The Dark Trinity (Book 1): Shuffle (23 page)

Ethan looked pale as the plan unfolded. Shawn and Daniel
looked a little nervous, yet confident in their role. Chatty just stood there
nodding.

“What about that last one?” Ethan asked, the nervousness
clear in his voice.

“By that time I’ll be reloaded,” Shawn said. “I’ll be able to
put it down.”

“You better,” Ethan replied.

The group spent another minute finalizing the plan. Shawn and
Daniel worked out who would shoot first, to avoid going for the same target,
while Evelyn discussed the hand to hand assault further with Chatty and Ethan.
They made their way over to the weapons and equipped themselves for the attack.

Confident that they were ready, the reluctant warriors moved
to the back room. Daniel climbed the ladder that lead up to the access hatch.
Evelyn held a large machete in her left hand as she gingerly unlocked the back
door. She opened it a crack and peered out through the small narrow space. She
couldn’t see anything, nor did she hear any movement in the small alleyway
between the building and the cliff face.

Daniel opened the hatch and climbed onto the roof, closing
the hatch behind him. He kept low and crept towards the front of the building.
Thank God the roof was covered with tar paper. It would have been impossible to
remain stealthy on gravel. He stopped just before the front ledge. He stretched
out onto his stomach and placed the crossbow down. Inching forward, he peered
over the side and observed the zombies below.

Evelyn opened the door the rest of the way and entered the
alley, moving behind the door and down to the corner. Chatty followed and
joined her at the corner of the building. Shawn and Ethan moved to the opposite
corner. Sam eased the door closed behind them, keeping it unlocked in case a
quick escape was needed.

Evelyn and Chatty moved first, rounding the corner and
hugging the side of the building as they made their way towards the bus. After
counting to ten, Shawn and Ethan left the alley and headed towards their position
on the far side of the shop.

Daniel saw the five creepers standing in the lot. They didn’t
appear to be paying any attention to the building and they hadn’t noticed the
others, who were no doubt in position by now. He picked up the crossbow and
took aim. He didn’t know which dead head he’d have to shoot, but he was
thankful that they grouped themselves pretty close together. Common sense told
him that Shawn would hit the one closest to his corner, so he moved his sight
to one further left.

Evelyn ducked down and edged around Sam’s station wagon with
the large Bengali right behind her. She reached the front of the car and peered
around the fender. Their targets weren't visible through the gap between the
front of the building and the bus, but she could hear their guttural growl just
to the left. Shawn peeked his head around the far corner and spotted her
looking back at him.

She motioned for him to wait a moment, then waved Chatty on
around her. He moved past Evelyn and went to the far back-left corner of the
bus and stopped, poised for the attack. She positioned herself behind the front
wheel of the bus and signaled to Shawn that they were ready to go. Above,
Daniel laid like a sniper, his sights centered on one of the zombie’s heads as
he anxiously awaited for the assault.

Suddenly, a thwack sounded, followed by a high-pitched
whisper, then a wet crunch as the crossbow bolt impaled the first zombie’s
head. Daniel saw the creature fall face first onto the cement, driving the
arrow further through its skull, leaving a gaping hole in the back as the
arrowhead broke through. Rancid brains spilled out over the first casualty.
Without hesitation, Daniel immediately released his bolt into the second
creeper, nailing it through the eye and dropping it on top of the first.

Ethan sucked in three quick breaths and took off around the
corner; Shawn already in the midst of reloading. Running full tilt towards the
remaining three creepers, he raised the long machete above his head and
screamed. The three ghouls, surprised by the sudden attack, turn towards the food
sprinting right at them.

They advanced on the newest snack that had stupidly come out
of hiding. Deadly tongues slithered from gaping jaws. Long, razor-sharp claws
clacked together in eager anticipation of the meal which they were about to
savor. A noise from behind them caught the attention of one of the three. It
caught a glimpse of the largest human it had ever seen, just before it felt
cold steel cleave into the side of its neck, slicing through leathery skin,
muscle, tendon, and bone. Then the world went topsy-turvy as its head spun,
landing on the icy pavement with a thud.

