Jessica decided against looking for herself. She moved down the hall to the next surgical room. This one was not pristine; it was a gore fest. A body in hospital scrubs lay face down on the floor in the middle of the mess. Jessica moved on again. She came to the last surgical room on her side of the hall. Other than the lack of doctors and nurses, everything looked normal. A patient lay on the table, sound asleep. Jessica could tell he wasn’t dead by the monitors stationed near his head. It was a man, possibly in his 30s. He wore only a hospital gown and had those blue cloths draped around his leg. He looked perfectly fine, other than the large set of stitches running up his shin. Apparently, the surgeons finished with him and then left.
“Hey, Abby.” Jessica waved her over.
“What?” Abby looked through the window. “Who’s he?”
“I don’t know, but he doesn’t look like the others.”
“He could just be sedated,” Abby pointed out.
“True. But no one else that’s been nuts has been sedated, right? What if sedation doesn’t work on them?”
“You can’t know that.”
“I know that sedation would be the first thing I’d want to try if I worked here.”
“What do you want to do?” Abby asked her.
Jessica wasn’t sure, so she said so. Abby sat on the bench, and Jessica let her think. She looked around and spotted a box with a speaker sticking out of the glass off to one side. She walked up to it and noticed a button on the box. She pressed the button and spoke into it.
“Hello?” her voice sounded on the other side of the glass. “Hello, Sir? Can you hear me?”
The patient had no response.
“He’s probably too heavily sedated,” Abby said.
“We should go down there,” Jessica finally decided. “Maybe we can wake him up.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. He could be like those crazy people.”
“I don’t think sedation works on them.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. Gut instinct, I guess,” Jessica shrugged a shoulder.
“He may not want to be woken up,” Abby said. “To wake up to this? It might be better to leave him until things calm down.”
“Things may never calm down.” Jessica hadn’t been planning on voicing that thought aloud, but there it was. The end of the world may have come, and this hospital would never be running again.
Abby didn’t reply to her statement. She did, however, stand up and walk right up to the glass. She stood there, looking quite solemn, for some time.
“Are we going?” Jessica eventually asked.
“Yeah, I’m just trying to work out how the hospital is likely laid out between here and there,” Abby nodded her head toward the end of the hall. “I noticed there’s another set of stairs over there. I don’t know if they lead into a hall like the other ones do or not. If they do, it’s probably just a short walk to get to that OR but if it’s not…”
“It probably is.” Jessica headed for the stairs. After the locker, everything hurt about as much as her feet, but she didn’t want to stay in one place for too long. Something else might show up, and the observation deck offered nowhere to hide.
It was Jessica’s turn to lead this time. She went down the stairs with Abby following closely behind her. So close in fact, she was practically pushing Jessica over, but she didn’t mind. The doorknob at the bottom turned easily, but when she pushed on the solid wooden surface, it stopped opening part way.
“Something’s on the other side,” Jessica whispered to Abby.
She then tried pushing harder on the door, and the blockage shifted slightly. She kept pushing until the door was open enough for her to squeeze through. It was a good thing she hadn’t rammed the door, because the blockade was a large wire rack holding a lot of supplies. If she had knocked it over, it would have made an exceptionally loud crash. Abby squeezed out behind her. Jessica led them down the hall toward the OR’s entrance. She held on to Abby’s hand to draw strength, and because she kept thinking the other woman would be suddenly replaced by a horrible monster.
When Abby had called the room they were heading to an OR, Jessica had no idea how she knew it was called that. Now though, she noticed it was written on most of the signs at each hallway junction. The first time Jessica had looked at the signs, after they got on the floor, she thought of all the letters and numbers as gibberish. Now she realized that you just needed to know what you were looking for and they were simple.
