A/N: Hi everyone. This story is strictly the dead and people surviving much like many of the stories posted in this section of FFN. I guess just read and review and tell me what you think. I do not own Dawn of the Dead or anything else from the movies. I do own Tessa and Kyra.
June 23rd2011.
A rural area just outside of Omaha.
I sat next to his body holding his hand tightly in mine. I rocked back and forth letting the tears stream out of my eyes. I could hear myself mumbling but I felt somehow like I was hearing someone else's voice. I tried desperately to make this plea to god count for something. So that maybe he would grant me this one request.
"Please god not today".
I could feel his grip begin to loosen on my hand.
"Please god I would trade anything!"
I sobbed trying to gulp oxygen and speak all at the same time.
I gripped his hand harder and could feel the temperature drop in his skin.
"I can fix him god, just give me more time. Please God!"
I could hear him drawing his last breath. I looked down at his body as it began to convulse. His eyes were wide with pain and fear as he struggled to stay alive. I knew I had to drop his hand, yet I could not bring myself to do it. I wanted to hold on just a little longer. Like somehow if I did I could make a trade and take his pain from him. I looked down at his body his skin had now turned a gray ashen color. I watched as his eyes rolled back into his head, and the grip on my hand completely loosen leaving his hand limp in mine. I held his hand for what seemed like hours. I could hear people around me telling me to let go, but their shouts sounded distant to me. Suddenly I felt him grip my hand like it was in a vice. I turned to see his eyes pop open. It took a few seconds for him to get up. He quickly lunged at me, but I was quicker. I had my gun in my hand and pointed at his head. As I began to squeeze the trigger I heard my voice scream out.
I'm sorry! OH god I'm so sorry!"
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October 14th 2009
I shut my eyes for a moment breathing deeply inhaling the sterile scent of the hospital. I felt a tap on my shoulder and my eyes unwillingly opened. In front of me the computer screen was bright causing me to look away. I looked up to see one of my co-workers and good friends staring down at me grinning. I couldn't help but form a weak smile. Kyra always had a smile on and seemed to be able to find goodness in even the worst of situations.
"Are you sleeping on the job?!" She flashed me a toothy smile, and sat down in the rolling chair next to me.
"UGH! No I'm just exhausted from working two back to back double shifts. Not that I mind the extra money but maybe they could ask somebody else tonight." I looked over to see that Kyra had already started on her patients files for the next shift. She always seemed to have this amazing knack for multi tasking.
"It could be worse you know. We could be down in emerge. Those poor bastards get stuck working doubles every day. It's only been this week that our unit has been taking on a lot of doubles. You know two of the girls are out on vacation and the other two are out on sick leave. When were not at the bottom of the food chain we might get a choice about our hours. Besides, Lori hasn't come up to see us yet".
As Kyra said that I was not even remotely surprised when around the corner came Lori. I could see the chart in her hand and the look of annoyance in her eyes.
"Speak of the devil." I rolled my eyes at Kyra and returned my gaze to my computer hoping Lori would pass by us. I could see from my peripheral vision that she was slowing down and walking over to the nurse's station.
"Hello Ladies. I think you both know why I'm here. I actually need the both of you to stay tonight for the 11pm-7am shift. I know you're both excited. You get break in half an hour. Just do me a favor and try and grab half an hour sleep and some coffee into you at some point tonight." I could see Lori was trying to be both sarcastic and sympathetic all at the same time.
I rubbed my eyes to drive the point home that I was dead tired. "Who called in tonight?" It had been a strange week. Normally our unit had almost twenty nurses on staff usually to manage all three shifts, but for whatever reason this week our numbers had shrunk to just twelve.
"Susie called in saying something about being mugged and bitten. I guess she was beat up pretty bad. We've been trying to call Helen for the last hour, but she hasn't answered. Our calls just keep going straight to her voice mail. She had promised to come in early and help me do the stock and some extra paper work." I could sense Lori seemed to be trying to hide worry in her voice.
I looked up at Lori grabbing the bridge of my nose and closing my eyes. "Don't worry Lori. Helen probably has some issue with one of her kids. I mean what person want wouldn't leave their children to come to the oasis that is the psych unit for eight solid hours." I looked up to see Lori giving me a disapproving look about my clearly inappropriate sarcasm.
"I'll deal with you later Tessa". Lori warned me as she walked away.
I looked over at Kyra who was clearly trying to hide her laughter. We finally both broke down and began to laugh, but suddenly our laughter was cut short. The loud startling sound of the panic alarm had been sounded. Kyra and I both ran to see which room the alarm had been sounded from. Seconds later Lori was right behind us.
"Tess what room is that?" Lori said all business now.
I looked at her for a second trying to remember the number. "Its room 516, I think that is Carrie's patient." I said stumbling over my words.
