by Marie Lanza
Melody took a moment to process his action, but reached out and took it, placing it beside her on the seat. She didn’t say a word – she didn’t need to. Melody left his gaze and concentrated on rocking Aubrey back to sleep.
Beck climbed in the Humvee, the engine instantly roared, and they were driving down the gravel driveway back to the highway. The headlights bounced around through the dust being picked up, catching a few lingering infected that were wandering through the fields.
Melody’s thoughts went to Harmony – where was she on this night? Was she safe?
Hopefully, she and Dan were doing better than they were.
Beck drove in the center of the back highway, not worried there could be oncoming traffic. The only thing anyone had to worry about was hitting an infected or other objects in the roads. Even so, Beck drove with caution, keeping his mind focused and staying silent. The only noises came from the rumbling engine and the hum of tires running over the pavement.
Melody began to feel the painful aches of lethargy. With no will to fight it away, her eyes glazed over, then her eyelids grew heavier. It wasn’t long until Melody’s world was dark, but she was still aware of her surroundings, that place of transition between sleep and awake. She wanted her mind to stop thinking of all the pain and suffering surrounding them. She wanted to stop thinking of Harmony and Dan. Most of all, she wanted to stop thinking about the Rogers and Vic’s of this new world. Melody just wanted quiet.
Then, silence.
Melody felt as though she had only been asleep for five minutes, maybe she never fell asleep, merely closed her eyes to shut the world out for a few moments before coming too. As she slowly opened her eyes, she knew immediately it was no longer night, but morning. The earliest morning hours no one ever really wants to be up for. The sky was no longer black, but a light gray with the sun not quite rising, only peaking its shine just enough over the horizon to give a kiss of morning.
They were parked on the side of the road. Aubrey still cuddled in her arms, while Jason and Beck were asleep in the front seat. Melody looked out the window to find Nic and Mike parked just next to them. It still wasn’t light out for her to get a good look, but she imagined they were also still resting.
“Hey,” Jason’s voice cracked.
Melody turned to meet his eyes. “How long did we drive overnight?”
“Not long. Close to ten miles. We all needed the rest. We’re just outside of a city, so we thought better to wait till morning.”
Beck began to stir before opening his eyes and adjusting himself in his seat. “I see I overslept.” He rolled down the window, looking across to Nic and Mike.
Nic brought down her window as well. “You guys get any sleep?”
“Enough. Are we ready to do this?”
“Ready when you are!” Mike called out.
Beck made another adjustment to his position in his seat, staring down the empty road.
“What’s the plan?” Melody asked.
Jason held up the map and pointed to their destination. “We have this last populated city before we can really stay in the rural areas. We figure we’d save more time if we go through then go around.” He turned to Melody. “Same plan as before. We evaluate Fort Mesa for possible supplies, then head to Summer Springs. We’ll pass this Camp Glen everyone’s talking about on the way there.”
Aubrey began to stir, then her eyes opened, giving Melody a smile. She was always happy when she woke in her mother’s arms. Melody dug in her backpack and pulled out a water bottle, giving it to Aubrey. The little girl cuddled her as she continued to wake.
Beck put the truck in drive and they rolled forward, continuing down the road straight for the city, just ahead.
Melody’s eyes caught the city’s welcome sign, OLIVOS, POPULATION 15,813 and a small thought crossed, hoping not to meet all fifteen thousand residents.
They only drove a few minutes before the devastation from the outbreak’s chaos began to reveal itself. The barbed wire barricades were first, one after the other, after the other. Infected bodies flailed in the razor wire, fighting to get out, only to saw through its own flesh. Others were luckier, dead, some appeared to have been eaten by infected. Trash, lines of abandoned cars, personal belongings were scattered all over the streets.
“From the looks of it, it seems everyone was being held in the city, not being let out,” Jason said as he surveyed the scene.
