Gilbert looked a combination of shocked, repulsed, and petrified, and Mace looked from him to Father McCann, who had risen to put a hand on John’s shoulder.
“Try to understand. My wife was murdered in front of me yesterday by a group of those things. She was all that I had left. Our son died of cancer three months before. He weighed 91 pounds when he died. He had been the starting cornerback at Stanford. I watched him go from a strong young man to a skeleton. I loved my boy and I was with him until the day he left us.” His eyes welled up with tears and Mace felt like he was looking at a different man. “I want to make this up. I want to carry on and I want to do what’s right: For them, for their memory.” He lowered his head and said quietly, “and for those that I murdered. I can’t believe what I did. I honestly don’t know what happened to me. I have to try to live with it.”
Gilbert was speechless as John raised his head and probed him with his eyes. Finally, after a few seconds of awkward silence, Father McCann patted John on the back. “Give him some time, John,” he said, “I have a feeling he’ll come around in time.”
John nodded sadly, shooting a quick glance at Mace before turning back around. He went back to the seat he’d been in and put his head in his hands. Without looking up, he kept his eyes closed while he rubbed his temples slowly with his fingers. “The oil tanker’s in the back. We should have enough fuel to last at least a month. The generator’s in good shape.” He opened his eyes, lifted his head, and stared at Mace. “I don’t want to hide away on the third floor. I want to make this place a safe haven. I want to make a difference.”
Mace was touched by his confession and sincerity. He took a step towards him, extending a hand. “We will. We just got back with the lights and all the cords. All we need to do now is set them up.”
John rose and shook his hand with a powerful grip: A mechanic’s grip. “Then let’s get to it.”
Chapter 31
As the men left to situate the lights, they walked past Lisa and Chelsea’s room, where Chelsea was busy looking for Buster. Lisa was in a sound sleep but immediately woke to the sound of her daughter’s voice. “Mommy, where’s Buster?”
Lisa almost jumped out of bed at the sound. “What? Chelsea? What did you say?” She grabbed her face in her hands and kissed her as she began to laugh. “Oh my baby. You’re speaking again!”
Chelsea just looked at her frustrated. “Where’s Buster? Mommy, I know he was here before.”
Not wanting the moment to end, but realizing her daughters frustration, she scanned the room, noticing that Buster was indeed missing. “I don’t know, honey.” She looked back at her tiny little face and a huge smile spread across her face. “Let’s go find him.”
Chelsea pulled on her arm to get her out of bed quicker. “Hurry Mommy. I don’t want him to run away.”
As Lisa rose to her feet Buster stuck his nose out from under the bed, blowing his nostrils and letting out a small whimper.
“Buster!”
Chelsea dropped to the floor and kissed his nose. “Eww, it’s wet.”
He moved a little farther out and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Fascinated, Lisa watcher her intently. “Honey, where have you been? Why wouldn’t you talk?”
Chelsea looked up smiling, squeezing Buster’s neck. “I was with Buster. We were playing.”
Lisa stared at the dog, wondering just where her daughter’s mind had been. She leaned down on one knee and looked her closely in the face. “Do you remember anything that happened?”
Chelsea looked back and considered the question sincerely. “I remember there were some bad people. They wanted to hurt us.”
Lisa studied her carefully. “What else do you remember?”
Chelsea grew silent for a second, trying hard to think, then looked up a little scared. “Mommy, I remember you screamed.”
Lisa shared her look as she leaned in and tested her a little further, her voice growing weaker as she questioned the logic of pushing her further.
“Do you remember anything else?”
Chelsea’s little face burrowed with concentration before it finally lit up. “And then we found Buster!” She squeezed his neck and went to kiss him again as he lifted his head, bonking her chin. “Hey!”
He looked at her and licked her face and she started to giggle. “Buster was chasing me and I kept laughing Mommy. He likes to play.”
Lisa leaned back, relieved that Chelsea had returned and that she couldn’t remember anything specific they had seen or heard. She hoped they would be able to spare her the horrors of their new environment by creating a safe place to live for a while. “C’mon, honey, let’s get cleaned up and take a shower. I have some people I want you to see.”
Chelsea frowned and said softly, “Do I have to go back to daycare?”
Lisa smiled sadly and shook her head, leaning down and holding her face in her hands again. “No more daycare. You’re going to stay with me from now on.”
Chelsea beamed at the words. “Yay!”
Chapter 32
They had the lights all up within an hour. There were four horses on each side of the hospital, sixteen in all, providing 32,000 watts of light shooting out from the hospital. John was able to connect directly into the generator and split off from there, leaving extension cords snaking all around the building.
When they came back inside, darkness was threatening to settle over the city. Everywhere, that is, except for the area directly around the hospital. The lights were all facing outward, ensuring they’d be able to see any activity before it reached the sanctuary of the hospital.
They locked the back door and headed to the second floor, taking up positions at different corners to report any signs of life. Mace looked west directly out the front towards El Camino, while John looked South, Father McCann North, and Gilbert watched the back to the East.