The commotion alerted the nearest creature. An immense human
had swung a large axe with all his strength and was still in the follow-through
of his attack. Knowing that the human was vulnerable, the zombie lunged. All
momentum halted as a female stepped from behind the bigger human and brought
something large down on its head.

Evelyn felt the machete’s blade bury itself deep into the
creeper’s head. The crunch of the skull made her queasy. The squish of the
brain made her nauseous. The force of the impact startled her and the monster
hit the ground hard, causing its head to open up, spilling the now liquefied
head jelly onto the asphalt. The machete was extremely sharp and had gone
completely through the head and had lodged itself into the spinal column. She
pulled hard at the blade, jerking it back and forth, finally freeing it from
the corpse.

Chatty had placed himself between her and the last creeper,
which was now too far away for either of them to kill. Ethan was now in panic
mode, the creature a mere ten feet and closing. Through all the action, he
thought he heard someone sneeze. THWACK! The arrow entered his calf and exited
through his shin, shattering the bone. It continued its flight, embedding itself
into the dead-head’s leg.

“AW FUCK ME!!!!” Ethan screamed as he crumpled to the ground,
clutching his ruined leg.

The zombie kept advancing, not even phased by the arrow
protruding from its leg. Leaning over Ethan, it lashed out its forked tongue,
embedding the toxin barb deep into his shoulder. THWACK! Daniel’s arrow entered
one temple and burst through the other, leaving a trail of brains and blood in
its path.

Evelyn and Chatty rush to Ethan as he pulled the barb from
his shoulder and shoved the corpse aside. Shawn emerged from his spot behind
the corner and walked towards the others, systematically scanning the area for
any other threats. Daniel jumped up and ran back to the hatch. Slinging the
crossbow on his back, he slid down the ladder, almost landing on Sam, who was still
keeping watch at the back door.

“Jesus Christ, son, what the hell is going on out there?” Sam
asked.

“Shawn shot Ethan in the leg. He’s hurt real bad, but we got
all the creepers,” Daniel replied frantically.

Sam pushed by Daniel and entered the store in a whirlwind.
“We got wounded coming in! Alison, you’re the doctor here, what do you need?”

Alison looked dumbfounded. She was still in the early stages
of med school and had yet to be exposed to a trauma situation first hand. “Uh,
well...um...I don’t know what kind of wound I’m dealing with yet...”

“For fuck’s sake girl, what kind of medical supplies might
you need?” Sam interrupted.

“Okay, uh... I need that counter cleared off. Towels,
luke-warm, sterile water, gauze, alcohol, antibiotics, and whatever else you
can give me,” Alison replied as she tried to remember what her textbook had
listed.

“You heard the doc,” Sam yelled to everyone else. “Get her
what she needs, pronto!”

The group sprang into action, moving as quickly as they could
to get the makeshift operating station set up. Sam ran to the front door,
grabbing Pete and Bill along the way. The trio exited the building and ran to
the others, who were carrying the now screaming Ethan towards the door.

“His right leg has been hit below the knee...” Evelyn gasped
as Ethan hung on her and Chatty’s shoulders. Pete and Bill ran over and each
grabbed one of his thighs, allowing them to carry him in faster.

“Someone needs to shut him up!” Shawn barked. “He’s
broadcasting our position!”

Everyone ignored the comment as they finally made it into the
shop. Ethan continued to scream as they placed him on the counter. Pete closed
the front door and locked it up tight, closing the blinds as much as he could.

Nobody spoke. Alison performed a quick, but thorough check
over Ethan's entire body. She noted the blood on his shoulder, then focused on
the leg; the more severe of the injuries. She was muttering to herself, trying
to visualize her various medical textbooks for the medical knowledge that she
hadn’t learned yet

 “Okay, we need to stop the bleeding. I need some towels and
that water over here, and I need someone to help me.

“What do you need me to do?” Evelyn asked, as she grabbed
some hand towels from Carlos, making her way around the other side of the
counter.

“First we need to clean the wound before I can do anything
else,” Alison said. “It doesn’t look like any major arteries were hit, so
that’s good news, the bad news is that the fibula is shattered in two. I can
see each end of the break quite clearly. I need that alcohol over here too.”

