Survivors in a Dead World

by Gary M. Chesla

  “Do you smell that?” Bob asked nervously.

  Carrie sniffed the air then quickly looked down at the fuel gauge.

  “Gas,” she said looking concerned. “Our fuel gauge is almost down to empty.”

  She tapped on the gauge but it didn’t go back to three quarters, where it had been a moment ago.

  Bob swung around in his seat and looked behind the helicopter.

  A trail of smoke traced their path back over Heinz Field.

  “I think the fuel line to the engine is leaking,” Bob said. “It must have been rotted more than I thought. Get us home fast Red.”

  “I can see the pad,” Carrie replied. “All we need is for it to hold for just another minute.”

  Carrie was just putting the helicopter down on the helipad at Mercy Hospital when smoke began to fill the cabin.

  Bob unhooked his seat belt.

  “Shut this thing down and run for the stairwell,” Bob said. “I hope the leak isn’t too close to the engine.”

  Before the blades stopped turning, Bob and Carrie got out of the helicopter, ducked down low and ran.

  Bob looked back as they reached the stairwell.

  He stopped for a second to see the flames that had now engulfed the back of the helicopter.

  He pushed Carrie into the building seconds before the fumes in the left fuel tank exploded.

  Parts of the helicopter ricocheted off the bricks at the top of the stairwell.

  The helicopter rolled over to the edge of the roof and fell down on to the Boulevard of the Allies ten floor below. The other tank ruptured and exploded on impact.

  Bob and Carrie walked out to the roof when it seemed the explosions had finally stopped.

  A small pool of fuel was burning where the helicopter had sat moments before.

  They walked over to the edge of the roof and looked down at the burning remains of the helicopter.

  “Shit,” Bob said.

  Tears ran down Carrie’s face as she put her arm around Bob’s waist.

  Chapter 26

  Bob and Carrie walked down the stairs and down into Mercy Hospital.

  “At least we made it back Red,” Bob said, “and it was a soft landing this time.”

  “Yea, but we’re stuck in the hospital with no way out,” Carrie replied.

  ‘The Doc was working on a way out,” Bob said. “Hopefully he was able to come up with something while we were gone. He really seemed excited about something you said that morning we left to go over to Allegheny General.”

  “Where is the doctor?” Carrie asked.

  “Good question,” Bob replied. “With the helicopter exploding I would have thought the whole group would have been out here.”

  “Maybe they are out looking for a skunk,” Carrie laughed, smiling for the first time since they had landed.

  Bob smiled, “Let’s go see where they are?”

  Carrie followed Bob to the doctor’s room.

  Bob stopped and knocked on the Doc’s door. When he didn’t get a reply, he opened the door and looked inside.

  “He’s not here,” Bob said.

  “Maybe he is down in that room with those dead things, working on his experiments,” Carrie suggested.

  Bob knocked on a few other doors, but wasn’t able to find anyone.

  They finally arrived at the doctor’s meg-shift lab.

  Bob knocked on the closed door, but again there wasn’t any answer.

  Bob pushed the door open.

  “God it smells in here,” Carrie said covering her nose.

  Bob walked in the room and stared.

  “What the hell happened in here?” Bob said.

  Carrie looked at the mutilated creatures tied to the hospital beds. After slipping and almost falling on the floor she noticed the vomit and blood that covered the floor.

  “It looks like Frankenstein’s laboratory or a torture chamber,” Carrie said. “You don’t think the dead got up here do you?”

  “No, if the dead made it up here there would be bodies and a lot more blood,” Bob replied, “besides I don’t think they can get up this far.”

  Carrie looked at the heads of the two dead creatures turning to follow their movements.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Carrie said, “those things are gross.”

  “Let’s go down to the supply room and see if they are down there,” Bob suggested.

  They left the room and closed the door.

  Carrie let her shirt fall off of her nose and started to breath normally again.

  They were almost to the end of the hallway when Bob said, “The door to the supply room is open.”

  “They must be in there because that room is never open,” Carrie added, “You and Doc are the only ones with the key to the supply room.”

  “Yea, but why is it so quiet?” Bob asked.

  They walked to the supply room, stood at the open doorway and looked inside.

  “All the supplies are gone,” Carrie said.

  “Shit,” Bob said sounding puzzled.

  “You don’t think they left?” Carrie asked. “If the Doc figured a way to get out of the hospital, they wouldn’t leave without us would they?”

  “They might have thought something happened to us, Red,” Bob replied, “We have been gone for three days. That’s what I would have thought.”

  “Let’s keep looking,” Carrie said. “They have to be around here somewhere.”

  “I hope so, Red,” Bob replied sounding worried. “But the doctor did look really excited about your skunk story. If he did come up with a way to get out of the hospital, we could be screwed. We don’t have any idea about how he got out and we don’t have any food. All I know was he was excited about skunks.”

  “I really don’t see how kicking a skunk would help us,” Carrie added. “Even if it would, I don’t know where we could find one around here.”

  Bob looked at the empty supply room.

  “Let’s go down to the ninth floor and look around and see if we can find anything that might tell us where they went,” Bob said.

