Dead and Forsaken (17 page)

“
I am sorry that you had
an asshole for boyfriend. My mother taught me that a man should
never put his hands on a woman. You don’t deserve to be
treated like this!” said Carlos reassuring her.

“
Thank you I needed
that.” said Blair. “I don't even know if any of my
family and friends are even still alive?”

“
Don't give up on them
their probably still out there!” He said. “My name is
Carlos by the way.”

“
It was nice to meet you
Carlos!” she answered. “Thanks for being a good
listener!”

Carlos waited for her to use the
restroom and then helped her walk back to her room.

******

After breakfast several
small children colored in coloring books from the nurses. Two bigger
boys raced each other up and down the hall. A group of bigger girls
tried on makeup that someone gave them. Their parents huddled
together quietly talking with the other survivors about last night.
Somehow they found a way to avoid incomprehensible destruction. They
had escaped death but lost loved ones in the attack. Several prayer
vigils had been held since last night. It was a multi-faith service
so people of all faiths and religions were present. It gave people
time to cry about the murders, laugh about the good times and pray
for salvation. Relatives of the victims were looking for answers as
they gathered in front of the makeshift memorial. Through tear
filled eyes they spoke about their last moments with loved ones.
Pastor Harrell and the other organizers wanted to not just focus on
the people lost here in the hospital but remember that this was
going on all over the valley. There was power in numbers so coming
together would help start the healing process.

Getting together as a community
would give them some where to draw strength from.

“
I know that we live in a
world with so much tragedy around us but as long as we have God then
we have love too!” explained the Pastor.

His
eyes were blood shot red because he had been woke all night
attending the needy.

“
We cry tears because our
hearts have been left naked and exposed to sorrow. Then we pound our
fists because we are angry and demand answers. I just want you to
know you are not alone in your grief! We all weep together and share
in the tragedy. As survivors we must help each other deal with the
sadness and get over the shock. We could spend a life time searching
and never be able to discern Gods heavenly plan for us. The journey
ahead will be long and not all of us will make it to the finish
line. All you need to know is that God will see you through!”

Now
the question became what to do next. Many of them thought it was
safer to remain in the ER. Others wanted to try to escape. The
group’s opinion was undecided.

“
We might have to stay here a
week.” a lady shouted. “Nobody cares about us! We have
to do this on our own!”

“
That is not acceptable!”
she replied.

“
I just want to get my family
out of here.” another man explained.

“
Hang in there we won’t
be here that long.” she stated.

“
Are we safe inside these
walls?” one of the parents mumbled.

“
I’m worried about the
rest of my family.” a young mother said. “They lived in
Mesa and the TV said Mesa was over run!”

“
There is no way they are
alive.” one of the men told her. “They are all dead just
like everyone else you knew!”

“
Don’t be a dick!”
yelled one of the mothers.

“
Do you know that for sure?”
added another parent.

“
I have given up all hope and
the sooner the rest of you do the same the better it will be for
you!” the man shot back.

“
Listen we don’t know
what will happen to us but we can’t give up hope.” the
mother told him.

“
We are all under a lot of
stress already so we don’t need your negative bullshit
depressing us!” said the woman next to her.

“
I hear everything that you
are saying but how am I going to stay upbeat when people are getting
eaten alive?” he asked.

“
The only way we can move
forward is faith my son!” responded the pastor as he entered
the room. “I know that all of us survivors have been beaten
down by this death and violence but we have to keep our faith. Death
and resurrection have fascinated Christians, Muslims, and Jews!”

“
Padre I am a practicing
believer but it seems like God has forgotten us!” the young
mother stated. “My mother and father were devoted believers
also and it did not stop those things from killing them in that
damn waiting room!”

“
It is only natural my child
that you get frustrated with God.” he said. “You have
been through so much. People are hungry they are scared and you
don’t know when help will come.”

“
My grandfather told me
stories about our ancestors the Pima Indians!” said an old
man. “They buried their dead with all their belongings and
burned down their house. This was so they would not be able to
return from the dead. We don’t have that option!”

“
Mexican American people
celebrate the day of the dead because it honors our Aztec heritage
and Catholic beliefs.” a young man told him. “We believe
death is not the end just a continuation of life.”

“
Those things are an
abomination! Why did God let them murder all those people?”
another man screamed. “He is supposed to care about us. He is
supposed to protect us dammit!”

“
Do not give up on God so
fast my son!” the pastor pleaded. “He never gave up on
you! The Bibles book of Revelations says that the dead great and
small will stand before God. Then they will all be judged. The
wicked will face hell on earth. The rest will be condemned to
experience a second death!”

“
I don’t know what to
believe! I have lost trust in everyone!” one mother stated. “I
don’t know who is a monster and who is not.”

