“But she’ll never know that for sure. Not unless she remembers what she did. And if she does… I’m not saying we go back there and smash her in the head or anything—”
“No, you’ve got the gun for that sort of thing,” muttered Neil.
“I’m not saying we kill her,” continued Shay, “but maybe we let fate decide. She’s sleeping. She’s peaceful. Maybe it’s best.”
“This is disgusting,” snapped Debbie.
“I wanna wake up,” said Cody, listing sideways before righting himself. “Af’er. For my kids.”
Shay rubbed her forehead. “Then why not get out of here and find your kids before something like that happens to you? Or before we end up chewed on like the bodies lying around her?”
“That’s murder,” said Debbie.
“It’s not murd—”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Neil, trying to think fast, to figure out a way to stall the argument before it got worse. “We can’t leave her out there. Even if it might be kinder to her if we did, we’ve got two good reasons not to.”
Shay shook her head but didn’t interrupt.
“For one, we don’t know if she killed those policemen out there. But we know she’ll hurt the next unsuspecting person who comes out here. You said so yourself, Shay. And two— we don’t know what’s going to happen when we get past that truck. It might involve lots of noise. Like shooting or shouting. If we have to come back or just— whoever’s last up the ramp, you think she’s going to sleep through that? We have to get her somewhere safe for our own sake, even if you don’t want to do it for someone else’s.”
They were all quiet for a moment. He realized they were waiting for him to lay out some sort of plan. He didn’t have one. Teeth, that’s the dangerous part. We need a spot to put her and a way to stop her teeth.
“You have a key for a room near the door?” he asked.
Cody fumbled through the keyring and Neil turned to Debbie. “We need to cover her mouth. Maybe her hands so she doesn’t scratch. She’ll wake up when we try to move her.”
“We can’t leave her tied up—”
“We won’t, but we have to stop her from biting while we move her. You said I could make things worse by twisting or jerking my wounds. I’m trying to stop that for all of us. You work in an emergency room, you must have had violent patients before. Ones who bit or who flailed.”
Debbie nodded. “We’ll get a wheelchair. There are some with restraints so patients don’t fall, it’ll work for now. Push a button and she’s free, no unstrapping or buckling.”
“You know where one is?”
“Should be one next to the elevator in the storage room.”
“Is that far?”
Cody shook his head. “Closhe to the next bathroom anyway. Another hundred yards or sso.”
“Got the key to that bathroom?”
Cody held up the ring, one key between his fingers.
“Ok,” said Neil, “We go get the wheelchair and come back. Going to take all four of us to get her into it without someone getting hurt. Get her into the bathroom, untie her hands. She can free herself the rest of the way, but it’ll give us a chance to lock the door between us while she tries. Then we come back here. Over the wire and out. Find help. For us, for her, for all the rest. Good enough?”
They’d finally agreed, though it seemed like it might be the very last bit of goodwill he’d get from them. If they didn’t make a move soon, he thought they might split up for good. It took longer than any of them expected. Part of it was just navigating the wheelchair around the piles of wood and bodies. They’d been careful, timing it so they each grabbed one of the woman’s limbs at the same time. But she was up, snarling and twisting as soon as they lifted her. Cody narrowly missed his hand being bitten and Neil had trouble hanging on to her flailing leg long enough to get her into the restraints. The noise was the worst. Three shrieks before Debbie managed to muffle her with a wad of bedsheet she’d brought for the purpose.
“Thank Jesus,” muttered Shay when the woman’s screams finally dwindled to a thin, shrill squeal behind the cloth. Neil looked around, expecting something to leap from the doorway or rise up from the jumbled corpses, but nothing did.
“Let’s get her inside,” he said. “I’m worried she’ll suffocate. Or draw someone.”
He struggled to push the wheelchair back through the courtyard. The woman flailed enough to almost tip it several times, but he got her to the door of the bathroom. Cody held it open. Neil pulled the cloth from her mouth and the screams echoed off the tile wall. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he said, fumbling with the button to release her hands. She clawed at him and he stumbled away from her, trying to escape before she could free herself completely. Cody slammed the door shut and locked it. It would be almost two years before he knew she couldn’t untie her legs. And he’d never know that it took her three days to chew her own fingers down to the bone or that she died of thirst a few days after.
