Quaranteam Hebridean Hame Ch 05

This is a story set in CorruptingPower's Quaranteam Universe. Permission has been given for me to write in this setting.

Thanks to AgathonWrites and The_Licentious_Laureate for their editing and story input. Any remaining mistakes are mine.

Thanks as well as to the other QT authors who contributed to editing, make useful suggestions and whose work I would recommend you check out:

BreakTheBar, AgathonWrites, BronanTheLibrarian, OtterlyMindblowing, SilverRyden, RonanJWilkerson, BirchesLoveBooks, The_Licentious_Laureate, DisquietCertitude, 32inch, Ranthoron, Percheron, EldritchMuppet and our newest writer - 2charlie.

This story, based in Scotland during the DuoHalo/Covid pandemic, is a slower burn story than most of the other QT series.

Constructive comments are always welcome!

---V---

Quaranteam: Hebridean Hame, Chapter 5

Sunday evening, 27th September 2020

A830, Near Kinlocheal, Scotland

Having called the emergency services following the car crash and the survivor's collapse, Callum found himself in a queue waiting to speak to someone. Just as he had when he'd recently called the coastguard. While he waited for this call to be answered, he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and shifted around in his seat, trying to decide the best thing to do. The delay in getting through to what should be an emergency number was maddening, especially when every fibre of his body was telling him he needed to act right now - that he needed help right now.

Given what he'd just seen, he knew that staying put was the most sensible option. But another part of him wanted to go and help. Or at least try to help. He could put the woman into the recovery position until help arrived. Put a coat over her to keep her warm. CPR didn't seem sensible, but he couldn't just stand by and let someone struggle. It seemed unnatural to stand aside and do nothing.

Eventually, his call was answered. Callum found himself giving a rushed account of what had happened, asking for help to be sent and advice on what he should do. To his relief, which was sadly a feeling which he would later have some guilt over, he was instructed to remain near the scene but to keep away from, and upwind of, the bodies. The call handler asked him to try to stop anyone else going near the car or the casualties but not to put himself at risk by doing so.

He was told help would come from Fort William but that they would still take some time to get to him. The call handler ended with a strict reminder not to go near the bodies.

And then, all of a sudden, he was left alone with nothing but his thoughts and Karl for company. And nothing to do but sit and wait.

Callum stared at the woman lying on the road for the first ten minutes after the call. He could see no sign of movement, no indication that she was still coughing or struggling to breathe. Her pose looked awkward and uncomfortable, like a puppet whose strings had suddenly been cut.

There had been no movement from the car either, the passenger was still visible, slumped over, his seatbelt holding him in place.

Eventually, he snapped away from staring at the body in the road. Remembering the instructions he'd received, he paid some attention to the trees and saw that the wind was blowing across the road and not down it. Still, looking at the position of the accident, it was clear that any emergency services vehicle would need to be where he was currently stopped. He carefully manoeuvred his car onto the verge opposite the crash and the body, giving as wide berth as possible and pulling up fifteen or so metres past the accident, putting his hazard indicators on.

For the next thirty minutes, he nervously watched as a few vehicles arrived one at a time at the scene. Most stopped briefly before gingerly making their way around the body on the road, using the same path as Callum before speeding off. One person looked to be getting out, and Callum hastily jumped out of his car to shake his head, wave and shout, 'Keep away'. Thankfully, the man listened, returning to his vehicle and slowly passing the scene, only to stop again when he was adjacent to Callum. They had a brief chat - yes, Callum had rung 999. He was waiting for an ambulance. He didn't know what was wrong but had been told to keep away from the bodies. The other traveller looked worried, wished him luck, and resumed his journey.

During the wait, he'd also called Mira to check in. By now, doubt was gnawing at him regarding his inaction, and he wanted to check if she could think of anything he could do for the victims. Deep down, he knew that he was only looking for reassurance and a friendly voice. Her advice was to follow the instructions of the call handler.

She'd sternly instructed him to stay safe and not take any risks. In a change of subject, he'd been able to tell her the good news about Karl - who perked up at his name being mentioned before settling down again on the passenger seat.

