Z-Level 10: A Zombie Apocalypse Novel

by Cole, Michael

  Keegan stopped again to listen. They could hear growls coming from below. The Staff Sergeant hugged the corner and peeked down the stairway. The lights flickered below, making him wonder it the power generator had been damaged in the attack.

  He led the group down the flight of steps, keeping each movement as quiet as possible. Luckily, there was no door at the end of the stairway. It was an open passage leading into the radio room. Keegan turned the corner, seeing three ghouls kneeling on the ground. They were feasting on a corpse in the middle of the carpet. Skin had been peeled back from the victim’s trunk like an onion, making way for the ghouls to dig into the inner organs.

  All three faces, completely painted in blood, looked up to the soldiers. There was no time to waste with close combat. Keegan put two of them down, their entire bodies quaking as the bullet pierced their brains. Bell took the third, placing a bullet through its right temple. The three soldiers infiltrated the room and immediately checked the kitchen and bathroom areas for any other flesh-eaters.

  Keegan checked the body, kicking off one of the ghouls that had fallen over it. The facial skin had been entirely ripped off, the chest torn open completely. It was almost impossible to identify the individual.

  “Shit,” the Staff Sergeant said. “Reimer, check the pockets. Maybe, just maybe this fella has some ID.” Reimer knelt down, finding nothing in the jeans pockets.

  “Nothing, sir,” he said.

  “All this, for nothing,” Bell remarked.

  “We don’t know that,” Reimer said.

  “Get on that computer and see if you can get a signal out to Border Command,” Keegan ordered. The Corporal stepped over the bodies and approached the computer desk. The radio transmitter and microphone were nowhere to be found. The main monitor had been smashed as though struck with a hammer. Looking back to the ground, he found the bent mic, covered in blood just inches from the victim’s hand. Near the wall a couple feet away was a Colt 1911, the slide locked back.

  Reimer picked up the mic, seeing the stem completely bent out of proportion, the base tattered, and wires ripped.

  “Our buddy here made a last stand,” he said.

  “Great,” Bell said. “This just keeps getting better and better. How are we gonna get a radio call out?”

  “We might be able to fix it,” Reimer said. “Maybe.” As he reached down to pick up the stray wires, he gazed at the victim’s hand. Though the body was an average-sized individual, the fingers appeared fairly large, not like a woman of Dr. Hill’s build. He recalled her photograph image. She appeared to be a fairly skinny individual with long golden strands of hair. He looked back at the victim’s head and the surrounding carpet. Even though the scalp was ripped off, Reimer found it odd that there was no hair to be found.

  “Sir?”

  “What is it, Corporal?”

  “I think our objective is still alive,” Reimer said. “This isn’t her. This body is male.”

  “Makes sense,” Bell said. “He was probably with that other fella up top. Either they broke in, or Dr. Hill let them in. Either way, they were trying to seek refuge in here before the herd got them.”

  “But if Dr. Hill isn’t here, then where is she now?” Keegan asked. He started looking around, digging through cabinets in search of layout plans.

  “Whatcha looking for, Sarge?” Bell asked.

  “A lot of times, they make these bunkers with a secret back passageway in case you can’t escape through the front,” Keegan said. He spilled papers over the floor, finding nothing but log notes from previous occupants. Nothing of use. Reimer started looking under the desk for any switches. Bell moved to the back wall for any features that could resemble a doorway.

  “I think you’re right, Sarge,” he said. Keegan turned and approached the Army Ranger. He stood in front of a bookcase. It didn’t appear to have any screws or bolts, yet, it would not budge as he tried to move it. It was tall and narrow, placed perfectly in the center of the wall. “If this is it, they really had haunted houses in mind when they made it.”

  “Sometimes they hold subjects here whom they don’t want to get out,” Keegan said. “However, it’s possible they gave Dr. Hill instructions on how to escape should the infected breach the entry.”

  “Too bad we can’t radio in and find out for ourselves,” Reimer said.

  “Quit your whining and find the damned switch. Most likely, it’s something hiding in plain sight.”

  ********

  Dunn inched forward, knife in hand as he listened to the twigs crackling behind the fog. The steps were getting closer, the snarls more audible. Finally, another ghoul wandered out from the tree line. By the time it saw him, the marine had plunged his knife through its eye.

