The Next World
Chapter Three
Hannah
Silent but deadly, that was us.
As a nurse, I knew my way around a scalpel when the world first when to shit so I worked on my skills and got good with my hands, with melee weapons. Sure, I can shoot a gun when I have to but that’s more of Erin’s speciality – y’know, being a cop and all.
When it was time for Erin and me to split up, I spotted the ‘Kitchenware’ aisle and knew that was my target. My blades were getting blunt and I could use the easy glide of a blade right about now. Erin disappeared up into the manager’s office and I quickly pulled a cleaver, a butchers knife and a simple chopping knife out of their tightly sealed packaging but I was so caught up in what I was doing that I hadn’t realised I’d been heard and found until there was one muscular arm around my shoulders and chest and a large hand clamped tightly over my mouth to muffle my yelp of surprise as I was flipped onto my back and pinned to the ground. The hand over my mouth moved to pin my wrists above my head, causing me to drop my weapons while the big guys other hand pinned my hips and he sat on my shins to keep me from kicking him off.
“Get off of me, you fucking asshole!” I growled angrily, struggling underneath him as much as I possibly could.
“No way in Hell, you sneaky little bitch.” The stranger replied with a low, gruff laugh as his hold around my wrists tightened even more.
I heard Erin yell something and some struggling going on which made me fight harder. One of this giants buddies had Erin and I needed to get to her to help her. Luckily, the commotion caught my attacker off guard and distracted him long enough for me to sit up and head-but him right in the nose so that he let go of me in favour of covering his bleeding nose and I wriggled out from underneath him, grabbing the meat cleaver as I stood and positioned it by the back of his head.
“Don’t move a muscle.” I warned lowly, listening to the quietness that had fallen from Erin’s direction. “E?!” I yelled out. “How’re you doing over there?!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Third Person Flashback
The eight year old in cardiac arrest had fought for her life but sadly she had lost the battle.
Death was never easy to deal with, no matter how long Hannah had been around it, it was also so much worse when the patient was just a child. Hannah, of course, blamed herself because she had been leading the team trying to save little Abigail.
Hannah spent fifty minutes in the ‘Quiet Zone’ to mourn and get a hold of herself so that she could carry on with her shift for the rest of the night. When she felt ready, she filled out the medical report and the death certificate and once she was done with that she returned to the ER reception for her next patient but bumped right into someone as she rounded the corner.
“Oh, God – I’m so sorry, I wasn’t-“
“Hannah!” A pleasantly familiar voice interrupted her apology. Hannah looked up to see the face of Sheriff Williams, her best friend’s father.
Sheriff Williams was in full uniform so Hannah could tell that this wasn’t a casual visit, this was business.
“Sheriff,” Hannah nodded once. “Is everything alright?”
“Unfortunately not,” He answered her. “I have a number of patients that I need to check up on and take statements from.”
“I’m sure that I can help you with that.” She smiled politely. “If you’d like to come with me.”
Hannah led Sheriff Williams to a more private consultation room so that they could talk.
“Have you been working ER all day?” Williams asked, taking a seat, and Hannah nodded in response as she logged onto the computer.
“Every day this week,” She clarified.
Sheriff Williams listed off names of men and women who had come in over the course of the day, all from reported domestic attacks. As Hannah looked up each patient to tell him where they all were she quickly noticed that they all had a similarity.
“They all have bite wounds…” Hannah announced with a confused frown on her face. “The first four were taken to the ICU within hours of each other and they’re all in critical condition.”
Their work was suddenly interrupted by Hannah’s pager beeping loudly.
“Shit.” Hannah cursed, getting to her feet when she saw the message displayed. “I have to go but I’ll be back so stay here, there’s another one coming in now.”
Hannah rushed out to greet the paramedics and the patient with other ER staff, but the briefing that they had received couldn’t have prepared any of them for what they saw.
The ‘bite wound to the waist’ turned out to be a huge, gaping hole where a chunk of flesh should have been. The hole was pouring out blood like a waterfall, almost black with the thickness of the blood. The skin surrounding the wound was turning shades of yellow, green and purple while the patient writhed around weakly in pain on the gurney.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Third Person
“I’m alright!” Erin called back to Hannah, making her relax slightly but not completely.
“Now…” Hannah looked down at the man on his knees, his face covered by a bandana. “Tell me where-“
The familiar growl of the undead cut Hannah off and she went onto even higher alert, trying to hear where they were coming from. Suddenly, the Stock Room door burst open and a whole hoard of undead were heading right for them.
Matt acted fast, using the new distraction to knock Hannah down and run in the opposite direction.
“Fuck!” Hannah cursed, quickly getting to her feet.
She ran quickly and found Erin as she was raising her gun to shoot another bandana covered man but Hannah grabbed her before she could waste the bullet and kept running, pulling Erin along with her.
