by Tristan Vick
“Good question, kid. Let’s not stick around to find out.”
The battery power to the lab was drained from the explosion. With the power completely gone, the doors in the lab unlatched. Creaking open, Greer and Zanato heard the sound of dragging feet and moaning. Pulling out his Glock, the general clenched his teeth and said, “I guess the dead sons of bitches can open goddamn doors.”
“Fuck this shit,” Zanato complained. “I don’t want to die.”
With that he took off down the hall, running blindly in the dark, feeling the wall as he went.
“Wait!” Greer shouted, looking over his shoulder as Zanato rushed past. “You’re going the wrong way, kid!”
But Zanato did not listen. Filled with fear and adrenaline he could not hear the general’s pleas above the raging sound of his own pounding heart.
Turning around, the general held up his cigarette lighter near his face and lit it. He stood face to face with an eyeless monster. It grinned at him with rotting teeth. The general tried to raise his weapon but the creature was too close for him to bring his gun up and get off a clean shot. So he head butted the damn monster instead.
Staggering back, the creature let out a screeching howl. The general fired off a shot which got absorbed by the unfeeling meat of the creature’s left leg. Before he could get off another shot pasty hands grabbed his arm and flung him into the wall. Crashing into the wall, Greer’s lighter slipped out of his hand and fell to the floor. In the darkness, the general roared a lion’s roar and unloaded his entire clip into the darkness.
Amid the muzzle flashes, Greer could see the other monsters already upon him—darkness—then teeth—more darkness—and then more teeth. Each vicious bite tore large chunks of his flesh out of him. There was no escape.
The five crewmen worked diligently in the dark with their flashlights. If they didn’t get the generator’s back up, there’d be hell to pay.
“I got it,” said a big black man named Pearlman. Pearlman’s faced glowed ghostly in the light of his coworker’s torches. From the hall they heard a loud clank.
“Whoa, did you guys hear that?”
“It was probably just the generators winding down,” Pearlman replied. He was the floor supervisor, and it was his duty to keep his men calm and focused.
“No, I’m telling you, I heard something coming from out there.” Steve Corbin, a skinny man with short brown hair, thumbed over his shoulder toward the hallway.
“That’s just your imagination playing tricks on you, Steve. Nothing to get your panties up in a bunch over,” Pearlman said with a chuckle. The rest of the men chuckled along with him.
Pearlman used his light to find the lever that he would use to reboot the power. Grabbing hold, he flipped the switch, then picked up the two-way and radioed Mitch Reinhart back at the control room.
“Mitch, it’s all good down here. You can power back up the main system. Pearlman, over and out.”
“Roger that,” Mitch’s voice crackled through the two-way. Then with an electrical pop, the power was restored. The lights flickered momentarily as they warmed up. Steve felt something move past the entrance to the door just behind him and he turned to look out the small square window to try and see what it was. But nothing was there.
Maybe Pearlman was right, Steve considered. Maybe it was just his mind playing tricks on him. He opened the door and poked his head out into the hall. Still nothing. He turned back to the rest of the group. “Guys, I’m going to head on over to—” Suddenly a shadow whisked past the door as he spoke. “Holy shit!” Steve yelped.
“What now?” Pearlman grumbled, rolling his eyes.
Steve slowly turned back around to face the men. His nerves were on end and he felt rattled. “I’m telling you guys, someone’s out there.”
Just then a fuse blew and the lights crashed.
“I got it,” Steve said, flicking on his flashlight. Steve made his way to the back access panel to flip the switch and reset the fuse.
Huddling together, the rest of the crew grabbed their flashlights and stepped out into the hall together. They paused, looked around, and then Pearlman held the flashlight up to his face and started screaming hysterically. His bogus screams quickly turned into bawdy laughter. The rest of the men joined him in a round of laughter at Steve’s expense.
“Ha-ha. Very funny,” Steve said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Nothing’s out here man,” one of the crewmen stated. “It’s just a big ole empty hall.” To prove there was nothing lurking in the shadows he flashed his light around. The rest of the men did the same.
