Chapter 37

Waynesburg, Pennsylvania
SCI Greene - Death Row
Outbreak: Day 2



Take your time, keep your feet moving, this has to be done. Every fiber in his body screamed for a reprieve, cried out for the never ending pain to subside. The cold air seemed thick with a sickly scent of death, the concrete walls dripped as another explosion outside rocked the building. Boots scraped against the floor, a small puddle splashed as a foot dragged through it. A rat hissed at him and ran away, well away of the nasty wound on his forearm. The pain caused an eye to twitch, and begged for a way to make the itch disappear.

The corrections officer stopped outside a cell, the clanging of keys echoing throughout the empty cell block. The guard grunted as his riot gear nudged the wall as he trudged inside the cell, and his arm throbbed in pain. A lone figure remained stationary on the bed as the corrections officer leaned heavily against the wall, his rifle resting against his leg and his arm numb at his side.

“You’re free.” The guard croaked. “I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing, the moral thing if you will. As much as it pains me to do so, as much as I wonder if I’m doing the just thing here, I’m letting you go.” The prisoner made no move on the bed as he sat, watching him. His large arms bulged as he twisted his neck and cracked his fingers.

“But before you are set free, before you experience the living hell outside, you will fucking listen.” The man’s head tilted, a questionable look on his face and a small smirk forming. “You think I’m lying, that this is some sick joke. You think I’m going to shoot you in the back, don’t you?” The prisoner said nothing. His arm suddenly throbbed again, causing his to grab it in a sudden pain and tear away at it, finally giving in to the insatiable itch. His flesh peeled away, blood dripped to the cell’s floor as his dirty fingernails ripped the skin. Regaining himself, the corrections officer cleared his throat and began again.

“Well believe me, if I wanted you dead, I’d have shot you right between the eyes by now. And you know what? Nobody would give two shits, not anymore they won’t.” As if to ensure his statement, another explosion rocked the building, causing debris to rain down from the ceiling and a large crack to form on the ceiling.

“Now listen here, don’t you think for an instant I’m doing this to show any sort of compassion, because I’m not. I hate you- I fucking detest your very being. Everything you are, everything you represent fucking disgusts me. I’ve spent the last five years of my life doing my best to make the last five years of your live as unbearable and miserable as I fucking can.” The corrections officer chuckled as the itch became apparent again, and the blood freely flowed down his arm, dripping from his gloves.

“That’s all I’ve ever wished for you, hell on earth. Each and every one of you death row scumbags in here I’ve wanted nothing more, but especially for you. When I look at you, I don’t see a man, I see a monster. Ain’t no one in the right mind capable of doing what you’ve done. When I look at you, I can’t help but wonder what motif, what thought process runs through your mind. The other assholes in here, they had some motivation of sorts. You… I can’t fucking read you.” The corrections officer continued on.

“A lot of people wanted you dead, inmates and guards alike. But no, I made extra sure to keep you alive, I fucking kept them at bay. Death… heh, that would be the easy way out. I wanted you to suffer.” He raised his rifle suddenly, the barrel aimed at the wall at the opposite end of the room.

“This gun belonged to a friend of mine, one that I’ve known longer then I hated you. Earlier today, he turned on me. The bastard bit me, and I had to put him down with his own gun. I’m not entirely sure what is going on out there, but I’ve seen enough in here to know the end has come. I’m not feeling too swell right about now, and I may not be right in the head. But fuck you, you live.” The man sitting on the cot opened his mouth slightly, but the guard cut him off.

“Before you go thanking me, hear me out. You’ve got no idea what I’m letting you into; no clue what lies beyond these walls. You might not make it long out there, but I think you will, and I hope you do. That will be your punishment, living on to see how fucked up things have gotten.” The prisoner stood up and walked past the corrections officer, stepping out into the empty block. All of the other cell doors were open and empty, the feint sound of screams could be heard throughout the facility.

“This is your punishment…” The guard’s words trailed off as the man walked down the hall, only stopping over a mutilated guard’s body. The glint of military dog tags reflected off the dim light from the single light bulb hanging above. The prisoner bent over and pulled them off the man’s neck, reading the name inscribed on them.

“Gus Valudes… that’ll do.”





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Tom screamed in pain and looked away, he couldn’t watch his loved one being gun down. The gunshot blasted in the small confines of the office, causing his ears to pop. The smell of black powder reached his nostrils, making the hairs in his nose recede. The soldier died a little inside, everything he’s worked for, all the shit he’s been through had been for nothing. The woman he’d grown so attached to over the last couple weeks, the woman he loved was dead. A feint whimpering could be heard, causing Tom’s eyes to shoot open.

