by Pero, Sara
Chapter 16:
Brad woke up laying on a twin mattress, his body felt sore like he had been run over. He slowly looked around the room, on a bed across the room Brad saw someone laying there, when he tried to stand up to go check on the person he felt dizzy, his legs gave out and he fell to the floor with a thud. Jennifer heard the noise and ran into the room, she saw Brad laying on the floor and rushed over. She helped him get back onto the bed, you just wake up from a coma and now your trying to walk around, what’s wrong with you Brad? You should be resting until you start feeling well enough to start moving around. Brad started trying to remember what happened, Jennifer where is Britney? What do you mean I was in an accident? Jennifer told him what had happened, you fell asleep at the wheel a couple nights ago, we were able to get you out safely before the truck exploded. Britney hasn’t woken up since we had to take her leg, unless we find her blood type Henry says she will die soon. Kyle , Trent and Derrick went to find a hospital they could get some plasma from so Henry could give her a blood transfusion. Brad started to feel his heart break, he had vowed to himself he was going to keep Britney safe but he instead ended up becoming the source of her pain. Henry walked in to check on his patients, Brad I’m so glad you are up and about, Jennifer left the two men to talk while she checked on Britney. Brad was more concerned about Britney then himself, Henry is there anything I can do to help her, I am the reason she’s like that right now. Henry shook his head, until she gets a transfusion there’s no helping her, even after the transfusion is finished I’m still unsure if that will do any good. Brad held out his arm, use my blood to help her. Henry looked at Brad funny, she needs a specific type though. Brad huffed, my blood will work, I have the type that can be used for anyone plus I don’t have any blood borne pathogens. Henry nodded and called Jennifer over, go get that syringe and see if you can find more in my bag, also grab a thin hose and an empty alcohol bottle. Jennifer ran over to Henry’s bag and started digging, she found the supplies and brought them back to Henry. Brad readied himself as Henry and Jennifer set up the supplies to begin the transfusion, once they were ready Henry checked Brads arm for the perfect vein, once he found one Henry prepared the area with alcohol, okay Brad you are going to feel a small poke, soon as the words got out of Henry’s mouth Brad felt the needle pierce his arm. Bright red blood flowed from brads arm into the makeshift transfusion bottle, it made Jennifer think about the old time ones she read about in her college courses. The blood slowly filled the bottle, Brad was getting restless, soon they were able to transfer what they had into Britney. Jennifer thanked Brad for doing what he could, now it’s just a sit and wait game. Henry brought in some soup Tina had put together for everyone, when he handed Brad his bowl Henry started talking, I don’t know if this transfusion will do any good just yet, but with as much blood as you gave up you need to do what you can to keep your strength. I hope that the guys come back soon with extra plasma, cause you really can’t give any more without killing yourself. Brad shook his head, I should be the one laying there like that not Britney. Everything that’s happened to her is my fault, I could have stopped them from killing her brother but I didn’t and now this. Jennifer put her hand on Brad’s shoulder, Kevin death is not your fault, he was already dying. Before your people came to make trouble Kevin had been infected, he would have died regardless if you had stopped your friends or not. The accident wasn’t your fault either, all of us are running on empty, even George had passed out while he was driving. No matter what Jennifer said to try and make him feel better Brad still felt guilty for everything that happened, Henry stepped in, Brad everything that has happened in the past has now been erased, the blood you are giving to Britney is your penance for all that you feel you have or haven’t done. Look at Britney now since you sacrificed a part of yourself to save her, Britney’s color is starting to come back into her cheeks and her breathing isn’t as labored as it was before. George walked in to the room, how’s my sister doing today? George saw the bottle putting blood into Britney’s arm, I thought no body had blood that matched hers? Henry put his arm around Brad, turns out this wonderful man here has the right type. Of course he can only give so much but what he’s given has already made a difference. George knelt down next to Britney and kissed her cheek, he looked up at Brad, thank you for helping. Outside the truck pulled up, Derrick rushed in with a cooler full of blood packs and a transfusion kit. We got all we could find and came back as soon as we could. Henry took the cooler and placed it near Britney’s bed, thank you guys for making the