by L. A. Boruff
I felt exactly the same. “Right.” Searching the room, I tried to find something suitable as a weapon. After the incident in the bathroom we couldn’t be too careful. “I wonder how a baseball bat ended up in the supply room.”
“Vickie’s son left it last week. I heard her mention that she keeps forgetting to take it home.”
“Well, that’s good for us. We have at least one weapon now.” I picked up the bat and dumped some extra supplies and packaged snacks into one of the hospital drawstring bags we handed out to new patients. I slung it on over my back and gestured to Tara. “Come on, slowpoke. You can’t get busy with Ty if you never leave this room.”
“Thanks for the pep talk but I could care less about sex right now.”
“You must be feeling awful,” I joked, winking at her as I approached the door. “Ready when you are, just say the word.”
Tara inhaled and exhaled a deep breath, her eyes glassy as she nodded. She was still cradling her hand to her chest and I knew our safety was primarily my responsibility now. We wouldn’t be going back for my phone. I couldn’t leave her alone or place either one of us in additional danger. She didn’t bring it up and I was grateful. We both knew our only option was to make it to the stairwell and down the three flights to the ground floor. If the phones started working again, we had her cell.
The plan probably would have worked if it wasn’t for the power that failed the exact moment we exited the supply room. All of the lights went out as the entire space was plunged into darkness and creepy silence. Three seconds later pandemonium ensued. Alarms went off all across the floor as patient monitors signaled the alert. The loud buzzing and shrill sounds set off a chain reaction that was terrifying and impossible to stop.
It didn’t occur to me until now that we worked on the third floor I.C.U. unit of Grant Medical Center. Our patients were critical. Many were dying. Dozens were kept alive only by the machines that required electricity to keep their systems operating.
And now they were no long functioning.
The first moan didn’t register in my head as important until several more grunts joined in. Bodies began to move and shuffle from the patient rooms and enter the darkened space as I began to drag Tara toward the stairway exit. She was clammy to the touch and didn’t respond as I kept tugging her nearly dead weight across the floor.
We never made it to the door in time.
I left her propped against the wall as I spun and held the bat with two hands just like I’d been taught by my father growing up. Feet shoulder width apart, slight bend at the knees, eyes sharp as my gaze swept the vicinity. An old man approached from the right, but he wasn’t quick. The woman coming straight for me was much faster and she let out a piercing squall like a hungry infant deprived of sustenance.
I didn’t hesitate to swing the bat the moment she was within range. The crack of the wood meeting her skull rang in my ears as she lurched to the side. Blood trickled down the side of her face, but she didn’t stop. I swung the bat again and connected with her jaw, splitting the flesh and breaking the bone. Disconnected, her mouth gaped open in a grotesque grin while more blood and fluid dripped down the front of her gown. With a cry of despair, I smacked her again and again until her head was nothing but a lumpy mess and she collapsed to the ground.
The old man took advantage of my distraction as I heard Tara call out my name.
“Natalie!”
My reaction was instantaneous. I didn’t stop to think these people were my patients or individuals I had cared for over the prior days and weeks. I couldn’t. If I let myself think of them as people, I would never do what I had to in order to survive. The bodies kept coming as I hit everyone with the bat that came forward until exhaustion caused my muscles to spasm and my knees grew weak.
They weren’t going away, and these flesh-crazed monsters were relentless.
Backing away toward Tara, I moved us both slowly toward the stairwell. An occasional desperate patient would lurch forward, and I would swing the bat in order to keep them from overwhelming us. We were so close. Just feet from the door and certain freedom.
Grant was less than two miles from the Scioto River where Zeke and Ty were waiting for us to arrive. The walk would have taken us twenty minutes with plenty of time to arrive at our usual spot. I couldn’t change the fact we didn’t leave on time, but I could make sure Tara and I left the building alive.
When the handle of the door met my fingers I nearly cried aloud with relief. Twisting the knob with more force than I intended I yanked the door open wide enough for us to slip through and turned her way.
The action proved a costly error.
Tara snarled as a light foam coated her teeth and dripped from her mouth, seconds before she lunged in my direction.
My best friend was now one of them.
6
Zeke
“Zeke, when I say, we run. Okay?” His voice was barely above a whisper and I never would have heard a word he said except for the slight pause in the fireworks and the sudden silence that followed.
“Yeah.”
We backed away into the shadows and I was thankful the delay meant we weren’t visible standing in the middle of the street anymore. The snarls and groans continued as the crowd moved like some bloodthirsty beast, singular of mind and focus. Clicking teeth and snapping jaws echoed as they moved closer. Some lifted their noses in the air and sniffed like dogs as if they were scenting prey.
The thought lodged inside my head as I stiffened.
“Ty,” I whispered, moving closer. “I think we’re being hunted.”
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. The air smells like death and smoke from the fireworks. I don’t think they can tell between the different odors right now, but something tells me as soon as those fireworks are done for the night nothing is going to stop those fucking lifeless drones from tracking down the living and having a snack.”
