by Mark Tufo
"Mike," I yell, as an older version of Gordon steps toward us with apprehension.
"Gordo?" he questions with fear in his eyes, knowing full well we’d never be anywhere without him.
"He's okay," I answer, not even knowing if it's the truth or not, but the words seem to mollify Mike and he slumps in relief.
"Thanks for saving our asses, dude," Luke gets to his feet and clasps Kelly's shoulder gratefully with his beefy hand. "Good to see you. We were starting to think the worst."
"Good to see you, too, although I don't know how much ass saving I actually did," Kelly replies dryly, running his hand through his shaggy brown hair and causing it to stick up at an odd angle. "We've been trapped in here for two days...and now, so are you. Please tell me you have backup waiting outside."
He says it like a joke, but the desperation is obvious in his shadowed hazel eyes.
"Shit. Kingsley and Gordo," I say to Luke in panic. We need to warn them. I’m pretty sure they heard the shooting. And the screaming. So we don't need them playing hero and come looking for us only to run smack dab into the hell beasts outside.
Luke's hand grabs at his denim clad hip and pulls out the badly busted up radio.
"Damn it," he says, throwing it aside in disgust. "Badger, please tell me you still have your radio, man."
He tosses it Luke's way.
"Kingsley? Gordo?" he says quietly into the radio. "You guys there?"
No response. Dammit. Are we too late? Then a slight crackling as Kingsley responds.
"Yeah, we're here. What the hell happened up there?"
"Some new kind of leech. Do not come up here. I repeat, do not attempt to follow us. Stay hidden. You do not want to engage with these fuckers."
"Understood. What is your position?"
Our position? That question almost makes me laugh out loud. Is fucked an appropriate answer? Luke's gaze sweeps the room over the bunch of survivors and rests on me. I know what he’s thinking. Should he outline our hopeless situation in front of the obviously terrified remaining few? But like me, he realizes there's no other option.
"We’re safe for the moment, but trapped in..." he trails off and looks Kelly's way.
"Psych ward, east wing." Kelly informs him, and Luke relays the info.
"There's no way out, man. We can’t go up against these bastards, not with the little ammo we have. These guys are like nothing we've ever seen before."
"Window?" Kingsley suggests.
Luke once again looks Kelly's way. Kelly shakes his head and points to the narrow panes of wire mesh glass. Right. Psych ward—meant to keep people in. No way are we fitting through those.
"Not an option. We’ve found the survivors. Going to brainstorm, see what we can come up with. You two stay out of sight and wait for further communication."
"Roger that," Kingsley responds and the line goes dead. Silence follows as the last crackle dissipates, like everyone is too numb to speak. I guess we kind of are. To hear our options spelled out like that kind of crushes one’s hopes.
"What now?" Cal finally asks, breaking the silence. Good question.
"We could radio the Grand and request more backup. Now that we’re aware of what we're up against, they can be prepared this time to bring bigger fire power. Something that can take those bastards out," I suggest.
Luke nods as if agreeing, but Mr. Optimism from earlier steps out from the group huddling in the corner. He’s an older guy, white haired and bearded with faded gray eyes encased in folds of wrinkles—like he’d spent a lot of years squinting in the sun.
"From what Kelly's told us, the Grand is a couple of days travel, is it not? It took you that long to get here. I'm afraid to say we can't wait that long. We've had no one operating the solar panels these past two days since the attack. They have to be manually moved to follow the sun, so there's no way they’ve been able to produce enough energy to charge the backup batteries. That means the batteries are going to run out of juice and soon. I'm surprised we haven't already. And once the power cuts off, those doors protecting us..." he trails off, not expressing what he fears. Kelly has no trouble voicing it, though.
"Then those doors will be as useless as windshield wipers on a dog's ass, capeesh?"
Someone in the small crowd starts to cry at the blunt words, and I glance over in irritation. A small, willowy blonde stands with arms folded around her midriff like she’s trying to hold herself together. Her loud sobbing grates on my nerves and I snap, "Shut up. That sure as hell isn't gonna help us."
