My eyes opened and there was a moment of disconnect. I had been on my motorbike, but where was I now? My senses tuned in to my surroundings. The smell of anti-septic, the whiteness of the room and the beeping of the monitors. I tried to sit and was immediately hit by a bout of dizziness and nausea. I could hear someone walking towards me, and then their hands on my arm as they laid me back down.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"Your in hospital", the nurse said. "You were in an accident, but don’t worry. Your going to be fine."

"Hospital?"

"Yes."

More thoughts and recollections slowly re-emerged through the fog. New York. Heathrow. Bombs.

"I can’t stay here", I said. "It’s not safe. The zombies. The hospitals are not safe. This will be where the infected will be brought."

"Calm down."

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"Not long. It’s only noon."

I tried to move again but my body betrayed me. It felt heavy and disconnected from my mind. I could feel the nurse leaning over me adjusting equipment next to my bed.

"Sleep", she said.

Then the fog returned and all went black.

I woke again with a start. More fog in my brain before my senses re-tuned and awareness came back to me. I remembered the nurse and once again more dizziness and nausea returned. This time it faded away quickly.

I put my hand to my head and rubbed my eyes. I sat up straight and realised I could not hear the nurse this time. I was in a ward with five other beds. Only the end bed was occupied. A much older man who turned to look at me. He had the vacant expression of someone either lost in the haze of medication or dementia. I could not tell which. His face was fixed with a hang dog expression which did not react when I spoke out to him.

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"Where is the nurse?"

Nothing. I looked to see how many wires were connected to me, and disconnected them all before swinging my legs free from the blanket. I was wearing only a hospital gown and gently lifted the material exposing myself in the process in order to look at my body. I had a nasty array of bruises and abrasions across my legs, and could see similar discolouration on my arms. I gingerly stepped down off the bed to test my balance and was relieved to see that I could support my weight without issue. So no broken bones. Thank God.

To the side of my bed my backpack had been stored on a chair along with my now shredded leather jacket and boots. My other clothing was nowhere to be found. I reached into my bag and saw that both the food and knives within had been removed but my spare clothes were still there. I got dressed, hitched my back pack on and with one last look at the old man left the room.

The corridor clock said 3PM. My footsteps echoed down the corridor. I looked in rooms as I walked and saw several rooms with hospital patients, but no staff. At the end of the corridor was a lift. My hand raised up to press the call button when I stopped myself and looked for a stairwell. There, to my left.

I had been on the second floor, and when I emerged on the ground floor I tentatively approached the fire door that would lead back into the hospital interior. I lingered and listened. There was a lot of noise beyond. With a racing heartbeat I pushed the door open just enough to look through.

Doctors and nurses were there en masse and all looked normal enough. I opened the door wider. To my left the corridor ended at a pair of double doors which flung open as I watched.

Through them raced paramedics pushing people on gurneys. The doors opening also let through the siren of the ambulances. The space beyond was apparently the ambulance docking bay.

The doctors and nurses who were congregated on the ground floor now went into action moving amongst the trolleys. I pushed myself back against the wall as the trolleys came through. The wails and cries of the injured was horrendous and I couldn’t but notice that every one I saw had bloody wounds. The thick iron rich scent of blood was choking.

I edged further along the corridor towards the open air that beckoned beyond the ambulances. I stumbled through the doors and walked at pace past the multiple ambulances with sirens wailing in the parking lot.

As I passed the final one I saw the vehicle lurch to one side from some impact within, followed by a woman’s horrendous scream. Instinctively I moved to to the rear of the vehicle and I knew what I would see even before I opened the back doors.

The paramedic was lying on her back in the ambulance with her arm outstretched flailing weakly. Her eyes met mine as I looked in and the life went out of them in that instant. On top of her was one of them. It greedily ripped at the flesh exposed on her neck by her scrubs. I backed away and bumped into someone.

I turned and the armed police officer stepped to the back of the ambulance, raised his gun in a cool calm professional way and blew its head off.