Dead and Forsaken (24 page)

“
We slipped away while
those things feasted on the corpses of our friends.” said the
redhead.

“
We didn't have a choice!”
explained the blonde. “The other officer who was leading us
told us to run before he started shooting. He saved all of our
lives.”

“
Where is he now?”
asked Carlos.

“
The last time I saw him
they circled him and attacked without mercy. In only a few minutes
those monsters had murdered him.” replied the redhead.

The
other girl just mumbled something about everyone being dead. I
started to ask what his name was but what difference did it make
now. I told them we would be back for them but they knew that was a
lie. I had to protect the rest of our group and they were good as
dead. I had found bottles of water in a small waiting room close by.
Someone else had already vandalized the machine and pried it open. I
gave the women some water and then we wished
them
good luck.
Carlos grabbed a
couple more bottles and helped me carry them back to the
intersection.

On
the way there three monsters spotted us as we rounded a corner. They
were dressed in hospital gowns covered in stains and ripe from
decay. One of them locked eyes with Carlos and flashed his teeth
while the other two shambled after me.

“
GRAAAUUUHHH!”

“
Whatever you do don't
use your gun!” I stressed.

Carlos dropped the water bottles
and side stepped the creature like a matador.

“
Not today motherfucker!”
he yelled.

Then in desperation he grabbed it
by the neck and slammed it's face into the wall. The impact broke
it's orbital bones. Carlos repeated the assault until the beast
stopped moving and slid down the wall. We had to keep quiet so I
grabbed a discarded mop and broke it in half. Then I used the jagged
piece of handle to stab one of them through the eye. The mop handle
slashed through its remaining brain matter killing it. Then I kicked
the other one in the shin temporarily putting him down. His momentum
carried him forward with his hands still draped all over me. Somehow
I was able to get my knee up into its chest and keep us separated. I
attempted to move its head into my gun sights but couldn't get a
shot.

The things mouth never stopped
opening and closing as it tried to bite me. The creature’s
grunts pierced my eardrum as its teeth got closer. With seconds to
spare I flipped him off of me. The beast collapsed backwards to the
ground disorientated. I quickly got back up to a standing position
and thrust my foot into his skull and started whaling on him landing
kicks. By the time Carlos joined in it stopped moving and was
stomped to a bloody pulp. We carefully bent down, gathered up the
water, and got out of there before we had any other surprises. We
were passing out the water to the rest of the group as the pastors
group walked up. In the oven like heat of the hospital dehydration
would become a problem soon.

“
Thanks partner I needed
that!” Joe said pouring the water on his face and taking a few
gulps.

“
Next time why don't you
rustle up a bottle of whiskey?”

Maria filled her hand with water
and then whipped it on Alex's face. Then she gave him the bottle.

“
Don't drink it too fast!”
she told him with a smile. “Make sure you give your sister
some.”

“
You heard what she said!”
Latia exclaimed. “We have to share it!”

“
OK guy's!” I said.
“There is enough for everybody!”

I
gave an extra bottle to Latia. She smiled at me and said thank you.

“
Wow! I am impressed!”
said Maria. “I didn't know you were such a good father
figure!”

“
There is a lot you don't
know about me yet!” I told her with a devilish smile.

“
Is that so?” she said
smiling back. “If we live through this maybe you can show me!”

“
I'm not going to let
anything happen to you!” I told her. “We are getting out
of here!”

Carlos
gave Blair some water and asked how her arm was feeling. She told
him that they were attacked. He was upset that she wandered off from
the group but glad she wasn't hurt. Carlos sat down next to her and
wrapped his arms around her.

“
You have to be careful! This
is not a movie on TV.” he told her.

“
I know it was dumb to wander
off!” she said taking his hand. “I thought we would be
okay!” she explained in tears. “How am I going to keep
a baby safe with those things walking around? How am I going to take
care of this baby? What if there are complications?”

“
Don’t worry I'll take
care of you!” he told her. “The only chance we have is
to stay together!”

