Survival: After It Happened Book 1 (19 page)

The patient didn’t remember much. He knew of dark things in his past. Of pain and incarceration. Of white halls and white floors and white coats. Of injections and tablets.

He did remember that he never felt so alive as when they stopped making him take the tablets. When they coughed and spluttered and lay down to die. He did not die. The demon who controlled him had kept him alive for a reason.

He walked along the hospital corridors for days; staring, touching and resting when he felt the need. He took clothes from people and other possessions as he wandered between wards and cubicles without challenge. He enjoyed the quiet and the freedom.

He received instruction from the demon. It told him of great plans he had now that all those who would stand in his way were dead; killed by its own power it claimed. The man did what the demon told him.

At some time in the second week of him walking the corridors, the demon told him to feed from the body of a once beautiful young doctor. Her beauty would be added to theirs if he ate it.

The cycle went on for weeks like this. Twice he did as he was commanded and ate the flesh of those the demon wanted to absorb into their body. He heard the demon tell him to look in the mirror; that he could see the change already in them.

As he walked the now familiar halls one day, he heard the sound of smashing glass. The demon bid him to go and see what caused the intrusion into their domain.

He stalked slowly towards them, powerful and lithe like a predator.

He saw his prey, and the demon told him how to take her.

TAKE YOUR SHILLING, MAKE YOUR MARK

Steve’s firearms assessment was a formality, as was sorting and issuing his personal kit. Dan just watched as he put the gear together effectively. Lexi and Joe put their heads around the door to say goodbye and welcome their new ‘brother’ before they went on the last scouting missions of the week, and probably this year. Lexi was to check out A&E to see if it was viable to scavenge there yet, and Joe was checking lorry parks for more CB radios plus whatever else he found.

He was skilled behind the wheel, and was given Dan’s old Defender. He took a similar gun to Dan too; carbine with a suppressor and a mid-range zoom optic. He carried himself and his equipment like a professional, which pleased Dan no end. Somehow having another trained man holding a gun made him feel better, less like the responsibility was a burden.

He spent some time fashioning the end of a gun slip into a holster for the shot gun to sit diagonally along his back. Steve had recognized it as a SPAS, nodding with approval. Dan only found out what it was by reading the etchings by the trigger guard, but he knew how it worked and thought he had seen it used in a film or two. Lou, one of the new women, found him wandering the house looking for sewing supplies. He explained what he wanted to do and she traded conversation for needlework. Dan was happy to oblige, and after some time spent chatting over coffee she had produced a black tube to fit the gun with heavy elastic sewn in to keep it secure. She used some attachments from unused kit to fashion the fixings, making it removable if needed, but fit the back of his vest perfectly.

He was feeling satisfied with life and looking forward to rabbit and pigeon pie tonight with some beers and cake before settling down for a film by the heaters.

All these plans were shattered and his good mood disintegrated when Lexi failed to come back that evening.

He told the concerned gathering that he was sure Lexi was fine, that it was probably a vehicle fault or something. He told them all to go to bed and he will go first thing in the morning to where she was sent. Leah said she went to check the nearest hospital, about ten miles away as the crow flies.

Dan was worried. Very worried. She should easily be within CB range and no transmission was made or replied to. She could be in a black spot. Could she have had vehicle failure? No, she could’ve walked back here hours ago. The more he thought of it, the more worried he became. He was sure she had met something hostile.

He waited until his audience had left ops, then broke out his carbine, shotgun and sidearm. He had three full magazines for the 9mm Sig Sauer P226, five full magazines of 5.56 for his suppressed M4 and six shells locked and loaded into the SPAS strapped to his back. Close encounters.

His dog, Ash, watched him in silence. He knew something was up and was waiting for the word to move. That dog got bigger every day and would be fully grown by Christmas. His paws were still too big for him though.

He went to sneak out, and was blocked by Steve in the doorway. He too was dressed fully in black with a black tactical vest filled with magazines. He carried the same weapons as Dan, with his equipment almost identical bar his was black and Dan’s was tan coloured. His exception was the rare stubby shotgun; that was his legacy from a story he didn’t want to share yet.

