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Beatrix
I take my time walking across the parking lot, being careful not to step on any of the body parts scattered around the hospital. My knife is clutched in my left hand, ready for use, though I hope I won't need it. I've only encountered three walkers that I've had to kill so far on my little trips here and back, and neither of those three times went over too well. I haven't been bitten, but they were all pretty close calls.
The door creeks as I push it open just enough to squeeze my body and my duffel bag through. I've been bringing supplies back to my apartment from the hospital each time I've been here to check up on him, so I've acquired a plethora of medical supplies in case I need to use it. I quietly make my way down the hallway and stop at the room he's been in for the past three months. I sit on the bed outside of his room that blocks the entrance and crack the door open, briefly peeking in just to make sure he's still there. He is, so I continue on down to the pharmacy after slipping my knife back into its holder safely on my hip. My goal today is to stock up on antibiotics and painkillers, so that's what I do.
I quietly fill my black duffle up with as many pill bottles, syrenges, needles, and IV bags as I can fit inside. Then, I start making my way back towards his room. I thought I faintly heard someone calling for a nurse, but I brush it off as nothing and assume it's just my brain faintly recalling a memory from before the turn. I stop by the nurse's station to sit my bag down, get out the IV bag he needs, and pick up his file and a pen. I've been taking notes on his case and hopefully he'll be waking up from his semi-coma soon.
As I make my way back from the nurse's station, I immediately notice that the bed is pushed away from the doorway to his room. I quickly tuck the file and IV bag under my arm and run into the room. He's missing from his bed and his IV tubing is laying all over the floor. He must have woken up and wondered off. I need to find him and explain everything to him before he finds out for himself.
Leaving the IV bag and patient file on the table, I quietly jog down the hallways looking for him. After a few minutes, I find him standing in front of the double doors looking at the walker hands desperately grasping at him through the cracks.
"Don't dead, open inside," I say from right behind him. He jumps, obviously startled from my voice.
"What does that mean?" He questions, taking a couple of steps back from me.
"It's supposed to say 'don't open, dead inside', but the idiots made it look like 'don't dead, open inside'," I try to joke with him.
"Who are you?" He reties his hospital gown and gives me a skeptical look. I can tell he's very confused as to what's going on, just like I predicted.
"I'm Doctor Zedler, but you can call me Beatrix. I was the trauma suergon who saved your life from your gunshot wound," I take a step closer to him, and he backs away. "It's okay; I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to make sure everything is fine with you. Can we go back to your room?"
"Yeah," he mutters and let's me take his arm so I can help him walk. "Why are there dead people in the hallways? Why are you the only person here?"
"Calm down, Mr. Grimes, you're going to get your blood pressure up. I'll explain everything once I make sure you're okay," he nods his head and I help him into the chair beside his bed.
"Can I ask questions while you're working? Or would that interfere with anything?" He asks while I gather my supplies. I had to get another IV needle, seeing as he ripped his out. I sit on the stool in front of him, pulling the vital's cart along with me.
"Of course, but you're probably going to think I'm insane. You must believe that this is real, because it is," I strap the blood pressure cuff on him and start to take his pulse.
"What were the things behind the doors? Those weren't people."
"Mr. Grimes, those are walkers," I start, but he cuts me off.
"Call me Rick please."
"Of course," I smile and remove the cuff from his arm, writing everything down in his chart. "They're walkers, or at least that's what I like to call them. They were once people, but they died and resurrected as these things."
"If they're dead, how can they come back? And where is everybody else?" He wince as I insert his IV line back into his arm.
"I have no idea what the virus is, but I do know that whatever is is, it restarts the motor part of the brain that lets them move. The person they were before is gone," I frown as I bring the IV pole over and hook all of his bags up. "As for everybody else, they evacuated the town about two months ago. Almost everybody in town headed for Atlanta where the government was supposed to have had protection camps set up."
"Why did you stay here?"