“
Crying about this shit is
useless!” laughed Dr. Green. “It won't change or solve
anything!” Carlos starred at him intensely but didn't respond.
After everyone had a chance to catch their breath I told them the
bad news. The corridors in both directions were filled with the
undead. They had completely taken over. If we tried to fight our
way through a lot of people would lose their lives. Since our best
bet was to keep moving I decided to head back in the direction we
had just come from. Hopefully we could find a short cut to circle
around to the other side.

We quietly snaked our way through
the turned over gurneys and debris. We couldn't go backwards or
forwards so our only chose was to go up or down. The door to the
stairwell was just around the corner. Hopefully either the second
floor or lower level would be clear. If we can't find a new escape
route then we needed a better place to hide. Anywhere was better
than out here in the open.

“
The stairwell is right
over here!” said Randy. “We just need to unlock it.”

The door was locked but luckily I
still had my set of master keys. After listening for noise with my
ear for a few seconds I slowly turned the key. Then I took two steps
back and drew my weapon.

“
Open the door and I will
cover you!” I told Dr. Green.

“
Fuck that shit! You open the
door and I'll cover you!” he cried. “That's not my job!”

“
Both of you are making me
nervous!” said Randy.

“
I guess I have to do
everything myself!” I responded.

Unnerved,
I swung the door open and rushed into the stairwell. Security guards
are normally asked to work behind the scenes but because of our
situation I had been pushed to the forefront. In stressful
situations people are influenced by whoever is in charge. A small
beacon of light temporarily illuminated the space. We yelled out
into the darkness several times and then waited to see if any
creatures were lurking inside. Thankfully there was no response,
growling, or movement.

“
I think we’re good
man!” I whispered to Carlos.

He
made sure everyone was inside before he closed the door behind him.
All the lights were off inside so we were left in pitch blackness.
The tension was ratcheted up because of the anticipation of
something jumping out the dark and grabbing us. I turned on my flash
light and looked around. I didn't see anything moving upstairs so I
shined my light toward the lower level.

“
Where does this take us
anyway?” asked Anne. “It's so dark in here!”

“
I have no ideal but keep
moving.” responded Carlos.

“
If we go downstairs we
can get out by using the service tunnel!” responded Joe.

“
We might not run into as
many of those creatures!” Maria told them. “But don’t
forget the morgue is also on that floor.”

“
The lower level is pretty
deserted at night.” said Randy. “I think it's worth a
taking a chance.”

“
Well in that case I guess
you just volunteered to help me check it out!” I joked.

His
mouth fell open because he knew whoever wandered off might not come
back. I told everyone else to wait by the door until I gave them the
clear signal. The last thing we want is for everyone to get
separated in the dark. Randy gave Carlos a flashlight out of his
tool bag so he could stay with the others. After that I descended
the first set of stairs and plunged into the darkness. The others
stood there contemplating their predicament. Dr. Green wanted to
turn back and unsuccessfully tried to convince everyone else to join
him. The light shook as I climbed down the stairs with my gun in one
hand and flashlight in the other.. The moving shadows made the space
seem more narrow and claustrophobic. Randy could barely make out the
hand rail but still only trailed a few feet behind me. We stopped at
the landing and slowly turned the corner with our backs pressed
against the wall.

The
descent pace was slow so that we didn't walk into an ambush. We
paused after a few more steps because I thought I heard something or
someone ahead of us.

“
Be quiet!” I
whispered.

Blood
smeared hand prints ran across the wall leading down the next set of
stairs. Blood was also splashed on the handrail.

“
I'm scared!” said
Randy as his voice started to squeak. “This seems like the
beginning to a nightmare or direct to DVD horror movie!”

“
Get it together!” I
told him. “Life is about taking risks and this is the risk we
have to take if we want to get out of here. Just stay here until I
make sure the coast is clear!”

Then
I turned back around and disappeared into the dark. I flashed my
light down the stairs toward the door and spotted a badly mangled
body strewn across the bottom landing. The corpse was grotesquely
contorted. The unidentifiable man was face down in his own blood
and missing most of his flesh. The skin on the left side of his face
was peeled back from his mouth to his ear. A significant amount of
blood encircled his skeleton like corpse. I took several more steps
down the stairs and moved closer to the cracked open stairwell door.
Before long I was standing over the man’s stripped down
remains.

