“And just how do you intend to stop me?”
Rolan hid his smirk and appeared to be enjoying the exchange. Apparently, he’d lost many arguments with Lexx in the past. Hill stared at Lexx a moment then looked at Rolan, who watched the exchange.
“Can you talk some sense into her?” Hill asked.
Rolan appeared surprised. “Who? Me?” he squawked then shook his head. “Are you kidding? She’s my boss. Besides, she’ll kick my ass. She’s not a sweet as she looks.”
Hill looked back at Lexx. She smirked knowing she’d won that round. She attempted to crawl through the opening. Hill stopped her and pointed a warning finger at her.
“You stay behind me,” he threatened, “and you do exactly what I tell you. Got it?”
She nodded her response. Hill took a deep breath and climbed through the opening beyond the sliding door. He climbed several rungs before Lexx climbed into the elevator shaft behind him. She followed him up the rungs in the narrow shaft. He moved slower than she had anticipated. Apparently, he was apprehensive about the climb, but she had done it many times as a child. When the dumbwaiter had broken for the final time, the hospital went to the easier linen cart system. Orderlies tended to overstuff the dumbwaiter with linen, creating a difficult job for the laundry staff. They finally reached the dumbwaiter door on the first floor. Lexx waited while Hill slid open the door and inspected the linen closet before climbing out.
Lexx was about to climb out after him when he held up his hand, stopping her. He hurried to the linen closet door, locked it, and then motioned for her to join him. Lexx climbed through the opening and looked around the linen closet. It was undisturbed. There were no sounds beyond the closet, which surprised both. Considering Gunther’s take on what was happening on the first floor, they expected a lot of commotion and mass hysteria. She wondered why it was so quiet beyond the door. Both positioned themselves alongside the door. Hill removed his ax while Lexx removed a hammer from her holster. He silently unlocked the door and gently pulled it open just enough to peer into the corridor. He appeared bewildered and slowly opened the door. Hill and Lexx stood in the doorway and looked up and down the empty emergency room corridor. There was blood everywhere but not a single person, dead, alive, or any state in-between. Both appeared bewildered and entered the hallway. Neither moved away from the safety of their linen closet.
“Do you think CDC came through already?” Lexx asked softly more to herself.
He slowly shook his head while remaining alert. “We would have heard shots,” Hill informed her. “You stay here. I’m going to have a look around.”
Hill quietly walked down the hall. Lexx quietly closed the linen closet door and followed after him. He glared at her, but she ignored his look. The amount of blood was staggering. Lexx couldn’t even recall a scene from any horror movie that came close to what she was witnessing. There was stray body parts scattered around the once white corridor, which was alarming in itself. Judging by the way Hill eyed each gnawed limb, he wasn’t holding up nearly as well as he’d have her believe. Despite things Lexx had witnessed in her years as a mortician, this was the most disturbing thing she’d ever seen. The fate of those occupying the hallway at the time frightened her more than she cared to admit. As they passed a nearly intact man sprawled along the floor, Lexx found herself staring helplessly at what had once been a janitor. He appeared to be missing an arm and most of his face as he lie face down in his own blood. She couldn’t help but wonder why his was the only intact body within the corridor. More importantly, where were the rest of the bodies? They approached the doors to the waiting room. The absence of sound chilled her more than the gruesome images remaining in the blood.
A strange thumping sound was heard above them, startling both. They suddenly hesitated and looked at the ceiling. Obviously, there was nothing there. They looked back to the lobby doors. A blood covered zombie nurse resembling Patty, with her head resting on her shoulder, stood before the door holding a severed arm in her hands. She chewed on the arm while staring at them then snarled.
“I have an idea,” Lexx said softly. “Let’s go back to the linen closet.”
“It’s just one,” Hill announced while clutching his ax. “We can take her.”
The double doors to the emergency waiting room opened to reveal two dead men covered in blood. Behind them, the lobby was filled with mutilated undead men and women meandering about with little purpose.
“I’m going to listen to you more,” Hill muttered in a soft tone. “Nice and easy--back to the linen closet.”
