Zombie Theorem (Book 1): The Culling (5 page)

I stepped back out to the office and saw Matt and his team had laid out all of the food they could find. It looked like a lot of supplies, but I think in this situation that it was going to go fast.  Once it was gone we were going to be in trouble. With the power off I figured we should probably eat the stuff that could spoil first, and then we could ration out the dry stuff. I saw crackers, chips and I had donated all my granola bars and someone looked to have emptied their candy drawer. We had some sandwiches and looked like a good amount of soup and chili, some potato salad and someone had brought in some rolls, sausage, cheese and looked like a small veggie platter. Matt had even brought out the stale Bagels that someone had brought in this morning for breakfast.

“Alright people let’s get comfortable. I know this is no fun and we all are a little stressed out. I’m sure if we can keep ourselves together we can make it till someone comes and rescues us. And yes, I truly believe someone will come get us. I have no questions about that.” It had just occurred to me that I was leaving out something. “You know what? I forgot to ask if anyone had questions, concerns or ideas. I leave the floor open.”

Lisa was the first to stand up. “Here we go” I said under my breath. Lisa was a short woman about 5 feet tall, painfully thin, almost elfish in looks, with short hair just ending at her ears. A little tattoo of a fairy was behind her right ear. If I remembered correctly she graduated from Berkley in statistics and feminism. She was wearing a little white summer dress with daisies and stylish bejeweled sandals.

“I want to know what qualifies you, Brian, and Matt to diagnose someone’s medical issues.” She was standing on a chair and had her fists balled up and placed on her hips. For someone so small she seemed so very demanding. The people standing next to her seemed to try and melt into the surroundings, trying their best to get away from looking like they supported her line of questioning. “I mean, are you a doctor? Have you ever dealt with a dead or dying body? What makes you an expert?” Her voice was gaining in volume and accusing. Without letting me answer her questions, she continued to fire more. Each time wagging her finger at me, demanding answers “Furthermore, why are you barricading the stairs? Are you keeping us as prisoners? What makes you the leader?”

“Lisa, enough, let the man answer.” Kevin interrupted her tirade. She immediately scowled at Kevin, looking like she was about to explode.

“Lisa, to answer your questions, nothing qualifies me as an EMT or doctor. But I can tell you, no one can survive long, after having their intestines ripped out of their body. And if not, do we have a trauma first aid kit and experience to fix them? How about we call 911? Oh wait all communications are down. I moved her body so all of us didn’t have to see her and to give her the privacy she deserves. Now for Marco, I checked for a pulse and could not discern one. I also checked his eyes and they were filled with blood and I also checked for breath which I could not find. For the door being barred, well from what we saw and the screams we heard, it was the only option left to us. After we moved Stacey’s body, something attacked the door and seemed to want to get in badly and I am not going to allow anyone else to be harmed.” I answered all of Lisa’s questions but she did not seem to like my answers. Her glare was enough to tell me she wasn’t having any of it.

Brian cleared his throat and stepped into the glare of death coming from Lisa. “Ma’am I served one tour in Iraq and one in Afghanistan with the 26
th
Marine Expeditionary Unit, which means I saw battle and took fire. I have seen men dying and dead with wounds that looked nicer then Stacey’s. I have forced the guts of my friends back into their bellies, while trying to get them medical attention. Unfortunately, I lost more than I was able to save.
So you ask if anyone was qualified to assess Stacey or Marco's wounds, I have to say yes, my experience is more than enough. We could not have saved either one, even if I had a combat medic available to help. Again I have seen things that would give you nightmares for years and with what is in that stairway, I would not open it and face it or allow anyone here to face it. So ma’am, why don’t you calm down. Dan here has been doing a fine job trying to keep us safe, fed and organized.”

Lisa didn’t look like she even cared or heard what Brian said but did sit down on her chair and cross her legs and looked away like she was trying to control a tantrum. “Thank you Brian, I appreciate your help and I’m afraid we will need more of it till we get rescued. Now anyone else have something to offer or ask?”

