‘Enough for me to convince you to turn around?’ I tried.
‘Not a chance in hell.’
‘Worth a shot.’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘So what do we do now?’ Gavin asked him.
‘We’re gonna wait five. Our boy there says he’s been on the radio with other bits of the convoy, and they’re on our heels. Lost a couple vehicles to collisions or traffic. Once we’re together, Captain Hale’s going to do some organising, but likely we’re gonna push up the emergency lane, far as we can get. If people don’t want to move their cars, they’ll get moved for em.’
‘Can they do that?’ Tony asked.
Emile shrugged. ‘They have guns, and purpose. A dangerous combination.’
‘Might makes right. Tell me about it.’ I grumbled, pointing at my face.
Gavin leapt to their defence. ‘They’re the people who’re going to see us to safety, and those idiots shouldn’t be using the emergency lane.’
‘I’m actually with him there.’ Claire said. ‘All the news was telling people to stay home, and yet here they are, blocking the lane meant to allow emergency services free transport. It’s incredibly inconsiderate, and I wouldn’t mind seeing their fenders get a little bent.’
I found myself smirking. ‘Oh, you’re downright vicious sometimes Claire.’
She returned the smile, and we both looked away again, finding a sudden interest in the floor.That focused her attention back on the blood splatter, and I didn’t want her slipping any closer to another anxiety attack.
‘Hey, why don’t we go outside and wait for the convoy?’ I asked her. ‘Bit of fresh air. Give Gavin a chance to clean up the blood.’
Without waiting for a reply, I walked to the back of the ambulance and opened the doors, dropping down and walking to the crash barrier on the side of the carriageway. It was cooler outside, with a light breeze and heavy overcast clouds that threatened of later rains. When it fell, it’d be heavy.
On the other side of the barrier, wild grass tumbled down a rough hillside into autumnal woodlands. I made a mental note not to lean backwards as I sat down.
The cold from the chilled metal began to eat through my leathers and scrubs almost immediately. I decided standing was best. After all, if I was going along with this stupid ride to Sydow, I should take every chance to stretch my legs.
Claire had followed me as hoped, and was holding her white coat closed over her chest, hands under her armpits. ‘Bit chilly out here.’
‘Don’t sit down, it’s worse.’ I warned her.
We stood awkwardly like that for a minute or so, looking each way up and down the road, or off into the trees. Looking anywhere but at each other. After avoiding paediatrics for the last couple of years, I decided to be the brave one for a change.
‘I’m sorry Claire.’ I started, struggling to think of where to go next. ‘I wasn’t ready.’
‘But now you are?’ she said, each word slowly, clearly trying to make it sound less bitchy. That wasn’t her style, so it’s not how I took it.
‘I guess. Yeah. Back then I was a mess. Training for my nursing, still working those para shifts. You deserved someone who could give you their time. Someone committed. I treated you like a booty call –’
‘No, that’s unfair, you were lovely. It was never just sex.’ She cut me off. ‘We had our good times and bad, like anyone, and I didn’t want to lose you, but really… I think I knew you weren’t ready for that kind of commitment. It was stupid of me. I was stupid.’
‘You can’t take the blame for this one, it’s on me.’ I told her, shaking my head. ‘I could have stayed, after you proposed. But it scared me. It made me think about things.’
‘What kind of things?’ she asked, tentative. ‘Am I why you…uhm, went back to seeing men?’
I saw Emile lean out the back of the ambo like he was about to get out, but when he saw us chatting, or possibly heard us, he ducked back inside. A full-on blush began to swell over my cheeks, so I dropped my volume level a little.
‘No, I still like girls. Still fully, you know, swinging both ways.’ I mumbled, scratching the back of my head. Suddenly it wasn’t cold out here anymore. ‘It scared me. Sounds really dumb now, but at the time I still thought of myself as still too young. I saw my friends from back home getting married, having kids, buying houses, and I looked at them and I thought “that’s what growing up is like and I don’t want it.”’
