‘I’m a surgeon damn it!’
‘I swear I will fucking-’
They were wrestling with the doors, but a gap must have opened up ahead, as the ambulance surged forwards, turning sharply. There was a second where the EMT looked like he was going to fall over, and out the doors, but he grabbed onto one of the rails hanging from the roof, and managed to haul the doors closed.
‘Let me off at the end of the ambo run, I have my own vehicle.’ I shouted up to the paramedic in the driving seat.
‘No way am I stoppin darlin! Those folks back there will be all over us, and I can’t drive through em, don’t want that on my conscience!’ He called back.
‘Shit! Everything was fine last night.’ I said, shaking my head as we drove towards the parking lot. ‘What happened?’
‘I did not get a chance to ask.’ Emile shrugged. ‘I tried, but then Captain Hale started giving orders.’
‘I heard it was something in quarantine,’ the riot cop said, taking off his helmet with a relieved sigh. He had strong features and a blunted nose that’d been broken once or twice. ‘Some weird patient that Dr Lines had in there, went berserk and the whole ward collapsed before they could stop it.’
‘I don’t know about that,’ Claire said, looking out of the back windows before taking her seat. We’d left the parking lot and were heading back into the outskirts of the city centre.
‘We were getting more and more people showing symptoms outside of the quarantine ward. We started isolating them, but it just kept spreading. No bites, just, person to person…’ she trailed off.
‘It’s not airborne. Is it?’ the last passenger aboard asked, the one who looked civilian, but wasn’t in a gown. ‘How does that even happen?’
How indeed. The only way I could see infection spreading with no bites, no wounds, would be tainted blood getting into someone’s mouth or eyes.
I looked at Emile, just as he turned to me.
We shared a look.
‘Can you let me off yet?’ I shouted up to the driver. ‘We’re far away enough from the hospital that you won’t get anyone hanging off your rear bumper. I can still walk back from here…’
‘Afraid not, miss. Plan was for me to follow that Sydow Sec truck up ahead – it’s our escort through the checkpoints. Got to stick to his ass all the way to the Midlands. If he stops though, I’ll be stopping. Might be you’ll get a chance to hop out before we hit the motorways.’
‘You’ve got to be joking!’
My gut twisted at the thought of being stuck in a confined space with Claire for any length of time.
‘Damn, where are we going?’ the civilian asked.
‘Sydow,’ the EMT in the back replied. ‘Congratulations everyone, you’ve been evacuated.’
Thirteen
‘Well. It’ll be a long way, stuck in the back of here,’ Claire smiled, trying to brighten the place up a bit. She had a nice smile, I had to admit, part of what made her a good fit for paediatrics, I think. ‘Why don’t we all try to get to know one another?’
Her eyes lingered on me for a moment before she continued.
‘I’ll go first. I’m Claire.’
‘Seven bloody hours,’ the riot cop moaned, like he’d only just realised how far away Sydow was, or that he was going to be stuck doing a team-building chat the whole way.
Greenfield was the southernmost major city in northern Voison. Before you got to the Midlands there would be a few little towns and villages, but nothing huge.
Sydow was in the heart of the Midlands, and like Greenfield, it was surrounded by smaller counties and townships. They’d be looking at about six hours on clear roads to reach the outlying villages, but with checkpoints on the roads, who knew what traffic would be like? Sydow Sec might be able to get these people through, but there’d still be a line to even try.
‘I’m Gavin.’ The EMT finally spoke up. ‘My partner, Tucker, will be driving us the first leg.’
‘And you better switch!’ he called into the back.
‘I’m Tony, short for Antoine, my parents were from Alsatia originally,’ the civilian began, speaking quickly, ‘but my friends just call me Tony, you know -’
‘Dave,’ the cop in riot gear said, cutting Tony off before it could turn into a full on ramble. ‘Just Dave.’
I waited a second for the kid with the broken arm to speak up, but he was in a world of his own, probably still processing some grim shit he’d seen at the hospital. I gave him time.
‘I’m Katy, and this is Emile.’ I introduced the pair of us.
‘And we will both be leaving as soon as possible.’ He added.
