Surviving The Aftermath (Book 1): The Dead Linger

by Roberts, Liz

  “Push his head up, I’ve got a shot!” Oscar was frantic trying to help. Jill managed to get her hands under the things chin and shoved for all she was worth, her muscles now shaking under the pressure. These fuckers were strong she kept thinking. With some breathing room and target, Oscar punched a hole through its head knocking its body off of Jill.

  “Damn that was scary close.”

  “Yeah let’s not do that again.” Jill said. They drug the bodies outside and everyone went back to searching through. They were heading back upstairs when the radio chatter began.

  “If anyone can hear us this is Bravo team. Were trapped, I repeat, we are trapped in St. Luke’s hospital.”

  Both Jill and Oscar look up at each other.

  “What the fuck are they doing in a hospital?”

  “Jack’s on that team.” Jill said. The radio chirped again.

  “This is Alpha on the way.” And silence.

  “Base, this is Zulu lead, did I hear right, that Bravo is in a hospital?” Andy was on the radio.

  “That’s what it sounded like.”

  “Are you sending anyone to help?”

  “Yeah were looking for volunteers, you wanna go?” Looking at Jill, Oscar radioed, “Yeah were in.”

  This place was a cesspool. It’s like everything evil that didn’t turn into a zombie, all congregated here. Ending up a slave was not how Tom pictured his retirement years ending up, he was 37, and he didn’t need this shit.

  “Let’s go bitch.” Every morning it had been the same thing. Getting woken at the ass crack of dawn, by the same phrase, by the same guy, well at least now the jerk only flipped his cot over instead smacking him in the face. So his manners were improving some. Tom rose with the rest, about 20 other men and women, a few children thrown into the mix. Every single one of them had healing bruises, cuts and sores. A few even had some pretty bad infections, but they were hiding them, apparently the norm around here was once you were too sick to work, you were put outside, and nobody wanted that. Except Tom. He’d done anything and everything, broken all the rules, was insubordinate to his supposed superiors, all they did was beat him. They all shuffled to the big red barn, it had been turned into a drug lab pretty much. Marijuana was still easy to grow since it was just a plant, the men in charge had raided every pharmacy within 50 miles it seemed because there were still boxes full of prescription narcotics, and cold medicines, anything for mixing and making a drug to get high on. Rip was the new drug of choice around here. A mixture of oxycodone’s, paint thinner and few others mish mashed in there, and this shit Ripped you up, hence the name. And apparently it was as addictive as heroine. Because it seemed one snort, smoke or shot, (it was a versatile drug) and you had to have more. So Tom and his fellow slaves made this day in and day out, with a break around noon, they were able to see the sun for maybe 30mins and then it was back to the salt mines. Tom looked around the place, every day he was searching for an escape route. He’d made several attempts already, which is why he had his current limp at the moment. 3 weeks had maybe passed or a month, since he ventured out on his own. He missed his wife and daughter so much it hurt, but no tears, because they found weakness and exploited it here. Several times he was tempted to turn around and go back, but he had principles, and pride, and Jill was there. Yeah so much for that BS now. He wondered often if Casey missed him, did his wife think about him, and was Jill moving into the leadership role that he vacated. Ding Ding. Ding Ding. Tom’s head shot up, here was his chance. Panic was already rampant in the barn, you could hear the screams outside. The bells meant a breech, somewhere a zombie or more had gotten in. It seemed to happen often around here, the aluminum walls were flimsy, and often when the people went out on an excursion, they would be infected and come back and turn at some point. Outside in the sunlight Tom tried to adjust and access the situation. He saw the walls were crippled towards the back, and like lemmings everyone was running in the opposite direction. He knew his only chance was to get out where these Zeds were coming in. Finding an iron rod maybe 4ft long Tom sprinted towards the opening. He knew there was only so much time before the people with guns would be here and capture him, so he had to act face. Running barefoot, that’s right they even took your shoes here, he managed over the uneven muddy dirt crop ground and running with a limp he was at the hole before anyone. There were maybe 7 zombies and most were already busy eating so they were distracted. He was hiding behind a tent and heard the wranglers coming through the crowd shouting and shooting. Tom went for it. He rushed towards the first zombie catching him off guard and smacked his skull with a crack, another stood and tried to reach out, and Tom managed a quick spin move and cracked another skull. The opening was within his reach, only one more zombie. Wam! Tom flew into the fence and sunk to the ground. Dazed and utterly confused he gazed up into the sun and several shadows cast themselves over him.

