Outbreak (10 page)

Nurse Nellie strode into the room. She looked different. Instead of scurrying nervously, she walked with purpose. She stopped at the table where Sophie had hidden and gazed around. ‘Right! Where were we? Ahhh, yes! Who will be my first patient? Let's see . . .' She turned and pointed at each of her prisoners. ‘Eeny, meeny, miny, moe! Catch a tiger by the toe! If he squeals, let him go! Eeny, meeny, miny, MOE!'

She should have ended at Dad, but instead, she ducked down suddenly and pointed at Sophie, who was crouched in the shadows. ‘I think we'll begin with
you!
'

‘Sophie!' screamed Mrs Knight.

I jumped out from my hiding place.

Nurse Nellie swung around, a Zombie Blaster aimed at my face. When she spoke, her voice was frighteningly calm. ‘Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit!'

I hesitated. Then I leapt at her.

She pressed the trigger and a beam of red light shot out, enveloping me for a brief moment that felt like forever. It was as if I had dived into a cloud of razor blades. I couldn't move. I couldn't even breathe. And then it was gone.

I collapsed to the ground. The light had somehow drained
my body of every last bit of energy. I could barely get to my feet.

‘I lied. It
does
hurt a teensy-weensy bit!' tutted Nurse Nellie. ‘Your friends gave me this handy little toy.' She waggled the Zombie Blaster at me. ‘They were very naughty and tried to shoot me with it when they arrived. Only very bad patients shoot their nurse.' She gave a little chuckle then pushed me down again as I tried to clamber back to my feet.

‘But why?' I stuttered. ‘You're a nurse! You're supposed to help people, not hurt them!'

‘I
do
help people!' She lifted a lantern that stood on the table. Rays of light shone across her face and suddenly she looked a lot younger. ‘I was the smartest
and the bravest of all the young nurses, which was why they chose me to assist in the morgue.
Nurse Nellie can do it!
That's what they said!' Suddenly she frowned. ‘But then one day the lights went off when I stepped into the tunnels. I thought I could find my way even though it was dark, but I got lost. I wandered for hours, I couldn't get out! Finally, I fell asleep.'

She lifted up the lantern and twirled on the spot. Shadows flew around the walls. She stopped and placed the lantern back on the table then glanced down at me, her eyes glinting in the low light. ‘When I woke up, I was different. Something had bitten me: I was stronger and faster and I could see in the dark. For some reason, I didn't want to leave the tunnels anymore. But soon I got lonely. There were no patients in the tunnels and I was Nurse Nellie! It was
my job to help people! I
tried
to help the people who came down to the morgue, but they ran away from me!

‘Then one day, a group of men appeared. I watched them from the shadows this time so they wouldn't run away, but one of them spotted me. He grabbed me! I had no choice: I bit him and escaped. Later, when I returned, I discovered he'd attacked the others. They were lying on the ground, injured. Finally, here was a job for Nurse Nellie! I straightened their broken bones and sewed their limbs back on. I'm a good nurse.' She looked wistful. ‘But with all the extra people, there wasn't enough food. One by one they left the tunnels, until finally, it was just me and the Master.'

‘Who is the Master?' asked Sophie. While Nurse Nellie had been talking,
Sophie had slipped out from under the table and edged toward the nearest bed. Now, she was standing next to Michael with her hands behind her back. Was she trying to secretly loosen the ropes that held him down?

Nurse Nellie glared at her. ‘Only naughty patients ask about the Master!'

In two big strides, she bounded over to Sophie and grabbed her arm. The maniac nurse dragged her across the floor to an empty bed. ‘Up's a daisy! Be a good girl and don't fight! Nurse Nellie knows best!' With her zombie super-strength, she easily held Sophie down with one arm while she used the other to bind her wrists and
ankles with ropes. Then she connected them to the legs of the bed.

‘NO!' I shouted, willing myself upright and lurching toward her. ‘Leave her alone! You've got
me!
'

‘Be a good patient and wait your turn!' cried Nurse Nellie, casually shooting me again with the Zombie Blaster. It felt like my blood had turned to lava. I collapsed to the ground once more.

Now I finally understood. Nurse Nellie wanted us to be her patients! She wanted to turn us into zombies so we would stay in sick bay forever. Then she would never be lonely again.

But just like her last patients, we wouldn't stay. We'd find our way out. It wouldn't take long before Seabrook was overrun with the undead! There really would be a zombie outbreak!

‘I hope you're not afraid of needles, because this might sting a little.' Nurse Nellie pulled a syringe from her pocket and leant over Sophie. ‘Here comes the buzzy bee!'

Sophie gave a short, sharp scream and then was silent.

Mrs Knight's screams echoed around the room a lot longer. Finally they faded and were replaced with quiet sobs.

