The med ward was clear by the time we got there. Along the way to the ward, Neo and I killed a few stray zombies, and let a few people join our group. Lots of people were injured, but some of them just wanted to see if their loved ones who were holed up in the med tent were ok.

Raymond let Neo and I into the ward, he and Gary kept out the others. I could hear the protests even when I was well inside of it. Neo ran over to the end of the ward, I could see Nestor talking to Maribelle at the end of the hallway leading into the baby area. I scanned around, a few people gave me strange stares as I walked by.

A sharp right led me to where Joey had been staying. He was up and walking, pacing really. He was wearing a cotton white medical gown, and Roy was sitting on his bed. I could see them arguing about something, but I couldn’t hear what. They stopped talking when they saw me.

“Oliver!” Joey ran towards me and threw his arms around up, I returned the sentiment. I looked over his shoulder as best as I could, Joey was 6’2” and had to stoop down to hug me, to see Roy staring at me. He nodded, and I nodded back. Joey pulled away, and his white gown was suddenly all splotchy and red. I looked down at myself, I was covered in blood, and I didn’t know if any of it was mine. “You ok?” Joey was scanning my face. He gestured for me to sit down next to Roy, Roy scooted to the right to give me some space. I just let my rear end fall to the floor. Joey sat next to Roy on the bed.

“Well, I don’t know about anyone else, but Jerry is dead.” Roy gasped, Joey reached for his hand. I could see some tears start to well up in Roy’s eyes. He buried his face in Joey’s gown; Joey cradled his head and smoothed out his hair. “I tried to save him, but he had already turned by the time I got to him. He almost... ” I stopped and looked down. I couldn’t say it, Jerry would never.

Jerry would always talk to me about space. We were both geeks and argued about whether Pluto should be considered a planet or not. He was always protective of people, he tried his best to make sure that everyone felt safe. We often stayed up late, trying to see who could name the most constellations and sharing secrets. Besides Emery, he was the only one who knew that I was trans. He even helped me take my testosterone a few times. Before I ran out. Jerry would never try to kill me, but was there any Jerry left by the time I got to him?

“And I have two people who would like to, oh my God!” I whipped my head around to see the male nurse bringing Emery and Bob in. Bob was covered in blood and dripping with tears. Emery looked upset, but more confused when she saw the three of us. I stood up and felt a tear run down my face.

Emery ran towards me and wrapped her arms around me. She smelled like cinnamon and antiseptic. She was shaking slightly, and I knew that I was too. My knees buckled a little bit, and we both fell slowly towards the ground. I buried my face into the crook of her neck, I could feel the tears fall off of my face and start to pool on her shoulder. She reached up and touched the back of my head. Her fingers felt warm against my shivery skin. I could hear Joey stand up to hug Bob, Bob was sobbing by the time Joey had gotten both arms around him. I pulled away from Emery and looked her in the eyes.

“Jerry is dead.” Emery’s jaw clenched, and Bob’s sobbing grew louder.

“So are Jay and Jan.” It felt like I had been hit like a truck. Emery grabbed my shoulder to keep me from falling, but I fell into her. Bob was on the brink of wailing. Roy had even given him a small hug in an attempt to console him. “Bob, Jay, and Jan were working near the med shed. It needs to be redone, but the swarm came in. I ran out to try to get people to come inside the ward, but Jay was already on the ground, covered in his own blood, and Jan was trying to get Bob away from him. A zombie came up from behind them and took Jan down. We made eye contact, and she started screaming at me. She told me to get Bob and run, so that’s what I did. I killed the zombie on top of her and gave her a mercy stab. Jay’s head was already separate from his body. I brought Bob here, he gave me this,” I scooted away from Emery to see what she was talking about. Even though my eyes were blurry from the tears, I could see the claw marks on the other side of her neck. The skin was jagged and raw. It looked like it had been cleaned up, but it had to have hurt terribly. Emery grabbed my hands and held them in hers. “I’m fine, I was just a little confused and frustrated for a moment. I’ll give him a pass this time, but next time I get a swipe.” Bob let out a pathetic laugh and let Joey pull him a little tighter. Emery sighed and grabbed my glasses. She took them and tried to wipe them off on her shirt, the grey material became filthy with sweat, blood, and dirt. She placed them back on my face gently. It was clearer now. Emery’s eyes were watery, but she wasn’t crying. Bits of hair had come out of her ponytail and were clinging to her face. Her jaw was clenched tight, and her knees were brought back up to her chest. She looked around the room and started to rock back and forth a bit. It was subtle, but her fingers were tapping in the slightest against her arm, counting from three to one over and over again. I scooted to the uninjured side of her and wrapped my arm around her. She leaned into my touch and tried to get as close as possible.

“I was at the gate when Nestor opened it. There was a screaming woman outside, he refused to let her get eaten by the swarm, so he opened the gates. They immediately tried to close them, but the gates have to completely open before they can close. Jerry was on guard duty. I tried to help him, but I fell and had to fight the ones around me. I got back up, and Jerry was attacking me. I didn’t know it was him because there was blood in my eyes. I tripped over a crate, and Nestor came to my rescue. He shot Jerry. I only realized who it was once Nestor was dragging me away. I tried, but I couldn’t save him. I’m sorry.” Emery grabbed the hand that was around her shoulder and squeezed it tight. Roy piped up.

“Oliver, it wasn’t your fault. You tried, and I’m sure that Jerry would have appreciated you trying.” I felt the tears start to drip down my face again.

“Thank you, Roy.” Emery started drumming her fingers against my hand. Bob was still sniffling. Joey started talking about how he and Roy stayed inside during the attack, trying to make something humorous come out of the situation. Roy even cracked a joke or two, but we were all too shattered to try and do more than give a weak chuckle.

…