The Virus by Lee, Damien (summer books txt) 📕

the next key made him feel uneasy. A spirited shriek caused the men to whirl around.

“Shit, they’re here,” McAllister gasped.

“What the fuck was that?” Razor demanded. He took a step back as another screech filled the air.

“I told you, we need to get out of here.”

McAllister turned and opened the last cell as a wide-eyed guard lurched around the corner. His blood-spattered uniform was torn in several places, exposing gaping wounds to his abdomen. He quivered in excitement as he lurched towards the nearest prisoner.

“What the f—” the man started, but his words were cut short as the guard dragged him to the ground.

The group retreated to the back of the hallway as the zombie tore into its screaming victim. Blood sprayed the surrounding walls as it feasted, ending the dying man’s cries in seconds. Their fearful gasps caused the creature to look up. It jumped to its feet, observing the cowering group.

“Get him, Tony!” Gus whimpered, shoving his bodyguard forward. The flesh-hungry guard ran at them with a piercing roar. Tony grabbed the man, slamming his head against the wall. The attacker snarled before the man-mountain struck again, his giant hand clamping around the guard’s head. The sound of cracking skull echoed around the room as he smashed it against the brickwork. A final crunch accompanied the man’s eyeballs launching from his head. The organs sprung out from their sockets like a grisly jack-in-the-box, dangling by maroon optic nerves. The eyeballs swung as the giant hurled the corpse aside.

“Good boy.”

Gus approached the disfigured corpse. Brain matter and skull fragments oozed out of the eye sockets. With a look of disgust, Razor turned back to McAllister.

“Why the fuck didn’t you shoot the bastard?”

“These are only rubber bullets,” the guard snapped. “I’d need a point-blank shot to do any serious damage.”

“Then why don’t you put live rounds in there?”

“This isn’t an army base you prick. These are only used for crowd control.”

“Well, I’d feel better if we tried to escape with real bullets,”

A guttural groaning from the entrance of the hallway caught Frank’s attention. He looked on as the body of his fellow inmate began to twitch.

“Is he still alive?” Frank asked.

“No,” McAllister replied. “He’s one of them.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’ve seen it happen already. You die, and then you come back as one of them. Haven’t you seen a zombie film?”

McAllister made his way over to the downed man with the rest of the prisoners in tow. Frank eyed the twitching prisoner curiously.

“This isn’t a fucking film,” Razor said.

They stopped close to the dead inmate as McAllister aimed the shotgun at his head. The presence of the men sent the prisoner into a rage. He jumped onto all fours and eyed them hungrily. A high-pitched growl barely escaped his mouth before McAllister pulled the trigger. The man’s head smashed against the floor, causing his body to convulse. The men watched in a trance until the twitching subsided.

“We’ve gotta get out of here.”

“Yeah? And go where?” Frank asked.

“We’re evacuating, Lee. It’s standard procedure.”

“There’s nothing standard about this, McAllister.” Frank looked back at the two dead bodies. “How do we know the same thing isn’t happening outside? There could be an army of them out there.”

“Speaking of the army, where the hell are they?” Craddock asked, scratching his beard. “There’s a base twenty miles away. Last time we rioted, you called them in!”

“This isn’t a riot!” McAllister snapped. “This is… something else. Besides, it’s been vacant for the last couple of months now.”

“What?”

“Yeah, they’ve sent loads more troops out to the Middle East. It’s left most of the garrisons in the country short-staffed. The one nearby is empty as far as I know.”

Another distant screech reached Frank’s ears.

“Look, can we get the hell out of here?” The Polish prisoner asked, motioning for the men to move.

“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said all day, Zielinski.” Razor chortled as he pushed past the inmate. “C’mon McAllister, you’re leading!”

The guard made his way through the prisoners until he reached the front.

“It’ll take about five minutes to get out.” He told them. “Keep an eye out for any of those freaks. If anyone attacks, kill them without thinking twice.”

“We’re murderers,” Zielinski said. “It’s what we do.”

With that, they followed McAllister as he led the men out of the confinement area. Frank followed at the rear of the procession. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect to be evacuated. Never in his wildest nightmares did he consider the reasoning behind it.

11

“You think they’re gonna use the lift?” Amy asked. They stared at the illuminated figures above the elevator. It was on the ground floor.

“I’m not sure,” Ben replied.

The carriage had been there for almost a minute, with no indication of moving. The trio stared at the screen in silence until Ben spoke again.

“You still didn’t tell us how you got here.” He frowned, turning to Terry.

“What?”

“Earlier when you were telling us how you got here. You climbed down the lift shaft?”

“Who cares? I think we’ve got bigger things to worry about. Like how the hell we’re gonna get out.”

“I care. If there’s another way those things can get in, I want to know about it.”

“I pried open the doors on the fifth floor and looked to see where the lift was. Luckily, it was trapped on this floor so I just lowered myself on top of it, and slipped in through the hatch.”

“But if the dead are coming back to life, weren’t you scared of the body in the lift?” Amy asked.

“I thought about it. But I figured the longer I wait, the more time the guy has to come back to life. So I went