by Key, Thomas
Back on the diner side of the fence, Rachel was slowly scooting herself up the bars, using her now very impressive upper body strength to do most of the work. It was crazy to me that so much strength was contained in such a small package. We all helped, trying to push her up and over. As she neared the 6-foot mark, our pursuers had finally reached the fence line. She had just reached over and grasped the top railing when she slipped. One of them shot out a hand and grabbed one of her boots. They tugged mercilessly, and she nearly toppled over into their waiting arms. Ken and I could not get near the fence with the zombie arms and faces reaching through the gaps. We watched in absolute terror as she seemed to begin falling back the way she had come. At the last moment, she gripped the fence with her right hand and pulled herself up and over the fence. She let out a scream as her vest caught on one of the spikes. She hit the ground hard and we immediately pulled her limp body away from the hungry horde.
I rolled her over and looked immediately at face. Her eyes were clamped down in what appeared to be an incredible amount of pain. "Are you alright?" I asked as I checked her out. Along the bottom of her vest was a tear in her shirt. A long deep laceration was visible, reaching from near her belly button down to her hip. The fence had definitely been paid its share of blood. I immediately pulled out an extra shirt out of my pack and applied pressure to her wound. I looked up to our guest and Kenneth, "We have got to get her inside somewhere. Help me carry her." Together, the three of us lifted her out of the dirt and towards a nearby house. We didn't go into the first house that we came to, instead we moved across the street to the house opposite to it. If there were any straggling zombies, hopefully they would investigate the first house and give us some warning. Fortunately for us, the front door of this house was unlocked. It seemed to be more rundown than most in this area, but it had bars on the windows. The less entry points that we had to protect, the better. The interior was sparse with old wooden furniture and several crosses hanging around the walls. We brought Rachel in and laid her down onto the living room couch. Ken immediately took up his rifle and began to check out the rest of the house. He quickly went room to room, sweeping right to left. While he was gone, I continued to apply pressure and had the new girl search our packs for first aid supplies. She found some gauze, bandages, scissors, and pain meds. I cursed to myself, seeing her place everything onto an end table. "We don't have what we need," I told Rachel as I saw tears come from her still clamped down eyes. Kenneth had finished clearing the house and had raided what was left of the medicine cabinet. He was rewarded with more pain meds, one pill of Penicillin, and some more gauze and medical tape. I slowly shook my head as I looked at the two-people left standing beside me.
I took a deep breath and looked at the blonde-haired woman. "What's your name?" I asked her, looking directly into her eyes. "Isabel," she replied quietly. "Isabel, do you have a weapon?" Her eyes seemed to drop to the floor and she took a hammer out of her pack. "Just this." I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. I grabbed Rachel's AR and brought it over to the two women. I ejected the magazine and saw that it had six more rounds. I switched it with a full mag and recharged the weapon. I handed it to her. "You are going to stay here with Rachel. She can't walk, and we," pointing at Ken and myself, "Need to stitch her up before we try to get back home." She seemed to backup as if believing she couldn't do it. Unfortunately for her, she didn't have a choice in the matter. I pulled her towards me and we were just inches apart. "We are in this situation because of you. You drew them to our location and you got one of my people hurt. You're going to stay here and watch over her. If I find out you left, or did anything else equally stupid, I will hunt you down and kill you myself. Am I clear?" I asked her with a definite edge to my voice. She slowly nodded, obviously a bit frightened. "Good." I moved away from her. I grabbed my own AR and saw Kenneth do the same. I peered out of the front windows and detected no movement. I walked back to Rachel and whispered into her ear. "I know it hurts. Take the painkillers and the antibiotic. Get some rest now. We will be back soon." She nodded, still with her eyes closed. With that, we left. Our destination was Presbyterian Hospital, which was less than two blocks away. We were heading into ground zero of Albuquerque's outbreak. The lion’s den, the capital of chaos, so on and so forth.
