The Zombie Principle

by David R Vosburgh

  The first thing the Doctor noticed was that the main gate was barricaded. Jersey Barriers were piled high across the entire entrance. He thought it might be possible to climb them and pull oneself over to the other side. There were two problems with that; first, would one be able to get over before any of those things grabbed ahold of their feet or legs and pulled them back down and second, it was impossible to know what was waiting on the other side. To their left were the ticket booths but there was no door for them to access from the outside. The only way in was through the windows and that was implausible. Next to the booths was the door to the administrative offices. It did not appear to be blocked from the outside but it was difficult to tell from their current view. There was sign, knocked over on its side, that read Emergency Evacuation Site with an arrow underneath it that would have been pointing to the main entrance had it been right side up.

  The most immediate concern, however, was what to do about the zombie that was crawling up from the front grill and was making its way onto the Land Rover’s hood. Gunner must have plowed it over but it had somehow hung on and now that the vehicle was stopped it was attempting to reach its prey. As it arrived at the top of the hood the Doctor noticed it was missing its lower extremities. He did his best not to vomit at the sight.

  Meanwhile, Gunner had been assessing the situation and decided their best chance was to head for the administrative offices. The door had a window so he could see what was on the other side and even if it was locked, one well-placed gunshot would remedy that problem. They should be able to reach it safely. He again used the walkie to communicate his plans to his associates. When finished, he turned to Olaf in the back seat and said something to him. Olaf then reached into the back hatch and removed the bag containing the restraining devices.

  Gunner then turned to the Doctor and said, “We’re heading for the door to the offices; I’m getting out first and will take care of our friend on my hood. Then you get out and follow right behind me.”

  The Doctor nodded.

  Wasting no more time Gunner grabbed the GPS tracker and removed his weapon. Opening the car door, he stepped out and using the crevice between the door and the windshield as protection, he quickly dispatched the zombie climbing on the hood. The Doctor swung the passenger’s side door open and stepped out into the hot Florida sun. The shock initially slowed him down. He had been in the plane, then the hanger, and then the car. He was not ready for the blast of heat he received upon stepping out of the Land Rover.

  “Please hurry Doctor,” Gunner prodded.

  Snapping out of it, the Doctor ran around the front of the car avoiding the slumped half body of the zombie Gunner just shot. Moving in behind Gunner, the Doctor saw Olaf fall in behind him with Gunner’s other men sliding in on either side. They reached the door to the offices with little difficulty but realized they were drawing a great deal of attention. Gunner peeked in the window and did not see any trouble. He tried the door. It was locked. Taking one step back he leveled the handgun at the door handle and fired once. The door shuttered and Gunner pushed it open. They all followed in behind him.

  The door led into a hallway with corridors heading down either side, office doors; some open, some closed, lined the hallway. The end of the hallway on the left side opened into a work area housing several cubicles. Gunner ran across the hall into the first office and emerged a second later dragging a moderately sized office desk. One of his men ran to his aid and helped him place it in front of the door they just entered. He and the same man went into the next office and repeated the act.

  The Doctor noticed the offices seemed to be clear of any infected. As Gunner and his associate heaved the second desk on top of the first, the Doctor also noticed the gathering of infected outside peering in the window. It was probably only a matter of time before they tried to get in.

  Gunner pointed to an open space at the end of the hallway to the left, in front of the cubicles. They made their way there and gathered in a small alcove next to a water cooler. Gunner looked down at his GPS tracker.

  “One signal is about 200 yards from here in that direction,” Gunner said pointing east. “The other … appears to be right on top of us.”

  That declaration caused the Doctor to tense up and look frantically around. He quickly realized that the GPS signal did not account for altitude. Any signal on the first floor would look the same if it was coming from the second floor and so on. It most likely meant that the test subject was directly above them.

  Moving toward a door at the other end of the alcove, Gunner had one of his men open it and then step back. Nothing happened. Olaf and another man stepped through the door and spun to face opposite directions in the hallway. Olaf nodded and the rest of them entered the corridor. There was a sign that read Ticket Office with an arrow pointing right and another sign that read Stadium Field with an arrow pointing left.

  A loud noise coming from the administrative offices indicated that the infected were indeed trying to get in. Gunner shut the door behind them and they followed the sign for the stadium. After a few turns, they found themselves in an open area with a set of wide stairs leading up to the field level seats. A stream of bright sunshine shone through the opening.

  Looking again at the GPS receiver, Gunner said, “We head up those stairs, then double back heading that way,” pointing in the direction from which they had just come. Turning to his men he relayed the same information.

  Two of Gunner’s men went ahead first hugging the wall on each side as they went up the stairs. Gunner followed with the Doctor right behind him. The other two followed from behind. The first two men reached the top of the stairs and the spun around and out of the Doctor’s view. Before reaching the top step, he flinched from the unmistakable sound of gunfire.

