Survival Instinct (Book 2): Adaptive Instinct

by Kristal Stittle

  They were only a block away from the hospital when they were attacked again. A man rushed at their group, teeth snapping. The men in the group, and some of the women, grappled with him. They got him on the ground and started kicking him. Lauren was ashamed to say she had joined in on the violence. What else could she do? That man had tried to attack them; they had to defend themselves. After several kicks to the head, he finally stopped moving. The group hurried to the hospital.

  ***

  In the emergency ward’s waiting room, it was chaos. There were people crammed everywhere. Most of the makeup artists dispersed among them, while those helping the injured man brought him to the triage nurse. Some of their group just turned and left.

  Lauren looked around the space, taking in the frightened and injured faces all around her. Everything she saw was telling her that whatever was happening was big. Much bigger than just the conference and the area surrounding the conference centre. So many people were crying and bleeding. A doctor who looked too young to be a doctor was walking through the crowd, constantly assessing people. Some of them were harassing him for information about what had happened or how long they would have to wait. He couldn’t answer them, and a large security guard had to keep stepping in.

  Then, unexpectedly, Lauren saw a familiar face. It took her nearly a minute to place it. Sitting in the corner, with an older teenaged boy Lauren had never seen, was Claire, a neighbour of Lauren’s girlfriend, Abby. Lauren threaded her way through the masses, moving toward her.

  “Claire!” she called out, as she got closer. “Claire!”

  The girl looked up with frightened and hollow eyes. Lauren wasn’t sure the girl would remember her. They had met only twice, and Lauren remembered her name only because Abby would often mention her when talking about her day.

  Lauren managed to find some space to kneel in front of the girl. “Claire, I’m not sure if you remember me. I’m a friend of Abby’s.”

  Claire stared at her silently for a moment. Lauren didn’t think she was going to answer when she responded, “I remember you.”

  “Are you all right? Is your mom here?” Lauren apparently asked the wrong question.

  Claire’s eyes went wide, and she began to cry. The boy next to Claire looked at Lauren and shook his head. His look said that something had happened to her mom.

  “Oh sweetie, I’m so sorry.” Lauren leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the girl. Claire responded to the embrace by leaning into it. Lauren stroked her hair and let her cry it all out.

  “I’m Jon by the way. Jon Ludlum.” The teenager held out his hand.

  Lauren lifted an arm off Claire and shook hands briefly before returning it to the girl’s shoulders. “Lauren Sanford. I’m a good friend of Abby Walker’s.”

  “Abby’s the one who sent us here.” Jon surprised Lauren when he said this.

  “Where is she? Is she all right?” Lauren looked around the waiting room again. Abby would have come with the kids if she could.

  “We took Jon’s motorcycle.” Claire finally pulled away from Lauren. “Only the two of us could fit on it. Abby said she would be here, but we haven’t seen her yet. Have you?”

  “No,” Lauren shook her head, “I came from the conference centre a few blocks away.”

  Lauren was both happy and distressed that Abby was coming to the hospital. Happy because she wanted to see Abby and be with her, but distressed because she had seen the condition of the streets. Abby had a kind of inner strength to her, but the city scared her on a regular basis. She hoped that she wasn’t alone out there.

  “Claire Kellermen!” a nurse shouted from the doors that led deeper into the hospital. “Is Claire Kellermen still here?”

  “Here!” Lauren shot to her feet and raised her hand above the crowd in order to be seen.

  The nurse gestured for them to come.

  Lauren scooped up Claire into her arms. She was wearing her swimsuit and one of Abby’s sleeping shirts. She also had on Abby’s big woolly socks that she liked to wear on weekends. Lauren carried Claire through the crowd while Jon followed behind her.

  “This is Claire.” Lauren told the nurse while gesturing to the girl with a nod of her head.

  “Come this way.” The nurse led them through the doors. She walked briskly and directed them to some chairs in a hallway. Lauren sat in one with Claire on her lap, while Jon took the one next to her. The nurse handed her a chart.