Chapter 8
The hospital was located just off Central Avenue and Interstate 25, towards downtown Albuquerque. It was a set of six-story tall buildings that stretched roughly two blocks south and two to the west. It boasted a flight for life helipad directly in front of the main entrance, on what used to be a carefully manicured grass lawn. With the electricity off, the building seemed like one great big shadow, an epiphany of evil. What was once one of the greatest life-saving hospitals in the state was now just like any other abandoned building around the world. My companion and I were hiding behind a flat grey brick wall directly across the street to the north. "How are we going to get inside?" asked Ken quietly. I looked at him, with what could only be called my thinking face. One hand lightly scratching my not too shabby beard stubble and a million-mile stare. He looked back at me with a raised eyebrow until I finally brought my attention back to him. "When this all started, the hospital was one of the first hot zones. Odds are there are still tons of those bastards in the main entrance and emergency entrance." I thought for another moment. "We're going to have to try a side door or maybe a staff entrance." "And the zombies?" Ken asked with a concerned tone. "We could use a distraction," I said. I looked around slowly, trying to find the so far illusive idea. "I've got one," he said as he pulled an old beat up baseball from his backpack. He, once again, had a big shit eating grin on his face, and I just had to ask. "Where in the holy hell and Satan's donuts did you get a baseball?" He just pointed over his shoulder back the way we had come. "It was upstairs." This apparently was enough of an answer for him, so I just shrugged. "Get down," Ken whispered. I slowly crouched down against the short wall. I heard a muffled sound as he threw the baseball towards the south eastern set of businesses which were opposite the Route 66 diner. We both heard a loud noise as glass shattered along one of the storefronts. As if being physically pulled towards the sound, the entire group converged to investigate. I glanced over and saw Ken with a smirk on his lips. "Home-run," he said. They were all shuffling or even dragging themselves in the opposite direction of our goal. "Let's go," I said to him as we hopped over the wall.
We made it across the street with no more surprises. I never did like surprises, so that was just fine with me. We reached the courtyard directly in front of both main lobby entrances. We could see old blood trails and smeared handprints along both entrance doors. Near the valet station was a map of the hospital on a pedestal. I looked over it and saw no other marked entrances other than fire exits. I figured that that would work though. We headed towards the nearest fire exit. As we left the main courtyard, we heard some loud banging coming from a set of windows on the bottom floor. The outline of two or three ghouls were pounding on the window, staring at us. We quickened our pace, as the noise would probably attract other former patients. Once we reached the corner of the building, we spotted our first door. The fire exit was located right behind the parking garage. I tapped Ken on the shoulder and he took up a position at the corner to watch our backs. The door was shut, but it seemed like it had seen better days. Large dents that seemed to be originating from inside of the building decorated it. With a 'clang,' I inserted my borrowed crowbar into the gap between the door and the frame and had just started to bend it back, successfully cracking the door open when the it flew open, knocking me straight onto my ass. I crawled backwards as quickly as I could as a dozen or so infected rushed out to meet us. I supposed that the little bit of noise I had made was just enough to set off their food radar. Ken was able to help me up as we, once again, were back on the run. Continuing around the building, I saw what looked like a fire department issued ladder along the south western corner of the building. Apparently, there had been a small
blaze on this side during the opening outbreaks. It worked out for us though as the ladder reached about four or five stories tall, with a burnt and broken window near the top of it. I motioned to Kenneth and he nearly jumped up the ladder. Our followers were cold on our tails, and I followed him up quickly, but I felt the ladder start to sway. Ken was in the window and peered down, trying to hold the ladder steady. It shook violently as multiple hands and bodies pressed up against it from the ground. Anyone who has been on a ladder knows the absolute terror that grips your entire body and soul when the damn thing shakes or moves even a fraction of an inch. Sure enough, the ladder began to tip, with me only about halfway up. As Ken lost his grip, the ladder fell sideways, with me holding on for dear life. Call it luck, or God, or what have you, but I was positioned just right for the ladder to smash into a third-floor window with me, not so gracefully, being thrown inside. I rolled several times, feeling glass slice through my arms and coming to rest against a wooden desk, with an 'oomph.' Outside, I could hear the dinner attendees seem to grow even more agitated at losing their meal. As I rolled over onto my back trying to breathe, I looked towards the window. Peering over in the opposite corner, and up two stories was Kenneth, trying to see if I had survived. I slowly picked myself up and limped towards the now destroyed window. I gave him a “thumbs up” and he visibly relaxed. After a moment, he gave me a “thumbs up” and gave hand signals informing me that we would have to rendezvous back at the house after we get out of our respective hospital wings. I nodded, playfully gave him the bird and walked back towards the interior of the room.
