I sit alone in the room with the coma patient, Rick Grimes. I just transferred to this hospital a few weeks ago as a temp receptionist. I looked at his chart and he's been here a few months, his condition not changing since I arrived. I was changing over a room when an incident occurred in the hall. We were prepping and moving patients, transferring them somewhere safer when people started screaming. Through the mayhem, I got shuffled in here and locked in the room with him. I wasn't exactly sure what went down, but the screams for help terrified me enough to not try and get out right away. I heard what the nurses talked about. I didn't own a TV yet, but rumors went around. I'd say it's been a little under 2 weeks, possibly a bit longer since the incident, and I'm getting worried about starving to death. I thought some one would've come by now but everything is silent for get another day. The power has been going on and off as well, the generator using its power to keep an almost empty hospital running, and my cell phone died after a day. It never got any service in this dump anyway. The supplies in the room to manage the patients needs, as well as my own are running thin. Even if I try to survive on what the patient is on, I'd only last an extra 2-3 days and sitting in the same room with a dead body wouldn't make me feel any better about it. I try to push the door open day after day, but it barely budges. I stand 5'8 and 152 pounds. I'm not small, but I'm not big either and I can't get whatever is in the way to move.
Another day passes and I start to get light headed and weak. My body already running on it's own energy so I begin to scrawl out a letter for whoever finds our bodies here. As I try and think of what I want to say to who finds me, the man speaks from his bed grabbing my attention. "That vase. That's something special." I look over to the only vase in the room. It was left for him by a friend. "Fess up, you steal it from your grandma Gene's house? Hope you left her that special spoon collection" his voice is groggy and he coughs as he tries to laugh. His eyes bulge wide when he sees me "Shane?" He questions loudly then looking at the dead flowers next to him. I don't say anything, worried how he might respond and he looks around the room for some one else, possibly the man, Shane, he was just talking to. He tries to stand up, removing tubes from his body but he falls to the ground in a heap at the first attempt. "Nurse. Nurse, get a nurse!" He says through his pain clenching at his stomach. Although I'm at his side, I don't say anything back.
"Where am I?" He says in a whisper now, looking at me confused. I turn to get him some water from the restroom sink. I hand it over to him and he gratefully accepts, sitting up now. He drinks the entire glass and puts it down on the floor next to him and I turn around after grabbing it to fill it again, assuming about how thirsty he must feel. "What happened? Where is the Dr? My wife?" He questions, his eyes looking to mine with concern and wonder.
My mind blanks, not knowing what to say or how to explain things that have been going on. He doesn't accept the glass from my hand, as he's waiting for a response. I put it back where I got it from and adjust myself next to him. I put my hands on my hips, trying to think of something to say. As I wait in silence the power grid shuts off and the generator turns on yet again, using whatever juice it has left. He looks around trying to figure out what's happening and I use this as an opportunity to try and explain things "there's been an outbreak of some kind. Things aren't-- Uhm-- aren't good." I spit out.
"Outbreak?" He asks sitting up slowly. He moves his legs to the ground and when he tries to stand again he jolts forward, his body not use to his own weight. He grabs a hold of the I.V pole to keep his balance and I put my hand on his arm to offer help. He nods his head assuring me he is okay and I release it. The lights flicker now, signaling the generator is about done, out of power. "I need to get out of here. I need to get home" he says to me.
I nod pretending to understand "I can't get it open" I shrug honestly looking at the door.
"What do you mean?" He asks moving closer to it.
"Something is blocking it" I say as he tries to push the door open. He doesn't have a lot of strength and gives up quickly "we're stuck" I say. He gives me a strange glare and walks to the corner of the room. He grabs the silver rod and removes the bag from it. He brings it over to the door and pushes it open just enough to get the rod through it.
"It's a body.." he pauses though, the strange idea puzzling him. "I'll push it with this a little and then you and I should be able to get it open if we push together" he says finagling the rod to move the body. I nod to confirm I understand and move closer to help him. He has pushed the body a bit more from the door as it opens further then it has when I tried. "Okay, on 3" he nods to me "1...2..3" he counts and we thrust at the door together.
It bursts open "finalllly" I say in an exhausted sigh, not realizing how claustrophobic I was feeling in there. I look around and notice the 3 dead bodies on the ground. Rick has moved to the third one by now and checked for a pulse but I assume he knows what I know and that there is no one else in the hospital "we should leave" I say to him lowly.
"I have to get to my family." He comes over to me "what about you? Where are you going to go?" He asks waiting "is it safe out there?"
"Not sure. I just moved to town so I don't know anybody here." I shrug, telling him the truth. I guess I could just go home.
"You can come with me and stay with our family for now, we have the space. It's the least I can do as you watched over me through--" He pauses looking at the bodies on the ground "through whatever this is." He offers. I accept, not caring to go off on my own during this outbreak. I know something happened outside the hospital walls but he's offering me a safe place, and I'd really like to have one. "And thank you for doing that" he says. "Rick" he reaches his hand out.
"No problem" I say back. "Sadie-Mae" I say lowly taking his hand for only a moment. We start to slowly leave the wing we are in and head towards the way out, me leading the way. The flickering lights and damaged hallway makes things creepier then they really are. I can't help but feel like we're being watched. As we get to one of the exits, we notice it's chained shut, with graffiti written on the doors "what the?" I say out loud.
Don't open. Dead inside.
Rick steps closer and grabs a hold of the lock. As the chain jingles something behind the door moans out loud and pushes against it causing it to move, an old hand creeps out of the crack. We both step back startled as the noises get louder and door continues to rock. We know without saying anything that we will find another way out. We make our way to the stairs, using matches we found to light our way down.
We get outside and the light blinds us. As we recede down the steps, bodies are wrapped in cloth covered in blood. Flies eat at the corpses and I feel myself get sick. I try not to get anything on the deceased, but the stench overwhelms me too much to care. Rick continues walking forward, moving towards the exit with out me, his head turning in all directions. I wipe my mouth off and run after him, not wanting to be left alone. I reach the top of the hill where he is frozen, staring past a helicopter and an abandoned military camp.
This whole time they were just outside and no one came to get me. Anger floods me before I realize Rick is no longer near me. I find him ahead of me, reaching for a bike. I run forward again, trying to catch up and I notice as he falls back startled. "Hold up!" I call out to him not wanting to be left out here alone. I know I wouldn't be able to survive on my own.
He turns to me with fear in his eyes and I look to what startled him "what's going on" he asks lowly, straightening the bike as he stands.
"Gross" I say, holding at my stomach again trying not to dry heave. I haven't actually seen what a person who was sick looked like after so long and it's not what I was expecting. Half the women's body was missing but she was still reaching forward at us. "Let's go" I suggest moving forward. Rick nods, dropping the bike and walking forward.
We reach the end of a street and he sprints towards a house! I'm surprised by the speed he has after being in a coma and all, and I try and keep up with him. I reach the front door but don't walk in, hearing him crying out for who I assume is his wife. I walk into the hallway and notice one picture of the man with a beautiful brunette women and a young boy. He walks past me now and out onto his front steps. I follow him out, and take a seat next to him. We sit in silence for only moments before a sound not far away gets our attention. We both look over to a person wandering in the street, looking like he had one too many the night before. He stumbles towards us, and suddenly an object strikes Rick and he's falling over on top of me, pushing me into the ground.
A/N - I hope you enjoyed this chapter. This book will follow the episodes of The Walking Dead Series on AMC. There are some changes so my character fits into the story, but the main plot will stay the same. Please like/comment if you enjoyed it!