Precipice: V Plague Book 9 (2 page)

Katie and
Rachel struggled against the weight of John and Dog.  They were descending
the north side of the ridge they had just climbed and the trees grew thicker
and larger, forcing them to constantly navigate a weaving trek.  Neither
spoke as they worked together, both completely focused on getting to the
waiting Jeep as quickly as possible.

Frequently
they paused long enough for Rachel to breathe several times into John’s lungs,
then she’d leap to her feet and they’d move another hundred yards before
repeating.  They began switching off rescue breathing when Rachel became
lightheaded.  Dog lay on the canopy, whining as he watched them work on
John.

They
followed the tracks John, Katie and Dog had left when they climbed
earlier.  Where the ground was sheltered by the forest canopy the trail
was clearly visible, but when they crossed open areas enough new snow had
fallen to completely obscure all signs of their passage.

On the drive
in, John had commented about the depth of the snow on the road and Katie was
concerned that enough additional had fallen to make it impossible even for the
Jeep to move.  As they approached the waiting vehicle her fears weren’t
allayed as it was blanketed in a fresh coating and drifts had formed on the
road, covering the rear bumper.

“I’ll keep
breathing.  Get it started,” Rachel said when they stopped a few feet from
the Jeep.

As she bent
over John, Katie dashed forward and pushed snow out of the way so she could
open the rear hatch.  A small shovel was clipped to the inside of the
cargo area and Katie set to work clearing snow away from the exhaust pipe as
well as digging out the bumpers and tires.

Rachel
scooped Dog up in her arms and Katie held the rear hatch open while she gently
deposited him into the cargo area.  He shifted around to ease his pain
then lowered his head with a whine.  Closing the back, Katie moved to the
driver’s door and started the engine before opening the rear door closest to
where John lay.

“How are we
going to do this?”  Rachel asked as they stood and looked down at
him.  “He weighs as much as both of us put together.”

Katie looked
around for a moment then climbed across the Jeep’s back seat and opened the far
side door.

“I’ll get
his back and shoulders up and in, resting on the seat, then come around to the
other door and pull if you manage his hips and legs,” Katie said, squatting by
her husband’s head.

Rachel
nodded and kneeled, wrapping her arms around John’s hips as Katie hooked her
hands into his vest.  Together they lifted, both nearly falling over when
they succeeded in raising his body off the nylon canopy.  With grunts of
exertion they managed to stand and Katie slowly stepped backwards, pausing when
she bumped against the side of the Jeep.  Carefully she turned and rested
John’s shoulders on the edge of the seat.

“Got
him?”  She asked before letting go.

Rachel
braced herself before nodding.  Katie raced around the back of the vehicle
and jumped in the far door, scrambling across the seat and grabbing John under
the arms and pulling.  With Rachel pushing, they finally got him fully
across the rear seat, both of them breathing hard from the exertion.

Folding his
legs inside, Rachel closed the door as Katie backed out and closed the other. 
They dashed around opposite ends of the Jeep, Rachel climbing in back as Katie
slipped behind the wheel.  Propping John up, Rachel pressed her mouth
firmly to his and exhaled several breaths before pausing and pressing her ear
to his chest.

“You know
how to drive in snow?”  Rachel asked when she saw Katie watching her in
the mirror.

“I grew up
in it, but its been a long time,” Katie answered, shifting into drive.

The Jeep was
still in four wheel low from when John had driven them in and she hoped it
would have enough traction to get them turned around and back out of the
mountains.  It took some doing, and several times Rachel thought they were
stuck, but Katie eventually got them heading in the right direction.

16.3
miles.  That’s how far they’d come on this road, which was really no more
than a partially cleared trail through the forest.  Clearing the trip odometer,
she stepped on the gas and they slowly began moving forward. 

The going
was slow, the snow now at the mid-point of the front bumper.  Somehow the
Jeep managed to gain enough traction to force its way through, bulldozing as it
went.  Katie glanced up in the mirror when John coughed.

“Is he
awake?”  Katie asked, returning her attention to the road.

“No,” Rachel
said, wiping more frothy blood off his lips and chin before struggling to sit
him up higher in the seat.

“Should I
stop?”

“Keep
going.  I can handle him and the sooner we get to a lower altitude, the
better.” 

