Something new! XD
Though I am forewarning this may end up a little bit neglected as I focus on 'High Seas and Golden Skies'.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN SOUL EATER!
Please enjoy :D
One
So much blood. Screaming and shouting everywhere. She pressed her hands to the wound to try and stop the blood flow but it bubbled out from beneath her fingertips. The knife had sliced through an artery and if she didn't act quickly this person would bleed out in moments.
"You!" She shouted, her voice cracked like a whip through the gunfire, a dark-haired man cowering behind a car turned his head to look at her with wide eyes. "I need your help, come here!" He looked terrified and she could see the beginnings of a refusal. "For Christ's sake get over here!"
The man waffled for a moment and then hurried over to her, crouched down as he darted out into the street where she hovered over the stranger with a knife wound. The man licked his dry cracked lips, he was dirty, covered in soot and dirt. Then again almost everyone was. She frowned that he wasn't wearing a mask. It wasn't safe to go without it, the risk of infection skyrocketed without one. Especially in this part of town.
"I need you press down on the wound so I can get a clamp for the artery." Another round of gunfire went off and the man skittered and ducked, covering his head. She remained where she was still as a stone. Bloody bastards can fire all they want. Hesitantly the man reached forward with dirty hands. Grimacing she dug into her kit with one hand and tossed a pair of gloves at him. He eyed her but put them on. "The last thing we need is for her wound to get infected, not with the shortage of penicillin right now."
Her forced assistant reached forward with gloved hands and pressed down on the wound. The woman moaned and coughed a little, blood flecking her lips.
"Hold on ma'am you're going to be okay I promise. Stay with me." Her bright green eyes flicked up to meet the man's terrified brown ones. "You're doing good, keep that that pressure." He nodded nervously.
Working quickly she dug into her kit and pulled out a clamp. Gently she pulled the frightened man's hands away from the woman's chest to place a clamp over the artery. Her patient groaned and she wanted to sing when the blood flow slowed to an almost stop, this she could manage.
She reached forward, a bloody gloved hand pinched the woman's chin softly to turn her face to look at her. "I'm going to move you to a safer location. I need you focus right now ma'am, stay awake." The woman's eyes rolled back in her head and she patted her cheek roughly to keep her attention. "Talk to me ma'am, what's your name?"
"Ch-Ch-" she gasped. "Charlene."
"Charlene, do you have any family?" She nodded weakly.
"My-my husband is here…an-and I have children."
"Where are they?"
"I-I lost my husband when the fighting start-started."
"Where are your children?"
"They-they made it out of the zone…they're with their grandparents."
"Good…good. You've got to focus on staying awake and alive. I'm going to help you and when this is all over you're going to see your kids again Charlene." Tears streaked through the blood and dirt on the woman's face but she nodded as she shook with pain.
Sitting up into a crouch she pulled the mouthpiece to the radio she had off her belt. "Black Star?" she barked. There was static on the other end but a familiar voice floated through.
"Maka, where the fuck are you?"
"I'm on the corner of 16th and 32nd, I've got a knife wound victim and we need to move her to the clinic."
"16th and 32nd, that place is a god damn war zone Maka, how the hell did you get there?"
"Oh, I was taking a walk and decided to stroll through gang territory you know?" she growled. "Fuck, Black Star just get down here!"
"The streets are jammed up, people abandoning cars all over the place."
"Turn on the siren then, drive on sidewalk, I don't care just get here!"
"I need you to meet me halfway or something, I can't just drive through a gun fight." Maka cursed loudly.
"I'll meet you at the corner of 29th, just be there." She slammed the mouth piece back onto her belt in frustration.
Maka eyed her assistant who was sitting with wide eyes beside Charlene. He was holding her hand and talking quietly to her. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to think of way to move Charlene without killing her. This would not be an easy task. Her eyes fell on a broken off car door a little ways down the street. The main issue being it was in the direct line of fire. She tapped her helper on the shoulder.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Jeff." He said quietly. She looked him in the eye.
"I'm Maka. I need to move Charlene to the corner of 29th Jeff, it's a good two blocks from here. I'm going to try to get that car door to serve as a stretcher. If something happens to me I need you to get Charlene there. There'll be an ambulance waiting, the driver goes by Black Star. Tell him I sent you. And give him this." She handed him a red strip of fabric she'd tied around the arm of her jacket. Jeff held it tightly and nodded.
