Dead Tropics (6 page)

"Get the hell out, boy!" Biggs yelled.

Ken hesitated, then swung his other leg over the ledge and started clambering down the rope. I shook myself out of my momentary paralysis and kept moving downwards as the sounds of battle flowed over me like boiling oil. Biggs' furious yells and curses floated over the moans of the zombies as he fired shot after futile shot.

Then the shooting stopped and the screaming started.

9

A whimper escaped my lips as I tried to block the horrific images that accompanied the screams. Four feet from the ground, I let go of the rope and stumbled a bit before regaining my balance.

Jessie rushed forward and clutched my skirt anxiously. Wrapping an arm around her thin shoulders, I looked around at the others. Silent tears poured down Emma's face as Ken moved up beside her and gripped her hand tightly. B1 watched the road, flinching at each scream. Even normally impassive Mike looked grim. None of us said anything as we listened to the screams fade and finally cease.

B1 murmured "and then there were five" - he paused as he glanced at Jessie "and a half..."

A line formed between Mike's dark brows as he came close to frowning. "Shut up, Roy."

B1 shuffled his feet. "Just saying..."

I couldn't speak, tears choking my throat. Biggs had been loud, short tempered and bossy but he'd also been brave and honorable, and ultimately, had sacrificed himself for us.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take." Emma's voice trembled. How much more could any of us take, I wondered. How much fear, pain, and death can any person bear before they break?

It felt like I had been drowning in a sea of terror for an eternity. Even greater than my desperate desire to live was the unbearable fear for my children. It wrapped, like heavy chains, ever tighter around my heart with each passing minute. Were they safe, were they afraid, were they crying for me somewhere?

Ken started to speak, stopped and cleared his throat. "So what do we do now? We can't hide out in this lane forever."

Mike nodded. "We need to work on getting a vehicle and finding a safe location."

He looked around at us. "Any chance one of you has a car nearby?"

"I was late this morning so I'm parked just across the road." I offered dryly, "but I don't think it will help us, seeing the car keys are in the ER staff room."

Mike sighed. "Okay, let's see what the situation is out front."

Cautiously, we moved down the alley, keeping as close to the wall as possible. Every excruciating step of the way, I kept expecting to see the monsters appear in the lane. As we neared the front, Mike waved at us to stop. He inched forward carefully and peered around the edge of the hospital wall for a few seconds.

Pulling back, Mike looked at us impassively. "Well, there's good news and there's bad news."

B1 (
Roy,
I corrected myself) snorted quietly. "This whole day has been bad news!"

Mike ignored him and continued. "There are at least fifty corpses milling in front of the ER."

"I really hope that wasn't the good news." Ken responded drily as he removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

Mike allowed himself a little smile in response. "There are four ambulances pulled up at the front. I'm guessing, with all the chaos this morning, that at least one of them ..."

"still has the keys in them!" Emma finished excitedly.

I pushed past Mike to look for myself. Just as Mike had said, the front of the hospital was full of dull-eyed zombies shambling aimlessly. Two ambulances were stopped randomly in the driveway while another two were parked further away. Trolleys lay overturned and, scattered on the ground, were pieces of a body. Or bodies. A zombie stood nearby, gnawing on a hand. I tried to block out the image as I calculated the difficulty of getting to the nearest ambulance. It was clear that we would have to go right through the zombie horde.
Shiiiiitte
.

I met Mike's deadpan expression as I drew back slowly. "What do you think, ma'am?"

"Piece of cake." Even to me, my voice sounded strangled.

His lips quirked momentarily. "Our options appear pretty limited. We can head down the other way and hope to find a vehicle with keys there or we can make a run for one of these ambulances."

"Jesus!" Roy exclaimed incredulously, if softly. "How is that even an option? We try the other way, of course!"

I shook my head determinedly, holding Mike's bland gaze. "We know that zombies are pretty slow moving. True, if we all tried to run through that crowd, the chances are that most of us wouldn't make it. But
one
or two fast people could dodge them and make it to the ambulances. Then they could pick up the others."

"Sounds like a plan." Mike agreed slowly.

"Like hell it does!" Roy replied vehemently. "Like hell I'm going to run
towards
any frigging zombies! You're crazy!" He looked around him for support. "Am I right? It's lunacy!"

Emma rolled her eyes but her normally rosy complexion had paled considerably. "You really think we have a chance?"

I swallowed hard and nodded. I couldn't believe I was even contemplating running through a crowd of zombies but I
had
to be the one behind the wheel. It was the only way to be sure of finding Michele. What if the others didn't want to go rescue her? What if they had families of their own they wanted to help? I
had
to be in control of the vehicle so I could make the call.

Putting up a shaky hand, I said, "I'm not the fastest runner around but I am pretty good at dodging and weaving." I smiled weakly. "Years of playing touch footy with the guys."

Emma looked petrified. "Are you sure, Lori?"

No!
"I've got as good a chance as any of you. Maybe better."

The contemplative way Mike was looking at me made me feel a little uncomfortable, as if he could read my mind and see the completely selfish reasons I had for volunteering.

"Okay." He nodded slowly. "You're only going to get one shot at this, ma'am. If they manage to surround you..."

I bobbed my head jerkily. "I know. And for goodness sakes, call me Lori." Sweat dripped down my spine as my breath quickened.

A movement to my side caught my eye and I was mortified to realise that I had forgotten about Jessie. Kneeling, I took her hands in mine and tried to smile confidently.

"I'm going to be back with the car in a few minutes, Jessie. You wait with these guys and be ready to jump into the back of the ambulance as soon as I pull up. Alright?"

