by Gayle Katz
Owen seemed paralyzed with fear. He couldn’t stop thinking about how he could turn into a zombie. He didn’t say much when his friends talked to him. He merely nodded or shook his head.
“OK. I’m nonjudgmental about drugs, but this is ridiculous,” the ambulance attendant said. “I don’t care what you’re doing, but at least maintain some sort of sanity for your hurt friend here. Your friend is doing well. Anyway, I thought zombies turned immediately after being bitten, or at least, that’s what they say on TV.”
Zan and Charlie looked at each other.
“Sometimes, I guess. I think it has more to do with someone’s body chemistry. Everyone is different,” said Zan.
“I’ve definitely seen it,” said Charlie. “He’s right. There are signs right away.”
“Oh, so, perhaps Owen is immune because he’s a truthsayer?” she asked. “Or he’s immune because this is a different zombie outbreak?”
Charlie nodded. “I haven’t been entirely certain of his powers. It’s not like there’s a lot of time for studying and doing my zlayer duties.”
Zan let out a big breath.
“OK, ladies, we’re here. We’ll get your friend fixed up in no time at all,” said the attendant. The driver parked the vehicle, got out, and opened up the back doors. The two of them carried the gurney out and set it on the ground.
“I’ll go ahead to let them know he’s coming in,” said Zan.
Charlie stuck with Owen, who still seemed in a state of shock.
Fortunately, it was a quiet time of night for the hospital. Owen got quickly wheeled into the ER. They settled him onto the cot and waited.
A nurse came by and quickly checked his wound. “Looks like a dog bite,” she said.
“Nope, it’s a human bite,” said Charlie.
“Really? Wow, that must have been some party,” she commented.
“Yep,” said Charlie, trying to think up a way to mention that it was actually a zombie bite without sounding stupid.
“Well, looks like he’ll live. If it was a zombie, he’d have turned by now,” she said, taking Owen’s blood pressure and temperature. “Nope, all good.”
Charlie relaxed a little. Her phone rang.
“Hi, Stewart! We’re OK. They’re checking on Owen right now. Is it possible he’s infected?” Charlie paused to listen. “That was my first thought when he got bitten. Oh, I see.” She hung up.
“What is it?” asked Zan, getting up from her chair.
Owen looked eagerly at Charlie.
“He’ll be fine. He’s like us.”
“Good,” said Zan. “Wait a minute. Does this mean that there is a new zombie outbreak in the city? One caused by some sort of intentional injection by scientist wannabes?”
Charlie’s head jerked. “I don’t know what the heck is going on anymore. I’ve never seen one city be re-infected by a zombie outbreak.”
“It’s odd, isn’t it?” commented Zan.
“So, I’ll be OK then?” asked Owen. The nurse was cleaning his wound, and then applied a bandage.
“Yes,” said the nurse. “We’ll have the doctor drop by to double-check, but you should be fine. We’ll also await the results of your lab tests. Should be another half an hour, then you can go.”
He breathed a sigh of relief.
Zan almost punched him on the shoulder but stopped herself. “Congratulations! You’re one of us!”
He shook his head. “I had no idea.”
“Say, how much do you know about being a truthsayer?” asked Charlie.
Owen smiled. “My dad told me he was one as a teen, but it went away when he got older. That’s why he became a lawyer and met my mom. He couldn’t tell me a lot. He just said he didn’t need his truthsayer abilities anymore as he could read when people were lying or telling the truth anyway. Mostly, I like to stay away from people who are liars, because that’s not the kind of people I want to be around.”
Zan laughed. “Well, it’s true. Zombies can’t lie.”
Charlie joined in. “Well, Stewart is our best resource. We can ask him about it. He has the spell book after all. Might be more in there for you, beyond being able to cast a few simple spells that we can’t.”
“Oh neato,” said Owen. “I thought anyone could do those spells?”
“Hell no,” said Zan. “You are special. She gently patted his hand.”
