Survival Ties (The Outbreak Chronicles Book 1) (16 page)

We pulled up to the hospital; there
was a tall skinny guy with spiked light-brown hair waiting for us. He was
standing next to a golf cart type of vehicle with a girl who had long ruby-red
hair. Sam got out of the bus and greeted him with a hug. We all got off the bus
slowly, not sure what to expect.

“This is Drew.” Sam said.
“Drew, meet everyone.”

Sam introduced us all while he
pointed us out.

“You guys sure packed a bunch
of you on that bus and I’m guessing from the look of you all, there wasn’t a
shower.” The red-head said, eyeing us.

“This is Diamond, my
girlfriend. Please forgive her rudeness, she wouldn’t know what to do being on
a bus with a group for survival.” Drew said and Diamond shot daggers at him
with her eyes.

“Where’s Denny?” Sam asked.

“He’s around somewhere; I
couldn’t find him to tell him you were here.” Drew answered. I noticed his eyes
were chocolate colored as my gaze met his.

He smiled at me and I couldn’t
help comparing myself to Diamond, who was standing next to him, watching. Her
long red hair straightened and her green eyes were lined with black eyeliner
and done up with a smoky eye look. She had her lips red and she was wearing
some sort of designer clothes.

I had my long brown hair in a
ponytail, no make-up. I probably still had dirt on my face, and I was wearing
jeans and a black tank top. Diamond was eyeing me when she saw Drew was looking
at me. I shifted, uncomfortable and found Aaron.

“Looks like you’re making
friends.” He told me, nodding towards Drew and Diamond.

“Oh yeah, maybe if looks could
kill, her and I could be best friends.” I responded, avoiding looking back at
the couple.

“Yeah little mermaid over there
is shooting daggers at you but the boy looks curious.” Aaron told me.

“Little mermaid? Really?” I
asked him.

“It’s the hair.” Aaron
responded laughing as a wheelchair was brought out for Hannah.

“I hope you won’t be offended
but I’m going to have all of you stay in the hospital tonight. For observation
and so I can get rooms ready for everyone.” Drew told us, “If things are as bad
as you said, I have to keep everyone here safe. We’ll bring everyone clean
clothes and you all can shower and relax.”

I noticed Daisy looked a little
nervous leaving the bus. I realized she hadn’t been off the bus for any long
period of time since Tone and Sydney had found her on it. Everyone else seemed
excited about having some space.

We had gotten a bit crowded
lately on the bus living on top of each other at all times. Sam was talking to
Drew as we followed the nurse taking Hannah into the hospital. There were a
couple more nurses waiting for us when we came through the doors.

“Males go with Joe. Females
come with me, my name is Mary.” The older nurse said to us. Aaron squeezed my
hand and smiled at me.

“I’ll see you soon.” He said as
he headed over to Joe. I realized I was shaking as we followed Mary down the
corridors. The nurse pushing Hannah seemed to be heading the same way as us.

“I’m sure you’re all ready for
a shower and new clothes.” Mary was saying, “We’re going to have you use the
showers in the locker room. Don’t worry there’s individual stalls.”

They took Hannah.

The rest of us were given bags.
They contained soap, shampoo, conditioner, hairbrush, toothbrush, toothpaste,
sweatpants, and T-shirts. We were directed to the women’s locker room and told
to meet up at the nurse’s station when we were done.

In the locker room there were
separate stalls with showers. All four of us found a stall and after entering,
found there were bags with directions. We were to put our names on the bag and
place all our clothes and shoes into it, and then drop it down the chute.

The hot water felt like heaven
and I was surprised to see how much dirt was coming off me. The water going
down the drain was brown. I scrubbed my hair twice with shampoo before moving
on to conditioner. I stayed in until the water ran clear. I finally turned off
the water and grabbed a towel off a rack in the stall. I dried off to dress in
the sweats and T-shirt that were provided for me.

I didn’t touch my hair till I
was standing in front of a mirror with a row of sinks underneath it. I brushed
my teeth as soon as I had my hair brushed out. Sawyer was the first to join me,
followed shortly by Sydney, then Daisy.

“I forgot how good a shower
could feel.” Daisy said as we finished and made our way barefoot to the nurse’s
station. Mary looked up as we emerged.

“I’m sure you all feel much
better.” She greeted, “Let’s get you some proper clothes and shoes, shall we?”

We followed her to a huge room
that had been set up with beds, like a dormitory. The guys were already there
and dressed. On one of the beds there were bags with each of our names.

“Everything you need should be
in there. We got all your sizes off the bags of clothes you dropped down the
chutes.” Mary explained as we opened the bags to find new clothes and shoes.

I felt a bit weird knowing
someone had picked out a new bra and panties for me. More so that they matched,
but I was grateful for them. Mary pointed to the bathrooms so we could change.
When we came back Drew was standing with the guys waiting for us.

“I just talked to the doctors I
have here. They informed me that the things they need to treat Hannah aren’t
here. They were supposed to come on the shipment that was scheduled for
yesterday.” Drew started. “I hate to ask but I need volunteers that have been
out there to go with me to a hospital in a nearby town to get supplies.”

“I’ll go.” Sam said and stepped
up.

“Me too.” Hunter said.

“I’m in.” Micah added.

“I’ll go.” Sawyer said and
grabbed Micah’s hand.

“Me too.” I said stepping up
beside Sawyer.

“And me.” Aaron added, coming
up behind me and putting his hands on my shoulders.

“That should be plenty. Sam,
I’ll have you drive, then you and Hunter will guard the van. The rest of you
will go in with me.” Drew said.

We all followed him out to
where a large van was parked. The back was set up like an ambulance and the
doors had to open one at a time.

“Why aren’t we just taking the
chopper?” Sam asked.

