Chapter Four: Doctors and Nurses
An hour later, every zombie schoolgirl was locked up safe and sound. Alice needed to resort to the taser only once more, bringing Rachel down in a quivering heap, all the while admiring her blonde curls. "I'd kill for that hair," she'd told Charlotte as they bundled the shocked zombie away.
They'd barricaded the fire door with various items of furniture, jammed in between the walls and ceiling, and returned to the dayroom to debate their next move. Maggie was exerting her maternal instincts.
"We have to calm them somehow, or they'll hurt themselves even more. It's not right! And there's a girl in there, down in room seventeen, with no pants on!"
Jimmy held his hands in the air. "Definitely not our doing! Tom's wearing them now. On his face, last time I checked."
"Well, she needs pants!" Maggie wasn't letting it go. "In fact, they all need a wash and a change of clothes. What will people think of us when they're found in that state!"
Charlotte worried that Mags might be losing it. She put an arm around her. "They're not the same any more Mags, they're… well, zombies. And I'm not sure anyone is coming for them, or us. But I promise, we'll do what we can to help them." She looked to the others. "Won't we?"
They all nodded. Charlotte wasn't sure if they agreed or simply wanted to stop the cook ranting and raving.
"Even though it will be hard to administer them, I suppose one answer is drugs," said Steve. "I mean, they seem hungry right? Perhaps we can put tranquillisers in food?"
Jimmy answered, "I dunno, boss. I think they're only hungry for flesh. Never seen a zombie chowing down on a Big Mac. Have you?"
"Well, before today, I haven't seen any zombies doing anything. I don't count the ones in movies."
"Could we use a needle and syringe?" Charlotte asked. "On the end of a broomstick or something?" It sounded ridiculous as soon as the words left her mouth.
"We could, yeah!" Jimmy didn't think it was ridiculous. "Need to figure out a way of pushing the syringe down once the needle is in them, but I might be able to make a contraption. I'll get to work on it. Hey Steve, what happened to you going into town? You could grab me some bits and pieces."
Alice found Charlotte's hand by her side and gripped it hard. "Not with Charlotte you're not. She's my new best buddy."
Steve raised an eyebrow, and Charlotte shrugged. But then a warmth overcame her from within. Someone had decided she was worth something. Someone had replaced Daniel. Granted, it wasn't quite the sort of person she'd imagined would. But she liked this strange creature, Alice, and was grateful for being wanted.
"I'll go later. I can't leave you lot here now, can I," Steve replied. "Not to be sexist or anything, but that would leave one fella looking after three ladies, surrounded by a bunch of crazy flesh-eating zombies."
Alice laughed. "Well, yes, that was very sexist. Are you sure you're not staying so I can't run away?"
"I gave you the taser, didn't I? You would have used it by now if you wanted to escape. And anyway, where would you go? God knows how many of those things are wandering around out there."
They looked out the dayroom window. The mid-morning sun was blocked by cumulus clouds that covered half the sky, but nobody was approaching. At least not this side of the tree line. The sight of the lawn where all the madness had unfolded earlier, made Charlotte shudder. At any moment, another class of maniac teens could come bursting from the trees.
She turned from the view. "Hey, where's Maggie?"
"Oh, Shit!" Steve yelled. "Where did she go?"
Maggie approached room seventeen with a folded pair of nurse's pants, the same pink as the ones Jimmy wore. The girl inside was standing on the bunk and hammering on the wall, yelling something about dinner, and oblivious to Maggie sneaking inside.
The cook raised a finger to her mouth and said, "Shusshh, it's ok," as softly as she could. "Put these on love and you'll feel much better."
The bare-bottomed zombie begged to differ. She was on Maggie as Steve led everyone at full sprint onto the ward. "Maggie, No, Get out of there!"
Too late. By the time they made it down to room seventeen, Maggie was under attack – sliding to the floor under clawing arms and gnashing teeth. Alice tasered the girl, who fell, electrified, back onto the bunk. Jimmy suddenly found something on the ceiling of extreme interest, rather than looking at all the bare skin and small patch of fuzzy pubic hair that presented itself.
"We got bush," murmured Alice.
Jimmy didn't take his eyes from the ceiling but answered, "Revenge of the Nerds. 1984. How did you know that one? It's well before our time."
"I watched old movies before I met you, Jimmy," said Alice, winding in the taser prongs. "Anyway, I wouldn't be shy mate. She'll be up and at you faster than you can say 'what cute pubes you have'. Don't take your eyes off her for a second."
Maggie groaned while Steve and Charlotte inspected her wounds.
"We gotta go," Steve said. "C'mon, before she turns."
He ushered everyone out and slid the bolt.
"And then there were four," muttered Alice.
Charlotte tried very hard to control her emotions. "Poor Maggie," she said in a halted, shaking voice.
"It's always the nice ones," Jimmy said, shaking his head. "She only wanted to help them."
