Knight in the City: A Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tale (3 page)

I couldn’t contain myself, I was practically shouting.

“Hey Tabby.  It’s me.  We got out.  We’re on our way to you.  Where are you?”

There were more zombies at the glass wall now.  I could hear them.

“I’m in Roper Hospital somewhere.  I don’t know where.”

“Where’s John?” dad asked.

I began to cry, making more noise.

“I don’t know, daddy.  We got separated.  Those two men tried to kill us.  John saved me, but I don’t know where he is.”

Or, if he’s alive, I continued in my head.

Now there seemed to be even more zombies at the glass.  I could hear them banging pretty hard on the glass.

Okay, honey,” dad said.  “We’re coming.”

I turned my headlamp back on and could see the glass moving as the zombies beat on it.

“Hurry, daddy.  The zombies are getting in.”

The glass wall shattered with a tremendous boom, showering me with safety glass.  The zombies fell into the room.  I screamed and bolted for the door, stuffing the walkie in my pocket.  Most of the zombies were pushed up against the glass and there were only a few on the other side of the door when I opened it.  I pushed them and kept running.  Back through the door I came through.  I hoped it was the same door, anyway.  A left, a right and, yes.  My pack was there on the floor.  That’s why I didn’t see it before.  One more turn and there was the door to the ER.  No one behind me but I could hear that moaning getting louder.

I opened the door slowly and went through.  I was in the right place.  No supplies anywhere.  It all looked familiar.  On the other side of the room was the door that John pushed Ben and Tyler through then held so I could get away.

There were two bullet holes low in the door.  Blood was on the floor.  There were boot prints in it and some was smeared on the door.

They killed him.  I was sure now.  I dropped to the floor and cried softly.

No one should have to die for me.  Not my mother.  Not John.  What kind of messed up world was this? 

Zombies?  Rival gangs of humans?

I missed my dad.  I missed my brother and my grandmother.  I missed Mike.  I wish he were here.  I missed my mom.

I sat like that for a few minutes, looking around occasionally to make sure I was alone.  I wished my family were here.  But, they weren’t.  I was here alone.

You know?  I practiced hard with these weapons.  Dad taught me and Mike taught me.  And, I was pretty good.  I fought hard to get dad to let me go on a supply run.  I’ve fought hard to get him to stop treating me like I was his little princess.  And now, I’m sitting here on the floor crying?

No, I was better than that. 

I stood up; made sure my gear was in the right place and took a deep breath.

Let’s try this again.

I opened the door and found the room had a lot of zombies.  I waded into the group of snarling, smelly creatures and began to swing my tomahawk.  And I was doing great.  But there were a lot of zombies and I was already getting tired.  I could see through the busted out doors to the ER drop off area.  There was the ambulance we had sought refuge on before.  I’d be safe up there.

With renewed energy I kept fighting my way toward the ambulance.  Zombies were going down one after the other.  I kept my distance and moved quickly around the ones who got too close.  But, I wasn’t going to make it.  I had maybe fifty or sixty feet to go and I was just too tired.  And, there were just too many zombies.

I dropped my tomahawk and raised my AR.  It’d never felt so heavy, even the first time I picked it up.  I began to fire at the zombies between me and the ambulance, clearing a path.  It didn’t matter if I hit them in the head or not, as long as they went down or moved out of the way.

Over the tremendous noise of my AR, I could hear another firearm shooting now.  It was close, too.  Zombies in front of me began to fall.  Someone else was shooting them.

I looked up and there was John on top of the ambulance.  He was helping me to clear a path.  A few more went down and I was climbing onto the hood of the ambulance.  One had a hold of my foot but John took it out before I could even turn.  By the time I joined John on the top, zombies were banging on the sides as they tried to get to us.  They were rocking it well, but there was no coordinated effort.

I threw my arms around John, surprising him.

“I thought you were dead,” I yelled.

“I thought you were dead, too.”

“What happened?”

“After you ran we exchanged a lot of words through the door and there was a lot of pushing.  Finally, they fired two rounds through the door hitting me in the leg.  I waited a couple of minutes then opened the door.  I figured any zombies out there probably followed them and I was right, sort of.  There were too many for how slow I was moving.  Plus the trail of blood wasn’t helping.  Climbing up here was my best option.  What happened to you?”

“I hid for a while then thought I’d try to get out of the hospital.  I got lost then trapped.  Then dad called and I tried again to get out.”

“Your dad’s alive?”

I nodded.

“What about the others?”

“We didn’t have too much time to chat before I had to move.  I don’t know who made it out.  We can call him.”

“We probably should anyway to tell him where we are.”

“Yeah,” I said as I reached for my walkie.  “Hey, John?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for trying to save me.”

“You’re welcome.  I told your dad I would look after you if I could.  He’s a good man.”

“Yes, he is,” I replied.  “And a good father.”

If you enjoyed
Knight in the City
please leave a review on Amazon so others can find it.

Ryan Knight and his group will return soon.

Stephen J. Beard is a tour guide in Historic Charleston, South Carolina.  He lives with his wonderful, supportive wife, two cats and a crazy dog.  The series,
A Zombie Apocalypse Survival Tale
, is his first published work.

Also by Stephen J. Beard…

Dead of Knight

Knight Terrors