by West, J. D.
“I'm scared!” said Alex as he gripped Maria’s hand.
“When are we going home?” asked Latia.
“I just don't want anyone to lose my tools!” Randy cried.
“What are you talking about?” asked Joe. “You sound like an idiot!”
“Screw you and your tools!” Anne declared while tossing a large screw driver at Randy.
“It just took me a long time to get all the ones I need.” Randy replied as he picked up his things.
“Trust me!” said George. “Give me a gun and you can have your stupid hammer back!”
“This entire conversation is getting us nowhere!” said the Pastor. “We have to stick together to protect each other!”
“The pastor is right we need each other more than ever!” declared Maria.
Carlos had heard enough so he turned around and made his way back to the other survivors.
“Shh!” he said. “Be quiet for a second before we all get killed! I need everyone to stay here while I check up on Kevin.”
“What are we supposed to do if something happens?” asked Kahleem. “You have the only other gun!”
“Don't worry about who has a gun!” Carlos told him. “Together you can handle any trouble!”
“Be careful!” said Blair.
“I'll be back before you know It.” said Carlos. “Joe is in charge until I get back! Everybody stay low and shut up!”
Carlos disappeared around the corner and headed down the second hall. Joan and Anne told Joe they needed to go to the bathroom and pee a few minutes after he left.
“You can pee over there in the corner if you have to go.” said Joe.
“I am not going to use the bathroom in front of everybody like a dog!” Joan told him.
“Yeah she's right and you can forget it if you think I'm going to pull my panties down in front of y’all!” stressed Anne.
“It is not safe to wonder around here alone!” argued Maria. “Especially after what we just saw back there!”
Blair was still feeling sick so she wanted to go with them. She was so stressed out that the baby had her stomach all mixed up.
“If they insist on going then I will go with them!” the Pastor declared.
******
The pastor and the others doubled back down the hall to a set of bathrooms we passed on the way from x-ray. Joan was in the lead with the other two girls and the Pastor following them. As they were walking through the hall Anne kicked something soft with her foot. She looked down and realized it was some ones severed hand. It was discarded on the floor like a chewed up chicken bone.
“If that doesn't freak you out then nothing will!” she squealed.
Luckily they didn't see any creatures on the way.
Everything seemed okay as they approached the door to the women s restroom. The pastor slowly opened the door and called out to see if anyone answered. Joan pushed past him and walked inside.
“I should check it out first!” the Pastor demanded.
“I don't have time for this!” she told him. “I really have to go!”
“I understand but you ladies shouldn't be left alone.” explained the pastor. “I should go with you!”
“I don't think so!” said Joan while touching her breasts. “I know you're a man of the cloth but when has that stopped a preacher from laying hands on a body like this or having sex?”
All of the women laughed but the pastor turned red with embarrassment. Anne grabbed Blair by the hand and they all followed her. The Pastor still tried to follow them but Anne stopped him again.
“Just make sure no one else comes in!” she told him. “We can take it from here!”
Joan was incredibly confident about her decision but still slowly walked into the bath room with Randy’s hand held reciprocal saw extended in front of her. The room had the type of raunchy smell you never forget. The bathroom had a long line of sinks on the right side and a row of toilet stalls on the left. Joan thought she heard something and stopped dead in her tracks. She cautiously looked around but didn’t see anything. She went down the row of stalls pushing open the first couple of doors. When Joan didn't find anything she turned around and shrugged at the other girls.
“False alarm girls!” she said laughing it off. “I guess we are all a little jumpy!”
“I thought I heard something too!” said Blair.
“It’s probably just the baby messing with you nerves!” Anne responded.
Blair went into the closest stall to the door and threw up before sitting down. Anne splashed water on her face before sitting down in the stall next to Blair. Joan used the restroom quickly and then got up. The heat was becoming unbearable so she splashed water on her face. Joan looked at herself in the mirror and noticed that she had blood in her hair. She put the saw down on the ground and filled the sink up with water. Anne started telling Blair about the time she thought she was pregnant by a married doctor. That’s when Joan leaned over the sink filled with water and started washing her hair out with hand soap. All of the women were so distracted that none of them heard the door on the last stall slowly open. A decaying set of hands with black nails came out the door. They belonged to a dead forsaken female.
“GRRRRRR!”
The dead woman was middle aged but was dressed like a teenager. She had on a mid-drift tee shirt and low rise jeans. The lack of ventilation caused her body to swell up. Gases had accumulated in her body cavity as it started to break down. Her fly covered walking corpse came out of its hiding place and lurched towards Joan. Every step she took caused her organs to fall out of the long gash that was gnawed into her muffin top gut. Joan pulled her head out the water and squeezed the extra water out her hair. She saw a figure in the fogged up glass but thought it was one of her friends. The old forsaken hag gripped Joan by her wet hair and bit a large chunk out her trachea.
“CHOMP!”