“I assumed we were moving straight away?” he asked

“Yes. Take these, I’m guessing I don’t need to show you how they work?” Dan replied, sliding a black Peli case across the table towards him. A pair of night vision goggles were inside, which Steve was familiar with. God only knew how he flew a helicopter wearing them he thought.

“We’ll go in mine” Dan said, and walked out of the front door to the ornate building they called home, but had previously been a prison.

“Heel” he growled softly as he went, and the grey dog shot out after him to walk at his left side before jumping into the black Land Rover Discovery, heading out into the gathering dark.

He had put a stop to moving at night for the prime reason that the sight and sound of a vehicle moving in the dark nowadays was about as noticeable as a fireworks display.

He drove slowly, using the night vision goggles to see as he had no lights on. These were fine with practice, but the lack of depth perception made everything after about thirty metres a surprise. That kept you on your toes.

He was cursing himself for not giving in to his paranoia and pulling out all the bulbs on his new off-roader. He had to make do with strips of heavy gaffer tape over all the light clusters but was still sure that some of the brightness escaped. Maybe one of his brainiacs could develop a kill switch to knock off all the fuses to the bulbs.

He forced himself to concentrate on the perilous drive and not worry about the things outside of his control. There was nothing to say for certain that Lexi was in trouble, but he felt that this was serious; she went dark way too close to home for comfort.

Steve sat in the passenger seat checking a map by the light of a small red lensed torch. Dan didn’t need many directions as the road signs still stood, but Steve was being thorough and studying the map for knowledge and possibilities.

He killed the engine about a mile short of the hospital and took a look at the map with Steve whispering point of reference and interest to him. Both had their goggles pushed up on their heads to allow some night vision to develop, as it was now nearing pitch black.

Steve pointed to a place on the map and said “ERV” meaning ‘emergency rendezvous point’. “Wait one hour and return to the vehicle. Leave the keys on the rear nearside wheel” he finished.

“Agreed” said Dan, meaning that if they got split up and the other did not make it to the meeting point, then they would be left behind by the other. Losing one could easily turn into losing three. Losing these three in particular would almost certainly mean death or hardship for the group.

They stalked in slowly, working as a pair; one covered as the other moved. They performed this leapfrogging, Ash gliding silently by Dan’s side, until they reached the approach to the hospital.

They spent some time watching the building as best they could, and saw no movement. They began to leapfrog forward again, more slowly now.

Dan took cover and scanned the ground ahead. He thought he could smell the hospital from here already. He froze, double checked what he thought he saw, and then snapped his fingers once for Steve’s attention. He remained in position, weapon pointing towards the interest until Steve moved to his side and whispered in his ear.

“Hers?” he asked

“Yes” Dan whispered back. Ash let out the smallest of whines and Dan quieted him with a reassuring hand on the back of his head. He had seen the Land Rover that he had given to Lexi – a grey Defender with black wheels and a black roof, chunky off road tyres and a solid metal sided boot space. A chill washed over him; a wave of fear and responsibility.

“Go slow, do a three-sixty until we find an access point” he whispered, intending to retrace Lexi’s steps.

“Roger” Steve responded, and went first.

They started from nearest her vehicle, as would make sense, to see if and where she had got inside. The Defender was parked by the main front doors, and they worked to the left where they found the A&E entrance after a couple of hundred metres.

Smashed glass in a defunct sliding door said she was likely in. It didn’t look like old damage at all and only a few leaves had blown inside. Dan was concerned about taking Ash in through the broken glass, so spent ten painstaking and leg-cramping minutes brushing it away so slowly to avoid making noise. All the time Steve was scanning all around him alert for signs of danger. Ash was a great early warning system; his ears and nose would detect people and noises long before they could, and Dan had learned to take his lead from the adolescent dog at times like this. Not that his nose would be much use inside; the air hung heavy, rank with the chocking smell of decomposing bodies.

When he had finally cleared their entrance he whispered “Moving” softly to Steve.

He climbed inside as silently as possible before leading Ash through. He made him sit in the waiting room, confident that nothing would get to them and still possess all its limbs intact.

