As they approached the front, a side of the building Cillian had seen only once before, they spotted a small collection of people. Suspicious, the pair crouched down behind a car.
“What do we do?” Tobias whispered.
“I don’t know,” Cillian shook his head, “observe first, I guess.”
They stayed in their hiding spot, watching the little group of six. Cillian noticed they were standing in a circle, looking at each other. One was gesticulating wildly.
“They’re not zombies,” Cillian told Tobias, “it’s a group of people, and I think they’re arguing about something.”
“Should we go over there?”
“I don’t want to get into the middle of an argument. Do you?” Cillian turned to face Tobias.
“No, but they should just let us pass by them, right?”
“Maybe.”
Tobias got up and headed toward the hospital. Cillian reluctantly followed. He figured either Tobias was going to get him killed, or he was going to get Tobias killed. At some point, their collective luck would run out. He just hoped it wasn’t now. They were almost to the hospital door when one of the six acknowledged them
“Hey you!” one of them shouted.
Cillian turned with an inward groan. A huge, white guy covered in tattoos and waving a gun at them was walking toward them. He and Tobias stood very still.
“Where are you going?” the tattooed man asked.
“Into the hospital,” Cillian answered calmly. “My friend is hurt.” He gestured to Tobias.
Taking his cue, Tobias showed the tattooed man his shoulder with its scarf bandage. It was an even darker red than when Cillian last looked at it, but not so much that it was worrisome.
“You’re going to loot the hospital?” The man pointed his gun at Cillian’s chest.
“No, I am not.” Cillian slowly raised his hands and shook his head. “We’re just trying to get my friend fixed up.”
“Where did all that blood come from?” The tattooed man was twitchy. Cillian was afraid he might fire the gun purely by accident. “What’s the crowbar for?”
“B!” Another man from the group walked up to the tattooed man. “It’s okay, I know that guy. He’s the fireman I told you about.”
Cillian looked away from ‘B’ toward the new guy. “Sam?” Cillian frowned. Guess he hadn’t gotten to his kid yet. “What the hell happened? Where did you go?”
“Look, ah, just forget about it.” Sam looked as his feet and shuffled them. He was ashamed of what he had done. “Come on, B, leave them alone. Let’s just get out of here before more of those things come.”
“I still think we should pick up some meds,” B argued.
So that’s why he didn’t want Cillian raiding the hospital. The guy wanted to do it himself.
“No, come on, we all want to go.” Sam gestured to the other four. They huddled together like lost sheep. One of them couldn’t have been more than sixteen.
“Fuck you!” B pointed the gun at Sam.
Sam threw his hands up like Cillian and took a step back.
“Look, buddy, we’re not involved in this. Just let me and my friend go into the hospital now.” The gun came back to bear on Cillian. He regretted saying anything.
Sam then did something both very brave, and very stupid. He rushed at mister tattoo, but B was faster. He swung the gun around to point at Sam and pulled the trigger. Sam’s head was blown away. A little girl somewhere had just lost her father. B seemed just as stunned as everyone else at what he had done. Cillian took the opportunity. He turned, grabbed Tobias, and charged through the hospital doors.
“Hey! Get back here, you fuckers!” B shouted.
A bullet passed through the doors behind Cillian and Tobias, nearly clipping their asses. Cillian didn’t stop. He kept running into the hospital nearly dragging Tobias behind him. He heard the doors open behind them and another shot fired. Great, why the hell did the guy have to chase after them, Cillian thought. At least the four scared sheep were safe from the lunatic.
After a quick turn, Cillian headed up a flight of stairs. Tobias finally seemed to catch on to the fact that they were fleeing again and ran up them under his own power. They didn’t get very high before B reached the bottom of the stairs and fired upwards. He probably wouldn’t be able to hit them directly, but the ricochet was dangerous. The next floor they reached they decided to get off. It was the third floor. Cillian briefly wondered why they always ended up on the third floor.
He led the way, not really knowing where they were going. He just kept trying to keep walls and doors between them and B. Rounding a corner, he spotted a door almost hidden by a wire rack of supplies. He squeezed around it, moving the shelf a little bit and ducked through the door. After Tobias followed him in, Cillian closed the door, then pressed his ear to it, listening carefully. He heard B run past them, shouting obscenities, and sighed with relief. He turned away from the door and urged Tobias up the steps there. They were lucky they didn’t run into any zombies on the way in but that didn’t mean that there weren’t any lurking behind them.
At the top of the stairs was a hallway lined with windows. The hallway was zombie free, so Cillian approached the first window and looked through it. Maybe he could figure out where they were within the hospital.
He was terribly confused. “Jessi?”
* * *
“What?” Tobias joined Cillian at the window.
It looked down on a room with an operating table. A man with a cast sat on the table, but on a stool next to him sat Jessica, and on the other side another woman.
“Jessi!” Cillian shouted, totally caught off guard. She was uncharacteristically dirty and dishevelled, but it was clearly her. No one in the room reacted to his cry; they must not be able to hear him.
