Dead and Forsaken

by West, J. D.

  We quietly snaked our way through the turned over gurneys and debris. We couldn't go backwards or forwards so our only chose was to go up or down. The door to the stairwell was just around the corner. Hopefully either the second floor or lower level would be clear. If we can't find a new escape route then we needed a better place to hide. Anywhere was better than out here in the open.

  “The stairwell is right over here!” said Randy. “We just need to unlock it.”

  The door was locked but luckily I still had my set of master keys. After listening for noise with my ear for a few seconds I slowly turned the key. Then I took two steps back and drew my weapon.

  “Open the door and I will cover you!” I told Dr. Green.

  “Fuck that shit! You open the door and I'll cover you!” he cried. “That's not my job!”

  “Both of you are making me nervous!” said Randy.

  “I guess I have to do everything myself!” I responded.

  CHAPTER 18:

  The Stairway to Hell

  Unnerved, I swung the door open and rushed into the stairwell. Security guards are normally asked to work behind the scenes but because of our situation I had been pushed to the forefront. In stressful situations people are influenced by whoever is in charge. A small beacon of light temporarily illuminated the space. We yelled out into the darkness several times and then waited to see if any creatures were lurking inside. Thankfully there was no response, growling, or movement.

  “I think we’re good man!” I whispered to Carlos.

  He made sure everyone was inside before he closed the door behind him. All the lights were off inside so we were left in pitch blackness. The tension was ratcheted up because of the anticipation of something jumping out the dark and grabbing us. I turned on my flash light and looked around. I didn't see anything moving upstairs so I shined my light toward the lower level.

  “Where does this take us anyway?” asked Anne. “It's so dark in here!”

  “I have no ideal but keep moving.” responded Carlos.

  “If we go downstairs we can get out by using the service tunnel!” responded Joe.

  “We might not run into as many of those creatures!” Maria told them. “But don’t forget the morgue is also on that floor.”

  “The lower level is pretty deserted at night.” said Randy. “I think it's worth a taking a chance.”

  “Well in that case I guess you just volunteered to help me check it out!” I joked.

  His mouth fell open because he knew whoever wandered off might not come back. I told everyone else to wait by the door until I gave them the clear signal. The last thing we want is for everyone to get separated in the dark. Randy gave Carlos a flashlight out of his tool bag so he could stay with the others. After that I descended the first set of stairs and plunged into the darkness. The others stood there contemplating their predicament. Dr. Green wanted to turn back and unsuccessfully tried to convince everyone else to join him. The light shook as I climbed down the stairs with my gun in one hand and flashlight in the other.. The moving shadows made the space seem more narrow and claustrophobic. Randy could barely make out the hand rail but still only trailed a few feet behind me. We stopped at the landing and slowly turned the corner with our backs pressed against the wall.

  The descent pace was slow so that we didn't walk into an ambush. We paused after a few more steps because I thought I heard something or someone ahead of us.

  “Be quiet!” I whispered.

  Blood smeared hand prints ran across the wall leading down the next set of stairs. Blood was also splashed on the handrail.

  “I'm scared!” said Randy as his voice started to squeak. “This seems like the beginning to a nightmare or direct to DVD horror movie!”

  “Get it together!” I told him. “Life is about taking risks and this is the risk we have to take if we want to get out of here. Just stay here until I make sure the coast is clear!”

  Then I turned back around and disappeared into the dark. I flashed my light down the stairs toward the door and spotted a badly mangled body strewn across the bottom landing. The corpse was grotesquely contorted. The unidentifiable man was face down in his own blood and missing most of his flesh. The skin on the left side of his face was peeled back from his mouth to his ear. A significant amount of blood encircled his skeleton like corpse. I took several more steps down the stairs and moved closer to the cracked open stairwell door. Before long I was standing over the man’s stripped down remains.

  A cloud of dead flies buzzed over him. A large wound was in the back of his head. Most of his brain had been scooped out. Fist size holes were in his back exposing his spine. It appeared that something dragged him down the stairs as he tried to crawl away. His lower legs were missing from the calf down. One of his severed feet propped the door open. The foot was still in a shoe and a bone stuck out of the ankle. Blood flowed over the edge of the shoe and trickled onto the floor. I turned around to call Randy down the steps but he was already right behind me despite his protest earlier.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I asked.

  “I got scared waiting back there by myself!” he babbled.

  A fear of being alone in the dark was one of his many phobias.

  “Hold up!” I said covering his mouth with my hand. “I don't think were alone!”

  I saw several shadows moving on the other side of the door. We halted right there while I peered through the crack. I shined my flashlight through the crack moving it from left to right. Something was definitely moving in the center of the hall. The heavy metal door squeaked loudly as I opened it the rest of the way.

  “SKRRREEEK!”

