by T. L. Frost
A loud banging came suddenly at the metal fire-exit door. They all froze, turning at the noise.
“Let me in!” Came a desperate voice “Please let me in!”
Chris moved toward the door, hand reaching for the handle.
“Hold on mate.” Said Barry holding his arm “Those things are out there.”
“Let me in!” Came the voice again.
“We can’t just leave him!” Said Chris shaking his arm free and pushing the handle to open the door.
A man tumbled in through the door. His white doctor’s coat covered in blood.
“Oh thank fuck…” He said.
Chris looked outside, the screams and moans were suddenly loud again with the door open. Coming around the corner quickly, two zombies saw the open door and charged, Chris grabbed the handle, pulling it back as hard as possible and it slammed shut with a loud bang, followed by more banging as the zombies crashed into it, battering it with their fists. They all stepped back from the loud, ringing noise, echoing all around the small, concrete staircase. Chris held the handle just in case but soon the zombies appeared to have moved on and he let it go, checking that the door was secure.
“Peter!” Said Lynn in surprise as she recognised the doctor.
“Lynn! You’re alive!” He replied as she stepped forward and hugged him.
Peter did not look well, the effects of the flu had gotten worse and Lynn saw blood seeping through a hole in the arm of his coat.
“You’re hurt.” She said, turning to the guard she asked “Do you have a first aid kit?”
Harry nodded pointing up the stairs “It’s in the staff rooms, I’ll show you on the way to the roof.”
As they climbed Harry pointed out the way to the first aid kit and Lynn led Peter there while the others continued to the roof. The light making them squint at first after the dimly lit stairway. They moved carefully towards the edge of the roof, not wanting to be seen. Everything was in uproar, people still running, trying desperately to get away, many more zombies rushed around tirelessly attacking anyone they saw. People were dragged down, overwhelmed by the savagery of the attack, the zombies biting and clawing at them in a frenzy. Sporadic gun shots could be heard and they saw an army Land Rover come speeding away from the Mall, its windscreen shattered and covered in blood, zombies were clinging to it as it sped up a ramp, steering wheel spinning madly and almost overturning it, until finally, with a loud crash, it hit a large lamp post, the top shaking and dropping glass covers to smash all around the Land Rover. Screams came from inside the vehicle as one of the zombies crawled inside, others turned at the sound and ran to join it. After that they had seen enough and went to join the others in the staff rooms.
Chapter 4
“How is he?” Asked Chris as he stood next to the coffee machine in the staff rooms.
“Pretty bad.” Answered Lynn as she looked back at Peter “He’s lost a lot of blood, one of those things outside bit his arm, but the bleeding seems to have slowed now. His breathing is ragged though, the flu has sapped all of his strength and he is slipping in and out of consciousness.”
Peter was resting at one of the tables in the small room used by the staff of the building, his head resting on his arms on the table. Chris watched him for a moment, thinking, then blew out a sigh.
“There’s not much else we can do for him.” He said “Change the bandage regularly, but apart from that…”
Lynn nodded, knowing Peter’s chances were slim.
“What’s it like outside?” She asked.
“Bad, really bad.” Chris replied closing his eyes and squeezing the bridge of his nose “There are so many of those… zombies out there, we’re surrounded.”
“Will we be ok in here?” Lynn asked sounding worried.
Chris looked straight at her, not wanting to scare her but not wanting to sugar coat the truth either.
“I don’t know if anywhere is safe. This thing is all over and last I heard, it was appearing in other countries.”
Lynn sat down, arms resting on a table “There’s nothing we can do?”
“We can stay alive.” Said Chris putting a comforting hand on her shoulder “Work together and help each other survive this nightmare.”
Lynn nodded and accepted a hot coffee.
“Harry?” Said Chris “Is this place secure, everything locked up?”
Harry nodded as he ate a snack from a vending machine “Did my rounds just before I opened that door to get a better look and I locked that up again when you were all inside.”
