Finding Hope

Chapter Five

The lights flicker on and off, as eerie shadows are cast around me. The shattered glass from the explosion must have torn one of the biters in two. Where their legs should have been is now just a train of entrails and skin, and the patient is making a threatening approach towards me. Brandon frantically begins looking for a way out. He heads over to the far wall just past the lab.

How the hell can I get out of here?

The only exit out of the room is blocked by rocks that were once in the ceiling above, and the goon guarding it is nowhere to be seen. I can only assume that he had the misfortune of occupying the space under the large rock that now covers the doorway. The other armoured goon lies motionless on the floor in the middle of the cavernous room with shards of glass in his face. Now only Brandon can use a weapon effectively, if he can find one?

Brandon paces over with a hardened stare, grabbing the gun from the goon's lifeless body. Looking ready for action he turns and points the gun at the downed zombie.

"Move Kid, what are you doing?" I hear him shout, but I can't move.

The zombie having made its way over, grabs at my ankle. Now it isn't particularly forceful but through complete fear I can feel my legs giving way. My body has tensed up, the muscles constricting in every limb. I am completely frozen in fear, as I helplessly crash to the ground.

Brandon lunges forward with the gun pointed at its head. He places his right eye on the site and fires off a shot. Clearly going for the trophy kill as the bullet rips through the zombie's neck, it lets out a gurgled scream as blood sprays everywhere. With its attention diverted it shuffles towards Brandon, it reaches out grabbing at the air in front of him. Another shot reverberates off the stone walls as Brandon fires another shot. This time the bullet rips straight through its skull, covering us in chunks of flesh.

In slow motion I see the decayed, rotting flesh of the biter spiral down hitting the floor.

"Boom, what a shot!" Brandon is more than happy as he punches the air in celebration.

Through the flickering light, he spots a less infected biter making their way over to us.

His attention is immediately diverted by the more able-bodied zombie, which is running at him with outstretched arms. Its snarling face is gruesome as bile and blood sprays everywhere from its mouth.

A sharp crack snaps my attention as I see the zombies head fall backwards from blunt force. A moan is let out with a painful cry, which until now has been uncharacteristic.

Could it be more human than infected?

I haven't heard a noise like that from one of these since I first saw them. It tries to bring its head back in the normal position but struggles; its neck is definitely broken. You can see the confidence in Brandon as he swings the gun back around and rests the stock in the nook of his shoulder. The zombie first drops to its knees, then lifelessly crumples in a mess on the floor.

In the meantime, I haven't noticed another zombie approaching. This time it is from behind me, in my attempt at getting up I am oblivious to its approach.

This must be the patient from the first cage?

It is hard to tell with the flickering lights, but Brandon spots them moving. With the stock already in his shoulder, he lowers his eye back onto the sight.

"Well fuck that for a laugh," he says, whilst still concentrating his sight behind me.

I have now raised myself onto my elbows, the broken glass and rubble beneath is cutting into my skin. As I turn my head to look over my shoulder, the damn thing grabs my foot. With the flickering light and the zombie being so close, Brandon is unable to take a shot.