CODE Z: An Undead Hospital Anthology

by Brown, Eric S. ; Besser, Rebecca; Wraight, Anastasia; Rosamilia, Armand; Ibarra, Bowie V. ; Christie, Peggy; Mahan, Jeremy L. ; Sinclair, Pembroke; Snow, Rebecca

  “What… what… what…”

  The man grabbed Lester’s face and pulled him in.

  Lester’s screams echoed through the morgue but nobody heard it.

  * * *

  “It’s the accidents, that’s all I’m saying…”

  Niles tried to walk but Rambo stood in front of he and Ronny, chewing on a toothpick with his hands tucked into his pockets. Everyone called him Rambo because he always wore something around his head, sometimes a bandana, sometimes a cut up shirt, and even once, a trash bag.

  “We have to get moving on here,” Niles said.

  “Sure ya do, they’re gonna drag you into this mess.”

  “What mess?” Ronny asked.

  “Dammit kid, quiet!” Niles snapped.

  “The accidents kids. There’s hundreds of ‘em around town. Everyone’s crashing, dying, getting hurt then dying. But that ain’t the problem. The problem is the bodies… they’re coming back to life…

  “Ah, bullshit,” Niles said waving his hands. “You’re trying to scare the kid. Knock it off. Don’t you have a toilet to unclog?”

  “Hey, my job is important here,” Rambo shouted. “You know what it’s like cleaning up after some of these people here? Huh? You think this is pleasure work man?” Rambo’s eyes looked towards Ronny. “You stick with this bum, you’re in for a life of darkness man. Look at his office, where is it? The basement. He’s a basement bum.”

  “Fuck you,” Niles said.

  “Wait a second, what about the bodies?” Ronny asked.

  “Dammit, look what you started. Get the hell out of our way.”

  Rambo turned to the side and pointed with his mop handle as if Niles and Ronny didn’t know where they were going. Well, Ronny technically didn’t know where he was going but Niles had put probably close to a thousand miles in the hospital during his tenure.

  “See you around Ram-bone-head,” Niles said.

  Rambo threw Niles the finger and then as Ronny walked by he put his hand down, stopping Ronny. “Remember what I said kid, it’s the accidents. Something’s going on out there, in the outside world…”

  “Cut it,” Niles yelled and kept walking.

  Rambo moved his hand and Ronny caught up to Niles. Before either one could speak, Rambo yelled, “It’s true!”

  Niles stopped. “Dammit, if there was something going on out there, it’d be happening in here. Use your head man. I’m sick of your stories… each week, it’s something new. Aliens. Government takeover. Government killing citizens. And now, what, zombies?”

  Niles continued walking. “I’m sorry Ronny, sometimes that guy just gets-”

  “Hey there basement bum?” Rambo shouted.

  Niles stopped but didn’t turn.

  “The air coming into the hospital is filtered,” Rambo said. “Remember that… filtered…”

  Niles started walking again and put his hand behind Ronny’s back. “Rambo’s nuts. Don’t listen.”

  “Is the air filtered?” Ronny asked.

  “Ah Christ, of course it is. We’re in a hospital. But if they’re bringing people in from the outside, and there was something wrong, what do you think would happen? Christ, can’t believe I’m talking like this.”

  Ronny shut up but looked back one last time at Rambo. He was nodding, pointing up – to a vent.

  * * *

  David sat on the bench waiting for the ambulance to show up. He himself noted over a dozen calls in the past hour alone, all accidents. All the same idea – cars just crashing. Not going out of control, but rather as if the driver just kept driving, no matter what.

  It was strange, sure, but strange things had happened before. David remembered one night where a male baby was born every hour on the hour for nine hours straight. It was so strange that a few religious people came, hoping to catch sight of what they believed to be sent from above.

  But this was a little different. People were dying. And it only seemed to be getting worse.

  David stood up and walked to the door. He looked at the button to press that would open the door but for some reason he hesitated.

  “Dave,” a voice called from behind him.

  He turned and saw a short fat woman, sweet old Betty.