“Thanks for that Harry, I mean it.” Said Chris.
“Yeah cheers mate.” Added Barry who hadn’t sat down and was still moving about, clearly agitated.
“I think we should do another check just to be sure though, look for any week spots.” Added Chris, and Harry nodded “You joining us Barry?”
“Yeah mate, think I will.” Said Barry “Get to see the lay of the land and all that.”
The three of them headed out and back down the stairs, checking the fire-exit door was secure, then Harry took them on a circuit of the toy store, checking all of the doors and windows. Everything was shuttered and secure.
“This will do me.” Said Barry as they passed the sporting section.
Chris turned to see him holding a cricket bat, doing a few practice swings.
“Going to play some cricket to pass the time Barry?” Asked Chris.
“Only with one of those thing’s heads if I see one mate.” Said Barry with a grin.
Chris looked around, seeing some baseball bats he picked one up, testing the weight of it. He nodded and took it with him as they finished touring the store.
“Well at least we won’t go hungry.” Said Chris as they passed by a section filled with candy and chocolates. All sorts of sweets were on display and they helped themselves.
“Better take some of this stuff too.” Said Barry as they passed some camping gear “Don’t fancy freezing my arse off sleeping on that staff room floor.”
The building looked pretty secure to Chris and they climbed back upstairs. The offices were also on the upper floor but all of them were empty. Back in the staff room they found Lynn with Peter, holding his arm as he struggled for breath. Seeing the others return she quickly joined Chris.
“I don’t think he has long…” She said, fighting off tears.
“I’ll stay with him.” Said Chris holding her arm gently and leading her away “You try to get some rest.”
Chris sat next to Peter, checking his pulse and breathing, both were weak and shallow.
“They say doctors make the worst patients.” Said Peter weakly “Never believed it myself.”
“Have you ever treated one?” Asked Chris.
“To be honest… no.” Replied Peter fighting for breath “Have you?”
“Oh yes, a couple.” Said Chris.
“What were they like?” Peter asked, laying his head down on his arms again.
“Absolutely terrible.” Chris said with a laugh.
Peter laughed too, a quiet almost inaudible chuckle that sent him into a fit of coughing. Then he lay quietly. After a few moments Chris checked his pulse again. He found none and pressing his fingers against Peter’s neck to check there, he confirmed it. Peter was dead. Chris sighed, a feeling of weariness settling over him. Hopelessness surging up after the events of that day, but he fought against it as well as he could, they couldn’t afford to give up or mourn or even stop to think. All of that would be dangerous right now. He had to keep busy, keep everyone busy, he thought as he looked around at the sad, despairing faces of the small group.
“Right then.” He said as he stood up, looking around “There’s stuff to do and I need all of you to help.”
“Do what mate? The world is fucked.” Said Barry.
“It may be but we are still alive.” Said Chris “If you want to keep it that way, and I know I do, then we need to get ourselves organised.”
“What do you have in mind?�
� Asked Harry, the store’s security guard.
“We should set up a sleeping area in the offices, plenty of desks and other furniture in there to barricade the doors, just in case.” Said Chris, watching as the others listened, with one or two nods of agreement “Harry, you bring up any food you can find, there are plenty of sweets if nothing else. Lynn check out the offices and see what else we will need, take any first aid gear we have left.”
Lynn nodded and stood.
“What about me Captain?” Asked Barry with a grin.
“Barry, you look for anything we can use to defend ourselves, see if there are any other ways in or out, double check everything is secure.”
Barry gave a little salute “Yes sir.”
Lynn had stopped by the door “What about Peter, shouldn’t we help him into the offices?”
“I’m sorry Lynn, it’s too late for Peter…” Said Chris quietly.
Lynn moved forward, tears in her eyes as she put an arm on Peter’s shoulder.
“You go get started in the offices.” Said Chris “I’ll look after Peter.”
