Our Undead

by Theo Vigo

  Kerrick: It looks like someone got here before us. There're some guns missing.

  Erika: Holden and the General. They must be ahead. We have to-- Oh, my sweet goodness…

  Erika finds a section dedicated to grenades of all different varieties. She puts her shotgun back on its rack and piles as many grenades as she can into her bag. She takes mostly frags but makes sure to get some of the other kind, as well, mainly offensive and illuminating.

  Billy and Margaret are near to her and watch her excitedly stuff her bag. They have never seen so many guns in one room at the same time. They both never really liked the things very much, but seeing so many in one place has an almost hypnotizing effect on them. If she were not in such a loathsome mood, Billy expects Margaret would have already spouted some witty remark about it. Instead, she limps around on her crutches, impassively examining the showcase.

  Billy: This is kind of like the safe rooms in ‘Right 4 Death’, don't you think? Wish they had some arrows though. Hey, what are you doing?

  He jogs over to Margaret, who has picked up a smaller sized carrying case for herself. She stands by the handguns, looking over them, grimacing. They are all the same, Desert Eagles, but she feels them all out. Finally, one calls to her, and she picks it up and puts it into her bag, then fills it with as many boxes of bullets as it can handle.

  Billy: I thought you were against guns.

  Sharp: She's smart. You forget what it's like up there already? Those things outside the door are everywhere. You'd better take one yourself.

  Billy: Naw.

  Margaret overlooks Billy's conjecture. Yes, she had stated that she didn't like guns, but beside the department store, she had never really had the chance to get her hands on one. She might as well take advantage of this moment, regardless of the viable scrutiny. She limps over to Gwen by the next door, ready to move on. Billy follows behind her and everyone in the room is then startled by the sound of metal scraping against metal. Their attention is drawn to the barricaded door.

  Sharp: The goofs are getting heavy! Let's move on! Gwen, why isn't that door open yet?!

  Gwen: My access code didn't work… I don't… I don't know what it is… I don't even know what it could be… Fuck!… FUCK! That bastard never told me about any other code.

  She tries her own code again, and the indicator light over the number pad flashes red.

  Erika: Who?

  Gwen: That stupid fucking General!

  Erika: Okay, just relax. Can you think of anything it might be?

  Gwen: Uhhh, 8-5-5-4-0-7-3?… 7-3-1-2-1-5?… 8-1-7-6-4?… 1-3-8-5-7-8-1-2-0?... 5-8-7-8-1-7?

  Erika: What is that? What are you doing? I'm not a doctor or a professor. I don't know what this is. Does anyone know what she's doing?

  Gwen: Ugh, I don't know what the code could be…

  Sector333-3: ***ALERT… PURGING WILL COMMENCE IN… FIVE MINUTES…***

  Kerrick: Hell… so this is how it ends, uh, in a heavily loaded artillery room with unattainable freedom on one side and man-eating goofs on the other? Fuck you, Suhh-Suhh! If we're gonna die, let the goofs in! I wanna get some use out of these babies!

  He raises and strokes the assault rifle in his hands with love, waiting for the creeping cabinet to open just enough for the horde outside to come pouring in. The goofs only need to work a little harder and open it just a little further. Gwen's eye's light up when she hears what Kerrick says. She turns to the pad and starts punching in numbers.

  Erika: You figured it out?!

  Gwen: We'll see.

  When she finishes putting in the numbers, the indicator light above the pad flashes green this time.

  Gwen: YES! Oh, God, yes.

  The door slides open and just in time. At that very moment, the zombies from the hall push the barricade in far enough and start trickling inside the room, one by one.

  Erika: Get inside!

  The group hurries into the next room. Kerrick is the last to enter. He aims his rifle at the zombies trotting toward him, but makes the hard decision to wait for his moment. Hopefully, they would survive, and he'd still get a chance to use his beloved arms. He goes into the dark room, and the door closes behind him. The zombies fall short and end up pummeling yet another door.