“
I was born and raised in
south Phoenix!” a father admitted. “And I never was
afraid of this neighborhood until now!”

“
In this ER everybody helps
each other but we don’t know what’s waiting for us
outside!” a woman added.

“
My house is just across the
street but I am too scared to go home.” the woman next to her
stated.

“
I survived so far and
through God's will I am still alive!” Her friend added.”
I can’t die now because of some zombie.”

“
When I went to sleep last
night I had a nightmare!” a woman said. “I saw the faces
of all the people that died last night.”

“
I sat up all night holding
my cell phone expecting to hear from my mom!” said a man.

“
I never heard from her or my
dad. When I woke up this morning and tried to watch TV and all the
stations are off the air. I tried to use my cell phone again and the
lines were still busy! I tried the land lines and the pay phones but
never got anyone! What do I do now?”

“
Where the police are?”
asked a woman. “For God sake they should have showed up by
now!” That was too much talking for me so I walked right past
them and went to the holding section. I stared through the window in
the door and I did not see anything one moving around. I pressed my
face to the glass to get a closer look. A bloody hand hit against
the window without warning and startled me.

SLAM!

I shouted. “Mother fucker!”
and jumped back.

Then
I pulled by gun and pointed it at the glass. Every newly forsaken
creature in the room pushed and shoved each other trying to get a
taste of my skin. Their transformation was complete. They were no
longer human beings. They were mindless flesh eating killers.
Whatever was causing this was unstoppable. The only choice we had
was to kill them. All it took was one bite and you were good as
dead. Now there were fifteen more hungry dead bastards. They all
wanted to eat us. It was unsafe to keep them in the ER. Something
touched my shoulder.

“
Not today dawg!” I
said turning around pointing the gun. “Damn motherfucker there
you go with that gun shit again!” said Carlos putting his
hands up. “It’s just me man!”

“
You might want to announce
yourself when you walk up on somebody.” I told him with a
smile. “After all people are eating each other!”

“
That is my fault hommie!”
he said smiling back.

“
With those new clothes on I
did not recognize you!” I told him.

“
Oh yeah! I borrowed these
from one of the doctors' lockers.” he said. “Besides I
can’t keep running around here in a prison uniform and county
issued flip flops!”

“
Yeah that is probably not a
good ideal.” I said agreeing with him. “Boots might not
save your life but flip flops will get your ass killed!”

“
What the hell are you doing
over here anyway?” he asked.

“
I am checking on these dead
bastards.” I told him. “All of them have turned into
monsters.”

“
Yeah these ugly S.O.B.’s
give me the creeps!” said Carlos while looking in the window.

“
You can say that again dog!”
I said in agreement.

“
What are we going to do
about them?” he asked.

“
Sooner or later we are going
to have to put them out their misery!” I said while putting my
gun back in its holster. “If they get out of this room then we
are going to be in trouble!”

“
I am with you man!” he
replied. “This hospital is not big enough for both of us. It
is either going to be us or them and I am not ready to die!”

“
Then it is settled then!”
I told him. “You watch my back and I will watch yours!”

“
We are going to kill them
all!” he said as we gave each other a fist pound.

“
And let God sort them out!”
I finished.

Carmen
the nurse was awoke all night from the argument she had with Dr.
Green. She stayed up praying and talking to God. She was trying to
repent and cleanse her soul from the evil around her. Later on that
afternoon she was still distraught and grappling with burden of
being a survivor. This was a total change in character for someone
who gave off the impression of being a carefree and bubbly person.
Carmen was there when Dr. Okonkwo tried to save the woman earlier
last night. She was part of the trauma team that worked desperately
to save her. Carmen held her hand and cried after the woman passed
away. She had been recently assigned to the ER. After the incident
she exchanged tearful hugs with her colleagues in the hall.

That
type of thing was not common place because In order to work on the
trauma team you had to put their emotions aside. It was easier for
them to focus on the task at hand instead of the person on the
table. Working on a trauma was a high pressure situation and
everyone had to do their part. Staff members working in the ER had
to detach themselves from their patients and still be professional.
They have to learn to take comfort in knowing they did everything to
save the patient’s life. Helping grieving family members deal
with the loss of a love one was emotionally draining. She knew they
did all they could do to save the poor woman’s life but it
still hurt.

It had been an insane night and
Dr. Green’s arrogant ramblings were the final straw. It was
crystal clear to her that he was a selfish and evil man. Carmen felt
ashamed to work with someone like him. He challenged God's authority
and needed to pay for his blasphemy. Carmen’s behavior became
increasingly confrontational and she lashed out at several people.
The lack of sleep and constant fear put her in a delusional state of
mind. Praying was her method to stop the anxiety and stress. Pastor
Harrell offered her bible quotes but she needed to take action.
She knew that this
was a sign from heaven and the start of the last days. The
barricades and locked doors were a futile attempt to stop God's
plan. Carmen knew the world was full of evil and God’s wrath
would be swift and justified. He would show compassion to the
compassionate and fury to the merciless!

