CHAPTER 17
Institute, WV
Henry stepped backward and stumbled to the ground. Horror. Terror. Fear. Instinctively, his hand clutched at his chest. His breathing was heavy. His heart pounded. Madness!
“Henry? Henry! Are you okay?” Weege said. “You look like you’re having a heart attack. They’re all locked up, Henry. They can’t hurt us. They’re cool!”
The word ‘cool’ wasn’t something he associated with the zombie vocabulary. He sat on the ground, agape. The silent giants behind the thick glass looked like fiends in an aquarium. Their faces were long and terrifying as they meandered with jagged gaits within the small cell. Their heads would have touched the ceiling tiles if they weren’t leaning over. Brain eating monsters on stilts was what Henry saw, and his heart recoiled in his chest.
“Weege! Where did they come from?”
“I don’t know. The director got them somehow.”
Weege’s eyes sparkled like lanterns as he tapped on the glass and waved at them.
“Are those basketball uniforms?” Henry asked, rising to his feet. His legs were weak, but the initial shock had subsided.
“Yep.”
He edged closer to the glass, looking up at the men. He whirled toward Weege and said, “That’s ‘Rifle’ Rick Braxton and Sam ‘The Slam’ Jones!”
“In person.” Henry tried to rub his eyes, but his glasses got in the way. He loved the NBA, and Rifle and Slam were well known all-stars. He felt compelled to ask them for autographs. His step-dad Stan would have loved that. A few moments passed as he and Weege stared at the roaming zombies with awe. This is absurd.
“So let me guess: we're starting a zombie basketball league now? Are we going to set up a match against the Harlem Globetrotters? I can’t imagine what our infamous Director Smoot has in mind Weege, can you?”
“Take it easy Henry. They just got here, and no one’s mentioned a basketball team … yet.” Weege smiled.
Henry could see the wheels turning in the little man’s head. Weege and Rudy had become more like pets than men since they'd all been forced into service at the WHS rehab facility. Henry'd previously had control over them, but now he was pretty sure his alliance with them wasn’t as strong as before. He'd learned it was best to bite his tongue when discussing serious matters with them anymore.
He noticed Weege was texting.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“Sending a text.”
“About what and to who?”
Weege’s thumbs stopped. He put the phone inside his lab coat pocket.
“No one, it can wait.”
Little rat.
Ring –Ring!
It was Henry’s cell phone.
“Hey.”
Rudy was on the other line.
“HENRY! Get up here now! I think we have a zombie breach!”
“What? Where?”
“Avoid Quadrant 14. Where are you, anyway?”
“The gym. Hey—”
“Is Weege showing you Slam and Rifle?”
“Yes but—”
“Quit fooling around, Henry, and get up here!”
“Hey, is Tori with—”
The line went dead.
“What is it, Henry?” Weege said.
“Rudy says we have a zombie breach. Quadrant 14. Let’s get to security.”
“Ah … I’m sure it’s nothing,” Weege turned off the lights inside the zombie room. “Night fellas. Man, I can’t believe we have NBA all-stars working with us now!”
Henry was dialing Tori as he rushed back toward security. Weege’s footsteps were echoing from behind. Fear rose up inside of him despite his efforts to reassure himself that there was more than enough security to take care of things. Then he remembered they weren’t fully staffed because of the zombie conference. He had to hurry back to security to make sure all of the protocols had been followed to secure the zombies.
“Hello Henry,” Tori said on the other line.
A wave of relief washed over him.
“Are you with Rudy?”
“Yes, I’m safe. You need to hurry back, Henry. These jackholes don’t know what they’re doing. Rudy’s going bonkers.”
“Don’t worry, I’m almost back to the doors. Have you seen any zombies on the screen?
“No, they won’t let me in there. You need to get back and straighten this out. They’re talking about a total lockdown.”
Henry scanned his card, made his way into the building, and headed inside the elevator.
“I’m on my way up.”
He lost the signal as the doors closed.
“I’m sure it’s nothing, Henry. Rudy’s probably half in the bag. You know how spooky this place gets at night. It’s like a ghost town.”
True. The complex was like a graveyard for buildings more than anything else. There was a network of dorms and classrooms, a small hospital, a cafeteria, a church chapel, and even a cemetery. The nearby river was notorious for rolling in fog thicker than soup most of the time, too. It all but negated the security cameras outdoors on some days.
The elevator chimed on the 3rd floor, and Henry and Weege were greeted by Tori.
“That fool is freaking me out. Get in there!”
Henry made his way back to the observation room only to be greeted by two sealed metal doors. He scanned his card. It flared green and the doors parted open.
“Hey!” Rudy shouted. “Get Tori and Weege out of here. They aren’t authorized, Henry!”
Rudy's eyes were bloodshot, and his clothes and hair were a mess. Rod was nodding his head, and another guard, Myrtle, had her eyes intently on the wall of monitors. He pushed past Rudy, noting the heavy scent of alcohol on his breath.