‘Where’s this “we” coming from?’ I teased.
Honestly, I’d be glad of the company. Emile had proven himself handy in a fight, something I couldn’t claim to be, and if the hospital had fallen, the rest of the city would go next. Sydow Sec had been a bunch of assholes, but they’d been right. What I didn’t get though, was Emile’s stake in staying behind.
‘Seriously though. Why come with me? Why not ride this ambo right through to Sydow? With their soldiers leading the way, you’ll get through the checkpoints. They’ll have need of someone like you there.’
‘And your skills will not also be needed?’ he smirked back. ‘No. A soldier’s life is not mine. I am Policía. In old Rojasin that meant “man of the people”. From what I have seen, and you have told me, I would not do well working in Sydow.’
He seemed to pause for a moment, looking out of the window, before nodding his head. ‘Yes. I will stay here. To help a stranded woman get home, then perhaps see what remains of my precinct. People will need help, and protection. There will be difficult times ahead.’
‘Thanks Emile. I’ll owe you, big.’ I said – and I meant it.
‘You’re both fucking nuts.’ Gavin said, folding his arms.
‘Do you not have a family to go back to?’ I rounded on him, a bright spark of anger flaring up.
‘My wife isn’t stupid. I told her about the virus last week and she went to spend some time with her sister in the country. We made arrangements.’
‘You broke secrecy?’ I frowned.
‘Didn’t everyone?’ Claire asked, her eyes drifting over to Tony, who was sporting a look that wasn’t quite the dawn of comprehension, but it was certainly the early hours of it.
‘What? Of course I didn’t – no!’ I stammered, looking from face to face.
‘Got the ex to take our kids away, up to Kilmister.’ Dave shrugged at me. ‘Not sure if it was the right call, I know Kilmister’s got to have hospitals and whatnot, but they’ve at least got other family there to take care of them.’
‘Was I the only person actually upholding my oaths?’ I asked, my voice raised.
‘From the sounds of it, yeah.’ Tucker chipped in from the front. ‘I told my sons and they’ve been stockpiling food and water, but they ain’t leavin either if it makes you feel any better. They’re smart boys though, so I ain’t worried about em.’
‘Un-fucking-believable.’
‘So, wait…let me get this straight…’ Tony said, hesitant. ‘You all knew about the virus? What it did to people? You knew this was going to happen?’ he pressed, voice growing louder.
‘Calm down Tony,’ Claire tried, ‘we didn’t know what was going to happen, but we did know more about it than we could tell the public…’
‘And why couldn’t you?’ Tony all but shouted, hands flailing in a wild, exasperated gesture. ‘What would have been so wrong about letting people know what was going on? I could have gone to my sister’s, or dug in with my friends! Those things are fucking monsters!’
‘I don’t know if this will help,’ I said, trying to stop this before it got out of hand. ‘But here’s everything we knew. You’ll see it isn’t much more than you.’
I couldn’t reach Tony from my seat, he was at the other end of the ambulance, but the hospital taskphone had a rubberised casing in case he dropped it. I threw it over, open
ed to the ERHR ebooklet.
‘Read that. It’ll get you up to speed.’
‘Thanks,’ he mumbled, before beginning to read.
Claire gave me a nod of thanks as well, our eyes meeting, before awkwardly looking away. Rather than let it just be uncomfortable and move on however, she wanted to smooth it over.
‘So…how is whatshisname? Kelly?’
‘He’s fine. Good. Got a promotion at work a while back. Senior courier. Erm…I don’t know what else to say, really…’
I looked down at my hand, where I’d begun to fidget with the new engagement ring on my index finger. The rest of my jewellery was in my toiletry bag, but I’d kept this one on last night to remind me of what I should be doing, where I should be going. Oh Gods, what the hell was I doing here?
‘Is that a ring…oh my…I’m sorry, I mean, congratulations!’ She tried. ‘Or, am I wrong? Is that an, uhm, you know?’
‘We’re engaged.’ I sniffed, holding back a stupid tear. ‘We’re engaged, and I’m on this stupid ambulance, going in the wrong fucking direction.’
