Outbreak

by Paul Carberry

  “Hey!” Nick called out after him.

  “Jesus!” Tina stumbled backwards and would have ended up on the floor if not for Calvin catching her. “What the fuck is his problem?”

  “Just get in that fucking room.” Calvin urged her through the door and looked back at Nick. “Come on man, get in here!”

  Nick hurried through the door and slammed it closed behind him. The card reader’s light changed from green back to red as it locked behind him. Within mere moments the zombies had reached the door, and began to thrash their arms against the steel door. Nick slowly backed away from the door, and the commotion outside the ambulance bay drowned out the fight between Tina and Father Jon.

  “What the fuck was that? You coward!” Tina screamed at Father Jon.

  “He was just scared, same as everyone else.” Calvin tried to moderate the fight. Tina stepped up to Father Jon and slapped him in the face, Father Jon remained hushed.

  “Hey now, we do not have time for this.” Calvin stepped between the two. “We need to find a way out of here.”

  “I… I…” Father Jon stammered. “I… panicked!”

  “You could have gotten me killed!” Tina tried to slap him again, but Calvin kept the blow from landing this time as he restrained her wrist.

  Nick walked past the altercation and into the office. He grabbed the keys from the hook on the wall, and headed back out into the ambulance bay.

  “Hey guys!” Nick jingled the keys to the ambulance to get everyone’s attention. They all discarded their little altercation and looked at him. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “You’re my fucking hero!” Tina ran up to Nick and wrapped her arms around him. Nick felt an odd sense of pleasure in the embrace. Tina’s body felt good against his. This was hardly the time or place for a reaction like this, but Nick couldn’t help but notice the warmth of Tina’s breath against his chest.

  “Uhh… we should be leaving here before something goes wrong!” Calvin interrupted the embrace. “How do we get that door open?”

  Nick looked over at the ambulance bay’s steel shutter door. “No problem, just got to flick the switch over there in the office.” Nick started to make his way over to the office.

  “Wait!” Father Jon called out, he had made his way over to the steel shutters and pressed his ear against the cold steel.

  “I think I hear them outside.” Father Jon motioned for them to come forward and join him.

  As Nick got closer to the door, the faint moans of the recently deceased echoed outside.

  “You hear it?” A frightened look crossed Father Jon’s face.

  “Fuck, you think they are close?” Calvin searched for answers as he pressed his ears against the steel shutters.

  “We can’t stay here forever, they will get through that door eventually.” Tina pointed to the door that led back into the hospital. The relentless pounding would eventually cause the door to break apart. They would find a way inside this ambulance bay.

  “Shit!”

  As the door began to fracture against the unrelenting hammering, Nick knew Tina was right. Their best chance was going to be driving out of here in the ambulance. He hurried over to the ambulance and started the engine. In the empty ambulance bay the thundering rumble of the engine drowned out all the other sounds.

  “Come on, we don’t have much time.”

  Nick called out to the others. Without them knowing it, the roar of the engine was drawing all the zombies outside towards that ambulance door. As more and more zombies shambled towards the noise, their chance of survival was fading quickly. As they all made their way into the ambulance, Nick hopped out to open the gate. He flicked the switch and as the door began to open dozens of feet could be seen shuffling towards the opening. Nick hopped into the cab and looked on in horror as the shutter continued to rise up and revealed the decaying corpses instinctively staggering towards them.

  “Dear God, save us!” Father Jon cowered in back of the ambulance.

  ***

  “What the Fuck is going on?”

  Kenny was preparing the helicopter for flight, pressing all the buttons as if it was pure instinct that drove him. He was not looking at the dashboard, but was fixated on Jason.

  “Get us the fuck out of here!” Jason buckled his seatbelt.

  “Where is Eric?”

  “I don’t know, that’s not Eric” Jason watched as an officer struggled to exit through the door that led down into the hospital. Hands grabbed him from every angle, and were pulling him back into the stairwell.