Rachel struggled
to lift John’s upper body.  She had to settle for propping him up and
using a seat belt to keep him in place, her arms wrapped around his chest as
Katie drove.  She looked over the seat back into the cargo area, Dog
meeting her eyes and whining softly. 

She wanted
to cry for Dog and for the man she loved, but somehow managed to control her emotions. 
Knowing she would lose it if she didn’t distract herself, she asked Katie to
tell her how they’d found her.  Happy to have something to worry about
other than John and the snowbound road, Katie started talking, telling the
story from when John found her in the caverns in Oklahoma.

“Martinez is
alive?”  Rachel stopped her when she got to the part about reaching
Tulsa.  “And for that matter, you’re way healthier than you should be.”

“John thinks
it may have something to do with either the virus or the vaccine,” Katie said,
grimacing as the Jeep bounced hard when it hit a deep hole hidden beneath the
snow.

“Maybe,”
Rachel said, thinking about it.  She had to pause to breathe for John
again.  “I suppose that’s possible.  If Martinez is still alive and
actually on her feet, with a bullet still in her, it’s something not
normal.  Honestly, I didn’t think you would make it either.”

“That would
have solved your problems,” Katie said, immediately shaking her head. 
“I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have said that.”

“That’s OK,”
Rachel finally said in a low voice.  “I’d feel the same way if I were
you.”

It was quiet
in the Jeep for a few minutes.

“What was
the plan once you found me?”  Rachel asked, wanting to change the subject.

“Get to
Australia somehow.  John has a friend there who offered to take us
in.  We just don’t know how we’re going to get there.  Yet.”

They fell
silent as Katie kept pushing through the deep snow.  There were a couple
of times they lost traction and came to a stop, but she reversed a few yards
before nailing the throttle to blast through the deep drift that had halted
their progress.  Two hours later they reached the narrow track that would
become a state highway to the south.

It took
nearly two more hours to reach Ketchum, a small ski town they had passed
through early that morning.  Snow was beginning to fall heavily again, a
strong north wind driving it in their direction of travel.

“We’ve been
losing altitude the whole time we were driving.  Is he any better?” 
Katie asked, looking in the mirror.

“Not
really,” Rachel said.  “We need to find some oxygen and if we could find a
ventilator that would be ideal.  It will create constant, positive
pressure with pure O2, which is exactly what his lungs need right now.”

“So we need
a hospital?”

“Even an
ambulance would probably have what we need,” Rachel said after a moment. 
“But a hospital definitely will.  And we need to find a portable unit
that’s battery powered.  Plugging in won’t work anymore.  By the way,
are we going to have a lot of infected in town?” 

“There were
a few when we came through earlier,” Katie said as they rolled past a sign
welcoming them to Ketchum.

“Do you see
any now?”  Rachel asked.

“Not
yet.  Can they survive this weather?  It’s…” Katie glanced down to
check the temperature display on the dash.  “Wow, it’s 19 degrees. 
Got to be like zero with the wind chill.”

“I have no
idea.  They’re just humans, so without heavy winter gear they shouldn’t be
able to survive in this.  But I don’t think we should bet our lives on
that.  I’ve seen them survive a lot of things they shouldn’t have been
able to.”

“Noted. 
OK, hospital.  Is he going to be OK?”

“As
dangerous as this is if untreated, people recover quickly.  As soon as we
can get enough O2 going, his lungs will start clearing and he’ll wake up. 
Tired, weak, probably cranky, but he’ll be fine if we can find what we
need.  And if you don’t see a hospital an urgent care will do,” Rachel
said.  “What we really need isn’t going to be at a corner drug
store.  And don’t forget, if you see an ambulance it should have it too.”

“How’s he
doing?”  Katie met Rachel’s eyes in the rearview mirror.  She had
just asked, but the panic and fear over seeing her husband in such a bad state
was all she could think about.

“High fever
and every breath is rattling and his heart is racing.”  Rachel was more
worried than she was letting on.  She knew how strong John was, and for
him to be sick enough to pass out and remain unconscious she was afraid they
wouldn’t be able to get it under control in time.