"You know what, why don't you try shutting up, Bixby," Dom fires back. "I'm fucking tired of hearing your drivel. Especially since this is totally your fault that we're in this fucking predicament."
I stare at him, mouth agape. "My fault? How'd you come to that conclusion, genius?"
"We wouldn't be stuck in this building right now if it weren't for you. Kingsley wanted us to hold off and wait, but did you listen? No, of course not. Like you always do, you disobeyed orders and the stupid oaf there followed you like the pussy whipped idiot that he is."
Dom’s words piss me off. But the worst of it is I know he’s right…which pisses me off even more. So I do what I normally do and attack, full force.
"Oh, would you rather I'd be a fucking coward like you, Dom? Would you have preferred to let Kingsley blow the building instead of trying to save these people? Some of which are our own people, I might fucking add. Ya know, you really should need a license to be your kind of stupid."
"Well at least if we’d listened to Kingsley, we wouldn't be trapped in here," Wentworth snarls at me, and I'm unprepared for the hatred I see on his face. Dom, yes. But Wentworth's attack is totally unexpected. "And Taylor would still be alive."
"That's enough," Luke's voice is dangerously low as he glowers at my two attackers. "Yeah, what happened to Taylor really fucking sucked, but he knew the risks of entering this building just like the rest of us. And this was my call, not hers."
"This is entirely her fault," Dom argues, pointing my way. "Why are you always defending that skank ass bit--"
He doesn't get to finish. Luke's fist as it makes contact with his Dom’s jaw, echoes with a resounding crack. The smaller man wobbles for a bit and then crumples onto the floor, staring up in disbelief.
"Oh, fuck," Badger drawls in shocked surprise. “Shit’s gettin’ real.” I echo that sentiment. I’ve never seen Luke raise a hand to any of our people. What the hell?
The big man stares around at the rest of us. "Anybody else got anything to say on the matter?" he questions, flexing his meaty hands in anger. His question is met with complete and utter silence. Wentworth drops his angry glare, not wanting to be on the receiving end of that fist. I drop my eyes as well. Not out of fear though, but out of self-preservation, because I’m so insanely attracted to that blonde giant right now I'm afraid I may just jump his bones. Right here. Even with monsters lurking outside our door itching to rip us apart and faced with the hopelessness of our situation, all I can think of is how damn attractive he is right now. Yup, I'm definitely one fucked up bitch.
"That's what I thought," he growls. "So I don't want to hear any more flapping lips unless you have an idea to get us out of this eyeball deep shit."
"You can't be serious?" The gray haired man, who introduced himself as Dr. Jules Howarth, stares at us like we’ve lost our minds. But it’s not just him. All the hospital survivors are looking at us in that same weird way as they watch us build a wall out of the musty old mattresses from the patient rooms. "This will never work. The whole idea is insanity."
"You got a better plan, Doc?" Kelly questions, as he helps me throw another mattress onto the pile. "Blowing a hole in the floor makes for a feasible escape route."
The old man folds his arms stubbornly. "Yes, if we survive it. This old building may not be able to handle it, however. Blowing part of the floor may bring the whole building down around our ears. And if not the building, then at least a couple of floors."
&nbs
p; I nod. "Yeah, it might. But it's a choice between that or fighting our way through the beasties outside. Somehow I don't think the odds are in our favor on that."
"She's right, Jules," the weepy blonde from earlier says and straightens her back as she nods my way. "It's not a perfect plan, but it's the only plan we have."
You could have knocked me over with a feather as she heads straight for Luke and smiles at him, grabbing the other end of the mattress he's struggling with and helping to toss it onto the pile.
"Thanks...?"
"Jessica," she supplies. "Jessica Lynn. But you can call me Jess."
"Nice to meet you, Jess," he says, throwing a big hand her way and her tiny one disappears in the handshake.
"Really? You two think we got time for that shit?" I question, irritated beyond belief by their stupid behavior. Almost as if agreeing with me, one of the things from outside slams against the door and makes us jump. That reminder seems to seal our decision and the Doc doesn't argue our plan anymore.
"Last one," Badger interrupts as he and Mike throw the final mattress onto the others. "It's now or never."
