The Early Days Trilogy: The Necrose Series Books 1-3

by Tim Moon

  “What’s wrong?” Anuhea asked.

  “Nothing. I just want to look.”

  He got out and stepped onto the sidewalk to look south. Hundreds of cars crammed the wide interstate. Vehicle pileups littered the freeway and he even saw a truck that had tried to bypass the traffic jam by driving on the shoulder incline. It had not worked out. The truck was on its side, having rolled and gouging out dirt on the sloped shoulder. Like a dead spider, it lay wheels up in the ditch.

  From his vantage point, Ben couldn’t see Portland. A dark haze lingered from the smoldering fires ignited by the bomb blast. The first couple of nights following the explosion, they had seen the night sky glowing orange from the firestorm.

  Anuhea joined him at the railing and together they looked out at the cars and bodies clogging the highway. Several emergency services vehicles were trapped in the gridlock. The rear doors were open on one of them and an empty gurney hung halfway out.

  “I can’t believe how quiet it is,” Ben said.

  “How long have you lived here?”

  “All my life other than college,” he said. “Seeing all this destruction makes my stomach hurt. I guess that’s how you felt in Kona, huh?”

  “Something like that,” she said softly. “How many people lived here?”

  “Hmm…a hundred or hundred and fifty thousand people. That’s not counting anyone over there in Oregon.” He gestured south towards Portland. “I can’t even imagine how many died.”

  “The infection came quickly. Being trapped down there certainly didn’t help anyone’s chance of survival.” She sighed. “I hate to say it, but I’m glad we weren’t here when it happened.”

  “I thought the same thing,” Ben said, and a twinge of guilt pulled at his heart. He watched her looking out over the vehicles. “I mean we’ve hardly seen any survivors. It must have been horrible.”

  Anuhea leaned forward, squinting into the distance. Ben’s brow furrowed. She pointed without a word.

  Ben followed the direction of her arm and spotted a small group of infected, maybe a dozen of them, stumbling along, prowling the abandoned vehicles. Anuhea raised her rifle to peer through the scope. It wasn’t a high-powered scope like on a hunting rifle, but it did magnify the view a little.

  “Anything interesting?” he asked.

  “Not really.”

  Ben looked both ways down Mill Plain to make sure nothing was sneaking up on them. The road was still clear.

  “Are the infected chasing someone or just wandering?” he asked.

  “I don’t see anyone.”

  Ben sighed and turned around, leaning back against the low railing.

  “Well, that’s the BigMart we’ll hit on the way back,” he said, pointing across the road and off to his left. Even from there, he could tell that the parking lot was a mess. When they returned from the hospital, they would have to be careful crossing through that maze of death. “This shit is depressing. You ready to go?”

  “Yeah.” Anuhea slung her rifle over her shoulder. “How much farther to the hospital?”

  “We’re almost there.”

  78

  The tall, white hospital building stood proudly, flanked by a collection of shorter buildings. It was a handsome structure that appeared as a beacon of hope in these dark times. Except that it appeared to be as abandoned as the rest of the city.

  From the street, they scanned the parking lot and buildings for signs of trouble. Anuhea rolled down her window and stuck the rifle out so she could use the sight to get a slightly better view.

  “All clear,” she said.

  The sky was overcast, threatening rain, or possibly snow, as they pulled into the parking lot. It would be extra dark once they got inside the building, so he brought the flashlight he had found on the guys back at the pharmacy.

  His sweaty palms betrayed his nervousness. He wasn’t familiar with the hospital and there was no telling how many infected were lurking inside. The place could be packed with dead.

  Over by the emergency room entrance, a car was smashed into a pillar. Ben pulled to a stop in front of the main doors and looked around. Both of the main glass doors were shattered.

  “See any infected?” Ben asked.

  “No. It looks clear. Are you ready?”

  “Let’s do it.” He turned off the engine and climbed out.

  They hurried towards the front doors. Darkness filled the hospital, giving it an ominous feeling. Every place was a potential death trap. This long after the outbreak, he hoped the zombies had wandered out of the building in search of prey.

  Ben stopped at the side of the door to peer inside. It took a while for his eyes to adjust. He couldn’t hear anything suspicious. Anuhea scanned the parking lot behind them.

  “Parking lot is still clear.”

  “Okay, let’s move inside,” Ben said.

  “Do you know where you’re going?”

  “Nope.”

  “Great.”

  “Ladies first?”

  “Get your ass in there,” Anuhea said with a soft chuckle. She stood with her rifle aimed through the door to cover him.

  Ben grinned and stepped inside.

  The metal frame of each door held two panes of glass. The doors themselves were locked and only one pane was broken. Ben managed to climb through the lower half of the broken door. Chunks of shattered safety glass crunched under his feet. He pushed open the second set of doors and then waved for Anuhea to follow.

  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 tha
t 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.