Chapter Twenty-Four
ADRIAN
The van’s engine screamed as Ben pushed it past what the road could take.
We fishtailed through the intersection and shot down a side street, the infected shrinking in the mirrors behind us.
For the moment.
Lucas twisted in his seat, watching another swarm spill into the road behind us. “There’s more, and they’re following us.”
“They can try,” Ben muttered.
His voice sounded funny.
“Fuck!” The sleeve of his jacket was soaked red.
Lucas noticed a second later. “Ben?”
He didn’t answer.
Lucas leaned forward. “Ben, you’re bleeding.”
Ben shifted his grip on the wheel. “It’s just a graze.”
Blood dripped from his elbow onto the van’s floor.
It wasn’t just a graze.
I reached across the seat and grabbed his wrist.
“Pull over.” His blood loss was worrying.
“I’m fine,” Ben grumbled.
I pulled his sleeve back. The fabric peeled away from his arm, wet and sticky. Several small punctures marked the flesh just above his bicep.
Shotgun pellets.
The bleeding was steady.
Lucas swore under his breath. “Jesus.”
“It’s not fatal,” I met Ben’s eyes, “But it needs to be treated.”
The van bounced over a pothole, and Ben winced. That was the first honest reaction he’d had to the injury.
“He needs the hospital.” Lucas leaned over the seat to get a better look.
“No hospitals,” Ben replied immediately.
“I agree. A pharmacy would be better.”
After my experience with the two cops, I knew the hospital was not a wise choice.
“Statistically,” I intoned, “hospitals will now contain the highest concentration of infected individuals.”
Lucas sat back and blew out a breath, “Pharmacy it is.”
Ben nodded toward the windshield. “There.”
A small building stood at the next intersection.
ASHFORD FAMILY PHARMACY
Ben parked the van in the lot and turned off the engine. The surrounding silence seemed threatening.
And it was. Everything now was.
Lucas checked the street behind us. “I don’t see any sign of infected.”
“That won’t last long.” I opened the door and got out of the van.
Ben grabbed his shotgun. “Let’s move. I’m tired of the delays. I need to get to Taryn.”
I did too. Hopefully, we’d intercept her near her last known location, but if she encountered the infected, her route might have changed. There was no point in saying that out loud. Ben wasn’t a fool, so I was sure he’d already considered that possibility.
Inside the pharmacy, the air smelled stale. The electricity had become unreliable, and the central air hadn’t fared well because of it. Shelves had been raided. Medicine was scattered throughout the place.
None of this surprised me in the least.
Lucas locked the front door while I pushed Ben behind the counter. “Sit.”
Ben didn’t argue, and that was a little worrying.
Lucas found a flashlight while I began pulling supplies from the shelves.
Gauze.
Alcohol.
There were a few packs of antibiotics, but no painkillers. I’m sure those were the first things looted.
Ben sat heavily on the stool behind the pharmacy counter while I cut the sleeve away from his arm.
“Nothing for the pain,” I told him as I began cleaning the wound.
Ben grunted. “I’ll be fine. Just get it done.” He turned to Lucas. “Get a bag and pack up all the antibiotics. I have a stash at home, but you can never have enough.”
The overhead lights flickered, then dimmed, and finally steadied again. The power grid grew more unstable every day.
I’d expected it to happen sooner or later.
I poured antiseptic into the wound. Ben sucked in a breath through his teeth but remained silent.
Lucas held the flashlight over my shoulder. The beam revealed several ragged punctures just above Ben’s bicep.
Buckshot.
Some of the pellets had passed through, but two hadn’t. Blood ran steadily down his arm.
Lucas grimaced. “That looks bad.”
“Not as bad as it could’ve been. Can you hand me the tweezers?”
Lucas handed me a pair of tweezers from an open first-aid kit behind the counter. I applied alcohol to disinfect them, then poured some on Ben’s wounds.
“Shit!” He growled. “That stings.”
“Hold still,” I gently grabbed his arm. “Taryn would handle this better than you are.”
"Yes, she would," he said with a smile, pride shining in his eyes. "Are you planning to dig around in there?” Ben raised an eyebrow.
I nodded.
“Then let’s get it done. We’re wasting time.” He ran his free hand down his face.
The first pellet sat just under the skin. I pinched it with the tweezers and pulled. The small piece of metal slid free with a wet sound and dropped onto the counter.
Lucas made a face.
“Really?” Ben eyed him in disgust. “After everything you’ve seen?”
Lucas rolled his eyes but didn’t answer.
The second pellet took more time. Ben’s jaw clenched as I worked the metal free, but he didn’t even whimper. He was a tough old bastard when he wanted to be.
When it finally came free, he exhaled slowly. “Done?”
“Almost.” I flushed the wound again and pressed gauze into the torn muscle.
Blood soaked through immediately.
“It needs stitches.” I looked up at Ben.
I opened drawers behind the counter, but they were empty. So, Lucas and I started scanning the shelves for the things I’d need.
Finally, I spotted a small sewing repair kit that hung near the checkout.