A
cloud of dead flies buzzed over him. A large wound was in the back
of his head. Most of his brain had been scooped out. Fist size holes
were in his back exposing his spine. It appeared that something
dragged him down the stairs as he tried to crawl away. His lower
legs were missing from the calf down. One of his severed feet
propped the door open. The foot was still in a shoe and a bone stuck
out of the ankle. Blood flowed over the edge of the shoe and
trickled onto the floor. I turned around to call Randy down the
steps but he was already right behind me despite his protest
earlier.

“
What the hell are you
doing?” I asked.

“
I got scared waiting back
there by myself!” he babbled.

A
fear of being alone in the dark was one of his many phobias.

“
Hold up!” I said
covering his mouth with my hand. “I don't think were alone!”

I
saw several shadows moving on the other side of the door. We halted
right there while I peered through the crack. I shined my flashlight
through the crack moving it from left to right. Something was
definitely moving in the center of the hall. The heavy metal door
squeaked loudly as I opened it the rest of the way.

“
SKRRREEEK!”

I
looked to the right nothing then to the left still nothing. We
stepped into the hall and closed the door back. I left the foot in
the door as a precaution. We had no idea what we were in for. An
uncomfortable feeling came over us as we ventured forward. Even with
the flashlight we could only see a couple of feet in front of us.
The tension and suspense increased with every step but we continued
to move deeper into the emptiness. From the sign on the wall I
figured out that we were in the hall just outside the cafeteria.

Thankfully
the route was not impeded by debris or remains. As we moved forward
my eyes darted from left to right with every step I took. My flash
lights beam cut through the dark as I scanned from floor to ceiling.
I returned the light to the floor and used it like a cars headlight
to guide us. Randy and I watched the triangle shaped beam glide
across the multiple colored tile.

“
Are you sure we should
have that light on?” asked Randy. “They might see us! I
don't want to get into a situation we can't handle!”

“
Yeah but what if we can’t
see them?” I whispered.

The
beam bounced up and down with every step I took. It created hard
shadows and odd shapes making it impossible to tell what was my
imagination and what was real.

“
Wait a second!”
cried Randy. “Go back! What is that?”

“
It’s probably
nothing!” I responded as the cone of light flowed right to
left.

The
light picked up the face of an attractive woman with big blue eyes.
She had a look of terror on her face. Our adrenaline was pumping
high as we took a few more steps. Suddenly Randy called out to her
then ran over to her and knelt down.

“
Randy! What the hell are
you doing?” I asked. “Hold up a second!”

By
now it was clear how incredibly dangerous and stupid it was to walk
around the dark alone.

“
I think I know her!”
he replied. “She was always nice to me!”

He
collapsed to his knees and began frantically stroking her hair. I
moved the light down and realized it was only her head. The rest of
her body was somewhere else.

“
Oh my God!” cried
Randy. “She didn't deserve this!”

I
raised my gun up and continued scanning. When I found the rest of
her body several pale naked figures were crouched down hovering over
it. Sections of their skin were dark purple and pink. Death and time
caused their skin to tighten and crack. Their lips were dry and
withdrawn exposing their teeth. Their frosted eyes sank into their
eye sockets in a permanent blank stare. The rest of the woman's
corpse was tossed in an awkward position. The creatures were
pulling organs out the body and mauling it beyond recognition. One
of them was chewing on her arm like it was a piece of chicken. His
sickly frame was clearly visible even under the soiled gown he wore.
A plastic I.D. bracelet was on his wrist. The other arm was covered
in a bloody bandage and connected to an I.V. Bag.

“
CRUNCH!
CRUNCH! CRUNCH!”

It
was a gory sight I wouldn't forget.

“
Randy it’s time to
go!” I yelled as I moved back toward the door.

He
saw them scuffling over her body but was confused about what was
going on. The pale forsaken group looked up with blood on their
faces. They began to stand up and stumble towards us.

