Lost Roads (Benny Imura 7)
12
ALETHEA SIGHED HEAVILY AND SAID, “Am I the only one who’s starting to think we’re all cursed by witches?”
“I like witches,” said Spider vaguely.
Gutsy shook her head. “No. This is just cause and effect. And some bad decisions. Chong should have kept his drugs with him all the time.”
“Sure,” said Alethea, “go tell that to Lilah. Bet she’ll appreciate the criticism. She seems like a very understanding kind of gal.”
Gutsy almost said, Well, it’s what I would have done. Then something occurred to her.
“Hey,” she said, touching Nix’s shoulder, “maybe we’re panicking over nothing. Karen’s daughter, Sarah, is infected too. She gets regular medicine from Dr. Morton to keep her from turning. Maybe he has a stash of it somewhere.”
“Had,” said Ledger sourly. “You saw his office. He’s missing, presumed either dead or with Collins.”
“Okay,” said Gutsy, “but there still might be a supply of pills somewhere.”
Everyone brightened and even smiled, but then Spider raised his hand. “Guys, I don’t want to be a downer here,” he said, “but I seem to remember someone saying that the pills were made at the base, and that Morton only brought in some at a time.”
The brief bubble of elation burst at once, and if anything, everyone looked even more stressed and scared than before.
Gutsy cleared her throat and attempted to inject some optimism into the moment. “We should have asked Doc Morton if there’s another base or lab anywhere around.”
“What we should have done,” said Karen bitterly, “is kept him on a leash. God, my daughter could die because we didn’t think this through.”
“We’re all in shock,” said Gutsy. “And I’m afraid we’re acting like it. Making bad decisions.”
Ledger shot her a quick appraising look, then nodded. “You’re right. What makes it worse is that Sam and I should have been calling the shots here. This is what we do.”
“Used to do,” said Sam.
“Doesn’t matter. This is on us,” insisted Ledger. “And being clumsy ends right now. We need to find Morton, and if he’s dead or gone, then we need to find someone in this town who can step up and figure out a way to make those pills. Do you have a pharmacist?”
“Sure,” said Karen. “Manny Flores.”
“Okay, then he’s our fallback. But first things first: Collins or one of her cronies was here. Someone had to have seen something.”
“I’ll go find Manny,” said Karen.
After she left, they began grilling the staff in that part of the hospital. When that yielded nothing, they tried outside. One of the nurses on break pointed to the alley at the back of the building.
“He went down there,” she said.
“Was he hurt?” asked Ledger.
“Morton? No,
I don’t think so. But I heard someone tell him there was an injured kid. Not sure if there was a bite or not, but the doctor took his bag. Danny was with him.”
Danny was the guard assigned to the doctor.
They all headed to the rear of the hospital and down the back alley, but there was no one in sight. Then they heard the cries, filled with hopeless agony.
Sombra and Grimm bounded forward, and everyone else ran after. They rounded a turn that opened into a small cement courtyard that was used as an informal break area. Plastic chairs were scattered around as if a storm had swept through. They saw Danny and Morton locked in an awkward embrace, moving together in a graceless and terrible dance. Danny’s clothes were slashed and soaked with blood. His eyes were vacant, his mouth smeared with red as he tore at the doctor’s shoulder with a snarling, hungry mouth.
13
SAM DREW A KNIFE, BUT Gutsy got there first. She swung her crowbar in a fast, tight arc and caught Danny on the temple, knocking his head sideways, breaking the connection of the bite. The zombie staggered and Gutsy struck again, this time with more raw power and precision, and shattered the back of the guard’s skull. The creature sagged and then toppled over, his face and limbs settling into a terminal slackness.