Steve let out a long, tired breath. "Can we all PLEASE agree? We don't come down here on our own. And we don't try any ideas without everyone agreeing on them first."
Everyone muttered, "Agreed."
A growl from Maggie might have been her agreeing as well. But Charlotte doubted it.
Steve joined Jimmy in his little workshop, to help fashion some kind of drug delivery device. Charlotte and Alice went to the institute's small pharmacy in the admin block.
"How the hell are we going to figure out what to use on them? none of us are doctors!" Charlotte said, looking at all the pill bottles in the glass cabinet.
Alice moved in front of her. "No, but one of us is a patient." She turned to the nurse's desk, picked up a stapler, and smashed the cabinet's glass with it. "Look for anything that's got Chlorpromazine in it. Might be called Thorazine, but they likely used generics, so check the ingredients list."
"Chloro…what?"
"Chlorpromazine. It's an anti-psychotic. They used to pump me full of that shit when they thought I had schizophrenia. I figure it might work on those girls. They're acting all schizo, aren't they?"
"I suppose, yeah. And we should give them painkillers too. Some of them must be in pain, with all the blood on them."
"Morphine, I reckon, or Ketamine…hmm…" Alice stopped throwing bottles over her shoulder to think. "Nah, best not Ketamine, they might never wake up. Morphine or Codeine will do."
After trashing the pharmacy, they came away with bottles containing Chlorpromazine, as well as Fluphenazine – another alternative according to Alice – and enough Morphine to give an elephant a pleasant afternoon nap. As well as the syringes and needles Jimmy had asked for. The drugs, though, had expired some years prior.
"The stuff may have lost a bit of efficacy," Alice lamented as they walked to Jimmy's workshop at the back of the building, "but there's nothing we can do about that."
Charlotte couldn't help but praise her companion and newfound friend, "You're very handy to have around in a tight fix. I gotta say, Alice – hidden talents!"
Alice winked at her. "You ain't seen half of them."
The workshop was a tight squeeze, with everyone crowded around Jimmy's bench as he bent over his creation, applying some finishing touches.
"We really need blow darts, or a pole syringe vets use on big wildlife," Jimmy said as he finished. "But beggars can't be choosers. Pass me a syringe please."
Charlotte handed one over. "Needle too?"
"Nope, not yet. Just want to test the mechanism." He placed the syringe into the holder he'd made near the end of the stick and looped a thin cable around the syringe's plunger. This he passed through a notch in the wood, and back all the way up the stick to the other end.
"Ok, watch. First, you push the needle into the zombie. Pretend there's a needle attached to the syringe." He shoved the stick and syringe into the workshop wall, as if jousting with it. "And you pull the wire, like this."
Sure enough, pulling on the wire that doubled back over the business end of the stick to the plunger, caused the plunger to be forced down. It would inject the syringe's contents into any hapless target that had the needle stuck in them.
Steven groaned. "Shit Jimmy, it's a bit mickey mouse, isn't it? How can we keep the needle in them that long? They'll rip it out or take the stick off us before we do all that?"
"We'll practice," said Jimmy, unperturbed. "I reckon you can do it pretty quick once you get the hang of it. And we could taser them first if you want."
Alice leaned forward and took the homemade drug delivery device for a closer look. She turned around and tried stabbing the opposite wall. "I could make this work. Well, done, Jimmy."
The young inventor beamed. Steven, feeling bad for pouring cold water on the invention gave his young charge a pat on the shoulder. "Yeah man, it'll work… we'll practice."
Charlotte dumped their drug haul on the workshop bench. "Right, we need to make these injectable then."
Alice, still playing with her new toy, said, "Yep, crush 'em up, dissolve them in water. You might need to heat the water if they don't dissolve straight away. Can you manage that MacGyver?"
"Piece of piss." Jimmy was still beaming. "Tell me how many tablets of each kind you want in one dose of the syringe."
Steve picked up a bottle. "There are no instructions on this. Shit."
"That's because there's no specific prescription label. They used to give me two of those a day though," said Alice. "As for the morphine, that depends kinda on body weight. What would those girls weigh? A hundred pounds?"
"Sounds about right. Ok, Alice, why don't you stay here and help Jimmy mix the stuff up and load the syringes. Charlotte and I will do the rounds and make sure we're still secure. I want to see if Felix or Tom are up to no good."
Charlotte couldn't help but notice the look of disappointment in Alice's eyes, and she too felt some regret that they'd be splitting up, albeit briefly. Wow, they were feeling quite the attachment.
"Have we got time to stop by the showers? I'm feeling very second hand."
Steve stood guard while Charlotte washed all the anarchy off her and changed into a fresh nurse's outfit to match Jimmy's. Another time she might have felt strange, or like an imposter; walking around the facility dressed like a nurse – but this was a new normal.
The barricade had suffered no onslaught and neither Felix nor Tom was anywhere in sight.
