by Thomas Baker
Patiently she continued to crouch down behind the wet bar counter. Footsteps rapidly approached. Two figures appeared with Childs in between them. His head hung limply, and it looked like blood was running down the side of his face. Hannah shot both men in the back of the knees after they passed her position. They collapsed and Childs fell too. They all landed in a big heap.
Another figure whipped around the opposite corner of the bar. It startled Hannah and fell backwards. Her rifle fell between her legs and bounced away. She reached for it but the man kicked it away. It went skittering out of reach. The man yanked on a chain he was carrying. A body attached to the end flew around the corner and thumped into the wall. Hannah scooted on her butt in horror. It was Childs' zombie kid. They must have picked it up before she had woken up.
It had what looked like a collar around its neck. It snarled mutely, pulling at what was holding it back with its dead hands. The stench of death caused Hannah's stomach to flip-flop.
"Girl, you shouldn't have gotten involved," the man said, towering over her, letting out the slack on the detained zombie. "Roy told us about Childs locking up this diseased thing. I thought it might come in handy. Looks like I was right."
The man dropped the chain. He picked up Childs by putting an arm over his shoulder and half dragged him out. Hannah went still. The other three men she shot earlier were still thrashing around, hollering.
"Gerard, you can't leave us," one was screaming out the open door.
The zombie turned from Hannah to the commotion the men were making. It scrambled over. The men saw it and tried to crawl away. It grabbed at the leg of the closest person to it and bit into his calf.
Hannah used this opportunity to get up and sprint for her rifle. She got it, ejected the spent casings, and loaded fresh bullets. Her hands were shaking, and she almost dropped them. You have plenty of time. The zombies got loads of fresh meat.
It was a sickening thought she pushed aside. Then she allowed herself to slow down. Ready to go again, she calmly walked back into the living room area. She aimed and fired, taking down the zombie in the back of the head while it chewed on raw human flesh. The man the zombie had ripped it from was quiet. Hannah guessed he must have passed out from the pain and shock. Good for her, it made what she had to do easier. She put a bullet into his brain too.
She went out the door and down the stairs two at a time. She moved her head from side to side as she went, blinking rapidly. The light in Child's suite had ruined her night vision. Outside, she tried to pick out what tracks in the snow could be the man who took Childs. Gerard they had called him.
All she saw were footprints heading towards the casino. Then she thought maybe Gerard was stepping in the same prints, going back the same way he came. The man was clever enough to get in and make it this far without anyone knowing. If it wasn't for the fortunate wake up call from the dogs, no one would even know the doctor was missing until the morning.
She went back the way she came. Her night eyes hadn't returned enough to tell if the prints were only going one way but she couldn't think of what else to do. She had gone about two blocks before she saw what looked like a drag mark in the snow next to some random footprints. That had to be Gerard with the doctor, a struggle perhaps.
She went a little faster now, turning left and then right. Some people were stumbling out of their homes. She could hear whispered conversations as people wondered what was going on. More dogs were barking in the distance. It was normally so quiet at night they probably heard the commotion. She ignored them all. She was close to the front gate now. She turned the next corner and could see the torchlights burning by the wide-open gate. Someone's dead body lay in the snow to her right. Gerard was just about outside.
"Stop!" Hannah shouted, dropping to one knee and bringing her rifle up.
Gerard didn't even hesitate. He kept right on going. Hannah fired a warning shot. She was afraid of hitting Dr. Childs. The shot splintered some wood from the wall over Gerard's head. That caused him to stop and turn. Hannah hoped this commotion would bring someone else to help her.
"You might be good at picking off slow stupid zombies, girl, but I will be a lot tougher," Gerard snarled. In his anger his British accent was even thicker. "I'm leaving with the doctor and you will let me if you still want your life."
"I've got the drop on you. I could blow your head off before you even knew I pulled the trigger."
"Then do it already. Unless you are not as good as you claim to be. Unless you are worried about hitting the doctor here. I'm done here."
