As I was walking through the hallway of the building, tons of Halloween decorations and school pictures adorned the walls. Most still covered in blood. There I saw the sign dimly lit, “nurses office”. I walked through the door into a waiting room. Through there I saw the doorway that led to a small nurses office where doc had set up a med center. Just as I walked in I found him and specialist Gomez breaking locks to the medical cabinets.

“¡Jesús punta! ¿Por qué no abres?” Gomez said, straining to rip open a small metal medical box.

“Gomez! We have been over this! When we are on the job, fucking speak English! I cannot help you if I don’t have a clue what in the hot, crispy, Kentucky fried fuck you are saying.”

“I’m sorry doc, it’s just-“ Gomez drops the box and kicks it across the floor in complete rage. “The damn thing won’t open! I'm half tempted to shoot the god damn thing.” The scowl on his face and lines in his forehead are beyond visible now.

“Dude, seriously? You spent like, three minutes on the box and you-“ doc walks over to the box and picks it up examining it. He chuckles, unable to hold his laugh in.

“What is so cómico?” His voice is even angrier than before! “You think im a joke is that it?”

“Well, yeah actually, I do, you’re dumb ass was trying to rip open this box when you haven’t even Undone the locking latch!” Doc fully laughing.

“I- ah Soy un idiota.” His face completely white with embarrassment.

I can’t resist but to laugh a bit alerting them to my being in the room.

“Oh, hey lieutenant! How’s it going!” Doc says lacidascically.

“Ya! I heard over the radio you guys got one! How gross was the pendejo?”

“Going fine, and the bastard was sitting in the road, and if you want details go up to feather’s roost and ask him. And what are you two doing here?” I reply and ask inquisitively.

“Feathers? Talk to him? The man is a psicópata if you know what I am saying. Fuck that.” Gomez said with a sigh of disbelief.

“Well, Lieutenant! We are tactically Reaquiring some medical supplies from the school here. Sadly the best I’ve found so far is some gauze and some Motrin. But I haven’t given up yet I’m gonna find some good shit like Tylenol soon I can feel it!”

“So you’re stealing from a school?” I ask, with a small smirk on my face.

“What? Me? Neveerrr! You see Lieutenant this is a tactical liberation of supplies that would otherwise be…. Not used!” He smiles.

“Yeah you’re totally stealing from a fucking school nurse. Come on doc, don’t you have any shame?” I respond.

Doc takes a long, deep breath. “Look Lieutenant, do you know how much medical equipment I have? You know most of the medical supplies like pain killers and bandages are going to the other fronts. Hell sir-“ I stop him mid sentence and say with a stern voice.

“I’m not going to condone this action, I can’t allow you to-“

“I don’t have a choice sir!” He shouts slamming his medical bag on the table and rummages through it then points to it.

“With all due respect sir, look through my bag right now, I have like 10 bandages, most of them quick clots, none elastic, I have two morphine autoinjectors, like 3 tourniquets, I have no sterilizing solutions for my tools! Okay! Hell when we were overseas i was so stretched for equipment I started using napkins and fucking scotch tape! Do you have any idea how bad that is? Fucking scotch tape! If I can even find some duct tape I’d feel better. but in order to keep the men of this platoon alive, or at least what is left of this platoon! I need supplies even if it’s just fucking a bottle of baby Motrin and a belt to stop bleeding! Sir please understand.” He put his hand on his head and collapsed into a chair behind him. He began to choke up.

“I’m just, so god damn tired of not having the shit I need to help all of you! If I had the shit I needed I could’ve saved Kelly! But I didn’t!” Tears fill his eyes as he sits there.

“Doc, Kelly wasn’t your fault, you know that, I sat there with my arms covered in his blood while you worked on his throat man. There was nothing you could’ve done. You kn-“ I say, suddenly I get cut off by Doc’s sudden movement up.

“It is my fault! It was always my fault! I’m Doc! I’m the guy who is supposed to make sure you all get home! But no, Kelly sat there, bleeding out in my arms! Screaming for his mommy to come and save him. Jesus, he was just a kid! And he trusted me! They all did. And I kept telling him he’d make it! And now he’s gone! Half our goddamn platoon is gone! And now we are in this shitty city!” Doc kicks the chair over and continues, “Fighting Fucking zombies! Are you kidding me! We just got back from deployment! It was four weeks man! Four fucking weeks! Is this supposed to be some kind of fucking joke? Is God fucking with us? I didn’t even have time to process that they were all gone! And here I am sitting in a school that was full of dead kids and blood fucking everywhere!” Doc drops to his knees, tears falling from his blue eyes. “Why Thane! What did we do? Is this retribution?- For what?- I…. I just don’t know anymore… all my friends… Kelly, Ramirez, fink, stobbliz, Wellers, tysons, Gamby, soulinski, they’re all gone. And it’s all my fault. I… I-“

I dropped my M4 and walked to doc kneeling down, embracing him as he cried into my shoulder. We sat there for a few moments as his sobbing echoed throughout the nurses office. I motioned my head to Gomez to close the door as I held doc. I said;

“Doc listen to me, I know it’s hard. But their deaths aren’t on you. It’s not your fault. Look at me!” I pull docs gaze directly at me. “Everyone here is counting on you, me, Jackson, Patterson, and Jasper to get them through this, they need us to be strong, and I know that’s asking a lot from you right now. But the people who are still here need you. Man, I need you. So please, pull yourself together. Because I can’t do this without you man.”

“O-okay.” Doc said as I released him, I stood back up and pulled him to his feet. “Just give me five minutes, I’ll be good as new.” Doc paused a moment then collected himself, he quickly looked at Gomez, “Gomez, help me find some peroxide or alcohol. Please.”

“You got it doc.” Gomez quickly starts looking through multiple cabinets and drawers. Carefully scanning over each of the container's contents. Pulling a few small packs of bandaids and otherwise out. Gomez then reaches a large locker in the corner of the room. He attempts to open it but gets stopped. “Damnit! Why must you be locked punta!”

“Hey, there might be a key somewhere around here.” Doc said as he began to look through the nurses desk. After a few minutes of searching they relent, “God damn it! There are no keys anywhere.” Doc recoils back and falls into the chair behind him.

Suddenly I speak up. “There might be keys in the principal's office, I’ll go take a look.” Shocking both Gomez and Doc.

“Eh Jefe! Want me to go with you?” Gomez quickly retorted, while beginning to stand.

“No, you stay here and keep trying to get into the locker, besides stay with Doc and keep him company.”

“Yessir” he says quickly getting back to cursing at the locker.

I took one last look at Doc and left the room. I just kept walking down the hallway.