“Fuck this” she turned the wheel, bumping up over the kerb in the middle of the small road and down into the opposite lane, then began to drive the wrong way down the street, past the exit from the car park, and down a side street beside the hospital, the words ‘No Entry’ painted upon the floor before them in large yellow letters.
Grimacing, suddenly picturing an ambulance hurtling around the side of the building and crashing into them, Victor brought the shotgun up to rest across his lap and glanced nervously about, the smashed window at his side making him feel suddenly vulnerable and exposed.
“Oh look” the surprised voice of Eric in the rear of the Land Rover had Victor turning to glance over the seats into the rear, relief coursing through him as he saw that Moonshine was stirring, his face to the floor, one hand scratching at the back of his right leg. For a moment, Victor studied his friend in silence and then turned to wink at Emily and Eric, the children sat huddled together, the pair of dogs lying down before them, “See, I told you he was going to be OK”
“Are we good?” Bella asked as he turned back around, concern in her voice and Victor nodded.
“Golden”
“Hey” the nervous voice of Emily had Victor’s stomach suddenly turning over, “What’s up with his skin…Dog?”
Grimacing, he started to turn, just as Bella steered them around the bend in the narrow road, down alongside a row of steam venting heating systems, then glanced back as he heard the former soldier curse in dread. Victor winced, one hand leaping forward to steady himself as a silver-haired man suddenly ran in front of them from a side door of hospital, the white coat that he wore, giving him the appearance of a doctor. At the last moment, the man saw them and screamed, hands raising before him as if hoping he could turn the vehicle aside with telekinesis, and grimacing, Bella swung the wheel, cursing once more as a large white-skinned figure ran in front of them, reaching for the screaming doctor as it snarled. The force of the speeding Land Rover smashed the figure hard against one of the large metal compressors, the impact almost lifting the front of the vehicle from the floor, and cursing, Victor had to stop himself from hitting the windscreen. Grimacing, the front view of the vehicle obscured by rushing steam, Victor opened his door and staggered out, raising the shotgun before him as he stepped around to the front of the vehicle and stared at the figure they had just hit, grimacing as he saw that it was dead, its rib cage and chest crushed by the impact, its hands hanging down to rest upon the bonnet.
“Dog!” the sudden voice of Bella had him tensing, and turning, he pushed past the open door of the Land Rover, shutting it then hurried around the back of the vehicle to find Bella standing beside the grey haired man that they had nearly hit as he stood bent at the waist, hands on his knees.
“Are you hurt?” Victor asked as he approached, and the doctor glanced up, then flinched, hands raising before him as he saw the shotgun.
“Don’t hurt me!”
“Easy” Bella told him, a hand resting upon his left shoulder, “We are here looking for help…we aren’t going to hurt you”
At her words, the man gave a bitter chuckle, his head shaking as he glanced up at the building and then over at the figure they had crushed, “You came here for help…that place is a place of the dead…there’s no safety in there…none…”
Blinking, Victor turned his head to meet the gaze of Bella, his mouth opening only to snap his head around as the children began to scream in terror in the back of the Land Rover, the dogs barking and growling only for something to snarl back.
Heart in his mouth, Victor was running, Bella at his side, and in seconds he was at the back of the vehicle, the shotgun raised before him as the former soldier cast him a grim look and then opened the door wide. Within the rear of the Land Rover a white-skinned hairless figure was crouching above the gasping form of Emily, one hand fastened to her throat as it roared into her features, her younger brother lying nearby with a bloody nose, blinking in confusion, while the pair of dogs snapped and bit at their attacker, jerking and twisting away each time it turned to swing its free arm at them. As if time seemed to slow, Victor stared at the figure, eyes taking in the Forestry Commission uniform that it was wearing, and then he was shouting in denial, his heart breaking within him, “Moonshine!”
The figure turned in his direction, blinking for a moment, that awful, foul-smelling gunk running from his beige eyes and then it roared in hatred, no sign of recognition upon its pale features.
