“Oh, hey, I totally forgot those would be in here too.” Cender noticed what Tobias had found. He made his way over on his new crutches.
“What are they?” Tobias handed him the boot thing when he held out a hand for it.
“You ever hear of a walking cast?” Cender compared the boot to his casted leg. He must have decided it wasn’t the right size and started looking through the others. “I’ll still need the crutches, but this’ll help me be more mobile. Which, let’s face it, is probably the most important thing to be right now.” He found a size he liked the look of and compared it to his foot again. This one seemed to be the right size and so he started strapping it on over the cast.
“Do you have a plan on how to get to this friend’s house of yours?” Tobias wondered what the next step was.
Cender shrugged, “Head to the parking lot and find a car I guess. Actually, did you happen to see any ambulances parked outside? They sometimes leave the keys in them.”
“Cillian and I came in through the front entrance,” Tobias told him.
“There aren’t any out there.” Abby had overheard them. “Jessica and I came in that way and there were no ambulances.”
“Then the parking lot it is. Here, take this.” Cender handed Tobias a metal cane. “You might as well be somewhat armed if you’re going to be the one in front. Come on now, let’s get a move on.”
Tobias held the cane and tested its weight. It seemed fairly sturdy although the lightness of it worried him somewhat. If he was going to have to bash a zombie’s brains in, he didn’t want the thing breaking on him.
As Cender crutched his way toward the door, Tobias noticed how much sound he made. Every step clacked as he went. They weren’t going to be able to sneak around nearly so well now.
As the group headed out, the way still appeared clear. Although a new, large streak of blood down one hall reminded them it may not stay that way for very long. A sharp and terrified scream came from the opposite direction they were headed, and it was cut off brutally short. Tobias wondered if the victim was a recovering patient or a hiding nurse.
Clack, clack, clack, was the only other sound as they went. Like the ticking of a clock in the middle of the night, or the beating of the telltale heart under the floorboards, it was slowly driving Tobias insane. By the time they got back to the elevator, he was ready to kick the crutches out from under Cender.
Abby’s stick in the elevator had held. As the group approached, the doors tried to slide close again but once they bumped into either end of the stick, they retreated into the walls. The elevator was still unoccupied so they all crammed in, and Abby picked her stick back up, handing the crowbar off to Cillian. If you counted Cender’s crutches, they were now all somewhat armed. The elevator doors finally closed, and Cender hit the button for the ground floor. Tobias was so relieved that they were finally leaving the hospital; he might have done a little dance if he wasn’t so tired. Despite the fact that it had seemed like a great plan at the time, coming to the hospital had turned out to be just the opposite. He was hoping that Cender’s plan wouldn’t end up being equally bad when they reached the ground floor and the doors opened.
The best words Tobias could think of to describe the sight were feeding frenzy. Somebody, or somebodies, must have come into the hospital and gotten swarmed. A large mass of people, of zombies, were clumped together around something. They were reaching over each other, shoving each other, trying to get to the middle of the mass. There was a tearing sound, and a squishy sound, and lots of shrieking and groans. Off to one side, the doors that led into the ER waiting room had been broken in. If Tobias had noticed them, he would have realized that that was where they had come from. But as it was, he couldn’t take his eyes off the writhing mass. They were so busy and consumed with… consuming, that they didn’t even notice the elevator doors had opened. Someone pushed another button, but Tobias didn’t know who, or for what floor. He didn’t even realize the button had been pressed until the doors closed again, and the elevator began moving upward.
No one said anything. They all stood there silently and stared at the elevator doors.
* * *
When the doors opened again, Tobias got a shock of a different kind. A cool gust of wind blew in through the opened doors and filled his lungs. He didn’t realize just how badly the hospital smelled until then. Suddenly, he needed more. More air, more space. Rushing out of the elevator and onto a cement pathway, he went straight to a railing and grabbed hold of it, using it to steady himself. He closed his eyes and took large gulps of air.
A hand fell on his shoulder, and he spun quickly, cane half raised. It was just Cillian. He didn’t say anything, didn’t ask if he was okay. He understood that Tobias wasn’t really and that asking was pointless. None of them was okay. None of them may ever be okay ever again.
Tobias finally looked around to take in their surroundings. They were on the roof of the hospital. The cement walkway led from the elevators to a rooftop helipad. He briefly wondered if Cender knew how to fly a helicopter, but then noticed that there was no helicopter to fly. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
“I hate roofs,” Tobias muttered loudly.
“Don’t worry, I won’t pull you off of this one,” Cillian grinned.
The others gave them a strange look because Tobias hadn’t filled them in on the particulars of how he and Cillian had first met.
“Why do we always end up in high places together, Cillian?” Tobias wondered aloud. First, the roof of the pizza place, then the air ducts in the mall and now here. Cillian just shrugged in response.
“There should be a ladder over this way.” Cender led them off the path that headed to the helipad. They made their way across the roof, avoiding air ducts, air conditioning units, and other things cluttering the rooftop. After making their way around the distinctive chimney, they came to a side of the hospital, which had a long ladder leading down to ground level.
“You just happened to know this was here?” Tobias questioned Cender.
