Doctor Connelly was already at the door. “What the hell happened?”
Ben and I dragged the now unconscious Ryan through the doors. “Ryan’s been shot. Shut that door and lock it,” I said. Doctor Connelly quickly shut the double doors, and shot the security locks. Ben threw more clinic debris in the way as a blockade. We were now sealed up in the clinic, with what may have been a hundred or so hungry zombie maniacs outside pounding at the door.
“Put him over here,” Doctor Connelly directed us over to one of the emergency stalls. She ran ahead and got it ready while Ben and I dragged Ryan over to the bed. We set him down as gently as we could. Blood from the wound in his back immediately began to stain the off-white sheets.
Doctor Connelly pulled on some latex gloves and went to work. She gently turned Ryan on his side, removed his backpack, and cut his clothing around the wound. “Damn. It’s in his back.” The bullet had entered close to his spine, just below his pack.
I tried to swallow my mounting panic. “How bad is it?” I asked.
The Doctor didn’t look up as she continued her work. “It’s bad. Looks like it might have lodged near his spine.” She handed me a pressure bandage. “Hold this on the wound. We’ve got to stop the bleeding first.”
Fighting a dizzy spell, I placed the bandage on Ryan’s wound. Doctor Connelly placed her hands on mine, and we both applied pressure. The situation looked grave. Ryan’s blood wouldn’t stop, and it stained my hands red. His blood was now literally on my hands. After a few minutes, Doctor Connelly took a quick look under the bandages.
“What do you think, Doc?”
She finished her assessment and continued applying pressure to the wound. “Hopefully, we can stabilize him by slowing down the bleeding. I won’t be able to do anything here.” She looked around. “I’m out of everything.”
I thought of Safety One. Jenny and Ryan had put a few medical supplies in the storage area. “Cannon Fields established a few safe zones out here on the road. They have some medical supplies. If we can stabilize Ryan, can we move him?”
“Maybe. Hopefully the trip won’t kill him. We’ll have to get out of here first.” The doctor looked under the bandage again. The blood flow seemed to be slowing. “We’ll have to keep him from moving too much. I don’t want that slug in his back to paralyze him.”
Something banged on the clinic’s wooden double doors, causing us both to jump in fright. Another bang followed the first. It was much louder. The Red-Eyes were at the clinic doors. The only doors preventing us from becoming dinner.
“John! Problem over by the doors,” Ben shouted from across the room.
“Go!” Doctor Connelly said. “I’ll take care of Ryan.”
I grabbed Ryan’s rifle and ran over to Ben. The banging was getting more insistent. A few hands, caked with blood and grime, were pressed up against the small frosted glass panel on the door that was now beginning to crack. As I watched, a small piece of glass fell out of the corner and shattered on the floor. A few bloody fingers probed the hole, followed by a menacing red eye. The owner of that scary eye stared at Ben and me, then it let out an animal growl.
“Oh dear Lord. I think they’re hungry.” Ben and I retreated from the doors. They were moving slightly from being pushed by the crowd outside.
“How long do you think those doors are going to hold?” I said.
“Not long. There’s a hallway full out there.” By the sounds of the moaning and the pounding, Ben was right.
A splintering sound, like wood beginning to give way, echoed through the clinic. Ben and I retreated a little further away. Ben got his rifle ready. “What are we going to do?”
Nothing immediately came to mind. The situation looked a little dire. I tried to think what Claire and used to do in these situations, but my mind was distracted by the banging on the doors. We were trapped in a confined space, with a swarm outside the door trying to get in. One of our party was dead, and another was injured. We now had a little girl to look after. We were low on ammunition, and forty miles from home.
The banging at the door grew louder.
I checked with Doctor Connelly. She was wrapping the last of the sterile bandages around Ryan, trying to bind his wounds. Her latex gloves were slick with blood. Ryan was coming to, and groaning a little. “How’s he doing?” I asked. The banging got even louder.
