Chapter 1 - Outbreak!

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts,
And I looked and behold: a pale horse.
And his name, that sat on him, was Death.
And Hell follwed with him.

Johnny Cash - When the Man comes around

"I need help somebody...please help us..."

Evelyn Connors, 29 years old and a Doctor at Georgia County Hospital was stood against the front desk in the emergency room and looked up instantly at the cries of a frantic, panic stricken man, now struggling to support the weight of his young son. Both of them were smeared in blood, but the boy was pale, unconscious, and he was Evelyn's only focus as she rushed forward.

"Jack, gurney!" she yelled, beginning her assessment of the boy whilst he was still in the man's arms, he was pale and clammy, and blood poured profusely from a wound in his neck. "What's the child's name? Can you tell me what happened sir?" she asked, guiding him to lay the child on the gurney now in front of him. Pressing her stethoscope to the boy's bare chest as she and 3 nurses began rushing the gurney down the corridor. "Sir I need to know what happened..." she urged the man once more as he trailed limply behind.

"Tommy, his names Tommy he's 9 years old...She attacked him...bitch attacked her own son...my little boy..." he stared dumbly at the gurney as they reached the ER room. Evelyn though didn't spare him a look as she began assessing the boy's condition and the nurses hooked him up to the machines.

"What did she use...what did she use to hurt him?" she asked, only looking at him briefly as she removed the compress from the wound in the boys neck. To her from here, it looked like a bite mark but that couldn't be right,

"She bit him, she bit him...I knew she was fucked up but..."

"Sir that isn't helping...we got this, please wait outside." She said, nodding to one of the nurses. Understanding they rushed forwards and guided the man towards the door. Evelyn sighed and leaned into the boy, pressing down on the bleed, "We have to stop this bleeding now..."

If there was one part of her job Evelyn hated, it was when her patients were kids, those who came in but never again left. It was hard, half the time it was enough to drive anyone to drink but she was a dedicated Doctor. Her parents often said she compartmentalized better than most people and she should consider such a thing a blessing. In a way it was, it made it easier to cope and breathe through horror's she witnessed every day, but it was also a curse, she struggled to cope at times and would push away help. Evelyn liked to think that, if she ignored something long enough it would simply fade away; at least that's what she always hoped for.

Another part of her job she hated was this, "I'm sorry Mr Brookes...we were unable to stem the bleeding, your son developed an unusually high fever...I'm afraid, I'm afraid he's gone..." she said, her heart literally breaking for the man in front of her now as he dumbly shook his head. His chubby, bloodied up hands going to his mouth as he stared wide eyed at the ER door,

"It was just...just a bite...my boy can't be gone...please...please...I'm begging you..." he pleaded with Evelyn, who could only shake her head, her hands reaching out to his, taking them gently.

"There was nothing I could do I'm so sorry...the police have been sent to get your wife and..."

"I want to see him...I wanna see my boy..." Mr Brooke's broke in, stopping her mid sentence. Evelyn nodded sadly and waved a nurse over, watching as the young woman gently supported Mr Brookes, leading him into the room his young son now laid. For a moment she didn't move, then with a tired sigh, she shook her head and moved down the corridor towards the front desk, running a hand through her tied up, tattered locks.

As she reached the desk, Evelyn allowed her eyes to drift to the waiting area and frowned, it was a hell of a lot more busy than usual. Many people coughing, visibly runnin fevers, and others nursing bloody arms, legs, heads etc. "What the hell is going on today?" Evelyn asked Carla, as the older nurse hovered behind her desk, looking warily out over the patients, still coming into the Emergency Room.

"I'm thinking rabid dog girl..." she said, shaking her head. Evelyn laughed lightly and looked at her friend, her eyes dancing in amusement,

"A rabid dog huh? Like Cujo?" she asked, taking the file Carla handed out to her, doing her best to ignore the extremely serious look her friend was giving her.

"Exactly like Cujo girl! It's not just us either there's 3 other hospitals reporting an unusual number of bite victims that are just...poof dying...even when their injuries aren't fatal..." Carla said, flicking on the television, and turning Evelyn's attention to it.

Now that she knew they weren't the only hospital she felt worry build in the pit of her stomach, suddenly there was something very off. The news began reporting riots, breaking out in the Georgia areas, people now attacking people at random,

"Doctor's still cannot explain to us what is causing these people to attack, whether it be an outbreak of some sort or for another reason, we've learned that the situation is not improving. In the past 15 minutes I've witnessed 6 ambulances, and 17 cars pull up outside this ER, all of them carrying various, multiple victims. Speculation would right now have us believe this is the result of an airborne virus, a toxic chemical spill or bio-terrorism..."

"Pardon me Doc?"

Evelyn's attention was pulled from the news report, to the uniformed Georgia officer now stood in front of her, his eyes flickering to the waiting room before they returned back to her. Offering her warm yet small smile, it was one she'd become accustomed to over the last month. "Officer Walsh I'm afraid the news is the same..."

"You mean there's no change? None whatsoever? Evie come on it's been a god damn month now..."

Evelyn sighed and placing her chart on the desk, guided Shane off to the side in a bid to give them some semblance of privacy. Immediately she allowed her Doctor mode to slip away and she leaned into Shane, her hands cradling his face between her hands, "Rick is stable Shane, he's responding to the antibiotics we're giving him, he's showed no signs of permanent damage, right now it's simply a waiting game...he'll wake up when he's ready." She told him gently.