  “A doctor or nurse should be by soon.” The nurse explained quickly. “You give them that chart and you listen to what they say. If you think it’s taking awhile for someone to see you, please remember that there are many injured here. We will get to you when we can.”

  Before Lauren could say thank you, the nurse hurried off to deal with the next patient. Patient was what they were. Lauren looked over Claire herself and saw that she had only a large bump and a cut on her head. She kept shutting down emotionally, but otherwise, she should be fine. They waited and waited for a doctor or nurse to come by. The seats next to them filled up with more injured. Jon even got up to give his seat to someone who looked worse than many of the others. The boy looked both frightened and amazed by everything going on around them. He didn’t leave their side however, and Claire would occasionally reach out and hold his hand.

  After what seemed like a long time, someone finally showed up. He was short for a man and had naturally tanned skin. His features were rounded, his brown hair was really short, and his brown eyes were surrounded by eyelashes uncommonly long for a man. Lauren noticed them because she knew a few women who would kill for lashes like those. She was happy with the average length of her own lashes.

  “I’m Dr. Cender,” the man introduced himself, “do you have a chart?”

  Lauren handed the clipboard to him. She had noticed that the patients that came in later didn’t get a clipboard, just a sheet of paper.

  Dr. Cender looked over the chart reading things from it that Lauren didn’t understand.

  “Okay, let’s take a look.” Dr. Cender handed Lauren the clipboard and took a penlight out of the chest pocket of his white lab coat. He looked over Claire’s injury and shone the light into her eyes. A sad expression crossed his face as Claire stared back with dead eyes.

  “Can you follow my finger, Claire?” Dr. Cender had learned her name from the chart. It was nice that he was using it, because he must have seen countless people that day already.

  After his quick tests, he took the clipboard back from Lauren and jotted several notes.

  “All right, it looks like she has a minor concussion,” the doctor explained as he ripped the top sheet off the clipboard and handed it back to Lauren. “I’m going to get her an MRI to make sure it’s nothing worse, although I’m sure it’s not. You’ll have to wait even longer than you just did for me to show up, but I’ll try to get you as close to the front of the line as I can.”

  Dr. Cender looked up and down the hall and seemed to be distracted by something. Lauren followed his gaze. Another doctor, a woman, was heading somewhere with a large cardboard box. Dr. Cender shook himself out of his distraction.

  “Yes, anyway, stay put and try to keep her awake. If she really needs to sleep, she can, but wake her every half hour,” he told them. The doctor then hurried off to follow the woman doctor. Lauren didn’t see him again.

  The hall they were in didn’t seem to lead anywhere important, because it was rare for a nurse or doctor to show up without seeing a patient. No patients passed through there either, only those asked to take an empty seat in the hall. It didn’t take long for every chair to be filled. Within minutes, the nurses wheeled a few beds into the hall and parked them across from the chairs. When one was parked across from Lauren and Claire, one of the nurses pushing the bed ran off and abandoned the other nurse. She was holding up an IV bag and couldn’t leave the patient to get a proper pole for it.

  “I’ll hold it,” Jon volunteered. “You just keep it above his heart and don’t squeeze it, right?�
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  “Right,” the nurse smiled with relief. “I’ll be right back.”

  She was, too. Jon had to hold up the IV bag for less than a minute. Once the pole was set up, and the nurse had left, Jon continued to help the other patients in the hall. He helped those who had trouble shifting into a more comfortable position, ran to get a nurse when one patient took a turn for the worse, and even dragged a garbage pail over to a man who was going to puke.

  Lauren busied herself with Claire. She had turned the girl around so that she wouldn’t have to see the other patients and the chaos happening around the ER. She convinced Claire to play pat-a-cake with her. Lauren couldn’t resist looking up often. She kept hoping to see Abby, but didn’t have any luck. Even if Abby had gotten there, there was no guarantee she would get past triage.

  A sharp scream pierced through all the other noises and frightened everyone.

  “I’ll find out what that was,” Jon told everyone in the hall, but mostly Claire. He dashed off into the main section of the ER, but returned shortly thereafter. He looked at Claire, his eyes wide and scared. He leaned over and whispered into Lauren’s ear.