They got to a swing door labelled OR 3 on the glass. It was possible the room they were looking for was the third OR, so Jessica pushed her way through the doors. That led into a room lined with sinks, with boxes of gloves, gowns, paper booties, and hair covers piled around. Jessica and Abby bypassed all of this and walked up to the next set of swing doors. Jessica peered through the glass, hoping they hadn’t gotten turned around and ended up at the OR with the hand chewer in it. They had gotten the right one though; the man continued to lie there, sleeping peacefully. Jessica pushed through the doors, shovel first and quickly checked out all the areas of the room she couldn’t see from the viewing area. There was no one else in the room. She looked up at the viewing area where she had stood moments before, then walked over to the patient.
He looked younger down here and Jessica re-estimated that he could actually be in his twenties. The surgical lights were harsh and cast his skin into an almost transparent snow white.
Jessica leaned her shovel against the bed and started looking at the machines hooked up to him. She had no idea what any of them did.
“What do you think?” Jessica found herself speaking in a quieter voice than she had intended, as if she were afraid of waking up the man; although that was her intention.
“I don’t know,” Abby shrugged, looking over the machines as well. “Maybe we should just take out his IVs?”
“I guess.” Jessica looked at the man’s arms. He had one IV per arm, so Jessica stood by one while Abby did the other. Abby had no fear and just took the IV out as if it was nothing. Jessica hesitated a moment. She could picture it being in her own skin and felt squeamish. Needles weren’t something she was afraid of, but they were something she greatly detested. Finally, she sucked it up and pulled out the line. A small spurt of blood came out, but other than that, nothing happened. Abby had found a surgical tray and handed a cotton ball from it to Jessica. They both stood there, holding a cotton ball to each arm.
“How long do you think it will take?” Jessica wondered aloud.
Abby just shrugged.
* * *
Jessica didn’t know how long they were standing there, several minutes at least. She found herself staring at the man’s eyelids. She willed them to open, to allow her to see their colour. They could be the murky eyes like the killers, or perhaps a pale blue. She imagined they would be pale and porcelain-like. Of course, it could just be the way the lighting was making his skin look that was causing her to think this. Having this man’s life essentially resting in her hands was such a change from the rest of the day. She wasn’t running for her life.
Then she remembered the doctors’ lounge and its sudden intruder. The spell of the sleeping man was over, and her paranoia returned. She snapped her head up to look at the observation deck first, but it was clear. She then looked toward the doors and saw that no one had intruded through there either. The room beyond, with the sinks, also looked like it was clear. Jessica turned her head back to the sleeping man finding a pair of unimpressive brown eyes looking sleepily back at her. The man had woken while Jessica wasn’t looking. He then rolled his head to the side and looked at Abby.
“You’re not nurses,” his voice was scratchy. Ugly even, compared to what Jessica had been expecting.
Abby grinned, “Not even close.”
The man closed his eyes again with a sigh. Jessica worried he was going back to sleep. “Hey.” She grabbed his shoulder with one hand and shook him. “No sleeping.”
The man opened his eyes again. “I wasn’t. It’s just hard to keep them open because the anaesthetic is still wearing off. Also, that light is killing me.”
Abby reached up and tilted the big, blaring light away from his face. It was no longer transparent porcelain but actually somewhat tanned.
“Thank you. Can you girls help me sit up?” the man asked.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Abby wondered.
“I’m a doctor, it’s fine.” The man tried to sit up on his own, so both the girls quickly reached out to help him. He didn’t sit upright, but leaned forward onto his hands. “Either of you have a drink?”
“There’s some sinks just out there if you know where a cup is.” Abby pointed a thumb back at the door.
“There’s probably an emesis basin around here somewhere. A plastic or metal dish-like thing. Shaped like a kidney.” The man waved a hand over at a cupboard.
Abby walked over to it and starting looking through it. The man shook his head and looked at his leg.
“What happened?” Jessica decided to ask.
“I was clipped by an ambulance on my way in. It broke my leg and an artery was nicked. They had to cut my leg open to fix it,” he explained briefly. “So where are the surgeons?”
“I guess they took off.” Jessica didn’t know how to tell this guy what had happened to the world outside.
