Fic: Levicity AKA Planet of the Dead - Kirk/McCoy (5/7)
Title: Levicity AKA Planet of the Dead (5/7)
Author: blurhawaii
Pairing: Kirk/McCoy
Rating: PG-13. Bit of swearing, blood and zombies.
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.
Summary: Written for the st_xi_kink for this prompt - Zombies. A planet of zombies.
Word count: Around 6700.
Previous part: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Part 5
It was a slow day in the sickbay, and McCoy found himself hoping that it would pick up. He wasn’t asking for an engineering catastrophe which usually resulted in twenty or so people pouring through the doors complaining about varying degrees of burns, but just something that would keep his hands busy. Every time he stopped, his mind drifted to things not medically relevant and when he pulled himself out of it he was normally standing in the same position, one arm folded against his chest while the other rested in front of his frowning lips. Thoughts of the planet they were circling plagued him, and they worried him.
He was debating whether or not to contact Jim, thinking he could pass it off as genuine curiosity and not worry, when someone walked through the sickbay doors. The swishing noise notified him more than actually being able to spot him as his eyes were glazed over with thought.
McCoy felt slightly guilty about his earlier thoughts, not really realising that wishing for more work would mean people getting hurt in the process. Evidently, there had been a bit of a mishap in engineering, not really surprising in reality so McCoy didn’t class it as some kind of premonition, and Ensign Ricky had procured a few rather nasty looking burns to his hands and arms. McCoy recognised the smell of burnt hair and flesh straight away sadly and already had the skin regenerator in his hands before he reached him.
Ensign Ricky hissed and grumbled when McCoy set to work. The feeling of having your skin re-stitch itself and grow before your eyes wasn’t a very comfortable one, McCoy knew that, but it still didn’t stop him from berating the ensign and telling him to stop fidgeting. It didn’t take long to fix and pretty soon McCoy found himself standing alone in the sickbay again. Chapel was elsewhere, probably using the free time to relax, something McCoy began to envy.
He waited another ten minutes. It was odd that only one person was hurt in engineering, McCoy had expected a few more people to dribble in a bit later. People usually thought the injury was fine and that they could handle it, but eventually they realise that it still felt like it was on fire and maybe might be more serious than they originally suspected. McCoy stuck around for the stubborn people but they never arrived.
McCoy yawned and stretched his arms above his head. Bones popped and muscles pulled taut and he finally convinced himself that he needed a break as well. He found Chapel, who was sitting back in a chair with a PDA resting on her legs, to let her know where he was, if a medical emergency occurred he didn’t want her thinking he had wandered off somewhere.
Once safely in his office, McCoy let the tension drop from his shoulders. The cot tucked away in the corner of the room began to look incredibly comfy and McCoy was drawn to it. He rarely used it; it was just for times when he worked through the night and couldn’t be bothered to blindly shuffle through the halls to find his quarters. It was mainly for convenience and not meant for a full nights sleep. It was just as stiff and lumpy as McCoy remembered but at the moment he simply didn’t care; he emotionally sank into it, although physically it remained firm and solid under his weight.
He wasn’t necessarily tired, but felt lethargic and slow from the boredom. His eyes closed involuntarily as it was the respected response when lying down. One knee was pulled up with his foot planted on the thin sheets he used for covers, and his arm was thrown over his forehead as though it was trying to cram all the thoughts of Jim and Levicity back into his head. He was beginning to succeed in clearing his head and finally relaxing when he heard a light tapping at the door. McCoy reluctantly pulled himself up from the cot, swaying from sudden head rush, and made his way towards the door; he couldn’t remember locking it but apparently he had, otherwise whoever it was wouldn’t be knocking.
McCoy was threading a hand through his hair when the door opened and revealed Uhura standing on the other side. She didn’t look surprised by him being so dishevelled and simply nodded at him in greeting.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your resting Doctor, but I thought, maybe you could use some company. Or more to the point, that you could be some company for me.” She smiled softly at him, and McCoy wordlessly moved to the side gesturing that she could come inside.
“You’re not interrupting anything. I don’t think it would be possible for me to fall asleep at the moment, even if I wanted to.”
She elegantly stepped into the room and stopped near his desk. McCoy nodded repeatedly when she indicated to the chair, silently asking if it was alright for her to sit down. The grace in her movements was infinitely different to the way Jim had settled into the chair the day before.
“I’d offer you a drink, but all I have in here is hard whisky and brandy.”
“It’s all right. I didn’t come here to get drunk.”
“That makes a change. The only other person who comes in here is Jim, and that’s only because he knows it’s easier to get booze from me than it is from Scotty.”
Talking about Jim reminded McCoy of why he hid himself away in his office in the first place. Jim was still down on Levicity, doing only God knows what, while he and everyone else were stuck up here waiting. It suddenly clicked in his mind why Uhura was here. It wasn’t just Jim that had gone on the suicide mission; Spock was also there, following his Captain like always. Uhura was probably just as worried as he was, and also just like him was unsure how to deal with it.
McCoy felt strangely awkward about Uhura tracking him down to talk. It was normal for her to worry, she was involved with Spock, and it would be more disconcerting if she didn’t care. Though, why was he worrying? He and Jim certainly weren’t involved. They were best friends, not lovers despite everyone vehemently saying so. Was it normal for him to worry about Jim an equal amount as someone worrying about a significant other? Probably not.
“I can see why the Captain went; it’s just his nature to jump into things head first and not think about what he might be leaving behind, but I can’t seem to figure out why Spock went with him.” Uhura searched McCoy’s face while they glossed over the truths about Jim. “Normally, he’d just talk the Captain out of the seriously stupid ideas, but this time he just went with him.”
McCoy dropped into his chair, then quickly shuffled around when he realised how lazy his position must have looked to Uhura who was still sitting prim and proper.
“He probably heard what happened when I tried to talk him out of it. He probably thought it would just be easier to give in.” McCoy knew how un-Spock-like that sounded, but he never had been very experienced at comforting people. This was the best he could do. “He’s most likely using all his logic to keep Jim from martyring himself down there.” Uhura smiled and agreed that that was a very logical idea. “At least this way, we have a better chance of getting them both back safely.”
They each calculated the likelihood of both of them coming back to the Enterprise scratch-free, and the figures didn’t really comfort them.
Someone was suddenly screaming McCoy’s name, and he figured the shrill noise could only have been Chapel. McCoy floundered for a second, still lost in numbers and percentages, before finally regaining sure footing again. Uhura had also shot to her feet, though a lot smoother than McCoy had. They rushed out of his office; McCoy feeling grateful that he hadn’t drank any whisky that would be dulling his reactions right now. Chapel was still shouting but it was less panicked, the shock of whatever it’s about gone but the supposed danger still remained.
They found her in the morgue, back against the wall near the doorway, looking as though she was trying to move through it. She was staring wide-eyed at the wall of metal doors and trays in front of her. McCoy could hear an irregular thumping noise, which he guessed was his heart. The shouting had obviously scared him more than he though it had.
“There’s something in there.” Chapel whispered.
Apparently McCoy was wrong. The thumping wasn’t his heart; it was whatever was trying to fight its way out of the freezers. He recognised that the noise sounded like something hitting metal and couldn’t be coming from him.
“It’s coming from Williams.” McCoy whispered back.
From the doorway, he could see the thick metal door, to the chamber Williams’ body was lying in, shaking from the force of something hitting it. The card stating Williams’ name and time of death, written in McCoy’s own scrawl, was shifting and jumping about in the slot it was in on the door.
“Maybe he’s still alive.” Uhura breathed, reminding McCoy that she was standing right next to him.