Outside, they spotted the truck that they were after and ran to it as fast as they could, knowing that they needed it and would have a better chance of survival if they had it. Just before they could reach the sleek, black vehicle a shot from behind rang out and Hannah cried out as a bullet lodged itself in her thigh, sending her to the dusty road.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Matt
I did what I had to do. There was no time for discussion, no time for a fight. There was only time to take them down before they could steal our truck and abandon us here with miles to walk from the infected back to our camp.
The five of us came to a halt outside the store when we saw them running to the truck. Brian moved to run after them but I raised my hand to stop him before raising my gun and taking aim at the redhead. I didn’t want to kill her quickly, she just needed to be immobilized and used to keep the infected from following us. Her blood would make a great distraction so I pulled the trigger and shot her right in the thigh.
She dropped like a tonne of bricks, hitting the road just feet away from the driver’s side of the truck. Her friend stopped and dropped down to her side. Now, with both of them distracted we all ran to the truck, ignoring them as we jumped in and sped off back to camp. I seriously hoped that I would never see either of them again, maybe just their remains if we ever returned to this shitty, abandoned down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hannah
Being shot hurt like a bitch. I’d never actually been shot before, but as the bullet tore into my thigh my whole leg felt like it was on fire. The asshole who shot me took off with his goons in the truck that we’d so desperately wanted, leaving me for dead.
“E, we gotta get the hell out of dodge.” I groaned, pushing myself up onto my feet.
Erin nodded with a grunt and helped me stagger away from the undead that were coming right for us. A few miles down the road, there was a safe enough spot to stop for a rest.
“Fuck.” I groaned, dropping down onto my ass on a tree stump. “You’ve been shot before, why didn’t you ever tell me it hurt so much?”
I chuckled, tugging off my belt so that I could secure it tightly around my thigh, above the wound so that I could stop the blood flow and save my own life before I blead out by the road.
“You’ve always been the one to fix me up.” Erin pointed out; reminding me of the numerous bullets I’d ever pulled out of her flesh and the holes I’d stitched up. “You should know that it hurts by now.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I grunted, hissing as I pulled the belt as tight as it would go. “We gotta get somewhere better than here so that I can pull this fucking thing out of my thigh.”
Luckily, I could feel where the bullet was. It was still whole, lodged just into my flesh luckily avoiding muscle and bone.
“Let’s keep walking.” Erin suggested. “There’s gotta be some houses around here somewhere, we still have to hold up for the storm, too."
Silent but deadly, that was us.
As a nurse, I knew my way around a scalpel when the world first when to shit so I worked on my skills and got good with my hands, with melee weapons. Sure, I can shoot a gun when I have to but that’s more of Erin’s speciality – y’know, being a cop and all.
When it was time for Erin and me to split up, I spotted the ‘Kitchenware’ aisle and knew that was my target. My blades were getting blunt and I could use the easy glide of a blade right about now. Erin disappeared up into the manager’s office and I quickly pulled a cleaver, a butchers knife and a simple chopping knife out of their tightly sealed packaging but I was so caught up in what I was doing that I hadn’t realised I’d been heard and found until there was one muscular arm around my shoulders and chest and a large hand clamped tightly over my mouth to muffle my yelp of surprise as I was flipped onto my back and pinned to the ground. The hand over my mouth moved to pin my wrists above my head, causing me to drop my weapons while the big guys other hand pinned my hips and he sat on my shins to keep me from kicking him off.
“Get off of me, you fucking asshole!” I growled angrily, struggling underneath him as much as I possibly could.
“No way in Hell, you sneaky little bitch.” The stranger replied with a low, gruff laugh as his hold around my wrists tightened even more.
I heard Erin yell something and some struggling going on which made me fight harder. One of this giants buddies had Erin and I needed to get to her to help her. Luckily, the commotion caught my attacker off guard and distracted him long enough for me to sit up and head-but him right in the nose so that he let go of me in favour of covering his bleeding nose and I wriggled out from underneath him, grabbing the meat cleaver as I stood and positioned it by the back of his head.
“Don’t move a muscle.” I warned lowly, listening to the quietness that had fallen from Erin’s direction. “E?!” I yelled out. “How’re you doing over there?!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Third Person Flashback
The eight year old in cardiac arrest had fought for her life but sadly she had lost the battle.
Death was never easy to deal with, no matter how long Hannah had been around it, it was also so much worse when the patient was just a child. Hannah, of course, blamed herself because she had been leading the team trying to save little Abigail.
Hannah spent fifty minutes in the ‘Quiet Zone’ to mourn and get a hold of herself so that she could carry on with her shift for the rest of the night. When she felt ready, she filled out the medical report and the death certificate and once she was done with that she returned to the ER reception for her next patient but bumped right into someone as she rounded the corner.
“Oh, God – I’m so sorry, I wasn’t-“
“Hannah!” A pleasantly familiar voice interrupted her apology. Hannah looked up to see the face of Sheriff Williams, her best friend’s father.
Sheriff Williams was in full uniform so Hannah could tell that this wasn’t a casual visit, this was business.
“Sheriff,” Hannah nodded once. “Is everything alright?”
