Chris’ eyes met the kids and they were frozen by the silence. He put a finger to his lips and started toward the end of the alley with slow, purposeful steps. He was several feet away from the street when a series of sounds reached his ears. There were moans from somewhere beyond his view, but they were so faint, he could scarcely make them out. It wasn’t until he edged forward that he got his first look at the cause behind the sounds.
He lay down flat on the cold concrete and slid his head out beyond the side of the building. There was movement across the street in the direction they’d come. A large group of infected and a number of undead pushed out into the middle of the street. It took him several seconds to piece together what they were doing.
The dead were corralled in the center of the road by several infected surrounding them on all sides. They moved them down the street with a series of grunts and guttural sounds. The sidewalks were littered with infected figures. Sparsely dressed men and women, marred with bloodstains combed the edges of the buildings, gawking down side streets, in through broken windows and long abandoned vehicles.
The hunt, which Chris was sure it was, was so well set that he could hardly believe it. A woman walked out in front, obscene in her nakedness. Her exposed limbs were stained in the gore of previous victims. The dark lines of her disease crisscrossed every inch of her skin, disfiguring a once fit physique.
Her hellacious eyes snapped up and met Chris’ gaze. He threw himself back behind cover, but the damage was done. He sprinted toward the others as a wicked shriek cried out from the street. The call to feast was echoed by a chorus of rising moans and flesh lustful squeals. Jenn pulled the kids up to run as she shouted a question.
“What is it?”
Chris didn’t have an answer. His mind couldn’t think of a way to describe what he’d seen among their pursuers. Instead, he cried out the only thing that made sense in his mind.
“Run, run for your life.”
22.
The sun rose to its highest point in the sky and left few shadows on the city streets. The alleyways offered some relief, but the heat was the worst it had been in several weeks. Midday brought stickiness to everything, promising sweat stained clothing and a desperate need for hydration. Water was a problem for survivors and even more so for survivors currently scurrying for their lives.
Chris was tired of running. He knew the others couldn’t possibly keep up. He let them rest when he could, but the sound of the infected horde coming after them was a strong motivator. He hadn’t had time to explain what he saw nor was he sure it mattered. The infected were obviously able to communicate. Why they didn’t appear to be as advanced in Denver wasn’t clear.
He was bent over, sucking in air, holding himself up with one hand pressed against the side of a high-rise building. He didn’t have to look to see if the others were waiting behind him. Their gasps for breath and an occasional vomit was a good indicator. It wasn’t going to be long before one of them fell out for good.
The infected were relentless. Other than the people on the rooftops, they saw from the highway, there were no signs of life. Chris guessed the food source for the infected were scarce and there was nothing that was going to stop them from hunting fresh meat. The infected were herding the dead, pushing them through the streets. He wasn’t sure of the significance of it, but the thought caused him to shake.
He took another deep breath and slowed his heartbeat enough to consider moving again. A look at the others painted a different picture. Tom was lying flat on his back in the center of the alley with Jenn on her knees next to him. Jake was leaning against the wall and the puddle between his legs gave him away as the most recent vomiter. His sister was sitting close to him, but her eyes were on Chris.
The vicious sounds of the following multitude were distant enough to give him the courage to pull out his map. He unfolded the pages and laid it out on the ground. A quick scan told him they were close to the course he set. They were too far north, but generally heading in a western direction. He had no delusions of what they were up against, but as long as they were running, he figured they might as well run in the right direction.
“We have to keep moving,” he said as he refolded the map. “They’re not going to stop.”
Jenn got to her feet and helped her dad up. Chris was putting the map away when she made it over to him.
“We can’t keep this up.”
“I don’t know what else you want me to do.”
“This, push them till they collapse approach, isn’t going to work.” She looked back at the kids. Both were up, but Jake was on shaky legs. He’d spent a good amount of his energy keeping his sister moving by pushing her from behind. “We have to find somewhere to hold up.”
“You want to go traipsing around in these buildings?” Chris asked. “Who knows what we’ll run into? We could get trapped.”
“Would you rather us get caught out here in the open?”
She was right. There was no way they were going to make it all the way to Long Beach without being overrun and there wasn’t enough ammo to even consider making a stand. He nodded, not sure what he was going to do about it. He gave it another thought, and then gathered everyone.
“We’re going to push on as far as everyone can stand it,” he said, and continued before Jenn could interrupt, “but we’re going to try and find a place to hide. Maybe they’ll miss us and we can get around them somehow.” Even while he was saying it, he didn’t believe it. “We’ll go slow and push south,” he pointed at the street behind the building. “That will keep us going in the right direction.”
There was no response except for a series of head nods. The rising sounds of death-filled moans echoed louder, signaling a need to move. Chris started off at a fast walk. He felt the burn in his legs, but at least, he could breathe.
The buildings continued to grow in size and stature. The once highly polished signs on the sides of the structures told them they were entering the heart of a corporate district. The streets were deathly silent and the size of it was haunting. The city felt like an ancient ruin abandoned ages ago. Vehicles littered the road; some burnt out and bashed in, others covered in thick layers of dust.
