The Hospital

Aftermath

Following Jimmy's orders, deputy Judith Dalton found officers Paul Mitchem and Nathan Parkstone guarding the main entrance. They stepped outside as soon as Rendal and a small group of volunteers caught up with them. They made as far as halfway across the inside perimeter when the shockwave from the grenade explosion knocked Judith to the ground, leaving her gasping for air and with ringing eardrums. For a brief moment, she felt as if the time itself has stopped. Then someone's hand grabbed her by the shoulder.

"On your feet now, sunshine," Rendal's voice echoed above as he pulled her up.

"What the hell happened?" Judith mumbled, still stunned and disoriented from the blast.

"An idiot with the grenade happened," Rendal replied and nudged her, encouraging to move.

"Get back inside!" Someone shouted as the dust finally began to settle, revealing grim details of the aftermath. Few of the volunteers who just seconds ago followed Judith now lay dead, hit by the shrapnel. Others rolled on the pavement moaning in pain.

"Watch out!" Rendal yelled and pushed Judith away while one of the infected suddenly appeared in front of her and closed the distance within arms reach. Drooling zombie opened his mouth and moaned just as Rendal's axe sliced through his neck, sending the creature tumbling to the dusty ground.

More snarls and screeches echoed nearby. Someone ahead screamed for help while two ghouls tore into poor bastard's flesh. With her senses slowly returning Judith instinctively tried to unholster her sidearm but a jolt of sharp pain shot up her right arm. Only now she noticed her uniform sleeve soaking wet and blood dripping down the elbow. One of the grenade's fragments must have hit her to the right shoulder, causing severe damage and bleeding.

"Goddamit," she cursed and tried to unholster the gun with her left hand, but shivering fingers wouldn't listen.

"I suggest you run to safety, madame!" Rendal growled and pushed her towards the entrance. Too weak to resist, she complied while Rendal stepped in front of her just as another human shape rushed him. Rendal forced the zombie to the side and swung his axe but missed the head and broke the attacker's spine instead. The reanimated dropped down, his body violently convulsing yet full of determination. Rendal ended his misery with a second strike and looked up. Some of the undead went for the wounded people on the ground while a small group locked their attention exclusively on him.

"Oh no, not my kind of odds," Rendal muttered, turned around and ran.

As Judith rushed through the entrance, she noticed officers Mitchem and Parkstone along with a handful of others already inside. Most were covered in dust and bruises, trying to get back to their senses.

"Incoming!" Rendal's voice exploded as he bolted through open doors right after Judith, chased by a group of zombies. Before anyone realised what was happening, the undead scattered around going for the nearest prey. Screams and yells mixed with gunshots erupted across the reception area as the people and monsters clashed in deadly battle. Two of the creatures noticed Judith and dashed after her, ignoring the unfolding chaos around.

"Get out of here before you bleed out, you silly lassie!" Rendal yelled to her and charged towards the undead couple.

Under normal circumstances, Judith would have told any man off, who dared to speak to her in such manner, but the current situation was far from normal, and Rendal was right. She already felt nauseous and weak from severe blood loss and not much of a fighter. So she turned around and ran towards the corridor connecting the reception area to the rest of the hospital and hopefully help, while still frantically trying to unholster her weapon.

With an upward motion, Rendal hit the closest reanimated to the left knee. The screeching infected lost his balance and crashed into one of the nearby benches. His running days were over. Before Rendal could intercept the second zombie chasing after Judith, a third ghoul ran straight into him and hit the old man like a ton of bricks. The impact knocked Rendal off his feet at the same time pushing air out of his lungs. A shirtless chubby man with ghastly chest wound surprisingly quickly ended up on top of him, ready to claim his pound of flesh.

"Oh, you stinky bastard!" Rendal grunted gasping for air and placed the axe's handle between him and the infected to block his bite. Ghoul's jaws snapped inches away from Rendal's face when the gun appeared next to his left temple, and officer Parkstone pulled the trigger, effectively shutting the chubby man down.

"You all right, old man? Nathan asked and offered his hand to get up.

"Saved by the bell, officer" Rendal groaned accepting the gesture. The battle inside the reception ended almost as quickly as it started and Rendal counted corpses of eight now really dead zombies sprawled around. He also noticed the bodies of two defenders. Most of the other survivors got away with minor scratches and bruises. But the fight wasn't over yet as groans and moans outside intensified meaning only one thing: the remaining horde was approaching.

"I think it's time to close those doors, officer," Rendal said to Nathan and pointed towards the entrance.

"There are still people outside." Nathan shook his head.

"Tough shit for them, son," Rendal said already walking towards the doors. "If they are still outside, they won't be alive for long. And I hadn't my share of fun yet."

When the grenade went off, officer Rick Majors was further to the epicentre's left; still the shockwave almost knocked him off the barricade. Others weren't so lucky. Some of the defenders were caught up in the blast and thrown to the ground. Few now rolled in pain or suffered from a concussion. The explosion did little to slow the infected though. Ignoring injuries from shrapnel and debris, they continued their onslaught, and Rick caught a glimpse of a handful of them already inside the perimeter attacking disoriented people. He watched as the group led by Judith retreated to the building, chased by a small gathering of the undead. With the barricade's section now collapsed, the horde's main bulk almost instantly changed the charge's direction. It rushed towards a newly formed gap like a stream of ants after discovering an easier path to a destination. Two of the volunteers were unfortunate enough to end up right in front of the breach, and the horde swarmed them, shredding to pieces.