Her solemn brown eyes took in my whole face. I had the unnerving feeling that she thought it was the last time she would see me. She nodded and squeezed my hands. "You have to run really fast, okay?"

I smiled. "Like my butt is on fire!"

She grinned back at me - I guess she was familiar with the expression - and then moved back to Emma's side. I stood up and took a deep breath. "Okay, let's do this."

The City

1

Time to go.
My legs were shaking so much, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to take another step, let alone run. Taking a deep breath, I charged around the corner, focusing on the nearest ambulance. It was parked haphazardly in the driveway only about thirty feet away, but it felt like a mile.

The zombie chewing on a hand turned to stare at me as I raced past him. I hurtled over the scattered body parts and past the dozen or so zombies standing around. My peripheral vision picked up hands reaching for me on the right. Squealing, I dodged left and almost ran straight into the arms of a blood-spattered nurse. Her glassy eyes looked at me with indifference even as her hands clutched hungrily at me.

I shoved her away and darted around, my heart pounding hard enough to burst. A sharp left, a twist around, dodge right, straight run...only ten feet to go. I was almost there!

No, no, no!
Pale, stumbling figures spilled from either side of the ambulance to form an unwitting, deadly barricade before me. Slowing, I looked around me and saw a wall of stumbling bodies closing in on me on all sides. Desperately, I looked for something that could help me. My eyes fell on a nearby trolley lying against a pillar. Reaching over, I pulled it in front of me. With a snarl of pure adrenaline, I pushed the trolley before me like a snow plow, knocking zombies over, left and right, and pinning several against the side of the ambulance.

As the zombies pulled themselves to their feet, I wrenched the door of the ambulance open and clambered inside, closing the door quickly behind me. With trembling fingers, I fumbled for the keys but, to my dismay, they weren't in the ignition.
Where are they?!
Desperately, I searched the floor but it was useless. The keys weren't in the ambulance.

I sat up to see discoloured arms reached through the window. Gasping, I scrabbled over the seats and fumbled with the handle of the passenger door. As I pushed it open, cold hands pulled me out onto the gravel. A circle of dead, impassive faces stared down at me.

Screaming, I kicked out with every ounce of strength I possessed and felt sudden, wonderful, freedom as the hands lost their grip. In complete, mindless panic, I jumped to my feet, shoved my way past a young girl and bolted for the next ambulance.

Please let this one have keys
, I prayed. It was parked haphazardly over the curb's edge and had obviously been abandoned hastily. Zombies converged on me in every direction except the curbside upon which the ambulance was perched. A hedge ran along the curb blocking the creatures, giving me a tiny window of opportunity. Reaching the ambulance, I wrenched the passenger door open - and froze.

A zombie sat before me on the passenger side. He turned his head and looked at me with dark, soulless eyes. His lips peeled back from his teeth and he launched himself at me.

I cried out and jumped back, knowing it was too late. Only, to my desperate relief, the creature did not reach me. He fell heavily onto the pavement before me, the bloody stumps that remained of his legs scrabbling futilely at the ground. Still, he reached up for me. I leapt over him and scrambled into the driver's seat.
Please, please, please, let there be keys.

No sound ever sounded sweeter to me in my entire life than the jingle of car keys that greeted me as I fumbled for the ignition. With a cry of pure joy, I turned the engine over and threw the ambulance into reverse.

A grey-haired man, with torn flesh where his nose once was, launched himself through the window at me. Screaming, I jerked my head away and pressed down hard on the accelerator. The head disappeared abruptly from the window as the car screeched backwards.

Shaking with adrenaline, I braked hard as I watched the man slowly sit up. With a surge of pure malevolence, I put my foot down hard on the accelerator and sent my wheels right over his head, relishing the sound of his head exploding.
Take that, you bastard.

With sheer vindictive pleasure, I tore through the crowd of zombies before me as I headed for the alleyway. They flew to the side or fell beneath my wheels with eerie silence. Women, men, some nurses whose faces I knew well - I rejoiced as each one fell beneath my wheels.

Mike jumped out as I braked. Pulling the rear doors open, the others piled quickly into the back of the ambulance. I watched the approaching zombies through my rear view mirrors and couldn't restrain myself from yelling pointlessly. "Hurry up!"

With a slam of the doors, Mike hurried around and jumped into the passenger seat. Wheels squealing dramatically, I roared away from the hospital - and towards my daughter. Mike looked at me and I saw a hint of admiration in his grey eyes. "Good job."

Emma slid the window behind me open, as the vehicle surged forward. "Oh Lori, you were fantastic!"

The adrenaline that had fueled me was draining now, leaving me feeling shaky. "Thanks, guys. All in a day's work, really." My voice sounded weak with relief.

My thoughts turned to my oldest child. How would I find her? I didn't have my mobile with me. I didn't allow myself to think for a moment that she wasn't okay. She had to be.

"So, what now, folks?" Mike's calm voice interrupted my thoughts. I glanced at him defiantly.

"Central. I'm getting my daughter."

A long pause and then he nodded. "Do you know where to find her?"

I laughed a little hysterically. "Not a clue!"

"You need to find a mobile." Emma said quietly from behind me. I nodded. But where would I get one?

"My God." Ken said softly.

I blinked and saw what he was seeing. All along the esplanade, zombies moved towards us. Hundreds gathered along the green strip. In the cafes and shops that bordered the other side of the street, blood and flesh splattered the pavement, tables and chairs. Even as we watched, fresh bodies rose to join the walking dead.

"How far has it spread?" Ken wondered aloud. I couldn't answer as fear for my daughter clenched my gut into a knot.