Shane released a deep sigh and nodded his head, leaning forward slightly to let his forehead press against his wife's, his whole body tense. It had been a month since his best friend had been badly injured during a shoot out and it was killing him the longer Rick failed to wake up. Evelyn stayed optimistic, if there was one thing he loved most about her it was her unwavering optimism, in truth it's what had kept him sane over the last 3 years since they'd met.

"I know I just wish I had something new to tell Lori you know?" he told her as they pulled back enough to look at one another. Evelyn smiled softly and nodded her head, so proud of how strong he had been for their friends over the last so many weeks. "I'll be back to see Rick later...then we can go home." He said, leaning into press a soft kiss on her lips.

"I'll be here." Evelyn said simply, as they pulled away from one another, both slipping back into their professional mode. With the smallest of smiles Shane nodded his head and turned on his heal heading straight out the main entrance. Evelyn watched him go with a sigh before focusing back on Carla,

"Incoming, Doc needed, we got another bite victim except this time, the guys had half his stomach torn out..." she said in a rush before calling a few more nurses. Evelyn looked at her wide eyed before dropping her file onto the desk and running out to the ambulance bay, wondering what the hell was happening in Georgia.

7 hours later

Evelyn made her way through the crowded waiting room, her white medical coat splattered in blood, her hands gloved, her eyes tired. It had been a long shift and was far from over, there were more and more patients coming into the hospital, too many in fact that now the local high school had been turned into a make shift medical centre to treat those with less serious injuries.

"Carla you need to get Davis on the phone...that lazy son of a bitch should be here by now..." she said with a lot of frustration as she finally rounded the desk. Carla though paid her no mind instead she kept a hand pressed tightly against compress on her arm, "Carla...?"

"One of the patients bit me..." Carla explained, pulling the compress away enough for Evelyn to get a good look at it. There was bite imprint embedded in Carla's cocoa coloured skin, and by the looks of things, with the dark discolouration, it was already infected, "Jesus Carla when the hell did this happen?" Evelyn asked, holding her friends arm gently to get a better look when it happened.

An ear piercing scream rebounded off the walls of the hospital, echoing loudly down the halls and stopping everybody in their tracks. Not missing a beat, Evelyn stood and took off down the hall towards the small ward they had, were seriously injured patients were being treated. A few people fled past her, some crying others screaming, but she kept on until she pinpointed the source.

"Jenny, what the hell is it?" she asked, gripping the panicked and horrified nurse that had been attempting to pass, by the tops of the arms. Jenny shook violently, her hand clutched the side of her head, where her ear had once been and all she could do was let out a sob, and pull herself from Evelyn's grip to continue down the hallway. Evelyn watched her go for a moment before she turned into the ward, unprepared for the sight that met her there.

2 of the hospitals Doctors lay bloody on the floor; as they were ripped apart by victims she herself had witnessed die, they were attacking the bodies like vicious animals. Evelyn gasped and covered her mouth, frozen in fear as she turned her head to the side just a fraction and there, there was little 9 year old Tommy, sitting on the bed she'd pronounced him, his Father's head in his lap as he feasted.

"Oh my god." She cried, unable to stop the horror inside. It was then she heard it, cries from back down the hall, the waiting room. Shrill screams filled her ears once again, and she turned, taking her eyes from the horror behind her to witness something just as terrifying. A S.W.A.T team of what she could only assume were soldiers filed into the hospital, spreading off in every direction. For a moment, one would think they were here to help; Evelyn even went to try and call out for Carla when the sound of bullets erupted.

The screaming grew more panicked, and the gunshots even louder. Evelyn looked wide eyed over her shoulder in time to duck out of the way of little Tommy Brookes as he grabbed for her. A strangled, raspy sort of cry coming from him. Evelyn shook her head, backing up across the hall, but he moved for her again and she slipped down onto the floor, crying out when he lunged at her, only for the gunshots to ring out once more, one hitting him directly in the head.

Evelyn watched as he dropped to the floor and she was at first, unable to move. The only sound which could be heard was the wild, frantic beating of her heart as she watched the other patients being taken down, even those Doctors and Nurses only here to help. As a S.W.A.T member moved towards her the adrenaline kicked in and she shuffled back quickly before getting to her feet and tearing down the hallway at a speed unlike any she'd moved at before.

"Everyone get out the hospital, get out now!" she screamed, as she passed those curious people who'd come down to see what was happening. As the gunshots continued to ring out she covered her ears once more and fell to the floor. A searing pain shooting through her leg, and when she looked down, she saw it, blood a bullet had hit her.

Letting out a panicked cry she looked around, no one stopped to help, instead they ran trying to escape the rain of gunfire. As she saw the S.W.A.T. team moving up the hall, Evelyn forced herself to stand. Gripping the handle of the medical supply closet, she forced it open and limped inside. Locking it, she grabbed the nearest chair and pushed it under the handle. More gunshots rained outside, and she switched off the light and fell to the floor, shuffling back into the corner or the room, her hands covering her ears as she forced herself to hold in the terrified sob threatening to break free.

What the hell was going on and where was Shane!

Okay so here is my kick off chapter to my new story Fight to Survive! I'm a huge fan of the Walking Dead and just had to write a story based around it. Shane is my favourite character from the show and I wanted him to play a good part in who my character was.

I really hope you guys can give this story a chance and let me know what you think as reviews and feedback would be greatly appreciated!