Description

Panel One: "Meanwhile..." A caravan-style wagon drawn by two horses is going down the road. There are solar panels on the roof and a biohazard sign on the side that says "CAUTION - PLAGUE". A plague doctor, dressed in black, is at the reins with a lab-coated person beside them, and two plague nurses, dressed in white, walk beside the cart. They wear beaked masks just like the doctor's, only in white. One is a tall, well-built man, and the other is a tall woman with a jaunty gait and her hands behind her head. The nurses are both wearing belts with a pouch hanging from it, and have a curved, rectangular panel strapped to their right thigh.*

Panel Two: The lady nurse asks the doctor, "Are we there yet?" The doctor, annoyed, sighs and answers, "I said, we'll get there when we get there." The nurse has a cute floral pattern on her scrub-style shirt, and the doctor, also a lady, has black lace trimming the collar of her cloak, and she wears a silver brooch with an hourglass on it at the closure.

Panel Three: The lady nurse turns to the other nurse and asks, "Where are we going, again?" He seems surprised. His scrubs have a Japanese maple leaf pattern.

Panel Four: "Ocaton. You know, that place with the soap you like," he answers. "And all the geese," adds the doctor. The nurse is excited and gushes, "Oh, I love the geese!" Beside the doctor the lady wearing a lab coat says, "Of course you do." She is reading a book. She wears a close-fitting white hood held in place with barettes. There is an opening for her face, and she wears safety glasses and a standard medical-style mask and latex gloves.**

*This is for writing on. The surface is slightly rough so it can hold a pencil mark, but it can also be easily washed clean. I was inspired by footage of doctors and nurse in COVID units writing patient notes on their disposeable PPE suits. I saw a lot of them writing on their thighs. For the nurses here, I used that combined with Victorian horn notebooks. Thin sheets of horn (or bone or ivory) were put on a ring or riveted so they unfolded like a little fan. The surface was lightly sanded so that pencil marks would stay. Ladies typically wore them on their chatelaine with a matching mechanical pencil. I imagine these are some sort of tempered glass or tough ceramic. Something that can be sterilized, anyway.

 **The only one who has any skin exposed to the elements is the researcher in the lab coat, and even then it's only her eyes and forehead. The others are completely covered.

 Author Note

Hey, new characters! This is a regular medical patrol, out on their rounds. Teams of at least four (two nurses, one doc and one researcher) go around and to try and catch any outbreaks before they get too bad.

And yes, I know it's late, but I've been having a bunch of health and tech issues. Not COVID, luckily, but annoying all the same and requiring medication that kept me awake. Imagine trying to function on one-hour bursts of sleep and not getting any full sleep cycles in for a whole week. FUN.

But I'm feeling better, and despite being nailed by a bee right by my left eye (Negative stars, do not recommend) I can see clearly out of it now. So I got this page done along with Wednesday's! And in other news... *drumroll, please*

WE GOT VACCINATED!

My wife and I got Dose 1 of Moderna last Friday. The only symptoms we have to report are the standard achy arms at the injection site. Evie heard of a pharmacy in the area that actually had to throw away some doses the day before and were asking anyone who wanted one to come so they wouldn't have to throw out any more. Of course, we jumped on it! So, if you're still looking, maybe call your drugstore and see if they have any. Drag your friends with you!

Get Vaxxed When You Can,
- Bran