The Demented Z (Book 3): Contagion

by Derek J. Thomas

  “Let’s worry about that later. For now stick with us, pull your weight, and…and you need to know we’re not the safest group to hang with. We’re likely going in there.” He said while pointing to the tall central building. “Last night…this morning, possibly just a glimpse.”

  “I know. You don’t know what we’ve been through.” Was all she said before slowly walking back down the hill.

  Tom felt for the girl. She thought she had only one thing to offer those around her. Axel probably made sure of that.

  There was a flash of movement just out of the corner of Tom’s eye. He turned toward it, but it was gone…maybe just an aberration. It was just beyond the back of the main building. He scanned the area looking for the others, figuring it was probably Hank or Hannah. It only took a second to narrow out Hank. He was sauntering back from the choppers, peering in various windows along the way.

  Tom raised a hand over his head trying to get Hank’s attention, but he was too focused on the buildings’ interiors to notice. Axel noticed the gesture and popped up off the wall looking at Tom quizzically. Tom didn’t want to get everyone riled up. He wasn’t even sure if he really saw anything, so rather than motion to Axel, he kept checking around for the others.

  He spotted them on the ridgeline near where he had cut through the fence. The two of them limply held their guns pointed at the ground as they made their way back. No concern in their faces. I must have imagined it. Swear I saw something.

  Hank said, “What’s up boss?” as he approached, nearly causing Tom to jump.

  Tom gathered himself a bit. “Find anything?”

  “Negative in the choppers.” He glanced over his shoulder, “Buildings are interesting. Most are empty bunks, but a couple have the windows all boarded up…you can hear ‘em inside…infected”

  Tom decided to tell him. “I think I saw movement.”

  “Where at?” Hank said looking around.

  “Just out of the corner of my eye, but back behind the main.”

  Hank looked at the tall building.

  Tom slowly scanned the surrounding buildings. “Just keep your eyes open.”

  Hank nodded his head while looking over the base.

  “Let’s get in that building so we can get out of here.”

  ******

  “Please Miles. Charles and I work hard…we…we can’t survive out there.” The older woman said while grasping her hands together in front of her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  Miles was glad nobody else was around to see this. She was an embarrassment. He loathed her for bugging him and acting like his decisions weren’t for the best. He leaned forward in his chair, slowly rubbing a thumb around the small circular handle that would open his slender desk drawer. Inside waited a gun and a knife. The only tough part would be deciding which to use.

  “What can we do? Cleaning, cooking, whatever…”

  “You are aware that there is nothing I can do, both the community and the council have decided.” With unimaginable will power, he pulled his thumb from the knob and said, “Think of it like an opportunity. You saw the list. There will be others with you to help out.”

  “Mitchel, Jimmy, Rochelle, the rest of them – none of them do anything.”

  “Precisely.” He turned toward a door behind him. “Charlie, come grab Shelly.”

  “No! We won’t go.” She shouted. With surprising quickness she stood and charged the desk.

  Startled, Miles tried to rapidly stand, but his feet got caught up in the chair legs, causing him and the chair to topple to the floor. “Charles, Charles!”

  Shelly used her forearm to shove everything off the desk. A glass mug shattered when it hit the floor, sending shards pinging off the wall.

  Charlie came rushing in from the back door, surprise on his face as he saw Miles on the floor and Shelly starting to move around the desk. He took a couple quick steps, blocking her path.

  Shelly reached out to push him out of the way. “We’re staying!” She said while struggling against Charlie’s grasp. “Don’t make me go…please…please…” Tears were streaming down her face as she crumpled to the floor.

  Miles was just getting to his feet, rapidly patting at his clothes and swiping at unseen dirt. “Get her out of my sight…and the rest of them.” His face was red with rage as he spit out the words.

  Charlie shuffled Shelly out through the front door. Once they were gone Miles went to the desk and unlocked the bottom drawer. He eased a thin black necklace from deep within the drawer, held it between his thumb and pointer finger and slowly rolled the string back and forth under his nose. Soon, just wait a little longer. He told himself.

