Desolation (15 page)

A thick metal briefcase sat next to the sink inside the bathroom.
A torn sticker on the briefcase read ‘Lazarus’. Empty glass vials littered
the floor.

Andrew’s eyes grew wide at the sight of the briefcase and he
backed away from the bathroom.

“We have to get out of here now,” Andrew said.
Something rustled in one of the rooms ahead.
Andrew tensed and raised his pistol.
The rustling sound happened again.

“It’s in that room ahead,” Martinez said, pointing towards one of
the open rooms a few feet away.

 

“Yeah, I hear it,” Andrew replied sharply. “Jerri, stay back.”
Jerri didn’t like being told what to do, but she really didn’t want
to see another dead person. She decided not to object.

 

Andrew quickly entered the room and scanned the area with his
pistol.

The room was vacant. The blood-stained bed was empty with the
exception of the shattered plywood and a rogue arrow that had struck
through the skylight. Air blew through the shattered skylight and rustled
the pages in the open bible that lay on the floor.

The arrowhead wasn’t bloody and didn’t look like they struck
anything.

 

Andrew let out a relieved sigh and lowered his pistol.
“It’s empty,” he said. “They just did a half-assed job of covering
the skylight and an arrow shattered through, that’s all.”

“Good,” Martinez said. “So we found a way out of here?”
Andrew turned towards Martinez and nodded, smiling.
He quickly lost his smile.

A rotting skeletal humanoid frame shambled down the hallway
behind Martinez. Its hair had fallen out and its skin had receded away
from its mouth, revealing a toothy skeletal grin. His eyes were sunken
deep in their sockets and clumps of meat hung off of its pitiful frame.

“Martinez! Behind you!” Andrew shouted, pointing his pistol
towards the creature.

Martinez swung around and drew his baton, crouching, ready.
“I got this bastard,” Martinez said.

The creature reached a thin hand out towards Martinez, giving a
ghoulish raspy gasp.

 

Martinez cracked the baton against the creature’s outstretched
hand, shattering the brittle bone.

 

The creature’s hand dislocated and hit the floor with a thud.
Martinez slammed the baton against the top of the creature’s
skull and cracked it open like a rotten pumpkin.

 

Black goop leaked from the creature’s fractured skull but it
continued to lurch forward.

 

“What the
fuck
?!” Martinez said, stepping backwards.
The creature seemed to be grinning at Martinez as it shambled
forward, twitching.

 

“Fuck,” Andrew muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. “Get
away from that thing, Martinez!”

Andrew fired at the creature multiple times, but the shots didn’t
slow it down, despite the well-placed head shots. “Get away from that
thing
now
!”

As Martinez stared at the creature, he didn’t notice the hand
starting to crawl across the carpet towards him like some grotesque spider.
The hand climbed up Martinez’s leg under the cuff of his BDU
pants and started to dig its nails into his skin.

Martinez let out a terrified scream and started to strike the baton
against his own leg, desperately trying to hit the hand, cracking his shin in
the process.

The creature lurched closer, making guttural gurgles, twitching
violently.

Jerri started to run and help but froze when she thought about
Jacob’s well-being. This was something different. The creature was unlike
any Acexa or PT-12 variant she ever witnessed.

Martinez screamed out in pain and stumbled against the wall,
trying to pry the hand off of his leg.

 

The door across from him opened and another gruesome
revenant lurched out into the hall and grabbed him.

 

“
GO!
” Martinez shouted towards Andrew. “
Fucking GO!
”
Two more shambled out of their rooms approaching in jerky,
spastic movements.

 

They pulled large sections of flesh off of him with focused
intensity, staring at him with greedy, deep set milky eyes.

 

Andrew pulled Jerri into the room and locked the door behind
them.

 

Jerri held onto Jacob, her whole body trembled.

Andrew holstered his pistol, paced back and forth a second, and
then flipped the bed out of the middle of the room, crashing it against the
wall. He grabbed the dresser and pushed it underneath the skylight.

“What…” Jerri started, stammering. “What were…?”
“I don’t know! Okay?! I don’t fucking know!” Andrew shouted,
hyperventilating. “I don’t want to talk about it! Let’s just… Let’s just go!
Let’s go! Okay?! Let’s get the hell out of here and go!”

