“Well, I could, um,” Kate fumbled over the next steps. “We could both crawl through?”
“You’re gonna pull me up?” Nick asked.
“Shit. Isn’t there anything in this damn place you can stand on?” Kate glanced around to find every surface secured to the floor.
“What’s this?” Nick asked, walking to the far wall.
“That’s the drive-through window. If it’s like the place I used to work, there’s a hand crank next to it that will lift the gate,” Kate answered.
Nick found the hand crank, a long metal pole that descended from the top of the window, and twisted. The metal lurched against his efforts but held position. Kate approached and clicked two plastic pieces on the gate inward, releasing the lock that was in place.
Nick turned the crank again and the gate lifted, revealing a thick paned window. Sunlight poured in, and a view of the shopping center and road became visible. Nick tugged at the latch holding the window closed, and as suspected, it was locked. Moreover, the window contained thick metal bars every few inches, dashing any hopes of breaking the glass and escaping.
“There wouldn’t happen to be any keys around would there?” Nick asked.
“The pharmacists usually keep the keys on them. Or in the safe. Doubt we’re getting in there,” Kate said.
Standing back, Nick eyed the window. He assessed the structure, the thickness of the panes, and the materials surrounding the window.
The thought of their aggressor getting further away ignited sparks of rage through Nick until his body heat was near sizzling. He whipped the rifle around in his hands, aimed at the window, and squeezed the trigger until the window pane disintegrated into tiny fragments that cascaded to the ground.
Kate watched in amazement as Nick slung his rifle to his back, wrapped his hands around the metal grille, and yanked them from their brackets. Veiny biceps throbbed as he tossed the metal bars to the ground. Nick grabbed the next set and tugged at them until they loosened and gave way to his ire-fueled strength. Once the opening in the window could accommodate his frame, Nick took his rifle in hand and peered around the outside of the building. There was no sign of the assailant whose plan to trap them within the pharmacy had just been thwarted.
When the passing moments revealed a lifeless silence, Nick slid through and landed on the glass-covered pavement below. Once Kate was out of the pharmacy and back in the desolate, open world, she breathed with relief.
Nick kissed the top of her head and squeezed her hand. “There’s always a way.” His gaze was elsewhere; those calculating eyes were scanning the landscape for movement, eager for a glimpse of the culprit.
With swift, long strides, Nick walked along the street back toward the hospital. As they neared the looming, glass building, voices carried on the wind to their location. Nick started a light jog, his knees crouched and his rifle gripped in both hands.
“Stop!” Nick shouted at the group of men strolling along the sidewalk further up, just past the hospital. Nick’s M4 was trained on them, finger inside the trigger guard and ready to make new holes in their heads.
The men turned, each of them holding firearms of their own. A burly man with a scruffy beard and a beer belly that the world’s devastation had not managed to chip away at raised his shotgunand aimed it pointedly at him. The man took measured steps toward Nick. It was a show—Nick did not inspire fear in him.
Nick positioned himself in front of Kate, cutting off the guns’ direct lines to her. Stepping in front of the danger was an act he performed often. Though he had been trained to protect, he pondered the reflexive act on occasion.
Two men pushed in from behind the burly man and trained their firearms at the duo. Their stance behind the weapons was fierce while their eyes were wild and unsteady.
“Are you the ones who trapped us in the pharmacy?” Nick attempted a calm tone, though the anger slipped through. The rifle resting in his hands weighed on him. The chill of the gun’s trigger beckoned him to pull, commanding him to annihilate the pieces of trash that thought ridding the world of his presence would be an easy feat.
The burly man looked Nick up and down, taking in his authoritative posture and tactical apparel.
“You military?” the man asked.
“Answer the question!” Nick yelled, his patience as empty as the bare streets.
“Let me see that girl with you.” The man behind the shotgun lifted his chin in Kate’s direction. Another one of the men leaned his head to see past Nick. The rifle was no longer beckoning. It was screaming, crying out to be used. If these strangers took one more step toward the two of them, Nick planned on pulling the trigger until every round was spent. He may take a bullet in the chaos. It would be worth it.
“Absolutely fucking not,” Nick’s voice darkened.
“Ain’t she that girl that fell from the window?” a man asked, standing with a revolver in his hand behind the burly man.
“The one we took to the hospital?” the third man asked, stepping forward and trying to peer around Nick’s body. Kate stepped out from behind Nick, lowering her hands.
“Yeah, that was me! You all live in the apartments back there?” Kate said. The men lowered their guns. Nick’s arm jutted out to push her back. Kate batted him away as her fear dissolved.
“Holy shit, it is you! We thought you were a goner!” The man with the revolver laughed.
“What can I say? I’m quite resilient,” Kate mused.
