Dead Heat: A Hollow Dead Novel

by Young, D. M.

  * * *

  Matt sat at the table staring at his sister. Melissa stared back silently. He wasn’t sure if he was amused or annoyed. Maybe a bit of both. She’d always had a wild imagination, but this was too much. A family had been killed. A sheriff’s deputy was in the hospital with a gash out of his neck. Multiple other people were missing, and she wanted to blame it all on zombies.

  When she first brought the subject up, he thought she was joking. Then she’d continued talking, and Matt realized that she was serious. She really believed that there were flesh-eating monsters walking the streets of Hollow Springs. He was actually sort of amazed, and, yes, definitely annoyed. He sighed. She started to say something, but he held his hand up to stop her.

  “No, sorry. We aren’t having this conversation.”

  “But they were all bitten!” she argued.

  Matt stood up from the table, “Don’t care. That’s ridiculous, and I’m not talking about this nonsense.”

  She glared at him for a minute before answering, “I’m not saying it is zombies, I’m saying, crazy as it sounds, it could be zombies. I’m saying this is exactly how it starts in all of the movies. If I’m wrong, then I’m wrong. Things go back to normal after all this is sorted out, and you can have a good laugh at your crazy sister. But If I’m right, more people will die, and I don’t want you to be one of them.”

  Matt was completely exasperated by this point. He leaned on the table and looked her in the eyes. “It’s not zombies. There are no zombies, not here, not anywhere. Jesus, Melissa! This isn’t a damned movie. People are dead!”

  “I know people are dead. That’s why I’m worried. Stop being so damned stubborn and think about it,” she said.

  Before he could reply, they heard the sound of sirens outside. Through the blinds, he could see blue lights splash across the window. He raised the blinds and looked out. A police car was heading up the street toward the hospital and he wondered what was going now. He checked his phone, figuring someone might text if something new had come up, but there were no notifications. Now, there was another siren. Melissa joined him at the window as another police car rushed up the street past the house.

  He ran to the car to grab his radio. Together, he and Melissa listened to the chatter about people attacking one another at the hospital. He called Marty Simmons, a city cop, to see what he could find out. Melissa watched as a look of disbelief and then horror spread across his face.

  He ended the call and looked at her for a moment before speaking, “So, with zombies, you have to destroy the brain, right?”

  Melissa’s eyes widened. “Yeah, I mean, that’s the theory, I guess. That’s how it usually is in all the stories. Who knows how it would be in real life?”

  Matt thought about that for a minute, “I do. I mean, I think maybe I do. Best I can tell, the movies got that part right. When Sarah Roberts tried to attack us this morning, Brody shot her three times, but she kept coming. It was only after I fired and hit her in the head that she went down. With the little girl, Brody only fired once, but he hit her in the head, too.”

  Melissa shook her head, obviously confused, “OK, wait. What? Are you saying you do believe it is zombies now? What the hell is going on out there?”

  “I don’t know. Something is going on at the hospital. People are going crazy and attacking each other. Marty said someone reported that Brody had coded. While they were working on him, he sat up and attacked a nurse. Bit her on the neck. Then he attacked someone else.”

  Melissa’s eyes went wide. “He coded?”

  Matt nodded and continued. “Yeah, I don’t know what happened, but other people have called in and reported more crazy people biting each other. So, no, I’m not saying it is zombies, but I’m ready to consider the possibility. Either way, I need to get down there. You stay here. Have you got a gun?”

  Melissa grabbed his arm. “Oh, hell no! You’re not walking into that mess, and there’s no way you’re leaving me here alone! What if it is zombies? The hospital is right down the road! What if one of them shows up?”

  “I have to go. Sounds like they need everyone they can get,” Matt said as he removed her hand from his arm. “You stay here. Be quiet, lock the doors, and stay away from the windows. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “Just wait one minute.” Melissa ran to her bedroom. A moment later she returned, now wearing jeans and a pair of tennis shoes. In her hand was a small pistol. “If you’re going, I’m going. I’d rather be out there with you than here alone.”

