The Hospital

Boom

The reanimated, frothing and gritting teeth, crawled towards Jack's head. Unconscious officer of the law presented an easy meal, and the salivating ghoul was determined not to miss this savoury opportunity. He leaned forward, jaws wide open when suddenly fire axe pick landed through the back of his head, stopping the creature in its tracks.

Ian pulled the axe out, with heavy boot unceremoniously pushed still convulsing body to the side, turned around and yelled to Mark, "Cover us! It looks like our friend here decided to go for a nap!"

"Sure thing," Mark grunted, swinging his axe against another snarling head that appeared above the edge of the barricade. The blade almost split it in half resulting stream of blood and brain matter spilling out before the remains of once attractive woman disappeared from the view. The firemen already cleared their corner of the barrier, leaving a pile of nearly dozen corpses, some still twitching but none standing.

"Come on, buddy, wake the heck up!" Jack heard the voice saying and slowly opened his eyes to the tired, familiar face leaning over him. His senses finally kicked in, and the officer scrambled to his feet, still dazzled from the impact.

"Damn, thought I was a goner," Jack muttered, scratching the back of his head where he could feel a bulging lump. He noticed the corpse with mauled head next to him. "That was close. Thanks, Ian."

"Don't mention it." Ian winked and turned around to assist Mark. He was too late. Right before his eyes, agile male in a ripped, stained shirt and dirty, soiled underwear appeared on top of the barricade. Unnoticed, he hurdled over the heap of bodies, ran straight into Mark and knocked him down. The ghoul didn't waste a second ripping into Mark's throat before fireman could react. He tore out chunks of muscle and tissue, severing both lingual and thyroid arteries.

"MARK!" Ian leapt forward, his axe already cutting through the air. Sharp blade separated upper half of ghoul's head from the rest of the body. The creature froze sitting on top of the bleeding fireman, with pieces of Mark's flesh still in its mouth. Ian grabbed the corpse by the shirt collar and threw him off the barricade while Mark, battling shock and pain, pressed against the open wound with both hands. Blood oozed through his fingers, forming a growing pool around his neck as he looked at Ian with eyes full of fear. He tried to say something but just gasped for air, his breathing speeding up.

"Just hold it there, buddy," Ian tried to comfort him, but within seconds Mark was gone.

"Watch out!" Jack stepped in front of both firemen and raised his shield right before another infected slammed against it. He had no time to find his crowbar and now was left with a thin yet sturdy piece of plastic as his only defence against snapping jaws. Jack grunted from the contact but managed to hold his footing. "Ian! Might need your help here!" he uttered bracing himself and pushed the attacker back noticing a large kitchen knife sticking out of ghoul's chest. The reanimated repeatedly threw himself against the shield, each time driving the blade deeper into his body. Yet, the attacker wasn't bothered by it. As Jack stared back at this pale, lifeless face snarling at him through the shield, for a brief moment, he could swear this face looked somewhat familiar, as if he knew the man. But there was no time to dwell on it.

Jack took a step back and at the same time, turned the right edge of his shield inwards. The manoeuvre forced the ghoul to slide to the side, exposing the handle of the knife. With words, "Let me fix that for you," Jack grabbed the handle, pulled the knife out and plunged it back straight through the attacker's left eye socket, deep enough to penetrate the brain. "Now, much better!"

The infected staggered and stopped his advance. He moaned one more time before losing control of his legs and as if his inner switch has just been turned off fell backwards into the crowd, taking the knife with him.

"Just bloody great," Jack quietly cursed at his clumsiness. Once again ending up weaponless, he watched as another ghoul appeared in front of him, ready to charge. But not before Ian's axe changed his plans.

"You're welcome, Jack!" Ian mumbled and pulled his weapon out of the corpse before pushing it off the roof. "Grab Mark's axe. I will cover you."

"It's the second time today, man!" Jack thanked the fireman.

"As many as it takes," Ian said, taking a step closer to the edge of the barricade.

Jack didn't reply. He knew perfectly well how Mark's death affected Ian. Now was not the time to mourn and offer his condolences. There would be time for it later if they managed to get through this nightmare in one piece which seemed less likely with each passing minute. For now, sturdy fireman's rage was what they needed.

"Come on, you filthy bastards!" Ian roared at the creatures scrambling to the top of the barricade. Firmly holding his bloodied axe, he welcomed them, "Come and get some!"

And the infected happily obliged. And not as if the reanimated had any opinion on the matter. Driven by rage and hunger, ghouls had the only goal in their rotting brains: to get to the living.

Jack scrambled to pick up Mark's axe. The young man wouldn't need it anymore, but they still had plenty of work to do, and Jack joined Ian to face another incoming wave of death.

On the opposite side of the barricade, Archie Frost, the youngest officer on the force, fired his Remington 870 shotgun at the male with an open gut wound. The infected, dragging his intestines was nearly upon Archie when the shell turned the contents of his head into a bloody mess, sending the rest of the body back where it came from. Instantly, another reanimated, this time, a woman in a dirty blouse took his place and charged at the officer. Archie aimed at her and pulled the trigger, but the weapon clicked dry. Cursing, he turned shotgun around and slammed the butt-stock in the centre of the woman's face. The impact, followed by a loud crack was strong enough to force her to stop. Blood gushed out from her nose and mouth as she staggered from the punch, but the pause was brief. The woman jerked her head, groaned, reached out and charged at Archie again, completely ignoring her otherwise debilitating injuries.

"Why don't you back off!" Archie yelled in disbelief and swung his shotgun again, this time straight into her clutches. Next thing the young officer felt was the collision sending him off his feet to the roof of the car and his attacker all over him.