"I'd say Felix is holed up somewhere quiet," said Steve. "But God knows where Tom is. Probably wandering into town looking for some more pants to steal."
"Let's hope so."
Outside, the afternoon sun revealed nobody else encroaching on the grounds – zombie or otherwise. The trees stood still, unruffled by even a slight breeze. Steve shivered. "Can you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"Exactly. It's silent out there. No birds, no crickets or other bugs. It's like they've all left."
"Would you mind not freaking me out any more than I already am." Charlotte punched his arm.
"Sorry. Just sayin'. When the animals decide there's someplace else they need to be, it means some shit's about to down."
"Stop it!"
They all loaded a trolley with Jimmy's pole syringe, the drugs, tasers, and other first aid paraphernalia that might come in handy. One of its wheels squeaked as they pushed it down the corridors, adding an even more eerie vibe to the scene.
"This reminds me of—" Jimmy began.
Steve cut him off. "Seriously? there's a movie where three heroes are pushing a trolley through a looney bin, off to stab them some zombie schoolgirls with drugs, without their consent."
"Well, no, not exactly. But there was a TV show that had a murderer hiding inside a hospital trolley to escape…now, what was that called…"
They arrived at the ward before Jimmy could remember. But that was fine, because as they approached the row of doors, he'd found a new recollection.
"Hey, remember when Jodie Foster had to walk past all the psychos in that prison, in Silence of the Lambs?"
"Jimmy! Give it a rest," said Alice, peering into the first spyhole. "These girls are quiet. Maybe the zombie shit has worn off?"
Alas, the zombie shit had not worn off, and Olivia screeched with fury when she heard them approach.
"Yikes. Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."
The screeching set the rest of the ward into a cacophony of screams, shrieks, and wails. Accompanied by a pounding percussion of fists and feet.
"Jesus Christ! let's get this done, I'm sympathising with Felix!" yelled Steve above the noise, with his hands clamped to the side of his head.
They decided Olivia was too wound up, so passed her by and made their way to room seventeen. Steve turned back from the peephole; his face ashen.
"I'm sorry guys, but it looks like Maggie didn't make it as a zombie."
They took turns to check. Maggie lay inside, unmoving, her complexion a blue-grey. She was dead. Not undead – risen again as a zombie. But plain old dead.
"I reckon she had a heart attack," Jimmy said. "Poor old lady."
At the far corner of the bunk, Yvette sat with her knees under her chin, rocking.
"When we're done," pleaded Jimmy, "can we put some clothes on her."
Alice spoke kindly, "You're such a gentleman. I think we should call you gentleman Jim from now on."
"Right, the girl with the bare ass is first, then. She seems more docile than the others," said Steve. "Maybe we won't even need to taser her." He picked up the pole syringe and slid open the bolt on the door. "Cover me, Alice."
"I bet you've always wanted to say that," Alice said, as she slid in behind him with the taser drawn.
Steve entered like a zookeeper creeping into a lion's den. Yvette stopped rocking when the shiny needle on the syringe came within a few feet of her. She lifted her head from her knees, looked Steve straight in the eyes, and emitted a low growl.
The zookeeper covered the remaining distance in a lunge, stabbing Yvette in the fattest part of her thigh and tugging on the wire. The syringe emptied into her as she lurched from the bed, reaching for his throat. He beat a hasty retreat backwards, almost flattening Alice, and slammed the door shut.
"Nice technique," said Jimmy. "It's me and Charlotte next."
"Shouldn't we wait to see what happens with our guinea pig here?" Charlotte asked, "I mean, what if we've just killed her?"
They waited ten minutes. Yvette sank back onto the bed, curled up, and appeared to sleep. As far as they could tell she remained alive, her chest rising and falling underneath the tattered school blouse.
"Could be a trap," said Jimmy. "To lure one of us in there."
"I don't think they're that clever. Plus, there was 100 milligrams of morphine in that cocktail," Alice said. "I reckon she's out for the count. Nighty night."
Jimmy reloaded the pole with another dose. He had to raise his voice above the noise of the ward. "I reckon we carry on but stop if anyone has a bad reaction. What do you say, boss?" He looked to Steve.
"I'm well out of my league here, but that makes sense to me."
As Charlotte held her taser behind Jimmy, she wondered what their next move was, once all the girls were sedated; but she decided not to ask. It wouldn't help right now, and it would be nice for all the screaming to end – it was giving her a headache.
One by one the girls fell silent to the pole syringe. Becky and Jasmine proved the most difficult. Jasmine had to be tasered after they'd injected her friend. She went ballistic. But eventually, they had them both laid out on their bunk.
"What now?" Alice asked Charlotte's question for her.
Steve pondered for a moment. "I think we have a duty of care, don't we?" he said in a weary voice. "I know that's what Mags would have said. If the first one is still out of it, you and Charlotte get some pants on her, and check her for injuries or signs of infection?" He stopped Jimmy, interrupting. "Normal infections I mean, not this crazy zombie disease. Maybe we can treat anything else with antibiotics."
