Werewolf Suspense (Book 4): Outage 4 (The Reckoning)

by T. W. Piperbrook

  Tom's attention shifted to the children. "How're you holding up?"

  Katherine, the older sibling, fiddled with her magazine, tucking her long brown hair behind her ears. "We're doing okay."

  "I'm glad to hear that."

  Silas stared at Tom, his blue eyes wide and hopeful. His head was covered with a shock of blond hair. "The nurse said more people are coming. I bet my parents are with them."

  Tom forced a smile. The child's words tugged at his heart. "I'm sure they are." Tom looked away before his eyes could betray his doubt. He was pretty sure their parents were dead. He'd scarcely paid attention to the children earlier. He'd been too preoccupied with relaying his story to the officers. Katherine was about eleven years old, Silas about six. They were cute kids.

  Realizing Abraham was watching him, Tom turned his attention to the older man. "Can I speak with you in the hall, Abraham?" he asked.

  "Sure thing," Abraham said. He turned to face Sally, who was watching them intently. "We'll be right back," Abraham reassured her.

  Tom and Abraham stepped out into the hallway. With the nurses out of sight and Officer Dickson gone, Tom blew a breath. "I just wanted to see if you knew anything else, Abraham. The nurses seem pretty busy. I heard there are no doctors left."

  "No, they didn't survive," Abraham said gravely.

  "Have you turned on the news?"

  "I did for a bit, but I turned it off so it wouldn't upset the children." Abraham winced. Up close, Abraham was more aged than Tom had first thought. Wrinkles lined his cheeks and the corners of his eyes. He was probably in his mid-sixties.

  "What did you find out?" Tom asked.

  "There are reports from all over the place. New England looks like a war zone. Pretty much every town has a skeleton crew. The government is sending help, but it'll take a while, given how widespread this thing is. It's difficult to travel, and resources will need to be spread out."

  "I know the nurses here could use some help."

  "They're pretty overworked," Abraham continued. "There are a few people with severe injuries. A man down the hall lost most of his arm. The things tore it off. The nurses stabilized him until more help arrives. He'll need surgery."

  Tom nodded. "It sounds like there aren't many of us left in town."

  "The police said everyone on the lower floors was killed." Abraham sighed.

  "That's what I heard. I can only imagine what the nurses went through."

  "Have you seen Al since he dropped us off?"

  "No, I haven't," Tom answered. "He's probably out with the rest of the surviving police officers, searching for survivors."

  "It must have been a chore clearing the lower floors. They had to make sure those things weren't inside, then shut off most of the lights so they'd conserve the remaining generator."

  "I don't envy that job." Tom peered back into the room. Silas and Katherine were engaged in conversation with Sally. Confirming that they were distracted, he asked, "Any idea what happened to their parents?"

  "From what I gather, their parents were in the house when the creatures attacked. Their father tried shooting one of the things, but it kept coming. At the last minute, their mother and father pushed them out the back door and they ran."

  "Jesus," Tom muttered.

  "If they hadn't hidden in the trees, they wouldn't have made it." Abraham stared at the floor. "They were lucky."

  "It's great you're taking care of them."

  "We're doing what we can. They remind me of my grandchildren. A few years ago, my daughter and her family relocated to London. We miss the kids dearly."

  "At least they're not here." Tom gestured across the hall, toward one of the windows. He sighed. "I can't imagine returning home after all this."

  "Which street do you live on, Tom? We probably live right near each other."

  "I live on Tomlinson. It's off Pickney. Do you know where that is?"

  "Sure do. We're on Mayflower, in a little house behind the bowling alley. We've been there for years. I'm surprised we never ran into each other."

  "We probably have. Who knows, it's a small town." Tom shrugged as he scanned the hallway. "Well, I should probably get back to my room before the nurses get after me."

  "I appreciate you checking on us," Abraham said gratefully.

  "You got it."

  Tom turned around. He exhaled as he thought about the children, whose parents had most likely been killed. It was nice of Abraham and Sally to look after them. But who would look after the children when things settled?

