Dead, but Not for Long (14 page)

“I’m staying,” Jack added. “This wasn’t in the
brochure, but I can’t leave these people, either.”

“I’ll be staying as long as I can,” Keith said,
“though I understand if anybody else wants to leave.

“No, it’s right there in the employee handbook,”
Ernie said as he passed them with the broom. “Section 1523. In case of an
attack by the undead, all employees are required to stay at their stations
until either the matter is resolved or they are eaten.”

“He’s kidding,” Keith said to the second biker who
was staring at the old man with his mouth hanging open. “That’s for other
emergencies and it says nothing about being eaten, does it Ernie?”

Ernie was already halfway down the hall and he just shrugged.

“I don’t remember ever reading that part,” Marla
said, staring at Ernie’s back as he disappeared into one of the rooms.

“This could end up being suicide,” Keith said. “For
those of us that do stay, I think we need to consider ways to secure the
hospital. What about using brick or something to close off the windows and
doors? Any ideas?”

“I like your orderly’s idea,” Snake said to Jack,
causing Keith to raise his eyebrows, though he didn’t bother correcting the
man. “There’s a home improvement store about two miles down the road. Maybe we
could commandeer a truck and grab some block and mortar bags. One of my guys
does that stuff. We could have him block out the windows and any glass doors,
while we keep the goons away from him. That should keep the first floor pretty
secure, at least for a while.”

Jack knew he was taking a risk in trusting the strangers but his gut told him that they meant no
harm and his instinct was usually right.

“I’m not sure that this is the best place to be, but if you and your men are willing to stick
around and give us a hand, we’d sure be happy to have you,” he said. “We can
use all the help we can get at this point.”

Snake grinned and said, “It’s a deal, Jack.”

He looked at his partner. “Wolf, go see if you can find a truck. We’re going shopping.”

Turning back to Jack and Keith, he smiled, showing a couple of missing teeth in the front.

“You know, we hang around long enough, we could give you guys a cool nickname too.”

Keith laughed, able to relax a little now that they
had a plan. He’d feel even better once the bottom floor was secured. “Will they
completely block the entrances off down there? I guess we could use the fire escape to get in and out if we have to.”

“The side doors should be okay because they’re metal and swing out for fire code,” Jack noted. Only the glass ones need to be reinforced.”

Keith nodded, “Yeah, nothing should get through those metal doors.”

Jack turned to Snake. “I’ll get Eric to help you
with the reinforcing. He’s not real bright, but he’s obnoxious enough that your
guys will have the motivation to get done quickly.”

Snake got a confused look on his face. “Uh, Dude, didn’t he tell you that he was leaving?”

“Let me guess. He went to find another snack?” Keith
asked, rolling his eyes. “I don’t think he can go two hours without some sort of fast-food fix.”

“You kidding?” Snake replied. “That dude smelled
like he just got battered by Col. Sanders. He left half a bucket on his shirt. He found something open.”

“Why am I not surprised? Of course, he could have
been dumpster diving. Either way, if he has food, then that can’t be where he went,” Keith said.

~*~

The journey back to the freeway was nerve-wracking
for Eric as the roads were filled with deserted vehicles. The number of undead
seemed to be increasing. When he reached the on-ramp, he had to nudge several
cars out of the way with his bumper so that he could continue. More than once,
he was sure that he wasn’t going to get through and with the large number of
infected around the car it would have been the end of him. Slowly pushing his
way through, he moved down the freeway at a crawl. It took him an hour to make
it the first mile through the abandoned cars then the traffic became a little
easier to navigate after that point.

The city gave way to forests, and Eric let out a
breath of relief when he started moving at a decent speed. Something caught his
eye off to the right. A small group of survivors had spotted him from their
hiding place in the trees and were running toward him. Their frantic movements
attracted the attention of a few undead, which were staggering slowly behind them.
Eric slammed on the brakes and jumped out, hurrying to the back of the car.
Opening the trunk, he frantically searched its contents.

“There’s got to be something here!” he said.

