Safe

The ambulance bounced over something, making Kathryn jump. She was still jumpy from the near zombification experience, not fully believing she was safe. “Just a zombie, nothing to worry about.” said Charlie from the front seat. “What?” Paige said, turning to look out the back windows. “Relax. He’s just being an idiot,” said Olivia, “We try not to do vehicular manslaughter.” The raven haired girl gave Kathryn a smile that she supposed was meant to be reassuring. Kathryn couldn’t care less if Charlie plowed down a few of the undead as they made their way through the city, less of them to try and fuck her later.

The recent events still played fresh in her mind. If it hadn’t been for Charlie and Olivia, they probably would not have made it out alive. Or at least Paige wouldn’t have. No need to dwell on any past thoughts of betrayal now, they’d found an alternative.

Charlie and Olivia were both paramedics working from the local hospital. It had been a slow day until all the suddenly they were bombarded with calls about supposed “drug overdoses”. People with green skin mindlessly attacking people all over the city. It didn’t take long for emergency services to realize they had something much worse on their hands. The intial plan was to quarantine the infected at the local hospital, however the police and paramedics were ill equipped to deal with the highly infectious virus. It didn’t help that many of them got turned into zombies themselves. The situation soon devolved from containment, to creation of a safe zone. So, the hospital ejected most of the infected from its patients, and locked itself down to prevent the virus from penetrating its halls. Now, it was the only established safe zone in the city. Olivia and Charlie were working alongside others to shuttle survivors to the hospital to keep them safe for the time being.

“The plan is to hopefully get airlifts off the roof to take people out of the city,” Charlie said as he drove, “We’re in contact with the governor and the national guard. All we gotta do is hang on for the time being and we’ll get out of here.”

That sounded good for someone only interested in saving their own skin, but Kathryn had other concerns. “Can you drop me off somewhere?” Kathryn asked, “My girlfriend is still out there.” Charlie furrowed his brow and looked back at Olivia in the rear view mirror. Olivia shook her head, “I’m sorry but our orders are to bring survivors to the hospital and run back out. We’re pretty short staffed right now, medics keep going out and not coming back, but if you want Charlie and I can go look for her after we drop you off.”

Kathryn grumbled but didn’t say anything. It wasn’t entirely unreasonable, but Kathryn hated the idea of leaving Hailey’s fate in someone else’s hands. “Maybe she’s already at the hospital,” Paige said, placing a hand on Kathryn’s shoulder. “Well you can go and find out in a second,” called back Peter, as the ambulance turned through the brick gates.

The hospital was a fours story white building, divided into two wings that met in the shape of a V. At the point of the V was a awning that stretched over the entrance to the hospital, however Peter blew right past that. “We gotta go around back,” Olivia said upon seeing Kathryn’s confused look, “The front door had to be barricaded to keep the zombies out.” Sure enough, zombies milled around the building, some grasping at the walls, looking for a way in. “Luckily, we’ve got a secret way in,” Peter said. He pulled into the back parking lot of the hospital, and began reversing towards a metal door. As he did this, Olivia unlatched the back doors of the ambulance. “Uh, what are you doing?” Paige asked nervously, the back of the ambulance now wide open. The ambulance continued backing up, until it was pressed right up against the wall. “Alright, let’s get out of this thing, starting to feel like my coffin,” Charlie said as he climbed into the back with the women.

With a metallic grind, the door began getting pulled upwards, opening into a dark loading bay. Paige and Kathryn followed the two paramedics into the bay and through a pair of double doors. Kathryn found herself in a cafeteria, rows of folding tables lining the tile floor. Despite all the half eaten food strewn across the tables, the cafeteria was empty.

“Huh, where’s everyone?” asked Peter as they walked through the cafeteria. “It’s late, they probably went to bed,” Olivia said. “We converted one of the operating rooms into a sleeping area. Or I mean you can use a hospital bed if you can find an open one. Either way we gotta go upstairs so come on.” Olivia led the way through the cafeteria and through a pair of double doors.

Kathryn walked through the doors and immediately ran into Olivia’s back. Olivia had frozen on the other side of the door, starting at something down the hallway they found themselves in. A zombie stood there, shredded scrubs clinging to her body, a hole torn in the pants exposing her cunt which dripped with clear fluid. She stood there, staring at the group, not moving. “Caroline, shit,” Olivia muttered under her breath. “What do we do?” whispered Paige.

“Go back into the cafeteria, move very slowly. We don’t want to alarm her,” said Peter. The zombie, presumably once a human named Caroline, began shambling slowly towards them. Kathryn backed towards the cafeteria, holding open the door for the others to slip in. Once inside, Peter dragged a metal table in front of the door. “What do we do?” asked Kathryn now that they were safe. “Leave,” said Peter simply, “If theres a zombie just wandering around I wager the hospital isn't a safe zone anymore. We’ll just get back in the ambulance and drive out of the city.”

Leaving the city wasn't going to work for Kathryn, Maybe she should just go her own way now. She was considering her options when a voice crackled over an intercom. “Olivia! Can you hear me? It’s me Elizabeth” Olivia perked up at the voice, “Elizabeth?” “One of the nurses,” supplied Peter to Kathryn and Paige, “She’s probably seeing us over the security cams”. “If you can hear me,” Elizabeth’s voice sounded, “I need your help. I don’t know what happened, but somehow the virus spread inside the hospital. It infected almost everyone. I barely managed to escape and barricade myself in the security office. But the zombies have trapped me here. Listen, there’s something here in the hospital, something that the doctors and CDC personnel were working on before they got turned. They were making a rudimentary cure, and it was almost done with the outbreak happened. That research needs to be brought to the outside world. Please, before you leave, get the cure research. All their documents are in lab five on the fourth floor. I know it’s a lot to ask, putting yourself in danger, but I can guide you through the hospital. Please, the literal fate of the world might rest on this.”

With that the intercom hissed and went silent. “Is she serious?” asked Paige, “Is there really a cure?” “I don’t know. There has been some time since the outbreak, it’s possible.” “I’m sorry, we can’t be considering this,” hissed Kathryn, “What if she’s wrong, what if there is no cure? And even if there is, I’m sure other scientists could replicate whatever work they’ve done on their own.” Olivia shook her head, “One of the people employed here was Doctor Chidi Ogundawale, possibly the chief virologist in the world. It’s possible that he came to some major breakthrough that only he alone could achieve.” “And if that’s true, then the only copy of that breakthrough would be upstairs, in a hospital full of zombies,” said Paige. Olivia nodded, her lips tight as she considered the options. “We’re going upstairs aren’t we?” asked Kathryn.