trip, what’s in here should be more then enough to get Britney back on her feet, excuse my pun. Soon as the bottle of the blood Brad had donated was empty Henry hooked up one of the plasma bags, let’s go into the other room and wait, I’ll check on her progress often. They left the room and all huddled into the living room, Derrick introduced the group to the two girls, this is Kate and Marie, we found them in the town huddled in the van where we found the plasma bags. Trent and I offered them shelter and food, it’s no right for two people to go against those rotter’s alone. Marie spoke up, Katie and I would help out as much as we could, we are both nurses and can help with any wounded. Henry liked that idea, he knew it would be a good opportunity for Jennifer to learn more about becoming a nurse. Two days passed, Britney was finally starting to get more color but she was still in a coma. Brad stuck by her side the whole time while Henry and Marie made sure Britney’s leg was healing properly. Kyle made more runs into town with Bruce to try and get supplies and find a radio. Bruce saw an electronics store surrounded by rotter’s, if I can find a way into that shop I can get everything I need to construct a long wave radio and see if there are any survivors out side the area, Kyle got an idea, I’ll drop you off about a half block away from the store, you hop into a car and get the engine going, I’ll ram into a few of those creatures to get their attention. While they are following me you burst into the store and grab what you need, we’ll meet up back at the cottage once I’m done getting what I need from town, sound like a plan? Bruce didn’t like he idea of them splitting up but he couldn’t think of anything better. Alright we will go with that, just be careful and get back to the cottage quickly. Kyle dropped Bruce off near some cars and waited until he got one started before he did his part to get as many rotter’s as he could to move away from the building. Once Bruce got a car running Kyle put the truck into gear, he sped toward the rotter horde slamming into a few of them, Kyle honked and screamed making enough noise to get their attention. As soon as the rotter’s started following him in the truck Bruce drove toward the store, when he got close enough he hit the accelerator and smashed through the window into the electronics store. Bruce jumped out of the car and began grabbing as much stuff as he could carry, he grabbed everything he could find to create a good working long wave radio. Once Bruce got all of the components into the car he grabbed extra batteries and wiring just in case he had miscalculated what he would need. Ruck hopped into the car and backed out of the store, he started to drive back to the cottage when his tire blew, there was glass that had punctured his tire when he backed away from the store, Bruce was stuck unless he could find another car that could get him back to the cottage. Kyle had lost the horde, he figured Bruce should be back to the cottage by now. Kyle had gone through stores gathering supplies for the group, after he pick up what he could Kyle drove around looking for what he had really come to town for. Finally he saw a place that looked like it had the materials he needed, he checked for rotter’s but there were none to be seen. Kyle drove up and stopped the truck, he hopped out of the car and checked the doors, both were locked. Kyle grabbed a rock and threw it toward the door, the glass shattered to the ground. Kyle quickly unlocked the door and went inside for what he needed, he had to get in and out as soon as he could before any rotter’s that heard may have heard the crash to surround him. Kyle grabbed everything he could carry and took off, down the road he saw rotter’s surrounding a car, as he got closer he realized it was the same car Bruce had
driven into the store. The rotter’s were doing everything they could to get inside to where Bruce was, Kyle drove toward the horde and hit as many as he could, Kyle stopped the truck and began shooting rotter’s in the head. The rotter’s started heading toward Kyle giving Bruce a chance to get out of the car. Bruce grabbed his side arm and a machete, he hopped out of the car and began trying to keep Kyle from being bit, Bruce shot a few rotter’s before he ran out of bullets, now he just had his machete, Bruce started slicing away at their heads killing all he could. Back at the cottage Brad was sitting next to Britney crying, no matter how many times everyone told him none of this was his fault Brad still felt guilty for everything that had happened. He sat there holding Britney’s hand telling her how sorry he was for everything, Britney if I could go back in time and fix everything I would do it in a heart beat, I love you and I don’t want to lose you, you’re a strong woman, you have to snap out of this. Suddenly Britney squeezed brads hand as if to say don’t worry I’ll be fine, Brad called for Henry, she moved, she squeezed my hand. Henry checked her vitals, she’s