The bite caused significant damage and caused her throat to fill with blood. She tried to scream but only produced gurgling sounds. She was also grabbed by the collar of her scrubs shirt causing it to rip. Joan was still gasping for air as the forsaken woman pulled her down onto the multicolored tile. Joan pushed her thumb into the ghoul’s eye gouging it out. The beast was wounded but that did not stop it! Anne and Blair did not hear the struggle. Again and again Joan felt pain as teeth punctured her skin down to the bone.
“GNAAAW!”
The monster finally severed her jugular spraying blood everywhere. Blair heard Joan's feet kicking against the tile and stopped talking. After a few seconds Joan just laid there motionless in shock as her blood loss continued.
“Joan what's going on out there?” asked Blair.
She didn't get a response but could hear something moving around.
“Quit playing around Joan!” demanded Anne.
Blair looked down and saw someone’s feet outside the stall door. The person outside the door was wearing one sandal and was missing toes off its other foot.
“That’s not Joan!” yelled Blair.
She quickly got up and locked the door to her stall.
“What are you talking about?” asked Anne.
Before Blair could answer the dead forsaken woman rammed the stall door.
“BOP! BOP! BOP!”
Blair climbed up on the toilet and started to scream.
“Heeeeeelp! Heeeeeelp!”
When she couldn't get in the monster turned her attention towards Anne. The deformed undead woman crawled under her stall door and grabbed Anne's ankle. She was still frothing at the mouth with Joan’s blood.
“GROOOWWWL!”
Anne kicked free but was still bitten. The ghoul had jerked her head backwards tearing a small clump of flesh from
Anne's calf. The skin tissue around the bite immediately started to die.
“GROOOWWWL!”
Thankfully the Pastor was still outside. He rushed in and saw Joan's body and the creature trying to squeeze under the stall door. He grabbed the steel trash can sitting in the corner and kicked the monster. When it turned around he stepped on the dead woman’s neck. Then he repeatedly plowed the trash can into her skull. She continued to growl as her lifeless eyes stared back up at him. The Pastor slammed the can harder and harder until her head cracked open and the growls stopped. Globs of thick foul smelling blood oozed from the wound. The pastor yelled out to the other girls that the coast was clear. He had bludgeoned the monster to death. He got Anne up off the stall floor and then helped Blair down off the other toilet. Blair was emotionally shaken but physically unhurt.
“Thank you for saving me.” Anne cried. “I thought I was going to die!”
That's when they all saw Joan’s body. A large portion of muscle and flesh had been peeled from her face. Suddenly Anne started screaming after seeing her friend’s blood everywhere. They all witnessed her cough up blood and take her last breath. The pastor closed her eyes and said a little prayer before they left her lifeless body in the bathroom.
“Maybe this is God's way of thinning the herd!” said the Pastor.
“You are supposed to die in peace, comfort, and dignity” said Anne. “Not be dismembered by monsters!”
It was an unfortunate event but the two women were happy they were still alive. When the Pastor got outside with the women they bumped into a lost Dr. Green. He had finally showed up. When he saw the other survivors he pulled down his sleeve and put what looked like a syringe behind his back.
“Damn! What are you doing sneaking around in the dark?” asked Dr. Green.
“What where you doing?” asked Blair.
“Oh! This is just my insulin.” answered Dr. Green.
“Where is Dr. Okonkwo?” asked Anne adding to the tension.
“I'm afraid he didn't make it!” Dr. Green responded.
“What do you mean?” asked Anne.
“I mean he's dead!” Dr. Green told her.
Blair could see that Anne was upset and put her arm around her as they walked towards the other survivors. She did her best to keep her composure and help console Anne. Dr. Green tossed the empty syringe when he thought no one was looking but the pastor spotted him. To the untrained eye the doctor just looked like he had been running. The pastor helped run the alcohol anonymous groups at the church and noticed his eyes were bugged out, sweat had formed on his upper lip, and his cloths were disheveled.
As the group leader he listened to their addiction horror stories and paired them up with people who could help keep them clean and sober. Having a sponsor didn't guarantee sobriety but it helped. Their job was just to guide members through the process. The pastor pressed the doctor on his appearance but he said everything was OK. It was clear to the pastor that he was in denial even though the drugs were still coursing through his veins. He decided to let it go for now. Anne did not tell Blair or any of the others what happened to her. She knew that the sickness was spread by the highly contagious bites but kept it to her because she didn't want alienated. She knew her friends and colleagues would be distraught if they knew she had been infected with the undead plague. By now Anne only trusted a few of the survivors that were left. Besides she might potentially be immune. She tried to control her breathing to keep from hyperventilating or having an anxiety attack. The last thing she wanted was to draw any unwanted attention. After they all made it back to the rest of the group she became more withdrawn and confused.