They were fast approaching the point of pure exhaustion. Chris could see it in the kids’ faces and the adults weren’t far behind. They had run out of water some time ago, and without it, they would be dead whether the infected found them or not. Chris had his eyes on a small grassy patch between the endless rows of buildings. He held them short of west 9th street and watched for any movement. They dashed across the road when he was satisfied, and plunged between trees under a sign that read, Grand Hope Park.
He led them toward a fountain in the southwest corner with hope in his heart. A number of bodies littering the ground near the fountain caused him to slow. Nothing moved, but something about the place frightened him. They were mid-way through the park when Chris came to a stop. Jenn rushed past him, followed by the kids. Tom was at a trot when Chris called out.
“Hold on.”
Jenn slowed, but didn’t stop. A hint of water in the fountain basin pulled her like a moth to a flame.
“I can see water,” she said.
“Just wait.” Something in Chris’ voice brought her and the kids to a sudden stop. He scanned the park with new eyes. The trees along the iron rod fence separating the park from the street were badly over grown. The stillness was disturbing. “I got a bad feeling.” He didn’t know how to explain it any other way.
Tom was standing at his shoulder. He could hear the old man’s deep breaths as he tried to figure out what spooked Chris. Alicen took a step towards the fountain and the movement pulled Chris’ gaze. As he turned his head, he saw something else move in a doorway across the street. He spun towards it in time to see a figure step out into the light, then back into the darkness of the alcove.
“We need to go,” Chris said. He was walking toward an exit on the opposite side of the field, adjacent to a building.
“We’re trapped in here.”
The moment the declaration left his mouth, the assault began. Distorted figures poured out of the surrounding buildings. The moans erupted as if on cue, reverberating from the street south of the park. The infected moved with speed, their bodies shifting with a mix of violent twitching and an odd smoothness. Their screeches highlighted the moans of the undead like a falsetto above a chorus line.
“Go.”
Chris was running as he turned to look for the others. Jenn was on the move, forcing the kids out in front of her. She looked for her father and struggled with her desire to wait for him. Alicen’s screams went unheard. The sounds of the dead washed over the park in a thick blanket. The infected reached the north and west side entrances. Chris knew at once that Tom wouldn’t make it.
He was heading back toward the old man when Jenn and the kids passed him, going the other way. Chris saw the look of desperation in her eyes. There were more infected than he could count, all hurrying in for the first chance at a live meal. Chris raised his gun, but didn’t bother to fire. He had a quick thought to save the last few rounds for himself if needed. He started his turn as he met Tom close to the fountain. The two were in full sprint with their eyes focused on the back of Jenn.
The sight of the dead moving up the street was more than any of them could take. Hundreds of zombies pushed forward with shambling steps as their infected herders drove them from behind. The south street was nearly covered by the time Jenn reached the opening in the fence, and the vision of her and the kids urged the dead on.
Chris could hear the howls of the infected as they closed in. A heat ran over him as their breath filled the air. In a maddening state, he ran, pushing his legs beyond his strength. Jenn reached the far side of the street before she stopped. Her eyes were glaring past him. He knew what happened before the scream ever left her mouth.
“Dad.”
Chris didn’t look back. Jake grabbed Jenn as she tried to run back across the street. Alicen pulled on Jenn’s shirt trying to get her to keep running. Chris was out in the street before the kids got her to move again. They rushed between two buildings, continuing south. Chris found himself out in the middle of the road and the image of a mob of the dead coming down the street froze him in terror.
Like a mass of black and putrid filth, it came. The line of infected pushing the first wave was only a hint at what followed. The horde of undead was uncountable, running the length of the street to the west, farther than the eye could see. The sight of it, all at once stole Chris’ breath and his mind seemed incapable of understanding what he was looking at.
They moved in coordinated columns, their numbers swelling beyond imagination. A reek of death preceded them in a cloud, perforating everything in its path. The volume of their desire for flesh reached a level of deafening proportion. In the end, it was the glimpse of the droves of infected devouring what was left of Tom that forced Chris to continue.
He pressed himself, although he had little left to carry his weight. Jenn and the kids were so far ahead that the thought of trying to catch up nearly caused him to collapse. Jake and Alicen looked back for him, but Jenn held a hand of each, her legs never stopping. Chris plunged down the road between the buildings and he barely reached the next block before the first of the zombie horde made the turn.
Jenn and the kids veered off and Chris lost sight of them. His pace slowed as he tried to figure out where they went. His body refused to carry on and before long, he was moving at a sluggish trot. The sounds from behind told him his fate was nearing. He crossed a street and his eyes locked on a stream of the infected funneling toward him on both sides.
He reached the corner where Jenn turned, finding himself alone. The dead closed in behind as the infected started towards him from the parallel streets. He looked down at his gun and knew what he had to do. He refused to be one of them. Chris refused to give them the satisfaction they so desperately desired.
