Chapter 14

As everyone exited the vehicle, Clark took the forefront of the group and kept his gun ready for anything that could possibly come at them. He walked toward Jeremiah's car, hoping to find Jack's condition. Jeremiah had just gotten out of the vehicle, Penelope already heading towards the backseat when he approached them. "How is he?" Clark asked, Jeremiah sighed and looked down at the ground. "He's not doing well... The fever is getting worse, he's coughing." Jeremiah's words stung Clark, there was no way around what would eventually happen. "Jeremiah!" Penelope cried out from the back seat, Jeremiah and Clark looked at one another before Clark opened the back door of the car to find Jack unconscious and seizing in his seat. He was lying on his back, his legs pointed toward Clark and Jeremiah while his head was near Penelope's lap. "I don't know what to do!" Penelope cried, tears pouring down her face. "Roll him on his side," Clark instructed, as he was a police officer, he was given multiple lessons on how to deal with certain medical conditions. One of those medical conditions was, of course, dealing with people who had seizures. Penelope rolled Jack onto his side, "Why am I rolling him? What if he falls off the seat?" Penelope asked, "He won't. Not as long as you are right there next to him. If he's flat on his back and he starts to spit up or vomit, then we need to make sure he doesn't choke on any of it." Clark explained, he briefly looked down at the watch on his arm to keep time on how long it was going on. Three minutes had already passed, and he looked at Jack who was twitching uncontrollably, his body was stiff and he wasn't regaining consciousness. "How do we stop it?" Jeremiah asked, "We can't. Was Jack born with seizures?" Clark asked, "No, he was born completely healthy." Jeremiah shook his head, "Then the only thing we can do is let him go through the seizure." Jeremiah looked away from his child, trying to hold it together. He had another child to look after, one sitting in the car with Iris. "Listen, I know this is hard. But he will come out of it and when he does, he needs both of you to be very calm. He's going to panic coming out of it and you both need to stay calm and make him feel better about what just happened." Clark explained, he looked back at Blake and waved for her to come over. He pulled her off to the side, Scarlett coming over to the pair to hear what he had to say. 

"Look, I don't know how much longer he's going to be in this seizure and I'm the only one who knows how to help him when he comes out of it. I'm gonna need you and Scarlett to take the rest of the group and check the house out. You think you could do that?" He asked, "Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem." Scarlett said, he looked to Blake who nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, you two."

"It's no problem, I promise we'll be safe," Scarlett said, she had hope that nothing was hiding in that farmhouse.

"I'll hold you to that." Clark pointed his finger at her.

With that Blake and Scarlett head over to the remaining group, "Alright, guys. We're going to be going into the house. Clark asked Blake and I to lead the group into the house, he's got to take care of Jack. His condition is worsening, so we need to get this house checked out as soon as possible. Does everyone have a weapon?" Scarlett asked, "Yeah," Jamie held up a bat, it was one that she found in one of the cars they raided back on the highway. Iris stuck close to her mother, Jamie taking up with the rear with Liam right beside her. Piper stayed beside Liam, holding onto his hand as they started towards the house. Scarlett brought up the middle while Logan and Blake took the lead. Scarlett looked around as she walked, watching for any movement around them as they headed towards the large beige-colored house. Blake hoped that they wouldn't find any trouble, after all, Jack's condition was only getting worse and there wasn't much they could do but make him comfortable. Blake quietly went up the small steps, leading up to the white front door. She took a moment to breathe, hoping for the best, and twisted the door knob, opening the door. 

With a loud creaking noise, the door finally swung open. The group paused for a moment, waiting for any sign of danger before stepping inside. But all they could hear was complete silence. Blake looked around, the furniture seeming untouched for a while. "Hello?" Blake called out as they entered the foyer. The only response was an eerie echo that seemed to bounce off every wall. They cautiously explored each room on the ground floor, checking for any signs of life or danger. The first stop was the living room, they noticed there was a large screen TV hanging up on the wall and was surrounded by a bunch of family photos. The living room walls are painted a soft beige, barely matching the color of the large screen TV that hung above the fireplace. The fireplace looked untouched as if it had not been recently used, Blake was surprised to see that the house had a fireplace but it was good because they would be able to use it. The brown couch cushions were soft and inviting, but the fabric was worn and frayed in some spots. With no sign of anything out of the ordinary, they decided to explore the rest of the first floor. Iris felt unsettled by the silence, she clutched her mother's arm as Jamie looked in the kitchen. She looked at the large silver sink, wondering if the house had running water, and turned the faucet on. She and her daughter were both taken back when water came out of the faucet, what's better is that the faucet had a device on it meant for filtering water. 

