--Phase 6 “The Nightfall”--
Dominique could hear his poor stomach making a sound that was much louder than the cries of the zombies. He was starving and he yearned for food with all of his might. This was the longest period of time he had gone without food. No matter what he did, he could not leave the room because the zombie would devour them. He wanted to eat just as badly as they did too, darn it!
“My bag,” Allen suddenly spoke and pointed to his bag. Dominique took the bag and the oncologist took out a box of meals. Dominique’s eyes instantly sparkled even more brilliantly than diamonds.
“We need to eat and since this is the only food we have, we should share,” Allen warned the starving kid in front of him. He was aware that Dominique had a passion for food and that he would never stop eating till there was nothing left to eat or someone intervened.
After mumbling ‘fine,’ Dominique went to wake up Nathan and Benji. The food was so delicious till his tears almost flew out. Allen’s food was the best in the world. How he wished he could eat the box by himself.
“Thank you, Doctor Allen,” Nathan said sleepily as he ate.
“Thanks,” Benji muttered, his eyes on Nathan.
“If anyone doesn’t want to eat, feel free to give it to me,” Dominique declared as the rest laughed softly. Dominique pouted and he swallowed his food. He secretly wished someone would lose their appetite at a time like this.
“What time is it?” Benji asked.
“Three in the morning,” Nathan looked at his watch and quickly answered. They all sighed.
It had been quite late. Everyone would be sound asleep in their own beds at home at this hour if there were no jobs that required them to work during the night or they were not on night shift. Home? Was it ok talking about home when they had no idea if they possibly got to leave?
“Are there really people coming to save us?” Dominique asked. His tone conveyed some semblance of uncertainty. “Or that black-clothed army will only let us rot in here?”
“They’ll send someone in,” Allen reassured. His eyes appeared lifeless for a split second, as if his spirit had left his body and travelled to another location. “Trust me.”
Benji raised his eyebrow and asked, “How can you be so sure?”
“Because he will come... He said he will come...” Allen muttered. “...For me.”
“Who?” asked Nathan and the rest were confused.
Allen sidestepped the subject and instead inquired, “Do any of you guys remember an incident that occurred three years ago where the international airport was closed for a month?” Benji, Nathan, and Dominique exchanged thoughtful glances before nodding. Then, after a little pause, Allen continued, “That's also because S.M.V. There was a zombie outbreak at the airport. I’m the only one who made it out alive... Because of this, I've grown quite paranoid and now keep guns in both my home and my workplace. I also always bring a handgun with me wherever I go.”
The three men took deep breaths and looked around at each other again with gaping lips. Trying to put themselves in Allen's position for a moment. No, they would not be able to make it through all of that on their own. Even if they were successful, they would not be able to handle it mentally and continued their life in a normal way. They prayed that they did not have to be in Allen’s position at all.
“He... He’ll come,” Allen repeated as they decided to ask no more. “Definitely...”
Dominique was interested in the identity of the ‘he’ that Allen was referring to, but Allen appeared to have used all of his energy in speaking. It was best to give Allen some time to recover and ask again later.
They were left without any means of defence. Now that the other three men dozed off, Nathan was taking his turn. Their guns had run out of bullets and Allen sustained an injury. Then, all of a sudden, he recalled something. The hospital's kitchen and laundry area were not too far apart. Who knows, maybe they could find some weapons to protect themselves there. However, everyone was sound asleep. He did not want to wake anyone up because he knew that they needed to rest in order to regain their strength. Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, he will inform the other.
He looked around the room and he hummed a tune softly to himself in his brain. Suddenly, he realized that he had some liquid on his hands from a leak. The room was too dim for him to make out what the liquid was. He used the phone's flashlight to check his hand, only to discover that it was blood.
Terrified, Nathan brushed his hand off, and covered his mouth with his other hand to keep himself from screaming out loud. He looked around and searched for the source of the blood. He found the source of the blood but he was unsure whether or not he should wake Benji up. He moved slowly and cautiously as he crept past the washing machine, where he eventually came across a dead body.
He gasped in horror at the sight of a body being ripped out from outside till he could see the organs. Nathan covered his mouth with both hands as he fell backward. The body belonged to someone he knew. That person worked alongside Benji in the operating room as a fellow surgeon.
The eyes opened up all of a sudden and glared at Nathan, as if they were those of a predator watching its victim. Nathan struggled to catch his breath as he pushed himself to his feet and ran back to the others. He did not look back at all as he furiously woke Benji up. However, Benji slept like a corpse, and he was not the type of person who could wake up quickly and easily.
“Ben! Ben!” Nathan violently shook Benji. “He... He turns into a zombie! He’s awake now, what should I do?!” Nathan was so frightened as he heard the hoarse voice slowly following him. The noise had also partially awakened Allen and Dominique. As he jolted up from his sleep, the shock was written all over Allen's face. Behind Nathan, the zombie was ready to attack him.
