by Tristan Vick
Steve stood in the breaker room with a ghostly expression frozen onto his face. “Come on, guys, this isn’t funny anymore.”
Creeping up to the entrance, Steve snuck a quick look around the corner to see five living dead munching on the corpses of his fellow crewmembers. To his shock, he recognized the one gnawing on the limbs of Pearlman. It was General Greer. Steve jumped back.
“Holy shit,” he said in a hoarse whisper. This is definitely not good, he thought. He had to warn somebody. But how? He was trapped. Then Mitch’s voice blared out of the radio.
“What in blazes is going down there?”
One of the monster’s heads snapped up, and the thing looked directly at him with its disturbingly frosted eyes. Steve Corbin recoiled in fright.
“Shit,” Steve cursed, ducking back into the room as he fiddled with the volume of the radio. Steve slid up against the wall and finally managed to kill the radio. The whole time he silently prayed that the creature hadn’t seen him. That it would be preoccupied with its meal and would go back to feeding long enough for him to reach over and slam the door shut.
Petrified with terror, he forced his stiff limbs to move. Slowly, he took agonizing steps back toward the entranceway. All he had to do was pull the door closed, radio for help, and wait until they came down to rescue him. That’s all. Just shut the stupid door.
Gathering up all the nerve he had left, he quickly turned to reach for the door hand when, unexpectedly, General Greer’s face appeared before him. The general stared at him with white frosted eyes and growled softly. His chops were stained with the fresh blood of Pearlman. Steve began to scream but was quickly silenced when Greer’s chomping teeth tore into his larynx and ripped out his vocal cords.
51
Countdown
Rachael’s thoughts drifted to her son, Hector. She wondered where he was now. She wondered if he suffered any. She wondered if he was the cause of anyone else’s suffering. She questioned whether she had made the right choice just letting him go like that. She wondered if she should have done things differently.
Suddenly the lights flickered, went off for a moment. “That’s the third time,” Josh announced. When the lights came back on, Lindsey let out a piercing scream.
Rachael spun around to see what had frightened the poor girl half to death and spotted Jennifer Hurley standing on the other side of the glass staring at them with wraith-like eyes and a bone-chilling gaze. She was stark naked, her blonde hair was dirty and disheveled and caked with so much gore and carnage that it looked as though she had just been spat out of a whore’s uterus—bloody and grotesque.
It was clear that she had completely lost her mind, but worse still, it was practically impossible to tell what she might be thinking behind those blue sparkling eyes of hers.
Suddenly Jennifer’s eyes glinted and locked onto Josh. Rachael quickly pushed him behind her to keep him out of Hurley’s line of sight.
“If she comes into the room, let me handle her,” whispered Rachael out of the corner of her mouth. They all held their breath and waited for something to happen. But then Hurley just calmly turned and walked away.
“What the hell is wrong with her?” asked Lindsey, holding onto Rachael’s arm.
“I think she’s had a psychotic break,” Rachael said.
“You think?” Josh answered sarcastically.
“And I thought the zombies were scary,” Lindsey said pointing upward. “A zombie will tear off your face, but that bitch will mess you up seven different ways till sundown.”
Alyssa popped into view, causing everyone to scream with fright.
Alyssa had almost walked past them too, but their startled screams alerted her to their presence, and she turned to see Rachael standing in the lounge with two frightened teenagers cowering behind her.
As she entered into the room, the terrified looks on their faces confirmed Alyssa’s worst suspicions. Her voice growing solemn, she stated what everyone was thinking. “Something is terribly wrong with this place.”
“No shit,” said Lindsey.
“It’s Jennifer; she’s had a psychotic break.”
Alyssa shot her a petrified look. “I’m afraid that’s not even the worst of it.”
“Levi?” Rachael asked.
Alyssa bit her lip, but didn’t need to speak for Rachael to guess. “You wouldn’t have believed it even if you’d seen him with your own eyes,” Alyssa said, her voice choking up. “It was like Silence of the Lambs in there.”