They went as silently as possible, having to use the goggles as the inside of the building allowed no ambient light to penetrate. Dan wished he had some green dot laser sights for the carbine, but had never considered he might have to do building searches by goggles. He snapped himself out of the brief daydream. Ash was blinded by the darkness, but his canine senses were worth an entire squad of trained Spetsnaz right now.

It took a long time to clear even a small area in a tight formation of three, but neither suggested splitting up – it was too dangerous to contemplate.

A low growl came from Ash, quickly stopped as Dan put a reassuring hand down to him. He could hear the dog sniffing the ground, and looked down to decipher the marks he could see.

There were streaks of dried blood, but then there were rotting bodies and blood trails in a lot of places, but this was fresh; red not brown. Dan looked closer and saw two parallel dark lines mixed in with the blood trail. He ran his finger over them, and was rewarded with the tiny shreds of rubber balling up under his touch.

He turned to whisper to Steve “Bleeding. Dragged. Boots left rubber marks” Steve bent to examine the same and offered no other explanation. He nodded, and Dan followed the tracks slowly with Ash stalking silently beside him. Deeper they went into the pitch black heart of the foul hospital.

The patient had seen the woman walking carefully through the hospital. He followed her on bare feet, moving like a ghost. He was a hunter, and she was his prey. She carried a gun on her back, and had one in her hands which she pointed everywhere she looked.

The demon told him that she was dangerous, but that he could not let her violate their temple of death. Take her, the voice urged, take her now.

The patient picked up a heavy box by the handle, silently, carefully. He walked behind her as she opened cupboards and looked for things. She could not be allowed to desecrate this place any longer. He stepped out silently, and readied himself like a cat.

The woman froze, and started to turn towards him raising her gun.

He swung the heavy box, hitting her on the left temple at the same moment she saw him and her eyes went wide with fear.

Yes, said the demon. Fear us, he shouted as she slumped to the floor and dropped her gun. The man stood there, breathing deeply with exultation at his prowess as a predator. He looked down on the woman, and marvelled at her youth and beauty. She was dressed as a warrior, but he had bested her easily.

He took her gun, caressing it as a tool of power over others, before he took her by the wrists and dragged her limp body through his lair.

He tied her to the walls using the wires and tubes, making intricate patterns as he built a shrine to her body. The demon told him what to do at every turn, purring his orders to the man and enjoying every second.

She will be perfect for us, it said.

He used the woman’s knife to cut away her clothing, inspecting each piece as he removed it until she hung slumped in her bindings, naked and dripping blood from her head onto the floor.

He watched her until the light grew pale. When it started to get dark he lit candles taken from the chapel where he had torn the heavy wooden Cross from the wall. He holds now power here, warned the demon, only I.

He inspected her thoroughly, feeling a desire he had not felt for as long as he could remember. Not yet, instructed the demon, she is mine to take and you will not touch her until I command.

The patient made slow, almost lazy cuts along the top of her breasts, watching with fascination as the blood ran to form a small puddle next to the one made of the blood from her head. He watched in blissful anticipation as the drops formed on her nipple, holding his breath until it fell to the ground. He was so silent and intent that he could hear the drips falling.

He was readying himself to take her, to consume her and make her part of him, when he heard an animal noise in the dark catacombs of the hospital.

He took no chances, and moved to hide where he could still see his prize. He would kill whatever came for him, then take her.

As they crept through the corridor, following the faint trail of what they feared and suspected was the path of one of their own.

The dog made the first move, becoming the catalyst for a violent sequence of events.

Ash’s hackles rose, and he let out an echoing growl of blood-curdling menace that gave the men goose bumps. Dan hissed at him to heel with no response. He moved forward a pace and put his hand on the dog’s back. He was rewarded by Ash’s response to turn and snap at him.

He recoiled. He had never seen Ash so tense, so scared and so dangerous. He took a pace in front of the animal and repeated ‘no’ as loud as he dared. The dog did not back down, but at least he went silent. Dan could no longer trust Ash not to give away their position. He had to make a decision that he wasn’t happy with; to leave him there and go on without his capabilities.

He told him to stay, in a hissed growl, and the dog reluctantly lowered himself to the ground without taking his eyes from him.

Dan turned to Steve who watched intently. Fear showed on his face and he was certain he mirrored the same emotions. He could barely control his breathing, and wanted to give in to the panic. To run from the hospital. If he did, he was certain that they would not see Lexi alive again.

