As They Rise (The Eva Series #1)

Thirteen

We made our way out of the city, headed into the suburbs to find Ben’s parents.
“Should we go there and see if they can help us?” Wyatt asked, slowly pulling the RV to the side of the road and motioning towards a hospital up ahead.
I leaned out of my seat to get a better look at it through the windshield.

There were two army tanks parked out the front, with a wall made of sand bags blocking the entrance into the hospital. I could see at least two army personnel with large guns patrolling the area. 
“Well, the news reporter said anyone infected should get immediate medical assistance. Maybe they have the cure?” Ben suggested, pulling a pair of binoculars from his backpack and holding them up to get a closer look.
“I don’t know. It looks pretty intimidating. And if that’s where the infected are going, I don’t want to be anywhere near it.” I replied, feeling anxious that we had stopped.
“Well, we’re not infected, maybe we could help?” Wyatt asked, looking at each of us to gauge our reactions.
“We sure look infected,” Ben said, looking at his reflection in the side mirror, his face still covered in faux lesions and blood. “We should probably take this makeup off if we’re gonna go in there.”

I pulled my makeup remover wipes out of my bag and handed one to each of them. The coolness of the cloth refreshed me as I smoothed it over my face, and I felt relieved to look like my normal self again.
I started to wonder if going to the hospital would, in fact, be the best choice for us. There would be medical supplies, food, and help for us there, and it was clearly protected. It might just be the only safe place left in Melbourne, and it sounded like a much better idea than driving through the outback to the other side of the country.
“Maybe you’re right,” I said, throwing the makeup-covered wipe into a plastic bag. “We’ll be safe in there. And we can lend a hand.”
Just then, an old brown station wagon swerved around the corner behind us, speeding passed the RV towards the hospital.

I unbuckled my seat belt and walked over to stand in between Ben and Wyatt, watching intently. Jo followed and leaned in over my shoulder, and I could feel she was still trembling.
The station wagon skidded to a stop at the blocked entrance and a middle aged man with silver hair stepped out of the driver’s seat. Frantically, he ran around the car and threw open the passenger side door, leaning in to help a younger man to his feet.
“He’s been bitten,” Ben said, watching carefully through the binoculars. “Oh jeez, he’s got two huge chunks of his arm missing. I can see the bone. Ugh.”
I leaned in closer and realised it must not be the only injury he has, even I could make out the blood stains that covered both the men’s clothes.
“I hope they made it there in time,” I thought aloud, watching as the older man held his arm around the younger one as they limped towards the hospital.

The soldiers began shouting something as they pointed their guns at the two men, who held their hands out, showing their open palms in response.
I couldn’t hear what the soldiers were yelling, but they refused to lower their guns. The two men dropped to their knees in the middle of the road, and it almost looked like they were pleading with the soldiers.
The older man grabbed hold of the other man’s wounded arm, pointing to it and shouting something. 
“They’re not letting them in.” Ben murmured, bewildered at the scene in front of them.
“Why not? They said on the news that anyone infected needs medical assistance. They did what they were told. They need help!” Said Jo, and I could tell by the strain on her voice that she had started panicking again.

We all jumped at the sound of gunfire in the distance. One of the soldiers had opened fire on the men. 
Jo screamed as we watched the men’s bodies thrash violently against the force of the bullets and fall heavily to the ground.
“Oh my god! Oh my god!” Jo screamed, I held her tight, urging her to keep calm, but I felt just as terrified as she did.
“That was ‘medical assistance’,” whispered Wyatt, his jaw hanging open in shock. “There’s no cure. They just kill them.”
Tears fell onto my cheeks as I stared blankly at the lifeless bodies, being dragged behind the sand bag wall by one the soldiers while the other jumped in their car and drove it out of sight. 
“We gotta get out of here. We’ll need to find another way out of the city.” Wyatt said as he started the engine and began reversing the RV.

This whole time, I had hoped more than anything that this nightmare would end soon. That a vaccine would be distributed and within a few months everything would be back to normal. I wanted more than anything to go back to living my life, to having my trivial little problems.
But now I knew it wasn’t going to happen. I may not ever have that life back again. A twinge of guilt hit my stomach as I realised how much I took for granted just yesterday. Safety, food, health, friends, freedom – did I ever take a moment to be grateful for any of it? I’m sure I would have, had I known it would end so soon.

But now I knew for sure; everything had changed. We were on our own.

No-one would be coming to save us.