Rise Of The Others

Chapter Four.

"It's the same old theme
In two thousand eighteen
In your head, in your head, they're still fightin'
With their tanks, and their bombs
And their guns, and their drones
In your head, in your head, they are dyin'"

The Kelowna General Hospital.

God, this place is terrifying.

"Come on, guns ready!" Max shouted, sending out a mini-drone to the hospital.

I heard static coming from my radio, but it eventually began clearing up the signal. There was still a little bit of static in the background but the voice was clear...

"This is James Singh. If there is anyone is out there, please, send help. I am stuck on the KGH top floor, and I am surrounded. I don't think these defences will stand any longer," I could hear the pure pain in his voice. "Someone. Please."

"Hello?" I ask into the radio. "Are you still there?" I wait patiently for a response.

"Yes, I am still here. I need assistance ASAP," he said.

"Okay, we'll be over there in about a minute," I sighed. "How many are there?"

"About 60 of them." Just great. Just fucking great.

"Okay, so Caden, Lincoln, and I will go help James, and Max, Mom and Shaun will go get the supplies," I say, running towards the door.

I climbed the ladder down to the top floor of the building, looking around for any infected. Looking at my rifle, the magazine was nearly empty. "Caden, you have any more mags?" I asked, holding out my hand.

"Yeah, here," he placed an extended mag into my palm. "I'm going to use my hammer.

I threw the empty mag on the ground and reloaded my rifle. "Come on, let's kill some infected!" I said, kicking the doors open. The entire hospital smelt like a rotting corpse, and then look of it, didn't help at all. 

I saw the zombies all running in a pack like motion. I began firing, their bodies becoming riddled with bullets.

Blood was splattered across the floor and walls of the hospital. I noticed these infected were rather slower than normal. I'm guessing they used to be patients. Their skin was so thin, I could see their bones. 

"James?" I shouted, searching the rooms for him. I took the radio from my belt and called for James again. It was completely static. "James?" I began tuning the radio. "You there?"

"Look, whoever you are, get here ASAP," the static was getting more stronger. "I can't hold this door any longer."

The radio went to static.

"Come on!" I shouted, running for the end of the corridor. "No more time left!" The sound of our footsteps clanging against the floor echoed around the quiet hospital.

As I arrived at the room he was in, I saw the zombies were clawing on the doors, the door about to break.

"Caden, grenade," I took my hand out. He tossed the grenade to me, I aggressively threw the grenade, the infected exploding into a pile of organs and blood.

"James?" I said, opening the door.

"...Liam?" James stuttered, looking up at me. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, come on," I pulled him up from the dirty marble floor. "We have to get out of here--" I heard an explosion coming from outside, a door burst open. The door was knocked off its hinges, so it was on the floor, right in front of us. Outside the room was just fog from the explosion.

"Liam, we're not alone," I heard Caden mumble, his body beginning to shake.

"Hey!" I heard a voice coming from the fog, I could also see a laser coming into the room. It was being pointed at all three of us. "Are any of you infected?" The fog began to clear up, seeing a soldier in a gas mask.

"No! We are not infected!" I shouted, putting my rifle down on the ground.

I could see the soldier pick up a radio from its pocket. "Okay, send in the younger troops to the hospital. Everything's clear."

I could see a light coming from outside, coming in through the window. I could hear helicopter blades spinning, as it went by. All I could see is that it wasn't our helicopter. Could this be the United States military?

"Who are you?" Caden asked, clenching his rifle closer to him.

"I'm from the United States Army. Here to rescue you all," their voice sounded very monotone, like if they were hiding something.

"I find it hard to believe," I spat. "I know what you did! You murdered innocent people, hundreds of women and children!"

I could hear my phone ringing, which was very unexpected. I picked up the phone from my pocket. It was Nate.

I answered the call, anticipating to hear his voice again. "Liam?" I heard his soft, deep voice say. "Are you there?"

"Yeah!" I shouted, feeling my beard. "I may look a little different though."

"So, where are you right now?" His cheery voice questioned.

"At the hospital, being held hostage, nothing much," I sarcastically mumbled.

"Oh, by who?"

"The U.S military."

"About the email earlier: is that true? That they killed all of those people?" He sounded confused like he thought they never did that.

"Yeah, it's true. We called it 'The Tragedy of September 15'," I began to remember the gunfire again, seeing the twisted faces of all those poor people. "Also, I have one question: where exactly are you?"

"On my way to Kelowna from Seattle. I'm guessing you know about the outbreak there," his voice began to calm down, like if he was concerned about something. "The situation over here is very dangerous, Liam. It could escalate to a pandemic if we don't take protective action; most civilians have been evacuated, but not all," I could hear him shiver in his breath. "Those fucking things are fast."

"Nate, don't forget... I love you, no matter what," I assured him, in a soft voice.

"I love you too."