I looked her in the eye and gave a pathetic little half shrug.
‘So I ran away. Got spooked. Whoosh.’ I added, immediately compounding my embarrassment.
Claire smiled, sympathetically, and had the grace to ignore my sound effects. ‘I know I couldn’t have helped with that. I didn’t take the breakup well – I look back and I’ve no idea how I thought sending all those texts was going to bring you back. What changed, with Kelly?’
‘Ha-ha…’ I cringed, ‘There was a fair amount of soul searching before Kelly came along. He’s no rebound. I had this big internal debate going on. One side, there was this stubborn rich fuck’s daughter who just wanted to keep the party going, and on the other there was this professional, smart woman who knew it was time to grow up. I had to listen to both of them. Take their comments on-board. Get a new tattoo.’ I added, placing a hand over my left bicep.
‘Oooh, what is it?’
‘Stone waves pattern, Northern Voison style. It’s to represent the ever changing nature of the ocean, but also the solid reliability of stone. In my case, the stone is still being a badass, bike-riding, beer-drinking, daddy-defying rebel, and the ocean is trying to be a bit more serious about my career, friends and the effect that those beers will have on my long-term health.’
Claire wasn’t quite sure where this was going. Frankly, neither was I. This was supposed to clear the air, not muddy the waters, or mix the metaphors.
‘Look,’ I tried again, ‘I’m not saying either is worse than the other, I’ll meet you halfway in the blame even though I feel it was more on me. So…you were clingy and I was immature. Is that a fair summary?’
‘Uhm, yes?’ Claire said, a tense sort of smile creeping in again.
‘After all that, I was embarrassed. Seeing you reminded me of how much of an idiot I’d been. Kelly asked me out and fun-me said “sure, fuck it”, but when it turned out he was nice, and kind, and took me more seriously than even I did, it was the new, mature me that said “let’s see where this goes”.’
The smile faded away and she bit her bottom lip. ‘And it went all the way to the ring?’
I shrugged again, but I kept her gaze.
‘We can still be friends, if you want?’ she said, offering me a hand.
It’d been stuck up her armpit, but that just meant it was warm – and we medical folks aren’t squeamish.
Sixteen
The “convoy”, as Tucker had put it, arrived one after the other, over the next twenty minutes. We were only supposed to wait five, but some of them got split up in traffic and were lagging behind. Others didn’t show up at all.
In the end, there were another two Sydow Sec ATVs, the huge, armoured four-by-fours they were so keen on, along with three ambulances and two GFPD cruisers. The last to arrive however, was one of Sydow’s large canvas-backed trucks, the kind that could carry either thirty guys and their gear or, as I suspected, a shitload of recovered medical equipment.
I didn’t remember there being quite this many vehicles assembled by the A&E when we were leaving, and there was certainly no supply truck, so I assumed one of Captain Hale’s men had been organising a similar evacuation effort at the main entrance too.
I had to hand it to him, he’d got people out. Maybe not a lot, maybe not enough to make up for deciding to abandon the hospital in the first place, but he’d managed to save a few lives. A more cynical, and frankly more vocal side of my brain, reminded me that saving a handful was probably going to let him sleep easier about leaving the rest behind.
After each
vehicle parked up, folks got out to talk to one another, Captain Hale himself appearing from one of the ambulances to give his men a debrief. After a minute or two, he glanced off to the side, towards us.
His eyes lingered on Claire and me, standing by the back of our ambo, and I felt sure he knew exactly what Bailey did – either she’d told him, or Yanis Lines had said something between our little chat and everything going to hell. He made a “one sec” sort of gesture to the people he’d been speaking to, and started walking over. Great.
He wasn’t a physically imposing man, perhaps a little shorter than the average, with a build a little heavier to make up for it. But there was something about how he carried himself that put me on edge – straight back, eyes forward, he projected himself as if he was marching to conquest, not walking over for a chat.
‘Nurse Cox.’ He nodded smartly, ‘It was my understanding you wanted no part in evacuating the hospital.’
