The Real Night of the Living Dead (21 page)

I headed into the ward. The professor followed. The cop stayed in the hall, devastated over his actions.

Toward the rear of the ward was a slow mover; a female patient from across the road who was probably one of the first to be murdered. Her skin was grayish blue, and the odor from her body was of rotting meat.

We didn’t give her a chance to even moan. I shot her dead.

So the first floor was clear and no sign of Clara.

I was scared. The lump in my throat was growing larger, and I was struggling to keep the bad thoughts out of my head.

We exited the ward.

The second floor was next.

Antonio followed behind us as we walked to the stairwell. There were no elevators in this building, but we would’ve avoided them anyway. Just so we wouldn’t be surprised to have the doors open on a band of creatures waiting to shred our flesh.

I entered the stairwell first and, after all the surprises I endured tonight, I was very cautious.

It was empty. But I swore I could hear faint screams in the distance, coming from the higher floors.

We ran up the stairs and threw open the door to enter the second floor.

No one around.

Another faint scream.
I couldn’t tell if it was a creature attacking, or a living person being attacked.

“Come on,” I said, speeding down the hall.

We reached the door to the ward.

I grabbed the handle.

It was locked.

I heard the screams now loud and clear. I looked through the square foot window and saw about four creatures banging on the window of the nurses’ station.

I was unable to see what they were after. The four creatures were stuck to the window panes that enclosed the nurses’ station, blocking my view.

Then, an opening appeared between them.

There she was, trapped in the nurses’ station.

My sweet Clara.

Chapter Thirty-three

I screamed her name and caught the attention of an infected child. He ran from the nurses’ station to the ward door and began pounding away, trying to get over to our side.

The door bounced, and the noise echoed throughout the hall.

I shot the lock, it popped off, but the door still wouldn’t open. I pulled and pulled, but it didn’t budge. The lock was jammed.

Antonio came beside me and wrapped his hand on the handle, above my own hand, and we pulled together.

The lock released. The door opened, as me and Antonio stumbled back.

The creature snarled, showing us his bloody teeth.

Antonio hesitated. I didn’t. I was anxious to reach Clara. I dropped him with one shot.

As we entered the ward, the remaining three creatures surrounding the nurses’ station heard the commotion, turned to us, and attacked.

I was alert now. Whatever feeling of exhaustion I had was gone the moment I saw Clara. The creatures didn’t even get within reach. I killed the three of them before the professor or the cop could pull their triggers to help.

The rest of the ward was empty, except for whoever was barricaded in that small space with Clara.

I approached the glass and looked at her. She was crouched down on the floor, arms over the top of her head, doing her best to hide from the
flesheaters
.

“Clara!” I said. “Open the door.”

Her eyes met with mine, and I was relieved to see that they didn’t have the stale appearance of the infected. She was okay.

She cried as she shouted my name, removing the chair that was wedging the door shut.

I traveled over a mile of hell that separated me from my beautiful sweetheart. All that came between us now was a door, and Clara was opening it.

My wet smiling eyes looked into those beautiful teary hazel eyes. We threw our arms around each other and kissed for what seemed like hours.

We pulled our lips apart and held each other tight. I fought so hard to reach her, for so many hours, seen others lose their lives along the way, and now I didn’t want to let her go.

“I love you, Clara.”

She cried and gave me a nervous chuckle into my chest. “I love you too,
Veimer
.”

I looked over her shoulder. There were two small children, girls, wearing gowns tightened with a piece of twine, huddled in the corner, under the table.

“We’re going to be okay,” I said.

“Ma’am,” said Officer Antonio. Clara’s attention went to him. “Is there anyone else in this building that you know of?”

“No,” Clara said, shaking her head. “We were the only people in here. Once the attacks began, we locked ourselves in here…” Her eyes blinked. She was fighting, choking back tears. “Millie and two of the kids were bitten. They were fine for a while…but…then…” she cried, “
they
tried to…eat…us. They grabbed one of the kids and started…” She broke down. I put my arms around her, trying to relax her.

My eyes went to the girls. They were staring at the cop. One of them appeared to be physically handicapped; her back seemed to be twisted with a hump toward her shoulder, and she was making a squeaking noise with her mouth. The second girl was quiet, staring.

“Were they bitten?” I said, motioning to the girls. Clara shook her head. “And you?”

“No.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes,” she said, sounding adamant. “We were able to make it in here before they could grab us.”

I saw her eyes welling up again. It was obvious the kid who was butchered before their eyes is what gave them the extra few seconds or minute they needed to lock themselves in this station.

With my arm around her, I ran my fingers through her hair.

“So we need to get to the rest of the buildings,” Antonio said, staring at me, “like we discussed.”

“Why?” said Clara.

