What was harder was when their path was blocked by an injured person. Sienna couldn't bring herself to push someone who was unconscious or worse out of the way - she might hurt them worse then they already were - so she guided the others around them.
On a normal day it would have taken less than five minutes to walk from Costa to the Walk-in Centre but in the chaos it took closer to fifteen and by the time they reached it Sienna's stomach was roiling. This was taking too long. What if Lucy was already dead or too far gone to save."
"It doesn't look like we will find any help here," Charlotte said as the rounded a bend and spotted the clinic ahead.
She was right, Sienna realised. The front of the Primary Care Centre had been blown out too. Which hadn't stopped the doctors there from trying to help. There was a basic first aid and triage centre set up outside but they were definitely swamped by people who had got there first. As they wheeled Lucy towards them a harried looking nurse ran up. He took one look at Lucy and called for some Oxygen.
"I'm afraid that we only have enough to give it her for a few minutes before we have to give it to someone else." He knelt down and took her pulse. "She's holding in there. Hopefully help will arrive soon. What's taking so long?"
"They're waiting for protective gear," Wendy said. "And we'll carry on once we have to pass the Oxygen on. We were told we can get help if we reach the perimeter."
"You probably can," he said. "But you'd be better staying here where we can keep an eye on her in case her condition worsens."
The three girls looked at each other and then at Lucy who did seem a bit better on the Oxygen. At least her breathing wasn't as laboured and her colour looked better,
"What do you want to do, Lu?" Wendy asked.
"Carry... on.." Lucy managed to gasp out after a few moments. "This.. stuff... horrible..."
"Okay, I guess that's what we'll do then," Wendy said. "Let's wait until they need the oxygen again and then go."
Lucy didn't try to speak again instead she nodded tremulously and nodded. The nurse brought a blanket and tucked it around her.
"At least let a doctor have a look at you first. There may be something else they can give you to help."
Lucy nodded again and the nurse hurried off to fetch one. A few moments later he returned with a young black doctor who knelt beside the wheelchair, He examined Lucy thoroughly and listened to her breathing then fetched a syringe.
"Are you allergic to any medication?" he asked and smiled when Lucy shook her head, "Good I'm going to give you an injection of a drug called Prednisolone, it should help you brea..." He broke off as Lucy flapped her hands at him.
"A-athlete," she panted.
"Hmm... well I doubt you'll be competing anywhere after this for at least a few weeks, but if you need a TUI I'll give evidence."
Lucy frowned before nodding and letting him give her the injection.
"You can have the oxygen for another breath or two but we'll need it back soon. We've had a few cases like yours and we don't have enough tanks to go around."
Lucy nodded and sucked in another lungful of Oxygen before handing the mask back to the nurse.
The doctor squeezed her hand and handed her a note with the dosage of the injection he'd given her on it. "Good Luck."
"Thanks!" Sienna led their group on towards where they'd been told they'd find help outside the fog covered area. It was only about five more minutes before she realised that visibility had improved slightly and there was less masonry in their path. She breathed a sigh pf relief and motioned them to speed up slightly though it was still slow going. As the fog became mist Lucy's breathing eased noticeably. Sienna just wished that her head would stop aching as well.
"Go back!" A woman came running out of the mist ahead She was barefoot and had a panicked look on her face. "He's gone crazy!" She cast a fearful look over shoulder and darted past them with one more frightened "Run away!" before disappearing into the fog again.
"What the-" Sienna began but stopped as a man appeared from the same direction the woman had come from. He had a strange shambling gait like a zombie from a movie but she could see him breathing. As he approached she could see that he was drooling and his face was fallen on one side. The woman had said something about a crazy guy but if this was him then Sienna rather though he looked more like he was having a stroke. She was wondering when the woman had been terrified of him when he suddenly roared incoherently and charged at them.
Sienna didn't even pause to think before she leapt between him and her friends. She had no odea what she was doing so she followed her instincts and twisted around digging her elbow into his solar plexus, He grunted and fell backwards. He scrabbled around on the ground for a moment before regaining his feet and roaring again.
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