by S. Ganley
The storm was dying down even more and it was starting to look as though they would soon lose the cover it had been providing them for relative safe movement outside. As soon as both vehicles were positioned to Garrett's satisfaction he led the way along the sidewalk towards the hospital. They were able to see the building from a block away and even at that distance it was evident that a great deal of damage had occurred. The portion of the building housing the emergency room and dock area for ambulances had been reduced to nothing more than a pile of charred rubble. The only thing that had spared the rest of the hospital from falling victim to the fire was a narrow corridor that connected the ER to the main building. When the fire reached that corridor the roof had collapsed and cut the fire off from spreading further. The main portion of the building rose to a height of seven floors and from their location they were having a hard time finding a single intact window on any of those floors. Several of the broken windows had makeshift ropes still hanging from them fashioned from bed sheets, hospital gowns and an assortment of medical supplies. Along with obvious bullet holes stitched across wide swaths of the building it was clear that the hospital had turned into a war zone as the undead returned to life all at once and in large numbers. Two military transport trucks were parked closer to the end of the block providing some explanation for the quantity of bullet holes along the outside of the building. Garrett's hopes of scavenging weapons and ammo were raised at the sight of the vehicles. But when they reached the trucks they found them completely empty and stripped bare. The only thing they found inside the cab of one truck was a piece of bone from a human forearm with the hand and two out of five fingers still attached. The presence of obvious teeth marks along the bone answered the question of why it was stripped clean of skin and meat.
"Oh my god! That's disgusting." Emily cried out before realizing how loud she was. Before another word could escape her mouth, Miranda's hand flew around her face from behind and clamped down hard over her lips.
Everyone else froze in place while Garrett scanned left and right searching for any movement nearby. It didn't take him long to spot trouble heading in their direction. At first he saw five zombies sticking their heads up amid the tangle of traffic all around them and then that number grew to twelve. In seconds they were facing close to twenty zombies who had been attracted to Emily's unexpected exclamation and were now moving rapidly toward the small group. The tightly packed cars all over the road, sidewalks and surrounding patches of grass made for an obstacle like course that was proving difficult for the undead to easily negotiate. Garrett thought that the obstacles were making up for the advantage they had lost in the darkness of the heaviest parts of the storm. But even with that little stroke of luck they were now in the sights of a large number of zombies and experience had told them that they would not give up easily. Garrett also realized that with the storm breaking up, any gunfire was going to once again start attracting more attention to them.
"Move!” Garrett cried out as he grabbed Emily by the arm and turned her around to follow along behind him.
Several zombies had materialized from inside a dry cleaners between them and the hospital causing Garrett to lead them out of the street and across a foot bridge through a small park. Garrett saw that the park led up to the side of the hospital and the presence of several overturned wheelchairs near the walking paths told him that the park was probably once used as a rehabilitation spot for longer term patients. As they crossed over the bridge into the park, Doug called out quietly from behind Garrett, "This is the physical therapy section. It’s probably the best place we could enter. It would have been closed when the outbreak reached critical mass and there is a good chance that no patients or staff were in this part of the hospital."
Garrett studied the double glass doors at the end of a rectangular entryway. Even though the doors were made of glass, they were tempered and solid, reinforced to prevent them from easily breaking if a patient in a runaway wheelchair or gurney were to crash into them. A set of exterior doors was followed a few feet into the entryway by a second set that gave direct access to a large waiting room. Looking back towards the road, Garrett saw the zombies coming after them were still picking their way through the tangle of vehicles. From the slow progress they were making he was sure they could reach the doors and get safely inside the hospital before the first of them reached the footbridge behind them. Leading the way through the park Garrett continually scanned left and right into ravines and groves of trees and bushes looking for any surprises that may be lurking nearby.
"Garrett!” Shellie cried out from behind him.
Whipping his head in that direction Garrett spotted a zombie in a hospital gown along with a length of wires and tubing still connected to his arm and chest dragging on the ground behind him. The zombie had been on the far side of a trio of trees growing in a patch of grass right in front of them. It stepped into the path beside them at just the right moment to catch Garrett by surprise with his attention focused on the far end of the same stand of trees. Wheeling backwards, Garrett would have fallen on his ass as he stepped off the concrete walkway but instead he backed right into Cameron who had been trailing along beside him. In those few seconds as Garrett moved clear of the zombies grasp and tangled himself with the teen boy the zombie lunged forward and drove headlong into Emily sending the two of the tumbling over into a flower garden beside the path.
"Emily!” Doug cried out as he started rushing towards the two figures tussling with each other in the overgrown flower patch. Kyle grabbed him by the sleeve of his shirt and held him back before he could jump blindly into the mix.
