by T. L. Frost
“What the fuck are you doing asshole?!” She shrieked.
Merrick pushed and Chantelle fell to the ground with a thump, a stunned look on her face as she looked upwards, seeing Merrick close the door. The truck moved slowly backwards, picking up speed. Chantelle stood shouting and swearing, her voice rising to fever pitch as she hurled insults and threats. As Merrick stopped the truck far enough away to be safe, they watched as Chantelle abruptly stopped shouting. Looking to her right she gave a loud scream and turned and ran in the opposite direction. The mob of zombies chased after her, screams and moans loud as they all disappeared out of sight in pursuit.
“Anyone have a problem with that?” Asked Merrick to Bridget and Dan.
“Nope, no problem at all.” Answered Bridget.
“I never liked her show anyway.” Said Dan.
Merrick smiled and drove the truck to the radio station, parking it in front of the entrance and stepping out. He could see desks and filing cabinets being moved from behind the doors and he waited until they finally opened. Natalie stepped out with a big smile on her face.
“Well you took your time getting here.” She said.
“You know how it is.” Replied Merrick “Traffic was murder.”
==============
Part Four: MALL
Mall
Chris was a paramedic, he used to drive an ambulance. His crew had been stationed at the Mall when it was designated as an emergency waiting area for the sick and dying. A small town of temporary first-aid tents had been set up, filling the car parks. The owners of the Mall had refused to let the actual building be used but they had managed to keep it open for business, right up until the outbreak had turned deadly. Everyone had been caught off guard as the dead piled up, mourning the loss of so many until, without warning, they had started to come back and kill. As he stood on the rooftop looking out, Chris thought about all the supplies the Mall contained. Food, water, clothing, fuel, the list was practically endless. It could support him and his small group of survivors for months.
“Pity we’re not in there.” He said to himself as he gazed around from the roof of the large toy store, thousands of undead could be seen, wandering around between them and the Mall.
Chapter 1
Lynn was tired, very tired. When they had set up the first aid tents they didn’t know the response would be so overwhelming. Sick people came streaming in, some by themselves, others brought by relatives or friends. As a triage nurse Lynn had to decide who needed help and who could be sent away. It had been hectic the first few days, nobody realising the scale of the problem until the roads started filling up. People began leaving their vehicles, blocking the nearby motorway, desperate for help or a cure. But there was no cure, nobody had seen anything like it before and all the medicines they tried seemed to have no effect. She had heard talk of a new vaccine being trialled in London but that was just wishful thinking, it took a long time to create any sort of new drug and this flu had hit with lightning speed. As she headed for a small rest tent the medical staff had set up, she nodded and gave a tired smile to some of her colleagues, most were ill too but battled on, doing their jobs.
“Hey Lynn!” Came a voice.
She looked over and saw Peter, one of the doctors, sitting at a small table.
“You look terrible.” Said Peter as she sat down opposite him with a strong coffee.
“Thanks Pete, you really know how to lift a girl’s spirits.” She replied.
Peter looked far worse, the flu had given him a washed out look, pale sunken cheeks and watery eyes, but he still managed to keep going. Lynn thought maybe he was self-medicating but said nothing, they needed every person they could get.
“Get some sleep and I might start telling you how pretty you are again.” Peter said with a smile.
“Who could resist a charming offer like that?” Said Lynn returning the smile “Any news?”
Peter shook his head “Very little, looks like all of the emergency stations are in the same state as us. People pouring in and it’s getting worse, the next stage has begun and it’s as bad as we feared.”
Peter looked worried and Lynn wasn’t surprised. The next stage of a virulent disease like this was death and she had already seen a lot of bodies being taken away. Usually by the army reservists who had been drafted in to help. She had heard that the nearby multi-story car park was being used to store the dead, the ground floor level had all of the near terminal cases.
“Well I need some sleep or I’ll be dead on my feet.” Said Lynn rising.
“I’ll send room service to wake you.” Replied Peter with a strained smirk.
Lynn waved goodbye, grabbing a stale cheese sandwich and another coffee on her way to the staff tents. She was sharing one with three other nurses, four slim camp beds crammed into the small space. When she went inside she was glad to see that the others were all out. As she ate her sandwich she checked her phone for messages but the signal was weak and she turned it off to save the battery. Falling back gratefully onto the thin mattress she hoped she wouldn’t be disturbed for a while, a few moments later she was asleep, exhaustion taking over.
Chapter 2
Chris pushed the wheeled stretcher from his ambulance as fast as he dared. The road was bumpy and the patient was seriously injured. His co-driver Mick was clearing the way through the crowds of people who were milling about seeking help.
“This is ridiculous!” Said Mick as he tried to help move the patient while walking backwards, looking over his shoulder “Why aren’t the army here controlling the new arrivals?”
“They are.” Replied Chris, nodding to a couple of harassed looking army reservists “Most of them are sick too though, there just aren’t enough people.”