“Unfortunately not,” He answered her. “I have a number of patients that I need to check up on and take statements from.”
“I’m sure that I can help you with that.” She smiled politely. “If you’d like to come with me.”
Hannah led Sheriff Williams to a more private consultation room so that they could talk.
“Have you been working ER all day?” Williams asked, taking a seat, and Hannah nodded in response as she logged onto the computer.
“Every day this week,” She clarified.
Sheriff Williams listed off names of men and women who had come in over the course of the day, all from reported domestic attacks. As Hannah looked up each patient to tell him where they all were she quickly noticed that they all had a similarity.
“They all have bite wounds…” Hannah announced with a confused frown on her face. “The first four were taken to the ICU within hours of each other and they’re all in critical condition.”
Their work was suddenly interrupted by Hannah’s pager beeping loudly.
“Shit.” Hannah cursed, getting to her feet when she saw the message displayed. “I have to go but I’ll be back so stay here, there’s another one coming in now.”
Hannah rushed out to greet the paramedics and the patient with other ER staff, but the briefing that they had received couldn’t have prepared any of them for what they saw.
The ‘bite wound to the waist’ turned out to be a huge, gaping hole where a chunk of flesh should have been. The hole was pouring out blood like a waterfall, almost black with the thickness of the blood. The skin surrounding the wound was turning shades of yellow, green and purple while the patient writhed around weakly in pain on the gurney.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Third Person
“I’m alright!” Erin called back to Hannah, making her relax slightly but not completely.
“Now…” Hannah looked down at the man on his knees, his face covered by a bandana. “Tell me where-“
The familiar growl of the undead cut Hannah off and she went onto even higher alert, trying to hear where they were coming from. Suddenly, the Stock Room door burst open and a whole hoard of undead were heading right for them.
Matt acted fast, using the new distraction to knock Hannah down and run in the opposite direction.
“Fuck!” Hannah cursed, quickly getting to her feet.
She ran quickly and found Erin as she was raising her gun to shoot another bandana covered man but Hannah grabbed her before she could waste the bullet and kept running, pulling Erin along with her.
Outside, they spotted the truck that they were after and ran to it as fast as they could, knowing that they needed it and would have a better chance of survival if they had it. Just before they could reach the sleek, black vehicle a shot from behind rang out and Hannah cried out as a bullet lodged itself in her thigh, sending her to the dusty road.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Matt
I did what I had to do. There was no time for discussion, no time for a fight. There was only time to take them down before they could steal our truck and abandon us here with miles to walk from the infected back to our camp.
The five of us came to a halt outside the store when we saw them running to the truck. Brian moved to run after them but I raised my hand to stop him before raising my gun and taking aim at the redhead. I didn’t want to kill her quickly, she just needed to be immobilized and used to keep the infected from following us. Her blood would make a great distraction so I pulled the trigger and shot her right in the thigh.
She dropped like a tonne of bricks, hitting the road just feet away from the driver’s side of the truck. Her friend stopped and dropped down to her side. Now, with both of them distracted we all ran to the truck, ignoring them as we jumped in and sped off back to camp. I seriously hoped that I would never see either of them again, maybe just their remains if we ever returned to this shitty, abandoned down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hannah
Being shot hurt like a bitch. I’d never actually been shot before, but as the bullet tore into my thigh my whole leg felt like it was on fire. The asshole who shot me took off with his goons in the truck that we’d so desperately wanted, leaving me for dead.
“E, we gotta get the hell out of dodge.” I groaned, pushing myself up onto my feet.
Erin nodded with a grunt and helped me stagger away from the undead that were coming right for us. A few miles down the road, there was a safe enough spot to stop for a rest.
“Fuck.” I groaned, dropping down onto my ass on a tree stump. “You’ve been shot before, why didn’t you ever tell me it hurt so much?”
I chuckled, tugging off my belt so that I could secure it tightly around my thigh, above the wound so that I could stop the blood flow and save my own life before I blead out by the road.
“You’ve always been the one to fix me up.” Erin pointed out; reminding me of the numerous bullets I’d ever pulled out of her flesh and the holes I’d stitched up. “You should know that it hurts by now.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I grunted, hissing as I pulled the belt as tight as it would go. “We gotta get somewhere better than here so that I can pull this fucking thing out of my thigh.”
Luckily, I could feel where the bullet was. It was still whole, lodged just into my flesh luckily avoiding muscle and bone.
“Let’s keep walking.” Erin suggested. “There’s gotta be some houses around here somewhere, we still have to hold up for the storm, too."
Notes
Fun Fact: Did you know that in the world of 'The Walking Dead' the word 'Zombie' simply doesn't exist because the old movies were never made.We're really on a roll already with this story, guys! I promise, each chapter will get better and better, progressing onto the juicy stuff you're all after!
Stay tuned for elovebakervengeance2's amazing update to come! <3
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@seventhtrumpet
Thank you and both of us are so happy that you like the story so far!! <3
6/4/17