We all quickly ran down the hall snapping on gloves as we went. I looked over at Kyra who had a questioning look in her eye.
"Hey Tessa wasn't Carrie's patient the one who had attacked his wife and bit her finger off?"
"Shit that's the guy." I said as we neared the room. I remembered helping Carrie set the man up in the room. He was definitely a total nut job.
Lori was the first there to look through the window of the locked door. In the distance I could see two other nurses running towards us. Kyra was punching in the code to the door. I looked over Lori's shoulder to see what was going on in the room. I began to feel my stomach lurch as I saw what was happening. Carrie a petite woman was pounding frantically on her patient, but her attempts were in vain. I could see the flesh had been ripped away from her upper arm to reveal a small portion of her humerus bone.
Finally I heard the familiar sound of the code going through and the door popped open. Lori was the first to rush in grabbing the man's arm. Kyra and I followed along both of us grabbing the man's other arm and pulling him off of Carrie.
"Get fucking security in here now!" I screamed at one of the other nurses who were struggling to hold down the man's feet.
"Fuck!" I heard Kyra say as she was lost her grip on the man's arm and was thrown against the other bed in the semi private room. I turned my attention quickly back the struggling man that was somehow managing to overpower five people. I could see head craning over so his teeth could snap at Lori. I tightened my grip on the man's arm and forced him down to the ground.
Finally after what seemed like hours security came in. I turned my head away just as one of the security guards smashed the man in the head with a baton. I looked down to see that he was unconscious. We lifted the man back into bed and restrained him. As I finished tying the last restraint I noticed something funny. I thought my eyes had been playing tricks on me but I was sure the man stopped breathing. I stood still for a moment looking down at him. I turned to get Lori when suddenly I heard the familiar sound of the restraints hitting the bed rails. The man was fighting the restraints, his teeth snapping towards me. I stepped back not wanting to be in the room anymore. I walked backwards slowly leaving along with Lori and the other nurses.
Finally I heard the door shut behind me and the lock code being punched in. I turned to see Kyra standing there with some gauze on her forehead. I walked over and lifted the gauze off her head. I could see a deep ugly gash on her forehead. I returned the gauze to her head as the blood started to leak out onto her ebony skin and down onto her light pink scrub top.
We quickly walked back to the nurse's station. I sat Kyra down and began to search for the proper equipment to start stitching up her forehead. As I searched I heard Lori's voice call out. "The people from the neuro unit have been up stealing our stuff again. You two will have to go down to the ER."
"Perfect". I mumbled under my breath. I grabbed Kyra's arm and headed for the elevator. The elevator was packed with different people, mostly medical staff and a few visitors leaving for the night. Seconds later we reached the ER. As we stepped out I was shocked to see the sheer volume of people standing in the waiting area. I looked around realizing that it was standing room only. We walked up to the triage desk and the young nurse working it waved us through.
As we entered the exam area looking for a free room, I could see that almost every bed was taken. I sat Kyra down on a stool and proceeded to look for the proper equipment to sew the cut on her head shut. As I searched it was then that I heard a familiar voice. I closed my eyes hoping he would just go away. I counted to three and then turned. To my horror there behind me stood my ex.
"Hi Tessa, how is work tonight?" He looked down at me grinning. I could see he had a stretcher next to him. Clearly he was looking for a place to unload his patient. "I know you've missed me Tessa." He leaned in a little closer to me smiling his usual dirt bag smile.
"With every bullet so far." I mumbled under my breath.
There was a long pause before I decided to speak. I hoped with the brief hello might give him the inclination to leave. "Work is fine Chris. What do you want?" I said dryly not trying to hide the distain in my voice.
"I was just trying to have a conversation with an old friend." I could hear him emphasize the "old" part. Jesus I was a year younger then that asshole. Plus 25 isn't old last time I checked.
"Chris we're not friends. You're still a douche bag and I still can't stand the sight of you. I'm fairly certain you don't realize how much of a douche bag you truly are. However, I think god might have provided you with an informative pamphlet about the topic when you were born. Perhaps you should take the time to read it and let me get back to stitching my friend's head wound shut." I turned my back on him and began to stitch up Kyra's head.
"I just wanted to update you on Sugar. I found her a nice home on Detroit's west side. He paid really well. I think you know who I'm talking about. I mean if you really want her you could always buy her back. That is if he is willing to sell. He said that she would do really well in the fights with a little training. I think I might even go to one of those fights. I could double the money I earned selling her."
I felt myself begin to grind my teeth. Thoughts of Sugar as a puppy and seeing her grow up flashed in my mind. "You had no fucking right to sell her you son of bitch! She was my dog not yours."
"Honey, I paid for her, so I can do whatever the fuck I want." I could hear him say in a low voice.
