{"id":478,"date":"2012-01-31T00:01:58","date_gmt":"2012-01-31T08:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marklidstone.com\/TheWriter\/?p=478"},"modified":"2012-02-28T00:55:31","modified_gmt":"2012-02-28T08:55:31","slug":"zombies-ii-chapter-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marklidstone.com\/TheWriter\/zombies-ii-chapter-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Zombies II – Chapter 8"},"content":{"rendered":"

DOOR NUMBER THREE<\/strong><\/p>\n

VOTING FOR THIS CHAPTER IS NOW CLOSED. A NEW CHAPTER IS POSTED EVERY TUESDAY<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI have no idea,\u201d says Victoria. She stares at the unlabelled room on the map. \u201cIt’s big, whatever it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

She turns to face Elizabeth but she isn’t there. Victoria catches sight of her several feet away, heading down the hallway.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere are you going?\u201d she shouts.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuh, it’s a mystery room,\u201d Elizabeth answers. She glances back at Victoria with a grin. \u201cWe have<\/em> to check it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we have no idea what’s in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s what makes it a mystery.\u201d Elizabeth winks and turns her back. \u201cBesides,\u201d she says playfully. \u201cI’m already dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are not!\u201d screams Victoria. She huffs in frustration. She isn’t letting Elizabeth go off alone and she definitely doesn’t want to be alone. She hurries to catch up to her friend.<\/p>\n

The hallway isn’t as long as they had initially assumed when looking at the map. The office doors are close together \u2013 giving the impression that the offices themselves are actually quite small. The two keep quiet during the walk but Elizabeth seems to get increasingly nervous as they get closer to the unknown room. Victoria watches her fiddle with her clothes until she eventually shoves her hands into the pockets of her jeans.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou OK?\u201d Victoria asks.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah.\u201d Elizabeth glances at her briefly. \u201cJust a little hungry, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Victoria keeps a wary eye on Elizabeth.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

As much as she likes Elizabeth, Victoria realizes she has to keep reminding herself what Elizabeth has become. What she’s capable of. They continue the walk in silence. The only sound comes from their shoes, tapping against the floor.<\/p>\n

After a short while, a hunched figure comes into view. It’s sitting on the floor a few doors away from the exit with its back against the wall. Its head hangs and it doesn’t move. The women slow their pace as they get closer.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you hear anything?\u201d Victoria asks.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it’s dead<\/em> dead?\u201d<\/p>\n

Elizabeth shrugs.<\/p>\n

They step next to the figure. It’s a man in a military uniform. He sits in a pool of dark blood that appears to have come from the gaping wound in the back of his head. Splattered against the cement wall above him is a mixture of blood, hair and tiny pieces of bone.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth stretches her leg out and nudges the man’s with her toe.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey,\u201d she says. \u201cYou dead?\u201d<\/p>\n

He doesn’t react.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooks like it,\u201d Victoria says.<\/p>\n

To the right of the dead man is a door with a small black sign. Written on it, in white letters, is the word \u201cARMORY.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely go there next,\u201d Victoria says.<\/p>\n

She eyes the blood splatter on the wall again. She turns around and sees a similar splatter of blood on the opposite wall. This one is a little lower and streaks across the wall towards the exit door.<\/p>\n

She follows the trail until she comes to a door. This one also has a small sign but the words have been blacked out. Under it is a piece of lined paper. The words \u201cProject Gerra: Observation Room 3\u201d are written on it in black marker ink. She quickly loses interest in the blood trail.<\/p>\n

\u201cElizabeth,\u201d Victoria says. \u201cCome look at this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elizabeth doesn’t respond. Victoria turns to face her friend. She stands motionless in the hallway, staring intently at the dead man.<\/p>\n

\u201cElizabeth?\u201d<\/p>\n

She appears to snap out of her daze and quickly turns to face Victoria. She reads the sign on the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cProject Gerra?\u201d she asks.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome on,\u201d Victoria says. She grabs the handle on the door and opens it a crack.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ll join you in a second,\u201d Elizabeth says. \u201cI’m just going to take care of something.\u201d<\/p>\n

She turns her attention back to the corpse.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon’t be long,\u201d Victoria says.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a nibble.\u201d<\/p>\n

Victoria turns away just as Elizabeth crouches over the man. She can hear Elizabeth’s heavy breathing behind her. She’s tempted to turn her attention back to her and watch \u2013 to see what it was like. Disgusted with herself, she forces the thought out of her head and pushes the door open.<\/p>\n

The room is dark. Victoria’s hand blindly searches the wall until it comes in contact with a switch. She flips it and the room fills with bright, fluorescent light.<\/p>\n

At the far side of the room, there’s a small desk with with an ancient computer monitor sitting on it. Above it, mounted to the wall, is a large TV screen. Both screens appear to be off. The rest of the room is completely empty.<\/p>\n

