Dead and Forsaken

by West, J. D.

  “I don’t know what to believe! I have lost trust in everyone!” one mother stated. “I don’t know who is a monster and who is not.”

  “I was born and raised in south Phoenix!” a father admitted. “And I never was afraid of this neighborhood until now!”

  “In this ER everybody helps each other but we don’t know what’s waiting for us outside!” a woman added.

  “My house is just across the street but I am too scared to go home.” the woman next to her stated.

  “I survived so far and through God's will I am still alive!” Her friend added.” I can’t die now because of some zombie.”

  “When I went to sleep last night I had a nightmare!” a woman said. “I saw the faces of all the people that died last night.”

  “I sat up all night holding my cell phone expecting to hear from my mom!” said a man.

  “I never heard from her or my dad. When I woke up this morning and tried to watch TV and all the stations are off the air. I tried to use my cell phone again and the lines were still busy! I tried the land lines and the pay phones but never got anyone! What do I do now?”

  “Where the police are?” asked a woman. “For God sake they should have showed up by now!” That was too much talking for me so I walked right past them and went to the holding section. I stared through the window in the door and I did not see anything one moving around. I pressed my face to the glass to get a closer look. A bloody hand hit against the window without warning and startled me.

  SLAM!

  I shouted. “Mother fucker!” and jumped back.

  Then I pulled by gun and pointed it at the glass. Every newly forsaken creature in the room pushed and shoved each other trying to get a taste of my skin. Their transformation was complete. They were no longer human beings. They were mindless flesh eating killers. Whatever was causing this was unstoppable. The only choice we had was to kill them. All it took was one bite and you were good as dead. Now there were fifteen more hungry dead bastards. They all wanted to eat us. It was unsafe to keep them in the ER. Something touched my shoulder.

  “Not today dawg!” I said turning around pointing the gun. “Damn motherfucker there you go with that gun shit again!” said Carlos putting his hands up. “It’s just me man!”

  “You might want to announce yourself when you walk up on somebody.” I told him with a smile. “After all people are eating each other!”

  “That is my fault hommie!” he said smiling back.

  “With those new clothes on I did not recognize you!” I told him.

  “Oh yeah! I borrowed these from one of the doctors' lockers.” he said. “Besides I can’t keep running around here in a prison uniform and county issued flip flops!”

  “Yeah that is probably not a good ideal.” I said agreeing with him. “Boots might not save your life but flip flops will get your ass killed!”

  “What the hell are you doing over here anyway?” he asked.

  “I am checking on these dead bastards.” I told him. “All of them have turned into monsters.”

  “Yeah these ugly S.O.B.’s give me the creeps!” said Carlos while looking in the window.

  “You can say that again dog!” I said in agreement.

  “What are we going to do about them?” he asked.

  “Sooner or later we are going to have to put them out their misery!” I said while putting my gun back in its holster. “If they get out of this room then we are going to be in trouble!”

  “I am with you man!” he replied. “This hospital is not big enough for both of us. It is either going to be us or them and I am not ready to die!”

  “Then it is settled then!” I told him. “You watch my back and I will watch yours!”

  “We are going to kill them all!” he said as we gave each other a fist pound.

  “And let God sort them out!” I finished.

  CHAPTER 15:

  Extermination

  Carmen the nurse was awoke all night from the argument she had with Dr. Green. She stayed up praying and talking to God. She was trying to repent and cleanse her soul from the evil around her. Later on that afternoon she was still distraught and grappling with burden of being a survivor. This was a total change in character for someone who gave off the impression of being a carefree and bubbly person. Carmen was there when Dr. Okonkwo tried to save the woman earlier last night. She was part of the trauma team that worked desperately to save her. Carmen held her hand and cried after the woman passed away. She had been recently assigned to the ER. After the incident she exchanged tearful hugs with her colleagues in the hall.

  That type of thing was not common place because In order to work on the trauma team you had to put their emotions aside. It was easier for them to focus on the task at hand instead of the person on the table. Working on a trauma was a high pressure situation and everyone had to do their part. Staff members working in the ER had to detach themselves from their patients and still be professional. They have to learn to take comfort in knowing they did everything to save the patient’s life. Helping grieving family members deal with the loss of a love one was emotionally draining. She knew they did all they could do to save the poor woman’s life but it still hurt.

  It had been an insane night and Dr. Green’s arrogant ramblings were the final straw. It was crystal clear to her that he was a selfish and evil man. Carmen felt ashamed to work with someone like him. He challenged God's authority and needed to pay for his blasphemy. Carmen’s behavior became increasingly confrontational and she lashed out at several people. The lack of sleep and constant fear put her in a delusional state of mind. Praying was her method to stop the anxiety and stress. Pastor Harrell offered her bible quotes but she needed to take action. She knew that this was a sign from heaven and the start of the last days. The barricades and locked doors were a futile attempt to stop God's plan. Carmen knew the world was full of evil and God’s wrath would be swift and justified. He would show compassion to the compassionate and fury to the merciless!