"The house has running water!" Jamie called, and Blake and Logan sighed in relief. 

Jamie turned the water off, looking into the pantry which actually had been stocked with nonperishables, it was a wonder how this pantry was still filled. "Mom, why is the pantry still stocked? Wouldn't the people who live here have taken this stuff with them?" Iris asked, looking up at her mother. "It's possible that these people haven't even been home since all this started. They could have been on a trip." Liam stated. "Do you think they'll come back?" Piper asked, looking up at Liam.

"I don't think so... But then again, we don't know anything for sure." Liam said.

Blake and Logan took the first room on the left, finding a nice bedroom. The bedroom was spacious, with a king-sized bed against one wall and a dresser on the other. The walls were painted a calm blue color, and there were several family photos displayed on the nightstand and dresser. The large window let in natural light, making the room feel warm and inviting. The room looked like it belonged to a teenager, Logan liked the simplicity of the room. The next one was a bathroom, painted the same place blue color as the first bedroom. A large, cracked mirror hung above the sink, reflecting the flickering light from the flashlight. The room was small, with only enough space for a sink, toilet, and bathtub/ shower combination. Since it was confirmed that the house had running water, they were going to be able to shower. They continued looking, finding more rooms and another bathroom. After searching the first floor, they headed upstairs to see what else was in the house. They were shocked to find that one of the rooms had been made into a study and library, there were so many books that it was a wonder who these people were. Since there were five rooms and they had more than five people in this group, people were going to have to share. Blake and Scarlett were fine with sharing the bedroom downstairs, Jamie and Iris decided to take a room upstairs as it had its own bathroom. After searching the upstairs, Blake decided to head back down to check on Jack and the others. Logan and Scarlett had gone down into the basement, looking to see if the house had any kind of power. Unfortunately, the power had been shut off by the city but Scarlett found a box that had previously housed a generator.

"They have a generator," Scarlett said, looking back at Logan. "It might be outside, let's check." Logan said.

Blake made her way outside, came down the stairs, and headed toward Jeremiah's car. "Clark," Clark turned his head and looked back at the house as Blake came over to them, "The house is clear. Looks like nobody has been there in a while, the house has running water and a stocked pantry." She explained, "Seriously? A stocked pantry?" Clark looked at her in shock, "Yeah, Jamie found a bunch of non-perishable. How's Jack?" She looked into the car, noticing that Jack was no longer seizing. "He came out of it just a few minutes ago, he's disoriented and his fever is still running pretty mild but he came out of it, okay." Blake sighed in relief, she gave a warm smile to Jeremiah who gave her a small one back before turning his attention back to his wife and son.

Is there a room we can use to keep him separated from everyone else in case he turns?" Clark asked, lowering his voice.

"Yeah, come on. I'll show you," With that, Clark called to Jeremiah and Penelope. "It's safe to go inside. Come on." Clark said. Penelope carried Jack out of the car, Jeremiah following his wife, and closed all the car doors with Blake leading them inside the house. She led them upstairs, taking them into the study which had a comfortable couch for Jack to sleep on. Penelope laid her son down, stepping back slightly as she looked around for a blanket, Jeremiah found one on the chair behind the desk. He covered Jack with it, kissing his sleeping son on the forehead, and stepped back. "Do we know how much time he has left?" Blake asked, keeping her voice low. "No, but I can tell he's deteriorating fast. He might not even last the night." Clark answered. "Does the house have any power?" Penelope asked, "No, unfortunately not." Just as Blake said that, the lights turned on leaving everyone confused. Logan appeared in the doorway, "They had a generator in the tool shed, Scarlett and I got it hooked up. Lucky for us, that thing doesn't make any noise so we shouldn't have to worry about any 'Infected' for the night." Logan said, "That's awesome. Well done," Clark high-fived Logan, as Jeremiah patted him on the shoulder and headed the door. He needed a moment for himself, Jack's decline was taking its toll on him. "He just needs some air... Where's Piper?" Penelope asked, "She's downstairs with Jamie and Iris, in the kitchen. She's fine." Blake explained, Penelope nodded and smiled. "Clark, I can't thank you enough for helping us when Jack started seizing. and thanks for keeping an eye on Piper." Penelope grabbed Clark's hands, taking his large hands into her small ones.

"It's no problem, Penelope. Let's get settled in."