21
The wire had less give than Neil had expected it to. It had looked as if it would droop with the slightest downward pressure, but even once he and Debbie had lain several fence boards against it, it only slightly dipped.
“Just throw the mattresses on top and give me a boost,” said Shay. “It isn’t so high up, I can slide down the mattress and catch myself on the truck.”
“It shouldn’t be you who goes. You and Neil are the most injured,” said Debbie.
“We’re all going over eventually—”
“Maybe. Or maybe the first one over finds out we can’t get through. Or that we get turned back, or finds a— a stepladder or something. It should be me or Cody.”
“You’re injured too,” said Neil, pointing at her hand.
“Yes, but not as badly as the two of you. I break a stitch, it’ll be uncomfortable but the wound’s probably almost clotted anyway. You get another good hit in the neck and your wound could get much worse. Besides which, I’m not even certain you’re going to make it over that without a lot of help. You lost a lot of blood already, Neil. You’re going to be weaker than you expect for a while. Like— days and days. And Shay might make it over the wire, but she’s going to have to go under that truck. Scrape all those bites on the ground. An infection now could be— we don’t know what this is. Is it in the soil? The water? And even aside from that, her injuries are going to make her slower. If she has to retreat, what then?”
“Can’t be me,” said Cody. “Even if I got over, police won’ lissen oo me. Losing it soon. Can tell.” His voice broke and he puffed out a shaky breath. Shay rubbed his arm and he steadied again. “Has to be you, Debbie. Shorry. ‘N fact, maybe I shouldn’t go ‘tall.”
“No, Cody you—”
“Let’s see if anyone’s leaving before we have to make decisions like that. No reason to torture each other until we actually have some way out. Or— or you lose it,” said Neil before Debbie could insist Cody go or Shay jump in to fight about it. He pulled against the wire with one of the fence boards, trying to make it dip a little more. “Toss that mattress, Cody.”
The gurney pad flopped over the wire. It was crooked, but when Shay tried to even it out, they could hear it tearing on the razors. “Leave it,” said Neil, “Use the mats to make a wider surface.” He swung one over the wire, overlapping a piece of the pad. Shay got the other.
“Try and stay on those overlaps if you follow,” said Debbie, “Those razors slice through more than you’d expect. The thickest parts of the padding are going to be safest.” She took a deep, steadying breath. “Ok. Give me a boost Cody.”
Cody knelt and threaded his fingers together to give her a step up. She jumped up onto the gurney pad, slipping a little on its smooth surface.
“Be careful,” said Neil.
“Remember what you said about the guards,” called Shay. “Don’t give them a chance to think you’re sick. You see someone, start talking. The sick ones don’t seem to talk.”
Debbie nodd
ed and skidded down the far side of the pad. Neil could hear her feet hit the tar on the other side. “You okay?” he called after a moment. Cody stared raptly at the mats as if he could see through them to the other side and Shay paced a few steps.
“Okay,” came Debbie’s voice, slightly muffled by the fabric between them. The light from her phone erupted around the edges of the mats and gurney pad. “Going under the truck now.” The light dimmed and the shuffling beyond the mats decreased. Neil lifted the edge of one to look, but could only see the dusty side of the truck.
“Should’ve tole her to record it. Coulda seen then,” said Cody, tapping his phone. They waited. Shay paced to the end of the alley, looked out, paced back.
“It’s just a truck. Ten seconds, that’s it, she’d be—” muttered Neil, but was interrupted by the crack of a gun and shouts.
“Not sick!” Debbie’s voice cut through. “I’m not sick! Don’t shoot!”
Some shouts from farther away, but they were too muffled to hear. Neil took a step toward the barrier, trying to hear.
“Boost me up,” said Shay.
“Wait,” said Neil.