“Hey Henry, I’m warning you,” Rudy said.
Henry faced the man and said, “You’re warning me! I’m warning you, Rudy. You’re drunk. One more word and I’ll have you locked up.”
“That’s insubordination,” Rudy slurred.
“Everybody, who thinks Rudy isn’t fit for duty?”
Everyone raised their hands.
Rudy sat down, slumped on the desk, and mumbled something unintelligible.
“Look! Look here, everyone!” Myrtle shouted and pointed at a screen.
Quadrant 14 was a row of cinder-block warehouses in the WHS lab district. It was a separate operation from their rehab facilities. Top secret times ten. So far as Henry knew, it was just storage. Trucks came in and out every so often, but nothing ever appeared to be out of the ordinary.
A shadowy figure was moving along those grounds. Tori gasped.
“Rod, did you dispatch a team?”
“Yep. A fire team’s going in to check it out. Got them on the head phones now.”
“Can you put them on speaker?”
Rod looked over at Rudy, who was snoring.
“Looks like you’re in charge. A good thing, too. I was about to punch a hole through him.”
Rod nodded at Myrtle.
The audio came, and Henry could hear heavy breathing. On one screen he could make out a shadowy figure roaming through incoming fog, and on another he could see three members of a security fire team closing in. Tori was clutching at his back as they all gawped at the screen.
Henry could hear the fire team leader over the speakers.
We got him in our sights. What in the world is that?
The security team had flanked the strange figure in front of one large garage door. Henry could make out all the images on a single screen now. The security lights were doing a good job of cutting through the fog.
“What is that?” Rod said. “Is that a zombie or a man?”
Henry couldn’t tell. Its movements were stiff and quick. He could make out a mask of some sort on its head, more like a man. It had on a dark jump suit of some sort.
Halt! Put your hands on you head. This is WHS Security, and we have authorization to use deadly force.
Rod spoke into his radio. “Don’t hesitate, Jim. If that thing do
esn’t stand down, disable it. Don’t kill. Just take out the legs.
Roger that, Rod.
“Myrtle, can you zoom the camera in any closer?” Henry asked.
“That’s all I can do. There should be another WHS Security team from the warehouse quadrant en route. It’s their area. All of our zombies are locked up and accounted for. Maybe it’s an intruder.”
“I’ve never seen a man move like that. It’s a zombie,” Henry said.
He wiped his forehead with his sleeve. This can’t be happening. He could feel the tension building in the room as they all stood mesmerized by the screen. First giant zombies and now this.
“Has anyone notified the director?”
“Rudy did.” Myrtle said.
“And?” Henry inquired.
Rod and Myrtle shrugged.
On the monitor, the security team, clad in full zombie gear, had fanned out in front of the zombie.
"Rod, it’s a zombie. It has some kind of skull cap on. Looks like a gladiator helmet or something. It’s just acting like a typical walker. Is this some kind of prank or something? It better not be. It’s pretty screwed up, and I’m gonna bust someone’s ass if it is."
Many eyes fell on Rudy’s snoring form.
"Hold on! It’s having a spasm of some sort."
Henry watched the zombie arc up like it was shot in the back. It rushed the men. Tori and Weege screamed.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
Henry covered his ears.
Rod ripped off his headset. “Dammit!”
The shotgun blasts tore into the zombie, knocking it from its feet. It was difficult to see underneath the blanket of fog.
"Did you see that? Geez, I never seen a zombie move that fast before. Wooo-Weeee! It’s dead as a rock now."
There was a pause.
“Jim, you sure it was a zombie? Are you there?”
As he watched the screen, he could see the men huddle around something. Two of them jumped back, bringing another frightened gasp through the room.
"Yep, it’s still moving. Not much left of it, but it’s moving. Creepy. The jaws are still snapping like a turtle. Uh … wait a second. Hey, the garage is opening. Looks like the cavalry’s coming … just a little late is all."
A small wave of zombies burst forth and crashed into the security team.
HELP! GET SOME HELP! HEL ULP—
The sound died. They all stared in horror as the zombies pinned the men under their weight and tore into them with fervor. Henry’s worst nightmare had come true. The zombies had been turned loose on them.
“Initiate the lockdown!” He cried. “Secure all floors!”
“No Henry, let’s get out of here while there is still time. I don’t want to be locked up in here with them,” Weege cried.
“We’ll be fine in here.”
An alarm sounded.
“Just lock this building down. Rod, tell your men to find a bunker and lock down. We don’t know what we’re dealing with. Weege and Tori, wake up Rudy.”
The alarm stopped.
“How’d that happen? Who did that?” he said.
He dialed the director on the desk phone and let it ring on speaker.
“Just let it ring.”
The zombies were on the move, like a wave of rioting men.
Choooooom.
The screens winked out. The lights turned black. The ringing phone went dead.
They stood in the silence of the insecure building with no idea what to do next.
“We’re gonna die,” Weege said.
Zombie Rehab: Impact Series - Book 2 Page 17