Lynn nodded and left, looking back as she left with tears running down her cheeks. She froze.
“Peter!” She shouted.
Barry turned around as he headed for the door and froze too, a look of surprise on his face.
“What the fuck!” He said.
Chris heard a loud moan and turned. Peter was standing behind him, grey eyes and sunken cheeks, his pale skin showing small dark patches which spread as Chris watched in horror.
“It can’t be…” Began Chris.
Peter lunged. Mouth wide open and arms coming up to grasp at Chris, he knocked the table aside and tried to bite. Chris brought up the baseball bat he was holding instinctively, Peter’s teeth closing on the handle causing Chris to stagger back under his weight.
“Peter stop!” Screamed Lynn.
But Peter paid no attention to her, instead her yells spurred him on if anything. Mouth opening and closing as he tried to bite through the wooden handle, hands grabbing Chris’ clothing as he pressed close. Chris tried to push him away but couldn’t, his grip was too strong and he took another step back, fighting to hold the bat up.
“Fucker!” Shouted Barry as he ran forward.
He swung his cricket bat, hitting Peter hard on the side of his head, causing him to stagger sideways, losing his grip on Chris. Barry hit him again, harder, swinging the bat downwards. Peter staggered back from the blow, a large dent in the top of his head, blood and even some brains visible through the large wound, but he staggered forward again, mouth opening to bite, this time heading for Barry. Chris recovered and grasped his own bat, swinging it sideways, hitting and breaking one of Peter’s arms, knocking him off balance a little but not stopping him. As his pale, grey eyes turned back to Chris, Barry swung hard, hitting Peter’s leg with a loud cracking sound and he went down, leg broken and twisted. Still the unearthly moan came from his lips as he tried to drag himself forward. Chris gritted his teeth and started swinging, joined by Barry, they reigned blows down on Peter’s head, again and again. Blood spurted and flew all over, Peter’s head split open and brains spilled out, smashed to pulp by the bats. Even after Peter had stopped moving they continued, anger and fear driving them on until, exhausted, they stepped back breathing hard, Barry resting on the handle of his bat, Chris leaning against a wall.
“Fucking hell.” Said Barry.
Chris just nodded and Lynn looked on in horror at the bloody mess that had once been her friend.
Chapter 5
Two weeks later Chris was on the rooftop with some binoculars. The situation didn’t look any better. All around zombies were wandering slowly, their moans, though fairly quiet, filled the air because of their numbers. The view up to the Mall was filled with them, the open doors at the main entrance jammed as some tried to wander in while others headed out. He was crouching behind a ventilation duct which stuck out of the toy store’s roof. A week ago he had been up there with Harry the security guard and one of the undead had seen them, giving a loud scream as it charged towards the building. Chris felt as if his blood had frozen as more and more zombies took up the call, some following the first one and attacking the building, while others ran around aimlessly looking for prey. A group of them had hit the shutters at the front with a loud crash, hammering and clawing at the metal, the noise had been unbelievably loud. Chris and Harry had rushed down the stairs to see if any broke into the building, Lynn and Barry joining them, all tense and ready to run. The shutters had held, just. When the zombies had calmed down and wandered away the survivors could see the damage to the shutters, metal warped and bent inwards from the weight of the zombies’ numbers pressing against it. If more of them had charged it might not have held. After that they were careful not to be seen.
“Any change?” Asked Harry quietly as he crouched low and joined Chris.
“No, still looks bad.” Said Chris “I hoped they would spread out but there still must be thousands of them.”
They watched a while longer then went down to join the others.
“I’m pigging sick of this!” Said Barry as he threw a bag of sugar coated sweets at a wall “Trapped in this shit hole for weeks with nothing but sweets to eat, I swear I can feel cavities growing in my teeth every day.”
Chris sat down picking up a bag of chocolates without enthusiasm, then dropping it.
“I know how you feel.” He said.
