Containment_A Zombie Novel

by B. A. Hippsley

  She looked up as she heard one of the patrols approaching the house, then the sound trailed off as the men moved away. Maybe it was connected to the gun-shots from earlier on; there’d been a lot of activity. Benteen had warned people to keep off the streets. What if it had been something to do with those things? What if some of them had wandered into town? She hoped that it had nothing to do with Brad.

  Mary was confused but it wasn’t the beer talking. These past few weeks she’d been aware of feelings for Brad, deeper than feelings. After his last visit she’d thought of nothing but him. He’d never give her a second glance with Anne Lenski on the scene. They had a kind of chemistry about them and even if they hadn’t noticed, everybody else had.

  Mary threw the empty can onto the worn carpet; she wasn’t much for household chores. She reached into the little camping chiller and opened another can. She sighed then and shut her eyes tightly. Everything had been fine up until the end of High School and then Helen had shown up. It wasn’t even as if Brad and Mary had been an item; they’d not so much as even held hands. But Helen had put paid to anything they might have had.

  After Helen died, Brad had been in a mess, the kind of thing that few people would have got through. Even though Mary had been with Peter, it had crossed her mind to make a play for Brad. She knew it was wrong trying to hit on him, but she’d been desperate for affection. She cringed at the memory; how she’d hated herself back then. She pushed it from her mind and tried to read the time from the clock on the wall.

  The flashlight barely lit the back of her hand. She fumbled for the replacement batteries but dropped them into the void. It had to be after ten by now. She’d been watching the DVD and the LED had read almost eight, then some time after, the explosions had knocked the power off. Peter had been gone hours before that and when she’d heard the guns she’d expected him home. If it had been something to do with his plan from earlier on, she hoped with all her heart that Brad had killed him. Mary reached under the cushion and brought out her father’s old 22 caliber pistol.

  ****

  Mary’s eyes shot open like a startled deer and she awoke with a jolt at the sudden noise outside the house. Fearfully she made her way to the doorway. Scarcely breathing, she pressed her head against the door and listened hard. She could hear the groans and moans as someone or something got closer. What if it was one of those creatures? She’d seen Al Paxmore raving and attacking people the other day at the deli. Mitch had been forced to kill him. The people he’d attacked had gone to hospital and some hadn’t come out.

  The racket got ever closer and she drew back wondering what to do. They’d said in the meeting, the best thing to do was to strike at the head. She didn’t care for that notion one bit. What if she kept quiet and did nothing? How would it even know someone was in? Yes. That was the best thing. Then it would have to go someplace else. Her heart sank as she heard her husband’s voice.

  “Open up you dumb broad! I’m hurt out here!”

  In blind panic she rushed forward to open the door then stopped dead. She held her hand to her mouth and darted back a few steps and waited. If she didn’t answer then perhaps he’d go away? She stood riveted to the spot and stared at the door in the vain hope he’d do exactly that.

  “Are you in there you lazy witch? My Goddamn arm’s hanging off out here!”

  She tightly shut her eyes. It’d have been better if it had been one of those things. If he was standing out there hurt, then it could only mean one thing. Brad had come off worse. Tears ran down her face. This foul man had taken everything from her – her dignity, her self-respect and now even Brad Eastman. Mary levelled the tiny handgun at the door as she heard the hinges tear out of the frame, and Peter forced his way in. She remembered to pull the hammer all the way back and then aimed at the figure in the doorway.

  “Well don’t just stand there, I’m bleeding to death, you cheap slut!”

  She squeezed the trigger and emptied all six bullets into her husband. The flash from the pistol was enough to see the look of surprise on his face as he fell to the ground. She walked over to the lifeless body and used the remaining battery power to gaze at him. The time she’d spent with her father shooting at old tins had paid off. All six deadly bullets had found their mark. Peter Firth was no more. Mary walked over to her seat and calmly sat down. She felt no remorse, no regrets, only a sense of immense relief. She placed the pistol on the seat next to her and wondered how long it would be before someone came to investigate.

  ****

  “You carry a good tale Taylor, I’ll give you that.”

  “What’s it with you, you always been this way or you had some life changing experience?”

  Eastman pointed to the 9mm in Taylor’s hand. “Stop waving that thing about and maybe I’ll listen.”

  Taylor patted the pistol and shook his head. “As I recall the last time we met you never had any difficulties with that.”

  Eastman reclined in his chair and looked up at the ceiling then back at Taylor.

  “Let’s see. So as well as a secret military unit holding my town hostage with a bomb, you just happen to turn up and save the day. I mean what’s not to believe about that?”

  “Who’d you expect, a bunch of meddling kids in a VW van and damn dog? I could’ve been half way to Canada by now.”

  Eastman averted his eyes momentarily and dipped his head sideways.

  “Yeah well, you did pull my fat out of the fire back then. I owe you that.”

  “I’m thinking the ‘good doctor’ didn’t run that blood test. Am I right?”

  Eastman shifted uneasily and gave the other man an embarrassed look.

  “Well we’ve been kinda busy since your last visit.”

  “How busy?”

  “There was an incident.” Eastman paused and tapped his chin thoughtfully before continuing. “Now more people are infected.”

