The Zombie Chronicles - Book 6 - Revelation (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series)

by Peebles, Chrissy

  “All those extra turns got us lost,” Kate said.

  I could hear my own breathing, which I tried to steady.

  “We need to get back to the main corridors,” Asia whispered.

  I agreed, because we were just going deeper and deeper into the labyrinth.

  “Are the elevators our only option?” Kate asked. “Maybe we should have a Plan B.”

  Asia shook her head. “Those doors aren’t gonna pry open. They’re sealed shut.”

  “It’s gotta be the elevators,” I said.

  “What if we can’t find them?” Kate asked.

  “We have to,” I said. “I swear to you, we’ll get out of her—all three of us and all in one piece.”

  “Whatever you say, Dean,” she said, then let out a trembling breath.

  As we made our way down to the end of the corridor, I glanced up at a sign and read it out loud: “High Restriction.”

  “Screw that,” Asia said.

  Ignoring the warning, I bolted through the double-doors, only to be assaulted by a zombie I didn’t expect to bump into.

  “Food!” it screamed in a low, raspy voice. “Food at last!”

  My heart drummed into my ribs. Swinging my hands back for momentum, I slammed its head so hard that its entire body jerked, and it crashed into the wall. The zombie let out a long curse, and I pounded it even harder as it thrashed wildly.

  Chapter 34

  The hybrid snapped at me like a ravenous wild animal, baring its blood-drenched teeth just inches from my face. I wondered how many of the hellions had been unleashed on us.

  Another hybrid with missing patches of hair and a huge, gaping hole in its chest reached for Asia. “Die!” the hybrid muttered.

  She swung her frying pan and broke its neck, and it slumped to the ground.

  “They might be smarter,” I said, “but they die just as easy as the others.”

  Another one fell to the ground as Kate pounded it. Asia swung on yet another corpse, knocking it to its knees. She then kicked it, and it fell flat on its stomach and released a pained groan. She harshly brought her boot heel down against the back of its brittle skull, and a stomach-turning cracking sound filling the corridor.

  Another zombie approached, this one with red, gooey blood running down its face and its skin peeling off in layers. I could only assume it had had a run-in with one of the other survivors. It opened its mouth, and I saw that its sharp teeth were covered in fresh blood. Whoever had tried to take down the corpse had obviously lost the fight.

  Adrenaline surged, and I swung my pipe with more power than one of Mike Tyson’s uppercuts, fueled by fear and rage. It instantly went limp and dropped to the ground, landing with a thud.

  A zombie with long blond hair and missing half its jaw stared at me hungrily. I delivered a powerful strike that shattered its jaw. It all seemed so crazy, so farfetched, yet there I was, in an underground lab, fighting hybrids and trying to stay alive.

  I was extra careful not to make any sounds, trying to step softly in my boots as we hurried down the dimly lit hall. I took a steadying breath and clenched my hands around my weapon, summoning my courage from within as I focused my attention straight ahead. I looked for any shadow or any shape and listened intently for any moan or grunt. I refused to let anything catch me by surprise, and I wouldn’t fall for any of their clever tricks either. I still remembered how many lives that baby doll trick had cost. I was as ready as I could be for anything that got in my path. With my heart thumping, I looked around frantically. Bloody footprints lined the halls, and bloody handprints were smeared along the walls.

  Kate gasped. “There’s blood everywhere!”

  “We shouldn’t go this way,” I said.

  “Ya think, Captain Obvious?” Asia said sarcastically. “Let’s head back!”

  When I spun around and made my way back to the double-doors, I noticed they were rattling.

  “There’s something out there,” Asia said, clutching her chest.

  “Ya think, Captain Obvious?” I retorted.

  Ignoring my joke, she ordered, “Do not open that door!”

  I trembled when the banging on the door ensued again, faintly at first, then more pronounced. When I touched the door, a piercing, long screech made me stumble back in a panic. The thumping sounds rattled me. We couldn’t go back through the doors, but the hallway also seemed dangerous, considering that someone had given it a nasty crimson paintjob; in essence, the hybrids had taken the time to leave us messages to terrify us. That made me wonder if they were lying in wait or if we were walking straight into a trap. As the shrieks grew louder, the pounding of my heart was deafening in my ears.

