Eat Someone Else {PatientOne & AnnaBeth Belle}

AnnaBeth

AnnaBeth

Supernova
Joined
Dec 17, 2016
"No," Hannah grunted, breath driven out of her lungs by the effort of pistoning her legs against the floor. Even over the linoleum of the hospital hallway, it was still an effort to drag the body of her patient. Too heavy to carry and there wasn't a small gurney available to put him on, it was either drag him or try to push him and a full sized hospital bed down the hallway. There were too many obstacles in the way, too great a chance she'd get stuck and have to abandon him. If that happened, Hannah didn't know what she'd do. It would make everything seem worthless and like she'd failed. "No," she grunted again and continued to drag the man. A sheet knotted into a loop was across his toned, muscular bare chest and it ran under his armpits into a knot that Hannah held tightly in her clenched fists. The man, if he had been able to stand, was half a foot taller than her five foot seven and weighed, according to his chart, one-hundred and eighty-five pounds. It felt like more because Hannah was exhausted. Wasn't fear and the adrenaline rush supposed to give her super human strength? "Come on. Come on. Come on come on come on!" Even when she was unable to budge him, Hannah's legs never stopped trying to push herself backwards, dragging the man with her. Just a few more feet. Please. Just a few more feet.

The walkers at the far end of the hallway continued to lurch towards Hannah and her patient, hissing and growling as they saw and scented living meat. A few wore remnants of hospital gowns, one was in some sort of military uniform and Hannah spotted Dr. Lutsch at the back, his snow white hair a giveaway even if she couldn't read the name on his bloody exam coat. Hannah was closer to her destination, a supply closet off the pharmacy room, than the walkers were to her, but they were moving faster. It was going to be close. If they caught her, they'd rip and bite and tear hunks of flesh off her screaming body until she bled out or died from shock. Her patient would die too, but he would have the mercy of medicated unconsciousness as he was eaten alive.

"No." Grunt. "No." Grunt and pant. "No!" Screaming, making a last desperate effort so hard Hannah thought she'd rip something in her gut she got past the door and as soon as the man's bare feet crossed it she dropped him, hating the way his head hit her shins on the way down but better than that the hard floor. Accidentally stepping in his arm, Hannah pulled the door shut then leaned against it as the walkers crashed into it. Fortunately the door had latched and for all they were unstoppable, walkers generally couldn't figure out how to operate handles, even oversized ones that the hospital was equipped with. "Go eat someone else!" she screamed through the door then, Laughing on the edge of hysteria at her safety, Hannah threw the lock and slumped down on the floorr. While walkers howled and scratched their flesh down to bone against the door, Hannah sat and sobbed out her relief and the crash of hormones dumping into her system to counterbalance the adrenaline.

"I did it," she said through the hiccups of the aftermath of regaining control. "I did it. Oh God, I did it." Looking over at the form of her patient, Hannah nodded slowly. "I saved you. They didn't get you and they're not going to get you." Pulling herself to her feet, Hannah grabbed a hypoallergenic pillow off the shelf and put it under the man's head, then draped a couple of sterile blue OR sheets over his body to keep him warm. As she squatted beside him, butt resting on the heels of her extremely sensible nursing shoes, Hannah smoothed his coal black hair out of his face and into order almost like a mother with a child. "I saved you and I'm going to get you out of here. I promise."

Standing, she used the small but heavy black metal flashlight that had been among the man's personal effects. It looked like the ones the police used, only a little different and it had both bright and dim and a super bright strobing setting that made her eyes hurt. Keeping it on dim to save the batteries, she had no idea what kind of even how to unscrew it to check, Hannah moved around the room gathering supplies. The first thing she got was a bag of saline and another of glucose solution rigged to drip into the IV still attached to her patient's hand. That would keep him hydrated and fed, at least for the short term. Sugary water wouldn't work forever but it was good enough until he could come back enough to eat. Hitting the diabetic shelf Hannah gathered what she could and stuffed it into a pillow case then added as many bottles of sterile water as possible and that she could still lift. Another pillowcase got a selection of gauze and bandages, antibiotics, suture kits, painkillers and anti-inflammatories and, that essential survival commodity, tampons and pads. When she was done, Hannah sat down beside the man and held his hand.

She lied to herself and said it was for his benefit, not hers.

His name was Alexander Night. He'd come in barely under his own power, body shaking uncontrollably with a bone wracking fever that almost killed him. Night also had a dandy bacterial blood infection that the tropical medicine department was in love with and a good collection of contusions, abrasions, and what looked like the graze of a bullet across one flank. Certainly he'd been shot before. His right shoulder bore the white cicatrice of a healed bullet wound and there were stab marks and slashes, healed, across his abdomen and one in his thigh that would have killed him if it went a centimeter deeper and sliced open his femoral artery. He had ID, a valid insurance card, and a high value American Express card to take care of the bill. What he didn't have was an explanation as to why he was there and what had happened to him. Cops had been called, but there weren't any warrants on him and the wounds, while alarming, were old and not sufficient probable cause to charge him with anything. They'd scratched their head and left.

That was the first night he'd tried to escape. Well, leave against medical advice. Alexander had been delirious enough that they'd been able to persuade him back into bed but when he tried twice more in the next three hours staff had restrained him in bed. Even out of it Night hadn't liked that at all, screaming in at least two languages and pulling at them so hard Hannah marveled they didn't snap. Luckily they were padded so he didn't hurt himself. In fact they were quite comfortable if you were into that sort of thing.

For the next two weeks, as the world fell apart around them, Hannah spent several hours each day in Night's room. He didn't talk much so she talked for both of them, gossiping about current events and petty hospital drama and which doctor was good to work with and which ones were assholes. Technically Hannah wasn't his floor nurse, she was a highly trained and experienced trauma nurse, but it was either stay at the hospital and try to pretend things were normal or go home - if she made it with all the roadblocks and outbreaks - with no guarantee she'd be able to get back to the hospital. And there'd been no word from Him at all. Nothing. Being at the hospital let her forget for a while.

When it had finally flooded past the critical point in the hospital, staff had tried and failed to barricade this wing against the horde. Problem was a single infected person left inside had been enough to start the cycle all over again. They'd fought as best they could but as more and more of them turned the living became small pockets among the walking dead, then just became dead themselves. As far as she knew, Hannah and Night were the last ones alive in the entire hospital.

But she had a plan. A plan and determination to make it work. If there was one piece of human decency left in the world, Hannah was going to be part of it. That's why she'd risked both of their lives to drag Alexander this far. The next part was going to be tough on both of them.

Making sure everything was ready, Hannah swung open the windows on the far side of the room and looked down. Good. It was still there three stories below. A red fire department battalion chief's suburban. From working with EMT Paramedics she knew there would be a magnetic key box under the left front wheel well. Every emergency vehicle had one just in case they needed keys and the person who had them was busy or trapped or in the case of the chief, down the street kneeling over a dead dog and noisily stuffing steaming intestines in his rictus grinning mouth. There was enough moonlight to make it hard to miss.

"Fucking gross," she whispered and began to let the improvised rope out of the window. That was knotted together sheets and triple looped electrical extension cord stripped out of a floor buffer. It was enough to reach the overhang two stories below and just a big deep dipping step from there onto the top of the Suburban. Easy. Well, if you weren't trying to move a big hunk of passed out man flesh.

First she lowered the pillow cases of supplies, letting the sheets they were tied to billow down beside them once they touched down, then she knelt again beside Night and held the flashlight under her left armpit. It took only seconds to disconnect the IV drips.

"Quentin Tarantino, eat your heart out. Pulp Fiction didn't know what it was talking about." Smoothly and firmly she pushed the needle into the IV port and delivered a cocktail that would have gotten her fired and sued if any malpractice lawyers still existed.

