Dead, We Are

by Jimmy Bird

  They tried to put those thoughts out of their heads as they began looking for another way out. Their main problem was that they didn't see anything that resembled an outdoor fire escape. There was no other way off the building. They were beginning to loose hope.

  The roof door rattled again, they knew that it wouldn't hold for much longer. Seeing no other way out, they decided to prepare themselves for a "last stand" whenever they heard a voice come over their radios. Truth be told, they were so focused on the threat that was about to come through the door that they almost jumped out of their skin.

  It was one of the Commanding Officers from their exercise training. He stated that the other hospitals had been overrun and asked if anyone was still alive out there. Logan picked up the radio and replied. He told the CO that three of them were left and they were stuck on the hospital roof.

  Logan asked the CO if there was going to be an evac. The CO replied that there was not going to be because they had lost all communication with command. Logan and the others knew what that meant. It meant that command had been overrun. It seemed that whatever was happening was happening quickly.

  The roof door rattled even louder and looked like it was beginning to bow outwards. Logan quickly asked the CO what the plan was. The CO wanted to know if they had their climbing gear handy. Logan replied that they had left it in their vehicles when they went inside the hospital to evacuate it.

  The CO was quiet for a moment before responding. He then asked if there was any wiring around that they could use as a rope to climb down. One of Logan's friends told them that there was, in Logan relayed. The CO wanted to know which hospital they were at so he could come get him.

  After he got off the radio with their CO, Logan wanted to call his wife Mia. He wanted to make sure that she was safe. With everything that had been going on, he honestly forgot to call her.

  He pulled out his cell phone and dialed her number. It was busy. He thought that maybe she was trying to call him at the same time he was trying to call her. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity he tried calling her a few more times, but it was still busy. His logic was the only explanation that he could come up, the only reason why her phone would have been busy. He didn't even consider that the cell towers were possibly down

  Frustrated, he finally hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket. He turned to help the guy on his right untangle some of the thick satellite wire when his phone rang. He caught the phone by the fourth ring.

  He breathed out a long sigh of relief when he saw who it was on his cell phone's caller ID. It was indeed Mia and his relief quickly turned to worry. She was in trouble and he wasn't there to protect her. He forgot all about his own worries as he tried his best to help his wife over the phone.

  She told him that she was with my sister and headed to my place of business called the Warehouse. Mia told him the main streets where it was located. They were still on the phone with each other until my sister turned the corner to my work. He had heard her say something about a lot of those creatures were at the front of the gate, but that was all he heard. The call had dropped and he hadn't been able to get in touch with her since.

  He stopped talking and looked up at me with sadness in his eyes. I'm sorry to say that I didn't return his heartfelt look. Instead, I had a huge smile on my face. Actually, everyone standing around had smiles on their faces.

  He asked what we were all smiling at. I answered for everyone by telling him that Mia was doing good. In fact, she was doing better then good, she was doing great. Her nursing school classes had really paid off and had become a valuable member of our little community. It was Logan's turn to smile. Satisfied in the knowledge that his wife was safe, he continued with his tale.

  He stated that before the phone went dead, he had promised Mia that he would find her no matter how long it took. When the phone died, he silently willed her to stay alive. He put the phone back in his pocket and looked up at his squadmates. Logan told them that they needed to hurry.

  About that time, the door burst open as dozens of zombies started pouring onto the roof. Logan and his two squadmates had run out of time. Hoping that they had enough wire they sprinted across the roof in the opposite direction, away from the zombies.

  The three ran side by side with Logan in the middle. They agreed to jump at the same time and started to count to three. In unison they said out loud, one. Getting closer to the edge they said two. Before they got to three, Logan went down.

  His buddies stopped to see what the deal was. It seemed that Logan had stepped into some kind of pipe vent. He tried to get up, but the tip of his boot had somehow wedged itself in there.

  His squad-mates turned and raced back towards him. The zombies were about twenty feet behind them. One worked on his boot while the other did whatever he could to slow them down.

  Logan knew that they would all die if they tried to save him and pleaded for his friends to save themselves. Of course they refused to leave. Be honest. Did you think they would?

  No! A Marine never leaves a man behind. One took out his boot knife and started sawing away the rubber edge of Logan's boot. The other took one of the wire strands and quickly made a makeshift tripwire.

  It was enough to stop the first five zombies as they tripped. But it failed to stop anymore. They just walked over their fallen counterparts. It didn't matter though because they were able to free Logan's boot. In unison they turned and raced once again to the edge of the roof.

  They threw the remaining two wires over the edge and immediately started to climb down. The wires were about twenty feet short which meant that they were going to have to risk the drop whenever a miracle happened. A military issued style hummer pulled up next to the wall they were climbing down.

  The hummer's arrival got some of the zombies attention on the ground causing them to head that way. The CO and a few more Marines got out of the hummer and started opening fire at the zombies. The shooting got the rest of the zombies attention. The CO ordered Logan and his group to let go of the wire because they needed to leave.

