by Dirk Patton
She wanted to cry for Dog and for the man she loved, but somehow managed to control her emotions. Knowing she would lose it if she didn’t distract herself, she asked Katie to tell her how they’d found her. Happy to have something to worry about other than John and the snowbound road, Katie started talking, telling the story from when John found her in the caverns in Oklahoma.
“Martinez is alive?” Rachel stopped her when she got to the part about reaching Tulsa. “And for that matter, you’re way healthier than you should be.”
“John thinks it may have something to do with either the virus or the vaccine,” Katie said, grimacing as the Jeep bounced hard when it hit a deep hole hidden beneath the snow.
“Maybe,” Rachel said, thinking about it. She had to pause to breathe for John again. “I suppose that’s possible. If Martinez is still alive and actually on her feet, with a bullet still in her, it’s something not normal. Honestly, I didn’t think you would make it either.”
“That would have solved your problems,” Katie said, immediately shaking her head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“That’s OK,” Rachel finally said in a low voice. “I’d feel the same way if I were you.”
It was quiet in the Jeep for a few minutes.
“What was the plan once you found me?” Rachel asked, wanting to change the subject.
“Get to Australia somehow. John has a friend there who offered to take us in. We just don’t know how we’re going to get there. Yet.”
They fell silent as Katie kept pushing through the deep snow. There were a couple of times they lost traction and came to a stop, but she reversed a few yards before nailing the throttle to blast through the deep drift that had halted their progress. Two hours later they reached the narrow track that would become a state highway to the south.
It took nearly two more hours to reach Ketchum, a small ski town they had passed through early that morning. Snow was beginning to fall heavily again, a strong north wind driving it in their direction of travel.
“We’ve been losing altitude the whole time we were driving. Is he any better?” Katie asked, looking in the mirror.
“Not really,” Rachel said. “We need to find some oxygen and if we could find a ventilator that would be ideal. It will create constant, positive pressure with pure O2, which is exactly what his lungs need right now.”
“So we need a hospital?”
“Even an ambulance would probably have what we need,” Rachel said after a moment. “But a hospital definitely will. And we need to find a portable unit that’s battery powered. Plugging in won’t work anymore. By the way, are we going to have a lot of infected in town?”
“There were a few when we came through earlier,” Katie said as they rolled past a sign welcoming them to Ketchum.
“Do you see any now?” Rachel asked.
“Not yet. Can they survive this weather? It’s…” Katie glanced down to check the temperature display on the dash. “Wow, it’s 19 degrees. Got to be like zero with the wind chill.”
“I have no idea. They’re just humans, so without heavy winter gear they shouldn’t be able to survive in this. But I don’t think we should bet our lives on that. I’ve seen them survive a lot of things they shouldn’t have been able to.”
“Noted. OK, hospital. Is he going to be OK?”
“As dangerous as this is if untreated, people recover quickly. As soon as we can get enough O2 going, his lungs will start clearing and he’ll wake up. Tired, weak, probably cranky, but he’ll be fine if we can find what we need. And if you don’t see a hospital an urgent care will do,” Rachel said. “What we really need isn’t going to be at a corner drug store. And don’t forget, if you see an ambulance it should have it too.”
“How’s he doing?” Katie met Rachel’s eyes in the rearview mirror. She had just asked, but the panic and fear over seeing her husband in such a bad state was all she could think about.
“High fever and every breath is rattling and his heart is racing.” Rachel was more worried than she was letting on. She knew how strong John was, and for him to be sick enough to pass out and remain unconscious she was afraid they wouldn’t be able to get it under control in time.
3
The hospital was compact, but modern. It was down a short side road off the main highway that ran through Ketchum, the turn marked by a small, blue sign with a large, white “H” and an arrow printed on it. The face was more than half covered by snow that had stuck to the frozen metal, the deep blue standing out and drawing Katie’s eye as they approached.
Turning into the entrance marked for ambulances, she followed the curving drive, steering around an abandoned police car. There was a large overhang that extended out from the roof of the building and provided shelter for the EMTs to unload their patients. Katie forced the Jeep through the last drift of snow and onto the clear pavement, pulling to a gentle stop.
“What do you think?” Rachel asked as both stared at the glass doors that guarded the dark interior.
“As much as I don’t want to leave him alone, I think we should both go. You know what you’re looking for and someone needs to watch your back. Will he be OK?”
“I think getting what we need is more important at the moment,” Rachel said. “But maybe we should get a gurney and take him inside?”
“No,” Katie finally said after considering the idea. “We can’t clear and secure the whole building. Let’s get what we need and find an empty house.”
They spent a few minutes making sure John would stay propped up in the back seat so his lungs wouldn’t fill with fluid and drown him while they were inside the hospital. They checked on Dog, gave him some water, then Katie locked up the Jeep and slipped the keys in her pocket. She had debated leaving them in the vehicle for John in case they didn’t come back, but Rachel convinced her that if they didn’t come back John wouldn’t be driving away on his own.
