Waking the Zed - By ML Katz Page 0,41
heard Captain Crawford’s comments too. The tough looking woman had certainly sounded confrontational, but maybe she could speak with her and try to come up with some sort of plan. Pam risked a glance across the row of beds as the woman sat up slowly.
One of the guards moved towards the burly woman. He asked, “Hey, how are you doing there?”
The woman did not reply, but tumbled out of bed. Now Pam did not even try to pretend she was still asleep. The woman moved faster than anybody expected, but not so fast that Pam did not catch her wild expression and glazed, bloodshot eyes. The woman had clearly turned into one of the creatures. She lunged at the soldier, head first, and used her teeth to rip at his chest. The guard had not prepared himself for an onslaught, and he actually screamed as the woman buried her mouth into his well-developed pectoral muscle.
The other guards raced over to separate them, but now the lean woman rose too. Quicker than Pam could have anticipated, the state trooper stood behind her. While the soldiers occupied themselves with trying to control the former patients, the second woman veered right towards Pam. She hopped off her cot and tried to slide the bed between them.
She saw Paul, still in his cot, but with his eyes half open. He rubbed his face with a very human gesture. Pam felt her heart drop in relief. She grabbed his arm and hissed, “Come on!” Slowly, like he was half dazed, the young man rolled off his mattress and managed to get his legs under hm.
In Pam’s opinion, the guards would have been wise to shoot the creatures in the head, instead of trying to wrestle with them. But they obviously still did not understand the threat. They don’t want to shoot unarmed people. Now Captain Crawford emerged from the small office. He stood between her and the door, but he was obviously distracted by the growing melee. At lease she saw him reach for his sidearm.
Now one of the other men who had been brought in earlier rose. A second guard, who had inserted himself between Pam and the lean woman, shouted as the creature sunk her teeth into his thick arm. The second businessman had not turned, but had simply been roused because of the noise. Well, it was too late for him now. The other business man threw himself on the first one’s cot. Pam heard a sickening crunch.
Captain Crawford glanced at Pam, must have decided she had not turned, and brushed past her to try to take control of the situation. She saw him draw his sidearm. Pam grabbed Paul’s hand and pulled him behind Captain Crawford and towards the exit. Amazingly, the pair made it out of the room unmolested. The hallway was mostly deserted.
A few steps outside of the infirmary room, a tall soldier in riot gear stopped them. He frowned at the pair. “Are you supposed to be here?” he asked.
“You have to help us,” Pam said quickly. “The things are attacking soldiers in there. I saw two guys get bitten.”
A deep throated cry from inside the ward confirmed Pam’s story, and the soldier rushed past her into the infirmary room. Almost immediately, shots were fired. Pam hoped the shooters were able to separate the living and the dead.
She took the opportunity to race down the hallway, with Paul in tow. She sped towards the nearest exit. Paul seemed to stumble along behind her, but managed to keep pace. Despite the fact that Paul was a fairly tall and trim looking man, Pam had to tug on his arm every few paces. She felt as if she was almost dragging him. He was slowing her down, but she had no time to figure out why. Perhaps the Taser blast still affected him, she thought to herself. She had no experience with weapons like that and no time to think about it.
Pam had no real way to gauge time as she had still forgotten about the cell phone snuggled in her pant pocket. The infirmary room had no clocks or outside windows. But she stepped out of the hospital building into a dark and moonless night. Electric lights allowed her to move up the path, but it had obviously been dark for some time.
Outside the hospital barracks, teams of soldiers raced here and there, but nobody gave Pam a glance as she froze just outside the door. A dozen armed