He crouched cautiously beside Tessa, careful not to touch her for fear of losing her over the wall. They all kept their feet up. Zombies swarmed below them, pressing against each other in their eagerness to be closer to the wall. Teeth gnashed, breathy groans lingered, and a chilling sound like whispers filled the air. It was unnerving. Looking down at the zombies, Simon thought the stench should be stronger. Their skin was varying shades of gray to almost green, and most had sores on their bodies. Some of them had broken limbs, not that it bothered them. One older woman was missing the lower portion of her right arm; Simon could see pale bone at the elbow, then nothing. Their eyes were wide open. The whites no longer white; instead they were an angry red and milky yellow color. Their corneas appeared to have flattened and distorted the iris below it. Thin pits and scratches stood out red against the color of their eyes. If they weren’t blind, they had to be close.
The zombies were too busy trying to reach the children to notice anything about their bodies. They clawed through each other trying to get closer. Teeth snapped open and shut at the thought of fresh meat in their mouth. Some of their chins were covered in saliva. The sounds were bad enough but it was their dead eyes that bad Simon shiver. They stared without seeing, but once in a while Simon would catch one watching a bit more carefully, seeming to see more than those around him even though it seemed impossible. Simon shook away the thought, contributing it to his ragged nerves.
Was his dad down there? The dark thought made his head swim and he clutched the edge of the wall, letting the stone dig into his fingers and anchor him in reality. His eyes swam over the crowd of zombies, looking for anything familiar. It was pointless; they were too far gone.
“God these things are nasty.” Tech grimaced, pretty much voicing Simon’s thoughts. At the sound of his voice, some of the zombies redoubled their efforts to reach him. They clawed up the wall, looking for any handhold that would bring them closer. Tech stepped back, almost tripping over Tommy. Tessa and Dodge both reached out to steady him.
“They’re just animals.” Dodge slowly pulled his hand away when he was sure Tech was stable.
“Yeah, vicious, rabid ones.” Zeke laughed nervously. Simon was glad to see the others were as uneasy as he was. “Real cute. Like a puppy with syphilis.”
“Do you see-” Simon was interrupted as one of the zombies nails raked down the wall. He glanced down in time to see two of its nails pop off, leaving bloody red spots on its fingers. Simon pulled his eyes away from the thing, fighting down his breakfast. “See all the sores?” Simon finished his thought.
“Totally gross.” Tessa looked as if the orange soda was beginning to feel like too much in her stomach.
“What happened?” Red called to them as he hurried up to the wall with Tyson right beside him. Both boys had handguns. They kept them aimed carefully at the ground as they approached, looking battle ready.
“No drinking or smoking on the job,” Dodge answered as he began to climb back down the ladder. Simon and the others followed in turn while Dodge spoke to the boys. “You two got this wall covered?”
“Yes,” Red said, his fiery hair brushing his freckled cheek. “We’ll be okay, both of us managed to get some sleep last night.” Tyson nodded. His shaggy black hair looked like he had taken a pair of scissors to it that morning.
“Good,” Dodge said. “If Lara and Jud don’t show up for their shift, one of you go find them, but I hope that won’t happen.”
“I don’t think anyone else is going to risk pissing you off after Harper’s done telling them what happened here,” Red said. Tyson grinned as he looked down at Matt, whose head had rolled to his shoulder.
When Tech reached the ground, Red immediately hurried up the ladder and crouched at the top. He glanced down at the zombies for only a moment before scanning the length of the wall to see if there was any activity elsewhere. Tyson nudged him lightly as he reached the top, and Red moved over to allow the other boy up.
“Someone should be along soon to haul him away,” Dodge called up. Red glanced over his shoulder and nodded quickly before looking back over the land. “If no one shows, don’t worry about it. Just don’t let him choke on his own vomit or anything,” Dodge added with a smile.
He waved his hand for the others to follow. The sounds of the zombies faded as they headed for the hospital and Simon felt himself relaxing. He couldn’t push their empty faces from his mind, but at least the further in you got, the less you could smell them, or hear the shuffling of their feet.
13
Haven Medical Base
They approached the front door of the hospital silently, with Dodge in the lead. It was a modern looking, square, two-story building with walls lined with wide empty windows that stared blankly at the children as they approached. The one off thing about the building were the two stone columns some big minded architect decided to build on either side of the main door. They stood as tall as the building and looked vastly out of place.
Dodge pulled open the front door. It creaked uninvitingly and let out a breath of stale air. The children avoided this building. It was where most of them had woken to find themselves alone in a strange new world. Dodge stepped over the threshold without hesitation. Tech, Zeke, and Tommy followed at his heels. Simon and Tessa lingered a moment on the outside. Tessa glanced over her shoulder almost longingly, while Simon’s mind played back the memory of the nurse’s head exploding. She hadn’t made a sound as she died.
“Simon?” Dodge paused on the short set of stairs inside the door. “Get your asses in here, you two.”
Simon and Tessa stepped into the hospital. Simon’s stomach turned at the smell. There was an undeniable reek of death hidden below the dust and stale air. He knew most of the hospital staff chose to end their lives as they succumbed to the disease. They would still be where they had fallen.
