Permanent Ink: Deadwalkers (Zombie Outbreak)

by RWK Clark

  After less than two minutes Cole picked up the phone on the desk and began punching in numbers. He put the receiver up to his ear and waited for a bit as the phone rang. It seemed to take forever for him to get an answer.

  “Yes, this is Agent Charles Cole with the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” he said. “To whom am I speaking?” After a moment of silence he continued. “Mr. Jaynes, I am needing to speak with either the president or CEO of the company; it is a national emergency. Could you put me through please?”

  He was silent again for a second, then said, “What exactly took place?”

  This time he was still for a much longer period, and all of the color drained from his face as he listened to whatever the man on the other end of the phone was saying. At last he said. “Yes, I am aware of the incident. I will need you to give me the phone number of someone in charge, and I really don’t care who. Their cell is preferred, and I would like their home phone as well, but I need at least one.”

  Cole took a pencil from the holder on Donnelly’s desk and began to jot on the blotter which sat there as well. “Thank you for your assistance,” he finally said, then he pressed the button to hang up, let up on it, and began punching numbers once again.

  “Is this Thaddeus Greer of Aspen Stationers’ Supply Company?” he asked.

  After getting a response he went through the tedious spiel of introducing himself before getting right to the point. “We have something of an epidemic spanning several states as a result of the ink you have used in your ‘Lumiosa’ pen, and you will need to issue an immediate recall for the item. Before you ask, this is government sanctioned, and if you give me your email we will have an order sent to you immediately.”

  He listened for a moment longer, then added, “It will also need to be announced nationwide to the media; that is priority. I will contact the three major networks; you contact your local channels right away. In light of what I learned happened to your president Roger McGinley, it is dire that we tend to this issue right away, with no procrastination whatsoever. Do you understand, Mr. Greer?”

  At last, Cole hung up the phone, then turned his attention back to the computer.

  ∞

  During Charles Cole’s conversation with Thaddeus Greer, Captain Hertz of the Monte Vista police was telling all his officers to shoot them in the head, and it was directly afterward that his secretary came running from the building. “Captain,” she began, “There is a call for you from a man name Cole from the FBI.”

  Hertz gave a few directives to his men, then followed her into the building to take the call. While they ran, she said, “You should also see the report on the news.”

  “Why?” he asked. “Is it about this situation?”

  “Yes, and I think you are going to want to check it out as soon as possible.”

  Hertz made a beeline for his office and picked up the line Agent Cole was waiting on. “This is Captain Hertz,” he said into the phone.

  “Captain, my name is Agent Charles Cole, from the FBI” the man said, his tone all business. “I’m calling in reference to the quarantine that was ordered at the Aspen Company. You ordered that, am I correct?”

  “Finally, yes, I did,” the captain replied. He then went on to try and fill Cole in on the unbelievable situation as best as he could. Even as he spoke he thought it sounded ridiculous, but he pressed on.

  When he was finished, Cole said, “You should know that similar reports are coming from a wide variety of locations in the United States. We are in a state of emergency. The good news is, we have narrowed down the issue to a specific type of ink that Aspen recently released.”

  “The Lumiosa pen,” the captain said flatly as he reached up to rub his eyes.

  There was a brief pause. “I take it you already knew this?”

  “Well, to be honest,” the captain replied. “Until the last hour I didn’t realize the direness of the situation. We have a scientist from Aspen who developed the ink. He was the one who first called us to report an issue.”

  “I’m going to need to talk to him right away,” Cole stated firmly. “As for now, you may have seen the news. At any rate, you will need to enforce a total lockdown. We don’t have any idea how many may be infected, and it won’t do to be lax about it until we know we have the issue under control.”

  Hertz thought briefly. “I’ll contact our three local stations and put out an announcement. It will likely be far more effective if I set up a press conference. Obviously we want the people to take action immediately.”

  Cole agreed, then gave the captain his cell number, reminding him to have Randy Carstens contact him right away. “From the sounds of it, we have much worse issues than you do at the current time, but we will stay in constant touch with you to keep you abreast on the situation as we go. I look forward to speaking with Mr. Carstens.”

  With that, the two men ended the call. Hertz had to sit down. The room was spinning, his head was aching, and he thought he might pass out from the stress he was feeling. He wasn’t even sure what to do first, but finally he decided.

  He picked up his phone and got in touch with his secretary. He told her to have Randy Carstens come to his office right away. She quickly spotted the man and let the captain know he would be right in. Next, he began calling the networks and telling them they needed to have an emergency press conference, and he strongly reiterated how it couldn’t wait. All three of them agreed to be at the station within the half-hour.

  As Hertz hung up the phone there came a light knocking on his office door.

  “Yes?” he called out.

  The door opened and Randy Carstens entered. “Your secretary said you needed to see me right away.”

  The captain related to Randy everything that Agent Cole had told him. Next he dialed the number to Cole and gave the receiver to the scientist, letting him know he was holding a press conference, and asking that he remain at the station for the time being. He then left the man alone to speak with Cole in private.