“How long are we going to be stuck in this place mate?!” Asked Barry “I’m getting really sick of looking at the same four walls every day.”
“No idea.” Answered Chris “We’re still surrounded by zombies, they don’t seem in any hurry to leave.”
“Can’t we make a run to the Mall yet? Maybe that supermarket?” Asked Barry, not for the first time “I’d give my left ball for some real food right now.”
Chris shook his head “Still too many, if just one of those things sees you out there you’d be torn apart in seconds.”
Barry had been constantly complaining lately, sick of eating candy and chocolate, sick of being stuck inside, sick of the zombies moaning outside and bumping into the metal shutters as they wandered around. Chris knew how he felt, but his none stop complaints were beginning to wear down even his patience. He knew it would be best to keep everyone busy but what could they do? The place was barricaded as well as possible, they had scoured the store for anything useful, storing what they needed in the offices. If the zombies didn’t start to disperse then there wasn’t much else they could do. Barry sulked, frustrated at the inactivity. Having had enough of the atmosphere, Chris left and went to walk around the store. After a few minutes Lynn joined him.
“I don’t think we can stay here much longer.” She said, joining Chris who was sitting quietly on some boxes “Soldier boy is bouncing off the walls. He had a massive argument with Harry yesterday over nothing, first time I’ve seen Harry that wound up. Just sitting here waiting around is getting to us all.”
“I know.” Said Chris agreeing “But we wouldn’t stand a chance out there, this whole area is full of those creatures. Unless they all decide to walk away we can’t get out, and I agree that we do need to get out of here. A diet of sugar and chocolate isn’t doing my health any good.”
“Is there nothing we can do?” Asked Lynn “Just waiting doesn’t feel right. It’s like we’re waiting to die.”
Chris thought for a while, putting his hand into his pocket he brought out the keys to his ambulance.
“If we could get to my ambulance I think we’d have a good chance, those creatures are pretty spread out away from this area. Even with those cheap binoculars I can see the motorway is clear heading away from here. Just the routes coming this way are jammed.”
“Could we make it to your ambulance?” Asked Lynn, a glimmer of hope on her face.
Chris just shook his head and looked at his keys again.
“It’s about a ten minute walk away, might as well b
e ten miles with all those things out there.” He replied.
“So we can’t get to the mall, can’t get to your ambulance, can’t leave on foot…” Said Lynn “I guess we’re stuck here.”
“Yeah, unless something changes.” Said Chris “Maybe if a battalion of our soldier boy’s friends turned up armed to the teeth to save the day.”
“Just don’t let them get caught in here with us, one of them stuck in here is enough.” Said Lynn laughing.
Chris smiled “Well apart from that miracle happening all we can do is wait and hope something draws them away or…”
He sat thinking for a moment, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
“Or what?” Asked Lynn.
“Or we do something to draw them away?” He replied.
“What could we do to draw that many away at once?” Said Lynn, now very interested, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
“Something big, something that they couldn’t help noticing.” Said Chris nodding to himself as he looked around “Yes, something eye catching.”
Chapter 6
“We’ve got work to do.” Said Chris seriously as he entered the offices with Lynn.
The others were sitting around listlessly, boredom and stress etched on their faces, it looked like they had been arguing again.
“Work, what work mate?” Said Barry “There’s naff all to do.”
“Chris has a plan.” Said Lynn with a smile.
Chris outlined his plan, adding to it as he went, new ideas coming to him all the time. Even as he spoke he thought to himself it was a little crazy, but it sounded much more appealing than sitting around waiting to die.
“So let me make sure I understand this.” Said Harry after Chris had finished “You want us to distract a couple of thousand zombies, lead them away from us, then leave this secure building and head out there to your ambulance, which might not even be there any more, while avoiding any blood thirsty cannibals we might still bump into. Then you want us to take a road-trip to who knows where, and you want to do all this with just the contents of a toy store?”