They proceeded another twenty, thirty, forty metres along the mile-long corridor that seemed to be the spine of the building like it was a living organism. Steve held up a hand and sniffed the air. He whispered close to Dan’s ear, “Smoke. Candles”

Dan removed his goggles and saw the faintest glow of light from a doorway ahead and to their right. Something or someone was there, and they would have walked right past it with their goggles on. He showed Steve what he intended with hand signals and the two began to stalk towards the doorway as silently as possible.

They reached the doorway and pushed the goggles up to their heads. Both had been moving for over two hours now, all of that time under huge mental and physical pressure. The corridor past them was lit with a flickering yellow light. Using hand signals, he told Steve what he wanted to do. Steve nodded and went in first, low and slow with the carbine up at the ready. It took an eternity to reach the end of the corridor, and when they did neither could contain their pent up fear and rage any longer.

Steve cried out “NO” and burst into the room where Lexi was tied naked to the wall in a sickening effigy of crucifixion. The left side of her face was a mask of dark and swollen skin, and blood ran freely from carvings on her chest. As Dan went to call a warning and pull him back, the patient struck.

He slashed Steve deeply across the left forearm with Lexi’s knife, making him drop his weapon. The patient followed up with a vicious upswing of the pistol in his left hand, catching him under the chin and sprawling him backwards onto the cold floor.

He seemed surprised to see Dan, but threw himself at him like a wild animal. The patient was filthy, and the stink of him was rank in his nostrils as he stepped back to avoid the attack. He was naked and matted with blood, but holding a razor sharp knife in one hand and a gun in the other.

He was on Dan too fast for him to use the carbine, and he was forced to push it out in front of him to ward off the vile creature. The knife came low and lethal at him underneath his pathetic barrier, and caught him fully in the abdomen. The body armour was sufficient to stop the blade from disembowelling him, but the force of the impact drove the air from his lungs and hurt him.

He had no time to recover from this before the knife came down from up high and slashed him from head to chin. He was blinded instantly by his own hot blood in his eyes, and he screamed in rage and terror as he hauled the disgusting beast off him and threw him to the side. Dan couldn’t see, and the sound of his pulse banging in his ears deafened him to the small sounds that could help him locate their attacker. He hit the floor hard, banging the back of his head and bringing bile to his throat immediately. He knew he was badly damaged.

On instinct he used his sleeve to desperately try to wipe the blood away, but it was replaced instantly with more and his brain registered only a snapshot of his attacker preparing to fly at him again.

He was sure he had failed; he had failed to train Lexi well enough to ensure her survival, he had failed to protect his newest recruit who had trusted him enough to come, he had failed to trust his most loyal friend, and he had failed to kill this beast who threatened the lives of them all.

He felt sad and helpless, wondering at the point of all their suffering if the brutal nature of their futile struggle was to end them here in this stinking mausoleum.

The resounding thud of bodily impact snapped him from his self-pitying reverie of submission.

The noises which accompanied the thud told him that help had arrived and given them all a chance of survival. The sound of snarling and ripping flesh betrayed the ferocity and desperation of Ash’s attack. He heard the sound of wild man and dog rolling only feet away from him, and fought to clear the blood from his eyes. He tore desperately at the matting mess on his face with his hands as the man fell on him again. Dirty fingers clawed at him, foul breath was in his face. He fought to roll on his side, reaching for the shotgun over his shoulder with his right hand. He was blinded and had never felt more desperate.

A horribly loud and pained yelp told him that Ash was hurt; the cry of his dog cutting through to his very soul.

He had to act now to use the time gifted to him by his loyal companion, or they were all dead. He rolled, pulling the ugly shotgun from its elasticated holster over his shoulder as he got to one knee. Flicking the safety catch by feel, he yelled “DOWN ASH!” waited a second, as long as he dared, and fired.

Three deafening booms echoed around the dead hospital, interspersed with the metallic sounds on the pump-action replacing the chambered shells. He fired in an arc, left to right, in an upward direction praying to hit only the wild man. He could hear nothing but the high-pitched ringing of his shocked eardrums, then silence.