"Just get the hell away from me Chris. I can't wait until karma comes back and bites you in the ass!" I snapped at Chris. I turned my head back to Kyra and the task of sewing her wound shut. It took several moments until I heard the sound of the stretcher moving away from me and Kyra. I breathed a sigh of relief. Tonight was shaping up to be one hell of a night. I pulled the final stitch closed and cut the wire.
Kyra began to tape a piece of gauze onto her head to soak up the remaining blood. She leaned back and put her arms out on the counter behind her. She gave me a disapproving look. I could tell I was about to get a lecture about watching my temper.
"Honey you need to relax. Go easy on the guy. We both know god is keeping score of what that asshole is doing here on earth. Let Jesus take care of things for a change."
I snapped off the rubber gloves I had been wearing and turned back to Kyra. "It's just a little hard sometimes Kyra. I mean the guy slept with an 18yrs drunk college skank, stole money from me and now has just sold my dog to some asshole that fights pit bulls. It's a miracle I haven't tried to shoot him yet!" I stopped for a moment and there was a long awkward silence. I could feel myself calming down. I looked over towards Kyra she seemed to be preoccupied in the examing room across the hall. "Kyra I'm sorry. I shouldn't let this stuff get to me so much."
"It's alright, but you need to let go of all this stuff with Chris. The universe has a way of sorting things out." She gave me a quick smile and stood up from the stool. I followed her into the hall and turned our attention to the other room.
In the examing room across from us I could see several security guards, doctors and nurses trying to restrain a patient. I looked at the young woman on the table struggling. She seemed to be the gray and ashen appearance to her skin, and her hair was messed up and caked in blood. She snapped at the nurse closest to her. At the side of her torso I could see a large hole at the side. Several of her ribs jutted out, as if someone had kept punching at her side to break through. I could see small fragments of her liver leaking out. I stood for a moment memorized at the fact the woman was even still alive. Finally I reached over and grabbed Kyra's arm. I didn't want to watch the strange woman struggle with the ER staff anymore. I knew she would be upstairs on the psych unit soon enough.
We passed the triage nurse on the way out and I gave a quick wave. I could see she looked displeased. I could hear Kyra mumble the words sweet Jesus under her breath. It wasn't until I looked into the crowded waiting room and realized why she was upset. I could see that the numbers in the waiting room had nearly doubled since I had gone to stitch up Kyra.
We began to make our way through the waiting room. We did our best to squeeze by the people. It seemed so odd that the majority of the people all seemed to have various types of bite wounds. I shook the thought out of my mind as merely a coincidence. I heard someone begin to scream at me and suddenly I felt a hand lock around my forearm. "You stupid bitch help me! What are you too good to help the poor people around here!?" I could see the woman had gauze over her eye, and in her other arm she held a baby wrapped tightly in a blanket. I could see a small blood stain seeping through the child's blanket. I shuddered and suddenly heard Kyra snap.
"Get your hands off her pasty ass!" She snapped at the woman who seemed shocked that a nurse would yell at her. "Everyone is going to get treated tonight, but as you can see the ER is a little busy. Go see the triage nurse again about your baby. Maybe she can get you to an examing room in the back." I could see Kyra was trying to watch the tone of her voice as she spoke to the woman. I could see Kyra was struggling to speak to the woman calmly.
"Don't get me started on you." The woman snapped at Kyra as she began to swing her hand in attempt to slap her.
Kyra was quick and caught the woman's forearm in mid air. She looked at the woman with a look that would have sent anyone packing. "Don't get me started on you honey, and check your attitude." Kyra quickly forced the woman's arm back to her and let it go. We started to walk away when suddenly we heard the woman shout at us. "Hey bitch!". The woman flung her head back and spit at us. I quickly grabbed Kyra as she began to lunge at the woman. I dragged her back to the ER doors that faced outside towards the parking area for the ambulances and the entrance to the general public.
"Kyra relax, I need you to be calm. There's something very wrong in the universe when I'm the voice of reason in our friendship." Kyra turned still looking pissed but gave a quick nod that she knew I was right.
I suddenly felt a cold gust of wind hit me from the open doors of the entrance. I looked out to see one ambulance pull away into the autumn night. Several leaves danced after it in the wind. In the distance I could make out several shapes walking near the tall oak trees that lined the landscaping just outside the doors. I stood for a moment watching the figures in the spooky fading light of dusk, until they finally reached me. They all drifted in past me, most were in a daze. My view was suddenly blocked by another ambulance quickly pulling up. The paramedics jumped out and began to unload their patient. As they wheeled in the elderly man I could see he also had the same bite marks as everyone else. Something in the pit of my stomach told me there was something very wrong. Another gust of cold wind rushed in and hit me, but it wasn't the wind that sent a shiver up my spine.