I start to fill my bag with medical supplies and say, “These are the things that we need. Medications, Vaccines, syringes, bandages, and anything like that.”
The guys start to check out every square inch of the nurse’s station and surrounding area.
I find a storage closest that looks to have been ransacked already, but does have some supplies that we need. My bag starts to fill up quickly, but I have some room left for more supplies.
Shaun kicks open an office door and makes a lot of noise as the door slams against the office wall.
Shaun says, “My bad guys. That’s my bad.”
The loud bang from the door attracts several zombies that were in patient rooms. They start to move towards us as we continue our search for medical supplies.
Phil grabs a bottle of medication and hears the group of zombies making their ways towards us.
Phil shouts, “Guys, we got a big group of zombies coming towards us.”
Phil steps back and takes cover behind the nurses’ station. Matt and Shaun come next to Phil and see the approaching zombies.
The guys get their shotguns out, and take aim at the approaching zombies. The zombies look to be a mix of patients, hospital staff, and police officers.
I take out my katana, run towards the zombies and try to attract some of the approaching zombies towards my position.
I shout, “Wait guys, don’t shoot.”
I slash my katana towards a zombie’s head and slice it open. The zombie falls to the ground. Four zombies follow me down the hallway away from the nurses’ station.
The guys see that I’m a safe distance away from them and the approaching zombies.
Phil shouts, “Fire!”
Boom! Boom!
Bang!
Boom!
Zombie heads, blood, limbs, and brains go flying all over the place. The guys take care of the approaching zombies.
They want to shoot at the zombies that are coming towards me, but don’t want to risk hitting me.
I slash a zombie to my left, come across my body and slash another zombie to my right. I see two zombies coming towards me. I kick one of the zombies down with my foot and stab the other zombie in the head with my katana.
I pull the katana out of the zombie’s skull that I just stabbed, shake off the zombie blood, and stab the fallen zombie right between the eyes.
I remove the katana from the zombie’s skull, shake off the blood, and put it back in the hold behind my back. I take a deep breath and am grateful that I made it out of that situation.
I take a step forward, when Phil shouts, “Ry, look out!”
A zombie is coming towards my right shoulder and is about to bite me.
I feel the zombie reaching for my neck and is inches away.
I try to move away, but the zombie is right on top of me.
I feel I’m about to be bit, when suddenly the zombie is ripped away from me and is pulled down to the ground.
I turn towards the zombie and see Odin has the zombie pinned down on the ground and his right forearm in his mouth.
Odin saved me from the zombie.
I reach across my body with my left hand and touch the right side of my neck. No blood, no bite, and no scratches.
I shout, “Odin, down.”
Odin stops attacking the zombie and runs back to TJ with a zombie arm in his mouth.
I take out my katana from its holder and stab into the zombie’s head.
I become paranoid of the bodies lying around the lobby and start to check the bodies for any signs of life. I start to slash and stab the heads of anything that I feel is a threat in the lobby.
I stab a lifeless body that was sitting in a waiting room seat.
Phil shouts, “They are dead bro. It’s safe.”
I stop attacking the bodies, look at Phil, and say, “Just had to make sure. That was too close of a call for me.”
Shaun asks, “You okay bro?”
“Yeah, Odin saved me. Let’s get up to the higher floors. This floor is clear.”
Matt says, “Good. Let’s get moving. Shaun and I will check out the 2nd floor.”
Matt runs towards the stairwell and Shaun follows. Shaun shouts, “Wait up. Don’t go up the stairs yet.”
I watch Shaun and Matt run towards the stairwell and shout, “Pediatrics is on the 2nd floor. We need vaccines and everything you can find.”
Matt kicks open the stairwell door and shouts, “You got it. We will meet you on the second floor.”
Phil comes over to me and asks, “You okay bro? We almost lost ya there.”
I take a deep breath and say, “Yeah. I am okay. That zombie was too close for my liking. Let’s check out the 3rd and 4th floors before we meet up with Shaun and Matt on the 2nd floor.”
Phil and I run over to the stairwell and go up the stairs. We come to the 2nd floor door and keep moving up the stairs to the 3rd floor.
I say to Phil, “Let’s work our way down. Start at 4 and then 3, then 2.”
Phil agrees and we make it to the 4th floor.
Phil opens the 4th floor stairwell door and we both run onto the floor.
Phil and I are shocked at what we see on the 4th floor.
Lights were hanging from the ceiling, bodies are all over the place, blood is all over the floor and walls.
It looks like a battle occurred here. As Phil and I walk towards one of the medical desks, we see several bodies lying on the floor and against the walls.
Phil says, “These are police officers. What happened here?”
The 4th floor is an empty, dimly lit, and an eerily quiet floor. There are tons of dead bodies scattered along the floors, walls, and in the hospital rooms.
Phil and I turn the corner and hear a man coughing as he sits on the floor with his back against the wall. We run over to the man and can’t believe that he is alive.
Phil asks, “Are you okay? It’s going to be okay man. What’s your name?”
The wounded police officer is banged up pretty bad, he is bleeding profusely from a wound in his stomach.