An amplified voice reverberated in the narrow alleyway. “Return to the hospital. You are under quarantine.”
“But we need help.” Debbie’s voice was uncertain, wavering.
“Help has been sent. A security squad is making sweeps of the hospital. They’ve set up a base of operations in the conference rooms on… L1. Make your way there and they’ll meet you.”
“Your squad is dead. They didn’t even last the night.”
Silence followed. Shay nudged Neil. “They won’t shoot all of us,” she whispered.
“Want to be—” Neil broke off as Debbie’s voice floated over the truck again.
“Whatever you think is happening in here, it’s— it’s worse. Way, way worse. The people who have— whatever this is, they’re not rational. They attack anything that moves. You can’t leave us like this. It’s not safe.”
“Return to the hospital. Another security force will be sent to aid you.”
“No, you don’t understand. Your guys were overwhelmed. There are dozens of sick people. Even after the evacuation. We have no weapons. Or— or will to use them, frankly. But the sick people just attack. They’re— eating us. You have to get us out of here. We’ll— we’ll go into another quarantine. Wait here for a cleanroom to be set up, whatever you want. But not inside. You can’t send us back inside.”
“Us?” came the loudspeaker voice.
Shay tugged on Neil’s arm. “Boost me up, now. She needs help. They need to know.”
“Be careful,” said Neil kneeling to give her a step up.
“Five we gathered so far. But there are more healthy people here. They’ve been scattered. One of your guys got sick. Snapped last night. Started attacking people—”
“Impossible,” came the loudspeaker voice. “Those men were healthy.”
“Ask the people you have researching this. They must know the incubation period by now. Maybe you have another source of infection. Or maybe it’s that rapid. Either way, we can’t stay here.”
More muffled shouting. Shay swung up onto the mats and had a leg over the top of the wire.
“Return to the hospital. I won’t ask again. We can’t risk contamination.”
“No, I—”
A rattle of gunfire shook the truck and Shay ducked.
“Shit, shit, shit,” whispered Cody, half jumping toward the wire instead of away.
Don’t lose it, Neil willed him and grabbed Shay’s leg and yanked her back down. A deep silence replaced the gunshots.
A cough and a groan from beyond the truck. Neil jumped for the mat without thinking and Cody grabbed the back of his shirt to stop him. “We have to get her. We have to help,” said Neil. “Debbie?” he called.
“Shhhhh,” hissed Cody in his ear. “Lissen.”
Grunts echoed in the courtyard. Feet running. Then growls.
“The gunshots must have drawn them,” whispered Shay. “We stay quiet, they’ll— maybe they’ll fill up on the bodies out there. Fall asleep and we can move.”
Neil held his breath, Cody’s hand still twisted into the fabric of his shirt and Shay pulled the gun out of her pocket. She uses that, we can kiss any hope of them ignoring us goodbye, he realized. Another, weaker groan from beyond the truck. Then the amplified voice began again.
“Anyone inside who can hear this, don’t try to…”
“Shit,” hissed Cody again. The footsteps and grunts got louder.
“We have to move,” whispered Neil, scooping up a broken fence board. “Back the way we came. Now.” He took a step toward the mouth of the alley only to be jerked back again by Cody’s grip on his shirt.
“But Debbie—” Cody started.
“She’s dead. We’re all dead if we don’t get some barrier between us and the people out there,” said Shay, pulling Cody’s arm. The amplified voice was saying something about shooting. Neil ignored it and twisted free of Cody. Two figures appeared in the mouth of the alley.
“We go now,” cried Neil and sprinted toward them, his broken board swinging out in front of him. For an instant, he worried they were healthy, but the way they ran at him tore the idea away. Lurching and lunging, without flinching away from the sharp wood. He shoved one with the board, using the man’s momentum to throw him to the side, but the other grabbed at him, fingers catching his collar. The seam pressed hard against his wound, making a searing line where the thick bandages smashed against the raw flesh. A thud and another gunshot, this one close enough to daze Neil for a second. He dropped the board and crouched, his arms over his head. Someone hauled him up and dragged him toward the courtyard. It was enough to snap him out of the panic. More people out in the open, maybe a half-dozen or so. Neil had no time to count, only a vague impression that some of them were fighting each other, wrestling and growling and shrieking in shadowy bundles nearby.