Both slowly turned in hopes that lack of sudden movements would attract less attention. Several zombies approached from the opposite end of the hall, blocking their path to the linen closet. For a brief second, no one dead or alive moved.
“I wish I’d stayed in the basement,” Lexx muttered and attempted to open the door near them. It was locked!
Hill readied his ax then looked at the dead janitor lying on the floor just a few feet away. Hill’s eyes lit up.
“Keys,” he cried out softly.
Lexx saw the keys attached to the janitor’s pants. She slid onto the floor near the dead man, avoiding the blood, and attempted to remove the ring as the zombies watched them from both ends. She pulled the keys free and smiled with relief. The janitor’s eyes suddenly opened, and he grabbed for her. Lexx screamed and sprang to her feet. Hill stepped forward, swung the ax, and struck the janitor in the back. It stopped him momentarily, but he again attempted to get up. Hill pulled his ax free to the sound of crunching vertebrae and jumped back with surprise. Lexx tried keys in the lock with trembling hands. Hill moved closer to her and watched the janitor slowly move to his feet.
“Can you work a little faster?”
“I’m trying,” she snapped softly.
The zombies from both ends snarled and charged them. The lock on the door sprang open. Hill pushed Lexx into the room and slammed the door behind them. The zombies crowded the door and pawed at it, attempting to get inside. Hill locked the x-ray waiting room door while a horde of zombies thumped against it from the other end. Lexx nervously looked around the waiting room then to the open door leading into another corridor. Lexx nudged Hill. He approached the corridor with his ax. Lexx followed behind, leaving little space between them. A zombie suddenly struck the glass window to the nurse’s office. Both jumped back with surprise and stared at Peter with half his face chewed off. The zombie x-ray technician soon joined him by the window.
Hill indicated the door beyond the zombies. “The door is closed,” he announced. “They’re trapped inside for the moment. We’ll rig it shut to be safe.” He motioned for her to follow him toward the nearby corridor.
Lexx and Hill walked along the narrow corridor with their weapons raised and looked at the nurse’s office door. It was already crudely barricaded. They exchanged bewildered looks and continued onward to the bathroom and changing room. Nothing moved and everything seemed quiet. Of course, so had the emergency room. They approached the x-ray room near the back. A zombie in a scrub uniform leaped from the doorway for Lexx. Hill swung the ax, nicked the zombie’s arm, and struck the wall. The zombie tackled Lexx to the floor as she screamed. Hill left the ax embedded in the wall and drew his weapon. Before he could even react, Lexx flipped the zombie off her and sprang to her feet. The zombie got up slower than Lexx. Hill shot the zombie in the leg, but it didn’t even affect him as he continued to his feet.
“What’s wrong with you?” Lexx cried out. “Head!”
Hill aimed with more determination and shot the zombie in the forehead. Its head snapped back as its skull exploded thick, dark blood and brains out the back. They watched the zombie fall to the floor. It no longer moved.
“Sorry. Shooting a suspect in the leg was drilled into me,” he announced while trembling then looked her over quickly with concern. “He didn’t bite you, did he?”
“No, but my back has felt better.”
Hill looked into the MRI ro
om and suddenly grimaced. The room was painted with blood and what remained of a nurse was scattered around haphazard. Her severed leg in a cast sent chills down Lexx’s spine.
“What’s left of that nurse can’t hurt us,” he informed her and appeared sickened.
“I’d better call Rolan and tell him we’re going to be here a while,” Lexx muttered.
“Now might be a good time to check with the other floors and see what they know,” Hill informed her with a defeated sigh. He searched her eyes and appeared apologetic. “I’m sorry I got us trapped.”
She managed a tiny smile. “Hey, we’re still alive. That’s all that matters.”
