Chapter Nine

Day Seventeen – Part 3

The Land Rover pulled out outside of the Veterinary Clinic and Lars, Max and Lewis exited the vehicle. The area was heavily populated by the undead and they barely had time to get their guns out of their holsters and make a run for the building.

As Max took the lead towards the front door of the clinic Lars and Lewis shot down as many bitters as they could but this seemed to make little difference. The clinic was extremely close to the main road and the nearby residential estates and there were hundreds of zombies walking around. Max kicked the door down at the front of the clinic and ran inside, holding the door ajar to allow the others to make a fast dash inside. As they crossed the threshold of the clinic Max slammed the door shut and both the other men looked around for something to barricade the door with.

There was nothing they could find, the reception area was the usual sparse utilitarian area that any medical clinic, human or animal, would use. Small chairs lined against the wall, no sofas or bookshelves anywhere in the room. As he looked around Lars jumped behind the reception half wall that stood in the middle of the room. It was one of those partitions where a counter rested on the half wall and desks for the staff were placed behind it. Landing on his feet Lars grabbed the desk and tested it, ensuring it was not bolted to the floor.

"Lewis, help me with these." He shouted at his friend who had returned to the main door and was helping Max hold it shut.

As Lewis reached him they each grabbed a corner of the desk and placed it near Max, as he jumped out of the way they rammed it against the door.

"There are too many, the door won't hold for long." Max growled at them, as he slammed the desk forward against the horde that was pushing against it. "Hurry up and get what we need, we have to get out of here. If they can't get in through the door they will break the windows and the safety grills won't last long either."

Nodding their agreement Lars and Lewis ran towards the back of the building, searching for the store areas and the surgery theatres where they would find the items they had to get. Lewis reached the theatres and started grabbing all the sterile equipment he could, forceps, needles, etc. When he had emptied all the ready trays out of the theatre he grabbed the respiration equipment, only hand held as it was impossible for them to cart around the heavy machines that would serve as lungs to the animals the clinic catered to.

In the store room Lars filled several bags with more sterile equipment before filling another one with IV bags, empty blood bags, and everything else he could find. Looking at the list Louise had given them he read out the names of the anaesthesia medication the clinic was likely to have and breaking open the heavy glass cases he started loading the bottles into his bags too. Next to the heavy case another unit stood, loaded with the usual antibiotics and pain medications and he broke into that unit too. All the bottles were in plastic and he didn't need to be as gentle with them. Reaching for a clean sheet from the laundered pile near him he opened it and scooped all the medication in front of him into it before tying it into a knot and securing it closed.

"They are coming in!" Max shouted from the outer room, running away from the main doors and into the rear of the building where the other two men were, sweat dripping from him from exhaustion. He had held the doors closed for as long as he could but there were too many and he just couldn't hold it any longer.

As the hordes started filling the reception area he reached the large door that separated that room from the rear of the building. Reaching into his pocket he took out a grenade, popped the pin with his teeth and shouted a warning.

"Fire in the hole."

Then Max threw the grenade at the zombies and closed the door behind him, ducking and covering his head as best he could. A large explosion filled his ears, making them ring. The door vibrated behind it and fell towards him, its hinges having fallen apart with the strength of the explosion, cracks had shown up on the walls and plaster coated the air making it hard to breathe. Scrambling from under the door frame he looked behind him, seeing the remnants of the undead that had been in the room when the grenade has gone off, most has been destroyed or severely impaired but the explosion had taken out the front grills and windows of the reception area and now more zombies were scrambling into the building.

"Get ready to run, now!" he roared, as loudly as he could, before grabbing another grenade from his pocket. Lifting the door and placing it upwards for protection he pulled the grenade pin and threw it once more into the reception area, pushing with all his might against the heavy door.

When the blast went off the door did not hold. Max was blasted, door and all, to the opposite side of the room where he stood. He impacted the wall and caught between the door and the wall he was spared from the debris as it flew towards him. Lars found him, semi conscious, sitting on the ground between the wall and he door, bleeding from several cuts and a large injury to the back of his head. Grabbing his friend by the vest they all wore he dragged him into the rear storage area where Lewis also stood.