“We’re going to secure these buildings,” I said. “There’re more of these things headed this way, and we want to make sure everyone is safe…”

“Norm and Bobby are working the camp tonight,” said Clara. “We can call them and let them know to lock up.”

Me
and Antonio looked at each other, then I was back to Clara, saying, “I didn’t even know they were on duty. Go ahead,
give’em
a call.”

She called Norm at the first building, but there was no answer. She tried calling Bobby at the second building, but again, no answer.

“Oh God,” she said, with her hand to her mouth. “What do you think is going on over there?”

“Who knows?” I said.

Antonio interrupted, “We better get moving. We’ll do what we intended in the first place.”

I nodded and turned to Clara. “Come with us.”

 
“I can’t leave these girls,” said Clara. “I’m responsible for them.”

“Okay, okay,” I said, trying to come up with a quick solution, “we can leave the professor here, locked in the ward downstairs with the girls.”

Clara said, “He’s a patient,
Veimer
. I can’t leave patients in the care of other patients.”

The cop interrupted, saying, as he placed his gun back in its holster, “I believe
it’s
best, for your safety, you stay here with the patients.” His eyes went from Clara to me, waiting for an answer.

“Yeah,” she nodded, “I think you’re right.”

Tucking the revolver in my waistband, I turned to the professor and said, “You got the gun. Think you can handle things while we’re gone?”

“Absolutely,” he said.
“Most definitely without a doubt.”

“Good.” I gave him my satchel of ammo; I would take from Antonio’s satchel, whatever I needed. I saw Clara’s eyes squint, like she was thinking,
What
is he doing with a gun?
“Clara, while we’re gone,
call
S-1 and S-2 and the buildings across the boulevard, let them know to lock down the entire campus.” She nodded. “Let’s go, we’ll walk you guys to the ward, make sure you get there safe.”

Officer Antonio said, “We’ll be back fast. We’re getting in my car, locking up the buildings and heading back here. I promise
,
we won’t let anything happen to you.
Any of you.”

Me
and Antonio led the way back to the first floor ward. The professor was in the rear.

The trip back down was quiet. We didn’t encounter any of the creatures.

Standing near the entrance of the first floor ward, I held Clara’s hand and kissed her face. “Once you lock this door,” I said, “keep it locked and stay out of sight. If any come inside and see movement through the window, they’re going to try and break in.”

“All right,” she said. “Just stay safe.”

I kissed her hand and took a few steps, standing outside the ward now with the cop beside me and watching as Clara shut and locked the door. I hated to leave her again, after having spent hours just to reach her, but I had to help secure the camp.

I winked at her through the square foot window in the door.

She mouthed the words,
I love you
.

I nodded and followed the cop out of S-3, making sure the door was closed shut behind me.

We were greeted by a naked infected woman patient. She was walking beside the Plymouth, looking through the broken windows. The bites covering her moving corpse numbered in the hundreds. I would say only twenty percent of her body had any skin intact. It was a tough sight to be an eyewitness to.

She saw the cop first and began to approach him.

Officer Antonio pushed her back. She surprised him by darting like a wild dog.

I ran over and fired a bullet through the side of her head. Her brains made a splat sound as they hit the ground. “Don’t even give them a chance,” I said. “Get them before they get you.” I felt like a goddamn professional creature killer.

We got in the Plymouth, Antonio resting the satchel between us as he started the engine.

“How many buildings are we talking about here?” he said.

“Seven. Two rows of three, that’s where the kids are kept, in those six. There’s a small building in the center, the kitchen, but it should be empty now.”

“All right, I’ll drive you to each one. I’ll wait in the car. You run in, do what you
gotta
do, and get back outside. And be careful. If those guys didn’t answer the phone, then we have to suspect the worse, but I’m not getting out unless you need me to. No point in shutting her off if we’re getting right back in.” I nodded. “Once they’re set, you take the car back here. I’ll stay at those buildings in case they need me.”

I shook my head, “No, you stick with me.”

“Unh-uh, someone stays with those buildings. We can’t abandon them after having warning them of what’s coming. It’s either you or me, and I know you want to get back to that doll of yours.” I didn’t say a word. “I’ll be fine. I’ll keep the ammo and climb up on the roof. That way, I get a better view of what’s down the road.”

“All right then,” I said. “Let’s go.”

Antonio turned the Plymouth around and drove out of the parking lot. As we crossed over the road, I peeked out Antonio’s window, looking for the walking dead, but I saw nothing, they still hadn’t reached the bridge.

Entering the grounds of the children’s camp, I saw that it was empty, peaceful. The six buildings were more like single floor cottages. Inside, they were lined with beds for the patients and had broken toys kept in a corner for them to play with. Also, there was a playground near the kitchen building, but it, like the cottages, was in bad shape.

I checked my revolver for ammo.
Fully loaded.