He swung the door open to see a thin man in a hospital gown hunched over another soldier. The “man” shoved gore into his maw and turned toward Sergeant Adams. With an insane look in its black eyes, the monster sprang to its feet and lunged toward the Sergeant with two outstretched hands.
Sergeant Adams got his arms up in time to block the monster from sinking its teeth into his face, but he was knocked onto his back. The ghoul flailed on top of him, screeching and growling as it fought to make a meal out of its new victim. While the military man was larger and more muscular than the zombie was, bloodlust had given the beast an overwhelming strength.
Dr. Thomson kicked and punched the undead creature in an impotent attempt to help the Sergeant, but the monster felt no pain.
Kelly’s heart thumped in her chest as she took a step towards the melee. If this monster overcame the chief of security, there would be nothing between her and it. She paused in her tracks and turned back to the corpse lying in the hallway. In the soldier’s lifeless hand was a rifle, and Kelly reached down to grab it. As her fingers gripped the metal, the soldier’s eyes jolted opened and locked on her with a cold hungry stare. A moan bubbled with red gore as it rose from the ghoul’s throat, and it reached for Kelly with one stiff arm.
Kelly screamed. She pulled and kicked violently in an attempt to pry the weapon from the monster’s grip. The dead soldier leered at her hungrily and released the weapon. The force of their separation thrust the beast back onto the hallway floor and Kelly back onto the gravel roof. The door between them swung closed with a slam.
“AHHHH!” Sergeant Adams screamed. His adrenaline-fueled struggle against his attacker had lost out against the fury of the hungry dead. Blood spurted from a severed artery in his neck, and the monster’s head swung back with a hunk of red flesh in its teeth. As it gulped down the rag of meat, the ghoul turned its eyes on Dr. Thomson and reached toward a new victim.
Kelly turned, took aim, and fired. Shooting felt clumsy to her, but at her range, it was nearly impossible to miss. The impact of the bullet sent a thin spray of blood from a red quarter-sized hole in the undead man’s back, but there was no effect.
Sergeant Adams lay on the ground. His blood oozed from a horrific wound in his shoulder. Despite his desperate attempts to stop the bleeding, blood gushed through his fingers. “He… heellllp… meeeeee.”
Dr. Thomson backed toward the ledge of the roof. There was no escape. The ghoul, eyes locked on Dr. Thomson, rose to its feet, stepped over the dying Sergeant Adams, and lumbered toward him.
Kelly fired again, and more red erupted from the monster’s back… but it did not stop.
She fired a third time and then a fourth, and finally the zombie stopped moving toward the doctor. Its shoulders were slouched, and the life had seemed to drain from its body, until it turned to look over its shoulder at Kelly. A hollow moan issued through its bloodstained jaws.
“The head!” Dr. Thomson yelled. “Shoot it in the head!”
The monster turned toward her and took one step followed by another in a relentless quest for its new victim. Kelly took aim. “How could something so fundamental be so easily forgotten?” Kelly wondered as she pulled the trigger.
The rifle bucked in her grip, and the beast dropped to its knees before thudding face-first into the ground.
“He… lp… meeeee!” Sergeant Adams whimpered. A dark red puddle of blood had formed in the gravel beneath him, and his arms were stained red to the elbows.
Kelly and Dr. Thomson rushed to the dying man with a sense of utter helplessness. Even if they could stop the bleeding, the creature’s bite condemned him to join the ranks of the undead.
“Heeelp me!” Sergeant Adams groaned again as he looked into Kelly’s eyes. He gasped for breath like a fish out of water. His strength was draining from his body. His arms became too heavy to place pressure on his wound and fell limply to the ground. The blood pumped from his wound to the rhythm of his weakening heartbeat.
“I’m sorry!” Tears welled up in Kelly’s eyes, as she took aim at the Sergeant’s head. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“Do… It…” The Sergeant nodded back at her in understanding.
Kelly pulled the trigger.
Dr. Thomson put his hand on Kelly’s shoulder, offering some small comfort. They had both seen plenty of terminally ill patients pass, but this was something else entirely. Being the hand of mercy was a scarring task. The moment was short lived.
Kelly turned, gun first, towards the rooftop exit. The metal door stood between them and the horrible sounds of screaming and gunshots that came from within the DDC. Kelly wondered why the guard she had taken the gun from had not come through to attack them. She gave Dr. Thomson an apprehensive look. Dr. Thomson cautiously inched toward the door before pulling it open. The only evidence of the soldier who had been killed in the hallway was a gruesome bloodstain that ran down the wall and onto the floor. A crimson smear trailed off into the darkness of the hall. Bloody red footprints told the story simply enough. The reanimated guard had gone to hunt for prey inside the DDC.
“What do we do?” Kelly whispered.
Dr. Thomson had no answer. His body shook with fear. He poked his head inside the hallway and peered into the clinic.
Kelly slid into the corridor as quietly as she could.
A rapid popping of gunfire from the ground floor prompted a wave of screams and gasps from the families huddled together in the second story living area. Kelly inched her way down to the end of the hallway, stairwell on her right, living area on her left. There were perhaps a dozen families huddled under cots staring back at her with wide-eyed terror.
Movement in Dr. Thomson’s office caught her attention. There, on the floor, huddled a shadow hunched over a body. The disgusting sound of wet chewing sickened Kelly as she drew closer.
Dr. Thomson slid in behind Kelly. “That’s…”
“Shhh!” Kelly ordered.
“Shoot it!” Dr. Thomson whispered.
“Shhh!” Kelly repeated.
Kelly arrived at the stairwell to the ground floor. She chanced a glance as she slid past. A body lay halfway down the stairs, but it was otherwise vacant. She took one step, then another toward Dr. Thomson’s office.
Yet another chorus of screaming from the living area followed another series of pops from downstairs. Kelly turned to the hiding families and placed her finger over her lips.
When she turned back toward the office, the ghoul was gone. Kelly froze with dread. Had it slipped out of the office? Was it hiding in wait for her, ready to attack?
Kelly forced herself against petrifying terror to take another step forward, until she could reach the office door. Slowly, she stretched her trembling arm out and gripped the door handle.
More gunfire and yelling from downstairs broke the tension, and Kelly slammed the office door closed. She released the breath she had been holding and scurried back toward Dr. Thomson.
“What now?” Dr. Thomson asked quietly.
“Stay here. Watch the stairwell door,” Kelly answered back.
Dr. Thomson nodded.
Summoning her courage again, Kelly forced herself onto the first step of the stairway. She took one step after another, slowly descending to the ground floor. She held the rifle as she had seen soldiers hold their weapons, but her discomfort and lack of training only enhanced her fear.
She stepped over the dead body. Kelly knew the man, a father of two young children. He had always been among the first to offer help whenever an opportunity came up. He had been appreciative of the DDC staff and did whatever he could to lighten the burden on them. No doubt, he had heard the commotion, and his willingness to help had cost him his life.
When Kelly arrived at the foot of the stairs, she looked out into the darkness of the ground floor. The gunfire had stopped, and she had hoped to see guards in charge of an unfortunate but resolved situation. Instead, she was confronted by blackness. Two flashlights lay on the ground, casting small pools of light onto the clinic floor. Curtains were drawn over the front windows, and the faint yellow street light was not enough to illuminate the large room.