“That’s impossible. His heart stopped. I was there.” McCoy sent Uhura an anxious look. “He’s been declared dead for over 12 hours now.”
“Well, if it’s not him, then what is it?”
McCoy didn’t answer Uhura because he had no idea what to say. It was impossible that Williams could be alive. Medicine had certainly improved over the years but they hadn’t gone so far that they could bring people back to life. That was still classed as fantasy.
The thumping slowed until it eventually stopped. The silence that followed wasn’t much better. McCoy stepped into the morgue, leaving Uhura at the door and Chapel at the wall. He advanced on the chamber that Williams lay in; his hand reaching for the handle, and he heard Chapel moving behind him. She took his place in the doorway next to Uhura and waited tensely.
It hissed when he opened it just like it had done when he shut it. Williams’ body had been covered in a white sheet and, when he wheeled the slab out, McCoy noticed that the sheet had slipped off the man’s arm, showing the equally as white skin underneath. Any signs of movement were nonexistent now, and the body was lying perfectly still.
McCoy risked a look back at Uhura and Chapel, they were watching with interest, before he lifted his hand to grasp the sheet. McCoy’s hand was centimetres away from Williams’ face, fingers ready to peel the sheet back, when a pale hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. His first reaction was to pull back so he did, dragging the attached hand with him. The previously dead weight hit the ground with a shudder, the sheet falling away from the body. It was definitely Williams who lay on the ground with his hand wrapped around McCoy’s wrist, but his eyes held a haunted look that McCoy never wanted to remember.
Williams must have been trying to use McCoy to lift himself off the ground, because he kept pulling at him and tried to bring McCoy’s arm closer to him. McCoy tried his best to help but the shock was too much. His limbs had turned to jelly and he was having trouble holding himself up let alone someone else’s weight as well.
McCoy had somehow managed to convince himself that this really was Williams. He couldn’t explain it, but he was alive and well enough to move about. This train of thought was going so well and it began to make sense to McCoy until he heard the growl rip its way out of Williams’ throat. McCoy placed it in an instant, the last time he heard a growl like that was yesterday from that thing in the supply closet.
McCoy tore his hand away just in time, barely missing the scrape of teeth on his skin. Williams toppled over on to the ground again, now that he had nothing holding him up. Chapel gasped behind him, McCoy had almost forgotten they were here. He backed away slowly being careful not to take his eyes off Williams, who was crawling across the morgue floor towards him. His back hit the wall just to the side of the door, and he slide sideways until he was standing in front of Chapel and Uhura. As though he was guarding them, he placed a hand on either side of the doorframe, making sure his body blocked the only exit from the morgue.
They watched in near silence, excusing McCoy’s rapid breathing, as Williams attempted to drag his body across the floor. He wasn’t moving very fast, and had to stop a few times because his arms gave way beneath him, but he slowly but surely crept towards McCoy. When it was close enough, it reached out a shaky hand again, grasping weakly at the bottom of McCoy’s leg. He tried to wrestle it free, but Williams held on surprisingly tight. Figuring that the passive way wasn’t getting him anywhere, McCoy kicked. His boot hit Williams square in the face, and if this really was Williams it would have broken his nose, but this thing just kept coming. McCoy kicked blindly again, with more strength this time, and it knocked Williams back enough for McCoy to get out of his reach.
He felt another hand on his arm, and was about to whip around to punch whatever it was, until he realised it was Chapel. She pushed a hypospray into his hand and closed his fingers around it. The metal felt just as cold as Williams’ hand, it was unnerving to say the least.
Williams was still struggling to get up after being kicked in the face repeatedly. He was on his back and was thrashing about uncontrollably. McCoy thought this would be the best opportunity to get closer without Williams noticing. He moved towards Williams’ feet with the hypospray poised in his hand; when he was within reach he dropped and grabbed Williams’ knee pushing his leg down and straight then stabbed him in the thigh. Williams barely recognised the pain, he was too busy twisting and curling around on the floor. McCoy dropped the now useless hypospray which clattered noisily and scrambled back to the door.
They waited in perfect silence. Williams should have slowed by now; his movement should have become sluggish and he should have been stilling, but he wasn’t. Instead of stopping he seemed to thrash more. He had eventually managed to lift himself into a sitting position and was trying to crawl at them again, so McCoy reluctantly conceded that there was nothing they could do. He shuffled both Chapel and Uhura out of the doorway, back into the sickbay, and followed suit after he locked the morgue door behind him.
“The sedative didn’t work.” Chapel sounded breathless and McCoy couldn’t blame her, the amount of drugs in that hypospray was enough to put a man in a coma, yet he could still hear Williams moving in the next room.
“I know.” The locked door to the morgue shook when Williams slammed into it. McCoy felt thankful that this door was thicker and stronger than the flimsy looking door that held the attacker in a supply closet down on the planet’s surface. “How many other bodies do we have in there?”
Chapel was obviously confused but she answered McCoy after struggling for words for a few seconds.
“Ur…two, Evans and Call, both being taken to their families. Why?”
“I don’t know how this thing works,” he gestured vaguely in the direction of the morgue behind him, “but I don’t want an epidemic on our hands.”
Another bang and McCoy cringed at the force behind it. Williams seemed to physically stronger than the attacker had been but he still held hope in the door staying solid. He caught Chapel’s eye and pointed a, splayed fingered, hand at her.
“Do not open the door.”
McCoy then marched out of the sickbay. Uhura nodded at Chapel, glanced at the door, double checking that it was still safely closed, then followed after him. She managed to catch up with him before the turbo lift doors closed on her. They didn’t say anything to each other as neither one of them knew what to say. What do you say to someone who was just attacked by a man who was, very recently, dead? Uhura, for once, was at a loss for words.
The doors opened revealing the bridge. It was unusually quiet and empty without the Captain and Science Officer. Jim being the loud one, and Spock inevitably being a person that took up space. Chekov and Sulu were still at their stations and Scotty was doing his job as the makeshift Captain while Jim was off planet side. He took his temporary job with pride, and had even tried to emulate the way Jim would lounge in the chair; either that or he was just genuinely bored. His eyes lit up when McCoy and Uhura stalked onto the bridge, all business-like. They, on the other hand, didn’t even glance at Scotty and went straight to Uhura’s station. Scotty twirled in the chair to watch them curiously.
“Something exciting’s happening.”
Uhura dropped into the chair, with less grace than she had in his office, and pressed the earpiece to her ear, pushing various blinking buttons as she did so. McCoy stood waiting tensely, leaning forward so that his hands rested on the surface of her station. He stared as she worked, but she ignored him and kept her eyes on the flashing lights instead. She had to reach around McCoy’s arm a few times to flick a switch or push a button, but he didn’t back away. Uhura guessed, judging by the defiant look in his eyes, that he didn’t even realise he was in the way. She pushed as many sequences of buttons as she could remember, but none of them seemed to work.
“There’s nothing but static. It’s not getting through.”
McCoy brought his fist down heavily on the station and the fierce noise was enough to inform Scotty, and the rest of the bridge, of the severity of the situation. He pushed himself away from station and began to pace, he tried not to think how it had become second nature to him.
Scotty leapt up from the Captains chair, almost crashing into McCoy who had unwittingly wandered into his path, and left in the turbo lift. He didn’t say where he was heading, and no one asked him. Sulu, who still wasn’t completely up to date with what was going on but willing to help nonetheless, offered to drift closer to the planet, his reasoning being that maybe the Captain’s signal would be stronger. Uhura nodded, not seeing how it could make matters worse.