  “That’s not good. There’s a guy itching to exercise his trigger finger on a big red button out there.”

  “What’d you mean?”

  “This is now a Level Three Containment operation. If Stone even so much as thinks you hillbillies have lost control, you and this whole town are gonna be so much dust blowing in the wind.”

  A look of shock was etched over Eastman’s face. “Okay, okay. What’d you want me to do?”

  Taylor pushed the radio handset towards the lawman. “Call that doctor of yours and tell her you want those results.”

  Eastman studied the mic then looked over at the other man.

  “What’s so damn important about that test? What you trying to prove to us?”

  “Cops don’t like gaps in things. That result is a whole truck-load of cement. Now make that call.”

  Eastman lifted the mic to his mouth and pressed the button. “This is Brad Eastman calling Anne Lenski. Are you there Anne? Over.”

  Seconds later Anne’s voice rang across the room.

  “Hello Brad, I was just about to call you. What was all that shooting? I’ve got Aldo Kolp and Don Breck on my slabs here. Over.”

  “Yeah, I’ll tell you later. Out of the blue I know, but have you got that hobo’s blood tests? Over.”

  “Sorry, did you say hobo? Over.”

  “That’s right, the hobo. Over.”

  “Hobo? Oh, you mean....”

  Eastman keyed the mic, deliberately drowning out her message. “I mean the hobo. Yes. Over.”

  “Well to be honest, it’s not on my ‘things to do’ list. Why? Over.”

  “Let’s say something’s come up. Over.”

  There was a long silence before the reply came. “Give me half an hour. Brad, is everything all right? Over.”

  Taylor put his finger on his lips and shot Eastman an anguished look. “Call me when you got something. Out.”

  Eastman sat back in his chair and looked at Taylor. “Now what?”

  “I guess you’d best take this. I found it up by the tower near one of those things.”

  He extrac
ted the ammo clip, slid the breech open then placed the pistol on the desk in front of the astonished lawman. Before Eastman could respond, the office door crashed open. Taylor spun around only to see Benteen’s burly figure framing the doorway, shotgun aimed directly at his head.

  “Well, now look what we got us here.” Benteen gave Taylor a cruel grin.

  ****

  Sam Cortez looked out across the health center parking lot into the darkness. The only light radiated from Henry Chan’s solar-powered lawn lamps across the way. The health center, station house and the fire department were the only places in town that had emergency power. He walked to the end of the corridor, pulled the outer door shut and activated the security alarm. Elle-May had placed him in charge of things for now. Conrad Brown had gone home before the power cut and Norris Zillman may as well have gone, for all the use he was. Cortez couldn’t get the guy; it wasn’t that he was lazy or unlikeable, he was just awkward. He had to be told two or maybe even three times before he got it right. Nobody knew where he’d come from, he’d just turned up one day. Of course, all that slaughter the other night was enough to stop a guy working nights.

  Cortez stopped by the vending machine and viewed the selection behind the glass with relish. He fumbled in his pants pockets for the correct change, selected the candy bar and punched in the product code. His smile was short lived as the machine emitted a grinding noise and then suddenly stopped.

  “Oh, you little... Damn!”

  He banged his palms on the glass and then tugged repeatedly at the selector lever. Nothing happened. He tried once more before residing himself to his fate then moved away. He still had to check stuff off his list before he could put his feet up. Though things weren’t all bad and he smiled at the prospect of a nice fat overtime cheque. The medical staff had been hit hard and Elle-May needed extra people. It worked out well for him after all; a little extra cash was never a bad thing.

  He keyed the locking code and opened the heavy door to the morgue and stepped in. He cursed the janitor for not having fixed the lights as the neon beam danced about the room. Cortez shielded his eyes from the annoying flashes and switched the broken set off. He only needed enough light to check the room temperature and the chillers.

  Next to the rest areas, this was his favourite place to be. Except for a handful of people, he was about the only one to come into this room and he was almost certainly the only one after dark. It was a great scam for quiet time. He looked over at the latest three occupants; they sure as hell weren’t gonna let on. Bodien had brought in Kolp and Breck a while back and now Peter Firth had joined them.

  He dragged the two plastic chairs over to the storeroom; he sat down on one and stretched his legs out on the other. He’d almost completed his work so a few moments weren’t going to harm. As he started to drift into a slumber, a sudden clatter from outside ejected him from his seat. Cortez opened the door and stepped into the corridor.

  He looked all around, but the area was completely deserted, then he heard another clang. It sounded like one of the fire buckets; cautiously he rounded the corner and stopped dead. Three creatures were feasting on the body of Adrian Gates, one of the patients. As Cortez turned to run he screamed at the rotting face directly behind him.

  ****

  “So why’d they go and arrest her?”

  Elle-May popped another piece of cherry pie into her mouth. The nurse post was deserted apart from she and Jedrey Bodien; their shadows cast long shapes down the dimly lit corridors.

  “Well she ain’t been exactly arrested. She come in voluntary. Gerard still gotta question her.”

  He put his hand up to ward off another helping of pie.

