by Gayle Katz
“I’m not sure what we can do for that. We have some medical supplies back at the firehouse. It’s not too far from here.”
“We appreciate it. Thank you.”
“No problem.” Josh replies as he starts the engine up again. “If you don’t mind me asking, how’ve you survived so far?”
“We were at the TV station, but that’s where Jane was bitten. And we wouldn’t have lasted much longer there. Zombies knew we were inside and, when we left, they were in the process of breaking down the door and shattering the windows. We’re trying to get home, but we accidentally crashed our car,” Jack says as he looks at John, “we’ve been on foot ever since.”
“Nothing goes right when the end of the world is approaching.”
“The end of the world?”
“Yeah. Why else would there be such monsters roaming around? Was anyone hurt in your accident?”
“No, but we had to move quickly to avoid the shit.”
“I hear that. Those things can sneak up on you if you’re not careful. Did ya know you can smell ’em before you see ’em?”
“I think I do know that,” I acknowledge, “I just didn’t make the connection... until now.”
“It’s an awful odor. Bad enough to make you sick if you inhale too much.” We continue driving until we reach the red brick firehouse.
“Pray that the door opener works,” he continues, “that thing is one heavy motherfucker to lift by hand.” Josh clicks the garage door opener and the door begins to rise. We hear the screeching of metal churning and turning.
“Look at that,” Jack says, “at least the garage door is on our side.”
“Hallelujah! At least something is still working around here!” Josh smiles. “When the door is fully open, we can drive the truck in. Once it’s closed and secured, we should be safe in there.”
“How long will we have?”
“Don’t know. It depends on how determined the zombies are to get inside. They’re gonna hear the noise.”
“Yeah. They will.”
“Once we’re in, I’ll show you our medkit. Maybe it’ll help stave off your girl’s sickness until this thing blows over and you can find proper help.”
The firehouse garage door opens and then closes behind us. Firefighter Josh steps out of the truck. He looks around to make sure it’s safe for the rest of us to exit.
“Looks good to me. Let’s go.” He waves us on.
All four of us hop off of the truck and hightail it up the stairs to the second level. It’s an open floor plan so we can see their sleeping quarters, the kitchenette area, and the training area. Josh walks over to the training area and opens a large, plastic medkit. It is so big, it reminds me of a suitcase.
“Take whatever you need. We won’t be using it. There’s also some food in the kitchen area if you’re hungry. It’s not much, but it qualifies as food.” Josh smiles.
“Thank you, Josh. Really. Thank you. You saved our lives.”
“It’s all in a day's work.”
“Is there anything we can do for you? If we can, we’ll certainly do it.”
“Nah. I’m good. Appreciate the gesture, though. Thank you.”
Jack sits down on the floor and motions for me to do the same. He unwraps my bandage and removes the blood-soaked gauze he previously inserted into the gaping wound. He doesn’t say anything, but the bite continues to look vile and it’s still black and oozing.
“I guess this is the reason why you’re feeling dizzy and tired. Let’s see if we can stop the blood loss or just slow it down.”
“Josh, where’s the best place to wash her arm?”
“The showers maybe? That way she won’t have to lift her arm into a sink.”
Jack and I walk by the sleeping quarters and head for the showers. Jack turns on the shower and feels the temperature of the water.
“It’s a little too cold. Let’s see if we can get it a little warmer. Ah! There we go.”
Jack rolls up my sleeve and lets my arm hang in the shower. As the warm water rolls down my arm, it hurts.
“Ow!”
“That’s good pain.”
I look at him, sarcastically.
“Yeah, OK. From the looks of it, it’s getting worse. I’ll be lucky if my arm doesn’t fall off at this point.”
“Don’t be so cynical.”
After a couple of minutes, he wraps my arm in a towel and we head back to the med kit. We sit down and he uses the towel to dry my arm and uses a wipe to make sure my wound is as clean as possible. Jack unwraps and balls up new gauze and inserts it into the wound. He rubs an antibiotic ointment around the perimeter of the wound and covers it with a fresh bandage. He holds it in place with pressure for a few minutes to make sure it’s secure.
Jack gives me another painkiller and I swallow it with a sports drink. Exhausted after the ordeal of changing my bandage, I can barely keep my eyes open.
“Why don’t you get some sleep?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Look at you. You’re beat.” Jack walks me over to one of the cots and sets me down.
Lying on my back, I see Jack watching me. As he turns to walk away, I grab his hand.
“Don’t leave me.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
I can’t fight my fatigue anymore. I close my eyes and fall asleep.
Chapter 15
________________________________________
I’m not sure how long I was out. What I do know is that Jack wakes me up in a big hurry.
“Wake up, Jane. Jane! We’re not safe here anymore. Zombies have breached the fire house.”
“Whaa?”
“We have to move. Josh is priming the fire truck so we’re ready to roll. Hurry!”
We rush down the stairs. Zombies are surrounding the fire truck.
“We gotta move faster or else we’ll be screwed. C’mon! I left our bats in the truck. Mallory and John are already there.”