  Apparently, an attack had started in the waiting room. The doors to the rest of the ER were sealed and locked though, so they should be safe. Jon whispered to a few other patients who wanted to know what was happening. He clearly didn’t want Claire to know. Claire didn’t seem to care and continued to look at things with her dead eyes.

  They were rescued a few tense minutes later.

  ***

  Lauren Sanford had noticed the scattering of police when she first entered the ER, but thanked God when more showed up. Just over a dozen uniformed policemen entered the ER through the ambulance doors. Behind them came several paramedics and a dozen military men. Lauren was surprised by the military. They didn’t look prepared, as if they had just thrown themselves together. Most were in partial uniform and some weren’t well armed. One man, however, was in full dress gear.

  One of the soldiers began giving orders to the others, including the police and paramedics. He was clearly high up in the ranks. The man in the dress uniform came straight to Lauren’s hallway. She stood up to meet him, Claire held tightly in her arms. The man gave her a look that said he was going to address the group, so Lauren stayed silent.

  “Attention everyone, we are abandoning the hospital,” the soldier told them all. A noise arose as everyone spoke at once, but the soldier held up his hands and got them to quiet down. “We have several ambulances, buses, military trucks, and police cars that will evacuate you. The military has found a secure location that will accommodate everyone for now. Those that can walk on their own, please head to the ambulance bay, where you will be directed further. For those who cannot walk, we have paramedics here who will assess your situation and help you to an ambulance. We will try our best to keep families together during transport, however, please be aware that you will all be taken to the same location. If you are split up, you’ll be able to find one another once we arrive. If everyone remains as calm as possible, and maintains order, we should be able to get this done quickly and smoothly.”

  “How long will the evacuation take?” Since Lauren was already right next to the soldier, she was able to ask her question first. “A friend of mine is on her way here right now.”

  “Ma’am, we can’t wait for anyone that isn’t here already. I’m sorry,” the soldier explained. “Some of the streets out there are pretty bad, and there’s no guarantee she’ll even make it here at all. Again, I’m sorry. Please think of your daughter and head to the ambulance bay.”

  “Claire’s not-” Lauren cut herself off as the soldier was already turning away to address another question. Lauren couldn’t see how Claire could be mistaken for her daughter. Claire’s hair was straight and the colour of dark chocolate, while Lauren’s was curly and the colour of fire. Not to mention that Claire didn’t have a single flaw on her skin, whereas Lauren was head to foot freckles. Those were just the most obvious differences. Claire had brown eyes, Lauren had green. Claire had fine, delicate features, Lauren’s were broad and open. In the end, it didn’t matter if the soldier thought they were related or not, because Lauren was responsible for Claire now. Abby had shown considerable strength sending Jon and Claire on without her. Without knowing it, she had sent them straight to Lauren. Lauren would take care of them for Abby.

  She shifted Claire in her arms and headed for the ambulance bay. She hid Claire’s face in her shoulder and gestured for Jon to walk close to her as they passed the waiting area. People inside were screaming and begging for help. There were others in there with them, tearing at them, killing them. Two police officers stood in front of the doors, not letting anyone near them. One officer was openly crying. Those being attacked couldn’t escape. The outer doors had an ambulance backed up against them. The people were trapped inside, dying while no one did anything. Lauren was horrified. Later, she understood that they had done that to trap the infection, but at that moment, Lauren didn’t even know about the infection. She saw this as a terrible act of cruelty. Still, she proceeded with the evacuation.

  Out in the ambulance bay, a procession of vehicles was picking up a line of people. A well-equipped soldier guarded the ambulance that was up against the waiting room doors, and two police officers organized the line.

  “What about my motorbike?” Jon asked Lauren.

  “What about it?”

  “It’s parked right over there.” Jon pointed out a small dirt bike that was leaning against a massive tree. The tree was right in the middle of the ambulance bay, with the line of vehicles circling around it.

