All That's Left (Kind of On Hold...)

Won't You Be My Neighbor? -3

Here's another update for you guys:D I hope you like this better than before.... I worked hard on it...

Chapter 3- Won't You Be My Neighbor?

We patched Kyle up as best as we could to hold him together until we could get to Doc. He was bleeding pretty heavily, but soon we had him all bandaged up and secured on the floor of the truck.  He squirmed a bit when we hit the speed bump in the driveway for Rebel5 and all I could do was keep pressure on his shoulder and apologize.

"Sorry Kid, we're almost there." Kyle nodded at me and closed his eyes, cringing as the tires bounced beneath us on the uneven roads. We pulled up to the base, slowed, and finally stopped at the gate, waiting for the clearance team to come check us in. Sam was driving and he called up to the guard to raise the gate which caused a stir in the watch tower. There was a continuous grumble from every man in the truck as we were told to wait until everything was secure. That’s when Sam lost it and yelled up to the tower about the wounded on board. That’s when we were given permission to drive right up to the medical building so Kyle wouldn't have to walk- and also probably because the men on watch were more squeamish than they wanted to admit. The boy’s shoulder was pretty torn up, in fact, it looked as if he'd passed out after we hit the speed bump just inside the gate.

We got lucky here at Rebel5. There was a good sized doctor's office already built in with fully stocked supply cabinets and even a lab in one wing. It was pretty large and fairly well kept, even after it was pillaged and emptied at some point after the outbreak. All we had to do was keep the place sterile and fill it with more medical supplies. There wasn’t even anything broken or disgusting when they started the base up. That was a blessing of its own kind. As we pulled up, Doc walked out. I guess the watchers had called ahead telling him we were coming. He was always smiling despite the situation, and sure enough his pearly white teeth could be seen glinting in the sun as we rolled to a stop.

"What've we got?" He called to us, stepping towards the truck as soon as the dust settled. Some of the men had jumped ship as the truck slowed so they could come around back and be ready to help Kyle out. Doc came over and peered over the edge of the truck at the poor kid while the men tried to wake him up. When that didn’t work, they gently pulled him towards the tailgate by his boots and positioned themselves on either side of him, careful not to bang up his arm even more. Doc whistled at the amount of blood soaking through the third bandage I had just added to his shoulder.

"Take him to room four. It’s all set up already; get him on the table so I can take a closer look at him." He spoke to Sal, who then went and helped three other men carry Kyle in. When they were clear of the tailgate and I was sure they weren’t going to drop the poor kid, I pulled Doc aside.

"I'll go get his mother; I think she needs to be here for both of their sakes. Can she come into the room with him?" Doc nodded and put his hand on my shoulder comfortingly. "I'm sure he'll be fine- but I need to know... did he get bit? Or was it just a mauling?" I was shaking my head before he could finish his statement.

"He wasn't bitten, I’m sure of it. Kyle had the grub by the throat to hold it back. There is no way that that was a bite- well unless these damn grubs have mouths on their hands now. Plus, those are clearly claw marks, not bite marks. Teeth don’t do that kind of damage Doc. He should be clean, and we scoured it out while it was still fresh so hopefully there's no infection of any kind." Doc half smiled at my hurried defence and then patted my shoulder again.

"You've done good Darren, I’m sure he’ll be just fine." His calm demeanor and voice was reassuring. Then he patted my shoulder again and went into the Med building to start examining Kyle. I headed back to the truck to grab my gun, shoving my hands in my pockets. Leaning over the open tailgate, I was just able to grab the butt from under the seat I had shoved it under and pull it towards me. Slinging it over my back, I quickly headed towards the building I now shared with Kyle and his mom, hoping she’d still be there.