  As promised, the news stations arrived in a very timely fashion. They had their equipment set up, ready and waiting for the announcement Captain Hertz was going to be making. As he made his way to the podium in the meeting room, Hertz took note of the fear on everyone’s faces.

  Yes, this was going to be one heck of a press conference, alright.

  Chapter 18

  Doctors Moss and Hilliard sat in the basement office of janitor Harold Reese in silence. So did everyone else in their company, including an exhausted and scared Megan Casperson. All of them had their ears peeled as they listened to the sounds which had started coming through the door only ten minutes before. Kyle turned suddenly to Harold. “Do you have any kind of radio in here at all?”

  Nearly all of them had some type of smart phone, but the reception in the hospital basement was non-existent. After taking turns trying, Harold pulled out the bottom file drawer on his desk. He pulled out a small, paper bag-covered pint of blackberry brandy, three manila envelopes that easily measured more than an inch thick apiece, and finally a small transistor radio that had to be forty years old. Folded on top of it was a thin metal antenna which had lost its tip years ago.

  Next, the old man pulled the cover off the battery compartment on the back of the ancient device; it was empty. He pulled the top drawer of his desk open, fished around in the back of it with his massive hands, and brought out a pack of double-A batteries.

  “Yeah,” he said as he installed them. “We have a radio.”

  Kyle looked at him as if he had just fallen through the ceiling. “How long have you worked here, Harold?”

  The old man didn’t even look at him. “Since I was twenty-one. I’m sixty-three.”

  In only seconds the batteries were in. Harold set the radio up and extended the broken antenna as far as it would go. Then he began to fiddle with the knobs. The gadget crackled annoyingly, then suddenly a news station came in loud and clear.

  “Stay tuned to WZIN for the latest updates
on the crisis at Suburban Medical Center. This is Cal Hartford, with the news.

  “WZIN has just received a confirmed report that the Thornton Suburban Medical Center is currently on lockdown. Hospital administration staff tells us that mass violence has broken out in the Intensive Care Unit there following an outbreak of what is currently assumed to be a viral menace. This reporter also adds that similar reports are coming out of Monte Vista. City officials in Monte Vista have contacted the federal government for assistance with the issue, including both the Centers for Disease Control and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Administrative staff at Suburban have made reports to these branches as well, and are currently waiting on the arrival of teams for assistance with the crisis there.

  Those in the Thornton and surrounding areas are advised to stay indoors under lock and key to avoid contact with any infected individuals. WZIN will continue with updates as often as they are received. Please stay tuned…”

  The report was followed by some tinny brass band music that was decades outdated, and Reese turned the volume down just enough to be able to hear Hilliard’s thoughts. Silence came over the group.

  Grunting, growling, and groaning were predominant, but those noises were also accompanied by the shuffling of uneasy feet, the crashing of items hitting the floor, and the occasional confrontation between two of the beings which Reese easily referred to as ‘monsters’ outside the door.

  Hilliard and Moss both tried to count the beings by the sounds and where they came from, but it was impossible. So scattered and overlapped were they that it was impossible to separate them at all. The only thing that either of them was willing to bet on was the obvious fact that the ‘illness’ had spread to countless others in the facility, and it had managed to do so in record time.

  As of yet, none of the creatures had attempted to open the door to Harold’s office, but it was only a matter of time. With each unearthly grunt one or more of the others in the room would break out in a loud sob, and a couple of them had to have been heard by those on the other side of the door. Hilliard had sternly signaled for silence, but the women in the office were particularly prone to losing their self-control.

  The entirety of Suburban Medical Center had gone mad, or so it seemed to all of them in that room.

  Megan Casperson had yawned through her tears for a couple of hours, but now she was finally asleep, though it was light and troubled. Her head rested on Diana Moss’ lap, and her small, thin body was curled up in a fetal position beneath Hilliard’s white coat. Every now and then her body would jerk, and Moss knew that the girl was being tormented by her own dreams.

  “We have to start discussing what the heck we are going to do,” Moss finally said in a voice that was just above a whisper.

  All heads turned to her at once, but no one offered any suggestions right away. As a matter of fact, their looks betrayed their thoughts: that the doctor had lost her mind. But in reality, Dr. Moss knew they would not be safe in the tiny office forever.

  Reese finally responded to her. “Considering the situation, I have no idea what we should do. I mean, really Doctor, do you?”

  Moss shook her head. “No,” she said in a resigned tone. “But I do know that with each passing minute we are only getting closer to their discovery of us. We are like fish in a barrel in here.”

  Hilliard agreed with her. “Yes, but I don’t even know if these things can be stopped, or even killed. The last time I checked on little Melanie she had a temperature in the sixties, and she barely had any vitals at all. Personally, I think,” he glanced at Megan to make sure she wasn’t awake. “I think they may already be… dead.”

  “I assumed as much,” Moss replied. “After talking to Roy Fitch in the lab that was the only thing I could conclude. It’s just unbelievable.”

  One of the nurses gave another sob, but now she began to cry in earnest, and fairly loudly. “I can’t deal with this,” she choked. “This is too crazy! I just can’t handle it!”