  Logan and the others looked at each other as they agreed to let go on three. They got to the number one whenever the wires started shaking. They looked up to see a few of the bodies falling towards them. They were running out of time and figured the "hell" with counting and just let go of the wire.

  Logan and one of the others landed safely on the hummer's roof while the last one hit the edge and rolled off. Logan and the squadmate that landed on top of the hummer looked at each other and kind of laughed. They had just cheated death.

  They stopped laughing when they couldn't find their friend. One of the Marines on the ground yelled up at them to hurry up and get down because they needed to leave.

  They looked at each other and thought it was a good idea. Logan went towards the back of the hummer to crawl down and immediately stopped. He saw his other squadmate on the ground and it didn't look good. His body was distorted in an impossible direction. Blood was oozing from his mouth.

  Logan yelled out loud for his other squadmate to meet him at the rear of the hummer. By the time Logan reached the ground, all the Marines were at the back of the hummer. Logan and his remaining squadmate dropped to their knees ready to provide whatever field dressings they could. Before they could even start, the CO stopped them.

  The CO told them that they couldn't save their fallen friend. Logan and his squadmate refused to believe that and started working on their friend anyway. The CO pulled rank and ordered them to stop. In defiance, Logan and his squadmate stood up to refuse the order. Like everyone whoever enlisted in the military, they had taken an oath to never leave a fallen man behind.

  Unfortunately, this was that one exception that would haunt them forever. As they stood up to defy the order they were just given, they noticed for the first time that they were completely surrounded.

  With each passing second the zombies were getting closer and their numbers just keep increasing. They said that it was p
ossible that they were outnumbered by at least thirty to one. It really didn't matter because if they didn't leave in the next few minutes, they wouldn't be able to leave at all.

  Logan and his squadmate reached down to pick up their fallen comrade, but realized that there was nothing they could do for him. His body was bent in an unnatural way and if he didn't have immediate surgery, he wouldn't make it. He began to cough up blood, most likely from internal bleeding.

  They knew that even if by some miracle they were able to pick him up without causing more internal damage, they still didn't have the resources to stop his already existing problems. He would die before they could get him help or worse, they would kill him by trying to save him.

  Much to their disappointment, they realized that the CO had been right all along. There was nothing they could do for him. Well, that wasn't entirely true. They all learned the hard way that those people bit or scratched by those monsters would turn into monsters themselves. They all knew that there was "something" that they could do for him. They all knew what had to be done, it just wasn't something that any of them wanted to do.

  The time for their indecisiveness had run out. The zombies were now about ten yards away and closing. They only had two options left. Did they put their comrade out of his misery or did they leave him for the zombies? The humane thing to do was to put a bullet in his head and end it before the zombies could get to him. On the other hand, if they let the zombies get him, would he still be alive? No one knew how it worked yet.

  No! There was no other option because he was suffering and if they let the zombies get to him, he would be suffering even more. The CO offered to do it, but Logan refused. He stated that the fallen Marine was his squadmate. He would be the one to do it.

  Logan pulled his sidearm from it's holster and pointed it downward. He aimed down the barrel at his target. He tried not to think about his friend, but it was hard as he tried to focus on his objective.

  He started shaking uncontrollably at the thought of shooting his friend. He had almost talked himself out of shooting his friend whenever he heard a scream come from behind him, followed closely by shooting.

  Logan knew what that meant, they had definitely run out of time. He turned back around to shoot his dying friend, but noticed that the zombies was already on top of him.

  Logan stared in disbelief at what he was watching whenever a zombie came up on his blind side and grabbed his left arm. His training kicked in as he reversed his stance and drove his forearm into the zombie's chest. The zombie staggered backwards a few steps. It was enough space to allow Logan to raise his pistol, aim, and shoot.

  He pulled the trigger twice striking the creature in the center of his chest. The zombie staggered backwards another couple of steps, but didn't go down. Logan looked dumbfounded at the creature. It was the first time he had actually been that close to one and secretly hoped that it would be the last.

  Logan noticed that part of it's face had been ripped off exposing muscle, tissue, teeth, and bone. Blood was still oozing down it's neck and from the two bullet holes in his chest. He said it looked like something from a horror movie.

  He had been so focused on the details of the zombie that he almost missed someone said "Shoot them in the head." Like I said, almost. He snapped back to reality as he lined up the gun's sight with the forehead of the zombie and fired.

  It went down without a fight. Logan then turned and fired on the zombies that had been eating his friend. After making quick work of those zombies, he lined up his gun's sight at his friend's head. After witnessing what had transpired in the hospital, Logan knew that it was a matter of time before his friend came back. He said one final farewell and pulled the trigger.

  Without looking back, Logan jumped into the hummer with the others. Before the CO could even start the hummer, it had almost become completely surrounded by zombies. The CO "gunned" it, no pun intended. Having the military style hummer had its advantages as it rolled over the zombies with ease.