Suddenly
she got up off her knees praying and moved towards the holding area.
Even with the persistent sense of dread everyone else was
preoccupied or distracted as things started to spiral downward.
You’ll be better off with god was the message that kept
replaying over and over again in her head. Outside the door Carmen
said a little prayer and then slowly slid the two dead bolt locks to
the side. This was her chance to be with God. She belied she would
be ruptured up like the other saints and true believers. Like
clockwork the door pushed open. The reanimated deputy was the first
creature to step forward into the light. He stumbled out the door
towards Carmen with his arms stretched out.

“
GRRRRRR!”

Carmen
made a cross in the air and gripped her hands tight around her gold
cross. Even in the face of death she remained committed to her
beliefs. She prayed that through her death she might get to know
Jesus her savior. Carmen stared at the grotesque eyes of the
creatures and felt pity for them. She believed God sent this plague
of the dead to cleanse the earth of the wicked. The stench of their
decomposing bodies followed them out the room. It was the rank odor
of decaying blood and bacteria filled flesh. With no AC the
decomposition process had sped up. They crept softly through the
darkness toward their prize. Carmen closed her eyes in disgust and
started to pray.

“
Father I asked
that you take me to your kingdom of milk and honey!” she
cried.

Tears
rolled down Carmen’s cheek as her chest rapidly rose and fell
with anticipation. She was at peace with her decision and was ready
to deal with consequences of her actions. The undead slowly
stammered towards her. The mob enveloped her and pinned her against
the wall. She broke out into hysterical laughter followed by tears.
But there was no beam of soft white light that shot down to beam her
up to heaven.

“
Take me Father. Take me!”
she yelled. “Please don’t leave me!”

She was saving herself for
marriage but that day would never come. The deputy’s corpse
was the first to taste her sweet flesh. He gripped a clump of her
hair and bit down into her shoulder blade. It was a searing and
burning pain she had never experienced before.

“
Uhhooowww!”

The deputy’s eyes rolled
back in his head as he chewed on the slither of flesh. Then he
grabbed Carmen around the torso and threw her to the ground. A
fountain of blood spewed from her shoulder and ran down her back to
the floor exciting the others. Being a nurse she tried press her
hand against the wound to stem the thick blood flow. It was at that
moment Carmen realized that she had made a mistake. She was being
punished because no one had the right to take their own life because
it belonged to God. “Forgive me lord!” she said with her
voice full of sadness. “I made a mistake!” The rest of
the horde joined in. Their half-eaten decomposing bodies twisted
and contorted wildly. Many of them bit mouth size chunks of flesh
from her body.

“
GNAAAAW!
GNAAAAW! GNAAAAW!”

She
attempted to get back to her feet several times after falling back
onto the tile. As a last resort Carmen thrashed and kicked to get
free. When that didn’t work she sat up on her hands and knees
then desperately tried to gather the strength to crawl away.
Her skin felt like
it was on fire as probing fingers entered her body. Carmen’s
belly was gashed open by the force of the monsters hands. Her guts
spilled onto the cold tile floor as she was almost torn in half. The
forsaken dug in and gorged themselves on muscles, organs and soft
tissue. She remained conscious but didn’t suffer for long.
Mortally wounded her muffled screams became a chorus of gurgling
sounds.

“
Aaahhhiiieee!”

And if being dismembered wasn’t
enough she was all alone. No one was there to comfort her in her
last moments. When they finished
their meal virtually
nothing was left. Her absence didn’t go unnoticed for long.
Soon other survivors came to find her and see what was going on.
They knew there was danger around them but had become complacent. As
they approached the holding area another man burst through the doors
dividing the corridor screaming. Blood was splattered across his
face. Seconds later a terrified young man followed close behind with
the forsaken nipping at his heels. He pushed through the gathered
crowd without saying a word. Blood drenched his cloths. He took a
few more steps and then fell down and slowly succumbed to his
injuries. As they focused on him the doors opened up again.

“
GRRRRRRR!”

Two dozen corpses back from the
dead overran the corridors and branched off in different directions.
The forsaken targeted everyone with a pulse. They assaulted and ate
any survivor in sight. Screams, moans and the sound of tearing flesh
increased with every attack. Several victims collapsed to the
ground, tried to hide, or rushed back and forth in between the
patient rooms and offices.

“
They are everywhere!”
a man yelled. “There is nowhere to hide!”

“
Where is my baby?”
a woman shouted. “Where is my son?!”