The hospital
was compact, but modern.  It was down a short side road off the main
highway that ran through Ketchum, the turn marked by a small, blue sign with a
large, white “H” and an arrow printed on it.  The face was more than half
covered by snow that had stuck to the frozen metal, the deep blue standing out
and drawing Katie’s eye as they approached.

Turning into
the entrance marked for ambulances, she followed the curving drive, steering
around an abandoned police car.  There was a large overhang that extended
out from the roof of the building and provided shelter for the EMTs to unload
their patients.  Katie forced the Jeep through the last drift of snow and
onto the clear pavement, pulling to a gentle stop.

“What do you
think?”  Rachel asked as both stared at the glass doors that guarded the
dark interior.

“As much as
I don’t want to leave him alone, I think we should both go.  You know what
you’re looking for and someone needs to watch your back.  Will he be OK?”

“I think
getting what we need is more important at the moment,” Rachel said.  “But
maybe we should get a gurney and take him inside?”

“No,” Katie
finally said after considering the idea.  “We can’t clear and secure the
whole building.  Let’s get what we need and find an empty house.”

They spent a
few minutes making sure John would stay propped up in the back seat so his
lungs wouldn’t fill with fluid and drown him while they were inside the
hospital.  They checked on Dog, gave him some water, then Katie locked up
the Jeep and slipped the keys in her pocket.  She had debated leaving them
in the vehicle for John in case they didn’t come back, but Rachel convinced her
that if they didn’t come back John wouldn’t be driving away on his own.

The glass
doors were two sets on tracks that if the power was on would slide open
automatically.  Katie inserted the beveled end of the Jeep’s tire iron
into the seam where they met and together they pushed on the bar and forced the
doors apart.  Moving cautiously through the opening they entered the emergency
room.

Stench from
decaying bodies was heavy in the stale air and the entire area was a
shambles.  Both women turned on the flashlights mounted to their rifles
and scanned the area.  Bloated bodies, body parts, splashes of blood that
had dried black, overturned furniture and dark equipment greeted them.  In
every direction glints from brass shell casings winked in the beams of the
lights and nearly every surface was pockmarked from gunfire. 

“Where?” 
Katie whispered.

“There,”
Rachel pointed at an alcove behind a large workstation.

Cautiously
they picked their way across the open space, stepping over bodies and avoiding
piles of debris.  Both were careful to avoid kicking any of the spent shells,
which would tinkle across the hard floor and announce their presence.

They made it
across the large area without seeing or hearing anything.  Moving closer
together, Katie turned to watch behind them while Rachel headed behind the
counter and approached the alcove where she’d spotted a locked drug
cabinet.  As she stepped around the corner she pulled up short, nearly
running directly into a large infected male wearing hospital scrubs.  He
had just been standing there in the shadows.

Rachel
involuntarily inhaled sharply in surprise at stumbling across the male and he
immediately turned his head in her direction and took a step towards her. 
She backpedaled and jerked her rifle up, finger pulling the trigger too early
and firing a round into his body.  The male didn’t even flinch from the
impact of the bullet.

He snarled
and raised his arms to reach for Rachel and she took another step back, running
into a rolling cart full of metal covered patient charts.  The cart tipped
over and crashed to the floor as she brought the muzzle onto target and
fired.  The round punched through the male’s forehead and he crumpled to
the floor without another sound.

Rachel was
panting, looking around and meeting Katie’s frightened eyes.  The crash of
the cart onto the tile floor had been loud, and if there were any more infected
in the building they were probably heading in their direction.

“Hurry!” 
Katie hissed, turning back to scan the wide hall that led from the ER to the
depths of the hospital.

Leaping
across the infected she’d just killed, Rachel used her flashlight to survey the
equipment and the cabinets.  Using the tire iron she began forcing doors
open, making a lot of noise, but right now speed was more important than
stealth.

Once all the
cabinets were open she began grabbing IV bags of saline and dumping them into a
plastic laundry bag that had been lying on the floor.  She followed up
with needles, IV tubing, bags of antibiotics and anything else that looked like
it might be needed.

Meds
collected, Rachel looked around and almost shouted with excitement when she
spotted a portable, battery operated, transport ventilator resting on a small
cart.  She scooped it up with her free arm, added it to the bag then from
the bottom rack of the cart grasped a large cylinder of oxygen by the neck.

