The Last Alive

by H. L. Wampler

  The death of an undead is rather unnerving. They don't make any noise. Their already lifeless eyes stare out at you. It's almost like the person that used to inhabit the body shows themselves for just a moment; the moment when the body dies and releases the tormented soul. The look is a look of relief. At least I like to think so. You're putting the ravenous monster out of its misery. Then they just fall to the ground. There's no struggle. No pleading for their lives. Nothing. Just merciless death.

  I pulled the knife out of his head as his body landed at my feet. He didn't move again.

  "Are you finished?" Meaghan joined me next to the now dead undead.

  "For now," I mumbled, kicking it with the toe of my boot.

  "What if Nathan..." Her voice trailed off.

  "He's not," I snapped, wiping the greasy, black blood off my knife.

  "Emma, you have to at least acknowledge the fact he might be one of those. Nobody has seen or heard from him in days." Taz squeezed my shoulder.

  I didn't want him to touch me. I didn't want any of them to touch me. "He could be holed up somewhere. I'm going to find him, and if he is one of those I'll deal with him."

  Meaghan put her hand on my other shoulder attempting to comfort me. "It's not fair to expect you to put him out of his misery."

  I shrugged her off though. "Meg, nobody else is going to do it. I won't let anyone else. I promised Nathan a long time ago if he ever turned I'd be the one to put him down."

  I laughed bitterly. The thought of putting him down like a dog was horrible. How did it get to this point? We were putting down undead like they were a bunch of rabid dogs. I looked at the bridge and watched as another group of them shuffled as fast as their rotting corpses would let them. They smelled fresh meat. They smelled me and Meaghan. I knew they would never be able to catch up to us as they were so unbelievably slow.

  "We need to keep moving. We may be quiet, but we do smell like fresh food to them." I walked away leaving her with the stinking body.

  "You can't avoid the topic. What are you going to do if we don't find him? Worse, what if we do and he's not exactly how you remember him? It's possible he's..." Liz started to say.

  "I told you to drop it." I cut her off. "Let me deal with this, alright?"

  "Fine," she said.

  I pulled my bow off my back and kept walking up the road. A rusting bus lay on its side near a stop light creaking as it swung in the wind. Cars were left abandoned everywhere. The owners seemed to just vanish. Things were a complete clusterfuck when the virus spread out of the hospital. People freaked out, they ran, some even killed other people. I walked past one car that had all the doors wide open. A car seat in the back was splattered with blood. Deep in my mind I told myself it was from an adult trying to hide. Kids didn't turn into the undead. The world became cruel and the further we traveled the faster my hope was drying up. I turned my head and kept walking. My heart started to pound. Something was off. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was just something not right.

  I was about to say something to Meaghan when I heard her blood curdling scream. I spun around as an undead was taking her down. She was three cars over and the view was blocked. I couldn't see a damn thing happening. The undead's frantic snarl tore through the air as it tried to eat her; or was eating her. Meaghan's screams never stopped, so at least I knew she was still alive even if only for a moment. I slid across the hood of the car next to me and dodged behind the truck next to it.

  "Meaghan!" I screamed, hoping I could make it to my friend before she was bit.

  I jumped onto the hood of the car that she went down by. She managed to hold the flesh-eater off. I grabbed an arrow out of my quiver and didn't even bother with the bow. I plunged the steel tip deep into the monster’s cranium. It collapsed on top of her and neither of them moved. I jumped down and rolled the undead off her.

  "Meg?" I whispered, just waiting.

  "You owe me big time for doing this." She scrambled to her feet.

  "Were you bit?"

  She shook her head and I wrapped the girl in a big hug. Maybe I wouldn't be able to put Nathan down.

  Chapter Nine

  Finding Safety and Making Promises

  "Emma, it's not possible. We're trapped." Nathan sighed heavily.

  "Nathan, stop. I'm not giving up, but if you keep up this attitude I'm leaving you here. So, help or go back," I snapped.

  He looked at me taken back. It was obvious he wasn't used to having people disagree with him. I heard a crash from somewhere down a hall and watched as the undead went toward it.

  "Sound attracts them?" I muttered to myself.

  The nurse's station cleared out as they headed for whatever the loud noise was. That was going to be my only opportunity. I pulled the tile completely off and scanned the other two halls. They were empty, except for the deadish bodies that were half chewed on. I took a deep breath and prepared to lower myself down into the pit of hell.