I survey our work in front of us with a critical eye. The idea sounds great in theory, but the leaning tower of moldy mattresses somehow doesn't instill much confidence. I keep my thoughts to myself.
"Okay, everyone, you know what we have to do. Once that floor gives way and we fall through to the next, get your asses out past the gate as fast as you can. Kingsley won't give us long before he blows the whole place. Got it?" All heads nod as one. Luke gives a huge sigh. "Right. So let's do this. Everyone behind the barrier."
They scramble meekly like herded sheep behind the wall of mattresses. Mike and Kelly help Cal hobble his way over, and they squeeze in, taking cover behind the flimsy protective wall. Finally, it's just me and Luke left standing. Luke pulls out the radio.
"Kingsley, you there?"
"Here," the voice comes back.
"Everything good to go?" Luke questions.
"All good on my end. I've positioned the C-4 as far as I could away from your safety zone, but still angled enough for maximum impact. Once the floor blows, you should all drop towards the center of the room and on top of the mattresses, cushioning your fall. And hopefully it doesn't set off the rest of the charges, blowing you all to smithereens."
Luke and I exchange a look. Did he seriously just say that?
"Yeah, thanks for that, man," Luke says to the radio. "Really needed that boost of optimism. We're almost ready up here. Blow it on my command."
"Roger that," Kingsley responds.
Luke glances my way. "Let’s get ‘er done," I say and he smiles at me reassuringly, even though I can see the worry in his brown eyes. As sure as he sounded to the rest of them, I know he’s terrified this isn’t going to work. To be honest, so am I.
I head for the wall of cushions, eager to get this over with but he grabs my wrist, stopping me. He opens his mouth like he’s about to say something. I don't get to find out what. The lights suddenly flicker and then finally go out, leaving us in the pale gloom of the evening sun streaming through the narrow windows. The power has finally died.
Our heads swivel toward the doors. The doors that no longer hold any resistance to the onslaught of the creatures. Almost as if they know what the loss of power means, they slam against the doors and practically fall over each other into the room.
"NOW, KINGSLEY! NOW!" Luke screams into the radio as he leaps on top of me, pushing me into the mattresses and shielding my body with his own. I can hear the clicking of their talons as they scatter towards us, the wet excited gurgling. Screams rise up all around me, although whether it's coming from my own throat or from the other side of the wall, I can't tell.
The explosion shakes the building, jarring me so badly I swear I hear my bones rattle. The wall and ceiling above us shatter and fall on top of us with the force of a rock slide. In that same instant, the floor below us tilts, giving way and the whole room starts sliding downwards with a sickening loss of equilibrium. I cling desperately to Luke as he falls along with me.
Another deafening roar follows, and over Luke's shoulder I can see a wall of debris falling straight towards us. I close my eyes as I’m tossed about by the collapsing floor. Luke is torn from my grasp and I cover my head with my arms as I fall, my screams mingling with the squealing protest of the shattering building.
Tumbled and tossed about like laundry in a dryer, I spiral downwards. Debris batters at my body, ripping at my clothes and skin. The sense of falling seems to last forever, but then slows to a stop. I lay there for a bit refusing to open my eyes.
The ensuing silence compared to the earlier roar is almost deafening. I have no idea if I'm injured. Hell, I can't even tell if I'm still alive. Hesitantly, I uncover my head and open my eyes. The building is still shifting around me. Bits and pieces of rubble fall from above, adding to the pile of debris that covers me. I can only assume I’ve fallen through to the main floor, but there’s no longer any defining measure as to floors or walls. Everything is just one big massive pile of shit. I cough as I breathe in a cloud of dust. The dust is everywhere, burning my eyes and my throat.
"Luke?" I croak, shattering the quiet. "Badger? Cal?"
Movement from underneath me elicits an involuntary yelp of fear and I instantly roll away. I had been lying on top of one of the mattresses and so covered in rubble I hadn't noticed. Now the mattress corner flaps from the movement underneath. Shit. Is it one of my guys or one of them?
