by T. L. Frost
“Almost there!” He said as he ran ahead, his fists hammering on the metal door at the base of the tower “Open up, let us in, hurry!”
His yells were frantic and as Perry joined him, he beat on the door with his hammer, finally looking round as the others arrived, all grouping together by the door and yelling as Charley continued to bang on the door.
“Open up!”
Perry looked up to the tower’s roof but could see nothing, behind them the screams got louder and closer until zombies started pouring out of the streets and alleys. His blood froze when he saw them, a none-stop mass of them fighting to get out into the open. Turning back to the door he banged on it with his hammer again. What if they don’t open up, he thought, and he had a vision of the tower being completely empty, everyone already heading out of the city in the back of Quinn’s trucks. He hammered harder, fearing to look back towards the screaming horde of zombies, what if…
Then the door opened, one of the cousin’s heads sticking out into daylight, fear distorting his face.
“Hurry up and get inside you fuckers! You’ve brought every fucking zombie in the fucking city with you!”
He grabbed a trolley and pulled it in, helped by the other cousin, the small space behind the door finally crammed full with trolleys and people. The door slammed shut and Phil locked it, the look of fear still on his face as he shouted into his walkie-talkie.
“They’re in! They’re in! Hurry up and drop the fire!”
The door boomed as a zombie slammed against it, closely followed by more, fists banging against the metal as the zombies screamed in rage on the other side. Phil backed away, scrambling to get past the men and trolleys blocking the way to the stairs. Then the screams changed, moans replacing the screams as the door started to get hot, wisps of smoke coming through gaps around the door’s edges.
Chapter 7
Quinn watched from the roof as they came running towards the tower. The noise was incredible, hundreds of zombies screaming, the noise getting louder and closer. Then he saw Perry running, head down, his teeth gritted as he pushed a shopping trolley packed full of supplies. Others joined him and Quinn watched in satisfaction as they all headed for the tower, though not all of the men who went out earlier were there, shit happens he thought with a grin. But it looked like they had done well, until he saw the first zombies appear, chasing the men, then more appeared, and more, the screams got louder, panic on the faces of the running men as they snatched glances over their shoulders. Maybe they didn’t do so well after all, Quinn thought as he watched. The walkie-talkie on the wall next to him screeched as Phil spoke into it, an edge of panic in his voice.
“What do we do boss?” He asked.
Quinn watched as more and more zombies ran out into the clear space around the towers, scrambling over each other in their haste to get to the running men. A cold sweat ran down his back at the sheer number of them. Maybe it would be better to leave them outside… But the extra supplies would come be useful… He looked over the wall at the men who were now tightly packed together at the base of the tower, gauging the distance between them and the chasing horde.
“Let them in, but be quick, and grab the trolleys!”
He saw the door open from above as he leaned over, hands reaching out to grab the trolleys, pulling them inside, the men outside tumbling in with them. Quickly he grabbed the last of the Molotov cocktails stored nearby in a plastic box, moving quickly he used the lighter that was with them, putting flames to the petrol soaked rags in the tops. Looking over the edge again he saw the last man rushing inside and before the door was even closed he threw the first bottle, the walkie-talkie screeching again as someone shouted into it, but he didn’t even hear the words, he was already throwing the other bottles over, watching as they hit the ground, fuel exploding in every direction at once, instantly igniting, the clothes of the zombies catching fire as they pressed towards the door, screams turning to moans as thick black smoke rose from the fire. As the smell of burning meat reached Quinn he moved back from the wall, heading for the stairs.
The exhausted men collapsed inside, some looking around in disbelief that they had made it. Charley was lying on the stairs, breath coming in ragged gasps, Perry sitting beside him, bent over with his elbows on his knees, also breathing hard.
“Get up!” Yelled one of the cousins as he grabbed a fire extinguisher “Clear this area, you can wait on the next floor!”
But none of the men moved, they were all too tired and he had to step over them to get next to the door as more smoke seeped in to the small space.
“We made it.” Said one of the men as he began to recover.
“Yes you made it.” Came a voice above them “And brought half the fucking zombies in the city with you!”
Everyone looked up to see Quinn standing on the stairway, his jaw clenched, eyes moving from person to person.
“Up, all of you!” He yelled, waving his axe towards them “Clear this area now, get up to the next floor!”
Some men moved but too slow and Quinn stepped down dragging them to their feet, even kicking one man who was the last to get up. They all staggered to their feet. Quinn moved down and unlocked the interior fire exit door, leading to the ground floor.
“Get the trolleys in here!”
“You two,” Said Quinn pointing at the last two men with his axe “Take the fire extinguishers and watch that door.”
He nodded towards the cousins and they handed over the extinguishers, then joined him next to the doorway. Utterly exhausted the rest of the men moved slowly up the stairs, where they sat down and rested again. After a few minutes Quinn climbed to the next floor.
“The rest of you go wait on the roof, keep an eye on those zombies you led here.”
“That’s a lot of stairs, we need rest, and some food.” Said Perry “Maybe we should…”
“Should what?” Asked Quinn, his voice low as he stepped in close “You think you should be in charge here?”
