I woke up to the ringing of my watch. It was pitch black in the office. I grabbed a my flashlight and fished for a lantern from my Inventory, setting it down by my side as I boiled some water for a cup of coffee. Ghost came to my side, eyes on the lantern. I put on my boots and jacket, tossed the mattress and Ghost's bed inside my Inventory, and stepped outside.
I cautiously moved to the exit. The walker corpses from yesterday still where I left them, emitting a stench of rot that filled the place. Stepping out of the distribution center, I was hit by the chill air of the morning. There were a couple of walkers wandering aimlessly outside. I swiftly took care of them and moved along to my next objective.
Along the way, I passed by a couple of warehouses that were semi intact. One was clearly looted but still netted me a couple rolls of industrial wires. The other was still locked. I opened the lock using my lock pick. Inside was an assortment of goods. Taking a look around, it seems to be a food storage. Jackpot, I thought. I went through it systematically, tossing everything inside my Inventory. Whoever stashed this here is most likely long dead, but let's not tempt fate, I thought to myself as I left.
Soon, I arrived at the hospital. According to canon, there should be a doctor by the name of Gale Macones—a soft-spoken, kind-hearted, wise, and intelligent doctor. After the outbreak, she and another young doctor stayed behind in the hospital, helping any survivors that made their way there. She would also mercy kill whoever asked of her. She took care of Rick when he was in a coma. He probably wouldn't have survived if not for her. I hope she's still here. She would be a great addition to the group, I thought to myself as I surveyed the front doors. The place was crawling.
I went to the back, where the emergency entrance was located. I was greeted with rows upon rows of dead bodies, covered with blood-stained white cloth. The stench was almost unbearable. Military vehicles were strewn around, some looked wrecked. A burned military helicopter stood out. I scanned the area for walkers. There were about a dozen walkers in different uniforms; some were torn military, others wore bloody hospital gowns or civilian wear. I disposed of them quietly before turning my attention to looting the place. There were crates of ammo that I tossed in my Inventory. I looted the military walkers for the weapons that were still on them. I turned my attention on the military vehicles on site. I began looting and disassembling them for useful parts: batteries, engines, wires, wheels, and the mounted machine guns—basically whatever I could use later on. It took me a couple of hours to strip the place clean.
I turned my attention to the emergency entrance next. "Let's do this," I murmured as Ghost and I entered through the emergency door. The air was heavy, the smell of disinfectant failing to mask the rot underneath. A few walkers lingered down the corridor, staff by the look of their tattered scrubs. "Quietly now," I whispered, with a knife in hand. I quickly took them down.
As I started looting, Ghost turned behind sharply, letting out low growls. I palmed my pistol. "Stop!" a voice called out, steady but tired. "Leave your hands where I can see them and turn around slowly."
I exhaled slowly and did as I was told. A woman mid to late 40s, bob cut black hair, weary eyes, greeted me with a gun pointed to my face. I instantly recognized her. Dr. Gale Macones, I thought to myself.
"Easy there, Doc, I'm not here to hurt you," I said, my voice even.
"Then what are you doing?" she asked dryly.
"Scavenging," I admitted. "Medical supplies, food, whatever still works."
Her expression hardened. "You mean stealing."
"Borrowing from the dead," I corrected. "No one's billing insurance anymore." That earned the faintest twitch of a smile before her exhaustion returned.
"What are you still doing here? Shouldn't you have evacuated with the soldiers back then?" I asked, fully knowing why.
"I couldn't. Someone had to stay," she murmured.
"Stay for who?" I asked.
"There were patients left abandoned here by the military. 'They're a liability,' they said. A patient—one last. Everyone else is gone." Her gaze flickered toward a nearby room.
I tilted my head, curious. "You stayed behind for one person?"
"Yes." Her tone quiet but fierce. "Because if he wakes up to this alone, he won't last an hour." She led me through the dimly lit corridor into a private room at the end of the hall. There, hooked up to failing machines, half-depleted IVs, lay Rick Grimes, pale and unconscious.
I stared for a long moment. "You know him?" Gale asked, noticing my silence.
"Not personally," I said carefully. "But I've heard of him. A cop that got shot before everything went to hell."
She frowned. "He's a Deputy Sheriff. Gunshot wound to the side. Stable, but… if we lose power again, that changes. Generator's nearly dead," she said,
Glancing at the flickering monitors,"You can't stay here much longer." I said.
"I know." She sighted, shoulders sagging. "But I can't just abandon him."
"Then don't." She looked at me sharply. I fastened the straps of my pack. "You come with me, both of you. I've got a safe place outside the city. Fenced property, supplies, clean water, people who'll need a doctor."
"Why? why take a dead weight?"
"Because I can," I said simply. "Because I know what's coming, and you're a doctor that's hard to come by these days." I turned my gaze to the unconscious man. "And he's a Deputy Sheriff, which means he's a good guy and a trained personnel. He'll be a good addition to the group."
She looked at me for a long time, studying me. Finally, she exhaled. "Fine. We'll go."
I nodded once. "Good. Get your stuff and get him ready. I'll finish looting what I can before we move out," I said as I stepped out of the room.
(To be continued...)