Emily had at least thirty pounds on the guy and was able to maneuver him up and over her as she tried to roll from side to side to free herself from his grasp. Even with her advantage in weight, the raw strength the zombie was just too much for her to overcome. Miranda was trying desperately to track their movements with her pistol but found it impossible to risk a shot without hitting Emily in the process. Garrett saw what was coming as if he were watching a slow motion movie. The zombie grasped Emily tightly around her midsection and pressed his face up against her ample bosom. Before Garrett could take a step forward to intervene, the creature had ripped through her shirt with his teeth and torn a chunk of flesh free from the side of her left breast. Emily howled in pain and anguish, a sudden surge of adrenaline triggered by the bite enabled her to push herself free from the zombie and roll off to the side just enough to put several feet of distance between them. Miranda saw the move coming and before he zombie was able to recover she squeezed off a double tap into his forehead. With its mouth still full of blood and gristle from Emily's breast meat the zombie tumbled over onto its side and lay still. Emily remained sitting up as a pained and terrified look fell over her face.
Kyle released Doug who raced to her side tearing the shirt off his back as he went. Dropping to his knees next to her he pulled the remains of her shirt away from the wound exposing her ruined breast and pressed his balled up shirt against her to staunch the flow of blood flowing onto the ground around her. Emily howled in pain as Doug pressed the shirt hard against her chest. Garrett couldn't hear the words he was saying to her but by his tone he was sure that Doug was trying his best to calm his wife down and give her some measure of reassurance. There was nothing any of them could say at that moment, Emily was as good as dead and they all knew it. One look at her face and it was clear that was exactly the thought going through her mind as well. For just a brief moment Garrett entertained the thought of simply ending it for her right then and there. The physical and mental distress that husband and wife were about to suffer was only going to be a drain on the rest of them and possibly lead to more casualties. But listening to Doug's gentle sobs and words of encouragements for his wife he realized there was no way he could do it. Casting a glance back behind them he also saw that they were running out of time. The first of the zombies in the street had found a path through the snarl of traffic and were now racing
at full speed for the footbridge into the park. He also saw that their numbers had grown to closer to forty and if they weren't all moving and behind secured doors in the next few seconds, Emily would not be the only one facing her mortality in a pool of her own blood in that little park. Stepping forward Garrett stood next to Doug and grasped him gently on the shoulder.
"Doug, help her up. We have got to get moving." He waited for the man to offer some argument about the rest of them continuing on without him. He was pleasantly surprised when he wiped the tears from his eyes, stood up and grasped Emily firmly by her arm to help her stand.
"Come on Emily. We need to get you inside right away. Maybe there is still something we can do." The statement was tinged with a sense of false hope, but Garrett understood its necessity in that situation. Doug recognized there was nothing that could be done for his wife and that pining over her situation there in the park would only serve to get more of them killed. The psychology of the condemned was something he had heard about but never witnessed in person. It had to do with casting aside common sense and grasping to some figment of hope no matter how impossible it may be. Marshalling all of her remaining strength, Emily pulled back against Doug's grasp and shot to her feet. She grimaced in pain as the wound on her chest opened even more from the sudden movement, blood spurting out from the sides of the already drenched shirt pressed against the bite.
While Doug helped his wife get moving, Cameron took over assisting Kyle limp along towards the door. Garrett noted the fresh blood stains spreading across Kyle's midsection and realized that his wounds must have started bleeding again. Garrett didn't know if they could all make it through any more challenges. Reaching the entrance he pressed both his hands into the space between the doors and pushed with all his strength until they slid open enough for Miranda, Shellie and Cameron to reach around behind him grab the edges of the doors. With two of them pushing against each door they were able to slide them apart just enough for everyone to rush inside. The four of them then stepped through the opening and reversed the process pulling the doors closed behind them. The lobby of the physical therapy wing was in perfect condition without any indication that it had been exposed to the violence and mayhem that marked the outside of the building. Most importantly of all there were no bodies or signs of life. After a quick sweep of the exam and treatment rooms, Garrett directed Doug and Cameron into a room with several gurneys.
All activity came to a sudden stop when they heard the first set of bodies slamming into the outer glass doors. Garrett was sure that he could even feel the impact vibrating through the floor. Being mindful to not let himself be seen, Garrett peeked around the door of the examination room and watched as a wall of zombies piled up against the outer doors. Hands and heads were banging relentlessly against the glass with such force that the frame holding the doors was visibly vibrating in its mounts. Garrett kept watching for several minutes until he was confident that the doors were not about to suddenly explode inward and unleash the mass of dead flesh they were holding at bay.
