by Smith, I. J.
Suddenly a loud scream echoed through the corridors.
She turned to see a doctor running towards her. Behind her a man stumbled. Then he was falling against another nurse. Raven looked on in shock as the man suddenly took a bite into the nurse’s neck. Tearing the flesh away, blood sprayed everywhere.
Everyone else began to run as more stumbling people appeared.
“What the hell!” she uttered.
Raven felt a cold hand grab her arm. Looking down she could see the dead child attempting to bite her.
“FUCK!” she screamed out.
She managed to push the child away. Raven ran back towards the entrance, but was stopped by more people being attacked. Blood covered the floors. Raven watched as the sick began eating the living. A man rushed passed her, knocking Raven to the ground. He made no attempt to help her and ran towards the entrance, but was stopped by several sick people attacking him. Raven lay in a puddle of blood, struggling to get to her feet. A figure appeared over her. She looked up to see a large woman, her mouth covered in blood and loose flesh. Raven noticed the eyes were dead, just a misty white. The large woman reached out for Raven.
Raven kicked the large woman in the kneecaps hard, forcing her to fall back. Raven kept slipping but finally managed to get back to her feet.
Leaving bloody footprints in her path, she ran away from the carnage. Running along a corridor, she was stopped in her tracks when more of these infected appeared, blocking her path. She crashed through the door of a nearby office. Slamming the door shut and locking it, she could hear the infected banging against the door. In a panic she pushed over a file cabinet to block the door. Almost in tears she looked around the office, she ran to a desk and picked up the telephone. There was no dial tone, the line was completely dead. She slammed the phone back down. The groaning noise outside the door grew louder.
Raven backed away from the door, until she was stopped by a large indoor plant. Turning to see a window, in her panic she had not noticed it before. She attempted to open it but it was locked and there was no key visible.
Raven heard a cracking noise, turning back to the door she could see it beginning to break. Without a second thought she pulled the plant from the pot, throwing it to the ground. She lifted the heavy pot and threw it against the window, glass shattered everywhere. Raven wasted no time in climbing though the broken window, she cut her hand on the way through, but showed no concern by it.
Once outside, she ran. Screaming echoed out around the building. People ran, escaping the infected.
Raven ran into the road without looking, the screeching of wheels sounded out. Raven stopped to see a police car just inches from her. An overweight bald police officer got out of the car, standing in the road he looked at a lady dressed in hospital scrubs and covered in blood.
He ordered her, “DON’T MOVE!”
He started to pull his only real weapon a Taser. Raven was frozen stiff with fear and not because of the police officer aiming a weapon at her. A second officer appeared from the car, he was much slimmer and younger, short brown hair with a look of fear on his face. He was looking beyond the woman covered in blood and towards the people attacking each other. Shocked he could see them ravaging each other.
The police officer with the Taser moved closer to Raven. His fellow officer shouted out, “DAVE!”
Before Dave could react, someone grabbed him from behind and sunk their teeth into the back of his neck. Blood sprayed through the air, Raven screamed as the other officer ran to grab her. Pulling her away from a small swarm of ravenous humans, he pushed her into the police car, and quickly he jumped in the driver’s seat. As he started trying to drive away, a group of people covered in blood, chunks of flesh and bone hanging from their faces attacked the car. The officer wasted no time, in ramming the car into reverse and drove backwards with speed, swinging the car around he raced away from the scene.
CHAPTER THREE
LOCKDOWN
In a secret room, in a secret location, Officials are working hard to discover what went wrong with the test in Gosport.
Reports were flooding in of chaos, humans feeding on others, people being declared dead and then waking up attacking others.
A female Army officer entered the room escorted by guards.
“Captain Jenkins, please take a seat!” she was told by a large bald man.
She sat at the end of a long table, looking around she watched as phones rang constantly, monitors on the wall flashing with warning messages, computer operators worked rapidly to relay information.
The one thing she did notice, was not one name was spoken. These kinds of people never used names.
The large bald man took a seat next to Captain Jenkins. Clearing his throat, he spoke, “Congratulations, your security level has been raised. Everything you learn here is deemed Top Secret, speaking about anything you hear now will result in a trial for treason. Understand?”
“Yes Sir!” she simply replied.
The bald man rubbed his hands together. “Earlier today, a weapons test went wrong. What was meant to be a trial, turned into an outbreak. A chemical was released into the atmosphere of a small town called Gosport on the south coast. This test has resulted in unforeseen results, it is killing people and the dead are rising and feeding on the living, in turn turning them into more monsters,” he told Jenkins.
Without thinking she laughed. “Come on this is a joke, right?” she asked.
The bald man’s expression did not change, that was the exact moment she knew it was not a joke.
The color drained from her face, she grabbed a glass of water and downed it all at once, her only thought was that she wished that it was Vodka. It took a moment for the situation to sink into her brain.
“I take it you have asked me here for a reason?” Captain Jenkins asked.
The bald man looked around the room at everyone working.