Charlotte reached for Alice's hand, as if by instinct. "And if one of them wakes up while we're messing with them?"
"Jimmy and I will cover you," Steve said. "Same drill as before. We'll taser them before they can do anything."
Alice gave Charlotte a reassuring squeeze. "C'mon girlfriend. We got this."
After checking Yvette for any serious injuries, they pulled a pair of nurse's slacks up her legs. When their patient showed no sign of waking, they removed the filthy blouse and replaced it with a top to match the bottoms. Then onto the next one, with Steve and Jimmy standing at the ready with tasers the whole time. The worst of the blouses were replaced, and Amanda and Stacey were also treated to fresh nurse's slacks.
A quick trip back to the pharmacy yielded iodine and bandages for the deeper cuts. Alice fussed over Jenny's wounded foot but couldn't do much more than bandage some thick gauze padding around it. Hazel's shoulder had a deep wound, too. Bandaging it forced her arm at an unusual angle that made her stance all the more zombie-like.
Jenny, Hazel, and anyone else showing signs of inflammation or infection had an antibiotic capsule forced between their teeth and as far down their throats as the wannabe nurses dared.
Alice shrugged after administering the first capsule. "They might swallow them at some stage."
Name tags sewn into the uniforms revealed everyone's name and Steve made a register. "It will be useful for the authorities if they ever show up," he said, waving an old clipboard with his list on it. "Someone's missing these kids."
"Not if the entire world has gone zombie on us," said Jimmy, sticking a post-it note that read, "Becky and Jasmine," to their door, just as he'd done to all the others.
Steve handed his clipboard to Jimmy. "Yes, well, I intend on finding that out. Now that our high school from hell is safely all in detention and not going to attack you guys, I'm going into town. Are you still coming, Charlotte?"
"She is NOT!" Alice grabbed Charlotte as if Steve was about to snatch her away.
"You don't call the shots Alice," Steve raised his voice in frustration. "You're a patient in this facility, much like our new ones here." He waved at the full ward. "Charlotte can decide for herself."
Charlotte surprised everyone, including herself with her answer. "I don't want to go, I'm sorry."
"Why not?" Steve's frustration grew. "We can't all stay here like rats in a trap, waiting for a rescue that might not come. We have to take some action. Anyway, the generator might not last another night, Jimmy?"
He looked to his protégé for support, but Jimmy wasn't keen on being in the middle of this. He shrugged without committing.
"I'm sorry," Charlotte said, "but I don't want to leave these guys. Jimmy, Alice, or the schoolkids for that matter. I just feel better staying put."
"Fine! Please yourself. But I'm going. Jimmy, hold the fort. I'll try to bring back some diesel, to at least make sure the authorities haven't forgotten about us."
And with that, Steve turned his back on them and walked off.
"Someone's a bit tetchy," Alice said, an octave higher than usual.
Jimmy lifted his shoulders as if the newfound responsibility gave him an extra inch of height. "He'll be worried about his kid, that's all," he said, scanning the clipboard.
Alice leaned into Charlotte's ear and whispered, "Thank you." As she'd often found recently, Charlotte didn't know what to say.
A few moments later, they heard Steve's truck start up and crunch over the loose gravel in the carpark.
Alice sighed. "And then there were three."
"What if he doesn't come back, Jimmy?" Charlotte asked.
"Well, the classic mistake would be for someone else to go looking for him. And then eventually there's none of us left. So let's just assume he comes back."
"You're sounding like the boss already." Alice laughed but then turned sombre. "Was he right about the generator not lasting?"
"I'm afraid so. Unless we find some diesel."
"I tell you what else we need to find," Charlotte said. "Some food. I'm starving."
Chapter Five: Dinner Bell
Dinner in the dayroom was a basic affair. Microwaved beans on stale toast, with tinned fruit for dessert.
"Do you think those girls need to eat?" asked Jimmy, as he drained a can of fruit salad of its juice.
Alice replied, "Apart from human flesh, you mean?"
The meal continued in sombre silence. The sun dropped behind the trees again, as the second night of the apocalypse descended on the institute.
Jimmy wiped his hands on his nurse's smock when he was done. "I'm going to unscrew most of the emergency light bulbs, then see if I can set the generator to idle as slow as possible. We might be able to get one more night out of the diesel."
Alice pulled Charlotte up from the couch and her tasteless dinner.
"C'mon Miss Finance, let's check on the patients, see if the drugs are wearing off, and if they'll eat any normal food. Although I wouldn't blame them if they turn their noses up at this stuff."
The ward was coming to life with an indistinct murmur. They peeked into each of the rooms.
"I can't tell if they're still crazy, can you?" Alice asked.
Charlotte watched Olivia sit up on her bunk, stretch, and look around, somewhat confused. When she made eye contact with Charlotte, she stood and walked to the door, growling.