A balding over weight man with a bad comb over raised his hand into the air, as I could recall I thought his name was Gilbert. I nodded at him to take the floor. He stood up from where he had been sitting. “Dan, I know things have been bad today and I know you are trying to do your best to lead us and I appreciate it. But do we have any ideas about what’s going on or maybe a plan to get us out of here? I have two kids and a wife at home waiting for me. I need to get home.” His upper lip was sweating badly and he looked very pale.

“I have no idea what’s going on out there. I’m as lost as you, but be assured I am keeping nothing from you guys. Again it looks like Marco had the flu and died from it just like the news said was happening on the east coast. Things are bad over there and I do not want this to happen here. I don’t even know if what happened to Stacey or the people in the stairway are related. My plan is for us to eat, sit tight tonight, and hope for someone to come to our rescue. We have no way to protect ourselves and I am not sending anyone out to the stairs after what happened.” I was getting tired of repeating the facts.

Everyone seemed to shrink back and closed off from questioning. “Why don’t we all line up and get us something to eat? Maybe it will help us relax and think of a way out of our predicament.” I noticed Matt had moved the crackers and granola bars off the table and stowed them under the table. Smart guy, seemed he had the same idea I did in regards to rationing.

I sat on the floor and finished my sandwich and carrots. Washed it all down with a bottle of water and looked around our little bedraggled group. The first thing I noticed was everyone seemed to be alienating Lisa. “I’m going to have to watch her. People who are shunned seemed to do stupid things,” I thought to myself. Brian seemed to be telling some stories from when he was in the service. He had a pretty good amount of people around him. That’s good he can keep control of these people since they felt assured with having him around. Matt was on the end of one of the couches talking to a couple of people from our team. So far, so good, everyone was relaxing and settling down.

The sun was going down and the office was starting to darken. I looked up at the emergency battery lights and wondered how long they would last. Our offices were pretty high up, and not much light was going to filter in through the windows during the night. 

I looked at my watch and saw it was getting close to 9 pm. I yawned and looked over at Matt. I was amazed to see him still awake. He had to have been up for at least 19 hours since he started at 2 am. His eyes had that glazed over look but looked like he was hanging in there. “Alright team I think we need to get some sleep. But in order to give me and hopefully you some peace of mind, I’m going to lock the lobby doors.” Everyone looked over to me and nodded their agreement. “If someone does come for us, they will surely pound on the windows or hopefully get the phones fixed and ring us up.” I walked toward the doors, closed them and engaged the frame locks. Then yanked on them hard to make sure they were secure.

“Uhm I don’t mean to be a pain, but what if we have to pee? Do we have to ask for permission from daddy?” Lisa asked sarcastically.

Brian stood up and fielded that question. “For safety and convenience why don’t we take turns on watch? I’m not that tired and don’t sleep much anyway. So I’ll take the first watch and then wake Dan in 3 hours, who then will wake Matt for 3 hours and then wake me so I can take the final watch.” I agreed and so did Matt, who took this as a cue to go ahead and pass out. I found a semi comfortable place between two of the couches, leaned back my head, resting on the wall, and fell into a restless sleep.

My sleep was fitful and filled with images, not dreams mind you. It was just a slideshow of images. I saw Stacey and Marco, but not as alive and not really dead either. They both looked as they did when we found them but they looked like they were alive. Open eyes and open mouths as if being caught screaming by a photographer. I awoke with a start, Brian had been whispering my name and gently moving my shoulder.

“Hey Boss time for your shift. It’s been quiet. I took three people to the bathroom, here’s the door keys. Mind if I steal your spot?” I smiled up at him and held out my hand. He grabbed it and nearly ripped my arm out of its socket and simultaneously launched me into the air. He caught me before I lost my balance. “Alright Boss wake me if you need me. I’m used to taking cat naps so don’t worry about it.”

“Don’t worry Brian you deserve to crash out. If I can’t handle something I’ll just scream like a little girl, I’m sure that will wake you up.” I croaked out.

