Fenrir's Fangs

Wolf awoke to the smells of cooking coming from the other end of the warehouse. She rolled over and laid her hand over Omen’s forehead, he was burning up. Quickly she got out of bed and pulled the sheets away from the wounded leg, a stink assaulted her the moment she pulled the bandage away, it smelled like there was a rotting corpse crammed inside of the wound. Wolf went to the cart and picked up several piles of gauze, a bottle of sterile saline, and, a big syringe. Laying a towel under the leg she filled the syringe with the saline and bent over the wound to start flushing the curdled almost orange pus from the oozing hole. Before she could start Murphy peeked over her shoulder and startled Wolf when the sight and stench of the festering wound caught him and made him wretch. Smiling wolf turned around.
“You alright there Murphy? Looking a little green around the gills there buddy.”
“I’m fine” he squeaked covering his face with one hand.
“The smells not going to get any better, in fact it may get worse. I’m going to be flushing this out to see how much more damage there is, would you mind finding me a couple of safety pins?”
“Sure” Murphy said as he hurried away happy to have an excuse to be away from the festering stink.
Wolf sighed and dropped the safety pins back onto the cart, she’d seen Murphy’s discomfort with the open wound and sent him on an errand just to keep him busy.

Wolf got a pair of forceps out of the box on the cart and tugged gently at one of the drains she had put into the wound the day before, it stuck for a moment before curling out of the wound with a sickening slurp. Omen moaned softly in his sleep and moved one hand erratically from side to side, worried he might wake up while she was cleaning the wound Wolf drew up another dose of morphine into a syringe and injected it into the catheter in Omen’s arm. After waiting a few moments for Omen’s wakeful stage to pass she tugged the rest of the drains out of the wound. There were huge chunks of clotted pus and gooey slicks of congealing blood everywhere within the gaping hole in Omen’s leg. Wolf sighed heavily as she surveyed the supplies on the cart.
“Hey Murphy” She called across the warehouse “Could you come here a second please?”
Murphy came across the room to Wolf who was standing in such a way as to block his view of the wound.
“I need more medical supplies, would you be opposed to taking me to a hospital so that I can get what I’m going to need?”
Murphy’s face went somewhat pale “you want me to take you where?”
“A hospital, I’m sure there’s one around here some place.”
“Wolf I’m sorry but I’m not going anywhere near a hospital, when the infection hit everyone went to doctors and hospitals, those places are usually so packed with those monsters that you can’t get within ten feet of the parking lot without being seen and nearly swarmed. You’ll have to do what you can with what we’ve got”
Wolf thought for a moment and then her eyes lit up. “What about a Veterinary clinic? I know that most people forget about their pets in times of crisis, I should be able to get exactly what I need. Please Murphy?”
He almost said no but the woman’s eyes were pleading with him, almost as if with her gaze she had him by the soul, he could nearly feel her pain. He nodded slowly.
“Yeah I suppose I can do that, but I want you in and out as quick as you can.”
Wolf jumped and grabbed Murphy by the neck squeezing him until he felt like his head was going to explode.
Murphy started up the tank while Wolf gave Omen another dose of sedative and placed a loose bandage over his wound. As the big door rolled ponderously up it’s track Wolf peeked around the back of the massive vehicle with her gun ready. Nothing stirred as Murphy pulled the tank out into the street and sent the door on it’s decent. Wolf checked one last time for zombies and climbed into the tank as soon as the door was firmly planted on the ground.
The tank roared and the tracks made a metallic clank against the cracking pavement in front of the warehouse.
   “Do you know where the Peak Valley Animal Hospital is? It‘s not in the city but it‘s loaded with medical supplies.”
Murphy moved the clattering vehicle down deserted streets past houses with their windows long broken out, the drapes flapping in the slight breeze like silent flags of surrender.  As the houses began to thin out the road turned to a strip of weathered and worn dirt, rutted beyond repair by neglect and the forces of the wind and rain beating a maze of miniature canyons into the once smooth red dirt. Wolf thought for a moment about the odd way that it reminded her for a moment of the members of the reeking mobs that plagued mankind who’s skin had been gashed and left to fester and ooze exposing the writhing twisting muscle below. Wolf was pulled from her silent introspection by the lurch of the tank rolling up into the parking lot of the animal hospital.

   Murphy un-holstered his gun and slowly slid out of the tank, wolf followed suit and stepped silently out onto the grayed pavement. She remembered when they had paved this parking lot, it had been the first black top in the area, now it was **** and warped looking like  it had been laid a long time ago. Wolf followed Murphy to the door where he motioned for her to stay where she was standing. He grabbed the handle on the door and gave it a gentle yank, it didn’t yield. Wolf pulled the aging leather bag that she had been carrying with her and produced a ring of keys, she fumbled with them only a moment before selecting one and sliding it into the lock. With a satisfying click the key turned inside the lock and Wolf eased the door open while Murphy held his pistol at the ready.  Silently Murphy slipped inside, there was a thick layer of dust on everything but otherwise the place seemed untouched by time and the ravages of the creatures and looters. As he walked through the empty building checking for the beasts he thought to himself that the fact that the building was solid brick all the way around must be what had kept the creatures out and the looters just hadn’t made it this far before the zombies caught up with them. Satisfied that the building was safe Murphy returned to the door.
“Go ahead” He said “I’ll wait here and keep watch.”

