Julie took off the comforter from Lorraine's body and the full view of her wounds came before Ivo and Matthew. Ivo winced at the damage that the monsters had brought down on Lorraine.
Julie propped herself up and started performing CPR on Lorraine. "Lorraine! You can't die. I have so many things to tell you! Don't leave us like this!"
"Dammit Julie! What happened?!" Ivo shouted, angry at what Lorraine could have suffered through while he was not at her side.
"She did her best Ivo. Don't blame my wife on this!" Matthew barked back. Several growls from the distance caught his attention. He left the two from the innermost area of the store and knelt by the shutter door, peeking through its small grooves and holes.
Lorraine's lifeless body bounced as Julie rhythmically pushed down on her sternum, stopping after every 10 pushes to puff air into her lungs via her nose. Lorraine's blouse was doused with Julie's tears as she continuously performed CPR in the next 2 minutes.
"Lorraine! Don't die! Lorraine!" Julie blew one more time into Lorraine's nose and then continued with the heart massages. She was losing her proper form on the CPR and slowly broke down. She laid her face on Lorraine's chest and started crying.
Ivo looked on and shook his head; his face was contorted with a look of rage, disappointment, and depression.
Matthew came back into the room and stood before the two while holding his M16. "The monsters are getting agitated," Matthew announced. "The sun's going down. They'll surround us soon so we have to make a break for it."
"G-give us a minute man," Ivo said with an exasperated tone.
Matthew knelt down beside Julie and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Julie, I'm sorry about what happened but we're running out of time. We have to get out of the city."
"And what exactly IS your plan?" Ivo interjected. "You're not leaving me alone right? You both went through the trouble of rescuing me and...saving Lorraine. Might as well follow through and take me with you if shit goes down."
Matthew kept silent to contemplate what to say next. He looked over at Julie who already raised her head to wipe off her tears. "He's right Matt. We're taking Ivo with us. I know that he could help us," said Julie while keeping her head low. She stood up, took a roll of bandages, a bag of cotton balls, and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, and knelt beside Ivo. "We'll leave after I dress Ivo's wounds properly. For now, please tell us your plan." Julie started unrolling the bandages into long rectangular pieces.
Matthew nodded and stood up. "There's a reason why I chose this particular store. It's so that I could have a good vantage point and observe QC Avenue station," Matthew explained. "I've been hoping that there could be a train car that we could use and there is one now. We'll make a beeline toward the train and use it as a moving shield."
"With those things outside? Ouch!" Ivo flinched as Julie doused his wound with hydrogen peroxide.
"Stay still Ivo, I'm not done cleaning your wound yet," said Julie. Ivo's wound bubbled as Julie wiped off the excess streams of hydrogen peroxide around his shoulder and arm.
"You can still use a gun right? We'll just have to fight our way through. Either that or just get stranded here we and die from starvation," Matthew intoned. He had been in a lot of battles before this. Unlike humans who can strategize and bluff, these monsters are merely driven by their hunger and beastly instincts. Their only advantage is their numbers. They can evade them if they plan thoroughly and if they manage to gather a bit of luck and courage.
"I'll be done in a few minutes," said Julie as she prepared to cover Ivo's wounds with the bandages. "Thank you for coming to save me Matthew. I'll be fine. Don't worry about me too much."