  “Hey Betts.”

  “I tried calling Unit 4 three times. They’re due here any second. Another trauma victim. This one’s still got a pulse, thank the Lord” – Betty pointed up and smiled – “but I don’t know Dave, it’s a little odd out there today.”

  “Days come and go Betts,” David replied.

  “I guess.”

  Betty turned and began to waddle away.

  David faced the door again and saw the ambulance pulling in.

  “About damn time,” David said but then stepped back and put his hands up. “Wait a minute, wait a minute…”

  The ambulance should have made a right hand turn. It should have come around a long grassy island, stopping in a way that would allow David to run out and assist with bringing in the stretcher.

  Instead, the ambulance never made the right turn. Instead it bounced up into the grass and back down off it a second later. David saw the driver, slumped over the wheel and then made out the figure in the back of the ambulance, a woman with bloody hair crouched down holding on. She looked at David and smiled, her teeth dripping blood.

  “What the fu-”

  David never got to finish his sentence. The ambulance hit the doors and shattered them and didn’t come to a complete stop for another twenty feet or so, but not before breaking David’s neck, killing him.

  * * *

  Ten minutes later, the first floor slowly turned into a wasteland. Those who came to check out the ambulance accident were faced with something from a nightmare. The woman from the accident, the one who should have been being rushed down a hall towards some kind of surgery, was chewing on the neck of the passenger in the ambulance. The woman tore at flesh and muscle like a hungry animal.

  Betty had waddled her way back, hoping to joke with David and ask him what the hell was going on. When she saw the carnage, she stepped back, twisted her ankle, and fell down. Someone came to her aid but she only pointed.

  “The driver’s alive,” Betty said.

  All the attention went back to the ambulance. The driver threw its head back and screamed. The woman in the ambulance stood up and looked at the driver. The driver turned its head side to side and stood up. His head hit the top of the ambulance and then he crawled over the passenger and out the door. It stumbled and fell. A man, Nick Lowe, stepped forward.

  “Nick, hold up,” a deep voiced Michael Boulder said. “I’m not sure what’s going on here.”

  “That’s Darrel, I’ve known him for ten years.”

  “I don’t think that’s Darrel anymore,” Betty called out from the floor.

  “What does that mean?” Nick snapped.

  The woman from the accident came out of the ambulance too. The driver, the maybe-Darrel, pushed himself up and looked at Michael.

  “Dar, you okay?” Michael asked.

  When Darrel blinked, his eyes changed. They went from bloodshot to a hazy whitish color, almost milky.

  “Jesus Christ,” Michael said. “What’s happening?”

  Michael Boulder’s question was never answered. His friend of ten years, Darrel, ran at him and tackled him. Before anyone could attempt to help, half of Michael’s neck was missing. Worse yet, the passenger in the ambulance began to wake up.

  Betty had an idea of what this was, but dammit, it was movie stuff.

  Zombies.

  Betty rolled to her large belly and started to pull herself.

  Her dangly bracelets scratched against the floor and pressed into her wrist and she tried to ignore the pain in her ankle. She had no idea where she was going to go, maybe far enough away to call for help. Or if her strength held up, back to her desk and call… call who?

  Behind her she heard screams, slams, growls, and a sound that pinched her nerves – flesh
tearing. A rough but somewhat squishy sound.

  Betty couldn’t help it then, she started to cry. She cursed herself for doing so but the pain was too much. The reality, worse.

  What came next she already knew and knew it well. She was overweight, old, with a bum ankle, and everything she’d ever known had been challenged.

  She heard them coming up behind her but she continued to stretch her arms and pull. They growled and stepped in irregular patterns, she refused to look behind her. She didn’t want to see who was actually coming. The bitten ones, the ones that died, they came back alive. She watched in the ambulance.

