by Barone, Cenz
Justin paused and then said “It is nothing, relax, we get stragglers sometimes into the perimeter. Everything is fine”. Angrily Nancy shouted “Aren’t you listening to me. I said those things are in the North gate area, I can see them in the fields with my own eyes. There are loads of those people running towards the university and I am in police station in the middle of it with civilians”. What Nancy just said made those in the cells panic, several of them started banging the fence demanding to be let out thinking they would be swarmed. Justin came back and said “I am heading over, I can hear the gunfire. I will try the guys up the North section Nancy when I...” then Nancy heard loud screaming from Justin, he was firing his gun. Those in the cells went quiet at hearing his painful screams and shouting until the radio signal went muffled and Nancy realised Justin was attacked, likely dead, going by the sound he made.
Nancy felt herself feel sick as she went back to the window and looked out, the gunfire in the distance still visible as were the bodies of the attackers, those violent lunatics having broached the perimeter. Nancy lowered her head and said in despair “Justin” she tried the radio calling his name a few times but no reply was had, she was then demanding for others on the frequency to speak but nobody did. She could not understand when there were so many police officers and military within the area why nobody was answering but the gunfire went on. Nancy thought about what to do next. She heard the civilians in the cells moving around and Elise and Melissa were crying, trying their best to be strong. Laura was comforting Melissa who was just nodding but was breathing deeply. Cherie sat calm and cool, soaking everything in. Baxter stood nervous and worried. Grant anxiously pleaded with Nancy “Please don’t keep us locked up in here, if those people get in here we will be trapped”.
Nancy turned to the cell and raced up towards it, as she stated “I am going to let you out, all of you try and barricade up the doors, there are only two we need to protect”. Nancy fiddled with the keys and opened the doors to the cells as everyone streamed outwards. Nancy made her way to the phone and pressed five. The phone rang for almost 30 seconds and each second made Nancy worry those things were in the building but it was picked up and immediately Nancy said “Clint, this is Nancy in the top room. Clint you have to lock the door. Make sure it is locked right now if you have not already, and get up here”. She was addressing Clint at the front desk who when he answered sounded half-asleep “Nancy, what is going on, what is that noise. I was just sleeping, why did you wake me?” Nancy aggressively said “Clint you have to lock the fucking door. Those creatures are in the compound, lock the door Clint”.
He was still half-asleep and then the gunfire had stopped. Cherie remarked first about the gunfire which had been receding in the last few seconds “The shooting has stopped”. Nancy listened out for it from the outside and Cherie was right, as all in the group stood around Nancy waiting for her instruction as she said “They must have killed them” referring to those firing the guns having killed the attacking people. Clint annoyed said “What are you talking about. This place is a fortress. Besides Steve came along with some army guys when Neil left and he took the 50 people in the bottom cells towards newly set up army barracks they have set up in the south wing. He said he was going to come back for your lot later on”.
Nancy’s patience was running thin as she assertively said “For Christ sake Clint lock the door! Get off your fat ass and look outside a window if you don’t believe me”. Clint was totally indifferent to what was going on due to both misplaced confidence in the place they were in and also him being half-asleep. He unhappily replied “Fat, I will have you know I am big boned, and there is no need to be a bitch”.
He finally stood up from his chair and due to the gunfire having stopped he was less alert even though when he woke up he heard a distant noise. They all waited as Nancy said “I think he has gone to lock the door” but then they heard Clint’s scream and shouting, as he got to the door and opened it, because he was swarmed by them, his own curiosity got the best of him. Nancy was 9 floors up and tried to contain herself, she dropped the phone on the desk and Clint’s screams could be heard through the phone and faintly heard from the bottom floor. Nancy knew enough to say “They are in the building”. All the civilians brought here remained frozen. Nancy made her way to the door and noticed none moved. She now had to assert command by saying “I need you people to help me. I want some of you to come with me. We need to ceil up the stairwell, there should be some tools in the cabinet out there, find some wood, we cannot let them up here”.
What about the elevator” asked Grant as Nancy shook her head and said “There is nothing we can do about that, I don’t know how to shut the elevator down from the control panel but we could open it up here and prevent the doors from closing. Come on, we have to move fast”. Nancy, Grant and Elise went to the elevator door as the others raided the office for objects to use to board things up, and also sealed up the remaining doors in the office on the upper floor. It took them all a significant amount of time to do this with everyone frantically searching cabinets for wood, breaking up tables and chairs but it was difficult to do without proper tools. Nancy in this moment of stress relied on how her uniform provided authority and instruction to the group who looked to her for leadership, even though she was barely able to cope.
Kenny amazingly was still asleep, he was sleeping heavily. Nancy watched the courtyard and spoke on the radio, she was finally in contact with colleagues, who by this time had lost control of the North sector and were fighting with some of the people deep inside the building. So Nancy was communicating with other colleagues in differing parts of the university rescue station, which all the group could now hear. The communication went on for around 10 minutes and then Nancy put the radio on the table and sighed “Everyone just try and keep calm. It is all we can do”. Listening were they all to the radio which was broadcasting communication between the police and military, gunfire and screams and inputs made. It was obvious the university was being overrun by those things and where they were on the 9th floor was a far safer place to be than anywhere else, at least it seemed like it was. The terror of listening and trying to make sense of what their fate would be, as well as imagining what the sight of the sounds they heard was serving to only heighten them to the dangers and threats they could not see but knew were all around them.
