by Dean, Jane
The nurse sniffed and crawled to one of the babies who had fallen asleep. “You promise to help me after?” she asked.
“Yes. I promise.” Ursa didn’t know how she could help but she’d do what she was told if they could help Ray. “We need to get to the other side of the floor to perform a blood transfusion.” Ursa helped the woman to her feet and they walked to the door. They looked out into the hall but couldn’t see the Walkers. Ursa closed her eyes and felt them with her mind. They weren’t far, just around the corner and hidden from view.
Ursa turned her back to the door and looked around the room. She surveyed the room with her mind to check the babies. “The children are okay,” Ursa said. The babies were be breathing well and, although uncomfortable, weren’t at risk of dying.
“Were you bitten?” the woman asked. Ursa knew that her appearance startled Em. “I can’t help you if you’ve been bitten. We tried to help a lot of people and they changed. They changed and killed everyone.” She started to edge away from Ursa.
“I’m fine,” Ursa said. “Don’t worry about me. My friend’s been bitten but we have time to help him. He’s in the operating room right now with a doctor and we need to do a blood transfusion. I just need to kill those Walkers wandering the hall. Can I count on you to help save my friend?”
“I can’t leave the babies,” the woman’s eyes were glazed and staring at the little ones squirming around them. “I saved a lot of them from their mothers. I collected as many as I could and brought them here. One died and changed but I’ve been caring for the rest.” Ursa looked at one of the babies dressed in a little pink onesie with a knitted pink hat on her head.
“You help me and I’ll help you to look after the babies.” Ursa repeated. She wasn’t sure how was going to deliver on her promise but she needed to focus on keeping Marshall alive.
“If you can get rid of those things outside, I’ll help you. I have to get more supplies for these little ones.” The woman got up and picked up a baby holding it close and giving it a bottle. Ursa realized that Em wanted to get her out of the room and away from the babies.
Ursa walked to the door and looked down the hall at the two Walkers staggering at a slow pace back toward them. She pried a small IV pole off the side of one of the tiny beds, surprised at her new strength. She felt the raw end and opened the door to run down the hall to the two men. She quickly covered the distanced and plunged the rod into the first skull. The movement attracted the other man and she quickly pulled the rod out and brought the rod up and into his jaw to his brain. He collapsed onto the floor and the dead feelings in her mind faded to nothing. She held her blood covered hands out in front of her and returned to the Neo natal room. The nurse had been watching and now put her head out the door. Her eyes were large.
“Okay, you said you’d help.” Em closed her eyes. Ursa could sense the woman struggling with the idea of leaving the babies.
“Okay,” Em said. “But we’ll come back right after?”
“I promise.” Ursa said. Em came out into the hall tentatively to join her.
“Come with me,” Em said. “You can wash in here.” They entered the restroom nearby where Ursa washed as well as she could. “Let’s get to your friends and deal with them so we can get back to the babies,” the nurse said.
SEVENTEEN
Ursa stood in the window of the hospital room. She studied the edge of a dark black cloud as it moved across the sky. A small pinging noise hit the window in front of her. A piece of ice the size of a marble sat on the sill and collected a circle of water around it. Another ping and then thousands of little hail stones the size of peas hit the glass and cars below bouncing up and down on the pavement. The Walkers on the grass and in the parking lot slowed to look up and then continued walking not changing direction or seemingly bothered by the sudden storm. The hail made it hard to see to the road. No cars were travelling and probably wouldn't be able to navigate in this downpour Ursa decided and she sat soft armchair and focused on the pattern of the water running down the glass.
The hallway outside remained quiet. If she concentrated and closed her eyes it was there, she could sense it. A tingling knowing of living things stirring in the forest and the dark sick feeling of reanimated humans still in the hospital, trapped with them on different floors above and below, and those in the parking lot becoming weighted down by the torrent of water, staggering into cars and shuffling into the field without purpose or sense. She didn't need to look out to see them. If she let her mind drift too deeply she almost slipped over the edge and got too close to the feeling. The dead cold sharp stab that gripped her heart and made her want to retch up something toxic. She opened her eyes to pull away from the sickness and focused on the fresh life in the bird huddled into the trunk of a tree outside.
"Where did you go?" Ursa opened her eyes to look at Mark slumped in the chair next to Marshall his arms crossed across his body.
"What do you mean? Did I seem far away?" She wanted to tell him I was searching for the Walkers in my mind, but she didn't think he'd understand and she didn't want to have to explain herself. She relaxed knowing they were safe for the moment and let go of the need to plan for safety.
"I didn't see you for a moment and then I glanced up and there you were in the window,” he said.
"No. I've been here the whole time." His face looked hollow and she let herself smile slightly. "How long were you with Level 6?" she asked.
"How did you know?" Mark answered.
“Two things gave you away. You didn’t know where the operating room was and I can read your mind.”
Mark nodded. "I started there right out of the Air Force Academy."
"How does the air force factor into Level 6?" She sat in a chair a little way away from him.
"You'd be surprised what you can learn at the Air Force Academy. I was fascinated by bio mechanics and genetic engineering. I thought we could rebuild people like you can machines. You remember that line from the TV show in the 60s,” Mark trailed off.