Maybe they did. Maybe the walkers wouldn't eat lawyers out of professional courtesy.

The drugs were a mix of epinephrine, a non-narcotic painkiller, and some seriously abusable prescription amphetamines along with what Hannah calculated to be enough buffer that the liquid wouldn't burn a hole in Night's veins. Habit made her cap the needle and drop it in the sharps box.

"I'm sorry," she said to Alexander. "This isn't going to be fun for you."

If the drugs didn't kill him, he'd be jolted awake like an energy drink ad company's wet dream. Problem was it would only last for a minute before his system shut down in shock, possibly into cardiac arrest. But there wasn't any choice. Hannah needed Night able to shimmy down the rope and get into the Suburban under his own power before he collapsed again. Once inside she could revive him - hopefully - and get them out of immediate danger.

"Come on," she said to him. "Come on. Wake up. I need you to wake up. Wake up, soldier!" she finally shouted, figuring he was probably ex military.

Hey, it worked in the movies.
 
In the weeks prior to the outbreak, Alex had been stuck in a hospital thanks to a job going wrong. He'd been in the city trying to take out a rather devious politician whom he'd been hired to kill publicly. Someone had gotten wind of the hit and it had turned into an all out gun fight the moment he got to his sniper perch. He'd managed to gun down several of the guards as well as some unfortunate police officers who took shots at him. Alex had never been a fan of killing innocent people and the cops were just doing their duty, which was why he'd aimed at their chests to hit the vests they were wearing. The guards took a bullet to the head. This didn't stop him from getting stabbed by a guard and shot a few times. Most of the rounds had hit his vest but the stab was something that went into his skin. He'd managed to get himself away from the hot zone without being seen by anyone living and he'd worn a mask on top of that.

Usually incidents that involved assassin's going after crooked politicians were swept under the rug so that not too much attention was turned their way. When he got home he stayed for a night to let things calm down as well as take care of his injuries but for whatever reason, the universe hated him and he'd caught a bad fever that night. One that he wasn't able to handle on his own. So he was forced to check himself into the nearest hospital. The first night he'd just wanted to get some meds and call it a day but apparently they'd found something in his blood that made them check him in. Most likely from his trip to Africa a few months back. Naturally he hadn't been okay with that but the drugs to cool his fever had made him relax enough for them to check him in and get him into a bed. From there it was a fight to keep him in bed let alone keep him quiet as he voiced his displeasure. About a week later he went from being loud and thrashing in his bed to just going stone silent and trying to make the best out of his current predicament.

When the shit hit the fan with the outbreak, Alex was over his fever for the most part, mainly his muscles were sore and over worked from the lack of water and movement. The blood infection was a bit longer lasting and kept him unconscious for most of his time there. Which was nice and it sucked at the same time. It was nice because he caught up on some sleep and his sleep was basically just pure black. No dreams, no flash backs of war and watching friends die, nothing like that. It was just a black hole where he could ignore the world and his past. The bad part was, ignoring the world meant that when a shot was delivered into his heart that made his eyes fly open, he was completely lost on what was going on.

Alex was sitting up before his eyes had time to focus and as soon as he saw a blurred figure his hand snapped out and locked around the throat of the figure. Pushing the individual back he was on their chest and felt...breasts. A woman. Releasing his hold he blinked a few times and gave his cheek a firm slap before looking back to see a nurse.
"Sorry."
Was all he said as he stood up and looked around taking in a quick investigation of their room. Seeing the window open he looked outside and saw the chaos that had come while he was asleep. He then saw the man eating a dead dog like it was just another day at work. Seeing the way his skin was rotting and the sounds he was making Alex came to the conclusion that he was not all there. Looking at the nurse he could see how she looked, looking at the large doors he could slightly see more of the dog muncher.

"Zombies. Awesome."
He said in a sarcastic tone as he looked down outside again and focused his breathing since he knew he was working on a time limit. The adrenaline and whatever else she'd given him was like dumping a bucket of energy into his system. His muscles would work like they used to for a few minutes max IF he controlled his breathing and his heart rate to slow the flow of the drug. Seeing the vehicle he looked back at the door. It was giving in some areas but still had a lot of strength to it. Nodding he reached down and gripped the nurses wrist. With a heave he swung her over his shoulder so that she was riding piggy back on him.
"Don't argue."
He said in an authoritative tone, then he made sure the way down was secured tightly before climbing out of the window with her. Getting them both down at the same time was better so that the other wouldn't have to just stand there and wait. As he climbed down the side of the wall he saw several remains of patients in their beds as they were being chewed on, a few nurses in the hall were also being snacked on.

Poor sods. Keeping his feet planted on the side of the building he slowly lowered them down then shoved off of the wall at the end to avoid making too much noise by hitting the hood of the truck. Once they were both down he immediately let her off and checked under the wheel rim. Feeling the box he opened it and noticed there was no key. Sighing he stood up and looked at the man in the torn up uniform, seeing the keys on his belt. Oh goody. Walking over to the bag of supplies that the nurse had lowered down he dug around a bit then found a few scalpels. This would work. If the lore was true, the brain was still active. So taking that out would kill it, hopefully. Taking the scalpel he walked past the nurse.
"Stay here."

Was all he said as he headed for the walker as it stood up and noticed he was heading its way. The eyes were milky white and the fingers were raw, missing flesh at the tips so that it was mainly bone. As the man, once the Fire Chief, swung, Alex stepped back quickly and shot his hand out, burying the scalpel into the temple of the man's skull. Once the scalpel was in he opened his hand and slapped the handle, shoving the metal all the way in. When the body fell and didn't move he nodded. Good. Killing the brain would kill the body. Good to know. Snatching the keys he walked back to the nurse and handed her the keys before opening the back door.

He could already feel his muscles starting to give on him so he'd hang out in the back seat.
"I need to get to the city. Head outside the city to this address..."
Writing down an address that was WAY outside the city in the middle of no where, Alex slumped back into the seat as he winced. He was starting to fade again. His home was in the country, away from most civilizations. It took him about six minutes drive to get to town so he assumed there wouldn't be any undead in his area. It was also one of the safest areas to be since his house could withstand a bomb blast and still be fine. He had two panic rooms and his basement was an underground bunker for his weapons and other needs as an assassin. He had six escape routes, one of them being a tunnel that went about two miles east of his home and came out in the woods.

"House...safe...."
He mumbled as he slipped to his side and his muscles finally gave out as the medication wore off.
 
It only worked because of his hand around her neck. Whether it was deep need for and worry about Him, or just a purely inappropriately sexy thought that was born of trauma, Alexander's hand around her throat was so fucking raw and intense that Hannah found herself not arguing as he took control of the situation. The only sign of an objection would be her nail marks in the skin of his upper chest where she'd clung like the world's oddest tick as Alexander got them down the rope.

"Wait-" she said, wanting to warn him about the walkers, about not getting bit by them, about not walking across the street with no shoes on for Christ's sake! The rough road surface didn't seem to bother him though, nor did the walker who used to be the chief. Much like a surgeon, Alexander neatly and clinically took the walker down and then killed it.

Or re-killed it. Whatever it was called when you made something that had been alive and was now not dead like dead for reals. That was it; Dead for Reals. Good slogan.

"What am I, your Uber?" she asked when Alexander came back and kept bossing her around. After starting the big SUV, she turned around in her seat to look at him, intending to ask Alexander just who he thought he was. "Could you- Oh. You're passed out. Again." Hannah sighed while she watched to make sure his chest was rising and falling. When she as sure he wasn't coding, she put the Suburban in gear and, after looking left and right for traffic that of course wasn't there, drove them out of the ER parking lot.

