Devouring The Dead (Book 1) (17 page)

“Jesus, you weren’t kidding,” said Reggie. “
It’s pitch black in there.”

“Seriously, we have to go in there?” said
Benzo.

“How many flashlights do we have?” asked Brad.

“No way, I can’t do it,” said Caterina. “No way I’m going in there.” She began crying and turned back, heading down the passageway to the steps.

“Hey, hold on
, Cat,” said Jackson. He caught up with her and Brad fished around in the bags for any torches or lighters he could find whilst the others watched Jackson.

“I know this is scary, but we have to go. It’s not safe in here, you know that,”
Jackson said putting a hand on Caterina’s shoulder. He looked her in the eye whilst she wiped the tears away.

“It’s not safe anywhere
, is it!” she cried. “I hate the dark! I’m not going in there. I’ll wait here until someone comes for us. Someone has to come!” Her shrill voice was loud in the confines of the small passageway. Jackson tried to soothe her but she was scared and panicked.

“Hey
, buddy, Cat, you’re going to have to calm down. If we go shouting and making too much noise, the fuckers are going to hear us.”

“Al
l right, Brad, give her a break,” said Christina. “She’s young, she’s scared and she’s pregnant. Her hormones are all over the place, so leave her be, eh?”

“I don’t give a fuck where her hormones are
. If she gets us killed, the first thing I’m gonna do is come back and eat the bitch.” Brad continued rifling through the bags.

“Oh nice,” said Christina, “such compassion.”

“Look, let’s just take a minute to get ourselves together,” said Tom. “Christina, do you think you could talk to Cat, please?”

“Sure,” she said, casting a furious glance over at Brad who ignored her.

“What have you found, Brad?” said Benzo as Brad threw one of the bags down on the floor in disgust.

“Not a lot, buddy, not a lot. We’ve got two flashlights, a couple of lighters and candles
, some bottles of water and several crushed packets of biscuits.” He picked the metal rod up and held it reassuringly. “Thankfully, I’ve still got this.”

“
I know this is not the time,” said Jessica quietly, “but I’m actually hungry.” Parker squeezed her hand and she put her head on his shoulder.

“What about weapons?” asked
Tom. He pulled a large breadknife from one backpack.

“Well,
it’s not much better really; a couple of knives, two frying pans, this fucking thing,” Brad said waving the leg around, “and an iron. I mean, who the fuck packed an iron?”

“Well
, I do like a crisp collar,” said Benzo. Tom couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdness of it all, as Brad whirled the iron flex around in the air, and they all began laughing.

“Hey
, guys,” said Jackson returning to the others, “we can get moving soon if we’re ready. She’s upset, but she’s calmed down a bit.”

“Thanks
, Jackson,” said Parker. “We should get moving as soon as we can. I don’t like being down here, it doesn’t feel safe.” Jessica slipped her arm around Parker.

“I’m over this. The thought of those things makes me sick,” she said.

“Those things upstairs could attack at any time. They could be down here and we’d have no warning. I just want to get out of here now,” said Reggie. Christina had her arm around Caterina and they began picking up the bags, handing out their meagre supply of weapons and lights. Suddenly, from upstairs, the door rattled.

“What’s that?” said Jackson.

Christina looked up the stairs and the door rattled again, this time harder. She stood up. “We need to go, quickly.” She brought Caterina with her to the group. “Can we have a torch?”

Tom
and Parker looked at each other. They held the only two torches. “Well, we’ve only got two and...”

“Tom, Park
er, let me stop you right there,” said Christina. “Do you know where you’re going? No, but I do. I can lead us to the conference centre. It makes sense, you know it does. Plus, it would really help Cat here.”

Tom handed his torch to her.

“Tom, wait, come on, buddy,” said Brad.

“No,
it’s all right. Christina can lead the way just as well as I can, if not better. I’ll go behind her, and with my free hand, I can carry something else. Like this,” he said holding the iron aloft.

