Dead and Forsaken

by West, J. D.

  “If I don't try to save them those people will die.” I told her.

  “If those things get you then you will die!” stressed Maria.

  We stood there looking at each other and then I caressed her face. There was so much I wanted to say and no time to say it. I just looked at her and spoke from my heart.

  “I promise I'll be back.”

  “You better!” she said punching me softly in the shoulder.

  I moved toward the door and Sandoval cracked it open. I looked back at the crowd of faces and took a deep breath before I stepped out. Sandoval was the last person I saw.

  “You got this right?” I asked him.

  “No doubt homey.” he said with a nod. “I will see you when you get back!”

  I slowly entered the hall. The only sign of life was a flipped over wheelchair and a single IV pole. The screaming began to get louder as I moved further away from the ER door. I moved slowly down the hall trying not to make any noise. I turned down a corridor and headed toward the Clinical lab. This sterile facility housed the specimen lab, pathology lab, and blood bank. The outer door to the lab was smashed open. I scanned around for any beasts and then went inside. The interior was a mess. Patient charts and other medical documents were left unattended. Vials of blood and Petri dishes of fluids were broken and shattered on the ground. The lights flickered off and on as I crept through the darkness and disappeared into the back room. I could see electron microscopes and other analysis equipment turned over on the counters. Bone marrow, tissue cultures and urine samples were still underneath the bank of negative pressure hoods. Multicolored vials filled with patient specimens were everywhere. Their glass shards cracked and crunched under my feet with every step. I heard some tapping from another room off to the right. My heart began to beat faster as I crept around.

  In the darkness I just barely made out of the outline of something moving. I could not see what was happening but I heard the sounds of someone slurping and chewing on the other side of the counter. I got closer and could see someone leaning over the body of a lab worker. I could make out the long white lab coat they were wearing. I could not tell if it was a man or woman because they were still wearing protective goggles and a mask. The traumatic injury to their neck would have caused them to loose almost a gallon of blood in a few moments. The blood had splashed all over the computer and centrifuge on the counter in front of them. The other figure was the new dishwasher from the cafeteria. She moaned as she looked up slowly from her lab worker meal.

  “GRRRRRRR!”

  Blood and raw flesh stuck in her teeth. She reached for me but I evaded her grasp. I needed to be as quiet as possible so I put my gun away and pulled out my baton. I swung down with all my might and landed four powerful blows. The baton cracked the crazy bitch’s skull in and ruptured her brain cavity. Blood spilled from the wound and covered my boots. That’s when I heard another banging noise and muffle screams.

  “BANG! BANG! BANG!”

  The noise was coming from across the hall. I stepped over the body of another dead lab worker as I got closer. His clothes were torn and some of the flesh was missing from his back. The top layer of skin was gone. Several muscles and bones were exposed. Once I was inside the room I saw the cafeteria cook standing with his back to me. He was beating on the door to a storage closet.

  “BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”

  His movements were robotic and steady. It was easy for me to remember him. One day I went to wash my hands before eating in the cafeteria. I walked in the bathroom and saw the cook using hand soap to wash his underarms in the sink. Then he dried them off with toilet paper.

  He looked at me surprised and then left without washing off his hands. Even I found it disturbing. After seeing that I never ate any food from there again.

  “GROOOWWWL!”

  His left arm was all chewed up and blood saturated his white uniform. He reacted to the sound of my footsteps but I struck him on the back of his head twice before he could turn around. The blows brought him to his knees. Blood spewed from the wound and spattered against the closet door.

  “Take that you funky son of a bitch!” I told him.

  I raised the baton again and targeted his temple with three more blows. Once he stopped moving I pulled his body away from the door and cautiously turned the handle. I found four scared and frightened people inside the small utility closet. One of them was the lab manager and pathology specialist Dr. Khan. They had all panicked and tried to hide when the monsters broke in.

  “I'm here to take you back to the ER!” I explained.

  “I don't think I can do that.” said a tech.

  “Yes you can.” I told her. “You made it his far didn't you?”

  “I'm just a lab worker not a soldier.” she cried. “They killed all those other people!”

  “It doesn't matter what you did before!” I explained. “Now your job is to stay alive. I know you’re still trying to digest what's happening but we don't have time to mourn the dead!”

  “We're all going to die anyway!” she screamed. “Just leave me here!”

  “Save those tears for later.” I told her. “I'm getting us out of here.”

  We walked slowly past the dead bodies in the front room and stopped at the door with our backs up against the wall.

  “Listen up everybody!” I explained. “I will take the lead. Make sure you stay in a single file line. Stay close together and watch each other’s back. If I say run you better fucking run!”

  I scanned the hall for activity and then we moved out. We all stopped at each doorway and corner before continuing on. At the end of the corridor we could see a gruesome scene. Five or six beasts had surrounded a housekeeper's body. She probably tried to run but was overpowered. They hovered over her corpse feasting. She died from a large bite wound to the neck but was bitten on the face, chest, and thighs too. The pack continued to tear off pieces of flesh until their mouths were full and their faces were bloodied. Bits and pieces of the rest of her body were everywhere. All of them were growling while eating her organs and fatty tissue.

