Living Death: Deliverance (Horror, Zombie Apocalypse, Medical Fiction)

by Kent Reaper

  * * * * *

  Kenneth pushed the stretcher slowly. Ignoring the two new corpses with their heads bashed in as they made their way down the corridor. To him, each accidental bump added to the constant squeak of the wheels was deafening, as if all the infected in the wing could hear it.

  Each empty corridor leading away from Mr. Karcher tempted Kenneth. He wanted to drop everything and run off on his own. Maybe this way, he could find Jenny.

  If Jenny knew I abandoned a family to their deaths to find her, would she forgive me? Could I live with myself?

  Kenneth no longer thought about leaving.

  The elevator was just round the corner. Mr. Karcher held up his hand again and Kenneth halted in his tracks.

  "Anybody?"

  "No."

  "Let's go." Kenneth sighed in relief.

  Mr. Karcher called for the elevator, ignoring the bloody fingerprint conspicuously found on the button.

  "I don't think this is a good idea." Kenneth blurted out at last. He had his doubts on this whole scheme, but couldn't come up with a better idea.

  "What if the lift is… y'know, full of them?"

  Mr. Karcher's eyes widened in surprise.

  Kenneth retreated round the corner, dragging a heaving Mrs. Karcher along with him. The gag he gave her served its purpose well, muffling her screams as her baby struggled inside of her.

  The lift door opened in front of Mr. Karcher. Every muscle in Kenneth's body tensed up as he watched Mr. Karcher raise his walking stick and charge into the lift. The sounds of blunt violence and a dying moan were like music to Kenneth's ears. Ten seconds later he came out with a police baton in his hand.

  "I didn't manage to find a gun on him but I found this."

  "You beat a cop?"

  "He's no longer a cop once he's infected. It's either him, or all of us, even you. You know that."

  "Yeah, I guess."

  Kenneth wanted time to stop so that they could stay in the lift forever, safe from the dangers outside. But that never obviously happened, the ride was only two floors down.

  That familiar tensing happened again as the two men braced themselves for whatever lay outside.

  The lift doors opened with a cheerful ring unlike the horrors of the world around them, revealing a corridor littered with fresh corpses.

  "Honey, don't look." Mr. Karcher said as he stepped out first.

  Kenneth started pushing the second he saw Mr. Karcher beckoning them over.

  Gory bits of people lay strewn at the sides in bits of blue, white and green cloth. Patient, doctor, nurse, it did not matter. They all looked sickeningly same after the infected that had their way with them.

  Kenneth released his tense muscles for a brief second before this last stretch of corridor. This trip was almost over.

  "Argggh!"

  The moans of ten - no, twenty - different voices brought chills down Kenneth's spine. Mr. Karcher and Kenneth looked at each other and instantly understood the gravity of their situation.

  "Go, now!"

  The doors to the operating theater refused to open.

  C'mon, Kenneth! Get it together!

  "Dammit! Open up!" Mr. Karcher shouted as the operating theater's double doors refused to budge.

  "Do you know the code?" Kenneth asked with a tone laced with urgency. He pointed at a keypad next to Mr. Karcher. The red light on it refused to budge, sealing their fate to a gory death.

  "Seriously? I'm a patient's husband! How'd you expect me to know this?"

  "Well don't look at me, I'm not even a proper doctor!"

  "We have to break the door down!"

  "Thank you, Mr. Adam Karcher. You've let your wife down, you've let your kid down, you've pretty much doomed us all."

  "Yeah, like your sarcastic quips are going to help."

  The underlying rumblings of a horde of infected slowly shuffling towards them drove Kenneth to the brink of madness with inescapable fear. His palms grew clammy, his legs began to tremble, and his bowels were on the verge of coming loose all over his pants.

  He wanted to come round the stretcher, to shoot the keypad. Maybe then they would be let in.

  "No!" Mr. Karcher shouted as he swatted Kenneth's hand away. "You shoot and they'll definitely come running!"

  "You got a better idea?"

  Mr. Karcher ignored Kenneth, his fingers flying fast and hard on the keypad, making it beep frantically as he tried in vain to guess the code.

  A long drawn out beep signifying that the wrong code was entered brought their hopes down with each repetition.

  "Dammit… dammit!"

  Kenneth wasn't one to just stand around and wait for death to come. But as he returned round the stretcher, ready to ram the automatic glass sliding doors down in a last ditch effort, he tripped over a body covered by a white coat.

  Ugh, I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing shit like this.

  But something about this one caught Kenneth's eye. That glint of plastic in his bloodied, outstretched hand.

  He took a closer look, flipping the doctor over to reveal a face too ravaged to be recognizable. Looking away for a second, he took a deep breath before summoning the courage to examine it closer. The name tag hanging off the coat was all Kenneth needed.