  He'd only gone a few feet when a faint cry sounded from somewhere on the floor.

  Startled, Tom ground to a halt. He listened, but the hallway was quiet, save some beeps and muffled conversation. For a second, he wondered if he was flashing back to the incidents he'd lived through, or if his pain medication was too strong. It wasn't until Abraham came out of the doorway that he believed the sound was real.

  "What was that?" Abraham hissed.

  "I'm not sure."

  They stood rigidly in place, their attention roaming the hall. The cry came again.

  Louder.

  Adrenaline flowing, Tom and Abraham started toward the source of the noise. It was coming from the wing where Tom's room was located. They rounded the corner, listening to the cry increase in volume. They passed by the elevators where Tom had seen Officer Dickson, then a few open rooms, staring at the glowing exit sign at the far end of the hallway. The exit door was closed. The noise sounded like it was coming from a room about halfway down the corridor.

  Several frightened occupants glared at Tom and Abraham from their beds, startled awake. They watched Tom and Abraham as if they might know what was going on. Tom continued without a word.

  The cry made his heart pound in his chest.

  "It's definitely coming from that room down there," Abraham said, pointing.

  Common sense kicking in, Tom halted. He patted his loose hospital gown. He had no weapons. The police had his ammunition from the KOC, though he didn't see any officers nearby. Where was Officer Dickson?

  He went down in the elevator.

  For a moment, Tom considered searching for the officer, but someone might need help now, and he didn't see any nurses.

  Tom and Abraham crept closer to the doorway, straining to make out the interior. Tom saw the room a section at a time: the walls, the television, the cabinets, the bed. A man was sitting at the edge of his mattress with his back turned. He covered his face with his hands, shaking.

  "Is he alone?" Abraham hissed.

  "I don't see anyone else," Tom whispered.

  Tom relaxed, but not by much. They took a few more cautious steps, confirming the man wasn't with anyone—or anything—else. It wasn't until they were closer that Tom realized the man's cries weren't sounds of pain, but moans of grief. The fear in Tom's stomach settled.

  "Sir, are you all right?" Tom called into the room.

  The man stopped shaking, but he remained in place. He kept his back to them. After a few seconds, he dropped his hands to his side and looked over his shoulder. He was in his forties, with a day's worth of patchy beard and shaggy, greasy hair. His face was streaked with tears, his eyes bloodshot. He wore a hospital gown, like Tom's.

  "They're gone," he moaned. "My whole family…my wife, my son… They're all dead."

  Tom noticed the rumpled sheets. The man must've woken up and recalled what had happened. Tom felt a stab of sympathy. No consolation would mend the man's wounds. He knew that all too well.

  "I can't believe it's real," the man grieved.

  "I understand," Tom tried, crossing the room and sitting on the bed next to him. "We've all lost someone."

  "Why did I survive?" He buried his face in his hands again, sobbing. "Why did I live, and not them?" He shook his head back and forth, refusing to accept reality.

  Abraham joined them, sitting on the other side, studying the man with a grim expression.

  "What's your name?" Abraham asked.


  "Louis. Louis Hartwell."

  "I'm sorry to hear about your family, Louis," Abraham said.

  "It'll get easier," Tom told him, though he wasn't sure. Lorena's death was fresh enough that it burned his eyes to think about. "I lost my family, too. My son from an accident, my wife from this," Tom confided. "So I know how painful it is."

  Louis calmed down. He dried his face. "It doesn't matter anymore, anyway," he said, shaking his head sadly. "We won't have time to recover from it."

  Tom frowned. "What do you mean?"

  "It's almost over."

  Tom looked at Louis, wondering if he was coherent. He exchanged a worried glance with Abraham. Perhaps the man had finally lost it, consumed by grief for his dead loved ones.

  Louis raised a shaky finger to the window, pointing at the glass. Snow fell from the sky, softly rapping the pane.

  Tom shot up from the bed. He took a shaky step.

  When had it started to snow? He hadn't noticed that before.

  Dread filled his body.