"Ah…yep, still crazy. Hmm… maybe we've taken the edge off though. Your little sprinter here settled for growling at me rather than going completely batshit."
Similar results were found throughout the class. Nobody was miraculously cured of their zombie craziness, but at least they were subdued.
Alice stood with her hands on her grey track-suited hips and looked for all the world like she knew what she was doing. "So, we keep up the anti-psychotics, maybe tone down the morphine, and we'll have a relatively quiet time of it."
Jimmy reappeared, panting. "I've done some tinkering, but we're running on the smell of an oily rag. I'm not sure we'll make it till the morning. Not with lights anyway." He passed them each a torch. "I suggest we move camp from the dayroom to down here. Bring the food, and the drugs, and anything else useful."
"And we need to move Mag's body," Charlotte announced. "It's not right leaving her there like that. Let's get it done before Yvette wakes up."
Moving Mags was tricky. She was not a slight lady, not in life, and certainly not in death, offering no assistance to her removalists. Alice stood over Yvette with a taser. The girl drowsed fitfully, sometimes saying nonsense in her half-awake, half-asleep state. Jimmy and Charlotte rolled the dead cook onto a sheet and then dragged her down the hallway with great effort. It was decided to leave her just outside a fire escape, with the hope of treating her with more dignity when help arrived.
With that distasteful task complete, the trio prepared a food serving for each schoolgirl and quietly slid the plates into the rooms, opening the doors only as wide as needed.
"I bet they won't touch it," said Jimmy, when they'd finished up with Becky and Jasmine's and noticed they'd worked into the evening.
A choking noise from a room halfway down the ward suggested at least one person had tried to eat. Charlotte jumped to her feet. A girl – who the post-it note on the door revealed to be Ashley – was clawing at her throat and rapidly turning blue.
"We have to help her," Charlotte said, reaching for the bolt on the door.
"Not you!" Alice grabbed her hand away and shoved herself in front. "I'll go in."
Jimmy arrived with a "I wouldn't" warning, but was duly ignored. Alice charged inside before anyone could stop her. She lifted Ashley by her armpits from behind, locked her hands together under the schoolgirl's small breasts, and brought them forward in a swift jolt. The Heimlich manoeuvre worked and a piece of stale bread flew across the room.
"Now get out Alice, come on!" Charlotte yelled from the doorway.
But Ashley had grabbed Alice by the wrist – she held her tight, with immense strength. The vampire could not wrestle her arm free. Instead, she sat on the bunk, bringing Ashley down with her. The schoolgirl uttered a low growl and examined Alice's face from a mere two inches away. She seemed to look into every pore. And then sniffed, like a puppy. Her eyes gave no clue as to what she might be thinking. Even at these close quarters, she appeared to be looking in the distance, through Alice and at something far away that she struggled to focus on.
Everyone held their breath until Ashley released Alice's wrist and curled up on the bunk.
Alice, perplexed, simply walked out. "Well, that was weird," was all she said while Charlotte hugged her with relief.
"You're a crazy tart. I'll give you that," said Jimmy.
Alice made to kick him but didn't want to leave Charlotte's hug, so her kick fell short. "Hey, less of the tart!"
They decided that was more than enough adventure for the night. They were dog-tired.
The only free room on the ward was Alice's, so Jimmy agreed to sleep on a spare mattress on the floor. The sleeping arrangements for Alice and Charlotte were not discussed, simply assumed.
Alice fussed about, tidying her little den. She lit an incense stick and the place immediately filled with the cloying scent of sandalwood. The blue smoke further darkened the already dark room, diffusing the dim light coming in from the hallway.
"We should take turns to stay awake keeping watch. Maybe even patrol the ward," said Jimmy.
Alice pushed her track pants down her legs. "Agreed. You go first."
He turned to reply as she pulled her tee shirt over her head. "Aw Jeeze Alice!" was all he could manage, before stumbling out of the room.
Alice laughed, looking down at herself. Charlotte blushed on the bunk and tried to find somewhere to look.
"I wear red ones just in case I want to tease Tom one day. I don't reckon he sees many red panties. But I don't wear anything up top." She cupped a small breast. "Doesn't seem much point. But more than a handful's a waste, right?"
"You're a very naughty girl." Charlotte tried to laugh but it came out more as a cough.
"Come on, jump in!" And Alice did. She jumped on the bed and pulled the cover over her. Her new friend complied, tucking her legs under.
"You're not seriously going to sleep in my bed in that grubby nurse's uniform?" Alice asked coyly.
Charlotte laughed another awkward laugh. She knew where this was going, and her heartbeat quickened. Was this really happening? Was she attracted in 'that way' to this strange girl with vampirism, sharp teeth, and mischievous smile? Apparently, she was.
"What the hell am I doing?" she asked rhetorically, as she pushed her slacks down her legs and kicked them off, throwing her smock aside.
Alice slid an arm around her, and they cuddled for a while, with no words spoken. When Charlotte felt lips brush against hers, she gasped, "If you bite me, I'll scream."
