by Matt Ryan
“See? No problem.” Joey gave a nervous smile.
Poly glanced at him but turned her attention back on the hall. “Four more,” she said.
He turned back to the hallway. The zombies stumbled toward them. He took out his second gun. “I got ‘em.” He shot the first three in the head but the fourth, hit in the neck. Black blood dripped from the hole, and it kept moving. With one gun empty, he switched the loaded gun to his right hand, dropping it on the floor. When he darted to pick it up, he stood up to see the creature falling, a knife sticking from its head.
“Thanks.”
“I told you, I got the near.”
He slipped a speed loader into the empty gun and locked the cylinder in place. A zombie staggered over the pile of bodies. He shot it in the head and it fell backward on top of the heap. Between the loud clanking from Hank and his rod, Harris fired his gun.
“I’m getting low on arrows,” Lucas said loudly.
“Joey!” Poly said.
He squinted into the darkness. A group of zombies filled the hallway. A few opened their black mouths and hissed as they entered the light. He fired into the front line. They fell, only to be replaced with a fresh group. Joey looked at Poly. She stood with her stained throwing knives in hand. He fired into the next row.
There were just too many. “How’s that hole coming, Hank?” he asked.
“It’s not big enough,” Hank said between heavy breaths. “Maybe Poly could fit.”
“Poly, get in the hole.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
Harris’s gun blasted several shots.
Joey emptied his gun into the advancing horde. He reloaded by feel as he watched them struggle to get past the dead. The hallway filled with zombies, pushing against the slowing front line.
“Get in the hole and if we’re not there in a few minutes, just type in any code, anywhere is better than here.”
She shook her head with her mouth open, looking hurt. “We’re in this together.” She reared back and threw a knife.
He emptied his gun again. They fell on top of the others and for a second he thought their bodies might form a barrier, but they stepped and stumbled over the bodies. Holstering one gun, he held the other. The last bullets he had were in it.
Hank’s thumps were sounding less powerful and less frequent.
“Hank, they’re coming,” Joey shouted.
The steel bar resumed its heavy hits and the sound of Harris’s gunshots blasted through the basement. Zombies slowed next to the pile of dead and Joey shot a few more. One crawled over the pile and staggered toward them.
“He’s yours, Poly.”
Joey saved his last few shots for the pile. The horde pushed against the bodies. He fired his last shots and plugged a few holes with the falling bodies. The front zombies struggled to get over or through the dead pile.
Poly threw a knife at the approaching zombie and it struck it in the head.
“That’s not going to hold them back.” Julie’s voice shook with fear.
He stuffed his guns back in the holsters and turned to Hank, who was grunting with each hit.
“Can you fit in that hole?” Joey asked.
“I don’t know,” he said between hits. “You guys get down there first.”
Joey glanced back at the pile. It was holding them back but the middle was pushing out and soon the dam would break. He pointed at Poly. “Either you get in the hole or I’m throwing you in.”
Poly shook her head, looked at the pile, and brandished her dagger. “You first, I can kill them still.”
“Poly—”
“Get out of the way, you two.” Lucas pushed Joey aside and climbed down into the hole. He hung from his fingertips before falling into the blackness below.
Julie sighed and got in the hole behind him.
Harris fired a few more shots and then ran back with his light. He shone the light on Joey’s hall just as the pile collapsed and the zombies began to claw their way over the heap. “Time to go,” he said.
Poly dropped into the hole.
Joey climbed down right behind her. The sharp edges of concrete felt like broken glass as he scraped through. His hands slipped off the concrete and he fell backward. He landed hard on his side and felt a sharp pain through his ribs. Groaning, he rolled onto his knees.
Julie’s light lit up the dome and the stone in the middle of the room.
“Go, Hank,” Harris said.
Hank dropped the steel pipe into the hole. He fell through and landed on the floor. He grabbed his leg in pain, but got to his feet.
Footsteps of the zombies sounded overhead. Harris fired many shots in rapid succession and then jumped down into the hole, landing on his feet. He rushed to the stone lit by Julie.
A zombie fell through behind Harris. Joey rushed to the zombie and kicked it. Another fell right next to him, then another. He stepped back as a steady flow of zombies flooded into the room.
Hank yelled and grabbed the steel pipe off the floor. He swung it and struck one in the head and it fell in a heap. He swung wildly around, hitting any zombie close to him.
Joey pulled out his gun and held the barrel, ready to use it as a club.
Hank rushed toward the group of zombies, yelling and swinging his pipe. They converged around his body as he struck them.
Joey moved toward Hank when the room hummed and exploded in gunfire from above.
“GET TO THE GROUND,” HARRIS yelled over the gunfire.
Joey reactively went to the ground, looking up at the ceiling and the guns mounted to it. They rotated and shot out with rapid fire. A bullet whizzed by his head. Each shot flashed, causing a strobe light effect. The stop-motion horror film played out as Joey, paralyzed with fear, covered his head and waited for the bullets to shred his body.
Then silence. He looked up. In the dark room, he saw the two barrels glowing red as they rotated. A zombie moaned and moved on the floor. A gun moved and fired a single shot into its head.
