The End (17 page)

William walks out hastily towards his office,
on his way he asks Susan to tell Martin and Markus to meet him as
soon as possible in his office for a new job.

Arriving at Williams so-called office, they
sit down and wait for William to get back from where ever he is,
only a few minutes went by and they can hear footsteps approaching,
that must be William, Martin thought.

“We have a very important job to do,” William
said.

“What job would this be?” Martin Asked.

“We need to go and see if anyone else made it
to Key West, The Fort,” William answered.

“Beside from that, we should also go take
equipment from the hospital, we need them for more serious injuries
and disease, this way we would be able to properly diagnose the
patients that visit Emma,” William said.

“Sounds easy enough,” Martin said, staring at
William.

“We also need to collect samples from those
things, least a few samples from a variety of infected, just so
that Emma know what to look for,” William said.

“Sure, that won’t be a problem either; will
you be joining us again?” Martin asked.

“Of course, i need to make sure we get the
right equipment,” William said.

“The more we are the more we can get done, we
will also stock up on other supplies, though the main goal is to
secure medical equipment, once that is secured, we can only then
continue to search for any other supplies,” William said, followed
with complete silence.

“No questions?” William asked.

“How long will this trip be?” Markus
asked.

“I will be setting it for at least 5 days, 3
days to secure the equipment and 2 more days for any other
supplies, food and fuel. William said.

“You all should go get some rest, this time,
we will be doing it a little different, we will be going tonight at
dark, the few hours of rest, will be good for both of you,” William
said as they walked away.

Both of them walk fast, they still need to
fetch food and prepare their gear before they can even think of
resting; it sucks as it’s already late, if William could have only
mentioned this earlier.

“I don’t know anymore, it’s getting harder
for me to trust William,” Markus said.

“Why is that?” Martin asked.

“Think about it, Danny and William obvious
has something going on,” Markus answered.

“What’s your point?” Martin asked.

“Think about it, this morning Danny collapsed
looking awful, high fever, sweating and moaning in pain, now all of
a sudden he wants us to gather samples, don’t you find that
slightly out of the ordinary,” Markus explained.

“That will explain why they want better
equipment to get better diagnostics,” Martin said, thinking.

“Exactly, this all seem wrong, for all we
know this place is compromised, just because of Danny, he might be
infected, you know it takes time for them to go all nuts,” Markus
said.

“I know, you don’t have to tell me, just get
your stuff ready, let’s get this done and see what happens after we
get everything, there is no need to rush to conclusions,” Martin
said.

“I guess you’re right, just don’t be
surprised if we return and he ended up killing everyone,” Markus
said

“Shut up, go get your stuff ready and go to
bed,” Martin said as he grabbed his bag all geared up.

“Ok, calm down, I am just thinking of the
worst case scenario,” Markus said as Martin walked away.

Martin arrives at his tent, falling on his
bed, he doesn’t want to sleep, not just yet, up and waiting only
for his brother Bobby. Falling asleep and waking up every few
minutes, this has been going on for almost an hour, Martin figures
that it’s enough and reaches out to his bag grabbing two pills, not
meant for sleeping its simply to relax.

“I hear you and Markus will be leaving
tonight,” Bobby said.

“It seems so; I have been waiting for you,”
Martin said.

“For what reasons, couldn’t you just look for
me? Bobby asked.

“Nah, you know me, too lazy for that, listen
up, what I am about to tell you is extremely important,” Martin
said, staring at Bobby.

“Sure, I’m listening, what’s on your mind?
Bobby asked.

“This little parade of happiness, these
people have going on, won’t last, not for long anyways,” Martin
said.

“It makes me freaking sick, I need to get
back out there,” Bobby said.

“Don’t worry, we will pop this little bubble
soon, we just need to give it some time, with a reason to do so,”
Martin said.

“Then what the hell do you want to talk
about, why bring this up if we need to wait,” Bobby said
angrily.