"I don't bite on first dates," came the reply, followed by a soft kiss.
Charlotte reciprocated. When their tongues touched, she felt sparks fizz around her mouth; finding nerves and tracing them back to her brain, where the sparks ignited a fire that blazed bright and sent shockwaves through the nerve highways to every inch of her.
Alice's lips left hers and ventured downward, leaving little kisses as they went, on Charlotte's chin, her neck, her chest. The girl giggled and gave each nipple a quick peck before continuing her journey down under the covers. When her lips kissed below Charlotte's belly, Alice was rewarded with another gasp and a moan. The vampire needed every ounce of willpower to resist sinking her teeth into Charlotte's soft skin to taste her mate's blood.
For her part, Charlotte's hand stroked Alice's neck and then her fingers followed the girl's spine, kneading each vertebra until they could reach no further. The vampire girl twisted around in the bed, allowing Charlotte's hand easier access down her lower back, tailbone, and between her legs. She was wet down there, and Charlotte took that as the biggest compliment she'd received in a long while, even since before Daniel had left her.
When they climaxed, Alice hugged Charlotte tighter than Daniel or anyone else ever had. They lay in each other's arms, breathless.
The silence that followed was not awkward. Neither felt compelled to say anything, and that was just fine. Jimmy returned quite a while later and either didn't know anything had gone on – or pretended he didn't.
"I decided to do a full sweep," he reported. "Everything is so quiet out there, you wouldn't believe it. It's eerie. Like something's about to go down."
Alice whispered, "I could go down again." Under a fake cough. And Charlotte gave her a little slap on the bare backside under the covers.
Chapter Six: The Big Bang
The two lovers dressed themselves undercover and left to let Jimmy catch some sleep in peace. They sat on the floor at the end of the ward. Some girls sounded much more animated now. A strange mixture of sounds that included indecipherable chatter and giggling.
"Do you think they'll ever come right?" Charlotte asked.
"I have no idea, to be honest. But I know they're better off in here with us, than wandering around outside with the likes of Tom and Felix and God knows who else.
"I reckon they could probably defend themselves quite well." Charlotte remembered the scenes on the lawn and shuddered.
Alice laughed. "True dat!"
The most worrying observation was that none of the patients, apart from Ashley, had touched their normal food. It was one aspect of zombie folklore that Charlotte never understood. How did they keep functioning with no energy intake? She supposed it was a question for Jimmy when we woke.
Later, Jimmy had no idea. "The movies don't bother going into that," he said, yawning. "I guess it takes away the fun if you examine it too closely."
"And yet here we are, experiencing the real thing," said Alice as she prepared the second drug round.
The sun rose on a new day as Alice's cocktail of pharmaceuticals was once again administered via a pole syringe.
"They've only got 80 milligrams of morphine this time," she explained, "but the anti-psychotics are just the same as yesterday. They should start having a cumulative effect."
Very few of the girls fought back this time. Little Olivia still proved to be the more vicious of the class.
"Fast and Furious. That's what we should call her," Jimmy said as he made a hasty retreat.
"She's called Olivia," Charlotte reminded him. "Maybe if we use their names, we'll get some response. You know? They might remember their normal selves."
Jimmy was about to cast doubt on this notion when a long, shrill screech reverberated overhead.
"What the fuck was that?" Alice shouted when the noise dissipated. "Sounded like a rocket!"
"Oh shit!" Jimmy took off at speed. "Day room, quick!"
They arrived at the dayroom when the shockwave hit – and blew all the windows in. It was lucky they weren't any faster, or they'd have been stood at their old spot in front of the windows and been sliced up by the glass. As it was, they were still knocked off their feet, and forced to cover their heads as everything loose was tossed around the room. Their ears popped with the sudden change in air pressure, and they all gasped trying to breathe air that had thinned considerably.
"Stay down!" Jimmy yelled as Alice started to get to her feet. "There'll be another one, coming back the other way. It has to fill the vacuum."
Sure enough, a second wave hit the building from the other side, smashing everything but the sturdy brick walls.
The first to stand, Jimmy walked over to the glass-less hole in the wall. "They've fuckin' done it. They've nuked the city!"
On the horizon, a black and orange mushroom cloud billowed ominously upward.
In the carpark, Charlotte's little Toyota Corolla had been tipped on its side by the shock. The trees though, had withstood the onslaught, but lost most of their leaves – that now covered the lawn like autumn had hit all in one day.
"We gotta go!" said Jimmy, "and fast. That pressure wave didn't have any radiation in it. That was the clean air that the explosion pushed outward. But sooner or later the fallout is gonna reach this far. We're only ten miles away. We can outrun it, but not if we piss about."
"What about the girls though?" Charlotte tried to control the panic in her voice. "We can't just leave them!"
Alice brushed plaster dust from her hair. "We'll let them out, and then run. They've only just been doped up again, so we should be fine."