"Garrett!” Cameron cried out from behind him.
Garrett stepped back into the room and found the teenager and Shellie both clambering around Kyle's side pressing gauze and bandages against him where his freshly opened wounds were quickly turning the gurney and floor around it slick with blood.
"Shit. What the hell happened to him?” Garrett asked as he took over for Cameron and pressed a fistful of fresh gauze into the man's side.
"It just started to bleed again when we were running through the park." Cameron replied. "He could barely stand on his own by the time I got him on the bed."
Garrett looked at Kyle's face and saw that his skin had turned deathly pale and the big man's eyes were rolling back in his head as he fought against unconsciousness. Something inside of Kyle must have torn open during their run through the park. The dark color of the blood pouring out of him indicated its source was internal and the amount it meant that he was quickly running out of time. Looking towards the gurney on the far side of the room, Garrett saw Doug crouching over his wife, their foreheads were touching and both of their mouths were moving in a soft prayer they repeated to one another. As much as Garrett hated to intrude on such a personal moment between the husband and wife, they just didn't have time for it.
"Doug." Garrett called gently while still maintaining a respectable distance from the couple, "Kyle's getting worse by the minute."
Doug didn't take his eyes from Emily but she did raise her voice slightly as she told him to leave her and go help Kyle. As she spoke the words she lifted one of her blood soaked hands and pressed it to his cheek while she lifted her head slight and pressed her lips to his. Doug pulled himself free from Emily and rushed over to Kyle's side where he ran through a hasty examination. Barking instructions like a true emergency room doctor, Doug directed Shellie and Cameron to various tools and pieces of equipment throughout the room to help him measure Kyle's vital signs and stabilize him.
Stepping away from Kyle, Doug called Garrett and Miranda over to a corner of the room for a conference.
"If I don't get in there in the next hour and stop that bleeding he's finished." Doug said with an authority that neither Miranda nor Garrett thought he was capable of, "The surgical suite is in the next wing and one floor up from us. The hospital is still on emergency generator power, so I should have enough juice to power the equipment I need." Doug said as he pointed out the overhead lights. None of them had even noticed that every third light over their heads was still glowing brightly. Utility services throughout the area had failed in the last couple of days and it should have been something they noticed upon entering the hospital but with their injured and the wall of zombies pressing against the doors behind them their attention had been focused elsewhere.
Doug continued, "Garrett, do what you have to do to get us a clear path up to the surgical suite. The elevator at the back of the ER is serviced by the emergency generators. If it wasn't damaged in the fire, we need to use it instead of risking more damage trying to get him up the stairs."
Garrett made sure that everyone was positioned to help protect their wounded while Miranda and he took off to check out the path their route to the elevator and the operating room a floor above them. After leaving the physical therapy wing they quickly determined that the hospital had gone into a lock down at some point after things started falling apart. Doors leading into every room had shut tight when a system designed to help prevent the spread of fire had been activated. The main corridors were segregated every hundred feet by sets of sturdy sliding doors that had shot out from recessed points in the walls. Working together they were able to slide those doors open enough for them to continue moving forward. Behind the doors of many rooms they passed they could hear indications of zombies trapped inside. When the lock down had commenced any zombies left in the main corridors must have found their way out of the building through the fire exits along the way. Those doors all had either panic handles that would allow them to be pushed open from the inside or still had power to the electric sensors that opened them whenever something passed in front of an invisible laser beam running across the floor. Once outside with the doors shut there was no way for the zombies to have come back inside through those same doors.
The service elevator behind the charred remains of the emergency room was right where Doug had told them it would be and was intact and still drawing enough power to operate correctly. Garrett and Miranda rode the elevator to the second floor and made a quick check of the route they would need to take to the operating room. While Garrett searched an operating room that looked as though it had all the equipment Doug had asked him to look for, Miranda checked the last few rooms at the end of the hallway near the double doors blocking off the rest of that wing.
Stepping back into the hallway, Miranda noticed several bullet holes rippled across the security doors in the middle of the hall. Looking into one of the holes from several feet away she saw a blur of motion some
where on the other side of the door. She walked up closer to the door and pressed her eye against the bullet hole. Stifling a gasp she stepped back from the door a second later. The hallway beyond that set of doors was clogged with undead. She couldn't get a count of all of them but from that brief look she was sure there must be fifty or more of them just a few feet away. They did not seem aware of their presence yet, but that wouldn't last for long. It was just a matter of time before at least one zombie in that wing caught a whiff of them and sounded the alarm to the others. Miranda eased back down the hall to the operating room where she found Garrett still searching for one last piece of equipment Doug had instructed him to be on the lookout for.