Joey breathed and searched in the darkness for his friends. “Lights, Harris,” Joey said.
Two lights from Harris and Julie lit the room.
“What the freak was that?” Lucas pointed to the ceiling and the still glowing guns. “Where did you bring us?”
“Somewhere that could take care of our unwanted guests. I don’t think you’d want one of those loose on your planet,” Harris said, pointing to the ceiling. “We found a way to install those outside of the transport dome. They are a defensive measure, in case we get unwanted visitors.”
Lucas nudged a zombie with his foot.
Joey rushed past the bodies scattered around the room, searching for Hank. He had been right there, before the machine guns started.
“Anyone see Hank?” Joey asked, trying to catch his breathe.
“Over here,” Hank said and pushed a zombie body off him.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” Hank said, getting to his feet. He pinched his shirt, keeping the soaking, bloody material away from his body.
Joey scanned for each of his friend’s faces and each of them looked around the room at the dead bodies scattered around. Joey looked at the ceiling to make sure the hole was gone.
“Oh crap.” Hank held up his arm, and in the dark, Joey saw the red streaks of blood running down his arm. “One of them scratched me.”
“If you’re scratched, you should be okay,” Harris said, holding his Panavice in his direction.
“If he’s bitten?” Poly asked. She held a throwing knife in each hand and glared at the zombies lying on the floor in front of her. She favored one leg as she stepped toward Hank.
“Well, let’s hope he’s not,” Harris said.
In the dim light, he saw Hank’s arm had several marks on it but he couldn’t be sure if they were scratches or bites.
“How do you feel, Hank?” Joey asked.
“Okay.” He shrugged, but he looked anything but okay. His hair was slick and matt
ed with zombie goo, and his hand shook as he held his scratched arm.
“You okay, Poly?”
Poly limped over to Joey and wrapped her arms around him, burying her head against his chest. “Just tell me we’re never going back there,” her words wobbled.
“Can we get out of this freaking zombie coffin?” Lucas asked.
Harris stepped over bodies to get to the door. He turned on his heel to face them. “I have to warn you,” he said. “Behind this door is help for the wounded, but also a world you won’t be familiar with.” He paused. “While there aren’t many people here, they may be strange to you and I ask you keep an open mind. Everyone is here to help you and you should treat them as such.”
“Can it get any stranger?” Lucas used both arms to point at the floor of bodies surrounding him.
“I guess not.” Harris opened the steel door. Artificial light flooded the dome and illuminated the motionless zombies. Julie gasped and moved toward the door, holding her hand over her face.
Joey ushered Poly to the door. “One step closer,” she said when they reached the door.
She looked up and made eye contact with him and he held it. She gave him a weak smile. He tried to turn up the sides of his mouth, but he couldn’t find the joy. His stomach felt queasy. He needed to get out of the dome. Poly stepped through the door first.
He held his ribs and stepped past the steel door, pulling the door closed behind him. The lights muted the gray walls of the hallway. It was clear they were in another world, a clean one, free of the horrible smells and cannibals—hopefully one without zombies, as well.
At the end of the hallway were three women dressed in tight, shiny, white suits. Each donning a symbol of an oak tree on her chest, and had a thin, metal table levitating in front of them. One walked toward him and the floating gurney lowered next to him. She motioned for him to get on it. He stepped back from the floating table. There was no way it could hold his weight.
“No, take the others first. I can walk,” he said.
“Aren’t you the noble one?” she said with a smile.
Poly waved away the table as well, and then helped Julie on one. Lucas pushed Hank aside and jumped on the floating table, lying on his back. He waved at the woman next to his table. Hank sat on the edge of his table and the table bent up, forming a chair.
The women in white pushed them down the hallway. Lucas smiled at the women. They smiled back, but didn’t say anything. A light flickered above and reflected off their high-gloss outfits.
“What is this place?” Joey asked.
“This is Haven 14,” Harris said.
The vague answer annoyed Joey, but they stopped at a pair of doors. The double doors swung open and everyone walked into the room.
Joey smelled a hint of ozone. White, sterile-looking machines lined the white walls. Large lights dangled over some of the machines, giving off bright light. A woman in an all-white outfit, and an oak tree on her chest, stood in the center of the room holding a thin screen in her hands. Pens and thin metal objects stuck out of her pockets.
“Hello, I’m Doctor Almadon. I understand some of you have sustained injuries. Let’s take a look at you, young man. What’s your name?”
“Joey. But please, take care of the others. They’re hurt worse.”
Almadon raised an eyebrow. “Let’s leave that for me to decide, young man.” She motioned with one finger for him to come forward.
Joey looked to Hank, who shrugged. He took three steps. She peered over him while pulling a screen down next to his body. Almadon slid her fingers over the screen. He couldn’t decide what felt more violating, the machine or Almadon’s penetrating gaze. He leaned forward to peek at the screen.
“Stay still,” she said. “You fractured three ribs, Joey. Nurse, can you please take him to the Makings?”
The nurse nodded and took Joey by the hand. He looked at her hand on his as she led him toward an adjacent room. He stopped at the metal door and looked back at his friends. Poly stood in front of the scanner as Almadon pointed at her leg.
