by Cenz Barone
Cherie shook her head and answered “Like we stuck together back at that blockade. You have no authority here Nancy” Nancy stepped forward and almost fell down, but Melissa kept her up as Nancy said “You go out there into those woods, you will likely die. You don’t know this area...” Cherie interrupted her and said “I won’t go looking for him. I just want to see if those things are coming, I do not want any more surprises. We need someone out here watching if someone is coming”.
Nancy suspiciously said “Baxter” Baxter sweating and staring around replied without looking at Nancy who kept her eyes on Cherie, said “What is it?”. Nancy said “Do you have the keys to the camper van?” Baxter had confusion strewn on his face as he went into his pockets, fumbling around “Wait. I will find it” stated Baxter as he struggled to locate the keys. Cherie rolled her eyes at Nancy’s and her insinuation as Cherie went towards the driver’s side and took the keys from the ignition, she then tossed them to Baxter who caught them, as he caught them Baxter held them and Cherie was making eye contact with Nancy, Cherie said frustrated at her “You think I would steal the camper van, and leave you all here”. Baxter muttered “Fucking keys, I can’t believe I forgot them”. Nancy now turned around without saying a word to Cherie and said to the rest “Let’s go” and they all went towards the hospital, Nancy was desperate and hoped help could be inside for them.
Cherie watched as the group made their way inside, Elise was the last to go inside, she kept looking back at Cherie and just nodded to her, a sense of kindred regard developing between the two who had been together the longest amongst everyone at this point, and both having lost the other two in their original group of Kenny and Grant. Inside as the electric doors closed behind them, and Baxter was on lead as he said softly “Hello! Is anyone here?” when they entered there was no sign of life at the reception desk, which was quite clean. And there was a waiting room and a very expensive feel to the building, with pictures of random beach views on the wall and yellowish walls with blue curtains and some plants which were plastic that were on the windowsills. All kept their weapons scouting around, and were checking for any threat but they felt quite comfortable with the fact there was no mess, no sign of dead bodies or blood, it was like this entire building had been spared the carnage going on elsewhere.
Elise unable to let go of Nancy’s behaviour outside said “How can you think she would steal the van?” Nancy turned to her, as Melissa struggled to keep her standing up. Nancy answered “Anyone is capable of doing anything right now Elise”. Melissa aggravated by Elise stated “This isn’t the time or place for this Elise” then Melissa noticed Elise arm as she remarked “Your hand is bleeding, does it hurt?” Elise shook her head and answered “It stings but the painkillers are working” sarcastically Laura answered “Lucky for some” because Laura was in pain. Baxter told Melissa “Sit her down” he said to Melissa who held Nancy as Nancy answered “No, we need to find a doctor”. Finding this naive, Laura holding her arm with blood on it and thinking it could have been worse stated “I cannot believe I have been shot, say we don’t find a doctor then what. Do we just wait here?”
Then a man entered the room from the side and said “Can I help you?” it was as if he did not know what was going on and everyone jumped, he noticed they all held weapons as all looked at him. He remarked at the sight of the guns and all pointed in his direction, he was frozen, didn’t know how to respond physically so he said “You are covered in blood” pointing out the obvious to them all, who he noticed looked worse for wear. Nancy now replied “I have been shot and two women here have been shot, we need medical attention”. He looked at Nancy’s leg and saw Laura and Elise with their injuries and he now studied the rest and shook his head, as though not being forthcoming. Nancy pleaded “Help us”. The man shook his head and replied “I am sorry we are closed”. Nancy could not muster her strength to argue because she felt like she was losing consciousness.
“Mister, there is no time to explain but we need your help, are you a doctor?” Melissa said as she placed Nancy onto the seat, Nancy groaned. Melissa stood in front of him as he said “I am a doctor” then Melissa said to him “We have been attacked” the doctor looked at them, seemingly knowing not what they were talking about as he said “You should go to a state hospital, this is a private one. You should also go to the police”. Nancy muttered “I am a fucking policewoman” the doctor looked at her outfit and he could see she was wearing attire which the police wore with the swat design. The doctor then said “You people have to leave” he was eager to get them out of the hospital and was nervous by their presence and the fact they had weapons and looked like they had been in a vicious fight. He was desperately trying to be cool and calm, and his manner was outright odd.
But at this moment Baxter raised his machine gun and this took everyone by surprise as he now lost his cool, he was driven to get help for the women he was with, and he let go of his machine gun which fell down by his side and was held up the rope around his shoulder, then Baxter took a pistol from his side, he went to the doctor and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. Baxter placed him over the desk. Baxter shouted “Do you know what’s going on out there?” he kept the pistol near the doctors left cheek “You will help these women, they have been shot. You will do it or so help me I will shoot you right now!” all the women behind Baxter were shocked at his force on the doctor, the doctor had his hands up and said “Don’t shoot me, please don’t kill me”.
Baxter pressed him further “Will you help them?” the doctor nodded under the threat of the gun as Baxter eased up from the doctor and placed the pistol into his side, near the belt and said to the doctor “Then help them”. All remained disquieted by Baxter and none argued with his approach they just did not foresee him doing it, even though Baxter had proven himself to be the most unpredictable amongst them.