The officer coughs up some blood, tries to catch his breath, and says, “Paul. My name is Paul. I’m not going to make it.”
Phil comforts the man and asks, “What happened here?”
Paul says, “We were called to the hospital on a distress call from a worker. All the units in the area that could come to the hospital where urged to come here and help. My partner Brett and I came to the hospital, and we were met by a lot of our fellow cops.”
Paul struggles to breath, but catches his breath and continues saying, “The hospital was a mad house, people were screaming, people were dying, and the hospital started to fill up with zombies, along with people trying to leave the hospital.”
Phil asks, “Did your partner Brett make it out alive?”
Paul points to the man lying face down in the doorway of a hospital room and says, “No. He is lying over there. He was bit and then shot in the head after he tried to bite another person after he turned.”
I turn to Paul and say, “We have to get you out of here if you want any chance to live.”
Phil and I try to pick up Paul from the hospital floor, but he screams in pain when we try to move him.
Paul says, “Just leave me. I’m not going to make it.”
Phil says, “We have to try to help you Paul. Ryan is a doctor. He might be able to help.”
Paul slides up his left shirt sleeve from his left forearm and reveals a zombie bite.
Paul knows it’s only a matter of time until he turns and he doesn’t want that.
Paul looks at Phil and asks, “Can you please kill me?”
Phil looks at Paul with a sad look.
“I tried to kill myself, but I’m out of bullets. I can’t turn into one of those things. Please just end it for me,” says Paul.
Phil wants to help Paul end his suffering and agrees to kill him.
Phil takes out his knife and says to Paul, “Lean forward Paul.”
Phil removes the knife and Paul’s lifeless body falls to the floor.
Phil says, “Let’s get these supplies and get out of here.”
Phil and I search the floor. We find several useful items on the 4th floor, and make our way to the 3rd floor.
The 3rd floor is much more organized, but has several zombies on it.
As soon as Phil and I enter the floor, we can hear the zombies roaming the floor and trapped in the hospital rooms.
Most of these zombies look to be former patients and hospital staff that were bitten by others that turned into zombies.
Several of the zombies were nurses and doctors that have bites on their necks and arms.
When I see the hospital staff that turned into zombies, I think that easily could have been me. I’m sure the hospital staff was just trying to help these patients before they turned into zombies and were bitten in the process of doing their jobs as medical professionals.
Phil takes out a couple of zombies as I grab supplies from several medical storage closets and cabinets.
My bag is filled and Phil’s is pretty full as well. I look at what we have collected so far and it’s all great supplies that will help us treat the babies and any person who gets sick or injured.
I look at Phil and say, “Let’s get down to the 2nd floor and get the last things we need and get out of here.”
Phil says, “I hope Shaun and Matt are doing okay down there.”
I lead the way to the stairwell and down to the 2nd floor.
We make it to the 2nd floor and find Matt and Shaun struggling to get a vaccine cabinet open.
“Why won’t this damn thing open. I broke the glass!” shouts Matt.
I run over to Matt and say, “Move aside. I got the key for the cabinet. The cabinets are designed to be tamper proof. You could hammer that thing all day and it wouldn’t open.”
I open the cabinet with the key that we got the last time we were at the hospital. Matt and Shaun load up their bags, and we are all set to leave the hospital.
I look at the guys and say, “We got everything we need and more to help Mason and Mia.”
Matt says, “Good, let’s get going.”
Matt runs towards the stairwell and leaves us at the vaccine cabinet.
Matt doesn’t see a body lying on the floor and trips over it. Shaun, Phil, and I bust out laughing and start to walk towards Matt.
A lone zombie comes out of a room and makes his way towards Matt.
Matt does not see the zombie coming towards him until it’s right on top of him.
Matt screams in terror as the zombie lunges towards him.
I take out my martial arts three pronged sai and throw in at the zombie.
The zombie is about to grab Matt when the sai flies into the left temple of the zombie’s head.
The zombie becomes instantly lifeless and falls onto Matt’s right leg.
Matt lets out a huge sigh and says, “Thanks Ry. I thought it was the end for me.”
Shaun grabs the zombie and pulls it off Matt.
I grab my sai out of the zombies’ head and say, “You aren’t a goner just yet.”
Phil helps Matt up off the ground, and we run down the stairs to the hospital emergency room lobby.
The lobby is clear of anything living as we make our way out to the hospital parking lot and towards TJ.
TJ asks, “How did it go in there?”
I say, “Pretty good. We got all the supplies we need. Let’s get going back home.”
TJ says, “No problem. It was pretty quiet out here, but Odin had a good time.”
Odin comes running over to TJ with another zombie arm that he bit off.
“Tell Odin thanks for saving my butt earlier. I owe him one. Please give him an extra treat or something.”
TJ says, “Will do, but he enjoys taking out these walking freaks and bad guys.”
We all get into our vehicles and head home. Back to the neighborhood.
This trip was very successful as we got tons of supplies, vaccines, medications, and equipment.
Mason and Mia should be just fine.
. CHAPTER 9
BABY DADDY DRAMA
“I’m pretty sure this little guy wants his mommy,” says Ann as she is holding Mason.