  “Is it safe to go down there?” Carrie asked.

  “It’s OK, just keep your eyes open down there,” Bob replied. “We cleared out the top four floors not long after I came here. There weren’t many of those things on the upper floors. I think we will be fine on the ninth floor. It’s really unusual to see one of those things get up this far.”

  Carrie moved closer and held on to Bob’s arm as he led them towards the stairs.

  When they entered the stairwell, Carrie stopped and pointed at the floor.

  “There is blood on the floor here,” she said.

  They looked down the steps. The drops of blood continued down the steps in front of them.

  “It looks like someone was hurt,” Carrie said.

  “It smells like hell in the stairwell too,” Bob added. “Keep your eyes open, Red.”

  When they reached the door to go into the hallway on the ninth floor, Bob said, “The blood trail keeps going down the stairs.”

  They both leaned over the railing and looked at the steps below as far as they could see.

  “It looks like whatever happened, someone or something was going that way,” Carrie whispered.

  “It’s strange,” Bob said. “There isn’t enough blood to make me think something really bad was going on. There isn’t any drag marks. It looks like someone walked down these steps after whatever was bleeding. I can see some partial bloody foot prints.”

  “At least the blood goes down there,” Carrie replied. “We aren’t going to go down there are we?”

  “If we can’t find anyone up here, I think we have to,” Bob replied. “If we are to have any chance of getting out of here, we need to know where Doc and the guys went. Without a helicopter the only way out of the hospital is down these steps.”

  Carrie’s eyes lit up, “Maybe they found some parachutes and jumped off the roof and floated down to the river.”

  “No, we tho
ught of that after we found the helicopter,” Bob replied. “We searched the helicopter and all the supply rooms. We even thought about making parachutes out of sheets. After smashing a few stuffed laundry bags on the streets below, we gave up on that idea.”

  “Jumping off the roof sounds scary too,” Carrie said. “I don’t know if I could do that even if I had a real parachute.”

  “Let’s look on the ninth floor,” Bob finally said. “Maybe we are just getting worked up over nothing.”

  Bob took Carrie’s hand and led her into the hallway.

  They stood and listened for a few minutes.

  “I don’t hear anyone,” Carrie whispered.

  “Let’s look around,” Bob whispered back.

  They walked around the ninth floor hallway and ended up back at the stairwell.

  There were no signs that the doctor or the men had been here.

  They did however find one candy bar and a small bag of pretzels.

  They walked back into the stairwell.

  Bob looked down the steps.

  “I don’t want to go down there,” Carrie said as she watched Bob staring down the steps.

  “I think we have to,” Bob replied.

  “OK, but can’t we take a break first?” Carrie pleaded. “Can’t we go up on the roof and eat our snacks first? Maybe we could even go back to our room for a little while.”

  Bob looked down and saw Carrie grinning at him.

  “Are you trying to bribe me?” he smiled.

  “Is it working?” she smiled.

  “I guess we could both use a break,” Bob smiled. “It’s been a tough day. I’m beat too after that attack this morning.”

  “What attack?” Carrie asked then she saw the grin on Bob’s face. Carrie punched him in the ribs.

  “Not in the ribs,” Bob joked. “You hit me right where some redhead bit me.”

  “Don’t worry,” Carrie smiled, “I promise I will never attack you again.”

  “I somehow doubt that,” Bob laughed.

  “I think you might be right,” Carrie laughed.

  “Come on Red,” Bob grinned, “let’s go take a break.”

  “I knew you would see it my way.” Carrie smiled.

  Bob shook his head, took Carrie by the hand as they started back up the steps.

  When they reached the tenth floor, Bob stopped before they climbed the final steps to the roof.

  “Let’s go back to my room and get a blanket to sit on while we eat,” Bob said. “That concrete is hard and will make your butt hurt.”

  “Good idea,” Carrie grinned.

  They walked into the tenth floor hall and walked to Bob’s room.

  When they entered the room, Bob saw something in the middle of his bed.

  “What’s this doing on my bed?” Bob asked as he walked over and picked up a notebook. On top of the notebook was a single sheet of paper with something written on it.

  “What’s that paper say?” Carrie asked watching Bob read the paper to himself.

  “It says, ‘To Bob or to whom it may concern,’ and it is signed by the Doc,” Bob replied.

  “It’s says what?” Carrie asked.

  Bob handed the paper to Carrie and started to look at the notebook.

  “It’s the Doc’s notebook,” Bob added as he flipped through the pages. “This looks like his notes from the experiments he was doing.”

  “Let’s take it up to the roof and read it,” Carrie said. “Maybe it will tell us what he was up to.”

  “I’m hoping it will tell us how he got out of the hospital,” Bob answered, “That is if he really left.”

  Carrie picked up the blanket off of Bob’s bed, along with his pillow and followed Bob out into the hall.

  When they reached the roof, Carrie spread out the blanket, tossed the pillow near the edge of the blanket and dropped down on the blanket with her elbows on the pillow.

  Bob dropped down next to her and laid out the notebook in front of them.