A loud boom rocked the night as red starbursts exploded above us followed by a white blossom of stars that burned into the sky before trailing downward in a squiggly tail pattern. The glowing embers fell back to earth as Ty turned my way and managed a tight smile.
“Race?”
“Go,” I managed to whisper before we ran from the wall and down toward Grant Medical Center. The streets had begun to clear but there were still people running and sometimes shouting as these new zombie-like monsters chased them down. I tried not to look at the bodies of those who had fallen. Someone tugged on my pant leg once, but I couldn’t stop without a weapon and wasting time wouldn’t help Nat or Tara.
Every man was on his own now.
How utterly fucked up.
My heart pounded in my chest. Horrified screams filled the air as the attacks continued, all while the patriotic boom of fireworks merciless launched again and again into the air. Ty and I made it to the next corner where we leaned against the wall and panted, sweat dripping down our faces. The heat was unbearable, but the threat of discovery was far worse.
A snarl sounded behind us a few feet from where we stood. Ty shoved me away as a college kid from O.S.U. lurched forward, the letters of the university bright scarlet on the gray material. Around his neck was a glowing patriotic necklace with a chasing LED light that accentuated the puffy pink bite marks on his face and the gaping hole in his jaw. Blood stained the front of his t-shirt in splotches. His eyes were wild and completely without emotion or recognition.
He was just standing . . . but there were no coherent signs of life.
Ty kicked him back and stumbled as I rushed forward. My brother barely caught his balance. There wasn’t any way to fight off this monster. I wasn’t sure what to call him. Undead? Zombie? Nothing sounded right.
“What are we going to do?”
“Outrun this fucker!” Ty yelled and we sprinted away, pumping our arms and legs as fast as we were able. Neither of us looked back and I couldn’t be sure if we were followed. Rounding the corner of the next building we ran straight into
the one person I’d been trying to find all night. Her expressive blue eyes grew wide as she shouted my name.
Holy shit!
“Natalie!”
Natalie
A bitter cry of horror and despair echoed from my chest as I shoved the mass of bodies backward with the bat and slipped inside the empty stairwell. Slapping my palms on the door I shoved with all my might and managed to miraculously shut the damn thing without prolonged effort. My knees gave out beneath me as the stinging bite of tears filled my eyes and overflowed.
“Tara,” I whispered with agony.
It wasn’t fair. She didn’t deserve to die and become one of those monsters.
What the hell was happening!?
My shoulders shook with the overload of emotion and all of the crazy shit that had happened over the last hour and a half. I just lost my best friend and humans were now trying to rip each other apart and eat the flesh from one another’s bones. Holy fuck!
Could this day get any worse?
Wiping the tears from my face, I rose to my feet and froze when a heard a noise echo up from below.
I was on the third floor up and had planned to run down the stairs and into the freedom that lay beyond these hospital walls. More complications or surprises was the last thing I needed. Moving slowly, I crept down the stairs and hoped nothing was in this stairwell with me. Maybe I only imagined the noise from a minute ago?
The familiar shape of a man was hidden in the shadows on the second-floor landing. A blue uniform caught my attention and I relaxed when I saw it was someone I knew.
“John, you scared me. Have you been outside yet?”
He stepped forward and my hands clamped down on the bat when I realized he was no longer the same as the last time we met. Deep scratches marred the exposed skin of his arms while blood was splattered all over the maintenance uniform. He appeared like some horror movie killer ready to maim and dismember his victims.
What should have been the dark stairwell was now illuminated by those ominous and eerie green lights. The backup generator must have been fixed by someone. John’s face turned toward mine and I screamed as the mangled and chewed flesh hung from his face in meaty ribbons. Large bites had been torn from his left cheek and most of his jaw. He huffed and shook like his body was in convulsions, but he didn’t try to lunge forward.
Instead his mouth gaped open wider and he regurgitated. A disgusting and vile concoction of the worst smell known to man erupted from his gullet. The vomit or spew must have been stomach acid, bile, and tainted blood because it was a consistency and color that I couldn’t quite pinpoint and I nearly hurled up the contents of my own stomach in response.
The retched puddle landed only a few inches away and I immediately jumped to the right, flinging my body toward the next set of steps. I heard John puff and snarl behind me and didn’t pause as I picked up speed and ran straight to the exit. The handle opened without a problem and I yanked the door forward, spinning as I slammed it shut with a cry of relief. Several thuds jarred the frame, but it didn’t open. My body sagged as I held the bat next to my side and gasped, breathing hard.
Tears filled my eyes again, but I blinked them back. I was far from safe. The hospital parking had a street level garage that rose up about seven levels and was currently packed full due to Red, White, and Boom. Parking lot fixtures were brightly lit with their LED bulbs and cast small hazy circles of pale bluish white light in a consistent pattern all the way up and out of the garage. I was free from the medical center building but now I had to travel around all of the parked cars to the exit straight ahead. I wasn’t foolish enough to believe I would reach the street without bumping into any more of these monsters.
“Fuck,” I whispered as I pulled Tara’s phone from my pocket and began walking as quickly and quietly as possible. Glancing at the phone I was excited to see service bars located in the top left corner. There was a scuffle somewhere close and I didn’t hesitate to break into a run as I anticipated using the phone and finally reaching Zeke. The path led up a steady incline and right to the closest intersection.
