23 Hours: A Vengeful Vampire Tale(28)

Caxton knelt down in front of the CO, her hands still up and visible. “We just need to think about this, okay? What’s the next step of your protocol? It’s got to be to lock down the unit. To close that door.”

She looked over at the heavy reinforced door that was the only way in or out of the SHU. Harelip followed her gaze.

“Shit,” the female CO said. She was breathing heavily. “Down. Now.”

Caxton nodded and dropped to her belly, weaving the fingers of her hands together behind her head. She could just crane her head far enough up to watch Harelip run back inside her guard post and slam the palm of her hand against a big red button on her control panel. A buzzer sounded and the reinforced door started to slide along its tracks.

Beyond the door something moved. Caxton heard rubber boots squeaking on a cement floor, running right toward her. There had to be more half-deads out there, she realized. They’d been waiting, maybe waiting for Harelip to get Caxton into her cell. Now that the door was closing they were in a real hurry to get inside.

The door kept sliding closed. But it was taking its time.

“Faster,” Caxton breathed. “Faster!”

It did no good. The door was designed to close slowly so that anyone standing in the doorway would have plenty of time to get out of the way.

Outside, the footsteps were coming closer. It was dark out there, but Caxton thought she could see something moving, moving toward her.

“Come on,” she said. “Come on!”

The door was still open by a foot when the first half-dead thudded against it from the far side. They hammered and beat on it, making a rattling, clattering noise. Then one of them had the bright idea to try to slip through the door as it closed. A hand speckled with blood came through the gap, followed by a shoulder wearing the brown patch of a Pennsylvania corrections officer.

The door kept closing. Caxton watched as the half-dead’s arm came farther inside the SHU—and then as the door crushed it. The half-dead squealed in terror and tried to pull its arm back, but the door was still closing.

It clanged shut when it reached the end of its rails. There was no blood, but the half-dead’s severed forearm, still inside the SHU, dropped with a wet sound on the cement floor.

Then it started dragging itself across the floor. Using its fingers as legs, it pulled along the severed stump behind it. It was crawling toward Caxton where she lay on her belly, intent, she was sure, on no good.

“Holy f*ck,” Harelip shouted, and came running out of her guard post. “What the hell is that thing?”

“I tried to tell you,” Caxton said, losing some of her patience. She jumped up and ran over to stamp on the crawling hand until she broke the finger bones and stopped it from moving. “This is not just a riot. This is not just an escape attempt. The prison is under attack by unnatural, evil creatures.”

Harelip stared hard at her. Her nostrils were flaring.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “There are no exceptions. During emergencies prisoners must remain in their cells. The warden will send special teams to remove us when it’s safe, and get us to a secure place.”

“Special teams. You mean teams of COs?” Caxton asked.

“Yes, stupid,” Harelip said, scowling.

“You mean—like Murphy? Maybe like the one who gave us this?” she demanded, stamping again on the hand, which was still trying to wriggle around her bare foot. “He was wearing a CO’s uniform, too.”

Harelip might have responded with a curse, or by hitting Caxton with her baton. She didn’t get a chance, however. The buzzer sounded again, and the reinforced door started to slide back open on its rails.





15.

What’s happening?” Caxton asked, as the main door of the SHU inched open. She could hear the half-deads on the other side beating on it and laughing. At any moment it would be wide enough for them to squeeze through. She had no doubt there were a lot of them, and they would all be armed.

Harelip ran back inside the guard post and slammed the red button with her palm again. The door didn’t stop in its tracks. She hit it again, still with no result. Caxton could see her cursing inside the guard post. She came running back out with her baton drawn.

“They’ll have knives,” Caxton said, staring at the CO’s truncheon. “They’ll outnumber us. We have to get the door closed again—what’s going on?”

Harelip scowled. “Every door in the facility can be opened or closed remotely. In case of a riot a unit or dorm can be locked down from central command. Somebody—one of those things—must have gotten to the control board and sent down the emergency evacuation signal. That opens all the doors in this wing.”