Clifton Falls (15 page)

The other infected zombies shuffled out of the morgue room. One of them was biting fingers off a torn away hand, whilst the other had a mouthful of Clive’s brain. Jason watched one of them carefully, and waited until the fingerless hand dropped to the floor in front of him before making his move. He dodged the zombie, jostling it to the ground. He attempted to fire his gun again but was taken by surprise as Nash’s corpse wrapped its arms around his stomach. In the ensuing chaos his gun went off and a bullet embedded itself into Wayne’s left arm, knocking the unlucky man over the dead corpses. His weapon was catapulted from his grip as he now faced the zombie of Frank. It crawled along the ground, aiming in his direction.
The zombie had a great opportunity to strike the defenceless man but instead, rose to its feet, shuffled past him and headed down the corridor to find food dressed in a different kind of uniform. Without realizing it, the two officers had given off the same smell only these creatures noticed. This was the driving force behind the zombie’s motive as it followed the odour, but this time the stairs would have to be attempted for the beast to reach its destination.
Jason wrestled with the other zombie and was very lucky not to have been bitten. He bashed the back of his head many times against the beast’s face to try and free him-self but it didn’t work, as the zombie kept the grip extra tight.
Wayne had no choice but to let the other zombie make some distance after seeing his partner in deep trouble.
“Hold on, mate, I’m on my way.”
He got up flinching from the pain, as blood ran down his arm, trickled down his hand and dripped from his fingertips.
Jason and the monster toppled over until they were wrestling in front of Wayne. The constable was trying to adjust his gun in order to shoot the annoying freak, but couldn’t manoeuvre it into position because the monster’s arms were still tenaciously wrapped around his own.
“I can’t keep it away for much longer; you have to hurry,” screamed a very frightened, frenzied man.
Just at that moment the zombie released the grip. It became a statue for the next five seconds. Jason’s voice had acted like a magic wand, switching the zombie back to police officer mode. The living officers noticed a weird twitching around the face of the re-born thing. It was clearly a sign that brain activity was reminding the monster of what it used to be, and it smiled.
Jason began to crawl away from the danger area as Wayne retrieved his gun. He then rushed over to help the constable, reaching out a hand for Jason to grab hold of, but the beast pounced again, grabbing hold of Jason.
“Fuck me, Wayne, it’s got me again.”
Wayne needed to sort this situation out before the second creature found the exit.
“Put your head down. I’m going to blast its fucking head off.”
“But you can’t; it’s Nash.”
For some bizarre reason, Jason didn’t want to see one of his colleagues, alive or a dead version, being shot at.
“Stop thinking like that, Nash has gone. Whatever that is, it isn’t him.”
Wayne’s words distracted Jason, but he quickly refocused on his ex-colleague after feeling a nasty, stinging pain near to his right hip. It was the faintest of bites, but it drew blood all the same. Jason ducked and Wayne shot the creature. The hold was released as it lay on the ground in a furrowed heap.
“Is it dead?”
“I hope so buddy. I hit the sucker in the head, and as far as I’m concerned, in the head means it’s dead.” Wayne’s concern was for his partner now. “How are you?”
“I’m fine. It’s just a flesh wound.” Jason stared at Wayne’s injury, and was a touch embarrassed by what he’d done. “Your wound looks much worse. You do know it was an accident.”
Even though Jason was a loose-cannon with a gun, Wayne knew that he’d never meant to hit him.
“Of course I do.” Wayne hugged his friend with one arm, showing there were no hard feelings. “Anyway, best if we get you checked out.”
“And the same goes for you,” Jason replied.
“The good news is; we’re in the right place for that.”
Both guys were able to produce a smile again and felt lucky to be alive.
The last zombie was able to make some distance as it sniffed the air for an escape route. The men were so caught up in the emotion of surviving an attack that they let the beast slip beneath their memory radar. The monster had now climbed the stairs and was nearing the end of the hallway, leading to the exit door.
