Day 12: Restless Souls

“What the hell?” Avery exclaimed. “Seriously, I mean…what the hell?” No one replied. Instead they continued staring out of the windows along the hall as they made their way towards the elevators. Nothing out there indicated that the world had forever changed. Aside from the fact that it was Monday and not a single soul could be seen for miles excluding the zombies, of course. It was dark out but it was also downtown in an often bustling city. There were no lights from passing motorists, no loud music, no rampant conversations. Just stillness.

Ever since the guy popped off the stretcher, Avery’s mind raced with the possibility that everyone he knew and loved had met the same fate. His fiancée Penny, his dog Max…even his 4,000 Instagram followers. All dead. “This stuff is only supposed to happen in movies!” he tried again. “Not in real life. But those things…they’re real. They’re people—like us.”

“No, not like us,” Matthew corrected as he paused just in front of the elevator. “Those people are nothing like us; they’ve ceased to breathe. And I don’t think you should think of them as human. Any thoughts of who they once were, no matter how brief, might cause hesitation. We can’t afford them that opportunity. This is war and it’s kill or be killed.”

Avery looked around at the others. They knew he was being reasonable but they were all still struggling with the idea that there were actual dead people walking around and lots of them. “Let’s keep moving. If the others have started to change, it’s only a matter of time before they start popping up again,” Matthew instructed, pressing the button for the elevator. 

“Are we really going up to the 4^th floor?” Lorelei asked, stopping just midway on the lift. “We’ve just been attacked by a dead person and now you want to go running upstairs where there’s possibly more?! You said so yourself it was a war zone on the 4^th! There’s no way it’s safe. I’m not going up there!”

“Suit yourself.” Natalie said, shoving past her.

Lorelei whined, stomped her feet a few times and piled in behind them. “Wait. Are you sure we should use this? They say you shouldn’t in cases of emergency and I get super claustrophobic!”

“It’ll be fine, we still have electricity,” Troy answered.

“Yeah but what if it goes out midway between the 3^rd and 4^th floors? How would we get out then?”

“OH MY GOD! Do you ever stop whining?” Natalie snarled towards the blonde. “Seriously, it’s getting old!” Lorelei scrunched her face up and angrily folded her arms into her chest. Natalie didn’t care. At least she’d shut her trap for the time being.

Coming up to the 4^th, the lights inside the elevator flickered and everyone stared up at the ceiling. “SEE!” Lorelei shouted. “We’re going to get stuck inside this tin box!” With a jerk, the lift came to a stop on the 4^th and the doors slid open. “Thank god!” 

“Shh,” Matthew hushed the heiress as he strained his ears to listen. “It’s still pretty quiet; we may be in luck.” Sticking his head out, he looked down both sides of the hallway before stepping out and motioned for the others. Unlike the lower levels, there were no lights up here. But in the dark, the massacre that had taken place was still very visible.

Just as Matthew had described there were multiple pools of blood, some dried and some new. The walls were also stained in the viscous solution and there were boot prints, drag marks and bloody hand prints everywhere. “Jesus, fuck!” Troy whispered, clutching his bat tighter in his hand. “You weren’t kidding.”

“Holy crap, is that blood? Ew, ew, ew…gross!” Lorelei uttered and tried her best to avoid stepping in it.

“Will you shut up? We have no idea what we may be walking into and all your useless jabber is going to draw them right towards us!” Avery expressed his frustration as low as he could. Natalie lead the way with Matthew close by. They turned another corner and she stopped suddenly.

“What? What is it?” Matthew inquired.

“Shh, listen.”

“What was that?” Lorelei whispered. Shuffling feet, an undeterminable number, were moving down the hallway towards them. “Oh god. They’re coming.” She grabbed Avery’s arm and shut her eyes. Shaking her off, he twirled the handle of his golf club in his hand, steeling his nerves as the shadows on the wall grew shorter.