“Alright, alright,” Pearlman said. “Playtime is over. Now let’s get back to work.”
Steve hit the switch and with a clunk the lights came back online. “Piece of cake,” Steve said, dusting off his hands.
Suddenly another scream rang out.
“Okay guys, enough is enough,” Pearlman barked.
But it was just the first of many. Soon the hall became filled with the voices of men screaming for their lives. Each gut wrenching, terror filled, yelp signified their distress. Pearlman spun around in the doorway, furious that they weren’t listening to him, but something grabbed him and yanked him out into the hall. One minute he was there and the next he was simply gone. Then only silence.
Steve stood in the room with ghostly expression frozen onto his face. “Come on, guys. This isn’t funny anymore.”
Creeping up to the edge of the entrance, Steve peaked around the corner to see five living dead munching on the corpses of his fellow crewmembers. To his shock, he recognized the one gnawing on the limbs of Pearlman. It was General Greer. Steve jumped back.
“Holy shit,” he said in a coarse whisper. This can’t be good, he thought. He had to warn somebody. But how? He was trapped. That’s when Mitch’s voice blared out of the radio.
“How are things going down there?”
One of the monster’s heads snapped up and looked directly at him with its disturbingly frosted eyes.
“Shit,” Steve cursed as he recoiled in fright.
Jumping back into the room, Steve slid up against the wall and flicked the radio off. The whole time he silently prayed that the creature didn’t see him. That it would be preoccupied with its meal and would go back to feeding long enough for him to reach over and slam the door shut. Frozen in terror, he forced his stiff limbs to move. Slowly, he took small steps back toward the entranceway. All he had to do was pull the door closed, and he’d be safe until someone could come down to the basement to rescue him. That’s all. Just shut the stupid door. That’s when General Greer’s face, with frosted eyes and bloody chops, appeared in the entrance. Steve began to scream but was quickly silenced when Greer’s chomping teeth tore into his larynx and ripped out his vocal chords.
Rachael waited with the teenagers in the observation lounge. Suddenly, Lindsey shrieked. Rachael spun around to see what had frightened her and suddenly spotted Jennifer Hurley standing on the other side of the entrance, naked and bloody. She stared at them through the glass with wraith-like eyes and a chilling gaze. Her blonde hair was stained the color of milk chocolate and hung in clumpy dreads, caked together with her victims’ blood. Knowing that Jenifer had lost her mind, it was practically impossible to tell what she might be thinking.
Suddenly Jennifer’s eyes locked onto Josh. Rachael quickly pushed Josh behind her to keep him out of Hurley’s line of sight.
“Don’t make any direct eye-contact,” whispered Rachael out of the corner of her mouth. They all held their breath and waited for something to happen. But then Hurley just calmly turned and walked away.
“What the hell is wrong with her?” asked Lindsey, holding onto Rachael’s arm.
“I think she’s had a psychotic break,” Rachael said.
“You think?” Josh answered back.
“And I thought those things up there were scary,” Lindsey said pointing upward. “Those things will tear off your face, but she’ll mess you
up seven different ways till sundown.”
All of a sudden Alyssa popped into view. After the intense standoff with Hurley, her sudden appearance caused everyone to scream with fright. Alyssa had almost walked past them but their screams alerted her to their presence and she turned to see Rachael standing in the lounge with two frightened teenagers.
As she entered into the room, the terrified looks on their faces confirmed Alyssa’s worst suspicions. Her voice growing solemn, she stated what everyone was thinking, “Something is terribly wrong with this place.”
“Tell us about it,” Lindsey said pointing to the mark etched into her forehead.
“That’s…” Alyssa’s voice trailed off.
“What is it?” Rachael asked. “Do you recognize it? Have you seen more like these?”
Alyssa shot her a petrified look. “That’s the same symbol that was painted on your bedroom wall with blood.”
“Levi?”