“The best thing we can do right now is stick together,” Rachael said, trying to boost the group’s morale.
“I opt that we head back up to the vehicles where those Marines are posted,” Josh said. “At least then we’ll have a bit of protection.”
Just then the base’s yellow alert alarm sounded on the intercoms, and a full contingent of Marines trotted past the glass windows of the lounge. Rachael stood with Alyssa and the kids and watched silently as the unit passed them by. Soon enough there was the sound of gunfire erupting.
“Never mind,” said Josh with a disappointed tone. It was obvious the Marines had their hands full dealing with all the insanity and chaos going on down here. “It looks like we’re pretty much on our own from here on out.”
“Maybe that’s for the best,” Rachael said, ushering everyone toward the doors.
“How is that at all better?” asked Lindsey.
“While everyone else is distracted down here amid the monsters and the madness, we’ll make our way to the cars.”
They nodded and followed her out the doors. Suddenly more sporadic bursts of gunfire broke out.
“We’d better get moving,” Rachael urged.
Dashing up the hallway, the ragtag group made their way through the labyrinth of corridors and headed for the surface. But before they had gone far, Alyssa suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. “Hey, hold up a sec.”
Stopping, they turned around to see what the matter was.
“What is it?” Lindsey asked.
“I just remembered, I have to get something from my room first. It’s important.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Josh said.
“It’s my diary. It’s important.”
“You can’t just go alone,” Rachael began. But Alyssa held up her hand to say it was all right.
“My room is in the opposite direction those Marines were headed. By my estimation, that means I have more than enough time to get there, get the diary, and meet back up with you guys at the gate.”
Rachael was about to protest, but before she could say anything Alyssa was already running back down the hall toward her room. Without looking over her shoulder, Alyssa shouted, “Just go! I’ll be fine.”
Rachael looked at the kids with heavy eyes. She weighed leaving them to fend for themselves to help Alyssa. After all, she and Alyssa had been through so much together already, it seemed wrong somehow just to abandon her at a time like this.
“Don’t leave us,” Lindsey said, putting her hand on Rachael’s arm. Josh just looked at her with wounded eyes, as if his soul had been completely crushed.
Rachael looked down at Lindsey’s touch, and the memory of Hector came flooding back into her mind. Her maternal instinct went into overdrive. She couldn’t just abandon them. Smiling warmly, Rachael answered, “I won’t leave you. I promise. I’ll get you out of this place safe and sound if it’s the last thing I do.”
Suddenly the lights began to flicker uncontrollably. After about a minute of strobe light conditions, everything went dark. All they could hear was each other’s breathing. After what seemed like forever, the lights came back on.
“What was that all about?” Josh asked.
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence,” Lindsey said in a nervous voice.
Moans broke out from the intersection of corridors behind them, and everyone’s heads whipped back around in time to see the entire intersection quickly flood with the undead.
&nb
sp; “Sonuvabitch!” shouted Josh as he tugged on Lindsey’s hand and began to run.
Ushering them in front of her, Rachael quickly followed after them and shouted at them, “Run!”
52
Lost and Found
Alyssa made it to her room and opened the door. She ran inside and began rummaging through her bags. But her diary was missing. It was entirely unlike her to misplace things, as she had the studious habit of putting things back precisely where they belonged.
“Looking for this?” a voice called out.
Alyssa slowly raised her head to see Jennifer Hurley’s naked form hovering in the doorway. She was bathed in blood and wore the symbol omega on her chest. She fondled the tip of her wicked blade with her fingers, and tucked under her arm was Alyssa’s purple leather diary.
“Excuse me, Mrs. Hurley, but I think you have something that belongs to me.”
“It’s just Ms. Hurley,” Jennifer said solemnly. “I’m afraid I’m a widow now.”