“Kath-” Katharina was huddled on the floor, cowering over a smoking gun aimed at a filing cabinet beside her. Tom looked up at Barnes, who had tears of rage in his own eyes. Barnes slowly turned and looked at him; the handgun trembled in his hands.

“Fuck you, fuck both of you.” And with that, Barnes stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The door opened up once more as it slammed against the frame, the locking mechanism being blasted to hell prevented the door from closing. Tom lightly placed the shotgun down on the desk and ran to Katharina’s side, taking her in his arms. She wept into his vest, her slender arms wrapping around him. His hands ran through her hair, and they both seemed to be comforting each other. More gunfire was heard outside, the screams of the living now becoming apparent.

“I’m so sorry.” Tom whispered, stroking her hair and rubbing her back. She looked up at him, a trickle of blood coming from the corner of her mouth and staining his vest. What the hell did Barnes do to her?

“Don’t leave me again.” She said, her hands tightening on his arms. “Please don’t-”

“I won’t, ever again.” They embraced, their lips locking as the sound of thunder momentarily drowned out the battle outside. Tom pulled away, rubbing a hand on her cheek and wiping away the blood at the corner of her mouth.

“I love you.” She whispered. Tom’s heart fluttered, and he wondered if what he was doing was right. He’d never truly loved someone before, yet for the first time in his life he did. Had it taken the end of the world for this to happen? Fuck it.

“I love you too.” She smiled, and Tom couldn’t help but laugh at her red teeth. “We need to go.” Tom stood up, snatching the Spas-12 from the desk. He took a deep breath, adrenaline now flowing through his body. His hand suddenly reached down to the Taurus strapped at his side, and he pulled it out. Tom smiled down at the engraving on the side, the gift from his father. “TOM’S BAMF”

“Here.” He handed it over to Katharina, who quickly accepted it. She ejected the magazine to make sure it was loaded, then slapped it back into the gun.

“Good girl.” He grinned.

“You taught me well.” She smiled.

“You ready?” He asked, looking through the crack of the door and into the hangar. A few of the undead mulled about aimlessly, no particular goal in mind. Tom had no doubt that as soon as they walked through that door, they’d advance on them.

“Ready as I’m going to be.” Tom nodded, his hands tightening on the shotgun. It was now or never, this was their one chance to finally get away from this hell hole. If they didn’t leave now, they may never have another chance. With a swift kick to the door, Tom burst out into the hangar. In unison, numerous sets of milky-white eyes locked on him and the Katharina. Rotten mouths opened in anticipation, making him cringe. The moans of the dead filled the air as they all began stumbling towards them as one.

Tom snapped out of it as a gunshot rang out, interrupting the cries of hunger. The closest shambler, a female Tom had seen around while visiting Katharina, fell to the ground. Blood trickled from a gunshot wound to the head, spilling out onto the floor. Katharina swerved to the right and fired again, hitting another shambler in the shoulder.

“Let’s go!” She screamed. Tom nodded, raising his shotgun and finishing off the shambler that she had missed with a basketball-sized hole to the chest. It flew across the hangar, slamming down hard onto a cot and rolling off the edge. Before it could get back up, they were moving. The blasts of the shotgun and Taurus resounded as they fought their way through. Each time a shambler fell down, the remaining ones seemed to push just a bit harder.

“Bring it, assholes!” Tom cried as a howler ran towards him. He whipped the gun across its face, taking it to the ground. “Kath!” He held it down with his boot until Katharina swerved and aimed down, shooting it in the head. Its body continued to spasm as gunk leaked from its head and they ran out into the storm, the remaining undead following close behind.

“Shit!” They were completely cut off from the rest of the group by what seemed to be a wall of rotten flesh. Hundreds of the undead had made it to the runway now, and were slowly but surely pushing theirr way through a band of survivors making their last stand. Among them, he saw Nick. Nick seemed to be the leader of the ragtag group of survivors, and was shouting out orders as he tossed a small object through the air-

“Get down!” Tom grabbed Katharina and pulled her to the ground as the grenade went off. An explosion rocked the runway, chunks of dirt and gore blasted out in every direction. Tom looked up and saw a small opening- no, they’d never have enough time.

“Come on, get up.” He helped Katharina up, looking around frantically.