He kept looking over to see the survivors closing in on him and the zombies not far behind them, growing in numbers.

“Ah-ha!” he cried. He triumphantly grabbed a can of
florescent paint from the trunk and held it to the side of the car. He looked
nervously at the small crowd approaching him as he painted. When he finished,
he quickly jumped back into the front seat. The exhausted survivors came close
enough to the vehicle to see ‘Not in Service’ painted in bold letters on the
side door as the car took off.

Eric watched from his side view mirror as the group stopped in the middle of the road, demoralized.

At least they know now, Eric thought as he continued on his journey.

~*^*~

Marla walked over and reminded Keith that their patients were hungry.

“As soon as the first floor is cleared out, we’ll go see what we can find. I have the feeling
that it won’t be a home cooked meal, though,” Keith told her.

“Well, if you don’t need me here right now, I’ll check on the cleanup on the first floor,”
Snake said, turning to re-enter the elevator.

“Wait!” Marla stopped him. “When were you going to tell us why they call you Snake?”

The biker studied her expression to see if she was joking. It was obvious that she wasn’t.

“Well,” he started, “it wasn’t long ago that I used to let my, uhh, one-eyed
python roam just about anywhere it pleased.”

“Wasn’t that dangerous?” Marla asked, putting her hand to her mouth.

“Sure it was,” Snake replied, “but at the time, I didn’t care. I couldn’t care less who I
hurt, and whether or not I got hurt. When I found God, I learned that it was better to keep it in my pants.”

“Is it there now?” Marla gasped.

“I sure hope so!” Snake answered with a sideways glance.

Jack had heard the exchange and was in a corner with his hand over his mouth, appearing to be experiencing some sort of spasms.

“Listen,” Marla said sternly, “I’ve seen all those wildlife shows. I’d see it if it were still
in your pants. If I find that thing, I swear I’ll smash it.”

She made a stomping movement which made Snake step back and cringe at the mental image. Marla turned to Jack.

“I love animals just as much as anyone else, but he’s not allowed to bring that thing in the hospital, is he?”

Jack tried to speak, but quickly turned back to his corner and buried his head in his hands.

Keith just shook his head. Marla would never cease to amaze him. Just when he thought she had
finally hit the bottom of the stupidity pit, he would find out there was yet another level.

“It’ll be fine, Marla,” Keith said. “I’m sure that Snake knows he needs to control his, uh,
pet, while in a public building.”

Lindsey and Autumn had returned from checking the south corridor. They both looked
surprised to see the bikers and Keith could only imagine what they thought
about Marla’s tirade. “I swear, if that snake gets out of his pants, I’m going to scream!”

Lindsey quickly covered Autumn’s ears and guided her back through the corridor.

“I want to see the snake!” Autumn pleaded.

“No, you don’t,” Lindsey insisted. “Believe me, you don’t.”

Snake glanced at Keith and said, “You know, at least it won’t be boring. Stuck in a hospital
full of semi-comatose and bedridden patients for days could have been pretty
miserable, but I have the feeling that we won’t have a dull moment around here.”

Snake gladly got back in the elevator, still confused as to whether Marla had an exceptionally
dry sense of humor or if she was extremely stupid. He rode to the first floor,
and when the doors opened, his men were dragging the last of the undead dead outside.

“All cleaned up?” Snake asked.

“Yeah, man,” one of the men said through his mask. “No bites either.”

Snake was glad to hear that. He had lost two men when he had liberated a shopping mall
earlier, and he’d lost over half of his men at the shelter.

“What about securing those windows?” Snake continued.

“The guys should be picking up some materials from DIY Depot right now. We’ve got a couple of
shooters on the roof picking off the zombies before they can gather back at the parking lot.”

“Cool,” Snake smiled. “Tell Mouse and Gunner to meet me at the cafeteria. We’re going to make some grub.”