“They tried everything to keep containment. Keep the living safe inside, keep the infected out. Keep the infected in, get the living out. Nothing worked. All that planning and nothing worked.” Beck almost sounded as if he was blaming himself. “These barricades were meant to let the military move freely through the cities, getting from point A to point B quickly. I can’t believe they’re still standing.”
“Where do you think they all went?” Melody asked.
“Everywhere. No one listened to the government when they told people to stay in their homes. It just made people angry. No one really wants to listen to the government. People that stayed put, survived. Those that didn’t were swallowed up by infected.”
“Those that did survive didn’t seem to for long…” Jason’s voice trailed off as he scanned back and forth taking in the nightmare before them. Beyond the bodies of barricades, infected showed themselves from every corner, instantly attracted to the noise of the vehicles.
Beck’s eyes glanced back and forth between their side mirrors, keeping an eye on Mike and Nic behind them, and what was straight ahead. “Jason, let’s turn the radio back on. Mike flashed the truck lights.”
Jason clicked on the radio bringing a ringing static and then silence. “Everything alright?” He looked back through the side mirror.
“We have a few miles left before we should fill up,” Nic’s voice cracked over the radio.
Jason leaned over to look at their own fuel gauge. “It wouldn’t be a bad idea for us either.”
“We have more than a few miles before we get out of this city. Can we push it?” Beck’s voice held a concern that perked Melody’s attention.
“No, no. We should find something now,” Jason insisted. “Who knows what’s ahead.” He clicked the radio. “We’ll find something that looks good and stop.”
“Roger that.”
This plan made sense. Better to stop now while you’re not in the middle of running for your lives. Melody silently approved.
They pushed on, driving deeper into the city. There were fewer barricades, allowing the infected to roam more freely.
“We can’t risk stopping around here. Those things are coming around every corner. Pretty soon, we’ll have the entire city tailing us.” Beck’s tone revealed his nerves. His words were typically very controlled, and this time, there were cracks in this voice that peaked Jason’s alertness.
“You’re right. They’ll be all over us the moment we stop.” Jason continued to survey their surroundings. “Two o’clock. Take a few turns and get us to that hospital. Maybe they have a parking garage we can get some cover.”
Melody adjusted in her seat to get a view of what Jason was seeing while Beck followed the direction, making a sharp right heading down the block, then making a quick left. The hospital towered over several blocks of businesses.
“Hey guys, we’re gonna see if this hospital’s parking garage won’t give us some distance from the infected,” Jason called out over the radio.
“Roger that.” The radio static broke Mike’s voice.
As they got closer to the hospital, their plan seemed to be working. There were more barricades as they drove towards hospital and chain-link fencing surrounding the grounds.
“Looks like they tried to hold some ground here.” Beck slowed the Humvee has they came to a fence.
Jason triple checked their surroundings before opening his door to hop out. “Drive through, I’ll take care of the gate.”
“Dada?” Aubrey’s little voice grabbed at Melody as she pointed towards Jason.
&
nbsp; “He’ll be right back, honey. Daddy’s just opening the gates for us.”
It was a rolling gate entry, and if there was a lock, Jason felt lucky they weren’t there now. Just a chain looping through the links. He pulled it open, allowing the vehicles to drive through and rolled it shut behind them.
Infected circled around the street corner and hiked up the drive towards the hospital. Jason thought he counted ten but knew it was a rough estimate as they would no doubt attract more. He made it back to the Humvee and climbed in. “We’re gonna need to find another way out.”
“Maybe we take some cover in this parking garage?”
“Sounds good. It’ll give us a better view up there.”
The parking garage was a large open structure, five stories high, and high clearance, with bridges attaching to the hospital. Empty cars filled the spaces, abandoned by their owners. It crossed Melody’s mind that the owners may even still be in the hospital. Beck took them up to the top.
There were no signs of infected, which in a small way was disconcerting. Mike went straight to work on the truck, pulling out the fuel cans and filling it up. Beck grabbed two cans from the back and started on the Humvee.