“Good, although I wish they’d put a cast on me first. I’m Cender, by the way.” The man held out a hand.
Jessica shook it. “I’m Jessica. That’s Abby. And what do you mean ‘good’?”
“I told them to leave when they were done. You must have seen what was happening out there.” Abby finally returned with the kidney-shaped bowl filled with water, which Cender took and downed in one go. “I’m going to need you girls to help cast me up. The supplies for it should be on that tray over there.” Cender pointed to a corner.
Jessica went over and got it.
“Do you know what happened here? In the hospital?” Jessica heard Abby ask.
“It was overrun.” Cender seemed overly calm about all of this. “A friend of mine jumped ship early and took me along. I got her to stop and let me out so I could come back here and tell people what she thought was happening.”
“What did she think was happening?” Jessica wheeled the tray of stuff over to the operating table.
“Zombies,” Cender said this like it was no big deal.
Jessica laughed. “Zombies? You’re kidding me, right? Zombies don’t exist.”
“What would you call them then?” Cender challenged.
Jessica opened her mouth, but found she didn’t have an appropriate name for them. She hadn’t spent too much time thinking about what actually could be happening, only that it was happening.
“Do you have a guess?” Cender turned to Abby. She shook her head, no. “Zombies it is then. Either way, I got here, got clipped by the ambo, and was rushed through the ER since they all know me. I tried telling people. Most of them thought I was delirious with pain, but some listened. I guess the surgical team did.”
“Are you sure you’re not delirious with pain?” Jessica raised an eyebrow.
“If I’m anything, I’m high,” Cender laughed. It was a somewhat grating sound to Jessica. “Now come on, help me cast up this leg before it wears off.”
Under Cender’s directions, Jessica and Abby learned how to apply a cast.
“So what are you ladies doing here?” Cender asked while they worked.
“We’re looking for a little girl,” Abby told him. “She was brought here earlier with a head wound.”
“If she’s not infected, she’s not here,” Cender told them. “A bunch of cops swarmed the place and took out everyone who could walk. She’s probably with them if it was a simple head wound. You related to her?”
“No, I just told her I’d meet her here,” Abby sighed. “I hope she’s all right.”
“She’s probably better off than you. What about you, blondy? You related to the girl?” Cender turned to Jessica.
“No. I convinced Abby to let me come with her.” She looked past Cender at Abby. “I guess we missed the police Mark figured would be here.”
“Yeah,” Abby nodded, looking almost as disappointed as Jessica felt. Of course, she figured they weren’t there, due to the mess, but having confirmation was worse.
“What are you going to do now?” Cender asked them both.
They both shrugged. Jessica thought curling up in a hole somewhere sounded like a good idea.
“Why don’t you come with me then? I could certainly use the help,” Cender offered.
“What? You have a plan?” Jessica couldn’t believe a man who just woke up from sedation could have a plan.
“Yeah, my friend apparently knows a lot and has supplies and things. She gave me a map to her place. I’m supposed to meet her there,” Cender shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t think I’ll be able to make it on my own, though, with this leg.”
Jessica and Abby locked eyes above Cender.
“It couldn’t hurt,” Abby shrugged a shoulder herself.
“I guess it’s better than having no plan at all,” Jessica sighed.
“Great!” Cender grinned. “We’re all buddies then!”
18:
The Firefighter
Cillian sat with his back against a wall, looking at the makeshift barricade and wishing like hell that he had a cigarette. He wondered how long he and Tobias had before the zombies managed to break through. Tobias sat next to him, lost in his own thoughts. At least the AC was still working. Outside, Cillian had been sweating bullets in his firefighter gear, but he had refused to remove the protective clothing until they had secure walls around them.
“So what do you think it’ll be like as a zombie, Toby?” Cillian asked.
“Please, never call me Toby,” Tobias sighed. “I do not want to die being called Toby. It’s Tobias.”
“All right, my bad, Tobias. Still doesn’t change my question.”
“I guess it’ll be simpler,” he shrugged. “Eat brains, stand in place, eat brains, stand in place.”
