Race to Refuge

Chapter Three: Charlie

Wes, although he was an Advanced EMT, was giving me information about the victim in short sentences. Still breathing. Seems to be in shock. Needs tourniquet. We worked together fast to treat the victim and get him into the ambulance.

One of the neighbors wouldn't stop talking. I was so focused on our patient that I wasn't even listening. Then something she said finally sunk in. In a guttural voice, she said. "Look at him. Look at him! What's wrong with his eyes?"

"He's in shock," muttered Wes. He and I loaded the man onto the stretcher. But I looked closer at the victim's eyes. They were glazing over with a thin gray membrane. The victim was thrashing around on the board and we had to put restraints on ... with some difficulty.

"Easy there," said Wes in an even voice.

We rolled him into the back of the ambulance. Technically, since I was the paramedic, I had more training than Wes, who was an Advanced EMT. But there was no question that he had the most experience. Wes automatically climbed into the back with the patient. The patient stopped moving. Wes looked at me. "I've lost a pulse. I'll try to keep bringing him back ... just get us to the hospital."

I hopped behind the wheel, blaring the siren as I sped to the hospital. Without Wes to tell me I was clear, it was pretty terrifying going through stoplights at those huge intersections. But then I started hearing crashing sounds in the back of the ambulance and that terrified me even more. I had a dead or, at the very least, dying patient in the back. What could be making those sounds?

Should I pull over and check? Even though I needed to get this guy to the hospital before he ended up having to go to the morgue? There was a crash right behind my head and this time I spared a glance over my shoulder. I saw Wes, palms splayed on the glass partition between us. His eyes were covered with a thin, gray membrane, his mouth was slack, and he was covered with blood ... and snarling. I turned back to glance at the road, and when I turned back to look at the back window, our victim was staring hungrily back at me. Whatever soul that had made it human before was gone now.

There was no more indecision. I felt no responsibility to the creature in the back now. My mind grappled with using the word zombie, but it wasn't long before I accepted it, at least mentally. Although I'd like to think that I had a responsibility to Wes as a coworker, the truth was that the thing in the back was fast turning into something that wasn't Wes at all.

I decided to abandon the ambulance and drive myself back home. If I could get away from Wes and our patient before they attacked me, that is. Looking at the buttons on the driver door, there didn't seem to be a way to lock the back doors of the ambulance from the front. But I was pretty fast when running on foot. I hoped Wes and the patient weren't very fast.

I pulled the rig over to the side of the road. Clearly it would be irresponsible of me to bring these creatures back to the hospital to inflict harm on helpless patients and staff. The side of the road was a better option, despite the fact it meant I'd have to jog a long ways to my car.

Now the road was full of emergency vehicles. Police cars were screaming by, lights flashing, along with other ambulances and fire trucks. It seemed like too many rescuers for a car wreck, house fire, or other more ordinary emergency. Was this zombie threat spreading? How fast? Did I even have a shot at getting back to my house?

As soon as I stopped, I yanked the keys out of the ignition. I was thinking maybe I could lock the back of the trunk manually before Wes and the patient could get out. Then maybe I could radio in and warn people about what was in the back before they could check it out and get hurt.

But the second I stumbled out of the ambulance, so did the things from the back. They lurched toward me, mouths open.

So I hopped right back into the truck, locking the doors with a shaking hand, and took off before they could get back into the back. At least they didn't seem to have superhuman speed.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I had my siren on, too. I wanted people to get out of my way. My plan at this point was to hightail it back to the hospital, dump the ambulance there, ditch the rest of my very first day as a paramedic, get into my pickup, and get back to my house to figure out where to go from there.

Plan B was born the moment I got to the hospital and saw zombies had taken over the parking deck and were coming out of the hospital entrance. Driving over to my truck, I saw a couple of zombies standing right there. They became very animated when they spotted me through the ambulance windshield.

That was when I decided the ambulance was going home with me. And wondered if this was the worst first workday in all of employment history.

***Special note: Race to Refuge is currently free for a limited time  on Amazon:  http://amzn.to/1SCKnHa . 

"Race to Refuge" under pen name Liz Craig is releasing now on Amazon (at http://amzn.to/1SCKnHa ) , Nook, Kobo, CreateSpace, and other major retailers. I'll post a chapter each week, but if you can't wait, please visit one of the listed retailers for the completed book. Follow me on Twitter (elizabethscraig), sign up for my newsletter for a free ebook at http://eepurl.com/kCy5j , or visit my website at Elizabethspanncraig.com for more information. Hope you'll enjoy the book.