Gerard walked backwards, the feet of the doctor dragging in the snow beside him. He reached to his waist with his free hand and pulled a gun. He was just about at the gate. Once he was on the other side who knew what would happen. He could have a whole group of people out there.
"What's going on Hannah," a voice slurring his words came from behind her.
"Shit," Hannah said, putting light pressure on her trigger. She didn't dare turn, even though it sounded like JT.
"Answer me Hannah." JT crossed in front of her.
Gerard lazily raised up his arm and fired a few shots. Hannah swore and bounded up, knocking the still clueless JT down into the snow. She rolled off his prone body, searching to get Gerard back into her sights.
Something blurred past her and pounced at Gerard. Gerard dropped the doctor in the snow and ran. A dog landed mere inches from Gerard, barking and growling furiously.
Hannah took a shot and missed. Cursing she ran to the gate. She flung herself back behind the barrier when she saw Gerard had stopped with his gun pointed right at her. He fired again. Wood chipped around her, the metal sang with ricochets. Her anger rose, the anger of all that had happened to her backed this new anger. It grew into a rage she had never felt before. Hannah flung herself around the gate when the hail of bullets stopped. She hit the snow hard, puffs of whiteness erupted around her. She rolled, got up, and hauled it to the nearest tree. Making herself flat against it, she peered around the tree. She could see Gerard dimly, the husky dog chasing him.
Gerard paused to line up a shot on the dog. Hannah tracked him and pulled the trigger. She felt a rush of excitement as she saw the figure in her scope fall down. She pumped her rifle in the air with one hand.
She ran across the white field to Gerard. The dog was pulling and tearing at his pants. A whistle, sharp and high, came from behind Hannah. The dog perked up its ears and ran back.
Hannah looked the prone figure over. He was lying on his stomach, his back to her. She rolled him over and saw the spreading stain on his chest making his black, skin tight shirt even darker.
People were rushing out to her. Many with lights. One was Lindsay, her husky dog bounding along beside her. A piece of fabric still hung from its mouth. JT was behind Lindsay. She didn't want to think what that might imply. A big, wooly man looked down at Childs and then grabbed hold of Hannah's shoulders.
"What the hell is going on here?" he demanded while some other people lifted Dr. Childs up by his arms and legs and carried him away.
"Something woke me up. I followed the sounds and found this guy along with his friends back at the casino, trying to kidnap Childs. I stopped them." Hannah slung her rifle over her shoulder, a satisfied grin on her face. She had done good work.
"Henry," a towns person called out. "I think you better come over here." They sounded very disturbed.
Henry went over to the body lying face down by the gate. Hannah followed him back. The body slumped to one side and some dark stain was smeared against the wall behind it. The person raised the corpse's head and Hannah could see it was Roy. Henry could too. He dropped to his knees and put his dead son's head in his hands.
"Roy, Roy," Henry's voice wavered. "You...I...it can't..."
Henry sprung up and grabbed Hannah again, a little more violently this time.
"What happened," Henry said, getting right into her face. "Did you do this? Why is my son fucking dead?"
JT tackl
ed Henry before Hannah could reply. JT and Henry tussled on the ground, rolling in the snow. JT gained some leverage and was striking Henry as best he could. Hannah noticed red splotches here and there where the two landed. There was also a trail of red a few feet back.
"All right, all right let's break this up!" Gus was shouting, coming over to the two men.
JT stood up and Hannah could see the top of his shirt was soaked with blood. She rushed over to him. "My God! JT, what happened to you?"
"What do you mean what happenedto me?" JT swayed on his feet. He didn't look to be all there. "Henry didn't even land a blow, did he?"
"JT, buddy. It looks like you've been shot!" Gus said, joining them. "I'll go get Linda." Gus took off.
"Huzza," was JT's reply, then he sat down hard in the snow.
Hannah knelt down beside him. "Shouldn't we be doing something, like applying pressure to the wound?"
Josh and Lindsay both came over and helped Hannah get him to his feet. JT felt like dead weight, wasn't able to stand.
"Let's just get him to the clinic," Josh said.
