ER/Stand Crossover




The back of the truck was loaded almost to the brim. Jeanie was amazed at how much new stuff they had picked up. Of course, they had lost quite a bit of their gear over the last few months and some of it needed to be replaced. There had been a lengthy shopping trip the day before, and she suspected that everyone had done a little personal shopping as well. She was willing to admit that she picked some new things up. Clothes mostly. She had also picked up quite a few things for Taris, which delighted Taris to no end. Taris had, in a matter of days, fully embraced the idea that there was no need to buy any thing, that you could just take what you wanted. It had been difficult to say no, but she had convinced Taris that once they reached Boulder, she could start collecting toys to her hearts content. For the trip however, Taris would have to make do with a few favorites.

There were the puppies to contend with too. Taris's kittens would easily fit in a small pet carrier and would ride easily in either the jeep or truck cab. The dogs were five month old, and half grown german shepherds took up space. Luka had put his foot down when it was suggested that they just let the dogs be loose in the jeep. It wasn't that he didn't want the dogs along, he explained, but two young dogs in the jeep running around was an accident waiting to happen. Larger pet carriers were required but there was no room in the truck for more things. That had led to some early morning car shopping. Now they had a jeep, several beat up motorcycles, one weathered red truck, and one sparkling new blue truck. It was the same make and model as the red truck. Dave had gotten it, his theory being that if the first one worked then they should stick with it. She didn't particularly care to drive it but the debate over who would was interesting. Luka had already appropriated the jeep, with the comment that he, Carter, and Doug could trade off driving. Carter wanted to ride one of the bikes. Doug wasn't interested. He intended to ride and Jeanie didn't think that was a bad thing at all. Doug was looking decidedly pale and hollow eyed. He hadn't had a drink in three days, and it was starting show quite a bit. His temper was bad and she had seen his hands shaking. It was probably a good thing he didn't want to drive. She had no real interest in appropriating the new vehicle. She planned on riding with Luka, and perhaps spelling who ever ended up with the cycles. Lucy, like Carter, wanted to ride a motorcycle. The argument was between Dave and Randi, and Jeanie was surprised.

Randi was glaring at Dave as though she would tear him apart. " Christ, am I asking that much? I'm sick of riding a motorcycle."

" I found the truck, I want to drive it." That had been Dave's argument since the start. Jeanie had to admit, he had a point. It surprised Jeanie that Randi was making such a fuss over it. If she just wanted to ride in a car, she could. There was plenty of room. They were only bringing the motorcycles because they could scout ahead with them. Two was enough and no one would be upset. Dave didn't have a motorcycle which made his argument about finding the truck even better. Jeanie supposed that she just couldn't see what the problem was. With the exception of Kerry and now possibly Doug, they took turns riding the cycles. And Kerry, despite her territorial nature, was usually happy to trade off driving after a few hours.

Luka and Kerry watched with interest, while Doug paced around nervously. Carter was leaning nonchalantly against one of the bikes. Lucy was amused, and Jeanie to admit that she was too. She didn't think Dave had any chance of winning this. What worried her was the possibility that Randi would end the discussion by cold cocking Dave. Not a good thing. Dave wasn't a bad sort. In fact, Jeanie realized, this is the first verbal altercation I've seen him in, and they were a group that tended to argue.

" I don't see what your problem is," Dave said. " It's just a truck. We'll be in Boulder in five days at worst. I was planning on trading off with everyone anyway."

Kerry stepped in. " Dave, why don't you ride with me and let Randi take the new truck?" That, Jeanie thought, was a surprise. It hadn't escaped her that Kerry was gently spurning Dave's affection, doing everything she could to keep it at a friend level. Asking him to ride with her was the exact opposite of spurning and she knew it. Her expression seemed to suggest it too. She looked annoyed, yet Jeanie knew that the delay in getting started couldn't be upsetting so much that she'd rather spend her time fending off Dave.

Dave, to no one's surprise, smiled. " Really chief? You want me to ride with you?"

" I wouldn't ask you if I didn't mean it." Kerry said after a moment. Again Jeanie had a weird feeling that something was up.