  I looked to the right nothing then to the left still nothing. We stepped into the hall and closed the door back. I left the foot in the door as a precaution. We had no idea what we were in for. An uncomfortable feeling came over us as we ventured forward. Even with the flashlight we could only see a couple of feet in front of us. The tension and suspense increased with every step but we continued to move deeper into the emptiness. From the sign on the wall I figured out that we were in the hall just outside the cafeteria.

  Thankfully the route was not impeded by debris or remains. As we moved forward my eyes darted from left to right with every step I took. My flash lights beam cut through the dark as I scanned from floor to ceiling. I returned the light to the floor and used it like a cars headlight to guide us. Randy and I watched the triangle shaped beam glide across the multiple colored tile.

  “Are you sure we should have that light on?” asked Randy. “They might see us! I don't want to get into a situation we can't handle!”

  “Yeah but what if we can’t see them?” I whispered.

  The beam bounced up and down with every step I took. It created hard shadows and odd shapes making it impossible to tell what was my imagination and what was real.

  “Wait a second!” cried Randy. “Go back! What is that?”

  “It’s probably nothing!” I responded as the cone of light flowed right to left.

  The light picked up the face of an attractive woman with big blue eyes. She had a look of terror on her face. Our adrenaline was pumping high as we took a few more steps. Suddenly Randy called out to her then ran over to her and knelt down.

  “Randy! What the hell are you doing?” I asked. “Hold up a second!”

  By now it was clear how incredibly dangerous and stupid it was to walk around the dark alone.

  “I think I know her!” he replied. “She was always nice to me!”

  He collapsed to his knees and began frantically stroking her hair. I moved the light down and realized it was only her head. The rest of her body was somewhere else.

  “Oh my God!” cried Randy. “She didn't deserve this!”
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br />   I raised my gun up and continued scanning. When I found the rest of her body several pale naked figures were crouched down hovering over it. Sections of their skin were dark purple and pink. Death and time caused their skin to tighten and crack. Their lips were dry and withdrawn exposing their teeth. Their frosted eyes sank into their eye sockets in a permanent blank stare. The rest of the woman's corpse was tossed in an awkward position. The creatures were pulling organs out the body and mauling it beyond recognition. One of them was chewing on her arm like it was a piece of chicken. His sickly frame was clearly visible even under the soiled gown he wore. A plastic I.D. bracelet was on his wrist. The other arm was covered in a bloody bandage and connected to an I.V. Bag.

  “CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!”

  It was a gory sight I wouldn't forget.

  “Randy it’s time to go!” I yelled as I moved back toward the door.

  He saw them scuffling over her body but was confused about what was going on. The pale forsaken group looked up with blood on their faces. They began to stand up and stumble towards us.

  “GRRRRRRR!”

  They all showed signs of rigor mortise and muscle stiffness. Randy was startled and dropped his tool bag as he stood up. He stood there momentarily disorientated before bending down for the bag. The pale figures fought each other as they jostled for position. Their slow pace quickened and they accelerated as they got closer to him. I heard a noise on the right side so I pointed the flashlight in that direction.

  “GRRRRRRR! GRRRRRRR! GRRRRRRR!”

  The light illuminated several more creatures as the shambled out another room. After checking on a similar noise on the left side I realized we were almost surrounded. A dead doctor was standing there drooling and staring at us. Large chunks of his muscles and organs were missing causing his skeleton to show through the shredded flesh. A dead young nurse was close by at his side. Her rotting flesh was already falling off her bones. The forsaken monsters had been eating the remains another victim and now we were next. The dead physician was holding the body of a small child like it was a rack of ribs. He bit chunks of flesh out of the body and swallowed them whole. One of the other creatures consumed large portions from a victims dislodged arm like it was a turkey leg. The keys to the victim’s car were still clutched in his hand.

  “GROOOWWWL! GROOOWWWL! GROOOWWWL!”

  “Screw the bag man!” I yelled. “Let’s get the fuck out of here!”

  They could smell us and knew we were not dead like them. Randy was able to get his bag but hesitated for a second. He felt like he was cornered by a pride of hungry lions. There was no way to hold them back now that they had tasted fresh blood and smelled our fear. His eyes pleaded for help and then his mouth opened.

  “Noooooooooo!”

  The skinny forsaken in front was able to reach out and grab him. Randy was groveling for help.

  “Oh shit!” he yelled. “Get this mother fucker off me!”

  The dead man had a large bite wound close to his hair line and the tip of his nose was gone revealing the bloody cartilage underneath. Randy was bitten once, twice and then a third time. It happened so fast that he couldn’t even react.

  “CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP!”

  “Aaaiiihhheee!”

  He swung the bag trying to hit them but it was no use. His arm had been seriously injured. His clothes were ripped and torn as he struggled with his attackers trying to squirm free. Even if he had gotten free there would have been no way to stop the bleeding. Before I knew it he had disappeared into the sea of rot and decay. I looked back to see several monsters dragging their defenseless victim in the other direction. He starred at me with his eyes wide open as the blood poured out of him but it was too late to help. He flailed his arms uncontrollably and his hands grasped at air before they scraped against the ground. Their hands and teeth carved into his soft flesh during the sustained and prolonged attack. His tool bag was knocked onto the floor. Randy punched and kicked but couldn’t get loose.