  The end of the hall could have been five feet, could have been a mile, it didn’t matter. For Betty, she saw the end of the hall as a worn out blue couch. A few small tears, popcorn hiding in between the fat, indented cushions. She saw the picture above the couch, the one of an old hospital, painted in black and white. A friend (and nothing more… a secret she’d obviously take to her grave), Willie Piton, bought it for her ten years ago before he died. Her heart still ached at that loss. She heard a television, loud. She heard a game show. All this in front of her face. She stopped crawling and smiled. She closed her eyes and the scene kept playing. A hand grabbed her shoulder, squeezed tight, so tight. She tried to hold her breath but the stench of blood and death crawled up her nose. She exhaled, crying.

  The zombies fed.

  * * *

  One turned into two turned into three turned into a dozen. When the ambulance hit the hospital, it broke the main frame on the door enough so that there wasn’t much of an opening, unless of course you opened the back door of the ambulance. But let’s face it, one can hope the zombies would never become that smart. And let’s face it again, it didn’t matter.

  Outside, it kept happening. Accident after accident. People crashing, dying, coming back.

  In the hospital, the west wing of the first floor became a blood bath. The east wing was fine, and actually kept functional as normal. Because that’s what people knew – normal. Sure, a few anomalies here and there in life, but nothing that time couldn’t fix…

  Until now.

  * * *

  Niles never saw so many doctors and nurses on one floor. After stepping off the elevator, a woman flagged him down.

  Beverly Jacobs, a cute little number that Niles had enjoyed a decade ago. She told him it wouldn’t work, he took her word for it, and six months later she was married. Another notch into the ol’ black heart for Niles.

  “Hey Bev.”

  “Niles, they need you in 619.”

  “On it, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” Beverly said grabbing Niles shoulder, pushing him.

  “What about me?” Ronny asked a little uncomfortable. He thought about that other job, flipping burgers, about the grease hitting his skin… about the smell…

  “You go into 604,” Beverly said.

  “But he’s training,” Niles said.

  “He’ll know what to do. They’ll tell him. You bring enough tape and tarps?”

  “Yeah… but…”

  “No time,” Beverly said.

  Niles kept walking and Ronny stood, a little flustered.

  Great, he thought. He turned and walked down the other way, towards Room 604.

  When he got there, the door was ajar. He knocked. Nobody responded. He knocked again and announced himself. “This, this is Ronny. I work here. With Niles…”

  Ronny pushed the door and walked in to find a person in a bed. Tubes were connected to the person, a man, which he knew by the fact that the blanket was folding down, exposing his chest. Machines beeped and the room was just dark. Creepy almost. Ronny kept stepping in, slowly, hoping to not disturb the patient. As he looked around the room, he made the decision he was alone and needed to get out. Go find Niles.

  He turned and the machines started beeping loudly. When he looked back, the man in the bed was thrashing, trying to scream. Ronny ran to the bed and gasped for air. Most the man’s face was gone, the remaining pieces hidden by blood stained bandages. He was cut, bruised, and burned. He eyes were bulging as his muffled screams barely carried.

  “Uh, hold on,” Ronny said looking for the remote to press for help. When he couldn’t find it he started yelling. When that didn’t work he tried to run but the man grabbed his arm and squeezed. Ronny fought, trying to pry away but couldn’t.

  The machines screamed and the man kicked.

  “Let me go!” Ronny yelled. “So I can get help!”

  Then it was over. The machines became quiet and the man relaxed. Ronny wasn’t a doctor, but he knew the man was dead.

  Gone.

  “Oh man,” Ronny whispered feeling his voice shaking.

  He slid the lifeless fingers from his arm and saw the red marks.

  “Dead man fingers,” Ronny said.

  The dead body coughed and sat straight up. Ronny stepped back and took a swing. He didn’t mean to, it was just a reaction. He hit the man’s bandage and his hand slid into the blood and goo that was once muscle. Ronny screamed and felt his knees buckle. Then the man rolled off the bed reaching out and grabbing Ronny’s shoulders. A second later Ronny stared up at a bleeding corpse, eyes milky and dead.

  “Can’t be,” Ronny whispered.

  The new zombie fed.

  * * *

  In Room 619, Niles found two doctors, three nurses, all looking worried and impatient. More specifically, the nurses looked worried and the doctors looked impatient.