  “I know this fuck.” Were the last words Tom heard before blackness consumed him.

  Parking the car, both Jack and John got out with caution. They parked right by the open ER ambulance bay. The parking lot was filled with cars, flipped over squads, police cars with windshields blown out, blood everywhere, bodies amassed in certain areas. Some were burnt, others just in piles. With the rain and snow, things were looking rusted and old.

  “Don’t touch anything, the last thing we need is tetanus.” John said. They did rummage through each ambulance, finding some blankets, a defibrillator, gauze and bandages. In the cop cars, they liberated a couple working shotguns with the shells, they took the emergency road kits in the trunks. You just never knew. Each with a shotgun in hand they made their way into the building. There were absolutely no bodies inside, that was the first thing they both commented on. From the carnage outside, to almost pristine appearance inside.

  “Where are they?”

  “No idea. Maybe they are trapped in a room somewhere or we’ll be lucky and they all left.” John replied skeptically. They looked around, chaos had ensued here once. The place was a mess with papers, equipment, beds, and chairs. The front desk computer had been thrown across the room at some point.

  “You go that way, I’ll check down here.” Jack indicated the dark hallway in front of him.

  “There’s no way we should be splitting up. Be smart kid.”

  “Look there’s only 2 of us, it’ll be faster this way, besides, we’ve been in here what 10mins and haven’t seen or heard anything. We’ll just walk to the end of the hall and meet back here. What maybe 20mins?” Jack looked at his watch.

  “I still think this is a bad idea.

  “Fine then wait here and I’ll check each hallway.” And Jack turned to head down. He heard John sigh and turned to see him walking down the other hallway. Jack tried to keep himself alert and aware, he knew there was danger here, and he should be scared, but at the moment he wasn’t. His adrenaline was racing with excitement. Taking a deep breath he tried to relax and stay calm. He passed several curtain triage areas, none seemed worth any investigating. He crept forward keeping his gun up and ready, still not a single noise. He peeked in when the curtains were drawn shut, he kept looking behind him. The place was just a mess, nothing looked reusable. Jack was starting to think John was right and this was a bad idea. He turned to go when a white cabinet caught his eye, it was completely unmarred and still secured. Jack lunged at the cabinet and whipped it open. Immaculate was the best way to describe everything in there. It was all neatly stocked and placed, as if a nurse had just filled it. He immediately began filling his back pack full of the supplies, there were medicines and ointments, syringes, bottles of pills, multiple gauze and bandages. There was even a hypothermia kit, scissors and what looked like a sewing kit, (sutures). He closed the doors and then saw the cart, more perfectly good items. He scooped up everything. With a heavy pack Jack headed back the way he came. Back at the entrance, he was alone. He waited about 5mins before he started trying to call John using a mock stage whisper.