“We’ve got
to move!”  Katie said, her suppressed rifle starting to fire a moment
later.

Rachel
yanked the bag off the floor and lifted the looted medical supplies onto her
shoulder.  Rushing to join Katie, O2 tank banging against her leg, she
looked in the direction the shorter woman was firing and cursed to see over a
dozen males shambling down the hall and into the ER.

“Ready,” she
said.

Katie turned
to lead the way to the exit, stopping when a larger group of males began
pouring into the ER through a side entrance that neither of them had
noticed.  They were close, moving purposely as they’d already locked on to
the sound the two women had made.

“Too many,”
Katie said, turning back towards the large hall.

Only four of
the original group remained, and Katie put all of them down and sprinted deeper
into the hospital as the larger group reached the spot where they had been
standing.

“Where are
we going?”  Rachel asked, panting under the weight of her load and glancing
over her shoulder at the pursuing infected.

“Don’t know,
but there’s got to be another way out of the building,” Katie said as they
approached a T intersection.

Both of them
were slowing, preparing to check before entering the new hall, when a female
charged around the right hand corner and slammed into Rachel.  They fell
to the floor, the infected screaming inches from Rachel’s face as she tore at
her upper body and tried to push her mouth towards her neck.

Katie spun, scooped
up the cylinder of oxygen, stepped close and swung it like a baseball bat into
the side of the infected’s head.  Her skull was crushed and the body
collapsed on top of Rachel who shoved it aside and scrambled to her feet.  Katie
handed her the tank and opened up with her rifle, putting down three males who
were uncomfortably close.

“Thanks,”
Rachel gasped as they turned and ran in the direction the female had come from.

Katie was in
front, Rachel following her lead and hoping she had some idea of where she was
headed.  The hall was wide with shiny tile on the floor and at the far end,
light shone through a set of glass doors that opened to the outside.  They
both ran faster when multiple screams sounded behind them.

The drum of
running feet was growing louder as they approached the doors.  The females
had stopped screaming as they closed the distance on their prey and were focused
on pursuing and catching.

“Keep
running,” Katie shouted as she skidded to a halt and turned. 

Her rifle
was already up but her heart dropped when she saw the number of females bearing
down on her.  Some wore scrubs, some patient gowns, and they were spread
across the width of the hall as they approached.

Rachel’s
step faltered when Katie stopped, intending to join the fight.  Katie was
already firing and putting down targets and Rachel dropped the bag of medical
supplies and set the tank down so she could raise her rifle and help.

“Go! 
Help John!”  Katie screamed at her, shifting her aim from heads to legs.

Rachel
hesitated for a moment before deciding to ignore the command.  Dropping to
her knee she began firing, dropping the last female with only a few feet to
spare.

A large
group of males was approaching at their much slower pace, still far enough away
to not present a threat.  Yet.  The two women leapt to their feet and
Rachel scooped up the supplies as they resumed their retreat to the exit.

The hall
opened into a large lobby with a ceiling that soared over their heads. 
This was the main entrance to the hospital and chairs were scattered around the
space.  Three large openings were in the walls, other corridors that lead
to different areas.  A round reception desk dominated the space, situated
directly between them and the doors.  Two females popped up from behind it
as they approached at a dead run.

Katie fired,
somehow managing to miss both of them.  The females leapt onto the surface
of the counter and Rachel once again dropped the supplies, the tank ringing
loudly when it struck the hard floor.  Each of them started firing, and
missing because they were so hyped on adrenaline.

Both females
zeroed in on Katie and hurtled off the counter, charging to intercept. 
She skidded to a stop, trying to hold steady on target.  Before she could
pull the trigger again, one of the females’ head exploded and her body flopped
to the ground, tripping her companion.  Katie aimed and fired twice in
burst mode, destroying first the face then the skull of the remaining
infected.  She glanced behind to see Rachel with her rifle braced on the
side of a support column that held up the high ceiling.

Forcing
their way through the set of sliding doors, they struggled through thigh deep
snow around the outside of the hospital.  The doors had a spring mechanism
and closed after they passed through, trapping the males that were still in
pursuit.  They bunched up against the sturdy glass and began pounding on
it in frustration.