“We should take a few minutes and see if any of these cars have gas in them. We could certainly use it after this fill up,” Nic suggested as she looked around.
“I can help you with that,” Jason offered.
Melody took Aubrey and went to the edge to look out over the rooftops. Looking down, there were a few straggling infected within the barriers of the hospital but none seemed to be aware they were on the roof. A small crowd of infected gathered at the entry they came through, but none had made an effort to fight the fencing. Melody continued to walk, looking out over the city.
Every few moments, Melody would hear a cough from Jason or Nic as they siphoned gas from the cars, indicating they got lucky. The world around them was otherwise quiet with a slight breeze making the only rustle. Buildings were boarded, or windows were busted out. There were no fires still smoldering here, leaving Melody to wonder how fast this area was completely abandoned. As she searched, Melody made it back around facing the hospital. There were sandbag walls to barb-wired barricades surrounding every entrance. Medical trailers sat in the middle of the parking lot that Melody assumed acted as overflow when the hospital reached capacity. It wasn’t a huge place, with two main buildings, seven stories high each.
Melody put Aubrey down so she could stretch her legs for a few minutes. When they turned around to walk back to the group, she noticed everyone was already wrapping up. Jason stretched his arms out signaling Aubrey to run to him, which she didn’t hesitate for a moment at the chance.
“I’m thinking it wouldn’t be a bad idea to run through real fast for supplies,” Mike said as he loaded up the newly filled gas cans. “We could use anything we can get our hands on.”
“Not a bad idea at all. Meds for sure. Mel and Beck both could use antibiotics.” Jason’s point didn’t go over well with Melody.
“That hospital could be full of infected. We have a few days of antibiotics in that kit. We should just get back on the road.” Melody wasn’t looking forward to potentially running through dark hallways and locked doors of infected. They had no idea what was inside, and for all they knew, the military locked all the sick inside before they left.
“Mel, we can’t just go to grocery store and pick something up. Besides, vending machines, a cafeteria…” Jason was thinking about the bigger picture and as much as Melody wished he was wrong, she knew he had a good point. She just didn’t like it.
“Maybe better here. This place seems like they closed it off really well. Not much activity,” Beck chimed in. “What does everyone think? Split up, stay together…”
“Could be faster splitting up. Give ourselves a time frame of thirty minutes,” Jason suggested.
“Jason, you take medical supplies, Mel and Aubrey will go with him. Mike, Nic, food, blankets, whatever you think we can use. I’ll see if I can get in the trailers and the military trucks see if anything was left behind.” As he ran down the plan, Beck searched the vicinity. “Thirty minutes, back here.”
“And if someone’s not back in thirty minutes?” Melody regretfully asked.
“No search parties,” Beck said plainly.
“So much for don’t leave any man behind.” Mike tugged at the straps of a backpack, tightening it around his shoulders.
Jason pulled a pack from the Humvee along with Melody’s gun and gave them to her. “You carry this. I have Aubrey. In and out.”
“OK.” It was all Melody could think to say as her body quickly became overwhelmed with adrenaline.
“Stay sharp in there,” Beck shook Jason’s hand, then saluted Mike and Nic before he turned around and headed down the garage ramps.
The rest of the group readied their weapons and headed towards the bridge that would bring them to an entrance of the hospital. Mike worked on the door, while Nic covered him. Jason carried Aubrey on his back, staying a few feet behind, and Melody taking up the rear. Mike gave it a knock first, and waited for anything nearby to slam against the glass to reveal itself. After a moment, he was confident enough to start working at them to pull open.
The entrance was automatic sliding glass doors. Mike pulled the doors apart slowly only opening half way, and stepped inside. “It’s clear.”
Jason studied the building map with a locations index. “We’ll head in this direction,” Jason said, gesturing over his shoulder.
“Sounds good. You guys sure you’re alright?” Mike asked.