  “Shouldn’t we wait for him?” Kenny was clearly uneasy with leaving Eric behind.

  “He said he’s going to meet us at his cabin. Just get us out of here.” Jason looked toward the stairwell door and saw the zombies pouring through the door.

  “Fuck!”

  They had already reached the roof. “There’s no fucking time! GO!”

  “Is that a fucking zombie? SHIT!” Kenny grabbed the cyclic joystick and thrust the helicopter off the landing pad and began to ascend upwards away from the horde of zombies that were spilling out onto the roof below.

  Jason looked back as the zombies ripped apart the officer. He wondered if Eric had already suffered the same fate. No, Eric said he would meet them at the cabin. Jason had to believe his friend was still alive, that’s what he would tell Dana.

  ***

  As Eric ran up the stairs to the second floor where he had left Gary, he could hear the demonic moans of the shuffling corpses below and above him. This may have been a suicidal choice to try and rescue Gary. Maybe he should have gotten on the elevator with Officer Pike and just got the hell out of the hospital. Eric pushed the door to the second floor open, and he was greeted by the horrible coppery scent of blood. This was the emergency surgery ward, but the smell was overpowering and Eric could see the reason why. Bloody handprints smeared the walls and a large pool of blood seeped out from behind a closed door. Ghastly moans and repulsive noises warned of danger still lurking in that room.

  Eric kneeled down and slowly crept past the door being careful not to make too much noise. As he passed the doors he fought the urge to peek through the windows. The nauseating sounds that were being made on the other side sounded like wolves tearing into a deer. Eric paused for a moment below the window, and began to rise up to catch a glimpse, but at the last moment a vile scream echoed from one of the other rooms. Eric was paralyzed for a brief moment, fear had gripped a hold of him. Sweat rolled down his brow and suddenly his gun seemed to weigh ten times its weight.

  The scream not only alerted Eric, but whatever was behind the door he was crouched next to took notice of the scream as well.

  The revolting sounds of the ghouls feeding had ceased, and Eric could hear the shuffling of feet approaching the door. Eric snapped back to his senses in an instant, and headed further down the hallway towards the source of the scream. As the doors swung open, three zombies covered in the fresh blood from their snack fixed their cold, dead eyes on Eric.

  The entrails of their victim dangled from the mouth of a rather tall zombie, blood smeared all over his white surgery scrubs. A female nurse seemed to be led by her sense of smell, her nostrils flared and she seemed to be fascinated by Eric’s scent as she was drawn to his position.

  Eric backed away skittishly, desperately trying to line up a shot but was unable to get a clear look as he backed away.

  Another horrific scream echoed from somewhere on the floor. Eric reached a fork in the hallway. He did not know which way to turn. The scream could have come from anywhere.

  The left hallway led towards the recovery ward and the right hallway contained the offices of the surgeons. Time was running out as the zombies were getting closer. Their rotting flesh gave off a decomposing odour. Screams seemed to come from both directions as Eric stood in the crossroads. Without thinking about it, Eric ran down the hallway to the right towards the offices. Now the screams were getting louder as he approached.

  Sud
denly the lights went out, plunging Eric into darkness for what seemed to him like an eternity.

  As the emergency lights kicked in the hallway was illuminated by an eerie red light, that barely allowed Eric to see ten feet in front of him. The demonic moans of the hungry creatures chasing him were growing louder, and their shadows were growing larger as they approached the intersection of the hallway.

  Eric ran down the darkened hallway, his footsteps drowned out by the screams as he neared the first office. An open door offered a view upon a horrific scene just ahead. One of the doctors must have fallen asleep and had not heard the zombie creep up on him. A woman wearing a hospital gown knelt in front of the couch where the doctor had fallen asleep, and was tearing into his belly as he screamed out in agony.

  AAHHHHH!

