Authors: William Kenney
"Shit..." Aiden said. "Man...I'm worried about Shelby..." he continued, glancing at his phone.
No service.
"I never could get through," he said.
"Hopefully she split when she saw what was happening," Conor said. "Maybe it hasn't reached as far as the suburbs."
"Maybe..." Aiden said with doubt. "But you know what happens in these situations. Assholes see an opportunity and start looting and destroying shit."
Conor did not respond, thinking through the possibilities. Aiden was right. Times like these brought out the worst in people. He could only pray that Felicia and Luke had managed to make it out of town. The frustration of his inability to help them raised a fire inside.
"Come on, brother. These dead fucks aren't killin' us," Conor said as he moved to the door once more. He took the scissors and gripped them tightly in his hand.
"Be careful, man," Klaus said from just behind him.
"Okay, everyone quiet," Conor said, listening intently. After a few moments he turned to them. "I don't hear anything in there. Once we're inside, just head down the steps as quickly and quietly as you can. We can do this. We'll get out, get a vehicle and get at far from this city as possible."
They nodded in unison, hope in their faces.
Conor very slowly pulled the door outward, prepared to slam it shut again at the first sight or sound of a zombie. He leaned forward, scissors at the ready and glanced quickly to either side of the doorway.
Nothing.
He then stepped across the landing to the rail and peered down the stairwell. There were windows on each level that cast thin shafts of light through the gloom. He could see no sign of movement, no figures below. He looked back at Aiden and nodded, then motioned the others inside.
They made far too much noise, feet shuffling, shoes clapping on the tiled floor, someone clearing their throat and covering their mouth upon realizing their mistake.
We're all going to die, Conor thought.
These people do not understand. The fools.
Soon they had all moved inside with Vernon carefully closing the door so that it made no sound. Their faces looked far more hopeless in the dim light, eyes hidden in shadow, tiny white gleams visible in them as they stared around them in fear.
Conor, Aiden and Klaus went down first, nearly holding their breath as they descended, softly placing their feet on each step. A small, metallic clink rang out as Conor's wedding ring struck the railing, stopping him in his tracks. He stared at the others, gritting his teeth in apology and pulled his hand away from the railing. He stood for a moment, listening, only silence coming back to him.
It took a tense five minutes to go down three flights of stairs and every rustle of clothing, every squeak of a shoe, raised the stress level. Conor was sweating bullets as he stopped on the thirty-first floor landing and leaned against the wall, waiting for the others.
"I- I can't find my slippers," Albert said, every head snapping around to stare at his wife who did her best to quiet him.
"Shhh, shhh...." she whispered in his ear, stroking his hair as he leaned against her.
Aiden gave Conor the 'we're fucked' look and stared down the steps, waiting. He heard nothing for roughly five seconds, but then inevitably a door, some floors down burst open, the heavy footsteps and low moaning of the undead wafting up to reach them. By the sound of it, there was a veritable army of zombies clawing its way up from below and they were coming quickly.
Conor immediately moved to the door that led onto the thirty-first floor and put a hand against the glass, peering inside. There was a long corridor straight ahead, empty but for a dead body slumped against the wall about four doors down. He had no idea what might be waiting behind all of those doors, but was certain what was coming if they stayed in the stairwell.
He pulled the door open and went inside, pulling Aiden with him. The others followed noisily as Aiden shook his head in anger.
Bobo pulled up the rear, shutting the door and turning the lock with a loud click. Moments later, the screams came and bodies slammed against the door, their ghastly faces pressed against the glass of the narrow window. Once the zombies caught sight of them, they went into a frenzy, fingernails digging into the door, scraping across the glass.
The group turned to continue down the corridor when the body against the wall shuddered and stood, roused by the noise of its brethren. It wore the clothing of a medical professional, a once-white lab coat hanging from its shoulders and blue scrubs covered in rust-colored stains. One day ago, it was a man in his fifties, balding with a potbelly. Now it was just another monster.
Its eyes fell on them, widening as it quickly lunged forward.
The girls screamed, Vernon trying in vain to quiet them. The old people fell back, not wishing to retreat too closely to the door and the ravenous horde that pounded at it. Albert began to mutter again, something about checkers.
The zombie reached them, Conor throwing a kick into its chest, pushing it away. It fell back, but Conor did as well, the strength of the creature's charge far greater than expected. Aiden jumped over Conor's body, grabbed the scissors and prepared for the thing to rise again.
Klaus helped Conor to his feet, staring at the zombie all the while. The thing turned, staring with unfocused eyes at Aiden, licking its cracked lips.
"Watch it, brother..." Conor said, moving up behind Aiden. In a blur, the creature lurched out, hands grasping Aiden's shirt as he drove the scissors into its left eye. It burst with a sickening pop, audible to everyone in the corridor, yellowish fluid running out and down its cheek as it pulled Aiden close.
Aiden pulled against it, abruptly thrown against the wall, the zombie's teeth dangerously close to his face. Both Conor and Klaus latched on to the thing, pulling at its shoulders and throat. They were the only thing keeping Aiden alive as the creature dripped its foul liquid down his chest.
Then Bobo was there.
He wrapped his huge hands around the thing's head and gave a violent twist while shouting, "Muthafuckah!"
The zombie's neck crackled, its head lolling to one side, its jaws still chomping, the underlying structure of its neck no longer able to support its heavy skull.
