November 14, 2007

• finally, some action.

  Slow days lately in surgery. Once there is something to update, be assured i shall

  CONTINGENCY PLAN

  seven- IT BEGINS

  Less than two weeks since Josh had sent out the email and things had taken a quite predictable turn for the worse. The zombies only seemed to gain in strength and brutality. There were no more restraints left in the hospital. Not that it particularly mattered because there weren’t that many people left in the hospital either. Living ones, anyway.

  With every level full of the infected, things had pretty much played out stereotypically by floor. In pediatrics some infected kid had managed to bite one of the hospital staff, who of course kept it silent because goodness forbid she be placed in restraints like the other patients. Managed to hide the sickness pretty well too, right up until she collapsed into the telltale seizure in a patient room. When the other nurses on the floor came to check, she just appeared passed out, but with everyone paying attention to the downed rn, no one noticed the patient free of his restraints until he had sunk his teeth into two nurses. Well by the time they got him restrained with the help of security, the previous nurse was up and moving, and while uncoordinated, still able to bite several more staff. In a matter of hours most of the ancillary staff had collapsed into seizures with relatively little communication between the floors, anyone who wandered in for something as germaine as a shift change was quickly confronted by a floor full of the chronically infected and recent converts. Now the newly bitten may not have been used to their abilities or particularly strong, but it doesnt take much strength OR coordination to stand in a doorway while a bunch of highly energetic small children zombies go rocketing past into the stairwell and elevator.

  That was one thing Josh had learned. The shambling gait was unique to adults. Child zombies had all the mobility available to them they had had as living, which made them far more dangerous. In a matter of hours, most of the floors had been overtaken as kids zipping around bit who they could, often pausing to feed, while those who had been infected longer took advantage of the lull in security to make their way free of restraints. Most of the medical staff who were bitten were the ones unwilling to hit children to defend themselves.

  The majority of the surgery and ER made it through just fine. Doctors and nurses used to making split second decisions saw what was happening to others, and acted in self defense. Most of them simply knocked the kids back a couple yards, and the zombies were usually easily distracted by some fresh downed body, upon whom they would pause to feed.

  That was the next thing Josh noticed. Brains truly must be a zombie delicacy. Anyone bitten on the extremities tended to suffer the same sickness, and become a zombie, while those who made their cranial cavities available for food tended to stay dead. The third thing Josh noticed was that the longer a person had been in a zombie stage, the faster their bite was likely to turn someone. Patients who had been infected for two months would have bites leading to infection and seizure within 24 hours. Newbies still took the full two weeks to turn people.

  Of course, a few hospital floors managed to remain contained. Mostly the ones behind thick doors with ID badges required for entry. On those floors, the survivors of the initial overrun considered themselves on permanent call. Every patient was monitored, and any of those with the signs of infection received the highest priority care-right up until the moment the seized. Then they were placed in one of the isolation rooms with the other infected, or kindly deported into the hallway while they were dead and immobile. For while as far as they all knew, there might still be a cure, that was no reason to risk unneccesary exposure.

  Josh had been working in the ICU, one of the secured floors through the whole overunning of the hospital, and thus had not realized the initial attack had begun until staff flooded the floor, many in shock, and others, more pragmatic, assessing the surroundings. With no opportunity to grab a weapon, and thus no way to get past the infected milling about on the floor, Josh had been effectively trapped at the hospital for the moment, making his observations based on the floor security cameras of the hospital, and conversations with people on the other two floors. However, with the cafeteria overrun, the food supplies would quickly dwindle, so Josh knew he had to figure out some way out of the hospital and back to his apartment. Once there he could begin the self defense part of the contingency plan.

  …………………………..

  Phil was worried sick…Crystal was almost 3 days late back from Santa Barbara, and he had no word from her in almost a week. Not to mention which he had begun seeing infected in the neighborhood. They weren’t hard to identify-they looked a lot like the homeless with their strange, shuffling step, except the homeless dont keep walking into walls or motion tracking small creatures for food. Thus far, Phil had done as Josh suggested and not attacked…but with more gathering everyday, it was only a matter of time before it became a question of survival. Phil decided he would wait a couple more days for any more tips or knowledge…then he would take his survival kit and head to Santa Barbara. It wasnt specifically part of the plan, but then, the plan entailed more than 1 person to survive

  ………………..

  Brian had been getting the best footage of his life. Sure the zombies began targeting him whenever he stepped outside, but they were so few and far between it was no effort at all to dodge them. And if any did get to close, he simply used the baseball bat he carried to give them a good slug to the legs. Once they were down, he retreated to a safe distance and continued filming. And the best part was, he had evidence of his self defense all on film!

  “This is Brian Dee, documenting the end of the world as you know it. As you can see, this infection seems to have turned the sick into mindless zombies. Well perhaps mindless isnt the right word. They do seem to have some sort of human memories, as the largest groups are currently located at common gathering places for people-malls, supermarkets, parks, anywhere that people may have been found. Or perhaps they are just hunting for food, since whenever they find crowds of people they attempt to converge on them, like so.”

  Brian knocked another couple zombies down, never stopping his monologue as he once again retreated

  “Of course, your’s truly isnt phased by this at all, and is attempting to document it so one day you will all know how it began. Once I find a companion to help fend off some of the more aggressive roamers, we will enter into the very den of the sick, a hospital and see how the medical community is dealing with this new threat. As you can see…”

  Brian swung the camera over the horizon and zoomed as much as possible

  “There doesnt appear to be much activity at the hospital, perhaps because under normal circumstances, even healthy people avoid it. But when a more reliable means of transportation presents itself, be assured the continuing saga of Brian the bonecrusher will give you all the knowledge you need to fend off the undead. Eat your heart out Spielberg-unless someone does it for you!”

  With that Brian turned the camera off. If he ever found a way to broadcast his videos, or at least upload them, he would quickly become a very well known film maker. Who cared if it was a documentary-save peoples lives and the fame would come rolling in. Though he should probably make sure there were people alive to save. He hadnt seen anyone other than zombies in this area for almost a week now…and there were more all the time…

  TO BE CONTINUED…

  • 6:04 pm
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