"What line?"
"... we can rebuild him and so on…." Ursa shook her head. Mark continued, “Well we did it. We made man better. Well, some men better, not all."
"So the government had something to do with this?"
"The government, your father, the pharmaceutical companies,” Mark began listing. "Open your eyes Ursa. As a species we think we're God. We think we can change something over here to help the population without worrying about what happens over here. Now the scales are tipped too far and we're paying the price for it. We thought we could get rid of all disease with one vaccination." He sat back smirking and stared at Marshall laying quietly in bed.
"I don't think my father had anything to do with what's happening out there," Ursa looked back out the window.
"Don't you? Look in the mirror. We all took it a little too far and you're looking at the results right in front of you." He motioned a hand in Marshall's direction. I studied genetic engineering and pioneered advancements along with your father. He was the one who took it to the next level. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him and people like me." Ursa frowned and looked away. "I shouldn't have said that,” he said.
“We’re done here,” Ursa said. “I’m going to help Em with the babies." She looked at the dark circles under his eyes, he rubbed his face and sat up in the chair.
"Why don't you take a break? I think we're safe for the moment. Marshall’s fine for now. You sleep and I’ll check on the babies. We'll need to be alert later if something happens or need to get out of here fast." She stood up and felt energized as though she’d slept a full night.
"You're right." Mark got up and sat in the reclining chair on the far side of the room and pushed it back. Ursa pulled at the thick white curtain hanging in the middle of the room to give him some privacy. "Look,” he said through the thin fabric. "Your father's a good man. We all had good intentions."
She didn't reply and turned back to Marshall. His face was pale and small lines of sweat trickl
ed down his forehead to the white bed sheets. She reached out to him with her mind. The connection to his essence wasn't strong. It had diminished, but she could still sense it through layers of fog. The effort of trying to reach him from far away caused a pain behind her eyes. He wasn't there to meet her.
* * *
"Okay Major Simmons, we're going to ask one more time. Hand over the formulas."
"Thank you for your patience Sergei." The Major sat in front of his computer where updates were streaming across the screen. “We have an agreement then?”
“Yes. Agreed,” the man nodded. The Major stood and left the private office and entered the war room.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, can I have your attention please? Our research department has advised that the latest formula can be released. Transmit instructions now. Distribute stockpiles. Agreements have been made with all countries under the Level Six Proclamation.
* * *
“Ursa, be careful, slow down. You’ve just given a large amount of blood. Don’t do too much too soon,” Em said. “Take it easy and sit. I’ll bring the babies over to you and we can feed them all two at a time.”
“I’m fine. I’ll take your advice though.” She sat on the floor and reached for a baby laying on the floor. She moved the baby up into the curve of her arm. Em passed her a bottle and went back to work making bottles. As Ursa sat with the baby, she could feel the little person’s body taking in the food and feeling better.
“We’ll feed them first and then change them all at once,” Em walked back and settled a baby into her arms. “Do you have children Ursa?” She blinked quickly and looked away. “I’m sorry that might not be a good question.”
“No that’s okay. I don’t have children. I’ve never been good with them and didn’t plan to have any.”
Em smiled slightly. “I think that choice is made for you now.” Ursa looked down at the baby was fast asleep. “You’re doing pretty well.” Em used her free arm to take the baby from Ursa a replaced it with another one and a fresh bottle. Ursa was surprised by Em’s efficiency. She didn’t seem stressed by all the crying. “We’ll continue until the food runs out.” Sandy said.
“And then what?” Ursa asked. “We can’t let them all die.”
“What do you suggest Ursa.” I don’t think we can run to the store and pick up more formula. I think all we can do is keep them full as long as we can and then talk about what to do about them later.”
“What to do about them? What do you mean?” Ursa fumbled slightly with the bottle and the baby wailed for a moment until she readjusted her arm.
“Don’t worry about that dear. Your friend will be okay and you can leave with him soon enough.”
“We can’t leave you here.”
“How are you going to take all of us along with you then?”
“How long can you last here?”
“We have enough for a week.”
“I’ll talk to Mark. We’ll find a way.”
“Babies take a long time to grow up and most of these babies can’t exist outside the hospital.”
* * *
Ursa opened her eyes and realized that two babies were tucked under her arm. They lay with her on the floor of the neo-natal room on a soft blanket. Someone, probably Em, had placed a pillow under her head. In that moment of near wakefulness, she could see out the windshield of a large truck driving across a field. She willed the driver to look next to him and she could see a large man with big amber colored eyes and a small woman in a business suit sitting with her father and another man in the bed of the truck behind them. Dad!? She thought. She wondered if it was a dream. The vision seemed real. She looked at the large hairy hands on the wheel and could feel the strength in them as they gripped the stick shift and moved it up into fourth gear the speedometer read 75 miles per hour.
A deep voice rang in her head. “I know you’re there. Who are you?” She opened her eyes wide now and moved quietly to not wake the babies. She looked across to Em who had fallen asleep as well. The small nurse didn’t look comfortable sitting sideways on the armchair. She’d positioned herself next to the smallest baby on life support.