  Dr. H. P. Ross, Senior General Consultant.

  Damn.

  At least now though, he knew what had happened to his ex-mentor. Chances are, he was also trying to escape into the theater too before the infect they got to him.

  Swiping the card from the outstretched hand, Kenneth pushed Mr. Karcher aside.

  "Here, let me."

  He swiped the card. The red light on the keypad suddenly changed to green.

  "We're saved!"

  Kenneth's focus swept past the window behind him, the one with a view of the adjacent hospital block. The flurry of blonde hair attached to a flowing white coat trailing behind the small, feeling figure caught his eye.

  Jenny?

  He didn't know for sure, but he had no time to lose.

  "Ragghh!"

  The two men turned to see the infected shuffling round the corner. On seeing fresh prey in front of them, they broke from their slow, unsteady gait into a stumbling jog.

  "Dammit, get in there!" Kenneth shouted as he pushed Mrs. Karcher into the jaws of surgical medicine. Whatever lay in there, Kenneth was prepared to take his chances.

  Mr. Karcher rushed in after them and pushed the button to close the doors from the other side. They watched as the doors slid shut, amputating a couple of fingers from one of the more eager infected who tried to get in.

  Kenneth looked at Mr. Karcher. He never thought he would see the man who saved his life in a better light than he did now.

  "You saved my life, but now I saved all of us. We're even."

  "Ragghh."

  Kenneth jumped, turning around just in time to see the jaws of death pouncing upon him.

  His life flashed before his eyes as he fell back, the infected on top of him, clawing at him, wanting to sink his jaws into Kenneth's living flesh.

  Kenneth shut his eyes, waiting for the inevitable end when the sickening crush of smashed bone rang in his ears. He opened his eyes at last, watching as Mr. Karcher bashed Kenneth's attacker's head in.

  "Annnd, I just saved you once again, if you're still inclined to keep count." Mr. Karcher walked over, the triumphant victor of favors, and extended his hand.

  Kenneth took it and let Mr. Karcher pick him up.

  "We're right back where we started."

  "I can't take it anymore. If you gentlemen are done coming up with wisecracks no one gives a shit about, I'd fully appreciate it if you get this baby out of me now than any of your snide remarks!"

  They turned to see Mrs. Karcher breathing hard and giving them the most annoyed look she could possibly muster.

  "Alright." Kenneth nodded to the relief of Mr. Karcher. "Let's hurry up and quickly save your baby, Mrs. Karcher."

  Then I can find her again.<
br />
  Kenneth looked around. It was a miracle that the place was virtually untouched by the unspeakable horrors outside. Apart from the single dead attacker lying by the side with his face smashed, the theater seemed empty and was hopefully, sterile.

  "Get her onto the table." Kenneth ordered as he rummaged through the cabinets. Though his active mind was focused on gathering the necessary items for the procedure, he subconsciously couldn't help but notice the inconspicuous door in the corner. Was it really his way to freedom?

  "She needs general anesthesia. I'm going into the supply cabinet."

  "Wait! No, I'll get you what you need. You stay here and prep her."

  "Why not? You probably can't tell the difference between a syringe and a scalpel. I'm going in."

  "No."

  Kenneth stared at Mr. Karcher, surprised that he was so adamant against what seemed to be such a trivial thing.

  "Hurry up, Doctor Cook! Just tell me what you need; I'll get it for sure."

  Kenneth didn't have time to argue, Mrs. Karcher's muffled screams were making the infected outside pound harder against the doors of the operating theater.

  Letting Mrs. Karcher hang onto him for support as she moved herself from stretcher to table, Kenneth watched Mr. Karcher like a hawk as his figure disappeared into the door in the corner.

  He had written everything he could think of on a scrap of paper and pressed it into Mr. Karcher's hand so that he could remember but Kenneth still had his reservations about this method of delivery.

  "Is that everything I asked for?"

  "I got whatever I could. There weren't any dissolvable stitches so I took the normal ones instead."

  "It'll have to do. Honestly I'm surprised that there're any left." Kenneth replied as he quickly washed his hands and put on a new set of gloves. This was an emergency procedure, he had to hurry.

  "Alright, Mrs. Karcher. I'm going to put you under. When you wake up you'll have your baby in your arms."

  Kenneth took the syringe filled with a clear liquid from the tray Mr. Karcher had placed beside him.

  "You're sure this is anesthesia, ten CCs of it?"

  Mr. Karcher nodded. "It's my wife, doctor. Do you think I could be careless about this?"

  Kenneth nodded. He'd double check to make sure, but those automatic doors sounded flimsier by the second. He'd just have to trust that Mr. Karcher had followed his instructions to the letter.

  "Go grab anything you can and make another barricade, starting with the stretcher." Kenneth shouted as he tapped Mrs. Karcher's arm to make her vein more visible.

