by Scott Lee
Looking across the street, they could see a wall of zombies surrounding the building they just occupied. More zombies were arriving every minute, so leaving from that door was out of the question.
“We need to find another way out,” said Connor.
“Great,” said Doug.
Turning, they headed back the way they came, stopping at the door at the end of the hall on the right. Looking through the glass, they saw a dark hallway, but they could see faint light at the end where the corridor turned left.
Opening the door, they shined the flashlight down the hall, revealing multiple exam room doors on either side. The hall was empty, so they moved cautiously forward, listening intently for any signs of the undead. As they approached the end of the hall, a shadow formed on the floor in front of them, growing larger every second. Moments later, a slow moving shape rounded the corner, its head hanging low as it shambled forward. Suddenly, as if someone hit a switch, the zombie’s head lifted and a low moan came out of its open mouth. Instantly it increased speed, moving forward at a fast walk, closing quickly on the three. As Connor began to step forward, Diana held out an arm, stepping in front of him.
“I got this,” she said.
M48 in hand, she advanced on the zombie, determination in her stride. Picking up speed, she broke into a run. As she closed to within five feet, she jumped and side-kicked the creature, sending it flying backwards and onto the floor. In one fluid motion she landed and jumped forward, slamming the spike end of the weapon deep into the skull as she came to rest in a kneeling position next to the body. Standing up, she turned and looked at the two men, surprised looks on their faces.
“Damn!” muttered Connor.
“Holy crap!” exclaimed Doug.
“Did you know she could do that,” whispered Connor, leaning over.
“Hell no,” replied Doug. “But I think I’m in love.”
Connor grinned and slapped his friend on the back.
“Come on, Romeo. You can court her later.”
“I sure hope so,” he said quietly.
Diana stood above the dead zombie and raised her hands in the “Well, are you coming?” pose. Then stood there with her hands on her hips as she waited for them to catch up.
As the two men headed down the hall, pounding began behind a number of the exam room doors. Knowing that the zombies couldn’t escape, they ignored it and kept walking. As they reached Diana, both gave her an inquisitive look.
“What?” She said, as they walked up. “Never seen a girl take down a zombie before?”
“There’s more to you than meets the eye,” said Connor as he walked past. Stopping suddenly, he turned around.
“By the way, I didn’t get a chance to thank you for the assistance back in the tunnel. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” said Diana smiling.
As Doug approached, he stopped and leaned in, whispering in her ear.
“I think you’re growing on him,” he said smiling. Then he continued on after his friend.
Diana’s smile grew larger as she followed the two men down the hall.
The three reached the turn point of the hallway and listened carefully for any sound. Hearing nothing, Connor peered around the corner to see another reception area. The room was fairly well lit from the light streaming through the glass doors that exited onto the street beyond. Moving into the room, they saw no sign of any undead, and quickly walked to the doors to survey the situation.
Outside, the street looked relatively clear. It appeared that the majority of the zombies in the vicinity of the hospital were now swarmed around the perimeter of the main buildings, leaving the nearby streets relatively clear. Turning to the others, Connor laid out the plan, or lack thereof.
“Guys, this is going to be a crapshoot. There’s no telling what we’ll encounter from one block to the next. We could encounter a horde or swarm at any turn, so be prepared to run, and run fast. Cars are not an option. The streets are too crowded with abandoned vehicles and the noise would draw them to us if we were to get stuck. We’ll try and stick to the lesser streets and alleyways if possible, which I hope will keep us more concealed. Our ultimate goal is boathouse row where we can grab Syrinx and get the hell out of here. But that’s a good 20 blocks from here, so we need to be smart. We need to head in the direction of City hall, and from there we follow the Ben Franklin Parkway up to the art museum. Don’t run unless you have to. Maintain a jogging pace to conserve energy. If you get tired, we’ll slow to a walk or stop and rest if possible. But stopping is a last resort. We’ll need to keep moving to stay alive.”
Looking directly at the two, he had one more thing to say.
“Guys, we can do this. We just need to work together and we’ll make it out of here alive.” Looking from one to the other, he continued. “Protect each other. Watch each other’s back. Everyone goes home.”
Then his look hardened as he spoke his final words.
“No one dies here today.”
As he turned away, they heard him whisper to himself.
“Not today.”
Turning back to the door, Connor spoke a single word.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Ready,” replied Doug and Diana.
Opening the door, the three stepped into the street, weapons drawn, and headed north at a slow jog. A handful of zombies littered the street, but they were no problem for the three. They avoided them if possible, and took them down if they couldn’t. The fast walk of the zombies couldn’t keep up with them, so they conserved energy and only engaged when they had too.
Jogging up 8th street, they passed a large white building with large pillars in front, and beyond that was a parking lot. Turning, Connor headed through the parking lot to a small alleyway that connected to the next side street, which was Darien Street.
Heading north on Darien, they hit Locust and were forced to head left at the T-intersection. They had only jogged a short distance on Locust when they encountered their first large horde. Ahead of them, just beyond 9th Street, was a mass of zombies spilling out of a side street that ran between buildings of Jefferson Hospital. The zombies, spying the three, immediately began to moan and advance in their direction, but instead of turning and running back the way they came, Connor dashed forward, heading right for them!