  “John.” He s
aid with a hiss trying to be quiet. He took a couple of steps down the hall and again called for John. Nothing. Shit, John has the keys, what do I do, Jack says to himself. He heads down the hall, cautious again like before but really trying to listen now. He finally makes it to the end of the hallway, which splits down 2 separate more hallways. Still no sign of John. Not knowing which way to go, Jack goes left, but keeps turning to look behind him for any sign of his partner. Still whisper calling out to John, he’s now walking at a quicker pace and getting very nervous. He passes several more rooms and comes to a set of automatic double doors, Operating Rooms was stenciled above. Immediately he thinks we need supplies, but his bag is so full he rationalizes not to go in. He pushes on the doors, they don’t budge, well that makes his decision for him. His only thought is he’s gone down the wrong hallway. Now with impatience Jack hustles back to where he started and continues to jog down the other hallway, which seems to lead to a bunch of private doctor’s offices. He comes to another T-intersection hallway. Great! Jack is getting scared and pissed now. Where the hell was this guy? Choosing another hallway, he jogs down it again. He can feel the panic rising and knows something is wrong. John has the radio, he can’t even call for help from Alpha. He comes to another set of double doors but these ones are open and there is no sign above indicating what’s ahead. Still calling out for John, his voice gets louder and louder, when he see’s someone way down the hall. Finally he sighs. He steps forward and smack, his hands and face meet the linoleum floor in a hurry, something grabs his ankles and drags him back into a room. Before he can even a register a scream, he sees 2 men and a 1 women in what appears to be a small operating room.

  “What the hell were you making all that noise for?” The woman whispers.

  “Shhhhhh, he doesn’t know.” John’s voice comes in. His back now up against a wall Jack says.

  “Who are you?”

  ”We were here first, anything you find is ours.” The woman talks again.

  “Oh Joan hush. We were looking for supplies, I’m sure you guys were too.”

  “This your son?” Another guy asks.

  “No, were just friends, were both from a larger group down the road. What about you guys?”

  “Don’t tell him anything, he’s lying and just wants to take what’s ours.” Again the woman, Joan speaks.

  “Fine let’s go.” Jack stands.

  “Wait those things are out there.” The other man whispers.

  “No there not I just came all this way from the entrance and didn’t run into any. I saw some shadows way down at the other end but if we hustle we can make it before they get over here.”

  “Jack you were lucky, those things are in every crevice around this place. I’ve killed 2 since we got here.”

  “Why didn’t I hear any gunfire?”

  “Because I didn’t want to bring the rest down on me. Use your brain man.”

  “Were in a fucking hornets’ nest kids.” The other stranger said.

  “Yeah, we’ve been stuck here since last night. Joan is too scared to move and we saw hundreds of them, and released them, because shit for brains over here … ” he was interrupted by the other man.

  “Hey.” Man #2 said with a sullen voice.

  “Decided to open a set of roped off doors. We barely made it in here. We were trying to figure a way out when we came across your friend here.”

  “Well the answer is obvious, we have to fight our way out.” Jack said.

  “We don’t have any guns.”

  “Grab something to swing and let’s go.” Bang! Bang! Bang! A face appeared in the window of the door.

  “Make sure the door is secure.” The 2 male strangers leapt forward and press the surgical bed up against the door and everyone grabbed stuff and piles it on or around the bed.

  “Shit. Way to go, while we were sitting here dicking around we missed our chance. Now what?” Jack says.

  “I guess we look for an alternate route and call for help.

  “If anyone can hear us this is Bravo team. Were trapped, I repeat, we are trapped in St. Luke’s hospital.”

  “This is Alpha on the way.” And silence.

  “What are you guys military or something?”

  “No, but we are nicely organized. Ok Alpha is a bus with 3 other people that might help. Are you guys coming with us or wanting to stay here?”

  “We’ll go our own way.” Joan immediately replies.

  “No we’ll go with you.” Man #1 says. Joan grabs both guys by the shirt and pulls them to the other side of the room for some privacy and vigorous whispering commences.

  “We don’t know these guys.” She whispers harshly.

  “So? If they wanted what we have they would have taken it already.”

  “Maybe they are waiting for us to lead them to our other stuff.”

  “I doubt it, they have vehicles and radios, I bet they are better situated than us at the moment.”

  “I’m with them.” Guy #2 indicates.

  “Me too.” Guy #1 says. She looks over at Jack and John who are now pulling the vent grate from the ceiling off.

  “You ladies coming?” John inquires. The door finally begins to budge.

