by Alan Spencer
Dr. Glover swiped the key card at the second door, the final door out of the perimeter.
The door swung open, and he left it open.
Dr. Glover returned down the stairs at a stagger. He returned to that first gate where the dead had corralled themselves. They were pounding the gate, demanding with their arms and fists to be released.
Dr. Glover swiped his card, and upon unlocking the door, the dead crashed through to the other side. Dr. Glover was immediately pummeled against the concrete stairs, his corpse picked to pieces, spread out and broken like an animal's carcass. When they were finished with him, what remained of him was only a foot and a sternum.
The dead continued deeper into the facility.
Exodus
“Do you see them?”
“Christ, they’re coming up over the hill.”
“They’ve breached the barriers. They've overtaken the base."
“What the fuck do we do?”
“We have to call for help, now!”
The officer reached for a walkie communicator, but it was shattered by a random stream of gunfire.
“Duck!”
“They’re armed! The dead are armed! Holy shit, they're firing on us! There's no way to fight them!"
Hayden was forced from his dying moment by the commotion. He scanned the dirt road yards outside the final gate from his kneeling position. He could see them, and now, Hayden could hear the incredible throng of approaching enemies. Armed corpses raced through the barriers, incensed and covered in fresh blood. Multiple explosions rattled across the facility, turning the areas outside of the perimeter into a war zone. Flames swarmed from within the main headquarters building. A row of hanger buildings ignited as if fire-bombed from within. Jeeps and military vehicles sped about in confusion, many of them gunned down and crashing before being able to commit any contribution to the war effort.
His captors were attacked by thirty of them at once. They were swallowed up. Hayden saw torn appendages move across the dog pile, as well as gallons and gallons of blood. They were as good as corpse meat.
Hayden expected to be attacked next, but they bypassed him.
He'd forgotten he looked just like them.
Many of the corpses jumped the final gate barrier. Some were entangled in the barbed wire. That didn't stop them. The corpses sawed off their limbs or ate them off, cutting their losses in order to escape. In five quick minutes, the corpses all reached the other side. They were mobile and on the hunt.
While Hayden watched everything unfold, Richard’s voice emboldened him, You are one of them. Stand proud. Escape.
Hayden walked into the booth that controlled the gates. The booth was drenched in blood. The attendant was missing. He studied the panel and pulled back a lever that opened the main gate. The bodies corralled forward when the gate shifted, roaring and ready to escape. The entrance was wide open now. Up the dirt path, the beings shot forward.
Hayden followed them out of the gates. That's when Richard spoke to him again.
They are yours to guide, Hayden. You’ll never run out of bodies. Fresh meat is better meat. Warm and tender from the bone. Out there shall be your new sanctuary. Outside the perimeter, you shall rule over the living.
Hayden joined the crowds, venturing into the horizon as one of the living dead.
Not Even Close to Dead
The dead stopped pounding on the freezer door. Boyd continued to press his body up against the crates. He listened, at the ready to die. The dead things fled from the grocery store. Boyd trained his ears harder to what could be going on outside. He could've sworn he heard a man shouting at the top of his lungs. That was what drew them away, he thought.
Thank God.
Boyd waited minutes before he relaxed. He realized he was shivering in the freezer's deathly cold. If the dead things didn't kill, this ice box would.
He started to remove the crates from the door. When Boyd exited the box, the way was clear. He was alone, and happy to be so.
Rapid-fire machine guns burst from afar. Grenades and loud booms quickly followed. These were the sounds of war. Boyd raced to the back exit of the store to view the sky after hearing military helicopters and jets fly by.
The dead have escaped.
God save everyone, they're out of the perimeter.
Boyd could only think of one thing. How many miles were they out from Pittsburg? Boyd didn't know the exact location of this base. They had to be somewhat close to the city, he speculated. That meant a large population of people were in danger. Not only that, his wife and kids would be in the path of incoming destruction.
Boyd wasn't sure what to do now. He was unarmed, alone, and in the middle of a war zone. Boyd couldn't think himself out of this situation. He'd come this far, only be trapped within four walls again. He was dead if he entered the war zone, and he'd be cast out of society if he remained here.
He stopped feeling sorry for himself when he heard the crackle of radio static nearby. Boyd was running towards the post office. He crossed the charred remains of the Land Rover. It was a block down from that destroyed heap that Boyd stopped running. There stood a military jeep. Fresh blood spattered the streets, among torn tidbits: a tongue, two fingers, a length of intestine five inches long, and Commander Stapleton's head. Stapleton's mouth was still in an "O" of shock. Boyd could only imagine what had been done to the rest of his body.
Boyd listened to the radio frequency from the Jeep's radio. He expected people to be looking for Hayden, or himself. The voice wasn't inquiring about either of them. This was an S.O.S. signal.
"...escaping. We can't hold them back. Nobody's alive! They're merciless fucking bastards. They're driving vehicles, using our weapons, and slaughtering us out here. They can do so much more than we ever imagined. There's no stopping them. Hell on Earth is here! Say goodbye to humanity. Every city will be a chopping block by the time they're--"
The frequency was terminated in time with a giant explosion.
Boyd turned the frequencies, trying to reach someone alive.
"...no, no, nooooooo! Goddamn fuckers used a rocket launcher on Hetley's crew. Well, I'm all that's left. Fuck all. If anybody can hear this, please, warn everybody what's going to kill them. Stop at nothing; get the message out. They're surrounding me. They're ready to dissect me alive. They're coming for you next, and there's nothing we can do to stop them! I'm signing out. Send my regards to my wife and kids!"
Boyd heard a single gunshot.
The frequency went dead.
Boyd was alone in the perimeter. That meant it was on his shoulders to do something about the things that had escaped. Humanity had turned their back on him, and now, this was his chance to spin around those cold shoulders and make the world see him again as a good man.
Boyd checked the back of the Jeep and the front seats. He located an Uzi and a M-16. The keys were still in the ignition. Boyd used a military jacket to wipe the blood slathered on the driver's seat. He revved up the engine, clutched the steering wheel in one hand, and kept trying any and every frequency to reach anyone who could warn the public of what was coming for them.
He drove towards the front entrances, tailing the dead.
Boyd would do anything to save the city. Maybe the world. He would also sacrifice everything to save his wife and children. He had to see them again. They had to know he was alive. There was only one way to do any of those things.
Boyd Broman drove like fucking hell until he was outside the perimeter.
War was about to begin.
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