Friggin Zombies (20 page)

“Know where Doctor Kane is?” I asked him.

“Room Six,” he replied without looking up from the bed he was working on. “Car wreck. Pretty bad. Soccer mom and two kids hit a semi.”

Nah, no way. I'd seen the ambulances before I'd seen the mom from hell. I shook it off and went back to the office. Connie would eat she she could. I unwrapped one of mine and started eating. I was extremely hungry.

“I had no idea how hungry I was,” Jacobs informed me as he stuffed a half-dozen fries in his mouth. “I don' thin' I a'e all da',” he added and I nodded as if I understood him. I was pretty sure he said “I don't think I ate all day,” but. . .I've been wrong before.

As I ate I thought about something the C-Store guy had said. Home before dark. I started thinking about what time it got dark, then about what time Connie would be free to leave assuming a four hour extension, adjusted for daylight savings time, carried the one and realized with a start that it would be nearly an hour after dark before we even
left
the hospital.

And there went my appetite.

*****

I should go ahead and admit here that I ate my burgers anyway. No way was I letting them go to waste. You might think I was getting tired of them but you would be completely wrong. There was nothing better so far as I was concerned, at least when it came to fast food. Sonic ran a close second, but it was still second in my opinion.

It was nearly thirty minutes before Connie and Doctor Smith had the chance to come and eat. Both looked drawn and near exhaustion. Both sat down at the small desk and tore into the food.

“What do I owe you?” Smith asked.

“Nothing,” I waved it away. “Money may not be any good before the day's out, and anyway Jacks in feeding cops, firemen and paramedics for free. Manager said he'd add ER folks too. Well, doctors anyway,” I amended. No sense in creating a rush and I didn't know that they would feed nurses free. I should have asked I guess.

“I appreciate it,” he nodded, eating his food on auto-pilot.

“The mother may survive,” Connie said suddenly, her voice a little numb sounding.

“Possible,” he nodded absently. “May wish she hadn't once she realizes her children didn't make it. According to the paramedics the wreck was her fault.”

I made myself a promise right then that I wasn't going to go and look into that. If it was the same woman, I didn't want to know. I hadn't wished anything bad on her, but. . .I don't know. It just seemed like I didn't want to know. Does that make sense?

Anyway.

“We've got another two hours before the midnight shift should be coming in,” Connie said, bringing up a subject that we were all avoiding. Namely, what would the two of them do if they doctors didn't come in like they were supposed to?

“I've got children at home,” Smith shrugged. “I've done all I can do and I have to think of my own family at some point.” He was almost defensive but I didn't see a reason for it. He was right, you know? His family had to take precedence in something like this. He wouldn't be much of a dad if his kids didn't come first. My opinion of him rose another notch.

“I don't have any children but I'm exhausted,” Connie admitted. “I'll be back in the morning,” she said then looked at me. I nodded quietly. If she wanted to come back I'd see to it she got here if I could.

“But I'm leaving when my time is up,” she finished after I nodded. “I don't want to be out after dark and I'm not staying here all night. Tired doctors make mistakes.”

“I saw Patrick a few minutes ago,” Smith offered. “I know he wasn't here earlier, so he's probably going to work the late shift. At least there will be a P.A. As far as tomorrow, I don't know,” he shook his head. “If my family is safe then yeah, I'll probably come back at least one more day. But that's all I'm willing to promise. And that depends on my family's safety, like I said.”

“I don't think we're being bad people, or doctors,” Connie said, almost as if trying to reassure herself.

“Hey, is that Madeline. . .person, a doctor?” I asked suddenly.

“She used to be,” Smith snorted. “She's become a bureaucrat since she took over the hospital.”

“Well, she can pretend to be one again and work the night shift then,” I said firmly. The two of them looked at me, then looked at each other and suddenly broke into laughter.

“They'd be better off with a witch doctor,” Smith laughed. “Seriously. She hasn't seen a real patient in. . .I don't even know how long,” he finished after the pause to think. “Six, seven years at least.”

“Can't see where that's your fault,” I said simply.

“It's not, but it's a hard decision,” he admitted. “Still, I can't call myself much of a father if I don't take care of my own children.”

“No question,” I nodded.

“Well, we better get back and check on things,” Connie stood. “The mom's scan should be done by now. I'm sure she needs surgery, but how much I don't know.”

“And there's no surgeon here,” Smith nodded grimly. “I'm sure they're calling someone, but if I was safe at home and it getting close to dark? My phone would probably not be on.”

“I always check my voice mail first thing every morning,” I laughed.

The two of them were still chuckling as they filed out to return to the business of sick and injured people. I had tried to make them laugh and I had. I hoped it was enough.

The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful considering that the situation outside was deteriorating steadily. Wow, that sounded like a sound-bite for a news program didn't it? What I meant to say was that the world outside was going to hell on a Slip-n-Slide coated with vegetable oil.

Connie's original shift was seven to three. Typical day shift hours in most places I guess. She and Smith had agreed to stay for another half-shift, which would place us leaving at seven that evening. I didn't want us to be out after dark like that but there wasn't much to do about it. If this happened tomorrow though I didn't know that I wouldn't argue with her about staying that late. Maybe work six in the morning to six in the evening, or something like that. We'd have the light most of the day.

It wasn't that I minded being at the hospital at night. That wasn't it. But I didn't want the house setting there empty even with the alarm. Not to mention the fact that no matter how careful you were, you were vulnerable in the failing light. If someone was casing the hospital they would see us come and go. If they were casing the house, they could hit us at the gate coming or going.