  Suddenly she got up off her knees praying and moved towards the holding area. Even with the persistent sense of dread everyone else was preoccupied or distracted as things started to spiral downward. You’ll be better off with god was the message that kept replaying over and over again in her head. Outside the door Carmen said a little prayer and then slowly slid the two dead bolt locks to the side. This was her chance to be with God. She belied she would be ruptured up like the other saints and true believers. Like clockwork the door pushed open. The reanimated deputy was the first creature to step forward into the light. He stumbled out the door towards Carmen with his arms stretched out.

  “GRRRRRR!”

  Carmen made a cross in the air and gripped her hands tight around her gold cross. Even in the face of death she remained committed to her beliefs. She prayed that through her death she might get to know Jesus her savior. Carmen stared at the grotesque eyes of the creatures and felt pity for them. She believed God sent this plague of the dead to cleanse the earth of the wicked. The stench of their decomposing bodies followed them out the room. It was the rank odor of decaying blood and bacteria filled flesh. With no AC the decomposition process had sped up. They crept softly through the darkness toward their prize. Carmen closed her eyes in disgust and started to pray.

  “Father I asked that you take me to your kingdom of milk and honey!” she cried.

  Tears rolled down Carmen’s cheek as her chest rapidly rose and fell with anticipation. She was at peace with her decision and was ready to deal with consequences of her actions. The undead slowly stammered towards her. The mob enveloped her and pinned her against the wall. She broke out into hysterical laughter followed by tears. But there was no beam of soft white light that shot down to beam her up to heaven.

  “Take m
e Father. Take me!” she yelled. “Please don’t leave me!”

  She was saving herself for marriage but that day would never come. The deputy’s corpse was the first to taste her sweet flesh. He gripped a clump of her hair and bit down into her shoulder blade. It was a searing and burning pain she had never experienced before.

  “Uhhooowww!”

  The deputy’s eyes rolled back in his head as he chewed on the slither of flesh. Then he grabbed Carmen around the torso and threw her to the ground. A fountain of blood spewed from her shoulder and ran down her back to the floor exciting the others. Being a nurse she tried press her hand against the wound to stem the thick blood flow. It was at that moment Carmen realized that she had made a mistake. She was being punished because no one had the right to take their own life because it belonged to God. “Forgive me lord!” she said with her voice full of sadness. “I made a mistake!” The rest of the horde joined in. Their half-eaten decomposing bodies twisted and contorted wildly. Many of them bit mouth size chunks of flesh from her body.

  “GNAAAAW! GNAAAAW! GNAAAAW!”

  She attempted to get back to her feet several times after falling back onto the tile. As a last resort Carmen thrashed and kicked to get free. When that didn’t work she sat up on her hands and knees then desperately tried to gather the strength to crawl away. Her skin felt like it was on fire as probing fingers entered her body. Carmen’s belly was gashed open by the force of the monsters hands. Her guts spilled onto the cold tile floor as she was almost torn in half. The forsaken dug in and gorged themselves on muscles, organs and soft tissue. She remained conscious but didn’t suffer for long. Mortally wounded her muffled screams became a chorus of gurgling sounds.

  “Aaahhhiiieee!”

  And if being dismembered wasn’t enough she was all alone. No one was there to comfort her in her last moments. When they finished their meal virtually nothing was left. Her absence didn’t go unnoticed for long. Soon other survivors came to find her and see what was going on. They knew there was danger around them but had become complacent. As they approached the holding area another man burst through the doors dividing the corridor screaming. Blood was splattered across his face. Seconds later a terrified young man followed close behind with the forsaken nipping at his heels. He pushed through the gathered crowd without saying a word. Blood drenched his cloths. He took a few more steps and then fell down and slowly succumbed to his injuries. As they focused on him the doors opened up again.

  “GRRRRRRR!”

  Two dozen corpses back from the dead overran the corridors and branched off in different directions. The forsaken targeted everyone with a pulse. They assaulted and ate any survivor in sight. Screams, moans and the sound of tearing flesh increased with every attack. Several victims collapsed to the ground, tried to hide, or rushed back and forth in between the patient rooms and offices.

  “They are everywhere!” a man yelled. “There is nowhere to hide!”

  “Where is my baby?” a woman shouted. “Where is my son?!”

  The trapped survivors were among a macabre melee of reanimated dead and terrified friends and family. Grown men cried like little children with their mouths agape. They were overwhelmed by what was going on.

  “GRRRRRRR!”

  The dead competed over their victims like sharks fighting over bait. The casualties came in bunches. A lot of people were knocked to the ground or fell after someone was pushed into them. An unarmed man was helpless in this new world. A teenage boy lay wincing in pain on the floor as his attacker pried and prodded inside his body searching for fresh meat. A gaping hole exposed his internal organs. The tile floor was slippery with blood splatter and guts. Fresh corpses of men women and children lined the hall like a buffet table. A young doctor with tears in his eyes was cradling the head of a dying young nurse. Flaps of skin and muscle hung from the large wound in her neck, and face. The doctor pressed his hand tight to her neck applying pressure to the wound.

  “Help me somebody!” he called.

