Infected (12 page)

Even through the door and down the hallway, Rob could hear frenzied shrieks and moans, as if the zombies could sense their prey. They had to move if they were going to make it out.

“We'll have to take the elevator,” Ramsey said, and pressed the button.

The elevator came and the doors opened. They got on, Rob planning on following the others to the top floor before implementing his plan.  They reached the top floor, which was an open floor plan with rows of cubicles. The top floor housed a telemarketing firm, mostly comprised of college kids and housewives looking for extra income.

The others stepped out, and as Kayla started forward, Rob stopped her. She looked up at him, surprised.

“What are we doing?”

“Going back downstairs,” Rob said. “To the basement.”
 

Ramsey said, “Are you fucking crazy?”

“We're going to try for the van again,” Rob said, holding the door open. “You'll all be trapped up here.”

“Give us the gun then,” Ryan said.

“Not going to happen,” Rob said.

“Dude, give me the gun. There's more of us.”

Ryan took a step forward and Rob leveled the shotgun, freezing the kid.

“You're crazy,” Ryan said. “You're gonna die down there.”

“I'll take my chances.”

“Dad, we should stay.”

“I know what I'm doing,” Rob said, and let the door go. It closed, and he left his co-workers with confused looks on their faces.

Rob pressed the button for the basement, and a moment later they started to descend.

“We can't get to the van, can we?” Kayla asked.

“I'm thinking they've moved away from the big door. There'd be no reason for them to stay outside the door if we left. We could have a clear shot at the van.”

“It's safer up there,” Kayla said.

“There's no guarantee the chopper's coming. If the zombies break through, they've nowhere to go.”

“I don't like the basement.”

“I have the gun,” Rob said.

They got off in the basement, which was silent, except for the hum of the boiler. Rob listened for any sign of the creatures. He crept forward, arm around Kayla. They moved down the first corridor, cobwebs hanging from the ceiling. If that was the creepiest thing they saw, that would be fine by Rob.

They were almost at the turn to head towards the receiving area when he heard something in the hallway behind him. It was a soft shuffling noise and he turned to see one of the creatures hunched over and sliding its feet along the ground. Rob smelled the stink of it wafting towards them. A second creature came up from the other direction, hemming them in.

“I have to shoot one of them,” Rob said.

“I'm scared,” Kayla said, pressing herself against him.

He gently moved her away so he could get a clear shot. The zombie coming from the direction of the elevators was closer, so he spun, aimed, and fired. The blast tore into it's thigh, and it leaned to one side like a ship listing to port. His second shot hit it in the face, and it fell to the ground.

When he turned around, the second creature was almost on top of them. Too close to get the shotgun up in time, and to his horror, it grabbed Kayla. Rob swung the shotgun and smashed it in the head. Kayla tore free and sprinted down the basement hallway, past the elevators. He wanted to run after her but still had to deal with the zombie.

It had regained its balance after the blow with the shotgun. A closer look revealed the dead thing to be no more than fifteen-years-old. He sported a mohawk, and the shaved side of his head leaked blood and something green and thick from the force of Rob's blow. He cracked it in the skull again. It fell to the floor and stopped moving.

Rob took off after her, turned the corner. “Kayla!”  She darted ahead and reached a red steel door marked SUBBASEMENT. Once there, she opened it and slipped through.
Jesus, she must be in a blind panic to run down there.
 

He reached the subbasement door and pulled it open. A set of about twenty concrete steps led downward. The stairway was lit by some naked bulbs hanging from the ceiling. It smelled damp and old, and Rob imagined this may have been the original foundation of the building.

He padded down the steps. When he reached the bottom, he felt water soak through his shoes, and looking down, saw six inches of water covering the floor. It gave off the rotten egg stink of stagnant liquid. He looked for a light switch on the wall but found none. Instead, the basement was lit by a series of caged work lamps hung on the wall, leaving most of the basement in shadow.

“Kayla!” Rob shouted. He listened but heard only the dripping of water. He moved ahead and found the water deepening, coming up to his knees, which told him the floor sloped. He had a horrible vision of Kayla getting her foot caught and dragged underneath the stinking water. Never mind what sort of bacteria might be swirling around in the muck.

He slogged ahead, squinting in the darkness, expecting something to grab his ankle. Visions of something long and slimy, a creature snaking through the ooze, filled his head.

As far as he could tell, the space was wide open.  The frigid water bit into him, and he started to shiver. He called her name again but received no answer. He wished for a flashlight but didn't want to waste time looking for one and possibly loose Kayla.  

He made his way across the subbasement until he reached the far wall. It was constructed of rough stone and water dribbled in at certain spots. He wondered how long the building could sit on the crumbling foundation and stay upright.

Following the wall to his right, he continued to call out for Kayla at intervals, but received no response.

He heard Kayla cry out, and it sounded like it was coming from straight ahead. He plowed ahead, the water kicking up and splashing his chest. Ahead he could see a sliver of light coming through a split in the wall.

Kayla continued to cry out, her voice growing louder. He saw someone man-sized and his heart sank, thinking a zombie had gotten down here and attacked Kayla. He drew closer and saw the thing turn around, the blank, white eyes staring at him. The creature came at him, slammed into Rob. The two of them fell in the water. The foul liquid rushed into his mouth and he gagged. Tasted like liquid sulfur. The shotgun slipped from his grasp and he felt the thing's hands clutch his shirt. He kicked at the zombie, scrambled to his feet, and surfaced. Hacking and coughing, he saw the zombie surface. He had to get the gun. Certainly couldn't drown something that was already dead.

