“There are too many of them, Dean. What do we do?” Kate said.
I couldn’t even fathom trying to fight off a whole pack of those things. “The way I see it,” I said, “we’ve got two choices. We’ve either gotta fight or hide.” Unfortunately, we weren’t properly armed for taking on a pack of zombified man’s not-so-best friends, so I motioned the girls into one of the rooms. We overturned a table and positioned it horizontally to cover the entrance. It wasn’t a perfect fit, but it was good enough to keep the demon dogs out. Paralyzed by fear, we kept absolutely still and didn’t move one single muscle or whisper a single word. All of our breathing came in quick, shallow heaves, for we did not know if one of those breaths might be our last.
One of the hell hounds let out a long bark, antagonizing us. In fact, it sounded more like a hungry roar, an otherworldly sound that could only come from a beast borne straight from the pits of hell.
Chapter 35
Their footsteps and raspy breaths made me shudder. Being ripped to shreds wasn’t exactly my ideal way to go. If I was going to die, I wanted to go out a hero. Not sure what else to do, I held my breath as they shambled by. After a minute or so, it seemed they had moved on to bigger and better things, and I let out a tiny sigh of relief.
That feeling didn’t last long, because a low hiss, like that of an angry cat, echoed from the right.
“Dean, watch out!” Kate said.
I spun around and found myself looking right at a long snake that was slithering toward me, a king cobra with those dreaded white eyes. I couldn’t believe they’d transmitted the virus to reptiles too. As if that magnificently dangerous creature wasn’t deadly enough in its natural state, the virus had made it even more life-threatening. The serpent hissed, and its body tensed and curled into a coil, as if it was ready to strike. The serpent reared back and hissed again, then raised its head and spread out its intimidating hood. I leapt back as the snake lifted its head and raised its body four feet off the ground, swaying back and forth. A long, pink tongue slithered in and out of its mouth, and giant fangs flashed before me. I felt droplets of sweat rolling down my face as white eyes stared at me, glowing eerily. The snake’s jaws stretched wide, revealing the dark pink lining of its mouth. It let out another horrific hiss, and pools of saliva and venom dripped from its jowls. The snake then slithered closer, and a chilling sense of dread swept over me. Its jaws snapped open, allowing its forked tongue to flick in and out, grotesque strings of saliva draping off of it like sticky waterfalls.
I slowly reached for a test tube of a blue liquid. “I’ll distract it,” I said. “You two run.”
After the girls nodded, indicating that they understood, I threw the liquid directly at the snake’s head. It hissed as its skin seemed to melt off it face. “Acid!” I said, thrilled that I’d chosen the perfect vial for something so vile. As it lurched toward me, Asia and Kate pounded its skull with pots. I moved the table from the doorway. As the snake raised its skinless head and opened its jaws again, I threw the long, horizontal table at it.
We burst through the doorway and ran down the corridor. Barks from the demon dogs drifted through the air to our left. My mind raced in circles about every possible scenario that could possibly play out, but Asia motioned for us not to say one single word. I knew the infected dogs weren’t too far away, so I pointed for us to go right.
Everything was pitch black. As I walked down the dark corridor, my imagination kept playing tricks on me. I could have sworn something was lurking in every shadow. I imagined decomposing, black hands reaching out for me from festering corpses. When I saw a towering shadow, I jumped; with my nerves so on edge, it took me a second to realize that the huge shadows dancing on the corridor walls were our own. My body trembled, and I was drowning in fear.
Kate held on to me, gripping my arm tightly, and let out a heavy breath. “Did you feel that? I just felt something,” she said.
“What?” Asia asked.
“I-I don’t know. It just sort of brushed across me.”
I shined my flashlight down but didn’t see anything. Asia scoped it out with her night-vision eyes, but there didn’t seem to be anything there. Assuming Kate was just imagining things, just like I was, we started walking again in eerie silence. I heard nothing but my booted footsteps echoing against the walls.