“For our safety, one of their members fell
sick and I was listening to this guy babbling about it, he thinks
that guy might have contracted the virus,” Martin said.

“What, the guy that fainted this morning?”
Bobby asked twirling his beard.

“Jip, that’s the one,” Martin said.

“So what should I do about that? Assassinate
him with a paper peashooter?” Bobby asked sarcastically.

“Just listen, you won’t be assassinating
anyone, just keep an eye on him, if he starts going mental then put
the idiot down before he harms anyone,” Martin said angrily.

“What if I lure him to do something, maybe
temp him to attack me, then I have the reason to put him down,”
Bobby suggested.

“It won’t work,” Martin said.

“Why is that, mister smart guy?” Bobby
asked.

“That Danny is a real softy, he won’t be able
to hurt a fly and as long as that’s the case you will not touch him
and make us guilty,” Martin said, rubbing his nose.

“Sure, sure, you expect me to sit here and
wait while he is sick?” Bobby asked.

“Just do what I tell you, if you as much as
lay a finger on him, I promise I will skin you alive,” Martin
said.

“Fine, just relax god damn it, I will keep an
eye on him,” Bobby said.

“Good now we are making progress,” Martin
said with a smile.

“How long do you want me to babysit this
guy?” Bobby asked.

“I will be away for an entire week, though we
will have the needed equipment here in three days, three days that
you will have to be on alert, after that still keeping an eye on
him, but he might just have something common,” Martin said.

“No problem, hell did you see the breasts on
that Emma girl?” Bobby asked.

“You will never change will you?” Martin
asked.

“Don’t judge me; I have eyes, eyes that I can
use to look where ever I want,” Bobby said.

“And hands to touch whatever and whenever you
want, I know,” Martin said before Bobby continues his sentence.

“Right, that’s my motto,” Bobby said laughing
out loud.

“Ok, shut up and leave, I need to get some
sleep,” Martin said.

Martin waits for Bobby to leave the tent,
relieved to finally get some shut-eye before he goes on that
mission, hatting the fact that it will take an entire week, it’s so
long not to mention boring as hell. Nothing ever really happens
that’s fun or exciting, its kill a few and find a way to carry all
those things back to a van or a boat, simple ways to get it back to
the Fort.

Later that night William has his list
finished, everything that Emma could have ever wanted is written
down, he was ready to leave, ready to find whatever needed to fix
Danny, there is no time to waste. William wakes up Markus and heads
straight to Martin which is still fast asleep, William struggles to
wake him but managed with a splash of water.

Still tired, Martin got up, just to get up
took a lot of effort, he grab his bag and starts following William
to the boat, loading his gear with everything ready to go, Martin
zips up his jacket and leans backward trying his last attempt to
get more rest.

Martin fell asleep even though Markus woke
him, Martin felt that his nap session was way to short, it felt
like mere minutes even when it wasn’t, he starts to wonder about
that pills he took, it sure as hell can’t be minor medication to
simply relax from stress.

“Martin, get a grip man,” William said.

“What’s wrong with you?” William asked.

“I took these pills, it’s meant for relaxing,
now I just feel so tired,” Martin said.

“We don’t need this right now, snap out of
it, let's do what we came to do,” William said worried that Martin
isn’t up for it.

“No worries, I can handle myself let’s just
go, the walk will help me,” Martin said giggling softly.

“Fine if you fall behind then that’s your
problem we won’t stop,” William said as he walks off with
Markus”

This reaction makes Martin wonder what leader
William really is, because to him he seems like the guy that only
want benefits for himself. If he doesn't change, he will force my
hand to take some serious actions against him, it will be the
perfect opportunity to take over his little operations.

Arriving at the hospital, they are given the
order to split up and look for various equipment, William strictly
requested, that they all meet back in the reception within two
hours. Martin can’t believe this; William must really be desperate
to save Danny, because normally he won’t risk any one’s life for
anything.

