by West, J. D.
“Don’t worry guys!” she said flashing a huge smile. “Kevin is going to get us out of here!”
“Can't we just stay in here with the door locked?” asked Randy.
“So that's your plan?” asked Joan. “To wait them out!”
“Won't they eventually decompose and rot away?” questioned Randy.
“That's correct!” answered Dr. Okonkwo. “The problem is that by then there won't be enough of us alive. We'll be dead too!”
“Listen up everyone we have to find another way out this room!” I demanded. “If we don't then this room will become our coffin. Our only hope is to get out of here and go to the security communication office. If we stick together we can make it by avoiding the main hallways and using the smaller side corridors!”
“He is right! We have to stick together and kill anything that gets in our way!” said Carlos.
I wasn't sure how much time had passed but after brainstorming for a while someone finally spoke up.
“I think I know how to get out of here!” said Randy.
“Don’t just stand there! Start talking idiot!” demanded Dr. Green.
“Give the man break!” Carlos yelled. “If Randy has an ideal then lets allow him speak! That door is not going to hold forever!”
“Just what the world needs a janitor with feelings and a Mexican convict with a gun!” Dr. Green said with a smirk.
We were all getting a little edgy but his behavior was starting to agitate Carlos and everyone else. Carlos walked past Blair and stopped in front of Dr. Green. There was no need for them to exchange pleasantries or beat around the bush. It was clear they did not care for each other.
“If you keep running your mouth the world is going to have a rich white doctor with my foot up his ass!” said Carlos.
He looked like he was about to beat Dr. Greens ass and who could blame him. I was eye fucking him myself so hard that if I had mutant powers his head would have exploded.
“Save all that testosterone for those things trying to kill us!” said Maria.
Blair grabbed his hand and he walked away. Carlos kept his eyes on Dr. Green but went to the other side of the room to calm down. Dr. Green walked up to me and poked me in the chest.
“Officer Robinson you might want to get your convict attack dog under control!” he responded. I grabbed his wrist and bent it backwards.
“Iiiihhheee!” he responded with a grimace.
“You should keep that mouth of yours shut before someone shuts it for you!” I told him.
The doctor pulled his hand free and walked away trying to shake off the pain.
“Randy! What do you have in mind?” I asked.
“Before they remodeled this room there was another exit door that lead to the back hallway. If I can find it we can use my tools to cut a hole in the drywall!” he claimed.
I stared at him and then looked around the room.
“Don’t just stand there! You heard the man! Let’s find that door!” I shouted.
I didn’t know if it would work but at least it gave people a chance to stretch their legs and focus on something other than their own problems. Randy, Joe, George and Kahleem went to the back of the room and began tapping on the wall trying to hear if it was hollow. They moved the around the counters and felt behind the cabinets. Everything was knocked over and pushed aside as they frantically searched the room.
While that was going on Maria fed the kids some Oreo cookies she found in a drawer. Hopefully it would sustain them for a while. She found a partially eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich too but they weren't that desperate yet. They quickly ate their cookies, while looking at the old man sleeping. I walked over to them and Maria introduced us.
“Kids this is Kevin! He is going to get us out of here!” she said.
“Hey guys are you ready leave?” I asked.
“Yes sir!” answered Latia. “What about you? Do you want to go home big guy?” I asked while rubbing Alex’s head.
He nodded up and down while stuffing the last cookie into his mouth as I got down on one knee.
“I need you to stay close to me and do what I say!” I told them. “I am going to get you home!”
“See I told you there was nothing to worry about!” Maria told them.
“That foot doesn’t look too good!” Anne told Dr. Okonkwo.
By then he could barely walk but put on a brave face.
“Don’t worry about me I’ll be fine!” he told her. “I just need to wrap it up.”
He winched every time he had to put any pressure on it. Anne could see the pain on her colleague’s eyes.
“Let me see what I can find!” she said as she got up to dig through the mess in the back room.
Anne searched around and found a roll of left behind blue painter’s tape. She used the tape to wrap the doctor’s ankle. She was not a medical professional but knew how to wrap ankles from doing her own. She was runner when she was in college.
“Thank you Anne!” said Dr. Okonkwo. “I could not have done a better job myself!”
“It’s the least I could do!” she responded. “Most doctors’ look down their nose at everyone but you were always nice to everyone!”
“Being a doctor does not make me better than anyone else!” he told her.
“I guess somebody forgot to tell Dr. Happy then!” she said glancing over at Dr. Green.
They both laughed and she helped him get his shoe back on. Twenty minutes later the group searching for a way out had good news.
“Hey! I think I got something!” said Kahleem.
He tapped the wall several times with his ear against the wall.
“Watch out! Let me get by you!” said Randy as he pressed his way pass him.
Randy placed his ear against the wall and listened. He knocked three times before lifting up his head and smiling.
“This is it man! He found the spot!” he told me. “Somebody pass me my tool bag!”