  He gently lowered it to the ground then backstepped to the bunker. Bolden was on the other side, his knife embedded in the skull of another corpse. Dunn glanced back into the bunker entrance, growing more anxious with each passing minute.

  “What the hell’s the holdup?” he whispered to Gordon.

  “Don’t know, but I’m starting to get antsy myself,” Gordon said. Another ghoul emerged through the fog. Gordon lunged at it, stabbing his knife upward behind its neckline.

  “Guys!” Bolden spoke through their com. They looked his way, seeing four corpses wandering from the woods as he wrestled with another. All at once, they bellowed and quickened their pace.

  “Shit,” Dunn muttered. He and Gordon ran into the action, each firing several rounds into the ghouls. With new cavities drilled into their skulls, the corpses stumbled face-first into the mud. Bolden pushed his knife into the fifth ghoul’s brain, killing it. As he pulled it free, another emerged from the trees. It was already lunging at him, aware of his presence even before reaching the clearing.

  “Fuck!” Bolden yelled as he thrust a kick out, plowing it in the chest. It hit the ground, immediately reaching up. Its head opened up like an egg shell as a shot from Gordon ended its undead brain. The three soldiers looked back. Across the bunker, several ghouls were stumbling from the trees, now alerted to their presence.

  “Just what we need,” Dunn said. He lifted his mic to his lips. “Sarge! Get up here, sir. We’ve got multiple boogies in the area. We’re gonna have to clear out!”

  “On our way,” Keegan responded. Dunn charged the incoming group. At least eight flesh-eaters were advancing, with several more snarling within the forest. Stingy flesh that previously formed lips peeled back, fully exposing yellow broken teeth.

  “Come get some!” Dunn said. He squeezed the trigger, seeing the nearest ghoul jerk its head back and fall to the ground.

  ********

  “Let’s go,” Keegan said. Bell looked back, having tried searching along the doorway.

  “But sir, if we leave, we’ll never find—”

  “In two minutes, this entire facility will be compacted with corpses. Even if we make a stand, we’d be boxed in.”

  “Just give me a minute, sir,” Bell said. “I have the heavy explosives. I can rig a charge and blast this thing off the wall.”

  Keegan paused, realizing the idea had merit. “You sure you can pull that off?”

  “Hell, yes, sir,” Bell said.

  “Keegan,” Reimer approached him, “Sir, what if there’s no tunnel behind that door? What if it’s like a saferoom or something? A blast could kill her if she’s in there.”

  “I doubt that. Regardless, we don’t have much choice. Besides, this beats running through the woods and the fog looking for her.” Keegan looked to Bell. “Do it!”

  As the Army Ranger tore into his demolitions bag, the two marines ran upstairs to join the fray. As they reached the surface, Dunn, Bolden, and Gordon were already gathered near the entrance, forming a firing line at the incoming ghouls.

  “Make room!” Keegan yelled. The team spaced out, continuing suppressive fire. There were over twenty ghouls visible now, each coming in faster and more determined than the last.

  “What’s the plan, Sarge?!
” Bolden asked.

  “Hold em’ off for another minute! There’s a passageway, and Bell’s gonna open it up with a concentrated explosive.”

  “Nice of the government to provide us with facility layout and plans,” Dunn remarked.

  “Focus on what you’re doing, Marine,” Keegan said. He stood at the center of the line and extended his gun, placing the muzzle onto the forehead of an approaching flesh-eater. With a squeeze of the trigger, its head split open down the middle.

  He fired the rest of his magazine into the crowd, killing three or four more flesh-eaters before his final mag ran dry.

  So much for stealth. Keegan dropped the gun and snatched his M4 Carbine, sending loud cracks through the air as 5.56 NATO rounds launched from the muzzle.

  ********

  Bell looked up to the stairway, hearing the unsuppressed gunshots of the M4. It was a sign that they were running out of ammo for their silent weapons. Not just that, but if they were using M4’s they were on the verge of being overrun. He placed the charge against the “bookcase” and inserted the triggering device. After snatching up his equipment, he hustled up the steps.

  “Fire in the hole!” he yelled to the team as he darted out the entrance. The team quickly moved away from the entrance to avoid getting caught in any residual force of the blast. Bell triggered the explosive.