  Gunner leapt up covering the last three steps in one hop. He moved forward and opened fire. The others followed and moved between Gunner and the first two men forming a semi-circle around the top of the stairs. The Doctor moved slowly up the final two steps looking once behind him, just in case.

  The steps opened up into a large concourse. Straight ahead were the field level seats. To the left and right were all manner of food vendors and merchandise displays. Also littering the concourse were several dozen infected. Gunner and his men had already dropped five or six but they seemed to be coming out of every corner of the concourse, drawn by the noise of the gunfire.

  Gunner motioned for his men to tighten up their formation and once they had cleared some space, head to the right in the direction of the signal. The Doctor was in the middle as the group moved as one down the concourse. It narrowed somewhat as they moved away from the steps and headed toward the seating behind home plate. Infected were now appearing from behind the food stands, coming out of the gift shops and restaurants that filled this part of the stadium. Fortunately for the group, the zombies were slow and unsteady and Gunner and his men were managing at the moment.

  The Doctor began to feel secure enough to begin looking at individual zombies to try and spot one of his test subjects. At first nothing looked familiar. Then, meandering near one of the circular tables that fans use to lean on while eating their hotdogs, the Doctor spotted the familiar hospital scrubs used by his patients.

  Tapping Gunner’s shoulder and pointing in that direction he shouted, “There!”

  Gunner slowed his pace and began moving his men into position. Olaf unzipped the bag containing the restraints and the collapsed lasso harness in preparation for the possible capture and transportation of the … prisoner. As they approached the test subject, the group began to fan out in an attempt to surround and isolate it. Unfortunately, the Doctor soon realized that it was definitely not Number 5. This subject was one of the two females. His best guess was test subject number two, Evelyn Phelps.

  “Not who we’re looking for,” he finally said.

  Without missing a beat, Gunner retightened the formation and with one pull of the trigger, ended the unfortunate existence of
test subject number two.

  Immediately back to business, Gunner checked the GPS unit. The second signal was definitely coming from the playing field. They turned and headed toward a sets of stairs leading down to the field. The Doctor finally had an opportunity to look at the field for the first time. It was a beautiful diamond filled with brown dirt and Bermuda grass. The white bases were still anchored in their respective locations. Behind second base was the most interesting feature, one not usually seen at a ballpark; a National Guard UH-72a Lakota Utility Helicopter.

  The field had thirty to forty infected wandering around. The signal seemed to be sending them in the direction of first base. When they had reached the short wall separating the playing field from the stands, they stopped to regroup.

  “Doctor, I will need you up front this time,” Gunner said, “we need to identify the test subject as soon as possible. If this is our subject, we will need to move quickly.”

  The Doctor agreed, but was silently wondering how the hell they were going to get themselves out of this mess to say nothing of bringing an infected person with them. Gunner hopped over the fence and onto the field with his men in tow. Dr. Sanderson moved out in front as they followed the dirt warning track behind home plate and past the home team’s dugout. Up ahead five zombies took notice of their arrival and started closing in on them.

  Gunner did not want to prematurely fire upon a zombie without first making sure it was not who they were looking for. Not to mention they needed to conserve ammunition. They were coming to realize that the noise from the gun blasts attracted the zombies.

  Number 5 was not amongst the first group they encountered and Gunner and his men took care of them. As they neared first base, the Doctor once again spotted a zombie wearing the familiar hospital scrubs. He moved closer and could tell it was a male. Thinking back to the images and features of the test subjects he had spent an hour on the plane memorizing, he attempted to determine if this was Number 5. There was no time to consult his folders or try to pin it down and remove its microprocessor. He processed all the information as quickly as he could; height, weight, hair color, as it was now no more than five feet from him. He could smell the blood and bile covering the scrubs. The face was in no better shape than the one inside the small house in Arkansas. He had to be right. He made mistakes all the time as a research scientist. Trial and error were the name of the game; but the stakes were higher now.

  The zombie was three feet from the Doctor and had its arms outstretched. He had been concentrating so hard on positively identifying this test subject; he had hardly noticed the increase in gunshots surrounding him.

  Finally he blurted out, “Not him, it’s number six.”

  Before he could finish his statement a gun shot rang out next to his left ear and test subject number six fell in front of him, his skull now in pieces. The sound snapped Dr. Sanderson out of his intense concentration. He now looked around to see that their situation had become significantly more precarious.

  Dozens more infected had suddenly appeared from out of the home team’s dugout and were closing in on their position. They had little chance of returning the way they had come and were being forced out into the playing field by the sheer number of zombies. They would have to find another way off the field and then find a different stadium exit and work their way around to where they left the Range Rovers.

  Gunner moved them further into the field toward second base. Suddenly he shouted instructions to his team and for the first time they looked at him like he was crazy. He did not, however, have to repeat himself.

  “Follow me,” he said to the Doctor.

  His men were up ahead clearing a path to the helicopter. As they reached it, his men surrounded the Lakota. The pilot’s door was already open and Gunner wedged his sizable frame into the pilot’s seat.