  "What are you doing?"

  "I'm getting us out of here," I whispered.

  "By killing yourself?"

  "No, Nathan, I'm making an escape route to those tunnels."

  "I can't let you go down there."

  "Listen, I'm more qualified to go down there than you are. You save lives. I'm used to crazy and killers."

  "They aren't just killers. They're not even alive."

  "Watch my six," I told him.

  He furrowed his brow and stared quizzically. "Huh?"

  "My back. Just watch my back. If you see something coming, make noise in another area. Throw something or yell, just keep them away long enough for me to get to the elevator. Then come down with me."

  "Do you think it will work?" he asked.

  "I have no idea but trying something is better than giving up while sitting in a fucking ceiling."

  I held onto the steel beam and lowered myself to the floor. I landed with a loud, echoing thud. I held my breath and waited.

  Maybe it was just loud in my mind.

  The body I landed next to was wrecked. The throat had been ripped out. The stomach ripped open and what was left of the internal organs were not in the body. I quickly turned my head and dry heaved a bit. Through all of my years as a cop and a detective, I had never seen such carnage.

  "You're making too much noise!" Nathan whispered, loudly.

  I waved him off.

  "Seriously. Be quiet."

  "Are they coming?"

  "A few are."

  "Then make noise in some other area. Throw something," I whispered up to him.

  "Like what?"

  "I left the pipe up there. Throw it. Bang on something away from me."

  "Alright." He disappeared into the ceiling and I heard him banging around.

  I dropped to my knees and crawled down the hall hiding behind an overturned stretcher. I could hear them moving around. There were some moving down the hall toward the sounds. I peered around my mini-blockade and crept around a few more bodies. I tried not to look at them. I pressed my back against the wall across from where I was ready to run to the elevator, until something grabbed my ankle. I looked down at the pasty hand and let out the most blood curdling scream that had ever escaped my mouth.

  My cover was blown, and I was going to die right there. I should have listened to Nathan and stayed in the ceiling. The undead was only half of an undead. The bottom was missing. I couldn't help it; I started sobbing as its other hand reached up and grabbed my calf. I pulled at my leg and tried to get away. I could see zombies coming from every room down all three halls.

  So, this is where it ends? Here? Being some monster's dinner?

  I covered my head, nowhere near prepared to die.

  "I don't think so!" I heard Nathan shout while driving the pipe down into the zombie's skull.

  The sickening crack and then squish made me queasy. It was by far the most disgusting sound I had ever heard, and if I survived through this I knew it wouldn't be the last time I heard it. I looked up into Nathan'
s eyes. He suddenly looked so sure of himself. He reached down and grabbed my hand, pulling me up to him.

  "Get to that elevator," he shouted, swinging the pipe at what was once a nurse.

  "I'm sorry," I mumbled.

  "Don't. You're the strong one out of the two of us. Don't go gloom and doom on me." He winked.

  I nodded and ran to the elevator. I yanked the dead body out and hit the button searching frantically for another weapon. An undead in scrubs pinned me against the desk of the nurse's station, his snarling and snapping mouth mere inches from my face. I reached one hand behind me trying to grab anything to protect myself while using the other to prevent my head from becoming lunch. My fingers managed to find something long, skinny, and pointy. I grasped it and plunged it into his eye socket. Blood trickled down his cheek as his body slid down mine and he face planted on the linoleum. The dinging elevator was a relief.

  "Nathan!" I shouted for the man who was pulling the pipe out of a head.

  That one must have been a patient. It had on a gown and had been dragging an I.V. pole behind it. A catheter bag was still inserted and lay next to the pole. It wasn't filled with urine though. There was a black liquid sloshing around in it.

  "What's in that bag?" I asked before the door slid closed.

  "I don't know. It's supposed to be urine."

  "That's not pee," I said as we headed down.

  "No, it wasn't."

  "Thank you."

  "Don't thank me. I need to thank you. You were right, we couldn't stay there." He watched the numbers tick down to one. "You saved us."

  "No, but my plan almost got us killed."

  "We're fine."

  "Nathan?"

  "What?"

  "Promise me something."

  "What, Emma?"

  "If I ever turn into one of those things, put me out of my misery."

  He looked at me briefly and nodded. "Only if you do the same."