Taking a deep breath Maka rushed out, ducking behind a car. She heard a bullet ping off of the cars hood. It was decrepit and the car creaked as she leaned up against it. It was abandoned like most of the cars in the streets now, the gas tank was open, it had likely been siphoned out like all the others. Heart pounding she dove forward behind a mailbox. She wasn't far from it now, she just had to dart out into the street and drag it back. She tried to make it seem simple in her head. Tried to not think of what a target she would make. Hopefully the opposing gun-toting idiots wouldn't want to waist their bullets on her.
Deciding she was as ready for this as she would ever be she dashed out into the street, keeping low as she went. She gasped when she felt a blast of air pass her, realizing it was a bullet whizzing by. She gripped the edges of the car door and clipped a couple of bungee cables she'd brought with her to it. Hauling them over her shoulder she rushed back to the safety behind the mailbox, the car door skidding across the road behind her.
The door was heavy but she knew she shouldn't push her luck and stop for a breath. She needed to get back to Charlene and Jeff immediately. Feet pounding down the sidewalk she froze when a man leapt out in front of her. His eyes were wild above his dirty cloth mask.
"My wife!" he shouted over the gunfire. "Please have you seen my wife!"
"Is her name Charlene?" she asked. The man looked both relieved and horrified when he realized she was a paramedic and her hands were covered in blood. "She's alive," she told him immediately to alleviate his horror. "But she is seriously hurt, come with me." He nodded and they started off down the sidewalk to where Charlene lay with Jeff comforting her.
Charlene's husband dropped to his knees beside her, crooning and weeping about how worried he'd been and how glad he was he'd found her. Charlene looked a little less upset though the pain she was experiencing was still evident.
Maka crouched beside Jeff and patted him on the shoulder. "You did well. Thank you. Most people wouldn't have had the guts to stay." She told him. "You can go if you'd like we should be alright from here." Jeff looked at her and handed the red band of fabric back which Maka quickly retied around the arm of her jacket.
"I don't want to go." Jeff said suddenly. Maka's eyebrows raised. "Let me come with you."
"Are you sure?" He nodded.
"I don't have anyone in the city. I'm alone here. Let me come to the clinic. I-I can help." Not wanting to argue she nodded sharply and helped Charlene's husband get her onto the car door. She whimpered a little as they moved her but was keeping a very brave face.
They started off down the street in their little procession. Jeff jogged ahead of them while Maka dragged the car door behind her. She had insisted on being the one as it had to be done very carefully, she didn't want it to jostle or bounce too much. Charlene's husband, who Maka had learned was named Paul, jogged alongside the car door, talking to his wife as soothingly as he could.
The sounds of gunfire and screams faded a little as they distanced themselves from the fight. Maka breathed a sigh of relief as the ambulance came into sight. Black Star was outside the vehicle waiting, his shock of blue hair a beacon in the dreary streets. She'd told him countless times it made him a target but he refused to change it.
Her short companion bounded out to meet them, taking the cords Maka was using to pull the car door from her. She wiped sweat from her brow and left a streak through the grime. Black Star brought it the rest of the way and Maka hurried to throw open the ambulance's doors. The blue-haired paramedic had taken out the stretcher in preparation. On a count of three they moved Charlene onto it and then lifted her into the back of the ambulance.
Paul clambered in after her and Maka leapt in as well. Jeff hovered near by. "Ride in the front with Black Star." She told him. Black Star wrinkled his nose at her in distaste but she shot him a look. "Just take him with you in the front, I'll explain later." She snapped. With a shrug he closed the doors and got in the front. Moments later the ambulance jolted forward as it took off down the street towards the clinic. A part of her trembled with fury and helplessness as not being able to go back to the scene and help more people. Because there was always more people.
"You try talking to her, she won't listen to me; she keeps insisting on going out again. She hasn't slept. Christ I haven't slept because of her."
Black Star had tried on multiple occasions to get her to stop helping patients and take a break, go home, sleep, something. Maka refused every time.
