All That I See - 02 (26 page)

Their bodies hitting the road kind of sounded like somebody clapping. Some of them managed to make the fall without damaging their legs too badly. Those
were up and coming toward me.
I still had time, if I moved quickly, to get past the overpass before they completely blocked my path. But then what? If Clayfield was infested, then I’d be surrounded. Because of the rise of the parkway, I couldn’t see how many were on it or how far they extended in either direction.

Before getting behind the wheel, I pulled out the golf club and put it in the passenger seat. Then I put the truck in reverse and backed up until I got to off
the
ramp for the southwest lanes. I drove up it going the wrong way. Even after all that had happened, and even though I knew no other cars would be coming, it made me uncomfortable going the wrong way.

When I topped the hill I was able to see. To the northeast, about a mile up the road, was a small group of them gathered around a car. Between them and the overpass were five individuals not together, but making their way in that direction. Then farther away past the car, there were a few more heading toward the vehicle. To the southwest, beyond the overpass were more single individuals then past them was another group.

Someone must have been in the car, but I was in no position to help them, at least not at that time. I turned the truck so that I was traveling the right way headed southwest away from the surrounded car. I plowed through the group on the overpass, running over one of them and bumping three more. There was another off ramp a couple of miles away—the one that let out between the hospital and
the
county high school. I got off there.

As expected, the doors to the hospital were unlocked. They were automatic, but I was able to pull them apart enough to get inside. I went in through the main entrance with only my mask and the golf club for protection. I didn’t like being without a gun, but it was probably better that way. The less noise I made in there, the better.

Immediately to my right, just past the foyer was an information desk. There was no one manning it. Then I entered a large atrium waiting area. There were lots of potted plants, cushioned benches, and magazines. There was even a fountain in the middle. It had not been operational in more than a month, and the water was green. Off the atrium were the gift shop, cafeteria, elevators, and a few closed doors marked only with numbers or placards that said AUTHORIZED PERSONELL ONLY. The whole area seemed to be deserted. I knew it wasn’t, however, because the smell of death was strong. There were probably zombies behind those closed doors, or in the cafeteria. I had no desire to investigate.

I doubted this part of the hospital would have a supply pharmacy. I needed to go where the patients had been, and where many likely still were. I opened the door next to the elevators and started up the stairs. There was light coming into the stairwell from long, horizontal windows on each landing. It was very quiet, and my footsteps echoed up the five-story staircase. The odor of decay wasn’t noticeable in the stairwell, which made me feel a little more comfortable. I knew that wouldn’t be the case when I entered each floor. Hopefully I could find what I was looking for right away.

I stopped by the entrance to the second floor and looked through the narrow vertical window in the door. Dim light from the second floor lobby barely made it down the corridor to the area right outside my door, but I could see enough. On the opposite wall, there was a mural of a rainbow. Under the arch of colors it said PEDIATRICS. There was a directional chart mounted on the wall there too. I didn’t open the door right away.

I put my face against the window so I could look down the corridor toward the lobby. There were a lot of windows down there, and I could see two figures silhouetted against them—an adult and a child. I considered proceeding to the next floor. I would likely find people on every floor, but this was pediatrics; did I really want to face and kill a bunch of kids? I’d done it before, but it was the worst…except for maybe facing someone I used to know and like. Of course, kids would be smaller and weaker. I opened the door and stepped into the pediatrics
’
ward. It smelled plenty bad on this floor.

The two zombies I’d seen in the waiting room heard me enter and came toward me. They weren’t moving very fast, and they were both emaciated. The adult, a female nurse in soiled blue and yellow Spongebob Squarepants scrubs, opened her mouth and moaned. It would take a few seconds for them to make it down the corridor. I glanced around me for a door that might lead to this floor’s stock of pharmaceuticals. I opened the door nearest me. It was a dark maintenance closet. It looked like this was what I would have to do—just open doors until I found it.

The nurse got to me first. I hit her in the head with the golf club. She stopped a moment, but didn’t fall. I swung again. The club bent in half on impact, but the blow spun her around and she fell on her face. When the boy got close enough, I held the two ends of the club like a dowsing rod and stabbed at him. The pointed end of the V went right into the top of his head. I kept pushing until he quit moving. The nurse was up on all fours by that time. I opened the door to the closet again, and grabbed a mop. I beat her with it until her skull caved in. Finally, she quit moving too.

The next door opened to the staff’s break room. The room after that didn’t have a door and contained two vending machines. I went past the front desk. To my left was the lobby or waiting area. It was a small, open, carpeted square with two couches, a chair, and a television. There was a table in the middle holding a heap of children’s books. To my right was a long corridor of closed doors—the patient’s rooms. At the far end was a large window. There was nothing in the corridor but a couple of rolling carts. I couldn’t believe my luck. All I had to do was find the correct room, find the medicine, and get out of there.

The first door past the nurses’ station got my attention. It was metal like the others, but it had a special lock on it that the other rooms didn’t have; it took a key card. There was also an additional numbered keypad next to the door. I couldn’t think of any other reason to have that much security on a door unless there were drugs on the other side. I tried the handle just to see if it would open, but it wouldn’t. I’d have to find a way to break it down. Before going to all the trouble, I looked in all the other unmarked and “authorized personnel only” rooms, but there was no medicine in any of them.

I went back to the maintenance closet near the elevators for another look. I also kept an eye out for a fire axe, but the only firefighting equipment on this floor w
as
fire extinguishers and a folded hose behind a glass door in the wall. I got to thinking about it, and I realized I’d never actually seen fire axe in a building in real life. Maybe only movie-makers supplied their buildings with fire axes. It was a shame, because I needed one. The closet had mostly janitorial supplies, but in the back corner on the floor was a long toolbox. I pulled it out in the light for a look.

