AM13 Outbreak Shorts

Crackdown - Ten

"Huh? Who are you?" I snap back, maybe a little harshly considering.

I run my eyes up and down the guy who seems to have appeared from nowhere. On the one hand, I'm glad to no longer be alone, but on the other, anyone who isn't Enrico isn't welcome. I just want to turn back time, spin back the moments. I want to reverse my mistakes and to have my friend back.

"Does it matter?" he sneers, while jutting his chin out at me. "We're both in a shit storm here, so maybe it's best we focus on getting away from the hospital building first."

I glance towards the building longingly. Even after everything, I still want to make it inside for Katie. I have this feeling that whatever she's hunting for, whatever she needs, it's in there and by turning my back on it, I'm effectively leaving her in trouble.

"Trust me." The stranger rests one hand on my shoulder, making me jump. "I've just come from there. It isn't worth going inside. Nothing is salvageable."

"You were in there?" He nods slowly. "Like, as a patient?"

"No, I was a doctor."

Okay, this is good. Maybe this is what I need, someone with medical training. Someone who might be able to hep Katie out more than I can. I hate relying on others, I've never been great at that, but this is a different time. This calls for a whole different set of rules.

"Okay, great. Well, I don't know what your plan is, but I have a place..."

I don't know if I can trust him or not, but for now it feels like I should try. I need to step out of the mold and be a better version of myself.

He offers me a one-shouldered shrug. "Sure, whatever. Anything has to be better than here."

We start off lightly jogging away from the hospital building, but soon it becomes more of a fast-paced run. I keep thinking of Enrico and the terrible way that he died, the danger that's out here runs through my head over and over, causing me to pick up the pace. Thankfully, it seems the stranger can keep up.

I don't look at him as we run, I don't know if I can make eye contact with him because I fear feeling anything for him at all. If I start to care about this man, even one percent of what I felt for Enrico, and I lose him too, that'll crush me. So, I keep my eyes fixed forward, thinking about the police station the entire time. The place I left not so long ago, with my whole life intact...

Well, sort of. I guess it hasn't been whole since all of this happened.

"Where are we going?" the guy eventually asks me. "Where's this place of yours?"

I slide my eyes closed, resisting the urge to tell him to get lost. "It's not far. It's the police station."

"Huh...are you a cop?" I nod slowly. "I wouldn't have pegged you for one."

I suppose I still look a bit like the bad boy who once lived on the other side of the law, but I can't stop myself from being petty back. Something about his attitude rubs me the wrong way. It isn't that I regret rescuing him or anything, I just don't want to speak to him right now.

"Yeah, well you don't look like a doctor, so what can we do about that?"

He laughs, completely unbothered by my insult. "True! Very true. So, is this where we're going?"

"It is." I nod towards the police station. "I have some people in there from the specialist medical facility, so you might already have people that you know in there."

"Oh right!" His eyes brighten with happiness. "Like who? Hannah? Dave? Katie?"

Katie...!

I don't know why, but when he says her name, my blood runs icy cold. Of course he knows her, they are both from the same field, but I can't help needing to know more.

"Yeah, Katie. You know her?"

He nods. "Sure, I do. I'm sure she talks about me all the time! We really... close."

Did I imagine that pause or did he put it in there on purpose? I feel like he desperately wants to wind me up.

"What's your name?" I fold my arms definitively across my chest. "I'll see if I've heard of you."

"Ryan."

Ryan...who the hell is Ryan?