“What are we going to do?” She asked, wiping a wet strand of hair behind an ear. The rain was still coming down pretty hard.

“I have an idea, follow me.” He grabbed her hand and ran along side of the hangar, a Cessna plane in sight.

“You can fly?” She asked incredulously. Tom smirked, shaking his head as they stopped next to the plane, the door was cracked open.

“Nope.” Katharina raised an eyebrow as they hopped in, and he slammed the door shut. “Buckle up.”

“You can’t fly, what are we-”

“I never said we were flying.” Katharina shrugged but clicked herself in anyways; Tom did the same. They didn’t have near enough ammo to blast their way through the crowd, but maybe they could cut their way through. Tom knew the idea was stupid, idiotic, and potentially suicidal. But what other choice did they have? He started up the Cessna, praying that it had been previously maintained and fueled. It was.

The twin propellers on each side of the wing roared to life. Attracted by the noise, a few of the undead broke away from the sea, and began stumbling their way. Katharina’s eyes lit up when she realized what he was doing.

“You can’t be serious, this will never work!” Tom’s eyes darted around the control panel as he tried figuring out how to move the plane forward.

“We’ll find out.” Tom grinned as he grabbed the throttle and lightly pushed the plane forward. The twin motors hummed hummed as the Cessna gently crept forward, slowly but steadily.

“If the propellers jam, then what?!” Katharina cried out, covering her eyes as the plane crept forward, nearing the runway.

“Well, then we’re screwed.” Her mouth opened in awe. “Hang on!” The first of the undead connected with the propellers. Tom grimaced as they exploded in a shower of limbs and misty blood, some of it splattering on the windshield. The rain made quick work of it, smearing it down in long red streaks. He pulled on the throttle a bit more, causing the Cessna to accelerate a bit.

“Oh God!” Katharina cried as Tom pushed forward into the wave of the undead on the runway. In an instant, the windshield sprayed with blood and chunks of flesh. The small plane jumped as it literally cut its way through the crowd.

“Come on, come on.” His teeth gritted together as he pulled on the throttle a bit more, moving the plane blindly now through the crowd. The moans of the dead increased as they were cut down. The Cessna rumbled as one of the propellers jammed, leaving only one.

“Shit.”

“I told you!” Katharina yelled, her knuckles white and hand squeezed down on the handgun.

“Take control, get us through!” Tom yelled over the moans as he grabbed the shotgun and began loading shells into it. The plane rocked at the dead began throwing themselves against it, eager to get to the living trapped inside. Tom moved aside as Katharina got behind the throttle and jumped into her seat. Using the butt of the gun, he broke out the passenger window.

“Holy…” Hundreds of the dead had the plane surrounded now, most of their focus was now on them instead of the dwindling group of survivors. Leaning out the window, he saw an arm jamming the propeller. “Shit.” The wind whipped against his face as he aimed the shotgun out of the plane and began blasting away at the horde. The first blast caused a trio of undead to fall over, knocking down a few more in the process. The plane slowly inched forward at this, he could see the other end of the runway, so close yet so far.

Tom pumped the shotgun and fired again, working as the stalled propeller. One of the undead below lashed out, its cold fingers wrapping around his arm.

“Gah!” Tom tried pulling back, but its grasp was tight. “Kath- gun!” She shoved the Taurus into his free hand. Tom looked away as he aimed the gun down and placed it against the shambler’s wrist, firing at point blank range. In a spray of bone and blood, the hand separated, still attached to his arm.

“Sick.” Tom made a disgusted face as he pried the fingers loose and threw it out the window. As he reached for his shotgun, something on the other end of the runway caught his eye. “No fucking way.” Tom laughed. Katharina peered over as she pulled on the throttle.

“What is it?” The titan’s wheels slid in mud as the driver slammed on the brake. The door opened, and Nick jumped out with his rifle. Barnes was behind the mounted M60 on the back, and was in the process of feeding a belt of ammo into the gun.

“Keep that aircraft moving, damn it!” Nick yelled over to Tom. Tom gave him the thumbs up as Barnes opened up with the M60, spraying the gun indiscriminately into the wall of undead, screaming in rage as he did so. Bodies dropped, heads exploded as the undead were gunned down. A flash of lightening lit up the runway, and Tom could see hundreds of eyes flashing red momentarily; he truly was in hell.