There was a moment of silence in the back as the aura of awkwardness expanded around us. Everyone apart from Tony was suddenly inspecting their feet, although the sickly looking kid had been hanging his head down that way already.
‘I am happy for you, you know.’ Claire said, and there wasn’t a part of me that thought she was insincere. I could apply few negative descriptions to Claire – clingy, soft, tone deaf, but insincere wasn’t one of them.
‘Thank you.’ I said back, meeting her eyes again. This time we managed to hold it long enough for the words to hit home.
Two years it’d taken to rip that bandage off. I’d expected it to sting more. The ambulance turned sharply again as we went over a roundabout, the kid letting out a soft groan of discomfort that seemed to end our little moment.
‘You poor thing, shivering like that. Let me help.’ Claire fussed, unfolding a fleece blanket from one of the cabinets and settling it around the kid’s shoulders, over the space blanket I’d given him earlier. He gave a little mumble of thanks. Those hospital robes must have been thinner than I’d thought, as even with his pyjamas on as well, he was shaking. Maybe the pot on his arm wasn’t his only reason for being in the hospital.
‘How has anyone kept quiet about this?’ Tony asked, eyes still glued to the pamphlet. ‘Opposition parties would have had a field day in parliament if they got a hold of this. Withholding information in the public interest? Senate have a lot to answer for.’
‘I did not think that everyone would keep it quiet either, when I read the briefings. But how has this not, ah, gone viral – on the Wireless I mean?’ Emile asked. ‘No teenage rebel posts it on social media? No chatty spouse at brunch club? Even my fellow officers gossip like old grandmothers when they drink. Nobody overheard them?’
‘I’m not sure drunk cop talk would make VBC News, but you’d think we’d have seen something leaked.’ I shrugged in agreement. ‘Best kept secret in history.’
‘Don’t the VBC manage the Wireless service?’ Dave asked, leaning forward in a vaguely conspiratory fashion. ‘They might have been aware of the situation. Tried to keep a lid on it?’
‘Yeah they did your fucking job for you.’ I shot back at him on reflex. But then it hit me. ‘Sorry. You’re right. You buy your Wireless from the local utility, but VBC maintains all the fibre cable and telecom exchanges. They could have been censoring social media, shutting down leaks, stopping a panic from spreading…’
I trailed off as my thoughts turned darker, and once again found myself turning to Emile.
‘I don’t know if I’m just being paranoid…’ I said to him,
‘We’re not being followed.’ Claire assured me, taking a look out of the rear windows. ‘We really should be though, the rest of them must be delayed.’
‘No, not that kind of paranoid. It’s just…I spent a fair chunk of yesterday working with Dr Lines in the quarantine area. I’m not claiming to be an expert, but I know the virus can’t become airborne – how County just fell like that, it doesn’t make sense. The only way infection can transfer without a bite is by getting infected blood into your body some other way.’
Our driver pulled a sharp turn at speed, determined not to lose the escort, and taking us well beyond reasonable walking distance back to my bike. I felt my stomach lurch a little – and I’m not sure if that was the rocky ride or bike separation syndrome, but the kid with the broken arm was turning green.
‘What do you mean? You think patients have been going around licking infected blood?’ Claire asked, her voice climbing a little higher, incredulous.
‘No…not that. Bear with me a second here because it’ll sound a little crazy. But it’s possible that someone could deliberately infect another, by slipping infected blood into their food or water, or hell, they could have been force-feeding it to them directly.’
The kid vomited on the floor of the ambulance.
Tony reflexively recoiled from the splash zone, but there was only so far you could go. Dave and Claire, sat across and next to the kid, didn’t stand a chance and ended up with splatter on their shoes. She hid her irritation pretty well, but Dave’s face was twisted up in disgust.
‘Aww, come on!’ Gavin groaned, reaching for the blue roll dispenser. As he unbuckled to deal with the mess, roll wadded in hand, I thrust out my arm to grab his shoulder. Something didn’t look right.
‘Don’t touch it!’ I warned, meeting his eyes.
‘Like he’ll I’m sitting here with that for seven hours.’ He scoffed.