“Will that work?” Lucas asked, grabbing a beef jerky stick from the wall and damn near swallowing it whole.
“It’ll have to.” I walked back to Ben.
I threaded the curved sewing needle with the strongest line in the kit. Fishing line would have been preferable, but even in this backwater town, you couldn’t find that in a pharmacy.
“You ever stitched someone up before?” Ben’s face was pale from blood loss and shock.
“Nope.”
“That’s comforting.” He said sarcastically.
I pushed the needle through the skin.
Ben grunted but didn’t move as I pulled the stitch tight. Three more closed the wound, but it wasn’t pretty.
The most important thing was that it would hold.
I wrapped gauze around the arm and secured it tightly.
Ben flexed his hand experimentally. “Good job. Not as good as I could have done, but not bad.”
A radio crackled from somewhere behind the counter, startling all three of us.
“…Attention residents of Ashford and surrounding counties…”
We came to attention.
The voice sounded military.
“…Proceed to the designated safe zone at Fort Sam Houston…”
Lucas blinked. “Safe zone?”
Ben shook his head. “No such thing.”
The broadcast continued through static.
“…Avoid contact with infected individuals…”
“No shit,” Lucas mumbled.
Then it restarted.
Outside, something hit the front window.
Hard.
Lucas started slowly toward the front.
Another impact struck the glass.
The door rattled.
I joined Lucas, who was peering out of the window. “That’s not good.”
“Definitely not,” I agreed.
Shapes were gathering in the parking lot.
Dozens of them.
Shit.
“How many?” Ben asked, joining us at the door.
“I count at least twenty.” Lucas glanced at him. “Maybe there’s a back entrance?”
He grabbed a flashlight from a nearby shelf and left to check it out.
“Let’s get this door barricaded,” Ben turned, searching for something to use. “Here. This shelf should work.”
I agreed and started clearing what was left on it. “We need to do this as quietly as possible.”
The shelf screeched across the floor as we dragged it into place, the heavy steel frame wedging hard against the door. I winced, hoping the sound wouldn’t draw too much attention from the infected.
Just as we stepped back to check our work, Lucas walked back into the room.
“I think I found a back entrance.”
“Let’s check it out.” Ben drew the knife from his belt and held it at the ready. “From here on out, no guns unless it’s unavoidable.”
I nodded in agreement. These things were like animals. I just hoped their senses weren’t as sharp.
Lucas led us behind the counter through a door into a short hallway. There were two doors on each side and one at the end.
Ben and I opened the doors lining the hall. The first led to a bathroom, and the other was just a closet filled with cleaning supplies.
“Here,” Lucas said with his hand on the knob of the final door.
“Wait—,” Ben started, but it was too late. Lucas had already opened the door.
There was a man in a white coat, slumped against the wall opposite the door.
At first, I thought he was dead. Then his head lifted.
A gray film covered his eyes.
“Shit,” Lucas froze.
The infected lurched forward.
Lucas jerked back instinctively, the flashlight beam jumping wildly across the room. Ben moved just before I did, at the exact moment the infected lunged.
Ben swung his knife but missed the head, striking the shoulder instead.
The body staggered sideways but didn’t fall.
Ben stepped forward and swung again, narrowly avoiding the teeth snapping inches from his arm.
The second strike drove the knife between those dead eyes, and the infected collapsed like a marionette with its strings cut.
Ben bent down, pulled his knife free, then stabbed it several more times.
Lucas exhaled slowly. “Remind me not to piss you off.”
“Too late.” Ben stood, wiping the blood from his knife on his pant leg. “I’m not saving your ass next time you do something so stupid.”
I stepped over the dead body and grabbed the handle of the back door. The metal felt cold and slightly sticky under my hand.
I turned the deadbolt and gently pushed the door.
It moved an inch and stopped.
I frowned and pushed harder.
The hinges groaned, but the door refused to open more than a narrow crack.
Lucas shifted beside me. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure. It must be blocked by something.” I murmured as I peered through the crack.
Was that a car? What the hell?
“There’s a car rammed against it.” I leaned back, frustrated by yet another roadblock between me and getting to Taryn.
Lucas swore under his breath. “Why in the hell would someone ram this door?”
“As Einstein once observed, the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.” I pushed again, and the other two men joined me, but it still wouldn’t budge.
I knew it was hopeless because even if we managed to force the door open wider, there wouldn’t be enough space to squeeze through. Which meant the obvious exit was no longer available.
“This isn’t going to work,” I murmured quietly.
I had no clue how we would get out of here, but I heard a clock ticking in my mind, counting down. My instincts told me that time was running out for Taryn.
I wanted to let my temper loose, but that wouldn’t accomplish anything except give me a little relief.
Fuck it! I started ramming my fist into the wall until Ben grabbed my shoulders.
“That’s enough, son.” He pushed me back and stepped in front of me. “We’ll get out of here and find Taryn, but you’ve got to keep a clear head if we’re going to do that.”
I took a deep breath. “Sorry.”
He was right, but I needed my Taryn safe, and I needed her safe yesterday.
I could survive anything as long as she was by my side.