back over the banister to see if I could get a look at what was going on in the basement downstairs. From my vantage point, all I could see was the base of the stairwell and maybe five feet directly in front of the last stair. There was another loud noise of metal clanking against metal and then I saw a foot… followed by another foot, each step leaving a bloodied footprint. Yep, John Doe had somehow managed to un-kill himself and now he was walking around the morgue.
Seriously.
“Get Dr. Moody now!” I barked at the frightened girl as soon as I glanced back at her. Meanwhile, the realization of what was happening downstairs began to slowly dawn on me and I felt lightheaded and suddenly dizzy. I had to lean over and put my hands on my knees in order to catch my breath.
This is so not happening, I said to myself as I shook my head. I mean, this is completely crazy! This kind of stuff just doesn’t happen!
You saw his foot move! And you know no one else was down there!
What you think is going on down there is a total and complete impossibility, I reasoned. There is no way a cadaver, with half of its organs missing, can just come back to life and start walking around!
Well, how the hell else do you explain the fact that you saw its foot moving, and then you heard the sound of it jumping or falling off the examination table and then you saw its feet… walking! There was another loud crash. And what else could be making all that racket? No one else is down there!
“I can’t just go and get him!” the girl replied with a frown, drawing my attention back to her as she shook her head emphatically and crossed her arms over her chest. “Like I just told you, he’s on the phone with a patient!”
“I don’t give a damn!” I thundered and brushed past her at the same time that Dr. Moody cracked open the door of his examination room at the far end of the hallway. He poked his little, round head out and looked irritated.
“What in the blazes is going on out here?” he demanded as he looked from his assistant to me. “Do I need to remind you both I’m on a call!”
“That’s what I tried to tell her,” the girl started, but I interrupted because I didn’t have time for this crap. Not when a barely intact, very dead or what was once a very dead body had suddenly decided it wasn’t its time to go and was now making its rounds downstairs, knocking over everything in the process.
“There is a situation unfolding in the morgue,” I informed Dr. Moody, trying to sound as non-delirious as I could. “It requires your assistance immediately.”
“What type of situation?” the doctor demanded, eyeing me suspiciously. Meanwhile, the discord from inside the morgue continued, the racket echoing up the stairs. “Who’s down there?” the doctor added, his narrow-eyed expression now giving way to wide-eyed fear.
“I can’t explain it,” I answered honestly. “You’re going to need to see for yourself.” And then something occurred to me. “Is there a way outside through the morgue?” If not, there was only one way out and that was up…
“A way outside?” Dr. Moody repeated as he stepped out of the examination room and carefully closed the door behind him before taking a deep breath and approaching me. “No. But why would you ask me that? What’s going on?” he insisted again, this time more forcefully.
I shook my head because I had no words. “I can’t even begin to explain it. You need to see for yourself.” I spun around on the ball of my right foot and headed for the stairwell. I glanced behind me to ensure Dr. Moody was following me and was relieved when I found him just behind me.
“I don’t understand,” he began to say, but his words ceased when the body suddenly appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
It was mostly upright, although its upper half drooped over, reminding me of Igor. The thing was attempting to walk, even though it was having a tough time, considering its chest cavity was splayed wide. The top third of its cranium was still missing, although I noticed it had managed to put its brain back where it belonged. When the body put its foot on the first step and hoisted itself up, its right hand clutching