The doctor shook her head. “The bleeding has slowed. The bandage will help.” She looked me in the eye. “It’s bad. He’s lost a lot of blood. I can’t get the bullet. I don’t have a clean operating area. He’s asking for you.” Before I could get to Ryan’s bedside, Doctor Connelly grabbed my arm. “He told me he’s lost feeling in his legs. It might be temporary. I just don’t know.” The banging at the door continued to get louder and louder. The whole Red-Eye nation was trying to get at us.
I got to Ryan’s side just as he opened his eyes. He was pale, and very shaky. I touched his shoulder. “How you doing, Ryan?”
He tried to smile, but was in too much pain. The look on his face became a grimace instead. He grasped my arm, and said two words. “Leave me.”
“No way. You’re coming with us. We started this trip together.”
He shook his head, which caused him great pain. “Save everyone else. Leave me. I’m done. Just give me a rifle or something for a fighting chance.” The effort needed to talk caused him to pass back into unconsciousness. The banging on the door continued to get louder.
I walked back over to the doors. Ben and the doctor stood like statues, staring at the wooden door that was keeping us uneaten. They turned to me with scared expressions, waiting for any instruction. It was probably this way with a lot of survivors. They would get trapped, their options would get limited, and then they died. It was finally happening to me. I was finished. My travels were finally over.
“What are going to do?” Ben asked.
I thought for a minute. “Doctor Connelly, is there a back way out of here?”
She nodded, “Yes, but it’s covered in debris. We’d be toast before we cleared it all.”
I looked at he ceiling. “How about upstairs? We can go to the roof.”
The Doctor shook her head. “No good. The upper floors are full of trapped zombies. I hear them at night sometimes.”
No options. We were going to have to fight.
I pulled my handgun and handed it to the doctor. She was going to need a weapon. I checked the magazine in Ryan’s rifle…about half full. I replaced it, and said, “We’re going to fight. Ben, you and I will try and catch them in a crossfire at the door. Doctor Connelly, you get behind us. Anything that gets past, put a bullet in its head. That includes me or Ben if we are bitten and turned. If a hole opens up, we grab Ryan and run.” Ben and I turned towards the door with weapons ready.
“John…wait,” Doctor Connelly said.
“Doc, I don’t have time to discuss this.”
“No, listen. The banging has stopped.”
I listened for a minute. The clinic had gone silent.
I stepped to the door and listened. No banging, scraping, or moaning. No bloody hands pressed on the glass panels. Only handprints smeared on the glass. I took a quick look through the grimy window at the hallway beyond. It was empty. The Red-Eyes had left.
Ben came to the door next to me. “Where did they go? Did they give up?”
I thought about it for a second. “No. They went back into hiding. They know where we are. They’re just going to wait till we walk outside.”
Doctor Connelly shook her head. “So we’re trapped.” She handed my gun back.
I looked around the clinic to see if I could find anything that might help us out of this jam. “Maybe not. Find something that will burn.”
“Find something that will burn?” the doctor asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. “What are you going to do?”
Ben found some alcohol, and a few other flammable liquids among the wreckage of the clinic. He put them on a small table. I located two smal
l glass bottles, and began making some crude Molotov cocktails. “Just a little trick I learned on the road, Doc.”
Chapter 17
The Escape from the Clinic
The plan was simple.
Ben would carry Ryan to the front door. Doctor Connelly, with Amy in tow, would follow. The Red-Eyes would probably attack. That would be our cue to start running like hell to the SUV. When we got to the truck, I was to going to throw my little flaming beauties at any other Red-Eyes. This, I hoped, would divert the zombies long enough for everyone to load. Then, Ben and I would get in the SUV and escape. Ben would drive.
Simple.
I was going to use the makeshift Molotov cocktails I had made from old hospital rags and alcohol. The firebombs would hopefully ignite, and distract or repel them. It’s a tactic I had used before. Claire and I had been trapped in a store with about two-dozen Yellow-Eyes blocking our escape. In that case, it had been cheap Scotch that had been in the bombs that day. The plan worked, and a path developed for Claire and I to run away. It was still a close call.