We passed by a room with a horizontal window, and I shined my flashlight in. I saw tables with leather straps, and my stomach dropped. I could only image the terrors Asia and Kate had been through.
Suddenly, something brushed my ankle, and I instinctively shuddered. Listening intently, I heard grinding teeth and scuffling, followed by a loud squeak. When I shined my beam down, I saw the culprit: a big, giant rat. It squeaked—not at all a cute sound—then lunged for my ankle in a bloodthirsty frenzy, biting into my leather boot. I kicked it as hard as I could, then slammed my heel down on its zombie head.
Kate jumped back. “Ew! I knew I felt something.”
When I heard more squeaks filling the corridor, I gasped. I wasn’t sure if it was a dozen or several dozen. All I knew was that I didn’t want to stick around to find out.
“Run!” Kate shouted.
I bolted down the hall and led the girls left twice, then right. We went through a set of double-doors, and that made me feel better. I knew the rats couldn’t open doors, and I was thankful for even that small advantage over the rotting rodents. It seemed inevitable that one of us was going to get bitten, and while Asia was immune, Kate and I weren’t. My eyes focused on the path in front of me, and I knew I had to pay close attention. I could be bitten by something as small as a mouse, and in that dim light, a creepy critter like that could easily sneak up on me if I lost my concentration for one second.
“Where do you think we are?” Kate asked.
I swung my flashlight beam to lead the way. “I’m not sure. I have absolutely no idea.”
“I think we’re by C block,” Asia responded.
“Do you think there are any other survivors?” Kate asked.
“Could be a few hiding,” Asia said.
“It might help if we band together,” Kate reasoned, “strength in numbers and all that.”
“Well, we don’t have the time to play hide-and-seek.”
“Hold up. You hear that?” Asia said.
I stopped walking and listened. A woman’s cries echoed in the air. Shining our lights, we hurried down the hall and found her, on her knees and sobbing. It appeared as if she had been separated from the group and was the only survivor. Not only was she drawing attention to herself by crying so loudly, but it also looked as if she’d given up entirely. She was having a mental breakdown, and I really couldn’t blame her. She’d been experimented on for a long, long time, and now she felt she’d never see her loved ones again. To make matters worse, every living person around her had been killed by zombies, hybrids, or infected animals.
“You can’t stay here,” Asia said to the blonde girl as we approached.
“Get up!” Kate said. “We know another way out of here.”
I touched her shoulder. “Stick with us,” I said. “We’ll take care of you.”
As she lifted her head to meet my gaze, I gasped; her face was hideous and grotesque, far worse than anything I’d seen that day. She looked as if someone had shoved her into a meat grinder face first, and I had to struggle to keep from puking all over her.
“Hybrid!” Kate yelled.
My stomach jumped into my throat when the drooling flesh-eater lurched for my neck with snapping jaws. I shoved the pipe horizontally into her mouth, and she bit it and thrashed her head around, like a shark in a frenzy. Her raspy growls grew in pitch. Jolting shudders traveled through my body as I watched those wretched eyes bulge.
Kate and Asia kept hitting the ghoul on the head with their cooking instruments and kicking her with all their might.
With those cursed white eyes literally inches from mine, primal instinct kicked in. I kicked the corpse right in the
chest, as forcefully as I could with both legs, knocking the her flat on her back. She bobbed back up in record speed, like a punching bag, knocking me off balance once again. Her razor-sharp teeth aimed for my face, but I brought my feet up and drove the bottom of my boots into her chest again with every ounce of strength I had. It flew off once again, and Asia pounded it into oblivion. I gritted my teeth, mentally slapping myself for my own stupidity, for almost falling prey to their trap once again.
Kate was doubled over, sucking in gasps of air. “We’ve gotta get out of here. This place is crawling with hybrids and infected animals. C’mon. And no more trying to play good Samaritan. The only ones worth saving down here are ourselves.”
