The Next World
Chapter One
Third Person
‘Normal’ wasn’t a world that people used very often nowadays. What was ‘normal’ anyway? Humanity never could decide in the old world, but, in the new world ‘humanity’ didn’t exactly exist anymore.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun was high in the sky at midday, the only sound to be heard for who knows how many miles was the sound of dirt and gravel crunching beneath two sets of footsteps. Two tired, dirty and hungry young women walked down the road side by side, guns slung over their shoulders and their eyes fixed on the road ahead of them.
“We’re low on water.” The redhead, Hannah, pointed out. Her voice was dry and rough.
“I saw a sign a few miles back for a nearby town.” Her companion, Erin, replied after a beat of silence. “If it’s not too overrun, we can stock up on whatever is left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flashback
Hannah was young, vibrant and full of life. She loved her job, she got along well with her co-workers and she adored her patients. No day at the hospital was ever the same as the last, but Hannah never could have guessed how much one night working the graveyard shift in the ER would have changed her entire life.
As Hannah walked out of her consultation room, her pager beeped from its location on her waistband, displaying a message to call one of her supervisors. Not thinking much of it, she walked down the corridor to use one of the phones at the reception area. Hannah picked up the phone and dialled the number for Doctor Willis.
“Nurse Carter?” The familiar, fast, irritated voice came through the phone after just two rings.
“Speaking,” Hannah confirmed. “You beeped me, Doctor?”
“Yes, a few hours ago, you admitted a male patient in his early thirties with a flesh wound on his right hand?”
“Ah, yes.” Hannah cleared her throat and stood up straighter. “He was bitten in the middle of a bar fight in the small hours of this morning.” She remembered.
“Well, someone had him moved and I can’t locate him because the paperwork wasn’t correctly filled out.” Doctor Wills said, am accusing tone in his voice.
“Doctor Lang took over from me right after the patient was admitted.” Hannah defended herself. “I had nothing to do with him after that.”
“I need you to locate him for m, and then page me when you find him.”
The call was ended before Hannah could say anything else. With a groan, she hung the phone back on the receiver and banged her forehead against the wall.
“Rough night?” The middle aged receptionist, Clara, asked.
“It’s Friday, of course it’s a rough night.” Hannah answered with a bitter chuckle. “Can you find a patient for me?”
“Already on it, Sweetheart.” Clara smiled sweetly, typing something into the computer. “There he is – Gregory Rodgers.” Hannah listened to Clara while filling in the correct forms for the last patient that she had seen. “They moved him up to the ICU.” Clara
continued.
“… For a bite?” Hannah frowned.
Clara shrugged and kept reading over the report.
“It doesn’t say here why, exactly, they moved him but someone from Toxicology is supposed to go see him in the morning.”
“Okay, alright…” Hannah sighed, shaking her head. “Would you page Willis for me? I really need some coffee.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The peaceful silence of the break room was rudely interrupted by Hannah’s pager beeping loudly again. She tugged it from her waistband and looked at the message displaying on the screen and immediately jumped into action when she recognized the code for Sudden Cardiopulmonary Arrest and the number of the room she had admitted an eight year old girl into earlier in the night.
Six minutes. They only had six minutes to save a patient in cardiac arrest, so Hannah ran as fast as she could, knowing that the longer it took her to get there, the less chance they had of saving the patient.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hannah’s POV
The town that Erin had spotted signs for wasn’t overrun at all, there were just a few of the undead roaming down the main street but they were easy to take care of quickly and quietly. Actually, the whole place looked like it had been evacuated before disaster had struck the earth.
Together, as always, Erin and I walked around the small supermarket in the centre of town, searching for anything that we could drink, eat or use in any other way. Luckily, the building hadn’t been looted very much so we loaded our packs with as much as we could manage. We could take our sweet time about it, too, because we were safe alone together.
“Do you think we ought to find somewhere to hold up soon?” Erin asked, popping open a sofa and taking a long drink, gulping loudly. “It’s going to rain out, but it’s too hot.”
“There’s going to be a storm.” I mused, picking up a pack of baby wipes to wipe my face with. “Maybe we’d be safe enough here for a couple of days.”
It wasn’t safe to stay in one place for too long, but if it meant keeping dry – which meant staying healthy enough to keep moving – then they would have to make do.
“Yeah,” Erin nodded. “I think you’re right about that.”
Ten minutes later, as the girls were finishing their collection round of the store, the sound of a rumbling engine rolled into town, making the girls dive for cover immediately. The living were much worse than the dead.
Once Hannah and Erin had taken cover, they could observe the truck as it rolled past the store with one person behind the wheel, two looking out of the back windows and one standing on the back looking around. They seemed to be looking for something in particular and could be heard talking, but it was much too muffled for either of the girls to make out what was being said. All Hannah could think about was the fact that these people had a working vehicle and gas to keep it running. That’s exactly what she and Erin needed right now.
“Well…” Hannah sighed once the truck had passed. “Looks like we’ve got a lead to follow – I want that truck.”