  THE END OF THE BEGGINING

  This next room is a dark one, even darker than the late Doctor Alyster's laboratory. When they enter, they walk on top of steel grating, a platform raised high above an orange glowing underbelly. The metal platform converges into a bridge in front of them that crosses over the seemingly bottomless glowing pit. On each side of the crossing are large machines, cranking and churning. Steam escapes them and a light mist makes the place a little cloudy, but not enough to impair anyone's vision completely.

  Gwen: FELEIDER!!!

  Gwen screams at the figures on the other side of the bridge and everyone follows her voice to find General Feleider and Holden standing there in front of the lift that has yet to open. As soon as Feleider sees them, he fires at them with his pistol. They all duck out of the way (except Margaret), and the General's shot is a failed attempt. He aims at them again, but Erika is much faster than him and fires first. She shoots the gun right out of his hand. He shakes and rubs his fist in pain, and they hear him cussing from where they stand. Holden watches them, but doesn't raise his gun. Even as they run across the bridge to join him and the General, he let's them cross safely.

  Kerrick: Thanks for not trying to kill us.

  Holden: I have no reason to kill you. Don't give me one.

  Sharp: I guess there's a little loyalty left in those treacherous bones, hey?

  Erika: Relax, guys. If you want to fight, do it when we get to the surface.

  Gwen: If we get there. How long ago did you guys power on the lift?

  Feleider: (still rubbing hand) Ugh, five minutes ago.

  Gwen: Then it should be here by now!

  As if on cue, all of the flashing yellow lights around the lift's entrance turn to a solid green, and an alert sounds. They hear the door unlocking itself, and then the horizontal slit begins to separate.

  Gwen: Come on! Come on!

  They hardly wait for the entrance to get completely open before everybody runs inside. This lift is considerably smaller compared to the lifts in the main hall. It could probably only fit about fifty people, while the others had the potential to hold hundreds. There is only one button on the inside beside the door, a fat red one with a sign above it that reads, "GROUND LEVEL". As soon as she is sure everyone is in, Professor Gwen slams her palm down on the big red button. The top and bottom portions of the door meet back in the center, and the lift begins to rise.

  Inside the emergency elevator, the alarm still sounds from its speakers reminding its occupants of their impending doom. The rotating red light in the middle of the lift's ceiling adds to the dramatics of it all. For a large portion of the first half of the ride up, no one says a word to each other. The groups stand separated with Sharp, Kerrick, Erika and Gwen on one side, and Holden and the General on the other. Margaret stands indifferently in the center, and Billy stays near to her. Each side casts doubtful looks back and forth at one another. Billy doesn't know which side to trust. From what he has seen, either side is liable of initiating confrontation. The only three people he trusts in this moment are; Margaret, who's eyes never leave the ground. Gwen, who looks more troubled by the ride than the riders. And himself.

  Gwen: Jesus Christ… There isn't enough time. We're not going to make it.

  Sharp: Yes, we are. We have too. There's still someone's ass I need to kick.

  Holden: Heh…

  Sharp: What the hell are you laughing at, traitor?!

  Holden: You're naivety has always amused me… in small doses, and from time to time.

  Sharp: I'm naive? I seem to remember a certain summer on a certain mountain in Nepal, when a certain someone knocked another certain someone on his ass… out cold!

  Holden: I remember slipping on some ice and fallin
g seventy feet. I got knocked out when I hit my head on the rocks. So, I guess, score one for the Himalayas.

  Sharp: Oh, please, like some rocks could crack that thick skull of yours. It was my fist that put you to sleep when I knocked your ass off the cliff. You were sleeping like a baby as soon as I made you airborne.

  Holden: That's false.

  Sharp: Well, what about that time in the Sahara when I caught your back and choked you out? I put you to sleep that time too.

  Holden: It was windy. You may have gotten my back, but the only reason you got your arms around my neck was because my throat caught some sand.