doing a lot better, any day now and she might come out of this coma. George and Jennifer started to smile, their friend was going to make it through. It was starting to get dark, everyone was getting worried about Bruce and Kyle, they should have been back by now. Greg started to gather a couple weapons up so he could go search for them, Veronica stopped him, Greg I’m sure are just running late because of something small, I’m sur they will return soon. Besides I can’t take are of sunshine and Mr. Frisker when they’re both freaking out. Greg laughed and set his weapons down, you’re right Veronica I shouldn’t jump to conclusions, they will be back soon, but if they aren’t here by morning I’m going after them. Greg stayed up petting Mr. Frisker while he watched for the two men, hours went by slowly as he stared out the window hoping to catch a glimpse of the truck. Before he knew it Greg had passed out in the chair, he was jolted awake by the sound of slamming doors. Greg looked out to see Kyle and Bruce walking slowly toward the cottage, they were covered in blood but neither of them seemed injured. Greg opened the door to let them inside, you two look like you came back from a war, what happened out there? Kyle and Bruce were extremely exhausted, can we talk about it in the morning after we get some sleep, Bruce walked over to the couch and flopped on it, he was out as soon as he hit the cushions. Kyle was a bit more energetic although he felt like he could sleep for a week, as soon as we wake up I’ll help you unload the truck, I raided a few good places for supplies we could use while we are here. Kyle sat down on a chair at the kitchen table and laid his head on the cold wood, see you in the morning Greg, Greg sat back in his chair by the window and both men were soon sleeping. The next morning Kyle and Bruce woke up refreshed, George and Greg helped them unload the supplies from the truck into the cottage, Kyle and Bruce had brought back a truck load of food, medical supplies electronics and ammunition to last the group at least a couple months. Bruce got to working on the radio right away while everyone else put away the supplies he and Kyle had picked up. Bruce was happy he had found a battery operated soldering stick for splicing together the small wires and motherboards he was working with, without it he may not have been able to create a working radio. Henry thanked Kyle and Bruce for finding the medical supplies, they were almost out of alcohol and gauze for Britney’s leg and these medical supplies Kyle had found were better for Britney then what they already had. Kyle had Henry follow him to the truck, Kyle reached behind the seat and pulled out a long box, I figured Britney could use these when she gets up and around again, I searched the whole town for these. Inside the box were two brand new crutches, I also ended up getting a lot more useful items from the store you might need. Henry was in heaven looking at all the medical supplies Kyle had brought for him, blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes, thermometers, everything they could use to keep everyone healthy for a long time. Henry hugged Kyle, you have done so much for us, thank you Kyle, you’re an amazing person and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Kyle didn’t know how to react, even at the arena he never was told he was decent. Kyle wanted to redeem himself for everything he had done while he worked with Franz, so many lives he had helped ruin. Before Kyle could say anything Henry was gone. Britney was still in her coma but she was still squeezing Brads hand when he talked to her, Brad stuck by her side not wanting to leave her alone for one minute. A few days had passed by, Bruce was still working on getting the radio fixed, just when he had a small signal the radio shorted out for one reason or another. Bruce worked day and night trying to get the radio to work properly, finally he heard something hat sounded like a broadcast but it was too scratchy to understand. Bruce needed to find a way to boost the signal, with the area being so open if Bruce could find even a television antenna it might boost the signal just enough to get a clearer sound. Bruce checked around the outside of the cottage for an antenna or satellite dish, when he couldn’t find anything on or near the house he decided to try the barn, he figured maybe there was something he could use. Inside the house Yuri and Greg were arguing about wet her or not this place was actually safe, Yuri I know right now things seem like they are good but eventually the rotter horde is going to make their way here, we need to make sure we are ready to leave when that happens. Greg you don’t understand, we haven’t seen a rotter for days, I feel it is in the best interest of the group especially for my nephew if we just stay here and wait it out until those things either die off or are no longer interested in chasing us down to eat. George stepped in, those rotter’s will never stop chasing