Side Tracked

Jon was almost home. He had waited an hour for Tom, then another hour, and another. It was 7 o'clock when he finally left the hospital grounds and started to head back. He had managed to escape through the loading bay, but a group of undead had followed him out, preventing him from re-entering the building. The main entrance was packed with undead, and it would be suicidal to enter through another exit, as he did not know the layout of the hospital.

Jon hit the call button on the door and was buzzed in. What was he going to say to everyone? How would he explain this to Sky? She had started coming out of her shell lately after losing her father in the last stand. No one had the heart to ask her about her mother.

Jon climbed up the stairs. Toby met him at the top. They searched through the bag. Luckily, there were some antibiotics, and Tom had not been carrying all of it. Toby did not seem to notice Tom's absence, probably thinking he was still downstairs. Toby rushed off to give the medicine to Jenna. Jon sat down at the top of the stairs, his legs dangling over the edge.

Jane appeared at the doorway and looked at him but didn't come over. She was still scared of him. She looked like she wanted to ask but instead walked away. Sky appeared, running out onto the landing, eyes wide and bright at seeing his return.

"Where's Tom? I did my math stuff. He said he wanted to check it before I could watch a film..." She stopped talking and looked around desperately, searching for any sign of Tom. Tears formed in her eyes. "Where is he?" she cried.

Jon didn't know what to say to her. This was the second time she had her heart broken in less than a month. She sat down next to him and sobbed.

___

Blood was everywhere—on the bed, on this guy, whoever he was, on the floor, and on me. I knew sweet fuck all about medicine. Eight seasons of House and seven seasons of Scrubs were the total of my medical knowledge. The guy was pale as the white sheets, the parts that were not covered in blood anyway. I looked in the wardrobe and found what I hoped were not this guy's best shirts, ripped them into strips, and tied them around the man's wrists. I was conflicted about what to do.

I had seen the man we discovered in the flat turn without being bitten. The bleeding seemed to have stopped, and there was still a pulse, so I was safe for now. I took the handcuffs out from my satchel and handcuffed the man to the headboard. I then proceeded to wander around the house. I was unable to find a mobile phone or a house phone to call home, but I did find a pack of biscuits, which I quickly tore through. I decided to sleep outside the room the man was in, not wanting him to possibly turn while I was in the room. I took a few cushions from the sofa and placed them outside the room to settle down. I lay down and closed my eyes. My head was still throbbing, and I was still getting blurred vision occasionally. I don't think you are meant to fall asleep with a possible concussion, but there was no doctor here to lecture me otherwise. I drifted off staring at the door.

___

The mood in the flat was somber. Jon had tried to call Tom's phone multiple times—no response. Sky had run off to her room earlier, and all attempts to comfort her had failed. Jon, Jane, Lara, and Toby had gathered around the living room table with a bottle of vodka, attempting to drown out Tom's screamingly loud absence. Jenna was still asleep, but it seemed her condition was improving. Her fever had gone down, and she had woken up briefly for some water and to take more antibiotics.

"We go look for him," Toby said, finishing his vodka and slamming the glass down on the table.

"That's suicide. There are too many of them," Jon replied, not looking up from his glass.

"Well, we can't sit here and do fuck all. He is out there somewhere. He would come looking for us. Hell, he went out looking for a dog!" Toby jabbed his fingers in Duke's direction, who was curled up at Jane's feet.

Lara spoke next. "I think we should look for him, but not now. We should wait till tomorrow."

"No!" Jon stood up from the table, almost knocking the bottle over. "It's too dangerous! We go back, we get killed. If Tom's alive, he will make it back. If not, then—" Jon's voice trailed off. Everyone looked at him. He stormed out of the room. He spent that night sitting outside Sky's room. Neither of them could sleep. She stared at the ceiling; he sat and drank.

Two Days Later

"Can I get one of those?" The voice scared the living hell out of me. I looked over to the bed. He was awake. He still looked like crap, but he was alive. I threw him a cigarette and cautiously leaned over him to light it.

"Are you thirsty? Hungry?" I asked.

The man shook his head. "No food in the house, but a drink of water would be nice, if we have it."

I threw him my water bottle. He attempted to catch it with his cuffed hand. He looked shocked and turned to me.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Can't be too careful," I said, moving over to uncuff him.

"I have seen people turn without getting bitten."

"Me too." There was a long pause.

"I'm Tom."

"Jack. So, Tom, what brings you to my humble abode?"

I explained what had happened at the hospital—how I had broken in looking for a safe place to stay, only to discover him and spend the next two days trying to get him better.

"I don't know why you bothered. Me and you are probably the only two people left."

"No, we're not." Jack's face was shocked. "That's why we were at the hospital. A friend of ours was hurt. We went looking for medicine. We got separated."

A smash stopped the conversation—the sound of glass breaking. I looked at Jack. "Can you walk? Do you have a weapon?"

He nodded. He could walk but did not have a weapon.

"Okay, you have two choices, dude: wait here for certain death or come with me for probable death."

"Well, when you put it like that, guess I'm coming with you," he said.

Whilst wandering around the house, I had found the garage attached to the house. I found the keys in the kitchen, and it had half a tank. There were also a large number of tools that were obviously part of Jack's trade. I had piled them and a few other items into the ancient Vauxhall Astra.

We headed downstairs. The sound was coming from the living room. I could hear voices. Shit. People, not dead. We got to the garage, and I went to the door to pull it open as Jack started the engine. The door opened, and right on the other side were three men. The first one looked at me in shock, and so did I. He recovered first and punched me square in the face. My legs wobbled. I tried to reach for my baton, but he delivered another punch to my stomach, and I dropped to my knees.

"And where do you think you're going?" he said in a sneering voice...

"You pissed off the boss man the other day, and he wants a word with you." I started to panic. Was he talking about Tooth? If he was, I didn't think I would be surviving this little chat. I rolled back into the garage, away from my attacker. I would not be able to get in the car quick enough before they pulled me out and kicked the crap out of me. Instead, I moved to a metalwork table. The first man laughed as he entered the garage, the other two moving up to block the exit. He got closer to me.

Behind my back, I had been pulling the lid off a tin, unsure what it was. He grabbed hold of me and put his face right up to mine.

"O.K., I give up," I said. "Just don't hurt me."

He laughed. "And why would I do that?"

"Because I'm a really nice guy, but most of all, because I asked nicely."

He roared with laughter again. I took this opportunity to pull the tin round from behind my back, turn my head, and spray WD-40 into his face. He screamed, rubbing his eyes and letting me go. He dropped to his knees, and I put one of mine in his face.

Jack took this opportunity to gun the engine and drive straight at the two guys on the door. They both dived for safety. I ran past them, jumped in the car, and we sped off.

Jack was laughing. "That didn't seem very fair," he said.

I laughed too, despite my aching head. "I don't believe in fair. I believe in winning. Take a left here."

Jack laughed again as we headed home.