  Sharp: Wha-- Are you-- What kind of an excuse is that?!

  Erika: Will you guys cut it out?!

  Holden: When you can beat me without the assistance of the elements, then maybe I'll start thinking of you as a worthy adversary.

  Sharp: You know, you should really take a step outside and breathe in some of the nice fresh reality out here, cause you've been stuck in denial for way too long! I guess you don't remember that time in the hills of Chile, when I picked you up and body slammed you through the roof of that house.. of that strange old couple?

  Holden: The roof gave way. You fell in too.

  Sharp: You're being so technical! I had you off both of your feet and you hit their living room floor first. Therefore, it qualifies as a body-slam.

  Holden: Who's being technical again?

  Sharp: Fuck off, traitor!

  Holden: Weakling.

  Sharp: Man, you can suck m-

  Erika: THAT'S ENOUGH! Goddamn it. Stop acting like you're in preschool.

  Erika's outburst works in settling down her teammates. Really, only Sharp needed to be tamed. Holden is a beast, but he is more of a sleeping giant. His only facial expression, whether pummeling someone's face in or enjoying his favorite meal, is grim, and slight variants of grim. It's part of the reason he is able to vex Sharp so quickly. To Denver, Holden is just a smug bastard who was lucky enough to be blessed with a little more body mass.

  Gwen: Is this how it always is with you guys?

  Erika: No. Not really. Usually only in high-pressure situations.

  Gwen: Well then, I guess this would qualify.

  Erika: Yes. It would… but still… Hey, there was something I was wondering, Gwen. I might as well ask you now while we have no choice but to wait.

  Gwen: What is it?

  Erika: The passcode in the artillery room. What was it? How did you figure it out?

  Gwen: Oh, that. You mean the code that Feleider failed to tell me about.

  She shoots a disdainful look at the General who scoffs at her.

  Feleider: It must have slipped my mind.

  Gwen: I bet… It was Kerrick. He helped me figure it out. When he thought we were done for, he cursed Suhh-Suhh's name, and it popped into my head. 4-1-1-5-4-4-1-1-5-4; hush-hush. I just shuffled the letters around, like an anagram, and then I put it in number speak.

  Erika: I don't get it.

  Gwen: You know, hush-hush, like *shhhhh*. Like, it's a secret.

  Erika: No, I get that. It's the number part. How did you get… ugh, you know what? Just forget it. I should just be glad we're getting out of here, to safety.

  Gwen: I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but we're not even half way home. When we get to the top, we still have to run like hell. The explosion is going to cause the ground to cave in, and who knows how far the blast radius is going to be. We're not even close to being safe.

  Kerrick: You just said, "bubble butt". If you were talking to anyone else except Erika Blaze, I'd say you were way off, buuutt…

  He shoots a flirtatious glance at Erika, looking her up and down, his eyes landing on her backside. She responds with looks of playful skepticism.

  Erika: Heh.. Matthew, do you ever stop and think about what-

  Sector333-3: ***ALERT… PURGING WILL COMMENCE IN… ONE MINUTE…***

  Gwen: Oh, God…

  Sharp: How much longer is it gonna take this thing to get to the top!?

  Above the big red button, are two sets of numbers, one large and one small. Both numbers are counting down, the larger number much faster than the smaller one.

  Gwen: Thirty-seven seconds. We're just under a thousand feet away, but you should know that this lift doesn't take us all the way to the top. For safety purposes, it stops early. We're going to have to climb the last, I don't know, fifty to a hundred feet. There should be a ladder that leads to an escape hatch.

  Sharp: (sighs) Okay, listen up! When the lift doors open, we have to move fast. Margaret, I'm gonna need you on my back again. As soon as the doors open, Gwen goes first, Billy is next, then you, Blaze. Matty is after you, and Margaret and I are last.

  Erika: What about these two?

