by S. Ganley
It wasn't exactly a gourmet meal. They had no way to heat the stew and the coagulated syrup inside the cans gave it an unpleasant consistency, but having gone some time with nothing to eat it served its purpose and gave each of them the satisfaction of a little nutrition in their bellies. Emily continued to stand off by herself making no effort to cover her near nakedness. Doug had no words for his wife, as far as he was concerned their marriage was done. There would be no lawyers, no dividing of assets and no more threats from her about leaving him penniless and in ruin. He was walking away clean and now considered her just another piece of baggage they would have to deal with for the time being. He stepped forward to the couch and pulled off the two blankets that she had been using while the rest of them made do with nothing, he tossed one blanket to Miranda and the other to Cameron. The pillows that lined the couch where divided up amongst the rest of them, leaving Emily with only the cushions lining the bottom of the couch. He said nothing at all while he went about distributing the few luxury items that Emily had been hoarding for herself leaving the rest of them to make due with only the clothes on their backs. When Doug was finished, he returned to his spot on the floor, stretched back out into as comfortable a position as he could manage and fell immediately to sleep. Everyone else took their cue from him and returned to their original sleeping locations while Garrett took the opportunity to relieve Calvin a little early on guard duty. Emily soon found herself alone, half naked and starting to shiver. Garrett watched her from his post near the door, he would have felt sorry for the woman had the totality of what she had been doing not been taken into consideration. The way she had lived her life up until this point had a direct influence on how she was going to react when faced with an apocalyptic event like they had all found themselves thrust into. She had always been a taker, never had a situation required for her to give anything of herself nor would she have been willing to do so if it had. Garrett knew they had to take her along with them, no matter how much all of them detested the woman it would just not be the right thing to leave her behind. He also knew that she was going to be a problem for them. Doug was bad enough, they had already seen that he was not a man physically prepared to deal with a hostile environment. But, at least he was willing to do his part, he would sacrifice for the group and was willing and able to contribute in other ways, something that Garrett couldn't say about his wife.
After a while, Emily timidly made her way back over to the couch where she retrieved the clothes she had stripped off before crawling under the blankets the night before. Once she was fully dressed she plopped back down on the couch and spent several minutes tossing one way or the other trying to find a comfortable position. She eventually gave it up and removed one of the cushions from the bottom of the couch and stretched out on the floor between the TV and table out of Garrett's view. He didn't think she was going to be causing them any more problems for the rest of the night or trying to break into any other hidden stashes of food.
Garrett settled back into guard duty by beginning a series of mental exercises he had learned to help with just such a situation while he was in the service. The sun would be coming up soon and he planned to have everyone up and ready to leave as soon as it was light enough for them to safely make the attempt.
#
After Kyle had recovered from the struggle with the zombie he regained his feet and walked back into the doorway of the bunkroom. Grabbing the dead creature by its ankles he dragged it towards the front door of the Ranger Station. Once he got the zombie’s body out onto the porch and clear of the steps he pushed it onto its side and rolled it off the porch into the shrubs below. He told himself that once Garrett and Calvin returned their first order of business would be to get the body far into the woods before it started to stink worse than it already was. They had learned that zombies had a very offensive decomposition like odor about them even in the best of conditions, a dead one that had been outside in the sun for a while was something they had not yet experienced but he was sure it was not something any of them needed to deal with.
With the unsavory chore of zombie removal taken care of, Kyle returned to the bunkroom to check on Shellie and Kimberly. His pulse started racing when he found only Kimberly still asleep in the bunk and no sign of Shellie.
"Shellie!" He cried out as he reached for his rifle which had fallen off his shoulder into a corner during the struggle. His first thought was that the zombie had not been alone and somehow another one had made its way inside in the few moments he was on the porch disposing of the body.
