Induction

Of course, the blood pressure monitors were lining the front wall. “Damn it.” Using the far wall for cover, I crept up and around the corner. I grabbed the first one I came to and was about to move back to the shadows when I saw Adam waving his hands at me. Fear was etched on his face and he motioned me to stay. I became one with the wall. My heart pounded so hard, I was sure whatever was just a few feet from me would hear it.

Adam relaxed and waved me on. Whatever it was, it had passed by like the last. Five feet away from the wall the machine wheels came to an abrupt halt and I lost my grip as it fell over. That damn machine was plugged into the wall. Who does that? I froze in fear, praying I hadn’t drawn any attention to us. If looks could kill, I’d have been a dead woman.

Three sets of eyes glared at me, and I just knew each of them was kicking themselves for letting me come. I gave them the shrugging oops, my bad face and tiptoed to the plug. Finally away from the window we came together at the hallway. We’d gotten everything on the list. I removed the monitor from its stand and tucked it into Lowell’s pretty pink pack.

Opening the back door, we found a clear path and made it back to the fence where earlier we’d had a good laugh at my expense. Déjà vu. We were winded again and stopped to catch our breath.

“What was that?” I asked

“What was what?” replied Adam.

“There it is again. It sounds like a growl.” I turned to find a dog emerging from behind a tree two houses away. Four more dogs flanked the first. Their fur was matted and I could see the outline of ribs poking through. They growled again, this time in unison. This was no day at the dog park. This group was out for blood. I bet they saw a big T-bone when they looked at us.

“Oh, shit. Run. Head straight through, all the way to the boat.”

And run we did. The pack was in hot pursuit. Thankfully, the two-house gap gave us a head start. The original group of corpses that had witnessed my graceful fall had stopped following us when we outran them. Now, however, they were directly in our path. We veered to the right and ran around the other side of the house. There were a few scattered loners in our path but we were running so fast they couldn’t get to us as we passed by. The dogs were closing the distance as we rounded the last house and jumped in the boat.

Adam set to work freeing the rope and we pushed off in time for the first of the dogs to reach us and jump in the water. The dog clawed at the side of the boat attempting to gain purchase and Lowell hit it with an oar. It fell beneath the water line and disappeared as we rowed away. The other three scattered back into the neighborhood as the undead began grabbing for them; yet another piece of good information. They went for animals as well as humans. Nothing was safe from these monsters. I made a mental note to watch Daphne at all times. I would not let her become zombie chow.

Chapter 21 Heaven Gets Another Angel

The next week was spent performing dry runs of the impending labor as a group. It would be all hands on deck when the moment finally arrived.

We were just finishing dinner when Noelle grabbed her abdomen and cried out in pain. She stood up and her pants were saturated with fluid. Her water had broke. I recalled a day long ago sitting at the beach with Brooke as she told me the story of her little brother, Mark. She had been out to dinner at Burger King when her mother’s water broke all over those plastic bench seats. I remembered being grossed out on behalf of the person who would inevitably have to clean it up.

Finn was amazing throughout the ordeal. He walked with her around the deck, rubbed her back when the pressure on her spine became too much to handle. After nearly six hours of walking, sitting, laying and every other anatomical position possible, her contractions were two minutes apart and it was time to push.

Finn held her hand and gave her words of encouragement. “I love you. You’ve got this, sweetheart.”

Noelle screamed. She was sitting up in a recliner, pillows behind her head and her legs open on the footrest. Everyone had scrubbed clean using the soap retrieved on our adventure and dressed in yellow waterproof hospital gowns with those funny paper hats. We donned surgical gloves and our small cache of surgical instruments was laid out on the table beside us.

“Push, Noelle.”

She cried out in pain, sweat glistened on her forehead. “It hurts.”

“You’re doing great, Noelle. Give me a big push,” I instructed.

“I can’t do it; it hurts too much.”

“You’ve got this. Take a deep breath. Ready? Three. Two. One. Push!”

She clenched her teeth together and gave a strained push.

“Good. The baby’s crowning. I see the head.”

Finn moved down and looked, wide-eyed, between her legs. “Holy shit. I see it. Push, baby, you’re almost there.”