Christina took the torch gratefully. “Thanks, I appreciate...”

There was a huge crash as the door to the steps swung open and into the wall. They heard shuffling noises above.

“Come on,
time to move.” Benzo charged through the door, followed by the rest of the group. He held a frying pan above his head, ready to smash anything in his way, hoping the dark car park was empty.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Philip jerked awake and dropped his glass of scotch on the floor. As the warm
alcohol seeped into the carpet, he blinked his eyes and rubbed his head. Looking around the room, he realised it was daytime. The sun was streaming in through the windows. He scooped up the glass, and yawning, rubbed his hands over his bristly chin. What had woken him? There were noises coming from the stairwell: running footsteps, shouts, cries, and screams.

“What now?” he said and sighed. The sunlight had warmed the bar and he padded across the thick carpet to pour himself another scotch. As he did
so, he heard a bang against the door to the stairwell.

“Who’s there?” he said. Leaving his drink on the granite bar
, he walked over to the door. “Who’s there?” he said again. He listened but heard nothing. The footsteps and shouting were inaudible now. In the distance, he heard very faint noises, but nothing to worry him; the screaming had stopped.

As he stood with his hand on the door handle, a soft tapping came. It sounded like it was coming from the bottom of the door and Philip slowly pulled the door open
, inch by careful inch. Kate’s body fell into the room.

“Kate?
Oh God, Kate!” Philip instantly dropped to his knees and took her in his arms. Her eyes were looking at him, but she had lost a lot of blood. Her clothes were covered in it and she was cold.

“Philip,” she whispered. He dragged her into the room and the stairwell door closed. He lay on the floo
r with her, cradling his wife, holding her close.

“Kate, I’m going to get you out of here, okay?”
he said.

She tried to speak
, but he shushed her.

“Please
, Kate, I’m sorry I was an arse before, but please, I love you. Oh, Kate, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“Philip
...get out...quickly.” She choked and coughed up blood. Philip’s tears trickled down his face, dripping onto his wife’s as she died in his arms. He hugged her close to him as he felt her chest stop moving and he knew she was gone. He lay on the floor holding her for a while, as Kate’s body stiffened.

“I should’ve stayed with you.” Philip looked at his wife
; she looked peaceful now. As he wiped the blood from her face, he felt her body tense. He looked down as her left arm began twitching.

“Kate? Kate?” He lay her down on the floor and stood over her as her whole body began to shudder back to life. He took a step backward as his wife opened her eyes. Her chest was still not moving.

“Kate! This isn’t funny!” he shouted at her and took another step back.

With a vacant look in her eyes, Kate turned toward him and her lips parted, showing bloody teeth. Her face turned into a sneer and she pushed herself up off the floor.

“No, not you, Kate. Come on...” Philip’s brain told his feet to run, and he whirled around reaching for the door as Kate charged at him.

Philip made it through the door just in time, slamming it behind him as Kate flew into it, trapped on the other side. He looked up and an old woman was staring at him. She looked like she had been in a car accident
. Her white hair was covered in blood and her nose was missing. Philip knew she was dead, yet she was advancing toward him. Her arms and hands reached for him and he turned and fled downstairs.

* * * *

Christina shone her torch into the jaguar’s interior, illuminating the leather seats.

“No, I can’t see the keys anywhere,” she said.
Caterina, Benzo, Reggie, and Jackson were stood beside her, peering in.

“None over here either,” shouted Parker. He was shining the other torch into a
shiny black BMW. Jessica, Tom, and Brad were looking, but there were no keys anywhere.

“I didn’t think we would find anything,” said Tom. “Come on, we’ve got to
get a move on.” He could hear shuffling noises from the passage they had left.

Slowly they re-
joined each other and formed a chain with Christina in front and Parker at the rear. In the car park, it was cold, dark, and damp. Christina kept the torch pointed down at the floor, following the road markings to try and figure out where the exit was.