Eventually, a small convoy with flashing blue lights came down the road from Fort William. It included a police car, an ambulance, and, following behind, a flatbed recovery vehicle. The road was soon closed while they worked, the emergency services flashing lights backed up by a few widely spaced cones and a blue police road closure sign.

Callum was surprised to see that his statement was to be taken by a very nervous and young-looking special constable - an unpaid volunteer, not a full police officer. He'd considered becoming a 'SC' when he was younger, so he recognised the markings on her epaulettes. An older-looking policeman, wearing his PPE even while in the police car, had driven her but hadn't gotten out despite appearing to be in charge - only lowering his window enough to give the young woman instructions before raising it again.

The recovery truck driver seemed to be a soldier, gender unknown due to their formless military NBC suit. The male and female paramedics, on the other hand, checked and then rolled the bodies into body bags while wearing PPE that seemed much less impressive than the recovery driver's.

Within forty-five minutes, they had removed the car and the bodies, the paramedics and recovery driver moving quickly and efficiently - as if they had done this before. Callum's statement had been taken, and the paramedics had sprayed a fizzing, foaming substance liberally on the ground where the woman had fallen. He'd had to answer a lot of questions from the paramedics about how close he'd gotten to the bodies, but they seemed satisfied with his answers. One by one, the small convoy turned around in the road and headed back towards Fort William, leaving a still-shaken Callum to continue his journey home.

Eventually, after a return journey that felt quick due to the myriad of thoughts running through Callum's head but seemed to take a lifetime because of all that had happened since he'd left that afternoon, he returned to the turnoff from the main road, which led to the crossing point. He'd almost been surprised as it appeared in the car's headlights, emerging from the darkness of the early evening.

Spotting the unpaved road that led towards home brought him a sense of relief, as he was physically and mentally exhausted. However, after the back-and-forth nonsense of earlier that day, he could not face another row across to the island. His hastily concocted plan was for him and Karl to take a quick nap in the car. This would help pass the few hours they needed to wait for the tide to drop enough for him to drive across.

****

Callum woke with a start as Karl's wet nose snuffled against his ear, the dog putting a paw on his arm for good measure. On the dashboard, his phone's alarm sounded jauntily, but it had failed to wake him. Cursing himself, he grabbed the phone. A quick check showed it was far later than planned. As a result, he'd missed the lowest ebb of the tide, and it would have already started to turn, re-flooding the channel between the island and the mainland.

Still tired, sore, and half asleep, Callum decided to use the causeway crossing anyway. If he hurried, he'd be across before the water was too deep to be safe.

In his tired state, he had given this decision far too little thought. He was confident he could make it the 100 metres to the island before the tide rose too high. He'd done it loads of times in the past.

But that had been in the daylight.

Crossing the causeway at night could be risky, but doing it while half asleep and during a rising tide was asking for trouble. Thankfully, the night wasn't too dark. The moon was bright and clear above, with only the occasional cloud scudding across the sky. The only artificial light visible for miles was from his car headlights.

Callum rapidly found that these light sources barely illuminated the causeway's grey concrete, which looked ghost-like under the first few inches of seawater.

He also discovered that the headlights and the moonlight reflecting off the undulating surface of the loch made it even harder to see the causeway. As he started to drive into and through the water, he found himself straining to keep it in view and, because of that, struggling to keep himself on course. Adding to this problem, the immersed concrete of the causeway felt slippery under his tyres. These factors resulted in him moving at a snail's pace, which allowed time for the tide to raise the water level further.

Still, he wanted to get home and to bed, so he pushed on. Reversing back to the mainland would have been an even riskier task.

Karl sat trustingly in the passenger seat beside him, unaware of any potential danger.

Halfway across, Callum's tiredness caught up with him. He'd been staring at the undulating surface of the water, trying to keep the underwater causeway in view. But the effect of the moonlight and headlights reflecting off the water's surface was hypnotic. Despite the difficulty of his situation putting him on edge, his focus on the task worked against him.

Staring at the light dancing off the water's surface as it glittered and flickered, trying to focus on the faint outline of the causeway, he lost concentration. For a moment, he almost forgot where he was and what he was doing, feeling as if he were in a dream. Perhaps he'd even nodded off for a moment.

The 'bump bump bump' of the driver's-side wheel as it ran over the water-worn cobbles set along the very edge of the causeway caused him to jerk to full alertness and stamp on the brake.

