Survivors in a Dead World

by Gary M. Chesla

  “Not a very professional array of equipment to perform experiments on the dead,” the doctor thought, “but again with only a couple of weeks to work with, I don’t have much time. Besides, my intent is not to find a cure. I just hope that by doing a few crude experiments that I might find something we can use against the dead.”

  The doctor picked up the can of black spray paint and held it to his face to read the label.

  “If this works,” he laughed, “all we would need would be about forty thousand cans of spray paint.”

  The doctor turned and walked over to the first table and looked down at the creature.

  “Normally I would tell my patient that this is going to hurt a little,” the doctor said as he watched the milky white eyes dancing around to follow his movements, “but somehow in your case I don’t think it will matter.”

  The doctor shook the can of spray paint, aimed the can and began to spray the paint into the creature’s eyes.

  When both of the eyes were covered over in a solid black coating of paint, the doctor stopped.

  The ugly creature now looked like one of the monsters in some horror movie with the two black patches on its face covering the eyes. It didn’t make the thing look scarier, that would be impossible, it just looked fake.

  It looked like a bad makeup job.

  “If all of this wasn’t so terrifying this would almost look comical,” the doctor thought.

  The doctor moved his hand in front of the creatures face.

  He moved his hand from left to right above the creatures head.

  The head turned and followed his hand.

  The doctor passed his hand over the creature’s head again, only this time in the opposite direction.

  The head again turned and followed his hand. The jaws clicked open and closed as if hoping to latch on to the doctor’s hand.

  The doctor picked up his note book and wrote.

  “Painting over the creature’s eyes with black paint had no effect on its ability to detect my movements. The actions of the creature did not seem to be deterred in any way.”

  “Maybe the eyes sense movement in some way other than by sight and light?” the doctor thought. “That is hard to imagine but so is imagining the dead walking and attacking the living. Something has definitely changed to make this possible. Maybe something in the eyes has also changed?”

  The doctor walked back to his table of crude equipment and picked up the scalpel and forceps. He moved over to the second creature, took the forceps and reached down and pulled out the right eye of the creature.

  The second creature’s only reaction was to try and take a bite out of the doctor’s hand.

  The doctor took the eye over to his table and began to remove the outer layer of the eyeball with the scalpel.

  “The only internal change I see in the eyeball is that all the tissue is dead and decaying,” the doctor thought. “This eye cannot function in this condition.”

  The doctor looked at the creature lying on the table, its remaining eye focused on the doctor.

  The doctor picked up his forceps, walked over and removed the other eye.

  The doctor carried the eye over to the table and placed it on a plate next to the dissected remains of the other eye.

  He cut open the second eye, but there was nothing different from the first eye, or from any of the cadaver eyes had dissected in medical school as a young intern.

  The doctor looked over at the now eyeless creature. The things head and empty eye sockets followed the doctor’s every movement.

  The doctor felt like he was back in medical school, after his very first day of class when he walked outside feeling completely overwhelmed. That day he felt he would never be able to understand what was going on. He of course did come to understand, his thirty-five years of successful practice at McGee Hospital, along with his private practice, was proof to not only his understanding but of his mastering of medical knowledge.

  The doctor today did not understand what he was seeing, but unlike many years ago, today he didn’t expect to one day understand. He was an old man now, even if he wasn’t an old man, he didn’t expect to live long enough to understand these creatures. The group here at the hospital was still alive because of a fluke, a freak accident.

  They had all accidently stumbled into the deserted hospital, managed to reach the tenth floor to find a fully stocked cafeteria. From their vantage point, they watched as the city of Pittsburgh quickly died around them.

  Another accident of good fortune, someone that could fly the helicopter that sat up on the helipad, happened to run in through the front door just as their food had run out.

  But the doctor felt their string of good fortune had finally run dry. The past few weeks, little signs appeared that could signal that their end was near. The helicopter problems had gotten worse and almost ended in tragedy when the helicopter crashed on the roof of the hospital returning from a supply run.

  The helicopter along with a pilot had extended their ability to survive. Without the helicopter, their survival time would be numbered in days. Those days would have run out long ago.

  Besides the helicopter, the doctor had also seen recent signs of unrest among the men, especially the younger men.

  The attractive female pilot was a god send, but she could also become the wedge that divided the group.

  He had seen the younger men looking at her lately. The looks were more than casual glances or even innocent looks of appreciation. He saw the looks of desire in their eyes. These were all good men, or at least they had all been good men. But every man had his dark side. He thought he was beginning to see more of the dark side in their eyes. These were desperate times, which could bring out the worst in a man. Unfortunately, the doctor felt things were soon going to be getting even more desperate.

  The men all respected Bob and he had become unofficially the group’s leader. Bob didn’t want the job or even claim the title of leader, but the guys all seemed to listen to him regardless. Fortunately Bob was also the mechanic, the only one that could work on the helicopter. The pretty pilot spent most of her time with Bob and the helicopter, either going out on supply runs or working on the craft. No one would dare act inappropriately when Bob was around.