“You know,
there are probably thousands of tonnes of water above us right now,” said Benzo quietly.

“Shut up,
Benzo,” said Jackson. “We don’t need to know that, thank you...”

“I was just saying,” said
Benzo in the gloom.

There was a jangling, clinking noise, and suddenly a small light shone out from the middle of the group.

“I just remembered, I’ve got a little light on my
key ring,” said Caterina. “It was a present from my flatmates.”

They kept following Christina, weapons at the ready and listening for movement. The car park was quiet and it
wasn’t long before the torches picked out a barrier. Christina shone the light up and down the red and white barrier.

“Be careful,” she said as they filed past it. Abruptly they stopped.

“What is it?” said Tom. “Why have we stopped?” He heard Christina curse and caught up with her.

“Oh shit,” he said when he saw what she was looking at.

Her light was pointed at a sign on the wall, inches in front of them. ‘No admittance.’ She shone her torch up and down, along the wall, looking for an exit.

“Where the hell is the exit?” she said.

“This is it,” said Tom. “Damn it.” The rest of the group all gathered around them.

“What’s the deal?” said Brad. “Where’s the tunnel? I thought you knew what you were doing?” he said to Christina.

“There’s a barrier across the road blocking the exit. Basically, we’re at the tunnel entrance and our way out is on the other side of this door.”

“Fucking awesome,” said Brad.

“It’s massive,” said Parker. “It must be a bloody thick door.”

“I suppose it has to be,” said
Benzo. “It was probably built to protect the building from flooding, so it’s solid. I don’t think we can open it from here. The control would be back inside somewhere.” They spoke in hushed voices and Tom could hear the fear in them, including his own.

Suddenly
, they heard footsteps in the car park and a dragging sound on the concrete. A slither of light shone into the underground park from the passage way behind them.

“Oh fuck, something’s in here with us,” said Jessica. Parker put his arm around her. He held his torch up shining it into the dark, trying to find whatever
, or whoever had joined them.

“Oh
, God, we’re going to get crucified down here,” said Caterina as she stood behind Christina.

“Just keep calm
, everyone,” said Tom. He held a knife in one hand and the iron in the other. He felt faintly ridiculous but he was glad he had at least something to hold on to. The footsteps grew closer, but in the dark, they could not see exactly where they were coming from. Their flashlights picked out nothing but darkness.

“Keep your damn torch still!” Brad tried to grab it from Christina’s hand and the light danced erratically around, flashing across the floor and high ceiling.

“Stop it!” said Caterina, and she grabbed Brad’s arm. He pushed her away and she skidded across the damp concrete, falling over and dropping her small keyring. It flew out of her hands across the ground.

“Guys, for fuck’s sake, stop it and listen,” Tom said angrily. “Parker
, shine your light on Caterina and help her, will you?”

Brad had hold of t
he torch now and Christina was nursing a sore wrist. Parker shone his light over at Caterina and Jackson went to help her to her feet.

“Hold on,” she said, getting up, “my light.” She
bent down and picked up her keyring. Its pathetic beam of light picked out a pair of feet and Caterina felt goose bumps trickle down her spine. Lifting the light higher, she picked out a face. Jill stood two feet in front of Caterina.

“
Argh!” Jill’s arms stretched out and grabbed Caterina’s coat. She screamed and Jackson joined the fight, trying to pull Jill off. The shouts and screams echoed around the underground vault, bouncing off the damp walls, drowning out Tom’s futile pleas for everyone to stay calm.

“Shine your light over there!” Parker handed his torch to Jessica and he and Tom raced to help Jackson. Tom pounded Jill’s head with the iron as best he could. Parker had taken the metal desk leg from Brad and was beating on Jill
, raining her head with crunching blows. Jackson tumbled away and managed to yank Caterina with him. Caterina ran off into the darkness with Jackson chasing after her, as Tom and Parker beat Jill down to the ground.