As Lars gently laid him on the ground and assessed his friend, Lewis closed the door, locking it as he did so. On the ground Max began to stir, lifting his arm to touch the back of his head. His hand was coated in sticky blood when he looked at it and Max groaned with pain and irritation as he grabbed the hand Lars extended to him to help him to his feet.

"Time to go big man." Lars told him as he helped him to his feet. "Where is the nearest exit?" he asked Lewis as he grabbed the bags that had been resting on the ground where Max had been.

"Next door is the main hallway; there is a security door that goes to the back car park. Since it's a fire door it's easy to open from the inside but I have no idea what we are going to find out there, no windows on that wall." Lewis replied.

"And how exactly do we get to the hallway since we just barricaded the only door out of this room?" Max asked, grabbing a towel from one of the many shelves in the room and whipping the blood from his head.

"Partition wall is studwork, we shoot out way out." Lewis replied. "I closed the door to the hallways so we have a few minutes before the hordes get in there but not long."

"Let's do it then." Max answered, grabbing his side arm and removing the safety before slipping several bags into his free arm, having dropped the bloody towel to the ground.

Lars and Lewis grabbed their own bags, slipping them onto their shoulders as best they could; Lars slid the makeshift bag containing the medications into the crook of his arm before signalling to Lewis.

Raising his assault rifle Lewis used several burst of rapid fire to cut through a large section of the partition wall. Pushing the section into the main hallway they exited the store room and made their way to the rear fire exit, the sounds of the zombies not far behind them as they forced their way into the store room and pounded on the door that separated them from the men. Assault rifle still in his hand Lewis looked to both men for a signal they were ready before pushing the bar down on the fire door and running out of the building.

Behind the clinic a small alley way led to a tall wall that separated them from the adjoining car park. Even there they found large numbers of bitters and shooting them down they ran as fast as they could towards the opening on the wall. They were cut off from their armoured car and they knew it, the only way to survive was to find refuge in another nearby building and then make a run for the Land Rover when the hordes had dissipated a bit.

Several buildings were spread around the edges of the car park, a party store, insurance dealers, restaurants. They franticly searched for one building that was the safest of all of them. The restaurants had all been raided by desperate survivors and the doors and windows had been broken. Heading for the insurance brokers they ran, the sounds of the undead close on their heels.

Max drew the last grenade from his pocket and threw it behind them, disabling a large group of bitters in one sweep. As they approached the front of the building they main door opened, a teenage boy stood there, door ajar facing them as he shouted.

"Run. Get in here."

The men didn't argue or doubt themselves, they picked up their pace, laden with the medical supplies and darted towards the door the boy held open. Slamming past him into the building the boy closed the door behind them, securing it shut with a heavy metal bar before pushing a large oak bookshelf against it.

Turning to face the men he lifted a gun and pointed it at them. Max and Lewis dropped their supplies to the floor, resting their hands on their knees as they tried to gasp for air. Lars simply smiled, a dark little grin tugging at the corners of his mouth as he observed the boy in front of him.

"While I thank you for the help I suggest you lower that gun before I shove it down your throat." He told the boy.

"You do what you have to do. My family is here and I will shoot you all if I have to protect them. Do you understand?" the boy asked.

"Perfectly." Lars replied, watching as the boy lowered his weapon.

"Good, now follow me. The back of the building is solid brick and safer."

Before long all three men and the boy were standing in a small room at the back of the building. It was set up like a staff room, several couches darted around and a small kitchen in the corner. From the looks of the room, filled with sleeping bags, candles and tinned supplies he and his family had been in here for some time. An older woman and a younger boy were sat in the corner, staring at the men with fear in their eyes.

"Nana are you ok?" the older boy asked, as he approached her.

"Who are they?" she asked, eyes Lars and his sardonic grin carefully.

"They were being chased by the dead, I had to help. They were going to get in here anyway by the looks of it, safer this way if they didn't have to break the doors down. They had grenades!" he explained, passing the old woman a bottle of water and a small box of pills. "Take one of your tablets. You don't look so good Nana."