The corpse of Nash got up again. Somehow, the bullet ripped through the skull at an angle, completely bypassing the brain. The zombie moved toward the men with decayed blood trickling down its head. They stood watching, as moaning sounds irritated them once more. All memories of this once being one of them were rubbed out now as they both opened fire. Both weapons emptied all bullets as the metal objects split open pieces of the zombie’s face and head. The monster collapsed again and this time it wasn’t getting up.
The other beast tried desperately to make its escape, and after a few seconds of fumbling with the door handle, stopped, seemed to think, and then placed a hand over it. A delicate twist later and the handle flopped down. The door opened, but the zombie seemed confused as to which direction to take. The area was clear of all human activity at this time so a hint of disappointment channelled out of its emotions. Hazel was responsible for no one being around. There may be a shootout in the morgue but there’s also living patients needing attention, so the staff pretended that everything was okay.
The zombie moved through the opening, twitching its nose as a smile developed on the horror mask of a face. Flesh was nearby, but which door was the unlucky victim behind?
The room where Gary slept was the destination point for this bloodthirsty creature. The zombie remained twitching as it shuffled toward the room. The slobbering, groaning beast glared at its prey through the small window in the doorframe before opening the door.
The officers exited the morgue a minute later, finding no distinctive clues on where the monster had gone. If it still had blood on its feet then the prints weren’t showing up on the carpet. Wayne took control of the situation, ordering his partner to take one route while he took another.
The receptionist was back behind her desk chatting with Hazel. Wayne spotted them and rushed over.
“Nurse, I need to speak to you?”
Hazel moved away from the other woman and followed the officer to a quiet corner. “Is everything okay now?” she replied, looking troubled.
How was Wayne going to explain this without freaking her out completely? “Promise me you won’t say anything to anyone else about what I’m about to tell you?”
“You have my word. What’s happened?”
“Frank isn’t dead anymore. He’s escaped from the morgue and is up here somewhere.”
Of all the theories as to why Wayne was on edge, Hazel hadn’t thought of this one. The woman was totally gob-smacked. A quick explanation was needed now. Wayne told her about the dreaded virus being passed from victim to victim and Hazel was able to fit the pieces of this jigsaw together. “I knew it was a human’s bitemark, but I’d no idea that it was from a dead person.” She glanced at the ground, noticing the man was haemorrhaging all over the carpet. “Do you know you’re bleeding?”
“I’ve been shot. My partner’s gun went off by accident and I got in the way.”
“You should learn to dodge bullets; it’d be better for you.”
“Very funny... I’ll get it fixed when Frank’s dead again.” Wayne looked over at the other woman. “Do you think your receptionist saw anything?”
“She’s just come back off her break. We walked down together.”
There was a brief moment of no talking between the pair. Wayne looked over at Jason, while Hazel used this time to remember something from earlier. “So, Gary wasn’t lying about the walking dead. Everything he said was real.” The nurse feared for her own safety now and started shaking. “Who was it that screamed down there?”
“I don’t know, but he was one of your staff.” Wayne was eager to find the man who had escaped the monsters. “Where’s Gary now?”
“He’s in the waiting room.”
“Will you come with me to talk to him?”
Hazel agreed, and they began to walk together.
Jason was close to finding the creature after following a deafening and heartbreaking scream coming from the waiting room, but as he approached the noise was joined by Wayne and Hazel.
“Jason, close that fucking door. Do it quickly.”
The words were too late. Jason reacted in horror to the sight that met his eyes. Wayne and Hazel also peered into the room where Gary had been sleeping. He wasn’t asleep anymore because the mad zombie had brutally ripped out the man’s tongue, and, while the shocked human screamed, had sadistically bit into his face and neck, leaving the poor man bleeding to death while the monster sat, eating the extracted organ.
The officers shook free from staring and were back on top of the situation. “Wayne, do you want me to shoot it?”
“No mate. The noise will attract too many witnesses and you’ve used up all your bullets. We have to find another way of making that thing extinct.”
Even though Hazel remained stunned by what she saw she was still able to help. She noticed the fire extinguisher.
