When she woke, the entire bed was soaked and her head was pounding mercilessly.
Oh god, I feel like I’m gonna be sick.
She heaved and wretched in the wet hospital bed, but there was nothing but sour bile in her stomach to throw up.
This is real misery
, she thought. She knew there were people suffering all over the world: starving children in Africa, homeless people on the streets and such, but she really felt this was a valid time for a little self-pity.
“My god, I’m going to die here, alone, in a reeking, sweat-soaked hospital bed,” even her voice was hoarse and cracking.
“Well, it’s not all sweat.”
“Oh no,” she sighed, but it was true, she no longer had to pee.
“Didn’t know you were a bed-wetter.”
“God, shut up. I really don’t want to hear it. My head is killing me, literally. I’m dying right now and the last thing I need to hear is criticism from you.”
“Jeez, no need to have a fit. I thought maybe a little encouragement would help you think.”
“Encouragement! Encouragement? Just shut up you dumb bitch!”
“Again, your words.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean anyway?”
A sigh. “I wouldn’t be calling
me
‘dumb bitch,’ when you’re the one talking to yourself. Bitch.”
“Well, frick.” Kala tried to hold herself still and just think. Of course she was talking to herself, she’d been talking to herself for weeks now, maybe a month for all she really knew.
It’s getting worse now though.
No shit, you think?
Oh, so now you’re talking in my head?
Of course I am, I was always in your head.
Leave me alone. My head hurts, and I think I’m going to puke up more acid.
I wouldn’t if I were you. Hey, did you hear that?
Of course, you’re right here with me, I can’t turn you off!
No, not me,
that.
Kala strained to hear anything above the cacophony of pounding in her head. But the world was fuzzy, her brain wouldn’t do what she wanted it to do. She was frustrated, but forced herself into stillness, and as her own voice died down, an odd chrysalism seemed to fall over her.
The sounds of blood rushing in her head became like ocean waves, and it was almost soothing, lulling her into a calm that transcended the pounding of her heat-stroked mind. The dome of soft sound around her expanded out into the building and she could hear wind blowing against the thick steel siding. She heard soft rumbles, many miles away, like thunder.
Then there was a sharp
rap.
It was so jolting that she physically stirred, and her mind fought to keep her in the semi-hypnotic state of calm known elsewhere in the world as Zen. Back to the waves of soft blood rushing in her head, back to the sound of the wind. Then another loud
rap
, followed by the scraping of something hard, maybe a rock, against metal. Now a
bang
, followed by another, then she heard a howling, tussling of scrapes and shouts and bangs, like two dogs fighting against each other.
Then there was a huge
smash,
so loud that it popped the bubble around her and she realized that she was outside of her head again. Then the bang came again, and she actually heard it vibrate in the metal wall of the hangar around her.
“It’s people, Kala, it’s people, they can help us!”
“Help!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. There was silence for a moment.
“Help me! I’m trapped in here!”
Still silence.
“Please, I’m injured!”
Wait, why did I tell them that?
Suddenly the racket outside exploded against the metal and she heard pounding coming in regular frantic bursts, from all around the side of the building where she was tucked away.
Why aren’t they just using the door?
Unless -
She heard one of them howl, a horrible sound that came from a human’s mouth but that no human alive would ever make.
Oh shit.
Then things happened faster than her mind could keep up with. The door at the far side of the hangar banged once, then there was a crash, and a great new flood of light came bursting in from that direction.
“See, I told you it wasn’t night yet.”
“Shut up, it's them! It's the freaking zombie things!”
“Oh shit!”
Shut up, they heard us shouting for help.
Of course they did, we were shouting!
What now?
The things were in the building, Kala could see them. They were blurry because her mind wasn’t working quite right and there was so much stuff she had to look around, but she could see four figures loping in through the hangar, bumping into equipment.
Oh god, I wish I could think straight!
Yeah, if not for the heat stroke thing.
Aah!
And with that, Kala snapped, she had a total freak-out. With all of her strength she bucked and thrashed on the bed, whipping her arms and legs as far as they would go. She was tossing her head from side to side in a spectacular grand mal tantrum.
“I! Don’t! Wanna! Die!” she cried out in exasperation.
She couldn’t even cry tears, for the water was gone from her body. She lifted one arm in front of her face and saw sadly that she wasn’t even sweating anymore. It wouldn’t be long now.
Wait, I lifted my arm?
Only then did Kala see that her right arm was free from the leather restraint.
But how?
She touched the leather cuff to find it slimy and greasy with her own sweat and bodily excretions, her hand and wrist were slimy as well. When she was thrashing around, it must have just pulled right out.