The first zombie, a fleshy man in a doctor’s coat, ambled towards Avery. A deep groan rumbled from his throat, and the sound chilled his bones. He kicked at him as it swung its arm in a sideways arc. Steadying himself, he lifted his golf club. It landed with a wet thud against the zombie’s head, knocking it to the ground. Blood pooled around him and Avery gave it another whack to be sure. Two more zombies stumbled from around the corner, all hospital staff and all with sights on the group. The zombies were fast within striking distance, reaching out arms extended. 

Matthew moved towards them, knife in hand. The nurse in front turned for him. Drool trickled from her gaping mouth onto the red tinged ground, yet her cold eyes remained fixed. A pair of rotting appendages groped at him, catching the collar of his shirt and exposing the flesh of his neck. He quickly pulled back and, with sizeable force, plunged his dagger so far into the woman’s forehead the tip exited the back. 

Another pair of zombies joined the horde, pushing them further down the hall. “Jesus, they won’t stop coming!” Undeterred, Troy swung like Babe Ruth. The bat shattered bone, ripped cartilage and tore muscle. One more zombie fell, oozing blood and slime. Troy tried to jump back but hit the wall and as he did, a mouth bit at the leather fabric of his shoe. “Christ!” he shrieked and slammed the tip of the bat straight down. The woman’s skull cracked open on impact but he kept on striking.

“Dr. Silva!” Natalie gasped, recognizing one of the men in the crowd. “Oh I got this one!” Snatching the knife from Matthew’s hand, she moved forward and skillfully stabbed her deceased boss right in the eye. “This is for promoting your lame ass nephew over me.” He groaned and hit the floor and she followed up with another jab to his left temple. “And that’s for telling me I was less qualified than your neighbor’s Pomeranian.” Matthew smirked, impressed with her ingenuity and she thanked him before handing back his blade.

Another approached; dragging himself on his elbows while his broken legs slithered behind him, leaving a trail of blood and some indistinguishable black goo. He growled as he scuttled closer, open mouthed and reaching for Lorelei. “Aww look at that! He likes you. You’ve snagged yourself a doctor, you should be proud,” Troy teased.

“Ha-ha, very funny,” she rolled her eyes. Troy stepped forward and whacked the zombie doc across the skull, splattering his strange mixture of fluid onto her shoes. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” Lorelei shrieked, shaking her feet in disgust.

“You’re welcome.” They continued forward in the dark before someone found the light switch.

“Shit! They’re locked,” Matthew growled, trying another door. “Fuck!”

“The security office is just past the elevators. The keys may still be inside,” Natalie suggested. The group cautiously made their way back down the hallway, passing the elevator and the pile of bodies they’d lain to rest. 

“OF COURSE!” Matthew shouted, discovering the room to security was also bolted shut. He kicked the door in frustration and furiously paced in front of it.

“I can see the key!” Natalie exclaimed, pointing to a rack on the wall. 

“Yeah if only we could get in.” Matthew glanced at Lorelei, sizing her up and the window above the door before speaking. “You could do it.”

“Um, excuse me.”

“The keys are hanging right there on the wall and…”

“Are you nuts? You want to shove my ass through that tiny hole?”

“Someone needs to do it. The door is locked and the only other key would be on the security guard, wherever he is,” Natalie replied. “The glass is shatterproof, Lorelei. Getting in through the window is our only choice. 

“No way, absolutely not! There is no way I’m going in there alone! For all I know one of those things could be in there waiting to munch on my face!”

“You’re the smallest of the group, Lorelei. If you don’t do it we’ll never getting inside,” Troy reasoned.

“Not my problem,” she replied, rolling her eyes as she turned her back to him.

“It’ll be your problem when the rest of this hospital realizes there are 5 warm-bloodied bodies just ripe for the eating and come looking,” Avery calmly stated as he leaned against the wall. “Look, I understand the danger involved in what we’re asking but, you gotta see it’s our last option.”

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