Diary of the Last Seed (5 page)

He kept walking backward toward the elevator, keeping an eye on them, when he bumped into Dr. Perry’s desk and knocked over a Christmas toy Dr. Perry’s son had giving him last year. As soon the toy hit the floor, the stupid thing went off, playing a Christmas song. He kept his eyes focused on the mob gathered in the corner. They all slowly turned around. Their bloody faces and hollow eyes aiming strait at him. He turned around toward the elevator and was about to start running, but the woman was in front of the elevator, like a guard dog with her mouth open and on all fours. He took a quick glance back to the mob, but they were all gone.

His heart stopped for a second, and glancing back to the elevator, he knew if he didn’t get inside and close the door, he would meet a horrible fate. He squatted down and picked up the toy. He pushed the button and threw it to the other side of the cubicles, the thing in front of him hesitated for second before it launched on attack mode toward the toy. Dr. Moore didn’t waste time and ran to the elevator. He entered and pushed the button for the lobby. He looked outside and saw all his co-workers crawling toward him, it seemed like an eternity as he waited for the door to close. His heart was beating so hard, he wondered briefly if he was about to have a heart attack. At this point, a heart attack would be a gift, he thought. His face was covered with sweat and tears, and a horrified expression caused by the sight of dead approaching. He couldn’t do anything but stare at what used to be his friends. He closed his eyes and prayed, prayed for his family to be safe and that he would wake up from this bizarre nightmare. He really didn’t care about dying; all he wanted was to ensure his family was safe.

He squeezed his eyes as hard as he could, as if by doing so he would be safe. He could hear the growling of his co-workers getting closer and closer, until the scream from one of them echoed inside the elevator. He could feel them inches from his face, and then silence surrounded him, and he knew this was the end…

CHAPTER FIVE

Dr. Barkley

“Ding” the sound of the elevator bell made him open his eyes, and he realized the doors were closed. He was alive and it needed to stay that way so he could make it back to his family. He rubbed his head, trying to figure out how all this happened. Could he be dreaming? Or maybe some side effects from an invisible gas? But he knew. He knew that everything that was happening was real. Even though adrenaline was still running through his veins, the cold air inside of the elevator was making him tremble.

Maybe it was because he was drenched in sweat, or maybe because he was scared, scared of everything that was happening outside those doors. It seemed like an hour by the time the elevator reached what Moore thought was the lobby, but the elevator actually stopped on the second floor. He braced himself, expecting the worst after seeing Dr. Whitney and his co-workers turn into mindless beasts, and try to kill him. He held in his hand the only thing he had available to defend himself, a ball point black pen. He knew it was not much, but at least it gave him some type of hope.

The elevator stopped and Dr. Moore looked up to the floor number display,

realizing that the elevator had stopped on the second floor. He tried to push the button

as fast as he could to keep the doors closed, and force the elevator to continue on a one-way

trip to the lobby, but it was too late. The doors slowly opened and to his horror there was

someone standing in front of the doors. He could not see the face of the person because its

back was facing the elevator. Dr. Moore didn't make a sound. He remained still, holding his

breath for as long as he could, aiming the pen at the back of another fellow co-worker.

The lights in the room were off, the only light present was the one coming from inside of the elevator, which made him feel more like a target. The elevator doors were fully open, and without missing a beat, the bell sounded letting everyone know he was there. As soon the sound ended, the thing in front of the elevator turned around, the unholy scream filled the room and echoed thru the elevator. Dr. Moore was surprised to see the thing in front of him was none other than Dr. Barkley.

Both men stared at each other, examining one another to see if they had signs of the infection. It only took them a second or two to realize both of them were not infected, well at least not for now. Dr. Barkley got inside the elevator, and pushed the button to close the door behind him. Neither man said a word. They kept their eyes moving from the elevator door to each other. Dr. Moore barricaded himself in a corner of the elevator, holding out his pen.

Dr. Barkley had the opposite corner from Dr. Moore. They could see in each other faces the fear of what they would find in the lobby. They hoped that no one, or nothing, would still be there. As the doors opened, they were surprised to find the lights on and no one in the lobby. They took a quick look around before exiting completely out of the elevator.

Dr. Barkley stopped by the front desk to access the computer. Dr. Moore didn't know

what Barkley was doing, and he really didn't care. All he wanted was to get out of there and

go to his family. Dr. Moore walked toward the door and opened it, but before he could set a

foot outside the building, Dr Barkley called to him.

“Wait, keep the door open,” Dr. Barkley said running toward him. “What are you doing?”

Moore said.“We’re going to walk out, but not without burning this place behind us.” Dr. Barkley said,

staring into Moore’s eyes for a brief second. They closed the door and kept walking, they could

still hear in the distance a female voice saying, “Contamination protocol activated,” and then silence.

Dr. Moore knew what Barkley had done. But, it was for the best. Both men walked toward the parking lot,

looking at each other for a last time knowing that they would never see each other again. That the world

and people they knew were no longer here. They knew that even though they had survived the night,

they would either be dead or infected tomorrow.

They both gave each other one last look and went their separate ways. Dr. Moore only turned around when he reached the driver’s side of this car, and he could see the reflection of the fire through the glass of the building. He could see the fire inside of the offices, a self-contained human oven. Tears ran down his cheeks as memories of good friends and colleagues swam across his mind.

