Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story-Chapter 71: The Jaws of Life

My exit secured, I ran to my car.

I had a spare set of keys inside the wheel well of the rear tire, and I dove down to get it. Everything seemed so calm and peaceful outside, but I knew I couldn’t trust it.

Even if there weren’t any of those creatures out here, there was still a lot of shit happening. The ER was busy all day, and that wouldn’t happen if everything were hunky-dory.

Gripping the baggy holding my keys, I ripped it down and quickly pressed the button to unlock my door.

Nothing happened.

Frantically, I continued to press the button over and over again, hoping that it would somehow work the tenth time I tried it.

Pausing, I quickly removed the emergency key from the fob... yes, that was actually a thing... and unlocked the door that way.

I opened the door and quickly shut it behind me, locking the door manually as soon as I was in.

I closed my eyes and took in a few deep breaths, willing to calm myself down. My entire body was shaking uncontrollably, and there was no way I could drive like this.

Realizing that I didn’t have the hours it would take to fully collect myself, I pushed my key fob into the ignition and turned it.

Nothing.

That was impossible. This was a new car, one that I made sure to maintain even better than a mechanic. There was no way that this car would not start the first time.

I removed the key and then stuck it in again, turning it a second time and waiting for something to happen.

Still nothing.

I didn’t have the time to wait around and figure out why my car wouldn’t work.

I needed to move and move fast.

Home was a three-hour walk away from here; the cabin was at least four and a half.

But the cabin had more of what I needed, and I technically outfitted it for just this circumstance. I would go there and figure out what was happening before I made my next move.

I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and turned it on.

Or tried to.

Nothing lit up; it was dead.

"Fuck!" I screamed as loud as I could. I knew it was a dumb move, but I needed to release the pressure inside of me, and that was the best way to do it.

"It’s okay, you can do it," I muttered to myself.

I leaned forward until I could move my go bag off of my back and placed it in front of me. Moving the seat back so I could have more room, I dug into my bag.

I knew what was in here by heart, but I also didn’t want to take any chances. Did I think someone else was crawling through the ceilings of the hospital, found my bag, and took stuff from it? No.

Was it possible? Yes.

I pulled out a sheathed hunting knife that I had bought myself a year ago and put it in the center console of the car.

I continued to go through the bag until I got to the ziplock holding my extra clothes. There were two outfits in each of my go bags, and I would need this one now.

I opened it up and took out the black cargo pants and long-sleeved black combat shirt. Cheng Bo Jing had given me both, even though he didn’t know exactly why I needed them. In fact, he had given me fifteen outfits by the time everything was said and done.

The best part about Cheng Bo Jing was that when I asked him for something, he never questioned why I needed it. It just appeared the next day.

Smiling for the first time since I started work, I quickly stripped out of my clothes and into the combat uniform. I reached in front of the passenger seat and pulled out the combat boots that were waiting there.

Dressed, I quickly threw everything into the bag and took out a few smaller knives, throwing them into my pant pockets. The hunting knife hung on the belt of my pants within easy reach.

I also took out the 9mm handgun that Si Dong had given me in secret. He had taken the time to teach me how to use it without anyone knowing about it and even gifted me with a back holster for it on my birthday.

I put the gun in the holster and then looked around. I wasn’t going to leave anything behind if I could.

Happy that nothing was left, I checked the windows to make sure that nothing had snuck up on me while I was distracted.

Seeing that I was still alone, I quietly got out of the car and walked around to the trunk.

Using the key instead of the button, I popped the trunk and grabbed my second go bag as well as the emergency medical kit.

I hooked the medical kit to the go bag on my back and then put the second bag on my front. If I came across anyone, the packs would be able to protect my front and my back at the same time.

Satisfied that I had everything I needed in order to be able to get to the cabin, I left the trunk open and started walking out of the staff parking lot.

The streets were quiet, more so than I thought they would be at this time of the day.

Mind you, I had no idea what time of the day it was, but the sun was just starting to set, which meant that it was only around 5:30/6.

"Help me!" the scream was loud enough to startle me from my thoughts, and I looked around to see where the voice was coming from.

There was a woman trapped in her car just off to my right.

I stopped. Common decency dictated that I go over and help her, but common sense dictated that I didn’t waste my time on a stranger who had no hope of living.

The front and back ends of her car were crushed thanks to two other vehicles. Clearly, this was part of the pile-up that the paramedic was talking about.

But even if it weren’t, she would need the jaws of life to get her out of that mangled heap of metal.

And then an ambulance to take her to the hospital.

Where she would be eaten by whatever creatures were currently in there.