Carlos grabbed the canvas bag and placed it at Randy’s feet.
“There you go dawg!” Carlos told him. “Knock a hole in that thing!” “We need to get through that wall right now!” I explained.
“I understand!” he responded. “Just give me a second.”
Randy reached in the bag and pulled out a hand held rechargeable drill. In seconds he punched a pencil size hole through the wall and looked inside.
“Well don’t leave me in suspense!” I told him. “What is the verdict?”
“I think we are good.” said Randy. “Just let me take down this outer piece of drywall.”
Randy reached back in the bag and pulled out a hand held oscillating saw. He used the drill hole as a starting point for the blade and cut down toward the floor. A small cloud of drywall dust formed. It covered his face and hands. “If you keep this up we won’t have to worry about getting eaten alive.” said Kahleem. “We will just choke to death!” “Quit complaining and let him do his job!” said Joe. Then Randy cut an incision from left to right before turning the blade and cutting down toward the floor again. He finished by making a cut from right to left before pulling the blade out the wall. The dry wall dust caused the children to cough and sneeze. Randy wedged his hammer’s forked side in between the cut section and the solid wall. Rocking the hammer back and forth he pried the cut section free. Before it fell on the floor Joe grabbed the board and leaned it against the desk.
“When we get out of here I'm going to let my parents know how much I love them!” blurted out Blair.
“If we get out of here I'm going to eat the biggest prime steak I can find!” said Carlos.
“Fuck that!” said Joe. “When I get out of here I'm going to call up the baldest broad I know, get a
big bag of weed then have sex and get high as hell until I forget all this crazy shit I have seen!”
“Yeah that does sound better than a steak!” responded Randy.
It took fifteen minutes but now we all stood their looking at the two foot wide by three foot long cut out hole in the wall. The hole was in between two support beams in the wall. “Are you sure this is the spot?” asked Joan.
“This is defiantly the right area!” said Randy. “I just need time to cut open this other panel!”
Everyone let out a low cheer or sigh of relief except me and Carlos.
“Let’s not get too excited just yet!” I told them. “We still don’t know what’s on the other side of that wall!”
“What if one of those dead people is on the other side?” asked Maria. “Every trip outside comes with its own set of drama.”
“We could walk right into a trap!” said a visibly terrified Blair.
“Don’t worry!” Carlos told her. “I will not let anything happen to you!”
“If we are going to do this we all have to all be on the same page!” I explained. “The hallways leading out of here are filled with mindless homicidal maniacs!”
“What about the old man and him?” asked Anne while pointing to Dr. Okonkwo.
“We can use a sheet to carry the old man!” said George. “I can help the doctor!” replied Dr. Green.
George walked over to the old man and could see he was still having trouble breathing.
“Guys I think we have a problem!” After a quick check they realized what was wrong! His heart was giving out. “It’s too late! He’s dying!” said Maria. “His breathing is getting even shallower. Even if we were rescued he wouldn't survive the evacuation.”
“That’s a shame!” Joe said. “We were so close to getting out of here!”
“Don’t mourn for him my son!” Pastor declared. “Soon he will be in a better place!”
“Damn padre!” said Dr. Green. “If you insist on spitting out all that Jesus gobiddy gook tell us something that can help us!”
Joan and Maria fluffed his pillow and covered the old man with a sheet to keep him warm. The pastor gave him his last rights and anointed his forehead with a small bottle of oil from his pocket.
“Don't look Alex!” said Latia.
She covered her brother’s eyes so he wouldn't see the man dying.
“This situation is getting worst!” stated the Pastor. “Would anyone like to confess their sins?” Blair revealed to him and the rest of the group that she was pregnant. Like any teenager she was scared of what effect that would have on her future. She wasn't able to take care of herself and now she had to bring a baby into a world filled with the rising dead. The pastor prayed for her while Carlos wrapped his arm around her shoulder. When he finished he asked if there was anyone else.
“I would like to confess Pastor!” said George. “I'm gay!”
“Your gay?” asked Joe. “But you said you like NASCAR just like me!”
“Yes I like NASCAR!” George replied. “And I like men too!”
Joe just stood there with a confused look on his face. Randy looked at Joe and shrugged his shoulders before going back to work. The Pastor did not approve of his way of life but still anointed George's head. He knew that in the eyes of the Lord all sin was equal. He told George to renounce his homosexual tendencies and ask God for his forgiveness. Other people also had their own secrets to confess.
“I am a virgin!” said Kahleem. “We don't believe in sex before marriage!”
“Where the hell am I?” asked Joe. “Are we in the twilight zone? It's the end of the world and I'm stuck with Clay Aiken and Gandhi!”
Maria asked me what we were going to do about the old man.
“I don't think we have a choice!” I replied.