It opened its mouth, trying to bite his midsection. He grabbed its ears and pulled, one of them tearing off in his hand. Disgusted, he flung it in the water. He swung and connected with the thing's nose. It caved in with a squishing noise. He pushed it away and ducked under the foul water, reaching around until he felt the shotgun.

Surfacing again, he turned the shotgun on the zombie and fired. The blast tore its head to pieces and it sank beneath the water. Shivers racking his body, Rob approached the source of light in the wall. Part of the wall had collapsed, and there was a narrow opening leading upward. There was a sliver of light coming from the opening, which was big enough for a small person to fit through. Like Kayla. Which meant she was outside. With the creatures. Or zombies. Whatever they were.

He made his way out of the subbasement and found his way to the receiving area. After going into the office, he checked the black-and-white monitor. The van, looking like some forgotten artifact, stood parked where Ryan had abandoned it. There was no one in sight.

He went to the button that controlled the roll-up door. The sound of it opening might bring them, so he'd have to be quick. He took in a deep breath and coughed, his throat and lungs still irritated from sucking in water.

Rob pressed the button and the door began to rise. He moved in front of the door and knelt down so he could see if anyone was coming. So far, so good.

When the door had been raised high enough, he scooted outside. He hoped that twit Ryan had left the keys in the van. He stepped over one of the reeking dead things and got behind the wheel of the van. He reached down, felt relief when the keys were in the ignition.

After starting it up, he pulled up the ramp. His plan was to circle the building and look for Kayla. Hopefully she hadn't gone far.

He turned left and saw the first zombie.

Kayla had a bad moment when crawling through the tunnel. She'd not been able to move and it had felt as if the mud and muck would squeeze her until she couldn't draw breath. But her sweatshirt had been caught on something, and when she pulled hard, it came free.

Now, she knelt near the side of the building, right near where she'd crawled from the basement. Looking down at the hole she'd come through, it was amazing she'd fit through it. But that zombie-thing had almost made a snack out of her. Compared to that, crawling through the hole didn't seem so bad.

Her clothes were caked in mud. Smelly water dripped off of her, and she couldn't stop shivering. But she was alive. Now she just had to find Dad somehow. But he was in the building, wasn't he? She couldn't count on seeing him. She decided to head back into town. Someone would help her. Grown ups were good like that.

The road back into town was nearby. Between her and the road was a dumpster and a green, dumpster-like container for collecting paper recycling. It had a cheerful cartoon dog on the side of it. He was giving a thumbs up. Or paws up. Whatever.

She froze for a moment. Could she really do this? There were a ton of those things running around. What if they saw her? She didn't even have a weapon.

Be brave, Kayla
. Maybe she could run and get help for Dad and his friends. Her mom was at the hospital, which wasn't far from Dad's office. She decided to move, scurrying to the paper recycling dumpster and crouching. It looked clear. She was pretty fast and could run down the road.

She was about to make a break for it when she heard footsteps. To her left, two of the creatures came around the corner. They hadn't seen her, and for a moment panic overwhelmed her. Her arms and legs felt like they were made of lead. Had to find a hiding spot. She looked up, and on the side of the dumpster was a square opening so people could pour in their paper.

Standing up, she gripped the metal edge. It bit into her palms and she sucked in a deep breath. She pulled her self up and dove head-first into the recycling dumpster. The paper broke her fall.

She heard them coming closer, hissing and grunting to one another. She moved to the other side of the dumpster, as far from the opening as she could get.  Burrowing in, she covered herself with catalogs, magazines, and newspapers. Stay still, she told herself.

Something rustled next to her and she heard a squeaking noise. It was directly in front of her face, and a moment later she saw it. A pink-eyed rat. It's front teeth were enormous and yellow and she had a horrible vision of it biting her nose off. Its nose twitched as it sniffed. She balled her hand into a fist and punched it in the side. It shrieked at her and darted back into the paper pile.

A bang echoed on the side of the dumpster and Kayla nearly stopped breathing. There was enough of an opening in the papers for her to see the hole in the dumpster and one of the zombies poked its head inside. Its mouth was smeared with blood and it licked its lips. It swung its head back and forth, sniffing.

Maybe she hadn't buried herself deep enough and it would find her and snack on her guts. Dad liked horror movies, and she'd caught a glimpse of one of his zombie movies. Something with dead Nazis and in one scene they'd cracked open some guy's skull and taken out his brain. Dad had caught her looking over his shoulder and sent her upstairs. But still, she didn't want her brains sucked out.

The thing sniffed around for another moment and pulled its head back. She heard the footsteps again, although this time they were getting farther away.  She brushed aside the papers and crawled to the opening. Peered outside. It was all clear. She scooted back out of the opening, her shoes slapping the pavement.

She made it to the road and started jogging towards town.

Chapter Seventeen

They had locked themselves inside the offices of a telemarketing firm on the tenth floor. To Mary, it felt like they might be sealing themselves in a tomb. She wondered if Rob had the right idea; taking the elevator to the basement and trying for the van.

“Maybe Rob was right,” Mary said.

“We're safer here,” Ramsey said.

“Have you heard from the Army?” Ryan said to Tim.

“Nothing yet. Far as I know, they're still on the way,” Tim said.

Mary said, “If they get in here, where do we go?”

“Try for the roof,” Ramsey said. “Then hope for the chopper to come.”

“That's assuming they can land on the roof,” Tim said. “Might not be able to.”

“Great time to think of that,” Ramsey said.

From out in the hallway came a low pounding. They were at the stairwell door.

Rob set his sights on the zombie, gunning the engine. The van lurched forward and clipped the zombie, splattering red glop across the windshield. He turned the wipers on, which only served to smear the crimson mess across the glass.