  At the same time the dead moved closer and closer. There was no time to administer medical attention. He regretfully abandoned her before the monsters were able to reach him. Then he stumbled down the hall wounded and bleeding profusely from his own injuries. He fell several times as he tried to go get help. Blood from the wound ran down his arm and dripped off his fingertips. The cast off droplets left a trail behind him.

  “Please help me!” he said while coughing up blood. “I don't want to die!”

  His injuries left a trail large enough for the forsaken to smell and follow. Adults and children ran past him in every direction. The children were easy prey. They bore the brunt of the violence and carnage. Many died yelling their parent’s name.

  “Get away from me! Get away!” they cried.

  A young girl trying to escape slipped in a blood puddle and slammed her head into a wall so hard she knocked herself unconscious! Her body fell like a rock after her skull was shattered. Blood flowed from the head injury running down her face and into her mouth.

  “GROOOWWWL!”

  An old decrepit female creature found her. She was deathly pale and dressed only in a backless gown. The beast grabbed the girl by the upper and lower jaw. The creature pulled in opposite directions until the girls jaw was dislocated. The old hag pulled so hard she ripped the girls’ upper jaw and skull off her head. Blood poured from the wound as the old woman chewed on her tongue and face.

  “CHOMP!”

  Flinging the still twitching body aside the beast wrestled the woman’s head from her body and devoured it. A couple of people saw it happen and vomited. The hags’ unblinking eyes scanned around the room as she fed.

  “We have to get out of here!” said an older nurse whipping vomit from here lips.

  The rest of her colleagues choked back tears before turning to run towards the exit. As they ran a female tech dropped in front of them after she was tackled by two forsaken monsters. There was barely enough room to get past but the rest of the group made it unharmed. There was a mad rush for the doors as people jockeyed for position. When they had put some distance between them they looked back to see she had been mauled. The tech sustained bites to her arms, neck, and hands. She tried to fight them off but was eventually pinned down and killed.

  “She didn't deserve to die like that!” cried a younger nurse.

  Several men removed the barricades on the double doors and opened them up.

  “Help me get this shit out the way!” a man cried to a group of people. “We have to get out of here before it gets even worst!”

  As soon as the doors opened a massive number of undead gathered in the parking lot surged into the opening. The stampede knocked several survivors down and sent rest scurrying back in the other direction. The survivors closed the doors back and braced them with their bodies to keep them from caving in. The rest of the ghouls in front were pressed against the glass on the sides of the entrance. Soon there was a loud cracking sound right before the doors gave way. The men holding the doors closed disappeared into a pile of forsaken as they tried to squeeze through the small opening. They became easy prey for multiple forsaken seconds after they hit the ground. A deafening roar of moans followed them into the corridor.

  “GROOOWWWL! GROOOWWWL! GROOOWWWL!”

  ******

  I was in Dr. Black’s office with Carlos. We were trying to tell him that keeping all those things alive was a problem.

  “Those things are dangerous!” said Carlos.

  “We can't keep them around!” I pleaded. “Gentlemen we have to study this disease in order to beat it!” he shot back.

  Our debate and the silence were both shattered when several piercing screams interrupted the conversation. We could hear them through the door.

  “Aaaiiihhheee!”


  “Noooooooooooo!”

  All of us rushed out into the hall towards the holding area. My first thought was to find Maria but I didn’t know where she was. All I remember is people running and screaming. We stepped to the side a couple of times to let people running the other direction pass us. Some of them were already injured or bitten. We were too late the killing had already begun. Events had taken a turn for the worst. The once sterile hospital was swarmed by the infected. They roamed the halls dragging people out of their hiding spots.

  “Dear God!” screamed Dr. Black. “They got out!”

  “How did they get out?” asked Carlos. “We had everything secured!”

  “This is my fault.” cried the doctor. “I should have listened to you!”

  “We can't worry about that right now.” I told him. “We have to stop them.”

  Dr. Black ordered everyone else that could walk to get out the building a.s.a.p. Carlos and I hurried down the hall and turned the corner with our guns drawn. We came across several partially devoured and dismembered bodies. Dr. Black returned a few minutes later and was right behind us. He placed his hand over his mouth in shock after witnessing the carnage first hand. The bodies of the dying formed a small mound. It was an intense and bloody sight. Some of them weren't bitten they were trampled to death by the panicked crowd. We were almost at the end of the hall when a patient hobbled over and fell face forward onto the floor in front of us. As he tried to get back to his feet a filthy man in ripped up clothing collapsed on top of him. Large bloody holes were chewed into his face. He was thinly built and emaciated.

  “GRRRRRRR!”

  “Get away from him you sons of bitches!” yelled a visitor.

  They rolled back and forth on the ground. It was hard to tell who was winning with all the kicking and swinging arms. The filthy man was trying to bite his neck and throat. The patient kicked him off and was able to get his footing. Full of fear he spun in a circle swinging his elbows at his attacker. They flew wildly hitting the forsaken male in his jaw. The force of the blow and momentum sent him flailing backwards. He thought he was safe but screamed as the mouth of another monster clamped down onto his back. This time he was unable to free himself from its clutches.