The Dead Chapter 12

Book 1: The Dead

Chapter 12

We had moved some of the couches around to block off the broken windows and closed the curtains. We were lucky that the clinic was mainly untouched by the dead or by panicked people. We surmised that this was because the clinic was closed the day the report was broadcast, all the people working there would have been in the hospital. Health care professionals were required to get vaccinations as they were released. I wondered why Nicole hadn't been vaccinated, but I guessed it was because she was on holidays, no need to get vaccinated immediately. I thanked, once again, whatever was watching over us that she hadn't been more prepared for her return to university, I don’t know how we would handle things without her.

We had decided that we shouldn’t jump to conclusions, just because this pharmacy was cleaned out doesn’t mean all of them are. We spent the rest of that day clearing out the remaining rooms for anything useful, and then as we settled down for dinner Todd, Wendy, Nicole, Daniel, Brooke, Caleb and I began discussing our options. ‘So,’ Todd began, ‘our problem is that most pharmacies would be the first target of people like us, survivors who aren’t relying or waiting on the government.’ What are we waiting for? I wondered, but this conversation was not about that, and I had no desire to discuss that subject.

‘But how do we know that the hospital hasn’t also been cleaned out?’ Daniel asked

‘Well,’ Nicole replied, ‘anyone with sense would know not to go there it’s infested with the dead’

‘And anyone with that little sense to try would be killed,’ Caleb added grimly

‘So does that include us?’ I asked, not trying to be sarcastic but truly asking the question

‘Well, we’re not out of options yet,’ Todd answered, ‘we should at least try some of the other pharmacies near here before we go on a suicide mission.’

…

Todd and Caleb took the bike out the next day to scout out several pharmacies we had found on the map. I practiced cleaning my new, and not wanted, gun. We had found some more ammo on the dead marauder-we still weren’t sure what to call them-so that meant I had a full clip and Brooke had a few more bullets in her revolver. As Brooke showed me how to reload I finally had the time, and the courage, to ask a question I had been meaning to ask since she had pulled the revolver out of her bag, ‘where did you learn to shoot?’ She froze slightly before answering

‘My father taught me,’ she said, not looking me in the eyes

‘Who was he?’

‘He was a soldier,’ she smiled slightly at the memory, ‘and a bit of a gun nut. But not in a bad way,’ she said quickly, now looking at me, ‘the first thing he taught me was where the safety was’

‘Is he…’ I paused, not knowing how to ask

‘He’s dead,’ she answered, going back to not looking at me. I continued my lesson, not talking much anymore, I wondered if his death was why she didn’t say much about herself, or whether there was another reason.

We all stopped what we were doing when we heard the sound of Caleb’s bike. Through a hole we had purposefully left we saw both of them, seemingly unharmed returning. But they didn’t look happy. They explained to us that none of the three pharmacies they had checked out had any medicine left in them, in fact at the last one they saw the marauder’s cars driving away and hid so they didn’t see them. I was disappointed they had not run into trouble yet, but I wondered why they were still raiding pharmacies, were they looking for a more specific, rare drug, or were they stockpiling for the long run. Whatever they were doing there was no doubt in any of our minds that searching other pharmacies was pointless, the hospital was our only choice.

But bad news and bleak futures had to wait, when we got the good news that Simon was fully awake, albeit with a raging fever. Daphne, Nicole and I went into see him, we had set him up on one of the clinic beds and Nicole had given him an IV. He rubbed his head not yet registering his surroundings ‘Daphne? Where are we?’

‘Simon, relax,’ Nicole told him, pushing to keep lying down on the bed

‘You were in a car accident,’ Daphne told him, her voice wavering at the memory, ‘I’m fine but you wear injured. You’re fine now, but you’ve got an infection’

‘We’re trying to get medicine for you,’ I said, trying to keep everyone calm and hopeful

‘Will?’ he looked at me, realising finally where he is and who is with him, ‘what are you doing here?’ Then we had to go through a horrifying experience of telling him what had happened, he apparently had lost all memory of the day leading up to the crash, but Nicole said that was not rare after such an accident. It was terrible having to do that, it brought back all the original feelings of seeing that woman being attacked, and the phone call with my father. At one point Daphne had to leave the room, but eventually he had him calm and fully aware of the situation.

Nicole, Todd and I talked that night about how we would approach the hospital issue. ‘We shouldn’t all go,’ Nicole started, and she sounded sure

‘Well I’m going,’ said Todd, sounding almost offended by the concept of staying behind

‘I’d like to go too,’ I added, I let them believe that I was worried about their safety and that I wanted to help. But I knew the truth, I wanted to find my family, my father may still be alive, my sister may still be one of the dead, and my mother may be one to by now if the dead didn’t kill her before she turned. ‘Alright,’ began Todd, confused by the shortness of my reply, ‘so that’s me, you, Caleb should come, we could use his experience’

‘He scouted the hospital once!’ Nicole exclaimed

‘Any experience would be useful,’ Todd argued

‘Well Brooke should stay here, at least one person left behind should be able to use a gun’

‘Well I’m not letting you go without me,’ Wendy interrupted us. Todd sighed, I don’t think he was happy about it but he knew it was pointless to argue with her ‘I would like to come too,’ said Monica, appearing from behind Wendy, and then said nothing more. In fact I think this is the first I heard her speak since we met her. ‘There we go then,’ Todd said, quick to finish this conversation before others volunteered, ‘Will, Caleb, Wendy, Monica and I will go to the hospital and the rest will stay here.’ They begun to discuss what vehicles they would take while I walked away, breathing heavily. I wondered what choice I had just made, and what consequences it would have.