Not to mention, those zombies had been Yellow-Eyes. I didn’t know if the Red-Eyes were going to fall for the same trick. These zombie bastards were smarter. As we stepped to the door, I scanned the lines of wrecked vehicles from end to end, but saw no movement. These little red eyed devils knew how to hide, too. I was beginning to understand them a little. They were starting to hang out in the areas where humans, their primary food source,hid After all, why hunt when you can wait and the food may walk right into your mouth.
“Ready?” I said to our little survivor group. Everyone that could, nodded yes. Ben shifted his grip on the ailing Ryan and got ready to exit into the unknown. It was going to be close, and we had to move quick. We were going to be somewhat defenseless until we got to our escape vehicle.
We all took a deep cleansing breath, then Ben and I opened the door. We left the clinic in a tight group, focused on getting to the truck. No wasted steps. All I heard was heavy breathing and the sounds of our shoes on the pavement. Our little group reached the vehicle in record time. Ben threw open one of the rear doors, and with Doctor Connelly’s help, they carefully stuffed Ryan inside. The doctor followed with Amy. She picked up and threw her bags in the back, then belted herself in for the ride. It seemed we were moving in slow motion. Too slow. Come on, guys. Let’s go.
Movement from across the street. Two over-anxious Red-Eyes popped up and started towards the SUV. We were still exposed as we tried to get Ryan in the backseat. The Red-Eyes got closer, snarling and hissing as they approached. They spread out to cut off any escape routes. Four more came out and joined the first group. There were probably more out there.
We’re out of time. I left Ben to finish with Ryan. I ran around the back of the vehicle to the passenger side, pausing only to light the cloth fuses on my bombs. The Red-Eyes saw me and turned in my direction. I was their new, delicious target. Thankfully, the fuses lit, and when I got close enough, I flung them in front of the approaching zombies.
The liquid spread out and flared into two small fires. In a few seconds, a huge, continuous semi circle of flame developed around our escape vehicle. The undead stopped in their tracks and tried to shield themselves from the flames. The plan was working: the zombies were now being held at bay behind a flaming barricade. A brief window of escape had opened up.
“We have to go!” I shouted to Ben. I didn’t have to tell him twice. He was in the driver’s seat in a flash. I pulled the passenger door open. The doctor was ready to go, with Ryan lying across her lap. Amy clung to her like a vine. They both had a wild look of fear on their faces. I heard the big SUV come to life as I started to get in the vehicle. The plan had worked. We were going to get away from this hellhole. We might actually survive this.
That’s when a flaming zombie came up and took hold of my jacket.
It was a female. She grabbed me by the collar with a horribly burned arm. Its flesh was a weird dark-red, like an overdone hot dog. I grabbed onto the assist handle in the passenger doorway with my left hand as she began to pull me away from the SUV. Although her face was burned almost to the bone, I could still see her red eyes burning out of her skull. Her skeletal mouth twisted into a horrible grimace as she took hold of my jacket with her other toasted hand. Instead of trying to bite me, she was going to drag me out to her friends so they could feed. I felt my grip beginning to weaken on the SUV. I don’t know how it was possible, but these things got really strong despite the disadvantage of being dead. With my free right hand, I drew my gun and shot at the closest target.
I shot her in the knee.
With an ear-piercing shriek, she let go of me and crumpled to the ground. Another Red-Eye, this one a large male, reached in to take hold of me. I raised my gun and put a bullet in his skull. He joined his smoking friend on the ground. I swung into the front seat and slammed the door before any more deadheads could grab onto something.
As I closed the door, the SUV was suddenly engulfed in zombies. It seemed like a hundred pairs of hands began to pound on the glass and bodywork. A couple of them began to ram their heads and shoulders against the car. The SUV began to rock and sway as more and more began to strike the sides. Amy began to cry.
Ben slammed the gearshift lever into drive, but before he could press the gas, a Red-Eye jumped on the expansive hood of our vehicle. Ben and I both recoiled in fear as the zombie turned toward the windshield and slammed its head against the glass. It was a young male, with greasy, blond hair. His lower jaw was blackened by fire and gore, but he was very strong and intact. He looked at both of us, then slammed himself against the glass again. A spiderweb of cracks radiated from the impact point.