******
I ran into Carlos in the corridor. The forsaken were sporadically spread out everywhere. We also saw several other poor souls moving in the distance. They were headed straight for a herd but we could not help them. We wanted to warn them but that was not the time for waving our hands or shouting. It was all over before we knew it. Their screams only brought more of those things down on them. It was a hard choice but we had our own people to think about. While searching the other rooms in that corridor we encountered another small group of survivors. Movement in the shadows stopped us dead in our tracks. They were hiding in the darkness and we almost shot them. They had been wandering around for hours covered in blood and in a state of shock.
“Don't shoot!” one of them begged. “We are human!”
“Jesus Christ!” I told them. “I almost killed y’all!”
“We didn't think anyone else was alive!” said the redhead. “We have been hiding in here all night long. Now we are looking for a way out.”
We could see that they were messed up and bloody.
“ What happened?” asked Carlos.
The blonde haired woman said that her and her two friends were ambushed by a pack of the forsaken. They came swarming out of the darkness. After a quick skirmish they managed to get away. She suffered a couple of superficial bites but her two friends were hurt bad. During the tussle her friend received an ugly bite wound to the chest.
“We slipped away while those things feasted on the corpses of our friends.” said the redhead.
“We didn't have a choice!” explained the blonde. “The other officer who was leading us told us to run before he started shooting. He saved all of our lives.”
“Where is he now?” asked Carlos.
“The last time I saw him they circled him and attacked without mercy. In only a few minutes those monsters had murdered him.” replied the redhead.
The other girl just mumbled something about everyone being dead. I started to ask what his name was but what difference did it make now. I told them we would be back for them but they knew that was a lie. I had to protect the rest of our group and they were good as dead. I had found bottles of water in a small waiting room close by. Someone else had already vandalized the machine and pried it open. I gave the women some water and then we wished them good luck. Carlos grabbed a couple more bottles and helped me carry them back to the intersection.
On the way there three monsters spotted us as we rounded a corner. They were dressed in hospital gowns covered in stains and ripe from decay. One of them locked eyes with Carlos and flashed his teeth while the other two shambled after me.
“GRAAAUUUHHH!”
“Whatever you do don't use your gun!” I stressed.
Carlos dropped the water bottles and side stepped the creature like a matador.
“Not today motherfucker!” he yelled.
Then in desperation he grabbed it by the neck and slammed it's face into the wall. The impact broke it's orbital bones. Carlos repeated the assault until the beast stopped moving and slid down the wall. We had to keep quiet so I grabbed a discarded mop and broke it in half. Then I used the jagged piece of handle to stab one of them through the eye. The mop handle slashed through its remaining brain matter killing it. Then I kicked the other one in the shin temporarily putting him down. His momentum carried him forward with his hands still draped all over me. Somehow I was able to get my knee up into its chest and keep us separated. I attempted to move its head into my gun sights but couldn't get a shot.
The things mouth never stopped opening and closing as it tried to bite me. The creature’s grunts pierced my eardrum as its teeth got closer. With seconds to spare I flipped him off of me. The beast collapsed backwards to the ground disorientated. I quickly got back up to a standing position and thrust my foot into his skull and started whaling on him landing kicks. By the time Carlos joined in it stopped moving and was stomped to a bloody pulp. We carefully bent down, gathered up the water, and got out of there before we had any other surprises. We were passing out the water to the rest of the group as the pastors group walked up. In the oven like heat of the
hospital dehydration would become a problem soon.
“Thanks partner I needed that!” Joe said pouring the water on his face and taking a few gulps.
“Next time why don't you rustle up a bottle of whiskey?”
Maria filled her hand with water and then whipped it on Alex's face. Then she gave him the bottle.
“Don't drink it too fast!” she told him with a smile. “Make sure you give your sister some.”
“You heard what she said!” Latia exclaimed. “We have to share it!”
“OK guy's!” I said. “There is enough for everybody!”
I gave an extra bottle to Latia. She smiled at me and said thank you.
“Wow! I am impressed!” said Maria. “I didn't know you were such a good father figure!”
“There is a lot you don't know about me yet!” I told her with a devilish smile.
“Is that so?” she said smiling back. “If we live through this maybe you can show me!”
“I'm not going to let anything happen to you!” I told her. “We are getting out of here!”
Carlos gave Blair some water and asked how her arm was feeling. She told him that they were attacked. He was upset that she wandered off from the group but glad she wasn't hurt. Carlos sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her.
“You have to be careful! This is not a movie on TV.” he told her.
“I know it was dumb to wander off!” she said taking his hand. “I thought we would be okay!” she explained in tears. “How am I going to keep a baby safe with those things walking around? How am I going to take care of this baby? What if there are complications?”
“Don’t worry I'll take care of you!” he told her. “The only chance we have is to stay together!”
“Crying about this shit is useless!” laughed Dr. Green. “It won't change or solve anything!” Carlos starred at him intensely but didn't respond. After everyone had a chance to catch their breath I told them the bad news. The corridors in both directions were filled with the undead. They had completely taken over. If we tried to fight our way through a lot of people would lose their lives. Since our best bet was to keep moving I decided to head back in the direction we had just come from. Hopefully we could find a short cut to circle around to the other side.