The people who had gathered all around in a semi-circle opened up to let them through.
"Don't all you dipshits just stand there," Lindsay scolded as she past. "Go help Steve and Henry."
"Steve," JT was saying, like it was the funniest word he had ever heard. "Doc Childs first name isSteve. Ha. Now, why is my shoulder hurting again?"
Linda met them on the way. Together they guided JT to the clinic. They got him onto a bed. The three stayed with JT as Linda worked on him. Hannah was praying it wasn't worse than it looked. Linda cut off his shirt. There was a small hole pumping out blood in weak spurts in his left shoulder area.
"There's a bigger exit wound on the back," Linda said after examining him.
She bandaged him up and put a blanket over him.
"It looks like he got lucky. The bullet passed clean through, and it hit nothing vital. We'll have Childs look at him when he can."
Just then some people carried in Dr. Childs. Linda directed them to put him on the bed next to JT. She examined him.
"Looks like a blow to the head. Knocked him unconscious. I don't think JT is in any immediate danger, I've stopped the bleeding, so we'll let Childs rest until he wakes up on his own."
"Is it sleepy time, Linda? My arm still feels funny." JT still sounded out of it.
"I'll give JT some pain medication, watch his vitals, and give him some fluids. That man was firing at you too Hannah, you need me to check you out?"
Gus looked to Hannah. "That's probably a good idea darlin'."
"No, I'm good. I'll just run and get a pillow and blanket. I'll be staying the night here." She was shocked how suddenly concerned she was about JT. Like the thought of losing him clenched her throat shut. At the moment she couldn't even remember why they hadn't been talking to each other.
Linda took Hannah's hand. "He will be fine, Hannah. After all that just happened, you need rest."
"I know he will," Hannah said, smiling and truly believing it. "I'm staying here tonight, the end."
Dr. Childs awoke first, before the morning light. He complained of grogginess and being lightheaded. Hannah watched Linda help him to a sitting position and check his vitals. After finishing, Linda filled Childs in on what had happened to him and the other events of the night before.
"The last thing I remember is hearing some noise downstairs and then tremendous pain. My arm aches, too." Childs said.
"That's where one of them were dragging you along," Hannah said, from across the room.
She was sitting and holding JT's hand. She had spent the night watching the rise and fall of his chest. She didn't sleep, as every time she closed her eyes she pictured he had stopped breathing and would jerk awake.
Childs rotated his arm around and flexed it a few times. He winced with each movement. "Seems I owe you an apology Hannah. I thought thatdumbass was all bark, no balls. Henry and I will have to have a serious talk about what to do about punishing the idiot-"
"Doctor, you may want totake a moment to think. Think about what you're saying," Linda tried to interrupt.
"Childs, you shut your mouth about my boy," Henry hollered from across the room. He was standing next to a table where a body laid with a white sheet over it.
"Henry. I didn't know you were already here? Roy got hurt to? Serves him right. Kidnapping, what-"
Henry came flying across the room. He grabbed up Childs by his shirt and flung him to the floor. Linda tried to intervene but was pushed to the side by Henry. She glanced off of the bed JT was lying in. Hannah sprung up.
"STOP!" she yelled, putting all the weight of command into her voice she could.
Henry reared back his leg, ready to give the prone Dr. Childs a boot full of his anger. Hannah rushed over, trying to get between the two men.
"What in the holy hell of horseshoes and hand grenades is going on in here?" Gus yelled, storming into the room.
Henry turned for just a second, distracted, giving Hannah enough time to close the distance, push hard, and dump Henry on his ass. The two men looked almost comical on the floor, with Hannah standing over them.
Linda was rubbing her hip. Gus hurried over to her. "If they hurt you, I can go get my gun and blow them away."
"No, no. Don't think there is a need for that..." Linda gave the two men, who were getting to their feet, a stern look. Like a teacher to misbehaving students. "Yet."
"Let's try to act civilized here," Hannah said, escorting Henry back across the room.