us to eat our flesh, they’ll continue coming until they are all wiped of the earth, Greg is right Yuri this place is only temporary. Bruce came rushing into the house, I think I found something I can use to boost thus signal, we should have full transmission by tomorrow morning. He saw George Greg and Yuri all looking at each other like they wanted to kill one another, guys I know things have been rough but we don’t need to be turning on one another over whether or not we are safe here, I agree we are safe at the moment but we still need to be on our toes, those rotter’s are getting more in numbers every day and could sneak up at any moment. Now if you will excuse me I have to go boost a signal, maybe get ahold of that Montana group. Bruce walked back into the dining room area to continue his work on the radio, Greg looked at Yuri, Bruce is right you know, we shouldn’t argue over petty stuff like this. Let’s go see if we can help Bruce with the radio, Yuri nodded and both men walked into the dining room. Bruce was hooking up the antenna to the two way radio he had built from the parts he had scavenged from the electronics store, it was a tedious task but he kept to it. Slowly the signal strength was getting stronger, he looked over to Greg and Yuri, could you guys help me move all this stuff to the front deck? I might be able to get a better signal outside. Yuri and Greg helped Bruce move his work station outside and helped him fiddle with the radio for what seemed like hours. Finally Bruce could hear the broadcast, is anyone out there still alive? Please can anyone hear us. Bruce picked up the microphone and tried to answer the person on the other end, survivor on the radio, what is your name and where is your location? The man on the other end answered, oh thank god there are others out there, we thought we were the last survivors in the entire planet. My name is Drew, my friends and I had tried to find refuge in the mountains of Montana, things were going well until the creatures showed up. Bruce listened to Drew talk about the animals that took over their camp, how they not only infected pepper with the rotter infection but a stronger form of rabies as well. Bruce told Drew about their running in with the animals back a few months before, we lost a few people to some of the animals ourselves. Drew told Bruce about a transmission they had heard on the radio from somewhere on the east coast, apparently they think we should all stay far away from the east as we can, there’s a nuclear facility that is on the verge of a melt down. Bruce asked where the transmission had been sent from but the radio cut out. He, Greg and Yuri started trying to get the signal back but the small batteries he had running the
radio had died. Bruce had Greg run in to tell George what he had heard, George came outside, Bruce can u get the radio back online, I want to talk to this Drew person to see if he has any idea where we can all go. Bruce nodded, I’ll work o here until I get this radio working, even if it takes all night. Bruce and Yuri worked through the night into early the next morning, they had rigged the radio to work off a battery they found in an old tractor out in the field. Bruce tried every station until he finally got ahold of someone, this is Bruce, I was talking to a guy named Drew yesterday before my battery had died. The woman on the other end started talking, you’re the group my husband talked about, ill go get him, please stay on the line and don’t go anywhere, it will be a minute. Bruce told Yuri to get George and tell him they had reestablished contact with the group from Montana. Yuri rushed into the cottage, George you must come, Bruce is talking to those people again. George followed Yuri outside onto the deck to talk with the other group, Bruce was talking to Drew when they both walked outside. George took the mic from Bruce, my names George, I hear you are from the group that headed to Montana, what’s the situation over that way? Drew told him about the animals taking over their camp, we had to leave before we were turned into rabid rotter’s as well. Our group has dwindled down to seven from thirty, east seemed to be our only option but there’s nowhere safe. We are hold up in a small town south of your location but the rotter horde is heading our way. I heard a broadcast from further east, a few unmanned nuclear facilities are leaking, possibly about to blow at anytime. George radioed back, is there any way your group could head this way? If we could all get together we would probably have a better chance out there then being split up, we could head further east and try to find a place to be safe from the blast when the facilities decide to blow as soon as our friend wakes up from her coma. Drew agreed, I have your location marked down on our map, we will gather up everything we have here and start to head your way, it may take a day or two for us to get to you. While we are on our way either my wife Kathy or I will keep radio contact. While