Still in a daze from being startled awake, I start to climb into the truck and John gives me a helping hand. Jack is right behind me and a zombie is right behind him. Jack turns around and kicks the zombie in the face before it gets any closer. He closes the door and locks it. Josh hits the button to lift the garage door. While we’re waiting, all we can hear is the sound of zombies thumping against the outside of the fire truck.
“Come on, baby!” Josh mutters to the truck as he watches the garage door opening more slowly than he’d like.
“We’re safe in the truck, right?” I question Josh.
“I’m not sure, to be honest. Since this outbreak or whatever they end up calling it, I haven’t been sure of much.” The garage door is up and Josh steps on the gas. We roar forward out of the firehouse and onto the main drag. It looks like Josh is sweating.
“Are you OK?”
“No. Not really. I’ve lost all my men. They were my family, my brothers, but don’t worry. I swear I’m going to help you as best I can.”
I touch his arm, “Jack is determined to keep us safe. Why don’t you come with us?”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
With one hand on the wheel, he rolls up his sleeve with the other to reveal an infected bite mark, “That’s why not.”
“One of them got me too, but with the help of alcohol, medication, and sports drinks, I’ve managed to make it this far. You can do the same.”
“No. You have limited supplies and you’re gonna need them. To top it off, you don’t know how long you’re gonna have to hold out and wait for a real rescue. Keep your supplies. Just let me help you.”
“We can’t just accept your help and not offer up anything in return.”
“There's nothing you can offer me now. You know, I loved being a firefighter...best choice I ever made in my life. Was a real bastard of a husband, and an even lousier father. But even with that starting to fall apart, I still had the job, and my team of heroic sons-a-bitches. Now that they're all gone now, all I ha
ve is getting you people to safety.”
“What happened to your team?”
“We received an emergency call about a fire. We suited up and drove over in minutes flat. We were putting out the fire and noticed people still inside the building. A few of my men went in after them. They never came out. Instead, a horde of fiery zombies erupted out of the building. The sound of the fire alarm drew others to our location too. They swarmed the truck and surrounded us. I was already in the truck. I managed to save Alex, but not before one of them took a chunk out of me. We drove away as quickly as possible. Lost almost everybody then. Was ready to throw in the towel, but Alex kept me in it—said we still had a job to do as first responders, still had lives to save. But I couldn't save my team, and I couldn't even save him. Now all I have is the regret for all those poor decisions. I just can’t live with that.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Josh. You can’t blame yourself.”
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t have much time left anyway. If I'm going out, I'm going out doing what I love—helping people. I’m going to get you to where you're going safely. That's my only goal now. If I can roll over some of those bastards in the process, all the better. But when we get there and I let you out, keep moving and don't look back.”
“Please reconsider. What if we can hold out together? What would your men think if they knew you were giving up on yourself? I’m pretty sure they’d want you to live.”
“They’re dead. They can’t think about anything.”
“What about your family? Surely they’d miss you if you were gone.”
“They’re dead too, alright? I’m the only one left. I couldn’t help them, but I have a chance right now to help you and your friends... and that’s what I’m going to do.”
I feel Jack’s hand on my shoulder. I turn around and see him looking at me.
“I know it doesn’t sound good, but just let him do his job. He knows what he’s doing.”
“It’s not fair. He doesn’t have to die.”
“He’s made up his mind. You gotta let it go.”
The rest of the drive home is in silence. When I think about this amazing man sacrificing himself for us and asking for nothing in return, tears come to my eyes. He’s not dead yet, but I guess I’m mourning for Josh. I don’t know him, but I would have liked to get to know him. I guess there’s nothing left to say. He’ll drop us off, say goodbye, and go who knows where.
***
As we approach our little neighborhood, some zombies are still chasing the fire truck. Damn. They’re persistent. As Josh is driving, I look at Jack.
“How are we going to get these guys off our tail so we can get inside in one piece?”
“Good question. We might have to do it the old-fashion way by beating them senseless with my lucky bat here.”
John chimes in, “Isn’t there a better way? One that doesn’t involve putting our lives at risk?”
“You know,” Mallory contributes, ”your life has been at risk this whole time.”
“I hear you. I guess I just meant I’d like to find another way that doesn’t involve direct contact with monsters that want to tear the flesh from our bones.”
“I think I have a solution.” Josh interjects. “Do you have a single house?”
“Yes. We do. Why? What are you proposing?”
“How about a covered front porch area?”
“Yeah. We have one of those too.”
“Well, I can pull the truck up flush alongside the front of your house and you’d get out on top of the truck. I imagine you can just jump over onto the top of your covered porch area. You’ll be off the ground. This way you’re out of immediate danger and it gives me time to coax the zombies away from you.”
“You’d do that for us?”
“Yeah. Of course. I meant it when I said I’d help you. Just keep your baseball bats at the ready since you never know when you’ll need them.”
“OK. I guess we have a plan.”
We turn down our street and the truck picks up some speed. I don’t remember this being part of the plan.
“Josh! What are you doing?”
“I’m gonna speed up, hit the breaks to try to throw any zombies off of the truck, and then run their asses over. Hold on to something!”
