by Tim Moon
The hospital air was still and silent. Long hallways stretched into darkness and the only sound he heard was Anuhea entering the building. A thin layer of dust covered the floor, except for where stray leaves had blown in and left tiny trails.
Directly inside the doors was a large atrium with a fountain in the middle. The water was still and murky. It had only been a month or two since the Necrose outbreak. Ben couldn’t keep track of the time, but the place looked more neglected than he had expected.
In the center of the atrium sat an information desk with a hospital map. Neat rows of deserted blue chairs faced a wall with a massive TV screen. The desolate, somber building gave Ben the creeps.
He strode to the information desk and the map, to search for the pharmacy. He carefully leaned over the desk to make sure infected weren’t hiding behind the counter. Satisfied, he turned back to the sign and stood beside Anuhea.
“Here are the ER and the pharmacy,” she said, pointing to two rectangles on the map.
“Let’s hit the pharmacy first and then the ER,” Ben said, tracing the route on the map with his finger.
“I have a bad feeling about this place,” Anuhea said.
“Stay alert then,” he said, trying not to succumb to the same unease that roiled his gut.
Anuhea nodded. She had a determined and focused look.
Ben was glad she was by his side. If it came to a fight, she was his first pick.
Moving like wraiths, they held their rifles ready and scanned for infected. It was like clearing a house back in the neighborhood, but with more space.
Several bodies lay in the hall in various states of decay. Clearly things had gotten bad here. Anuhea pointed out bullet holes in the wall. Dark, dried blood stained the wall and tiles in multiple places.
“Goddamned nightmare fuel,” he muttered.
Anuhea’s expression told him she agreed.
The hospitals in the city would have received many of the early victims, before anyone really knew what was going on. He could imagine the chaos that had erupted when patients had started dying and then coming back to life with a vengeance.
Given the signs of chaos, it wasn’t surprising to find that the pharmacy had been ransacked before their arrival. The glass window where pharmacists would pass medication to patients was smashed. What looked like bullet holes pock-marked the wall and pharmacy door. Chairs were strewn about, some overturned, and the door that led behind the pharmacy counter was open and hanging loose on its hinges.
“Look at that door,” Ben said. “What could have done that?”
“A terrified mob? Anger looters? People that I’m glad are gone,” Anuhea said. She went to the counter and leaned inside, looking both ways. “It’s messy in the back too.”
“I’ll get what I need so we can move on.”
“I want to help so this goes quicker,” she said. “And I can grab some stuff for Charlotte.”
Ben would rather she kept an eye out so they wouldn’t be surprised by infected wandering in on them. She was usually at least as vigilant as he was, often more so. Perhaps it wasn’t a big risk.
Ben felt dumb when he realized that she probably didn’t want to be left alone. Given their experience at the other pharmacy, he could understand. Another set of eyes would make it go quicker.
“Okay, no problem.” He dug in his pocket and handed her the scrap of paper. “This is what we’re looking for. You look for that and I’ll hunt down the insulin.”
“Levo- what?”
“Levothyroxine. Grab anything else you think Charlotte might want. Nothing addictive though.”
“You’re such a good boy,” she said with a snicker.
“Drugs make people sloppy. We can’t afford that kind of destructive self-indulgence.”
Anuhea held her hands up in defense and turned away to start searching the shelves.
Ben strode towards the back where they had the refrigerated items. His stomach dropped when he saw that they had already been looted. The doors were open, glass windows smashed, with bottles and boxes spilled out onto the floor.
The backpacks they had brought were full in the back of the van. Ben began to rummage around for something to carry medicine. All he found were small plastic bags for the few undamaged bottles of insulin left in the refrigerator. It was cold enough inside that he could see his breath, so he hoped it would still be safe to use.
The rattle of pills in bottles and the dull thud of them landing in a container caught Ben’s attention. His job was basically done, so he went to see how Anuhea was doing. When he saw her pulling out bottle after bottle of medication, he shook his head in amazement.
“Do you even know what any of that is?” he asked.
“Uh, yeah. Most of it.”
“Okay, well, try to keep the noise down.”
She gave him a quick nod.
Watching her work, the determination in her eyes cemented Ben’s conviction that he’d done the right thing at the other pharmacy. Those men had threatened his family. That’s what Anuhea and the others were. They were all his family now and he wouldn’t let anyone hurt them.
“I think that’s about everything,” she said, giving him a funny look.
Ben realized he’d been staring and looked away.
“Let’s swing by the ER and then we’re off to BigMart.”
“Sounds good,” she said, tucking the plastic file-folder box under her arm. “I can’t wait to get out of here.”
Ben placed his rifle at the ready and stuck his head out into the hall. Anuhea sneaked up behind him and placed her hand on his arm. He flinched away, but relaxed when he saw her.
“Sorry, natural reaction,” he said.
She covered her mouth and looked at him with wide, golden-brown eyes. “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Wow…” his voice trailed off. Her full lips and straight, dark hair caught him unprepared. And those eyes. He wanted to stare up at them like the night sky.
“No problem,” he said, clearing his throat and trying to play it off. “What’s up?”