“I want to save it for an
emergency. Plus, it’d be better leaving it here just in case we can’t guard it
and someone takes it.” Drew answered.

“Good thinking.” Sam agreed as
he hopped into the driver’s seat.

We all loaded up and were on
our way. Drew had said the trip wouldn’t take long and he was right. It wasn’t
a long drive, especially since the roads were clear. It was like no one had
tried to use the roads here since the outbreak happened.

Before we knew it we were
pulling up to a huge hospital. A helicopter had crashed into the sign in the
front so we couldn’t tell which hospital it was. It didn’t matter to us since
we were here on a supply run for more medicine for the dome hospital.

Drew led us into the hospital
and at first it looked completely empty. We all relaxed a bit as we walked the
corridors. We were all armed with knives. Aaron had a gun if we really needed
it but Sam wanted us to try and avoid using it and stick with the knives. Drew
had us round another corner near a surgery observation room.

“The supply closet is right
around that way.” Drew said as he pointed down the corridor.

“Just as long as you know where
you’re going and how to get out.” Aaron said to Drew as we heard a crash behind
us.

Aaron motioned for us all to
stay put and went to look around the corner to see what the noise was. He came
running back towards us as a Red Eye came around the corner.

“Go, get into that room.” He
called as he ran back to us.

Drew quickly opened the door to
the observation room and waved us in. He didn’t shut the door till Aaron came
running in. Micah was looking out the window as Drew locked it. The Red Eyes
were slamming themselves into the door trying to get in. Aaron was pacing
around the room like a caged tiger; he suddenly stopped and looked at us.

“I know how we can get out of
here.” He said as he looked around the room at us.

“How?” Drew asked. He was at
the back of the room by the window that looked down into the operation room.

“We let them in a couple at a
time, stab them in the head, and we’ll be rid of them.” Aaron responded.

“What do you mean?” Drew asked.

“Okay Sawyer, open the door and
try to only let one in.

“Micah, make sure she can get
the door closed.” Aaron directed. Sawyer opened the door and let one in that
was dressed as a nurse, Micah helped her get the door closed again. The Red Eye
went straight for Aaron and he waited till it was close enough. Then he placed
one hand up on its chest to stop it and stabbed into its skull with his knife.

The Red Eye dropped to the
ground and Aaron moved the body out of the way. “See we do this quickly and
calmly in a manner we can control.”

“Seems to be our best shot.” I
agreed and Aaron smiled at me.

“Sawyer and Micah, I want you
both to handle the door and keep the groups you’re letting in down to only two
or three.” Aaron directed and smiled encouragement at us.

He nodded at Sawyer and Micah
while he got ready for what would come in. Drew and I followed suit with Aaron
as Sawyer opened the door and a group of three pushed their way into the room.
Aaron took care of one, while Drew got the next one, the last one wondered over
to me. Aaron made it look easy, stab, remove knife, drop Red Eye.

My knife blade slid easily into
the Red Eye’s skull but pulling it out was harder than it looked. I got it and
the Red Eye dropped to the ground. Drew patted me on the back as Aaron moved
the bodies away.

Aaron nodded again and we got
ready for the next group. Sawyer got the door open again and two came stumbling
through. She and Micah slammed the door shut again. One went straight for Drew,
while the other came at me. It was easier to pull the blade out this time; I
was prepared for it wanting to stay.

“That’s six down, how many more
out there?” Aaron called to Micah.

“I’m counting at least ten.”
Micah answered as he looked out the window.

“Okay, let’s keep this up, nice
and easy.” Aaron said to all of us.

He nodded to Sawyer and Micah
again. As soon as the door opened and four Red Eyes shoved their way into the
room before they could get the door closed again. The sound of the door
clicking drew the one in the back towards Sawyer. Micah took care of it before
she even got her knife pulled out. Aaron, Drew, and I made quick work of the
other three.

We kept up the pattern of
opening the door and taking out a few at a time that came in. It wasn’t long
before the hallway was clear. Micah counted the bodies on the ground as the
last one dropped.

“Twenty-five of them.” He said.

“That’s a bit more than ten, if
we only had six in here.” Aaron told him.

“I said at least ten.” Micah
responded. We were all a little hyped from our victory over the Red Eyes. Drew
led the way to the medical supply closet. He grabbed one of the hospital’s
laundry bins on the way to fill up when we got to the closet.

Once we got to the door that
held all the medical supplies we found that it was locked with one of those
keycard locks.

“I’ve got this.” Drew said as
he held up a card.

“Did you swipe that from a Red
Eye?” Micah asked.

“Where else would I have gotten
it?” Drew shot back.

“Would you just open the damn
door.” Aaron said as he kept his attention focused for any danger.

Drew swiped the card and the
light blinked green as the door slid open.

Aaron and Micah stayed in the
hallway with the keycard to guard us.

“Ashlyn, you follow me with
that bin.” Drew directed, “Sawyer, grab the empty bin by the door. Load it with
bandages and anything that looks like it might be useful.”

“Do we know what we need?” I
asked as I followed him.

“Yeah, we have a shopping
list.” Drew answered as he waved the slip of paper in the air.

He followed his list as he went
around the room; grabbing all that was on the shelf for each item. He went back
around as soon as he finished his list and cleared the shelves of everything
else they had on them. All the shelves were empty as we left the room. I
noticed that Sawyer had even grabbed some of the doctor jackets.

“Was it necessary to follow a
list if you were going to take everything?” Aaron asked.

“Had to make sure I got
everything on the list first then took what we still had room for.” Drew
answered.

“Okay well let’s get out of
here. I think if we go back the way we came we might not run into any Red
Eyes.” Aaron said as he let Drew take the lead to get us back outside.