Dead and Forsaken (18 page)

“
This is my fault.”
cried the doctor. “I should have listened to you!”

“
We can't worry about that
right now.” I told him. “We have to stop them.”

Dr.
Black ordered everyone else that could walk to get out the building
a.s.a.p. Carlos and I hurried down the hall and turned the corner
with our guns drawn. We came across several partially devoured and
dismembered bodies. Dr. Black returned a few minutes later and was
right behind us. He placed his hand over his mouth in shock after
witnessing the carnage first hand. The bodies of the dying formed a
small mound. It was an intense and bloody sight. Some of them
weren't bitten they were trampled to death by the panicked crowd. We
were almost at the end of the hall when a patient hobbled over and
fell face forward onto the floor in front of us. As he tried to get
back to his feet a filthy man in ripped up clothing collapsed on top
of him. Large bloody holes were chewed into his face. He was thinly
built and emaciated.

“
GRRRRRRR!”

“
Get
away from him you sons of bitches!” yelled a visitor.

They rolled back and forth on the
ground. It was hard to tell who was winning with all the kicking and
swinging arms. The filthy man was trying to bite his neck and
throat. The patient kicked him off and was able to get his footing.
Full of fear he spun in a circle swinging his elbows at his
attacker. They flew wildly hitting the forsaken male in his jaw. The
force of the blow and momentum sent him flailing backwards. He
thought he was safe but screamed as the mouth of another monster
clamped down onto his back. This time he was unable to free himself
from its clutches.

“
MUNCH!”

The jagged razor like teeth sank
into his skin. The patient clenched his teeth and cried out in pain.

“
Uhhhooowww!”

Even
if he survived he would be permanently disfigured. He was bitten
multiple times until a hunk of skin peeled off. The man begged for
us to help him but soon a pack of stragglers boxed
him in. The new
arrivals attacked the wounded man like a pack of hyenas.

“
GRRRRRRR!
GRRRRRR! GRRRRRR!”

He
was quickly overpowered when a creature punctured his jugular
inflicting a fatal wound. A
stream
of blood spurted in the air every time his heart pumped. He was
bleeding to death. His intestines were pulled from his body by the
handful as the forsaken fought over the leftover scraps and meaty
parts. It was too late to help this patient so I put him out his
misery so he wouldn’t change.

“
POP!”

A single shot from my gun made his
skull erupt and sent a light shower of blood, bones and brain across
the floor. Carlos took care of the bastards that killed him.

“
POP!
POP! POP! POP!”

The moans coming from around the
corner let us know we were just getting started.

“
GRRRRRRR!
GRRRRRR! GRRRRRR!”

“
Holy shit!” said
Carlos as he stared in disbelief. ”Why are there so many?”

“
What are you waiting for?”
I screamed. “Fire!”

Carlos
and I shot our way through the first wave of ghouls. Most of them
were not that agile and could be knocked down or pushed out of the
way if they got too close.

“
Aim for the head!”
Carlos explained. “That’s their weak spot!”

My
Glock and his Beretta did the talking as we gave out head shots
leaving a red mist of blood, and brains. We saved several horrified
victims but many others never made it out the ambush.

“
Get the hell out of
here!” Carlos told two other people.

A
woman stumbled toward me trying to keep her guts from falling out
the hole one of those things carved into her abdomen.

“
Help me please!”
she said with a whimper.
“GROOOWWWL!”

She
turned around and looked at the monster that was following her.

“
It's me!” she
pleaded. “Lisa it's me!”

She
begged her former friend not to hurt her but it was no use.
“GROOOWWWL!”

There was no reasoning with the
dead because they only saw her as was a meal. She tried to protect
her face by covering it with her arm.

“
GNAAAW!”

Her
dead friends’ teeth sank into her arm causing her to wail in
pain.

“
Stooooooooop!”

“
BANG!”

I blew her friends head off before
the thing could do more damage. Next I put her out of her misery.
The fast paced projectile went through her upper jaw and then
severed her brain stem.

“
I
am sorry this happened to you!” I told her as I pulled the
trigger.
“BANG!”

As
we were preparing to leave several adults and children with bite
wounds came towards us.

“
Let me help you!”
shouted Dr. Black. “I can make you better!”

When
the doctor tried to go help them someone tried to bite him.

“
GRRRRRRR!”

That’s
when he realized they were already dead.

“
Don't just stand there
run!” yelled Carlos. The doctor took off and ran through the
dark hall but tripped on something.

“
CRASH!”

He
tried to get back up but a small forsaken child sprang onto his
back.

“
It’s got me!”
he screamed. “Kill it! Kill it!”

“
CHOMP!”

The
demon child quickly ripped a plug out his throat.

“
Eeeeiiiiaaaaaahhh!”

Dr.
Black was hurt badly in the attack but wasn’t dead yet. Blood
sprang from the wound like it was a lawn sprinkler. Several precious
pints of his blood splashed against the wall and flowed onto the
tile floor. The doctor managed to crawl several feet before dying.
The pint sized monster didn't let his body go to waste. Carlos
tapped me on the shoulder as we backed up and took an alternate
route.

******

On the other side of the ER Dr.
Okonkwo was fighting back tears as he searched for a safe hiding
place. He had seen all types of horror while working in the ER but
he never feared for his own life. He had witnessed the evil that men
are capable of growing up as a child soldier in Ethiopia. Rebels in
his village forced him to be a child soldier. He was able to escape
thanks to a family of Mormon missionaries. He went from the front
line of a bloody war in Africa to the suburbs of Salt Lake City
Utah. A young childless couple adopted him and he adjusted to his
new life. Dr. Okonkwo was a good student in high school and excelled
in college. His adoptive parents loved him and were proud of his
accomplishments. He was examining a patient complaining about back
pain when several ghouls barged into the room. He tried to protect
his patient but her fate was out of his hands.

