The Hospital

Turmoil

"Sherrif, what's happening out there?" A frightened woman asked Jimmy the moment he entered the cramped waiting room area packed with people. A small group of armed men followed him but only a few carried personal firearms; most were equipped with metal bars, wrenches and pipes. One elderly gentleman was dragging a fire extinguisher he plucked off the wall somewhere.

"We heard an explosion. Is the army coming to rescue us?" The woman kept asking. With arms wrapped around a teenage girl, she gazed towards the corridor on the opposite side of the room leading to the reception area and the main entrance.

Jimmy also heard rumours from incoming refugees about the military presence on the town's outskirts, but he hadn't seen a single piece of evidence to support those claims until now. Maybe they were right after all?

"Sheriff, please tell us what's going on? The woman was adamant about getting answers. And she wasn't the only one asking. In seconds other frightened survivors surrounded Jimmy, shouting over each other, demanding explanations. Confusion and fear swept across the already overcrowded room while shouts and gunshots echoing from the far end of the corridor added even more fuel to the mounting panic.

"I am about to find out, ma'am," Jimmy replied as calm as possible and unholstered his weapon. "In the meantime, please take your girl and move further to the back of the building. Just in case."

The woman quickly nodded and encouraged her daughter to move. "Go on, honey, do as the sheriff says."

Jimmy turned to others. "This applies to the rest of you too, folks! Move away from the corridor in an orderly manner until we figure out what's going on out there."

"And what if those monsters get inside, Sherrif?" Somebody asked. "What then?"

"It was clearly an explosion!" Another voice shouted. "Something went wrong!"

"Just try to take it easy, folks." Jimmy tried to sound reassuring. The last thing he needed right now was mass panic.

"They broke through!" Someone yelled. "They are inside already!"

This was the last straw. Like a matchbox set on fire, the crowd erupted in screams and yells, and terrified people instinctively rushed away from the impending danger, trampling over each other. The situation spiralled out of control much faster than Jimmy anticipated. He had to do something. Jimmy raised his handgun to the ceiling and fired. It did the trick forcing everyone around him to freeze for a moment.

"Everyone listen to me!" Jimmy said with a firm voice. "Calm the fuck down! If they broke through, we would push them back!"

"And if you can't push them back? An elderly man asked. "What will happen to us?"

Jimmy exhaled before answering. "There's nowhere else for us to retreat. So we have no choice but to push them back. And it's up to all of us now. That means women and children move to the back, and men follow me!"

"I am not leaving my family," a middle-aged man protested.

"Then go hide behind them if you can," Jimmy replied bluntly. Not everyone was cut out for bravery, and he didn't have time for persuasions. "I'm not going to ask twice. Do, what you think is right," he said already rowing through the crowd towards the corridor. Some of the survivors answered his call and joined the group of volunteers following him while others started retreating in the opposite direction, this time in a more orderly fashion. As Jimmy finally reached the doors separating waiting room and the corridor, a familiar voice yelled in despair followed by four consecutive shots.

"Hold on!" Fearing the worst Jimmy pushed the doors and rushed inside, hoping he wasn't too late.

***

"Come on, come on, come one, damn it!" Judith mumbled as she ran through the corridor, trying to unholster her sidearm with the left hand. A quick glimpse over the shoulder revealed her pursuer gaining on her. A large piece of wood was sticking out of zombie's chest, and he wheezed as the air escaped through the punctured lung, but unlike Judith, the infected wasn't bothered by his injury and rapidly closed the distance.

The wave of dizziness forced Judith to lean against the wall as she struggled to stay on her feet. By now, she lost too much blood. The door to the waiting area was another twenty feet away, and she wasn't sure she had enough juice left in her to cover the distance. Out of breath and options, Judith finally managed to unholster her sidearm and turned around to face her opponent. The ghoul was right behind her, and she instantly pulled the trigger, hitting the infected to the chest. The creature croaked from the impact but didn't stop. With shivering hand she pulled the trigger again, this time missing the target entirely.

"Goddamit!" Yell of desperation escaped Judith's mouth as she fell backwards discharging her weapon for the third time. As she hit the hard surface, the handgun slipped out of her weak grasp and slid across the floor. The third round went straight through ghoul's left kneecap, throwing him off balance. The zombie lost footing, first hit the wall then collapsed face down in front of the injured officer. The piece of wood pierced through his ribcage, damaging the spine. Moaning undead raised his head and tried to stand up, but his paralyzed legs wouldn't listen, so he grabbed screaming Judith by the right ankle instead and pulled closer, snapping his jaws.

"Get off me, you piece of shit!" Judith yelled and drove her left shoe into ghoul's face. She kept hitting the undead as he slowly moved closer, at the same time with her left hand reaching for the gun. She finally grabbed the handle just as the infected crawled on top ready to bite.

With words, "eat this!" Judith shoved the gun between ghoul's jaws and pulled the trigger blasting out his brains. His heavy corpse slumped on top of her pushing all air out of her lungs. Coughing and gasping Judith didn't have any strength left to shove her heavy burden to the side. All she could do now was scream for help and hope someone would come.

***

Jack groaned from stabbing pain in his left shoulder. He tried to open his eyes but struggled to raise heavy eyelids as if they were filled with lead. Jack coughed out dust and attempted to take a deep breath but not before someone's hand pressed hard against his mouth and nose, cutting off oxygen's supply. His survival instincts finally kicked in, and he wriggled trying to set himself free.