  “Hello,” Niles said smiling.

  “Get plastic on those damn vents now,” one of the doctors said.

  Niles put his hands up – I’m innocent – and then walked to the middle of the room. He looked up for a second and whistled.

  “Someone tell the janitor to shut up and work,” a doctor said.

  “Niles,” one of the nurses said. She put her finger to her lips and walked to him.

  “What’s up their ass Nanc?” Niles asked smirking.

  “Doctors,” Nancy replied with a whisper. “They think something’s wrong with the air outside. Causing accidents and… other problems.”

  “Oh Christ, now you sound like Rambo.”

  “Just trust me Niles, do what they say and get the hell out of here.”

  Niles nodded and went out to a nursing station to get a step ladder. He came back and all the doctors were leaning over the patient in the room, murmuring to each other. He didn’t pick up much, not that he was really trying to listen. He hoped whatever was going on with the person, they’d be okay.

  He puckered his lips to whistle but stopped himself just before exhaling. There was only one thing worse than a pissed off doctor and that was two pissed off doctors… or three…

  Niles opened the ladder and the base hit with a loud clang sound. All eyes looked at him.

  “Sorry there folks,” he said.

  He stepped up the ladder and pulled the tape from his waistband. He bit four pieces of tape and stuck them to the ceiling. As he brought the tarp up to the ceiling, he saw the vent. He wasn’t sure why he looked at it the way he did – that damn Rambo, he thought.

  Why were they having him tape the vent?

  Was something really coming in from the outside?

  And if so, how bad was it that it compromised the hospitals filtration system?

  Niles shook it off and taped the vent. When he was done, he stepped back down and closed the ladder. He stood there for a second, marveling at the doctors working. Six hands working differently but yet all at together, healing, saving a life.

  Hopefully.

  Before Niles could snicker to himself at the thought, one of the doctors shouted, “He moved! Dammit! He moved!”

  “Calm down, reflex,” another said.

  “It wasn’t a goddamn reflex.”

  “I’ll call for help,” a nurse said.

  “We are the help!” the third doctor shouted.

  “Relax,” the second doctor said.

  A small argument
ensued but abruptly stopped when the patient sat straight up in bed.

  Healed, Niles thought nodding.

  The rest of the room seemed to disagree. Everyone stepped back, the nurses with their hands to their mouths, holding back any sounds.

  “Jesus Christ,” the first doctor said. “His vitals… they were…”

  “You!” the second doctor yelled pointing at Niles. “What took so long to tape that vent?”

  “I taped it,” Niles said.

  “Idiot,” the third doctor muttered.

  Niles stepped forward – doctor or not, nobody could call someone an idiot like that. He pointed his finger, “Let me tell you something…”

  The patient turned its head and grabbed one of the nurses by her hair. He pulled her in and bit her face with such force, she didn’t have a chance to scream. Her nose, top lip, and part of her ear were gone. The patient let her go and she fell in a bloody heap. Then he reached for one of the doctors but was smacked away.

  “Get out!” the doctor yelled.

  Everyone scrambled, but the patient grabbed another nurse and sank its teeth into her shoulder. She screamed.

  “Zombie!” her voice echoed in the room. “They’re turning into zombies!”

  With the room clearing, Niles couldn’t do the same. No way. Not without helping. He hurried and grabbed the patient by its arm.

  “Let go,” he said.

  When the patient looked at Niles and he saw the face, the wounds, and the eyes – oh my God, the eyes – that’s when Niles realized maybe Rambo wasn’t so crazy after all.

  Niles drew a knife, his pocket knife he always kept, and then took a swing at the zombie. He slashed its face and it growled but not in pain. It ignores Niles and bit into the nurses neck. She screamed again but this one only lasted a few seconds. She was dead.

  “Damn,” Niles said and swung his knife again and again. He finally hit a sweet spot, so to say. He cut the zombies throat and it leaned its head back, squirting a dark yellowish liquid all over Niles.

  He tried to step back but ended up sliding in the mess and landed on his ass.