“Wow, Zan, that’s kind of you to say. If you’re going to be this nice, I should get injured all the time.” He beamed at her.
“No way!” said Charlie.
“Hi, I’m Dr. Arora,” said a female doctor, walking up to her new patient. “Sorry for the delay. I was getting coffee and donuts when I got called in. I’ll just take a look at that bite, then you should be able to go.” She headed over and lifted up the bandage. “Yes, it appears it’s healing nicely. No sign of zombie infection at all.” She was pleased. She pushed the bandage back down so it would stick to the skin again.
“Gee thanks, Doc,” said Owen.
The two girls were nodding off. It was getting late. Then they both perked up at the same time.
“Zombie infection?” asked Charlie.
“Yep,” said Dr. Arora. “I know you already know about the outbreaks in Portland. Anyway, it appears he was bitten by one of the created zombies. He’ll be fine.”
“Wait a minute,” said Zan. “There are doctors who believe there are zombies?”
Dr. Arora smiled. “Of course. How can doctors deny it? We’ve had patients coming in displaying signs of zombiosis.”
Charlie stood up, tired of sitting down. She might just fall asleep. “Wait a minute, if patients come in with zombiosis, what happens to them?”
“Oh, I can’t disclose that information,” she said. “Doctor-patient confidentiality.”
“Have there been a lot of zombies coming in?” asked Zan.
She nodded. “Back in September, it was terrible. Then suddenly, all the zombies just dropped. I assume their leader was killed. But now there seems to be a different type of outbreak happening. This one doesn’t seem as deadly, but I just don’t know how people are being infected without being bitten.”
“New zombie outbreak, new rules,” commented Charlie.
“Exactly. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” said Dr. Arora, glancing at her notebook. “We have a load of car accident patients to deal with.” She walked away.
“Oh wait, can I have your card?” asked Charlie, remembering for once to get contact info from people who knew about zombies.
The doctor handed it over. “But remember, I am bound by law so there’s only so much I can disclose.”
“Got it,” said Charlie. “It would be more for medical questions. I don’t care about the patients.”
The doctor smirked.
“I mean, I do, but I don’t need their personal details.”
“You’re free to go.” The doctor smiled, then turned and walked away.
“OK, I think I need to get some shut-eye now,” said Zan.
“Me too.” Charlie yawned.
Owen got off the cot while Zan carefully watched him. The team headed to the hallway. That’s when the lights went out.
“What the?” exclaimed Charlie.
“Anyone have a flashlight?” asked Owen. “I don’t like the dark.”
In the distance, they could hear people calling and yelling. There were the sounds of metal hitting the floor and people bumping into objects.
“I don’t, but I have my cell phone,” said Charlie.
She pulled it out of her pocket and clicked the button. An eerie blue glow lit up the hall.
“OK, lights are out,” said Zan. “I suggest we head for home.”
“OK.”
They carefully made their way down the hallway, back to the main ER reception area.
“Guys, I don’t like this,” said Owen. “Shouldn’t a hospital have emergency lights?”
“Maybe they take a couple minutes to kick in,” said Charlie.
Soon they were back in the reception area.
“OK, I suggest we head for home and bed,” said Charlie. “Tomorrow morning we can meet before school. I suggest we write out a list of questions for Stewart to answer after class.”
“Does this mean that our trip to Seattle is cancelled?” asked Owen.
“I don’t think so. That’s for spring break. We still have a few weeks left.”
“Oh my god,” said Zan. “There’s something sticky on the floor!”
“Eww, that’s blood,” said Charlie.
Owen suddenly jumped in order to avoid stepping into it.
“Gals, I have a bad feeling about this,” he commented.
They carefully kept on walking to where they knew the exit doors were. Ahead of them, they heard strange sounds. It sounded as if someone were eating but just a bit too loudly. Then there were crunching and snapping sounds.