The sudden braking on the slippery surface, even at his very low speed, caused the car's back end to slide slightly and make contact with the cobbles on the opposite edge of the causeway with a thump. At the same time, he could feel the front tyre slowly sliding on the cobble it had stopped on, knowing the drop into deeper water was centimetres away. Callum froze in his seat, his hand on the door handle, expecting the car to tip off the causeway.

However, despite a worrying sway, it remained on the concrete surface.

He sat gripping the wheel tightly, knowing he was far too close to driving his front wheel into the water-filled void. Or causing his rear wheel to skid off the causeway. Either would have meant losing the car. The tide would only continue to rise, drowning the engine and possibly floating the car out into the loch. While probably not dangerous for himself, it would be a cold and dismal walk back to the house. Explaining to the insurance company how he managed to lose his car by driving into a loch at night... Yeah, that was also likely to have financial implications.

He took some deep breaths to calm himself. His pulse thumped in his ears from the close call. Callum put the car back into first gear and gently steered back onto the causeway's flat surface, fearing with every minute turn of the steering wheel that his front tyre might slip off the causeway. One final heart-stopping moment was the 'bump' as the front wheel dropped off the last stone. Thankfully, landing on the Causeway.

This hadn't helped calm his nerves. Throughout this, though, the water had kept rising, now just under knee depth. He maintained his slow pace, aiming ahead at the gravel ramp down to the causeway.

The crunch of the gravel under his front wheels had never been more welcome.

****

Early AM, Monday, 28th September 2020

Eilean Arthriagh, Inner Hebrides, Scotland

Once Callum was back safely at the house, he messaged Mira. It was nothing more than a 'home safe,' but it would do for now.

Then he'd sorted Karl's food, grabbed something for himself and had a quick shower. Since witnessing the accident, he'd felt grubby and unclean, so the cleansing spray of hot water had been welcome.

The other two dogs were still with the ladies at the Lodge, where they'd be staying until after tomorrow's shopping collection - unless they came over to see him off in the morning, which they often would. He then headed straight to bed and tried to sleep, knowing he needed to be up and organised to leave for a set time so he could make the first low tide.

But sleep hadn't come.

What felt like hours passed. Callum lay in his bed, staring into the darkness, too highly strung to sleep. He'd long passed the point of being frustrated at himself for being wide awake. He needed to rest but couldn't, despite trying all the usual tricks. Every time he looked at the clock, he worked out how few hours of sleep he'd get if he went to sleep now. Only to find himself checking again a few minutes later.

The day's events kept going through his mind: Nicole's comments about the pandemic, how bad her boyfriend had said it was, how no one had returned for their pet, and how Karl came to be on the island - plus the unusual figures Graham had discovered. The old woman, unable to breathe, mucus and blood choking her - whatever illness that had been, it didn't fit the description of Covid symptoms. He'd checked that when he first couldn't get to sleep.

When he did manage to doze, a repeating nightmare would cause him to jerk awake with a pounding heart.

The cause of the nightmare was apparent. He would see the zombie-like figure of the old lady coming towards him, arms outstretched, reaching for him with mucus and blood covering her lower face. Her lips moved, saying what he knew was 'help me', despite there being no noise other than her gasping and wheezing. Before she could reach him, black water rose and swallowed her and everything else, rising over his chest, mouth and eyes. And he would wake with a start, coughing and gulping for air.

Callum tossed and turned for hours before eventually, with a loud sigh, Karl moved from where he'd been sleeping on the bedroom floor onto the bed - hesitantly jumping up, showing the medication was already helping. With another huff, Karl flopped down, lying so his head was on Callum's chest.

"I'm annoying you too, am I?" he quietly asked Karl. In response, the dog's ears lifted slightly to listen, but Karl was otherwise unmoving.

Callum idly stroked Karl's head, scratching behind his ears. The sensation was calming. That, combined with the pressure of Karl's head on him and the warmth and presence beside him, did help Callum drift off into a restful sleep - this time without any nightmares.

****

Morning came around too quickly.