“Some of us used to come up here sometimes to escape for a bit. We aren’t actually supposed to hang out up here and have had to hide from security a few times,” Cender shrugged. “So who’s going first?”
“Can you even climb down that with your leg?” Abby pointed out.
“Sure, but I’ll need someone else to carry the crutches.” Cender held his crutches out to the other four.
Tobias took one and Cillian took the other.
“See you at the bottom.” Cender grabbed the railings at the top of the ladder and backed over the edge. The others watched carefully as he went down the first few rungs. He was putting nearly all of his weight on his good leg, but he was managing all right. It probably would have been nearly impossible for him to go up the ladder, but going down he could manage. Gravity was his friend for the moment. After the first few rungs, the rest of the ladder had a circular metal cage around it that Cender could lean his back against if he needed a quick rest.
Abby went down the ladder next. After tugging on the collar of her shirt so that her bra strap showed, she hooked the curled end of her stick through it so that both her hands would be free for climbing.
Jessi followed her. The shovel she constantly clung to had a handle at the end of it, which was large enough to hang it on her arm.
Cillian went next, one arm with the crutch hanging off of it, the other with the crowbar.
Tobias was last to go. He looked at the crutch in one hand and the cane in the other. He decided the way in which Cillian was carrying the crutch was the easiest way to carry his, so he looped it over his arm. The cane he ended up shoving through the back of the harness he was still wearing. It reminded him that he still had the battery strapped to the small of his back. He would be a lot lighter without it, but if he could find some wiring, there was a chance he could hook it up to the little camera around his neck and keep filming. For now, he would hold onto the battery pack.
/> When he grabbed the metal ladder, the first thing he noticed was how hot it was. It didn’t burn his hands, but it was certainly uncomfortably warm. There was yellow paint to protect the metal of the ladder from rain and the heat of the sun, but most of it had worn off. Tobias headed down the ladder, hoping that Cillian didn’t stop for some reason below him. He could look down beneath his feet if he wanted to, but this high up, looking down was the last thing Tobias thought he should do. If he had a fear of heights by the end of all this, he wouldn’t be surprised. Once Tobias had gotten down a few rungs, into the caged-in area, he learned just how annoying the stuff he was carrying was. Both the ends of the cane and the crutch kept getting caught on the metal bars around him. He kept on having to step back up slightly and pull them free, then continue downwards only to have them get caught again two or three rungs lower. This made it very slow going and frustrated Tobias.
As he climbed, he couldn’t help but remember the creepy crawler from the last time he was on a ladder. Unwillingly both his heartbeat and descent quickened. He could perfectly picture the same thing happening now; something chasing him down from the roof. Wouldn’t there be a stairwell leading out onto the roof somewhere? And who’s to say a zombie wouldn’t remember how an elevator worked, or even hit the button by accident? He quickly looked up, fully expecting something to be crawling down after him. The way was clear though. Nothing but blue sky.
Tobias stepped down another rung and felt a slight pop at his lower back. He was confused at first by what this was and remembered too late. The cane had gotten caught again while Tobias was distracted, and wound up getting tugged right out of his belt. He reached back for it, but it was too late. It fell.
“Look out below!” he managed to call out as soon as he realized what had happened.
All Tobias could do was look down to watch if anyone got hurt. Only reason he would look down. Cillian had pulled himself tighter to the ladder, not even glancing up. Probably his firefighter training. The cane bounced harmlessly by him. Beyond Cillian, Tobias couldn’t really see anyone, but he heard Abby squeak. He worried most about Cender with his broken leg.
“Way to go,” Cender laughed putting Tobias at ease.
Cender’s voice didn’t seem to come from beneath him. Tobias looked around, out through the protective and confining circle of metal. He was actually quite close to the ground now. Cender already had his feet on the pavement and was leaning up against the hospital off to one side awaiting his crutches.
It wasn’t much longer until Tobias himself had his feet on firm ground again. Other than his accident with the cane, they had made it down uneventfully. Nobody had gotten hurt. The side of the building they were on was in a narrow alley between the hospital and a small two story parking garage. After being given his crutches, Cender led them over to an entrance into the parking garage. There were a lot of parked cars sitting around.
“Anyone know how to hot wire?” Cillian wondered aloud.
Nobody spoke up because nobody could.
“Maybe one of them still has the keys in it,” Abby suggested.
“All right, let’s split up and start looking for an unlocked car with keys in it.” Cillian took charge. “We’ll each take a row so that we’re not too far apart from each other and can call out if we find something. Hopefully we’ll find a car and not trouble.”
Tobias took one end of the search line and Cillian flanked the other. Abby was in the row next to Tobias and Cender the next over from her, in the middle, leaving Jessi next to Cillian.
* * *
Car after car they searched, but nearly all of them were locked and none of them had keys in them. They took their time to search thoroughly too, looking for magnetic key boxes around the bumpers and in the wheel wells, and looking under seats and digging through glove boxes in the cars that happened to have an open door. Tobias found a lot of old fries, some cigarette butts, and even a small drug stash, but no keys. He stood up from looking in the wheel well of one car and stretched his back. He happened to look at the next row over, the one no one was searching, and noticed a vehicle parked in an odd manner. Looking over at Abby and seeing that she was still searching a car one back from him, he decided he could take a small risk to go check this one out.