Suddenly, Jessi and the other girl rose to their feet, looking toward the door. It had to be B they were reacting to. Cillian didn’t know how to warn them, but it looked like he didn’t need to. Jessi picked up a blood-covered shovel and stood to one side of the door while the other girl went to the other side with a weird stick. It made Cillian think of a baseball bat that was partly flattened with a curl at the end.
Cillian could just see through the glass in the doors. B was walking towards them, gun pointed forward. The man in the bed was visible to him and raised his arms. B looked like he was shouting something but Cillian couldn’t hear what. He could only stand there and watch. As B kicked the doors open and stepped through, the unknown girl reacted lightning quick with the stick thing, knocking his gun upwards. A shot was fired, and it blew out the large surgical light hanging from the ceiling. Jessica immediately swung as well. Her shovel connected with B’s face, and it took him off his feet. She didn’t stop with one swing either, she just kept hitting him while he was down. Cillian knew how she felt about men with guns.
The other girl tried to stop Jessi, but she just pushed her away and kept going. It was unlikely that B was alive after so many hits.
Tobias stepped forward. He was filming, but lowered the camera from his eye. He slapped a hand on the glass. Those inside turned as one to look, startled. They had heard that. Jessica and Cillian locked eyes for a moment. Cillian saw raw fear there first, then confusion, then they softened into something Cillian hadn’t seen for some time. She stepped toward them, mouthing something and pointing to the side.
“What?” Cillian frowned.
“The box.” Tobias pointed to a box attached to the glass.
Cillian hurried over to it and pressed the button. “Jessi?”
“Cillian!” Her smile lit up Cillian’s world.
“How do I get down there?” Cillian asked, half frantic, all their fights forgotten in an instant. All this time he kept hoping that she was safe in Australia, but hearing her voice made him realize he needed her here. As selfish as it was, he felt a hundred times better upon hearing his name come from her lips. It was a weight off his shoulders knowing exactly where she was.
“Just run around.” Jessi gestured. “It should be the first set of doors on the left.”
Cillian let go of the button on the box and ran for the stairs. He didn’t even care if Tobias was following him or not.
He found the doors and burst through them into a room lined with sinks. Jessi stood at the other end. She was grimy, her long blonde hair was a disaster, her skirt was torn, her boots were unusual and ugly for her tastes, and she was covered in a misting of blood. She was still the most beautiful thing Cillian had ever seen. They both paused for a moment, as if unbelieving, and then with three steps each, they reached each other. Cillian gathered her into his arms, holding her tight. She was still holding her shovel, he his crowbar. How could he ever let her go to Australia without him? How could he have let them fall apart like they had?
“Umm, excuse me?”
Cillian looked up and saw the other girl standing in the doorway near where B was laying.
“What are we going to do about him?” She pointed to B.
“Nothing.” Cillian shook his head. The bastard deserved it.
Jessi finally started to pull herself away from Cillian. At first, he didn’t want it to happen. He wanted to hold her forever, but he relinquished.
“Hey, Cillian?” Tobias spoke up from behind him. “Can we do something about my shoulder now?”
“You hurt?” the man called from the other room.
“Come in.” Jessi laced her fingers through Cillian’s and pulled him into the surgical room. Tobias followed after them, stepping carefully around B.
“Were you bitten?” the guy asked.
“No, I fell on an escalator.” Tobias walked over to him.
“Good, bites will apparently turn you. Abby, could you try wheeling that cabinet over? Maybe the big guy can help you.” The man gestured to a corner.
“What? You mean they are zombies?” Tobias raised an eyebrow and had a half grin. Apparently, deep down, he still didn’t believe they were actual zombies.
“As far as I know.” the man shrugged. “The name’s Cender by the way. That’s Abby, we just met. And I see one of you already knows Jessica.”
Tobias shook his offered hand. “I’m Tobias. That’s Cillian. You a doctor?”
“A doctor and a patient in one absurd day,” he grinned. “Now, let’s get you fixed up before that gunshot draws the creepies.”
19:
The Soldier
Alec didn’t hesitate. He saw Danny’s shoulders and head as he fell over. He then saw the woman’s as she pounced upon him. He fired a single shot. Although he didn’t quite hit what he meant to, he was aiming for her eye, he still hit her in the head.
“Danny, are you okay?” Alec called up from the bottom of the stairs. He watched the top of the stairs and kept his pistol pointed up there, but also started using one hand to set up his stair lift. He never should have let the kid go up there alone.
“I’m… I’m okay.” Danny appeared over the side of the top step. He was sliding on his belly out from under the body. When he was free, he hurried down the stairs, nearly tripping and tumbling down.
Alec had just killed another person; this time in his own house. Yet it felt no different. He put his pistol down and quickly finished setting up his lift. He hooked his chair to it and turned it on. The lift groaned loudly and moved slowly. He probably should have bought one instead of making his own, but he believed a bought one would break down more often. Danny huddled behind him, following his chair back up the stairs.
“Did you get any blood in your mouth, or eyes?” Alec asked.
“No,” Danny shook his head.
Alec looked at him closely. The blood spray seemed to be mostly on Danny’s shirt and neck. His mouth looked clear and there wasn’t even a drop near his eyes. Lucky. “What did you find up here, besides her?”