  He quickly dropped the necklace below the desk when a bearded man pushed the front door open. “Sorry to interrupt.” The man said when he saw Miles working to put something back in the desk.

  “That is quite all right.”

  “I wouldn’t have come in if it wasn’t important.”

  “Proceed.”

  “Both of the Nicholsons just turned.”

  “Contained?”

  “Yeah, they were in their shanty. Trent heard them and took care of both.” The bearded man said with a thumb pointing over his shoulder.

  “Okay, same procedure, keep quiet and get the bodies burned with the others.”

  The man nodded his head and slipped back out the front door.

  Miles cracked a slim grin as he watched the door slowly close.

  Chapter 9 - Ghosts

  “They lead right into there.” Hank said while pointing to a stout wood door on the back side of the main base building.

  Tom’s eyes followed the footprints in the snow. The powder was heavily trampled a dozen feet from the building and they clearly approached the door. Bear and Hannah had verified there were no breaches in the fence other than the one Tom had cut to gain entry. Tom found a trampled trail that led from the supply building to one of the large barracks. From the mass of tracks it was clear the horde of infected had come from one of the far buildings. “Why do these split off?” Tom said, looking at the smaller path that led to the main building. “Has to be non-infected.”

  Bear stepped up with his rifle held low. “This where you saw someone?”

  “Movement, not sure what it was.”

  “Well, let’s stay tight and watch our backs.” Bear said.

  Tom eased up to the door and held his ear to the wood. After a few silent moments he looked back at the others and shook his head, nothing. Holding a MAC9 in one hand, he slowly turned the doorknob and gave it a push inward. Bear and Hannah swept past him with their rifles raised. Tom followed in their wake.

  There were several shouts of “clear” as the small group burst into the room and swept the corners and walls. They found themselves in a rec room. Worn out couches surrounded a short table piled with books. A pinball machine, pool table, and dart board waited for players. Everything was tidy and in order. If not for a thin layer of dust it would look like the base was still in use.

  A trail of slushy footprints made their way around the couch and slowly disappeared near the far side of the room. Hank’s eyes followed the trail, knowing whoever made them had done so recently.

  “Our friend.” He said.

  “Let’s hope so.” Tom said while stepping along the tracks with his MAC9 held at the ready.

  Bear and Hannah circled around from each side of the room. Tom glanced back to see Hank just off his flank and Axel and April standing just inside the door.

  Tom looked at Axel and said, “You two stay here, watch our backs.”

  Axel nodded his head and motioned April over to the couch.

  Bear and Hannah stood to each side of a large set of closed double doors. Hank stood with his rifle raised and pointed directly ahead. Bear reached out and gave the doorknob a slight turn and shove. All four of them stood with weapons ready as the door swung open, revealing a long, dark hallway. In unison Hannah and Bear swept through the opening, quickly foll
owed by Hank and Tom.

  The hall was dimly lit by light that spilled in from the door they just opened and from an open doorway at the far end. The flat gray walls were broken up by several doors on each side. Dark red streaks smeared the floor.

  “Ahhh man, that is stank.” Bear grumbled.

  Tom used his free arm to cover his nose from the stench.

  “Dirty squirrel nuts.” Hank said from the back.

  “Let’s get this done…door by door.” Tom said while stepping next to the first door. Large streaks of blood on the white tile disappeared underneath.

  With the others ready, Tom pushed the door open. The interior was covered in gore; blood and chunks of white flesh dotting the floor. Crimson streaks splattered the walls. The room was small, maybe ten feet square, and only contained empty bed frames bolted to the floor. Everybody stood stunned. After several long seconds of silence Tom slowly pulled the door back closed.

  Nobody said a word as the group shuffled to the other side of the hall and Tom eased the next door open. While less shocking the second time, it was still more of the same; a small room filled with gore.