‘I got shoved into the back of an ambulance-’
‘Sorry.’ Claire muttered.
‘-and our driver wouldn’t let me out until we stopped.’ I told him. ‘Trust me, if I had a vehicle right now, I’d be long gone from here. A couple other people expressed an interest in coming with me. Would you be open to giving us one of the cars?’
I had a good guess at the answer already, and when it came, it did not surprise me.
‘We can’t spare any vehicles I’m afraid,’ he said, with the barest, most imperceptible shake of the head, ‘Besides, we’ll need every available medic in Sydow, and Dr Lines spoke most highly of you.’
From anyone else, it’d be a compliment, but that just confirmed he knew what’d happened between Bailey and me, and I guessed he didn’t give a fuck. Either that or this aggressive politeness was his way of making an unofficial apology.
‘Where is Yanis anyway?’ I asked.
Yeah that’s right, we were on first name terms. Suck it.
‘Regrettably, we aren’t sure of the doctor’s whereabouts. The truck carrying Dr Lines, some of the CDC staff and most of the lab equipment was delayed upon departure, lost their escort in traffic, and has not been answering their radio.’
‘Sounds like he ditched you.’
‘I doubt it. Dr Lines understood the value of working under the protection of SySec.’
Part of me was being overly defensive, and immediately took that as a threat. I think he picked up on that from the sharp look I must have given him. He tilted his head down, like he was looking at me just over the top of imaginary spectacles.
‘You are free to go if you so choose. I know there was an altercation between you and one of my men that was uncalled for, and we’ll be dealing with that. I, however, have limited resources, and important responsibilities. It is my understanding that you were against leaving patients behind at the hospital?’
I nodded, arms folded.
‘I tried to safely see as many of them away as possible, and they are here now. There are half as many vehicles here as I was expecting, and I don’t know if anyone else is following behind or if we’re all that’s left…’ He took a deep breath and straightened up again, looking me dead in the eye before carrying on.
‘If you walk away, I’m sure nobody will think any less of you. Civilians cannot always be expected to rise to the occasion when a crisis calls. But if you stay, you’ll have a place in Sydow. My last communication with headquarters implied that the national situation is taking a turn for the worse, and we are preparing to accept refugees from across the Midlands. That’s a lot of patients, Nurse Cox. You could do a lot of good with us.
‘Now then, I’m hoping we’ll be moving out in twenty. Think about it. If you need to.’ He added.
Captain Hale turned on his heel and marched away, taking with him the air of pomposity and leaving behind strong whiffs of guilt and shame.
‘Bastard.’
‘What?’ Claire asked, raising an eyebrow.
I clenched my fists and grunted frustration, pointing a finger very briefly at his retreating back. ‘That little shit just turned this around on me. He was the one stealing hospital gear and bailing on all the patients. Now he thinks just because he managed to save a few he’s got the moral high-ground.’
Claire looked at me, somehow confused and sympathetic. It was a vaguely patronising look, like I she couldn’t understand why I was angry.
‘It doesn’t matter.’ I sighed. ‘The Gods clearly don’t want me to go home.’
‘I don’t recall you being particularly religious?’
‘I’m not.’ I said, looking up into the overcast sky. ‘But short of divine intervention, I doubt I’m getting car, and we aren’t going to make it on foot – not without a hospital between the virus and the city. Things are going to go to hell real quick. Guess I’m stuck with you. Erm, this group, anyway.’
‘I knew what you meant.’
‘I’ll stop putting my foot in it eventually.’
‘We’ll see.’ She smiled. It was sweet on the surface but there was still a little sourness she was doing a good job of hiding.
Hale sent someone around doing a headcount, and since I was sticking around, I got counted. This wasn’t my show though, I wasn’t running this road trip, so I tried to go back to doing what I do – making sure people are alright.
We were pretty well covered on that front though. In the various vehicles present, there were about a dozen medics, most of them doctors, a couple of nurses and an orderly who looked like he’d recently been puking.