"Everyone get back inside!" Rick shouted and rolled down the barricade forgetting his age and tiredness. Their line of defence failed and staying outside would be suicidal. He didn't have to repeat as three nearest survivors abandoned their positions and scrambled towards the main entrance. Only two made it the door. The young man hesitated one second too long, and three ghouls snatched him before he could retreat. He pleaded for help, but there was no one left to help him.

Billy Reynolds fell to his knees near the inside perimeter's centre with the zombie still firmly latched to his leg, just as Rick was running past him. He didn't care anymore, just watched as the ravenous horde squabbled over the bodies of two unlucky souls in front of him.

"Get up, idiot!" Rick grunted and pulled Billy up. He kicked the chewing zombie to the head, forcing the ghoul to let go of Billy's leg. Before the undead could take another bite, Rick put the bullet through his head and dragged Billy towards the sliding glass entrance doors. He noticed officers Parkstone and Mitchem were about to close them.

"Wait for us!" Rick yelled. He struggled since Billy wasn't helping much to save his skin. Suddenly, a growling snarl forced Rick to turn around to see a man missing half his face and left arm charging at them. Rick raised his gun and pulled the trigger drilling the hole in the attacker's forehead. He just expended his last round. Some of the zombies fighting over the remains of the dead volunteers finally noticed them and dashed after.

"Move, goddammit!" Rick cursed and shoved Billy inside, at the same time bracing for an impact as the nearest ghoul rammed into him from behind, sending all three rolling across the floor.

"Shut the doors!" Rendal ordered well aware that some of the survivors were still outside. But there was nothing they could do to save them. Officers Mitchem and Parkstone sealed the entrance not one moment to soon, just as the first infected slammed against the door's glass surface. With rage and determination, the creature covered in blood and dust tried to push his way through the invisible wall. His groans and moans attracted others, and a growing number of the undead now rushed to the building, quickly spreading along the windowed facade.

"Need some help, officer?" Rendal asked, standing above Rick. He grabbed the snarling zombie by the collar and dragged away before splitting his head open with the axe.

"Thanks," Rick grunted and scrambled to his still shaky feet.

"I see you dragged that loudmouth Billy Reynolds with you?" Rendal pointed to Billy kneeling on the floor. "Very kind of you."

"He was blocking my escape route," Rick mumbled and looked at the windows. Surprisingly, apart from some minor cracks, none were broken, but more fractures began to appear as the crowd grew. Having finished with the defenders outside, the undead mob now dedicated their full attention to the people inside.

"The glass won't hold," Rick whispered and looked around. "Get those benches against the windows!" He shouted loud enough to get everyone's attention and grabbed the side of the nearest row of seats. "We have to create a choking point if we want to have a fighting chance!"

"Now that's what I am talking about!" Rendal shook his axe with enthusiasm and placed it against the wall. "You heard the man, gentlemen," he added and without being asked, grabbed the other end of the heavy bench. "Don't's just stand there! Get to it!"

The defenders quickly spread across the reception area and started dragging chairs, benches and furniture towards the windows.

Suddenly the sliding door's upper glass partition broke to pieces and almost instantly a forest of hands reached through the opening, clutching at the people inside. Moaning and pushing each other undead were determined to get in.

"You two, don't let them in!" Rick ordered Parkstone and Mitchem standing close to the door and grabbed another bench. Some of the windows also began to shatter from the growing pressure. They were running out of time.

Both officers stepped closer to the breach and opened fire, taking carefully placed headshots as undead faces came into their view. With crowd pressing from behind, standing corpses started to pile up with no space for them to fall.

"Just like turkey shooting," Rendal grunted with satisfaction, dragging another bench.

"Don't hold your breath," Rick said shoving heavy chair towards the cracked window next to the entrance doors. Parkstone stood right in front of it when the window imploded, and the infected poured inside.

"Nathan, step back!" Rick yelled to Parkstone, but it was too late. The undead crowd trampled over the first few ghouls stuck on the shards of glass, knocked the officer down before he could get away and tore into his flesh.

"Hold on!" Mitchem stepped closer to help and fired the nearest zombie to the head when the rest of the door glass finally shattered under the mounting pressure. Bodies of dead ghouls fell right on top of him burying the man under their weight. Rick could do nothing but witness as the mass of convulsing and determined mindless killers now streamed inside unhindered, scattering around and attacking everyone in their path.

"To hell with it," someone shouted in the back and Rick saw one of the weary civilians running away through the corridor. The man had enough.

"Get back!" Rick ordered. "We have to push them back!"

But the man didn't listen. Fighting against overwhelming odds wasn't everyone's thing.

Rick cursed and unclipped his police baton. Standing in the middle of the reception, he watched the unfolding massacre. To his right, a group of infected rushed one of the defenders armed with nothing but a metal bar. The man had no chance as the creatures pushed him to the floor, biting and scratching. Other survivors tried to come to his aid but soon were overwhelmed, while the number of attackers grew. Another civilian went down shooting at the undead piling up on top of him to Rick's left. Few other volunteers turned around and ran filled with dread and panic. He also felt the growing urge to run, but his sense of duty would never allow him to retreat. Rick instinctively took a few steps. It was just him and Rendal left standing against an increasing number of foes in less than a minute.

"Looks like this is it," Rendal said quietly, tightening his grip on the axe's handle.

"Looks like it," Rick replied and braced for the inevitable.

To be continued