“Run!” he yelled.
In an instant, Doug and Diana were running at a dead sprint behind him as they threw all of their trust into his actions.
As they bolted down Locust, the horde advanced in what was shaping up to be a head on collision with the three. Just ten yards from the mass of undead, Connor turned down 9th Street, Doug and Diana close on his heels. Within seconds the horde was at the intersection, turning in pursuit of its prey.
Sprinting south on 9th, Connor skidded to a halt in front of a narrow lane about a hundred feet down on the right. The sign on the post read Latimer Street.
The road itself was maybe 10 feet wide (including the sidewalks) with the pavement measuring barely six feet across. A row of trees on the left sidewalk narrowed the street even further, and near the entrance to the road there was a handicap ramp and railing on the far left that led to a patio courtyard. In the distance, a few lone zombies wandered on the asphalt.
“This way!” yelled Connor.
The three turned and headed down the narrow street as the zombie horde behind them continued its pursuit. A short distance down the lane, a zombie on a balcony to their right flipped over a railing and landed next to them, shattering its left side upon impact. The creature tried to follow after them, but was too badly damaged by the fall to move more than a few feet.
On their left, more zombies appeared on the terrace of the restaurant, but were sealed off from the trio by a large fence. The small patio courtyard area next to the restaurant contained another small group of undead, which immediately turned and joined the chase. Paying no attention to them, the three raced forward to the stragglers on t
he street. Weapons in hand, Connor took the head off of the closest zombie, while Doug and Diana easily eliminated the other two.
By now the horde had reached the entrance to the street and were soon wall to wall in the narrow roadway. But the tight confines forced many of the zombies up the ramp, and the trees slowed the advancing mass even further.
As they neared the edge of the building on their right they could see a parking lot beyond, and seconds later more zombies suddenly came into view. At first just a few, but soon dozens emerged.
“Don’t stop!” screamed Connor as he headed for the leading edge of the new horde.
Doug and Diana raced past him as the Twins went into action. Sweeping the weapons across his body, he took the heads off the two closest undead. Backing up, he kicked another aside as he took off the top half of the skull of a fourth. Two more zombies were decapitated before Connor broke from combat and raced after the others.
The parking lot horde was gaining in numbers as the three raced across Hutchinson Street, and to make matters worse, the undead on the street behind them had now reached swarm level and were closing fast. Luckily, a small wall bordering the parking lot, along with the parked cars, prevented much of the horde from following after, but the swarm was still chasing and they numbered in the hundreds.
Latimer St. continued on as it ran between buildings before ending at Delhi Street. Reaching the T-intersection, Doug and Diana stopped as Connor caught up. Looking back, they watched as the leading edge of the swarm reached the parking lot. Looking beyond them, the entire length of Latimer was now filled with a seething mass of undead.
“We have to get clear of this swarm,” said Connor. “And we have to avoid the area around Jefferson Hospital.”
Looking to his right, he could see that Delhi intersected Locust Street a short distance up, and he knew going that way would take them back near the hospital. Looking south, he could see that the street made a left turn a short distance down, which would take them back the way they came. Looking straight ahead, the choice became clear.
Ahead of them was a tall, 7 foot high concrete block wall with a large, green, solid wood, double door gate. Running forward, Connor checked the gate. Locked. Turning to the others, he indicated the wall.
“Get over the wall. Quick!”
Doug ran forward and held out his hands as Diana stepped into them and was heaved onto the top of the wall. Next, Connor held his hands out and did the same for Doug. Looking down Latimer, Connor could see the swarm getting closer, and the second half of the street was wider, allowing more zombies to advance. Turning back to the wall, he watched as Doug and Diana dropped to the other side.
Sheathing the Twins, he used the metal bracing that fastened the gate doors to the wall and quickly climbed to the top of the wall. Looking down, his eyes went wide as he saw Doug and Diana locked in combat with five zombies, as more poured through the back door of the building they were behind.
Jumping off the wall, Connor pulled his weapons and joined the fray. Racing toward the building’s doorway, he quickly cut down two zombies in bloodstained aprons as they moved to flank Doug and Diana. Spinning, he ducked under the outstretched arms of a third, taking its leg off at the knee as he simultaneously drove his other machete up through the jaw of a fourth. As he began to engage another zombie, he heard a scream from behind. Spearing the creature in the face, he spun around to see Diana on the ground with a zombie on top of her, its mouth just inches from her neck. Doug, meanwhile, was stuck in an alleyway fighting off three more undead.
Running to Diana’s aid, Connor dropped into a baseball slide and impaled the creature through the side of its head, knocking it off of her in the process. In one fluid motion following the slide, he was up again and turning to the remaining zombies. Leaving the machete in the zombie’s head, he pulled his folding knife from his belt, flipped it open with one hand, and moved on the undead. Four more zombies remained, and that number quickly dwindled as Connor drove his knife through the eye socket of a female zombie in a business suit.
