Sorrow's Gift

Chapter Fifty-Four: Parrish

A bead of sweat trickled down her back. The morning had started out nice, but it was getting hotter by the minute. She was melting out here.

"Let's get this over with," she said, tying the leather jacket around her waist.

She held her katana close by her side as she walked toward the bay of ambulances. Even from here, though, she could see that someone else had been here before. There were five ambulances parked near the emergency room entrance, two of which had their back doors open, supplies spilling from the back.

A few dead bodies rotted on the pavement behind the first of the vehicles.

"Doesn't look good," Noah said.

"Let's check them anyway," she said. She pointed to the second nearest ambulance. "Crash, you and Karmen check that one. The rest of us will look in this first one."

She caught Lily's eye.

"You stand out here and watch for any sign of activity. Any movement, let us know."

Lily nodded and clutched her shotgun awkwardly against her body. "I can do that," she said.

Parrish didn't trust her. What was up with that speech she'd just given? It had seemed truly heartfelt, but it put a bad taste in Parrish's mouth.

Did she know something about what was waiting for them in the hospital? Had she set them up?

Parrish wasn't ready to confront her or totally write her off yet, but she was definitely going to keep her eye on the girl. And she was going to be careful every step of the way in that hospital. Any sign of trouble and they needed to run.

Noah hopped into the back of the first ambulance and held his hand out to her. She grabbed it and pulled herself up.

"What exactly are we looking for in here?" he asked.

"Medicine, supplies, whatever we can find," she said.

The inside was a mess. The seats had been ripped to shreds and the gurney was hanging half-in, half-out the back door. Most of the lockers were open and empty.

Parrish checked them all anyway, making sure they didn't miss anything that might be useful, but this one was already cleaned out.

The two of them jumped down and moved to the third ambulance. The doors on this one were closed. Noah grabbed the handle and met her eyes. She lifted her sword and nodded, ready for something to jump out at her.

The doors swung open, but thankfully, no one was inside. This one looked relatively untouched, and a spark of hope ignited in her heart. Maybe they really could avoid the hospital. She didn't like the idea of going in there. It was too big with too many unknown factors. Open the wrong door and there could be hundreds of rotters waiting on the other side.

A few of the lockers opened easily, revealing gloves, needles, sanitizing wipes. She shrugged off her backpack and unzipped it quickly, stuffing everything she could hold inside.

"That's something at least," Noah said. "These others seem to be locked."

She raised an eyebrow. "I thought you had some kind of super strength?" she asked. "You're telling me you aren't strong enough to break a simple lock?"

He smiled and shrugged. "I hadn't thought of it that way," he said. "I'll give it a shot."

Noah pulled on the first locker and the drawer flew open, nearly knocking him on his ass.

Laughter rocked Parrish backward. She doubled over and clutched her stomach. "Maybe that was a little overkill," she said.

"You think?" he asked. He had fallen onto the paramedic's seat, his body completely sideways in the chair. He laughed and when their eyes met, her stomach fluttered. She really hoped last night's kisses were just the beginning for the two of them.