"Childs, the figure under the sheet. That's Roy. He's dead." Linda put a hand on Dr. Child's shoulder, gently forcing him to sit back down.
"I think the attackers killed him, after Roy let them in," Hannah said.
Childs blinked a few times before sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Geez Henry. Sorry. That's tough. I'm not responsible for killing him. You gotta see that."
How lame and weak that consolation sounded to Hannah. She carefully watched Henry. His mouth twitched, his shoulder scrunched up. He looked like a dormant volcano now suddenly ready to blow. He stood.
"Shove your apology up your ass. I'll be back." Henry left, taking most of the tension in the room with him.
Childs sat staring at the white sheet for a long while. "Roy, that son of a bitch. Anything else I should know before I go spouting off about anyone else?"
"I killed all the attackers, along with your zombie pet. They freed it and sicked it on me like an attack dog. Your guards, Bobby and Joe, are also dead. They almost killed JT."
Hannah was back at JT's side now. All the noise must have woken him. She smiled down at him and he smiled back. Linda must have given him some pain pills, his eyes looked clearer.
"He has a gunshot wound," Linda said. "If you are feeling up to it doctor, can you take alook?"
"Oh yeah? JT took a bullet? Let me have a look at him." With an effort Childs tore his eyes away from Roy's dead body. He held his hand up to his head for a few moments, rose, and came over to JT.
"Is it my birthday?" JT said looking around. Hannah, Linda, Gus and Dr. Childs were now standing around him.
"Hey bud, I know I'm your hero," Gus said. "But you don't have to do everything I do." He patted at his belly where he had been stabbed.
"I can't let you take all the glory, Gus," JT smiled weakly. "Except I wasn't doing anything heroic when I got hurt. I don't exactly remember what happened. They blitzed me. I can remember"
"JT, you big dum dum," Hannah said, not cruelly. "I told you to stay inside. The kidnapper, Gerard was his name, was trying to shoot me. If it makes you feel better, you can pretend you took a bullet for me."
"Just call me Kevin Costner and I'll call you Whitney." He weakly joked.
Childs examined him while they were talking. "Wound looks good. Strong pulse. Nice blood pressure. It's too bad we can't give you a blood transfusion but I don't think it will hinder your recovery much. If we keep this clear of infection, you
will heal in no time. Except for a scar you won't even know you were shot. Let me just sew up your wound."
"That's great," JT said, then closed his eyes. "It doesn't hurta bit. I'm just tired."
Childs turned to Linda as he finished up JT's sutures. "Linda, I gotta say, the wound looks well taken care of." He seemed to struggle with the next part. "Hannah, Linda, you are both good additions to my team. I need to ask a favor of you Linda. Can you to watch over things here so I can go address the town? I'm sure everyone's freaked out. I'm sure as fuck am."
"Sure thing, everyone out," Linda said, waving her arms to shoo them out. "You too doctor, you need restas well. I believe you were spared a concussion. Normally I wouldn't recommend self diagnosis but who are you going to go see."
Childs actuallychuckled. "You gotta a point there Linda. I feel good enough. Just a little sore."
"Gus, I'll be home later. Make sure some coffee is ready, I'll need it."
"Sure thing sweet cheeks." Gus gave her a peck on the lips.
Hannah looked down at JT. "Don't do another stupid thing, like try to get out of here before you are ready. I know how you push yourself." She gave his hand a squeeze before turning.
"Hannah," JT called out. She turned back around. "I just wanted to tell you, good job out there. You don't need me to protect you anymore." With that JT closed his eyes.
They all went out front together. Before they left, Hannah stopped Childs.
"It was just dumb luck I woke up when I did and checked things out, instead of rolling over and going back to sleep."
"I've already thanked you." Childs was blandly dismissive.
"I don't want your thanks, jerk. I just want you to listen," Hannah gave Childs a penetrating stare. "Once this group finds out Gerard is dead, the rest may come back. This time to take you and kill the rest of us."
"Why would they do something stupid like that?" Dr. Childs kept on talking to her like she was a dumb kid. It was infuriating her.