“Will that be any good to you guys?” she said, pointing to it.
Wayne nodded then told her to stand outside and keep watch. She was just in time because the receptionist was on her way over, but Hazel put out her hand to stop the other woman, leaving Wayne and Jason to do their job.
Wayne rushed over to retrieve the device.
“Right, out of my way, Jason, this could get messy.”
The monster remained seated when he lifted the red object in the air, and with a crazy, sadistic vision escaping its eyes, remained munching on its catch. The weapon crashed down with an almighty force against its head, splitting the skull, but it took another two strikes before the creature stopped moving. The dead man’s tongue remained in the jaws as the final groaning sound escaped.
The two men stared at this latest killing as Hazel entered the room again. “Is it over?” she asked Wayne.
“No, it isn’t. Gary’s been infected with the virus and will rise from the dead unless we fuck up his brain to stop the
transformation.”
“You’re getting good at this,” Jason said.
Hazel took this chance to slip in a few words of her own.
“I don’t know much about whom or what these things are, but I may have an idea about how you can dispose of the bodies. You could take them to the incinerator room to be destroyed?”
She’d gone from a caring leader in the hospital industry to planning ways of eliminating dead corpses in the space of a few minutes, but surely, when waking up tomorrow morning and remembering all of this, would feel sick to the stomach.
Wayne needed to make plans if this was going to be successful. “Hazel, I’ll need you to keep the receptionist occupied while we dump these corpses.” She nodded and left the room. It was now Jason’s turn to listen to orders. “I’ll need a mobile bed equipped with bed sheets, as we have to hide the bodies.”
“No problem, I’ll find one,” the pumped up constable replied.
The ugly mess caused Wayne to feel uneasy as he was left alone in the room. He knew his partner would be back soon, but didn’t know how long it would take before Gary returned as one of those things. It seemed a very long time before he heard Jason return. Hazel had ordered the receptionist to take another break, leaving the path clear to help Jason locate a bed and return with him, but the task of lifting the dead was down to the men. She would be the guide and nothing more. Bed sheets were placed over the corpses to hide them from view.
Hazel led the way, followed by the weary looking officers pushing the bed. A few nurses watched them pass by and an arm flopped from beneath the sheet, causing a couple of them to point stares in Hazel’s direction. She glared at them, but after realizing what the staring nurses gawped at, changed her complexion to a polite sorry. The arm was replaced beneath the covers and Hazel watched the curious nurses until they were out of sight.
The crazy trio finally reached the destination point and now, a furnace fire will soon roar like a raging, hungry dragon. Hazel controlled the temperature, as she knew how hot it needed to be before the corpses would disintegrate. Wayne and Jason placed the macabre looking bodies onto the sliding tray but Gary’s corpse shook, and it was now a rush job to push the tray inwards before the latest zombie attacked. The large, heavy door slammed shut as the humans stood back, watching the colourful flames attack the intruders.
A crazy movement from the now transformed monster was witnessed as it banged its face against the extremely thick glass. Eyes of death sent nightmare looks into the three humans. Hazel couldn’t help staring as the darkened blood patches formed bubbles, while the creature tried spluttering words from the tongueless opening. It knew what was happening, and if everyone
remained silent then there was a great chance that the final screams
would penetrate through to the outside, allowing them to hear. Suddenly, the extremely hot fire sliced through the corpses. The
re-invented Gary’s face melted in front of the watchers, while its
staring eyes popped against the glass. Hazel couldn’t look anymore.
She turned, walking away as the furious fire left just crumbled up
bone and mashed up piles of ash.
Wayne looked over at the others. “Now it’s over.”

NINETEEN
(THURSDAY)

The ringing of the phone caused Mike to startle, as he recovered from the night before. Chris stood next to him as he reluctantly answered the annoying object.

“Hello.”

“Mike, where have you been all night? There’s been a crisis at the hospital. George was constantly trying to get hold of you.”
“Sorry about that, I was very busy.”
