Deaders

by Steven Bynum

  “Well, first thing first. No offense, but I want those clothes you are wearing inside that suit.” Jacob whispered to the corpse of the guard.

  Jacob stripped the corpse as quietly and quickly as he could manage. He slipped the weapon strap over his shoulder and twirled the crowbar a couple of times before leaving the room. There was no sound coming from either direction of the hallway. He took a moment to shine the flashlight in each direction while he decided on which way to go. He went right, for the hell of it.

  Jacob made his way down the hall. Every so often, he would catch a glint of light, and he would turn off his flashlight and hide. He was unsure of where to go, which was causing a problem. The few people he had seen appeared to be heading in a particular direction, so, he decided to go the opposite direction.

  I really need to get my bearings. There has to be a window around here somewhere. Jacob stopped periodically to check rooms as he passed by them. He was looking for a window or anything that would tell him where he was located inside the building.

  Jacob came across a large room enclosed in glass instead of normal walls. He could see a couple of flashlights flickering about inside, so, he quickly turned his off, hoping he hadn’t been noticed. Obviously, there were two people, but he believed he saw light pass over a third. What are you guys up to?

  ***

  “Shine the light over this way.” Dr. Atkinson ordered Misty and Cambles. “I only had enough time to prepare more injections before the power went out. Misty, you and I are going to take the vaccine while we still have time. Zombies have overrun the first level. I don’t see how they can make it up here, but it seems fate has it out for us.”

  “I can’t believe this is happening.” Misty spoke. “I mean. What caused the explosion? It couldn’t just blow up, could it?”

  “My guess would be sabotage.” Private Cambles speculated. “There’s no way that explosion happened on its own. No way.”

  “Yes, well, let’s concentrate on the moment.” Dr. Atkinson said. “Let’s get this out of the way then worry about everything else. I’m ready to get the hell out of this suit. How about you, Nurse Bennings?”

  “Oh, I am. I surely am ready.” Misty answered.

  “Ok, I will go first. Nurse, here are the injections. As soon as I get this suit off, you inject me with the vaccine. Then, I’ll do the same for you. Private, you keep a watch. You keep that pistol handy.”

  “Yes sir.” The private took the pistol from the holster and did a quick look around the lab.

  Dr. Atkinson was not gentle with his positive pressure suit. He didn’t care if he ever had to put it back on or not. He ripped it off while getting out of it. He was nervous, and felt Misty wasn’t moving fast enough, so, he took the syringe from her and injected himself. The nurse waved her arms around slightly to show her feelings were hurt.

  “Now you. Hurry up.” The doctor ordered.

  Misty liked to do everything in a methodical manner. It is exactly this manner in which she removed her positive pressure suit. The doctor kept the flashlight shining on her as she undertook the process. He was quite taken by her, though he would never admit it. How could a woman taking off a positive pressure suit make it seem so sensual? He snapped out of it and quickly administered the injection, making sure not to hurt her with the needle. She hugged him afterwards.

  Private Cambles noticed their interaction. He shook his head and grunted. He never was one for romance. It was something that was just not in his nature. Not to mention, how could they even be thinking about romance at this point in time?

  “You two finished over there?” Private Cambles asked.

  Dr. Atkinson was slightly embarrassed, which caused Nurse Bennings to smile. “Yes, yes, we have both been vaccinated. Now, let’s figure out our next course of action.”

  “Yes sir.” The private responded.

  “Stop calling me sir. Hell, it’s the end of the world.” The doctor snapped.

  “Ok, boss.” Cambles grinned.

  “Let’s head down to level two and get a report on the situation. It’d be my guess that the situation is well under control. I have a lot of faith in this man’s army.” Dr. Atkinson spoke proudly.

  The group of three were exiting out of the lab when they began hearing gunfire. Each looked around in an attempt to ascertain its location. They were startled and couldn’t believe they couldn’t hear it before while in the lab.

  “That doesn’t sound good.” Cambles remarked.

  “No, it doesn’t.” Dr. Atkinson responded. “That gunfire is on level two. My guess is the defenses were breached in the darkness.”