“Pull harder!” Tom yelled as he fired the shotgun once more out the window. Ass Barnes took care of the shamblers in front of the Cessna, it began moving slightly faster, picking up a bit of speed. Tom’s heart sank when the remaining propeller snapped when it connected with a rather large male, bringing it’s spinning to a halt in a bloodshed mess.

“Shit, we’re almost out.” He hissed. Looking out the window, he saw that they could probably make a run for it. “Kath, we gotta make a run for it.” He said, nervously loading more shells into the shotgun. He saw worry in her eyes, but she nodded.

“I trust you.” Tom smiled as he pumped the shotgun, his ears straining over the M60 gunfire.

“Grab onto my belt.” Tom readied himself as he felt her grasping his belt, then kicked the door open. The dead howled in anger as Tom rapidly fired off all eight shells, blasting a small opening through the crowd.

“Let’s go!” He hopped out of the plane and tossed the Spas-12 aside. It landed in the mud and sank a bit before resting. Tom’s boots sank in the mud as he ran forward and whipped out the Taurus, firing wildly at any zombie that came too close for comfort.

“Hurry your ass up!” Nick yelled as the M21 went off in his hands. Nick wasn’t even looking through the scope anymore, there were too damn many of them. Tom stopped outside of the titan, momentarily glancing up at Barnes as he stopped firing.

“Thanks.” He said. Barnes’ face remained grim.

“Was his idea, not mine.” He mumbled. Tom shrugged and ushered Katharina into the back, reloading his handgun before he jumped in as well.

“Let’s go Barron!” Nick fired off two more shots before spinning around and hobbling back over to the truck. The bandage around his leg was a dark crimson- he’d need to get that looked at soon. Nick jumped behind the wheel and slammed the pedal to the metal. The tires span wildly in the mud, spraying the shamblers that had reached the back of the truck. After a few moments, the tires caught and the truck lurched forward, taking them away from hell itself.

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Jack Kingston’s neck twitched as he stood up over the corpse. A red haze blurred out most of his vision, but he didn’t need that anymore. The virus transformed him, made him into a higher being. His senses were taken to a whole new level, and he was self-aware of everything going on. He had one goal in mind, and that was the need to feed. His rotting nostrils constricted as he sniffed the air. The smell of living blood was near, closer than any of the others.

A primal scream ripped through the air, escaping from his throat. He ran out of the hangar, dully noting that another being had been added to their ranks as his latest meal sat up, sniffing the air around her. Running out onto the runway, he saw an Asian man running, firing a small machinegun at his own. They went down in a hail of gunfire. Jack could not allow this. He sprinted forward, his senses kicking in. He shoved a shambler out of the way, bringing it to the ground in his attempt to reach the fresh meat.

Hua spun around, surprised by the howler’s scream.

“Shit, run Jake.” Hua said, raising the Uzi slightly. He just had enough time to pull the trigger and send a barrage of rounds into Jack’s chest before the yellow teeth sank deep into his neck. Hua screamed in agony, his finger still held down on the trigger. The rounds went wild, killing a few shamblers as he fell to the ground, still firing. Jack screamed in anticipation, tearing another chunk out of the man’s neck. Hua’s arm lurched upwards from the recoil of the gun, and across the air field LaRouge cried out in surprise as two stray rounds caught him in the abdomen as he was climbing into the Chinook. LaRouge stopped suddenly, looking down in disbelief as blood gushed from the wounds.

“Shit.” He mumbled, falling from the chopper and to the ground, clutching his wounds in agony.

“You piece of shit, this is all your fault!” Hua cried out as he whipped the gun across Jack’s face. “Mother fucker!” He hissed as Jack suddenly let out a different cry completely. Hua’s blood froze as Jack’s scream continued, elevating in a different sort of pitch. Jack’s head began shaking wildly, blood pouring from every pore in his body. What the hell? Hua aimed the Uzi down and fired off the remaining rounds into Jack’s head, causing it to cave in and finally kill the bastard.

He dropped to gun and grabbed onto his neck, he was losing blood fast. When Hua looked up, his eyes widened at what had happened. Jack’s scream had caused every shambler on the runway to suddenly stop dead in their tracks. Even the survivors fighting to hold the helicopters stopped firing at this.

“What the…” Each and every shambler began to twitch; a crimson fluid began leaking out from under their eyes. In unison, they all raised their heads to the sky and roared- an army of howlers.

“上帝帮助我们” He mumbled in his native tongue before a dozen howlers rushed forward and tackled him to the ground. His screams were cut off in an instant as he was disemboweled and dismembered, and he felt no more pain.