  He finished the short trek to the window, studying the landscape. Twin lights burned at the front of the building, illuminating the falling flakes. The cars were in the same position, glossed in white, motionless. He saw nothing alarming, but seeing the snow was almost as terrifying as seeing the beasts. He pressed his face to the windowpane, scanning the front of the hospital for signs of danger.

  There's nothing out there, he tried to tell himself.

  And then he saw something. The moon crept from behind the clouds, shining light on the landscape.

  The bodies of three gutted officers lay by the front entrance.

  Chapter Four

  "Shit!" Tom hissed.

  "What is it?" Abraham stood, his worry turning to panic. He sprang from the bed and took up next to Tom, scouring the landscape.

  "Over there," Tom said, barely able to get the words out.

  Abraham gasped when he saw what Tom had. The officers' weapons lay in the snow next to them, useless without hands to hold them. Red blood covered the landscape.

  Tom spun to face Louis. The man stared at them with a sad, defeated expression.

  "I told you," Louis said, shaking his head. "I told you they were coming."

  "Why didn't you warn anyone?" Tom demanded. "Why didn't you tell a nurse?"

  Before Louis could answer, footsteps pounded the hall and Kelsey appeared at the doorway. "Is everything all right? I heard yelling."

  "No." Tom could barely choke out the words. "They're back. They're outside."

  "They—?" Kelsey stopped short, dread creeping into her face. "Where's Officer Dickson?"

  "He got on the elevator."

  "He said he was going to check something out. He said he'd be back…"

  "He's dead. So are the other officers. Look out the window. We need to lock this floor down. We need to find weapons." Tom's thoughts spit rapid-fire, and he fought back the panic that threatened to overtake his body.

  Not again. Not again…

  Moments earlier, he'd been trying to put the pieces back together, and now everything was unraveling. This can't be real…

  "I'll call the other officers on the road. I'll get them back here," Kelsey said, digging in her pocket. "They left me a cellphone. It should have service. At least, it did, when I last… Dammit." Kelsey fiddled with the screen.

  "Even if you had service, by the time they got back here, it'd be too late. We need to prepare. We can keep trying to get ahold of them, but right now, we're on our own."

  "What are we going to do?" Kelsey's calm broke as she lowered the phone.

  "You said there are thirty people on this floor, right?"

  "Yes, and three of us nurses."

  "How many children?" Tom asked Kelsey.

  "Only Silas and Katherine."

  "We need to keep people in their rooms. Out from the open."

  "People will panic," Abraham said. He cast a glance over his shoulder at the despondent, torn-up man. Louis stared at them with a hollow expression.

  "We'll tell them it's a precaution," Kelsey suggested.

  Tom nodded. "How many entrances are on this floor?"

  "Two elevators and two stairwells. Only one of the elevators is working, on emergency power. The other is shut off. Officer Dickson took the working one to the lobby a few minutes ago. If it's not back, it's probably still down there."

  "We should call it back up and block the sensors. I doubt those things can work the buttons, but we can't be too careful," Tom said.

  Kelsey dug a set of keys from her pants. "I have the keys to lock the stairwells."

  "Why don't you start shutting the patients in their rooms? I'll lock the east entrance, and you can have another nurse lock the west. The east is at the end of this hallway, right?"

  Kelsey nodded. She watched him for a moment, unwilling to part with the keys. Seeing the urgency in his eyes, she handed them over.

  "Hurry! We might not have much time," Tom said.

  Without any more discussion, Tom, Abraham, and Kelsey fled the room.

  "I told you they were coming!" Louis screamed after them.

  Tom ignored the grief-stricken man. Right now, they had more pressing concerns.

  Faces stared from open doorways. An old woman in a hospital gown frowned, rubbing her eyes, wrenched from sleep by the commotion. A couple stood holding hands. Tom flew past them, heading for the end of the hallway.

  Behind him, he heard the patter of footsteps as Abraham veered toward the elevator. Tom's socked feet slapped the floor as he ran toward the east exit. He'd need his boots. But he could get them later. From somewhere in the distance, Kelsey gave instructions to one of the other nurses to lock the west entrance, then started corralling the disturbed, frightened people. Louis's screaming had alerted most of the patients in the vicinity.