There seemed to be nearly equal numbers of hospital staff to patients at any rate, and some of those patients, like Tony – who was just in oncology for a follow-up scan – weren’t in any great distress. The few that’d been roused from their beds and wrapped hospital robes over their bedclothes were a little chilly, but otherwise in good health. Blankets were distributed and Aaron Gorezka was not mentioned.
I imagine the slower patients, the bedbound, sickly and elderly, fared a lot worse inside the hospital. Survival of the fittest, or at least, healthiest. It was a dark thought to dwell on, and nothing could be done for them now.
Poor bastards. It was a fate that didn’t bear thinking about. Bedridden with your own sickness, trying not to cough, not to cry out for help, because if you did then the dead would hear you, batter down your door and eat you alive, right there in your sickbed.
Like I said, it didn’t bear thinking about.
But with no bones to set or wounds to bandage, a quick walk around the vehicles led Claire and me right back to where we started, leaning on our ambo, watching the scene unfold.
The headcount wasn’t the only task Hale had his men on. They were also taking stock of every scrap of useful equipment; from sticking plasters and water bottles, to the shotguns in the backs of the police cruisers. A few heavy looking boxes were also moved from the ATVs to the canvas truck, and vice versa.
On our walk-around, we’d seen the truck was indeed laden with equipment from County General, boxed up and labelled neatly with big black marker pens. I doubt they’d have been able to get anything as large as the CT scanners dismantled and loaded up, but there’d be no end of smaller diagnostics, monitoring and lab equipment on that truck, not to mention boxes and boxes of more mundane supplies, like wound dressings and the entire contents of the dispensary.
Hale was too far away to make out exactly what he was saying, but by the time I’d worked it out, two soldiers had already climbed up into the cab and the truck was reversing away. He’d probably sent it to find an alternate route – and obviously not given me the option of jumping on the back. I’d already resigned myself to being stuck on this mission of his, but that reminder stung, made me think of those I was turning my back on.
Kelly would be okay without me, I was sure. He’d stay up in his tower block, safe like I asked, and he had Morgan next door to stop him from going stir crazy if he got bored. My man wasn’t stupid enough to risk his neck trying to find me. I’d have to try and call hi
m, to let him know what was going on, but I still had no signal.
Laurel and Dani, I was more worried about. Our little street wasn’t particularly well suited to defending against hungry infected. They’d have nowhere to hide, and neither of them owned a vehicle they could escape in either. Laurel had done her national service, so she knew how to shoot, and rather well if the certificate on her wall was anything to go by, but that wouldn’t help her, since a) she didn’t know where to shoot them and b) we don’t own a gun.
I’d just have to hope they were as smart as they thought they were – and right now, I wish I’d listened to them and called in sick. I could be there with them now, boxing up food and water, finding a way to get to Kelly’s.
Things were going to get bad in Greenfield now. The city had already been closing down public transport and trying to get people to stay at home, but with nobody to check the infection at County General, and a worsening situation at Mercy Hospital, it was only a matter of time before the infected would be roaming down the streets in droves, looking for their favourite flesh to eat.
Perhaps some people would be better equipped to defend themselves, but without hard information on the nature of the infected, people were going to start dying all across the city, if they hadn’t already. Then once they’d died, they’d be right back up again, looking to spread the virus even faster.
And that was just the infected we thought we knew about. The aberrations? Like the runners, the screamers and those ghouls Yanis said we’d encountered? Where did they come from, what do they want?
‘You’re looking pensive.’ Claire said, poking me out of my reverie.
‘Just thinking of home. If it’s still there.’
‘It’s there, and it’ll be there when you get back.’ Claire assured me, putting a hand on my shoulder, albeit, very briefly.
‘This move to Sydow sounds like a permanent thing,’ I sighed, ‘and the infection rate in Greenfield was already getting out of control...’
The Suburban Dead (Book 2): Emergency Page 14