Wow,
she thought, but then realized the raging, near-dead humans,
might as well just call them ‘the dead,’
were trying to find her, their interests renewed by her outburst. Now they were all heading in her direction, and she was still stuck.
As fast as she could with one hand, Kala whipped off the binding from her other wrist and then sat bolt upright in the bed. Her head swam for a moment and she fumbled for one of the ankle restraints.
Aah!
Her hamstrings burned with the unpracticed stretching. Then her vision cleared and she got her fingers around the wide Velcro strap that held the leather in place and ripped it off. Sadly, she was not quick enough.
One of the dead was there, and came crashing through the transparent plastic shield on the other side of Kala’s bed and lunged for her. With no alternative, Kala threw herself off the left side of her bed, tumbling painfully to the floor.
Shit, that's gonna bruise!
She cried out as the IV ripped from her hand and fresh blood charged to the surface. Her one leg was suspended in the air above her, still lashed to the side of the bed.
This confused the creature for a minute, who looked like she was once a very pretty woman with blonde hair and a thin waist, but now that hair was matted with blood. Then the dead woman vaulted onto the bed and saw her on the floor. She howled at Kala and Kala heard the others in the hangar respond.
Holy crap, are they communicating with each other?
The woman leapt down toward her. Kala had nowhere to go, she was still anchored to the bed. Then the woman suddenly stopped in mid-pounce, her head snapping up.
What the - oh my god!
When she jumped at Kala, the woman caught the top of Kala’s IV pole, which had a metal hook for hanging bags of saline solution. She hit the hook face-first and the sharp metal jabbed straight into her eye, propping her head up and keeping her body suspended over Kala like some sort of sick magic trick.
Kala wretched as she watched yellowish fluid sprout from the eye socket. The newly impaled woman roared with anger. Kala snapped out of her daze, and did another hamstring-killing stretch with both arms to reach the last restraint. Her foot came free and she collapsed back to the floor. But only for a moment.
I’m free!
Good, now you better freaking run!
Kala scrambled to her feet and sprinted away from her would-have-been coffin, putting as much distance as she could between her and the woman, who had now been joined by the other figures. They were all screaming and waving wildly, searching for something to attack. Two of them attacked each other. It was horrific and fierce, but brief. They lost interest quickly and then stood still, their heads tilted in the air.
From where Kala hid behind a large incubator, she breathed shallow, ragged breaths.
Oh my god, they’re scenting the air for me!
The hangar was filled with strange human smells, but there was none as pungent as Kala herself, who was soaked in sweat, urine, and three months of shitty hair products. They would soon lock onto her.
What am I going to do?
I need a weapon.
Right, hey, at least we’re thinking as one now.
Huh?
Well, before - ugh, never mind. Weapon, Kala, weapon.
Fight or flight?
Which ones lived? The ones who fought and killed the beast or the ones that ran away and got it in the back?
Shit.
The teachers never really explained that well enough, not for Kala anyway.
Fight it is, zombie motherfuckers!
Kala backed her way farther into the hangar. Unfortunately, she was still moving in a lateral line to the exit, so she was no closer to escape. She kept backing up slowly, watching the dead ones as they scented the air for her. Then her back bumped into something hard and she swiveled around, startled. She had reached a part of the hangar she’d never seen from her bed. It was separated from the patient area by a series of tall plastic office dividers. By slipping behind them she would be out of sight.
So she slowly felt her way along the partition wall until her hand felt a void, which she backed into. Good timing too, because the dead ones had all started focusing their attention in her direction. The woman, into whose face the IV pole was impaled, finally managed to rip the stainless steel hook from her eye socket. The quartet started moving in Kala’s direction. They weren’t moving fast...yet.
Kala turned around to examine the new room - and gasped. She nearly cried and actually dropped down onto her knees. She was in a makeshift break room, and there on a six foot worktable was a partial case of bottled water.
Oh my god, oh thank you god!
Kala grabbed two bottles with one hand, trying not to crinkle the plastic wrapping too much. She flipped the lids off both, and started to guzzle them. She stopped, gurgled, and choked right away, but then her throat reopened and she continued to pour the clear liquid into her gullet. She would be sick as hell from drinking it so fast - but after being this close to death by dehydration and heat stroke, it was good just to get it into her body. She let the first bottle clamor to the ground and cursed herself for her stupidity. She heard the dead ones out there moving things around, and faster, they were getting closer.
Still, she tipped the second bottle into her mouth and willed her throat to open wide as she emptied the contents. It was piss warm, but it was good. It wouldn't bring her temperature down, being so hot, but having water in her body would allow her organs to rehydrate and start working properly. It would also boost the oxygen going to her brain, letting her think more clearly.