The doctor now asked “Can you people tell me what is happening? You said you were attacked, who attacked you” Melissa finding the doctor obtuse asked “Have you been watching the news?” asked Melissa. Nancy now stated “It is obvious he has not been, put the television on”. The doctor replied “I never watch television when I am here doing research” then Laura told him “It has been going on for days” as the doctor said “I have been doing research up here for almost two weeks”.
Baxter went towards the television which was on the wall above the waiting room chairs and he stood on the chairs underneath the chairs and put it on by the mains on the wall as the television came on, Baxter filtered through the channels, most said no signal while other channels said “Awaiting Emergency Broadcast” the doctor when he saw the emergency broadcast message said quietly to himself “What emergency” he then looked around at the group as Baxter kept flicking through and finally found a channel which hosted the news showing the scenes of mayhem and destruction in three videos to the left which had the news anchor to the right, there was also written text at the bottom of the screen updating the situation. The doctor murmured “What on earth is going on”. The doctor adjusted his glasses and ran his hands through his hair, his slicked black hair.
They all saw as he studied the television, his mouth gawping as he was reading the text passing by and observing the videos of the attackers and scenes highlighting the mess below which were shot from helicopters. Nancy asked him “Now do you believe us”. The doctor turned to them and said after spending almost one minute watching the television “Go down the corridor to room 14. I will join you after I have made a phone call”. “There is no point, all the phones are dead” Baxter pleaded to him after Melissa told him “Please, look at her, she is hurt and needs help” referencing Nancy who was sitting on the chair her eyes struggling to focus. He stared at her and nodded and answered “You have lost a lot of blood, it is a miracle you have not passed out yet” he then said to the group “Let’s go, I will help you. You must hurry”. Melissa and Baxter went to assist Nancy to stand and followed the doctor, as Elise and Laura followed from behin
d.
Chapter 27 - Minor Surgery & Scavenging
50 minutes had passed and the group was in the operating theatre, Nancy lay on the surgery table and she had been given drugs to numb the feeling of the doctor’s prods with the knife. The doctor spoke as the radio played in the backdrop, the group during this time had settled and had been talking to the doctor, informing him and updating him about what was taking place beyond the hospital. It was amazing to them all that he had been shut in when so close were the dead things. Occasionally the doctor stopped working on Nancy’s leg to listen at points to either the radio or what the group were telling him. There inside the operating theatre was a water basin which had plastic cups and the group had been helping themselves to it on occasion.
Baxter, Laura, Melissa and Elise were surrounding the table resting on the chairs overlooking it or standing up against the wall, whatever took their liking. The doctor said “You people are not like my usual audience. It’s usually medical students or my occasional colleague. Here you are though” the doctor was cool under pressure as he worked on her leg and he placed his blooded hands covered in surgical gloves into the tube and brought out the fragment of bullet. He told Nancy “Your leg is not going to be get worse, you’re very fortunate, the bone has remained unscathed but it will heal, you will likely walk on a limp for a bit but as I said you are very fortunate”.
Nancy asked him “Won’t I need a blood transfusion? You said you thought I lost a lot of blood” he shook his head and replied “You have not lost as much blood as I thought you had, you feel faint and uneasy because of the shock and the pain, but you are okay for blood. You just need rest” as Nancy answered “I have not got time to rest” as the doctor remarked “I suppose you don’t, what with everything you have told me”. The doctor now looked at Elise and Laura with their injured arms “Your turn soon ladies”. They all were just lost in their own thoughts, the doctor’s odd cheery manner unusual but the longer they were in his company for, they found him quite eccentric.
The doctor went towards Nancy’s leg and started to bandage it up, she had her trousers lifted right up as far as it could go, even though the doctor insisted on cutting the trousers open and giving her a gown but she did not wish to be complacent with what might happen to them since arriving at the hospital. The doctor finished it up and was humming a tune to himself, which Nancy glanced at him concerning but he kept going as though all they had said he treated with a pleasant indifference. As he finished bandaging her up, he lowered her trouser leg over her leg and then tapped it as he wistfully said “You will be fine Miss. I will get you some tablets to take, its anti-viral but also will help with the pain”. He took off his rubber gloves and made his way towards a sink and was humming to himself.
Baxter with his arms folded was in disbelief at the doctor who treated all they had said with a general coolness, even if shock at points but nothing to give indication he was alarmed, so Baxter asked “How the hell do you know not what is going on, it’s been close to 7 God damn days”. The doctor washed his hands and replied with his back turned “I told you already. I have been doing research up here for over 2 weeks. The hospital itself has been temporary closed for almost one month. I never watch television, listen to the radio and usually disconnect my phone when up here. The joy of being a senior partner of this private place” he turned around to face them all and added with a smirk “Plus the benefits of being married to my work” he then went towards his instruments as he tidied them up and continued narrating “Besides up here, geographically mobile signals and wifi are mostly useless, landlines work though, although the phone landline does not appear to be, the internet has a strong signal for the computer though”.