Martin can almost say it clearly; William is
a selfish bastard that will always take care of his needs first.
Martin searches for the equipment and finds a few of the devices
needed; he continues searching as he thinks of a plan to eliminate
William.

Arriving at a locked storage room, Martin
struggles to get the door open, making a lot of noises, alerting
two dogs that were wandering aimlessly in the hospital, feasting on
dead patients, as soon as they heard the noise, they started
charging to the source of the noise.

Luckily for Martin he could see them come
around the corner on the far end of the hall, Martin starts to run
and the safest place he could hide was in the laundry room. He
slammed the door shut and dived between dirty sheets, it still
smelled horrible some still having blood stains on them. Only after
hiding he realized that there is a piece of pipe that blocked the
door from closing, it’s too late to get up now the dogs is already
there growling. Martin ready his weapon knowing if he fires, it
could alert more of them including more infected to show up on the
hospitals door steps.

Martin aims his rifle through a gap through
the bundled up sheets, where he was hiding, trying to make as
little movements as possible, ready to fire. The dog’s drooled
intensely and growled louder before storming the pile of sheets;
Martin only managed to fire one shot, knowing that he missed.

Martin struggles to defend off the bites;
least the bundle of sheets is thick, making the dog bites soft
enough unable to cause any serious injuries. Martin knows that if
he doesn’t make a plan and fast the dogs will eventually get him,
he can already feel the bites getting harder as they make their way
through the sheets.

Martin grabs hold of the dog that reached him
first, holding it by the neck as it bites toward Martin’s face; he
close his eyes as the bites are way too close to his face. Martin
could feel and smell the dog’s bad breath. Martin heard one gunshot
that echoed through the hospitals hallways, next thing Martin saw
was the sheets being removed; William stabs the dog on the side,
grabbing it firmly as he cuts open the throat of the dog.

Blood runs out fast with some slight gushing
over Martin’s chest, running down his neck, still holding on the
dog firmly until it stopped moving.

“Walk it off, we found what we came for,”
William said.

“Thanks, if you didn’t show up, I would have
been dead for sure,” Martin said smiling.

“No problem, besides can’t lose anyone, we
need to stick together and take care of each other for as long we
can,” William said as he helps Martin back up his feet.

“That’s true; it’s rough out there even when
it doesn’t seem like it,” Martin said.

“You can only expect the worse around every
corner,” William said, tapping Martin on the shoulder.

“Go get yourself cleaned up and meet me in
the reception, we will go find a room, barricade it and rest there
for the night,” William said.

“When are we going to set up?” Martin
asked

“We will rest for the night and tomorrow we
shall start packing up everything we found then head back,” William
said.

Cold was the night in the hospital room, but
it was the best sleep Martin have ever had in the last few days,
William still awake, very concerned over Danny’s health, worried
that something serious is wrong with him but not for one second
William believed that Danny might be infected. Only much later that
night William fell asleep, struggled a bit and had to kick Markus a
few times in order for him to stop snoring, it’s not loud but still
very annoying.

“You made it back with all the equipment?”
Emma asked.

“We sure did, no casualties with everything
you requested,” William said.

“William, I am sorry, but he got worse he
might not make it,” Emma said.

“What do you mean? You said three days, I got
here with everything!” William said being very upset.

“William, I will still try, he isn’t gone
yet, all I am trying to say is, I am just a nurse and a good one
but don’t expect too much from me,” Emma said also upset over the
fact Danny was a good friend.

“Get everything there and I will start
immediately,” Emma said trying to be confident over the
situation.

“Can I go see him?” William asked with
tears.

“I am afraid not, I need to get started
straight away, I can’t have you in my way,” Emma said

“Rather try and get some rest,” Emma
said.

“I can’t, we need to go back and search for
more supplies,” William said.

“You know, you don’t have to go, we still
have enough for a few weeks,” Emma said.