Alyssa bit her lip, but didn't need to speak for Rachael to guess. “You should have seen him,” Alyssa said, her voice choking up. “It was like Silence of the Lambs in there.”
“The best thing we can do right now is stick together,” Rachael said, trying to boost the group’s morale.
“I opt that we head back up to the cars where those marines are,” Josh said. “At least then we’ll have a bit of protection. Also, maybe one of them will know what’s going on.”
Just then the full contingent of marine’s marched past the windows. They all stared silently as the unit passed by.
“Never mind,” said Josh with a disappointed tone. “It looks like we’re on our own.”
“Maybe that’s for the better,” Rachael said, ushering everyone toward the doors.
“How is that better?” asked Lindsey.
“While everyone else is distracted down here, we’ll make our way to the cars.”
They nodded and followed her out the doors. Dashing up the hallway, the ragtag group made their way through the labyrinth of corridors and headed for the surface.
Alyssa suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. “Hey, hold up a sec.”
They paused and turned around to see what she needed.
“What is it?” Lindsey asked.
“I have to get something from my room first.”
“Are you out of your mind?”
“It’s my diary. It’s important. It chronicles everything that’s happened so far.”
Rachael was about to protest, but before she could say anything Alyssa was already running back down the hall, back toward her room. Rachael looked at the kids with heavy eyes. She weighed leaving them to fend for themselves in order to go after Alyssa.
“Don’t leave us,” Lindsey said, putting her hand on Rachael’s arm.
Rachael looked down at her touch, then back into her eyes and smiled. “I won’t. I promise.”
Suddenly the lights began to flicker uncontrollably. Then they went out for a few moments, then flashed back on.
“What was that?” Josh asked.
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence,” Lindsey said in a scared voice.
Moans broke out from the intersection and everyone’s heads whipped back to see what it was. The entire intersection quickly flooded with zombies, all of them looking right at Rachael and the kids. Leading the pack was a burley tattooed biker zombie—one of the survivors they had arrived with.
“Sonuvabitch!” shouted Josh.
Rachael shoved the kids back and screamed, “Run!”
Alyssa made it to her room and opened the door. She ran inside and began rummaging through her bag. But her diary was missing.
“Looking for this?”
Alyssa slowly raised her head to see Jennifer Hurley’s naked form hovering in the doorway. She was bathed in blood and wore the symbol omega on her chest. She fondled the tip of her wicked blade with her fingers, and tucked under her arm was Alyssa’s diary.
“Excuse me, but I think you have something that belongs to me.”
“It’s a very interesting story,” Jennifer said and she thumbed through some of the pages. They were already stained with her bloody fingerprints. “It’s funny, you see? I’m in this story. I’m very interested to find out what will happen to me.”
“It’s not a story,” Alyssa informed. “It’s my flipping nightmare of a life. Now give me back my diary you psycho-fuck-fruitcake!”
Jennifer tried hard not to laugh, but couldn’t hold back her chortle, “Oh, you poor little thing. You’re so adorable and you try to use bad words and act all tough.”
The lights briefly flickered again, as if it was a bad omen. Alyssa tried to dash out the door but Hurley stepped in and blocked her way. Frustrated she yelled, “What do you want from me?!”
“I want you to beg me to stop.”
“Stop you from what?!”
Hurley held out the knife and ran it down Alyssa’s cheek. Alyssa remained fixed, not flinching for an instant. She knew the moment she showed fear, the moment she showed any sign of weakness, Hurley would strike like the pernicious viper she was.
“Screw you!” Alyssa snapped and spat in Jennifer’s face.
Suddenly Jennifer’s face went blank. She looked up at Alyssa like she didn’t recognize her and then turned and slowly walked away.
Watching the monitors, Mitch saw Barnes and Noble ushering people out of the facility at his request. They had lost contact with Linda, the general, and the repair team. Now the containment failure alarm was blaring in the control room and Mitch was thoroughly freaked out. He had sent a contingent of marines to go deal with it, but he hadn’t heard back from them either. The shit had thoroughly hit the fan.