“There’s no need to apologise to me, I know you had a worrying day yesterday, but you need to go to the hospital.”
The chief put his authority head back on. “I’m on my way, Susan.”
The handset was replaced and a puzzled expression was passed toward Chris.
“Hey, Mike, what’s up?”
“I’m not quite sure. Something’s happened at the hospital and I need to be there.”
“I’m going with you. I hope you haven’t forgotten that we’re working together on this,” a very pleased little man said.
Mike grimaced. “I haven’t forgotten.”
The chief opened the front door, entering the outside. The Siamese-twin like reporter closely followed, but Chris would eventually piss Mike off if he didn’t unglue himself and keep a safe distance.
Both bodies rushed outside as Mike frustratingly sent out crazy hand signals, indicating that he wanted the smaller man to get his arse into the passenger seat of the police car.
It seemed extremely hectic in and around the hospital when they arrived. Mike watched busy reporters scrutinizing the area. It was a clear sign that something big had taken place. Chris joined the other reporters to pick up the latest news, as Mike rushed around to find out where he was needed. He wasn’t sure where he should be going so followed the crowd of important doctors and city snoops. Chris gathered up the appropriate information before rushing off to catch up with him.
They followed the path leading to the door of the recent catastrophes, but once there were stopped in their tracks by one of the hospital workers. “I’m sorry, but he won’t be able to go past this point.”
Mike and Chris appeared a bit baffled by those words.
“Why?” Mike snapped.
“I’ve been told from higher sources within the hospital not to let press in to snoop around.”
“Really,” Mike said. He didn’t need this at the moment. He was still hung over and stressed because of it. “This particular member of the press is with me and is helping the police.” Mike waved an index finger in the person’s face. “Have you got that?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” The worker seemed embarrassed, so moved away so they could enter.
Chris grinned as they walked passed. “Bloody hell, man, you definitely told him.”
Mike still wasn’t sure that he was doing the right thing by letting Chris hang around him, but they were here now so was prepared to see what the day had in store for them.
“You’d better not let me down. I want to see everything that you write and I don’t want you speaking to the public without me being there. Is that understood?”
Chris tried to be serious and was anxious to be kept in the loop. “All right, calm down, mate. I’m helping you out. I’m not going to let you down.”
If only Mike could believe it. “Okay, shall we go and see what’s up?” he said, producing a tiny smile toward the trying man.
They moved on down the corridor, seeing busy people walking by as they neared the lift. They entered it, moved down to the next level before walking along the hallway leading to the recent shootings. Once there, witnessed three, chalked out figure outlines on the ground.
Wayne stepped out of the morgue room to meet up with Mike.
“All right, chief, we’ve had a busy night.”
Mike lost his concentration for a moment and stared at a part of the other man’s body. “What the fuck’s happened to your arm?”
“Jason shot me by accident, but I’ve had the bullet removed.” Mike was tired and all he heard was that Jason had shot an officer. He wasn’t one of the chief’s favourite employees and had been in trouble more times than any other constable, so Mike was likely to use this opportunity to rid the force of this unreliable member of staff. The cheeky hospital worker had almost pissed the chief off, but this was too much for him to take, especially when feeling the after effects of the alcohol. “Where’s the little shit? I should never have given him a weapon. He’s a fucking lunatic,” Mike shouted.
Wayne needed to rectify his last sentence before Mike blew his top completely.
“Calm down. It really wasn’t his fault.”
He filled Mike in with the recent events of the last few hours, including how he’d been shot. Mike now turned a touch red in colour. If only he’d waited for the full story before losing it.
“Is he okay?” Mike asked. His voice now calm again.
Wayne began discussing Jason’s health, including the news that he’d been bitten.
“Do you think he’ll be infected?” Mike asked.
“All I know is that everyone else who was bitten had chunks taken out of them, but he has nothing but a flesh wound.”
Chris was listening intently, not understanding all of it, but happy to be there and be able to jot down what’s being said. Wayne watched him and was puzzled by his presence.
