The Outbreak

Chapter Fourteen: Peril

All of us rushed to where the roaring scream came from. Heart pounding, I looked at Aiden. His eyes widened when we exited the two other doors. I knew this would be a dilemma for him, and even if we were uncertain yet, the horror I feared might already be happening. Sven and Norris took the lead, saying something inaudible while our steps thundered the way. A loud gunshot echoed outside.

"You okay, Aiden?" I barged his blank face, our way almost to the prison cells.

"Not really. Kind of afraid." He replied, his gaze went back to the long hallway.ss

"It's okay. We got you."

Just as we were about to open the door that will lead us to our end, buzzes of voices filled the air. Every single inmate was on the bars, saying something.

"What happened?" Norris rapidly queried. His face so worried.

"There are people outside banging the doors." A man whose beard almost covered his face inside the cell answered, almost stuttering. His eyes rapidly blinking.

"But we think it's not just ordinary humans, because people outside are running away and shouting." The other inmate said in a soft voice. It was a woman.

"What did they say? What are they shouting?" I asked, still hoping that it was not it.

"Zombies." Murmurs ricocheted in the atmosphere. I felt beads of sweat fell on my forehead. I looked at Sven and Norris. Aiden stared, seemed not seeing.

"What do we do now?" My thoughts fogged my mind, trying to think of anything that we could do to free ourselves from this never-ending problem. Perhaps, this will be the usual thing we had to face every day, and we only had to prepare ourselves for whatever will come. I don't want to die, yet. As long as I am breathing and seeing people not losing hope, there is still and will always be hope.

What happened next froze us to where we were standing. Several bangs loudly slammed the door that silenced everyone's murmurs. Norris stepped back a few steps, pulled his gun out from his little pocket and turned straight to the door.

"Whoever you are, step back, or else this will be the last moment you live your life." He furiously yelled, hands trembling. He gripped his gun firmly, his knuckles almost white. There was no reply. The bangs continued until odd gurgles came outside.

"What the fuck is that?" The slender man inside a cell on my right said in a shrill voice, his expression flinching. I looked around, and everyone held on to the bars tightly, not saying a word. Then, the endless banging continued and several gunshots flew out, leaving a thunderous noise outside.

"Officer, get us out of here." A toned man with a tattooed neck and face screamed, suggesting Norris.

"Are you out of your mind?" He replied, narrowing his gaze to the man who suggested it. The suggestion had also taken me aback when I heard it. These are people who did heinous crimes in the past, and with that granted; only an idiot would do that. They can't just run from it. Never.

"Then, what if those people come in? Who would fight those off? You? And your friends?" Another prisoner broke his silence, leaving others mutter the same thing.

"I had an oath. Until I die, I'll do what needs to be done." Norris firmly said.

That reply moved me. There, I realized Norris was a faithful servant under his uniform. However, everyone was so determined with their friend's suggestion to let them all out.

Another loud thud came from the door. There came one and another; and the last slam exploded, breaking the once serene air. The door gave up its post and opened, revealing the monsters that I just liberated from almost a day ago. Their eyes were bloodshot, memories of their past buried on the back of my mind. They let out piercing shrieks that deafened our ears.
Everyone froze, mouth opened. With a rush, a zombie who had one ear missing and both its lips had bitten off, maybe that was a death-kiss from the zombie that turned him into one of the undeads, paced to Sven's direction, two other zeds on his side.