Alyssa bit her lip nervously and refrained from saying anything. After an awkward moment of calm, Ms. Hurley broke the silence. “It’s a very interesting story.” Jennifer held up the book and thumbed through some of the pages. They were already stained with her bloody fingerprints. “It’s funny, you see? I’m in this story. I’m very interested to find out what will happen to me.”
“It’s not a story,” Alyssa informed. “It’s our frackin’ nightmare of a life. Now, please, give me back my diary.”
Jennifer tried hard not to laugh, but couldn’t hold back her chortle. “Oh, you poor little thing. You’re so adorable when you try to act all tough. But deep down, I know you are shaking in your little boots. I could end it for you if you wanted. I could take away the fear and the pain. Just take it all away.”
The lights briefly flickered again, and Alyssa tried to use the distraction to dash out the door. But Hurley stepped in her way and blocked her. Frustrated, she yelled, “What do you want from me?!”
“I want you to beg me.”
“Beg you for what?!”
Hurley held out the knife and ran it down Alyssa’s cheek. Alyssa remained fixed, not flinching for an instant. She knew the moment she showed fear, the moment she showed any sign of weakness, Hurley would strike like the pernicious viper she was. “For your life,” whispered Hurley.
“Screw you!” Alyssa snapped and spat in Jennifer’s face.
Suddenly Jennifer’s face went blank. Then she grabbed Alyssa by the throat and slammed her into the wall. Hurley touched her lips with the back of her hand and smeared Alyssa’s spit across her mouth. Then she leaned in and kissed Alyssa long and hard, holding the knife to her throat the whole time.
Jennifer Hurley’s tongue slithered inside Alyssa’s mouth, but Alyssa still didn’t kiss her back. Growing infuriated, Hurley slammed Alyssa into the wall one last time and then relinquished her choke-hold. Alyssa fell to her knees, gasping for breath.
“You want this stupid ole book?” Hurley hissed. “Have it!” Hurley tossed the book down onto the ground next to Alyssa and then turned and walked away as if she had other, more important, matters to be attending to.
Watching the monitors closely, Mitch saw Barnes and Noble ushering people out of the facility as he had requested. They had lost contact with Linda, the general, and the repair team. Now the containment failure alarm was blaring in the control room, and Mitch was thoroughly freaked out. He had sent a contingent of Marines to go deal with it, but he hadn’t heard back from them either. The shit had thoroughly hit the fan.
It wasn’t an easy choice, but he had given the evacuation order. Looking over at the two remaining staff, a man and a woman, Mitch said, “You two better go get on that bus while you still can. I’ll hold down the fort here.”
Hesitating, they looked at him for a moment.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Go on, get!”
Reluctantly, they did as they were told.
Whatever happened next, Mitch was the last man at his post, and, like the noble captain of a ship, he swore he’d would see The Third Coast sunk before he’d ever let those godforsaken things see the light of day.
Barnes looked back at the cave entrance in time to see Rachael and a couple of teenagers come running out of the mouth of the base.
“Ramirez!” Barnes hollered.
Running up to him, she said, “You need to get these kids to safety.” She pushed Josh and Lindsey forward and then she turned to head back into the base.
“Wait,” Barnes said, grabbing her by the wrist. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I have to go back for Alyssa.”
“Like hell you do! I’m not letting you go back in there. It’s a deathtrap. Let the general get her out.”
“The general has been missing since we arrived at this godforsaken place. For all we know he could be dead,” she bluntly informed him. “So if you don’t mind, I’d like to go save my friend.”
“Damn it, Ramirez!” Barnes blared in frustration. “I’ve been given direct orders by the operations manager to get everyone out of here, stat! And that’s what I’m going to do.” Without another word he tugged on Rachael’s wrist and tried to force her to come with him. She pulled back and stood her ground.
Calmly, Rachael looked Barnes straight in his eyes, and said, “Staff Sergeant, let. Go. Of. My. Goddamn. Arm. I’m going back in whether you like it or not.”