McCoy’s pacing brought him to his usual spot on the bridge. He’d lost count of how many hours he had spent standing behind and just to the side of the Captains chair. The amount of times he had asked Jim why he had been ordered to the bridge when nothing was wrong was also uncountable high. Every time he would threaten to go back to the sickbay where his presence would be more useful, and Jim would grin and laugh at him saying he was free to do so. He rarely left though, only if an emergency occurred, because leaving felt like he had lost the battle, with Jim’s laughter ringing in his ears as he walked away.
The chair was empty now, smaller looking as well without Jim’s commanding persona filling it. McCoy placed his hands on the back, grasping the material like he had done so many times before. His hands felt a bit lost when they didn’t brush against Jim’s back or shoulder, depending on how low he had slouched. It wasn’t that he was worried; their missions seemed to have a habit of going wrong, but they always turned it around and survived in the end. Then again, they’d never gone up against the flesh eating walking dead before, so maybe their past records had no significance in this matter.
Scotty’s voice chirped up over the intercom. All heads on the bridge turned towards the noise.
“Strangely, the transporters are still working fine, but with no working communicators we can’t contact the Captain. I’m afraid they’re stuck there until we can pinpoint their location and lock on to a signal.”
McCoy leaned over the back of the chair, stretching for one of the buttons on the arm that would allow him to talk to Scotty.
“So what do you suppose we do? I doubt they can do much down there, so we’re going to have to fix this.”
“I’m not sure. I guess we could run scans; there can’t be much life down there so they’d be pretty easy to find. Though, we still wouldn’t be able to beam them up because the scans aren’t nearly good enough. We can narrow their location down to a general area, but that’s about it.”
“That’s not good enough Mr Scott. We need them back now.” McCoy tried to keep his voice level as he knew others were listening to him, but it still ended up sounded a bit frantic.
“I’ll do what I can Doctor, but they will still be stuck there for quite a while.”
Scotty was being nothing but logical, but McCoy still felt the urge to reach through the intercom to throttle the man. He knew it wouldn’t help, and would in fact only prolong the wait, but he couldn’t help but think it. Thankfully, science meant that he couldn’t so he instead glared daggers at the intercom on the wall where Scotty’s disembodied voice was coming from. In the back of McCoy’s head a voice reminded him that he was not worried, but he was starting to doubt it.
“I’ve got it! This should work!”
Everyone turned from the intercom to Chekov, who was flapping his hands in front of him in triumph. Sulu had been the only one not watching the intercom and had seen Chekov hurriedly tapping and calculating with his slim fingers while everyone else was busy.
“What exactly have you got?” McCoy questioned roughly, while still holding the button down on the chair so Scotty could also hear.
“A way to help the Captain and Mr Spock.” Sulu, who had leaned across the console to catch a glimpse of what Chekov had been working on, had to dodge Chekov’s arm when he gestured along with his words, narrowly missing a finger in the eye. “The planet is emitting an electrical field that doesn’t mix with the frequency we use for our communicators. All we need to do is modify a communicator a bit and then it should work on the planet’s surface.”
“I’ll be there in minute.” Scotty voiced over the intercom, allowing McCoy to finally let go of the button.
When he made it to the bridge he doubled checked Chekov’s calculations. They mumbled and gestured between them for a couple of minutes, everyone else just silently watching, until they seemed to come to an agreement.
“Ok, this should be easy enough. We’ll have to modify two communicators, one for the surface and one for here. Then comes the hard bit, someone’s going to have to beam down and locate them as it’s the only way we can get their signal, but we’ll worry about that once we get this done.”
Scotty and Chekov then left for engineering, throwing calculations that only they understood at each other. Sulu changed course back to their original orbit, seeing as distance wasn’t the problem anymore. Uhura remained at her station, attempting every channel of frequency. While McCoy stood behind the Captains chair, already adamant about being the one who would beam down. He stood for a few minutes as others worked around him, before finally convincing himself to go back to sickbay. Williams was still waiting for him, and he knew that he should go back just to check Chapel was okay.
---
Jim had already come to terms with being stuck on the planet, he didn’t like the idea but there wasn’t much he could do about it at the moment. The man, or Ash as he had introduced himself, took unwanted pity on their situation and explained that he had a place where they could stay out of harms way while they figured out a solution. Jim thanked him and they followed him through some alleyways and backstreets they wouldn’t have gone down otherwise.
Before they had left the area surrounding the hospital, Jim had motioned towards the battered body of the attacker on the ground, wondering what they should do with it. Ash had shook his head at his concern, then approached the body, leaning over it slightly as though his actions were about to contradict themselves. Jim found he had been mistaken when all Ash ended up doing was spitting on the corpse and giving it a hard kick for good measure, instead of lifting it off the road like Jim though he was going to do. The, now twice lifeless, body jolted when the boot connected with it, sending it rolling slightly on its side. Ash started down the road then and Jim had no choice but to follow as he didn’t want to get lost. Spock trailed after as well, slightly slower as he was tinkering with the communicator at the same time.
They were walking for no longer than ten minutes when they reached a large empty parking lot at the end of a road. They had ventured into the more rural side of the city now; the buildings were growing smaller in size and grandeur and were starting to look a little rundown in places. The building tucked away at the back of the parking lot was the biggest building Jim had seen, in the rural area anyway. The side facing them was made out of wide windows and a set of glass doors, while the others were solid and bricked up. If it weren’t for the windows it would have been a perfect place to hide out in; strongly built, squished at the end of a road and the only way to approach it was through a, very out in the open, parking lot, which from the building you had a clear view of.
Ash stalked towards it with confidence, heading for the entrance doors, while Jim and Spock followed at a less enthusiastic pace. There wasn’t a single car in the parking lot, something which appeared odd to Jim as abandoned cars seemed pretty common back in the city. It didn’t seem significant enough to openly question, though, so Jim dropped it. Spock either hadn’t noticed the lack of cars, or it simply didn’t bother him, because he kept walking without a pause or a curious glance.
Once they had slipped inside, Jim realised what kind of a building it was. It was filled with brightly coloured, mostly bare, aisles with a row of tills near the doors. It was a supermarket. The large windows meant that it was lit up enough so that Jim could see the other end of the aisle he stood at, and the set up also meant he could make out the edge of the parking lot from the other side of the room.
Ash passed Jim as he wandered down an aisle with very little in, making his way towards a wooden door at the opposite end to the entrance. He pushed it open with trepidation, he didn’t enter the room on the other side until the door was fully open and he was sure they were safe.
It was dark inside, the only window was boarded up, but it was so small that Jim thought it wouldn’t have provided much light anyway. The only light in the room was streaming through the open door and it showed the lived-in pile of sheets in the corner which was obviously a temporary bed for Ash. The rest of the room was blacked out and looked endless. Jim waited in the doorframe, not trusting the unknown. Ash propped up the bat against the wall near his bed and turned back to Jim with a half smile on his face.
“I think it would be best to talk out there. The lack of electricity means things get pretty dark without windows.”
They returned to the brighter side of the building where Spock stood waiting for them. Ash went over to where the tills were lined up and sat down on the floor, resting with his back to one of them and his legs drawn up. Jim caught Spock’s rare look of discomfort when Ash stared expectantly at them. Jim dropped down onto the floor not really caring, while it took a second for Spock to awkwardly drop to a crouch. Smiling at Spock’s reluctance, Jim shifted so he was more relaxed and then sent the smile to Ash.
“You were quite lucky to find a place like this to hide out. It’s fairly secure and you have enough supplies it would seem.”
“I was more than lucky, this was a miracle. I didn’t even know this place existed, but I guess a lot of people didn’t know about it either because it wasn’t ransacked when I found it.” Ash pointed towards to aisles behind Jim. “Everything’s still pretty much intact which is surprising. There is even a gun still hidden behind one of the counters.” He changed the direction he was pointing and brought his thumb up to point over his shoulder instead. “I haven’t used it yet, haven’t even touched it. I thought I’d save it for when something big happens.”
