Siege (As the World Dies #3)(45)

“Die, f*cker,” Lenore said in her low voice from behind the zombie.



The zombie lurched forward and fell onto Ken. Ken began to scream in terror, then realized it was dead. A bolt had shattered the back of its head. The rotting brains slid out in a slimy pile as he shoved the creature off him and struggled to get up.



Grabbing Ken’s arm, Lenore pulled him to his feet. “Run!” He ran with her, stumbling and sliding over the dead bodies littering the floor. He heard growls behind him and glanced over his shoulder to see zombies staggering along behind them. The undead were reaching out with desperate hands as their mouths groaned in hunger.

Running down the hallway, Lenore guided him to the open window. She pushed him forward and it was Dale who lifted him up and through it. Ken clung to him relishing the moment, then Dale set him down and shoved him toward the moving van. Lenore was heavier and harder to lift through the window and the zombies were almost to her, when she finally fell out onto the dry grass. Grabbing her hand, Dale tugged her after him as the zombies filled the window and began to tumble out.

Standing next to the truck, Linda fired at zombies, her shotgun barking loudly.



Ken scrambled into the back of the truck and looked back to see Dale dragging Lenore behind him. The zombies were falling out of the window and struggling to get up. “Hurry! Hurry!” His voice sounded shrill, but he didn’t care.

Dale shoved Lenore up into the truck as Ken pulled on her arms. Lenore cussed at them with impressive insults, but they got her in. Dale slammed the doors shut, securing them.

Within seconds, the moving truck lurched and headed off at top speed.

Silently, Lenore sat down beside Ken on the bench and took his hand.



He sobbed silently beside her. He was surprised to see she was crying too, her big body shivering.

“You are one stupid faggot,” she finally said.

Ken threw his arms around her and wept into her large bosom. “I know!” Clutching him tightly, Lenore rocked him. “I love you, anyway.”

“You saved me,” Ken sobbed. “You saved me. I thought I was gone, but you saved me.”

“No zombie is eatin’ my best friend,” Lenore declared through her tears.

Ken lifted his head. “But...what...oh..God..what about Jenni and the others? They’re still back there!”

Lenore just shook her head. “I don’t know, Ken. I don’t know.”

As the truck headed back to the fort, the two friends clung to each other and hoped for the best for the other team.





3. Death’s Doorway Opens

It was evident from the chaos in the operating rooms that things had gone to hell fairly quickly. Dead bodies lay everywhere. Every single one had a gunshot to the head. Someone had meticulously gone through and killed every single person in ICU. Some, Jenni suspected, had not even been zombies.

“Why kill all of these, but not the ones in the ER?”

“Ran out of time, I suspect,” Bill answered Jenni.

“Can we hurry it up? This place is making my skin crawl,” Felix said from across the room.

“Yeah, this place is damn creepy,” Roger agreed.

Jenni unfolded her map and held it up against the wall to study it. The eerie lighting made her look very pale and almost dead. Roger felt uneasy by her appearance and took a step back.

“Bill, you and me can take care of the stuff in the O.R. Roger, Felix, you get those drugs from the pharmacy,” she said firmly.

Felix studied his map, then nodded. “Let’s roll.” Things were very messy in the operating rooms. They entered very cautiously, but only found dead bodies. The corpses were terribly decomposed and they tried hard not to look at them too closely. Together, Bill and Jenni loaded up operating tools in a bin, careful to get the ones Charlotte had requested.

Bill’s walkie-talkie hissed to life.

“Sorry, Bill. Ken’s my best friend,” Lenore’s voice said.

“What?” Bill fumbled to grab the walkie-talkie off his belt.

“What did she mean?”

“Hell if I know, Jenni.”

Bill was just about to call Lenore back when they heard gunshots down below and what followed turned their blood cold. The bellow of a hundred zombie voices rising.

“We’re out of here,” Bill said firmly.

Jenni slipped the safety off her rifle and grabbed the bin. She followed Bill out into the hallway just as Roger and Felix came running from the direction of the stairs.

“Just run,” Felix hissed.



It was then they heard the footfalls on the stairs. “Shit!” Jenni ran, clutching the gun in one hand and the bin in the other. She could hear the scalpels and other tools rattling around in it, but she didn’t dare drop it. Juan needed these things.

Felix hit a door and shoved it open. They all piled into it and Roger quickly turned and locked it.

“Way out!” Felix ran toward the windows on the far side of the room.



Looking around, Jenni realized they were in some sort of dorm room. Probably for doctors on long shifts. “Felix!” Bill shouted.

The slender man didn’t turn around, but ran across the long room. Sections were curtained off and Jenni realized a form was moving behind one at the far end. She could just make out its silhouette highlighted by the fading sunlight coming through the windows.