Lexx heard the sound of something dull scraping metal. She hesitated and looked into the nearby room. The only thing in the room was the closed MRI machine, which resembled a doughnut with a long, hard table sticking out of it. She slowly entered the room and looked around. Hill entered behind her and kept watch behind them as well. Something scraped again. It came from the machine itself. Lexx slowly approached the machine with her hammer clutched firmly in her hand. Hill maintained some distance and looked around. The sound was heard again, and it was close, possibly coming from inside the machine. Lexx slowly moved around the machine to look behind it. A bare foot suddenly slid down the side of machine in front of Lexx’s face. She cried out and jumped back with her hammer prepared to strike. Hill aimed his gun then hesitated. Ten-year-old Allison in her torn dress clung to the top of the machine with her one good arm and stared down at them. She looked terrified and attempted to pull up her bare foot as it scratched against the side of the machine.
“Hey,” Lexx said softly while staring at her and returned her hammer to her holster. “It’s okay. No one’s going to hurt you. We won’t hurt you.”
“How do I know?” Allison gasped in a trembling voice.
“We’re not infected,” Lexx replied and attempted to sound comforting. She wasn’t used to dealing with children, especially frightened ones. “It’s okay. You can come down. No more can get in.”
Allison didn’t appear completely convinced, but since she was losing her footing and her grip, she reluctantly slid down the side of the machine. Lexx helped catch her at the bottom. The young girl had removed her shoes in order to climb the machine, and with only one good arm, that was amazing in itself.
“A man bit Marco. He bit him real hard that he bled,” she said softly. “He told me to hide. Is he dead? Marco?”
“I’m not sure,” Lexx said gently. “I don’t know Marco.”
“He has white hair and tattoos on his arms.”
Hill suddenly grimaced. Lexx saw his look and didn’t know what to say. She looked at the little girl’s left arm and sat on the MRI bed to inspect it without lifting it.
“You’ve been injured,” Lexx announced, attempting to change the subject.
“I fell from a tree,” Allison said. “Marco said it was broken. Clean he said. He let me see the pictures. It hurts when I try to use it.”
Lexx stared at the little girl then smiled gently. “Well, then, we should probably put that in a cast for you.”
Hill looked away from the open door and stared at Lexx. “Do you know how to do that?”
“Premed, Sheriff,” she casually replied. “I know a little about a lot. Since we’re stuck here anyway, I may as well make her a little more comfortable.”
Chapter Thirty
Gunther sat at the counter testing blood samples while Tracy struggled against the ropes binding her to the table. Warren sat in a chair near the door and watched her in silence while he fiddled with his gun. It was uncertain whether he was intrigued by the dead woman mimicking life; or if he was waiting for an excuse to put a bullet in the beautiful zombie’s head. Gunther appeared frustrated, shifted in his chair with a groan, and gingerly rubbed his infected arm. The dark, bloody substance continued to ooze through his lab coat sleeve. He gently rolled up his sleeve, looked at the oozing discharge saturating the gauze wrap, and appeared concerned by the coloring. He pulled a small case from his jacket pocket and removed a syringe and a small bottle. While Warren was preoccupied fiddling with his gun, Gunther drew solution into the needle and injected it into his arm near the wrapped injury. He cringed slightly then secretly returned the items to his lab coat. He took a deep breath and looked back into the microscope. After only a few seconds of staring at the slide on the glass, he appeared disgusted and turned away from the desk.
“I can’t isolate the infection,” he announced and looked at Warren. “I know what vile she’d been exposed to, but it didn’t have these side effects on other test subjects.” He shook his head while searching for an answer. “The nurse, EMT, Newman, and Dr. Kirby inhaled the gas, which eventually entered their bloodstream, mutated, and affected their tissue and organs. Because Dr. Kirby died before the infection took hold, it took longer to regenerate and bring her back.” He leaned back in his chair. “I’m positive the antibiotics she was given right after she was infected slowed the progression as well. Beyond that, I have nothing.”
“Are you any closer to finding a cure? Are you sure antibiotics won’t cure the infection?” Warren asked and replaced his gun to his shoulder holster.
“No, even in high, concentrated amounts, they only slow its progression,” he announced while subconsciously rubbing his wrapped arm then drew a deep breath. He pulled his lab coat sleeve over the edge of the wrapping to prevent Warren from seeing his injury. “I need an uninfected test subject.”