  Bob scanned the first page, “It looks like his first experiment was to paint over and cut out those creatures eyes.”

  “Gross,” Carrie replied looking at the page.

  Bob turned the page, “He said it still seemed like the dead were able to follow his movements, even without having eyes.”

  Bob turned the next page, “Here he says that next he filled the creature’s noses with putty. He said after he did that, the creatures seemed to be unable to locate him.”

  “The Doc told me he was a real doctor but after seeing this, I think he was a quack,” Carrie laughed. “I knew he was just trying to get me to take off my pants.”

  Bob laughed, “That was just your imagination, again.”

  Bob turned the next page and suddenly got quiet and focused on the notebook.

  “Did he write about getting me to take my pants off in his notebook?” Carrie laughed.

  “No,” Bob laughed, “but listen to this. He wrote that he felt the sense of smell was the key to confusing the dead into thinking we were one of them. He wrote that the only problem was how to confuse the dead when there were so many of them.”

  Bob laughed, “The Doc wrote that is was impossible to go out and putty all their noses.”

  “That is funny,” Carrie smiled.

  “The Doc says here that the solution became clear after talking with our helicopter pilot, Carrie Jenkins.”

  “I know,” Carrie smiled, “After getting me to take my pants off, he found a way to get the dead to take off their pants. Then with their pants down around their ankles, they would all trip and fall and then the doctor could just walk right by them.”

  “Red,” Bob laughed, “will you get off of the pants thing? Besides most of those things aren’t wearing pants.”

  “I know he couldn’t find a skunk,” she added, “I know it has to do with my pants.”

  Bob read further.

  “No, he says after talking to you the solution was simple,” Bob laughed. “He said the key was not to change the creatures but to change how we smelled. He said he covered a sheet with blood from one of the creatures, put the sheet over his head and the dead then ignored him.”

  “I bet that had to smell like hell,” Carrie laughed.

  Bob quickly read through the last few pages.

  “The doctor’s plan was to have everyone soak a sheet in the blood from those creatures down in that room, put the sheets on over their heads and walk out of the hospital and cross the road. They divided up the supplies, took an inflatable mattress to float down the river and left.”

  “So that’s why the supply room was empty,” Carrie said. “Did it say when they left?”

  “It said they were leaving at the end of the notebook,” Bob replied, “but I don’t know when that would have been. It could have been today or it could have been two days ago.”

  “But we know that they did leave,” Carrie sighed. “We are stuck here again and they took the food.”

  “But you know what this means,” Bob said sounding excited. “If they were able to do this and get out of here, we can too.”

  Carrie looked horrified, “No way am I wearing a bloody sheet like that. I’d puke my guts out. Besides any seven year old girl knows when you are going to be around a bunch of creepy guys that you wear pants and not a dress.”

  Bob laughed, “You and your pants.”

  “I’m serious,” Carrie protested. “Those things out there remind me of the creeps in my second grade class, always trying to pull up my dress to look at my panties.”

  “Red, what does this have to do with you in second grade?” Bob asked.

  “Wearing a sheet would be like having a dress on,” Carrie answered. “Those things out there are always grabbing at things. What if they grab your sheet and pull it up or even pull it off?”

  “You’re serious,” Bob said.

  “I certainly am serious,” Carrie answered. “If they mess with your sheet, they are going to see you and then you’re screwed. Bes
ides we really don’t know if it worked. Did the Doc make it?”

  “I guess we don’t know for sure,” Bob replied, “but it could be our only way out of here.”

  “So could jumping off the roof,” Carrie replied.

  “Instead of a sheet,” Bob said. “Maybe we could just cover our clothes with blood. They couldn’t accidently pull off our clothes.”

  “I don’t know,” Carrie answered. “This scares the hell out of me. You won’t make me do this will you?”

  “You know I would never make you do anything that you didn’t want to do,” Bob replied.

  “I know,” Carrie smiled nervously, “but I think this is a really bad idea. It might be different if we knew it would really work.”

  Bob thought for a minute.

  “I have an idea,” Bob said.

  “Am I going to like this?” Carrie asked.

  “This shouldn’t be too bad,” Bob replied. “I’m not sure if it will tell us anything but I think it is worth a try.”

  “What is it?” Carrie asked then smiled. “I have to admit I usually like most of your ideas.”

  Bob returned the smile. “The only way I can think of as to how the guys left, was down the steps and out the front door. I think we will know for sure if we follow that blood trail. That bloody trail probably came from the blood dripping off of the sheets as the Doc and the guys went down the steps.”

  “That makes sense,” Carrie said.

  “If we follow the trail, it should lead us to the front door,” Bob continued. “From there, depending how many of the dead are out on the street, we might be able to see across to the top of the cliff. That might give us an idea whether or not the guys made it.”

  Carrie nodded.

  “If we don’t see anything?” Carrie asked.

  “Then maybe we give it some more thought,” Bob replied softly. “If you still don’t think we should try the sheet idea after that then we will think of something else.”

  “Honest?” Carrie asked.

  “I only want to do what you want to do,” Bob smiled.

  “I’ve noticed that recently,” Carrie grinned.