  “No! No!” he screamed. “Help me!”

  He was left lying on his side struggling to breathe. The blood flowed freely as they began to consume him devouring mouthfuls of flesh.

  “MUNCH!”

  The rest of them came shambling after me. I shot the first one sending pieces of its skull into the air.

  “BANG!”

  The muzzle flash illuminated the darkness like a paparazzi’s camera. I hit the next one that stumble forward threw the eye piercing its brain.

  “BANG!”

  My third shot was wide and went into the wall. Then I zigzagged through the out reached arms of the others. One of them almost had me but I dove out of the way and took off running. Every couple of steps I took the time to fire backwards at the ones still following me.

  “BANG! BANG! BANG!”

  The gunfire ended up putting me in more danger because it got the rest of them all worked up and sent them into a frenzy. Alone they weren't that fast or strong but if enough of them got together they could cause a lot of damage. As I closed in on the stairwell door several other creatures were blocking my path. They were persistent and hungry. I forcefully shoved the leader to the ground since I couldn't go around him. He awkwardly struggled to get back to his feet but was having a hard time. I repeatedly kicked the forsaken in the face and head before he could recover. Then I stomped him until he quit stopped moving.

  Once he was out of the picture it gave me time to deal with the others. The next one lunged at me trying to bite down with its snapping jaws. I elbowed him in the chest to put distance between us. The hungry beast came back even more aggressive the second time. Luckily I was able to wedge my hand under its chin and grab it by the throat. This helped me to tilt his head back and keep it from biting me.

  As soon as I pinned his head back against the corridor wall I struck him with my gun. The gun made a horrifyingly loud crunch sound as metal met with bone. Its brain tissue was exposed. The force of the blow cracked its fragile skull but the creature was still alive. He clung onto my arm with one hand and erratically clawed at me with the other. The second blow from my gun was hard enough to kill him. When I let his neck go his limp body slid down the wall smearing blood and tissue as it descended to the floor. The fight slowed me down enough for another group of forsaken to catch up. I kicked the foot into the hall and the door slammed shut behind me. The undead swarmed towards the door and tried to burst into the stairwell.

  “BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”

  “GRRRRRRR!”

  I quickly moved backwards up the stairs keeping my eyes on the shaking door. This was definitely not the way out. When I got back up to the first floor landing I was breathing hard when I told Carlos to get everyone upstairs. They had been talking amongst themselves when my gunfire interrupted the conversation.

  “You heard him.” demanded Carlos. “We need to leave. Get up the stairs now dammit! Hurry!” Maria gathered up the kids and her and Blair bolted up the steps behind him navigating the dark stairwell.

  “What happened to Randy?” asked George. “We can't just leave him!”

  “You know what happened to him!” I responded. “And the same thing is going to happen to all of us if we don't move!”

  He and the rest of the group quickly turned around and followed Maria. They instantly took off running even though they didn't see anything. If our ordeal taught them anything it was that if someone took off running then you better run too. Anne stayed in the back of the group walking instead of running. She suddenly stopped in her tracks and placed her hand against the wall to steady herself. It seemed like she was giving up and she refused to move. The Pastor didn't know what was wrong but he assisted her anyway. She was holding onto the railing tightly and needed some extra encouragement climbing the stairs. He affectionately placed his arm aroun
d her shoulders and supported her as they walked. The whole time she was in a state of shock and denial. Anne did not feel sick or have a fever yet but she knew it was coming. Dr. Green was right behind her and the pastor. He started to get suspicious of the way Anne was behaving. My flashlight had picked up what looked like fresh blood droplets trailing on the steps behind her. The wound was still seeping. Upstairs near the second floor Carlos found the body of another man on the stairs.

  He was dressed in a tattered tee shirt and shorts. His shirt was stained maroon from dried blood. Several gaping holes had been torn into his neck and chest. The wound in his neck was so big that his head only hung on by a thin layer of skin and cartilage. A large hole was also gashed into the crotch of his shorts. His groin and upper thighs were chewed up badly down to the pelvic bone. Dry blood splatter stained the stairs. Maria and Blair covered the eyes of the children as they ran past. The climb had all of them sweating and panting when they reached the second floor landing. Everyone nervously stared over the railing as the banging grew louder.

  “BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”

  Even from almost the top of the stairs I could still hear them moaning and growling behind me.

  “GROOOWWWL!”

  The noise was so loud it could be heard on the other floors. I remained posted at the landing until I was sure everyone else had a good head start. When I got upstairs the whole group was standing there with their weapons ready. All of our faces were only partially visible in the rotating beams of light from the flashlights. Between me and Carlos we only had a few bullets left in our magazines. Staying on the landing longer than necessary would have been stupid. The banging on the lower level door vibrated up and down the stairwell as it started to weaken.

  “BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”