  “What do we do now?” Misty asked.

  “Don’t move or I’ll kill you all. I am armed.” Someone spoke from the dark.

  Eight

  Jacob forced Dr. Atkinson, Nurse Bennings, and Private Cambles back into the lab at gunpoint. They had dropped their pistols on the floor as ordered. It was the only thing they knew to do being he had the drop on them. If they had tried to shoot their way out, they would be dead by now. Dr. Atkinson hoped he could appeal to Jacob’s humanity and talk his way out of the situation.

  “So, what’s going on Jacob?” Dr. Atkinson asked. “Why do you have that gun pointed at us?”

  “Well. For starters. You abducted me and my buddy here.” Jacob responded coldly. Each of the three looked around trying to determine who this buddy was he was talking about. “Nevermind that.” Jacob shrugged.

  “Look Jacob. You must understand what I did was for the survival of the human race. Take a look at the three of us.”

  “I was wondering why you weren’t dead without those suits of yours.” Jacob looked them over, shining the flashlight in their eyes.

  “It’s because the vaccine worked, Jacob. You have saved humanity. I can make more vaccine, along with your help, and then no more deaders.” Dr. Atkinson held out his hands in supplication.

  “Lies!” A man shouted as he pressed a pistol against the back of Jacob’s head. He stopped Jacob from turning around with his left hand. “Now. Don’t you move a muscle.”

  No one knew what to do at this point. Each stared behind Jacob, trying to make out the man in the shadows. Jacob didn’t move a muscle.

  “Who the fuck are you?” Private Cambles blurted out.

  “Watch your mouth with the swearing, sinner. I will cut out your tongue. As to who I am; I can’t say that it matters, but I will tell you. I am Reverend Thomas, servant of the Lord thy God.”

  “Great. A religious fanatic.” Private Cambles responded smugly.

  “Shut up, private.” Dr. Atkinson ordered. “Clearly, he is the one in charge, so do not antagonize him.”

  “I am not the one in charge. The Lord thy God is in charge. I am merely an instrument of His will. Now, you will all be quiet. It hurts my ears to hear the voice of sinners. You will listen to what I have to say.”

  “Ok.” Nurse Bennings said nodding her head quickly.

  Reverend Thomas pursed his lips and squinted his eyes at her in anger. He took a deep breath before speaking again. “God has passed judgment on the race of man. His holy wrath has been poured out upon the Earth. You believe you can defy his will and somehow save mankind, but you are mistaken. Mankind has been judged unworthy to continue. The pestilence could not harm those chosen to do His will in these final days. You believe your medicine can defeat the will of God, but you are mistaken again. There is no hope for you sinners. His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Amen.”

  Jacob rolled his eyes as the reverend went on his diatribe. He hit upon an idea of escape and figured, why not, live or die it doesn’t matter too much. Jacob lowered the crowbar with his left hand. The only light was from the few flashlights and since the reverend wasn’t paying much attention, he figured no one would see if he was slow and careful. Sure in his movement, Jacob hooked one of the claws behind the reverend’s left leg.

  Jacob jerked the crowbar forward with all his strength as he went down on on
e knee. The reverend fell backwards, but managed to get off one shot from his pistol. Bad luck for Private Cambles. The wild shot sent a bullet into the private’s forehead, exiting out the back. The private crashed into a cabinet, sending glass shattering on to the floor along with his dead body.

  Nurse Bennings screamed as Dr. Atkinson grabbed her by the hand and dragged her toward an exit. Any exit would do as long as it was away from the two men with the guns.

  Jacob rolled right simultaneously as Reverend Thomas rolled left. Each was on their feet firing shots at each other in the darkness as they moved to find cover. Jacob watched as the light from the flashlight being carried by Dr. Atkinson disappeared around a corner.

  Jacob and Reverend Thomas both capped off several more rounds hoping to get lucky. Neither could see the other.

  “Hold your fire, Jacob.” The reverend spoke. “I have no quarrel with you.”

  Jacob looked around wondering how the man knew his name. Might as well ask. “How do you know my name?”

  “Oh I know who you are, Jacob. I was with you all the way from Barksdale until your arrival here at Fort Detrick.”