  “What’s to question? She killed that no account creep and that’s all there is. Sure you don’t want another slice?”

  Bodien gave a half smile and shook his head patting his stomach.

  “Ain’t as simple as that. She never admitted to killing him. What Gerard said was: she told him she thought it was one of them things.”

  “Well that’s gotta be all right. She was scared. Anyone would have done the same.”

  “That’s why we brought her in because we don’t know what happened.”

  “Take it from her side; a lone woman in a blackout with a possible monster at the door. Listen, I’d have done the exact same.”

  “I take the point, but how many of them critters you seen walking about out there tonight? None. We gotta be sure it happened the way she said, that’s all.”

  “Do you reckon they gonna get the power on tonight?”

  Bodien rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

  “Don’t rightly know, but the power guys said it was a fine mess. Darndest thing was they reckon the blast come from beneath the station. Like something blew up from underground.”

  “Well there’s no works around there. What’d Brad think?”

  “Don’t know – nobody’s seen him since the shooting.”

  “Oh sugar, he’s back at the station.”

  She pointed in the direction of Anne Lenski’s office. “Anne’s talking to him.”

  He grunted and frowned at her. “Nice someone knows what going on here. I’m about run off my feet.”

  “I hear you on that. We’ve been chasing our tails all week and it’s worse now.”

  “How you managing to keep this place running anyway, without the rest of the... well you know?”

  She nodded her head sadly. “Anne roped some of the military in and I got a bunch of ex-nurses to help out but it sure ain’t no picnic in here.”

  “I bet. Don’t think I’ve had time for real chow for days.”

  “Tell you what, how about you come over to mine and I’ll cook some of that pot roast we had us in the summer fair?”

  He shifted uncomfortably, flicking his hat nervously. “Ah well, you know...”

  “You’re a fine figure of a man. It’s about time someone spoiled you. Now what you say?”

  “Well I... I suppose I could do, if it ain’t too much trouble and I’m not working of course.”

  Elle-May beamed at him. “That’s a done deal then. I’ll expect you about noon.”

  He shot her a hesitant grin. “So apart from you three who else is on tonight?”

  “There’s two girls up on ward one and Norris is about someplace, why d’you ask?”

  “I got to be off soon, but I don’t like the notion of leaving you on your own.”

  “Oh honey don’t mind that none. Sam’s shut all the doors; we’re as safe as houses in here, you get off. At least we got us light.”

  They both looked up as the corridor lit up with a crackle as the strip light blinked on. Anne Lenski walked towards them with a look of confusion on her face. She held up her hand to greet them and then turned to Bodien.

  “Jedrey, not that I want to get rid of you, but are you going back to the station?”

  “Yeah, I was about to leave now. Anything up doc?”

  She glanced at him thoughtfully. “Just spoke to Brad, I got the impression something was up, not sure what.”

  Elle-May looked at her with concern. “It’s what’s been going on that’s all. He’s had a lot to deal with tonight.”

  Anne smiled at her but it was difficult to hide her unease. “You’re probably right, but I’d like to check.”

  “I’ll go right away Doc. Don’t worry.” Bodien gave her a reassuring smile then looked at Elle-May. “I’ll be sure to set that date in my book.” He tipped the brim of his hat to them and walked towards the doors to leave. Anne bent forward and whispered excitedly into Elle-May’s ear. “Date, did he just say date?”

  “No, what he meant was he’s coming to dinner with me tomorrow and...” Anne smiled at Elle-May and spoke in her best Sothern accent.

  “Oh well sugar, I do declare that’s almost a date.” Elle-May blushed a deep shade of red and tidied her notes.

  “Oh hush now!”

  Sam Cortez burst through the door, blind panic on his fac
e and terror in his voice as he clutched at Bodien. “They’re in the building. They’re in the building!”

  Bodien prised the other man’s hands away shaking him roughly. “Who’s in the building?”

  The terrified man pointed behind the two women and hissed in a low tone at Bodien. “They are!”

  All three followed in the direction only to see four of the creatures lumbering towards them. Both women raced to Bodien and Anne called out a warning and gestured to the corridor that Cortez had emerged from. Shuffling towards them was another group of ghouls; one of them was dragging a severed arm behind it. Bodien drew his pistol and aimed at first one group and then the second, unsure which to engage first.

  “Doc, is there another way outta here?”

  “Follow me.”

  She pushed him along the only safe corridor open to them, the other two following on their heels. Cortez shut the fire doors as the creatures gave pursuit.

  “Sam lock these doors. We have to get to ward one, Jedrey.”

  “Okay Doc what’s up at ward one?”

  “It’s the overnight ward and the isolation room; the only areas occupied at night. We have to secure them.”

  Bodien spoke urgently. “Doc is everybody accounted for?”

  “Yes, wait a second. Has anybody seen Norris anywhere? Where’s Norris?”

  Cortez shrugged his shoulders. “The last time I saw him he was on break up at L12.”

  The exchange was interrupted by a sudden pounding on the double doors as the creatures discovered their way blocked. Anne pointed to the other end of the corridor.

  “I think we’d better get out of the way. They hunt on sight, if they can’t see us they may calm down.”