The next corridor was completely dark, so it was good to have Asia’s wondrous eyes to help us. I also had my flashlight. We moved down the hall as fast as we could.
“We can’t talk,” Asia said.
As I briskly walked, I shot her a sideways glance. “What do you mean?”
“That hybrid staged that because they overheard us talking about finding survivors. Thirty seconds after we talked about that, we found a crying woman who tried to eat your face. They’re obviously eavesdropping.”
“We gave her the idea,” Kate said, completely stunned.
“You’re right,” I said. “Let’s just keep our plans to ourselves and keep moving.”
“Can you imagine what will happen if those hybrids multiply in the outside world?” Asia asked.
“They’re so dangerous,” Kate said.
“We have to come back and dispose of them,” Asia whispered. “Gasoline and matches oughtta do the trick nicely.”
I nodded. “They definitely have to be dealt with. It’s way too risky to let them live.”
“If they get out and multiply,” Asia said, “our world will never have a chance.”
“If they bite somebody, will that person turn into a hybrid?” Kate asked.
“We’re not sure,” I responded. “Even for the scientists, this is all uncharted territory.”
“We can’t take any chances,” Asia said. “Maybe they were created from the serum, but what if they can spread their disease via bites and scratches?”
I swallowed hard. The thought of them getting out terrified me. “I bet the scientists already know the answer to that question.”
“There’s no doubt in my mind about that,” Kate said.
Another shriek echoed in the air, and I jumped.
“It’s so dark,” Kate whispered. “And those shrieks! My heart can’t take this.”
“Shh,” Asia whispered back. “Stay strong.”
There was dead silence in the pitch darkness. My flashlight grew dim, as the batteries were getting low, and that was the last thing we needed. I let out a loud huff.
“What’s the matter, Dean? Afraid of the dark?” Kate asked.
“No. It’s not the dark I fear. It’s what’s in the dark. These are a whole new kind of bogeymen.”
“Don’t worry,” Asia said. “I’ll play lookout. I can see everything perfectly.”
“Good,” Kate said. “Then get those eyes to work!”
We walked steadily down the corridor, then made a left and a right down a twisting path. Suddenly, I heard crunching, and my muscles ached with tension. I swung my flashlight beam in front of me as I walked through the musty dimness. “Hear that?” I asked.
Kate’s eyes jerked with fear. “It sounds like something…” Her voice trailed off. “Like something from my worst nightmare.”
Terror was plastered on Asia’s face. “It’s…eating.”
There was more crunching, followed by sickening slurping.
Kate slapped her hand over her mouth.
I shined my light down the dark hallway. My weak beam landed on a zombie that was slurping and biting into a human leg. Its white eyes widened as it met my gaze, but then its focus returned to its prize.
Asia pounded the slimy slurper, and it was dead on impact.
Kate’s fast, heavy panting made it clear that she’d reached her breaking point. In fact, we all had, but we had to go on.
Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I motioned her down the hall. As we ran, I saw an unidentifiable shadow and began to hear voices coming from the end of the passageway. I was sure it was another herd of hybrids, and I was quickly tiring of having to fight them off.
Chapter 36
Kate’s hand trembled as she raised it to point. “I see something.”
A menacing, dark shadow shifted closer. When I heard its heavy footsteps clomping across the corridor, I stopped, my breath heaving.
“Well? Fight or flight, people?” Kate asked.
“I say we smack it into next week,” Asia said.
“No, I heard voices,” I said. “That means there is more than one.”
As I peered intently to eye my enemy, it limped toward me, dragging a bloody axe. “That’s it. I’m gonna take it out,” I said.
“But you said—” Kate started.
“That was before I spotted that!” I said, pointing to the shimmering axe.
“Oh my gosh!” she said. “I see it!”
“Dean,” Asia said, “we need that weapon!”
“I know, and I’m gonna get it,” I said, inching toward my opponent. Suddenly, I could make out the outline of a second figure coming up from behind the zombie. Strangely, it clobbered the thing, and the zombie crashed to the ground with a thud. Whoever it was, they were on our side; either that, or they were just after the axe, like I was.