The top tray was filled with basic tools you might find in a home toolbox--screwdrivers, pliers, and Crescent wrench. I couldn’t imagine what they would need with tools like these. I pulled out the tray, and there was a hammer, some loose screws and nails, a level, and a flat pry bar. I put everything back in place, closed the box, and took it back with me to the locked door.

I started out with just the pry bar, but I couldn’t get the door to budge. Then I worked on the door handle with the hammer. This got everybody on two excited. The whole floor erupted with howls and moans coming from behind the closed doors of the patient rooms. I stared down the corridor for a while to see if any would find their way out. When I was satisfied that they weren’t coming after me, I continued my work.

I beat the handle off of the door then the keycard lock. I stuck one of the screwdrivers in through the hole where the handle used to be and pried on the locking mechanism.

I must have worked on it for more than an hour. I hadn’t noticed, but it was getting late in the afternoon. I went back into the lobby and looked out the window. I couldn’t see the sun from this side of the building, but I could tell by the shadows that it was getting low. I sat on a couch and rubbed my eyes.

”Shit,” I said. I really didn’t want to spend the night there, but I had to get that medicine for Mr. Somerville, and I didn’t want to go unarmed into one of the pharmacies in town.

In front of me on the table, partially tucked under another book, was a tattered copy of Dr. Seuss’
Yertle the Turtle
.  I grinned a little and picked it up. The spine had come loose from the pages in the front, the title page was torn, and there were crayon marks inside, but the story was still there. I flipped through it looking at the pictures. They did look familiar, but then, all of Dr. Seuss’ stuff had the same look to it.

“’I am the ruler of all that I see,’” I read aloud. I stood and went back to the window toward downtown Clayfield. I ached to know if Sara was safe.

Chapter 31

I went back to the locked door. I’d had no luck with the locking mechanism, so I decided to try brute force again. I swung the hammer with both hands, striking the door where the lock was. The creatures on the floor started howling again. I hit it again. The door wasn’t moving. All I was doing was denting in the door in that spot. Then I got an idea: why not go through the wall? It was an interior wall, so I doubted there would be any concrete in there.

I went behind the front desk to the wall it shared with that room. It was plastic-coated. Then I noticed a rechargeable flashlight plugged into a receptacle on the desk. I grabbed it and tried it out. It worked beautifully. There was a purse there too. I dumped out the contents, so I could use it to carry the medicine.

I hit the
wall hard with the hammer. It punched through. It was a little more difficult than it might have been had it just been regular drywall, but I managed to beat out
a
big enough hole. Once that opening was made, I pounded my way through the wall panel inside the room.

I crawled in with the hammer, flashlight, purse, and the list Travis had given me. The medicines were all lined up in neat rows. They were arranged in groups and alphabetically within those groups. I found a couple of the names on the list. One was in tablet form, and the other was a powder.

There were other items on the list that I took as well: syringes, I.V. bags and tubing, bandages, tape, and several bottles of prescription strength pain killers. My purse was full. I crawled back out through the hole and went to the window. It was dusk.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have risked it, but Mr. Somerville needed the medicine. Besides, I had parked near the door, an
d I hadn’t seen anyone when I came in
. I had not realized how hungry and thirsty I was until that moment, but after my experience in the warehouse, it didn’t seem so bad. I could have a meal when I got back. I put the purse strap over my shoulder, grabbed the short pry bar for my defense, and turned on the flashlight.
Yertle the Turtle
was still on the chair where I’d left it. I picked it up and pushed it into the purse.

The stairwell was still deserted but much creepier in the fading light. I went down to the door and did a quick look through the window into the atrium. Even if something had been out there, I wouldn’t have known; there just wasn’t enough light. I opened the door and swept the room with the flashlight. It all looked clear until…

I stopped and swung the beam back several feet. There was a man there standing by the entrance to the cafeteria. He was wearing a suit. It was ragged, but the knot of his tie was still pulled up snug under his collar. His face was pale and splotchy. All around his mouth was black. He stared into the flashlight beam like a curious animal. I could make it to the door if I ran.

I shined the light toward the door to see if there was anything between me and it. When I moved the light, the man made a coughing sound. I turned the light on him again. He blinked, opened his mouth, and made a gurgling sound from the back of his throat.

I decided to go for it.

I got to the front entrance just fine, but squeezing through the narrow opening I had made earlier between the automatic doors slowed me down. Before I got outside, the man was screeching and had grabbed my arm. In the low light, I could see more dark figures hobbling to join him from the cafeteria.

He had my flashlight arm. I stabbed at him with the pry bar and finally connected with his throat, he fell back, raking the light out of my hand. I sprinted to the truck. Once inside, I allowed myself to look back. Two of them were trying to get through the opening at the same time. The flashlight was being kicked around on the floor, and its circle of light
bounced around
on the walls and on the legs of at least ten more zombies.

I pulled away and headed back to the assisted living facility.

I drove with the headlights on. Wheeler’s group and Willy Rupe’s group had both traveled north to cross the Ohio River, and zombies weren’t that difficult to avoid in a vehicle so long as I kept moving. In the early days of the crisis, I had been hesitant to use the lights, but I didn’t think it mattered on this particular night.

I got back on the parkway and headed northeast. There were still some zombies on the road, and they were all going my way. When I got to the off ramp before the overpass, I stopped, and put on my high beams. The car up the road was surrounded. The crowd pressed in on each other and against the vehicle. They extended out at least fifty feet in every direction. In fact, I couldn’t even see the car for all the bodies.