Perry hesitated a second, there was only him, Charley and one other man there now and they were all exhausted from the run. The two cousins moved in closer behind Quinn, grins appearing on their faces, Perry was really starting to dislike them.
“No,” He said, shaking his head “It’s your tower.”
“Damn right it is, now get a move on and wait there until I say different.” Said Quinn.
Perry stood and started to follow the other man up the stairs, leaning over to help Charley stand.
“Leave him here, he can tell me what the fuck happened.” Said Quinn.
Perry paused a second, Charley looking at him and shrugging his shoulders, then headed up the stairs. When they reached the top, Perry and the other man sat down on some chairs, glad to be able to rest at last.
“What now?” Asked the other man, fatigue etching lines in his thin face.
“Get some rest, we’ll go see the others soon, I’m not going through all of that just to let Quinn and his two stooges take all the supplies.”
“Yeah rest sounds good.” The other man said as he sat back, watching the black smoke rise over the roof line, the sounds of the zombies quieter now that their prey had escaped.
Chapter 8
Quinn led the two cousins back through the locked interior fire exit. He was the only one who had keys for the building and nobody else could gain access to the ground floor level. The three of them pushed the heavy trolleys past the main entrance, the door there padlocked shut, covered in brown paper by Quinn when he had locked the place up. The doors to the silent elevator were half open and had been like that since the power had gone off. Low moans could be heard from outside the main door, vague shadows seen moving slowly outside, but nobody could see in. The smell of burning flesh wash strong here and the cousins made faces of disgust.
“What a fuc…” Began Terry.
“Quiet!” Hissed Quinn, looking to the main door as a figure bumped against it before moving on.
After a few moments t
hey moved on down the dim hallway. All of the doors were shut and as they got nearer to the other end a strong smell of decay filled the air.
“What the hell is that?” Whispered Phil.
“That’s the rest of the tower’s residents.” Replied Quinn with a grim look over his shoulder “The ones that didn’t leave. I dragged them all down here.”
The cousins looked nervously about as they pushed the trolleys along. At the end was a maintenance door which Quinn unlocked, a small room on the other side was filled with dusty electrical equipment which Quinn ignored, moving to the far wall and unlocking another door.
“Be quiet out here, There’s a wall around the service area but those zombies the others led back here are just on the other side of it.” Said Quinn as he held the door handle.
The cousins nodded, looking at each other nervously as Quinn opened the door. Bright daylight streamed through, making them all squint. After a quick check, Quinn waved them through and they pushed the supplies out. Two dirty trucks stood there, one behind the other, next to them a squat brick building, containing the transformer which had supplied the tower’s electricity. Quinn opened the rear door of one truck, signalling the cousins to fill it up as he kept watch. Moans and the sound of shuffling feet could be heard coming from the other side of the six foot wall which had barbed wire strung around the top, small sharp points glinting in the sunshine. When they had finished Quinn quietly closed the door again, holding his hand up, signalling the cousins to wait. He looked around the truck and saw some zombies passing next to the double iron gates which led into the service area, one of them turned and bumped into the gates, rattling the chain and padlock holding them closed.
“Ok, now.” Said Quinn quietly and they all re-entered the tower.
“How are we getting the trucks out of there?” Asked Phil when they were safely inside “The place is surrounded.”
“I’ll figure something out.” Replied Quinn “First we need to make sure the others are out of the way.”
“We not taking them with us?” Asked Terry.
Quinn shook his head “Not any more. That old fucker Charley has got on my nerves once too often, I was going to take Perry but I think it will be more fun taking his woman.”
The cousins grinned.
“You two go bring that woman I’ve seen you taking into your apartment, and do it quietly.” Said Quinn “I’m not going to be sharing.”
“It’s amazing what she’ll do for extra food…” Began Phil with another grin.
“I don’t care what you get up to.” Replied Quinn “Just get back here quick. I can’t drive both trucks by myself.”
Chapter 9
Jimmy Carlisle squatted down behind the small brick building in the service yard with his brother, Jack. They had been there for a while, Jimmy checking the two trucks, peering into the dim interior through dirty windows.
“I reckon I could get the older one at the front started.” He said, pulling a small tool kit from his rear trouser pocket.
Then they had heard the screams in the distance.
“What’s that Jim?” Asked his brother nervously, his shakes even worse now, sweat pouring off his face, as another cramp hit him.
“What do you think it is? Zombies aint it.”
He stood listening as the screams got closer, hundreds of them, all heading their way. Just when he thought they had had a lucky break. A truck full of supplies just sitting there, unguarded, only a chain and padlock in the way. He hefted the large cutters he had brought to break the chain, thinking about smashing the driver’s side window, but the noise got louder and soon they were almost deafened by it. He could hear the zombies on the other side of the wall, screaming, fists smashing against the metal door of the tower’s fire exit. Then the smell came, rising over the wall around the service yard. There was no mistaking it, burning flesh.
“What do we do Jim?!” Cried Jack beside him, almost paralysed with fear.