The nearly untouched doctor’s office that I arrived in was now a tad bit disorganized, thanks to yours truly. However other than that there was nothing prominent in the room. There was a bookcase lining one wall filled top to bottom with never to be read again medical texts. A fancy wooden desk that I had nearly impregnated on the way in was sitting almost dead center in the room. Certificates and degrees and inspirational posters filled most of the empty wall space. I kid you not, the room even had that poster of the cat hanging from a rope with the word 'Commitment' under it. I decided that the chair in the room was probably the most expensive furnishing I had ever sat in, so I figured, 'fuck it.' I sat down heavily to rest for a moment, and just as my very tired and sore ass touched the seat, the door to the office was pushed open. Two former nurses entered, with one giving me a look like I was sitting in her damn seat. I begrudgingly stood back up and pulled Rachel's crowbar up in a defensive posture. The first one made it to me just a moment later. Her story took a turn for the worst as I clubbed her gracefully against the side of the head, knocking it the fuck out. 'K. O!' I wanted to shout out loud, as any true nerd would. The second nurse was right on the first's heels as she ran straight into me. Once again, I found myself on my back with a zombie trying to eat me. I knew this time though, I'd have no backup. I managed to get the crowbar between our faces, and pushed it into her mouth, holding both ends as I did so. She bit down hard, and I heard the cracking of teeth and even felt some shrapnel raining down on me. It was fairly horrific. I used my knee to push upwards, flinging her up and over me. Unfortunately for the former RN, she took a dive straight out of the shattered window and into the waiting arms of her other friends. I heard her land with a thud. For the hell of it, I pulled the arms of the first nurse and pushed her out as well. I dusted myself off, with some pieces of tooth raining down from my clothes as I did so and headed towards the door. I looked back at the chair longingly, and sincerely contemplating sitting back down. Knowing my luck lately, something worse would come through the door once I did. The door was still standing open and as I peeked out into the hallway, I did not see any other zombies coming. I hoped that this was a good sign. I turned and saw that the room was marked '212.' A number that I might just hate from now on. I slowly made my way down the narrow hallway, peeking into doorways as I came across them. Getting grabbed and pulled into a room was not on my to-do list. The sign towards the other end of the hall said, "Admin" as I approached. I saw signs for the record keeping and I think I saw some kind of call center setup. It was probably for those that got the unenviable job of doing the insurance paperwork.
It appeared that I had stumbled onto a floor that didn't see much, if any, public foot traffic. I knew that I was already in over my head here, but I could not leave empty handed. I had to get some medical supplies for Rachel and nothing else mattered. I found the stairway and began my short trip to the first floor. I figured that the bottom floor, which housed the ER and urgent care would probably have a pharmacy that I could access. I knew that I had to get out of the building, but my way out had to be through one of the main entrances or the fire exit that my groupie friends had previously opened for me. As I reached the ground floor, I went into a true stealth mode. I took a step, and listened for a moment, then took another step. I was crouched down in as comfortable posture as I could be. I crept towards the direction of the main entrance and I came across rooms used for emergency surgery. The previous floor had been heaven compared to this hellish nightmare before me. There was blood, nearly everywhere, as if from a B-rated Hollywood movie. Body bags were strapped onto gurneys on both sides of the hallways. There were slumped over corpses in groups towards the exit door, as if they had all been gunned down. As I neared, it was obvious that they had indeed been shot multiple times. My instincts were telling me that it was time to make like a page and book it, but I would not leave Rachel to bleed out or die of infection because of me.