" Well, ok then. I'll get my stuff." He handed Randi the keys. " Have fun." With that the group dispersed, though Jeanie noticed that Randi was actually thanking Kerry. Another oddity. Randi appreciated favors but was generally not one to say so. Jeanie didn't know what to make of it.

Taris made a beeline for the red truck. " I want to ride with Dave!"

" Of course she does," Kerry said softly, " They're about the same age mentally." That drew a snigger from Lucy. That was not the remark of a happy person, Jeanie decided, but that could easily have been referring to Taris, an outgoing chatterbox. It would be interesting to see whether Kerry killed both of them. Taris could be a handful. Dave could be a pest. Together, well... Jeanie didn't envy Kerry. Serves her right for hogging the cd player, Jeanie thought as she strode over to the jeep.

In minutes they were driving along. Jeanie felt good about it. It proved her baseless theory wrong, the theory she had that somehow she was going to die in Carter's admittedly spacious mountain lodge. She felt almost buoyant.

The motorcycles had gone ahead and the two trucks were tailing along behind the jeep. It was like a caravan and it reminded Jeanie of the stories she had read as a girl about settlers traveling across the old west. Of course, she thought, the only leather seats those people had were tanned hides, not comfortable bucket leather seats like the jeep. Doug, she saw, was already curled up in the back seat, fast asleep. That was probably for the best, she decided. She didn't mind trading off with Luka to drive and she worried that Doug still wasn't up to the task.

" So, " she said brightly to Luka, " What do you suppose is up with Randi? Its really not like her to be so insistent like that."

Luka looked at her and then at Doug's sleeping form in the back seat. " Are you sure he's asleep?"

Jeanie looked again. Doug was looking completely relaxed, eyes closed. " Yes, why? Are we discussing something secret?"

Luka hesitated. " Not exactly." He waited a moment, taking care to take a turn slowly. When he was done, he brought his attention back to her. " It's not a secret exactly. Randi *might* be pregnant. Her family has a history of miscarriage and riding a motorcycle is an unnecessary risk. If Kerry hadn't said something, I was going to let Randi have the jeep. There's too much... vibrating on a motorcycle." A red flush creeped up into his cheeks. She wasn't surprised. Luka was a prude and didn't express himself verbally or physically in an unrestrained way except when they were intimate. It was cute in a way.

Still, she caught the most important thing he had said. " Luka there is no such thing as "might be" pregnant. She is pregnant, isn't she?" Luka nodded. " She hasn't told Carter yet."

" Jeanie, she's afraid." Luka said it as if it was obvious. " Her mother and aunts all had miscarriages early in pregnancy. She thinks she's only six weeks along. I can understand why she wants to wait on telling him. There's a good chance that there won't be anything to tell."

" So this *is* a secret?" Jeanie asked, letting a touch of humor tinge her voice.

" Randi doesn't want Carter to know until she's ready to tell him. Kerry knows about it, I found out... We both told her not to do long rides on the motorcycles, which was why Kerry jumped in." Luka grinned. " I don't think she planned on inviting Dave to be her driving buddy."

She waved the slight concern aside. " He's good for her. Kerry's a nice person but she needs someone around her that doesn't take everything so seriously." It was for that reason, that and the fact that Dave genuinely liked Kerry, that Jeanie wanted to see Dave succeed in his attempts to win Kerry's heart. There was something more about Randi's pregnancy, she knew that, but she also sensed that Luka wasn't ready too tell her. She decided to change the topic. " You and Kerry would be awful. You're both too serious."

" I don't like being told what to do," Luka said. He clearly understood the direction she was heading. " Now Lucy is good... Pretty, smart.... but it would be like being with my daughter."

" What about Randi?" Jeanie pressed.

His eyes twinkled. " She's too wild. I would be afraid of getting hurt. That's why I'm with you. You're not too bossy, too young or too wild." They both laughed and settled back into companionable silence.

The roads weren't terrible, but it was definitely getting very old the higher they went. There were patches of snow at first but soon it gave way to a gentle white covering all across the landscape which slowed them considerably. " This can't be good," she said to Luka. He shrugged.