The trapped survivors were among a
macabre melee of reanimated dead and terrified friends and family.
Grown men cried like little children with their mouths agape. They
were overwhelmed by what was going on.

“
GRRRRRRR!”

The
dead competed over their victims like sharks fighting over bait. The
casualties came in bunches. A lot of people were knocked to the
ground or fell after someone was pushed into them. An unarmed man
was helpless in this new world. A teenage boy lay wincing in pain on
the floor as his attacker pried and prodded inside his body
searching for fresh meat. A gaping hole exposed his internal organs.
The tile floor was slippery with blood splatter and guts. Fresh
corpses of men women and children lined the hall like a buffet
table. A young doctor with tears in his eyes was cradling the head
of a dying young nurse. Flaps of skin and muscle hung from the large
wound in her neck, and face. The doctor pressed his hand tight to
her neck applying pressure to the wound.

“
Help me somebody!” he
called.

At
the same time the dead moved closer and closer. There was no time to
administer medical attention. He regretfully abandoned her before
the monsters were able to reach him. Then he stumbled down the hall
wounded and bleeding profusely from his own injuries. He fell
several times as he tried to go get help. Blood from the wound ran
down his arm and dripped off his fingertips. The cast off droplets
left a trail behind him.

“
Please help me!”
he said while coughing up blood. “I don't want to die!”

His injuries left a trail large
enough for the forsaken to smell and follow. Adults and children
ran past him in every direction. The children were easy prey. They
bore the brunt of the violence and carnage. Many died yelling their
parent’s name.

“
Get away from me! Get away!”
they cried.

A
young girl trying to escape slipped in a blood puddle and slammed
her head into a wall so hard she knocked herself unconscious! Her
body fell like a rock after her skull was shattered. Blood flowed
from the head injury running down her face and into her mouth.

“
GROOOWWWL!”

An
old decrepit female creature found her. She was deathly pale and
dressed only in a backless gown. The beast grabbed the girl by the
upper and lower jaw. The creature pulled in opposite directions
until the girls jaw was dislocated. The old hag pulled so hard she
ripped the girls’ upper jaw and skull off her head. Blood
poured from the wound as the old woman chewed on her tongue and
face.

“
CHOMP!”

Flinging
the still twitching body aside the beast wrestled the woman’s
head from her body and devoured it. A couple of people saw it happen
and vomited. The hags’ unblinking eyes scanned around the room
as she fed.

“
We have to get out of here!”
said an older nurse whipping vomit from here lips.

The
rest of her colleagues choked back tears before turning to run
towards the exit. As they ran a female tech dropped in front of them
after she was tackled by two forsaken monsters. There was barely
enough room to get past but the rest of the group made it unharmed.
There was a mad rush for the doors as people jockeyed for position.
When they had put some distance between them they looked back to see
she had been mauled. The tech sustained bites to her arms, neck, and
hands. She tried to fight them off but was eventually pinned down
and killed.

“
She didn't deserve to die
like that!” cried a younger nurse.

Several
men removed the barricades on the double doors and opened them up.

“
Help me get this shit out
the way!” a man cried to a group of people. “We have to
get out of here before it gets even worst!”

As
soon as the doors opened a massive number of undead gathered in the
parking lot surged into the opening. The stampede knocked several
survivors down and sent rest scurrying back in the other direction.
The survivors closed the doors back and braced them with their
bodies to keep them from caving in. The rest of the ghouls in front
were pressed against the glass on the sides of the entrance. Soon
there was a loud cracking sound right before the doors gave way. The
men holding the doors closed disappeared into a pile of forsaken as
they tried to squeeze through the small opening. They became easy
prey for multiple forsaken seconds after they hit the ground. A
deafening roar of moans followed them into the corridor.

“
GROOOWWWL!
GROOOWWWL! GROOOWWWL!”

******

I was in Dr. Black’s office
with Carlos. We were trying to tell him that keeping all those
things alive was a problem.

“
Those things are dangerous!”
said Carlos.

“
We can't keep them around!”
I pleaded. “Gentlemen we have to study this disease in order
to beat it!” he shot back.

Our
debate and the silence were both shattered when several piercing
screams interrupted the conversation. We could hear them through the
door.

“
Aaaiiihhheee!”

“
Noooooooooooo!”

All
of us rushed out into the hall towards the holding area. My first
thought was to find Maria but I didn’t know where she was. All
I remember is people running and screaming. We stepped to the side a
couple of times to let people running the other direction pass us.
Some of them were already injured or bitten. We were too late the
killing had already begun.
Events
had taken a turn for the worst. The once sterile hospital was
swarmed by the infected. They roamed the halls dragging people out
of their hiding spots.

“
Dear God!” screamed
Dr. Black. “They got out!”

“
How did they get out?”
asked Carlos. “We had everything secured!”