The glass doors were two sets on tracks that if the power was on would slide open automatically. Katie inserted the beveled end of the Jeep’s tire iron into the seam where they met and together they pushed on the bar and forced the doors apart. Moving cautiously through the opening they entered the emergency room.
Stench from decaying bodies was heavy in the stale air and the entire area was a shambles. Both women turned on the flashlights mounted to their rifles and scanned the area. Bloated bodies, body parts, splashes of blood that had dried black, overturned furniture and dark equipment greeted them. In every direction glints from brass shell casings winked in the beams of the lights and nearly every surface was pockmarked from gunfire.
“Where?” Katie whispered.
“There,” Rachel pointed at an alcove behind a large workstation.
Cautiously they picked their way across the open space, stepping over bodies and avoiding piles of debris. Both were careful to avoid kicking any of the spent shells, which would tinkle across the hard floor and announce their presence.
They made it across the large area without seeing or hearing anything. Moving closer together, Katie turned to watch behind them while Rachel headed behind the counter and approached the alcove where she’d spotted a locked drug cabinet. As she stepped around the corner she pulled up short, nearly running directly into a large infected male wearing hospital scrubs. He had just been standing there in the shadows.
Rachel involuntarily inhaled sharply in surprise at stumbling across the male and he immediately turned his head in her direction and took a step towards her. She backpedaled and jerked her rifle up, finger pulling the trigger too early and firing a round into his body. The male didn’t even flinch from the impact of the bullet.
He snarled and raised his arms to reach for Rachel and she took another step back, running into a rolling cart full of metal covered patient charts. The cart tipped over and crashed to the floor as she brought the muzzle onto target and fired. The round punched through the male’s forehead and he crumpled to the floor without another sound.
>
Rachel was panting, looking around and meeting Katie’s frightened eyes. The crash of the cart onto the tile floor had been loud, and if there were any more infected in the building they were probably heading in their direction.
“Hurry!” Katie hissed, turning back to scan the wide hall that led from the ER to the depths of the hospital.
Leaping across the infected she’d just killed, Rachel used her flashlight to survey the equipment and the cabinets. Using the tire iron she began forcing doors open, making a lot of noise, but right now speed was more important than stealth.
Once all the cabinets were open she began grabbing IV bags of saline and dumping them into a plastic laundry bag that had been lying on the floor. She followed up with needles, IV tubing, bags of antibiotics and anything else that looked like it might be needed.
Meds collected, Rachel looked around and almost shouted with excitement when she spotted a portable, battery operated, transport ventilator resting on a small cart. She scooped it up with her free arm, added it to the bag then from the bottom rack of the cart grasped a large cylinder of oxygen by the neck.
“We’ve got to move!” Katie said, her suppressed rifle starting to fire a moment later.
Rachel yanked the bag off the floor and lifted the looted medical supplies onto her shoulder. Rushing to join Katie, O2 tank banging against her leg, she looked in the direction the shorter woman was firing and cursed to see over a dozen males shambling down the hall and into the ER.
“Ready,” she said.
Katie turned to lead the way to the exit, stopping when a larger group of males began pouring into the ER through a side entrance that neither of them had noticed. They were close, moving purposely as they’d already locked on to the sound the two women had made.
“Too many,” Katie said, turning back towards the large hall.
Only four of the original group remained, and Katie put all of them down and sprinted deeper into the hospital as the larger group reached the spot where they had been standing.
“Where are we going?” Rachel asked, panting under the weight of her load and glancing over her shoulder at the pursuing infected.
“Don’t know, but there’s got to be another way out of the building,” Katie said as they approached a T intersection.
Both of them were slowing, preparing to check before entering the new hall, when a female charged around the right hand corner and slammed into Rachel. They fell to the floor, the infected screaming inches from Rachel’s face as she tore at her upper body and tried to push her mouth towards her neck.
Katie spun, scooped up the cylinder of oxygen, stepped close and swung it like a baseball bat into the side of the infected’s head. Her skull was crushed and the body collapsed on top of Rachel who shoved it aside and scrambled to her feet. Katie handed her the tank and opened up with her rifle, putting down three males who were uncomfortably close.
“Thanks,” Rachel gasped as they turned and ran in the direction the female had come from.
Katie was in front, Rachel following her lead and hoping she had some idea of where she was headed. The hall was wide with shiny tile on the floor and at the far end, light shone through a set of glass doors that opened to the outside. They both ran faster when multiple screams sounded behind them.
The drum of running feet was growing louder as they approached the doors. The females had stopped screaming as they closed the distance on their prey and were focused on pursuing and catching.
“Keep running,” Katie shouted as she skidded to a halt and turned.
Her rifle was already up but her heart dropped when she saw the number of females bearing down on her. Some wore scrubs, some patient gowns, and they were spread across the width of the hall as they approached.
Rachel’s step faltered when Katie stopped, intending to join the fight. Katie was already firing and putting down targets and Rachel dropped the bag of medical supplies and set the tank down so she could raise her rifle and help.
“Go! Help John!” Katie screamed at her, shifting her aim from heads to legs.