"Keep quiet, Jack," Ian's voice whispered to his ear and released the grip enough for Jack to be able to breathe again. It took the injured officer a few more seconds to process this information before looking up at the fireman and nodding as a sign of understanding. Without entirely removing his hand Ian shook his head towards what appeared to be a group of people by the base of the barricade and added, "and don't make any sudden moves if you want us both to live."

Jack still struggled to see clearly, but the blurriness slowly faded away, revealing a gruesome picture before his very eyes. Three infected kneeled around one of the defenders and chewed on his intestines. The severely injured man was still alive and semi-conscious yet unable to offer any resistance while the ghouls slowly devoured his insides. Jack could do nothing but listen to his weak moans and deep inside wished this poor soul a swift death. Exhausted from the battle and subsequent blast, he had no strength left, and part of him wanted for it all to end. Jack tried to move his legs to discover he was buried waist-deep in the rubble on the barricade's slope.

Ian noticed Jack's squirming and increased pressure on his mouth. "Don't' fucking move, or they see us," the fireman hissed and turned Jack's head towards the hospital's entrance besieged by a large group of undead. One glimpse was enough for Jack to freeze. There was no chance of either of them surviving if the crowd noticed them.

Suddenly the cacophony of sounds exploded in his head as the concussion began to recede, replacing the silence with a thunder of gunshots mixed with the uproar of moans, screeches and snarls of the horde trying to force their way inside the building. Trying to catch his breach, Jack managed to look around. The inside perimeter was teaming with infected feeding on the dead and wounded defenders. Most were gathering by the entrance, and their numbers grew as more zombies trickled through the breach in the barricade wall.

Jack caught a glimpse of a man slowly standing up from under the pile of broken furniture pieces. The unlucky bastard noticed the danger too late. He raised his handgun and managed to shoot down two nearest ghouls before others swarmed him to the ground.

"Get off me, you savages!" The man screamed, trying to fight them off, but with little success. Loud slurping and chewing soon replaced his screams. And again, Jack could do nothing but watch. His gaze went back to the unlucky wounded man in front of them, and Jack felt a slight relief seeing him already past away. Shortly after the infected left his mangled remains and joined the crowd by the entrance.

Suddenly Jack heard a loud and unmistakable sound of breaking glass and watched as the horde broke through windowed façade and surged into the hospital. He could do nothing but listen to the chaos of raging battle inside as the bulk of the undead now rushed through the gaps. The screams of the defenders and frequency of gunfire soon faded away, leaving no doubt of the unfolding massacre's outcome.

Then something stirred against Jack's left foot beneath the rubble. First just a slight push, then a much stronger tug.

"Jack, keep it still," Ian whispered, also sensing the vibrations.

"It's not me," Jack said quietly. "Something is pulling my leg." Suddenly he felt someone's fingers latching firmly on his right ankle and strange pulsating pressure on the tip of the shoe as if someone was chewing on it.

"Oh shit, it's trying to bite through," Jack whispered and instinctively pulled his leg in. Risky or not, he wouldn't keep still while someone is eating him alive. "Pull me out!" Jack growled and tried to shake off the intruder.

"Shit," Ian mumbled, grabbed Jack by his armpits and with words, "here goes our cover," pulled him out of the rubble, dragging the chubby ghoul Jack was fighting before the explosion along. The blast tore his legs and lower body apart but didn't kill the creature. Frantically chewing on Jack's left shoe, the ghoul raised his head and moaned before Ian's axe split his forehead in half but not before the handful of infected still milling around noticed their presence.

"You better get yourself something to fight with," Ian said to Jack and stood up to the collective screeches of the impending assault.

***

Jimmy recognized Judith's voice and rushed through the door, forgoing any cautiousness. In seconds he closed the distance, rolled the corpse off his deputy and kneeled next to her.

"Glad to see you, boss," Judith whispered with faint voice and tried to smile.

"What the hell happened?" Jimmy asked, checking on her vitals. "We need medics here!" He shouted to the back.

"Some idiot dropped a grenade," Judith replied shivering. "Punched a hole in the middle of the barricade and let those things straight to the main door."

"I meant to you?" Jimmy asked, checking on her wounded arm.

"Got hit by the shrapnel," Judith hissed, fighting the pain.

"You will be all right, kiddo," Jack said with relief and yelled over his shoulder, "She's bleeding out!"

"I will be fine, boss, " Judith replied and coughed. "Here, take this." She handed him her weapon. "You will need it."

Jimmy nodded and took her sidearm."How many broke through?"

"Lots. Didn't have time to count," Judith said and moaned in pain again.

"Fair enough," Jimmy mumbled and stood up. He noticed Feldmann already squeezing through the crowd and shouted to him, "Doc, move her out of here and stop the bleeding! Get your remaining supplies and team ready, but don't follow us. First, we'll try to clear them out, and it might get messy." Jimmy could risk losing ordinary men and women, hell, even sacrifice himself, but without a few remaining doctors, it would be game over.

Feldmann nodded and started issuing orders to what remained of his staff, while Jimmy stepped over the corpse sprawled in the middle of the corridor and ran towards the uproar of the battle ahead. The gunshots suddenly stopped. It meant one of two things: either the remaining defenders ran out of bullets; or joined the dead ranks.

To be continued