The nurse let go of his hand and pushed open the door. “Please, step into the room.” She motioned with her hands.
A stainless steel coffin sat in the middle of the room with light bars around it like a tanning booth. He looked to the nurse and she gave him a reassuring smile. What wasn’t as reassuring was the size of the tiny room, which was not much bigger than the table itself.
“Please, lie down on the Makings,” she said.
His ribs had hurt when he landed on the floor of the Alius stone room—pain had shot through his body. He rubbed them, touching the tender parts and feeling the dull pain. His whole chest and back started to ache—each deep breath jolted pains along his ribs.
“This thing safe?” he asked.
“You’ll be fine.” She smiled and nudged him toward the table.
The climb into the Makings, as she called it, took a few grunts and a couple groans. But he made it and let the nurse position his body as she saw fit. He tensed up as she pulled the top side of the bed overhead. A crack of light peeked between the two.
“You may feel some tingling inside. It’s the bones resetting and healing. Try not to move.” The nurse left the room.
Joey wanted to jump off the Making machine and be out of the confined space in which she placed him. He moved his foot to get out, but the bars in the table lit with blue light. The tingling sensation started in his chest and spread through his whole torso. A warm, electric feeling, deep in his chest, radiated out. He struggled to stay still.
He closed his eyes, concentrating on a boat ride he had with Samantha over the summer. She had worn her red bikini; the mist from the boats wake sprayed into the air, misting her body before evaporating away. It was the day she lost her earrings.
“Ok, all done,” the nurse said from a speaker in the room.
“What?”
The door lifted and she peeked her head in. “All done.”
Confused, he stared at her while propping himself into a sitting position. He held his ribs and winced at the expected pain, but it wasn’t there. He touched his side and pushed. They were fine.
“The body can be easy to heal. The mind is more difficult,” the nurse said tapping on her temple.
He stumbled out of the room.
“You okay?” Poly asked, standing in line for the Making with the rest of his friends.
“Yeah . . . I feel good,” he said, rubbing his ribs. He looked around the room. “Where’s Harris?”
“He had other matters to attend to,” Almadon spoke up.
“Where are we? Not this room, but where are we?” Julie said, standing in line, looking around the room.
“I think you better ask Compry. She’ll be here as soon as you’re all healed.”
She tried to get Almadon to talk more, but she just smiled and gave polite responses.
Joey paced near the door as each of his friends came out of the Makings room, completely healed. Hank, the last one done, walked out of the room confidently walking on his right leg.
“It really worked,” he said, dumbfounded. Even the scratches on his arm were thin red lines now.
“Told ya. Thing’s freaking incredible,” Lucas said.
The double doors swung open and a person came into the hospital room. Almadon rose from her chair and nodded to her. She wore black, sleek clothes, and commanded the room with an air of confidence. Lucas’s attention swiftly stayed on the beautiful woman as her gaze swept over them. She didn’t look much older than Almadon, maybe late twenties but they each held such wisdom in their eyes. He felt as if they were his senior by a much longer time.
“Hello, all. I’m Compry.” She strutted across the room and stopped in front of Almadon. “Harris wants them all vaccinated.”
Almadon raised an eyebrow and paused for a second. “Of course,” she said. “I’ll get the vaccines ready right now. Oh, and make sure you tell him to get back down here so I can fix that hole in hi
s gut.”
“I will.”
“He also got hit in the shoulder . . . with an arrow,” Lucas said and adjusted his bow over his shoulder as he looked at the floor.
Compry smirked.
The doc opened a cabinet and pulled out a black box, setting it on a steel table. “Okay, everyone form a line here.” She pointed to the ground next to her.
Joey walked over first, frowning at the black box on the table. Almadon pulled out a black gun with a black handle and glass barrel. His mind felt so frazzled, he didn’t think to question anything. He would have normally said something about being stuck with a needle, but at that point, he obliged to whatever command given; shuffling around like a herded cow.
“Stay still, this goes in your neck.” Almadon placed a vile in the barrel and brought it up against his neck.
He heard the shot, like air released from a tire, and felt the pinch. It didn’t hurt as much as it felt weird—like something cold wiggling under his skin. Joey rubbed his neck and walked away.
“Next,” Almadon said.
“What’s this vaccinating against?” Julie asked.
“We have different diseases. This will protect you from those.”
Julie narrowed her eyes but stepped forward. Joey felt dumb for not asking what they stuck in his neck. He felt the injection site and the small lump it left.
The rest took their shots without argument.
“Come with me,” Compry ordered and marched out the door.
Joey ran to keep up with her, as she turned left down the hallway. He glanced back to make sure each of his friends were with him. Lucas jogged up to him and nudged his elbow, nodding his head at Compry, and stared at her backside. Joey sighed and rolled his eyes. Lucas continued to ogle—the guy had no shame.
Compry stopped at a pair of doors. They slid open and she stepped into an elevator. Julie nudged up between Lucas and Compry as they entered the elevator.
“Where are we going?” Julie asked.
“To your quarters.” Compry pushed the B23 button on the elevator.
They moved downward and then stopped. Out of the elevator was another hallway with gray walls. Doors with nametags lined the passage.
