The Dying of the Light (Book 1): End

by Jason Kristopher

  “Excellent work on his part; he may have saved the lives of those nurses. I’m assuming the Code Orange initiates a complete lockdown of the facility? All doors lock automatically, that sort of thing?” As Dr. Drake nodded, Frank smiled. “Good! Have you still got the line inside?”

  “Sir, we’ve got that set up over here,” said Palmer, pointing to a newish van that looked like an oversized ambulance. “We’re treating it as a hostage situation, sir.”

  As the chief opened the back of the large van, I whistled. It was a complete state of the art communications and operations rig, and I was impressed. “Jasper was always talking about getting one of these,” I muttered to myself.

  “Who’s Jasper?” asked Kim.

  “That sheriff I was telling you about; the friend of mine in Fall Creek.”

  “What the hell would Fall Creek need with one of these? You barely had 1,500 people.”

  “He knew that; he just wanted one anyway. Besides, they can be used for anything, not just hostage negotiations. As witnessed by the Chief’s actions.”

  “We’ve put the government’s stimulus money to good use in these here parts,” said Palmer. “Homeland Security grants have helped out too, but this one we were very excited to get. As you said, it’s not just for hostage negotiations.”

  A sudden shouting drew my attention to the small yet growing crowd of people surrounding the police barricades. Someone had shoved someone else, it seemed, and a very expensive-looking news camera was now lying shattered on the pavement.

  Too bad they’re not all busted, I thought, counting six or seven other cameras at a glance.

  Anderson had picked up the phone and was speaking quietly into the handset, his demeanor growing more focused as he listened. “I understand, Dr. Underwood. No, sir, you did the right thing. Just make sure to let us know if you find anyone… yes, sir. That’s right, sir. Biohazard Level Four. I know, Dr. Underwood, just do the best you can. Stay away from anyone that appears to be acting strangely or hurt; they’re probably infected. Call if you need anything else.”

  He hung up and turned to face the doctor and police chief. “Gentlemen, if you’d excuse us, please.” The men looked surprised, and Drake at least appeared as though he were going to argue, but Palmer must’ve caught the look in the commander’s eye, and shoved the doctor out the door of the trailer. Once they were out of earshot, Frank turned back to us. “He says it’s just the one patient so far, and she’s not managed to break out of her restraints yet, but she has apparently fully turned.”

  “It’s only a matter of time, commander,” said Kim. “Those restraints weren’t meant to hold walkers. If she’s not out already, she will be by the time we get inside.”

  “I agree. So here’s what we’ll do. Alpha squad will enter and proceed directly to the Emergency Room. Bravo will maintain perimeter on the outside, and we’ll only call in the others as a last resort. I’ll remain here and coordinate with the chief and Drs. Drake and Underwood in case either needs something.” He jerked his head toward the press mob. “I’ll handle them somehow, too. Clear?”

  “Clear, sir!”

  “Oh, and take at least two of the X-29’s with you, Barnes. We might as well try and appease Gardner if we can.” He looked at me, but I couldn’t read his expression.

  Not good, I thought. Not good at all. How the hell was I going to get out of this? And more importantly, how was I going to get rid of Gardner?

  “Yes, sir,” I said.

  We trotted off to the cars, signaling for the soldiers inside to gear up. The muttering and shouting from the crowd grew as soldiers in urban camouflage piled out of the innocuous cars, strapping on body armor and checking their magazines. The rifles were obvious, and there was no point in hiding them, and more than one person I saw in the crowd left at that point.

  “You and I take the X-29s, ma’am?” I asked Kim, moving into professional mode as we readied for what would hopefully be a short and easy battle.

  “Hmm, good idea.” She popped open the trunk on the lead car and unlatched the case for the experimental weapons, throwing one to me and slamming a magazine home into the one in her other hand. “The guns feel solid enough, but I don’t know about these,” she said, waving her hand at the other contents of the case, the cuffs and the mask.

  “We’ll probably only need the one mask, but let’s take two just to be safe. And at least four pairs of the cuffs. Maybe we can figure out a way to transport the thing that doesn’t involve one of us getting turned,” I said, trying to sound only somewhat upset at having to use the restraints.

  Kim snorted. “Yeah, they didn’t think of that particular detail, did they? I know, let’s have the chief or one of his officers loan us their car. We can throw the walker in the back and get her to the airport with minimal fuss.”

  “Good idea, ma’am.” I finished loading and arming the X-29, and turned to find the rest of the team lined up and ready, in formation. “Bravo squad, set up a perimeter. Nothing gets in or out of this place but us. Alpha squad, we’ve got point on this one. Let’s go, people!”

  With the speed and efficiency that only military training can provide, the two squads broke to their assigned positions, with the rest of Alpha squad and I waiting at the Emergency Room door for the Bravo’s signal.

  “Alpha Six, Bravo Six. In place, perimeter secure.”

  “Roger, breaching now.”

  We moved up to the emergency room doors, and a frightened young nurse unlocked and pushed them open. We hadn’t been expecting her, and she almost got shot for her trouble. Fortunately, no one fired.