The old woman did as he asked and hugged the child near her tighter. The older boy turned to face them men and moved towards Lars, extending his hand in greeting, trying to break the ice somewhat.

"I'm John, that's my Grandma Marie and my little brother Luke. I hope I haven't made a mistake saving your asses out there."

Lars shook the boys hand before answering. "Thank you for the help. We are no threat to you. We will leave as soon as we can reach our car safely. We have our own people waiting for us but I would ask that you do not raise that weapon at me again or all bets are off."

"Fair enough." John replied. "What are your names?"

"I'm Lars, in the black is Lewis and the bleeding guy is Max. I'll go check on the horde outside while you guys get acquainted."

John nodded and slowly approached Max. "Was he bit?" he asked Lewis.

"No, smashed his head open after blowing up a couple dozen bitters." Lewis replied as he grabbed some antiseptic wipes and a bandage from his own small first aid kit in his bag. Carefully he cleaned the gash on Max's head and then wrapped the gauze around it, stemming the blood flow.

When he was finished he searched the bottles of pills Lars had grabbed for pain killers and gave one to Max. "Don't go falling asleep, you might have a concussion." He told his friend, as he slapped his shoulder gently.

"With the headache I have that's not likely to happen!" Max replied sarcastically.

Lewis put the dirty wipes and wrappers into a pocket of his bag and finally walked towards John.

"Thank you for the help out there. I'm Lewis. Is your Grandmother OK? She doesn't look too good." He asked, watching the old woman sitting quietly in the couch, looking pale and out of breath.

"She has heart problem." John explained, watching her over his own shoulder. "I gave her one of the pills just now but with what's going on I don't think they are helping her too much."

Nodding Lewis walked towards the older woman, kneeling in front of her and resting his hand on top of her own before giving her a reassuring smile. "Everything will be alright Ma'am. We won't hurt any of you. We need to get out of here as soon as possible, our friend is seriously hurt and we need to take the medical supplies back to our people. Please relax and breathe. You don't need to get stressed about any of this. Can I get you anything?"

"You are a good boy!" the old woman told him gently, placing her hand on his face. Her accent had a deep Spanish twang to it. "Luke why don't you show them around for me?" she told the little boy who looked no older than eight or nine years old.

Resting back she watched as Luke showed Lewis around the room, pointing out where the toilet was and John stood by the doorway, keeping an eye on Lars in the next room. She knew these men had military training, her own deceased husband had been a Sergeant in the Navy for over thirty years, but there was something about them that told her they could be trusted not to harm them. Closing her eyes Marie waited for the heart medication to kick in and relieve the pain that has wrapped itself firmly around her chest, afraid for her boys if anything happened to her.

Several hours had passed, the hordes outside had dissipated slightly but not enough to leave the building safely and try to reach their armoured car. John was sitting with his grandmother, sponging her face with a damn towel and giving her spoonfuls of soup. The medication hadn't worked as well as they hoped and she was still struggling to breathe, pale and sweating with pain. Max was sat on a sofa near them, observing the old woman for signs of trouble. By the main doors Lars and Lewis stood watch, hoping for a gap in the hordes so they could run and fetch their car. Night was starting to fall and if it got dark they knew they would have to remain in the building until morning. It would be too dangerous to try to reach the Land Rover in the darkness with these many bitters around.

Hearing a set of footsteps behind them Lewis turned, finding Luke holding two cups, one in each hand. "I made you some coffee." He said, "It's black, we have no milk."

"Thank you, that's perfect." Lewis replied, grabbing his cup and passing the other to Lars who nodded his thanks instead.

"How is your grandmother doing?" Lars asked the boy, watching John sitting with the old woman in the adjoining room through the open door.

"She isn't very well. I don't think the medication is working." Luke replied quietly.

"Do you have any other family?" Lars enquired, deep in thought.

"Not any more. We were spending the weekend with Nana when the sickness came. John tried to go find our parents but they were like the others outside." He replied, pointing to the door and indicating the zombies outside.

"So she is all you have left then." Lars whispered to himself, before looking at Lewis and walking away.