  “That’s a fucked up way to end up!” a man said shaking his head.

  “You can say that again!” said Dr. Khan in agreement. “Those creatures were just like us once. They had families went to school and had jobs.”

  “Those things are nothing like us.” I barked.

  “People kill each other every day too.” said the tech.

  “Yeah they killed you but they didn't eat your insides like a McDonald’s cheeseburger.” I responded.

  “Where did they come from?” asked the doctor. “Why are they doing this? How can we stop them?”

  “This not the appropriate time to discuss this!” I whispered.

  I put my fingers up to my lips to signal them to be quiet but before we all could clear the entryway one of the forsaken looked up from its meal. He stared at us with his glossy and crazy eyes then belted out a loud moan.

  “GRRRRRRR!”

  The rest of them rose to their feet and their mangled bloody frames began to hobble down the hall toward us

  “Move people!” I screamed. “Get to the ER doors.” “GROOOWWWL!”

  We rushed down the hall as fast as we could. When I got to the corner I glanced over my shoulder and saw them tripping moaning and still shuffling toward us. Even after a couple more turns I could still see a half dozen shadows moving toward us and hear the footsteps closing in. The rest of the group was waiting nervously outside the doors.

  “We are going to die out here!” cried the frightened tech. “We are going to die!”

  “Shut up! Shut up! Don’t say that!” someone else yelled.

  I made it to the doors and called out to Sandoval. He was supposed to be on the other side of the door wai
ting for my signal. It seemed like it took him minutes to answer but it was only a few seconds.

  “Knock knock mother fucker!” I said beating on the door.

  When the door finally opened he came out with his gun ready to shoot.

  “It took you long enough!” he whispered.

  “That’s the police for you!” I said with a smile. “Late as usual!” Sandoval hustled the survivors through the door as quick as he could. I glanced back at the ghouls perusing us one last time before closing the doors.

  “GROOOWWWL!”

  As soon as we barricaded the doors back up the banging and knocking started.

  “BANG! BANG! BANG!”

  Their banging and moaning grew louder and louder but the doors held.

  CHAPTER 12:

  Test of Faith

  I found Dr. Black and let him know we found healthy survivors. A quick examination by Dr. Sanchez and Okonkwo confirmed it. The visually upset Dr. Khan was sweating and shaking uncontrollably.

  “They're crazy!” he said. “They're all crazy!”

  “Don't worry doctor.” responded Maria. “Everything's okay now.”

  “They killed everybody in my lab. Everybody!” he whimpered. “Whatever you do don't let those things bite you or get there blood into your mouth or eyes! This thing is highly virulent! People get infected from the direct contact with their blood or saliva!”

  “He’s right! Coming in contact with blood and body fluids from bites must introduce some sort of pathogen into the victims’ blood stream!” said Dr. Black.

  “We had a lot trouble down here also.” added Maria.

  “Trouble you say!” asked Dr. Khan with an attitude. “Those bastards ate my employees!”

  “I know sir! I watched a man kill his own mother!” Maria said taking his arm.

  “Something is wrong with their eyes.” Dr. Khan said as he stared off into space.

  “What are you people worried about?” asked Dr. Green. “Those things are slow as hell and dumb as shit! We just need to use our superior intelligence to think our way out of this. Unlike those things outside we have the ability to problem solve and use tools!”

  “I beg to defer Sir!” responded Maria. “We have no idea what they are capable of!”

  Dr. Khan also explained that he followed CDC protocol procedures while testing the blood samples he received from the ER. This included an antibody and antigen test to help identify certain infections and disorders. He also ordered a biopsy from the cultures that were collected so he could run a comparative analysis with other samples already on file. He was waiting on further test results when the killing started.

  “When I ran a diagnostic on the samples of blood you gave us under the microscope it was like nothing I have seen before.” stated Dr. Khan.

  “The parasite, bacteria, or virus is definitely present in their blood. It has a short 2 hour incubation period before it begins to do damage. The transformation will happen faster in children because there is less area for the disease to travel. Within hours all bodily functions will start to shut down. Once it gets in the blood the pathogen quickly infects other healthy cells. The victim’s white blood cells tried to defend their bodies from the invading foreign microorganisms but they were devoured and mutated. The mutated cells changed shape and turned color. After that the pathogen replicated itself and destroyed the rest of the normal cells in the process. These new killer cells divided again and continued to reproduce until they eventually killed the patient.”

  “We know that their dead genius!” said Dr. Green. “We just don’t understand how they wake back up! Quit dodging around and give us some real fucking answers!”

  “Maybe everything else dies but their brains remain functional.” said Dr. Black. “When they wake up they are transformed into something else less human and more animal.”

  “That I can't make an official diagnosis without a full post mortem work up!” explained Dr. Khan. “By all accounts the cells and the patients were dead but alive at the same time.”

  “The original sightings were near the border but we don't know if that's where it originated!” said Dr. Alexander.