Jade stayed downstairs guarding the back door, still worried that Rob wouldn’t reappear before Yvette emerged from her room with Maria. Lisa and Chelsea surprised Jade as they emerged from their room freshly showered with Chelsea chatting away.
“Can we get Buster a collar, Mommy? I think he’d look cute with a blue one.” She was walking and patting Buster on the head at the same time.
Jade’s eyes widened and she laughed at the sound of Chelsea’s voice. “Oh my God, she’s talking!”
Lisa smiled happily. “Yeah, I know. She just woke up that way. Isn’t it great?”
Upstairs, John saw it first. It was a set of headlights zigzagging down El Camino Real towards the hospital. As it drew closer, he could make out a small Mazda Miata convertible with its top down. It was making its way around the car pileup and the bus. Once it maneuvered past, he recognized the figure behind the wheel.
“How old is that kid?” he said aloud to himself.
As Rob pulled up to the hospital parking lot Mace could see the car out of the corner of his eye, with Rob behind the wheel. “Son of a bitch. I don’t believe it.”
He shook his head in disbelief and moved towards the door, anxious to get downstairs and head Rob off before he made it to the back. Father McCann met him along the way, a worried look across his face.
“They’re coming.”
Mace stopped and contemplated his expression. “Who? What do you mean?”
The color drained out of Father McCann’s face as he answered. “It’s them. They’re moving fast.”
The room spun for a second as Mace realized to whom he was referring. He rushed past Father McCann towards the door he had emerged from, looking out the window. “Oh My God.”
They seemed to be coming from everywhere and they were making a beeline for the hospital. There were already too many to count. He pushed away from the window and hurried to the window he’d just left.
What he saw left him speechless. They were coming in droves, seemingly out of the woodwork, and their screams began to penetrate the hospital walls and echo in his brain. As he stood there, numb from the sight, he could h
ear John running from the room down the hall.
“Oh man, we’ve got problems!”
They all met in the hallway and just stared at each other, slack jawed and in shock at what was taking place. Finally, Mace let out a whisper. “I think this was a mistake. I think I may have just killed us.”
Chapter 33
Jade was standing in the hallway laughing with Lisa and Chelsea when Rob started pounding on the back door, scaring all of them. She felt relieved at first when she saw it was him, but quickly realized that something was wrong by the look on his face. She ran over and unlocked the door, and as soon as he was inside his demented smile returned.
“Battle down the hatches, cause we got visitors!”
Jade could smell booze on his breath and backed away from him, alarmed. “What are you drunk?”
He looked at her and laughed, sliding the shotgun off his shoulder. “It doesn’t matter what I am cause they’ll be here any second.”
He turned and faced the back door, raising the shotgun, and Jade quickly moved towards it, struggling with the keys to lock it as she nervously scanned the outside perimeter. She heard it click and backed away swiftly, unsure of what was going on. She turned to see Lisa spiriting Chelsea back down the hall with Buster trotting faithfully behind.
Mace yelled as he hit the ground floor. “They’re coming! Lock the door and kill the inside lights!”
Mace and John came running into the emergency room hall with their guns raised as Jade ran to the wall switch, and by the looks on their faces, she knew it was bad. John had one of the 38’s held out in front of him and Jade’s heart starting thumping as she stared from one to the other. “What happened? What’s going on?”
In the shadows inside the room, Jade could see the guilt and fright that covered Mace’s face. “They’re coming for the lights. It’s drawing them out.”
They waited for what seemed like an eternity but no infected rushed the back doors. They could hear the shrieks, their hands growing unsteady as they kept their guns drawn and focused. Finally, Father McCann appeared behind them, his voice calm and steady. “They’ve surrounded the building but it appears the light is keeping them back.”
Mace gave him a surprised look before jetting off to one of the ground room floors that he’d marked with chalk. They were close enough for him to see their blood-pooled eyes as they swung their arms in rage at the light. Their numbers were growing rapidly as they pressed up against each other, and he could see others approaching from behind, shrieking and thrashing out, furious that they couldn’t advance any farther. It was almost as if a physical wall was holding them back.
As he watched them, they did something that sent a chill down his spine. One of them reached down, grabbed a discarded bottle lying in the street, and awkwardly hurled it at the lights. It missed and broke one of the hospital windows, but it left no doubt as to the intent.
Mace ran his fingers through his hair as his thoughts raced. Eventually they would make it inside. He knew that if the lights began to break it would be over in no time. He suddenly remembered the fertilizer and took back off in the direction of the waiting room. Maria was with the others as he arrived and he made a quick scan for Yvette and Gilbert. Jade caught on and said hastily, “She still sleeping. It’s the painkillers. Nobody knows where Gilbert is.”
Mace nodded, not too concerned with Gilbert’s whereabouts. He’d just get in the way anyway. She followed it abruptly with, “What are we going to do?”
