Chapter 4: The Vet's office
Marcus got out of the truck behind the Swine and Bovine restaurant, he climbed over a fence to the cell tower. He scaled the tower and reached the top, he started looking around the town surveying the area. He spotted a number of houses, a few sheds, some vehicles and zombies. He saw survivors walking around one of the houses, he finally saw it. A vet's office, he got on his radio and raised Lily. "What's that it looks like a vet's office or something." He spoke into the radio. "Yeah Dr. Hillerman's clinic. What about it?" She asked Marcus. "Antibiotics for dogs isn't any different than antibiotics for people, it might be a place to get some medicine for Ed." He replied. "Hmm might be worth checking out." She told him. Marcus slid down the ladders and got back in his truck, be started the ignition when Lily spoke to the radio. "I got a transmission coming in, I think." She said. "You folks look like you know what you're doing. Got room for us?" The voice asked. "Yeah, tell me where you're at." Marcus replied. "At the small house next to the mechanic garage." The voice told Marcus. Marcus drove across the street to the house, he got out of his truck and walked inside. There were three survivors, two men, one woman. The leader Sam Marshall approached Marcus. "I don't know how much longer we'll last on our own, got any room for us? He asked Marcus. "Yeah, we need a few new hands." Marcus replied.
Sam Marshall, Sandra Outlaw, and Peyton Rassle started packing up their resources. Sam was a veteran Marine, at 18 he enlisted and was shipped to Kuwait just after boot camp to fight in Desert Storm, he was awarded several medals including the purple heart before he was honorably discharged. He came back home and became a deputy for the Trumball County Sheriff's Office, he saw a lot of sheriffs come and go in his tenor as a policeman. Nobody more humble and respectable than Carl Parsons, Carl was a machinist in Marshall, he went to the academy and became a deputy. A year later ge ran for sheriff and won, Sam had a lot of respect for Sheriff Parsons. Sandra Outlaw was a nurse at a hospital in Danforth, she was born in Spencer's Mill and come back home on vacation seeing her parents. She had left Trumball Valley at 19 to go to college, where she took a course in computer tech, after three months in her course she changed her major and took medicine instead. Her intelligence was good enough to be a doctor and she aced the MCATS with flying colors, but she didn't want to go to medical school for seven years so she took nursing. Peyton Rassle was a backwoods mechanic, he been around motors all his life being raised by his dad to be a top notch mechanic. He owned his own garage in Spencer's Mill, and did a construction business on the side.
The three were packed and ready to go, they followed Marcus outside and in the truck. Marcus drove through the zombie run streets of Spencer's Mill, he drove up the dirt path to the church parking lot and dropped the survivors off. They got out of the truck and walked inside the gate, Marcus put the truck in reverse and left out of there. "Do me a favor and don't come driving up like a dumbass." Alan's voice spoke through the radio. "What Alan's trying to say it cars made noise, zeds like noise. Plus they don't exactly grow on trees, and we only got so much fuel to keep 'em running. So we gotta be careful about when we use em." Sam Hoffman told Marcus. Marcus drove to the house where he just picked up the survivors and parked, he got out of the car and ran down the street. He met Alan and Sam outside the vet's office, Alan in his usual fashion was an asshole. "It's about time you showed up, let's do this and get it over with. You're the newbie so you get to bust in the window." He told Marcus. "The door will make less noise, or you can do it like a total fuckin idiot. Up to you." Sam told Alan. "Just get is inside." Alan told Marcus. Sam handed Marcus a improvised suppressor, it was a cheap nigger rigged device made out of an empty oil can. Marcus attached it to his rifle and walked to the door, he kicked the door in and walked inside. Sam and Alan followed behind him, Marcus shut the door and locked it when they were inside. "Let's do this quickly people, try to keep the zombies outside." Alan told the other two. "And who the hell put you in charge?" Sam asked sarcastically. "How about two yeard on the beat, huh. How's that grab you?" Alan replied. "I didn't know the Department of Fish and Wildlife counted as a beat." Sam told him again sarcastically. "Laugh if you want, I'm still the only law enforcement officer left in this town." Alan replied. "Yeah and we have to deal with any zombie trout, you'll be the first motherfucker I call." Sam told him.