The group were sitting around in a circle, and amazingly nobody had noticed Kenny was stirring and arose from the bed. He was still in the cell with the door wide open, he placed his feet onto the floor and looked across the room, and he then noticed the group in the middle of the office area of the floor they were on. He spoke “What’s going on?” this startled a few people who jumped at his sudden voice appearing and many were engrossed in their own thoughts or listening to the radio. He noticed the group who had been at the house with him “Why are you here?” he asked and he was confused as he yawned and then stood up and added amused “I have not seen you in a while, are you hear for my execution”. Kenny yawned once more, standing with no awareness of what had just happened, finding a means to make a light joke and thinking all was okay now they were rescued. He added “I never thought I would get out of that house” but all were looking at him with dire facial expressions, and he noticed Nancy, sitting there pensive and concerned, he then asked confused “Am I being executed” he wondered as they had a look of death on them.
Nancy now stood up and approached him as the others listened in, in silence. Nancy needed to bring him up to speed as she said “There is a situation here which my colleagues are trying to prevent getting worse”. Cherie no longer wanting to listen to this diplomatic language from Nancy which skirted the issue bluntly said to Kenny “Those people broke into the compound, we are trapped again”. Kenny was dismayed as he shook his head in disbelief and replied “I thought this was meant to be safe”. Nancy had no answer to him as Kenny now went to the window and struggled not to flinch as he remarked “There are so many of them. I wish
I was still asleep, better still if I was executed I would have nothing to worry about, apart from being dead” he went thoughtful and stated “Now that would suck”.
He remained gazing outside, shaking his head lost in thought. Grant was back to pestering Nancy “Are there any weapons in here we can use”. Laura replied “Why bother asking, you saw what the police and soldiers were doing in the hall, taking away peoples guns and then this happens. It is pathetic”. Grant ignored Laura’s comment as Nancy answered him “If you mean guns no, the most crime we experience in my region is property, brawls and speeding motorists. Guns and machine guns no”. “We are in the wrong country mate” Baxter said, as everyone turned to him and he nervously said “It would be better if we lived in America right now, right. We’d all likely have guns! It is just like buying crisps or beer”.
His comment was not helpful so he self-consciously said “Why are you all looking at me like that for?” he went to pick up and sip his coffee”. Kenny turned from the window and asked “So what happens now”. Kenny directly looking at Nancy who had no reply as he then said “I am not under arrest anymore, am I”. To which Nancy stated frustrated this was still an issue “None of you are, we are all in this together, we have been from the start. This has changed everything” Nancy walked away from them and turned her back to prevent them seeing her deep in thought, she was racing in her mind at what to do or say to these civilians she had been trapped with. Elise asked “Can’t you try and get with your colleagues again”. Nancy sighed and replied with her back to them “I have been trying. You have all listened to the radio, nobody is picking up! Everybody out there is dealing with this place being overrun. We are on our own it seems”.
Kenny then said, trying to contain his disbelief “So let me get this straight. I drove around in a van for almost two days and nights with him” pointing to Grant and added “And end up a house for a few hours to be rescued by you and your people to then be arrested because I killed those cannibals who happened to be their friends who we helped come into the house we hid in” looking at Laura and Melissa and then back on Nancy as he finished by saying “Only to be arrested and then the rescue station is now overrun and we are trapped again”. Cherie replied sarcastically “Thanks for the running commentary Kenny, everyone knows what happened”. He looked at her and replied “Oh yeah. I don’t think so. I mean why would I be arrested, you get bitten you die and rise up and try and kill people, fucking cannibals”. Baxter stood up “What do you mean, get bitten and die like a zombie to come back to life, is that what you are saying?”
Kenny looked at Baxter and asked “Sorry, do you know what’s going on” Baxter replied “Some lunatic gang of thugs are doing this” Nancy nodded and answered “Yes, nobody knows exactly” but Kenny pressed her and stated angrily “I know what I saw”. Laura now stood up and said calmly to him “You are not helping the situation Kenny”. Kenny frustrated said to Laura “Nobody is helping us. Isn’t the point now”. Baxter said “What happened to you out there?” looking at Laura who said “I don’t know for sure, it is too hard to believe”. Grant tried to take some kind of control here as he saw Nancy was lost in thought and withdrawn but she was thinking about their situation and looking for a way out “Can we all just stop this, going over things. We are trapped alright” said Grant. Kenny asked him jokingly “Do you have a van outside we could use”. Grant answered him sharply “That’s not funny mate”. Cherie then said dryly “It is kind of funny”.
