One Hit-Rolling Stones

Oh, your love is just sweet addiction,

I can't clean you out of my veins.

It's a life long affliction,

That has damaged my brain.

It took just

One hit to the body,

To tear my defenses apart. ….

Rick wakes up in the hospital to see a pretty woman curled up on a chair asleep in his room. He looks around in confusion. How long has he been out? How long has he been here? Something doesn't seem right.

As he shifts in the bed, her eyes open and she starts at seeing him awake. "Oh, thank God you're awake," she murmurs as she stands and walks over to the bed. She quickly takes his pulse and lays her hand on his forehead to check for fever. She's dressed in scrubs, her auburn hair pulled up in a messy pile on her head.

"Who are you," he asked her, his throat sore and raspy and dry. She holds a Styrofoam cup with a straw in it to him so he can take a drink.

"I'm Dr. Hussein. I was on your surgical team. You were shot in the upper chest and you were brought in unconscious. We got the bullet out and repaired the wound. You've been here recuperating," she explained.

Rick nodded. "I don't remember. The last thing I remember is going to answer a call with one of my deputies."

She nodded again. "That's not unusual. Trauma and the shock from the blood loss can do that to a person." She looked around the room and back at him and frowned.

"What? Where is everyone? Why is it so quiet?" he was struggling to sit up a bit more, and she leaned over and helped him maneuver to sit up more.

"Well I don't know how to say this without just blurting it out," she paused, and licked her lips. "Apparently there has been some kind of biological incident."

Rick interrupted her, frowning. "What? What do you mean?"

She held a hand up to shush him. "I'm not sure what exactly happened myself. I just know you came in, we operated on you and while I was on rounds that night the news started talking about some pandemic-whole cities all over the world were being infected. By the end of the first week, huge areas of the country were decimated." She paused to let him absorb what she'd told him.

"The first week? How long have I been in here?" He looked around restlessly.

"We're going into the third week now," she replied, watching him carefully.

"I've been in here three weeks?!" he yelped.

She nodded. "Yes, I made sure I brought up enough IVs and meds and that stuff and then barricaded us in the room here. People were going crazy, just looting and killing anyone that got in their way of getting out of town. The roads around town are filled with stalled cars, businesses have been looted and burnt. It's a mess."

"Well, what is the virus? A cold? The flu?" He was worried about Laurie and Carl. Where were they? Why weren't they here with him?

"No one would say anything. Just that some virus had been released and was infecting people worldwide. Nobody took the credit or the blame for releasing the virus. But apparently all of us are infected."

Rick frowned. "Then why aren't we dead?"

"Because nothing happens unless you die. Some folks did die from the virus, but they…."she struggled to find the right words. "They come back alive and attack the living. And when they attack the living they die and come back alive too."

Rick shook his head in disbelief. "This is just crazy. This is bullshit. How do I know you're not some lunatic that's making this all up?" He struggled to swing his legs down to sit up.

"Yeah it's fucking crazy. Like all those damn horror movies and comics and tv shows and books. Only unfortunately all those people writing that shit were onto the right idea when they thought that stuff up. And as bad as all those stories were, the reality is far worse." She helped him to stand and kept a hand on his arm as he was wobbly. She let him just stand there a minute so he could absorb all of this.

"So, what is going on everywhere then?" he asked quietly.

"Well, the tv and radio and internet is all down. They went out last week, and before it all went dark the news showed DC was decimated, so was New York, Chicago, LA. All the largest cities all over the world are pretty much gone-the buildings have been razed and burnt by military or mobs. People have been trying to get out of the bigger cities and head toward more isolated areas. The analysts advised people to head to the mountains-Appalachian, Rockies-any mountainous area would be safer. Also, colder climates because they think come the winter the cold might slow the virus down. They don't know how it'll affect the ….. well, for lack of a better word, the zombies."

Rick nodded, deep in thought. "Well, why did you stay here with me? Why haven't you run off to the mountains or something?" he asked.

She smiled sadly. "I had nowhere to go. My family is all up in Michigan and my husband was doing a residency up in New York and –well, I was planning on going to a lawyer that week and filing for divorce," she laughed bitterly. "So I figured I might as well make myself useful and make sure my patient was taken care of-I was on your surgery team. I wasn't about to let you lie in here alone and die after we'd saved you once."

Rick gave a little laugh at that. "Has my family been here?"

She nodded. "Yes, they were here the first week. But when things started to get crazy out there, some guy came in –I guess he was your partner?-and told me that he was taking your family to safety, that he didn't expect you to make it and he was going to tell your family the same thing." Rick clenched his fists in sudden anger. "Yeah, he was pretty much a jerk. I tried to argue with him, but he just told me his mind was made up and stomped out of here. That's when I went down to the pharmacy and packed a duffel bag full of medical supplies and scrubs and stuff. I figured when you woke up we could go out and see the lay of the land."

Rick grunted. His head hurt and he felt like hell, but after what she had told him he was damned if he was going to lay here one day longer while that two faced bastard Shane took his family further and further away from him.

"Okay, help me get dressed and we'll get out of here," he said. She nodded and together they got him dressed in the clothes Lori had left for him, a spare uniform. He walked around the room trying to stretch his legs and lessen the shakiness in them. After a few minutes he looked over at her. "Say, what is your name anyway? If we're going to be travelling together I've gotta call you something besides Dr. Hussein," he said looking at her.

"Isabeau. My mother named me after some character in a movie she liked," she shrugged in embarrassment.

Rick smiled. "Guess you already know my name is Rick," he said. She nodded and smiled. "Okay then, guess we better head out and see what's going on out there." They each took a duffel bag and started toward the door. "Hey, wait. You need a weapon," he said.

Isabeau patted her side. "I've got a Beretta strapped to my waist. Under my shirt," she added.