“We’ll be fine. In and out, right?” Jason wasn’t quite sure of anything anymore.
Nic nodded. “See you on the other side.”
“Be careful.” Melody gave a struggled smile.
They were lucky the first hall they walked through was bright with windows lining the outside wall. At the end came double doors with long narrow windows on each door. Jason stood to the side of the window and peeked in, checking if anything was waiting before pushing on the door. To his surprise, the doors swung right open. “Stay close,” he said over his shoulder to Melody.
Melody only nodded for a response, even though it was to Jason’s back. She was too worried any noise would draw unwanted attention towards them. Aubrey held on tight to Jason’s shoulders. Melody wondered if she was just scared, and being quiet was an automatic response, to cuddle in tight and hide her eyes in her daddy’s neck.
As they walked through the double doors, the hallway immediately got dimmer, but still held some light from the outside. They were instantly hit by the smell of rot, causing Melody’s stomach to turn. The place looked like a tornado blasted through, leaving trash spread over the floors, bed sheets hanging off of gurneys, and glass shattered from windows.
Jason slowed his pace as they continued deeper into the hospital. They walked by their first closed-off corridor. The doors were chained shut with a padlock on the end, with blood smears staining the white paint. There were no windows on the doors to allow them to see in, and Melody thought maybe it was to prevent the infected from seeing out.
As they continued on, Jason read the hospital signs to give him direction. They went through more swing-style double doors, once automatic, reaching the ICU ward with the nurses’ station directly in the center. Jason hugged the wall as they entered, then suddenly stopped. Melody’s heart raced straight to her throat over his action. Without looking backwards, Jason brought his hand to his ear, letting Melody know he could hear something.
Aubrey began to get restless, drowning out any noise beyond her. Melody rubbed her back to get her attention and put her finger over her lips to signal quiet. Aubrey jerked away from Melody’s touch, “Mama, no!”
“Please baby, sshhh,” Melody whispered.
Aubrey buried her face in Jason’s neck.
Jason remained focused what was straight ahead, never bringing his attention away to Aubrey. Whatever was around the corner, it
already heard them; it just hadn’t made it to them yet.
Something crashed down the hall.
Jason pulled his knife. He didn’t want to fire his weapon, knowing it would attract every infected in the building to their location. He steadily moved forward, one foot in front of the other. Melody internally fought not to take Aubrey from him. Although she was possibly hindering some of his ability to fight an infected off, if they did have to make a run for it, Jason would be able to move faster with Aubrey.
Melody continually checked over her shoulder, making sure nothing was sneaking up on them.
Jason paused again as the hall ended, and they reached the unit. He peeked around their corner first, then looked beyond the farther corner, when he saw an infected limping their way. Jason pulled back and delivered Melody to Aubrey. “It’s right around the corner.
Melody took a few steps back with Aubrey as they watched Jason take in two big breaths before approaching the infected.
Wearing bloodied scrubs, and walking with a heavy limp that slowed it down, the infected hissed and snapped at Jason as it charged him.
Jason took advantage of a gurney that was between them, pushing it into the infected, slamming it into the wall, before reaching over with his knife, delivering the blade straight into its eye. The infected’s body slumped over onto the gurney.
Melody shielded Aubrey’s face from seeing anything. Jason signaled for Melody that the area was clear and she cautiously made her way over.
As they approached the nurses’ station, the sounds of something beginning to throw up were loud and clear just in the next room. Those first couple of gags where your stomach muscles contract and release, then regurgitating with the splash of fluid hitting the floor.
Melody took in a deep breath and followed Jason closely around the desks to the medical supply room.
Slowly opening the door, they found a young woman, looked to be in her twenties, in full transition. The young woman was thin, and ghostly pale, sweating so badly she looked as though she just got out of the shower. It seemed she was taking in her last breaths as she looked up and made eye contact with Jason and Melody. She had no strength to speak, leaning against the back wall, sitting in a pool of blood with a dead body lying next to her.