Going slowly, using the time to think, Hannah got her first good look at the neighborhood since the hospital became a death trap. The walkers on the streets instinctively headed for the moving truck, but even at almost an idle it wasn't any problem to stay ahead of them. Bodies were frequently seen and all looked like they'd been ripped into. Except the walker bodies. Those didn't get gnawed on, they just dropped where they had been made Dead for Reals. Seems like walkers were only interested in live meat. Automatically her hands twisted the wheel to head towards the house. His house. Her safety.

He had to be safe. He was her rock, her everything.

Forgetting about the man who'd just helped her escape the hospital, the man she swore to keep safe, Hannah gave in and headed towards her home. It was a slow drive, navigating through stalled and abandoned cars, bodies, and just an amazing amount of junk. Twice she had to bump over a body and it felt exactly like a supermarket parking lot speed bump, only squishier. Tires left racks of old blood and rotting flesh for a block or so each time. Habit also drove Hannah to reach for her phone, only it wasn't there. It was somewhere back in the hospital, lost. Gone. Not that cell service had worked.

No, but maybe radio did. The Suburban slowed to a stop in the middle of the street, no walkers nearby, and Hannah looked down at the dash. It had a lot of switches that she was sure ran lights and sirens, neither of which she wanted to turn on and draw walkers in with. There. The radio mic.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me?" Cold silence was her only answer. Hannah keyed the mic again. "Hello? This is, uh," the proper etiquette had slipped out of her mind. "Oh. This is Liberty Central ER base. Anyone on this frequency, can you hear me? Anyone?"

Nothing. Hannah tried switching channels and turned knobs randomly but never heard a response. A scan of the local radio stations didn't get anything either, just static where she knew for a fact her favorite radio stations had been before. The only thing that seemed to still work was the built in GPS in the center of the console. That made sense. No walkers in space and the satellites had their own solar panels or something. Hannah checked again for walkers and saw a few, so she drove a few blocks then stopped again to try the radios one last time. Still nothing.

Home was just a few blocks away now. Anxiously she sat forward, almost kissing the steering wheel with her chest, and stared through the window ahead. "No. No no no no." Their street was just swarming with walkers. Literally from side to side like a wave of undead water. They were in houses and out of houses and milling around. The ones closest to her saw the Suburban and lurched towards it, hissing and drawing the attention of others. Hannah froze. Was He in there? Was He safe or would she suddenly see Him with dead eyes and gone grey flesh?

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I can't," she said and tried to turn the Suburban around, taking out a mailbox and smacking the side of a parked car. Its alarm began to blare, making the walkers move faster. As she drove away, Hannah reached up and shoved the rear view mirror askew so she wouldn't be tempted to look at it.

To look for Him.

Get out of the city. That was what they had to do. Higher population, more walkers. More walkers, more chances to die. Get out to the country and in the open and you might not even see a walker for miles. Completely ignoring Alexander's instructions to go to the address he gave, Hannah headed the opposite way. There was a fairly open section of country to the East, lots of wooded areas where they would be hard to see. And weren't there some guest cabins out that way?

Be real nice if Google maps was working.

Hannah sighed and kept driving, weaving slowly around cars and coming no closer to walkers than she had to. The closest one got was grabbing at the side of the truck as it went past but it wasn't able to hold on.

An hour outside of the city, Hannah pulled off onto an undeveloped county road. No special reason why, just that it seemed to be very empty and safe. For a few minutes she drove and then stopped, turned off the lights, and then the engine.

Silence. Minute after minute of silence. Maybe they were safe here.

Leaving the key in the ignition and the door locked, she squirmed into the back seat and sat on the far side. A little tugging and she was able to slide Alexander's head into her lap and rest her hand on his chest. If he coded, most likely with an attending seizure, Hannah would feel and hear it. It was also comforting to feel the contact of another human. Feeling safer than in days, she leaned her head back and decided to close her eyes for just a few minutes. Just until dawn.
 
Alex didn't wake up till about an hour after the nurse had gone to sleep. When he woke he slowly opened his eyes and found the nurse sleeping next to him. She was sitting up and hand her hand on his chest. Looking around he noticed they were no where near his home. Sighing a bit he laid there un-moving as he did a mental check on his own body. He was slow and he still felt ill, but nothing that would put him down without a fight like before. Slowly moving her hand he sat up and swayed a bit but he was okay. Moving to the front seat he started the SUV and looked around. Backing up slowly he kept the parking lights on just to see a little bit.

He'd made sure to put the seat belt on the nurse just in case. As he drove down the main road he knew where he was at simply because he'd gotten to know the area around him. He lived about half an hour away from where they were currently at and as he continued to drive he picked up the speed just enough to keep them at a steady movement, but slow enough that his dizziness wasn't going to cause an issue. Occasionally looking in the rear view mirror to check on his new nurse friend he finally pulled into his drive way. Coming to the gate he looked around and didn't see any walkers. Punching in the gate code he waited for the gate to raise then drove through. Pulling the car around to his garage he stepped out and used a garage key to open it from the outside, then backed the SUV into the empty space.

Once the door was closed he stepped out of the vehicle and swayed again. Bleh! He felt like shit. Opening the back door he pulled the nurse out and carried her into his home. Setting her down on a black leather couch he pulled a blanket down off of the back of the couch. His home was made of solid concrete and his windows were bullet proof. He wasn't worried about much getting in. His doors were two inches of solid steel and only opened with after they were unlocked. Paranoid? Maybe a little.

Walking up to his room...more like wobbling to it, he took a long shower and was never more thankful that his home ran off of his own generators. He was completely cut off from the outside world, just how he liked it. Normally he had electricity from an electricity company but when it shut off, his generators kicked in. Once he was showered he dressed into a pair of black cargo pants and a black t-shirt. He then wobbled down the stairs and sat on the couch next to the nurse, resting his back against the arm of the chair as he waited for her to wake up. He had a cup of tea in his hand to get something into his stomach and another cup sitting on the table in front of her. If he waited too long, he'd just heat it up. Jasmine tea to help sooth the nerves. Sighing a bit he looked at his fire place and wondered if he should light that at night instead of using the generators to power the heat.
 
"That smells so good, sir," Hannah said sleepily, eyes not yet open. If it had been an exhausting shift or just that time of month, He always took care of her and made sure there was a little treat of tea or hot cocoa or even a cup of His special coffee, but with real cream added for her less refined palette. Normally part of her tasks included making them both breakfast and going over her day with Him for approval and modification, but when she was down He always knew of it and displayed what he called servant leadership and put her first in front of His expectations. "Thank you for taking care of me. I-"

"What the fuck!" Hannah sat up, kicking at the blanket and scrabbling to get her feet off the couch and under her. Where was she and why weren't they still in the fire SUV and were there any walkers and oh my god was He okay! A painful smack of her shin into the coffee table made it wobble and some of the tea to slop over but Hannah barely felt it even though it would be sore for days. Wildly she looked around the room, not understanding where she was. Where they were. Her patient, Alexander Night, was sitting on the couch and looking very different than last time she'd seen him. He was clean, for one thing, and wore a pair of black pants and a black t-shirt that was snug across his chest, showing off his physique and hiding the ugly scars beneath.

"Jesus Christ," she swore and tried to get her breathing under control once she realized they were safe. Not only safe but somewhere that had working electricity and a shower.

Hannah breathed out a few times from her open mouth as she got herself back under control. Alexander was still her patient and she had to be cool and professional to take care of him even if she looked a wreck. Her scrubs, once pink with cute black trim along the hem and collar and sleeves, were stained with any number of fluids and so was the lycra top she wore underneath it. Hannah's seriously in need of a wash hair was lank and the auburn of it looked jumbled and unhealthy, much like the lack of sleep and no makeup that showed on her face. And she smelled.

