The girls galloped out of breath up the steps until they arrived at the room where the others were. "Open up, it's us," Carla yelled.
Ruby opened the door and let them in. "What the hell happened to you guys?" She asked as she pulled some brain marrow from Tashell's hair.
"Do you have to ask, we ran into zombies on the second floor," Tashell sighed as she handed her the bag of food.
"Which is now overrun by the way. Where's Sasha?" Carla asked.
"She's over there. She has been lost in those files she stole from the crash site," Ruby told them as she searched the bag Tashell gave her. "This is all the food you found?" She scoffed.
"Yes," Tashell answered.
The three girls walked up to Sasha.
Tashell jumped in Sasha's lap. "We're back."
"And you stink," Sasha scrunched up her nose. "What happened?" She sat the documents that she had been studying for weeks on a table nearby. She had been engrossed in them, trying to figure out a solution for the hell trap they had found themselves in.
Tashell and Carla quickly told her what went down.
"You see why we can't sit around and wait for rescue?" Ruby added. "You think we are the only ones who are getting restless? Courtney and her husband Lawrence are trying to get some of the survivors to leave with them."
"What? They can't do that," Carla expressed. She grabbed her walkie-talkie, and she tried to get it working. She had been trying to adjust the frequency since she lost contact with the outside, but her effects were futile.
"Just give it here, maybe I could do a thing or two." Ruby offered to take a look at it. She had a lot of skills besides being a very good survival expert. Her talents broadened to manipulating technological innovations. Ruby began working her magic and within minutes the static of the radio filled the atmosphere. The sounds of distorted voices permeated the room and Carla became enthused.
The warbled voices became more distinct as they began making out the conversations coming through.
"This is Silent Hawk. General Killshot do you copy -"
The line was cut off as another static erupted.
"Hello, is anyone out there? Can you hear me?" Carla spoke into the device eagerly. She waited for a reply but all she heard was static. So she spoke again. "This is sheriff Carla McCall, we are trapped at the Beaumont Hospital in Michigan. We have patients that need evacuation. Please, can anyone hear us?"
Another static erupted.
They waited for a few more seconds but still nothing. Ruby grabbed a screwdriver, and she fiddled with the dial, then they heard a voice coming through the walkie again. It was different from the first one.
"This is General Killshot. I am ten clicks away from you Silent Hawk - the place is - shhh - overrun -"
The static kept on interfering.
"Silent Hawk hears you loud and clear - over!"
Carla was getting weary. "Can anyone hear me? We're trapped in the hospital, and it has been overrun. We need immediate evacuation," Carla shouted into the device urgently.
Sasha felt her desperation and shook her head. She walked over to where Carla was sitting at a table.
Carla looked up at Sasha who was now standing beside her. Sasha stooped down and removed the device from Carla's hand. "Carla, it's no use. They're not picking up our transmission."
"So what are we supposed to do — sit here and die?" Carla yelped.
"Do you — shhh — copy Silent Hawk?" The distorted voice rang through.
"Yes, I'm here, Killshot — SHIT! The undead is breaking through. The Milford Hotel has been evacuated, but I lost my men. It's just me now. Over."
"I lost most of my men too. It's just me and Birdeyze. Over."
The girls continued to listen in. "You hear that. They are at the Milford Hotel. That's a few hours from here," Ruby beamed.
"The — shhh — bird 10 clicks — shhh — medivac — shhh — safety — Silent Hawk over and out."
"Affirmative — Killshot over and out."
Then the transmission went dead.
"The last part wasn't clear, but I think they have a helicopter," Tashell beamed. "If we get to them, we can get our people to safety," she finished.
"Ruby, see if you can fix this, I need to get Adrian," Carla begged.
Ruby was careful not to smash the radio. This was their first breakthrough with it for weeks. She turned the radio and tried to connect to Adrian's walkie. He picked up within seconds.
"Carla! Are you ok?"
"Baby, I'm fine," Ruby answered.
"Gimme that," Carla took the walkie from her. "I'm fine baby. Can you get to us? We are still trapped in the hospital. We might be able to leave here soon."
"I tried many times since the outbreak, but the roads are overrun with the demons."
Adrian was closer in range, so his conversation went without interruption.
"What about the back road. It's been condemned for years since the highway. If you take it, you should be here in half an hour or so. But when you get here. Take the fire escape to the third floor. The first and second are overrun." Carla warned. "And Adrian, take all the food you can carry from the house. Mostly tin products and snacks."
"Ok. I will. See you in an hour. Tell Sasha and Tashell to keep safe. I love you."
"I love you too."
"So the men said they're at the Milford Hotel, which makes sense since it's the only one with a helipad on the roof," Sasha added. "This is what we've been waiting for," Sasha nodded.
"We need that chopper," Tashell asserted.
"Are we willing to risk it, though?" Carla questioned. The girls all nodded a yes. "That's what I thought," Carla remarked.
"We have to try, if not for us then for the others," Tashell said as she looked over to the seventeen survivors sitting along with Nurse Ozone who was attending to Amanda. "Amanda and Dr. Weston need to leave here. The generators will soon shut down."
"Tash is right," Sasha declared. "I'll need Tashell and Ruby to accompany me, but we'll need to be extra cautious though."
"Ok, and I'll stay here and keep the others safe," Carla added. "They still see me as their sheriff."
"Ok. We have to go if we wanna make it there before dark," Tashell asserted.
"Ok. Grab your weapons and let's go," Sasha ordered.
Tashell grabbed her sword, while Sasha secured her knives. She ransacked the place and found two huge daggers in Dr. Fletcher's office.
"Be careful," Carla warned. Then she hugged her friends. "Take the fire escape."
"Don't worry about us, we'll be back before you know it," Sasha smiled.
Ruby positioned her bag on her back holding around three hundred arrows that she carved out of the wooden desks and chairs at the hospital.
They made their way down the steps of the fire escape and out the side exit.
Ruby watched as Sasha and Tashell slashed their way toward her truck, the only able vehicle on the lot.
Zombies heads rolled as Tashell's sword tore into their necks.
Zombies fell like flies as Sasha's knives stabbed into their brains.
Ruby put her bow and arrow to work as she sent the undead to their dying knees.
The weapon in her hands spoke to her with her father's words. "The first sign of the end of days is pestilence. It will ride in on a white horse and conquer the wicked and only the righteous shall survive." Those were the words her father, pastor Redgrave, would preach to her when she was a teenager. He told her that he guaranteed if she didn't change her ungodly ways, she'd be the first to go when the apocalypse begins, but look at her — she was surviving. Ruby Redgrave was a survivor.
She bolted through the sea of the undead. She hurried into her big white, monster truck and started the engine. She checked the gas gauge and saw that it was near full.
Sasha sat in the passenger's seat and Tashell settled in the back.
"Now let's get that chopper," Ruby announced as she sped away from the zombies.