Andrew climbed onto the dresser and climbed up through the
shattered skylight. Once on the roof, he quickly surveyed the scene.

The area in front of medical was empty with the exception of two
badly mutilated corpses. The medical sally port was sealed and that gave
Andrew a good indication that his source was still inside.

Fortunately, medical didn’t have any skylights so tainted
arrowheads wouldn’t be a problem.

 

Andrew reached down into the room and frantically motioned
for Jerri.

“Hurry up! We have a clear path!” Andrew yelled. “The horde is
still gathered around the corner at the entrance, trying to figure a way
through!”

Jerri jumped as one of the creatures started to bash against the
door, almost knocking it off of its hinges. She ran to Andrew and held the
bundled baby up to him, terrified.

Behind her, the wooden door buckled and cracked.
Jacob quieted down but continued to squirm in the blanket.

Andrew took Jacob and laid him down on the roof and then
reached down towards Jerri. He paused when he noticed that his hand
was bloody. He looked over at Jacob and saw that the blanket he was
holding had bloody splotches on it.

“What in the hell,” Andrew muttered. “Is he okay…?”
“He’s fine,” Jerri said as she climbed onto the dresser. “The
blood is from one of the shamblers I fought in the alley.”

 

She took Andrew’s hand and he pulled her up onto the roof,
grunting..

 

Andrew brushed past her and leapt off the edge of the roof,
rolling off into the sand.

The two mutilated corpses lying on the ground snapped and
squirmed at his presence but, lacking arms or legs, there was little they
could do except stare.

Andrew stood, hastily dusted himself off, and held his arms up
towards Jerri.

Jerri frowned.
“Not this again,” she muttered to herself, shaking her head.

“Tuck him against your chest and fall back into my arms,”
Andrew shouted. “It’s not even as high as the other dorm. Just trust me!”

Jerri, not having many other options available to her at the
moment, tucked the child close to her and tumbled down towards his
open arms, screaming.

Andrew caught her and stumbled backwards, nearly dropping
her. He quickly let her down onto the ground and rubbed his aching back.
Jerri scurried away, clutching little Jacob against her frantically
beating heart.

“Support team regroup at the left atrium! Break, break, break! 10-33 in
progress! Multiple fires! Men down! We need riot support! We’re getting massacred
over–”

Jerri and Andrew turned towards the sound of the police radio.

A FEMA officer, multiple arrows sticking out of his armor,
lurched from around the corner and fixated his dead gaze on both of
them, moaning. He staggered towards them, arms extended. A multitude
followed close behind.

Andrew hurried to the medical sally port and punched his code
in.

It unlocked and the door slid open.
Jerri hurried inside with Jacob and Andrew followed.

Inside, Andrew quickly activated the manual override and sealed
the sally port shut.

 

“Emergency manual lock down activated,”
a female voice announced
over the sally port speaker.
“Please report this incident to a supervisor.”
Jerri felt an uneasy sense of deja vu as she stepped into the
medical lobby.

It smelled like stale cigarette smoke. A single abandoned desk sat
against the wall. The lights were dim and the ceiling tiles were badly water
damaged. A door sat on each side of the unmanned desk. One door led
into the dark recesses of the patient wing and the other led into the
administrative hall.

“Chris!” Andrew shouted behind her, scanning the lobby.
The patient wing door swung open and a man stepped into the
lobby. He was tall, lanky, and wore dirty nursing scrubs.

“Thank God,” Chris said, smiling at Andrew. “I was wondering
how long it would take for you guys to contain the situation out there.”
He froze as he spotted Jerri.

A long, deep and fresh wound ran down the side of his face.
“You,” Chris uttered, eyes narrowing, glaring at her.

Jerri clenched her teeth together and drew her knife, ready to
attack.

Andrew watched in bewilderment.
“Came back so I can return the favor?” Chris said and spat.
Jerri tried to mask her terror.
“No,” she said, “I came to finish your other cheek.”

“What the fuck is going on?” Andrew said, stepping between the
two. “Stop!”

 

“That’s the bitch I told you about earlier! She’s the one who cut
me!” Chris said, seething with anger.

 

“Her?!” Andrew said, flabbergasted.