  The doctor’s eyes caught a glimpse of Eric standing in the doorframe and seemed to beg him for mercy, he stopped trying to push the zombie away and seemed to reach out for Eric.

  Blood oozed down the zombie’s neck and stained the white gown as it rolled down its back. Eric could not ignore the look of anguish and misery in the doctor’s eyes. He knew that there was no saving the man but he could end the suffering.

  BANG! BANG!!

  Eric raised the barrel of the gun and fired two shots. The first bullet landed between the eyes of the doctor putting him out of his misery. The second bullet dug into the back of the zombie’s skull creating a misty spray of crimson that seemed even more demonic under the red emergency lights.

  The loud bang of the gun firing had betrayed Eric’s location. Out of the dark shadows down the hall, zombies lurched forwards towards the gunshots. With no other options, Eric entered the office and slammed the door shut behind him.

  BANG

  BANG BANG BANG

  BANG BANG BANG BANG

  As the zombies closed in on him they gathered against the door as if they were working together to bring it down. Eric placed his back against the door, desperately trying to keep it closed. Eric scanned the room looking for a way out of this death trap. As if by blind luck Eric had entered an office with a balcony attached, a glass sliding door at the back of the office was the only other way out of that room.

  BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!!!

  The door vibrated against Eric’s backside with great force. The door was moments away from being forced open. Eric made a run for the balcony door only to find it locked. As he fumbled with the lock the door behind him burst open, and the zombies began to flood into the room, hungry for flesh. Jaws snapping, salivating at the scent of the meal that was before them.

  The lock on the door made a loud CLICK as Eric unlocked it. Eric flung the door open and fired the gun blindly behind him as he raced through the door. The bullets made sickening sounds as they found their way into the flesh of the zombies racing towards him. Eric pulled the trigger until the chamber was empty, never looking back to see if a bullet found its mark. He climbed up on to the privacy balcony and began to lower himself down to make the drop to the ground below. It was about ten feet to the ground.

  A cold, dead hand grasped Eric’s forearm before he had a chance to make the leap down. The odd flesh of the zombie’s hand sent a jolt of terror down Eric’s spine, and without thinking, Eric let gravity tear him out of the deadly grip.

  Eric plummeted to the ground. The cold night’s air had made the ground hard and unforgiving. As Eric slammed into the ground he felt a sharp pain in his right ankle as most of his weight crashed down on the joint. He tumbled onto his back and the impact sent the gun flying out of his hands.

  As he looked up his heart sank as he witnessed the relentless zombies hauling themselves over the ledge in pursuit. Eric began to drag himself towards the parking lot.

  The first zombie over the ledge fell face first and slammed into the ground clearly breaking its neck. Its spine protruded out of the front of its neck in a gruesome, mangled mess. Blood poured from the neck and oozed into the soil. More zombies slowly made the leap down, and began to pile up creating a cushion for those who followed. Eric noticed his gun near the bottom of the mangled pile of bodies. As more zombies fell from the balcony, they began to tumble down the pile unharmed and with unrelenting drive, began to shuffle towards Eric.

  Eric strained in agony as he stood up, barely able to put any weight on his right foot. There was no way he would be able to out run the monsters that were only ten feet away from him. Eric managed to hobble to the cars in the parking lot. Leaning against the cars, he was able to take the weight off his ankle, but was not able to move much faster. Just fast enough to put a few feet between him and his pursuers.

  As he reached the road he could see a pair of headlights speeding towards his direction. Eric stepped into the road to try and flag the vehicle down. Without warning, his body collapsed to the pavement as a sharp pain shot up from his ankle. With the zombies closing in, Eric looked up to see the headlights of the ambulance come to a screeching halt just mere inches from his face.

  “Holy Fuck!”

  A voice bellowed out from the driver’s side of the vehicle. Eric heard the door open and a heavy pair of foot prints jumped onto the pavement.

  “Jesus Christ Eric!”