Warren raised a curious brow and showed little emotion. “Blood sample or guinea pig?”
“Living tissue.”
“Well, you’re in luck, Doc,” Warren informed him and offered an unsettling grin. “We have five guinea pigs chilling in the morgue down the hall.”
“The sheriff may prove less than cooperative.”
“You don’t need to worry about him,” Warren announced. “I can be very persuasive.”
Gunther seemed unconvinced and gave him a stern look. “Remember I need them alive. They’re no good to me if they’re dead.”
“How about slightly chilled?” Warren asked teasingly with a sly grin.
“Slightly chilled works.”
Warren stood and casually left the lab. Gunther returned his attention to his microscope. Tracy snarled and thumped against her restraints, distracting him. Gunther looked back at her and stared at the thrashing, snarling dead woman. He drew a deep breath and leaned back in his chair.
“You know, Dr. Kirby,” he announced gently, “it was nothing personal.”
She snarled in response and kept her eyes locked on him. He fidgeted slightly. It was almost as if she was condemning him with her snarl. Gunther stood and approached the exam table to which she was bound.
“Maybe Newman took things a bit far by, you know, tossing you down the stairs.” Gunther took a deep breath and leaned on the table, partially hovering over her. “But you had been warned to mind your own business. I mean, I’m chief surgeon of this hospital. You shouldn’t have been poking around in my business like that in the first place.” He hesitated while staring at her and again looked remorseful. “I never meant for any of this to happen to you.” He frowned, shook his head, and gently brushed the hair from her face. “You were such a beautiful woman.”
She again snarled and snapped at his hand touching her hair. He pulled his hand back with surprise, having nearly lost a finger to her teeth. As he stared at her, his expression turned less sympathetic and more cruel.
“Then again, perhaps you deserved everything you got,” he remarked lowly.
Chapter Thirty-one
Warren headed down the excessively quiet corridor. It was hard to imagine the hell-raising scene upstairs and the mass chaos outside with how quiet things were underground. Warren entered the morgue and casually looked around. Carson and Nathan stood over the sterile exam table while playing a board game containing three game pieces. Rolan was stretched out on one of the freezer slabs with his ey
es closed and his hands clasped behind his head near the opening. Carson and Nathan looked at Warren as he entered and appeared interested. Rolan quickly sat up on the slab and stared as well.
Warren looked around with a puzzled look. “What happened to the sheriff and that girl?” he asked.
“They’re playing ‘hide and seek’,” Rolan teased with a lusty smile.
Carson frowned his disapproval.
“Dr. Sharp needs some help with one of his experiments,” Warren informed them.
All three exchanged looks with great interest.
“If it brings him closer to a cure--” Carson announced, seemingly volunteering.
“Exactly,” Warren replied, removed his gun, and aimed it at them.
All three appeared alarmed and stood immobile while staring at the gun.
“What’s with the gun, Warren?” Carson suddenly asked in louder tone than necessary.
Warren turned to Rolan on the slab without responding to Carson’s question. “You stay where you are,” he announced then looked at Nathan. He waved his gun, indicating Rolan. “Push him in the freezer.”
Nathan appeared alarmed as his mouth fell open. “That’ll kill him.”
“So make sure you turn the temperature up to a healthy level,” Warren announced simply then turned impatient. “Let’s go. We haven’t got all day.”
Nathan uncertainly approached Rolan, who appeared concerned while lying back on the metal slab. Nathan pushed the slab with Rolan on it into freezer six, gave him a reassuring look, and shut the door.
“Now you, doc,” Warren announced.
Nathan adjusted the freezer control and opened the freezer door below Rolan’s freezer. He uncertainly moved onto the slab while glaring at Warren and his gun.
Warren motioned to Carson. “Push him in.”
Carson reluctantly pushed the slab containing Nathan into the freezer and shut the door. He stared at the freezer door containing Rolan only a moment, held his breath, and then looked back at Warren.
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