Apocalypse Hearts

Chapter 7 - The Kindness that Remained

The baby began crying in the corner. His young mother held him more tightly and offered her breast. "It's okay, it will be okay." She repeated the words until they sounded more like something she needed to hear herself.

Alon touched the battery-powered radio and switched frequencies. It was all static.

Finally, a strained male voice could be heard. "This is Emergency Operations Center..." The signal crackled. "...all medical facilities..." More static, "Maintain isolation..." The transmission dissolved again.

Ronald frowned. "They're still broadcasting. Someone was still trying to reach out.” He then wondered what was happening outside the hospital.

Meanwhile, Mang Ben began writing with one hand, holding a flashlight.

Rice 100 kilos

Bottled water 77 liters

Canned goods 152 pieces

Bread 168 packs

Camille looked over his shoulder, "What are you doing?"

He didn't stop writing. "If we're going to survive..." Mang Ben glanced around the room. "Guessing will kill us."

All of a sudden, a sharp knock echoed from the steel door. Sally and Camille froze. It was three slow taps. Not frantic, not violent, it was deliberate. One by one, they woke up; every face turned toward the entrance.

The father holding his daughter instinctively stepped backward. The cashier held her kitchen knife with trembling hands. Ronald looked at Sally.

Another three taps, like Morse Code. Then a weak voice almost startled everyone.

"Please, I'm staff. Let me in, please,"

No one moved. The voice came again.

"I know you're in there. I heard you. Help me."

Silence filled the room. Fear had already taught them a terrible lesson. Opening the door could save a life. Also, opening the door could doom everyone inside. All eyes turned toward Sally because someone had to make the decision. Sally looked through the small inspection window while she opened her headlight.

Even if it was dark outside, Sally saw a woman in bloodstained light blue scrubs. She leaned heavily against the wall; one hand pressed to her side. Her hospital ID badge swung from her neck. Sally tried to read the name on it, but it was dark and covered in blood. Her eyes met Sally's through the reinforced glass. Then, with trembling fingers, the woman slowly lifted both hands.

"I wasn't bitten," she whispered. "I swear."

Behind Sally, nobody spoke.

Sally chose to open the door. She instinctively stepped in front of Camille because she knew Camille would object.

"Back." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Sally opened the door with Ronald. The bloodied nurse entered right away. Between ragged breaths, she said, “Emergency is gone. Security lost the lobby. The ICU is running on manual ventilation.” Then she says something chilling: "The first patient..."

Everyone looks at her.

"He wasn't attacking people; he was...," She struggled to find the word, “He was looking for someone."

"What do you mean?" Sally asked, examining her as best she could.

No obvious bite. She has no fever. No aggression. Everything was fine. She drank water. Nurse Elena comforted the frightened little boy when he had a nightmare.

The group continued resting. Thirty minutes later, Alon observed very subtle changes in the newcomer. She became unusually quiet. Alon thought she was already sleeping. He checked. She’s awake. Eyes open, just staring at the wall. Her pupils seem slightly larger.

Ronald also noticed that she complained of ringing in her ears and always looked in the direction of the sound.

"Sally, I think something's wrong."

Before anyone understood what was happening, Nurse Elena collapsed. She became unconscious. The room panicked.

"Get away from her!" someone said.

"She's infected!" the group murmured.

Sally knelt beside her. "No one touches her."

Sally slipped on a fresh pair of gloves and knelt beside the unconscious nurse.

"Ronald."

The intern was already at her side. He handed Sally a penlight from his scrub pocket.

Her breathing was steady. Pulse, rapid, but regular. Sally gently lifted one eyelid. The pupil contracted. Slowly.

"She's responding," Sally whispered.

Sally reached for the stethoscope hanging around her neck. The familiar rubber tubing felt strangely reassuring in her trembling hands. Heart sounds, fast. Lungs, clear. No wheezing. No crackles.

Camille knelt beside them, holding a folded towel beneath the nurse's head. "Could it be shock?"

Sally didn't answer immediately. "It could."

"But something doesn't fit." Ronald carefully examined the nurse's forearms, neck, and face. "No bite marks."

He rolled back the sleeve of her scrub top. There was no puncture wound. Only bruises. No puncture wounds. No fresh scratches, either. The room remained silent. Everyone was watching, waiting, as if the answer might appear on its own.

The security guard shifted uneasily. "If she turns..." His hand tightened around the fire axe. "I'm ending it."

"No." Sally's voice cut through the room.

The guard stared at her. "We don't even know what's happening to her."

"And if we wait?"

His voice cracked. "What if she kills someone?"

Sally met his gaze. "If we stop treating people because we're afraid..." She glanced around the room. "Then we've already lost more than this hospital."

No one spoke. Even those who disagreed lowered their eyes. Ronald reached into the nurse's pocket.

"Permission?"

Sally nodded. He pulled out her hospital ID.

Ronald looked at Sally. "ICU."

Sally's expression toughened. "She came from the ICU. That explained the blood.”

Elena stirred. A faint gasp escaped her lips. Everyone in the room instinctively stepped backward. Only Sally and Ronald remained beside her. Elena's eyelids fluttered open. Her eyes searched the room without recognition. For one terrible second, Sally thought the others had been right.

Elena whispered hoarsely, "Water..."

Camille was the first to move. She handed Sally a bottle. Sally moistened Elena's lips with a small sip. The nurse swallowed painfully. She looked directly at Sally.

"You..."

Sally leaned closer. "I'm here."

Elena frowned as though struggling to gather her thoughts.

"The ICU..." She swallowed again. "They're still alive." Her voice was barely audible. "They're... taking turns... Squeezing the Ambu bags."

Ronald's face fell. Without electricity, every patient on a ventilator was remaining only because someone was physically forcing air into their lungs, one squeeze at a time.

Elena closed her eyes. "They won't last..."

Silence filled the room. Then Elena's hand suddenly tightened around Sally's wrist. It’s hard enough to hurt. Her eyes snapped open. Wide and terrified. Not with rage but with certainty.

She whispered three words. "He… Remembers you."

Sally froze. "What?"

Elena's breathing became uneven. "The first patient..."

Sally carefully removed her wrist from the unconscious nurse's grip. The red marks on Elena's fingers were already beginning to show. She looked at Ronald.

"Get me a thermometer, please."

Ronald hurried to the emergency medical kit and returned with a digital thermometer. Sally slipped it beneath Elena's tongue. The room waited. A soft beep broke the silence.

36.8°C.

Ronald stared at the display. "No fever." Sally checked it herself.

Still normal. She looked around the room. "Everyone has been haughty; fever comes first.” She held up the thermometer.

"Maybe it doesn't."

The realization unsettled everyone. If there was no obvious warning, how could anyone know who was safe? Also, Sally was thinking: if Nurse Elena was infected, how could she still think about the people in the ICU? Why was the concern still there?