by Scott Lee
“We need to rest,” said Doug, panting. “We’ve been on the run on and off for an hour.”
“We’ll see what we can do,” replied Connor.
The group continued on Market, weaving between abandoned cars and undead as they ran. The number of zombies was increasing the closer they got to City Hall, giving them cause for concern.
Connor now had both of the Twins out as he intercepted a particularly gruesome looking zombie in a penguin suit.
“What the hell?” he exclaimed. “Who wears a freaking penguin suit in Philadelphia?”
“No idea,” replied Doug as he chopped the head off of another approaching undead. “Guess it’s too late to ask him.”
“I don’t think this is the best place to stop,” said Diana as she buried the spike end of her M48 into a zombie that got too close. This one was a particularly horrid looking construction worker wearing a blood stained yellow vest.
“Diana’s right,” said Connor as he stopped to survey the situation. “There are too many zombies in this area for us to stop. We’d get trapped for sure. I think our best bet is to get beyond City Hall. Maybe we can find somewhere safe on the other side.”
“Then let’s get moving,” said Diana. “I’m not liking the increasing numbers we’re seeing.”
“This could be our toughest stretch yet, guys,” said Connor as they started to jog again. “City Hall is where Market and Broad Street come together. Broad is the biggest street in Philly. Crossing it isn’t going to be easy.”
“Please tell me you have a plan,” said Diana, a worried look on her face.
“Kinda,” replied Connor. “We’re going to run straight through City Hall.”
Doug and Diana exchanged apprehensive looks and continued on, the massive granite building looming ominously ahead of them.
City Hall was now only a half block away as the trio jogged across 13th street. The number of zombies had continued to increase the closer they got to Broad Street, but they were able to continue on, using the abandoned cars as shields, and fighting when necessary. With the increasing numbers of undead, Connor called for the group to pick up the pace.
“We need to get into City Hall as soon as possible. We need to get off the street.”
The trio instantly broke into a sprint, racing for the tall archway entrance to the building’s inner courtyard. The three lane loop that circled City Hall was littered with vehicles, some of which had undead trapped inside. Dozens of zombies filled the immediate area, with more coming into view every second. Dashing between cars, vans and delivery trucks, the trio crossed the loop and headed into the archway as zombies staggered behind them in pursuit.
Inside the archway, eight shadowy figures awaited them among the impressive two story marble and granite pillars that lined the grand corridor. To their right and left, large marble staircases led to the second floor, while dark recesses formed by the massive pillars hid potentially unseen horrors.
“Doug, you take the alcoves on the right. Diana, you take the left. I’ll go down the middle. Move together so we can cover each other,” said Connor.
The zombies were wide spread throughout the 100 foot passageway as the three divided to engage. Entering the right hand alcoves, Doug immediately saw another two zombies moving in the shadows.
“Got two more,” said Doug.
“Another three over here,” responded Diana.
“Draw them to you. The narrow confines should work to your advantage,” replied Connor.
Focusing on the zombies in their path, the three advanced slowly and methodically, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. As the last zombie in the passage fell, it was obvious that the three had become an efficient team when it came to dispatching the undead.
Coming together again where the ceiling lowered and the passage narrowed, the three cautiously continued on as the bright daylight of the large inner courtyard loomed ahead. Through the open archway, they could already see scores of undead milling about, and they couldn’t even see the majority of the courtyard. Looking behind them, they could see that some of the zombies had navigated through the cars and were heading toward the hallway entrance.
Stopping briefly, Connor addressed his friends.
“We need to get through here as quickly as possible,” he said. “There are four entrances into that courtyard, so once we engage, the noise will bring more. We’ll need to keep moving. Draw them away from where we need to go in order to clear a path. Follow my lead and kill only if you have to, because it will just slow us down.”
Moving forward, they headed for the courtyard, stopping at the archway entrance as the gravity of their dilemma sank in.