  “Fort Detrick is it? My oh my. I don’t think I’m in Kansas anymore, am I? Why don’t you have a quarrel with me, I wonder? And how is it you were with me all the way here?” Jacob fished for answers as he tried to determine his next move.

  “It’s quite simple, Jacob. I know you are doing God’s will. Whether you know it or not. Why else would the plague not affect you as it did not affect me? You will live until the Lord thy God no longer has use for you. His will be done. As for being with you. I was the pilot of the helicopter that transported you here.”

  “So, you can fly us away from here with that helicopter?” Jacob asked in the most pleading voice possible.

  “I can do that very thing. The helicopter is located on the roof of this building. I’m going there now. You are more than welcome to come with me. Perhaps God put us here together for that very purpose.” The reverend peered around the corner of a table trying to pinpoint Jacob’s location.

  Reverend Thomas slowly took aim at what he expected was Jacob’s head. There was a small amount of light in the room from the flashlight Private Cambles had dropped. The reverend was close to pulling the trigger when flashes of light and gunfire erupted in the hallway. The reverend was startled, jerking his head around toward the commotion. The battle was too close, so he took off running instead of waiting around.

  Jacob saw the movement of shadow and unleashed a barrage of gunfire in that direction. The bright flashes from the muzzle illuminated a figure running. Glass shattered as Jacob followed the figure with gunfire. Jacob couldn’t tell whether he actually hit the reverend, so he jumped up and took off in pursuit. He figured the reverend would be heading towards the roof and the helicopter. Jacob wanted to get there in time to stop him from escaping. There was a good chance Dr. Atkinson and Nurse Bennings are on their way there also. It would be nice to get them as well.

  ***

  “Trevor, let’s stop for a moment.” Nurse Bennings whined. “I hurt my toe, it hurts.”

  “Keep your voice down, Misty.” Dr. Atkinson pleaded. “Just one more level of stairs. We need to get down to the garage and get the hell out of here.”

  “Why didn’t we just take the helicopter?” Misty whined.

  “Can you fly a helicopter?” Trevor asked.

  “You know I can’t.” Misty snapped at him.

  “That’s my point. I can’t either.” Trevor snapped back.

  “Do you smell that? It smells like smoke.” Misty observed.

  “Yeah. Yeah, it is smoke. I think the first level may be on fire.” Trevor responded.

  “On fire? Oh God! What do we do now? We can’t go through fire!” Misty cried.

  “Don’t worry, my love. We’ll make it out of here. No fire, no zombie, no psycho religious bastard is going to stop us.” Trevor consoled her. “I’ll get you to safety if it’s the last thing I do.”

  Trevor placed a hand against the stairwell exit door. It wasn’t too hot, only slightly warm, so he slowly opened it. Smoke came pouring into the stairwell, causing them both to cough momentarily.

  “Maybe we should have kept wearing the positive pressure suits.” Trevor coughed again.

  Trevor could see flames from the fire flickering to the left. He pointed the flashlight to the right, but all the smoke disrupted his vision. He could see maybe seven to ten feet in front of him as they walked down the hall. Misty held on to his left hand, not wanting to be left behind.

  The two slowly made their way down the smoked filled hall. Their coughing came more frequent as the smoke thickened. Trevor grabbed a couple surgical masks from a cart they came across.

  “Here Misty, put this on. It’ll help with the smoke a bit. We really need to get to the garage quickly.” Trevor picked up the pace, dragging Misty along with him.

  Misty placed the mask over her nose and mouth. “How much further is it?” She asked desperately.

  “It shouldn’t be much …” Trevor was attempting to respond when something tackled him from the side. There was no mistaking the moaning sound. The zombie fell on top of Trevor, slightly knocking the breath out of him. Misty screamed as another figure came at her through the smoke, its arms groping for her. The zombie snarled, showing its teeth as Misty backed away from it. She continued screaming with fear.

  Trevor rolled, tossing the zombie off of him. “Deader bastard!” He yelled, adrenaline pumping. The screams coming from Misty kicked him into overdrive. Trevor jumped to his feet and rushed her zombie attacker, sending it tumbling across the floor.