“Weapons!” called out Charlie. Each of them brought out their daggers.
On the floor ahead of them was what appeared to be a zombie. It was bent over, chomping on something.
“Definitely a zombie,” said Charlie.
“I got it!” said Owen. “After all, it’s my fault we’re here.”
Before the girls could protest, he had crept forward. The zombie looked up at him but didn’t seem alarmed.
He raised his dagger and plunged it into the zombie’s eye socket. The zombie went down. Charlie quickly checked the body on the ground, but the person was too far-gone to need medical attention. The group quickly had a look around the waiting room, but there was no one else in it but themselves. With another closer look at the body on the ground, it appeared that it was likely the check-in nurse. The zombie was dressed in regular clothes.
The three sat down on the seats to have a rest.
“You know, I was thinking,” said Charlie. “If this is a new zombie outbreak, and bites don’t turn people into zombies, there is still a major danger in being eaten.”
“You’re right,” said Zan. “I was thinking, oh, if a zombie bite isn’t harmful, but poor Owen here could have been eaten alive. That’s almost worse than being turned into a zombie.”
“Gee thanks for your concern,” he replied.
“So, no matter the type of zombie, they are still hungry,” said Charlie.
Just then, Zan’s stomach growled. Charlie jumped, and then laughed. “I think we should grab some food from that vending machine over there, because it’s going to be a long night.”
Deep down in the corridors of the hospital, there were many screams and cries. There was also the occasional gunshot sound.
“That’s just great,” said Zan. “If there are more zombies, they’re going to be led to the sound of gunshots.”
“Well, that can work for us,” said Owen. “But I suggest we wait until they run out of bullets. Then, we head to the sounds of the gunshots. Because as we know, eventually all the zombies are going to head that way.”
The two girls nodded.
“OK,” said Charlie. “Let’s eat, and then we’ll head that way.” She went over to the vending machines. One was for drinks and the other for snacks. “Say, anyone got any change on them?”
“They take credit cards,” said Zan.
“I’m a teenager. How the hell would I have a credit card?” asked Charlie.
“Ha-ha-ha,” laughed Owen. “You gals are funny!”
Chapter 7
________________________________________
The team had their snacks and drinks. Now they were impatiently waiting outside the men’s room for Owen to finish.
“How long is it going to take for him to do his makeup?” joked Zan.
Charlie shook her head. “Don’t say that to him.”
“Why not?” asked Zan.
“Because, sometimes your comments come across as bullying,” she replied.
“Geez, I’m just joking!”
“Well, joke about something else then.”
“Geez, you’re crabby tonight.”
“Yeah, well, I’m sleepy.”
“Are you fighting about me?” said Owen, sticking his head between them.
“Ahh!” cried Zan.
Owen laughed aloud. “Ha-ha!”
“OK, stop clowning around,” said Charlie.
No shots had been heard for the past ten minutes. They figured that either the shooter had run out of bullets, or that they had dropped the gun. They walked back the way they came. They headed into the ER, then past a long corridor to the rest of the hospital.
“OK, if anyone comes at us, we have to figure out if they’re zombies or not, and take them down. That means all cell phones on deck.” Charlie held up her cell phone. The others took their cell phones from their pockets and turned them on. They lit up the hallway.
The first few people running down the hall looked normal. They just let them pass.
“Hey, you don’t want to go that way,” said a doctor, racing past them.
“I know, but it’s our job,” said Charlie.
After that, there was no one else. There were a few corpses lying on the ground, partially eaten.
“Well, the benefit of this new zombie apocalypse is that we don’t have to worry about the dead being turned,” said Zan.
“Yep,” said Charlie. “Makes our job much easier, at least.”
The corridor took them to a wide-open region of the hospital. One end was a cafeteria, and in the middle were a few vendor carts selling items of comfort, like stuffed animals and balloons. On the other end was a gift shop selling flowers and cards.
“OK, this must be where the gunshots came from.”