Spock shuffled his feet, his legs having already fallen asleep from the position he was in. Jim grinned when Spock finally gave up and sat on the dirty floor with his legs crossed.
“It would be imperative that you don’t use it. The air on this planet is highly unstable and the unbalanced reaction of gun fire would result in our probable deaths.” Spock managed to get out after finding a more comfortable sitting arrangement.
Ash frowned in puzzlement, and Jim couldn’t help but be reminded of Bones. He thought he should step in to save him from his confusion.
“What he means is guns equal a big fucking explosion.”
An expression of dawning realisation spread over Ash’s face and he nodded fervently, proving that he now understood.
“So it’s a good thing I didn’t give in to temptation and try it out then?”
“Monumentally, yes.” Jim smiled in reassurance, as Spock’s calculating glare wasn’t helping to quell the man’s apparent fears.
“I guess the cricket bat will have to do for now. Oh well, it seems to do the trick so far.”
Jim looked over at Spock, who was clutching the broken communicator in his hand. He couldn’t get it to work, and had explained to Jim on the journey that it would be up to Enterprise to help them.
“You said you had seen survivors. Do you know where any of them might be?"
The more serious topic sobered Ash again.
“Not for certain, no. But the woman that passed by last might still be around here somewhere. She was heading north, that about all I know.”
“Well, if she’s here, we’re going to find her. We need to help as many people as we can.”
“What about yourselves? You’re stuck here, why not worry about that?”
“My crew is smart. They’ll think of something.”
Jim was sure of that. His voice was full of conviction. Besides, he knew that Bones would be a barely containable tornado of rage up there; he would be trying everything to get Jim back just so he could rub in his face how right he was. His crew would have to figure something out just so that they could get Bones off their backs. He had no worries about being stuck on the planet for a little while; he was free to focus on helping the survivors.
“Well, I guess I could help, seeing as you are rescuing me and all.”
“It is the least you could do.” Jim grinned.
Ash pulled himself to his feet, peering out of the windows at the steadily retreating sun. He turned back to Jim and Spock who were still seated on the floor, and put his hands firmly on his hips.
“I’m guessing you’re going to want to do this right away, aren’t you?” He continued without waiting for an answer, he already knew what it was anyway. “If we go now then there is still about two or three hours of sunlight left, but after that we have to stop. It’s best to stay inside when the sun sets. The zombies like to travel at night.”
“How many are there?” Jim was brushing down his trousers as he spoke, standing in front of Ash, eyes now level.
“What, zombies? The most I’ve seen in one place is about a hundred. This was back when I explored at night. They were crowded around one of those office buildings in the city, all of them looking up.” Ash mimicked what they must have looked like, craning his neck back to stare at the ceiling. “Standing perfectly still like statues. I figured there must have been people holed up inside because they stayed most of the night. I watched, but gave up before they did; they don’t get hunger pains or ever need to take a piss, so they have an advantage.” Ash crossed his arms over his red t-shirt clad chest and leaned back with his hip resting on he counter. “I went back in the day and they were lying there on the floor. Must have jumped. People do anything to avoid being eaten by these zombies, which includes killing yourself.”
The tone had certainly darkened, and the sun had dipped behind a cloud and the shop literally darkened as well. Ash looked down at his feet, arms still crossed protectively over his chest. Jim stepped forward and clapped a hand on Ash’s arm, startling him out of his flashback.
“We’re going to help who we can.”
“To do that, we are going to need weapons, Captain.”
Jim turned away from Ash to face Spock. He had to glance down when he noticing he was still sitting cross-legged on the floor, despite his earlier reservations.
“Spock’s right. We’re going to need to find some sort of weapon before we can leave, just in case.”
“You’re in luck. This is right where I found my trusty cricket bat.”
Ash tore off down the aisles, glancing every which way looking for something. Jim offered a hand to Spock, and helped lift him to his feet before he began curiously following the many turns and twists Ash did to find what he was looking for.
“Here we are, sporting goods.” Ash exclaimed from the next aisle over from the one Jim was in.
He rounded the corner to find Ash with his arms framing a selection of sporting paraphernalia.
“The baseball bats are lighter, which would be better if we’re going to walking for quite a while.”
Jim’s eyes honed in on the varying bats, noting that the baseball bats were metal. He spotted a familiar cricket bat, though this one was less weathered and even a few tennis rackets and footballs.
“They are a bit primitive.” Spock rumbled, having just appeared next to Jim.
Jim laughed at Spock’s concerns and reached forward to grab one of the baseball bats to pass to him and then one for himself. They were indeed quite light, though definitely sturdy enough to do some damage if force were put behind them.
“Just aim for the head. It seems to work so far.”
---
Scotty and Chekov returned to the bridge about an hour later. Sulu and Uhura were still there working, and McCoy was already back after having just received the notice that they were ready a few minutes ago. In his hands were two communicators, they looked exactly the same as they usually did, but McCoy knew that they were much more important than that. These were the things that were going to save Jim’s life. As well as himself of course.
“Now that’s done, we need to find someone willing to go down there.”
“I’ll do it.” McCoy spoke quickly, wanting to get his answer in before anyone else had a chance. “They might be hurt for all we know, it makes sense that I should go.”
Everyone else nodded at McCoy, not wanting to say anything against him. They could see how worked up he was getting already and they didn’t want to add to it. Uhura did glance sceptically at him, realising that in his state he would be tempted to make rash decisions. She didn’t blame him though, as she recognised the wild look in his eyes as something similar to her own. She knew McCoy was worried about the Captain, but she was also worried about Spock. She was about to suggest something when McCoy beat her to it.
“I think it would be best if you stayed here. If there is a chance the communicators don’t work, we need someone here who can work around that.”
Uhura reluctantly withdrew, knowing McCoy was right. Sulu talked up next, grabbing everyone’s attention.
“I’ll go with you. You’re going to need someone who can at least hold their own in a fight.”
McCoy scowled but agreed.
It took a couple of minutes to make it to the transporter room, Scotty was running through the plan several times, making sure that both McCoy and Sulu understood. McCoy had the working communicator strapped to belt securely. His hand kept guiding towards it subconsciously, but he would quickly snatch it back when he realised where his hand was resting.
Sulu was basically bouncing as he walked. McCoy kept sending him side long looks, frowning at the other’s energy. He felt an urge to explain to Sulu what he had seen when he had been on the planet in vivid, gory detail and then watch how his excitement would quickly disappear, but thought against it. He didn’t want Sulu to chicken out and leave him going to planet alone. His dire need to have Jim back safe wasn’t strong enough to make his fearless in the face of death.
Suddenly, they were standing on the transporter pads, waiting for Scotty to deem everything safe. McCoy felt light and empty without his medical equipment weighing him down, it wasn’t a feeling he was use to. He had convinced himself that it would be a waste of time bringing anything, besides the communicator. The equipment didn’t work last time and would just be unneeded weight slowing him down and they all know how bringing a phaser with them was instant suicide.
“I’ll be beaming you down right where you left off yesterday, Doctor. They can’t have gone too far in a few hours.”
McCoy again felt light and empty, but this time it was all the transporters doing. Solid ground disappeared from under his feet for a second, but was quickly replaced. Scotty was gone as well and a large white hospital stood in his place. McCoy turned to Sulu to see him gaping at the area surrounding them.
“Come on, we better get started.”