After they had arrived and taken care of Charlene she'd bounded out again after getting news of a car exploding on center street. Some psycho had lit it on fire. Black Star being her current driver and partner had had to go with her of course. They got along well enough to not kill each other but their partnership was a strained one that had occurred more out of chance than choice.
Tsubaki had shown up after taking a well deserved day off. Not that a day off was really worth much in the hell hole of a city they were living in. The moment she'd entered the clinic she had seen Maka, tending to a little girl who was coughing fitfully. Maka had been there the day before when Tsubaki had left and when she asked Black Star about her still being there he'd told her to go talk to her.
The dark-haired doctor approached cautiously, overhearing Maka's conversation with the little girl.
"Where's your Mom and Dad sweetie?" She asked kindly as she shone a little light into the girls ears and eyes. The little girl was a redhead with a mop of tangled curls. Maka checked down her throat with the little light and a tongue depressor. The girl coughed again before answering.
"Mommy is sick," the little girl said in a tiny voice. "Daddy isn't here." Outside the city was likely what that meant.
"Where is your Mommy? Why isn't she here?"
"She was scared she was going to make me sick too so she brought me here." Maka's brow puckered and Tsubaki knew she was frowning beneath her mask. Maka patted the little girl and gave her some cough drops before putting a mask on her as well and setting her in a bed.
The blonde stood with her hands on her hips and closed her eyes for a moment. "You're dead on your feet." She jumped a little and her eyes shot open, realizing it was Tsubaki, she sighed.
"I'm fine." She gestured to the little girl who had laid down on the bed and was clutching a dirty teddy bear to her chest. "That poor thing. I don't have the heart to turn her away, she's the third one to come in in her situation this week."
"Is she infected?" Tsubaki asked. Maka shook her head.
"Just a cold, she doesn't have any of the infection's symptoms. Though from the sounds of it her mother is likely infected. Her Dad is outside the quarantine zone."
"Patti will take her won't she?" Maka rubbed her eyes tiredly.
"She always does, but I hate pawning them off on her like that. She's got too many to look after as it is at this point. She can hardly feed them."
"Someone told me there's going to be a supply drop soon." Tsubaki said with a hopeful tone. Maka grimaced.
"Yeah and the rest of world still thinks everything's sunshine and roses here. I don't trust anything I hear anymore." Maka moved towards another patient asleep in a cot, she checked vitals delicately trying not to wake them, Tsubaki trailed behind her like a shadow.
"You need to go home and rest Maka, you need to sleep. You're no good to anyone if your delirious."
"I'm doing just fine thanks." She scribbled something down on a clipboard.
"Have you talked to Soul?" Tsubaki asked, trying a different tactic. Maka went stiff, her expression hard.
"No. I haven't."
"He's been asking about you." Tsubaki said softly. She could see the pain behind Maka's front of not caring.
"Let him ask all he wants. Now, if you don't mind, I've got to go." She put down the clipboard she'd been holding and started towards the door, grabbing her field kit as she went.
"Where are you going Maka?" Tsubaki called after her. "It'll be dark soon and I sent Black Star home." Maka turned with her jaw clenched. She put her kit down a little too hard in frustration.
"I'm going home then I guess, I'll be back in a few hours. Radio me if you need me sooner." She said stiffly. Turning on heel she exited the clinic leaving her friend behind with a sad expression.
Maka unlocked the door to her lonely apartment with a frown. Most of the residences had been abandoned shortly before the quarantine had gone up. Only one other tenant still lived in the building, a crazy old widow who had refused to go no matter how much her children had begged.
She closed the door behind her and dead bolted it. The apartment was dark, she flicked on the lights but they were dim. The natural light the wide windows had once provided was snuffed out. She'd boarded them up for safety reasons when this mess had began.
Not having been home in weeks there was a fine layer of dust on the front of the TV and most other things. With a grimace she prepared herself for the smell and she opened the fridge, empty except for left over Chinese food cartons that had definitely gone bad by now. She closed the fridge and frowned at the picture posted on it with a magnet for Randy's Dry Cleaning service. It was a picture of her and Soul from a year ago. A picture Liz had captured sneakily of the two of them stealing a kiss during as picnic in the park. She removed the photo and studied it for a moment before turning it face down and putting it back on the fridge.
