Life After Z

Chapter 28 - Lucas

Everett shot the only awake guy with the tranq gun and then we drove one of the pickup trucks over so that we could haul the six still-alive guys into the cab. It was a tight fit and we had to pile them on top of each other in the back, but if we just left them in the field it was more than likely they would become Z food before they woke up.

Everett had us strip the truck we left them of weapons, ammo, and other supplies. With the other truck and the fully loaded hummer, we were coming out of this situation with a ton of really useful stuff. I would give it all back in a blink of an eye if it meant that we could erase the last six hours. Sebbie was really shaken up and I couldn't blame him. How in the world was I supposed to explain what had happened to us? How do you tell a six-year-old boy that he is pulled from his bed and held at gunpoint because there were bad people in the world? What effect was growing up with this level of violence having on my sweet boy?

My mind was fuzzy with similar questions and I found myself going through the motions of packing up the trucks and driving the hummer behind the truck Jen was driving without any real thought. It felt like I blinked and we were pulling up beside a nondescript brick building. Everett parked the big rig as close to the building as possible and then motioned for Jen and me to get out of our trucks and join him on the roof of the shipping container.

Sebbie and I got our first good look at Cooper and I didn't blame Sebbie for bursting out into tears. He looked rough. His face was deathly white and slicked with sweat. His entire middle was stained red with blood and there was a pair of giant scissor-looking things sticking out of his wound that was wrapped with an impressive amount of gauze.

Ivy looked both scared and determined. It was a look that she was wearing around us more times than not and while I was grateful that she was helping us out and taking us in, I hated that she felt pushed into this decision. I would have much preferred if Ivy had the time and space to choose us without any extenuating circumstances. Considering that we were living in a post-apocalyptic world, wishing for a single day without extenuating circumstances was a pipe dream.

Bottom line, we were here. Wherever here was.

"Why are we parked beside an abandoned gym?" Jen asked and the impatience in her tone put my teeth on edge. I know she had an extraordinarily bad night, but Ivy had been the one to save her. The least she could do was sound the least bit gracious.

"My safe place is in this building," Ivy revealed and I eyed the place with a renewed interest. But it still looked like an abandoned building.

"I looked into the windows of this place when I was looking for you yesterday. This place is infested with Zs. There must be at least a dozen in here," Everett said, not sounding like he was calling Ivy an liar but rather he was trying to understand the situation.

"Yes. I locked them in the entrance annex for exactly that reason. Anyone looking through the windows or tempted to try the main doors will be greeted with the dead. They will assume the place is overrun and not inhabited by survivors. Those Zs, as you call them, are a damn good security system. We can't go in through the main floor because of them. Everything is locked down and all doors are secured anyway. I even knocked out the stairs so the dead couldn't sneak up on me. Because of that, we need to go through the second level. This is the easiest entrance. Through that window," Ivy explained, pointing to a window that was about two feet above where we were standing on top of the shipping container.

"Wow!" I exclaimed, completely impressed. "That is ingenious. Keeps people away because they are afraid of the Zs and acts as camouflage."

"We can stand around talking about how fucking smart Ivy is later. Let's get Cooper to where he needs to go so that she can finish fixing him up," Everett murmured and we all silently agreed. It took some maneuvering because Cooper was still totally blissed out on pain medication but we eventually got him up and through the window. Ivy had to unlock an industrial grade padlock to open up a set of bars on the window and I knew that even if it didn't look like much, this place would be secure.

The fact she had been here over a year by herself was proof enough.

It was dark inside the building. Darker than outside so when Ivy flipped a switch and the room was flooded with light it took a while for my eyes to adjust. Once I could see again I was surprised to see that we were all standing on an indoor track. The slightly bouncy synthetic material of the track felt odd under my shoes, not to mention that I hadn't been in a room with working overhead lights for over a year.

Motion from the far end of the track grabbed my attention and I glanced over to see two dogs running toward our group. The small begal with the classic white nose and floppy brown ears ran straight up to Ivy and braced his front paws on her legs clearly demanding to be picked up. The other dog was much larger and had a mashed in wrinkly face and small ears that bent over forwards along with a tail that curled into a full circle. I was pretty sure it was a shar pei and while the begal only wanted Ivy's attention, the shar pei was more focused on us. It stood between Ivy and Everette and me who were holding up Cooper and growled low in its throat. Ivy did nothing to calm or call off the big dog as she scooped the smaller one up and nuzzled him to her chest.

"Rio and Milo, I presume," Everett drawled, keeping his eyes on the shar pei who lowered his head and showed his teeth at his words. If I remembered correctly, shar pei's were an extremely protective and aggressive breed. This one obviously was protecting Ivy from us. Ivy ignored Everett's implied comment and I tried a different tactic to break the growing tension.

"How do you have power?" I asked as Ivy started walking down the track. Everett and I shared a look of amazement before following her with Coop supported between us. The shar pei, who I was guessing was Milo, allowed us to follow but made sure to keep himself between us and Ivy.

"Solar," Ivy clipped out and from her voice, I could tell she wasn't happy. Past the curve of the track, I was able to see into the rooms in the track enclosed. There was a basketball court and a couple of racquetball courts, all with one wall made of plexiglass so we could see in. About halfway down the long side of the oval track, there was a set of doors across from the second set of racquetball courts. Ivy turned down that hallway, flipping on more lights as she went. There were several large empty rooms with mirrored walls on one side of the hallway and offices on the other.

This really was a gym. Not what I had been picturing when Ivy mentioned she had a safe place. I wonder why she picked here of all places to secure and settle down in. But I did have to admit the idea of playing some ball and getting an actual workout did sound wonderful. We had been sequestered to the back of the truck for entirely too long.

Ivy kept walking down the hallway and turned into a room on the side with all of the offices right before she hit another set of double doors, leading to another part of the building. Everett and I balanced Cooper between us, which was a little difficult because Everett was a good four inches taller than me, and followed Ivy into the room that she disappeared into. My steps faltered and my eyes widened at what I saw within.

A hospital room.

Or at least a room that was fully kitted out with a ton of medical gear and looked like a room that you would see on T.V. medical dramas. In the middle of the room was a gurney surrounded by different wheeled trays that were littered with scapals in clear packaging, gauze, and other medical implements. The walls were packed with cabinets that I had no doubt were fully stocked.

This was not something that you would find in a normal gym.