It took a while for Sulu to tear his eyes away from the deserted street and randomly strewn cars, but he eventually did and jogged after McCoy, who was already half way down the street.
Author: blurhawaii
Pairing: Kirk/McCoy
Rating: PG-13. Bit of swearing, blood and zombies.
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.
Summary: Written for the st_xi_kink for this prompt - Zombies. A planet of zombies.
Word count: Around 6700.
Previous part: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Part 5
It was a slow day in the sickbay, and McCoy found himself hoping that it would pick up. He wasn’t asking for an engineering catastrophe which usually resulted in twenty or so people pouring through the doors complaining about varying degrees of burns, but just something that would keep his hands busy. Every time he stopped, his mind drifted to things not medically relevant and when he pulled himself out of it he was normally standing in the same position, one arm folded against his chest while the other rested in front of his frowning lips. Thoughts of the planet they were circling plagued him, and they worried him.
He was debating whether or not to contact Jim, thinking he could pass it off as genuine curiosity and not worry, when someone walked through the sickbay doors. The swishing noise notified him more than actually being able to spot him as his eyes were glazed over with thought.
McCoy felt slightly guilty about his earlier thoughts, not really realising that wishing for more work would mean people getting hurt in the process. Evidently, there had been a bit of a mishap in engineering, not really surprising in reality so McCoy didn’t class it as some kind of premonition, and Ensign Ricky had procured a few rather nasty looking burns to his hands and arms. McCoy recognised the smell of burnt hair and flesh straight away sadly and already had the skin regenerator in his hands before he reached him.
Ensign Ricky hissed and grumbled when McCoy set to work. The feeling of having your skin re-stitch itself and grow before your eyes wasn’t a very comfortable one, McCoy knew that, but it still didn’t stop him from berating the ensign and telling him to stop fidgeting. It didn’t take long to fix and pretty soon McCoy found himself standing alone in the sickbay again. Chapel was elsewhere, probably using the free time to relax, something McCoy began to envy.
He waited another ten minutes. It was odd that only one person was hurt in engineering, McCoy had expected a few more people to dribble in a bit later. People usually thought the injury was fine and that they could handle it, but eventually they realise that it still felt like it was on fire and maybe might be more serious than they originally suspected. McCoy stuck around for the stubborn people but they never arrived.
McCoy yawned and stretched his arms above his head. Bones popped and muscles pulled taut and he finally convinced himself that he needed a break as well. He found Chapel, who was sitting back in a chair with a PDA resting on her legs, to let her know where he was, if a medical emergency occurred he didn’t want her thinking he had wandered off somewhere.
Once safely in his office, McCoy let the tension drop from his shoulders. The cot tucked away in the corner of the room began to look incredibly comfy and McCoy was drawn to it. He rarely used it; it was just for times when he worked through the night and couldn’t be bothered to blindly shuffle through the halls to find his quarters. It was mainly for convenience and not meant for a full nights sleep. It was just as stiff and lumpy as McCoy remembered but at the moment he simply didn’t care; he emotionally sank into it, although physically it remained firm and solid under his weight.
He wasn’t necessarily tired, but felt lethargic and slow from the boredom. His eyes closed involuntarily as it was the respected response when lying down. One knee was pulled up with his foot planted on the thin sheets he used for covers, and his arm was thrown over his forehead as though it was trying to cram all the thoughts of Jim and Levicity back into his head. He was beginning to succeed in clearing his head and finally relaxing when he heard a light tapping at the door. McCoy reluctantly pulled himself up from the cot, swaying from sudden head rush, and made his way towards the door; he couldn’t remember locking it but apparently he had, otherwise whoever it was wouldn’t be knocking.
McCoy was threading a hand through his hair when the door opened and revealed Uhura standing on the other side. She didn’t look surprised by him being so dishevelled and simply nodded at him in greeting.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your resting Doctor, but I thought, maybe you could use some company. Or more to the point, that you could be some company for me.” She smiled softly at him, and McCoy wordlessly moved to the side gesturing that she could come inside.
“You’re not interrupting anything. I don’t think it would be possible for me to fall asleep at the moment, even if I wanted to.”
She elegantly stepped into the room and stopped near his desk. McCoy nodded repeatedly when she indicated to the chair, silently asking if it was alright for her to sit down. The grace in her movements was infinitely different to the way Jim had settled into the chair the day before.
“I’d offer you a drink, but all I have in here is hard whisky and brandy.”
“It’s all right. I didn’t come here to get drunk.”
“That makes a change. The only other person who comes in here is Jim, and that’s only because he knows it’s easier to get booze from me than it is from Scotty.”
Talking about Jim reminded McCoy of why he hid himself away in his office in the first place. Jim was still down on Levicity, doing only God knows what, while he and everyone else were stuck up here waiting. It suddenly clicked in his mind why Uhura was here. It wasn’t just Jim that had gone on the suicide mission; Spock was also there, following his Captain like always. Uhura was probably just as worried as he was, and also just like him was unsure how to deal with it.
McCoy felt strangely awkward about Uhura tracking him down to talk. It was normal for her to worry, she was involved with Spock, and it would be more disconcerting if she didn’t care. Though, why was he worrying? He and Jim certainly weren’t involved. They were best friends, not lovers despite everyone vehemently saying so. Was it normal for him to worry about Jim an equal amount as someone worrying about a significant other? Probably not.
“I can see why the Captain went; it’s just his nature to jump into things head first and not think about what he might be leaving behind, but I can’t seem to figure out why Spock went with him.” Uhura searched McCoy’s face while they glossed over the truths about Jim. “Normally, he’d just talk the Captain out of the seriously stupid ideas, but this time he just went with him.”
McCoy dropped into his chair, then quickly shuffled around when he realised how lazy his position must have looked to Uhura who was still sitting prim and proper.
“He probably heard what happened when I tried to talk him out of it. He probably thought it would just be easier to give in.” McCoy knew how un-Spock-like that sounded, but he never had been very experienced at comforting people. This was the best he could do. “He’s most likely using all his logic to keep Jim from martyring himself down there.” Uhura smiled and agreed that that was a very logical idea. “At least this way, we have a better chance of getting them both back safely.”
They each calculated the likelihood of both of them coming back to the Enterprise scratch-free, and the figures didn’t really comfort them.
Someone was suddenly screaming McCoy’s name, and he figured the shrill noise could only have been Chapel. McCoy floundered for a second, still lost in numbers and percentages, before finally regaining sure footing again. Uhura had also shot to her feet, though a lot smoother than McCoy had. They rushed out of his office; McCoy feeling grateful that he hadn’t drank any whisky that would be dulling his reactions right now. Chapel was still shouting but it was less panicked, the shock of whatever it’s about gone but the supposed danger still remained.
They found her in the morgue, back against the wall near the doorway, looking as though she was trying to move through it. She was staring wide-eyed at the wall of metal doors and trays in front of her. McCoy could hear an irregular thumping noise, which he guessed was his heart. The shouting had obviously scared him more than he though it had.
“There’s something in there.” Chapel whispered.
Apparently McCoy was wrong. The thumping wasn’t his heart; it was whatever was trying to fight its way out of the freezers. He recognised that the noise sounded like something hitting metal and couldn’t be coming from him.
“It’s coming from Williams.” McCoy whispered back.
From the doorway, he could see the thick metal door, to the chamber Williams’ body was lying in, shaking from the force of something hitting it. The card stating Williams’ name and time of death, written in McCoy’s own scrawl, was shifting and jumping about in the slot it was in on the door.
“Maybe he’s still alive.” Uhura breathed, reminding McCoy that she was standing right next to him.
“That’s impossible. His heart stopped. I was there.” McCoy sent Uhura an anxious look. “He’s been declared dead for over 12 hours now.”