“What’s going on? Why’s this sleaze bag here? And why’s he writing stuff down?”
Mike stepped in before Wayne stopped asking questions and instead, lashed out at the little guy.
“He’s here to help us. I know we don’t get on with his sort but we need someone on the inside. He’s good at his job and can help by doing what he gets paid for.” Mike walked a little, pausing before finishing the sentence. “He can communicate with the public better than we can.”
“I thought we weren’t going to tell the public anything?”
“Well I think it’s a bit too late for that, don’t you? People in this hospital already know something isn’t right, and I’m sure other people know a bit about what’s been going on around here.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right, again,” replied Wayne.
After the most important issues were dealt with and Chris had written down as much as he could, Wayne moved the conversation toward the morgue room. The men made their way inside the specified area. The door closed behind them to stop any unwanted visitors peering in.
Important members of the hospital career ladder gathered around a table, discussing what to do with the thing lying on the oblong, sturdy shape. Mike, Wayne and Chris blended themselves in amongst the pack of over qualified, health care people. They stared at a shape that appeared to be in human form, but it was so deformed in appearance that no one could make out its identity. Parts of its anatomy were missing. The right cheek had a massive hole in it and everyone could see teeth through the shredded skin, plus, the stomach had been removed, leaving the being pretty much weightless. Staff members had captured it and had strapped it down earlier that morning. Now it was attracting the attention of higher mortals. Mike was the only member of the room who wasn’t gawping at the freaky sight, as he was there to do his job.
“I’m sorry to interrupt this cosy gathering, but can someone please tell me what the hell’s going on?”
Out of the crowd appeared an old looking thin chap in a doctor’s uniform. He’d been asked to attend this important gathering.
Maybe he was the man to explain why the dead kept coming back to destroy the living?
Mike thought.
“Maybe I can assist you on the matter in hand. My name is Victor Thompson, and I’m a surgeon from the city hospital. I’ve been asked to attend and comment on what we have in front of us.”
Mike wasn’t impressed to find out that a snotty man from the city had known about this. He could spread the truth to the outside, and his job as the chief inspector was surely doomed if this happened.
“I don’t know why you’re here? I’ve got the situation covered.” Victor sensed the hostility from the chief. “I don’t need you people coming to my town and telling me how to do my job.” Mike had no choice but to take a small pause before becoming a steaming kettle again. His worry was that the news had spread and a replacement chief was on their way to kick him out of the force. “My men and I are dealing with this.”
The old surgeon stepped in, explaining the situation more thoroughly. He didn’t want there being an issue developing between the two of them and his intentions weren’t to upset the chief. “I think you’ve misunderstood me. I’m here only as an advisor.” Victor talked in the way a teacher would educate a class of children. “If you’re worried that others from the city are coming then I can assure you that this is all confidential.”
He explained that he’d received an urgent call from Hazel, she needed help, and he wasn’t going to turn down an offer on finding a cure for this crazy outbreak. Mike should’ve known that Hazel would freak out. It was only natural for her to bring in people she could trust, so he mellowed.
It’s best to work with the other members of the room if I want to get to the bottom of this
, he thought.
“I apologize for my outburst. You just startled me by being here.” Mike produced a shy grin. “So, have you found an answer for us about the thing on the table?”
This conversation developed into a battle of who knew more. Mike had his theories, but wasn’t convinced that the other man had the answer in the bag. Victor showed signs of pure puzzlement, but did he possess anything that would become useful?
Mike and the others watched closely as Victor lowered his left hand over the mouth of the creature.
“Watch, as the thing concentrates solely onto my hand. It has no inners and should be very much dead, but somehow isn’t.”
“We know that, but we need to know why?” said the chief.
Suddenly, without warning, the creature’s teeth snapped at thin air. This movement made the crowd jump back. Victor removed his hand away from the danger area before continuing the lesson. “The brain is a wonderful tool and without it we’ll all be dead. It’s the brain that’s giving this monster the order to feed, maybe that’s all it’s giving.” The surgeon pointed at the chattering monstrosity as he spoke. “We have to find out why it needs to feed and control it.” He now acted like a kid in a toyshop and it didn’t impress Mike. “I have to say, I’m seriously fascinated by this find.”
