Chapter 15

[One month after the team returned from Egypt and two months since the arrival of the Crystallon to the US]

The hospitals were parked, and the whole street smelled of death. Every minute of each day, casualties were brought into the hospital and treated. Sadly none of them survived.

“Clear. Shock.” The defibrillator was placed on the patient’s chest, shocking him. He fell in a heap back on the bed, his lifeless arm swinging from the bed. “Fuck! Clear,” the doctor screamed and repeated the action.

“Doctor, he’s gone,” a nurse said, but the doctor was adamant. He shook his head in denial, charged the defibrillator, and tried again. He checked the pulse of the young boy and ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

“How much epinephrine?”

“Five,” the nurse replied. “He’s dead, doctor Joe,” the nurse said sadly. Joe heaved, his chest rising and falling as sadness overtook him. He held his head in his hands and let the tears drop. This was the fifth child