"Here, Kyle, I'm in here, in the bathroom." She replied. He felt instant relief that was tempered with another level of concern as he recognized the distress in her voice. Normally when a woman made it clear that she was in the bathroom, the last thing he would consider doing was paying her a visit. In this case, after what they had both just been through and noting the strain in her voice he felt no problem with sticking his head into the bathroom to check on her.
"Shellie I'm coming in for a second." He announced as he eased the door open. It had served as a bathroom, locker room, shower and storage area for the ranger station; two stalls were lined up against the wall just before a recessed opening leading to a pair of showers with a changing area set off to one side. Directly across from the stalls were four sinks with mirrors over each. Shellie was in the middle of the row of sinks, her shirt pulled up over her head with one arm out exposing her bare shoulder. She was examining a spot on her shoulder in the mirror, moving back and forth trying to get a good angle. Kyle could see that she was upset, she had started crying but was holding back the worst of it limiting herself to only a few tears and muted sniffles.
"What’s wrong?" he asked when it was not immediately apparent what she was doing.
She looked at him, red eyed and trembling. "I think it bit me."
That one simple statement rocked him down to his soul. A bite from a zombie was a death sentence, all of them were aware of that and Kyle's heart sank as he heard those words from her. He then felt a glimmer of hope as he examined the part of her shoulder she had motioned to while talking to him. From where he stood in the entrance to the bathroom still several feet away from her he could see nothing wrong with her shoulder. The bites he had seen tended to result in horrendous wounds, deep penetrating gashes in flesh with large amounts of blood loss. He could see nothing at all wrong with her shoulder, certainly nothing that resembled any kind of bite injury.
"Shellie, there’s nothing there, are you sure?" he asked, hope that she was wrong resonating in his voice.
She turned her shoulder back to the mirror and continued examining her bare shoulder from every angle possible.
"I don't know, his teeth hit me here." She pointed to a spot along her collarbone, "I can see a little something there. Two red marks. Kyle, please look at it, tell me what you see."
Her voice was shaking and she was fighting hard to keep herself together but it was clear that she was on the verge of a breakdown. Kyle stepped across the room and grabbing her gently by the arm turned her slightly to the side and studied her shoulder. Up close to her he could see the spot she was talking about, there were two thin red tracks stretching just over an inch in length and running side by side only a few centimeters apart.
"Shellie, are you sure this is a bite? It looks more like a scratch to me."
"I don't know, his mouth hit my shoulder right there, I could feel his teeth clamp down. But it was so quick that I am just not sure."
Kyle concentrated on the discoloration. The color appeared more pink than red, just barely visible against her skin tone and there was no sign of any blood or breaking of the skin.
"I think it’s ok Shellie, it didn't break the skin. It’s just a scratch."
Shellie lost it at that point and wrapped her arms tight around him as her body was racked with sobs. It took her a while to find her voice again and even then it was weak and had the sound of desperation etched into it, "are you sure? You’re not
just saying that? I am not going to die?"
Kyle really had no idea. He knew what he saw, the wound was a shallow pair of scratches that he didn't think had broken the skin at any point. The fact was that they just knew so little about the virus, a bite turned you that was a fact they had all seen over and over already. They had just never approached that from the standpoint of what actually constituted a bite. All they had seen up to this point were the deep penetrating bites that left no question that the virus had been deposited into the victim’s blood stream. Kyle was now faced with a situation where there were no obvious answers, he kept glancing down at her bare shoulder and the small pink marks running along her collarbone. If there had been any blood around the marks it would have meant that it was possible the virus had entered her blood system. He was pretty sure that the discoloration along the marks meant that blood was just under the surface of the skin ready to be released and only a thin translucent fiber of skin separated that blood from coming in contact with the virus the Zombie may have deposited on her body. That thought caused Kyle to push Shellie gently back away from him.
"We need to get that scratch cleaned right away. There could still be germs on your skin." He was suddenly worried that if she continued twisting her body and turning around to get a better look at her shoulder that she may stretch the skin on that area just enough to cause a tear in the thin covering of skin. She needed to stay perfectly still until the area was cleaned.