“I…” she hesitated.
Ben waited for her.
“I didn’t thank you for helping me.” Anuhea’s eyes dropped to the floor in embarrassment and a light blush glowed on her cheeks. “I don’t know how those bastards caught me off guard. Anyway, I’m glad you were there, that you were the one to rescue me.”
It was strange to see her so vulnerable. His throat felt tight for a second, and he wasn’t sure what to do. Then he reached forward and squeezed her arm. When she didn't look up, he put a finger under her chin and lifted her head to meet his eyes.
“I would hardly say I rescued you,” Ben said. “The way you handled that guy, you could’ve taken them all by yourself.”
“Shut up.”
Ben gave her a Cheshire cat smile. “They had no idea who they were messing with.”
They were quiet for a moment, staring into each other’s eyes. It felt right, comfortable. He nearly leaned over and kissed her.
He cleared his throat. “Um, are you upset that I shot those guys?”
Anuhea shook her head slowly. “It just caught me off guard.” She smiled briefly before moving into the hallway with their loot. “Come on. Let’s go.”
Ben felt an uneasy weight lift from his shoulders as he followed her, rifle at the ready.
After a few minutes, they found the double doors marked Emergency Room in white letters on a red background. The doors were closed, of course, so Ben stepped closer to peek through the small, round windows set at eye level. Ben was about to say, “All clear.” when a zombie slapped a hand against the glass.
Ben flinched back with startled shout. He bumped Anuhea, who also jumped back. The plastic box slipped out of her grasp in slow motion. They reached out to catch it at the same time. The ear shattering smack of the box on the tile floor was an announcement to every infected in hearing distance.
“Sorry,” he said.
/> “Give me a hand.” Anuhea scrambled to pick up the medicine that spilled out.
“Yeah.” Ben stared at the zombie growling at them impotently behind the door. Its hand slapped the door again like a slow drum beat.
“Never mind, I got it,” she said.
The zombie had been a doctor at some point according to the name tag pinned to his blood-stained lab coat.
“Alvin Kendrick, M.D.,” Ben muttered.
“What?” Anuhea appeared beside him and stared at the zombie.
His black, curly hair was trimmed short and neat, just like his mustache. His left ear was missing, and deep scratch marks ran down his neck.
Ben saw more infected behind him shambling towards the noise. They were a mix of patients and hospital staff with a few cops thrown in.
“So much for that plan,” Anuhea said. “Doc Zombie and his pals aren’t worth the risk.”
“Agreed. Let’s go before the dummies accidentally open the doors.”
Doc Zombie kept banging at the door spurring on the others. Ben had no doubt that the door had push-bars on the other side. Infected were dumb but with enough of them pressing against the doors, they might get lucky and bump them open. He let his rifle rest on its sling and put his hands on the doors.
“Get going,” he told Anuhea. “I’ll hold these guys back.”
“Hurry,” she said.
Ben watched the other infected closing in. They began to bump against the doors, clawing and pounding at the barrier. Anuhea took the box and fast-walked back towards the van.
When he figured she had a good lead, Ben let go and backed away from the door. He whipped his rifle up, fearing the doors would pop open at any moment. When they didn’t, he turned and ran after Anuhea.
“Let me take that,” he said. “You’re the better shot.”
He took the box and hefted it onto his shoulder.
“Are we still hitting BigMart?” she asked with a smirk.
The banging against the doors grew louder. They were about halfway to the front doors and the safety of their van. Anuhea’s smirk disappeared, replaced with a stern line. The racket set Ben’s teeth on edge.
Just as Anuhea was reaching out to open the front door, she froze. Ben nearly ran into her. The sudden stop made the box shift forward and he almost dropped it. His gaze followed hers and his stomach dropped.
“Oh, come on,” he snapped quietly. Coming to the hospital suddenly seemed so foolish.
Dozens of infected had wandered into the area. Had the infected heard them drive in? Ben couldn’t be sure their hearing was that good, not unless they had already been close.
The parking lot and driveway had been empty when they arrived. Now there were maybe a hundred infected out there. Maybe more. He counted eight just between them and the van. That was too many to deal with safely. Even if they managed to get past them, they may not be able to drive through the crowd. They had learned before that vehicles didn’t plow through crowds as well as they had assumed.
“Back away slowly,” Anuhea whispered.
Ben backed up half a dozen steps and then retreated to the information desk. Placing the box on the counter, he went around to the far side of the circular desk. Anuhea joined him so they were out of view.
“This is a disaster. Did you see how many were out there? I’d guess a hundred or more.” Ben leaned on the counter and shook his head.
“There has to be another exit around here. A side entrance or backdoor, something.”
“Of course, but we can’t walk home,” Ben said. “Not with so many infected roaming around. What if we run into the herd we ditched out on the road?”
Anuhea leaned on the counter next to him and kept her eyes on the front door. Pounding continued from the ER door echoing like a drumbeat in the distance.
“I agree that we can’t walk. At least, not safely,” she said. “If we find a side entrance we can come around the front of the building and lure them away. We just need enough of them to follow so that we can get to the van and drive away without having to plow through a crowd.”