  "Are you sure you want me to?"

  "Yes."

  "Okay." A tear slid down my cheek. I didn't want to think about that wonderful man dying.

  "We're going to be okay. Now let's get the fuck out of here." He smiled at me.

  His smile quickly faded as the doors opened and a hallway of undead stopped to stare at us.

  Chapter Ten

  Where is Nathan?

  Meaghan didn't go far from me. I didn't mind. After the near fatality I wasn't about to wander around by myself either. We were both on edge and as much as everyone else was. I wanted to relax. I wanted to be at ease. I couldn't. I kept my bow out and loaded. I had no idea when the next heard of zombies would come by or when a rogue would stumble out of nowhere to try and eat our faces. Meaghan's guns were out and ready. Liza had her AK-15 up as she peered about. A few of the guys rummaged through cars as we walked by. I didn't understand why. We had picked everything clean years ago. Nothing but death and destruction remained in the ruins. Meaghan wouldn't stop fussing with her guns. She always liked them better than melee weapons. She said they were more accurate and deadly, but I disagreed. How much deadlier can you get than a steel tip going through the center of your forehead? It didn't matter though, either way they were both effective at taking down an undead.

  "It's so creepy around here," Meaghan whispered before biting her lip.

  "I know."

  "Do you think the hospital is still standing?" Liz asked.

  "I don't see why not. They didn't demolish it," I said, listening to every sound that bounced around us. It would take more than a few years and neglect for it to crumble."

  Taz popped up from behind a car and nearly scared us to death. "Since this place covers three blocks and is twelve stories high, do you know where he'd go?"

  I recovered myself and shot him a nasty look. "I have a few ideas on where he may be."

  "Why didn't he tell you he was coming out here?" she asked, as the once magnificent hospital came into view.

  "He knew I would object to it. He knew that this was a guaranteed suicide mission. It was idiotic for him to leave the city limits without more people." I shook my head at the thought of the once timid doctor trekking through undead infested wilderness.

  Meaghan raised her guns ready to shoot a zombie venturing out of an office building that was on Fifth Avenue. "Don't. The noise will draw them out. I'll get it."

  I aimed and let the string go. A quick ping and the arrow soared through the air connecting with the intended target. The thud of an object falling against a car and hitting the ground let me know it was down for good. I crept around the car and saw the body lying in a pool of black blood, the arrow struck right above the left temple. I yanked it out and nocked it again waiting for the next undead.

  I stood at the bottom of the long hill that led up to the main entrance of the hospital. It was so weird not seeing students, doctors, nurses, and other various people walking up and down.

  The nursing students' dorms were painfully quiet.

  "For this being zombie central, there aren't many zombies," Meaghan whispered, as we walked up the horrendously steep hill.

  "I know. It's odd." I had a bad feeling. The infestation started here. The undead were, in a manner of speaking, born in this hospital. How could it be virtually deserted?

  "Where are they?" Liz pondered.

  "Maybe they moved on? I guess it's ridiculous to think that zombies would just stick around here." Taz told her.

  "Do you think she is still here?" Meaghan asked.

  "I'm not sure. The last time I saw Becca she was strapped down to some bed trying to eat my face." I closed my eyes as flashes of my sister crossed my mind. Her straggly hair, cloudy eyes, and fierce disposition were the last memories I had of the once beautiful girl.

  Meaghan put her hand on my arm. She knew it was a sore subject for me.

  She smiled lightly before continuing up the hill. "I'm sure she's at peace now."

  "Who would have done it? Hm? I didn't. Nobody has come back from being out here. She's one of those things and she's out here somewhere." Liz inquired.

  "Let's go find Nathan," I said through clenched teeth.

  In one smooth motion, I drew the string to my face. I closed my left eye and slowly breathed in and out.

  "Emma?"

  "Shh."

  Taz turned and saw the undead half a car away from us. His eyes grew as large as saucers and his mouth opened in a silent scream. Before a sound could escape his lips, I released the arrow. It zipped past him and jammed into the zombie’s head. The body fell against a police car that was turned sideways in an apparent attempt at blocking off the street. It didn't do a good job at blocking anything.

  "I fucking hate this place! This is so ridiculous! If Nathan isn't dead, I'm going to kill him myself!" Taz screamed.

  "Shh," Meaghan whispered.

  "Calm down." I walked past him up the hill.