Looking over at the two remaining staff, a man and a woman, Mitch said, “You two better go get on that bus while you still can. I’ll hold down the fort here.”
Hesitating, they looked at him for a moment.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Go on, get!”
Reluctantly, they did as they were told.
Whatever happened next, Mitch was the last man at his post and like the noble captain of a ship, he swore he’d would see The Third Coast sunk before he’d ever let those god forsaken things see the light of day above.
Barnes looked back at the cave entrance in time to see Rachael and a couple of teenagers come running out of the mouth of the base.
“Glad to see you’re safe,” Barnes hollered.
“You need to get these kids to safety,” Rachael said. She pushed Josh and Lindsey forward and then she turned to head back into the base.
“Wait,” Barnes said, grabbing her wrist. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I have to go back and get Alyssa.”
“Like hell you are! I’m not letting you go back in there. It’s suicide. Let the general get her out.”
“The general has been missing since we arrived at this godforsaken place. For all we know he could be dead,” she informed delicately. “So if you don’t mind, I’d like to go save my friend.”
“Damn it, Ramirez!” Barnes blared in frustration. “I’ve been given direct orders by the operations manager to get everyone out of here, stat! And that’s what I’m going to do.” Without another word he tugged on Rachael’s wrist and tried to force her to come with him. She pulled back and stood her ground.
Calmly, Rachael looked Barnes straight in his eyes, and said, “Staff Sergeant, Let. Go. Of. My. Goddamn. Arm. But I’m going back in whether you like it or not.”
Noises could be heard coming from the mouth of the entrance. Both of them looked over to see the sloppy gait of the monsters coming out of the base. Burley biker zombie leading the charge. Barnes took out his handgun and handed it to Rachael.
“Then take this. I’ll cover you for as long as I can.”
Rachael nodded in gratitude and turned to head back into the mouth of madness.
35
Escape
GRUMBLING AND SCRAPING THE COLOSSAL doors sl
owed to a juddering halt and then, with the grinding of gears, they reversed and began to shut again.
“We don’t have much time,” Barnes shouted above the noise. “We have to go. Now!”
“Wait!” Josh and Lindsey protested at the same time. Josh continued, “We have to wait for Rachael and her friend to get back. We can’t just leave them. Not after all we’ve been through.”
“You worry about your girl, kid. Let me worry about mine.”
“I can take care of myself,” Lindsey said with a hand on her hips as she gave Jared the old evil-eye.
“I didn’t mean it like … just … I don’t have time for this shit. Just get on the bus would ‘ya?” Barnes complained as he ushered them forward.
Sergeant Ulysses Noble pushed the few remaining survivors onto the bus. Josh and Lindsey held hands and stared out of the back of the bus at the horde rapidly catching up to them.
As the bus doors closed, Noble slapped the window and trotted back to the Komatsu LAV. He scrambled up to the M2 Browning, yanked the load tray back, and slid in a chain of .50 caliber shells.
From the base’s entrance at the mouth of the cave, dark figures staggered toward them one shambling footstep at a time. Nearly all two hundred personnel, including scientists, engineering crew, control room staff, and marines had been turned. The Third Coast was a veritable death trap
Looking over at his friend, Jared Barnes gave Noble the nod. Noble nodded back and trained the Browning onto the zombie swarm.
“Yippy-kai-yay mother fuckers!” Noble shouted out as he let the hammer drop. White hot needles blasted into the approaching horde and chewed everything up to the consistency of raw hamburger.
Looking out of the back of the bus, Josh squeezed Lindsey’s hand. Lindsey squeezed his hand tight in return, and together they watched the maelstrom of gunfire rain down upon the horde like the wrath of God.
Barnes snatched up the M4 carbine with grenade launcher out of the back of the Hummer, and started picking zombies off one at a time from ground level as Noble continued to spit fire at them from atop the LAV. Pulling back the slide of the rifle to reload, Barnes turned back toward the bus and screamed at the driver, “Get out of here, dammit! Go!”