“Everyone here is an asset, they have one goal and that is to do their duty. Now I need to know if you will do yours?” he asked.
After a short pause, she knew there was no choice but to obey or disappear to a dark room somewhere and never be seen again.
“I follow orders and everything I do is for my country,” she replied with a strong voice.
For the first time the bald man smiled. “We are doing a lockdown of the south, but whatever these things are, they will break through. It is the plan to isolate England and eventually evacuate as many as possible,” he told her.
Before he finished Jenkins interrupted, “I can have military personal shipped back from the middle-east and ready for the evacuation in ten hours.”
“That will not be necessary! We want you to keep certain personnel out of this and away from the country. There is no need to lose more lives than is necessary,” the bald man told her softly.
The bald man stood up. “It will not be long before we announce the evacuation. We have soldiers ready to protect us while we continue to resolve this. I suggest you consider flying out of the country to one of the camps and await our orders,” he told her.
Standing up, Captain Jenkins was shocked to see the bald man wave her away. She was once again escorted to the doors. Once out of sight, she could not contain it any longer and was sick all over the floor. The pure shock of what she heard had shaken her to the core.
CHAPTER FOUR
RUN!
Raven sat in the passenger seat of the police car, her hands were shaking. No matter how hard she tried they would not stop.
“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?” the officer screamed.
Raven was in shock. “Dead, they were dead and then they were alive. Then…they attacked,” Raven spoke in a confusing voice.
The officer was driving at crazy speeds. He was speeding alongside a beach when he hit the brakes, coming to a violent stop.
He grabbed his radio hand set. “This is 184 calling in an emergency, I repeat this is 184…” he was saying when the radio started a beeping noise.
&n
bsp; Raven looked at him. “What’s that?” she asked.
“It’s an emergency signal, all radio contact has been blocked,” he replied softly.
Raven could see the fear in his eyes. “My name is Raven, yours?” she asked.
He frowned as he stared out the window towards the ocean. “Gregg,” he uttered quietly.
As they sat there in silence cars were speeding past them, people were running along the beach screaming. Raven watched as a woman and child tried running but slipped, within moments two dead things were on them and tearing at the flesh.
“It’s fucking zombies!” Gregg stated.
“Zombies do not exist,” Raven replied slowly.
“They’re dead and they are eating people. They are zombies!” he said angrily.
Raven watched the woman and child get ripped apart. “We need to go!” Raven told Gregg.
“Where?” he asked.
As the fear in her grew she screamed, “ANYWHERE JUST GO!”
Within seconds he put his foot down and they sped away from the chaos.
“Do you have a mobile phone?” Raven asked.
Gregg dug deep into his pocket and handed her a small black phone. Still shaking she began dialing, before she could put in the last number a beep echoed from the phone, one similar to the radio.
Gregg looked Raven. “All communication has been blocked,” he told her.
She continued to try the mobile phone. He looked again and grabbed the phone from her violently. “There is no point, there must be a terror alert on. To prevent communication by terrorists all communications will be shutdown. There is no one listening,” he told her bluntly.
“Where are we going?” she asked him. While staring at the dried blood on her hands.
“Portsmouth! My wife and kids are there,” he replied.
Raven realized at that moment what must have been running through Gregg’s head.
“I’m sorry. Thank you, thank you for saving me,” she told him gently.
He glanced with a smile.
Helicopters and Chinooks flew overhead. Looking up, he could see they were destined for the naval base.
The roads were mayhem with people attempting to escape the chaos. They reached an archway of a bridge that ran over the road. Military vehicles blocked the road, soldiers armed with guns stood in front preventing anyone from exiting the town.
A soldier stood on top of a truck with a megaphone.
“PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR HOMES, THIS AREA IS NOW UNDER QUARANTINE. WE ARE HERE TO PROTECT YOU!” the soldier informed everyone.
Shouting and screams towards the soldiers continued. Gregg and Raven left the car and walked towards the soldiers.
Gregg showed his warrant card. “I need to get to my family,” he told them while trying to walk past. He was quickly pushed back.
Raven watched as he argued with the soldier, screams started to develop behind her. She turned to see zombies, swarms of them heading towards the living.
Gregg grabbed Raven’s hand and once again tried to push through the blockade. He stopped when a soldier aimed a gun at his head. “There is no escape!” the soldier shouted at Gregg.
As a mass of living attempted to get past the blockade, the soldiers began to open fire on them. Gregg dragged Raven away towards a metal fence; he looked over to see water that led out of the area.
“Can you swim?” he asked her.
Raven nodded her head.
Before he could respond the zombies were upon them, they ran further along the fence trying to get away. A zombie grabbed his arm and sunk its teeth into his flesh, tearing the muscle from his bones. As blood sprayed, he screamed in pain.
As Raven looked at him, Gregg shouted out, “RUN! RUN! RUN!”
Raven turned and ran. She reached the edge of the fence, looking down at the deepest water.
“RUN!” she heard Gregg scream again.