Jack slips his hand through one of the grab handles in the truck and I hold onto Jack. John and Mallory do the same. A millisecond later, the truck comes to an abrupt stop and then starts up again just as violently. I can feel the fire truck go over some bumps in the road.
Moments later, we arrive at the house and Josh gives us the green light to exit. Before I leave the truck, I give Josh a hug.
“Thank you for everything, Josh. We wouldn’t have made it this far without you.”
He hugs me back.
“Be safe and get well.”
One by one, we leave the truck and climb on top of it. Jack gets out first and scurries onto the truck roof with his bag of supplies. Once on top of the truck, he extends his hand to help me up. As we continue to make our way from the top of the truck to our porch roof, I spot more zombies heading our way. They’re off in the distance right now, but closing fast. John follows with Mallory right behind him. They softly jump over to our porch roof, but Mallory takes a misstep and almost falls. John grabs her arms and manages to pull her up.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes. I think so. Thanks.”
Seconds later, I see another horde of zombies approaching the house. We didn’t make much noise, so I’m perplexed. How did they know we’re here? Can they smell us? We can certainly smell them. The stench they give off is so bad, you gotta breathe through your mouth. I guess it only makes sense that they would be able to smell us too.
On top of the porch, I kneel down and try to get Josh’s attention. I peek my head down and knock on the window. He rolls it down.
“Are you sure you won’t stay with us?”
“Thanks, but I can’t. I sure appreciate the offer though,” Josh smiles. “Get inside and stay safe.”
“Will do.”
“I guess that’s everything,” Josh says.
“Goodbye, Josh, and good luck.”
Before I can blink, Josh hits the gas and waves goodbye to us. We wave back to him from the porch.
The four of us stand there. We watch Josh begin to drive away. I can see his hand hanging out of the driver's window. He’s waving goodbye all the while honking his horn. Loud sounds emanate from the truck and permeate the air. Unfortunately, only some of the zombies lose interest in us and begin to follow the truck.
What I don’t expect is what Josh does next. He turns on his truck fire alarm siren. It’s blaringly loud. It’s so loud, I have to hold my ears and we’re nowhere even close to him. It draws the rest of the zombies out from all over the area. They’re all following the truck now. And for the moment, it looks like they’ve lost interest in us.
“Where is he going?” I ponder.
“No clue, but I hope he finds some peace.” Jack hopes.
Once they’re nearly out of sight, Jack gives us the go-ahead to drop down and get into the house.
“Fast, people. We gotta move. Those things might come back.”
Chapter 16
________________________________________
Jack drops down and helps me next. Once on my feet again, I stumble up the front steps, and fumble around for my keys. I don’t have them.
“You left your bag back at the office,” Jack recalls as he unlocks the front door with his keys.
“Get inside. I’m gonna help John and Mallory bring all of our supplies into the house.”
Jack leaves me at the front door. I open it, expecting the usual warm welcome from Rocky, but he just stares at me. He wasn’t his usual happy self. I know how he feels. He isn’t waging his tail. He isn’t licking my face. He knows something is wrong with me, but doesn’t know what to do. I stoop down to his level to pet him.
“Good boy,” I assure him.<
br />
Rocky whimpers a little. I crawl over to hug him, but I can feel him pulling away. My own dog doesn’t even know me anymore. I try to comfort him.
“Jack says everything is going to be OK, Rocky. Don’t worry, OK?” I whisper to the dog before I let him go. He continues to back away from me.
To take my mind off my troubles, I help bring a few odds and ends into the house and welcome Mallory and John. They’re carrying supplies too.
It’s then that I turn back to see Jack pouring alcohol around outside, up the front stairs, and on the porch once everyone is inside.
“What are you doing?” I question his actions.
“It’s to mask our scent. We don’t need any zombies crashing our party. Maybe this will help.” Jack explains as he finishes and locks the door. “How are you doing?”
“I could be better,” I answer. “I’m not feeling too hot.”
“Drink more. I’m hoping all the liquid will help dilute whatever’s going on inside you.”
“You have such faith in these sports drinks,” I hold one up, showing it off like a trophy.
“No. That EMT was trying to get her colleague to the ambulance to rehydrate him to slow the infection down. I don’t know. I just don’t know, but I’ll try anything at this point. Besides, what are my choices? I’m not willing to let you go without a fight.”
“You can find someone else. You’re a catch, especially in this town.”
“You’re funny. Is that supposed to be a joke? I don’t want to find someone else. Anyway, don’t be such a downer,” Jack attempts to bolster my spirits. “Drink more. If your innards are turning, getting the proper liquids and electrolytes might help ward off the change. How’s your arm feeling? Still in pain?”
“Yeah. It hurts,” I notice the tingling as I twist off the cap.
“Take another painkiller too. In a few hours, you’ll take more antibiotics. We’re gonna do whatever we need to do in order to get whatever’s inside you out, but we need more time to reach someone who can help. If we keep flushing your system with liquids and medication, I’m hoping you’ll have more time until we can get help.”