With two, twelve ounce bottles of Florida’s Finest spring water in her, Kala finally hunkered down to think, but not before snatching a third bottle from the package. Her hospital gown had no pockets, so she could only hold it. She was going to have to deal with the disgusting gown for a while longer - her first priority was the four killers coming for her now.
I have to take care of them before more come.
She searched the break room. There were no long knives, of course not, it was a break room. Most of the silverware she found was plastic. There was a Keurig single cup coffee maker, again, plastic.
Useless
. A mini fridge also sat on the table. She didn’t even dare open that and find what smelly horrors might be inside. There was nothing in here to help her! W
hat the hell am I going to do
? Then she heard something fall right behind the partition wall.
Crap!
Kala scurried around the long table that held the fridge and water bottles. Behind it, there was an opening between two of the partition walls, so she quickly peeked around the edge, swiftly whipping her head out and then back in.
Shit, I couldn’t see anything.
She had to take the chance, and darted through the space.
Holy crap, sweet!
There was a laundry hamper behind the wall, full of scrubs that would never be laundered. They were lavender in color and made of some type of sturdy cotton.
Whatever, it doesn’t matter.
She picked up the first top she saw, sniffed it - it wasn’t too bad.
Women’s small - freaking perfect
. Then the creatures clattered through the break room and she heard them crash into the table that held the fridge. She quickly grabbed a pair of scrub pants. They had a nasty stain on one leg, but what the hell did that matter now. Her new clothing and water bottle in hand, she crept out of the area behind the break room. The dead ones were not creeping though, and they burst through the partition opening behind her.
Kala saw the woman first, her eye still dripping pus. She saw Kala and screamed, then the whole pack bolted after her. Kala ran, dodged, and ducked through the crowded room as best as she could. She made her way toward the door, searching for any kind of weapon - then she saw it. And stopped dead.
Thank you Florida fire code
. Strapped to one of the many tall jack stands that helped support this building was a fire safety unit, a combination unit that included a fire extinguisher and fire axe in the same pole-mounted glass case.
Kala didn’t waste a moment. Using the hand holding her clothes, she lashed out with a hard right jab. The glass shattered to the floor, and the fire axe leaned out a little.
Now it’s on
, she thought.
But you had better be damned smart about it.
Knock it off, I got this.
She dropped the clothes and the water and picked up the fire extinguisher. She glanced at the meter on top, saw that is was full, and crossed her fingers over her heart.
Help me out with this, Daddy
.
They were coming fast, not in a straight line either, more like a wild pack of dogs, plowing through the equipment in their bloodlust to reach her. Kala whipped the pin out of the extinguisher and stepped forward to face them, knees apart, but only an arm’s length away from the fire axe.
“Aah!” Kala screamed at them, enraging them further with her loud noise, and causing a sudden burst forward. The pack screamed back, the cadaverous woman shaking her head in fury. Ten feet,
not yet,
now six feet, closer,
now!
The woman was two arm lengths away when Kala blasted her with the solid white carbon dioxide foam. It blanketed her face and mouth. Kala sidestepped as the woman continued in the line she was on and fired again. This time she got the obese male with no shirt. He was climbing over a bed when the foam caught him in the face. He fell forward onto the ground, blind and confused.
If they could think, the other two would have acted differently, but that part of their brain wasn’t doing much anymore. Still, they approached from two different angles. Kala backed up and ran into the woman who was still screaming. She let out another long blast of CO2, which missed her target.
Shit.
She had to wait until he was closer. But then the woman turned around and grabbed her shoulder. Kala whipped the extinguisher at her, crushing the woman's head and sending her flying. Then she spun around and let off another blast, which hit the skinny black one in the face. He immediately started clawing at his eyes.
Can't get me if you can't see me, bastard
. Kala had lost track of the fourth one. She glanced at the meter on top of the fire extinguisher.
Maybe one shot left.
Then he landed on top of her. Where he came from she didn’t know, but he flattened her to the ground and swung his fists at Kala, which caught her in the shoulder. She bawled in pain, a bullet had blown apart that shoulder only three months ago. He screamed back at her, then dove at her face with his wide-open mouth. She shoved the end of the extinguisher’s black hose in front of his face and fired the last of it. It caught him square in the mouth. He fell backwards, gagging and gasping, trying to breathe.
After all, they aren’t actually dead, these guys still have to breathe.
Kala dropped the extinguisher, took two steps and freed the fire axe from its mount. She blew out a deep breath and willed the pounding in her head to recede, even a little bit, so that she could focus on the nastiness at hand.