“Okay, that makes sense,” Ben said, nodding. “I’ll leave the meds here. We can grab the box when we come back for the van. Remind me in case I get stupid.”
“I’ll remind you,” she said with a sarcastic grin.
They searched the hospital map for side entrances and found several on either side of the building. One on each side were doors marked as fire exits. As they talked through their plan, they were startled by a sound that made their skin crawl.
A door swung open and banged loudly against the wall and a chorus of moans that had been muffled were now clear. Ben met Anuhea’s gaze.
“They’re coming,” he said.
15
Zombies barred their access to the emergency room while others blocked their access to the van. The pressure for them to escape became palpable. Ben and Anuhea seemed to draw closer together, huddling in front of the map.
“Let’s go this way, so we don’t have to pass by the ER,” Anuhea said, pointing to the same exit Ben had been eyeing.
“Yeah,” Ben said. “Just let me move the meds first.”
He grabbed the box and rushed to the side of the front door, careful to stay out of sight. Placing the medicine on the floor, he had to freeze in place and wait a few seconds for a pair of infected to stagger out of view before rushing back to Anuhea. Then they hurried towards the exit.
“This way,” she said.
Ben followed, holding his rifle as they jogged. Anuhea did the same. They could still come across more infected. In fact, if the back of the hospital had infected too, they’d be surrounded, which at this point, wouldn’t be a surprise. He didn’t savor the idea of having to fight their way out. Not with so many infected in front.
The darkened halls were cut straight out of a survival horror video game. Dark shadows were interspersed with light at various points in the distance from intersecting hallways and the meager sunlight that windows allowed in. His pulse throbbed in his neck, rushing in his ears as they raced to get to the exit before any infected could corner them.
Anuhea had to slow down once the hall got too dark. Bodies littered the floor in various places. One infected boy still lay strapped to a gurney. His head lifted as they approached. He snapped his teeth at them. Anuhea and Ben edged their way along the way, staying far out of reach.
They entered a pitch-black hall and eventually they realized it was a wrong turn and had to backtrack. A few minutes later, Anuhea pointed to an unlit exit sign. They ran down another long, plain hallway. A body lay on the floor. Ben aimed at it, but it didn’t stir. Anuhea pressed herself close to the opposite wall as they hurried past it.
The normally dull light of a cloudy winter day nearly blinded Ben as they reached the end of the hall. He grabbed Anuhea’s arm, holding her back from rushing outside.
“Let your eyes adjust,” Ben said. He didn’t want to run into unknown terrain half-blind. Infected could be around any corner.
Anuhea pulled her arm free but waited, both catching their breath from the tense scramble.
When his eyes had adjusted, Ben hesitated. “Look.”
He pointed to a sign on the door marking it as an emergency exit. It also said an alarm would sound if they opened it.
Anuhea’s lips tightened into a frown. “Do you think it works with no electricity?”
“I don’t know, but if it goes off, it might actually help us.”
“It’ll attract them for us,” she said.
“Ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Is it clear out there?” he asked. Feeling antsy, he glanced down the hall in the direction they’d come from. Faint growls and moans reached them. No immediate danger though.
Anuhea went to the door, put her hand on the push-bar and opened it. Nothing happened. She glanced back at Ben who shrugged. She opened the door further and stuck her head out. Ben could feel the cool breeze wash over his face.
A few seconds stretched by before she ducked in.
“All clear,” she said.
Ben followed her outside. It was clear just as she’d said. He pushed the door all the way open. It clicked into place and stayed open when he let go.
Just in case we need to run back, he thought.
The air was damp and cold. Perfect weather for snow. A breeze swept through, pushing around a noisy plastic bag. The area was a gap between the building’s wings. On one side was a sidewalk that led straight to the edge of the building and the main driveway. The other side had two large machines behind a chain-link fence and a small parking area. Only two cars remained. The hospital’s blue logo adorned the front door of a sedan and a pickup truck with yellow lights on top.
Anuhea had already moved towards the edge of the building while he looked around. He ran to catch up. The front of the building was to their left while they’d be running the other way.
When they got to the edge of the building, they slowed to a stop. Ben glanced over his shoulder to make sure the ER zombies hadn’t followed. Adrenalin coursed through his body. In a few minutes, they’d have a hundred zombies on their ass.
Anuhea looked around the corner. Ben stuck his head out too and saw a few zombies in the parking lot.
“We should go closer to the front to get their attention,” he said.
“Yeah,” she said, pushing away from the wall and walking down the driveway with her rifle raised.
A lone zombie stumbled around a corner just fifty feet away. Anuhea stopped. Ben heard her release a breath and then she shot. The round hit the zombie in the chest knocking it back a step. She squeezed off another round and this time the zombie fell backwards.
The undead mob came to life with a chorus of groans.
“Sounds like that worked,” Ben said, deadpan.
Anuhea ran forward and waved her arms, holding her rifle in one hand. “Hey, over here. Come and get us you bastards!”
Six more infected stomped towards them. Ben looked at the opened exit door again, but there was still no sign of the others. Their escape route was clear too.