I heard a loud bang from down the hall, and a shallow moan. I took a deep breath and slowly entered the surgery rooms. I chose the first one that I came to, in case I had to make a quick exit. This room also was no better than the hallway, as it was littered with debris, blood-soaked bandages, surgery equipment, and yes - even more bodies. I stood still and observed my surroundings. I could not afford to use any of the previously used surgery tools, in the chance that they had infected blood. I saw, in one corner, a very large cabinet marked 'instruments.' I had a feeling that there were no violins and guitars in this wing, so I worked my way towards my (hopefully) prize. One of the wooden doors was left slightly ajar which in another stroke of luck, meant that they weren't locked. I opened them fully and saw an assortment of medical tools. I figured, one way or another, we would need these. I began to shove everything that I could into my backpack. As I was just about finished, I heard a small sound. Just enough to perk up my ears so to speak. I turned slowly around and saw nothing moving, looking at each of the bodies in the room. I turned back and finished loading up my pack, finding a drawer with bandages and other brand-new items. I zipped up and took two steps and I slipped on what must have been blood, but I like to imagine it was butter, or maybe chocolate, and landed on top of a decomposing man. I had hit my head on the way down on one of the 'cut me up' tables and took a few moments to shake it off. I saw movement out of the corner of my blurry vision. On the other side of the table was another man, with what appeared to be broken legs. The bastard was crawling towards me, one hand at a time. I tried to stand, gaining little traction on the slippery puddle. The Z slipped as well, landing face first into the slippery whatever it was. It didn't seem to mind though, as it raised its head and looked back at me, before beginning again. I was able to finally grab a handhold and kicked out with my right foot as he neared. My boot landed straight onto his now blood covered face, seeming only to push him away a few inches. If the situation didn't involve the possibility of being eaten alive, it would have been comical. I was able to stand, and I pulled my leg back as if I was about to punt for the Seattle Seahawks and kicked his head hard enough to hear a loud 'snap' as his neck nearly broke in two. I nodded towards him, and whispered a "you're welcome," before hurrying out the door to the surgery, ER exit.
As I rounded the last corner, my body froze in its tracks. Directly in the path of the main exit stood about a dozen zombies. I tried desperately to find a hole that I could get exploit to bypass them with. Nothing
presented itself. I moved to get another vantage point, and as I did, I knocked over a small metal trash can. I mentally kicked my own ass as I glanced up and saw every single zombie head in the room turn and look straight at me. "Damn it!" I yelled out loud as I made a mad dash for the information desk. I saw a rather large window behind them and decided that was my way out. I pulled my sidearm, and fired three, four, five shots into the glass before I went arms first through the large pane window, and out into the dark night.
Chapter 9: Ken
As Kenneth held onto the ladder trying to keep it steady, he saw Shepherd look into his eyes as the it began to tip. It swayed for a moment before falling sideways and depositing Shep into a window on the second floor. The ladder then fell, landing on the heads of several ghouls, crushing their necks or heads. Ken stayed where he was, looking at the window that Shep had entered and waited to see any response from his friend. He let out a deep breath as he witnessed him appear at the window's edge. Ken motioned to him that they would have to separate and meet back up at the house where Rachel was waiting as they were in different hospital wings. A small smile grew on his face when he saw Shepherd give him the finger before he walked back into the room. Ken re-entered the interior of his own room and took a minute to look around. He was dismayed to find that he was in a children's play area. An opened toy box sat in one corner, and the entire floor was covered in one of those children’s rugs with roads and a top down view of a city. Formerly brightly colored painted walls were now dark and foreboding. God...please no. He thought to himself as he slowly opened the door into the hallway on the other side. His fear was truly realized when he saw the 'Pediatrics' sign. For a moment, he considered throwing himself back out the third story window that he had entered through just to avoid this entire wing. He knew however, that he would be seriously injured from the fall and would never be able to outrun the Zs below. It was the only real way he was able to convince himself not do just that. He brought up his pistol, a Sig Sauer, chambered in .45 ACP. He wished that he had a quieter weapon, but no such luck today. As he slowly advanced, he saw that each room that he came upon was empty and he thanked God for that. The feeling of dread began to slip away as he progressed down the hall. The wing had probably been evacuated at the beginning. He came to a room with a door that had been left slightly open. Part of him was telling his body to continue forward, and to stop looking into the rooms. The other part, however, maybe it was curiosity, won out this time. He proceeded to lightly push open the door. It was well lubricated and did not make a sound. He entered the room, and his entire life turned upside down.