It was clear she hadn’t lost her entire mind, but she still wanted to tear me apart. It was also very clear that I had no chance of saving myself. I was losing too much blood. I closed my eyes, wondering what it would be like to go out like that, when I heard the boom go off just above my head. My eyes sprung open and I saw Jake standing there, the shotgun in his hand. I looked toward where the woman had been and saw her laying there in a heap, most of her head missing.
“Cammy, are you alright?”
I glanced up, then down at my leg. “I cut it on the tote. There was a busted spot. It wasn’t her, I swear, but it won’t stop bleeding.”
I watched as he leaped into action. That was where he shined, being a doctor. I was trying to control my breathing as I watched him rush around the room, grabbing the bag he’d been carrying with him since we left the hospital. I laid my head back and gritted my teeth, preparing for the pain I knew was coming. When the disinfectant hit my skin, I screamed. “Goddammit, Jake, take it easy,” I pleaded as my head fell back and the room swam in darkness.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Cammy? Cammy? Come on, I need you to wake up now.”
I nudged her gently at first, but when that didn’t work, I started to shake her. I wasn’t sure if it was from the pain, loss of blood, or the fear of that woman almost getting her, but she was out. I looked her all over for sores, boils, body fluids from the woman, and any signs she was hurt other than the one spot I had already patched up. I couldn’t see any, but I took a washcloth and carefully wiped her down where her clothes weren’t covering her skin.
Her leg was bad, but she didn’t break the bone. I stitched her up the best I could with the limited supplies we grabbed at the hospital. I would need to find her something to help her walk for a few days after, but she would be fine and back at her normal pace in a couple of days.
Part of me wanted to scream at her for not listening to me and dragging that damn tote to the garage when I told her to wait for me. There was a reason I wanted us to stay together and that was it. The infected had snuck up on us a lot the past two days and staying together was our best chance at making it out of here. I wasn’t sure how to get her to understand that and not start a fight. I knew she was fiercely independent, but in that case, it wasn’t always the best way to be.
I didn’t like having to depend on her for shit either, but it was what it was. In a normal world, I would have been her protector. It wouldn’t have been both of us having to do it.
Looking at her lying there, I was so pissed at myself for putting my whole life aside to focus on work. Looking at what could have been the end of days, I had nothing to show for my time on the planet. No wife, kids, or pets. I had the house that needed major work, the car that fell apart every time I climbed into it, and debt coming out of my ears. At the end of the day, none of that mattered. What did were the people we put in our lives. I had lost them all but her, and I refused to let the last one I had go.
“Mmm,” she moaned rolling on to her side.
“Cam?”
“My leg.” She sat up and reached down to where the bandage was. Rubbing it gently, I waited for her to wake up a little more.
“You cut it pretty bad, but you will be alright in a few days.”
“Am I…?” She couldn’t finish what she wanted to say, but I knew.
“I couldn’t see anything and none of her got into your open wound. I think you’ll be fine.” I paused trying to figure out the best way to bring up what needed to be said. I didn’t want a fight, but she needed to know how serious it was. “Why didn’t you listen to me?”
“I want out of here. I’m not sure why, but the urge to get moving was so strong, I listened to it and it wasn’t the right call.”
“I want out of here too, but we have to be smart about it. No more splitting up. If we both don’t agree on something, we don’t do it. They are obviously on to us being here. We have to keep our eyes and ears open until we can leave in a few hours.”
“I know. It was dumb.”
“Kind of.” I wasn’t going to argue with her. What she did was dumb, and it almost cost her her life. If I would have stayed in the basement another thirty seconds, she would have been dead.
“You didn’t have to agree so fast,” she said and hit my arm softly.
“Was she waiting for you in the garage or did she make it into the house?”
“She was in the garage. I don’t know how she got in. The big door is still shut, and I didn’t see another way in when we got here.”
“I didn’t either. That means she was already in there, waiting. Or we missed another way in. If we did that in the garage, it’s very possible we missed one leading into the house too.”
“If we did, they could keep coming. If these people knew the family or this house, they would know things about it we don’t. We aren’t any safer here than if we left.”
She was making sense and while my whole body said leaving before dark was a bad idea, it was telling me staying in that house another three hours was an even worse one. I was down one person with her injury. She wouldn’t be a ton of help, but I had to use her how I could. Not only for our protection, but also to make her feel like she was still needed.
“This is going to be a little harder now that your leg is messed up. We have to be smart about it. No hobbling around for you and trying to load the car; you will slow us down.”
“So, what can I do then?” Her arms flew up in the air before coming back down and slapping the sides of her thighs. When she smacked her right leg, I watched her wince in pain.
“Take these,” I said opening the bottle of pain meds and shaking two out. “They won’t make you drowsy but will help with the pain.”
“Thank you.” She took them from me, popped them in her mouth, and swallowed them dry.
“I need you to sit on the steps going into the garage. You can see the living room and whole garage from there. If something moves, and it isn’t me, shoot. We can sort out the rest later after we are on the road.”
“I can do that.”
“Good. Come on, I will help you get over there. Hopefully I can find something here for you to use as a crutch.”
“I saw one,” she said excitedly.
“Where?”
“In the room where the lumberjack is.” She rolled her eyes and sighed. Her shoulders slumped forward when she realized he was blocking her from what she needed.
“Okay.” Walking her to the couch, I helped her sit down before I let go of her. Making my way down the hall to the room, I stopped when she gasped.
“What are you doing?” she shrieked.
“Getting you the crutch. We don’t know how far we have to go or how long before we find help. You need it. I will be right back.”
“I don’t like it, Jake. Something still feels off.”
She wasn’t wrong. I felt it too, but I didn’t have a choice.
“It’ll be alright. I’ll be right back.”
“Jake,” I heard her whisper loudly as I opened the door.
Looking around the room, it wasn’t easy to see. With the sun slowly sinking into the earth and the drapes drawn, it was almost completely dark in the room. I took out my keyring with the small flashlight in the end and used it to help me see. I saw the crutches leaning against the dresser and moved in that direction.
Stepping over the body, I tried to avoid any of the infection that still ran from his lifeless body. I slipped as my foot came down on the other side, landing on the edge of his pool of blood, and grabbed the edge of the dresser to catch myself.
“Gross.”
My hand wrapped around the crutches and I started to go back to where she was waiting for me. Shutting the door behind me, I thought the feeling of doom would dissipate, instead it grew.