"Oh shit!" Archie yelped and instinctively placed hands between them. Frothing just inches from his face the wriggling woman drilled her index finger through Archie's right eye socket. The jolt of sharp pain shot up his brain. The young officer screamed in agony and loosened his hold long enough for the ghoul to sink her broken teeth into his face. She ripped off his nose and most of the upper lip, gauging on it. The taste of warm blood spilling all over her victim enraged and excited her even more. With unbelievable strength, she pressed Archie down and groaned ready for another bite. The cry froze in her deformed mouth as the bullet hole appeared in her forehead, sending contents of her head through the back of her skull. Her twisted body went limp on top of convulsing Archie.

One of the senior officers Rick Majors, guarding the hospital's entrance, lowered his smouldering handgun and ran to the barricade. He grabbed Archie by the collar and pulled both of them down. Archie was still alive but in bad shape.

"Get him inside"! Rick shouted and pushed the dead woman to the side while a couple of volunteers standing by the entrance approached with a stretcher. There was no time to waste as another moaning head appeared over the edge of the barricade. Their line of defence was crumbling, cracks appearing along the ridge. Rick raised his weapon and fired, ending the reanimated before he could get any closer. His eyesight wasn't the best anymore, yet the aim was still good enough. Cursing and swearing, Rick climbed up to the top of the barrier. He was down to his last magazine.

"How is Murph?" Billy Reynolds asked over the shoulder. He reloaded his gun, just as a thin, tall male rose before him. The ghoul reached out with bloodied stump that used to be his right hand. Billy pulled the trigger, and ghoul's head disappeared in the cloud of red mist.

"He'll live!" Phil replied, standing in front of his injured brother with a metal pipe in his hands. He was about to face a pair of reanimated clambering to the top nearby. Phil was bigger and physically stronger than Murph. He wielded his heavy metal pipe with ease, though his aim wasn't as good. It took him several hits to send both uninvited guests with mauled limbs and crushed ribs back to where they came from.

"Damn it hurts, man!" Murph groaned behind him. He pressed against the wound with both hands, trying to slow down the bleeding but the thick red liquid oozed through his fingers with increasing intensity.

"Dad, he's bleeding out"! Phil yelled to Billy and glanced over the shoulder to check on his brother. In mere seconds a pair of hands reached out and grabbed Phil by his ankles.

"Phil! Watch out!" Billy tried to warn him, but he was too late. Right in front of his eyes, Phil was knocked off his feet while more hands reached him and pulled closer the edge of the barricade.

"Let go of me!" Phill yelled in despair, smashing his pipe against the clutches, but there were too many.

"Hold on!" Ignoring his injuries, Murph turned around and grabbed his brother by the armpits. He braced himself, but the pull of the horde was too strong and dragged him along with Phill. In split seconds both brothers vanished under the crowd below.

"My boys!" Unable to believe his eyes, Billy yelled and dashed towards his screaming sons, when another attacker ran straight into him. The crash sent them both flying off the barricade towards the main entrance. Billy landed on top of snarling ghoul who absorbed most of the fall damage. Ignoring his opponent, Billy scrambled to his feet, caring only for his sons. He could hear their screams while dozens of mindless killers tore into their flesh.

"My boys!" Billy howled again and rushed to them, oblivious to the creature glued to his leg, frantically chewing on his left calf. But it was too late for the boys. The horde made short work of them both and their screams lasted just a brief moment before falling silent.

Jack was close enough to notice the gap in their defence line left by Billy and his sons. Ghouls quickly used this opportunity, and Jack could see some of them getting over the top of the barrier. In the meantime, he had to deal with an urgent, pressing matter in the shape of a chubby but surprisingly agile infected smashing against his shield.

"Shaun, close the god damned gap!" Jack yelled to the man closest to the breach. He witnessed Shaun handling himself well earlier, and few more ghouls should not be a problem for a trained ex-military. He wasn't aware that Shaun just emptied his last magazine and was left only with the combat knife. Still, Shaun acknowledged Jack's request and after quickly calculating odds did, in his opinion, the only reasonable thing given the circumstances. A fragmentation grenade appeared in his hand, eyes locked at the group of ghouls gathered at the base of the barricade. He would throw it close enough to do the maximum damage to the horde but far enough to allow remaining defenders to duck behind the barrier. At least that was his plan. But plans tend to alter and sometimes in most unpredictable and savage ways.

Yelling, "Everyone, get cover!", Shaun pulled out the grenade pin with his teeth. Before he could throw it, a man appeared out of nowhere and bit him in the right wrist, the one holding now "hot" explosive. Shaun let his guard down long enough for the infected to reach him. Unable to shake the ghoul off, he drove his combat knife in his left hand through ghoul's right temple but tripped and fell on his back with the now-dead creature on top of him. Jaws still firmly latched onto Shaun's right wrist loosened the grip and the grenade rolled out of his grasp. It fell in the gap between piled-up vehicles.

"Shit…" was Shaun's last word before the thunder of the explosion echoed, engulfing the surrounding area in the dust of debris and deadly fragments.

Standing some distance, still struggling with his persistent opponent, Jack could only observe the unfolding misfortune. He instinctively stepped to the side, forcing the chubby ghoul to move between him and the epicentre of the explosion. It helped to shield him from the incoming fragments but did little in absorbing the shockwave. The force of the blast threw Jack off the barricade, and the last thing he saw before blacking out again was a mass of squirming and wriggling bodies pouring through the breach in the middle of the barricade. Their last line of defence failed.

To be continued