  She jumped up and headed for the door, arms up and hands in fists. Harold Reese was on top of things, though; he immediately stood, and he reached her in two long strides. Wrapping his arms around her tightly from behind he stopped her in her tracks and held her in place. For a moment her crying got louder, but Reese clasped his hand over her mouth as she kicked and struggled against him.

  “I’m gonna need you to get control of yourself!” he hissed in her ear. “Dammit, you are gonna get us all killed!”

  At first she continued to fight him, but after a moment his words sank in, and the crying stopped. Harold kept a firm hold on the woman until he was sure she could be safely released, and even then he held his arms up so she could see that he would not hesitate to subdue her again. She gave him a nod of understanding as she struggled to catch her breath and head back to her seat with the others.

  As if on cue, there was a bang on the other side of the office door.

  Everyone in the room jumped, and all heads turned to the door. Panic filled each and every eye in the room, except for the sleeping Megan, who was oblivious to any threat. Hilliard and Moss glanced at each other.

  Another loud bang, followed by an extended, gurgling groan.

  Diana Moss tightened her embrace on Megan without even knowing she was doing it. “Kyle,” she whispered to Dr. Hilliard. “What are we going to do?”

  Everyone turned to Kyle Hilliard, who was at a complete loss. He held his forefinger up to his lips to tell them all to be quiet, and he hoped that was all it would take to make the thing on the other side leave. But the truth was, none of them had any idea what these things were actually capable of. What if they were like dogs? What if they could smell them?

  The office became more still than it had since they got there, but the fear in the room was tangible. Even the trembling that was going on was obvious, and the hopelessness they all felt was scrawled upon their faces like so many chaotic scribbles on a blank sheet of paper. Outside the door they heard a second voice grunting, and it eagerly joined the first.

  Another bang, then another, and another. The door rattled with each strike. Harold Reese walked to a coat tree which was positioned in a corner next to his desk. He fished around behind a coat hanging there, and after a moment he pulled out a wooden baseball bat. Without a word the man put the bat upon his shoulder, preparing himself to swing it, if necessary.

  “I don’t know about any of you,” he whispered. “But I’m not going down without a fight.”

  Hilliard immediately stood to offer some kind of backup to Reese, even though he was weaponless. One of the other men stood as well, and Dr. Moss gently put Megan in the corner and covered her sleeping head up with the coat before standing herself.

  Another bang, but this time it was accompanied by a loud crack.

  All of the people exchanged glances, then the two female nurses both stood and ran to the corner with the coat rack. Together they crouched and huddled there, holding each other tightly, with their eyes clenched shut. Both of their faces were dripping wet with tears.

  “I’ve got to have something in my hands,” Dr. Moss hissed, more to herself than anyone else. She was looking around the room frantically when she saw an iron up on a shelf. She raced for it and grabbed it securely in her hands and gave it a practice swing. It may have been for pressing clothes, but it was heavy enough to do damage if it had to.

  Hilliard took up a letter opener from Harold’s desk. “I don’t think it will do much, but it may deter one of them. At least I hope…”

  Now it sounded like there may be several of the monsters outside the room, and the male nurse who was with them was obviously beginning to worry. He had no weapon, and he was scanning the room furiously with his eyes. They were banging on the door like mad at that point, and the noise was enough to wake little Megan up. She was sitting in the corner with her hands over her ears, and she was crying with uncontrollable sobs.

  “I need something to fight with!” The male nurse began to pull drawers
out of Harold’s desk. “Isn’t there anything else in here that I can use?”

  Harold only glanced at him, his eyes shifting from the man to the door and back. “I don’t know, man! Get one of the mops out of the bucket by the closet. You can take off the head and hit them with that if you have to!”

  The guy quickly took the suggestion, and while he removed the mop head the others positioned themselves in a half-circle before the door, which was now shaking consistently and had the beginnings of a crack in the middle of it. After less than a minute he joined the others. The fear in the room was thick, and not one of them was at all sure of themselves or their abilities.

  “If they make it in here, just start swinging,” Hilliard said, his voice louder so he could be heard over the banging and yelling.

  They all stood there in the office, psyching themselves up. The door continued to shake violently as each of them stabilized their footing.

  Hilliard opened his mouth as if to speak, just when the door was hit with such force that a section of it, right where the crack had formed, broke free and flew in toward the small, frightened group. Then suddenly, the banging stopped, as did the loud grunting and groaning.

  Everyone stopped moving. They looked at each other in silence, confusion and fear on all of their faces.

  A face appeared there in the broken gap. It was deep gray with ripped flesh and smears of blood streaked here and there. The creature was smiling, and some of his front teeth were missing. Spittle dripped down his chin.

  Calmly, he said, “Arrrggh…” and a smile crossed his rotting face.

  They all stood, hearts pounding, waiting for him to come all the way in.

  Chapter 19

  The good news was that there were only three of the monsters outside Harold Reese’s office.

  The bad news was that no one in the office recognized any of them. To the adults in the room, that meant that the infection had spread quickly, and none of them could conceive how many were walking around infecting others.