The Hospital

Doc

"Chief?" Mark asked again, his eyes locked on Jimmy. "What's the plan, boss?"

Jimmy sighed before answering, still drowned in his reflections of the recent events. Eventually, he slowly looked around and said, "First things first. Let's get this body out of sight. The situation is stressful enough already. We don't need folks any more disturbed as they already are."

"Leave that to me," Rendal said and approached the corpse. He leaned his axe against the hallway wall, grabbed the body by hands and turned to the crowd of bystanders. "Come on, people. Need some help here. Someone get him by his legs, will you?"

Few men jumped to help, and they hauled the body to the nearest room already packed with deceased. Only the pool of blood and skull fragments remained splattered across the floor.

"Thanks," Jimmy said and turned to Judith. "Find Mitchem and Parkstone. They should be somewhere in the lobby area. Then head straight outside. I will gather whomever I can and will soon follow."

Judith quietly nodded and vanished behind the congregation of people.

"God damned radios," Jimmy cursed to himself. "Wish we had brought more spare chargers." Their portable radios ran out of juice hours ago, making communication much more difficult. They had plenty of batteries at the police station; trouble was getting to them. Having already lost too many officers, Jimmy couldn't risk sending anyone else.

"What about me, chief?" Mark reminded of himself.

"I need you to stay here, buddy." Jimmy tapped him on the shoulder. "Get your wrist patched up and keep an eye for more stragglers."

"C'mon, man," Mark objected. "I can fight."

"Listen to your boss, boy," Rendal said in the back and picked up his axe. "By the looks of it, there's going to be plenty of fighting. Enough for everyone." He chuckled and turned to Jimmy, adding, "Need a hand, Sheriff?"

"Any help will do," Jimmy replied. "Let's see how good you are with that axe of yours."

"Lead the way," Rendal said with a grin on his face. The old man seemed to enjoy this whole situation a bit too much for Jimmy's liking.

The Sherriff turned back to Mark. He couldn't help but notice annoyance on young deputy's face but kept it firm. "Mark, I need someone here I can trust to keep order."

Mark finally gave in and nodded, biting his upper lip.

Satisfied with Mark's acceptance, Jimmy addressed bystanders gathered around with words, "That concerns everyone here. If you are armed and able, we need your help defending this place. If those things get inside, we won't protect your families, so no more everyone for themselves bullshit. Grab your weapons, sticks and stones and follow us!"

"What the hell is going on here?" screeching doctor Feldmann's voice echoed across the cramped corridor. The crowd quickly scattered, allowing him to pass through. Wearing a white coat with more red stains than clean spots, the middle-aged man with a tired look and unshaved face threw a sharp glance at the scene. He looked tense and repeated his question, this time addressing the Sheriff directly, "Jimm, care to enlighten me? Who fired at whom in my hospital?"

"Take it easy, doc," Jimmy replied, raising his hand as a sign of taking it easy. "Another supposedly dead individual attacked and bit one of my deputies. We moved his remains over there." He pointed to the room where Rendal and others just dragged the body.

"Another one? Oh god! I need to examine him right away!" Feldmann almost shouted and adjusted his glasses.

"Be my guest, doc," Jimmy replied. "Maybe you will be able to explain how he managed to get in here and how the hell did we miss him earlier. I will be leaving Mark here to keep an eye if there are more of them lurking around. Right now we have other pressing matters, so if you excuse me, doc." Jimmy fixed his hat and pushed past the doctor towards the reception.

Feldmann didn't bother answering and vanished behind the door of the room packed with bodies. It took him just a few seconds to examine the corpse before he reappeared. His already pale from exhaustion face turned white. Doctor scampered after the Sherriff and grabbed his hand before Jimmy made it through the crowd.

"I need to talk to you Jimm," Feldmann said quietly. His voice shivered.

"Not now, doc." Jimmy shook the head. "We have a situation outside. The talk can wait." The rattle of gunfire outside grew louder with each passing second.

"It can't, Sherriff." Feldmann was adamant. He wouldn't let go of Jimmy's hand. "I have to tell you something important, and it can't wait. You need to know what is happening here before it's too late."

"Too late? Too late for what?" Jimmy asked. He knew Feldmann for years but never saw him so stressed. His gut feeling suggested having that talk. And Jimmy always trusted his gut feeling.

"Please. Trust me. But just two of us." Feldmann almost begged.

"Ok, five minutes, doc," Jimmy said and turned to the group following him. "Go to the lobby and meet up with Judith and others. I will be right behind you."

"Follow me, boys." Old Rendal chuckled waving his axe and vanished behind the wall of people with volunteers in tow.