  Asia headed into one of the rooms.

  “Asia, wait! Where are you going?” Kate yelled.

  “I’m gonna find a chair or something to barricade that door,” she answered. “We don’t want them following us, do we?” She then rushed in and came out a moment later with a wooden chair, which she positioned it under the doorknobs. “That oughtta hold ‘em off for a while.”

  Suddenly, there was another screech, followed by another. Kate’s eyes widened in fright when the scratching started. It sounded like dozens of long fingernails trying to scratch their way in, and I was certain it wasn’t a hybrid, as one of the intelligent ones would have figured out how to open the door. The thumping and scratching grew in intensity, the high-pitched shrieks growing louder by the second. I prayed to God the door didn’t burst open.

  “There are a lot of them,” Asia said, wiping the sweat off her brow.

  “Guys!” Kate suddenly wailed. “Over here.”

  I spun around. “What?”

  “They, uh…left us a message,” she said, gaping.

  I exhaled a long breath and walked over to where Kate was pointing. In smeared blood were written horrifying words: “You can’t hide. We will find you, and we will feast.”

  “We’ve gotta get out of here,” Asia said, her voice trembling uncharacteristically.

  “Which way do we go?” Kate asked frantically. “Do we face the zombies or go down the bloody hallway?”

  My breath was ragged in my throat. I grabbed her hand and pulled her along. “The hall. C’mon!”

  We sprinted breathlessly down the next corridor and crashed through another set of double-doors.

  “Are we even going the right way?” Kate asked, her voice wavering. “I don’t remember these doors.”

  “This looks…well, all wrong,” Asia answered, truly terrified. “We don’t have time for wrong!”

  I ran a hand through my hair. “Let’s just keep going. We can’t go back.”

  “Dean’s right,” Kate said. “We can turn left down the next corridor.”

  A dark, towering shadow swayed above me. It wore torn rags for clothes and was swaying and flittering around. Asia lunged at it with the pot, and I swung my pipe multiple times as adrenaline pumped through my veins.

  “Stop!” Asia said.

  “Dean, it’s fake, a decoy!” Kate said. “They’re messing with us!”

  I gulped hard as I stared at the swaying pumpkin skeleton with red eyes.

  Kate clapped my shoulder. “It’s just some stupid Halloween porch decoration.”

  “Those sneaky hybrids,” I said.

  “Yeah. A nice, creepy touch, huh?”

  “Why the games?” I asked.

  “Because they’re freaks!” Asia said.

  “They wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for me,” I whispered. “If I hadn’t taken the serum, none of this would be happening.”

  “Yeah, and I wouldn’t be standing here next to you either. I’d be dead,” Asia reasoned. “You saved my life, Dean. There are always pros and cons, and you’re sorta a pro.”

  I nodded, thankful for the compliment, then continued down the long corridor. A deep, menacing growl pierced the darkness behind me. I could hear it moving down the corridor ever so slowly behind me, prowling and stalking me. I glanced over my shoulder and could
make out the outline of a stumbling shadow. Suddenly, evil hissed.

  “They’re here,” Kate breathed out. “Nothing human sounds remotely like that.”

  “Yeah, something’s definitely following us,” I said. “It has to be a hybrid or one of the wild animals.”

  “Let’s take it out,” Asia said.

  “No,” Kate said. “It could be a trick. Those things like to travel in packs. They just want to separate us. It’ll make us easier to kill.”

  “I wouldn’t put anything past them,” I said.

  Asia glanced over her shoulder. “Let’s just lose it then.”

  “Okay, but if it gets closer, we’ll attack,” I said, “but going back into those shadows could be a death trap. We’ve gotta keep moving forward.”

  “Look at this!” Kate said, her voice trembling.

  Asia gasped.

  I inched closer, waving my flashlight over the bloody wall. There was more crimson lettering that read, “We’re hungry.” Chills shot up my spine when I read it, and I drew a deep, unsteady breath. The hybrids were messing with us, torturing us with sick psychological games, trying to scare us to keep us off balance, hoping we’d make a mistake.