  But things were beginning to change. The doctor could just sense it.

  The doctor studied the two creatures. They also seemed to be studying him.

  No, he would never understand these things or what had happened. But he knew he didn’t need to understand, all he needed to do was find a way to cope with the dead.

  Find something to buy them all a few more days or at least if they decided to use the river to get out of Pittsburgh, a way to get through the dead and across the Boulevard of the Allies so they could repel down the cliff to the river.

  A few more days was about all they could hope for. Hopefully a few more days would give them time and another opportunity to buy another few more days. Maybe someday they would find a way to buy a few more months, but until then it was one day at a time.

  He picked up the can of raid, “Why not?”

  The Doc walked over to the creature with the two large black eyes and sprayed the raid on its face.

  Next he tried the mace.

  “I didn’t think so, but who knows,” the Doc thought, “It has to be something I would never expect to work, just like these things.”

  The doctor gave the black eyed creature a shot of penicillin and dumped the package of birth control pills down the throat of the no eyed creature.

  “Let’s see if this does anything,” he sighed.

  The doctor removed his white rubber gloves and tossed them on the table.

  He needed to think.

  “I’ve spent all morning with these things and haven’t learned a thing,” he thought. “At least nothing that will help. Maybe if I go and take a nap, something will come to me, at least, maybe an idea of something to try next. Maybe the key lies with one of the other senses.”
/>   Wump! Wump! Wump! Wump! Wump!

  The doctor listened, “Sounds like Bob and the helicopter made it back from Costco’s. Thank God for small favors.”

  The door to the room sprang open and John ran into the room, “Hey Doc, the chopper is back.”

  “I can hear it, thanks John,” the doctor replied.

  “Whoa Doc,” John said covering his nose, “it smells like hell in here. I don’t know how you were able to stand this smell all morning.”

  “Believe it or not you almost get used to it,” the doctor said as he took off his mask and tossed it on the table next to his gloves.

  John looked at the creature that had its eyes removed, “What happened to its eyes?”

  “I removed them as part of an experiment,” the Doc replied. “I was trying to determine how their eyes worked. What role the eyes play in how they detect us.”

  John looked down at the eyeless creature and pointed at its face,” You mean this thing doesn’t know I’m here now?”

  The doctor looked horrified as the eyeless creature thrust its head upward and bit into John’s finger.

  “Damn it!” John yelled as he tried to pull his finger loose from the creature’s mouth.

  The more he pulled, the more the blood began to flow and the more frantic the creature became.

  The doctor ran over and pulled on John’s arm until his bloody mangled finger finally came free.

  “Oh Shit Doc,” John moaned, “All this time running from the dead and I end up getting bit in the finger by a dead bastard tied to a table. Doc, am I going to die?”

  “I might be able to save you John but it is going to hurt like hell,” the doctor said as he examined John’s bloody shredded finger.

  “I don’t care how much it hurts, I just don’t want to die or worse yet become one of those bastards,” John pleaded.

  The doctor grabbed his scalpel and pushed John’s hand down on the table, “Grab that rag and bite down hard John, I have to do this fast before the infection spreads into your system. We don’t have time for any kind of pain killer.”

  John grabbed the rag and stuffed it into his mouth, then nodded at the doctor nervously.

  The doctor pushed the scalpel into John’s finger.

  John began to scream into the rag that muffled the sound.

  The Doc pressed harder against the scalpel as the crunching sound of John’s finger bone breaking sounded above the screams.

  The Doc quickly tossed the finger across the table, pulled the rag out of John’s mouth and wrapped his finger.

  “Sit down here John,” the doctor said as he helped John down into the chair.

  The Doc grabbed a syringe and filled it from the bottle labeled antibiotics, “This shot should help. After I give you this shot, I want you to go back to your room and lay down. Don’t tell anyone what happened or they might want to toss you off the roof.”

  “I know Doc,” John replied, “don’t worry I won’t say a word. Do you think you stopped the infection in time?”

  The Doc pushed the needle into John’s arm, “I hope so. Now just go back to your room and I’ll stop by to check on you a little later.”

  “Thanks Doc,” John said and slowly turned and stumbled out the door.

  “Shit,” the Doc said and walked out of the room, locking the door behind him, “If things weren’t bad enough.”

  The helicopter hovered above the large “X” on the roof and Carrie slowly and gently brought it down for a soft landing.

  When the blades stopped turning, the guys watching the chopper land, cheered and ran over to help unload the cabin.

  While the guys unloaded the helicopter, Bob and Carrie got out and went over to see how the braces on the skid had held up.

  “This was a good idea Red,” Bob said as he grabbed the braces on the skid and began to shake them.

  “Thanks,” Carrie smiled. “It just sort of came to me while we were sitting on the roof at Costco.”

  The Doc walked up behind Bob and Carrie.

  “Something looks different,” he said.

  “Hey Doc,” Bob said as he turned. “It looks good doesn’t it?”

  “It certainly looks different,” the Doc added.