After the stairs, they were in the waiting area. It was dim and dusty, dead plants in the corner, and forgotten magazines on uncomfortable looking chairs. There were doors on either side of the room, one which led to the patient rooms. Simon was praying there would be no need to go that way; too many bad memories down that hallway.
“Here.” Dodge knelt and began to pull weapons from under the waiting room chairs. “I stocked up last night. I have weapons for each of you,” Dodge said. He handed Simon a hand gun and Tessa a baseball bat.
“Thanks,” Tessa lifted the bat, testing its weight. “This feels right.”
“Maybe you played baseball.” Zeke glanced at her before checking to make sure the rifle was loaded and ready. Dodge made sure the unused weapons were out of sight under the chairs again and stood.
“Softball.” Tessa nodded. “It was softball.”
Dodge turned away from the door that led to the patient area and opened the other door marked ‘No Admittance’. Behind it, a long hallway stretched before them. Thin shafts of light fought their way through the small, dirty windows on the doors lining the hall. It was silent and empty.
“Was it down this way?” Dodge asked, looking back at Tommy.
“Yeah.” Tommy swallowed hard, wide-eyed and sweaty. “There’s a whole lot of dead people in these rooms though.”
“If they’re not up and walking around, then they don’t bother me” Dodge led the way into the hall. Behind them, the door swung shut. They jumped and turned to the door with weapons ready.
“Sorry.” Zeke grinned nervously. “I didn’t realize it would slam like that.” Tessa sneezed and rubbed her nose.
“So much dust already.” She wiped her watery eyes.
“Come on, let’s keep moving,” Dodge ordered with a nod. “Try not to slam doors, or stir up any more dust than we have to.”
They moved cautiously down the hall, leaving footprints in the thin layer of dust that covered everything. Their footsteps echoed eerily in the abandoned hall. Simon couldn’t help but glance in the rooms they passed. Tommy hadn’t been exaggerating. Most of the rooms held bodies rotting in their final resting places. Some of the rooms showed signs that the ending had been violent, as with Simon’s nurse. In other rooms it was obvious more peaceful means were used to end it all.
Either way, the bodies looked mostly the same; hair stringy and faces beginning to slide from their skulls to leave teeth and gums exposed in an evil grin. Simon tore his eyes away from a particularly gruesome room. The corpse hung from the ceiling, one hand caught in the rope around its neck, as if the person regretted his choice at the last minute and died still fighting to live. Underneath him, a puddle of body fluid and other remains was collecting. Simon focused on his feet, fighting the urge to continue looking into the rooms as they passed.
They came to a stop; the corridor continued right and left. Dodge looked at Tommy. “Which way?”
“Um, left, I think,” Tommy answered doubtfully.
“Fifty-fifty shot here, buddy,” Zeke muttered. “It’s not rocket surgery.”
Dodge gave Zeke a look that clearly said ‘shut up’. “Left?” He looked in that direction.
“It might not be,” Tommy said apologetically. “I was pretty high when I was here. I don’t quite remember.”
“It’s okay.” Dodge clapped Tommy on the shoulder. “If we don’t find the lab we’ll just go the other way. No worries, okay?”
“Okay.” Tommy still looked upset that he was failing Dodge.
“It would make sense for it to be to the left,” Tech said as they started in that direction. “I assume the labs wouldn’t have windows to the outside, and the front of the building is to our right.”
“See? There you are, Tommy,” Dodge said. “Everything’s easy as takin’ a crap when you got Tech around.”
“It’s just logical,” Tech muttered. Even in the dim light, Simon could see he was blushing.
“That’s why I like to call him laxative,” Zeke said, snorting.
“You have never called me that,” Tech said. He hesitated a moment, thinking it through. “And please, I beg you, don’t start. I think Princess might be better.”
“It’s all good, Lax,” Zeke said, patting Tech on the shoulder. “New nicknames always take a while to catch on.” Tech groaned.
“You woke up first, right?” Tessa whispered to Simon. He nodded. “And there was a nurse?” Again, Simon nodded. “She was alive though?”
“Yes,” Simon said. “She wouldn’t have been for long.”
“Did she tell you why they didn’t just kill us? I mean they killed everyone else with the disease.” Tessa’s eyes were wide and confused. Simon wished he had an explanation for her; it was something he wondered about as well.
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I think there was nothing left to lose at that point.”
Tessa nodded, appearing to accept that explanation. “It’s just strange we all survived, isn’t it?” She asked.
“Yeah,” Simon said, swallowing. “Strange.” Tessa turned to study him, opening her mouth to reply.
“It’s this room,” Tommy said happily as he pointed to the door. It had no window and was marked only as ‘Lab 314’. “That was my apartment number; I remembered that last time I was here.”
“Good, man.” Dodge clapped Tommy on the shoulder.
“It’s clear, right?” Tessa asked, adjusting her grip on the bat.
“Yes.” Tommy nodded, then hesitated. “Or at least it was.”
“Either way I want you all ready,” Dodge said. “Tessa you open the door. The rest of us will get your back.”
“Okay,” Tessa said and stepped up beside the door. She waited to be told to open it.
Dodge pushed the others back a step. “When she opens the door, guns up and ready,” Dodge said.
Simon swallowed hard, hoping he wouldn’t have to shoot anything. It had been bad enough the last time. He remembered all too vividly his time alone at the hospital. Tessa was still looking at him strangely, as if she could tell where his mind was.