The Mississippi Zombie Chronicals

Chapter 19: Problems

I ran behind Drew down the hall to the kitchen.

That boy knew he could run.

When I found him in the kitchen he was standing beside Kam, her hands covered in blood.

A younger man, maybe in his late twenties laid on the table. A young woman sat beside the open front door, balled up and crying on the floor.

"What the hell is going on around here!?" I proclaimed.

"These two were shambling down the road. The dude was walking with a limp and the chick was carrying him almost. Thought they were zombies at first but when the woman saw me at the gate, she screamed for my help. Now, here we are." Said Drew.

Sarah went over to the woman and sat beside her, comforting her.

I walked over to the table and examined the unconscious man. He had an extremely deep laceration across his chest and two gunshot wounds; one in his arm and the other through his left thigh.

Kam was doing what she could to stop the bleeding but she wasn't a doctor. She could only do so much.

I grabbed some clean towels and began to help apply pressure to his wounds. I noticed the young man was wearing dog tags and a pair of multicam Air force pants.

"Sarah, find out who they are, please. We need to know what happened." I said.

Sarah nodded her head and asked the young woman who she was and if she knew what happened.

"My names J-jessica, that's Michael over there. We're from Biloxi, we heard that maybe there were survivors here so we came. We were about two days into our journey on foot when we were ambushed by these crazy men. Michael was in the Air Force so he fought back hard, he shot two of the men but they got him. All I remember was his scream and the gunshots. I was hiding like a coward behind some cars and they left him to die. So I loaded him inside an old station wagon and this is as far as we made it." Said Jessica.

"Sarah, get this girl some food and some dry clothes. Drew, fetch me some bandages, alcohol, a needle and thread."

I barked the orders. They came off a little harsh but I believed we could save this man.

Drew returned with the materials in hand. I grabbed them from him and began my archaic health care.

I stitched together the flaps of skin the gash had left to the best of my ability. I was just glad the man was asleep for all this.

"Kam, we've gotta get these bullets out, we don't have enough antiseptic to treat him with them still inside."

I look at Kam and unsheathed my knife.

"Heat the tip up on the stove, if we can get two birds with one stone, killing infection and cauterizing the wound, we will."

Kam brings me back the blade, now red hot. I dig a little in his shoulder and find the bullet with my fingers and then I go in with the knife to dig it out. I slide the tip of the blade inside and Michael jumps up in pain and starts thrashing about.

I yell for Zig and Cody to hold him steady while I pluck the bullet. I finally get it out and drop the round into the tin can beside me.

One down, one to go.

I move to his leg and the man was lucky. It missed his artery and the bone and went straight through. Needless to say, there wasn't a second bullet. I patched his shoulder up while Kam bandaged his chest, with Cody stitching up his leg and applying a bandage. 

"Lay this man on a cot beside the fireplace he needs to be warm and rested if he wants to survive." I said.

Zig and Cody gingerly lay him down, covering him in a blanket.

Then I heard the gunshot.

It was a rifle round, long and distant shot.

I'll never forget that sound. Kam fell to the floor, a hole blown in her chest.

I hear Bob returning fire from upstairs. A man on a bull horn started to speak.

"Now, we know Michael and sweet little Jess is in there, so make em come on out and there doesn't have to be any more bloodshed. But if you don't, oh my boys and I will destroy this place and all you in it."

Zig laid on the floor holding a dead Kameron in his arms, tears rolling down his face and rage in his eyes.

"FUCK YOU!" screamed a distraught Zig.