He chuckled a little and within seconds was snoring softly. I quietly ambled around the office for an hour, looking out the windows and down at the Bay Bridge and could see the new lights dancing on the wire strands. Everything just felt surreal. How could everything look so normal out there but be so wrong in here I thought. I rested my head on the window and tried to think about what I may have missed or could’ve done differently. I knew I had to lead these people, I was responsible for them. I knew I had a support staff in Matt and Brian but for the first time of my life, I felt lost, wandering in a fog with nothing to guide me. “Things can’t get worse can they?” I said quietly to myself. I then felt a hand grab my arm and I swung around as fast as I could. Lisa jumped back with a terrified look on her face.

“You’re not going to hit me are you?” She said while covering her face and slinking back away from me.

“No of course not, you just surprised me that’s all. What can I do for you?” I said forcing a smile on my face.

“You said if we had to pee you would let us out remember? Well I need to pee.”  She complained.

“No problem let me see if anyone else needs to.”

I turned to walk away and Lisa grabbed my wrist. “Later, I need to go now! Just take me and you can come back and get the others.” She started yanking on my arm pulling me toward the doors. I rolled my eyes and followed her. I unlocked the lobby doors and left one slightly open. I figured since I was here I would also go and maybe get some cold water splashed on my face. She bounded down the hallway and into the girl’s bathroom. I slid into the men’s bathroom, headed over to the urinals, and took care of that pressing need. Now that I think of it, is the first I had gone all day. I walked to the sinks and washed my face taking time to wet my head and stretch. I took my time drying my hands; Lisa will just have to wait for me. Suddenly I heard a guttural scream which tore through to the core of my being. Then there was the padding of feet running and then a door banging open.

“Oh shit Lisa!” I screamed and slammed the bathroom door open. She was not in the hallway but the stairway door had been untied and left open. I ran to it yelling for Lisa. I got to the door and looked out, I couldn’t see anything through the pitch dark. But I could hear someone, or was it more than one set of feet, pounding on the metal stairway. It sounded like they were headed up not down though. I was tempted to run up the stairs but thought better of it. I couldn’t see anything through the pitch black and to tell you the truth I was afraid, more than any other time in my life, I was afraid. I stepped back and closed the door making sure to retie the fire hose back onto the handle. I ran through the lobby and into the office leaving the door wide open.

“Brian get up I need you now!” I yelled. Everyone woke up with a start and just stared at me in shock. Brian was not one to be shocked awake though. He came to full awake in seconds and jumped to his feet.

His eyes went wide and he yelled at me to “Move now!” in his best drill instructor voice. I didn’t even think, I just reacted. I figured if he was warning me then I should move toward him since he was safety. That saved my life. I got to him and noticed everyone was running into my office. I stopped and whirled around. What I saw next I knew would stay with me for the rest of my life. Stacey stood there with her intestines and organs hanging out of her gaping wound. Her eyes were the color of spoiled milk. Both arms out in front of her, hands opening and closing as though she could grab us from there. Her mouth kept snapping open and closed, her teeth clacking so hard I thought they would break.

“Holy fuck Brian what the hell is wrong with her? She can’t be alive right? Holy shit how can she be walking with her guts hanging out?” I was asking questions in a panic. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

“Boss I have no idea how to answer any of your questions. And to be truthful I don’t think right now it matters. Get your ass in your office and lock the door. I’ll do what I can do for her.” Brian kept backing up slowly toward my office door.

I stopped in my tracks, and looked at my office and door. It would be so easy to chicken out and leave Brian to his own demise. Something inside me shook its head and told me to grow a hairy pair and stand by Brian’s side. “Fuck that, I got your back. Matt close that door now.” I yelled. I heard the door shut and then the locked clicked. I looked around the floor looking for a weapon. Nothing, fuck me really? Water? No help unless I could hold her down and drown her with it. Food? Well if she was hungry that might help.  Plastic forks? Yeah ok never mind, that’s just stupid. Finally, I saw an old chair that had been dragged from my office. It had these modern looking metal legs supporting its base. I kicked the chair over and was trying to pull the legs off. Suddenly I was slammed against the wall. Brian reached down grabbed a leg in each hand and pulled inward then outward ripping them free. He handed one to me and turned. Suddenly there was Stacey in all her gory puss filled glory.