creature.
When they'd finished, they crouched motionless for a moment, as if briefly at peace with the glut of blood filling their stomachs.
One of them turned and looked at Adam and Carla. It stood, then ambled over, stopping ten feet away. It wore a knee-length, floral-print dress, its blond hair still pinned up with silver barrettes.
Adam realized its black eyes weren't looking at them. They were studying the doors, the locking mechanisms.
At length, it turned away from them, cried out to its companion, and the two monsters loped back down the corridor.
Adam looked over at Carla when they had disappeared around the corner at the far end.
"We have to barricade this door."
He turned to head back toward the nurses' station, but stopped in his tracks.
Stacie stood twenty feet away in her hospital gown, hands cupped around her enormous belly, a look of pure horror on her face.
Clay
"SHERIFF, Lanz wasn't kidding. There's a bunch of monsters in the hospital."
He stood by the open rear of his Suburban with his cell pressed against his ear. He'd thought a few moments before making the call. Decided not to say that formerly normal people were turning into those monsters. First he had to get the sheriff on board with the simple existence of the monsters.
"Okay, Clay," the sheriff said. "I know it's your weekend off, so it's okay if you started drinking early, but--"
"Sheriff, I just blew three heads off. And they were not--I repeat,
not
human heads. The ER looks like a slaughterhouse and Lanz is nowhere in sight."
"Not even a nurse around?"
"Not a live one."
"Where's hospital security?"
"Dead."
He decided not to mention that he was the cause of their passing.
A long silence on the other end, then, "You're not shittin' me? You better not be shittin' me, Clay."
"I'm telling you I've never seen anything like it in my life. I think you need the National Guard, or staties at the very least."
"No staties."
Clay clenched his teeth. This was no time to get territorial. Something was going on. He was sure that nurse hadn't shown up for work looking like that. He'd seen enough vampire and zombie movies to know that if you get bit you turn into one. That seemed to be what was happening here. And that meant more monsters were running loose inside--with Shanna.
Shit, what if she got herself bit?
"Sheriff, just send help, okay?"
"I'll free up somebody--"
"
Somebody?
" he shouted. "We don't need
somebody
, we need a fucking platoon--a full company. The people in that hospital are in deep shit, sheriff. You send in the troops. You send in the fucking cavalry!"
"Okay, okay. I'll call in the staties. But this better be worth it. I'm trusting you, Clay. Meanwhile, you'll stay?"
"Not a problem."
"I love when you say that. Just hang around outside until--"
"That will be a problem, sir."
"What do you mean?"
"Shanna's inside."
"Oh, shit. Just wait where you are and--"
"I'm going back in."
"Wait--"
"Bye, sir."
He ended the call and slipped the duffel bag's strap onto his shoulder.
The bag weighed a freaking ton. Clay could feel his collarbone bending under its weight as he walked toward the ER. Well, why not? It held just about everything he'd been working on since last year's show--all his new pieces and the ones he'd been modifying. They'd been on their way to the Denver convention where he'd planned to show them off and demo a few. Now it looked like he was going to have to put some of them to use.
He had to admit he was excited about this. No, scratch that--he was ecstatic. He had murderous, blood-thirsty monsters to fight. He could throw anything he wanted at them and it was all good. If only Shanna were back home and out of harm's way, this would be perfect. This had a gun show beat to shit.
He had an old friend and a new piece out and ready. His lovely lady, Alice, the nickel-plated Taurus Raging Bull .454 Casull revolver he'd owned for years, was loaded with Cor-Bon
When they'd finished, they crouched motionless for a moment, as if briefly at peace with the glut of blood filling their stomachs.
One of them turned and looked at Adam and Carla. It stood, then ambled over, stopping ten feet away. It wore a knee-length, floral-print dress, its blond hair still pinned up with silver barrettes.
Adam realized its black eyes weren't looking at them. They were studying the doors, the locking mechanisms.
At length, it turned away from them, cried out to its companion, and the two monsters loped back down the corridor.
Adam looked over at Carla when they had disappeared around the corner at the far end.
"We have to barricade this door."
He turned to head back toward the nurses' station, but stopped in his tracks.
Stacie stood twenty feet away in her hospital gown, hands cupped around her enormous belly, a look of pure horror on her face.
Clay
"SHERIFF, Lanz wasn't kidding. There's a bunch of monsters in the hospital."
He stood by the open rear of his Suburban with his cell pressed against his ear. He'd thought a few moments before making the call. Decided not to say that formerly normal people were turning into those monsters. First he had to get the sheriff on board with the simple existence of the monsters.
"Okay, Clay," the sheriff said. "I know it's your weekend off, so it's okay if you started drinking early, but--"
"Sheriff, I just blew three heads off. And they were not--I repeat,
not
human heads. The ER looks like a slaughterhouse and Lanz is nowhere in sight."
"Not even a nurse around?"
"Not a live one."
"Where's hospital security?"
"Dead."
He decided not to mention that he was the cause of their passing.
A long silence on the other end, then, "You're not shittin' me? You better not be shittin' me, Clay."
"I'm telling you I've never seen anything like it in my life. I think you need the National Guard, or staties at the very least."
"No staties."
Clay clenched his teeth. This was no time to get territorial. Something was going on. He was sure that nurse hadn't shown up for work looking like that. He'd seen enough vampire and zombie movies to know that if you get bit you turn into one. That seemed to be what was happening here. And that meant more monsters were running loose inside--with Shanna.
Shit, what if she got herself bit?
"Sheriff, just send help, okay?"
"I'll free up somebody--"
"
Somebody?
" he shouted. "We don't need
somebody
, we need a fucking platoon--a full company. The people in that hospital are in deep shit, sheriff. You send in the troops. You send in the fucking cavalry!"
"Okay, okay. I'll call in the staties. But this better be worth it. I'm trusting you, Clay. Meanwhile, you'll stay?"
"Not a problem."
"I love when you say that. Just hang around outside until--"
"That will be a problem, sir."
"What do you mean?"
"Shanna's inside."
"Oh, shit. Just wait where you are and--"
"I'm going back in."
"Wait--"
"Bye, sir."
He ended the call and slipped the duffel bag's strap onto his shoulder.
The bag weighed a freaking ton. Clay could feel his collarbone bending under its weight as he walked toward the ER. Well, why not? It held just about everything he'd been working on since last year's show--all his new pieces and the ones he'd been modifying. They'd been on their way to the Denver convention where he'd planned to show them off and demo a few. Now it looked like he was going to have to put some of them to use.
He had to admit he was excited about this. No, scratch that--he was ecstatic. He had murderous, blood-thirsty monsters to fight. He could throw anything he wanted at them and it was all good. If only Shanna were back home and out of harm's way, this would be perfect. This had a gun show beat to shit.
He had an old friend and a new piece out and ready. His lovely lady, Alice, the nickel-plated Taurus Raging Bull .454 Casull revolver he'd owned for years, was loaded with Cor-Bon
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