by Ian Neligh
Jon stumbled out of the elevator, his foot sending fresh jabs of pain up his leg. Limping as fast as he could, he tried to scan all of the shadows, half expecting the tall, skeletal thing to stand forth from one.
Jon reached the double doors and tried to push them open, but they wouldn’t budge. He tried again without success. The elevator doors closed, and it started to descend as it reset to the bottom floor.
Did something move behind him? Jon peered over his shoulder into the room. Seeing nothing, he pushed again on the door with all of his strength, and it moved an inch. Peering through the blood-splattered glass, Jon saw Carl’s body blocking the way. He pushed again and moved the body another inch.
He heard something. Was the elevator running again? Panicked, Jon rammed his shoulder into the door over and over again. He had to get out of the room. The space between doors was large enough that he could just squeeze through.
Forcing himself through the doors, he stepped over Carl’s body and slipped in the pool of blood that surrounded him. Recovering his balance and wincing at a fresh jolt of pain from his foot, he made his way to the stairs, leaving bloody shoe prints behind him.
Below, the building seemed empty. Using the handrail to take pressure off his foot, Jon hobbled his way down the stairs. Near the bottom he stopped. He couldn’t believe what he saw standing beside the security desk.
Sara, Erik, and Lindsey were talking. Lindsey spotted him first.
“There he is,” she said, pointing.
Sara looked at him and smiled. “Hey, I remember what I was going to say—you know, from before.”
Jon opened his mouth to say something, when the closet next to the security desk burst open and the skeletal remains of Randall Davis charged forth, taking off Erik’s head with one swing of his axe.
Before Lindsey could do or say anything, the axe came around in an arc and found her face. Sara began screaming and ran across the room to where Jon stood. Randall Davis jerked the axe free and flung it through the air. End over end, it traveled the same path as Sara, catching up with her and hitting her in the back just as she got to him.
Jon saw the look of surprise on her face as she fell face first to the ground, axe handle standing straight up like a flagpole. Whatever fear Jon had of the thing went away like water down a drain. He pulled the axe free from Sara’s back and ran across the floor to where the walking corpse waited.
With all of his strength, Jon swung the axe at Randall Davis. Quick as a rattlesnake, the corpse grabbed the handle just below the axe head, stopping the attack. With the other hand, it wrapped bony fingers around Jon’s neck and began to squeeze. It sounded like he was laughing. It was a gurgling, muddy sound.
Jon couldn’t breathe. The force was sudden and terrific. He looked down and saw his legs kicking, a foot off the ground. Jon fought but couldn’t get the grip to release him. The skeletal face in front of him cocked its head to one side—and watched him strangle. Its red eyes glowed like the pits of hell
Its face was all teeth and fire.
Jon reached down to his belt and found his large black flashlight. Pulling it out, he swung at the grinning skull. It was a solid hit, and with it the side of Randall Davis’s head caved in. One of the red eyes went out like a headlight. It let go of him, and Jon fell back to his feet. Before trying to catch his breath, he hit it again and again. He hit it until there was nothing left to look at him. Not eyes, not teeth, not anything. The headless body of Randall Davis fell to the ground. Jon dropped the flashlight, picked up the axe, and continued his work.
When he was at long last done he went back to the security desk and sat down. The phone rang. Picking it up, he answered, “Kerrigan’s Mortuary and Funeral Services,” in a voice he didn’t quite recognize.
“Hi Jon, this Dr. Kerrigan. Just thought I’d call in to see how everything was going.”
Jon looked out at all the bodies on the floor in front of him, at the blood dripping from the second floor.
“They’re all dead. He came back to life and killed them all.”
There was silence on the other end. When Dr. Kerrigan’s voice came again, it was faint, like he was calling from another world.
“Jon, Jon? I’m on my way over,” said the mortician. “You’ll be okay, I’m coming over now. Jon. Jon?”
Jon watched as Sara sat up, then turned to look at him. Her eyes glowed red, and she was grinning. Lindsey too began to climb to her feet.
“Jon, oh God, I should have warned you,” Dr. Kerrigan’s distant voice said. “Sometimes, sometimes these things happen.”
Jon hung up, stood, and bent down to pick up his broken flashlight. He slid it back into the metal ring on his belt. Then, after a second of thought, he walked over to where he left the axe.
Hollow Tree
by Ian Paul Neligh
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to the Billie “the indomitable” for her many readings and D. Dahl Neligh for her fantastic illustrations — and many thanks to all my family and friends who helped out. Thanks to Tammy Salyer and Megan for the beautiful editing job.
-Ian Paul Neligh ianpaulneligh.wordpress.com Jan. 28, 2014