Wayne sensed that his chief was on the verge of another major shouting match, but managed to calm him down. If the last of the zombies had been more mobile then Mike would’ve pulled out his gun, shoving it in the beast’s mouth for sure.
Let’s see how fascinated you’d be if I blew the fucker’s face off,
Mike thought.
After a few seconds of eye stabbing glares, Mike asked questions on what would happen to the zombie and where was it found? When the answers were heard and Victor had showed him the nametag, Mike realized that the remains were of Colin. Wayne was shocked when he heard that the man on the table had lost his life in the morgue. It was still a mystery about what would happen to the zombie, but Victor made it clear that he was going to examine it further before destroying it.
Wayne had been in deep conversation with the surgeon long before Mike entered hospital grounds, and had explained the deaths. He’d also told Victor about how he’d managed to kill the un-dead.
Victor murmured to himself, walking around the room as he tried to put the pieces together of the past events.
“The walking dead have been invading this town since yesterday, so something must’ve occurred recently to account for them.” Wayne nodded, as this was obviously true. “In the space of one day we’ve had a number of murders all linked with the same symptoms, so there could be a strain of virus that I’ve never heard of being spread through this town.” He rubbed his brow and then said. “You do know that if we don’t find the answer soon then we could all die.” Everyone skipped a heartbeat after hearing those dreadful words, but he was right and they knew that. “Have you guys given a blood sample yet?” Victor asked the officers.
“I gave my sample to Hazel last night,” replied Wayne.
Victor raised his eyebrows and looked at Mike.
“I’ll give one before I leave here today,” said the chief.
“And don’t forget to make sure that all the other people involved with these creatures provide a sample.”
“I won’t.” Mike replied.
Chris wrote the gory details down. He did the right thing and kept out the way so couldn’t be criticised for anything.
Mike needed to carry on with his own investigations and so had no choice but to let the mad Frankenstein-like man do his. He made his excuses and left the room, closely followed by his crew.
Chris’ notepad was filled with useful information. All he had to do now was turn the notes into something readable and believable for the townsfolk.
Wayne was the first to abandon the chief. Mike needed to get that test done and so the sergeant returned to work.
Some of the reporters followed Mike and Chris from the hospital around twenty minutes later. Chris apologised to the chief and went over to give them hope of a story, but Mike needed to get away from the hospital before it totally depressed him and so hurried the reporter along.
“Is everything sorted out with your buddies?” he asked, as Chris returned.
“Trust me, Mike, I’ve got a few stories up my sleeve to keep them happy.” Chris produced a slight chuckle. “Don’t be surprised to read some garbage that’s way off the mark but effective none the less.”
“I’m not really interested. It’s your call what you say to them, but it’s also my call to give you grief if they end up writing something resembling the truth. Have you got that?”
Chris stopped his little sniggering act. Mike still didn’t trust him after the interview stunt and he was a long way off from closing the gap between being a scum leech reporter to being a trusted member of the good guy society.
“Calm down, Mike. I told you I wasn’t going to let you down on this, and I meant it. I’ll leave you to do your thing if you just leave me to do mine.”
“You’d better not let me down. If you do, then I’ll place your head and hands inside a pillory and equip my staff with mouldy fruit and vegetables to throw at you. This’ll leave your face looking as rotten as the day I first clapped eyes on you. A rotten face for a rotten man should be perfect.”
This wasn’t the speech Chris had hoped to receive from the chief. He now felt worried. He tried to lighten the mood as he sat beside Mike upon entering the car again.
“You haven’t got a pillory, have you?”
Mike burst into a fit of laughter. He couldn’t remain serious with Chris for very long. “No, I haven’t, but if I did you’d be in it.”
“Okay, point taken. I know what I’m doing though.”
“Good.”
The car left the car park and headed for the next destination point.