"But they won't know what to do. They'll get hit with the radiation." Charlotte felt like sobbing but held it back.
Jimmy put his arm around her. "Charlotte. What do you want us to do with them? Escort them away from the incoming radiation, at a zombie shuffling pace, all the while avoiding them taking a nibble on us? I'm afraid we can set them free, like Alice suggests, but that's about all we can do. After that, they're on their own. Now come on…let's go go go!"
It was a simple matter to start with Yvette's room at the far end of the ward and slide the bolts open all the way along, finishing at Becky and Jasmine's then running away as fast as they could before anyone escaped and gave chase. Jimmy threw food, drugs, tasers, the shotgun, and shells into laundry bags and dragged them out into the car park. Alice and Charlotte followed; their arms loaded with anything he forgot. Torches, batteries, and some blankets. They dumped the haul in front of the car and joined Jimmy to push it back onto its wheels. Once they had it rocking, one almighty shove had it righted. Inside, the seats were covered in shattered glass from the windshield and side windows. Jimmy did his best to brush it out.
"It's safety glass, so probably won't slice our backsides up too much anyway. Got the keys Charlotte?"
She patted herself down, then realised she wasn't wearing her work clothes. They were back in the shower room.
"I'll get them," said Jimmy, "you guys stay put. Be ready to leave!"
"No!" Charlotte stopped him. "They're my keys, I forgot them. I'll get them." She pushed past Jimmy before he could object.
"Not without me you won't!" Alice ran after her.
They slowed once inside and tried to walk as softly as possible to the showers. The route would take them close to the ward, but not all the way, thankfully. Charlotte grabbed her folded pants, checked for the weight of the car keys, and then turned about-face. Alice kept checking over her shoulder as they made it back to the entrance. Just as they raced through the reception area, they heard a yell from the car park.
The sonic boom of the nuclear missile flying overhead had driven Felix from wherever he'd been hiding. He hit Jimmy at a full sprint. A yell was the only thing the poor maintenance worker and movie aficionado could manage in response. Felix was louder. "MAKE THE NOISE STOP!" He screamed, then bit Jimmy square in the chest. There was nothing either Alice or Charlotte could do. They were too far away, and too slow. Both stopped in their tracks and just stared. All the while, the dark death cloud billowed on the horizon, its base widening to envelop more of the city, closing the gap to the institution.
Jimmy slid down the side of the car in an ungainly flop. Felix ran away into the woods, his hands clasped to the side of his head again.
Alice spoke slowly, and firmly, "Charlotte, get your keys ready. And head for the car. We're going."
Charlotte knew better than to object. There was no argument to make. They only had moments before Jimmy turned.
They threw the supplies onto the back seats and slid into the front, wincing at pieces of broken glass under their bottoms. Charlotte turned the key and whispered, "C'mon. First time, every time." It was something Daniel used to say for some reason. And while she hated quoting him, it seemed an apt request right now.
The car started the first time and Charlotte gunned it down the driveway.
Alice had to shout above the wind that blew straight into their faces through the busted windshield, "And then there were two!"
Charlotte didn't reply, just concentrated on her driving and tried to figure out which roads to take to get away from the city as fast as possible. She also mulled over the girls they'd left behind, and what might happen to them. It did not sit right in her mind. She wondered what Maggie would think. Poor old Maggie. And then, surprising herself, she wondered what her mother, and grandmother, for that matter, would think. It wasn't right.
A few miles up the road they came upon the San Sisto College school bus. Charlotte pulled alongside it.
"Why are we stopping?" Alice asked.
Charlotte didn't answer that either. She scanned the surrounding countryside, decided there were no immediate threats, and got out of the car. She climbed up the bus's blood-soaked steps and checked the driver's seat.
"The keys are here! I don't suppose you know how to drive a bus?"
Alice sighed. "No, and I'm guessing from the question, you don't either. What the hell are you doing Charlotte?"
"We're going back."
"We're what?"
"Going back. For the girls. We can't leave them there. Come on, get the stuff into the bus."
Alice knew it was pointless to argue, and she also knew that she'd follow Charlotte to hell and back. If back was even an option, once they'd entered hell.
It took at least five minutes for Charlotte to figure out the bus's transmission. She had to shush Alice twice while she concentrated. Eventually, with a crunching of gears, she had the bus moving.
"And what do we do when we get there?" asked Alice. "Presuming we get there before the radiation fallout, that is. Are you just going to load everyone onto the bus and call out the roll?"
Charlotte laughed, and it felt like the first time in a long time. It was a relief to have the guilt lifted from her shoulders. Even if she was driving to her death, she wasn't leaving anyone behind.
"Yeah, pretty much. Hey, what's the bet Becky and Jasmine sit at the back?"
Alice shook her head. "Fuck. And I thought I was weird."
The nuclear mushroom cloud was flattening out by the time they arrived back at the Institute. It looked more like a muffin now, but the base continued to expand. Wisps of black smoke had drifted away from the top too, one of them completely covering the morning sun, casting a dark shadow over the landscape.
