this house first.”
    “But what if any carriers come while we're inside?”
    Ed looked at Zach, raising his eyebrows. Zach seemed to not understand. Jeremy did. “Hurry up,” he told his brother, then nudged him into the house.
    Ed was leery of bringing the boys inside; he had no idea who or what he would find in there. Leaving them outside in the front yard, however, felt more dangerous. He had them stay behind him as he walked to the front entryway, facing backward to keep a lookout. The screen door was torn off its hinges and the house's wooden front door was