“Shoot it!” Bella yelled as she darted in to snatch Eric in her arms, her voice loud in his ear and Victor stepped forwards to the back of the Land Rover, the gun aiming for the face of his friend and then he suddenly reversed it, leaning in as he struck it hard in the face with the butt. With a grunt, the figure swayed backwards, rising slightly, its hand releasing its grip upon the throat of the teenage girl, and cursing in anger, Victor struck it once more, this time bringing the butt of the shotgun down on the figures left leg.
With a howl of agony, it tried to rise, banging its head off the interior roof of the Land Rover, and toppled backwards, and gripping the shotgun one handed, Victor grasped at Emily’s right arm, dragging her out from the back of the vehicle, the dogs, Lexie and Castiel leaping out with them.
“Dog!” the warning cry from Bella had the former priest flinching, then crying out in shock and pain as something grasped at his dreadlocks, dragging him back inside the rear of the Land Rover, the shotgun falling from his hand. He cried out in pain as the white-skinned figure of Moonshine scrambled atop him, both hands reaching down to hammer into Victor’s chest, drawing an agonized scream from him as one struck where he had collided with the tree back in the woodland. Blinking past the pain that was coursing through him, Victor swung his arms, blocking several of the punches but then grunted as a powerful blow struck him in the forehead, sending his vision hazy. Arms feeling as if they were as heavy as lead, Victor stared up at the hate filled features of the figure atop him, somehow finding the familiar features of his friend Moonshine amid the cracked and calloused skin, and then watched as the fists began to swing quickly down towards his face.
There was a sudden scream of anger from beside him, and then the shotgun sounded, loud in the rear of the vehicle, the force of the weapons discharge throwing Moonshine half over the front seats, the creature screeching in agony.
“Dog!” Bella was suddenly there as she reached in to drag him out, and blinking hard to clear his vision, forcing himself to stand, Victor swung his legs to the ground and stepped away from the Land Rover to stand unsteadily beside Bella, surprised to find the doctor with them, a dazed looking Eric in his arms, Emily standing nearby, a hand on her throat, a haunted look in her eyes.
“We need to go!” Bella stated, taking a step away from the vehicle, and grimacing, Victor turned his head, watching in disbelief as the thing that had been Moonshine suddenly dragged itself from where it had been half-sprawled over the front seats, snarling in hatred as it rushed at them.
Cursing, Bella raised the shotgun and fired, the hammers coming down on dead shells and Victor grimaced, raising his fists then cursed as the dogs surged past him, teeth snapping. The sudden impact of the pair threw the white-skinned Moonshine back inside the vehicle, the Land Rover lurching as the dogs fought savagely with it, and cursing, Bella called out to them, the voice of Emily joining in with her, both of them frantic.
With a roar, Moonshine suddenly grasped at the smaller black and white shape of Lexi as she sank her teeth into his broken leg, and raised her before him, a quick twist of his arms breaking her front leg, the dog howling in agony. With a roar of triumph, it cast her aside, the whimpering canine sliding from the rear of the vehicle to land on the ground outside and snarling, Moonshine made to follow only to stagger back as the larger Castiel hammered against its chest, teeth fastening about his throat. Screeching, the white-skinned figure grasped at the dog, strong hands squeezing at its ribs, drawing a yelp from the German Shepherd but still it clung to the
throat of its victim, head shaking in a terrible fury.
With a crash, they slammed back against the interior of the vehicle, and fell apart, the white-skinned figure reaching for the rear of the Land Rover only to snarl as the badly wounded dog grasped at its broken leg, dragging him back inside, the enraged thrashing of Moonshine causing the rear of the Land Rover to slam shut.
Screaming in denial, Bella was suddenly beside the whimpering form of Lexi, passing Victor the empty shotgun as she scooped the border collie up into her arms, her head shaking, and gritting his teeth, Victor grimaced, “We have to go!”
“Castiel!” she shook her head in denial, “No!”
An agonized whimper suddenly sounded from within the rear of the vehicle, taken up by the wounded Lexi in the former soldiers arms, and then the white features of Moonshine were against the rear window, snarling in hatred.