Callum woke up for the second time in twelve hours, not because of his phone alarm but because Karl had disturbed him. The dog was now sat up in the bed and giving low "woofs" towards the bedroom door, his tail starting to thump a slow beat on the duvet. Ignoring the dog, Callum grabbed his phone and saw the alarm had been going off for some time, but he had been hitting snooze each time it had chirped.

"I need to find a better way to wake myself up." he muttered to himself and Karl, stretching his still sore arms and rubbing sleep from his eyes.

A minute later, the house's front door opened with a rattle, and he heard Mira shout "Good morning" while Skye and Piper could be heard charging down the hallway before causing the bedroom door to shudder in its frame as they tried to get to him. Karl's tail wagging had increased as he looked excitedly between Callum and the door.

Callum was still yawning and building the motivation to get out of bed. It was far too early.

With another yawn and a stretch, he swung himself to a sitting position, pulling on some joggers and a t-shirt and helping Karl down from the bed. He was then almost knocked off his feet by the avalanche of Golden Retriever and Chocolate Labrador that rushed him when he opened the door. Both dogs danced around him, sniffing and licking, tails wagging hard enough to whip against his knees. Karl also received and returned excited greetings.

As he waded through the dogs and headed to the kitchen, he could see Mira wasn't alone. Alison stood on her tiptoes in the kitchen, reaching for mugs on a high shelf. She'd gone with some of her tighter jeans today, giving him a glorious view of her hips and thin but shapely rear. Her jumper pulled upwards as she reached, showing off a sliver of her bare lower back. The view was innocent, but also strangely alluring.

As he entered the kitchen, Mira was already busy at the cooker. The noise and movement caused him to tear his eyes away from the younger woman. Thankfully, Mira had her back to him.

"Morning," he called to Mira, knowing Alison wouldn't hear him.

Hearing his voice, Mira looked back at him. "Morning, lazy bones." A frown appeared as she paid him a little more attention. "Bad night? You're looking a bit pale." She stopped what she was doing, approaching him while wiping her hands on a tea towel, and placing the back of her hand on his forehead to check his temperature.

He nodded gently, enjoying the touch and warmth of her hand. "Yesterday was... It was bad. The crash that held me up... I've never seen anyone looking so ill before. The poor woman just dropped right there on the road and died."

Alison crossed the kitchen carrying the empty mugs while Mira still had her hand on his forehead, causing Alison to frown as she passed them to turn the kettle on. Callum smiled at her and quickly signed 'morning' while her attention was on him.

Mira, meanwhile, nodded sympathetically. "You sounded pretty shaken up when you called. You followed the instructions, though, yeah?"

Callum continued with a self-deprecating laugh, "Yeah, I kept my distance and waited for the ambulance. They recovered the car and the two bodies. So it was late when I got back. Then I had a nap in the car, waiting for the tide, and missed my alarm, so I tried to cross with the tide rising over the causeway and nearly drove off into the loch 'cos I fell asleep. Despite how tired I felt, everything was churning around in my brain when I got into bed. If I did drop off, I'd have a nightmare and wake up again. I think Karl eventually got annoyed with me. But once he'd started to use me as a pillow, I managed to sleep a little."

"A nightmare?" The concerned look returned as Mira also placed fingers on his neck to check his pulse. "You need to be prioritising your mental health a little Cal. All of this stuff will be putting more pressure on you. Nightmares are a definite sign that your brain is struggling to process trauma."

Callum could only nod slowly in agreement. "It definitely was traumatic - as was the nightmare. I kept seeing that poor woman trying to get to me, heard her calling for help, and then the dark water rose over everything. It was just a collection of the various parts of the day when I'd been terrified." He'd ended with a smile, trying to make light of his experiences. She smiled, somewhat sadly, back.

"Your temperature's okay, at least. Pulse seems fine. How was the Vet? Was she cute?"

"You've been spending too much time with Em," he remarked, shaking his head at her. In response, she playfully stuck her tongue out at him. Callum chuckled before continuing. "She's young and trying to do a lot with very few resources, taking in pets from people who've been hospitalised. Her boyfriend was a paramedic and died earlier this year. It looked and sounded like she was having a tough time. It seems like she's a little in limbo until the world starts turning again. It was her boyfriend's place, so she has no idea what will happen when the official wheels start turning following his death."