"Sorry. I was just startled," she aplogized and stood up straight, putting herself back in charge of her emotions and the situation. "How do you feel?" She walked closer and reached for his wrist to take a pulse, her other hand flipping wrist up and brought towards her face so she could watch the second hand of her watch.
 
Alex didn't say a word as he watched and listened to her while she seemed to catch a whiff of the tea. He sat there watching her and as she spoke he raised an eyebrow. Sir? Strange. When she said the word there was a tone of affection and adoration towards whoever this Sir was. When she snapped awake and started being noisy Alex didn't budge and just sat there watching her as he sipped at his tea and let the herbs of the tea calm his system and work on giving him some medicinal remedies. When she seemed to get a better grip of herself and reality as it was he watched as she composed herself and seemed to be drawing back into her professional shell.

That little display while she was half asleep was certainly interesting and somewhat familiar. He'd have to keep an eye out for more behavior like that. When she asked how he felt he shrugged and as she got closer he raised an eyebrow. Being an assassin he'd smelled some bad shit before and as a soldier before that he'd smelled his enemy rotting in the sun. She was damn close to that smell and while it wasn't her fault, lifting his hand in a 'Stop' position he stopped her hand and pointed to the stairs.

"Second door on your right is a linen closet. Third door on the right is a spare room with a full bathroom inside complete with walk-in shower. Please use it. The soaps and shampoo's are all unscented for. The dresser's have clothing, a random assortment or men's and women's. I used to have friends, and if they stayed in an emergency, clothing was available. Pick something. Toss what you're wearing into a garbage bin."

He spoke in the same clinical tone she had with him simply to avoid too much emotion in his tone but his face told her that she stank and he was trying to be as polite as possible in telling her that she needed a shower before she was going to be getting that close to him again. The bathroom sink even had fresh packets of razor blades if a woman wanted to shave her legs. Using a used razor was nasty and dangerous if you cut yourself so he'd made sure to keep fresh razors on hand. Sitting back and lowering his hand he looked at her for a moment then looked outside. He hoped she was okay. He had two loves in his life at the moment and one of them was on his property somewhere. Normally he'd whistle for her but he wasn't wanting to draw too much attention. She was an outdoor pooch so she'd be able to survive the time that he was at the hospital with no issues.

He just hoped she didn't become some walkers snack or that she hadn't been turned into one from attacking one.
 
"Well excuse me," she said archly. "Soap and water have been in a little short supply." Wanting to add more, but knowing he was right, Hannah took a step back from him and crossed her arms across her breasts. Being clean was something she took pride in and Hannah knew she was dirty, filthy, and if the situation had been reversed she wouldn't have said anything but her nose would have wrinkled. But still, what woman wouldn't feel bad or self conscious being told by a man she was stinky.

Staring at him sternly, Hannah debated what to do. He obviously knew this place and it felt safe. It felt really quiet too, like a tomb or that they were underground. There wasn't any outside noise or just normal house noises like the roof popping. And their voices sounded different, like the walls weren't the sheet rock they appeared. What was this place? Who was Alexander Night? Who was he really and what did he do to get all those scars? The nurses had all tried to find out, even catching him coming and going out of sedation but he'd been absolutely closed mouthed. That was remarkable considering the drugs in his system at times. Alexander should have confessed his whole life but hadn't let anything slip. It was like he was trained not to.

Was he a spy? Well, that probably didn't matter any more and besides spies weren't like, real. Not like on The Americans. Everything was drones and computers now. Alexander didn't look like the IT geek type.

"Two conditions. One," she uncrossed her arms and held out a hand, the back of it facing Alexander, and held up a finger. "Any door between here and the bathroom stays open. Two," another finger came up and her voice hardened. "You don't get up off of that couch for anything until I get back and can assess you. I mean it," she warned. "You have no idea how sick you really were and you're not healthy yet. Your balance and coordination will be off and if you fall and get a closed head injury, you're pretty much out of luck."

Staring hard at him, Hannah asked "Agreed?"
 
Alex looked up at her as she stood there and pretty much pouted. He would have found it cute under different circumstances but he simply sat there and took a sip of his tea while looking at her. When she spoke he raised an eyebrow. Actually he did know what was wrong with him and both of the things wrong with him were starting to calm down now. Sure he still had some dizziness but did she forget that he not only drove them here but also lifted her heavy ass into his home, showered and made some tea. So he was more than capable of walking. However to save the headache of hearing her bitch and whine about medical mumo jumbo he sighed.

"Yes mother. Now please go shower."
He said in a dry tone as he took another sip of his coffee and then he heard a dull scratching on his window. Turning around he set his cup down as he saw Sasha. She looked fine. No ruffs in her fur, no blood on her muzzle and she was wagging her tail. Standing up he walked over to the massive door leading out the back and opened it so that she could squeeze in. Shutting the door he locked it and held up his hand as the midnight black wolf hybrid sat on her ass and stayed put. Kneeling down he ran his hand along her fur checking for bites. Nothing. Moving his hands to her mouth he opened her maw and checked her teeth. Still white. He had an almost clinical look as he checked her but there was still affection in his eyes. Man's best friend.

When she passed his test he smiled for the first time and kissed her muzzle as he stroked her head.
"Good to see you stayed safe. Good girl."
He said as he stroked her fur and sighed before standing up.
"You're still here so I can walk."
He said as he moved to the kitchen and got some food and some water for Sasha before moving back to the couch and sitting down. Once he was sitting again he looked at her.
"There. All done. Now you can go."
 
Oh, good. Sarcasm. He must be getting better. If his little display of annoyance bothered Hannah it didn't show in her face. She was about to leave when something scratched at the door. Eyes wide she assumed it was a walker and started to back up out of the room when she saw it was a dog at the window.

An enormous black dog. Almost a wolf. "Oh my God," she said and then did take a step back when Alexander let it in and began to check it over. Hannah had never liked dogs, even guide dogs patients sometimes came in with, and was terrified by the size and appearance of the one Alexander so calmly looked over. She was so nervous that she didn't even admonish him as Alexander stood up and moved from the couch before sitting back down.

When Alexander said she could go, Hannah didn't argue. She backed up, staring at the dog, and then walked quickly out of the room, forgetting to get a towel from the linen closet and having to go back to grab it and a washcloth. The bathroom, much to her relief, was rather plain if high quality. The house and dog were weird enough that if it had been like something out of a romance novel she would have risked the walkers outside. Jesus it was huge! And he kissed it!

Hannah had to admit he was right though. Her scrubs were just gone, no chance of getting the stains out, and some had bled through onto her top and her panties. Her socks - gross after a week. Even her shoes, super comfy for double shifts were ruined. She thought about keeping them, trying to get them clean. Maybe he had a hose outside and some dishwashing soap. No, she'd keep them. You couldn't outrun a walker barefoot and who knew when she'd find another pair that fit.

Over half an hour later she walked back into the living room. Much cleaner, hair still damp, and dressed in a pair of jeans that almost fit, just a little baggy and that was solved with a belt, and a neutral creme t-shirt tucked into it. She'd even found a pair of Keds that fit but was still going to keep her nursing shoes. They were way more durable. She hadn't shaved, didn't see the point of it and didn't want to take the time, but she was clean from head to toes.

That damn dog was still there, watching her even as it sat beside her patient. "Would you please put it outside, or in the other room?"
 
So she wasn't fond of dogs. Good to know. So if he wanted her to shut up or leave him alone all he had to do was have Sasha come sit on his lap. Keeping that little piece of information tucked into his brain he looked at Sasha while the nurse bathed and when she was done eating he pulled her into his lap and gave her the love and attention she wanted and needed after him being gone for so long. Stroking her side he found a few spurs in her coat and he plucked them off and set them on the coffee table before stroking her fur again.