Grant remained concerned now looking at Nancy as Kenny walked towards the wall and rested up against it, shaking his head. “Nancy. Please think of something. Can those things get up here” wondered Baxter. Nancy replied “We have sealed up the doors so it should be secure enough. If they just staying on the bottom floor that is”. From the wall Kenny asked “They are outside not inside, right?” nobody answered outright and then Laura said to him “They broke into the building, they are down below, they killed the guard on the desk and now like you can see outside they are all over the university campus”. Kenny groaned and muttered “But of course they are. Why could they not have put us into a military barracks instead of a university campus for fucks sake! At least then we’d have weapons and not pens and paper to fight them with”.
Cherie could not help but laugh at his sensible comment as Melissa and Baxter looked at her not amused but she just shrugged her shoulders. Cherie though was composed, at least trying to be. A few seconds passed and then Nancy exclaimed “Of course the military stash” all now observed Nancy, they had no idea what she spoke of. Nancy paced around thinking deeply as she said “Fuck, how could I forget. There are weapons here, in this building. Last night they were brought in by an army contact when they brought in their troops. This is one place they used for storage. It was handed out to the soldiers as they arrived. I don’t know how much is left but that is one of the reasons Clint was guarding this place. I just hope there is still some left. It is their back up stash as well. We can get to that, it will help. It is in this building” there was hope but also fear, the idea of using weapons was terrifying to the group, but necessity was overtaking them as they heard sporadic gunfire occasionally which clearly was coming from the university campus and the loitering around outside from those things.
Nancy now said “I need volunteers”. Grant without hesitation said “I will come”. Everyone else was less enthused but Grant’s enthusiasm was the exception, Grant looked at Kenny who said “Why are you looking at me for?” he then became agitated as he tensely said did Kenny “Arrested by the police and locked up in a cell, then asked to go and get guns, all in the same night by the same police” he then nodded and said “I will go”. “Just follow me” Nancy told them. Elise stepped forward and stated “I want to go”. Nancy did not object and replied “Fine, but I need a person here to man the phone and oversee the radio, and the rest of you to remain inside in case something happens to us, you cannot let those creatures get up here, if somehow they manage to get in the lift and there is nothing you can do, get into this office and seal up the door, double lock it. It should be enough its solid steel”.
Baxter could not understand the risk “Why don’t we just wait it out and bolt the doors, until someone else comes to rescue us. There must be other centres like this in the county right”. Nancy delivered the dire news “This is the only one I know of within this area, nothing else is close enough to offer rescue. This place was meant to be the centre for rescues across this part of Oxfordshire and the city. Nobody is coming”. This news made all sickened and aware of how desperate it all was becoming. Nancy let them digest this and then stated “Let’s go” she said to Elise, Grant and Kenny who made their way out of the office and were followed by Cherie overseeing them.
Baxter, Laura and Melissa waited in the main hall near the office they had just come out from. Elise was beside Grant and waited as Nancy opened the door as she said “Each floor we clear is a floor we will have access to. Remember to keep together and do what I say. I know my way around here, you don’t. So all of you listen to everything I say, do not question me, no answering back. I am relying on you all as much as you are all relying on me”.
Nancy studied them all looking for any signs of dissent, any sign they would be troublesome, she knew they were scared but so was she. Nancy also knew they had to get on the front foot which meant not just obtaining weapons but also trying to secure as much of the building they were in as possible. Nancy oddly drew her resolve from detecting their fear, trepidation and a sort of understanding they needed to safeguard the building. Her role as policewoman, a job she was passionate about to protect people leading her on.
Nancy eased off her studious gaze and now took her own time, taking a deep breath before entering the stairwell, she could hear the group behind her equally breathing heavily, panting in fear and far blinder than Nancy as to where she was leading them. Nancy held her stun gun, she had it connected to her outfit and freed it and she did not know what good this would
do. She peered down the flights of stairs. Kenny stared down as well and asked “Shall we check each floor before going to the basement?” Nancy answered him now and said “No, the guns are what we need! We need to make a break for the guns. They are our only hope”. Grant whispered “But I thought you said we are going to check each floor?” Nancy shook her head and replied “I have changed my mind”. Grant confused asked “Just like that you have changed your mind?” but she turned back to him with a scolding expression on her face and whispered “What did I say before you agreed to tag along”. Like being told off for being naughty, Grant just acquiesced with a nod. Nancy wanting them to not backchat her or cause problems. So she said “Follow me”.
Nancy went down the stairwell as Grant, Elise and Kenny followed on, they cleared each stairwell and each floor that was passed had everything as being quiet. All of them went to the door of each floor, where a small circular window was seen providing a visual within, a quick look inside each small window onto the floor meant nothing was seen within to cause alarm, and they had no time to investigate. To be safe Nancy herself locked each door as they went, each door to the floors being able to be locked from within the stairwell by turning the steel lock. They eventually reached the first floor right at the bottom, and through the echo of their shoes hitting the hardened stairwell floor, each step emphasised that the echo produced might be streaming into some hostiles ears, but all pushed forth.
Upon reaching the first floor they heard a loud noise, it was loud and violent thudding noise, alongside the sounds and groans of the attacking people made everyone near Nancy stop on the spot. Nancy opened the locked door and then made her way down to the lowest part of the basement by sidetracking through the adjacent room which the stairwell led into the first floor for.