They knocked it to the floor as Aiden scrambled free, wiping the filth from his shirt. The thing stood immediately and tried to attack as its head rolled about, useless. Its arms swung wide as it tried to orient itself to their location, its torso leaning far to one side in an attempt to pull its remaining eye around to them.
Conor kicked the back of its knee and it dropped to the floor again with a guttural growl. In turn, each of the men began to kick at it, aiming for the head. Surprisingly Trish ran up and began to join in, getting in three blows before Vernon pulled her away with a scowl. Soon they had crushed the zombie's skull beyond recognition, its limbs still reaching out, searching blindly for them. A disturbing hiss came from its throat, now torn open, oozing thickened blood.
The group hurriedly made their way down the hall, the door behind them vibrating more loudly than every from the horde beyond.
Another corridor ran off to the left and they paused long enough to see an assemblage of broken skeletons littering the floor, evidence of the previous night's attack. The walls were stained with an unbelievable amount of blood and gore, dark spatters on the high ceiling.
They continued on, praying the door would hold until they found a means of escape, moving as quietly as possible in case more monsters were lying in wait. Several of the office doors they passed were destroyed, torn to pieces and left in splinters within their frames.
The offices on this floor were mostly medical in nature, doctors and dentists by the signage on the walls.
Klaus tapped Conor on the shoulder to get his attention. Conor turned questioningly as Klaus pointed through a broken doorway. Cronin Chiropractic read a nameplate upon the wall. Just inside the door could be seen a pair of vending machines, their glass fronts shattered, bags of chips and candy bars waiting within.
Conor shook his head and motioned them on, receiving looks of frustration as they passed, their stomachs growling uncontrollably in protest.
They were quickly at the other end of the hallway where it formed a tee, halls running off to the right and left. Both passages looked identical, but Aiden stepped up to the large metal sign that hung on the wall and used his forearm to wipe the congealed blood from it, revealing a map of the floor. The opposite stairwell was accessible to the right and the group headed in that direction, the older people struggling to maintain the pace.
They rounded another corner, staring down the long corridor with closed doors on the left and tall windows to the right. Each of them moved to the wall of windows, staring down to the street, still filled with milling undead.
Aiden handed his phone to Conor with a message across the screen.
Not sure how we're getting through that.
Conor frowned and nodded, looking from one end of the street below to the other. They were everywhere and the bones of their victims covered the ground.
He noticed movement in the building across the street. There were figures in the window, the glass pane partially missing, peering down, studying the zombies just as they were. It seemed to be a group of mostly women, who suddenly noticed Conor's group and started pointing excitedly. They waved their arms overhead and Conor's group did the same.
Separated by a sea of monsters, a sea of teeth and claws.
It was good to see more living people, though uniting their two groups seemed nearly impossible.
Conor held up his phone and one of the women, a short-haired blonde, nodded, holding up one finger. She disappeared momentarily and returned, scrawling out a phone number on the glass with a black marker.
Conor typed out a text message and once all the numbers were up, he sent it.
Stay quiet! Are you safe? How many people? We are making our way down. Conor.
By their reaction, Conor could tell that their phone had made a loud noise upon receiving the text and she quickly fumbled with the phone to silence it. Immediately the undead mob reacted, eyes turning toward the building as they shuffled toward the shattered doorway. Somehow they had heard it.
The women stared down in fright as hundreds began to pour into the building.
A message appeared on Conor's phone.
Help us!!!
Aiden and the others fidgeted in frustration, knowing that the zombies were racing up the staircases and would soon be upon the women.
Simon sent a text message.
Roof!
He could think of nothing else, no way to save them. He saw the women talk amongst themselves and then run off, the blonde raising a hand in thanks before she fled.
Another text appeared on Conor's phone from Aiden.
Fewer zombies on the street now. Easier for us to escape?
Conor nodded and motioned everyone down the corridor where the door to the building's north stairwell stood. Upon reaching it, he stared through the window, searching with his eyes. It seemed empty.
He opened the door and stepped inside, listening closely.
Nothing.
He indicated that the others should join him and they filed in as silently as possible.
The door closed behind them and they readied themselves for the descent. The old ladies huddled together, breathing heavily, carefully stepping down at the rear. Bobo was there to help if they needed it.
Conor led the way, once more clutching the scissors in his fist. They went down two floors and then heard the piercing screams from above.
"Shit," Aiden whispered in his ear. "Vernon and the girls are gone."
Everyone stared up the steps, listening as the screams grew more crazed. They could hear Vernon's shouts and the growls of zombies as they closed in, then his voice grew suddenly silent. The noise of the undead continued, moans and repetitive pounding.
"Sounds like they're trying to break down a door or something," Klaus whispered. "Maybe Vernon got them into an office? Barricaded the door?"
"Or they could just be dead, man," Aiden said. "You're not thinking of going back up there, are you?"
Klaus shrugged, glancing up the steps.
"No, Klaus. It's no good. We have nothing to fight with," Aiden said. "No way."
"Aiden's right," said Conor. "We can't risk it. I want to save them, too, but we would all end up dead."
"Dammit. This sucks," Klaus said, clenching his fists. "I don't give a shit about Vernon, but the girls..."
"I know, Klaus," said Conor. "Come on, let's go. We have no choice."
They continued downward, following Conor. Another four floors passed and they discovered a scattering of objects on the landing in front of them. By the looks of it, someone had dropped a toolbox there and its contents had spilled out. Screwdrivers, a hammer, nails and leaning up against the wall, a fire axe. Bobo bent down and snatched it up, hefting it in his hands with satisfaction.
At least, now, they had some sort of weapon.