  “Come on!” Trevor grabbed Misty by the arm and dragged her behind him as he ran, only momentarily stopping to pick up the flashlight from its resting spot on the floor.

  Trevor and Misty ran past a few more zombies without altercation. Arms reached for them, but smoke obscured the two enough to cause the zombies trouble pinpointing them.

  An oxygen tank exploded, sending a fireball into the hall in front of them. Trevor and Misty were staggered by the blast and ducked into a room to avoid flying debris. They both tripped over items that had been strewn about the floor and lay sprawled out for a moment, disoriented. Their escape had become more dangerous than expected. Bumps, bruises, and cuts ignored, they forced themselves to get up and search for an exit.

  ***

  Jacob fired off his last shot, missing the reverend by inches. He tossed the empty carbine aside and gripped the crowbar in his right hand.

  “It’s just you and me again old friend.” Jacob spoke to the crowbar.

  Jacob waited a moment before continuing his pursuit of Reverend Thomas. He was fairly certain the reverend still had ammo, so he needed to be cautious and take it slowly. Regardless if he caught the man or not, he still needed a way out of the building and away from this place.

  Tap … tap … thoughts came to Jacob’s mind as the crowbar beat a steady rhythm against the wall next to him. Images of roaring fires danced around in his mind. This man, Reverend Thomas, was doing the same thing as he. This man is also on a mission to burn away the taint. Why am I trying to kill him? He could have killed me, but instead he only pressed the pistol to my head. Circumstances of the mission had worked out that way.

  The real enemy is getting away. Gunfire sounded not far away, jarring Jacob back from his thoughts. “Well, old friend.” He spoke to the crowbar. “Guess we can’t go back that way. The only way is up.”

  Jacob pointed the flashlight in the direction he last saw the reverend. “Follow the leader.” Jacob walked a brisk, steady pace in that direction. His mission had been rejuvenated in his mind.

  Jacob stepped through the door of the stairwell and ran right into a soldier in retreat. The soldier, startled, reacted by punching Jacob in the face. Jacob was stunned, but managed to rush forward as the soldier lifted his carbine and began firing. A bullet nicked Jacob’s shoulder as he slammed into the soldier, sending him t
umbling down the stairs into the groping arms of several zombies. The man screamed, knowing death was upon him.

  Jacob thought about helping the man, but decided against it. The soldier had already sealed his fate.

  Jacob turned and ran up the stairs away from the gruesome scene. The soldier’s screams silenced as Jacob made his way toward the roof top. Smoke rolled up the stairwell behind him.

  Slam … Jacob didn’t take it slowly any longer. He ran into the exit door at full speed sending it swinging outward. Jacob bounded out on to the roof just in time to see the helicopter flying away to the west. He unconsciously ran to edge and watched it disappear into the darkness. Smoke and flame danced around the building. Jacob glanced down and saw a vehicle speeding away to the west as well. There was no doubt in his mind as to who it was in the vehicle, Dr. Atkinson and Nurse Bennings.

  “Well, they got away this time, old friend.” Jacob spoke to the crowbar. “I’m sure we’ll come across them again. And reverend, if you get in my way again, there’ll be Hell to pay.”

  Jacob glanced down, and a smile came across his face. He had been wondering how to escape the inferno and the zombies, and luck smiled with him. There was a fire escape just below him on the side of the building. Below that he could see a vehicle parked and waiting.

  Nine

  “I can’t believe we just left everyone.” Nurse Misty Bennings continued, looking over at Trevor as he drove the Humvee as fast as he could. “I mean, we should have tried to help. Some of those people were our friends. We should have at least tried to get some of them out of there. We just left them. Left them there to die.”

  “There’s nothing we could have done. The base was lost. Deaders had overrun the lower levels of the building. The soldiers were losing ground. We had to get out as fast as we could.” Dr. Trevor Atkinson stared at the road and pushed the gas pedal down further.

  “Fine. Be that way, Doctor. You can’t even admit that we left our friends to die.” Misty turned away and crossed her arms, frowning.