“Take this!” Dominique swore as he smacked the zombies with a nearby broom, breaking its bone. The zombie moved much more slowly and awkwardly than the others due to his severe wound. It was solely capable of crawling. Dominique repeatedly struck the zombie in the head until it became immobile.
“Dominique, help me get up. We have to get out of here,” Allen ordered urgently. “He’ll call the others in no time!”
Benji had just woken up at the very moment that Dominique was smashing the zombie's head. “Do they have some kind of telepathy?” Benji asked, unbelievable.
“Apparently yes, they could feel each other’s presence,” Allen muttered as Dominique helped him stand. “That’s why if one of them discovers us, we'll be surrounded in a matter of time.”
“The kitchen!” Nathan announced. “We’ll need tools to protect ourselves!”
They started making their way toward the kitchen. There was a zombie guarding the door, but this one was dressed as a cook. Benji knocked him out with a kick to the head, and then they secured the entrance from the inside. In a split second, Dominique grabbed a collection of kitchen knives to use as a weapon, Allen grabbed a butcher knife, Benji obtained a pair of machetes, and Nathan grabbed a very long knife that could be mistaken for a sword.
Okay, they were set and ready for some action! Or not...
On the opposite side of the door, there was a deafening thudding sound that could be heard. That eerie rumbling was the sound of hordes of zombies making their way toward the area. They dashed out of the kitchen and through another door that led to the cafeteria as quickly as they could. Benji reached over and grabbed a chair that was nearby to hold the door. Hoping it could last longer.
The light in the room suddenly cut out. There was complete darkness. Besides the food corner, they saw nothing. Benji led the other people there and instructed them to hide behind it.
“What now?!” Nathan whispered desperately. He looked panicked and almost wanted to cry again.
“They took the electricity out,” Allen snapped and cursed. “Damn it!”
“What?” Dominique was confused. “Is that bad?”
“Yeah, very bad,” mumbled Allen. “We are completely blind but those zombies can hear us and see us clearly. The virus unnaturally improved their hearing and vision,” he explained. Yes, he had studied them extensively and understood a great deal about them. He also had learned some of these things the hard way three years ago.
“Crap,” Benji suddenly cursed as he pointed to the mirror in front of them. “Is this just me or... Is that real?”
Even though it was dark, they were able to make out the reflection in the mirror. The other side of the corner they were hiding in, where people usually sat in the cafeteria, was turned into zombies’ campaign. They were somewhat outnumbered because there were around twenty or so of the zombies. They kept as quiet as possible as a zombie walked past them. However, their deepest dread was brought upon them as the zombie looked at them through the reflection of the mirror.
The zombie immediately let out a high-pitched scream and Benji used his twin machetes to cut off the zombie’s head. The remaining zombies let forth a raging cry, calling more of them to march toward the four men. Nathan killed two zombies in an instant by slashing them to death in the throat with his long knife and then chopping them up like they were vegetables. Dominique threw his kitchen knives perfectly and they pierced the zombies’ brains. It seems his experience with many games was put to good use. He beamed a delighted smile at his own accomplishments. Next to him, Allen did his best to maintain his balance despite the fact that his legs were hurt. He evaded an oncoming zombie attack and severed the head with the butcher knife.
At least ten of the zombies in the area were taken out by them, but they were quickly overrun by others. The 'signal' sent by their 'buddy' brought more zombies to their location. Fear filled their hearts as they hoped against hope that they would survive.
Dominique suddenly recalled that he had the remaining explosive from Allen that he stashed away in one of his pockets. The rest of them hid behind the counter after he yelled ‘Hide!’ and threw the grenade into the zombies. The magnitude of the explosion was so great that they could not hear a thing. They quickly emerged from their hiding location and made their way in the direction of the exits as quickly as they could. The zombies behind them were not all dead since they were all dead to begin with. They suffered some serious burns but persisted in chasing them.
“The stairs!” As they came across several zombies in the hallway, Allen pointed to the emergency stairs. There were so many zombies that even the area around the lifts was overrun with them. Dominique, still helping the limp oncologist, did his best to follow Benji and Nathan from behind. They continued climbing until they reached the door to the rooftop, where they discovered it was locked.
“Damn!” Benji cursed as he looked downstairs, the zombie was only a few floors away from them.
After being cornered and realising that checkmate was now unavoidable, Dominique was at a loss about what to do next. He was coming up with nothing new anymore. As his anxiety ate him alive, he flung all of his kitchen knives at the zombies. Benji and Nathan tried their best to keep the zombies away and make it down the stairs, but they were unsuccessful. As their screams of hunger tore the living man's soul, the zombies continued to advance, stepping on the dead one.
Benji pulled Nathan up before a zombie managed to bite Nathan’s shoulder. He kicked it and threw it down a few meters away. Allen felt hopeless as Dominique shielded him in front, knocking the zombies with bare hands. They were hurt and without any protection. Is this what it felt like when all hope was gone?