As the sun set, she climbed the fence, taking one last look around her. She could see the zombies tearing into the living, gunshots being fired, screams of help all around her.
Suddenly a zombie grabbed her shoe, she kicked off her sneaker making the zombie fall back and she jumped.
Disappearing into the dark water below.
SHORT STORY TWO
DEAD & ALIVE
RAVEN
CHAPTER ONE
ALIVE
A barefoot woman was laying in mud, on the bank of a waterway by a golf course. The woman’s clothes were filthy, her hair and face were also covered with mud.
The water was rising, and the sound of gunshots could be heard. At an area by the large golf course was a boat dock. People were scrambling on to their boats and heading down the waterway towards the mouth of the ocean.
A slim woman was walking along the edge of the water by the golf course, she looked out of place. Short blonde hair, a pair of miss matched trainers, jean shorts and a black vest. What really stood out was the large machete she carried around with her.
She was not aware that she was walking closer and closer to where the woman was lying in the mud.
As the slim woman walked closer, she heard a groan, instantly she held the machete up ready to attack.
A groan sounded out again. The slim woman walked closer to the water, and finally she could see the woman in the mud. The slim woman looked worried as she carefully approached the woman.
“You alive?” The slim woman asked.
The woman in the mud groaned again.
“I guess not. Goodbye, you dead fuck!” she said in anger.
Suddenly the woman in the mud spoke.
“Help me!” she asked.
The slim woman was about to stab person in the head when she heard the woman speak, trying to miss hitting her, the slim woman slammed the machete in the mud and fell backwards.
“SHIT!” The slim woman said, looking at her hands covered in mud.
She watched as the barefoot woman tried to push herself up, she managed to wipe away the hair covering her eyes and noticed the slim woman sitting in the mud.
“Hello!” she said.
The slim woman looked angry. “Hi, silly place to sleep!” she stated.
The woman in the mud looked confused, she pushed herself up and looked over the water to the bridge in the distance.
“Who are you?” The slim woman asked.
Without hesitation the woman replied, “Raven.”
The slim woman smiled. “I’m Sarah,” she replied.
“So, Raven, what are you doing sleeping in the mud?” Sarah asked.
Raven looked upset. “They attacked us. The soldiers attacked us. Then these... things came after us. I jumped over a fence into the water,” Raven replied.
Sarah got back to her feet. “Yeah, the place has gone crazy. Zombies and shit!” she said.
Sarah helped Raven to her feet.
“Zombies??” Raven replied.
Sarah made no reply and simply nodded with a frown. Grabbing her machete, she began to walk away. Raven stood looking lost, Sarah turned around to look at her.
“You coming?” Sarah asked with a smile.
Raven looked relieved and quickly rushed to catch up to Sarah.
They both walked around the edge of the golf course towards a large white mansion.
“We were having a works party here and all this happened, so we stayed,” Sarah laughed.
As they walked off the grass and onto a gravel path, someone was approaching them. They quickly noticed the male in front of them wasn’t alive. He was covered in blood with a large chunk of his neck missing from a bite.
Raven stopped and backed up. She was shocked by what she saw next.
Still holding the machete, Sarah ran at the zombie. Slicing the blade into its stomach, she quickly kicked out sending the zombie flying to the ground. Sarah then started stomping on the zombie’s head. Raven watched as it’s skull shatter and its brains squish like a grape.
Sarah skipped away, “Come on, we are having breakfast!”
she shouted back.
Raven walked slowly passed the finally dead body, she was still wearing her blue scrubs. Her feet were bleeding and she left a trail of blood behind her.
She looked at the body and then at Sarah.
“This has got to be a fucking nightmare!” she muttered to herself while she followed Sarah into the mansion.
CHAPTER TWO
WHITE HOME
Sarah led the way, they had to climb in through a front window to gain entry into the mansion.
“This is the only way in, everything else is blocked,” Sarah said, as she climbed over the window ledge and into the building.
Raven was concerned about going inside the mansion, but figured it was safer inside than outside with the dead. As Raven climbed through the window, Sarah noticed there was blood dripping from Raven’s foot.
“Ouch! That looks painful. Come on, I will get you cleaned up!” Sarah said, while helping Raven come the rest of the way through the window.
Sarah helped Raven limp through a large dining room. Voices could be heard echoing throughout the large house. People could be heard laughing and cheering as Sarah and Raven approached a large waiting area. Walking inside, they could see the room was packed with luxury furniture. People were lounging around drinking bottles of champagne.
A chanting could be heard, “DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!”
Raven was mortified to see people cheering as a woman danced naked on top of a large table.
As everyone screamed in a drunken joy, Sarah lost her temper.
“ARE YOU ALL FUCKING SERIOUS! ITS GONE TO HELL OUT THERE AND YOU’RE HERE PARTYING?” Sarah screamed out.
A well-dressed man stood from a large leather chair, “Join the party. The military will soon fix things and we will have to go back to our boring lives!” he said, with a smile on his face.
Sarah looked at the small, red haired man. He was short, but built.