Jimmy didn’t feel any less frightened, his legs were like jelly, he pulled Jack with him and they both crouched down in the gap between the small brick building and the trucks, hands pressed over their ears as they waited. The screams subsided after a while as the smell increased, thick black smoke from the fire on the other side of the wall filling the air, the sickly sweet smell almost making Jimmy sick. He saw Jack leaning over retching, but there was nothing to bring up, they hadn’t eaten for days. Jimmy patted his back and waited, there was nothing else they could do. After the fire died down and the smoke began to clear Jimmy felt a sense of relief, he had never been so frightened in his life. Jack was sitting beside him, knees up to his chin, rocking backwards and forwards, muttering quietly to himself, his thin face completely white, eyes wide and staring at the ground in front of him.
“It’s getting quieter.” Said Jimmy, putting his hand on his brother’s shoulder, trying to reassure him “Sounds like they’re spreading out.” But Jack didn’t reply, he hardly even seemed to notice. Then Jimmy heard a key rattling in the lock of the door to the tower.
“Fuck!” He hissed, jumping up and grabbing Jack, dragging him to his feet, pulling him around the other side of the small, brick building in the service yard “Stay quiet!” He said, panic in his voice, his face up close to his brother’s “You hear me Jack!? Be quiet man!”
Jack nodded as the words got through and they both crouched down again, out of sight. Then Jimmy heard the door open. He waited, jumping at every sound, Jack beside him rocking forwards and backwards again. After a short while he heard the door close again and, risking a look around the corner, he saw some empty shopping trolleys against the wall, behind the second truck.
“They’re gone.” He whispered, close to Jack “You ok?”
Jimmy was worried, his brother seemed to be going downhill fast, they had to get out of there quick.
“Wait here, I’ll have a look at the truck.”
Jack just nodded. Risking a look through the metal gates, Jimmy could see the area was pretty clear, it seemed most of the zombies were still on the other side of the building but if they spread out they could be surrounded, there was no way to tell how many were still out there and he wasn’t about to stick his head over the wall and look. As quietly as possible he used the cutters and broke the chain, freezing as the ends fell, rattling against the gates. He ducked back behind the wall, his heart thumping wildly, eyes shut tight. He thought he heard some footsteps shuffling nearby and waited, willing himself to calm down. Moving to the first truck, he raised the heavy cutters, then paused, reaching out he tried the door handle, it opened. With a grin he climbed in pulling out his tools, and got to work on the ignition.
Chapter 10
Perry stood and looked over the wall surrounding the roof. The side of the building where the fire had been was still filled with smoke but the fire was out. A lot of zombies were still there, wandering around, moaning. As he looked over the other side past the service area it looked pretty clear for now, the two trucks were still there, dirty and locked in the yard he had never given them much thought. Now he knew they were part of Quinn’s escape plan. Probably the reason he had kept the ground floor off limits to everyone. As he watched he saw Quinn and the cousins come out, pushing the shopping trolleys up to the rear truck, loading the goods into it. Some good people died to get that stuff, thought Perry bitterly. When they had finished and re-entered the tower he watched for a while, looking over the city. That area was pretty clear, it might be a good time to get out of here he thought to himself just as some movement caught his eye. Looking down again he saw someone walk out from next to one of the trucks towards the gate, cutting the chain, then stepping back to the front truck and disappearing inside.
“What the…?” Said Perry, then he turned, picking up his large hammer “Come on!” He said to the other man “We need to get down there right now!”
Racing down the stairs, two or three at a time, Perry slid his hand down the handrail, barely touching it in his haste to
reach the ground floor. The other man was coming fast behind him, their footsteps echoing loudly in the confined stairway. Glancing back to check on him as he heard the other start falling behind, he almost crashed straight into Charley coming the other way.
“What the fuck!” Said Charley, taking a step backwards as Perry grabbed the rail slowing himself so he didn’t crash into him.
“Someone’s trying to steal the trucks!” Shouted Perry as he caught his breath and the other man caught up with him.
“What? It’s just Quinn and the others loading them, they’re finished now.”
Perry pushed past him, hurrying on.
“No, someone else is there, a stranger!” He said over his shoulder.
All three men ran down, Perry arriving first at the ground floor doorway, it was open.
“See I told you.” Insisted Charley “He wouldn’t leave that door open if he wasn’t still there.”
A scream came from the other side of the door and Perry flung it wide open, staring down the dimly lit corridor. Heading for the door which led to the service area, Quinn was dragging Wendy, one hand gripping her arm, the other holding his axe. Behind him the two cousins were leading another one of the women, a scared look on her face as she tried to resist. One of the cousins turned round, a reply freezing on his lips as he saw Perry and the others appear. He turned and spoke to Quinn who passed Wendy to him as he dug in his pocket for the keys.
“Wendy!” Perry shouted, then ran, arms pumping as he raced down the corridor.
Quinn opened the door and pulled Wendy after him, one cousin following, and as he saw the others coming, the second cousin pushed the other woman back down the corridor before leaving and slamming the door.
“They made me come, I didn’t know…” Began the woman.