  “I want you to stay with me, okay?” Lauren hadn’t decided to take care of these kids just to have one drive off on his own.

  “I know,” Jon agreed. “I don’t want to ride it. It was scary enough the first time. I was just wondering if I should give the keys to someone. Maybe they could use it.”

  “That’s good thinking.” Lauren wished she had thought of it herself. “All right, go give the keys to someone, then hurry back. We’re getting close to the front of the line.”

  Jon didn’t go far; he just ran up to the man guarding the ambulance. Lauren nearly panicked when she saw the soldier stiffen at Jon’s approach. As Jon began speaking and holding out his key, the soldier relaxed. He took the key and sent Jon back to the line. Lauren sighed with relief when he was back at her side, then shifted Claire in her arms again. The girl was getting heavy, but she wasn’t going to put her down until they were safely inside a vehicle.

  The line shuffled forward as eight people managed to cram themselves into the front and back seats of a police cruiser. Lauren, Claire, and Jon, were now the second group in line, with just an elderly couple clinging together ahead of them. A big yellow school bus drove around the tree and stopped in front of the elderly couple. As soon as the doors opened, a policeman ushered them on board.

  As Lauren got in, she noticed the bus was being driven by another soldier in dress uniform. She wondered if some sort of ceremony had been taking place when the attacks began. The elderly couple took the first seats they came to, while Lauren headed for the back. Wanting to be near the emergency exit, she sat on the last bench on the right and scooted over to the window. Claire slid off her lap and bunched up against Lauren’s side. Claire had left enough room for Jon to squeeze in next to her. More and more people got on the bus and filled up the rest of the bench seats in front of them. Those who came on in groups, tried to stick together, while those alone looked around awkwardly for a seat to share. Lauren put her arm around Claire’s shoulders and placed her hand on Jon’s. No one was going to root them up from their seats.

  Two boys in University of Leighton sweatshirts filled the bench in front of them. One of them wore a cast on his arm.

  “This is totally fucked up,” the one with the cast said to his buddy.

  “I know, man,” the other replied, nervously looking out the window beside his friend. />
  “Like…shit. I mean…shit.”

  “Yeah, so fucked.” The one without a cast then leaned into the aisle and looked up toward the front of the bus.

  “Excuse me,” Lauren tapped the boy with the broken arm on the shoulder.

  He jumped and whirled around as if she had touched him with a cattle prod.

  “I have a small girl here with me. Would you mind keeping the swearing to a minimum?” Lauren didn’t like people who cursed, especially those who cursed in excess and around children.

  “Sorry ma’am, but… Fuck- Sorry. It’s just that there are goddamn zombies out there,” he gestured out the window. “Zombies!”

  “Zombies?” It took Lauren a moment to comprehend that he was talking about walking undead. She figured the boy must have been given some strong pain medication.

  “Holy crrrrrrow…” Jon almost said crap, but caught himself, glancing sideways at Lauren as he did so. “That makes total sense!”

  “Zombies make total sense?” Lauren turned from the teenager to Jon with an eyebrow raised. The bus finally started moving with a rumble and jolt.

  “You didn’t see the guys I saw walking around.” The colour in Jon’s face left. He looked at Claire, making sure she wasn’t looking at him, then made a gesture that suggested a man’s throat was torn out. He then made another gesture that suggested he was also gutted.

  Lauren shook her head and turned away. Zombies, how silly was that? Little did she know at the time, that the university boys were correct.

  ***

  The back of the bus turned out not to be the best place to sit. It was extremely bumpy back there and the driver wasn’t taking it slowly or cautiously. They were whipped around corners and bounced up on curbs. Jon held tightly onto Claire, and Lauren held tightly onto both of them. This didn’t stop her from looking out the window occasionally. She knew the reason their bus swerved so often, was because of all the traffic jams; cars were piled up all over the roadways. She managed to get a brief glimpse ahead during one turn and saw the police car, full of people, roaring ahead with its lights on. No sirens though, which was strange. Lauren thought that all the emergency vehicles would have their sirens going.