I knew there was no way to eliminate the risks but we
could
minimize them, right? When you're in a potential war zone, you change the way you do things to accommodate that kind of situation. You can't count on police protection any more, you can't count on any emergency services for that matter. You damn sure can't count on human kindness because when it looks like the end of the world, there ain't no human kindness. There's just people who will do anything to survive.

It doesn't matter to some people that you worked hard to have what you have. The fact is you have it, they need it, so it's only 'fair' that you hand it over. And there are people out there that will 'sympathize' with the thief. You will note however that the libtards who are advocating for the 'distressed and under-privileged' have never been the victim of said distressed and under-privileged thugs. How many times did you see where some person famous for anti-gun advocacy had shot a home invader, or been found in possession of an illegal weapon. But that was
different
. Why? Because it was
them
, that's why.

It wasn't personal but I worked hard to make sure I was prepared. On top of that I now had Connie to worry about taking care of. If she reads that she'll probably hit me, but that's what happens, man. You care about someone and you start worrying about taking care of them, you know?

And that meant making sure nothing happened to her. Or to my ability to take care of her, either. Circular thinking brings me back to it's safer if we aren't out in the world after dark. But there was no way around it for today. It would be dark before we could leave, and that was assuming we left at seven. Connie had sounded firm about going home, but I knew how dedicated she was so there was the chance that she would agree to stay longer. If she did I would stay with her, but I really didn't want us to. In the end it would be up to her.

At least it was supposed to be.

*****

“Hey man, you got a minute?” Jacobs asked quietly. “Need to talk to you in private.” I looked at him quizzically but followed him to an empty exam room.

“Listen, things are about to get intense in a few minutes,” he said softly, looking through the door as if to see if anyone was listening in. “That troll that runs the hospital has managed to get someone to sign off on an order to keep your doctor and all the other staff working whether they want to or not.”

“That can't even approach being legal,” I objected.

“It's not, but who's going to say so?” he shrugged. “I owe you man, so I'm giving you a heads up. You didn't get this from me. You got about ten minutes before the order comes down. Tops.”

“Thanks, Ham,” I nodded. “Be safe, brother,” I added.

“Good luck,” he nodded and offered his hand. We shook and then he was gone, back to the door. I waited half-a-minute before going straight to where Connie was finishing a chart.

“Get your things,” I told her softly. “We're leaving, right now. We've got about ten minutes before they lock this place down tight to prevent you, any of you, from leaving.” Her eyes widened as the import of what I'd said hit her.

“I have to tell Smith,” she said finally. “He has children.”

“Do the rest of them?” I asked, waving around the room. She paused.

“I don't know,” she admitted. “I don't know many of them that well.”

“You can tell him but be ready to hit the door when you do,” I told her. “I'm not leaving here without you and I'm not about to leave you here with this crowd. It's too dangerous at this point.”

“Okay,” she nodded and hurried away, catching Smith as he emerged from an exam room. I hadn't told her where I got my information and I had my tablet in hand so she might assume that I'd seen it in the news. I didn't want Ham in trouble over this. I saw Smith's face cloud up and then he was moving. Connie came back to where I was waiting, stopping by the small office to grab her bag. Before anyone was the wiser we were at the back door.

Ralph was gone but there was another guy sitting there, reading.

“Sorry Doctor Kane,” he said, standing. “No one's allowed to leave through this door.”

“Sorry Pete, but we parked back here,” Connie never slowed, heading for the door in question. 'Pete' had an extra helping of stupid that morning with his breakfast I guess because he grabbed her by the arm.

“You can't leave, Doctor-” and that was as far as he got before I clocked him in the jaw. I was moving when I hit him so my weight was behind it and he staggered back two steps before sprawling on the floor, tripped up by his chair.

“Go!” I said urgently and pushed her toward the door as I shoved Baby's keys into her hand. She never hesitated. 'Pete' and his aborted attempt to stop us from leaving was all the proof we needed that things had gotten real in a hurry. 'Pete' was trying to get up.

“Do yourself a favor and stay there,” I warned. “You should never have put your hands on her. Do it again and I'll end you.” I shouldn't have said that I guess, but I was mad. What I really wanted to do was put a round in his head but I figured he was following orders. Of course he had to be the type that would attack a woman to get those orders and follow them, but still he was just a peon. That witch Madeline was responsible for this.

There was no way any of this shit was legal and that was all the justification I needed for anything I had to do to keep us from being trapped in that hospital. I was out the door right behind Connie. She was already inside, driver's door open. I flipped the kill switch as I climbed in and hit the key. Baby started right up and five seconds later we were moving.

“Buckle up,” I ordered, doing the same as I negotiated the parking lot. “I expect things to be exciting on the trip home.”

“I can't believe she would try that shit!” Connie was angry now that the immediate danger was past. “After all we did today!”

“She needs a bullet in the head,” I nodded. At this point I probably should have been alarmed at how easy it was becoming for me to think about using violence on people. I wasn't though. Everyone I'd done anything to had been asking for it. I hadn't really had anything to do with Vaccine Guy and Towel Girl (never did get their names. Sorry.), but I had killed Methie of course, threatened a soldier, punched out the janitorial guy at the back door, the list was growing.

This was what I had been worrying over, to be honest. Things were getting really bad and people like Madeline were trying to force others into a bad situation to cover their asses. She and others like her still hadn't gotten it yet. Ass covering days were coming to an end. Her court order or whatever it was wouldn't be worth the paper it was written on without someone who had the ability to enforce it. Jacobs might or might not do it, but there would be someone, somewhere, who would.