“
GRRRRRRR!”

They
all showed signs of rigor mortise and muscle stiffness. Randy was
startled and dropped his tool bag as he stood up. He stood there
momentarily disorientated before bending down for the bag. The pale
figures fought each other as they jostled for position. Their slow
pace quickened and they accelerated as they got closer to him. I
heard a noise on the right side so I pointed the flashlight in that
direction.

“
GRRRRRRR!
GRRRRRRR! GRRRRRRR!”

The
light illuminated several more creatures as the shambled out another
room. After checking on a similar noise on the left side I realized
we were almost surrounded. A dead doctor was standing there drooling
and staring at us. Large chunks of his muscles and organs were
missing causing his skeleton to show through the shredded flesh. A
dead young nurse was close by at his side. Her rotting flesh was
already falling off her bones. The forsaken monsters had been
eating the remains another victim and now we were next. The dead
physician was holding the body of a small child like it was a rack
of ribs. He bit chunks of flesh out of the body and swallowed them
whole. One of the other creatures consumed large portions from a
victims dislodged arm like it was a turkey leg. The keys to the
victim’s car were still clutched in his hand.

“
GROOOWWWL!
GROOOWWWL! GROOOWWWL!”

“
Screw the bag man!”
I yelled. “Let’s get the fuck out of here!”

They
could smell us and knew we were not dead like them. Randy was able
to get his bag but hesitated for a second. He felt like he was
cornered by a pride of hungry lions. There was no way to hold them
back now that they had tasted fresh blood and smelled our fear. His
eyes pleaded for help and then his mouth opened.

“
Noooooooooo!”

The
skinny forsaken in front was able to reach out and grab him. Randy
was groveling for help.

“
Oh shit!” he
yelled. “Get this mother fucker off me!”

The
dead man had a large bite wound close to his hair line and the tip
of his nose was gone revealing the bloody cartilage underneath.
Randy was bitten once, twice and then a third time. It happened so
fast that he couldn’t even react.

“
CHOMP!
CHOMP! CHOMP!”

“
Aaaiiihhheee!”

He
swung the bag trying to hit them but it was no use. His arm had been
seriously injured. His clothes were ripped and torn as he struggled
with his attackers trying to squirm free. Even if he had gotten free
there would have been no way to stop the bleeding. Before I knew it
he had disappeared into the sea of rot and decay. I looked back to
see several monsters dragging their defenseless victim in the other
direction. He starred at me with his eyes wide open as the blood
poured out of him but it was too late to help.
He
flailed his arms uncontrollably and his hands grasped at air before
they scraped against the ground. Their hands and teeth carved into
his soft flesh during the sustained and prolonged attack. His tool
bag was knocked onto the floor. Randy punched and kicked but
couldn’t get loose.

“
No! No!” he
screamed. “Help me!”

He was left lying on his side
struggling to breathe. The blood flowed freely as they began to
consume him devouring mouthfuls of flesh.

“
MUNCH!”

The rest of them came shambling
after me. I shot the first one sending pieces of its skull into the
air.

“
BANG!”

The
muzzle flash illuminated the darkness like a paparazzi’s
camera. I hit the next one that stumble forward threw the eye
piercing its brain.

“
BANG!”

My
third shot was wide and went into the wall. Then I zigzagged through
the out reached arms of the others. One of them almost had me but I
dove out of the way and took off running. Every couple of steps I
took the time to fire backwards at the ones still following me.

“
BANG!
BANG! BANG!”

The
gunfire ended up putting me in more danger because it got the rest
of them all worked up and sent them into a frenzy. Alone they
weren't that fast or strong but if enough of them got together they
could cause a lot of damage. As I closed in on the stairwell door
several other creatures were blocking my path. They were persistent
and hungry. I forcefully shoved the leader to the ground since I
couldn't go around him. He awkwardly struggled to get back to his
feet but was having a hard time. I repeatedly kicked the forsaken in
the face and head before he could recover. Then I stomped him until
he quit stopped moving.