to the side to avoid silhouetting himself in the entrance, while
providing rear cover support.
Carlie looked over to the Suburbans in
the distance. Their hoods reflected in the faint moonlight. She panned over to
the cement gardens. Holding the spade in her hands, Carlie got into a hunched
position and turned back to nod at Phillip. Then she began creeping along the
cluster of manzanita bushes to her right, beyond which she could see numerous
contorted dead bodies strewn about the courtyard.
Chapter 16
Carlie was skulking beside the edge of
the second cement flower garden when she heard a dragging noise to her left.
Gripping the shovel, she squatted low against the coarse concrete wall. She
still felt the nervous jolt of adrenaline surging through her entire body and
queasiness in her stomach but it had returned to more manageable levels.
The campus lights lining the sidewalk
were not functioning and she had to strain her eyes in the dim moonlight to see
what was headed her way. The air held a hint of moisture and a thundercloud was
towering in the distance. She couldn’t shake the nauseating odor of blood and
viscera that was emanating from the cement path, and she raised her shirt
collar over her nose to help quell the stench.
Carlie eased her head up between a clump
of yucca plants and could see a disheveled person with a soiled red chin
shuffling down the sidewalk. It looked like a man in his early twenties who
wore a red jersey. His face was the color of butter and his eyes were bulging out
of deeply furrowed cheeks. The creature’s right sleeve was torn off and one
shoe was missing as he staggered up to a headless corpse by a park bench. It sniffed
the air, searching for the body, then knelt down and began greedily tearing
into the trapezius muscles.
Christ — what the hell is that thing?
Never heard of anything like this before. It’s like the whole world has turned
into something out of a midnight horror flick.
As she began to slide forward while
keeping her eyes fixed on the scene of horror, the edge of the tarnished shovel
grazed the concrete wall. The creature instantly whipped its head around in her
direction and sat up, sniffing the air. She saw its wild eyes trying to locate
the sound and looking right at her but not comprehending her still image. The
wind is carrying my scent away. The creature can’t locate me. Its eyesight must
be severely affected by the darkness. Finally, one thing I can use to my
advantage.
A second later it went back to feasting,
but then it lifted its head again and stood. This time it focused its gaze in the
opposite direction, towards the nursing building across the street where a
group of eight other creatures were pounding on a door. The creature before
Carlie let out a guttural cry and then bounded over the pavement to join the
others, who had succeeded in breaking through the door. They disappeared inside
and Carlie heard some muffled screams, followed by silence.
After skirting the flowerbed, she crept
up to a park bench and could see the Suburbans thirty yards ahead. She thought
back to the many deer hunts she had gone on with her father in upstate New York.
She had learned skills of stealth that she had further refined in the urban
wilderness while working various security details over the years. Carlie
remained in a low squat and cautiously moved from one derelict light post to
the next, avoiding stepping on the scattered body parts littering the pavement.
Cautiously she beelined for her SUV,
which was half hanging out of the shattered front lobby of the bioresearch building.
She made it to the driver’s side and paused to make sure she hadn’t alerted any
creatures. Leaning the shovel next to the front of the vehicle, she climbed
inside over the back seats. Depressing the finger pad code on the lid of the
weapons locker, she pulled out a dozen rifle and pistol magazines, two pistol
suppressors, a first-aid kit, four smoke grenades, the satellite phone
providing rear cover support.
Carlie looked over to the Suburbans in
the distance. Their hoods reflected in the faint moonlight. She panned over to
the cement gardens. Holding the spade in her hands, Carlie got into a hunched
position and turned back to nod at Phillip. Then she began creeping along the
cluster of manzanita bushes to her right, beyond which she could see numerous
contorted dead bodies strewn about the courtyard.
Chapter 16
Carlie was skulking beside the edge of
the second cement flower garden when she heard a dragging noise to her left.
Gripping the shovel, she squatted low against the coarse concrete wall. She
still felt the nervous jolt of adrenaline surging through her entire body and
queasiness in her stomach but it had returned to more manageable levels.
The campus lights lining the sidewalk
were not functioning and she had to strain her eyes in the dim moonlight to see
what was headed her way. The air held a hint of moisture and a thundercloud was
towering in the distance. She couldn’t shake the nauseating odor of blood and
viscera that was emanating from the cement path, and she raised her shirt
collar over her nose to help quell the stench.
Carlie eased her head up between a clump
of yucca plants and could see a disheveled person with a soiled red chin
shuffling down the sidewalk. It looked like a man in his early twenties who
wore a red jersey. His face was the color of butter and his eyes were bulging out
of deeply furrowed cheeks. The creature’s right sleeve was torn off and one
shoe was missing as he staggered up to a headless corpse by a park bench. It sniffed
the air, searching for the body, then knelt down and began greedily tearing
into the trapezius muscles.
Christ — what the hell is that thing?
Never heard of anything like this before. It’s like the whole world has turned
into something out of a midnight horror flick.
As she began to slide forward while
keeping her eyes fixed on the scene of horror, the edge of the tarnished shovel
grazed the concrete wall. The creature instantly whipped its head around in her
direction and sat up, sniffing the air. She saw its wild eyes trying to locate
the sound and looking right at her but not comprehending her still image. The
wind is carrying my scent away. The creature can’t locate me. Its eyesight must
be severely affected by the darkness. Finally, one thing I can use to my
advantage.
A second later it went back to feasting,
but then it lifted its head again and stood. This time it focused its gaze in the
opposite direction, towards the nursing building across the street where a
group of eight other creatures were pounding on a door. The creature before
Carlie let out a guttural cry and then bounded over the pavement to join the
others, who had succeeded in breaking through the door. They disappeared inside
and Carlie heard some muffled screams, followed by silence.
After skirting the flowerbed, she crept
up to a park bench and could see the Suburbans thirty yards ahead. She thought
back to the many deer hunts she had gone on with her father in upstate New York.
She had learned skills of stealth that she had further refined in the urban
wilderness while working various security details over the years. Carlie
remained in a low squat and cautiously moved from one derelict light post to
the next, avoiding stepping on the scattered body parts littering the pavement.
Cautiously she beelined for her SUV,
which was half hanging out of the shattered front lobby of the bioresearch building.
She made it to the driver’s side and paused to make sure she hadn’t alerted any
creatures. Leaning the shovel next to the front of the vehicle, she climbed
inside over the back seats. Depressing the finger pad code on the lid of the
weapons locker, she pulled out a dozen rifle and pistol magazines, two pistol
suppressors, a first-aid kit, four smoke grenades, the satellite phone
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