  The earth shook beneath them as the blast echoed underground. Dust and smoke ripped up through the stairway and out of the entrance into the crowd of undead. The smoke was hot, near scalding to the touch.

  “Hold tight,” Keegan said. “Let it clear, or else you’ll burn your lungs out!” He thrust his rifle out, bashing the butt over the head of a ghoul that was creeping toward a gagging Private Gordon. The marine turned around, shocked to see he was a heartbeat away from being bitten. “Pay attention, Marine!” Keegan said. He dug the heel of his boot into the biter’s eye socket, crunching the skull inward.

  Reimer moved to the left of the entrance to provide additional cover fire. He looked to the north, seeing the trees actually tilting ever so slightly as an unbelievably thick swarm marched their way.

  “Holy fucking shit!” he yelled. The other soldiers followed his gaze, many muttering the same phrase. Keegan stepped into the bunker. The smoke and toxins had died down enough for them to have visibility and avoid burns. Stepping back into the mud, he pressed his back into the corner of the entryway and fired his M4 into the horde.

  “Alright! Get your asses in there!” he yelled. “Bell, your explosive better have worked, or we’re dead meat.”

  “So to speak,” Bell remarked. He was the first to enter, followed by Reimer and Gordon.

  “Go! Go! Go!” Keegan barked as Dunn and Bolden rushed past him. As they neared the stairway, Keegan stepped to the left to backstep into the bunker. A deep bellow pierced the air, infiltrating his eardrums. It was a roar from something from the Cretaceous Period.

  Looking ahead, Keegan saw several corpses knocked aside as something rampaged through the crowd. It stepped out of the fog and set its eyes on the Staff Sergeant. It was human, yet it couldn’t have been. It was at least nine feet tall, its skin a dark brown. Its arms were almost as long as his body, its fingers extended at least twelve inches, with razor sharp nails protruding from the tips. Its face was like a man’s, though the skull was disproportionately shaped, resembling a melon rather than a skull. Pointed teeth protruded from gums, dripping pink saliva to its clawed toes.

  “Christ,” Keegan muttered. With his M4 set to full-auto, he fired into the abomination. With arms outstretched, it sprang at him with great speed, its entire path a blur. Keegan yelled as spear-like fingers punched through his ribcage. His feet dangled off the ground as the creature lifted him and drove him backward.

  “Sarge!” Dunn and Bolden both yelled in astonishment as it pinned him against the back wall. Taking a bounding step to close the distance, Dunn pointed his M4 point blank to the creature’s head and fired. Its head jerked to the right, the skin around the temple tearing and spilling a thick red blood. He staggered back as it turned its head and gazed at him, baring teeth. The bullet had skidded right off its skull.

  Keegan yelled as it pulled one of its clawed hands out of him. The creature snarled and swiped, the tip of its nail grazing Dunn’s Kevlar as he jumped out of reach.

  “Dude! We’ve gotta go!” Bolden yelled. The view of the outside had disappeared behind the flood of corpses that spilled into the bunker. The two soldiers backtracked, quickly moving down the steps.

  As the unintelligence legion spilled into the stairwell, the creature turned its eyes back toward the Staff Sergeant. Blood trickled from his mouth as he grabbed his Beretta. He yanked it from its holster and pressed the muzzle to its forehead.“Chomp on this,” he gurgled. He fired off a shot. The creature’s head jolted back, then looked back at him. Through the perfect hole in its forehead was a thick intact skull. Gaping its jaws wide, the creature lunged, driving inch-long teeth into Keegan’s neck. It ripped away, trailing blood and stringy flesh from his corpse.

  CHAPTER 16

  The air downstairs was still thick with smoke and dust. Bolden passed the last five steps in a single leap, joining the other soldiers along the corridor entrance. Reimer watched as Dunn followed. Numerous shadows stretched along the stairway wall as the army of corpses followed.

  “Where’s Keegan?!” Reimer yelled.

  “It got him!” Bolden yelled out.

  “What got him?” Gordon asked.

  “I don’t know,” Dunn said. “It’s a big one! Its freaking huge. We shot it, but its skull is thick! It’s like a fucking mutant!”