"Bix?" the muffled voice leaks out, and my pent up breath expels in a sigh of relief. Giving the mattress a couple of good shoves, I manage to move it enough to expose Badger's bloody face. He’s buried up to his waist in wreckage and rubble.
"Get me outta here, Bix. I can't handle this. Feels like I'm suffocating. Get me out!" He’s trying hard to hold down his panic, but I can see it building in his eyes.
"I'll get you out, Badger," I promise him. Now if only I knew how.
I hear a shout from over my shoulder and I answer back, my voice raw.
"Over here."
There’s no mistaking the huge hulk heading my way.
"Luke," I cry out, surprised at the moisture filling my eyes. Blaming it on the dust, I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand.
"Badger’s trapped under here," I say as soon as he reaches me. Grabbing either side of the mattress, we toss it out of the way. Badger struggles as we start digging into the heap, but his squirming only hinders our progress.
“Badger, you gotta stop fighting, man and let us do this,” Luke warns and Badger snaps his head up and down in understanding.
“Need a hand?” Kelly appears out of the floating cloud of dust and joins in on the rescue effort.
"We got this," Luke croaks at me. His face and hair are so covered in dust by now he looks like Casper on steroids. "Go find the others. Get them out."
I grunt in agreement and start making my way through the dust cloud, my steps ginger as I navigate the mess.
I find Mike and Cal right away. But I’m surprised as hell to see the cry baby blonde from earlier, helping keep Cal upright as they struggle to get him over the piles of broken building. She has more backbone than I thought.
They stop in front of me, as if waiting for my command. "Don’t stop you fools. Keep going. Wait for us on the other side of the gate." They don’t argue.
I stumble across the white haired doc and what looks like to be the rest of his people next, and I give them the same order.
My eyes scan the wreckage, searching for those still unaccounted for. I have no idea if the creatures are still above us or if they’d fallen through as well, hidden among the debris. If luck is on our side, then we can get out without running into any more of them.
A low moaning floats through the air, and I peer through the haze trying to locate it. I tense as a shadow figure materializes out of the cloud. But it’s only Dom. He's sitting on a pile of debris, blood streaming from a wound at his t
emple.
"Dominic," I call in a soft voice and his dazed gaze turns my way. "You okay? We have to go, man.”
He tries to struggle to his feet but staggers and falls back onto the mound of wreckage. Sighing, I start picking my way through the rubble. Looks like he needs my help.
I'm almost there when a hulking mass starts rising slowly from the debris behind him. I pause, heart in my throat and hoping desperately it’s Wentworth. It’s not.
The creature rises to its full height, pieces of shit falling off like rats jumping ship. In a strangely human move it shakes its head as if trying to clear it. I watch in horror as its nose goes up in the air, and it starts sniffing, more leech than man now. It caught the scent of Dom's blood, no doubt. Its head swivels Dom's way and the massive mouth opens, exposing teeth. It’s readying itself for the kill.
Dom notices my frozen -deer being targeted by a pack of wolves-look.
“Shit. There’s one behind me?” His question quivers with fear.
“Yup,” I choke out.
That’s all the warning he needs. Launching himself off of the wreckage, he rolls down it--narrowly escaping the swiping claws.
His hand reaches for his gun but clutches at empty air. The gun lost in the fall. I'm just as defenseless, my knives long gone. Frantically I search for a weapon, hoping to prevent Dom from being ripped apart in front of my eyes. I might hate the guy, but I don't want to be stuck with that image in my head. I don’t need to add to Bix’s crazy list of horrifying memories.
A piece of rebar sticks out of the pile at my feet and I yank it free. I leap at the advancing monster, aiming for the softest body part on it--the face. The metal rod makes contact with the creature’s head and slices straight through to the other side, emerging with a sickening rip. I hear its squeal of surprise as I tumble past, not waiting to see the damage. I don't want to be on the receiving end of those claws a second time.
Once out of its reach, I leap to my feet with the grace of a dancer and spin around. The creature is still standing, but it's thrashing wildly at the protruding steel that has skewered it cleanly through its mouth. Not dead, but at least its attention is no longer on its feast of human.