" If we were in Croatia, I could say," he said after a moment." It looks bad. Much more snow and we won't be able to drive." And that was very bad, Jeanie thought. In the old days, before the plague, Boulder had been a day trip. Even from Chicago, it was at best a three day drive. After the plague, it had taken them months to get to Colorado and the trip from Carter's lodge was a minimum of five days. If they couldn't drive... Jeanie shuddered. If they had to walk, it would be October or even November before they got there. That was if they didn't freeze to death or get covered by an avalanche. Her sense of foreboding seemed to chime into overdrive as they rounded another turn and found Lucy and Carter off their motorcycles, waving their hands in an excited way.

They stopped the jeep. Behind them, the two trucks also stopped and people began to get out. Doug managed to rouse himself, putting a hand to his forehead in a vain attempt to stave off the headache Jeanie was sure that he had.

" Are we there yet?" he said with a chuckle.

Carter came up to the jeep first and Randi and Dave quickly joined him. Jeanie could see Kerry and Taris straggling behind and her heart sank even more. It was bad news about the roads, she knew it, and watching Kerry and Taris made her realize that trying to walk it would simply get a minimum of two people in their group killed. Taris was giggling, yes, but because she was getting stuck every second in the deep snow. Two feet of snow was almost up to her chest. Kerry was following in the wide trail that Dave had made, and was also having a lot of trouble. We would never make it, Jeanie thought sadly, and it would be insane to try. Even if they didn't have Kerry and Taris, she was certain that a journey on foot would be disastrous. Doug wasn't physically well, at least not well enough for what she had been considering. Lucy wasn't up to par either, and if Randi was pregnant.... Or, a little voice in her mind chimed, what if you get sick? You *are* the one dying of AIDS, remember? Sure you could probably get to Boulder and be fine, but you're likely to be dead in two to three years because of your medicine losing its potency. Walking was too risky for the group.

Carter gestured to the snow as soon as the group assembled. " Its two feet deep and this isn't the highest pass we'll go through in order to get to Boulder." He hesitated. " I'm not sure we'd be safe. We can't keep going on the cycles at least." His face was downcast. " I think we might have to turn around."

" Well..." Luka said slowly, " We could try walking. Its only seventy five miles. I think we could do it." Jeanie was surprised to see almost everyone nodding along to that. She had thought that she was alone in her wish to get to Boulder.

It was Doug who broke their silent contemplation. He held up his hands as if completely surprised. " Are we seriously considering this? Are we this desperate? Sure I might be a drunk, but I'm not an idiot and walking to Boulder is idiotic." He turned to Kerry, who hadn't been nodding. Jeanie suspected that hiking to Boulder was something Kerry would suffer through if asked. " Kerry, be honest. Have you *ever* walked a mile? "

She shook her head. " Not like this. On a clear road, I'd be all right but with it like this..." She gestured to the more than knee deep snow. " It'd be hard...." Jeanie sensed that if pressed, Kerry would go along with it, despite the difficulties.

Doug picked up from where she trailed off. " So let's ignore how this seventy five mile hike through the snow will at best physically destroy one member of our party. Let's look at how prepared we are to trot off through the woods. We have all of our gear packed in what, duffle bags? That'll be fun to carry. What about the dogs? Or the cats? Or, " and his voice lowered dramatically, " What about Taris? Do you think an eight year old can handle what you are proposing? "

They all turned to look at the little girl, who was frisking about the snow. She looked back at them. " Can we make a snow man?"

Jeanie knew then what she had to do. Doug was right, they couldn't expect that of a child. If it came to a vote, and she sensed it would, then Doug, Randi and Kerry would vote to head back. Luka, Carter, and Lucy would vote to keep going. Dave was, she could tell by his expression, tempted to keep going, but she suspected he wold vote with Kerry. That left her. She wanted to keep going, it was that simple. Somehow she knew that staying at Carter's would be bad for her. She wanted to go. At the same time, there was no urgent need to go. Yes, it would be boring and yes, they all would feel less secure, but they would be all right. Her feeling of foreboding didn't include any of the others, only herself. If I decide to stay, she thought, then Luka will stay and that would only leave Carter and Lucy. Neither of them were the sort to argue against the crowd. And neither of them were as eloquent as Doug. His little speech reminded her of how he used to be.

She walked over to Taris and picked her up. " I think, " she said as she carried the little girl over to the group, " that we have time for maybe just one snowman before we head back."



Part 48
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