‘Don't worry,' said Nurse Nellie happily, ‘Nurse Nellie will look after her! Now, who's next?' She glanced around until her eyes rested on Michael.

‘Help! Please help me!' yelled Michael, struggling against the ropes that bound him to the hospital bed.

Nurse Nellie picked up another syringe filled with the same blue liquid. ‘The moment I saw you fiddling around the lockers, I
could see how weak you were! But don't worry, I'm going to help you get stronger!'

‘Help!' squealed Michael. ‘Anybody! Help!'

‘I'm trying,' I groaned, pushing myself up. I staggered to my feet.

Nurse Nellie flicked the syringe briskly.

‘So that's why you told me Mr Bill wanted to see me?' Michael babbled, his eyes on the hypodermic needle. ‘And then you freaked me out with your weird zombie eyes.'

‘I just needed to get you somewhere dark enough to activate my
infrared vision. From the top of the stairs, a glimpse of my red eyes was enough to
make you faint. Then it was easy to drag you through the door and into a cell.' She
advanced toward him, holding the syringe like a dagger.

Here comes the buzzy bee!

‘Somebody! Please help!' Michael's voice was weirdly high-pitched. Something about the way he said it didn't make sense. Why did he say ‘somebody'? Was he talking to me? He turned to me and nodded. I noticed that the rope binding one of his hands seemed loose.

‘Anybody! Help!'

Suddenly I understood. Adrenaline flooded my limbs.

I glanced at Nurse Nellie. Had she noticed? But she was closing in on Michael with the syringe in one hand and the Zombie Blaster in the other.

Michael waited until she was just beside his bed. Then he wrenched his hand free and threw a cloud of glitter in her face. As the shining specks flew into her eyes, I leapt at her.

She screamed as I grabbed the Zombie Blaster. I let the momentum of my jump take me sideways and I rolled away then sprang back to my feet. Moving as fast as I could, I spun around and pulled the trigger.

A cloud of red light enveloped Nurse Nellie. She screamed again and collapsed to the ground, clawing at her face. After a few seconds, she lay still.

There was stunned silence.

‘Put these on her!' Mr Knight wriggled sideways and a pair of handcuffs fell out of his apron pocket.

I grabbed them and snapped them around Nurse Nellie's wrists. On one side, the metal was embossed with the words:

‘Is Sophie OK?' asked Mrs Knight, turning her tear-stained face to me.

I didn't answer. Sophie didn't
look
OK. Her face was very pale. Her fingers were opening and closing even though they grasped nothing. I started undoing the straps that held her to the bed.

‘Is she . . . is she safe?' Mrs Knight sobbed a little. ‘Shouldn't we check if she's a zombie before we untie her?'

‘She
is
a zombie,' I said. The ropes were fiddly, so I finally stopped trying to undo them and instead gave the rope a sharp tug. It broke like strand of cotton. ‘But I am not leaving her tied up.'

Everyone watched in silent amazement as I moved around the room, snapping the ropes that bound them to their beds. I wondered what they were thinking. Were they scared of Sophie? Were they scared of
me
?

When I'd freed them, Sophie's parents rushed over to where she lay.

‘You should probably move away from her,' I told them. ‘She isn't tied down anymore.'

They nodded and joined my family, huddled against one wall.

‘Soph! Are you alright?'

I felt weird with everyone watching us. But worse than that, I felt worried. What if she
wasn't
alright? What if she was completely dead? Or completely undead? I was only a half zombie and that was bad enough. How would she survive if she was a full zombie? How would
we
survive
her
?

‘Lock her up first.' Mr Knight interrupted my thoughts.

‘I'm not going to . . .' I began angrily. But then I realised he meant Nurse Nellie, not Sophie.

I nodded and dragged the comatose nurse to an empty bed, looping the chain that linked her handcuffs around one of the legs. It wouldn't hold her for long, but it would buy us
a
bit of time when she woke up.

‘We'll come back with shackles and a muzzle,' added Mr Knight. ‘Then we'll call for backup. We still have to catch the
other
one.'

I stopped in my tracks. ‘The other one?'

‘There's another zombie,' said Michael, matter-of-factly.

Mr Knight nodded seriously. ‘We knew there was a Lurker somewhere around Seabrook. And we were right. Nurse Nellie's just the second-in-command — the lackey.'

‘You didn't know?' Michael must've noticed my stunned expression. ‘Well, you won't believe who it is, little bro. It's—'

Suddenly, there was a sound from outside the door: a latch turning. Instantly I knew we were locked in the ward. I gazed in horror at the doors. Who was out there? Who had locked us in?

The little window in the centre of one of the doors slid open and a face appeared.

I gasped in shock. Seriously? It couldn't be!
This
was the other zombie?!