Ben slammed the gas pedal to the floor, and the big American SUV shot forward like a missile. The zombie on the hood lost his balance and fell. He grabbed the hood to right himself, but then the half-cremated Red-Eye lost his grip and fell in front of the vehicle. Not even scratched, it stood in our way and prepared another attack. Ben pressed the gas pedal to the floor again and ran the undead bastard over. He disappeared under the grill with a screech in his throat. The SUV jumped and skittered on the road as we crushed him underneath the heavy weight of our vehicle.
With wheels spinning, we made it to the corner. Ben skillfully turned the steering wheel to get us on the road to home. As we passed the side entrance, more angry looking Red-Eyes came out of hiding and blocked the road. Ben put his foot down on the gas pedal. He smashed through the line of undead, and they scattered like bowling pins. The hood of our vehicle was slightly bent up in the collision. The damage seemed to be only cosmetic.
Ben glanced off another car, but was able to steer our behemoth SUV into the clear. We left the clinic behind us in a cloud of dust. I looked to our rear and saw several Red-Eyes giving chase. For a moment, it looked like they might be able to keep up with us, running with amazing superhuman ability. I prepared for battle, but eventually the zombies gave up and went back into hiding.
We had escaped the horror of the clinic, but it had been a close call.
Ben drove for a few more miles, then pulled over to collect himself. He put the SUV in park and rested his head on the steering wheel. Young Amy was softly crying, and Doctor Connelly was as white as a sheet. I patted Ben on the shoulder. “Nice driving, partner.”
Ben’s hands were shaking, and his eyes were wide as the adrenaline faded from his body. “I was a delivery driver in my younger days. Never had customers like those guys.” Despite the gravity of the moment, we both managed a weak laugh.
I turned to the back seat. “Everybody okay in the back?”
The doctor nodded that she was okay. After a few tries, she found her voice. “Are you okay, John? That zombie had a pretty good grip on you.” She checked my arm and shoulder.
“I’m fine.” The grasping hands of the beast had been pretty close to my neck. My jacket bore the scars of battle. One of the monster’s fingernails was embedded in the fabric. The collar was
ripped, and it was stained with old blood and grime from the grip of the dead. “May need a new jacket though.” The doctor smiled a little.
Ryan groaned as he shifted on the back seat. Doctor Connelly quickly checked his bandage, and felt his forehead. She frowned as she examined him.
“How’s he doing?” Ben asked.
“Not good,” the doctor answered. “The wound has opened up again. I need a place to work on him a little.”
I turned to Ben. “Let’s go to Safety One. There’s some supplies there.”
Ben put the SUV in gear. “I’ll get us there as quickly as I can.” He drove into the center of the road, and took off at moderate speed.
I turned to face front, and silently said a quick prayer. Time was running out, and I hoped we could get Ryan the help he needed in time.
Chapter 18
The Battle at Safety One
We rode in silence through the ruins of civilization. Ryan’s map was damaged by the bullet that entered his backpack and the blood that followed. Ben was simply following the route back to Safety One from memory. The struggle at the clinic had taken something out of us, and we didn’t feel like any conversation. Ben drove with a purpose, trying not to attract any unwanted attention. So far, no one had bothered us. Even with all the cosmetic damage from the battle with the Red-Eyes at the clinic, our vehicle ran fine. I was thankful for that.
We had already passed the house where we had entombed Jenny. A quick glance told me that nothing had been disturbed. The little house was still intact, and the door was closed. Thankfully, Jenny could rest in peace.
We came to the intersection where the guys in the white truck jumped us. The truck was still there, and a couple of zombies were poking around the back door. Ben tried to drive slowly around the wrecks and get on down the road. The zombies didn’t see us, and we moved on.
We returned to silence as we made our way to Safety One. I glanced at Doctor Connelly in the back seat. She was holding Amy, who was napping lightly. Ryan was lying on the seat beside her. It was a full house in the back of the SUV. The doctor stared out the window wistfully, watching the remains of human life pass by.
Sometimes We Ran (Book 2): Community Page 14