Wolf walked into the reception area of the clinic, it seemed so empty compared to the last time she had walked through that front door. She almost felt compelled to go into the staff restroom and put on her white coat. Laughing silently at her own silliness Wolf made her way to her office, there would be the duffel bag she had carried a change of clothes in when she worked long shifts. She walked around behind her desk and pulled the deep bottom drawer out, the bag was there, rumpled and stuffed into the back of the drawer forgotten for all of this time. She opened it and stuffed the clothes to one end and unzipped the divider that allowed it to expand to nearly twice it’s size. Wolf had thought it a silly extra when Omen had brought it home for her but now she thanked him for that “You never know when you’ll need more space” accessory. Sighing heavily she picked up a small frame from the center of the back of the desk, A smiling blonde haired little boy looked back at her from the photograph inside, Wolf stuffed the picture into the bag as her eyes began to burn, this was not the time for that. She made her way back through the reception area and down a short hallway to the room where supplies were kept.
   Looking carefully at boxes, vials and cartons Wolf came to the conclusion that she may as well take everything she could, nobody was going to have a hurt pet that needed help. Stooping down she upended a box full of towels and began to stack everything she could fit inside, then she stuffed the remaining space in her bag with the contents of the cabinet that contained the pain medications and other controlled drugs. She went back to the front and set the box and her bag outside of the front door, and ducked back inside before Murphy could comment. She went back to the supply room and turned out another box of towels and went to the treatment rooms one by one gathering sterile swabs, needles and anything else that could prove useful.
   Upon entering the kennel room Wolf noticed that some animals had been left behind waiting for owners to pick them up who had probably not survived the first morning. Their skeletal bodies lay slumped into the corners of the kennels and cages held together only by dried decaying bits of tendon and flesh, one dog had died with his feet sticking out through the bottom of his kennel door and there were claw marks dug into the tile floor. It looked to Wolf like he had been trying to dig his way out for some time before starvation and dehydration had claimed him. The twisting pain in her heart was almost more than she could stand, a hot angry tear rolled down her cheek and came to rest cold on her collar bone as she pushed her way through the door to the surgical suite in the back of the clinic. Here she filled the box with I.V. fluids, suture thread and equipment until she was sure the box could hold no more before heading back towards the front door. Just for the sake of memories Wolf shouldered the bathroom door open and laid her pristine white coat on top of the box, Dr Wolf was embroidered in bright cheery blue across the pocket and there were still a few things clattering around in the pockets.
   Outside Murphy heard a scuffing noise coming from inside the clinic, thinking Wolf was coming back with another box he turned towards the sound only to come face to face with a scrawny pale twisted face. His heart jumped in his chest as the creature came shooting out of the door knocking him to the **** pavement. What had once been the smiling receptionist and weekend caretaker at the clinic was now straddling his chest snarling in his face, it’s lips curled back in a sickening grin as it leaned forward, drooling across his cheek it prepared to sink it’s teeth into his face. A resounding roar came from the door of the clinic and the creature pitched forward and pulled up a mouth full of asphalt. Murphy shoved the corpse off of him and sat up slowly, almost afraid that he would find a hole somewhere in his person.
   “Thank you” he said as he wiped a smear of blood, brain and zombie spit off of his cheek and neck.
   “Be more careful” Wolf smiled and put the box inside of the tank with the other box and her bag which Murphy had already put inside. Wolf pulled the keys from her bag and locked the front door, she thought it was a wasted gesture but she had always locked back up when they were closed, even when there was someone inside to watch the place.

   They rode in silence on the way back to the warehouse, both lost in their own minds thinking about the things that they had encountered while out at the clinic. Murphy counted himself lucky to be alive, but damn scared that he had come that close to getting munched by the twisted figure of a woman that had met him at the door while he was waiting for Wolf to finish. He couldn‘t believe he had missed something that vital when he made his check of the building. Wolf was waiting impatiently for them to get back to the warehouse, she was angry that the animals had been left to suffer in their cages like that, though she did suppose that it was better than starving wandering the countryside or getting slaughtered by the stinking hoards.
   As the tank came to the crest of a small hill just inside of the city the engine sputtered and the lights went off.
“****!” yelled Murphy as he slammed his foot into the clutch and tried in vain to get the massive engine to turn over. The engine clicked, gurgled and fell silent.
“What happened?”
Murphy turned to Wolf, he looked disgusted, shocked and horrified all at once.
“We’re out of fuel.” he said through clenched teeth.
“We’re what!?” Wolf nearly screamed “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“I wish I were, we’re going to have to find fuel or walk back to the warehouse.”
Wolf thought for a moment and dreaded what she was going to say. Swallowing the lump that had risen in her throat she looked at Murphy and shook her head.
“The station where you found us in the first place, it’s about two blocks away from here, we managed to turn the pumps on so we could burn fuel in an old oil lamp we found.”

      Murphy didn’t want to go back to that place, not as bad as it had been when he had found his companion and her husband in the midst of what should have been the end of them. He allowed the tank to continue rolling down the hill trying to close off as much space between them and the station as he could before the heavy vehicle lurched to a stop. Wolf had her door part way open before the treads had stopped clicking, in one swift motion she was on the ground walking around to the other side of the tank with her gun drawn and waited for Murphy to get out.
   The one and a half blocks to the gas station felt like one and a half miles. It seemed like they had been creeping  between buildings for hours when the pumps were finally in front of them.


Alright, sorry to say it guys, but this is where Kamots left off on her chapter, so this is the last of it until she finishes her chapter. Then i can get to writing again.