  “We need to go!” Bolden said. He tried rushing into the corridor, only to be stopped by Reimer and Gordon.

  “In a minute!” the Corporal said. “There’s another door down there. The opening mechanism was damaged in the blast, so Bell’s gotta open it with a charge.” He looked to the stairway. Bodies stumbled down the steps, many of them summersaulting forward. “Fuck!” Armed with his final AK-9 magazine, he began putting down walkers that followed. The stumblers pulled themselves to their feet, only to be shot in the head by Gordon, Dunn, and Bolden.

  More and more came in a big flood, jampacking themselves into the doorway. Dunn and Bolden threw whatever they could at the doorway. Desks, chairs, and radio equipment, and furniture were packed against the doorway, while Reimer and Gordon hit the horde with suppressive fire.

  Already, the blockade was bulging under the combined force of the undead.

  “Hey, ARMY, you about done?!” Reimer yelled.

  “On my way, Corporal!” Bell shouted from the corridor. The Ranger stepped back after securing the explosive to the doorframe. With the flick of a switch, the charge detonated, driving the door off the frame. Bell picked up the explosives pack and ran out through the smoke to meet the others. He gasped upon seeing the huge numbers of undead spilling into the radio room. “Holy mother of—this way!”

  Nails scratched against metal as something scraped the walls of the stairway. The masses of undead were pushed aside as the hulking mutant raced between them, its jaws dripping Keegan’s blood.

  “Go!” Reimer shouted. As the soldiers descended into the hall, the beast sprang. Feeling it bearing down on him, Bolden turned on his heel and fired. Claws lanced his stomach, lifting him off the floor like a fish on a spear. It opened its jaws wide, revealing a dark red esophagus, reeking of flesh, both rotting and fresh. It bit down on Bolden’s face, the upper row of teeth puncturing his forehead, the bottom ripping under his chin. With all its might, it clamped its jaws together, completely slicing off the front of Bolden’s head. His body dangled, impaled on its claw, the faceless head exposing brain and fluid.

  As it fed, the inferior horde flooded the corridor in pursuit of the four survivors.

  The air grew hot as the tunnel filled with bodies. Reimer ran at the front of the group. The tunnel was narrow, only about four feet in width. The walls were made of a
black steel. Lights flickered between pipes along the ceiling, flashing through the smoke and adding to the disorientation.

  Gordon ran at the back of the group. They were putting space between themselves and the ghouls. However, that wouldn’t last forever. They would eventually tire; the undead would not. He aimed his rifle and fired a few rounds, catching one of the ghouls in the face. It fell to its knees and slumped, causing others to trip over its body.

  Reimer led the group through a left bend in the tunnel. In this segment, the lights were not functional, leaving them running in black air. With a twist of a knob, Reimer activated the flashlight on his M4. The light beamed into the tunnel, illuminating at least a dozen walking corpses that waited ahead of them.

  As if this wasn’t hard enough.

  With the horde closing in from behind, there was no choice but to push through quickly. He and Dunn took the lead, each hugging opposite sides of the wall as they blasted the ghouls one-by-one.

  Bell and Gordon dropped to firing positions as the horde came around the bend. Walking corpses, dripping flesh and hair with each step, grazed the walls as they marched in. The loud cracks of the M4s seemed to spur them on, forcing the most freshly dead to spring into a jogging pace.

  Light brown blobs of blood spat from their heads as rounds punched through their skulls. But the horde just kept coming. It was like a freight train of undead.

  Reimer and Dunn pushed forward, busting heads with carefully placed rounds. Reimer gritted his teeth, forcing the adrenaline to work in his favor instead of against him. These corpses were slow, making for relatively easy targets. Heads popped like balloons, spraying brain and decayed matter to the floor.

  With one final shot, the path was clear. The marines shone their lights down the corridor. It came to a dead end roughly fifty feet down. A ladder ascended the wall, leading to a metal hatch.

  “Let’s go! We’re almost out of here!” Reimer yelled. The group sprinted to the end. As they did, Bell continued to fire into the horde to slow it down. But their numbers seemed to be infinite. At the foot of the ladder, Reimer took firing position, assisting Bell with the suppressive effort. “Gordon! Dunn! Get your asses up there!”