Ursa disconnected her phone from a charger she’d found at the nurses station and walked back to where Mark and Marshall were in the operating room. Mark was sitting with a baby rocking it gently in the hall. He had a bag of chips open on the bench and offered her some when she sat down.
“No thanks. I’ll head down to the cafeteria in a minute and get something healthy.” Mark continued to eat as she shook her phone at him. “It’s charged,” she smiled slightly. “I’ll try calling Dad again.”
She dialed and let the phone ring until it went to voice mail. “Hi dad,” she said. “It’s Ursa. I’m still alive. We’re in the Yakima Hospital. Please call me.” She pocketed the phone and took the sleeping baby from Mark.
“If he’s working with the government, he might be able to get a helicopter out to us,” Mark said. “Don’t give up hope.” Mark looked sadly at the baby.
Ursa thought she heard something unusual and looked up quickly to look past Marshall and out the window “Do you hear that?” she asked Mark.
“No. What do you hear?” he asked. She walked to the window and looked down to the Walkers and then up into the clouds.
“There!” she said pointing to the horizon. Come, look it’s a helicopter.”
“Oh my god you’re right.”
“How do we let them know we’re here?” She ran across the hall to follow it flying by them.
“We could try the roof. But, Ursa, it’s long gone now.”
“It might come back. Let’s get up there.” She returned the baby to the neo natal ward and they took the stairs up to an external door that read ‘Roof – Authorized Personnel Only’.
“It’s going to be locked Ursa,” Mark said.
“We have to try,” she said. She pushed against the bar and the door popped open easily. When they emerged out into the fresh air, she immediately sensed a dead presence with them. She shut the door quickly and quietly and began looking around.
“What is it?” Mark asked.
“I know why the door’s open. Someone must have come up here and changed.”
“How do you know?”
“I can sense them,” she said. Mark didn’t question her ability and ran back down the stairs.
“Ursa, we’ll need a weapon. Don’t stay out here.” She stepped back inside the stair well. “I’ll be right back.” She listened to the quick steps on the stairs and then heard a faint moaning sound coming from the other side of the door. Mark returned shortly with a metal pole. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s go.”
Before Mark could protest, she took the rod from him as they rush onto the roof. Ursa saw him first, a man in dark blue overalls walking slowly away from them then turned at the sound of the door closing. She ran smoothly and thrust the pole into the back of the face and into his brain. The man stopped with his arm’s up and fell flat backwards onto the tarred roof.
“Nice work,” Mark said. “Are there any more of them around?”
“No. He’s the only one,” she said. “Can you hear it or see it anymore?” she asked looking into the sky. She tried to concentrate on the pilot of the helicopter but couldn’t make any connection. When she focused outside of herself, her mind was drawn back into the large military truck driving down a highway.
EIGHTEEN
“We can’t sit here forever, one of them’s bound to wander by, alert the others and then we’re fucked,” Tod said.
“Okay, agreed. We need to get back to the hospital.” Callum looked back into the street that ran in front of the school. Walkers staggered in front of one of the portables and fell before getting up to carry on in a straight line forward. “We’ll have less of them following us,” Callum said.
The car was parked in the shadow between two portables. Walkers weren’t able to get near enough to the car to look inside giving them a good place to hide. Tod mov
ed his stiff legs, put the car into reverse and slowly drove out to the road. Some Walkers turned and chased after them, but as Tod made little noise getting away they weren’t as many. He brought the car down to a highway that ran parallel with a field and accelerated back toward the hospital.
“Do you know where you’re going?” Callum asked and looked in his mirror to see how many Walkers they were drawing with them. There were surprisingly few and those gave up after a few blocks. Callum relaxed slightly and sat back to look out at the horizon.
“We’re going in the right direction,” Tod said. He pointed up at large blue sign with an ‘H’ on it. “There we go. Hospital up ahead.”
Callum nodded. There were almost no Walkers in the fields out this way.
“Do you think they’re okay?” Callum asked.
“I just saw your sister rip some guy’s head off. They’re fine,” Tod said.
* * *
Kat looked out to the Yakima River over the head of the doctor. Her parents would take this route to visit her grandparents when she was a kid and she remembered counting the birds that floated on the water. Now she couldn’t see any life except an occasional Walker.
“It’s not a busy highway.” Will said.
“That’s lucky for us. Less debris to have to avoid,” Craig said. Kat assumed he was feeling better. He sat up straight and watched the fields go by. They approached the back end of a car the front was stuck in the river. Kat could see movement inside.
“We should stop!” she had to yell to be heard over the engine and she cranked her head around to look at the car they passed.
“No.” Craig said.
“It’s dead!” Scott yelled from the front. “It’s a Walker.”
“How can you tell from here?”
“We don’t need to see it. We can feel it.” Craig yelled.
She sat down and looked out the window. A highway food sign came up on their right. “I never liked McDonald’s!” she yelled. “Even when I was a kid.” She didn’t know why she bothered talking to these men but it made her feel like the world was slightly normal. She looked back toward the trees and counted eight trunks and then another eight.