Empty Bodies (Book 2): Adaptation by Zach Bohannon Page A

basket in tow, which had wheels and a handle.
    “Mind pulling this one?”
    “Not at all.”
    Jessica used the hand on her good arm to grab the bin, and they walked back down the hallway.
    The two women went from one room to the next, collecting the dirty laundry from the floor. Sarah explained to Jessica that the survivors occupying the hospital had been instructed to just leave their dirty clothes or linens on the floor just inside the door, and whoever had laundry duty next would come by and pick it up.
    Once they’d gathered all the dirty laundry, they headed back toward the front of the hospital wing, and Sarah led them to a door and opened it.
    “Wash is through here.” The two women headed inside.
    ***
    The small laundry room had been built inside one of the guest lounges for visitors to use if they were required to have an extended stay at the hospital. They’d begun to load the washing machine with the pile of laundry when Jessica finally turned and asked the question that had been on her mind.
    “What happened here?”
    Sarah stopped, mid-lean over a laundry bin, while collecting another pile of linens. She dropped them as she stood back up, looking at the wall for a moment before sitting down in the nearest plastic chair.
    Jessica leaned back against the washing machine and ran her hand through her hair.
    “I’m sorry to have asked,” Jessica said.
    Sarah looked down to the floor and shook her head. “No, it’s okay. It’s just still really… new, you know?”
    The young nurse cleared her throat and then finally spoke, keeping her eyes focused on the ground.
    “I was making my rounds, checking in on different patients. My shift had only started about a half hour before, so I was seeing some of them for the first time. I went into a room where a young boy was, maybe around twelve years old. His name was Harrison. He was recovering from surgery. The day before, his dog had run out into the street and he’d chased after it. The guy driving was allegedly text messaging when he hit the kid.”
    “Asshole,” Jessica mumbled.
    “Yeah, no shit,” Sarah added. “Anyway, I’d gone in to check on him. His surgery had gone well and he was resting. There had been a good bit of internal bleeding, which is always scary, but the doctor had done a good job and stabilized the boy. When I walked in, he shot me a big smile, which is always satisfying to see when you know a child is in pain. Harrison’s mother was in the room with him. We talked for a few moments, and then I went on with doing some of my normal procedural stuff.
    “While I was checking his blood-pressure, I heard a thud on the ground behind me and Harrison cried out. When I turned around, his mother was on the ground. I kneeled down and checked her pulse and, of course, there wasn’t one. Almost at the same time, I heard the panic in the hallway.
    “I rushed out of the room and the entire hospital was in a panic. There were bodies on the floor, people leaned over performing CPR. Honestly, I didn’t know what to do. There was so much going on, it was as if I had been dropped right in the middle of a war zone. I stopped and tried to help a few people, until I remembered that I’d left Harrison back in his room with his mother collapsed next to him. So, I hurried back to him.”
    Sarah began to cry, and Jessica reached over and put her hand on the young woman’s shoulder. Sarah took her hand, and let the tears flow. After a few moments, she continued.
    “She was… on top of him. The screams… they were like nothing I’d ever heard before. Blood sprayed from both sides of the bed, staining the mattress. I started to run to help the boy, but when his mother looked up at me, I stopped dead in my tracks. She was one of them , and I watched her tear her own son apart.”
    Sarah couldn’t hold back now. Jessica watched the girl slump over and her shoulders begin to move up and down as she cried. She patted Sarah on her back, and knelt down to