“One of the windows in the big room is open,” Danny reported, his voice wavering. “There’s a bloody hand print on the door frame. Alec? The woman is Michelle.”
Alec frowned. He waited impatiently until the lift had moved him high enough for him to see the body. The face was turned away from him but he could tell by her body type and clothing that it was indeed Michelle. He knew he should feel something, he had just killed his physical therapist… but he didn’t. Even if he had called her a friend, he wasn’t sure he’d feel anything. The last time he had felt truly emotional about anything was when his sister had passed. That emotionless quality had probably been brought on from his sniper days and explained why he drank and womanized so much. But when you didn’t care, well, you didn’t care about not caring. He looked at Michelle’s body crumpled on his floor, her blood and brain matter on the wall. Most people would think she deserved a better death, but Alec didn’t. A quick and painless death was the way to go, even if it was too soon.
“No sign of Emma or Rifle?” Alec’s voice was as calm as it ever was.
“No, sir.”
“You can wait downstairs if you would rather not see this.” Under any other circumstances, he would have made the kid stay downstairs. As it was, Danny had already seen the death up close and Alec decided that maybe the kid should get used to it. It seemed death wasn’t going to be something they could avoid.
“I’m okay,” Danny managed to say this without shaking and even with a little conviction.
When the lift reached the top of the stairs, it placed Alec right next to the body. He was glad it wasn’t in the way of the lift or else he’d have to get Danny to move it. The boy might be able to handle seeing the body but it was unlikely he could handle having to touch it again. Alec unhooked himself and rolled toward his room. It was the only room in the house that hadn’t been inspected. Danny dogged after him, holding the short handles of his chair again. His room had a large bloodstain in one corner, but was otherwise untouched.
“Danny, we’re going to go on a trip,” Alec said as he picked up a photo off his bedside table. It was a picture of his sister holding Rifle as a puppy. The two things in this world he had loved. One he had very recently lost, the other several years ago.
“Where are we going to go?” Danny sat on the bed.
Alec put his packsack down next to him and opened it. Danny looked inside, his eyes widening when he saw Alec’s sniper rifle in there. Alec dug through his ammunitions, past his tools and uniforms, and under his helmet and goggles. He pulled out a rumpled, rolled, and folded paper. Opening it carefully, he laid it out across the bed. The paper was huge and made out of a cloth-like material meant to tear less. On it was a highly detailed map of Leighton. Alec didn’t open up the whole thing because it wouldn’t fit on the bed, but he uncovered the section of Leighton they were currently in. There were several colourful lines leading off in various directions. Alec pointed to a section on the map where almost all the lines converged into a clump.
“Here’s where we are,” Alec told Danny, “or at least roughly. We’re slightly up the street at the moment but close enough for horse shoes.”
“Did you take this from that house we were at?” Danny wondered, following some of the lines with his eyes.
“Yeah, it and a few others,” Alec nodded. “This one though has the legend.” Alec shifted and unfolded the map some more till he reached an edge that had a colour code.
“Work, sister, brother, home,” Danny started reading the colour code aloud. “Nuclear, war, earthquake? Flood? Disease? What are all these?”
“Read the last one,” Alec encouraged.
Danny looked down the list. “Zombies?”
In a putrid orange-ish colour and written in quotes, was the word Alec had noted on the map. It seemed so absurd when he first saw it, but since then, he came to accept it more and more. It was so unlikely, so unbelievable, but so suited to the situation. He had yet to see evidence that didn’t support it.
“Where does it go?” Danny had followed the odd coloured line as far as he could on the map.
“North.” Alec started folding and rolling the map ba
ck up. “To a provincial park. I found another map of the area it leads to, and it looks like there’s some sort of dwelling there. Probably not a legally placed one, but it’s there. A lot of the weird lines, like war, lead to it.”
“Why?”
“Judging by the look of that house we were in, the owner is some sort of survivalist. These maps are probably their planed routes if… well anything were to happen.” Alec put the map back in his bag. “Apparently, even unrealistic stuff. They must have set up a place there, probably full of supplies and a method to survive for years. A place to go in case of world ending emergencies. If we can get there, we’d most likely be safe.” At least that’s what Alec hoped. If the problem really was zombies or something similar to zombies at least, then they wanted to be where there were no people. A provincial park, far to the north, that had harsh terrain was probably damn near empty.
“How will we get there?”
“I haven’t thought that part through yet,” Alec sighed. “My car got stolen and in my current condition, I can’t really drive anything else. You can’t drive, can you?”
Danny shook his head.
“Then we have only a handful of options. We walk for a painfully long time, or we try to find someone who can drive.” Alec picked up his pack and slung it over his back again. He had to admit one thing about the chair; it helped take a lot of his pack’s weight, so it didn’t feel as heavy as it was.
“I vote for finding someone who can drive.” Danny hopped off the bed.
“I agree. It’s going to be dangerous, both looking for a driver and getting there, but it’s probably better than hanging around here.” Alec picked up the picture of his sister and Rifle again. He took the picture out of its simple frame and put it in a pocket. “Is there anything really important to you at your house? ’Cause if you really want something, now is the only opportunity we’re going to have to risk getting it.”
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