In front of them was the vast courtyard, approximately 200’ x 200’ in size. Much of the perimeter was lined with a thick iron railing with ornamental spikes along the top. Every other spike was a five-point design, with four spikes oriented horizontally and one going vertical.
The courtyard was complete with overturned tables and chairs to their right, temporary bleachers and a stage near the middle, and landscaped areas with trees, flowers and overgrown bushes skirting much of the perimeter walls and railing. Topping off the landscaping was an oval island of trees to their left. In addition, there were two exit only subway structures, one to their left (between the landscaped island and the walls of the building) and one in the opposite corner. Lastly, two open sets of stairs for subway entrance could be seen, one almost directly ahead of them in the middle of the plaza and the other across the courtyard near the far left corner.
And there were zombies. Men, women and children, undead and hungry, were spread out across the courtyard, no less than 20 at first glance. Scanning the area, Connor looked at Doug and Diana as he raised the Twins, their blades still dripping zombie blood from their recent fight in the corridor.
“Let’s move,” he said, a determined look on his face.
Walking quickly to his right, he targeted two zombie tourists with cameras still around their necks, taking off the tops of their heads with an inside out sweep of his blades. Doug and Diana fell in beside him, their weapons dealing death. Doug smashed the skull of the first zombie he came upon, and drove the sword through the skull of a second. Diana, meanwhile, kicked aside a child zombie on her left and drove the massive hunting knife into the forehead of another. As the child attempted to get up, Doug finished it off.
Spending only about thirty seconds in that corner, Connor called for them to move as the zombies migrated to that side of the courtyard.
“Head for the subway building,” he said, pointing to the other side of the archway they just came through.
Diana was the first to move as she raced toward the opposite corner. But in her haste, she didn’t notice the fast moving zombie that had advanced down the hallway while they were fighting. As she crossed in front of the archway, she was blindsided by a 6’ tall zombie, and the two went tumbling to the ground. Moments later, Diana screamed in pain as the zombie bit down hard on her shoulder.
Doug watched in horror as the zombie lowered its head and clamped its teeth onto Diana’s shoulder.
“Nooooooo!” he screamed.
Throwing caution to the wind, he bolted forward and tackled the zombie off of her, the two slamming into the concrete next to Diana, weapons flying. The two wrestled for a moment before Doug got the upper hand, repeatedly slamming the zombie’s head onto the concrete and reducing the skull to pulp, only stopping when there was nothing left to hold onto.
Looking to his right, he saw Diana holding her shoulder and he quickly rushed to her side. Grabbing her hand, he pulled it away, his shoulders slumping in relief. Her leather jacket had clear teeth impressions on it, but the leather had held up.
“I’m fine, Doug,” she said. It didn’t penetrate the jacket.”
“Thank God,” he said. “I thought you were done for.”
“Guys!” yelled Connor. “Could use some help here!”
While D
oug was checking on Diana, the zombies had closed in and were forming a horde. Connor was holding off the closest undead, but more were coming down the hallway and things were deteriorating quickly.
“Head for the subway entrance, but don’t go in. I have a plan,” yelled Connor.
Getting to their feet, Doug and Diana retrieved their weapons and moved toward the dark gray subway structure. Already, there were undead moving to intercept them, and within seconds they were in another bloodbath. Taking out three more zombies, the two reached the structure and formed a defensive formation. Seconds later, Connor joined them, blood and gore covering his jacket.
“Doug, smash the third window of the structure on this side. I’ll smash the same on the other side. Keep going toward the bleachers. We need to keep the horde moving, but we need to keep obstacles between them and us. Diana, keep the path clear.”
Both nodded and began moving along the subway structure. Reaching the third window, Doug smashed it with the pry bar, the sound echoing down the stairwell inside. Waiting a few seconds, Connor did the same. Diana, ahead of them, slammed her M48 into a slow moving senior citizen, and kicked aside another, sending it flying off balance and into the iron railing. One of the many spikes penetrated into the back of its head, killing it instantly.