  “Shit let’s go!” Jack lifts himself up and reaches back down as everyone hands up there packs. Joan comes up first, then man# 1. Jack really wants John to come next, but he knows he’ll wait till last, it’s just the kind of guy he is. Man #2 jumps up and pulls himself up. There are so many zombies now pushing on the door it opens, but they still have to get around the gurney and the other crap on in the way. John jumps, missed Jack’s outstretched hand.

  “Hurry!” Man#1 says.

  “Come John, jump.” Jack says. Again John jumps and can’t hold on.

  “Fuck!” John gets bumped from behind by the gurney, but uses the momentum to launch himself one more time. 4 sets of hands grab his arms and haul him up through the opening.

  “That was close. Let’s go.” The zombies were in a frenzy below, stretching their arms up and groaning. They were climbing on each other and anything else they could to try and reach the living.

  Tom woke up with a splitting headache and completely disoriented. He was tied down on a bed, arms and legs.

  “Look who’s awake. Well Tom, I’m Luke, it’s nice to meet you.” A gruff brute of a man said leaning over to look down at Tom.

  “Where am I and who are you?”

  “Told you he was prick.” Tom recognized the voice immediately. He glared at Jeff who sat across the room like he was the shit.

  “Jeff you bastard. I just need one hand free to kill you.” Tom struggled a bit, but realized it was useless, so he lay back down and shut his eyes.

  “So, now that were all friends, how’s about you tell us where you’re from, so we can get to know you better.”

  “Nowhere.”

  “Well that’s not what we heard.” A new voice says. “Our buddy Jeff here says you get a sweet little set up.”

  “He’s just lying to save his ass. He and I ran into each other out there and that’s it. He left me for dead.” Tom said as he continued to lay there with his eyes partially closed, he could see both men’s reaction to this news. They look bewildered and then pissed. Luke walked up to Jeff and grabbed him up by his collar.

  “Is that true boy? You play’n us?” He shook him.

  “No way man! I swear to god they have a set up. He’s lying!” Jeff pointed down. He let Jeff drop on the floor. Then turned to Tom and dropped an elbow in his gut.

  “So, talk.” After some coughing and sputtering Tom regained his voice.

  “I don’t know what he’s talking about.” He managed to say. “I’ve been on my own since the beginning and ran across this fucker in a store, we were both looking for supplies, he hits me from behind and takes off with everything I had.” Tom hoping to add a slight touch of truth in there about a store. Again all the men look at each other than Jeff who is still on the floor.

  “I swear, there
’s a hundred of them, I saw them. There’s women and food.” Jeff held up his hands. “I promise you.” He was pleading for his life now.

  “If you guys just let me go, you’ll never see me again, I promise.” Tom stated. Again silent looks go between each guy. Luke walked over to Jeff again, and looked down. “You better get your memory jump started, because one of you is lying. We’ll give you some time to find this place, and your buddy is coming with us. One of you ain’t coming back from this trip.” He looked from guy to guy. They untied Tom and kept a gun trained on him as he stood ready to leave the room.

  “Why the fuck are you doing this. They’re going to kill us both.” Jeff whispered at him.

  “You’re mistaking me for someone who cares.”

  “Mom what’s going on?” Meghan asks as what appears to be another set of people preparing to go out. And Jill and Oscar are back.

  “Honey stay calm.” She put her hands on her daughter’s shoulders. “But it looks like Jack and John went into a hospital and they’re trapped for the moment.”

  “What?” Meghan clearly affected by this news. “No!” She turns towards Jill. “Let me go too.”

  “No baby!” Her mother gasps and tries to hold her, but Meghan shrugs her off.

  “I’m going!” Jill now putting her hands on Meghan’s shoulders, she shushes her.

  “Stop, Meghan, listen, please calm down. We don’t know the situation, they could be fine now.”

  “But Jack’s out there.”

  “I will bring him back. Do you really think he’d be ok if he knew you were out there?” Meghan shook her head causing the tears to fall.

  “Stay safe with your mother, and as soon as I have Jack, he’ll radio you. I promise.”