Chapter 8: Maggie
"These are the urgent antibiotics, fever reducers, sedatives, and saline solution. Also clean suture thread and scalpel blades."
Hershel handed the note to Hanks, his hand trembling slightly. Inside, he wasn't as composed as his face suggested.
Hanks took the note and stuffed it in his tactical pocket without even looking. "Please take care of Lee and Clementine."
Maggie suddenly stepped forward, looking at her father and Hanks with determined eyes. "I'm going with you."
"Maggie! Sis!"
Hershel and Beth spoke almost simultaneously.
"Dad, Shawn is my brother!" Maggie's tone left no room for argument. "And Officer Hanks doesn't know the way. I'm more familiar with the town situation than he is."
"I can help him find things faster and cover him. Two people are safer than one."
Hanks studied Maggie closely.
Her face showed resilience far beyond her years, along with a hint of poorly concealed fear, but mostly determination.
Having a guide familiar with the terrain who also understood pharmacology would definitely improve efficiency dramatically.
"Alright." Hanks nodded, not wasting time arguing. "But you follow my orders completely. No acting on your own."
"Understood." Maggie took a deep breath and nodded firmly. She went back to her room to pull on a thick coat and grab a small revolver.
"Mr. Hershel," Hanks stood up, sliding the last magazine into his holster. "Don't worry. I'll bring Maggie back even if it costs me my life!"
I can't let you lose your son...
And your daughter!
And possibly... a future son-in-law...
Hanks dismissed the stray thoughts, then looked at Lee and Clementine. "Lee, look after Clem."
Lee nodded solemnly. "Don't worry, Officer. Unless I'm dead, no one's hurting them!"
Clementine had been hugging Hanks's leg the whole time, but this time she said nothing more.
Hanks straightened her cap, then looked at Maggie. "Ready?"
Maggie nodded hard, taking another pickup's keys from her father.
"Let's go!"
Without further hesitation, they pushed through the farmhouse door and drove off into the night.
Hershel walked to the window, watching his daughter and the young officer's retreating figures.
Beth came over too, leaning her head on her father's shoulder, eyes full of worry.
The pickup's engine rumbled low in the silent night. Its headlights cut through the pitch darkness.
Hanks gripped the steering wheel tightly, his sharp gaze sweeping both sides of the road.
Maggie sat in the passenger seat, hands clenched tight around her small revolver until her knuckles went white.
She struggled to make out the blurred scenery flying past the windows, giving Hanks directions.
"Left at the next intersection, then we're almost there." Maggie's voice was tense. "Main Street is usually quiet, but I don't know about now..."
Before she could finish, the car had just turned onto Main Street when Hanks slammed the brakes!
In the middle of the street, several crashed or abandoned cars sat askew, forming a natural barricade.
Worse, a dozen walkers wandered aimlessly between the vehicles.
Hearing the engine, they turned their heads in unison. Their clouded eyes reflected horrifying points of light in the headlights!
"ROARRR!"
The snarls instantly shattered the night's silence. The horde surged toward the pickup like sharks scenting blood!
"Reverse! Back up!" Maggie cried out.
"Too late! Hold on!" Hanks growled. Instead of reversing, he cranked the wheel hard while flooring the gas!
The pickup roared, jumping onto the sidewalk and smashing through an abandoned newsstand.
Violently bouncing, it bulldozed past the horde's flank! The screech of scraping metal was ear-splitting.
Special Driving Experience +1000
"This way! Right alley!" Maggie pointed at a narrow passage.
Without hesitation, Hanks whipped the wheel. The pickup squeezed into the alley, its body nearly scraping both walls, throwing off a shower of sparks.
Finally leaving the Main Street horde temporarily behind, both exhaled in relief.
Hanks parked the truck behind some relatively concealed dumpsters and killed the engine.
"The pharmacy's at the corner ahead, but we can't drive there. Too loud." Maggie was so tense her voice shook.
She pointed toward the alley mouth. "See that red neon sign? It's not lit, but that's Middleton Pharmacy."
Hanks followed her pointing finger.
About a hundred meters away, a two-story building stood on the corner. A roll-down shutter was closed tight. Next to it was an ordinary glass door that appeared undamaged.
"We go on foot. Stay stealthy as possible." Hanks drew his pistol and checked his ammunition. "Stay close. Don't fire unless I signal."
Maggie nodded nervously.
They slipped quietly from the vehicle, moving rapidly along the wall's shadows toward the pharmacy.
The street reeked of rotting garbage and some indescribable stench.
Occasional distant snarls and breaking glass kept their nerves taut.
Soon they reached the pharmacy's glass door.
Hanks signaled Maggie to watch their backs.
He pulled out his extendable baton, took a deep breath, then violently kicked the door open!
CRASH!
The door slammed against the inner wall with a huge bang. Inside was a storage room piled with cardboard boxes.
The lighting was dim, only a faint glow from the gap under the door leading to the store area.
The instant the door burst open, a walker in a pharmacist's white coat lunged from the shadows!
Hanks was ready. His extendable baton created afterimages, beating the thing until blood and flesh flew.
He didn't spare the collapsed corpse a second glance, turning to bark at Maggie: "Move fast! Follow the list!"
Maggie had already recovered from her shock, making a beeline for the pharmacy shelves with practiced familiarity.
"Antibiotics in the refrigerator, fever reducers and saline on the back shelves!" She quickly got into gear, rushing toward the medication area.
Hanks gripped his baton and searched the area systematically. Behind shelves, under the counter—any corner that might hide a walker.
The refrigerator's glass door had already been shattered. Maggie carefully pulled it open, stuffing several boxes of intact antibiotics into her backpack.
She grabbed a nearby canvas bag and threw in fever reducers, saline, suture thread—even grabbing extra trauma medication.
Hanks kept watch by the door, his gaze suddenly catching on a weapons case behind the counter.
He quickly walked over and opened the lid. Inside lay an unopened Beretta 92 pistol, two boxes of 9mm ammunition, and two matching magazines.
"Score!" He tucked the pistol in the small of his back and stuffed the ammo boxes in his backpack.
Just as they were about to leave, the pharmacy's glass door suddenly burst open.
"Freeze!"