“We should go” the voice of the doctor sounded, drawing the gaze of Victor, the man’s features filled with fear as he shook his head, “There are more inside…so many more…we need to go now”
Gritting her teeth, Bella nodded, “Which way?”
The doctor winced, “I was going to take an ambulance and get out of here, taking anyone I could with me”
“Which way?” Victor took a step towards the doctor, one hand holding out the shotgun as he took the semi-conscious Eric into his arms.
Wincing, the doctor took the gun, then shook his head, “I cant use this…my Hippocratic oath”
“Its not loaded” Bella grimaced, stepping alongside Victor, one hand stroking the dog that she held in her arms, “Now, show us the way to the ambulances”
Chapter Twenty Five
“Keep going!” Alice urged those about her as they charged down the stairs, their small group reaching the mid-way landing towards the first floor as one, Lauren and Brandon in front, followed by she and Jiyaa with Geri bringing up the rear, cursing like a sailor. Gritting her teeth, casting a glance at the Sikh woman that she was still leading by the hand, the woman holding her yellow robe up as she ran, Alice nodded and then turned forwards once more, grimacing as she saw the backs of the ginger man Peter, and the security guard Nick as they ran on ahead, half a level in front of them, the pair on the first floor.
Just feet ahead of the pair, the door suddenly swung open to reveal a tall young man with dark hair, and high-cheek boned features etched with fear as he raced from the corridor beyond, his white porter uniform stained with fresh blood.
The young man let out a grunt as Peter struck him hard in the stomach as he charged past, dropping him to his knees, and then the security guard, Nick, brought the mop handle down hard across the back of the porters head, sending him crashing to the floor of the landing, groaning.
“Leave him alone, you animals!” the cry of Lauren was loud in the stairwell, as the women and Brandon reached the landing, but the pair were gone, charging ahead down the stairs once more.
In seconds, they were at the side of the young man who was already struggling to rise, a hand moving to the back of his head, and cursing, Alice released her grip on Jiyaa and helped him stand, then gently began to coax him, “Dude, come on, we need to get out of here!”
The young man blinked, his eyes a bright blue filled with tears, as he gestured back through the closed door beside them, “These things…”
“Aye, we know!” Geri shouted, pushing at their backs, as she glanced over her shoulder, “There are more of tha fuckers back there…go, go, go!”
As Lauren began to lead Brandon down the next flight of stairs towards the ground floor, Jiyaa moved to the other side of the porter, helping him to walk, just as Alice and the nurse had helped the woman Jennifer leave the elevator, while Geri followed behind, urging them all on.
“Oh no” Lauren paused, head turning back to look up at the others, her features filled with terror, “A&E was filled with them earlier!”
“Well, we cannae go back up!” Geri snapped, looking past Alice, Jiyaa and the porter in shock.
“Where are those pricks?” Alice grunted, releasing her grip on the young man as she moved down to step past Lauren, her heart hammering in her chest as she found that Nick and Peter were nowhere to be seen at all.
Releasing a shaky sigh, she turned her head, staring back up in to the five sets of eyes that were focused upon her, and she winced, “Come on, if we can get through A&E we can make it to the car park…do you have cars?”
“Ah came on tha fucking bus” the Scots woman shook her head, a finger pushing her glasses back up her nose, and Alice nodded back up at her.
“You come with me…Jiyaa you too, anyone else?”
“I have a moped” the porter winced, head shaking, and Alice grimaced, glancing at Lauren.
“Tell me you have a car”
The nurse nodded, and the embalmer forced a smile, “Right, we’ll split between the cars”
Without another word, she turned, edging down the remaining stairs to the ground floor, grimacing as the sounds of shouting suddenly rose up from beyond the doors that stood ahead.
Heart in her mouth, Alice stepped closer, glanced back to discover the others were close behind her, and then slowly she opened the door a fraction, peering out into the open area beyond.