Victoria moves to the computer and notices the small line of white text in the upper left corner of the screen. The text simply says \u201cPASSWORD:\u201d and a small, white cursor blinks next to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother password?\u201d Victoria mutters. \u201cGoddammit!\u201d<\/p>\n

She searches the desk for something that could hold a password but it’s completely bare. She looks around the room but there isn’t even a scrap of paper.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe this will help,\u201d Elizabeth says from the doorway. She holds up what appears to be an ID card. \u201cOur delicious friend in the hallway isn’t going to need it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elizabeth joins Victoria and hands her the card. On the front is the picture of a smiling man that resembles the corpse in the hallway. Under the picture is the name \u201cJames Elston.\u201d On the back is a black barcode and a small label that says \u201cPW: HQTJ11.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’re a star, Elie,\u201d Victoria says.<\/p>\n

She looks over Elizabeth. There are a few new drops of blood on her shirt but, other than that, she appears to be completely clean.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, you are much cleaner than the others,\u201d Victoria says with a smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey,\u201d Elizabeth says. \u201cI may be a flesh-eating zombie but I’m still a lady.\u201d She smiles brightly, exposing a small piece of red meat caught in between her teeth.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’ve got a little…\u201d Victoria says. She mimes picking her teeth.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth covers her mouth in embarrassment and turns away. When she turns back, her teeth are clean.<\/p>\n

\u201cStill a lady,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Victoria turns to the computer and uses the ancient keyboard to type in the password written on the back of the card. The thick keys click loudly as she does.<\/p>\n

After hitting the ENTER key, the large TV screen on the wall flashes to life. A series of green lines, in the shape of a map, come into view. In the middle of the map is a small X with the words \u201cimpact area\u201d written next to it in green font.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s the dormitory,\u201d Elizabeth says. She points to a series of lines next to the X. \u201cThat’s the creek.\u201d<\/p>\n

Victoria briefly recalls spending days at the creek with her family while the guards kept watch. They didn’t have the freedom to leave the area so most families would spend their afternoons there. It was the only place left that felt normal.<\/p>\n

There’s a large circle drawn around the entire area on the map. It doesn’t have a label. Near the edge of the circle is another X.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat’s that?\u201d Victoria asks.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth’s fingers dance along a few of the keys on the keyboard. The screen zooms in to the map. She presses a few more keys and the map moves around until the X comes into view. A small label appears next to it. \u201cExtraction point.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHey,\u201d Victoria says. \u201cDo you still have the map you took from David’s office?\u201d<\/p>\n

Elizabeth nods. She pulls it out of her pocket, and struggles to unfold it for Victoria.<\/p>\n

Victoria holds the map up in front of the screen. After a brief moment, she lowers it and presses her finger against the TV a little above the extraction point.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re here,\u201d she says. She points to the large circle that surrounds the area. \u201cI think this might be the impact radius of Project Gerra.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI really wish you hadn’t said that,\u201d Elizabeth says.<\/p>\n

She steps aside and reveals the old computer screen. Green numbers stretch across it: \u201c00:00:21:14.\u201d Under the numbers are the words \u201cUNTIL IMPACT.\u201d The numbers are counting down.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have twenty minutes before this thing comes down right on top of us,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Victoria’s heart sinks and she struggles to speak. She looks back at the map on the screen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can make it to the extraction point, right?\u201d she says. \u201cIt looks like it’s maybe a kilometre away. We can get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s not our only problem,\u201d Elizabeth says. Her eyes darken and she stares off as if she’s listening to something. \u201cWe aren’t alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Victoria quickly turns to the door and steps backwards towards Elizabeth. \u201cHow many?\u201d she asks.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot,\u201d Elizabeth says. \u201cMost of them are further away but they are quickly closing in on us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cQuickly?\u201d Victoria turns to face Elizabeth again.<\/p>\n

\u201cRunners, I think. But there’s another one. Its thoughts are loud and aggressive. It’s really close,\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSavage,\u201d Victoria says. \u201cWe need to get to the armory.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don’t have time,\u201d Elizabeth says. She grabs Victoria’s arm before she can run off. \u201cIt’s right outside. We have to run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Victoria shrieks as a loud bang echoes through the hallway outside of the room.<\/p>\n

VOTING FOR THIS CHAPTER IS NOW CLOSED. A NEW CHAPTER IS POSTED EVERY TUESDAY<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

What do they do?<\/strong>
\nA: Rush to the Armory<\/strong>
\nB: Get the hell out<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DOOR NUMBER THREE<\/strong><\/p>\n

∼ Continue Reading ∼<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zombies","category-zombies-ii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marklidstone.com\/TheWriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marklidstone.com\/TheWriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marklidstone.com\/TheWriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marklidstone.com\/TheWriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marklidstone.com\/TheWriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.marklidstone.com\/TheWriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":647,"href":"https:\/\/www.marklidstone.com\/TheWriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478\/revisions\/647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marklidstone.com\/TheWriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marklidstone.com\/TheWriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marklidstone.com\/TheWriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}