  “Martinez, secure that door,” Kim said as we entered the brightly-lit and antiseptic-smelling building. It smelled like every other hospital I’ve ever been in; it smelled like death with a hint of Lysol.

  “Roger.” Angelo closed the door, and I noticed him relock it and pocket the key. The nurse was wide-eyed, and I knew she was thinking about running. She didn’t have the chance though, as Kim put a hand on her shoulder, looking the girl in the eye.

  “Which way to Exam Room Three? And where is Doctor Underwood?”

  The girl began crying as she pointed down the hallway, and a stocky man of average height with a full beard appeared out of a doorway. I noticed the name stitched on his lab coat and tapped Kim on the shoulder, pointing his way.

  The doctor walked up to Kim and smiled, his teeth even and white above the jet-black beard. “Oh good, you’re here! We’ve been so worried.”

  Great, a good-looking doctor. Just what I need, I thought as Kim flushed, and she and Rachel both gave him appreciative looks as though neither I nor Dalton were standing right there. Probably thought we wouldn’t notice.

  Gaines looked over at me out of view of the doctor, rolling his eyes and making heaving motions. I stifled a snicker and we were both the picture of innocence when the girls’ heads whipped around.

  Kim cleared her throat, turning back to Dr. Underwood. “Doctor, where is the infected patient? Where is the rest of your staff?”

  “The staff and the patients we could move have all gathered in the cafeteria, on the other side of the hospital. There’s about sixty or so in there. Only Shelly and I stayed to let you in after the lockdown. I thought it might be useful to have someone to run messages back to the rest of the staff, just in case.” Underwood began moving down the hallway.

  “The patient’s in Exam Room Three, just down the hall on your left. I wouldn’t go in there unless you absolutely have to, though. She’s dangerous, and from what I can tell is very infectious.”

  “What do you mean, ‘from what you can tell’, doctor?” I asked. My whole squad froze, looking at the doctor.

  “One of the new candy-stripers made it past the nurse’s station somehow when we were all busy, and got into the room. She wasn’t exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, if you know what I mean. Probably never knew what the ‘Code Orange’ even meant. The woman apparently spit and moaned at her, and some spittle ent
ered her eye,” he said.

  When he noticed we weren’t following, he turned back. “There’s nothing to fear; she’s been sedated and moved to another room, where we put her in the same restraints, just in case. After all, she wasn’t even bitten.”

  I looked at Kim, who shook her head. “Not now, with only the one squad. We’ll deal with that one after.”

  A quick nod and I had the squad on the move once more. “Eyes and ears, people. Shelly, you stay with the doc.” The nurse scooted ahead to grab hold of one of Underwood’s arms, obviously clinging to the last piece of her sanity she could find readily accessible. He just stood there, wondering what was going on, so I hauled him along with us.

  “Listen, doc, all it takes is one bit of bodily fluid to be infected. Ever hear of prions?”

  “You’re saying this is BSE? Mad cow disease?”

  “Not exactly, but it’s still prions. And don’t look at me like that; what do you think I do all fucking day? A prion disease. That’s what this is. Just one prion, and then you become what your initial patient became. That’s why we wear these, just in case.” I said, pointing to the wraparound safety glasses I wore.

  “It’s been something of a crazy morning. I’m afraid I wasn’t thinking all that clearly,” he grated. “Still, you would normally have to ingest tainted brain tissue for this…”

  “Like I said doc, this isn’t your garden-variety prion.” I sighed and lightened up. “That’s okay, doc. Let’s just try to get out of this alive, ok?”

  He paled, realizing for maybe the first time how dangerous the situation was. He pulled the nurse closer to him as we moved down the hallway.

  We moved fast, rifles tracking in sweep patterns as we followed our training, regardless of the lack of reported walkers. I hefted the X-29, realizing the damn thing was about twice the weight of my SCAR.

  I already hate this piece of crap, I thought. I just hope it works. Of course, it if doesn’t, then I’ll have one more thing on Gardner — if I live through it.

  We rounded the corner near Exam Room Three, and we could hear the creature moaning from inside. Reynolds and Gaines set to cover the hallways, with Kim behind me and Martinez and Eaton flanking us on the other side.

  Underwood perked up as we approached the exam room. “Now, as you’ll see, the patient is experiencing severe dementia and violent tendencies, as mentioned in the advisory,” Underwood said as he glanced through the door’s small inset window. Shelly crouched down against the wall, her arms around her knees, not making a sound though her cheeks were wet with tears. “Well, that’s odd,” Underwood said. “She was strapped down a moment ago…”

  I couldn’t react fast enough as he opened the door, and swore as a grasping clawed hand came through the doorway, throwing the door wide and yanking the doctor inside. Shelly screamed, and there was a flash, then the smell of burning ozone and more than a little cooked meat. The doctor came flying back through the doorway at the same moment, impacting the wall opposite and falling to the ground in a crumpled heap.