"Shellie, just stand here perfectly still and try to keep from moving your shoulder at all. The skin doesn't look broken but it also looks very thin over the scratches. I am going to find something to disinfect the area."
He pushed her gently away from him but still kept hold of her arms with his hands. She looked deep into his eyes silently pleading with him to help her.
"Stay right here, don't move. I'll be right back."
Releasing his grasp on her arms he stepped away and moved over to a storage closet in the back of the locker room. He remembered when they arrived and searched the building that he had seen an assorted collection of cleaning products, hygiene items and some first aid gear stored there. Searching the shelves he found a bottle of peroxide and some anti-infection cream along with bandages and tape. Two bars of antibacterial soap were also stacked on one shelf along with some paper towels. Kyle grabbed a handful of the supplies and spread them out on one of the metal racks above a sink. Shellie stepped over to him and Kyle asked a little bashfully if she wouldn't mind removing her shirt the remainder of the way. With it pulled partially over her other shoulder she was somewhat stiff in her movements and he wanted to be able to move her as he needed while he cleaned her shoulder being careful that the skin did not tear any further. She still had the same bra on that she had been wearing to work the day that everything went to shit. The fabric clung to the sweat of her chest and had become transparent enough that both nipples were clearly visible through the thin material. Kyle couldn't help but glance at the dark round spots and had meant to avert his gaze immediately but despite the seriousness of the situation felt himself actually becoming slightly aroused. He held his stare longer than intended and it was something that Shellie clearly noticed. When Kyle realized his leering had been obvious he immediately turned back to the shelf with the supplies he had spread out and mindlessly began organizing and arranging them back and forth on the shelf.
"It’s ok. I don't mind." Shellie said.
When Kyle turned back towards her he saw that the fear and terror that had been etched across her face had now been replaced with a playful look making him think that she was actually hitting on him right then. He thought that even if that was the case it was probably just a way for her to let her mind drift somewhere else at that moment, a self-defense mechanism to keep her from panicking in the face of possibly being infected. He did find her attractive. That was something he was easily ready to admit to himself. Even after several days of not showering and living like they had; her hair a wreck, makeup long worn off and clothes splotched with dirt and tears. There was just something about the rawness of her that he really found appealing. Acting on those impulses was something totally different however, they were in a situation where it would not be unexpected to turn to casual sex as a coping mechanism. Kyle thought that the two of them would actually fit pretty well together and in any other circumstance he would have followed through with it. But he decided that taking such a risk while they were still surrounded with potential dangers was not wise. He had allowed himself to drift a little at the sight of her near nakedness and for now that would have to do to satisfy any urges he may have in that department.
He kept his back turned to her as he replied so she couldn't see his flushed red cheeks and obvious embarrassment, "No, really, I'm sorry. That was rude."
He was surprised to hear her chuckling at that, "I don't think it was rude. It’s just natural to look. I won’t lie to you. I have stolen a glance or two myself."
The revelation was not something he had expected from her. Their interactions so far had been cordial and friendly, this flirtatious and playful side of her out of the blue was totally unexpected. He knew it was the stress of a tense situation that must be bringing this out in her, but he did have to admit that he liked it. He soaked a towel in warm water and wrapped one of the bars of soap in it, then turned back towards her.
"Ok, Shellie, let’s get your fixed up. I promise to be a gentleman."
"Pity," she purred back at him.
Kyle spent fifteen minutes just cleaning and re-cleaning her entire shoulder. He dabbed gently with the wet soapy wash cloth over the scratch marks while scrubbing vigorously over all the surrounding skin. Using a separate cloth he dried the entire area and repeated the same process with the peroxide until her entire shoulder was rubbed red and raw. She actually winced when he started dabbing it dry.
Kyle cringed when he noticed her reaction, he hadn't realized how hard he was going at her skin, "Sorry, I just wanted to be as thorough as possible. I don't really even know if this will work. But it’s all we have. I am going to wrap the hell out of it and I think we should check the area every couple hours to see if there are any signs of infection."