He now looked at them all and said “It is extraordinary what you say is happening”. Elise asked him “What of your family, have they tried to get in contact with you?” he then laughed and said “As you can tell from my accent I am not from these parts. I am from Johannesburg, my brother is the only family I have and he knows my reclusive ways when I have research to do. It is funny because he always said it would take the end of the world for me to stop researching, stop working. I have no family over here as I said I am not married or in a relationship with anything other than my work”.
”I just cannot believe you have not had any contact with the outside at all, nobody else has tried to get up here seeking help” Baxter said as he probed him further, but again the doctor shook his head and replied “It is so isolated and the closest house is many miles away, the roads are so narrow and rural only those who have a purpose for being here come here. Like I said, this is a private hospital that only the paying privileged use. Our services are booked well in advance and as I said it has been one month since it has closed and is not due to open for another month. So how did you people find it?” all turned to Baxter who brought them here as he said looking at the doctor “I have used this place, a few years ago” as the doctor found this interesting and said “I don’t recall you. I am the chief surgeon here and know all of our clients”.
Baxter disclosed “I used it to see a psychiatrist many years ago” more information shared which allowed them to know how Baxter knew of the place to the group he was as the doctor said “Ah, I see. Doctor Merrygold is the chief psychiatrist, so he deals with the psychological patients, right I see now. But do not worry, even though you pulled a gun on me, you and your friends are able to use us free of charge”. Again the doctor chuckled to himself. Baxter felt self-conscious he disclosed this. The doctor then remarked “I have worked in war zones, seeing guns aren’t anything I have not seen before” was all he said to relay their confusion.
Nancy sat up as she stared at her leg, the doctor now looked to Elise and said “You come here, I will help you now. Come” Elise went over to him and sat down, she was in a daze and had not said anything for a while, she was pale and ashen faced as she sat down and the doctor looked to her face but Elise was robotic, he then said as he studied her arm and looked at her face “Excuse me Miss are you feeling okay, I do not just mean the physical injury but mentally, you seem...” he was interrupted by Elise who told him “I saw my friend murdered, he was eaten by other people who tore him apart in front of me”. The doctor looked at her, studying her as he looked around at the rest of the group and said “Forgive me, it’s just I was concerned something was on your mind and I thought to...” but Elise interrupted him this time and said “Don’t worry about it”. Nervously the doctor said as he tended to Elise “What you just said isn’t like anything I have heard about in any war zones”. Trying to distract him and Elise could feel the doctors hands shake, before he controlled his nerves.
The doctor now looked at them all and they all looked awful and frozen faced with all they had endured so he anxiously said “You people are welcome to stay here as long as you want. It is like I said very remote and has withstood this ordeal for this long with no problems so I am sure it will be safe” he sounded naive Laura thought as she said to the rest of the group “No, we should keep moving”. Nancy also did not think this hospital would last long, even though it had been almost one week since the beginning that it happened as she said “The further into the countryside we get the better, besides will there be enough food here. We don’t know?” and the doctor corrected her and said “Oh I am well stocked here. There is only enough food for a workaholic doctor whose favourite dish is fries and sea shells but we do have food used for patient’s that is in abundance here and frozen right now so you have plenty of food to eat here if you choose to stay”.
Nancy was still feeling very rough and out of sorts, she coughed as she pulled out a pistol from side and placed her feet onto the floor “Doctor” she said as the doctor looked at her and with concern said “No please lie down...” but Nancy interrupted him “I don’t have time doctor. I need to use your computer, it has the internet doesn’t, you just said you think the internet service is fine up here, right” he knew he could not make her remain lying down as
he replied “Yes, I do. The internet for the computer is fine. I have not used it since I was here but the internet connection for that is good, it always is. You can use it of course, it is in the study area, just follow the signs, the password to access is password100. I know the password isn’t very imaginative but it’s simple and easy to remember”. Nancy did not say anything else as she limbed towards her crutches which the doctor had earlier on provided to her and then Nancy said “Elise and Laura it is your turn to have those injuries looked at. We will be moving out soon”.
Nancy left the room hobbling on crutches and Baxter accompanied her, she was still unsteady as she was using the crutches but doing all she could to walk freely, she knew to survive she needed to fight through the pain of her leg injury and get off the crutches and dependence on others as soon as possible. Melissa remained standing there as she looked at Laura and said “Get that arm checked out. I am going to go with Nancy” Melissa then reluctantly left her friend.
As Nancy led the way to the study area with Baxter and Melissa with her, Laura and Elise were tended to by the doctor. Almost 10 minutes had passed and they found the study room and Nancy was sitting by the computer having logged onto the internet, she had typed into the search engine what she was looking for. Melissa asked her “What are you doing?” to which Nancy replied “I have to see where the emergency stations are located, there is a website set up for this crisis, and it has been advertised on the radio and television. Did you not notice?” she looked at Melissa who had not thought of it but Nancy then said “It is for civilians but there is one for military and police working with the internal security forces. I want to see what the progress is”. Nancy typed in the website name, only for the site to appear with the words “We are unable to give service at this present time”.