~*~

Eric pulled off the freeway to the gravel road. It was a relief to be in the country after the
harrowing experience in town. The freeway had been a nightmare as the survivors
had jammed it up in a desperate attempt to leave the city. Even the dirt roads
were beginning to clog as more people were seeking an alternate route and the
first priority was to get out. Now the rural communities were becoming
overcrowded and with the exodus from the cities came the plague. Many of the
refugees had brought family members that were infected in the hopes that they
could save them, or at least control them. This, more often than not, ended
badly. Fortunately, Gratiot County was crisscrossed with country roads and had
no large population centers. Ithaca was small enough and far enough from
Cheri’s farm that Eric didn’t think they’d have much trouble with the infected.
The problem, he thought, would be the living. There would be thousands of
people with no place to go. They would soon need food, water, and shelter. A
farm like Cheri’s would be coveted, and not everyone would be polite about it.

~*~

“But Keith, I just don’t think you’re taking this seriously,” Marla sputtered. “Remember when
that man snuck a cat in here, and one of the other patients threatened to sue
us because he was allergic or something? Just think what a python could do! It
could swallow one of the patients whole and then they’d sue for sure.”

“Well, they couldn’t sue us because they’d be dead, right?” Keith pointed out. “Do you
think that with zombies having eaten most of the people on the first two
floors, patients and staff alike, that anybody is going to sue us over a snake?
With any luck, they’ve already gotten most of the lawyers.” He rubbed his
temples and said, “Besides, it’s not a snake. He just meant . . .”

“I heard him say it was a snake,” Autumn said, sticking her head back around the corner. “I’m
sure about that part.”

Giving up, Keith said, “Okay, you win. Why don’t you guys all go look for the snake in the empty
rooms? I’ll see about changing bed pans and colostomy bags since most of our CNAs have apparently been eaten.”

~*~

Eric stopped a few yards short of the farm house. He had never been this close before, at
least not in person. Several questions haunted him. How would she react? Would
she even recognize him? Would the restraining order still be in effect? The
previous time, he had lost his courage as well as his stamina. This time was
different. This was a crisis. She could be in trouble . . . and he had a patrol
car. The thought made him smile. She hadn’t seen him for years. She had no idea
what he did for a living and probably didn’t care. Now she would. He was a cop,
for all she knew. He would be her knight in shining armor. He thought about the
people at the chicken place, how they had waited all day for a cop and how they
had cheered him on when he had cleared out the dead. He was in demand and now
she would finally appreciate him. He pulled in front of the house and turned
off the car, wondering if she might be looking outside now, desperate for someone to come to her aid.

There was no sign of any infected around, but that didn’t mean anything. She had to know
what was going on by now, and she was probably terrified. As he stared at the
house, he could already see in his mind how the events were going to unfold.

In his fantasy, he saw Cheri peeking out the window, watching as a small horde of
the infected converged upon Eric from all directions. He would be smiling, of
course, and he’d throw her a wink just to let her know how confident he was.
Then, the smile would disappear as he put on his game face and grabbed the
sword with both hands, yelling an attack cry as he jumped into action, slicing,
chopping, whipping around to get yet another of his foes before using a hard
kick on one coming up on the side. He would move like lightning, dropping one
after the other and in a matter of minutes, he would stand alone, bodies
littering the yard around him as he surveyed the devastation. That’s when Cheri
would run out and throw her arms around him, thanking him for saving her. He’d
tell her that it was nothing, that he was a killing machine, and it was what he
had been made to do. Still smiling at the thought, he rang the bell.

Nobody answered.

~*~

Snake arrived at the cafeteria and found it in decent shape, considering the circumstances. He
knew that most hospitals had backup generators that would kick on at any loss
of grid power, and with all of the mounting chaos, loss of power was
inevitable. This hospital would soon be one of the only places in town capable
of storing frozen food or microwaving a meal. It would be a virtual island in a sea of death.

Mouse and Gunner arrived and were awed by the size of the kitchen.

“Not like the mess hall, huh guys?”

“This is awesome, man!” Gunner was mesmerized by the row of ovens and stoves lining the
wall while Mouse was trying to figure out the purpose of some of the utensils.