"Its fine, you just do whatever you need to. I would rather have it done right and suffer a little discomfort than the alternative if you miss a molecule of that shit." Shellie replied.
He had just finished wrapping her shoulder tightly and turned away from her to give her privacy while she dressed back in her shirt, when the first terrified screams from the other room shattered the awkward silence that had resulted from the building sexual tension between them.
Kyle raced out of the bathroom towards the front foyer, but when he saw what awaited him at the end of the hall, he ducked down behind the reception station grabbing Shellie by her waist as she rounded the corner, his hand slapping across her mouth as he pulled her along with him to the floor. Three zombies were standing on the far side of the room, two of them were just exiting the bunkroom where they had left Kimberly while the third was standing with its back to the reception desk only six feet in front of them. Kyle pulled Shellie in close to him along the side of the reception desk. On either side of the desk a wooden counter stretched out several additional feet, giving the entire structure a winged shape. The wooden side wings were attached to the desk at a point just above the desk legs leaving a six inch gap between the bottom of each side and the floor. When none of the zombies immediately raced around the desk after them, Kyle dropped down on his belly and slid to the side of the desk where he could look under the space below the wing to his right. He could see all three zombies from their knees down, one was still only a few feet in front of the desk with his back towards it while the other two had continued moving out from the bunkroom and towards the opposite side of the lobby.
Kimberly's screams had abated but her sniffling cries continued and that was what Kyle believed must have masked their footfalls as they ran into the room. The fact that Kimberl
y was still crying out was a good sign that she was still alive, but Kyle had seen the two zombies leaving the room with her. There was no doubt that while they had not struck an immediately fatal blow, she must have at least been bitten. He cursed his carelessness, it had become a habit for them to leave the front door unlocked since at least one or more of them were outside walking a perimeter at any given time. After he had dragged the zombie out to the porch he had been in such a hurry to get back inside and check on the girls that he must have not even closed the door.
"Psst" Shellie whispered to get his attention.
Kyle turned back towards her and she pointed to the opposite wing of the desk. Looking under the bottom of the wing, Kyle could see where she was trying to direct his attention. Through the opening along the floor Kyle was able to see the butt stock of his rifle, right where he had left it leaning against the far side of the desk. He had been reluctant to use a firearm inside or near the ranger station for fear of attracting more zombies to their little hideout. It now seemed that despite those efforts their secret had somehow been discovered. Kyle thought that it may have had to do with the creature’s ability to detect the scent of humans over long distance. At some point a change in the wind or something they unwittingly did had put these zombies on their trail and there was no telling how many more might be on the way or even just outside the front door. With three of them to deal with, the rifle was going to be his only option. He would have preferred his pistol, but it was still on the small table near the front door next to Shellie's shotgun, both of which were too far across the room to be of any use. Just reaching the rifle would pose a risk for either of them, the desk was too long to stand up and reach across. He could climb over it but the zombie in the front of the desk was only an arm’s reach away from the end of the desk and could easily be on top of him before he grabbed the rifle and brought it up into firing position. After what he had just went through with Shellie he reminded himself that all it had to do was get a single bite anywhere on his body and it was game over for him, so letting it get that close before he could fight back was not an option he was willing to risk. That left making an end run around the far side of the desk, grabbing the rifle and then back stepping away from the zombie while raising it for a shot. He considered that his best option but he also knew that he might need some help in pulling it off. He had to get off three accurate head shots in a small space very quickly, the first one would put him off balance and he knew how fast those zombies were capable of moving. It was going to take both of them working together to pull it off, Shellie was going to have to create a diversion. As much as he hated putting her in danger, he could see no other alternative, if one of them got to him before he could get all of them, then both ladies were dead anyways. He could see no other alternative and they didn’t have the time for him to continue running through other ideas.