For a moment, she frowned, angling her head as she stared out through the crack, trying not to focus upon the countless bloody bodies that littered the floor of the accident and emergency waiting room that lay beyond the doors. Turning her head, she let her gaze drift over the elevator that they had tried to escape in earlier, then flicked to the side as she saw sudden movement, her stomach lurching in dread as she saw a large cluster of the ghouls fighting desperately to get inside the door of the hospital shop, shock coursing through her as she saw the faces of Nick and Peter staring back out through the window.
They were trapped and surrounded by ghouls.
Smiling grimly, unashamed to feel pleasure at their potential face considering all they had done, Alice turned her head, frowning as she saw her five companions all standing back beside the bottom of the stairs, their eyes staring down. Shaking her head, she moved back to them, edging past Lauren, and following the nurse’s gaze, a gasp escaping her as she saw Jennifer.
Somehow as she had moved down the last section of stairway, her eyes glued to the door, Alice had failed to notice the mangled body of the unfortunate woman, bent as it was in the gap beside the railings, her arms and legs bent at sickening angles, her features mashed flat as she lay in a growing pool of her escaping body fluids.
Fighting the shout of anger that threatened to escape her, Alice raised her gaze from Jennifer and turned to each of her companions in turn, her voice a whisper, “We can get out…but we have to be quiet”
“What?” Geri shook her head, matching the volume of Alice’s voice, “Are there nae of tha bastards out thare, hen?”
“Dozens of them” Alice nodded, raising her hands to stop anyone else from speaking, “But they are distracted, for the time being at least”
“How?” the soft voice of Lauren had Alice turning to meet her gaze, emotion catching in her throat as she saw that the nurse was holding Brandon to her, a hand stroking his head as if to calm him.
“Nick and Peter…they’ve got themselves trapped in the hospital shop” Alice nodded, turning to look at the Scots woman as Geri gave a chuckle.
“Serves tha wankers right”
She nodded, then glanced at the porter as he spoke, his voice thick with dread, “Can we get past them without being seen?”
“I think so…I hope so” the embalmer nodded, then shrugged, “We have to try…but we have to be quiet…if they hear us…if they see us…”
She let her words trail off but the message was clear, even Jiyaa seeming to understand and taking a deep breath, Alice moved back to the door, glancing at her companions once more, smiling sadly, “If it goes wrong…run”
“Where to?” the porter asked, sounding as if he was on the verge of a panic a
ttack and Alice shook her head, shrugging as she replied to him.
“I don’t know…just run…try and keep someone with you…good luck”
Reaching out, she placed her hand on the door handle once more, then froze as she felt a hand on her forearm, head turning to find the nurse, Lauren, smiling weakly at her, “Thank you”
“What for?”
“Back in the elevator, you saved me”
Alice nodded, smiling, “I’ll see you outside”
Without another word, she opened the door a crack and peered through, grimacing as she watched the group of ghouls trying to get inside the shop, the shouts and jeers of the two men inside loud over the snarls of the enraged beasts.
Nodding, Alice opened the door and stepped back, holding it wide as she gestured for the others to go through; Lauren and Brandon first, then Jiyaa and the porter, then Geri, the Scots woman pausing to gesture for her to follow, and wincing, Alice closed the door quietly behind her.
As it closed with a barely audible click, Alice turned her head, feeling suddenly dizzy with dread as she surveyed the scene before her.
Almost halfway across the foyer towards the exit, Lauren was leading Brandon by the hand, the young black man holding his book across his eyes, while five feet behind them, Jiyaa and the porter were walking with slow, deliberate steps, the Sikh holding her robe about her calves with both hands, the young man with his hands on his head as if he was about to pull his own hair out.
Wincing, Alice turned her head meeting the gaze of Geri as the admin gestured for her to follow, and then the pair of them slowly made their way through the foyer of the hospital, picking their way among the mutilated bodies upon the floor.
Flinching as a chorus of snarling arose from over to their left, Alice paused mid-step and turned her head, watching as a cluster of ghouls began to move away from the door along the hospital shop window, snarling at the figure of Nick as he in turn stared past them at the escaping woman, his bearded features twisted into an angry grimace.
Ghoul: The Beginning Page 14