  “Dean,” Kate said in a terrified tone, “I don’t like this one bit.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll get outta here, one way or another.”

  Walking ahead of Kate and Asia, I was intent on reaching the elevator shaft. The sooner we got there, the better. I didn’t want to be separated from Val, Nick, or Lucas for another minute. I knew they had to be worried sick about me, and we needed their help to formulate a plan.

  The corridor stretched for several feet, and then took a bend to the right. Footsteps echoed from the walls, coming nearer. My stomach knotted as I contemplated what was coming toward me.

  “More of them!” Kate whispered.

  “Get ready,” Asia said.

  I walked faster, ready to take them down if I had to, with Kate and Asia keeping pace behind me. My fingers instinctively closed around my metal pipe as a low, throaty growl sounded to the left.

  “There are more than one,” Asia said.

  I held my breath and glanced down the corridor. I felt a wave of fear wash over me. I hoped we wouldn’t have to deal with another hybrid, but I was almost certain that was going to be our fate. I aimed my weapon toward the sound and peered at Asia from the corner of my eye. “We can take ‘em,” I whispered. When the deep growl grew louder. I focused, keeping my weapon ready and my feet anchored to the ground. Whatever was there, I would slam it into next week and ask questions later.

  Being down there ramped me up to levels of fear and horror I’d never felt in my life. Yes, I’d had near-death encounters lots of times before, but being trapped in hell with no way out while being stalked and terrorized was a new nightmare, and I never wanted to experience it again.

  A four-legged creature with a powerful body strolled forward, growling. The monstrous canine flashed its white, milky eyes, and thick foam oozed from its mouth like soap at a carwash.

  “It’s one of those hell hounds!” I swallowed hard as I regarded the animal, trying to determine the best and most efficient way to take it out. With its pointed snout, brown, matted fur, and pointed ears, it resembled a Saint Bernard, but it more closely resembled a zombie looking for its next meal of flesh and blood. In the end, it didn’t matter what it was; a predator was a predator, and it was just waiting to pounce and devour.

  Asia and Kate bumped into me and grabbed my arm tight. The zombie dog shook its head, and its brown fur rippled over its shoulders. Its eyes were as white as snow, its paws as giant and menacing as a bear’s, its claws as sharp as an eagle’s, and teeth razor sharp, like a hyena’s. The animal was frightening, and reminded me of the bear Lucas and I had run into back in that deserted alley. It was obviously just as pissed off.

  “Should we fight it?” Kate asked. “We outnumber it three to one.”

  “No!” Asia said. “We’ll get bitten. Look at the fangs on that thing!”

  “Then I guess it’s Plan B after all. Run!” Kate said.

  Following Kate’s wise advice, we bolted down the corridor. Asia pointed to an open, huge door, and when she rushed inside, we followed her. Glancing around, I noticed we were inside a laboratory, surrounded by computers and lab equipment. I searched the room for an exit, but all I could see were long tables with microscopes.

  “There’s an exit!” Asia said.

  “Okay, but go slowly.” I inclined my head, motioning to my right. I knew if the animal was an actual dog, it would be able to smell our fear, and we’d be easy prey when it attacked. Glancing in every direction, I spun in a slow circle.

  “How do we get over there without getting mauled to death by that mutated mutt?” Kate asked.

  The beast’s jaws stretched open, and it let out an unearthly roar.

  I took a deep breath and steadied my weapon, while Kate’s breath coming in ragged rasps.

  The dog snapped its head back, and its piercing howl turned into a wail. Taking slow, measured steps, it crept toward us, its claws clicking against the floor.

  “We have to get out of here!” Kate said.

  “It can’t catch all of us at once,” Asia muttered. “Split up!”

  I’d come too far to let some zombie dog devour us. It wasn’t the first creature I’d faced, and I told myself that if I could survive zombies and hybrids, I could surely outwit that animal. “Bring it on, Cujo!” I shouted.