  “Not a chance. We don’t even know how many of those things we’ll be dealing with. I could end up inside that hospital, and they won’t let you follow me in. You want to be sitting alone in the car if there are zombies walking around?”

  Melissa considered this. “No, I guess not.”

  “OK then. Keep the gun handy, just in case. I’ll be back,” Matt said.

  Melissa huffed. “Fine, but be careful and hurry back. The house will be dark. I’m closing the blinds and shutting off the lights. If it is zombies, who knows what will draw their attention?”

  CHAPTER 13

  Rose Dennis listened as the young man, Dr. Adam Keeling according to his badge, called 911 and quietly spoke to the operator. “I’m at the Mason County Regional Medical Center, and we need police here now.”

  Dr. Keeling was silent for a moment listening. Rose could hear a voice on the other end of the line, but she couldn’t make out what it was saying. “No, there are no weapons. Some people have just become suddenly violent, biting and scratching.”

  He listened again for a moment, running a hand through his reddish-blond hair. “No, I can’t stay on the line. We’re not safe. Just get the police out here. I have to go,” he said and ended the call.

  They heard footsteps in the hallway. Something bumped the door and Rose held her breath, waiting to see if it would open. It did not. Eventually the footsteps faded and all was silent once again. Rose heard screams, but they were distant.

  After a few moments, in a voice just above a whisper, Adam told them his plan for getting out of the hospital. “There’s a clinic in this building, and it’s closed at night. The door will be locked, but I have a key. If we can get to that door and into the clinic, we’ll have a locked door between us and the chaos. Once we get to the clinic, I think we should just stay put until the police get this under control.”

  The woman who had entered the room with the doctor started shaking her head. “If you have a key, I’m sure someone else does, too. I’ve seen the clinic. There are a dozen windows across the front of it, and the doors are glass. It’s not exactly secure. Why not just leave through the clinic exit and get out of this place?”

  Adam frowned. “We could do that, but then what? We saw some of those crazy people leaving the hospital. I don’t want to be on foot if they’re still around, and my car is on the hospital side. Where’s yours?” he asked.

  “Shit. It’s over there, too.” She turned to Rose. “Where’s your car?”

  “My husband left with it. He went home to check on the dog, but he was coming back later. I’ve texted him, and he’s on his way. If we can get to the clinic, he can meet us at the exit.”

  They heard sirens outside and then the sound of footsteps running in the direction of the front entrance. The noise seemed to be drawing the crazies to the front of the hospital. That would make their escape easier.

  Adam nodded. “OK, tell him to stay back until you text him. I don’t want him parked there and potentially drawing any of those crazies until we are ready to leave. You can text him and tell him to meet us once we’re safely in the clinic.”

  Gracie had listened quietly to all of this. Finally, she spoke, “They aren’t crazy people. They’re dead. My mom was dead when she attacked Emma and Josh, my brother and sister. Those crazy people are zombies.”

  Kim turned suddenly to face the girl. “You’re the other Roberts kid? This isn’t a joke, young lady. I’m Kim Martin. Your sister att
acked my husband, Brody, this morning. She bit him on his neck. That’s the only reason I’m even here right now. I don’t want to hear another word about zombies.”

  Tears welled up in Gracie’s eyes. “I’m sorry she did that,” she said quietly and dropped her head.

  Rose felt her face flush with anger. “And where is your husband now?”

  “I don’t know. Something happened. He coded, I guess. Then he – I don’t know what happened,” Kim replied.

  Adam spoke up, “Then he sat up while we were performing CPR and attacked two nurses. Both of whom, apparently bled out, got up, and attacked other people.”

  Rose nodded curtly, “So, Gracie’s mother attacked Gracie’s sister. Her sister attacked your husband, and then your husband died, came back, and attacked others. Those people died, came back, and attacked even more people, and you don’t want to hear about zombies?”