In the other room John watched as Lars walked towards them. Checking on his friend and whispering quietly in his ear Lars finally approached them, sitting down on the coffee table that seemed too small to hold such a large man. He ran his fingers through his long blond hair, tucking it behind his ears.

"Marie how are you doing?" he asked the old woman gently.

"Not so good." She replied honestly, behind heavy lids, holding her grandsons hands as she did so.

"I would like to speak to you about something I believe will take some of your worry away."

"Go ahead, I'm not going anywhere." She replied, taking a deep breath.

"We have secure lodging, medical care and plenty of food. I would like you to come with us when we leave." He explained.

Behind him Max stared, surprise etched on his face. He had not expected Lars to do this. He was against carrying dead weight and a dying woman and two children were the definition of dead weight.

"That is very kind of you," the old woman replied, "But I don't want to impose."

"You won't be imposing. Personally I could do with someone who knows how to cook decent food. I'm sure you will be a great addition to the group." He lied, trying to a reassuring presence and failing miserably.

"Good try." The old woman replied, "It's a kindness you are doing to us and I won't turn it down. My boys need to survive this. Thank you!" she replied, before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

Night fell before long and they never managed to get out of the building. Lewis and Lars took turns watching the doors, while the other watched over the sleeping woman and her grandsons, talking to Max and keeping him awake through the night. His pupils were showing signs of concussion and he could not be allowed to fall asleep. Large amounts of coffee were consumed by all three men in their vigil and Max argued the entire time that he was perfectly alright and did not need babysitting.

In the morning the sun rose and Lars saw that the hordes had thinned significantly. Lewis and Lars decided that it was the best time to make a run for their Land Rover and told Max about their plan.

They walked out of the building, carrying only their weapons, and left Max holding his weapon and standing by the front door. John was packing his family's belongings and al the tinned food and water they had accumulated to take with them. His grandmother was still semi-conscious and not able to do much.

Some half hour later, and many sounds of gunfire later, Lewis and Lars pulled their armoured car around the back of the insurance building. It was Lars who ran towards the back entrance where John stood, holding the back door open, while Lewis shot down any bitter that approached. First he carried in all the supplies they had gathered and the extras that John had prepared to take with them. Max stood by Marie and wrapped her gently in a blanket before trying to lift her up and failing himself. His head spun and his legs wavered under him before he collapsed on the ground. John was just able to grab his grandmother before she dropped with the man.

Outside Lewis shouted a warning. "Guys, there's a lot of them again. Hurry up." As he shot down as many zombies as he could, using his assault rifle.

Running back inside Lars scooped the old woman into his arms, as gently as he could under such circumstances and guiding the young boy to the safety of the Land Rover outside. In front of his John held Max up, one arm draped under the man's shoulder for leverage. The numbers of bitters around them growing with every passing second, having been drawn by Lewis and Lars when they fetched their armoured car.

Lewis wasn't able to hold them off. Luke jumped into the waiting car and John helped Max get into it too while Lars held his grandmother. Suddenly he saw movement behind them; Lars dropped the woman's lower body into the ground, keeping hold of her upper body as he held her against him in a bear hug. He drew his weapon and started shooting the nearest zombies to where he stood.

John launched himself off the Rover, diving past Lars at a bitter that was reaching for his Nana. As he collapsed on the ground over the bitter he stabbed a large knife into its skull and killed it as Lars continued to shoot the approaching horde as he attempted to place the old woman into the waiting vehicle. Lewis was sitting behind the wheel and started the engine for a fast escape the moment they were all inside.

Turning his back Lars placed the unconscious woman inside the car. In that split second a scream sounded behind him. Two zombies had surrounded John as he stabbed a bitter in the skull, biting him and taking large chunks out of his neck and shoulders. Lars knew it was too late to save the boy the moment he saw the scene unfolding in front of him, knowing he was doomed already.

Deciding to spare him the slow agonising death and the horror of being a zombie he lifted his gun, shooting the boy in the forehead before getting into the Land Rover and closing his door.

"Lets go." Was all Lars said as Lewis drove the car out of the parking area and into the roads of Las Vegas, towards their bunker and their group.

They all knew that it had been too long and they didn't expect to find Viktor alive when they walked into the safety of their refuge.