  The dog approached, curling its upper lip and growling, flashing its white teeth at me. When it snapped its head forward, I jumped back and spun, then leapt on top of a lab table. Asia and Kate took off to the left and right, and I sprinted for the door in the distance, running across the rectangular tabletops, my heart thumping in my chest. The adrenaline kept me moving, running as fast as I could from the monster dog that was in hot pursuit of me. I dared a glimpse back and winced at the saliva dripping from the animal’s fangs. Judging from its growls, it wasn’t keen on losing its meal. My breath caught in my throat, and I almost tripped over my own feet. Even scarier was the thought that where there was one, many more could be lurking.

  Asia let out a long whistle, then yelled, “Hey, Rover! Over here! My, what big teeth you have. The better to eat me with, right?”

  With a loud snarl, the dog turned and headed toward her.

  “Asia, no!” I hollered.

  “I’ll distract it,” she called out. “Don’t worry about me.”

  “No! You have to—”

  “Just keep going!” she shouted.

  Across the room, Kate yelled. I spun around and gasped as Asia bounded over and slammed her foot into the monster’s side, then pounded it with her pan. I stiffened, my pulse spiking. Distracting the predator so Asia and Kate could get away was the only chance for the girls to survive. I knew the thing could kill me with one bite to the neck, but I would rather have died fighting than to watch my friends be torn to shreds.

  When Kate fell, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because I managed to pull her to her feet, and we bolted across the room. The zombie dog followed a split second behind, swiping its claws at us like a great cat aiming to kill.

  “Faster!” I yelled.

  A claw ripped into Asia’s hospital gown, dragging her to the floor. Screaming still, she hit the ground hard and rolled onto her side, panting. The creature stood just inches from her face with its lips pulled back, exposing razor-sharp fangs. Several snarls came one after the other, low and angry. She scrambled to her feet and cowered against the wall. Long whiskers brushed against her face, and a sticky string of saliva dripped from the animal’s open mouth. Asia braced her back along the cold wall. Her knees began to visibly tremble, and her gaze was glued to the white eyes staring at her.

  The snarling dog stepped back and crouched, ready to pounce. I knew that was my last glimmer of hope, my last chance to save Asia’s life. With all my might, I kicked my steel-toed combat boot and
struck the animal square in the chest. It felt like kicking a brick wall. My foot connected, but nothing happened.

  Asia lifted up a microscope and threw it at the creature’s head. I lifted my head just in time to see the creature turn away. It lunged for Asia’s throat and barely missed as she jumped back and let out a shriek. In one swift move, the animal jumped, pinning me on my back and crushing my shoulder with a powerful paw. I threw punches at its legs. My ribs ached with every move I made, but I couldn’t just stand by and watch my friends die. Kate’s eyes flared with anger and terror, and I heard raspy, labored breaths coming from her as she belted the thing over the head with the microscope Asia had thrown.

  Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion, but I suddenly saw Asia throw a knife that was, in the next second, jutting out from right between the dog’s eyes. When the dog toppled over, I easily pushed it off of me in one heave, and I then shot Asia a nod of gratitude.

  I knew Asia had been bitten in the struggle because blood was dripping from her arm. We knew from past incidents that she was immune to the zombie bites, and I hoped it was the same for animals. I tried to look at her wounds, but she wouldn’t let me.

  “I’m fine, Dean,” she said. “It nailed me on the arm and back, but I’m fine. We don’t have time for exams or theatrics.”

  Kate smiled. “Adrenaline is quite the painkiller,” she said.

  The girls helped me up, and we scrambled out of the laboratory.

  As we cautiously walked down the corridor, Kate shot me a sideways glance. “What about you? Any injuries? Scratches or bites?”

  “Nope,” I said. “You?”

  “No, but that was a close one.”

  “Yeah, I know. We’ve gotta be more careful,” I whispered. “The zombies are bad enough, but it’s ninety times worse with all those crazed zombie animals on the loose.”

  “At this point, we could be taken out by a squirrel or bunny,” Kate said.

  “Yeah,” I said. “It’s crazy.”

  As if to agree with me, a low, inhuman growl rolled through the air. I spun around just in time to catch a glimpse of a canine emerging from the shadows, stalking closer. It looked like Cujo wasn’t down for the count, and he’d brought along some of his equally hungry friends. I peered intently at the pack of dogs stumbling up the hall. Cujo had enjoyed a taste of Asia’s blood, and he was coming back for more.