The man walked closer. “Dean? Is that you?”
“Larry!” I exclaimed. “Yeah, it’s me,” I said, inching cautiously closer.
“The rotten thing was pounding on our door,” he said, his voice trembling. “I had to take care of it before it invited all of its friends to our hiding place. Thanks for distracting it.”
I flashed my beam on him, and he squinted. He was still barefoot and dressed in the gown we’d put on him. He sounded human, so I inched forward, holding up my weapon.
“Put the pipe down. It’s just me,” Larry said. “Sam’s in here too. Now hurry up and get in here!”
Reaching down, I grabbed the prized axe from its slimy hands.
“We’ve got a weapon!” Asia said.
At the same time, a hysterical woman with bulging eyes ran past us, screaming in absolute insanity and terror.
“Shut her up!” another woman said, sticking her head out through the doorway.
Kate gave the woman a hug, and she sobbed into her chest. “It killed my friend! It just punched its fist through her chest and ripped out her heart.”
It was a sick, disturbing, and gruesome mental picture, and I couldn’t imagine such unspeakable horror. Those walking corpses weren’t going to let us leave alive, and they were picking the remaining survivors off one by one. As I thought about it, it all began to weigh down on me.
Kate ushered the scared woman into the room with other survivors.
“Well, hurry up and get in here,” Larry said, then shut the door and locked it behind us.
People started barricading us in with tables and shelves and whatever else they could find to keep the dead from getting inside. The survivors on the other side of the room were bickering among themselves. About a dozen had survived the initial attack.
“They’re scientists,” one man said. “They could pull a switch and flood this whole freaking place with poisonous gas!”
“I doubt that,” another said. “If they had that option, they would’ve already killed us.”
“They’re letting the hybrids do all the work,” a woman said.
“I’m not sure when the axe is gonna drop,” a man said, “but it will.”
“We’re all going to die!” a woman shouted. “They’re just murderers in lab coats!”
“Nobody’s dying today,” Kate said.
“Oh yeah?” the woman retorted. “Tell that to the ones they slaughtered out there. They’re snacking on my boyfr
iend’s tongue this very minute.”
“Let’s look for anything we can use for a weapon,” I said. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but like Kate said, I’m not dying today.”
When I looked at the woman they’d just let in, I noticed that she was bleeding. In fact, her gown was covered in blood, and others started to notice it too.
“Were you bitten or scratched?” a short man asked.
“No!” the woman retorted. “It’s my blood. I fought the knife attack off with a chair.”
“She lying!” a man shouted. “Throw her out! She’s infected, and she’ll be the death of us all!”
Her eyes bulged. “You’ve gotta believe me,” she begged, shaking her head. “I swear they didn’t get me!”
I pointed my axe at the crowd. “Leave her alone!”
The group sneered but slowly backed off.
“Dean,” Sam said.
I looked up at him. “You survived that zombie onslaught.”
“You too.” He patted my shoulder. “Man, kid. I was sure those zombies got ya, kid.”
“We’re fine,” Asia sneered.
Kate walked up to me and tugged on my arm. “We shouldn’t box ourselves in like this.”
“Just give me a minute to get a game plan together,” I said.
She nodded, and a tear slipped down her cheek.
I embraced her in a long hug.
“Dean,” she whispered.
“Yeah?”
“If we don’t make it, I want you to know that I’m glad I got to meet you. You really are a hero, and we did some good things to help people. If this is the end, at least we’ve saved lives before—”
“No, Kate. Don’t talk like that. I’m not giving up, and I won’t let you,” I said.
She squeezed me tighter. “I know. I-I just wanted to tell you that. I just wanted closure, just in case.” She paused when her voice began to crack. “Thanks for saving my life back in Kingsville.”
The Zombie Chronicles - Book 6 - Revelation (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) Page 24