‘Normal’ wasn’t a world that people used very often nowadays. What was ‘normal’ anyway? Humanity never could decide in the old world, but, in the new world ‘humanity’ didn’t exactly exist anymore.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun was high in the sky at midday, the only sound to be heard for who knows how many miles was the sound of dirt and gravel crunching beneath two sets of footsteps. Two tired, dirty and hungry young women walked down the road side by side, guns slung over their shoulders and their eyes fixed on the road ahead of them.
“We’re low on water.” The redhead, Hannah, pointed out. Her voice was dry and rough.
“I saw a sign a few miles back for a nearby town.” Her companion, Erin, replied after a beat of silence. “If it’s not too overrun, we can stock up on whatever is left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flashback
Hannah was young, vibrant and full of life. She loved her job, she got along well with her co-workers and she adored her patients. No day at the hospital was ever the same as the last, but Hannah never could have guessed how much one night working the graveyard shift in the ER would have changed her entire life.
As Hannah walked out of her consultation room, her pager beeped from its location on her waistband, displaying a message to call one of her supervisors. Not thinking much of it, she walked down the corridor to use one of the phones at the reception area. Hannah picked up the phone and dialled the number for Doctor Willis.
“Nurse Carter?” The familiar, fast, irritated voice came through the phone after just two rings.
“Speaking,” Hannah confirmed. “You beeped me, Doctor?”
“Yes, a few hours ago, you admitted a male patient in his early thirties with a flesh wound on his right hand?”
“Ah, yes.” Hannah cleared her throat and stood up straighter. “He was bitten in the middle of a bar fight in the small hours of this morning.” She remembered.
“Well, someone had him moved and I can’t locate him because the paperwork wasn’t correctly filled out.” Doctor Wills said, am accusing tone in his voice.
“Doctor Lang took over from me right after the patient was admitted.” Hannah defended herself. “I had nothing to do with him after that.”
“I need you to locate him for m, and then page me when you find him.”
The call was ended before Hannah could say anything else. With a groan, she hung the phone back on the receiver and banged her forehead against the wall.
“Rough night?” The middle aged receptionist, Clara, asked.
“It’s Friday, of course it’s a rough night.” Hannah answered with a bitter chuckle. “Can you find a patient for me?”
“Already on it, Sweetheart.” Clara smiled sweetly, typing something into the computer. “There he is – Gregory Rodgers.” Hannah listened to Clara while filling in the correct forms for the last patient that she had seen. “They moved him up to the ICU.” Clara
continued.
“… For a bite?” Hannah frowned.
Clara shrugged and kept reading over the report.
“It doesn’t say here why, exactly, they moved him but someone from Toxicology is supposed to go see him in the morning.”
“Okay, alright…” Hannah sighed, shaking her head. “Would you page Willis for me? I really need some coffee.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The peaceful silence of the break room was rudely interrupted by Hannah’s pager beeping loudly again. She tugged it from her waistband and looked at the message displaying on the screen and immediately jumped into action when she recognized the code for Sudden Cardiopulmonary Arrest and the number of the room she had admitted an eight year old girl into earlier in the night.
Six minutes. They only had six minutes to save a patient in cardiac arrest, so Hannah ran as fast as she could, knowing that the longer it took her to get there, the less chance they had of saving the patient.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hannah’s POV
The town that Erin had spotted signs for wasn’t overrun at all, there were just a few of the undead roaming down the main street but they were easy to take care of quickly and quietly. Actually, the whole place looked like it had been evacuated before disaster had struck the earth.
Together, as always, Erin and I walked around the small supermarket in the centre of town, searching for anything that we could drink, eat or use in any other way. Luckily, the building hadn’t been looted very much so we loaded our packs with as much as we could manage. We could take our sweet time about it, too, because we were safe alone together.
“Do you think we ought to find somewhere to hold up soon?” Erin asked, popping open a sofa and taking a long drink, gulping loudly. “It’s going to rain out, but it’s too hot.”
“There’s going to be a storm.” I mused, picking up a pack of baby wipes to wipe my face with. “Maybe we’d be safe enough here for a couple of days.”
It wasn’t safe to stay in one place for too long, but if it meant keeping dry – which meant staying healthy enough to keep moving – then they would have to make do.
“Yeah,” Erin nodded. “I think you’re right about that.”
Ten minutes later, as the girls were finishing their collection round of the store, the sound of a rumbling engine rolled into town, making the girls dive for cover immediately. The living were much worse than the dead.
Once Hannah and Erin had taken cover, they could observe the truck as it rolled past the store with one person behind the wheel, two looking out of the back windows and one standing on the back looking around. They seemed to be looking for something in particular and could be heard talking, but it was much too muffled for either of the girls to make out what was being said. All Hannah could think about was the fact that these people had a working vehicle and gas to keep it running. That’s exactly what she and Erin needed right now.
“Well…” Hannah sighed once the truck had passed. “Looks like we’ve got a lead to follow – I want that truck.”
Notes
Here it is!The first chapter of the newest story elovebakervengeance2 and I are working on! We're sorry that we've been gone for so long but we've had a lot going on in our lives and we're both overcoming some serious writers block with this new story.
We hope that you'll enjoy this enough to rate, subscribe and comment!
~ LMV2
@seventhtrumpet
Thank you and both of us are so happy that you like the story so far!! <3
6/4/17