Life Among The Dead (26 page)

Mortie comes to a staircase of bare concrete. He can hear moaning coming from below,
it sounds like the freaks on the ward.
He does not want to go down there.
But, what is upstairs that will help me?

A thin cardboard box lies against the raw sheetrock wall. It has been opened and Mortie can see white placards inside.

The frightened man removes the stack of tiles and shuffles through them. It is the hospital’s new signage. One has an arrow pointed downward that reads: ER, Morgue.

“
I am definitely not going down there.” He says, flipping to another sign. This one has an arrow pointing up and it reads: Roof Access. A symbol below the words gives him hope, a blue circle with a large white ‘H’ inside. He knows this means there is a helicopter pad on the roof. He can only hope there is a chopper on it.

49

Bill had just witnessed himself eating a man and now watches as he walks down the stairs. His clumsy feet must have landed wrong because he is forced to watch himself fall. He hasn’t the ability to shield himself, or break his descent. He can’t so much as flinch as he sees the stairs rush towards his head. He topples end over end, hearing wet snapping sounds with every impact. He is thankful that he cannot feel.

His perspective jolts to a halt as he comes to rest on the dark landing between the 2nd and 3rd floors. His view of the world becomes a white painted brick wall for several seconds before he sees himself rise again. Back on his dead feet, his body takes him down the next flight. Though his hearing is becoming muffled, he detects a faint sound. He can’t identify it, but he knows his body hears it. He is hunting another perspective meal. The only part of his body he can feel is his stomach, which still grumbles painfully.

Darkness is creeping into his vision around the edges. He is trying to think about his wife to get his mind off of what is happening to him. He can’t remember her name, and soon he will forget her face.

The sound is coming from a young candy striper. She is running right at him. The girl’s eyes widen when she sees Bill. She tries to stop suddenly, but slips and falls. He is approaching her now as she lets out a scream.

Darkness consumes his vision completely and the world becomes black. The girl’s scream fades away to a dull tone as Bill’s brain finally dies, thinking his final thought.
Thank God.

50

In the hall Dan had come face to face with several people. Most of them wore street clothes. A lot of them held newborn babies. They all crowded around him upon emerging.

Out of reflex Dan’s hand had gone to the pistol in his belt, he had to lift the robe to get to it. He didn’t draw it, he just didn’t like them rushing him like that. It gave him a brief flashback of the zombies. They all talked at once.

“
What’s going on?”

“
Are they really zombies?”

“
Is it just here or has it spread?”

“
Can you get us out of here?”

“
We want to go home.”

“
Aren’t you going to do something?”

They had continued to inundate him with their questions until the old nurse stepped in. She had seen him go for his gun.

“
People, please. Just calm down and let the man talk. He has been through a lot today.”

Dan had used her interception to strip off the embarrassing terry cloth robe. He left his hand on his weapon in case they didn’t like what he had to say.

“
Yes, they are zombies. I have no idea how far this has spread. We are getting out of here. You are not going home. We’re going to New Castle.” Dan said with authority.

“
Why New Castle?” One person asked.

“
That Podunk?” Another chimed.

“
New Castle.” He said again, letting the name hang in the air for a second before continuing. “If you don’t like it, you can fuck off. I am going outside to get us our ride. I will then come back and get you all.”

Dan looked at their scared faces. He saw young and seasoned parents alike, their families, kids, and small babies. He hoped the bus was big enough. He had felt bad about being so rough, but felt he had no choice. “Use this time to get ready. It will be cramped, take only the essentials. The most essential thing is a weapon.”

“
I have a gun in my car.” One man had offered.

“
Then, you don’t have one.” Dan had said to the man then turned to the nurses. “You said something about a senior shuttle?”

“
It’s a bus that brings older adults to their appointments.” The heavy nurse told him.

“
Is it big enough?”

“
Should be. They park it by the ER during off hours.”

“
Great place for it.” Dan despised the idea of going near the ER. His attention then became drawn to the frosted wall of glass he had entered. Dark figures could be seen moving behind it.
They came back,
he thought to himself.

“
Is there another way down?” He asked the nurses nodding to the menacing shadows that loomed in the hall.

“
Take the service halls.” The older nurse led Dan behind the nurse’s station. “This is how they deliver supplies and medicine to all the wards.”

Dan held his ear to the plain white door. He didn’t hear anything moving or moaning behind the narrow panel. The soldier went back to Heather’s room. He stole over to her bedside and quickly kissed his wife and son. The man’s trepidation must have shown on his face because she grabbed his hand to stop him from running off.

“
What is it?” The concern in her voice was almost enough to blow his poorly faked cool. He didn’t want her to worry.

“
I have to go out and get our ride all set. I need my gear… And, to say goodbye.”

Heather pulled her husband to her and kissed him deeply. When they released he could see a tear falling down her cheek. Her eyes told him not to go, he knew his own made it evident that leaving was the last thing he wanted to do. Both of them knew it was necessary.
Someone has to go out there.

Dan took a good look at his slumbering son before he walked to the door and retrieved his rifle and the steel box.

“
I love you.” He told Heather, fearing it would be the last time.

“
I love you too.”

51

The hallway brings harsh reality and a reminder of the horror outside, compared to the romantic feel of Heather’s room; it is like a dream in there. Out here Dan sees scared faces and dangerous shadows. The dead in the main hall have started moaning and batting at the glass.

Before venturing into the unknown, Dan must prepare himself. He fills his pockets with the muzzleloader ammo after shifting objects around to make room. Becka’s razor is slide into his boot, and his cigarette pack is placed into his breast pocket under his flak jacket.