“He chased me!” Jerri shouted, raising her knife. She looked at
Andrew for support. “I walked in on him using all the morphine! When
he saw me he tried to attack me!”

Chris looked down and muttered to himself, pacing small circles.
Andrew lowered his eyes.

Jerri searched Andrew’s face and was disgusted with what she
saw.

“You…
knew
?” she asked Andrew.
Andrew paused and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Remember earlier when I said that he owes me for looking the
other way on a few things…?” Andrew said, ashamed.

 

Jerri punched Andrew in the chest, making him stumble
backwards.

“So drug abuse is considered ‘just one of those things’?” Jerri
shouted, stepping back. She felt like she was going to faint. “There are
people in here who were in agony and he was busy getting high!”

Andrew reached a hand out towards her.
“Jerri, please…”
Jerri slapped his hand aside and stepped back.
“Don’t you fucking touch me!” she shouted. “You both are sick!”

“I wasn’t going to hurt you,” Chris said quietly. “I just didn’t
want you to freak out…”

Andrew spun towards Chris angrily.
“You never said you chased her!” Andrew shouted.
Chris recoiled and held his hands up defensively.

“N-n-now, I just misremembered that bit! That’s all!” Chris
explained, half-pleading. “I would never hurt anybody. That was the deal,
right? I take a little here… a little there… and nobody would notice! It’s a
victimless crime!”

Andrew rushed over and grabbed Chris by his shirt, ripping a
small tear in the fabric.

 

Chris let out a pathetic whimper and shielded his face.
“Shut up, you stupid junkie! Just shut the fuck up! Do you
understand me?!” Andrew shouted into his face.

 

Chris nodded enthusiastically and held his open palms up to
Andrew, trying to pacify the situation.

“Now look, I need you to get out of here… Things have
degenerated beyond the point of repair outside. Can you get us to Camp
7?” Andrew asked.

“I’m not going with him,” Jerri said as she pointed an accusing
finger at Chris. “He’s high right now! Look at his pupils!”

 

Chris looked down at the floor, stunned by Andrew’s request.
“W-well I uh… you want me to… take someone and…? Well
and I-I-I” Chris stammered.

 

Andrew shook him.

 

“Answer the question! Remember what we
talked about?
Remember
the tunnel
? Our
deal
?” Andrew shouted.

 

Chris palled at the mention of the tunnel.

 

“YES! Yes!” Chris shouted, kicking his feet. “Just put me down!
I’ll take you there! I’ll take you all there!”

 

Andrew dropped Chris and watched as the man crumpled onto
the floor, tears running down his cheeks.

“Andrew,” Jerri said, staring at him with her piercing eyes.
He turned towards her.
She motioned for him to step closer to her.
“What is it?” Andrew asked quietly as walked towards her.

Jerri looked over at Chris who was still crumpled on the floor,
crying.

 

“I don’t want to go with him,” she whispered. “What are we
going to do when he starts going through withdrawal?”

 

Andrew looked down and nodded.

“I know,” he said. “I’m sorry… if I knew you were the one
who… caught him dosing… I would have thought of another way if there
was one.”

Jerri narrowed her eyes and looked accusingly at Andrew.

“How could you look the other way on his actions?” she asked.
“We hardly have any medicine left and he used his position to steal what
little we got…”

Andrew thought about the question for a moment and then
looked back at her.

“The same way I looked the other way at all of the other shit I
witnessed inside this camp,” he said. “It wasn’t easy, but bartering with
the devil is the only way to survive sometimes. He’s the only one who
knows the location of the tunnel, so if I wanted to get someone out, he is
the only one I could go to. I could have tortured him for the
information… but that isn’t my way. I did it the only way I knew how.”

“Doesn’t make it right,” she snapped, cradling Jacob in her arms.
“No, and I’m sorry,” Andrew said with a sigh.

“There were others you had smuggled out?” she asked,
suspicious.

 

He nodded.

“I tried to get the ones out who couldn’t survive on their own in
here. The rules here are dangerous and mistakes deadly,” Andrew
explained. “The children are always the first to suffer, so I got as many of
them out as I could.”

Jerri studied him for a moment and then asked the question that
had been bothering her.

 

“Those… those creatures. You’ve seen them before, haven’t you?
You knew…” she asked. “Lazarus.”