  Mr. Karcher nodded, tipping the stretcher over and shoving it against the automatic doors.

  Kenneth's experience with giving anesthesia was limited to watching it happen a few times and listening to a brief overview by one of the doctors specializing in it. He hoped he had remembered enough to ensure that Mrs. Karcher could wake up again after this was all over.

  Kenneth stared at the syringe in his hand and at the vein on Mrs. Karcher's arm.

  It's just like last time.

  He couldn't stop himself from trembling. How the hell was he going to put her under like this?

  Dammit, Ken. Keep it together! You couldn't save him back then, but you can save her now.

  Kenneth took a deep breath, letting his breathing slow as he banished the ghosts of his past.

  Alright, I'm ready.

  He injected what he hoped was anesthesia and counted to seven, watching in relief as Mrs. Karcher drifted off into blissful unconsciousness, her heart rate thankfully intact.

  "I'm back, what else do you need?"

  Kenneth looked up at Mr. Karcher and then at the automatic doors. Mr. Karcher had dumped the stretcher and anything else that he could find against its entrance while jamming the door mechanism with a couple of miscellaneous surgical tools.

  Suddenly the infected throwing themselves against the doors didn't seem so threatening anymore.

  "Scalpel. And watch her heart rate and the oxygen tube in her mouth. Tell me the instant something's wrong."

  Kenneth found the sterilized metal blade in his gloved hands. He took one last deep breath.

  And so it begins.

  He plunged the blade into Mrs. Karcher's abdomen, making a vertical cut down from her navel to pubic area.

  The possibility of a low transverse incision had crossed his mind as he pulled apart her stomach muscles and reached Mrs. Karcher's uterus at last. But there was simply no time.

  He plunged both hands in, feeling around for the little life that held him in amazed wonder. Pulling the baby out, his eyes widened in awe. It was strangely fulfilling, delivering new life even as the world burned around him.

  "Oh my god, honey, you did it!" Kenneth shouted excitedly after taking his intense concentration off the heart monitor attached to Mrs. Karcher.

  Kenneth couldn't help but smile at the little crying being as Mr. Karcher took it from his arms.

  "Here, clean its nose and mouth, and be gentle."

  Mr. Karcher nodded.

  "Thank you, thank you so much doctor!"

  Kenneth heaved a sigh of relief as the strength in his legs suddenly left him. This day had been more stressful and unpredictable than he had ever anticipated. He had taken a life away before, but now, he had redeemed himself by bringing new life into the world.

  Using a vacuum to suck up the amniotic fluid, Kenneth reached inside the incision and extracted the placenta, dumping it at the side before preparing needle and thread.

  As he sealed the incision he made on her abdomen the best he could, he couldn't help but wonder if he was sealing Mrs. Karcher to her fate. A cesarean was traumatic on any woman's body and with the dead lingering outside, Kenneth wasn't sure if they could hold out in here long enough for her to recover. The stitching was far from perfect, but it would have to do until they got to proper medical help.

  He couldn't blame anyone for the shit that had been dumped upon his life, upon everybody's lives.

  Just a combination of poor timing and terrible external circumstances, I guess.

  If Kenneth hadn't been there both her and her baby wouldn't stand a chance in a post apocalyptic world like this one. At least with his help, the baby managed to make it. With any luck, she would get to hold on to her son for what little time they had left.

  Are you proud of me, Jenny?

  Kenneth took over the anesthesia side of things, easing it off her and giving her time to slowly wake up.

  "M-my son, h-how is he?"

  Mrs. Karcher's groggy first words as she woke up were naturally about her baby. Kenneth couldn't think of anything else that she would say.

  "Congratulations, Mrs. Karcher. You're the proud mother of a healthy baby boy."

  Her smile made Kenneth feel that this was all worth it.

  "Where is he?"

  "Here you go, here's your mommy!" Mr. Karcher gingerly passed the crying baby into Mrs. Karcher's waiting arms.

  Now that her baby was safe, Mrs. Karcher had no more regrets.

  "Thank you, Doctor. It hurts like hell now, but thank you so much."

  Kenneth couldn't help but smile.

  Jenny, if only you could see me now.

  "You're welcome, the both of you. Now that the both of you are safe, I must take my leave. Mr. Karcher?"

  Mr. Karcher tossed Kenneth the ring of keys while looking away. A tinge of regret was visibly written on his face.

  But Kenneth was too elated to care. This was his chance, his chance to make it out, to gather his wits and return for Jenny. He headed towards the supply closet and opened the door - only to have four walls staring right back at him.

  "Mr. Karcher..." Kenneth's throat tightened as he struggled to speak coherently and maintain his vocal levels. "Where is this door you spoke of, the door you promised was supposed to be here?"

  "I-I'm sorry, Doctor Cook. I lied."

  * * * * *

  Seven