“Hey, I found the gun,” said Owen.
“Great,” said Charlie. “Any bullets left?”
He shook his head to the negative and dropped it back on the ground.
“Shhh,” said Zan. “Over there.” She pointed to behind the blanket and quilt cart.
“Mmmm,” came a low sound.
“There’s one over there,” whispered Charlie. “This is mine. Check the hall for others.”
The other two walked around the room while Charlie moved in for the kill.
The zombie reached out and grabbed her arm. He was remarkably strong. He raced at her, but she already had her knife raised. It was like he ran right into it.
“Got it,” she said, rejoining her group.
“I got one over by the cafeteria,” whispered Zan.
“OK, we’ll have to check each room, one at a time.”
“Great,” said Zan.
“Well, at least it’s one of the smaller hospitals in Portland,” commented Owen.
“Well, be careful. I have a feeling that these zombies are stronger and faster than the usual,” warned Charlie.
zzz
The team headed into the cafeteria. The lights still hadn’t come on. Each used their cell phone as a light. Charlie walked the right wall while Zan walked the left wall. Owen walked down the middle of the cafeteria.
Charlie peeked into the booths to make sure no one was hiding there. She finally reached the last booth, becoming overconfident. As she shined her cell phone’s light onto the table and chairs, four zombies simultaneously leapt out at her.
She quickly jumped back, making a point to clutch her dagger more confidently. She swiftly killed the first zombie. The second zombie was most likely a woman, and since she was behind the first guy, she left her alone for a moment while she took down a second zombie coming at her from the other seat. That zombie went down. She watched in pity as she saw the two zombies near the wall trying to climb over their friends’ bodies in an attempt to reach her.
She shook her head in pity, and then shoved the first guy out of the way. Then she killed the first female zombie. By the time she was down, the second female zombie had climbed over the top of the table to reach her. She plunged the dagger into her head and watched as she dropped down dead.
She heard footsteps padding up behind her, but it was on
ly Owen. She relaxed, and then wiped her dagger onto the pants of one of the zombies she had killed.
“Hey, Charlie. We have the main part of the cafeteria cleared,” he said.
“Super,” said Charlie, watching as Zan joined them.
Zan was grimacing at the dagger in her hand. “Gross!” she commented.
“You should be used to it by now,” Charlie commented.
“Never!” said Zan. “These things are gross! In my next life, I’ll be a princess and the worst fluid I’ll have to face is…”
“Oh gross!” said Owen, as he watched Charlie laughing and Zan grimacing even more.
“Hey, what did you think I was going to say?” Zan asked.
“Never mind, save your jokes for later,” said Charlie. “We still have to check the kitchen.”
“How many did you get?” asked Zan.
“One,” said Owen.
“Four,” said Charlie.
“I got ten while you guys were slacking off.” Zan walked confidently ahead of them to scope out the kitchen.
Owen smiled in admiration. “I really need her confidence.”
“Right,” said Charlie.
They followed Zan past the double swinging doors and into the kitchen.
One zombie was lying on the ground, spasming and having seizures. That was an easy kill for Owen.
One was leaning over the stove, eating something. Zan got him from behind.
Charlie carefully aimed her phone flashlight around the corners of the kitchen. She checked under the tables to be certain. There was a small fridge that she checked inside, but there appeared to be no walk-in freezer, so that was a relief for her. She shuddered as she remembered a situation back in Texas.
“All clear,” announced Charlie, as her cell phone died. “Well, that’s just great. How are your cell phones?” she asked the others.
“Good,” said Owen.
“I’m fine,” said Zan. “I think I have a power stick in here somewhere,” she said, rummaging through her bag.
“Nah,” said Charlie. “It won’t work. We have different phones.” She walked away.
“Umm, isn’t the plug the same?” asked Owen.
“It’s OK. We’ll just go together. Did you want to turn off your phone to conserve energy too?” asked Zan.