“Well, if it’s not him, then what is it?”
McCoy didn’t answer Uhura because he had no idea what to say. It was impossible that Williams could be alive. Medicine had certainly improved over the years but they hadn’t gone so far that they could bring people back to life. That was still classed as fantasy.
The thumping slowed until it eventually stopped. The silence that followed wasn’t much better. McCoy stepped into the morgue, leaving Uhura at the door and Chapel at the wall. He advanced on the chamber that Williams lay in; his hand reaching for the handle, and he heard Chapel moving behind him. She took his place in the doorway next to Uhura and waited tensely.
It hissed when he opened it just like it had done when he shut it. Williams’ body had been covered in a white sheet and, when he wheeled the slab out, McCoy noticed that the sheet had slipped off the man’s arm, showing the equally as white skin underneath. Any signs of movement were nonexistent now, and the body was lying perfectly still.
McCoy risked a look back at Uhura and Chapel, they were watching with interest, before he lifted his hand to grasp the sheet. McCoy’s hand was centimetres away from Williams’ face, fingers ready to peel the sheet back, when a pale hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. His first reaction was to pull back so he did, dragging the attached hand with him. The previously dead weight hit the ground with a shudder, the sheet falling away from the body. It was definitely Williams who lay on the ground with his hand wrapped around McCoy’s wrist, but his eyes held a haunted look that McCoy never wanted to remember.
Williams must have been trying to use McCoy to lift himself off the ground, because he kept pulling at him and tried to bring McCoy’s arm closer to him. McCoy tried his best to help but the shock was too much. His limbs had turned to jelly and he was having trouble holding himself up let alone someone else’s weight as well.
McCoy had somehow managed to convince himself that this really was Williams. He couldn’t explain it, but he was alive and well enough to move about. This train of thought was going so well and it began to make sense to McCoy until he heard the growl rip its way out of Williams’ throat. McCoy placed it in an instant, the last time he heard a growl like that was yesterday from that thing in the supply closet.
McCoy tore his hand away just in time, barely missing the scrape of teeth on his skin. Williams toppled over on to the ground again, now that he had nothing holding him up. Chapel gasped behind him, McCoy had almost forgotten they were here. He backed away slowly being careful not to take his eyes off Williams, who was crawling across the morgue floor towards him. His back hit the wall just to the side of the door, and he slide sideways until he was standing in front of Chapel and Uhura. As though he was guarding them, he placed a hand on either side of the doorframe, making sure his body blocked the only exit from the morgue.
They watched in near silence, excusing McCoy’s rapid breathing, as Williams attempted to drag his body across the floor. He wasn’t moving very fast, and had to stop a few times because his arms gave way beneath him, but he slowly but surely crept towards McCoy. When it was close enough, it reached out a shaky hand again, grasping weakly at the bottom of McCoy’s leg. He tried to wrestle it free, but Williams held on surprisingly tight. Figuring that the passive way wasn’t getting him anywhere, McCoy kicked. His boot hit Williams square in the face, and if this really was Williams it would have broken his nose, but this thing just kept coming. McCoy kicked blindly again, with more strength this time, and it knocked Williams back enough for McCoy to get out of his reach.
He felt another hand on his arm, and was about to whip around to punch whatever it was, until he realised it was Chapel. She pushed a hypospray into his hand and closed his fingers around it. The metal felt just as cold as Williams’ hand, it was unnerving to say the least.
Williams was still struggling to get up after being kicked in the face repeatedly. He was on his back and was thrashing about uncontrollably. McCoy thought this would be the best opportunity to get closer without Williams noticing. He moved towards Williams’ feet with the hypospray poised in his hand; when he was within reach he dropped and grabbed Williams’ knee pushing his leg down and straight then stabbed him in the thigh. Williams barely recognised the pain, he was too busy twisting and curling around on the floor. McCoy dropped the now useless hypospray which clattered noisily and scrambled back to the door.
They waited in perfect silence. Williams should have slowed by now; his movement should have become sluggish and he should have been stilling, but he wasn’t. Instead of stopping he seemed to thrash more. He had eventually managed to lift himself into a sitting position and was trying to crawl at them again, so McCoy reluctantly conceded that there was nothing they could do. He shuffled both Chapel and Uhura out of the doorway, back into the sickbay, and followed suit after he locked the morgue door behind him.
“The sedative didn’t work.” Chapel sounded breathless and McCoy couldn’t blame her, the amount of drugs in that hypospray was enough to put a man in a coma, yet he could still hear Williams moving in the next room.
“I know.” The locked door to the morgue shook when Williams slammed into it. McCoy felt thankful that this door was thicker and stronger than the flimsy looking door that held the attacker in a supply closet down on the planet’s surface. “How many other bodies do we have in there?”
Chapel was obviously confused but she answered McCoy after struggling for words for a few seconds.
“Ur…two, Evans and Call, both being taken to their families. Why?”
“I don’t know how this thing works,” he gestured vaguely in the direction of the morgue behind him, “but I don’t want an epidemic on our hands.”
Another bang and McCoy cringed at the force behind it. Williams seemed to physically stronger than the attacker had been but he still held hope in the door staying solid. He caught Chapel’s eye and pointed a, splayed fingered, hand at her.
“Do not open the door.”
McCoy then marched out of the sickbay. Uhura nodded at Chapel, glanced at the door, double checking that it was still safely closed, then followed after him. She managed to catch up with him before the turbo lift doors closed on her. They didn’t say anything to each other as neither one of them knew what to say. What do you say to someone who was just attacked by a man who was, very recently, dead? Uhura, for once, was at a loss for words.
The doors opened revealing the bridge. It was unusually quiet and empty without the Captain and Science Officer. Jim being the loud one, and Spock inevitably being a person that took up space. Chekov and Sulu were still at their stations and Scotty was doing his job as the makeshift Captain while Jim was off planet side. He took his temporary job with pride, and had even tried to emulate the way Jim would lounge in the chair; either that or he was just genuinely bored. His eyes lit up when McCoy and Uhura stalked onto the bridge, all business-like. They, on the other hand, didn’t even glance at Scotty and went straight to Uhura’s station. Scotty twirled in the chair to watch them curiously.
“Something exciting’s happening.”
Uhura dropped into the chair, with less grace than she had in his office, and pressed the earpiece to her ear, pushing various blinking buttons as she did so. McCoy stood waiting tensely, leaning forward so that his hands rested on the surface of her station. He stared as she worked, but she ignored him and kept her eyes on the flashing lights instead. She had to reach around McCoy’s arm a few times to flick a switch or push a button, but he didn’t back away. Uhura guessed, judging by the defiant look in his eyes, that he didn’t even realise he was in the way. She pushed as many sequences of buttons as she could remember, but none of them seemed to work.
“There’s nothing but static. It’s not getting through.”
McCoy brought his fist down heavily on the station and the fierce noise was enough to inform Scotty, and the rest of the bridge, of the severity of the situation. He pushed himself away from station and began to pace, he tried not to think how it had become second nature to him.
Scotty leapt up from the Captains chair, almost crashing into McCoy who had unwittingly wandered into his path, and left in the turbo lift. He didn’t say where he was heading, and no one asked him. Sulu, who still wasn’t completely up to date with what was going on but willing to help nonetheless, offered to drift closer to the planet, his reasoning being that maybe the Captain’s signal would be stronger. Uhura nodded, not seeing how it could make matters worse.