“Jesus,” gasped Shay behind him.
A few of the loose shadows sprinted toward the alley opening where the loudspeaker voice still droned. The others focused on Cody, who was still dragging Neil. He stumbled, and Neil almost tripped over him. One of the figures leaped toward them. It slammed into Cody who let out a soft whoosh of air on impact.
“The fuck offa me,” grunted Cody, struggling to catch the woman’s hands. Neil grabbed her from behind, trying to haul her off, but it was more difficult than he’d expected. She twisted and kicked and clacked her teeth in snapping bites. “Sheryl?” Cody said just as Neil heaved her off of him and sent her sprawling.
“No time, man,” he rasped, but Shay was already helping Cody up. More gunfire erupted behind them. The door to the hospital interior was only a few dozen feet ahead, a square of golden light. Neil’s hand and shoulder pulsed with a low pain that only stayed half-submerged in his mind. Over it all was just a screaming sort of terror that insisted the door was too far away. Fingers grazed his arms, his legs, a hand smacked against his ankle and he jumped before it could close around him. Shay shouted and something clattered against the pavement. Neil didn’t stop, pushing both her and Cody from behind. They were in the square of light falling from the door. Warm, wet air gusted into Neil’s ear. Then a screech and he flinched, someone’s face flashed beside his. He swung an arm and smashed into a cheek. It was off balance and the person only growled and shifted slightly, but it sent a twitching stab through the bite in his hand. A hand clawed his chest, clutching his stretched out shirt. The fabric gave with a startling rip and he swung out again.
“Stop!” yelled Shay, the hand releasing only to grab at another section of shirt. “Quit it, Neil.”
He fell through the doorway and was dragged across the linoleum for a second. The door smacked its frame and clicked. It shuddered when something outside hit it. Neil stared around him. Nothing was familiar. Shit. We’re on the other side. In the wrong hall. Why didn’t we go back the way we came?
“Won’ hold em. Jus’ glass,” said Cody, his breath coming in great whooshes.
“We’ve got to move. All that noise, there’s more in this wing. Has to be,” said Shay. “But the gun— I dropped the gun.”
“Good,” said Neil, pulling himself up from the floor. The door rattled as several hands smashed against it.
“Saved your life with it.”
“Almost blew my head off with it. You even hit anything?”
“No,” admitted Shay, “but it distracted one of the people trying to bite you. We should see if we can circle around, get it back.”
“Are you insane? No. We aren’t going back for the gun. We’re getting out of here before they get through and—”
“Gottago back for Debbie,” interrupted Cody. “Sstill alive. Heard her.”
Neil shook his head. The door thumped.
“We’re going back,” insisted Cody, his expression hardening.
“First we have to regroup,” said Shay before they could argue. “Can’t stay here. They’ll come through the glass in a minute. We have to find somewhere safe. Where they can’t see us or hear. Then we figure it out.”
“We can’t lea’ her ‘ere with thosh things climbing up the wire!”
“We can’t save her. What are you going to do?” cried Shay. “Wade out there and grab them all one by one, lock em up? You’ll die before you even got one into a closet. We have to move. Whatever happens to Debbie— at least she’s outside. She’s got a platoon of fucking soldiers to help her. We’ve got no one but us.”
Cody moved reluctantly from the door. “Aren’t gonna help her,” he muttered. “They shot her.”
“I know, I know man,” said Neil wrapping an arm around him. “But Shay’s right. We’ve got no way to help her. Best thing we can do is find a way out. Find her family. So they know what happened. We go out there, we’re all dead. Nobody’s family ever knows.”
Cody nodded and let Neil pull him down the corridor. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “They know,” he said. “Look. Half a million know.” He pointed at the flood of notifications streaming in.
Before The Cure (Book 1): Before The Cure Page 15