  They continued from door to door all the way down the hall, finding every room empty other than gore and metal bed frames. None of them said anything through the entire process. A sense of dread weighed heavily on all of them.

  Standing at the base of a narrow stairwell that sat at the end of the hall, Tom said, “What do you guys think, stairs or hall?” He pointed to the next set of double doors after finishing the question.

  Hannah leaned in close to one of the six inch windows cut into the doors, a frown creasing her face. “Don’t like leaving either behind us.”

  “Split up?” Bear asked.

  “We’ll be spread thin.” Hannah said.

  Tom nodded his head, “Let’s fix both. One of us stays down here.” He pointed back to the double doors they entered through and said, “One of us hunkers down by the open doors and covers the hall. Axel‘s in covering their back. Team of three moves upstairs.”

  Everyone nodded their head in agreement.

  “Who stays?” Hannah asked.

  Hank was the first to respond. “I’m not built for this room to room crap. I’ll hunker down.”

  Tom nodded his head and looked to the others. “You two good with that?”

  Hannah issued a grin. “Rock and roll baby, rock and roll.”

  They watched Hank get in place, tucking down in the corner with his rifle resting on a bent knee. Once he gave a thumbs up, they turned and started up the stairway. Bear led the way with his AR15 aimed up into the darkness. He clicked on an under-mount flashlight, painting the area in bright light. Ahead, the steps spun a tight U-turn as they continued their ascent.

  The hall at the top looked nearly identical to the one below – long and full of doors. Tom was glad to see that the only noticeable difference was the lack of blood on the floor.

  “Wish someone would leave doors open.” Bear grumbled.

  “No doubt.” Hannah replied while stepping up to the nearest door. She tucked back to the side and gave the doorknob a slow twist and shove.

  As she slid to the side Tom and Bear stepped in, guns raised. The room was larger than those below and lacked the gore and chaos. Instead it was a fairly tidy office with bookshelves, file cabinets, and a large metal desk. While Hannah watched the hall, both men swept the room, checking in and around the desk to be sure there were no surprises.

  Tom stood next to the desk, looking down at the papers spread across the top. “I want to go through these, but we clear the building first.”

  Bear nodded. “Find our ghost.”

  Tom gave him a fist-bump on the shoulder. “That’s right.”

  They moved across the hall to the next door and used the same technique for entrance. Tom’s heart jumped when he saw a pair of eyes staring at him from across the short room. His muscles tensed, finger tightening on the trigger. Just before the finger pressure was enough to fire a shot, he let off, realizing they were the cold, sightless eyes of a dead man.

  “Check corners.” Tom said while sweeping around to the right.

  Bear quickly followed to the left, scanning for threats. The two of them met at a large desk that served as the tombstone for a corpse dressed in worn military fatigues. A small first aid kit lay open on the desk. Surrounding it were unopened gauze pads, pain killer packets, and a variety of other medicinal products. Dried blood caked the side of the man’s head from a wicked gunshot wound.

  “Couldn’t take it anymore.” Bear said. He leaned over, looking at the man’s head. “Small caliber…no exit wound. Bet it rattled around in there like a trapped squirrel.”

  “Thanks for that image.” Tom said.

  “Come on guys, you about done?” Hannah said from the hallway.

  Tom noticed a thermometer lying on the desk directly in front of the dead man, like it had been carefully laid there. It was the type of thermometer that moms’ used on their children to check for a fever. Tom took a couple slow steps back. “See the thermometer…maybe he found out he was infected?” Tom said with a shrug of his shoulders.

  Bear rapidly started backpedalling away from the desk. He raised a sleeve over his mouth. “Ahh man, nasty.”

  Tom was just starting to turn around when a shrill scream sounded. His mind flashed to Hannah in the hall, but he quickly realized this came from further away, deeper in the building. April. There was a loud boom, shattering glass, and then another boom. As fast as the gunfire erupted it went silent, only the screams remained.

  Bear’s eyes went wide as he spun for the door. Tom followed in his wake, noticing that Hannah was already turning the corner to make her way down the stairs. The pounding of boots echoed up the stairs as they raced down and around the tight bend.