Chris had parked quite far away, he had to. The roads around the emergency treatment centre were congested and blocked, he hadn’t wanted to risk the ambulance being blocked in. That meant he had to push the wheeled stretcher, with the help of Mick, over the rough road surfaces to get to the doctors. It was the quickest way but not very comfortable for the patient. They had found him on the way back from an emergency call, his car crashed into another, arms and face cut badly from the shattered windscreen. Chris had used their last bag of saline to force fluids into the man but he knew his chances were slim, he had lost a lot of blood and was unconscious. They were in the main parking area of the Mall when Mick called a halt. Placing his fingers against the patient’s neck he concentrated, then leaned forward to listen to his breathing.
“Damn it!” He said in frustration “He’s gone.”
Chris checked for a pulse too, shaking his head as he found none.
“We did all we could Mick.” He said.
His partner looked exhausted, the run from the ambulance taking a lot out of him, combined with the flu which he had been fighting against since the day before. He looked pale and sick but had never complained, just concentrated on helping others. Now a look of resignation crossed his features as he sat, leaning against the wall of a small raised area filled with flowers.
“I thought we’d make it.” Said Mick quietly, closing his eyes as he rested.
“He was too far gone, at least we gave him a chance.” Replied Chris as he covered the dead man with a thin white sheet.
Chris tried to see over the crowd but it was no use, too many people were pushing forward to seek help.
“Come on Mick, we’ll have to go around.” Said Chris as he took hold of the wheeled stretcher again.
“You go ahead Chris, I’m going to stay here and rest a while. That last run took a lot out of me.” Replied Mick folding his arms across his knees and resting his head on them.
Chris hesitated a second but then agreed, his friend looked terrible, completely drained, he would have to manage on his own while he rested. Pulling the stretcher away from the crowd, he circled around to the left, heading for the medical staff’s area, hoping to get to the doctors’ tents so someone could pronounce the time of death
on the dead man. The crowd thinned as he moved, enough for him to get through to the temporary barrier manned by one of the army reservists, a young man who looked worried as he scanned the large crowd of people. Chris showed him his ID.
“Go right through sir.” He said, not paying much attention.
When he was inside the staff area Chris looked around but the reservist had gone. Pushing the stretcher on towards the treatment tents, Chris was surprised by how few people were there. He stopped behind a tent, opening its rear door to look for a doctor but all he saw was chaos. More of the army, some regulars and some reservists were there, Chris noticed that the regulars were armed now, standing back watching as the few remaining medical staff tried in vain to help people.
“What’s happened? Where are the rest of our people?” Asked Chris to one of the soldiers.
“Most are too ill to work now.” He replied while trying to keep an eye on the noisy, unhappy crowd “Some have left, people are getting angry.” And he nodded toward the crowd of people “Fights have been breaking out all over. We will have to pull out soon.”
“Pull out?!” Asked Chris in shock “But what about the sick?”
“Look around.” Said the soldier with a grim expression “There are too many, the dead are piling up faster than we can get them out of sight and the others have noticed, they’re scared and scared people are dangerous.”
The soldier stepped to the front of the tent, shouting at a man to back off after he tried to grab a doctor while screaming in his face. Chris shook his head in disbelief, it was all falling apart. He tried to get the attention of a doctor but the crowd was too loud, too out of control, then he felt a hand grip his wrist. Looking around in surprise he saw the dead man’s arm sticking out from under the white sheet, his hand holding tight, Chris pulled back, trying to free his arm, then the dead man’s head lifted, the sheet falling down as he struggled against the straps holding him to the stretcher.
“What the…!” Said Chris in surprise.
The dead man’s eyes opened, they were a pale grey colour, his pale face covered in dark, almost black patches as he looked around, his gaze fixing on Chris.
“It can’t be!” Said Chris pulling harder, trying to break the grip.
The dead man’s mouth opened wide, lips pulled back in a snarl and he screamed, loud and angry, a terrifying sound which made Chris jump back, finally freeing his wrist. The dead man’s mouth snapped on nothing as he tried to bite Chris, who stumbled back from the stretcher in shock. Then other screams sounded from all around. Chris looked up as he heard some coming from the nearby multi-story car park, where the dead were being stored. From inside the treatment tents he could hear raised voices, shouting in alarm, then gun fire, flashes of light just visible through the thin walls of the tent. A soldier came running out, looking around with wild, terrified eyes.
“What’s happening?!” Asked Chris.
But the soldier ignored him and ran, heading away from the tent. A doctor came out holding his arm, blood pouring from a wound as he tried to get away.
“Are you ok?!” Asked Chris, grabbing the man and helping him stay upright.
“We need to get out of here!” He replied “They’ve gone crazy!”
And he pulled away, leaving Chris standing alone as he also ran. More screams were coming from the tent, sounds of fighting and furniture being smashed, Chris backed away. From behind, the screams were answered again, and Chris turned to look. On the second floor, people were moving, a lot of them, and he watched unbelieving as some climbed over the low walls to fall onto the pavement below, landing with sickening cracks and crunches as bones broke or splintered. Yet they still kept coming and Chris watched for a moment as, even with broken legs or arms, they crawled towards him. After that he ran too, heading for the exit from the staff area. On the way a nurse stumbled from a tent, half awake, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Chris grabbed her and dragged her along.