"You need a bath."
That earned him a growl and he smiled at that. Sasha was the only friend he really had left and she was his baby. Seeing the nurse come down he looked her over and made a mental note of her clothing size. Even with his dizzy state of mind, he was able to see the pants were a little too big. Looking at Sasha as she said 'it' he narrowed his eyes.
"She. Has a name. Her name is Sasha."
He said in a matter of a fact tone then pat the wolfs side rather firmly, dull thuds sounding showing the dog was solid muscle under that fur.

"Go lay down sweetie. Doc isn't fond of dogs apparently."
He said as Sasha slid off of the couch and trotted towards the back room where her dog bed and chew toys were. Once she was out of the room he looked at her and narrowed his eyes.
"Don't get used to this Doc. Once I'm healed, ordering me around is going to be a bit of a hassle. This is my home. Thanks for helping me when you didn't need to...but that's the key phrase...you didn't need to. No one forced you to help me."
Alex saw things very clear cut. Death was part of life. He'd seen enough of it to last him two life times so if she would have ditched him and ran to save her own skin, he wouldn't have cared. He knew just how greedy and selfish humans could be. It wouldn't have surprised him at all.
 
"I'm not a doctor," Hannah said. "Doctors can't do what I do, which is keep stubborn patients in line for their own good. I'm a nurse, a damned good one, and I'm going to be your nurse until I know you're okay to be discharged. Until then I don't care if this is your home, it's also my ward. Don't forget it," she said, using all of her strength of will to project certainty into her voice. Trying hard not to show her fear of the dog, Hannah came forward and, after a worried glance at Sasha, reached for Alexander's wrist and took his pulse. It was slow and steady, with the patient beat of an athlete in their top form. Even a few weeks in bed hadn't hurt his cardio, or likely anything else except a little loss of endurance.

"Any nausea, blurry vision, headaches?" she asked and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. Imprecise but close enough to know if he was burning up or normal. He felt normal.

"Have you urinated or had a bowel movement since we arrived?" He should be making urine but probably no stool yet. Solid food had been hard to come by. Stepping back, Hannah put her hand on her hips and listened to his responses.
 
Alex just sat there like a good little patient while she did her thing and as she asked her usual medical questions he answered short and to the point. His voice held little to no emotion.
"Dizzy spells here and there. No nausea or blurred vision."
He then listened to her next set of questions as she placed the back of her hand to his forehead.
"Took a piss before showering. All's good. Clear and hydrated. No shits yet. I'll be sure to let you know the moment it hits the porcelain."
He said in a slightly sarcastic tone as that had been his usual thing at the hospital with the other nurses. Some found humor in his words, he had a feeling that this one had used up all of her humor batteries a long time ago.

Sighing a bit he looked at his cup as it was empty and had been for a while. Standing up he slowly made his way into the kitchen and washed his cup, setting it on the drying rack before he walked back to his living room and looked at the clock. It was about to be night fall. Walking to the thermometer on the wall he shut it off as the electricity was no longer focusing on the heating. He then set a few logs into his fire place and with the help of some long matches, he lit the fire and let that be the houses source of heat. Sitting down as he felt a slightly dizzy spell he just sat on the floor beside the fire and rubbed his head. He'd need to eat soon, other wise it was going to start hurting him more than anything. Only hard part was that he wasn't hungry.

Looking towards the kitchen he debated on making some food or just going with something simple. Choosing the simple option he stood up slowly and walked to a black door. Opening the door there was what looked like a small bunker of gas cans, MRE's, and canned foods. Grabbing an MRE pack of beef stew he tore the plastic open and set it on the coffee table. Walking to the fridge he grabbed two bottles of water. Setting one down in front of her he started fixing his meal while setting aside all of the other random stuff in the bag. While the heating element was cooking the food he motioned to the door.
"Grab an MRE, or find something in the fridge. I'm sure you know how to cook...or hope. If you don't want an MRE, then make yourself something."
He said as he kept his eyes on what he was doing mainly so that he could have a decent center of gravity as he could feel the room spinning slightly. Probably from the lack of nutrients in his body.
 
Wherever he went, Hannah was only a few steps behind unless it was near Sasha, then she was a few more steps behind and looked very nervous. So far the dog had ignored her except to watch where Hannah went and her ears always perked forward in alert when Hannah was within arm's reach of Alexander. It was spooky but Hannah kept following Alexander in case he started to fall. It also let her assess his motor skills, balance, and coordination. Hannah didn't like how slowly he moved or the slight dizziness she saw, and really worried about him rubbing his head. Thinking back she didn't recall him hitting it on anything other than her shins but the terror of getting him from his room to the store room may have blotted it out.

"You need better nutrition than that will give you," she chided. After making sure he wasn't going to get up Hannah went out to the battalion chief's car. When she came back, a large red crash bag was over her shoulder and she had one of the pillowcases of supplies from the hospital. Rooting around in it she produced a bottle of vitamins, shook two into her hand, and handed them to Alexander. "You've eaten so they shouldn't make you nauseated. These will help make up for the junk I've had to feed you this week."

What she wanted to do was open up the crash bag and go through it and organize it. She loved organizing almost as much as she liked making lists, but right now she was hungry. Not knowing how long the power would last, and really not wanting an MRE, Hannah investigated the fridge.

With as long as he'd been in the hospital the vegetable and fruit were turned and she put them in the trash then wiped down the crisper with a rag. The milk went down the sink. That really made her sad; Hannah loved milk. Would she ever have it again? And why were her eyes watering? That was stupid. Sniffing back her tears, she rubbed them away on the backs of her hands and kept looking. The eggs were still good, and the date on the the ham lunch meat showed it to be safe as well. A little cheese she could grate to make an omelette, though not a very good one. No mushrooms. Ugh.

Frequently coming to the doorway to check on him, Hannah quickly prepared her omelette, added a cup of grapefruit that should have gone into a lunch bag, and went back to the living room.

The fireplace was too inviting, too homey and comforting, to pass up and she sat on the hearth, feeling the heat of it seep into her muscles. Hannah balanced the plate on her lap and ate slowly, chewing each mouthful thoroughly.

"Thank you," she said after half the omelette was gone. "For helping me get you out and then getting us here. I- where I wanted to go didn't work out and I thought you were delirious. But this," she waved her fork around, "is probably the best thing that could have come out of getting you out of the hospital." Looking down she stirred at her omelette with a fork then set it aside, not hungry for the other half.

"Do you remember anything about the outbreak?"
 
Alex still made his MRE even though she was making something else. When the MRE was made he called Sasha over and gave her some of the meat chunks as he also ate some. When the nurse started to head back Sasha went back to her bed as he set the MRE down and looked at the plate she'd given him as well as the drink.

Ugh. He only drank grapefruit juice when he really needed vitamins and now was one of those times. Taking a sip he made a bitter face and coughed a bit then took a bite of his food. It was actually really good, not that he'd admit that of course. Then again, eating through a tube for the last two weeks made anything taste amazing. When she thanked him he glanced up at her as he popped another piece of food into his mouth and listened to her.

"No problem."
Was all he said as he went back to eating. Hearing her ask if he remembered the outbreak he shook his head
"I was unconscious for it. Don't even remember hearing screams. Only thing I remember is waking up to your throat in my hand."
Once he was done eating he sat still for a moment as he checked to see how his stomach would take to the food. When it didn't roll or fuss with him he stood up and wobbled a bit but caught himself as he headed to the kitchen. Cleaning up his plate as well as the dishes he looked into his fridge to see the damage of foods. Nodding he made a mental list as he'd need to drop by the grocery store. After the outbreak, he knew that looting would happen but with the walkers, he knew that looting wouldn't last too long. He then moved so that he found a high cabinet. Grabbing a can he pulled it down and poured some of the power into a cup. Adding some water he stirred it. Powdered milk wasn't the greatest thing in the world but it was milk just the same. Drinking it down slowly he needed the calcium.