  Tom hesitated at the top, not liking the sinking feeling in his stomach. He glanced over his shoulder, verifying the hall behind him was empty. He rushed over to the nearby window that looked out over the backside of the base. Empty white snow and roof lines stared back at him.

  Abruptly the screams from below came to a stop. There was the faint din of multiple voices talking at once. Tom began to turn and head their direction when he caught movement below. He stepped close to the window and rose up on his toes trying to get a better look. There was a person, tucked in close to the building, shifting along the wall. The angle was too tight; Tom was only able to see part of a leg and an arm. The sight of digital camo let Tom know that the man was not one of theirs. It was during this moment of indecision that he disappeared out of sight.

  Tom turned and quickly made his way down the stairs. The voices got louder as he rushed through the set of double doors that led to the rec room. He was immediately met with a chaotic scene.

  “I know what I saw.” Axel shouted.

  “There’s nothing out there.” Bear growled back from next to a blown out window. A cold breeze blew in swirling white flakes.

  “I saw him.” Axel insisted.

  “Shadows.” Bear said while shaking his head.

  Everyone turned when Tom said, “Axel’s right.”

  “Really?” Bear said with skepticism in his voice.

  “We have company. I saw our ghost from the upper window.”

  Axel stepped forward. “I told you man…call me a liar.”

  Bear started toward him, anger flushing his face.

  “Stop you two!” Hannah shouted. “Pull yourselves together. Are you even listening to what Tom said? Somebody else is here…with us.”

  “She’s right.” Hank said. “We have to stick together…not lose our crap. There may be several of ‘em.”

  April remained huddled up on the couch as Axel nervously brushed past with his shotgun at low ready. He moved over to another window and cautiously peered out, slowly rapping his fingers across the pump on his gun.

  Hannah moved back to the double doors next to Tom. She listened at the door for a bit and then said, “We in tro
uble?”

  “What’s your cop gut tell you?” He asked.

  “Bad.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m getting too.”

  Hannah delved back into her Seattle police training. “Even with a single perp , he’s got site knowledge…huge advantage. More than one, depending on goal, we could be in real trouble.”

  Tom didn’t like the sound of any of that. He nodded his head. “Let’s move up, we need to get to a defensible location…an area with overlooking windows.”

  A loud screech followed by a bang caused all of them to spin toward the set of double doors.

  “What was that?” Axel said.

  April tucked her knees up to her chest and buried her head in her arms. Had anyone been paying close enough attention they would have heard a soft whimpering.

  Hank stood in the center of the room, rifle raised and pointed right at the center of the doors. His heart was hammered in his chest. Flashbacks of the hot jungles of Vietnam hit him. Vietcong and their vicious traps…panic…fear…the stench of death. He didn’t like this situation one bit.

  “Bear, watch the windows.” Tom said while pointing to the front of the room. He turned to Hannah, but she was already on the move.

  She had her rifle pointed at the ceiling with her other hand reaching for the door handle. Her movements were fluid, practiced. After a turn of the doorknob and a slight push she stepped back lowering her rifle to a firing position. Despite her serious determination she let out a gasp as the door swung fully open.

  “Stay left.” Hank said from the back.

  She had barely shifted to the side when Hank’s rifle thundered. An odd silence followed. The only sounds were Hank working the bolt, a brass shell casing clattering to the floor, and Hank racking the bolt to jam another round in. Another boom.

  Hannah dropped to a knee and fired a shot down the hall.

  Tom used his foot to give the other door an easy shove, swinging it fully open so he could see what they were seeing. Demented stared back. Three lay in a heap on the floor, blood oozing out across the tile. More were racing over the top of their dead. A pair of five gallon buckets propped open the far set of double doors. All of the demented wore heavily soiled civilian clothes, tattered to near ruin. There was another boom from Hank’s rifle and Tom watched the nearest demented’s head explode in a shower of red.