"I wanted to help you. Plus, I don't really have family anyway, so I don't have much to lose." I smile and retrieve a bottle of water from one of the bedside cabinets, handing it to Rick. "When the hospital was being evacuated, they came in and shot up everyone. Living people running in the halls, they were all getting shot, so I hid out in here with you. I sat beside of your bed until I heard everything settle down. They probably just assumed that you were already dead and let you be, but I knew you weren't. I was hopeful that you would soon wake up, so I stayed and continued to care for you after everybody else left."
"That's admirable, Beatrix. Not many people would do that for a random stranger," Rick gives me a slight smile.
"You weren't a random stranger. You were my patient and I needed to make sure I saved you," I return his smile and go to retrieve some gauze and antiseptic from the supply cabinet in the corner of the room. "Can you stand up for me? I need to redress your wound."
"Sure," he does as I asked. "So you said that everybody left for Atlanta?" I nod my head and I can tell that he's starting to panic. "I need to find my wife and son. Do you know if they're here?"
"I'm sorry, I don't. You're the only living person I've seen in a couple of months, but we can look for them. Where's your house? If it's close to here we can walk." I finish wrapping his abdomen and tape it off.
"About a mile from here, it's not too far," Rick says while tying his robe again. "How long have I been out?"
"A little over three months," I say while I write down more in his file. "The bullet nicked your kidney and you almost lost it. I put you in a medically induced coma, which, combined with the near kidney failure and shock, sent you into an actual coma. I'm sorry for that; I feel terrible. I was just doing what I thought would keep you alive."
"You saved my life, that's enough for me." Rick smiles and places a hand on my shoulder. "So have you killed any of the- what did you call them? Walkers?- yet?"
"Unfortunately yes, but only three," I sigh, grab the file, and walk out the door. "Come with me and bring your IV pole. I need to go to my apartment first."
"How far away is that?" Rick asks as he stumbles behind me towards the nurse's station.
"Not too far, just about a block or so. Since I work here, it's convenient for me to live close," I smile and slip the pen into the pocket of my lab coat. I like wearing it over my scrubs to the hospital to make myself feel at least a little bit normal.
"Alright," he agrees and waits for me to gather my things from the nurse's station. "Can I help you carry anything?"
"No, no. You need to worry about your IV pole and focus on not falling," I grab my duffle and do a quick sweep to make sure there isn't anything else I can carry out with me now. "We'll have to come back later to get more supplies. Not trying to be mean, but what are you going to do if your wife and son aren't here?"
"I'm going to Atlanta to find them," he gives me a look that says 'is that even a question?' "You can come with me if you'd like."
"That would be nice," I smile at him again. "I need somebody to keep me company until this whole thing gets sorted out."
"I'm still having trouble believing that this is all real," he quietly says as we walk out of the building. As soon as he sees the rows of bodies, I can see the look of horror spread across his face. "It's real, isn't it?"
"Sadly," I mutter. "It's this way, come on."
He pulls his IV pole behind him as I lead the way to my apartment building. It was about a five minute walk and then another five to get Rick and his pole up the stairs to my floor. I unlock my door and gently sit the duffle down on the couch.
"Here," I pick out the biggest pair of shoes in my closet and hand them to him. "I know they're kind of girly, but they'll do until you get to your house. If your wife and son aren't here then we'll need to come back here too and get all of the medical supplies I've taken from the hospital in case we need it."
"Thank you," Rick says as he slips the shoes on. "Do I need to keep this in my arm or can I take it out? It's difficult to deal with."
"Um, I'm not sure. Sit on the bar stool and undo your robe for me," I stand in front of the stool, so his abdomen was almost level with my eyes. I remove the gauze from the bullett hole and press my fingers lightly on the skin around it. "Does that hurt?"
"Not really," Rick replies as I apply more pressure. I give him a questioning look and he just shakes his head. I stick my stethescope in my ears and place the end on his chest.
"Your heartbeat is normal," I mutter before slipping my arm around and holding the stethescope to his back, listening to the valves of his lungs. "Deep breath."