  Eric looked up and saw his friend Nick racing towards him.

  “Nick!”

  Nick bent down and helped Eric to his feet. He nearly threw Eric into the cab. Eric felt Nick push him further into the ambulance with great force as he shoved him into the passenger’s lap. The door slammed shut and Eric could feel the ambulance’s tires spin out as Nick pushed the vehicle to its limit. The tires squealed for a moment before they took grip on the pavement, and the ambulance barrelled through the parking lot.

  Eric managed to sit upright and looked into the eyes of the young girl who occupied the passenger seat. Eric tried his best to make his ankle as comfortable as possible. Eric shifted his weight towards Nick.

  “That was too close,” Eric managed to say.

  “I’d say, I nearly ran you over,” Nick replied. “If Tina didn’t see you…”

  Eric and Tina were crammed into the passenger seat together.

  “Thanks!”

  Eric looked back at the young girl.

  Her eyes were fixated on the chaos that was happening all around them. She did not even seem to hear what Eric had said. She was adrift in the chaos that was raining down all around them. Dead corpses shuffled between the cars in the parking lot, being drawn towards the ambulance. Eric turned to look out the front window at the mayhem that was taking place right in front of them. Those who had managed to survive the hospital were fleeing for their lives from the horror that resided inside the building. Those who did not know what horrible monsters were roaming the building were trying to get to the hospital to seek medical attention for their wounds, hoping to find refuge from the demons chasing after them.

  “Eric, what should we do?” Nick looked at Eric, puzzled.

  “Just get us out of here. Head away from the city.”

  “What? Shouldn’t we do something?”

  “It’s too late for that now. We already lost any hope of saving this city. We need to find a way to survive!” Eric continued to look out the front window at the panicked world. “Head to my cabin.”

  Nick was speechless. He just kept the ambulance moving down the road, trying to avoid getting stuck in the junkyard of metal vehicles that had been abandoned in the road. Hordes of the undead roamed the streets, looking for a taste of flesh.

  Chapter 26

  A New World

  Elliot’s head was pounding. His nose was broken. Blood had began to dry up and formed a crusty coating that ran from his nostrils down his lips and over his chin. He tried to wipe the blood from his chin, only to realize the heavy metal chains latched to his wrists. The cuffs on his wrist were cold and cumbersome. The chains on his cuffs were attached by an eye hook to the metal floor. How long had he been unconscious? Where was he?

  Elliot could feel the surge of the waves as the
boat rose and sank. The sounds of the water as they were slapping off the sides of the vessel caused vibrations to ring across the hull. Moonlight spilled in through the port hole, just enough to make the dull steel of the deck shine. The light would fade as the boat sank into the swell of a wave, and grow brighter as it reached the top of another. It was in those brief moments where the luminescence from the many port holes that the elaborate network of prison cells were made most visible to him. This deck of the boat had been turned into some sort of horrendous slave ship from the past. Most of the cells contained only one person, but a few seemed to contain two or three. Elliot determined that the boat must have been carrying at least forty other prisoners.

  “Hello! Does anyone know where we are?” Elliot’s voice echoed through the hull of boat. His voice bouncing off the metal walls.

  “Keep your voice down!” A woman in the cell next to him answered sharply. She walked towards him, as much as her chains would allow, the metal rattling as she moved. “You don’t want them to come down here.”

  “What’s going on?” Elliot was bewildered. “Who’s taken us prisoner?”

  “Prisoners? We are not prisoners. We are test subjects!” She tried to keep her voice as low as possible.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” The colour drained from his face, the blood now more of a contrast against his ghost white skin.

  “I’m not entirely sure, but nothing you would agree to if you had a choice.” Elliot noticed the woman’s hands were clenched into fists around her chains, her knuckles white from the pressure of her grip. Her eyes wide with terror and skin clammy from the cold sweat.

  “Have they tested on you?” Elliot could feel his heart beat faster.