The town was a long way behind them as Hunter stopped the car.
Putting the handbrake on, he looked worriedly at the man in the passenger seat. "Shawn?" The older man didn't respond to him. Shawn's white shirt was covered in blood. He'd hardly responded since Hunter and put him in the car. He sat there, head slumped forward, Hunter unsure whether he was simply worn out with fatigue, if he'd hit his head or something worse had happened.
Hunter checked around the car on all sides and saw no sign of any infected. There was nothing nearby for miles. He unbuckled Shawn's seatbelt and started to unbutton Shawn's shirt too. He was scared about what he'd find once he exposed the skin underneath, but was quickly relieved to see nothing but Shawn's tanned skin with no sign of a bite or even scratch. Hunter checked Shawn's sides too and found no marks there either. Hunter undid his own seatbelt. He moved closer to Shawn so he was in-between his and Shawn's seat. He gently shook Shawn, trying to wake him again. He still didn't stir. He started to move Shawn forward in the seat until he was as far forward as he could get him. He leant Shawn half on the dashboard, half against himself. He straight away noticed a gash on the back of Shawn's head. It was bleeding a little, but there was a nasty bump there too. He figured that Shawn must have got it when he fell after Mark attacked him. Hunter didn't have a good enough view and as soon as he saw Shawn was surrounded he'd got out of the car.
This wasn't a good situation for them to be in. Shawn was very likely suffering a serious concussion. The fact he wasn't conscious spoke volumes. Hunter knew how concussions worked though, he'd seen enough before in the business to know how to look after someone with one. But it wasn't like they could check into a nice cosy hotel and rest up. He moved Shawn back so he was leant against the seat again. Fastening Shawn's seat belt again, Hunter reached into the back and pulled the bag forward. He pulled out one of the bottles of water they had and then some aspirin from the glove box. He left them on the dashboard knowing that later on Shawn would need them.
He reclined Shawn's seat to that he was able to lay flat. He knew he'd need to get some rest. The car wasn't the ideal place to do it but until he found somewhere else safe enough, it would have to do.
**
He slowed the car down as he reached the outskirts of the town.
It was very small, nothing much to it. And like when they'd got to the last one, seemed deserted.
He wanted nothing more than to find a place here where he'd be able to let Shawn sleep off the effects of the concussion peacefully. He didn't want to be walking around outside the car, looking for somewhere safe to go, especially when Shawn was defenceless. He drove the car to what seemed to be about the middle of the town. There was a school and church up ahead and a few small stores too. Hunter stopped the car before he pressed the horn several times. Nothing happened. He pressed it again, this time in more of a tune.
He waited a little longer and still nothing happened. He was about to press the horn again when he caught sight of someone moving up ahead. He got ready to drive, not sure if it was an infected person or not. Hunter noticed that the person was moving cautiously themselves and he guessed it was a normal person. He slowly moved the car towards them. He stopped further up the road. He didn't want to get too close.
He held his hands up to show he wasn't armed, before he slowly got out of the car. The person came forward. He saw it was a small woman, maybe in her early 40's.
"No one's infected here?" He asked.
"No." She said. "Most people already left here. There's just a few of us here."
"I need somewhere to stay."
"Well, we're in the school." She said. "It had the most space and everything we needed."
"My friend is in the car."
"I... I can't see anyone."
"He's laying down."
"He's infected?" The woman asked, backing up a little.
"No, of course not, I wouldn't travel with someone who was- he'd kill me."
"I don't know...."
"Please. He's hurt."
"How's he hurt?"
"He hit his head on a wall, I think. He's got concussion. I just need to keep him rested for as long as I can."
"Um, I just....."
"I promise you."
"There's some children there.... I don't know if we can let you stay."
"Please. You can check him yourself. He's not bitten. Lock us in a different room if you want."
"I need to speak to the others about it."
"Okay. I'll wait in the car." Hunter got back in. "Shawn?" He said, shaking his friend. He didn't react until Hunter got a little louder and firmer with trying to wake him. Eventually his eyes opened. "Sorry buddy. You know me?"
"Hunter."
"Good boy. I'm trying to get us a place to relax for a while, so just hang in there. I need you to stay conscious for a bit, okay? Now, I'm gonna come round and get you out the car." Hunter went round quickly, opened the door and helped Shawn into a sitting position, before he helped move his legs round so he was half out the car. But the movement seemed to disrupt Shawn too much as he threw up on the floor by the car. Hunter rubbed Shawn's back trying to comfort him as best he could. It wasn't until Shawn had somewhat recovered that Hunter realised that the lady had returned with another couple of people.
"Shawn just stay there okay." Hunter said, turning to face the people.
"He doesn't look well. And he's covered in blood." Said one of the men.
"It's not his blood. And he is ill, he's got a serious concussion."
"David?" The woman said, looking to the other man.
He moved over to the car and stopped just short of Shawn and Hunter. "I'm a doctor. Mind if I check him over?"
"Knock yourself out." Hunter said. He moved back a little bit.
The lady came up to Hunter. "My names Margaret. That's David and this is George."
"My names Paul and that's Shawn."
"Is that a gun?" Asked George.
"Yeah, there's a couple of them in the car."
"Jesus!"
"George, please!"
"If you're worried about the guns, why don't you take them, and we'll keep the ammo." Hunter suggested.
"Well why don't I take the guns and the ammo."
"Do I look that stupid? I'm not going to let you take our weapon and ammo from us."
"Okay." David said standing up. "He's definitely got a bad concussion. And there's no bite marks on him. Margaret, you wanna go set one of those other classrooms ready with a blanket and whatever else we can find for a makeshift bed."
"Thanks." Hunter said. Him and the doctor helped pull Shawn from the car and made there way towards the school.
"George, help me out. Paul, you go get your stuff from the car." David suggested. Hunter hesitated, not sure about the other man.
"It's okay, I'll help." George said. "I'm just a grumpy old bastard, but I care about my family and no one's coming in here unless the doc clears it first. But I'd never turn anyone away."
Hunter went back to the car and grabbed all there weapons and bags. He locked the car up before he left it and followed the others inside.