  They were well over a mile away from the hospital whenever they decided to stop. Always in a military type of mindset, the CO wanted to talk out and plan their next move. It was decided that since there was no true chain of command left, then they would go home to their families. They would go to each of their hometowns with the CO going to his home last. It just so happened that Oklahoma was the closest state.

  Logan stopped talking and looked down toward the ground. I wasn't sure if he was so caught up in the moment that he forgot that we were there or not. I watched his eyes as they darted from side to side like he was reliving the experience all over again.

  A few seconds later his eyes stopped moving and looked up at us. His face was kind of flush as he apologized. He told us that it was the first time that he had talked about what had happened out loud. I told him that it was alright because we each had our own stories and had learned to accept them. I let him know that his wasn't anything to be ashamed of and to prove it, we would each share our own experiences on the way back to the Warehouse.

  At the mention of the Warehouse, his mood changed dramatically from sadness to that of excitement. It meant that he would finally get to see his wife for the first time in over three months. It meant that his search was almost over.

  Our search for supplies came easier and easier. Why wouldn't it? We had over three months to perfect the way we did our supply runs. Besides we now had another experienced Marine with us. At that moment we felt like the worst was behind us, we were now untouchable.

  Before we even arrived back at the Warehouse, word of our arrival must have reach the insides of our sanctuary because Mia was already waiting for us at the gate. It wasn't surprising, I had secretly radioed ahead to have her hiding by the gate to surprise Logan when he entered. It seemed that the message got jumbled somewhere because she was already screaming through the gate at him.

  Without missing a beat, he jumped out of the back of the truck while we were coming to a stop and sprinted towards the gate. He was still carrying his weapons and heavy gear. It was an impressive sight.

  She met him halfway and they embraced each other. Actually, embrace was such a weak word to use. He bear hugged her as if he was afraid to let her go.

  Everyone and I mean everyone smiled. It was about time we had something positive happen to us. We all felt the same way, that maybe we were at a turning point and the only way for us to go was up.

  14 DAY 180, UNFORTUNATE EVENTS

  Where to begin? It had been three months since my last update and things hadn't gone as well as we had hoped. In fact, things were worse then we could have ever imagined. Before I go any further, let me explain what happened.

  Three months after Logan's arrival, the Warehouse was approached by another five military survivors. They were dressed like Reservists. The other Council members and I thought that if it things worked out with them, then we could add them to our group. It made sense because having more military men would only make us that much stronger. We also knew that if things didn't work out, then we could be in for the fight of our lives. I mean five highly trained military men against mostly men, women, and children. Like I said before, if it ended up working out then we would be that much stronger. It was a risk that we were willing to take.

  We allowed them into our gates with the understanding that they were to leave their weapons at the fence. They seemed a little on edge by the suggestion. To make them feel more comfortable with our demands, we suggested that four of them were to stay behind with their weapons while they took turns meeting with our Council. To help them adjust to our rules, we had Lonnie, Logan, and another survivor (I regret that I didn't know his name) entertain them. We figured that a couple of military guys would help put them at ease. I noticed that all, but their leader looked nervous.

  The Council sat down with each individual member of the military group. You would think that each person would be grateful for the opportunity to be in a stable community, but they weren't. Something seemed of
f about them and each one seemed uncommonly nervous when they began talking with us. It wasn't until we got down to interviewing the leader, that we realized how much of a mistake we had just made by letting them into our sanctuary.

  We couldn't tell who was interviewing who. The guy had taken a mental inventory of what he had seen since he walked through the gate. He constantly asked how many people we had. How many men, women, and children? What type of defenses we had in place and where? What about our escape routes? What kind of weapons we had and how much? How much ammo? Where were they located?

  Without thinking about it, we began answering his questions, until he started asking even more detailed questions about the Warehouse. It was the kind of stuff that he shouldn't have even known about. We became suspicious on what he was asking and tried turn things around by focusing our questions back towards him and his group. He quickly recognized the simple tactic we were trying to use and tried to cut it off by pressing his luck (so to speak). His last and final question shocked all of us. He wanted to know if we were willing to die for "our" Warehouse.

  The leader began to laugh uncontrollably causing us to laugh uneasily with him. We didn't know if he was joking or serious. Our laughter quickly died down when we realized that something was up when the leader continued laughing hysterically.

  It started off as a soft laugh that quickly escalated into something more sinister. He spontaneously jumped to his feet causing each of us to grip whatever weapons we had with us. With an evil look in his eyes, he held up his hands in the air in a mock surrender. In a not so playful tone, he told us not to shoot him.

  His laughter died down just as quickly as it began as he motioned towards the window. In unison the Council slowly stood up and approached the window. Just as we began to look out the window a bullet hit the glass. It was a good thing that the company had installed bulletproof glass the years before or someone would have been killed.

  Wide eyed, we turned toward the leader who was still standing in the same spot, now with his hands folded over his chest. With a serious look on his face, he commented for us not to worry because he already knew that the Warehouse had bulletproof glass. He claimed that it was one of the reasons that he and his group wanted it. He pointed towards the windows and asked us to look out again.