Going to the cupboard she managed to find a near empty box of crackers to eat. As she passed her answering machine on the way to the couch she saw a light flashing and a glowing red number eleven indicating how many unchecked messages she had. She ignored it and turned on the TV, the local news was on. Truthfully it was the only thing that was on ever now, that and the occasional updates from the national news but it was full of lies and only succeeded in making Maka angrier than she already was.
She smiled a little when she saw a familiar blonde haired friend on the television set.
`This is channel 7 news reporter Elizabeth Thompson with your evening update.` She was standing outside an abandoned boarded up news stand, looking clean and in order as usual. The end of the world was no reason not to look fabulous Liz always said. `According to the authorities there is to be a food and medical supply drop within the next three days time. We have yet to hear confirmation of this.` Maka tuned out a little as Liz rattled off different events that had occurred that day, all of which Maka was already aware.
`In other news the barrier around the infected area has expanded into 48th street. The police are doing all they can to keep the area blocked off and barricaded but earlier this evening they were pushed back after a brutal attack-` Maka switched off the TV and her heart clenched. She stood and went to the phone, picking it up to dial a number she knew off by heart. She hesitated. She put the phone down. He was fine she was sure. He could take care of himself. No need to get herself worked up over something she was imagining.
Trembling with her desire to call she pulled herself away from phone and went to her small room. She fell onto the bed and closed her eyes with her hand on his pillow. Feeling his absence more so now that she wasn't distracting herself with work.
This was her world now. This hell. This city. The infection had started small, just a few people sick. But it had morphed into a epidemic and the government decided something needed to be done. With the infection only seeming to be within the city and the city being on an island they had put up a quarantine zone. Cut them off from the rest of the world. Nobody got in and nobody got out. It had been so abrupt, happening literally overnight.
She remembered seeing the panic in people's faces when she and Soul had found out what happened. That morning the government had announced the quarantine officially.
Soul had wanted to get her out. He'd found the last way out of the city, it wouldn't be available long. Tried to trick her, then to force her to leave while he stayed. He'd said too many cops had bailed, he couldn't leave the city short another with all the looting and madness that had started. A fight between them had ensued, Maka angry he would try to fool her, angry he would say such a thing, shouting about how she couldn't leave and for the same reasons as him; being one of the few Doctors and Paramedics left. Angry he'd wanted her to go without him. Angry he hadn't taken the chance and left himself. Angry at the whole situation. Angry he wasn't safe.
The fight had resulted in a break up. One that Maka regretted deeply but was too proud to admit it and apologize. So for the past two months they had been apart. He'd left the apartment and was living with his brother last she'd heard in another district of the city, closer to the infected zone where he usually worked.
Only a few weeks into the quarantine the infection had evolved. It developed into something so much worse, something nightmarish that people didn't rightly understand still. People started out just sick but then the sickness changed, the people changed. They forgot who they were. Became savage, monstrous. Attacked anyone who wasn't also infected like them. Like zombies but eerily intelligent and coherent.
And so another quarantine zone had gone up. A quarantine within the quarantine. They'd constructed a barricade through part of the city to block off the infected. Though the infected didn't completely take this lying down and often they tried to fight their way past. Only the remaining police and the few brave citizens who volunteered to help keeping them back.
Maka hugged Soul's pillow to her chest and breathed in his scent. A sort of homesickness filling her as strange it sounded. The apartment wasn't home anymore without him.
It didn't take long before she was asleep. Tsubaki had been right when she'd told her she was dead on her feet.
Ta Daaa. XD
Woo, look at me go. Posted the final three Chapters of 'Is this Sound Okay.' Posting this new story. And I will be updating 'HSGS' in the next couple of days, definitely will update before the weekend is over.
All these updates are my apology for taking 23081204779.29128 years to update! XD
Anyways. As forewarned, this may be a little bit neglected though I will try to update as often as I can. I am a busy little bee lately and am doing my best to make time for writing :)
And yes. This is a zombie-Esq fic. The zombies are not like traditional ones, I've twisted them a bit, which you will see more of later.
Reviewreviewreview.
-Song :3