Page 101 of Grave Danger

An officer approached the driver’s door, a handgun up and ready. Behind the gas mask, Cody could see his eyes were wide and darted quickly from face to face as he tried to gauge the situation. The very real possibility he could be shot dead right there in the Widow’s car struck him as darkly funny, and he had to fight back a smile. On the heels of that, he wondered if he would come back as a zombie since he’d already been bitten.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Agatha Tisdale, and I have doctors in the car who have an antidote for what’s been happening in town.”

The officer pulled his head back in surprise, then bent at the waist to peer in at Cody and Demmy.

“Oh, definitely not me,” Cody said, jerking a thumb toward the backseat. “They’re back there.”

There was a lot of discussion as more state police members approached. They all sat in the car, hands now in their laps. Eventually, they were instructed to exit the vehicle and kneel on the ground. Dottie was lifted out by two officers and laid on the ground near them. Cody didn’t see any wounds or bite marks. She was just sleeping off one hell of a bender, he guessed. Where she’d picked up her recently deceased sister, he had no idea.

A young man in scrubs arrived. He also wore a gas mask, but he carried no weapon, only a temporal thermometer he used to check their temperatures.

“This brings back memories,” Cody muttered. Demmy grunted in agreement.

“All normal,” the man said.

“All right, let’s get them to the hospital,” one of the state police officers shouted, then approached Agatha. “We’ll have someone drive your car to the hospital. Parking garage is full, but we’ll leave it on one of the side streets.”

She tipped her head toward Cody. “Thanks, but it’s his car.”

The officer gave Cody a nod. “It’s a classic.”

“That it is.” Cody turned to give the Cadillac a once over. It was scratched along the driver’s side from the fencing, and it was coated in mud. But there didn’t appear to be any damage from all the zombie impacts it had endured.

“That car is possessed,” Ollie said.

“And it saved our lives,” Cody said with a grin.

They were escorted to a heavily armored transport and climbed inside. It smelled of sweat, nervous farts, and gun oil. Two officers carried Dottie in on a stretcher. She was strapped into place, and as the transport rumbled into motion, Dottie let out a deep, throat-searing snore that startled a shout from Ollie and incited one of the officers to flick off the safety on his weapon.

“What do you think is going on at the hospital?” Demmy said.

“Complete fucking chaos,” Cody said. “Or this all wouldn’t be happening.” He put an arm around Demmy’s shoulders and pulled him in close. “Amelia and Otis are all right. They’re feisty and resourceful.”

“Yeah.”

Demmy snuggled in a little closer, and Cody closed his eyes and put his head back. He told himself he was only going to rest his eyes for a few minutes, but soon the vibration of the transport’s engine and motion of the vehicle carried him away.

CHAPTER TWENTY

A shift in the rumble of the armored vehicle’s engine brought Demetrius out of his doze. He sat up and leaned forward to peer out through the windshield. Emergency vehicles crowded every available space around the hospital perimeter, the glass sides and surrounding landscaping painted by red and blue flashing lights. Ambulances mixed with fire department as well as sheriff’s department and state police cruisers. Demetrius even caught sight of a Parson’s Hollow water department vehicle squeezed in among the others, the small yellow light on top looking like it was trying hard to keep up with its red and blue older siblings. It reminded him of the yellow light that had been atop the Cadillac for so many years, and a cold ache of nostalgia opened up within him. He really was going to miss the Widow.

The armored transport entered the parking garage and wound its way up to the second level where a glass enclosed bridge connected to the hospital. Seconds after the vehicle stopped, the back door opened, and they were all escorted across the enclosed walkway to the revolving door entrance. State police were stationed at the door, decked out in armor and automatic weapons, but not wearing gas masks. The officers watched them file past, but none of them said a word. Tension was thick in the air as they were led through hallways and up several flights of stairs until they arrived at a nurse’s station that had been taken over by state police. White-coated medical staff and nurses in scrubs were interspersed within the group.

“Demetrius!”

His heart kicked into a rapid beat. He looked around, eyes scanning the crowd, head buzzing with anticipation. When he saw Margie, disappointment filled him, but he managed to put on a happy expression so as not to hurt her feelings.

“Thank God,” Margie said as she pulled him into a crushing hug. “I’ve been so worried about you boys.” She pushed Demetrius away from her and hauled Cody down close. “So worried.”

“What’s happened in town?” Cody said when he’d extricated himself from Margie’s arms.

She shook her head and wrung her hands. “The worst things. The absolute worst things. People long departed wandering the streets. The family they’d left behind traumatized all over again, and then bitten. In some cases very badly. So very badly.” Her eyes shone with tears, and Demetrius saw the overhead fluorescents glitter within them.

“I’m so sorry.” Demetrius put a hand on her arm, pulling her attention back to him and hoping to ground her in the moment. “There’s been a lot of terrible stuff going on. We’ve seen some of it ourselves.”

“Oh,” Margie said quietly, almost as an exhalation.