The three scavenged the vet's office, Marcus kept an eye out for zombies. As Alan and Sam filled their rucksacks Marcus searched the building, he noticed zombies trying to cone through the window. "Ah motherfucking piece of shit." Sam said frustratingly. "What is it?" Alan asked. "A hole in my fucking rucksack." Sam replied. "So tape it shut and keep loading." Alan said apathetically. Marcus found a crowbar laying on the floor, he picked it up and prepared for the zombies. They climbed through the window, Marcus jabbed the end of the crowbar through one of their heads. The zombie fell backwards out the window, he then took care of the other zombies trying to cone in. Alan and Sam had finished scavenging, the three finished off the zombies and walked out the door. "Let's hoof it people, stay low, stay quiet. Bad enough we have to make this charity run, let's not waste all our damn ammo to boot." Alan told the other two. They started running down the street, Marcus spotted a horde walking towards them. The three jumped over the guard rail into the bushes, Sam looked at the horde. "Try to keep out of their line of sight, zeds will check out anything louder than a solid smack on the head. But their eyesight's for shit, if they can't see you they can't eat you." Sam told Marcus. "Will you two shut up and keep moving, I'm not getting paid to babysit." Alan told Sam. "Excuse me all to hell for trying to keep the newbie alive." Sam replied.
They snuck past the horde and back into town, they made it past the auto mechanic's garage when Sam stopped. "Ah fuck!" Sam shouted. "What's wrong?" Alan asked. "This piece of shit rucksack is coming apart at the seams, at this rate I'll lose half the shit before I get it home." Sam replied. "I'll go find us a ride." Marcus told Sam. "No goddammit cars are too dangerous, just leave it." Alan told Sam. "Kiss my ass Alan, Lily needs these meds!" Sam replied "Fuck you." Alan told Sam before running off. "Get your ass back here Alan! Alan!" She shouted at Alan. "Goddammit, come on Let's find a ride and get this shit home." She told Marcus. Marcus walked to his truck which was parked right next to them, he got in the driver's seat and Sam got up front in the passenger seat. Marcus started the truck and drove down the street, he turned a left and drove straight. "So Alan huh?" He asked her. "Yes, he's a shithead but look at it this way. He's only about half as stupid as he looks, plus he's not half bad in a fight." Sam told Marcus. They drove by Alan as he was killing zombies left and right, Marcus made a left and then a right. He turned right down the dirt path to the church, he and Sam pulled up to the church gate. "Thanks, I got it from here." Sam told Marcus.
Inside the base, Maya was with Sandra and Pastor will checking on Ed. Sam and Marcus walked in the church with their rucksacks, Alan walked in a minute later unharmed. "We got your cyclophophosamide Lily, I didn't see any of that metho-whatever." Sam told Lily. "Hey, I thought we were getting antibiotics for Ed." Marcus said surprisingly. "Relax we got those two." Sam replied. "What the hell is going on?" Marcus asked Lily. "Look I got this condition, Lupus. It's chronic, no cure, without medication,…I needed medicine, Ed needed antibiotics. So I sent you to a place you might find both." Lily replied. "So you used me?" Marcus asked. "I didn't—" Lily tried to say before Marcus cut her off. "Just let me know when you find the doctor." Marcus told Lily before walking away. Lily sighed and walked outside, she walked over to the infirmary to check on Ed, "Hey, how you feeling?" She asked him. "I'm in pain and a little dizzy, did you find the doctor yet?" He asked her. "No not yet, just rest easy. Marcus and Sam got you some medicine, here take some antibiotics." Lily told Ed handing him a pill. Ed took the pill and grabbed a glass of water sitting next to him, he drunk the water to swallow the pill. He looked at Lily and smiled, she sat next to him and grabbed his hand. "Thanks gorgeous." Ed told her in a weak tone. Lily blushed and squeezed his hand gently, Marcus and Maya looked at the two the, at each other. They smiled at the sight, then Maya and Marcus grabbed each other's hand and watched Ed some more.