McCoy’s pacing brought him to his usual spot on the bridge. He’d lost count of how many hours he had spent standing behind and just to the side of the Captains chair. The amount of times he had asked Jim why he had been ordered to the bridge when nothing was wrong was also uncountable high. Every time he would threaten to go back to the sickbay where his presence would be more useful, and Jim would grin and laugh at him saying he was free to do so. He rarely left though, only if an emergency occurred, because leaving felt like he had lost the battle, with Jim’s laughter ringing in his ears as he walked away.
The chair was empty now, smaller looking as well without Jim’s commanding persona filling it. McCoy placed his hands on the back, grasping the material like he had done so many times before. His hands felt a bit lost when they didn’t brush against Jim’s back or shoulder, depending on how low he had slouched. It wasn’t that he was worried; their missions seemed to have a habit of going wrong, but they always turned it around and survived in the end. Then again, they’d never gone up against the flesh eating walking dead before, so maybe their past records had no significance in this matter.
Scotty’s voice chirped up over the intercom. All heads on the bridge turned towards the noise.
“Strangely, the transporters are still working fine, but with no working communicators we can’t contact the Captain. I’m afraid they’re stuck there until we can pinpoint their location and lock on to a signal.”
McCoy leaned over the back of the chair, stretching for one of the buttons on the arm that would allow him to talk to Scotty.
“So what do you suppose we do? I doubt they can do much down there, so we’re going to have to fix this.”
“I’m not sure. I guess we could run scans; there can’t be much life down there so they’d be pretty easy to find. Though, we still wouldn’t be able to beam them up because the scans aren’t nearly good enough. We can narrow their location down to a general area, but that’s about it.”
“That’s not good enough Mr Scott. We need them back now.” McCoy tried to keep his voice level as he knew others were listening to him, but it still ended up sounded a bit frantic.
“I’ll do what I can Doctor, but they will still be stuck there for quite a while.”
Scotty was being nothing but logical, but McCoy still felt the urge to reach through the intercom to throttle the man. He knew it wouldn’t help, and would in fact only prolong the wait, but he couldn’t help but think it. Thankfully, science meant that he couldn’t so he instead glared daggers at the intercom on the wall where Scotty’s disembodied voice was coming from. In the back of McCoy’s head a voice reminded him that he was not worried, but he was starting to doubt it.
“I’ve got it! This should work!”
Everyone turned from the intercom to Chekov, who was flapping his hands in front of him in triumph. Sulu had been the only one not watching the intercom and had seen Chekov hurriedly tapping and calculating with his slim fingers while everyone else was busy.
“What exactly have you got?” McCoy questioned roughly, while still holding the button down on the chair so Scotty could also hear.
“A way to help the Captain and Mr Spock.” Sulu, who had leaned across the console to catch a glimpse of what Chekov had been working on, had to dodge Chekov’s arm when he gestured along with his words, narrowly missing a finger in the eye. “The planet is emitting an electrical field that doesn’t mix with the frequency we use for our communicators. All we need to do is modify a communicator a bit and then it should work on the planet’s surface.”
“I’ll be there in minute.” Scotty voiced over the intercom, allowing McCoy to finally let go of the button.
When he made it to the bridge he doubled checked Chekov’s calculations. They mumbled and gestured between them for a couple of minutes, everyone else just silently watching, until they seemed to come to an agreement.
“Ok, this should be easy enough. We’ll have to modify two communicators, one for the surface and one for here. Then comes the hard bit, someone’s going to have to beam down and locate them as it’s the only way we can get their signal, but we’ll worry about that once we get this done.”
Scotty and Chekov then left for engineering, throwing calculations that only they understood at each other. Sulu changed course back to their original orbit, seeing as distance wasn’t the problem anymore. Uhura remained at her station, attempting every channel of frequency. While McCoy stood behind the Captains chair, already adamant about being the one who would beam down. He stood for a few minutes as others worked around him, before finally convincing himself to go back to sickbay. Williams was still waiting for him, and he knew that he should go back just to check Chapel was okay.
---
Jim had already come to terms with being stuck on the planet, he didn’t like the idea but there wasn’t much he could do about it at the moment. The man, or Ash as he had introduced himself, took unwanted pity on their situation and explained that he had a place where they could stay out of harms way while they figured out a solution. Jim thanked him and they followed him through some alleyways and backstreets they wouldn’t have gone down otherwise.
Before they had left the area surrounding the hospital, Jim had motioned towards the battered body of the attacker on the ground, wondering what they should do with it. Ash had shook his head at his concern, then approached the body, leaning over it slightly as though his actions were about to contradict themselves. Jim found he had been mistaken when all Ash ended up doing was spitting on the corpse and giving it a hard kick for good measure, instead of lifting it off the road like Jim though he was going to do. The, now twice lifeless, body jolted when the boot connected with it, sending it rolling slightly on its side. Ash started down the road then and Jim had no choice but to follow as he didn’t want to get lost. Spock trailed after as well, slightly slower as he was tinkering with the communicator at the same time.
They were walking for no longer than ten minutes when they reached a large empty parking lot at the end of a road. They had ventured into the more rural side of the city now; the buildings were growing smaller in size and grandeur and were starting to look a little rundown in places. The building tucked away at the back of the parking lot was the biggest building Jim had seen, in the rural area anyway. The side facing them was made out of wide windows and a set of glass doors, while the others were solid and bricked up. If it weren’t for the windows it would have been a perfect place to hide out in; strongly built, squished at the end of a road and the only way to approach it was through a, very out in the open, parking lot, which from the building you had a clear view of.
Ash stalked towards it with confidence, heading for the entrance doors, while Jim and Spock followed at a less enthusiastic pace. There wasn’t a single car in the parking lot, something which appeared odd to Jim as abandoned cars seemed pretty common back in the city. It didn’t seem significant enough to openly question, though, so Jim dropped it. Spock either hadn’t noticed the lack of cars, or it simply didn’t bother him, because he kept walking without a pause or a curious glance.
Once they had slipped inside, Jim realised what kind of a building it was. It was filled with brightly coloured, mostly bare, aisles with a row of tills near the doors. It was a supermarket. The large windows meant that it was lit up enough so that Jim could see the other end of the aisle he stood at, and the set up also meant he could make out the edge of the parking lot from the other side of the room.
Ash passed Jim as he wandered down an aisle with very little in, making his way towards a wooden door at the opposite end to the entrance. He pushed it open with trepidation, he didn’t enter the room on the other side until the door was fully open and he was sure they were safe.
It was dark inside, the only window was boarded up, but it was so small that Jim thought it wouldn’t have provided much light anyway. The only light in the room was streaming through the open door and it showed the lived-in pile of sheets in the corner which was obviously a temporary bed for Ash. The rest of the room was blacked out and looked endless. Jim waited in the doorframe, not trusting the unknown. Ash propped up the bat against the wall near his bed and turned back to Jim with a half smile on his face.
“I think it would be best to talk out there. The lack of electricity means things get pretty dark without windows.”
They returned to the brighter side of the building where Spock stood waiting for them. Ash went over to where the tills were lined up and sat down on the floor, resting with his back to one of them and his legs drawn up. Jim caught Spock’s rare look of discomfort when Ash stared expectantly at them. Jim dropped down onto the floor not really caring, while it took a second for Spock to awkwardly drop to a crouch. Smiling at Spock’s reluctance, Jim shifted so he was more relaxed and then sent the smile to Ash.
“You were quite lucky to find a place like this to hide out. It’s fairly secure and you have enough supplies it would seem.”
“I was more than lucky, this was a miracle. I didn’t even know this place existed, but I guess a lot of people didn’t know about it either because it wasn’t ransacked when I found it.” Ash pointed towards to aisles behind Jim. “Everything’s still pretty much intact which is surprising. There is even a gun still hidden behind one of the counters.” He changed the direction he was pointing and brought his thumb up to point over his shoulder instead. “I haven’t used it yet, haven’t even touched it. I thought I’d save it for when something big happens.”