At street level I paused to catch my breath and leaned against the brick façade of the adjacent building. Broad St. wasn’t far. The main road crossed Front St. which led up to the Scioto River and all of the street vendors and alcohol stands. If I could call Zeke, he could meet me here. It wasn’t far.
I leaned against the inside edge of the building and dialed his number at least a half dozen times. The number rang endlessly but no voice mail picked up. The calls weren’t going through.
Unnatural silence greeted me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I glanced around, uncertain why I was having such a strong reaction.
Something was wrong.
I don’t know what I expected but I wasn’t prepared for the loud boom that rocked the night as fireworks lit up the sky in bright green and sparkly white. Frightened and unsure, I was afraid to venture too close to the street. Was it safe? Were more of these lifeless beings out there ready to attack?
Several minutes ticked by as the fireworks show continued and I shivered despite the scorching July temperatures. The air was muggy and humid, stagnant without a breeze to cool the sweat on your skin. I tried to breathe through a moment of panic when I heard the sound of multiple footsteps.
Lifting my bat and ready to strike I jumped out from the side of the building and came face to face with the man I’d been hoping to find all night.
“Zeke!”
7
Natalie
“Shit! Behind you!” I yelled as I swung the bat and it connected with the side of the monster’s head chasing down Zeke and Ty. He was just some kid previously. The O.S.U. t-shirt was proof of his youth and college status.
I almost paused but as the mindless form lunged forward with a snarl, I knew what had to be done. My body reacted before my head caught up with my actions. Both men appeared shocked as I swung again several more times until the body of the attacker lay unmoving on the ground. His head was smashed in and brain matter splattered all over the asphalt. Dark sticky blood oozed from his wounds but clotted strangely.
It suddenly occurred to me that it was hot as hell today. Bottled water was for sale along with the beer and soda. How many people in the crowd had cooled their thirst by buying what they needed? Even with the news media coverage that bottled water was related to the outbreak, only certain zip codes had pulled their stock. But . . . was the water distributed today contaminated?
“Holy fuck!” Ty blurted, taking the bat from my hand and spinning around in case there were more of these crazy bastards.
Zeke rushed forward and picked me up, crashing his lips down on mine. “Nat, baby, are you okay? No injuries? You’re not hurt?” He sounded panicked and afraid.
“No, nothing. I’m fine considering I’ve been attacked numerous times over the last couple of hours.”
Zeke trembled as he pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I can only imagine.” He hugged us tightly together and I sank into his embrace. “You’ve got blood all over you. I thought . . .”
“I’m not hurt,” I assured him.
“Where’s Tara?”
Ty’s question caused an avalanche of emotion to roll through me and I choked back a sob as I answered, “gone. One of them.”
“Fuck!” he roared, realizing too late that his voice would echo and draw unneeded attention.
Zeke glared in his direction before clenching my hand tight. “There’s no point on dwelling on it now. We need to reach safety. First priority is to reach Ty’s truck. We parked here in the medical center garage. Shouldn’t be a problem to reach it quickly.”
Ty shot his brother a dirty look. “I’m going to ignore the fact that you brushed off Tara’s death like that.” He held onto the bat tighter as we ran inside the parking garage and up the long cement lane that led toward the upper levels. Thankfully we didn’t enter the same exit I’d used only a few minutes prior.
“The elevators pro
bably won’t work,” Zeke blurted, pulling on my hand as we approached a stairwell. “We’ll have to climb the stairs.”
I paused as we opened the stairwell door and remembered the last one I was in on the other side of the lot. “Hey, be careful. We may not be alone in here.”
Both guys nodded as we entered cautiously. The power generator was still working so we weren’t stuck in total darkness. At least one thing was going our way.
Ty moved quickly but quietly as we pressed upward and stayed vigilant. Zeke and I were right behind him the entire way. At the door to level four we paused to catch our breath. So far, so good.
“I’m hoping there aren’t any of those fuckers up here,” Ty whispered, “but we should stay on alert. Zeke, remember which section we parked in? It’s down on the right toward the end of the lane on row D.”
Zeke nodded. “Yeah, I remember. Your big ass truck takes up too much space.”
Ty snorted. “Fuck off. It’s probably the best vehicle to drive in tonight.”
Ty’s RAM 2500 was huge with big mud tires and high enough I couldn’t climb in alone. I wasn’t complaining. After everything I had been through tonight his truck sounded like a safe haven.
“Damn. That’s true.” Zeke shook his head. “I can’t wait to get the fuck out of downtown.”
“Alright, let’s go.” Ty pushed the door open cautiously as we slipped onto the fourth level of the garage and paused, listening for any signs of life before heading toward the truck.
The air was still hot and muggy, and the occasional firework blasted off and brightened the sky as we nearly jumped from our skin. I expected to be attacked every single second it took for us to reach the truck. Nothing happened. Maybe the loud booms were attracting the monsters away from the hospital and surrounding area.
I certainly hoped that was the case.