The Demented Z (Book 1):The Demented by Derek J Thomas

watch in horror as the loud booming attracted more
demented. She recognized a few of them as neighbors, others were strangers,
but none of them were there as rescuers.
    Kelly
had pulled the pump shotgun out from under the bed, checking that it was
loaded. Sitting on the bed, listening to the pounding and occasional growls,
Kelly silently prayed for Tom to arrive…soon.

Chapter 7: New Faces
    Near
the edge of town, Rachael had spotted a three story brick building, and now stood
waiting for Hank and Tom to catch up. The dilapidated structure towered over a
large gravel parking lot, the windows shrouded in darkness. Under normal
circumstances it was a building she would likely never notice let alone think
about going into. The large steel door hung open, blackness hiding its
interior.
    Tom
and Hank came trotting up to the entrance, breathing hard. Bending over near
the shrubs Tom retched.
    Hank
looked at Rachael and between deep breaths said, “Fort Knox?”
    “I
just…we can…”
    “I’m
just teasing Hun. This will do real nice.”
    Standing
up and looking back the way they came, Tom said, “Let’s get inside. I see a few
coming.” He raised his rifle to his shoulder, hoping to use the night vision to
help clear the dark building, but found thick blood oozing out of a crack in
the glass. Flipping it out of the way, he used his thumb to click on a small
flashlight mounted under the barrel. A narrow beam shot inside the open
entryway, lighting up a myriad of floating dust particles.
    The
trio swept into the building, closing and locking the door with a large
deadbolt. The interior smelled of dust and mold, making it difficult to
breathe. Tom felt like there was not quite enough oxygen in the air to get a
full breath, like someone was holding a blanket over his head.
    “Rachael,
watch those approachers, we’re gonna check through the building to make sure we
don’t have any surprises.” Tom said.
    She
looked at him with a mixture of shock and worry. Tom was unsure why she was
looking at him like that until he followed her gaze to his blood soaked chest.
From his neck to his belly button was stained a dark red.
    Tom
shook his head. “Not mine…at least most of it’s not mine.”
    The
relief was evident on her face as she turned to one of the nearby windows to
watch the front street.
    Hank
and Tom spent the next thirty minutes working as a team sweeping rooms,
clearing each of them one floor at a time. They found nothing other than
stacks of dusty boxes filled with papers, and a few dead birds that managed to
get trapped inside, never finding their way back out. What were once office
spaces was now a long forgotten storage building. The wallpaper was torn and
stained various shades of yellow.
    Returning
to the ground floor they found Rachael peering narrowly out the window. At the
sounds of their approaching footsteps, she turned from the window. “They’re out
there, on the street.” Looking back to the window she said, “I don’t think
they know we're in here. They’ve been stumbling back and forth…apparently not
knowing where to go.”
    “How
many?” Tom asked.
    “I’ve
seen at least eight, there may be more.”
    “Let’s
get upstairs.”
    The
three of them worked their way up the narrow stairway, and found a mostly empty
room near the back corner. Moonlight spilled through several windows along the
wall. The air had the musty smell of age and decay, but was not nearly as
suffocating as that on the bottom floor. Several boxes lay scattered about,
some of their contents spilled across the floor.
    Tom
and Hank both walked over to the windows and peered out. Across the street
small houses were packed in next to each other. They looked old and run down.
    “See
that.” Hank said, pointing out his window.
    Tom
looked over to Hank’s side of the street. “Yeah, looks like there are a few of
them walking around down there. I can’t tell if they are the fast ones or slow
ones. Seems like they all walk