Rachel hesitated for a moment before deciding to ignore the command. Dropping to her knee she began firing, dropping the last female with only a few feet to spare.
A large group of males was approaching at their much slower pace, still far enough away to not present a threat. Yet. The two women leapt to their feet and Rachel scooped up the supplies as they resumed their retreat to the exit.
The hall opened into a large lobby with a ceiling that soared over their heads. This was the main entrance to the hospital and chairs were scattered around the space. Three large openings were in the walls, other corridors that lead to different areas. A round reception desk dominated the space, situated directly between them and the doors. Two females popped up from behind it as they approached at a dead run.
Katie fired, somehow managing to miss both of them. The females leapt onto the surface of the counter and Rachel once again dropped the supplies, the tank ringing loudly when it struck the hard floor. Each of them started firing, and missing because they were so hyped on adrenaline.
Both females zeroed in on Katie and hurtled off the counter, charging to intercept. She skidded to a stop, trying to hold steady on target. Before she could pull the trigger again, one of the females’ head exploded and her body flopped to the ground, tripping her companion. Katie aimed and fired twice in burst mode, destroying first the face then the skull of the remaining infected. She glanced behind to see Rachel with her rifle braced on the side of a support column that held up the high ceiling.
Forcing their way through the set of sliding doors, they struggled through thigh deep snow around the outside of the hospital. The doors had a spring mechanism and closed after they passed through, trapping the males that were still in pursuit. They bunched up against the sturdy glass and began pounding on it in frustration.
4
I woke up thoroughly disoriented. It was mostly dark and I was in a bed with a lot of covers over me. I could tell that much from the weight, but not much more. And something was on my face. A weak, battery powered lantern was on the top of a dresser on the far side of the room and it gave me enough light to see my surroundings. If I had the strength to lift my head and look around.
Feeling the bed move slightly I turned to look next to me. It took a moment for me to recognize Dog, stretched out on top of the covers, his head on a pillow. Several white bandages were wrapped around three of his four legs, but other than that I couldn’t see much else.
The bandages brought it all back. The drive from Oklahoma to Idaho. The fight with the wolf to save Rachel. But what the hell was wrong with me? I remembered starting the climb back to the Jeep with Dog on my shoulders, but after that everything was a little fuzzy. And what the hell was strapped to my face? Reaching up I felt thick, smooth plastic, finally recognizing a large oxygen mask. My first impulse was to pull it off, but enough brain cells were working to warn me that if it was there it was probably helping me.
I turned my head the other way to check over the room, and the first thing that caught my attention was my rifle leaned up against a nightstand. Beyond that, someone was sleeping in a chair. Female, I guessed since long hair had fallen down and covered her face, but that was all I could tell. Trying to speak, I managed a weak croak and she jerked awake and reached up to shove her thick mane on top of her head.
“Hi,” Katie said, smiling. “How are you feeling?”
She stood up and quickly moved to my side. There was more movement from farther away, in the darkest part of the room, and a moment later Rachel stepped up next to Katie and reached for my arm.
“What happened?” I managed to whisper.
“You’ve got altitude sickness,” Rachel said, her long fingers pressing against first my wrist then my neck. “Your lungs started filling up with fluid and your body couldn’t get any oxygen.”
Apparently satisfied with my pulse, she placed one hand on my forehead and slipped the other
under the covers and onto my chest. For the first time I noticed that there were several pillows beneath me, keeping my upper body elevated.
“You’re better,” she said with a smile. “Fever is coming down and your lungs aren’t nearly as bad, but you’ve still got a little fluid in them.”
She reached over my head and I looked up to see a partially empty IV bag hanging from a nail that had been pounded into the wall. Following the tubing with my eyes I could see it disappear beneath the covers and assumed it terminated in my arm. An unfamiliar machine rested on the nightstand, quietly forcing oxygen from a large tank into my mask. The mask covered most of my face, held in place with two thick straps that wrapped around the back of my head.
“Where are we?” I asked, a cough racking my chest as I spoke.
“Ketchum,” Katie said. “We’re squatting in a big, empty ski chalet.”
I took several breaths, trying to inhale deeply as I fought the urge to cough, but I wound up hacking even harder. Rachel slid her arm under my back and raised me slightly, holding me there until the spasms passed. Once I could breathe again Katie released one of the straps and raised the mask, handing me a glass of water. Gulping it down I glanced at Dog on the far side of the bed.
He was still lying down, but had lifted his head to look at me. I reached out and placed my hand on his back, gently rubbing. After a moment he put his head back on the pillow and let out a deep sigh. Katie took the empty glass and put the mask back in place.
“Is there a bathroom in this place?” I asked when the urge to pee suddenly hit me. I didn’t know how much fluid they’d pumped in from the IV, but I needed to get rid of some of it. Fast.
They both helped me up, Katie carrying the IV bag and supporting me as Rachel brought the oxygen tank and whatever the machine was. I was weak as hell and felt like I’d been worked over by Mike Tyson, but at least I was steady enough on my feet to go into the bathroom, close the door and relieve myself without an audience.