  Kim opened her mouth to argue and then shut it. Seeing this, Rose felt a small measure of satisfaction. She suspected the woman wasn’t often rendered speechless. The doctor looked disturbed by the whole conversation, but he said nothing. The room was silent for a few moments.

  Finally, Rose broke the silence, “We need to go. It’s been quiet for a while, but we don’t know how long it will be before one of those things comes back this way. If they find us, we have no way of locking the door.”

  Adam agreed. “The clinic door is at the end of the hall. I’ll go first to get it unlocked. Once you see me put the key in the door, head that way as quickly and quietly as possible.”

  They gathered near the hospital door as he slipped out into the hallway. He walked swiftly toward the door at the end. Once there, he glanced down the intersecting hallway to the right and left of the door to be sure it was clear. Then he inserted the key. The other three left the relative safety of the hospital room and rushed toward the door. Halfway there, they heard the clattering sound from behind them.

  Rose glanced back. Nothing was there, yet. They kept moving. The doctor was now holding the door open for them. All three stepped through. Just before the doctor closed the door, Rose turned and saw a blood-covered figure rounding the corner at the other end of the hallway. It hadn’t seen them. Then the door was closed and locked, and they were decently safe for the moment.

  Rose picked up her phone to see if Edward was nearby while Kim collapsed into a waiting room chair. She heard the sound of distant gunshots. They were coming from the parking lot on the other side of the building.

  Adam spoke to Rose, “I’m going to the back of the clinic to grab some first aid supplies. There’s no telling what might happen on the way home or whether we can even get home right now. If any of those things made it out of the parking lot, this could be spreading. Who knows how many might be out there wandering around in the dark.”

  “Yeah, it’s late. A lot of people are probably asleep by now. Half the town could be infected and no one would know about it until morning,” Rose said.

  Adam walked to the back of the clinic. From outside came the sound of more sirens and gunshots. Rose’s phone chimed and she looked down to see a text from Edward had come through. Rose met the doctor as he stepped back into the waiting room, “Edward is just down the street at the bank. He can be here in less than a minute once I text him. Are we ready to go, or do we want to wait for the police?”

  Adam thought for a moment, “We don’t know how long it will take them to get a handle on this, and we don’t know what will happen between now and then. I think we need to leave now while we’ve got the chance.”

  Kim and Gracie murmured their agreement.

  Rose sent the text. Headlights appeared down the street, but Edward shut them off before turning into the clinic drive. Rose and the others stepped out the door. She climbed in the front seat. The others piled into the back, and Sammy shifted, to avoid being crushed by the people squeezing in around him. As soon as the last door closed, Edward pulled away from the clinic and drove back to the bank.

  “OK, folks,” Edward said in a weary voice, “I need to know where we’re going. Rose and I can take you back to our place, or I can drop you off somewhere along the way. My suggestion would be to get out of town tonight and worry about getting home tomorrow, but that’s up to you.”

  Adam chimed in, “I agree. My house is back behind the hospital. I definitely think we should avoid that area. If you don’t mind, I will gladly crash on your sofa tonight. Maybe tomorrow, if everything has calmed down, you can drop me off at the hospital to pick my car up.”

  Kim frowned, “No, I’m sorry. I don’t even know you people. I appreciate the ride, but I want to go to my own house.”

  Rose, sighed and rolled her eyes. Actually, though, she’d be glad to be rid of this woman. “Where do you live?” Rose asked.

  Kim leaned forward to point in the direction of her house. Sammy was sitting on Gracie’s lap in the middle. He leaned up to sniff the woman’s face. She batted him away and leaned back in her seat again, “I live on the corner of Oak and Pine at the other end of town. Just start driving toward Main Street, and I’ll give you directions from there.” To Gracie, “And keep that dog out of my face until we get there.”

  Rose wondered if it would be considered murder if she just tossed the woman out of the car right now. After all, she might make it on foot. In fact, she was so mean the zombies might run from her. Edward told everyone to buckle up, just in case. Then he pointed the car toward the center of town.

