The food Eric had brought to Helena’s office earlier that morning sat untouched.

She poured over the pages of her encyclopedias, scribbling notes in the margins and on the ripped notepad. The time had seemed to flit, though she guessed from how far the sun had moved, it had been about four hours. She rubbed her eyes and squinted at the page before her.

The book was an extensive catalogue of viruses and communicable diseases. It was dense, ten years out of date, at least, and despite her education, she needed to cross-reference other manuals more often than she liked. And although her library was the finest around, the standards for “comprehensive” weren’t exactly what they used to be.

Leaning back in the chair Helena stretched her arms into the air, her joints creaking from disuse. I need a walk... she told herself. She pushed up from the chair and left the books open on the desk. With a cursory glance, she ignored the plate of food and turned instead to the note that came with it.

Like you're not busy enough, Kam said one of the new kids needs a looking at.
No rest for the wicked, eh?
 -Eric

She smiled and tucked the note in her pocket.

With the full plate in hand, her bag of medical supplies slung over her shoulder, Helena locked up her office and made her way to the dining hall. It was normally closed at midday, lunch not a mealtime they could indulge in anymore, but the doors were open and inside the hall was quiet. She dropped the plate off on one of the clean tables, not wanting the food to go to waste but also not looking to call attention to herself. Not eating one of her two meals for the day wouldn’t go unnoticed.

It wasn't often that she made house calls around the college, not with the office being so close. Only in the most serious situations did she venture out with her bag, though a part of her relished this chance to be free of the four walls. At least some of them. There was something delightfully benign about a simple and homey house call.

Pushing the pace, Helena shivered in the breeze that found her in the quad. It only dissipated as she started down the steps to the lower houses where the children lived. Their voices, although muted, seemed to leak from the walls and despite her typical morose temper, Helena felt a smile creep on her, even if it was faint.

“HEL-LEN-A!” Gemma woods was the first to greet her, calling out her name. Footsteps followed, familiar and new faces peeking around corners.

Kurzon was the first adult to find her. With a smile, he motioned for her to come forward, and she wove between the small crowd. But, as quickly as the children had appeared, a stern look from Kurzon had them disbanding to the different rooms on the first floor.

“It's a young girl, her name's Wendy.” Kurzon held open the door as Helena entered to see a small girl of maybe seven or eight sitting beside a teen boy. They shared similar features, probably siblings.

“I'm Ethan,” the teen said and Wendy grabbed his hand. She's been crying, but was certainly cleaner than she had been when they arrived, her hair fixed in uneven but tidy braids.

“What seems to be the problem?” Helena asked. She stepped forward and gave the girl a quick once over from a few feet away. Something was off about her leg if the bandage was any indication, but without removing it Helena couldn’t know more. And she certainly had plans to do away with the bandage with the state it was in.

“She fell while we were-” Ethan's voice cut short. Wendy's hand tightened in her brother’s. “Before we arrived. It wasn't bad before but-”

“It hurts,” Wendy blurted, pointing down to her ankle.

Looking, but not touching Helena guessed it was a sprain. Most injuries like it were. If it was, there was little concern, but it needed a tight bandage and elevation.

“Can I?” Helena asked.

Wendy reluctantly nodded and Helena offered her a small smile. With delicate fingers, the doctor lifted the leg and unwrapped the old bandage. It was swollen and the skin discoloured from use. She probably ran on it like this...

It wasn't the worst of injuries but was one of the more deadly in this new world of theirs. If Wendy had been older or weighed more, she'd probably have been left behind. Or so Helena grimly presumed as she pulled a tension bandage from her kit. It was not new but washed and cleaner than the one they’d been using.

“It looks like a sprain.” She started wrapping the leg while giving the diagnosis. “Keep this bandage on while you're walking,” Helena ordered, looking up at Wendy and Ethan. “It has to feel snug like this.” She pulled the wrap a little and Wendy winced but kept her mouth quiet. “Not so it hurts, but so you feel tightly wrapped. It'll help with the swelling.” Lowering the foot gently to the ground, Helena helped Wendy get her shoe and sock back on.

“At night you take it off and elevate-” as she said the word she looked on little Wendy who seemed confused. In this world, Helena couldn’t rely on parents taking notes. The children needed to know how to care for themselves.

“Keep it higher than your chest while you're lying down. This will make it heal faster. And no running. Running on this could lead to a break. No running unless-” she caught herself. “No running. And be careful on stairs.”

Despite trying to smile, Helena could hear the brisk tone in her voice and received no warm smiles from the children. It’s better this way, she told herself. How many will be alive this time next year?

She stood and looked to Kurzon. “I need you to keep an eye on that for now. If it starts to get worse or looks crooked you tell me right away. I mean it, that last thing they need is a-” The two were interrupted as a soft hand beat on the door. Not a moment later Patricia Jekyll entered the room, her son in tow. The look on her face gave Helena the chills as she took a bracing breath.

“Where the hell have you been?” Patricia said franticly as she pulled her twelve-year-old son Nick in front of her. “You weren't at your office. Nick's not feeling well, his stomach again, and we had to walk all the way-”

“I'm aware of Nick's symptoms, Patricia, and right now I'm with another patient,” Helena said. The words were easy and practiced, feeling foreign in the world they lived in now.

“I don't care what you're doing.” Patricia looked around Helena to glare at Wendy and Ethan. “You'll take care of my son before wasting your time on any strays.”

The words hung in the air awkwardly as Helena collected her bag. “I understand you're frustrated, but Nick's condition is not urgent unless you have new symptoms?”

“No, not new. Worsened. He's worse, right hunny?” Patricia cued her son who passively nodded, his skinny frame barely holding the clothes on his back.

“Okay, well I'll take a look at him when I'm done-”

“You don't want to make an enemy of me, Doctor Black.” The formality of the threat wasn't lost on Helena as she turned her back to Patricia. “You know what Lyndon will do if anything happens to Nick.”

“When I'm finished, Mrs. Jekyll, I'll meet you at my office.”

Patricia left in a huff but the chill from her appearance invaded the room.

“I'm sorry about that,” Helena apologized to Kurzon and the kids. “Not everyone here is very polite.” She forced a tired smile and Wendy mirrored it back. But Ethan stayed steely, watching Helena carefully.

“You tell me if that gets any worse,” she told Ethan. “Or tell Kurzon and he'll come get me okay?”

“Okay,” Wendy said.

As Helena stood and made for the door, Kurzon reached out for her. “You better go deal with the Jekyll's soon,” he said grimly. “No one needs the kind of trouble pissing them off brings.”

“Yeah,” she muttered rubbing her eyes a little. “I just have more a bit more on my mind than Patricia.”

“Like the terrorist?” Kurzon whispered.

Ethan was on his feet and at the door. “You mean Ashley? You know where she is?”

“Is she okay?” Wendy echoed from behind, scooting to the edge of her seat. The look in their eyes was something Helena hadn't seen before, concern and curiosity mixed with a strange kind of fear. She couldn't quite place it as she nodded cautiously.

But her curiosity swelled and she stepped towards the two kids. “What do you two know about her?” She had hunted through her books for answers but a part of her wondered if it was simpler.

“I'm trying to treat her,” Helena said. “I need to know everything you saw her and say.”

Wendy looked to Ethan for confirmation and it took a moment for him to size Helena up. But when he'd finished he nodded and began to tell their story.

[MAD Wendigo - Prologue Narration]

Thank you for reading! As always, I love being able to share this story in its updated and improved form, and I love having readers. If you have any comments, feedback, hype, etc, I'd love to hear from you! And again, thank you for reading. Oh, and of course, Happy New Year!