It was a hard decision but we had to leave him behind. It was stupid to risk our lives for a man that was so close to death. They did all they could do but he was still going to pass away. Randy punched a hole through the outer wall with the round side of the hammer. He felt a slight breeze as the fresh air rushed inside. When the hole was big enough he tapped around the rest of the drywall with a hatchet. Then he pushed with all his might and the section gave way as he tumbled forward. He carefully scoped everything out from down on his knees. The back hallway was empty but all of the noise caused the undead ghouls to start beating on the door again.
“BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!”
Then we began to hear a high pitched eerie sounding noise. It reminded me of my elementary school teacher running her nails across the blackboard to get the classes attention. They were so desperate to get to us that the ghouls were digging into the door with their nails and finger bones.
“Their trying to break through and get us!” cried Blair.
Unlike the first time the door began to give under the new onslaught. We had to get out of this room before those blood thirsty monsters got inside. We didn't have anything to fortify the door with so we were in trouble if we stayed. I asked Carlos to scope things out in the back hall and come back. He nodded in agreement then said a silent goodbye to Blair before gingerly stepping out into the corridor. She smiled wide flashing her white teeth in acknowledgment. It took a second for his eyes to adjust to the light.
Almost immediately Carlos had spotted one of the undead down the hall just inside the open door to ultrasound. It was hovering over a badly brutalized body. It was hard for him to tell who it was. Nothing but the skull and limbs were left. The beast had random blood stains on his shirt collar and sleeves. Soot and dirt soiled the things pants. It was holding some poor bastard’s leg like it was an oversized drum stick. The rotting monster pulled at the calf muscle with its chipped teeth before swallowing a large bite.
”CHOMP!”
Carlos slowly moved towards the door trying to be quiet. When he tried to get closer the forsaken looked up and clumsily tried to spring to its feet. Carlos forcefully impaled Randy's hatchet three inches into its brain. The forsaken toppled backwards after part of its scalp was sliced off. Carlos checked the rest of the hall for creatures and then doubled back. After a few minutes he climbed back in the hole and reported on what he saw.
“What’s the verdict bro?” I asked. “It's hard to believe that it could be that dark in this building during the daytime!” said Carlos.
“Do you think we can make it?” asked Blair. “Yeah we can make it!” said Carlos.
“The hall is clear now in both directions!” That was good news. I told Randy to give everyone a tool so they could defend themselves. He wasn’t happy about that but I convinced him that it was a good idea. Communications was all the way on the other side of the building.
“BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!”
Their loud moaning vibrated the door and echoed through the small room. There was no way to know how many were behind it.
“GRAAAW!”
There was no safe place to hide in the hospital but we had to keep moving. By now most of the patients and staff were either dead or had mutated into flesh eating creatures.
“Listen up! Everyone stay close and try to keep up!” I told them. “Just take it nice and slow!”
I turned around and smiled at them reassuringly before passing through the wall. One by one they followed me through the hole and into the shadowy recesses of the corridor. The women and children were in the middle followed by the men.
“Go ahead Kevin.” he said. “I'll be right behind you! Get everyone out of here!”
Carlos stayed back to helped everyone out the room. Dr. Okonkwo and Dr. Green were the last ones. Before they could leave the top hinge on the door popped off without warning.
“Help me!” yelled Dr. Okonkwo. “They’re tearing it down!”
All three men rushed
to the door and tried to hold it closed. Those things outside continued to shove their hands through the crack in the door. Carlos fired his gun through the cracked open door killing a few of them.
“BAM! BAM!”
It helped but their attack continued. Together the three men got the door shut again. Dr. Okonkwo said he would stay back and hold the door closed. He used his good leg to press his feet firmly against the ground with his back to the door.
“BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!”
The door shook violently as the pounding increased. The three men occasionally looked at each other while struggling to keep it shut. Dr. Green volunteered to help him brace the door so everyone else could get away. They would follow once everyone was through the hole.
“I'll see you guys on the other side.” said Carlos.
He crawled through and caught up to the rest of the group. Back in x-ray it seemed like Dr. Green had finally showed some compassion but then he showed his true colors.
“BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!”
The door rocked and swayed from the push of the crowd.
Dr. Green stopped helping keep the door closed and backed away.
“BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!”
“What are you doing?” Dr. Okonkwo asked bleary eyed and confused. “We have to give them more time!”
It was a constant battle to keep the door closed but he stayed put. He was disgusted with himself after seeing his patient murdered earlier and the cowardice he displayed to save his own life.
“I am sorry doctor! I believe my shift is over!” Dr. Green said with a smirk.
“Where are you going? We have to keep those things out!” begged Dr. Okonkwo.
“GRRRRRRR!”
“It’s not personal! No hard feelings this is just triage!” said Dr. Green, “You are going to slow us down and I can’t let that happen!”
“What are you talking about?” Dr. Okonkwo asked. “Are you doing this because I saw you take those syringes of fentanyl from the trauma room? If you have a problem you can get help!”