By now Doug had eliminated the three undead in the alley, and was moving to help out Connor. Diana was also on her feet and had retrieved her M48, along with Connor’s other machete. As Connor cut down a tattooed teenager in gore covered baggie pants, Doug and Diana joined him to take down the final two zombies, a pair of old ladies in torn flowered dresses.
As the last zombie fell, the three turned to look at the carpet of bodies that lay around them. Connor looked at Doug and Diana with a questioning look on his face.
“Sorry buddy,” said Doug. “When we got on top of the wall, we saw the zombies pouring out of that building there and we figured we didn’t have time to wait for you. So we jumped down and tried to stem the tide.”
“You guys did the right thing,” replied Connor.
Just then, they heard multiple bodies slam into the wooden gate behind them.
“Doug, give me a hand, quick!” whispered Connor. “Diana, watch the door and make sure no trailers come calling.”
Diana nodded and moved toward the door while Doug followed Connor. Moving to the closest zombie, Connor instructed Doug to grab its legs. Together, the two carried the body to the gate and dropped it in front of it. Quickly, they grabbed another body and piled it on top of the first. Again and again they grabbed a corpse and placed it in front of the gate, until they had a stack of over a dozen bodies blocking the access.
“That should help keep them out,” said Connor.
“Nice thinking,” smiled Doug.
“Let’s get inside.” whispered Connor.
Hastily the three ran inside of the building as the banging at the gate increased. Shutting the door behind them, they moved as much stuff as they could find in front of the door before heading deeper into the building. Pulling out their lone flashlight, they walked through what appeared to be a storage room. As they continued on, it became evident that they were inside of a coffee shop. Walking into the main customer area, they saw overturned tables and chairs covered in crimson, and dried pools of blood everywhere on the floor. Light streamed in from the large front window, revealing a street outside with a handful of zombies wandering about.
Walking over to one of the tables, Doug set it upright and pulled up a few chairs.
“I need a quick breather,” he said, sitting down.
“I could use a minute to let my nerves calm down, too,” said Diana.
“Fine. You two take a quick rest and I’ll check this place out and see if there’s anything we can use here,” replied Connor.
Doug and Diana sat at the table talking while Connor went off behind the counter to scout for supplies.
“How are you holding up?” asked Doug.
“I’m doing OK,” she replied. “That close call with the zombie back there got me a bit frazzled, but I’ll be fine.”
“You handled yourself well out there. You’d never know you spent all that time in a lab.”
“My martial arts training has helped out a good bit. Never thought I’d need it for something like this, though.”
“That move back in the hospital hallway. Pretty impressive,” said Doug smiling.
Diana just smiled back.
“Can I borrow one of your knives?” she asked.
“Sure. What for?” he asked, handing over his pocket knife.
Taking the knife, she smiled and started scratching more lines into the handle. Doug just leaned back in his chair and chuckled.
“Yep. You’re one of us now.”
Finishing up, she handed the knife back to Doug, who quickly stashed it in his pocket.
Just then Connor came back from behind the counter carrying three bottled waters in one hand and a box of granola bars in the other. Dumping the granola bars on the table, he grabbed a few.
“Looks like they’re still good. Eat up. I’m sure you’ve got to be as hungry as I am,” he said.
Needing no furthe
r prompting, the two grabbed some bars and tore them open, devouring them quickly as Connor did the same.
After each had eaten three or four bars, they turned their attention to getting home. Looking at their watches, it was now 12:34. They had plenty of daylight, so there was no concern there. But they were still a long way from the boat.
“We’re clear of the hospitals, but not by as much as I’d like,” said Connor. If we can cut across Jefferson University, we can put a little more distance between us. The university is just on the other side of Locust, over there.” he said pointing.
“Zombie count looks pretty low out there. We might be in luck,” said Doug.
“Maybe,” replied Connor. “But it could indicate that they’ve formed a swarm. We won’t know until we’re out there.”
“Then let’s get moving,” said Diana, grabbing her M48 and getting up from her chair. “The sooner we get out of this city the better.”
Once again Doug and Connor exchanged surprised glances, along with subtle smiles.
“Okay then,” responded Connor, getting up from his chair.
Doug joined them and the three moved to the front of the café. The street still remained relatively clear, and they could see the large grassy area of Jefferson University in the distance. Connor wasted no time as he opened the door and headed out, Diana and Doug close behind.
Jogging slowly up 10th street, the three promptly reached the large, park-like grounds of Jefferson University. The grassy area covered about half the block, and was once a popular hang out for students to enjoy some fun and relaxation between or after classes. Now the area was overgrown, with tall grass and weeds and they could see a smattering of slow moving zombies milling about the area.
Because of the tall grass, they opted to stay on 10th until they reached a large sidewalk that cut through the university grounds. Continuing their slow jog, they traversed the sidewalk the entire distance as it crossed over to 11th Street. Reaching 11th, they turned right and headed for Walnut. Arriving at the intersection, the trio turned left and immediately stopped. In unison, the three muttered the same words.
“Oh shit!”
Ahead of them, less than a half a block away, was the Walnut Street swarm they had avoided at the bar, only now it was bigger. Much bigger. The street was packed sidewalk to sidewalk with undead, and this time the swarm saw them.