‘I’m sorry…’ the kid said, spitting a little more out. Like his vomit, it was mostly red.
‘Just hang on a second…’ I muttered, kicking my brain into gear. I’d not been awake long after all, and I hadn’t had coffee yet.
Sitting in the puddle were only a few chunks of food matter. The rest was just blood. What had we just been talking about?
Emile and I looked at each other again. It was becoming a habit.
This time, his sidearm had appeared in his lap.
‘How long ago? When did it happen?’ I asked the kid, keeping my voice low, calm.
‘I couldn’t stop her…’ the kid muttered, shaking his head. He sniffed hard, and began to take shuddering, deep breaths.
‘What’re you talking about?’ Dave asked, looking from Claire to Gavin. ‘What’re they saying?’
‘Couldn’t fight her…’ the kid started to cry, bottom lip trembling, a small anguished whimper coming from his throat.
‘Oh Gods above…’ Claire gasped, finally getting it. ‘Someone infected you – deliberately infected you…’
‘Wh-who would, how could…?’ Dave started, his brow furrowed.
‘You’re talking rubbish,’ Gavin grunted, finally laying his paper towels over the vomit, ‘nobody would do that.’
‘When did it happen?’ I pressed the kid, still keeping in my bedside manner voice.
‘I dunno…’ he sniffed, his breathing becoming more laboured as he choked back the tears. Pale, green tinged and crying, he looked awful. ‘It’s all blurry, can’t think straight…’
I unbuckled my seat and reached over, putting the back of my hand to his forehead. He was burning up, fully in the grip of fever, more than a little out of it by this point, no doubt.
‘Maybe we should get these blankets off him, he’s on fire.’ I suggested, but before I could even reach for them, the kid was pulling them tighter around himself, rocking gently.
I knew the rough timeline for the standard infection – to be bitten, for the virus to kill you, and reanimation to occur, that wouldn’t take too long. Somewhere between twelve and twenty four hours.
But this kid had been forced to drink tainted blood. Maybe the soldiers in the basement had too. That’s why the timelines didn’t add up – the method of transmission was all wrong. How long did we have until the kid turned?
‘It’s alright.’ I told him. ‘E
verything’s going to be okay.’
Fourteen
We drove on in silence. Claire had moved away from the kid as far as her seatbelt would let her, but was watching him out of the corner of her eye. Dave wasn’t being so subtle, just staring across at him as he hung his head and moaned with every pothole and speed bump.
Tony, it seemed, had decided to keep my taskphone, and was using that newfound knowledge to have some kind of internal struggle. I think I knew which one. He hadn’t sent his family away somewhere safer. Like me, he might have been waiting for a chance to leave before the kid…became a problem.
We had easily left the city centre behind, and I was looking out for familiar roads where I’d be able to walk to mine or Kelly’s place, but the driver wasn’t going through any neighbourhoods I recognised. After a while, the scenery turned a little less residential, housing blocks being replaced with car dealerships, retail parks and warehouses. I knew where I was at least, but it was miles from anywhere useful.
I got out of my seat and leaned into the front. ‘Where the hell are we going?’
‘Still just followin him,’ he drawled, indicating the Sydow Sec ATV a little ways down the dual-carriageway. ‘Plan is, we drive down the emergency lane and up to the checkpoint – that is if no damn fools have blocked it. Then the Sydow guys vouch for us, and we get through. Simple.’
‘Can you not just stop and let me out? I’m not leaving Greenfield.’ I said, feeling a cold dread sink in at the thought of having to find my way home from the other end of the city – or worse, the rural outskirts. I’d be stranded, and that’s a dangerous enough prospect at the best of times.
‘I can’t stop here, like I said, I don’t want to lose the escort. You’re free to hop out when we stop.’
‘I’ll jump out now if you slow down enough?’ I tried.
‘Doors ain’t locked.’ He shrugged.
I looked back at my fellow passengers, seeing Gavin scrubbing with disinfectant spray at where the kid had thrown up.
‘You know that kid’s infected, right?’ I asked, quietly.
The Suburban Dead (Book 2): Emergency Page 12