The shrieks were growing in volume and they jumped as they heard another window smash. Mace grabbed John’s arm and laid out the plan he had rapidly constructed. “There are ten bags of fertilizer outside by the door. If we can mix them with some diesel fuel, we could make a bomb. We’ve got that ambulance parked up against the side entrance. We could load it into the side door and I could drive it into the middle of them. With the headlights and the emergency lights on, they should back off enough for me to get through. If not, you are all going to have to run like hell while I set it off.”
Jade looked as if he had just slapped her in the face. “You are not going to just blow yourself up! No way! There’s got to be another way!”
They could hear an upstairs window shatter and they all jerked at the sound. Mace shook his head. “We don’t have time to argue. If they break those lights we’re all dead.”
Jade’s mouth dropped and she shook her head. “No. No way. There’s got to be another way.”
Rob and John started speaking at the same time, the volume growing as they tried to drown each other out. John finally stopped and turned towards Rob, waiting to hear what he had to say. Rob was grinning like a lunatic again.
“If they’re scared of light we could fire up some torches. That convertible out there can get through any pile up and it’s quick. It’s parked right next to the back door. Two of us could follow you and keep them back with torches until you get the ambulance where you want it.”
Mace shook his head. “It’s suicide.”
John broke in. “So is what you’re proposing.” Before Mace could object any further, John turned towards Rob and slapped him on the back. “Let’s do it. I’ll ride with you.” Looking back at Mace he said, “We don’t have much choice. We’ve got to do something now. I loaded some of the fuel into a few barrels out back just in case something happened to the tanker.” He looked solemnly at Mace and took a deep breath. “Who wants to live forever, right?”
Chapter 34
Jade took a few steps back and let the wall hold her up as the realization of their predicament spun through her head. Father McCann walked over and whispered to her, “Let’s get everyone ready in case we need to run. Will you help me?”
Jade was in a state of shock. She just nodded absentmindedly as Mace touched her arm.
“J, we’re going to need the keys.”
She gazed up at him blankly, then slowly pulled the keys out, placing them in his hand. “Just come back.”
He forced a grin but she could see the stress in his features. “Don’t worry. We’ll get this done then have a party. ”
Rob cocked his gun and gave Jade an evil grin. “Now you’re talking. Let’s go have us some fucking fun.”
Mace turned, unlocked the door, and they were gone. Jade looked over at Father McCann and Maria, trying to shake off the malaise that was coming over her. “I know where Lisa and Chelsea are. I’ll go get them.”
Maria’s voice trembled as she said, “I’ll get Yvette ready.”
Both women hurried down the hall as Father McCann prayed for their safety. “Don’t make me out to be a fool. You’ve gotten us this far, now get us through the rest before you give this old man a fuckin’ heart attack.” He made a quick sign of the cross. “Please.”
He headed upstairs to look for Gilbert, who was hiding in a closet losing his bowels to the terrors of the night.
Once they stepped outside the volume of the shrieks was almost overwhelming as the infected saw their movements and exploded in a fury, snapping their teeth and grabbing wildly in their direction. The lights held them back, but they were now surrounding the entire building. Mace couldn’t recall ever experiencing this much fear or apprehension. Looking into their faces was enough to almost paralyze, so he kept his head down and focused on their task. If anything happened to the lights, they’d be torn to pieces in seconds. Witnessing their rage, he couldn’t understand how the lights could hold them back. He wanted to be done with this as quickly as possible.
The bags of fertilizer were right outside the door but the diesel barrels were about twenty feet away near the wall of the generator, and only about five feet from the raging infected. He and John exchanged a look that needed no explanation. They were both scared shitless but knew they needed to continue.
Rob watched them with amusement as he took in the madness all around them, feeling indestructible and immune from any fear or doubt. Between the effects of the alcohol and his own madness, he moved towards the barrels wit
h unencumbered recklessness, grabbing the first one, which he could feel was about half full. The infected responded with a ferocious outburst, roaring in outrage as their eyes bulged. They were within six inches of him, but their eyes had grown consistently more sensitive to the light, and the sharpness of it felt like shards of glass piercing their brain matter.
The barrel had a lid and ring around it, keeping it secure, so he tipped it over and began rolling it back towards Mace and John. Before he had reached them, he felt something hit him in the back. When he looked down, he saw a good sized rock rolling to a halt.
He felt a flash of anger and slid the shotgun off his shoulder, calmly walking up to within a few feet of the infected and raising its barrel to line up with the mouth of one of them. Their eyes grew monstrous as he approached them and they shrieked in rage at his boldness. Those closest moved forward a few inches but were driven back by the lights, covering their faces, shrieking louder by their frustration. Rob laughed and pulled the trigger, sending a splattering of blood over the crowd of infected behind the one he had shot. As it crumpled to the ground the roar rose in maddening intensity, the infected tearing at their clothes in exasperation at not being able to get to him.
Mace grabbed him from behind, pulling him back, and Rob shot him a dirty look before turning back to smile at his deed. It was too loud to even try to communicate so Mace and John rolled the drum back to the emergency exit, and in through the sliding glass doors. They started pitching the fertilizer bags after it, needing to get away from the hellish presence that surrounded them.
Mace of the Apocalypse Page 15