  I looked up at Kim, who was reloading her weapon, and she smiled. “Well, at least we know it works. Tag and bag. Eaton, see to the doc.”

  I shook myself out of my surprise and moved into the room, gasping and choking at the smell of charred walker. The electrodes from Kim’s shot still protruded from the walkers chest, and it shook and quivered as though it was having a seizure. I nearly gagged on the stench and it took every bit of self-discipline I had to reach into my pack and withdraw the mask and cuffs. Fortunately, my gloves were non-conductive, so I didn’t feel any of the residual shocks as I placed the mask over the monster’s head and jaws, securing it tight, then did the same with its wrists.

  “AEGIS Five, Alpha Six.”

  “Go ahead, Alpha Six.”

  “Primary package has been wrapped, sir. At least one secondary has been identified and we are moving to secure.”

  “Very well. Keep me updated.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Gunny, get in here and help me with this,” I said. Dalton came in a moment later, and we managed to tear down one of the privacy curtains for the exam room, rolling the walker into it like some sort of still-twitching undead burrito. The curtain might be made of low-grade plastic, but the multiple layers wrapped around it should hold long enough for our purposes. Together, we dragged the body out into the hallway.

  I nodded towards Underwood and looked at Kim. “How is he?”

  She shook her head and grimaced. “Eaton says he’s got burns all over his arm where the thing was holding onto him and a severe concussion from the impact with the wall, but as far as she can tell…” She broke off then reached down and hauled the still screaming Shelly to her feet, slapping her so hard she nearly spun into the wall.

  “Knock that crap off! I was five years younger than you when I saw my first walker, and I didn’t go screaming my damned head off.”

  That’s my girl, a softie through and through.

  “Where’s the other room? The one with the candy-striper?” The girl pointed two doors down and across the hall, sobbing and trying to wipe her eyes.

  “Uh, ma’am, perhaps we should…” I began, but Kim just dropped the poor girl, who immediately fell back into a motionless lump on the floor. At least she’d stopped screaming.

  “Leave him, Eaton. We’ll come back for him later.” Rachel stood up from the still form of Underwood, and was death walking once more as we all moved to the door where the other assumed walker was being held.

  Curiously, there was no noise from inside, and I began to wonder if she’d been infected after all. Maybe it was just some other illness. It didn’t really matter, though; zombie prion or not, we needed to find out. I knocked and stood back from the door, giving Kim a clear field of fire while still keeping my eyes on the door itself. Again, no moans, and I looked over at Kim, then pointed at the door handle and hinges. An outward-swinging door that closed automatically — provided nothing pushed against the no-resistance handle from the inside — and no lock. Great.

  She nodded once to me, and moved into a firing stance, ready for anything that might come through the door, human or undead.

  I signaled a countdown and at one I threw the door open and dived out of the way. Turns out there was no need. The room was empty, and as I covered Kim, she picked up something on the exam table, passing it to me as she moved out into the corridor.

  A piece of a standard hospital restraint. It appeared to have been ripped in two, the leather, metal and plastic wrenched and twisted beyond the breaking point.

  “Oh, shit.” I whispered.

  “Alpha Six to all teams, alert one. We have a rogue walker.”

  “Roger, Alpha Six.” Commander Anderson’s voice on the line was calm, almost as if he had expected something like this. Maybe he had; he’d been fighting walkers longer than any of us except the colonel himself. “AEGIS Five to Mobile One, prepare to roll out and proceed at speed to our location for immediate reinforcement on my order.”

  “Mobile One here.” Captain Graves voice was taut and controlled, just like Anderson’s. Two consummate professionals, just going to work. I was glad to have them on my side. “Order acknowledged, sir. We are ready on your go.”

  I could only imagine the looks on the faces of the people of Laramie as the sixteen-ton APCs began rolling through town towards us. So much for low-profile. Hopefully we wouldn’t need the backup, but it was prudent to have the other teams ready if we did.

  “Alpha Six, AEGIS Five.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Proceed with search, but carefully, major. We don’t need any more bodies out there.”

  “Yes, sir. Out here.”

  “Ma’am, Dr. Underwood.” Rachel said, and I turned to see the doctor was moving towards us, a hand against the wall to support him, Martinez on his other side. To their credit, Reynolds and Gaines never took their eyes off their assigned hallways, keeping watch just in case.

  The doctor sagge
d against Martinez, and looked up at us. “Shelly?” he asked, and I simply pointed to the weeping girl. He crossed the hall, putting one hand on her shoulder as he knelt down, the pain from his brief flight and powerful impact obvious. She flinched away from him violently, then realized who it was, and clung to him. He pulled her to her feet, and they moved back to join us, Martinez taking up his rear-guard position.

  “What happened to the candy-striper?” the doctor asked.

  “We don’t know, but this gives us some idea,” I said, holding out the broken restraint for him. He was shocked as he took it.

  “This is impossible,” he said. “These things take hundreds of pounds of force to break. I’ve never seen any patient, even the truly crazy ones, come close to doing this.”