Dan isn’t certain he can load the long rifle, but he feels better having it as an option. He requests a roll of gauze from the young nurse, with it he fashions a sling so he can carry the rifle on his shoulder. He is as ready as he will ever be.

“
Everyone get back.” He commands the spectators as he draws his 9mm from his belt. He wants to be sure he has more than one shot when he breaches the service halls. Everyone cowers together in the background, watching him.

The door is pushed wide open and Dan stands back. He waits, listening. The narrow passage is pitch-black even after he switches his flashlight on. He creeps into the darkness.

The soldier shines his light in either direction. The hall dead ends to his right, a glowing red sign hangs from the ceiling and reads: EXIT. He reasons that it must open up to the main hallway.
Left it is,
he says to himself.

A red dot shines far down the narrow path. He is feeling very claustrophobic. The hall is so tight he can feel his shoulders brush the walls on either side as his weight shifts from foot to foot. His gun hand points the pistol while cradled on top of his left wrist, that way he can point the flashlight and the gun at the same time. He had seen it done this way on a million cop shows and always thought it was cool. Never in his life did he think he would have to do it, he doesn’t feel very cool at the moment.

The flashlight can only cut the darkness about fifteen feet ahead of him. Dan sweeps it along the walls and sees doors like the one he had exited from. Each is labeled with their corresponding ward: Pediatrics, NICU, PICU. He passes them and just tries to keep his focus on his goal. The red dot grows larger the closer he gets, his cheese at the end of this simple maze.

His steps are short and slow. The dot becomes four vertical dashes. He knows what it is. It is a sign like the other, telling him he has found a way out. He cannot wait to be out of this hall.

The vertical dashes turn into the most glorious word Dan has ever imagined. He is relieved that he is at the exit at last. It is made of shiny steel and is split down the middle. It takes up almost the entire wall saving only enough room on the sides for buttons. Two buttons positioned one on top of the other, each embossed with an arrow.

“
Elevator.” Dan whispers. A small placard is affixed to the large steel door of the lift: In case of emergency please take the stairs. The sign has arrows that point to the left and right.

Dan’s attention goes to the hallways that intersect the narrow one he is in. They are identical. The one to his right is labeled: West wing. That is where he will find the ER, and their means of transportation.

He passes doors as he moves through the tight black space. The label of one catches his eye: Satellite blood bank.
Satellite?
He questions.
I have never heard of satellite blood,
he laughs. He has felt tightness in his chest since he had started this leg of his journey. His dumb joke helps him relieve some of it, but not much.

52

“
This will be fun.” Oz states loudly. He no longer cares about being covert. In a few seconds he will be making a lot of noise.

The large man is hell bent on revenge. He found a tool in the bed of the grounds keeper’s truck that he really fancies. He carefully pours gas into the device’s tank. It is long like a weedwacker, at the end is a chainsaw blade about a foot and a half long.

Oz screws on the cap and primes the bulb. He yanks on the pole saw’s pull cord and it roars to life. The saw whines loudly as Oz squeezes the accelerator trigger.

He now has the rapt attention of the dead on the streets. It doesn’t strike the corpses as odd that their meal is walking towards them instead of running away. All they know is that they are hungry and they will soon have meat.

The saw is jabbed into the face of a dead businessman. It meets mild resistance before entering the zombie’s skull in less than a second. Oz pulls his weapon free and kicks the limp corpse over. He swings the long implement towards his next victim.

A teenage ghoul dressed in hip-hop garb approaches Oz. The large man carves him like a roasted turkey, straight up his middle. The pole bends under the effort Oz uses to drive the blade up through the zombie’s sternum. The bone is bisected and the blade is free. The pole straightens itself with so much force the whirling saw slaps the corpse under his chin, his head is knocked back and to the left. Oz proceeds to remove the dead man’s face.

The janitor smiles at his work. The faceless zombie stumbles around the street blind. It dawns on Oz he probably should have thought this through. He appears to be drawing quite a crowd, having captured the attention of the dead. They now appear out of the woodwork, shambling towards him from every direction. He now wonders if he should have gone on a quieter rampage.

“
New plan.” Oz states. Across the street he spots a construction site. High wooden walls surround the skeletal steel frame of a fledgling building, fencing it off. He sprints for the ten-foot high fence before the amassing dead can remove his option of movement.

The saw is tossed over the top of the wall and Oz follows it. He has to plant his foot on the wood during his jump for a little extra altitude. He lets himself fall over the other side. He finds no safe haven here. The workers of the site, fat men in tank tops despite the cold weather, greet him. He can see where some of them have been bitten, and where parts of their flabby flesh had been removed. They are right on top of him.

Pudgy fingers and meaty hands are pawing at him. Oz offers the first one his arm. The unionized zombie attempts to bite through the duct tape armor Oz had fashioned, to no avail.

“
No biting through that, huh?” The janitor laughs. He tosses the corpses off of him. The biter adamantly remains latched to him. Oz flexes his arm and hears the man’s jaw crack. Its mandible hangs limp and Oz regains his arm. He hefts the zombie briefly and sends him flying into the horde, making himself a path to charge through.

The dead man sails taking down several of his co-workers. The janitor wastes no time. He runs through the gap stepping on the back of his missile on his way to his next weapon. He has his eyes on a large yellow machine.

The steel ladder clanks as Oz climbs into the cabin of a massive steam shovel. He stares at the many levers needed to maneuver the beast, puzzled by them.
I’ll just have to learn as I go.
He turns the keys that dangle from the ignition beside the steering wheel. The engine roars and the whole machine vibrates with power.