Noises could be heard coming from the mouth of the entrance. Both of them looked over to see the sloppy gait of the monsters pouring out from the base. Burley biker zombie led the charge. Barnes took out his handgun and handed it to Rachael.
“Then take this. I’ll cover you for as long as I can.”
Rachael nodded in gratitude and turned back to head into the mouth of madness.
53
Escape
Grumbling and scraping along, the colossal doors slowed to a juddering halt. After a few moments, with the grinding of gears, they reversed and began to shut again.
“We don’t have much time,” Barnes shouted above the noise. “We have to go. Now!”
In protest, Josh blurted, “No, we have to wait for Rachael and her friend to get back. We can’t just leave them. Not after everything we’ve been through. Not after all she’s done to keep us all safe.”
“You worry about your girl, kid” Barnes said with a wink. “Let me worry about mine.”
“I can take care of myself,” Lindsey said with a hand on her hips as she gave Barnes the old evil eye.
“I’m sure you can,” Barnes said in an annoyed tone. “But as you can clearly see, I don’t have time for idle chitchat.” With that, Barnes cracked Josh on the back of the head with the butt of his gun. Catching Josh in his arms, he handed the unconscious boy over to Lindsey, who scowled at him with a shocked expression. Ignoring her nasty look, Barnes said, “Just get him on the bus would’ya?”
Lindsey frowned, but did as she was told.
Sergeant Ulysses Noble pushed the few remaining survivors after Josh and Lindsey were safely aboard, now seated at the back. Josh was already coming too and Lyndsey was attending to his wounds.
As the bus doors closed, Noble slapped the side of the bus to let the driver know to get a move on, and then jogged back to the Komatsu LAV. He scrambled up to the M2 Browning, yanked the load tray back, and slid in a chain of .50 caliber shells.
From the base’s entrance at the mouth of the cave, dark figures staggered toward them one shambling footstep at a time.
Looking over at his friend, Jared Barnes gave Noble the nod. Noble nodded back and trained the Browning onto the zombie swarm.
“Yippee ki-yay motherfuckers!” Noble shouted out as he let the hammer drop. White hot needles blasted into the approaching horde and chewed everything up to the consistency of raw hamburger.
Looking out of the back window, Josh rubbed his sore head while Lindsey squeezed his hand. “I hope they get her out in time,” Josh said as they watched the maels
trom of gunfire rain down upon the horde like the wrath of God.
“Me too,” Lindsey said. “Me too.”
Slowly, the sluggish vehicle lurched forward and inched its way toward the mouth of the gate. Barnes jogged up to the side of the bus and pounded his fists against it. Looking up at the back window he saw Josh and Lindsey waving goodbye. He smiled one last time, gave them a thumbs up, and then turned around to make his final stand.
“Fire in the hole!” shouted Barnes as he pulled down the trigger of a grenade launcher. With an ear-shattering boom, dust and debris kicked up from the massive explosions. On top of the loud blast he hollered a booming “Oorah!”
Ulysses hopped down from the Komatsu, picked up his M4 carbine assault rifle, and looked up at Barnes. “You ready for this?”
“Better to burn out than fade away,” Barnes replied.
“Hell, yeah, brother.”
They looked at each other and laughed.
Facing the oncoming onslaught, they readied themselves for another wave of monsters. Both of them shouted a thunderous “Oorah” straight from the gut and then they lit up the cave like it was the Fourth of July.
54
Succubus
Several meters underground, Zanato turned a corner. Looking up at the long corridor and then back down it, he realized the miserable fact of the matter. He was lost. Again.
“Balls,” he cursed, trying to decide which way he should go.
“Hi there, big boy,” a sultry voice called to him from behind. Zanato spun around to see Jennifer Hurley leaning against the wall, striking a seductive pose. He didn’t care that she was all covered in blood, she wasn’t wearing a damn thing.
“My, god! Am I happy to see a familiar face,” Zanato said. Noticing her messy look, he asked, “What happened to you? Are you all right?”