Resurrection Hour - Hidden in Ice(Nanowrimo)

Chapter Thirty

Xavier left Kevin and Clara in the office and was crawling through the three foot by three foot ventilation shafts that criss-crossed through the station, circulating the recycled air through all the rooms. A claustrophobic's worst nightmare. Thankfully that wasn't one of his fears.

With his mini light clamped between his teeth, he made his way up the narrow shaft as it began angling upwards. He'd been half expecting to run into a spider web, but then he remembered there weren't really any arachnids this far north.

"Kevin, I'm at a fork, which way do I go?" Xavier asked, glancing one way and then the other. It should be left but he wasn't sure.

"Left," his partner confirmed.

The shaft should lead directly to the clinic. His plan was to drop into the room beside the clinic and try to lure the zombies out. He wasn't sure how he was going to do that, but he'd think of something. He needed to be able to get back to Clint and Corey and make sure Corey safely got to the cafeteria.

The room across from the clinic was just a conference room and the vent was right over top of the table, so he could climb down easily. As he went to crawl over top of a vent, trying to avoid it with his knee, he scraped his arm on a metal piece sticking out of the side of the wall. He muttered a curse, which turned into a full-blown one, when the vent beneath him gave way and he found himself falling through the open hole. He gripped the edge before he tumbled to the floor right in the middle of a hallway.

Grunting, he attempted to pull himself back up when a sound behind him caught his attention. He struggled to look behind him, and caught a glimpse of an arm swinging wildly as whatever it was raced towards him. "You can't be serious!" he groaned, as he tried to pull himself up. But the hole was too small to get a good grip to climb up successfully.

Cursing again, he dropped to the ground and took a quick look behind him. He grimaced when he saw three dead ones coming his way. His chest tightened as he stood, a chill running through him. Exactly how many people were left alive in his station? Didn't anyone have survival skills?

Looking around, he tried to ascertain his position. He knew he hadn't gone too far before falling through the vent, but at least he was out of his office. It looked like he'd dropped down alongside the truck bay. All he had to do was go around the corner and then down to the end of the hall to reach the clinic. But now he had additional groupies on his back aside from the ones in the clinic.

Thinking on his feet, he took off down the hall. He couldn't go into the truck bay because it had been overrun. His only other option was to sneak into one of the other conference rooms and get back into the ventilation shaft. It's the only way his plan would work. With his heart galloping, he raced around the corner, then skidded to a halt, his shoes squeaking on the polished floor.

"Damn it!" he said, throwing his hands up in the air before dropping them to his side. Down the hall were another three of those creatures—two men and a woman—blocking his way, and it wouldn't be long before the ones behind him would catch up.

He swiftly looked around, weighing his options, as he held his hands on top of his head, muttering every curse word in the book. The only door closest to him led into the truck bay, and he knew more would be waiting for him in there. Xavier reached for his sidearm, unclipping it from its holster.

"Sorry, boss, but I don't have a choice," he said, as he lifted up a quick prayer of forgiveness before snapping off a few noisy rounds in the direction he'd been going. The first couple hit the zombies in the chest, but they kept coming. "Hit the head," he reminded himself. God ,he hoped it worked like the tv shows.

His first shot grazed the cheek of the man closest to him. They were only thirty feet away now and the ones behind him were closing fast too. Finally, one of his shots hit the guy between the eyes and down he went, black ooze flowing down his face. The other two tripped over their fallen comrade and fell forward.