  So much for keeping calm, Tom thought.

  "They're coming!" Louis shouted. "They're coming!"

  A ripple of panic spread through the survivors and conversation rose to a heightened pitch. Tom's gown billowed behind him as he grabbed a nurse's cart, knocking some of the supplies to the ground. He clutched the keys as if they might fly from his hands, focused on the exit door a hundred feet away. In the middle of the door was a single, rectangular window. Tom envisioned a beast appearing behind the glass, staring at him with cold, vicious eyes.

  The windowpane remained clear.

  He still couldn't believe this was happening. To have gotten through it once… only to face it again…

  But there was no time to dwell on it.

  Soon he was at the exit door. Tom let go of his cart, allowing it to careen into the wall. He located the key and fumbled for the lock. He tested the door. To his relief, it opened inward. Thank God—that meant they could block it. He slammed the door shut and inserted the key, expecting resistance, a body pounding the other side. Neither of those things happened.

  The creatures weren't here.

  Not yet.

  The door was thicker than some of the others he'd hidden behind. Maybe it'll hold up better, he thought.

  After locking the door, Tom pressed his face to the glass. Red emergency lights illuminated a steep staircase. He stepped back from the window, reclaimed his abandoned nursing cart, and pushed it in place. Then he found a few others and lined them up behind the first. He knew the obstacles wouldn't them buy them more than time. But he had to make it to the elevator and ensure Abraham had blocked it. He had to make sure the other exit was secured. Behind him, the elevator car dinged. He spun to find Abraham a hundred feet away, propping a nurse's cart against the elevator sensors.

  "Got it!" Abraham shouted to Tom.

  "What about the other exit?"

  "I'm not sure! We should check!"

  Tom looked past Abraham, hoping for a confirmation from Kelsey. But she was in one of the rooms with a patient. Outside another room, the nurse with brown hair was arguing with a twenty-something couple, trying to convince them to remain inside.r />
  "Come on, Abraham!" Tom shouted to his companion. "Let's get to the west exit!"

  Tom clutched the keys and sprinted to meet Abraham. They darted through the tumultuous scene. The twenty-something couple glared at them as they ran past.

  "What about those two?" the man protested, pointing at Tom and Abraham. "I don't see them in their rooms, waiting to die!"

  "Please, sir…" the nurse pleaded.

  Tom and Abraham flew past them. Several frightened people stood in the hallway, looking in all directions. A husband hugged his wife. A man with a baseball cap yelled at anyone who would listen. Tom and Abraham maneuvered through them, shouting apologies. Soon, they were running past the next wing, where Abraham's room was located, catching sight of Sally at the threshold.

  "It's okay, Sally! We'll be right back!" Abraham yelled as they ran past.

  Sally responded, but her voice was lost in the commotion. Tom and Abraham barreled through the corridor and rounded another identical-looking hallway. Where was the other exit? They'd have to find it. Unlike the wing they'd left, the doors in this wing were closed, indicating the rooms weren't in use. An uneasy quiet filled the floor. The noise of the frightened patients had faded.

  For a moment, Tom wondered if he'd imagined the bodies outside. Either that, or he was dreaming. But he couldn't be. He felt his leg burning from overexertion, and his lungs filled with frantic breaths, proving he was awake. They took another few turns, heading for what Tom thought was the other end of the building.

  Finally, he saw a harried nurse running in front of them. The sounds of her shoes echoed off the walls as she ran for what must be the other exit.

  She glanced frantically over her shoulder at Tom and Abraham.

  "We're here to help!" Tom shouted.

  Relief washed over Tom as they followed the nurse. She took several turns, almost losing them in the maze, and then he spotted another glowing sign. The stairwell was halfway down the hallway, on the right. As precarious as things were, it didn't appear the beasts had gotten inside. Whether the things were outside, downstairs, or on the roof, he didn't know, but they weren't here.