  “Get in!” he shouted to Dr. Sanderson. He did as he was told lifting himself into the back seat. It was spacious enough to fit at least six people in the back and two in the front. The Doctor remembered the sign he had seen out front about this being an evacuation site. The authorities must have shut it down when it became too dangerous and then barricaded the infected in so they could not get out. At that moment he wondered what happened to the pilot. Instinctively, he started looking around to make sure it was just he and Gunner in the helicopter. They were, for the time being, alone.

  Gunner’s men were holding the infected at bay as Gunner worked the controls of the chopper trying to get it started. They would not, however, be able to hold out much longer. Dr. Sanderson was going to ask Gunner if he knew how to fly a helicopter but just then the rotors started to slowly move as the engine roared to life. The Doctor assumed that since the helicopter was evacuating civilians out of here that it would probably be ready to go. All it needed was a pilot.

  Gunner yelled at his men, this time using their names, as one of them, Mikael, got in the copilot’s seat and closed the door. Two others, Stefan and Ludvig, got in on either side of Dr. Sanderson. Olaf was last as he continued to fire away at the approaching zombies. Gunner was waiting until the blades reached takeoff velocity before calling his last man to board the aircraft.

  A few seconds later, Gunner turned to Olaf about to instruct him to climb aboard. He was surprised, however, to see the number of infected between Olaf and the helicopter had doubled. They must have come from the rear of the aircraft. It was now impossible for Olaf to get to the rest of the group. He could not fire in the direction of the helicopter without endangering the others or the aircraft.

  Gunner looked beyond Olaf toward the right field corner and saw that it was currently clear of infected. Gunner shouted at him to make his way to the outfield and he would land there to pick him up. Olaf turned and opened fire clearing a path for himself.

  The Doctor became alarmed as dozens of infected converged on the helicopter. He hoped that Gunner could get the helicopter in the air soon or they would have some unwanted passengers. Just then the aircraft began to rock slightly and separated itself from the stadium grass. Several infected reached the helicopter and began fumbling for the landing gear. Gunner was able to lift the aircraft high enough to avoid the infected on the ground; turning around, he focused his attention on Olaf.

  Olaf had managed to extract himself from the congregation of infected surrounding the helicopter and now stood in the right field corner on the edge of a dirt warning track. His movements, however, had been followed by a few infected occupying the centerfield warning track and the first base line. They were headed his way.

  Gunner was having some trouble steadying the Lakota but had it at a safe altitude. He slowly piloted the aircraft toward the right field corner and attempted to land but each time he descended a group of infected moved into the area. Olaf was running out of time as the infected moving around the track would soon be on him. The noise of the helicopter was also attracting the attention of those zombies in the promenade as they began stumbling down the stairs toward the playing field.

  Olaf decided his best move was to climb the wall separating the playing field and the stands and see if he could leap into the helicopter so that Gunner would not have to land. He turned and started to climb the wall.

  It was much higher here than near home plate where they had entered the field. He reached for the top and pulled himself up. The weight of his rifle and the black bag slowed him down not to mention the overall physical exertion expended during the day had begun to take its toll.

  He had pulled himself about halfway up as he took a second to rest his forearms on the top of the wall. He made a final push to get his lower half up and over. Suddenly he felt something pull on his left leg, then his right. He took a second to look down to see two infected had ahold of both legs and were trying to pull him down; or maybe they were trying to climb up. Either way, Olaf had to shake them off fast. He began to violently kick his legs using the wall for traction. He then peddled his legs as fast as he could, propelling himself upward and over the wa
ll falling onto the hard concrete.

  He stood back up and looked down onto the field and saw several more infected had joined the other two and were trying to get up the wall. They were neither strong enough nor coordinated enough to make any progress. He determined they were no longer a threat. Looking out toward the helicopter he saw Gunner had positioned himself so that Olaf could jump out toward the aircraft and grab the landing gear. The only problem was he could not get the Lakota low enough or close enough to make such a jump feasible. Olaf had to get higher up.

  He briefly considered his options. He could try getting to the upper deck giving Gunner more room to get closer. If he should misjudge his jump, however, he would fall over one hundred feet to his likely death. He could make his way to the outfield stands. He would not be much higher but at least the foul pole would not be in Gunner’s way.

  “The foul pole!” thought Olaf.

  The foul pole had three feet of netting extending upward to the top. He could climb up about half way and use the net as a springboard and grab the landing gear. It was dangerous but probably his best option as the nearest infected stumbling down the stairs were nearly upon him.

  Olaf grabbed the netting and began pulling himself up. It was sturdy nylon rope and easily held his weight. He wedged the tip of his boots into the holes in the netting and climbed higher. The infected had reached the bottom of the pole and started to climb up after him. They lacked the strength to pull their undead selves up but seemed to be climbing on top of one another and slowly began closing the gap. Some fell off landing hard on the concrete or playing field below. It would be some time before they would be able to reach him, if at all. One thing was certain however; he could not climb back down.