  Sharp had been addressing his group only, Erika is referring to Holden and General, the odd men out. They watch and listen in silence to Sharp giving everyone their instructions. Holden is as serious as usual, but the General seems to be getting a little antsy.

  Sharp: Those two are on their own.

  The rest of the elevator trip is spent watching the numbers count down. At seven seconds from the surface, the compound computer serves them their last warning.

  Sector333-3: ***ALERT… PURGING WILL COMMENCE IN… THIRTY SECONDS… TWENTY-NINE… TWENTY-EIGHT… TWENTY-SEVEN…***

  Sharp: Okay, let's do this. Maybe you should take those crutches off for now. You won't need them for the next sixty seconds. Don't worry. I'll keep you safe.

  With four seconds till the lift's arrival, Sharp offers his back to Margaret, who get's on willingly after unstrapping her forearm crutches. She holds them tightly between her chest and Sharp's back, and clutches his shoulders and around his neck as firmly as she can without choking him. For extra security, she also wraps her legs around his mid section. Sharp stands erect again, as the lift counter stops at zero.

  Sharp: Okay, let's do this!

  When the lift doors open, General Feleider darts out first with no regard for any of the others. As luck would have it, the ladder Gwen had been speculating about is not far away. The General is already making his way up.

  Back inside the elevator, the group waits for Holden to make the same move as his co-conspirator, but instead he stands there, staring them down, perhaps, waiting for his team's group to leave first.

  Sharp: What the hell?! Get going, hulk!!

  Holden does what Sharp tells him to do. He leaves the lift and starts climbing the ladder, but not because he is listening to Sharp's command. He knows that if he were to offer them the lead, Sharp would use it as some excuse to argue. His ego would never let Holden look like a hero. They would stay in there forever, arguing about who should leave first. It was fun to push Sharp's buttons every now and again, but now is definitely not one of those times. With the odd men out, the rest jump into action.

  Sharp: All right, Gwen, Billy, Blaze, Matthew!

  Each body runs out when they hear their name. The ladder is about twenty feet away from the entrance of the lift. When Sharp and Margaret run out, Sharp takes a look up to see how far away the escape hatch is. Gwen was right. It looks to be about seventy to ninety feet above them. By the time everyone is on the steel ladder and making their way up, the compound's timer is at fifteen seconds.

  Sector333-3: ***… FOURTEEN… THIRTEEN…***

  Sharp: HURRY UP, PEOPLE!!

  They climb as fast as they can, but there's no passing the person in lead, Professor Gwen. She tries her best to go faster, but the professor isn't use to escaping up ladders at high speed.

  Sector333-3: ***… EIGHT… SEVEN… SIX…***

  Gwen tries to go faster, but the mixture of panic in her system makes it hard for her to make her body move at the speed she wants it to. She slips up a few times but manages to hang on and continue moving upward.

  With his large head start, General Feleider makes it out on to the surface before the compound's self-destruction begins. He unlocks the hatch and climbs
out into the twilight of the day. When he gets to his feet he has no time to think, but instantly bolts off into the same direction that he was facing when he had exited. A few seconds later, Holden breaches the surface. He immediately starts running as well. It would gain him nothing to wait for his team, except a snide remark from Sharp after all is said and done. That is, if they survive this. If nothing else, at least he left the hatch open for them.

  <><><>

  Far below our conceivable survivors, a city-sized population of people are still living a brief nightmare. It is a devastating scene with injured fathers being trampled over, brothers and sisters being eaten alive, mother's crying over their lost children, being ripped away from them too soon by starving flesh eaters. Mr. and Mrs. Alomar are among the many. They're dead bodies lie separate from one another, in two completely different parts of the compound. Some families have been fortunate enough to find a place of peace to run out their last seconds, huddled closely together in their private rooms and in secluded bathroom stalls. But most fight for their lives. They fight, not so that they can live them, but most instinctively feel that dying in a fiery blast would be much less painful then being slowly ripped apart and eaten alive.