The woman was still alive - ish. She was moving and making some type of vocalizations, but was on the ground and Kala thought she would probably be dead soon enough. She wasn’t an immediate threat. Dead guy number three, who had jumped on her, was her first target. He could see just fine, and even though she’d blasted carbon dioxide into his lungs, he was coming at her again. He shambled toward her, moving quickly, one hand still grappling at his throat. Even so, he was still formidable. He was taller than she was, so Kala took a few steps back, under a steel girder. He hit it once with his head as he advanced, then ducked down to pounce on her. His mouth was open and his teeth, surprisingly white for a zombie, gleamed and dripped sticky saliva. As soon as he ducked beneath the beam, Kala attacked.
She wielded the fire axe like a huge, heavy golf club, swinging it up from the ground until it connected with his face. There was a thick
thunk
and he dropped forward, causing Kala to lurch forward with him. After he hit the ground, she had to step on his face and pull up just to dislodge the axe from the canyon it had created in his maxillae. What was left looked like a dissection gone wrong, and Kala’s stomach rolled at the sight of it. She shook her head and willed her stomach to calm.
He wasn’t a real human anymore Kala, just a monster.
And
,
I need that water I just put in there, so no throwing up!
From her left side came a crash as the skinny black zombie caught the edge of a table with his foot. He was sneaking up on her.
Really? Actually sneaking?
That’s disturbing.
Instead, he fell right in front her.
Ha!
Her inner bitch chuckled.
“Wow, bad call I guess,” she told the man before bringing the spiked end of the axe down on his head like a club. The sharpened point drove through his skull, piercing the parietal bone with ease. The body wracked and retched a little, then thankfully stilled. Again, she had to step on the poor fool just to pry her axe from its head.
I’ve got to stop hitting them in the head,
she thought,
this is ridiculous!
Kala glanced over to the woman, who was still making some noises on the floor.
I should put her out of her misery,
she thought.
I wonder if they feel pain
. She briefly thought of her father. Briefly, because a moment later she was flying through the air, sailing over a table and landing against a large stainless steel cabinet. She slumped to the ground. The axe fell to the concrete floor and darkness crept over her vision.
*****
Everything went completely black and a loud clang echoed through her already aching head. Then the light came rushing back and Kala saw the big, fat one she’d hit with the extinguisher barreling toward her. When he got close, he swung his foot, intending to drop kick her head off. Kala lurched to the side and the man’s foot only caught her in the shoulder. Thankfully not the one through which she'd been shot. Still, the pain was incredible, and her right arm went instantly numb, useless.
She fumbled on the ground for the axe she had dropped, but the big man was standing on it now. He swung down at her with softball-sized fists, so Kala shrieked and dove forward, shooting past him and sliding under a table. He was fast and spun around after her, now fully intent on her demise. He heaved the table across the room with a single hand. She could hear his heavy panting, it was too hard, too fast.
His heartbeat must be blasting out of control
, she thought,
he’s going to have a heart attack.
Then, genius struck her. She hopped up off the floor and vaulted over onto the next hospital bed. As she did, she cried out loudly. Bizarre animal sounds, screams, anything she could think of and as loud as she could. For some reason these things hated loud noises. The big man followed her as fast as he could, using his brute strength to knock away everything in his path. Kala jumped from the bed to a table, then vaulted over the chair, screaming her battle cries the entire tire.
Still her pursuer came, gaining on her quickly despite his great size. He was roaring in anger, and it sometimes even sounded like words. But Kala could hear something else. His heavy breathing was rapidly turning into pained wheezing as his lungs struggled to keep up with the unreasonable stress his body was trying to put on them. He simply had too much mass to deliver oxygen to his heart at this rate of intensity.
He’s without a doubt anaerobic, now let’s finish this.
Kala rolled over a steel medical cart, sending it skittering behind her as she fell off, then she looked down a long aisle. This is where the staff would always walk along pushing carts or patients so it was pretty accessible - and long. She could see clear to the other end of the hanger now, almost a hundred yard straight shot. And there at the other end, was the door. She glanced behind her just long enough to see fat bastard crash through a cluster of IV stands, momentarily derailed by the confusion of clear lines, before he just plowed through, dragging them along behind him.
“Aah!” Kala screamed at him, and then she ran. The door was right there. She was no star athlete like Abigail had been, but she was young, and tough. She dug her bare feet in and sprinted, which in her condition was more like a slow jog. She may have been strong at one time, but three months of being stuck in a bed had sapped her strength and weakened her muscles. That and the burning pain from her chest wound had become unignorable. There must have still been some damage that hadn’t fully healed yet from the surgeries.
Nevertheless, Kala ran, her feet burning with the friction from the floor, her head pounding in agony. She was still in the early stages of heat stroke and needed cool air and more water. The door was getting closer now but she could hear big man closing on her. Just then, a giant, meaty arm cracked her in the back and sent her sprawling forward. She landed on her side and rolled over to see him advancing.