“
Get away from her!”
He shouted while waving a scalpel.
“GRRRRRRR!”

One
of the forsaken grabbed the young woman by the hair and pulled her
towards its jaws!

“
Help me doctor!”
she pleaded. “Nooooooooooo!”
“CRUNCH!”

The
woman had a large chunk of her chest ripped out by a dead patient.
Blood squirted upward in an arc and splashed onto Okonkwo’s
lab coat and face.

“
Aaahhh!” She
screamed in agony.

Having
his face splattered blood freaked Okonkwo out. Then the grotesque
decaying corpse of a forsaken homeless man bit her on the arm.

“
CHOMP!”

He lost his grip on her as she
screamed again in anguish.

“
Yeaahhhhhh!”

The doctor impaled the scalpel into
her attackers back but it did not die! He repeated it several more
times but got the same result. Then he backed away from them quickly
and wiped the excess blood off his face with his sleeve. By the
time the beast pulled her down on the ground it was too late for him
to save her. More of the creatures entered the room.

“
Don’t
leave me!” she begged.

“
GROOOWWWL!”

“
I am sorry!” he
told her. “I have to go!”

“
Aaahhh!”

“
GNAAAW!”

While
the forsaken focused on their fresh kill Okonkwo dashed pass them.
His hands shook nervously as he pushed open the door and closed it
behind him. The corridor wall and tile floor were splattered with
blood. The doctor twisted his ankle and fell face down on the floor
awkwardly. “Shit!” he blurted out. “Of all the
days I picked today to wear dress shoes!”

He
used a door knob to get back to his feet. Okonkwo slowly limped his
way down the hall. The ankle began to swell up and continued to
throb. Soon he could not put any weight on it without cringing in
pain. Suddenly he heard the moaning behind him and walked on it
anyway.

“
GRRRRRRR!”

“
You bastards!” he
shouted in his heavy accent. “You’re going to have to
try harder than that.”
Growing up in war he had
learned that it is better to be in a little pain than to be dead. He
concentrated on just moving fast enough to not be caught. The
forsaken continued to pursue him and never were that far behind. He
could hear them grunting and shambling as they inched closer. It
became a slow speed game of cat and mouse.

******

About the same time we were doing
our best to take out as many forsaken bastards as we could. Bullets
darted threw the air in bunches.

“
Stay close together man!”
I stressed. “Don't let them box us in or get behind us!”

“
I know hommie! You don't
have to remind me!” said Carlos. “Take care of the ones
on your side and I'll get the ones on the right!”

We worked our way down the hall to
the nurse’s station. We disposed of several dead creatures as
they feasted on the bodies of survivors.

“
BANG!
BANG! BANG!”

Some of the shots ricocheted off
the wall tearing away pieces of concrete and dry wall. The other
shots lacerated dead skin and crushed weakened bones. An injured
woman came out of one of the rooms crying for help. She passed out
after drinking too much the night before and woke up during the
chaos. After a while she managed to regain her senses but she was
pulled back into the room before we could help her. One of the
forsaken tossed the young woman to the ground and attacked her. He
had been lurking in the darkness. I walked up to them and shot the
disease infested walking corpse in the face.

“
Go back to hell you piece
of filth!” I shouted.

We
helped the girl up and told her to run. I noticed she was bleeding
from the wound on her hand. The bite was her death sentence. She
winched from the pain and then ran away. I aimed my gun at the back
of her head but Carlos told me to let her go. She disappeared out of
sight and we kept moving. The windowless corridors were dim in the
daylight.

“
You ready to go?” I
asked.

“
As ready as I will be.”
he responded.

******

In another part of the ER two kids
were with their mother when the undead killers attacked.

“
I love you babies!”
she told them.

“
We love you too mommy!”
they answered.

“
I know you’re
scared but everything is going to be OK!” she said
reassuringly.

The
attackers moved through the crowd killing men, women, and children.
Many of them had peeling skin covered in bite marks and sores.

“
GROOOWWWL!”

The two children Latia and Alex
ended up separated from their mother. They attempted to hide under
an examination table as the bodies fell around them. It was never
easy to see someone murdered especially when you are young.

From
their hiding place they also saw their mother attacked by a large
forsaken mans. In seconds she was in a world of hurt as the biting
frenzy began. Her eyes bulged out as she clutched her fists in
agony. He peeled the skin off her skull as if it was an orange. Then
he feasted hungrily on her flesh. A nasty looking drool ran down its
chin as the ghouls teeth sank in.

“
MUNCH!”

Their
mothers’ body convulsed and contorted as the blood flowed. She
met a horrific and grisly end. Some of her blood splashed on Alex’s
face. He started to scream but Latia put her hand over his mouth.
Stranded Latia tried in vain to get another adults attention but no
one noticed them. Then they ripped through the mom’s ribcage
to get at her internal organs. As the forsaken continued to search
for victims Latia grew more frantic. Maria heard the commotion and
passed a small group of people as she approached the room. She could
barely make out the faint sound of crying coming from inside. The
floor just inside the door was slick with blood. When she peered
through the opened door no one was inside. She found the kids hiding
under the table huddled together. It was a miracle they were still
alive.