"Five minutes, doc," Jimmy repeated and pointed to one of the offices situated along the corridor. The doctor nodded and quickly marched inside. The Sherriff followed and closed the door behind him. "Well?" he asked anxiously.

Feldmann took a deep breath before answering as he looked around the office now turned into yet another storage for corpses. Several bodies covered with hospital sheets lay across the floor.

"I will get straight to the point," he finally replied. "I have been having my suspicions for a while now, Jimm. And if I am right, we are about to have much larger problems than shooting random stragglers outside," Feldmann said slowly, measuring every word.

Jimmy didn't say anything, just looked reluctantly at the man in front of him. He was tired. He was tired of everything.

"I believe that what's been happening out there today." Feldmann pointed at the door. "Those people out there attacking everyone, they have been infected."

"Infected? Infected with what?"

"I don't know. I have managed to run some lab test earlier. It looks like some virus I have never seen before. And I am afraid it's transmittable," Feldmann continued.

"Transmittable how?" Jimmy asked. He wasn't much of a science man, but the last statement caught his attention.

"Through direct contact with already infected. It spreads through bites, scratches, saliva."

"Jesus Christ, doc. What are you trying to say?"

"Just listen. If I am right and dear god, please let me be wrong, but if I am right, every single person in here who has been in direct contact with one of those things will end up dead. It's just a matter of time."

Jimmy struggled to believe his ears. "How can you be certain?"

"I've witnessed a rapid deterioration in the condition of people who were bitten or even scratched. Nothing we have here helps to slow it down and unless we get some help and soon, well, use your imagination."

Jimmy swallowed quietly, listening to Feldmann, his exhausted mind trying to process doctor's words. "Doc, we are talking about the majority of people in here. Most of them are injured one way or another. Heck, you and I might be few that still aren't. Are you saying they all going to die and end up like these poor souls?" he pointed at the bodies on the floor.

Feldmann nodded.

"But it doesn't make sense, doc. Those crazies outside don't seem dead to me. So what's the catch?"

Feldmann took off his glasses. His hand visibly shook as he put them on the desk and rubbed his tired and sore eyes. "Well, technically they are dead," he finally mumbled. "The virus resurrects them."

"What?

"Until I saw Perton's body just now it was a mere suspicion. The idea too crazy to believe in it myself. But now I'm certain."

"This is absurd, doc," Jimmy almost laughed. "Have you been drinking again?"

Given Feldmann's history of friendship with alcohol in the past, it seemed like a perfectly reasonable explanation.

"No, Jimm, but sure as hell I could use a drink right now," Feldmann replied, picking up his glasses again. Without them, the doctor was as blind as a bat. "As I said before, I have run some test. The infection spreads rapidly and has shown resistance to all types of antibiotics we have in stock. Few hours after death, the cells reanimate. Don't ask me how but they do."

"You mean like some zombies? This is crazy, Doc." Jimmy refused to believe.

"Just listen to me!" Feldmann's voice was growing weary. He pointed at the door again. "That man who was just killed outside. That's Nick Perton. He died on my table three hours ago from severe blood loss. He had chunks of his flesh torn out of him. And now he just got up all of a sudden and attacked one of your deputies! Do you have a better theory?"

"It's just getting better and better," Jimmy said processing doctor's words in his head. "That would certainly explain random attacks within the hospital."

"Glad you're beginning to understand. And if it's true, just look around you." Feldmann pointed at the bodies on the floor. "This place is a ticking time bomb."

"Shit," Jimmy said quietly and scratched his head. "Can you tell me how soon they might reanimate?"

"I don't know, Sherriff." Feldmann shook his head. "From what I gather, it depends on the rate of the infection. Those who were killed directly by infected of died shortly after from the injuries will rise sooner. For others, it will vary on their injuries and how strong their immune systems will resist. Still, everyone who has been exposed will eventually share the same fate."

"So what the hell are we suppose to do now?"

"If you tell people, it will cause mass panic," Feldmann replied quietly. "That's why I am talking just with you right now. You are in charge of this place, so it's your call."

"And if we don't tell them, this place will turn into a slaughterhouse," Jimmy said. His head buzzed, weighing up their options, and they didn't look very promising. Suddenly the explosion outside rocked the building. No doubt it came from the direction of the barricade.

"That doesn't sound well," Feldmann said.

"No, it doesn't." Jimmy instinctively grabbed his hat and rushed out of the room, towards the reception. If their barricade fails, it won't matter what they do next.

"Jimm," Feldmann tried to say something but the Sheriff was already gone. Doc cursed quietly and left the office. He locked the door behind him just in case and rushed back to the emergency room full of people waiting for his help. He still had plenty of work to do even if only to delay the inevitable.

To be continued