  CHAPTER 14

  Matt pulled into the hospital parking lot behind a row of other cars that were parked haphazardly in the driveway. One of the officers, quickly filled him in. Two city cops had been the first on the scene. They were attacked almost immediately. One was taken down to the ground and attacked. The other, Officer John Graham, was bitten on the arm and shoulder before making it back to his car. He radioed in what had happened. The sheriff and two other city cops pulled up shortly thereafter and found the officer and two nurses beating on the windows of the police car with Officer Graham trapped inside.

  Matt made his way to where Sheriff Bill Canton stood, firing at a woman staggering toward him. Matt saw her body jerk as a bullet ripped through her chest, but she kept coming. She was nearly at the door of the police car now. Another officer on the other side fired nearby, and a spray of blood and grey matter flew from the back of her head. She dropped to the ground immediately. A few feet away, the dead officer was reaching for the sheriff. Two other police officers managed to wrestle the dead man to the ground and cuff him. They shoved him into the back of a patrol car and slammed the door.

  More figures were running from the hospital entrance, attackers and victims. The gunshots were drawing both. A woman ran from the hospital entrance only to trip over the curb. The thing that was following her fell on her immediately and began biting and ripping at her flesh as she screamed. Nearby, the dead nurse stopped fighting to get into the patrol car and headed toward the screaming woman.

  Other cars, both city and county, pulled up. More shots were fired, but few of the attackers were going down. A middle-aged man in khakis and a white shirt ran, limping through the doors of the hospital. One pant leg was torn below the knee. It flapped as he ran toward his car. The dead nurse rose to follow him, but he was already in the car and reversing before she could get to him. He backed the car over her and sped away toward the rear exit of the parking lot.

  Matt watched in horror as the woman who had tripped rose from the ground. Her intestines now hung from her stomach as she made her way towards Bill and the other officers. Bill turned to Matt, a look of pure terror on his face. Matt aimed at the mangled woman and fired, hitting her in the neck. She continued shambling in their direction.

  He fired again, and the shot caught her just above her right eye. She went down, and Matt trained his weapon on a new target, a man in scrubs. He was just walking through the doors into the parking lot. The first shot missed, hitting a brick column to the man’s left side. The secon
d hit the man in the neck. He fired a third time, catching the left side of the man’s head. He fell to the ground and lay motionless.

  Matt yelled for the other officers to take headshots only. A few listened. More of the attackers went down. The officers moved slowly toward the building, taking more of them down as they went. Bill walked ahead of him now, making his way to the doors of the hospital.

  To his left, Matt saw the dead nurse lying on the pavement. She hadn’t gotten back up after the car had backed over her. Her right leg trailed uselessly behind her as she crawled toward them. The leg of her scrubs was torn, and Matt could see the bone poking through the skin. Still, she used her arms and left leg to drag herself forward, growling as she did so. He paused long enough to put her down.

  As they closed in on the hospital, more survivors began to come out of their hiding places. The officers yelled for them to run toward the police cars, but many ignored them and left the parking lot, headed God knows where. Matt wondered if any of them had been bitten. No time to chase them down and check at the moment. Others did as they were instructed and moved to the edge of the parking lot to wait for someone to tell them what to do. Matt and the sheriff stood near the door as several other officers entered the hospital to clear it. They heard a couple of shots, but, for the most part, things inside the hospital were quiet.

  Matt ushered a group of survivors back toward the line of patrol cars. As the shots died down, curious townsfolk began appearing at the edges of the parking lot. Weary officers kept them back. Local first responders showed up to help, and Matt directed the survivors to them.

  Matt watched as a paramedic treated Officer Graham’s bites. Once he was patched up, he walked toward the car where the other officer was still cuffed in the backseat. Officer Graham studied the man for a minute. Matt could see that the man’s neck was torn open. Most of the flesh had been torn from his right arm, and his nose was mangled. Still, he growled and moaned from the backseat, banging his head against the window and throwing himself against the door.