Dr. Barkley’s car drove behind him, probably on his way to see his family. Dr. Moore turned around and stared at the car until the tail light faded away, it was time for him to do the same. Anxious to see his wife and kid, he unlocked the car, but didn't make it inside. One of the infected had snuck behind him while he was staring at Barkley’s car. Without a sound, his dream of seeing his family again had vanished in the darkness of the night...

CHAPTER SIX

Kenneth Blackburn

The strange beeping sound was getting annoying. He didn’t know where it was coming from, but he realized he was not asleep anymore. He opened his eyes, dazed and confused. He didn’t know where he was, and it scared him to see all the medical equipment surrounding him. He realized he was in a hospital room, but could not remember why he was there or for how long. He moved his right arm

in search of the emergency button attached to the bed. After a few tries, he found it and pressed it a couple of times. After a few minutes and no nurse in sight, he decided to get off the bed and unplug all the medical equipment from his body.

It was painful, especially removing the IV from his arm. Kenneth slowly sat up on the edge of the bed and looked around one more time for any sign of a nurse. He took his time trying to stand up, something inside told him to take it slow. He took

a few steps forward until he arrived at the room door. He popped his head into the hallway, but there was no one in sight. He stepped outside his room. The hospital was quiet, with no noise except for the medical equipment. He decided to make a right turn, and

he saw the corner of what looked like a nurse’s desk or information center.

Walking toward the help desk, he noticed that all of the other rooms next to his were empty, but he didn’t think much of it. Arriving at the help desk, he noticed a nurse sitting behind the desk with her head down on the counter, resting on her forearms. At first he thought she was sleeping or just taking a quick break, especially since it was dark outside. He figured it had to be really late. He looked around until he found a wall clock behind the desk. It was 3:45am. He cleared his throat a few times to get the nurse’s attention, but that didn’t work. He knocked on the counter like he was knocking a normal door.

“Hello, excuse me,” he said. He decided to walk behind the counter and tap the nurse on the shoulder, though tapping the nurse twice didn’t work. There wasn’t even a breathing noise coming from under her dark brown hair, which was covering all her face and her arms. Reluctantly he put his hand on the nurse shoulder and slowly pulled her back, her head remained glued to the counter.

He pulled harder and the motionless body fell to the floor, face up. He took a look at her face, her hollow and motionless eyes staring up at him. Her face was cracked and covered with little holes, like the result of a flesh eating bacteria. He was paralyzed at the sight of it. His body tried to react to the image. He took two steps back and away from the counter. Kenneth started to walk down the hallway looking for a sign that would show him the way toward the elevators. The slow walk turned into a full sprint after seeing the elevator sign about 30 feet away.

He pressed the down arrow at the elevator and waited for it to open. As soon as it opened, he rushed in. He was nervous; his hands and face were sweating as if he had run five miles. Kenneth took a quick look around the elevator, and then pressed the button for the lobby. With everything going on around him, he completely forgot that he was still wearing the hospital pajamas and no shoes. He hoped that he didn’t have to run, whenever the elevator opened it door.

The elevator opened and he stepped outside. The lobby seemed quiet, especially for a hospital. The only sound he heard was the sound of the elevator doors closing behind him. Kenneth didn’t bother to look back and just kept walking forward toward the front desk. He was still a little dazed and confused from just having woke up, but he continued walking. The empty lobby provided no comfort to him.
How can the whole hospital be empty?
he thought.

“Hey,” a voice said from within the lobby. Kenneth looked around but couldn’t see anyone or anything. He remained quiet and scanned the open room from just a few feet away from the elevator.

“Pssst, pssst,” the sound sounded familiar but Kenneth couldn’t determine the origin of it. He took a look around again and noticed someone poking their head from behind a big fake tree basket. He focused his vision, trying to get a better look at who was behind the basket, but he couldn’t. Then he heard it again, the “Pssst, Pssst,” sound, but this time whoever it was used his or her hands to wave him closer. Kenneth walked toward the basket, approaching the individual. It was an

old man in his late sixties, with gray hair, and, like Kenneth, he was still wearing his hospital pajamas with no shoes. Kenneth got about two feet away from the old man when he grabbed Kenneth’s arm, pulled him down closer to him, and put a finger on Kenneth’s mouth to keep him from talking.

Kenneth couldn’t keep himself quiet; he had to ask the old man what was going on.“What’s wrong, where is everyone?” The old man kept looking around like a crazy person, completely ignoring Kenneth. Kenneth asked again with no answer, but on his third try, Kenneth grabbed the old man’s face and guided his eyes toward his own. His eyes showed how frightened the old man was, but even so, Kenneth asked again, “What happened to everyone?”

The old man looked at him, “They all died or went crazy.”“What do you mean?” Kenneth asked.

Kenneth didn’t know what the old man had seen, and deep down inside he didn’t want to know. But his curiosity had more power than he thought, and he asked the old man again. The old man was trying to break eye contact, but Kenneth didn’t allow him, he squeezed the old man’s face. After a few seconds the old man finally spoke again.

“Some were jumping out of the windows, some just laid down and died, but the rest were killing each other like savages, cannibals.” Kenneth didn’t know if to believe him or just rule him as a complete nut job.

“Why haven’t you gone outside the hospital to look for help?” Kenneth asked.

“I, I been here for two days now,” the old man said. Kenneth opened his eyes wide in disbelief. Then he let go of the old man’s face, he had more questions for him, but he didn’t even bother. He thought,
Why waste more time on this old man, if he is more likely crazy
?