"So am I good?" He asks after I remove the stethescope from his back. I take my mini flashlight from my front pocket and shine it in his eyes.
"Pupils dialate fine," I ignore his question for the time being and glance at his IV bag. "I can take it out now if you want, but it would be better if you let the rest of the fluids get into your system. They're almost gone anyway, and it would only take half an hour."
"I want it out now. I need to go see if my family is here," I can tell he's trying to be polite, but he wants out of my house right now. So I comply to his wishes and remove the IV from his arm and tape a peice of gauze over it to prevent bleeding.
"Let's go," I say after taking off my lab coat and double checking to make sure my knife is still hung on my hip.
We spend the short twenty minute walk to Rick's house in silence. When it gets within seeing range, Rick takes off in a run towards the house, and I jog right behind him. Once he gets through the door, he starts screaming for his wife and son, who I had met previously when they came to visit Rick in the hospital.
"Rick, you need to be quiet. Sound attracts them," I whisper-yell at him before he finally stops his screaming.
"Carl no no no," Rick mutters before dropping to the floor and sobbing. Before I even have time to react, he's up and out on the lawn screaming agin. If he doesn't shut up, he's going to get us killed. I shake my head and look down before deciding that I should probably go and bring him inside so we can figure out a plan.
"Dad!! Dad, I got one!" I hear a young boy scream from outside. I see an older black man running towards him at the same time I was, seeing Rick collapsed on the grass with the small, black child standing beside of him holding a baseball bat and smiling.
"You idiot!!" I yell, gesturing to Rick, "This man is my friend! He just woke up from a coma and you could have very well given him a concussion."
"I apologize, Miss. Duane here just thought he was one of them," the older black man says. I assume he's Duane's dad.
"Well we need to get him inside somewhere," I argue, seeing that we've attracted the attention of a few walkers.
"Let's take him to my house. It's safe," the man says as he picks Rick up and startes to run. I follow right behind him, not wanting to have to kill anymore of the walkers.
Once we arrive at the house, the man takes Rick into one of the back rooms while I take it upon myself to lock the door and prevent anything from getting in. I wander back to the room to find the man tying Rick to the bed.
"Stop it, why are you tying him up?" I hold my hands up, but the man holds a knife up, warning me to back off.
"Need to make sure he's safe," the man replies before forcing me to sit down in a chair across of fom the bed. "My name is Morgan."
"Beatrix," I smile, but the look he gave me makes me drop it very quickly. "That's Rick."
We sit in silence for about half an hour until Rick starts to stir. By now, it's getting close to dark, so Duane turns on an oil lamp. Morgan begins splashing Rick's face with water until his eyes finally open.
"Were you bit?" Morgan violently asks Rick, not giving him any time to fully wake up.
"What?" Rick asks, still confused from his half-unconscious state.
"Were you bit or scratched?" Morgan asks again, getting closer to his face.
"As far as I know, no," Rick replies and looks to me. "Why would I have been bitten?"
"What's your wound from?" Morgan asks him, ignoring his question.
"Gunshot," I say. "Three months ago, before the turn. I'm the one that operated on him. He's clean of all bites and scratches. He just woke up earlier today and I've been with him ever since."
"Why would I have been bitten?" Rick repeate his question, now fully awake and thoroughly confused.
"She didn't tell you?" Morgan asks and Rick shakes his head no, "If you get bit or scratched by a walker, you turn into one."
"Well, I'm clean. I haven't even fully seen a walker yet," Rick tells Morgan as he cut the ties from his wrists.
"Now's as good a time as any to see one then," Morgan stands up and leaves the room. Rick and I follow right after, to see him pointing out the blinds in the living room. "Right there, they'll try they best to eat you. You two can stay here tonight if you need to, it's too dangerous to go outside now."
"We will, thank you," Rick nods his head.
Morgan makes us dinner, which was just warmed up soup beans from a can, but it's still nice. Nice to be able to eat with actual people again. It's mostly silent, aside from Morgan talking about how his wife died.