Spock shuffled his feet, his legs having already fallen asleep from the position he was in. Jim grinned when Spock finally gave up and sat on the dirty floor with his legs crossed.
“It would be imperative that you don’t use it. The air on this planet is highly unstable and the unbalanced reaction of gun fire would result in our probable deaths.” Spock managed to get out after finding a more comfortable sitting arrangement.
Ash frowned in puzzlement, and Jim couldn’t help but be reminded of Bones. He thought he should step in to save him from his confusion.
“What he means is guns equal a big fucking explosion.”
An expression of dawning realisation spread over Ash’s face and he nodded fervently, proving that he now understood.
“So it’s a good thing I didn’t give in to temptation and try it out then?”
“Monumentally, yes.” Jim smiled in reassurance, as Spock’s calculating glare wasn’t helping to quell the man’s apparent fears.
“I guess the cricket bat will have to do for now. Oh well, it seems to do the trick so far.”
Jim looked over at Spock, who was clutching the broken communicator in his hand. He couldn’t get it to work, and had explained to Jim on the journey that it would be up to Enterprise to help them.
“You said you had seen survivors. Do you know where any of them might be?"
The more serious topic sobered Ash again.
“Not for certain, no. But the woman that passed by last might still be around here somewhere. She was heading north, that about all I know.”
“Well, if she’s here, we’re going to find her. We need to help as many people as we can.”
“What about yourselves? You’re stuck here, why not worry about that?”
“My crew is smart. They’ll think of something.”
Jim was sure of that. His voice was full of conviction. Besides, he knew that Bones would be a barely containable tornado of rage up there; he would be trying everything to get Jim back just so he could rub in his face how right he was. His crew would have to figure something out just so that they could get Bones off their backs. He had no worries about being stuck on the planet for a little while; he was free to focus on helping the survivors.
“Well, I guess I could help, seeing as you are rescuing me and all.”
“It is the least you could do.” Jim grinned.
Ash pulled himself to his feet, peering out of the windows at the steadily retreating sun. He turned back to Jim and Spock who were still seated on the floor, and put his hands firmly on his hips.
“I’m guessing you’re going to want to do this right away, aren’t you?” He continued without waiting for an answer, he already knew what it was anyway. “If we go now then there is still about two or three hours of sunlight left, but after that we have to stop. It’s best to stay inside when the sun sets. The zombies like to travel at night.”
“How many are there?” Jim was brushing down his trousers as he spoke, standing in front of Ash, eyes now level.
“What, zombies? The most I’ve seen in one place is about a hundred. This was back when I explored at night. They were crowded around one of those office buildings in the city, all of them looking up.” Ash mimicked what they must have looked like, craning his neck back to stare at the ceiling. “Standing perfectly still like statues. I figured there must have been people holed up inside because they stayed most of the night. I watched, but gave up before they did; they don’t get hunger pains or ever need to take a piss, so they have an advantage.” Ash crossed his arms over his red t-shirt clad chest and leaned back with his hip resting on he counter. “I went back in the day and they were lying there on the floor. Must have jumped. People do anything to avoid being eaten by these zombies, which includes killing yourself.”
The tone had certainly darkened, and the sun had dipped behind a cloud and the shop literally darkened as well. Ash looked down at his feet, arms still crossed protectively over his chest. Jim stepped forward and clapped a hand on Ash’s arm, startling him out of his flashback.
“We’re going to help who we can.”
“To do that, we are going to need weapons, Captain.”
Jim turned away from Ash to face Spock. He had to glance down when he noticing he was still sitting cross-legged on the floor, despite his earlier reservations.
“Spock’s right. We’re going to need to find some sort of weapon before we can leave, just in case.”
“You’re in luck. This is right where I found my trusty cricket bat.”
Ash tore off down the aisles, glancing every which way looking for something. Jim offered a hand to Spock, and helped lift him to his feet before he began curiously following the many turns and twists Ash did to find what he was looking for.
“Here we are, sporting goods.” Ash exclaimed from the next aisle over from the one Jim was in.
He rounded the corner to find Ash with his arms framing a selection of sporting paraphernalia.
“The baseball bats are lighter, which would be better if we’re going to walking for quite a while.”
Jim’s eyes honed in on the varying bats, noting that the baseball bats were metal. He spotted a familiar cricket bat, though this one was less weathered and even a few tennis rackets and footballs.
“They are a bit primitive.” Spock rumbled, having just appeared next to Jim.
Jim laughed at Spock’s concerns and reached forward to grab one of the baseball bats to pass to him and then one for himself. They were indeed quite light, though definitely sturdy enough to do some damage if force were put behind them.
“Just aim for the head. It seems to work so far.”
---
Scotty and Chekov returned to the bridge about an hour later. Sulu and Uhura were still there working, and McCoy was already back after having just received the notice that they were ready a few minutes ago. In his hands were two communicators, they looked exactly the same as they usually did, but McCoy knew that they were much more important than that. These were the things that were going to save Jim’s life. As well as himself of course.
“Now that’s done, we need to find someone willing to go down there.”
“I’ll do it.” McCoy spoke quickly, wanting to get his answer in before anyone else had a chance. “They might be hurt for all we know, it makes sense that I should go.”
Everyone else nodded at McCoy, not wanting to say anything against him. They could see how worked up he was getting already and they didn’t want to add to it. Uhura did glance sceptically at him, realising that in his state he would be tempted to make rash decisions. She didn’t blame him though, as she recognised the wild look in his eyes as something similar to her own. She knew McCoy was worried about the Captain, but she was also worried about Spock. She was about to suggest something when McCoy beat her to it.
“I think it would be best if you stayed here. If there is a chance the communicators don’t work, we need someone here who can work around that.”
Uhura reluctantly withdrew, knowing McCoy was right. Sulu talked up next, grabbing everyone’s attention.
“I’ll go with you. You’re going to need someone who can at least hold their own in a fight.”
McCoy scowled but agreed.
It took a couple of minutes to make it to the transporter room, Scotty was running through the plan several times, making sure that both McCoy and Sulu understood. McCoy had the working communicator strapped to belt securely. His hand kept guiding towards it subconsciously, but he would quickly snatch it back when he realised where his hand was resting.
Sulu was basically bouncing as he walked. McCoy kept sending him side long looks, frowning at the other’s energy. He felt an urge to explain to Sulu what he had seen when he had been on the planet in vivid, gory detail and then watch how his excitement would quickly disappear, but thought against it. He didn’t want Sulu to chicken out and leave him going to planet alone. His dire need to have Jim back safe wasn’t strong enough to make his fearless in the face of death.
Suddenly, they were standing on the transporter pads, waiting for Scotty to deem everything safe. McCoy felt light and empty without his medical equipment weighing him down, it wasn’t a feeling he was use to. He had convinced himself that it would be a waste of time bringing anything, besides the communicator. The equipment didn’t work last time and would just be unneeded weight slowing him down and they all know how bringing a phaser with them was instant suicide.
“I’ll be beaming you down right where you left off yesterday, Doctor. They can’t have gone too far in a few hours.”
McCoy again felt light and empty, but this time it was all the transporters doing. Solid ground disappeared from under his feet for a second, but was quickly replaced. Scotty was gone as well and a large white hospital stood in his place. McCoy turned to Sulu to see him gaping at the area surrounding them.
“Come on, we better get started.”
It took a while for Sulu to tear his eyes away from the deserted street and randomly strewn cars, but he eventually did and jogged after McCoy, who was already half way down the street.