“Run!” He shouted “Don’t ask questions, just run!”
Chapter 3
Lynn woke with a start, sure she had heard a scream, but that was nothing new. There were so many people about, sick and scared that there was always some sort of noise going on. She rolled over and tried to go back to sleep then heard another scream, this time closer.
“Dammit.” She said “Can’t get five minutes peace.”
Swinging her legs off the bed she sat half asleep. Reaching for her watch she checked the time. She had slept for just over an hour. Then she heard another scream and another.
“What the hell is going on?” She said to herself as she stood.
Stepping out of the tent she thought she must still be dreaming. People were running, looks of fear on their faces. She turned as more screams came from behind and just as she faced the multi-story car park, a man fell to the ground with a loud cracking sound that could only be his legs breaking. Lynn stood open mouthed thinking maybe it was, in fact, a nightmare as the man started crawling towards her, lips pulled back in a snarl as his pale grey eyes watched her. She took a step backwards, rubbing her eyes and then a man in a paramedic’s uniform ran past and grabbed her arm.
“Run!” He shouted “Don’t ask questions, just run!”
He dragged her along as he ran, others up ahead were already leaving the area.
“What the fuck is going on?!” She shouted as they ran.
“I don’t know!” Replied the paramedic “People are going crazy, I saw someone who was dead, then he…”
The man looked over his shoulder as another scream sounded then turned and pulled Lynn along faster.
“Just run if you want to live!” He shouted.
Lynn looked over her shoulder and saw a doctor on the ground, a man on top of him, pale grey eyes looking down as he snarled and lunged, biting a large chunk of flesh from the doctor’s throat. She turned and ran too, no longer needing to be pulled. They left the staff area with its temporary metal barriers and looked around. Confusion and panic were spreading like wildfire. People were running and shouting for help, most too ill to move fast enough. Others were chasing them, attacking and biting.
“This way!” Shouted the paramedic as he pulled her along again.
She could see a soldier ahead, running for some nearby retail units, mostly with their shutters down and lights off, but one had a door open. A security guard was standing in the doorway waving them in.
“Hurry!” He shouted as they ran as fast as possible.
When they tumbled through the door the guard looked around one last time then closed it, turning a key and lowering the shutters outside. They sat or leaned against the walls, breathing hard from the run. More and more screams could be heard as the dim light filtered through the gaps in the shutters. The security guard was trying to look through them but the view was mostly blocked. The soldier was standing, leaning forward with his hands on a wall, shaking his head.
“I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it.” He repeated quietly to himself.
“Is anyone hurt?” Asked Chris as he stood and looked around the small group.
The soldier looked up shaking his head. Chris looked to the security guard but he seemed ok too.
“Nurse, you ok?” He asked.
Lynn nodded “Call me Lynn. I’m fine, just shaken up a bit. What the hell is going on?”
“No idea.” Replied Chris, turning to the soldier “Private, any idea what’s going on out there?”
The soldier looked up again, eyes still wide with fear and disbelief.
“Fucking hell on earth mate.” He said as he slowly recovered “Hell on earth.”
“What happened in the doctor’s tent private? I heard gun shots.” Asked Chris.
“Barry, call me Barry.” He said “The crowd was almost out of control, nothing much we could do to help anyone, people dying all over.” Barry turned, resting his back against the cool wall “We were just about to pull out when they went berserk. Surging forward, thought they were going to lynch the doctors
and maybe us, but they weren’t trying to get at us, they were trying to get away from something else.”
“Zombies.” Said the security guard, his identity badge showing his name to be Harry “That’s what they are, zombies.”
“Now come on Harry, you don’t mean…” Began Chris, but Barry interrupted him.
“He’s right, I saw it with my own eyes.” Said Barry quietly “A couple of them got into the tent, climbing over the crowd, got hold of one of our boys and were tearing big chunks out of him with their teeth before we knew what was happening. Officer told us to open fire but it was too late for him, dead before he hit the ground.”
“So you killed these…zombies?” Asked Chris.
Barry shook his head “We tried, I shot one six times, hardly slowed it down, saw it grab the officer and drag him down, saw his eyes as that thing bit into him… then more were coming, attacking the crowd. People panicked running everywhere. A couple of my mates emptied their clips into them zombies but they kept coming, more and more of them. Luckily I was near the exit, I got my arse out of there quick.”
They waited in silence a while as they listened to the screams outside. They were getting louder, more intense and they were everywhere.
“Can we get to the roof?” Asked Chris wanting to know what was going on outside.
“There’s a stairway at the back, fire-exit, goes all the way from the ground floor exit up to the roof.” Said Harry pointing towards the rear of the building “I’ll show you.”
Chris nodded and let the guard lead the way, Lynn and Barry went with them. The emergency lights were on in the stairway, lighting the steps dimly, the pale green sign above the exit glowing steadily. The guard went first, pulling out a torch for extra light, then Chris followed.
“Watch your step.” Said Harry as he started up.