Walking back he looked at her.
"Judging by the gas in the car, you detoured to a suburban area. Home I'm guessing. That should have been a no brainer that it would be swarming with them. A populated area on any given day, it's a buffet for them as well as a breeding ground. What drove you to go there even though common sense said otherwise?"
 
It was good therapy to let him walk though Hannah kept an anxious eye on him and his still uncertain sense of balance. When she realized Sasha was doing the same thing Hannah rolled her eyes. What was the dog going to do, help him? Bring him a chew toy to convince Alexander to get up and play. She wished he'd put the dog back outside where she didn't have to worry about it.

"You sure do know a lot about them for not knowing anything about the outbreak." That was odd, like he somehow knew that brain trauma was the only way to make them Dead for Reals. Then again what wasn't odd about Alexander Night, her mysterious patient and, Hannah hated to admit it, person keeping her safe and warm and fed tonight.

"I'm sorry that my choice to go home wasn't the correct one. What drove me was- you know what? It doesn't matter," she said almost angrily and scooted a little to the left on the fireplace, further away from where Alexander was at the nearby table. Damned if she'd talk to him about Him. He wouldn't understand and obviously didn't care. Hannah was surprised he even had friends he cared enough about to leave clothes over for them like the ones she was wearing now. Were they alive? Did they even exist or was it one more part of her patient that didn't make sense.

For a bit the only sound in the room was logs popping in the fireplace. When finally she spoke again, Hannah's voice was calm. "No one knows where it started for sure. We didn't understand it at first. Thought it was something like bath salts or PCP or maybe a cerebral virus. We still don't know what causes it but we do know how it spreads. They have to bite you. Blood spatter doesn't seem to do it and we think that just being clawed doesn't either. It's, well not saliva borne because they don't have working salivary glands. We really don't know the mechanism but if they bite you, you turn."

"It may be two part. It presents really oddly. Once the walkers, the infected, are in an area if you die, even without being bit, you come back as one of them. But you don't turn as long as you're alive if you haven't been bit. But everyone turns after death. We, uh, we had to make sure that when patients were declared dead that we made sure they didn't come back. Mark did most of that, used the back end of a fire axe. It's a horrible sound."

Hannah shivered despite the heat at her back that was almost painful. "There's no cure. Mean time between infection and death is about eight hours. It varies extensively. Between death and coming back as a walker is about the same. Some do it in minutes. We don't know." She gave an aborted laugh and rubbed her eyes. "There's a lot we don't know."

"It spread fast. Globally. CDC was working on plotting patient zeroes but there wasn't enough time and there were so many infected. It was like something out of a movie. They just kept coming and coming and we tried to treat them. Eventually we just tried to protect the patients we had and keep them alive. You're the only one we managed to save."

Hannah sighed deeply and rubbed her damp hands on the jeans. There wasn't any sense of shame and she wasn't sobbing, just crying. Stress tears. "The news reports showed what was going on but it was too much to take in. Like, a 9-11 every few minutes. They started bombing the major cities, thinking that would contain them. It didn't. It just killed real people faster. There were always more walkers that they didn't get."

"FEMA broke down. The National Guard imploded. Local fire and rescue and police were gone weeks ago. Then power and sewer stopped working and water too. Cell, internet, then we were just down to battery powered radios and all the stations went off the air almost at the same time. It was...crazy. Like it couldn't be happening. We were so used to talking to anyone, anywhere, any time and Googling stuff and looking at Yelp reviews to see if we wanted to try that new bistro and Snapchatting selfies. We don't know what is going on anywhere that we can't see. It's...medieval. Like the Black Death come again only plague victims don't rise up and bite your eyes out."

Hannah blew out her breath and tried to shake the horror of it all out of her mind. That would probably never happen but maybe she could forget some of it by focusing on the here and now.

"Where are we sleeping tonight? I need to be near you in case something happens and I'll need to check your vitals every few hours."
 
Alex listened to the information she was giving him, letting most of the information go in one ear and out of the other as what happened outside his home didn't really bother him all that much. It wasn't till she got to the part about bombs being dropped on the city that he perked up and listened a bit closer. Bombs? Most likely if the military had dropped them they were two thousand pounds, Tomahawks or maybe even Maverick's. All of which would make sizable dents in the earth and have a kill radius of several football fields. Then there's the shock wave to take into account. Even if you're out of the blast radius, if you're near a window, the chances of you dying from the shrapnel of glass coming your way was high.

Terra was only nine. So she'd be too short to be near a window but Jenny was tall enough. Looking at his lap he thought things through and went through every possible scenario he could think about. It was pretty clear that he wasn't listening to her anymore as his eyes were moving from side to side and his index finger was tapping the arm of the couch as he ran through different scenario's in his mind. Most of them didn't end well for Terra or Jenny. Given how he was feeling at that time he was in for about two or three days more of weakness before he'd be fit to leave the house. He still had some personal tests to run and see what all he'd need to bring when he faced off against the walkers.

His little experience with the Fire Chief let him know that scent and sound were a big factor in their motor skills. They didn't seem to actually SEE things, more like acute hearing and sense of smell. He'd have to do a few tests to see for sure. The brain was the steering wheel. If any of the old zombie movies he'd watched were true. However, he wasn't sure if taking off a limb or removing the head would do the job. He needed to know if a silenced weapon would work on keeping the other walkers away or if he'd have to resort to more archaic weapons like blades and arrows.

When she stopped talking he looked up at her just in time to hear her ask where they'd be sleeping. Oh it would be a cold day in hell before he let her sleep in the same room as him.
"The room you showered in is where you will sleep. The room across the hall is my room."
He said as he subtly told her that she'd be sleeping in a room away from him. Seeing the look in her eye he shot his own warning look.
"I don't do well being touched. In my line of work, being touched isn't a positive thing as you've seen from my medical charts. Sasha will let you know if I need help."
He said as he also subtly let her know that the massive black dog that she was oh so fond of, would be sleeping in the same room as him.
 
"There's stubborn and then there's stupid," she replied, looking at him with determination for all her eyes were still damp and red from talking about the outbreak. "I'm stubborn about good nursing but reasonable about everything else. You're just being stupid and think it's some cool macho bullshit to cover up the fact that you're not well and you're not happy with the fact that you're weak. You don't have any experience handling being weak and trusting someone else to take care of you is scary. I get that," Hannah said with feeling.

"Is she," she pointed towards the massive black wolf hybrid dog, "trained to recognize and respond to seizures? Cardiac arrest? Aspiration of vomit? And if you're in trouble and she does see it, how am I going to get past her to do my job? She'll bite me if I try to touch you when you're in distress and she's anxious about it. Fuck that," Hannah said.

"Let's get this straight. Until you're discharged, you're my patient and that means you do what I tell you when it comes to your health and recovery. You can be as cranky and unhappy and shitty as you want, but the more you cooperate with me the faster this will go. Then I'll get in the truck and leave and you and Sasha can do whatever you want."

She stood up and crossed her arms. "She goes into another room with the door shut. I'll be in your room on the floor or in a chair and I'll verbally wake you up before I touch you. Okay? A couple of days. That's all I need you to give up control for. Or you can keep arguing, elevate your stress level and really hurt yourself." What Alexander couldn't know is that the passion and determination Hannah was putting into getting her way was keeping her going and not thinking about everything else. It was allowing the young woman to get back into a routine of what she was good at, what she know, in the semblance of a normal life before the outbreak. Once she was done with Alexander, Hannah really had no more purpose in life except to survive. On her own if she had to. She'd made it this far. She didn't need a man to help her.

