How I Survived The Zombie Apocalypse

Chapter Twelve - Laugh Through The Pain

My ankle was still throbbing as we crouched in the window of an independent boutique, scanning the street outside for infected. Kitty edged to the door, the glass plate at the bottom was broken, jagged bits of glass still sticking from the wooden frame.

"Here, use this." I whispered, passing Kitty a long flowing skirt that was lying on the floor. She nodded and pulled the shards out. We both winced at the noise it made.

"Are you sure you can make it Alex? Your ankle is swollen as fuck." Kitty said with concern. I tried to shrug casually, as if I didn't want to cry.

"Course I can make it." I scoffed. After a last worried glance Kitty took a deep breath and slid out onto the street, quickly hiding behind the road block.

I followed after Kitty gestured for me and tried to hide my wincing when I put weight on my bad ankle. I reached Kitty and hid low behind the concrete, trying to catch my breath.

"One last push to the fire station, then you can rest for a few minutes." Kitty assured me, but I shook my head.

"No, then we keep moving, our people are risking their lives causing a diversion, I won't let them do that without getting what we came for. We have to hurry and be ready for that thing in case it comes back." I argued, I couldn't stand to think of my friends putting their lives on the line for me to complain about a damned sprained ankle.

"You're a tough one." Kitty smirked.

"Hardly. I want some unconventional pain relief, a Red Hot Chilli Peppers album and to be left alone to cry in peace." I scoffed and she laughed lightly under her breath.

With a last glance over the concrete Kitty pulled me up by my arm and directed me quickly into the shadow of the fire station. It didn't take us long to get in and once we did we found it empty. Kitty pulled open a side panel of the closest engine and pulled out a large red axe then a slightly smaller one.

"Take this one, I don't think you're strong enough to lift this bad boy right now." Kitty explained as she handed me the smaller axe.

"No arguments here." I sighed, unaccustomed to being so weak.

We barely spoke as we exited the fire station through a back door which led to a small car park with a tower that I assumed was once used for training purposes. We hardly spoke five words to each other as we slowly but surely made our way through the town in the direction of the hospital. Many of the infected had been lured away from the town center, most of them in fact, yet there we some stragglers that needed to be dealt with. I grudgingly allowed Kitty to take the lead, knowing that I was a liability, to myself and Kitty as well. I knew that if I was in her position I'd want her to hang back and let me deal with it without having to worry about her.

If I had to guess I'd have said it took us nearly half an hour to make it to the hospital. All the way there I was half hoping to see Zak and Maggie, they should be still doing a bit of clean up in the town and I would have loved a lift to the hospital. I had been the one to suggest we go to the hospital on foot and even though I had a very good reason, mainly stealth, I cursed myself for the entire journey.

"Couldn't we have just gotten your friend antibiotics from the chemist?" I grumbled as we picked our way through the rubble of a decimated wall, making our way to the back of the hospital.

"What a great idea!" Kitty whispered sarcastically, "Why on Earth didn't I think of that?" she shot me one last look then relaxed slightly. "He needs an IV... Or something... I have it all written down. It took us too long to get here, he's too far gone for oral antibiotics and he's malnourished. We have a doctor friend, well he was studying medicine when the world ended, his name is Max and he said something about banana bags and fluids and some other crap that I'd never heard of before."