Reggie and Christina turned away, unable to watch. Brad stared, keeping his torch pointed at Jill as her body was smashed to pieces.

“Holy shit, man, that was Jill,” said Benzo to Brad.

“It
was
,” came Brad’s reply.

With one final effort, Tom hammered the iron down onto Jill’s head, embedding it in her skull
, and she lay still. The flex had uncoiled and lay around her like a chalk outline.

Footsteps suddenly approached
Benzo and Brad, and they whirled around. Benzo lifted a pan above his head when Jackson appeared with Caterina in hand.

“Jesus, don’t creep up on us like that,”
Benzo said, lowering the pan.

Christina took
Caterina and held her, letting the girl’s tears flow, soaking her shirt.

“She bit?” Brad asked Jackson. He just shook his head. “What about you?”

Jackson grabbed Brad and pinned him back against the cool tunnel wall. His face was red and his eyes were bright. “No. Are you? No, you wouldn’t be, would you, because you did nothing. You’re a poor excuse for a human being, Brad.”

“Whatever, old man,” said Brad shoving Jackson off.
“Still think we don’t need a gun?”

Christina looked at Brad with hatred. “Just leave us alone.”

“Hey, Tom, you all right, buddy?”

Tom was staring at Jill’s body. Reggie had lit a couple of candles which helped with the light
. Fortunately, or unfortunately, they also showed the mess they had made of what used to be Jill.

Tom nodde
d. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

Exhausted,
Parker went back over to Jessica. He felt sick.

“We have to get out of here,” said Jessica. “If we stay here
, we’re dead.” She kissed him on the cheek and then began waving her hands over her head. With the torch in one hand, it was like being under a strobe light.

“Open the door! Open it! Please, open the door!” she called out.

“What are you doing?” said Parker. “We need to be quiet.” He tried to stop her waving, but she shrugged him off.

“
He’s in there, I know he is. He’s watching us. Only
he
can open these doors.”

“Jessica, I...”

“Parker, I
know
it. Those thumping noises we passed on the way here? That was the security team’s locker room. I’m betting one of them is in there, trying to get into the control room. Which means Ranjit is still in there! He’s got all the power now. He can open these doors. It was him that locked us in. I’m not going back in there. I just hope he’s watching us now.”

Parker watched as Jessica continued waving
her arms above her head, shouting and pleading for the doors to be opened. He looked up and in the corner was a tiny blinking red light on a camera. Parker winced, ignoring the pain in his arm, and began waving for help too.

* * * *

Ranjit smashed the frame on the floor and ripped the photo of his wife out. He stuffed it into his pocket and said a small prayer. He couldn’t believe what was happening. He had seen the group on sixteen practically wiped out. He had witnessed everything. He was scared.

The sixteenth
floor was on fire now. Blondey had burnt away in the end to nothing, but some of the zombies had escaped and were working their way down the stairwell. If he stayed here, he would be trapped or burnt alive. There was nothing left to lose now and he had to think how to get past Stu and back to Keti.

It was a crude plan
, but it was all he had. He had seen the others go down to the car park and guessed they were heading for the tunnel. Since they had gone down there, he had busied himself. If they got down the tunnel without him, he would have to go on his own and he did not like the idea of being down there alone. He spent the last three days on his own with nothing but the thumping and groaning of Stu for company. Plus, he couldn’t let them leave like this; they didn’t know who was in their midst or how dangerous he was.

Ranjit
put his jacket on and drew in a large breath. He grabbed the top drawer of the filing cabinet and yanked it all the way out. It was full of heavy paper and he let it slam down onto the floor. Then he dragged it over to the door to the locker room and left it a foot in front of the doorway. He went back and pulled open the next drawer, pulling out the paper and files. When it was empty, he took it and put it next to the full one on the floor. The smell now was sickening; he had used the bottom drawer as a toilet for three days now.