Not unless it was Him.
 
Alex just looked at her for a long moment before standing up and sighing.
"Remind me that the next time I catch a fever and you're around to just shoot myself. It'll be less painful."
He said as he headed for his room. Sasha was right on his heels but he stopped and looked at her. Whispering something in another language as the dogs ears pinned to her head. Smiling he pet her head and kissed her nose then watched her walk off to her room. She used her nose to shut the door. Looking at it he knew he'd have to make this up to her later as she was a big baby when it came to not getting her way. Walking up the stairs he walked into his room and then into his closet.

Grabbing a sleeping bag he put it on the floor beside his bed and unrolled it. Before she came into the room he grabbed the gun from under his pillow, took the magazine out and the round in the chamber. Putting the magazine, the bullet and the gun in the night stand he shut the drawer and sighed as he laid on the sleeping bag. Despite his asshole ish attitude, he was raised to be a gentleman. Holding doors open, yes ma'am no ma'am kind of deal and he was NOT going to let a woman sleep on the floor.

Laying there as she came in he looked at her and pointed to the bed.
"That's where you sleep. Unless I'm convulsing, I'm fine."
He said as he leaned his head back on the little built in pillow, laced his hands on his stomach and closed his eyes. Being a solider and then an assassin, he learned how to calm his body and sleep whenever possible. He was also a very light sleeper...normally. Waking up and ready to swing at a moments notice. He may be a bit slower now, but he wasn't wanting to wake up tomorrow to find a bruise on her cheek so he gave her a warning of when to touch him and when to not.

As he laid there while his body was relaxed, his mind was going in one direction, he needed to make sure that Terra and Jenny were safe. He needed to get better, like yesterday, and he needed to test the walkers to see what was safe and what wasn't.
 
Damned if she was going to change into pyjamas or a nightie, or strip down to her panties and the t-shirt. Hannah did take her borrowed Keds off and put them near the foot of the bed so she could find them easily. By the time she finished that and got under the simple, if clean, sheets Alexander was already asleep. It reminded her of some scene in a movie, Hannah couldn't quite remember which one, but there was an assassin who slept fully clothed and with his hands like that. Assassin, that was as ludicrous as a spy. He was probably one of those end of the world, doom is nigh crazies who prepared for the next big disaster. Before the outbreak they'd been something to quietly laugh at; quietly because a lot of them were associated with some scary white power groups.

After the outbreak? Well, they were probably laughing inside their bunkers as they pinned rebel flags to the wall and opened cans of Copenhagen while listening to some Toby Keith. Jesus!

Sleep didn't come as easily to Hannah as it did to Alexander. Strange house, fearsome dog, eccentric patient and zombies didn't exactly let her mind rest easy. After a quarter of an hour when it became apparent it wasn't going to happen on its own, Hannah quietly got out of bed and went into the living room. From the medical bag she took a bottle of pills and shook a single grey oval into her hand, dry swallowing it and putting the bottle back. It was Halcion, a benzodiazepine prescribed as sleeping pills, and it was pretty powerful. Hannah wasn't going to wake up unless something serious happened.

Back in bed, she turned onto her side, facing where Alexander lay on the floor below, and waited for the drug to kick in. A sleeping aid wasn't contained in a firefighter's crash bag. Hannah had taken them from the pharmacy a few days before the escape from the hospital. If she was trapped, unable to get out, She'd planned to overdose on them after giving Alexander a lethal injection of morphine, and join him in death rather than wait to die of dehydration, starvation, or zombies. Sir would have been furious to know she'd planned it out, but He wasn't there to guide her.

Maybe she still would. If He was dead, it was one way to rejoin Him. But, no, not until Alexander was healed. Hannah thought it would be just a day or two more, possibly even tomorrow. Being in his home, safe and in comfort, was good medicine. He'd be weak, sure, but hopefully out of danger and then she could decide what to do.

Hannah's last thought before the fog of slumber surrounded her was of His hand under her chin, raising her eyes to meet His and seeing his smile.
 
The following morning Alex woke up and sat up. Stretching his arms over his head and twisting at his waist he stopped and waited. Nope, he was good. A little sore for sure but his dizziness was gone and he felt good. Standing up he went into the spare room and showered since he didn't want to do that in the same room as her. Dressing in a black long sleeve turtle neck, another pair of black cargo pants, black leather combat boots and then he was headed to the basement. Sasha, after he let her outside for her morning potty, was in the basement with him. Grabbing a duffel bag he began to load two pistols. One with a silencer and one without. His next weapon was a compound bow and some rather nasty razor edge arrow heads. Packing about fifty arrows he grabbed a torso quiver and loaded the arrows.

He then zipped the bag and grabbed two short swords that he'd hand made. The blades were thick and heavy for cutting through bone and not sustaining too much damage. Scalpel sharp as they were sharpened in the old fashioned manner with ocean smooth stones and lubricants. Testing the sharpness of the blades as he removed some hair from his arm he nodded and sheathed them in their custom hard plastic sheaths. Carrying all of this to his Hummer he loaded the weapons into the back seat then went back to the basement and grabbed a heavy duty vest and attached some forearm armor to the rig so that he'd be a little more protected against bites.

He wasn't worried about a mask simply since if those teeth got to his face, game was over anyways. Setting the armor rig on the coffee table he went and made himself a light breakfast and instead of drinking coffee, he made himself some jasmine tea. He needed to go to the grocery store and raid the canned foods, as well as test out his theories on the walkers. His hummer was the safest vehicle simply because the thing was a tank with wheels. Custom made to be armored up and bullet proof. He took the thing through a brick wall once so a few zombies wasn't going to be an issue.

Looking up as he saw the good old nurse coming down he finished his eggs and motioned to a plate for her.
"Stay here or tag along is your choice. Tagging along you won't leave the vehicle. I don't need you getting in my way. I need to get to the canned foods and I have some tests I need to do. If you want to find this special person of yours, I can help you get there. Once you do, you're on your own."
 
Slightly fuzzy from the medicine and her first real night's sleep in weeks, Hannah simply followed along with Alexander's suggestion, the comfort of following directions worming its way past the barriers she normally put up. After she sat down, Hannah put her forearms on the table and rested her head in her hands, eyes shutting again. She hadn't seen the bulky looking armor he'd left on the coffee table and only peripherally noticed that he was dressed like a SWAT officer.

Leaving one hand holding her heavy head up, Hannah picked up the fork and pushed it under the eggs he'd made, shoving them around put not lifting them to her mouth. "You should wait another day," she cautioned, but the sincerity, the drive in her voice that had so far been present was missing. She pushed the eggs around some more then let the fork fall onto the plate with a clatter and sat back in the chair. Hannah rubbed her eyes then really opened them and looked over at Alexander.

"Take the dog with you," was all she said before standing up, leaving the food on the table, and gave the coffee table and its armor one long look before going into Alexander's room and retrieving her Keds. Shoes in her hand, Hannah went to what was considered her room and found the toothbrush she'd used yesterday. It was someone else's, and that was gross, but after seeing what she had sharing a stranger's toothbrush didn't quite have the same ick factor as before.

What was she going to do? Alexander had a plan, had this house or bunker or whatever it was, had supplies and was getting more. He was clearly used to taking charge and making decisions and if he wasn't crazy then he was genuinely unafraid of the walkers and what might happen out there. Oh, and he had a dog. If there was beer and porn it was pretty much any man's fantasy.
 
Alex noticed the change in her and raised an eyebrow but didn't bother questioning it. He simply walked over to his armor and started to strap it on. Lifting the armor over his head and sliding it over him, he tightened the areas that needed it and velcroed the arms and sides as well as the thick neck protector. Moving his arms to work in the material as well as turning at the hips and bending side to side he nodded and headed to the garage. Walking past the Fire Dept SUV he went for the midnight black H1 Hummer sitting across from it. Checking to make sure it had a full tank he walked outside and used the garage fob to open the garage doors. Whistling softly Sasha came running around from the back and greeted him.