There was no sign of poor Jimmy.
Charlotte pulled the massive handbrake up as far as she could. "We have to get the girls into this bus as fast as possible and get back on the road."
"I've been thinking," said Alice. "Ashley had every chance to attack me last night. She had me in her grip. Could have ripped my face off, but she didn't."
"So, maybe you're not her type."
"You jest, but that's exactly it! Maybe they're not interested in me. Just like they're not interested in each other, or anyone they've turned. Remember how they ignored Tom and Felix once they'd become zombies?"
"Okaaay…" Charlotte wondered where this was going.
"Maybe it's because of the blood. You know my hmm… condition. Reinfeld's syndrome, right?"
"Yes love."
"Well, my own blood doesn't do it for me. It tastes bland. It's got no spark. I think it's the same for them."
"So?"
"So, maybe for some reason, my blood doesn't do it for them either. Because of my condition. OR for some reason, they think I'm a zombie. I don't know. But I reckon I can get them onto the bus without them harming me."
"And what if it was just Ashley who was like that? Heck, maybe she was just grateful you saved her from choking. Remember Olivia was hell-bent on catching you when we ran our little bait and trap exercise."
"Yes, but Olivia didn't manage to get close enough to suss me out," Alice said. "Anyway, we don't have time to argue. I'm going inside to see if I can drag some of them out. YOU, have to find somewhere safe to hide. If I get them onto the bus, I'll tie them to their seats so they can't get you."
"Tie them with what with, exactly?"
Alice was stumped for a moment. "Sheets!" she said triumphantly. "I'll grab some sheets and rip them up."
Charlotte looked at her new friend. Her lover. And perhaps the only person she had left in the world.
"That's all going to take too long. We have to GO!" she said, gesturing at the rolling black cloud heading their way. "Bite me."
"Say what?" Alice asked with genuine confusion.
"Bite me," Charlotte repeated. "Maybe you'll pass on whatever it is that makes them passive towards you. Then we can both go round them up and not waste time trying to keep me safe."
"Charlotte, I'm not sure…"
"Just do it Alice. Come on…where's the girl I slept with last night? Show me some of that passion again!" And Charlotte tilted her head, presenting Alice with the side of her neck.
"You're a weirdo, you know that." Alice smiled, showing her white fangs.
"Takes one to know one."
The vampire bit her lover deep in the neck. Charlotte expected it to hurt. Was bracing herself for the pain, but somehow there was none. She felt Alice's lips against her skin but not the fangs. Alice trembled as the taste of Charlotte's blood hit her tongue and radiated throughout her body. Fresh, fantastically alive, copper-laced blood.
"Oh fuck, that's good," she mumbled against Charlotte's neck, before forcing herself away. Charlotte turned to face her, and Alice kissed her with blood-soaked lips, smearing the delicious claret over their mouths.
Alice pulled back eventually, licking her lips. "Jesus, if we'd kept going, I might not be able to stand up!"
Movement at the top of the building's front stairs startled them both. Hazel stood there, cocking her head to the side. One ponytail had come loose but the other held on admirably, making her look all the more comical. She pointed in their direction and said "bus," then proceeded to hobble down the stairs.
Alice gripped Charlotte's hand tightly. "Oh shit."
"It's ok, just stay put," Charlotte whispered.
"This is one hell of a gamble. We don't even have Jimmy to tell us if it's been tried in the movies."
"I'm pretty sure it hasn't."
As Hazel approached them, some of her classmates appeared behind her. It seemed they had some consciousness after all – or at least recognised their school bus.
Hazel stopped within inches of Charlotte and Alice. Like Ashley, she examined them closely and sniffed. Charlotte braced herself for the attack – but it didn't come. Instead, the girl clambered on board the bus. She even let Alice help her up.
Within ten minutes they had all the girls aboard. Alice was right. Becky and Jasmine made their way to the back of the bus.
"This is fucking surreal," she said as the doors hissed closed, and Charlotte disengaged the handbrake.
"You can say that again," said Charlotte, crunching into first gear and moving them forwards with a lurch.
"Jimmy would say it again, if he was here." Alice smiled. "Always had that droll sense of humour."
"Yeah. he was a cool dude, sense of humour and all." Charlotte reached a hand over to Alice who sat where Miss Fenchurch had, just three days ago.
Alice squeezed the hand but didn't hold it. "Both hands on the wheel driver. We've got some miles to put between us and that fucked up city."
"Yes, my vampire Queen!" Charlotte laughed.
"Aw…I like that!" Alice beamed. "Keep calling me that and I'll bite you some more. I think you enjoyed it, didn't you?"
"You know what?" Charlotte blushed. "I did. But how about next time I bite YOU!"
They both laughed. And then laughed even harder when a small voice somewhere behind them asked.
"Are we there yet?"
- END -