George was getting details from Drew Brad was inside talking to a still sleeping Britney. Bruce got the radio working Brit, he got ahold of the Montana group. Judging by the sound of things we are all going to meet up here and head further east once you are well. You have to wake up Britney, I know things are grim right now but once we find somewhere safe we can all begin a new life. Britney lay there not moving, she didn’t even squeeze Brad’s hand like she normally would as he talked to her, it was as if she had slipped deeper into the coma again which made Brad worried. Britney you need to fight this, I love you and I can’t imagine going through my life without you by my side, again she was still. Brad called for Henry, don’t know what’s wrong with her, earlier she was responding but now she’s back to what she was in the beginning. Henry checked her vitals, her pulse is slow, it’s like she’s giving up. I’m sorry Brad there’s nothing I can do for her. The balls in her court now, either she’s going to fight for her life or give it all up. I can keep her comfortable but right now that’s all I can do. Brad stayed by Britney side, he was determined to keep talking to her until she woke up. The next morning George and Bruce were talking to Drew, they had ended up running into a small horde along the way causing them to go around the town making the arrival time a bit longer then they expected. Everyone at the cottage was busy gathering things up for their upcoming trip toward the eastern shore, Marie was helping Veronica with Sunshine, the poor child was teething and Veronica wasn’t sure how to ease her pain. Marie had helped her sister with her children before the rotter attack so she tried to help Veronica any way possible. The little girl was a handful but she fit her name perfectly, just one smile from Sunshine made everyone who looked at her have a brighter day, according to Greg, Sunshine was their hope for a beautiful future. Kyle was building a wooden cage for the back end of the truck, he wanted to make sure they had enough room to haul all of their supplies. While he was fitting the wooden planks into the truck his hand got stuck between the board and truck bed, like anyone would do Kyle pulled his hand away from the truck causing his hand to get cut pretty badly. Kathy was walking toward the truck with some water when she saw his hand, she ran up to check to see if he needed stitches. Kathy tore a piece of her shirt off to clean his wound, once she got it cleaned as best she could Kathy established Kyle just needed an antiseptic and it wrapped. I’ll go find some iodine and something to keep the dirt out of your wound, before Kyle could tell Kathy he would be fine she had already headed toward the house. A few minutes later she returned with some gauze and a small brown bottle of iodine, let me see your hand and I’ll fix you up. Kyle reluctantly held out his hand, fine I guess you can work on it but it’s not that bad, I can just wrap it and I should be fine. Kathy laughed as she grabbed his hand, what are you scared of a little medicine. She pour a little bit of iodine Kyles hand, the sting from the medication made Kyle jump. Kathy pulled his hand back toward her and began to blow on the wound. When the sting went away Kathy wrapped his hand with the gauze she brought. Once she had finished Kathy went to the front of the truck to grab the water she had brought earlier, she handed Kyle a glass and hopped onto the tailgate next to him. Do you think we will ever find a place that’s going to be completely safe? Kyle sat down, it’s hard to tell, George says we have an even bigger problem then the rotter’s, something about nuclear explosions. Kathy shuddered, why man ever came up with that weapon I’ll never know, what will we do when it does explode? Kyle shrugged, I guess that’s why we are heading east, George and Greg seem to think there are some kind of bunkers out that way the government built that will protect us all from the explosion. Kathy nodded, I remember my father talking about bunkers like that, he said they built them during the cold war when they were worried Russia was going to start a nuclear war. But aren’t those close to Washington DC? Kyle shrugged, first I’ve ever heard of them, course I never paid attention to politics, to much garbage if you ask me. The two sat outside talking and laughing for hours when Jennifer called them inside. George wants to talk to us all, he says it’s important. Kathy and Kyle stood up and headed toward the house, Kyle do you suppose it’s about the upcoming trip? Kyle just shrugged, only one way to find out, come on let’s get into the house before George sends out the cavalry. Inside George and the rest sat around the table, only person that weren’t there was Brad, he must have still been in the other room with Britney waiting for her to wake up. Jennifer walked to the room to get him, whatever George wanted to talk about must have been pretty important for all of them to be gathered around.