by J. B. Havens
Dusting my hands off, I walked to the doctor, he was frozen against the wall by the door. I’d dispatched all three of his guards in less than a minute. The scent of blood was thick in my nose and my hunger was a living thing, twisting and curling in my stomach with desperate need.
“You can’t possibly think this is going to work out for you?” Dr. Reeves asked calmly. His voice may have been even and true, but I could hear his heart racing and smell his fear.
“Maybe. Maybe not. But either way, you’re not going to be around to fuck with people’s lives anymore. You’ve paved your road, now it’s time to walk through the hot gates of Hell.” In a blink, I was in front of him, my hand wrapped around his throat. Feeling his blood pumping through the veins just under the thin surface of his skin, I fought to keep from feeding on him. I knew how sweet his flesh would taste, how fulfilling it would feel sliding down my throat, and how satisfied I would be. I licked my lips, swallowing the saliva pooling in my mouth as I did my best to keep my instincts in check.
Instead, I twisted my wrist quickly. His bones were no match for my strength and his neck snapped cleanly. I dropped his limp form to the floor. Looking over my shoulder behind me, Parker stood only inches from the glass, glaring at me with hate filled eyes.
I gave him a cheeky finger wave and a smile before grabbing the good doctor’s ID badge. I clipped it to my shirt and gathered up a pistol and Taser from the still unconscious guards. Paying closer attention now, I could only hear one heartbeat. The first one’s eyes were bulging from the sockets and his lips were blue. He’d choked to death on his own blood.
“Poor bastard,” I muttered. I hadn’t intended to kill him.
A blinking red light caught my eye. There was a camera in the upper left corner of the room. No doubt a guard in some monitor-filled room just saw this shit show and would be sending backup to come kill me. I needed to hurry.
Leaving the room behind, I took a left and cautiously walked down the hallway. There were doors every ten feet or so, but I couldn’t hear anyone in this direction. Pain shot into my head, sharp needles behind my eyes and I knew I was close to Kelle. I slowed even further, each step increasing the pain until my eyes were watering with it. On my right were a set of double doors, just like the ones for the room where I’d been held. Tapping the badge on the lock, I pushed the door open a few inches and looked inside. I saw a glass cell in the back corner with the same set up in the middle as my room.
She was standing in her cell, waiting for me. She’d felt me coming, I was sure of it.
“You going to let me out, or what?” Kelle demanded to know.
“Nope, don’t think so. I just wanted to make sure you were still locked away nice and tight. Laters!”
I flipped her the bird and left her behind, my goal was to find the way out of this maze. I knew there was no way I could kill everyone here. Someone would get a lucky shot off long before that. I wanted the same thing I always had, to survive and be left the fuck alone. Following the hallway, I finally saw a sign pointing toward the motor pool. I was genuinely surprised that I hadn’t seen anyone yet, which was making me more suspicious with each step I took. I rounded another turn in the hallway and there was a dead end up ahead, just a door with a picture of stairs on it. Pressing my ear to the metal door, I listened carefully.
“We should just let her go! She didn’t kill the lieutenant when she could have. Why should we all die because of one fucked up freak show of a zombie?”
“Shut your fucking mouth, Private. We have our orders. You know what they’ll do to our families if we fail,” a deeper voice responded.
“Fuck you guys! I don’t wanna die in this fucking concrete tomb! You saw the mess those two broads left behind last time they were here. I am not going to be a bloodstain on the goddamn wall!” the private shouted, allowing me to hear him clearly, without the use of my enhanced senses. “There aren’t enough of us, man, and you know it. We’re camped out here in the stairwell like a bunch of sitting mother fucking ducks, just waiting to die.”
“Keep your fucking voice down before I muzzle you. Grow a pair of balls you fucking pussy. Alec, check the video feed, where is this bitch?”
I needed to get up there, the element of surprise was all I had going for me right now. I opened the door as quietly as I could and began to run. With my speed, I hoped I’d be able to attack before they even saw me coming. My sneakers were nearly silent on the steps and I could hear them continuing to bicker, unable to find me on the cameras. It was like amateur hour around here. I wondered absently if all of their good people had died.
I climbed three flights in less than a minute and was rounding the corner on the fourth when I saw them. There were four men, two halfway up the stairs from the landing, the other two on the landing itself. None of them were currently looking down the steps. Fucking amateurs. I bounded up, taking the steps two or three at a time.
I shot the Taser at the first man, a boy really, barely old enough to shave. He yelped and fell over with his body jerking as electricity coursed through his body. The second man was turning, reacting to the noise behind him, but it was too late. I slapped the pistol out of his hand, breaking it in the process. The other two above us turned, firing their weapons.
I grabbed the guard I’d disarmed and pulled him in front of my body as a shield. Bullets thudded into his back, I could feel the impact of each one. Blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth as he died. Grunting with the effort, I lifted his limp body, and threw him up the stairs. The other two men fell under the weight of their dead friend.
I picked up a pistol that had slid down the steps, landing at my feet. “Sorry, boys,” I yelled. Two quick shots and it was all over. I dropped the gun beside their bodies and sped up the stairs.
Two more flights and I reached the top. Pushing on the door, nothing happened at first and I realized I needed the key card to open it. Tapping it quickly, I shoved the bar down and flung open the door. Sunlight hit me in the eyes, I threw my arm up to shield them from the painful rays.
Thwack!
The hell? I stumbled, my legs suddenly week. Thud… thud… two more. My body jerked, spinning slightly before my legs gave out. I hit my knees hard. Fire burned through my stomach. I reached down, patting my belly, trying to put out the flames, but my hands came away wet and sticky.
“W-what?” I looked up from my hands and saw a silhouette outlined by golden sunlight. Its arms were raised and pointing at me. My lungs weren’t working right, I couldn’t breathe. I spit blood, the coppery taste thick and chocking me.
I collapsed on my side, air impossible to move into my chest. I looked down at myself, and saw giant red splotches on my chest and stomach. I rolled boneless to my back, closing my eyes against the intense light.
“Take her back inside. This time, for fucks sake, make sure she’s secured properly. What a fucking mess Dr. Reeves made of this.” A feminine voice spoke from above me.
My hands fell away from my body and thick, cold blackness swallowed me whole.
The End
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