He moved his hands without hesitation. The barrel was pressed up under his chin as his finger wrapped around the trigger. Chris closed his eyes and as he gathered the courage to squeeze, his ears picked up someone calling his name. His eyes snapped open, and he instantly found Jenn waving at him from the open doorway of the building across the street.
He started toward her, running directly at the mass of infected rushing at him from the next block. Their frantic faces glared at him, most mouths hanging open and dripping with a desire to get at him. The frantic twitching made the mass appear to be an enormous creature. He pushed himself as they barreled down on him. Jenn backed away as he dashed through the door. The kids were trying to push a large desk in front of the revolving glass entryway.
“Don’t bother, just go.”
They were stomping up one of two wide staircases leading to the second floor when the horde reached the doors. The mass hit the glass with such force that it shattered on contact. The roar of them exploded into the temporary silence of the ground floor. Chris set his sights on a glass stairwell entrance beside a bank of elevator doors on the second floor.
They never looked back. The sound of what was coming told them all they needed to know. Chris pushed into the stairwell as the first of the infected reached the second floor. Jenn and the kids flew in behind him. Chris snatched a fire extinguisher off the wall and wedged it in the space between the bottom step and the door.
He was on the next landing, when the infected reached the doorway. The impact was met with a solid thud. The door didn’t move nor did the glass break. Chris wasn’t sure how long it would hold, but he would take it. He caught up with the others two flights up. They were gassed and barely moving.
“We can’t stop,” he said, but the statement didn’t help. “They’re going to get in here.”
Jake leaned out of the stairwell for a look. “There’s only one more floor. What are we going to do when we get up there?”
Chris looked from him to Jenn. He didn’t have an answer. He wanted to say; hey kid, a minute ago I was about to blow my own face off, instead he started up the last set of stairs. “We’ll figure it out when we get up there.”
The constant pounding on the door lightened. No one was willing to go back down and have a look to find out why. They reached the top floor landing and Alicen collapsed. Jenn tended to her while Chris pulled open the door and peered out at an open foyer. He made sure nothing was moving before trying to gather the others.
“We’re going to have to find a place to hold up,” he said. “We’ll have to wait them out.”
“What if they don’t leave?” Jake asked.
“We need water,” Jenn added.
Chris shook his head. “This is all we got.” He stepped out into the foyer before they could pepper him with any other questions.
The front of the building was lined with windows. The darkening sky filled with a light shade of violet. The roof of the building across the street was in view, but it offered little relief. The floors were dotted with stains of blood, but there was no hint at what or who left them. Trash littered the open space in front of four elevator doors. One set of the elevators was hacked open, revealing the dark shaft behind it. Chris focused on the hallway openings on either side of the elevators. The silence was far more frightening than the constant sounds of the dead chasing him through the street.
He kept his gun at the ready, edging along the wall toward the nearest hallway. Jenn pulled open the stairwell door, and then urged the kids ahead of her. Alicen could hardly stand. Her breathing was shallow and her movements jittery. Jake kept her close, holding on to her hand as he walked.
The hallway led to a row of open cubicles set up along the backside of the building. Another wall of windows revealed the endless city real estate they would have to travel across if they ever hoped to make it to their destination. The vision of it was more defeating than Chris imagined. A line of office doors covered the adjacent hall across from the cubical farm. A quick search revealed little more than desks and an
endless supply of paperwork.
“We’re stuck,” Jake said as he slid to the floor. “If they get up here, we’re done for.” He pulled his sister down beside him. “She can’t run anymore.”
Chris felt an overwhelming urge to give up. He was mentally and physically exhausted. A renewed echoing sound told him the infected hadn’t given up on getting into the stairwell. His weary eyes fell to the floor in desperation.
“What’s in there?” Jenn was already moving before Chris found what she was looking at. “It’s locked.”
The door at the end of the row was different from the other doors in a number of ways. It was metal and the frame was wider and thicker. Jenn started kicking it before Chris reached her. They went at it together without much result.
“Stand back.”
Chris aimed at the door handle and fired. The shot blew the handle off and took a chunk out of the door with it. A follow up kick popped it wide open. The remaining light from the windows revealed a maintenance room. Chris’ eyes locked on two features; a ladder leading to a hatch in the ceiling and a spigot in the wall. He looked over at Jenn then back to the kids.
“Spread out and look for something to hold water.” He focused in on the ladder. “We’re going up one more time.”
23.
Jenn was having a breakdown. They made it up to the roof and everyone had their share of water. Chris refilled a bucket and two plastic bottles they found scattered on the floor. He’d forced open the hatch in the ceiling and helped everyone up. It was after he slid a two by four through the handle that he discovered Jenn.
She was lying on the cold rooftop balled up in a fetal position. She had her hand over her face, but the muffled cries pierced any attempts to stop them. Alicen knelt behind her and rubbed her hair. Jake stood away from them, looking over the side of the building. He glanced at Chris through red, teary eyes.
The Last Infection: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller Page 19