BLOODLETTING PART 3

The three of them took it nice and easy, creeping up to the school parking lot and hunching low behind a bunch of cars that had been abandoned for at least a couple of months. They couldn't see the situation yet, but it already didn't sound promising from where they were sitting. They heard the endless streams of at least a dozen growls and gurgles that were only a couple feet away from them.

Natasha swallowed hard and looked between Shane and Otis. "Ok…let's take a look, but only a small peep," she warned them in a low whisper.

Shane, Natasha, and Otis all held their breath at the same time and slowly lifted their heads above the car to see out into the parking lot. It was as they expected it to be though. There was an ungodly number of Walkers that were just mindlessly wandering the area, which was all they needed to see before swiftly ducking back down to avoid being seen and possibly making the situation worse.

"Ok, so where is it that we need to get inside?" Natasha asked while turning to Otis.

"You see that big mobile medical trailer across the way?" Otis said while making a gesture with his head in the direction.

Both Shane and Natasha looked up and saw what Otis was referring to. It was a large, blue trailer with the words 'Emergency Medical Services on the front of it. There was only one problem though: the sea of the dead stood before them.

"That's the one we have to get to?" Shane said, instantly growing pale.

"Yeah," Otis whispered begrudgingly.

"Alright. Nat, you're in charge. Any idea how we're gonna get in there?"

Natasha nodded and glanced back at the trailer, trying to formulate a plan in her mind. She judged the distance between the car they were behind and the blue trailer. Furthermore, taking into account the number of dead that were lingering around but were still too close together to make a break for it.

Natasha chewed the inside of her cheek and groaned. "Well, can't really make a run for it without having one of us get left behind. The gap is too narrow. We're gonna need something to draw their attention first. I have firecrackers on me, but I don't want to use them and draw in anymore that might be in the area. The horde will only grow, and it'll get harder to get away. We need something more muffled," she estimated.

Shane appeared mildly impressed that she was able to think all of that up in just a couple of seconds. He could easily see the problem now that it was displayed to him…but he could also see the car they were hiding behind. He recognized the paint job and soon realized that it was a cop car. "Will something like flares work?"

Natasha cocked a brow before noticing the car too. "Yeah, but will they be inside the trunk?"

"They should. Should we look inside now?"

She quickly shook her head. "No, not yet. let's wait for the sun to dive a little. We'll be less noticeable that way if it's dark," Natasha said while getting down in a sitting position. "So sit tight. We'll move when it's dark enough."

They all resided themselves to that one spot and began to wait it out until midnight. Even so, Natasha could not escape the sinking feeling in her gut as anxiety invaded her mind. A fretfulness that led her to believe that she had been making nothing but mistakes from the start.

Hours had passed since they sat down and started to wait, but as soon as it became dark enough, Natasha started to move. She began by inching out from around the car and very slowly made her way to the front driver's side door. Practically crawling on all fours like an animal to get to the latch. She grabbed the handle and held her breath, hoping to every and any kind of god there was that no alarm or creaking noise would go off. The door miraculously popped open though with ease and she managed to reach in and pull the switch to pop open the trunk. She waited behind the open door and looked back to Shane, seeing him smile and hold up what looked to be red flares.

They didn't waste any more time and began lighting the flares and tossing them to the far end of the parking lot. Away from the trailer and away from them. Their plan soon began to work too when the Walkers turned their heads and began to limp and drag their decaying bodies over to the flashy, buzzing red lights. This made a big enough gap for the three of them to run out from behind the car and hurry over to the trailer. Shane managed to make it inside first, quickly followed by Otis, and lastly Natasha who closed the door behind them.

Once they were behind semi-safe doors, Shane took a breath and flipped on his flashlight to see what the room looked like. They could now see that it was stock full of medical supplies of various kinds. From medication to medical tools, and most importantly, Carl's respirator. It had everything they needed and more.

"Make sure you leave nothing unturned," Natasha reminded them while handing her list over to Otis for him to check off.

Natasha began her own search and looked through both cabinets and boxes, making sure to read the labels that were on the front of the medical tools. Anything that was needed for Carl went right into her bag, which was nearing full by the end of the search. Natasha was about done with the list when she pulled a box off the shelf and heard loose rattling noises inside. She cocked a brow and gently placed the box on the floor and opened it up. Inside there were orange prescription bottles that were filled with tiny, white, and yellow pills.

Natasha immediately felt her heart jump straight into her throat, which made her want to gag. Her muscles quickly became rigid as she forced herself to turn the bottle around and see what it said on the label. Reading it once though instantly made her feel sick. Her body began to tremble as she stood there, not saying anything or moving for a solid minute.

Shane turned his flashlight over to Natasha and saw her frozen stiff with a distressed look written all over her face. "Nat, what are you doing?" he called out.

Natasha's body jolted and she about dropped the bottle. She gripped it close to her chest and looked up at him, then back down to the orange bottle that was resting in her shaking hand. "Sorry. Just surprised to see how much stuff Is in here," she said with a subtle crack in her voice before stuffing at least three more bottles into her bag and zipping it up. Shane couldn't help but notice it though and see that she was on edge.

"Ok…is that it? Do we have everything," Shane said, deciding to push Natasha's odd behavior to the back of his head for now.

Otis nodded and gave them a very eager look. "Yeah, and I don't know about you guys…but I'm ready to leave."

Shane nodded in agreement and walked over to the door once he knew they were done. He grabbed the knob and pushed it open, only to see that the dead were no longer interested in the flares. Every single one of them lifted their heads and stared straight at Shane and them as they stepped out from the trailer.

Natasha didn't waste their valuable time and immediately flew into action. "Right! Go right!" she shouted while pushing Shane and Otis down the steps while she jumped off the side railing.

They sprinted into the narrow sidewalk with the Walkers clogging up the path behind them, leaving no room for escape. They tried many times to make a turn but there seemingly was nowhere for them to go without running into more and more Walkers. Shane would've run right into them too if Natasha wasn't already behind him. She grabbed the back of his shirt and kicked one of the Walkers away from him.

"Can't we get into the building?" Natasha shouted once she realized they were slowly being surrounded.

Shane ran over to the double glass doors and gave them two hard tugs. They didn't even budge though and it was clear they were locked.

"They're locked," he called back.

Natasha scoffed after hearing that. "No there not! Nothing's locked if you have a gun! Shoot the glass!"

Shane quickly got the memo and nodded. "Alright! Get back! Get back!" he warned everyone before taking aim and firing two shotgun rounds into the glass doors.

They jumped through the shattered glass and quickly closed the barred gate behind them before the Walkers could get in. The dead was persistent though and started to push and press their bodies against the grate, reaching their arms out to the survivors who could do nothing but back into a corner. There was nowhere to go now. They were trapped.

Author's Note:

Short chapter, I know. I probably could've fit the rest of this episode on the previous chapter, but...I just didn't feel like putting in the extra effort that week. Oh well!

Anywho. I just wanna say how much I adore you all. Reading your reviews had always been the highlight of Natasha's story, and I truly hope you all stick around to find out what was written on those pill bottles.

Merry Charismas and happy New Year.