The men all go to sleep in the living room, leaving me with the room that Morgan had Rick in. I lock the door and place my knife on the bedside table before drifting off to sleep.
//////////
The next morning, Rick offers to take the four of us to the Sheriff's station to get guns and amno, but only if we go back to his house first. Of course, we all go and let Rick get a change of clothes to bring along with us.
"The photo albums are all gone," Rick smiles, clearly happy. "If you were to rob a house right now to get stuff that you would need, why would you take photo albums?"
"I wouldn't," I say, getting the point that he was trying to make.
"That's right! You wouldn't take them unless they were your photo albums," Rick walks to the kitchen and comes back with a set of keys. "Lori and Carl are alive."
None of us argue with him and just let him think what he wants, even though we all know that the chances were that they were dead. Regardless, Rick leads us out to his police car and start our journey to the Sheriff's station. I sit shotgun on the quiet, half-hour drive over there.
Once we're in the building, Rick tells us that the station has back up generators so we can take showers. I am eternally grateful as I go to the girl's locker room and take the first actual shower I've had in nearly two months. I keep my knife close, though I don't need it while I take my shower. I put my scrubs back on and wrap my hair in my towel after I get out and head over to the boy's locker room. They are all fully dressed and ready to go.
Rick takes us to the armory, which appears to be untouched, and starts piling guns into a bag. Once he has most of them in his bag, he hands Morgan a bag as well.
"You take the rest of them, you'll need it," Rick says. He toys with his hat while Morgan collects the guns he wants, leaving nothing behind. "Are you sure you don't want to go to Atlanta with us?"
"Not right now. I'm gonna teach Duane here how to use a gun and then we'll come behind you," Morgan explains as we exit the building.
"If you need to find us, we'll be on channel three," Rick hands Morgan a walkie-talkie. "Turn it on evey morning at dawn and I'll be on the other end. Leave it on for an hour and then turn it back off; you need to conserve the battery."
"Thank you, Rick. For everything," Morgan holds his hand out for Rick to shake, and he takes it. "You too, Beatrix. I hope you guys find your family."
"Thank you," Rick tips his hat and lets Morgan leave in another cop car. "We better get going back to your appartment to get whatever you need."
"Don't you want to bring more clothes with you other than that sheriff's uniform?" I ask, getting in the car and buckling up.
"I won't need them," Rick says and then slightly laughs. "You don't have to buckle up, I won't give you a ticket."
"Sorry, it's just a habit," I look down as he drives back to my place.
"Don't be sorry. Are we stopping at the hospital before or after your apartment?"
"After. We need to get as much medical supplies as we possibly can and I need to get the bags to pack it in. We're going to need it desperately," I say. I try to think of all the scenarios of what we could possibly use medical supplies for and there's just too many. We are definitely going to need a lot, especially if we do end up finding Lori and Carl.
"As long as you can pack it, we can bring it," Rick smiles and continues on down the road.
Once we get to my house, I quickly run up the stairs with Rick not far behind me. We need to get all of this done pretty quick if we want to get to Atlanta before dark.
"How can I help?" Rick asks, just standing in my bedroom, watching me look for things.
"Get in my closet and find the biggest suitcase you can. Pull it down and lay it on the bed," I instruct. I then run back to my kitchen and grab all of the duffle bags I have filled with medical supplies, even though it takes me muliple trips, and lay them out on my bed. "Take everything out of these and stuff it all in the suitcase. It should all fit if you put the gauze in the zipper pockets, IV bags and tubing in the first compartment, and the rest in the bottom. Just be careful not to break anything or poke yourself."
"Got it," Rick says as he begins dumping everything out onto my bed.
I grab the first duffle bag he emptied and begins throwing clothes into it. Not much, just a few tank tops, t-shirts, pants, socks and underwear. I also throw in a few sets of scrubs and my only two lab coats, just because I'm too attached to them to leave them. I stuff my cowboy boots inside and put my combat boots on my feet.