Nicole walks over to Ann and says, “He must be hungry. I’ll take him.”
“That’s the last one. You did a great job Mia.”
Matt asks, “That’s it? That’s the last vaccination for Mia?”
“Yup. Mason and Mia are all caught up on their vaccinations for now, and they look to be doing great. Those pediatric antibiotics we got from the hospital seem to have done the trick.”
Kylie says, “Great. You guys did great with that hospital run a week ago.”
I look at Matt and ask, “I’ll see you later for weapons training?”
Matt says, “Yeah. I’m hitting that bullseye this time.”
“Okay, great. We shall see about that. I’ll see ya in a couple hours.”
I exit Matt’s house and cross the street to go back to my house.
As I cross the street, I see my dad talking to Buck. Buck and my dad are close in age and seem to bond over similar interests.
I give my dad and Buck a wave and head inside my house.
I walk into my house and close my front door. My house is silent. I look for Lauren and see that she’s in the backyard and tending to the vegetable garden.
“How’s it going back here sweetie?”
Lauren replies, “Pretty good. I think the crops are almost ready to be picked soon. Which is great as our food supply is getting pretty low again.”
“Yeah. We might have to send people out for another food run soon. I really want to get away from runs as quickly as we can, but we just don’t have enough food production yet.”
“It takes time. We are all new at this, but we will figure it out and maximize our crop production. How are the babies doing?” asks Lauren.
“They are doing great. Both are happy and healthy again. I’m glad that we dodged a bullet there by the babies recovering so fast. They must take after Nicole.”
Lauren laughs and says, “Yeah. It’s definitely not after their idiot father.”
I help Lauren tend to the vegetable garden and then we both go inside the house to wash up.
Phil walks over to me and asks, “You coming to weapons practice?”
Lauren interrupts, “Yeah. Ryan and I will be there in a couple minutes.”
Phil smiles and says, “Okay great. Meet me over by Shaun’s house.”
I look over at Lauren and ask, “You are going to weapons practice?”
Lauren says, “Yeah. I’m not going to be Suzy homemaker here. I’ll continue to work on the house and garden, but I need to be able to defend myself as well. Who knows what is waiting for us out there, and down the line.”
I look at Lauren, nod my head, and say, “You are right. What was I thinking? You are always right.”
Lauren says, “Happy wife, happy life.”
“That is true, but honestly it is a good idea for you to learn some skills with knives, guns, and even the compound bow we have.”
“Compound bow, I’m not Rambo!” jokes Lauren.
Lauren and I exit the house with our weapons and we walk over to Shaun’s house. Phil, Matt, Kylie, Shaun, Lisa, Bobby G, and Buck are over there.
We have set up targets on bales of hay to shoot arrows into and practice using knives on.
The targets allow people to use their knives and other weapons in a safe and controlled manner before trying them on zombies or people.
Matt shouts, “Man I almost had it that time.”
Kylie says, “You are close babe. Aim a little lower with the bow.”
Matt pulls back on the compound bow, takes a breath in and releases the arrow.
The arrow hits the middle ring in the target.
Phil says, “Not bad Matt.”
Phil turns towards Lauren and asks, “Do you want to try Lauren?”
Lauren says, “I don’t know. It looks pretty tough. I don’t know if I can.”
Matt jokes, “Probably not Lauren. Not sure you are strong enough.”
Lauren picks up the compound bow from the table, loads an arrow, takes aim at the target, and lets the arrow fly.
The arrow flies straight into the center of the target. Everyone is speechless.
Lauren looks at Matt and asks, “Is that good?”
Matt says, “Beginners luck.”
Lauren replies, “Guess your luck has run out.”
Matt and Lauren have a good laugh and Matt says, “But nice shot though, that might be a new weapon for you.”
Several hours go by and we finish up our weapons practice. During the practice, we were later joined by Carlos, Chris, Jamie, TJ and Odin.
We wrap up practice and start to clean up from the mess that we made.
As Phil is cleaning up a pile of hay, he is approached by TJ who helps Phil clean up.
TJ moves a hay bale next to Shaun’s house. Phil grabs the last bale of hay and places it on top of TJ’s hay bale.
TJ takes his gloves off, looks at Phil and asks, “Phil, what’s up with that girl Nicole? Is she seeing anybody?”
Phil looks at TJ with a look of aggression and says, “It’s complicated.”
TJ can read Phil’s face and tone of voice and says, “Sorry man. I didn’t know. I just didn’t see her with anybody is all.”
Phil tries to hide the fact that he likes Nicole, but can’t help but to show his feelings while talking to TJ.
A car beep is heard outside of the South entrance.
A man starts yelling at Tony who is standing at one of the lookout platforms.
“Sorry man. I don’t know who you are. I can’t just let you in,” says Tony.
The man yells, “Let me in. My wife is inside.”
I run up the platform and stand next to Tony.
I am shocked at who I see in the car.
Phil and TJ run up the other platform, Phil looks at TJ and says, “That’s why it’s complicated.”
The man in the car is Derrick. Nicole’s husband Derrick.
I run down the steps of the lookout platform and open the gate.
Fight 4 Us: (Book 3): Refuge Page 9