Opening the back door she hopped inside and sat down as he shut the doors and walked to the drivers seat. Getting in he pulled out and shut the doors behind him. The then drove down to the front gate and opened it, shutting it behind him and headed for town. He let his vehicle coast as he got into town and parked it in the very front of the store. Nothing yet. The town was small. For now, he just grabbed his silenced pistol and four magazines. Holstering the pistol on his chest rig he put the magazines in their respective slots and looked at Sasha.
"Stay."
He said as he got out and emptied his guns and arrows onto the floor of the Hummer's back seat. With the empty duffel slung over his shoulder he walked into the grocery store and saw that it hadn't really been cleaned out. It was certainly dirty and messed up, but a lot of the food was still there.

So not a lot of time to run in and loot apparently. Walking down the isle he found one of the local stocking kids leaned up against the chips isle. His eyes were lifeless and his throat was missing as was his right arm. Poor kid. Moving a bit further down he found the canned foods. Grabbing beans, fruits, and anything that he could he walked a bit further down with the bag and found frozen meats that were still frozen. Checking the expiration dates he smelled the packages. The building still had electricity since most large buildings like this had emergency generators that they ran on in case of a power outage. Grabbing some chicken and steak he put it in his duffel as well and moved through the area. Getting to the clothing section he found another dead worker, her lower half was gone and her guts strewn out. Shaking his head he moved down and found shirts, pants and underwear that he thought would fit his nurse. He'd taken a rough estimate of his own on her size when he'd seen her in Vixen's clothing for the first time.

Grabbing the clothing and stuffing it into the bag as a cushion for the cans and meats he zipped everything up and headed back to the Hummer. Putting it into the back he walked to the trunk area and opened a small compartment in the floor. It was a little cooler. Putting the meats in there he shut the lid and locked it to keep them cool. Hearing a hiss behind him he shut the Hummer doors and whipped around with his gun drawn. Some of the towns folk were heading his way slowly. They were still a good distance off and only one had seen him. Lifting the gun and aiming at the forehead he squeezed off a round and the walker dropped. None of the others seemed to notice. So silenced weapons worked. Good to know. Walking to the side door he grabbed one of the regular pistols without a silencer.

Walking a little ways down the street he aimed at the back of another walker's head and fired. The loud bang drew in a lot of attention as roughly a dozen walkers started heading that way. Non-suppressed was a bad idea. Walking back to the car he set the pistol on the floor and grabbed the compound bow. He then grabbed the quiver and strapped it around his waist. Drawing back on the eighty pound string he let an arrow fly and as it buried into the head of a walker no one seemed to care or notice. Okay. Sound was their main weapon. They didn't really seem to see him. Now. Grabbing his switch blade from the vest he removed his glove and pressed the point of the blade into his thumb. The moment his fresh blood hit the air their heads went up and they started moving his way. Putting his glove on did nothing. Putting his thumb in his mouth and trapping the scent they stopped and started meandering around again. Smell was damn good with these fuckers too. Good to know. Keeping his thumb in his mouth he climbed into his hummer and shut the door softly.

Backing up slowly he turned around and left the town. He'd learned a good amount of info today and it only took him about three hours. When he parked his car in the garage again he put the meats in his mini freezer in the garage then carried the duffel inside and set it on the counter. Sasha went running around out back to do her thing and just be a dog. Putting the cans in cabinets he took the duffel and looked around. Not seeing her he walked up to the spare room and without knocking he pushed the door open and heard the shower running. Tossing the new clothes on the bed, they still had tags on them, he walked back down stairs and headed to his basement to put the duffel away and take his armor off.
 
Hannah had been productive while Alexander was gone. The house, at least the parts where she'd been so far, had been picked up of anything that was out of place, dust had been wiped off where it had accumulated in the multiple weeks he was absent, and there was a smell of cleaning products in the air. She'd also cleaned up her nursing shoes and though they were still stained, they were drying neatly upside down, insoles beside them, on top of some paper towels just inside the garage by the door that led into the house. If Alexander thought it was gratitude for sheltering her, he was wrong. Hannah cleaned to keep herself busy and to keep from wondering what she was going to do if Alexander didn't come back. Or what in the Hell she was going to do when he did. Peculiar didn't begin to describe the situation.

As she stepped out of the bathroom clad in a towel with another wrapped around her head, having run out of things to clean and stuff to organize and distracting herself with a shower, Hannah froze when she caught sight of the clothing that was on her bed. Startled eyes scanned the room and she relaxed to realize he wasn't in the room with her. Had he peeked in the bathroom? No, she'd shut the door. She was sure of it and wouldn't she have heard it open? Aware of how vulnerable she would be if Alexander wanted to push the issue, Hannah added a new worry to her list. He hadn't shown any signs of wanting anything but that didn't mean much in a world where help was no longer three digits on a phone away.

The clothes were a nice gesture though, speaking of regard and civility. Hannah put them away with the used ones that were already there, but did select a new pair of panties instead of the clean and laundered but previously worn ones she'd chosen the day before. It was just better to have your own panties and not a strangers. When Alexander returned from the basement, he found Hannah sitting at the dining table. Her head turned to look his way when she heard him and if she didn't smile neither did she frown. There was a look of almost relief in her eyes, at seeing another human in what promised to be a lonely world. It wasn't love, just recognition that there were still people alive.

"Hey," Hannah said. "Thank you for the clothes. You have an eye for people's sizes."

"How, uh, was it out there? Did you see any other survivors?"
 
Alex came out of the basement and looked up as she spoke. Nodding to her thanks for the clothing he headed for the couch and started making small notes on a note book, writing down what he'd learned, what weapons would be best and how much ammo he had for those weapons. Listening to her questions he shook his head.

"No survivors. Just learned what I need to when killing the walkers. Sound and scent are their weapons. Sight isn't. They are blind. However they can sense even a drop of fresh blood from a pretty good distance. A bullet anywhere but the head will not take them down. Arrows work too, as long as you aim for the brain. When they hear a loud noise, they flock to the area of the noise. Traveling in massive packs. So that's a good bit of knowledge if I need to draw them away from one place and into another."

The whole time he spoke and wrote things down his tone was just like hers had been when she was asking him how he was feeling and about his internals. It was professional and clinical. He'd killed before. A lot by the sound of it. Looking up at her he walked over to her and set a nine millimeter Glock on the table with a threaded barrel for a suppressor.
"Ever fired a gun before?"

He asked as he looked at her.
"If you haven't, then you need practice. A nine isn't a lot of kick and it's a decent magazine size. I have an indoor firing range down stairs. It's sound proof so don't worry about luring walkers."
 
"I don't think that's right," Hannah said after he talked about the walker's senses. "They could see us in the hospital. We had to hang sheets over the windows in the door to the south wing because if they saw us moving through them they'd frenzy." Fortunately the doors were extremely heavy, being mandated so for fire safety and security, and the windows had been wire reinforced. Too bad there had already been people inside who were infected but not yet known to be infected. "But they are attracted to sound and blood. I know that for sure."

When he sat the gun down on the table, Hannah looked at it with reluctant distaste. She'd seen what guns did to people and with very, very few exceptions, such as the officer who'd shot the person also laying beside them in the ER bleeding from a lacerated carotid, there wasn't any excuse for shooting someone. Bullets didn't care and took down the good and the young and even babies as quickly as they did gang bangers and robbers. They were dangerous and Hannah wished they were outlawed.

"No, I haven't," she answered and looked away from it, uncomfortable with it being on the table. "I don't like guns."
 
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