Tobias walked over and tried the driver’s door. Expecting the resistance of a lock, he was very surprised when the door popped open. He poked his head in and looked around the empty front seats. Wouldn’t you know it, there were keys dangling out of the ignition. Tobias couldn’t keep the grin off his face. He hit the unlock button and checked that the back was as clear as the front. It was. He ran over toward the others.
“Guys! Guys, I got us a ride!” He probably should’ve kept his voice down more but he couldn’t really control his enthusiasm. This felt like the first good thing that had happened all day.
Abby was startled into bumping her head on the door jam of the car she was searching. Tobias felt a little bad about that, but she looked fine. Everyone headed over to him, faces full of hope. Tobias led them over to their ride. He watched the bemused grins spread on their faces as they looked at the vehicle. It was a shiny, black, stretch limousine.
“Nice.” Cender clacked his way over to it. “I bet it’s got booze in the back too.” He opened a rear door and slid in sideways, dragging his crutches after him.
“I’m driving.” Cillian headed for the driver’s door.
“I found it, I should get to drive.” Tobias followed him.
“Have you ever driven a car this length before?” Cillian raised an eyebrow at him.
“Have you?” Tobias retorted.
“I drive fire-trucks, remember?” Cillian reminded him.
Tobias felt some blood rush to his cheeks. The man was still in his firefighter’s getup. How could he forget? He had even saved Tobias the first time using a fire-truck. “Fine, but if we need to switch drivers at some point, I’m taking over.”
“Deal.” Cillian slid in behind the wheel.
Jessi opened the front passenger door and leaned in. Tobias was walking back toward the rear door so he couldn’t hear what was said, but Jessi ended up walking toward the back as well. She looked a little annoyed, but thankfully not pissed. Tobias had seen what she could do with that shovel.
He opened the door and climbed in. Cender and Abby had both already taken their seats. Abby sat at the back and she had buckled herself in, while Cender had taken up residence on the sideways seats, right across from the bar. Jessi climbed in and headed for the backwards facing seats at the front of the vehicle. Tobias thought he’d be most comfortable sitting with Abby in the back. He opted not to put on his seat belt though. He could just imagine them being attacked on the road and getting caught in the thing.
The engine roared to life, and Jessi found the button that opened the partition between the back and the front so that they could see and speak to Cillian.
“Who wants a drink?” Cender pulled out a bottle of whisky.
24:
Dr. Bishop
Riley Bishop sighed and slumped over the steering wheel. They hadn’t left early enough. The highway was already clogged with cars. Traffic was awful; worse than anyone had ever seen it. Not only were hundreds, even thousands, of cars on the road, but they all seemed to have forgotten the rules. Everyone was in such a rush fleeing for their lives, that they had forgotten how deadly a car could be. There were fender benders everywhere, but they went mostly unnoticed as no one cared about the condition of their car anymore. Well, those with their priorities straight didn’t care. The bad accidents, though, just sat there blocking lanes, as no one moved the wrecks out of the way. Riley watched a tow truck inch its way around a stalled car without showing any sign of stopping. Of course, she wouldn’t have stopped either.
The traffic was bad, but at least it was still inching forward. She knew that in about an hour it would be at a dead standstill. Not only were there wrecks, but a handful of cars had overheated, run out of gas, or brok
en down in some way and were pulled over onto the shoulder. Past the shoulder were the owners of those cars. Some of them were trudging along next to the highway, watching carefully for runaway vehicles or a crazy driver thinking his car could make it across the large, grassy ditch that lined the highway. Others were trying to thumb rides from strangers; some even getting lucky, although not many. Another batch didn’t know what to do and essentially just stood there with their thumbs up their asses.
Their ambulance crept along at a steady pace. Riley could tell it was a steady pace because one of the pedestrian’s four lanes over had been keeping up with them. It was almost tempting to get out and walk herself, but Riley knew their supplies were too important. Many people fleeing the city weren’t going to make it. Even if they found some place safe from infection, they weren’t likely to last very long. Especially when winter hit. Even Riley worried about winter. Where they were going it was especially harsh. Her family got together out there for one week every year during one of the winter months, and every year Riley feared they weren’t going to make it. This time it wasn’t just going to be a week; it was going to be the whole damn season. And the season lasted about eight months.
“Look at this chump.” Mathias Cole pointed past her, to a car on the other side of the divider. Both lanes of traffic were headed the same direction now: north, away from the city. On the south end of the city, everybody was probably heading south.
Riley looked over at the guy Cole was pointing to. The man was mostly bald, the sun gleaming off his shiny head as he sat in his bright red convertible. He kept gesticulating as if showing his frustration would make the traffic move faster.
“He looks like he’s late for work,” Riley stated this as a fact. It was probably her serious, somewhat monotone way of saying it that got Cole laughing his ass off.
“He does!” Cole had a huge smile. “Probably doesn’t even realize what’s going on. Just wants to get to the golf course to make his tee time.”
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