Cillian laughed. “I wish I had known you sooner, man. You’re all right.”
“Thanks, I guess.” They sat silently for a moment. “You know, that’s a really good barricade. I think we’re more likely to die of thirst or hunger in here.”
“Well, I have the crowbar so I’ll last longer than you.” Cillian patted the pile next to him, which contained the crowbar and his firefighter’s jacket, helmet, and gloves.
Tobias gave Cillian a confused look, his mind not getting what Cillian meant. When he figured it out, a smile replaced the confused expression. “Ah, so you’ll do some zombie training first.”
“I think you’re all right, but if it comes down to you or me, I’ll pick me every time.”
“Oh? I can’t appeal to your better nature?” Tobias asked with heavy sarcasm. “Maybe I’ll start begging you, telling you about my children and my sick mother.”
“Do you actually have kids and a sick mother?” Cillian wondered. He knew virtually nothing about the man he was going to die with. If he died with anyone, he always figured it would be with one of the guys from the firehouse, who he knew almost as well as he knew himself.
“Nah, I can’t hold onto a girlfriend for more than a month or two.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t have kids,” Cillian pointed out.
“True,” Tobias nodded. “But no, I have none. And when I checked in last week, my mom was still extremely healthy. What about you?”
“No kids, although I wanted some. Me and my girl were going to get married but we broke up a bunch of weeks ago.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. As for my mother, she died in a car crash when I was only four. Hit by a drunk driver.”
“Doesn’t seem like a bad way to go if it was instant.”
“I was told it was.” That wasn’t the kind of response Cillia
n expected, but considering the circumstances, he thought it was actually appropriate. He sighed and leaned his head back, looking up at the ceiling. He saw something of interest up there. “Hey, Toby?”
“I told you I don’t want to die with that name,” Tobias grumbled.
“What if I said you may not be dying soon?”
Tobias looked at him, then looked up at the ceiling. “What? The air ducts?”
“They’re probably big enough to fit into.” Cillian stood up for a slightly closer look at the ducts. They were a fairly large industrial size, and Cillian thought he might be able to fit inside them.
“Even if you can get through there, there’s no guarantee they can hold your weight.” Tobias got onto his own feet. His added height allowed a slightly better look.
“Either way, they lead to other parts of the mall.” Cillian looked around for the best thing to help him reach the ducts. “Either we crawl through them, or we tear them down and make a hole into another part of the mall.”
“That’s going to be loud as hell,” Tobias said more to himself than to Cillian. He walked around under the ducts, following where they led.
“Not like that’s going to matter.” Cillian found an A-frame ladder. “They’re all gathered outside anyway. Some of the smarter ones might be able to run around to whatever store we get to next, but I seriously doubt there’ll be many.”
“What do you think makes some of them smarter than others? By the way, here would be the place to try.” Tobias pointed above himself.
Cillian set the ladder up underneath a vent that was near to where the duct passed through the wall. “I don’t know. Maybe they were just smarter to begin with. I’m sure some of those guys out there had their IQ raise a notch from what happened.”
Tobias laughed. “I don’t doubt that.” He then shuddered as if he thought of someone in particular. Maybe that newscaster guy he had told Cillian he’d been following.
Cillian climbed up the ladder while Tobias held it steady. Cillian brought the crowbar up with him and used it to pry at the grate. The screws held though, and it took a lot of prying to get them out. When they pulled out a little way, he tried turning them with his fingers, but they still wouldn’t twist out the way they were supposed to. Cillian made a mental note to start carrying a screwdriver around with him. When the grate popped off, it nearly knocked Cillian off the ladder. There was no time to warn Tobias, but Tobias managed to get out of the way anyhow. When the ladder was steady again, Cillian climbed higher up and poked his head through the opening. It was large enough for his shoulders to fit through. Not with a great amount of space, but enough to allow him some arm movement. He put his arms into the ducts and started shaking them and putting his weight on them. They held.
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