  “We have fifty rolls of duct tape on there,” Carrie said. “I wish we could have found white duct tape, but I guess as long as it works I can live with it.”

  Bob laughed, “Leave it to a woman to want the repairs to be color coordinated.”

  “Who came up with this idea?” Doc asked.

  “This was Red’s idea,” Bob grinned. “One minute we were talking about clothes,” Bob rolled his eyes, “then Red from out of the blue ran over and yelled down to Tom to find some duct tape. I have to admit it really makes the braces feel solid. A lot better than just the wire I had used.”

  “So how do you feel about that trip over to Allegheny General tomorrow?” the Doc asked.

  “I think we should try it,” Bob replied, “as long as Red doesn’t try anymore of those crash landings.”

  “I’ll try,” Carrie laughed. “The chopper handled well today. Except for worrying about the skid, there doesn’t seem to be any other negative effects from our crash landing.”

  “Good,” the doctor replied. “What time do you plan on leaving in the morning?”

  Bob winked at Carrie, “As soon as Red gets her lazy ass out of bed tomorrow morning.”

  “Who do you plan on taking with you?” Doc asked.

  “I thought I would take Tom and Ken,” Bob answered. “Ken is our bait and Tom can help with any of the dead that decide not to take the plunge, that is if you can spare those two tomorrow?”

  “That’s fine,” Doc replied, “I’ll keep the rest of the guys busy until you get back.”

  “Did anything happen around here while we were gone?” Bob asked as he turned back to continue examining the skid.

  “Nothing much,” the doctor replied as he turned and walked away.

  Chapter 11

  Debbie walked out into the hall. Monica was sitting with her back against the wall as she busily colored in her Doctor Seuss book.

  “Hey Shrimp, I thought you were going to practice your bowling?” Debbie smiled.

  “I was,” Monica said without looking up from her book, “but Ed kept chasing the ball and catching it before it reached the bottles.”

  At the mention of her name, Ed sat up and wagged her tail.

  Debbie grinned as she looked down at Ed, “I guess Ed was bored and wanted to play too.”

  “Ed’s cheating again,” Monica said flatly.

  Debbie laughed and walked over and looked down over Monica’s shoulder. She chuckled as she saw the Shrimp coloring a duck with a green crayon.

  “I thought you were going to color the duck yellow?”

  “I was,” Monica sighed.

  Debbie looked at Ed as the pup walked over in front of her, looked up and a large doggie smile spread across the dog’s face. The dog’s yellow tongue bobbed as Ed panted.

  “Oh I see,” Debbie laughed.

  Monica continued to color the duck green.

  “Do you want to bowl with me?” Debbie asked to cheer up her little sister. “We can take turns holding Ed so she won’t chase the ball.”

  “OK,” Monica looked up and grinned. “What do I get if I win?”

  “I see you have been playing with Jimmy again,” Debbie replied. “How about whoever wins the first game, the other person has to set up the bottles for the rest of the games?”

  Monica looked like she was thinking it over, “OK, but I get to go first.”

  “OK, I’ll go set up the bottles,” Debbie smiled.

  “Why did Jimmy go fishing without us?” Monica asked. “Me and Ed liked fishing.”

  “There are too many of those things out there,” Debbie answered, “Jimmy thought it would be better if he just went by himself today.”

  “Things? You mean dead people,” Monic said.

  Debbie stopped in her t
racks. The Shrimp had never referred to them as dead people before. When Debbie and Jim talked about the dead in front of Monica, they always just referred to them as things. They thought it would be less traumatic to call them things than what they really were. After all the Shrimp was just a little girl. Debbie and Jim really weren’t much more than kids themselves, but after the last year they felt much older.

  Debbie guessed they had been trying to protect the Shrimp, but even if she was just a little girl, she wasn’t blind or stupid. By now she had to know what was going on.

  “Yea, dead people,” Debbie heard herself say.

  “I wish we could have gone fishing too,” Monica said.

  “Jimmy said when he gets back, maybe he will take us with him to go look for a car,” Debbie replied.

  “A car!” Monica looked up at Debbie. “I remember when we had a car. Cars are fun. Can we all go for a ride?”

  “After we find a car,” Debbie smiled.

  “Ed too?” Monica smiled.

  “Even Ed,” Debbie laughed.

  Debbie walked to the end of the hall and started to line up the empty plastic two liter pop bottles on the red “X” marks Jim had drawn on the floor with a red crayon. He had made the marks because Monica kept setting up the pop bottles in a little group that was too easy to knock down.

  Debbie walked back over to Monica and bent down and picked up Ed.

  “You’re up Shrimp.”

  Monica ran over and grabbed the old dirty, half inflated soccer ball they had found down in the first grade classroom. Jim had come back one day with a bag of empty pop bottles and told Debbie about his idea to make Monica a game to keep her busy.

  The game kept the Shrimp busy for days, until Jim brought home Ed. Ed liked to chase things. Not only did Ed like to chase things, she had sharp little teeth. The soccer ball had been fully inflated before Ed decided she wanted to chase the ball.