Bill grabbed the bottle of alcohol that was sitting next to
him and handed it to Evelyn, who in turn, opened the bottle and set it next to
the pan of water. Alison immersed one of the towels into the water and began to
wipe away the blood surrounding the wound. She pushed along his leg as she
checked for other possible breaks. Ethan let out a scream with every gentle pat,
prod, and rub that Alison made.

“Do we have anything we can give him for the pain?” Evelyn
asked to anybody who was listening.

Daniel rummaged through all the medical supplies, finally
turning up a half empty bottle of Oxycontin. “I found these, will they work?”
he asked, tossing the bottle to Evelyn.

“They’re gonna have to,” she replied. She fished out three pills
and handed them to Bill. “Make him take these.”

Bill took the painkillers and shoved them into Ethan’s mouth
while he screamed, nearly causing him to choke. Bill jerked his hand away at
the same moment. “Ow, what the hell dude? Why did you bite me?”

“I didn’t bite you!” Ethan yelled out between gasps after dry
swallowing the pills. “Why did you try to choke me?”

“I was helping you dip-shit,” Bill replied in his usual
monotone voice, although it did contain a slight edge of annoyance.

Alison had managed to get the majority of blood off around
the wound and had checked for more bone breakage. Certain that she only needed
to deal with the one break, and the open wound, she looked up at Ethan. He had
just taken those pills; there’s no way they would have started taking effect
yet.

“Hey Ethan, I need to finish cleaning the wound before I can
set your leg, so I’m going to be pouring a lot of alcohol on it. This is going
to hurt a lot.”

Ethan propped up on his elbows and glared at the bone jutting
out of the gaping hole in his shin. The pain was unimaginable. Now this chick
was telling him that it was going to get worse? He was burning up and his skin
felt like it was crawling off of his body. He watched as Alison opened the
bottle of alcohol and tipped it over his leg.

Searing pain washed over him and he reflexively shot his arm
out, punching Bill in the jaw. “Christ, dude, what the fuck?” Bill shouted.
Ethan didn’t hear a word of it. All he could focus on was the pain.

“Hey we need something to distract him. Give him something to
try to focus on other than what they’re doing to his leg,” Sam said. “Ethan,
what can we give you to help?”

Through tear-filled eyes, Ethan managed to say one coherent
word. “Tits!”

“Well that shouldn’t be a problem,” Pete said, already on his
way down the magazine aisle. A moment later, he returned with a big thick issue
of Jugs, opened it up and held it in front of Ethan’s face.

The pain was overwhelming. His vision blurred from all the
crying, but it was cool, bad injuries warranted tears. The chicks wouldn’t
think he was a pussy for crying with a gaping hole in his leg. He willed his
eyes to focus on the magazine in front of him. Another wave of pain hit him and
he tried to stare at the large breasts of the pinup girl, but it was useless.

“NOT WORKING!” he screamed.

“Then what can we getcha boy? What will help?” Sam asked.

“TITS! NICE FULL FUCKING TITS!” Ethan exclaimed.

“Jesus Christ, son, we gave you tits and you told us they
didn’t work.”

“NEED...REAL..BOOBIES...” he shouted. He had to admit, this
was a real shitty way to look at some boobs up close and personal, but hey, if
someone here would do it, then why the hell not.

Evelyn and Alison locked eyes for a moment. “Oh no, I’m
playing doctor enough here. If he needs to see a real pair, then YOU do it,”
Alison stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

Sometimes she really hated the fact that she was a nice
person and couldn’t stand to see people suffer. “Fine, whatever,” Evelyn said
with a sigh.

She dropped the towels in her hand and walked up towards
Ethan’s face. Without hesitation, she lifted her sweater, tee shirt, and sports
bra all at once, exposing her perky 36D breasts. Ethan’s eyes bulged out
of his skull, as well as Sam’s, Pete’s, Daniel’s, and Bill’s. Evelyn looked
over to Alison, who also seemed to be just as captivated as the men. “What the
fuck are you waiting for doc?” she snapped.

Alison went back to cleaning out the wound, pouring more
alcohol over it. Ethan let out another scream, but it definitely was less
intense than the previous cries. It was at that point when Evelyn felt a hand
clutch her left breast, holding it in a cold, clammy embrace. Looking down at
the young man, she saw a grin pull across his face.