Advancing past the structure, the three now began to encounter zombies entering the courtyard from the Broad Street south entrance. Taking down two city workers, a woman in a business suit, and a teenager wearing a sideways ball cap, the three reached the near edge of the small bleachers, which were positioned closer to the south entrance. They were able to easily jump onto the top bench, which was only about 4 feet off the ground, and soon they were racing down the seats towards the stage. Behind them the horde was funneled as it tried to make its way past the island landscaping and the subway structure, buying the group a little time.
Reaching the stage, which was positioned near the second subway exit building, the three jumped up and moved to the middle, looking around them at the increasing numbers of undead.
“Now what?” asked Diana, looking around.
“Stay here,” answered Connor as he jumped off the stage and ran to the nearby subway exit structure.
As with the other, he raced around the building, smashing two of the windows. Taking out a few zombies along the way, he quickly returned and jumped back onto the stage.
“Um, Connor . . . things are getting a little crowded in here,” said Doug worriedly.
In the distance the horde was moving across the courtyard in their direction, and now zombies were pouring out of the far subway exit, adding to their numbers.
“Wait for it . . .” said Connor, watching the zombies closing in.
Despite the number of corpses littering the courtyard, more and more zombies were arriving through the four entrances every minute. Now the numbers greatly exceeded what they originally saw.
Finally, Connor gave the signal.
“Head for the subway!” he yelled as he jumped from the platform.
Twins in hand, he raced forward, slaughtering any zombie in his path. Behind him, Doug and Diana leapt from the stage and chased after him, adding to the massacre as they drove for the subway entrance.
To their right, the horde turned and was closing quickly as the three reached the stairs. Racing around the railing, they took the steps two at a time as they headed into the city’s dark underground. Turning the first corner, Connor moved down the next set of stairs, quickly moving to the edge of the fading light. Sheathing one of his blades, he used his free hand to pull out their last remaining flashlight, lighting up the dark underground stairwell ahead of him. As the steps reversed direction yet again, the flashlight revealed the dark subway platform at the bottom of the stairs in the distance.
Wasting no time the three headed down the final flight as the first of the pursuing horde hit the stairs above them. They could hear loud banging as more and more reached the stairs and attempted to follow. All met with the same fate, falling the distance to the bottom before attempting to get up and continue the chase. The result was a massive pile-up of undead on the landings below each flight of stairs.
“What was that?” asked Diana, referring to the sounds.
“Zombies go up better than they go down,” said Connor. “They don’t have the coordination to navigate going down the steps. That should buy us some time to get the heck out of the subway.”
Doug, standing next to Diana, was less than thrilled at their new situation.
“Great, just great,” muttered Doug. “As if we didn’t get enough of the dark back in the hospital.”
“Quit you’re whining,” replied Connor. “I got us out of there, didn’t I?”
Doug continued to grumble as they made their way onto the platform.
“What was up with the whole window smashing thing?” whispered Diana as they moved cautiously along, the flashlight beam panning from track to track.
“Needed to draw the zombies out of the subway,” replied Connor quietly.
Diana just grinned, although Connor never saw it.
“Diana, I want you to take the flashlight. Just like in the hospital, keep things lit up in front of us.”
“Got it,” she said, taking the flashlight from Connor while handing the large bowie knife back to Doug.
Before heading across, Diana took a moment to walk from track to track, shining the flashlight beam down the platform, making sure that no zombies were hiding behind the support columns. She also took a moment to shine the beam down the tracks behind them, looking for any undead that may be wandering there.
As she peered down the right hand tracks, she could see faint spectral shapes moving just beyond the light’s beam.
“We have company,” she said, turning to Doug and Connor.
“Then we have no time to waste. If we follow the tracks in this direction, we should end up on the other side of the loop,” Connor whispered, pointing. “We go side by side, Diana in the middle with the light. Once we’re in the tunnel, no one make a sound. We don’t know what’s waiting for us at the next station.”
Jumping off the platform, the three began the slow, eerie walk down the dark tunnel, the haunting moans of the undead growing louder in the blackness behind them.