"Are you done yet?"I ask Rick after I'm finished packing my things.
"Yeah, it's pretty stuffed, but I got it all inside. Don't you think it's a little much though?"
"You can never have too much medical supplies," I smile at him and grab another suitcase from my closet. "Bring another duffle along too, I'm taking everything I can from the hospital."
"You loved your job, didn't you?" Rick asks as he pulls the suitcase behind him with two more duffle bags in his hands.
"More than anything," I sigh. My job was my life and now it's all gone. I just hope that I can find more people that I can save.
"Do you want to bring the IV pole too?" Rick asks. I know he's joking, but I'm not.
"If it'll fit in your car somehow," I raise my eyebrow, fully expecting him to say no.
"Grab it, we can manage."
I smile and pull the IV pole behind me as we grt back down to Rick's car. He loads all of the suitcases and empty duffle bags into the trunk and somehow manages to stuff the IV pole into the backseat. When we get to the hospital, we each grab two duffle bags and Rick grabs the other suitcase and we quietly make our way back to the nurse's station.
"So where is everything that we'll need at?" Rick asks, not sitting anything down.
"Everything is stored either in the ER or in the first floor storage room," I say, looking around. "And we don't need to split up, so which do you wanna go to first?"
"Wouldn't the best stuff be in the storage room? We should head there first and if we have anymore room, we should head to the ER," Rick says. He makes sense, so I nod my head and lead him to the storage room.
"We need to get everything needed for surgery, just in case, and fit it into the suitcase. Then stitch sets and whatever else we find," I say, scanning the shelves.
"I'll get the stitch sets and what not into the duffle bags. You can get the other stuff because I don't know what to get," Rick gets to work on dumping rolls of gauze, tape, and whatever else he could find into the duffle bags as I find the surgery essientals. After a while, we basically have the whole place cleared out and still one duffle bag left over. "We should head to the pharmacy to get more drugs."
"Beatrix, are you sure we need all of this?" Rick asks again, which makes me snap.
"Of course we need it, Rick. All of this, what I guess you think is useless shit, could very well save your life one day, so I wouldn't doubt it too much," I half yell in the middle of the hallway before realizing what I'm doing. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to snap. I just- I'm very passionate about medicine that's all."
"It's alright, I'm sure you're just stressed," he pats my back the best he could while carrying a suitcase and a duffle bag packed full.
"I wish I could bring an MRI with us," I sigh and shake my head as we enter the pharmacy. I tell Rick to stuff as many over-the-counter drugs into the bags as he could while I take the empty duffle and go to the back, grabbing everything from high strength aspirins to paralyzing drugs. I was also careful to grab as many needles as I cam find so that I can correctly insert them into the blood stream.
"Are we done now?" Rick asks. I can tell he's getting annoyed, which bothers me, so I nodd my head and we drag everything out of the building and into his car. Then we begin our short journey to Atlanta.
-
Rick attempts to radio anybody that he can through the one in the car, but it won't work. Nobody answered, but it's not like we expected any less. It is eerily quiet in Atlanta when we arrive, and that doesn't sit right with me, but I let it go. Rick drives down the street until he decides to make a turn down a street full of walkers.
"Oh shit," Rick muttered as he quickly puts the car in reverse and backs up, only to be met by another swarm of walkers attacking us from the back. He throws his hat on the dash and hands me a gun, "stay right beside of me, we'll be okay."
"Don't forget to aim for the brain," I add right before he opens his door and dashes out with me following right behind him. Everywhere we turn there are walkers. I see a tank not too far from where we were and point at it, grabbing Rick's arm,"Over there!"
"Hurry up, Bea," he yells behind his shoulder before jumping up on the tank and shooting down the walkers that were trying to grab my feet as I pull myself up. We lower ourselves down inside of the tank before exchanging a look of panic.
"We're screwed"
A/N:
Please vote and comment and tell me what you thought!! I'd love your input :)
-Bailey