  “Officer Robinson can you come with me?” asked Dr. Black. “You need to see this.”

  I started following him to the doctor's lounge along with Sandoval. When we got there an updated news report was about to start. The local news station was in full panic mode. The newscaster was sweating badly. His tie was undone and he looked worried. I had seen his show before and this was completely out of character for him. A large stack of papers was scattered on his desk. He was arguing with someone off camera right before he started to talk.

  “This is David Morales reporting live from Phoenix. All citizens must evacuate the city now. The newly forsaken dead have infested the suburbs of Glendale, Tempe and Mesa. The estimated death toll continues to skyrocket! We will stay on the air as long as we can! We are in the grips of highly contagious disease that spreads without prejudice and affects all races, sexes, and religions. It took us hundred's years to tame this desert valley but in the last couple of hours the city we know is gone. On every street we have been subjected to scenes of death and murder. Men, women, and children are being eaten alive. Everyone the undead kill will rise back up and kill someone else.

  The cities hospitals and clinics have already been saturated with victims. It is hard to tell how many people are dead or alive. The police, fire, and emergency services have ended. Sporadic and violent riots are breaking out in the streets. Thousands of people are leaving in cars or on foot. Police and fire officials are using sirens and speakers to tell people to leave the city. Evacuees should take Interstate-17 or Interstate-51 north if they are trying to flee. Be prepared for traffic jams and roadblocks. The highway patrol and the Department of Transportation have converted inbound roads to handle the outbound evacuation traffic. They have also closed all the roads leading into Phoenix. Take only the clothes on your back and other important basic supplies. Residents are flocking to local stores clearing food, water, and other supplies off the shelves. Checkout lines are stretched to the back of the stores. Residents who decided to stay in their homes are buying plywood, nails, and other basic survival items.

  Looters are hitting malls, grocery stores, and gun shops. Desperate mobs of people are breaking into businesses and private property taking cigarettes, jewelry, and liquor. Fights broke out at several Circle K gas stations because patrons had to wait hours in long lines for fuel. Managers and owners called police but they were too busy battling the forsaken. Some of the other looters are foolishly using the chaotic situation to take luxury items like TV’s, stereos, and new cars. Right now we are going to take you live to one of our reporters still inside the city.”

  The screen switched to an attractive female wearing a camouflage helmet and flap jacket over her skin tight red dress. The temporary base was buzzing with activity. She was standing in front of a military plan on a runway. Military helicopters buzzed overhead. Machine gunners hung out the sides scanning the ground below them. Soldiers weighed down with heavy packs were loading supplies onto the plane. Their commanding officer barked out orders using a microphone. Just behind them in the background was an endless line of several more helicopters prepared to take off.

  “Thank you David. This is Chantel Thomas reporting live from Deer Valley Airport. Just moments ago the governor and her staff along with the mayor and city council fled the city by private plane. The politicians flew to safety in Flagstaff. It will act as the temporary state capital. Northern Arizona has no reported cases of the rising dead. Flagstaff has prepared to take on new refuges. Medical supplies from the Red Cross and additional military personnel will be flown into Flagstaff's Puliam airport. Pallets loaded with food and wate
r will start arriving tomorrow. The military will follow strict quarantine protocols and expect an influx of new cases. They will set up a base at the Flagstaff Medical Center. A team of scientist and trained disaster personnel will meet them there.

  The White house is afraid that this could spread and threaten the whole country. The have requested help by observers and virologist from the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. They will help the C.D.C. identify and isolate the bug. Just south of North Phoenix where I am tonight F-16 fighter planes from Luke Air force Base are bombing local neighborhoods in a move to eradicate the dead. National Guard Soldiers are also patrolling the streets providing security and assisting with the evacuation. So far aide from F.E.M.A. and the Red Cross has failed to reach the hardest hit areas. They will try to expand the search and rescue operations. It is scary and dangerous grunt work and requires the help of every soldier available. Most of them are carrying M4 semiautomatic rifles and pistols. The Soldiers are traveling through darkened streets only illuminated by their in Humvee or truck headlights. Helicopters flying overhead are using loud speakers to tell citizens about extraction points and times.

  Entire subdivisions needed to be evacuated. Medics accompany each team so that they can do on the spot assessments on residents they encounter. It was hard to differentiate between the sick and the healthy in the dark. Outside this airport the soldiers have stopped all traffic and are pointing their guns at a convoy of vehicles traveling toward us. We are all relying on them to keep us safe. One by one people are being admitted inside the blockade. They are clustered at the gates pleading to be let inside the safe zone. Hundreds of families with small children and elderly family members are waiting at the check point. Others were camped outside sleeping in their cars, tents, and makeshift shelters made out of tarps. The fence outside the main gate has been turned into a makeshift memorial and place to post info about the missing. Every available inch of space is covered by pictures and personal messages to families and friends. There are too many faces to count or remember. Messages suggest where to meet up or simply said I am alive. Several people gathered on the inside of the gate grasping pictures tightly in their hands. They wanted to see if any of the new arrivals had seen their missing family members. Others wandered through the crowd.